Cancer Society hits 100 as US cancer rate falls

NEW YORK (AP) ? The American Cancer Society ? one of the nation's best known and influential health advocacy groups ? is 100 years old this week.

Back in 1913 when it was formed, cancer was a lesser threat for most Americans. The biggest killers then were flu, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and stomach bugs. At a time when average life expectancy was 47, few lived long enough to get cancer.

But 15 doctors and businessmen in New York City thought cancer deserved serious attention, so they founded the American Society for the Control of Cancer. The modern name would come 31 years later.

The cancer society's rise coincided with the taming of infectious diseases and lengthening life spans. "Cancer is a disease of aging, so as people live longer there will be more cancer," explained Dr. Michael Kastan, executive director of Duke University's Cancer Institute.

Cancer became the nation's No. 2 killer in 1938, a ranking it has held ever since. It also became perhaps the most feared disease ? the patient's own cells growing out of control, responding only to brutal treatments: surgery, radiation and poisonous chemicals.

The cancer society is credited with being the largest and most visible proponent of research funding, prevention and programs to help house and educate cancer patients.

Last year, the organization had revenues of about $925 million. It employs 6,000 and has 3 million volunteers, calling itself the largest voluntary health organization in the nation.

"The American Cancer Society really is in a league of its own," Kastan said. The rate of new cancer cases has been trending downward ever so slightly.

Some historical highlights:

1913 ? The American Society for the Control of Cancer is founded in New York City.

1944 ? The organization is renamed the American Cancer Society. The change is spurred by Mary Lasker, the wife of advertising mogul Albert Lasker.

1946 ? A research program is launched, built on $1 million raised by Mary Lasker. A year later, Dr. Sidney Farber of Boston announces the first successful chemotherapy treatment.

1948 ? The cancer society pushes the Pap test, which has been credited with driving a 70 percent decline in uterine and cervical cancer.

1964 ? Prodded by the cancer society and other groups, U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry issues a report irrefutably linking smoking to cancer.

1971 ? The cancer society helps lead passage of the National Cancer Act to ramp up research money. President Nixon declares a national "war on cancer," which becomes an extended effort derided by some as a "medical Vietnam."

1976 ? The cancer society suggests women 40 and older consider a mammogram if their mother or sisters had breast cancer.

1976 ? The cancer society hosts a California event to encourage smokers to quit for the day. A year later, the annual Great American Smokeout is launched nationally.

1988 ? Atlanta becomes headquarters for the society.

1997 ? The cancer society recommends yearly mammograms for women over 40.

2000 ? Dr. Brian Druker of Oregon reports the first success with "targeted" cancer therapy.

2003 ? The cancer society stops recommending monthly breast self-exams. But it continues to urge annual mammograms for most women over 40, even after a government task force says most don't need screening until 50.

2012 ? The cancer society reports the rate of new cancer cases has been inching down by about half a percent each year since 1999.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cancer-society-hits-100-us-cancer-rate-falls-063716332.html

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Oklahoma lowers tornado death toll amid frantic search

By Carey Gillam and Ian Simpson

MOORE, Oklahoma (Reuters) - Emergency workers pulled more than 100 survivors from the rubble of homes, schools and a hospital in an Oklahoma town hit by a powerful tornado, and officials on Tuesday sharply lowered the number of deaths caused by the storm.

The 2-mile (3-km) wide tornado tore through Moore outside Oklahoma City on Monday afternoon, trapping victims beneath the rubble.

Seven children died at Plaza Towers Elementary School, which took a direct hit, but many more survived unhurt.

"They literally were lifting walls up and kids were coming out," Oklahoma State Police Sergeant Jeremy Lewis said. "They pulled kids out from under cinder blocks without a scratch on them."

The Oklahoma state medical examiner's office said 24 bodies had been recovered from the wreckage, down from the 51 they had reported earlier. The earlier number likely reflected some double-counted deaths, said Amy Elliott, chief administrative officer for the medical examiner.

"There was a lot of chaos," she said.

Thunderstorms and lightning slowed the rescue effort on Tuesday, but 101 people had been pulled from the debris alive, Oklahoma Highway Patrol spokeswoman Betsy Randolph said.

Firefighters from more than a dozen fire departments and rescuers from other states worked all night under bright spotlights trying to find survivors.

President Barack Obama declared a major disaster area in Oklahoma, ordering federal aid to supplement state and local efforts in Moore after the deadliest U.S. tornado since 161 people were killed in Joplin, Missouri, two years ago.

"The people of Moore should know that their country will remain on the ground, there for them, beside them, as long as it takes," Obama said at the White House.

Glenn Lewis, the mayor of Moore, said the whole town looked like a debris field and there was a danger of electrocution and fire from downed power lines and broken natural gas lines.

"It looks like we have lost our hospital. I drove by there a while ago and it's pretty much destroyed," Lewis told NBC.

The National Weather Service assigned the twister a preliminary ranking of EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, meaning the second most powerful category of tornado with winds up to 200 mph.

The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center warned the town 16 minutes before the tornado touched down at 3:01 p.m. (2001 GMT), which is more than the average eight to 10 minutes of warning, said Keli Pirtle, a spokeswoman for the center in Norman, Oklahoma.

SCHOOL TRAGEDY

U.S. Representative Tom Cole, who lives in Moore, said the Plaza Towers school was the most secure and structurally strong building in the area.

"And so people did the right thing, but if you're in front of an F4 or an F5 there is no good thing to do if you're above ground. It's just tragic," he said on MSNBC TV.

At least 60 of the 240 people injured were children, hospital officials said.

Witnesses said Monday's tornado appeared more fierce than the giant twister that was among the dozens that tore up the area on May 3, 1999, killing more than 40 people and destroying thousands of homes. That tornado ranked as an EF5 tornado with wind speeds of more than 200 mph.

The 1999 tornado ranks as the third-costliest tornado in U.S. history, having caused more than $1 billion in damage at the time, or more than $1.3 billion in today's dollars. Only the devastating Joplin and Tuscaloosa tornadoes in 2011 were more costly.

Monday's tornado in Moore ranks among the most severe in the United States http://link.reuters.com/gec38t

Jeff Alger, 34, who works in the Kansas oil fields on a fracking crew, said his wife Sophia took their children out of school when she heard a tornado was coming and then fled Moore and watched it flatten the town from a few miles away.

"They didn't even have time to grab their shoes," said Alger, who has five children aged 4 to 11. The storm tore part of the roof off of his home. He was with his wife at Norman Regional Hospital to have glass and other debris removed from his wife's bare feet.

Moore was devastated with debris everywhere, street signs gone, lights out, houses destroyed and vehicles tossed about as if they were toys.

The dangerous storm system threatened several southern Plains states with more twisters.

SAVED BY CELLPHONE

Speaking outside Norman Regional Hospital Ninia Lay, 48, said she huddled in a closet through two storm alerts and the tornado hit on the third.

