Social Media Marketing ? Successful Promotional Strategy For Auto ...

Wednesday, January 30th, 2013

Popular social media tools
Social media is the latest buzz on the Internet. Popular social networking sites like Orkut, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn, Flickr, Blogger, etc., have created a new opportunity in Internet marketing. As majority of the Internet users are hooked on to these social networking sites, these sites are becoming the latest target for the businesses to promote their businesses.

Gives great exposure
Social media is one of the best platforms to increase your auto business? visibility and brand awareness. Create a social profile and offer the visitors useful information about your products and services. Social media also has great potential to get customer referrals, which for sure is a smart way to expand your business.

Wider reach and generate leads
Social sites are more than advertising tools that only develop awareness of your brand; they are highly helpful in gaining new customers, retaining the existing ones and reaching the customers faster. Having a huge customer base from all across the globe, these sites enable a wider as well as targeted reach for your business. Standard business

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Source: http://www.thmg.com/social-media/social-media-marketing-successful-promotional-strategy-for-auto/

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Investing News: Expert Analysis, Investment Tools, Stock Screeners ...

A federation of U.S. labor unions is looking to force JPMorgan Chase's board to consider breaking up the company after the disastrous "London Whale" affair, but the bank is trying to ensure that its shareholders do not get to vote on the union's proposal.

Source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15839069/Investing_News_Expert_Analysis_Investment_Tools_Stock_Screeners_and_Financial_Strategy_Information__CNBC

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French Troops Control Key Airport in North Mali

(SEGOU, Mali) ? French forces have taken control of the airport in Kidal, seizing a key position in one of three provincial capitals the Islamist militants took over last year, officials said Wednesday. One Malian official said French troops even moved into the city, which was the last remaining urban stronghold of the Islamists in Mali.

French and Malian troops have recaptured two of the other provincial capitals, Timbuktu and Gao, in recent days, and been welcomed by overjoyed crowds. However, already concerns are emerging about whether the Islamists will try to return once France hands over the military operation to Mali and soldiers from neighboring countries.

Haminy Maiga, the interim president of the Kidal regional assembly, said French forces met no resistance when they arrived late Tuesday.

?The French arrived at 9:30 p.m. aboard four planes, which landed one after another. Afterwards they took the airport and then entered the town, and there was no combat,? said Maiga, who had been in touch with people in the town by satellite phone as all the normal phone networks were down.

?The French are patrolling the town and two helicopters are patrolling overhead,? he added.

In Paris, French army Col. Thierry Burkhard confirmed that the airport was taken overnight and described the operation in Kidal itself as ?ongoing.?

On Tuesday, a secular Tuareg rebel group had asserted that they were in control of Kidal and other small towns in northern Mali. Maiga said those fighters had left Kidal and were at the entry posts on the roads from Gao and Tessalit.

France, the former colonial ruler, began sending in troops, helicopters and warplanes on Jan. 11 to turn the tide after the armed Islamists began encroaching on the south, toward the capital. French and Malian troops seized Gao during the weekend, welcomed by joyous crowds. They took Timbuktu on Monday. The Islamists gave up both cities and retreated into the surrounding desert.

To help battle the Islamists in their desert hideouts, a U.S. military official says the Pentagon is considering setting up a drone base in northwest Africa to increase intelligence collection.

While most crowds in the freed cities have been joyous, months of resentment toward the Islamists already has erupted into violence in Gao.

Video footage filmed by an amateur cameraman and obtained by The Associated Press shows a mob attacking the symbol of the oppressive regime, the Islamic police headquarters.

Some celebrate cheering ?I am Malian,? while others armed with sticks and machetes attack suspected members of the Islamist regime. The graphic images show the mob as they mutilate the corpses of two young suspected jihadists lying dead in the street.

France?s president said his country?s forces would stay in Mali as long as necessary, but the French also have said they expect troops from African nations to take the lead as soon as they are able. There are now some 2,900 African soldiers in Mali, including 1,400 from Chad who are used to fighting in harsh, desert terrain like northern Mali.

Mali?s military was severely affected by last year?s coup and has a reputation for disorganization and bad discipline. Already Malian soldiers have been accused of fatally shooting civilians suspected of links to the Islamists. The military has promised to investigate the allegations.

___

Ahmed reported from Segou, Mali. Associated Press writer Lori Hinnant in Paris and Andrew Drake in Gao, Mali contributed to this report.

MORE:?Mali?s War: After Surging Into the Islamist-Held North, Will France Retreat?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/timeblogs/middle_east/~3/JWxPhtaaCc4/

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Some families to be priced out of health overhaul

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Some families could get priced out of health insurance due to what's being called a glitch in President Barack Obama's overhaul law. IRS regulations issued Wednesday failed to fix the problem as liberal backers of the president's plan had hoped.

As a result, some families that can't afford the employer coverage that they are offered on the job will not be able to get financial assistance from the government to buy private health insurance on their own. How many people will be affected is unclear.

The Obama administration says its hands were tied by the way Congress wrote the law. Officials said the administration tried to mitigate the impact. Families that can't get coverage because of the glitch will not face a tax penalty for remaining uninsured, the IRS rules said.

"This is a very significant problem, and we have urged that it be fixed," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, an advocacy group that supported the overhaul from its early days. "It is clear that the only way this can be fixed is through legislation and not the regulatory process."

But there's not much hope for an immediate fix from Congress, since the House is controlled by Republicans who would still like to see the whole law repealed.

The affordability glitch is one of a series of problems coming into sharper focus as the law moves to full implementation.

Starting Oct. 1, many middle-class uninsured will be able to sign up for government-subsidized private coverage through new health care marketplaces known as exchanges. Coverage will be effective Jan. 1. Low-income people will be steered to expanded safety-net programs. At the same time, virtually all Americans will be required to carry health insurance, either through an employer, a government program, or by buying their own plan.

Bruce Lesley, president of First Focus, an advocacy group for children, cited estimates that close to 500,000 children could remain uninsured because of the glitch. "The children's community is disappointed by the administration's decision to deny access to coverage for children based on a bogus definition of affordability," Lesley said in a statement.

The problem seems to be the way the law defined affordable.

Congress said affordable coverage can't cost more than 9.5 percent of family income. People with coverage the law considers affordable cannot get subsidies to go into the new insurance markets. The purpose of that restriction was to prevent a stampede away from employer coverage.

Congress went on to say that what counts as affordable is keyed to the cost of self-only coverage offered to an individual worker, not his or her family. A typical workplace plan costs about $5,600 for an individual worker. But the cost of family coverage is nearly three times higher, about $15,700, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

So if the employer isn't willing to chip in for family premiums ? as most big companies already do ? some families will be out of luck. They may not be able to afford the full premium on their own, and they'd be locked out of the subsidies in the health care overhaul law.

Employers are relieved that the Obama administration didn't try to put the cost of providing family coverage on them.

