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Wednesday, February 27, 2013
BP Executive Testifies That Rig Explosion Was Known Risk
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Testifying for the company in a federal trial, Lamar McKay, the former president of BP America, concedes that a well blowout was identified as a hazard before the 2010 Gulf oil spill.
Hazara Killings In Pakistan Call For International Action - OpEd ...
Quetta, Pakistan
By Arab News -- (February 25, 2013)
By Muhammad Waqas
THE very existence of Hazara minority in Pakistan?s insurgency-hit province of Balochistan is under threat. Over the last five years, a militant organization, named Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, has claimed responsibility for killing over 1,000 Hazaras in the country. The militant group has repeatedly challenged the writ of the state by carrying out ?ethnic cleansing? of the Shiite minority, who it claims are not true Muslims.
Lashkar-e Jhangvi is believed to have been established in the eastern Punjab province during the 1990s.
It is an armed wing of the Sunni group Anjuman-e-Sipahe Shaba Pakistan, a violent and fiercely anti-Shiite organization. Formed by radical elements who received education at hard-line religious schools, the group has only recently eyed the Balochistan province. For years, the massacre of this community remained a non-issue for the country?s political elite and security establishment. During this time, the government failed to arrest or prosecute any prominent member of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which caused great anger and frustration in the Hazara community. The massacre of Hazaras recently led to the imposition of federal rule in the province, but there has been no respite in attacks. When a deadly bomb attack killed around 100 members of the Shiite Hazara minority last week, protests erupted all across the country. The protesters demanded that army be given powers to control security situation in the province, while the government should also take immediate measures to curb Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. The mourning Hazaras refused to bury the dead till they were provided justice and government took a decisive action against the perpetrators of this heinous crime.
The authorities buckled under pressure from this unique form of protest. The government soon sprung into action and claimed to have arrested over 170 people suspected of being linked to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. They also revealed the arrest of a founding member of the banned terror group. However, many remain unconvinced of the government?s actions and call them inadequate in stemming the roots of violence.
Shams Mandokhel, a human rights campaigner in Balochistan, also questions the government?s inaction against the militant group. He believes that the group has ?a very dangerous mindset. This mindset believes in sectarian violence, which is catastrophic. Now, who is promoting this mindset? Why is it not being stopped?? Some analysts even accuse the government of secretly aiding Lashkar-e-Jhangvi to overcome the separatist insurgency that is raging across the Balochistan province.
Pakistan?s security establishment is also known to have used the parent organization of this group in fighting the Soviets during the 1980s. Therefore, any action by the civil government against this militant group could result in a backlash from the country?s powerful military.
A failure to reign in on this new wave of terror against the Hazaras will have catastrophic results for Pakistan. Such violent extremism risks national unity and could potentially cause a delay in holding the upcoming national elections. Lamenting the situation, Balochistan-based analyst Zahoor Shahwani states that ?It?s quite obvious that if these kinds of attacks continue it will be difficult to attract people?s attention to the elections. If their lives and properties are not safe, how can the politicians hold public events and local meetings? How are elections possible in an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty??
The Hazaras have also questioned the competence of security and intelligence bodies, who have seriously failed in preventing sectarian strife. The latest protests by Hazaras to highlight their grievances have been successful in influencing public opinion and forcing the country?s security establishment to wake up from its deep slumber.
With media allotting prime space to the plight of Hazaras, Pakistan?s political and military elite has agreed to conduct a targeted operation against the terrorists, who are determined to eradicate the sect. The local media has also highlighted how the violence is disrupting lives of Hazaras. They are facing difficulty in continuing education, running businesses, accessing civil service jobs and, in essence, leading a normal life.
However, the Hazaras fear that the story of their plight may lose momentum as it has not received adequate international coverage. Condemnation of violence against them has been limited to clich?d statements by international leaders. About 271 renowned poets from 89 countries have recently written an open letter to world leaders to ensure the security of Hazaras and exert diplomatic pressure on Pakistan and Afghanistan to end violence against the community. The international community needs to pay immediate attention to acts of violence and discrimination against the Hazaras. The persecution of Hazaras on ethnic and religious grounds defies all international standards of civility and denies them rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan.
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Iran scoffs at Oscar-winning 'Argo'
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Iranian officials on Monday dismissed the Oscar-winning film "Argo" as pro-CIA, anti-Iran propaganda, but some young, moderate Iranians welcomed it as a fresh view of recent history.
The movie, based on the escape of six American hostages from the besieged U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979, has not been screened in any Iranian theaters.
But many Iranians have seen it nevertheless. In downtown Tehran, bootleg DVDs of "Argo" sell for about 30,000 rials, or less than $1.
The movie has set off a spirited debate that exposed a generational divide.
Iranians who took part in the 1979 Islamic Revolution picked apart the portrayals of Tehran at the time. But those too young to recall the events had a different view.
"I want to know what the other side is saying," said Shieda, a 21-year-old University of Tehran student, who gave only her first name for fear of a possible backlash for speaking with foreign media.
Tehran City Council member Masoomeh Ebtekar ? who was one of the students who occupied the U.S. Embassy and acted as the spokeswoman for the captors? says the film exaggerates the violence among crowds that stormed the compound in November 1979.
Fifty-two Americans were held hostage for 444 days, but a handful of Embassy staff were sheltered by the Canadian ambassador. Their escape, using a fake movie as a cover story, is recounted in "Argo."
Ebtekar insists the hostage-takers were mostly students. But other accounts suggest militants and members of the country's powerful Revolutionary Guard were involved.
Iranian Culture Minister Mohammad Hosseini criticized the film.
"The movie is an anti-Iran film. It is not a valuable film from the artistic point of view. It won the prize by resorting to extended advertisement and investment," he said, according to the official IRNA news agency.
He said Hollywood has "distorted history" as part of what Iranian officials call a "soft war."
Iran's state TV called the movie "an advertisement for the CIA."
The semiofficial Mehr news agency called the Oscar "politically motivated" because first lady Michelle Obama at the White House joined Jack Nicholson via video link to Los Angeles to help present the best picture prize.
In contrast, retired teacher Reza Abbasi who saw the Revolution first hand, said the film was realistic.
"I know Hollywood usually changes reality to make it attractive for movie lovers, but more or less it was close to the realities then."
Others said "Argo" shows the need for Iranian filmmakers to deal more with issues from the Revolution.
The moderate Hamshahri newspaper said the movie "targeted the culture and civilization of Iran," but it is worthwhile for Iranians to see a different perspective of the events that led to the collapse of relations between the U.S. and Iran.
"Iranian audiences are seeing a new version of the events for the first time," said a commentary in the newspaper. "This has been a weak point for our TV and cinema industry, which has not produced anything about the (U.S. Embassy takeover) after more than three decades."
Behnam Farahani , 28, a student in Tehran Art University said, he thought competing films "Django" and "Lincoln" were better than "Argo" in terms of structure and theme.
"They deserved more attention. Argo was just a political movie, it was a narration of a political event."
Mohammad Amin Sharifi, a movie fan in Tehran, was less harsh.
