Syrian opposition sees no change in Russian stance

(AP) ? The leader of a Syrian opposition group says that after talks with Russia's foreign minister he sees "no change" in Moscow's stance toward Syrian President Bashar Assad.

A delegation from the Syrian National Council met with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday with the aim of pushing Russia to accept Assad's ouster as part of a political transition in Syria.

The exiled group's new leader, Abdelbaset Sieda, called the Syrian conflict a "revolution in the direct sense of the word" and recommended "intervention by the U.N." to bring a halt to the violence.

Activists say more than 17,000 people have been killed since the uprising began in March 2011.

Russia has insisted that any political transition have the consent of both Assad's government and the opposition.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-07-11-Syria-Diplomacy/id-834b474751bc4041987ec9a681f1fe80

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Kate Upton and Justin Verlander: New Couple Alert?!


Rumors that Kate Upton and Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander are dating have been running rampant after a series of photos of them together.

Busted Coverage posted the images allegedly featuring the supermodel getting cozy with one of the best pitchers in all of Major League Baseball.

The Detroit Free Press claims a woman named Amanda Waynick, who was celebrating her 25th birthday at the bar, asked Verlander for a photo.

He declined, politely ... but she later spotted him with Kate Upton in the background of several photos she took of herself and some friends.

Kate and Justin

Woo hoo! Hottest possible couple ever!

Of course, Verlander has been linked to his longtime girlfriend Emily Yuen, so this is all just speculation and may be much ado about nothing.

Or it may be the starting American League pitcher in the 2012 MLB All-Star Game and the all-star creator of the Cat Daddy video hitting it.

The two met on the set of a commercial for MLB 2K12, so they are definitely acquainted, but beyond that, only time and celebrity gossip will tell.

For what it's worth, Verlander was LIT UP in the All-Star Game last night, yielding five runs in a single inning. Wonder if his mind was on something else ...

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/07/kate-upton-and-justin-verlander-new-couple-alert/

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Adoption: Minnesota reflects trend in plummeting adoption rates

Tighter international regulations have caused the number of intercountry adoptions to drop in recent years, forcing agencies in Minnesota, the leading state for overseas adoptions, to scale back services ? and making families wait longer.

By Madeleine Baran,?Minnesota Public Radio/AP / July 11, 2012

Jean Thilmany pushes her son Frankie on a swing at their home in St. Paul, Minn., on June 27, 2012. After starting the adoption process in 2008 and experiencing many delays, Thilmany and her husband were finally able to bring Frankie home on April 20, 2012.

Jeffrey Thompson/Minnesota Public Radio/AP

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Minnesota leads the country in the number of international adoptions per capita, but tighter regulations have caused those numbers to drop sharply in recent years.

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That's left families adrift and forced one of the state's oldest agencies to scale back on the number of adoptions it arranges.

The number of foreign children adopted by Americans has plummeted from 22,991 in 2004 to 9,319 in 2011, according to US State Department statistics (see accompanying chart for top adopting nations). Minnesota has experienced a similar decline. In 2005, the state reported 923 international adoptions. The number has fallen every year since then, reaching a low of 355 adoptions last year.

The sudden drop has led to financial problems for one of the country's oldest and largest adoption agencies, St. Paul-based Children's Home Society and Family Services, Minnesota Public Radio reports.

Faced with long waiting lists and high overhead costs, the nonprofit agency has been unable to bring in enough money from adoption fees to cover expenses. It recorded year-end deficits of more than $2 million for each of the past three fiscal years.

Lutheran Social Service has begun managing the agency's adoptions as part of a three-year renewable contract to help the adoption agency cope with the slowdown. Children's Home Society executive Maureen Warren said she expects her 123-year-old organization will learn to recover financially and that the adoption industry will rebound.

"We really think that this is a reset and that some of the change is very welcome, even though it has put us in some financial stress," Ms. Warren said.

The changes have also led to long waits for adoptive parents, including Jean Thilmany of St. Paul, who these days keeps a close eye on 22-month-old Frankie as he runs around the family's home, blowing bubbles and playing with the family dog.

Frankie was born in South Korea. The story of how he came to live 6,000 miles away in Minnesota is, like many recent stories of international adoption, full of unforeseen complications and delays. For Mrs. Thilmany and her husband Dan, a nine-month-wait for a baby turned into four years.

"The waiting process was horrible," she said. "It was something I could never in a million years go through again. It was wrenching because it's out of your control, and every time you reached a milestone and thought you had made it, it was plucked from you and moved further out, and you don't know who to blame."

After a difficult birth of the couple's first child, Alvin, Jean Thilmany's doctor advised against another pregnancy. The couple wanted another child, so they decided to adopt from Ethiopia, where the number of international adoptions had increased from 42 in 2009 to more than 1,700 in 2008 (see accompanying chart for where Americans adopted children in 2011). They spent more than $20,000 on adoption fees and related expenses. Thilmany said they decided against domestic adoption because the selection process seemed too personal.

"We were insecure and felt a birth mom wouldn't choose us," she said.

