The mega-valuable company that makes your laptop is under congressional
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Friday, May 24, 2013
Here's the Document that Started Apple's Hidden Irish Tax Scheme
When oxygen is short, EGFR prevents maturation of cancer-fighting miRNAs
May 23, 2013 ? Even while being dragged to its destruction inside a cell, a cancer-promoting growth factor receptor fires away, sending signals that thwart the development of tumor-suppressing microRNAs (miRNAs) before it's dissolved, researchers reported in an early online publication at Nature.
Under conditions of oxygen starvation often encountered by tumors, the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gums up the cell's miRNA-processing machinery, an international team led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center discovered.
"So when hypoxia stresses a cell, signaling by EGFR prevents immature miRNAs from growing up to fight cancer," said senior author Mien-Chie Hung, Ph.D., professor and chair of MD Anderson's Department of Molecular and Cellular Oncology and holder of the Ruth Legett Jones Distinguished Chair.
The group's findings point to a potential new prognostic marker for breast cancer, Hung noted, but also provide the first evidence of a growth factor signaling pathway regulating miRNA maturation.
"Inside of a cell, you have signal induction, in this case through EGFR, and you also have a protein complex that processes precursors into mature miRNA to perform a function. They didn't appear to talk to each other, it's as if one speaks English and the other Chinese," Hung said. "This is the first paper to show how they communicate."
The scientists established the relationship in cell line experiments, confirmed it in a mouse model and human breast cancer samples, then found that it reduced breast cancer patient survival in a review of 125 cases.
A new cancer-promoting role identified for EGFR
EGFR penetrates the cell membrane to receive signals from growth factors outside of the cell. After a growth factor binds to it, EGFR conveys the signal into the cell by attaching phosphate groups to other proteins, often acting as a molecular "on switch."
In many cancers, EGFR is overexpressed or dysfunctional, constantly sending signals to cells to divide. Hung and colleagues found that EGFR also fuels cancer progression by stifling tumor-suppressing miRNAs.
As a tumor grows, large portions of its interior can become starved for oxygen (hypoxia) for lack of adequate blood vessels. This stress suffocates many tumor cells, but the few that endure become highly malignant, resist treatment and are most likely to spread, Hung said.
Anti-angiogenesis drugs designed to kill tumors by blocking their ability to spin webs of supportive blood vessels often succeed at first, Hung said, but then fail against the more malignant cells that survive hypoxia.
When hypoxia hits, EGFR gets active and gets eaten
Low-oxygen conditions cause EGFR overexpression. EGFR also is pulled into the cell interior, captured in cavities called vesicles and eventually fed into lysosomes, a membrane-enclosed organelle loaded with enzymes to dissolve proteins.
It was known that EGFR continues to signal even while caught in the vesicles, which actually prolongs its activation. Hung and colleagues found that EGFR signals to a key protein in miRNA processing called argonaute 2, or AGO2.
AGO2 connects with two other proteins called Dicer and TRBP to form a complex that processes microRNA precursors into mature miRNAs, which regulate gene expression after messenger RNA has been expressed but before it's translated into a protein.
Oncoprotein-regulating miRNAs don't grow up
The scientists found that EGFR attaches phosphate groups to AGO2, which in turn weakens AGO2's ability to connect with Dicer to produce mature microRNAs. EGFR's effect is stronger during oxygen starvation than under normal conditions.
The team identified a number of specific miRNAs affected by EGFR, most of which have been reported to have tumor suppressor characteristics. The miRNAs regulated by phosphorylated AGO2, including miR-31, miR-192 and miR-193a-5p, also shared a long-loop structure in their precursors that miRNAs unaffected by AGO2 phosphorylation lack.
Hypoxic environments around tumors promote metastasis by helping cells evade programmed cell death. Hung and colleagues showed that EGFR-mediated AGO2 phosphorylation blocks cell death and enhances invasiveness under hypoxia.
Experiments in a mouse model of breast cancer confirmed that expression of EGFR and the presence of phosphorylated AGO2 increase during tumor progression under oxygen-starved conditions.
EGFR-AGO2 connection found in human breast tumors; reduces survival
The hypoxia-EGFR-AGO2 connection was strong in tumor samples from 128 breast cancer patients, but it was low or absent in normal breast tissue. In 125 breast cancer cases analyzed by the team, half of 62 patients with high levels of phosphorylated AGO2 survived to 48 months and beyond. Median survival had not been reached for the 63 patients in the low-level group, but 78 percent had survived to 48 months.
"One can imagine other receptors for platelet-derived growth factor and insulin-like growth factor also regulating miRNAs, perhaps by regulating Dicer or TBRP," Hung said. "This is a turning-point paper; it will induce lots of new questions for scientists to pursue."
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/7P9oWD-qVgs/130523162256.htm
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Thursday, May 23, 2013
Some U.S. power companies say they face constant cyber attacks
BOSTON (Reuters) - Several U.S. power utilities say they face constant cyber attacks on critical systems, according to a report by two Democratic lawmakers amid warnings from the Obama administration that foreign hackers are seeking to attack the electric grid.
Congressmen Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Henry Waxman of California disclosed their findings on Tuesday as the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on cybersecurity.
In preparing the report the two asked some 160 utilities to describe their experiences fighting cyber attacks over the past five years.
More than a dozen utilities said they experienced daily, constant or frequent attempted cyber attacks, according to a 35-page report summarizing their responses.