"In my opinion, it's a nice movie from technical aspects, and it was on the scale of Hollywood movies. But I don't think it was worth a nomination for Oscar and other awards," he said.
Iran's state-run film industry boycotted this year's Oscars in the wake of an Internet video clip made in the U.S. denigrating the Prophet Muhammad that set off protests across the Muslim world.
The affair was not related to "Argo."
Last year, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi won the Oscar for best foreign film for "A Separation," Iran's first Oscar.
A month before it won, Iranian authorities ordered the closure of the House of Cinema, an independent film group that operated for 20 years and counted Iran's top filmmakers, including Farhadi, among its members.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-scoffs-oscar-winning-argo-094025276.html
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A promising fruit: The tree tomato
Feb. 25, 2013 ? A researcher at the UPM is collaborating in the characterization of genetic resource of the tree tomato to enhance its cultivation and commercialization in Andean and Mediterranean countries.
Tree tomato is originally from South Africa and has a high potential for Andean cultivation but it is currently not properly exploited. To preserve and enhance this cultivation, a researcher at the School of Agronomist of the UPM in collaboration with the Universidad Polit?cnica de Valencia and the Universidad T?cnica Particular de Loja (Ecuador), have carried out a research whose aims to have depth knowledge of morphology and genetic diversity of tree tomato. The results obtained can open possibilities of new varieties demanded by the market.
Tree tomato (Solanum betaceum or Cyphomandra betacea) can reach up three meters of height and belongs to the Solonaceae family, which is the same family of potato, tomato and aubergine. It is original from the Andean area of South Africa and widely grown from the north of Chile and Argentina until the south Mexico, and especially in Ecuador. Its fruits are fleshy, oval or elliptic shaped and yellow, orange or purple color with a pulp of pleasant taste, slightly acidic, aromatic, rich in vitamins and minerals.
Their fruit is recommended to consume as fresh fruit or as juices and canned. They are becoming popular in other places: the tamarillo (the name as it is known internationally) is grown and consumed in some European and Asian countries but mainly in New Zealand, which is leading of production and exportation.
However, in Ecuador, and in the Andean region, the cultivation and commercialization of tree tomato is mainly local. Although it is an excellent alternative to other crops, its production continues to suffer from lack of basic knowledge over its production and because there is not any programme of preservation or improvement. The varieties are not clearly differenced and are frequently improperly cultivated. The inadequate commercialization of the product hinders them from its commercialization with recent falls of over 70% of exported volume in Ecuador.
Besides, Mediterranean countries as Spain could constitute a promising cultivation. This situation woke the interest of the agronomist engineer Pablo Acosta Quezada, who focused his Doctoral Thesis on the study of morphology and genetic diversity of tree tomato. The experimental crops in soil at the Universidad T?cnica particular de Loja (Ecuadro) provided him with the samples that later were used to carry out a detailed work of characterization. He analyzed the morphological character of the stem, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds and he also studied the genetic diversity expressed in the DNA by the molecular markers called AFLPs (amplified fragment length polymorphism) in collaboration with researchers at the Universidad Polit?cnica de Madrid and the Polit?cnica de Valencia.
As a result of this work and apart from publishing papers about morphological and genetic diversity of this fruit, he elaborated a list of over 80 descriptors (morphology characters) to describe and to identify varieties and to identify plants and their features of agronomist interest. This list has being recently published in Biodiversity International, the organization of research Support, preservation and use of agricultural biodiversity which work in closely collaboration with the FAO. The morphological characters of the fruit are of special interest for the variability and heritability, what can open possibilities of plant breeders to obtain proper varieties to market needs. Besides, the 78 polymorphic DNA fragments found reveal that the presence of a wide genetic diversity can provide a great action field to enhance and to obtain new varieties. This research is a pioneering contribution of high relevance to know the diversity of a tree tomato, which can be the base to preserve and enhance the marginalized crop of high potential for Andean countries, especially for Ecuador.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by madrimasd, via AlphaGalileo.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Pablo G. Acosta-Quezada, Santiago Vilanova, Juan B. Mart?nez-Laborde, Jaime Prohens. Genetic diversity and relationships in accessions from different cultivar groups and origins in the tree tomato (Solanum betaceum Cav.). Euphytica, 2012; 187 (1): 87 DOI: 10.1007/s10681-012-0736-7
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/MlAqSG2vt0I/130225121920.htm
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Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Doing good is good for you: Volunteer adolescents enjoy healthier hearts
Feb. 25, 2013 ? Giving back through volunteering is good for your heart, even at a young age, according to University of British Columbia researchers.
For their study, published February 25 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, researchers from UBC's Faculty of Education and Department of Psychology wanted to find out how volunteering might impact physical health among adolescents.
"It was encouraging to see how a social intervention to support members of the community also improved the health of adolescents," says Hannah Schreier, who conducted this research during her doctoral studies at UBC.
Researchers split 106 Grade 10 students from an urban, inner-city Vancouver high school into two groups -- a group that volunteered regularly for 10 weeks and a group that was wait-listed for volunteer activities. The researchers measured the students' body mass index (BMI), inflammation and cholesterol levels before and after the study. They also assessed the students' self-esteem, mental health, mood, and empathy.
The volunteer group of students spent one hour per week working with elementary school children in after-school programs in their neighborhood. After 10 weeks they had lower levels of inflammation and cholesterol and lower BMIs than the students who were wait-listed.
"The volunteers who reported the greatest increases in empathy, altruistic behaviour and mental health were the ones who also saw the greatest improvements in their cardiovascular health," says Schreier, now a postdoctoral fellow at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.
Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of mortality in Canada and the United States. The first signs of the disease can begin to appear during adolescence. Previous studies show that psychosocial factors, such as stress, depression and wellbeing, play a role in the disease.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of British Columbia.
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Journal Reference:
- Hannah M. C. Schreier. Effect of Volunteering on Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease in Adolescents
A Randomized Controlled Trial Volunteering and Cardiovascular Disease Risks. JAMA Pediatrics, 2013; : 1 DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2013.1100
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/t9hBPGyOioE/130225162229.htm
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British cardinal will skip upcoming papal conclave
VATICAN CITY (AP) ? In a season of startling change for the Catholic Church, the latest break with tradition was as unexpected as it was a wakeup call to the 115 men who will elect the next pope.
Britain's highest-ranking Catholic leader resigned and removed himself Monday from the upcoming conclave, saying he did not want allegations that he engaged in improper conduct with priests to be a distraction during the solemn process of choosing the next leader of the church's 1.2 billion-member flock.
It was the first time a cardinal has recused himself from a conclave because of personal scandal, according to Vatican historians.
The Vatican insisted that Pope Benedict XVI accepted Cardinal Keith O'Brien's resignation purely because O'Brien was nearing the retirement age of 75 ? not because of the accusations.
But O'Brien himself issued a statement Monday saying he would skip the conclave because he wanted to avoid becoming the focus of media attention at such a delicate time.
"I do not wish media attention in Rome to be focused on me ? but rather on Pope Benedict XVI and on his successor," said O'Brien, who had been archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh. "However, I will pray with them and for them that, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, they will make the correct choice for the future good of the church."
