laity markedly: May 2013

Friday, May 31, 2013

Researchers identify novel approach to create red blood cells, platelets in vitro

Public release date: 30-May-2013
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Contact: Jenny Eriksen
jenny.eriksen@bmc.org
617-638-6841
Boston University Medical Center

Finding could reduce need for blood donations, speed up research on therapies to treat diseases

(Boston) A study led by Boston University School of Medicine has identified a novel approach to create an unlimited number of human red blood cells and platelets in vitro. In collaboration with Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) and Boston Medical Center (BMC), the researchers differentiated induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into these cell types, which are typically obtained through blood donations. This finding could potentially reduce the need for blood donations to treat patients requiring blood transfusions and could help researchers examine novel therapeutic targets to treat a variety of diseases, including sickle cell disease.

Published online in the journal Blood, the study was led by George J. Murphy, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at BUSM and co-director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine (CReM) at Boston University and BMC and performed in collaboration with David Sherr, PhD, a professor in environmental health at BUSM and BUSPH.

iPS cells are derived by reprogramming adult cells into a primitive stem cell state that are capable of differentiating into different types of cells. iPS cells can be generated from mature somatic cells, such as skin or blood cells, allowing for the development of patient-specific cells and tissues that should not elicit inappropriate immune responses, making them a powerful tool for biological research and a resource for regenerative medicine.

In this study, the iPS cells were obtained from the CReM iPS Cell Bank. The cells were exposed to growth factors in order to coax them to differentiate into red blood cells and platelets using a patented technology. These stem cells were examined in depth to study how blood cells form in order to further the understanding of how this process is regulated in the body.

In their new approach, the team added compounds that modulate the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) pathway. Previous research has shown this pathway to be involved in the promotion of cancer cell development via its interactions with environmental toxins. In this study, however, the team noted an exponential increase in the production of functional red blood cells and platelets in a short period of time, suggesting that AhR plays an important role in normal blood cell development.

"This finding has enabled us to overcome a major hurdle in terms of being able to produce enough of these cells to have a potential therapeutic impact both in the lab and, down the line, in patients," said Murphy. "Additionally, our work suggests that AhR has a very important biological function in how blood cells form in the body."

Blood transfusion is an indispensable cell therapy and the safety and adequacy of the blood supply is an international concern. In 2009, the National Blood Data Resource Center reported that blood-banking institutions collected more than 17 million units of whole blood and red blood cells and US hospitals were transfusing more than 15 million patients annually. Given the variety of blood types, there are even in developed countries chronic shortages of blood for some groups of patients. Sporadic shortages of blood also can occur in association with natural or man-made disasters. The number of blood transfusions is expected to increase in people over the age of 60 and could lead to an insufficient blood supply by 2050.

"Patient-specific red blood cells and platelets derived from iPS cells, which would solve problems related to immunogenicity and contamination, could potentially be used therapeutically and decrease the anticipated shortage and the need for blood donations," added Murphy.

iPS-derived cells have great potential to lead to a variety of novel treatments for diseases given that they can be used to construct disease models in a lab. The iPS-derived red blood cells could be used by researchers examining malaria and sickle cell anemia while the iPS-derived platelets could be used to explore cardiovascular disease and treatments for blood clotting disorders.

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Funding for this study was provided in part by the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) under grant award number U01 HL107443-01; a Scholar Award from the American Society of Hematology; an Affinity Research Collaborative award from the Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Research at BU; a training grant from the NIH's NLHBI under award number 5T32HL007501-30; the NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences under grant award numbers P01-ES11624 and P42ES007381; and the Art beCAUSE Breast Cancer Foundation.

To view an abstract of the study, visit http://bloodjournal.hematologylibrary.org/content/early/2013/05/29/blood-2012-11-466722.abstract.

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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.

Researchers identify novel approach to create red blood cells, platelets in vitro

Public release date: 30-May-2013
[ | E-mail |

Share ]

Contact: Jenny Eriksen
jenny.eriksen@bmc.org
617-638-6841
Boston University Medical Center

Finding could reduce need for blood donations, speed up research on therapies to treat diseases

###

To view an abstract of the study, visit http://bloodjournal.hematologylibrary.org/content/early/2013/05/29/blood-2012-11-466722.abstract.

[ | E-mail |

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/2013-05/bumc-rin053013.php

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Was the fish you had for dinner caught by slaves? New report raises alarm.

A new report out by an Environmental Justice Foundation documents widespread use of Burmese forced labor in the Thai fishing industry.?The US is one of the largest importers of Thai fish products.

By Flora Bagenal,?Contributor / May 30, 2013

A Thai fisherman catches freshwater white tilapia fish at a fish farm in Samut Prakarn province, June 2012.

Sukree Sukplang/Reuters/File

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Thailand's multibillion-dollar fishing industry is facing allegations of using slave labor, following the publication of an investigation into the exploitation of migrant workers on shrimping ships.

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The report, ?Sold to the Sea: human trafficking in Thailand's fishing industry,? was published?Wednesday?by the British-based NGO the?Environmental Justice Foundation?(EJF). It documents the case of 15 Burmese workers, beaten and abused at the hands of a Thai fishing crew, who forced them to work more 20 hours a day for little or no money. The men, who are now in custody after being rescued, reported seeing other Burmese workers murdered by crew members on the ships in Kantang in southern Thailand.?

EJF and other anti-trafficking groups are calling for Thailand to be downgraded in the US state department?s annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, which grades the scale and severity of trafficking globally on a three-tiered scale.?

However, some analysts doubt the US would actually take the step to relegate Thailand to a lower status, given the two countries? close trade and tourist ties. America is the No. 1 purchaser of Thai fish products, including tuna and shrimp. In 2011, Thai frozen and fresh exports to the US were valued at $1.8 billion.

