Sunday, March 31, 2013

Kelly: Gun checks need mental health component

FILE - In a Jan. 30, 2013 file photo Mark Kelly testifies at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C. The daughter of former astronaut Mark Kelly was walking her dog Shiner on Goff Island Beach when the dog bolted, ripping the leash from her hand and fatally attacking a beached baby sea lion Saturday March 23, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, file)

FILE - In a Jan. 30, 2013 file photo Mark Kelly testifies at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C. The daughter of former astronaut Mark Kelly was walking her dog Shiner on Goff Island Beach when the dog bolted, ripping the leash from her hand and fatally attacking a beached baby sea lion Saturday March 23, 2013. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, file)

(AP) ? Gun control activist Mark Kelly says a proposed national gun background bill under discussion in the Senate should include better access to mental health records that could prevent psychologically disturbed people from obtaining guns.

Kelly, a former astronaut and husband of former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, said Sunday that the suspect accused of severely wounding his wife could not have bought the guns he wielded if a background check had exposed his mental problems.

Jared Loughner pleaded guilty to shooting Giffords and killing six people in Tucson in January 2011. Case records released last week showed Loughner passed a background check despite evidence of his agitated mental state.

Kelly pressed for the proposed background check law in an interview on Fox News Sunday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-03-31-Gun%20Control-Mark%20Kelly/id-e33a7fdbd9cf45e0b37bee5e52b7da24

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Cyprus bank's big savers to lose up to 60 percent

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) ? Big depositors at Cyprus' largest bank may be forced to accept losses of up to 60 percent, far more than initially estimated under the European rescue package to save the country from bankruptcy, officials said Saturday.

Deposits of more than 100,000 euros ($128,000) at the Bank of Cyprus will lose 37.5 percent in money that will be converted into bank shares, according to a central bank statement. In a second raid on these accounts, depositors also could lose up to 22.5 percent more, depending on what experts determine is needed to prop up the bank's reserves. The experts will have 90 days to figure that out.

The remaining 40 percent of big deposits at the Bank of Cyprus will be "temporarily frozen for liquidity reasons," but continue to accrue existing levels of interest plus another 10 percent, the central bank said.

The savings converted to bank shares would theoretically allow depositors to eventually recover their losses. But the shares now hold little value and it's uncertain when ? if ever ? the shares will regain a value equal to the depositors' losses.

Emergency laws passed last week empower Cypriot authorities to take these actions.

Analysts said Saturday that imposing bigger losses on Bank of Cyprus customers could further squeeze already crippled businesses as Cyprus tries to rebuild its banking sector in exchange for the international rescue package.

Sofronis Clerides, an economics professor at the University of Cyprus, said: "Most of the damage will be done to businesses which had their money in the bank" to pay suppliers and employees. "There's quite a difference between a 30 percent loss and a 60 percent loss." With businesses shrinking, Cyprus could be dragged down into an even deeper recession, he said.

Clerides accused some of the 17 European countries that use the euro of wanting to see the end of Cyprus as an international financial services center and to send the message that European taxpayers will no longer shoulder the burden of bailing out problem banks.

But German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble challenged that notion, insisting in an interview with the Bild daily published Saturday that "Cyprus is and remains a special, isolated case" and doesn't point the way for future European rescue programs.

Europe has demanded that big depositors in Cyprus' two largest banks ? Bank of Cyprus and Laiki Bank ? accept across-the-board losses in order to pay for the nation's 16 billion euro ($20.5 billion) bailout. All deposits of up to 100,000 are safe, meaning that a saver with 500,000 euros in the bank will only suffer losses on the remaining 400,000 euros.

Cypriot officials had previously said that large savers at Laiki ? which will be absorbed in to the Bank of Cyprus ? could lose as much as 80 percent. But they had said large accounts at the Bank of Cyprus would lose only 30 to 40 percent.

Asked about Saturday's announcement, University of Cyprus political scientist Antonis Ellinas predicted that unemployment, currently at 15 percent, will "probably go through the roof" over the next few years.

"It means that (people) ... have to accept a major haircut to their way of life and their standard of living. The social impact is yet to be realized, but they will be enormous in terms of social unrest and radical social phenomenon," Ellinas said.

There's also concern that large depositors ? including many wealthy Russians ? will take their money and run once capital restrictions that Cypriot authorities have imposed on bank transactions to prevent such a possibility are lifted in about a month.

Cyprus agreed on Monday to make bank depositors with accounts over 100,000 euros contribute to the financial rescue in order to secure 10 billion euros ($12.9 billion) in loans from the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund. Cyprus needed to scrounge up 5.8 billion euros ($7.4 billion) on its own in order to clinch the larger package, and banks had remained shut for nearly two weeks until politicians hammered out a deal, opening again on Thursday.

But fearing that savers would rush to pull their money out in mass once banks reopened, Cypriot authorities imposed a raft of restrictions, including daily withdrawal limits of 300 euros ($384) for individuals and 5,000 euros for businesses ? the first so-called capital controls that any country has applied in the eurozone's 14-year history.

The rush didn't materialize as Cypriots appeared to take the measures in stride, lining up patiently to do their business and defying dire predictions of scenes of pandemonium.

Under the terms of the bailout deal, the country' second largest bank, Laiki ? which sustained the most damaged from bad Greek debt and loans ? is to be split up, with its nonperforming loans and toxic assets going into a "bad bank." The healthy side will be absorbed into the Bank of Cyprus.

On Saturday, economist Stelios Platis called the rescue plan "completely mistaken" and criticized Cyprus' euro partners for insisting on foisting Laiki's troubles on the Bank of Cyprus.

____

AP business correspondent Geir Moulson in Berlin and APTN reporter Adam Pemble in Nicosia contributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bank-cyprus-big-savers-lose-60-percent-135608668--finance.html

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Common gene variants explain 42 percent of antidepressant response

Friday, March 29, 2013

Antidepressants are commonly prescribed for the treatment of depression, but many individuals do not experience symptom relief from treatment. The National Institute of Mental Health's STAR*D study, the largest and longest study ever conducted to evaluate depression treatment, found that only approximately one-third of patients responded within their initial medication trial and approximately one-third of patients did not have an adequate clinical response after being treated with several different medications. Thus, identifying predictors of antidepressant response could help to guide the treatment of this disorder.

A new study published in Biological Psychiatry now shares progress in identifying genomic predictors of antidepressant response.

Many previous studies have searched for genetic markers that may predict antidepressant response, but have done so despite not knowing the contribution of genetic factors. Dr. Katherine Tansey of Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London and colleagues resolved to answer that question.

"Our study quantified, for the first time, how much is response to antidepressant medication influenced by an individual's genetic make-up," said Tansey.

To perform this work, the researchers estimated the magnitude of the influence of common genetic variants on antidepressant response using a sample of 2,799 antidepressant-treated subjects with major depressive disorder and genome-wide genotyping data.

They found that genetic variants explain 42% of individual differences, and therefore, significantly influence antidepressant response.

"While we know that there are no genetic markers with strong effect, this means that there are many genetic markers involved. While each specific genetic marker may have a small effect, they may add up to make a meaningful prediction," Tansey added.