Through his spokesman, O'Brien has contested allegations made Sunday in a British newspaper that three priests and a former priest had filed complaints to the Vatican alleging that the cardinal acted inappropriately with them.
There were no details about the behavior, and the Observer newspaper did not name the priests. It said the allegations date back to the 1980s.
The cardinal's action comes in the wake of a grassroots campaign to shame another cardinal, retired Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony, into refraining from participating because of his role protecting sexually abusive priests.
Mahony, however, has defiantly said he would participate in the voting for the new pope.
The difference boils down to the fact that O'Brien himself was accused of improper behavior, whereas Mahony was shown to have covered up for other priests who raped and molested children. That distinction has long shielded bishops from Vatican sanction.
Several other cardinals who will elect the next pope have been accused ? and some have admitted ? to failing to protect children from abusive priests. If all of them were to recuse themselves for negligence, the College of Cardinals would shrink by quite a few members.
Terrence McKiernan of BishopAccountability.org, an online database of records on clergy abuse cases, urged other whistleblowers to come forward if they have information about other compromised cardinal electors.
"It is a public demonstration of the role that clerics with inside information can have in bringing accountability to a church where secrecy has led to a crisis of sexual misconduct," he said. "Cardinals who are tainted by the crisis cannot choose the person who will solve it."
With O'Brien's recusal and the decision of a frail Indonesian cardinal to stay home, there are expected to be 115 cardinals under age 80 who are eligible to vote in the conclave.
Separately Monday, Benedict changed the rules of the conclave, allowing cardinals to move up the start date if all of them arrive in Rome before the usual 15-day waiting period between the end of one pontificate and the start of the conclave. It was one of his last acts as pope before stepping down Thursday.
The date of the conclave's start is important because Holy Week begins March 24, and Easter Sunday is March 31. In order to have a new pope in place for the church's most solemn liturgical period, he would need to be installed by Sunday, March 17, a tight timeframe if a conclave were to start on March 15, as previous rules would have required.
Also Monday, Benedict decided that the contents of a secret investigation into the 2012 leaks of Vatican documents won't be shared with the cardinals ahead of the conclave. Benedict met Monday with the three elderly cardinals who conducted the probe and decided that "the acts of the investigation, known only to himself, remain solely at the disposition of the new pope," a Vatican statement said.
Speculation has been rife in the Italian media that the three cardinals ? Julian Herranz, Jozef Tomko and Salvatore De Giorgi ? would be authorized to share the information with fellow cardinals before the conclave. That assumed the cardinal electors would want to know details about the state of dysfunction in the Vatican bureaucracy and on any potentially compromised colleagues before possibly voting one into office.
Benedict appointed the three men last year to investigate the origins of leaks, which revealed petty wrangling, corruption, cronyism and even allegations that senior Vatican officials conspired to out a prominent Catholic newspaper editor as gay.
The pope's butler was convicted of aggravated theft in October for having stolen the papers and given them to a journalist who then published them in a blockbuster book.
The three cardinals cannot share the full contents of their investigation, but it's unclear if they could give subtle hints about potential papal candidates to the electors. The Vatican's assertion that only the pope knew the contents of the dossier was a clear message to readers of Italian newspapers, which have run several articles purporting to know the contents of the report.
O'Brien's decision to remain home rather than participate in the conclave made his the first head to roll in the remarkable two weeks since Benedict, 85, stunned the world and announced he was becoming the first pope in 600 years to resign.
Monday's announcement marked a dramatic end to a career that got off to a rocky start when in 2003, as a condition of being made a cardinal, O'Brien was forced to issue a public pledge to defend church teaching on homosexuality, celibacy and contraception. He was pressured to make the pledge after he had called for a "full and open discussion" on such matters.
At the time, O'Brien said he had been misunderstood and wanted to clarify his position. But it's clear now he never really changed his mind. On Friday, three days before his resignation was made public, O'Brien told the BBC that celibacy should be reconsidered since it's not based on doctrine but rather church tradition and "is not of divine origin."
It appeared to be something of a parting shot, reasserting beliefs that he had kept quiet for a decade.
At home, at O'Brien's St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Edinburgh, his decision was met with shock and disbelief.
"There are a lot of unanswered questions here, and I am unhappy about that. People can make such serious charges while remaining anonymous," said David Murphy, an administrator from Edinburgh. "It's like he's been hounded out of office without a proper chance to defend himself."
But Peter Mitchell, a churchgoer from Fife, conceded that the church may have to brace itself for scandal. "These don't appear to be random allegations. We are talking about three serving priests who are being very specific, and I don't think they would lie in this way."
O'Brien said in a statement that he was in "indifferent health" and had offered his resignation last November ? a statement confirmed by the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi.
Lombardi said the pope had merely acted on the resignation now as he clears up final tasks before stepping down. Usually the pope waits until after a cardinal's 75th birthday to accept a resignation. In this case, Benedict acted a few weeks early.
___
Katz reported from London
___
Associated Press Writer Ben McConville in Edinburgh also contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/british-cardinal-skip-upcoming-papal-conclave-210958525.html
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Bathroom pipe breaks, makes mess at Oscars
By Alyssa Toomey, E! Online
It's the Oscars -- accidents happen. Less than an hour before the 85th Annual Academy Awards began, a pipe burst in the women's bathroom at the Dolby Theatre, causing an embarrassing (and very speedy!) cleanup after the floor was totally flooded.
Guests were shuttled around the waterlogged location to prevent any further mishaps while more than half a dozen workers attacked the mess.
All the details on Ben and Jen's pre-Oscar "mayhem"
Of course, the water was mopped up in no time, and the bathroom was back in business by the time the show began.
But luckily, Hollywood Reporter's Matthew Bellani snapped a quick shot?and posted it on his social media page before the clean-up was complete.
It's just one of many unexpected moments bound to occur on movie's biggest night.
And hey, no one got hurt, so no harm done!
See all the red carpet arrivals!
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Pregnant mother's blood pressure may affect future health of children
Feb. 25, 2013 ? Up to 10% of all women experience some form of elevated blood pressure during pregnancy. Researchers from the Centre for Social Evolution at the Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen show that mild maternal hypertension early in pregnancy actually benefits the fetus, but that late-pregnancy hypertension has negative health consequences for the child. The study is based on more than 750,000 births in Denmark, with follow-up data on children's hospital diagnoses for up to 27 years.
'It has been known for some time now that pregnancy-induced hypertension can lead to more serious toxic conditions (preeclampsia), but it has puzzled biologists why such a medical condition that can be quite dangerous for both mother and child has not previously been removed by natural selection in our stoneage ancestors. However, evolutionary theory also emphasizes that paradoxes of this kind can be due to genetic parent-offspring conflicts, so we set out to test whether we could find statistical evidence for that type of explanation', says Professor Jacobus Boomsma, Director of the Centre for Social Evolution and coordinator of the study.
