Hillary Clinton admitted to hospital with blood clot

Kevin Lamarque / Reuters file

Clinton, photographed here on Dec. 6 at Dublin City University, canceled a trip to Morocco earlier this month after a bout of flu. She was hospitalized Sunday after doctors discovered a blood clot stemming from a concussion she sustained earlier in the month.

By NBC News staff

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was?admitted to a New York City hospital on Sunday after doctors discovered that a blood clot had formed, the State Department said in a statement.

Philippe Reines, a deputy assistant secretary, said in the statement that the clot stems from a concussion Clinton sustained several weeks ago.

Reines said that Clinton, 65, is being treated with anti-coagulants at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan. She will be monitored there for the next 48 hours, he said.

?Her doctors will continue to assess her condition, including other issues associated with her concussion," he said. "They will determine if any further action is required.?

Related: Hillary Clinton recovering after fainting

Clinton sustained the concussion from fainting earlier in December. She had been sick for several days with the flu and had canceled a trip to Morocco where she was to officially recognize the Syrian rebels. ?

Brain injury doctors told NBC News said that although details haven't been made public, initial reports indicate that Clinton may have developed a blood clot in her lower limbs as a result of prolonged rest and inactivity after her recent concussion.

A deep vein thrombosis, known as a DVT, or a dural venous sinus thrombosis, could be two types of blood clots treated with anticoagulants, said Dr. Alex Valadka, a spokesman for the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. A blood clot could be dangerous if it breaks free and lodges in a vital organ, such as the heart.

A deep vein thrombosis could be serious, but not necessarily life-threatening, and would require months of treatment with blood-thinning drugs, said Dr. Inam Kureshi, chief of neurosurgery at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Conn.

"Usually hospitalization is more of a precaution," Kureshi said.

It is possible that Clinton developed a blood clot elsewhere, including her brain. Doctors interviewed would not speculate about treatment or prognosis for the secretary of state.?

Days after she fainted, State Department officials said she was at home recovering. Officials also issued a statement from?Dr. Lisa Bardack of Mount Kisco Medical Group and Dr. Gigi El-Bayoumi of George Washington University that provided more information about the secretary's condition:

"Secretary Clinton developed a stomach virus, leading to extreme dehydration, and subsequently fainted. Over the course of this week we evaluated her and ultimately determined she had also sustained a concussion. ?We recommended that the Secretary continue to rest and avoid any strenuous activity, and strongly advised her to cancel all work events for the coming week. ?We will continue to monitor her progress as she makes a full recovery."

It wasn?t the first time Clinton passed out while sick with a stomach bug. As a U.S. senator representing New York, Clinton?fainted in 2005?during a speech in Buffalo after complaining of a stomach virus.

NBC's Robert Bazell tells MSNBC's Chris Jansing that it is unclear how severe the blood clot could be for the health of Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, given lack of specific information about her condition on Sunday evening.

NBC's JoNel Aleccia and Isolde Raftery contributed reporting.?

Source: http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/30/16255487-hillary-clinton-hospitalized-after-doctors-discover-blood-clot?lite

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Christmas shopping totals a disappointment for retailers | NOLA.com

WASHINGTON -- U.S. shoppers spent cautiously this holiday season, a disappointment for retailers who slashed prices to lure people into stores and now must hope for a post-Christmas burst of spending.

Sales of electronics, clothing, jewelry and home goods in the two months before Christmas increased 0.7 percent compared with last year, according to the MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse report.

That was below the healthy 3 to 4 percent growth that analysts had expected -- and it was the worst year-over-year performance since 2008, when spending shrank sharply during the Great Recession. In 2011, retail sales climbed 4 to 5 percent during November and December, according to ShopperTrak.

This year's shopping season was marred by bad weather and rising uncertainty about the economy in the face of possible tax hikes and spending cuts early next year. Some analysts say the massacre of schoolchildren in Newtown, Conn., earlier this month may also have chipped away at shoppers' enthusiasm.

Retailers still have time to make up lost ground. The final week of December accounts for about 15 percent of the month's sales, said Michael McNamara, vice president for research and analysis at MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse.

Still, this season's weak sales could have repercussions for 2013, McNamara said. Retailers will make fewer orders to restock their shelves, and discounts will hurt their profitability. Wholesalers will buy fewer goods and orders to factories will likely drop in the coming months.

Steep discounts weren't enough to get people into stores, said Marshal Cohen, chief analyst at the market research firm NPD Inc.

"A lot of the Christmas spirit was left behind way back in Black Friday weekend," Cohen said, referring to the traditional retail rush the day after Thanksgiving. "We had one reason after another for consumers to say, 'I'm going to stick to my list and not go beyond it.'"

Holiday sales are a crucial indicator of the economy's strength. November and December account for up to 40 percent of annual sales for many retailers. If those sales don't materialize, stores are forced to offer steeper discounts. That's a boon for shoppers, but it cuts into stores' profits.

Spending by consumers accounts for 70 percent of overall economic activity, so the eight-week period encompassed by the SpendingPulse data is seen as a critical time not just for retailers but for manufacturers, wholesalers and companies at every other point along the supply chain.

The SpendingPulse data released Tuesday, which captures sales from Oct. 28 through Dec. 24 across all payment methods, is the first major snapshot of holiday retail sales. A clearer picture will emerge next week as retailers like Macy's and Target report revenue from stores open for at least a year. That sales measure is widely watched in the retail industry because it excludes revenue from stores that recently opened or closed, which can be volatile.

In the run-up to Christmas, analysts blamed bad weather for putting a damper on shopping. In late October, Superstorm Sandy battered the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states, which account for 24 percent of U.S. retail sales.

Shopping picked up in the second half of November, but then the threat of the country falling off a "fiscal cliff" gained strength, throwing consumers off track once again.

Lawmakers have yet to reach a deal that would prevent tax increases and government spending cuts set to take effect at the beginning of 2013. If the cuts and tax hikes kick in and stay in place for months, the Congressional Budget Office says the nation could fall back into recession.

Shopping over the past two months was weakest in areas affected by Sandy and a more recent winter storm in the Midwest. Sales declined by 3.9 percent in the mid-Atlantic and 1.4 percent in the Northeast compared with last year. They rose 0.9 percent in the north central part of the country.

The West and South posted gains of between 2 percent and 3 percent, still weaker than the 3 percent to 4 percent increases expected by many retail analysts.

