Preserving Richard the Lionheart's heart

Philippe Charlier

The dusty remains of Richard I's heart now rest in this crystal box.

By Stephanie Pappas
LiveScience

The heart of Richard the Lionheart was preserved with mercury, mint and frankincense, among other sweet-smelling plants, a new study finds.

The study is the first biochemical look at the heart of Richard I, who died in 1199. As was common practice at the time, the king's heartwas removed and mummified separately from the rest of his body. It rested in a reliquary at Notre Dame in Rouen for centuries before its rediscovery in 1838.

Now, for the first time, the chemical composition of the substances used to preserve the heart has been revealed. These substances were directly inspired by biblical texts, said study leader Philippe Charlier of University Hospital R. Poincar?.

"The aim was to approach the odor of sanctity," Charlier told LiveScience.

The life and death of Richard I
Richard I of England began his rule in 1189. He spent two years in captivity in Europe, much of that time being held for ransom by the Holy Roman Emperor. Later, the tale of Richard I's ransom would be folded into folk tales about Robin Hood, casting Richard I as a benevolent absent monarch and his brother John as a tax-happy usurper.

(Richard I came centuries before Richard III, the English monarch whose bones were discovered in a Leicester parking lot in September 2012. Richard III died in 1485.)

Mus?e d?partemental des Antiquit?s (c) Yohann Deslandes/CG76

The box that contained Richard the Lionheart's preserved heart. Translated, the inscription reads "Here is the heart of Richard, King of England."

On March 25, 1199, years after the kidnapping, Richard sustained a crossbow wound in Chalus, France, and died 12 days later of gangrene. His abdominal organs were removed and interred in Chalus, while his body went to rest at Fontevraud Abbey in France. His heart was embalmed and placed in its own casket and taken to Notre Dame in Rouen. [The 10 Weirdest Ways We Deal With the Dead]

This division of the body was used to symbolize and mark Richard I's territory, Charlier said. However, no ancient texts remain to record how the embalming process was done.

The heart rested in Rouen until July 1838, when a local historian discovered a lead box inscribed, "Here is the heart of Richard, King of England." The heart itself had been reduced to dust in the preceding centuries; all that the box contained was a brownish-white powder.

Spiritual and practical
It was this powder that Charlier and his colleagues tested. They found a variety of compounds, including traces of the proteins found in human heart muscle. They also observed tiny fragments of linen, suggesting that the heart was wrapped before placement in the box.

Some metal compounds, including lead and tin, likely seeped into the powder from the lead box. Others were probably used in the embalming process. In particular, the researchers detected mercury, which has been found in other medieval burials and was probably used as an embalming agent.

The analysis also turned up pollen from a variety of plants: myrtle, daisy, mint, pine, oak, poplar, plantain and bellflower. Some of these, including poplar and bellflower, would have been blooming in April when Richard the Lionheart died; their pollen may have simply settled out of the air into the casket.

Other plants were probably used to preserve the heart. Myrtle, daisy and mint would not have been in bloom at the time, the researchers found, and probably would have been part of the embalming process. Frankincense, a tree resin, would also have been useful for both its preservation and its symbolic properties.

"This symbolic substance appeared at both extremities of the Christ life," the researchers wrote online Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports. "Presented by the Biblical Magi at His birth, and used during His external embalming after the Passion."

Preserving the heart would have been important, because the journey to Rouen from Chalus was about 330 miles (530 kilometers), the researchers wrote. But Richard I's contemporaries may have also seen the process as one of "theological transformation," Charlier said.

Indeed, contemporary wisdom seems to have held that Richard I needed all the spiritual help he could get. In the 1200s, the bishop of Rochester announced that the king had only made it to heaven in 1232, having spent the intervening 33 years in purgatory, repenting his Earthly sins.

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas?or LiveScience @livescience. We're also on Facebook?and Google+.

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

Source: http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/28/17133165-how-king-richard-the-lionhearts-heart-was-preserved?lite

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OUYA Android Gaming Console To Start Shipping To Backers ...

OUYA, the Kickstarter-funded Android gaming console, has already shipped developer consoles, but had yet to specify an exact date when backers could expect their production devices. Today, the company announced that it will be shipping the first OUYA consoles out to backers beginning March 28, ahead of a June retail launch.

The gaming hardware startup shipped its first developer consoles starting December 28, in keeping with its anticipated deadlines from the project outset. A March 28 date for final hardware is also in keeping with OUYA?s original timeline, which called for a March 2013 launch window for OUYA consoles and controllers.

OUYA says to expect it to take ?a few weeks? for shipments to be sent out to all backers, who will receive tracking numbers and estimated delivery dates once the consoles begin leaving for their destinations.

Alongside the shipping announcement, OUYA CEO Julie Uhrman also announced some new information around games coming to the platform. Porta?s Kim Swift and Airtight Games are working on an OUYA exclusive, and Minority Media will provide an adventure puzzle game this upcoming fall that makes full use of the OUYA?s touchpad and button controls, something Uhrman says is a first for the platform. Tripwire Interact?s The Ball is also coming to OUYA in March, and the firm is developing an OUYA exclusive for later release as well.

Finally, the OUYA update from the company includes the news that Kellee Santiago, co-founder of Journey studio thatgamecompany is joining the?startup?to head up developer relations. Clearly, OUYA wants to do everything it can to address?criticism?around its gaming library.

OUYA was created in 2012 by Julie Uhrman, a video game industry veteran who saw an opportunity to open up the last closed game platform ? the TV. Julie and an initial team of game developers and advisors brought the concept to life with the help of Yves Behar and the fuseproject, and took it to Kickstarter in July of 2012. It became one of the most successful Kickstarter projects ever, with tens of thousands of backers pledging to...

? Learn more

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/28/ouya-android-gaming-console-to-start-shipping-to-backers-march-28/

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Bomberman gets unofficial web-based version, crams in up to 1,000 online players

This is about to ruin any hopes you had of a productive day. Bombermine, an unofficial version of SNES throwback, Super Bomberman, is a web-based gift that lets you face-off against up to 1,000 players in a single game. Borrowing the same scoresheet setup of a first-person shooter, you'll auto-generate within an existing game once you've picked a username. Beta servers in Europe, the US and Japan all went live earlier this week. The gameplay is unaffected by the transition, although there are some new additions, like a chat window and even a Nyancat-tainted power-up to bring this terrible, terrible time-sink up to date. Get your work in order, then meet us on the servers at the source link.

Filed under: Gaming

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Source: Bombermine

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/27/bomberman-unofficial-web-based-version/

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Facebook Lets Advertisers Tap Purchase Data Partners To Target Customers, Categories Like Car-Buyers

Through new partnerships with top online and offline purchase data providers Datalogix, Epsilon, Acxiom, and BlueKai, Facebook is allowing advertisers to target hashed lists of existing and potential customers, and categories like role-playing gamers or soda drinkers. This expansion of Facebook's Custom Audiences program could rake in revenue and attract businesses by matching ads to real spenders

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/AX7xXar9SXQ/

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Romanian gangster loses his lions and bears

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) ? BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) ? A man known as Nutzu the Pawnbroker has been indicted for leading a fearsome criminal gang, but the public seems to be more interested in his pets: four lions and two bears.

Ion Balint ? his real name ? had long been known to have an affinity for wild beasts in his home.

"You said I fed men to the lions?" Balint was recorded saying on a videotape as he rode away from prison on a black stallion in 2010. "Why don't you come over and I'll give you some lions!"

Authorities won't confirm that the lions and bears were used to intimidate rivals at his high-walled and heavily guarded estate in the poorest part of Bucharest. The compound also contained less fearsome beasts, including thoroughbred horses and canaries.

