Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Baby Shower Game - ArticleSnatch.com

Fearow (Japanese: Onidrill) is a dual-type Normal/Flying Pokmon.

It evolves from Spearow starting at level 20.

Fearow is a large, mostly brown bird Pokmon with a vulturine neck and broad, powerful wings. It has a long, pointed beak that is pink in coloration, and a decorative red coxcomb tops its head. Its intense-looking eyes have very small pupils, and do not appear to have colored irises. It has shaggy feathers on the base of its neck and in a vaguely cape-like pattern covering the upper portion of its wings. The cape itself is cream in color, as are the tips of its flight feathers. Its sharp-clawed talons are pink, with three toes pointing forward and one pointing backward.

Fearow have large, strong beaks, allowing them to use strong attacks such as Drill Peck, Fury Attack and the rarely seen Drill Run, with the latter allowing it to fight off Electric types. Like most avian Pokmon, they can use a wide variety of aerial and wind-based moves. They can also fly very quickly and elegantly when it senses danger. These birds have solid stamina, allowing them to fly for an entire day without rest.

Fearow builds its nest on highly elevated areas; they are commonly seen on the peaks of rock spires near canyons. Very tall trees can make useful substitute positions for their nests. They are territorial and quick to anger, often attacking those who tread too near to their nests.

Fearow naturally live in badlands consisting of rough terrain, such as desolate wastelands and fields. Its natural range includes Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh and Pokemon Ex Unova.

Fearow are vicious predators and swoop down from above, grabbing their prey and taking it to their nests. They generally eat bugs and rodents, as they prefer to avoid any type of plant. As Fearow have been known to attack Pichu, Rattata, and Pidgey, it is presumed that they may prey on these Pokmon. Fearow also eat Pokmon food.

The Spearow who attacked Ash in the first episode evolved before Pallet Party Panic. Pidgeotto evolved into Pidgeot to defeat it. It reappeared in a flashback in Fighting Flyer with Fire.

Skyler owns a Fearow which helped him pull his balloon in the balloon race and driving Team Rocket away in The Big Balloon Blow-Up.

Two Fearow appeared under the ownership of Boarowisp Tyson in Talkin' 'Bout an Evolution and Rage Of Innocence.

Rico, the Pokmon poacher, owns a Fearow in A Poached Ego!.

In Pokmon Ranger and the Kidnapped Riolu! Part Two, J's client used a Fearow to escape from Officer Jenny, Ash and his friends.

Fearow was first seen in a Pokmon Center in Sparks Fly for Magnemite.

A Fearow appeared competing in a tournament in Princess vs. Princess.

In Mewtwo Strikes Back, an unknown Trainer tried to ride a Fearow to Mewtwo's Island. This Trainer never turns up on the island, unlike the others who set out. Mewtwo also uses one to scout for powerful Trainers.

A Fearow appears in The Battle of the Badge and Lights, Camera, Quack-tion.

Multiple Fearow also appeared in The Power of One.

Multiple Fearow make an appearance in Don't Touch That 'dile.

Three Fearow briefly appeared in The Psychic Sidekicks! where they came out of the blue scaring the gang unintentionally.

A Fearow attacked and injured a Pidgey named Ken in Carrying On!. Ash's Noctowl drove it away after hypnotizing it making it Puzzle Games believe that Noctowl was a Charizard.

A Fearow attacks several Pichu in The Apple Corp!. Ash's Pikachu drives it away after zapping it.

A Fearow attacked Team Rocket in Freeze Frame.

A Fearow alongside a flock of Spearow attacked a Pidgey named Orville in Fly Me to the Moon

Gary owns a Fearow, as seen in his profile in The Ties That Bind.

A Fearow was one of the Pokmon that fought in a battle as seen in a flashback in Pop Goes The Sneasel.

A Fearow also appeared in Pinch Healing!.

Jack Walker used a nearby Fearow to help Pikachu recover the Manaphy Egg stolen by Team Rocket in Pokmon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea.

A colony of Fearow appeared in A Staravia is Born!

Paul attempted to capture a Fearow in A Maze-ing Race!. By the end of the episode, it is unclear whether or not he succeeds.

Multiple Fearow made a brief cameo in Giratina and the Sky Warrior. monstermmorpg monster Shellion

A Fearow appeared in Pursuing a Lofty Goal! as one of the participants of PokRinger competition.

Several Fearow appeared Aron Pokemon in Frozen on Their Tracks!.

Another Fearow also appeared in Historical Mystery Tour!.

Ash owns a Fearow in the manga The Electric Tale of Pikachu. It is one of the few Pokmon that Ash owns in the manga but not in the anime. It was given the nickname "Fearless" in Play Misty For Me.

Ash captured Fearow in the first chapter, Pikachu, I See You!. It was his first capture (besides Pikachu, who was not technically captured in a Pok Ball in the manga). Ash sometimes has trouble getting Fearow to obey him.

Fearow debuts in the Red, Green & Blue chapter in ...But Fearow Itself! when a wild one kidnaps a mutated Bill. It was a tough old bird, able to swiftly dodge Pika's Thunder Wave and Poli's Ice Beam (humorously causing Bill to get hit with the attacks), and even survived a Thunder from the former, after which it uses Drill Peck. Poli, however, was narrowly able to counter the move by using Double Team and landed a powerful Ice attack to incapacitate it at last. Red catches it afterwards, much to the shock of Bill.

Professor Oak also owns a Fearow that evolved from his surprisingly formidable Spearow sometime prior to the FireRed & LeafGreen chapter.

Ran has a pair of Fearow she used to attack Sh in Pokmon Get da how to catch Infinewt ze!

Fearow doesn't seem to be directly based on any particular bird species, instead taking inspiration from many soaring, predatory birds. It has traits similar to raptors such as hawks and vultures, as well as similarities with storks. Its physical appearance may be vaguely based on a cormorant or an anhinga, despite the fact that they are water birds. It also shares characteristics with chickens and snipe, most notably its comb and long beak, respectively. Its coloration and size also resembles the Goliath Heron, whose feathers when ruffled look superficially like a cockscomb.

Fearow is a combination of fear and sparrow or arrow. It may also derive from feather.

Onidrill is a combination of oni (demon) and drill, although it is worth noting that the first four syllables can be taken to mean onidori (demon bird).

Zippo (Japanese: Zippo) was the first Pokmon introduced on Ritchie's team. It first appeared in A Friend in Deed.

Zippo was introduced as a Charmander during the Indigo League Conference, breaking open a van wall Team Rocket trapped Ritchie and Ash in with Slash when Ash's Bulbasaur couldn't do it on its own. It is unclear whether Zippo or Sparky was Ritchie's first Pokmon. Later, Zippo was sent out when Ritchie's Butterfree, Happy, was taken out. Even though Pikachu dodged multiple Flamethrowers, it wasn't able to keep up and loses to Zippo's Tackle. Zippo's next opponent was Charizard and it was ready. However, Zippo runs from Charizard's Flamethrower after shooting a Flamethrower of its own. Afterwards, Zippo forfeits the battle when Ritchie recalls it. In Friends to the End, it was briefly shown battling Assunta's Rhydon. Afterwards, it was one of the Pokmon knocked out when Ritchie was left with Sparky. In that same episode, it saves Ash's Pikachu and Sparky when they were captured by Team Rocket.

