Huge study: 5 mental disorders share genetic links

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The largest genetic study of mental illnesses to date finds five major disorders may not look much alike but they share some gene-based risks. The surprising discovery comes in the quest to unravel what causes psychiatric disorders and how to better diagnose and treat them.

The disorders ? autism, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder or ADHD, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia ? are considered distinct problems. But findings published online Wednesday suggest they're related in some way.

"These disorders that we thought of as quite different may not have such sharp boundaries," said Dr. Jordan Smoller of Massachusetts General Hospital, one of the lead researchers for the international study appearing in The Lancet.

That has implications for learning how to diagnose mental illnesses with the same precision that physical illnesses are diagnosed, said Dr. Bruce Cuthbert of the National Institute on Mental Health, which funded the research.

Consider: Just because someone has chest pain doesn't mean it's a heart attack; doctors have a variety of tests to find out. But there's no blood test for schizophrenia or other mental illnesses. Instead, doctors rely on symptoms agreed upon by experts. Learning the genetic underpinnings of mental illnesses is part of one day knowing if someone's symptoms really are schizophrenia and not something a bit different.

"If we really want to diagnose and treat people effectively, we have to get to these more fine-grained understandings of what's actually going wrong biologically," Cuthbert explained.

Added Mass General's Smoller: "We are still in the early stages of understanding what are the causes of mental illnesses, so these are clues."

The Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, a collaboration of researchers in 19 countries, analyzed the genomes of more than 61,000 people, some with one of the five disorders and some without. They found four regions of the genetic code where variation was linked to all five disorders.

Of particular interest are disruptions in two specific genes that regulate the flow of calcium in brain cells, key to how neurons signal each other. That suggests that this change in a basic brain function could be one early pathway that leaves someone vulnerable to developing these disorders, depending on what else goes wrong.

For patients and their families, the research offers no immediate benefit. These disorders are thought to be caused by a complex mix of numerous genes and other risk factors that range from exposures in the womb to the experiences of daily life.

"There may be many paths to each of these illnesses," Smoller cautioned.

But the study offers a lead in the hunt for psychiatric treatments, said NIMH's Cuthbert. Drugs that affect calcium channels in other parts of the body are used for such conditions as high blood pressure, and scientists could explore whether they'd be useful for psychiatric disorders as well.

The findings make sense, as there is some overlap in the symptoms of the different disorders, he said. People with schizophrenia can have some of the same social withdrawal that's so characteristic of autism, for example. Nor is it uncommon for people to be affected by more than one psychiatric disorder.

___

Online:

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)60223-8/abstract

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2013-02-27-US-MED-Psychiatric-Genetics-1st-Ld-Writethru/id-4d06e72876dc419d8363ee7ea9965069

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Halt in detainee releases spurs reactions on immigration debate

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released several hundred immigrant detainees who posed no risk due to looming budget cuts, but halted the releases, saying this could change depending on the outcome of the budget sequester. The releases ? and then the halt on the releases ? has generated strong reaction from different sides on issues of immigration and enforcement.

?The looming budget cuts are forcing ICE to do what it should have been doing already ? prioritizing resources to focus on real threats,? said National Immigration Forum spokesperson Katherine Vargas. ?The National Immigration Forum has long cited the high costs of detaining a low-risk immigrant as one of the reasons to limit ICE detention programs. In an August 2012 report called ?The Math of Immigration Detention,? the organization said that taxpayers could save $1.6 billion a year ? an 80 percent reduction in current costs ? if only individuals convicted of serious crimes were detained and less expensive monitoring efforts were used, which was what ICE did when the detainees were released.

RELATED: Release of ICE detainees shines spotlight on immigration?

But the detainees? releases elicited strong reactions from some lawmakers. ?Pennsylvania Republican Congressman Lou Barletta said ? and posted on his website:??We learned today that the Obama Administration summarily released untold numbers of inmates ? this?reminds me of Fidel Castro?s release of criminals in the Mariel Boatlift in 1980.? Barletta also added, ?if this is the best cost-savings that Secretary Napolitano can do, then we have to begin to seriously question her judgment.? ?Administration officials have said the release of detainees for budget reasons was a decision made by ICE and it did not involve the White House.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer?s spokesperson Matthew Benson said the detainees? release was a ?bad sign? for the Administration?s commitment to immigration reform and security, according to an article in the Arizona Republic.

?If their first step was to start releasing into the community criminal aliens, that doesn?t suggest they have a real high commitment to public safety and continued immigration enforcement,? said Benson, adding, ?Hundreds or thousands of criminal aliens are being released into these communities. We don?t know anything about their criminal profiles, the manner in which they?re being supervised or where they?re being released to,? said Governor Brewer?s spokesperson.

The approximately 300 immigrants who were released had no serious criminal records and are being monitored after their release, according to ICE.

RELATED: ?ICE: Official?s resignation not tied to detainees? release?

In response to the remarks from Governor Brewer?s office, ?Promise Arizona?s Petra Falc?n says that apart from the high costs of detaining immigrants with no serious criminal record, there is also the human cost of detention ? and the benefits to releasing some immigrant detainees.

?It is always a good idea to bring our families together, especially when people are in detention over a broken tail light or because they were lacking some documents,? says Falc?n. ??Many of these detainees have been working here for years in hotels or in landscaping, raising families, and have connections and even long-term jobs,? she adds. ??I think in these cases there should be prosecutorial discretion, but they are still being detained in Arizona,? says Falc?n.

?As some people are being released, others are being detained?a never-ending cycle,? said Carolina Canizalez, from United We Dream.

On the legislative side, bipartisan groups in the House and Senate say they are making progress on proposals on immigration reform.

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Source: http://nbclatino.com/2013/02/28/halt-in-detainee-releases-spurs-reactions-on-immigration-debate/

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Google Updates YouTube iPhone And iPad App With ?Send To TV? Feature, The Google TV Equivalent Of AirPlay

Google issued an update for its iOS application today that adds the "Send to TV" feature to its apps for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The feature allows you to quickly and easily pair your mobile phone with select TVs, making it possible to play and control video from the app on your television set.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/QA1kJ2ER5vY/

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Adam Strange, New Zealand Filmmaker, Killed in Shark Attack

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/adam-strange-new-zealand-filmmaker-killed-in-shark-attack/

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Christian Slater Announces Engagement To Brittany Lopez (VIDEO)

Christian Slater Announces Engagement To Brittany Lopez (VIDEO)

Christian Slater announced he is set to get married again to his longtime girlfriend Brittany Lopez during his appearance on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” on Wednesday. The actor confirmed the news and Christian described how he met his fiance in Florida in a very interesting way. Slater explained to Jimmy Fallon, “I went down ...