"They are bound by the law and cannot extend further than what the law provides," said Neil Trautwein, a vice president of the National Retail Federation.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/families-priced-health-overhaul-231958188.html

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Satellite image shows eastern US severe weather system

Public release date: 30-Jan-2013
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Contact: Rob Gutro
Robert.j.gutro@nasa.gov
443-858-1779
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

A powerful cold front moving from the central United States to the East Coast is wiping out spring-like temperatures and replacing them with winter-time temperatures with powerful storms in between. An image released from NASA using data from NOAA's GOES-13 satellite provides a stunning look at the powerful system that brings a return to winter weather in its wake.

On Jan. 30 at 1825 UTC (1:25 p.m. EST), NOAA's GOES-13 satellite captured an image of clouds associated with the strong cold front. The visible GOES-13 image shows a line of clouds that stretch from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast and contain powerful thunderstorms with the potential to be severe. The front is moving east to the Atlantic Ocean.

NOAA's GOES-13 satellite continually provides real-time visible and infrared imagery of weather over the eastern United States. The NASA GOES Project, located at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., created the image from GOES data. The colorized image uses GOES-13 satellite visible data of clouds, and is overlaid on a U.S. map created by imagery from the Moderate Resolution Spectroradiometer instrument (MODIS), an instrument that flies aboard both the NASA Aqua and Terra satellites.

NOAA's National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center (SPC) in Norman, Okla., warned of the risk of severe weather on Jan. 30, stretching from the upper Ohio Valley southward to the central Gulf Coast and eastward to the Mid-Atlantic and southeastern U.S. coast. According to SPC, the main threat will be damaging wind along with the possibility of tornadoes, especially across eastern Alabama into western Georgia.

Early on Jan. 30, officials in Tennessee and Georgia already reported damages from severe storms as the squall line rolled through.

At noon EST on Jan. 30, severe thunderstorm watches were issued by the SPC for several states. The watches include: the western Maryland panhandle, southeast Ohio, southwest Pennsylvania, western Virginia and West Virginia.

This same storm system brought severe weather to the Mississippi Valley on Tuesday, Jan. 29. The storm system has already brought great changes to the Midwest, where Chicago experienced highs in the 60s (F) earlier in the week and today, Jan. 30, is only near 40 F. Chicago is also expecting snow later today and by tomorrow night, Jan. 31, wind chills at night are expected to drop to 10 F to 20 F below zero.

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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.

Public release date: 30-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Rob Gutro
Robert.j.gutro@nasa.gov
443-858-1779
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

A powerful cold front moving from the central United States to the East Coast is wiping out spring-like temperatures and replacing them with winter-time temperatures with powerful storms in between. An image released from NASA using data from NOAA's GOES-13 satellite provides a stunning look at the powerful system that brings a return to winter weather in its wake.

On Jan. 30 at 1825 UTC (1:25 p.m. EST), NOAA's GOES-13 satellite captured an image of clouds associated with the strong cold front. The visible GOES-13 image shows a line of clouds that stretch from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast and contain powerful thunderstorms with the potential to be severe. The front is moving east to the Atlantic Ocean.

NOAA's GOES-13 satellite continually provides real-time visible and infrared imagery of weather over the eastern United States. The NASA GOES Project, located at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., created the image from GOES data. The colorized image uses GOES-13 satellite visible data of clouds, and is overlaid on a U.S. map created by imagery from the Moderate Resolution Spectroradiometer instrument (MODIS), an instrument that flies aboard both the NASA Aqua and Terra satellites.

NOAA's National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center (SPC) in Norman, Okla., warned of the risk of severe weather on Jan. 30, stretching from the upper Ohio Valley southward to the central Gulf Coast and eastward to the Mid-Atlantic and southeastern U.S. coast. According to SPC, the main threat will be damaging wind along with the possibility of tornadoes, especially across eastern Alabama into western Georgia.

Early on Jan. 30, officials in Tennessee and Georgia already reported damages from severe storms as the squall line rolled through.

At noon EST on Jan. 30, severe thunderstorm watches were issued by the SPC for several states. The watches include: the western Maryland panhandle, southeast Ohio, southwest Pennsylvania, western Virginia and West Virginia.

This same storm system brought severe weather to the Mississippi Valley on Tuesday, Jan. 29. The storm system has already brought great changes to the Midwest, where Chicago experienced highs in the 60s (F) earlier in the week and today, Jan. 30, is only near 40 F. Chicago is also expecting snow later today and by tomorrow night, Jan. 31, wind chills at night are expected to drop to 10 F to 20 F below zero.

###

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?

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/nsfc-sis013013.php

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Occupy Wall Street Actually Not At All Representative Of The 99 Percent, Report Finds

The Occupy Wall Street movement captured public attention while speaking for the so-called 99 percent, but those who actively participated were drawn from a much narrower, more elite slice of American society, according to a new survey.

Those who described themselves as ?actively involved? in the Occupy movement were overwhelmingly white, highly educated and employed, according to a new report from the Joseph F. Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies at the City University of New York.

?When people are saying, ?Occupy Wall Street is a white, middle-class thing,? I can?t really fight them because it?s not true, but then, it?s not necessarily false either,? Michele Crentsil, a 23-year-old African-American Occupy participant said in the report.

The report surveyed the participants at a joint Occupy-labor movement May Day rally in New York City and found that two-thirds of those who described themselves as ?actively involved? in Occupy Wall Street were white, while 80 percent had a bachelor?s degree or higher.

Those demographics aren?t representative of New York City as a whole. Only one-third of New York City residents are white, according to the report, and about 34 percent have a bachelor?s degree or higher.

?It confirmed our sense that the people who were doing the occupations were doing it out of self-interest as much as out of a kind of general political awareness,? Penny Lewis, an assistant professor at the Murphy Institute and co-author of the report, told The Huffington Post.

Many of these activists claiming to represent the 99 percent were drawn to the Occupy movement after the financial crisis left them underemployed and burdened with student loan debt. The survey found that while 80 percent of respondents said they had a job, about one-third said their employment was ?precarious,? Lewis said. More than half of respondents under 30 were carrying over $1,000 in student debt, the report found.

?People who are entering the middle class or coming out of the middle class, and looking to college to put themselves forward, are actually graduating with excessive amounts debt,? Lewis said.

Lewis noted that since the survey was taken at a rally with labor protesters, the sample likely skewed more towards long-term activists and educational professionals than the Occupy gatherings in Zuccotti Park. Still, actively-involved protesters who the researchers interviewed for the report said the perception of Occupy as a largely white, middle-class movement wasn?t entirely wrong.

The group?s demographics also dictated in part the issues on which the movement chose to focus. Only 5.4 percent of actively involved participants said they joined Occupy Wall Street to deal with racism or race-related issues, while 19 percent cited student debt and access to education, according to the report.

Occupy Wall Street?s largely white, highly-educated makeup also affected the way the movement was organized, the report said. The presence of many homeless people in Zuccotti Park and at the movement?s General Assembly (GA) gatherings presented ?daunting? organizational challenges to the group, the report said. And though the movement had no official leaders, those who represented Occupy Wall Street in the public sphere were often white, male and highly educated, one protester interviewed for the report noted.