The TIP report, due out next month, has put Thailand on the Tier 2 Watch List for three consecutive years and the US has warned that the country could face lowered status if promises by the Thai authorities to clear up the industry are not followed up on. Earlier this month, Thailand?s deputy prime minister, Surapong Tovichak Chaikul, met with Secretary of State John Kerry on a visit to the US in which he promised reforms and urged his counterpart not to downgrade Thailand.

Relegation to Tier 3 would rank Thailand among the worst countries for trafficking in the world and could lead to restrictions on US foreign aid and access to global financial institutions including the World Bank.

Thai authorities are yet to comment on the report but analysts said its findings were unsurprising.?

?We have known about these abuses for a long time,? says Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. ?The Thai authorities have consistently avoided investigating this issue despite a growing body of evidence.?

The investigation by EJF is based on interviews with six of the Burmese workers who were taken into custody by the Thai authorities in March after five months at sea.

The men said they were deceived by labor brokers, who promised work and then sold them to the ships? senior crew. On board they said they were detained against their will and regularly beaten.

Two of the men reported seeing at least five fellow migrant workers tortured, killed, and thrown over board for trying to escape. Another man said he saw multiple bodies tossed out to sea by crew members, who forced workers to watch as they beat them to death.

"We were shocked by the extreme levels of violence inflicted on and witnessed by migrant men held as captive workers on these boats,? said Steve Trent, executive director of EJF in a statement.??This is not an isolated case, but indicative of the widespread acceptance and use of modern?slavery?in an industry that feeds a global appetite for seafood."

The report also documents collusion between the traffickers and the Thai authorities, who are accused of failing to properly investigate the case and breaking procedures by allowing the traffickers access to the victims once they were in custody. Statements recorded by the Burmese also allege police forced them to work on a rubber plantation owned by a senior member of the force and paint a police cell.

"We have been genuinely surprised by the levels of collusion by agents of the state, who instead of stopping these awful human rights abuses, are ignoring and even benefiting from it," Mr. Trent said.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/H0_-RtjI7OQ/Was-the-fish-you-had-for-dinner-caught-by-slaves-New-report-raises-alarm

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Mobile Connectivity in Africa: Increasing the Likelihood of Violence ...

Regarding the above picture of DRC government troops with their mobile phones, Alexis Madrigal from the Atlatinc wrote in his column last year:

I don?t know what to say about this photograph aside from suggesting that an enterprising PhD student write a dissertation on ?Cell Phones in War.? How are fighting, killing, and controlling territory different when you can call your brother after battle, post a photo of your squadron on the march to Facebook, or play Angry Birds between skirmishes?

Part of the answer to Alexis? question comes in a newly published article in the?American Political Science Review?by postdoctoral fellow Jan Pierskalla and PhD candidate Florian Hollenbach (ht the Monkey Cage).

In a nutshell, the authors? findings suggest that cell phone coverage in Africa increases the likelihood of political violence. The abstract is below:

The spread of cell phone technology across Africa has transforming effects on the economic and political sphere of the continent. In this paper, we investigate the impact of cell phone technology on violent collective action. We contend that the availability of cell phones as a communication technology allows political groups to overcome collective action problems more easily and improve in-group cooperation, and coordination. Utilizing novel, spatially disaggregated data on cell phone coverage and the location of organized violent events in Africa, we are able to show that the availability of cell phone coverage signi?cantly and substantially increases the probability of violent con?ict. Our ?ndings hold across numerous different model speci?cations and robustness checks, including cross-sectional models, instrumental variable techniques, and panel data methods.

It will be interesting to see how this paper resonates with different audiences, such as the ICT4D community and political scientists. Some have already started to question the methodology and underlying assumptions in the paper.

But despite the findings of this study, like it or not, at some point technology cheerleaders will have to come to terms with a simple fact: if technology helps us overcome problems of collective action, there?s no reason to believe that this can only happen when it comes to virtuous collective action. And it shouldn?t take a PhD to know that.

Read the full paper here [PDF].

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Source: http://democracyspot.net/2013/05/30/mobile-connectivity-in-africa-increasing-the-likelihood-of-violence/

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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Obama administration extends life of anti-foreclosure program

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Thursday said it was extending the life of its signature foreclosure-prevention program by two years to help more struggling borrowers keep their homes.

The Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, was to expire at the end of this year.

When it was unveiled in 2009, the administration estimated it would help 3 million to 4 million homeowners avoid foreclosure by reworking loan terms. So far, however, only about 1.1 million homeowners have benefited from a permanent mortgage modification under the program.

"The housing market is gaining steam, but many homeowners are still struggling," said Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. "Extending the program for two years will benefit many additional families while maintaining clear standards and accountability for an important part of the mortgage industry."

The program, which draws from the Treasury Department's financial bailout fund, pays lenders and servicers to rewrite loan terms for borrowers who can't make their current mortgage payments.

The administration has refined the program since its inception to broaden its reach, including expanding eligibility and increasing payments to mortgage companies that lower borrowers' monthly payments.

Still, of the $29.9 billion in bailout funds allocated for HAMP and other housing programs, the Treasury had spent only about $5.2 billion through March.

Officials declined to estimate how many more borrowers would benefit from HAMP's extension. In addition to borrowers who have received loan modifications, the Treasury said the program had provided an example for the mortgage industry on how to best adjust mortgages for those needing aid.

But the program has been faulted by both Democrats and Republicans and by federal watchdogs for the high number of recipients who default on mortgages after getting the government aid.