Minor increases in blood pressure gives better health
The results clearly indicate that mothers with minor increases in blood pressure in the first trimester of pregnancy have babies that enjoy generally better health than children of mothers who never get a hypertension diagnosis during pregnancy. The difference was between 10 and 40% fewer diagnoses across all disease categories during the 27 years of available follow-up data, a result that has never been documented before. However, when hypertension continues or starts later in pregnancy, this advantage shifts to a ca. 10% disadvantage in terms of an increased risk of acquiring a diagnosis in the Danish public health data bases. Child mortality during the first year of life showed the same trend. In spite of this risk being very low in Denmark, no children of mothers with early pregnancy-induced hypertension died, whereas the mortality risk of children born to mothers with hypertension late in pregnancy was above average.
Fathers genes enhances blood pressure
Parent-offspring-conflict theory maintains that father-genes in the placenta will have a tendency to 'demand' a somewhat higher level of nutrition for the fetus than serves the interests of mother-genes. It argues that father genes that somehow manage to enhance maternal blood pressure will likely be met by maternal genes compensating this challenge. Both types of genes are 50/50 represented and thus likely to find a 'negotiated' balance while creating an optimally functioning placenta. However, when the pull of paternal genes cannot quite be managed by maternal counterbalances, there is a risk of elevated blood pressure to develop and persist, leading to late occurring pregnancy complications and compromised offspring health. The results obtained are consistent with the idea that some deep fundamental conflicts lay buried in our genes right from the moment of conception. Imprinted genes are prime suspects for mediating such conflicts as they 'remember' which parent they come from.
'Molecular biologists have recently found many such genes in mice and man, and they are particularly expressed in the placenta as the theory predicts. Our study therefore suggests that further research to test whether different patterns of pregnancy-induced hypertension are indeed related to paternal or maternal imprints would be highly worthwhile', says PhD student Birgitte Hollegaard, who did the analyses together with EU Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow Sean Byars.
The authors of the study hope these results will help build bridges between their evolutionary inspired public health analyses and established clinical praxis.
'Ultimately we are not only interested in the fundamental science aspects of genome level reproductive conflicts, but also in seeing some of these findings being made more directly useful, for example by adjusting pregnancy monitoring schemes to take long term risks for offspring health into account', concludes Jacobus Boomsma.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Copenhagen, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Birgitte Hollegaard, Sean G. Byars, Jacob Lykke, Jacobus J. Boomsma. Parent-Offspring Conflict and the Persistence of Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension in Modern Humans. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (2): e56821 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0056821
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/~3/tmVYAfINulI/130225201930.htm
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HP Slate 7 hands-on (update: video)
Well, this might just be the biggest news to come out of Mobile World Congress. Long after discontinuing the TouchPad (and the rest of its mobile devices, for that matter) HP is back with a new tablet. This time, though, it runs not webOS, but an old safety: Android. Interestingly, though, HP is returning to the tablet space not with a high-end flagship, but a lower-end device priced to sell. The Slate 7 is priced at $169, with modest specs that include a dual-core A9 processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of built-in storage, a 7-inch, 1,024 x 600 display and dual 3MP / VGA cameras. All that said, it could be worth a second look when it goes on sale in April. Meet us past the break to see what we mean.
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/24/hp-slate-7-hands-on/
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HP?s Android-Powered Slate 7 Tablet Is Cheap And It Works, But Is That Really Enough?
HP surprised more than a few people earlier tonight when it officially revealed the Slate 7, a $169 Android tablet that's set to ship in the U.S. for $169 in April. It struck me as a safe move for HP, especially after it whiffed so profoundly with its ill-fated TouchPad. After all, people are buying plenty of Nexus 7s, so clearly there must be a market for a cheap, small tablet. I got the chance to muck around with the Slate 7 at Pepcom earlier tonight though, and to be quite honest, I?m not convinced HP has a winner on its hands.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Et7rROilhVg/
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Green Blog: Import Ban Sought on Asian Crabs
In another twist in the long-running debate over how to manage the population of horseshoe crabs along the East Coast, fisheries officials are calling for a ban on imports of three Asian species of the ancient anthropods.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, an interstate body that oversees marine resources along the coast, urged 14 member states to outlaw imports of the crabs because they carry parasites and pathogens that could harm local fisheries and endanger human health.
?The importation of Asian native horseshoe crabs poses a significant threat to the welfare and survival of the wildlife resources of the United States? ? even if they are already dead when used as bait in United States waters, it said.
The Asian species have been imported since 2011 to meet the demand from commercial fishermen. Restrictions on the harvest of domestic horseshoe crabs along the East Coast have driven up the price of horseshoe crabs, which are used as bait for eels and whelks.
Thirteen states have already taken steps at the commission?s urging to limit the crab harvest in an attempt to protect the red knot, an imperiled shorebird that relies on the eggs of horseshoe crabs in places like Cape May and Delaware Bay to refuel during its migration from southern Argentina to breeding grounds in Arctic Canada each spring.
The red knot population has plummeted because of overfishing of the horseshoe crabs, and the bird is a candidate for designation as an endangered species by the federal Fish and Wildlife Service. Biologists say the red knot is at risk of extinction.
Only New Jersey has placed a complete moratorium on the harvesting of horseshoe crabs, although a bill has been introduced in the state assembly that would lift it in a bid to protect the livelihoods of local fishermen.
The commission said it was seeking the introduction of state bans because the Fish and Wildlife Service can take up to a year to add species to a list of ?injurious wildlife? that are subject to federal regulation.
If the domestic population of horseshoe crabs is damaged, the food supply of shorebirds could be further reduced at a time when the red knot is struggling to recover from years of overfishing of the crabs, the commission warned.
In 2012, seafood dealers in New York State imported 16,280 pounds of Asian horseshoe crabs in response to the domestic bait shortage, the commission said, noting that the imported species themselves are in decline in Asia.
Horseshoe crab bait sells for as much as five times what it cost a decade ago, said Stewart Michels, the fisheries program manager at the Division of Fish and Wildlife in Delaware, which is represented on the commission. He said a female crab could now fetch as much as $5.
Delaware backs the proposed import ban and plans to implement one, Mr. Michels said. Currently Delaware fishermen are allowed to harvest about 162,000 horseshoe crabs a year, but only males and only after June 7, when red knots and other shorebirds have resumed their northward migration.
Source: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/import-ban-sought-on-asian-crabs/?partner=rss&emc=rss
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New look at high-temperature superconductors
Feb. 25, 2013 ? While the phenomenon of superconductivity -- in which some materials lose all resistance to electric currents at extremely low temperatures -- has been known for more than a century, the temperature at which it occurs has remained too low for any practical applications. The discovery of "high-temperature" superconductors in the 1980s -- materials that could lose resistance at temperatures of up to negative 140 degrees Celsius -- led to speculation that a surge of new discoveries might quickly lead to room-temperature superconductors. Despite intense research, these materials have remained poorly understood.
There is still no agreement on a single theory to account for high-temperature superconductivity. Recently, however, researchers at MIT and elsewhere have found a new way to study fluctuating charge-density waves, which are the basis for one of the leading theories. The researchers say this could open the door to a better understanding of high-temperature superconductivity, and perhaps prompt new discoveries of higher-temperature superconductors.