Online sales, typically a bright spot, grew only 8.4 percent from Oct. 28 through Saturday, according to SpendingPulse. That's a dramatic slowdown from the online sales growth of 15 to 17 percent seen in the prior 18-month period, according to the data service.

Online sales did enjoy a modest boost after the recent snowstorm that hit the Midwest, McNamara said. Online sales make up about 10 percent of total holiday business.

Source: http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2012/12/christmas_shopping_totals_a_di.html

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Building Your Dream Home in Mexico ? Different Styles Part 2

Happy Boxing Day to all my fellow Canadians, and along with them, I hope everyone else is still enjoying the festive season!

Two days ago, on Christmas Eve, I talked about 2 styles for having your?Mexico homes built ? modern luxury and classic colonial. Today, I?ll introduce two more of the most popular styles for building a home in Mexico.

Contemporary Mayan

One architect from the Playa del Carmen real estate area, Gian Luca, includes some sort of Mayan symbol or element in each building he designs, (provided the owner approves, of course.)? The Mayan culture is rich in symbols, history and style which can be incorporated into contemporary designs and lay outs.

Even the modern Mayan people with their thatched roofs and simple homes offer inspiration for a modern style that incorporate this simple elegance with contemporary spatial concepts.? This culture is unique, in that after the Spanish conquest almost 500 years ago, after independence and after the modernization of Mexico, they Mayan people have retained their traditional lifestyle living in close proximity and harmony with the nature surrounding their villages; the architectural style inspired by them offers this same harmony.

Various other indigenous peoples of Mexico have likewise offered inspiration for contemporary styles that capture the essence of their unique way of life and values which the modern world has largely lost; among these are the Purepecha of Michoacan near Morelia.

Indoor-Outdoor

Because of Mexico?s warm climate, there are a significant number of Americans and Canadians who enjoy what is called indoor-outdoor living; very large terraces with pools can be combined with open-space living and dining areas by folding away glass walls.? This makes for a very relaxing lifestyle taking the idea of ?open concept? to new heights.? Of course airflow is at its best! Even when closed, these glass walls outdo even the largest of windows offering spectacular views of the ocean(for example, from the hillside in the Puerto Vallarta real estate), the jungle or the town.

Another example is the lakefront cottages with rustic charm and items like fireplaces, which are popular on Lake Chapala and near Morelia.

These are just a few examples of the most popular ideas.? There are many other possibilities to consider when for building a dream home in Mexico!

Andy Welbourne, from London, Ontario, has been living in Playa del Carmen and working as a part of the team with Thomas Lloyd for 7 years. He has worked with many Canadians and Americans to assist in finding their dream home in the Mexican Caribbean; many of these clients have turned into great friendships. Contact Andy at (512) 879-6546.

The TOP Mexico Real Estate Network; ?Mexico?s Leading Network of Specialists for Finding and Purchasing Mexican Properties Safely!?

Tagged as: Building your home in Mexico, Home Design & Style, Mexico Land for sale, Playa del Carmen Real Estate

Source: http://www.topmexicorealestate.com/blog/2012/12/26/building-your-dream-home-in-mexico-different-styles-part-2/

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Disaster oil rig supervisors face trial in 2014

Winehouse boyfriend to face trial

The boyfriend of the late singer Amy Winehouse has been sent for trial on two charges of rape. Reg Traviss, 35, was Winehouse's boyfriend when she died at her home in Camden, north London, last July. Traviss, of Devonshire Street, Marylebone, London,...

Source: http://www.newsrt.co.uk/news/disaster-oil-rig-supervisors-face-trial-in-2014-1073303.html

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Western Digital offers 8TB version of its My Book Live Duo NAS

Western Digital is mightily proud of its new 4TB hard drives, so it shouldn't be a surprise to see them winding up in the company's range of external storage products. The latest to get the spec bump is the My Book Live Duo, the dual-drive RAID box that promises to keep your memories safe should the worst happen. The range-topping 8TB edition will set you back $660, but if your credit card isn't that elastic, you can snag a 6TB unit for $440 and a 4TB box for $375.

Filed under: Storage

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Via: CNET

Source: Western Digital

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/A22yuWIS5PI/

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HostSEO.org Increases Class C IP Availability - hostingBlender ...

(The Hosting News) -?HostSEO.org (http://www.hostseo.org), a provider of IPs for web hosting, increases its IP inventory as just a couple months ago the RIPE NCC (The European IP Authority) announced it was down to it?s last few IP blocks. ARIN (American Registry for Internet Numbers) and APNIC (Asia Pacific Network Information Centre) made similar announcements in 2011. This officially signifies the end of available ip?s on the internet, leaving only those who have ip reserves to be able to issue them.

The same IPs that are released by RIPE, are used by web hosting companies to put websites on the internet in Europe. HostSEO.org takes this a step further and allows businesses with multiple websites to host them each on a different IP range.

It has long been known amongst SEO experts that the use of Class C IPs in a website network increases website exposure amongst search engines.

A website, just like a personal internet connection, is assigned to an IP address. An IP address is a four-part digit: aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd. If you are the owner of multiple websites, it is wise to put each website on a different IP range. This tells Google, and other search engines, that there is diversity amongst the websites which could lead to better overall search rankings.

SEO Web Hosting is web hosting tailored to SEO professionals. It allows for online marketers to build SEO networks using multiple IPs, each on a different C Class, or IP range. This business has become more lucrative as IP addresses on the web are running low. HostSEO.org stocked up on these IPs, allowing their clients to grab them before they run out.

HostSEO has added significant inventory from all over?Europe, allowing country-specific IP selection. HostSEO now offers UK, German, French, Spanish, Swedish, Irish, Italian, and Dutch IP?s. In addition, HostSEO continues to provide up to?100 c-class?s in the continental United States.

To take advantage of HostSEO.org?s offer, visit their website and choose between shared hosting and dedicated server plans. Apply the coupon ?2012LASTDAYS? during checkout for an additional 10% off your total purchase price. The coupon locks in your savings forever, if registered in 2012!