Zippo reappeared in A Parent Trapped! during the Whirl Islands in its Charmeleon stage. It was sent out along with Ash's Cyndaquil to take on Butch's Hitmontop and Cassidy's Houndour. It wasn't able to match up with their foes as the headgear made them more powerful.

In the special, Oaknapped, Zippo was sent out to take on Butch's Mightyena. It uses Flamethrower on Mightyena but some of the flames land on Professor Oak's hair. Zippo then Fire Spins it along with Cassidy's Sableye which lands on their Trainers, leaving Sparky to blast them off using Thunder. In Celebi and Joy, Zippo finishes off the workers with Flamethrower combined with Sparky's Thunderbolt.

Zippo, as a Charmander, was willing to battle any opponent including ones that have evolved as shown when it was battling Charizard.

In the manga series The Electric Tale of Pikachu, Zippo competes against www.monstermmorpg.com/Masquaugur-Monster-Dex-761 Ash's Charizard in the Indigo Plateau Conference in the chapter The Indigo Finals and is defeated and heavily wounded during the battle. Unlike in the anime, however, Zippo has already evolved into a Charizard by this point. Skateboard Games

In the original Japanese version, play with fake pokemon Ahuizouth it retains its nickname of Zippo, however, in the VIZ Media English translation, it is renamed to Charley.

For more information on this Pokmon's fake pokemon game map Training Cave F2 species, 3 Player GamesFree Childrens Games see Charmander and Charmeleon.

Tangela (Japanese: Monjara) is a Grass-type Pokmon.

It evolves into Tangrowth when leveled up while knowing AncientPower.

Tangela is covered with thick blue vines that obscure its face so only its eyes can be seen. The vines give it a round shape, although it is unknown what it looks like without them. The vines are covered in fine hair. It has a pair of red boot-like feet, but no visible arms.

Tangela's vines never stop growing and are easily replaced if lost or damaged. Tangela can monster Ironate ensnare and entangle its foes with its vines.

Its thick blue vines are constantly jiggling and swaying. This appears to be a defensive technique, as the movement unnerves enemies and deters herbivores that might mistake Tangela for a shrub. Any moving object that gets too close to a Tangela will be ensnared by its vines. This also appears to be a defensive technique, because Tangela's vines will snap off easily and painlessly if the target pulls on them, suggesting that the ensnaring is intended to scare off potential predators.

Tangela can usually be found on the edge of many grassy plains, be it near a mountain range or the ocean. However, they can also be found in large forests or the jungle on some occasions. They are most common in Kanto and Johto, and can also be found in the Sevii Islands. They have also been introduced to the Great Marsh in Sinnoh.

Erika used a Tangela when Ash battled her for the Rainbow Badge in Pokmon Scent-sation!.

A Tangela appeared battling Brock's Vulpix in Princess vs. Princess.

Tangela made an appearance in The Kangaskhan pokemon Kid.

A Tangela under the ownership of Stella appeared in It's Mr. Mime Time.

A Tangela under the ownership of an unknown Trainer, appeared in Friends to where can i find Nexon the End, during the closing ceremonies of the Indigo League.

Tangela also appeared in The Power of One.

A Tangela appeared in Beauty and the Breeder where it participated in a Pokmon Dress Up Who beauty contest.

A Tangela belonging to an unnamed competitor appeared in The Grass Route competing in the Grass-type tournament.

A Tangela appeared in Celebi: Voice of the Forest.

A Tangela was one Free Cool Games of the Pokmon seen at Wings Alexander's barn in Throwing in the Noctowl.

Several Tangela appeared in For Ho-Oh the Bells Toll!.

An image of a Tangela appeared in Hocus Pokmon.

An Officer Jenny owned a Tangela in Gulpin it Down.

Like her counterparts in other media, Erika of Pokmon Adventures has a Tangela in her arsenal. This Tangela goes by the nickname Angela in the English translations, or Mon-chan in Japanese.

Tangela is one of the Pokmon Lunick captures in the adaptation of Pokmon Ranger. Lunick uses Tangela's vines to rescue a girl from a burning building.

A Tangela took part in a baseball match in Fierce Competition at the Pokmon Baseball Tournament!.

Tangela is probably based on Medusa, a gorgon of Greek mythology, who had a head of snakes and turned any creature that saw her into stone. The tentacles on Tangela, however, are vines. Its Crystal sprite shows it curling into a ball, meaning it may also have design elements from tumbleweed or bird-cage plants. It may also be based on a Green Man, a motif that is represented as a face surrounded by leaves and vines.

Tangela may be a combination of tangle and Medusa (referring to its vines resembling a snake hairstyle like Medusa's).

Monjara may be based on mojamoja (shaggy http://www.monstermmorpg.com/Brambram-Monster-Dex-294 or unkempt). It may also include monster.

Ash's Torterra (Japanese: Satoshi's Dodaitose) is the second Pokmon that Ash Ketchum caught in the Sinnoh region.

Ash caught Torterra as a Turtwig in Gettin' Twiggy With It!. It had been living in the forest near Clara's home, and it broke up fights among wild Pokmon in the area. After Team Rocket stole Ash's Pikachu, their balloon crashed, and Turtwig defended Pikachu against them. When Ash and his friends appeared, Turtwig assumed they were trying to wrongfully steal Pikachu, too, so it attacked them and ran off with an exhausted Pikachu in tow. The next time they confronted Turtwig, the misunderstanding was explained, and Turtwig apologetically befriended Ash. At the end of the episode, Ash and his friends began to leave, and the old woman encouraged Turtwig to go with Ash, so it ran to challenge him. Turtwig and Pikachu battled, and Ash caught Turtwig.

As Turtwig, it was a brave yet kind Pokmon that has high confidence for its small size. It apparently had a strong jaw, as it was often seen latching itself onto people and Pokmon's heads, tails, hats, and appendages to attack or show affection. It has done this to Ash as well, the behavior somewhat resembling that of James's Victreebel, Carnivine and Cacnea. It has also been shown to be both incredibly fast and quite strong, such as the time when it used Bite on Roark's Rampardos's tail and threw it into a rock, after which Brock said, "Big things come in small packages!"

In Different Strokes where appear monstermmorpg monster Korrodo for Different Blokes, Turtwig battled Paul's Chimchar and lost. Although it held its own in battle, it appeared to hesitate upon receiving Ash's command to dodge attacks.

Overall, it has taken part in five of Ash's Gym battles. As a Turtwig, it defeated Roark's Cranidos in their first battle, and in the rematch, defeated the newly evolved Rampardos, giving Ash his first Sinnoh Badge. It also battled against Gardenia's Turtwig during his second Gym battle. Although Gardenia's Pokmon had defeated Ash's during a battle in the Eterna Forest, he gained the upper hand and defeated the Grass-type. After learning Energy Ball from Kenny's Breloom, Turtwig didn't battle again until the Pastoria Gym battle in A Crasher Course in Power!, where it battled Crasher Wake's Quagsire, but it was called back before being defeated. It wasn't used again until Ash's seventh Gym battle as a Grotle, in Sliding Into Seventh!, where it was used in the Gym battle against Candice, its first appearance in a Gym battle since evolving. Using the lessons taught to it by Torterra, it stood firm against Sneasel's Icy Wind and was able to defeat her using Rock Climb which allowed it to easily travel across the ice without slipping. Unfortunately, it was easily defeated by her Abomasnow with a shattering Wood Hammer later in the battle. It briefly battled Volkner's Luxray in The Fleeing Tower of Sunyshore. Grotle was Frozen River Falls able to use Razor Leaf and withstand a Spark coming from Luxray before the match was interrupted.

