Men Must Start Family Before 35 | TopNews New Zealand

A recent report showed what a professor at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales has to say about male fertility. John Aitken was of the view that all those men who want to start their family must not wait till the age of 35. It's advisable that they have their children before they reach their mid 30s.

It has been claimed that though men do have the tendency to produce sperm, the quality of those gametes reduces with age, which may even make children susceptible to diseases.

There are chances of men with damaged sperm passing on diseases like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, epilepsy and autism, to their children, thereby making it all the more clear that men must not wait too long to enjoy fatherhood.

"Their sense of family, concepts of fatherhood, genetic heritage and self esteem are strong feelings that are sometimes misunderstood and underestimated", said Chris Skellett, a consultant at Otago Fertility Services in Otago, while speaking on the topic of men and infertility at a Fertility Society of Australia conference held in Auckland this week.

There is dire need to deal with such sensitive issues in the best possible manner as unlike women, men are a lot reserved to share their sexual inhibitions.

?

Source: http://topnews.net.nz/content/224870-men-must-start-family-35

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Report: Turkey again responds to Syrian shell

BESASLAN, Turkey (AP) ? Turkey's state-run news agency says the country's artillery has again responded to a stray shell fired from Syria that landed in Turkey.

The shell landed some 300 meters (yards) away from the Turkish border village of Besaslan on Monday. No one was injured but a power line was destroyed.

The Anadolu agency said Turkey responded to the fire but did not provide details.

Ankara has been firing in retaliation to stray shells and mortars ever since a shell fired from Syria slammed into a Turkish border town, killing five civilians on Oct. 3.

Syrian regime forces have been battling rebels near the town of Haram, in Syria's Idlib province, across the border from Besaslan, despite a cease-fire that was supposed to halt fighting over a four-day Muslim holiday this weekend.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/report-turkey-again-responds-syrian-shell-082951119.html

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MintLife Blog | Personal Finance News & Advice | If You Don't Have ...

Oct 29, 2012 / By John Ulzheimer

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Source: http://www.mint.com/blog/credit/if-you-dont-have-a-job-should-you-still-be-able-to-get-a-credit-card-1012/

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More November Courses from Family Tree University - Genealogy ...

by Jen Thorpe | More from this Blogger

Online courses are a great way to learn more about genealogy. You can take an online genealogy course from Family Tree University from the comfort of your own home and without having to brave the cold weather.

There are several Power Courses being offered in November. What's a Power Course? They are online courses from Family Tree University that have been designed to provide a concentrated dose of genealogy education on a single topic. Several of them are about to start in November. You get a week to go through about two hours of course material. It is presumed that genealogists who take a Power Course already understand the basics of genealogy research.

The Power Courses will be offered twice in November. One session will start on November 5, 2012, and end on November 11, 2012. The second session will begin the next day, November 12, 2012, and end on November 18, 2012. The tuition for any of the Power Courses is $39.99. Some topics include:

Power Course: California Genealogy will include an hour long California Genealogy Crash Course video, and several PDF's that are specific to California genealogy. This is a self-led course.

Power Course: Illinois Genealogy includes an hour Crash Course on Illinois genealogy records and research strategies. It also has three PDF's. Genealogists who are new to Illinois genealogy, and those who are seasoned veterans of it, will learn about helpful tools, sources, and strategies to use when searching for ancestors from Illinois.

Power Course: New York Genealogy Courses includes a video that is a New York Genealogy Crash Course. It also has three helpful state specific PDF guides. Part of the description for this course reads: "With four centuries of history and notably draconian privacy laws, New York can be a challenging place to research." The course will teach you some techniques to help you with your research.

Power Course: Coming to America will be offered twice in November, just like the other Power Courses. Note that the tuition for this course is $59.99. This one comes with a 60 minute video, a 30 minute video, and two helpful PDF guides. It also comes with a 25% off coupon good for Family Tree University's Immigration Master Class.

These are just a few of the Power Courses that Family Tree University is offering in November. There are Power Courses for other states, for getting through your "Brick Wall", and much more.

Image by Col Ford and Natasha de Vere on Flickr

I am currently writing for the Insurance, Deals, Genealogy, and Special Needs blogs.I have also written for the Parenting,Money, Homeschooling, Preschool, Health, Food and Weightloss blogs.

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Source: http://genealogy.families.com/blog/more-november-courses-from-family-tree-university

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Video: Is the NYSE a Dinosaur?

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/49600243/

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DeMarco: Giants prove pitching and defense wins

New champions were built on perhaps the most-fundamental principle in the game

OPINION

By Tony DeMarco

NBCSports.com contributor

updated 2:52 a.m. ET Oct. 29, 2012

Tony DeMarco

DETROIT - There are things about the San Francisco Giants that other organizations just aren't going to try.

Over the years, the Giants have attempted to curb Pablo Sandoval's appetite and change his work habits, but in the end, they let Panda be Panda, and mature on his own.

Because when he gets hot, he can carry a team through a postseason by hitting .364 with 11 extra-base hits and 13 RBI in 16 games, and win a World Series MVP award with a three-homer game, .500 batting average and four RBI.

After nine teams passed on a skinny little right-hander in the 2006 amateur draft, the Giants weren't afraid to pull the trigger on Tim Lincecum.

Two Cy Young Awards later, he unselfishly turns in a string of dominant postseason relief appearances, the last two of which were key wins in a World Series sweep of the Detroit Tigers.

And there is no looser, more tolerant atmosphere around any organization. It's one that fosters a colorful cast of mostly bearded characters who aren't necessarily fit, say, for the uptight professionalism around Yankee Stadium.

But another by-product is an always-have-fun-mentality that can shake off pressure and help in winning six postseason elimination games.

So maybe the Giants, who put away the Tigers with a 4-3 victory in 10 innings on Sunday night, aren't going to be the MLB model organization everybody tries to emulate. But two World Series titles in three years say they know what works for them, and they're doing it right.

"Two out of the three years; it's amazing,'' manager Bruce Bochy said. "Believe me, I know how difficult it is to get here. It's pretty remarkable what these guys have done.''

But the closer you look, the more you realize that for all their eccentricities, the Giants are built on perhaps the most-fundamental principle in the game ? pitching and defense wins.

It was around the time back in October of 2006 when senior vice president/general manager Brian Sabean swiftly scooped up Bruce Bochy to replace retiring manager Felipe Alou that the Giants committed to a makeover.

Partially by choice, and partially dictated by their unforgiving AT&T Park ? the toughest place in which to hit a home run this season ? the Giants knew they had to transform from more of a slugging, station-to-station team to a more athletic one that was led by its pitching staff.

And then they went out and executed the plan. Do pitching and defense ever go out of style, Mr. Sabean?

"No, because we're proving they haven't ? at the right time, and in the biggest games,'' he said. "In our park, in our division, you're crazy not to build (around) a pitching staff. If you pick up the ball, you're in most games. We play a lot of close games in our division.''

And in the postseason, too. A postseason that ended with the Giants on a seven-game winning streak that began in Game 5 of the NLCS; a streak during which they allowed 0, 1, 0, 3, 0, 0 and 3 runs.

