WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Environmental Protection Agency is moving to ban the sale of a dozen rat and mouse poisons sold under the popular D-Con brand in an effort to protect children and pets.
The agency said Wednesday it hopes to reduce the thousands of accidental exposures that occur every year from rodent-control products. Children and pets are at risk for exposure because the products typically are placed on floors.
The agency had targeted a handful of companies two years ago, saying they needed to develop new products that are safer for children, pets and wildlife. All but Reckitt Benckiser Inc., manufacturer of D-Con, did so.
The company will have at least 30 days to request a hearing before an administrative law judge. If no hearing is requested, the ban will take effect.
The Boost is a daily guide to news, living, and entertainment in Birmingham and in Alabama. Here's your boost for Wednesay, Jan. 30.
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The major issue this morning is the threat of severe weather, including rain, severe storms, high winds and tornadoes, in the Birmingham area, causing school closures and delays in the area.
The forecast calls for severe weather to hit the Birmingham are starting at 6 a.m. There is tornado watch in effect for central Alabama counties, including Jefferson, until 10 a.m.
The storms are expected to bring rain, gusts up to 35 miles per hour, and a drop in temperatures.
There are no major issues with the storms or warnings in the Birmingham metro area as of 7:30 a.m.
Click here for school closings and delays in the Birmingham and central Alabama area.
Traffic Mike has information on your commute today, which is likely to see the affects of high winds, perhaps downed trees, or worse.
What's in the paper: BP's $4 billion settlement in the Deepwater Horizon incident, disabilities are no barrier in many high school sports, the latest on the Gardendale pastor accused of murder, the latest on Jefferson County's negotiations with Wall Street, our legislature's resistance to federal gun regulation, prison sex controversy, obits, opinion, sports, business and much, much more.
Gomer got married! Gaaaahhhhhh-leeee! Jim Nabors, the Sylacauga native who played Gomer Pyle for years on the "Andy Griffith Show" and later on "Gomer Pyle, USMC," has married his partner of nearly 40 years.
Gomer, er, I mean, Nabors, who is 82, married Stan Cadwallader, 64, of Seattle, earlier this month.
Escaped emus reunited, and it feels so good: Two giant flightless birds that escaped from a Morris, Ala. residence have been recaptured and reunited after a several-day escapade.
The emus, Jethro and Ellie Mae (yes, named after the "Beverly Hillbillies" characters), initially escaped on Jan. 19.
"They got a brain about the size of a pea, and one of them went west and the other one went east," their owner said.
On the Political Agenda: Obama talks a path to citizenship, commenters are not buying arguments from PSC Commissioners Twinkle Cavanaugh and Jeremy Oden, and Jefferson County is against the wall.
Read more here.
There's a hostage situation in Dale County: A man allegedly shot and killed a school bus driver in Midland City, Ala., and is holed up with the child in an underground bunker, talking to police through a PVC pipe.
The Boost is curated five days a week by Madison Underwood. Send tips, comments, suggestions, and insults to munderwood@al.com.
A well-calibrated monitor is a must for photo editors, designers, and content creators, but there's no reason for anybody to be working with a monitor that delivers skewed colors or is too dark or too bright. There are a number of free calibration apps that you can use to improve your monitor's overall image quality, and if you use Windows 7 or Windows 8 you can use the built-in utility to perform a basic calibration. However, if you want to make sure your monitor is consistently displaying accurate colors you'll have to spend a few bucks on a solution that measures and adjusts things like white point, gamut, and luminance.
The Datacolor Spyder4 Pro offers an affordable way to calibrate multiple monitors so that they all produce consistent color and image detail and stay that way (it's a good idea to recalibrate every so often as monitors tend to change over time). It uses a colorimeter and software to create a profile for each monitor and measures ambient light to tune your monitor according to your lighting conditions. It delivers as advertised and is a snap to use, but it could use a longer USB cord and an auto adjustment option for brightness settings.
Design and Features
The Spyder4 Pro consists of a colorimeter, a stand, and calibration software. A colorimeter measures color and compares it to a known standard, such as the sRGB and Adobe color standards. The three-legged Spyder resembles a Klingon warship and sports a two-tone gloss and matte black finish. It's small enough to fit in the palm of your hand and connects to your PC via a weighted USB cord. The weight did a good job of holding the meter in place when hung over the top of the monitor but the 67-inch cord was barely long enough to reach my full sized tower PC situated beneath my desk. Another foot or so would provide some much needed leeway. On the top of the Spyder is an activity LED and an ambient light sensor and the bottom contains a 7-color sensor. A stand is provided for measuring ambient light and for storing the Spyder when not in use.
