L.A. police ID suspect in girl's abduction case

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Police said Saturday they are looking for a transient in the kidnapping of a 10-year-old girl who was snatched from her San Fernando Valley home before dawn last week and abandoned hours later in front of a hospital.

Investigators identified 30-year-old Tobias Dustin Summers as a suspect in the case but couldn't elaborate on the motive or what led them to him. Police don't know if the girl was targeted but said they don't believe Summers had a connection to the family.

"We have no information that the family knew this individual or that the individual knew any members of the family," Los Angeles Police Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese said.

Police initially said they were looking for two suspects in the abduction but are now focusing their efforts on locating Summers. "This is the only person we are looking for right now," Albanese said Saturday.

About 40 detectives have been working around the clock looking for clues since the girl was abducted from her home Wednesday. She was found hours later, wandering near a Starbucks several miles away.

The girl was barefoot, had bruises and scratches and wasn't wearing the same clothes she had on when she vanished. She told the police two men she didn't recognize had taken her from her home.

Investigators have said they believe the girl was driven around the San Fernando Valley in a couple of cars and taken to at least two locations, including a storage facility, before she was released.

A passer-by who recognized her picture from media reports saw her outside the Starbucks and called police. The girl had wandered there from the hospital where she had been dropped.

Summers, who has a distinctive tattoo of a ghoulish face on his right arm, has arrests dating back to 2002, police said. Among them are robbery, grand theft auto, possession of explosives and kidnapping, authorities said.

Police said they had no details on the prior kidnapping case.

Summers was released from prison in July on a petty theft conviction as part of a state law designed to ease crowding in state prisons. He also spent six days behind bars in January on a probation violation.

Summers last checked in with his probation officer at some point earlier this month and had been complying with his release terms, police said. He is known to frequent the area where the kidnapping took place.

The Los Angeles Times reported that law enforcement sources said the girl was sexually assaulted. The Associated Press does not identify victims of sexual assault. Summers isn't a registered sex offender, police said.

Albanese said Summers had been arrested four years ago for investigation of battery that involved child annoying, but no other details were provided.

Summers has family in Southern California, according to police, and the FBI said it will obtain a warrant for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution if authorities determine he has fled the state.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/la-police-id-suspect-girls-abduction-case-223900956.html

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Adrian Heath: political conservative, artistic radical | Fitzrovia News

Adrian Heath, by Jane Rye. Published by Lund Humphries

Reviewed by Max Neufeld

Ascending Forms, Oil on canvas painted in 1951 by Adrian Heath

The publication of this copiously illustrated monograph on Adrian Heath (1920-1992) is an important event. It recognises and describes Adrian?s major, but still neglected, role in post war British Art.

After finding his feet following three years as a prisoner of war, Adrian conciously became an abstract painter through the study of art theory and intellectual conviction.?As he put it: ?I no longer work from a visual experience but towards one.?

In the early 1950s a group of like minded artists coalesced around Victor Pasmore including Anthony Hill, Kenneth and Mary Martin, and Adrian Heath. As so often in his life Adrian became the active promotor of the group and it was at his flat in 28 Charlotte Street that the first of three exhibitions was held in 1952. They called their work ?Constructed abstract art?.?

Adrian subsequently separated from the group as he was the only one to go on painting while the others created constructions. Adrian developed as an artist over the years and painted many beautiful paintings but there is no doubt that the early- to mid-1950s were his most innovative and important period. During this time his painting had a particular intellectual rigueur and tension.

In his subsequent development particularly the 1970s and 1980s his work became more sensuous with the appearance of abstracted human form in his pictures.

Adrian was in many ways a contradiction: politically conservative and establishment and a member of the Beefsteak Club, but artistically a radical. He believed passionately in the social value of art and in his abstract painting pursued an unpopular aesthetic. He never sought to be fashionable. With his wide knowledge of art theory and related philosophy he was an intellectual but in a country where intellectuals are suspect he carried his knowledge lightly.?He had an encyclopedic knowledge of 19th Century French painting.

In recent years Adrian?s work, particularly that of the 1950s, has become more sought after and it is to be hoped that this in depth?study of his work will further encourage recognition of his importance in a key period of British art and that he will at last be given the long overdue major retrospective at the Tate.

Available from?Ashgate Publishing.

This article was first published in Fitzrovia News no. 127, December 2012.

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Source: http://news.fitzrovia.org.uk/2013/03/31/adrian-heath-political-conservative-artistic-radical/

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Analysis: NKorea threat may be more bark than bite

University students punch the air as they march through Kim Il Sung Square in downtown Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, March 29, 2013. Tens of thousands of North Koreans turned out for the mass rally at the main square in Pyongyang in support of their leader Kim Jong Un's call to arms. Placards read: ?Let?s crush the puppet traitor group? and ?Let?s rip the puppet traitors to death!? (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin)

University students punch the air as they march through Kim Il Sung Square in downtown Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, March 29, 2013. Tens of thousands of North Koreans turned out for the mass rally at the main square in Pyongyang in support of their leader Kim Jong Un's call to arms. Placards read: ?Let?s crush the puppet traitor group? and ?Let?s rip the puppet traitors to death!? (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin)

North Koreans punch the air during a rally at Kim Il Sung Square in downtown Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, March 28, 2013. Tens of thousands of North Koreans turned out for the mass rally at the main square in Pyongyang in support of their leader Kim Jong Un's call to arms. The placard reads: "U.S. forces, get out!" (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin)

North Korean army officers punch the air as they chant slogans during a rally at Kim Il Sung Square in downtown Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, March 28, 2013. Thousands of North Koreans turned out for the mass rally at the main square in Pyongyang in support of their leader Kim Jong Un's call to arms. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin)

North Koreans gather during a rally at Kim Il Sung Square in downtown Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, March 28, 2013. Tens of thousands of North Koreans turned out for the mass rally at the main square in Pyongyang in support of their leader Kim Jong Un's call to arms. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? Across North Korea, soldiers are gearing up for battle and shrouding their jeeps and vans with camouflage netting. Newly painted signboards and posters call for "death to the U.S. imperialists" and urge the people to fight with "arms, not words."

But even as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is issuing midnight battle cries to his generals to ready their rockets, he and his million-man army know full well that a successful missile strike on U.S. targets would be suicide for the outnumbered, out-powered North Korean regime.

Despite the hastening drumbeat of warfare ? seemingly bringing the region to the very brink of conflict with threats and provocations ? Pyongyang aims to force Washington to the negotiating table, pressure the new president in Seoul to change policy on North Korea, and build unity inside the communist country without triggering a full-blown war.

North Korea wants to draw attention to the tenuousness of the armistice designed to maintain peace on the Korean Peninsula, a truce Pyongyang recently announced it would no longer honor as it warned that war could break out at any time.

In July, it will be 60 years since North Korea and China signed an armistice with the U.S. and the United Nations to bring an end to three years of fighting that cost millions of lives. The designated Demilitarized Zone has evolved into the most heavily guarded border in the world.

It was never intended to be a permanent border. But six decades later, North and South remain divided, with Pyongyang feeling abandoned by the South Koreans in the quest for reunification and threatened by the Americans.

In that time, South Korea has blossomed from a poor, agrarian nation of peasants into the world's 15th largest economy while North Korea is struggling to find a way out of a Cold War chasm that has left it with a per capita income on par with sub-Saharan Africa.

The Chinese troops who fought alongside the North Koreans have long since left. But 28,500 American troops are still stationed in South Korea and 50,000 more are in nearby Japan. For weeks, the U.S. and South Korea have been showing off their military might with a series of joint exercises that Pyongyang sees a rehearsal for invasion.

On Thursday, the U.S. military confirmed that those drills included two nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bombers that can unload the U.S. Air Force's largest conventional bomb ? a 30,000-pound super bunker buster ? powerful enough to destroy North Korea's web of underground military tunnels.

