Kenyan Supreme Court upholds election result

A supporter of losing presidential candidate Raila Odinga gestures as he protests with others in the rain in front of riot police guarding the Supreme Court in Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, March 30, 2013. Kenya's Supreme Court on Saturday upheld the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as the country's next president, in a verdict on a petition by candidate Raila Odinga appealing the election result, ending an election season that riveted the nation amid fears of a repeat of the 2007-08 postelection violence. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

A supporter of losing presidential candidate Raila Odinga gestures as he protests with others in the rain in front of riot police guarding the Supreme Court in Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, March 30, 2013. Kenya's Supreme Court on Saturday upheld the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as the country's next president, in a verdict on a petition by candidate Raila Odinga appealing the election result, ending an election season that riveted the nation amid fears of a repeat of the 2007-08 postelection violence. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Kenyan police with clubs chase a small group of supporters of presidential candidate Raila Odinga after they ran down a street smashing shop windows in protest at the verdict of the Supreme Court in Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, March 30, 2013. Kenya's Supreme Court on Saturday upheld the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as the country's next president, in a verdict on a petition by candidate Raila Odinga appealing the election result, ending an election season that riveted the nation amid fears of a repeat of the 2007-08 postelection violence. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Supporters of losing presidential candidate Raila Odinga hold posters designed as banknotes with his face on, as they protest the verdict of the Supreme Court in Nairobi, Kenya, Saturday, March 30, 2013. Kenya's Supreme Court on Saturday upheld the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as the country's next president, in a verdict on a petition by candidate Raila Odinga appealing the election result, ending an election season that riveted the nation amid fears of a repeat of the 2007-08 postelection violence. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

FILE - In this Saturday, March 9, 2013 file photo, Kenya's president-elect Uhuru Kenyatta waves at supporters after winning the elections in Nairobi, Kenya. Kenya's Supreme Court on Saturday, March 30, 2013 upheld the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as the country's next president, in a verdict on a petition by candidate Raila Odinga appealing the election result, ending an election season that riveted the nation amid fears of a repeat of the 2007-08 postelection violence. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)

Losing presidential candidate Raila Odinga speaks to the media as he accepts the Supreme Court ruling upholding the election result, and urges unity amongst Kenyans, at a press conference in Nairobi, Kenya, Saturday, March 30, 2013. Kenya's Supreme Court on Saturday upheld the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as the country's next president, ending an election season that riveted the nation amid fears of a repeat of the 2007-08 postelection violence. (AP Photo/Khalil Senosi)

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) ? Kenya's Supreme Court on Saturday upheld the election of Uhuru Kenyatta as the country's next president and the loser accepted that verdict, ending an election season that riveted the nation with fears of a repeat of the 2007-08 postelection violence.

Jubilant Kenyatta supporters flooded the streets of downtown Nairobi, honking horns, blowing plastic noisemakers and chanting.

But supporters of defeated Prime Minister Raila Odinga angrily protested after the verdict and police fired tear gas at them outside the Supreme Court as well as in the lakeside city of Kisumu, Odinga's hometown.

Two young men participating in riots were fatally shot in Kisumu, police spokesman Masoud Mwinyi told The Associated Press, although it was not clear by whom, and residents there said they could hear gunshots late in the night.

Outbreaks of violence by Odinga supporters were also reported in some Nairobi slums and truckloads of police were called in to quell the demonstrations, according to reports on a police radio heard by an Associated Press reporter.

In a victory speech late Saturday, Kenyatta urged Kenyans to move past the election and pledged to "work with, and serve, all Kenyans without discrimination whatsoever."

"Above all, let us continue to pray for peace in our country," he said.

Odinga, who had challenged the election results, accepted the court ruling and urged national unity and peace.

"It is our view that this court process is another long road in our march toward democracy, for which we have long fought," he said. "The future of Kenya is bright. Let us not allow elections to divide us."

However, Odinga said it was unfortunate that some of his legal team's evidence had been disallowed by the court. This, he said after the court's verdict, means that "in the end Kenyans lost the right to know what indeed happened" in the counting of votes.

"Although we may not agree with some of its findings, and despite all the anomalies we have pointed out, our belief in constitutionalism remains supreme," he said. "Casting doubt on the judgment of the court could lead to higher political and economic uncertainty, and make it more difficult for our country to move forward."

Odinga wished Kenyatta success and said he hopes the incoming government "will have fidelity to our constitution, and implement it to the letter for the betterment of our people."

Saturday's Supreme Court verdict ? following a drawn-out court case that raised tensions across the nation ? means that Kenyatta, the son of Kenya's first president, is to be sworn in as president on April 9. He will become the second sitting president in Africa to face charges at the International Criminal Court.

Kenyatta and Deputy President-elect William Ruto both face charges that they helped orchestrate the 2007-08 postelection violence in which more than 1,000 people died. Both deny the charges. Ruto's trial is set to begin in late May; Kenyatta's is to start in July. Kenyatta has promised to report to The Hague.

Kenyatta's win may complicate the U.S. relationship with Kenya, which has the largest American embassy in Africa. Because of the ICC charges against Kenyatta, the U.S, Britain and other European countries have said they may have limited contact with Kenya's new president.

But Western powers can't completely sever the relationship. Kenya is a key component in the fight against the al-Qaida-linked Somali militant group al-Shabab. Additionally, as East Africa's largest economy, China is strongly courting Kenya's leaders, and the West will be loath to lose economic influence here.

The office of British Prime Minister David Cameron, whose government did not congratulate Kenyatta by name after he was declared the winner, said in a statement that Cameron wrote to Kenyatta on Saturday to note "his strong commitment to the partnership that exists between Kenya and the U.K." The statement said "the Kenyan people had made their sovereign choice" in electing Kenyatta.

The White House congratulated Kenyatta in a statement, which urged Kenyans "to peacefully accept the results of the election."

Lawyers for Odinga, the loser in Kenya's last two elections, had argued before the Supreme Court that the election was marred by irregularities and that Kenyatta did not win enough votes to avoid a runoff election. According to official results, Kenyatta won 50.07 percent of the vote, narrowly avoiding a runoff election against Odinga, who said his case before the Supreme Court would put Kenya's democracy on trial.

But the Supreme Court's unanimous decision, read out by Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, said the election was "conducted in compliance with the constitution and the law" and that Kenyatta and Ruto were legally elected.

"It is the decision of the court that (Kenyatta and Ruto) were validly elected," the ruling said. The reasons behind the judges' decision were not given Saturday. The chief justice said a detailed judgment would be delivered within two weeks.

Unlike after the 2007 election, which degenerated into tribe-on-tribe violence that damaged Kenya's reputation as a stable country, this time Odinga said he had faith in the judiciary's ability to give him a fair hearing.