While the couple waited, Ethiopia's adoption process came under scrutiny. In some cases, adoption officials had matched children with potential families before the birth parents had formally relinquished custody, according to the U.S. State Department. The confusion created bureaucratic problems and raised concerns of among adoption agencies and the Ethiopian government of possible unethical practices.

In response, Ethiopia slowed the process and allowed just five adoptions per day, instead of the usual 50 or so cases. The slowdown gave the government more time to investigate each case, but it also meant much longer waits for children and adoptive parents.

In St. Paul, the Thilmanys changed course and decided to adopt from South Korea. The couple traveled to Seoul to pick up Frankie in April.

Jean Thilmany said her family now feels complete.

"It's been wonderful," she said, as Frankie laughed and batted around a plastic sword. "It's been exactly what we thought it would be, but even better."

The family's experience is not unique.

International adoption has become more complicated since more countries added regulations to make the process more transparent and crack down on child trafficking. Some countries like Guatemala and Cambodia have even temporarily halted adoptions to the United States.

More than 80 countries have signed the Hague Adoption Convention, an international agreement to create universal adoption practices. The United States began enforcing the agreement in 2008.

Other countries with fast-growing economies, like China, are increasingly urging their own citizens to adopt. In some cases, it's a matter of national pride, said Lutheran Social Service CEO Jodi Harpstead.

"There's a general sense that on the world stage, when a country is doing a lot of adoption out of its country, that it's not taking care of its own children," Ms. Harpstead said. "And I think there's a sense of embarrassment about that."

Meanwhile, some couples seeking to adopt overseas are pursuing other options. It's much easier in most countries to adopt a child with special needs.

That's how David and Avisia McKoskey, of St. Louis Park, Minn., adopted their son, Henry, from southern China in 2007. Born with a cleft lip and palate, Henry, now 6, was found in a basket left on the steps of a temple.

"It just brought us to tears just to think about it," David McKoskey said.

Chinese officials tried to find a Chinese family willing to adopt the child but were unsuccessful. Mr. McKoskey said he was reassured by the amount of paperwork the process required. He wanted to make sure that Henry was abandoned and not the victim of child trafficking or other unethical practices.

"To hear that children have been bought and sold on whatever market ... to reduce that to zero is a worthy goal," he said. "It's I think a worthier goal than making me fill out a few more papers."

The couple plans to travel to China again later this month to adopt a baby girl with special needs.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/M8DJ2c0A00o/Adoption-Minnesota-reflects-trend-in-plummeting-adoption-rates

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New Moon for Pluto: Hubble Telescope Spots a 5th Plutonian Satellite

News | Space

The newfound moon and its kin may be remnants of an ancient smashup


Pluto's five moonsMOON DANCE: The known satellites of Pluto now include Charon, Nix, Hydra, P4 and P5. Image: NASA, ESA, and M. Showalter (SETI Institute)

As humankind's first robotic visitor to Pluto approaches to its destination, astronomers working to understand what it will find there have uncovered a tiny moon orbiting the dwarf planet.

The moon is the fifth known natural satellite of Pluto and has been informally labeled P5. It was discovered Saturday, July 7, in images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope as part of a campaign to identify possible hazards to the New Horizons spacecraft, now en route to Pluto for a 2015 flyby. Dust rings encircling Pluto, or small moons shedding unseen debris, could endanger the $700-million mission. So far, the search has not identified any dangerous dust bands around Pluto, but it has turned up two newfound moons?a small object called P4 last year, and now P5.

P5 is incredibly faint?half as bright as P4, and roughly one one-hundred-thousandth as bright as Pluto?and orbits relatively close to the dwarf planet. The newfound moon's faintness implies that it has a diameter of just 10 to 25 kilometers. "They're very close, and this is a very small object," says Mark Showalter, a planetary astronomer at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., who led the campaign. "So that's what Hubble can do."

P4 and P5 join Charon, a large moon of Pluto whose discovery was announced exactly 34 years prior to the day Showalter spotted P5 in new Hubble imagery as well as the small moons Nix and Hydra, discovered by astronomers using Hubble in 2005. All of those satellites could be remnants of one giant collision early in solar system history.

A plausible explanation for the myriad Plutonian moons, Showalter says, is that "this system began when something big hit Pluto billions of years ago?it created this big cloud of debris, most of which condensed to form Charon." Some of the cast-off material, though, settled into stable orbits farther from Pluto and coalesced into smaller moons. "Essentially we're just seeing the leftover debris," Showalter says.

All of the moons discovered so far appear linked to the motion of the much more massive Charon: their orbits all follow certain resonances with the orbit of the larger satellite. Nix is in what is called a one-to-four resonance with Charon?it orbits Pluto once for every four orbits of Charon?whereas P4 is in a one-to-five resonance and Hydra is in a one-to-six resonance. The newly discovered P5 appears to have fallen into resonance with Charon as well. "This object seems pretty close, as best we can tell, to the one-to-three resonance," Showalter says. "These matches are not completely exact, but it's sure telling us something. These things just don?t happen by accident."