"This decision solidifies the Obama administration's place atop the list of the nation's biggest subprime lenders," said Representative Jeb Hensarling, the Republican chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

"HAMP is a costly and abject failure that takes money from hardworking taxpayers, bails out banks that made bad loans, and forces Americans who struggle to pay their own mortgages to also pay their neighbor's," Hensarling, of Texas, said.

Last year, the Obama administration offered incentives to encourage government-run Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to use the principal-write-down component of HAMP. However, the companies' regulator has blocked them from doing so, saying the potential benefits to homeowners do not clearly outweigh the potential costs to taxpayers.

(Reporting by Margaret Chadbourn; Editing by Vicki Allen)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-administration-extends-life-anti-foreclosure-program-143042120.html

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Mighty Eagle -- NASA's robotic prototype lander -- gets a new view

May 30, 2013 ? The Mighty Eagle, NASA"s robotic prototype lander managed out of NASA"s Marshall Space Flight Center, recently completed a test series to monitor its systems functionality after coming out of winter storage. This latest series included a test flight that was recorded by the Quad-Copter -- a small vehicle also developed at Marshall that was equipped with a video camera allowing for never-before-seen footage of the Mighty Eagle.

The Mighty Eagle, nicknamed after one of the characters in the popular Angry Birds game, is a three-legged prototype vehicle. It is 4 feet tall, 8 feet in diameter and weighs about 700 pounds when fueled. It is a green vehicle, fueled by 90 percent pure hydrogen peroxide, and is guided by an onboard computer that activates the thrusters to power the craft's movements.

"We were approached by the Mighty Eagle team to film the vehicle in flight, and we thought it would be a great collaboration," said Garrick Merrill, a member of the Aero-M team and a computer engineer in the Space Systems Department at Marshall. "It gave us an opportunity to test the copter in a flight situation, and we were really pleased with the results. It really was a win-win situation for both teams -- giving us both important data we can use on future flights."

The Quad-Copter is an achievement in itself. The vehicle was designed and built by the Aero-M team at Marshall as part of the 2012 Unmanned Aerial Systems, or UAS, competition between various NASA centers. The Marshall team was made up of young engineers from across the center who were tasked with designing a vehicle that could perform an autonomous search and rescue mission to locate people after a small plane crash. The Quad-Copter is built with off-the-shelf, hobbyist-grade parts and uses an open-source flight computer. The initial design of the vehicle uses a two-megapixel IP camera, but for the Mighty Eagle flights the IP camera was removed and a GoPro video camera was attached to provide high-definition video.

"Working with the Aero-M team has been great," said Jason Adam, flight manager for the Mighty Eagle. "The data we have been able to get from seeing the flight in a way we"ve not before will be really helpful as we prepare for future flights."

Those future flights include a new test series for the Mighty Eagle in July that will be demonstrating a system fitted on the vehicle for optical hazard avoidance. Roughly 200 tons of dirt from a quarry in the western United States will be brought in by rail to simulate a celestial body. The vehicle will then work through a series of tests to demonstrate the new system"s ability to detect hazards that could cause damage to the vehicle during an actual lunar landing situation. The data will be used to develop hazard avoidance systems for potential future small robotic missions. The Mighty Eagle team intends to collaborate with the Quad-Copter team for a similar flight in July.

The "Mighty Eagle" lander was developed by the Marshall Center and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., for NASA Headquarters' Planetary Sciences Division, Science Mission Directorate. Key partners in this project include the Von Braun Center for Science and Innovation, which includes the Science Applications International Corporation, Dynetics Corp., and Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc., all of Huntsville.

NASA will use the Mighty Eagle and its larger counterpart, the Project Morpheus prototype lander -- being tested at NASA's Johnson Space Center -- to mature the technology needed to develop a new generation of small, smart, versatile robotic landers capable of achieving scientific and exploration goals on the surface of planetary bodies.

For more information on NASA's robotic landers, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/lunarquest/robotic/index.html

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/MmL8DI9_03M/130530101244.htm

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Video: Dow Was Up 218 At Session High

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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/cnbc/52027058/

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Nanomedicines' impact on patients under the microscope

May 29, 2013 ? A pioneering imaging technique to track the effects of next-generation nanomedicines on patients has been harnessed by a University of Strathclyde academic.

Professor Dr M. N. V. Ravi Kumar and Dr Dimitrios Lamprou, of the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, believe an advanced form of atomic force microscopy, known as PeakForce QNM, could boost developments in the field of nanomedicines, the encapsulation of potent drugs in tiny particles measuring billionths of a meter in diameter. They described how this detailed imaging approach may also help scientists address growing concerns in the medical world around "nanotoxicology," the build-up of microscopic particles in people's tissues.

Professor Kumar, whose team's research article has been published in the journal PLOS ONE, said: "Nanotechnology's role in drug delivery has the power to transform the way patients are given medicines over the next decade or so.

"In the case of traditional medicines, such as tablets and capsules, only a limited amount of drug -- thought to be around five to 15 per cent for the majority of compounds -- makes it through the gut into patients' blood. The good thing about nanomedicines is that -- unlike as is the case with traditional tablets and capsules -- the drugs are not released in the gut. Instead, nanomedicines are absorbed intact and release the encapsulated drugs directly into bodily tissues, including the blood, offering the possibility to reduce the required dose without compromising the therapeutic effects.

"All medicines are combined with what are known as 'excipients' -- inactive substances which give them the desired bulk and consistency and their role is restricted to the gut. However, the excipients such as polymers, used to formulate the nanoparticle-encapsulating drugs may exhibit undesired effects when they are absorbed through the gut wall. Scientists want to know if nanoparticle-based drugs can have any adverse effects on patients -- and, in particular, if they cause more harm than good in some cases.

