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Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/8B3jkktTNdg/story01.htm
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Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Natural Affinities of RNA Components Could Have Led To Life
[unable to retrieve full-text content]vinces99 writes "The chemical components crucial to the start of life on Earth may have primed and protected each other in never-before-realized ways, according to new research led by University of Washington scientists. That could mean a simpler scenario for how that first spark of life on the planet came about. Scientists have long thought that life started when the right combination of bases and sugars produced self-replicating ribonucleic acid, or RNA, inside a rudimentary 'cell' composed of fatty acids. Under the right conditions, fatty acids naturally form into bag-like structures similar to today's cell membranes. In testing one of the fatty acids representative of those found before life began – decanoic acid – the scientists discovered that the four bases in RNA bound more readily to the decanoic acid than did the other seven bases tested. By concentrating more of the bases and sugar that are the building blocks of RNA, the system would have been primed for the next steps, reactions that led to RNA inside a bag."
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Manufacturing drop shows weakness in Japan economy
FILE - In this July 22, 2013 file photo, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, president of the Liberal Democratic Party, points a reporter during a press conference in Tokyo. Japan's industrial output fell in June for the first time in five months, the government said Tuesday, July 30, 2013 as it released data highlighting the fragility of the recovery in the world's No. 3 economy. Abe has claimed progress with his "Abenomics" strategy of fighting deflation with aggressive monetary easing and strong government spending. But he has indicated he may consider amending the plan for a 3 percent increase, to 8 percent, next April. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)
FILE - In this July 22, 2013 file photo, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, president of the Liberal Democratic Party, points a reporter during a press conference in Tokyo. Japan's industrial output fell in June for the first time in five months, the government said Tuesday, July 30, 2013 as it released data highlighting the fragility of the recovery in the world's No. 3 economy. Abe has claimed progress with his "Abenomics" strategy of fighting deflation with aggressive monetary easing and strong government spending. But he has indicated he may consider amending the plan for a 3 percent increase, to 8 percent, next April. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)
In this Monday, July 29, 2013 photo, Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda delivers a speech at a Tokyo hotel. Japan's industrial output fell in June for the first time in five months, the government said Tuesday, July 30, 2013 as it released data highlighting the fragility of the recovery in the world's No. 3 economy. Kuroda, said Monday he believes the recovery is strong enough to weather a tax hike, which is needed to help redress ballooning deficits that have taken Japan's national debt to record high levels. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT
TOKYO (AP) ? Japan's industrial output fell in June for the first time in five months, the government said Tuesday as it released data highlighting the fragility of the recovery in the world's No. 3 economy.
Manufacturing slipped 3.3 percent from the month before in June and was 4.8 percent lower than a year before, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.
Such indicators suggest weaker growth in China may be sapping some of the momentum from the recovery.
However, other data showed the jobless rate edging down to 3.9 percent, its lowest level since October 2008, when the economy was slammed by the global financial crisis. The jobless rate had remained at 4.1 percent during the previous few months.
The most recent data have officials questioning whether the government should go ahead with a promised sales tax increase that economists say could derail progress in restoring growth and breaking free of deflation.
The central bank governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, said Monday he believes the recovery is strong enough to weather a tax hike, which is needed to help redress ballooning deficits that have taken Japan's national debt to record high levels.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has claimed progress with his "Abenomics" strategy of fighting deflation with aggressive monetary easing and higher government spending. But he has indicated he may consider amending the plan for a 3 percentage point increase in the tax next that is slated for April.
Figures released earlier this month showed consumer prices rising 0.4 percent in June, but core inflation which excludes food and energy prices remained negative. Costs for food and energy have largely been pushed higher by the sharp weakening of the Japanese yen, which drives up costs for imported food and energy in this resource-scarce nation.
Prices for desktop computers, imported ground meat and canned fish rose, along with electricity and gas rates. The rise in food prices extends across many categories, from jam to chicken powder, bread to salad dressing.
But prices for many other consumer goods, such as DVD players and digital cameras, have continued to fall.
Fresh from a victory for his Liberal Democratic Party in upper house parliamentary elections, Abe has acknowledged that despite signs of improvement, many Japanese have yet to feel a boost from his policies. He has vowed to press ahead with deeper and more fundamental economic reforms intended to help restore Japan's competitiveness.
A key factor will be whether companies begin to invest more and raise wages, to help drive a recovery in consumer demand that accounts for most of Japan's economic growth.
While sales are up by double digits at Tokyo's toniest department stores, overall retail sales fell in June from the month before, with surveys showing consumer spending is slowing, Marcel Thieliant, an economist for Capital Economics, said in a report Monday.
"Looking ahead, there are a number of reasons to doubt that the recent strong run of consumer spending can continue," he said. The 70 trillion yen ($716 billion) increase in household wealth due to the stock market rally earlier in the year accounts for only a small part of overall household wealth, he said.
"With inflation now rising, income growth has to pick up as well for households to maintain their spending power," he said. "The overwhelming majority of households views inflation as negative, and may rein in spending in response."
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Monday, July 29, 2013
New York Mets (46-55) at Washington Nationals (51-54), 1:35 p.m. (ET)
A pair of young promising pitchers meet this afternoon when Carlos Torres leads the New York Mets against Taylor Jordan and the Washington Nationals in the finale of a four-game series at Nationals Park.
Torres hasn't lost either of his two starts this season for the Mets. The 20- year-old right-hander will try to follow a solid performance against Atlanta on Tuesday when he limited the Braves to a run over six innings in a 4-1 triumph.
Torres started his time with the Mets this season with 10 consecutive relief efforts, but he was thrown into what is now a six-man rotation so the team can limit the innings pitched by Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler for the long haul this year. This will mark his first career start against the Nationals.
Jordan has yet to win in five career big league starts. The 24-year-old righty is coming off a 5-1 loss to the Pirates on Tuesday. He allowed nine hits and five runs -- four earned -- over 7 2/3 innings.
Jordan's major league debut came against the Mets at Citi Field on June 29 when he suffered a 5-1 defeat. Jordan yielded five hits and three runs -- one earned -- over 4 1/3 frames.
After losing 11-0 Friday afternoon in the first portion of a doubleheader, the Nationals have held the Mets to a run in each of the last two games, both victories.
On Saturday, Ian Desmond and Denard Span smacked back-to-back home runs in the second to back a solid start from Dan Haren in a 4-1 final.
Bryce Harper added a two-run homer in the third to provide more than run support for Haren (5-11), who held the Mets to one run on three hits while striking out six over seven frames to snap a lengthy 11-start winless skid.
Haren, who hadn't won since May 9, added a double and a run scored in the victory, Washington's third in its last four games.
"It feels great," Haren said of snapping his skid. "It's obviously been a long time to have that winning feeling after a game."
New York starter Dillon Gee (7-8) entered the contest looking to extend his six-start unbeaten streak, but was tagged for four runs on six hits -- including three home runs -- over seven innings to absorb the loss.