"I was hiding in the closet and I heard something like a train coming," she said under skies still flashing with lightning. The house was flattened and Lay was buried in the rubble for two hours until her husband Kevin, 50, and rescuers dug her out.

"I thank God for my cell phone, I called me husband for help."

Her 7-year-old daughter Catherine, a first-grader at Plaza Towers Elementary School, took shelter with classmates and teachers in a bathroom when the tornado hit and destroyed the school. She escaped with scrapes and cuts.

Briarwood Elementary School, which also stood in the storm's path, was all but destroyed. On the first floor, sections of walls had been peeled away, giving clear views into the building; while in other areas, cars hurled by the storm winds were lodged in the walls.

At Southmoore High School in Moore, about 15 students were in a field house when the tornado hit. Coaches sent them to an interior locker room and made them put on football helmets, and all survived, the Oklahoman newspaper said.

(Additional reporting by Alice Mannette, Lindsay Morris, Nick Carey, Brendan O'Brien and Greg McCune; Writing by Nick Carey and Jane Sutton; Editing by W Simon and Grant McCool)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/monster-tornado-devastates-oklahoma-town-least-37-dead-010033332.html

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Team finds mechanism linking key inflammatory marker to cancer

Monday, May 20, 2013

In a new study described in the journal Oncogene, researchers reveal how a key player in cell growth, immunity and the inflammatory response can be transformed into a primary contributor to tumor growth.

Scientists call this Jekyll-and-Hyde molecule NF-kappa B. In healthy cells, it is a powerful "first responder," a vital part of the body's immune and inflammatory responses. It spends most of its life in the cell's cytoplasm, quietly awaiting orders. But when extracellular signals ? of a viral or bacterial invasion, for example ? set off chemical alarms, the cell unchains this warhorse, allowing it to go into the nucleus where it spurs a flurry of defensive activity, including the transcription of genes that trigger inflammation, promote cell proliferation and undermine cell death.

Researchers have known for years that a hyperactive form of NF-kappa B that gets into the nucleus and stays there is associated with various cancers. But they didn't know what was keeping it active in the nucleus.

"Normally in the cell NF-kappa B is in the cytosol, it's not in the nucleus, and it's not activated," said University of Illinois medical biochemistry professor Lin-Feng Chen, who led the new study. "You have to stimulate normal cells to see NF-kappa B in the nucleus. But in cancer cells without any stimulation you can see this nuclear form of NF-kappa B. The cell just won't die because of this. That is why NF-kappa B is so important in cancer."

In the new study, Chen's group found that another molecule known to help regulate gene expression, called BRD4, recognizes a specific amino acid on a subunit of the NF-kappa B protein complex after the amino acid has been marked with a specific tag, called an acetyl group. This "acetylation" allows the BRD4 to bind to NF-kappa B, activating it and preventing its degradation in cancer cells.

Previous studies had shown that BRD4's recognition of the acetylated subunit increased NF-kappa B activation, but this recognition had not been linked to cancer.

BRD4 belongs to a class of molecules that can recognize chemical markers on other proteins and interact with them to spur the marked proteins to perform new tasks. Chemical "readers" such as BRD4 are important players in the field of epigenetics, which focuses on how specific genes are regulated.

"In epigenetics, there are writers, there are readers and there are erasers," Chen said. The writers make modifications to proteins after they are formed, without changing the underlying sequence of the gene that codes for them. These modifications (such as acetylation) signal other molecules (the readers) to engage with the marked proteins in various ways, allowing the proteins to fulfill new roles in the life of the cell. Epigenetic erasers remove the marks when they are no longer of use.

Such protein modifications "have been shown to be critically involved in transcription regulation and cancer development," the researchers report.

To test whether BRD4 was contributing to the sustained presence of NF-kappa B in the nucleus of cancer cells, Chen and his colleagues exposed lung cancer cells in cell culture and in immune-deficient mice to JQ1, a drug that interferes with BRD4 activity. Exposure to JQ1 blocked the interaction of BRD4 and NF-kappa B, blocked the expression of genes regulated by NF-kappa B, reduced proliferation of lung cancer cells and suppressed the ability of lung cancer cells to induce tumors in immune-deficient mice, the researchers found.

The researchers also discovered that depletion of BRD4 or the treatment of cells with JQ1 induced the degradation of the NF-kappa B subunit recognized by BRD4.

Chen said that BRD4 likely prevents other molecules from recognizing the hyperactive NF-kappa B in the nucleus and marking it for degradation.

"This is an example of how epigenetic regulators and NF-kappa B may one day be targeted for the treatment of cancer," he said.

Researchers from Illinois biochemistry professor Satish Nair's laboratory and from the laboratory of James Bradner at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute contributed to this study.

###

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: http://www.uiuc.edu

Thanks to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for this article.

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

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128313/Team_finds_mechanism_linking_key_inflammatory_marker_to_cancer

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Protesters chant 'IRS has got to go' in Cincinnati

CINCINNATI (AP) ? Chanting "IRS has got to go," tea party activists are rallying in Cincinnati to protest extra IRS scrutiny of their groups.

Waving such signs as "internal revenge service" and some wearing Colonial-era attire, members of tea party groups gathered Tuesday at the city's Fountain Square.

They plan to march to the nearby federal building. That building houses Internal Revenue Service offices that handled group applications for tax-exempt status. IRS officials have acknowledged that some conservative groups received inappropriate attention and questioning.

Tea party protests of the IRS also were planned in other cities across the country.

Some recent IRS retirees in the Cincinnati area say employees there shouldn't be vilified. Former senior manager Bonnie Esrig says the office was a nonpolitical environment, and tax-exempt status workloads had been increasing.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/protesters-chant-irs-got-cincinnati-162322679.html

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Oregon Dressage Society News and Announcements ? The ...

Four young riders have been selected for the 2013 International Dream Program that annually sends young riders to Europe for an intensive 10-day dressage experience. The program is administered and funded annually by The Dressage Foundation (TDF).? An independent selection committee, after reviewing dozens of applications, chose the following young riders to make the twelfth annual TDF trip to Europe: Katie Foster (MI), Molly Eastridge (WA), Hannah Pierucci (VA) and Molly Maloney (NY). The following two young riders were chosen as first and second alternates: Katrina Hiller (WI) and Genay Vaughn (CA). The selection committee based their decision on candidates? essays, competition scores, recommendations, videos of their riding and signs of commitment to the sport of dressage.

Jenny Johnson, Administrative Director of TDF said, ?The Board of Directors and staff of The Dressage Foundation congratulates the four candidates chosen for this year?s International Dream Program!? We received many high quality applications, so the selection committee had quite a task.?

The program, conceived by Olympic medalist and TDF board member, Michael Poulin (FL), will be led this year by chaperones Jennifer Baumert (NC) and Jontelle Forbus (VA). Beth Baumert (CT) is serving as administrator as she has since the program?s inception. Poulin believes TDF?s International Dream program helps American young riders reach their potential. He aims to fuel ?the power of the dream? for young people, and help them ?develop a sense of proportion, a sense of themselves and of being proud of who they are and what they?re doing.?