HostSEO.org Increases Class C IP Availability

Source: http://www.hostingblender.com/web-hosting-news/hostseo-org-increases-class-c-ip-availability.html

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TomTom updates its Android app to make it, you know, work

We've journeyed with the TomTom Navigator app for Android and it's been great -- except for one brake-punching problem. Version 1.0 was only compatible with phones that happened to have a display width of 480 pixels (WVGA or FWVGA), which meant that our Galaxy S IIIs, Nexus 4s and other favorite handsets all had to be left at home. That issue has now been fixed in v1.1, along with some other, less fundamental niggles. In particular, you can now download the large offline maps to microSD rather than filling up internal storage, and TomTom also says map downloads can be completed with the app running in the background -- although there's no mention of downloads being resumable. One thing that certainly hasn't improved is the price -- if you want to travel across the USA and Canada, for example, you'll find that Navigator for Android is precisely $50 more costly than Google's offline offering or Nokia Drive for Windows Phones.

Continue reading TomTom updates its Android app to make it, you know, work

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS, Mobile

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Source: Google Play

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Tessco declares 75-cent special dividend

HUNT VALLEY, Md. (AP) ? Wireless communications company Tessco Technologies Inc. on Monday declared a special dividend of 75 cents, the latest in a slew of companies to do so this year.

The company said it will pay out about $6 million to shareholders. The dividend is payable Dec. 27 to shareholders of record on Dec. 13.

Many companies are moving up their quarterly dividends or making a special end-of-year payment to protect investors from potentially higher taxes on dividend income starting in January. Since 2003, investors have paid a maximum 15 percent on dividend income. But that historically low rate will expire in January unless Congress and President Barack Obama reach a compromise on taxes and government spending.

If no compromise is reached, dividends will be taxed as ordinary income in 2013. That means rates will go up depending on which income bracket a taxpayer is in. For the highest earners, the dividend rate would jump to 43.4 percent.

Tessco's current quarterly dividend is 18 cents. Tessco paid its most recent dividend on Nov. 28.

The Hunt Valley, Md., company's shares added 28 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $22.05 in afternoon trading.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tessco-declares-75-cent-special-dividend-200425835--finance.html

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Ideas For Finding Your Way To A Happier Life! | iNeedInfotips.com

Thousands of Americans of all ages would like to become better at something or improve upon one of their personal qualities. Some people want to become better fathers or spouses, while others want to be a workplace hero. There are some insights here that will help you, regardless of which area of personal development you are interested in.

Always try do do the best you can at whatever you do. The passions you have should always make you want to achieve greatness. Do not worry if you are not the best at what you do: the important part is to enjoy it and inspire others. You should always try to be the best you can be in your profession; your self-esteem will rise as a result.

Find people you can relate to. This will help to boost your self-esteem as well as give you a bit of a break from the kind of people that spend their time badmouthing your dreams and goals every chance that they get.

When engaging in personal development, tell yourself that you want to be better because you deserve better. Repeat this statement to yourself every day, ?I owe it to myself to strive for the best?. In the end, you will know that you did all that you can and you will not have any regrets.

An extremely important key to self improvement is knowing what you want to do with your life. Long-term goals are a tremendous thing to have and can make a big difference in your perspective.

Read good articles about self improvement. When you read a really good personal development book, you may come away with life-changing advice and ideas. Look for a book that is backed by very positive and very credible reviews because certain personal development books are written terribly.

Humility is key. We are but a cog in our universe. You still have so much to learn and discover. When you fully grasp this concept, you can truly open yourself to new ideas. Keeping an open mind will allow you to learn from other people.

Make all self improvement goals specific so that they will lead you to success. With your specific goals, success can come. If you are focused on your goals, then the obstacles between you and them will be easier to overcome.

Find a book that you can turn to for encouragement. Whether it is a religious book or a favorite novel, find a book that inspires you. A book functions as a concrete object you can use to find support and useful advice when you need it.

Be nice to your body to better your self improvement. Listen to what your body is saying to you, so if it is exhibiting hunger, thirst, etc., then it?s up to you to rectify that situation quickly. A healthy body provides you with the basis for pursuing a course of self improvement. Failing to heed your body?s warnings can set you up for disappointment later on.

Exercising is not only a way to lose weight. There are tons of reasons to exercise. When you exercise, your body makes a variety of chemicals that assist in relaxing you.

Every champion needs a coach, so get someone to help you. A coach is necessary to advise and keep the bigger picture in mind. All of us are expected to show others the way. Without someone to teach them the right way of doing things, it?s impossible to expect them to be able to properly succeed. Everyone who is great at something has had help getting to where they are.

Perhaps you have always wanted to accomplish some life changes but were not quite sure how to do it. There are good insights in this article that can assist you in getting started, but do keep in mind that your dedicated effort is still required. You?ll discover ways to keep your motivation and drive from waning by referring back to these suggestions periodically.

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Source: http://ineedinfotips.com/health/ideas-for-finding-your-way-to-a-happier-life/

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Plastic bulb promises truer light

3 December 2012 Last updated at 00:05 ET By Matt McGrath Environment correspondent, BBC News

US researchers say they have developed a new type of lighting that could replace fluorescent bulbs.

The new source is made from layers of plastic and is said to be more efficient while producing a better quality of flicker-free light.

The scientists behind it say they believe the first units will be produced in 2013.

Details of the new development have been published in the journal Organic Electronics.

Continue reading the main story

?Start Quote

What we've found is a way of creating light rather than heat?

End Quote Prof David Carroll Wake Forest University Brighter white

The new light source is called field-induced polymer electroluminescent (Fipel) technology. It is made from three layers of white-emitting polymer that contain a small volume of nanomaterials that glow when electric current is passed through them.

The inventor of the device is Dr David Carroll, professor of physics at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. He says the new plastic lighting source can be made into any shape, and it produces a better quality of light than compact fluorescent bulbs which have become very popular in recent years.

"They have a bluish, harsh tint to them, " he told BBC News, "it is not really accommodating to the human eye; people complain of headaches and the reason is the spectral content of that light doesn't match the Sun - our device can match the solar spectrum perfectly.

"I'm saying we are brighter than one of these curlicue bulbs and I can give you any tint to that white light that you want."

Continue reading the main story

Lighting up the world

• Lighting accounts for around 19% of global electricity use
• A worldwide switch to low-energy bulbs could save the output of around 600 power plants

There have been several attempts to develop new light-bulbs in recent years - Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) have come a long way since they were best known for being indicator lights in electronic devices. Over the past decade, they have become much more widely used as a light source as they are both bright and efficient. They are now often used on large buildings.