"Up until now, little has been known about what happens after nanoparticles circulate throughout the body and if they raise any safety issues for the patient. Previously, it was necessary for nanoparticles to be given a fluorescent or radioactive label, in order to allow scientists to be able to identify and track them. However, by using PeakForce QNM atomic force microscopy we can, for the first time, track where these nanoparticles are going throughout the body after oral administration -- without attaching any fluorescent or radioactive labels and by using the real drug loaded nanoparticles. In particular, we can identify if they are accumulating in specific areas, causing what is known as 'tissue stiffness' -- a condition linked to a variety of diseases, including cancer."

Professor Kumar said it is known that tumours are more rigid -- or stiff -- when compared with surrounding healthy tissues. In addition, recent studies using atomic force microscopy have also shown it is possible to distinguish between non-malignant and malignant tumours cells, on the basis of their relative stiffness.

Professor Kumar added: "The ability of atomic force microscopy to study biomechanical profiles will be an asset in efforts to better understand the difference in tissue stiffness between tissues treated with nanoparticles and those not treated with nanoparticles, how long any associated tissue stiffness persists, and if it disappears quickly. Importantly, it will also help to establish whether or not there is a correlation between the number of nanoparticles present in blood and their accumulation in other tissues. By understanding more about blood stiffness, we will be able to learn more about nanotoxicology generally, and how that affects patients.

"By using atomic force microscopy in this way, we may in future be able to analyse patients' blood and tell if, for example, nanomaterials are accumulating in their livers or arterial walls, causing stiffness which -- if it persists long enough -- may increase their chances of developing diseases.

"Another benefit of nanoparticles is that -- if used at an early stage of the research -- they could save pharmaceutical firms money by reducing the number of drugs that fail at the development stage. These cost savings could then be reinvested into the research and development of new drugs to treat patients."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/dSOa2WEv_Jw/130529101517.htm

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Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Aqua is a major international Earth Science satellite mission centered at NASA.

Aqua is a major international Earth Science satellite mission centered at NASA. Launched on May 4, 2002, the satellite has six different Earth-observing instruments on board and is named for the large amount of information being obtained about water in the Earth system from its stream of approximately 89 Gigabytes of data a day. The water variables being measured include almost all elements of the water cycle and involve water in its liquid, solid, and vapor forms. Additional variables being measured include radiative energy fluxes, aerosols, vegetation cover on the land, phytoplankton and dissolved organic matter in the oceans, and air, land, and water temperatures. The primary science objective of the Earth Observing System (EOS) Aqua mission is the study of Earth's interrelated physical processes with an emphasis on the water cycle. Primary variables of interest include: ocean evaporation, atmospheric water vapor, clouds, terrestrial snow, land ice, sea ice, sea surface temperature, precipitation, and soil moisture. Additional variables include: radiative energy fluxes, atmospheric temperatures, humidities, aerosols, land vegetation cover, and ocean productivity.

Oklahoma tornado was stronger than Hiroshima bomb: How?

When the conditions are exactly right ??and they were, for the tornado that devastated Oklahoma City yesterday ??a tornado can unleash more power than the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

By Seth Borenstein,?Associated Press / May 21, 2013

Left, a neighborhood in Moore, Okla., left in ruins on May 4, 1999, after a tornado flattened many houses and buildings in central Oklahoma. Right, flattened houses in Moore on May 20, 2013. Monday's powerful tornado in suburban Oklahoma City loosely followed the path of a killer twister that slammed the region in May 1999.

AP Photo

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Everything had to come together just perfectly to create the killer?tornado?in Moore, Okla.: wind speed, moisture in the air, temperature and timing. And when they did, the awesome energy released over that city dwarfed the power of the atomic bomb that leveled Hiroshima.

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On Tuesday, the National Weather Service gave it the top-of-the-scale rating of EF5 for wind speed and breadth, and severity of damage. Wind speeds were estimated at between 200 and 210 mph. The death count is 24 so far, including at least nine children. The United States averages about one EF5 a year, but this was the first in nearly two years.

To get such an uncommon storm to form is "a bit of a Goldilocks problem," said Pennsylvania State University meteorology professor Paul Markowski. "Everything has to be just right."

For example, there must be humidity for a?tornado?to form, but too much can cut the storm off. The same goes with the cold air in a downdraft: Too much can be a storm-killer.

But when the ideal conditions do occur, watch out. The power of nature beats out anything man can create.

"Everything was ready for explosive development yesterday," said Colorado State University meteorology professor Russ Schumacher, who was in Oklahoma launching airborne devices that measured the energy, moisture and wind speeds on Monday. "It all just unleashed on that one area."

Several meteorologists contacted by The Associated Press used real time measurements, some made by Schumacher, to calculate the energy released during the storm's 40-minute life span. Their estimates ranged from 8 times to more than 600 times the power of the Hiroshima bomb, with more experts at the high end. Their calculations were based on energy measured in the air and then multiplied over the size and duration of the storm.

An EF5?tornado?has the most violent winds on Earth, more powerful than a hurricane. The strongest winds ever measured were the 302 mph reading, measured by radar, during the EF5?tornado?that struck Moore on May 3, 1999, according to Jeff Masters, meteorology director at the Weather Underground.

Still, when it comes to weather events, scientists usually know more about and can better predict hurricanes, winter storms, heat waves and other big events.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/0MhY9mG-8rw/Oklahoma-tornado-was-stronger-than-Hiroshima-bomb-How

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Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Wrestling leader confident of IOC reprieve ? Artesia News

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) ? As the man leading wrestling?s charge to preserve its Olympic status, Nenad Lalovic believes he?s done what it takes.

