The University of Nottingham experts support Rare Disease Day

Experts in Nottingham are using Rare Disease Day 2012 to raise awareness of the symptoms of children’s brain tumours and to call for urgently needed funding for research into this devastating disease.

Professor David Walker of The University of Nottingham’s Children Brain Tumour Research Centre (CBTRC) said the global event on February 29 presented the ideal opportunity to remind parents and carers to be vigilant for the signs of brain tumours, as early diagnosis could potentially save their child’s life.

Professor Walker said: “Brain tumours in young people are comparatively rare and we are not trying to cause parents unnecessary alarm. However, they do happen and, because the symptoms often mimic other common less serious illnesses they can be very difficult to diagnose.

“It is important for parents to be aware of the signs and if they spot any worrying symptoms in their child which come back frequently or are lasting for more than two weeks then they need to see their family doctor to have them investigated.”

Every year, around 450 children in the UK are diagnosed with a brain tumour. Survival rates for childhood brain tumours in the UK are among the lowest in Europe. On average, children in the UK wait up to three times longer for a brain tumour diagnosis than those in other developed countries — a delay which can make long-term survivors up to 10 times more likely to suffer disability.

Read full story at the original source here.

Cornell must invest in international efforts to remain relevant

In response to a white paper written by Cornell President David Skorton, Provost Kent Fuchs and Provost for Medical Affairs Laurie Glimcher have formed a university wide faculty committee charged with articulating the future of international studies and engagement at Cornell.

In his paper, Skorton recognizes the long and distinguished history of scholarly work, education and outreach in international studies and international engagement, dating from the very founding of the university. However, he means to "sound an alarm that the entire worldwide Cornell family needs to heed in order to maintain and enhance one of the defining characteristics of this institution" or risk "becoming less relevant globally at just the time when challenges such as global climate change, nuclear proliferation, infectious diseases, trade regulation and many others require international collaboration."

He reports "evidence of slippage of the quality and focus of international programs" that must be reversed through strategic investments if Cornell is to equip its students "to live and work in a world whose chief problems transcend national boundaries."

To build on Cornell's history of international education and engagement, Skorton will move forward immediately on five priorities:

• Hire new international studies faculty. Of 70 faculty members designated International Professors in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 20 have emeritus status and another 20 are in their 60s, Skorton reports, and similar trends exist in other Cornell colleges with strong international programs.

Thus "the provosts should play a larger than usual role" to identify areas of greatest need and supply financial incentives to hire such faculty, Skorton writes. Provosts -- in partnership with deans in Ithaca and department heads at Weill Cornell Medical College -- should enunciate specific faculty renewal goals relevant to internationalization.

• Provide more study, internship and work abroad opportunities. Skorton wants no fewer than half of all Cornell undergraduate students to gain international experience through studying, service learning or internships in other countries by the time they graduate. He calls for the Cornell Abroad program -- whose high administrative costs price international experiences beyond the reach of many students -- to be reorganized.

Cornell should aspire "to rank among the institutions with the highest percentage of graduating seniors in the U.S. who have an intensive international experience; these students could be those who have spent three months or more living in another country, who are competent in at least one language other than English or who join the Peace Corps or similar global service organization after graduation."

• Increase financial aid to international students. Such an increase "would greatly benefit all our students as we seek to prepare them to live in a multicultural world," Skorton writes, but he notes that need-based undergraduate financial aid for international students is extremely limited.

• Coordinate administrative efforts. Skorton writes: "... some enhanced coordinative function will be necessary to achieve the goals of a new era of internationalization at Cornell. The Ithaca provost should in particular consider recasting the vice provost for international relations as a new position with responsibility for a wider portfolio."

A central unit integrated with college programs and the efforts of the senior vice provost for research, Graduate School dean and vice provost for undergraduate education could administer Cornell's international education and research programs, reduce duplication, ensure uniform policy interpretation and improve the academic quality of international experience programs.

• Provide seed money for internationalization efforts. "I call on the provosts and deans of Cornell's campuses to allocate some additional funds for these priorities and for other international initiatives," Skorton writes. He suggests the Ithaca campus provost allocate a total of $15 million over the next five years to renew Cornell's commitment to "being international in both scope and aspiration." The president will also allocate some discretionary money he controls to the effort, and the international component of the "Cornell Now" philanthropic campaign will "increase substantially."

An international advisory board would help to guide the design, implementation and assessment of Cornell's international programs.

Read article at the original source here.

U of T physicists play key role in international study

Unprecedented Arctic ozone loss occurred last winter

A NASA-led study has documented an unprecedented depletion of the Earth's protective ozone layer above the Arctic last winter and spring that was caused by an unusually prolonged period of extremely low temperatures in the stratosphere. University of Toronto physicist Kaley Walker was part of the international team behind the study published online Oct.2 inNature.

The researchers found the amount of ozone destroyed in the Arctic in 2011 was comparable to that seen in some years in the Antarctic, where an ozone "hole" has formed each spring since the mid 1980s. The stratospheric ozone layer, extending from about 15 to 35 kilometres above the surface, protects life on Earth from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays.

The scientists found that at some altitudes, the cold period in the Arctic lasted more than 30 days longer in 2011 than in any previously studied Arctic winter, leading to the unprecedented ozone loss. Further studies are needed to determine what factors caused the cold period to last so long.

The Antarctic ozone hole forms when extremely cold conditions, common in the winter Antarctic stratosphere, trigger reactions that convert atmospheric chlorine from human-produced chemicals into forms that destroy ozone. While the same ozone-loss processes occur each winter in the Arctic, the generally warmer stratospheric conditions there limit the area affected and the time frame during which the chemical reactions occur. This means there is generally far less ozone loss in most years in the Arctic than in the Antarctic.

To investigate the 2011 Arctic ozone loss, Walker and scientists from 18 other institutions in nine countries (United States, Germany, The Netherlands, Russia, Finland, Denmark, Japan and Spain) analyzed a comprehensive set of measurements. These included daily global observations of trace gases and clouds from NASA's Aura and CALIPSO spacecraft; ozone measured by instrumented balloons; meteorological data and atmospheric models. The University of Toronto team contributed to the balloon-borne data with measurements from Eureka, Nunavut, located at 80 ºN (1,100 kilometres from the North Pole). The team was participating in a Canadian Space Agency-funded project making springtime measurements to verify the performance of a Canadian satellite called the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE).

“In the 2010-11 Arctic winter, we did not have temperatures that were lower than in the previous cold Arctic winters,” said Walker. “What was different about this year was that the temperatures were low enough to generate ozone-depleting forms of chlorine for a much longer period of time. Arctic ozone loss events such as those observed this year could become more frequent if winter Arctic stratospheric temperatures decrease in future as the Earth’s climate changes.

The 2011 Arctic ozone loss occurred over an area considerably smaller than that of the Antarctic ozone holes. This is because the Arctic polar vortex, a persistent large-scale cyclone within which the ozone loss takes place, was about 40 percent smaller than a typical Antarctic vortex. While smaller and shorter-lived than its Antarctic counterpart, the Arctic polar vortex is more mobile, often moving over densely-populated northern regions. Decreases in overhead ozone lead to increases in surface ultraviolet radiation, which are known to have adverse effects on humans and other life forms.