The court's ruling ended days of anxiety since March 9, when Kenyatta was declared the winner of the March 4 vote that many described as the most complex in Kenya's history. More than 12 million Kenyans participated in the election. Some observers had expected a low registration of voters because of apathy following the 2007-08 violence, but campaigns by Kenyatta, Odinga and other presidential candidates led to the highest registration in the country ever. Kenya's electoral commission registered 14.3 million people.

Election day, though, did not go as planned. An electronic voter ID system intended to prevent fraud failed for reasons yet to be explained by the electoral commission. Vote officials instead used manual voter rolls.

After the polls closed, results were to be sent electronically to Nairobi, where officials would quickly tabulate a preliminary vote count in order to maximize transparency after rigging accusations following the 2007 vote. But that system failed, too. Election officials have indicated that computer servers were overloaded but have yet to fully explain the problem.

As the early count system was still being used, election results showed more than 330,000 rejected ballots, an unusually high number. But after the count resumed with the arrival in Nairobi of manual tallies, the number of rejected ballots was greatly reduced, and the election commission said the computer was mistakenly multiplying the number of rejected ballots by a factor of eight.

Odinga's lawyers told the Supreme Court this week that the switch from electronic voter identification to manual voter roll was contrived to allow inflation of Kenyatta's votes to take him past the 50 percent threshold. That accusation was vehemently denied by the electoral commission and Kenyatta's legal team.

___

Associated Press reporters Rodney Muhumuza in Kampala, Uganda, and Jason Straziuso in Mombasa, Kenya, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-30-AF-Kenya-Election/id-bd43b42566b34beaa18fdf0cb19b27cc

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Spread the word of your web site: Guest Posting - UK Business ...

One of the best ways of spreading the name of your web site is by having an article published on another web site, usually a blog.

Make sure the site in question is PR2+, usually the higher the PR the higher the cost, although some sites allow you to post for free, but you really want blogs relevant to your own site.

Costs should be $5-$20, no more. Some sites will remove the article after 12 months, other will leave it on permanently.

If you are lazy and don't want to write articles you can get plenty done online for around $3 each.

Source: http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=292487

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Mate choice in mice is heavily influenced by paternal cues

Friday, March 29, 2013

Mate choice is a key factor in the evolution of new animal species. The choice of a specific mate can decisively influence the evolutionary development of a species. In mice, the attractiveness of a potential mate is conveyed by scent cues and ultrasonic vocalizations. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Pl?n investigated whether house mice (Mus musculus) would mate with each other even if they were from two populations which had been separated from each other for a long time period. To do this, the researchers brought together mice from a German population and mice from a French population. Although to begin with all the mice mated with one another randomly, the hybrid offspring of French and German parents were distinctly more choosy: they showed a definite preference for mating with individuals from their father's original population. According to the researchers, this paternal imprinting accelerates the divergence of two house mouse populations and thus promotes speciation.

In allopatric speciation, individuals of a species become geographically isolated from each other by external factors such as mountains or estuaries. Over time, this geographic separation leads to the sub-populations undergoing various mutations, and thus diverging genetically. Animals from the two different sub-populations can no longer successfully reproduce, so two new species evolve.

To find out what role partner selection plays in such speciation processes, Diethard Tautz from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology and his colleagues conducted a comprehensive study on house mice ? the classic model organisms of biology. "To investigate whether there are differences in the mating behaviour of the mice in the early stages of speciation, we caught wild house mice in southern France and western Germany. The two populations have been geographically separate for around 3,000 years, which equates to some 18,000 generations," says Diethard Tautz. Due to this geographical separation, the French and German mice were genetically different.

The Pl?n-based researchers created a semi-natural environment for their investigations ? a sort of "Playboy Mansion" for mice. The research enclosure was several square meters in size and was divided up using wooden walls, "nests" made out of plastic cylinders, and plastic tubes. It also featured an escape tube with several entrances, which led into a cage system nearby. "We constructed the enclosure in such a way that all animals had unimpeded access to all areas, but thanks to the structural divisions were also able to create their own territories or retreat into nests," explains Tautz. "The escape tube was a control element. If the mice retreated to it only very seldom ? as was the case in our experiment ? then we could be sure there was no overpopulation in the central enclosure."

In this central enclosure, the French and German mice had both time and space to mate with each other and reproduce. "At first, all the mice mated with each other quite randomly. But with the first-generation offspring, a surprising pattern emerged," says Tautz. When the first-generation hybrid offspring of mixed French and German parentage mated, they showed a specific preference for pure-bred mates whose "nationality" was that of their father only. "There must be some kind of paternal influence that prompts the hybrid mice to choose a mate from a specific population, namely that of their father," concludes the biologist, based on the results of his study. "This imprinting must be learned, however, meaning that the animals must grow up in the presence of their fathers. This was not the case for the original mice, which were kept in cages for a time after being caught."

"We know that mice use ultrasonic vocalizations to communicate with each other and that particularly in the case of male mice these vocalizations can reveal signals of individuality and kinship. We believe that, like birdsong, the vocalizations of the males have a learned component and a genetic component," says Tautz. Therefore, French and German mice really could "speak" different languages, partly learned from their fathers, partly inherited from them. Individual mice thus have a mating preference for mice that speak the same language as they do.

The French and German mouse populations had evidently been geographically separated long enough for preliminary signs of species differentiation to be apparent as regards mating preferences. In addition, another aspect of mating behavior also sped up the speciation process.

Although mice have multiple mates, the researchers found evidence of partner fidelity and inbreeding. The tendency to mate with relatives fosters the creation of genetically uniform groups. When both occur together, this accelerates the speciation process.

In a next step, Diethard Tautz wants to find out whether the vocalizations of the mice play the decisive role in paternal imprinting, or if scent cues are also involved. Furthermore, the biologist wants to identify the genes that are involved in mate selection.

###

Inka Montero, Meike Tesche and Diethard Tautz: "Paternal imprinting of mating preferences between natural populations of house mice (Mus musculus domesticus)", Molecular Ecology (2013), doi: 10.111/mec.122271;

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft: http://www.mpg.de

Thanks to Max-Planck-Gesellschaft for this article.

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

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127520/Mate_choice_in_mice_is_heavily_influenced_by_paternal_cues

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The GOP Has Tried (and Failed at) Minority Outreach Many Times Before

The push and pull between the Republican Party's members who are more and less enlightened on matters of race has been going on for a long time. And in just the last decade, the GOP has seen plenty of two-steps-forward-three-steps-back moments when it's tried to minority outreach programs. Take Ronald Reagan. In 1977, shortly before Jimmy Carter was sworn in, he spoke of a "New Republican party" and said it's "still going to be the party of Lincoln and that means we are going to have to come to grips with what I consider to be a major failing of the party: its failure to attract the majority of black voters." Three years later when he was running against President Carter, he didn't reply to an NAACP invitation to address their annual gathering, but showed up the next year after he was sworn and compared welfare programs to slavery, saying "'Just as the Emancipation Proclamation freed black people 118 years ago, today we need to declare an economic emancipation" and asked the attendees "to join me to build a coalition for change." The reception was cool, but he at least he received a hug from NAACP president Margaret Bush Wilson after his speech.?