Like many of Ash's Pokmon, Turtwig's battle style was based on its speed, a factor that Ash focused on even more after seeing Gardenia's Turtwig in action. However, in Aiding the Enemy! Turtwig evolved into Grotle during a battle against Paul's Honchkrow. It quickly became apparent that, due to its new body being larger and heavier, Grotle's speed had diminished, and Grotle fumbled and fell down a lot in the battle. The newly-evolved Grotle had high expectations of itself, well exemplified in the same episode. During the night, it went out to try to improve its speed. However, it failed to regain its speed and stumbled over from time to time. This was initially upsetting but Paul's Torterra provided some unexpected help by showing Grotle that it could rely on defense instead.

In Jumping Rocket Ship!, it was shown that Grotle became fatigued from walking a lot and from its increased weight. It had to be carried by Brock's Happiny for a portion of the journey.

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Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Baby-Shower-Game/4584311

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STOCKS NEWS SINGAPORE-Index hits 5-year high, tracking Wall St

Singapore shares rose to their highest in more than five years

on Tuesday, tracking U.S. stock market which closed at a record

high in the previous session.

The Straits Times Index rose 0.6 percent to

3,382.93, the highest since January 2008.

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside

Japan was up 1 percent, after the S&P 500 index

closed at an all-time high on Monday.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, Singapore's

second-largest lender, traded flat at S$10.92, retreating from a

record high of S$11.07 last week. It reported a 16 percent fall

in first-quarter profit earlier in the day.

Other banking shares rose to their highest since 2008.

Shares of United Overseas Bank Ltd matched Monday's

five-year high of S$21.39, and DBS Group Holdings Ltd

rose to the highest since mid-2008.

"Banking shares are doing well, helped by expectation that

the Cyprus crisis may push some money to migrate from Europe to

Singapore," said a trader, who declined to be named.

Shares of Starhub Ltd hit a record high of S$4.76

and Singapore Telecommunications Ltd extended gains

for the second straight session.

Shares of Aussino Group Ltd jumped 7 percent to

S$0.107, recovering from a 40 percent slump in the previous

session after the Singapore Exchange rejected its application

for a S$70 million reverse takeover deal with a company linked

to a Myanmar tycoon who is on the U.S. sanction list.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-news-singapore-index-hits-5-high-tracking-043225727.html

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World?s first web page brought back from the dead for 20th anniversary

BERLIN, April 29 (Reuters) - Barcelona will try every trick in the book to overturn a 4-0 first-leg deficit against Bayern Munich in their Champions League semi-final return leg on Wednesday, honorary Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer warned on Monday. Bayern crushed the Spaniards last week in a surprisingly one-sided encounter but Beckenbauer, former player, coach and president of Germany's most successful club, warned that Barcelona were not ready to surrender. "Barca will try everything to throw Bayern off balance," he told Bild newspaper. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/world-first-page-brought-back-dead-20th-anniversary-193527287.html

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'Cinderella' Lands Leading Lady In 'Downton Abbey' Star Lily James

Kenneth Branagh is directing Disney's live-action adaptation.
By Todd Gilchrist

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1706600/cinderella-casts-lily-james.jhtml

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YouTube Offers Millions In Ad Discounts - Business Insider

YouTube

VW advertising on Youtube.

The minimum bid for a YouTube advertising package dropped from more than $10 million to just $1 million in an attempt to ad steal dollars from television budgets, AdAge reports.

Ads on YouTube, those sponsored clips that play before you get to watch most videos, have typically posed huge up-front costs to advertisers vying for the space.

While advertisers used to spend eight-figures on Original Channel advertising packages for specific genres ? Ad Age notes that one music?package for space before high-profile music videos sold for $62 million?? they now only have to shell out a fraction of the price.

"Last year we were rigid,"?YouTube sales chief Lucas Watson said.?"We got a few big advertisers with huge checks." Now, he says, YouTube is breaking ad packages down into "more manageable chunks."

This will open the ad medium to a wider variety of advertisers. Companies that have previously advertised only on TV might soon expand to YouTube.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/youtube-offers-millions-in-ad-discounts-2013-4

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Court rules in favor of NYSE, Nasdaq in NetCoalition case

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday dismissed complaints filed by Google , Yahoo! and other Internet companies that sought to reduce the fees the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market charge for market data, saying the Dodd-Frank bill stripped it of jurisdiction in the case.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled against the NetCoalition group of Internet companies, which included Google and Yahoo, and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, a lobby for brokers.

Sifma and the NetCoalition group had challenged changes to the Securities Exchange Act that were included in Dodd-Frank, which allowed NYSE and Nasdaq to file new fee schedules that were "immediately effective" and sidestep regulatory review.

The court had ruled in an earlier case that competition should determine whether market data - prices for stock quotations and share prices - are "fair and reasonable," but the court said Dodd-Frank "ousts us of jurisdiction."

The court said that because the SEC is no longer required to approve an exchange's filing for new fees before it becomes effective, its prior ruling is inoperative.

(Reporting by Herbert Lash)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/court-rules-favor-nyse-nasdaq-netcoalition-case-144625544.html

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Why the alleged Boston bombers' mom probably won't be extradited

Zubeidat Tsarnaeva may stay out of American custody because the US and Russia do not have a bilateral extradition treaty, despite efforts by Moscow to negotiate one.

By Fred Weir,?Correspondent / April 28, 2013

Zubeidat Tsarnaeva at a news conference in Dagestan, Russia, on Thursday. Her sister Maryam, right, is with her.

Musa Sadulayev/AP

Enlarge

The mother of the two Boston bombing suspects, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, has become a focus of interest after it emerged that her name had been added to a key terrorist watchlist in 2011 and fresh materials, including wiretaps, handed over to the US by the Russians showed her "vaguely discussing" jihad with her elder son two years ago.?

Skip to next paragraph Fred Weir

Correspondent

Fred Weir has been the Monitor's Moscow correspondent, covering Russia and the former Soviet Union, since 1998.?

Recent posts

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Ms. Tsarnaeva, a naturalized US citizen who moved back to Russia a few years ago, has best been known until now as the most passionate defender of her two sons, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar, up to the point of insisting that they were "framed" because they were Muslims. Now investigators may want to look into what role she may have played, if any, in the radicalization process that may have led her two sons to carry out the Boston Marathon bombing almost two weeks ago.

Tsarnaeva was reportedly added to the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE)?database in 2011 at the request of US intelligence agencies. That list, which held about 750,000 names at the time, is used to compile the consolidated Terrorist Watchlist?used as the main reference tool by airlines and law enforcement agencies. It is believed her name, and that of her son Tamerlan, were appended to the list after the Russian FSB security service appealed for more information about the pair to the FBI and the CIA and warned of their growing radicalization.?