Although the total amount of Arctic ozone measured was much more than twice that typically seen in an Antarctic spring, the amount destroyed was comparable to that in some previous Antarctic ozone holes. This is because ozone levels at the beginning of Arctic winter are typically much greater than those at the beginning of Antarctic winter.

The scientists noted that without the 1989 Montreal Protocol, an international treaty limiting production of ozone-depleting substances, chlorine levels already would be so high that an Arctic ozone hole would form every spring. The long atmospheric lifetimes of ozone-depleting chemicals already in the atmosphere mean that Antarctic ozone holes, and the possibility of future severe Arctic ozone loss, will continue for decades.

“Each of the balloon and satellite measurements included in this study were absolutely necessary to understand the ozone depletion we observed this past winter,” Walker said. “To be able to predict future Arctic ozone loss reliably in a changing climate, it is crucial that we maintain our atmospheric measurement capabilities.”

Original source at the University website here.

‘Math class’ app for students with vision problems

Kira is one of two visually impaired high school students who are testing a new Android app, one designed to assist students like her in mastering algebra, geometry, graphing, and other subjects that are particularly hard to comprehend without the aid of normal vision.

Without looking down, Kira runs her index finger across the screen of an Android tablet that she is holding in her lap. For the occasion, she has painted her fingernails bright pink. When her finger touches a line drawn on the screen, the tablet vibrates quietly.

Scanning her finger back and forth and feeling the vibration come and go allows her to trace the line’s path. When her finger reaches a pink dot, the tablet gives off an electronic tone and she grins delightedly.

The app is the brainstorm of Jenna Gorlewicz, a graduate student in the Medical and Electromechanical Design Laboratory (MED Lab) at Vanderbilt University, and her advisor Robert Webster, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, who directs the lab.

Given the enthusiastic reaction of Kira, her classmate Quinn, and their teacher, Gorlewicz’s innovation could have a major impact on how science, technology, engineering and math—the critical STEM subjects—are taught to the visually impaired.

Source article here.

Physical activity yields feelings of excitement, enthusiasm, Penn State University

People who are more physically active report greater levels of excitement and enthusiasm than people who are less physically active, according to Penn State researchers. People also are more likely to report feelings of excitement and enthusiasm on days when they are more physically active than usual.

"You don't have to be the fittest person who is exercising every day to receive the feel-good benefits of exercise," said David Conroy, professor of kinesiology. "It's a matter of taking it one day at a time, of trying to get your activity in, and then there's this feel-good reward afterwards."

Conroy added that it often is hard for people to commit to an exercise program because they tend to set longterm rather than short-term goals.

"When people set New Year's resolutions, they set them up to include the entire upcoming year, but that can be really overwhelming," he said. "Taking it one day at a time and savoring that feel-good effect at the end of the day might be one step to break it down and get those daily rewards for activity. Doing this could help people be a little more encouraged to stay active and keep up the program they started."

The researchers asked 190 university students to keep daily diaries of their lived experiences, including free-time physical activity and sleep quantity and quality, as well as their mental states, including perceived stress and feeling states. Participants were instructed to record only those episodes of physical activity that occurred for at least 15 minutes and to note whether the physical activity was mild, moderate or vigorous. Participants returned their diaries to the researchers at the end of each day for a total of eight days. The researchers published their results in the current issue of the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology.

According to Amanda Hyde, kinesiology graduate student, the team separated the participants' feeling states into four categories: pleasant-activated feelings exemplified by excitement and enthusiasm, pleasant-deactivated feelings exemplified by satisfaction and relaxation, unpleasant-activated feelings exemplified by anxiety and anger, and unpleasant-deactivated feelings exemplified by depression and sadness.

"We found that people who are more physically active have more pleasant-activated feelings than people who are less active, and we also found that people have more pleasant-activated feelings on days when they are more physically active than usual," said Hyde, who noted that the team was able to rule out alternative explanations for the pleasant-activated feelings, such as quality of sleep.

"Our results suggest that not only are there chronic benefits of physical activity, but there are discrete benefits as well. Doing more exercise than you typically do can give you a burst of pleasant-activated feelings. So today, if you want a boost, go do some moderate-to-vigorous intensity exercise."

Conroy added that most previous studies have looked only at pleasant or unpleasant feelings and paid less attention to the notion of activation.

"Knowing that moderate and vigorous physical activity generates a pleasant-activated feeling, rather than just a pleasant feeling, might help to explain why physical activity is so much more effective for treating depression rather than anxiety," he said. "People dealing with anxious symptoms don't need an increase in activation. If anything, they might want to bring it down some. In the future, we plan to look more closely at the effects of physical activity on mental health symptoms."

Other authors on the paper include Aaron Pincus, professor of psychology, and Nilam Ram, assistant professor of human development and family studies and of psychology.

National Institute on Aging and the Penn State Social Science Research Institute funded this research.

Read article at the original source here.

cloud computing expected to create 2 million jobs by 2015

Cloud computing is currently being implemented and used quite actively but when it really catches on and becomes mainstream it will likely explode into one of the largest technology industries. Obviously to support this new companies and new jobs are needed to cover any and every piece of the puzzle.

For millions of Americans this is a great future prospect as it means there will be a significant increase in jobs in the next few years. Obviously it is not really a short term increase but the long run is really what is important in most cases. Along with cloud computer experts are expecting the communications market to increase by nearly a million jobs as well. These two technology markets alone will be responsible for a very significant increase in jobs in America and elsewhere in the world in the next few years and that is absolutely great news for everyone.

Can our eye catch spooky quantum images?

(LiveScience) Quantum physics deals with the realm of the very small, and most of us never expect to see the weird world it describes. But could we? Recently, scientist Geraldo Barbosa of Northwestern University designed an experiment to answer that question.
The quantum effect Barbosa is hoping to see is called quantum entanglement, in which two or more particles can become "entangled" so that even after they are separated in space, when an action is performed on one particle, the other particle responds immediately.

A common experiment illustrating entanglement is to fire a laser at a special type of crystal. Occasionally a photon particle from the laser "splits" into two. The energy and momentum of the two new photons each add up to the value of the one originally fired.

These two "daughter" photons are entangled — if you look at the state of one photon, you know the state of the other, instantly. Einstein described this eerie connection as "spooky action at a distance."


Next, the physicists change the form of the laser beam in the experiment to create an image. They have found that the image isn't visible unless two detectors are able to "see" the photons at the same time.

While these physics experiments rely on detectors to "see" the photons and the resulting images, Barbosa foresees setting up an experiment in which a person's retinas would act as the detectors.

Chinese kid does homework on the back of father's scooter

A Chinese kid was recently photographed doing his homework while travelling on the back of his father's scooter. Chinese parents have a reputation of pressurizing their children for high grades to be able to make for the top college/university. They want their children to work hard from the beginning for securing highest paid jobs in future.

