রবিবার, ৩১ মার্চ, ২০১৩

Good news for aging eyes | Health Source

Good news for aging eyesParents today reported fewer problems with visual disability than their counterparts generation ago, according to a new Northwestern study drug. Techniques for cataract surgery and reduce the prevalence of macular degeneration the driving force behind this change, the researchers said.

?From 1984 to 2010, a decrease of visual impairment in people 65 years and older was statistically significant,? says Angelo P. Tanna, MD, lead author of the study. ?There is little change in visual impairment in adults younger than 65 years.?

Less reduce visual problems

The research, published in the journal Ophthalmology, showed that in 1984, 23% of older adults have difficulty reading or seeing every day because of the impression of poor vision. In 2010, it was down 58% adjusted for age in this type of visual impairment, with only 9.7% of parents reported problems.

There was also a substantial decrease in vision problems limited to older Americans to participate in the day-to-day activities such as bathing, dressing or getting around inside or outside the home, according to the study.

?This result is exciting because they suggest that the currently used screening and diagnostic tools and therapeutic interventions for a variety of ophthalmic diseases helps to extend the vision of older Americans,? : Tanna said.

Tanna is a vice president of Ophthalmology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Stephen Kaye, Institute for Health and Aging and Disability Statistics Center, University of California, is the author of both studies.

The results

The study used self-reported data collected through two surveys a large population 1984-2010, and the National Health Interview Survey of Income and Program Participation.

Survey questions revealed how vision problems can affect day-to-day activities and quality of life for Americans and help researchers to analyze the trends in the prevalence of visual impairment in the elderly in the United States.

Although this study does not identify the causes of variation in prevalence of visual impairment, Tanna said there are three possible reasons for rejection:

Improved techniques and results of cataract surgery

In the smoke, resulting in reduced prevalence of macular degeneration

Treatment for diabetic eye disease more readily available and to upgrade, despite the fact that the prevalence of diabetes has increased

Future studies should determine the treatment strategy to help prevent vision in older adults and then make the treatment available to as many people as possible, Tanna said.

Source: http://youthhealth2012.com/2013/03/good-news-for-aging-eyes.html

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End of the line for Roadrunner supercomputer

It's the end of the line for Roadrunner, a first-of-its-kind collection of processors that once reigned as the world's fastest supercomputer.

The $121 million supercomputer, housed at one of the nation's premiere nuclear weapons research laboratories in northern New Mexico, will be decommissioned Sunday.

The reason? The world of supercomputing is evolving and Roadrunner has been replaced with something smaller, faster, more energy efficient and cheaper. Still, officials at Los Alamos National Laboratory say it's among the 25 fastest supercomputers in the world.

"Roadrunner got everyone thinking in new ways about how to build and use a supercomputer," said Gary Grider, who works in the lab's high performance computing division. "Specialized processors are being included in new ways on new systems and being used in novel ways. Our demonstration with Roadrunner caused everyone to pay attention."

In 2008, Roadrunner was first to break the elusive petaflop barrier by processing just over a quadrillion mathematical calculations per second.

Los Alamos teamed up with IBM to build Roadrunner from commercially available parts. They ended up with 278 refrigerator-size racks filled with two different types of processors, all linked together by 55 miles of fiber optic cable. It took nearly two dozen tractor trailer trucks to deliver the supercomputer from New York to northern New Mexico.

The supercomputer has been used over the last five years to model viruses and unseen parts of the universe, to better understand lasers and for nuclear weapons work. That includes simulations aimed at ensuring the safety and reliability of the nation's aging arsenal.

As part of the U.S. nuclear stockpile stewardship program, researchers used Roadrunner's high-speed calculation capabilities to unravel some of the mysteries of energy flow in weapons.

Los Alamos has been helping pioneer novel computer systems for decades. In 1976, the lab helped with the development of the Cray-1. In 1993, the lab held the fastest supercomputer title with the Thinking Machine CM-5.

"And to think of where we're going to be in the next 10 to 15 years, it's just mindboggling," said lab spokesman Kevin Roark.

Right now, Los Alamos ? along with scientists at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California ? is using a supercomputer dubbed Cielo. Installed in 2010, it's slightly faster than Roadrunner, takes up less space and came in at just under $54 million.

Roark said in the next 10 to 20 years, it's expected that the world's supercomputers will be capable of breaking the exascale barrier, or one quintillion calculations per second.

There will be no ceremony when Roadrunner is switched off Sunday, but lab officials said researchers will spend the next month experimenting with its operating system and techniques for compressing memory before dismantling begins. They say the work could help guide the design of future supercomputers.

? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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শনিবার, ৩০ মার্চ, ২০১৩

Apple's 'Maps Ground Truth Specialists' fix Map app flubs

Apple's Maps mess of six months ago is a distant memory for some, but not for the Cupertino company, which has worked quickly to rectify matters and improve its map app, introduced as part of its iOS 6 mobile operating system. That damage control includes hiring employees with the title of "Maps Ground Truth Specialists" around the globe to make sure Apple's maps are up to snuff.

While Apple isn't the first company to have the Orwellian-sounding position of "Maps Ground Truth Specialists" ? Google has them, too ? it's noteworthy because of Apple's map flubs, something that caused CEO Tim Cook to make a public apology.

In the United States, those flubs included initially showing the Brooklyn Bridge as almost plunging into the water and marking a Florida supermarket site as one for a hospital.

