Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Redefining Autism: Will New DSM-5 Criteria for ASD Exclude Some People?

News | Mind & Brain

Experts call for small and easy changes to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the "bible" of psychiatry, so that everyone with autism spectrum disorder qualifies for a diagnosis


autism-childDIAGNOSING THE DSM: The DSM-5 should sharpen the definition of autism, if the American Psychiatric Association makes a few tweaks in time Image: UrsaHoogle, iStockphoto

People have been arguing about autism for a long time?about what causes it, how to treat it and whether it qualifies as a mental disorder. The controversial idea that childhood vaccines trigger autism also persists, despite the fact that study after study has failed to find any evidence of such a link. Now, psychiatrists and members of the autistic community are embroiled in a more legitimate kerfuffle that centers on the definition of autism and how clinicians diagnose the disorder. The debate is not pointless semantics. In many cases, the type and number of symptoms clinicians look for when diagnosing autism determines how easy or difficult it is for autistic people to access medical, social and educational services.

The controversy remains front and center because the American Psychiatric Association (APA) has almost finished redefining autism, along with all other mental disorders, in an overhaul of a hefty tome dubbed the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)?the essential reference guide that clinicians use when evaluating their patients. The newest edition of the manual, the DSM-5, is slated for publication in May 2013. Psychiatrists and parents have voiced concerns that the new definition of autism in the DSM-5 will exclude many people from both a diagnosis and state services that depend on a diagnosis.

The devilish confusion is in the details. When the APA publishes the DSM-5, people who have already met the criteria for autism in the current DSM-IV will not suddenly lose their current diagnosis as some parents have feared, nor will they lose state services. But several studies recently published in child psychiatry journals suggest that it will be more difficult for new generations of high-functioning autistic people to receive a diagnosis because the DSM-5 criteria are too strict. Together, the studies conclude that the major changes to the definition of autism in the DSM-5 are well grounded in research and that the new criteria are more accurate than the current DSM-IV criteria. But in its efforts to make diagnosis more accurate, the APA may have raised the bar for autism a little too high, neglecting autistic people whose symptoms are not as severe as others. The studies also point out, however, that minor tweaks to the DSM-5 criteria would make a big difference, bringing autistic people with milder symptoms or sets of symptoms that differ from classic autism back into the spectrum

A new chapter
Autism is a disorder in which a child's brain does not develop typically, and neurons form connections in unusual ways. The major features of autism are impaired social interaction and communication?such as delayed language development, avoiding eye-contact and difficulty making friends?as well as restricted and repetitive behavior, such as repeatedly making the same sound or intense fascination with a particular toy.

The DSM-5 subsumes autistic disorder, Asperger's disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS)?which are all distinct disorders in DSM-IV?into one category called autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The idea is that these conditions have such similar symptoms that they do not belong in separate categories, but instead fall on the same continuum.

Essentially, to qualify for a diagnosis of autistic disorder in DSM-IV, a patient must show at least six of 12 symptoms, which are divided into three groups: deficits in social interaction; deficits in communication; and repetitive and restricted behaviors and interests. In contrast, the DSM-5 divides seven symptoms of ASD into two main groups: deficits in social communication and social interaction; and restricted, repetitive behaviors and interests. (For a closer look at the changes, read the companion piece: "Autism Is Not a Math Problem". You can also compare DSM-IV and DSM-5 criteria for autism on the APA's Web site.)

The APA collapsed the social interaction and communication groups from DSM-IV into one group in the new edition because research in the last decade has shown that the symptoms in these groups almost always appear together. Research and clinical experience has also established that heightened or dulled sensitivity to sensory experiences is a core feature of autism, which is why it appears in DSM-5 but not in the preceding version. The psychiatric community has generally applauded these changes to the criteria for ASD.

What is in question is how many of the DSM-5 criteria a patient must meet to receive a diagnosis?too many and the manual excludes autistic people with fewer or milder symptoms; too few and it assigns autism to people who don't have it. Since the 1980s the prevalence of autism has dramatically increased worldwide, especially in the U.S. where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nine per 1,000 children have been diagnosed with ASD. Many psychiatrists agree that the increase is at least partially explained by loose criteria in DSM-IV.

"If the DSM-IV criteria are taken too literally, anybody in the world could qualify for Asperger's or PDD-NOS," says Catherine Lord, one of the members of the APA's DSM-5 Development Neurodevelopmental Disorders Work Group. "The specificity is terrible. We need to make sure the criteria are not pulling in kids who do not have these disorders."

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=eba2a77f11fc7aeab7b32d62dd244c69

joe paterno died ravens ray lewis baltimore ravens steven tyler national anthem penn state paterno

Monday, January 30, 2012

Bowel Cancer Awareness Campaign Launched | TopNews New ...

Bowel-CancerAs per reports, it has got revealed that England Government has launched a campaign, Be Clear on Cancer, to raise awareness on bowel cancer. It is the first time that the government has launched a campaign of bowel cancer.

Bowel cancer is one of the leading causes of deaths in the country. As per official data, 33,000 people get diagnosed with bowel cancer in the country and 13,000 out of them have to lose their life. The main motive to launch this campaign is to increase the awareness among people about bowel cancer.

It generally occurs among people who are above 55 years and has some peculiar symptoms through which one could detect the cancer. Doctors said that if blood comes out in their stools or passes loose stools for more than three weeks then one should immediately contact their doctors.

The cancer is curable in majority of the cases but only if it gets detected early. Early detection leads to better survival chances and if one gets late then there are only 6% survival chances. If awareness is increased in this regard then it is expected that there would fewer bowel cancer cases and less deaths due to it.

This is the reason that the government has initiated and launched a campaign. Professor Sir Mike Richards, who is the Government's National Clinical Director for Cancer, said that they are quite positive that people would get enlightened about bowel cancer and there would more referrals in the NHS for bowel cancer test.

For this, they have already sent a letter to the NHS that they should be ready to tackle increased rush of people who would come for colonoscopies, a traditional way to test bowel cancer. As per Richards, the NHS could see an extra 100 colonoscopies.

Source: http://topnews.net.nz/content/221052-bowel-cancer-awareness-campaign-launched

dana wilkey dana wilkey chuck liddell chuck liddell dancing with the stars beanie wells beanie wells

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Neeson's 'The Grey' tops box office with $20M (AP)

NEW YORK ? Beware the Liam in Winter.

Liam Neeson's "The Grey" topped the weekend box office with $20 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, continuing the actor's success as an action star in the winter months.

The Alaskan survivalist thriller opened above expectations with a performance on par with previous Neeson thrillers "Taken" and "Unknown." Those films, both January-February releases, opened with $24.7 million and $21.9 million, respectively.