In recent days the Russians have also turned over wiretaps of conversations between Tsarnaeva, who was by that time back living in her native Dagestan, and her son Tamerlan in Boston. In one they reportedly discuss "jihad" in a general way. In another, Tsarnaeva is recorded talking with someone who is under FBI investigation in an unrelated case.

In his annual town hall meeting with the Russian public last Thursday, President Vladimir Putin called for stepped up security cooperation?between the US and Russia in the wake of the Boston tragedy. He downplayed any links between Russia and the Boston bombers, and added "to our great regret" Russian security forces lacked any "operative information" that they might have shared with US law enforcement in the run up to the attack.

Tsarnaeva is an ethnic Avar, one of the largest groups in Russia's multi-national, but solidly Muslim, mountain republic of Dagestan?which abuts the Caspian Sea. Dagestan has been wracked for over a decade by a growing Islamist insurgency that has made parts of the republic a no-go zone even for law enforcement.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/ut2cUuajjE0/Why-the-alleged-Boston-bombers-mom-probably-won-t-be-extradited

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Explosion shakes Prague

Rescue workers and firefighters search the area after an explosion in Prague April 29, 2013. The explosion in central Prague on Monday, probably caused by gas, injured as many as 40 people, officials ... more?Rescue workers and firefighters search the area after an explosion in Prague April 29, 2013. The explosion in central Prague on Monday, probably caused by gas, injured as many as 40 people, officials said, and neighbouring buildings - including the National Theatre - had to be evacuated. REUTERS/Petr Josek (CZECH REPUBLIC - Tags: DISASTER) less?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lightbox/explosion-shakes-prague-slideshow/

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Bombing shifts Mass. Senate race before primaries

This panel of 2013 file photos show Democrat candidates for U.S. Senate, Reps. Stephen Lynch, left, and Edward Markey, right, vying for their party's nomination in the special April 30, 2013 primary. (AP Photos)

This panel of 2013 file photos show Democrat candidates for U.S. Senate, Reps. Stephen Lynch, left, and Edward Markey, right, vying for their party's nomination in the special April 30, 2013 primary. (AP Photos)

This panel of March 2013 file photos show Republican candidates for U.S. Senate, from left, Gabriel Gomez, Michael Sullivan, and Daniel WInslow, vying for their party's nomination in the special April 30, 2013 primary. (AP Photos)

(AP) ? Even before the explosions, polling suggested that Massachusetts voters weren't excited about the looming special election to replace former U.S. Sen. John Kerry.

But in the days after bombs ripped through the Boston Marathon's crowded streets, politics were all but forgotten as authorities launched an unprecedented manhunt and a region grappled with terror. It didn't matter that competitive primary contests were 15 days away; everything was put on hold.

"There are things that are more important than campaigning and that horrific event was clearly one of them," said U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, who is competing against U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch for the Democratic nomination to replace Kerry, now the secretary of state.

After suspending political activities for roughly a week, the candidates have been forced to walk a delicate balance as they engage voters ahead of Tuesday's Republican and Democratic primaries. They have largely avoided the site of the attack out of sensitivity for victims, but some have tweaked campaign advertising to address the bombing, highlighted their national security credentials and tried to use the sudden focus on terrorism to shift the direction of the race.

"It completely changed the landscape," Lynch aide Scott Ferson said of the bombing.

Indeed, a campaign once dominated by debates about the environment, health care and women's rights has become more focused on enemy combatants, Miranda rights and counterterrorism agencies. Some candidates welcomed the shift.

On the Democratic side, Lynch has seized on national security in recent days to attack Markey, thought to be the front-runner. One of the most memorable moments in last week's Democratic debate, just a week after the bombing, focused on support for federal security efforts

"Unlike my colleague Mr. Markey, I've actually voted for the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bills," Lynch charged.

Markey responded: "He's taking a page right out of the Karl Rove swift boat playbook, and it's very sad, especially just one week after what just happened in Boston, Cambridge and Watertown."

Through Tuesday's primary election, Markey outspent Lynch on television advertising $1.7 million to $1.2 million, according to advertising figures obtained by The Associated Press. But only Lynch focused on the bombings in a television ad that blanketed the state last week, while Markey focused on traditional Democratic priorities such as women's reproductive rights.

"We hold in our hearts those we lost, but we will get through this together and work toward a brighter day," Lynch says in the campaign ad.

But Lynch was forced to distance himself last week from a so-called robo-call made on his behalf by the leader of an ironworkers' union, who mentions the bombings while encouraging voters to support someone who "understands the day-to-day problems facing working families." It was an awkward moment for the Lynch campaign, which called on the group to stop the calls.

But it's unclear how many people were paying attention.

"Whatever momentum this primary had ? and it didn't have a lot ? was totally exhausted by the bombing," Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin said.

Weeks before the blasts, Steve Koczela, president of MassINC Polling Group, found that more than 40 percent of likely Democratic voters and nearly 50 percent of likely Republican voters hadn't settled on a candidate.

"It just doesn't seem like ? even as of the last poll ? people were really paying attention to who was running," Koczela said. "There's room for any of the candidates to make a move."

On the Republican side in particular, the recent violence shifted the contours of the contest.

GOP candidate Gabriel Gomez, a former Navy SEAL, finished running the marathon minutes before the bombs exploded along the finish line, killing three and injuring more than 260.

Like other candidates, Gomez immediately pulled television ads off the air and suspended campaign activities. He said he was focused on being respectful as he eased back into campaigning the following weekend.

"We can't let the terrorists win and completely suspend what is fundamental right in the United States," Gomez said.

He charged that President Barack Obama's administration should have designated 19-year-old suspect Dzhohkar Tsarnaev an "enemy combatant" and tried him outside the traditional criminal justice system.

Another GOP candidate, Mike Sullivan, says the federal government should have denied Tsarnaev his Miranda rights, tried him as an enemy combatant and revoked his U.S. citizenship.

"Our first concern must always be preventing future terrorist acts against our people," said Sullivan, a former U.S. attorney whose campaign has been reminding people that he previously led the prosecution of shoe bomber Richard Reid.

Republican candidate Dan Winslow, a former judge and chief legal counsel under former Gov. Mitt Romney, said the entire GOP field has experience with national security.

"We've got a Navy SEAL, a former prosecutor and a former judge all in the field for Republicans," Winslow said. "I think we all have our own credentials. The key is, Who's got the better ideas? Who's got the better electability in June?"

The key may also be which candidate can get his supporters to get to the polls as the bombing continues to dominate attention in Massachusetts. State officials were already predicting a low turnout, likely less than 20 percent of eligible voters, even before the attack.

Wendy Becker, 45, of Newton, was among the thousands who visited the bomb site in Copley Square late last week. A registered voter, she said she didn't know the primaries were happening so soon.

"I didn't even know it was Tuesday and haven't cared," she said, noting that her little brother and brother-in-law ran in the marathon. She's been glued to the television coverage of the aftermath ever since.

The general election, featuring the primary winners, is scheduled for June 25.

___

Associated Press writer Steve LeBlanc contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-28-Massachusetts%20Senate-Bombing%20Impact/id-dbd6c86f551c4170ae39176ad23e9a0f

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Per-student pre-K spending lowest in decade

(AP) ? State funding for pre-kindergarten programs had its largest drop ever last year and states are now spending less per child than they did a decade ago, according to a report released Monday.

