Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Brad Pitt donates $100K for gay marriage effort

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Brad Pitt has agreed to donate $100,000 to help the Human Rights Campaign raise money for its efforts to support same-sex marriage initiatives in several states.

The nation's largest gay rights group announced Wednesday that Pitt agreed to match contributions from the group's members up to $100,000.

In an e-mail to members of the Human Rights Campaign, Pitt wrote that it's "unbelievable" that people's relationships will be put to a vote on Election Day.

Same-sex marriage will be on the ballot in Maryland, Maine, Minnesota and Washington state.

The Washington, D.C.-based Human Rights Campaign says it has spent $8 million to push for marriage equality for gays and lesbians over the past two years, including $5 million in the four ballot measures this year.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/brad-pitt-donates-100k-gay-marriage-effort-171321691.html

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A day in the life of a mom/rancher/Farm to School educator | Farm to ...

Guest post by??Debbie Lyons-Blythe on behalf of Beef Checkoff
Read more about Debbie?s life on the ranch on her blog, KansasCattleRanch.blogspot.com?

I?m just like any other mom. I get up early in the morning, make sure my kids are moving and head to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. I dress for work, get the kids out the door for school and put on my shoes and jacket to meet the day. This is where my day differs from millions of other moms.

Debbie Lyons-Blythe

I am a cattle rancher. It is my responsibility to feed and care for more than 500 head of cattle every day. In October, I feed 300 weaned calves every morning and night, checking them to make sure none are sick or injured. If they do need extra attention, I work with my veterinarian to determine what is the best way to make them healthy again. Our 250 mama cows are still in the pastures eating grass, but they need weekly visits to make sure they are healthy and that they have fresh water and grass to eat.

Some mornings, when it is cold and windy (as it often is in Kansas), I?d rather snuggle back into a blanket and wait for warmer days to go to work. In the winter, when the snow falls, I am constantly cold and I have a hard time putting on enough layers! I often feel like the kid from the movie A Christmas Story who falls and can?t get back up! But despite the difficulties, I love cattle ranching?I couldn?t dream of doing anything else.

Today, less than 2 percent of the American population is directly involved in growing the world?s food. I am proud to be in that group. I truly love cows; I love working on the land; and I love running a family ranch where my husband, kids and I work side by side to care for our cattle. There are few businesses these days that the children are able to be a part of from an early age; and fewer still that the children want to follow in their parents footsteps to take over one day in the future. Ranching is about sustainability?both ecologically, as well as economically.

So why do I take time to talk with consumers about what I do on our ranch? With the vast majority of the population living one, two or more generations from the farm or ranch, they either have a romanticized idea of ranching, or a misrepresentation of what large scale farming and ranching is. I work every day to correct that.

My family lives near a small town in central Kansas. Each year my kids and I sponsor a Farm to Fork Day at our local school, where we bring a cow and calf for the students to pet?often for the first time, and examples of everyday products that have a beef by-product in it. Students are amazed to learn of the products that depend on cattle for ingredients?jelly beans have gelatin, chewing gum is glycerin based, asphalt contains a binding agent from beef fat, and even tires have stearic acid which makes rubber hold its shape.

In addition, in a small school, a large percentage of students participate in school sports. I enjoy explaining the role of protein in a well balanced diet and showing those young athletes how zinc and iron, as well as B-vitamins that come from beef help build lean muscle. Lastly, I love to see what the students know about what a cow eats and I show them the Cow Chow game online. Often their teacher is able to offer computer time during class for the students to play Cow Chow!

Why do I take time out of my day to teach these kids about ranching? Because I am committed to young people (I have five of my own), and committed to enriching education. By showing them what I do on the ranch and how that directly impacts their life, I hope they will be more aware of the food they put in their bodies and how it fuels their lives. Because their perceptions are my reality! I love ranching, and I enjoy sharing that with kids.

Resources I use for youth:

Source: http://www.farmtoschoolmonth.org/2012/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-momrancherfarm-to-school-educator/

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Assembly not required [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 31-Oct-2012
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Contact: Michael Patrick Rutter
mrutter@seas.harvard.edu
617-496-3815
Harvard University

Researchers from NYU, Harvard, and Dow Chemical create new microparticles that self-assemble like atoms into molecules

Cambridge, Mass. - October 31, 2012 - Scientists have created new kinds of particles, 1/100th the diameter of a human hair, that spontaneously assemble themselves into structures resembling molecules made from atoms. These new particles come together, or "self-assemble," to form structures in patterns that were previously impossible to make and hold promise for manufacturing advanced optical materials and ceramics.

The method, described in the latest issue of the journal Nature, was developed by a team of chemists, chemical engineers, and physicists at New York University (NYU), the Harvard School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, the Harvard Department of Physics, and Dow Chemical Company.

The method is centered on enhancing the architecture of colloidssmall particles suspended within a fluid medium. Colloidal dispersions are composed of such everyday items as paint, milk, gelatin, glass, and porcelain, but their potential to create new materials remains largely untapped.