Christian Slater Announces Engagement To Brittany Lopez (VIDEO) Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/02/christian-slater-announces-engagement-to-brittany-lopez-video/

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Road to the IGF: Jeppe Carlsen and team's 140 - Indie Games

What happens when the lead gameplay designer at Playdead (Limbo) strikes out on his own with a side project? 140 is what takes up Jeppe Carlsen's free time. It's a rhythm-based minimalist platformer that he's developing with Playdead audio programmer Jakob Schmid and graphic artists Niels Fyrst Lausdahl and Andreas Arnild Peitersen.

The game earned its IGF nomination in the audio category, and in this interview, Gamasutra speaks to Carlsen and the team about marrying platforming, audio, and visual art into a cohesive whole.

What is your background in making games?

Jeppe Carlsen: I am currently working at Playdead as lead gameplay designer, and 140 is my spare time pet project. My background is in computer science at university, and after finishing my master's degree I started working as a game programmer. During my work at Playdead, I found that I had a knack for designing simple yet challenging puzzles, which was my main contribution to Limbo.

Jakob, who created music and sound design for 140, works as audio programmer at Playdead. He was hired by Playdead after Limbo.was completed.

Niels and Andreas, who designed the visuals, are graphics and motion designers outside of the games industry.

What development tools are you using?

JC: The game is done in the free version of Unity3D. All audio was produced using Ableton Live.

How did you come up with the concept?

JC: The game concept was developed very iteratively. I started working on a retro platformer framework in my spare time, in which the main character had the ability to throw a ball that would fly in a straight horizontal line and bounce between walls.

When adding different audio samples to the different walls, the bouncing balls resulted in beats created by the environment itself. Switches on the walls controlled different environment elements, and made the whole level "dance" to the music. I was onto something, and even though the game changed to something rather different (and simpler) over the next two years, it was at this point I got obsessed with merging platforming and beats, and 140 is ultimately the result of this obsession.

How long has your team been working on the game?

JC: I have been working on in it my spare time with a steady dedication for longer than two years, completely redesigning the game and its levels a few times in the process. I had no idea I would be working on this for so long. But the way I make games can pretty much be boiled down to: implement a ton of different ideas, delete most of them, repeat until I'm too tired. It is all about getting some kind of consistency to it, where everything feels like it fits together and complements each other.

Jakob is a close friend from university, and I have always admired (read: totally envied) his skills as an electronic musician. I have bounced my ideas off him from the very beginning, and he started contributing a bunch of test loops for me to play around with. Along the way, he became more deeply involved in the process as composer and sound designer. Originally, the music was 120 BPM, but Jakob was keen on changing it to a more energetic 140 BPM, which immediately resulted in all the level design of the game breaking. As it turned out, the new tempo was a great fit, and ultimately provided a title for the game.

Niels and Andreas (graphics) joined the project about a year ago, and we agreed to keep the game completely abstract.

What was the inspiration behind the game's art style?

Niels Fyrst Lausdahl: The main idea for the visual look of the game, was to make it as simple as possible to state the importance of the sound. We wanted to make it bold and clear and not go with the typical anthropomorphic game character and a concrete environment.

What was the inspiration for the music and sound design?

Jakob Schmid: One of the primary challenges of 140 was to create elements that simultaneously acted as musical elements and sound effects for game elements, the behavior of which are governed by game logic and level design.

Creating and discovering sounds that could fulfill this dual role was an interesting process. Although the audio was developed using modern tools, it conceptually adheres to certain limitations of Sega Genesis and Commodore Amiga audio hardware, specifically the combination of FM synthesis and samples with a low sample rate. All non-sample-based instruments have been synthesized from scratch using FM synthesis, a rewarding approach, as the exploration of the space of FM sounds constantly provides surprising results.

Have you played any of the other IGF finalists? Any games you've particularly enjoyed?

JC: Only played a few. I am huge fan of Terry Cavanagh and Super Hexagon is up there with the best of his work.

What do you think of the current state of the indie scene?

JC: 2012 has been very shallow in terms of triple-A games, and all my truly memorable gaming experiences have been in the indie space: Spelunky, Dyad, and Fez -- just to name a few, that both Jakob and myself have been obsessing over.

What's your guiding principle for marrying audio and gameplay -- i.e. do you work toward a concept such as synaesthesia?

JC: 140 is not a strict rhythm game, in the sense that you don't tap or move directly to the rhythm. The rhythm aspect is more subtle, and something the player has to take in on his own. The game is pretty merciless in terms of timing, and is intentionally very vague in its visual clues, but the audio is always there to guide you. Every single challenge is designed to encourage you to search for audio cues, and synchronize your movement with those cues to succeed.

[Christian Nutt wrote this article originally for sister site Gamasutra.]

Source: http://indiegames.com/2013/02/road_to_the_igf_jeppe_carlsen_.html

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Good bacteria may expunge vancomycin-resistant bacteria from your gut

Public release date: 27-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Sliwa
jsliwa@asmusa.org
202-942-9297
American Society for Microbiology

Probiotic possibilities loom

Too much antibiotic can decimate the normal intestinal microbiota, which may never recover its former diversity. That, in turn, renders the GI tract vulnerable to being colonized by pathogens. Now researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, and Centro Superior de Investigacin en Salud Pblica, Valencia, Spain, show that reintroducing normal microbial diversity largely eliminated vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) from the intestinal tracts of mice. The investigators showed further that the findings may apply to humans. The research is published in the March 2013 issue of the journal Infection and Immunity.

The reduced diversity of microbiota wrought by antibiotics "allow[s] VRE to invade and thrive in the intestine, suggesting that bacterial species that are wiped out by antibiotics are key to preventing colonization by VRE," says first author Carles Ubeda of the Centro Superior de Investigacion en Salud Publica, Valencia, Spain. "We hypothesized that repopulating the mice' intestines with the missing bacteria would promote clearance of the VRE."

In the study, the researchers treated mice with antibiotics. They then gave the mice fecal transplants from untreated mice, or aerobic or anaerobic cultures from the fecal transplants. Following the latter treatments, mice receiving the fecal transplant or the anaerobic culture were able to clear the VRE, while those receiving the aerobic culture failed to do so. The researchers compared the microbiota in each group. The big difference: the mice that had cleared the VRE contained bacteria from the anaerobic genus, Barnesiella, while those that had failed to clear the VRE did not.

The researchers then analyzed the fecal microbiota from human patients who had received bone marrow transplants, who were at high risk of being colonized by vancomycin-resistant enterococci. "The presence of Barnesiella in fecal samples was associated with protection against VRE, suggesting that in humans, Barnesiella may also confer protection against dense VRE colonization," says Ubeda.

"The findings could be very useful for development of novel probiotics," says Ubeda. Additionally, "scientifically, this is a major finding that will help us to understand how the microbiota confer resistance against intestinal colonization by pathogens, an important question that remains incompletely answered."