"We think that the mean motion resonances are acting like a rut, collecting debris from the accretion epoch of Charon," says New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo., who also contributed to the new research.

The next logical place to look for additional moons would be in the unaccounted-for Charon resonances of one-to-two and one-to-seven. But the shorter the orbit, the closer to Pluto the moon would have to be, so a moon in a one-to-two resonance with Charon might be very difficult to spot next to the much larger, and much brighter dwarf planet.

"I think there's a very good chance" that more Plutonian satellites await discovery, Stern says. "Every time we look we see more. I expect New Horizons will see more that Hubble cannot see."

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=1205696dfcb8aea01697b382da6212d8

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ScienceDaily: Biochemistry News

http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/matter_energy/biochemistry/ Read the latest research in biochemistry -- protein structure and function, RNA and DNA, enzymes and biosynthesis and more biochemistry news.en-usMon, 09 Jul 2012 02:21:06 EDTMon, 09 Jul 2012 02:21:06 EDT60
Media_httpwwwscienced_irxvh
http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/matter_energy/biochemistry/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120706164205.htm Scientists have applied a new method -- "inverse Partial Fluorescence Yield" (iPFY) on micro-jets -- which will enable them to probe the electronic structure of liquids free of sample damages. The experiments are performed in vacuum conditions at the LiXEdrom experimental chamber, where a fluid stream of micrometer diameter is moving freely through vacuum and is continuously irradiated with X-ray radiation.Fri, 06 Jul 2012 16:42:42 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120706164205.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120705172050.htm Fluorine is the most reactive chemical element. Until now the accepted scientific doctrine was, that therefore it cannot exist in nature in its elemental form. A team of chemists has now, for the first time, successfully identified natural elemental fluorine in a special fluorite, the "fetid fluorite" or "antozonite."Thu, 05 Jul 2012 17:20:20 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120705172050.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120705144407.htm Using piezoelectric materials, researchers have replicated the muscle motion of the human eye to control camera systems in a way designed to improve the operation of robots. This new muscle-like action could help make robotic tools safer and more effective for MRI-guided surgery and robotic rehabilitation.Thu, 05 Jul 2012 14:44:44 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120705144407.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120704182543.htm Researchers have invented an electrically conductive gel that is quick and easy to make, can be patterned onto surfaces with an inkjet printer and demonstrates unprecedented electrical performance.Wed, 04 Jul 2012 18:25:25 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120704182543.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120704124057.htm The fast and targeted delivery of drugs could soon be made easier. Microcontainers for medical substances can be produced in different sizes using calcium carbonate microspheres as templates, new research shows.Wed, 04 Jul 2012 12:40:40 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120704124057.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120703200546.htm Finding biocompatible carriers that can get drugs to their targets in the body involves significant challenges. Researchers have now shown a new approach for making vesicles and fine-tuning their shapes. By starting with a protein that is found in sunflower seeds, they used genetic engineering to make a variety of protein molecules that assemble into vesicles and other useful structures.Tue, 03 Jul 2012 20:05:05 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120703200546.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120703162622.htm Using the compound eyes of the humble moth as their inspiration, physicists have developed new nanoscale materials that could someday reduce the radiation dosages received by patients getting X-rayed, while improving the resolution of the resulting images.Tue, 03 Jul 2012 16:26:26 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120703162622.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120702192425.htm New research is seeking to detail the individual steps of highly efficient reactions that convert sunlight into chemical energy within plants and bacteria.Mon, 02 Jul 2012 19:24:24 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120702192425.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120702133535.htm Experts have created a stable version of a ?trophy molecule? that has eluded scientists for decades. They have prepared a terminal uranium nitride compound which is stable at room temperature and can be stored in jars in crystallized or powder form. The breakthrough could have future implications for the nuclear energy industry ? uranium nitride materials may potentially offer a viable alternative to the current mixed oxide nuclear fuels used in reactors since nitrides exhibit superior high densities, melting points, and thermal conductivities and the process the scientists used to make the compound could offer a cleaner, low temperature route than methods currently used.Mon, 02 Jul 2012 13:35:35 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120702133535.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120702133531.htm Scientists have discovered that tiny vanadium pentoxide nanoparticles can inhibit the growth of barnacles, bacteria, and algae on surfaces in contact with water, such as ship hulls, sea buoys, or offshore platforms. Their experiments showed that steel plates to which a coating containing dispersed vanadium pentoxide particles had been applied could be exposed to seawater for weeks without the formation of deposits of barnacles, bacteria, and algae.Mon, 02 Jul 2012 13:35:35 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120702133531.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120701191617.htm New advances in tissue engineering could one day make a replacement liver from a patient's cells, or animal muscle tissue that could be cut into steaks. One problem with making 3-D tissue structures, however, is keeping the interior cells from suffocating. Now, researchers have developed an innovative solution: they've shown that 3-D printed templates of filament networks can be used to rapidly create vasculature and improve the function of engineered living tissues.Sun, 01 Jul 2012 19:16:16 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120701191617.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120629142611.htm A sub-cellular world has been opened up for scientists to study E. coli and other tissues in new ways, thanks to a microscopy method that stealthily provides 3-D, high-quality images of the internal structure of cells without disturbing the specimen.Fri, 29 Jun 2012 14:26:26 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120629142611.