On August 5, the tentative plan is for the group to travel to England where they will visit Laura Bechtolsheimer, Carl Hester, Charlotte DuJardin and possibly Kyra Kyrklund. The group will attend the Verden CDI and the World Young Horse Championships from August 9-11. Subject to the schedules of German trainers, the young riders may also visit former U.S. team coach, Klaus Balkenhol and Spanish team coach, Jan Bemelmans.? They may visit German Olympians, Ingrid Klimke, Helen Langehanenberg or Hubertus Schmidt. Finally the group has tentative plans to visit Klaus Martin Rath and his son, Matthias Rath, rider of the great Totilas, at the Ann Kathrin Linsenhoff stable, Schafhof. The group will return to their home towns on August 15th.

While traveling, the young riders will record their observations in daily journals and chronicle the events with photos and video to share with their home dressage organizations.

Primary chaperone, Jennifer Baumert, is a USDF Certified Instructor through Fourth Level. She has trained extensively in Germany, most recently with Olympian Klaus Balkenhol when she was riding the stallion, Don Principe.? Jontelle Forbus is USDF Certified through Second Level and lived in Holland while training with Olympian, Coby van Baalen.

?This annual trip is made possible by very generous donors,? said Jenny Johnson. ?We?re very grateful to those who provided funding support for this program.? Further information on the Young Rider International Dream Program will be kept current on the TDF website:http://www.dressagefoundation.org/International_Dream_Program.htm

###

Source: http://www.oregondressage.com/news/2013/the-dressage-foundation-chooses-four-young-riders-for-international-dream-european-tour-including-molly-eastridge-of-longview-wa/

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Bad Bad Hats: It Hurts

When you're looking for something upbeat, some rhythmic clapping and a kazoo solo really help. "It Hurts" is from Bad Bad Hats' 2013 EP of the same name and it's just kind of a good soundtrack for everything. The indie, folk, hipster vibe is definitely present, but if that's what it takes to get some kazoo happening we'll just have to deal with it.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/bad-bad-hats-it-hurts-508783640

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A Look at How Microsoft Designed the Xbox of the Future

How do you build the next generation of an iconic gaming console?and controller? How do you create something that fans both recognize and are inspired by? Wired got some exclusive alone time with the people who brought Xbox One to life. If you like prototypes, you'll love this.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/87OTNuOv2Sg/a-look-at-how-microsoft-designed-the-xbox-of-the-future-509075828

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PFT: Ravens face tough decisions on Suggs, Ngata

Reuters

The Ravens overhauled their defense this offseason, without being awash in salary cap room.

They did it by knowing when to let go, trading expensive-but-old Anquan Boldin, cutting Bernard Pollard and holding the door open for free agents Dannell Ellerbe, Paul Kruger, Ed Reed and Cary Williams.

And with more big moves on the horizon for next offseason, the Ravens are already looking ahead at another sticky cap situation.

According to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun, the Ravens have nearly $71 million of next year?s cap committed to six players (that would be 58 percent of this year?s $123 million limit, and the cap isn?t expected to rise dramatically).

That includes a team-high $16 million for Haloti Ngata, and $12.4 million for Terrell Suggs, both of whom are coming off injuries which limited their effectiveness last season.

So even though they?re looking at another crop of key free agents (Dennis Pitta, Ed Dickson, Michael Oher, Arthur Jones, Corey Graham), they?re confident about being able to keep the right parts together.

?I think the thing we want to do is just live in the moment right now,? assistant G.M. Eric DeCosta said. ?Those guys are under contract. They?re all outstanding players. They?re some of the very best players at their position in the league. We just want to play this year. We?ll let those decisions wait until the future.

?We have a lot of flexibility with the cap. [Negotiator] Pat Moriarty and Ozzie do a phenomenal job of making tough decisions. We?ve made a lot of tough decisions over the last couple of years. They?re hard decisions to make. Any time you have to cut a player or let a player go in free agency because of the salary cap, it?s tough to do that.?

Having so many key players hit free agency at the same time is the bane of drafting well. But as the Ravens have shown this offseason, they?re not above letting guys walk and drafting a replacement, or plugging one in whom they drafted a year ago.

That kind of year-ahead thinking and successful drafting is the reason they won a Super Bowl, but have remained competitive for more than one season at a time.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/05/20/ravens-have-tough-decisions-coming-on-suggs-ngata/related/

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Air pollution and noise pollution increase cardiovascular risk

May 20, 2013 ? Both fine-particle air pollution and noise pollution may increase a person's risk of developing cardiovascular disease, according to German researchers who have conducted a large population study, in which both factors were considered simultaneously.

"Many studies have looked at air pollution, while others have looked at noise pollution," said study leader Barbara Hoffmann, MD, MPH, a professor of environmental epidemiology at the IUF Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine in Germany. "This study looked at both at the same time and found that each form of pollution was independently associated with subclinical atherosclerosis."

The research will be presented at ATS 2013.

"This study is important because it says that both air pollution and noise pollution represent important health problems," said Dr. Philip Harber, a professor of public health at the University of Arizona who was not involved in the research. "In the past, some air pollution studies have been dismissed because critics said it was probably the noise pollution that caused the harm, and vice versa. Now we know that people who live near highways, for instance, are being harmed by air pollution and by noise pollution."

Using data from the Heinz Nixdorf Recall study, an ongoing population study from three neighboring cities in the Ruhr region of Germany, Dr. Hoffmann and her colleagues assessed the long-term exposure to fine particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <2.5 ?m (PM2.5) and long-term exposure to traffic noise in 4238 study participants (mean age 60 years, 49.9% male).

The exposure to air pollutants was calculated using the EURopean Air Pollution Disperson, or EURAD, model. Exposure to traffic noise was calculated using European Union models of outdoor traffic noise levels. These levels were quantified as weighted 24-hour mean exposure (Lden) and nighttime exposure (Lnight).

To determine the association of the two variables with cardiovascular risk, the researchers looked at thoracic aortic calcification (TAC), a measure of subclinical atherosclerosis.

TAC was quantified using non-contrast enhanced electron beam computed tomography. Using multiple linear regression, the researchers controlled for other cardiovascular risk factors, including age, gender, education, unemployment, smoking status and history, exposure to second-hand smoke, physical activity, alcohol use and body mass index.

After controlling for these variables, the researchers found that fine-particle air pollution was associated with an increase in TAC burden by 19.9 % (95%CI 8.2; 32.8%) per 2.4?g/m3. (To put that increase in perspective: in the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency recently revised the overall limit downward from 15 to 12?g/m 3).

The researchers also found that nighttime traffic noise pollution increased TAC burden by 8% (95% CI 0.8; 8.9%) per 5 dB. (An average living room would typically have a noise level of about 40 A-weighted decibels, or dB(A), an expression of the relative loudness of sounds as perceived by the human ear, while busy road traffic would generate about 70-80dB(A)). Mean exposure to traffic noise over 24 hours was not associated with increased TAC.