###

(C. Ubeda, V. Bucci, S. Caballero, et al. Intestinal microbiota containing Barnesiella species cures vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium colonization. Infect. Immun. 81:965-973)

Infection and Immunity is a publication of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The ASM is the largest single life science society, composed of over 39,000 scientists and health professionals. Its mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

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

Public release date: 27-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Sliwa
jsliwa@asmusa.org
202-942-9297
American Society for Microbiology

Probiotic possibilities loom

Too much antibiotic can decimate the normal intestinal microbiota, which may never recover its former diversity. That, in turn, renders the GI tract vulnerable to being colonized by pathogens. Now researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, and Centro Superior de Investigacin en Salud Pblica, Valencia, Spain, show that reintroducing normal microbial diversity largely eliminated vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) from the intestinal tracts of mice. The investigators showed further that the findings may apply to humans. The research is published in the March 2013 issue of the journal Infection and Immunity.

The reduced diversity of microbiota wrought by antibiotics "allow[s] VRE to invade and thrive in the intestine, suggesting that bacterial species that are wiped out by antibiotics are key to preventing colonization by VRE," says first author Carles Ubeda of the Centro Superior de Investigacion en Salud Publica, Valencia, Spain. "We hypothesized that repopulating the mice' intestines with the missing bacteria would promote clearance of the VRE."

In the study, the researchers treated mice with antibiotics. They then gave the mice fecal transplants from untreated mice, or aerobic or anaerobic cultures from the fecal transplants. Following the latter treatments, mice receiving the fecal transplant or the anaerobic culture were able to clear the VRE, while those receiving the aerobic culture failed to do so. The researchers compared the microbiota in each group. The big difference: the mice that had cleared the VRE contained bacteria from the anaerobic genus, Barnesiella, while those that had failed to clear the VRE did not.

The researchers then analyzed the fecal microbiota from human patients who had received bone marrow transplants, who were at high risk of being colonized by vancomycin-resistant enterococci. "The presence of Barnesiella in fecal samples was associated with protection against VRE, suggesting that in humans, Barnesiella may also confer protection against dense VRE colonization," says Ubeda.

"The findings could be very useful for development of novel probiotics," says Ubeda. Additionally, "scientifically, this is a major finding that will help us to understand how the microbiota confer resistance against intestinal colonization by pathogens, an important question that remains incompletely answered."

###

(C. Ubeda, V. Bucci, S. Caballero, et al. Intestinal microbiota containing Barnesiella species cures vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium colonization. Infect. Immun. 81:965-973)

Infection and Immunity is a publication of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The ASM is the largest single life science society, composed of over 39,000 scientists and health professionals. Its mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-02/asfm-gbm022713.php

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5 reasons Google should be very afraid of Samsung

Wilson Rothman , NBC News ? ? ? 14 hrs.

Google takes pride in the fact that its Android mobile operating system has outpaced Apple's. But the truth is, Android phones don't outsell Apple phones, Samsung phones do. Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft ? these may be Google's main competitors, but it's Samsung that could be the search giant's biggest threat.

As Samsung launches the Galaxy Note 8.0 this week, and the upcoming Galaxy S 4, not to mention a fleet of new Smart TVs, here are five reasons Google should be afraid:

1. Phones, phablets, tablets and more
Samsung has been the largest phone maker in the world for a while, but for the better part of last year, it was even out-selling Apple in the profitable smartphone category. On the surface, this is good news for Google, since Samsung is the largest ambassador of Android phones.

But compare the interface on a Google-branded Nexus phone to the software on Samsung's best-selling Galaxy S phones. The fundamental operating systems are the same, but everything from the stock apps (calendars, email, media player, etc.) to the interactive services (voice command, wireless file sharing, etc.) are different. Critics (including me) generally prefer Google's "pure" Android experience offered by Nexus devices (which also get faster OS updates), but the masses don't seem to mind Samsung's interface. And with time, money and momentum on its side, Samsung can keep improving.

The bigger the device gets, the more problematic things are for Google. Android phone apps may be a roaring success, but Android tablets have barely any native apps, especially compared to what's built for iPad. As evidenced in the expanding Note line ? which just welcomed an 8-inch model ? you can expect to see more Samsung-only features and interface tweaks, and increasing cooperation between Samsung and its software partners.

2. Retail stores
In an age when big-box stores struggle, Apple can still brag of its unbelievable (and mostly unforeseen) brick-and-mortar store success. Former skeptics now believe that the best way for electronics makers to reach their customers is through direct shopping-mall and online sales. Google is building up the online side, but recently rejected the idea of a retail store. Meanwhile, Samsung has quietly built out an online sales site, and is starting to show the urge to build some Apple Store clones of its own. In the meantime, it has clout with Best Buy, other mall retailers and even cellular carriers that Google could only dream of.

3. Mobile payments
Google got the jump on the competition when it comes to using your phone as a credit card. Built-in near-field communication chips in its Nexus phones combined with the Google Wallet system lets you, in Google's words, "shop faster, smarter and safer, in-store and online." Apple has been slower to get into mobile payments ? its Passbook app is a useful tool for those already checking into flights and buying event tickets online, but it's not yet a vehicle for commerce in itself. Now Samsung is making its own move with its own app ? called Wallet.

While the system, as it stands, currently resembles Apple's Passbook more than Google's similarly named service, don't forget that Samsung has NFC built into most of its premium phones. Not only that, as the Verge points out, it has a partnership with Visa to use the credit card company's PayWave service.

4. Media store
About two years ago, I laughed when Samsung tried to get me to buy a movie via its service on a cellphone. The selection wasn't great, and what was I going to do, watch some outdated action film on a phone's 4-inch screen? The laughter has, substantially, subsided. Those screens have gotten bigger, and Samsung has sold a lot of phones with its media store pre-installed.

Meanwhile, Samsung has expanded its media sales to its Smart TV line, and the current Smart TV interface dedicates a whole page to Samsung media. In other words, while you can still buy movies for apps like Amazon Instant Video and Vudu, you'll soon most likely stumble over stuff first on Samsung's page. How soon till you're giving it your $3.99 for a movie rental, rather than your cable provider or the competition?

5. Apple TV
Google's already spent its ammunition on something called Google TV, which you likely never bothered to purchase. Apple TV exists now too, as a cheap little add-on for Mac, iPad and iPhone owners, but Apple may yet pop a full-size TV that's so user friendly, fanboys would drool like they haven't drooled since Steve Jobs was alive.

Only thing is, Samsung already has an answer to Apple TV, and from what we saw at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, Samsung isn't going to rest until it gets the interface right. Does it need Google's help to do it? Nope.