It was a flexing of military muscle by Washington, perhaps aimed not only at Pyongyang but at Beijing as well.

In Pyongyang, Kim Jong Un reacted swiftly, calling an emergency meeting of army generals and ordering them to be prepared to strike if the U.S. actions continue. A photo distributed by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency showed Kim in a military operations room with maps detailing a "strike plan" behind him in a very public show of supposedly sensitive military strategy.

North Korea cites the U.S. military threat as a key reason behind its need to build nuclear weapons, and has poured a huge chunk of its small national budget into defense, science and technology. In December, scientists launched a satellite into space on the back of a long-range rocket using technology that could easily be converted for missiles; in February, they tested an underground nuclear device as part of a mission to build a bomb they can load on a missile capable of reaching the U.S.

However, what North Korea really wants is legitimacy in the eyes of the U.S. ? and a peace treaty. Pyongyang wants U.S. troops off Korean soil, and the bombs and rockets are more of an expensive, dangerous safety blanket than real firepower. They are the only real playing card North Korea has left, and the bait they hope will bring the Americans to the negotiating table.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said North Korea's "bellicose rhetoric" would only deepen its international isolation, and that the U.S. has both the capability and willingness to defend its interests in the region.

Narushige Michishita, director of the Security and International Studies Program at Japan's National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, isn't convinced North Korea is capable of attacking Guam, Hawaii or the U.S. mainland. He says Pyongyang hasn't successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile.

But its medium-range Rodong missiles, with a range of about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers), are "operational and credible" and could reach U.S. bases in Japan, he says.

More likely than such a strike, however, is a smaller-scale incident, perhaps off the Koreas' western coast, that would not provoke the Americans to unleash their considerable firepower. For years, the waters off the west coast have been a battleground for naval skirmishes between the two Koreas because the North has never recognized the maritime border drawn unilaterally by the U.N.

As threatening as Kim's call to arms may sound, its main target audience may be the masses at home in North Korea.

For months, the masterminds of North Korean propaganda have pinpointed this year's milestone Korean War anniversary as a prime time to play up Kim's military credibility as well as to push for a peace treaty. By creating the impression that a U.S. attack is imminent, the regime can foster a sense of national unity and encourage the people to rally around their new leader.

Inside Pyongyang, much of the military rhetoric feels like theatrics. It's not unusual to see people toting rifles in North Korea, where soldiers and checkpoints are a fixture in the heavily militarized society. But more often than not in downtown Pyongyang, the rifle stashed in a rucksack is a prop and the "soldier" is a dancer, one of the many performers rehearsing for a Korean War-themed extravaganza set to debut later this year.

More than 100,000 soldiers, students and ordinary workers were summoned Friday to Kim Il Sung Square in downtown Pyongyang to pump their fists in support of North Korea's commander in chief. But elsewhere, it was business as usual at restaurants and shops, and farms and factories, where the workers have heard it all before.

"Tensions rise almost every year around the time the U.S.-South Korean drills take place, but as soon as those drills end, things go back to normal and people put those tensions behind them quite quickly," said Sung Hyun-sang, the South Korean president of a clothing maker operating in the North Korean border town of Kaesong. "I think and hope that this time won't be different."

And in a telling sign that even the North Koreans don't expect war, the national airline, Air Koryo, is adding flights to its spring lineup and preparing to host the scores of tourists they expect to flock to Pyongyang despite the threats issuing forth from the Supreme Command.

War or no war, it seems Pyongyang remains open for business.

___

Lee is chief of AP's bureaus in Pyongyang, North Korea, and Seoul, South Korea. She can be followed on Twitter at twitter.com/newsjean. Eric Talmadge in Tokyo contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-03-29-NKorea's%20Battle%20Cries/id-63ac49854e1746d59248a06ab25783ca

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Brain scans might predict future criminal behavior

Friday, March 29, 2013

A new study conducted by The Mind Research Network in Albuquerque, N.M., shows that neuroimaging data can predict the likelihood of whether a criminal will reoffend following release from prison.

The paper, which is to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, studied impulsive and antisocial behavior and centered on the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a portion of the brain that deals with regulating behavior and impulsivity.

The study demonstrated that inmates with relatively low anterior cingulate activity were twice as likely to reoffend than inmates with high-brain activity in this region.

"These findings have incredibly significant ramifications for the future of how our society deals with criminal justice and offenders," said Dr. Kent A. Kiehl, who was senior author on the study and is director of mobile imaging at MRN and an associate professor of psychology at the University of New Mexico. "Not only does this study give us a tool to predict which criminals may reoffend and which ones will not reoffend, it also provides a path forward for steering offenders into more effective targeted therapies to reduce the risk of future criminal activity."

The study looked at 96 adult male criminal offenders aged 20-52 who volunteered to participate in research studies. This study population was followed over a period of up to four years after inmates were released from prison.

"These results point the way toward a promising method of neuroprediction with great practical potential in the legal system," said Dr. Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Stillman Professor of Practical Ethics in the Philosophy Department and the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University, who collaborated on the study. "Much more work needs to be done, but this line of research could help to make our criminal justice system more effective."

The study used the Mind Research Network's Mobile Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) System to collect neuroimaging data as the inmate volunteers completed a series of mental tests.

"People who reoffended were much more likely to have lower activity in the anterior cingulate cortices than those who had higher functioning ACCs," Kiehl said. "This means we can see on an MRI a part of the brain that might not be working correctly -- giving us a look into who is more likely to demonstrate impulsive and anti-social behavior that leads to re-arrest."

The anterior cingulate cortex of the brain is "associated with error processing, conflict monitoring, response selection, and avoidance learning," according to the paper. People who have this area of the brain damaged have been "shown to produce changes in disinhibition, apathy, and aggressiveness. Indeed, ACC-damaged patients have been classed in the 'acquired psychopathic personality' genre."

Kiehl says he is working on developing treatments that increase activity within the ACC to attempt to treat the high-risk offenders.

###

You can view the paper by clicking here: http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1219302110.

Duke University: http://www.duke.edu

Thanks to Duke University for this article.

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

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127523/Brain_scans_might_predict_future_criminal_behavior

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How to build a very large star

Mar. 27, 2013 ? Stars ten times as massive as the Sun, or more, should not exist: as they grow, they tend to push away the gas they feed on, starving their own growth. Scientists have been struggling to figure out how some stars overcome this hurdle.

Now, a group of researchers led by two astronomers at the University of Toronto suggests that baby stars may grow to great mass if they happen to be born within a corral of older stars ?with these surrounding stars favorably arranged to confine and thus feed gas to the younger ones in their midst. The astronomers have seen hints of this collective feeding, or technically ?convergent constructive feedback,? in a giant cloud of gas and dust called Westerhout 3 (W3), located 6,500 light years from us. Their results are published in the upcoming month in The Astrophysical Journal.

?This observation may lift the veil on the formation of the most massive stars which remains, so far, poorly understood,? says Alana Rivera-Ingraham, who led the study while she was a graduate student in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Toronto, Canada, and is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Plan?tologie in Toulouse, France.

To study the formation of high-mass stars, Rivera-Ingraham and collaborators used high-quality and high-resolution far-infrared images from a space telescope launched by the European Space Agency in 2009 ?the Herschel Space Observatory. This telescope?s two cameras recorded light that is not visible to the naked eye, spanning a range from infrared radiation partway to the microwave region. Exploiting these cameras, scientists including Peter Martin, Professor in the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Toronto, created the HOBYS Key Programme to study the birth of very massive stars in nearby giant clouds of gas and dust in our own Galaxy, including W3. Research on HOBYS at the University of Toronto is supported in part by the Canadian Space Agency and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Scientists track the regions of the gas cloud where stars are about to form by mapping the density of dust and its temperature, looking for the most dense regions where the dust is shielded and cold. ?We can now see where stars are about to be born before it even happens, because we can detect the cold dust condensations,? says Martin. ?Until Herschel, we could only dream of doing that.?