?We ended up recreating a lot of racist, sexist, classist structures,? Crentsil wrote in the report. ?The people who you would see on TV or as the quote-unquote 'leaders' who are either facilitating the GA or being front and center in any other way shape or form were often white, male and highly educated.?

But Occupy Wall Street still took a nontraditional approach to activism, Lewis said. Forty percent of those actively involved in the movement were under 30, and they applied the same "get-your-hands-dirty" millennial attitude they used in brewing their own beer or growing their own food to their political activism.

?There?s been for years this kind of focus within millennial culture towards this do-it-yourself world,? Lewis said. ?What to me is amazing is to see that same kind of ethos of direct action oriented in a political direction.?

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/29/occupy-wall-street-report_n_2574788.html

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Sigma unveils three new MFT and Sony E-Mount lenses

Despite the raves that recent micro four-thirds and Sony E-Mount cameras have received of late, there's still a dearth of lenses for the fledgeling systems compared to their more entrenched counterparts. Luckily, Sigma's just added to the pool of autofocus-equipped models for each system: updated 19mm F2.8 DN and 30mm F2.8 DN models along with an all-new 60mm F2.8 DN telephoto lens. Each Japan-made model has a "telecentric" optical design to minimize CMOS color issues, a metal exterior with silver or black color options, and a linear autofocus motor that Sigma claims is quiet enough to use for video. Meanwhile, the imaging outfit also announced an updated 30mm, F1.4 DC HSM model for Canon APS-C, Nikon DX and its own Sigma mount. All that's great news, though we're still waiting for an AF/electronic F1.4 or faster lens for E-Mount (there's only one on MFT as well) -- though this might tide us over, in the meantime. See the PR after the break for more info.

Show full PR text

Sigma Corporation announces four new lenses at CP+ Camera and Photo Imaging Show 2013
January 29, 2013

Sigma Corporation announces four new lenses at CP+ Camera and Photo Imaging Show 2013

APS-C format, E-Mount and Micro Four Thirds lenses feature sleek new 'Art' product line design

YOKOHAMA, Japan - Jan. 29, 2013-Sigma Corporation of America a leading researcher, developer, manufacturer and service provider of some of the world's most impressive lines of lenses, cameras and flashes, today announced the release of four new lenses for the ART product line, including three lenses for mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras and one lens for DSLR cameras with APS-C size sensors. This announcement comes at the start of the CP+ Camera and Photo Imaging Show 2013 this week in Yokohama, Japan.

The new and updated Sigma lenses include the 30mm F1.4 DC HSM, which will be available in Sigma, Canon and Nikon mounts, and the 30mm F2.8 DN, 19mm F2.8 DN and 60mm F2.8 DN lenses, which are available for both Micro Four Thirds and Sony E-Mount camera systems. Pricing and availability on all of these lenses has yet to be announced.

The 60mm F2.8 DN lens is entirely new to the Sigma lineup, while the 30mm F1.4 DC HSM and the 30mm F2.8 DN and 19mm F2.8 DN lenses are existing focal lengths that have been redesigned with enhanced optical performance and included as part of Sigma's new Global Vision category restructuring. All three DN lenses incorporate telecentric optical designs and a linear, auto focusing motor that ensures accurate and quiet focusing for video recording. They also boast metal exteriors and a simply shaped focus ring, with varying textures to distinguish each part of the lens. In addition, DN users can choose between a black or silver finish to match their favorite equipment.

"We're really proud of the super sharp lenses we've produced in the past year and these new Art lenses will continue to impress our fans and critics alike. They're ideal for the landscape, portrait, still-life, close-up and casual photographer who values creative, dramatic outcomes above compactness and multifunction," said Mark Amir-Hamzeh, president of Sigma Corporation of America. "The lenses are entirely made in Japan and they boast the new product line's sleek design and enhanced quality control. We're quite proud of these changes - and additions - to our lens lineup; they're further evidence of Sigma's forethought in this fast-moving industry."

Here are more details on these new lenses from Sigma:

· 30mm F1.4 DC HSM Sigma's new USB Dock, which will enable firmware updates and focusing adjustments, is expected to be available in coming months.- Sigma pioneered the large-aperture, APS-C format, standard lens category with its 30mm F1.4 lens in 2005. With new optical configurations of nine elements in eight groups, as well as rounded aperture blades, this updated lens delivers pleasing sharpness and a beautiful bokeh background. Its angle of view is equivalent to 45mm on a 35mm camera (which is similar to that of human vision), its minimum focusing distance is 11.8 inches and its maximum magnification ratio is 1:6.8. The lens' optimized power distribution helps to minimize field curvature, prevent a loss of image quality at the edges of photographs and produce outstanding image quality. Its double-aspheric lens minimizes spherical distortion, astigmatism and coma, and its rear focus system prevents focus-dependent variation in aberration. Together, the new optimized auto focus (AF) algorithm and rear focusing system ensure smooth and accurate focusing. The new 30mm F1.4 is also compatible with Sigma's new USB Dock, which will enable firmware updates and focusing adjustments, is expected to be available in coming months.

· 60mm F2.8 DN- Featuring the natural perspective of mid-range telephoto lenses, together with a shallow depth of field, this lens allows the photographer to capture a single part of a subject with great bokeh effects. It has an angle of view equivalent to 120mm on the Micro Four Thirds system and 90mm on the E-mount system (35mm equivalent focal length). The minimum focusing distance is 19.7 inches; the maximum magnification is 1:7.2. This lens also contains Special Low Dispersion (SLD) glass, which helps minimize axial and transverse chromatic aberration.

· Sigma 19mm F2.8 DN - This high-performance, wide-angle telephoto lens has an angle of view equivalent to 38mm on the Micro Four Thirds system and 28.5mm on the E-mount system (35mm equivalent focal length). As a wide-angle lens with excellent mobility, it is ideal for studio photography, architecture and starry skies. Its minimum focusing distance is 7.9 inches and its maximum magnification is 1:7.4.

· Sigma 30mm F2.8 DN - This high-performance, standard telephoto lens has an angle of view equivalent to 60mm on the Micro Four Thirds system and 45mm on the E-mount system (35mm equivalent focal length). This lens, which is perfect for casual and formal portraiture, documentary photography, travelogues and everyday shooting, includes a double-sided aspherical lens that enhances its optical performance. Its minimum focusing distance of 11.8 inches and its maximum magnification is 1:8.1.

For information about Sigma Corporation of America, visit www.sigmaphoto.com. For the full press releases for each of these new lenses, visit Sigma's news section at www.sigmaphoto.com/sigma-news.

About Sigma Corporation
For more than 50 years, Sigma Corporation's expertise and innovation has driven the company's core philosophy of "knowledge, plus experience, plus imagination,"with anemphasis on producing high-quality, high-performance photographic technology. This family-owned organization is the largest, independent SLR lens manufacturer in the world, producing more than more than 45 lenses that are compatible with most manufacturers, including Sigma, Canon, Sony, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic and Pentax. Sigma Corporation also produces digital SLR cameras and high-definition digital compact cameras. The company is headquartered in Japan, with offices strategically located throughout Europe, Asia and North America. For information, please visit www.sigmaphoto.com.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/29/sigma-unveils-three-new-mft-and-sony-e-mount-lenses/

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Fed likely to stick to low-rate message this week

WASHINGTON (AP) ? When the Federal Reserve meets this week, it's likely to affirm a message it intends to help lift the economy: that consumers and businesses will be able to borrow cheaply well into the future ? even after unemployment has dropped sharply.