Balint, 48, a stocky man with a mustache and a receding hairline, often appears dressed in T-shirts and tracksuits.

The Romanian news media were awash in unconfirmed reports about Balint's excesses, reporting that he used the lions and bears to intimidate rivals and that his house contained a torture chamber.

His son-in-law, Marius Vlad, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the reports were false.

"Many untruths are being reported," he said.

Bystanders and relatives who gathered near the gates of the estate described Balint as a good neighbor and an animal lover, and said they weren't bothered by roaring lions.

"We can hear them every day, but only when they're hungry or the female is in heat," said Gabriela Ionescu, 36, clutching her toddler daughter's hand. "They don't disturb us at all."

Authorities allege that Balint and his brother Vasile headed a criminal network which controlled much of the underworld activity in Bucharest, a city of 2 million. Some 400 police and detectives were involved in the investigation which led to the arrest last week of 67 suspects, including the Balint brothers.

In 2009, Balint was convicted of human trafficking, violence and pimping, and sentenced to 13 years in prison. That was reduced to six years, but Balint was free after a year.

On Wednesday, the four lions and two bears were sedated, put in cages and removed by environmental authorities and the Vier Pfoten animal welfare charity. The animals, which generally appeared in good condition, will be temporarily housed in a zoo and may eventually be relocated in South Africa, animal welfare officers said.

Mircea Pupaza, commissioner of the National Environment Guard, told The Associated Press that Balint had no documentation or health records for the animals, which he's kept illegally for 10 years. He could face a year in prison and a hefty fine for illegally keeping wild animals.

"The lions are a status symbol for him," said Livia Cimpoeru, a Vier Pfoten spokeswoman. She declined to speculate whether they had a more sinister purpose.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lions-bears-removed-gangsters-property-124851051.html

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BPA may affect the developing brain by disrupting gene regulation

Feb. 25, 2013 ? Environmental exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), a widespread chemical found in plastics and resins, may suppress a gene vital to nerve cell function and to the development of the central nervous system, according to a study led by researchers at Duke Medicine.

The researchers published their findings -- which were observed in cortical neurons of mice, rats and humans -- in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Feb. 25, 2013.

"Our study found that BPA may impair the development of the central nervous system, and raises the question as to whether exposure could predispose animals and humans to neurodevelopmental disorders," said lead author Wolfgang Liedtke, M.D., PhD, associate professor of medicine/neurology and neurobiology at Duke.

BPA, a molecule that mimics estrogen and interferes with the body's endocrine system, can be found in a wide variety of manufactured products, including thermal printer paper, some plastic water bottles and the lining of metal cans. The chemical can be ingested if it seeps into the contents of food and beverage containers.

Research in animals has raised concerns that exposure to BPA may cause health problems such as behavioral issues, endocrine and reproductive disorders, obesity, cancer and immune system disorders. Some studies suggest that infants and young children may be the most vulnerable to the effects of BPA, which led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ban the use of the chemical in baby bottles and cups in July 2012.

While BPA has been shown to affect the developing nervous system, little is understood as to how this occurs. The research team developed a series of experiments in rodent and human nerve cells to learn how BPA induces changes that disrupt gene regulation.

During early development of neurons, high levels of chloride are present in the cells. These levels drop as neurons mature, thanks to a chloride transporter protein called KCC2, which churns chloride ions out of the cells. If the level of chloride within neurons remains elevated, it can damage neural circuits and compromise a developing nerve cell's ability to migrate to its proper position in the brain.

Exposing neurons to minute amounts of BPA alters the chloride levels inside the cells by somehow shutting down the Kcc2 gene, which makes the KCC2 protein, thereby delaying the removal of chloride from neurons.

MECP2, another protein important for normal brain function, was found to be a possible culprit behind this change. When exposed to BPA, MECP2 is more abundant and binds to the Kcc2 gene at a higher rate, which might help to shut it down. This could contribute to problems in the developing brain due to a delay in chloride being removed.

These findings raise the question of whether BPA could contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders such as Rett syndrome, a severe autism spectrum disorder that is only found in girls and is characterized by mutations in the gene that produces MECP2.

While both male and female neurons were affected by BPA in the studies, female neurons were more susceptible to the chemical's toxicity. Further research will dig deeper into the sex-specific effects of BPA exposure and whether certain sex hormone receptors are involved in BPA's effect on KCC2.

"Our findings improve our understanding of how environmental exposure to BPA can affect the regulation of the Kcc2 gene. However, we expect future studies to focus on what targets aside from Kcc2 are affected by BPA," Liedtke said. "This is a chapter in an ongoing story."

In addition to Liedtke, study authors include Michele Yeo and Ken Berglund of the Liedtke Lab in the Division of Neurology at Duke Medicine; Michael Hanna, Maria D. Torres and Jorge Busciglio of the University of California, Irvine; Junjie U. Guo and Yuan Gao of the Lieber Institute for Brain Development and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md.; and Jaya Kittur, Joel Abramowitz and Lutz Birnbaumer of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

The research received funding from Duke University, the Klingenstein Fund, the National Institutes of Health (R21NS066307, HD38466 and AG16573), and intramural funds from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Duke University Medical Center.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Michele Yeo, Ken Berglund, Michael Hanna, Junjie U. Guo, Jaya Kittur, Maria D. Torres, Joel Abramowitz, Jorge Busciglio, Yuan Gao, Lutz Birnbaumer, and Wolfgang B. Liedtke. Bisphenol A delays the perinatal chloride shift in cortical neurons by epigenetic effects on the Kcc2 promoter. PNAS, February 25, 2013 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1300959110

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/~3/NaeyTOnLcT0/130225153122.htm

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Environmental detectives: Scientists seek to solve breast cancer ...

Deep in a laboratory freezer, 100,000 vials of blood have been frozen for the better part of five decades.

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For scientist Barbara Cohn, it?s a treasure trove. Collected from more than 15,000 San Francisco Bay Area women after they gave birth in the 1960s, each vial of blood holds a woman?s lifetime of secrets.

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Scientists say these vials could help them unravel one of the most enduring medical mysteries: Why do some women, with no family history, develop breast cancer?

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The blood bears the chemical signature of environmental pollutants, some long banned, that the women were exposed to decades ago. Cohn, who directs the research in Berkeley, Calif., believes these early-life exposures may hold the key to understanding a woman's risk of breast cancer today.

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The women's blood is being tested for traces of dozens of pollutants???used by industry and found in many consumer products???that can impersonate estrogen and other hormones. The theory is that early exposure to these chemicals, even before birth, inside the mother?s womb, may fundamentally alter the way that breast tissues grow, triggering cancer decades later.

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Cancer patients and their doctors have long puzzled over what factors in a woman?s environment may raise her risk of breast cancer. One of every eight women in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer during her lifetime, with more than 232,000 new cases diagnosed yearly, according to the American Cancer Society. Only 5 to 10 percent can be accounted for by genetics; other known risk factors include age, obesity and low physical activity.

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Earlier this month, a science advisory panel?urged the federal government to fund more projects aimed at uncovering the environmental causes of breast cancer because eliminating these factors may provide the greatest opportunity to prevent it.

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It?s particularly vexing for scientists because it?s difficult to unlock a woman?s exposures during her most critical times for breast development: in the womb and during puberty and pregnancy.

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?As researchers looking at adult outcomes of disease processes such as breast cancer, one of the biggest challenges we face is trying to get a handle on prenatal exposures and what is going on in the prenatal environment,? said Shanna Swan, an environmental health scientist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

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Many scientists have been looking for connections between various environmental exposures and the disease???with mixed results. Some findings suggest links to a few chemicals, including the banned pesticide DDT. But others have found no link.