(Bonus dirt in Google's face: LG recently went out of its way to buy a third-party operating system, probably so it wouldn't have to rely on Android for its next-gen smart TVs.)

Maybe none of this matters to Google as long as it can keep making money on mobile ads on Samsung devices ? but according to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal, even this relatively safe haven could be threatened by Samsung's explosive growth.

Further reading:
Samsung sparks anxiety at Google - The Wall Street Journal

Eyeing Apple: How competitors are finally making phones consumers want - The New Yorker

Samsung takes a page from Apple's Passbook with new Wallet app - The Verge

'Next generation' Samsung smartphones to ship with Visa NFC payment system - The Verge

Android boss Andy Rubin says Google doesn't need a retail store - Business Insider

Samsung's new retail store clearly inspired by Apple - Digital Trends

Wilson Rothman is the Technology & Science editor at NBC News Digital. Catch up with him on Twitter at @wjrothman, and join our conversation on Facebook.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/5-reasons-google-should-be-very-afraid-samsung-1C8593123

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Storm that buried Plains slams Great Lakes region

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A powerful winter storm that buried the U.S. Plains moved on Tuesday into the southern Great Lakes region, where it snarled the evening commute in Chicago and Milwaukee, created near-whiteout conditions and forced hundreds of flight cancellations.

Wind gusts of up to 35 miles per hour (56 km per hour) hurled a potent blend of wet snow and sleet on north-central Illinois, southern Wisconsin and northern Indiana and Ohio, according to the National Weather Service.

More than 500 flights were canceled at Chicago's O'Hare International and Midway airports, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. Those flights that managed to take off or land faced delays of up to an hour.

The Illinois Tollway agency, which maintains nearly 300 miles of highway around Chicago, deployed its fleet of more than 180 snowplows to keep the roads clear.

As the afternoon rush hour began in Chicago, blowing snow reduced visibility and created treacherous driving conditions, doubling average travel times in and out of the city on major expressways, according to Traffic.com.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation warned that much of Interstate 94 between the Illinois state line and Milwaukee was ice covered.

In Chicago, the city's public school system, the third-largest school district in the country, canceled all after-school sporting events, including six state regional basketball games.

The snowstorm may have discouraged some voters in Chicago and its suburbs from voting in a special election primary to replace indicted Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., who resigned the seat in November citing health concerns.

Forecasters with the National Weather Service said the storm would continue to move eastward, dumping 3 to 5 inches of wet snow on Detroit overnight and into Wednesday morning.

It is then expected to move slowly into the Northeast, largely avoiding the cities of New York, Boston and Washington, D.C., but bringing snow to parts of New York state, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, said Brian Korty, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

"It's going to linger for a long time over portions of the Northeast," Korty said.

'POTPOURRI OF WINTRY WEATHER'

Parts of New York and Pennsylvania could get a "sloppy mix" of snow, ice and rain. Already, ice accumulations were causing sporadic power outages across higher terrains of western Maryland, eastern West Virginia and far western Virginia, said Erik Pindrock, a meteorologist with AccuWeather.

"It's a very multi-faceted storm," Pindrock said. "It's a whole potpourri of wintry weather."

In Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas, where the storm hit earlier, residents were digging out.

Highways in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles and parts of Kansas remained closed because of heavy and drifting snow.

Amarillo, Texas, saw 19 inches of snow Sunday night into Monday, the third-largest snowfall ever in that city, Pindrock said.

In Kansas, a woman died and three passengers were injured Monday night on Interstate 70 when their pickup truck rolled off the icy roadway in Ellis County, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback said. Earlier Monday, a man was killed when his car veered off the interstate in Sherman County near the Colorado border, he said.

"We urge everyone to avoid travel and be extremely cautious if you must be on the roads," said Ernest Garcia, superintendent of the Kansas Highway Patrol.

A 58-year-old man and his 69-year-old sister died from carbon monoxide poisoning in Kansas City, Kansas, from a gas generator being used in their home because they lost power Tuesday in the snowstorm, said Deputy Fire Chief Craig Duke.

In northern Oklahoma, one person died when the roof of a home partially collapsed in the city of Woodward, said Matt Lehenbauer, the city's emergency management director.

"We have roofs collapsing all over town," said Woodward Mayor Roscoe Hill Jr. "We really have a mess on our hands."

Kansas City, Missouri, was also hard hit by the storm, which left snowfalls of 7 to 13 inches in the metro region on Tuesday, said Chris Bowman, meteorologist for the National Weather Service. Another 1 to 3 inches is forecast for Tuesday evening and nearly two-thirds of the flights at Kansas City International Airport Tuesday afternoon were canceled.

In addition to the winter storm, National Weather Service forecasters on Tuesday issued tornado watches across central Florida and up the eastern coast to South Carolina.

(Reporting by Kevin Murphy in Missouri, David Bailey in Minneapolis, James B. Kelleher in Chicago and Corrie MacLaggan in Texas; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Barbara Goldberg, Nick Zieminski, Dan Grebler, Phil Berlowitz, Eric Walsh and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/storm-buried-plains-slams-great-lakes-region-025456755.html

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Look for Less: Kim Kardashian?s Sexy All-Black Chic

The mom-to-be steps out in a sexy all-black oufit (Express tee, Kardashian faux leather pants, Alaia boots and Balenciaga bag) with boyfriend Kanye West. Check her out, plus our look for less.

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/QQFkXpAC2s8/

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Ultra-stretchy battery to power bionic life

An experimental type of tiny lithium-based batteries promised to wirelessly charge wearable gadgets, implantable brain-wave monitors, or other bionic devices.

By Tia Ghose,?LiveScience / February 26, 2013

Our cyborg future may not be far off.

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An ultra-stretchy battery could one day be used to power bionic eyeballs, brain-wave monitoring devices and robotic skins, new research suggests.

The new device, which embeds tiny lithium-based batteries in a silicone sheet, can stretch up to three times its initial length and could be recharged wirelessly, Yonggang Huang, study co-author and a mechanical engineer at Northwestern University, wrote to LiveScience in an email.

The new battery is described today (Feb. 26) in the journal Nature Communications.

Powering devices

For decades, science-fiction writers have envisioned dystopian worlds in which humans and machines are seamlessly integrated with bionic implants. But powering the?cyborg?future requires a way to conform power sources to these futuristic devices. [9 Cyborg Enhancements Available Right Now]

Other researchers have developed stretchy and?paper-thin batteries?before, but most didn't deform much or have the ability to recharge wirelessly, Huang wrote.

Toward that end, Huang and his colleagues embedded tiny lithium-ion batteries in a framework of conducting wires arranged in a repeating S-shaped pattern that, like a fractal, looks similar at several scales. The whole arrangement is printed onto a stretchable silicone sheet. The wires themselves are brittle, but uncoil like a spring, allowing the whole device to be flexible without forcing the delicate lithium-ion batteries to break.