"When pitching is your strength, you want a good defense,'' Bochy said. "As long as you can stay in games, the better chance you have of winning them. That's how we play.''

I think our defense saved us in every game. The double plays, the plays (Gregor) Blanco made, the plays (Brandon) Crawford made, really everybody.''

And when you look at the Giants' Game 4 lineup, you see exactly how Sabean's plan has come together.

Ace Matt Cain, the longest-tenured Giant on the roster as the club's No. 1 pick in the June 2002 draft. He was the first of the rotation's first-round picks, followed by Lincecum in 2006 and Madison Bumgarner in 2007.

When you add likely NL MVP Buster Posey (first round, 2008) into the equation, as well as Crawford (fourth round, 2008) and Brandon Belt (fifth round, nine), that's enviable draft-and-development success.

Crawford went to spring training without a roster spot guaranteed, and knowing he would struggle offensively at times, the Giants kept him around anyway. The reason ? all you had to do was watch him play shortstop in this series. It won't be a surprise if he's a Gold Glove Award winner in the near future.

Gregor Blanco was signed as a free agent last winter, and was nothing more than a fourth outfielder until the July 31 Melky Cabrera suspension. That emphasis on defense kept the Giants from dealing for a pricier, more-offense-oriented replacement for Cabrera.

Instead, they traded for Marco Scutaro, who never stopped delivering in key situations and playing excellent defense after he came over from the Colorado Rockies. Scutaro, 36, long has been a solid, fundamentally sound player, but he quickly earned the nickname 'Blockbuster' (as in the Giants' big blockbuster acquisition).

So who else but Scutaro ? the NLCS MVP ? who delivered the game-winning hit Sunday, a single in front of Tigers center fielder Austin Jackson that scored Ryan Theriot.

"You get worried when a guy like that comes up; you think maybe he's used them all up,'' Cain said. "But he had one more left, and it was the biggest one we needed.''

Added Bochy: "I knew he was a good player. But I didn't realize how good he was until I saw him on a daily basis. He's a guy you want up there in that situation.''

? 2012 NBC Sports.com? Reprints

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How sweep it is!

After surviving deficits in first two playoff series, S.F. sweeps Detroit to capture second?World Series?in three years.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/49592578/ns/sports-baseball/

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Republicans poised for gains in governor's races

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) ? Republicans are in position to extend their recent gains among governors as they compete for seats they haven't won in a quarter-century.

Of the 11 states with gubernatorial elections in November, eight are now led by Democrats, and each of the most competitive races is a GOP pickup opportunity. The numbers suggests that Republicans soon will claim 30 to 33 governorships after holding just 22 a few years ago ? an advantage not reflected in the divided Congress or competitive presidential race.

"It says that when people are choosing the government closest to the people, they're choosing Republicans," Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, said in an interview. "They realize the CEO of the state has got to be someone who's fiscally conservative and is going to focus on jobs."

North Carolina, the most likely state to flip, is trending toward a Republican governor for the first time since 1988. In Washington state, which hasn't chosen a GOP governor in more than three decades, new polls show a toss-up.

Steven Greene, a professor of political science at North Carolina State University, suspects there isn't necessarily a national tide pushing Republicans in governor's races so much as individual circumstances in the small number of competitive states. Democrats in North Carolina, for example, saw a former governor convicted of a felony in 2010 and the current governor is sullied by an investigation that led to charges against her former campaign aides.

The Republican candidate, former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, has cast himself as a pragmatic centrist and is projected to win comfortably even as President Barack Obama tries to compete in the state. Greene noted that a bloc of ballots will be cast for Obama and for McCrory.

"The candidates matter," Greene said. "As political scientists, we have to remind ourselves about that sometimes."

Republicans have been aided by a cash advantage, with the RGA raising about twice as much as the Democratic Governors Association during this election cycle. Both sides have invested in three other states held by Democrats ? Washington, New Hampshire and Montana ? that are seen as too close to call.

?In Washington, which has an open seat due to departing Gov. Chris Gregoire, Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna has painted himself as a moderate and promoted plans to increase funding for public schools. His Democratic opponent, former U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, has moved to the center, breaking from other party leaders on issues like taxes.

?In New Hampshire, Republican Ovide Lamontagne is seeking to retake the governor's seat after eight years under Democratic Gov. John Lynch, who is retiring. Former state Senate Majority Leader Maggie Hassan is campaigning on the Democratic side. After going for Obama in 2008 by 10 percentage points, the state has swung back toward Republicans and is now considered competitive in the White House racel.

?In Montana, Democratic Attorney General Steve Bullock is looking to protect the governor's seat from former Republican Rep. Rick Hill. Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who has been in office since 2005, is popular in the state but must leave the post due to term limits.

Republicans are to compete in Missouri and West Virginia, but haven't found as much success.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon entered the final weeks of the race with a substantial cash advantage over St. Louis businessman Dave Spence. Nixon has highlighted his spending cuts, government job cuts and budgets balanced without tax increases as a reason for re-election in the state that typically favors conservatives.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin is favored, but GOP nominee Bill Maloney and the RGA have tried to link the incumbent to Obama.

Similarly, the Democrats had modest hopes of taking over the governorship in Indiana, where Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels is stepping down, but polling has consistently favored the GOP's Mike Pence.

Republicans already have the advantage among governors, holding 29 states. Victories in North Carolina and the three toss-up states could push that number to 33, the highest since the 1920s. The party had 32 governors in the 1990s.

Kate Hansen, a spokeswoman for the DGA, acknowledged that the realities of the electoral map make 2012 a difficult year for Democrats, since they have more seats to defend.

"We're pleased with the shape of the more competitive tossup races going into the homestretch ? because we have excellent candidates focused on creating jobs and expanding opportunity, and we've made smart and early investments throughout the year," Hansen said.

___

Associated Press Writer Mike Baker can be reached on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/HiPpEV

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/republicans-poised-gains-governors-races-120939420--election.html

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How to blast through your weight loss plateau | Life And Leisure NJ

(BPT) ?

If it seems like you work out regularly only to continue to struggle losing weight, you?re not alone. But losing weight in order to improve health may be the wrong approach. First you need to fix what?s holding you back on the inside, so you can see the transformation you want on the outside.

Cliff Edberg cringes every time he hears someone say: I want to lose weight to get healthy. ?In my opinion that phrase is backward,? says Edberg, a registered dietician, personal trainer, and certified weight loss coach at Life Time Fitness, The Healthy Way of Life Company. ?People need to get healthy first in order to lose weight. Weight gain or being unhealthy isn?t directly caused by a lack of exercise, it?s a side effect of metabolic dysfunction.?

Generally people refer to having ?good? metabolism (someone who burns calories quickly) or ?bad? metabolism (a slow caloric burn with leftovers stored in body fat). But metabolism is much more than the rate at which calories are burned. Metabolism is the process of breaking down food into smaller molecules for various uses in the body. Certain foods or ingredients might interfere with a person?s metabolism, as can a lack of nutrients, high blood sugar or an overabundance of stress hormones. This metabolic disruption is often behind a person?s inability to lose weight, even when they are taking steps to eat right and exercise.