"They're a very good team with really good hitters and they're going to make you pay when you make mistakes like that," Gee said of the Nats. "The damage was done early and there's nothing I can do about it."
David Wright recorded two of New York's four hits and knocked in the lone run.
Washington leads the season series, 6-5.
Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/28/3527230/new-york-mets-46-55-at-washington.html
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Egyptian gov't authorizes military police to arrest civilians
Egypt's interim president, Adly Mansour, issued a decree giving Prime Minister Hazem Beblawi authorization to order the military police to arrest civilians.
According to the daily Al Wasat, which printed the decree published Sunday in the official state bulletin, Mansour extended a series of presidential prerogatives to Beblawi, including the arrest authorization.
The move may be interpreted as another step to increase the repression of demonstrators supporting deposed Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, who was ousted by the military on July 3.
Since the lifting in May 2012 of the emergency law, which had been in effect in Egypt since 1981 ostensibly to fight terrorism, the police had been the only organization allowed to arrest civilians.
However, on June 13, 2012, the Justice Ministry issued a decree authorizing the military police to arrest civilians for specific common crimes, although a few days later the Supreme Administrative Court in Cairo ordered that measure suspended. EFE
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/latino_foxnews_com/home/feed/~3/HVnQO9T1mEg/
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Sunday, July 28, 2013
5 Teases for Season 5 of Parenthood: A Wedding and a "Conveyor Belt of Babies"
Parenthood
Last year was a tough season for Parenthood, on-screen and off-screen. The show kept viewers reaching for the tissues when Kristina Braverman (Monica Potter) battled breast cancer, while her niece Amber (Mae Whitman) struggled with her feelings for a former soldier suffering from PTSD. Behind the camera, the perennial bubble show had been renewed for 15 episodes ? shorter than the usual 22 ? and ended its season way back in January. However, seven months later, the show has been renewed for a full 22-episode season and has been moved to one of NBC's most historically significant timeslots ? Thursdays at 9/8c ? putting it in the same category as great NBC dramas such as Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law and ER.
"The fact that we're being put into such a premium timeslot is another indicator of [NBC's] support," showrunner Jason Katims told reporters Saturday at NBC's Television Critics Association fall previews. "We've definitely had our struggles and our frustrations along the way, but I feel so positive about it right now."
Add the new fall shows to your Watchlist
The Braverman clan will also be celebrating when the fifth season returns on Thursday, Sept. 26 at 10/9c, Crosby (Dax Shepard) and Jasmine (Joy Bryant) will have welcomed their new baby and, according to new footage, there will be a wedding. So who's getting married? Get that scoop and more:
Here comes the bride: In a new trailer shown at the panel, Sarah (Lauren Graham) utters the phrase, "Let's plan your wedding." So does that mean Amber and Ryan (Matt Lauria) really are taking the plunge after they ended Season 4 looking at rings? Viewers will have to wait and see. "I think it is that crucial time where you don't know where they are going to go necessarily," Whitman said. "It's a big decision to take like that when you're young. ... It's a huge choice so I'd be interested to see how they tackle that." But even though there may be talk of a wedding, it sounds like their romance may still hit some turbulence. "They're obviously very passionate about each other," Whitman said. "It's just interesting to see, as different questions come up in a relationship when you're an adult and it's more serious, how they continue to balance each other out and how they both grow as adults and if they will grow together or separately." So how will her large family react to the news? Uncle Crosby, aka Shepard, gave her his blessing. "Abs like that come along once in a lifetime," he quipped.
Sarah is moving on up... to her own pad: Now that her daughter (might be) contemplating marriage and her son is going off to college, Sarah will be suffering from empty nest syndrome. "This is a character who struggles to find some consistent either employment or relationship, but I think she's doing better and we're going to have an opportunity to tell the story of, 'OK, when your kids are gone, what is your relationship like?" Graham said. "Now we begin the process of becoming peers," she said of Sarah's relationships with Amber and Drew (Miles Heizer). Thankfully, having an empty nest will give Sarah lots of time to focus on herself. "Sarah spent so much of her energy last season going between Hank and Mark," Katims said. "This is a year of her wanting to figure out her life and ... not be focused solely on a relationship." First things first: She finally has her own place! "I think there's been a lot of progress. I have an apartment. I have a bed," Graham said. "In order to live there more cheaply, I'm the super, which is fun because I will interact with a lot of tenants."
The Luncheonette and more TV businesses we want to invest in
Oh, baby: To reflect real life, the show will jump ahead nearly nine months from where Season 4 left off, which means Jasmine and Crosby are parents to a new baby. Unlike many actors, Shepard said he's been enjoying acting with the "conveyor belt of babies," as he called it, now that he is a new dad himself. "Now I love babies and I'm supposed to be frustrated with the crying babies in the scene and I'm like, 'Oh my God, look at this little stinker,'" Shepard said. "I got a software upgrade and I love it." ?Shepard's on-screen wife, Bryant, is now also benefiting from her co-star's recent attitude change. "It definitely helps me because I don't have kids, so he's telling me how to hold the baby," she said.
New problems for Joel and Julia: Just as the couple closed the book on their issues with Victor at the end of last season, there will be a few new curveballs coming their way. "There's major role reversal in the fact that these construction opportunities are suddenly coming his way and we're going to see that," Sam Jaeger said. Added Erika Christensen: "Julia is still unemployed and not happy about it."
Adam and Kristina's struggle isn't over just yet: Katims and the cast were less clear about what will be next for Adam (Peter Krause) and Kristina after she was deemed cancer-free at the end of last season. But it sounds like her struggle last year will still play a big role in their future. "With Adam and Kristina, the fact that they've just been through a season like they just went through, how would somebody react to that?" Katim asked. "With Adam and Kristina, it's about what they've just been through that will inform what their next season is."
Parenthood returns on Thursday, Sept. 26 at 10/9c on NBC.
Source: http://www.tvguide.com/News/Parenthood-Season5-Wedding-1068355.aspx?rss=news
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Feds ban some Medicare providers in crackdown
MIAMI (AP) ? For the first time in history, federal health officials said Friday they will ban certain types of Medicare and Medicaid providers in three high-fraud cities from enrolling in the taxpayer-funded programs for the poor as part of an effort to prevent scams.
The strict moratoriums, which start Tuesday, give federal health officials unprecedented power to choose any region and industry with high fraud activity and ban new Medicare and Medicaid providers from joining the programs for six months. They wouldn't ban existing providers.
The administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the agency is targeting providers of home health care in eight counties in the Miami and Chicago areas. All ambulance providers would be banned in eight counties in the Houston area.
The moratorium, which was first reported by The Associated Press, will also extend to Children's Health Insurance Program providers in the same areas, agency administrator Marilyn Tavenner said in a statement.
It's unclear how many providers will be shut out of the programs.
There were 662 home health agencies in Miami-Dade in 2012 and the ratio of home health agencies to Medicare beneficiaries was 1,960 percent greater in Miami Dade County than other counties, according to figures from federal health officials.