To demonstrate that the concept actually worked, the team powered a red light-emitting diode (LED) while stretching and twisting the battery.

The researchers envision the battery being used for?wearable gadgets, implantable brain-wave monitors, or other bionic devices.

While the new design is incredibly innovative, it wouldn't produce enough power to keep a laptop, or even a large light bulb, running, said Gao Liu, a chemist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who is developing stretchable batteries for transportation systems, but who was not involved in the study. That means it mainly would be useful for a few narrow applications, such as biological implants that don't require very much power, Liu said.

"It's for a niche market," Liu told LiveScience. "You really need to find a market where you don't really need much energy, but you need to deliver the energy on the spot, where you couldn't use a wire."

Follow LiveScience on Twitter?@livescience. We're also on?Facebook?&?Google+.?

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

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/EzL9OFehwk8/Ultra-stretchy-battery-to-power-bionic-life

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Homes for Sale Near Milwaukee Brewers Spring Training | All ...

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All information should be verified by the recipient and none is guaranteed as accurate by ARMLS.

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Data last updated 2/26/13 1:07 PM PST.

This IDX solution is (c) Diverse Solutions 2013.

Source: http://allphoenixrealestate.com/homes-for-sale-near-milwaukee-brewers-spring-training/

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Chris Christie Has Friends in All the Wrong Places (for a Republican)

Along with eyebrow-raising support from?Silicon Valley and Hollywood, Chris Christie today got a contribution from another perhaps-unexpected source: Mitt Romney. The long-time candidate reportedly gave the maximum amount to the New Jersey governor's reelection campaign, $3,800 -- or about 0.002 percent of Romney's net worth.

RELATED: Who Is Speaking When at the Republican National Convention?

Politico spoke with "a source familiar with the donation", transitioning quickly from the donation to inevitable speculation about What It Means. Politico noted that the donation comes at a helpful time for Christie, who was snubbed by the Conservative Political Action Conference this week.?"Some Republicans are still upset at Christie?s strong praise for Obama after the hurricane," Politico noted, adding that, "Romney has always maintained that Christie was doing what he had to do as governor."

RELATED: Climate Change, Cranky Politicians, And Roller Coasters

And Romney's doing what he always did as a donor. Romney's political giving history suggests that the Christie contribution is not too far out of the ordinary. A search of Federal Election Commission filings shows that the former governor has given generously to campaigns and campaign committees, to the tune of over $775,000 over the years -- excluding the futile millions given to Romney-Ryan 2012.

RELATED: Chris Christie Can't Wait to Tell You How Excited He Is for the Debates

The number includes:

RELATED: Obama Breaks the $1 Billion Barrier

• $2,400 to Sen. Jim DeMint in 2009
• $2,000 to Sen. George Allen in 2006
• $2,500 to Jeff Flake in 2011
• $5,000 to the Free and Strong America PAC in 2008
• $15,000 to the Massachusetts Republican Party in 2010
• $26,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2006
• $4,200 to Rick Santorum in 2006

And even ?

RELATED: A Guide to the GOP 2012 Beefs

• $2,500 to Pawlenty for President in 2011

? in an effort to help Pawlenty retire his campaign debt.

There's no question that Romney wishes that Christie had been a little less effusive over the president last November. But if there's one lesson he learned in the aftermath of his election loss, it's that a little graciousness goes a long way. Especially if it doesn't cost that much.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chris-christie-friends-wrong-places-republican-005937728.html

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Samsung Announces Wallet App - Business Insider

Join Facebook, LinkedIn, Trip Advisor and Disney at IGNITION Mobile on March 21, 2013 in San Francisco! Get market insight on mobile games, apps, devices, content and commerce. Register now.

YouTube

Samsung showed Samsung Wallet at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Samsung announced a new app called Samsung Wallet that stores your gift cards, boarding passes, tickets, etc. on your smartphone.

It's remarkably similar to Apple's Passbook app that launched on iPhone last fall.

Samsung Wallet can also send users location or time-sensitive updates to remind them of upcoming flights or events stored in the app, another feature found in Apple's Passbook.

Even the layout of Samsung Wallet looks similar to the one in Passbook.

The app isn't out yet, but Samsung is courting developers to start integrating their apps and services with Wallet. We're guessing Wallet will be a new feature in the Galaxy S IV smartphone that Samsung will announce at a big press event in New York on March 14.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-announces-wallet-app-2013-2

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Q-KON Partners With Startel To Develop Satellite Broadband ...

• By?TechMoran
• February 27, 2013

Read 235 times!

Q-KON, a focussed provider of satellite and wireless access network solutions to niche markets in Africa, has announced a partnership with Angola?s Startel SA (Startel).

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been reached between the two companies and is based on wholesale access to Q-KON?s StarLight offering.

Q-KON is a South African services provider that has the resources and expertise to empower regional partners to meet the needs of their respective markets and help maximise their presence.

Startel is an established and fully licensed Angola telecommunication network operator servicing the Angola market. The company operates various satellite and WiMax access networks and wishes to expand its access network product portfolio.

Both companies have agreed to collaborate with regards to the provisioning, implementation and operation of a satellite broadband access platform.

Q-KON will supply Startel with access to StarLight, an end-to-end two-way IP access service for broadband access and data communication. The service includes 1st tier Internet access, satellite uplink teleport and satellite communication bandwidth.

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Startel will brand the service as Starnet, a natural addition to the company?s portfolio, inclusive of Netbu? Internet access and Falabu? voice services.

?This agreement falls in line with our strategy to enhance connectivity in Angola, an expanding ICT and telecommunications market. We are pleased to have established this agreement with Q-KON, a successful South African company that has the experience and expertise to add immediate value to our endeavours,? says Carlos Brito, Managing Director at Startel.

?The incorporation of StarLight into our offering offers our customer base choice and access to a wider range of technology,? Brito continues.

Executive management at Q-KON believes the agreement goes a long way to furthering its collaboration in Angola and to the rest of Africa.

Hendrik Bezuidenhout, Managing Executive of Q-KON, believes there has been a general shift in focus within the technology services and solutions market from ?international? to ?Africa?, with the current focus on ?Africa for Africa?.? This partnership strengthens the company?s broad-based connectivity strategy for the continent he says.

From left: Saydi Janse van Rensburg (Business Executive Q-KON), Dr. Diamantino Carvalho (Executive Director Startel), Antonio Cardoso (Executive Director Startel), Dawie de Wet (CEO Q-KON), Carlos Soares (Commercial Director Startel) and Carlos Brito MD Startel

The role of satellite infrastructure in helping to address access to the Internet and enhancement of broadband services in key regions such as Angola cannot be of more importance with a strong impact in the local communities.