In the book "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother", Chinese American Chua, a Yale University law professor, tells how she and her husband elected to raise their two daughters the "Chinese" way.

That meant heavy pressure for top school marks, no sleepovers or watching television, and mandatory piano or violin study.In one incident, she made one of her daughters stand out in the cold for falling short on piano practice, while in another she tells guests at a dinner party how she once called her daughter "garbage" –shocking the room.

His father, dubbed an "Eagle Dad", claimed he was trying to train his son to be strong. The parents make sure that they give children all sort of tough training required to put the habit of hard work in them.

BBC boss spent £220 on workers to thank them for saving costs

A senior BBC Radio 3 executive, Bob Shennan, billed the corporation £220 for drinks as a reward to the staff for their work on cutting costs, according to newly published expense bills.
The Radio 2 controller made the claim in June last year for drinks for eight colleagues who helped implement ways to cut spending at the public broadcaster by £700million.
Mr Shennan, who also oversees BBC Radio 6 Music and the Asian Network, was in charge of the journalism "work stream" that investigated how BBC News could cut costs under the “Delivering Quality First” (DQF) proposals.
The reason for the drinks bill submitted by the former controller of BBC Radio 5 Live, whose total remuneration package is £218,800, was given as “DGF thank you drinks for journalism”.
The quarterly expenses bills were published on Tuesday along with other executive expenses for the three months to the end of September last year.

The BBC insisted that costs were coming down and pointed out that the total bill had decreased 15 per cent compared with the previous quarter, when the bill was more than £183,000.

Figures show that BBC managers spent more than £20,000 on train travel between London and the "North West" which includes Salford, Greater Manchester, home to the new MediaCity, and Liverpool.

The bills, which relate to the 101 most senior managers, who earn more than £150,000 a year or sit on one of its divisional boards, comes after a public vow to cut down on lavish claims.

The previous quarter Jessica Cecil, the £130,000 – a – year head of the director – general's office, spent £832 on dinners with other senior executives to discuss the spending DQF cuts, which will include the loss of thousands of jobs.

Among Tuesday's claims included one by BBC Creative Director Alan Yentob, who whose total pay package is £183,300, for £62.26 to "brainstorm" in May last year.

Roger Wright, the BBC Radio 3 boss, claimed £850 on a lunch in September last year for "34 key staff" who worked on a "record-breaking Proms season".

He also claimed six cab trips home costing more than £150 from late-night sessions of the Proms last year.

The BBC said this was done to avoid staying in a hotel overnight. He claimed more than £1,700 on taxis in total.

BBC's chief operating officer Caroline Thomson, usually one of the corporation's biggest cab users, claimed £566.76 on taxis from July to September, having claimed £1,748.70 on cars in the three-month period before.

The BBC's disclosure also included details of hospitality and gifts, which showed Mark Thompson, the director general, accepted tickets to the Wimbledon ladies final, the British Formula 1 Grand Prix, Glyndebourne, the opera festival and the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2.

The man in charge of the BBC's Olympics coverage accepted two free tickets to watch beach volleyball as part of a test event for the games.

The corporation's gifts and hospitality register shows Roger Mosey was a guest of credit card firm, Visa, at the August event, held at Horse Guards Parade in central London.

Mr Mosey, whose total remuneration package is £249,030, accepted "seats and hospitality" for the "London 2012 Beach Volleyball Test Event" which was won by Brazilian pair Liliane Maestrini and Angela Vieira.

A BBC spokeswoman said: “The totals for individual quarters vary given the cyclical nature of the media industry.

"This quarter has seen senior managers attend industry related conferences and events around the world as well as the transition of departments to Salford.

"The BBC is a major broadcasting organisation with production bases across the UK and a news operation that covers a constantly changing global news agenda."

She added: "There will always be unavoidable costs to keep the business running but we are mindful that we spend public money and we work hard to keep this expenditure to a minimum."They totalled nearly £157,000, an increase of nearly 30 per cent from almost £123,000 claimed in the same quarter last year.

Studied from the Telegraph.

Parents paying huge sums in school fees, despite the state school education being free

(Nez Zealand) Parents have paid over $1b in fees over the past four years to prop up state school budgets, Family First NZ has claimed.
Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ, said: "Despite the Education Act saying that state school education is free, this is completely removed from the truth. Families are forking out large amounts to help schools meet their budgets and provide core services.
"This comes on top of school stationery demands, uniform costs, course fees, travel - no wonder families are under so much financial pressure at the moment.
"We don't see any evidence that school fees are being used to fund lavish education facilities, luxurious swimming pools, or special perks for teachers or students.
Some schools would greatly struggle without these voluntary donations. And these amounts don't include the huge amount of fundraising and sweat labour performed by parents to help fund schools."

Nicolas Sarkozy says France has too many foreigners

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said there are too many foreigners in France and the system for integrating them is "working worse and worse".
In a TV debate, Mr Sarkozy defended his plan to almost halve the number of new arrivals if re-elected next month.
The president said while immigration could be a boon for France, it needed to be controlled more tightly through tougher qualification rules for residency.
Mr Sarkozy, whose father was a Hungarian immigrant, also said he wanted to restrict some benefit payments to immigrants who had been in the country for 10 years.
He has said that if re-elected, he will reduce the number of immigrants to France from 180,000 a year to 100,000 and introduce tighter controls on access to welfare benefits.


Source: bbc.co.uk

Solar Flare

Between 7 and 8 p.m.Tuesday night, the sun spit out a large, X5-class solar flare. NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center called it “one of the largest solar flares of the current solar cycle.”

X class flares are the strongest category of solar flares. According to NASA, they can trigger planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms.

These flares are often complemented by phenomena known as coronal mass ejections (CME) which are essentially bursts of solar wind. If a CME is directed toward the Earth, a geomagnetic storm results that can interfere with the Earth’s magnetosphere.

NOAA said predictions for this particular flare/CME event “are still being refined.”

SpaceWeather.com wouldn’t draw any conclusions about where the CME might go.

“First-look data from STEREO-B are not sufficient to determine if the cloud is heading for Earth,” it said.

Its “best guess” was that CME probably won’t directly head for Earth, but rather produce a “glancing blow” on March 8 or 9.

A significant solar storm can disrupt satellites, communications systems, and, in some cases, ground-based technologies and power grids. These storms also are conducive to auroras, especially at high latitudes. We will keep you posted on the predictions for this event as they are fine tuned and it draws closer.

 Source: washingtonpost.com

Google rebrands

Google has renamed its app store Android Market to Google Play. On Apple side launch of the next version of the iPad was due today.

The revamp will see all of the categories in the virtual store change names too. Music, videos and books apps, will becoming Play Music, Play Movies and Play Books.


The new look store is available as part of the latest Android 2.2 mobile update.Google Play is available on mobile, computers, laptops and Chromebooks. It allows users to buy a piece of content and access it on any device.


The repositioning of the brand to include the word Google, is being deemed a clever move by technology experts.


