Like you and a lot of other people in the Valley, I read the blogs snarking on the Valley, because nothing is funnier than making fun of people just like us, technology elite who download?hot apps, ringtones and backgrounds all day and all night --?all on our separate phones reserved for daytime and nighttime.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/5hsfw4IMoJM/
May 20, 2013 ? The University of Chicago has launched the first secure cloud-based computing system that enables researchers to access and analyze human genomic cancer information without the costly and cumbersome infrastructure normally needed to download and store massive amounts of data.
The Bionimbus Protected Data Cloud, as it is called, enables researchers who are authorized by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to access and analyze data in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) without having to set up secure, compliant computing environments capable of managing and analyzing terabytes of data, download the data -- which can take weeks -- and then install the appropriate tools needed to perform the desired analyses.
Using technology that was developed in part by the Open Science Data Cloud, a National Science Foundation-supported project that is developing cloud infrastructure for large scientific datasets, the Bionimbus Protected Data Cloud provides researchers with a more cost- and time-effective mechanism to extract knowledge from massive amounts of data. Drawing insights from big data is imperative for addressing some of today's most vexing environmental, health and safety challenges.
"The open source technology underlying the Open Science Data Cloud enables researchers to manage and analyze the large data sets that are essential to tackling some of today's greatest challenges: from environmental monitoring to cancer genomics," said Robert L. Grossman, the director of the Open Science Data Cloud Project and a professor at the University of Chicago.
Today, as the only NIH-approved cloud-based system for TCGA data, the Bionimbus Protected Data Cloud allows researchers to focus on the analysis of large-scale cancer genome sequencing, which experts believe can unlock paths to early detection, appropriate treatment and prevention of cancer.
"We are excited that the Bionimbus Protected Data Cloud is now used for cancer genomics data so that researchers can more easily work with large datasets to understand genomic variations that seem to be one of the keys to the precise diagnosis and treatment of cancer," continued Grossman.
"With funding provided by NSF's Partnerships for International Research and Education [PIRE] program, NSF has sought to narrow the gap between the capability of modern scientific instruments to produce data and the ability of researchers to access, manage, analyze and share those data in a reliable and timely manner," said NSF Program Director Harold Stolberg.
"By embracing cloud computing as a global issue, this PIRE project brings together the expertise of many researchers, not only in the United States, but worldwide. Its success in helping researchers to access and analyze important human genomic cancer information is an exciting indicator of future developments with these technologies," he said.
Megan McNerney, an instructor of pathology at the University of Chicago, used Bionimbus to analyze data that led to her discovery that gene CUX1, which acts as a tumor suppressor, is frequently inactivated in acute myeloid leukemia.
"Bionimbus was critical for my work, as it was used for all aspects of the project, including secure storage of protected data, quality control of next-generation sequencing results, alignments, expression analysis, and algorithm development," she said. "The strength of Bionimbus, however, is the support that is provided for end users, which enabled both expert and non-expert team members to use the cloud."
By Leah Schnurr
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose slightly on Monday as acquisition activity gave support, but investors were hesitant to rush into the market with indexes hovering around record levels.
Deals, including Yahoo's $1.1 billion bid for Tumblr, indicate that companies continue to search for growth through acquisitions, a bullish sign for stocks. Yahoo
The Dow industrials and the S&P 500 finished Friday at fresh record highs and the Nasdaq Composite is at its highest since late 2000. A light economic and earnings calendar could leave the market vulnerable for a pullback, but those have been shallow and short-lived as investors take any weakness as a new chance to increase long positions.
On Monday, the Dow climbed to an all-time intraday high at 15,391.84, while the S&P 500 edged up to a new intraday record high at 1,672.84. Both major indexes are up about 17 percent for the year so far.
Even so, investors have remained wary of becoming too enthusiastic, which has helped keep the rally from getting overdone, said Mark Lehmann, president of JMP Securities, an investment bank based in San Francisco.
"The more days we go up and the more people who are in disbelief that we go up every day, the better," Lehmann said. "This is the least well-regarded bull market I think we've seen in a very, very long time."
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> edged up 14.44 points, or 0.09 percent, to 15,368.84. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> gained 2.43 points, or 0.15 percent, to 1,669.89. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> added 1.33 points, or 0.04 percent, to 3,500.40.
Actavis rose 2.4 percent to $128.53 after the company said it will acquire Warner Chilcott Plc
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold
Websense Inc
Shares of Tableau Software
"That tells you investors are looking at new ideas, and dusting off some old ideas," Lehmann said. "People are looking for growth."
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony before Congress on Wednesday is seen by many as the highlight of the week for markets. The beginning of the end of the Fed's massive bond-buying program, which has given strong support to stock gains, might come sooner than many investors think if recent gains in the U.S. labor market hold.
The Fed will also release minutes from its most recent policy-setting meeting on Wednesday, which will be parsed for signs of the direction of monetary stimulus.
(Editing by Jan Paschal)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-futures-little-changed-records-acquisitions-eyed-114451808.html
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May 16, 2013 ? A new window into the nature of the universe may be possible with a device proposed by scientists at the University of Nevada, Reno and Stanford University that would detect elusive gravity waves from the other end of the cosmos. Their paper describing the device and process was published in the physics journal Physical Review Letters.
"Gravitational waves represent one of the missing pieces of Einstein's theory of general relativity," Andrew Geraci, University of Nevada, Reno physics assistant professor, said. "While there is a global effort already out there to find gravitational waves, our proposed method is an alternate approach with greater sensitivity in a significantly smaller device.
"Our detector is complementary to existing gravitational wave detectors, in that it is more sensitive to sources in a higher frequency band, so we could see signals that other detectors might potentially miss."
Geraci and his colleague Asimina Arvanitaki, a post-doctoral fellow in the physics department at Stanford University, propose using a small, laser-cooled, tunable sensor that "floats" in an optical cavity so it is not affected by friction. Geraci is seeking funding to begin building a small prototype in the next year.