But the R-rated "The Grey," which has received good reviews, drove home the strong appeal of Neeson, action star. It's an unlikely turn for the 59-year-old Neeson, previously better known for his dramatic performances, like those in "Schindler's List" and "Kinsey."

"Liam is a true movie star, period," said Tom Ortenberg, CEO of Open Road Films. It's the second release for the newly formed distributor, created by theater chains AMC and Regal.

"My guess is that Liam Neeson in action thrillers would work just about any time of year."

January is often a dumping ground for less-stellar releases, a tradition held up by two badly reviewed new wide releases: "Man on Ledge," with Sam Worthington, and "One for the Money" with Katherine Heigl.

"One for the Money" fared better, earning $11.8 million, while "Man on Ledge" opened with $8.3 million.

Those were reasonably solid returns, and, in an unusual twist, were both ultimately for Lions Gate Entertainment. Its film studio, Lionsgate, released the romantic comedy "One for the Money." The action thriller "Man on Ledge" was released by Summit Entertainment, which Lions Gate bought for $412.5 million earlier this month.

"One for the Money" was helped by a promotion with Groupon, the Internet discount site, with which Lionsgate previously partnered for "The Lincoln Lawyer." David Spitz, head of distribution for Lionsgate, said the large number of older, female subscribers of Groupon matched well with the audience of "One for the Money."

Groupon email blasts, he said, had a significant promotional effect.

Last week's box-office leader, "Underworld: Awakenings," Sony's Screen Gem's latest installment in its vampire series, came in second with $12.5 million, bringing its cumulative total to $45.1 million.

The unexpectedly large haul for "The Grey," strong holdovers (such as the George Lucas-produced World War II action film "Red Tails," which earned $10.4 million in its second week) and the bump for Oscar contending films following Tuesday's nominations added up to a good weekend for Hollywood. The box office was up about 15 percent on the corresponding weekend last year.

So far, every weekend this year has been an "up" weekend, after a somewhat dismal fourth quarter in 2011.

"`Mission: Impossible,' I think, really helped reinvigorate the marketplace, and that's carried over into the first part of the year," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "That's good news for Hollywood after the down-trending box office of 2011."

Oscar favorites "The Descendants," Hugo" and "The Artist" sought to capitalize on their recent Academy Awards nominations. Each expanded to more theaters and saw an uptick in business.

Fox Searchlight's "The Descendants," which is nominated for five Oscars including best picture, added 1,441 screens in its 11th week of release. It added $6.6 million and has now made $58.8 million, making it one of Fox Searchlight's most successful releases.

Sheila DeLoach, senior vice president of distribution for Fox Searchlight, said the film's nominations and its recent Golden Globes wins (for best drama and best actor, George Clooney) "played a big role" in its weekend box office.

Paramount's "Hugo," which led Oscar nominations with 11 including best picture, saw a 143 percent jump in business over its last weekend. In its tenth week of release, it earned $2.3 million, bringing its total to $58.7 million.

The Weinstein Co.'s "The Artist," with 10 Oscar nominations including best picture, expanded a modest 235 screens to bring it to a total of 897 screens in its 10th week of release. It earned $3.3 million, with a total of $16.7 million.

The Weinstein Co. is being careful with the black-and-white, largely silent film. Thus far, it has appealed particularly to older audiences.

"It's not the same type of picture as any other picture in the marketplace," said Erik Loomis, head of distribution for the Weinstein Co. "Now that the nominations are out, we're going to look to capitalize on it as best we can. ... We're being very, very meticulous with it. We're not throwing it out there and grabbing every theater we can. At some point, we'll open the floodgates on the movie, maybe closer to the awards."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Grey," $20 million.

2. "Underworld: Awakening," $12.5 million.

3. "One for the Money," $11.8 million.

4. "Red Tails," $10.4 million.

5. "Man on Ledge," $8.3 million.

6. "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," $7.1 million.

7. "The Descendants," $6.6 million.

8. "Contraband," $6.5 million.

9. "Beauty and the Beast," $5.3 million.

10. "Haywire," $4 million.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_en_ot/us_box_office

darlene love free kindle books roasted potatoes turkey recipes turkey recipes happy holidays norad

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Paul braves snowy Maine in hunt for GOP delegates (AP)

WATERVILLE, Maine ? Ron Paul braved Maine's snow and ice Friday in a quest to pick up delegates, vowing he and his loyal band of supporters would be a factor in the Republican nominating contest for weeks to come.

The Texas congressman attracted a packed house in Bangor despite a powerful winter storm that shuttered schools and brought traffic to a virtual standstill.

Feisty and defiant, Paul said he had watched a television segment that morning in which pundits debated how Republicans should try to manage Paul and his fervent backers.

"They want us to go away, but they don't want to offend us. How are they going to manage that?" Paul said to boos. "I'll tell you what ? we'll just hang around for a while longer."

Paul is all but skipping Florida, whose primary is Jan. 31, to focus on Maine and other states holding caucuses, including Nevada, Colorado and Minnesota. Nevada's caucuses are Feb. 4 and Colorado and Minnesota's follow on Feb. 7.

Paul's campaign is following President Barack Obama's 2008 model, hoping a similarly young, Internet-savvy fan base will organize themselves and attend caucuses for Paul. The caucus states also yield a large number of delegates for far less money than many primary states.

The comparison to Obama's 2008 campaign has its limits, however. Obama had racked up at least one major victory ? a huge win in the Iowa caucuses ? before turning to the smaller-state caucus strategy. Paul has yet to win a single contest.

His best showing was in the New Hampshire primary, where he placed second behind Mitt Romney. But he came in third in Iowa behind Romney and Rick Santorum and placed a dismal fourth last Saturday in South Carolina's first-in-the-South primary.

Paul was spending two days in Maine, campaigning on or near college campuses, which have typically been receptive to his libertarian-leaning message.

At Colby College in Waterville, he emphasized his support for bringing U.S. troops home from overseas engagements and railed against what he called government's efforts to regulate lifestyle choices.

"When it comes to putting anything into your body, or your mouth, in your lungs, you can't do it without permission of the government," Paul said.

Maine's caucuses begin Feb. 4 and wrapping up on Feb. 11, when the GOP will announce the results of what is essentially a nonbinding straw poll.

The gatherings in schools, Grange halls, fire stations and town halls are the first step to selecting 24 delegates from the state to the Republican National Convention in Tampa next summer.

Charles Welles, 34, a Waterville resident and Navy veteran, said he supports Paul's views on ending military engagements and wants to vote for him. But Welles said he was still a bit confused by the caucus process.

