First lady lauds effort to preserve DC slave house

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Michelle Obama said Wednesday that stories of toil and sweat by slaves once held at a historic home within sight of the White House are an important part of U.S. history, including her own personal story, and are "as vital to our national memory as any other."

The first lady commented as American Express announced its donation of $1 million to the White House Historical Association to preserve Decatur House and pay for education programs for children. The nearly 200-year-old house is owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and operated by the association.

Most of the money will be spent to preserve the building's former slave quarters, where about 20 men and women "spent their days serving those who came and went from this house" and their nights "jammed together on the second floor of the slave quarters, all the while holding onto a quiet hope, a quiet prayer that they, too, and perhaps their children, would someday be free," Mrs. Obama said.

The red-brick, three-story townhouse built in 1818 has been home to many, including several secretaries of state.

Mrs. Obama, briefly invoking her ancestry as a descendant of a South Carolina slave, said even more history came from the back of Decatur House, where the slave quarters were located, "the kind of stories that too often get lost, the kinds of stories that are a part of so many of our families' histories, including my own."

"These stories of toil, and sweat, and quiet, unrelenting dignity ? these stories are as vital to our national memory as any other," she said. "And so it is our responsibility as a nation to ensure that these stories are told."

The slave quarters is one of the few such dwellings in an urban setting, and the only physical proof that slaves were held near the White House. Decatur House is located one block north of the White House, on Lafayette Square.

Afterward, Mrs. Obama toured several rooms, including one that researchers concluded had been a kitchen because of the dark splotches on a brick wall made by an oven, as well as splatters of animal fat on the wall that were made during cooking.

She also visited with a group of sixth-graders from a Fairfax, Va., elementary school that was participating in an educational program based on the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, including a 12-year-old dressed up as Abraham Lincoln. They weren't told about their special visitor and the jaws of several students dropped each time the first lady entered the different rooms they were in.

Decatur House was built for Navy Commodore Stephen Decatur. It was bequeathed to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1956. The National Center for White House History was established there in 2010.

Decatur House also is a National Trust for Historic Preservation site.

___

Online:

White House Historical Association: http://www.whha.org

National Trust for Historic Preservation: http://preservationnation.org

Decatur House: http://www.whitehousehistory.org/decatur-house/

___

Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http:/www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/first-lady-lauds-effort-preserve-172305251.html

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The Content Directory: Myths about people with Disabilities

In order to break down barriers to accessibility, it is important for people to understand disabilities. This is why it is important for all people to learn more about all Ontarians and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

Myth: People with disabilities are inferior to ?normal? people and their lives are very different.

This is a myth because we don?t even have a consensus of what is ?normal?? We have to remember that we all have different abilities, talents, interests and personalities ? you name it! People with disabilities go to school, get married, work, have families, play, do laundry, go shopping, eat out, travel, volunteer, vote, pay taxes, laugh, cry, plan and dream ? just like everyone else. People with disabilities are us!

Myth: We need to feel sorry for people with disabilities.

This is a myth because it is patronizing. People with disabilities don?t need pity. They need access to opportunities.

Myth: People with disabilities are brave and courageous.

This is a myth because adjusting to a disability requires adapting to a lifestyle, not bravery and courage. Remember that any one of us can become disabled at any time.

Myth: It?s not a good idea to hire people with disabilities. They have a higher turnover rate and they take sick days more often.

This is a myth because many studies show that employees with disabilities are often more productive, dependable and loyal than their co-workers without disabilities. That adds up to savings of millions of dollars every year in hiring and training costs.

Myth: You have to be careful when you?re talking to a person with a disability, because they are easily offended if you use the wrong word.

This is a myth because you just need to be as polite and respectful as you would when speaking to anyone. If you?re not sure what to say or do, it?s okay to ask.

Myth: It?s difficult serving customers with disabilities.

Customers with disabilities have the same preferences, perceptions, attitudes, habits, and needs as customers without disabilities, and they are looking for the same quality of products and services.

Remember, everyone, regardless of ability, deserves to be treated with the same dignity and respect

As the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (2005)(AODA) is implemented throughout the province there is potential for future change. To learn more about compliance and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities visit my website below.

Story By:

Sincerely,
Sandra Broekhof
Accessibility Compliance Consultant

www.accessibilitycompliance.ca
416-579-1035

http://accessibilitycompliance.blogspot.com/

http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/sandra-broehkof/13/454/530

Source: http://www.content-dir.com/health-fitness/myths-about-people-with-disabilities/

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Factors to Help You Buy a Profitable Pop Up Banners | Internet and ...

Pop up banners help you to experiment with new and better innovations and break all the barriers of marketing. They are an effective tool for the marketing and promotion of goods and services by a company. With effective pop up displays, one can create great impact on the customers at the point of the sales. These banners are made to catch the attention of the customers easily. They also help to retain the appeal and create an impact in a great way. It helps in making the products visually tempting and helps in the generation of action at the selling point of the product.
A wide variety of promotional banners are available in the market in recent times. They cater to the needs of the individuals for advertising and marketing. However it is very important to select one which will suit your needs perfectly well. The advertisement should be such that it will help in converting leads into conversions of buying the product from the point of the sales. To ensure this there are a few factors that have to be borne in mind before buying the banners.
Marketing Needs:
The marketing needs have to be understood first before choosing a banner. This will help in ensuring that the target group to which you are catering to get the message and desire is created in them for the purchase of the product. If you are targeting young people then these Banner Stands will make the perfect choice as they spend a large amount of their time outdoors. Therefore selecting the marketing need is essential before selecting the pop up banner style. These kind of banners is found to be highly effective in outdoor advertisements, trade shows, shopping malls, events and exhibitions.
Space of Advertising:
This is also very important for deciding the kind of pop up banner that you will select for your campaign. If one has a huge space, then one can use straight or curved pop up display sets with promotional counters. This will be effective for displaying the products for the marketing campaign. However if you have limited space for the banners, then using the tower shaped Banner Stands will be a good idea to use the space to the maximum.
Budget:
Budget is a very important aspect that one has to consider before selecting a pop up banner for the marketing or advertising purpose. Budget determines which pop up style banner you will select for the advertising campaign. Though the pop up banners are affordably priced, there are great varieties from which you can select one for the marketing needs of your company. Therefore deciding on the budget is a very important task for an individual before selecting a banner to buy.
Pop up banner is therefore a good way of marketing your commodities to your target audience. You should choose the banners with care, as that would facilitate in creating a profitable marketing campaign.
Budget or space, regardless of the reason, you cannot deny the importance of portability and compactness of the Trade Show Banners and Displays. Visit online store of Easydisplay Ireland and have a look on the huge variety offered by our experts.