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For example, experts from the American Cancer Society, reviewing previous studies, in 2002 found no association between breast cancer and chlorinated chemicals including DDT.

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And in 2011, an institute of the National Academies of Sciences reported ?a possible link? between breast cancer and some common ingredients of vehicle exhaust, benzene and 1,3-butadiene. But the report?said the jury is still out for most other widespread chemicals, such as pesticides, ingredients of cosmetics and bisphenol A (BPA).

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Nevertheless, absence of evidence isn?t evidence of absence, said Elizabeth Ward, National Vice President of Intramural Research at the American Cancer Society. Many of the biggest risk factors remain unknown, she said.

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The problem with most studies is that they measured levels of chemicals in women later in life, after they were diagnosed with cancer, not during periods when the breast is most susceptible, said Suzanne Fenton, a reproductive toxicologist at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in North Carolina.

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?The research doesn?t prove that the link doesn?t exist or that these chemicals are safe for the breast,? Fenton said. ?It shows that we may not have been asking the right question.?

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The strongest evidence for this link emerged decades ago. Researchers first suspected that hormone-mimicking chemicals may play a role in breast cancer when they discovered that women who took the anti-miscarriage drug diethylstilbestrol (DES)???a potent form of estrogen prescribed for pregnant women from 1938 until 1971???had about a one-in-six lifetime risk of developing breast cancer. The risk is one in eight for all women. In addition, their daughters, who were exposed to DES in the womb, developed breast cancer at about two times the rate of unexposed women.

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Some scientists say timing of exposure may be the single most important factor when evaluating how chemicals may contribute to breast cancer risk.

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The breast is a complex tissue that undergoes several important periods of development and remodeling over the course of a woman?s life. During these periods???before birth when the bud of the mammary gland forms, at puberty when breast cells are rapidly growing and dividing and during pregnancy as the mammary gland transitions to lactation???the breast may be especially susceptible to outside chemicals.

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When breasts are exposed to hormone-like substances during those sensitive times, it could ?influence susceptibility of the tissue to carcinogens or other hormonal stimuli that could increase cancer risk later on,? said Ruthann Rudel, a researcher at the Silent Spring Institute, a nonprofit research group in Massachusetts, and lead author of a 2011 review.

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Cohn and colleagues at the Public Health Institute are using the blood samples of more than 100 women who enrolled in the Child Health and Development Studies in the 1960s to investigate exposures during two of these critical periods, pregnancy and postpartum. The women were members of the Kaiser Permanente Health Plan in the Oakland, Calif., area who gave birth between 1959 and 1967.

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The scientists recently reported that women who had high levels of a certain PCBs in their blood shortly after giving birth were three times more likely to develop breast cancer later in life than women with lower levels. Because PCBs break down very slowly in the body, a woman?s blood levels postpartum may also predict the PCB levels in her blood during earlier periods of her life, such as puberty, Cohn said.

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Banned in the United States 35 years ago, the industrial chemicals persist in the environment and accumulate in food webs. Nearly every U.S. resident still has detectable levels in his or her blood.

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In a previous study, Cohn and her colleagues demonstrated that age at time of exposure matters for other chemicals, too. In the same group of women, they found that those with high blood levels of the banned pesticide DDT shortly after giving birth were five times more likely to develop breast cancer before age 50 than the women with the lowest blood levels. Other studies measuring DDT exposure later in life found no link.

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Cohn can?t say for sure that the associations they observed between breast cancer and PCBs or DDT were not due to some other factor. ?No human study can be definitive,? said Cohn, an epidemiologist who has been involved with the study group for 17 years. ?It?s impossible to measure every single exposure pertinent to breast cancer."

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Laboratory research may bear out a definitive link. In lab animals, scientists can test the effects of various levels and mixtures of chemicals, which would be unethical in humans. ?The work we do in humans helps frame the type of questions to be answered by animal studies,? Cohn said. Such collaboration, she said, ?is critical to advancing our knowledge.?

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These questions involve knowing more about how hormonally active chemicals interact with developing breast tissue.

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?A chemical that has weak effects later in life may have very different effects during earlier periods of development when the mammary gland is most sensitive,? said Dr. Hugh Taylor, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Yale School of Medicine.

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Taylor and his colleagues found that in mice, BPA, an estrogen-like chemical, can have the same effect in a developing fetus as the drug DES, a more potent estrogen. Both ?turned up? the expression of genes in the developing mammary gland that are known to play a role in tumor formation. ?You are essentially changing the software so that things are programmed to read differently,? Taylor said.

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Most cancers aren?t one single piece of damage, but a collection of injuries to a cell or a tissue over a lifetime, making it hard to pin a cause on any one agent, Taylor said. Yet, if endocrine disruptors give you a predisposition for tumor growth, ?you?re starting life with one strike against you,? he said.

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BPA, used to make hard plastics, liners of food cans and some paper receipts, is found in most human bodies.

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Studies in mice and rats suggest that exposure to BPA and other endocrine disruptors in the womb not only alters the structure of the breast, but the way that the tissues communicate with one another and receive hormonal signals from other parts of the body.

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?BPA sets the thermostat in a more sensitive way so the mammary gland has more sensitivity to estrogen, and the breast tissue now exhibits an exaggerated response to the hormone. It sees a little bit of estrogen and now thinks it is a lot,? said Dr. Ana Soto, a cancer researcher at Tufts University School of Medicine in Massachusetts. And the body can?t tell the difference between synthetic estrogen mimics and natural estrogens.

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BPA and other chemicals also may play a role in breast density???a known risk factor for breast cancer. A preliminary study?by University of Wisconsin researchers found that women with higher blood levels of BPA had denser breast tissue than women with low levels.

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With so much uncertainty about environmental risk factors, these issues remain largely absent from major breast cancer awareness campaigns.

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?Despite billions spent in the name of breast cancer, we still don?t know enough about the causes,? said Karuna Jaggar, executive director of Breast Cancer Action, a San Francisco-based advocacy organization that considers itself the watchdog of the breast cancer movement.

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While decades of research have failed to turn up strong, environmental risk factors, Cohn is optimistic that scientists are now on the right track. ?The science is playing catch up. We have learned from what we didn?t learn,? she said.

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Nevertheless, federal funding is in short supply, and there is always the risk it will run out for the Oakland group. Research now is turning to the second and third generations -- the daughters and granddaughters of the original study members. Just like she did with their mothers and grandmothers, Cohn will look for patterns of exposure and disease as they age.

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Like a treasure trove about to be unlocked, Cohn said these generations of women ?hold the key to understanding? breast cancer.

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Source: http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/stories/environmental-detectives-scientists-seek-to-solve-breast-cancer

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Two Porticoed Roman Villas Duke it Out in the Deathcage - Real ...

Imagine you have around $10M to spend on a home and you've narrowed it down to two beautiful villas outside of Italy's Eternal City: one a heart-stutteringly idyllic spread surrounded by olive trees and ancient history, the other an open lakeshore estate as crisp and pristine as a sip of spring water. So how do you choose? The answer is simple: you shove them into a metaphorical cage and let them battle it out until one emerges victorious. Yep, that's right: it's time for a Real Estate Deathmatch.

Here are two homes just outside of Rome, one an estate sitting on a national park dotted with ancient monuments and lavender fields, the other an open-air palazzo embraced by hillside and perched above a lake. Both have an indoor-outdoor feel and stunning views. There's much to consider, but before studying the photos of yet another pair of dueling houses, here's a side-by-side stats comparison:

Christians, Muslims pray to halt Israeli security wall

Families in a West Bank town call on divine intercession to stop the construction of a barrier they say will separate residents from their own land. NBC News' Yara Borgal reports.