Stars are born in the denser parts of gas clouds, where the gas gets compressed enough by gravity to trigger nuclear fusion. The more massive the newborn star, the more visible and ultraviolet light it emits, heating up its surroundings ?including the dust studied by Herschel.

?The radiation during the birth of high-mass stars is so intense that it tends to destroy and push away the material from which they need to feed for further growth,? says Rivera-Ingraham. Scientists have modeled this process and found that stars about eight times the mass of our Sun would stop growing because they run out of gas.

But astronomers do see stars that are more massive than this theoretical limit. And by looking at W3, Rivera-Ingraham and her collaborators have found clues to how this might be possible.

The researchers noticed that the densest region of the cloud, in the upper left of the image, was surrounded by a congregation of old high-mass stars. It is as if previous generations of large stars enabled the next ones to grow also massive, and close to each other. The scientists suggest that this is no coincidence: each generation of stars might have created the right conditions for another generation to grow comparably or even more massive in its midst, ultimately leading to the formation of a rare, massive cluster of high-mass stars

Like young high-mass stars, older stars also radiate and push gas away. If such older stars happen to be arranged favorably around a major reservoir of gas, they can compress it enough to ignite new stars. The process is similar to the way a group of street cleaners armed with leaf blowers can stack leaves in a pile ?by pushing from all sides at the same time. This corralling of dense gas can give birth to new, high-mass stars.

A large newborn star will push its food source away, but if it is surrounded by enough large stars, these can keep nudging gas back at it. With such collective feeding at play, the young star could grow very massive indeed.

Next on the to-do list of the astronomers is to test their idea by simulating the situation with computer modeling, by measuring gas motions, and by comparing their results with data from other giant clouds studied by HOBYS. Only then will they be able to discern the mechanism ?collective feeding or not? that gives rise to high-mass stars in these giant clouds.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Toronto, via Newswise.

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Journal Reference:

1. A. Rivera-Ingraham, P. G. Martin, D. Polychroni, F. Motte, N. Schneider, S. Bontemps, M. Hennemann, A. Menshchikov, Q. Nguyen Luong, Ph. Andre, D. Arzoumanian, J. -Ph. Bernard, J. Di Francesco, D. Elia, C. Fallscheer, T. Hill, J. Z. Li, V. Minier, S. Pezzuto, A. Roy, K. L. J. Rygl, S. I. Sadavoy, L. Spinoglio, G. J. White and C. D. Wilson. Herschel Observations of the W3 GMC: Clues to the Formation of Clusters of High-Mass Stars. The Astrophysical Journal, 2013 (in press) [link]

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/3bB0L5Phh6g/130327092340.htm

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What?s new and what?s not for women in war? A Yahoo! News chat

Last week, during his Ryan Seacrest-hosted special on The CW, Justin Timberlake said that music is the "most special" hat of the many hats he wears as an entertainer. Now, we can't psychoanalyze JT?as much as everyone may have wanted to during his year-long courtship of the world's attention. But, to be sure, music has given this man a lot: Timberlake's pop-star status has allowed him to pursue the very side projects that have transformed into his main career focus, as modern mega-celebrities are want to do with their "brand maintenance" these days. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/what%E2%80%99s-new-and-what%E2%80%99s-not-for-women-in-war--a-yahoo--news-chat-171220929.html

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Father of modern health and fitness passes! | St. Lucia STAR

The man I hold most responsible for who and what I am today died from heart failure on Saturday morning at a Los Angeles hospital. I had first encountered him, at any rate spiritually, when I was a little over ten years old but already had been irrevocably influenced by his ?you too can have a body like mine? advertisements at the back of one of my favorite Marvel comic books.

We were actually introduced in the early Sixties, after my London-based native-Barbadian friend Earl Maynard and I had been chosen by former Mr. America Ludwig Shusterich, head of the UK branch of the Montreal headquartered International Federation of Bodybuilders, to participate in our sport?s most prestigious annual event: the Mr. Olympia-Mr. Universe-Mr. America show at New York?s Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Soon after we?d checked in at our Manhattan hotel our host had showed up with popular magazine columnist and chiropractor Dr. Richard Tyler to invite Earl and me to a steak dinner at some plush Manhattan restaurant, probably now buried under the fall-out from the world economic crisis.

What an unforgettable evening we had with Dick Tyler cracking us up with his blistering wit, and one of the most famous men in the world turning out to be a regular Joe who liked nothing better than telling and retelling inspiring tales about such legendary strongmen as Louis Cyr, Eugene Sandow, the Saxon Brothers, George Jowett and Sigmund Klein, to say nothing of the day?s superstars, all of whom he claimed as students, among them Clarence Ross, Jack Delinger, Leroy Colbert, Dave Draper, Harold Poole and Larry Scott. The two last mentioned were scheduled to compete the following evening in the first-ever Mr. Olympia, after which I renamed Scott ?the eighth wonder of the world!?

(Now considered bodybuilding trivia: my Bajan friend had sneaked one peep inside Larry?s dressing room and decided on the spot he wanted no part of the great Scott.? ?In his own best interests he chose?quite contrary to our long-established arrangements?to forget the Olympia and instead compete in the Mr. Universe event. I lost to him by a mere quarter point. We continue even today to laugh about the way our first visit to New York had turned out but the lesson I learned on the remembered night remains indelibly etched on my soul.

But then, this is supposed to be about Joe Weider, RIP. Suffice it to say it didn?t take long before we were close friends. Indeed, my name eventually became synonymous with the UK branch of Weider International, until our American boss in his undisputed wisdom decided I would be far more useful to his company operating ?at his elbow?a dream offer too good to refuse, and I?ve never once regretted readily accepting: Editor-in-Chief of his flagship magazine Muscle Builder.

Many years later we relocated from a relative warehouse in Union City, New Jersey to a specially constructed plush building on Erwin Street, Woodland Hills, California. Already resident in nearby Santa Monica and taking his first baby steps to international fame was a young Austrian named Arnold Schwarzenegger, whom I had introduced to Weider several months before I transferred from the UK. (In due course I would also introduce Joe to two Saint Lucian visitors: Dave Samuels and Jeff Fedee, who were appropriately awed by all they saw first-hand at Weider Headquarters, including a life-size painting of a fellow Saint Lucian in the lobby!)

Together Joe and I traveled the world, usually for show purposes. He was always a controversial figure, for diverse reasons I need not go into here?obits in the New York Times and other newspapers feature some of them?but nearly everyone agreed he was among the most humble of men. At one point, after some over-muscled mindless ingrates had physically attacked him in his office and I?d had reason to call in the cops, Joe suddenly agreed to forget the whole incident, like it never happened.

Talk about feeling sheepish! Nevertheless I unforgettably learned on the particular occasion that forgiveness does more for the forgiver than the forgiven. Also never to be forgotten was Joe?s response when I bitterly complained that he had been too easy on his attackers. With a casual shrug and raised eyebrows, he said: ?Look at it this way, Ricky, if I have to be our sport?s Jesus . . . ? For me, that was a helluva statement, especially coming from a Jew!

Quite obviously I will miss Joe, never mind I had not set eyes on him for the greater part of two decades. For some of those years we talked on the phone, wrote each other letters and I promised at his expense to hook up at this or that show in Vegas.

He was always generous to me, and not necessarily in terms pecuniary. And while many have written flatteringly about my personal contributions to bodybuilding, I have never forgotten it was Joe Weider who handed me the opportunity to hone my skills as a writer. Thanks to Joe, I had the good fortune to work closely with some of America?s most respected photographers (Zeller, Lund, Neveux, Balik) male and female physique superstars (including my wife Mae) and talented editors whom Joe had somehow enticed away from magazines as prestigious as Esquire. (There was a time, believe it or not, when the Weider magazines actually eclipsed Playboy sales?no mean feat!)