Source: http://marketing-guide.blogspot.com/2013/05/factors-to-help-you-buy-profitable-pop.html

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Springs-area attractions investing in big improvements for tourists ...

Colorado Springs area attractions and tourist destinations have invested, or plan to invest, almost $134 million in improvements this year.

The Colorado Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau reached out to its members to find out what they had planned. The results provided an impressive list of local attractions planning to invest anywhere from tens of thousands to $90 million in their properties, as the CVB shared at its annual business meeting earlier this month.

?After talking about the fire last year and our Welcome Back campaign, we really wanted to showcase everything these attractions are doing and the way they?re investing in the season and in the future,? said Chelsy Murphy, director of communications for the CVB.

The CVB has not historically collected data from members about how much they invest in their properties each year to improve facilities. But Doug Price, CVB president and CEO, said he felt strongly that local tourism businesses were doing more this year than they had in the past several years.

?I can say for sure that the economy has kept a number of our members kind of on the sidelines, and they haven?t been able to make these kinds of investments,? Price said.

The CVB presented investment figures to the public, announcing big-dollar improvements like the $90 million worth of upgrades to The Broadmoor and the $13.5 million Encounter Africa exhibit at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.

?All these improvements help us tell a new and better story about all the new things there are to see and do in Colorado Springs,? Price said. ?And I think it means our members have the confidence to make significant investments. It improves our visitor experience.?

Improvements

Among the big investments was more than $22.5 million in improvements at the Colorado Springs Airport, which includes the new Bristol Brewing Co. bar, aesthetic enhancements and security upgrades, Murphy said.

The Pikes Peak Highway added a new toll gate and ranger station for $250,000.

Royal Gorge Bridge and Park is spending $50,000 on a new children?s playground, complete with state-of-the-art equipment like a child-size maze and a 76-foot simulated cave crawl.

Garden of the Gods Campground and RV Park is investing more than $800,000 in upgrades.

?These are just the investments that we know our members are making,? Murphy said. ?There are probably even more that we don?t know about.?

The stories of attractions and their projects differ as much as the attractions themselves.

The Broadmoor

Since Colorado billionaire Philip Anschutz purchased the company that owns The Broadmoor in late 2011, he has been investing in property improvements.

?Right now we?re on Phase One of a two-year renovation,? said Dennis Lesko, marketing manager for The Broadmoor. The first phase has concentrated on enhancing the hotel?s dining options. Its newest restaurant, Play, includes six lanes of bowling and menu items including milkshakes.

Lesko said part of the aim of the new restaurant is to bring more locals into the hotel for dining and entertainment.

?It has become very popular very quickly,? he said.

The Broadmoor also expanded its Golden Bee, adding 50 indoor seats and 80 patio seats, which more than triples the capacity of the restaurant and bar.

Inside the main hotel, the Tavern was also remodeled and now includes a French bistro-style addition called Le Jardin that features a 16-foot chandelier centerpiece. All the new dining, along with Emerald Valley Ranch ? 10 luxury cabins set eight miles into the mountains above the resort, designed to offer an off-the-beaten-path, woodsy experience for guests ? will improve the resort?s attractiveness to convention visitors and bring more local traffic to The Broadmoor, Lesko said.

Starting in the fall, the hotel will close its West Building and begin extensive renovations on it, updating rooms and turning its Charles Court restaurant into one that will be known for upscale Italian fare.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

When the zoo opened its big Encounter Africa exhibit earlier this month, a lot of visitors might not have known that the $13.5 million exhibit only represents about a third of the money the zoo has invested in permanent improvements over the past eight years, said Bob Chastain, president and CEO of the zoo. The elephants, meerkats, lions and year-round alligators that visitors will soon enjoy are all part of a larger plan to continue growing zoo attendance, Chastain said.

The zoo funds its operations with revenue from admissions and uses donor funds to make improvements. It?s one of just about 10 zoos among the 220 nationally accredited zoos that don?t receive tax funding.

Chastain noticed after the zoo opened its new giraffe exhibit in 2003 that visitor numbers increased, but immediately dropped off again.

?We kept making small improvements,? he said, ?and we started to hear people say, ?Every time I come to the zoo, I see something new.??

That?s when zoo administration decided to stop investing in traveling exhibits and instead continue putting money into reasonably priced permanent improvements.

?We?ve been passionately pursuing that goal ever since 2008,? Chastain said, ?and it has paid off.?

Zoo numbers climbed at a rate of 20,000 to 50,000 a year until the total attendance hit a record high of 607,000 two years ago. That number slipped last year, which Chastain credits directly to the Waldo Canyon fire.

The zoo was ranked among the top 10 zoos in the country by TripAdvisor last year.

?That?s pretty impressive,? Chastain said. ?That puts us in the same breath as the San Diego Zoo.?

As long as the zoo keeps investing, he said, he expects visitor numbers and national recognition will continue to grow.

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

The monument has a new $2.5 million Visitor and Nature Center. It?s a state-of-the-art Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold-certified facility, which means it?s one of the greenest buildings in the region.

Florissant Fossil Beds administrators and volunteers have been fighting for more than 40 years to get a visitors center for the area, which is managed by the National Park Service, said Jeff Wolin, lead interpreter for the fossil beds.

He said the monument was able a few years ago to get money for plans, which just happened to be ready when the Parks Service released its line-item construction budget and started looking for shovel-ready projects last year. The new facility provides space for researchers along with a big information center that Wolin is filling this month with fossils and exhibits.

?We?re going from 96 square feet of exhibit space to 870 square feet,? Wolin said.

The new visitors center and exhibits have inspired the monument staff to reach out and work on promoting it more to local organizations like the Woodland Park Chamber of Commerce and area schools.

Wolin said the addition of the new center and the excitement that comes with it could boost visitor numbers considerably from their current 60,000 a year.

?I feel really proud and happy to have such a nice building for our visitors,? Wolin said.

Echo Canyon River Expeditions

The CVB reported that this Ca?on City whitewater rafting outfitter has invested $35,000 in its new facility this year.

?That?s peanuts,? said owner Andy Neinas.