"Gravity waves propagate from the remote corners of our universe, they stretch and squeeze the fabric of space-time," Geraci said. "A passing gravity wave changes the physically measured distance between two test masses -- small discs or spheres. In our approach, such a mass experiences minimal friction and therefore is very sensitive to small forces."
While indirect evidence for gravity waves was obtained by studying the changing orbital period of a neutron star binary, resulting in the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics, gravity waves have yet to be directly observed.
"Directly detecting gravitational waves from astrophysical sources enables a new type of astronomy, which can give us "pictures" of the sky analogous to what we have by using telescopes," Geraci said. "In this way the invention of a gravitational wave detector, which lets us "see" the universe through gravity waves, is analogous to the invention of the telescope, which let us see the universe using light. Having such detectors will allow us to learn more about astrophysical objects in our universe, such as black holes."
The approach the authors describe can exceed the sensitivity of next-generation gravitational wave observatories by up to an order of magnitude in the frequency range of 50 to 300 kilohertz.
Their paper, "Detecting high-frequency gravitational waves with optically levitated sensors," appeared in Physical Review Letters, a publication of the physics organization American Physical Society.
Geraci also presented his research at the annual American Physical Society Meeting in Denver in April. The meeting is attended by particle physicists, nuclear physicists and astrophysicists to share new research results and insights.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/J23TfC84uBU/130516161739.htm
They had some interesting things to say.
Groupon, you may recall, is a four year-old digital commerce company based in Chicago. Groupon invented the "daily-deal" industry, grew faster than just about any other company in history, rejected a $6 billion cash buyout offer from Google, and then went public in late 2011 at $20 a share.
Then the company blew its numbers.
And the growth of the U.S. business screeched to a halt.
And the international business imploded.
And the stock collapsed to ~$2 a share.
And the young, charismatic CEO, Andrew Mason, got canned.
Now, Groupon's business appears to be stabilizing, and the stock has recovered to about $7 a share. The co-CEOs, Lefkofsky and Leonsis, have run the company for several months, and they will continue to run it for at least another couple of months until a new CEO is hired.
Leonsis, who also owns the Washington Capitals, was still mourning the team's shocking loss to the New York Rangers in the first round of NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. But he put the nightmare Game 7 behind him and focused on Groupon.
Here's what we learned:
The Vision
Groupon's vision is to become a gigantic mobile local commerce company--the Amazon or eBay of local. Instead of just pumping out "daily deals" via email offers, Groupon wants to become the place you go (via your mobile device) to find everyday deals and discounts on a full range of products and services wherever you happen to be. The company will eventually offer deals and discounts with merchant clients in many more categories of products and services than it does today.
Groupon generated about $2.5 billion of revenue last year. ?Leonsis believes the company can eventually generate $100 billion of revenue per year.For context, Amazon generated $61 billion of revenue last year. Walmart generated $470 billion.
Groupon has actually not yet retained a search firm to hire a new CEO. It will do so in June, after the next board meeting.
Lefkofsky and Leonsis said they haven't hired a new CEO yet because they wanted to run the company for a while to be sure they knew what kind of CEO they wanted to hire.
The new CEO will not bring the "vision" for Groupon. The vision is already there. The new CEO will either buy into the existing vision, or he or she will presumably have a short stay at the company.
I had never met Eric Lefkofsky before. ?Based on some of what I had read about him, I had a vision of a cold, calculating puppet-master who dispatched orders (and CEO pink slips) from a dark room somewhere. I was surprised to discover that Lefkofsky is affable and charming, in addition to smart. He should put himself in front of TV cameras more. He puts a good face on the company.
Lefkofsky, Groupon's original investor, took a lot of heat for selling $300 million of stock a year before Groupon went public, in a deal in which nearly $1 billion of new investor cash went to existing investors instead of to Groupon. But he hasn't sold a share since.
The growth of Groupon's U.S. business has flattened, but it's still doing okay. The international business, meanwhile, has imploded. Lefkofsky and Leonsis don't think the international business is hopeless, however. Eventually, they think, it will stabilize and then begin to grow again.
Given some of the rhetoric around the company in the 18 months since the IPO, you might think it was on death's door.
It isn't. ?
Despite all the trouble it has experienced, Groupon is still modestly growing its revenue (+8% year over year in Q1) and still generating positive operating income ($21 million in Q1).
The bad news is that the company's gross margin has dropped, so gross profit is shrinking, and the growth of the "goods" business has hurt the company's once-impressive cash flow, which has now gone negative.
But Groupon has plenty of liquidity--north of $1.1 billion of cash. And the business does appear to be stabilizing.
If Groupon can eventually grow to $10 billion of revenue, let alone the $100 billion that Co-CEO Leonsis mentioned, Groupon's shareholders should be amply rewarded. (The company's market value is currently about $5 billion).
The capabilities of the new CEO will be important, as will the staunching of the bleeding of the international business. And the company will have to demonstrate that it can become a destination for consumer-driven commerce, rather than a "push" driven email deals company.
But the massive local opportunity outlined by Lefkofsky is real. And Groupon is in an excellent position to make this vision a reality.
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/groupon-we-can-be-a-100-billion-company-2013-5
Ta?Rea Campbell (center) stars as fugitive nightclub singer Deloris Van Cartier, a.k.a. Sister Mary Clarence, in ?Sister Act? at the Durham Performing Arts Center (photo by Joan Marcus)
The Durham Performing Arts Center will welcome the first U.S. national tour of Sister Act: A Divine Musical Comedy, to its 2,700-seat, state-of-the-art theater in the American Tobacco District for eight performances, starting at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 14th, and running through 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 19th. The 2011 Broadway musical is based on the 1992 Touchstone Pictures film starring Whoopi Goldberg as a nightclub singer on the lam from the mob after she witnesses a murder and is forced to take refuge in a convent.
