jinkari: ফেব্রুয়ারী 2013

বৃহস্পতিবার, ২৮ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৩

NASA's Van Allen Probes reveal a new radiation belt around Earth

Feb. 28, 2013 ? NASA's Van Allen Probes mission has discovered a previously unknown third radiation belt around Earth, revealing the existence of unexpected structures and processes within these hazardous regions of space.

Previous observations of Earth's Van Allen belts have long documented two distinct regions of trapped radiation surrounding our planet. Particle detection instruments aboard the twin Van Allen Probes, launched Aug. 30, quickly revealed to scientists the existence of this new, transient, third radiation belt.

The belts, named for their discoverer, James Van Allen, are critical regions for modern society, which is dependent on many space-based technologies. The Van Allen belts are affected by solar storms and space weather and can swell dramatically. When this occurs, they can pose dangers to communications and GPS satellites, as well as humans in space.

"The fantastic new capabilities and advances in technology in the Van Allen Probes have allowed scientists to see in unprecedented detail how the radiation belts are populated with charged particles and will provide insight on what causes them to change, and how these processes affect the upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere," said John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for science in Washington.

This discovery shows the dynamic and variable nature of the radiation belts and improves our understanding of how they respond to solar activity. The findings, published February 28 in the journal Science, are the result of data gathered by the first dual-spacecraft mission to fly through our planet's radiation belts.

The new high-resolution observations by the Relativistic Electron Proton Telescope (REPT) instrument, part of the Energetic Particle, Composition, and Thermal Plasma Suite (ECT) aboard the Van Allen Probes, revealed there can be three distinct, long-lasting belt structures with the emergence of a second empty slot region, or space, in between.

"This is the first time we have had such high-resolution instruments look at time, space and energy together in the outer belt," said Daniel Baker, lead author of the study and REPT instrument lead at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado in Boulder. "Previous observations of the outer radiation belt only resolved it as a single blurry element. When we turned REPT on just two days after launch, a powerful electron acceleration event was already in progress, and we clearly saw the new belt and new slot between it and the outer belt."

Scientists observed the third belt for four weeks before a powerful interplanetary shock wave from the sun annihilated it. Observations were made by scientists from institutions including LASP; NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.; Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M.; and the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space at the University of New Hampshire in Durham.

Each Van Allen Probe carries an identical set of five instrument suites that allow scientists to gather data on the belts in unprecedented detail. The data are important for the study of the effect of space weather on Earth, as well as fundamental physical processes observed around other objects, such as planets in our solar system and distant nebulae.

"Even 55 years after their discovery, the Earth's radiation belts still are capable of surprising us and still have mysteries to discover and explain," said Nicky Fox, Van Allen Probes deputy project scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. "We thought we knew the radiation belts, but we don't. The advances in technology and detection made by NASA in this mission already have had an almost immediate impact on basic science."

The Van Allen Probes are the second mission in NASA's Living With a Star Program to explore aspects of the connected sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. Goddard manages the program. The Applied Physics Laboratory built the spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA.

For more information on the Van Allen Probes, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/vanallenprobes

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NASA.

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

Journal Reference:

D. N. Baker, S. G. Kanekal, V. C. Hoxie, M. G. Henderson, X. Li, H. E. Spence, S. R. Elkington, R. H. W. Friedel, J. Goldstein, M. K. Hudson, G. D. Reeves, R. M. Thorne, C. A. Kletzing, and S. G. Claudepierre. A Long-Lived Relativistic Electron Storage Ring Embedded in Earth's Outer Van Allen Belt. Science, 2013; DOI: 10.1126/science.1233518

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/~3/6au8zstDb1E/130228155430.htm

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House Democrat to offer bill ending automatic cuts

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A senior House Democrat is proposing to eliminate the pending automatic spending cuts while also trimming the government's budget by more than $300 billion in hopes of paving the way for a broader agreement over how to tame the federal deficit.

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., said legislation he will introduce Wednesday would make a modest contribution to deficit reduction by trimming $167 billion in national security spending and $153 billion in domestic spending over the next eight years, beginning in 2014. More significantly, he said, the bill also would turn off the $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts mandated over the next several months, which the Obama administration and most lawmakers agree will be damaging because of their arbitrary nature.

The cuts, known as the sequester, are set to begin Friday and have touched off waves of finger-pointing in Washington over who's to blame for them and dire predictions over their impact, especially on the U.S. military's ability to fulfill its missions.

Smith, the top-ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said his bill provides a pathway for muting the angry back-and-forth and shutting down the cuts before they run too deep.

But he has no co-sponsors, and any further reductions in the Defense Department's budget are likely to be non-starters for most Republicans. The military's budget is already facing a $487 billion spending cut over the next 10 years, mandated by the Budget Control Act passed in 2011.

"I am mindful of the fact that this is going to be a very, very difficult sell," Smith said.

Despite the warnings, much of the sequester cuts to hit the Pentagon and other federal agencies come in later years and could be offset by spending reductions in programs that are wasteful or behind schedule. Even with the sequester, the Pentagon will still maintain an annual budget of well over $500 billion a year for the rest of the decade.

Smith said the idea behind the sequester was to propose cuts to discretionary spending ? which covers federal agency budgets for everything from the military to food safety inspections ? that would be so unpopular that Democrats and Republicans would resolve their differences on tax reform and how to generate savings from mandatory spending programs, such as Social Security and Medicare.

"Apparently, however uncomfortable watching the discretionary budget be tortured is, it is not as unpalatable as addressing the broader issue," Smith said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/house-democrat-offer-bill-ending-automatic-cuts-080546833--politics.html

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Eat too much? Maybe it's in the blood

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Bone marrow cells that produce brain-derived eurotrophic factor (BDNF), known to affect regulation of food intake, travel to part of the hypothalamus in the brain where they "fine-tune" appetite, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and Shiga University of Medical Science in Otsu, Shiga, Japan, in a report that appears online in the journal Nature Communications.

"We knew that blood cells produced BDNF," said Dr. Lawrence Chan, professor of molecular and cellular biology and professor and chief of the division of diabetes, endocrinology & metabolism in the department of medicine and director of the federally funded Diabetes Research Center, all at BCM. The factor is produced in the brain and in nerve cells as well. "We didn't know why it was produced in blood cells."