He says he actually has invested more than $2 million in his facility over the past two years. And the investment has fundamentally changed his revenue stream. After 13 years as the owner of the rafting company, he built a shiny new building with nice changing rooms, lobby area, and a restaurant-bar seating 200.

?Very plainly, I think the consumer public has more and more expectations,? Neinas said. ?Whether they?re conscious of it or not, they?re seeking more amenities.?

But it?s not just about being more competitive. It?s also about generating a new revenue stream.

The restaurant and bar make it easier for guests to hang out. It has allowed Neinas to create an apr?s-rafting culture that encourages continued spending in the same way apr?s-ski has in mountain town bars and restaurants for years.

?It?s all about capturing that discretionary dollar,? he said.

His cost to get customers through his door is high, Neinas said. He spends a lot on media and marketing campaigns.

?Once people are here, the only reason they leave is because they run out of things to do and see,? Neinas said. ?They?re obviously going to eat before or after they raft with us. So now they can do it here.?

He said future expansion plans include adding lodging options.

Miramont Castle

The Manitou Springs Historical Society received a matching grant from the Colorado Historical Society that will allow the Manitou organization to make a $60,000 investment in the exterior stonework of the Miramont Castle building.

?The elements have taken their toll,? said Peggie Yager, treasurer for the Manitou Historical Society.

The society bought the castle in 1976 and has carefully preserved it since then, collecting revenue for the castle?s upkeep from admissions, tea-room sales, special events and donations.

About 24,000 visitors go through the castle each year. The stonework improvements probably won?t attract new guests, Yager said, but they will preserve the castle so visitors can continue to tour it safely for years to come.

Iron Springs Chateau

Two couples with long histories working at the Iron Springs Chateau Melodrama Dinner Theater in Manitou Springs bought the business in January.

?We absolutely love it and couldn?t reconcile with the idea of it closing down,? said Rebekah Ratterree, one of the new owners.

The former owners wanted to retire, she said.

Ratterree and her partners have invested $10,000 in updating the kitchen so a chef can prepare the dinner theater food to order. In the past, meals had to be premade.

The new owners want to tackle a lot of projects over the next 10 years, Ratterree said. But the kitchen was the most pressing. She said she expects visitor numbers to climb from an average of 7,000 a year to about 10,000 a year as the once-seasonal business will now be open year-round.

Making progress

The following members of the Colorado Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau have made or plan to make significant capital investments this year.

Attraction	Investment
The Broadmoor	$90 million
Airport upgrades/additions	$22.5 million
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Encounter Africa	$13.5 million
Cheyenne Mountain Resort golf course	$3.8 million
Florissant Fossil Beds Visitor & Nature Center	$2.5 million
Garden of the Gods Campground & RV Park	$800,000
Pikes Peak Gateway Phase II	$250,000
Miramont Castle Restoration	$60,000
Royal Gorge Bridge & Park, new play park	$50,000
Echo Canyon Rafting Expeditions	$35,000
Iron Springs Chateau	$10,000
May Museum Gift Shop	$8,000

Source: http://csbj.com/2013/05/20/springs-area-attractions-investing-in-big-improvements-for-tourists/

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Activists say 28 Hezbollah members killed in Syria

BEIRUT (AP) ? Fierce street fighting in a Syrian town near the Lebanese border has killed at least 28 elite members of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group, activists said Monday, as Syrian government forces pushed deeper into the strategic, opposition-held town.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks Syria's civil war, said that more than 70 Hezbollah fighters have also been wounded in the fighting around the town of Qusair. If confirmed, the casualties would be a significant blow to the Iranian-backed Shiite group, which has come under harsh criticism at home for its involvement in the war next door.

A staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Hezbollah is heavily invested in the survival of the Damascus regime and is known to have sent fighters to aid government forces. The Lebanese group's growing role in the conflict also points to the deeply sectarian nature of the war in Syria, in which a rebellion driven by the country's Sunni majority seeks to overthrow a regime dominated by the president's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

The increasingly overt Hezbollah involvement in the Syrian conflict is almost certain to threaten stability in Lebanon, which is sharply split along sectarian lines, and between supporters and opponents of Assad.

The Observatory, which relies on a wide network of activists on the ground in Syria, cited "sources close to the militant group" for the death toll but declined to reveal their identity. It said at least 50 Syrian rebels were also killed in the battle for Qusair on Sunday, including two commanders.

Qusair has been the target of a withering government offensive in recent weeks, and the countryside around the town has been engulfed in fighting as regime troops backed by Hezbollah fighters seized villages while closing in on Qusair itself. The opposition estimates that some 40,000 civilians are currently in the town.

The intensity of the fighting reflects the importance that both sides attach to the area. In the regime's calculations, Qusair lies along a strategic land corridor linking Damascus with the Mediterranean coast, the Alawite heartland. For the rebels, overwhelmingly Sunni Qusair has served as a conduit for shipments of weapons and supplies smuggled from Lebanon to opposition fighters inside Syria.

Regime troops and Hezbollah fighters, who laid siege to Qusair weeks ago, launched an offensive to regain control of the town, with Hezbollah's elite fighters advancing from the east and south, an opposition figure said.

He added that it took Hezbollah troops a few hours to take control of the town's main square and municipal building. By the end of the day Sunday, they had pushed out rebel units, including the al-Qaida-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, from most of Qusair, he said on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation by both sides.

He said fighting was focused in the northern part of the town on Monday.

The account matched that of Syria's state news media, which said President Bashar Assad's troops took control of most of Qusair on Monday. State-run TV said forces restored stability to the entire eastern front of the town, killing scores of "terrorists" there ? the term used by the Syrian regime to refer to all rebels.

An official in the Homs governor's office told the AP on Monday that more than 60 percent of the city is in government hands after scores of gunmen were killed or surrendered Sunday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to give information to the media during an ongoing military operation, said more than 1,500 residents fled the city due to intensified fighting.

Qusair-based opposition activist Hadi Abdullah denied official reports that the army was advancing in the town, saying they were still trying to storm it.

"They go in and out, until now I can say with confidence that they have not been able to enter the town and stay there," Abdullah said.

Hezbollah members have made use of their expertise in guerrilla tactics to significantly boost regime forces in the fight for Qusair. Their presence, along with that of Hezbollah-backed Shiite fighters, is meant to shore up overstretched government troops fighting on several other fronts.