RELATED: Conservatives Worry Latinos Aren't Worth Pandering To

35 years after Reagan pondered a G.O.P. presidential defeat, the ?Republican National Committee's "autopsy" of the 2012 election promises to really-for-real-this-time reach out to people who aren't "stuffy old men" (its own words!),?Republicans didn't wake up the day after the election and realized they needed to make the party less white. But, as in the past, the very public proclamations about being a more welcoming organization has thrown a harsher light on the party members who are anything but. Take, for instance, Alaska Rep. Don Young has to?apologize?for using the slur "wetbacks" on a radio show Thursday. "I know that this term is not used in the same way nowadays," Young said, "and I meant no disrespect." ?

RELATED: Karl Rove's History of Bad Advice Is Haunting the GOP

He's wrong in more than one respect. The word has not changed. It's just as offensive today as it was in 1920 to refer to Mexican migrant laborers being welcomed into Texas by business leaders?and as it was in 1954 when a mass deportation of those Mexican migrants was officially dubbed Operation Wetback. What has changed is the country and the acceptability of casual racism and the ?GOP has struggled to show it understands how much things have changed.?An ex-RNC field staffer told?BuzzFeed's McKay Coppins that "whenever they were notified of a new Republican outreach effort, they would pass around a Beanie Baby ? which they had dubbed the 'pander bear' ? and make fun of the 'tokenism.'" It's not that they were racist or something, the ex-staffer said, they just didn't see the point.

RELATED: Latino Votes Could Be Casualty of Romney-Perry Sparring

Any why should they? These sorts of political initiatives have come and gone before. Here's just a sampling.

RELATED: Marco Rubio Still Can't Slip Away from Obama on Immigration

2004: Minorities will love Republicans' social values.

RELATED: Chicago's Gun Dilemma, What Boeing Knew, and a Bloomberg Musical

Republicans tried to appeal to blacks and Latinos based on "family values" -- like opposition to abortion and gay marriage. George W. Bush's reelection campaign pushed for an anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment in Ohio to turn out voters, and Bush got 16 percent of black voters?in 2004 -- more than double the 7 percent got in 2000. Bush's faith-based initiatives office held supposedly non-partisan conferences with religious leaders to talk about poverty in their communities, and black religious clergy were specifically targeted.

But Republicans can't duplicate that today -- and probably wouldn't want to. After President Obama endorsed gay marriage, black voters' support for it climbed to 59 percent. And, as the RNC's autopsy noted, young voters support gay marriage even more. Even if Republicans could still lure minorities by opposing gay rights, it would cost them with young people.

2005: Black people should support privatizing Social Security because they'll die sooner.

Yes, in 2005, Bush's White House thought telling black people they would die sooner than white people would be a really good way to sell conservative fiscal policy -- instead of, say, make black people wonder what Republicans were suggesting to fix that problem. The?Los Angeles Times reported in March 2005:

The most provocative element of the GOP message to African Americans: Their shorter life expectancy means Social Security is not a favorable deal for them, a point contested by Bush's critics.

The president's plan for private accounts, Republicans say, would particularly benefit African Americans by allowing them to build wealth more rapidly and pass a portion of their Social Security contributions to their heirs.

That story noted a persistant problem for Republicans, which you can see in black voters' growing support for gay marriage after Obama's endorsement: when black voters find out they like a policy supported by Republicans, they don't like the party more, they like the policy less. In polling on Social Security privatization, the Los Angeles Times wrote,?"Support for the concept plummets when the survey questions link private accounts to Bush or another Republican."

2007: Immigration reform and more Latino GOP faces will make Latinos like the party more.

Though Bush had gotten record levels of support (40 percent) from Latino voters, in the 2006 election, they swung back to the Democrats. According to exit polls, about 70 percent of Latinos voted for Democrats in the midterm elections. Polls showed they cared more about the Iraq war than immigration, but the immigration debate among Republicans had already gotten ugly. In 2007, it got worse.

After the 2006 elections, the GOP tried to do what the RNC is trying to do in 2013: Promote more black and Latino Republicans to prominent positions. Bush picked the next chair of the RNC to be Florida Sen. Mel Martinez, a Cuban immigrant who favored a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Conservatives revolted.?Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo warned that Martinez would fail if he?"rejects the will of rank-and-file Republicans and uses the position to advocate for things like the president's amnesty proposal, then I believe the party could be headed for another shellacking at the polls in 2008."?Immigration reform died in Congress.?Tancredo would go on to run for president as the anti-immigration candidate. Republicans got shellacked in 2008, but not for the reason Tancredo predicted. Though RNC chair is a two-year position, Martinez stepped down in October 2007. At the time, the RNC's Latino outreach chair still hadn't been filled. At the time, the?Republican National Hispanic Assembly had no office and had considered closing,?Newsweek reported.

Glimmers of hope turned out to be false ones. Check out this fateful closing paragraph from?Newsweek?in September 2007 about whether Republicans could repair the damage following the immigration fight:

Already, two of the GOP candidates earn more favorable marks than their Republican peers among Latino politicos: Mitt Romney, who's got an energetic outreach effort led by Al Cardenas, the former chair of the Florida Republican Party; and McCain, who championed immigration reform in the Senate. It will be up to them to undo any damage their party has done.

Romney, of course, did not do that. He lost in 2008. In 2012, he said in Republican primary debates that he favored self-deportation -- making life for immigrants so horrible they go home on their own. When Rick Perry accused him of employing illegal immigrants, Romney famously said, "I?m running for office, for Pete?s sake, I can?t have illegals."

Republicans' latest outreach effort shouldn't be seen as a change of heart, but part of a long, hard slog fighting the Don Youngs of the party -- and the temptations to pander to them.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gop-tried-failed-minority-outreach-many-times-172024728.html

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Police Search For Man Who Fell From Plane

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? Authorities in southeastern Tennessee are searching for a man who was thrown from an experimental aircraft while he was learning to fly from an instructor.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports ( ) that police in Collegedale and the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office on Friday were searching the ground for the man, who has not been identified. http://bit.ly/11YgGrn

Collegedale Municipal Airport employee Lowell Sterchi said the man was being trained by an instructor in his Zodiac 601 aircraft at about 2,500 feet when the canopy came off.

The man's seat belt was not fastened and he was thrown out from the plane over the East Brainerd and Apison areas of the county.