Dr. Hiroshi Urabe and Dr. Hideto Kojima, current and former postdoctoral fellows in Chan's laboratory respectively, looked for BDNF in the brains of mice who had not been fed for about 24 hours. The bone marrow-derived cells had been marked with a fluorescent protein that showed up on microscopy. To their surprise, they found cells producing BDNF in a part of the brain's hypothalamus called the paraventricular nucleus.

"We knew that in embryonic development, some blood cells do go to the brain and become microglial cells," said Chan. (Microglial cells form part of the supporting structure of the central nervous system. They are characterized by a nucleus from which "branches" expand in all directions.) "This is the first time we have shown that this happens in adulthood. Blood cells can go to one part of the brain and become physically changed to become microglial-like cells."

However, these bone marrow cells produce a bone marrow-specific variant of BDNF, one that is different from that produced by the regular microglial cells already in the hypothalamus.

Only a few of these blood-derived cells actually reach the hypothalamus, said Chan.

"It's not very impressive if you look casually under the microscope," he said. However, a careful scrutiny showed that the branching nature of these cells allow them to come into contact with a whole host of brain cells.

"Their effects are amplified," said Chan.

Mice that are born lacking the ability to produce blood cells that make BDNF overeat, become obese and develop insulin resistance (a lack of response to insulin that affects the ability to metabolize glucose). A bone marrow transplant that restores the gene for making the cells that produce BDNF can normalize appetite, said Chan. However, a transplant of bone marrow that does not contain this gene does not reverse overeating, obesity or insulin resistance.

When normal bone marrow cells that produce BDNF are injected into the third ventricle (a fluid-filled cavity in the brain) of mice that lack BDNF, they no longer have the urge to overeat, said Chan.

All in all, the studies represent a new mechanism by which these bone-marrow derived cells control feeding through BDNF and could provide a new avenue to attack obesity, said Chan.

He and his colleagues hypothesize that the bone marrow cells that produce BDNF fine tune the appetite response, although a host of different appetite-controlling hormones produced by the regular nerve cells in the hypothalamus do the lion's share of the work.

"Bone marrow cells are so accessible," said Chan. "If these cells play a regulatory role, we could draw some blood, modify something in it or add something that binds to blood cells and give it back. We may even be able to deliver medication that goes to the brain," crossing the blood-brain barrier. Even a few of these cells can have an effect because their geometry means that they have contact with many different neurons or nerve cells.

He credits Urabe and Kojima (now with Shiga University of Medical Science in Japan) with doing most of the experiments involved in the research.

###

Baylor College of Medicine: http://www.bcm.edu/news/mediacenter

Thanks to Baylor College of Medicine 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/127033/Eat_too_much__Maybe_it_s_in_the_blood

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Kate Gosselin Sort of Slams Kendra Wilkinson on Celebrity Wife Swap

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Brady's reworked deal helps Patriots

FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2012, file photo, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady looks for a receiver during the second half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins in Miami. Brady agreed to a three-year contract extension with New England on Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, a person familiar with the contract told The Associated Press. The extension is worth about $27 million and will free up nearly $15 million in salary cap room for the team. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

So Tom Brady got a contract extension. Big deal.

Well, yeah ? for the three-time Super Bowl winner and for the Patriots.

There's nothing unusual about one of the game's best quarterbacks and leaders being coveted by his team. Or being rewarded.

What's rare is how well the three-year extension works for both Brady and for New England.

First, the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player, despite some perceptions, did not really take a pay cut with this new deal. It might have sounded that way with salaries of $7 million in 2015, $8 million the next year and $9 million in 2017, far below the going rate for superstar QBs.

Instead, Brady gets a $30 million signing bonus, payable over the next three years, and $57 million overall in a contract that will run through the 2017 season, when he will be 40 years old. Other than backups who are little more than insurance policies, how many quarterbacks even make it on to a roster at 40?

Essentially, he gets $33 million guaranteed for the next two seasons, and he's surely worth it considering that Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and, most likely, Joe Flacco, will earn more in 2013 and '14. Add up each of their Super Bowl rings and it adds up to the number Brady owns.

The extension should have little effect on other quarterback deals, particularly Flacco. The Super Bowl MVP is 28, just entering his prime and in line for a huge contract no matter where he winds up. (Bet on Flacco staying in Baltimore).

Of course, Brady has shown no signs of slowing down ? look at his stats for 2012, including 34 TD passes and eight interceptions, and a 12-4 record. He's still at the peak of his skills, and he wants to be surrounded by players at a similar stage of their careers.

To get that, he understood he needed to rework his contract to free up enough salary cap space for New England to sign more difference makers.

In doing so, Brady not only virtually assured he will finish his career as a Patriot, but at a price that works for him and for owner Robert Kraft. Did he take a mammoth pay cut down the road to ensure that? No, because Brady actually will get more guaranteed money; the final three seasons are guaranteed against injury; and they could be guaranteed in total depending on Brady meeting certain requirements, including being on the active roster for the final game of 2014.

But he also will have those three years of salary far below scale for the position, for cap purposes. And that is where the Patriots get their payoff.

New England has more needs than other contenders, and those holes must be filled now for the Patriots to win their first championship since the 2004 season. Yes, it has been that long.

Brady recognizes that, and by helping free up $15 million in space over the next two years, the Patriots can spend more in free agency.

Coach Bill Belichick tends to find role players such as Danny Woodhead, Julian Edelman and Steve Gregory, and he gets solid production from them. Brady makes just about everyone on offense better, too.

But the Patriots don't have too many true studs, particularly on defense. Opponents in big games ? the Ravens, Giants, 49ers come to mind ? have found favorable matchups that led to major victories.

Brady sees that. By reworking his contract, he basically has told the Patriots to spend the newfound money in ways that will turn those matchups back in New England's favor.

Unquestionably, Brady wants his favorite target, slot receiver Wes Welker, to be re-signed. He'd love for Belichick to find a consistent deep threat at wideout, too.

Top cornerback Aqib Talib, acquired in a trade with Tampa Bay during last season, is a free agent. He comes with a checkered past, but behaved with the Patriots in 2012 and played well.

Tackle Sebastian Vollmer, a main reason Brady was sacked just 27 times, also is a free agent.