Previously, scientists had succeeded in building rudimentary structures from colloids. But the ability use colloids to design and assemble complex 3-dimensional structures, which are vital to the design of advanced optical materials, has been limited. This is, in part, because colloids lack directional bonds, which are necessary to control particle self-assembly as well as to enhance complexity while maintaining the structural integrity of these creations. Such assemblies serve as the building blocks of the natural worlde.g., atoms and moleculesbut they are rare in the colloidal domain.

"What this method aimed to do was to use nature's properties for atoms and apply them to the colloidal world," explained NYU chemistry professor Marcus Weck, one of the study's coauthors.

"Chemists have a whole periodic table of atoms to choose from when they synthesize molecules and crystals," added coauthor Vinothan Manoharan, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and Physics at Harvard. "We wanted to develop a similar 'construction set' for making larger-scale molecules and crystals."

In developing colloids with such properties, the researchers engineered chemical "patches" that can form directional bonds, thus allowing for the assembly of 3-dimensional "lattices" with only a few connections between particles, an important design element for many advanced materials. Without directional bonding, such structures are unstable.

The trick was establishing bonding capabilities on the patches. The scientists did so by using single strands of DNA, which scientists at NYU and elsewhere have previously employed to organize small particles. In the method described in Nature, these strands of DNA served as "sticky ends" to which particle patches could adhere.

"What this means is we can make particles that attach only at the patches, and then we can program them so only specific kinds of particles attach at those patches," said coauthor and NYU physics professor David Pine. "This gives us tremendous flexibility to design 3-dimensional structures."

The researchers added that the specificity of DNA interactions between patches means that colloids with different properties, such as size, color, chemical functionality, or electrical conductivity, could lead to the production of new materials. These potentially include 3-dimensional electrically wired networks or photonic crystals to enhance the optical displays of a range of consumer products and to improve the speed of computer chips.

###

Additional coauthors included Yufeng Wang (NYU), Yu Wang (NYU), Dana R. Breed (Dow Chemical Co.), Lang Feng (NYU), and Andrew D. Hollingsworth (NYU).

Key work was performed at NYU's Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, an interdisciplinary laboratory supported by the National Science Foundation.

The research was also supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (MR-0820341, ChE-0911460, DMR-0923251).


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Assembly not required [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 31-Oct-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Michael Patrick Rutter
mrutter@seas.harvard.edu
617-496-3815
Harvard University

Researchers from NYU, Harvard, and Dow Chemical create new microparticles that self-assemble like atoms into molecules

Cambridge, Mass. - October 31, 2012 - Scientists have created new kinds of particles, 1/100th the diameter of a human hair, that spontaneously assemble themselves into structures resembling molecules made from atoms. These new particles come together, or "self-assemble," to form structures in patterns that were previously impossible to make and hold promise for manufacturing advanced optical materials and ceramics.

The method, described in the latest issue of the journal Nature, was developed by a team of chemists, chemical engineers, and physicists at New York University (NYU), the Harvard School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, the Harvard Department of Physics, and Dow Chemical Company.

The method is centered on enhancing the architecture of colloidssmall particles suspended within a fluid medium. Colloidal dispersions are composed of such everyday items as paint, milk, gelatin, glass, and porcelain, but their potential to create new materials remains largely untapped.

Previously, scientists had succeeded in building rudimentary structures from colloids. But the ability use colloids to design and assemble complex 3-dimensional structures, which are vital to the design of advanced optical materials, has been limited. This is, in part, because colloids lack directional bonds, which are necessary to control particle self-assembly as well as to enhance complexity while maintaining the structural integrity of these creations. Such assemblies serve as the building blocks of the natural worlde.g., atoms and moleculesbut they are rare in the colloidal domain.

"What this method aimed to do was to use nature's properties for atoms and apply them to the colloidal world," explained NYU chemistry professor Marcus Weck, one of the study's coauthors.

"Chemists have a whole periodic table of atoms to choose from when they synthesize molecules and crystals," added coauthor Vinothan Manoharan, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and Physics at Harvard. "We wanted to develop a similar 'construction set' for making larger-scale molecules and crystals."

In developing colloids with such properties, the researchers engineered chemical "patches" that can form directional bonds, thus allowing for the assembly of 3-dimensional "lattices" with only a few connections between particles, an important design element for many advanced materials. Without directional bonding, such structures are unstable.

The trick was establishing bonding capabilities on the patches. The scientists did so by using single strands of DNA, which scientists at NYU and elsewhere have previously employed to organize small particles. In the method described in Nature, these strands of DNA served as "sticky ends" to which particle patches could adhere.

"What this means is we can make particles that attach only at the patches, and then we can program them so only specific kinds of particles attach at those patches," said coauthor and NYU physics professor David Pine. "This gives us tremendous flexibility to design 3-dimensional structures."