The Spyder4 Pro works with LCD and CRT monitors as well as laptop screens. Whereas the Spyder4 Express ($119 list) only lets you calibrate one monitor, the Spyder4 Pro supports multiple monitor calibrations and can be installed on multiple PCs. It doesn't do projector calibrations though; for that you'll have to upgrade to the Spyder4 Elite ($249.99 list) or go with X-Rite's ColorMunki Display.
Installation
Installing and using the Spyder4 Pro is a breeze. It's important to make sure your monitor has been on for at least 30 minutes before calibrating and that the software is installed and running before you plug in the colorimeter. The first time you run the software you're asked to enter an activation code (found on the CD sleeve). You can automatically activate the software via the internet or do it manually. Either way you'll have to furnish your name and email address to complete the activation. Once activated you are given a license code that must be used if you are going to reinstall the software or use it on an additional PC. (Check out the slideshow for more info on the step-by-step process of calibrating using the Spyder4 Pro.)
The calibration process is wizard driven. The Welcome screen has you check off certain pre-calibration procedures such as warming up the monitor, adjusting ambient light, and resetting the monitor to its default settings. It also offers a handy video tutorial on calibration for the uninitiated. In fact, there are help screens available throughout the process that will guide you through the calibration procedure.
First, select the type of display that you're calibrating (LCD, CRT, laptop). Then enter the manufacturer and model information on the following screen. You'll then be prompted to enter the gamut type (unknown, normal, wide), and backlight type (unknown, CCFL, white LED, RGB LED). Next, select the type of controls your monitor has (contrast, brightness, Kelvin presets). If you're calibrating a CRT monitor you can add an RGB slider control to the list (see preferences), but Datacolor suggests leaving that box unchecked when calibrating an LCD monitor.
A Calibration Settings screen shows recommended target values that include gamma, white point, brightness, and ambient light settings. You can choose your own settings using the dropdown boxes; options include four gamma settings (1.8, 2.0, 2.2, 2.4), four white point settings (5000k, 5800k, 6500k, native), brightness (native, CRT, LCD), and ambient light (on, off). Select "on" for ambient light if you want to calibrate your monitor to match your lighting environment, which is a good idea.
Now, the colorimeter will take an ambient light reading and produce a result with a suggested brightness and white point setting. In my case it suggested a brightness setting of 180 cd/m2 with a white point of 6500k. You will then be directed to place the Spyder4 on the screen. Adjust the weight so that the colorimeter sits flush on the screen with the weight positioned at the rear of the cabinet. The Spyder will now measure brightness, color, and white point and display the actual readings and suggested target levels. If you elected to change the monitor's RGB setting manually, here's where you do it. Using your monitor's OSD controls, adjust the RGB color levels until they match their targets. It may take multiple tries as you have to update the settings each time to see where you are. As mentioned, this option should be left unchecked for LCD monitors. Unless you have an intimate knowledge of how colors interact with each other, you may end up with severe tinting issues.
Next comes the brightness level adjustment, which has to be done manually using the OSD controls. It would be nice to have an automated luminance option similar to the one provided with X-Rite's ColorMunki Display. The Spyder will now measure the various shades of red, green and blue (from dark to light), and shades of grays (from black to white) and adjust settings accordingly. Once the calibration is finished you then save the profile, which is automatically loaded each time you fire up your PC. Here you can also set a reminder to recalibrate, ranging from never to six months.
At this point you can use a variety of images to compare picture quality before and after the calibration. Each image can be enlarged so you can look for changes in detail and color saturation. The Profile Overview compares the calibrated monitor to other displays in your profile list and shows how accurately it displays colors in the sRGB, NTSC, and Adobe color spaces. You can quit the program or use the Advanced Analysis feature to run individual tests for gamut, tone response, brightness and contrast, and white point when using the monitor's various picture presets. These tests can be saved as charts, providing a nice visual as to how your monitor stacks up. When it comes time to recalibrate, simply use the ReCAL option at startup and you'll have a freshly calibrated monitor within minutes.
Performance
The calibration process took a little more than five minutes to complete, and the results were outstanding. I tested the Spyder4 Pro on three different monitors and in each instance the calibration provided noticeably superior picture quality than what you get out of the box. Highlight and shadow detail appeared sharper, and the resulting luminance level was easy on the eyes?not too bright and not too dim. Moreover, color output matched up nicely across all three monitors, much more so than before they were calibrated.
With the Datacolor Spyder4 Pro you can calibrate all of your monitors and laptops to deliver consistent color quality across all of your systems. Its ease of use and excellent help options ensure that even novice users can achieve noteworthy results without paying a fortune. I'd love to see Datacolor add an auto-brightness feature and tack on another foot of USB cable to the colorimeter, but neither of these minor gripes prevent me from recommending the Spyder4 Pro to anyone who wants to fine tune their monitor. As good as the Spyder4 Pro is, the X-Rite Colormunki Display is a better deal. It offers support for projectors and ambient light monitoring and features an automated brightness adjustment, which is why it is our Editors' Choice for calibration tools.