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120628193020.htm Scientists have discovered a programmable RNA complex in the bacterial immune system that guides the cleaving of DNA at targeted sites. This discovery opens a new door to genome editing with implications for the green chemistry microbial-based production of advanced biofuels, therapeutic drugs and other valuable chemical products.Thu, 28 Jun 2012 19:30:30 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120628193020.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120628181723.htm The evolution of white rot fungi might have helped bring an end to the geologic period characterized by the formation of large coal deposits, and may help lay the groundwork for the future production of biofuels.Thu, 28 Jun 2012 18:17:17 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120628181723.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120628181721.htm The fossilized remains of plants that lived from around 360 to 300 million years ago, coal generated nearly half of the roughly four trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity consumed in the United States in 2010. An international team of scientists proposes that the evolution of fungi capable of breaking down the polymer lignin in plants may have played a key role in ending the development of coal deposits, contributing to the end of the Carboniferous period.Thu, 28 Jun 2012 18:17:17 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120628181721.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120628164639.htm Researchers found that removing an AFM probe's gold coating -- until now considered helpful -- greatly improved force measurements performed in a liquid, the medium favored for biophysical studies such as stretching DNA or unfolding proteins.Thu, 28 Jun 2012 16:46:46 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120628164639.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120628145741.htm Chemists have developed a process that closely resembles photosynthesis and proved capable of synthesizing compounds found in the pain-killers ibuprofen and naproxen.Thu, 28 Jun 2012 14:57:57 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120628145741.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120628145508.htm Bioengineers and biochemists are using a miniaturized ultrasound device to capture and manipulate biological materials, such as the tiny roundworm, C. elegans.Thu, 28 Jun 2012 14:55:55 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120628145508.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120627132116.htm Scientists have peered into the makeup of complex airborne particulate matter so small that it can be transported into human lungs -- usually without a trace.Wed, 27 Jun 2012 13:21:21 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120627132116.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120627132049.htm For the first time, air-polluting soot particles have been imaged in flight down to nanometer resolution. Pioneering a new technique scientists snapped the most detailed images yet of airborne aerosols.Wed, 27 Jun 2012 13:20:20 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120627132049.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120627131951.htm Scientists have developed a powerful new technique for manipulating the building-block molecules of organic chemistry. The technique enables chemists to add new functional molecules to previously hard-to-reach positions on existing compounds?making it easier for them to generate new drugs and other organic chemicals.Wed, 27 Jun 2012 13:19:19 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120627131951.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120627103350.htm Scientists are reporting an advance toward treating disease with minute capsules containing not drugs -- but the DNA and other biological machinery for making the drug. They describe engineering micro- and nano-sized capsules that contain the genetically coded instructions, plus the read-out gear and assembly line for protein synthesis that can be switched on with an external signal.Wed, 27 Jun 2012 10:33:33 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120627103350.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120627103310.htm Researchers have developed a new technique for controlling the crystalline structure of titanium dioxide at room temperature. The development should make titanium dioxide more efficient in a range of applications, including photovoltaic cells, hydrogen production, antimicrobial coatings, smart sensors and optical communication technologies.Wed, 27 Jun 2012 10:33:33 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120627103310.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120627092012.htm Ever since Hennig Brand's discovery in 1669, elementary phosphorus has fascinated chemists around the world. It is industrially produced by the ton and its compounds have numerous applications in materials science and the life sciences. The main known forms of the element are white, red, and black phosphorus. Chemists have now succeeded in creating a positively charged pure phosphorus compound.Wed, 27 Jun 2012 09:20:20 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120627092012.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120626114322.htm Imagine if doctors could perform surgery without ever having to cut through your skin. Or if they could diagnose cancer by seeing tumors inside the body with a procedure that is as simple as an ultrasound. Thanks to a new technique, all of that may be possible in the not-so-distant future.Tue, 26 Jun 2012 11:43:43 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120626114322.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120625160403.htm A mechanism that controls the way organisms breathe or photosynthesize has been discovered by scientists. The research could pave the way for improved biofuel production.Mon, 25 Jun 2012 16:04:04 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120625160403.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120625125803.htm Researchers have found a way to create much slimmer thin-film solar cells without sacrificing the cells' ability to absorb solar energy. Making the cells thinner should significantly decrease manufacturing costs for the technology.Mon, 25 Jun 2012 12:58:58 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120625125803.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120625100915.htm Differentiation of stem cells into bone nodules is greatly accelerated by nanomolecular scaffolds.Mon, 25 Jun 2012 10:09:09 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120625100915.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120623094310.htm Scientists have found a new mathematical approach to simulating the electronic behavior of noncrystalline materials, which may eventually play an important part in new devices including solar cells, organic LED lights and printable, flexible electronic circuits.Sat, 23 Jun 2012 09:43:43 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120623094310.