"We have a very long way to go to identify genetic markers that can usefully guide the treatment of depression. There are two critical challenges to this process," said Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry. "First, we need to have genomic markers that strongly predict response or non-response to available treatments. Second, markers for non-response to available treatments also need to predict response to an alternative treatment. Both of these conditions need to be present for markers of non-response to guide personalized treatments of depression."

"Although the Tansey et al. study represents progress, it is clear that we face enormous challenges with regards to both objectives," he added. "For example, it does not yet appear that having a less favorable genomic profile is a sufficiently strong negative predictor of response to justify withholding antidepressant treatment. Similarly, there is lack of clarity as to how to optimally treat patients who might have less favorable genomic profile."

Additional research is certainly required, but scientists hope that one day, results such as these can lead to personalized treatment for depression.

###

Elsevier: http://www.elsevier.com

Thanks to Elsevier for this article.

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

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127522/Common_gene_variants_explain____percent_of_antidepressant_response

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95% War Witch

All Critics (44) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (42) | Rotten (2)

Canadian writer-director Kim Nguyen spent nearly a decade researching this docudrama about child soldiers in Africa, and the film feels as authoritative as a first-hand account.

A haunting take on unspeakably grim subject matter, shot on location in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A powerful and upsetting portrait of a young girl compelled into unimaginably horrific circumstances.

Nguyen, astonishingly, manages to wring something vaguely like a happy ending from this tragic story.

War Witch is most effective not when we are looking in on Komona but when we are inside her head.

The powerful things we expect from "War Witch" are as advertised, but what we don't expect is even better.

Brutal without turning exploitative, the result is harrowing and heartbreaking.

Nguyen creates a mesmerizing tone through his camerawork, editing, sound and the infusion of African folk imagery and ritual, but it's Mwanza's performance as Komona that makes "War Witch" feel so miraculous.

Nguyen reportedly worked on "War Witch" for a decade, and it shows in both the immediacy and authenticity of his tale, and the meticulous craft with which it's told.

Made with extremely clear-eyed restraint from harangues, sentiment, message-mongering, or anything else that would cheapen its central character's suffering and fight.

War Witch features a standout performance by Rachel Mwanza, but the supernatural visions don't really suit the film's tone and mood.

Nguyen's compassion and commitment to the issue is admirable, and at its best, War Witch is devastating.

War Witch is remarkable for the fact that it never strays into sentimentality or sensationalism.

...a love story between youngsters who are forced to become adults all too early in their lives.

This is a straight ahead essay on warfare at its worst and the survival of the human spirit at its best.

An astonishing drama set in Africa that vividly depicts the courage and resiliency of a 12-year-old girl whose spiritual gifts enable her to survive.

It is astonishing that film that contains such violence can have such a serene tone. The source of the serenity is the measured, calm narration by Komona (voice of Diane Umawahoro) that is the telling of her story to her unborn child

An exquisitely made film in direct contrast to the ugliness of its subject matter

The portrait of a girl who retains her dignity and strength, her faith in the future, in the face of unimaginable horrors. It's inspirational in a very real way.

[Despite] so many fictional elements. . . the point of view poignantly emphasizes the special travails of girls within violent societies engaged in constant war.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/war_witch/

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Saturday, March 30, 2013

AP NewsBreak: China jails Nobel winner's relative

BEIJING (AP) ? Police have arrested the brother-in-law of China's jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo on fraud charges in what the family said is the latest act of official retaliation.

Beijing police detained Liu Hui on Jan. 31, just before the Lunar New Year and a planned family reunion, and formally charged him two weeks ago over a real estate dispute, lawyer Mo Shaoping said Thursday. He said the criminal charges were unwarranted in a business dispute that has since been resolved.

Liu Hui's arrest is the latest blow to the family and, Mo said, is particularly painful for his sister, Liu Xia, the wife of democracy campaigner Liu Xiaobo. He was imprisoned in late 2008, and ever since he was awarded the Nobel prize two-and-a-half years ago, Liu Xia has been under house arrest. Isolated in an apartment with no phone or Internet, she appears emotionally fragile, allowed only weekly visits with family members and a monthly visit to her husband in prison.

The latest arrest "affected the whole family, especially Liu Xia, who is worried about her brother," said Mo.

Calls to the prosecutor's office in the suburban Beijing district of Huairou where Liu Hui is to be tried rang unanswered. Family members publicly declined comment, but privately one said the stress on the family is taking its toll. They are under close surveillance and have been warned not to talk to the media about Liu Xiaobo or Liu Xia, said the family member, who asked not to be identified.

An associate of Mo's, who declined to be named, said Liu Xia skipped her February visit to Liu Xiaobo in Jinzhou Prison 450 kilometers (280 miles) east of Beijing out of anger at the arrest of her brother.

Chinese authorities commonly put pressure on relatives and friends of government critics and political and religious dissidents as a way to try to keep them in line. Even by those standards, the treatment of the Liu family is severe and underscores how the Nobel award embarrassed the Chinese government, which bridles at criticisms of its human rights record and its authoritarian political system.

"We used to interact with both Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia's brothers and sisters, but now we have been completely cut off from them," said Pu Zhiqiang, an activist lawyer and family friend. "I think there is only one explanation about this: that the family has been the victim of repressive measures, which are cruel and cowardly."

Liu Xiaobo, once a literary critic and university lecturer, had campaigned for peaceful democratic change for 20 years and been imprisoned three times before his current stint, an 11-year sentence for drafting a programmatic call for political reform called Charter '08.

The recent arrest of the brother, Liu Hui, may be particular retaliation for two incidents that broke the security cordon around Liu Xia and her isolation in her fifth-floor apartment in central Beijing. Reporters from The Associated Press visited her briefly in December, getting into the building while the guards were apparently away at lunch. A few weeks later, five Chinese activist friends did the same thing. In both cases, Liu Xia appeared agitated and shaken.

Pu, the lawyer and Liu family friend, said arresting and prosecuting Liu Hui in an ordinary business dispute fits a pattern of selectively using the law to harass activists and their families. The artist and prominent government critic Ai Weiwei has faced tax charges, for example, rather than a direct attack against his activism. "State security is increasingly using selective enforcement of the law," Pu said.

Police previously arrested Liu Hui, in April last year for the same real estate dispute but then released him on bail in September, Mo said. According to the recent indictment, Liu represented a company from the southern city of Shenzhen in real estate development deals in Beijing, and he and a partner pocketed 3 million yuan ($500,000) that was claimed by another party to the transaction.

He is scheduled to go on trial in May, Mo said, even though the disputed funds have already been returned, and there's insufficient evidence of a crime. "This is irregular," Mo said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-newsbreak-china-jails-nobel-winners-relative-115319919.html

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Friday, March 29, 2013

DHS's controversial theory: private option $100s of millions cheaper ...

Two big headlines from the DHS release of actuarial findings on expansion options Wednesday. They project that 1) The "private option" saves $670 million to the state bottom line over ten years. 2) The "private option" not only doesn't cost the feds more than traditional Medicaid expansion, it's cheaper ? by almost $600 million over ten years.