Three months after wrestling was surprisingly dropped from the 2020 Games, Lalovic will present a new-look sport and revamped governing body to the IOC on Wednesday in a bid to keep its Olympic place.

?I?m confident,? Lalovic, the new president of international federation FILA, said Tuesday. ?A lot of people say to me, ?Oh, you won?t face any problem here.? But we?ll see. We did everything we could. Nothing else was possible.

?We will continue, no matter what we will be decided here. It?s a new sport.?

Wrestling is competing against seven other sports for a single opening on the 2020 lineup. The others are a combined baseball-softball bid, karate, roller sports, sport climbing, squash, wakeboarding and the Chinese martial art of wushu.

The federations will make closed-door presentations to the IOC executive board, which will decide which sport or sports to recommend to the IOC general assembly for a final vote Sept. 8 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The IOC board will likely select three or four finalists. Wrestling, squash and karate have been cited as strong contenders. Men?s baseball and women?s softball, which have been off the program since the 2008 Beijing Games, have merged into a single federation to improve their chances.

The addition of wrestling to the mix has not gone over well with all the sports, who feel that it is overshadowing the contest and reducing their own chances. If wrestling is reinstated in September, that will defeat the IOC?s original goal of bringing in a new sport.

Lalovic, a Serb who replaced Switzerland?s Raphael Martinetti as FILA president, isn?t concerned about the plight of the other sports.

?They are a little bit surprised,? he said. ?They had two years to prepare. We had three months. We are here because we were not good enough. They have to think about their sport. We don?t think about their sport. We think about our sport, and we prepare ourselves without watching what?s going on around us.?

Wrestling, a sport with a tradition dating to the ancient Olympics, has gone through a major upheaval since it was dropped by the IOC in February. Lalovic was elected FILA president, women and athletes were brought into decision-making roles, and the sport adopted a series of rule changes designed to make wrestling more fan-friendly and easier to understand.

Among the changes, matches will consist of two 3-minute sessions instead of three 2-minute periods, and scoring will be cumulative instead of the previous best-of-three system.

?We had the strength to change,? Lalovic said of his message to the IOC. ?We already did and we will continue. We made mistakes in the past, for sure. Now we are looking forward. We don?t look back.?

Among the countries in which the decision will be watched closely is the United States, where wrestling has a strong Olympic tradition and 300,000 high school students compete in the sport.

?The Olympic Games is the ultimate stamp of legitimacy on your sport,? USA Wrestling executive director Rich Bender said in St. Petersburg on Tuesday. ?You talk to young wresters all over the world, and they?ll say the same thing. What?s their goal? Their goal is to be Olympic champion. I?m not sure that?s the same with all the other sports.?

The issue is also being followed by the three cities bidding to host the 2020 Games ? Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo. Bid leaders from the three candidates are in St. Petersburg to make presentations Thursday at the SportAccord Convention. Wrestling is particularly popular in Turkey and Japan.

?It is important for Turkey because of our success and because it is a national sport,? Istanbul bid leader Hasan Arat said Tuesday. ?But this is an IOC board decision, which we have to respect. I see lots of changes in wrestling, and I hope wrestling will remain in the games.?

This entry was posted on May 28, 2013, 6:44 am and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Source: http://www.artesianews.com/2013/05/28/ap-news/sports-ap-news/wrestling-leader-confident-of-ioc-reprieve/

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Does This Method Really Thinks I'm Going To Cheat Him? :D - Java ...

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1 Replies - 49 Views - Last Post: Today, 12:53 PM Rate Topic:

#1 stefilix ?

Reputation: 2

Posts: 19
Joined: 10-April 13

Posted Today, 12:45 PM

Few weeks ago I decided to create first console game Texas Hold'Em Poker, everything is going pretty well...yesterday I finished and game logic, now is only left part for a River stage where a method has to check for a best hand.. But that is not a problem I came here for a help. So, I created a method getRealPointValue() which returns a real pointValue, as you can see below.

 public String getRealPointValue(String pointValue, boolean highAce) {         switch (pointValue) {             case "A":                 return (highAce) ? "14": "1";             case "K":                 return "13";              case "Q":                 return "12";             case "J":                 return "11";             case "T":                 return "10";             default:                 return pointValue;         } }

So the problem now is, I have a statement where I say:

 // it says no suitable method found for a String.. ok.. so I tried to cast it into (char) inside getNumricValue method just before getRealPointValue, but doesn't work...   int pointValue = Character.getNumericValue(getRealPointValue("T", false));

So I decided to change a parameter pointValue into a char, and do something like this:

 public static String getRealPointValue(char pointValue, boolean highAce) {         switch (pointValue) {             case 'A':                 return (highAce) ? "14": "1";             case 'K':                 return "13";              case 'Q':                 return "12";             case 'J':                 return "11";             case 'T':                 return "10";             default:                 return (String)pointValue;         } }

But this is also impossible, bcs of incompatible types, which req a String not a char..

This post has been edited by stefilix: Today, 12:46 PM

Is This A Good Question/Topic? 0

Replies To: Does this method really thinks I'm going to cheat him? :D

#2 stefilix ?