The researchers added that the specificity of DNA interactions between patches means that colloids with different properties, such as size, color, chemical functionality, or electrical conductivity, could lead to the production of new materials. These potentially include 3-dimensional electrically wired networks or photonic crystals to enhance the optical displays of a range of consumer products and to improve the speed of computer chips.

###

Additional coauthors included Yufeng Wang (NYU), Yu Wang (NYU), Dana R. Breed (Dow Chemical Co.), Lang Feng (NYU), and Andrew D. Hollingsworth (NYU).

Key work was performed at NYU's Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, an interdisciplinary laboratory supported by the National Science Foundation.

The research was also supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (MR-0820341, ChE-0911460, DMR-0923251).


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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/2012-10/hu-anr103112.php

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Talisman defers investing in Quebec's shale gas - Oil & Gas Journal

Talisman Energy Inc. has decided against committing any more near-term investment for shale gas exploration in Quebec, the Calgary-based company said in comments about its quarterly financial statement.

The Quebec government imposed a partial drilling moratorium that remains effective pending completion of an environmental study to evaluate hydraulic fracturing (OGJ Online, Oct. 11, 2010).

The study is not expected to be completed before 2014. In Quebec, Talisman has acreage along the Lowlands of the Saint-Lawrence River.

?During the 3-month period ended Sept. 30, 2012, the company determined that it would not commit capital in the foreseeable future to exploration and evaluation activities in Quebec, where the prohibition regarding hydraulic fracturing for shale gas development has been reaffirmed,? Talisman said, adding it will book impairment costs for Quebec of $109 million before taxes or $82 million after taxes.

Source: http://www.ogj.com/articles/2012/10/talisman-defers-investing-in-quebecs-shale-gas.html

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Finding a Small Business Bank Account That Works ... - Finance Fox

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As a small business owner who runs an online and offline business, and both being separate from one another, one of the first steps I took was to obtain corporate banking services.? The reason being is that the customers can pay in my company name instead of my personal name.? As well, it helps during tax season when business income/expenses are separated from personal income/expenses. Neither of my businesses are incorporated yet, but trust me, it?s much easier come tax time.

The small business accounts offered by various financial institutions really vary in terms of cost and features.? I mainly focused on cost, as I despise account fees, and more importantly my businesses are small and certainly not at any point that they can afford to throw away money. Generally speaking, all the banks offered both a set monthly fee plan where you get so many transactions per month in addition to offering ?pay as you go? plans.

So, I wanted to share with you a few points on what to look for when in search of a business account for your small business.

1. Think for the Future

Most large banks offer added benefits such as online services that help save time and money on tax and accounting assistance. These may include sending invoices, collecting payments, payroll and loan applications. But keep in mind that banking is a competitive business, and it rarely takes more than a year for a new product or service to be copied by banks across the country. So look towards the future and find a bank that will offer you the tools as your business grows. Even though you?re relatively a small business when starting out, you?ll grow through time, and your banking needs will expand as well. Here?s what to look for in a bank, and services that you may need through time:

Basic Services

  • Checking account
  • Business savings account
  • Payroll services
  • Credit card
  • Deposit-only card
  • Online banking
  • Foreign business bank accounts

Lending Services

  • Lines of credit
  • Term-loans
  • Commercial real estate
  • Equipment leasing

?Cash Management

  • Wire transfers
  • Lock box
  • Merchant services

2. Location and Hours

Hours ? This one was an important thing for me, especially since my business is a part-time thing and I work mostly evenings and weekends.? I wante the flexibility to be able to deposit money late in the evening and weekends.

Branch Locations ? This is another really important aspect for me.? I want someplace that has a good number of branches near me, plus the convenience of a branch close to my house and my ?day job? office.? I?m gonna be driving enough as it is, I don?t need to waste more gas depositing my earnings.

3. Fund Availability

Nobody likes having their cash held hostage until the check clears. Some financial institutions hold funds up to 5 business days in order to verify that the check is legit and that the other bank has the funds to cover the check. So, how long does it take to post to your account and become available? is a question to ask. Keep in mind that this can be negotiated as well, after all it?s your money, and liability can be split 50/50. For example, you can negotiate with the potential bank to automatically release up to a certain amount upon deposit.

4. Monthly Transaction Limit

Pay attention to the monthly transaction limit.? By signing up for a free business checking account, they will put a cap on the amount of transactions you?re allowed to make in a month.? Sometimes it?s worth paying a very basic minimum monthly fee, and get a transaction limit that will work for you and your business.

Final Thoughts

Don?t be afraid to negotiate. Just as you know you are likely to offer a deal to that customer you really want to keep, so will your suppliers. Financial institution always leave room for those willing to negotiate, so don?t be intimidated.? In order to earn your business, most will match the competition?s offer, and all you have to do is ask.

Finally, don?t be afraid to walk away, and find someone who will suit your needs. I went through four or five banks that I researched, negotiated, and asked, before I finally settled with the current financial institution that I?m with.

Readers, do you have a small business account? What made you choose your current financial institution? Did you negotiate anything?

Cheers, and thanks for reading!