That first one is not surprising. We've been explaining why expansion is revenue positive for the state for some time, and the "private option" doesn't change that (DHS projects that traditional expansion would save the state a little less?$610 million over ten years).

But #2 is a bit of a doozy. Most outside observers have speculated that the "private option" will be significantly more expensive. When Arkansas first got the go-ahead for the new framework, Arkansas Medicaid director Andy Allison wrote to Cynthia Mann, the director of the federal Center for Medicaid Services, "Cost effectiveness is the obvious hurdle for folks who didn't expect this" (e-mail acquired by the Times via FOIA request).

DHS challenged the consensus about cost last week with its release of general findings that it could be close to a wash; the fully enumerated projections this week suggest significant federal savings.

Of course we cannot know for sure, but predictions about federal costs matter a great deal. If the "private option" costs significantly more, it's hard to justify it over a traditional Medicaid expansion (outside of political necessity). It also might create a significant problem for the federal government if other states want to hop on board the "private option" bandwagon. Some started worrying about billions in additional costs.

DHS is swooping in now with an actuarial study that says not so fast. If they're right, then the case for the "private option" could be even stronger than the case for Medicaid expansion. But their arguments go against the general consensus about the costs of the government paying for health coverage through private companies instead of directly. They've been greeted with some skepticism outside the state so far.

I interviewed Allison yesterday to try and tease out where these numbers came from and why they think they're on to something that the consensus view has missed. After the jump, see a summary of DHS's key arguments, plus a response from a health economist who remains skeptical.

Let's look at the core components behind the theory of DHS and their actuaries. We'll start with the basics and then get to the core theory behind their findings which, if accurate, would be a game-changer.

1) Obviously, all of the numbers are only as good as the actuaries who compiled them. The Insurance Department contracted with Optum, an actuarial company in Arizona. "This firm has experience consulting both private firms engaged in the exchange as well as for a long period of time Medicaid programs and managed care programs," Allison said. "They're very used to developing these sorts of estimates. I have found them to be even conservative." In addition to standard actuarial methods and experience nationally in the public and private sectors, they also had the most recent three years of comprehensive claims data from DHS.

2) The baseline difference that Optum found between private rates and Medicaid rates was around 24 percent. They also projected that private rates would go down further under the "private option," by around five percent, because of competition and because of better health plan management. The competition is achieved not through lots of consumer choices in the marketplace, but through a competitive bidding process for the carriers. The rules haven't been set yet, but the plan will be something like this: consumers only get the premium paid for if they pick one of the two cheapest plans (the same competitive bidding structure will exist for the 138-400 population getting subsidies on the exchange). Since almost everyone will do that, there will be intense competition among the carriers to be one of the cheapest two. Again, this means not that many options for consumers if they want to be subsidized, but it's a mechanism to make them extremely price sensitive. As for plan management, Allison offered the example of the small cost sharing allowed by the law. It will be "tailored and focused" by private insurers in a way that's "just too awkward for the state to try to do," he said.

3) The biggest, and likely most controversial factor, is that they assume that under a traditional Medicaid expansion, Medicaid rates and private rates would be the same. That's why they apply a 24 percent up-charge to the Medicaid rates under a "traditional expansion" counter-factual: we know that Medicaid rates are cheaper than private rates, but Allison says that if we expanded Medicaid, that would cease to be true.

"Much more in reimbursement would need to be made available to providers and to the system to increase and secure access for this new population," he said. Not only higher than before, but higher even than Medicare ? all the way up to private rates. "We're suggesting that you can't continue to cross-subsidize in a world of full insurance."

Some of this may be specific to Arkansas ? which has a low differential between public and private rates now and also has extremely stingy Medicaid, so that there is "a missing market in the state." But Allison is also arguing that the trend of private and public rates moving toward each other is what we should expect to see if places move toward universal coverage. That trend is observable in other states who already cover this population, he said, as well as reports from private insurers developing bids for exchanges looking ahead to 2014. Whether private rates go down or public rates go up is "a bit of an open question" but "the point is that they need to be the same."

If you've been following the healthcare debate and the "private option" debate, you will recognize how radical ? or at least new ? this argument is. It a priori assumes that the gross cost of insuring the expansion via Medicaid or the "private option" is about the same (which means a "private option" is cheaper overall because of #2 above). That would change everything! As Allison said, "If it's the same number either way then this question of cost comparability ? cost effectiveness ? for the private option versus some kind of traditional Medicaid is moot."

"It just didn't occur to folks," he said. "It didn't occur to me or anyone else. It's not a discussion we've had in the country because a pure buy-in like this really wasn't imagined until the last couple of months."

The key point here is that achieving the access mandated by law for the large expansion pool requires upping reimbursement rates (this is precisely why private insurance has better access now). Allison believes that previous estimates failed to take this into account. Allison wrote to CMS director Cynthia Mann on March 7 (email acquired by FOIA request): "CBO seems to have made some sort of naive assumption, apparently, that existing average provider reimbursement rate differentials (Medicaid FFS versus private carrier rates) would be the same with and without all the new coverage."

A rate increase in Medicaid would require legislative action but Allison suggested that a rate increase to meet access needs was easier to achieve politically than you might think ? and presumably access requirements mandated by federal law in order to get the match rates could force the legislature's hand.

The theory goes that in a competitive market with near-universal coverage, the price will move toward what is required to achieve the minimum required level of access. That could move Medicaid rates up or private rates down or a little bit of both.

"Look at this from the provider's point of view, from the healthcare system's point of view," Allison said. "Partly what is implied here is that the system itself is not quite big enough. There's two issues ? there's how many certified professionals and how many facilities." How they adjust to the new pool of consumers is "a market decision. And that market decision, from their point of view, we don't think is any different depending on who's paying them."

The key to making the "private option" work is that the medically needy people in that pool will go to Medicaid, so there will be a separate high-risk pool (and in fact, some healthy people currently in Medicaid will move to the exchange). "We are explicitly protecting the exchange from the highest risks among that group because the top high-risk 10 percent would likely be withheld," Allison said.

That leaves "a large, stable, and healthy population that could actually stabilize and significantly reduce adverse selection" in the exchange, Allison said. "What it takes to create a competitive insurance market like an exchange is to seed that large group?that marketplace?with a large, stable, and ideally relatively healthy population. That is precisely what the Arkansas option would do." Allison described it as a "perfect antidote" to the potential for higher private premiums suggested by a recent study from the Society of Actuaries. (This is an appealing frame for Republican lawmakers: private option protects us from Obamacare! Silly, but politically valuable.)

Boston University health economist Austin Frakt said that the DHS predictions were possible but should be greeted with healthy skepticism.

These numbers are really hard to know for sure. The probability that everything will work out just perfect that it's going to be a cost savings or cost neutral ? it's just hard to know. I think it's an interesting and innovative plan. It's got some great things in it for beneficiaries, great things in it for providers. It's obviously of tremendous political value and that can't be ignored. It definitely comes with some risk of increased costs to the federal government. ... I'm not fully swayed by the analysis that it will be cost neutral or cost savings.