The report cited an unidentified Northeastern power provider as saying it was under constant attack from cyber criminals as well as activist groups who have been targeting firms in the energy sector over the past few years.
A power provider from the Midwest said it experienced daily probes of its systems: "Much of this activity is automated and dynamic in nature, able to adapt to what is discovered during its probing process," the company said.
The U.S. public has become more aware of cyber threats against the grid and other critical infrastructure since late last year, when senior Obama Administration officials began warning that foreign enemies are looking to sabotage the U.S. power grid, air traffic control systems, financial institutions and other infrastructure.
Senior administration officials say they do not know of any successful destructive attack on the grid or other key infrastructure, but fear that hackers may have the ability to do so.
A bipartisan cybersecurity bill to protect the electric grid, introduced in 2010 by Markey and Waxman, passed the House of Representatives but not the Senate. The legislation has not been taken up again since then.
(Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-power-companies-face-constant-cyber-attacks-171500879.html
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Wednesday, May 22, 2013
We're live from SID Display Week 2013 in Vancouver!
The biggest news of the day made its way out of Microsoft's Redmond headquarters a few hours ago, but there's plenty more to see just 150 miles to the north in Vancouver, British Columbia. SID's Display Week exhibition kicked off this morning, giving us an opportunity to get hands-on with some pretty nifty prototypes from LG and Samsung, including that first manufacturer's 5-inch flexible plastic OLED panel and a brilliant 3,200 x 1,800-pixel laptop display from the latter. We'll be scouring the floor over the days to come, on the hunt for similar innovations, many of which will likely find their way into our smartphones, laptops and living rooms later this year and beyond.
Protip: Use our "SID2013" tag to see this week's hottest Display Week news!
Filed under: Displays
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/JivbNmOA3xk/
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Big Data ? for better or worse: 90% of world's data generated over last two years
May 22, 2013 ? A full 90% of all the data in the world has been generated over the last two years. The internet companies are awash with data that can be grouped and utilised. Is this a good thing?
An increasing amount of data is becoming available on the internet. Each and every one of us is constantly producing and releasing data about ourselves. We do this either by moving around passively -- our behaviour being registered by cameras or card usage -- or by logging onto our PCs and surfing the net.
The volumes of data make up what has been designated 'Big Data' -- where data about individuals, groups and periods of time are combined into bigger groups or longer periods of time.
Research advantages
Petter Bae Brandtz?g of SINTEF ICT points to the huge research centres now developed at internet companies such as Facebook and Google.
'The advantage they have is the enormous volume of data that other social researchers can only dream of,' he says. However, it has also changed the way SINTEF researchers work. Even those not working in the major internet companies can still access Big Data.
Brandtz?g has investigated a tool called Wisdom developed by the American-based company MicroStrategy, and has started applying it in the delTA-project which addresses young people's social activity on the internet.
'This gives me access to data about over 20 million people -- without making a single inquiry. I can analyse different preferences on Facebook and look at age and gender differences between various groups and nations across the world. So far I have compared gender differences in social activity on Facebook between people in Norway, Spain, England, USA, Russia, Egypt, India and China.'
Data protection is a problem we often associate with Big Data, but according to Brandtz?g, data from Wisdom is restricted to large groups and does not go down to 'individual level'. This makes it possible for him to compare large groups without any data protection problems.
Short, transitory information
Big Data makes it possible to achieve research results that cover a wide range of issues, and can tell us a great deal about developments in the world in many different areas. It is possible to carry out thorough analyses and comparisons between countries and different genders.
For example, researchers in Facebook's own research department have looked into how people across the world update their messages, and what kind of information they post about themselves and their lives.
'The surveys show that the messages people have been posting have been getting shorter each year,' says Brandtz?g. 'This reflects the increase in other types of fast social communication, such as Twitter, which has achieved huge popularity because it is about expressing oneself briefly and concisely in a maximum of 140 characters. Another trend in that direction is that young people are telling their stories using images rather than text. The current Instragram craze could be due to the fact that you don't have to write anything.
Comparing data
These volumes of data can therefore provide us with useful information. However, Big Data can become a problem when different sources of data are compared for commercial use in targeted advertising campaigns.
It is becoming increasingly common for data about our location to be linked to our purchasing preferences -- about what we like and don't like. Facebook has made big strides in this area.
Vulnerability and data protection are the dark sides of our new entry into huge data sets and registers.
'Who knows -- in two years, perhaps the tax register will be linked to the health and insurance register?' says Petter Bae Brandtz?g. 'And tax data can go astray; it has happened before.'
What opinions are being communicated?
The overwhelming volume of data being produced raises the issue of the content of all this information. What is being communicated?
The Networked Systems and Services department at SINTEF, to which Petter Bae Brandtz?g belongs, has recently had a bid accepted for the EU REVEAL project. In this project, researchers will look at combinations of different data sources and learn about people's ability to express themselves, and about the quality and truthfulness of data registered on social media. What is the content of these media? Who are the senders? Who else has said the same thing?
'We will look at various sources in relation to each other, and for example find out how trustworthy Twitter messages are,' says Brandtz?g. He also points to the new trend in fragmenting information across many channels -- such as Facebook, SMS, e-mail, blogs, Twitter and Instagram.
How trustworthy are the media?
The ability to disseminate information to large groups in real time has made Twitter and Facebook important communications tools when major events take place.