?The musical is different from the movie in that it takes place in Philadelphia in the 1970s,? notes the tour?s music director and conductor, 42-year-old Brent-Alan Huffman, a Blairsville, PA native. He adds, ?The movie took place in Reno, NV, in 1992. The musical has a fresh new score by [composer]. It?s all new songs that have a 1970s pastiche feel to them.?
Earlier in the tour, Huffman told the Pittsburgh, PA Post-Gazette: ?This musical definitely has a disco edge to it. When the nuns are singing, it?s usually the disco style that Deloris has taught them. When Curtis and his thugs are singing, you are going to hear an R&B sound. When Mother Superior sings, the orchestration leans a little bit toward Sondheim, and then there are just some Alan Menken traditional showstopping numbers?.?
In a recent interview with Triangle Review, Huffman added, ?The characters and story are all the same. People will recognize it very well?. Sister Act is the story of a woman who is being hidden by the police in a convent, because she has witnessed a murder. She teaches the nuns to sing; and they, in turn, teach her a few life lessons as well.?
The tour cast includes Ta?Rea Campbell as Deloris Van Cartier a.k.a. Sister Mary Clarence; Kingsley Leggs as Van Cartier?s gangster boyfriend Curtis; Charles Barksdale, Todd A. Horman, and Ernie Pruneda as Jackson?s henchmen T.J., Joey, and Pablo; E. Clayton Cornelious as police Lt. Eddie Souther; Hollis Resnik as the no-nonsense Mother Superior of the convent where Lt. Souther hides Deloris out after she witnesses a murder; and Florrie Bagel as ultra perky Sister Mary Patrick. The cast also includes Diane J. Findlay as Sister Mary Lazarus; Richard Pruitt as Monsignor O?Hara; Lael Van Keuren as Sister Mary Robert; Melvin Abston as a Cop; Gisela Adisa as Michelle; Brian Cali as Joey Finnochio; Karen Elliott as Sister Mary Theresa; Trisha Jeffrey as Tina; Michelle Rombola as a Waitress. Jacqui Graziano and Erin Wilson alternate as Mary Martin-of-Tours.
The ensemble includes Mary Jo McConnell, Dawn Rother, Angie Marie Smith, Tricia Tanguy, Kelly E. Waters, and Dashaun Young; and swings include Danny George and Erin Henry.
Originally produced in 2006 by California?s Pasadena Playhouse, in 2007 the Alliance Theatre of Atlanta, GA, and in 2009 in London?s West End ? and developed in association with Peter Schneider and Michael Reno ? Sister Act made its Broadway debut on April 20, 2011 at the Broadway Theatre, where it played for 561 performances before closing on Aug. 26, 2012. Originally directed by Jerry Zaks and choreographed by Anthony Van Laast, the show features music by 2012 Tony Award? winner and eight-time Academy Award? winner Alan Menken (Newsies), lyrics by Glenn Slater, and a book by Cheri Steinkellner and Bill Steinkellner ? with additional text by Douglas Carter Beane ? based on the screenplay by Joseph Howard. Sister Act was nominated for five 2011 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Original Score Written for the Theatre, and Best Book of a Musical.
The tour?s producers include by Whoopi Goldberg, Stage Entertainment, Joop Van Den Ende, Bill Taylor, and Troika Entertainment. Associate director Steven Beckler and associate choreographer Janet Rothermel recreate the vivacious musical staging of Broadway and West End director Jerry Zaks and choreographer Anthony Van Laast. The rest of the creative team includes set designer Klara Zieglerova, lighting designer Natasha Katz, costume designer Lez Brotherston, wig and hair designer David Brian Brown, sound designer Ken Travis, production stage manager Daniel S. Rosokoff, and stage manager Monica Dickhens. Michael Kosarin serves as music supervisor/vocal and incidental music arranger, and Brent-Alan Huffman is the show?s music director and conductor.
Born on June 24, 1970 in Blairsville, PA, Brent-Alan Huffman was graduated from Blairsville Senior High School in 1988, and earned a degree in piano performance in 1992 from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. ?I started off as a voice major, and switched over to piano,? he explains.
After college graduation, Huffman worked in a theme park in San Antonio, TX, for a year, and then worked in Omaha, NB, for a year and a half, before moving to New York City. In late 1994, he made his Broadway debut, playing keyboards in the 1994 revival of Grease.
Most recently, Brent-Alan Huffman was music director/associate conductor of Sister Act on Broadway from January 2011 to February 2012, music director/conductor of Leap of Faith on Broadway from January to May 2012, and music director/conductor of the first U.S. national tour of Sister Act.
Huffman says that he followed the usual path from keyboard player to associate conductor to conductor to musical director. ?Like any corporate job,? he says, ?you start from the bottom and work your way up.?
He notes, ?I started with Sister Act pre-Broadway. We started this show about seven years ago in Pasadena, CA; and then it went to Atlanta, GA. It went to London before it came to Broadway.?
As the show?s music director, he says, ?I help choose cast members. I teach the music to the cast during rehearsals, I conduct the show during performances and rehearsals of the cast and orchestra to keep them up to speed?. On the tour, we have 12 musicians; and the full orchestra travels with the show.?
Brent-Alan Huffman says, ?The [tour's] set is a little different [from the Broadway set], so we can pack it into tractor trailers and move it around. But the show is the same. We have a few members of the Broadway company, but most of the cast is new?.
?This musical is completely joyful,? claims Huffman. ?By the end of the show, you are so lifted up. I can go to the show in any kind of a mood; and by the end of the show, I?ll be lifted up. It?s a joyful, positive piece.?
He adds, ?Sister Act is definitely a family-friendly piece. In fact, I have family members coming to see it.
?The audience should stay until the very, very end,? says Brent-Alan Huffman. ?There?s a little extra something at the end.
SECOND OPINION: May 10th Durham, NC Herald-Sun preview by Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan: http://www.heraldsun.com/lifestyles/x1592156210/-Sister-Act-brings-disco-to-a-convent (Note: You must register to read this article).