South Florida, long known as ground-zero for Medicare fraud, has also had several high profile prosecutions involving that industry.
In February, the owners and operators of two Miami home health agencies were sentenced for their participation in a $48 million Medicare fraud scheme.
The number of home health providers in Cook County, Ill., increased from 301 to 509 between 2008 and 2012. There were 275 ambulance suppliers in Harris County, Texas, in 2012. The ratio of providers to patients in both regions was also several hundred times greater than in other counties, federal health officials said.
Top Senate Republicans have criticized the agency for not using the powerful moratoriums sooner as a tool to combat an estimated $60 billion a year in Medicare fraud. Senators Chuck Grassley, who is the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, and Orrin Hatch, who is the ranking Republican on the Finance Committee, sent a letter to federal health officials in 2011 urging them to use the bans.
"While it's certainly better late than never, it's unfortunate that it took CMS three years to use the tools it's had to protect seniors," Hatch said in a statement Friday, adding he hoped "to see more action like this."
Officials for the Department of Health and Services inspector general lobbied hard to ensure moratorium power was included under the Affordable Care Act as the Obama administration focuses on cleaning up fraud on the front end by preventing crooks from getting into the program in the first place.
"There's no shortage of bad actors to defraud the taxpayers, and the number gets bigger all the time, so it's good to see the administration at last using this new tool to fight fraud," Grassley said in a statement.
In the past, federal health officials tried to stall new provider applications from being processed, hoping to slow the number flocking to high-fraud sectors. But when providers inevitably complained, the agency had to process their paperwork.
The federal agency can also revoke the IDs of suspicious providers, but those are temporary and many companies are able to reenroll later or enroll under a different name.
Federal health officials have been reluctant to use one of its most powerful new tools, worrying moratoriums may harm legitimate providers and hamper patients' access to care. Tavenner said in the statement that would not happen, but the agency didn't elaborate. Agency officials said they intend to consider other moratoriums in different industries in other cities going forward.
The ability to target certain industries and cities is especially helpful as Medicare fraud has morphed into complex schemes over the years, moving from medical equipment and HIV infusion fraud to ambulance scams, as crooks try to stay one step ahead of authorities. Fraudsters have also spread out across the country, bringing their scams to new cities once authorities catch onto them.
The scams have also grown more sophisticated, using recruiters who are paid kickbacks for finding patients, while doctors, nurses and company owners coordinate to appear to deliver medical services that they are not.
The moratoriums come as budget cuts are forcing federal health officials to retract its watchdog arm as it launches its largest health care expansion since the Medicare program.
Health and Human Services inspector general officials said they are in the process of cutting 20 percent of its staff, from 1,800 at its peak to 1,400, and cancelling several high profile projects, including an audit that would have investigated technology security in the federal and state health exchanges launching in October. The project was slated to examine issue including whether patient information was secure from hackers on the online marketplace, where individuals and small businesses can shop for health insurance. T
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Follow Kelli Kennedy on Twitter: http://twitter.com/kkennedyAP
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/feds-ban-medicare-providers-crackdown-202424093.html
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New Nexus 7 now available to order from Google's US Play Store
As of now, Apple's still wholly content letting Google and its clan of followers dominate the sub-$300 tablet market. Hence, the new Nexus 7. For those drawn to a thinner, lighter, more powerful version of the Android-based slate, orders can now be placed directly through Google's Play Store... for customers located in the United States. Both the 16GB and 32GB WiFi-only models are still on track to ship by next Tuesday, while those on the lookout for a cellular version will need to wait a few more weeks. It's Friday. You probably just got paid. And really, what's $230 between friends?
Filed under: Tablets, ASUS, Google
Source: Google Play Store (US)
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/80oxr1Fp80w/
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Saturday, July 27, 2013
Florida draws commitment from University Lab defensive back Tre Jackson
Florida was Tre Jackson's first football love and first college scholarship offer.
And on Friday, the standout University Lab defensive back followed that pattern with an early commitment to the alma mater of his father, former Gators and NFL receiver Jack Johnson.
The 2016 recruit announced the decision on Twitter, saying, "Its official just committed to the University of Florida #GatorNation."
Continue to check NOLA.com for more information on the rising sophomore Cub's decision.
**************
Jerit Roser can be reached at jroser@nola.com or 504.826.3405.?
??NOLA.com prep sports coverage on Facebook?
Source: http://www.nola.com/recruiting/index.ssf/2013/07/florida_draws_commitment_from.html
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Finding health care through Washington Healthplanfinder
KING5.com
Posted on July 25, 2013 at 7:30 PM
Updated Wednesday, Jul 24 at 8:06 PM
Source: http://www.king5.com/health/Finding-healthcare-through-the-Wash-Health-Plan-Finder-216631631.html
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Friday, July 26, 2013
Calgary Zoo says Spike the elephant going back to Florida
CALGARY, Alberta, July 24 (UPI) -- Canada's Calgary Zoo said Spike the elephant is due to return to Florida after an extended loan from the Miami Zoo.
The Calgary Zoo in Alberta said Spike, a 32-year-old Asian elephant, is being sent to Busch Gardens in Tampa as part of the facility's plans to reduce its elephant population, The Calgary Sun reported Wednesday.
Spike has been at the Calgary Zoo since 1992 on an extended loan from the Miami Zoo.
"We will miss him when he's the first to leave," said Clement Lanthier, president and chief executive officer of the Calgary Zoo. "He's been an important part of our zoo family for more than 20 years."
Spike is expected to leave in the coming months, possibly by September, the zoo said.
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Alleged serial rapist found dead in South Africa prison cell hours before trial
By Jon Herskovitz, Reuters
JOHANNESBURG - A man suspected of being South Africa's worst known serial rapist has been found dead in his prison cell hours before he was to go trial on charges that included sexually assaulting 34 children, prosecutors said on Thursday.
Sifiso Makhubo, 42, was facing a total of 122 charges for murder, rape, kidnapping, robbery, and attempted murder by infecting his victims with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
He was thought to have hanged himself with a blanket in his prison cell and authorities were investigating the circumstances of his death.
The horrific nature and breadth of the crimes shocked South Africa, a country inured to some of the world's highest levels of sexual violence.
In the year to April 2012, more than 64,000 sexual offences, including rape, were reported among South Africa's 50 million people. Of these, more than 25,000 were assaults on children.
In 2010, South Africa recorded 132.4 cases of reported rape per 100,000 population, by far the highest among countries that reported statistics to the United Nations, compared to 27.3 in the United States or 2.1 in Uganda. Reporting rates and definitions of rape do, however, vary sharply from country to country.
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This story was originally published on Thu Jul 25, 2013 9:22 AM EDT
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Thursday, July 25, 2013
ECLAC: Slower Brazil, Mexico to weigh on Latam growth this year
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean is seen at 3 percent in 2013, a slower pace than initially forecast, the United Nations economic body for Latin America said today.