"I'm from Ohio, so this is all new to me," Welles said.

Paul and Romney were both on the ballot in Maine's 2008 caucuses and have maintained active organizations in the state. The former Massachusetts governor finished first that year. Paul came in third, behind Arizona Sen. John McCain, who went on to win the GOP nomination.

Maine, often an afterthought compared to its next-door neighbor, New Hampshire, tends to reward candidates who are organized and make an effort to show up to court voters, Colby political science professor Sandy Maisel said.

Maisel noted that Gov. Jerry Brown of California, who was out of office at the time, won Maine's Democratic caucuses in 1992 after making frequent trips to the state.

The enthusiasm among Paul's supporters could help him prevail in Maine, Maisel added.

"The GOP has a very low turnout and it tends to be the most ideological people, which favors Ron Paul," he said.

Paul state chairman Paul Madore was guarded about setting expectations, saying GOP officials in the state would press for a more traditional candidate like Romney.

We have a rank-and-file Republican leadership in Maine, and they don't budge easily," Madore said. "We have to get in there and make our presence heard."

___

Sharp reported from Portland, Maine.

___

Follow Beth Fouhy on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bfouhy

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_el_pr/us_paul

space ball jim mora the weeknd echoes of silence gio gonzalez san francisco fire patti labelle the weeknd

Reader: Demi Moore is too rich to be exhausted





>>> with new details on demi moore 's health scare. her publicist is claiming she sought treatment for exhaustion. but this morning there are indications that may not be the whole story. nbc's mike taibbi is outside sherman oaks hospital in california with more. hey, mike, good morning.

>> reporter: good morning, ann. well it's certainly been a rough patch for the 49-year-old actress. and that number, her age, 49, appears to be a key element in this phase of her story. if she was celebrated by many for her marriage to ashton kutcher , an unlikely marriage, an actor 16 years her junior, this appears to be the flip side . what can happen when it all goes wrong. in october, after the break-up, demi moore looked beyond thin. emaciated, unhealthy, some friends said. of her hospitalization, her publicist said because of the stresses in her life right now, demi has chosen to seek professional assistance to treatment her exhaustion and improve her overall health. she looks forward to getting well. but "people" magazine is saying it's more than exhaustion.

>> there are reports that she had a seizure and she was shaking. one thing that is clear is that prescription drugs seem to have played a role in her being brought here.

>> reporter: moore had sought treatment for substance abuse in the early '80s and in the '90s her career soared with starring roles in films like "ghost" and "a few good men." and her marriage to megastar, bruce willis and their eventual divorce provided fodder for the tabloids. on tuesday, their daughter, rumor willis , spent time at sherman oaks hospital where her mother was rushed for treatment. the ending of moore 's marriage to kutcher, supposed by a breaking point.

>> her life seemed to be spiraling a bit and it wasn't something she could take control of herself.

>> reporter: and she couldn't control the march of time, either. the woman who relied on her physical talents to work a dancer's pole in "striptease" to outmacho the men in " g.i. jane " a and to not them dead in her mid 40s. recently told harper's "bazaar" i have a love-hate relationship with my body.

>> we've seen ashton kutcher at a concert. he's certainly not rushing back to be in los angeles .

>> reporter: not rushing back to a woman now struggling, a famous woman, soon to be 50, who said in that same recent interview, that what scares her is she might find out that i'm really not lovable. that i'm not worthy of being loved. that there's something fundamentally wrong with me. moore 's publicist also says the actress is pulling out of a planned biopic of the porn star, linda lovelace , she was to have played the feminist, gloria steinham.

>>> alisha quarrels, is the global editor for and the author of "weekends at bellevue." dr. holland, walk us through what exactly getting professional assistance to treat exhaustion and improve overall health would entail?

>> well the first thing is a physical exam , how much do you weigh, how much are you eating, what is your blood sugar , kidneys working, and just a psychiatric examination , to see if somebody is psychotic or depressed or suicidal. a global examination for starters.

>> how long would that take in the hospital?

>> i could do it in 15 minutes . but -- it can take days.

>> so the tests, for the tests to come back, it could take hours, if not days.

>> would the patient necessarily stay in the hospital for days?

>> psychiatric, it's going to take days to figure out what's going on. bellevue, you have 72 hours to make an assessment of what's going on.

>> alisha , how defensible is the reporting that the problem here may also be prescription drugs ?

>> you know, those are unsubstantiated reports and we're not inside of her life, we don't know that we've seen it happen with hollywood actresses time and time again. so when people hear exhaustion, the red flags go up. when you think about it, she's going through this very public divorce. they have three children, she's a director, actress. and can you imagine going through all that and being a famous actress, i'm exhausted.

>> so that's defensible, the idea of exhaustion.

>> but doctor, you're saying the idea that one out of every four women take some form of prescription drugs . when used correctly, that's probably not an issue. how can they be used incorrectly?

>> one of the problems is mixing medicines with alcohol. you know, certainly sedatives like sleeping pills or anti-anxiety medicines, if you're mixing them with alcohol, you're getting them in trouble. taking them not as prescribed, taking too much, mixing pills.

>> are they have these drugs in this category, drugs that can use to sort of limit your appetite, to cause you to -- or have the effect of causing you to lose a lot of weight?

>> on some of the antidepressants, wellbutrin can cause you to lose your appetite. and cocaine cuts your appetite. heroin doesn't cut your appetite, but it can make you not feel hunger pains .

>> is it abused in that way? do some women abuse his drugs for that purpose?

>> definitely, i think you can do stimulants that will also cut your appetite. women abuse pills to lose weight , no question.

>> we don't know what the situation is in this particular case. we do know that demi has now had to back out of a movie in which she was going to play gloria steinham. how much of an impact might this have on her career, given the circumstances?

>> i don't think it will have a major impact. i've been interviewing her for years, i was there in 2003 when she did the big comeback in haie's angels." she left hollywood to raise her children and was brought back after all of those years. i think people understand she was going through a hard time . a public break-up. she said in an interview she feels betrayed by her body. we're forgiving people, understanding people. everyone has been affected by divorce in one way or another. i think people wish her well.

>> i think a lot of women empathize with some of these issues. thank you so much, alisha and doctor, thank you so much.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46164370/ns/today-entertainment/

anne mccaffrey amazon promotional code artificial christmas trees bean bag chairs android tablet arthur christmas asus transformer

Friday, January 27, 2012

Economy grew modest 2.8 pct. in Q4, best in 2011 (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The U.S. economy grew at a 2.8 percent annual rate in the final three months of last year, the fastest growth in 2011.