The findings were published this week in the journal Nature Materials by assistant professor of physics Nuh Gedik; graduate student Fahad Mahmood; Darius Torchinsky, a former MIT postdoc who is now at the California Institute of Technology; and two researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Explaining the basis for high-temperature superconductivity remains "the hardest problem in condensed-matter physics," Gedik says. But one way of getting a handle on this exotic state of matter is to study what happens to these materials near their "transition temperature," the point below which they become superconductors.
Previous experiments have shown that above the transition temperature, there is a peculiar state where, Gedik says, "the material starts to behave very weirdly": Its electrons act in unusual ways, which some physicists believe is caused by a phenomenon called charge-density waves. While the electron density in most conductors is uniform, Gedik explains, in materials with charge-density waves the density is distributed in a sinusoidal pattern, somewhat like ripples on a pond. But so far, such charge-density waves have only been detected in high-temperature superconductors under special circumstances, such as a particular level of doping (the introduction of atoms of another element onto its surface).
Some researchers have proposed that these waves are elusive in high-temperature superconductors because they fluctuate very rapidly, at speeds measured in picoseconds (trillionths of a second). "You can't see it with conventional techniques," Gedik says.
That's where Gedik's new approach comes in: His team has spent years perfecting methods for studying the movement of electrons by zapping them with laser pulses lasting just a few femtoseconds (or quadrillionths of a second), and then detecting the results with a separate laser beam.
Using that method, the researchers have now detected these fluctuating waves. To do this, they have selectively generated and observed two different collective motions of electrons in these waves: variation in amplitude (the magnitude of modulation of the waves) and in phase (the position of the troughs and peaks of the waves). These measurements show that charge density waves are fluctuating at an interval of only about 2 picoseconds.
"It's not surprising that static techniques didn't see them," Gedik says, but "this settles the question: The fluctuating charge-density waves do exist" -- at least in one of the cuprate compounds, the first high-temperature superconducting materials discovered in the 1980s.
Another question: What role, if any, do these charge-density waves play in superconductivity? "Are they helping, or are they interfering?" Gedik asks. To answer this question, the researchers studied the same material, with optimal doping, in which the superconducting transition temperature is maximized. "We see no evidence of charge-density waves in this sample," Gedik says. This suggests that charge-density waves are probably competing with superconductivity.
In addition, it remains to be seen whether the same phenomenon will be observed in other high-temperature superconducting materials. The new technique should make it possible to find out.
In any case, detecting these fluctuations could help in understanding high-temperature superconductors, Gedik says -- which, in turn, could "help in finding other [superconducting materials] that actually work at room temperature." That elusive goal could enable significant new applications, such as electric transmission lines that eliminate the losses that now waste as much as 30 percent of all electricity produced.
David Hsieh, an assistant professor of physics at Caltech, says the phenomena detected by this research "are known to be very difficult to detect," so this work "is a great technical achievement and a high-quality piece of research." By showing for the first time that the fluctuating charge-density waves seem to compete with superconductivity, he says, "It provides the insight that finding a way to suppress this fluctuating charge-density wave order may simultaneously increase" the temperature limits of superconductivity.
The work, which also included researchers Anthony Bollinger and Ivan Bozovic of Brookhaven National Laboratory, was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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Journal Reference:
- Darius H. Torchinsky, Fahad Mahmood, Anthony T. Bollinger, Ivan Bo?ovi?, Nuh Gedik. Fluctuating charge-density waves in a cuprate superconductor. Nature Materials, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nmat3571
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
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Thursday, February 21, 2013
Why Is It So Hard To Permanently Lose Weight? - Brandon Fitness ...
Have you ever wondered why we seem to have such a hard time losing weight and staying fit despite all the knowledge and technology we have?
Why for example, do over 80% of the people who lose weight gain it all back within two years?
I contend it?s because they have reduced the conflict that caused them to start the diet in the first place. Once the feeling of conflict is reduced, our incentive to continue taking action declines as well.
So how do we keep doing the things we already know we should do in order to enjoy optimal health and fitness throughout our lives?
My answer is two fold.
First we need to create a Fitness Vision. A vision of exactly how our lives will be better when our fitness is better.
If we are healthier and our fitness is higher, we will have more energy, more self confidence, we?ll look better and we?ll have a more positive outlook on life in general.
So ask yourself, if all these aspects of your life improved:
What do you want to do that you don?t do now?
Where would you travel?
What have you always wanted to create?
What would you contribute to others?
When you have answers to these questions, you will be well on your way to creating your personal Fitness Vision. A vision that?s so important to you that you?ll feel compelled to take action consistently and continuously to realize it.
The second thing I believe we need to do is simplify our approach to nutrition and exercise.
You don?t need any special food to get fit. You don?t need to count calories or points or anything else. Your body will do it for you, naturally.
You don?t need a fancy gym to get in shape. You don?t need the latest fitness gadget. In fact you don?t need any gadgets at all!
You do need to challenge your body in a strategic way that fits your goals.
You also need to learn about recovery. In fact most people would realize far better results by spending less time training, if they train strategically.
Pursue what you truly want. Not what you think you can achieve.
Create a masterpiece of your life and pursue it relentlessly.
Eat simply and exercise strategically.
Repeat it every day. Because it?s your birthright to be lean, fit, healthy and energetic.
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Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Handheld device for detecting counterfeit and substandard medicines tested by PQM
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uucelnmHwmNJHiP0DLeHbVyB_NerlvyeasoJ-jwYN6CA6tvFUOd3iotctlJyePwFlHdMYlQpBH8NBwnydGPjDc0aC0K63Yx9o8MIDglG8=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 20-Feb-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Claudia Costabile
cac@usp.org
301-816-8314
US Pharmacopeia
Rockville, Md., February 13, 2013 With substandard and counterfeit medicines a dangerous and growing problem in the developing world and elsewhere, identifying new technologies to detect such drugs is an urgent matter. In a new study published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, scientists from the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) evaluated a handheld Raman device's potential to detect counterfeit and substandard medicines. The device, called TruScan, is currently used to test Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) and finished pharmaceutical products, and it was evaluated for its ability to differentiate among drug products with different APIs, different brands of the same API, and drug products having the same API but of different strengths, with focus on the specificity and precision of the testing. While TruScan could be used successfully in the initial screening for authentication of the identity of certain targeted medicines, it may not be reliable enough to establish whether the medicines are substandard or not. The print version of the study appears in the journal's February issue.
"Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) test methods, such as Minilab, which PQM uses on a regular basis to detect counterfeit and substandard medicines, have been in the market for several years. They are quite reliable, but require specific training and the use of chemicals," said Mustapha Hajjou, Ph.D., lead author of the study, and a program manager for USP's Promoting the Quality of Medicines program (PQM), which is funded by USAID. "There is an increased interest in other, 'non-invasive' spectroscopic methods to detect counterfeit medicines, including near-infrared (NIR) and Raman spectroscopy, like the device we tested, and those would undoubtedly be simpler to use. We just have to make sure they produce reliable results for various types of medicines including substandard medicines, and that is what we tried to evaluate with the TruScan device," he explained. USP is a scientific, nonprofit public health organization that sets standards for the quality of medicines, food ingredients and dietary supplements. USP standards are used in more than 140 countries.