Sterchi said the instructor, who Sterchi would not identify, landed the plane and was not physically hurt. Sterchi said the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have been notified.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/30/police-search-for-man-who-fell-from-plane_n_2982763.html

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Tips To Make Your Travels More Memorable

This article will give you advice on how to have a pleasant trip, whether you are traveling to visit relatives, or to go on a cruise. Take the time to plan your vacation according to this advice for a truly relaxing experience.

Make sure to research the current status of social and political events and occurrences in the foreign country you'll be visiting. The Consular Affairs Bureau has a regularly updated list of potential situations that could be dangerous for foreign travelers. This resource can help keep you out of situations that may threaten your well-being.

It is not uncommon to provide the housekeeper and bell hop with a tip. For these services, a good tip for housekeeping would be from $2-$5 per day, and $1 per bag of luggage. If you treat the staff well, then they will treat you well.

Prior to booking your hotel you should read reviews of the different resorts or hotels you are considering. This is the easiest way to save yourself a bad traveling experience. Customer reviews and feedback that is overwhelmingly negative is usually a good indicator of somewhere to avoid.

When taking a vacation abroad, bring along local currency so you have money to spend right away. You do not want to find yourself stranded late at night with no way to exchange your money. Many banks can offer currency exchange before you depart or most airports have a currency exchange that you can use prior to getting on the plane. That way you can enjoy yourself and not worry upon arrival.

Brush your dogs prior to putting them in your car when going on a trip. This helps to cut down on how much hair will blow around the car. Make sure to pack dog essentials, like water and food bowls, along with waste bags for your dog.

Travel with bottled water when traveling outside of the country. Because other countries do not purify their water, you can get many illnesses from drinking it. Do not forget to use bottled water for teeth brushing as well. Tap water can still make you sick this way.

When traveling by air, wear lightweight, comfortable shoes that can be easily slipped on and off. You might have to take them off quickly for security checks. Also, being comfortable is key during travel, to keep you from getting too tired and stressed. You don't need a lot of support for a little walking and a lot of sitting. Wearing sandals like flip flops or Crocs is a great way to stay comfortable on your flight.

Anytime you are traveling, be aware of all your belongings the entire time. If you have a purse with you, keep it close to your body at all times. Do not carry a bag with easy access to any of the pockets. When you are buying a bag keep these things in mind.

Always bring an extra pair of glasses on your trip. In doing this, you have a readily accessible spare pair in case your primary ones are damaged. Pack them with your regular luggage, not your carry-on, so they won't risk being stolen.

Follow these tips and your next vacation should be the relaxing trip you dreamed of. Can you start making a list and preparing for your upcoming trip now?

Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Tips-To-Make-Your-Travels-More-Memorable/4510072

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US Army vet charged with fighting with al-Qaida

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) ? A U.S. Army veteran, who boasted on Facebook of his military adventures with Syrian rebels, was charged Thursday with firing rocket propelled grenades as part of an attack led by an al-Qaida group against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Eric Harroun, 30, of Phoenix, was charged in U.S. District Court in Alexandria with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction ? specifically, a rocket propelled grenade launcher ? outside the U.S.

According to an FBI affidavit, Harroun, who served three years in the Army before being medically discharged, was engaged in military action in Syria, siding with rebel forces against the Syrian government, from January to March of this year.

Harroun told FBI investigators that he traveled to Turkey in November hoping to join the Free Syrian Army, a rebel group. In January, he crossed the border and made contact with the Free Syrian Army, which outfitted him two Russian rifles, according to the affidavit.

Within days, Harroun participated in an attack on a Syrian army encampment that was carried out jointly by the Free Syrian Army and the al-Nusrah Front, commonly known as "al-Qaida in Iraq" and designated a terrorist group by the U.S., according to the affidavit.

After that battle, Harroun retreated in the back of an al-Nusrah truck. Harroun told the FBI that at the al-Nusrah camp, he was initially treated like a prisoner but was later accepted by the other members and participated in several attacks with them, according to the affidavit.

Harroun said al-Nusrah fighters would ask him why the U.S. had designated them as terrorists, according to the affidavit.

Harroun used RPG launchers in the attacks and once, on his Facebook page, claimed credit for downing a Syrian helicopter. According to the affidavit, Harroun told the FBI that he shot an estimated 10 people in his various battles, though he was unsure if he had ever killed anyone.

On the Facebook page, Harroun also stated that "the only good Zionist is a dead Zionist" and that he intended to travel to the Palestinian territory because of Israeli atrocities there, according to the affidavit. The affidavit states that Harroun served in the Army from 2000 to 2003, when he received a medical discharge after he was injured in a car accident.

An Army spokesman said Harroun served at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri and Fort Riley in Kansas, and that his record listed no overseas deployments.

The federal public defender was appointed to represent Harroun at an initial public appearance Thursday, and a detention hearing was scheduled for Tuesday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Peterson said Harroun faces up to life in prison.

Harroun flew back to the U.S. Wednesday through Dulles International Airport. He was arrested after being questioned by FBI agents there.

The public defender for the Eastern District of Virginia, Michael Nachmanoff, declined comment Thursday, saying he had not yet had time to review the case in any depth.

Last year, Nachmanoff's office represented a northern Virginia man, Mohamad Soueid, who pleaded guilty to spying on U.S.-based Syrian dissidents on behalf of the Assad regime. Soueid said he was motivated to help the Syrian government because of his fear that Islamic extremists would take hold in Syria if Assad's secular regime were overthrown.

Harroun is not charged with providing material support to a terrorist group, but instead conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction outside the U.S., a law that applies to U.S. nationals operating anywhere in the world. The statute makes no distinction or exception for an individual who may be fighting a hostile regime.

Harroun appeared to make no effort to hide his activities in Syria. His Facebook page includes multiple photos of him wielding military rifles and a photo of Assad, with the caption "Wanted Dead or NOT alive!!!!"

Harroun gave several interviews through Skype to journalists Greg Tepper and Ilan Ben Zion, who wrote articles for Foreign Policy magazine and Fox News.

In one interview, Harroun described himself as a "freedom fighter" and said joining up with al-Nusrah is "not rocket science." At other times, though, he disputed a connection with the group.

His father, Darryl Harroun, told FoxNews.com the car accident that led to his son's military discharge left him with a steel plate in his head, and exacerbated depression from which his son already suffered.

Darryl Harroun said that family and friends call his son "Arizona Jones."

Efforts by AP to reach Darryl Harroun Thursday were not immediately successful.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-army-vet-charged-fighting-al-qaida-184044925.html

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How To Put SEO To Work For Your Business | Content for Reprint

Author: Mishel Roserberg | Total views: 65 Comments: 0
Word Count: 850 Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2013 3:53 PM

With the right amount of knowledge, you will be able to efficiently increase web traffic through optimization of your website. Read on for more useful SEO tips.