The researchers also found that more than a half million of those preschool students are in programs that don't even meet standards suggested by industry experts that would qualify for federal dollars. And 10 states don't offer any dollars to pay for prekindergarten classrooms.

"The state of preschool in America is a state of emergency," said report author Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University.

That assessment ? combined with Congress' reluctance to spend new dollars ? complicates President Barack Obama's effort to expand pre-K programs across the country. Until existing programs' shortcomings are fixed, it is likely to be a tough sell for Obama's call for more preschool.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius joined Barnett on Monday in Washington to release the report and acknowledge the challenges in educating the nation's youngest students within the existing and widely varied systems. Both Cabinet secretaries tried to portray the report's dire verdict as a reason to push forward with a federally backed preschool program.

"This year's report has some pretty grim news but I think it also highlights the urgency for the historic investment in early education that the president called for in his State of the Union," said Sebelius, whose department runs the Head Start programs for the poorest young students.

Added Duncan: "The news here isn't as good, isn't as positive as we would like it to be."

"If ever there was report that makes the case for the need for President Obama's preschool-for-all proposal, this report is it," the former Chicago public schools chief said.

During his State of the Union speech, Obama proposed a federal-state partnership that would dramatically expand options for families with young children. Obama's plan would fund public preschool for any 4-year-old whose family income was below twice the federal poverty rate.

If it were in place this year, the plan would allow a family of four with two children to enroll students in a pre-K program if the family earned less than $46,566.

Students from families who earn more could participate in the program, but their parents would have to pay tuition based on their income. Eventually, 3-year-old students would be part of the program, too.

As part of his budget request, Obama proposed spending $75 billion over 10 years to help states get these new programs up and running. During the first years, Washington would pick up the majority of the cost before shifting costs to states.

Barnett called that price tag "not much more than a rounding error in the federal budget."

Obama proposed paying for this expansion by almost doubling the federal tax on cigarettes, to $1.95 per pack.

Obama's pre-K plan faces a tough uphill climb, though, with the tobacco industry opposing the tax that would pay for it and lawmakers from tobacco-producing states also skeptical. Conservative lawmakers have balked at starting another government program, as well. Obama's Democratic allies are clamoring to make it a priority.

Yet lawmakers are already fighting among themselves over spending cuts that are forcing students to be dropped from existing preschool programs, the levying of higher fees for student loans and deep cuts for aid to military schools.

States spent about $5.1 billion on pre-K programs in 2011-12, the most recent school year, researchers wrote in the report.

Per-student funding for existing programs during that year dropped to an average of $3,841 for each student. It was the first time average spending per student dropped below $4,000 in today's dollars since researchers started tracking it during the 2001-02 academic year.

Adjusted for inflation, per-student funding has been cut by more than $1,000 during the last decade.

Yet nationwide, the amounts were widely varied. The District of Columbia spent almost $14,000 on every child in its program while the states of Colorado, South Carolina and Nebraska spent less than $2,000 per child.

"Whether you get a quality preschool program does depend on what ZIP code you are in," Barnett said.

Among the 40 states that offer state-funded pre-K programs, 27 cut per-student spending last year. In total, that meant $548 million in cuts.

Money, of course, is not a guarantee for students' success. But students from poor schools generally lag students from better-funded counterparts and those students from impoverished families arrive in kindergarten less prepared than others.

In all, only 15 states and the District of Columbia spent enough money to provide quality programs, the researchers concluded. Those programs serve about 20 percent of the 1.3 million enrolled in state-funded prekindergarten programs.

"In far too many states, funding levels have fallen so low as to bring into question the effectiveness of their programs by any reasonable standard," researchers wrote.

Part of the reason for the decreased spending are the lingering effects of the economic downturn in 2008, coupled with the end of federal stimulus dollars to plug state budgets.

"Although the recession is technically over, the recovery in state revenues has lagged the recovery of the general economy and has been slower and weaker than following prior recessions. This does not bode well for digging back out of the hole created by years of cuts," the researchers wrote in their report.

Nationally, 42 percent of students ? or more than a half million students ? were in programs that met fewer than half of the benchmarks researchers identified as important to gauging a program's effectiveness, such as classrooms with fewer than 20 students and teachers with bachelor's degrees.

That, too, suggests problems for Obama's plan to expand pre-K programs, especially if Washington insists its partners meet quality benchmarks to win federal dollars.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-29-Universal%20Preschool/id-9327350b3c834ee785dff196ce334ed5

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Monday, April 29, 2013

Google Now available on iOS devices starting today

Google Now available on iOS devices starting today

When it comes to major news, we didn't expect to hear much from Google in the run-up to I/O, but clearly, the company just couldn't wait that long. Google Now, a service that Android users have enjoyed for a year, just became available on iOS devices in the form of an update to the Google Search app, confirming those leaked videos we saw a few weeks ago. It won't have integration with notifications or alerts at launch -- it may come in a future update, but the company wasn't willing to divulge its future plans -- so you'll need to enter the app and swipe up to refresh your list of cards. The iOS version won't have every type of card that you'll find on Android, either: boarding passes, activity summary, events, concerts, Fandango and Zillow aren't included this go-round. Improvements and additional features will likely trickle in over time, but it's certainly better than nothing for iOS fans who've looked at Jelly Bean users with a slightly jealous eye. We've included Google's blog post in its entirety below, and you can jump to the source to download the app.

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Comments

Source: The Official Google Blog, iTunes

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/IfRW3CkQ4nQ/

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Friday, April 26, 2013

Samsung Galaxy S4 sees first complete firmware leak

Galaxy S4

Firmware version I9500ZCUAMDG comes complete with all Odin files

With every big phone release comes a software leak just ahead of launch day. Today, it's the Samsung Galaxy S4's turn to show us the software. AdamLange of XDA Developers has been kind enough to post the first leaked version of Galaxy S4 firmware, in its complete form.

Samsung users that have installed custom firmware on their devices before are already familiar with Odin, a Windows application that allows firmware to be flashed on Samsung phones via USB. This Galaxy S4 leak comes complete with all the Odin files, namely the CSC, PDA and modem. This particular software is intended for the Chinese market; as time goes on and more leaks are obtained, they will be posted in AdamLange's thread.

Flashing stock firmware via Odin is a sure bet for getting Samsung phones back to factory condition and fixing any problems that may arise from installing custom firmware. Those that like to root and flash ROMs and kernels on their phones should definitely have a stock Odin package ready to go -- just in case. Keep an eye on the forums for the latest how-to guides and lists of flashable goodies, as them become available.

Source: XDA Developers

    


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/2_t61roxbJs/story01.htm

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Thursday, April 25, 2013

Just what makes that little old ant? change a flower's nectar content?

Apr. 24, 2013 ? Ants play a variety of important roles in many ecosystems. As frequent visitors to flowers, they can benefit plants in their role as pollinators when they forage on sugar-rich nectar. However, a new study reveals that this mutualistic relationship may actually have some hidden costs. By transmitting sugar-eating yeasts to the nectar on which they feed, ants may be indirectly altering the nectar-chemistry and thus affecting subsequent pollinator visitations.