Rich Trenholm, the news editor of technology site CNET UK, wrote: “This [rebrand] took me by surprise, but it's a smart move.

“As enormously popular as Android phones are, Google is still a word that's far more recognisable to ordinary folk…Tech-savvy phone fans may grasp the concept of Android, but that doesn't mean friends, family and other[s] do. Mobile phones are as mainstream as it gets these days, so anything Google can do to brand its offerings as simple and unified and understandable, in words of one syllable, is going to help its cause.”

Adele's 21 Notches 23rd Week On 'Billboard 200'

Next week, Adele's unstoppable 21 is set notch a 23rd non-consecutive week at #1 on the Billboard200 thanks to sales of 247,000, according to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan. As the Grammy-winning singer closes in on 8 million sold in the U.S., Adele is on the cusp of tying on the high-water marks held by Prince's Purple Rain and the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack, which locked down the pole position for 24 weeks.

Despite some complaints about his label allegedly not putting enough product on shelves, Kid Cudi's side project, WZRD, will land at #3 on sales of 66,000.

Nostalgic fans continue to snap up anything Whitney Houston related, as three of the late diva's albums remained lodged in the top 10. Her greatest hits compilation hung in at #2 (112,000), while the soundtrack to "The Bodyguard" moved up a notch to #5 (43,000) and her self-titled debut slipped a spot to #10 (25,000). Houston's final album, 2009's I Look to You, was just outside the top 10 at #13 (24,000). Four other titles also charted in the top 50.

The rest of the top 10: Now That's What I Call Music 41 (#4, 46,000); Tyga, Careless World: Rise of the Last King (#6, 37,000); Adele, 19 (#7, 37,000); Drake, Take Care (#8, 29,000); and Rihanna, Talk That Talk (#9, 25,000).

Following its re-release in a deluxe set, Pink Floyd's legendary head trip in every key, The Wall, rocketed up 173 spots and 537 percent to #17 (20,000). In the wake of the death of singer Davy Jones, Best of the Monkees climbed to #20 position on sales of 17,000.

Suffering one of the week's biggest drop-offs was indie duo Sleigh Bells, whose second album, Reign of Terror, plummeted 66 spots in week two to #78 as sales dipped by 72 percent to nearly 8,000. Even with a wrist-slapping phone call from behind bars to promote his first studio album in eight years, Ja Rule barely made a dent on the charts with PIL2, which just dented the top 200 in its first week by coming in at 197 on sales of just over 3,000 copies.

We'll see if Adele can keep the streak going next week when she faces the recession-minded latest from Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Wrecking Ball.

(Source: Mtv)

Network says airing Palin movie not about politics

NEW YORK (AP) — The ReelzChannel television network says it scheduled a pro-Sarah Palin documentary on the same weekend as HBO's "Game Change" debut strictly for business considerations, not political ones.

"The Undefeated," a Palin documentary by conservative filmmaker Stephen K. Bannon, will have its television premiere on Sunday. It will come 23 hours after HBO opens "Game Change," based on the 2008 campaign book by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, and starring Julianne Moore as Palin.

Stan Hubbard, ReelzChannel CEO, said he licensed "The Undefeated" for the same reason that his network aired "The Kennedys" miniseries last spring after it was dropped by the History channel — to draw attention to a nearly 6-year-old network with a low public profile. ReelzChannel is in 62 million homes, a little more than half the country.

"For a young network, public relations is important to us, which is why we hunt for opportunistic things," Hubbard said.

Hubbard said he found the former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate a fascinating figure, but he wasn't trying to lionize her.
"If HBO wanted to swap movies this weekend, I'd do that in a second," he said.
Palin supporters have attacked "Game Change," although it's unclear whether any of them has seen it in advance. "The Undefeated" maker Bannon called it a "fictionalized hit-piece" and has praised ReelzChannel's "courageous" decision to air his movie.
"Game Change" actually strives for a balanced portrait, showing Palin overwhelmed at times after being thrust onto the presidential ticket and lashing out at some McCain aides but connecting with audiences and performing on big stages better than many critics and supporters expected.
"The Undefeated" focuses first on Palin's life as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, as that state's governor and on the 1998 campaign.
The writer and director of "Game Change" both welcomed "The Undefeated" onto TV.
Writer Danny Strong said he was happy for Bannon: "It's hard for a documentary to get any kind of play. I'm not concerned at all about comparisons to our piece. I just think it's another story, another element of her life."
Director Jay Roach said that any time a film can add to the conversation it's good. "I'm happy that the two films might stir it up a little bit," he said.
Since ReelzChannel announced last month that it would air "The Undefeated, Hubbard said he's gotten about an equal number of letters from people thanking him for the decision or saying they'd never watch ReelzChannel again.

"When you say 'Sarah Palin,' nobody sort of shrugs," he said. "Everybody loves her or hates her. There's no middle ground. She's so relevant because she's so intriguing."

He said he would not have sought out "The Undefeated" if Palin were seeking the presidency now, because then the argument that showing it was a political statement would carry more water.

Source: Yahoo.com

André Villas-Boas 'disrespected' Chelsea's Frank Lampard, says Alex

Fractious: Chelsea stalwart Frank Lampard was given short shrift
by Andre Villas-Boas Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Former Chelsea defender Alex has accused Andre Villas-Boas of disrespecting Frank Lampard.
Alex, who joined Paris St Germain in January after he and Nicolas Anelka handed in transfer requests, criticised Villas-Boas' treatment of Lampard than of his own.
He told O Jogo: "André is not the kind of person who talks a lot, he's someone who is a bit closed. That's just the way he is. I saw some comments of Lampard recently and I think he deserved more respect.

"It is true that a player knows he will sometimes have to stay on the bench, especially after reaching a certain age. That's not a problem. But with Lampard's history at the club, where he has more than 10 years, he deserves a word or an explanation from the manager. Fundamentally, it was a question of respect for everything that he represents for Chelsea."
But Alex questioned claims that player power drove Villas-Boas out of the club. "I think it makes little sense to say there was a hardcore who did not want André to continue," he said. "If you look carefully, John Terry and Ashley Cole always played, Didier Drogba and even Fernando Torres had lots of opportunities.
"We, the players, often have a habit when things go wrong of blaming the coach. But that's not true. Sometimes things don't go well for the team due to little details, like a lack of luck, or poor form from some of us. In the end, it was good I had a problem there because I came to a great club and city."

André Villas-Boas 'disrespected' Chelsea's Frank Lampard, says Alex

Fractious: Chelsea stalwart Frank Lampard was given short shrift
by Andre Villas-Boas Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Former Chelsea defender Alex has accused Andre Villas-Boas of disrespecting Frank Lampard.
Alex, who joined Paris St Germain in January after he and Nicolas Anelka handed in transfer requests, criticised Villas-Boas' treatment of Lampard than of his own.
He told O Jogo: "André is not the kind of person who talks a lot, he's someone who is a bit closed. That's just the way he is. I saw some comments of Lampard recently and I think he deserved more respect.