Antimalarial medicines artesunate and combination sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) were used in the evaluation because of their common use and the prevalence of counterfeit and substandard products in markets where malaria is endemic, and because of previous unfavorable reports of testing these products with a Raman device. Ibuprofen and acetyl salicylic acid tablets were also used, due to their wide range of products with different strengthsallowing the scientists to study the device's ability to discriminate between these products. A reference spectrum or signature, reference standard or a formulation (whole tablet) was created first to be compared to the spectra of other samples. Samples testing yielded either a match or fail result.
Results for the evaluation of antimalarials showed that the device's precision depend on the nature and strength of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). All medicines tested obtained acceptable precision results although, for some products, the results were well below 100 percent. The low matching results were attributed to high fluorescence masking the Raman signal, which could generate false negative results in authenticating medicines.
In the specificity evaluation, the Raman device successfully differentiated APIs, which would be useful in testing counterfeit finished products containing the wrong API. However, in the comparison with different lots of the same product and the comparison with similar products from different manufacturers, some samples did not match themselves, and the SP samples from four different manufacturers matched the comparator, showing the device is not sufficient to discriminate among these samples.
The device was also evaluated for its ability to detect different strengths of the same API. Acetyl salicylic acid and acetaminophen tablets all matched the comparator product, regardless of the sample strength, showing the device's limitation in possibly detecting substandard medicines from these classes of drugs.
"We concluded that TruScan will likely detect counterfeit medicines that lack API or have the wrong API, but we cannot rely on it to detect substandard medicines. This is especially true in the case of fixed-dose combinations, where one API may have a strong Raman scatter, masking the signal for other APIs. Because most of the effective medicines treating malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis are fixed-dose combinations, we need to be very cautious in using this device for assessment of substandard medicines, says Patrick Lukulay, Ph.D., vice president of USP's Global Health Impact Programs and program director for PQM.
###
Funding for the study was provided by USAID. The contents of this study are the responsibility of the PQM program, implemented by USP, and do not reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government. TruScan is a registered mark of Thermo Scientific.
Media inquiries may be directed to: mediarelations@usp.org.
USP Advancing Public Health Since 1820
The United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) is a scientific, nonprofit, standards-setting organization that advances public health through public standards and related programs that help ensure the quality, safety, and benefit of medicines and foods. USP's standards are relied upon and used worldwide. For more information about USP visit http://www.usp.org.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 20-Feb-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Claudia Costabile
cac@usp.org
301-816-8314
US Pharmacopeia
Rockville, Md., February 13, 2013 With substandard and counterfeit medicines a dangerous and growing problem in the developing world and elsewhere, identifying new technologies to detect such drugs is an urgent matter. In a new study published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, scientists from the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) evaluated a handheld Raman device's potential to detect counterfeit and substandard medicines. The device, called TruScan, is currently used to test Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) and finished pharmaceutical products, and it was evaluated for its ability to differentiate among drug products with different APIs, different brands of the same API, and drug products having the same API but of different strengths, with focus on the specificity and precision of the testing. While TruScan could be used successfully in the initial screening for authentication of the identity of certain targeted medicines, it may not be reliable enough to establish whether the medicines are substandard or not. The print version of the study appears in the journal's February issue.
"Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) test methods, such as Minilab, which PQM uses on a regular basis to detect counterfeit and substandard medicines, have been in the market for several years. They are quite reliable, but require specific training and the use of chemicals," said Mustapha Hajjou, Ph.D., lead author of the study, and a program manager for USP's Promoting the Quality of Medicines program (PQM), which is funded by USAID. "There is an increased interest in other, 'non-invasive' spectroscopic methods to detect counterfeit medicines, including near-infrared (NIR) and Raman spectroscopy, like the device we tested, and those would undoubtedly be simpler to use. We just have to make sure they produce reliable results for various types of medicines including substandard medicines, and that is what we tried to evaluate with the TruScan device," he explained. USP is a scientific, nonprofit public health organization that sets standards for the quality of medicines, food ingredients and dietary supplements. USP standards are used in more than 140 countries.
Antimalarial medicines artesunate and combination sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) were used in the evaluation because of their common use and the prevalence of counterfeit and substandard products in markets where malaria is endemic, and because of previous unfavorable reports of testing these products with a Raman device. Ibuprofen and acetyl salicylic acid tablets were also used, due to their wide range of products with different strengthsallowing the scientists to study the device's ability to discriminate between these products. A reference spectrum or signature, reference standard or a formulation (whole tablet) was created first to be compared to the spectra of other samples. Samples testing yielded either a match or fail result.
Results for the evaluation of antimalarials showed that the device's precision depend on the nature and strength of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). All medicines tested obtained acceptable precision results although, for some products, the results were well below 100 percent. The low matching results were attributed to high fluorescence masking the Raman signal, which could generate false negative results in authenticating medicines.
In the specificity evaluation, the Raman device successfully differentiated APIs, which would be useful in testing counterfeit finished products containing the wrong API. However, in the comparison with different lots of the same product and the comparison with similar products from different manufacturers, some samples did not match themselves, and the SP samples from four different manufacturers matched the comparator, showing the device is not sufficient to discriminate among these samples.
The device was also evaluated for its ability to detect different strengths of the same API. Acetyl salicylic acid and acetaminophen tablets all matched the comparator product, regardless of the sample strength, showing the device's limitation in possibly detecting substandard medicines from these classes of drugs.
"We concluded that TruScan will likely detect counterfeit medicines that lack API or have the wrong API, but we cannot rely on it to detect substandard medicines. This is especially true in the case of fixed-dose combinations, where one API may have a strong Raman scatter, masking the signal for other APIs. Because most of the effective medicines treating malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis are fixed-dose combinations, we need to be very cautious in using this device for assessment of substandard medicines, says Patrick Lukulay, Ph.D., vice president of USP's Global Health Impact Programs and program director for PQM.
###
Funding for the study was provided by USAID. The contents of this study are the responsibility of the PQM program, implemented by USP, and do not reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government. TruScan is a registered mark of Thermo Scientific.
Media inquiries may be directed to: mediarelations@usp.org.
USP Advancing Public Health Since 1820
The United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) is a scientific, nonprofit, standards-setting organization that advances public health through public standards and related programs that help ensure the quality, safety, and benefit of medicines and foods. USP's standards are relied upon and used worldwide. For more information about USP visit http://www.usp.org.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-02/up-hdf022013.php
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Who'll Win an Academy Award? Read Our Predictions!
From Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook to Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln, check out which stars we think will walk away with an Academy Award on Feb. 24
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U.S. government won't fall apart on "sequester" day of reckoning
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Just as computers worldwide did not crash on January 1, 2000, in the "Y2K" scare and Earth itself did not shatter on December 21, 2012, as some interpreters of the Mayan calendar predicted, March 1, 2013, will not be remembered as the day the U.S. government disintegrated.
The Obama administration and even some Republicans are warning of mass government layoffs and services collapsing when "sequestration" begins in 10 days, unless a gridlocked U.S. Congress finds a way to circumvent the start of the $85 billion in federal budget cuts.
But what actually happens on March 1?