?Satellite has always been the de facto option to provide ubiquitous services in Africa and particularly in rural areas ? and this remains unchanged. What is changing is the market awareness that satellite is not only a high-end solution and that business and SOHO services can be provided at competitive rates through services such as StarLight,? he adds.

Q-KON is a 1st tier satellite network provider, turn-key telecommunication solution provider and the distributor of the NET and Xiplink product ranges.

For more than 20 years, Q-KON has followed successful strategies to establish advance technologies in challenging environments and to unlock real business benefits for our customers and partners. Effectively integrating its commanding capability in niche, wireless and satellite technologies with an intuitive understanding and appreciation of the African market, Q-KON has conquered many business impossibilities.

Since its inception Q-KON has distinguished itself in providing solutions and services supported by long-term relationships and continued value add. Today Q-KON can proudly look back at 24 years of engineering achievements throughout Africa underwritten by sound business practices and long-term ethical relationships. Q-KON serves the South African market through Q-KON SA, a subsidiary based in Gauteng, and the rest-of-Africa market through its Q-KON Africa subsidiary.

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Read 235 times!

Source: http://techmoran.com/2013/02/27/q-kon-partners-with-startel-to-develop-satellite-broadband-access-in-angola/

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Senior Health and Fitness: Osteoporosis and Dowager's Hump

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Yoga is the perfect exercise.?? Our Senior Center yoga instructor is determined to keep her students from developing a dowager?s hump.? Her other passion is making sure that we can swivel out necks around to look behind us, which is not as easy as it sounds. ??I think about her and appreciate her efforts every time I look over my shoulder to change lanes or back up my car.

Last week the entire session focused on exercises and stretches that involve the spine.?? A proud erect posture may require some effort on your part.?? I am sure you will agree that there are days when your head feels really heavy.? Your neck and shoulders may ache, and it takes a conscious effort to roll your shoulders back and look straight ahead.? It is at times like this that a good yoga session is worth its weight in gold.? If you haven?t tried yoga you might be missing out on something really important in your life.

When we were kids our mother?s were always reminding us to stand up straight and not to slouch.? I am not sure when that piece of advice stopped being in vogue, but Elizabeth Welch reminds us (Chiropractic Journal: January 2012) that the bent over posture seen in older people starts at an early age. ??A youth slumped in front of a television or computer for hours on end may very well be inviting problems further on down the road.? The head is heavy and letting it slouch forward habitually may lead to tiny breakdowns throughout the spine.

?Age related changes in the body increase the odds of getting osteoporosis, dowager?s hump, and fractures. ??Many undesirable changes (waning strength, flabby physique, failing health, faulty memory and dowager?s hump) were once thought to be inevitable signs of old age, but that isn?t necessarily written in stone. ??Today we know that bone disease can be prevented and walking around looking down at your feet is not inevitable.

What does that dowager?s hump mean to you and to your bid for independent living? ?If you lose the ability to walk, stand up straight, or dress yourself without pain it is difficult to take of yourself.?? Bone health is important but it isn?t all about taking the right drugs.? Get moving now and you can slow, stop or even reverse some of these changes.? You?ve heard all of the recommendations: calcium, vitamin D, maintaining a health weight, being physically active and minimizing the risk of falls.

Good posture is still important. Osteoporosis doesn?t happen overnight.? The slow erosion of bone happens slowly and quietly, without your knowing it.? Tiny fractures can steel inches from your height and collapse your posture and ultimately the dowager?s hump.? Learn all that you can about bone disease and stride into the future confidently.

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Source: http://lmb.typepad.com/smart_senior/2013/02/senior-health-and-fitness-osteoporosis-and-dowagers-hump.html

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Griner, No. 1 Baylor women rout Oklahoma 86-64

Baylor guard Alexis Prince drives down the court against Oklahoma during the first half of a NCAA Women's basketball game in Norman, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)

Baylor guard Alexis Prince drives down the court against Oklahoma during the first half of a NCAA Women's basketball game in Norman, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)

Oklahoma's Joanna McFarland (53) and Nicole Griffin (4) defend as Baylor forward Brittney Griner (42) looks to pass during the first half of a NCAA Women's basketball game in Norman, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)

Baylor guard Alexis Prince (12) drives to the basket around Oklahoma guard Morgan Hook (10) during the first half of a NCAA Women's basketball game in Norman, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)

Baylor forward Brittney Griner, back, shoots over Oklahoma forward Joana McFarland and Aaryn Ellenberg during the first half of a NCAA Women's basketball game in Norman, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) ? After picking up two fouls that she considered silly, Brittney Griner waited for her chance to make an impact again. Once she was back in the game, the reigning national player of the year made her presence felt all over the floor.

Immediately after returning, Griner blocked a shot. Then she got a pair of rebounds, hit two jumpers, made the pass to set up teammate Kimetria Hayden's 3-pointer and suddenly top-ranked Baylor was right back in control and on its way to an 86-64 win at Oklahoma on Monday night.

"I sat out most of the first half, so I knew I had to come in in the second half and start off strong and attacking and just doing something to give my team a spark," Griner said.

Griner ended up with 15 points, tied her season-high with 15 rebounds, blocked seven shots and distributed five assists despite sitting out the last 11? minutes of the first half with two fouls.

She returned and hit the first two baskets in a 10-0 run that pushed the Lady Bears' lead out to 47-30, and Baylor (27-1, 16-0 Big 12) led by at least 12 the rest of the way. Oklahoma (19-9, 9-7) cut a 16-point deficit down to four while Griner was out.

"We didn't panic," coach Kim Mulkey said. "We shouldn't panic. We have too much experience on that floor, and we're just trying to finish this thing off the right way."

Griner moved past Connecticut's Maya Moore into fourth in career scoring in women's basketball. Only Jackie Stiles of Missouri State, Patricia Hoskins of Mississippi Valley State and Lorri Bauman of Drake have more than Griner's 3,045 points.

Aaryn Ellenberg had 19 points to lead Oklahoma. Morgan Hook had 15 points and nine turnovers. The Sooners' two post players, Nicole Griffin and Joanna McFarland, combined to go 4 for 23 from the field.

Campbell had a pair of baskets during a string of eight straight Oklahoma points that got the deficit down to 57-45 midway through the second half, but Griner stopped the surge with a turnaround jumper in the lane. She also had a layup to start an 8-0 response by the Bears that restored the lead to 69-48.

The Sooners shot just 33 percent, and 32 percent from 3-point range, while getting outscored 54-16 in the paint. It was Oklahoma's fourth loss in the past five games.

"You've got to be able to make a few more shots than that against a team like Baylor, where you can't get to the rim. You've got to make some 3s," coach Sherri Coale said. "We had some good looks that we missed. We missed some layups that were pretty good looks, too.