Reputation: 2

Posts: 19
Joined: 10-April 13

Re: Does this method really thinks I'm going to cheat him? :D

Posted Today, 12:53 PM

oh my god.. my bad... I'm stupid.. Since I'm going to use this methods just in some case for integer compare, then I'm going to return int.. :DD

 public static int getRealPointValue(String pointValue, boolean highAce) {         switch (pointValue) {             case "A":                 return (highAce) ? 14: 1;             case "K":                 return 13;              case "Q":                 return 12;             case "J":                 return 11;             case "T":                 return 10;             default:                 return Integer.parseInt(pointValue);         }     }

So now this make sense..

int pointValue = getRealPointValue("A", true);

This post has been edited by stefilix: Today, 12:57 PM

Page 1 of 1

Source: http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/321925-does-this-method-really-thinks-im-going-to-cheat-him-d/

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Romania unfurls largest flag in the world

A man holding a Romanian flag stands on a record breaking version of the flag, on the Clinceni Airfield, south of Bucharest, Romania, Monday, May 27, 2013. Romania entered the Guinness Book of records after it unveiled the largest flag ever made. It took about 200 people several hours Monday to unfurl a five-ton flag of Romania which organizers said measured 349.4 meters by 226.9 meters, about three times the size of a football pitch.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Romanians carry a huge national flag on the Clinceni Airfield, south of Bucharest, Romania, Monday, May 27, 2013. Romania entered the Guinness Book of records after it unveiled the largest flag ever made. It took about 200 people several hours Monday to unfurl a five-ton flag of Romania which organizers said measured 349.4 meters by 226.9 meters, about three times the size of a football pitch.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Romanians carry a huge national flag on the Clinceni Airfield, south of Bucharest, Romania, Monday, May 27, 2013. Romania entered the Guinness Book of records after it unveiled the largest flag ever made. It took about 200 people several hours Monday to roll out the five-ton flag of Romania, which organizers said measured 349.4 meters by 226.9 meters, about three times the size of a football pitch.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

A man holding a Romanian flag stands at the edge of a huge version of the flag, on the Clinceni Airfield, south of Bucharest, Romania, Monday, May 27, 2013. Romania entered the Guinness Book of records after it unveiled the largest flag ever made. It took about 200 people several hours Monday to unfurl a five-ton flag of Romania which organizers said measured 349.4 meters by 226.9 meters, about three times the size of a football pitch.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Romanians struggle to handle a huge national flag on the Clinceni Airfield, south of Bucharest, Romania, Monday, May 27, 2013. Romania entered the Guinness Book of records after it unveiled the largest flag ever made. It took about 200 people several hours Monday to unfurl a five-ton flag of Romania which organizers said measured 349.4 meters by 226.9 meters, about three times the size of a football pitch.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) ? A Romanian village on Monday unfurled what is the largest flag ever made, Guinness World Records said.

It took about 200 people several hours Monday to roll out the flag, which measured about 349 meters (1,145 feet) by 227 meters (744.5 feet), about three times the size of a football field, according to Jack Brockbank, an adjudicator for Guinness World Records who measured the flag before pronouncing it the biggest flag in the world.

"It gives me great pleasure to recognize a new Guinness World Record title," he said after measuring the flag. "Congratulations Romania!" He said Romania's red, yellow and blue flag covers an area of about 79,290 square meters (853,478 square feet), downing Lebanon which had held the previous record.

The five-ton flag was displayed in Clinceni, 35 kilometers (22 miles) southeast of Bucharest. Workers struggled to keep it firmly planted on the ground because of windy conditions and had to use small sandbags.

Adrian Dragomir, manager of the Flags Factory which created the flag, says it took weeks to sew and 70 kilometers (44 miles) of thread was needed.

A military brass band played as Prime Minister Victor Ponta and other ministers arrived in the village to view the flag.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-05-27-Romania-Largest%20Flag/id-dd8a5612ea0646f2a21de552e95078e9

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Senator: Fire commanders allowing sex assault

WASHINGTON (AP) ? From Congress to the White House, pressure is mounting to hold military commanders accountable for the rising number of sexual assaults in the armed services.

"This needs to end," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and a member of the Armed Services Committee, said Sunday. "When a victim comes forward, they should have an advocate to walk them through the military justice system, and commanders who allow this to continue to allow this to flourish quite frankly should be fired."

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said the military's future includes both men and women in leadership, and cultural changes are needed "when it comes to the command structure" to make sexual assault and harassment "unacceptable, intolerable; and those who engage in it should pay a price."

But the U.S. military's top officer, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, is urging Congress to exercise caution as it crafts legislation to combat the growing epidemic of sexual assaults in the armed forces.

The extent of the assaults came to light when the Pentagon released a report earlier this month estimating that as many as 26,000 military members may have been sexually assaulted last year and that thousands of victims are unwilling to come forward despite new oversight and assistance programs. That figure is an increase over the 19,000 estimated assaults in 2011.

Retired Gen. John Allen, who left the Marines in February after 19 months commanding allied forces in Afghanistan, encouraged commanders to address the issue and tell subordinates exactly what was expected.

"Commanders can't be ambiguous about this. We can't not talk about that," Allen said Sunday. "Commanders (have) got to stand in front of their units and tell the people what they expect. Because silence isn't good enough. This is an opportunity to lead, and we should be seizing it."

Several recent arrests have added to the military's embarrassment. A soldier at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point was charged with secretly photographing women, including in a bathroom. The Air Force officer who led the service's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response unit was arrested on charges of groping a woman. And the manager of the Army's sexual assault response program at Fort Campbell, Ky., was relieved of his post after his arrest in a domestic dispute with his ex-wife.

The comments from Durbin, Graham and Allen capped a week of attempts to address the Pentagon's findings. President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel raised the issue separately in graduation speeches at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

"Those who commit sexual assault are not only committing a crime; they threaten the trust and discipline that makes our military strong," Obama said Friday. "That's why we have to be determined to stop these crimes, because they've got no place in the greatest military on Earth."

Hagel called on the graduating West Point cadets Saturday to use their leadership to address the epidemic.