Slower growth in regional powerhouses Brazil and Mexico, as well as easing expansions in small-but-robust Chile, Panama and Peru, are seen weighing on growth, Santiago-based ECLAC said.
The region is expected to expand 3.0 percent this year, down from a prior official view in May for 3.5 percent growth and on par with 3.0 percent growth in 2012, the body added.
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Crimes on cruises profoundly under-reported, prompting vow of transparency
Win Mcnamee / Getty Images
Adam Goldstein, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, talks with committee chairman Sen. John Rockefeller after testifying before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee July 24, 2013 in Washington, DC.
By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News
Only a sliver of alleged crimes committed on board cruise ships winds up reported to the public, according to a Senate committee report released Wednesday, leading industry bigwigs to promise changes.
Of the 959 incidents reported to the FBI by cruise companies since 2011, only 31 alleged crimes have been disclosed publicly on a website maintained by the Coast Guard, according to the report.
The owners of cruise vessels are only compelled to report certain types of incidents to the FBI under existing laws. Alleged crimes including homicide, the disappearance of a U.S. national, kidnapping, or a suspicious death are required to be reported under the 2010 Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act. Cruise companies have reported 130 such incidents to the FBI since 2011.
William West / AFP - Getty Images
Police arrive at Sydney's Circular Quay after two passengers fell overboard from the cuise ship Carnival Spirit as it returned to Sydney from a Pacific cruise, on May 9, 2013. A search was underway off Australia for the couple in shark-infested waters and after reviewing security footage on the ship, police said they believe the pair fell overboard just before 9pm on Wednesday (1100 GMT Wednesday) around 65 nautical miles off the coast, north of Sydney. AFP PHOTO/William WESTWILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images
Further clouding the issue: Only the incidents no longer under investigation are disclosed on the Coast Guard site. ?
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W. Va., chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, called for stricter reporting guidelines for alleged criminal incidents that occur on cruise ships.
?I have been assured repeatedly by the industry that things will get better,? Rockefeller said in a prepared statement. ?Take a look at the events over the past 16 months and tell me if this is what you think better looks like. Cruise lines are on notice that the safety and protection of passengers is now their number one priority, whether they like it or not.?
Three of the largest cruise companies ? Carnival Corp., Norwegian Cruise Line, and Royal Caribbean Cruises ? said they have agreed to report all alleged incidents during a hearing before Rockefeller?s committee on Wednesday.
?In the spirit of transparency, the three largest cruise companies, making up over 85 percent of the cruise industry, voluntarily agreed to expand that reporting,? said Adam Goldstein, president of Royal Caribbean International.
The new reporting will date back to 2010 and will be posted on the cruise companies? websites by Aug. 1, Goldstein told the committee. It will include all incidents regardless of whether an investigation has been closed or remains open.
?Taking them at their word, it?s a positive step,? Kendall Carver, president of advocacy group International Cruise Victims, told the Miami Herald. ?I think it shows the pressure that?s been brought to bear on the issue of safety.?
A number of high-profile mishaps put cruise liners in a harsh spotlight this year. In May, more than 2,200 passengers aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise had to be flown from the Bahamas to Baltimore, Md., after a fire cut their trip short.
The Carnival Triumph left thousands of passengers at sea for five days in February after its engine propulsion went out in the Gulf of Mexico. Passengers and crew went without air-conditioning or functioning toilets while the ship slowly made its way to port in Alabama.
Rockefeller took aim at the cruise companies for these latest black eyes as his committee released its report on crime statistics.
William West / AFP - Getty Images
Two police officers check for fingerprints on the balcony of the cabin of two passengers who fell overboard from the cuise ship Carnival Spirit as it returned to Sydney from a Pacific cruise, on May 9, 2013.
?Our exhaustive oversight of the cruise industry, and the recent events that have left thousands stranded at sea, make it absolutely clear that more needs to be done,? Rockefeller said in a statement.
"Consumers have the right to know what we have learned before they book their first, or next, dream vacation," Rockefeller said. "For instance, if someone steals your property or assaults you on a cruise ship, you cannot call 911 and have the police there in a few minutes. You can only call the ship's security officers ? who also happen to be employees of the cruise line."
The odds of being a victim of a crime aboard a cruise liner remain statistically slim, according to a legal notice on Carnival Cruise Lines? website that called the possibility of an incident ?remote.?
?It is worth noting that these alleged incidents are no longer under investigation by the FBI and may have been reported without sufficient evidence. Additionally, it is most important to put these statistics within proper context so that everyone can understand that the incidence of crime on board is very small given the large number of guests we carry,? the company said.
?This year, more than four million guests will sail with Carnival, so the number of alleged incidents is a small fraction of those carried,? the Carnival statement said.
Dave Martin / AP
The cruise ship Carnival Triumph is towed into Mobile Bay near Dauphin Island, Ala., Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013. The ship with more than 4,200 passengers and crew members has been idled for nearly a week in the Gulf of Mexico following an engine room fire. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)
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Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Wedding Proposal Breaks out During Awesome "The Sandlot" Reunion
Squints, Hamilton Porter, a wedding proposal from the movie's director: The amount of awesome and nostalgia in this story is almost too much to handle.?
The Salt Lake Tribune (h/t Deadspin) reports the cast of the movie The Sandlot reunited at the same field the movie was shot, leading to an unforgettable moment for director David Mickey Evans who asked his girlfriend to marry him.?
At a 20th anniversary celebration on the original filming site in Glendale, director David Mickey Evans, proposed to his girlfriend, Hollywood location manager Stacey McGillis.
The movie that once had kids saying "for-ev-er" as they?dreamed of?having a sandlot of their own turns 20, which is a perfect time for you to freak out and wonder where the time went.?
As it were, it also happened to be the time and place for Evans to take a giant leap forward in his own relationship.?
While we certainly congratulate the director, this story is really just our chance to geek out and reminisce about a movie that showed us how to properly drop a buddy on the other side of a fence to fetch a baseball.?
And if satisfying your inner-movie nerd is your thing, take a gander at the piece from?Bleacher Report's Matt King?who collected some of the best aspects of the hit movie.?
Photo Credit: The Salt Lake Tribune
Fans of the film aren't the only ones who are feeling nostalgic, because the cast decided to head down to the Glendale spot the baseball parts were filmed.?
The Salt Lake Tribune has a photo gallery showing actors Patrick Renna (Ham Porter), Chauncey Leopardi (Squints Palledorous), Marty York (Yeah-Yeah McClennan) and?Victor DiMattia (Timmy Timmons) hanging out with kids and posing for pictures.?
Even the police chief was there to deliver his famous line.?
The local Salt Lake Bees were in attendance, giving a baseball clinic to kids who were delighted with lessons and Hollywood cameos.?
Renna remarked on how well the entire reunion went over with fans in the area: "I don?t think any of us, when we were playing basically on this field 21 years ago could have every know there would be 1,500 people here to watch us play baseball."