Last month, the Fed signaled for the first time that it will tie its policies to specific economic barometers. It said that as long as the inflation outlook is mild, it could keep short-term rates near zero until unemployment dips below 6.5 percent from the current 7.8 percent.

That could take until the end of 2015, the Fed predicted last month.

The Fed's guidance was designed to give consumers, companies and investors a clearer sense of when super-low borrowing costs might start to rise. Though some key sectors of the economy are improving, analysts think the Fed still feels more time is needed for low rates to spur borrowing, spending and economic growth.

One reason is that many Americans remain anxious about the budget impasse in Washington.

"The Fed is dealing with a lot of uncertainty right now, with all the decisions still to be made on federal budget policy," said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial, who expects the Fed to make no changes in its support programs when its two-day policy meeting ends Wednesday.

At its December meeting, the Fed said it would keep spending $85 billion a month on bond purchases to keep long-term borrowing costs down. It will continue its bond purchases until the job market improved "substantially."

When it buys bonds, the Fed increases its investment portfolio and pumps more money into the financial system ? something critics say could eventually ignite inflation or create dangerous bubbles in assets like real estate or stocks.

On Friday, when the government will release its jobs report for January, unemployment is expected to remain 7.8 percent. That still-high rate, 3? years after the Great Recession officially ended, helps explain why the Fed has kept its key short-term rate at a record low near zero since December 2008, just after the financial crisis erupted.

In a speech in Ann Arbor, Mich., this month, Chairman Ben Bernanke said he thought too little progress had been made in reducing unemployment and signaled that the Fed's aggressive support programs should continue.

"There is still quite a ways to go," Bernanke said of the unemployment crisis. "There are too many people whose skills and talents are being wasted."

Still, some private economists think the Fed will decide to suspend its bond purchases in the second half of this year. They note that the minutes of the Fed's December meeting revealed a split: Some of the 12 voting members thought the bond purchases would be needed through 2013. Others felt the purchases should be slowed or stopped altogether before year's end.

On one point, economists agree: Once the Fed does decide to scale back its stimulative policies, it will signal its intent well before it actually does so. Policymakers will want to blunt the shocks that could reverberate through financial markets, which have been heavily influenced by the loose-credit policies the Fed has engineered for more than four years.

Interest rates have sunk to record lows. And stock prices have risen as many investors have shifted money into the stock market in search of better returns.

"Nothing will change at this meeting, but as time goes on, I think the Fed will begin laying the groundwork for changes," said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at the Martin Smith School of Business at California State University.

Once the Fed does tighten its interest-rate policy, it will inevitably jolt the markets, however much it tries to ease the impact, predicted David Jones, chief economist at DMJ Economic Advisors.

"The second the Fed gives a hint that they are in any way being less accommodative, we will see interest rates shoot higher and stock prices fall," Jones said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fed-likely-stick-low-rate-message-week-123924693--finance.html

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Injecting botox into stomach does not promote weight loss

Jan. 28, 2013 ? Gastric injections of botulinum toxin A (BTA) can delay gastric emptying but do not make obese individuals feel more full, alter their eating behaviors, or cause them to lose weight, according to the February issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

In attempts to help people lose weight, researchers have tested ways to slow gastric emptying (movement of food from the stomach to the small intestine) and increase satiation (feeling full). Gastric injections of BTA have been reported to delay gastric emptying, increase satiation, and reduce body weight, but with inconsistent results.

Botulinum toxin -- a protein and neurotoxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum -- reduces muscle activity by blocking the release of acetylcholine from neurons.

Mark Topazian et al. compared the effects of injecting different doses of BTA into the stomachs of 60 individuals with mild-to-moderate obesity.

Study participants were each given 1 injection of BTA (100, 300, or 500 U), or placebo, in the gastric antral muscularis propria, guided by endoscopic ultrasound. Gastric emptying of solids was measured by scintigraphy. Topazian et al. also measured participants' body weights every 2 weeks, along with satiation (based on maximum tolerated volume in a caloric liquid drink test), calorie intake (based on a questionnaire), gastrointestinal symptoms, and psychological aspects of eating.

Two weeks after the injections, the mean half-time for gastric emptying of solids increased by 0.8, 14, 24, and 14 minutes among subjects given placebo, 100, 300, or 500 U BTA, respectively.

Sixteen weeks after the injections, mean body weights were reduced by 2.2, 0.2, 2.3, and 3.0 kg in these groups, respectively -- not a statistically significant difference.

Nor were there significant differences among groups in satiation volume, caloric intake, gastrointestinal symptoms, or psychological aspects of eating among groups.

So, although stomach injection of BTA slows gastric emptying, it does not increase the feeling of fullness or lead to loss of body weight. The authors say is unlikely that higher doses of BTA than those tested would induce additional delays in gastric emptying or weight loss.

Previous studies have associated gastrointestinal symptoms with eating behaviors. Topazian et al. did observe that a higher maximum tolerated volume, a physiological measure of satiation, correlated with less control over eating. They propose that educating obese patients about physiological differences in stomach volume might help them improve their ability to control how much they eat.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Gastroenterological Association.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Mark Topazian, Michael Camilleri, Felicity T. Enders, Jonathan E. Clain, Ferga C. Gleeson, Michael J. Levy, Elizabeth Rajan, Vandana Nehra, Ross A. Dierkhising, Maria L. Collazo?Clavell, Nicholas J. Talley, Matthew M. Clark. Gastric Antral Injections of Botulinum Toxin Delay Gastric Emptying but Do Not Reduce Body Weight. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 2013; 11 (2): 145 DOI: 10.1016/j.cgh.2012.09.029

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/~3/fN4hrzaVQog/130128163405.htm

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App-driven life: Smart ski goggle visor is like a dashboard

Oakley's Airwave ski goggles adds to its already futuristic line of eyewear. Earlier googles could connect to phones and now its newest pair of goggles can give their wearer data via a screen display on the visor.?

By Chris Gaylord / January 27, 2013

How much hangtime did Clemens Schattschneider get on this jump at the Snowboard World Championship in Quebec, Jan. 18? Oakley's Airwave would know.

Associated Press

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Oakley Airwave ski goggles come with a little screen built into the visor. The screen displays your speed, altitude, and the air time of your last jump.

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The sports accessories company dived into application-powered apparel early on. For several years, Oakley has made a pair of shades with built-in earphones and gear that can wirelessly connect to phones.

The Airwave steps deeper into science fiction.

If you carry an iPhone or Android device in your pocket, the goggles can pull in extra information, such as incoming text messages, caller ID, and the name of the song playing in your earphones.