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120619092935.htm A key component found in an ancient anaerobic microorganism may serve as a sensor to detect potentially fatal oxygen, researchers have found. This helps researchers learn more about the function of these components, called iron-sulfur clusters, which occur in different parts of cells in all living creatures.Tue, 19 Jun 2012 09:29:29 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120619092935.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120618153427.htm Scientists are racing to sequence DNA faster and cheaper than ever by passing strands of the genetic material through molecule-sized pores. Now, scientists have adapted this ?nanopore? method to find DNA damage that can lead to mutations and disease.Mon, 18 Jun 2012 15:34:34 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120618153427.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120618111830.htm Overturning two long-held misconceptions about oil production in algae, scientists show that ramping up the microbes' overall metabolism by feeding them more carbon increases oil production as the organisms continue to grow. The findings may point to new ways to turn photosynthetic green algae into tiny "green factories" for producing raw materials for alternative fuels.Mon, 18 Jun 2012 11:18:18 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120618111830.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120616145535.htm The design of a nature-inspired material that can make energy-storing hydrogen gas has gone holistic. Usually, tweaking the design of this particular catalyst -- a work in progress for cheaper, better fuel cells -- results in either faster or more energy efficient production but not both. Now, researchers have found a condition that creates hydrogen faster without a loss in efficiency.Sat, 16 Jun 2012 14:55:55 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120616145535.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120615204741.htm Researchers have engineered nanoparticles that show great promise for the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM), an incurable cancer of the plasma cells in bone marrow.Fri, 15 Jun 2012 20:47:47 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120615204741.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120613153331.htm A powerful color-based imaging technique is making the jump from remote sensing to the operating room. Scientists are working to ensure it performs as well when spotting cancer cells in the body as it does with oil spills in the ocean.Wed, 13 Jun 2012 15:33:33 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120613153331.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120613133341.htm In the not-too-distant future, scientists may be able to use DNA to grow their own specialized materials, thanks to the concept of directed evolution. Scientists have, for the first time, used genetic engineering and molecular evolution to develop the enzymatic synthesis of a semiconductor.Wed, 13 Jun 2012 13:33:33 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120613133341.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120613133150.htm An implantable fuel cell could power neural prosthetics that help patients regain control of limbs. Engineers have developed a fuel cell that runs on the same sugar that powers human cells: glucose. This glucose fuel cell could be used to drive highly efficient brain implants of the future, which could help paralyzed patients move their arms and legs again.Wed, 13 Jun 2012 13:31:31 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120613133150.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120613102130.htm A scientist may be onto an ocean of discovery because of his research into a little sea creature called the mantis shrimp. The research is likely to lead to making ceramics -- today's preferred material for medical implants and military body armour -- many times stronger. The mantis shrimp's can shatter aquarium glass and crab shells alike.Wed, 13 Jun 2012 10:21:21 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120613102130.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120612145139.htm Researchers have created a computational tool to help predict how proteins fold by finding amino acid pairs that are distant in sequence but change together. Protein interactions offer clues to the treatment of disease, including cancer.Tue, 12 Jun 2012 14:51:51 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120612145139.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120612101458.htm A novel porous material that has unique carbon dioxide retention properties has just been developed.Tue, 12 Jun 2012 10:14:14 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120612101458.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120611193636.htm A newly developed carbon nanotube material could help lower the cost of fuel cells, catalytic converters and similar energy-related technologies by delivering a substitute for expensive platinum catalysts.Mon, 11 Jun 2012 19:36:36 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120611193636.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120611105311.htm New groundbreaking research has found that exposure to nanoparticles can have a serious impact on health, linking it to rheumatoid arthritis and the development of other serious autoimmune diseases. The findings have health and safety implications for the manufacture, use and ultimate disposal of nanotechnology products and materials. They also identified new cellular targets for the development of potential drug therapies in combating the development of autoimmune diseases.Mon, 11 Jun 2012 10:53:53 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120611105311.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120611092345.htm Researchers have created a reliable and fast flu-detection test that can be carried in a first-aid kit. The novel prototype device isolates influenza RNA using a combination of magnetics and microfluidics, then amplifies and detects probes bound to the RNA. The technology could lead to real-time tracking of influenza.Mon, 11 Jun 2012 09:23:23 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120611092345.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120610151304.htm Enabling bioengineers to design new molecular machines for nanotechnology applications is one of the possible outcomes of a new study. Scientists have developed a new approach to visualize how proteins assemble, which may also significantly aid our understanding of diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, which are caused by errors in assembly.Sun, 10 Jun 2012 15:13:13 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120610151304.