When hunting for the Boston terrorists, the police, authorities and traditional media also used social media like Twitter, Instagram, Reddit and Facebook to actively collect and disseminate information about the incident. Several voluntary groups were also set up via social media, in order to try and help the police. However, social media as channels of communications proved to be not entirely beneficial, but also a source of confusion and misinformation.
Can Big Data be used as a resource for journalists, and how trustworthy is the information available on social media? This is one of the subjects that the SINTEF researchers will be looking into as part of the EU REVEAL project.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/TIRHBSRuXs0/130522085217.htm
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Sprint looks to snap up Clearwire with more appealing offer
Sprint on Tuesday announced a revised offer for wireless broadband wholesaler Clearwire. The carrier is looking to acquire the remaining Clearwire shares?it does not already own for $2.97 per share, or $2.2 billion, valuing the company at $10 billion. Sprint has now increased its bid $3.40 per share, upping Clearwire?s value to $10.7 billion. The revised offer represents a 14% premium over the company?s earlier bid and a 162% premium over Clearwire?s closing share price in October when it was rumored to be part of?the Sprint-SoftBank merger discussions. Sprint notes that the offer is the best and final offer it will propose. The company?s press release follows below.
Sprint Submits Increased Offer for Clearwire
Increased Offer of $3.40 Per Share Represents Significant Premium to Unaffected Clearwire Trading Price
Offer Provides Clearwire Shareholders with Enhanced Value
Transaction is Best Strategic Alternative for Clearwire and Stockholders
[More from BGR: The horrifying Wii U sales collapse]
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), May 21, 2013 ? Sprint (NYSE:S) today announced that it has submitted an increased offer to the Board of Directors of Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR) to acquire the approximately 50 percent stake in the company it does not currently own for $3.40 per share, valuing Clearwire at $10.7 billion. This increased offer represents a 14 percent premium to Sprint?s previous offer of $2.97 announced on Dec. 17, 2012 and a 162 percent premium to Clearwire?s closing share price the day before the Sprint-SoftBank discussions were first confirmed in the marketplace on Oct. 11, 2012 when Clearwire was also speculated to be a part of that transaction. The offer represents Sprint?s best and final offer.
The revised offer demonstrates Sprint?s commitment to closing the Clearwire transaction and improving its competitive position in the U.S. wireless industry. Sprint is uniquely positioned to leverage Clearwire?s 2.5 GHz spectrum assets. Sprint?s Network Vision architecture should allow for better strategic alignment and the full utilization and integration of Clearwire?s complementary 2.5 GHz spectrum assets, while achieving operational efficiencies and improved service for customers as the spectrum and network is migrated to 4G LTE standards.
The revised offer has been submitted to the Clearwire Board of Directors and is subject to its formal approval. Clearwire?s Special Committee and Board have repeatedly cited the merger as the best strategic alternative for the company and its minority stockholders. In addition, Clearwire has received commitments from Comcast Corp., Intel Corp and Bright House Networks LLC, who collectively own approximately 26 percent of Clearwire?s shares not affiliated with Sprint, to vote their shares in support of the transaction.
Sprint?s proposal provides a clear path forward for Clearwire and the merger provides attractive value for shareholders of both companies.
Upon approval by the Clearwire Board of Directors, the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and the approval of Clearwire?s stockholders, including the approval of a majority of Clearwire stockholders not affiliated with Sprint or SoftBank. SoftBank has consented to the increased offer to acquire the remaining stake of Clearwire.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sprint-looks-snap-clearwire-more-appealing-offer-145536426.html
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Tuesday, May 21, 2013
USCIS union president fights immigration reform bill
The president of a union that represents 12,000 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employees announced his opposition to the immigration reform bill in the Senate on Monday morning.
"The legislation will provide legal status to millions of visa overstays while failing to provide for necessary in-person interviews," union President Kenneth Palinkas said in a statement. "Legal status is also explicitly granted to millions who have committed serious immigration and criminal offenses."
The Senate version of the bill, which has not been introduced to the floor, will offer legalization to most of the country's 11 million undocumented immigrants, provided they pass a background check and pay fines.
The USCIS union's workers examine and approve citizenship and visa applications.
Palinkas said USCIS employees are pressured to "rubber-stamp" citizenship and visa applications and lack the resources to adequately investigate applicants.
Palinkas is joining the National ICE Council, the union that represents 7,600 Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, in opposing the bill. That union's president, Chris Crane, has been a vocal critic of the Obama administration's policy to prioritize deporting undocumented immigrants who have committed dangerous crimes.
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Dollar firms as suspense builds, Asia shares dip
By Masayuki Kitano
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - "Will he or won't he?" is the question investors want answered at Wednesday's Congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, as suspense builds on whether the Fed will soon start tapering its bond-buying stimulus scheme - as hinted at by a Fed regional president last week.
The dollar inched higher versus a basket of currencies on Tuesday but stayed below a three-year high, as investors ponder if Bernanke might reveal the timing of any wind-down at his appearance before the Joint Economic Committee before Congress takes its Memorial Day recess.
A start to cutting the bond-buying program beginning in the northern summer was hinted at by San Francisco Fed President John Williams last week - putting the issue firmly on the economic committee's agenda.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, edged up 0.1 percent to 83.797 <.dxy>. On Monday, the dollar index had shed 0.6 percent, retreating from Friday's high of 84.371, its strongest level since July 2010.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> eased 0.2 percent.