Americans spent more on cars and trucks, and companies restocked their shelves at the strongest pace in nearly two years. But growth in the October-December quarter ? and all of last year ? was held back by the biggest annual government spending cuts in four decades.

The Commerce Department said Friday that the economy grew just 1.7 percent last year, roughly half of the growth in 2010 and the worst since the recession.

Most economists expect businesses to ease up on restocking in the first three months of the year. That should slow first-quarter growth. And consumers may cut back on spending if their wages continue to lag inflation.

In the final three months of last year, consumer spending grew at a 2 percent annual rate. That's up modestly from the third quarter.

Much of the growth was powered by a 14.8 percent surge in sales of autos and other long-lasting manufactured goods.

Incomes, which have been weak all year because of high unemployment, grew at a modest 0.8 percent annual rate. That followed two straight quarters of declining incomes.

Consumer spending is important because it makes up 70 percent of economic activity.

Business restocking, which can vary widely from quarter to quarter, was the greatest contributor to growth in the October-December period. It added nearly 2 percentage points to the gross domestic product, or GDP.

Government spending at all levels fell at an annual rate of 4.6 percent in the fourth quarter and 2.1 percent for the year ? the biggest decline since 1971. Sweeping federal defense cuts at the beginning and end of 2011 were a major factor.

The economy is measured GDP, which covers everything from haircuts to hotel bookings to jet fighter planes. Friday's estimate was the first of three for the fourth quarter.

Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics, said growth is likely to slow in the first three months of this year to below 2 percent. That's largely because business restocking will slow.

"Overall, the pickup in growth doesn't look half as good when you realize that most of it was due to inventory accumulation," Ashworth said.

But not all economists agree that the first quarter of this year will be weak.

Ian Shepherdson, an economist at High Frequency Economics, said business investment in capital goods should be stronger, consumer spending firmer and government activity less of a drag.

Other data show the economy ended 2011 on a strong note. Companies invested more in equipment and machinery in December. The unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent last month ? the lowest level in nearly three years ? after the sixth straight month of solid hiring.

People are buying more cars, and consumer confidence is rising. Even the depressed housing market has shown enough improvement to make some economists predict a turnaround has begun.

Still, many economists worry that a recession in Europe could dampen demand for U.S. manufactured goods, which would slow growth. And without more jobs and better pay, consumer spending is likely to stagnate.

The Federal Reserve signaled this week that a full recovery could take at least three more years. In response, it said it would probably not increase its benchmark interest rate until late 2014 at the earliest ? a year and a half later than it had previously said.

The central bank also slightly reduced its outlook for growth this year, from as much as 2.9 percent forecast in November down to 2.7 percent. The Fed sees unemployment falling as low as 8.2 percent this year.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_bi_ge/us_economy

war of 1812 jeffrey eugenides jeffrey eugenides volcker rule matthew stafford brady quinn brady quinn

Robert Hegyes, played Epstein on 'Kotter,' dies (AP)

METUCHEN, N.J. ? The actor best known for playing Jewish Puerto Rican student Juan Epstein on the 1970s TV show "Welcome Back Kotter" has died.

The Flynn & Son Funeral Home in Fords, N.J., says it was informed of Robert Hegyes' death Thursday by the actor's family. He was 60.

A spokesman at JFK Medical Center in Edison, N.J., told the Star-Ledger newspaper that Hegyes, of Metuchen, arrived at the hospital in the morning in full cardiac arrest and died.

Hegyes was appearing on Broadway in 1975 when he auditioned for "Kotter," a TV series about a teacher who returns to the inner-city school of his youth to teach a group of remedial students. They included the character Vinnie Barbarino, played by John Travolta.

Hegyes appeared on many other TV series, including "Cagney & Lacey."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obits/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_en_tv/us_obit_robert_hegyes

joe pa dead laura dekker stephen colbert south carolina seal keystone pipeline mitt romney seal and heidi klum

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Macworld Enters 3rd Year Post-Apple; Is it Still Relevant? (Mashable)

The annual Macworld exposition begins on Thursday in San Francisco, and for the twenty-eighth consecutive year will bring together Apple fans, users and developers. But this installment adds a new twist -- and a new name. It's now billed as Macworld | iWorld, which better captures "the essence of what a mobile lifestyle is," according to event general manager Paul Kent.

[More from Mashable: iPhone 5 Will Have 4-Inch Screen, Launch in Summer [RUMOR]]

As part of that emphasis, this year's convention will include a festival of films exclusively shot on iPhones and how-to sessions about ways to better leverage Apple's mobile-friendly technology. Macworld | iWorld will also feature the traditional assortment of lectures and product demonstrations. Artists and musicians will showcase work created using Apple products. The event runs Thursday through Saturday.

But Macworld | iWorld also faces a challenge: Three years after Apple's final appearance at the event, can it remain relevant to fans and consumers?

[More from Mashable: iPad to Kindle Fire: You?re Irrelevant]

Kent said the showcase is aware of the challenge but believes it still has great utility as a way for fans and consumers to talk to developers, get their hands on new apps, and pick up useful tips and hints in a unique way.

"We answer the question of, 'What do I do now?' after people have walked out of the Apple Store with their new Mac or iPhone or iPad," he said in an interview.

"The tools are so powerful and accessible that you ramp up much differently that you do using Windows or Android," Kent added.


Lost Its Luster?


One longtime Mac developer told Mashable that the event may have lost some of its luster since Apple pulled out, but that it still has significance within the Mac-loving community.

"I think it's still relevant, but whether it's as relevant is hard to judge," said Christopher Allen, who has developed applications for Mac since 1984 and written books for iOS users.

Allen is attending this year's event to do marketing for his new app, Infinite Canvas. He said that Macworld's smaller scale since Apple left -- the event reportedly drew 44,000 attendees in 2007 when Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone, compared to 22,000 attendees last year -- offers people like himself a set of costs and benefits.

"At its height, Macworld was starting to take on some of the challenges of CES, where it was getting so huge it was hard for a small company to get visibility," he said. "But now that we're a smaller Macworld, it might be a little easier to get the word out."

But Allen added it has become harder to find Apple engineers and evangelists to network and market products with, formerly a major benefit of the show. And smaller attendance numbers also mean fewer sales.

"Before, small developers could basically show up and pay for their booth through sales but now I'm not quite as confident that's possible," he said. "Now it's more of a pure marketing expense for a small developer, although they have made some good strides to improve that, like opening up on Saturday for more consumers to come through."


Still Relevant


Kent and other organizers, meanwhile, remain bullish on the potential and relevance of Macworld -- or, as it's known now, Macworld | iWorld. Mashable got a preview of the event as it was being set up on Wednesday, and it looks to be an "insanely great," to borrow the term, showcase for lovers of Apple products. Its larger relevance in the market, however, will remain to be seen.