Even?film commission Director Marshall Moore was astonished at the outpouring from fans who wanted to catch a glimpse of the actors taking the field once again.?
It's not shocking if you grew up watching this movie. With a healthy balance of highly quotable lines and ridiculous hijinx, it's a movie that mandates that you waste the entire afternoon watching it whenever it comes on TV.?
Now if only they could have convinced Mike Vitar to show up and get in a town-wide pickle or have Renna give advice on proper smores preparation, now that would have been something.?
?
Hit me up on Twitter:?
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talisman commented on Francesc Riverola's blog post Forex Oracle of the Week Contest - Place Your Forecast For EURJPY Friday's London Open Price
Afternoon guys
We are back with our casual contest? "Forex Oracle of the Week", this case in EURJPY.
EURJPY is the most popular pair in our chat room but one of the hardest to predict.... so let's see who wins this week.
Rules:
1. Remember to place here you call for EUR/JPY price for Friday July 26th 2013 London Open at 7:00AM GMT or 8:00AM BST (British Summer Time).
2. Just place ONE forecast. example: EURJPY at 131.26
3. All forecasts must be placed before Wednesday July 24th 12:00AM GMT or 13:00PM BST.
4. There will be a prize for the one of you that approaches the most to the open price. Does not matter if you got short or you exceeded the open price, the closest win. Using different words, the guy with less pips of difference with the open price, win.
5. In? case of multiple winners, the trader that made the call first wins
6. Only registered members can participate in the contest
?
And the prize?
We are repeating book, same than last week so let's hope Talisman does not win this time as he will have it twice :)
By Anna Coulling
Here in the UK we have a product called Marmite. It is a deeply divisive food, which you either love or hate. Those who love it, cannot understand how anyone could live without it - and of course, the opposite is true for those who hate it!
This same sentiment could be applied to volume as a trading indicator.
In other words, you are likely to fall into one of two camps. You either believe it works, or you don't. It really is that simple. There is no halfway house here!I make no bones about the fact that I believe I was lucky in starting my own trading journey using volume. To me it just made sense, and the logic of what it revealed was inescapable. And for me, the most powerful reason is very simple. Volume is a rare commodity in trading - a leading indicator. The second, and only other leading indicator, is price. Everything else is lagged. +info.
Source: http://www.forexstreet.net/xn/detail/3252082%3AComment%3A556952?xg_source=activity
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Ryan Braun / Aaron Rodgers' Twitter bet over Ryan Braun attracts attention
MILWAUKEE ? A chain of convenience stores is cutting ties with Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun in the wake of his season-ending suspension.Gary Gonczy, director of marketing and advertising for Kwik Trip, Inc., says the company will no longer use Braun as a spokesman. He says in an email Tuesday that the company is ending a promotional contest where the winner got to have lunch with Braun at a Milwaukee restaurant.Braun accepted a season-ending 65-game suspension Monday rather than fight Major League Baseball over evidence he used performance-enhancing drugs.
A little more than a month ago, I started this column by expressing empathy for Ryan Braun owners blindsided by the news that Major League Baseball would be seeking lengthy suspensions for those involved with the growing Biogenesis steroid scandal
As an organization, the Brewers bear no responsibility for the actions of Ryan Braun. But by everything Braun did and did not do to cause baseball's first suspension of a most valuable player, Braun has left the Brewers with an incredibly awkward and major public-relations problem on their hands.
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Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Bizarre 'Schrodinger's Cat' Comes Alive in New Experiments
The strangeness of the world of the very small that allows a particle to be in two states at once may extend to larger scales, two new studies reveal. If the research proves true, that would bolster the validity of a thought experiment suggesting a cat can be both alive and dead at the same time.
The idea, called Schr?dinger's Cat after the physicist,Erwin Schr?dinger, who proposed it in 1935, goes like this: Put a cat in a box with a vial of poison gas. The vial opens when a tiny piece of radioactive metal emits an alpha particle (the nucleus of a helium atom) as it decays. Emitting an alpha particle is a quantum-mechanical process, which means that whether it happens in any given stretch of time is basically random.
Quantum mechanics says that it's impossible to know whether the radioactive decay has happened (and the cat is dead) unless one measures it ? that is, unless the alpha particle interacts with the environment in some way that an observer can see. Until that happens, the alpha particle is emitted and not emitted at the same time. The cat is both dead and alive, a state called superposition. Opening the box is a measurement ? one sees the effect of an alpha particle as the dead cat, or the absence of an alpha particle as a live one. [The 9 Biggest Unsolved Mysteries in Physics]
In the two new studies, detailed in the July 21 issue of the journal Nature Physics, researchers used particles of light, or photons, to test the limits of such superposition. If there is no limit to how many particles or photons you can put into a quantum system, that means the cat really is both dead and alive at once, and the act of measuring its state makes the mathematical formulation that describes it (called a wave function) "collapse" into a definite state, alive or dead.
Another possibility, called the many worlds interpretation, would be even weirder: that all the possible states are real, and when the wave function collapses to one state, we're just experiencing one of many universes that exist simultaneously, in which every possible outcome happens. When the wave function collapses, we (and the cat) remember one history ? a dead cat ? but there's another universe where the cat is alive.
Entangling photons
Both experiments, one conducted at Canada's University of Calgary and the other at the University of Geneva in Switzerland, involved enough photons to be seen with the naked eye, which shows that their quantum properties could be made macroscopic, researchers say.
In the two experiments, researchers measured the quantum states ? a group of physical properties, including polarization and phase ? of the light using polarization, or the angle through which a photon rotates. One can see polarization while wearing polarized sunglasses and tilting one's head while looking at the screen of a smart phone or computer. The screen will look black until the head is tilted at a certain angle.
While the exact technique was slightly different in the two experiments, both teams amplified the states of a single photon, entangling it with many other photons, and then restored it to its original state. When a photon gets entangled with other photons the state of the photon is affected by the states of the particles it is entangled with.
The polarization measurements after restoration told the researchers that the quantum entanglement with other photons had happened. [How Quantum Entanglement Works (Infographic)]
The scientists are now trying to see how large a quantum system can get before it loses its quantum nature. "It's one of the few big unanswered questions in modern physics," said Alexander Lvovsky, a professor of physics and lead author of the University of Calgary paper.
Superposition states
The new experiments aren't the only ones to show superposition states.
In 2010 scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara built a resonator ? basically a tiny tuning fork ? the size of the pixel on a computer screen, and put it into a superposed state, in which it was both oscillating and not oscillating at the same time. But that wasn't as extensive a system as those in the two recent papers.
"That experiment corresponds to one quanta," said Nicolas Gisin, a professor at the University of Geneva, who led the Swiss research team. "Imagine a nano-mechanical motor showing no oscillation and 500 states. That would be ours."
In the future, both groups will try to expand to bigger systems, where instead of translating a quantum state from a single photon to a large set of photons, they will try to translate the states of one large group to another. But that experiment will be a tough one, because in order to preserve quantum effects, groups of atoms or photons must be completely isolated from the surrounding environment, or the superposition states will be spoiled. "There are a lot more angles of attack," with more particles, Lvovsky said.