Australian shares slipped 0.7 percent <.axjo> on profit-taking. In South Korea, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index <.ks11> eased 0.2 percent to 1,978.74, inching away from a closely-watched resistance level.
"The market atmosphere is pretty good, though it is still facing psychological resistance near 2,000 points," said Kim Young-june, a market analyst at SK Securities.
Japan's Nikkei share average slipped initially as a pause in the yen's weakness spurred profit-taking, but later showed resilience.
The Nikkei touched a 5-1/2 year intraday high as retail investors scooped up underperforming shares, and was last up 0.1 percent <.n225> on the day.
"Institutional investors are actually rather quiet today. It seems to be more retail-investor-driven today," said a senior trader at a foreign bank.
Against the yen, the dollar edged up 0.2 percent to 102.47 yen but remained below a 4-1/2-year high of 103.32 yen set on Friday.
Spot gold fell 0.4 percent to $1,388.09. Gold drifted lower on outflows from exchange-traded funds and as the dollar firmed, putting pressure on bullion which has lost nearly a fifth of its value this year.
Brent crude edged up 0.1 percent to $104.86 a barrel.
Global equity markets had mostly pushed higher on Monday, driven up by a flurry of merger and acquisition activity, with MSCI's all-country world equity index <.miwo00000pus> touching its highest level since June 2008.
U.S. stocks ended little changed on Monday, but both the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 index and the Dow briefly hit all-time intraday highs. <.n/>
(Additional reporting by Dominic Lau in Tokyo and Jungyoun Park in Seoul; Editing by Eric Meijer)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dollar-index-off-three-high-asian-shares-ease-011721149.html
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Monday, May 20, 2013
Report: Obama Administration Apologizes for Another National Security Leak
Damascus-Before-After-BombingIsrael Channel 2 broadcast this satellite image showing a Damascus airport warehouse before and after the airstrike (Screenshot: Channel 2 News)
The Justice Department's seizure of Associated Press reporters' phone records was reportedly one element of a "sweeping" federal investigation to find out who leaked classified information about a failed Al-Qaeda plot to bomb an American airliner.
Now, the Obama administration has reportedly apologized to Israel for another leak of classified information to the media, one that occurred earlier this month and which Israeli officials are concerned could place Israeli lives at risk.
Israel Radio's diplomatic correspondent Chico Menashe reported Sunday morning (via the Jerusalem Post):
American officials apologized to their Israeli counterparts for confirming that Israel was behind the airstrikes on the Damascus airport earlier this month, Israel Radio reported on Sunday.
The confirmation reportedly came from the lower ranks at the Pentagon, and the reasons for the leak are being investigated.
Menashe tweeted: "The U.S. has apologized to Israel for leaking details of the attack in Syria. Senior administration officials said to their [Israeli] counterparts that they are examining the issue and that low-level [officials] were responsible for the leak."
Menashe also wrote, "US officials told that they [will] review the matter. The leak forced Assad to react harshly."
U.S. apologized for leaking details of Israel. US officials told that they review the matter.The leak forced assad to react harshly.The New York Times attributed its report about the bombing on May 3 to an Obama administration official: "Israel aircraft bombed a target in Syria overnight Thursday, an Obama administration official said Friday night, as United States officials said they were considering military options, including carrying out their own airstrikes."
CNN, which broke the story first on May 3, quoted two unnamed U.S. officials:
The United States believes Israel has conducted an airstrike into Syria, two U.S. officials first told CNN.
U.S. and Western intelligence agencies are reviewing classified data showing Israel most likely conducted a strike in the Thursday-Friday time frame, according to both officials. This is the same time frame that the U.S. collected additional data showing Israel was flying a high number of warplanes over Lebanon.
One official said the United States had limited information so far and could not yet confirm those are the specific warplanes that conducted a strike. Based on initial indications, the U.S. does not believe Israeli warplanes entered Syrian airspace to conduct the strikes.
Two weeks later, Israel still has not officially taken responsibility for the bombings, which allegedly targeted Iranian Fateh-110 missiles intended to bolster Hezbollah's arsenal.
Israeli security analysts suggest that confirmation of Israel Defense Forces involvement - even if leaked via American sources - not only could potentially endanger any agents still on the ground in Syria, but would also put pressure on embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad to retaliate against the Jewish state.
Barry Rubin, director of the Global Research in International Affairs Center, told TheBlaze, "It requires the Syrians to react officially rather than deny that it happened or that it was an accident. It forces Syria and Hezbollah and Iran to react officially and say they want to seek revenge, which makes things more dangerous for Israel."
"Can you imagine if things were reversed and somebody did that to the U.S.?" he added.
Assad may already be responding. Britain's Sunday Times reported that the Syrian military has placed advanced weapons on standby to strike Israel, in the event Israel strikes targets again in Syria.
The report said that reconnaissance satellite images show Syria has surface-to-surface Tishreen missiles ready for use and aimed at Tel Aviv. Each can carry a half ton payload, according to the paper.
In an interview with CNN shortly after the airstrikes, Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al Mekdad called the attack a "declaration of war," adding that Syria would retaliate in its own time and way.
At the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the tumult facing the Middle East, calling it "one of its most sensitive periods in decades with the escalating upheaval in Syria at its center."