"Nothing. Nothing happens," said a senior congressional aide who is keeping a close eye on the looming budget cuts.
While that might be somewhat of an exaggeration, the immediate impact is seen as minimal due to several safeguards, official and unofficial, that will keep the spending cuts from hitting Americans like a meat cleaver on March 1.
Senior administration officials on Tuesday had no concrete examples of what would immediately befall the country when the cuts begin. Ultimately, however, they would pare everything from military programs to space exploration between March 1 and the end of the fiscal year on September 30. Food inspections, air traffic control, law enforcement and education programs also would be among those hit.
"This moves forward on a rolling basis," White House budget office controller Danny Werfel acknowledged last week after testifying to Congress, explaining that the full force of the $85 billion in cuts would not be felt immediately. But, he cautioned: "It's very harmful as you go forward. On a seven-month time frame you're going to see the effects relatively quickly."
Senior administration officials said Republicans would be blamed for cuts that did come into force.
If allowed to run their course, the austerity measures could cost 750,000 jobs and keep weak economic growth stunted for the rest of 2013, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office warns.
These spending cuts, decided in 2011 amid a fever in Congress for deficit reduction, were meant to be so painful that they would goad Republicans and Democrats into reaching an alternative agreement on where to cut back. The cuts "will visit hardship on a whole lot of people," President Barack Obama warned on Tuesday.
And they are only the first installment in a decade's worth of required cuts totaling $1.2 trillion.
While some furlough notices will be issued to government workers, there will be few outward signs on March 1 that the cuts have been launched.
Under the law, retirees are shielded and so their Social Security checks will arrive on schedule at the beginning of March and every month thereafter. Similarly, the elderly and the disabled will not see their federally backed Medicare healthcare curtailed at all over the seven months.
Every U.S. soldier will get paid and the Defense Department will be allowed to shift funds to ensure that combat operations and "critical military readiness capabilities" are not degraded, according to the Obama administration.
Unofficially, many members of Congress are betting that a few weeks into the automatic spending cuts, Democratic and Republican leaders will get serious about negotiating a replacement to the sequestration and the $85 billion in spending cuts will not have had time to really bite.
LAYOFF NOTICES
And so on March 1 and in the days immediately after, while no dramatic shakeup is anticipated, there will be some early tremors.
* Government agencies are likely to issue 30-day warnings of impending furloughs of government workers. They could be told that starting on April 1 they will have to stay home for a maximum of 22 days between March 1 and September 30.
* New government contracts could slow in anticipation of no deal being reached to replace the sequestration. This would hit defense contractors and road and bridge builders alike.
* Members of Congress, who are not exempt from the spending cuts, will be advised to begin preparing their staffs for either salary cuts or layoffs if they have to shave funds from their approximately $4 billion in annual appropriations.
* Medical research labs at universities that rely heavily on federal funds will begin deciding which projects to abandon or curtail, if they haven't already.
* Every federal agency will have to finalize their plans on how to execute the across-the-board spending cuts.
At this stage, most planned furloughs are being held to 22 days per federal employee. Anything longer is considered a formal layoff and requires more complex legal hurdles, some involving seniority, to be met.
In some cases, furlough notices won't go out until terms are negotiated with employee unions after March 1. Not all union-government contracts cover such actions, said Carl Goldman, executive director of AFSCME Council 26, which represents 8,500 federal workers from building engineers to librarians.
"The biggest thing we can do is to negotiate over the scheduling of furloughs, how much choice employees will have in selecting days furloughed," Goldman said.
Over the seven-month period, a 22-day furlough would roughly equal about one day per week, reducing workers' income by about one-fifth.
LAID-BACK CONGRESS
Congress, showing little sense of urgency, is now on a week-long "Presidents Day" recess.
When members of the Senate and House of Representatives return next week, they will begin feeling each other out for a remedy by March 27, when another budget deadline hits: the need to replenish federal funds for all government agencies.
That is a separate fight in Congress but it might become mixed in with the sequestration battle as fiscal issues come to a head.
Last week, Senate Democrats unveiled their plan to replace the sequestration with a combination of agriculture subsidy cuts and higher taxes on the richest Americans.
Senate Republicans, warning that they will reject any new tax increases, have not yet settled on a plan. But several are circulating, including replacing the sequestration with different spending cuts, giving federal agencies more flexibility in how they would carry out the existing $85 billion in cuts, or reducing the federal workforce by 10 percent through attrition.
Before going forward with any plan, Republicans might have to quell an uprising within their party that has some conservatives hoping that the meat-ax approach stays, thus ensuring some serious deficit reduction this year.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan and David Lawder; Editing by Alistair Bell and Eric Beech)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-government-wont-fall-apart-sequester-day-reckoning-005947591--business.html
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Timeline of Nevin Shapiro?s alleged wrongdoings with Miami Hurricanes players and NCAA actions
?? 2001: Miami Beach resident Nevin Shapiro pays $12,000 to become a University of Miami booster. He also becomes a ?living scholar? for then seldom-used running back Willis McGahee.
?? December 2001: Shapiro meets Vince Wilfork and Andrew Williams at the football team?s awards banquet. Following that season ? which culminated in a national championship ? Shapiro allegedly gives Williams gifts, including Miami Heat tickets and a big-screen television. That begins an eight-year period in which Shapiro claims he gave improper benefits to 114 players.
?? 2002: Shapiro pays Michael Huyghue $1.5?million for a 30 percent stake in Axcess Sports, and the firm begins to recruit UM players over the next several years. In the meantime, Shapiro cultivates relationships with dozens of UM players, claiming he buys them dinners, prostitutes, jewelry and invites them aboard his yacht to party.
?? 2005: Sean Allen, who would later become a UM assistant equipment manager, joins Axcess as a player recruiter. Allen and Huyghue allegedly take UM quarterback Kyle Wright to Detroit for a concert and to the Bahamas for junkets to lure him into their sports agency.
2007: At halftime of UM?s final game at the Orange Bowl (a blowout loss to Virginia), an inebriated Shapiro confronts Dave Reed, UM?s then-head of compliance, cursing him and trying to draw him into a fight. Shapiro blamed Reed, among several others, for UM?s decline.
?? 2008: Shapiro donates $50,000 to the basketball program during an event at Lucky Strikes bowling alley on Miami Beach. A widely-distributed photo is snapped of Shapiro with coach Frank Haith and UM president Donna Shalala, who are both smiling.
?? Early 2009: Then-UM equipment manager Bobby Revilla, at the behest of an unnamed athletic department administrator, asks Allen to write a letter to Shapiro to smooth things overall with him after a falling out in their relationship. Revilla doesn?t say exactly why.
?? November 2009: Shapiro?s investors in his $900?million Ponzi scheme file a lawsuit forcing his company, Capitol Investments, into bankruptcy. They are seeking upward of $83?million in losses.
?? May 2009: The bankruptcy trustee targets UM for hundreds of thousands of dollars that Shapiro donated to the school.
?? July/August 2009: UM settles with the trustee, paying back the money that Shapiro donated for a student-athlete lounge and to the basketball team. The settlement does not mention Shapiro?s direct cash payments and other gifts to the football and basketball players.