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Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+.
Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+.
Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+.
Follow us @livescience, Facebook& Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bizarre-schrodingers-cat-comes-alive-experiments-194836055.html
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Monday, July 22, 2013
49-year-old Austin wins Sanderson Farms playoff
MADISON, Miss. (AP) ? Woody Austin won the Sanderson Farms Classic on Sunday for his first PGA Tour victory since 2007, beating Cameron Beckman and Daniel Summerhays with an 8-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff.
The 49-year-old Austin is the eighth oldest winner in PGA Tour history and the oldest since Fred Funk won at 50 in 2007.
Austin came into the final round two shots behind Summerhays and Nicholas Thompson, but made up ground with a 5-under 67 to finish at 20-under 268. Beckman and Summerhays both birdied No. 18 to match Austin, and Beckman missed a 5-foot putt that would have forced a second playoff hole.
Beckman shot 67, and Summerhays had a 69.
Austin was making his fourth PGA Tour start of the year. He has four career victories.
Summerhays and Thompson started the day tied for the lead, two shots ahead the pack.
But Thompson fell out of contention quickly with a double bogey on No. 5 and a bogey on No. 8. He finished fourth at 18 under, two shots back after a 71. Summerhays moved into the lead with a birdie on No. 9, but made bogey on 14 and fell behind until making birdies on both Nos. 17 and 18.
It was the second straight week Summerhays failed to close a tournament after having at least a share of the lead on the final day. His drive on the playoff hole ? the 5,532-yard, par-5 18th ? found the bunker on the right side of the fairway and he hit into the water on his second shot.
He tied for fourth the week before at the John Deere, a stroke out of a playoff after bogeying the final hole.
Austin wasn't the only veteran making a move on the final day.
Beckman, a 43-year-old, recovered from a 72 in the opening round to post a 64, 65 and 67 in the final three rounds. He was tied for the lead at various times Sunday. He drilled an impressive 15-foot birdie putt to force the playoff, but his 5-foot putt on the playoff hole missed to the right.
Billy Andrade charged up the leaderboard with a 65 to tie for fifth at 17 under. The 49-year-old started the day seven shots off the lead but climbed quickly by shooting 7 under through his first 11 holes. He finished with seven straight pars.
It was the first day of the tournament that didn't involve a weather delay. But there was plenty of heat and humidity ? as well as some wind for the first time all week ? as players dealt with a soft course that received more than an inch of rain overnight.
____
Follow David Brandt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidbrandtAP
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/49-old-austin-wins-sanderson-farms-playoff-210903241.html
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Parks & Rec weekly report hi-lites upcoming activities | Business ...
Clarksville Parks & Recreation issued its weekly report of upcoming activities and events for July 21. The report shows another session of the Cumberland Arts Experience is slated. A Back-to-School Splash is also planned for August 4. Youth will be able to explore their creativity with ?A Taste of Creavity? at the Burt Cobb Community Center. Archery basics instruction will be given at the Crow Community Center in August. The 3rd annual Clarksville Sports Festival comes August 17. Water sports enthusiasts will want to start planning now for the ?Rally on the Cumberland,? the first annual canoe and kayak race for Clarksville. Details for all these events is provided below.
Cumberland Arts Experience
The Kleeman Community Center is excited to offer the next?Cumberland Arts Experience, on Saturday,?July 27 from 6 to 8 p.m.? This program will teach basic painting skills as participants paint along with an instructor to create a piece of art they can take home with them. This month the class will be painting a Beachaven vineyard scene.
The Cumberland Arts Experience is much more than a painting class, but an entire night of fun as participants will be treated to light music, ?mocktails? and food tastings from local chef Kristina Waters.? Cost is $35 per class and includes paint & canvas.
?
Back to School Splash
School supplies will be distributed to local students at the Back to School Splash, sponsored by Agero, Altra Federal Credit Union and Wal-Mart, on Sunday, August 4 at Bel-Aire Pool, located at 124 Marie Drive.? This event is open to kindergarten through 12th grade students and is limited to the first 300 registered.?Participants must register online to receive school supplies at recpro.cityofclarksville.com.
?
Youth Archery at Crow
A new session of archery will begin August 6 at the Crow Community Center.? Pre-registration is underway online at recpro.cityofclarksville.com.? The 4-week class will be held on Tuesdays from 4 to 5 p.m.? Cost is $10 for the entire 4-week session.? These courses teach the fundamentals of archery to youth in grades 4-12.
?
NEW! A Taste of Creativity
Clarksville youth, ages 8-16, can explore their creativity with this new program at the Burt-Cobb Center!? A Taste of Creativity will be held weekly, August 6 through September 10. Sessions will be conducted from 4:15 to 5:30 p.m. every Tuesday.? Registration is now underway at recpro.cityofclarksville.com.
?
Clarksville Sports Festival
The 3rd annual Sports Fest is FREE and open to all ages.? Sports Fest will be held at the Wilma Rudolph Event Center from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, August 17.
The day-long festival is a celebration of sports and athletics in Clarksville and the surrounding area that will feature not only sports demonstrations and interactive areas, but also an exposition area where a wide variety of the community?s athletic and outdoor clubs, businesses and organizations will come together in one location.
Festival-goers will be given the opportunity to explore many unique sports such as Rugby, Mixed Martial Arts, Crossfit, Parkour and more!
?
?Rally on the Cumberland? Canoe and Kayak Race
The Clarksville Parks & Recreation Department has partnered with The Friends of the Blueway to host the 1st Annual ?Rally on the Cumberland? Canoe and Kayak Race and Outdoor Expo on August 24.? Rally on the Cumberland will take place at Liberty Park beginning at 7 a.m. Cost to enter is $10 for ages 13-17 and $20 for those 18 and older. Deadline to enter is August 10.
Rally on the Cumberland will also feature musical entertainment, canoe and kayak demonstration and a boat race for youth ages 8-12 in the Clarksville Marina basin as a part of the Outdoor Expo.? To register, visit www.clarksvilleblueway.blogspot.com.
?
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Sunday, July 21, 2013
Bomb detonated at Beijing airport; 1 injured
BEIJING (AP) ? A man in a wheelchair who was airing grievances set off a homemade bomb in a crowded terminal at Beijing's main airport on Saturday evening, injuring himself but no one else, Chinese state media and witnesses said.
Order was quickly restored and no flights were affected by the explosion at the airport's main international terminal, state-run China Central Television said on its microblog.
The official Xinhua News Agency said a wheel-chaired Chinese man set off the device outside the arrivals exit of Terminal 3 at Beijing Capital International Airport at around 6:24 p.m. It said the man was being treated for injuries, but that no one else was hurt in the explosion.
"The explosion sound was loud," said a witness who gave only his family name, Chen. He said he was only 25 meters (27 yards) away from the explosion when it occurred.