Eddie

Source: http://www.financefox.ca/finding-small-business-bank-account-works/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=finding-small-business-bank-account-works

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U.S. Philosophy Of Government

Mitt Romney and Paul RyanPaul Ryan have a right to propose a smaller government, and that states take care of most tasks.

Putting aside whether that is a practical way to run a country for the moment, we do have a right to ask them to stick to these beliefs.

Too many times when their views were seen as politically incorrect they merely ?walked them back,? to use today?s lingo.

Abraham Lincoln said: ?You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.?

That may not be true any longer. Improvements in communications later made it possible to tell lies so often that they began to been as the truth.

With today?s media there is so much noise it is hard to tell what is true. Media content creators are competing for the attention of the nation, with no holds barred.

Romney said he would shut down FEMA, even privatize it.

Obama called the attack on Benghazi an attack, and an act of terror, twice within 24 hours.

Who to believe?

Leaving that answer to each individual voter the question should become whether making the government smaller should be the No. 1 priority of Americans. Is small inherently better than large, or just in some cases, even most cases.

The New York Times may have said it best with ?big storm, big government.?

Bad things, be they serial killers, diseases, bugs, weather disasters, or terrorism, cross states lines.

Republicans say regional disasters create an opportunity for unnecessary spending.

We could disassemble NORTHCOM and NORAD and build a state emergency center in all 50 states. And we could build a communications system connecting them.

At the end of the day, would the director of each one of these centers be more concerned about his/her state or the regional outcome?

Source: http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/13294248-us-philosophy-of-government

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Friday, October 26, 2012

High-speed rail efforts gain momentum across the country

13 hrs.

The fields of north-central Illinois may seem like an unlikely backdrop to showcase the future of the nation?s transportation system, but for fans of high-speed rail, they may have done just that.

On Friday, a train on Amtrak?s Chicago-St. Louis corridor traversed those fields at a speed of 111 mph., 40 percent faster than the line?s normal top speed of 79 mph and faster than any U.S. train outside Amtrak?s Northeast Corridor.

?It was interesting to see how smooth the transition was from 79 to (111),? said Josh Kauffman, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Transportation, who was on the train, along with other officials, including Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.

?It was an historic ride,? said Kauffman, ?and we?re extremely pleased with the results.?

It was also, perhaps, an unintended acknowledgment of the fact that, after years of high hopes, high-speed rail in the U.S. remains a slow-going affair. Despite the celebratory mood aboard Friday?s train, it?s worth noting that the ?historic? high-speed ride only covered 15 miles of the 285-mile route and that extending the service will take years and billions of dollars.

?People keep talking about top speed, but what really matters to travelers is average speed ? the trip time itself,? said Kenneth Orski, publisher of transportation newsletter "Innovation Briefs,"?and a?former DOT official. ?Even with billions of dollars in improvements, the average speed won?t improve that much.?

Still, efforts to expand the nation?s high-speed rail offerings continue. Among the most recent developments:

  • Last month, Amtrak ran several tests along its Northeast Corridor, running Acela Express trains at speeds of up to 165 mph ? current top speed is 135 mph ? on four sections of track in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, as part of efforts to raise regular service speeds to 160 mph by 2017.
  • Earlier this year, trains on Amtrak?s Wolverine service between Chicago and Pontiac, Mich., began running at 110 mph on a 90-mile section between Porter, Ind., and Kalamazoo. At build-out, officials hope to cut travel time between Chicago and Detroit to less than four hours.
  • In California, plans to build an 800-mile high-speed train line between Los Angeles and San Francisco moved forward last month after the federal government approved a section of the route between Merced and Fresno. Construction is expected to start next year, although several lawsuits have already been filed against the project.

Ironically, perhaps, such projects come at a time when train travel in the U.S. in general is at a crossroads. On the one hand, Amtrak carried 31.2 million passengers during the last 12 months, the highest annual ridership total in the company?s 41-year history. On the other, funding for multi-billion-dollar projects is increasingly uncertain at a time of budget cutbacks, ballooning deficits and a presidential election defined by two diametrically opposed views of government.

In the meantime, riders on the Chicago-St. Louis corridor may take solace in the fact that Amtrak expects to begin offering regular 110 mph service on that 15-mile stretch by Thanksgiving and on 75 percent of the route by 2015, cutting trip times by more than an hour.

?The difference between 79 and 110 mph isn't necessarily all that much, but at 110, the number of people they can carry improves dramatically,? said Rod Diridon Sr., executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University. ?At that point, it really begins to compete with short-hop air travel.?

Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him?on?Twitter.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/travel/travelkit/high-speed-rail-efforts-gain-momentum-across-country-1C6643651

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Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota - Communications ...