And Brady would love to see some playmakers let go by other teams land in Foxborough. Such names as former Colts pass rusher Dwight Freeney, Steelers speedy receiver Mike Wallace and Ravens' star safety Ed Reed have been mentioned.

Now, Brady has given the Patriots more money to make improvements, while not really emptying his own pockets.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-02-27-On%20Football-Brady's%20Contract/id-90da623248464a699f187ecc9bc14935

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Non-brittle glass possible: In probing mysteries of glass, researchers find a key to toughness

Feb. 26, 2013 ? In a paper published online Feb. 26 in the journal Nature Communications, a Yale University team and collaborators propose a way of predicting whether a given glass will be brittle or ductile -- a desirable property typically associated with metals like steel or aluminum -- and assert that any glass could have either quality.

Ductility refers to a material's plasticity, or its ability to change shape without breaking.

"Most of us think of glasses as brittle, but our finding shows that any glass can be made ductile or brittle," said Jan Schroers, a professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Yale, who led the research with Golden Kumar, a professor at Texas Tech University. "We identified a special temperature that tells you whether you form a ductile or brittle glass."

The key to forming a ductile glass, they said, is cooling it fast. Exactly how fast depends on the nature of the specific glass.

Focusing on a new group of glasses known as bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) -- metal alloys, or blends, that can be extremely pliable yet also as strong as steel -- researchers studied the effect of a so-called critical fictive temperature (CFT) on the glasses' mechanical properties at room temperature.

When forming from liquid, there is a temperature at which glass becomes too viscous for reconfiguration and freezes. This temperature is called the glass transition temperature. Based on experiments with three representative bulk metallic glasses, the researchers said there is also, for each distinct alloy, a critical temperature that determines the brittleness or plasticity of the glass. This is the CFT.

Researchers said it's possible to categorize glasses in two groups -- those that will be brittle because in liquid form their CFT is above the glass transition temperature, and those that will be ductile, because in liquid form their CFT is below the glass transition temperature.

They previously thought a liquid's chemical composition alone would determine whether a glass would be brittle or ductile.

"That's not the case," Schroers said. "We can make any glass theoretically ductile or brittle. And it is the critical fictive temperature which determines how experimentally difficult it is to make a ductile glass. That is the major contribution of this work."

The finding applies theoretically to all glasses, not metallic glasses only, he said.

"A glass can have completely different properties depending on the rate at which you cool it," Schroers said. "If you cool it fast, it is very ductile, and if you cool it slow it?s very brittle. We anticipate that our finding will contribute to the design of ductile glasses, and in general contribute to a deeper understanding of glass formation."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Yale University. The original article was written by Eric Gershon.

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

Journal Reference:

Golden Kumar, Pascal Neibecker, Yan Hui Liu, Jan Schroers. Critical fictive temperature for plasticity in metallic glasses. Nature Communications, 2013; 4: 1536 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2546

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_science/~3/IAkXMDL7waM/130226114023.htm

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AdvSecret.com Sports Watch: Your Personal Trainer, Work Out ...

By Mack Goodwin

The sports timepiece is a real symbol in the realm of men and athletics. These watches are filled with great features, such as being water resistant even at deep-sea levels, being super smash-proof, or becoming simply the ideal object to represent a person?s extremely energetic, ultra-charged and awesomely adventurous lifestyle.

But the development of the modern sports watch can put all these already remarkable qualities to distress. Today?s sports timepieces can keep track of your heartbeat, calculate your calories, measure the distance you?ve run, design your fitness program and more. The top designs are so efficient at assisting you achieve your fitness goals that it?s almost as if you have an individual instructor, a fitness advisor and a fitness program guide all in one-and on your wrist.

The new sports watches today has innovative functions, it is not just designed for pros as its forefathers. It is easy to use and very useful to people across different fitness stages, from gym buffs to people wanting to slim down to professional sportsmen working out for their upcoming competition. They have feature like the STAR Training Program, which tells users the best training program according to their personal fitness goals. It creates training targets each week depending on your intent, such as to shed weight, improve your fitness level, or improve your fitness. In addition, it gives you reviews on how your exercising had gone, as well as advice on the way to further enhance your working out plan.

The sports watch training feature is based on tested and scientific training frameworks; as with every fitness plan, the watch will calculate your level of fitness regularly to observe the development you?ve achieved. Seeing the level you have improved is definitely a great motivator for you to continue. Other functions include body statistic, training intensity guide and calorie counter.

On the other hand, other people think that they won?t have all of the functions; what they want is a simple gadget to assist them to keep track of their fitness improvement. There are other sports watches that give a convenient system that helps you evaluate the basics: the number of calories you?ve burned and your fitness level based on your heart rate. There?s even sports watches with easy-to-use features built to assist you attain two basic goals: improve your health or burn fat.

With regards to fitness, these timepieces prove that what you put on your wrist can mean when considering winning the fitness battle. Choose the right sports timepiece according to your own fitness objectives and ensure that you achieve your fitness goals right on time.

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Source: http://www.advsecret.com/sports-watch-your-personal-trainer-work-out-advisor-and-training-guide-on-your-wrist/

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Navy identifies 2 divers who died at Md. Army site

BALTIMORE (AP) ? The Navy on Wednesday identified two sailors who perished during routine diving operations at a test pond at an Army site in Maryland.

Officials said 28-year-old Navy Diver 1st Class James Reyher of Caldwell, Ohio, and Navy Diver 2nd Class Ryan Harris of Gladstone, Mo., died Tuesday. They were assigned to Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2 at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia Beach, Va.

The two had been diving at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in northeastern Maryland. One diver was pronounced dead at the scene, the other was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead later.

Tuesday's incident at Aberdeen's Underwater Test Facility occurred less than a month after George Lazzaro Jr., a 41-year-old engineering technician, died while performing maintenance at the same site.

Kelly Luster, a spokesman for the Aberdeen Proving Ground, said Tuesday's deaths are not believed to be connected to the earlier incident. But officials said Wednesday that the test facility has been closed for all diving operations until investigations into the recent deaths are done.