"If people recognize this is not a trade show -- it's a lifestyle event -- then it will work for them on so many levels," Kent said. "If we've made the experience of using these products even more pleasurable through education, product discovery, performance and everything else here, then we will have really done our job."

What do you think? Three years after Apple's withdrawal, is Macworld | iWorld still relevant to you? Let us know in the comments

Also, click through the slideshow below to check out Mashable's behind-the-scenes look at what to expect this year at Macworld | iWorld.

1. Building Macworld | iWorld


The main exhibit hall was still being put together when we got to visit. Viewed here as you enter, it will feature a mobile hub to the right and software stations to the left.

Click here to view this gallery. Thumbnail image courtesy of www.macworldiworld.com. All gallery images exclusive to Mashable unless otherwise noted.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/applecomputer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/mashable/20120125/tc_mashable/macworld_enters_3rd_year_postapple_is_it_still_relevant

the civil wars cinnamon rolls krampus robert de niro winner of x factor cheesecake recipe leona lewis

5 things not in the State of the Union (Politico)

What gets into a State of Union matters. What doesn?t matters too ? sometimes just as much.

President Barack Obama embraced his base Tuesday night by affirming his commitment to Israel, clean energy, economic equality and immigration. He also placated his supporters by avoiding a few sensitive subjects.

Continue Reading

Here?s POLITICO?s list of the top 5 things that didn?t make Tuesday?s State of the Union.

Israeli-Palestinian Peace Negotiations

Obama took time out to talk about Israel ? key for securing Jewish support in November.

?Our iron-clad ? and I mean iron-clad ? commitment to Israel?s security has meant the closest cooperation between our two countries in history,? Obama said, adding the second ?iron-clad? to the prepared version of the speech. He?s also likely to get applause for the tough line he took against Iran over its nuclear program.

But Obama avoided any mention of peace negotiations ? and of the trouble he faced for his unsuccessful effort to jump-start them.

Since Palestinians formally applied for statehood at the United Nations in September, despite pleas from the U.S. not to do so, Obama could have addressed the topic this year. He did in his 2009 message to Congress, when he referred to the special envoy appointment of former Sen. George Mitchell, who ultimately resigned last May.

Obama did pay tribute to the Arab Spring democracy movement, welcoming the demise of Libya?s Muammar Qadhafi and warning that Syria?s Bashir Assad?s government ?will soon discover that the forces of change can?t be reversed.? But he left discussions of the negotiations over the region?s thorniest problem to another day.

Keystone XL Pipeline

Obama?s speech Tuesday night was chock-a-block with mentions of energy ? 23 in all. Not one of them was about the major decision he made just last week to reject ? at least for now ? plans to build a massive, 1700-mile long pipeline to carry oil sands from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The Keystone project pits two major Democratic constituencies ? environmentalists and labor ? against one another. Greens oppose the pipeline not just because of the acquifer issue, but because processing and burning the oil sands has a heavy greenhouse gas impact. Unions are eager for the thousands of jobs involved in constructing it. Obama chose to incite neither.

But Republicans wouldn?t let the night go by without mentioning it. The party views the pipeline rejection as a perfect example of Obama?s unwillingness to make job creation a priority. In the official GOP response to the president?s speech, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels warned against ?the extremism that?cancels a perfectly safe pipeline that would employ tens of thousands.?

Anti-piracy legislation

The showdown over the Stop Online Privacy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act consumed both chambers of Congress last week. But there wasn?t a peep about it from the president?s podium Tuesday night.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories0112_71935_html/44296058/SIG=11mo6bolb/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71935.html

9 11 lightning dominica fiji fiji ruby tuesday aliens

Could Alzheimer's disease be diagnosed with a simple blood test?

Could Alzheimer's disease be diagnosed with a simple blood test? [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 25-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Joan Robinson
joan.robinson@springer.com
49-622-148-78130
Springer

Pilot study suggests infrared analysis of white blood cells is a promising strategy for diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

Spanish researchers, led by Pedro Carmona from the Instituto de Estructura de la Materia in Madrid, have uncovered a new promising way to diagnose Alzheimer's disease more accurately. Their technique, which is non-invasive, fast and low-cost, measures how much infrared radiation is either emitted or absorbed by white blood cells. Because of its high sensitivity, this method is able to distinguish between the different clinical stages of disease development thereby allowing reliable diagnosis of both mild and moderate stages of Alzheimer's. The work is published online in Springer's journal Analytical & Bioanalytical Chemistry.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of adult onset dementia and is characterized by the degeneration of the nervous system. In particular, as the disease progresses, the amount of amyloid- peptide in the body rises. At present, the most reliable and sensitive diagnostic techniques are invasive, e.g. require analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (the liquid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord). However, white blood cells (or mononuclear leukocytes) are also thought to carry amyloid- peptide in Alzheimer patients.

The researchers used two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy to measure and compare the infrared radiation emitted or absorbed by white blood cells of healthy controls, versus those of patients with mild, moderate and severe Alzheimer's disease. A total of 50 patients with Alzheimer's and 20 healthy controls took part in the study and gave blood samples.

The authors found significant differences in the range of infrared wavelengths displayed between subjects, which were attributable to the different stages of formation of amyloid- structures in the blood cells. The results showed that, with this method, healthy controls could be distinguished from mild and moderate sufferers of Alzheimer's disease. The method is being explored as a tool for early diagnosis.

The authors conclude: "The method we used can potentially offer a more simple detection of alternative biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease. Mononuclear leukocytes seem to offer a stable medium to determine -sheet structure levels as a function of disease development. Our measurements seem to be more sensitive for earlier stages of Alzheimer's disease, namely mild and moderate."

###

Reference
Carmona P et al (2012). Infrared spectroscopic analysis of mononuclear leukocytes in peripheral blood from Alzheimer's disease patients. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry; DOI 10.1007/s00216-011-5669-9

The full-text article is available to journalists on request.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Could Alzheimer's disease be diagnosed with a simple blood test? [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 25-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Joan Robinson
joan.robinson@springer.com
49-622-148-78130
Springer

Pilot study suggests infrared analysis of white blood cells is a promising strategy for diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

Spanish researchers, led by Pedro Carmona from the Instituto de Estructura de la Materia in Madrid, have uncovered a new promising way to diagnose Alzheimer's disease more accurately. Their technique, which is non-invasive, fast and low-cost, measures how much infrared radiation is either emitted or absorbed by white blood cells. Because of its high sensitivity, this method is able to distinguish between the different clinical stages of disease development thereby allowing reliable diagnosis of both mild and moderate stages of Alzheimer's. The work is published online in Springer's journal Analytical & Bioanalytical Chemistry.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of adult onset dementia and is characterized by the degeneration of the nervous system. In particular, as the disease progresses, the amount of amyloid- peptide in the body rises. At present, the most reliable and sensitive diagnostic techniques are invasive, e.g. require analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (the liquid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord). However, white blood cells (or mononuclear leukocytes) are also thought to carry amyloid- peptide in Alzheimer patients.