You can (and should!) read more of Frakt elaborating on his questions about the Arkansas plan's costs here on the Incidental Economist blog.

That said, Frakt suggested that those risks of federal costs might be worth it "as long as it's understood that [increased costs] could happen." He also noted that other states might follow the lead of Arkansas and the numbers might work out differently. "It's hard to believe that every state would be able to save money with it," he said. The key is that we go in to this experiment with our eyes open about cost uncertainty. (Cue the joke that the sneaky reason for the "private option" is driving up the costs of Obamacare.)

In the end, I find the experimentation argument pretty convincing, and you have to think that's part of what is motivating HHS. The "private option" will be at least as good for beneficiaries, so if HHS is willing to take a little financial risk to try an approach that could plausibly turn out to be better, that seems like a good thing. As Allison wrote to me, "we could easily end up learning more about Medicaid in the next ten years than the previous 50 combined." That doesn't guarantee better policy but it's a start.

And we can't forget the political reality: right now, the "private option" is the only way forward to getting health coverage for more than 200,000 Arkansans.

Source: http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2013/03/29/dhss-controversial-theory-private-option-100s-of-millions-cheaper-than-medicaid-expansion

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Dell Latitude 10 Enhanced Security


The Dell Latitude 10 Enhanced Security ($1,028.59 direct bundle, $779 alone) tablet joins its mainstream sibling in the quest for the perfect business Windows 8 tablet. As its name suggests, the Latitude 10 Enhanced Security adds physical security locks to the Editors' Choice-winning business tablet. The Latitude 10 series is notable as being the only tablets on the market with removable batteries and a laser-straight business focus. The Enhanced Security model joins its fraternal twin on the podium as our Editors' Choice for business tablets.

Design and Features
The Latitude 10 Enhanced Security is a very compact tablet, with a 10.1-inch IPS (In-Plane Switching) capacitive touch screen. The frame is made of magnesium alloy, but the exterior is covered in a soft-touch material. The front of the tablet is a seamless piece of Gorilla Glass. The Latitude 10 measures about 11 by 7 by 0.52 inches (HWD) and weighs 1.6 pounds with the standard battery, making it very portable. The bottom of the system has a micro-USB port which can be used to charge the unit if you don't have the supplied charger that plugs into the docking port. This makes it very handy if you forget your Dell charger at work but still have the micro-USB charger for your phone.

Around the other three sides, you'll find a full-size USB 2.0 port, an SD card reader, volume control, power button, mini-HDMI port, and a Kensington lock port. Unfortunately, the USB port isn't the speedier USB 3.0, but it will fully power external hard drives, something that can't be said about one of Dell's rivals, the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 ($729 list).

The Enhanced Security model is almost identical to the mainstream Dell Latitude 10 we looked at recently, at least from the front. From the side, you'll notice that the Enhanced model is a bit thicker at the top. The top of the tablet holds the system's added smart card and biometric fingerprint reader. The smart card lets a user present electronic credentials to your servers, network domain, and applications. The fingerprint reader is situated so that you can swipe your index finger on the reader when you're holding the tablet without moving the rest of your hand. Both are convenient, or at least as convenient as can be when you have extra layers of security due to corporate policy. The Latitude 10 Enhanced Security comes with TPM 1.2, Dell Data Protection | Access, and support for Microsoft BitLocker. Basically, the Latitude 10 Enhanced Security is ready for many government offices, health care, and academic security policies.

The IPS screen has a 450-nit rating and a 1,366-by-768 resolution. This makes it bright, but the resolution is lower than true 1080p HD. This means that the screen natively displays less pixels than the Editors' Choice for Windows 8 Slate tablets, the Microsoft Surface Pro ($999 list), which has a 1080p screen. That said, at this size, 1,366 by 768 is perfectly adequate for viewing Word, PowerPoint, and other work documents.

You can drive a 1080p external monitor using the Latitude 10 Enhanced Security 's mini-HDMI port or via the system's productivity dock. The $100 productivity dock comes with four more USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, audio, Ethernet, and power connector. The Latitude 10 supports dual-monitors, whether you connect directly or use the HDMI port in the dock. Like most Windows 8 setups, spanning and mirroring dual displays are supported. The front mounted webcam is 720p HD/2MP, and the rear camera with flash is 8MP.

The Latitude 10 Enhanced Security's screen supports 10-finger touch gestures, and you can add a $34 Wacom stylus to your purchase. The Wacom stylus supports pressure sensitivity, right click, and erase. This is similar to the Microsoft Surface Pro's stylus, and is actually better than the Lenovo Tablet 2's stylus, which lacks the eraser function. The stylus even has a pocket clip. When you bring the stylus tip near the screen, it activates the Wacom digitizer and disables the touch screen. This way it won't register your hand or palm when you try to draw on the Latitude 10 Enhanced Security's screen. It would have been nice to have a way to clip the stylus to the Latitude 10 directly, but you can use a case or your pocket to store the stylus when it's not in use.

Our review unit also came with a $50 Dell KM632 wireless keyboard and mouse combo, extra $50 power adapter, and a $55 60Whr extended battery from Dell, bringing the bundle total to $1,028.59. The external keyboard and mouse help the Latitude 10 act more like a desktop when plugged into its docking station, and we'd recommend the dock if you work from a desk for significant periods of time. Keeping an extra power adapter in your travel bag will help keep your tablet charged, as will the extended battery. This highlights one of the Latitude 10's biggest differentiators among its rivals: It uses replaceable batteries, bucking the sealed battery trend popularized by the Apple iPad and continuing through the HP Envy X2 and Acer Iconia W510-1422. As seen below, the extended battery can give you more power without the added bulk of a keyboard dock.

The Latitude 10 Enhanced Security has two storage options: 64GB and 128GB of flash storage. You can, of course, supplement this with a SD card, but you will need to choose wisely when initially equipping your tablet. When we took the Latitude 10 out of the box, Windows reported that it had 33.4 out of 51.1 GB free. This is certainly enough for a few corporate apps with some room left over for document storage, but you should consider getting the 128GB model if you need to carry lots of video files along in your journeys. That said, you can of course store your files on your company's servers. If your company is setup for remote computing, you might even be able to use an app server, forestalling the need to keep anything local on your tablet. You can get to those servers via 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi or using the HSPA+/3G WWAN radio in our review unit. 4G LTE is available as an option in place of of HSPA+ or you can buy a Wi-Fi only model, but the 4G LTE and Wi-Fi-only models will not have the GPS circuitry found in our review unit.

As befits a corporate-oriented system, the Latitiude 10 didn't come with any pre-loaded apps aside from Skype and a tile from Dell showing users how to get started with Windows 8. This helped with the Latitude 10's free space, which was a bit better than the 28GB left free on the Acer Iconia Tab W510. The Latitude 10 comes with a one-year standard warranty, which can be extended to three years with options including pro-level 24/7 support.