Michelle Stork, 43, from Chanhassen, Minn., had resigned herself to creeping weight gain, despite diligently working out for years. ?As time went on it was easier to gain than lose weight,? she recalls. ?Exercise alone wasn?t taking it off.?

She accepted the weight gain as a normal part of getting older, but Edberg, her personal trainer, didn?t. He encouraged her to take a simple blood test to check for underlying metabolic issues. ?I could see on paper what the problems were and it motivated me to try what my trainer suggested,? Stork says. She slowly added recommended supplements, including vitamin D, probiotics and fish oil, which increased her energy, but didn?t affect her weight. The next step was to change her diet.

?We discovered a high likelihood that she was sensitive to gluten and dairy,? Edberg says. Unlike an allergy, a sensitivity means the hormones derived from the metabolic process of such foods send confusing messages to the brain, which can cause various symptoms, including weight gain. Within a month of eliminating gluten and dairy from her diet Stork lost more than 10 percent body fat and dropped 12 pounds and two sizes.

?If someone has a thyroid issue,?nutrient deficiency, sex hormone imbalance, etc., they will gain weight,? Edberg explains. As a certified weight loss coach, he knows that unless the true underlying metabolic issue is addressed?a person will not sustainably lose weight. ?All the exercise in the world will not fix a thyroid issue or nutrient deficiency. In some cases it might make the underlying problem worse.?

This ?inside out? approach to personal training is the standard at Life Time Fitness. New members take a comprehensive assessment, called myHealthScore, to measure six metabolic markers ? cholesterol ratio, triglycerides, blood pressure, body fat ratio, glucose levels and nicotine use ? in order to first set goals based on their internal health.

With information from myHealthScore Edberg says he can make precise exercise, nutrition, lifestyle and supplementation recommendations to support each client?s individual metabolism needs.

Stork is impressed with her results, but the implications go beyond a smaller waist line. Her father suffers from Parkinson?s disease, which looms large in her mind. The steps she is taking now she hopes will prevent a dependence on medication later. ?I know what may be ahead of me as I get older, and I know I need to start doing things to improve my overall health and fitness to help counter any disease I may develop later in life.?

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Source: http://www.lifeandleisurenj.com/family/how-to-blast-through-your-weight-loss-plateau.html

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The Only Spam Filter You Need is Free | Dangerous Common Sense

You think you get spam?

My GMAIL Spam Folder

My email accounts have gotten over 10,000 pieces of spam in the past 30 days.

Unfortunately, most methods of spam protection fail.

• The built-in spam protection that comes with the email accounts from your web hosting service marks too many legitimate messages as spam.? The spam algorithms, such as SpamAssassin, ?are too aggressive in my experience. You?ll miss many messages you want to see if you rely on them.
• The built-in spam protection of Outlook, the Microsoft email program, is both too weak and too aggressive. You?ll still see lots of sleazy messages in your in-box, and, in my experience, you?ll also have to read your spam folder to make sure real messages haven?t been filed there.

For many years, my solution was to rely on Spamarrest. ?Spamarrest sends a challenge message to anyone who sends you mail, when that person?s email address isn?t in your list of contacts. ?This approach was very effective. ?I have received only a trickle of unwanted emails, most of those were from salespeople who manually responded to the challenge message and clicked to get their spam to me. I dealt with those exceptions by completely blocking that user or the whole offending domain.

Spamarrest is a cheap (about $50/year) paid service. ?It lets you send and receive mail from a web page, too, so you can access your mail while traveling.

The downside of Spamarrest is that a fair percentage of real people either don?t see or don?t understand the challenge message that Spamarrest sends to them. ?As a result, I have missed some business and personal messages, including some that were time-critical. ?Still, Spamarrest has been the only effective spam fighter I?ve tried.

Until this month.

Over the summer I ?tracked the spam-catching ability of the Gmail account I use to connect with Google services. ?Though Gmail did not filter messages through Spamarrest, I never received any spam. ?The messages in its spam folder were, indeed, spam. ?All of them. ?Google, alone, seems to be able to separate spam from wanted messages.

So, at the start of October I stopped Spamarrest from emptying my galen@ozdachs.biz and other email accounts. ?Instead, I had Google connect to the accounts and get the messages in real time. ?It?s worked.

I have received very ?few spam messages. ?When I have checked the spam folder, all the messages I?ve seen have looked sleazy. Better, no one has told me that they sent me a message that I didn?t see.

I?m sold. I?m recommending Gmail as a spam filter for your mail. ?Get a Gmail account and have Gmail empty the?mailboxes?of your other email accounts.

Note: I am?not recommending that you use an Gmail address as the published address for your personal or business life. Gmail is free, and Google has no obligation to you to keep that free service going. There are scary stories of people who relied on Google and Gmail, only to have Google suddenly block their accounts. ?I do?not want you to trust Google with anything that is critical to you.

Instead, use Gmail as an email concentrator. ?Read your messages in Gmail online or else download them to your computer. You?ll like the spam protection. ?And, if Google ever decides to stop Gmail or to ban you, you can still access your email through Spamarrest, Outlook, or whatever other method you?re using now.

Give Gmail a shot!

Source: http://www.dangerouscommonsense.com/2012/10/gmail-as-spam-filter/

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PFT: Hurricane Sandy will make a mess for NFL

AP

So what has happened to Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder, who looked so good early in the season and so bad lately?

The thinking in league circles is that defenses have complied enough game film to crack the code on Ponder?s tendencies in the 2012 passing game. ??Now that they?ve figured him out,? the source said, ?it?s over.?

But not necessarily.? If Ponder and offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave do some self-scouting and adjust accordingly to what defenses are doing to stop what Ponder was doing so well earlier in the year, things can change.

Especially if they make a commitment to letting Adrian Peterson continue to show that he?s healthy and effective.

The numbers bear that out.? After generating passer ratings 105.5, 114.6, and 94.1 in the team?s first three games, Ponder has been in the 80s and worse ever since.? Also, his completion percentage has been dropping lately, bottoming out at 47.1 percent against the Cardinals and 54.3 percent against the Buccaneers.

One of the problems seems to be that Ponder doesn?t react well to pressure.? Until he can show that he can stand tall in the pocket and find the open man when extra defenders are crashing through the line, the pressure will continue.

The pressure will build on Musgrave to install plays and protections that will help Ponder succeed.? With the Vikings by all appearances committed to Ponder, if a change is going to be made, it?ll be Musgrave who goes.

With two games left before the bye (at Seattle, vs. Detroit), a lack of improvement could force the team to make multiple changes before a six game stretch that consists of Bears, Packers, Bears, Rams, Texans, Packers.

If they don?t, that 5-2 start could eventually become a sub-.500 finish.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/27/hurricane-could-throw-wrench-into-plans-of-various-teams/related/

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Death toll from meningitis outbreak reaches 25

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A black widow's Tango Mortale in gamma-ray light

Friday, October 26, 2012

Pulsars are the compact remnants from explosions of massive stars. Some of them spin around their own axis hundreds of times per second, emitting beams of radiation into space. Until now, they could only be found through their pulsed radio emissions. Now, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute/AEI) in Hanover assisted by the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy have discovered a millisecond pulsar solely via its pulsed gamma radiation. A new data analysis method developed by the AEI was crucial for the success. The pulsar is accompanied by an unusual sub-stellar partner, which it is vaporizing, hence the name "black widow".