The researchers used two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy to measure and compare the infrared radiation emitted or absorbed by white blood cells of healthy controls, versus those of patients with mild, moderate and severe Alzheimer's disease. A total of 50 patients with Alzheimer's and 20 healthy controls took part in the study and gave blood samples.

The authors found significant differences in the range of infrared wavelengths displayed between subjects, which were attributable to the different stages of formation of amyloid- structures in the blood cells. The results showed that, with this method, healthy controls could be distinguished from mild and moderate sufferers of Alzheimer's disease. The method is being explored as a tool for early diagnosis.

The authors conclude: "The method we used can potentially offer a more simple detection of alternative biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease. Mononuclear leukocytes seem to offer a stable medium to determine -sheet structure levels as a function of disease development. Our measurements seem to be more sensitive for earlier stages of Alzheimer's disease, namely mild and moderate."

###

Reference
Carmona P et al (2012). Infrared spectroscopic analysis of mononuclear leukocytes in peripheral blood from Alzheimer's disease patients. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry; DOI 10.1007/s00216-011-5669-9

The full-text article is available to journalists on request.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/s-cad012512.php

when will ios 5 be released ipod nano watch ipod nano watch dancing with the stars elimination dancing with the stars elimination nexus prime nexus prime

Photo from NASA Mars orbiter shows wind's handiwork

ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2012) ? Some images of stark Martian landscapes provide visual appeal beyond their science value, including a recent scene of wind-sculpted features from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

The scene shows dunes and sand ripples of various shapes and sizes inside an impact crater in the Noachis Terra region of southern Mars. Patterns of dune erosion and deposition provide insight into the sedimentary history of the area.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been examining Mars with six science instruments since 2006. Now in an extended mission, the orbiter continues to provide insights about the planet's ancient environments and about how processes such as wind, meteorite impacts and seasonal frosts are continuing to affect the Martian surface today. This mission has returned more data about Mars than all other orbital and surface missions combined.

More than 20,600 images taken by HiRISE are available for viewing on the instrument team's website: http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu. Each observation by this telescopic camera covers several square miles, or square kilometers, and can reveal features as small as a desk.

HiRISE is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson. The instrument was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter project is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, also in Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft.

For more information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, see www.nasa.gov/mro.

Recommend this story on Facebook, Twitter,
and Google +1:

Other bookmarking and sharing tools:


Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120125160623.htm

wade phillips new orleans hornets time person of the year sag nominations sag nominations derek jeter time magazine person of the year

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Beijing begins measuring tiny air pollutants (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? Beijing began disclosing the amount of tiny pollution particles in the air on Saturday, in a move that could improve disclosure but alarm a public barely resigned to the capital's choking smog.

The new measurement of particles of 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter, or PM2.5, comes after growing attention to air quality in Beijing, one of the world's most heavily polluted capitals, from Chinese as well as foreigners.

"So that the people can form a relatively complete understanding of the Beijing air quality, the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center will publish hourly 2.5 data from January 21," the center said on its website, www.bjmemc.com.cn.

On Saturday, a clear crisp day that contrasted with the thick smog earlier in the week, the Beijing Center reported between 0.003 micrograms-0.062 microgram per cubic meter of PM2.5 particles in the air, Xinhua said.

"It shows that the government is responding to popular concerns about air pollution," said Steven Andrews, an environmental consultant who has studied Beijing air pollution since 2006.

"It's a recognition by the government that the way it was monitored and reported in the past didn't reflect people's perception of how serious the problem is."

The data will be collected from a monitoring station in the Chegongzhuang area of the second ring road, which encircles the center city, the Xinhua news agency said.

Chinese experts had earlier criticized as "unscientific" a single monitoring point on the roof of the U.S. Embassy, which releases hourly air quality data via a widely followed Twitter feed.

China previously disclosed readings only of pollutant particles that are 10 micrometers in diameter or larger. Doctors warn that the tiny floating PM 2.5 particles can settle in the lungs more easily and cause respiratory problems and other illnesses.

Earlier in the week, the U.S. Embassy labeled the air pollution in Beijing as hazardous after its PM2.5 reading topped its maximum reading of 500 micrograms per cubic meter.

A reading of 250 or above over a 24-hour period is hazardous, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Environment Minister Zhou Shengxian said in December that China would begin nationwide collecting of PM2.5 data from 2016.

While Beijingers complain, serious soil and water pollution also plagues the rest of the country.

On Saturday, firefighters in the southern region of Guangxi sprayed 80 tons of aluminum chloride, a neutralizing agent, into the Longjiang River after levels of the heavy metal cadmium were found to be three times the official limit, Xinhua said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/environment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/hl_nm/us_beijing_airpollutants

direct tv lion king photon lake powell reno nevada lion king 3d lion king 3d

The next "Bachelorette": single mom Emily Maynard (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? ABC has announced Emily Maynard, the single mom who accepted Brad Womack's final rose in the season 15 finale of "The Bachelor," is single -- again -- and ready to mingle -- again -- on the eighth season of "The Bachelorette."

Maynard, the first single mom to star on "The Bachelorette," will have her choice of 25 bachelors on the show's upcoming season, which premieres in the spring.

Maynard is "hoping that third time is the charm," according to ABC's press release. Before her ill-fated engagement to Womack -- the two announced their breakup in June -- Maynard was engaged to NASCAR driver Ricky Hendrick, who died in a plane crash in 2004.

She was pregnant with their daughter, Ricki, now six, when Hendrick died, and is now hoping to meet "someone who makes her laugh, doesn't take himself too seriously and can be her best friend."

(Editing by Chris Michaud)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/tv_nm/us_bachelorette

indoor football league newt gingrich wife callista rick perry travis barker terrell owens terrell owens

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Bonnie and Clyde guns bring $210,000 in Missouri auction (Reuters)

KANSAS CITY, Mo (Reuters) ? Two guns believed seized from gangsters Bonnie and Clyde in 1933 after a deadly Missouri shootout with police sold for a combined $210,000 at an auction on Saturday in Kansas City to an unnamed online bidder.