Right now, there are seven openings for "Maps Ground Truth Specialists" around the world, including one in the United States. That role, Apple says in the job description, will include:

  • Testing new releases of map code and data around the U.S.
  • Collecting ground truth data to allow for analysis of the impact of potential map code or data changes relative to known truth.
  • Utilizing local expertise to provide feedback about U.S.-specific mapping details.
  • Evaluating competing products in-region relative to our maps.

As you can see, there are jobs all over the globe, including Australia. There last fall, police were warning drivers not to use Apple Maps because it wrongly placed the city of Midura in a national park, leaving some motorists stranded and in a snake-infested area.

? Via The Verge

Check out Technology, GadgetBox, DigitalLife and InGame on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.

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Whoa, Watch Magnetic Putty Completely Swallow a Rare-Earth Magnet Like a Mutant Monster

Think Silly Putty is just fun and games? Not always! Just watch this magnetic putty completely devour a rare-earth magnet. It's not as instantaneous as this time-lapse video makes it seem but it still ends up engulfing the entire magnet. More »


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North Korea says enters "state of war" against South

By Jack Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Saturday it was entering a "state of war" with South Korea, its latest bout of angry rhetoric directed at Seoul and Washington, but the South brushed off the statement as little more than tough talk.

The North also threatened to shut down an industrial zone it operates jointly with the South near the heavily armed border between the two sides if Seoul continued to say the complex was being kept running for money.

The two Koreas have been technically in a state of war for six decades under a truce that ended their 1950-53 conflict. Despite its threats, few people see any indication Pyongyang will risk a near-certain defeat by re-starting full-scale war.

"From this time on, the North-South relations will be entering the state of war and all issues raised between the North and the South will be handled accordingly," a statement carried by the North's official KCNA news agency said.

KCNA said the statement was issued jointly by the North's government, ruling party and other organizations.

There was no sign of unusual activity in the North's military to suggest an imminent aggression, a South Korean defense ministry official said.

The North has been threatening to attack the South and U.S. military bases almost on a daily basis since the beginning of March, when U.S. and South Korean militaries started routine drills that have been conducted for decades without incident.

Many in the South have regarded the North's willingness to keep open the Kaesong industrial zone, located just a few miles (km) north of the border, as a sign that Pyongyang will not risk losing a lucrative source of foreign currency by mounting a real act of aggression.

The Kaesong zone is a vital source of hard currency for the impoverished state and hundreds of South Korean workers and vehicles enter daily after crossing the armed border.

"If the puppet traitor group continues to mention the Kaesong industrial zone is being kept operating and damages our dignity, it will be mercilessly shut off and shut down," KCNA quoted an agency that operates Kaesong as saying in a statement.

The threat to shut it down could sharply escalate tensions because it would suspend a symbolic joint project run by the rivals. It could also trap hundreds of South Korean workers and managers of the 123 firms that have factories there.

The North has previously suspended operations at the factory zone at the height of political tensions with the South, only to let it resume operations later.

The project has been kept running despite the North's move on Wednesday to cut off a military hotline used to process the hundreds of workers and vehicles that cross the Demilitarized Zone border.

"We have been exercising extreme restraint considering the plight of medium and small companies whose livelihood depends on the Kaesong industrial project as an immediate shutdown will drive them to bankruptcy and people jobless," KCNA quoted the agency as saying.

The South's Unification Ministry, which handles political ties with the North, said earlier in the day that the Kaesong industrial park was operating as normal with workers and vehicles crossing the border both says.

"North Korea's statement today (on entering a state of war) ... is not a new threat but is the continuation of provocative threats," a ministry statement said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Friday signed off on an order putting its missile units on standby to attack U.S. military bases in the South and the Pacific, after the United States flew two nuclear-capable stealth bombers over the Korean peninsula in a rare show of force.

U.S. officials said the B-2 bombers were on a diplomatic sortie aimed at reassuring allies South Korea and Japan and were also aimed at trying to nudge Pyongyang back to dialogue, although there was no guarantee Kim would get the message as intended.

The South Korean government brushed off the North's latest statement on entering a state of war, saying there was nothing fresh in it to cause greater alarm. South Koreans went about with daily lives as they have done through March under the North's constant threat of attack.

(Additional reporting by Sung-won Shim and Jane Chung; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-says-enter-state-war-against-south-001304441.html

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শুক্রবার, ২৯ মার্চ, ২০১৩

An app that can help you plan ? Business Management Daily: Free ...

Weotta is an application that offers users suggestions for places to eat and things to do im??mediately or up to 30 days in the future, says TechCrunch writer Anthony Ha. It learns about your preferences as you save suggestions you like and pass on ones that don?t interest you.

All of that learning comes in handy when you need to plan something in a specific place, at a specific time. You just enter in your needs, and the app makes suggestions. It can also give you new ideas to expand your list of options, and its suggestions come with reviews pulled from the Internet as well as those contributed by its own users.

? Adapted from ?Weotta Improves Its Activity-Planning App With Time And Place Filters, Plus Facebook Integration,? Anthony Ha, TechCrunch.

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One scholar on 5 things 'The Bible' got wrong

Joe Alblas / AP

"The Bible" didn't always stick to its inspiration.

By Randee Dawn, TODAY contributor

?The Bible? miniseries has truly brought in divine ratings for The History Channel these past few weeks. Despite at least one major road bump (Satan appeared in a black hooded robe and was promptly compared to President Barack Obama), the episodes -- which selectively feature certain stories in both the Old and New Testaments -- have been well received by millions of viewers every week. But as the series comes to a close Sunday, it?s worth asking ? just how accurate was the series, in the end?