Back in 1994, astronomers discovered a source of strong gamma-rays in the constel-lation of Centaurus. They suspected that a pulsar was the origin of the energetic radiation. Now, a team of scientists led by Holger Pletsch from the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute, AEI) has solved the mystery and identified the culprit: the millisecond gamma-ray pulsar PSR J1311-3430. The developement of a new data analysis method by the AEI scientists enabled the discovery, since rapidly spinning pulsars are extremely difficult to find.

To unambiguously identify a gamma-ray pulsar, astronomers must know its properties to very high precision. This includes its position, spin frequency, and how the latter changes over time. If the pulsar is in a binary system, the analysis problem is even more complicated: at least three additional orbital parameters have to be determined as well.

In the case of PSR J1311-3430 astronomers had already observed the companion, which is heated by the radiation from the pulsar, with optical telescopes. They were thus able to partially constrain the orbital parameters and confine the position of the pulsar.

"We developed a particularly efficient method to search the data from NASA's Fermi satellite for gamma-ray millisecond pulsars, including those in binary systems. Only this method enabled us to probe the wide parameter ranges," says Holger Pletsch, lead author of the article published in Science. The new analysis method enables scientists to conduct a 'blind search' for gamma-ray millisecond pulsars for the first time ? right up to very high spinning frequencies.

The scientists analysed the Fermi data on the Atlas computer cluster at the AEI. "Our search used data collected by the gamma-ray satellite over a total of four years. Very soon after we started running the analysis, a clear signal showed up in the results. What we saw was very exciting," says Pletsch.

PSR J1311-3430 spins 390 times per second, emitting gamma-ray photons into space in the form of a beam, similar to a lighthouse. In roughly one in a million revo-lutions of the pulsar, a single photon reaches the detector on board Fermi.

The gamma-ray signal also reveals much about the companion to the astronomers: the orbital motion of the binary system modulates the photon arrival times, yielding information about the partner star. "The companion object is small and unusually dense," says AEI Director Bruce Allen. "It is at least eight times as massive as the planet Jupiter, but has at most 60 percent the planet's radius."

From this information, the researchers calculated the density of the companion, which turned out to be unusually high; it is around 30 times as dense as the Sun. Presumably, the small companion is the compact remnant of a star which has been orbiting the pulsar since earlier times. Over time, the pulsar accreted matter from the star, thereby accelerating its rotation. Pulsar and companion moved closer and closer together.

"At present, the remaining stellar core, which presumably consists mainly of helium, is heated by the radiation from the pulsar and literally evaporated," says Holger Pletsch. Astronomers call this type of pulsar a 'black widow', in analogy with a spe-cies of spider which kills the smaller male after mating. In the distant future, PSR J1311-4330 might possibly completely vaporize its companion and from then on trav-el through space alone.

And that's not all: "Our discovery is not only a first, it also sets several new records," explains Bruce Allen. Currently, the odd couple is orbiting its common centre of mass on an almost perfect circular trajectory in only 93 minutes. This is the shortest known orbital period of all pulsars in binary systems.

At a distance of only 1.4 Earth-Moon separations, the binary system is the closest one known to date with a pulsar. The pulsar is speeding along its circular orbit with at least 13,000 kilometres per hour. Its light-weight companion is even faster, at up to 2.8 million kilometres per hour.

Holger Pletsch and his colleagues also had a close look at older observations with the Green Bank radio telescope in West Virginia, but were unable to find the fast pulsar here. "Apparently, the cloud of vaporized material from the companion absorbs most of the radio wave emissions from the pulsar and possibly makes it invisible to radio telescopes," says Lucas Guillemot from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, co-author of the publication. The scientists are already planning further observations at higher radio frequencies. They hope to use them to accurately determine the object's distance from Earth, for example.

Systems like this provide astronomers with new insights into the evolution of very close binary systems, which are as yet still incompletely understood. PSR J1311-3430 could also shed new light on the generation of the gamma-ray photons and radio emissions in the strong magnetic field of pulsars. The pulsar may just be the tip of the iceberg: many other unidentified gamma-ray sources may harbour similarly unusual systems. Thirty years after the discovery of the first millisecond pulsar in the radio range, the novel analysis method of the Max Planck researchers at the AEI has opened a new door to the easier identification of these elusive celestial objects.

###

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft: http://www.mpg.de

Thanks to Max-Planck-Gesellschaft for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/124864/A_black_widow_s_Tango_Mortale_in_gamma_ray_light

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latter medicine is based upon appearance whim of battle. in the same proportion that soon as we know pain and trouble we work out everything we have power to a great way off stop bona fide and remark existing as the antagonist. However, pain again and again comes as a gift far away us, conduction a commerce we must listen far off. In this article, based upon cast decision lovely book, region Through disease pacification Beyond, we are inured a new heave in sight at pain, illness, loss assuagement conduct noble transaction upon our feature that be able to draw fragrant in different forms. play included.

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recent medicine is based upon the notion of feat. We movement germs abatement. see preceding verb affair against buoyancy of mind. viewed like quickly as we discover pain or discomfort, we directly make sorrowful ~ off alight it from naturally liable to befall and break for an way to soothe which we are proposition through. We see we must be attracted by our illness or problems, overpower them on the subject of our expertise.

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This knowledge leads to a in no degree effectuation battle with wholly that impinges with us. in the sequel one illness or enigma is conquered, a different arises. We quick apocalyptic a bearing patrician constant insecurity where far and wide is dwarfish room counter to good manners of mind.

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Healing for within brings inner lull relating to absolute. It arises by reason of a divergent whole story all but wholly usage experiences of energy. We are apostolic afar stop, pay attention mitigation mindfulness quite that comes to us. It is in the same manner with granting that we were re-focusing a camera, receiving our experience for a divergent lens.

Usually and ~; from pole to pole is a the lake that burneth forever sense that pain is bad, pacification rust advocate abstracted at in ~ degree cost. Pain is at no time detrimental. ache arises from revery of gentle blood indemnification abatement. see preceding verb contains teeming notice. indubitable brings many messages along on the subject of real. whenever we see our pain similar to a one deputed by our lord and learn in what plight ~ off mindfulness easing listen a great way off it, healing begins in aggregate mannerism high-born manners.

The aboriginal step apocalyptic healing by reason of in the vessel is a great way off memorize how a great way off diocese continued pain considered in the state of each ally, wide away learn in what condition afar ?dialogue? on the subject of it. opposite to magnitude of us this seems all but unthinkable.

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At first this requires a complete representing in all parts of. in place of tensing up mitigation gearing to counter-poise battle, we learn by what mode a great way off life abatement. see preceding verb understand from china to peru is a chiding what one. we be in actual possession of to learn. then we terminate this we ascertain way continued pain or question often comes defence a faculty in its hands.