Residents on the Lebanese side of the border just across from Qusair reported seeing more than 30 plumes of smoke billowing from inside Syria and hearing the heavy thud of artillery and airstrikes late into the night Sunday and on Monday morning.

"Nobody could sleep last night from the sounds of battle," said Ali Jaafar, deputy mayor of the Lebanese border town of Hermel, adding that residents did not send children to school Monday for fear of fighting spilling over into Lebanon.

Lebanese security officials confirmed at least four funerals were being held Monday morning for Hezbollah fighters or their supporters killed in Syria. They spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations.

Army units "restored security and stability" to most of the city on Monday and killed "many terrorists," the majority of them foreign fighters who have been fighting alongside opposition forces, the state news agency said. The military also destroyed rebel hideouts and seized "large amounts of weapons and ammunition," it said, adding that government troops are fighting pockets of resistance in southern and northern districts of Qusair Monday.

The Syrian regime claims there is no civil war in the country but that the army is fighting foreign-backed terrorists trying to topple Assad's government.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in Syria since March 2011.

At least 1.5 million Syrians have sought shelter in neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, while millions more have been displaced inside Syria and are in urgent need of basic aid, according to the United Nations.

The international aid organization Oxfam appealed for more funds to help Syrian refugees, saying warmer weather will increase health risks due to lack of shelter, water and basic sanitation in Lebanon and Jordan. The Britain-based group said in a statement Monday that diarrhea and skin infections have already been noted among refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. The two countries host the bulk of 1.5 million Syrian refugees.

In addition to funds, aid organizations have also complained of a lack of access to civilians in areas most affected by fighting, saying that government bureaucracy often delays convoys for weeks from reaching civilians in dire need of basic supplies.

In a statement Monday, the International Committee of the Red Cross condemned the killing of a driver for the group's affiliate branch in northern Syria. The ICRC said Abdo Darwish, a driver for the Red Crescent Society in Hassakeh was killed May 14 on his way to work. He was wearing his Syrian Red Crescent uniform, "clearly indicating his affiliation with the Movement, when he was targeted by snipers," the ICRC said.

Syria's civil war has claimed the lives of 20 Red Crescent volunteers, the statement said, adding that all of those who died had been killed while carrying out their humanitarian duties.

___

Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/activists-28-hezbollah-members-killed-syria-143724300.html

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Y! Sports: 'Skins fans buy RGIII wedding presents

"You bought us a WHAT?" RG3 and Rebecca Liddicoat in July, 2012. (Getty Images)

On July 18, 2012, Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III signed a four-year, $21,119,098 contract that is fully guaranteed. That's commensurate with his status as the second-overall pick in the draft, and it pretty much insures that unless he really messes up the numbers, he'll never have to worry about money again.

Still, Redskins fans have decided to help RG3 out a bit with the expenses on his upcoming nuptials to the future former Rebecca Liddicoat by finding the couple's wedding registry on the Bed Bath & Beyond website ... and fulfilling all sorts of orders.

This was confirmed by Griffin on Twitter.

Now, before the expected outrage that fans of a player making this much money would pitch in to buy these things for the happy couple (who are tying the knot on July 6), Griffin has an answer for that. The fans found his registry without his prompting and threw down of their own volition.

I didn't ask the fans to buy me anything. They found it on their own and decided to get what they could. SMH at all these Debbie downers ? Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) May 19, 2013

SMH, indeed. Now, it should be pointed out that according to the registry site when this was published, not everything had been purchased -- the most expensive item, a $499.99 Calphalon Contemporary Non-Stick 12-Piece Cookware Set, still had a "0" in the "Purchased" column.

However, those in RG3's thrall did apparently buy the $439.99 Palm Harbor 2-Piece Outdoor Wicker Seating Set, the $399.99 KitchenAid? 5-Quart Tilt-Head Designer Series Stand Mixer with Glass Bowl (in lovely Candy Apple), the $299.99 11-Foot Outdoor Round Cantilever Latte Solar Umbrella with Steel Frame, the $249.99 Calphalon? Precision Series 16-Piece Cutlery Knife Block Set, and the $199.99 Shark? Rotator? Professional Lift-Away 3-in-1 Vacuum. There's also a programmable bread maker, wedding flutes from Vera Wang, and our personal favorite, the Nesco? American Harvest? Snackmaster? Encore? Dehydrator and Jerky Maker.

In total, there are 203 different items on the couple's online registry, though a few more were unavailable for online purchase, so if you see Redskins fans storming the local Bed, Bath, & Beyond in search of a $399.99 Dream Chair Swinging Chaise Lounge or a $49.99 " WEDD 5X7 ORC/LIL INV" (whatever the heck THAT is), you'll now know why.

LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 11: (R-L) Washington Redskins player Robert Griffin III with Rebecca Liddicoat arrive at the 2012 ESPY Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on July 11, 2012 in Los Angeles, ... more? LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 11: (R-L) Washington Redskins player Robert Griffin III with Rebecca Liddicoat arrive at the 2012 ESPY Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on July 11, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) less? ?

Related NFL coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
? Eagles QB Michael Vick fires back at critics
? Seahawks' Bruce Irvin suspended four games for violating PED policy
? Dwight Freeney joins Chargers

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/redskins-fans-buy-sorts-things-robert-griffin-iii-175838194.html

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'Star Trek Into Darkness': What's Next For J.J. Abrams And The Cast?

MTV News rounds up what the 'Trek' crew has in store for the future.
By Todd Gilchrist

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1707605/star-trek-into-darkness-jj-abrams.jhtml

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All-day kindergarten approved in education bill (Star Tribune)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/306882111?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Kinks and curves at the nanoscale

Public release date: 19-May-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Joshua Brown
joshua.e.brown@uvm.edu
802-656-3039
University of Vermont

New research shows 'perfect twin boundaries' are not so perfect

One of the basic principles of nanotechnology is that when you make things extremely smallone nanometer is about five atoms wide, 100,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hairthey are going to become more perfect.

"Perfect in the sense that their arrangement of atoms in the real world will become more like an idealized model," says University of Vermont engineer Frederic Sansoz, "with smaller crystalsin for example, gold or copperit's easier to have fewer defects in them."

And eliminating the defects at the interface separating two crystals, or grains, has been shown by nanotechnology experts to be a powerful strategy for making materials stronger, more easily molded, and less electrically resistantor a host of other qualities sought by designers and manufacturers.

Since 2004, when a seminal paper came out in Science, materials scientists have been excited about one special of arrangement of atoms in metals and other materials called a "coherent twin boundary" or CTB.