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120606155808.htm Using ultrafast, intensely bright pulses of X-rays scientists have obtained the first ever images at room temperature of photosystem II, a protein complex critical for photosynthesis and future artificial photosynthetic systems.Wed, 06 Jun 2012 15:58:58 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120606155808.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120606132316.htm A new voyage into "chemical space" ? occupied not by stars and planets but substances that could become useful in everyday life ? has concluded that scientists have synthesized barely one tenth of one percent of potential medicines. The report estimates that the actual number of these so-called "small molecules" could be one novemdecillion (that's one with 60 zeroes), more than some estimates of the number of stars in the universe.Wed, 06 Jun 2012 13:23:23 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120606132316.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120605121639.htm Halogens particularly chlorine, bromine, and iodine ? have a unique quality which allows them to positively influence the interaction between molecules. This ?halogen bonding? has been employed in the area of materials science for some time, but is only now finding applications in the life sciences.Tue, 05 Jun 2012 12:16:16 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120605121639.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120605102842.htm Researchers have developed a highly sensitive detector of infrared light that can be used in applications ranging from detection of chemical and biochemical weapons from a distance and better airport body scanners to chemical analysis in the laboratory and studying the structure of the universe through new telescopes.Tue, 05 Jun 2012 10:28:28 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120605102842.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120604092858.htm A new microscope enabled scientists to film a fruit fly embryo, in 3D, from when it was about two-and-a-half hours old until it walked away from the microscope as a larva.Mon, 04 Jun 2012 09:28:28 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120604092858.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120603191722.htm A new study suggests that the replication process for DNA -- the genetic instructions for living organisms that is composed of four bases (C, G, A and T) -- is more open to unnatural letters than had previously been thought. An expanded "DNA alphabet" could carry more information than natural DNA, potentially coding for a much wider range of molecules and enabling a variety of powerful applications, from precise molecular probes and nanomachines to useful new life forms.Sun, 03 Jun 2012 19:17:17 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120603191722.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120531165752.htm A laboratory test used to detect disease and perform biological research could be made more than 3 million times more sensitive, according to researchers who combined standard biological tools with a breakthrough in nanotechnology.Thu, 31 May 2012 16:57:57 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120531165752.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120531145728.htm Scientists have demonstrated how the world's most powerful X-ray laser can assist in cracking the structures of biomolecules, and in the processes helped to pioneer critical new investigative avenues in biology.Thu, 31 May 2012 14:57:57 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120531145728.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120531145720.htm Biochemists have designed specialized proteins that assemble themselves to form tiny molecular cages hundreds of times smaller than a single cell. The creation of these miniature structures may be the first step toward developing new methods of drug delivery or even designing artificial vaccines.Thu, 31 May 2012 14:57:57 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120531145720.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120531145630.htm Ultrashort flashes of X-radiation allow atomic structures of macromolecules to be obtained even from tiny protein crystals.Thu, 31 May 2012 14:56:56 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120531145630.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120531102207.htm Our ability to "read" DNA has made tremendous progress in the past few decades, but the ability to understand and alter the genetic code, that is, to "rewrite" the DNA-encoded instructions, has lagged behind. A new study advances our understanding of the genetic code: It proposes a way of effectively introducing numerous carefully planned DNA segments into genomes of living cells and of testing the effects of these changes. New technology speeds up DNA "rewriting" and measures the effects of the changes in living cells.Thu, 31 May 2012 10:22:22 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120531102207.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120530152203.htm Researchers have developed a method for building complex nanostructures out of interlocking DNA "building blocks" that can be programmed to assemble themselves into precisely designed shapes. With further development, the technology could one day enable the creation of new nanoscale devices that deliver drugs directly to disease sites.Wed, 30 May 2012 15:22:22 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120530152203.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120530104034.htm Inexpensive, portable devices that can rapidly screen cells for leukemia or HIV may soon be possible thanks to a chip that can produce three-dimensional focusing of a stream of cells, according to researchers.Wed, 30 May 2012 10:40:40 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120530104034.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120530100041.htm Scientists have engineered cells that behave like AND and OR Boolean logic gates, producing an output based on one or more unique inputs. This feat could eventually help researchers create computers that use cells as tiny circuits.Wed, 30 May 2012 10:00:00 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120530100041.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120529113543.htm An integrated chemical chip has just been developed. An advantage of chemical circuits is that the charge carrier consists of chemical substances with various functions. This means that we now have new opportunities to control and regulate the signal paths of cells in the human body. The chemical chip can control the delivery of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. This enables chemical control of muscles, which are activated when they come into contact with acetylcholine.Tue, 29 May 2012 11:35:35 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120529113543.htmhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120528154859.htm Physicists have developed a method that models biological cell-to-cell adhesion that could also have industrial applications.Mon, 28 May 2012 15:48:48 EDThttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120528154859.htm