The bidder paid $130,000 for a .45-caliber Thompson submachine gun, known as a "Tommy gun" in gangster slang. The same bidder paid $80,000 for an 1897 12-gauge Winchester shotgun.

"We're happy," said auctioneer Robert Mayo, owner of Mayo Auction & Realty, which held the auction attended by more than 100 people. As for the bid prices, Mayo said, "Nothing ever surprises me."

Mayo had not put an estimated value on the guns but said pre-auction online bids had reached $35,000 for the Tommy gun. Three weeks ago, a Missouri gun dealer who once sold a pistol owned by 19th-century outlaw Frank James predicted the Tommy gun would bring at least $25,000.

The guns were seized after a police shootout with Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in Joplin, Missouri, on April 13, 1933. Police raided an apartment where the couple was hiding out. Bonnie and Clyde escaped, but two officers died in the shootout.

A police officer later gave the weapons to Mark Lairmore, a Tulsa police officer, and they remained in the Lairmore family, according to a Mayo account of the guns' history.

A great-grandson of Lairmore, also named Mark Lairmore, said the family no longer saw a need for the guns, which had been in a police museum in Springfield, Missouri, from 1973 until late last year.

Several people bid in person on the guns on Saturday, including Michael Brown, who said he was representing a group that wanted the guns for a gangster museum planned in Las Vegas. He bid nearly as much as the winning bidder on each gun and said he especially wanted the Tommy gun.

"There are very few guns with the historic value of that one," Brown said as he left the building to catch a plane back to Las Vegas. Brown said he hadn't planned to bid on the second gun but did so after losing out on the Tommy gun. He said he was surprised the second gun went so high.

Mayo talked up the Tommy gun during the bidding as a "unique opportunity to own a piece of history" and he predicted the weapons would sell for much more in the years ahead.

Bonnie and Clyde history buff John Mahoney of Overland Park, Kansas, said he couldn't resist attending the auction, though he said he had no plans to make a bid.

"Curiosity got the best of me," Mahoney said. "I'd love to own one, but they are out of my price range."

(Reporting By Kevin Murphy; Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Cynthia Johnston)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120121/us_nm/us_guns_auction_bonnieclyde

patrice o neal. osteopathy osteopathy diphtheria diphtheria del rio del rio

Geoengineering and global food supply

Geoengineering and global food supply [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 22-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Ken Caldeira
kcaldeira@carnegie.stanford.edu
650-704-7212
Carnegie Institution

Washington, D.C. -- Carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of coal, oil, and gas have been increasing over the past decades, causing the Earth to get hotter and hotter. There are concerns that a continuation of these trends could have catastrophic effects, including crop failures in the heat-stressed tropics. This has led some to explore drastic ideas for combating global warming, including the idea of trying to counteract it by reflecting sunlight away from the Earth. However, it has been suggested that reflecting sunlight away from the Earth might itself threaten the food supply of billions of people. New research led by Carnegie's Julia Pongratz examines the potential effects that geoengineering the climate could have on global food production and concludes that sunshade geoengineering would be more likely to improve rather than threaten food security. Their work is published online by Nature Climate Change January 22.

Big volcanoes cool the planet by placing lots of small particles in the stratosphere, but the particles fall out within a year and the planet heats back up. One proposal for cooling the planet is to use high-flying airplanes to constantly replenish a layer of small particles in the stratosphere that would scatter sunlight back to space. But such so-called sunshade geoengineering could have unintended consequences for climate, and especially for precipitation.

Although scientists know that climate change in recent decades has negatively impacted crop yields in many regions, the study by Pongratz and colleagues is the first to examine the potential effect of geoengineering on food security. Pongratz's team, which included Carnegie's Ken Caldeira and Long Cao, as well as Stanford University's David Lobell, used models to assess the impact of sunshade geoengineering on crop yields.

Using two different climate models, they simulated climates with carbon dioxide levels similar to what exists today. A second set of simulations doubled carbon-dioxide levels levels that could be reached in several decades if current trends in fossil-fuel burning continue unabated. A third set of simulations posited doubled carbon dioxide, but with a layer of sulfate aerosols in the stratosphere deflecting about 2% of incoming sunlight away from the Earth. The simulated climate changes were then applied to crop models that are commonly used to project future yields.

The team found that, in the model, sunshade geoengineering leads to increased crop yields in most regions, both compared with current conditions and with the future projection of doubled carbon dioxide on its own. This is because deflecting sunlight back to space reduces temperatures, but not CO2. "In many regions, future climate change is predicted to put crops under temperature stress, reducing yields. This stress is alleviated by geoengineering," Pongratz said. "At the same time, the beneficial effects that a higher CO2 concentration has on plant productivity remain active."

Even if the geoengineering would help crop yields overall, the models predict that some areas could be harmed by the geoengineering. And there are other risks that go beyond the direct impact on crop yields. For example, deployment of such systems might lead to political or even military conflict. Furthermore, these approaches do not solve the problem of ocean acidification, which is also caused by carbon dioxide emissions.

"The real world is much more complex than our climate models, so it would be premature to act based on model results like ours," Caldeira said. "But desperate people do desperate things. Therefore, it is important to understand the consequences of actions that do not strike us as being particularly good ideas."

"The climate system is not well enough understood to exclude the risks of severe unanticipated climate changes, whether due to our fossil-fuel emissions or due to intentional intervention in the climate system," Pongratz said. "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is therefore likely a safer option than geoengineering to avert risks to global food security."

###

The Department of Global Ecology was established in 2002 to help build the scientific foundations for a sustainable future. The department is located on the campus of Stanford University, but is an independent research organization funded by the Carnegie Institution. Its scientists conduct basic research on a wide range of large-scale environmental issues, including climate change, ocean acidification, biological invasions, and changes in biodiversity.

The Carnegie Institution for Science (carnegiescience.edu) is a private, nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with six research departments throughout the U.S. Since its founding in 1902, the Carnegie Institution has been a pioneering force in basic scientific research. Carnegie scientists are leaders in plant biology, developmental biology, astronomy, materials science, global ecology, and Earth and planetary science.



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Geoengineering and global food supply [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 22-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Ken Caldeira
kcaldeira@carnegie.stanford.edu
650-704-7212
Carnegie Institution

Washington, D.C. -- Carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of coal, oil, and gas have been increasing over the past decades, causing the Earth to get hotter and hotter. There are concerns that a continuation of these trends could have catastrophic effects, including crop failures in the heat-stressed tropics. This has led some to explore drastic ideas for combating global warming, including the idea of trying to counteract it by reflecting sunlight away from the Earth. However, it has been suggested that reflecting sunlight away from the Earth might itself threaten the food supply of billions of people. New research led by Carnegie's Julia Pongratz examines the potential effects that geoengineering the climate could have on global food production and concludes that sunshade geoengineering would be more likely to improve rather than threaten food security. Their work is published online by Nature Climate Change January 22.