More Gadget Reviews: ??? Datacolor Spyder4 PRO ??? X-Rite ColorMunki Display ??? MIO Alpha BLE ??? Zeo Sleep Manager Pro ??? Larklife ?? more
Jan. 30, 2013 ? Comet explosions did not end the prehistoric human culture, known as Clovis, in North America 13,000 years ago, according to research published in the journal Geophysical Monograph Series.
Researchers from Royal Holloway university, together with Sandia National Laboratories and 13 other universities across the United States and Europe, have found evidence which rebuts the belief that a large impact or airburst caused a significant and abrupt change to Earth's climate and terminated the Clovis culture. They argue that other explanations must be found for the apparent disappearance.
Clovis is the name archaeologists have given to the earliest well-established human culture in the North American continent. It is named after the town in New Mexico, where distinct stone tools were found in the 1920s and 1930s.
Researchers argue that no appropriately sized impact craters from that time period have been discovered, and no shocked material or any other features of impact have been found in sediments. They also found that samples presented in support of the impact hypothesis were contaminated with modern material and that no physics model can support the theory.
"The theory has reached zombie status," said Professor Andrew Scott from the Department of Earth Sciences at Royal Holloway. "Whenever we are able to show flaws and think it is dead, it reappears with new, equally unsatisfactory, arguments.
"Hopefully new versions of the theory will be more carefully examined before they are published," he concluded.
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WVSports.com Murray discusses team?s energy, game plan ($$): http://westvirginia.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1466277
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British 'stiff upper lip' may prevent early presentation for cancer symptomsPublic release date: 29-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Seil Collins seil.collins@kcl.ac.uk 44-207-848-5377 King's College London
Embarrassment and not wanting to waste their doctors' time are more frequently reported by British people than in other countries, according to new research led jointly by King's College London and UCL (University College London). This may be holding British people back from presenting early with symptoms of cancer.
The international study, published today in the British Journal of Cancer, is the largest of its kind, and suggests that cultural factors such as the British 'stiff upper lip' may help explain some of the differences in cancer survival rates between the UK and other high-income countries.
The study is part of the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP), a unique global collaboration, which has previously found that for lung, breast, bowel and ovary cancers diagnosed in between 1995 and 2007, Australia, Canada, Sweden and Norway had the highest rates of survival, and Denmark and UK the lowest, despite all the countries having similarly good cancer registration systems and good access to health care. For example, one year survival of those diagnosed with lung cancer between 2005 and 2007 for the UK was 30% compared to 44% in Sweden. The researchers therefore wanted to find out whether survival rates for a country might be influenced by the population's cancer awareness and beliefs.
In partnership with Cancer Research UK and Ipsos MORI, the team surveyed 19,079 men and women aged 50 and older in Australia (4,002 individuals), Canada (2,064), Denmark (2,000), Norway (2,009), Sweden (2,039) and the UK (6,965).
The researchers found there was little difference in awareness of cancer symptoms and beliefs about cancer outcomes between the countries. However, the study revealed significant differences in people's barriers to symptomatic presentation. Being worried about wasting the doctor's time was particularly common in the UK (34%) and least common in Sweden (9%). Embarrassment about going to the doctor with a symptom that might be serious was most commonly reported in the UK (15%) and least in Denmark (6%). The study also found that awareness of the risk of cancer being higher in older people varied significantly across countries, being lowest in Canada (13%) and the UK (14%) and highest in Sweden (38%).
Dr Lindsay Forbes from King's College London and joint lead author of the study says: "The UK stood out in this study. A high proportion of people said that not wanting to waste the doctor's time and embarrassment might stop them going to the doctor with a symptom that might be serious. The traditional British 'stiff upper lip' could be preventing people from seeing their doctor. We need to support people to make the right decisions about their health and increase awareness of the age-related risk."
Professor Jane Wardle, from UCL adds: "In the UK, it's important to understand more about how people make the decision to go to their GP with possible cancer symptoms, and how they interact with their GP, to identify the best ways to reduce barriers to early presentation."
Sara Hiom, Director of Patient Engagement and Early Diagnosis at Cancer Research UK says: "It's encouraging to see that people in the UK know as much about cancer symptoms as people in Australia, Canada or Scandinavia, and that overall, people surveyed had generally positive beliefs about cancer outcomes. But the research highlights that people in the UK are more worried and embarrassed about seeing their doctor with a symptom that might be serious compared to those in other countries. Cancer Research UK and others are working hard to understand and address these potential barriers to early presentation and encourage people to tell their doctor if they have noticed something different about their body. More work also needs to be done to tackle the poor awareness that cancer risk increases with age."