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/rss/matter_energy/biochemistry.xml

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How the unemployed attract new jobs

Read?more: Local, News, Job, Job Fair, Unemployed, How the Unemployed Attract New Jobs, Frontier Communications, Horry Georgetown Technical College, South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce, South Carolina Jobs, Unemployment Rate

As doors opened, 60 people turned out for the job fair held by Frontier Communications at Horry Georgetown Technical College's Grand Strand campus. The company is trying to fill 110 positions at a new call center in Myrtle Beach.

The South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce says the state's unemployment rate in May was 9.1 percent, up from 8.8 percent in April. This is the first increase in ten months. The high unemployment rate, 9.9 percent in Florence and Horry counties and 9.5 percent in Georgetown, is actually a draw to companies, like Frontier.

"The decision for companies to locate here is really workforce driven. So they are taking their time to study the labor pool that we have and where we can draw labor from in our surrounding areas," says Kate MacArthur, Marketing Director and Existing Industry with the Myrtle Beach Regional and Economic Development Corporation.

The labor pool and incentives are big bargaining tools the MBREDC tries to use. Incentives, like tax breaks, vary from company to company, but follow a set of standard regulations both from the state and from the county.

For example, Frontier's, MacArthur says, was on a pro-rata basis.

"They are tied to the number of people that they hire. So if they promised to hire 150, and only hire 100, they'll get that percent. If they hire zero, they get zero," she adds.

Horry County Council has charged the MBREDC with bringing 500 jobs to Horry County by 2013. To date, 240 jobs have been promised by companies like?Frontier or AvCraft.

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Meanwhile, council passed the Project Blue Resolution unanimously on Tuesday July 3rd. The resolution authorizes nearly $1.8 million in funding that can be dispersed to try to accomplish the creation of 1,020 new jobs. Those jobs, the resolution says, will pay no less than $14.31 per hour.

So far, the MREDC is staying tight-lipped about the client they're courting, but Brad Lofton, the MBREDC's president says Horry County is the perfect spot for new business.

Source: http://www.carolinalive.com/news/story.aspx?id=774239

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Facebook app helps ferret out pedophiles?

4 hrs.

The sad reality is,?there are dangerous adults on the Internet who monitor?the Internet behavior of children, even if their own parents are unwilling to do the same. To mitigate this, a team of?Israeli researchers has developed a Facebook application intended to detect pedophiles and other potential online predators.

?While Facebook encourages connecting with as many people as possible, we advocate limiting users, and have, for the first time, provided an algorithm to scientifically determine who to remove from friend lists," explained?Michael Fire, a Ph.D. candidate at Ben-Gurion University's Department of Information Systems Engineering.

"Predators rely on people friending anyone, and with teens now allowed to have Facebook accounts, we believe that our solution can provide necessary protection for all users."

The technology,?developed by Fire along with Prof. Yuval Elovici and two BGU?undergraduate students, is available as the Friend Protector app on Facebook. You can also install it in Firefox as the?Social Privacy Protector add-on.

According to BGU?s Department of Information Systems Engineering, this is how the special algorithm gives Facebook users tighter control on their privacy:

The SPP ?app? has multiple levels of protection, but the most important component reviews a user?s friends list in seconds to identify which have few or no mutual links and might be ?fake? profiles. The app analyzes each friend and scores the ?connectedness? to every friend. ?It flags the lowest scores as suspicious and asks whether the friend should be restricted from personal user information, but doesn?t defriend them. ?

?An important feature of our app is the ability for parents to better protect their kids? privacy with just one click instead of having to navigate the more complicated Facebook privacy settings,? Fire said in a statement.

Despite Facebook's 13-and-older age restriction, there are more than a few kids 12 and younger on the world's largest social network. And, as?studies?from Microsoft, Consumer Reports and other research outfits continue to reveal, many of them are there, lying about their age, with the permission of their parents, and more than a few of those parents don't actively monitor what their kids are doing. Maybe this app?will help.

?(Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)

Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about the Internet privacy,?then asks you to join her on?Twitter?and/or?Facebook. Also,?Google+. ?Because?that's how she rolls.

Source: http://www.technolog.msnbc.msn.com/technology/technolog/facebook-app-helps-ferret-out-pedophiles-871761

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Anthony Hopkins Will Sail with Noah

Though he already has the likes of Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly and Ray Winstone aboard Biblical epic Noah, Darren Aronofsky is finding room aboard the story for more top talent. The director has announced on Twitter that Anthony Hopkins has signed to play Methuselah.

Hitting the social media network, Aronofsky tweeted, ?I'm honoured to be working with the great sir Anthony Hopkins. We just added him to the stellar cast of Noah.?

Methuselah is listed as the oldest person in the Bible, clocking in at the ripe old age of 969, and one of the people around shortly before the great flood that will most likely form the ticking clock threat of Aronofsky?s tale. We?ll be interested as to whether the director goes the Prometheus route with the character and slathers Hopkins in old man make-up, or whether he?s stick with the actors? own gracefully aged mug and present Methuselah as looking great for his nearly-1,000-year age.

The cast also includes Logan Lerman and Douglas Booth as Noah?s sons, with Emma Watson as Ila and Nolan Gross playing Lerman?s character Ham at a younger age.

Aronofsky expects to start shooting at the end of August and the film is set to flood our screens on March 28, 2014.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1925497/news/1925497/

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Get ready for the end of record corporate profits

By MATTHEW CRAFT, Associated Press

For almost three years, no matter what has rattled the financial markets ? a debt crisis in Europe, high gasoline prices, a slower economy ? investors have been soothed by rising corporate profits.

The storyline became as predictable as a soap opera's. But when the latest round of corporate earnings starts rolling in this week, look for a twist: Profits are expected to fall.