Often, after I?d handed in what I considered one of my better pieces and could hardly wait to hear the boss? review, I would be disappointed to learn he?d not had time to read it. His usual excuse: ?Ricky, your writing is like a gourmet meal, why don?t you allow me to sit down and enjoyeee it at the weekend, at my own pace!? I?ve never forgotten the unique sound of that word as it fell out of Joe?s mouth. Enjoyeee!

Pure heaven, I tell you. What?s more, I knew he meant it.

Not that he always took such pleasure from everything I wrote for his magazines over 30-something years. On a particularly memorable occasion he took me to lunch (he often did, truth be told, and paid?contrary to his cheapskate reputation!) so we might ?have a little talk.? However, for most of the meal, he was near silent. And then, coffee served, he addressed me without the smallest preamble: ?Ricky, why do you always have to argue whenever I ask you to write something you don?t agree with? Why can?t you be like Armand [Tanny, a longtime Weider columnist and former Mr. America, alas deceased). He writes whatever I ask. He doesn?t have to like it. Now that?s a real pro for you.?

I?m afraid my response was typically wiseass. ?And I take it you know that pro is not only short for professional,? I said. ?It?s also short for prostitute!?

Joe?s reaction? Zero. It was as if I had not spoken. ?As I think about it, he probably never heard a word of what I?d said. He had told me what was on his mind; time to move on. Besides, he knew me well enough to be certain I would remember his advice, regardless of my smarty-pants response.

Another time, the morning after we?d had a heated exchange in the presence of a visiting friend Joe wanted to impress (I had been unaware of this until it was too late) about the Israelis selling arms to apartheid South Africa, the boss summoned me to his inner sanctum at Erwin Street. ?Ricky,? he said, ?you?re a pretty smart guy. That?s obvious. So why do you have to prove all the time how clever you are??

Caught totally off guard, I could only ask: ?What have I done now, Joe??

?About yesterday evening,? he said. ?Sometimes it?s good to let the other guy win an argument?even if you know he?s talking rubbish. The guy?s gonna go home and he?ll be thinking all the way about what went on earlier, and then he?ll say, ?That Ricky Wayne, such a nice guy. He let me win the debate even though he was right and I was wrong!? ?

How to react to something like that? I said, ?Okay, Joe, I?ll keep that in mind.? Of course, in 2 Corinthians 11-19, Paul had said something similar: ?Ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye are yourselves wise.? But then Paul was being purposefully sarcastic!

I?m sure Arnold would have no problem acknowledging that without Joe Weider there would have been no Terminator as we know it, no Governor of California ?named Schwarzenegger. I certainly have good cause to say I have absolutely no idea what my own life might?ve been like without Joe?s lasting influence?and his unlimited patience.

I leave to speak for themselves the other thousands, no, millions, the world over, (his magazines were at one time translated into 36 different languages, including Arabic) whose lives were in one way or another touched by this man who, with his brother Ben (deceased) had dropped out of school at 12 to become multi-millionaire magazine publishers and pioneers in the business of health promotion.

It remains to be said that bodybuilders of color owe Joe Weider a special debt: until he and Ben started publishing their magazines and created the IFBB, the winners of the AAU Mr. America contest promoted by Bob Hoffman?s outfit York Barbell Club, were all white. Without Joe Weider, I dare to say, such legendary stars as George Paine, Leroy Colbert, Arthur Harris, Sergio Oliva, Harold Poole and Lee Haney might never have taken their rightful place at the front of the bodybuilding bus, let alone appeared on the covers of their sport?s magazines.

Joe Weider leaves to mourn his second wife Betty and his daughter from his first marriage Lydia. Joe Weider was 93.

Source: http://news.stluciastar.com/father-of-modern-health-and-fitness-passes/

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Is Early Baldness in Blacks a Clue to Prostate Cancer ... - Health.com

By Kathleen Doheny
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, March 26 (HealthDay News) ? Black men with early hair loss may have a heightened risk of developing prostate cancer, researchers report.

This study of more than 500 black men found that those ?who have baldness by age 30 are more likely to develop prostate cancer,? said researcher Charnita Zeigler-Johnson, a research assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania?s Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, in Philadelphia.

Researchers have looked at baldness as a potential risk factor for prostate cancer for years, but studies to date have produced conflicting findings. The new research is believed to be the first to focus only on blacks, Zeigler-Johnson said. Blacks in the United States get prostate cancer more often than other men and are more than twice as likely to die of the disease.

For the study, published in the April issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, the researchers evaluated 318 men with prostate cancer and compared them to 219 men without the cancer. All were enrolled in the Study of Clinical Outcomes, Risk and Ethnicity between 1998 and 2010.

The men were asked about their hair loss, if any, at age 30. Options included: none, frontal (at the forehead or temples) and vertex (crown). They also supplied information on their medical history.

If the men reported baldness by 30, ?their likelihood of developing prostate cancer was increased by about 70 percent, compared to men with no baldness at age 30,? Zeigler-Johnson said.

While baldness of any type boosted risk, frontal baldness in younger men was most significant. ?If they had frontal baldness at 30, men were 2.6 times more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer before age 60, compared to men at age 30 with no baldness,? said Zeigler-Johnson.

For men diagnosed before age 60, frontal baldness was also strongly linked with more advanced and more aggressive cancers, she found.

Overall, 20 percent of those with cancer had baldness by age 30, but 13 percent of the group without cancer had baldness as well.

While the study found a link between early balding and prostate cancer, it didn?t prove a cause-and-effect relationship. It does suggest a need for further study, however, experts noted.

This year, the American Cancer Society predicts about 238,000 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed and that more than 29,000 men will die of the cancer.

Besides race, known risk factors for prostate cancer include older age and a family history of the disease.

Zeigler-Johnson isn?t sure how to explain the association between prostate cancer and baldness, but said male hormones might play a role. ?Perhaps it is related to androgens, in particular to dihydrotestosterone [DHT], a metabolite of testosterone,? she said.

?We know an increase in DHT increases prostate cancer occurrence and progression,? she said. ?But it is also related to thinning of the hair follicles.? That thinning makes it difficult for hair to survive.

Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, said the study provides ?more evidence of a link that has been talked about since the ?70s.?

The finding about balding in younger men is the newest information, he said.

Another expert, Dr. Lionel Banez, a research investigator at Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Durham, N.C., said the new findings are important ?because this is the largest cohort of purely African-American men published which examines the link between baldness and prostate cancer.?

However, it is ?quite premature? to use the findings to make any clinical recommendations about screening for the cancer, he said.

If other research confirms the link, Zeigler-Johnson said doctors might decide to follow and screen balding men more closely for prostate cancer.

One screening test for prostate cancer is the PSA (prostate-specific antigen) blood test, which measures normal and cancerous cells in the prostate gland. When PSA levels are high, it sometimes indicates cancer.

?We still do not know if prostate cancer screening saves lives,? said Brawley. Currently, the American Cancer Society recommends informing men of average risk, without symptoms, of the known pitfalls (such as false ?positive? results) and potential benefits (early detection) of prostate cancer screening beginning at age 50. They then can make a decision about screening.

More information

To learn more about prostate cancer, visit the American Cancer Society.

Source: http://news.health.com/2013/03/26/is-early-baldness-in-blacks-a-clue-to-prostate-cancer/

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Old mice, young blood: Rejuvenating blood of mice by reprogramming stem cells that produce blood

Mar. 25, 2013 ? The blood of young and old people differs. In an article published recently in the scientific journal Blood, a research group at Lund University in Sweden explain how they have succeeded in rejuvenating the blood of mice by reversing, or re-programming, the stem cells that produce blood.