"It is true that a player knows he will sometimes have to stay on the bench, especially after reaching a certain age. That's not a problem. But with Lampard's history at the club, where he has more than 10 years, he deserves a word or an explanation from the manager. Fundamentally, it was a question of respect for everything that he represents for Chelsea."
But Alex questioned claims that player power drove Villas-Boas out of the club. "I think it makes little sense to say there was a hardcore who did not want André to continue," he said. "If you look carefully, John Terry and Ashley Cole always played, Didier Drogba and even Fernando Torres had lots of opportunities.
"We, the players, often have a habit when things go wrong of blaming the coach. But that's not true. Sometimes things don't go well for the team due to little details, like a lack of luck, or poor form from some of us. In the end, it was good I had a problem there because I came to a great club and city."

Clarke, Pattinson out of final against Sri Lanka

Australian captain Michael Clarke has been ruled out of Thursday's Commonwealth Bank Series final against Sri Lanka with a hamstring injury and his position in the one-day series against West Indies, which starts in 10 days' time, is also in doubt.

Australia coach Mickey Arthur told that James Pattinson (buttock muscle strain), would miss the third final in Adelaide.

Arthur also said that Clarke's participation in the limited-overs segment of the West Indies tour later this month was also in doubt as a result of the injury to his left hamstring.

Clarke was just two matches into his return from a right hamstring strain that had kept him out for three matches in the league stage of the tournament.

And his absence will come as a significant blow to Australia, who have lost four of their last five ODIs against Sri Lanka.

He scored 117 in the second match of his comeback, although Sri Lanka won by eight wickets to level the series, however he pulled a hamstring in the process.

Switzerland woos Saudi tourists

JEDDAH – With Spring holidays in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf just around the corner (March 23 to April 1), followed by a much longer summer vacation 4 months down the road, Switzerland has measures put in place to ensure that holidayers coming from the region would be relaxed and hassle free from the very start.
Noting that the Gulf Cooperation Council countries are a strategic market for tourism, Switzerland has unveiled this year a new set of packages to further attract Saudi tourists as well as others in the region.
The Swiss government, taking notice of the immense potential of the region, allocated CHF1.1 million (SR4.5 million) for tourism promotion in GCC.
For this year, the government forecast that tourists from the GCC would grow by 5 percent, bringing the overnights to nearly 450,000 mark.
Branding year 2012 as the "Year of Water", Switzerland Tourism will promote the theme of water in all forms, such as lakes, rivers, glaciers, activities on water; hotels on water, and health & beauty (water as a source) - with all its amenities.
In a recent Gulf tour by a delegation of the Switzerland Tourism (ST) and some representatives of various sectors of tourism in Switzerland, they noted that in 2011 alone, 7 percent or 126,360 tourists from the Gulf were Saudis.
Citing recent statistics, Jorg Peter Krebs, director for India, Middle East and Africa at Switzerland Tourism, said the citizens of GCC countries are on top of the list of biggest tourist spenders, dishing out 530 Swiss francs (SR2,172.61) a day, placing the region among the top 5 strategic growth markets of Switzerland.
This year, Switzerland Tourism unveiled a bunch of marketing packages to further increase the number of tourists from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, among them, the quicker processing of travel requirements aside from discounted prices on travel tickets and hotel rates.
Hans Stalder, consul general of Switzerland in Jeddah, said it was now easier for Saudi nationals to obtain visas to visit Switzerland.
He further said after Switzerland became part of the Schengen Agreement (Dec. 12. 2008), a traveler who gets a Schengen visa can enter Switzerland without having to obtain an extra visa.
He said Schengen visa applications for males are now processed in three days. For women and children, the visa is issued in one day and diplomats could get it on the same day.
Switzerland Tourism and its partners continuously strive to provide renewed tourism offers aimed at achieving the promotion of tourism market in the Gulf, Krebs added.
And as the prolonged eurozone debt crisis takes its toll on the European economy, impacting the Swiss tourism industry, Krebs said Switzerland Tourism sets sights on Brazil, China, India and Russia aside from the long-established prime market Saudi Arabia and the Gulf to boost Swiss tourism industry.
Moreover, to ensure high standards of comfort for travelers, Switzerland Tourism’s website was launched to assist the reservation through a database of more than 13,000 hotels, apartments, train tickets, and promote travelers transport from all over the world and to all the cities of Switzerland.

(Source: Saudi Gazette)

Short Lives for Ambitious Ones

People viewed as ambitious go to the best colleges and universities, have prestigious careers and earn high salaries, but such people don't necessarily lead more successful lives, say researchers.

Timothy Judge, professor of management at the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business, seeks to create a better understanding of ambition -a commonly mentioned but poorly understood concept in social science research- and its consequences.

"If ambition has its positive effects, and in terms of career success it certainly seems that it does, our study also suggests that it carries with it some cost," said Judge.

"Despite their many accomplishments, ambitious people are only slightly happier than their less ambitious counterparts, and they actually live somewhat shorter lives," he stated.

Tracking 717 high-ability individuals over seven decades, Judge uses multiple criteria to measure ambition during periods of participants' lives ranging from childhood to young adults just beginning their careers.

Their education ranged from attending some of the world's best universities - Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Columbia, Cornell, Northwestern, Berkeley, Oxford, and Notre Dame - to more modest educations, including high school diplomas and community college degrees.

"Ambitious kids had higher educational attainment, attended highly esteemed universities, worked in more prestigious occupations, and earned more," Judge stated.

"So, it would seem that they are poised to 'have it all.' However, we determined that ambition has a much weaker effect on life satisfaction and actually a slightly negative impact on longevity (how long people lived). So, yes, ambitious people do achieve more successful careers, but that doesn't seem to translate into leading happier or healthier lives," he explained.

Judge's new ambition study tracks individuals born in the early part of the last century and continued to follow them throughout their lives, which is how the mortality measure was derived, however it doesn't address the underlying reasons for the higher mortality of ambitious people.

"Perhaps the investments they make in their careers come at the expense of the things we know affect longevity: healthy behaviours, stable relationships and deep social networks," he said.

Most parents want their kids to be ambitious, attend the best schools and eventually have successful careers, and while it certainly isn't wrong to have those parental hopes and dreams, Judge cautions that we shouldn't delude ourselves into thinking they will make our kids happier.

"If your biggest wish for your children is that they lead happy and healthy lives, you might not want to overemphasize professional success. There are limits to what our ambitions bring us or our children," he added.