Telling the story of The Bible is a tricky business, said biblical scholar Dr. Peter E. Enns, who teaches Biblical Studies at Pennsylvania?s Eastern University. But it was clear, he notes, that series creators Mark Burnett and Roma Downey had an agenda ? and that every episode they told had one goal: To get to the climax of Jesus?s life and death.

??They were focusing on the final stage of the Bible story, which is Christ?s appearance,? he said. ?It?s all a buildup to that. They take a celebrity approach to The Bible, and highlight the figures people know and present them in ways that make it seem that when you get to Jesus, you?ll feel that this was how it was meant to be all along.?

That can lead to some problems with the series; for Enns, there were some clear issues with ?The Bible."

Telling Samson?s story
Samson is a ?minor character in the Bible,? said Enns, but gets a lot of screen time in the series. Why? He?s a precursor to Christ, said Enns: He gave his life for the community, is unjustly treated, chained and blinded. ?We?re seeing Jesus in preview form,? he said.

Joe Albas / A&E Television Network

Samson's major role in the series is probably because of his similarities to Christ.

Ninja angels
Jesus again got a preview in the scene where three visitors meet Abraham on their way to destroying the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. ?In the Bible, these three figures are clearly angelic divine figures, but it?s ambiguous,? said Enns. Instead, since one is referred to as ?Lord,? the miniseries transformed him into a proto-Jesus, never clearly seen in the show, but highlighted as Christ. ?In the Old Testament, that?s completely out of bounds,? said Enns. The other two angels are also problematic: ?When the two angels in true ninja fashion take out swords and start swing-kicking, that?s a gratuitous moment.?

Joe Albas / A&E Television Network

The Warrior Angel could have doubled as a ninja.

Sarah wants to save her son
Sarah running after her husband Abraham and son Isaac as Abraham takes him to be sacrificed to God was ?stupid,? said Enns. ?It?s what a mother would do, but Sarah is nowhere to be found in that sequence. They turn the scene into an ?I want to save my boy!? moment rather than a test of faith.?

Joe Alblas / A&E Television Network

Sarah's role in Abraham's aborted sacrifice of Isaac is extended in the miniseries.

Too many Caucasians
Arguably, ?The Bible? was more multicultural than many versions have been in the past. But in 2013, the portrayal of characters with Scottish and British accents and clear European looks was just wrong, said Enns. ?You have Mary who looks like someone you?d bump into at the water cooler and she speaks wonderful American English," he said. "It does not do justice to the foreignness of the story.?

Joe Alblas / A&E Television Network

Mary, seen here with Joseph, looked too all-American, said a biblical scholar.

Sympathy for the Devil
While not precisely an inaccuracy, Enns gave a thumbs-down to the image of Satan and the resemblance to the president ? a comparison he made after watching the episode. ?What I thought was if the resemblance was not intentional, someone should have pointed it out,? he said. ?It was a very unwise decision to leave it there like that. So many people noticed it immediately that it makes it hard to imagine no one on set did.?

All of that said Enns knows that retelling The Bible is a tricky business. ?It?s impossible to please everybody with a show like this,? he said. ?You talk about God, you?re going to make enemies, especially with the sacred book.?

The series finale of "The Bible" airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on The History Channel.

Related content:

Source: http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2013/03/29/17492225-one-scholar-takes-issue-with-the-bible-5-things-the-series-got-wrong?lite

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Afghan villagers flee their homes, blame US drones

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

Men peer through the former window of a destroyed school in the village of Budyali, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, on March 19, 2013. Taliban militants attacked the nearby district headquarters in July 2011, then took refuge in the school. The Afghan National Army requested help from coalition forces, who responded with drones, fighter jets and rockets, leaving the school destroyed, according to village elders.

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

Ahmed Shah, 12, center, recalls the attack on his village in the yard of a house where he and his family found refuge in the village of Khalis, Nangarhar province, on March 20, 2013.

By Kathy Gannon, The Associated Press

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

Ghulam Rasool sits in the yard of his house in Khalis on March 20, 2013.

Barely able to walk even with a cane, Ghulam Rasool says he padlocked his front door, handed over the keys and his three cows to a neighbor and fled his mountain home in the middle of the night to escape relentless airstrikes from U.S. drones targeting militants in a remote corner of Afghanistan.

Rasool and other Afghan villagers have their own name for Predator drones. They call them benghai, which in the Pashto language means the "buzzing of flies." When they explain the noise, they scrunch their faces and try to make a sound that resembles an army of flies.

"They are evil things that fly so high you don't see them but all the time you hear them," said Rasool, whose body is stooped and shrunken with age and his voice barely louder than a whisper. "Night and day we hear this sound and then the bombardment starts." Read the full story.

?

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

Boys study in a makeshift school in the village of Budyali, Nangarhar province, on March 19, 2013.

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

Papers and schoolbooks lie among the debris of a destroyed school in the village of Budyali, Nangarhar province, on March 19, 2013.

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

Men walk through the debris of the destroyed school in the village of Budyali, Nangarhar province, on March 19, 2013.

Rahmat Gul / AP

More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

Related:

? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Microsoft allows Windows 8 to run on smaller displays: is a reader-sized Surface on its way?

Microsoft relaxes Windows 8 rules to allow smaller screens is a readersized tablet on its way

Until now, Windows 8's official hardware requirements have been understandably ruthless: devices with anything less than 1,366 x 768 pixels need not apply. That policy was changed in a recent newsletter, however, to permit the creation of Windows 8 devices with a resolution of 1,024 x 768 -- likely representing a very different size and shape. Microsoft says the policy switch isn't meant to "encourage partners to regularly use a lower screen resolution", and it warns that such dimensions will be incompatible with Windows 8's split-screen feature, known as "snap". Which raises the question -- why mess with the rules?