Light not heat

Another step forward has been organic LEDs (OLEDs) which also promise greater efficiency and better light than older, incandescent bulbs. Their big advantage over LEDs is that they can be transformed into many different shapes including the screens for high-definition televisions.

But Prof Carroll believes OLED lights haven't lived up to the hype.

"They don't last very long and they're not very bright," he said. "There's a limit to how much brightness you can get out of them. If you run too much current through them they melt."

The Fipel bulb, he says, overcomes all these problems.

"What we've found is a way of creating light rather than heat. Our devices contain no mercury, they contain no caustic chemicals and they don't break as they are not made of glass."

Prof Carroll says his new bulb is cheap to make and he has a "corporate partner" interested in manufacturing the device. He believes the first production runs will take place in 2013.

He also has great faith in the ability of the new bulbs to last. He says he has one in his lab that has been working for about a decade.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20553143#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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business | Consumer Acquisition Specialists and Rob Gronkowski ...

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5 states to increase class time in some schools

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Open your notebooks and sharpen your pencils. School for thousands of public school students is about to get quite a bit longer.

Five states were to announce Monday that they will add at least 300 hours of learning time to the calendar in some schools starting in 2013. Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Tennessee will take part in the initiative, which is intended to boost student achievement and make U.S. schools more competitive on a global level.

The three-year pilot program will affect almost 20,000 students in 40 schools, with long-term hopes of expanding the program to include additional schools ? especially those that serve low-income communities. Schools, working in concert with districts, parents and teachers, will decide whether to make the school day longer, add more days to the school year or both.

A mix of federal, state and district funds will cover the costs of expanded learning time, with the Ford Foundation and the National Center on Time & Learning also chipping in resources. In Massachusetts, the program builds on the state's existing expanded-learning program. In Connecticut, Gov. Dannel Malloy is hailing it as a natural outgrowth of an education reform law the state passed in May that included about $100 million in new funding, much of it to help the neediest schools.

Spending more time in the classroom, education officials said, will give students access to a more well-rounded curriculum that includes arts and music, individualized help for students who fall behind and opportunities to reinforce critical math and science skills.

"Whether educators have more time to enrich instruction or students have more time to learn how to play an instrument and write computer code, adding meaningful in-school hours is a critical investment that better prepares children to be successful in the 21st century," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement.

The project comes as educators across the U.S. struggle to identify the best ways to strengthen a public education system that many fear has fallen behind other nations. Student testing, teacher evaluations, charter schools and voucher programs join longer school days on the list of reforms that have been put forward with varying degrees of success.

The report from the center, which advocates for extending instruction time, cites research suggesting students who spend more hours learning perform better. One such study, from Harvard economist Roland Fryer, argues that of all the factors affecting educational outcomes, two are the best predictors of success: intensive tutoring and adding at least 300 hours to the standard school calendar.

More classroom time has long been a priority for Duncan, who warned a congressional committee in May 2009 ? just months after becoming education secretary ? that American students were at a disadvantage compared to their peers in India and China. That same year, he suggested schools should be open six or seven days per week and should run 11 or 12 months out of the year.

But not everyone agrees that shorter school days are to blame. A report last year from the National School Boards Association's Center for Public Education disputed the notion that American schools have fallen behind in classroom time, pointing out that students in high-performing countries like South Korea, Finland and Japan actually spend less time in school than most U.S. students.

The broader push to extend classroom time could also run up against concerns from teachers unions. Longer school days became a major sticking point in a seven-day teachers strike in September in Chicago. Mayor Rahm Emanuel eventually won an extension of the school day but paid the price in other concessions granted to teachers.

Just over 1,000 U.S. schools already operate on expanded schedules, an increase of 53 percent over 2009, according to a report being released Monday in connection with the announcement by the National Center on Time & Learning. The nonprofit group said more schools should follow suit but stressed that expanded learning time isn't the right strategy for every school.

Some of the funds required to add 300 or more hours to the school calendar will come from shifting resources from existing federal programs, making use of the flexibility granted by waivers to No Child Left Behind. All five states taking part in the initiative have received waivers from the Education Department.

___

Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/5-states-increase-class-time-schools-221441177.html

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Lake Vista Crime Prevention District wins voters' approval | NOLA.com

Voters in Lake Vista agreed Tuesday to pay a special property fee to support additional security patrols. The Lake Vista Crime Prevention District can levy a fee of $220 a year for four years, starting in 2013,?on each residential lot in the area bounded by Robert E. Lee Boulevard, Marconi Drive, Beauregard Avenue and Lakeshore Drive.

The fee is expected to generate about $142,000 per year "to be used solely and exclusively to promote and encourage the security" of Lake Vista by hiring additional public or private security patrols, "or any other security or other services or betterments."

The fee can be renewed when the initial term expires, if approved by?voters at a future election.

The district will be governed by a board of commissioners made up of neighborhood residents.

Source: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/11/lake_vista_crime_prevention_di.html

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Want to fix Congress? Let's institute pay for ... - Fortune Finance

By Sheila Bair, contributor

FORTUNE -- Will the elections bring about improvements in our increasingly dysfunctional government? I fear not. Successfully running for office these days is more about political fundraising and negative campaigning than about the art of governing. Only one in 10 Americans thinks Congress is doing a good job, and no wonder. Our economy is stuck in low gear, and our fiscal situation is precarious. How do we motivate our national leaders to deal with these problems? As with most organizations, it comes down to economic incentives. If our elected officials can keep their paychecks by being adept at fundraising and negative campaigning, then that is what they'll do. But if at least part of their pay is based on performance, maybe we could get them to focus on doing their jobs. Pay for performance has improved management in the private sector. Why not try it with the folks in D.C.?

MORE: The challenge for the new Congress - save our skin

For instance, one-half of compensation for corporate directors is frequently paid in stock, which they must hold for several years. The idea is to align their economic incentives with the long-term profitability of the corporation. There is no stock ownership in the federal government, obviously, but we do issue a lot of debt (boy, do we ever). So here is an idea: Let's start paying members of Congress and the President half of their compensation in 10-year Treasury debt, which they must hold until maturity. Members of Congress make roughly $180,000, so under this proposal, they would get $90,000 in cash and $90,000 in 10-year Treasuries. (We would add a housing allowance, too, given the high cost of living in Washington.) For the President, it would be $200,000 cash and $200,000 in T-bonds. If the economy does well and if they get our fiscal house in order and institute pro-growth tax and spending policies, those 10-year bonds should hold their value. But if we continue our profligate ways, inflation spikes, and interest rates skyrocket, those bonds may end up being worth as much as the stuff Czar Nicholas issued shortly before the Bolshevik revolution (some of which I bought at a flea market and now use as wallpaper in the bathroom).