###
Notes to editors:
For a copy of the paper or interview with the author, please contact Seil Collins, Press Officer, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry
Email: seil.collins@kcl.ac.uk
Tel: (+44) 0207 848 5377 or mob: (+44) 07718 697 176
Paper reference: Forbes, L. et al. 'Differences in cancer awareness and beliefs between Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the UK (the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership): do they contribute to differences in cancer survival?' British Journal of Cancer
Technical note: Ipsos MORI conducted 19,079 computer assisted telephone interviews between May 2011 and September 2011 among people aged 50+ in Australia (two states: New South Wales and Victoria), Canada (four provinces: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario), Denmark, Sweden (two areas Uppsala-Orebro, Stockholm-Gotland), Norway and the UK (England, Wales, Northern Ireland). This age group was selected because population-level cancer survival largely reflects survival in the over 50s, in whom cancer is the commonest. Cancer awareness and beliefs were measured using the newly developed 'Awareness and beliefs about cancer measure'. Results were weighted to the known demographic profiles within each country.
Funding: The study was funded by the UK's Department of Health, with additional funding from the National Cancer Action Team (UK), Northern Ireland Public Health Agency (UK), Tenovus and Welsh Government (UK), Cancer Council Victoria (Australia), Department of Health Victoria (Australia), Cancer Institute New South Wales (Australia), Canadian Partnership against Cancer, Danish Cancer Society, Novo Nordic Foundation (Denmark), Norwegian Directorate for Health and Social Affairs, Swedish Social Ministry and the Association of Local Authorities and Regions (Sweden).
Programme management was provided by Cancer Research UK.
About the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP):
The International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP) is a unique and innovative global partnership of clinicians, academics and policymakers. The ICBP is funded by the UK Department of Health and Cancer Research UK. http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/spotcancerearly/ICBP/
About the British Journal of Cancer (BJC):
The BJC is owned by Cancer Research UK. Its mission is to encourage communication of the very best cancer research from laboratories and clinics in all countries. Broad coverage, its editorial independence and consistent high standards have made BJC one of the world's premier general cancer journals. www.bjcancer.com
About King's College London:
King's College London is one of the top 30 universities in the world (2012/13 QS international world rankings), and was The Sunday Times 'University of the Year 2010/11', and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King's has more than 24,000 students (of whom more than 10,000 are graduate students) from nearly 140 countries, and more than 6,100 employees. King's is in the second phase of a 1 billion redevelopment programme which is transforming its estate.
King's has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise for British universities, 23 departments were ranked in the top quartile of British universities; over half of our academic staff work in departments that are in the top 10 per cent in the UK in their field and can thus be classed as world leading. The College is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of nearly 525 million (year ending 31 July 2011).
King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar.
King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org.
The College is in the midst of a five-year, 500 million fundraising campaign World questions|King's answers created to address some of the most pressing challenges facing humanity as quickly as feasible. The campaign's five priority areas are neuroscience and mental health, leadership and society, cancer, global power and children's health. More information about the campaign is available at www.kcl.ac.uk/kingsanswers.
About UCL (University College London):
Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine.
We are among the world's top universities, as reflected by our performance in a range of international rankings and tables. According to the Thomson Scientific Citation Index, UCL is the second most highly cited European university and the 15th most highly cited in the world.
UCL has nearly 25,000 students from 150 countries and more than 9,000 employees, of whom one third are from outside the UK. The university is based in Bloomsbury in the heart of London, but also has two international campuses UCL Australia and UCL Qatar. Our annual income is more than 800 million.
www.ucl.ac.uk | Follow us on Twitter @uclnews | Watch our YouTube channel YouTube.com/UCLTV
About Cancer Research UK:
Cancer Research UK is the world's leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research
The charity's pioneering work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives.
Cancer Research UK receives no government funding for its life-saving research. Every step it makes towards beating cancer relies on every pound donated.
Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival rates in the UK double in the last forty years.
Cancer Research UK supports research into all aspects of cancer through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses.
Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK's vision is to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.
For further information about Cancer Research UK's work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 0300 123 1861 or visit www.cancerresearchuk.org. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
British 'stiff upper lip' may prevent early presentation for cancer symptomsPublic release date: 29-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Seil Collins seil.collins@kcl.ac.uk 44-207-848-5377 King's College London
Embarrassment and not wanting to waste their doctors' time are more frequently reported by British people than in other countries, according to new research led jointly by King's College London and UCL (University College London). This may be holding British people back from presenting early with symptoms of cancer.
The international study, published today in the British Journal of Cancer, is the largest of its kind, and suggests that cultural factors such as the British 'stiff upper lip' may help explain some of the differences in cancer survival rates between the UK and other high-income countries.