Based on theory and experiment, these coherent twin boundaries are often described as "perfect," appearing like a perfectly flat, one-atom-thick plane in computer models and electron microscope images.

Over the last decade, a body of literature has shown these coherent twin boundariesfound at the nanoscale within the crystalline structure of common metals like gold, silver and copperare highly effective at making materials much stronger while maintaining their ability to undergo permanent change in shape without breaking and still allowing easy transmission of electronsan important fact for computer manufacturing and other electronics applications.

But new research now shows that coherent twin boundaries are not so perfect after all.

A team of scientists, including Sansoz, a professor in UVM's College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, and colleagues from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and elsewhere, write in the May 19 edition of Nature Materials that coherent twin boundaries found in copper "are inherently defective."

With a high-resolution electron microscope, using a more powerful technique than has ever been used to examine these boundaries, they found tiny kink-like steps and curvatures in what had previously been observed as perfect.

Even more surprising, these kinks and other defects appear to be the cause of the coherent twin boundary's strength and other desirable qualities.

"Everything we have learned on these materials in the past 10 years will have to be revisited with this new information," Sansoz says

The experiment, led by Morris Wang at the Lawrence Livermore Lab, applied a newly developed mapping technique to study the crystal orientation of CTBs in so-called nanotwinned copper and "boomit revealed these defects," says Sansoz.

This real-world discovery conformed to earlier intriguing theoretical findings that Sansoz had been making with "atomistic simulations" on a computer. The lab results sent Sansoz back to his computer models where he introduced the newly discovered "kink" defects into his calculations. Using UVM's Vermont Advanced Computing Center, he theoretically confirmed that the kink defects observed by the Livermore team lead to "rather rich deformation processes at the atomic scale," he says, that do not exist with perfect twin boundaries.

With the computer model, "we found a series of completely new mechanisms," he says, for explaining why coherent twin boundaries simultaneously add strength and yet also allow stretching (what scientists call "tensile ductility") properties that are usually mutually exclusive in conventional materials.

"We had no idea such defects existed," says Sansoz. "So much for the perfect twin boundary. We now call them defective twin boundaries."

For several decades, scientists have looked for ways to shrink the size of individual crystalline grains within metals and other materials. Like a series of dykes or walls within the larger structure, the boundaries between grains can slow internal slip and help resist failure. Generally, the more of these boundariesthe stronger the material.

Originally, scientists believed that coherent twin boundaries in materials were much more reliable and stable than conventional grain boundaries, which are incoherently full of defects. But the new research shows they could both contain similar types of defects despite very different boundary energies.

"Understanding these defective structures is the first step to take full use of these CTBs for strengthening and maintaining the ductility and electrical conductivity of many materials," Morris Wang said. "To understand the behavior and mechanisms of these defects will help our engineering design of these materials for high-strength applications."

For Sansoz, this discovery underlines a deep principle, "There are all manner of defects in nature," he says, "with nanotech, you are trying to control the way they are formed and dispersed in matter, and to understand their impact on properties. The point of this paper is that some defects make a material stronger."

###

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Public release date: 19-May-2013
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Contact: Joshua Brown
joshua.e.brown@uvm.edu
802-656-3039
University of Vermont

New research shows 'perfect twin boundaries' are not so perfect

One of the basic principles of nanotechnology is that when you make things extremely smallone nanometer is about five atoms wide, 100,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hairthey are going to become more perfect.

"Perfect in the sense that their arrangement of atoms in the real world will become more like an idealized model," says University of Vermont engineer Frederic Sansoz, "with smaller crystalsin for example, gold or copperit's easier to have fewer defects in them."

And eliminating the defects at the interface separating two crystals, or grains, has been shown by nanotechnology experts to be a powerful strategy for making materials stronger, more easily molded, and less electrically resistantor a host of other qualities sought by designers and manufacturers.

Since 2004, when a seminal paper came out in Science, materials scientists have been excited about one special of arrangement of atoms in metals and other materials called a "coherent twin boundary" or CTB.

Based on theory and experiment, these coherent twin boundaries are often described as "perfect," appearing like a perfectly flat, one-atom-thick plane in computer models and electron microscope images.

Over the last decade, a body of literature has shown these coherent twin boundariesfound at the nanoscale within the crystalline structure of common metals like gold, silver and copperare highly effective at making materials much stronger while maintaining their ability to undergo permanent change in shape without breaking and still allowing easy transmission of electronsan important fact for computer manufacturing and other electronics applications.

But new research now shows that coherent twin boundaries are not so perfect after all.

A team of scientists, including Sansoz, a professor in UVM's College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, and colleagues from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and elsewhere, write in the May 19 edition of Nature Materials that coherent twin boundaries found in copper "are inherently defective."

With a high-resolution electron microscope, using a more powerful technique than has ever been used to examine these boundaries, they found tiny kink-like steps and curvatures in what had previously been observed as perfect.

Even more surprising, these kinks and other defects appear to be the cause of the coherent twin boundary's strength and other desirable qualities.

"Everything we have learned on these materials in the past 10 years will have to be revisited with this new information," Sansoz says

The experiment, led by Morris Wang at the Lawrence Livermore Lab, applied a newly developed mapping technique to study the crystal orientation of CTBs in so-called nanotwinned copper and "boomit revealed these defects," says Sansoz.

This real-world discovery conformed to earlier intriguing theoretical findings that Sansoz had been making with "atomistic simulations" on a computer. The lab results sent Sansoz back to his computer models where he introduced the newly discovered "kink" defects into his calculations. Using UVM's Vermont Advanced Computing Center, he theoretically confirmed that the kink defects observed by the Livermore team lead to "rather rich deformation processes at the atomic scale," he says, that do not exist with perfect twin boundaries.

With the computer model, "we found a series of completely new mechanisms," he says, for explaining why coherent twin boundaries simultaneously add strength and yet also allow stretching (what scientists call "tensile ductility") properties that are usually mutually exclusive in conventional materials.

"We had no idea such defects existed," says Sansoz. "So much for the perfect twin boundary. We now call them defective twin boundaries."

For several decades, scientists have looked for ways to shrink the size of individual crystalline grains within metals and other materials. Like a series of dykes or walls within the larger structure, the boundaries between grains can slow internal slip and help resist failure. Generally, the more of these boundariesthe stronger the material.