Ed Bott over at ZDNet has an interesting theory. 1,024 x 768 matches the size and aspect ratio of many popular reader-sized tablets, like the iPad Mini, which are meant to be used in both portrait and landscape orientations. There's no official confirmation either way, of course, but Bott believes Microsoft's move could be deliberately aimed at allowing the development of 7- or 8-inch Windows 8 (or RT) tablets, possibly with the close help of Nook-maker Barnes & Noble. Indeed, Mary Jo Foley spotted that Redmond and B&N have registered a new joint venture, "NewCo", that explicitly mentions the creation of a "Microsoft reader". Considering all these clues, can a Wook (WiNook?) really be that far off?

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Source: ZDNet, Windows Certification Newsletter

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/29/microsoft-relaxes-windows-8-resolution-rule/

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Spat between two Dutch companies sparks record-breaking 300Gbps DDoS attack

March 28 (Reuters) - Rory McIlroy, playing for the first time since losing his world number one ranking earlier this week, got off to a shaky start at the Houston Open on Thursday where he dropped three shots over his opening eight holes. The 23-year-old Northern Irishman, who was replaced atop the world rankings by Tiger Woods this week, struggled to find his rhythm on an ideal day for low scoring at the Redstone Golf Club in Humble, Texas. He bogeyed the par-four second hole and made a double-bogey seven on the eighth hole to limp to the turn at three-over. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/spat-between-two-dutch-companies-sparks-record-breaking-010927453.html

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Catelynn Lowell, Tyler Baltierra Sign Up For Couples Therapy

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/catelynn-lowell-tyler-baltierra-sign-up-for-couples-therapy/

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বৃহস্পতিবার, ২৮ মার্চ, ২০১৩

T-Mobile, dubbing itself the 'un-carrier,' will offer a no-contract iPhone

T-Mobile will sell a range of smartphones, including the iPhone, without any contracts.?

By Matthew Shaer / March 26, 2013

A contract-less iPhone is coming to T-Mobile.

Reuters

Enlarge

According to Fierce Wireless, the wireless carrier market in the US breaks down something like this: AT&T and Verizon leading the pack, with over a hundred million subscribers each, and Sprint and T-Mobile in a distant third and fourth, respectively. Which is why it makes sense that T-Mobile, with its roughly 33 million subscribers, would want to do something drastic to catch up to the market leaders.?

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On Tuesday, T-Mobile ? a subsidiary of?Deutsche Telekom ? announced it would entirely do away with contracts, and allow consumers to get their hands on devices such as the iPhone without locking themselves into a two-year voice and data agreement. Of course, no contracts also means unsubsidized phones, which can be very expensive.

For instance, an unsubsidized?iPhone?(a device previously unavailable on T-Mobile) will set you back $650, as opposed to the subsidized price of $199.

But T-Mobile says it will offer what essentially amounts to a mortgage on your new iPhone: If you don't want to plunk down the full $650, you can choose to fork over a downpayment of $100, plus a set amount a month on top of your data and voice fees, until the device is fully paid off. (CNET has noted that you won't incur interest charges on those payments, so "[w]hen you add up the deposit, plus any installments, it equals the price of the phone if you were to pay full price at the time of purchase.")?

In a statement today,?John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile USA, called the move "bold" ? a direct attack on what he described as the "out-of-touch wireless club.?This is an industry filled with ridiculously confusing contracts, limits on how much data you can use or when you can upgrade, and monthly bills that make little sense," he added. "As America?s Un-carrier, we are changing all of that and bringing common sense to wireless."

It's worth noting that it's not just the iPhone that's going contract-less ? other devices, including the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One smartphones, will be sold under the same plan.?

The T-Mobile iPhone will be available on April 12.?

For?more tech news, follow us on?Twitter @venturenaut.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/rvAxQukoTbg/T-Mobile-dubbing-itself-the-un-carrier-will-offer-a-no-contract-iPhone

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বুধবার, ২৭ মার্চ, ২০১৩

Bit of skill, bit of luck

It takes some luck to prevail inside the intimidating cauldron that is Estadio Azteca, and the United States did find its share of good fortune in Tuesday?s 0-0 draw with suddenly beleaguered El Tri.

Two penalty appeals were denied and Javier ?Chicharito? Hernandez missed twice from in close ? the kind of chances ?Chicharito? generally finishes with ruthless efficiency, which is why he went to Manchester United at such a young age.

To be sure, the young United States back line (well, three inexperienced defenders plus converted midfielder DaMarcus Beasley) were generally in the right spots and almost always accurate in the challenges. Michael Bradley did good two-way work, identifying the vital passing central lanes to screen out much of the danger and then assisting the United States in possession.

The Americans never moved enough men forward to bother or test Mexico?s back line, but those useful moments of possession were critical in taking just enough pressure off the back line and pushing the Mexicans back.

For the second consecutive contest, goalkeeper Brad Guzan did everything he needed to do. Surely U.S. fans who fretted last week about a U.S. goal unguarded by trusty Tim Howard are feeling better after seeing Guzan calmly go about his chores over two memorable nights.

Still, Klinsmann?s men needed a break here or there to draw a point out of Azteca, a place where Mexico has traditionally been so stingy with them.