Stem cells form the origin of all the cells in the body and can divide an unlimited number of times. When stem cells divide, one cell remains a stem cell and the other matures into the type of cell needed by the body, for example a blood cell.*

"Our ageing process is a consequence of changes in our stem cells over time," explained Martin Wahlestedt, a doctoral student in stem cell biology at the Faculty of Medicine at Lund University, and principal author of the article.

"Some of the changes are irreversible, for example damage to the stem cells' DNA, and some could be gradual changes, known as epigenetic changes, that are not necessarily irreversible, even if they are maintained through multiple cell divisions. When the stem cells are re-programmed, as we have done, the epigenetic changes are cancelled."**

The discovery that forms the basis for the research group's method was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine last year.

The composition of blood is one example of how it ages; blood from a young person contains a certain mix of B- and T-lymphocytes and myeloid cells.***

"In older people, the number of B- and T-lymphocytes falls, while the number of myeloid cells increases," said Martin Wahlestedt.

When an elderly person is affected by leukemia, the cancer often has its origin in the myeloid cells, of which the elderly have more. Being able to 're-start' the blood, as Martin and his colleagues have done in their studies on mice, therefore presents interesting possibilities for future treatment.

"There is a lot of focus on how stem cells could be used in different treatments, but all that they are routinely used for in clinical work today is bone marrow transplants for diseases where the blood and immune systems have to be regenerated," said Martin Wahlestedt, continuing:

"A critical factor that gives an indication of whether the procedure is going to work or not is the age of the bone marrow donor. By reversing the development of the stem cells in the bone marrow, it may be possible to avoid negative age-related changes."

Even if the composition of the blood in old and young mice is remarkably like that in young and elderly people, Martin Wahlestedt stressed that the science is still only at the stage of basic research, far from a functioning treatment. The research group is pleased with the results, because they indicate that it may not primarily be damage to DNA that causes blood to age, but rather the reversible epigenetic changes.

*About stem cells:

There are different types of stem cells. Embryonic stem cells, which can be extracted from an embryo at an early stage, have the capacity to develop into all types of cell. Stem cells are also found in adults, where they have more limited development potential, but can divide in principle an unlimited number of times. For example, blood cell-forming stem cells in bone marrow create all types of blood cell and stem cells in the brain create many different types of brain cell.

**About epigenetics:

Epigenetics is a term that has historically been used to describe the aspects of genetics that cannot be explained by the composition of an individual's DNA alone. For tissue and organs to form, a number of different types of cell must be developed. This happens through the activation and de-activation of different genes. When a cell formed in this manner then divides again, the gene expression can be maintained in the daughter cells. This is referred to as 'epigenetic inheritance'. The epigenetic mechanisms, or which genes are activated or de-activated, can be affected by factors such as age, chemicals, drugs and diet.

*** About the composition of blood:

B- and T-lymphocytes and myeloid cells are all white blood cells. Lymphocytes, as the name suggests, are particularly common in the lymphatic system. T-lymphocytes patrol the body and recognise a specific bacteria or virus. B-lymphocytes 'remember' old infections and can quickly be activated again if required. This memory capacity is the mechanism behind immunity. The myeloid cells belong to the blood system's 'big eaters' -- they neutralise damaged tissue, dead cells, and to a certain extent also bacteria.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Lund University.

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Journal Reference:

1. M. Wahlestedt, G. L. Norddahl, G. Sten, A. Ugale, M.-A. Micha Frisk, R. Mattsson, T. Deierborg, M. Sigvardsson, D. Bryder. An epigenetic component of hematopoietic stem cell aging amenable to reprogramming into a young state. Blood, 2013; DOI: 10.1182/blood-2012-11-469080

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/YJJ0QkbuMwQ/130325093659.htm

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Speed of light may not be fixed, scientists suggest; Ephemeral vacuum particles induce speed-of-light fluctuations

Mar. 25, 2013 ? Two forthcoming European Physical Journal D papers challenge established wisdom about the nature of vacuum. In one paper, Marcel Urban from the University of Paris-Sud, located in Orsay, France and his colleagues identified a quantum level mechanism for interpreting vacuum as being filled with pairs of virtual particles with fluctuating energy values. As a result, the inherent characteristics of vacuum, like the speed of light, may not be a constant after all, but fluctuate.

Meanwhile, in another study, Gerd Leuchs and Luis L. S?nchez-Soto, from the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Light in Erlangen, Germany, suggest that physical constants, such as the speed of light and the so-called impedance of free space, are indications of the total number of elementary particles in nature.

Vacuum is one of the most intriguing concepts in physics. When observed at the quantum level, vacuum is not empty. It is filled with continuously appearing and disappearing particle pairs such as electron-positron or quark-antiquark pairs. These ephemeral particles are real particles, but their lifetimes are extremely short. In their study, Urban and colleagues established, for the first time, a detailed quantum mechanism that would explain the magnetisation and polarisation of the vacuum, referred to as vacuum permeability and permittivity, and the finite speed of light. This finding is relevant because it suggests the existence of a limited number of ephemeral particles per unit volume in a vacuum.

As a result, there is a theoretical possibility that the speed of light is not fixed, as conventional physics has assumed. But it could fluctuate at a level independent of the energy of each light quantum, or photon, and greater than fluctuations induced by quantum level gravity. The speed of light would be dependent on variations in the vacuum properties of space or time. The fluctuations of the photon propagation time are estimated to be on the order of 50 attoseconds per square meter of crossed vacuum, which might be testable with the help of new ultra-fast lasers.Leuchs and Sanchez-Soto, on the other hand, modelled virtual charged particle pairs as electric dipoles responsible for the polarisation of the vacuum.

They found that a specific property of vacuum called the impedance, which is crucial to determining the speed of light, depends only on the sum of the square of the electric charges of particles but not on their masses. If their idea is correct, the value of the speed of light combined with the value of vacuum impedance gives an indication of the total number of charged elementary particles existing in nature. Experimental results support this hypothesis.

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Journal References:

1. Marcel Urban, Fran?ois Couchot, Xavier Sarazin, Arache Djannati-Atai. The quantum vacuum as the origin of the speed of light. The European Physical Journal D, 2013; 67 (3) DOI: 10.1140/epjd/e2013-30578-7
2. Gerd Leuchs, Luis L. S?nchez-Soto. A sum rule for charged elementary particles. The European Physical Journal D, 2013; 67 (3) DOI: 10.1140/epjd/e2013-30577-8

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/OKTioXXFUZ8/130325111154.htm

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Ryerson University engineering student group under fire over half-naked romp through slush

A Ryerson University engineering tradition has drawn sharp criticism after a video of half-naked students crawling through slush surfaced on YouTube.

Ryerson engineering students say school president Sheldon Levy is overreacting by likening an annual Ryerson Engineering Student Society event to a form of hazing.

Levy has condemned the event as ?completely unacceptable? and not representative of the ?principles of civil society, and the positive and supportive culture of Ryerson.?

The RESS says the ?voluntary? event builds school spirit, helps engineering students bond, and even calling it an ?initiation? is wrong.

Every spring, engineering students who wish to become frosh week leaders in the coming fall can take part to earn their ?covies,? a pair of engineering coveralls worn during orientation week.

? Ryerson students can watch school?s hockey games live on their phones

Half-naked leader hopefuls frolic around campus and ?swim? through Lake Devo, a shallow man-made pond at the centre of campus, as past leaders egg them on. They leap-frog each other, join a conga line to Yonge and Dundas Square and collect signatures of support to be a leader.

Last week, former leaders carrying squirt guns led hopefuls, many dressed only in underwear, through a slush-filled Lake Devo and ordered them to crawl. In the YouTube video, snowballs can be seen hitting the hopefuls, and one former leader slaps the behind of a female student on all-fours.