Strive to design each page of your website in a way that makes it stand out from every other. Pay particular attention to the titles you use. These are extremely important for search engine optimization purposes. Including your keyword or phrase in the titles on your pages is important towards ranking highly on search engines.

If you have a site that is written in a non-english language, use the language meta tag. That's because search engines will rank you higher when people do a search for your content in that language.

Research any outside SEO company before signing over the work to them. Lots of SEO companies will charge too much for sub-standard work. Read online reviews and testimonials from previous companies to make sure that the company you're looking to hire is the real deal. Your wallet will thank you later.

Once you have discovered the right key phrases for your website, you should put that key phrase in your title. The first impression of your site is generated by the title, so choose it with care. This way, your site will be clicked because it most fits the search results the user typed in.

Ask yourself the question "how would somebody find my site if they were searching for it?" Then ensure that you have multiple uses of these keywords scattered through your site. Include your keywords in the titles of your pages and throughout your content, but don't overuse them. Stuffing your pages full of keywords will cause the search engines to lower your search ranking.

An important SEO tip is to keep an eye on your search rankings. It is crucial that you track your results to understand how your SEO is doing. One easy way to track your progress is by using the Google Analytics tool.

Retaining the visitors you get from search engines will not only increase your profits, but also your search engine rank. It is proven that spending more time working on a site increases the page rank. This trend has been established through metrics like Quantcast scores. When customers can chat, discuss, and interact with each other on your site, they are more likely to stay longer.

Keywords will help you improve the visibility of your sites. Coordinate your keywords with your article topics. This makes it easier for search engines to index your work. Therefore, it's easier for readers who may be trying to locate your articles. The keyword you want to focus on should appear several times in your article's text, as well as in its title and summary.

There are several options you can use to get inbound links to your website. Article writing, message forums, press releases, directory submissions and blogs can all provide your site with traffic. A great way to improve your SEO is to use good outbound links.

This will help increase your search engine rankings. The meta description appears right under the website link in many search engines, so use this text to grab a potential customer's attention. If you are using a popular CMS, you might be able to edit meta descriptions directly from the control panel.

The most important thing that you can do for your site is to make sure that you always keep the content on the site fresh and unique. People won't want to visit your website if you simply present the same old information indefinitely.

If you want to have successful SEO results, you need a site map. This will make it easier for spiders to crawl on your site. If your site is particularly large, you may need multiple maps. In general, try not to have more than 100 links on each map.

These descriptions will let your web site show up higher in search ratings. The meta description refers to the short description that appears in search results. Use important keywords and encourage your readers to take action and visit your site. Check to see if your content management software makes it easy for you to write a meta description on the same page you create your content on.

Meta tags should be as clear and descriptive as possible. Add a concise description to every meta tag on your site. This will increase click through rates.

Keyword density is vital when you optimize a web page for search engines. Focus on keeping each page's keyword content well under 20 percent.

You should now know that SEO is a very important part of internet marketing. By abiding by the advice in this article, you will be able to optimize your website. As long as your website is of high-quality, you will be more likely to receive a lot of traffic, which will lead to more profits.

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Related to: internet marketing - business - online business - affiliate marketing - article marketing - video marketing - SEO - search engine - social media - google

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1: Understanding Online Business Success

Starting a home based business to earn income online takes a significant amount of time and energy upfront to get things going. Not seeing results immediately can be discouraging and cause people to give up too early. In this article, we look at the process of starting a home based business and working through the frustrations to be there when the sales come flowing in.

by: Mike Christie on: Sat, 29 Sep 2012

2: Why You Need To Build Multiple Streams of Income For Yourself

Being an entrepreneur and earning multiple streams of income is a dream that many have, but in reality it does take some initial hard work to achieve this. Earning multiple streams of income is the wave of the future, and here are some tips and advice for you when you are looking for ways in which to do this for yourself.

by: Michel Maling on: Sat, 29 Sep 2012

3: Article Marketing Strategy: Putting Together a "Class Schedule" For Your Article Topics

Businesses go to so much trouble when there is one sure-fire, simple, very inexpensive way to attract new clients to a business: Teach a free class. That is what article marketing is like. Your articles are just like free classes. You teach your target readers something helpful in your article. Your resource box then says, "If you enjoyed this article you can visit my website and apply what you have learned."

by: Steve Shaw on: Sat, 23 Apr 2011

4: What is Cyber Marketing And Why It Is So Important For The Success Of Your Website

Cyber marketing has now become an indispensable segment of e-commerce as well as the internet and World Wide Web related topics. Cyber marketing simply refers to a technique of attracting potential customers by advertising your products or services through such means as websites, emails, and banners.

by: WJaegel on: Tue, 18 Dec 2007

5: The Best Way To Optimise Your Website SEO For Google Panda

If you want your SEO to work you now need to concentrate on appeasing Google Panda, and to do this you need to know what Google Panda's spiders/bots will be looking for. Find out here how to search engine optimise your website for the latest Google Panda algorithm, and achieve the success you deserve.

by: K Damian Qualter on: Mon, 26 Mar 2012

Source: http://www.content4reprint.com/internet-marketing/how-to-put-seo-to-work-for-your-business.htm

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Microscale medical sensors inserted under skin powered wirelessly by external handheld receiver

Mar. 27, 2013 ? Implantable electronic devices potentially offer a rapid and accurate way for doctors to monitor patients with particular medical conditions. Yet powering such devices remains a fundamental challenge: batteries are bulky and eventually need recharging or replacing. Jia Hao Cheong at the A*STAR Institute for Microelectronics, Singapore, and his co-workers are developing an alternative approach that eliminates the need for a battery. Their miniature devices are based on wireless power-transfer technology.

The research team has developed a microscale electronic sensor to monitor blood flow through artificial blood vessels. Surgeons use these prosthetic grafts to bypass diseased or clogged blood vessels in patients experiencing restricted blood supply, for example. Over time, however, the graft can also become blocked. To avoid complete failure, blood flow through the graft must be monitored regularly, but existing techniques are slow and costly.

These limitations prompted the researchers to develop a bench-top prototype of a device that could be incorporated inside a graft to monitor blood flow. The implant is powered by a handheld external reader, which uses inductive coupling to wirelessly transfer energy, a technology similar to that found in the latest wireless-charging mobile phones. The team developed an application-specific, integrated circuit for the implant designed for low power use (see image).

The incoming energy powers circuits in the device that control sensors based on silicon nanowires. This material is piezoresistive: as blood flows over the sensor the associated mechanical stresses induce a measurable increase in electrical resistance, proportional to the flow pressure.

Key to the success of the device is its ability to work with a very limited power supply. Most of the incoming energy is absorbed by skin and tissue before it can reach the implant, which may be inserted up to 50 millimeters deep.