Many species of plants benefit from interacting with ants, and some even secrete special sugary substances to attract ants. Plants produce sugar, in the form of nectar, and in exchange ants provide services such as pollination or protection from herbivores.

The main components of nectar that attract pollinators include three dominant sugars -- sucrose, fructose, and glucose -- and amino acids (or proteins). The chemical composition of nectar differs among plant species and has been thought to be a conservative trait linked to pollinator type. For example, plants pollinated by hummingbirds tend to have nectar with high amounts of sucrose. In addition, nectar composition is thought to be regulated by the plant.

"When people think about how flowers are pollinated, they probably think about bees," notes Clara de Vega, a postdoctoral researcher at the Estaci?n Biol?gica de Do?ana, Spain. "But ants also pollinate flowers, and I am interested in the role ants play in pollination since it is still poorly understood."

De Vega joined forces with Carlos M. Herrera, an evolutionary ecologist at the Estaci?n Biol?gica de Do?ana, to investigate the relationship between ant pollinators and nectarivorous yeasts. Nectar-dwelling yeasts, which consume sugars, have recently been discovered in the flowers of many temperate and tropical plant species. De Vega and Herrera have already discovered that some ant species not only carry certain types of sugar-metabolizing yeasts on their bodies, but they also effectively transmit these yeasts to the nectar of flowers they visit.

In their most recent work, published in the American Journal of Botany, De Vega and Herrera investigated whether flowers visited by these ants differed from flowers that were not visited by ants in their sugar chemistry, and whether sugar-chemistry was correlated with the abundance of ant-transmitted yeasts found in the nectar.

By excluding ants from visiting inflorescences of a perennial, parasitic plant, Cytinus hypocistis, and comparing the nectar chemistry to inflorescences that were visited by ants, the authors tested these ideas experimentally.

When the authors compared the sugar content in the nectar of flowers visited by ants versus those enclosed in nylon mesh bags to exclude ants, they found that nectar of flowers exposed to ants had higher levels of fructose and glucose, but lower levels of sucrose compared with the ant-excluded flowers.

Interestingly, in flowers visited by ants, there was a high correlation between yeast cell density and sugar content. Nectar that had higher densities of yeast had more fructose and less sucrose, suggesting that the types of yeasts change the sugar content of the nectar. Flowers that were excluded from ants did not have any yeast in their nectar.

"Our study has revealed that ants can actually change the nectar characteristics of the flowers they are pollinating," says de Vega. "The microorganisms, specifically yeasts, that are present on the surface of ants change the composition of sugar in the flower?s nectar."

"This means that nectar composition is not completely controlled by the flower -- it is something created in cooperation with the ants that visit the flower," she notes. "We also think that these ant-transported yeasts might have the potential to affect plant reproduction."

Indeed, if a plant cannot control the sugar content of its nectar, then it may lose some of its target pollinators, which would potentially affect overall seed set and plant fitness.

Moreover, if introducing these yeasts to nectar changes the chemistry of the very components that serve to attract pollinators, then perhaps ants are indirectly changing the foraging behavior of subsequent flower visitors and thereby affecting seed dispersal patterns.

This study has revealed an additional layer in the complex association between ants and flowering plants, as pollinating ants alter sugar-nectar chemistry in flowers via sugar-consuming yeasts. But the story does not end here. De Vega plans to continue researching the role that these nectarivorous yeasts play on the reproduction of plants.

"I plan to study the whole interaction of plants, yeasts, and pollinators -- how are they interrelated and what mechanisms shape these relations?"

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Journal of Botany, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. C. de Vega, C. M. Herrera. Microorganisms transported by ants induce changes in floral nectar composition of an ant-pollinated plant. American Journal of Botany, 2013; 100 (4): 792 DOI: 10.3732/ajb.1200626

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/So3AeTCfj8w/130424185232.htm

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Here's EA's Internal Memo On The Layoffs Today

Screen Shot 2013-04-25 at 3.01.38 PMEA, the game maker in the midst of a big transition from the console era of gaming to the free-to-play world, confirmed widespread reports of layoffs today. The company did not disclose the size of the layoffs, but several other outlets are reporting either hundreds of layoffs or figures that are as high as 10 percent. The downsizing, which comes on the heels of other layoffs in Montreal and Los Angeles earlier this year, is happening as EA is expected to have a weak earnings report on May 7. ?EA CEO John Riccitiello recently stepped down over “shortcomings” in the company’s financial performance?for the most recent quarter after a six-year stint at the helm of the company. We have an internal memo from executive chairman Larry Probst, which sheds light on some of the changes. Core marketing functions, which were spread out between EA’s five different labels, are getting consolidated under COO Peter Moore. Origin, EA’s online distribution platform, is moving under EA’s President of Labels, Frank Gibeau, who is considered one of the few plausible internal candidates for taking EA’s helm once the CEO search is over. Here’s Probst: As we begin the new fiscal year, I want to provide you with a brief update on some important changes to our organization. As Executive Chairman, my focus is to ensure EA is delivering high quality games and services to our consumers, while helping the executive team develop a FY14 operating plan that drives growth, rationalizes headcount and controls costs. In recent weeks, the executive team has been tasked with evaluating every area of our business to establish a clear set of priorities, and a more efficient organizational structure. This process has led to some difficult decisions about the number of people and locations needed to achieve our goals. The workforce reductions which we communicated in the last two weeks represent the majority of our planned personnel actions. We are extremely grateful for the contributions made by each of these individuals ? they will be missed by their colleagues and friends at EA. We are also taking action to streamline our organization, including changes in two key areas: ? Core marketing functions have been consolidated under our COO, Peter Moore. The combined group will bring together our Label marketing teams, Global Acquisition Marketing and Marketing Analytics into one multi-talented team under Todd Sitrin?s leadership. The development and marketing teams will

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/o7boE3d9LxY/

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Chechnya: How a remote Russian republic became linked with terrorism

The main suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing are said to be two brothers from Chechnya, a mountainous and mainly Muslim republic in southern Russia that has been the scene of cyclical revolts and brutal crackdowns by Moscow's forces for the past 200 years. Though Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev have spent most of their lives outside of Chechnya, their postings on YouTube and the Russian-language VKontakte social media site illustrate a proud attachment to their ancestral homeland and offer many hints that both identified closely with Chechnya's defiant and fiercely independent mountain warrior traditions.

Where is Chechnya?

Chechnya is one of eight mainly Muslim ethnic republics that sprawl across the northern face of the Caucasus Mountains ? which contain some of Europe's highest peaks ? between the Black and Caspian Seas. The region is a patchwork of separate nationalities, speaking wildly different tongues, who have a history of intense animosity between each other that's eclipsed only by their historic tensions with Russia.

The approximately 1.2 million Chechens, whose republic occupies about 6,600 square miles in the center of the chain, are a fierce mountain people who speak Noxchi Mott, a language that's incomprehensible to most of their neighbors ? but which was one of the three languages, along with Russian and English, that the younger Tsarnaev claimed to speak fluently on his VKontakte page.

How did it become part of Russia?