Among subgroups of participants, the researchers found even stronger associations. The interaction of PM2.5 and TAC was clearer among those younger than 65, participants with prevalent coronary artery disease and those taking statins. In contrast, the effect of Lnight was stronger in participants who were not obese, did not have coronary artery disease and did not take statins.

Although the cross-sectional design of this study limits the causal interpretation of the data, Dr. Hoffmann said, "both exposures seem to be important and both must be considered on a population level, rather than focusing on just one hazard."

She added that her research group plans to conduct a longitudinal analysis with repeated measures of TAC over time.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/QoelKfka27A/130520142745.htm

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BC ceremony notable for who will attend, who won't

BOSTON (AP) ? This year's commencement at Boston College looks to be notable for who will be there, as well as who won't.

Two graduate business students who were injured in the Boston Marathon bombings have recovered enough to receive their diplomas in Monday's ceremonies.

Brittany Loring and Liza Cherney are both set to receive degrees from the Carroll School of Management. Loring needed three operations after her left leg was struck by shrapnel from the first of the twin blasts on April 15. Cherney was standing next to her close friend and classmate Loring and was also badly hurt.

Earlier Monday, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny will address students receiving undergraduate degrees from the Jesuit-run college. He'll also receive an honorary degree.

Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley won't be there for Kenny's speech because of Kenny's support for legislation in his country that would permit abortion.

The leader of the Boston Archdiocese traditionally gives the benediction at Boston College's graduation, but the U.S. Catholic bishops have urged Catholic institutions not to honor government officials who promote it.

Kenny says the bill simply clarifies when a doctor can perform an abortion to save a woman's life. But Catholic bishops say it would greatly expand abortion, particularly by permitting it in certain cases when a woman threatens suicide.

O'Malley called abortion a "crime against humanity" and said he decided not to attend the ceremony because Boston College didn't withdraw its invitation, and Kenny didn't decline it.

Boston College spokesman Jack Dunn said the school respects O'Malley and regrets he won't attend graduation.

"However, we look forward to our commencement and to Prime Minister Kenny's remarks," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bc-ceremony-notable-attend-wont-063046915.html

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Genetic Testing Guidelines Under Fire

If you underwent a genetic test for a heart condition, but the test also revealed that you have a high risk of colon cancer, would you want to know?

A respected scientific society says your doctor should tell you, but the group is receiving criticism for its recommendation that "incidental findings" of genetic tests be shared with patients.

Incidental findings are unexpected results, unrelated to the reason for testing. What to do with these findings has been a controversial issue for adults undergoing genetic testing, as well as children.

In March, the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) released guidelines saying that when patients receive genetic testing for any medical reason, they should be screened for mutations in an additional 57 genes, including mutations that strongly increase the risk of breast, ovarian and colon cancer.

The ACMG argues that doctors have an obligation to look for and report these mutations because there are ways that people can act to reduce their of developing a medical disorder.

However, some researchers and bioethicists say the new recommendations go too far, and take away patients' rights to refuse medical information they do not wish to know.

Informed consent

A crucial part of genetic testing ethics is ensuring that patients understand what a test might find, and what those findings could mean for future treatment.

Under the new recommendations, a patient who consents to any genetic test is consenting to be screened for mutations in an additional 57 genes. Some bioethicists take issue with this approach, because patients may not wish to know their results for all of these genes.

A positive result for any one of these mutations may increase patients' anxiety, or cause them to live their life differently, said Susan Wolf, a professor of law, medicine and public policy at the University of Minnesota.

Under the new guidelines, "unless they are willing to have this extra analysis done, the only option is to walk away from the sequencings altogether," Wolf said. "It's all or nothing."

Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist at New York University School of Medicine's Division of Medical Ethics, agreed that patients should have an opportunity to refuse. "People do not have any obligations to accept any findings that they hadn?t been expecting," Caplan said.

And even calling such findings "incidental" is a misnomer, Wolf said, because under the new guidelines, researchers have to actively test for these gene mutations.

What about kids?

Earlier this year, both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the AMCG advised that children not be screened for genetic conditions that occur in adulthood (such as breast cancer), unless some action in childhood can lower the risk of disease or death. Children should wait until they are at least 18 years old to decide if they want to know their risk, the guidelines say.

But under the new recommendations, children should be informed about any findings from the extra screening, including those that relate to adult disorders.

Supporters of the new recommendations say that they are not at odds with earlier guidelines.

Dr. Robert Green, of Harvard Medical School, and colleagues, wrote in the May 16 issue of the journal Science that if doctors are screening a child for a genetic disease that occurs in adulthood, the child would presumably have a family history of the disease. With incidental findings, no other family members, including the child, would be known to be at risk. So reporting an incidental finding could alert the child, as well as other family members including adults, to their risk of a certain condition, Green said.

But others disagree, saying the new recommendations contradict earlier guidelines, and are not in children's best interest. "You've deprived the child of their own choice later as an adult," Wolf said.

Practical issues

The guidelines also say that patients should be counseled about the implications of genetic testing before the test is ordered. But some argue that discussing all 57 genes would be demanding. "That is going to be a rather time consuming process," said Dr. Harry Ostrer, a medical geneticist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.

Wolf and others are calling on the AMCG to reconsider the new guidelines. The AMCG says that the guidelines will be reviewed yearly and updated in light of new evidence.

But in the meantime, doctors are in a bind about what to do when screening patients.

"It really creates a big dilemma because, when an organization like the AMCG makes a recommendation, it's seen as establishing a standard of care," Ostrer said. If doctors don't follow the guidelines, patients could sue for malpractice if it turns out they are a carrier of a mutation that the additional screening would have caught, Ostrer said.

Ostrer said he would like to see more evidence about how patients respond to being told about incidental findings. Studies looking at this question are being carried out now, he said.

Follow Rachael Rettner @RachaelRettner. Follow MyHealthNewsDaily @MyHealth_MHND, Facebook & Google+. Originally published on LiveScience.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/genetic-testing-guidelines-under-fire-132942409.html

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Images of Oklahoma tornado devastation

A child is pulled from the rubble of the Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., and passed along to rescuers Monday, May 20, 2013. A tornado as much as a mile (1.6 kilometers) wide with winds... more?A child is pulled from the rubble of the Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., and passed along to rescuers Monday, May 20, 2013. A tornado as much as a mile (1.6 kilometers) wide with winds up to 200 mph (320 kph) roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday, flattening entire neighborhoods, setting buildings on fire and landing a direct blow on an elementary school.(AP Photo Sue Ogrocki) less?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lightbox/tornadoes-pound-plains-midwest-slideshow/

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One in 10 teens using 'study drugs,' but parents aren't paying attention

May 20, 2013 ? As high schoolers prepare for final exams, teens nationwide may be tempted to use a "study drug" ?- a prescription stimulant or amphetamine -- to gain an academic edge. But a new University of Michigan poll shows only one in 100 parents of teens 13-17 years old believes that their teen has used a study drug.