"Our flow sensor system achieves an ultra-low power consumption of 12.6 microwatts," Cheong says. For example, the sensor transmits its data to the handheld reader passively, by backscattering some of the incoming energy. "We have tested our system with 50-millimeter-thick tissue between the external coil and implantable coil, and it successfully extracted the pressure data from the implantable device," he adds.

Cheong and his co-workers' tests showed that the prototype sensor was also highly pressure sensitive, providing pressure readings with a resolution of 0.17 pounds per square inch (1,172 pascals). "The next step of the project is to integrate the system and embed it inside a graft for [an experimental] animal," Cheong says.

The A*STAR-affiliated researchers contributing to this research are from the Institute of Microelectronics

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Jia Hao Cheong, Simon Sheung Yan Ng, Xin Liu, Rui-Feng Xue, Huey Jen Lim, Pradeep Basappa Khannur, Kok Lim Chan, Andreas Astuti Lee, Kai Kang, Li Shiah Lim, Cairan He, Pushpapraj Singh, Woo-Tae Park, Minkyu Je. An Inductively Powered Implantable Blood Flow Sensor Microsystem for Vascular Grafts. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 2012; 59 (9): 2466 DOI: 10.1109/TBME.2012.2203131

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/matter_energy/electronics/~3/oPdGd-Vm3EA/130327162425.htm

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Anna Chlumsky Debuts Belly ? and Reveals Sex of Baby

When asked if she knew what she was having, Chlumsky replied, "I do, I do. We'll be dressing her up, let's put it that way."

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/irFKFExrqC0/

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Stressful life events may increase stillbirth risk, study finds

Mar. 27, 2013 ? Pregnant women who experienced financial, emotional, or other personal stress in the year before their delivery had an increased chance of having a stillbirth, say researchers who conducted a National Institutes of Health network study.

Stillbirth is the death of a fetus at 20 or more weeks of pregnancy. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, in 2006, there was one stillbirth for every 167 births.

The researchers asked more than 2,000 women a series of questions, including whether they had lost a job or had a loved one in the hospital in the year before they gave birth.

Whether or not the pregnancy ended in stillbirth, most women reported having experienced at least one stressful life event in the previous year. The researchers found that 83 percent of women who had a stillbirth and 75 percent of women who had a live birth reported a stressful life event. Almost 1 in 5 women with stillbirths and 1 in 10 women with livebirths in this study reported recently experiencing 5 or more stressful life events. This study measured the occurrence of a list of significant life events, and did not include the woman's assessment of how stressful the event was to her.

Women reporting a greater number of stressful events were more likely to have a stillbirth. Two stressful events increased a woman's odds of stillbirth by about 40 percent, the researchers' analysis showed. A woman experiencing five or more stressful events was nearly 2.5 times more likely to have a stillbirth than a woman who had experienced none. Women who reported three or four significant life event factors (financial, emotional, traumatic or partner-related) remained at increased risk for stillbirth after accounting for other stillbirth risk factors, such as sociodemographic characteristics and prior pregnancy history.

Non-Hispanic black women were more likely to report experiencing stressful events than were non-Hispanic white women and Hispanic women. Black women also reported a greater number of stressful events than did their white and Hispanic counterparts. This finding may partly explain why black women have higher rates of stillbirth than non-Hispanic white or Hispanic women, the researchers said.

"We documented how significant stressors are highly prevalent in pregnant women's lives," said study co-author Marian Willinger, Ph.D., acting chief of the Pregnancy and Perinatology Branch of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), one of two NIH entities funding the research. "This reinforces the need for health care providers to ask expectant mothers about what is going on in their lives, monitor stressful life events and to offer support as part of prenatal care."

The NIH Office of Research in Women's Health also funded the study.

"Because 1 in 5 pregnant women has three or more stressful events in the year leading up to delivery, the potential public health impact of effective interventions could be substantial and help increase the delivery of healthy babies," added lead author Dr. Carol Hogue, Terry Professor of Maternal and Child Health at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta.

Dr. Willinger collaborated with colleagues at the NICHD and Emory University; Drexel University School of Medicine, Philadelphia; University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston; Children's Healthcare of Atlanta; Brown University School of Medicine, Providence, R.I.; University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio; University of Utah School of Medicine and Intermountain Healthcare, Salt Lake City; and RTI International, Research Triangle Park, N.C.

Their findings appear in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

The research was conducted by the NICHD-funded Stillbirth Collaborative Research Network (SCRN). The researchers contacted all women delivering a stillbirth as well as a representative portion of women delivering a live birth in defined counties in Georgia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Texas and Utah. The women were enrolled in the study between 2006 and 2008 in 59 community and research hospitals.

Within 24 hours of either a live birth or a stillbirth delivery, the women in the study were asked about events grouped into four categories: emotional, financial, partner-related and traumatic. They answered yes or no to 13 scenarios, including the following:

• I moved to a new address.
• My husband or partner lost his job.
• I was in a physical fight.
• Someone very close to me died.

Some of the stressful events were more strongly associated with stillbirth than were others. For example, the risk of stillbirth was highest:

• for women who had been in a fight (which doubled the chances for stillbirth)
• if she had heard her partner say he didn't want her to be pregnant
• if she or her partner had gone to jail in the year before the delivery

"At prenatal visits, screening is common for concerns such as intimate partner violence and depression, but the questions in our study were much more detailed," said co-author Uma Reddy, M.D., M.P.H., also of NICHD. "This is a first step toward cataloguing the effects of stress on the likelihood of stillbirth and, more generally, toward documenting how pregnancy influences a woman's mental health and how pregnancy is influenced by a woman's mental health."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NIH/National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. C. J. R. Hogue, C. B. Parker, M. Willinger, J. R. Temple, C. M. Bann, R. M. Silver, D. J. Dudley, M. A. Koch, D. R. Coustan, B. J. Stoll, U. M. Reddy, M. W. Varner, G. R. Saade, D. Conway, R. L. Goldenberg. A Population-based Case-Control Study of Stillbirth: The Relationship of Significant Life Events to the Racial Disparity for African Americans. American Journal of Epidemiology, 2013; DOI: 10.1093/aje/kws381

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/jQJhbOzdTPQ/130327133702.htm

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DIY theremin goggles marry the art of noise with steampunk style (video)

Sometimes annoying just isn't annoying enough. For DIY enthusiast and self-described "maker of awesome" Sarah Petkus, the incentive to irk was merely a happy by-product of her latest goggle design. The steampunk-ish effort, chronicled on Petkus' blog Robotic Arts, combines some artfully arranged scrap metals with an integrated optical theremin that lets the wearer manipulate an incredibly unpleasant tone just by waving their hands and adjusting the amount of light fed into the sensors. Since the volume control and speaker are housed inside the eyepieces, the goggles are little more than a head-mounted accessory. But that shouldn't stop cosplay types (or sociopaths) from strapping on a set and tweaking the nerves of unfortunate passers-by. That's if Petkus gets around to selling the "eyewear." For the public's sake, we hope this inventive mod remains a one-off. Head past the break for a video demo of this cringe-inducing, gesture-controlled cacaphony.