Chen said there was only one explosion, and that the terminal was crowded with people. "Since there was no second explosion, many people took out their phones and gathered near the explosion spot to take photos," he said.
He said police responded to the explosion immediately.
Another witness, who gave only his last name, Qing, said there was no one around the man when he set off the bomb.
"It sounded like the sound of big firecrackers," said Qing, who was about 60 meters (66 yards) away from the explosion. "We couldn't see really what happened afterward. There was a lot of smoke and the police arrived very fast."
CCTV identified the man in the wheelchair as Ji Zhongxing, born in 1979 and from the eastern province of Shandong.
It was not immediately clear why the man allegedly set off the bomb, but Xinhua said he was stopped from handing out leaflets airing his complaints before setting off the bomb. Xinhua, which cited an initial police investigation, did not say what his complaints were.
In an online blog entry from 2006, a writer who provides the same name, the same year of birth and the same hometown in Shandong province as Ji complained of his disabilities resulting from cruel beatings by security personnel in the southern province of Guangdong. He said he had been seeking justice and compensation, but to no avail.
"Because we are peasants and we are poor, no one is willing to help us," the author wrote in the entry, which was the latest one in the blog.
The blog, which was available immediately after the explosion, was removed within hours, and it was not possible to verify its authenticity.
Photos posted by CCTV on its microblog showed the area near the arrivals exit empty and filled with smoke. One photo showed medical staff and police officers gathering at one spot, with a wheelchair sitting on its side a few steps away.
Reached by phone, the airport's news office said it was not aware of the explosion, and airport police declined to answer questions.
Terminal 3, which opened in 2008 just ahead of the Beijing Olympics, is the airport's hub for international flights. United Airlines and American Airlines are among the carriers that operate out of the terminal.
United Airlines spokeswoman Karen May in Chicago said the explosion did not affect its operations. American Airlines could not be reached immediately for comment.
___
Associated Press TV producer Aritz Parra contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bomb-detonated-beijing-airport-1-injured-120220814.html
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Summer Baseball: Ashline, Hudson rally to victory
Jake Ashline?s bases-loaded walk with two outs in the sixth capped a 5-4 comeback win for Hudson Post 100 (13-5) at Zone 5B leader Medford on Saturday.
"This was a big win for us. We?ve struggled lately, to beat Medford definitely helps," said manager Blair Brisette, whose team controls its own playoff destiny with two games remaining.
Hudson trailed 4-3 after three innings, but Kevin Connelly hit an RBI double to score Jake Wardwell with no outs in the top of the fifth to tie the game before Ashline?s walk forced in Steve Rivela.
Post 100 got quality relief from Nick Borsari, who entered the game with two on and no out in the fifth inning and Post 100 already trailing 4-3. Borsari allowed just one hit and struck out four in thee innings for the win.
Wardwell finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while Ashline went 3-for-3 with a double and a run scored. Keith Diedrich went 3-for-4 with a double.
CHELMSFORD 7, NATICK 6 (12 INN.): Mike Abbruzzese?s two-RBI triple with two outs in the sixth forced extra innings, but Natick Post 107 (4-13) was outlasted by host Chelmsford.
Post 107 trailed 6-4 with two outs in the seventh before the triple by Abbruzzese, who finished 3-for-5 with three RBI. Jared Abbruzzese went 2-for-5 with a triple, and also pitched the last two innings. Adam Mooney went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI.
Natick led 4-3 entering the sixth inning before Chelmsford rallied for three runs in the bottom of the frame, two of them unearned. Tosh Campbell started the game, with Brady Furdon coming in relief for the sixth through 10th innings.
SUDBURY 7, MALDEN 1: Marcus Otis threw five shutout innings and Andrew DellaVolpe had two RBIs as Sudbury rolled over Malden.
Sam Miller had two hits including a double for Sudbury (16-1), which has three games left including Sunday?s game against Reading.
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Saturday, July 20, 2013
Haste and waste on neuronal pathways
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 19-Jul-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Andreas Hierlemann
andreas.hierlemann@bsse.ethz.ch
41-613-873-150
ETH Zurich
Bio Engineering
This news release is available in German.
To write this little piece of text, the brain sends commands to arms and fingers to tap on the keyboard. Neuronal cells with their cable-like extensions, such as axons, transfer this information as electrical pulses that trigger muscles to move. The axonal signal speed can be to up to 100m/s in myelinated axons along the spinal cord.
For a long time, scientists assumed that axonal signal conduction is by and large digital: either there is a signal, "1", or there is no signal, "0".
Strong propagation speed variations
Now, a team of researchers under Douglas Bakkum and Andreas Hierlemann at the Department BSSE of ETH Zurich in Basel presents evidence that there may be more to axons than only digital signal conduction. They could directly measure and demonstrate that the speed of an axonal signal varies considerably within different segments of the very same axon by placing hundreds of electrodes along the axon. Moreover, the velocity pattern changed from day to day or within hours as did the morphology and position of the axon.
The exact meaning of these speed variations and the origin cannot be explained yet, as there is too little information available about axonal conduction. This may, to a large part, be a consequence of the tiny diameter of the axons. The length of an axon can be more than a meter, e.g., in the spinal cord, but the average diameter is in between 80 nm and a few micrometers. This small diameter makes any measurement of axonal potentials difficult, which, of course, also renders establishing the mechanisms that may produce the large speed variations a difficult task.
Unclear cause
Up to now, only hypotheses concerning these speed variations exist. The temporal characteristics of axonal conduction may form part of the overall information processing abilities of ensembles of neurons or contribute to how neurons adapt to new information. The research group plans on further investigating these effects in collaboration with researchers in other disciplines and research institutions that have complementary expertise and technologies.
The related research work is also facilitated through Hierlemann's 5-year ERC Advanced Grant and Bakkum's SNF Ambizione Grant awarded in 2010/2011. However, the researchers do not expect a fast elucidation of the axonal speed variations. Considering the small dimensions of axons, it will probably take years to collect conclusive evidence.
Up to now, a detailed and long-term investigation of signals of ensembles of neurons and their axons was hardly possible. The D-BSSE research group, during the last 10 years, devoted a lot of time and efforts to develop the high-resolution microelectronic chips, hosting thousands of microelectrodes. The now published, detailed and precise axonal propagation speed measurements reward the scientists for their investment and validate the approach. "We hope to acquire important new evidence with our technology," they state. Other technologies have not yet provided a high enough spatio-temporal resolution to characterize details of axonal signal conduction.
High-resolution chip developed
The microelectrode array chip of the BSSE research group has 11'000 electrodes within a very small area (3150 electrodes per square millimeter) that record from or stimulate neuronal cells or ensembles. Data from 126 arbitrarily selectable electrodes can be simultaneously recorded by means of custom-developed on-chip microelectronic circuits. The neuronal cells grow directly atop the circuitry units on the microelectronic chip, which is fabricated in industrial complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Signals traveling along the axons of the neurons can be measured and localized at high spatial and temporal resolution, owing to the small electrode diameter and tight electrode spacing. Moreover, electrodes can be used to stimulate single axons with the aim to evoke action potentials that propagate back to the respective cell body or soma and elicit action potentials there.