The test facility, dubbed the "Super Pond," is used to conduct shock testing of vessels, submarine systems and munitions. With a bottom measuring 300 feet in diameter and a maximum depth of 150 feet, the facility also has been used in testing torpedoes, missiles, warheads, amphibious and remotely controlled vehicles, underwater gun firing and acoustics.

The sailors belonged to a unit whose salvage operations have included TWA Flight 800, Swiss Air Flight 111, the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, and the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor.

The unit also provided damage assessments and repairs on the USS Cole and participated in humanitarian missions following Hurricane Katrina and the 2010 earthquake that struck Haiti.

Deputy Commander Capt. John Coffey said Wednesday, "Petty Officer Harris and Petty Officer Reyher were exceptional Sailors."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/navy-identifies-2-divers-died-md-army-011601615.html

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বুধবার, ২৭ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৩

AP INTERVIEW: Iraq PM warns Syria war could spread

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki listens during an interview with The Associated Press in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Al-Maliki warns that a victory for rebels fighting to overthrow the Syrian President Bashar Assad would spark a sectarian war in his own country and Lebanon, and create a new haven for extremists that would destabilize the wider Middle East. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed)

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. Al-Maliki warns that a victory for rebels fighting to overthrow the Syrian President Bashar Assad would spark a sectarian war in his own country and Lebanon, and create a new haven for extremists that would destabilize the wider Middle East. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed)

BAGHDAD (AP) ? Iraq's prime minister warned Wednesday that a victory for Syria's rebels will spark sectarian wars in his own country and in Lebanon and will create a new haven for al-Qaida that would destabilize the region.

The comments by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in an interview with The Associated Press marked one of his strongest warnings yet about the turmoil that toppling Syrian President Bashar Assad could create in the Middle East.

It comes as his government confronts growing tensions of its own between the Shiite majority and an increasingly restive Sunni minority nearly a decade after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Fighting in Syria has sharp sectarian overtones, with predominantly Sunni rebels battling a regime dominated by Alawites, an offshoot Shiite Islam.

Assad's main allies are Shiite Iran and the Shiite militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Al-Maliki too is a Shiite and his sect dominates Iraq's government.

His comments reflect growing fears by many Shiites in Iraq and elsewhere that Sunnis would come to dominate Syria should Assad be pushed from power.

The toppling of Assad would deal a serious blow to the regional influence of Syria's patron Iran, which has built increasingly strong relations with Iraq's Shiite-dominated government.

Iraq has tried to maintain a neutral stance toward the civil war in Syria, saying that the aspirations of the Syrian people should be met through peaceful means.

Speaking from his office in a Saddam Hussein-era palace inside Baghdad's heavily guarded Green Zone, al-Maliki reiterated his stance that foreign military intervention is not a solution to ending the crisis in Syria.

He called on outside countries to "be more reasonable regarding Syria."

"If the world does not agree to support a peaceful solution through dialogue ... then I see no light at the end of the tunnel.

"Neither the opposition nor the regime can finish each other off," he said. "If the opposition is victorious, there will be a civil war in Lebanon, divisions in Jordan and a sectarian war in Iraq."

Al-Maliki, 62, has long been accused by many Sunnis of promoting his Shiite sect at their expense and for being too closely aligned with neighboring Iran.

His government has faced two months of unexpectedly resilient protests from the Sunni minority, whose members held many senior positions in Saddam's regime and lost their political prominence to the Shiites after he was ousted in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

The Sunni rallies, which have been largely peaceful, erupted in Iraq's western Sunni heartland of Anbar in late December following the arrest of bodyguards assigned to Finance Minister Rafia al-Issawi, one of the most senior Sunni politicians in government.

Although the detentions were the spark for the demonstrations, the rallies tap into deeper Sunni grievances, drawing on feelings of discrimination at the hands of al-Maliki's government.

Al-Maliki and his political allies initially dismissed the protesters. But as their rallies gained strength and spread throughout parts of Iraq where Sunnis are concentrated, the stern-faced premier began to offer concessions.

His government bowed to one of the protesters' early demands and released more than 2,000 detainees, including some held without charge. He also set up a committee to examine other grievances.

He vowed Tuesday to let the protests continue as long as they remain peaceful.

But he made a point of distinguishing between the protesters and the political leaders who back them.

He also suggested, as he has done in the past, that outside influences ? an apparent allusion to predominantly Sunni countries such as Turkey and the Gulf states ? are helping to fuel the unrest.

"What is going on in Iraq is connected to what is happening in the region. It is also connected to the results of the so-called the Arab Spring and some sectarian policies in the region," he said.

"Our patience will continue because we believe that there are people in these provinces that are patriotic and they reject sectarianism, believe in the unity of the country and denounce the voices uttering sectarian words."

___

Associated Press writer Sameer N. Yacoub contributed.

___

Follow Adam Schreck on Twitter at http://twitter.com/adamschreck

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-27-ML-Iraq-Maliki/id-f394a87e5bcd4b6fa7bde425e3f7b3a6

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Beware of Google Glass re-sellers, especially those asking for $15K on eBay

Rosa Golijan , NBC News ? ? ? 5 hrs.

Google Glass, the wearable camera/display combo that has everyone excited, isn't available for sale just yet ? but that's not stopping at least one eBay user from auctioning off a device he or she can't even hand over to you.

"I've been selected as an early adapter [sic] for Google's upcoming release," an auction listing read on Wednesday, "you are buying a brand new unopened pair of Google's Project Glass glasses." The seller references Google's #ifihadglass application process, the only way for folks to enter the company's Google Glass Explorer program if they hadn't pre-ordered a device during the Google I/O 2012 conference last June, and explains that he'll be able to pick up the shiny new gadget thanks to his application being among the 8,000 chosen ones.

And that's where one of the many issues with the auction listing begin.

You see, Google won't be notifying the individuals selected as part of the #ifihadglass application process until mid- to late March, meaning that the seller couldn't possibly know that he or she will be eligible to purchase one of the very first publicly available Glass units for $1,500. Additionally, the #ifihadglass terms strictly forbid those who are invited to purchase Glass from transferring their invitations. You can bet that the terms of purchase will include similar stipulations.

"So what if it's against Google's rules? Like anyone will ever find out," you might say. But the reality is that Google Glass will, like most mobile Android devices, be associated with a Google account. Meaning that it shouldn't be difficult for the company to catch on if a member of the Glass Explorer program decides to hand his or her gadget to someone else.