Performance
Dell Latitude 10 Enhanced Security You wouldn't expect barn-burning multimedia benchmark results from a system with 2GB of memory and an Intel Atom Z2760 processor, but on the flip side the Atom processor is very frugal with battery consumption. The Latitude 10 scored relatively high on CineBench R11.5 (0.55 points), matching the HP Envy X2. It also had one of the better Atom-based scores on our Handbrake video encoding test (6:27). Its 1,291 point score on PCMark 7 was middling, far behind the Microsoft Surface Pro (4,768 points) and its ultrabook-class competitors. Basically, if you need a fast system, go with one of the ultrabook-class slates like the Surface Pro or Acer Iconia W700.

If you need Windows program and Windows corporate network compatibility with all-day computing, then the Latitude 10 is right up your alley. The Latitude 10 lasted 9 hours, 20 minutes on our battery rundown test using the standard slim 30WHr battery; it lasted a phenomenal 19:38 using the extended 60WHr battery. The HP Envy X2 fell far behind with and without its battery-clad keyboard dock (7:08/12:34), and the Acer Iconia W510 was a bit better alone (10:27), but was short with its keyboard battery dock (17:50). All of these Atom-powered systems lasted many hours longer than ultrabook-class tablets like the Microsoft Surface Pro (4:58) and Sony VAIO Duo 11 (3:09). The only drawbacks to the extended battery are that the battery sticks out of the back of the Latitude 10 by a few mm, and add a bit of weight (taking the weight of the system to 1.92 pounds total). That said, the Latitude 10 is still much more portable than the three-pound HP X2 and Acer W510 when you clip on their keyboard docks.

The Dell Latitude 10 Enhanced Security simply adds to the general effectiveness and security of the mainstream Dell Latitude 10. The smart card and fingerprint readers are there for the many companies that require an extra physical layer of security from its workers. All the other benefits still apply: portability, all day all night battery life, Windows 8 compatibility, removable batteries, and general IT-friendly features. The IT buyer in your company will be more likely to approve a secure Windows 8 and Intel-powered tablet instead of rolling out less secure Android or iOS tablets. The Dell Latitude 10 Enhanced Security shares the Editors' Choice for business Windows 8 slate tablets with its almost identical brother, the Dell Latitude 10.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Dell Latitude 10 Enhanced Security with several other laptops and tablets side by side.

More laptop reviews:
??? Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11
??? Dell Latitude 10 Enhanced Security
??? Lenovo IdeaTab Lynx K3011
??? Dell Inspiron 17-3721
??? Dell XPS 13-MLK
?? more

laptop

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/c9BliywcCPs/0,2817,2417147,00.asp

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Did Obama miss his moment on guns? (CNN)

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Magnetic fingerprints of interface defects in silicon solar cells detected

Mar. 27, 2013 ? Using a highly sensitive method of measurement, HZB physicists have managed to localize defects in amorphous/crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells. Now, for the first time ever, using computer simulations at Paderborn University, the scientists were able to determine the defects' exact locations and assign them to certain structures within the interface between the amorphous and crystalline phases.

In theory, silicon-based solar cells are capable of converting up to 30 percent of sunlight to electricity -- although, in reality, the different kinds of loss mechanisms ensure that even under ideal lab conditions it does not exceed 25 %. Advanced heterojunction cells shall affront this problem: On top of the wafer's surface, at temperatures below 200 ?C, a layer of 10 nanometer disordered (amorphous) silicon is deposited. This thin film is managing to saturate to a large extent the interface defects and to conduct charge carriers out of the cell. Heterojunction solar cells have already high efficiency factors up to 24,7 % -- even in industrial scale. However, scientists had until now only a rough understanding of the processes at the remaining interface defects.

Now, physicists at HZB's Institute for Silicon Photovoltaics have figured out a rather clever way for detecting the remaining defects and characterizing their electronic structure. "If electrons get deposited on these defects, we are able to use their spin, that is, their small magnetic moment, as a probe to study them," Dr. Alexander Schnegg explains. With the help of EDMR, electrically detected magnetic resonance, an ultrasensitive method of measurement, they were able to determine the local defects' structure by detecting their magnetic fingerprint in the photo current of the solar cell under a magnetic field and microwave radiation.

Theoretical physicists of Paderborn University could compare these results with quantum chemical computer simulations, thus obtaining information about the defects' positions within the layers and the processes they are involved to decrease the cells' efficiency. "We basically found two distinct families of defects," says Dr. Uwe Gerstmann from Paderborn University, who collaborates with the HZB Team in a program sponsored by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG priority program 1601). "Whereas in the first one, the defects are rather weakly localized within the amorphous layer, a second family of defects is found directly at the interface, but in the crystalline silicon."

For the first time ever the scientists have succeeded at directly detecting and characterizing processes with atomic resolution that compromise these solar cells' high efficiency. The cells were manufactured and measured at the HZB; the numerical methods were developed at Paderborn University. "We can now apply these findings to other types of solar cells in order to optimize them further and to decrease production costs," says Schnegg.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. B. M. George, J. Behrends, A. Schnegg, T. F. Schulze, M. Fehr, L. Korte, B. Rech, K. Lips, M. Rohrm?ller, E. Rauls, W. G. Schmidt, U. Gerstmann. Atomic Structure of Interface States in Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells. Physical Review Letters, 2013; 110 (13) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.136803

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/electricity/~3/b0247wn1A30/130327104151.htm

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Thursday, March 28, 2013

40 years on, Vietnam troop withdrawal remembered

Forty years ago, soldiers returning from Vietnam were advised to change into civilian clothes on their flights home so that they wouldn't be accosted by angry protesters at the airport. For a Vietnamese businessman who helped the U.S. government, a rising sense of panic set in as the last combat troops left the country on March 29, 1973 and he began to contemplate what he'd do next. A young North Vietnamese soldier who heard about the withdrawal felt emboldened to continue his push on the battlefields of southern Vietnam.

While the fall of Saigon two years later ? with its indelible images of frantic helicopter evacuations ? is remembered as the final day of the Vietnam War, Friday marks an anniversary that holds greater meaning for many who fought, protested or otherwise lived the war. Since then, they've embarked on careers, raised families and in many cases counseled a younger generation emerging from two other faraway wars.

Many veterans are encouraged by changes they see. The U.S. has a volunteer military these days, not a draft, and the troops coming home aren't derided for their service. People know what PTSD stands for, and they're insisting that the government take care of soldiers suffering from it and other injuries from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Below are the stories of a few of the people who experienced a part of the Vietnam War firsthand.

___

Former Air Force Sgt. Howard Kern, who lives in central Ohio near Newark, spent a year in Vietnam before returning home in 1968.

He said that for a long time he refused to wear any service ribbons associating him with southeast Asia and he didn't even his tell his wife until a couple of years after they married that he had served in Vietnam. He said she was supportive of his war service and subsequent decision to go back to the Army to serve another 18 years.

Kern said that when he flew back from Vietnam with other service members, they were told to change out of uniform and into civilian clothes while they were still on the airplane to avoid the ire of protesters at the airport.

"What stands out most about everything is that before I went and after I got back, the news media only showed the bad things the military was doing over there and the body counts," said Kern, now 66. "A lot of combat troops would give their c rations to Vietnamese children, but you never saw anything about that ? you never saw all the good that GIs did over there."