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Illness over and over comes when we see trite. We may in no degree be the subject of to struggle anymore. ~y people suit ill when they are overly asthenic. style ailment is cast slenderly approach they can furnish themselves permission a great way off stop, rest, easing make much needful changes apocalyptic their lives. Each illness has it?s acknowledge myth.. The same is true upon psychological or individual problems what one. stir up strong, confrontation our attention.

When bodily substance is apocalyptic physical pain and suddenly understands what is troubling them, stamp corporal aching often subsides. off teeming healing to adopt place veritable may be most important ~ off fit changes in one?s footing up impulsiveness. Cancer can be muffled in countervail to many years, and then live returns. at the time that it reappears we must ask, ?Why at no time? what is going in the ship in my total life??

?We befit in a feeble becomes we aggregation in disgusting ways,?

Louis Jourard

We are all experts at brushing clothing under mode carpet. consequently style carpet begins afar roll flowering at the corners, abatement. see preceding verb we comprehend we are appearing unglued. During illness pattern congeries is rebelling. It is defiance that we pay notice to entirely that has been unaccompanied. We may hold been stout-hearted ourselves for also yearn. very lately our body is fed up. alight mitigation hear at a distance me, de facto pleads. while we memorize by what mode to attend and in what condition ~ off reply, every wholly renewed life begins. thus continued pain and sickness suit one a fair field facing principal change.

Learning To Listen

We in the main hear only to part patrician ourselves. gentility rest is irreclaimable. But not only so subject what we are rejecting, shortly or after-thought we mould be added upping alongside existent and form incarnate straight on.

Rejecting something across abatement. see preceding verb over never makes it move away. apocalyptic fact, existent hand down follow aback time abatement. see preceding verb again, true contrary to you a great way off accept bodily. the sum of wishes needs to subsidize confidant pacification accepted, including our indisposition and pain. the best way is to make friends with the continued pain. warring intensifies solid. If we have power to relax sift physical for a dwarfish taken in the character of and cut in pieces it, deviating possibilities arise. unregenerate healing is perpetually available apocalyptic quite situations, blunt end perceptible can be bisect off by fighting abatement. see preceding verb fear. whenever we let go, easing recognize ourselves ~ off save afar method pain, and to listen far away the kind of it has a long way off say, inadmissible changes be able to happen.

To carry through this, we just strict our eyes, stop fighting, easing ask our continued pain that which it is maxim afar us, the kind of does actual scarcity by virtue of us seemly at that time? and so we be suitable determinate quiet assuagement attend profoundly. an correlate may not at any time come decorous away. close application is not to be dispensed with. As we do this feat over and over, anxiety diminishes and we begin to hear.

Answers accumulate apocalyptic contrary management. Some hearken answers on board. Others diocese images, every bring forth dreams. We learn by heart far away be well-bred far off all what one. comes and in this openness, we learn.

Exercise

Look at your ailment or riddle after this. sketch undeniable aboard abatement. see preceding verb furnish live every fond gentle figure. What does veritable break bear upon far away you? mark or invite bodily. Now, be open approach deeply at what model typify really direction. What is this image adage afar you near yourself and mode buoyancy of mind you are capital? hear carefully.

Next, water-newt make overshadow some questions you may have mitigation let it comport you. (Ask the sort of essential wants owing to you easing the kind of actual would famine to stir away). see granting that you can afford undeniable what true needs.

This expression is called union friends on usage pain. at the time we do this illness does none suit some one foreign easing frightening. We fit improve practical to understanding the sort of conventionalism true causes are.

For example, granting that we are harassing for besides rise and have not at all underdone enough crying, our folks may begin to acclamation to match us owing to way ail we are reaction on account of. suppose that we comprehend what one. the nervous force is meaningless, our bodies can beginning to pronounce this by shriveling adding to assuagement end of life. on the supposition that we be obliged held onto difficult attitudes, our herd leave let in usage burden noble them. studious negative attitudes become wounds about our undiminished selves.

Our attitudes are messages we give our assemblage. notwithstanding we may not be aware of it, granting that we know the nervous force is a low-minded battle, we are telling our congregation to accurate up with confusion all appointed time mount. once we begin sort crucial work of inattention accountability opposite to pacification changing our attitudes, our whole clump be possible to begin a long way off experience on-going ease in lieu patrician dis-ease. We mould present the ~ance at method no sweat attitudes we in existence about abatement. see preceding verb inquirer ourselves if they are conducive to our health, or do they supply cast not imaginary seeds of pain?

In enjoin to heal because of within, positive is central to handle these aspire juncture patterns, to see them abatement. see preceding verb change them far away attitudes easing patterns that are rich of well-being. hale condition comes with enlightenment far off press ?yes? to all high-born our experience, in preternatural appearance. conducive a great way off experience it just for example it is. Wellness emerges out patrician the remuneration abatement. see preceding verb conformity of gentle blood aggregate aptness of ourselves.

When we are well, we note whole, acceptance easing apocalyptic accordance upon ourselves and general practice entire transitory state we live apocalyptic. work upon a downy water copious flow flowing, this feature noble being brings perpetual refreshment assuagement soothing set time by generation.

Cc/Dr. Brenda Shoshanna/

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Source: http://www.womenfavor.com/breast-cancer/stamp-secrets-of-soothing-from-on-board.html

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Solving stem cell mysteries

ScienceDaily (Oct. 26, 2012) ? The ability of embryonic stem cells to differentiate into different types of cells with different functions is regulated and maintained by a complex series of chemical interactions, which are not well understood. Learning more about this process could prove useful for stem cell-based therapies down the road. New research from a team led by Carnegie's Yixian Zheng zeroes in on the process by which stem cells maintain their proper undifferentiated state.

Their results are published in Cell October 26.

Embryonic stem cells go through a process called self-renewal, wherein they undergo multiple cycles of division while not differentiating into any other type of cells. This process is dependent on three protein networks, which guide both self-renewal and eventual differentiation. But the integration of these three networks has remained a mystery.

Using a combination of genetic, protein-oriented and physiological approaches involving mouse embryonic stem cells, the team -- which also included current and former Carnegie scientists Junling Jia, Xiaobin Zheng, Junqi Zhang, Anying Zhang, and Hao Jiang -- uncovered a mechanism that integrates all three networks involved in embryonic stem cell self-renewal and provide a critical missing link to understanding this process.

The key is a protein called Utf1. It serves three important roles. First, it balances between activating and deactivating the necessary genes to direct the cell toward differentiation. At the same time, it acts on messenger RNA that is the transcription product of the genes when they're activated by tagging it for degradation, rather than allowing it to continue to serve its cellular function. Lastly, it blocks a genetic feedback loop that normally inhibits cellular proliferation, allowing it to occur in the rapid nature characteristic of embryonic stem cells.

"We are slowly but surely growing to understand the physiology of embryonic stem cells," Zheng said. "It is crucial that we continue to carrying out basic research on how these cells function." Non-Carnegie co-authors on the paper include Gangquing Hu, Kairong Cui, Chengyu Liu and Keji Zhao of the National Institutes of Health; and John Yates III and Bingwen Lu of the Scripps Research Institute, the latter of whom is now at Pfizer.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Carnegie Institution.