As far as the auction initially mentioned goes, there are plenty of other things that make it scream "Scam!" and make me worry for the person who bid $15,900 on it. Like the fact that the seller's previous auctions include a "mason jar with trapped human soul."

Unsurprisingly, the auction disappeared from eBay before it ran its course.

Want more tech news or interesting links? You'll get plenty of both if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on Twitter, subscribing to her Facebook posts, or circling her on Google+.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/beware-google-glass-re-sellers-especially-those-asking-15-000-1C8594690

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Why do Republicans so hate Michelle Obama? (Americablog)

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Ahead of Plan ? Entrust Tops 4-Year Financial, Business Goals ...

2012 was Entrust?s fourth consecutive year of exceeding plan
Entrust has grown total and product revenue every year since being acquired by Thoma Bravo in 2009
$106 million in total revenue and 14 percent product revenue growth
67 percent of revenue from cloud and subscription offerings that delivered $64.5 million of deferred revenue
Company-record 28 percent EBITDA margin

DALLAS, Feb. 21, 2013 /CNW/ ? Soon after private investment firm Thoma Bravo acquired security software company Entrust, Inc. in 2009, the San Francisco-based group established many aggressive financial goals as part of a multi-year strategy for the company. Four years later, Entrust has exceeded those expectations, transforming into a leading identity-based security company with a solid business model underpinned by 69 percent recurring revenue and a company-record EBITDA percentage of over 28 percent.

?Entrust achieved a great deal of success in 2012,? said Entrust President and CEO Bill Conner. ?We exceeded our revenue and earnings goals, and finished our fourth consecutive year ahead of the plan set with Thoma Bravo when they took us private four years ago. On top of our strong financial performance the past four years, we have transformed the company into a leader in identity-based security underpinned by our substantial Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio that we have built.

?Identity-based security has never been more relevant. The proliferation of digital identities ? beyond people to devices and applications ? and the increased volume and complexity of malware attacks renders traditional antivirus and perimeter security solutions ineffective. Our mobile and cloud-based identity security solutions help solve these growing cybersecurity challenges and have the company strategically positioned for our next stage of growth.?

Key Four-Year Financial Accomplishments:

Product revenue increased to 50 percent of total revenue in 2012, up from 39 percent in 2009, a 14 percent Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR)
Risk-based authentication and fraud detection (led by Entrust IdentityGuard) product revenue increased to 24 percent of product revenue in 2012, a 16 percent CAGR
Recurring revenue (cloud subscription product revenue plus support a maintenance) increased to 67 percent of total revenue, up from 61 percent in 2009, a 9 percent CAGR
Cloud subscription product revenue increased to 59 percent of product revenue in 2012, up from 46 percent in 2009, a 24 percent CAGR
EBITDA increased 11 percent in 2012; a 43 percent CAGR as a private company
Deferred revenue increased to a record $64.5 million; a 17 percent CAGR
Company performance has led to more than $65 million in cash flow from operations and more than $108 million in EBITDA since going private in 2009
Successfully recapitalized the company in February 2011

November 2012

?In just more than three years with the Thoma Bravo family, Entrust has met or exceeded every key financial metric that we established ? even more importantly, they continue to innovate and grow at a rate that exceed our expectations,? said Scott Crabill, Thoma Bravo managing partner and Chairman of Entrust?s Board of Directors. ?Thoma Bravo truly appreciates Entrust?s importance as a key player in the global information security framework. Entrust was our first investment in this space and helped Thoma Bravo become one of the largest private investors in security software and technology.?

This comprehensive success enabled Entrust to recapitalize the company twice ? with a financing team co-led by Wells Fargo Capital Finance ? since the Thoma Bravo acquisition.

?We are very pleased to have been a part of the Entrust lending group since they went private in 2009 and are impressed with the growth in Entrust?s recurring revenues and the consistent execution by the management team,? said John Nocita, Managing Director of Wells Fargo Capital Finance.

Being a private company allowed Entrust to increase its focus on customers during a strategic business shift. It also allowed for the rapid innovation and transformation of the company?s security products to address mobile, cloud, and physical/logical access environments. This resulted in growth, profitability and a business model transformation that created tremendous value for customers, employees and shareholders.

Key Technology & Product Highlights

Entrust IdentityGuard delivers mobile smart credentials, capitalizes on BYOD momentum by leveraging Bluetooth and NFC technology on Apple iOS, Google Android and BlackBerry devices
Entrust IdentityGuard Named SC Magazine?s ?Best Multifactor Authentication Solution?
Entrust IdentityGuard Received Perfect Score, ?Best Buy? Rating in SC Magazine Competitor Review
Bank of New Zealand uses Entrust?s authentication framework, SDK to embed soft tokens into proprietary mobile applications for Apple iOS and Google Android platforms
New Entrust Discovery release simplifies and automates notifications, analysis and validation, all via a single cloud or on-premise service
Government Security News Named Entrust as a Winner in the ?Best Certificate Management Solution? Category in GSN?s Fourth Annual Homeland Security Awards Competition
Frost & Sullivan names Entrust the No. 2 provider of SSL certificates
Entrust demonstrates law enforcement solutions for secure collaboration, communication and mobile security technology during INTERPOL 81st General Assembly
Entrust PKI First to Adhere to Latest Common Criteria Protection Profile
Entrust and AirWatch form Relationship to Bring Innovative Solution to Improve Mobile
Entrust and MobileIron Work to Improve Access to Mobile Security and Enterprise Authentication Tools
Entrust, Good Technology Collaborate to Offer Seamless S/MIME Capabilities on Popular Mobile Devices
Entrust Expands Middle East Presence, Launches Office in Dubai Internet City
Entrust, Heartland Business Systems Helping Law Enforcement Agencies Deploy Advanced Authentication as Mandated by FBI?s CJIS Policy

For more information about Entrust and the company?s identity-based security solutions, please visit entrust.com. For details on Entrust?s full line of SSL products and services, visit entrust.net.