(MORE: United States fights to a scoreless draw)

In the first half, Bradley raised two hands and pushed Chicharito in the back as the Mexican markman streaked into the 18, looking for a ball off Giovani dos Santos? foot along the right. The nearby referee?s assistant raised his flag to indicate a foul but Guatemalan referee Walter Lopez ignored the waving yellow flag.

But the refereeing choice? that will surely drive Mexican fans even more nutso ? when they aren?t debating the job status of increasingly embattled Jos? Manuel ?Chepo? de la Torre ? was a 76th minute penalty kick appeal unheard by Lopez. Edu bundled aggressively into Javier Aquino from behind as the Mexican attacker prepared to shoot.

The visitors from up north definitely got away with something there.

(MORE: Mexico?s turn to defuse crisis)

As for the missed shots:

In the 28th minute, Chicharito went high with a header from inside the six ? but the sequence perfectly illustrated how so much of the night would go. ?Mexico?s Jorge Torres Nilo was able to scoot free along the U.S. right side; there was quite a bit of that Tuesday, especially early. But U.S. center back Matt Besler got just enough of a body on Chicharito as they both sprinted toward goal, so the Mexican striker didn?t have anything uncontested.

Later, Chicharito missed from even closer; that one was something that looked like genuine serendipity.

Of course, the United States made some of its own luck. Prime example, Graham Zusi?s tremendous tracking in the 72nd minute, a 30-yard dash to heroically head away a ball and prevent a point blank header from Angel Reyna.

Besler and Omar Gonzalez were ball-clearing beasts ? which was absolutely no luck at all. That was on Klinsmann, whose choice to start the LA Galaxy center back to begin the final round looks like the right one now.

(MORE: Man of the Match, Omar Gonzalez)

Source: http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/27/tuesdays-big-u-s-achievement-took-a-bit-of-luck-too/related/

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Coming soon: lockers for shoppers at Walmart

SAN BRUNO, California -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., facing growing competition for quick delivery of physical goods from online retailers like Amazon.com Inc, said on Tuesday it would start using its stores to get Internet orders to customers faster.

While Wal-Mart is the world's largest retailer by overall sales, on the Internet its revenue is a small fraction of Amazon's, adding some urgency to its e-commerce efforts.

Wal-Mart said it would soon test having lockers to hold goods ordered on the Internet in stores until shoppers pick them up. It is also doubling the number of stores that can fill orders placed online, an attempt to match the reach of Amazon's distribution network.

Those tests, along with services such as letting shoppers pay for online orders in stores with cash, are some of the ways Wal-Mart is trying to link its online business with its thousands of stores, executives told reporters at the company's first global e-commerce media day in San Bruno, Calif.

While Amazon had $61 billion in sales last year, Wal-Mart is on track to surpass $9 billion in annual online sales this year, said Neil Ashe, chief executive of its e-commerce unit.

Until recently, Wal-Mart had not broken out its online sales, but Ashe insisted the company would be able to build a competitive e-commerce business.

Starting this summer, it will put lockers in about a dozen U.S. stores to hold goods ordered online until shoppers pick them up.

Lockers are a growing trend in e-commerce. As more packages turn up on shoppers' doorsteps theft has increased, especially in urban areas, spurring demand for secure places nearby to store them.

Amazon, which has no stores, has installed lockers in grocery, convenience and drug stores for several years. Google Inc acquired a delivery locker start-up called BufferBox in November.

Wal-Mart is also planning a small expansion of a running test to ship online orders from physical stores. In 2013, the company plans to double the program to about 50 stores, a fraction of its nationwide footprint.

Using stores as fulfillment centers that are closer to customers lets Wal-Mart offer same-day delivery and next-day delivery of online orders "at very low cost," said Joel Anderson, chief executive of Walmart.com.

Two-thirds of the U.S. population live within five miles of a Wal-Mart store. That said, the company will likely expand this approach to hundreds of stores rather than thousands.

For example, in the Dallas area, Walmart has more than 100 stores. It would only need two or three of those stores to act as distribution centers to get the financial benefit of this approach, said Jeff McAllister, senior vice president of Walmart U.S. innovations.

The expansion is another part of Wal-Mart's efforts to compete with Amazon's successful Prime subscription service, which provides free two-day shipping in the United States for $79 a year. Another front in that battle is the expansion of what Wal-Mart's website sells.

Product assortment on Walmart.com grew 35 percent to 40 percent to two million items in 2012 and the company plans to double that this year, said Kelly Thompson, a Wal-Mart merchandising executive.

But Wal-Mart's digital efforts are not without growing pains.

The retailer asked reporters who were tweeting comments on Tuesday to use the hashtag #WMTinnovate. Along with tweets from the reporters, #WMTinnovate tweets were being sent from groups and individuals speaking out against the retailer.

The union-backed group Making Change at Walmart posted on Twitter: "@WalmartNewsroom Why don't you start by empowering the women in your stores with equal pay for equal work? #equality #wmtinnovate."