By Yara Borgal, Producer, NBC News

BEIT JALA, West Bank ? A West Bank community plants olive trees, even though many residents don?t think they will ever see them harvested. Any day, construction of Israel?s security wall could slice through this valley.?

"We are trying in a way to keep this land ? especially for the children of Beit Jala to feel a little bit of freedom," said Maher Matar, a resident of the mostly Christian Palestinian community of 58 families.

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Appeals to Israel?s courts have failed to stop the project, which Israel says is vital to protect it from terrorist attacks.

The impending decision has prompted both Christians and Muslims in the area to gather for weekly prayers they hope will stop Israel from building the separation wall.

While the International Criminal Court has said the wall is "illegal" under international law, Israel maintains the structure is essential.

"It is important to remember that before the waves of Palestinian terror took 1,000 Israeli lives, there was no need for a fence. There was no need for a security barrier," said Israeli Defense Ministry spokesman Josh Hantman. "This barrier, it saves lives. And every inch of the barrier is open to judicial review and up for appeal."

Israel has already completed 65 percent of the planned 435-mile barrier. Human rights organization B?Tselem says that if the wall is finished, 85 percent will fall on Palestinian land.

"People abroad they think we are terrorists," said Elaine, a Beit Jala resident who would give only her first name.?"We are not terrorists. We are fighting for our own rights. We are fighting for our own homes for our own land."

Related:

Smuggled sperm: Palestinians become dads from jail

'Force to be reckoned with': Israel's settlers dig in ahead of Obama visit

Haunting funeral image named World Press Photo winner

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/25/17057961-christians-muslims-pray-to-halt-israeli-security-wall?lite

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Backed Or Whacked: Ups And Downs In A Yo-Yo World

Editor?s note:?Ross Rubin?is principal analyst at?Reticle Research and blogs at?Techspressive. Kickstarter has seen its share of campaigns that spin out of control, but it?s a lot more impressive when spin is in control. Seeing that potential, a trio of tethered toys has recently cropped up on the site, with each appealing to different levels of rotational robustness. Here?s the spin on how they?ve turned out.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/N-_SoXJAIPg/

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Animal Guts And Thin Air Could Soon Fuel Your Car

Technology developed for World War I is nearly a century old. You'd think the latest-and-greatest developments from 1914 had no purpose in today's world. On the contrary, they're actually en vogue.

Researchers at Cal-Berkeley have created a new fuel derived from a process the British used to manufacture explosives during WWI. Fermenting sugars and transforming them into acetone, butanol and ethanol, they've created a biodiesel that could replace gasoline and drastically reduce greenhouse gases.

"It's a much more efficient ... than many of the other products being considered," Harvey Blanch, a Cal-Berkeley professor of chemical engineering, tells The San Francisco Chronicle. "This product is one that may be closest to commercialization."

In recent years, volatile gasoline prices and worries about long-term supply have sent consumers and entrepreneurs alike searching for alternate fuels and alternate energy sources to power their cars.

Here's a look at some wacky, yet plausible, fuel alternatives that are in the process of development right now that could eventually find their way into your car's gas tank:

Chicken guts and pork lard

Mazda is pioneering the use of a synthetic diesel fuel made from leftover animal fats, like chicken guts and pork lard, that are left over from Tyson Foods' slaughtering process. The fuel is going to be tested during an upcoming race at Daytona.

"We're not taking food off the table or feedstock away from animals," James O'Sullivan, president and chief executive of Mazda North American Operations, tells Forbes.com. "This would end up in a landfill."

Think it's far fetched? Alamo and National Rental Car shuttle buses are already using the fuel, as is the U.S. Navy. Yes, animal guts have a role in our national defense.

Perhaps most optimistically, synthetic diesel can be blended with regular diesel and is often drop-in ready for regular diesel pumps at gas stations. And there's more infrastructure in place. Dynamic Fuels opened a $150 million refinery in October 2010 that's capable of processing 1.5 million pounds of "meat remnants" every day, according to Forbes, which can produce 75 million gallons of synthetic diesel every year.

Thin air

This is the stuff of science fiction. A small British company is making fuel out of thin air, developing a process that uses air and electricity to manufacture a synthetic fuel that has already powered a Lotus in test drivers.

This one is still a ways away. The company behind the technology, Air Fuel Synthesis, wants to build a full-scale refinery, but that could take 15 years. Still, don't bet against it. Britain's deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, recently visited AFG's testing facility and came away saying, "I feel I've glimpsed the future."

Weeds

As the largest consumer of energy in the government, the Department of Defense has run all sorts of experiments using biofuels in ships, cars and, perhaps most intriguingly, airplanes. The Air Force has powered F-16s with a 50-50 blend of biodiesel derived from camelina plants and regular JP-8 jet fuel.

There has been almost no noticeable difference in jet performance, according to reports, and by 2016, the Air Force is aiming to have its entire domestic fuel use consist of a a 50-50 blend of biofuel and conventional fuel.

Wasted spaces

Critics of biofuel development say that production of these fuels use valuable resources like farmland and crops that otherwise would be food. This increases the price of groceries and livestock feed.

Fine, one researcher said. Instead of using farmland, he'll plant biofuel crops in unusual places, like the side of the highway, abandoned assembly plants and fields adjacent to airport runways. Places where farming can't be sustained.

Dennis Pennington, a researcher at Michigan State University, says it would take roughly 200,000 acres to supply enough crops for a processing plant that makes 50 million gallons of biodiesel per year.

In Michigan, he estimates there are 4.5 million acres of "marginal land" that's unable to be farmed. That could translate into 1.125 billion gallons of biodiesel, roughly the same amount the currently flows through the U.S. each year.

If just a fraction of that potential could be tapped, it would "create infrastructure to handle it, crush it and get it into a plant to refine it into a fuel," Pennington tells a public-radio project. "That's job creation and economic development."

Garbage

There's that classic scene toward the end of Back To The Future where Marty McFly and Emmett "Doc" Brown power their DeLorean time machine with the Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor, which runs on garbage like the banana peel and a Miller beer can found in the McFly family trash can.

Fusion technology hasn't been perfected since the movie opened in 1985. Garbage as fuel? That's another story.

Coskata, Inc., a company that received investment from General Motors, said it has pioneered a technique that can turn anything from wood chips to municipal trash into ethanol. It already has an ethanol plant running in Madison, Pa.

Pete Bigelow is an associate editor at AOL Autos. He can be reached via email at peter.bigelow@teamaol.com and followed on Twitter @PeterCBigelow.

Source: http://cars2.knoxnews.com/2013/01/19/1016/Animal_Guts_And_Thin_Air_Could_Soon_Fuel_Your_Car.html

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UK Cardinal skips conclave amid accusations

FILE - This is a Thursday, Sept,16, 2010 file photo Pope Benedict XVI, right, is greeted by Cardinal Keith O'Brien in Edinburgh, Scotland, to begin the first papal state visit to the UK Cardinal O'Brien resigned Monday Feb 25, 2013 due to allegations of misconduct. (AP Photo/Andrew Milligan, Pool)

FILE - This is a Thursday, Sept,16, 2010 file photo Pope Benedict XVI, right, is greeted by Cardinal Keith O'Brien in Edinburgh, Scotland, to begin the first papal state visit to the UK Cardinal O'Brien resigned Monday Feb 25, 2013 due to allegations of misconduct. (AP Photo/Andrew Milligan, Pool)

FILE - A Thursday Sept. 16, 2010 photo from files showing Cardinal Keith Patrick O'Brien speaking to the media in Edinburgh, Scotland. Roman Catholic priests should be allowed to marry and have children, Britain's most senior Catholic cleric said Friday, Feb. 22, 2013. Cardinal Keith O'Brien, who heads the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, said the requirement for priestly celibacy is "not of divine origin" and could be reconsidered. He told BBC Scotland that "the celibacy of the clergy, whether priests should marry _ Jesus didn't say that." (AP Photo/Scott Campbell, File)

VATICAN CITY (AP) ? Cardinal Keith O'Brien, Britain's highest-ranking Catholic leader, said Monday he wouldn't take part in the conclave to elect the next pope after being accused of improper conduct with priests ? an unprecedented first head to roll in the mudslinging that has followed Pope Benedict XVI's decision to resign.