The Durham Performing Arts Center presents SISTER ACT at 7:30 p.m. May 14-16, 8 p.m. May 17, 2 and 8 p.m. May 18, and 12:30 and 5:30 p.m. May 19 at DPAC, in the American Tobacco District, at 123 Vivian St., Durham, North Carolina 27701.
TICKETS: $42.50-$111.00 (including fees), except $17.50 Student Rush Tickets (plus a service fee if purchased online), located on Row P of the Balcony. BOX OFFICE:
DPAC Box Office: 919-680-ARTS (2787), tickets@DPACnc.com, or http://www.DPACnc.com/events/how_to_buy_tickets.
Ticketmaster: 800-745-3000 or http://www.ticketmaster.com/venueartist/115558/1555394.
GROUP RATES (10+ tickets): 919/281-0587, Groups@DPACnc.com, or http://www.DPACnc.com/events/group_services.
SHOW: http://www.DPACnc.com/events/detail/sister-act.
VIDEO PREVIEW: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdDsU5CsP8g.
CONTEST (win two opening-night tickets and a $20 gift card for Bull City Burger and Brewery): http://www.DPACnc.com/contests/detail/raise-your-voice-with-sister-act.
PRESENTER/VENUE: http://www.DPACnc.com/.
DIRECTIONS: http://www.DPACnc.com/plan_your_visit/getting_here.
PARKING: http://www.DPACnc.com/plan_your_visit/parking_guide.
NOTE 1: The Durham Performing Arts Center will sell Student Rush Tickets, located on Row P of the Balcony, for just $17.50 (plus a service fee if purchased online). For details, click http://www.DPACnc.com/events/special_offers.
NOTE 2: Arts Access, Inc. of Raleigh will audio-describe the 2 p.m. Saturday, May 18th, performance.
OTHER LINKS:
Sister Act (1992 film): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_Act (Wikipedia) and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105417/ (Internet Movie Database).
Sister Act (2006 musical): http://www.sisteractthemusical.com/ (official website), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_Act_%28musical%29 (Wikipedia), and http://ibdb.com/show.php?id=488902 (Internet Broadway Database).
North American Tour: http://sisteractbroadway.com/ (official website).
Tour Cast: http://sisteractbroadway.com/cast.html (official web page).
Tour Creative Team: http://sisteractbroadway.com/creative.html (official web page).
Brent-Alan Huffman (music director/conductor) https://www.facebook.com/brentalan.huffman/ (his Facebook page) and http://ibdb.com/person.php?id=112684 (Internet Broadway Database).
EDITOR?S NOTE:
Robert W. McDowell is editor and publisher of Triangle Review, a FREE weekly e-mail arts newsletter. This preview is reprinted with permission from Triangle Review.
To start your FREE subscription to this newsletter, e-mail RobertM748@aol.com and type SUBSCRIBE TR in the Subject: line.
To read all of Robert W. McDowell?s Triangle Review previews and reviews online at Triangle Arts & Entertainment, click http://triangleartsandentertainment.org/author/robert-w-mcdowell/.
NEW YORK (AP) ? Scientists have finally recovered stem cells from cloned human embryos, a longstanding goal that could lead to new treatments for such illnesses as Parkinson's disease and diabetes.
A prominent expert called the work a landmark, but noted that a different, simpler technique now under development may prove more useful.
Stem cells can turn into any cell of the body, so scientists are interested in using them to create tissue for treating disease. Transplanting brain tissue might treat Parkinson's disorder, for example, and pancreatic tissue might be used for diabetes.
But transplants run the risk of rejection, so more than a decade ago, researchers proposed a way around that: Create tissue from stem cells that bear the patient's own DNA, obtained with a process called therapeutic cloning.
If DNA from a patient is put into a human egg, which is then grown into an early embryo, the stem cells from that embryo would provide a virtual genetic match. So in theory, tissues created from them would not be rejected by the patient.
That idea was met with some ethical objections because harvesting the stem cells involved destroying human embryos.
Scientists have tried to get stem cells from cloned human embryos for about a decade, but they've failed. Generally, that's because the embryos stopped developing before producing the cells. In 2004, a South Korean scientist claimed to have gotten stem cells from cloned human embryos, but that turned out to be a fraud.
In Wednesday's edition of the journal Cell, however, scientists in Oregon report harvesting stem cells from six embryos created from donated eggs. Two embryos had been given DNA from skin cells of a child with a genetic disorder, and the others had DNA from fetal skin cells.
Shoukhrat Mitalipov of the Oregon Health & Science University, who led the research, said the success came not from a single technical innovation, but from revising a series of steps in the process. He noted it had taken six years to reach the goal after doing it with monkey embryos.
Mitalipov also said that based on monkey work, he believes human embryos made with the technique could not develop into cloned babies, and he has no interest in trying to do that. Scientists have cloned more than a dozen kinds of mammals, starting with Dolly the sheep.
The new work was financed by the university and the Leducq Foundation in Paris.
Dr. George Daley, a stem cell expert at Children's Hospital Boston who didn't participate in the work, called the new results "one landmark step in a very long journey" toward creating DNA-matched transplant tissue.
Now, Daley said, scientists must compare the embryo-cloning approach with another technology that reprograms blood or skin cells directly into substitutes for embryonic stem cells. This reprogramming approach is technically simpler and doesn't involve embryos or require the donation of human eggs, and it was widely acclaimed when it was reported in 2007. Its Japanese developer shared a Nobel Prize last year.
But these substitute cells show some molecular differences compared to embryonic ones, which has led to questions about whether they can safely be used for treating patients. So it's essential to compare the cells from the two methods, Daley said.
The new results mean "we have another tool," he said. "We have to learn more about this tool."
Daley said he believed scientists will prefer using the reprogramming approach unless it can be proven "beyond a shadow of a doubt" that embryo cloning produces better cells for treating patients.