The app also includes a buddy tracker that gives you the location of your friends who either have a pair of Airwave goggles (which cost $600 ? about twice the price of normal Oakley goggles) or have downloaded the free Airwave phone app.

All of these data points pop up in the corner of your vision like the speedometer in a racing video game. Oakley assures the safety-minded that it placed the screen in the least intrusive spot possible.?

Still, the safety disclaimer kindly reminds you that "concentrating on the display while moving may distract you and cause injury or death."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/XaIBExb5y-4/App-driven-life-Smart-ski-goggle-visor-is-like-a-dashboard

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Maryland does not see a link between Poverty and Special Education

Wicomico County found no relation between students with reduced and free lunch and those in special education.

by Vanessa Junkin -

Not all students have the same resources at home.

But no matter a child?s income level, early intervention is key to increasing a child?s potential for success, said Bonnie Walston, director of special education for Wicomico County public schools.

In Wicomico County ? which had 11.22 percent of its students receiving special education services in the 2011-2012 school year ? special education percentages have remained steadily near 12 percent, with that little bit lower percentage last year, Walston said. However, the percentage of students receiving Free and Reduced Meals has risen.

The percentage of students receiving special education in Maryland?s counties, as well as the statewide rate ? 11.22 percent ? were compiled in a Daily Times analysis of Maryland State Department of Education data and rounded to the nearest hundredth. MSDE spokesman Bill Reinhard said this data was from the 2011-2012 school year, and special education includes students who have an Individualized Education Program.

Wicomico?s Free and Reduced Meals rate was the state?s fourth-highest among the 24 districts for the 2011-2012 school year, at 58.61 percent, according to MSDE data. Its special education percentage came in 10th-highest.

Even though she doesn?t see a correlation in Wicomico, Walston said poverty is something that could have an impact on students. For example, if a child?s parents are working two to three jobs and aren?t around their child as much, that may have an effect.

?That?s why we have a process to help families and children to be able to bridge those gaps,? Walston said.

And it?s important that family members talk to their children and have books, math and developmentally appropriate activities, she said.

Early intervention services provided by Wicomico County for children birth through age 3 involve a team of at least one family member, a case manager and a specialist or specialists ? depending on the child?s disability ? going into the child?s home or another safe place, like a child care center.

Read more at?With special education, one size doesn?t fit all.

[Via Daily Times]

Source: http://specialedpost.com/2013/01/28/maryland-does-not-see-a-link-between-poverty-and-special-education/

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Obama: Gun-control advocates should listen more

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama says gun-control advocates have to do a little more listening than they do sometimes in the debate over firearms in America.

Obama tells The New Republic that he has a profound respect for the traditions of hunting that date back for generations.

He also says that moving forward on the topic means understanding that the realities of guns in urban areas are very different from the realities of guns in rural areas.

The president says it's understandable that people are protective of their family traditions when it comes to hunting.

Has Obama himself ever fired a gun? Yes, he says, he and others shoot skeet frequently at the president's Maryland retreat, Camp David.

The interview appears in the Feb. 11 issue of The New Republic.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-gun-control-advocates-listen-more-060214484--politics.html

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Learn Some Of The Simple Steps Of Home Improvement

Home improvement projects take a lot of effort to begin, whether you have a lot of knowledge and skill or not. Do not allow the TV home improvement shows fool you. Home improvements consist of more than just big jobs. Keep reading to see all of the potential things you can try out.

Basements generally have little, if any, natural light. To ensure your basement is more livable, plan your artificial lighting layout carefully. If you luck out, you have have high, protruding walls from ground level in your basement. If you do, windows may be installable and they would create natural lighting.

Even a small home improvement project can mean a big increase in your home's value. If you are considering the sale of your home, think about making one or two little improvements. For example, you can paint the interior and exterior of your home. Doing this simple job, which only costs a few hundred dollars, can add almost ,000 to the value of your home!

Make sure you have the gear you need before getting started on a new project. You always should procure a harness for your back if you are lifting heavy things, and also a helmet to protect you from falling objects.

You can dress up pillows in any room which can be a simple project. You can use old t-shirts with neat designs, band shirts, or even jeans to cut and sew into pillows. Personalize your teen's room and add some spice without spending a lot of money.

Purchasing brand new furniture is a very costly enterprise. Perhaps you can acquire some quirky pieces from estate sales and thrift shops. You might find real treasures amongst your used items, like furniture for instance. Some may require a bit of work, but with the right time invested, they can be a real asset to your household.

Here is a helpful tip that can help with the problem of water that is too hard. Purchase a water softener and filter your water through it. Through a variety of chemical processes, these appliances reduce water's hardness by extracting the magnesium and calcium that cause hard water. Water softeners that operate on chemical tablets are a popular and cost-effective choice. Choose the one that fits your needs.

When improving the exterior of your home, you can save money and add security by installing motion detecting lights. Motion sensing lights stay off until they detect motion in their path, and then they turn on automatically. This also means intruders will think twice about approaching any home with motion detection lights, in fear that they will be spotted.

When you are going to be doing home improvements that may inconvieience your neighbors, let them know ahead of time. Often, major renovation jobs will require trucks, heavy equipment or a dumpster, so you need to prepare for them. If you let your neighbors know ahead of time, they will most likely be less annoyed and inconvenienced.

As mentioned earlier, home improvement projects can benefit anyone that undertakes them. While it's good to be an expert at home improvements, knowing basic information is helpful. Just remember to use these tips on your next project.

Source: http://alioting.blogspot.com/2013/01/learn-some-of-simple-steps-of-home.html

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FTM2012 Synchronization Frequently Take in Excess of Two Hours ...

I just suffered through yet another 2+ hour synchronization time after making minimal updates that affected 81 changes to 40 persons in my medium-sized tree of 15,000 persons.

These 2+ hour synchronization times began only after the most recent patch was applied to FTM2012 a couple of months ago.

More than 60% of this synchronization time is consumed with FTM2012 searching itself for changes, the remaining 40% or so is spent uploading and verifying the changes.

It does not happen during every synchronization, nor does it happen during every synchronization following changes made in FTM2012. It appears to happen only after changes are made to Place Names (such as after resolving place names) or after changes to date fields (such as Merging Duplicate Events). An example of a date change resulting from merging duplicate events would be merging the 4 individual event entries created when adding the 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930 censuses of a person who lived at the same address in all of these years into one single entry with a date range of "Bet 1900 and 1930", that FTM2012 automatically converts without user control to "Bet. 1900?1940" (using a period and the long dash).

At one point, I realized that FTM2012 was not actually searching itself for changes, it was making changes that I had not specifically authorized the program to make. It was changing other date ranges enter as "Bet xxxx and yyyy" it encountered to the aforementioned format. The result was that after I made a couple of changes the synch dialog window showed a couple of thousand changes to 800+ profiles. These now "corrupted" date changes it made were subsequently uploaded to Ancestry, where they cannot be properly displayed because Ancestry does not recognize the date format that includes a period (".") and the long dash ("?").

This has become a regular occurrence, with data regularly "corrupted" into the incompatible format it wants to see. The frequency is difficult to quantify as every X synchronizations.