Councillor Shelley Carroll, who was disgusted by the YouTube video, said the shame of not participating makes the event a form of hazing.

?They?re in this situation that makes it socially mandatory,? said Carroll, a former Toronto District School Board trustee. ?You do it or you?re ostracized.?

Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam called the antics captured on camera ?demeaning? to those involved.

?What the video revealed is already disturbing and I worry that perhaps other inappropriate acts between the students took place and there was no video camera,? she said.

Levy said he will be meeting with RESS representatives Monday to discuss the event and any further action that may be taken.

?The university is categorical in affirming it does not condone student conduct that demeans individuals,? Levy said in a statement. ?I am making clear our shock and anger in the face of this departure from dignity.?

Rose Ghamari, RESS president, said the event has been going on for at least seven years with no problems. Whether hopeful leaders participate or not, they still get their ?covies? and a chance to be frosh week leaders, she said.

?It?s an event to get them out of their comfort zone and show their engineering spirit,? said Ghamari. ?It was not intended to be hazing, that was not our intention.?

Ghamari said about 100 engineering students applied to be frosh leaders next school year, but only 50 or so took part in the ?spirit event? last week.

?We don?t refer to it as initiation,? she said. ?It?s more of a spirit event ? it?s not mandatory participation by any means and it?s just encouraged.?

She said the half-naked aspect is a tradition carried on by students. ?(We?re) not telling people to take off clothes,? she said. ?It?s just how people show up, it?s completely up to them.?

Ghamari said it?s unclear what consequences the student leader who slapped the behind of a junior student may face.

?We will be speaking with him and haven?t decided what action is required but it will be clearer once we meet with administration on Monday.?

Suzy Vader, 22, a fourth-year biomedical engineering student, participated in the event three years ago and chose to do so in her underwear.

?There was never any pressure to participate,? she said, adding no one made her take her clothes off. ?The engineers are an extremely friendly community and have never overstepped the line for my comfort.?

Gabriel Wright, 19, a first-year chemical engineering student, was at the event last week and is upset how it?s being portrayed.

?It was not a hazing,? he said. ?It?s completely optional and everyone there was smiling and having a good time. It was just a celebration.?

Wright, who applied to be a frosh week leader, watched the event but did not participate; he didn?t want to risk getting really sick by being half-naked in the -4C weather.

?It?s just something to look back on and say you did something crazy,? said Wright, who still got his coveralls. ?We do it because it?s fun ?literally, there?s no shame.?

But president Levy said ?there is no excuse for the completely unacceptable activities? at the event.

?Anyone who contends it is ?just fun? or ?builds community? has no place at Ryerson,? he said.

Torstar News

Source: http://www.thespec.com/news/ontario/article/908099--ryerson-university-engineering-student-group-under-fire-over-half-naked-romp-through-slush

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Ableton Push review: a dedicated controller for the Live faithful

MIDI might be a little long in the tooth as protocols go, but it's been the prevailing standard for getting music hardware and software to play nice pretty much since its inception. As such, the MIDI controller is a fairly established staple in professional and bedroom studios alike. The problem is they're generic by nature. They come in all shapes and sizes, but to be profitable, they need to appeal to a broad range of applications. Ableton clearly didn't think this arrangement was up to snuff, though, so it created Push -- a software controller built entirely for its popular Live production software. While there have been Live-specific controllers before -- some even officially endorsed by Ableton -- Push is a whole new beast. It's one that hopes to unite hardware and software in a way that an all-purpose controller never could.

Ableton also has lofty musical ambitions for Push: it claims it designed the hardware as an instrument in and of itself; something that lets you close the lid of the laptop and use to make music with, while not looking like you are checking your email. And, given that Ableton makes the software that it's building Push for, integration is understandably expected to be airtight. But how well does it work? Is it an instrument? Will it replace all your other controllers? Do you want one? Is it worth the $599 pre-order price? Will it blend? We've pushed ourselves to explore the device fully in an effort to find out (apart from that last question, of course).

Gallery: Ableton Push review

Filed under: Misc, Peripherals

Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/24/ableton-push-review/

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PST: Breaking down Dempsey's big goal vs. CR

The conditions in Commerce City meant moments of execution were going to be rare. The U.S. didn?t even have a good spell of possession until around the 14th minute, but it didn?t take long after that for the team to create the night?s only goal.

For Clint Dempsey, it is his the seventh goal of the 2014 qualifying cycle and the 32nd of his senior national team career. Only two back of Eric Wynalda for second on the U.S.?s scoring list, Dempsey goal rate is now the highest among the program?s top 10 all-time scorers.

The highlight picks up after Dempsey has received the ball from Graham Zusi, turned toward the middle of the field, and drawn two Costa Rican defenders. He plays the ball toward the left channel for Jozy Altidore as Michael Bradley surges from midfield. Between Herculez Gomez at the far left of the shot and Clint Dempsey now trailing the player, the U.S. has Costa Rica four-on-four and disorganized at they approach goal.

Altidore takes the ball with his left foot, moves it back onto his right, and looks to put his shot on goal. Four Costa Rican defenders have lined up to play the shot, and while right wing back?Cristian Gamboa has gotten back into the play, three U.S. attackers are going to have free runs on goal. If Altidore elected to pass, he?d be able to set up any of his teammates for a clear shot, but electing to get it on goal, the U.S. is set to claim any rebound Keylor Navas might give up.

A hard driven shot by Altidore never makes it on Navas. Roy Miller blocks the shot, but between Michael Bradley on the left and Clint Dempsey on the right, the U.S. is going to be able to convert any loose ball that doesn?t fly out of the box. Costa Rica?s defenders are left watching as the U.S. players who have continued their runs are in prime position of convert the chance.

Navas is on his back side as the ball falls right to Dempsey. In stride, Dempsey?s right footed one-timer meets an unprotected net, converting the game?s only goal.

Though Dempsey deserves full credit for both starting and finishing the play, Jozy Altidore?s part shouldn?t be ignored. While he did have options to pass to his right and left, Altidore did what teammates expect their strikers to do. He turned and drove the ball toward goal, his decisive act allowed Dempsey and Bradley to be equally decisive in their movement.

As a result, the U.S. was able to convert their only shot on goal, the team?s 1-0 victory vaulting them to second place in CONCACAF?s young final round.

(MORE: Images from the Colorado snow globe.)

Source: http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/23/clint-dempsey-goal-united-states-vs-costa-rica-usmnt-world-cup-qualitying-video-highlights/related/

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US, Afghanistan OK detention center transfer

FILE ? This March 23, 2011, file photo shows Afghan detainees through a wire mesh fence inside the Parwan detention facility near Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan. Saturday, March 23, 2013, the Pentagon said the U.S. has reached an agreement with the Afghanistan government to transfer the facility to Afghan control. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke with Afghan President Hamid Karzai Saturday as officials finalized the agreement after days of intense negotiations. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin, File)

FILE ? This March 23, 2011, file photo shows Afghan detainees through a wire mesh fence inside the Parwan detention facility near Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan. Saturday, March 23, 2013, the Pentagon said the U.S. has reached an agreement with the Afghanistan government to transfer the facility to Afghan control. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke with Afghan President Hamid Karzai Saturday as officials finalized the agreement after days of intense negotiations. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin, File)

FILE ? This Sept. 27, 2010, file photo reviewed by the U.S. military, shows a U.S. military guard walking a corridor between detainee cells at the Parwan detention facility near Bagram, north of Kabul, Afghanistan. Saturday, March 23, 2013, the Pentagon said the U.S. has reached an agreement with the Afghanistan government to transfer the facility to Afghan control. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke with Afghan President Hamid Karzai Saturday as officials finalized the agreement after days of intense negotiations. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File)

FILE ? In this March 23, 2011, file photo a U.S. military guard watches over detainee cells inside the Parwan detention facility near Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan. Saturday, March 23, 2013, the Pentagon said the U.S. has reached an agreement with the Afghanistan government to transfer the facility to Afghan control. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke with Afghan President Hamid Karzai Saturday as officials finalized the agreement after days of intense negotiations. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The U.S. has reached an agreement with the Afghanistan government to transfer the Parwan Detention Facility to Afghan control, the Pentagon said Saturday, two weeks after negotiations broke down over whether the U.S. would have the power to block the release of some detainees.