In his opinion, the neuroscience community has underestimated the potential of microelectrodes arrays for quite some time, says Prof. Hierlemann. With the work published now in "Nature Communications", he hopes to further establish this method. "These results show that the microelectrode array technology is enabling access to data that are currently not accessible through other technologies," says the bioengineer.
Neurons, axons and signal propagation
Nerve cells or neurons communicate with other neurons via electrical and chemical signals. If an electrical signal within a cell body, close to the axon initial segment, is large enough, it enters the axon and propagates along its length at a high speed. This is achieved by alterations in the so-called resting potential of the axon membrane, which usually has a steady negative value. Sodium ion channels open, and because of a concentration gradient, positively charged sodium ions from outside the axon travel into the axon. As a consequence, the membrane potential is briefly reversed in polarity until potassium channels open and positively charged potassium ions are released into the external liquid. This brief change in membrane potential, a so-called action potential, can be detected with the microelectrode array chip. An action potential travels without attenuation to synapses, neuron-to-neuron junctions, where the electrical signal is translated into a chemical signal: neurotransmitters are released, diffuse through the small synaptic cleft and initiate electrical activity in the neighboring postsynaptic cell. After an action potential event, the original sodium and potassium ion concentrations outside and inside of the axonal membrane and the associated resting potential across the membrane are restored through membrane pumps. The overall duration of an action potential event is on the order of 2 milliseconds.
###
Reference
Bakkum DJ, Frey U, Radivojevic M, Russell TL, Mller J, Fiscella M, Takahashi H & Hierlemann A. Tracking axonal action potential propagation on a high-density microelectrode array across hundreds of sites. Nature Communications, first published online 19th July 2013. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms318
[ | 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: 19-Jul-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Andreas Hierlemann
andreas.hierlemann@bsse.ethz.ch
41-613-873-150
ETH Zurich
Bio Engineering
This news release is available in German.
To write this little piece of text, the brain sends commands to arms and fingers to tap on the keyboard. Neuronal cells with their cable-like extensions, such as axons, transfer this information as electrical pulses that trigger muscles to move. The axonal signal speed can be to up to 100m/s in myelinated axons along the spinal cord.
For a long time, scientists assumed that axonal signal conduction is by and large digital: either there is a signal, "1", or there is no signal, "0".
Strong propagation speed variations
Now, a team of researchers under Douglas Bakkum and Andreas Hierlemann at the Department BSSE of ETH Zurich in Basel presents evidence that there may be more to axons than only digital signal conduction. They could directly measure and demonstrate that the speed of an axonal signal varies considerably within different segments of the very same axon by placing hundreds of electrodes along the axon. Moreover, the velocity pattern changed from day to day or within hours as did the morphology and position of the axon.
The exact meaning of these speed variations and the origin cannot be explained yet, as there is too little information available about axonal conduction. This may, to a large part, be a consequence of the tiny diameter of the axons. The length of an axon can be more than a meter, e.g., in the spinal cord, but the average diameter is in between 80 nm and a few micrometers. This small diameter makes any measurement of axonal potentials difficult, which, of course, also renders establishing the mechanisms that may produce the large speed variations a difficult task.
Unclear cause
Up to now, only hypotheses concerning these speed variations exist. The temporal characteristics of axonal conduction may form part of the overall information processing abilities of ensembles of neurons or contribute to how neurons adapt to new information. The research group plans on further investigating these effects in collaboration with researchers in other disciplines and research institutions that have complementary expertise and technologies.
The related research work is also facilitated through Hierlemann's 5-year ERC Advanced Grant and Bakkum's SNF Ambizione Grant awarded in 2010/2011. However, the researchers do not expect a fast elucidation of the axonal speed variations. Considering the small dimensions of axons, it will probably take years to collect conclusive evidence.
Up to now, a detailed and long-term investigation of signals of ensembles of neurons and their axons was hardly possible. The D-BSSE research group, during the last 10 years, devoted a lot of time and efforts to develop the high-resolution microelectronic chips, hosting thousands of microelectrodes. The now published, detailed and precise axonal propagation speed measurements reward the scientists for their investment and validate the approach. "We hope to acquire important new evidence with our technology," they state. Other technologies have not yet provided a high enough spatio-temporal resolution to characterize details of axonal signal conduction.
High-resolution chip developed
The microelectrode array chip of the BSSE research group has 11'000 electrodes within a very small area (3150 electrodes per square millimeter) that record from or stimulate neuronal cells or ensembles. Data from 126 arbitrarily selectable electrodes can be simultaneously recorded by means of custom-developed on-chip microelectronic circuits. The neuronal cells grow directly atop the circuitry units on the microelectronic chip, which is fabricated in industrial complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Signals traveling along the axons of the neurons can be measured and localized at high spatial and temporal resolution, owing to the small electrode diameter and tight electrode spacing. Moreover, electrodes can be used to stimulate single axons with the aim to evoke action potentials that propagate back to the respective cell body or soma and elicit action potentials there.
In his opinion, the neuroscience community has underestimated the potential of microelectrodes arrays for quite some time, says Prof. Hierlemann. With the work published now in "Nature Communications", he hopes to further establish this method. "These results show that the microelectrode array technology is enabling access to data that are currently not accessible through other technologies," says the bioengineer.
Neurons, axons and signal propagation
Nerve cells or neurons communicate with other neurons via electrical and chemical signals. If an electrical signal within a cell body, close to the axon initial segment, is large enough, it enters the axon and propagates along its length at a high speed. This is achieved by alterations in the so-called resting potential of the axon membrane, which usually has a steady negative value. Sodium ion channels open, and because of a concentration gradient, positively charged sodium ions from outside the axon travel into the axon. As a consequence, the membrane potential is briefly reversed in polarity until potassium channels open and positively charged potassium ions are released into the external liquid. This brief change in membrane potential, a so-called action potential, can be detected with the microelectrode array chip. An action potential travels without attenuation to synapses, neuron-to-neuron junctions, where the electrical signal is translated into a chemical signal: neurotransmitters are released, diffuse through the small synaptic cleft and initiate electrical activity in the neighboring postsynaptic cell. After an action potential event, the original sodium and potassium ion concentrations outside and inside of the axonal membrane and the associated resting potential across the membrane are restored through membrane pumps. The overall duration of an action potential event is on the order of 2 milliseconds.
###
Reference
Bakkum DJ, Frey U, Radivojevic M, Russell TL, Mller J, Fiscella M, Takahashi H & Hierlemann A. Tracking axonal action potential propagation on a high-density microelectrode array across hundreds of sites. Nature Communications, first published online 19th July 2013. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms318
[ | 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/2013-07/ez-haw071913.php
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