Mitalipov said he believed his technique would present a particular advantage for treating patients with a certain type of rare diseases. These are caused by mutations in genes of the mitochondria, the power plants of cells. He noted his technique, unlike the cell-reprogramming approach, would supply tissue with new mitochondrial genes that could replace defective ones. Those new genes would come from the egg.
The Rev. Tad Pacholczyk, director of education for National Catholic Bioethics Center, an independent think tank in Philadelphia, reiterated his opposition to embryo cloning, calling the approach unethical.
"It involves the decision to utilize early human beings as repositories for obtaining desired cells," he said. "You're creating them only to destroy them."
Marcy Darnovsky, executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society in Berkeley, Calif., said she was glad that Mitalipov doubted the embryos could be used to clone babies. She said the report still provides a good opportunity for the federal government to ban the use of cloning for reproduction.
___
Online:
Journal Cell: http://www.cell.com/
___ Malcolm Ritter can be followed at http://www.twitter.com/malcolmritter
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stem-cells-recovered-cloned-human-embryos-161354791.html
Cat doors usually lead to the front porch, but this Colorado couple's goes out their second-floor unit's window to a wooden plank catwalk. The homeowner's association, however, is forcing the couple to take it down.?
In this April 17, 2013 file photo, Gus, walks across the catwalk near Durango, Colo. The couple who constructed the catwalk is giving up their fight to keep the 13-foot escape route for their cats outside their apartment.
Jerry McBride, The Durango Herald/AP Photo
EnlargeA Durango area couple is giving up their fight to keep a 13-foot escape route for their cats outside their Colorado apartment.
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Martha Spence and her husband built the catwalk from a window to a nearby tree to allow their two cats to go outside from their second-floor unit whenever they wanted. The Durango Herald?reported that they agreed to take it down Thursday at the request of the development's homeowners association.
The couple had planned to appeal the board's request, but Spence said her husband wasn't able to take off work to pursue it.
Neighbors objected to the look of the catwalk and also worried children would try to use it. In addition, the association says its regulations bar pets from roaming free in the development.
CAIRO (AP) ? In his first comments to the media since he was detained more than two years ago, Egypt's ousted leader Hosni Mubarak said he is dismayed at the country's state of affairs and particularly the plight of the poor.
The 85-year old Mubarak said in remarks published Sunday in Al-Watan newspaper that it is also too early to judge his elected successor, Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, because he has a heavy burden to deal with. He also warned against a much-negotiated loan from the International Monetary Fund, saying it would make life harder for the poor in Egypt, where over 40 percent of the population lives on less than $2 a day.
The authenticity of the interview could not be immediately verified. Calls by The Associated Press to Mubarak's lawyer Farid ElDeeb went unanswered, but he was quoted as telling Ahram Online, the electronic version of the state-owned Al-Ahram, that the interview was a "fabrication."
Al-Watan's reporter, Mohammed el-Sheik, took photos of himself near and inside Mubarak's medical helicopter, without the ex-leader inside. El-Sheik said he conducted the interview after sneaking into a waiting area where Mubarak was held during his trial Saturday, apparently before the hearing began.
He also told the private ONTV station Sunday that he couldn't record the interview because he had to avoid Mubarak's tight security.
Mubarak has been a longtime nemesis of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group from which Morsi hails. In his comments to the privately owned Egyptian paper published Sunday, Mubarak appeared to be gloating, painting a picture of a nation that has unraveled following his 2011 ouster and portraying himself as a protector of the poor.
Mubarak stepped down in February 2011 in the face of a wave of popular protests whose main slogan was "Bread, Freedom and Social Justice." Protesters accused Mubarak of fostering a culture where power was centralized and police acted with impunity. They also believed Mubarak was grooming one of his sons to succeed him.
Mubarak's comments to Al-Watan also appeared to be addressing a growing segment of the population which has grown nostalgic for Mubarak's days amid continuing turmoil in the two years since his ouster. The country has been plagued by tenuous security and an enduring standoff between Morsi's Brotherhood and its Islamist allies and the largely secular opposition, which launched the 2011 revolt but failed to make political gains since.
Mubarak told the newspaper reporter he was "very, very sad" for impoverished Egyptians. He said he was also dismayed by the state of the economy, the industrial cities built during his nearly 30 years in office, and the country's lack of security.
The comments were Mubarak's first to be directly made to a reporter since his ouster, and his first public statements since his captivity. They came after a hearing in his retrial for his role in the killing over 800 protesters during the popular uprising. At the trial, Mubarak appeared in the dock on a hospital gurney, alongside his two sons. The trial was adjourned for June 8.
Mubarak was detained two years ago and put on trial on the same charges. He has since been hospitalized, sentenced to life in prison, had his sentence overturned and then granted a retrial.
The first Arab leader to be put on trial by his own people, Mubarak is also facing corruption charges in separate cases, where prosecutors are investigating his family wealth amid claims he amassed a massive fortune while in power. His two sons are also on trial on corruption charges.
In his comments, Mubarak also said he feared for the country's future and its poor should tough economic measures be imposed in order to acquire a $4.8 billion loan from the IMF. Egypt's economy took a hard hit over the last two years as foreign reserves dwindled, foreign investment sharply declined and tourists largely stayed away amid political turmoil.
Morsi's government would have to impose likely unpopular austerity measures as part of an economic reform program it is currently negotiating with the IMF. But talks have dragged on, while politics remain deeply polarized and consensus on managing the country's affairs is elusive.
Mubarak also said he is certain future generations will view his legacy fairly and that history will "exonerate" him.
Mubarak's last public comments were in April 2011, just before he was detained. At the time, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV station aired a prerecorded audiotape by Mubarak, in which he emotionally denied he used his position to amass wealth.
Also on Sunday, Egypt's highest appeal court granted a Mubarak-era steel magnate a retrial in one of a number of cases he is facing. Ahmed Ezz, who has been handed a combined 54 years of prison sentences and fined billions of dollars, will be retried on charges of money laundering in which he previously received a seven-year prison sentence and fined nearly $3 billion.