The Caucasus region was conquered by Czarist Russia, whose armies took three decades to overcome the resistance of the guerrilla warriors. The long war, whose brutal and treacherous nature was brilliantly captured by Russian writer Leo Tolstoy in his last novel, Hadji Murat, was finally won by Russian Gen. Mikhail Yermolov, who used scorched earth tactics, hostage taking, and deliberate bloody civilian massacres to crush the Chechen rebels.

Chechnya has erupted in revolt every time the Russian grip has weakened ever since, notably amid the chaos following the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 and after Nazi Germany invaded the USSR in 1941. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was so infuriated by Chechen disloyalty in World War II that he ordered the entire Chechen nation ? half a million people ? deported to Central Asia in 1944. An estimated 150,000 Chechens died on the bitter winter march.

The Chechens were allowed to return home after Mr. Stalin died, but they declared independence as the USSR crumbled in 1991. The Russian Army invaded in 1994, but withdrew in defeat after two years of futile war and an estimated 80,000 mostly civilian casualties.

After winning independence, however, the Chechens failed to build a viable state. Leading warlords such as Shamil Basayev and the Jordanian-born Khattab embraced Islamist ideology and sought to export their revolution to neighboring republics. Russia, now led by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, invaded again in 1999.

How did Chechnya become linked with terrorism?

During Russia's second assault on Chechnya, most of the little republic's first wave of independence-seeking leaders, who had espoused secular nationalism, were either killed or defected to the Russian side. Militant Islamists, seeking to create a Caucasus-wide "caliphate," took over the movement and found tactical inspiration, as well as material support, from Middle Eastern Islamist terror networks like Al Qaeda. The Islamist insurrection has since spread to neighboring republics, especially Ingushetia and Dagestan.

Chechen-led terrorists have struck repeatedly in the Russian heartland, notably a mass hostage-taking at a downtown Moscow theater in 2002 that killed 130 people and a horrific school siege in Beslan, North Ossetia, that killed 330 people, half of them children. A double suicide bombing by "black widow" terrorists ? wives of rebels killed by Russian security forces ? left 40 people dead in a 2010 Moscow metro attack and another suicide bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo airport the next year left 35 people dead.

What is Chechnya like today?

In 2009 the Kremlin declared victory in Chechnya, pulled its army out, and left the republic under control of a pro-Moscow strongman named Ramzan Kadyrov. Under Mr. Kadyrov, Chechnya has enjoyed a stunning economic rebirth, financed mainly by subsidies from Moscow.

But Russian human rights monitors allege the republic has become a legal black hole, where opponents of Kadyrov are rounded up by official death squads, and critical journalists sometimes turn up bullet-ridden and dead on the side of the road. In defiance of the Russian constitution, critics say, Kadyrov is also imposing sharia law in the republic, and meting out punishment to those who disobey.

Still, Kadyrov can rightly claim ? as he routinely does to visiting celebrities ? that Chechnya is practically the safest place in the turbulent northern Caucasus these days.

How will the alleged involvement of Chechens in the Boston bombings affect US-Russia relations?

Since the beginning of the second Chechen war, Mr. Putin has tried to convince US leaders that Russia's war in Chechnya is a chapter of the global war against terrorism, and that the US should stop criticizing Russia's brutal crackdown there and join forces with Moscow.

This argument has gained little traction in Washington, where the often horrific outcomes of Moscow's campaign to pacify Chechnya have made it difficult to see things Putin's way. Despite repeated rumors about Chechen involvement with anti-American terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda and the Taliban, little solid evidence has ever turned up.

But the Chechen brothers who allegedly carried out the Boston Marathon bombing might prompt US leaders to rethink that approach.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chechnya-remote-russian-republic-became-linked-terrorism-161021744.html

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Childhood meningitis tied to lower achievement

By Genevra Pittman

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Kids who have had bacterial meningitis are less likely to finish high school and to be economically self-sufficient as adults, a new study suggests.

The findings are consistent with past research showing that meningitis - inflammation around the brain and spinal cord - increases long-term risks of mental retardation and other disabilities stemming from brain tissue damage.

But the results are unique in that researchers were able to track patients' educational and economic achievements into adulthood, according to Dr. Casper Roed, the study's lead author from Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark.

"We save almost all of (these kids) in the Western world, and that's wonderful news, but what we can see are long-term effects," he told Reuters Health.

Roed and his colleagues followed 2,800 Danish youths who were diagnosed with meningococcal, pneumococcal or Haemophilus influenzae meningitis in 1977 through 2007. They used national education and economic data to compare each of those children to another four of the same age and gender, who did not have meningitis.

The researchers found that by age 35, between 41 and 48 percent of people who'd had meningitis as children had completed high school, compared to 52 to 53 percent of the comparison group.

Similarly, 84 to 91 percent of meningitis survivors were economically self-sufficient as adults, versus 94 to 95 percent of those who hadn't had the disease, the study team reported Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Roed said those differences appeared to be due to lasting effects of the meningitis, itself, at least in cases of pneumococcal and H. influenzae disease.

However, the siblings and parents of children who'd had meningococcal meningitis were also more likely to fall short educationally, the study team determined. So for those childhood survivors, education and economic troubles could be explained by meningococcal meningitis being more common in socially-deprived areas.

According to Roed, the findings show the need to provide extra support to kids who are having difficulty in school after a bout of meningitis.

But it's also possible to keep young people from getting bacterial meningitis in the first place, researchers noted.

"The good news is, these are all vaccine-preventable," said Dr. Lee Harrison, an infectious diseases researcher at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania who wasn't involved in the new study.

Vaccines against pneumococcus and H. influenzae are recommended starting at two months of age in the United States, he noted, and the meningococcal shot is on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's adolescent vaccine schedule.

"Several states have experienced H. flu meningitis cases that resulted in deaths because of parents that didn't want to vaccinate" - typically because of unsupported health concerns, Harrison told Reuters Health.

"If there's any message I could give, it's that these vaccines are exceeding safe and they're highly effective and the consequences of the disease are devastating."

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/JjFzqx Journal of the American Medical Association, online April 23, 2013.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/childhood-meningitis-tied-lower-achievement-205246322.html

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Targeted screening for hepatitis C is cost-effective

Apr. 24, 2013 ? Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have found that targeted screening for populations with a higher estimated prevalence for hepatitis C may be cost-effective.

These findings, published in the April 24, 2013, online edition of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, indicate that targeted screening for chronic hepatitis C virus infection is cost-effective when the prevalence of hepatitis C in a population exceeds 0.84 percent (84/10,000).

The study further demonstrates how a screening tool, which can be incorporated into an electronic health record, can target such patients and help in preventing the spread of the illness.

Mark Eckman, MD, Alice Margaret Posey Professor of Internal Medicine, professor in the division of general internal medicine and UC Health physician, and Kenneth Sherman, MD, PhD, Robert & Helen Gould Endowed Chair, professor in the division of digestive diseases and UC Health physician, co-authored the study.

"Hepatitis C is the most common chronic blood-borne infection in the United States and will become an increasing source of morbidity and mortality with aging of the infected population," says Sherman, adding that hepatitis C is a viral disease that leads to inflammation of the liver and can be spread through exchange of bodily fluids with an infected person.