And if that isn't enough to light a fire under our elected officials, here's another idea: Let's make the half of their salary paid in bonds conditional on hitting certain performance benchmarks. This is how I would divide it up:

I'd condition a third of the bonds on the labor force participation rate -- the percentage of the working-age population who have jobs. (I wouldn't use the unemployment rate as a benchmark, since it can improve simply because discouraged workers give up looking.) In the 1990s and early 2000s we kept the labor force participation rate at about 66%, so if the rate falls below that, Congress and the President would lose one-third of their government bonds.

MORE:?5 things business can teach Washington

Another third would be tied to GDP growth. Has 1% to 2% become the new normal? Let's hope not. I don't want to be Japan. I'd deny another third of their bonds if GDP growth averaged below 3%. If the country exceeded either benchmark by more than half a percentage point, I'd give our politicians an extra $30,000 in Treasury bonds. If they exceeded both, I'd give them $100,000. But here's the catch: Those improvements would have to last five years, or we taxpayers claw the bonds back. We want economic policies that provide lasting benefit.

The final third would be determined by our citizens. Shareholders get to have an advisory vote on executive compensation. Why not taxpayers too? With every two-year election cycle, we should get to vote on whether we think Congress and the President collectively are earning their paychecks. No more blaming our problems on the other guy. We vote on how well they are working together, and if we like what we see, they get the final third of their bonds.

Running a business and running a government are obviously different, but when it comes to compensation, government could probably learn a few things from well-managed corporations. Aligning pay with long-term performance can be a good way to change behavior for the better. We should give it a try.

This story is from the November 12, 2012 issue of?Fortune.

Source: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/11/06/congress-pay-performance/

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Diamond Digital to Release Dave Sim's Groundbreaking "Cerebus ...

Official Press Release

Cerebus the Aardvark, the creation of Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim and the star of his 6,000-page epic Cerebus, conquers the new frontier of digital comics as publisher Aardvark-Vanaheim joins the Diamond Digital program for the digital release of the 25-part Cerebus: High Society.

Through Diamond Digital, readers can purchase the Cerebus: High Society digital comics from their local comic shop and their online stores and download the content to their mobile devices via the "Digital Comics Reader" App for iOS and Android. A free download, the Digital Comics Reader app can be downloaded at Diamond Digital or via www.digitalcomicsreader.com and offers readers free cloud storage for all their Diamond Digital purchases.

The first issue of Cerebus: High Society, which reprints May 1981's Cerebus #26, is available for free through Diamond Digital, and subsequent issues will be priced at 99 cents each.

Originally published in Cerebus in the early 1980s and acclaimed as one of the greatest graphic novels of all time, Cerebus: High Society brings the groundbreaking, yet timely and relevant, satire of Cerebus' campaign for the Prime Ministership of Iest to the digital audience. Each issue features original documents from the time period from Dave Sim's Cerebus Archive, pages from his original notebooks, and his own annotations.

"Dave Sims' Cerebus is one of comics' singular achievements and has been a mainstay of comic shops since the Direct Market's earliest days," said Diamond Vice President of Purchasing Bill Schanes. "This partnership between Diamond Digital and Aardvark-Vanaheim will bring this important work to the burgeoning digital market. Here at Diamond, we look forward to conquering new digital readers together with Cerebus: High Society."

Said Cerebus? Dave Sim: ?It?s hard to find anything to say about digital High Society without tattooing Spoiler Warning across my mouth ? and being deathly afraid of jinxing both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney all the way from up here in the Great White North. Everyone just keep chanting as you download each issue in your favourite comic store: ?Hanging Chads! Never Again! Hanging Chads! Never Again!? And if that works, remember: you have Dave Sim and Diamond Digital to thank. And if it doesn?t, Oh, Jeez. Don?t look at me. I?m just a hoser like you, so ?Take Off, Eh???

Issues 1 through 5 of Cerebus: High Society are currently available to customers through comics retailers in the Diamond Digital program, and future issues of the 25 issue series will be released weekly through March 2013.

Now Available (with Diamond Digital ordering codes)
Cerebus: High Society #1 ? AUG128089
Cerebus: High Society #2 ? AUG128090
Cerebus: High Society #3 ? AUG128316
Cerebus: High Society #4 ? AUG128317
Cerebus: High Society #5 ? AUG128318

Forthcoming (with Diamond Digital ordering codes)
Cerebus: High Society #6 ? AUG128414 (Available November 7, 2012)
Cerebus: High Society #7 ? AUG128415 (Available November 14, 2012)
Cerebus: High Society #8 ? AUG128416 (Available November 21, 2012)
Cerebus: High Society #9 ? AUG128417 (Available November 28, 2012)

ABOUT DIAMOND DIGITAL? Diamond Digital is the unique initiative of Diamond Comic Distributors and digital technology partner, iVerse Media, to empower independently owned and operated comic book specialty retailers worldwide to sell digital content both in their stores and on their websites. For more information, visit Diamond Digital on the web at www.diamonddigital.com.

ABOUT DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTORS (DCD)?Diamond is at the nexus of comics and pop culture. Based in Baltimore, MD, DCD is the world's largest distributor of English-language comic books, graphic novels, and related pop-culture merchandise, serving thousands of retailers worldwide. For more information, visit Diamond on the web at www.diamondcomics.com.

? 2012 Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. All rights reserved. Diamond, the Diamond logo, Diamond Books logo, and PREVIEWS are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Diamond Comic Distributors in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective copyright owners.

Discuss this story in CBR's Independents forum. ?|?

Tags: ?diamond digital, aardvark-vanaheim, cerebus, dave sim, cerebus high society

Source: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=42056

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The Social Media Conversion Funnel and ROI | Search Engine ...

The naysayers are everywhere proclaiming ?There is no ROI in social media.? There are others proclaiming how successful and profitable social media is. So, which one is it?

The answer lies in the social media conversion funnel. When it comes to creating a funnel analysis (made popular in Web Analytics) for social marketing, there are at least two very different funnels available.

The best way to examine the two different funnels is to think of in-person social interactions. I prefer to use a dating analogy.