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653351/s/2a07296f/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Ccoming0Esoon0Elockers0Eshoppers0Ewalmart0E1C90A9270A6/story01.htm

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Housing, manufacturing give US economy lift

In this Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013, photo, an employees carts a dishwasher to a customer's vehicle at the loading docks of Nebraska Furniture Mart in Omaha, Neb. U.S. orders for long-lasting goods that signal business investment plans fell in February by the largest amount in seven months, although the decline followed a strong month in January and may prove to be a temporary setback. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

In this Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013, photo, an employees carts a dishwasher to a customer's vehicle at the loading docks of Nebraska Furniture Mart in Omaha, Neb. U.S. orders for long-lasting goods that signal business investment plans fell in February by the largest amount in seven months, although the decline followed a strong month in January and may prove to be a temporary setback. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

In this Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, photo, washing machines are for sale at Green's, a furniture and appliance store, in Albany, N.Y. U.S. orders for long-lasting goods that signal business investment plans fell in February by the largest amount in seven months, although the decline followed a strong month in January and may prove to be a temporary setback. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

In this Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, photo, stoves at Green's, a furniture and appliance store, are on sale in Albany, N.Y. U.S. orders for long-lasting goods that signal business investment plans fell in February by the largest amount in seven months, although the decline followed a strong month in January and may prove to be a temporary setback. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

In this Feb. 25, 2013 photo, a new townhouse is under construction at the Crossings adult community in Colonie, N.Y. Sales of new homes fell in February after climbing to the highest level in more than four years in January. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

In this Feb. 25, 2013 photo, a new townhouse is under construction at the Crossings adult community in Colonie, N.Y. Sales of new homes fell in February after climbing to the highest level in more than four years in January. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Gains in housing and manufacturing propelled the U.S. economy over the winter, according to reports released Tuesday, and analysts say they point to the resilience of consumers and businesses as government spending cuts kick in.

U.S. home prices rose 8.1 percent in January, the fastest annual rate since the peak of the housing boom in the summer of 2006. And demand for longer-lasting factory goods jumped 5.7 percent in February, the biggest increase in five months.

February new-home sales and March consumer confidence looked a little shakier. But the overall picture of an improving economy drove stocks higher on Tuesday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 gained 12 points to close at 1,563 ? a point away from its record high reached in October 2007. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 111 points, its biggest gain in three weeks.

"There is nothing in this data that says the economy is falling back," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors.

A recovery in housing has helped lift the economy this year and is finally restoring some of the wealth lost during the Great Recession.

The year-over-year rise in home prices reported by the Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller 20-city index was the fastest since June 2006. Prices rose in all 20 cities and eight markets posted double-digit increases, including some of the hardest hit during the crisis. Prices rose 23.2 percent in Phoenix, 17.5 percent in San Francisco and 15.3 percent in Las Vegas.

The strength in home prices has far from erased all the damage from the crisis. Home prices nationwide are still 29 percent below their peak reached in August 2006.

Still, steady gains should encourage more people to buy and put their homes on the market, keeping the recovery going. And higher home prices make people feel wealthier, which leads consumers to spend more and drives more economic growth.

Sales of new homes cooled off in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 411,000, the Commerce Department reported. That's down from January's pace of 431,000, which was the fastest since September 2008. But February's pace was still better than every other month since April 2010, when a temporary home-buying tax credit was boosting sales. And sales are 12.3 percent higher than a year ago.

"We are still far from the healthy level of 700,000, but we're slowly making our way in that direction," said Jennifer Lee, senior economist with BMO Capital Markets. "We just have to accept the fact that the path will be interrupted once in a while and that's what happened in February."

Manufacturing is also boosting the economy this year, and factories were busier in February, according to a separate Commerce report on durable goods orders.

February's increase was driven by a surge in commercial aircraft orders, which tend to be volatile. Still, orders for motor vehicles and parts increased solidly, suggesting demand for cars and trucks remains strong.

Orders for machinery and other goods that signal business investment plans fell sharply in February. But the decline followed the biggest monthly gain in nearly three years. Economists had expected companies to ease up after January's spending spree. When looking at the two months together, business investment has accelerated from the end of last year and should contribute to economic growth.

"The picture of business spending to start the year is fairly healthy," said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG

One concern is that tax increases and government spending cuts could stunt the economy's momentum. Both weighed on consumers' minds in March.

The Conference Board, a New York-based private research group, said its Consumer Confidence Index fell to 59.7 this month, down from 68 in February. The decline was mainly due to a drop in expectations for the economy over the next six months, though consumers also were more pessimistic regarding current economic conditions.

Some economists think the timing of the survey may have exacerbated the decline.

The survey was conducted from March 1 through March 14, just as $85 billion in automatic spending cuts began. Consumers were already feeling pinched by higher Social Security taxes that have reduced take-home pay for most workers this year. And gas prices rose sharply in February, before easing slightly this month.

"It was sort of a perfect storm," said Chris G. Christopher Jr., director of consumer economics at IHS Global Insight. "I do expect confidence to rebound as long as there is no government shutdown and the political bickering in Washington doesn't reach a fever pitch."

A healthier job market is also likely to make people feel a little better about their finances.

Employers have added an average of 200,000 jobs per month since November. That's nearly double the average from last spring. The job gains helped lower the unemployment rate in February to a four-year low of 7.7 percent.

Christopher expects economic growth in the January-March quarter to rise at a 2.9 percent annual rate. That would follow a meager gain of 0.1 percent in the October-December quarter, which was largely due to temporary factors, including sharp cuts in defense spending.

Naroff says the government spending cuts taking effect, known as sequestration, could reduce growth by a full percentage point this year. Still, even with the drag, he expects economic growth for 2013 to be around 2.6 percent. That would be better than the 2.2 percent growth in 2012.

__

AP Business Writers Paul Wiseman and Marcy Gordon contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-03-26-Economy/id-a76602a5354a4cc1bdad0f8dfdb3ecab

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Significant insights into common form of autism: Study identifies genetic connections in 15q duplication syndrome

Mar. 26, 2013 ? A new study published in the March issue of Autism Research from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and Le Bonheur researchers is making the genetic connections between autism and Chromosome 15q Duplication Syndrome (Dup15q).