During these 2+ hour synch times, needless to say, I am unable to do any genealogy, because FTM2012 does not use a scheme of simply locking the records it sees changes in, it locks the entire Ancestry Member Tree and FTM2012 itself.

I have sent several reports of this issue to 2nd level technical support, with supporting screenshots and SynchErrorLog data. To date, there is no response on the issue.

This is happening far too frequently. The most recent occurred after a fresh reboot of my computer, eliminating and memory issues from the equation.

The purpose of this posting is to see if others are encountering similar problems, not to solicit or receive support from users unaffected by the issue, because I doubt that all users are encountering the issue.

FELLOW FTM2012 USERS -- PLEASE!

In the absence of a board moderator, show a little courtesy and common sense. If your issue is not directly related to the problem posted here, don't pollute this thread with reports -- or rantings -- about unrelated issues you have. Putting unrelated issues in this thread does nothing to highlight your issue and buries this one.

Rick Larsen
Luxembourg

Source: http://boards.ancestry.co.uk/topics.software.famtreemaker/9411/mb.ashx

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Azarenka beats Li, defends Australian Open title

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus hugs her trophy after winning the women's final against China's Li Na at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus hugs her trophy after winning the women's final against China's Li Na at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus reacts as she celebrates her win over China's Li Na in the women's final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

China's Li Na falls for a second time during her match against Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the women's final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

China's Li Na receives treatment to her ankle during her match against Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the women's final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013.(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus reaches for a backhand return to China's Li Na during the women's final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) ? Victoria Azarenka had the bulk of the crowd against her. The fireworks were fizzling out, and when she looked over the net she saw Li Na crashing to the court and almost knocking herself out.

Considering the cascading criticism she'd encountered after her previous win, Azarenka didn't need the focus of the Australian Open final to be on another medical timeout.

So after defending her title with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over the sixth-seeded Li in one of the most unusual finals ever at Melbourne Park, Azarenka understandably dropped her racket and cried tears of relief late Saturday night.

She heaved as she sobbed into a towel beside the court, before regaining her composure to collect the trophy.

"It isn't easy, that's for sure, but I knew what I had to do," the 23-year-old Belarusian said. "I had to stay calm. I had to stay positive. I just had to deal with the things that came onto me."

There were a lot of those things squeezed into the 2-hour, 40-minute match. Li, who was playing her second Australian Open final in three years, twisted her ankle and tumbled to the court in the second and third sets.

The second time was on the point immediately after a 10-minute delay for the Australia Day fireworks ? a familiar fixture in downtown Melbourne on Jan. 26, but not usually coinciding with a final.

Li had been sitting in her chair during the break, while Azarenka jogged and swung her racket around before leaving the court to rub some liniment into her legs to keep warm.

The 30-year-old Chinese player had tumbled to the court after twisting her left ankle and had it taped after falling in the fifth game of the second set. Immediately after the fireworks ceased, and with smoke still in the air, she twisted the ankle again, fell and hit the back of her head on the hard court.

The 2011 French Open champion was treated immediately by a tournament doctor and assessed for a concussion in another medical timeout before resuming the match.

"I think I was a little bit worried when I was falling," Li said, in her humorous, self-deprecating fashion. "Because two seconds I couldn't really see anything. It was totally black.

"So when the physio come, she was like, 'Focus on my finger.' I was laughing. I was thinking, 'This is tennis court, not like hospital.'"

Li's injury was obvious and attracted even more support for her from the 15,000-strong crowd.

Azarenka had generated some bad PR by taking a medical timeout after wasting five match points on her own serve in her semifinal win over American teenager Sloane Stephens on Thursday. She came back after the break and finished off Stephens in the next game, later telling an on-court interviewer that she "almost did the choke of the year."

She was accused of gamesmanship and manipulating the rules to get time to regain her composure against Stephens, but defended herself by saying she actually was having difficulty breathing because of a rib injury that needed to be fixed.

That explanation didn't convince everybody. So when she walked onto Rod Laver Arena on Saturday, there were some people who booed, and others who heckled her or mimicked the distinctive hooting sound she makes when she hits the ball.

"Unfortunately, you have to go through some rough patches to achieve great things," she said. "That's what makes it so special for me. I went through that, and I'm still able to kiss that beautiful trophy."

She didn't hold a grudge.

"I was expecting way worse, to be honest. What can you do? You just have to go out there and try to play tennis in the end of the day," she said. "It's a tennis match, tennis battle, final of the Australian Open. I was there to play that.

"The things what happened in the past, I did the best thing I could to explain, and it was left behind me already."

The match contained plenty of nervy moments and tension, and 16 service breaks ? nine for Li. But it also produced plenty of winners and bravery on big points.

Azarenka will retain the No. 1 ranking she's mostly held since her first Grand Slam win in Melbourne last year.

Li moved into the top five and is heartened by a recent trend of Australian runner-ups winning the French Open. She accomplished that in 2011, as did Ana Ivanovic (2008) and Maria Sharapova (2012).

"I wish I can do the same this year, as well," Li said.

Later Saturday, Bob and Mike Bryan won their record 13th Grand Slam men's doubles title, defeating the Dutch team of Robin Haase and Igor Sijsling 6-3, 6-4.

Sunday's men's final features two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic and U.S. Open winner Andy Murray. Djokovic is seeking to become the first man in the Open era to win three titles in a row in Australia.

Azarenka was planning a night of partying to celebrate her second major title, with her friend Redfoo and the Party Rock crew, and was hopeful of scoring some tickets to the men's final.

She said she needed to let her hair down after a draining two weeks and hoped that by being more open and frank in recent times she was clearing up any misconceptions the public had of her.

"When I came first on the tour I kind of was lost a little bit," he said. "I didn't know how to open up my personality. It's very difficult when you're alone. I was independent since I was, you know, 10 years old. It was a little bit scary and I wouldn't show my personality.

"So the (last) couple of years I learned how to open up to people and to share the moments. I wasn't really good before. I hope I got better. It's your judgment."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-01-26-Australian%20Open/id-f48beaa7dd8f4ab68978ea7e5fd4dcfd

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First clip from the jOBS movie released, Woz says it?s not even close to what actually happened

The first clip from the upcoming jOBS movie starring Ashton Kutcher as the late Steve Jobs and Josh Gad as Steve Wozniak has been released. In the short clip it shows Steve and Woz discussing how Woz has the ability to create a personal computer that actually displays information on a screen in real-time. The clip was discovered by Gizmodo and Steve Wozniak jumped into the original posts comments to have his say on the accuracy of the clip.

Not close...we never had such interaction and roles...I'm not even sure what it's getting at...personalities are very wrong although mine is closer...don't forget that my purpose was inspired by the values of the Homebrew Computer Club along with ideas of the value of such machines and Steve J. wasn't around and didn't attend the club so he was the one learning about such social impact of the future.

I never looked like a professional. We were both kids. Our relationship was so different than what was portrayed. I'm embarrassed but if the movie is fun and entertaining, all the better. Anyone who reads my book iWoz can get a clearer picture.