"We are closely monitoring the developments and changes there and we are prepared for any scenario. The government of Israel is working responsibly and with determination and sagacity, in order to ensure the supreme interest of the state of Israel - the security of Israeli citizens in keeping with the policy that we have set, to - as much as possible - prevent the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah and to [other] terrorist elements," he said.
"We will work to ensure Israelis' security interest in the future as well," Netanyahu added.
Last week, Russia said it would move forward with a sale of S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems to Syria, after Netanyahu made a visit to Moscow in person to try to convince the Russians to halt the deal. Once deployed, the advanced system will make future Israeli sorties over Syria more difficult, as well as rendering any notion of a U.S. or European-led no-fly zone much more complicated to implement.
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Commuters warned of traffic mess for up to 1 week
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) ? Traffic in southwest Connecticut could be a mess for as much as a week until service is restored to the commuter rail line affected by a derailment that injured scores of passengers, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy warned Sunday.
Malloy used dire language to describe traffic troubles for the work week ahead in an area that even in normal times is a pain for motorists. And the governor warned that the weather will not cooperate as rainy weather forecast will make driving a bit more treacherous.
Malloy even urged commuters to stay out of the state if possible.
"Tomorrow's commute will be extremely challenging," he said at a brief news conference in Hartford. "Residents should plan for a week's worth of disruptions."
If all 30,000 affected commuters took to the highways to get to work, "we would literally have a parking lot," the governor said. If a substantial number of affected consumers hit the roads, traffic will be "greatly slowed," he said.
The state will dispatch more state troopers and tow trucks to respond to car accidents that could come with crowded roads and slipper conditions, he said.
"If you are going to New York and you get to New York or you're transporting yourself to New York you may decide that perhaps you should stay there for the duration of this disturbance," Malloy said.
Crews will spend days rebuilding 2,000 feet of track, overhead wires and signals following the collision between two trains Friday evening that injured 72 people. Nine remained hospitalized, with one critically.
"This amounts to the wholesale reconstruction of a two-track electrified railroad," he said.
Several days of around-the-clock work will be required, including inspections and testing of the newly rebuilt system, Metro-North President Howard Permut said. The damaged rail cars were removed from the tracks on Sunday, the first step toward making the repairs.
Amtrak service between New York and New Haven was also suspended and there was no estimate on service restoration. Limited service was available between New Haven and Boston.
Jim Cameron, chairman of the Connecticut Rail Commuter Council, said he's asked officials in numerous towns to suspend parking rules to accommodate what could be tens of thousands of motorists driving to unaffected train stations. Twelve stations are affected by the shutdown.
Shuttle buses and trains will be used as alternatives. But Cameron said he doubts many commuters will use three modes of transportation to get to work: driving their cars to catch a bus to get to a train station for the final leg.
He suggested that local and regional officials post highway signs directing motorists to available parking so motorists "don't get off the highway and drive in circles looking for where to dump their cars."
About 700 people were on board the trains Friday evening when one heading east from New York City's Grand Central Terminal to New Haven derailed just outside Bridgeport. It was hit by a train heading west from New Haven.
Dan Solomon, a trauma surgeon who lives in Westport and was headed to work at Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, was on the train that derailed. He said he treated several injured passengers, including a woman with severely broken ankles.
He said he was in a front car that was not as badly affected as cars in the rear of the train.
"I hardly lost my iced tea," Solomon said in an interview.
Solomon said walls were torn off both trains and he quickly checked injured passengers to separate the most badly injured from others.
"When the EMS arrived, I was covered in everyone's blood," he said.
Investigators are looking at a broken section of rail to see if it is connected to the derailment and collision. Officials said it wasn't clear if the rail was broken in the crash or earlier.
NTSB investigators arrived Saturday and are expected to be on site for seven to 10 days. They will look at the brakes and performance of the trains, the condition of the tracks, crew performance and train signal information, among other things.
The MTA operates the Metro-North Railroad, the second-largest commuter railroad in the nation. The Metro-North main lines - the Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven - run northward from New York City's Grand Central Terminal into suburban New York and Connecticut.
The last significant train collision involving Metro-North occurred in 1988 when a train engineer was killed in Mount Vernon, N.Y., when one train empty of passengers rear-ended another, railroad officials said.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/commuters-warned-traffic-mess-1-week-223642842.html
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Chinese, Indian leaders call for cooperation
NEW DELHI (AP) ? The leaders of India and China played down their recent border dispute and other tensions Monday, pledging to work together for regional stability and the economic growth of the world's two most populous nations.
Friction has been building between the Asian giants in recent years as they vie for regional influence and access to fuel needed to feed their growing economies. Li Keqiang's trip to India, his first visit abroad since becoming Chinese premier, seems intended to minimize those tensions.
The three-day visit is part of an outreach mission by the new Chinese leadership to large emerging economies aimed at balancing Beijing's fraught ties with the United States.
In that vein, Li ? and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ? sought Monday to focus on the opportunities for cooperation between their nations.
"Both the prime minister and I believe that there are far more shared interests between China and India than the differences we have," Li said at a joint news conference.
"Without the common development of China and India, Asia won't become strong and the world won't become a better place," he said.
The summit was far heavier on symbolism than substance. The two sides signed eight minor agreements. But both leaders insisted the cooperation was important, and they promised to build on it, announcing that Singh would make a visit to China later in the year.