The Memphis researchers determined that the maternally derived or inherited duplication of the region inclusive of the UBE3A gene (also known as the Angelman/Prader-Willi syndrome locus) are sufficient to produce a phenotype on the autism spectrum in all ten maternal duplication subjects. The number of subjects was too small to determine if parental duplications do not cause autism. The team assembled the largest single cohort of interstitial 15q duplication subjects for phenotype/genotype analysis of the autism component of the syndrome.

Chromosome 15q Duplication Syndrome (Dup15q) results from duplications of chromosome 15q11-q13. Duplications that are maternal in origin often result in developmental problems. The larger 15q duplication syndrome, which includes individuals with idic15, manifests itself in a wide range of developmental disabilities including autism spectrum disorders; motor, cognitive and speech/language delays; and seizure disorders among others. While there is no specific treatment plan, therapies are available to address or manage symptoms.

Previous research suggests that as many as 1,000 genes may contribute to autism phenotypes, but as much as 1-3 percent of all autism spectrum disorder cases may be a result of 15q11-q13 duplication alone.

The researchers also found through EEG evaluations a pattern that looks like the type of signal you see when individuals take GABA promoting drugs (benzodiazepines). The lead researcher on this study, Lawrence T. Reiter, PhD, says this signal gives clinicians a clue about what types of anti-seizure medication may be most useful in children with 15q duplications.

Reiter says genetic testing can help families connect to resources, like the Dup15q Alliance. Reiter is an associate professor in Department of Neurology with an adjunct appointment in Pediatrics at UTHSC.

"If a pediatrician suspects autism due to hypotonia and developmental delay, I highly recommend they order an arrayCGH test. Duplication 15q is the second most common duplication in autism. The test will help families in future treatments specific to this sub-type of autism," he said.

Reiter collaborated with UTHSC and Le Bonheur Neurologist Kathryn McVicar, MD, and Geneticist Eniko K. Pivnick, MD. The study was funded by the Herbert and Mary Shainberg Neuroscience Fund. Reiter serves on the scientific advisory board for the Duplication 15q Alliance and Idic15 Canada.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Le Bonheur Children's Hospital.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Nora Urraca, Julie Cleary, Victoria Brewer, Eniko K. Pivnick, Kathryn McVicar, Ronald L. Thibert, N. Carolyn Schanen, Carmen Esmer, Dustin Lamport, Lawrence T. Reiter. The Interstitial Duplication 15q11.2-q13 Syndrome Includes Autism, Mild Facial Anomalies and a Characteristic EEG Signature. Autism Research, 2013; DOI: 10.1002/aur.1284

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/JTnAUn72PiU/130326101532.htm

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Pro same-sex marriage lawyer: "I have no idea" how court will rule (cbsnews)

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Paint-on plastic electronics: Aligning polymers for high performance

Mar. 24, 2013 ? Semiconducting polymers are an unruly bunch, but University of Michigan engineers have developed a new method for getting them in line that could pave the way for cheaper, greener, "paint-on" plastic electronics.

"This is for the first time a thin-layer, conducting, highly aligned film for high-performance, paintable, directly writeable plastic electronics," said Jinsang Kim, U-M professor of materials science and engineering, who led the research published in Nature Materials.

Semiconductors are the key ingredient for computer processors, solar cells and LED displays, but they are expensive. Inorganic semiconductors like silicon require high temperatures in excess of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit and costly vacuum systems for processing into electronics, but organic and plastic semiconductors can be prepared on a basic lab bench.

The trouble is that charge carriers, like electrons, can't move through plastics nearly as easily as they can move through inorganic semiconductors, Kim said. Part of the reason for this is because each semiconducting polymer molecule is like a short wire, and these wires are randomly arranged.

"Charge mobility along the polymer chains is much faster than between the polymers," Kim said.

To take advantage of the good conduction along the polymers, research groups have been trying to align them into a charge-carrying freeway, but it's a bit like trying to arrange nanoscopic linguine.

Kim's group approached the problem by making smarter semiconducting polymers. They wanted a liquid polymer solution they could brush over a surface, and the molecules would automatically align with one another in the direction of the stroke, assembling into high-performance semiconducting thin-layer films.

First, they designed the polymers to be slippery -- ordinary polymers glom together like flat noodles left in the fridge, Kim said. By choosing polymers with a natural twist, the team kept them from sticking to one another in the solution. But in order to align during the brushstroke, the polymers needed to subtly attract one another. Flat surfaces would do that, so the team designed their polymer to untwist as the solvent dried up.

They stopped the unaligned polymers from forming large chunks by adding flexible arms that extended off to the sides of the flat, wire-like polymer. These arms prevented too much close contact among the polymers while the bulkiness of the arms kept them from snagging on one another. Polymers with these properties will line up in the direction of an applied force, such as the tug of a paintbrush.

"It's a big breakthrough," Kim said. "We established a complete molecular design principle of semiconducting polymers with directed alignment capability."

And it works. The team made molecules that matched their design and built a device for spreading the polymer solution over surfaces such as glass or a flexible plastic film. The force from the silicon blade, moving at a constant speed across the liquid polymer, was enough to align the molecules.

The team then built the semiconducting film into a simple transistor, a version of the electronic components that make up computer processors. The device demonstrated the importance of the polymer alignment by showing that charge carriers moved 1,000 times faster in the direction parallel to the silicon blade's brushstroke than they did when crossing the direction of the stroke.