Filed under: Wearables, Alt

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Via: Adafruit

Source: Robotic Arts

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

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Google adds street views inside Japan nuclear zone

TOKYO (AP) ? Concrete rubble litters streets lined with shuttered shops and dark windows. A collapsed roof juts from the ground. A ship sits stranded on a stretch of dirt flattened when the tsunami roared across the coastline. There isn't a person in sight.

Google Street View is giving the world a rare glimpse into one of Japan's eerie ghost towns, created when the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami sparked a nuclear disaster that has left the area uninhabitable.

The technology pieces together digital images captured by Google's fleet of camera-equipped vehicles and allows viewers to take virtual tours of locations around the world, including faraway spots like the South Pole and fantastic landscapes like the Grand Canyon.

Now it is taking people inside Japan's nuclear no-go zone, to the city of Namie, whose 21,000 residents have been unable to return to live since they fled the radiation spewing from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant two years ago.

Koto Naganuma, 32, who lost her home in the tsunami, said some people find it too painful to see the places that were so familiar yet are now so out of reach.

She has only gone back once, a year ago, and for a few minutes.

"I'm looking forward to it. I'm excited I can take a look at those places that are so dear to me," said Naganuma. "It would be hard, too. No one is going to be there."

Namie Mayor Tamotsu Baba said memories came flooding back as he looked at the images shot by Google earlier this month.

He spotted an area where an autumn festival used to be held and another of an elementary school that was once packed with schoolchildren.

"Those of us in the older generation feel that we received this town from our forbearers, and we feel great pain that we cannot pass it down to our children," he said in a post on his blog.

"We want this Street View imagery to become a permanent record of what happened to Namie-machi in the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster."

Street View was started in 2007, and now provides images from more than 3,000 cities across 48 countries, as well as parts of the Arctic and Antarctica.

___

Online: Namie Street View link: http://goo.gl/maps/iFIWD

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at www.twitter.com/yurikageyama

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-03-27-Japan-Nuclear%20Images/id-0e3c3131eb6c4520b549fe54acd534a0

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Last human toll takers on Golden Gate Bridge replaced by machines

By Joe Rosato Jr., NBCBayArea.com

As the end of her afternoon shift collecting tolls on the Golden Gate Bridge ended, Dawnette Reed felt the tears begin to come.

She stepped out of her booth at lane three and made the walk back to the office for the last time. After 18 years collecting tolls at the bridge, her job was done.

"I always say I know customers from the [baby?s] car seat to the driver's seat," Reed said of her regular customers.

With the bridge switching to fully electronic toll collecting early Wednesday morning, the humans no longer had a place on the bridge for the first time in its more than 75 year history.

The Bridge District offered the toll takers other jobs, but Reed wasn't interested in any of them. Driving a bus? Not for her.

"I'm going to miss the customers," Reed said.

The drivers knew it was the toll takers last day. Some gave Reed flowers, cards - someone she'd never met gave her a bag of cookies.

She'd gotten to know her customers, even in the brief time it took hand over the $6 fare. They'd invited her to birthday parties and weddings.

PhotoBlog: Golden Gate toll collectors say emotional goodbye

Sometimes she saw strange things collecting tolls.

"We've had naked people come through with painted on bikinis," she laughed. "Sometimes we get naked people without paint on them."

Toll collector Jacquie Dean had 18 years on the job herself. She was angry she was being replaced by electronic gizmos and cameras that would soon photograph license plates and send drivers a bill for the toll.

Those things couldn't give directions to lost drivers, or watch out for trouble on the bridge.

"We're not obsolete, they chose to do this to us," Dean said. "They chose to have us here. They could've kept a couple lanes open."

Read more from NBCBayArea.com

The Bridge District said it would save $16 million over the next few years by replacing the toll workers.

It was only a matter of time before humans weren't needed.

"For the economic health of our organization I think it makes sense," said Kary Witt, manager of the Golden Gate Bridge. "Obviously the savings of doing this automatically, electronically as opposed to employing people, it's not avoidable."

Still, as some of the workers finished their last shifts on Tuesday and walked toward the office, some were in tears as they clutched bouquets.

Witt seemed to be choking back his own tears.

"We do lose a bit of the human touch," Witt said. "I think that's one of the things, you know, is a bit ironic."

Dean said the severance package offered to employees was disappointing. She wasn't sure what she would do next. But knew there would be another job somewhere.

She said she'd miss her co-workers the most.

"We've all gone through it together," she said, choking back sobs. "And I can say through all those tragedies in my life, this has been my normal, this is what kept me grounded."

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2a0ac212/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C270C174834240Elast0Ehuman0Etoll0Etakers0Eon0Egolden0Egate0Ebridge0Ereplaced0Eby0Emachines0Dlite/story01.htm

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DNA test reveals cancer risk markers

27 March 2013 Last updated at 12:01 ET By Fergus Walsh Medical correspondent

More than 80 genetic markers that can increase the risk of developing breast, prostate or ovarian cancer have been found in the largest study of its kind.

The DNA of 200,000 people - half of them with cancer and half without - was compared, revealing an individual's inherited risk of the diseases.

British scientists, who led the research, believe it could lead to a DNA screening test within five years.

They also hope it will boost knowledge of how the cancers develop.

The research was led by scientists at the University of Cambridge and the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London and funded by Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and the Wellcome Trust.

The main findings are published in five articles in the journal Nature Genetics.

Study author Prof Doug Easton said: "We're on the verge of being able to use our knowledge of these genetic variations to develop test that could complement breast cancer screening and take us a step closer to having an effective prostate cancer screening programme."

Continue reading the main story

Each of us is born with a genetic hand of cards passed down from our parents.

This is called our genome and is made of three billion pieces of code made of just chemical letters: A, C, T and G.

A single nucleotide polymorphism is a single letter difference in DNA between individuals.

We each have millions of variations and most of these seem benign. This study looked at more than 100,000 common differences found in at least one in 10 people.

By comparing cancer patients with healthy controls the scientists could identify genetic spelling mistakes that occurred repeatedly in the cancer group.

Forty nine new single nucleotide polymorphisms (Snps) were found associated with breast cancer, bringing the total identified to 76.

For prostate cancer, 23 new markers were found, bringing the total to 78. And for ovarian cancer, eight new regions were found, bringing the total to 12.

Inherited cancer risk

The scientists looked for common genetic variations - known as single nucleotide polymorphisms (Snps) - linked to the three cancers.

Each alteration raised the risk of cancer by a small amount. However, a small minority of men with lots of the markers could see their risk of prostate cancer increase more than fourfold and for women the breast cancer risk increase threefold.