"I shared with Premier Li my view that the rise of China and India is good for the world and that the world has enough space to accommodate the growth aspirations of both our peoples. To make this a reality, it is important to build understanding between our two peoples," Singh said.
"We agreed that both sides must work to strengthen greater trust and confidence, which, in turn, will permit much larger cooperation," he added.
But the two nations have deep disputes, including China's unwavering support of India's archrival, Pakistan. The presence in India of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and the self-declared Tibetan government-in-exile are a constant irritant to China.
China already sees itself as Asia's great power, while India hopes its increasing economic and military might ? though still far below its neighbor's ? will eventually put it in the same league.
While China has worked to shore up relationships with Nepal and Sri Lanka in India's traditional South Asian sphere of influence, India has been venturing into partnerships with Southeast Asian nations.
Even their $61.5 billion in trade last year was a source of tension because it was heavily skewed in favor of China. Singh said he spoke to Li about getting greater access to Chinese markets for Indian goods.
Their most volatile dispute remains their border disagreement, which led to a bloody war in 1962 and flared up last month, just weeks before Li's planned visit.
India said Chinese troops crossed the de facto border on April 15 and pitched camp in the Depsang Valley in the Ladakh region of eastern Kashmir. New Delhi responded with diplomatic protests and then moved its soldiers just 300 meters (yards) from the Chinese position.
The two sides negotiated a peaceful end to the standoff three weeks later by withdrawing troops to their original positions in the Ladakh area.
Li said they spoke candidly about the dispute. Both leaders said they agreed that preserving peace along the border was crucial to maintaining growth and asked mediators from both countries to work toward a framework for reaching a settlement.
During the talks, both sides agreed that Indian National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon will visit China within weeks to discuss the border issue, Indian Ambassador to China S. Jaishankar told reporters. He said Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony is also scheduled to visit China soon.
Indian media reports said a border cooperation agreement under negotiation proposes a freezing of troop levels in the disputed border region as the two countries make efforts to settle the issue.
India says China is occupying 38,000 square kilometers (15,000 square miles) of its territory in the Aksai Chin plateau in the western Himalayas, while China claims around 90,000 square kilometers (35,000 square miles) in India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. The two sides have held 15 rounds of fruitless border talks over the past decade.
In a joint statement, the two sides agreed to cooperate on energy and environmental conservation and disaster management and to address their trade imbalance while trying to increase trade to $100 billion by 2015.
Li's Indian mission is part of China's broader international outreach intended to balance its relations with Washington.
"As the two largest economies of the world and the most important political powers of the Asia-Pacific region, China-U.S. relations in every respect still remain the pivot of China's foreign policies," said Wang Lian, an international relations scholar at Peking University in Beijing. But, Wang said, "as China's political and economic influence increase continuously, China needs to boost its bilateral and multilateral relations with developing countries so as not to totally rely on its relations with the U.S."
Chinese state media heralded Li's India visit with headlines that the "Dragon and elephant dance together" and coverage that emphasized common interests ? trade and regional peace ? and played down divisions.
Ultimately, Beijing hopes that making common cause with India and the other big emerging economies will help them rewrite the rules of the U.S.-dominated international order. Li's boss, Communist Party chief Xi Jinping, made his first overseas trip to Russia and then to South Africa for a summit of those new big economies, the BRICS nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
In an interview with the Xinhua News Agency, Chinese Ambassador to India Wei Wei said Beijing and Delhi are working together on climate change, world trade rules and revising the international finance system. The cooperation "shows the two countries' crucial role on major issues of global governance," the ambassador was quoted as saying.
Li is to visit Pakistan, Switzerland and Germany after leaving India.
___
Associated Press researcher Yu Bing in Beijing contributed to this report.
___
Follow Ravi Nessman on Twitter at twitter.com/ravinessman
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chinese-indian-leaders-call-cooperation-101050969.html
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Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Short Sale - BOA - Why do they need tax returns? Relocation ... - Loan
Well after years of dealing with BOA we entered into a Short Sale agreement and officially listed our home with the real estate agent in March. We now have a contract on the house and are set to close on July 16th. Our real estate agent just sent me forms from BOA for them to obtain our tax returns for 2012. Why on earth do they need our tax returns? I can't think of any reason they would need them.
We are doing a Cooperative Short Sale and the forms which we signed dated January 17, 2013, state exactly "If the cooperative short sale is successful, you will be entitled to relocation assistance of $5,000-30,000* to assist with moving, rental and relocation expenses." Now on the BOA website, they show relocation expenses for a cooperative short sale is $2,500-30,000. Don't you think they have to pay me the minimum of $5,000 as it states in the agreement we signed in January.
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Flower power fights orchard pests
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sEcrOmaaekVseLS2zMO_TdoRkKphByd7rnoTHtzq3kz9ogBv5L8pgI2SRFYmt4jhi8OS3O7l3IFFUnxqhugeh26ZLcSA7vbsh1et-Mdk0=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 14-May-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Betsy Beers
ebeers@wsu.edu
509-663-8181 x234
Washington State University
WSU discovery a boon for organic and conventional tree fruit growers
WENATCHEE, Wash. Washington State University researchers have found they can control one of fruit growers' more severe pests, aphids, with a remarkably benign tool: flowers. The discovery is a boon for organic as well as conventional tree fruit growers.