Tweet It: Entrust Tops 4-Year Financial, Business Goals under Thoma Bravo Ownership. For more details visit our news room, www.entrust.com/news

About Entrust

A trusted provider of identity-based security solutions, Entrust secures governments, enterprises and financial institutions in more than 5,000 organizations spanning 85 countries. Entrust?s award-winning software authentication platforms manage today?s most secure identity credentials, addressing customer pain points for cloud and mobile security, physical and logical access, citizen eID initiatives, certificate management and SSL. For more information about Entrust products and services, call 888-690-2424, email entrust@entrust.com or visit www.entrust.com.

About Thoma Bravo

Thoma Bravo is a leading private equity investment firm building on a 30-plus-year history of providing equity and strategic support to experienced management teams and growing companies. Thoma Bravo invests across multiple industries, with a particular focus in enterprise and infrastructure software and financial and business services, and works in partnership with management to implement its operating expertise to build long-term value. The firm currently manages a series of private equity funds representing almost $4 billion of equity commitments. In software, Thoma Bravo has completed 58 add-on acquisitions across 26 platform companies with total annual earnings of approximately $1 billion. For more information, visit www.thomabravo.com.

Entrust is a registered trademark of Entrust, Inc. in the United States and certain other countries. In Canada, Entrust is a registered trademark of Entrust Limited. All Entrust product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of Entrust, Inc. or Entrust Limited. Wells Fargo is a trademark or registered trademark of Wells Fargo & Company. Frost & Sullivan is a trademark or registered trademark of Frost & Sullivan. Google and Android are trademarks or registered trademarks of Google Inc. Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. BlackBerry is trademark or registered trademark of Research In Motion Limited. IOS is a trademark or registered trademark of Cisco. AirWatch is a trademark or registered trademark of AirWatch, LLC. Bluetooth is a registered trademark owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. MobileIron is registered trademarks of MobileIron. Good Technology is a trademark of Good Technology Corporation. Heartland Business Systems is a trademark or registered trademark of Hartland Business Systems. All other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners

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Source: http://www.thomabravo.com/2013/02/26/ahead-of-plan-entrust-tops-4-year-financial-business-goals-under-thoma-bravo-ownership/

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Older women, don't take vitamin D for bones: Panel

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Older women shouldn't take vitamin D and calcium supplements to prevent broken bones, and there's not enough evidence to say whether it would help anyone else either, says a U.S. government-backed panel.

Based on two reviews of past research, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force waded into the debate over the two vitamins that are thought to strengthen bones to prevent against breaks.

"Calcium and vitamin D are important in general health and bone health. For this recommendation, we review data on whether supplements of vitamin D and calcium can prevent fractures in addition to dietary intake," said Dr. Jessica Herzstein, a member of the Task Force.

Approximately 1.5 million Americans suffer from breaks that are tied to brittle bones each year. And about half of all women over 50 years old will end up with a break that's linked to the bone-weakening disease osteoporosis.

That's a major concern, according to the Task Force, because broken bones are linked to chronic pain, disability and increased risk of sickness and early death.

Based on the reviews, the panel found there were no benefits but some risk for post-menopausal women taking low-dose vitamin D and calcium supplements - below 400 international units and 1,000 milligrams, respectively.

Specifically, taking low-dose supplements didn't change the older women's risk for broken bones, but was tied to a small increase in the risk of kidney stones (see Reuters Health article of June 12, 2012 here: http://reut.rs/W760bF

They also found that there is not enough evidence to suggest higher doses of the vitamins would be effective or safer in older women, or that taking any dose of the supplements would help men or younger women.

For men and younger women, "We're not saying don't take it, we're just saying we don't know enough right now," said Herzstein, who is in charge of employee health at Air Products in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

She added that these recommendations do not apply to people who already have a diagnosis of osteoporosis, a history of fractures or are living in an assisted-living community.

TALK WITH YOUR DOCTOR

Herzstein said it's important for people to talk with their doctors about the supplements.

Cara Welch, senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs for the Natural Product Association in Washington, D.C., told Reuters Health she agreed that people should talk to their doctors, but said the group disagrees with the new recommendation.

"We believe this recommendation is out of step with current research, and it really should not affect consumers who are trying to supplement their calcium and vitamin D intake with supplements," Welch said.

According to the most recent data from a national survey of Americans, 56 percent of women over 60 years old take vitamin D supplements, and 60 percent take calcium supplements.

The two vitamins are often sold together and are relatively inexpensive.

The Task Force already recommends women older than 65 years old be screened for the bone-weakening disease osteoporosis, and younger women who have a higher risk of broken bones.

The panel also recommends senior citizens with a history of falls and vitamin D deficiency take supplements to help strengthen muscles and help with balance (see Reuters Health article of May 30, 2012 here: http://reut.rs/V1ARom

Vitamin D has also been researched as a preventive measure against dementia, heart disease and cancer, but with mixed results. Herzstein said the panel will soon be issuing recommendations about the vitamin for some of those diseases.

Marion Nestle, a nutrition researcher from New York University who coauthored a commentary published alongside the recommendations in the Annals of Internal Medicine, said that good studies on vitamin D are hard to do, and any end to the debate over whether to take supplements or not is a long way off.

"These studies are so difficult to do and to interpret that scientific consensus seems impossible to achieve, especially in situations where entire organizations are devoted to convincing people to take high-dose vitamin D," she wrote in an email to Reuters Health.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/Ms1ZbQ Annals of Internal Medicine, online February 25, 2013.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/older-women-dont-vitamin-d-bones-panel-221323175.html

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MasterCard announces MasterPass digital banking service, gives Australia and Canada first dibs

MasterCard's been working on new-era payment systems for sometime, but now the credit corporation looks set to move past its PayPass project and roll out a service that's properly ready for the masses. By way of MasterPass, MasterCard will look to build upon what it gathered from previous efforts and use those learnings in its quest for success, with the firm being quite confident that by securing the right merchants and technology partners, it can turn the "promise of a digital future" into a reality. Furthermore, MasterCard says the MasterPass experience will be a seamless and secure one, making it easy for consumers to initiate transactions "from wherever they are" and with "any device." -- and that includes support for a variety of check-out methods, such as QR codes and, of course, NFC. Those in Australia and Canada can expect MasterPass to debut in their area next month, while US and UK folks will have to wait until later this spring and summer, respectively.