"This scourge must be stamped out," Hagel said. "We are all accountable and responsible for ensuring that this happens. We cannot fail the Army or America. We cannot fail each other, and we cannot fail the men and women that we lead."

Members of a House panel on Wednesday approved legislation that would strip commanding officers of their longstanding authority to unilaterally change or dismiss court-martial convictions in rape and assault cases. The bill would also require that service members found guilty of sexual offenses be dismissed or dishonorably discharged. The legislation will be folded into a broader defense policy bill that the full House will consider in the coming weeks.

Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has acknowledged the severity of the problem. He said recently that military leaders are losing the confidence of the women who serve that they can come up with solutions.

But Dempsey said in a May 20 letter to the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee that any legislative remedies must maintain the commander's role in the military justice process. Cutting them out or limiting them too severely would undercut their authority to enforce discipline and execute their duties, he wrote.

"Good order and discipline is essential to military efficiency and effectiveness," Dempsey said in the letter to Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. "Removing commanders from the military justice process sends the message to everyone in the military that there is a lack of faith in the officer corps and the serving commanders. Conveyance of a message that commanders cannot be trusted will only serve to undermine good order and discipline."

Dempsey and the chiefs of the military services are scheduled to testify June 4 before the Senate Armed Services Committee on legislation to prevent sexual assaults.

Sharon Disher graduated from the Naval Academy in 1980 in the first class that included women. She said Friday she's disappointed the military is still grappling with sexual assault issues but applauded the president for raising the subject.

"The more we talk about it, the more we're going to do something about it, and that's the thing we never did," she said. "I guess we've just got to keep the conversation going until we fix the problem."

Durbin and Graham spoke on "Fox News Sunday." Allen appeared on ABC's "This Week."

___

Associated Press writer Richard Lardner contributed to this report.

___

Follow Michele Salcedo on Twitter: https://twitter.com/michelesalcedo

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senator-fire-commanders-allowing-sex-assault-151700317.html

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Monday, May 27, 2013

Protective Modern Box for Breeding Pets: CUNIPIC Headquarters in ...

Launched in 2007, Freshome is a weblog devoted to uncovering (and sharing) the latest and greatest products in Architecture and Design. Freshome was launched in March 2007 and has grown rapidly to become one of the most popular and influential architecture and design blogs on the internet. We now get more than 3,8 million visits a month, and traffic is growing every month.

The primary focus of this design publication is to give you inspiration to make your home more beautiful, organized and healthy. We believe that a calm, healthy, beautiful home is a necessary foundation for happiness and success in the world.

For more check our about page.

Source: http://freshome.com/2013/05/26/protective-modern-box-for-breeding-pets-cunipic-headquarters-in-spain/

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Bay lifts Mariners over Rangers in 13

By CURTIS CRABTREE

Associated Press

Associated Press Sports

updated 9:20 p.m. ET May 26, 2013

SEATTLE (AP) - The Seattle Mariners had several heartbreaking losses during their eight-game losing streak.

They ended it with an uplifting win in their last at-bat.

Jason Bay hit a two-out RBI single in the 13th inning, lifting the Mariners to a 4-3 victory Sunday over the Texas Rangers.

"It feels great. Not just for me but for everybody. That was a big sigh of relief for a lot of people," Bay said.

The Mariners had been on the losing end of three walkoff victories by the Cleveland Indians in four games and were facing an extra-inning loss after A.J. Pierzynski had given the Rangers a 3-2 lead in the top of the 11th inning with an RBI single.

But Raul Ibanez hit a solo home run off Rangers closer Joe Nathan to keep the game going and Bay came through in the 13th after he was denied a chance to win it in the 11th, when David Murphy leaped above the fence in left-center field to catch Bay's drive.

Yoervis Medina (1-0) worked out of a jam in the 13th inning to keep the game tied. He earned his first major league victory.

Kendrys Morales doubled and advanced to third on a groundout by Carlos Triunfel. Bay didn't miss his second opportunity as he singled to left off Rangers reliever Michael Kirkman (0-1) to score Triunfel from third and hand the Mariners a much-needed victory.

The Mariners had moved within a game of .500 after taking two of three from the New York Yankees. Then three losses in the last inning in Cleveland started the eight-game skid.

"We've got a good group of guys out there. They're grinding. They're fighting. They're not giving into it. A lot of breaks have gone against us this week," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. "We've got guys that are working to try to get to where they need to get to help us win ballgames. We've got a lot going on out there right now but a great win for us."

Jurickson Profar hit a leadoff home run off Mariners starter Hisashi Iwakuma. Texas scored again in the second after hits by Nelson Cruz and Mitch Moreland put runners in scoring positions. Leonys Martin drove in Cruz on a sacrifice fly to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead.

The Mariners left a pair of runners stranded in both the fourth and fifth innings before finally breaking through against Nick Tepesch in the sixth. Kyle Seager doubled down the right field line and Morales homered to knot the game at 2.

Tepesch went 5 2-3 innings for Texas, allowing just five hits and two runs. He walked one and struck out six.

The Rangers fumbled an opportunity to possibly retake the lead in the seventh inning. After a leadoff double from Adrian Beltre, Cruz struck out swinging at a ball in the dirt. Beltre was caught between second and third base as the ball bounced away from Mariners catcher Jesus Sucre. Cruz tried to take first base on the play but collided with Sucre and was ruled out. Sucre then ran down Beltre and he was called out for running out of the baseline.

"Any time you lose - especially when you go to extra innings - it's difficult but they took it from us," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "We had our chance. They took it back and they finally took it from us."

Pierzynski delivered a pinch-hit RBI single in the 11th inning off Seattle Mariners reliever Oliver Perez to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead.