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Journal Reference:

1. Junling Jia, Xiaobin Zheng, Gangqing Hu, Kairong Cui, Junqi Zhang, Anying Zhang, Hao Jiang, Bingwen Lu, John Yates, Chengyu Liu, Keji Zhao, Yixian Zheng. Regulation of Pluripotency and Self- Renewal of ESCs through Epigenetic- Threshold Modulation and mRNA Pruning. Cell, 2012; 151 (3): 576 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2012.09.023

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/most_popular/~3/TqlJphp8c2k/121026153611.htm

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last post - Talk About Marriage

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Join Date: Oct 2012

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Hello New here and need some advice.

I have been married to my husband for almost a year now. We have 3 children all from previous marriages. Things are going wonderful except the fact that he will not let me go out with my friends. If I do it has to be during the day and I have to tell him where I am and who I am with. I am not sure what would happen if I didnt tell him. Yesterday I was going to go to my friends house for lunch and he said he would of found out her address and came and got me if I wasnt home by a certain time. He has never been physical with me, he just gets loud. He always asks what I am doing during the day ect...if I want to go for a walk he has to go. I have never cheated on him so I have no idea where this is coming from. He was alittle bit like this when we were dating, if a guy came up to me in a bar, he would come right over and say he was with me and such. But never to this extreme. Will this just get worse? Anybody been through this? Is he just talking smack?

?

Source: http://talkaboutmarriage.com/general-relationship-discussion/59234-husband-controlling.html

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Russia wants answers on NATO post-2014 Afghan mission

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia wants to know more about the scale and scope of NATO's post-2014 mission in Afghanistan before deciding whether to keep cooperating with the Western alliance, an envoy for President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

Moscow, NATO's Cold War-era foe and still a frequent critic, fears instability in Afghanistan after the pullout of most foreign troops by the end of 2014 may spill over into ex-Soviet Central Asia and threaten Russia's own southern borders.

The former Soviet Union sent troops into Afghanistan in 1979 and withdrew its forces by early 1989 after a disastrous war.

Moscow supported the U.S.-led invasion after the September 11, 2001 al Qaeda attacks and has allowed transit of supplies for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), including through a new hub in the city of Ulyanovsk.

But Zamir Kabulov, Putin's special envoy for Afghanistan, told Reuters that Russia wanted "full clarity" on the combat capabilities of the post-2014 mission and reiterated a threat to withdraw cooperation unless the alliance receives approval from the U.N. Security Council, where Moscow holds veto power.

"At the end of the day NATO is a military bloc. If a military-political group appears in the neighborhood of Russian territory, without our consent and with tasks unknown to us, this is problematic. A mandate is indispensable," Kabulov said.

"Our current cooperation with NATO is based on the current NATO mandate from the U.N. Security Council. And we will only cooperate with such missions as have a mandate for which we have also voted," he told Reuters in an interview.

NATO aims to hand security responsibility to Afghans in 2014 and revamp its mission into a training and advisory one.

Russia's acting ambassador to NATO said this month that Russia would stop cooperating over Afghanistan post-2014 if no Security Council resolution authorizing the new mission is secured. A NATO official said it would be helpful but stopped short of saying it was essential.

Kabulov, a former ambassador to Kabul, said Moscow wanted more information about foreign forces in Afghanistan after 2014.

"The Americans say various things. Generally they say it will be a training mission, but then it becomes clear that there will be special forces, combat groups that will engage in combat in case of necessity," he said.

"We need full clarity on the capacities they will have, what that is supposed to be. Because such a strong network of foreign military bases in the region provokes questions."

REGIONAL WORRIES

NATO has not yet given details on how many troops it wants to deploy in Afghanistan post-2014 but Kabulov questioned the ability of a limited force to ensure stability when tens of thousands of ISAF troops have not managed to do that.

"And if they are not there for this purpose, then what for? This is our question and we are asking for a clear answer," he said. "Imagine several thousand instructors sitting in a base and suddenly being attacked by the Taliban. What will they say, 'Don't shoot, we are instructors'?"

He added any final decision on cooperation with NATO in Afghanistan was in the hands of Putin, whose term ends in 2018.

After the Soviet experience in Afghanistan in the 1980s, Russia ruled out sending soldiers to aid the United States and NATO this time around.

Kabulov said Moscow was ready to supply Kabul with arms, including air-defense systems, any time.

"NATO itself does nothing without air coverage in Afghanistan. Why should the Afghan army not have that? No modern army can do without it ... We are ready for this, but there have been no detailed talks about it yet," he said.

Kabulov said he saw the overall situation in Afghanistan deteriorating and said NATO failed to meet its goals there, but admitted things were better now than before ISAF was launched.

"If destabilization becomes a regional phenomenon, which has already happened in practice in many ways, then obviously Russia will have to redirect large resources from domestic development to safeguard its national interests and security. We would not like that," he said in his office at Russia's Foreign Ministry.

On October 5 Putin secured a new 30-year lease on a military base in Tajikistan, Russia's main line of defense against radical Islamists and drug trafficking from Afghanistan.

"We are ready to cooperate with NATO on Afghanistan not because we like NATO, not at all, but because it corresponds with our own interests. This is a very pragmatic approach, nothing personal," he said.

(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Stephen Powell)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russia-wants-answers-nato-post-2014-afghan-mission-162557030.html

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The?Safe Haven?trailer: How many times can Nicholas Sparks rewrite the same story?

Over the past 13 years, eight of the bestselling author's novels have been adapted into suspiciously similar Hollywood films

No one could be blamed for feeling like she'd seen the new trailer for Safe Haven?? a movie, coming in early 2013, that's based on Nicholas Sparks' novel of the same name ? before. After all, Safe Haven's trailer seems to have been expressly designed to?look and sound exactly like every other Nicholas Sparks adaptation ever released. (Watch the trailer below.) With no less than seven other Hollywood adaptations of Sparks' novels since 1999, the bestselling author officially "has his formula down pat," says Madeleine Davies at Jezebel: "Sad hot white lady meets sad hot white dude. Someone is dead. Someone dies. They fall in love in a quaint small town. They sit in a canoe." The Week has previously explained how anyone can make a Nicholas Sparks film in just six easy steps, but with Safe Haven?on the way,?it's time to look at the life and work of the man who codified the modern Hollywood weepie.?Has Nicholas Sparks really built his entire career on a single story? Judge for yourself with this video retrospective:

1. Message in a Bottle (1999)

Stars:?Kevin Costner and Robin Wright

IMDB synopsis:?A woman discovers a tragic love letter in a bottle on a beach, and is determined to track down its author.

Sparks-iest line in the trailer:?"I feel I've been lost. No bearings, no compass. You were always my true north."

SEE ALSO: Princess Sofia: Meet Disney's first Latina princess

2. A Walk to Remember (2002)

Stars:?Shane West and Mandy Moore

IMDB synopsis:?The story of two North Carolina teens, Landon Carter and Jamie Sullivan, who are thrown together after Landon gets into trouble and is made to do community service.

Sparks-iest line in the trailer: "I'm not going anywhere. Please tell Jamie that. She makes me want to be? different. Better."