"China is still slowing. Manufacturing numbers in the U.S. are weak," says Christine Short, senior manager at Standard & Poor's Global Markets Intelligence. "You can only have so many things working against you."

Stock analysts expect earnings for companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index to decline 1 percent for April through June compared with the year before, according to S&P Capital IQ, the research arm of S&P.

That would break a streak of 10 quarters of gains that started in the final quarter of 2009.

Over recent weeks, a motley collection of chain stores, steel producers and technology titans have warned of slowing profits. They all point to similar culprits ? flagging sales to Europe and slower economic growth in China.

Procter & Gamble, the world's biggest consumer products company, cut its profit outlook for the year, blaming sluggish economic growth in China and Europe along with a stronger dollar, which makes U.S.-made goods more expensive abroad.

Ford said it expects to take a hit from European sales and may have to shut an assembly plant. Nike reported a drop in profits and warned of tough conditions in Europe and China. And that's just within the past month.

"You've seen the evidence," says Adam Parker, chief U.S. equity strategist at Morgan Stanley, the investment bank. "A ton of companies have already told you the economy is slowing."

The list of companies that have warned of trouble is long and varied, and includes well-known names such as McDonald's, Cisco, Starbucks and Tiffany & Co.

Add them up, and 94 companies have lowered their estimates for this earnings season, which begins on Monday when Alcoa, the aluminum maker, reports its results. Only 26 have raised their estimates.

Morgan Stanley's research team says the ratio hasn't been that lopsided toward the negative since the summer of 2001, when the economy was in the middle of an eight-month recession brought on by the bursting of a bubble in technology stocks.

Europe's debt crisis has been a problem for nearly three years, but that never stopped companies from reporting record profits quarter after quarter. The U.S. economy appears to be losing speed, but the economic recovery has moved at a fitful pace since the Great Recession ended in 2009. So what makes this time different?

The price of oil and the dollar. Oil dropped 26 percent from the start of April to the end of June, while the dollar rose 5 percent against a basket of major currencies. In a note to clients, Parker called this duo "the worst combination for S&P 500 earnings."

Cheaper oil is usually considered a good thing. By pulling down the price of gasoline, it essentially puts money in Americans' pockets.

It's a different story for Exxon Mobil, Chevron and other oil and gas companies in the S&P 500. For them, a drop in oil prices squeezes profit. And because energy companies play such a large role in the S&P 500, Parker said, their falling profits weigh on the group.

The direction of the dollar matters because U.S. companies rely on overseas sales: Nearly half of all the revenue for S&P 500 companies comes from abroad. When the dollar climbs, it diminishes the value of those foreign sales. Parker found that since 1975, an 8 percent gain for the dollar against major currencies knocked earnings down by 2.6 percent.

To be sure, companies sometimes cut their profit expectations too deeply, a practice that provokes grousing among many investors. They suspect companies of setting the bar so low that they'll soar over it and get rewarded with a roar of applause and a higher stock price.

In early April, companies had talked down their forecasts so much that analysts expected first-quarter earnings to be down 0.1 percent for the S&P 500. A couple of months later, the final figures looked starkly different: Earnings rose 7.5 percent.

That history is one reason many analysts and investors say they believe this earnings season won't be quite as bad as current forecasts. Not as bad, of course, isn't the same as good.

"Could they beat it? Sure," says Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC's asset management group. "They'll probably jump over the bar. But they're not going to set the world record for the high jump."

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Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/08/12627155-get-ready-for-the-end-of-record-corporate-profits?lite

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Tito Ortiz ends career with a gladiator helmet, a loss and a bonus

It's not often athletes know the exact time and hour of their retirement. Instead, many walk away after injuries or a depreciation of skills keeps them from the game. Those reasons play into Tito Ortiz's retirement. Back injuries and three losses in his last three fights pushed him towards retirement, but Ortiz was lucky enough to know when his time was up.

He walked in with a pointy gladiator helmet, paying homage to the UFC's early days. He walked out with a shirt reading, "I helped build the sport that build me." In and out of the cage, he understood his role as the bridge between the UFC's early, banned-from-TV-days to the celebrity-filled, money-making corporation it is today.

In between, Ortiz and Forrest Griffin fought to a decision again. Griffin won, again. The fight showed why Ortiz is on his way out. Though he clipped Griffin at one point, Ortiz couldn't pull out the win.

Perhaps because there weren't many other options, or perhaps because the UFC brass was truly moved by their performance, Ortiz and Griffin won $75,000 Fight of the Night bonuses. As Ortiz starts retirement, the money is much nicer than any gold watch.

With the youth of the UFC, it's hard to know what Ortiz's legacy will be. It's not like comparing the effect Michael Jordan had on the NBA to what Bill Russell did for the league. MMA fans will have plenty of time to debate what Ortiz will mean to the sport in the long term.

For now, just enjoy a man walking out from the cage when he knew the time was right. Thanks for the memories, Tito.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/tito-ortiz-ends-career-gladiator-helmet-loss-bonus-060659452--mma.html

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