Of course the film was never going to be an exact replica of what actually went on back in those great days but the first available clip does appear to miss the mark by quite a bit; which is really disappointing. If you are looking for a film to closely represent what actually happened,you may have to wait a bit longer for the film being written by Aaron Sorkin and produced by Sony, which is based on the official Walter Isaacson biography of Steve Jobs.

Source: Gizmodo, YouTube

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/UbOzAixSfXo/story01.htm

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Forget Virality, Selling Enterprise Software Is Still Old School

Editor's note:?Roman Stanek is CEO and founder of GoodData. Lately, in Silicon Valley and its counterparts around the world, disappointment has ruled the halls of companies that had a huge impact with consumers, but then fizzled as investments when they went public?Facebook?s and Zynga?s IPOs being the most notorious examples. Attention quickly moved from the consumer to the enterprise market, where Splunk, Palo Alto Networks, Workday, and LinkedIn are all humming along just fine. Entrepreneurs seeking to sell to enterprise customers should recognize that the business-to-business (B2B) market, especially with respect to IT, plays by a different set of rules than the business-to-consumer (B2C) space.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/7HsD1lN8YMk/

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Study first to image concussion-related abnormal brain proteins in retired NFL players

Study first to image concussion-related abnormal brain proteins in retired NFL players

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Sports-related concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries have grabbed headlines in recent months, as the long-term damage they can cause becomes increasingly evident among both current and former athletes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that millions of these injuries occur each year.

Despite the devastating consequences of traumatic brain injury and the large number of athletes playing contact sports who are at risk, no method has been developed for early detection or tracking of the brain pathology associated with these injuries.

Now, for the first time, UCLA researchers have used a brain-imaging tool to identify the abnormal tau proteins associated with this type of repetitive injury in five retired National Football League players who are still living. Previously, confirmation of the presence of this protein, which is also associated with Alzheimer's disease, could only be established by an autopsy.

The preliminary findings of the small study are reported Jan. 22 in the online issue of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, the official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry.

Previous reports and studies have shown that professional athletes in contact sports who are exposed to repetitive mild traumatic brain injuries may develop ongoing impairment such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative condition caused by a build up of tau protein. CTE has been associated with memory loss, confusion, progressive dementia, depression, suicidal behavior, personality changes, abnormal gait and tremors.

"Early detection of tau proteins may help us to understand what is happening sooner in the brains of these injured athletes," said lead study author Dr. Gary Small, UCLA's Parlow?Solomon Professor on Aging and a professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the

Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA. "Our findings may also guide us in developing strategies and interventions to protect those with early symptoms, rather than try to repair damage once it becomes extensive."

Small notes that larger follow-up studies are needed to determine the impact and usefulness of detecting these tau proteins early, but given the large number of people at risk for mild traumatic brain injury ? not only athletes but military personnel, auto accident victims and others ? a means of testing what is happening in the brain during the early stages could potentially have a considerable impact on public health.

For the study, the researchers recruited five retired NFL players who were 45 years of age or older. Each had a history of one or more concussions and some were experiencing cognitive or mood symptoms. The players represented a range of positions, including linebacker, quarterback, guard, center and defensive lineman.

"I hope that my participation in these kinds of studies will lead to a better understanding of the consequences of repeated head injury and new standards to protect players from sports concussions," said Wayne Clark, a player in the study who had normal cognitive function.

For the study, the UCLA scientists used a brain-imaging tool they had developed previously for assessing neurological changes associated with Alzheimer's disease. They employed a chemical marker they created called FDDNP, which binds to deposits of amyloid beta "plaques" and neurofibrillary tau "tangles" ? the hallmarks of Alzheimer's ? which they then viewed using a positron emission tomography (PET) scan, providing a "window into the brain." With this method, researchers are able to pinpoint where in the brain these abnormal proteins accumulate.

After the players received intravenous injections of FDDNP, researchers performed PET brain scans on them and compared the scans to those of healthy men of comparable age, education, body mass index and family history of dementia.

The scientists found that compared to the healthy men, the NFL players had elevated levels of FDDNP in the amygdala and subcortical regions of the brain. These regions control learning, memory, behavior, emotions, and other mental and physical functions. Those players who had experienced a greater number of concussions were found to have higher FDDNP levels.

"The FDDNP binding patterns in the players' scans were consistent with the tau deposit patterns that have been observed at autopsy in CTE cases," said study author Dr. Jorge R. Barrio, a professor of molecular and medical pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Each of the research volunteers also received a standard clinical assessment to gauge their degree of depression (Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, or HAM-D) and cognitive ability (Mini-Mental State Examination, or MMSE). The players had more depressive

symptoms than the healthy men and generally scored lower on the MMSE test, demonstrating evidence of cognitive loss. Three players had mild cognitive impairment, one had dementia and another had normal cognitive function.

Elevated levels of FDDNP have been shown in studies to be associated with cognitive symptoms in normal aging, mild cognitive impairment and dementia, according to Barrio. The FDDNP signals appear to reflect a range of mental symptoms that have been observed in CTE cases, he noted.

Although the FDDNP marker also binds to another abnormal brain protein called amyloid beta, previous autopsy studies have shown the amyloid plaques are observed in less than a third of CTE cases in retired football players, suggesting that the FDDNP signal in the players represents mostly tau deposits in the brain.

"Providing a non-invasive method for early detection is a critical first step in developing interventions to prevent symptom onset and progression in CTE," said Small, director of the UCLA Longevity Center. "FDDNP is the only imaging marker currently available that can provide a measure of tau in living humans."

According to Small, a recent study of more than 3,400 retired professional football players showed that they had a higher-than-average risk of dying from Alzheimer's disease. Small's team also is studying lifestyle interventions for delaying the onset of Alzheimer's symptoms. His new book "The Alzheimer's Prevention Program," released in paperback this month, features the latest research on this topic and offers the public practical strategies for protecting brain health.

Research into CTE and the long-term effects of mild traumatic brain injuries such as sports-related concussions has been picking up momentum.

"It is the holy grail of CTE research to be able to identify those who are suffering from the syndrome early, while they're still alive. Discovering the effects of prior brain trauma earlier opens up possibilities for symptom treatment and prevention," said study author Dr. Julian Bailes, director of the Brain Injury Research Institute and the Bennett Tarkington Chairman of the department of neurosurgery at NorthShore University HealthSystem based in Evanston, IL.

###

University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences: http://www.uclahealth.org/

Thanks to University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 19 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126417/Study_first_to_image_concussion_related_abnormal_brain_proteins_in_retired_NFL_players_

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Feeding the Brain ? Optimizing Mental Agility Through ... - Anti-Aging

With the current obsession with looking as youthful as possible, the most important aspect of anti-ageing is often overlooked: avoiding brain ageing. Without a fit and active brain, we are nothing but shadows of ourselves. Read on for advice on what to do, and what must be avoided, for better brain health.

Article by Health-and-Fitness:Anti-Aging Articles from EzineArticles.com (c) Health-and-Fitness:Anti-Aging Articles from EzineArticles.com - Read full story here.