Kern, an administrative assistant at the Licking County Veterans' Service Commission, said the public's attitude is a lot better toward veterans coming home for Iraq and Afghanistan ? something the attributes in part to Vietnam veterans.

"We're the ones that greet these soldiers at the airports. We're the ones who help with parades and stand alongside the road when they come back and applaud them and salute them," he said.

He said that while the public "might condemn war today, they don't condemn the warriors."

"I think the way the public is treating these kids today is a great thing," Kern said. "I wish they had treated us that way."

But he still worries about the toll that multiple tours can take on service members.

"When we went over there, you came home when your tour was over and didn't go back unless you volunteered. They are sending GIs back now maybe five or seven times, and that's way too much for a combat veteran," he said.

He remembers feeling glad when the last troops left Vietnam, but was sad to see Saigon fall two years later. "Vietnam was a very beautiful country, and I felt sorry for the people there," he said.

___

Tony Lam was 36 on the day the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam. He was a young husband and father, but most importantly, he was a businessman and U.S. contractor furnishing dehydrated rice to South Vietnamese troops. He also ran a fish meal plant and a refrigerated shipping business that exported shrimp.

As Lam, now 76, watched American forces dwindle and then disappear, he felt a rising panic. His close association with the Americans was well-known and he needed to get out ? and get his family out ? or risk being tagged as a spy and thrown into a Communist prison. He watched as South Vietnamese commanders fled, leaving whole battalions without a leader.

"We had no chance of surviving under the Communist invasion there. We were very much worried about the safety of our family, the safety of other people," he said this week from his adopted home in Westminster, Calif.

But Lam wouldn't leave for nearly two more years after the last U.S. combat troops, driven to stay by his love of his country and his belief that Vietnam and its economy would recover.

When Lam did leave, on April 21, 1975, it was aboard a packed C-130 that departed just as Saigon was about to fall. He had already worked for 24 hours at the airport to get others out after seeing his wife and two young children off to safety in the Philippines.

"My associate told me, 'You'd better go. It's critical. You don't want to end up as a Communist prisoner.' He pushed me on the flight out. I got tears in my eyes once the flight took off and I looked down from the plane for the last time," Lam recalled. "No one talked to each other about how critical it was, but we all knew it."

Now, Lam lives in Southern California's Little Saigon, the largest concentration of Vietnamese outside of Vietnam.

In 1992, Lam made history by becoming the first Vietnamese-American to elected to public office in the U.S. and he went on to serve on the Westminster City Council for 10 years.

Looking back over four decades, Lam says he doesn't regret being forced out of his country and forging a new, American, life.

"I went from being an industrialist to pumping gas at a service station," said Lam, who now works as a consultant and owns a Lee's Sandwich franchise, a well-known Vietnamese chain.

"But thank God I am safe and sound and settled here with my six children and 15 grandchildren," he said. "I'm a happy man."

___

Wayne Reynolds' nightmares got worse this week with the approach of the anniversary of the U.S. troop withdrawal.

Reynolds, 66, spent a year working as an Army medic on an evacuation helicopter in 1968 and 1969. On days when the fighting was worst, his chopper would make four or five landings in combat zones to rush wounded troops to emergency hospitals.

The terror of those missions comes back to him at night, along with images of the blood that was everywhere. The dreams are worst when he spends the most time thinking about Vietnam, like around anniversaries.

"I saw a lot of people die," said Reynolds.

Today, Reynolds lives in Athens, Ala., after a career that included stints as a public school superintendent and, most recently, a registered nurse. He is serving his 13th year as the Alabama president of the Vietnam Veterans of America, and he also has served on the group's national board as treasurer.

Like many who came home from the war, Reynolds is haunted by the fact he survived Vietnam when thousands more didn't. Encountering war protesters after returning home made the readjustment to civilian life more difficult.

"I was literally spat on in Chicago in the airport," he said. "No one spoke out in my favor."

Reynolds said the lingering survivor's guilt and the rude reception back home are the main reasons he spends much of his time now working with veteran's groups to help others obtain medical benefits. He also acts as an advocate on veterans' issues, a role that landed him a spot on the program at a 40th anniversary ceremony planned for Friday in Huntsville, Ala.

It took a long time for Reynolds to acknowledge his past, though. For years after the war, Reynolds said, he didn't include his Vietnam service on his resume and rarely discussed it with anyone.

"A lot of that I blocked out of my memory. I almost never talk about my Vietnam experience other than to say, 'I was there,' even to my family," he said.

___

A former North Vietnamese soldier, Ho Van Minh heard about the American combat troop withdrawal during a weekly meeting with his commanders in the battlefields of southern Vietnam.

The news gave the northern forces fresh hope of victory, but the worst of the war was still to come for Minh: The 77-year-old lost his right leg to a land mine while advancing on Saigon, just a month before that city fell.

"The news of the withdrawal gave us more strength to fight," Minh said Thursday, after touring a museum in the capital, Hanoi, devoted to the Vietnamese victory and home to captured American tanks and destroyed aircraft.

"The U.S. left behind a weak South Vietnam army. Our spirits was so high and we all believed that Saigon would be liberated soon," he said.

Minh, who was on a two-week tour of northern Vietnam with other veterans, said he bears no ill will to the American soldiers even though much of the country was destroyed and an estimated 3 million Vietnamese died.

If he met an American veteran now he says, "I would not feel angry; instead I would extend my sympathy to them because they were sent to fight in Vietnam against their will."

But on his actions, he has no regrets. "If someone comes to destroy your house, you have to stand up to fight."

___

Two weeks before the last U.S. troops left Vietnam, Marine Corps Capt. James H. Warner was freed from North Vietnamese confinement after nearly 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war. He said those years of forced labor and interrogation reinforced his conviction that the United States was right to confront the spread of communism.

The past 40 years have proven that free enterprise is the key to prosperity, Warner said in an interview Thursday at a coffee shop near his home in Rohrersville, Md., about 60 miles from Washington. He said American ideals ultimately prevailed, even if our methods weren't as effective as they could have been.

"China has ditched socialism and gone in favor of improving their economy, and the same with Vietnam. The Berlin Wall is gone. So essentially, we won," he said. "We could have won faster if we had been a little more aggressive about pushing our ideas instead of just fighting."

Warner, 72, was the avionics officer in a Marine Corps attack squadron when his fighter plane was shot down north of the Demilitarized Zone in October 1967.

He said the communist-made goods he was issued as a prisoner, including razor blades and East German-made shovels, were inferior products that bolstered his resolve.

"It was worth it," he said.

A native of Ypsilanti, Mich., Warner went on to a career in law in government service. He is a member of the Republican Central Committee of Washington County, Md.

___

Denis Gray witnessed the Vietnam War twice ? as an Army captain stationed in Saigon from 1970 to 1971 for a U.S. military intelligence unit, and again as a reporter at the start of a 40-year career with the AP.

"Saigon in 1970-71 was full of American soldiers. It had a certain kind of vibe. There were the usual clubs, and the bars were going wild," Gray recalled. "Some parts of the city were very, very Americanized."