According to a senior U.S. official, a key element to the agreement is that the Afghans can invoke a procedure that insures prisoners considered dangerous would not be released from the detention center. The agreement also includes a provision that allows the two sides to work together to resolve any differences. The official lacked authorization to discuss the details of the agreement publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Transfer of the Parwan detention center on Monday is critical to the ongoing effort to gradually shift control of the country's security to the Afghans as the U.S. and allies move toward the full withdrawal of combat troops by the end of 2014.

Afghans demanded control of the center, but U.S. officials have worried that the most threatening detainees would be freed once the U.S. transferred control. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke with Afghan President Hamid Karzai Saturday as officials finalized the agreement after days of intense negotiations.

The senior official said U.S. and Afghan officials who are familiar with the detainees would meet to assess the potential danger of their release to coalition forces. The official said that more senior level officials could be brought in if there are disagreements but that to date the two sides have been able to agree without bringing in those higher authorities.

Disagreements over the detention facility, which also included whether Afghans can be held without trial, had thrown a pall over the ongoing negotiations for a bilateral security agreement that would govern the presence of U.S. forces in Afghanistan after 2014.

Currently, there is an Afghan administrator of the Parwan prison, but the Americans have power to veto the release of detainees. The prisoners held under American authority do not have the right to a trial because the U.S. considers them part of an ongoing conflict.

Pentagon press secretary George Little said Hagel "welcomed President Karzai's commitment that the transfer will be carried out in a way that ensures the safety of the Afghan people and coalition forces by keeping dangerous individuals detained in a secure and humane manner in accordance with Afghan law."

Last weekend Hagel spoke with Karzai, and officials said the two men agreed to resolve the thorny issue within a week.

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, has also been working to resolve the matter ? one of several divisive issues that soured relations between the U.S., its allies and the Afghans in recent weeks.

The U.S. had been scheduled to hold a ceremony marking the transfer of control two weeks ago, during Hagel's first visit to Afghanistan as defense secretary. That ceremony was called off after negotiations broke down.

In addition to disputes over the Parwan facility, the U.S.-led coalition and Afghans have wrangled over several other difficult issues. Last month, Karzai insisted that the coalition forces cease all airstrikes, after a NATO assault caused civilian casualties.

More recently, Karzai demanded that U.S. special operations forces leave Wardak province after allegations that U.S. commandos and their Afghan partners abused local citizens. Dunford has denied the charges.

Earlier this week, the two sides reached an agreement on the Wardak issue. Dunford agreed to remove a team of commandos from Wardak's Nirkh district and transition security of that area to the Afghans as soon as possible.

U.S. special operations forces would remain in other parts of the restive province, while the coalition continues to work to transition those areas also to the Afghans.

U.S. officials have made no final decision on how many troops might remain in Afghanistan after 2014, although they have said as many as many as 12,000 U.S. and coalition forces could remain.

There currently are 66,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, down from a 2010 peak of 100,000.

___

Lolita C. Baldor can be followed on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lbaldor

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-23-US-Afghanistan/id-1499db3a689a4c18ba6a073e6239febb

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Serotonin Receptors Offer Clues to New Antidepressants

Long-sought specificity on the shapes of serotonin binding sites could aid in the discovery of new drugs to combat depression, as well as in the study of consciousness

By Arran Frood and Nature magazine

Two studies have decoded the structure of two of the brain's serotonin receptors. Here shown is a receptor known as 1B with the migraine drug ergotamine (pink) locked into one of its binding pockets. Image: Chong Wang & Huixian Wu

Researchers have deciphered the molecular structures of two of the brain's crucial lock-and-key mechanisms. The two molecules are receptors for the natural neurotransmitter serotonin ? which regulates activities such as sleep, appetite and mood ? and could provide targets for future drugs to combat depression, migraines or obesity.?

?This is huge,? says Bryan Roth, a neuropharmacologist at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Medical School, and a co-author of the two studies published in Science today. ?Before this there was no crystal structure for any serotonin receptor. A lot of what was theoretical is now known with a great degree of certainty,? he says.

Scientists have been trying to decipher serotonin receptors for years. Armed with information on the atomic level, they might now be able to make breakthroughs in drug discovery and in understanding how the physical structures of the brain produce consciousness, says Roth.

Christoph Anacker, a neuropharmacologist at King's College London, agrees that the findings are important for drug discovery. ?These receptors are involved in so many conditions, especially depression, and knowing the molecular structures will help to develop more specific drugs and avoid the expression of undesired side effects.?

Chemical messengers
There are 14 different known serotonin receptors. The molecules lie on the outer membranes of nerve cells; when drugs or neurotransmitters lock into the receptors from outside the cell, they trigger the release of other chemicals inside the cell. Those chemicals ? which can be different depending on what drug or neurotransmitter has triggered them ? activate further hormones and metabolites, producing signaling cascades that are ultimately responsible for many aspects of the way we feel, perceive and behave.

Some drugs bind at more than one receptor, setting off not-fully-understood reactions that can produce unwanted side effects. To avoid this, researchers want to fine-tune drugs so that they activate only the desired signaling pathway.

Roth and his colleagues uncovered the receptor structures using X-ray crystallography, in which X-ray beams are fired at crystals of the compound, and the structure is deduced from how the beams scatter.

The teams focused on two receptors, called 1B and 2B. They found that the molecules had very similar structures in the areas where serotonin docks.

But in one area of the 1B receptor, the binding pocket was wider than in the 2B receptor. Although the difference was a mere 0.3 nanometers, about the width of three helium atoms, the difference is enough to explain why the two receptors bind differently to certain compounds.

This distinction may be relevant to drug safety: some drugs that activate the 2B receptor have been thought to cause heart problems, and have been withdrawn as unsafe. The connection has earned the 2B the nickname of death receptor.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=2235e19a41fb9f375e4a58a5017d5ff1

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News Mirror > News

The Governing Board of the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District, after an extensive search for a superintendent, narrowed their search to one finalist: Cali Binks,? Super?intendent, Fontana Unified School District.

The Board will approve her appointment pending the outcome of site visits to her district.

The selection of Binks as finalist came after the Board reviewed the applications of many highly qualified candidates and interviewed four finalists for the position. The board was very pleased with the education, academic preparation and professional backgrounds of the strong field of finalists interviewed.

Binks, as superintendent of Fontana Unified School District, brings extensive, respected experience in instructional lea?dership and a strong finance background to the district.

After serving as a Special Education teacher, she began her administrative career in Fontana in 2002.?

She served as a principal, Director of Categorical Pro?grams, Assist?ant Superintend?ent, Deputy Superintendent, and Superintendent from 2008 to the present.??

Binks received her Bach?elor?s Degree in Human Deve?lopment from U.C. Riverside and her Master?s Degree in Special Education from Azusa Pacific University.? She will begin her duties as YCSD Superintendent on July 1.?

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Source: http://www.newsmirror.net/articles/2013/03/22/news/doc514a17ac2f99f054549852.txt

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First migration from Africa less than 95,000 years ago: Ancient hunter-gatherer DNA challenges theory of early out-of-Africa migrations

Mar. 22, 2013 ? Recent measurements of the rate at which children show DNA changes not seen in their parents -- the "mutation rate" -- have challenged views about major dates in human evolution.