Benedict accepted O'Brien's resignation as archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh ? submitted back in November because he is due to turn 75 next month, the normal retirement age for bishops. But simultaneously, O'Brien issued a statement Monday saying he would also skip the conclave because he didn't want to become the focus of media attention at such a delicate time for the church.

O'Brien has said through his spokesman that he is contesting allegations made Sunday in a British newspaper that three priests and a former priest have filed complaints to the Vatican alleging that the cardinal acted inappropriately with them. The Observer newspaper did not name the priests, but it said their allegations date back to the 1980s. There were no details about the alleged inappropriate behavior.

It was the first time that a cardinal has said he was staying away from a conclave because of personal scandal, and comes in the wake of a grass-roots campaign to shame another cardinal, retired Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony, into refraining from participating because of his role protecting sexually abusive priests.

Mahony, however, has said he will participate in the voting for the new pope.

With O'Brien's decision and the illness of an Indonesian cardinal, there are expected to be 115 cardinals under age 80 who are eligible to vote in the conclave.

Separately Monday, Benedict changed the rules of the conclave, allowing cardinals to move up the start date if all of them arrive in Rome before the usual 15-day waiting period between the end of one pontificate and the start of the conclave. Benedict signed a legal document, issued Monday, making some changes to the 1996 Vatican law governing the election of a new pope. It was one of his last acts as pope before resigning Thursday.

The date of the conclave's start is important because Holy Week begins March 24 and Easter Sunday is March 31. In order to have a new pope in place for the church's most solemn liturgical period, he would need to be installed by Sunday, March 17, a tight timeframe if a conclave were to start on March 15, as per the previous rules.

And in another development Monday, Benedict decided that the contents of a secret investigation into the 2012 leaks of Vatican documents won't be shared with the cardinals ahead of the conclave. Benedict met Monday with the three elderly cardinals who conducted the probe and decided that "the acts of the investigation, known only to himself, remain solely at the disposition of the new pope," a Vatican statement said.

Speculation has been rife in the Italian media that the three cardinals ? Julian Herranz, Jozef Tomko and Salvatore De Giorgi ? would be authorized to share the information with fellow cardinals before the conclave. That assumed the cardinal electors would want to know details about the state of dysfunction in the Vatican bureaucracy and on any potentially compromised colleagues before possibly voting one into office.

Benedict appointed the three men last year to investigate the origins of leaks of the pope's documents, and they had wide-ranging powers to question cardinals. The leaked documents revealed petty wrangling, corruption, cronyism and even allegations of a gay plot at the highest levels of the Catholic Church. The pope's butler was convicted of aggravated theft in October for having stolen the papers and given them to a journalist who then published them in a blockbuster book.

While the three cardinals cannot share the full contents of their investigation, it's unclear if they could give subtle hints about potential papal candidates.

O'Brien's decision to remain home rather than participate in the conclave made him the first head to roll in the remarkable two weeks since Benedict, 85, stunned the world and announced he was becoming the first pope in 600 years to resign. The pope said he simply didn't have the "strength of mind and body" to carry on.

The Vatican confirmed that O'Brien had resigned as archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh but insisted that the accusations against him had nothing to do with his resignation. The Vatican said the pope accepted the resignation on Feb. 18 under canon law due to O'Brien's age; he turns 75 on March 17. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, refused to say whether the allegations had any effect on Benedict's decision to accept O'Brien's resignation, saying merely that Benedict was clearing his tasks before retiring himself.

O'Brien said in a statement that he is in "indifferent health" and had offered his resignation last November.

"Looking back over my years of ministry: For any good I have been able to do, I thank God. For any failures, I apologize to all whom I have offended," O'Brian said.

"I do not wish media attention in Rome to be focused on me - but rather on Pope Benedict XVI and on his successor," O'Brien said. "However, I will pray with them and for them that, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, they will make the correct choice for the future good of the church."

During a briefing with reporters at the Vatican last week, a Vatican historian, Ambrogio Piazzoni, was asked about the campaign to keep Mahony away from the voting because he covered up sexual abuse by priests. Piazzoni said while in the past some cardinals have been impeded either by illness or by interference from their governments, none has stayed away because of a stain on his own reputation.

He noted that any decision would have to be approved by the full College of Cardinals, given that the main duty of a cardinal is to vote in a conclave.

"The thing that characterizes a cardinal is to be an elector of the pope," he told reporters

O'Brien's decision to skip the conclave is far different from that of Cardinal Bernard Law, who was forced to resign as archbishop of Boston in 2002 when the U.S. sex abuse scandal erupted. Law, accused of having covered up the actions of pedophile priests, participated in the conclave that elected Benedict and kept a plum job of archpriest of one of Rome's main basilicas until his retirement.

___

Katz reported from London.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-25-Vatican-Pope/id-7f1cb7face1c4cdc9bcc46d99aaed983

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Prime suspect in Vegas shooting, crash is named, but remains at-large

LAS VEGAS (AP) ? A 26-year-old man was being sought Sunday as the prime suspect in a pre-dawn shooting on the Las Vegas Strip last week which led to a fiery crash that left three people dead and several others injured.

Las Vegas police Capt. Chris Jones said Sunday that investigators are working around the clock to sort through evidence and find Ammar Harris following the discovery Saturday of a black SUV used as a getaway car in the shooting and six-vehicle chain-reaction carnage on the neon-lit boulevard near the Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Bally's and Flamingo resorts.

Jones cited "lots of information coming at us all at once, especially on the Range Rover." He wasn't specific.

An aspiring rapper driving a Maserati was shot to death Thursday, and two people in a taxi died in a crash and fireball when the Maserati hit their vehicle.

Harris, who police said was arrested last year on allegations that he was a pimp, was named Saturday as the prime suspect in the triple homicide. Jones said police didn't know where he was.

Police released a jail photo of Harris taken following his arrest in Las Vegas last year on pandering, kidnapping, sexual assault and coercion charges. The disposition of that case was not immediately known.

Harris sometimes goes by the name Ammar Asim Faruq Harris, police said. The photo shows him with tattoos on his right cheek and words on his neck above an image that appeared to depict an owl with blackened eyes. Jones warned that Harris should be considered armed and dangerous.

Police had been searching for the black Range Rover, with blackout windows and distinctive black rims, since it was last seen speeding away from the shooting. It was located at a gated apartment complex a couple of blocks east of the Strip, and was impounded as evidence.

Kenneth Wayne Cherry Jr., was mortally wounded when the dark gray Maserati he was driving was peppered by gunfire from the SUV. Taxi driver Michael Boldon and passenger Sandra Sutton-Wasmund, of Maple Valley, Wash., died in the taxi.

Boldon, 62, was a family man who moved from Michigan to Las Vegas. Sutton-Wasmund, 48, was a businesswoman and mother of three.

A passenger in the Maserati was wounded in the arm and four people from four other vehicles were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The Maserati passenger has not been identified, and police said he was cooperating with investigators.

The blink-of-an-eye chain of events had family members and friends in Las Vegas, California, Michigan and Washington mourning the dead this weekend.

"My son was a good boy," Kenneth Cherry Sr. told reporters in a Saturday news conference convened by Las Vegas lawyers Vicki Greco and Robert Beckett.