Source: Short Lives for Ambitious Ones | MedIndia http://www.medindia.net/news/short-lives-for-ambitious-ones-98490-1.htm#ixzz1oR2FysJT

Identify triggers to help manage migraines

Migraines are inconvenient, painful and can rob you of your quality of life. Effective migraine management can help reduce the frequency and severity of migraine attacks. Here are five practical ways to control your migraines and improve your quality of life:
Identify your triggers
Your first step in learning to manage your migraine should be to recognize the triggers that cause them. Triggers vary greatly from person to person, but some of the most common include stressful stimuli like bright or flashing lights, certain food or medication, physical exertion, smoking, changes in environment or changes in sleeping pattern. By learning to avoid these triggers, you may be able to lower the frequency of migraine attacks.
Dietary changes
Once you’ve identified your triggers, you need to try and avoid them. You could try keeping a diary of the food you eat over a number of weeks to see if a pattern emerges of migraines being prompted by certain foods. Some simple dietary changes can also help you ease the symptoms of migraines. Limit yourself to two caffeinated drinks each day as it tends to produce more severe headaches. Avoid non-essential fats and sugar, drink plenty of water and eat vitamin-rich fruits and vegetables. These are great ways to improve your health and reduce migraine symptoms.
Stress management
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, stress is one of the leading cause of migraines, and learning to manage your stress levels can be an effective way to lower the frequency of migraines. Regular exercise and daily personal relaxation are two of the simplest ways to relieve tension and lower your stress levels. Alternative therapies such as getting a massage or taking yoga classes may also help you to relax. Those feeling more adventurous could try biofeedback – an electronic system that monitors your body’s heart rate and tension levels and lets you know when it’s time to relax with some breathing exercises or other relaxation techniques.
Herbal remedies
Certain herbal remedies have also been known to help ease symptoms of migraines. For example, chewing raw ginger root is thought to relieve the nausea and digestive problems that often accompany migraines. Similarly, gingko will help improve and control blood circulation during migraine episodes. Many herbs can be consumed in their raw form or added or added regularly to food.
Medication
Although no cure has been discovered, a wide variety of drugs and treatments have been developed to combat migraines. Medication should be taken at the first signs of an attack, as they are most effective during the early stages. Specially designed migraine pain relievers are among the most common drugs of choice for sufferers. Drugs called triptans often prove highly effective, but can be expensive.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/02/21/identify-triggers-to-help-manage-migraines/#ixzz1oR58taDz

New Computers Respond to Students' Emotions, Boredom

Emotion-sensing computer software that models and responds to students' cognitive and emotional states -- including frustration and boredom -- has been developed by University of Notre Dame Assistant Professor of Psychology Sidney D'Mello, Art Graesser from the University of Memphis and a colleague from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. D'Mello also is a concurrent assistant professor of computer science and engineering.
The new technology, which matches the interaction of human tutors, not only offers tremendous learning possibilities for students, but also redefines human-computer interaction.
"AutoTutor" and "Affective AutoTutor" can gauge the student's level of knowledge by asking probing questions; analyzing the student's responses to those questions; proactively identifying and correcting misconceptions; responding to the student's own questions, gripes and comments; and even sensing a student's frustration or boredom through facial expression and body posture and dynamically changing its strategies to help the student conquer those negative emotions.
"Most of the 20th-century systems required humans to communicate with computers through windows, icons, menus and pointing devices," says D'Mello, who specializes in human-computer interaction and artificial intelligence in education.
"But humans have always communicated with each other through speech and a host of nonverbal cues such as facial expressions, eye contact, posture and gesture. In addition to enhancing the content of the message, the new technology provides information regarding the cognitive states, motivation levels and social dynamics of the students."
Read More:Science Daily

New Insights Into Cloud Formation

Clouds have a profound effect on the climate, but we know surprisingly little about how they form. Erika Sundén has studied how extremely small cloud particles can dispose off excess energy. This knowledge is necessary to understand processes in the atmosphere that affect global climate change.
The models that have been built to describe climate change contain a major source of uncertainty, namely the effects of clouds. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change points out in its climate report for 2007 that new knowledge is needed in this field.
It is namely the case that clouds can act in two ways: they may be a mirror that reflects radiation from the sun back into space, and they may be a blanket that seals in the heat emitted by Earth. Mapping the formation and dispersion of clouds may, therefore, be a key step in climate research.
"One important stage is understanding the fundamental properties of the particles involved," says Erika Sundén, doctoral student at the Department of Physics, University of Gothenburg.

Science Daily

Gene Therapy That Could Correct a Common Form of Blindness

A new gene therapy method developed by University of Florida researchers has the potential to treat a common form of blindness that strikes both youngsters and adults. The technique works by replacing a malfunctioning gene in the eye with a normal working copy that supplies a protein necessary for light-sensitive cells in the eye to function.
Several complex and costly steps remain before the gene therapy technique can be used in humans, but once at that stage, it has great potential to change lives.
"Imagine that you can't see or can just barely see, and that could be changed to function at some levels so that you could read, navigate, maybe even drive -- it would change your life considerably," said study co-author William W. Hauswirth, Ph.D., the Rybaczki-Bullard professor of ophthalmology in the UF College of Medicine and a professor and eminent scholar in department of molecular genetics and microbiology and the UF Genetics Institute. "Providing the gene that's missing is one of the ultimate ways of treating disease and restoring significant visual function."
After laboratory tests proved successful, the researchers expanded their NIH-funded studies and were able to cure animals in which X-linked retinitis pigmentosa occurs naturally. The injected genes made their way only to the spot where they were needed, and not to any other places in the body. The study gave a good approximation of how the gene therapy might work in humans.
"The results are encouraging and the rescue of the damaged photoreceptor cells is quite convincing," said Flannery, who is on the scientific advisory board of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, which provided some funding for the study. "Since this type of study is often the step before applying a treatment to human patients, showing that it works is critical."

Full Story on Science Daily

Exercise changes genes within minutes

Even a short bout of exercise can change your genes in ways that may ultimately make you stronger, a new study suggests.
The researchers studied genes in the muscles of men and women before and after they spent 20 minutes on an exercise machine.
After exercise, there were chemical changes in genes within the muscle cells, and these same genes were increased in expression. In other words, exercise helped "turn on" these genes, according to the study.
When the researchers made muscles contract in lab dishes, they saw similar changesto the DNA.
These changes appear to happen soon after exercise, which ultimately reprograms our cells for stronger muscles and greater endurance.
Our muscles adapt to what we do, said study researcher Juleen Zierath, of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. "If you don't use it, you lose it, and this is one of the mechanisms that allows that to happen," Zierath said.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/03/06/exercise-changes-genes-within-minutes/#ixzz1oRQqXUB1

Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo

Book Description:
Six years after the best-selling, Pulitzer Prize–winning Empire Falls, Richard Russo returns with a novel that expands even further his widely heralded achievement.

Louis Charles (“Lucy”) Lynch has spent all his sixty years in upstate Thomaston, New York, married to the same woman, Sarah, for forty of them, their son now a grown man. Like his late, beloved father, Lucy is an optimist, though he’s had plenty of reasons not to be—chief among them his mother, still indomitably alive. Yet it was her shrewdness, combined with that Lynch optimism, that had propelled them years ago to the right side of the tracks and created an “empire” of convenience stores about to be passed on to the next generation.