The researchers recently published their study in the journal Biological Control. They found that plantings of sweet alyssum attracted a host of spiders and predator bugs that in turn preyed on woolly apple aphids, a pest that growers often control with chemical sprays.
"The results were striking," said Lessando Gontijo, who led the research project while a doctoral student in the WSU Department of Entomology. "After one week, aphid densities were significantly lower on trees adjacent to flowers than on control plots, and these differences were maintained for several weeks."
To select an appropriate flower for the study, the researchers screened six candidates, including marigolds and zinnias. They chose sweet alyssum because it attracted the greatest number of hoverflies, or syrphids, which have larvae that often feed on aphids. Hoverflies and other insects are attracted to flowers because they can find food in the form of pollen and nectar.
Researchers compared plots of apple trees with sweet alyssum to plots without flowers. While the sweet alyssum attracted hoverflies, as desired, Gontijo and colleagues found few hoverfly larvae, showing that the hoverflies had only a marginal effect on the aphid population.
The mystery of the disappearing aphids seemed solved when the researchers found a diverse community of spiders and predatory insects in the plots with sweet alyssum. But was it really the flowers that attracted aphid predators? The scientists sprayed protein markers on the sweet alyssum and later captured insects and spiders at a distance from the flower plots. Many of the insects and spiders tested positive for the proteins, proving that they had visited the flowers.
"The woolly apple aphid is surprisingly damaging for an aphid, attacking tree shoots and roots," said Betsy Beers, an entomologist based at WSU's Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center in Wenatchee and Gontijo's mentor and co-author on the paper. "These aphids also secrete a sticky liquid called honeydew, which can coat the apples, causing much annoyance during harvest."
The aphids were previously kept at bay when orchardists sprayed pesticides to control codling moths. Since the phase-out of organophosphate insecticides, though, the woolly apple aphid has been making a comeback in central Washington and elsewhere.
The researchers state that the use of sweet alyssum for biological control can be easily integrated with standard orchard-management practices and should be especially appealing to organic growers, who have fewer insecticide options.
###
The article, "Flowers promote aphid suppression in apple orchards," was published in the July 2013 edition of Biological Control and is available online at http://bit.ly/17Y8zOM. WSU entomologist William Snyder was a co-author.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 14-May-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Betsy Beers
ebeers@wsu.edu
509-663-8181 x234
Washington State University
WSU discovery a boon for organic and conventional tree fruit growers
WENATCHEE, Wash. Washington State University researchers have found they can control one of fruit growers' more severe pests, aphids, with a remarkably benign tool: flowers. The discovery is a boon for organic as well as conventional tree fruit growers.
The researchers recently published their study in the journal Biological Control. They found that plantings of sweet alyssum attracted a host of spiders and predator bugs that in turn preyed on woolly apple aphids, a pest that growers often control with chemical sprays.
"The results were striking," said Lessando Gontijo, who led the research project while a doctoral student in the WSU Department of Entomology. "After one week, aphid densities were significantly lower on trees adjacent to flowers than on control plots, and these differences were maintained for several weeks."
To select an appropriate flower for the study, the researchers screened six candidates, including marigolds and zinnias. They chose sweet alyssum because it attracted the greatest number of hoverflies, or syrphids, which have larvae that often feed on aphids. Hoverflies and other insects are attracted to flowers because they can find food in the form of pollen and nectar.
Researchers compared plots of apple trees with sweet alyssum to plots without flowers. While the sweet alyssum attracted hoverflies, as desired, Gontijo and colleagues found few hoverfly larvae, showing that the hoverflies had only a marginal effect on the aphid population.
The mystery of the disappearing aphids seemed solved when the researchers found a diverse community of spiders and predatory insects in the plots with sweet alyssum. But was it really the flowers that attracted aphid predators? The scientists sprayed protein markers on the sweet alyssum and later captured insects and spiders at a distance from the flower plots. Many of the insects and spiders tested positive for the proteins, proving that they had visited the flowers.
"The woolly apple aphid is surprisingly damaging for an aphid, attacking tree shoots and roots," said Betsy Beers, an entomologist based at WSU's Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center in Wenatchee and Gontijo's mentor and co-author on the paper. "These aphids also secrete a sticky liquid called honeydew, which can coat the apples, causing much annoyance during harvest."
The aphids were previously kept at bay when orchardists sprayed pesticides to control codling moths. Since the phase-out of organophosphate insecticides, though, the woolly apple aphid has been making a comeback in central Washington and elsewhere.
The researchers state that the use of sweet alyssum for biological control can be easily integrated with standard orchard-management practices and should be especially appealing to organic growers, who have fewer insecticide options.
###
The article, "Flowers promote aphid suppression in apple orchards," was published in the July 2013 edition of Biological Control and is available online at http://bit.ly/17Y8zOM. WSU entomologist William Snyder was a co-author.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/wsu-fpf051313.php
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How Do I Troubleshoot Gaming Performance on My PC? - Lifehacker
Troubleshooting a computer can be trying in the best of circumstances. Troubleshooting specific performance problems can be a hair-pulling experience?especially when those problems are game-related. Have any advice for a fellow reader?