"Our objective in this study was to develop decision analytic models, exploring the cost-effectiveness of screening in populations with varying prevalence of hepatitis C and risks for liver fibrosis -- or scarring -- in those with the illness who do not receive treatment. Liver fibrosis results in a damaged liver, and the patient eventually needs a transplant, increasing cost of care."

Researchers developed a computerized Markov state transition model -- a mathematical framework for modeling decision-making in situations where outcomes are partly due to chance and partly under the control of a decision maker -- to examine screening in a U.S. community whose residents showed no symptoms.

"The base case was an ethnically and gender-mixed adult population with no prior knowledge of diagnosis: 49 percent male, 78 percent white, 13 percent black and 9 percent Hispanic, with a mean age of 46 years," says Eckman.

The model explored strategies of screening followed by guideline-based treatment, if needed, and not screening. Effectiveness was measured in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) -- accounting for both duration of survival and quality of life -- and costs were measured in U.S. dollars.

"In the base case, screening followed by guideline-based treatment -- using boceprevir as the standard antiviral treatment -- of those with chronic hepatitis C infection cost roughly $47,000 per QALY -- a 'cost-effective' result," says Eckman. "The overall hepatitis C prevalence in the U.S. is reported to be between 1.3 and 1.9 percent, but prevalence varies among patients with different risk factors."

He continues that the marginal cost-effectiveness ratio (mCER) of screening decreases as prevalence increases.

"Below a prevalence of 0.84 percent within a population, the mCER is greater than the generally accepted societal willingness-to-pay threshold of $50,000 per QALY," he says. "Therefore, it is not considered highly cost-effective. However, by targeting screening in populations with a higher estimated prevalence, screening and subsequent treatment of those infected would be cost effective."

"Recently released guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advocate 'birth-cohort' focused screening for those born between 1945 and 1965. However, such a strategy may miss screening higher risk patients born in years outside of this cohort," Eckman adds. "Alternatively, patients with no risk factors for hepatitis C infection, other than their membership in the 'birth cohort,' may be at a low enough risk to make their screening less cost-effective."

Eckman and Sherman "argue for the development and proliferation of tools to assist in the implementation of guidelines. The increasing use of electronic health records and computerized order entry create new opportunities to marry guidelines to practice."

"Perhaps in this manner, targeted and cost-effective screening can become a reality," says Eckman.

This work was supported in part by a research grant from the Investigator-Initiated Studies Program of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.

Eckman received funds from Merck; Sherman served as a consultant to Merck on one occasion in 2012.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. M. H. Eckman, A. H. Talal, S. C. Gordon, E. Schiff, K. E. Sherman. Cost-effectiveness of Screening for Chronic Hepatitis C Infection in the United States. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 2013; 56 (10): 1382 DOI: 10.1093/cid/cit069

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/OS70te0v_X0/130424112303.htm

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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Mac Miller To Drop 'S.D.S.' Video Tomorrow Night On MTV2!

And he'll toast 'Most Dope' re-up with a marathon of the show on Wednesday before 'S.D.S.' clip premieres at 11 p.m. ET.
By Rob Markman


Mac Miller
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1706194/mac-miller-sds-video-most-dope-season-2.jhtml

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California Wants Labels Warning of BPA in Foods - Shape

The state of California recently admitted what many consumers and health and nutrition experts have been speculating for years: Canned food chemical bisphenol A (BPA) is toxic and may cause health problems. After officially adding the chemical to its Prop 65 list?a list of substances that are known carcinogens or endocrine-disruptors?the state will now require warning labels to be posted on products that contain high levels of BPA sold in California.

"This decision is a step in the right direction," says SHAPE Diet Doctor Mike Roussell, Ph.D., author of The Six Pillars of Nutrition. "I think this is good validation that these endocrine-disrupting chemicals have real effects on our bodies. I hope this will be the first of several similar decisions."

What is bisphenol A?
BPA is what's known as an "everywhere chemical" because it shows up in seemingly innocent items you use every day, such as canned foods, plastic water bottles, pacifiers, and teethers. BPA also used to be present in baby food containers, but a few years ago the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned it?not because it deemed it harmful but because of widespread public outcry.

There is some disagreement within the healthy living community about how just how bad BPA is for you, but the chemical has been linked to a wide variety of health effects including behavioral changes, altered brain behavior, cancer, and cardiovascular disease.

RELATED: The U.S. allows more questionable ingredients in its food products than other countries. Read up on nine foods that contain toxic ingredients?and what to eat instead.

"BPA is what's referred to as an endocrine disruptor, meaning that once in the body, it mimics estrogen and can block testosterone," says registered dietitian Julie Upton. "When something mimics estrogen or has an estrogenic effect, it can increase your risk of certain types of cancers that are estrogen-dependent, such as breast cancer or ovarian cancer. BPA can also increase your risk of prostate cancer."

What does this mean for consumers?
California's Prop 65 is a "right to know" law that was approved by California voters in 1986 and requires the state to maintain a list of chemicals that cause cancer or reproductive toxicity. It also includes asbestos, lead, mercury, and benzene. However, because the proposed "safe harbor level" or the maximum allowable dose for BPA is set so high at 290 micrograms per day, it's possible most BPA-containing products sold in California won't actually have to carry a label, Sarah Janssen, a senior scientist for the Natural Resources Defense Council, wrote on her blog.

"That is a relatively high level of exposure and is based on high-dose studies from a 2008 National Toxicology Program report. This is not likely to result in any warning labels on products in California, but it can be changed, and we think it should be, based on newer science, which continues to find evidence of harm at much lower levels of exposure."

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How can you minimize your exposure to BPA?
BPA leaches into the food and water supply, making it hard to avoid. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found BPA in the urine of 93 percent of the people it's tested and, according to Roussell, it's ubiquitous in fetal blood tests as well. However there are a few ways to minimize your exposure to it:

1. Eat less processed food. Both Roussell and Upton agree that by eating fewer foods that come in cans or packages, you can reduce your exposure significantly.

2. Lose a few pounds. "Fat cells are estrogenic, so one way to minimize the potential for estrogen-driven problems is to keep body fat in check," Upton says. "This doesn't deal with BPA directly but will reduce your estrogen exposure."

3. Go BPA-Free.?More and more companies are starting to phase BPA out of their products. If you purchase a lot of canned foods, look for brands that are labeled "BPA-free," such as Eden Organics. If you find yourself reusing plastic water bottles a lot, try to look for brands with a number 2, 4, or 5 on them, but avoid any with the number 7?this is an indication that the bottle is manufactured with polycarbonate and contains BPA.

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UPDATE: As of April 19, a California judge has granted a preliminary injunction in the American Chemistry Council's (ACC) case against the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment's decision to add BPA to the Prop 65 list, effectively removing BPA from the list after all, at least until a decision is made.

"We do not believe there is a scientific basis for including BPA on the Proposition 65 list and we look forward to our case being heard on the merits sometime this summer," Steve Hentges, executive director of ACC's polycarbonate and BPA global group said after the injunction was issued.

The suit from the ACC maintains that California EPA officials made the decision to put BPA on Prop 65 by "circumventing the state's scientific process by allowing administrative staff to override the decision of a scientific panel from 2009." The judge agreed with the plaintiff, hence the injunction.

Source: http://www.shape.com/blogs/shape-your-life/california-wants-labels-warning-bpa-foods

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