"But that's what all that speed and athleticism can do to you."

Oklahoma has lost all 16 games it has played against teams ranked No. 1.

Destiny Williams chipped in 16 points and Odyssey Sims had 13 points and six assists for Baylor.

The Lady Bears stumbled with six turnovers in the first 5 minutes, then cleaned up their act to put together a 13-0 run that included a 3-pointer, a fast-break layup and a jumper from the left block by Jordan Madden for a 19-4 edge with 13:25 to go in the first half. But Griner picked up her second foul about 2 minutes later, and Mulkey put her on the bench for the rest of the half.

Griner fouled out for just the second time in her college career in the first meeting between the teams this season, even though the Bears were already firmly in control by then, and Mulkey took no chances putting her back in.

About 30 seconds after Griner's second foul, frontcourt partner Brooklyn Pope was called for charging for the second time and also came out.

"I never felt the sense that I needed to put Griner back in," Mulkey said. "I felt like we were just going to need to weather the storm, and it allowed some other players to gain some valuable experience on the road,"

Baylor didn't make a basket for the first 5 minutes after Griner exited, and Oklahoma took advantage of seldom-used substitutes Kristina Higgins and Sune Agbuke to go on a 14-2 run to get the deficit down to 24-20. Even then, Mulkey didn't make a move to bring Griner back in, and instead it was freshman Alexis Prince that scored eight points over the final 4 minutes of the half to keep the Bears in front 37-30 at halftime.

"It's always frustrating when you have to sit on the bench and you can't help the team out. But when they cut it to four, I didn't get too revved up because I know my team," Griner said. "I know that they'll respond."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-02-25-BKW-T25-Baylor-Oklahoma/id-e1482295b91e48de813735a31faf728b

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Source: http://www.freelancer.com/projects/Internet-Marketing-SEO/help-launch-brand-new-online.html

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Visa and Samsung ink worldwide NFC deal, practically guarantees payWave on your Galaxy S IV

First, the good news. It appears that Visa and Samsung's Olympics trial went over so well, that it's expanding those mobile payment dreams to a global audience. Now, the rough news -- Visa has convinced Samsung to pre-load the payWave app onto every future Samsung smartphone with an NFC module. Granted, you'd be using that anyway for contactless payments... but only if you had a Visa card. At this point, it's practically a given that the impending Galaxy S IV will boast not only an NFC chip, but payWave integration from the factory.

The deal also gives banks the ability to load payment account information over-the-air to a secure chip embedded in Samsung devices (thanks, Mobile Provisioning Service), but neither company is coming clean on what devices in particular will be taking advantage. Unfortunately, this news may be even gloomier for non-Visa users -- it's unlikely Samsung's contract will allow it to announce similar deals with competing mobile payment services, but we suppose we'll see in time.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung

Comments

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Visa

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/25/visa-samsung-worldwide-nfc-partnership-payments/

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Oscar Ratings Up, Seth MacFarlane Says 'No Way' To Second Go-Round

'Lotta fun to have done it, though,' MacFarlane tweets about Oscars, whose rating were up 11 percent among 18-49 viewers.
By Gil Kaufman

Seth MacFarlane at the 2013 Oscars
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702623/oscar-ratings-seth-macfarlane.jhtml

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Necessary Aspects Of seo web design - StraightForward Advice ...

The last name within the list of best SEO tools consisted in this Search Engine software is of link assistant. The SEO reseller may be using an automated service meaning that the unsolicited email you have could also be sent to Google. Basically, it's a markup language utilized to describe websites. web development essex Two site retailers are providing the same products. It has grown to be imperative today for businesses to have presence in the online world given that customers have become tech savvy and wish to get the things they demand using one of the most friendly medium of communication, that is, INTERNET.

Arachnophilia is really a free HTML editor with HTML buttons that accelerate the process of coding your websites. Make hard work to put pen to paper for at slightest two singular companies like a result using the intention of if work in one company slow along it will not have an effect in your wages to some great deal. Worse yet, they often times get kept in an Internet advertorial wasteland which not merely yields few tangible results, but in addition distracts invaluable team members from their primary internal objectives and focuses. However, before you purchase employing a search engine marketing supplier, you might have to be able to know and understand what SEO is. By learning these lessons, it is possible to get your brand-new corporate blog started, acquire more attention to your hobbyist blog as well as perhaps even earn more Ad - Sense revenue.

* Layout editing tool to great the appearance on your web site. Internet will be the place which is accessible, reachable and easily readily available for everyone in the current scenario. Searching for complementary services for example these might help enormously in the long term. In addition, it's also ideal for visitors who want to find your way around. Our Software Development team provides Complete Software Development Software Lifecycle Services, including Project Management, Development, Design,.

Statistics authored by an organisation that handle SEO (Perth) supply a measurable indicator of unique visitors. Visitors have a very little attention span, and therefore it really is best to get to the point, and let the customer easily navigate to the product they are searching for. SEO experts know essentially the most effective techniques for building backlinks to have your web site ranking high inside SERPs very quickly. Could your CEO and company profile be raised by an SEO reseller package. No other technique will provide you the worldwide exposure.

Usually though, the seo companies can barely design a website and the world wide web design companies imagine seo is approximately making backlinks. Having a good quality website is the first step, but If you're unable to bring users to your internet site, it is of no use. To open a PHP file in Text - Edit, navigate to in which the PHP file is located. Regardless of whom you hire, they ought to remove the mystery and allow you to comprehend the process and just how it impacts your organization. Keep a running set of interesting topics or news you would like to cover.

Source: http://reading.my/blog/45374/necessary-aspects-of-seo-web-design-straightforward-advice/

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Ultrasound reveals autism risk at birth

Feb. 25, 2013 ? Low-birth-weight babies with a particular brain abnormality are at greater risk for autism, according to a new study that could provide doctors a signpost for early detection of the still poorly understood disorder.

Led by Michigan State University, the study found that low-birth-weight newborns were seven times more likely to be diagnosed with autism later in life if an ultrasound taken just after birth showed they had enlarged ventricles, cavities in the brain that store spinal fluid. The results appear in the Journal of Pediatrics.

"For many years there's been a lot of controversy about whether vaccinations or environmental factors influence the development of autism, and there's always the question of at what age a child begins to develop the disorder," said lead author Tammy Movsas, clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at MSU and medical director of the Midland County Department of Public Health.

"What this study shows us is that an ultrasound scan within the first few days of life may already be able to detect brain abnormalities that indicate a higher risk of developing autism."