"By combining the established molecular design principle with a polymer that has a very good intrinsic charge carrier mobility, we believe it will make a huge difference in organic electronics," he said. "We are currently developing a versatile fabrication method in order to realize high-performance and paintable plastic electronics in various length scales from nanometers to meters."

Kim believes that the technique will work equally well with atomic-scale pen nibs or large trowel-like applicators for making electronics of all sizes such as LED displays or light-absorbing coatings for solar cells.

The paper is titled "A molecular design principle of lyotropic liquid-crystalline conjugated polymers with directed alignment capability for plastic electronics."

The work is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. Two authors of the paper were partly supported by National Science Foundation and WCU program of National Research Foundation of Korea. The university is pursuing patent protection for the intellectual property and is seeking commercialization partners to help bring the technology to market.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Michigan, via Newswise.

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Journal Reference:

  1. Bong-Gi Kim, Eun Jeong Jeong, Jong Won Chung, Sungbaek Seo, Bonwon Koo, Jinsang Kim. A molecular design principle of lyotropic liquid-crystalline conjugated polymers with directed alignment capability for plastic electronics. Nature Materials, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nmat3595

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/technology/~3/X00oDu4TX2Q/130324151830.htm

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Mathematical butterflies provide insight into how insects fly

Mathematical butterflies provide insight into how insects fly [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 25-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Catherine Meyers
cmeyers@aip.org
301-209-3088
American Institute of Physics

In Robert A. Heinlein's science-fiction novel, The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, one of the characters states that butterflies are just "self-propelled flowers." While Heinlein's description of the insect's aerodynamic ability is quite poetic, it does little to scientifically explain it. Four Japanese researchers have done a bit better by developing sophisticated numerical simulations of a butterfly's forward flight. In a paper in the American Institute of Physics' journal Physics of Fluids, the researchers describe how they mathematically modeled a butterfly as a four-link rigid-body system consisting of a thorax (the segment of the insect to which the wings are attached), an abdomen, and the two wings.

Using data from observations of butterfly flight in wind tunnels, the researchers conducted three different types of simulations with their model that were defined by the position and attitude of the thorax: tethered (where the thorax is fixed), prescribed (where the thorax is programmed to move in an expected manner) and free-flight (where the thorax movement is unrestricted). They found that their mathematical butterfly did as predicted make use of the tiny, swirling vortices that form in the direction of travel during a downward flap, pushing air down and providing lift. However, they also observed that the flow around the butterfly is much more turbulent than expected. This turbulent flow triggers the complex trajectories characteristic to the flights of butterflies that may be one of the strategies by which the insects avoid predators.

Finally, the researchers determined that the pitching angle of the thorax is the key to controlled periodic flight, noting that living butterflies likely can continually sense the attitude of their thorax and adjust their flapping motion accordingly to ensure stability. The researchers state that their future work will focus on identifying the mechanism by which this control is achieved.

###

Article: "Aerodynamic forces and vortical structures in flapping butterfly's forward flight," is published in Physics of Fluids.

Link: http://pof.aip.org/resource/1/phfle6/v25/i2/p021902_s1

Authors: Naoto Yokoyama (1), Kei Senda (1), Makoto Lima (2), and Norio Hirai (3).

(1) Kyoto University (Kyoto, Japan)

(2) Hiroshima University (Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan)

(3) Osaka Prefecture University (Sakai, Japan)



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


Mathematical butterflies provide insight into how insects fly [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 25-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Catherine Meyers
cmeyers@aip.org
301-209-3088
American Institute of Physics

In Robert A. Heinlein's science-fiction novel, The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, one of the characters states that butterflies are just "self-propelled flowers." While Heinlein's description of the insect's aerodynamic ability is quite poetic, it does little to scientifically explain it. Four Japanese researchers have done a bit better by developing sophisticated numerical simulations of a butterfly's forward flight. In a paper in the American Institute of Physics' journal Physics of Fluids, the researchers describe how they mathematically modeled a butterfly as a four-link rigid-body system consisting of a thorax (the segment of the insect to which the wings are attached), an abdomen, and the two wings.

Using data from observations of butterfly flight in wind tunnels, the researchers conducted three different types of simulations with their model that were defined by the position and attitude of the thorax: tethered (where the thorax is fixed), prescribed (where the thorax is programmed to move in an expected manner) and free-flight (where the thorax movement is unrestricted). They found that their mathematical butterfly did as predicted make use of the tiny, swirling vortices that form in the direction of travel during a downward flap, pushing air down and providing lift. However, they also observed that the flow around the butterfly is much more turbulent than expected. This turbulent flow triggers the complex trajectories characteristic to the flights of butterflies that may be one of the strategies by which the insects avoid predators.

Finally, the researchers determined that the pitching angle of the thorax is the key to controlled periodic flight, noting that living butterflies likely can continually sense the attitude of their thorax and adjust their flapping motion accordingly to ensure stability. The researchers state that their future work will focus on identifying the mechanism by which this control is achieved.

###

Article: "Aerodynamic forces and vortical structures in flapping butterfly's forward flight," is published in Physics of Fluids.

Link: http://pof.aip.org/resource/1/phfle6/v25/i2/p021902_s1

Authors: Naoto Yokoyama (1), Kei Senda (1), Makoto Lima (2), and Norio Hirai (3).

(1) Kyoto University (Kyoto, Japan)

(2) Hiroshima University (Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan)

(3) Osaka Prefecture University (Sakai, Japan)



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share 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/2013-03/aiop-mbp032513.php

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