Lucy and Sarah are also preparing for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Italy, where his oldest friend, a renowned painter, has exiled himself far from anything they’d known in childhood. In fact, the exact nature of their friendship is one of the many mysteries Lucy hopes to untangle in the “history” he’s writing of his hometown and family. And with his story interspersed with that of Noonan, the native son who’d fled so long ago, the destinies building up around both of them (and Sarah, too) are relentless, constantly surprising, and utterly revealing.

Bridge of Sighs is classic Russo, coursing with small-town rhythms and the claims of family, yet it is brilliantly enlarged by an expatriate whose motivations and experiences—often contrary, sometimes not—prove every bit as mesmerizing as they resonate through these richly different lives. Here is a town, as well as a world, defined by magnificent and nearly devastating contradictions.

The Haunting in Connecticut (2009)

The Haunting in Connecticut is a 2009 psychological horror film produced by Gold Circle Films and directed by Peter Cornwell. It is alleged to have occurred to Karen Parker and her family, though Ray Garton, author of In a Dark Place: The Story of a True Haunting (1992), has publicly distanced himself from the accuracy of the events he depicted in the book. The film's story follows the fictional Campbells as they move into a house (a former mortuary) to mitigate the strains of travel on their cancer-stricken son, Matthew. The family soon becomes haunted by violent and traumatic events from supernatural forces occupying the house.

Although it was a moderately successful film at the box office (it grossed $77,527,732.), it received "generally unfavorable reviews" according to Metacritic. Gold Circle Films has announced the production of two more entries in the franchise, The Haunting in Georgia and The Haunting in New York. They noted, however, that neither film would be a direct sequel to Haunting in Connecticut and would instead be self-contained films with unique characters

Equestrian Styles on Show in Paris Fashion Week

Equestrian styles dominated two major collections on day six of Paris fashion week, with horse-riding vestments -- some comfortably elegant, some constrictingly racy -- the motif explored by Hermes and Givenchy.

The gaucho or Argentine cowboy inspired a cool and confident mix of clothes at the Hermes show, set in the Ecole des Beaux Arts in the heart of Paris' Saint Germain area. The location seemed to have rubbed off on the collection, with a graceful Left Bank chic softening the edge of ponchos, chaps and coats held like matador's capes.

Givenchy's Riccardo Tisci, meanwhile, turned on the horsepower for a pulse-quickening show complete with retro variations on jodphurs, riding jackets and racing boots.

In other collections, French designer Alexis Mabille revamped the school-girl bow ribbon, and Akris channelled the square silhouette -- one of the defining looks this season.

Monday's ready-to-wear shows include Chloe and Yves Saint Laurent.

HERMES
In his third collection for Hermes, the house of the jet-setting fashion buyer, Christophe Lemaire flew business-class to Argentina. His first piece introduced gentle, hanging silhouettes: a long fringed cape in dark blue was worn like a South American poncho.

Wide, low-slung pleated gaucho pants mixed with sumptuous nude leathers -- the house's signature material -- that were so soft, they moved as if they were living and breathing.

True enough: as the models walked past there was a distinct aroma of polished hide.

There were nods to the season's must-have, the boxy-jacket, with one charcoal number reworked on a high white collar, in the style of Spanish equestrian garb.

But Hermes, in typical style, was all about comfort.

The relaxed look was perfected with subtle contrasting pieces: a coat was so cool it hung from one shoulder, yet also had the fierceness of a matador's cape.

Sunday saw Lemaire's interest in the East restyled in a series of pajama-inspired dresses with intricate Persian prints that could be worn by women of all ages. And indeed the show saw models in their 40s walk down the runway.

Speaking backstage, Lemaire laughed: "We are timeless. Hermes is for individual women, whatever their age." At which point, he was cut off by 65-year-old fashion icon Jane Birkin, who came to give him a kiss.

GIVENCHY
A year ago it was panthers. Now horses have captured the imagination of Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci, whose show Sunday presented a highly charged and at times fetish-ized take on equestrian riding gear.

Jodphurs in black and sable brown shaped the silhouette of the collection's first half, with oversized earrings like horse-blinders complementing high riding boots.

As ever with Tisci, there was a sense of danger at all times with chokingly tight neck scarves, loud, troubling music, and even one skintight leather piece -- based on a sporting polo -- that looked like bondage gear.

Intentionally crude stitching in one leather dress was followed by a series of intense-color slip dresses with clashing belts -- harking back to the palette of British glam rock.

Indeed, associations with rock music have been a key factor in keeping Givenchy on the public radar in the past year.

Madonna's widely viewed performance at the American Super Bowl football championship last month was a marketing coup for the house, the singer dressed head to toe in Tisci's couture.

With P.Diddy and Alicia Keys on Sunday's front row, it's clear that Givenchy's a ticket the music stars can't resist.

ALEXIS MABILLE
The young girl next door with a pretty red bow: that was the inspiration for Alexis Mabille's fall-winter collection Sunday, which reworked the youthful bow in every imaginable way.

Girly tied-lace belting shaved years off the look of a flounce dress with chestnut bow embroidering, while diamante bow earrings put the icing on the cake of the carefree, chic gamine look.

This insouciance translated to a short skirt wardrobe. It was a blatant "sticking your tongue out" at the normal autumn covered-up look, with pleated miniskirts and short dresses in plum and black exposing yards of leg.

Just in case spectators still didn't get his point, the funky soundtrack blasted out a chorus of "mini mini mini mini," to chuckles on the front row.

In the more wintery part of the collection, he showcased a series of plumed pieces. But at times the texture-mixing looked like he was trying too hard.

One jacket embroidered entirely with messy, wild feathers and fox fur looked almost like a vixen had raided a chicken pen.

AKRIS
Proving that you don't need curves to be chic, the square look gracing runways all season hit its pinnacle in the fall-winter collection by Akris on Sunday.

Creative director Albert Kriemler's designs channeled the work of 1950s Expressionist painter Franz Kline to give an architectural, angular show of fabrics that hid womanly shapes.

A rust and nude cashmere silk floor-length dress hung like a column, focusing the eye on never-ending legs.

Vertical lined shirt dresses that blurred vision "magic eye"-style, and trapezoid jackets, lapels and prints boldly asserted the boxy style that's the big story for this fall.

The colors were taken straight from Kline canvases with a charcoal color block cape, based on "Painting No.7," reprinted in the program notes, and a pantsuit offering a dash of warmth.

"Kline's work was an exciting discovery for me," said the Swiss designer, "a 1950s artist that captures in painting, the architecture and the dynamics of fashion today."

With collections like this, Akris' already sizable fan base will no doubt continue to grow.

Sawfish Impale Prey with a Toothy Snout

Their long snouts lined with pointy teeth make sawfishes hard to miss. But just how these endangered creatures use their toothy snouts called saws hasn't been well understood.
By observing captured freshwater-dwelling Pristis microdon sawfishes, scientists have found the fish use sensors in their saws to detect other fish, their prey, and to swipe at them with enough force to impale their dinner.
The team, led by Barbara Wueringer of the University of Queensland in Australia, found that the sawfishes tore into the already dead fish they were fed, swiping side-to-side several times per second. The swipes were strong enough to split the fish in half.