Movsas and colleagues reached that conclusion by analyzing data from a cohort of 1,105 low-birth-weight infants born in the mid-1980s. The babies had cranial ultrasounds just after birth so the researchers could look for relationships between brain abnormalities in infancy and health disorders that showed up later. Participants also were screened for autism when they were 16 years old, and a subset of them had a more rigorous test at 21, which turned up 14 positive diagnoses.

Ventricular enlargement is found more often in premature babies and may indicate loss of a type of brain tissue called white matter.

"This study suggests further research is needed to better understand what it is about loss of white matter that interferes with the neurological processes that determine autism," said co-author Nigel Paneth, an MSU epidemiologist who helped organize the cohort. "This is an important clue to the underlying brain issues in autism."

Prior studies have shown an increased rate of autism in low-birth-weight and premature babies, and earlier research by Movsas and Paneth found a modest increase in symptoms among autistic children born early or late.

The study was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Michigan State University.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Tammy Z. Movsas, Jennifer A. Pinto-Martin, Agnes H. Whitaker, Judith F. Feldman, John M. Lorenz, Steven J. Korzeniewski, Susan E. Levy, Nigel Paneth. Autism Spectrum Disorder Is Associated with Ventricular Enlargement in a Low Birth Weight Population. The Journal of Pediatrics, 2013; DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2012.12.084

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/CRxm3nh61Tc/130225112510.htm

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Italy faces post-vote stalemate, spooking investors

ROME (Reuters) - The Italian stock market fell and state borrowing costs rose on Tuesday as investors took fright at political deadlock after a stunning election that saw a protest party lead the poll and no group had a clear majority in parliament.

"The winner is: Ingovernability" ran the headline in Rome newspaper Il Messaggero, reflecting the stalemate the country would have to confront in the next few weeks as sworn enemies would be forced to work together to form a government.

In a sign of where that might lead, former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi indicated his center-right might be open to a grand coalition with the center-left bloc of Pier Luigi Bersani, which will have a majority in the lower house thanks to a premium of seats given to the largest bloc in the chamber.

Results in the upper house, the Senate, where seats are awarded on a region-by-region basis, indicated the center-left would end up with about 119 seats, compared with 117 for the center-right. But 158 are needed for a majority to govern.

Any coalition government that may be formed must have a working majority in both houses in order to pass legislation.

World financial markets reacted nervously to the prospect of a stalemate in the euro zone's third-largest economy with memories still fresh of the crisis that took the 17-member currency bloc to the brink of collapse in 2011.

The Milan bourse was down more than four percent at its opening and the spread between yields on 10-year Italian and German government bonds widened to 338.7 basis points, the highest since December 10. An ally of conservative German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Italy to stick with reforms pursued by the outgoing technocratic emergency government of Mario Monti.

However, the poor showing by Prime Minister Monti's centrist bloc reflected a weariness with austerity that was exploited by both Berlusconi and comic Beppe Grillo; his anti-establishment 5-Star Movement won more votes than any other single party, taking 25 percent nationally. Bersani's allies helped his center-left bloc win the lower house by just 125,000 votes.

Berlusconi, a media magnate whose campaigning all but eroded Bersani's once commanding lead, said he was not worried about market reaction and played down the significance of the spread.

In a telephone call to a morning television show, he said: "Italy must be governed." He ruled out a deal with Monti but said he "must reflect" on a possible deal with the center left: "Every (political side) must be prepared to make sacrifices."

The euro skidded to an almost seven-week low against the dollar in Asia on fears about the euro zone's debt crisis. It fell as far as $1.3042, its lowest since January 10.

Another indication of investors' reaction to the results will come later on Tuesday when the Treasury auctions 8.75 billion euros in 6-month bonds.

Bersani claimed victory in the lower house and said it was obvious that Italy was in "a very delicate situation".

Grillo, however, showed no immediate willingness to negotiate. Commentators said all his adversaries underestimated the appeal of a grassroots movement that called itself a "non-party", particularly its allure among young Italians who find themselves without jobs and the prospect of a decent future.

"NON-PARTY" SURGES TO THE TOP

The 5-star Movement's score of 25.5 percent in the lower house was just ahead of the 25.4 percent for Bersani's Democratic Party, which ran in a coalition with the leftist SEL party, and it won almost 8.7 million votes overall - more than any other single party.

"The 'non-party' has become the largest party in the country," said Massimo Giannini, commentator for the Rome newspaper La Repubblica about Grillo, who mixes fierce attacks on corruption with policies ranging from clean energy to free Internet.

Grillo's surge in the final weeks of the campaign threw the race open, with hundreds of thousands turning up at his rallies to hear him lay into targets ranging from corrupt politicians and bankers to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

In just three years, his 5-Star Movement, heavily backed by a frustrated generation of young Italians increasingly shut out from permanent full-time jobs, has grown from a marginal group to one of the most talked about political forces in Europe.

RECESSION

"It's a classic result. Typically Italian," said Roberta Federica, a 36-year-old office worker in Rome. "It means the country is not united. It is an expression of a country that does not work. I knew this would happen."

Italy's borrowing costs have come down in recent months, helped by the promise of European Central Bank support but the election result confirmed fears of many European countries that it would not produce a government strong enough to implement effective reforms.

A long recession and growing disillusionment with mainstream parties fed a bitter public mood that saw more than half of Italian voters back parties that rejected the austerity policies pursued by Monti with the backing of Italy's European partners.

Monti suffered a major setback. His centrist grouping won only 10.6 percent and two of his key centrist allies, Pier Ferdinando Casini and lower house speaker Gianfranco Fini, both of parliamentarians for decades, were booted out.

"It's not that surprising if you consider how much people were let down by politics in its traditional forms," Monti said.

Berlusconi's campaign, mixing sweeping tax cut pledges with relentless attacks on Monti and Merkel, echoed many of the themes pushed by Grillo and underlined the increasingly angry mood of the Italian electorate.

Stefano Zamagni, an economics professor at Bologna University said the result showed that a significant share of Italians "are fed up with following the austerity line of Germany and its northern allies".

"These people voted to stick one up to Merkel and austerity," he said.

Even if the next government turns away from the tax hikes and spending cuts brought in by Monti, it will struggle to revive an economy that has scarcely grown in two decades.

Monti was widely credited with tightening Italy's public finances and restoring its international credibility after the scandal-plagued Berlusconi, whom he replaced as the 2011 financial crisis threatened to spin out of control.

But he struggled to pass the kind of structural reforms needed to improve competitiveness and lay the foundations for a return to economic growth, and a weak center-left government may not find it any easier.

(Additional reporting by Barry Moody, Gavin Jones, Catherine Hornby, Lisa Jucca, Steven Jewkes, Steve Scherer and Naomi O'Leary; Writing by Philip Pullella and James Mackenzie; Editing by Pravin Char and Alastair Macdonald)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/huge-protest-vote-leaves-italy-facing-deadlock-005214049.html

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