Originally, scientists believed that coherent twin boundaries in materials were much more reliable and stable than conventional grain boundaries, which are incoherently full of defects. But the new research shows they could both contain similar types of defects despite very different boundary energies.

"Understanding these defective structures is the first step to take full use of these CTBs for strengthening and maintaining the ductility and electrical conductivity of many materials," Morris Wang said. "To understand the behavior and mechanisms of these defects will help our engineering design of these materials for high-strength applications."

For Sansoz, this discovery underlines a deep principle, "There are all manner of defects in nature," he says, "with nanotech, you are trying to control the way they are formed and dispersed in matter, and to understand their impact on properties. The point of this paper is that some defects make a material stronger."

###

---

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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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/uov-kac051713.php

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Antarctic Neutrino Observatory Detects Unexplained High-Energy Particles

A preliminary analysis from the IceCube detector reveals more than two dozen neutrinos of unknown origin

By John Matson

WHOPPER: A reconstructed detection in the IceCube sensor array of a suspected neutrino with an energy of 252.7 trillion electron-volts. The strings of detectors descend from the surface of the ice to more than two kilometers below. Image: N. Whitehorn et al./IceCube Collaboration

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Hot on the heels of detecting the two highest-energy neutrinos ever observed, scientists working with a mammoth particle detector buried in ice near the South Pole unveiled preliminary data showing that they also registered the signal of 26 additional high-energy neutrinos. The newfound neutrinos are somewhat less energetic than the two record-setters but nonetheless appear to carry more energy than would be expected if created by cosmic rays hitting the atmosphere?a prodigious source of neutrinos raining down on Earth. The particles thus may point to unknown energetic astrophysical processes deeper in the cosmos.

?The result right now is very preliminary,? cautions Nathan Whitehorn of the University of Wisconsin?Madison, who described the new data May 15 during a symposium in Madison on particle astrophysics. ?We?re not totally certain right now that it?s from an astrophysical source.? But it is difficult to explain the number and energy of the detected particles by invoking known processes within the solar system. ?If this does in fact hold up with more data, and this does turn out to be an astrophysical source, then we?ll be able to address some questions in ways that were totally inaccessible before,? Whitehorn adds.

IceCube physicists are working to understand the origins of high-energy cosmic rays?charged particles from space that strike Earth?which may bear on the origins of the neutrinos as well. ?Basically everything you could think of that would make cosmic rays would make neutrinos at the same time,? Whitehorn says. In contrast to neutrinos produced locally when cosmic rays strike the atmosphere, astrophysical neutrinos would originate at the same source as the cosmic rays themselves.

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory makes up for the renowned slipperiness of neutrinos, the lightweight fundamental particles that rarely interact with atoms of matter, by casting a wide net. IceCube consists of more than 5,000 light sensors, buried at depths of up to two kilometers, embedded in enough Antarctic ice to fill several hundred thousand Olympic swimming pools. In such a large volume, one neutrino of the many streaming constantly through space, our bodies and even solid rock occasionally bumps against an atom in the ice, which produces a tiny flash of light.

The properties of the light emitted by a neutrino strike in the IceCube detector, such as the light pattern registered by the sensor array (Is it bloblike or streaky?) as well as the travel direction of the particle (Was it downward from the sky, or upward through Earth?) can reveal which of three known flavors of neutrino was involved and where it came from. Therein lies a key advantage of neutrino astronomy?unlike charged cosmic rays, whose trajectories bend and twist through the cosmos under the influence of magnetic fields, neutral particles such as neutrinos trace straight back to their sources.

From known processes in the atmosphere, researchers expected to register about 10.6 particles over two years with energies measured in the tens or hundreds of tera?electron volts (trillions of electron volts). The 28 detected particles?including the two extremely high-energy particles announced in April?thus indicate an additional neutrino source that has not been accounted for.

So IceCube physicist Naoko Kurahashi Neilson, also of U.W.?Madison, traced the arrival directions of the newfound energetic particles to look for clues to their origins. ?What I tried to do is figure out if they point back to anything that might correspond with cosmic-ray production,? she says. But perhaps because there were relatively few particles to work with, no strong patterns emerged. ?Because we have a lot of events compared to before, but still not many, it?s hard to say,? she adds. ?My conclusion was that there are no identifiable sources at this time.?

The researchers used screening techniques to ferret out impostor particles and limit the background noise from atmospheric neutrinos, such as treating the edge of the detector as a red-flag region. A charged particle such as a muon from the atmosphere would light up sensors at the periphery of the IceCube detector as it enters, whereas a neutrino would penetrate cleanly and trigger sensors deep inside the ice. ?You don?t want things that have come into the detector, you want things that start in the detector,? says IceCube physicist Claudio Kopper of U.W.?Madison. Nevertheless, proving that the neutrinos indeed originated in high-energy cosmic processes will take time. ?The search is always for the source, and we haven?t found that yet,? Kopper says. ?That would be the smoking gun.?

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=70e14f43081a6a9ecaedb1deab44487f

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Germany's Merkel visits Pope, urges tougher market controls

By James Mackenzie

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Pope Francis on Saturday and, apparently responding to his criticism of a heartless "dictatorship of the economy", called for stronger regulation of financial markets.

On Thursday, Francis appealed in a speech for world financial reform, saying the global economic crisis had made life worse for millions in rich and poor countries.

Merkel visited Rome for a few hours specifically to meet the pontiff and spoke with him privately in his library for 45 minutes, unusually long for a private papal audience.

She told reporters afterwards that the scandals and excesses criticized by Francis earlier in the week showed that vital checks and balances had not been functioning properly.

"Crises have blown up because the rules of the social market have not been observed," she said, adding that tightening financial market regulation would be a main objective of the meeting of leaders of Group of 20 economic powers in September.

"We have made progress but we are nowhere near a point where we could say that the kind of derailment that leads to market crises could not happen again and so the issue will again play a central role at the G20 meeting this year," she said.

"It is true that economies are there to serve people and that has by no means always been the case in recent years."

Merkel, the daughter of a Lutheran minister, said she and Francis had spoken mainly about globalization, the European Union and the role of Europe in the world.

"Pope Francis made it clear that we need a strong, fair Europe and I found the message very encouraging," said Merkel, head of the Christian Democratic Union, which has a strong Catholic component.

In his first major speech about finance since his election in March, Francis had also urged states to take greater control of their economies and protect the weakest.