Ezz has received the heaviest penalties yet in the slew of trials against former regime officials. Many of Mubarak's government ministers have either been freed, or are still on trial.
Some have entered into talks with Morsi's cash-strapped government.
On Sunday, Mubarak's former Trade Minister Rachid Mohammed Rachid was taken off an arrest list and his assets unfrozen by the attorney general.
Rachid, who was in Dubai during the 2011 uprising and has not returned, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $200 million for approving production licenses to steel magnate Ezz without auctioning them publicly. In a separate case, Rachid was convicted of squandering public funds and sentenced in absentia to five years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $800,000.
It was not immediately clear how much Rachid paid to settle with the government.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-mubarak-talks-1st-time-since-detention-082430039.html
The World Health Organization says it appears likely that the novel coronavirus (NCoV) can be passed between people in close contact.
This comes after the French health ministry confirmed a second man had contracted the virus in a possible case of human-to-human transmission.
Two more people in Saudi Arabia are also reported to have died from the virus, according to health officials.
NCoV is known to cause pneumonia and sometimes kidney failure.
World Health Organization (WHO) officials have expressed concern over the clusters of cases of the new coronavirus strain and the potential for it to spread.
Since 2012, there have been 33 confirmed cases across Europe and the Middle East, with 18 deaths, according to a recent WHO update.
Cases have been detected in Saudi Arabia and Jordan and have spread to Germany, the UK and France.
"Of most concern... is the fact that the different clusters seen in multiple countries increasingly support the hypothesis that when there is close contact this novel coronavirus can transmit from person to person," the World Health Organization said on Sunday.
"This pattern of person-to-person transmission has remained limited to some small clusters and so far, there is no evidence to suggest the virus has the capacity to sustain generalised transmission in communities," the statement adds.
Continue reading the main storyFrance's second confirmed case was a 50-year-old man who had shared a hospital room in Valenciennes, northern France, with a 65-year-old who fell ill with the virus after returning from Dubai.
"Positive results [for the virus] have been confirmed for both patients," the French health ministry said, adding that both men were being treated in isolation wards.
Meanwhile, the Saudi deputy minister of health said on Sunday that two more people had died from the coronavirus, bringing the number of fatalities to nine in the most recent outbreak in al-Ahsa governorate in the east of Saudi Arabia, Reuters news agency reports.
The Saudi health ministry said that 15 people had died out of the 24 cases diagnosed since last summer.
WHO officials have not yet confirmed the latest deaths.
In February, a patient died in a hospital in Birmingham, England, after three members of the same family became infected.
It is thought a family member had picked up the virus while travelling to the Middle East and Pakistan.
Novel coronavirus is from the same family of viruses as the one that caused an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) that emerged in Asia in 2003.
However, NCoV and Sars are distinct from each other, the WHO said in its statement on Sunday.
Coronavirus is known to cause respiratory infections in both humans and animals.
But it is not yet clear whether it is a mutation of an existing virus or an infection in animals that has made the jump to humans.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22502143#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
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President Barack Obama on Friday touted his health care law's benefits for women, whose response to the program the White House believes will be key to its success.
"So often [moms] put everything else before themselves," Obama said, tying the event, held in the White House East Room, to Mother's Day.?"And that?s particularly true when it comes to things like health care."
Mothers, he said, worry constantly about their children's potential health care bills, but his health care law, officially named the Affordable Care Act, will change all that.
"In a country as wealthy as this one, there was no reason why a family?s security should be determined by the chance of an illness or an accident. We decided to do something about it," he said.
The event helped launch a campaign the White House is undertaking to spread information about the program and get mothers to encourage their adult children to enroll in health care "exchanges."
There's "so much misinformation" surrounding the law, the president said on Friday, that "people may not have a sense of what the law actually does."
He noted that the 85 percent of people who already have insurance will not be affected by the program.
Hispanics and African-Americans will be major target groups for enrollment in the program, which is set to begin in October, a White House senior administration official said on Friday. But the White House believes young people are the single most important group for the success of the health care exchanges?where the noninsured can buy health insurance at competitive rates?which will be established by states and the federal government, the official said.
Stability for the program and the cost of insurance premiums is dependent upon young people: 2.7 million healthy 18- to 35-year-olds are not currently covered by insurance, according to the official. Participation by these young people will offset the higher costs of covering seniors. But the challenge is getting young and presumably healthy people to sign up.
That's where the White House says mothers come in: They'll be key to encouraging their sons and daughters to sign up, the official said.
The White House will conduct outreach at the local level, in part by using tools from the campaign trail, as well as relying on information disseminated by centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, hospitals, community health centers, local churches and community leaders, officials said.
Overall, the Congressional Budget Office projects 7 million enrollees in 2014.
Many Republicans have issued dire predictions about implementation of the law, and some Democrats have added their voices to those expressions of concern.
Obama conceded on Friday that there have been "mistakes and hiccups" already, and specifically identified the original release of a 21-page application as a misstep?one that received a widespread negative reaction. Obama said that the White House, which then released a three-page version, realized "we [could] do better than that."
The White House believes they'll have the upper hand in Republican attacks on Obamacare once people enroll. At that point, the official said, Republicans would look like they were trying to take health care insurance away from Americans.
In the meantime, Republicans are continuing their assault on the controversial program, with House Republicans planning a vote next week on whether to fully repeal the law.
?The president?s health care law is a train wreck for men and women alike, and that?s why a majority of Americans support Republican efforts to repeal it to protect their health care?and their jobs," House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement on Friday. "Next week, the House will act to repeal the law that is increasing health care costs, reducing access to quality health care, and making it harder for small businesses to hire workers. The entire law should be repealed so we can enact a step-by-step, common-sense approach to health care that starts with lowering costs and protecting American jobs.?
The vote in the House, however, is largely political theater.