Study drugs refer to stimulant medications typically prescribed for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); commonly prescribed medicines in this category include Adderall, Concerta, Ritalin, and Vyvanse.

Among parents of teens who have not been prescribed a stimulant medication for ADHD, just 1% said they believe their teen has used a study drug to help study or improve grades, according to the latest University of Michigan Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health. However, recent national data from Monitoring the Future indicate that 10% of high school sophomores and 12% of high school seniors say they've used an amphetamine or stimulant medication not prescribed by their doctor.

Sometimes students without ADHD take someone else's medication, to try to stay awake and alert and try to improve their scores on exams or assignments. Taking study drugs has not been proven to improve students' grades, and it can be very dangerous to their health, says Matthew M. Davis, M.D., M.A.P.P., director of the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health.

"Taking these medications when they are not prescribed for you can lead to acute exhaustion, abnormal heart rhythms and even confusion and psychosis if the teens get addicted and go into withdrawal," says Davis.

"What we found in this poll is a clear mismatch between what parents believe and what their kids are reporting. But even though parents may not be recognizing these behaviors in their own kids, this poll also showed that one-half of the parents say they are very concerned about this abuse in their communities," Davis says.

White parents were most likely to say they are "very concerned" (54%), compared with black (38%) and Hispanic/Latino (37%) parents.

Despite this concern, only 27 percent of parents polled said they have talked to their teens about using study drugs. Black parents were more likely to have discussed this issue with their teens (41%), compared with white (27%) or Hispanic (17%) parents.

"If we are going to make a dent in this problem, and truly reduce the abuse of these drugs, we need parents, educators, health care professionals and all who interact with teens to be more proactive about discussing the issue," says Davis.

Over three-quarters of parents polled said they support school policies aimed at stopping abuse of study drugs in middle schools and high schools. Overall, 76% of parents said they believe schools should be required to discuss the dangers of ADHD medication abuse.

Another 79% support a policy to require students with a prescription for ADHD medications to keep their pills in a secure location such as the school nurse's office -- a requirement that would prohibit students from carrying medicines of this nature that could potentially be shared with, or sold to, other students.

"We know teens may be sharing drugs or spreading the word that these medications can give their grades a boost. But the bottom line is that these prescription medications are drugs, and teens who use them without a prescription are taking a serious risk with their health," Davis says.?

Full report: http://mottnpch.org/reports-surveys/one-ten-teens-using-%E2%80%9Cstudy-drugs%E2%80%9D-are-parents-paying-attention

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/child_development/~3/BeA1mHx0gWw/130520094454.htm

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Nintendo 3DS XL Circle Pad Pro review: just like the original, but bigger

Nintendo seems to have a knack for repeat performances. Nintendo DS? Quickly supplanted by the DS Lite -- and the DSi didn't last too long either before it was succeeded by the DSi XL. Even the 3DS saw a revision, when it was supersized last summer. These redesigns typically don't change more than the device's size, but when the 3DS XL was announced, some gamers were left wanting. Didn't the original 3DS get an accessory specifically to address the lack of a second analog pad? Why didn't Nintendo take the opportunity to add dual-analog controls? Well, if that happened, Nintendo couldn't release an encore Circle Pad Pro accessory, could it? Let's take a look at the 3DS XL Circle Pad Pro and see what's changed.

Gallery: 3DS XL Circle Pad Pro

Filed under: Peripherals, Nintendo

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/19/3ds-circle-pad-pro-review/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Frog once imported for pregnancy testing brought deadly amphibian disease to US

May 15, 2013 ? African frogs, originally imported for early 20th century pregnancy tests, carried a deadly amphibian disease to the U.S., according to a new study published today in the journal PLOS ONE.

African Clawed Frogs have long been suspected of introducing a harmful fungus called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis or Bd to new populations that haven't been exposed to this pathogen before. The fungus has led to the recent decline or extinction of 200 frog species worldwide. A previous study found that the earliest case of Bd in the world was found in African Clawed Frogs in their native South Africa in 1934, but until now no research has tested for the disease among this species in populations that have become established in the U.S.

"We found that African Clawed Frogs that have been introduced in California are carrying this harmful fungus," said SF State biologist Vance Vredenburg. "This is the first evidence of the disease among introduced feral populations in the U.S., and it suggests these frogs may be responsible for introducing a devastating, non-native disease to amphibians in the United States."

From the 1930s to 1950s, thousands of African Clawed Frogs were exported across the world for use in pregnancy tests, scientific research and the pet trade. These frogs will ovulate when injected with a pregnant woman's urine.

"Today, these frog populations are often found in or near urban areas, probably because hospitals released them into the wild when new pregnancy testing methods were invented in the 1960s," Vredenburg said.

Named for the claws they use to catch prey, these greenish-grey frogs live in pools and streams and have established feral populations in the U.S., including in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.

African Clawed Frogs are potentially potent carriers of the Bd fungus because they can be infected for long periods of time without dying, allowing them to pass it on to more vulnerable species.

"It's amazing that more than half a century after being brought to California, these frogs are still here, and they still carry this highly infectious disease," said Vredenburg, associate professor of biology at SF State. "This implies that there must be a stable relationship between the pathogen and the frogs, whereas there are other frog species, for example in the Sierra Nevada, which have been wiped out by the pathogen."

For this latest study, Vredenburg and colleagues tested museum specimens at the California Academy of Sciences. They assessed the prevalence of the disease by swabbing DNA from the skin of preserved African Clawed Frog specimens that were collected from wild populations in California between 2001 and 2010.

They also tested archived specimens collected in Africa between 1871 and 2010 and found evidence confirming that Bd was present among indigenous populations of this species before they were exported worldwide.

Although no longer used in pregnancy testing, African Clawed Frogs are still imported to the U.S. for use in biomedical and basic science research. Because of their suspected role as a carrier of the Bd fungus and other potential pathogens, eleven states in the U.S. have already restricted the importation of these frogs, for example by requiring special permits and not allowing them to be sold as pets.

"Back in the 1960s, African Clawed Frogs were kind of ignored in terms of conservation research but now the damage has been done," Vredenburg said. "Now, we need to be cautious about other introduced species, including those in the pet and food trade. There could be other animals out there that are carrying diseases that we don't even know about yet."

"Prevalence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in Xenopus Collected in Africa (1871-2000) and in California (2001-2010)" was published May 15, 2013 in PLOS ONE. Vredenburg co-authored the paper with Samuel V. G. McNally, a graduate student in Vredenburg's lab, and Stephen A. Felt, Erica C. Morgan, Sabrina Wilson, and Sherril L. Green from Stanford University.

The research was supported by the National Science Foundation.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/Dre2nHCzTdU/130515174350.htm

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Ticketmaster settles rewards lawsuit for $23M

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Ticketmaster has agreed to settle claims for up to $23 million over a lawsuit affecting more than a million people who, after buying a ticket online, were enrolled in a rewards program that cost $9 a month but never gave them any benefits.

U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer in Los Angeles approved the settlement last week.