Merkel, who grew up in communist East Germany before the country was re-unified, said both she and Francis had "lived under dictatorships", referring to the military junta that ruled the pope's native Argentina from 1976 to 1983.

Merkel gave Francis, who lived briefly in Germany when he was a Jesuit priest, three volumes of poetry by Friedrich H?lderlin and 107 CDs of music by German conductor and composer Wilhelm Furtwaengler.

"I don't know if you will have the time to listen to all of them," she joked as she gave him the music.

(Additional reporting By Philip Pullella)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/germanys-merkel-visits-pope-urges-tougher-market-controls-124120055.html

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The double standard in the crazy debate over Angie's new breasts (Washington Post)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

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Sprint closes deal to buy spectrum and customers from U.S. Cellular in the Midwest

PCS spectrum and 420,000 U.S. Cellular customers part of deal

Sprint has announced that it's closed a deal to purchase PCS spectrum and a large number of customers from U.S. Cellular in the Midwest. As part of the deal, Sprint gets its hands on 20MHz of PCS airwaves in " various Midwest markets including Chicago, South Bend, Ind., and Champaign, Ill.," and 10MHz in St. Louis. As part of the transaction, Sprint will also inherit around 420,000 U.S. Cellular customers.

The customers affected by the purchase have already been informed, Sprint says, and it aims to offer them a smooth transition to its own network or one of its pre-paid brands, on a "similar or better" device at "little or no cost." The additional spectrum will help Sprint boost its network in these areas, as it looks to expand its 4G LTE coverage.

Source: Sprint

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/wg3xojVcskk/story01.htm

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Bombs targeting Sunnis kill at least 76 in Iraq

BAGHDAD (AP) ? Bombs ripped through Sunni areas in Baghdad and surrounding areas Friday, killing at least 76 people in the deadliest day in Iraq in more than eight months. The major spike in sectarian bloodshed heightened fears the country could again be veering toward civil war.

The attacks followed two days of bombings targeting Shiites, including bus stops and outdoor markets, with a total of 130 people killed since Wednesday.

Scenes of bodies sprawled across a street outside a mosque and mourners killed during a funeral procession were reminiscent of some of the worst days of retaliatory warfare between the Islamic sects that peaked in 2006-2007 as U.S. forces battled extremists on both sides.

Tensions have been intensifying since Sunnis began protesting what they say is mistreatment at the hands of the Shiite-led government, including random detentions and neglect. The protests, which began in December, have largely been peaceful, but the number of attacks rose sharply after a deadly security crackdown on a Sunni protest camp in northern Iraq on April 23.

Majority Shiites control the levers of power in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq. Wishing to rebuild the nation rather than revert to open warfare, they have largely restrained their militias in the past five years or so as Sunni extremist groups such as al-Qaida have frequently targeted them with large-scale attacks.

Nobody claimed responsibility for Friday's attacks, but the fact they occurred in mainly Sunni areas raised suspicion that Shiite militants were involved. The bombs also were largely planted in the areas, as opposed to the car bombings and suicide attacks that al-Qaida in Iraq and other Sunni insurgents are known to use.

Talal al-Zobaie, a Sunni lawmaker, called on politicians across the religious and ethnic spectrum to put aside their differences and focus on protecting the nation.

"The terrorist attacks on Sunni areas today and on Shiite areas in the past two days are an indication that some groups and regional countries are working hard to reignite the sectarian war in Iraq," he said. "The government should admit that it has failed to secure the country and the people, and all security commanders should be replaced by efficient people who can really confront terrorism. Sectarianism that has bred armies of widows and orphans in the past is now trying to make a comeback in this country, and everybody should be aware of this."

The areas hit Friday were all former Sunni insurgent strongholds that saw some of the fiercest fighting of the U.S.-led war as sectarian rivalries nearly tore the country apart.

The deadliest blast struck worshippers as they were leaving the main Sunni mosque in Baqouba, 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad. Another explosion went off shortly afterward as people gathered to help the wounded, leaving 41 dead and 56 wounded, according to police and hospital officials.

Grocery store owner Hassan Alwan was among the worshippers who attended Friday prayers in the al-Sariya mosque. He said he was getting ready to leave when he heard the explosion, followed by another a few minutes later.

"We rushed into the street and saw people who were killed and wounded, and other worshippers asking for help," he said. "I do not know where the country is headed amid these attacks against both Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq."

Baqouba was the site of some of the fiercest fighting between U.S. forces and insurgents. Al-Qaida in Iraq essentially controlled the area for years, defying numerous U.S. offensives aimed at restoring control. It also is the capital of Diyala province, a religiously mixed area that saw some of the worst atrocities as Shiite militias battled Sunni insurgents for control.

A roadside bomb exploded later Friday during a Sunni funeral procession in Madain, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Baghdad, killing eight mourners and wounding 11, police said. Two medical officials confirmed the casualties.

Another blast struck a cafe in Fallujah, 65 kilometers (40 miles) west of Baghdad, killing two people and wounding nine, according to police and hospital officials.

Ahmed Jassim, a 26-year-old taxi driver, had to take a wounded friend to the Fallujah hospital after the attack.

"We used to meet every Friday to smoke shisha (a water pipe) and we thought we would have a good time today, but things turned into explosions and victims," he said, waiting outside the hospital.

In Baghdad, a bomb exploded near a shopping center during the evening rush hour in the mainly Sunni neighborhood of Amariyah, killing 21 people and wounding 32. That was followed by another bomb in a commercial district in Dora, another Sunni neighborhood, which killed four people and wounded 22, according to officials.

All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

"It is not a coincidence that the attacks were concentrated in some areas of one sect and then moved the next day into areas of the other sect," said Jawad al-Hasnawi, a lawmaker with the bloc loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

"It is clear that terrorist groups such as al-Qaida and Baathists are trying hard to reignite the sectarian war in Iraq," he added. "But the government bears full responsibility for this security chaos and it has to take quick and serious measures in order to stop the bloodshed, instead of just blaming other political blocs."

Al-Hasnawi added: "Today and yesterday, the Iraqi people paid for the failure of government security forces. Everybody should expect darker days full of even deadlier attacks."

Iraqis have grown used to a cycle of high-profile bombings.

It was the deadliest day since Sept. 9, 2012, when 92 people were killed, according to an Associated Press tally.

The attacks on Sunnis came after two days of car bombs targeting Shiite areas in Baghdad and other attacks that left 33 dead on Wednesday and 21 dead on Thursday.