The first funnel is the ?Instant Gratification? or ?The One-Night Stand?

In this funnel, organizations expect that a tweet, a blog post, or a?Facebook status update with a link in it will drive their fans and followers to click on the link and covert. They can measure click-through rates, conversation rates, and calculated URL much in the same way agency have been doing for years with direct mail/email marketing.

Unfortunately, just like going to a bar to meet people, few will get instantly lucky, and for those who do, rarely is there more engagement than a one night stand with limited lifelong customer value.

The second funnel is ?The Long-term Relationship?

This funnel has a minimum of four stages all revolving around relationship building. The goals of organizations who implement this strategy are commitment relationships and being there for the long haul with their customers.

Step 1: The Cocktail Party

Just as in the physical world, this is where you meet people and establish weak connections. Perhaps you met someone at an actual party, a conference, a networking event, or online at during a TwitterChat, or followed them from a link in an article you read and so on.

You have limited reasons to trust this person with anything more than a business card and your contact points. You then take this information and add them to you contacts on LinkedIn, follow them on Twitter, friend them on Facebook, add them to a G+ circle, etc. If neither of you actively takes the relationship to next level, nothing more will happen in the conversion funnel.

Step 2: Building Trust

By adding them to your on-line social network (step 1), you can now move the relationship to the next level: building trust. This is established with communication. Each of you can see and monitor the?behavior?and knowledge of the other. Is he or she the person you thought they were when you first met them? Do you start trusting that person as a subject matter expert? When you do, you?re ready to take the relationship to the next step in the funnel.

Step 3: Dating

Do all first dates go well? Of course not! This is the point in the relation where you feel each other. Is there a mutual attraction or does it appear that they want a one-sided relationship? Are they going for the hard sell? When talking to them do you pay more attention to your smartphone or look up and count the holes in the ceiling tiles in your office? Typical signs of a social media first date would include a product demo or a phone conversation about service or a product offered.

If you had a successful first date, perhaps you?ll have a few more and even kick it up a notch. At this point, you?re prepared to take the relationship to a whole new level. In the business world, perhaps you?ll sign up for a free trial of their product or let them provide you with a quote on a project. If anything goes wrong, there is always an easy exit from the relationship.

Step 4: Marriage (The Long-term Relationship)

You take the plunge, you buy the product, or they become your customer. In essence, you?re both in it for the long haul (life-time customer value). And you both can ride off into the ROI calculation sunset, or can you?

Yes, you can calculate ROI, but only if you?ve captured all related costs to the four steps of this relationship. Not an easy task if it took six months, perhaps a year, perhaps two years or more before you reached step 4. It?s for this reason that many who think you can go from step 1 to 4 in a heartbeat find no ROI in social marketing.

Real Life Case Study

It was 2008 at an Internet conference that I attended a networking cocktail party. In this picture from the event ironically are three people who I met at the event and a fourth?who all contributed to a positive social media ROI. Each has their own story, but here they are in a nutshell:

Joe Morin ? I met him in a conference the previous year, and he insisted that I contact PubCon and get on their speakers lists. I did, and with Joe?s help I have spoken at that event ever since the 2007 show and where I met the next three people in 2008.

Aaron Kronis?? when I met Aaron, he was just an attendee. We exchanged contact details and communicated regularly via Twitter and Facebook. He?d frequently ask me about speaking and how I got started.

Eventually with the knowledge he gleaned from me (and from others), he became a conference speaker (his positive social media ROI). I received my ROI when I was programming an event and needed a speaker with his credentials. Aaron was happy to help out and spoke at the event.

Michael Martin?? in 2008, Michael and I were on the same site review panel. Once again, we used social media to keep up with one another. Michael is one of the leading authorities on Android phones. By reading his blog and tweets, I learned to trust his opinion.

So, when it came time to get my new phone, I contacted Michael for his recommendation on which phone in Canada I should get. He told me to wait two months and get a specific phone that was coming to that market. I did as he suggested and have no regrets. His advice saved me lots of research, time, frustration, and possibly a wrong choice. What?s the ROI on this? I can?t put a dollar figure on it, but it?s positive.

Rob Snell?? Rob and I really didn?t keep in touch much after this initial meeting beyond adding each other as friends on Facebook and chatting at other subsequent conferences we both attended, but trust was gained.

While writing my book, I was stuck for a final chapter and was wracking my brains for a solution. Right when I was about to give up, I attended an address Rob was giving (after all Rob is a nice guy and I trust the information he gives). Half way through his address, I saw the writing on the wall, his story was the final chapter.

After his presentation, I asked him if I could use his content in my book. Because he trusted me (our social connection), he took it under advisement and shortly thereafter agreed. We both obtained positive ROI from our social connection as I had my final chapter of the book (and could start selling it) and Rob received additional notoriety by being featured in a book.

So what was my ROI from speaking/attending PubCon 2008?

I didn?t? get paid to speak nor had any expenses covered. It cost me perhaps $1,500 plus my time. Did any direct business come from it? Not really. Did I obtain knowledge while attending? Yes. Did I make connections and add them to my online social network (social media)? 100% yes. Did some of these connections eventually emerge from the social media funnel with a positive value? Yes, but the dollar value is nearly impossible to fully calculate.

There you have it, a two-step funnel and a four-step funnel. The first has an easy way to calculate ROI, and the other comes with a nearly impossible way to calculate true ROI. Before you discount social media because of ROI, make sure which funnel fits with your business strategy and don?t use the calculations for a two-step funnel with a four-step funnel because the results will be disastrous.

Alan K'necht is a founding partner at Toronto based Digital Always Media Inc. a search & social media marketing agency and training company. Alan is an online instructor for the University of San Francisco's on-line Internet marketing and analytics programs and the head of their Advanced Analytics course. In 2010 he published his 1st book, the award winning "The Last Original Idea - A Cynic's View to Internet Marketing". He also co-hosts of the weekly Twitter Chat #SocialChat which regularly reaches a potential audience of over 500,000

Source: http://www.searchenginejournal.com/the-social-media-conversion-funnel-roi/50913/

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MIAMI: Realtors association CEO discusses South Florida market ...

Teresa King Kinney, CEO of Miami Association of Realtors

TIM CHAPMAN ? Miami Herald Staff

MIAMI ? As CEO of the Miami Association of Realtors, Teresa King Kinney has a keen vantage point on South Florida?s real estate market.