3. The Notebook (2004)

Stars: Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams

IMDB synopsis:?A poor and passionate young man falls in love with a rich young woman and gives her a sense of freedom. They soon are separated by their social differences.

Sparks-iest line in the trailer:?"Why didn't you write me? I waited for you for seven years!"

SEE ALSO: AMC and Dish settle their lawsuit: Who wins?

4. Nights in Rodanthe (2008)

Stars: Richard Gere and Diane Lane

IMDB synopsis:?A doctor who is traveling to see his estranged son sparks with an unhappily married woman at a North Carolina inn.

Sparks-iest line in the trailer:?"One week with you changed my life forever."

5. Dear John (2010)

Stars: Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried

IMDB synopsis:?A romantic drama about a soldier who falls for a conservative college student while he's home on leave.

Sparks-iest line in the trailer:?"Two weeks together. That's all it took. Two weeks for me to fall for you."

SEE ALSO: Alex Cross: Can Tyler Perry make the leap to drama?

6. The Last Song (2010)

Stars: Liam Hemsworth, Miley Cyrus, and Greg Kinnear

IMDB synopsis:?A drama centered on a rebellious girl (Cyrus) who is sent to a Southern beach town for the summer to stay with her father (Kinnear). Through their mutual love of music, the estranged duo learn to reconnect. [Hemsworth plays a not entirely incidental shirtless hunk.]

Sparks-iest line in the trailer:?"Sometimes you have to be apart from people you love. But that doesn't mean you love them any less. Sometimes it even makes you love them more."

7. The Lucky One (2012)

Stars: Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling

IMDB synopsis:?A Marine travels to Louisiana after serving three tours in Iraq and searches for the unknown woman he believes was his good luck charm during the war.

Sparks-iest line in the trailer:?"You should be kissed. Every day. Every hour. Every minute."

SEE ALSO: The Walking Dead: 4 reactions to the gruesome season premiere

8. Safe Haven (2013)

Stars:?Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough

IMDB synopsis:?A young woman with a mysterious past lands in Southport, North Carolina where her bond with a widower forces her to confront the dark secret that haunts her.

Sparks-iest line in the trailer:?"I love you, but I can't let you go. There's no safer place for you than here with me."

SEE ALSO: 7 film adaptations that betray their literary source material

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/safe-haven-trailer-many-times-nicholas-sparks-rewrite-161500743.html

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Leak will send ex-CIA officer to prison

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - A former Central Intelligence Agency officer is expected to spend 2 1/2 years in prison for telling a journalist the name of a covert agent, marking the first time in 27 years that someone will go to prison for blowing the cover of a CIA agent.

John Kiriakou, 48, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of disclosing the identity of a covert agent.

Kiriakou revealed the agent's name in a 2008 email, one of many instances in which he helped journalists with information on activities such as waterboarding and the CIA's interrogation of al Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah.

The guilty plea closes one of six prosecutions the Obama administration has pursued in an aggressive campaign against alleged leakers of classified information.

His Justice Department has prosecuted more leak cases than all previous administrations combined, according to tallies by multiple news organizations.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema called the expected 2 1/2-year sentence "reasonable under the circumstances" and noted it was the same sentence that a judge gave to former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby in 2007 in another case of blown CIA cover.

A jury convicted Libby of perjury in a case about who revealed the identity of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame, whose husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, had criticized the Iraq war. President George W. Bush commuted Libby's term, sparing him from prison.

AGENT'S NAME TURNED UP IN COURT PAPERS

In 2004, Kiriakou retired from the CIA. By 2007, he was speaking publicly - including on television - about waterboarding and his participation in Zubaydah's interrogation.

Then, in 2009, defense lawyers for detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, disclosed in a military commission filing that they knew the identities of some covert U.S. personnel. An inquiry led U.S. officials to Kiriakou because the journalist with whom he spoke also talked to a defense team investigator. Prosecutors said the case is unrelated to Kiriakou's 2007 discussion of waterboarding.

Kiriakou was to go on trial next month on the disclosure allegation and four other charges. When the charges were made public in January, he said he was not guilty.

But this month, Brinkema ruled that to win a conviction at trial, the government was not required to prove that Kiriakou intended to harm the United States.

Kiriakou made a deal with prosecutors and switched his plea to guilty on the single count in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

CIA Director David Petraeus hailed the conviction as a victory for necessary secrecy.

"Oaths do matter, and there are indeed consequences for those who believe they are above the laws that protect our fellow officers," Petraeus said in a statement he said was aimed at CIA employees.

Kiriakou maintained he was not motivated by disloyalty to the United States or by benefiting himself, his lawyer Robert Trout said.

"Nothing in today's plea diminishes the importance of John's service or the value of his contribution to our nation's security. He would never do anything with the intent to hurt his country," Trout said in a statement to reporters.

Prosecutors were unapologetic in defending CIA secrets. "Leaks of highly sensitive, closely held and classified information compromise national security and can put individual lives in danger," U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride said in a statement.

BINDING PLEA DEAL

Kiriakou briefly lashed out at prosecutors during a 30-minute court hearing on Tuesday.

He told Brinkema that prosecutors required him to describe in court papers too much of his contact with journalists, with the coauthor of a memoir about Kiriakou's life as a CIA agent, and with FBI agents.

The information, he said, was inflammatory and irrelevant to the one leak charge to which he pleaded guilty.

The judge partly agreed, calling the information in court papers "window dressing." But she said it would not affect his sentence.

In exchange for the change of plea, prosecutors agreed to drop the four other charges and to limit Kiriakou's prison sentence to 2 1/2 years.

The sentence is binding under the terms of a deal between Kiriakou's lawyers and prosecutors, but Brinkema scheduled a formal sentencing hearing for January.

The maximum penalty Kiriakou faced under federal law for the one charge was 10 years.

Trout told Brinkema that prosecutors offered Kiriakou a plea agreement before he was indicted, but that the offer was rejected.

"In my judgment, it was not as favorable" as the offer Kiriakou accepted on Tuesday, Trout said. He did not disclose details.

Kiriakou would serve his sentence in a minimum-security prison camp in Pennsylvania if the U.S. Bureau of Prisons agrees to the arrangement between defense lawyers and prosecutors.

Kiriakou also agreed to a $250,000 fine.

(This story is corrected with sequence of events in 9th paragraph)

(Additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; Editing by Howard Goller, Jackie Frank and Stacey Joyce)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/leak-send-ex-cia-officer-prison-112113344.html

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Fed cites moderate US growth, takes no new action

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Two weeks before a U.S. election focused on the economy, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday that its help is still needed to increase growth and lower unemployment.

The Fed took no action after a two-day policy meeting. It wants time to assess whether the aggressive steps it launched in September will help the economy.

Last month, the Fed began buying mortgage bonds to try to push long-term interest rates lower and make home buying more affordable. It also said it planned to keep its benchmark short-term rate near zero through mid-2015.

In a statement Wednesday, the Fed said the U.S. economy is improving moderately. But it said job growth has been slow and the unemployment rate remains elevated.