Beckett said they wanted to respond to rumors that the 27-year-old son ? who produced a rap video using the name Kenny Clutch ? was a gangster and a troublemaker. The attorneys had represented his son, an unmarried father of three, and now represent his estate and family.

"My son was a victim just like the two people in that taxi," Cherry Sr. said. "Trouble found him. The people in the taxicab, trouble found them."

Court records show Cherry had no criminal cases or convictions in Las Vegas, and police said there was no record of arrests

The Clark County coroner determined that Kenny Cherry died Thursday of at least one gunshot to the chest. The deaths of Cherry, Boldon and Sutton-Wasmund were ruled homicides.

Police say the shooting appeared to stem from an argument at the valet area of the upscale Aria resort-casino about a block south of the crash scene. The shooting happened after a night featuring Morocco-born rapper French Montana at Aria nightclub Haze.

Cherry's parents live in Emeryville, Calif., and the father said his son's body would be taken back to Oakland. He said his son started a music career there and was recognized by other rappers within a West Coast hip-hop strain called hyphy.

But Chuck Creekmur, chief executive of AllHipHop.com, said Cherry wasn't well-known in wider music circles.

Kenny Clutch's YouTube music video, "Stay Schemin," shows scenes of Las Vegas Strip hotels as he sings about paying $120,000 for his Maserati.

"One mistake change lives all in one night," he raps in one verse.

Kenneth Cherry Sr., who said he runs a cellphone business, said he helped his son make payments on the Maserati. He said he last spoke with his son on Wednesday, when they talked about the high cost of the son's cellphone use.

Cherry Sr. described his son as an entrepreneur but didn't say how he made money or if he had jobs other than his music production.

Boldon's family in Las Vegas was struggling to cope with his death, said Tehran Boldon, the taxi driver's younger brother.

Boldon's sister, Carolyn Jean Trimble, said Boldon was a father, a grandfather and a car race enthusiast who drove a Mercedes when he wasn't in a cab. He owned a clothing store in Detroit and worked at a car dealership, his sister said, and drove taxis after moving to Las Vegas about 1? years ago.

The irony that a man with a taste for beautiful cars was killed by a sports car wasn't lost on Trimble.

"He would be tickled to death: 'Damn, of all things, a Maserati hit me, took me out like that,'" she said. "I'm happy he didn't suffer."

In Washington, Sutton-Wasmund co-owned a dress shop, said Debbie Tvedt, the office manager for a Maple Valley plumbing company that Sutton-Wasmund started with her husband, James Wasmund. Sutton-Wasmund was in Las Vegas attending a trade show with her business partner.

"It's a big loss," Tvedt said in a telephone interview with AP.

The Maple Valley-Black Diamond Chamber of Commerce website said Sutton-Wasmund was a board member from 2004 to 2011 before becoming a marketing representative.

A phone message left for James Wasmund was not immediately returned.

The famously glowing, always-open Las Vegas Strip was closed for some 15 hours after the crash. Nevada Highway Patrol Sgt. Eric Kemmer recalled a similarly long closure after the 1996 drive-by slaying of rapper Tupac Shakur.

That shooting ? involving assailants opening fire on Shakur's luxury sedan from a vehicle on Flamingo Road ? happened about a block away from Thursday's crash.

The Shakur killing has never been solved.

___

Associated Press writers Michelle Rindels in Las Vegas, Garance Burke in San Francisco, Kathy McCarthy in Seattle and AP Music Writer Mesfin Fekadu in New York contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/prime-suspect-named-las-vegas-shooting-crash-170950371.html

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Susanna Bair: Your Life Is Great! 5 Steps to Celebrating Instead of Complaining

The attitude of celebrating your life is healthy, both physically and emotionally. Not only that, but upbeat people attract other upbeat people, so by changing your attitude, you can set in motion positive reinforcement for a new and improved outlook. How great is your life already? Ask your heart. Your mind will tell you what you lack, which in turn will make you miserable. Your heart, however, will say, "Everything is perfect, just as it is. Let's celebrate!" To access this heart-driven attitude, become aware of how much there is to appreciate, right now. These five steps will help:

1. Appreciate your friends.
Your friends are the dancing arms of your heart. Relationships are everywhere, and chances are that you have friends in your life. Consider the qualities you appreciate in your friends and take a moment to savor their gifts in your life. Since these individuals are connected with you, they may share your attributes. Take a moment to appreciate your own qualities too. Through acknowledging and celebrating your friends, you take the first step in knowing how fortunate you are.

2. Party frequently.
We typically throw parties for birthdays, weddings, housewarmings, graduations, and job promotions. How much farther can you go in appreciating the favorable circumstances of your life? Consider throwing a party in celebration of your body parts that still work well, or having a toast in honor of cleaning your house. Take nothing for granted, give yourself permission to get silly, and indulge the celebration mindset.

3. Honor your metamorphosis.
The first two steps are the easy ones; everyone can learn to appreciate the fun stuff. To go farther in recognizing the greatness of your life, you need to dig a little deeper -- into areas you might not have considered. Take a moment to honor that which has made you great, even if it involved painful challenges, like a difficult childhood. Struggling through difficulties can be a fast track to developing resilience and compassion. Acknowledge and celebrate whatever qualities you have cultivated through your struggles.

4. Rejoice in your growing pains.
Look at the unfavorable circumstances of your life as being the seeds of your future greatness. How wonderful that your life has provided stimulus for more growth! Without this stimulus, you might simply plateau. Imagine how great you will be once you have resolved your current challenges and see yourself in training for that greatness -- like an Olympic champion. Practice gratitude for the demands of your metaphysical workout.

5. Celebrate your shortcomings.
When you can celebrate your faults and failures, you truly have embraced your great life. See your faults as reflections of your archetype. Highly-intelligent people, for example, may be absentminded, socially-awkward, and fashion-impaired. Their shortcomings simply verify their strength and focus. Perhaps you are a king or queen archetype. If so, you may have shortcomings like being a control freak or stubborn. Regardless, majesty is a great quality. If you have the faults of a queen or king, you just might have their greatness too.

So go ahead: Whoever you are, whatever you have endured, and wherever you are heading, take a moment to savor your life and bask in how great it all truly is. If you appreciate your friends, party frequently, honor your metamorphosis, rejoice in your growing pains and celebrate your shortcomings, you will have entered the space of the invincible heart.

For more by Susanna Bair, click here.

For more on emotional wellness, click here.

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Follow Susanna Bair on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@SusannaBair

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susanna-bair/positive-attitude_b_2691588.html

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Texas Tornado slump continues in 4-3 loss to Topeka on Friday; Two teams meet again Saturday in Frisco on Youth Jersey Night

Here is the press release:

Max Shuart scored twice in the third period, but couldn?t lead his team to a win, as the Texas Tornado lost to the Topeka Roadrunners on Friday, 4-3. The loss is the seventh in a row for the Tornado, who fall to three points behind Topeka for second place in the South division. Shuart?s two goals came after Brandon Hawkins netted his league-leading 32^nd goal of the season. Hunter Leisner saw 33 shots and made 29 saves, though Spencer Viele got the win in net for the Roadrunners.

Hawkins?s goal was the only one of the first period and was not scored without protest. Scott Conway fed him with a pass and the Macomb, Mi. native ripped a wrist shot past Viele. The puck looked to ricochet off the cross bar and back out front, but referee Jake Brenk emphatically signaled a good goal, giving the Tornado a 1-0 lead. The Roadrunners were unhappy but their protests fell on deaf ears as the Tornado took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Before the period ended, though, Shuart got his name in the penalty sheet, dropping the gloves and serving a fighting major with Kyle Sharkey.