Filed under: Misc, Software, Mobile

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: MasterCard

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Arkansas governor vetoes 20-week abortion bill

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) ? Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe on Tuesday vetoed a ban on most abortions in Arkansas at 20 weeks into a pregnancy, setting up an override fight with a Republican-controlled Legislature that has been pushing for more restrictions on the procedure.

Beebe said he vetoed the ban, which is based on the disputed belief that a fetus can feel pain at 20 weeks, because it runs afoul of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion until the point where fetuses can survive outside the womb, usually at 22 to 24 weeks. The Republican sponsor of the measure said he'll seek to override Beebe's veto.

"Because it would impose a ban on a woman's right to choose an elective, nontherapeutic abortion before viability, House Bill 1037, if it became law, would squarely contradict Supreme Court precedent," Beebe said in his veto letter. "When I was sworn in as governor I took an oath to preserve, protect and defend both the Arkansas Constitution and the Constitution of the United States. I take that oath seriously."

Beebe also cited the cost of a potential lawsuit if the state enacted the ban. The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas has said it would likely sue if it went into effect.

Beebe's veto comes as Arkansas lawmakers are weighing stricter legislation that would prohibit abortions at 12 weeks into a pregnancy. Beebe has said he has concerns about that legislation's constitutionality as well. That measure is expected to go before a Senate panel Wednesday.

Rep. Andy Mayberry, who sponsored the 20-week ban, said he was disappointed with Beebe's decision and would ask the House and Senate to override the governor's veto. It takes a simple majority in both chambers to override a governor's veto. Republicans hold 51 of the 100 House seats and 21 of the 35 Senate seats.

Beebe announced the decision shortly after Mayberry, R-Hensley, met with the governor and tried to alleviate his concerns about the bill.

"Apparently he and I have differing opinions on that bill," Mayberry said. "We'll enter into the next phase of the legislative process."

Seven states have enacted similar 20-week restrictions, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which tracks laws affecting women's health. A similar law in Arizona has been blocked while a federal appeals court reviews a lawsuit challenging it.

In his letter, Beebe cited concerns about the cost of a similar challenge. He wrote that Arkansas had to pay nearly $148,000 in attorneys' fees to the plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging a 1997 late-term abortion ban that a federal appeals court overturned.

"Litigation fees and costs have increased extensively since then," Beebe wrote. "The taxpayers' exposure, should HB1037 become law, will be significantly greater."

Mayberry's bill included exemptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. Opponents have criticized it for not including exemptions for fatal fetal conditions.

Mayberry said he was confident he would have the votes to override Beebe's veto. House Speaker Davy Carter and Senate President Michael Lamoureux, both Republicans, said they hadn't polled members but also believed there would likely be enough support for an override.

The House approved Mayberry's bill on an 80-10 vote last week. It had been previously approved by the Senate on a 25-7 vote.

Abortion rights advocates who had gathered at the Capitol cheered when Beebe's decision was announced.

"I am very grateful that the governor understood that it's not reasonable for the government to interfere with these very private and complex medical decisions that a woman needs to make with her doctor and with her faith and with her family," said Jill June, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. "The decision to end a pregnancy is one of the most complicated decisions a woman will make in her life."

The bill marks the 11th time Beebe has vetoed legislation since taking office in 2007.

Beebe, who is serving his second term, has backed some abortion restrictions, including a bill signed earlier this month that bans insurers participating in the exchange created under the federal health care law from covering most abortions. Two years ago, he signed into law a proposal placing new regulations on the clinics that offer the abortion pill and in 2009 he signed legislation that mirrors a federal law banning late-term abortions.

Beebe wouldn't say whether the decision means he'd veto the 12-week ban pending before lawmakers.

"I'm pretty sure I know what I'm going to do on a bill that's even more problematic than the one I already vetoed, but I won't tell you officially until that time," Beebe said.

___

Associated Press Writer Michael Stratford contributed to this report.

___

Andrew DeMillo can be reached at www.twitter.com/ademillo

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/arkansas-governor-vetoes-20-week-abortion-bill-203729791--politics.html

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Barnes & Noble dispatches Nook Bluetooth speaker through FCC

Barnes & Noble and its Nook may be the subject of many a rumor of late, but that's not stopping the tablet-maker from its business -- which now includes Bluetooth speakers, apparently. We just spotted this previously unseen bad boy lurking in the FCC's antechambers packing the 2.4GHz Bluetooth bands and a rechargeable battery. That'd give some portable audio accompaniment to your Nook HD or other Bluetooth device (like the iPhone and iPod it was also tested with), though we're not sure how B&N's planning to market it. There's now a listing sans photos or other info parked on its site (see MC link), so you might soon be able to read yourself to sleep with that free book.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Wireless

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Lbn03XtZOaQ/

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Frostbite Forces Adventurer to Quit Antarctic Trek

Seasoned adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes has had to quit his attempt to be the first person to cross the South Pole on skis during the brutal Antarctic winter.

Fiennes, who has abundant experience in harsh environments, will be evacuated from the coldest continent after developing a case of frostbite, according to a blog post on the website of the expedition, called The Coldest Journey. Fiennes and his team made the decision to have him evacuated while it was still possible before the beginning of the formidable winter, with its near-permanent darkness and temperatures as low as minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 90 degrees Celsius).

"This decision has not been taken lightly and it is, naturally, a huge disappointment to Fiennes and his colleagues," the post said.

Fiennes will be driven by Ski-Doo, a type of snowmobile, some 40 miles (70 kilometers) from his team's current location to Belgium's Princess Elisabeth Station, located near the coast of East Antarctica, according to the blog post. From there, he will make his way by plane to Cape Town, South Africa.

The evacuation plan is currently being hampered by a blizzard at the team's location.

Once Fiennes is evacuated, the rest of the team has elected to carry on with the journey. They are still slated to begin their crossing on the originally planned date of March 21. The full crossing route will take them from Princess Elisabeth through the interior of the continent to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station (named for the two explorers that raced to be the first to the South Pole), then over the Transantarctic Mountains onto the Ross Ice Shelf and to the United States' McMurdo Station, situated on the shore of the Ross Sea. In total, the trek will cover more than 2,000 miles (3,200 km) and take six months.