Ibanez homered off Nathan into the right field seats to even the game at 3-all in the bottom half. It was the first blown save of the year for Nathan. He had been 9 for 9 in save opportunities this season.

"If you throw it into the zone, then he is pretty good at hitting it," Nathan said. "He doesn't miss it too often when you put it there."

Iwakuma had another strong outing for Seattle. He allowed two runs and two hits over eight innings. He struck out eight.

NOTES: Profar is the youngest player to hit a leadoff homerun (20 years, 95 days) since Lou Klimchock (18 years, 348 days) of the Kansas City Athletics homered on Sept. 28, 1958, against the Chicago White Sox. ... Nathan had his streak of 36 consecutive saves on the road snapped with Ibanez's tying home run in the 11th inning. Nathan had converted all 31 save opportunities on the road since joining the Rangers last year. ... Mariners 1B Justin Smoak is day to day after straining an oblique Saturday night. Morales started in his place. Michael Morse also is expected to see time at first base in Smoak's absence. ... Rangers manager Ron Washington said Neal Cotts will unable to pitch and Nathan and Tanner Scheppers likely won't be available for the Rangers doubleheader against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday.

More news

Clemens still dogged by court case

Despite Roger Clemens' victory last year in his perjury case, a defamation lawsuit filed against the former Yankees ace nearly four years ago in federal court in Brooklyn is threatening to keep alive allegations that he used steroids and cheated on his wife.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/52010395/ns/sports-baseball/

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Watch the Curiosity rover explore Mars in one minute (video)

EDIT Curiosity time lapse

It hasn't even been a year from the time NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars, yet it already boasts a number of accomplishments. All the while, Opportunity's successor has been sending images back to Earth documenting its numerous great deeds, and a fan of the rover's work has compiled many of the them into the video you see above. So, now you can get a glimpse of Curiosity capturing awe-inspiring shots of Mount Sharp, unearthing evidence of liquid water, determining the alien soil's chemical composition, and discovering conditions that could've allowed microbes to thrive on the red planet all in the span of a minute. Hit play to check out what Curiosity's been up to from its first through its 281st Sol -- or Martian day -- as well as to see the extraterrestrial lands our grandchildren might occupy in the future.

Filed under: Misc, Science

Comments

Source: YouTube

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/LHYPRxvkb3A/

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Sunday, May 26, 2013

Is Joffrey like Justin Bieber or Kim Jong-un?

Drusilla Moorhouse TODAY contributor

3 hours ago

Image: Joffrey, Kim Jong-un, Justin Bieber

HBO / Reuters file / Getty file

"Game of Thrones' " Joffrey is a bit like Kim Jong-un and Justin Bieber, isn't he?

Joffrey Baratheon, the cruel boy king on "Game of Thrones," only exists in a fantasy world -- thank the gods!

But if he were real, which contemporary leader would he most resemble? Pundits have compared him to both North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and tween idol Justin Bieber (who only rules the pop charts now, but anything is possible in today's political landscape).

Here's how Joff ranks against today's top dawgs:

Power source: Like the North Korean leader, Joffrey Baratheon was born into his position, not because he earned it. Bieber, on the other hand, earned his success. Or did he? Ask Usher! POINT: Kim Jong-un

Hair apparent: See how the sunlight reflects a golden glow from their privileged heads? OK, Jong-un's a brunette ? for now. Former basketball star Dennis Rodman might have persuaded him that blonds have more fun. POINT: Justin Bieber

Reuters file

The North Korean leader and Rodman check out a game.

Ball boys: Kim Jong-un is so obsessed with the NBA that he invited quirky former pro Rodman to visit North Korea in February. But Bieber spanked Shaq in a basketball game challenge, and he's Mark Wahlberg's first choice to play an inner-city basketball star in a feature film. Joff also dribbles ... spit. Like the Korean dictator, he's a spectator, not a playah. POINT: Kim Jong-un

When subjects attack: When a Belieber recently charged the stage during a live performance, the pop star was saved by a bodyguard. A piano was the only real casualty in that particular incident, but Joffrey didn't fare as well during the deadly Kings Landing riots. The boy king escaped with his life, sure, but also received a facial of human excrement. Kim Jong-un was reportedly the target of an assassination attempt, but if it's not on YouTube, did it really happen? POINT: Justin Bieber

Human rights violations: Is there a crime greater than Justin Bieber's hammer pants? Both Joffrey and Jong-un have a terrible record of abusing their constituents. The young Baratheon has a penchant for torture and blood sports, while the U.N. has urged a probe into the North Korean government's crimes against humanity. POINT: Kim Jong-un

Iron deficiency: Joffrey sits on an iron throne, Jong-un hides behind an iron curtain. And Justin has this. POINT: Justin Bieber

Lethal toys: The "Baby" crooner took heat last year for going gangsta with a prop gun on the set of then-girlfriend Selena Gomez's movie "Feed the Dog." But sadistic Joffrey practices target shooting on innocent victims with his fancy bow and arrow, and the North Korean dictator fires nukes. POINT: Kim Jong-un

Generation whine: When the Biebs is aggrieved, he lashes out on Twitter, lunges at the paparazzi and screams outside his girlfriend's locked gate. Joffrey cries to his mother, bleats at his grandfather, scowls at his uncle and kills people. And baby-faced Kim throws a temper tantrum with short-range missiles. POINT: Justin Bieber

Final verdict: In this contest, Bieber and Kim Jong-un are neck and neck ... but only Kim has the power to command a public beheading. In the name of Ned Stark, we have to call North Korea's supreme leader the "winner" of this contest. Do you agree? Vote in our poll!

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/real-king-thrones-joffrey-more-justin-bieber-or-kim-jong-6C10019246

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