The Roadrunners drew even, however, with exactly a minute gone by in the second period. Juraj Kurcirko and Tyler Groat skated into the Tornado zone on a 2-on-1, with Kurcirko taking the puck along the right wing. Kurcirko hit Groat with the pass, which he corralled before sending it past Leisner for a goal. Groat?s fourth of the season was the only marker of the second period, and the two teams started the third period tied at one.

The third period saw all five goals scored within 2:30 of each other, but the Tornado were never able to regain the lead. First, at 7:25, Roadrunners rushed into the zone on the attack. Leisner made the save on an initial shot, but their captain, Drew Kariofiles, crashed the net hard and got the goal to make it a 2-1 Topeka lead. Less than 30 seconds later, Topeka took a penalty and gave the Tornado a power-play.? They took advantage as a scramble in front early in the power-play led to eight players around the crease, but a loose puck right by Shuart. With everyone scrambling to try to find it, Shuart calmly wristed it into the open net and tied the score.

The tie was short-lived, as just 25 seconds later, Tomas Nechala ripped a slap-shot from the top of the circles past a screen and Leisner ?and allowed Topeka to regain the lead. Less than 30 seconds following that, Jerad Tefoya scored a puck right out front and Topeka had a 4-2 lead. Shuart?s second of the night came 54 seconds after Tafoya?s goal, and the Tornado still had 10 minutes left to attempt to tie the score. It was not to be, however, as neither team scored in the final half of the third period and Topeka skated away with a 4-3 victory.

Both teams return to the ice on Saturday for a game at 7:30 p.m. The Tornado are celebrating Youth Jersey Night on Saturday; the first 1500 fans 12 years old and under will receive a free youth jersey courtesy of the Texas Tornado.

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Source: http://starsblog.dallasnews.com/2013/02/texas-tornado-slump-continues-in-4-3-loss-to-topeka-on-friday-two-teams-meet-again-saturday-in-frisco-on-youth-jersey-night.html/

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Red Meat and Poultry Intakes and Risk of Total and Cause-Specific Mortality: Results from Cohort Studies of Chinese Adults in Shanghai

by Yumie Takata, Xiao-Ou Shu, Yu-Tang Gao, Honglan Li, Xianglan Zhang, Jing Gao, Hui Cai, Gong Yang, Yong-Bing Xiang, Wei Zheng

Most previous studies of meat intake and total or cause-specific mortality were conducted in North America, whereas studies in other areas have been limited and reported inconsistent results. This study investigated the association of red meat or poultry intake with risk of total and cause-specific mortality, including cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD), in two large population-based prospective cohort studies of 134,290 Chinese adult women and men in Shanghai. Meat intakes were assessed through validated food frequency questionnaires administered in person at baseline. Vital status and dates and causes of deaths were ascertained through annual linkage to the Shanghai Vital Statistics Registry and Shanghai Cancer Registry databases and home visits every 2?3 years. Cox regression was used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the risk of death associated with quintiles of meat intake. During 803,265 person-years of follow up for women and 334,281 person-years of follow up for men, a total of 4,210 deaths in women and 2,733 deaths in men accrued. The median intakes of red meat were 43 g/day among women and 54 g/day among men, and pork constituted at least 95% of total meat intake for both women and men. Red meat intake was associated with increased total mortality among men, but not among women; the HR (95% CI) comparing the highest with the lowest quintiles were 1.18 (1.02?1.35) and 0.92 (0.82?1.03), respectively. This sex difference was statistically significant (P?=?0.01). Red meat intake was associated with increased risk of ischemic heart disease mortality (HR?=?1.41, 95% CI?=?1.05?1.89) and with decreased risk of hemorrhagic stroke mortality (HR?=?0.62, 95% CI?=?0.45?0.87). There were suggestive inverse associations of poultry intake with risk of total and all-CVD mortality among men, but not among women. Further investigations are needed to elucidate the sex-specific associations between red meat intake and mortality.

For the full article visit: Red Meat and Poultry Intakes and Risk of Total and Cause-Specific Mortality: Results from Cohort Studies of Chinese Adults in Shanghai
Syndicated from:PLoS ONE

Article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Phonak exits the earphone business

This is a bummer for fans of in-ear monitors. Phonak, one of the more respected brands of earphones, has decided to cease operations of the Aud?o line of earphones and concentrate on their core business: devices for the hearing impaired. Phonak spokesperson Harris Gilbert stated that Aud?o?earphones will continue to be available in the US [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/02/22/phonak-exits-the-earphone-business/

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Investors face another Washington deadline

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors face another Washington-imposed deadline on government spending cuts next week, but it's not generating the same level of fear as two months ago when the "fiscal cliff" loomed large.

Investors in sectors most likely to be affected by the cuts, like defense, seem untroubled that the budget talks could send stocks tumbling.

Talks on the U.S. budget crisis began again this week leading up to the March 1 deadline for the so-called sequestration when $85 billion in automatic federal spending cuts are scheduled to take effect.

"It's at this point a political hot button in Washington but a very low level investor concern," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Lake Oswego, Oregon. The fight pits President Barack Obama and fellow Democrats against congressional Republicans.

Stocks rallied in early January after a compromise temporarily avoided the fiscal cliff, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index <.spx> has risen 6.3 percent since the start of the year.

But the benchmark index lost steam this week, posting its first week of losses since the start of the year. Minutes on Wednesday from the last Federal Reserve meeting, which suggested the central bank may slow or stop its stimulus policy sooner than expected, provided the catalyst.

National elections in Italy on Sunday and Monday could also add to investor concern. Most investors expect a government headed by Pier Luigi Bersani to win and continue with reforms to tackle Italy's debt problems. However, a resurgence by former leader Silvio Berlusconi has raised doubts.

"Europe has been in the last six months less of a topic for the stock market, but the problems haven't gone away. This may bring back investor attention to that," said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.

OPTIONS BULLS TARGET GAINS

The spending cuts, if they go ahead, could hit the defense industry particularly hard.

Yet in the options market, bulls were targeting gains in Lockheed Martin Corp , the Pentagon's biggest supplier.

Calls on the stock far outpaced puts, suggesting that many investors anticipate the stock to move higher. Overall options volume on the stock was 2.8 times the daily average with 17,000 calls and 3,360 puts traded, according to options analytics firm Trade Alert.

"The upside call buying in Lockheed solidifies the idea that option investors are not pricing in a lot of downside risk in most defense stocks from the likely impact of sequestration," said Jared Woodard, a founder of research and advisory firm condoroptions.com in Forest, Virginia.

The stock ended up 0.6 percent at $88.12 on Friday.

If lawmakers fail to reach an agreement on reducing the U.S. budget deficit in the next few days, a sequester would include significant cuts in defense spending. Companies such as General Dynamics Corp and Smith & Wesson Holding Corp could be affected.

General Dynamics Corp shares rose 1.2 percent to $67.32 and Smith & Wesson added 4.6 percent to $9.18 on Friday.

EYES ON GDP DATA, APPLE

The latest data on fourth-quarter U.S. gross domestic product is expected on Thursday, and some analysts predict an upward revision following trade data that showed America's deficit shrank in December to its narrowest in nearly three years.

U.S. GDP unexpectedly contracted in the fourth quarter, according to an earlier government estimate, but analysts said there was no reason for panic, given that consumer spending and business investment picked up.

Investors will be looking for any hints of changes in the Fed's policy of monetary easing when Fed Chairman Ben Bernake speaks before congressional committees on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Shares of Apple will be watched closely next week when the company's annual stockholders' meeting is held.

On Friday, a U.S. judge handed outspoken hedge fund manager David Einhorn a victory in his battle with the iPhone maker, blocking the company from moving forward with a shareholder vote on a controversial proposal to limit the company's ability to issue preferred stock.