Source: http://anti-aging.fitnessthroughfasting.com/anti-aging/feeding-the-brain-optimizing-mental-agility-through-food-lifestyle-and-more.php

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'Not to be published' Diana photo sells for $18K

This image provided by RR Auction shows a photograph marked "not to be published" of a teenage Diana Spencer before she became Princess of Wales, with a young friend seated beside her. RR Auction in Amherst, N.H., says the photo sold Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013 to a real estate investor from San Diego for $18,306, well above early estimates. Stamped February 1981 on the back, the photo was taken around the time Charles, the Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer ended months of speculation and announced they were to be married. (AP Photo/RR Auction)

This image provided by RR Auction shows a photograph marked "not to be published" of a teenage Diana Spencer before she became Princess of Wales, with a young friend seated beside her. RR Auction in Amherst, N.H., says the photo sold Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013 to a real estate investor from San Diego for $18,306, well above early estimates. Stamped February 1981 on the back, the photo was taken around the time Charles, the Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer ended months of speculation and announced they were to be married. (AP Photo/RR Auction)

AMHERST, N.H. (AP) ? A photo marked "not to be published" that shows a teenage Diana Spencer before she became Princess of Wales has been sold by a New Hampshire auction house for more than $18,000.

The photograph shows a group of friends relaxing during a ski trip, with Diana reclining on a bed, with a young man seated behind her and a bottle of whiskey on the window sill. It was acquired by a British newspaper just after her engagement Prince Charles, but someone at the paper wrote "not to be published" across it, presumably because it would've embarrassed the royal family.

RR Auction in Amherst, N.H., says the photo sold in the online auction Thursday to a real estate investor from San Diego for $18,306, well above early estimates.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-01-25-Diana-Photo/id-3d4cb72501884d4d860cf6c05ac1d060

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Candidate dengue vaccine shows promise in early-stage trial

Jan. 23, 2013 ? A candidate dengue vaccine developed by scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been found to be safe and to stimulate a strong immune response in most vaccine recipients, according to results from an early-stage clinical trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH. The trial results were published online on January 17 in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Dengue fever, prevalent in many tropical and subtropical regions of the world, is caused by any of four related viruses -- DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4 -- that are transmitted to humans by Aedes mosquitoes. The World Health Organization estimates that every year, 50 million to 100 million cases of dengue occur worldwide, resulting in 500,000 hospitalizations of patients with severe disease, many of them in children.

Infection with one dengue virus results in immunity to that specific virus but not to the other three. Research shows that the likelihood of severe disease increases when a person is subsequently infected with a different dengue virus. This observation suggests that the ideal dengue vaccine would be tetravalent -- that is, protective against all four dengue viruses.

"The global burden of dengue is enormous -- and it is growing," said NIAID director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. "We are cautiously optimistic about these recent clinical trial results with this candidate tetravalent vaccine developed at NIAID; however, much more work still needs to be done."

The Phase I clinical trial, launched in July 2010 and led by principal investigator Anna Durbin, M.D., at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, tested a single dose of each of four versions of the investigational dengue vaccine TetraVax-DV. The vaccine was developed by scientists in NIAID's Laboratory of Infectious Diseases. It is a live, attenuated vaccine, which means that the viruses it contains are weakened enough such that they do not cause illness but still can induce an immune response. Each of the four vaccines tested included different mixtures of components designed to protect against all four dengue viruses.

The Phase I study was conducted in Baltimore; Burlington, Vt.; and Washington, D.C. The final study analysis included 112 healthy men and women ages 18 to 50 years who had not previously been exposed to dengue or related viruses such as West Nile virus and yellow fever virus.

Participants were randomized into four groups. In each group, 20 volunteers received a single 0.5-milliliter subcutaneous (under the skin) injection of one of the tetravalent candidate vaccine combinations, and eight others received placebo. All were monitored for immediate adverse reactions for at least 30 minutes after vaccination, and subsequently took their body temperatures three times daily for 16 days to check for possible adverse reactions. Participants also received a physical exam every other day up to Study Day 16, and then again on study days 21, 28, 42 and 180, when blood tests were also performed.

The researchers found that all four candidate vaccine combinations induced antibody responses against each of the dengue viruses. However, one vaccine combination, TV003, appeared to induce the most balanced antibody response against the dengue viruses. A single dose of TV003 resulted in an antibody response to all four dengue viruses in 45 percent of participants and against three of the four viruses in an additional 45 percent. Overall, an immune response to at least three viruses was seen in 90 percent of vaccinees given TV003.

"What is promising about TV003 is that it elicited solid antibody responses after just one dose," explained Stephen Whitehead, Ph.D., of NIAID's Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, who led the development of the vaccine candidates. "Other vaccines in development require two or three injections at higher doses to achieve similar results."

All four candidate tetravalent vaccines were found to be safe, and no participants experienced fever or dengue-like illness after vaccination. The most common side effect was a faint rash (in 64 percent of vaccinees and none of the placebo recipients) consisting of small, non-painful bumps on the arms and torso that resolved within five to seven days. The presence of the rash appeared to correlate with being white and having a stronger immune response to vaccination, according to the researchers. Ninety percent of white vaccinees experienced a vaccine-related rash while only 35 percent of African-American vaccinees developed a rash. Further, 97 percent of white vaccine recipients (42 of 43) developed antibodies to at least three of the dengue viruses, compared with 60 percent of African-American vaccine recipients (22 of 37). It is unclear what caused this difference, but previous studies of severe dengue outbreaks in Brazil, Cuba and Haiti suggest that black people may have some inherent protection from dengue infection. Alternatively, unknown factors may have resulted in a weaker antibody response to the vaccine among African-American participants. Additional research to evaluate racial differences in dengue infection and antibody response rates to dengue vaccines is needed, the authors wrote.

"The results of this Phase I dengue vaccine study look very promising, and NIAID scientists and their partners are pursuing further development of TV003," said Kathryn Zoon, Ph.D., director of NIAID's Division of Intramural Research. The researchers are conducting studies to further evaluate the vaccine's safety and ability to stimulate an immune response in healthy volunteers and in people who have been infected previously by dengue or related viruses.

TV003's inexpensive production cost -- less than $1 per dose -- is critical to its potential use in developing countries, noted Dr. Whitehead. Manufacturers in Brazil, India and Vietnam -- countries where dengue is prevalent -- have licensed the vaccine technology for production and further evaluation. Phase II trials to evaluate the safety of TV003 and its capacity to create an immune response will begin soon in Brazil and Thailand.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. A. P. Durbin, B. D. Kirkpatrick, K. K. Pierce, D. Elwood, C. J. Larsson, J. C. Lindow, C. Tibery, B. P. Sabundayo, D. Shaffer, K. R. Talaat, N. A. Hynes, K. Wanionek, M. P. Carmolli, C. J. Luke, B. R. Murphy, K. Subbarao, S. S. Whitehead. A single dose of any of four different live attenuated tetravalent dengue vaccines is safe and immunogenic in flavivirus-naive adults: a randomized, double blind clinical trial. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2013; DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jis936

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/k9Qo650h8pw/130123094742.htm

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