The study is part of the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP), a unique global collaboration, which has previously found that for lung, breast, bowel and ovary cancers diagnosed in between 1995 and 2007, Australia, Canada, Sweden and Norway had the highest rates of survival, and Denmark and UK the lowest, despite all the countries having similarly good cancer registration systems and good access to health care. For example, one year survival of those diagnosed with lung cancer between 2005 and 2007 for the UK was 30% compared to 44% in Sweden. The researchers therefore wanted to find out whether survival rates for a country might be influenced by the population's cancer awareness and beliefs.
In partnership with Cancer Research UK and Ipsos MORI, the team surveyed 19,079 men and women aged 50 and older in Australia (4,002 individuals), Canada (2,064), Denmark (2,000), Norway (2,009), Sweden (2,039) and the UK (6,965).
The researchers found there was little difference in awareness of cancer symptoms and beliefs about cancer outcomes between the countries. However, the study revealed significant differences in people's barriers to symptomatic presentation. Being worried about wasting the doctor's time was particularly common in the UK (34%) and least common in Sweden (9%). Embarrassment about going to the doctor with a symptom that might be serious was most commonly reported in the UK (15%) and least in Denmark (6%). The study also found that awareness of the risk of cancer being higher in older people varied significantly across countries, being lowest in Canada (13%) and the UK (14%) and highest in Sweden (38%).
Dr Lindsay Forbes from King's College London and joint lead author of the study says: "The UK stood out in this study. A high proportion of people said that not wanting to waste the doctor's time and embarrassment might stop them going to the doctor with a symptom that might be serious. The traditional British 'stiff upper lip' could be preventing people from seeing their doctor. We need to support people to make the right decisions about their health and increase awareness of the age-related risk."
Professor Jane Wardle, from UCL adds: "In the UK, it's important to understand more about how people make the decision to go to their GP with possible cancer symptoms, and how they interact with their GP, to identify the best ways to reduce barriers to early presentation."
Sara Hiom, Director of Patient Engagement and Early Diagnosis at Cancer Research UK says: "It's encouraging to see that people in the UK know as much about cancer symptoms as people in Australia, Canada or Scandinavia, and that overall, people surveyed had generally positive beliefs about cancer outcomes. But the research highlights that people in the UK are more worried and embarrassed about seeing their doctor with a symptom that might be serious compared to those in other countries. Cancer Research UK and others are working hard to understand and address these potential barriers to early presentation and encourage people to tell their doctor if they have noticed something different about their body. More work also needs to be done to tackle the poor awareness that cancer risk increases with age."
###
Notes to editors:
For a copy of the paper or interview with the author, please contact Seil Collins, Press Officer, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry
Email: seil.collins@kcl.ac.uk
Tel: (+44) 0207 848 5377 or mob: (+44) 07718 697 176
Paper reference: Forbes, L. et al. 'Differences in cancer awareness and beliefs between Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the UK (the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership): do they contribute to differences in cancer survival?' British Journal of Cancer
Technical note: Ipsos MORI conducted 19,079 computer assisted telephone interviews between May 2011 and September 2011 among people aged 50+ in Australia (two states: New South Wales and Victoria), Canada (four provinces: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario), Denmark, Sweden (two areas Uppsala-Orebro, Stockholm-Gotland), Norway and the UK (England, Wales, Northern Ireland). This age group was selected because population-level cancer survival largely reflects survival in the over 50s, in whom cancer is the commonest. Cancer awareness and beliefs were measured using the newly developed 'Awareness and beliefs about cancer measure'. Results were weighted to the known demographic profiles within each country.
Funding: The study was funded by the UK's Department of Health, with additional funding from the National Cancer Action Team (UK), Northern Ireland Public Health Agency (UK), Tenovus and Welsh Government (UK), Cancer Council Victoria (Australia), Department of Health Victoria (Australia), Cancer Institute New South Wales (Australia), Canadian Partnership against Cancer, Danish Cancer Society, Novo Nordic Foundation (Denmark), Norwegian Directorate for Health and Social Affairs, Swedish Social Ministry and the Association of Local Authorities and Regions (Sweden).
Programme management was provided by Cancer Research UK.
About the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP):
The International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP) is a unique and innovative global partnership of clinicians, academics and policymakers. The ICBP is funded by the UK Department of Health and Cancer Research UK. http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/spotcancerearly/ICBP/
About the British Journal of Cancer (BJC):
The BJC is owned by Cancer Research UK. Its mission is to encourage communication of the very best cancer research from laboratories and clinics in all countries. Broad coverage, its editorial independence and consistent high standards have made BJC one of the world's premier general cancer journals. www.bjcancer.com
About King's College London:
King's College London is one of the top 30 universities in the world (2012/13 QS international world rankings), and was The Sunday Times 'University of the Year 2010/11', and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King's has more than 24,000 students (of whom more than 10,000 are graduate students) from nearly 140 countries, and more than 6,100 employees. King's is in the second phase of a 1 billion redevelopment programme which is transforming its estate.