Plaintiffs' attorney Adam Gutride said affected customers will be sent an email Friday with a link to a website where they can file a claim. Each customer can get up to $30.

About 1.12 million people are eligible to file a claim. They signed up for the rewards program after buying a ticket at Ticketmaster.com between September 2004 and June 2009. The plaintiffs argued that they didn't know about the fees, which were charged to the credit or debit card used to buy the ticket.

Gutride said this kind of aggressive marketing was common on the Internet around that time.

"People have gotten more savvy about these things," Gutride said. "This was early on. That's why so many people were duped."

Of the people who enrolled in the program, 93 percent didn't redeem any of the online coupons for which they were charged.

The defendants included Ticketmaster, its parent at the time, IAC/InterActiveCorp, and Entertainment Publications Inc. Ticketmaster is now part of Live Nation Entertainment Inc. after a January 2010 merger.

The defendants said in settlement documents that the Entertainment Rewards program fully disclosed the terms and conditions, including the monthly fee, and said there was no basis for a class action suit. The original lawsuit dates back to January 2007. Under the settlement, the defendants don't admit any wrongdoing.

A Ticketmaster spokeswoman did not immediately comment.

The plaintiffs said the affected customers paid about $85 million, or $75.89 each, for the program. It took the average person about eight months to cancel the monthly payments.

Although each person can claim $30, the payout may be reduced if too many people sign up, since the settlement caps payouts at $23 million. That includes about $4 million in legal fees.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ticketmaster-settles-rewards-lawsuit-23m-181501094.html

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Singing couple insists Leno skit wasn't staged

TV

Randee Dawn TODAY contributor

52 minutes ago

Sheesh! You show up to pump some gas, belt out a Bon Jovi song, and the next thing you know the video of the routine goes viral and the whole world thinks you're just some staged gimmick.

Such was the story of Will and Monifa Sims, who appeared on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" last week. The couple sang for the show's hidden-camera "Pumpcast" segment and turned out to have great camera presence and better-than-average voices. Leno invited them on the show and they sat in with the band.

Then websites like The Smoking Gun got in on the act and declared that since the couple (who work as a bartender and fitness instructor) had moved to L.A. to get into showbiz (and Monifa had been on a previous "Pumpcast" segment), it must have all been staged.

But on a visit to TODAY Wednesday, the singing twosome insisted the segment was not rigged. When Matt Lauer asked if they'd gotten a tipoff that "Pumpcast" would be at their local gas station on that day, Monifa said, "No. How would I know? That's just the gas station I go to get gas every Wednesday after I train my clients. That's what I do."

That said, Monifa did admit she wasn't a newcomer to "Pumpcast." "I was in it," she said, later noting that her previous appearance was two years ago. She added, "I even didn't see (Will) get out of the car. He's singing like he always does. When I heard him, I looked and said, 'Oh, no! This cannot be happening again!'"

"I always sing," said Will. "When I wake up I sing."

"This is a blessing we did not plan," said Monifa.

Then Jon Bon Jovi popped up in a pre-taped segment from South Africa. He said, "I just received word of the viral craziness you caused singing 'Livin' On a Prayer' while pumping a tank of gas.... We really do appreciate it. Hope to see you on the road sometime."

So was that a job offer? Stay tuned, possibly at your local gas station, for more.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/pumpcast-singing-couple-insists-it-wasnt-staged-1C9934018

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Lonmin's S.Africa strike ends, Amplats braced for trouble

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A two-day wildcat strike at Lonmin's South African platinum mines ended on Thursday, but a union official said workers might walk out at larger rival Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) to protest company plans to axe thousands of jobs.

Lonmin shares jumped more than 3 percent after the world's third-largest platinum producer said 86 percent of its workers had reported for duty, easing fears of prolonged unrest at the mine, the epicentre of months of industry turmoil last year that hit growth in Africa's largest economy.

However, Amplats was down 0.8 percent amid reports of a possible strike to try to block the company's plans to shed 6,000 jobs in a restructuring designed to return the firm to profitability.

Jimmy Gama, national treasurer of the Association of Mining and Construction Union (AMCU), said there had been no call for a strike at Amplats.

However, another AMCU official, who did not want to be named, told Reuters a walkout was on the cards if Amplats, a unit of global mining giant Anglo American, stuck to its restructuring plans.

"We have said by tomorrow we can have a strike if they do not want to change," the offical said.

Amplats spokeswoman Mpumi Sithole said the company had received no notification of an intent to strike.

More than 50 people have been killed - including 34 shot dead by police - in more than 12 months of mining unrest stemming from a vicious turf war between AMCU and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).

NUM, a close ally of the ruling African National Congress, had enjoyed a near monopoly in the sector but started to bleed members two years ago, as a belief took hold that its leaders had become lazy and too close to management.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lonmins-african-platinum-workers-end-strike-061143168.html

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Bioshock Infinite Voxophones Guides: Overview | Video Game Blog ...

reading: Home ? Guides ? Bioshock Infinite Voxophones Guides: Overview

By Francesco De MeoPublished: 14 May 2013 8:36 PM UTC

Posted in: Guides

Tags: Bioshock Infinite, francesco de meo, guide, locations, PC, PS3, voxophone, Xbox 360

Bioshock Infinite is truly a unique game: those expecting some simple first person game were definitely surprised in finding out that the game is so much more than simple shooting. Bioshock Infinite not only comes with an excellent story and characters but also with a few interesting gameplay mechanics which actually allow gamers to branch out and create their own special attacks. The Vigor special attacks are really an interesting addition since they can be used together for added proficiency and if you?re not one of those players who fights ever enemy head on you can also create traps with them and dispose of enemies without being seen. The game also makes players think about which Vigor attacks to use in a given situation since most of the enemies found in the game are resistant to specific Vigors.

As if this wasn?t enough, players are also able to gather and collect a few collectible types: we have recently covered the locations of all the Infusion phials which make the game a bit easier by improving your characters health and Shield. If you?re still into collecting items in Bioshock Infinite you may want to start collecting those Voxophones scattered all over the game: these collectibles don?t really improve your performance in battle but they may still be worth getting if you want to know more about the game?s story. There are 80 Voxphones to collect in Bioshock Infinite and finding all of them will make you earn the Eavesdropper Achievement/Trophy.

In these guides we will be covering all the Voxophones locations. Those who don?t really want to search all over the game?s locations for them will also find transcripts of each Voxophone.

We will be sorting the Voxophones by location, starting from the Welcome Center and ending with the Hand Of The Prophet.