By contrast, the test can also identify those with a smaller than average risk of developing the cancers.

A woman's lifetime risk of breast cancer is one in eight, but among the 1% with lots of these newly identified genetic variations the risk rises to one in two.

The test could also help the one in 300 woman who carry a faulty gene known as BRCA1 or BRCA2. Two-thirds of them will develop breast cancer before the age of 80 and 45% who carry BRCA1 will get ovarian cancer.

At present the options to reduce their risks are limited - a double mastectomy or having their ovaries removed.

By combining the gene test for BRCA1 and BRCA2 with this extra genetic information, women who have a high number of the newly identified markers could find they have a nearly 100% risk of getting breast cancer.

In contrast, those with the protective versions of the genetic changes could see their risk drop to as low as 20%.

Dr Antonis Antoniou, CRUK senior fellow at the University of Cambridge, said: "Our research puts us on the verge of being able to give women a much more accurate picture of how likely they are to develop breast or ovarian cancer and would help to guide them about the most appropriate type and time of prevention or monitoring options for them."

Prostate

For men, the lifetime risk of developing prostate cancer is one in eight. But for 1% who carry a significant number of genetic alterations, the risk rises to one in two.

Unlike for breast cancer, there is no screening programme for the disease.

The prostate-specific antigen or PSA test, looks for protein markers in the blood and high levels may be an indicator or prostate cancer. But it is unreliable.

Furthermore, about two-thirds of men who get prostate cancer have a slow-growing "indolent" form of the disease that will not kill them.

Treatment options include prostate removal, radiotherapy and hormone treatment, But for every life saved through treatment for prostate cancer, it is thought that between 12 to 48 men are treated unnecessarily. Many patients opt for "watchful waiting", monitoring the cancer.

Sixteen of the 23 newly identified genetic markers are associated with aggressive forms of the disease so may help clinicians and patients decide on the best form of treatment.

Prof Ros Eeles, from the ICR, said: "These results are the single biggest leap forward in finding the genetic causes of prostate cancer.

"If further studies show such men benefit from regular screening, we could have a big impact on the number of people dying from the disease, which is still far too high."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21945812#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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Dancing With the Stars Week 2: Who Was the Best?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/dancing-with-the-stars-week-2-who-was-the-best/

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Illinois scientists find rare coin in Kenya

This Feb. 8, 2013 provided by The Field Museum in Chicago shows a rare, 600-year-old Chinese coin that scientists from Illinois discovered on the Kenyan island of Manda. The museum announced the discovery Wednesday, March 13, 2013, The coin is made of copper and silver and has a square hole in the center so it could be worn on a belt. Scientists say it was issued by Emperor Yongle of China who reigned from 1403-1425 during the Ming Dynasty. (AP Photo/Courtesy The Field Museum, John Weinstein)

This Feb. 8, 2013 provided by The Field Museum in Chicago shows a rare, 600-year-old Chinese coin that scientists from Illinois discovered on the Kenyan island of Manda. The museum announced the discovery Wednesday, March 13, 2013, The coin is made of copper and silver and has a square hole in the center so it could be worn on a belt. Scientists say it was issued by Emperor Yongle of China who reigned from 1403-1425 during the Ming Dynasty. (AP Photo/Courtesy The Field Museum, John Weinstein)

CHICAGO (AP) ? Scientists from Illinois have found a rare, 600-year-old Chinese coin on the Kenyan island of Manda.

The Field Museum in Chicago announced the find Wednesday. The joint expedition was led by Chapurukha Kusimba of the museum and Sloan Williams of the University of Illinois-Chicago. Researchers say the coin proves trade existed between China and eastern Africa decades before European explorers set sail.

The coin is made of copper and silver. It has a square hole in the center so it could be worn on a belt. Scientists say it was issued by Emperor Yongle of China and his name is written on the coin.

Scientists from Kenya, Pennsylvania and Ohio also participated in the expedition. They also found human remains and other artifacts predating the coin.

___

Online: http://www.fieldmuseum.org

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2013-03-13-Rare%20Coin%20Found/id-4e864411ebfc4b539a5d3f73b6a03d29

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Advice To Use For Every Trip From Here On Out | Content for Reprint

Author: Leonard G. Kata | Total views: 56 Comments: 0
Word Count: 660 Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2013 3:09 PM

The United States offers a wide range of travel destinations to suit just about anyone's tastes. From the warm tranquil waters of Florida, to the Colorado Rocky Mountains, the United States offers almost any kind of travel destination you are seeking. This article will give you some ideas as to what the United States has to offer, when considering your next travel destination.

Don't rely on ribbons and bows to make your luggage stand out from the rest of the pack. These adornments can very easily be torn off in transit. Instead, opt for luggage in a bright, unusual color or vivid pattern that stands out on its own and can't be removed.

Convert your money a few days before your scheduled departure. Also, confirm with your bank or credit card holder that your cards can be used when you're traveling to a foreign country. It's also helpful to let them know that you will be traveling so they won't "deny" a foreign transaction. Have some traveler checks on hand that can be used internationally as well.

Making a friend of the concierge will make your stay at any hotel a much safer and smarter experience. This person should be greeted and tipped like your life depends on it. The concierge has a wealth of information on where to eat, play, relax, shop, and can also; get you out of any bind you might find yourself in while far from home.

If you are traveling and shopping duty free, exercise some caution. Something might seem like a great deal in the duty free shop, when in reality it is not. Do a little advance planning for duty free items, and have an idea of what they cost in regular retail stores. This type of planning can save you money.

Avoid taking ignorant risks, by thinking that it is okay to speed when on a road trip. It's not fun to get pulled over, arrested or to have to cancel or severely stall your trip, in order to pay a speeding ticket. Your trip is supposed to be fun, but you're not above the laws of the road, especially when they can endanger the lives of other people.

When traveling, internet access is one the things that we look for. One of the things that you should remember is that certain coffee shops like Starbucks and public libraries usually have free wireless internet. Why pay for expensive internet from the hotel when you can get it for free?

To have a less stressful trip and over all more enjoyable travel, it is important to plan ahead. By planning ahead, one can reduce their chances of forgetting something that is needed. Also, if something comes up, there is enough time to handle it as opposed to having to rush at the last minute.

If you will be driving when you travel to another country, take the time to contact your insurance carrier. They can give you any needed documentation that pertains to your insurance coverage, any additional insurance you may need and much needed advice or information about regulations for driving at your destination.

When packing for a baby or a toddler, think about what things you could possibly pick up when you get there. Diapers and wipes take up a lot of space, especially if you will be gone for a week or more. This will leave you more room, and you will need less time to pack.

When you decide to travel your expectation will be enjoyment. If you keep in mind the tips and advice in this article then you will have a chance at making the most out of your next trip. What matters is that you get as close as you can to what you were anticipating and feel totally fulfilled after you return.

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