?? April 2010: Shapiro is charged in federal court in New Jersey with running a $900?million Ponzi scheme. He is held in federal custody without bond.
?? August 2010: Shapiro, from prison, tells The Miami Herald that he intends to write a book alleging he gave cash and other gifts to some Canes? football players.
August 2010: UM, after reading The Herald article, contacts Shapiro, but he is unwilling to share information.
?? September 2010: Shapiro pleads guilty to securities fraud and money laundering in connection with his Ponzi scheme.
?? December 2010: Shapiro decides against writing a book and begins working jointly with Yahoo Sports.
Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/02/19/3243150/timeline-of-nevin-shapiros-alleged.html
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10 South African Stocks Poised to Beat the ... - Investing In Africa
It?s time to stick my neck out.
I?ve talked a lot about the past performance of various African stocks, and I?ve asked a number of local experts for their favorite listings. But I haven?t often gone out on a limb and made picks of my own, and many of you have noticed.
So, it?s only fair that I go on record with my best bets.
Here are my top South African stock picks. I expect that, on average, they will outperform the Johannesburg Stock Exchange All Share Index over the next 12 months.
ARB Holdings (ARH: SJ) ? Price: R4.80,?P/E Ratio: 13.0, DivYield: 2.9%
ARB wholesales electrical products ranging from overhead cable to light fixtures. It?s not a market devoid of competition, and ARB has the narrowing margins to prove it. But consider this. The South African government has committed to spending R210 billion over the next 10 years to improve the nation?s transmission grid. What?s more? ARB is the largest independent wholesaler in the industry, so it is perfectly placed compete for much of that spend. Factor in an experienced, heavily invested management team and a balance sheet free of long-term debt, and I conclude that this one is a winner.
Bowler Metcalf (BCF:SJ) ? Price: R7.86, P/E Ratio: 10.9, DivYield: 4.6%
This 40-year-old family-run plastics and soft drink business reported a drop in earnings during its 2012 fiscal year due to a two-month labor strike and a shortage of CO2. The market didn?t much like this, so the company?s share price has dropped nearly 9% over the past year. But management doesn?t seem too worried, boosting the dividend in spite of the fall in earnings. The reason behind their confidence may stem from a new high-speed bottling plant and expansion into the Johannesburg market. The impact of both these moves is yet to trickle down to the bottom line. But I expect that we will see earnings rebound nicely in 2013.
Calgro M3 (CGR:SJ) ? Price: R5.20, P/E Ratio: 7.9 DivYield: N/A
Calgro M3 develops and builds low-income housing in a country with an enormous need for it. Moreover, with low interest rates prevailing, this sector of the population is increasingly able to afford homeownership. Management appears to be capitalizing on the opportunity. Operating profit more than doubled during the first half of its 2013 fiscal year, up 147%. Yet the company trades at less than eight times its trailing earnings. That?s an earnings yield of nearly 13%. And the future looks bright. The company has built an order book nearly twice as large as its total 2012 sales.
Cashbuild (CSB:SJ) ? Price: R135.00, P/E Ratio: 10.7, DivYield: 4.2%
Much as its name implies, Cashbuild is a retailer of basic building supplies to low-income, but primarily cash-paying customers. It operates nearly 200 stores throughout Southern Africa. Cashbuild?s share price got hammered last month when it reported slowing same store sales growth, dropping 7.9% in a single day. In my view, this presents a nice buying opportunity at a trailing earnings multiple of less than 10. If the company continues its northward push into the continent and scales up its credit sales, we could see some towering results out of this stock.
Photo by Dave Dugdale
Ellies (ELI:SJ) ? Price: R8.70, P/E Ratio: 11.5, DivYield: 1.2%
Ellies sells television reception equipment and electricity generators, both hot items in a nation with a constrained power supply and virtually non-existent cable television network. It stands to benefit immensely when South African television converts from an analog to a digital signal because thousands of households will need to purchase a set-top converter box to watch their favorite programs. The company is also blessed with a solid management team that has kept the balance sheet essentially free of debt. With earnings growing 102% over the past twelve months and bright prospects, this stock is bargain-priced.
Holdsport (HSP:SJ) ? Price: R44.49, P/E Ratio: 12.5, DivYield: 3.2%
Holdsport runs two chains of sporting goods stores. One focuses on athletic equipment and clothing, and the other sells hiking and camping gear. When I first looked at this company last year, I had questions about its long-term prospects given its failure to establish much of a presence beyond South Africa?s borders. But the company is still small with less than 60 outlets currently in operation. This fact combined with strong sales growth and a significantly less demanding valuation than other South African retailers prompted me to reconsider my position.
Howden Africa (HWN:SJ) ? Price: R27.00, P/E Ratio: 10.4, DivYield: 2.0%
An affiliate of the global industrial group, Colfax (CFX:US), Howden Africa manufactures fans, pumps, and air cleaning equipment for a wide range of industries. This focus has paid substantial dividends over the past few years, as Southern Africa invests increasing amounts of resources into power production, construction, and manufacturing. Earnings nearly doubled during the first half of 2012 and the business continued to spin off gobs of cash. Couple this with annualized sales growth of 14.1% over the past five years and a pristine balance sheet, and I think we?re looking at a winner.
Hudaco Industries (HDC:SJ) ? Price: R95.00, P/E Ratio: 8.9, DivYield: 4.9%
Now marking its 75th year as a listed company on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Hudaco imports and distributes car parts and power tools. Selling things like belts and ball bearings certainly isn?t the sexiest of businesses, but it?s hard to complain about a business that has grown earnings at a 12.5% clip since 2008. Because their product line, in large part, keeps vehicles on the road, Hudaco is shielded from economic dips more than an auto maker would be. Management is also making a push north into other African countries. Export earnings have risen 85% over the past two years.
Trustco (TTO:SJ) ? Price: R1.10, P/E Ratio: 3.1, DivYield: 1.8%
This Namibian group is one of the strangest companies I?ve come across in Africa, but strange in a good way. It operates in the education, micro-insurance, and micro-finance sectors. The company sells life insurance to low income communities; often by packaging it with mobile phone airtime or as a perk awarded to frequent shoppers at stores like Shoprite. It also provides financing for distance education courses through its own educational institution. Finally, it owns high value real estate in and around the Namibian capital, Windhoek. And did I mention the IFC wants to buy a chunk of shares? This one looks very cheap.
Value Group (VLE:SJ) ? Price: R5.68, P/E Ratio: 8.6, DivYield: 3.9%
How could an investor not like a stock with a name like ?Value Group?? This logistics company runs warehouses, rents out trucks, and repairs forklifts, and its spent a lot of money over the past few years to upgrade its fleet and infrastructure. Now that this capital spend is complete, management plans to pay down debt and explore opportunities in the rest of the Sub-Sahara. Given the tough business environment in South Africa, I don?t anticipate significant earnings growth over the near term, but at this valuation and yield, I can afford to be patient.
What Do You Think?
Does this group of stocks have what it takes to beat the market? What stocks would you include on this list?
[Disclosure: I have a beneficial interest in shares of Ellies through my work at Africa Capital Group.]
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