King's has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise for British universities, 23 departments were ranked in the top quartile of British universities; over half of our academic staff work in departments that are in the top 10 per cent in the UK in their field and can thus be classed as world leading. The College is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of nearly 525 million (year ending 31 July 2011).
King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar.
King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org.
The College is in the midst of a five-year, 500 million fundraising campaign World questions|King's answers created to address some of the most pressing challenges facing humanity as quickly as feasible. The campaign's five priority areas are neuroscience and mental health, leadership and society, cancer, global power and children's health. More information about the campaign is available at www.kcl.ac.uk/kingsanswers.
About UCL (University College London):
Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine.
We are among the world's top universities, as reflected by our performance in a range of international rankings and tables. According to the Thomson Scientific Citation Index, UCL is the second most highly cited European university and the 15th most highly cited in the world.
UCL has nearly 25,000 students from 150 countries and more than 9,000 employees, of whom one third are from outside the UK. The university is based in Bloomsbury in the heart of London, but also has two international campuses UCL Australia and UCL Qatar. Our annual income is more than 800 million.
www.ucl.ac.uk | Follow us on Twitter @uclnews | Watch our YouTube channel YouTube.com/UCLTV
About Cancer Research UK:
Cancer Research UK is the world's leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research
The charity's pioneering work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives.
Cancer Research UK receives no government funding for its life-saving research. Every step it makes towards beating cancer relies on every pound donated.
Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival rates in the UK double in the last forty years.
Cancer Research UK supports research into all aspects of cancer through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses.
Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK's vision is to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.
For further information about Cancer Research UK's work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 0300 123 1861 or visit www.cancerresearchuk.org. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
A new disease is sweeping across the US turning those infected into flesh craving monstrosities. They've lost all humanity and their only instinct is to feed. Now with a zombie apocalypse befalling the nation, those immune to the virus try to survive.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon plans to assign significantly more personnel in coming years to counter increasing threats against U.S. government computer networks and conduct offensive operations against foreign foes, a U.S. defense official said on Sunday.
The plan, which would increase both military and civilian staffing at U.S. Cyber Command, comes as the Pentagon moves toward elevating the new command and putting it on the same level as the major combatant commands.
The official said no formal decisions had been made on the expanding staffing levels or changing Cyber Command into a "unified" command like U.S. Strategic Command, which currently oversees cyber command and the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal.
Any changes to the combatant command structure would be made based on strategic and operational needs, and take into account the need for efficient use of taxpayer dollars, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly.
The Pentagon was working closely with U.S. Cyber Command and the major military commands to develop "the optimum force structure for successfully operating in cyberspace," the official said.
The Washington Post, quoting senior defense officials, reported late Sunday that the Pentagon had decided to expand Cyber Command's current staffing level of 900 to 4,900 in coming years.
The official confirmed that Cyber Command planned to expand its force significantly, but said the specific numbers cited by the Post were "pre-decisional."
The newspaper said senior Pentagon officials had agreed to increase the force late last year amid a string of attacks, including one that wiped out more than 30,000 computers at a Saudi Arabian state oil company. it said
The plan calls for creating three types of force under the Cyber Command, said the defense official.
"National mission forces," would protect computer systems that undergird electrical grids and other kinds of infrastructure. "Combat mission forces," would help commanders abroad execute attacks or other offensive operations, while "cyber protection forces," would focus on protecting the Defense Department's own systems.
Details were still being worked out, the official said.
(Reporting by Sarah Lynch and Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by David Brunnstrom)
PARIS (Reuters) - French officials threw support behind former nuclear boss Anne Lauvergeon to be the first chairwoman of EADS on Sunday in a move likely to test efforts to wrest the European aerospace group away from political influence.
An adviser to French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the Socialist government strongly supported Lauvergeon, a former aide of late President Francois Mitterrand and France's most high-profile female business leader.
EADS is carrying out the biggest reorganization in its 12-year history after France and Germany agreed on a new shareholder structure designed to secure their vital interests while freeing the company from day-to-day interference.
Company watchers say the composition of the board will test the spirit of the accords and determine whether Chief Executive Tom Enders is free to run the company as independently as he claims, or will be forced to rely on building alliances.
EADS shares are up 18 percent this year on hopes of a fresh start after years of political in-fighting.
"The government is very supportive (of Lauvergeon)," the French prime minister's adviser said.
"As shareholder, we think she has all the qualities required to be the non-executive chairwoman of EADS."
EADS declined comment.
Under a new ownership structure agreed late last year, France and Germany will own 12 percent each of EADS , the parent company of Toulouse-based planemaker Airbus, but their powers to veto nomination and strategy are curtailed.