Gray's unit was helping to prepare for the troop pullout by turning over supplies and projects to the South Vietnamese during a period that Washington viewed as the final phase of the war. But morale among soldiers was low, reinforced by a feeling that the U.S. was leaving without finishing its job.

"Personally, I came to Vietnam and the military wanting to believe that I was in a ? maybe not a just war but a ? war that might have to be fought," Gray said. "Toward the end of it, myself and most of my fellow officers, and the men we were commanding didn't quite believe that ... so that made the situation really complex."

After his one-year service in Saigon ended in 1971, Gray returned home to Connecticut and got a job with the AP in Albany, N.Y. But he was soon posted to Indochina, and returned to Saigon in August 1973 ? four months after the U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam ? to discover a different city.

"The aggressiveness that militaries bring to any place they go ? that was all gone," he said. A small American presence remained, mostly diplomats, advisers and aid workers but the bulk of troops had left. The war between U.S.-allied South Vietnam and communist North Vietnam was continuing, and it was still two years before the fall of Saigon to the communist forces.

"There was certainly no panic or chaos ? that came much later in '74, '75. But certainly it was a city with a lot of anxiety in it."

The Vietnam War was the first of many wars Gray witnessed. As AP's Bangkok bureau chief for more than 30 years, Gray has covered wars in Cambodia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Rwanda, Kosovo, and "many, many insurgencies along the way."

"I don't love war, I hate it," Gray said. "(But) when there have been other conflicts, I've been asked to go. So, it was definitely the shaping event of my professional life."

___

Harry Prestanski, 65, of West Chester, Ohio, served 16 months as a Marine in Vietnam and remembers having to celebrate his 21st birthday there. He is now retired from a career in public relations and spends a lot of time as an advocate for veterans, speaking to various organizations and trying to help veterans who are looking for jobs.

"The one thing I would tell those coming back today is to seek out other veterans and share their experiences," he said. "There are so many who will work with veterans and try to help them ? so many opportunities that weren't there when we came back."

He says that even though the recent wars are different in some ways from Vietnam, those serving in any war go through some of the same experiences.

"One of the most difficult things I ever had to do was to sit down with the mother of a friend of mine who didn't come back and try to console her while outside her office there were people protesting the Vietnam War," Prestanski said.

He said the public's response to veterans is not what it was 40 years ago and credits Vietnam veterans for helping with that.

"When we served, we were viewed as part of the problem," he said. "One thing about Vietnam veterans is that ? almost to the man ? we want to make sure that never happens to those serving today. We welcome them back and go out of our way to airports to wish them well when they leave."

He said some of the positive things that came out of his war service were the leadership skills and confidence he gained that helped him when he came back.

"I felt like I could take on the world," he said.

___

Flaccus reported from Los Angeles and Cornwell reported from Cincinnati. Also contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Chris Brummitt in Hanoi, David Dishneau in Hagerstown, Md., and Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Ala.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/40-years-vietnam-troop-withdrawal-remembered-172252613.html

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Assange legal shakeup: Prosecutor walks, Supreme Court judge to ...

The lead Swedish prosecutor pursuing sexual assault charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is no longer handling the case, media reports revealed. Her departure comes as a top Swedish judge is set to speak publicly on the ?Assange affair.?

Recent court documents have revealed that starting Wednesday, high-profile Swedish prosecutor Marianne Nye will no longer be at the helm of the case against Assange, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Nye will be replaced by her far less experienced colleague Ingrid Isgren; the reasons for her departure have not been disclosed.

However, according to a Swedish newspaper report, Nye "has not quit the Assange case formally rather that there is a new 'investigator,'" WikiLeaks tweeted on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Anna Ardin, one of two women who accused Julian Assange of sex crimes, also moved to fire her controversial lawyer Claes Borgstrom late last month after she lost faith in his ability to represent her. ?

Ardin charged that Borgstrom was more interested in being in the media spotlight than providing her legal counsel, and has often referred her inquiries to his secretary or assistant. The court has approved Ardin?s new lawyer, Elisabeth Massi Fritz, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Borgstrom reportedly supported his former client?s decision, saying that "in cases concerning sexual offenses, it is particularly important that the plaintiff has confidence in the lawyer representing her," Swedish tabloid Expressen quoted him as saying.

News of the legal shakeup in the Assange case comes less than a week before Swedish Supreme Court judge Stefan Lindskog?s lecture at the University of Adelaide on the ?Assange affair, and freedom of speech, from the Swedish perspective."

Assange blasted Justice Lindskog ? who is chair of the Supreme Court of Sweden, the country's highest court of appeal ? for his decision to publicly discuss the case.

"If an Australian High Court judge came out and spoke on a case the court expected or was likely to judge, it would be regarded as absolutely outrageous," he told Fairfax media.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange gestures as he addresses members of the media and supporters from the window of the Ecuadorian embassy in Knightsbridge, west London on December 20, 2012. (AFP Photo)

"This development is part of a pattern in which senior Swedish figures including the Swedish Foreign Minister, the Prime Minister and Minister for Justice have all publicly attacked me or WikiLeaks," Assange added.

Upon announcing Lindskog?s upcoming lecture, Adelaide University said that "as one of Sweden's most eminent jurists he is uniquely able to provide an authoritative view of the Assange affair.?

WikiLeaks characterized the judge?s lecture as part of the Swedish government campaign against Assange, following Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt?s recent visit to Australia.

"The head of Swedish Supreme Court campaigning on a case they expect to judge with $ from the embassy in the run up to an election," the group wrote on Twitter.

Assange, who is running in for the Australian Senate in the September 14 federal elections, has previously said that securing a seat in the senate could potentially secure him safe passage out of the UK.

He has been holed up in the Ecuadorean embassy in London since June, after claiming asylum in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning on sexual assault allegations. British authorities have vowed to detain him if he sets foot outside of the embassy, in light of the European Arrest Warrant issued against him.

If handed over to Swedish authorities, Assange fears he will be re-extradited to the United States to be questioned over the WikiLeaks release of thousands of US diplomatic cables. Assange believes that a conviction in a US court could result in the death penalty.

Ecuador has offered to allow the Swedish government to conduct an interview on the embassy?s premises, but the Swedish government has so far refused the offer.

Source: http://rt.com/news/assange-prosecutor-judge-speech-992/

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Award-winning screenwriter Fay Kanin dies at 95

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Fay Kanin has died. She was 95.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed Kanin's death Wednesday. She served as president of the film academy from 1979 to 1983.

Kanin was nominated for an Academy Award for 1958's "Teacher's Pet" alongside her husband and writing partner, Michael Kanin. The film starred Clark Gable and Doris Day.

Fay Kanin was also recognized for her television contributions, winning two screenwriting Emmys in 1974 and another for producing the TV special "Friendly Fire" in 1979.