Big volcanoes cool the planet by placing lots of small particles in the stratosphere, but the particles fall out within a year and the planet heats back up. One proposal for cooling the planet is to use high-flying airplanes to constantly replenish a layer of small particles in the stratosphere that would scatter sunlight back to space. But such so-called sunshade geoengineering could have unintended consequences for climate, and especially for precipitation.

Although scientists know that climate change in recent decades has negatively impacted crop yields in many regions, the study by Pongratz and colleagues is the first to examine the potential effect of geoengineering on food security. Pongratz's team, which included Carnegie's Ken Caldeira and Long Cao, as well as Stanford University's David Lobell, used models to assess the impact of sunshade geoengineering on crop yields.

Using two different climate models, they simulated climates with carbon dioxide levels similar to what exists today. A second set of simulations doubled carbon-dioxide levels levels that could be reached in several decades if current trends in fossil-fuel burning continue unabated. A third set of simulations posited doubled carbon dioxide, but with a layer of sulfate aerosols in the stratosphere deflecting about 2% of incoming sunlight away from the Earth. The simulated climate changes were then applied to crop models that are commonly used to project future yields.

The team found that, in the model, sunshade geoengineering leads to increased crop yields in most regions, both compared with current conditions and with the future projection of doubled carbon dioxide on its own. This is because deflecting sunlight back to space reduces temperatures, but not CO2. "In many regions, future climate change is predicted to put crops under temperature stress, reducing yields. This stress is alleviated by geoengineering," Pongratz said. "At the same time, the beneficial effects that a higher CO2 concentration has on plant productivity remain active."

Even if the geoengineering would help crop yields overall, the models predict that some areas could be harmed by the geoengineering. And there are other risks that go beyond the direct impact on crop yields. For example, deployment of such systems might lead to political or even military conflict. Furthermore, these approaches do not solve the problem of ocean acidification, which is also caused by carbon dioxide emissions.

"The real world is much more complex than our climate models, so it would be premature to act based on model results like ours," Caldeira said. "But desperate people do desperate things. Therefore, it is important to understand the consequences of actions that do not strike us as being particularly good ideas."

"The climate system is not well enough understood to exclude the risks of severe unanticipated climate changes, whether due to our fossil-fuel emissions or due to intentional intervention in the climate system," Pongratz said. "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is therefore likely a safer option than geoengineering to avert risks to global food security."

###

The Department of Global Ecology was established in 2002 to help build the scientific foundations for a sustainable future. The department is located on the campus of Stanford University, but is an independent research organization funded by the Carnegie Institution. Its scientists conduct basic research on a wide range of large-scale environmental issues, including climate change, ocean acidification, biological invasions, and changes in biodiversity.

The Carnegie Institution for Science (carnegiescience.edu) is a private, nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with six research departments throughout the U.S. Since its founding in 1902, the Carnegie Institution has been a pioneering force in basic scientific research. Carnegie scientists are leaders in plant biology, developmental biology, astronomy, materials science, global ecology, and Earth and planetary science.



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/ci-gag012012.php

generators lesean mccoy while you were sleeping while you were sleeping happy halloween happy halloween history of halloween

Obama can win big with FDR formula (Politico)

Franklin D. Roosevelt wasn?t always ?Franklin D. Roosevelt.?

As President Barack Obama delivers his State of Union Address on Tuesday and devises his reelection strategy, he should understand the implications of this statement and act on them. Whether this election will have major consequences for our future and what Obama?s place in history will be could both depend on the willingness of the president and Democrats to do so.

Continue Reading

Obama and his advisers are likely tempted to opt for a stand-pat reelection effort because of the improving unemployment numbers. That may be enough to get him reelected. But it won?t be the sort of transformative election that could secure his place in history as a great president ? which acting on that FDR statement could achieve.

To understand why, look to the seemingly schizophrenic results of two recent polls. A December Gallup Poll found that 64 percent of Americans see Big Government as the nation?s largest threat, while only 26 percent see Big Business as the greatest threat.

A month earlier, however, 75 percent of Americans surveyed in a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll said that ?the current economic structure of the country is out of balance and favors a very small proportion of the rich over the rest of the country,? the ?power of major banks and corporations? needs to be reduced and the rich should not receive tax breaks. Sixty percent strongly agreed with this. Only 12 percent disagreed, 6 percent strongly.

How can overwhelming majorities believe both that the power of Big Business needs to be reduced and Big Government is a greater threat than Big Business?

The answer is in another response in that November poll: 74 percent said Obama has ?fallen short? of expectations in ?improving oversight of Wall Street and the banks.? Only 18 percent said he lived up to expectations. By 66 percent to 29 percent, respondents said Obama hasn?t lived up to their expectations in ?standing up to Big Business and special interests.?

So the reason most Americans fear Big Government more than Big Business is that the former has failed to control the latter ? and instead assumed the role of enabler.

If Obama were to stand up to big business, the public?s view of government ? and him ? could improve rapidly.

That brings us back to the statement above about Roosevelt and how it affects the 2012 elections ? since high, if declining, unemployment is probably the greatest obstacle to Obama?s reelection. No president for more than 70 years has been reelected with unemployment above 7.5 percent ? as it is likely to be in November.

If we go a little further back, however, unemployment was at 16.9 percent in 1936. FDR was reelected that year with 60.8 percent of the popular vote, carrying all but two states and winning the Electoral College vote 523 to 8.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories0112_71830_html/44281052/SIG=11mvgmasc/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71830.html

oomph

Is this an image of the LG Optimus 3D 2?

What you see before you is either the deranged rantings of a lunatic, or the second generation of LG's Optimus 3D, erm, 3D smartphone. Currently codenamed "CX2," the handset's packing a new NOVA autostereoscopic display for better brightness, an unnamed 1.2GHz dual-core TI CPU and an NFC module. What isn't changing is the dual five-megapixel cameras, the 8GB storage or the display's size or resolution. Our biggest gripe with the device was its heft, but if the rumors are true, it's slimmed down from 12mm to 10mm: making it significantly more pocket-friendly. Our palms are sweating in anticipation as Mobile World Congress inches ever closer to revealing the truth.

Is this an image of the LG Optimus 3D 2? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourcePocketnow  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/23/lg-optimus-3d-2-rumor/

google x lisfranc injury lisfranc injury ronan ronan diane sawyer clay matthews