Ashton writes:
I really want/need to upgrade my lower mid-level gaming PC, but my budget is extremely limited and I'm not sure where my money will be best invested. What's the best and most comprehensive way to diagnose my PC's trouble areas? I've been attempting to do so with a combination of FRAPS, Windows' built-in Resource Monitor, and AMD's Catalyst Control Center, but I'm either not educated enough to piece this data together, or they don't really go into the depth that I need. 3DMark seems to be a great benchmarking tool, but it's giving me some conflicting data from what I'm seeing while I'm actually playing games. Any suggestions?
Thanks a lot!
Have some advice for Ashton? Post it below!
Do you have a problem that needs solving and want help from the Lifehacker community? Email us at tips+wyp@lifehacker.com and we might post it. The best questions are broad enough to apply to other people and have many possible answers (so that you can get lots of opinions from your fellow readers). If you have a question that's specific to you or only has a single solution, send an email to tips@lifehacker.com instead.
Images by patrik_entian (flickr) and wavebreakmedia (Shutterstock).
Source: http://lifehacker.com/how-do-i-troubleshoot-gaming-performance-on-my-pc-505819610
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ShapeUp Club Pulls In Ex-Spotify And Stardoll Execs To Go Big
ShapeUp Club is a startup out of Stockholm which has been making waves recently with a lot of under-the-radar growth. Originally built back in 2008 as a side project, it's morphed into an interactive calorie counter on iPhone, Android, and web. You get a personal weight loss plan, can track nutrition, exercise and weight. Ok, so it might not sound original set against the likes of bigger players like MyFitnessPal... but... the app has registered 4 million downloads, with 450,000 monthly active users and a growth rate of more than 10,000 new installs per day (they claim). So not bad with very little active promotion, and for a startup that is entirely bootstrapped.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/SVaHesTmyec/
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Early hominins couldn't have heard modern speech
Our australopith ancestors heard their world differently from modern humans.
Rolf Quam at Binghamton University in New York State and colleagues have discovered rare middle ear bones from two extinct southern African hominins ? Australopithecus africanus and Paranthropus robustus.
A combination of ape-like and human-like features in the bones indicate some australopiths lacked sensitivity to the midrange frequencies that modern humans use for speech.
"Anthropologists are in general agreement that these early hominins likely did not possess spoken language," says Quam ? the new findings back that claim.
His team now plans to use CT scans of the fossils and 3D virtual reconstruction of the ear anatomy to work out more precisely what the world sounded like to our distant ancestors.
Journal reference: PNAS, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1303375110
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Monday, May 6, 2013
EU regulator takes aim at Google over Apple mobile patent lawsuit
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission said it believed Motorola Mobility, a unit of Google, was abusing its market position by seeking and enforcing an injunction against Apple in Germany over patents essential to mobile phone standards.
The Commission said in a statement it had informed Motorola Mobility of its preliminary view in a charge sheet known as a statement of objections.
The Commission said injunctions could be used to combat patent infringements, but that was not the case where a potential licensee was prepared to agree on licensing terms.
"I think that companies should spend their time innovating and competing on the merits of the products they offer - not misusing their intellectual property rights to hold up competitors to the detriment of innovation and consumer choice," Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said.
Almunia said earlier this year that regulators were considering charging more firms with anti-competitive practices in using injunctions to prevent rivals using their patents rather than negotiating fair fees.
For Commission statement click on:
http://ec.europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-406_en.htm
(Rex Merrifield, Brussels newsroom)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-regulator-takes-aim-google-over-apple-mobile-095939167.html
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White House denies Obama ad-libbed Syria ?red line?
"The president's use of the term 'red line' was deliberate and was based on U.S. policy," press secretary Jay Carney told reporters at his daily briefing.
Carney also dismissed claims from a U.N. investigator that Syria's rebels, not President Bashar Assad's forces, used chemical weapons. "We find it incredible, not credible, that the opposition has used chemical weapons," he said. "We think that any use of chemical weapons in Syria is almost certain to have been done by the Assad regime."
His comments came after The New York Times, citing anonymous Obama advisers, had reported Saturday that the president's warning was "unscripted," and "went further than many aides realized he would." It also noted that advisers felt "surprise" and "wondered where the 'red line' came from." The daily cited one aide as saying that "Mr. Obama was thinking of a chemical attack that would cause mass fatalities, not relatively small-scale episodes like those now being investigated, except the 'nuance got completely dropped.'"
The Times report came with Obama under heavy fire for drawing a "red line"?Syrian strongman Assad's use of chemical weapons against rebels fighting to oust him?but seemingly not responding now that the U.S. intelligence community has concluded that the regime has likely done so.
"What the president made clear is that it was a red line, and that it was unacceptable, and that it would change his calculus," Carney said. "What he never did?and it is simplistic to do so?is to say that 'if X happens, Y will happen.' He has never said what reaction he would take."
Some Republicans have charged that that's precisely the problem, that drawing a "red line" without specific consequences dents America's credibility.
Obama is "looking at a range of options, and he is not removing any option from the table" if it is conclusively proven that Assad's regime used chemical weapons, Carney said.
The press secretary also defended Israel's weekend air strikes in Syrian territory, saying, "It is certainly within their right to take action to protect themselves." Israel reportedly struck arms depots amid concerns that Syria would try to ship some high-tech weapons to Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon who might use them to strike that U.S. ally.
Asked whether the violence in Syria, estimated to have claimed the lives at at least 70,000 people, amounted to genocide, Carney declined to use the term, saying that would be up to the United Nations and relevant courts.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/white-house-denies-obama-ad-libbed-syria-red-183450045.html
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