Lauvergeon, ex-head of reactor maker Areva is one of two personalities lined up to represent France's interests at the Airbus parent group alongside ex-central banker Jean-Claude Trichet, but the choice of chairman is meant to be independent.
Echoing a newspaper report, another French government source said German Chancellor Angela Merkel had backed Lauvergeon in a meeting with French President Francois Hollande last week.
However, Merkel's office denied any deal over the EADS post.
"The German government does not want to take a stance (on this issue) for the time being," spokesman Steffen Seibert said in Chile where Merkel was attending an EU-Latin American summit.
BOARD LIST
Although Lauvergeon enjoys the backing of some French officials, the French finance ministry issued a statement apparently designed to cool speculation over the appointments and recalling a company-driven process agreed in December.
The December deal allows Enders to nominate a triumvirate designed to protect French defense interests in EADS, of which two would serve on the main board. The arrangement is mirrored by similar arrangements for Germany, which has parity in EADS.
The finance ministry said Enders had proposed Lauvergeon and Trichet, as well as a retired French general, to oversee a holding company protecting technologies like nuclear weapons.
Of these three, Lauvergeon and Trichet would, if the list were accepted, serve on the main board, it said in a statement.
Under the company restructuring, the government has the power to accept or reject the list in its entirety but cannot hand-pick individual members nor directly appoint the chairman.
Still, the appointment of a new board chairman is seen as a delicate balancing act.
As long as EADS is run by the German-born Enders, the chairman of the board is likely to be French.
An informal unpublished agreement also stipulates that four board seats each should be reserved for French and German citizens, according to two people familiar with the discussions. But two of the four on each side must be independent.
It remained unclear how Lauvergeon's status as state watchdog would affect her chances of becoming chairwoman, or how easily she would fit alongside Enders as CEO. Both have strong characters and a reputation for a hands-on management style.
People familiar with the accords say they do not exclude one of the government-endorsed board members also becoming chairman but warn this could create a potential political imbalance. This could leave the door open to an independent to lead the board.
Potential French independent board members include Alcatel-Lucent Chairman Philippe Camus, Saint-Gobain Honorary Chairman Jean-Louis Beffa and ex-Thales CEO Denis Ranque.
A French official said the government did not favor Camus for EADS, believing he had work to do turning round Alcatel.
Sources said German board members would include former business association leader Hans-Peter Keitel, former EADS chairman Manfredd Bischoff, former Deutsche Bank chief operating officer Hermann-Josef Lamberti and Enders himself as CEO.
Underscoring EADS efforts to become a global company, four remaining seats on the 12-person board are likely to include three existing members - British mining executive Sir John Parker, Indian-born steel boss Lakshmi Mittal and the Spanish economist Josep Pique i Camps - and possibly a U.S. citizen.
(Additional reporting by Geert De Clercq, Andreas Rinke; Editing by Jane Baird)
Mr. Lavrov said Russia first learnt about America?s decision to withdraw from the working group from a public announcement of the US State Department?s officials.
?We were notified only orally, no written announcement was submitted to us in this respect,? the minister said at a Moscow press conference.
?US withdrawal from working group on civil society reduces chances for dialogue ? Peskov?
America?s decision to quit the working group on civil society of the Russian-US bilateral presidential commission will reduce opportunities for a dialogue between the two nations, President Putin?s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Friday.
He voiced Moscow?s regret over this step. ?We can only regret the fact that we are losing this dialogue format, without finding any substitution for it,? Mr. Peskov said.
The US voiced its decision to withdraw from the Russian-US working group on civil society issues, which was set up on the way of Obama?s policy of improving ties with Russia, known as the ?reset,? in 2009.
The announcement to this effect was made Friday by Thomas Melia, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.
Kremlin regrets US withdrawal from civil society working group
Moscow regrets the U.S. decision to quit the bilateral Presidential Commission's working party on civil society.
"We regret whenever a bilateral format is cancelled without an appropriate substitute," presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.
US leaves Russian-US presidential commission's group on civil society
The US has made a decision to withdraw from the working group on civil society issues of the Russian-US bilateral presidential commission, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Thomas Melia told Interfax on Friday.
Stem cells aid recovery from strokePublic release date: 27-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Hilary Glover hilary.glover@biomedcentral.com 44-020-319-22370 BioMed Central
Stem cells from bone marrow or fat improve recovery after stroke in rats, finds a study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy. Treatment with stem cells improved the amount of brain and nerve repair and the ability of the animals to complete behavioural tasks.
Stem cell therapy holds promise for patients but there are many questions which need to be answered, regarding treatment protocols and which cell types to use. This research attempts to address some of these questions.
Rats were treated intravenously with stem cells or saline 30 minutes after a stroke. At 24 hours after stroke the stem cell treated rats showed a better functional recovery. By two weeks these animals had near normal scores in the tests. This improvement was seen even though the stem cells did not appear to migrate to the damaged area of brain. The treated rats also had higher levels of biomarkers implicated in brain repair including, the growth factor VEGF.