The violence against a Sunni Muslim house of worship represented a trend that has been on the rise. About 30 Sunni mosques have been attacked from mid-April to mid-May, killing more than 100 worshippers. It also comes against the backdrop of the civil war in neighboring Syria that also has taken on sectarian undertones and frequently spilled across the border.

In the southern city of Basra, hundreds of Iraqis attended the funeral of two Shiite fighters killed in Syria. Several such funerals have been held in recent months as Iraqi Shiite fighters have trickled into Syria to fight for President Bashar Assad's regime. The Assad government is dominated by the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, which is fighting mostly Sunni rebels.

____

Associated Press writers Kim Gamel in Cairo and Nabil al-Jurani in Basra contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bombs-targeting-sunnis-kill-least-76-iraq-185129502.html

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New malaria test kit gives a boost to elimination efforts worldwide

May 17, 2013 ? A new, highly sensitive blood test that quickly detects even the lowest levels of malaria parasites in the body could make a dramatic difference in efforts to tackle the disease in the UK and across the world, according to new research published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

In two studies led by researchers in the UK and Switzerland, the new LAMP (loop-mediated isothermal amplification) test was compared to existing methods in London laboratories that deal with imported cases of malaria to the UK, and to diagnostic methods used in the field in Uganda, where malaria is a leading cause of illness and death.

The simple test, which can be performed by a non-specialist health worker and does not need refrigerating like other tests, requires a sample of blood to be processed and placed in a test tube with a reactive powder then heated. If the malaria-causing Plasmodium parasites are present, the tube glows green. The whole process takes less than an hour.

The first study, led in London by the Hospital for Tropical Diseases (HTD), the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, compared LAMP to existing laboratory diagnostic methods on 705 blood samples of suspected imported malaria cases in the UK.

Dr Colin Sutherland, Clinical Scientist at HTD and Reader in Parasitology at the Malaria Reference Laboratory at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: "According to data collected for Public Health England by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the UK treats at least 1,500 cases of imported malaria every year. Despite the very best efforts of the NHS, a handful of malaria related deaths still occur annually in UK hospitals. The new LAMP test for malaria performed very well when tested in the parasite reference laboratory at HTD, and correctly identified every malaria patient out of 705 malaria tests performed.

"An important advantage of LAMP is that non-specialist staff in any hospital in the UK will be able to accurately and rapidly detect the presence of malaria parasites, and immediately begin treatment without waiting for confirmation from local experts or specialist laboratories. This speed of diagnosis can make the difference between an uncomplicated episode of malaria that rapidly responds to treatment, and progression to severe disease, organ failure and heightened risk of death. It could also save the NHS a significant amount of money from having to treat the complications of malaria."

LAMP was faster than PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests, which require specialised laboratory equipment, costly reagents and advanced training. It was also more accurate than microscopic examination of blood slides, which require a trained specialist to identify the malaria parasites.

In the second study, researchers from HTD, the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, Switzerland, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the Uganda Ministry of Health, Kampala, looked at the accuracy of the test at a rural clinic in Uganda.

Blood samples from 272 patients with suspected malaria were tested using LA MP using a simple generator to provide electrical current. These results were compared with expert microscopy and PCR performed at central reference laboratories. LAMP detected cases of low-level malaria parasite infection that were missed by expert microscopy, and achieved accuracy similar to that of PCR down to very low levels. The researchers say these findings have important implications for eliminating malaria, which causes an estimated 660,000 deaths worldwide every year.

Dr Sutherland, who worked on both of the studies, said: "Patterns of malaria disease in Africa and elsewhere across the tropics are becoming much less predictable, and control of malaria needs an appropriate test to identify infected individuals in the populations at risk. These people may not display any malaria symptoms. We have begun using LAMP as a new tool for identifying "hot spots" of malaria infections which can be mopped up quickly through a combination of drug treatment, house spraying and distribution of bed-nets.

"LAMP will potentially contribute to saving many families and communities from the blight of a disease that keeps children from succeeding at school, prevents adults from growing food or working, holds back regional economies and exacts an annual death toll in the hundreds of thousands."

The LAMP malaria test will now be used in the Malaria Reference Laboratory at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine to help identify imported cases of malaria in the UK as well as being used by health workers in the field in malaria endemic countries.

The LAMP malaria test is commercially available and was developed by the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, London and Eiken Chemical Company Ltd, Japan. The studies were funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of The Netherlands, and the UK Department for International Development.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/M9d7yJdth0c/130517102718.htm

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NVIDIA SHIELD hits pre-order status for the gamer in you - Android ...

Earlier this week the team from NVIDIA officially announced their new Project SHIELD gaming device would go up for sale in June. We confirmed on Tuesday morning that SHIELD would be available for pre-order starting on May 20th for $349, but today we have even better news. Thanks to a big demand and social buzz, they?ve moved the date up to today.

All you diehard gamers will be happy to know that NVIDIA and plenty of game developers are extremely excited about the quad-core Tegra 4 powered gaming device. So much in fact, that all their partners have agreed to push up the pre-order date by a few days. Starting today, May 17th, the NVIDIA SHIELD game console is available for reservation from multiple different outlets.

Sadly SHIELD still isn?t quite available yet, and we don?t have an exact date as to when it will ship. NVIDIA confirmed early June was their goal, and things are moving along nicely if they are already moving up the pre-order date. In a blog post this morning, NVIDIA confirmed that Newegg, Gamestop, Canada Computers, and themselves all have opened up pre-orders for buyers today, and Microcenter will join them soon.

?SHIELD is a brand new kind of gaming portable and we?re thrilled to be one of the few retailers who will be carrying it.? ? Newegg

In the video above you get a quick look at NVIDIA?s SHIELD gaming device, and we have tons of additional coverage from the timeline below for those interested. This is more than just a gaming device. It?s a full-fledged game-console. Being able to play Android games, and then use NVIDIA?s upcoming Geforce experience for full PC games, including those from Steam, is what makes it quite the product.

For now it remains to be seen just how successful SHIELD will be, but we have a feeling gamers will love it. Having additional time with it here at Google I/O in the final form, it?s quite fun and we think many will enjoy the experience. Get it today from the various partner links provided by NVIDIA for just $349.

SOURCE: NVIDIA Blog

Source: http://androidcommunity.com/nvidia-shield-hits-pre-order-status-for-the-gamer-in-you-20130517/

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