In particular these measurements have made geneticists think again about key dates in human evolution, like when modern non-Africans split from modern Africans. The recent measurements push back the best estimates of these dates by up to a factor of two. Now, however an international team led by researchers at the University of T?bingen and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, present results that point again to the more recent dates. The new study is published in Current Biology.

The team, led by Johannes Krause from T?bingen University, was able to reconstruct more than ten mitochondrial genomes (mtDNAs) from modern humans from Eurasia that span 40,000 years of prehistory. The samples include some of the oldest modern human fossils from Europe such as the triple burial from Dolni Vestonice in the Czech Republic, as well as the oldest modern human skeletons found in Germany from the site of Oberkassel close to Bonn.

The researchers show that pre-ice age hunter-gatherers from Europe carry mtDNA that is related to that seen in post-ice age modern humans such as the Oberkassel fossils. This suggests that there was population continuity throughout the last major glaciation event in Europe around 20,000 years ago. Two of the Dolni Vestonice hunter-gatherers also carry identical mtDNAs, suggesting a close maternal relationship among these individuals who were buried together.

The researchers also used the radiocarbon age of the fossils to estimate human mutation rates over tens of thousands of year back in time. This was done by calculating the number of mutations in modern groups that are absent in the ancient groups, since they had not yet existed in the ancient population. The mutation rate was estimated by counting the number of mutations accumulated along descendent lineages since the radiocarbon dated fossils.

Using those novel mutation rates -- capitalizing on information from ancient DNA -- the authors cal-culate the last common ancestor for human mitochondrial lineages to around 160,000 years ago. In other words, all present-day humans have as one of their ancestors a single woman who lived around that time.

The authors also estimate the time since the most recent common ancestor of Africans and non-Africans to between 62,000-95,000 years ago, providing a maximum date for the mass migration of modern humans out of Africa. Those results are in agreement with previous mitochondrial dates based on archaeological and anthropological work but are at the extreme low end of the dates sug-gested from de-novo studies that suggest a split of non-Africans from Africans about thirty thousand years earlier.

"The results from modern family studies and our ancient human DNA studies are in conflict" says Krause. "One possibility is that mutations were missed in the modern family studies, which could lead to underestimated mutation rates." The authors argue that nuclear genomes from ancient mod-ern humans may help to explain the discrepancies.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Universitat Tuebingen.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Qiaomei Fu, Alissa Mittnik, Philip?L.F. Johnson, Kirsten Bos, Martina Lari, Ruth Bollongino, Chengkai Sun, Liane Giemsch, Ralf Schmitz, Joachim Burger, Anna?Maria Ronchitelli, Fabio Martini, Renata?G. Cremonesi, Ji?? Svoboda, Peter Bauer, David Caramelli, Sergi Castellano, David Reich, Svante P??bo, Johannes Krause. A Revised Timescale for Human Evolution Based on Ancient Mitochondrial Genomes. Current Biology, 2013; DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.02.044

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/c-Da9OT7Sh0/130322114856.htm

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Voyager 1 has left the solar system — almost

It was welcome news to Earthlings: The Voyager 1 spacecraft had seemingly crossed a momentous threshold and become the first man-made object to enter interstellar space.

"Voyager 1 has left the solar system," the American Geophysical Union declared Wednesday in a news release. An accompanying study published online in the organization's journal, Geophysical Research Letters, also contained an unusually sentimental end note declaring that "we did it. Bon Voyage!"

Alas, the elation that spread through news and social media was short-lived. Voyager 1 was still in the neighborhood, NASA said, even after traveling for more than 35 years. Then the American Geophysical Union press office issued a correction of its headline, omitting any reference to the spacecraft having departed "the solar system."

"The Voyager team is aware of reports today that NASA's Voyager 1 has left the solar system," said Edward Stone, Voyager project scientist at Caltech and former chief of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Ca?ada Flintridge, where Voyager was built. "It is the consensus of the Voyager science team that Voyager 1 has not yet left the solar system or reached interstellar space."

Though there is little doubt that the lonely probe will one day exit the solar system, scientists are discovering that the border is not as clearly defined as they expected it to be.

In the paper released Wednesday, lead author Bill Webber suggested that the probe had exited the heliosphere ? that region of space dominated by solar winds and long considered to be the edge of the solar system ? on Aug. 25, 2012.

It was on that day that Voyager's sensors registered drastic changes in radiation levels. There was a sharp drop in so-called anomalous cosmic rays ? high-energy particles trapped within the "bubble" of the outer heliosphere ? and a sudden surge in galactic cosmic rays from outside the solar system.

Together, those events seemed to indicate that Voyager had "crossed a well-defined boundary" and possibly entered interstellar space 11.3 billion miles from the sun, according to the paper.

"It appears that V1 has exited the main solar modulation region, revealing hydrogen and helium spectra characteristic of those to be expected in the local interstellar medium," wrote Webber, a professor emeritus of astronomy at New Mexico State University who is involved with cosmic ray experiments on Voyager.

But scientists at NASA and elsewhere said Webber's report did not address one of the most unexpected elements of the boundary between the solar system and interstellar space ? a mysterious region that Stone and others have labeled a "magnetic highway."

In December, the Voyager science team reported that the spacecraft had reached a place where particles from the solar wind dropped off dramatically and cosmic rays from interstellar space increased. But they did not detect an anticipated change in the direction of the magnetic field emanating from the sun.

"If we had looked at particle data alone, we would have said, 'We're out! Goodbye, solar system!'" Stamatios Krimigis, a solar physicist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., said at the time.

Instead, the scientists surmised that Voyager had reached the magnetic highway, where interstellar particles can ride in and solar system particles can ride out. Only when the craft senses that the magnetic field has changed direction will they declare that it has reached interstellar space.

"And that change of direction has not yet been observed," Stone said Wednesday.

So the new report from Webber left his fellow Voyager scientists scratching their heads.

"We did not leave the solar system," said Merav Opher, an astrophysicist at Boston University and member of the Voyager team. "We are simply in a new region that is completely different than what we thought."

Webber did not return calls or email seeking comment Wednesday.

A good deal of the confusion can be traced to the American Geophysical Union's news release. A press representative said it was a challenge to convey the significance of the study. He said he realized soon after the release was issued that it may not have been fully accurate.

"We were trying to create a headline that was meaningful to reporters and to general audiences, and I guess we overstated the conclusions a little bit," said Peter Weiss, a public information manager for the American Geophysical Union in Washington.

The Voyager study was unusual for other reasons as well.

It was published by just two scientists and not the larger Voyager team. And one of those scientists, astrophysicist Frank McDonald of the University of Maryland, died in August ? just days after he and Webber determined that Voyager had crossed a boundary of great significance.

McDonald, who helped design instruments for many NASA space probes, collapsed from a brain aneurysm while speaking at a symposium, said Gary Zank, a space physicist who witnessed the event. He died the next day.

Webber went on to write up the pair's findings. The end of the paper published in Geophysical Research Letters contained a rare sentimental note to his former colleague:

"Frank, we have been working together for over 55 years to reach the goal of actually observing the interstellar spectra of cosmic rays, possibly now achieved almost on the day of your passing," he wrote. "You wanted so badly to be able to finish this article that you had already started. Together we did it. Bon Voyage!"

McDonald's widow, Irene "Rene" McDonald, said her late husband was indeed looking forward to the day when Voyager exited the solar system.

"I know that when they do confirm that they actually have gone beyond the solar system with Voyager, he'd be pleased as punch," she said. "I know also as a scientist, he'd be extremely cautious about saying that it truly has happened."

monte.morin@latimes.com

amina.khan@latimes.com

Times staff writer Joseph Serna contributed to this report.

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/CvtmAQuwXYY/la-sci-voyager-20130321,0,2604128.story

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