A positive result was seen for both fat (adipose) and bone-marrow derived stem cells. Dr Exuperio Dez-Tejedor from La Paz University Hospital, explained, "Improved recovery was seen regardless of origin of the stem cells, which may increase the usefulness of this treatment in human trials. Adipose-derived cells in particular are abundant and easy to collect without invasive surgery."
###
Media Contact
Dr Hilary Glover
Scientific Press Officer, BioMed Central
Mob: 44-778-698-1967
Notes
1. Effects of intravenous administration of allogenic bone marrow- and adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells on functional recovery and brain repair markers in experimental ischemic stroke
Mara Gutirrez-Fernndez, Berta Rodrguez-Frutos, Jaime Ramos-Cejudo, M Teresa Vallejo-Cremades, Blanca Fuentes, Sebastin Cerdn and Exuperio Dez-Tejedor Stem Cell Research & Therapy (in press)
Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.
Article citation and URL available on request on the day of publication.
2.Stem Cell Research & Therapy is the major forum for translational research into stem cell therapies. An international peer-reviewed journal, it publishes high quality open access research articles with a special emphasis on basic, translational and clinical research into stem cell therapeutics and regenerative therapies, including animal models and clinical trials. The journal also provides reviews, viewpoints, commentaries and reports.
3. BioMed Central is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector. @BioMedCentral
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Stem cells aid recovery from strokePublic release date: 27-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Hilary Glover hilary.glover@biomedcentral.com 44-020-319-22370 BioMed Central
Stem cells from bone marrow or fat improve recovery after stroke in rats, finds a study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy. Treatment with stem cells improved the amount of brain and nerve repair and the ability of the animals to complete behavioural tasks.
Stem cell therapy holds promise for patients but there are many questions which need to be answered, regarding treatment protocols and which cell types to use. This research attempts to address some of these questions.
Rats were treated intravenously with stem cells or saline 30 minutes after a stroke. At 24 hours after stroke the stem cell treated rats showed a better functional recovery. By two weeks these animals had near normal scores in the tests. This improvement was seen even though the stem cells did not appear to migrate to the damaged area of brain. The treated rats also had higher levels of biomarkers implicated in brain repair including, the growth factor VEGF.
A positive result was seen for both fat (adipose) and bone-marrow derived stem cells. Dr Exuperio Dez-Tejedor from La Paz University Hospital, explained, "Improved recovery was seen regardless of origin of the stem cells, which may increase the usefulness of this treatment in human trials. Adipose-derived cells in particular are abundant and easy to collect without invasive surgery."
###
Media Contact
Dr Hilary Glover
Scientific Press Officer, BioMed Central
Mob: 44-778-698-1967
Notes
1. Effects of intravenous administration of allogenic bone marrow- and adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells on functional recovery and brain repair markers in experimental ischemic stroke
Mara Gutirrez-Fernndez, Berta Rodrguez-Frutos, Jaime Ramos-Cejudo, M Teresa Vallejo-Cremades, Blanca Fuentes, Sebastin Cerdn and Exuperio Dez-Tejedor Stem Cell Research & Therapy (in press)
Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.
Article citation and URL available on request on the day of publication.
2.Stem Cell Research & Therapy is the major forum for translational research into stem cell therapies. An international peer-reviewed journal, it publishes high quality open access research articles with a special emphasis on basic, translational and clinical research into stem cell therapeutics and regenerative therapies, including animal models and clinical trials. The journal also provides reviews, viewpoints, commentaries and reports.
3. BioMed Central is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector. @BioMedCentral
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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Cars, boats, trains, planes. They're all pretty standard kids' toys, and there's nothing wrong with them either. But maybe you want you offspring to get to familiar with something a little more sophisticated at that formative age. How about some nuclear power plant blocks? More »
This recipe comes from the list-serv of parents in the neighborhood where we live.
?I literally throw this all in the cooker, let it go on low for 8 hours, and when I?m ready, I remove the chicken, shred the meat and put it back in the pot. I hate crockpot recipes that call for browning food first ? they don?t seem to save much time. This one works though and makes enough to freeze some for another day. Good with avocado slices, cheese, or sour cream. ?
Our little family loved this, even picky David.? I pulled out the whole chicken before serving the soup, picked off all of the meat and only put about 1/3 of the chicken back into the soup.? Then I had a few cups of delicious chicken left for another meal!
1 whole uncooked chicken 1 (15 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, mashed 1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce 1 medium onion, chopped 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 cups water 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth 1 teaspoon cumin 1 teaspoon chili powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1 bay leaf 1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn ( I use less, or omit) 1 C dried black beans (rinsed)
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Public release date: 29-Jan-2013
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