• Welcome Center
• Raffle Square
• Comstock Center Rooftops
• Monument Island
• Battleship Bay
• Soldier?s Field
• The Hall of Heroes
• Finkton Docks
• Finkton Proper
• Good Time Club
• Shanty Town
• Bull House Impound
• The Factory
• Emporia
• Downtown Emporia
• Comstock House
• Hand of the Prophet

Article from Gamersyndrome.com

Related posts:

1. Bioshock Infinite Infusions Guide: Overview
2. Bioshock Infinite Infusions Guide: Emporia
3. Bioshock Infinite Vigors Guide: Overview
4. Bioshock Infinite Infusions Guide: Bank Of The Prophet
5. Bioshock Infinite Infusions Guide: Comstock Center Rooftops

Source: http://gamersyndrome.com/2013/guides-2/bioshock-infinite-voxophones-guides-overview/

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Google unveils maps, photo, music features

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Google's sixth annual conference for software developers opened Wednesday with a chance for the company to showcase its latest services. Announcements include new features for online games, maps and search, a new music-streaming service and enhancements to its Google Plus social network, including tools for sharing and enhancing photos.

The audience of about 6,000 people at "Google I/O" includes engineers and entrepreneurs who develop applications and other features that can make smartphones and tablets more appealing. Reporters from around the world also will be on hand, giving Google a chance to generate more hoopla about its latest innovations.

Android already has been activated on 900 million devices made by Samsung Electronics Co., HTC Corp. and other manufacturers. Android devices are the chief rivals to Apple's iPhones and iPads. Android has helped Google make more money because its search engine and other services, including maps, are usually built into the devices. That tie-in drives more visitors to Google and gives the Mountain View, Calif., company more opportunities to sell ads.

Google's conference was being held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

The keynote kicked off at about 9 a.m. PDT and was expected to last nearly three hours. The conference goes through Friday.

Here's a running account of the event, presented in reverse chronological order. All times are PDT. Presenters include CEO Larry Page; Vic Gundotra, Google's senior vice president for engineering; Sundar Pichai, the head of Google's senior vice president for apps and the Chrome operating system for laptops; Hugo Barra, vice president for product management at Android; Ellie Powers, a product manager at Google; Brian McClendon, a vice president who oversees Google Maps; and Daniel Graf, director of Google Maps.

___

11:55 a.m.

Page complains about "the negativity of stories" in the news media. He says, "negativity isn't how we make progress. It's not zero-sum." He describes as "dumb" the stories that focus on rivalries, such as one between Google and Apple.

He also mentions his vision of driverless cars that will save people time and notes that "we are just scratching the surface of what is possible." Page says Google cooperated with Hollywood for the upcoming movie "The Internship" in order to address "a marketing problem" with technology.

___

11:45 a.m.

Page appears on stage, a day after the CEO disclosed a problem with his vocal cords that makes it difficult for him to speak and breathe occasionally. Page has said he remains fit enough to keep running Google. Page doesn't always appear at Google conferences, and his appearance Wednesday could be meant to reassure people.

On stage, he talks about how his dad was interested in technology and once drove him across the country to attend a robotics conference. He says it's important to focus on technology and get more people involved.

He says, "Technology should do the hard work so people can get on doing the things that make them happiest in life."

His voice sounds raspy, but that is usual.

___

11:40 a.m.

Google is also making images from its Google Earth service available on the Web browser. Before, you had to install separate software to use Google Earth. Google also demonstrates the ability to see a view of earth from space and rotate it around.

___

11:30 a.m.

Google introduces new features for its mapping apps on Android devices and iPhones.

When you search for restaurants in a city or neighborhood, you'll get the names of the restaurants along with its ratings at the bottom of the screen. You can swipe through the results horizontally. The mapping app will also include Google Offers ? deals akin to those from Groupon Inc. and LivingSocial.

___

11:20 a.m.

McClendon says Google has been trying to make its mapping services more useful by combining data from authoritative sources and using contributions from users. He says Google recently added more details on North Korea, with more listings of streets and parks rather than just a river and the city's name.

Graf takes a jab at Apple in talking about the success Google's mapping app has had on iPhones. Apple replaced Google's mapping service with its own app last fall. It resulted in complaints about inaccuracies and missing features. Google returned with its own mapping app a few months later. At Wednesday's conference, Graf points out that its app is "let's not forget, accurate."

___

11:05 a.m.

Google is trying to integrate what it knows about users with its search function, so it can reply to questions like "What's my gate number?" or "my restaurant reservation."

Google already makes this available through its Google Now service on Android devices, iPhones and iPads. Now, it's available to anyone using its Chrome browser on traditional computers.

___

10:50 a.m.

Google unveils several tools for sharing photos on its Google Plus social network.

One feature will pick out the best shots from a wide assortment of photos. Just upload a bunch, and Google's machines will reject ones that are blurry or don't have people smiling. Another factor is Google's knowledge of who's important to you ? so family members or close friends are more likely to make the cut.

If the photos don't look quite right, Google is promising to enhance them, taking over a job that typically requires people to use special photo-editing software such as Adobe System Inc.'s Photoshop, Apple's iPhoto or Google's Picasa. Computer-controlled editing tools will automatically soften skin tones and sharpen colors, for instance.

Google is also expanding the storage limit for full-resolution photos. Instead of five gigabytes for free per account, you'll get 15 gigabytes. Gundotra says that when you have an important photo, you don't want to sacrifice its quality to save space.

___

10:40 a.m.

Google is introducing 41 new features to its Google Plus social network, which Google is positioning as an alternative to Facebook.

Among them is a newly designed stream of content ? one designed to be dynamic, rather than a long list seen in Facebook.

Google Plus will start to display automatic hash tags to identify the main topic being discussed in a post or featured in a photo. You'll have the option to turn it off or remove it for a specific post. Google will also help you discover content by pulling up other posts with that hash tag. Facebook doesn't currently use hash tags.

Google is also streamlining its communications tools, offering a new app to combine its chat and Hangout services. Gundotra notes that Google's own services can be fragmented and confusing at time. The new app is designed to address that and can keep a record of past conversations. It will be available for Android and Apple devices, as well as regular Web browsers on computers.

The changes will start appearing Wednesday afternoon.

___

10:25 a.m.

Google unveils a program to get Android tablets into schools. One feature will allow educators to distribute an app to hundreds of tablets with a single click. Schools will able to pay for apps by charging against an account set up ahead of time. Normally, a credit card is required.

Google says Google Play for Education will launch this fall.

___

10:20 a.m.

Everyone in the audience is getting a free Chromebook Pixel, a high-end laptop developed by Google. It has a high-resolution touch-screen display and usually carries a high price tag ? starting at $1,299. It runs Google's Chrome operating system, which is meant mostly for online use.

Google has said that selling Pixels isn't the company's main goal with the machine. Rather, the company made it to showcase Google's vision for the future of computing. So giving Pixels away to engineers and entrepreneurs is consistent with that strategy.

___

10:15 a.m.

Google demonstrates the ability to play games simultaneously on its Chrome browser. Everything stays in sync even though the devices used varied.

___

10:10 a.m.

Google's stock broke $900 for the first time shortly before the conference started. At 10:10 a.m. PDT (1:10 p.m. EDT), it was up $18.72, or 2.1 percent, at $905.84. Google's market value also surpassed $300 billion for the first time.

___

10 a.m.

There's a new phone from Google. It will run on a newer version of the Android operating system, version 4.2. The Android version will still be called Jelly Bean, rather than Key Lime Pie ? the next in a series of dessert-themed code names.