Republicans have staged dozens of votes to repeal the law in whole or in part in the three years since the measure passed into law. Additionally, if a repeal measure did pass the Republican-controlled House, the Democratic-controlled Senate would kill the effort.
The president's event Friday was promoted in advance by the White House, but ended up being overshadowed by continued questions regarding the administration's handling of the 2011 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi and an admission Friday by the IRS that the agency placed more scrutiny on potentially conservative groups among those applying for tax exempt status.
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In this Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012 photo, a flock of Geese fly past the smokestacks at the Jeffrey Energy Center coal power plant as the suns sets near Emmett, Kan. Worldwide levels of the chief greenhouse gas that causes global warming have hit a milestone, reaching an amount never before encountered by humans, federal scientists said Friday, May 10, 2013. Carbon dioxide was measured at 400 parts per million at the oldest monitoring station in Hawaii which sets the global benchmark. The last time the worldwide carbon level was probably that high was about 2 million years ago, said Pieter Tans of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
In this Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012 photo, a flock of Geese fly past the smokestacks at the Jeffrey Energy Center coal power plant as the suns sets near Emmett, Kan. Worldwide levels of the chief greenhouse gas that causes global warming have hit a milestone, reaching an amount never before encountered by humans, federal scientists said Friday, May 10, 2013. Carbon dioxide was measured at 400 parts per million at the oldest monitoring station in Hawaii which sets the global benchmark. The last time the worldwide carbon level was probably that high was about 2 million years ago, said Pieter Tans of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Worldwide levels of the chief greenhouse gas that causes global warming have hit a milestone, reaching an amount never before encountered by humans, federal scientists said Friday.
Carbon dioxide was measured at 400 parts per million at the oldest monitoring station which is in Hawaii sets the global benchmark. The last time the worldwide carbon level was probably that high was about 2 million years ago, said Pieter Tans of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
That was during the Pleistocene Era. "It was much warmer than it is today," Tans said. "There were forests in Greenland. Sea level was higher, between 10 and 20 meters (33 to 66 feet)."
Other scientists say it may have been 10 million years ago that Earth last encountered this much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The first modern humans only appeared in Africa about 200,000 years ago.
The measurement was recorded Thursday and it is only a daily figure, the monthly and yearly average will be smaller. The number 400 has been anticipated by climate scientists and environmental activists for years as a notable indicator, in part because it's a round number ? not because any changes in man-made global warming happen by reaching it.
"Physically, we are no worse off at 400 ppm than we were at 399 ppm," Princeton University climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer said. "But as a symbol of the painfully slow pace of measures to avoid a dangerous level of warming, it's somewhat unnerving."
Environmental activists, such as former Vice President Al Gore, seized on the milestone.
"This number is a reminder that for the last 150 years ? and especially over the last several decades ? we have been recklessly polluting the protective sheath of atmosphere that surrounds the Earth and protects the conditions that have fostered the flourishing of our civilization," Gore said in a statement. "We are altering the composition of our atmosphere at an unprecedented rate."
Carbon dioxide traps heat just like in a greenhouse and most of it stays in the air for a century; some lasts for thousands of years, scientists say. It accounts for three-quarters of the planet's heat-trapping gases. There are others, such as methane, which has a shorter life span but traps heat more effectively. Both trigger temperatures to rise over time, scientists say, which is causing sea levels to rise and some weather patterns to change.
When measurements of carbon dioxide were first taken in 1958, it measured 315 parts per million. Some scientists and environmental groups promote 350 parts per million as a safe level for CO2, but scientists acknowledge they don't really know what levels would stop the effects of global warming.
The level of carbon dioxide in the air is rising faster than in the past decades, despite international efforts by developed nations to curb it. On average the amount is growing by about 2 parts per million per year. That's 100 times faster than at the end of the Ice Age.
Back then, it took 7,000 years for carbon dioxide to reach 80 parts per million, Tans said. Because of the burning of fossil fuels, such as oil and coal, carbon dioxide levels have gone up by that amount in just 55 years.
Before the Industrial Revolution, carbon dioxide levels were around 280 ppm, and they were closer to 200 during the Ice Age, which is when sea levels shrank and polar places went from green to icy. There are natural ups and downs of this greenhouse gas, which comes from volcanoes and decomposing plants and animals. But that's not what has driven current levels so high, Tans said. He said the amount should be even higher, but the world's oceans are absorbing quite a bit, keeping it out of the air.
"What we see today is 100 percent due to human activity," said Tans, a NOAA senior scientist. The burning of fossil fuels, such as coal for electricity and oil for gasoline, has caused the overwhelming bulk of the man-made increase in carbon in the air, scientists say.
The world pumps on average 2.4 million pounds of carbon dioxide into the air every second for a total of 38.2 billion tons in 2011, according international calculations published in a scientific journal in December. China spews 10 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the air per year, leading all countries, and its emissions are growing about 10 percent annually. The U.S. at No. 2 is slowly cutting emissions and is down to 5.9 billion tons per year.
The speed of the change is the big worry, said Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann. If carbon dioxide levels go up 100 parts per million over thousands or millions of years, plants and animals can adapt. But that can't be done at the speed it is now happening.
Last year, regional monitors briefly hit 400 ppm in the Arctic. But those monitoring stations aren't seen as a world mark like the one at Mauna Loa, Hawaii.
Generally carbon levels peak in May then fall slightly, so the yearly average is usually a few parts per million lower than May levels.
___
Online:
NOAA monitoring at Mauna Loa: http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/weekly.html
Seth Borenstein can be followed at http://twitter.com/borenbears
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Autopsy results reveal that heavy metal icon died of alcohol-related disease.
By Gil Kaufman
Slayer's Jeff Hanneman
Photo: Getty Images
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1707135/slayer-jeff-hanneman-cause-of-death-cirrhosis.jhtml
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Mother's Day is a week away, but there's still time to get great deals on gifts for every type of mom.?