Join the creative and energetic Children?s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota marketing team, and help us further enhance our strong brand by telling our story to internal and external audiences. The role of the Communications Consultant will focus primarily on internal communications, with additional public and media relations responsibilities. This position, reporting to the Manager of Public Relations and Internal Communications, will drive strategic direction, counsel, and execution of communications plans aimed at engaging and rallying Children?s 4,200 employees around our brand position that nobody treats kids like we do. This person will develop integrated plans, utilizing multiple channels, to communicate to and with specific employee groups, as well as the organization as a whole.? The role will also include handling public relations requests, working with news media, and the development of public relations strategies that will showcase Children?s leadership in pediatric care. Children?s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota is the seventh largest pediatric health care organization in the country, and the regional leader in caring for kids. At our two hospital sites, day surgery center and growing footprint of clinic locations, we proudly believe that nobody treats kids like we do.

In this role you will be responsible for:

Strategic counsel around internal communications issues and needs

Execution and evolution of a Town Hall Meeting model to increase engagement between employees and our executive team

Conveying organizational goals and strategies to employees in a way that increases engagement and aligns people around our mission

Development and direction of two-way communications tools to give employees a voice, and to allow us to engage them in dialogue?

Staying current on ever-evolving internal communications tools/technologies to continuously improve our organization?s ability to achieve business objectives

Scheduling and facilitating regular meetings with key internal clients, including the executive team, staying ahead of planned announcements and communications needs

Serving as a gatekeeper in the flow of information to employees, ensuring we are communicating with one voice while using consistent messaging

Writing internal memos, e-mail announcements, blog postings, presentations, and other strategic communications to clearly communicate with employees

Writing and editing press releases, blog postings, bylined articles and other documents aimed at external audiences??

Leveraging social media tools to accomplish internal and external communications goals

Participation in and development and execution of media relations campaigns, including writing news releases, pitching news media, staffing media events, and crisis communications

Qualifications


  • Five to seven?years experience in corporate communications including experience with internal communications and media relations
  • Excellent writing and editing skills
  • Ability to present to groups effectively
  • Comfort interacting and working with senior leadership
  • Highly organized and detailed oriented
  • Ability to manage multiple projects, timelines and budgets simultaneously in a fast-paced environment
  • Strong relationship-building skills
  • Ability to find great stories, hone them, and tell them in a compelling way through multiple vehicles
  • Comfort working with news media
  • A quick study and a desire to become a subject matter expert on many topics
  • Able to take initiative and move projects forward while still being able to foster a team atmosphere

If you are interested in applying for the position, please apply online at childrensmn.org.? Please refer to job number 21920.

Source: http://www.mnprjobs.com/2012/10/childrens-hospitals-and-clinics-of.html

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Pigs may look healthy but can test positive for flu at fairs

ScienceDaily (Oct. 24, 2012) ? More than 80 percent of pigs that tested positive for influenza A virus at Ohio county fairs between 2009 and 2011 showed no signs of illness, according to a new study.

Ohio State University researchers tested 20 pigs each at 53 fair events over those three summers and found at least one flu-positive pig at 12 fairs -- almost a quarter of fairs tested.

The influenza strains identified in pigs in this study include H1N2 and H3N2 viruses -- strains that have been circulating in pigs since 1998. In 2011, all of the H3N2 and H1N2 isolates found in pigs at the fairs contained a gene from the 2009 pandemic strain of H1N1, which is similar to the H3N2v strain causing human illness this year.

Though this finding alone is no cause for panic, it does show how quickly influenza viruses can change, said Andrew Bowman, lead author of the study and a Ph.D. candidate in veterinary preventive medicine at Ohio State.

In a second study led by Bowman, researchers compared the genomic sequences of influenza A viruses recovered in July 2012 from pigs and people. The analysis, showing a greater than 99 percent genetic similarity among the viruses, confirms that pigs and humans were infected with the same virus, indicating interspecies transmission.

As of Sept. 25 this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had confirmed 107 human cases of H3N2v influenza in Ohio since July 2012, with the majority linked to exposure to pigs at agricultural fairs. While most of the human illness caused by H3N2v has been mild, one person, who had a compromised immune system, has died.

The more often that flu viruses are transmitted, the better their chances are of evolving into a strain to which humans are not immune, which is the big-picture concern among scientists monitoring these viral infections.

"Pigs can be infected with human-, avian- and swine-origin influenza viruses, making it possible for these viruses to easily swap their genetic material, which could allow for a new strain to emerge," Bowman said. "The potential is there for newly emerged strains to be the next pandemic we never saw coming."

Bowman and colleagues will continue to investigate strategies to protect swine and public health. In the meantime, the research group has offered potential risk mitigation strategies for fairs with swine competitions to consider: shortening the pig exhibition period, avoiding movement of pigs from one fair to the next, and vaccinating exhibition swine for appropriate influenza A viruses. In addition, the CDC recommends that people with compromised immune systems avoid pig displays at fairs.

Both studies appear online and are scheduled for later print publication. The three-year surveillance at Ohio fairs is published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, and the analysis of human and pig viruses appears in Emerging Microbes & Infections.