(Additional reporting by Doris Frankel; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/investors-face-another-washington-deadline-023511356--finance.html

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No health effects from Fukushima: Japan researcher

A Japanese government-backed researcher said Friday no health effects from radiation released by the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant have been seen in people living nearby.

The pronouncement by Kazuo Sakai of Japan's National Institute of Radiological Sciences is the latest by authorities seeking to quell fears over the long-term effects of the disaster.

But it was dismissed by campaign group Greenpeace who said the government should not seek to play down health worries.

"Since the accident in Fukushima, no health effects from radiation have been observed, although we have heard reports some people fell ill due to stress from living as evacuees and due to worries and fears about radiation," Sakai said.

"We know from epidemiological surveys among atomic-bomb victims in Hiroshima and Nagasaki that if exposure to radiation surpasses 100 millisieverts, the risk of cancer will gradually rise.

"To put it the other way round, we can't say risk of cancer will rise if you are exposed to radiation lower than 100 millisieverts," he said, adding that most people measured had radiation exposure of 20 millisieverts or less.

Sakai said radiation is not at "the level we have to worry about its health effect," for people in Fukushima, taking into account exposure from the atmosphere and ingestion from food.

His comments came as the Fukushima prefectural government panel said this week three people who were 18 or younger when the nuclear crisis erupted in March 2011 have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

Radioactive iodine released in nuclear accidents tends to accumulate in thyroid glands, particularly in young people. In the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, a noticeable increase in thyroid cancer cases was detected among children in the affected area.

Referring to the thyroid cancers reported in Fukushima, Sakai said "there is no clear link between the cancers and exposure to radiation, as empirical knowledge says it takes several years before thyroid cancer is detected after exposure to radiation."

"It is important, however, to monitor these cases," he added, noting that comparison with the pre-accident situation and other regions was necessary.

Kazue Suzuki, nuclear campaigner at Greenpeace, who is not a scientist, said Japan should not try to play down the potential dangers.

"Japan should pour more energy into prevention of diseases including thyroid cancer than talking down the risk of low-level radiation."

"Even if there is no comparative epidemiological data, the government should err on the side of caution and carry out more frequent health checks among residents not only in Fukushima but in other prefectures," she said.

A massive undersea earthquake in March 2011 sent a huge tsunami crashing into Japan's northeast, crushing whole communities and sending nuclear reactors on the coast into meltdown.

Around 19,000 people were killed by the natural disaster, but no one is officially recorded as having died as a direct result of the radiation that spewed from the crippled units in the following months.

Source: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/No_health_effects_from_Fukushima_Japan_researcher_999.html

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Report: Josh McRoberts, Dahntay Jones dealt before NBA trade deadline

J.J. Redick isn?t the only Orlando Magic player on the move today.

Former Duke basketball players Dahntay Jones, Elton Brand and J.J. Redick spoke to Duke alums after last night's Dallas Mavericks-Orlando Magic game. Jones and Redick were both traded today. (Photo credit: Scott McCartney)

In addition to shipping Redick to the Milwaukee Bucks, forward Josh McRoberts has reportedly been traded to the Charlotte Bobcats in exchange for former Syracuse forward Hakim Warrick.

McRoberts was averaging 16.7 minutes per game for the Magic, but had been a healthy scratch three of the team?s last four games. Warrick, who was already traded once this season, has played in just one game since January 28. He is expected to be immediately waived by his new team.

In Charlotte, McRoberts will join former Blue Devil Gerald Henderson, who is third on the team with 13.1 points per game.

Meanwhile, Atlanta Hawks general manager and former Blue Devil Danny Ferry made a trade to acquire a fellow Duke alum, Dahntay Jones. Guard Anthony Morrow was the compensation sent to the Dallas Mavericks to complete the trade. Jones has made 15 starts for the Mavericks this season, but has been in and out of the rotation all season. He could see time for the playoff-bound Hawks as a defensive stopper to compliment sharp-shooter Kyle Korver.

Tagged as: Dahntay Jones, Danny Ferry, Josh McRoberts

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/chronicleblogs/sports/~3/ppdVHsq1tMQ/

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Life and death tell the family story | Farm and Dairy - Agriculture ...

Thursday, February 21, 2013

?Death is to lose the earth you know, for greater knowing; to lose the life you have, for greater life; to leave the friends you loved, for greater loving; to find a land more kind than home, more large than earth.?
?? Thomas Wolfe
?You Can?t Go Home Again?

They are all gone now; we have watched the passing of a generation.

Family tree

My paternal grandfather Raymond was the oldest child born to Herbert and Ethel Young in 1906, followed by Sam, Cora, Earl, Anna, Mary and Emery. They joined Herbert?s two older children, Nellie and Ralph. They grew up working and playing in the fields, valleys and creeks that would become home to those of us who followed.

Family picnics

I think of how different the countryside was when they were growing up at the home place. The Eckley Cemetery, a serene and sacred place, was where they went for picnics, because it was the closest thing they had to a park. Entire families, all now gone, are remembered by only a few of us.
Life moves on, the once vibrant lives now just shadows ? the way it has always been, the way it will always be.
Emery, the youngest of his family, born in August of 1921, passed away at his home in December at age 91, surrounded by his wife and their three daughters and their families. Mary Dell, the youngest of the girls, who would have turned 94 this summer, died Feb. 8, the last of the siblings to go.

One roof, big family

Because my father?s parents lived under the same big roof on the family farm, there were great stories of his childhood involving the youngest of his aunts and uncles.

Uncle Emery, 10 years old when my dad was born, shared a bedroom with his kid nephew, and it became his job to accompany the little boy on the bus when he started school in 1938, and it was Emery who was reprimanded when the little boy repeated words that his tender ears should not have yet heard.

When Emery married in 1943, his nephew found the house incredibly quiet.

Mary had eloped with a neighbor boy, driving to Kentucky in his yellow Chevy convertible with a rumble seat, lying about their age in order to be married by a justice of the peace. The young couple moved back to the home place when it was time for their baby, the first of Mary?s three sons, to be born.

The story of the stork

My dad, a preschooler, remembered being sent out to the barn bank to watch for the stork to come, bringing a baby. He took his day-long job seriously, and was forever incensed that the stork arrived through the front door of the house, never even giving him a glimpse of it.

When I was writing historical pieces about the old Eckley community families and all of the tragedies of that place and time, it helped me to see that sorrow is to be overcome, and joy is to be sought, treasured. Times were hard and lives were sometimes incredibly brief, noted on old, fading sandstone monuments.

Often, if I were to ask my dad about a particular family buried there, he was able to tell me which farm they had called home, even if it had been 100 years before his arrival. That type of knowledge is a passing jewel.

Community and families

It was a community that became in a sense a family, as all of the old communities were back then. They leaned on one another to get the work done, to birth the babies, to educate the children in a one-room schoolhouse they all had helped to build, to marry and to bury, to find reasons to go on when life had to have seemed mighty bleak.

The strong prevailed, taking steps toward an unforeseen future, and yet it can be said that a long life can become a lonely life, filled with too many good-byes, innumerable challenges forcing each to seek strength and fortitude in a changing world.

It is during those times, I am sure, that those who remain will long for a land more kind than home, in a place where reunions will carry incredible significance.

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About the Author

Judith Sutherland, born and raised on an Ohio family dairy farm, now lives on a 70-acre farm not far from the area where her father?s family settled in the 1850s. Appreciating the tranquility of rural life, Sutherland enjoys sharing a view of her world through writing. Other interests include teaching, reading, training dogs and raising puppies. She and her husband have two children, a son and a daughter, in college.
Other posts by Judith Sutherlandeditorial@farmanddairy.com

Source: http://www.farmanddairy.com/columns/life-and-death-tell-the-family-story/47728.html

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