Source: Discovery News

p1 China cuts growth target in bid for 'balanced economy'

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao lowered the country’s growth target for 2012 to 7.5%, lowest rate since 2004, in order to relieve pressure on prices as he called for a new emphasis on domestic consumption at the start of China’s annual parliamentary session on Monday.
Delivering his annual work report, at the opening of the National People's Congress, Wen nudged down the target from the longstanding goal of 8 percent annual growth, a move anticipated by investors expecting more focus on economic rebalancing and defusing price pressures.

"We aim to promote steady and robust economic development, keep prices stable, and guard against financial risks by keeping the total money and credit supply at an appropriate level, and taking a cautious and flexible approach," Wen said in his annual work report to the National People's Congress (NPC).

The premier named "expanding consumer demand" as his first priority for 2012, when the ruling Communist Party must also navigate a leadership handover that will send him and President Hu Jintao into retirement in a year.

"We will improve policies that encourage consumption," Wen told nearly 3,000 delegates of the Communist Party-controlled legislature, gathered under the harsh lights and high ceilings of the Great Hall of the People.

"We will vigorously adjust income distribution, increase the incomes of low- and middle-income groups, and enhance people's ability to consume," said Wen

The target of 7.5% for 2012 reflects expectations that reduced exports due to the European crisis and a fragile US recovery could dampen growth in the world's second-largest economy. But by abandoning the longstanding 8% goal the government is also signalling its desire to reshape development.

Wen set an inflation target of 4%, the same as last year, and renewed the government's pledge to curb speculation in the property market.

p1 Once murky, Lake Tahoe is clearing up

Urban stormwater runoff has long been one contributor to reduced clarity at Lake Tahoe. Most of that runoff occurs during the winter and spring, when rain and snowmelt carry small, inorganic particles from the land into the lake.


Data released today by the University of California, Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency reported the average annual clarity level for 2011 at 68.9 feet, a 4.5-foot improvement over 2010, when average clarity levels were the second-worst on record.

Winter clarity last year continued a decade-long pattern of improvement, while summer clarity continued to decline at the same rate that it has since the late 1960s, when monitoring began.

Average annual clarity in the past decade has been better than in recent decades. In 1997-1998, annual clarity reached an all-time average low of 65.1 feet. From 2001-2011 the average clarity was 70.6 feet.

Yet this year’s value is still more than two dozen feet away from the clarity restoration target of 97.4 feet set by federal and state regulators.



Read more at the original source here.

Alcoholic Stats

In 2010 there were 8,790 alcohol-related deaths in the UK, 126 more than in 2009 (8,664)
There are more alcohol-related deaths in males than in females, with 67 per cent of all alcohol-related deaths in the UK in 2010 being male.
Alcohol-related death rates were highest for those aged 55-74 and lowest for those aged under 35 over the last ten years
UK males aged 55-74 years showed a sharp and statistically signficant increase in alcohol-related death rate from 41.8 per 100,000 in 2009 to 45.2 per 100,000 in 2010.

Fear not the dark meat

Research done at the New York University School of Medicine shows that dark meat in poultry is heart healthy. Healthier than you might think. Dark meat contains a useful nutrient called taurine which lowers the risk of coronary heart disease in women with high cholesterol.Taurine also might help protect against diabetes and high blood pressure.

Doctors in US recommend eating white or light meat instead of dark meat because it is lower in saturated fat. While this much is indisputable, the NYU study demonstrates how dark meat ultimately might pack a stronger nutritional punch.

The study appears online in the European Journal of Nutrition.

Also, this aids in anti-inflammation, blood pressure regulation, healthy nerve function, the production of bile acid, which breaks down fat, and other important functions.

Green Aliens entering Antarctica

Scientists warn about the green aliens that have started to invade Antarctica thru shoes , clothing and luggage of visitors.

Although invasive insects, plants and animals have already taken root on islands near Antarctica, it wasn't entirely clear what risk outside species posed to the continent itself — typically a more formidable environment, and therefore one that is far more pristine, since only the hardiest organisms can survive there.

So a group of scientists decided to find out. Their study, which found that invasive, alien plants are finding their way to the bottom of the world, is published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"We asked a simple question — can non-indigenous species make it in Antarctica, and if so, where?" said lead author Steven L. Chown, a professor at South Africa's Stellenbosch University, and director of its Center for Invasion Biology.


To help answer that question, scientists needed to seek out any seeds that visitors were inadvertently carrying to Antarctica. The Antarctic Treaty essentially forbids the deliberate introduction of foreign species to the continent, so any interlopers are likely arriving by accident.

But how to find these tiny stowaways? A vacuum cleaner, of course.

Researchers vacuumed the clothing and baggage of nearly 1,000 volunteers — tourists, workers and scientists alike — who visited Antarctic during the 2007-2008 field season.

"They were not wearing the gear at the time," Chown told OurAmazingPlanet in an email. "Often they were amazed at what they had left in their pockets and had missed for some time."

Scientists painstakingly sorted through the pocket fluff and candy wrappers collected, and found more than 2,800 seeds — on average, about 9.5 seeds per tourist, far more for scientists. The team also identified what family the inchoate plants belonged to in nearly 90 percent of the seeds collected.

Chown said that not only was it surprising just how many seeds were making it to Antarctica, but that "so many of them are from cold climate areas such as the sub-Antarctic and Arctic," making it far more likely they'll be able to establish themselves on the Antarctic continent.

Studied from Livescience.

Pink Slime For School Lunch: Government Buying 7 Million Pounds Of Ammonia-Treated Meat For Meals

Pink slime -- that ammonia-treated meat in a bright Pepto-bismol shade -- may have been rejected by fast food joints like McDonald's, Taco Bell and Burger King, but is being brought in by the tons for the nation's school lunch program.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is purchasing 7 million pounds of the "slime" for school lunches, The Daily reports. Officially termed "Lean Beef Trimmings," the product is a ground-up combination of beef scraps, cow connective tissues and other beef trimmings that are treated with ammonium hydroxide to kill pathogens like salmonella and E. coli. It's then blended into traditional meat products like ground beef and hamburger patties.

"We originally called it soylent pink," microbiologist Carl Custer, who worked at the Food Safety Inspection Service for 35 years, told The Daily. "We looked at the product and we objected to it because it used connective tissues instead of muscle. It was simply not nutritionally equivalent [to ground beef]. My main objection was that it was not meat."

Custer and microbiologist Gerald Zernstein concluded in a study that the trimmings are a "high risk product," but Zernstein tells The Daily that "scientists in D.C. were pressured to approve this stuff with minimal safety approval" under President George H.W. Bush's administration. The USDA asserts that its ground beef purchases "meet the highest standard for food safety."

Controversy surrounding "pink slime" stems from various safety concerns, particularly dangers associated with ammonium hydroxide, which can both be harmful to eat and has potential to turn into ammonium nitrate -- a common component in homemade bombs, according to MSNBC. It's also used in household cleaners and fertilizers.


Source: huffingtonpost.com