It will be unlocked, meaning it will work with any carrier, including those abroad. But it also means the price won't be subsidized by the carrier. Google will sell it for $649 starting June 26, rather than the usual $200 or so with a two-year contract.

Google says the new phone is a variant of Samsung's Galaxy S4 phone, which was recently released.

Google also says that the new phone will be able to get Android updates as we come. U.S. carriers sometimes block those updates from getting to locked phones.

___

9:50 a.m.

Google unveils a music service called All Access. The streaming service will allow Android users to listen to their favorite songs and artists for a monthly fee.

Google wants to not only offer access to millions of songs, but also help guide you to music you might like. You can choose one of 22 music genres and see key albums that define the genre along with recommendations from Google's curators. You can listen to any track right away, or switch to a "radio station" format featuring songs you'll likely want to hear. You can adjust the playlist as you go.

The cost is $9.99 a month in the U.S., after a 30-day free trial. It launches in the U.S. Wednesday. If you start the trial by June 30, the monthly fee will drop to $7.99. It will be available in other countries later.

Google's All Access will be competing with Spotify and other popular music services.

___

9:45 a.m.

Google says its online Play store will make recommendations for apps, books, movies and music based on the device you are using. After all, what works well on a tablet might not on a phone.

___

9:40 a.m.

Powers introduces a service to help software developers get more users and make more money through their apps.

It will tell a developer, for instance, that an app is particularly popular in Russia, so that the developer could consider making a Russian-language version. Google is offering an app-translation service to help with that.

Another feature is designed to help developers understand how effective their ads are in getting people to download their apps.

___

9:30 a.m.

Google unveils a tool to help software developers make sure their apps work well on different screen sizes. That's important because some people use phones and others use mid-size or larger tablets. Developers will want to make sure their apps are pleasant across the board.

___

9:25 a.m.

Google introduces a technology for syncing notifications on different devices. The idea is when you dismiss a notification about a new Facebook message, for instance, it wouldn't reappear when you check your tablet.

Google also unveils new gaming tools. You can save where you are in a game and pick up on another device. You can also see how you rank on new leaderboards. This appears similar to what Apple offers on iPhones and iPads through its Game Center. Getting into gaming gives Google an opportunity to participate in one of the most popular activities on mobile devices.

___

9:20 a.m.

Barra introduces a few tools for software developers to incorporate into their apps. One allows apps to track what users are doing, such as walking. It may appear creepy to users, but Barra says the tools will allow developers to create "a whole new category of awesome apps."

___

9:10 a.m.

Pichai talks about Google having two large, fast-growing platforms: Android for smartphones and tablets and Chrome for laptops.

He says Android has grown from being on 100 million devices in 2011, 400 million in 2012 to 900 million now. He calls the growth "extraordinary." He suggests there's still room for growth with 7 billion people in the world.

___

9 a.m.

After a brief multimedia presentation, Gundotra appears on stage to open the conference.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/google-unveils-maps-photo-music-features-183743020.html

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'Einstein's Planet' Becomes First Exoplanet Discovered Using New Method

Given that our current understanding is that the universe has no end, is infinite, then the number of any type of planet you could imagine would be infinite.

I'm not sure it's understood to be truly 'infinite', but 'so damned big as to be infinite for purposes of discussion'.

And there was a time (not even all that long ago) when it was thought that planets around other stars would be very rare and uncommon.

In university I hung out with a bunch of astrophysicists, and the idea of finding exoplanets was still something we weren't sure of, and it was assumed there was a relatively small number of stars which would have planets.

It's only just over 20 years since we confirmed the first one, and in that time the rate at which we detect them keeps going up at a pretty staggering rate. To the point now that if you look at Drake's equation, it's hard not to conclude that, somewhere, some form of life has probably evolved elsewhere in the universe, and probably even intelligent life existed at some point.

Admittedly, the distances and time spans are so vast as to make it highly unlikely we'd ever find them. But, to me at least, it just seems so improbable that we're the only life to have evolved anywhere in the entire universe.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/4qTRBQCTreo/story01.htm

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Giuliana Rancic Named Sexiest Mom By Victoria's Secret

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/giuliana-rancic-named-sexiest-mom-by-victorias-secret/

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Bayer starts Phase III trial on regorafenib in liver cancer

By Tony Jimenez May 14 (Reuters) - Benfica are more technically gifted than Chelsea but will still go into Wednesday's Europa League final in Amsterdam as the underdogs, according to former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson. The Swede knows a great deal about Benfica having twice been in charge of the double European champions during his globetrotting career. "Sure, Chelsea are the favourites with a very balanced squad and with very expensive players but in my opinion the technique of Benfica's players is a tad better," Eriksson told the aBola daily newspaper. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bayer-starts-phase-iii-trial-regorafenib-liver-cancer-065314672.html

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This is the End Featurette: Go Behind the Scenes!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/this-is-the-end-featurette-go-behind-the-scenes/

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Cooling ocean temperature could buy more time for coral reefs

May 14, 2013 ? Limiting the amount of warming experienced by the world's oceans in the future could buy some time for tropical coral reefs, say researchers from the University of Bristol.

The study, published by the journal Geophysical Research Letters, used computer models to investigate how shallow-water tropical coral reef habitats may respond to climate change over the coming decades.

Elena Couce and colleagues found that restricting greenhouse warming to three watts per square metre (equivalent to just 50-100 parts per million carbon dioxide, or approximately half again the increase since the Industrial Revolution) is needed in order to avoid large-scale reductions in reef habitat occurring in the future.

Shallow-water tropical coral reefs are amongst the most productive and diverse ecosystems on the planet. They are currently in decline due to increasing frequency of bleaching events, linked to rising temperatures and fossil fuel emissions.

Elena Couce said: "If sea surface temperatures continue to rise, our models predict a large habitat collapse in the tropical western Pacific which would affect some of the most biodiverse coral reefs in the world. To protect shallow-water tropical coral reefs, the warming experienced by the world's oceans needs to be limited."

The researchers modelled whether artificial means of limiting global temperatures -- known as solar radiation 'geoengineering' -- could help. Their results suggest that if geoengineering could be successfully deployed then the decline of suitable habitats for tropical coral reefs could be slowed. They found, however, that over-engineering the climate could actually be detrimental as tropical corals do not favour overly-cool conditions. Solar radiation geoengineering also leaves unchecked a carbon dioxide problem known as 'ocean acidification'.

Elena Couce said: "The use of geoengineering technologies cannot safeguard coral habitat long term because ocean acidification will continue unabated. Decreasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is the only way to address reef decline caused by ocean acidification."

Dr Erica Hendy, one of the co-authors, added: "This is the first attempt to model the consequences of using solar radiation geoengineering on a marine ecosystem. There are many dangers associated with deliberate human interventions in the climate system and a lot more work is needed to fully appreciate the consequences of intervening in this way."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/E457eMuOI1I/130514112858.htm

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