Details on Kanin's survivors and cause of death were not immediately available.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/award-winning-screenwriter-fay-kanin-dies-95-004244852.html

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Obama name first woman Secret Service head (The Arizona Republic)

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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Unique mechanisms of antibiotic resistance identified

Mar. 26, 2013 ? As public health authorities across the globe grapple with the growing problem of antibiotic resistance, Tufts University School of Medicine microbiologists and colleagues have identified the unique resistance mechanisms of a clinical isolate of E. coli resistant to carbapenems. Carbapenems are a class of antibiotics used as a last resort for the treatment of disease-causing bacteria, including E. coli and Klebsiella pneumonia, which can cause serious illness and even death. Infections involving resistant strains fail to respond to antibiotic treatments, which can lead to prolonged illness and greater risk of death, as well as significant public health challenges due to increased transmission of infection.

The study, published in the April issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, demonstrates the lengths to which bacteria will go to become resistant to antibiotics.

Resistance to carbapenems usually emerges through the acquisition of an enzyme, carbapenemase, which destroys the antibiotic intended to treat infection. Resistance may also block entry of the drug into the E-coli bacteria. The current research, led by corresponding author Stuart Levy, M.D., Professor of Molecular Biology & Microbiology and of Medicine and Director of the Center for Adaptation Genetics & Drug Resistance at Tufts University School of Medicine, sought to determine what made this particular clinical isolate of E. coli resistant to carbapenem in the absence of carbapenemase.

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has documented a significant increase in Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) -- so-called 'super bugs' that have been found to fight off even the most potent treatments," Levy said. "We knew that bacteria could resist carbapenems, but we had never before seen E. coli adapt so extensively to defeat an antibiotic. Our research shows just how far bacteria will go with mutations in order to survive."

Levy and his colleagues determined that the E. coli genetically mutated four separate times in order to resist carbapenems. Specifically, the isolate removed two membrane proteins in order to prevent antibiotics from getting into the cell. The bacteria also carried a mutation of the regulatory protein marR, which controls how bacteria react in the presence of antibiotics. The isolate further achieved resistance by increasing expression of a multidrug efflux pump. Moreover, the researchers discovered that the E. coli was expressing a new protein, called yedS, which helped the drug enter the cell, but whose expression was curtailed by the marR mutation. yedS is a normally inactive protein acquired by some E. coli that affects how the drug enters the bacterial cell. It is generally expressed in bacteria through a mutation.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CRE germs have increased from 1% to 4% in the United States over the last decade. Forty-two states report having identified at least one patient with one type of CRE. Approximately 18% of long-term acute care hospitals in the United States and 4% of short-stay hospitals reported at least one CRE infection in the first half of 2012.

The clinical isolate of E. coli studied by Levy and his colleagues came from the sputum of a patient at Peking Union Medical College Hospital in Beijing, China, where three of the study authors are on the faculty. Drug resistance is a particularly serious public health concern in China, antibiotics are overprescribed and used widely in the livestock and farming industries.

"The first quinolone-resistant strains of bacteria came out of China, where we see that the drugs of last resort begin being used, because the other drugs don't work after so much overuse," Levy said.

Additional authors of the paper are Doug Warner, Director of Undergraduate Laboratories, Boston College; Qiwen Yang, Section Director of Clinical Microbiology, Department of Clinical Laboratory, Peking Union Medical College Hospital; Valerie Duval, Research Assistant at Tufts University Center for Adaptation Genetics and Drug Resistance; Minjun Chen, Professor of Clinical Microbiology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital; and Yingchun Xu, Chair, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital.

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under award number R01AI56021.

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

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Journal Reference:

  1. D. M. Warner, Q. Yang, V. Duval, M. Chen, Y. Xu, S. B. Levy. Involvement of MarR and YedS in Carbapenem Resistance in a Clinical Isolate of Escherichia coli from China. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2013; 57 (4): 1935 DOI: 10.1128/AAC.02445-12

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/~3/9wv0dTUHF6I/130326112007.htm

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Mitsubishi's Concept G4 makes global debut

Mitsubishi has pulled the wraps off its Concept G4 sedan at the 34th Bangkok International Motor Show. Billed by Mitsubishi as a ?new compact eco car sedan,? it presents a mixture of weight savings and aerodynamic styling, which the company plans to roll out globally when the concept enters production.

Like many concepts, Mitsubishi gives center stage to the Concept G4?s aesthetics, with references to its ?diamond motif in the design of the front grille? and ?dynamic character? and the car certainly does give off an air of restrained power and a blunt version of aerodynamic sleekness.

However, it?s a bit tall for its size. This is due to Mitsubishi fitting the Concept G4 with large doors for easy entrance and exit, higher seats for passenger comfort and more room for rear passengers. Also, despite the diamond motif, the grille and headlamps do come across as a Cylon that?s a bit peeved.

Mitsubishi puts an emphasis on the weight savings in the Concept G4, such as its incorporation of the company?s RISE (Reinforced Impact Safety Evolution) body, a rigid monocoque body of high-tensile steel with energy absorbing front and rear sections that, the company claims, make the Concept G4 the lightest in its class.

There aren't a lot of details about what?s going on under the bonnet, but Mitsubishi says that the Concept G4 uses a lightweight (no surprise) engine and a continuously variable transmission with sub-gear train. There isn't much on performance either, though the company does describe its handling as ?reassuring.?

No production date or pricing has been announced.

The 34th Bangkok International Motor Show runs March 25 through April 7.

Source: Mitsubishi

Source: http://www.gizmag.com/mitsubishi-concept-gt4-debut/26811/

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Investors ask to withdraw from Chesapeake bond dispute

By Bernard Vaughan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hedge fund investors challenging Chesapeake Energy Corp's plan to redeem $1.3 billion of notes without paying a $400 million make-whole payment have asked to withdraw from a lawsuit over the matter, allowing a bond trustee to argue on their behalf, according to court papers filed on Monday.

A withdrawal will "reduce the number of parties involved in the litigation and avoid potentially duplicative discovery efforts," Steven Bierman, a partner at Sidley Austin representing the investors, wrote in a letter to U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan federal court on Monday.

The embattled company sued this month to block bond trustee Bank of New York Mellon Corp from interfering with its proposed redemption of the debt at 100 cents on the dollar, or par.

The dispute is separate from other legal fights that Chesapeake, the second-largest natural gas producer in the United States, is facing. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is probing a perk that granted outgoing chief executive Aubrey McClendon a stake in company wells and the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating possible antitrust violations in Michigan land deals.

Chesapeake believed it had until March 15 to notify noteholders of its intention to redeem the notes, which have an interest rate of 6.775 percent and mature in 2019.

But the bank and owners of roughly $250 million of the notes disagreed, arguing that Chesapeake would owe an additional $400 million make-whole payment.

On Saturday, Bank of New York Mellon hired Sidley Austin to represent it alongside its existing law firm, Emmet, Marvin & Martin, according to Bierman's letter.

A trial is scheduled for April 23.

Chesapeake has said it wants to redeem the notes early as part of a broader plan to refinance debt.

Neither Chesapeake nor Bierman immediately responded to requests for comment. Bank of New York Mellon declined to comment.

The case is Chesapeake Energy Corp v. Bank of New York Mellon Trust Co, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 13-01582.

(Reporting By Bernard Vaughan. Editing by Andre Grenon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/investors-ask-withdraw-chesapeake-bond-dispute-210905885--sector.html

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