A florist sorts roses in a flower shop in Vienna. On occasion of the Saint Valentine's Day. 1-800 Flowers is offering a 40 percent off coupon for Mother's Day flowers.
Herwig Prammer/Reuters/File
EnlargeToday's roundup is dedicated to Mother?s Day presents, both the traditional and the techy. From jewelry to jeweled iPhone cases, we've got a little something sparkly for every mom. And for everything else, do check out the other extra special Mother?s Day deals we've stockpiled.
Skip to next paragraph Dealnews.comis devoted to finding the best deals on consumer goods, whether or not they're from an advertiser. For more great offers visit dealnews.com, which works with advertisers to craft offers for readers.
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Or, if you want to go all out this year, be sure to enter our Mother's Day Sweepstakes. One lucky reader will walk away with a $200 gift card from Perfumania Red Envelope
$40 Credit
Store: Amazon Local
Price: $20
Expires: May 7.?Is It Worth It?: Red Envelope is an incredible resource for thoughtful and beautiful gifts. Specializing in tasteful and useful items including throw pillows, pendants, bracelets, slippers, measuring cups, and so on, Red Envelope just may be the perfect source for this year's charming Mother's Day gift. Plus, this Editors' Choice $40 credit for $20 is the best offer we've seen for Red Envelope in more than a year. What's more, the voucher can be applied to cover taxes, and shipping and handling, and gift-wrapping, and is valid from today until June 30.
Two Row 8mm AAA White Freshwater Pearl Necklace
Store: WinPearl
Price: $14.99 via coupon code "dealnews25" with free shipping
Lowest By: $8?Expires: May 7.?Is It Worth It?: Neckties are classic Father's Day gifts; pearl necklaces are the Mother's Day equivalent! Give your mom a stunning double-stranded pearl necklace for the reasonable price of $15. This 15-inch white pearl necklace is stately and elegant. But if such a classic, white pearl necklace doesn't suit her style, consider the 8mm AA+ Black Freshwater Pearl Necklace for $10.19 via coupon code "dealnews40" with free shipping (a low by $38; expires May 10). This 17-inch necklace features a white gold-plated clasp and is professionally hand knotted between each pearl.
newegg Mother's Day Sale
Discount: Up to 60% off
Shipping: Free shipping.?Is It Worth It?: What's more attention-getting than a pearl necklace? How about newegg's Mother's Day Sale wherein prices start at $23.99 and a selection of iPods, headphones, hair straighteners, tablets are up to 60% off! What's more, most items receive free shipping, making for one of the best general sales we've seen from newegg in recent weeks.
All4Cellular Mother's Day Sale
Discount: Up to 90% off with an extra 10% off via coupon code "MOM10"
Shipping: From $2 s&h
Expires: May 12.?Is It Worth It?: What you can't find at newegg, you may be able to score at All4Cellular during its Mother's Day Sale, which discounts a whole slew of cute and clever smartphone and tablet accessories compatible with a wide variety of manufacturers, including Apple, AT&T, BlackBerry, Samsung, and Amazon Kindle. The discount is reflected on the product page, but don't overlook the extra 10% off the coupon code gets you.
1-800-Flowers Mother?s Day Sale
Discount: Up to 40% off with an extra 15% off via coupon code "AFF15"
Shipping: From $4.99 s&h
Expires: May 12.?Is It Worth It?: Flowers are the ultimate Mother's Day gesture and thanks to this 40% off offer from 1-800-Flowers, you can send her a lovely arrangement without worrying about spending too much. Plus coupon code "AFF15" takes an extra 15% off an assortment of Mother's Day arrangements and gifts, and makes this one best sales we've seen from 1-800-Flowers in recent months. Note that shipping starts at $4.99, but delivery starts at $12.99.
Martin Schneider is a contributor to dealnews.com, where this article first appeared.?
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/kgBSGovbBew/Mother-s-Day-is-coming.-Five-great-gift-ideas
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Jeff Hanneman of Slayer performs onstage on April 23, 2011 in Indio, Calif.
Guitarist Jeff Hanneman, one of the founders of the thrash metal band slayer, died Thursday of liver failure at age 49.
"Slayer is devastated to inform that their bandmate and brother, Jeff Hanneman, passed away at about 11 a.m. this morning near his Southern California home," a statement posted on the band's Facebook page read. "Hanneman was in an area hospital when he suffered liver failure. He is survived by his wife Kathy, his sister Kathy and his brothers Michael and Larry, and will be sorely missed."
Hanneman and Kerry King founded the band in southern California in 1981. The band has been awarded two Grammys for best metal performance and has four gold albums.
In 2011, Hanneman contracted necrotizing fasciitis, which he believed he got from a spider bite.
In 2012, the band gave fans details about Hanneman's illness in an open letter.
"As you know, Jeff was bitten by a spider more than a year ago, but what you may not have known was that for a couple of days after he went to the ER, things were touch-and-go," the letter read. "There was talk that he might have to have his arm amputated, and we didn?t know if he was going to pull through at all. He was in a medically-induced coma for a few days and had several operations to remove the dead and dying tissue from his arm. So, understand, he was in really, really bad shape."
While Hanneman battled the disease, Gary Holt of Exodus and Pat O'Brien from Cannibal Corpse filled in for him and performed with Slayer.
Hanneman wrote "Raining Blood," the guitar riff for which has been called one of metal's best ever and has been played at sporting events and covered by artists including Tori Amos.
In 2011, Hanneman spoke about the song to Revolver magazine, saying, "Every night when we play it, once the kids go off like they do, it gives you goose bumps. You go off. It?s still fun to play."
Fans were quick to remember Hanneman on the band's Facebook page.
"Crushing loss," wrote Al Molyneaux. "Absolutely gutted. A hero of mine and many more. RIP Jeff. Your music will live on and the influence of the music you created and help to create will continue to inspire.
Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/slayer-guitarist-jeff-hanneman-dies-49-1C9751236
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