She oversees the largest local group of real estate agents in the country, more than 26,000. Her association provides an array of services and resources for members to help them hone their professional and selling skills, including some 1,600 seminars a year, large and small.

But perhaps the group?s most significant event of the year in terms of impact is the Miami International Real Estate Congress, which started Sunday and continues through Wednesday at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. The group, which focuses heavily on building international awareness of Miami real estate, is hosting agents from across the globe.

Immediately after the event, the National Association of Realtors is gathering in Orlando Friday to Nov. 12.

Miami Herald's Business Monday sat down in an interview with King Kinney, who later responded by email to questions about her association and the local market.

Q. The Miami Association of Realtors is hosting the Miami International Real Estate Congress, which started Sunday and runs through Wednesday. What trends are you seeing in international interest in Miami properties? What has your group done to build relationships with brokers in other countries to build Miami?s image?

International buyers continue to play a pivotal role in the local market, fueling a recovery unlike any other in the U.S. The Miami Association of Realtors has more than 100 partner associations worldwide. These relationships and the association?s international outreach programs continue to boost our market and result in Miami?s all-time sales record in 2011 and subsequent significant price appreciation.

International demand for Miami properties continues to grow. While Florida?s market share of international buying activity in the U.S. declined over the last year, Miami?s grew by more than 10 percent. Nearly one-third of all international transactions in Florida take place in Miami.Q. Where is most of the foreign buyer interest in South Florida real estate coming from these days? Are you seeing growing interest from some nations and less from others?

While Miami is undoubtedly attracting demand from buyers and investors worldwide, it remains a hotspot for Latin American buyers. In Miami, 70 percent of international sales are to Latin American buyers, followed by Western Europeans, who account for 18 percent of local international sales. Miami also attracts buyers from North America, Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia.

Latin Americans, not even including top markets of Brazil and Venezuela, prefer Miami over any other market in Florida by a significant margin of 65.8 percent. No other market even comes close.

Not surprisingly, Venezuelan buyers also greatly favor Miami, with 67.4 percent of Venezuelans choosing Miami followed by Fort Lauderdale with 16.3 percent, for a total of 83.7 percent.

Miami is also the top choice for Brazilian buyers, who are nine percent of international buyers in Florida. Nearly 50 percent of Brazilian buyers choose Miami, followed by Fort Lauderdale at 18.6 percent, for a total of 68.6 percent.Q. What obstacles or bumps in the road do you see to the continued recovery of the Miami residential market? In other words, what are some of the key challenges? Are you concerned about access to mortgages? How about the possibility of another cycle of overbuilding of condominiums?

Unnecessarily restrictive underwriting standards continue to prevent many qualified buyers from obtaining mortgages. While standards were not strict enough during the subprime mortgage crisis, now the pendulum has swung too far. Eliminating or reducing excessive restrictions would further boost our market and provide much needed mortgage financing to our residents.

Miami?s position as a global city, combined with its strategic location, its role in international banking and as an international corporate hub, and its multicultural affinity will continue to attract both U.S. and international buyers and investors long into the future.

Demand for housing is evident. We have a strong rental market, nearly 100 percent residential occupancy rates in downtown Miami, and a growing population. Also the dynamics of our market are very different from those of the last boom in terms of the capital being used to fund new projects. Many new projects are being funded by much heavier deposits from purchasers. Miami?s ability to absorb high levels of inventory is unparalleled. New construction which is within our increased acceptable ranges will have no problem.Q. Do you think that banks will be able to sell off their distressed residential holdings without disrupting the broader market? That is, do you expect the shadow inventory to be absorbed without major upheaval to the recovery in South Florida housing?

We don?t expect shadow inventory to significantly impact our market in the future, because it will be absorbed as soon as it hits the market as buyers, investors and the market are waiting for and need more inventory ? as we have seen, and was confirmed by the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors.

Also, research by Florida Realtors indicates that concern over shadow inventory in Florida is probably highly overrated, because shadow inventory is easing while sufficient demand absorbs supply.

Distressed sales have declined 12 percent in Miami-Dade County compared to year-ago levels, and there continues to be great demand for distressed properties. Further, in many cases one same property generated more than one lis pendens [notice of foreclosure], erroneously indicating much higher shadow inventory than the reality.

Source: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/11/05/4266653/realtors-association-ceo-discusses.html

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Bioengineers design rapid diagnostic tests inspired by nature

ScienceDaily (Sep. 27, 2012) ? By mimicking nature's own sensing mechanisms, bioengineers at UC Santa Barbara and University of Rome Tor Vergata have designed inexpensive medical diagnostic tests that take only a few minutes to perform. Their findings may aid efforts to build point-of-care devices for quick medical diagnosis of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), allergies, autoimmune diseases, and a number of other diseases. The new technology could dramatically impact world health, according to the research team.

The rapid and easy-to-use diagnostic test consists of a nanometer-scale DNA "switch" that can quickly detect antibodies specific to a wide range of diseases. The research is described in an article published this month in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

The design was created by the research group of Kevin W. Plaxco, a professor in UCSB's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. He noted that, despite the power of current diagnostic tests, a significant limitation is that they still require complex laboratory procedures. "Patients typically must wait for days or even weeks to receive the results of most STD tests," said Plaxco. "The blood sample has to be transported to the lab, its content analyzed by trained personnel, and the results sent back to the doctor's office. If we can move testing to the point of care, it eliminates the lag between testing and treatment, which would enhance the effectiveness of medical interventions, and, for infectious diseases like STDs, reduce transmission."

The key breakthrough underlying this new technology came from observing nature. "All creatures, from bacteria to humans, monitor their environments using amazing 'molecular nanoswitches' that signal the presence of a specific target by changing their structure," said Alexis Vall?e-B?lisle, a postdoctoral scholar and co-first author of the study. "For example, on the surface of our cells, there are millions of receptor proteins that detect various molecules by switching from an 'off state' to an 'on state.' The beauty of these switches is that they are able to work directly in very complex environments such as whole blood."

Plaxco's research group teamed with Francesco Ricci, professor at University of Rome Tor Vergata and co-first author of the paper, to build synthetic molecular switches that signal their state via a change in electric current. This change in current can be measured using inexpensive electronics similar to those in the home glucose test meter used by diabetics to check their blood sugar. Using these "nature-inspired" nanoswitches, the researchers were able to detect anti-HIV antibodies directly in whole blood in less than five minutes.