Each summer, agricultural fairs bring together animal and human populations that normally don't spend much time in the same place. Pigs are susceptible to multiple strains of influenza A viruses, and the three-year surveillance suggests that the daily visual inspection of pigs at fairs isn't effective at identifying pigs infected with influenza A viruses. This combination of facts adds up to an environment conducive for the transmission of influenza A viruses among pigs and between humans and pigs, potentially in both directions.

"The prevalence of flu in market-weight pigs in commercial swine-production settings is pretty low. But finding flu at the fair shouldn't be that surprising. If you bring 200-plus pigs together from multiple locations and house them with new neighbors for a week in a new environment, they are all bound to share pathogens," Bowman said. "But we were surprised to find as much flu as we did subclinically, when pigs weren't showing any signs of illness."

Bowman and his colleagues, members of the College of Veterinary Medicine's Animal Influenza Ecology and Epidemiology Research Program, tested pigs at 15 Ohio county fairs in 2009, 16 in 2010 and 22 in 2011, using nasal swabs to collect their samples.

The scientists found influenza A virus in at least one pig at 12 (22.6 percent) of the 53 fairs. At the fairs where flu was detected in the pigs, the average frequency of virus detection was 63 percent. Pigs showing signs of illness were observed and tested positive for flu at two fairs, and pigs without signs of illness but positive for flu were found at 10 (18.9 percent) of the 53 fairs. That means pigs at 10 of 12 fairs with positive flu cases, or 83.3 percent of flu-positive pigs, actually didn't appear to be sick. A total of 1,073 pigs were tested over the three-year period.

"This is an explanation of why people were becoming infected in 2012 -- because a high percentage of infected pigs with no clinical symptoms are exhibited at fairs," said Richard Slemons, professor of veterinary preventive medicine at Ohio State and senior author of both studies. "There is potentially high exposure. Therefore, this is something we hadn't seen before or did not know was going on because no one had systematically examined fairs."

Influenza A virus usually infects the respiratory tract, and pigs can "shed" the virus into the air. Slemons described flu-positive swine areas as potentially under a "cloud" of flu particles that would be difficult to avoid. Swine infected with flu typically show clinical signs similar to those in humans: nasal discharge, cough, fever, lethargy and poor appetite.

In the second study, the researchers used swine-origin virus isolates collected during fair surveillance that had continued into the summer of 2012, and obtained the genetic sequences of human-origin influenza A virus isolates from GenBank, the National Institutes of Health genetic sequence database. The human viruses had been recovered from people with flu-like illness following exposure to pigs at an Ohio fair in July 2012.

The timing of the illnesses and the proximity of humans and pigs suggested the viruses were the same, but it was the higher than 99 percent similarity in the viruses' genetic sequences that confirmed interspecies transmission, Bowman said.

"This study presents clear molecular evidence that pigs and humans were concurrently infected with the same strain of influenza A virus at an Ohio county fair in July 2012," he said.

Bowman noted that the results of the two studies create new questions: How do these viruses get to the fair, what can be done to lessen the risk to animals and people, and are the infections going in only one direction, from pigs to humans?

The research program members are continuing to monitor the antigenic and genomic properties of type A influenza viruses in swine.

"It is possible that humans are infecting the pigs. The lineage of the H3N2 strains we see in pigs can be tracked back to the human seasonal flu of the 1990s," Bowman said. "Human-to-swine transmission of influenza viruses has the potential to significantly impact swine health."

He noted that influenza A virus is not considered a food-safety risk as long as pork is cooked properly.

This work was supported by the Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Minnesota Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's National Veterinary Services Laboratories.

Jacqueline Nolting and Sarah Nelson of Ohio State's Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine were co-authors on both papers. Additional co-authors of the Emerging Microbes & Infections paper include Srinand Sreevatsan and Carol Cardona of the University of Minnesota, Mary Killian of the USDA and Shannon Page of the Ohio Department of Health.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Ohio State University.

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


Journal References:

  1. Andrew S. Bowman, Jacqueline M. Nolting, Sarah W. Nelson, and Richard D. Slemons. Subclinical Influenza Virus A Infections in Pigs Exhibited at Agricultural Fairs, Ohio, USA, 2009?2011. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2012 [link]
  2. Andrew S Bowman, Srinand Sreevatsan, Mary L Killian, Shannon L Page, Sarah W Nelson, Jacqueline M Nolting, Carol Cardona, Richard D Slemons. Molecular evidence for interspecies transmission of H3N2pM/H3N2v influenza A viruses at an Ohio agricultural fair, July 2012. Emerging Microbes & Infections, 2012; 1 (10): e33 DOI: 10.1038/emi.2012.33

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/hWZQV_uyXe4/121024164622.htm

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UK lawmakers line up to host Richard III's tomb

(AP) ? British lawmakers are sparring over what may be left of Richard III.

No one is certain yet that remains dug up last month at a Leicester parking lot are those of the monarch immortalized by William Shakespeare for his willingness to trade his kingdom for a horse.

It may take months for DNA testing to determine if the body is the king's, but that hasn't stopped lawmakers in Parliament from sparring over the remains for their valuable tourism potential.