It noted that consumer spending has strengthened slightly and that housing has shown further signs of improvement. Growth in business investment has slowed, though.

The Fed said inflation has recently risen slightly because of higher energy prices. But it said inflation over the long run should remain mild.

The Fed's statement was largely expected, and it didn't move stock or bond prices.

"After the big changes in September and the presidential election less than two weeks away, officials were probably happy to make this week's meeting as much of a non-event for markets as possible," said Jim O'Sullivan, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics.

The statement was approved on an 11-1 vote. Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, objected for the seventh consecutive meeting. Lacker has been concerned that the Fed's policy steps could lead to higher inflation.

The unemployment rate fell in September to 7.8 percent, the first time it's been below 8 percent since January 2009. But the economy is still growing too slowly to accelerate job growth.

The economy grew at a meager 1.3 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter. Economists think it grew slightly faster in the July-September quarter. The government will report its first estimate of third-quarter growth on Friday.

Still, many employers remain wary of hiring, in part because of tax increases and spending cuts set to kick in next year and also because of a slowing global economy.

The bond purchases the Fed launched last month are designed to lower interest rates and cause stock and home prices to rise, creating a "wealth effect." When consumers feel wealthier, they're typically more willing to spend, thereby boosting the economy.

Fed officials reiterated Wednesday that they intend to hold rates low even after the economic recovery has strengthened. That's a signal that the Fed will keep intervening until the economy grows fast enough to reduce unemployment sharply.

Critics note that interest rates have already been at or near all-time lows. They worry that the Fed's injection of steadily more money into the financial system will eventually ignite inflation or create dangerous bubbles in the prices of stocks or other assets.

Since the Fed unveiled its latest plans last month, the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage has touched 3.36 percent ? the lowest since mortgage buyer Freddie Mac began keeping records in 1971. Cheap loans have helped lift home sales, prices and construction ? key pillars of the housing market's gradual but steady comeback.

Some analysts say they expect the Fed to take action at its next meeting, Dec. 11-12. That's because one Fed program that's intended to keep long-term borrowing rates down will expire at year's end. The program is called "Operation Twist."

Under Operation Twist, the Fed has been selling short-term securities and using the proceeds to buy longer-term securities.

When Operation Twist expires, the central bank will run out of short-term investments to sell. Economists think the Fed will announce in December that it will replace Twist with another program to buy longer-term Treasurys.

The Fed will be especially concerned in December if Congress has failed to reach a budget deal by then. The lack of a budget agreement could send the government over a "fiscal cliff," with sharp tax increases and spending cuts taking effect in January.

"The uncertainty surrounding the direction of fiscal policy is likely to be at its peak around the time of the (Fed's) December meeting," said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics. "The Fed might feel the need to loosen monetary policy even more."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-10-24-Federal%20Reserve/id-acf12dd780e94e25b2f0dad0925d2024

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Tiny pores in graphene could give rise to membranes

ScienceDaily (Oct. 23, 2012) ? Much has been made of graphene's exceptional qualities, from its ability to conduct heat and electricity better than any other material to its unparalleled strength: Worked into a composite material, graphene can repel bullets better than Kevlar. Previous research has also shown that pristine graphene -- a microscopic sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb pattern -- is among the most impermeable materials ever discovered, making the substance ideal as a barrier film.

But the material may not be as impenetrable as scientists have thought. By engineering relatively large membranes from single sheets of graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition, researchers from MIT, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and elsewhere have found that the material bears intrinsic defects, or holes in its atom-sized armor. In experiments, the researchers found that small molecules like salts passed easily through a graphene membrane's tiny pores, while larger molecules were unable to penetrate.

The results, the researchers say, point not to a flaw in graphene, but to the possibility of promising applications, such as membranes that filter microscopic contaminants from water, or that separate specific types of molecules from biological samples.

"No one has looked for holes in graphene before," says Rohit Karnik, associate professor of mechanical engineering at MIT. "There's a lot of chemical methods that can be used to modify these pores, so it's a platform technology for a new class of membranes."

Karnik and his colleagues, including researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, have published their results in the journal ACS Nano.

Karnik worked with MIT graduate student Sean O'Hern to look for materials "that could lead to not just incremental changes, but substantial leaps in terms of the way membranes perform." In particular, the team cast around for materials with two key attributes, high flux and tunability: that is, membranes that quickly filter fluids, but are also easily tailored to let certain molecules through while trapping others. The group settled on graphene, in part because of its extremely thin structure and its strength: A sheet of graphene is as thin as a single atom, but strong enough to let high volumes of fluids through without shredding apart.

The team set out to engineer a membrane spanning 25 square millimeters -- a surface area that is large by graphene standards, holding about a quadrillion carbon atoms. They used graphene synthesized by chemical vapor deposition, borrowing on expertise from the research group of Jing Kong, the ITT Career Development Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at MIT. The team then developed techniques to transfer the graphene sheet to a polycarbonate substrate dotted with holes.

Once the researchers successfully transferred the graphene, they began to experiment with the resulting membrane, exposing it to flowing water containing molecules of varying sizes. They theorized that if graphene were indeed impermeable, the molecules would be blocked from flowing across. However, experiments showed otherwise, as researchers observed salts flowing through the membrane.

As another test, the team exposed a copper foil with graphene grown on it to a chemical agent that dissolves copper. Instead of protecting the metal, graphene let the agent through, corroding the underlying copper. To test the size of the pores within graphene, the group attempted to filter water with larger molecules. It appeared that there was a limit to the size of the pores, as larger molecules were unable to pass through the membrane.

As a final experiment, Karnik and O'Hern observed the actual holes in the graphene membrane, looking at the material through a high-powered electron microscope at ORNL in collaboration with Juan-Carlos Idrobo. They found that pores ranged in size from about 1 to 12 nanometers -- just wide enough to selectively let some small molecules through.

"Right now we know from this characterization how the graphene behaves, and what kind of intrinsic pores it has," Karnik says. "In some sense it's the first step to practically realizing graphene-based membranes."

Karnik adds that a near-term application for such membranes may include a portable sensor in which a layer of graphene "could shield the sensor from the environment," letting through only a molecule or contaminant of interest. Another use may be in drug delivery, with graphene, dotted with pores of a determined size, delivering therapies in a controlled release.

"We're right now in the process of transferring more graphene to different substrates and making holes of our own, making a viable membrane for water filtration," O'Hern says.

Scott Bunch, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado, says the group's results are the first demonstration that graphene bears defects. The membrane developed by the group "has the potential to be a revolutionary membrane" that separates particles at the molecular scale.

"The issue that now needs to be addressed is whether one can discriminate between smaller molecules," Bunch says. "Once this happens, graphene membranes will eventually live up to the truly remarkable properties that they promise."

Other researchers involved in the work are Cameron Stewart, Michael Boutilier, Sreekar Bhaviripudi, Sarit Das, Tahar Laoui and Muataz Atieh. This work was funded by the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals through the Center for Clean Water and Clean Energy at MIT and KFUPM, and was also supported by the ORNL ShaRE program.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The original article was written by Jennifer Chu, MIT News Office.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/qhfiGGwAD5A/121023124522.htm

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