"A great advantage of these electrochemical nanoswitches is that their sensing principle can be generalized to many different targets, allowing us to build inexpensive devices that could detect dozens of disease markers in less than five minutes in the doctor's office or even at home," said Ricci.

The authors noted that it may take several years to bring the devices to the market.

The additional co-authors are Fan Xia of Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China; and Takanori Uzawa of Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan.

This work was funded by the National Institute of Health, the Fond Qu?b?cois de la Recherche sur la Nature et les Technologies; the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MIUR) project "Futuro in Ricerca;" and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, through the Grand Challenges Explorations Grant.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Santa Barbara.

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. Alexis Vall?e-B?lisle, Francesco Ricci, Takanori Uzawa, Fan Xia, Kevin W. Plaxco. Bioelectrochemical Switches for the Quantitative Detection of Antibodies Directly in Whole Blood. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2012; 134 (37): 15197 DOI: 10.1021/ja305720w

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/LDWWmF4zukY/120928093721.htm

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Honey bees fight back against Varroa

Friday, September 28, 2012

The parasitic mite Varroa destructor is a major contributor to the recent mysterious death of honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology finds that specific proteins, released by damaged larvae and in the antennae of adult honey bees, can drive hygienic behavior of the adults and promote the removal of infected larvae from the hive.

V. destructor sucks the blood (hemolymph) of larval and adult bees leaving them weakened and reducing the ability of their immune systems to fight off infections. Not that honey bees have strong immune systems in the first place since they have fewer immunity genes than solitary insects such as flies and moths. These tiny mites can also spread viral disease between hosts. This double onslaught is thought to be a significant contributor to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).

But all is not lost - honey bees have evolved a way to fight back: hygienic behavior where diseased or parasitized larvae are removed from their brood cells, and Varroa-sensitive hygienic behavior which they use to reduce the number of reproductive mites on remaining larvae.

To find exactly how bees respond to hive infections, researchers from Canada looked at the natural behavioral of bees in the presence of damaged larvae and compared this to protein differences in the larvae and adults. After scanning 1200 proteins the team found that several proteins, including LOC552009 (of unknown function but similar to ApoO), found in the antennae of adults were associated with both uncapping brood cells and the removal of larvae. Other proteins were involved in olfaction or in signal transduction, probably helping the adults find infected larvae amongst a brood.

In damaged larvae, transglutaminase, a protein involved in blood clotting, was upregulated, which appeared to be a key component in regulating the adult's behavior. Other proteins indicated adaptations to help fight infection, including chitin biosynthesis and immune responses.

Dr Leonard Foster from CHIBI at the University of British Columbia, who led this research said, "Bee keepers have previously focused on selecting bees with traits such as enhanced honey production, gentleness and winter survival. We have found a set of proteins which could be used to select colonies on their ability to resist Varroa mite infestation and can be used to find individuals with increased hygienic behavior. Given the increasing resistance of Varroa to available drugs this would provide a natural way of ensuring honey farming and potentially survival of the species."

###

BioMed Central: http://www.biomedcentral.com

Thanks to BioMed Central 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.

This press release has been viewed 51 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/123968/Honey_bees_fight_back_against_Varroa

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Happy 10th Birthday, Roomba! (video)

It's been a full decade since the first Roomba scuttled off the assembly line and onto the floors of slatternly geeks. Understandably, iRobot's looking back over the period, revealing that since then, it's sold over six million of the units -- with each one covering an average of 705 miles in its lifetime. Along the way, that army of Wall-Es-in-the-making have consumed around two million pounds of dirt, including the odd Lego brick, pet snake and wedding bands -- although, as the videos below demonstrate, it's normally quite friendly to children and animals.

Continue reading Happy 10th Birthday, Roomba! (video)

Filed under: Misc, Robots

Happy 10th Birthday, Roomba! (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Sep 2012 17:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/_hmrXdUw4as/

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Use Empty Tic Tac Boxes as Travel Spice Containers [Clever Uses]

Now that you know the right way to get Tic Tacs out of the box, don't throw out the boxes. instead, save them and pour your favorite spices and seasonings inside for a space-saving, portable spice rack.

Granted, most spice bottles are pretty small to begin with, but if you only want to take a little with you, let's say in your bag or when you're traveling or camping, a bunch of Tic Tac boxes pack together nicely and take up even less space. If you do what ASBloom, the woman behind Skruben, did, you can slap on some adhesive labels, drop them all in a plastic container with a handle, and hit the road. Even if you don't want that many, one or two of your favorite blends in your bag or backpack will guarantee any meal anywhere tastes fantastic.

Repurposed TicTac Boxes for Travel Spices | Skruben via TipNut

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/8T414Lwo42o/use-empty-tic-tac-boxes-as-travel-spice-containers

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Madden NFL 13, Assassin's Creed 3, Mass Effect 3, FIFA 13 - Wii U video interviews

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.gonintendo.com/?mode=viewstory&id=185494

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Greek unions call general strike for Sept. 26

ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? Greece's largest labor unions have called a general strike for Sept. 26 in response to a new government austerity package that is expected to worsen hardship in the recession-hit country.

The date of the 24-hour strike was decided Thursday, a General Confederation of Greek Labor spokeswoman said, adding that the strike would be joined by a civil servants' union.

Rescue creditors are demanding that Greece's conservative-led government slashes a further ?11.5 billion ($14.8 billion) in budget costs over the next two years ? resulting in a new round of wage and pension cuts ? if the country is to continue getting vital bailout loans.

The austerity measures already imposed as part of this bailout deal have held back growth, pushing the country into a three-year recession. Government figures released Thursday reveal unemployment in Greece has risen further to 23.6 percent in the second quarter of 2012 ? up from 16.3 percent the previous year.

Athens is seeking more time to fix public finances, arguing that austerity measures will be counterproductive if forced too swiftly on the country's weakened economy. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras took up the issue Thursday with visiting French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici.

About 200 disabled people gathered outside the Finance Ministry Thursday to protest proposed benefit cuts.

"What we are saying is obvious: Blind and disabled people are not to blame for this crisis," Paraskevas Lambrou, a blind man from the central Greek city of Volos, told the AP at the demonstration.

"It is humiliating to be driven into poverty this way," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/greek-unions-call-general-strike-sept-26-111930513--finance.html

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