Archaeologists found the bones beneath the site of the Grey Friars church in Leicester, central England. Accounts at the time say Richard was buried there following his 1485 death in the Battle of Bosworth Field.

Labour lawmaker John Mann says the priory of Worksop, in Nottinghamshire, would be an ideal final resting place for the king ? but his Labour colleague Jon Ashworth of Leicester South was having none of that.

"I am sure Worksop has many fine qualities, but given it was the Grey Friars who took the body of Richard and buried him at what was then the Grey Friars' church, a site which is today just a stone's throw from Leicester Cathedral, and he has been in Leicester for 500 years, it would be most appropriate that he is finally laid to rest at Leicester Cathedral," Ashworth said.

The University of Leicester team behind the find noted that archaeologists are still doing tests and are far from certain that the bones are Richard's.

The team that excavated the bones has identified a direct descendant of Richard's elder sister ? a 17th great-grand-nephew ? and obtained a DNA swab for possible matching with any bones found at the site.

"Let's see if it is him first," said Lin Foxhall, head of the university's School of Archaeology and Ancient History. "What we have is a really convincing candidate on the basis of circumstantial evidence. This is just not certain."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2012-10-25-Britain-Richard-III/id-99d78771ac1b416182b0a83a17a1baa7

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

Celebrate Windows 8 day with this livestream of Microsoft's launch event (video)

Microsoft's big coming out day for Windows 8 is finally upon us. In celebration, Redmond's throwing a launch party for its newest OS update on New York City's Pier 57. You may not be able to join in on the fun in person, but we've got this handy stream beyond the break should you wish to play along virtually, and it's starting any minute.

Continue reading Celebrate Windows 8 day with this livestream of Microsoft's launch event (video)

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Celebrate Windows 8 day with this livestream of Microsoft's launch event (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Oct 2012 11:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceMicrosoft  | Email this | Comments


Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Hegg3dBhW2o/

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Spectacular Video of Hurricane Sandy from the International Space Station

The International Space Station has just captured this spectacular dolly shot of hurricane Sandy as it approaches the United States. According to NOAA, the Category 2 hurricane is now near Cat Island in the central Bahamas, and its wind field is expanding. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/R666gGv5hmU/spectacular-video-hurricane-sandy-from-the-international-space-station

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Cancer Genomics | MIT Technology Review

We've made the site more dynamic and beautiful for you?the innovators, leaders, and early adopters.

Starting today, you will see the results of our commitment to a "digital first" strategy?reporting on technologies that matter, and explaining how they will change our lives.? Our new look and feel also marks the?return to our rich heritage of design.

Continue ?

Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/article/429737/cancer-genomics/

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Tom Cruise Files $50M Lawsuit Over Bad-Dad Claims

Warning: if you call Tom Cruise a bad father, he might sue you! The actor has filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit against the publishers of Life & Style and In Touch, after the magazines claimed that Cruise had "abandoned" his six-year-old daughter Suri.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/tom-cruise-files-50-million-lawsuit-against-life-style/1-a-496695?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Atom-cruise-files-50-million-lawsuit-against-life-style-496695

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EU antitrust commission charges Microsoft over browser selection 'breach'

EU antitrust commission charges Microsoft over browser selection 'breach'

European regulators have charged Microsoft for not giving Windows 7 users a choice of internet browsers when they install the OS. Although this is only an initial step towards a fine for the software maker, Microsoft agreed with the European Commission to offer browser choices to its Windows users over three years ago, avoiding a heavy antitrust penalty. Unfortunately, while Microsoft acknowledged the "technical error", this wasn't before the European Commission picked up the issue -- the EU's antitrust watchdog said in July that Microsoft had not complied with the order from February 2011. According to a Reuters report earlier this year, and echoed in the EU's statement below, the fine could amount to as much as 10 percent of the Redmond company's global turnover.

Update: Microsoft has issued a statement on the EU charge, received by The Verge.

"We take this matter very seriously and moved quickly to address this problem as soon as we became aware of it. Although this was the result of a technical error, we take responsibility for what happened, and we are strengthening our internal procedures to help ensure something like this cannot happen again. We sincerely apologize for this mistake and will continue to cooperate fully with the Commission."

Continue reading EU antitrust commission charges Microsoft over browser selection 'breach'

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EU antitrust commission charges Microsoft over browser selection 'breach' originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 06:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/ZoRAX6tyG7w/

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Are you 6 to 7 months pregnant and employed? UC Berkeley invites ...

The UC Berkeley School of Public Health, in collaboration with the March of Dimes, is developing educational materials to help pregnant working women make decisions about taking maternity leave. Given that 50% of the workforce is comprised of women and that a large majority will get pregnant while employed, it is important for women to feel supported and have resources that can help them decide how best to maintain work-family balance considering their own personal and family situation.