Fiennes has gone on previous Antarctic and Arctic excursions, climbed to the summit of Mount Everest and run seven marathons in seven days on seven continents, according to his expedition biography.

Reach Andrea Thompson at athompson@techmedianetwork.com and follow her on Twitter @AndreaTOAP and on Pinterest. Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter @OAPlanet. We're also on Facebook and Google+.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/frostbite-forces-adventurer-quit-antarctic-trek-223244775.html

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South Korea firm had U.S. contract while investing in Iran gas: GAO

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A South Korean construction company reported to have recently engaged in Iran's energy sector had a contract with the U.S. government even as Tehran came under pressure for its disputed nuclear program, a U.S. government watchdog said on Monday.

Daelim Industrial Co had a nearly $1.5 million U.S. government contract to build family housing at a military base in South Korea at some point between mid-2011 and late 2012, the General Accountability Office said in a report on Monday. The GAO is the investigative arm of Congress.

Under U.S. sanctions law, any foreign company that has an investment in Iran's energy sector equal to or greater than $20 million is subject to punishments including being cut off from the U.S. financial system. Such companies should also be denied contracts with the U.S. government, it says. The GAO did not say how much Daelim's investments in Iranian energy were worth.

The U.S. sanctions aim to hinder Tehran's nuclear program, which the West believes is enriching uranium that could be used to develop nuclear weapons, a charge Iran denies.

The sanctions law signed in August gave the Obama administration the authority to punish companies that help Iran develop its energy resources, an important source of revenue for the country.

Daelim was one of at least seven companies from China, India, South Korea and South Africa that continued to have investments in Iran in 2012, the GAO said in December, in a report required by a U.S. sanctions law.

A Daelim spokesman in Seoul said the company was simply completing a construction project in Iran that predated the U.S. sanctions.

He added that the building contract did not constitute an investment in Iran's energy sector, as stipulated in the U.S. sanctions law, and that Daelim had not signed any new contracts in the Islamic Republic since 2010.

Daelim, which the GAO said had helped to develop Iran's South Pars gas fields and a liquefied natural gas project in Tombak, was the only one of the companies found also to hold a contract with the U.S. government, the GAO said on Monday.

The GAO has not determined whether the activities of the companies are sanctionable, a determination that would be made by the State Department and other agencies. The GAO provided a copy of the report to the State Department, which declined to comment.

(Additional reporting by Somang Yang in Seoul; Editing by Leslie Adler and Edmund Klamann)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/south-korea-firm-had-u-contract-while-investing-024826610--finance.html

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Blueprint for an artificial brain: Scientists experiment with memristors that imitate natural nerves

Feb. 26, 2013 ? Scientists have long been dreaming about building a computer that would work like a brain. This is because a brain is far more energy-saving than a computer, it can learn by itself, and it doesn't need any programming. Privatdozent [senior lecturer] Dr. Andy Thomas from Bielefeld University's Faculty of Physics is experimenting with memristors -- electronic microcomponents that imitate natural nerves. Thomas and his colleagues have demonstrated that they could do this a year ago. They constructed a memristor that is capable of learning. Andy Thomas is now using his memristors as key components in a blueprint for an artificial brain.

He will be presenting his results at the beginning of March in the print edition of the Journal of Physics published by the Institute of Physics in London.

Memristors are made of fine nanolayers and can be used to connect electric circuits. For several years now, the memristor has been considered to be the electronic equivalent of the synapse. Synapses are, so to speak, the bridges across which nerve cells (neurons) contact each other. Their connections increase in strength the more often they are used. Usually, one nerve cell is connected to other nerve cells across thousands of synapses.

Like synapses, memristors learn from earlier impulses. In their case, these are electrical impulses that (as yet) do not come from nerve cells but from the electric circuits to which they are connected. The amount of current a memristor allows to pass depends on how strong the current was that flowed through it in the past and how long it was exposed to it.

Andy Thomas explains that because of their similarity to synapses, memristors are particularly suitable for building an artificial brain -- a new generation of computers. 'They allow us to construct extremely energy-efficient and robust processors that are able to learn by themselves.' Based on his own experiments and research findings from biology and physics, his article is the first to summarize which principles taken from nature need to be transferred to technological systems if such a neuromorphic (nerve like) computer is to function. Such principles are that memristors, just like synapses, have to 'note' earlier impulses, and that neurons react to an impulse only when it passes a certain threshold.

Thanks to these properties, synapses can be used to reconstruct the brain process responsible for learning, says Andy Thomas. He takes the classic psychological experiment with Pavlov's dog as an example. The experiment shows how you can link the natural reaction to a stimulus that elicits a reflex response with what is initially a neutral stimulus -- this is how learning takes place. If the dog sees food, it reacts by salivating. If the dog hears a bell ring every time it sees food, this neutral stimulus will become linked to the stimulus eliciting a reflex response. As a result, the dog will also salivate when it hears only the bell ringing and no food is in sight. The reason for this is that the nerve cells in the brain that transport the stimulus eliciting a reflex response have strong synaptic links with the nerve cells that trigger the reaction.

If the neutral bell-ringing stimulus is introduced at the same time as the food stimulus, the dog will learn. The control mechanism in the brain now assumes that the nerve cells transporting the neutral stimulus (bell ringing) are also responsible for the reaction -- the link between the actually 'neutral' nerve cell and the 'salivation' nerve cell also becomes stronger. This link can be trained by repeatedly bringing together the stimulus eliciting a reflex response and the neutral stimulus. 'You can also construct such a circuit with memristors -- this is a first step towards a neuromorphic processor,' says Andy Thomas.

'This is all possible because a memristor can store information more precisely than the bits on which previous computer processors have been based,' says Thomas. Both a memristor and a bit work with electrical impulses. However, a bit does not allow any fine adjustment -- it can only work with 'on' and 'off'. In contrast, a memristor can raise or lower its resistance continuously. 'This is how memristors deliver a basis for the gradual learning and forgetting of an artificial brain,' explains Thomas.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Universitaet Bielefeld.

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

Journal Reference:

Andy Thomas. Memristor-based neural networks. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 2013; 46 (9): 093001 DOI: 10.1088/0022-3727/46/9/093001

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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/computers_math/information_technology/~3/eQVwYoYOj_w/130226101400.htm

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