??? In the United States, we lack a maternity leave culture. Two of every three mothers at first birth work during pregnancy. Most pregnant mothers work fulltime into their last month and, on average, return to work within three months after giving birth. This coincides with the amount of leave offered by the federal government under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). ?Under FMLA eligible new mothers are allowed to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for newborns with guaranteed health insurance coverage while maintaining the right to resume work at the conclusion of their leave. However, this law is restrictive. It only applies to mothers who work in companies with at least 50 employees and who have worked for an employer for at least 1,250 hours in the past 12 months. For mothers who work in smaller companies, maternity leave benefits are often unclear and vary from state to state and across firms. Furthermore, human resource departments do not necessarily offer clear directives. In California, there are laws and governmental programs in place that support maternity leave and may even pay wages during maternity leave, but not all women know about these resources.

??? The maternity leave educational materials we are designing will help women consider the resource options available to them in California, as well as weigh the pros and cons of taking maternity leave before and after childbirth from a health standpoint. The scientific evidence so far suggests that there may be some health benefits of taking maternity leave. Some studies have found an association between leave before delivery and a reduced risk of problems with the childbirth. Other studies have found that postpartum leave is associated with improved health for mothers and their babies. We aim to find out what factors influence working women as they decide if taking maternity leave is right for them.

?

??? We are currently recruiting pregnant women for this study. Please feel free to distribute the information below. If you would like to have some flyers, please email Elaine Kurtovich at matleavestudy@berkeley.edu.

?********************************************

The UC Berkeley School of Public Health is looking to enroll pregnant, working women in a research study to learn more about how women make decisions about taking maternity leave.

?To participate you must be:

? 6-7 months (24-31 weeks) pregnant

? working during pregnancy

? over 18

? English- or Spanish-speaking

? living in California

Interested?

? To sign up for the study online go to http://tinyurl.com/UCBmatleavestudy

? To sign up for the study by phone call (888) 490-8223.

If you are eligible, you will be asked to take a 10-minute survey online or over the phone

4 weeks after your due date. If you take the survey after you deliver, you will receive a

$10 Amazon.com gift card (or $10 Babies R Us gift card if you do the survey over

the phone) and will be entered into a drawing to win a Kindle Fire.

**Refer a friend and get a $10 Amazon.com gift card!**

Questions? For more information, contact the study director, Elaine Kurtovich (888-490-8223/matleavestudy@berkeley.edu).

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Source: http://www.momsrising.org/blog/are-you-6-to-7-months-pregnant-and-employed-uc-berkeley-invites-you-to-take-part-in-a-study-about-maternity-leave/

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Can't Spell It ? Tips for Choosing which Furniture to Buy

Choosing a Shreveport furniture piece that will best fit the ambiance of your home can turn out a challenging task. With the myriad array of styles available in average stores, narrowing down your choice can really be time-consuming and often overwhelming.

Some homeowners choose to hire professional home designers for the task. This is not always an option for everyone especially for those with limited budget though. Perhaps, these following tips will help you in your dilemma.

Determine beforehand how much you are willing and are able to spend for the furnishings. If you are planning to furnish several rooms, then it will be better if you divide your budget between these rooms. It is important to base your set budget on how many furniture pieces you want to put inside each room. This will help you in narrowing down your search and staying on track while at the store.

Decide what furnishings you exactly want for your home. It will be better if you keep a list of all these. Take into account in which rooms the pieces are to go, whether they will be placed in bedrooms, bathrooms or in the kitchen.

It is important that you also take into account the style of your home when deciding which furnishings to purchase. Picture out what you want your rooms to look like. Consider the layout of the spaces in your home as well, including where permanent fixtures are situated. Sketching where you want certain equipments and items to be placed will help in easing out the decision-making. It may also do you good to take the measurements of each of your room.

Make sure that the items you will be picking out will not only match the style of your home but the present interior colors as well. List down what colors can be found in the rooms which will be receiving the new pieces. Take note of the flooring color, wall color, and if any metal or wood finishes are present. Colors of both the room and the furniture pieces must be complementary to each other.

There are some homeowners who consider taking photos of their rooms. These photos can serve as references for when they actually start going shopping in home improvement stores or depots. The photos may also be shown to salespeople in case one desires to get professional recommendations on what items will best complement the interiors.

It is recommended that buyers do not settle with purchasing the first item they see in the first shop they visit. Canvassing for other furnishings from several shops might widen your choice list but will give you a chance to encounter other items which may be offered in better deals. Make sure that you have shopped around the stores operating within your area before coming down with a decision.

You might also want to employ the use of the internet for finding good offers. This approach is considered by many since they need not exert physical effort going from one place to another, trying to find the item that best fits the image of their home. By simply browsing through websites of furniture shops or auction sites, you will most certainly be able to come down with an item listing.

Before actually buying the Shreveport furniture you want, take the time to inspect its quality. Make sure that is made with solid construction. Check for movements in its frame or snags in its fabric. You might also want to be wary of splits in its wood.

Source: http://www.cantspellit.com/tips-for-choosing-which-furniture-to-buy/

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