Digg and Feedly Search for the Future of RSS Sharing

With time ticking down until Google Reader?s demise, competing RSS services are trying to perfect products that will lure in former Reader users. Digg, which is working on a Google Reader replacement, and Feedly, whose product is already up, running and gaining popularity, both posted the results of surveys this week in which they asked current Google Reader users how they share content.

RELATED: Digg Has Made an RSS Reader?Its Top Priority After Google Reader Died

A theme that comes through in both surveys is that RSS users still often rely on email to share content. Of the 8,600 Google Reader users who responded to Digg?s most recent survey, nearly 80 percent say they share news via email.

RELATED: Digg Sells to BetaWorks for the Price of a Small New York Apartment

RELATED: The New Digg Debuted a Day Early

That?s not particularly surprising since Google Reader got rid of many of its social features in 2011 and no longer allows for easy posting to Facebook or Twitter, while there is still a Google Reader keyboard shortcut to email an RSS post. Still, email as a method of sharing also pops up in Feedly?s survey, which got responses from over 7,000 current Feedly users (many of whom likely once used Google Reader). That?s not to say, though, that email sharing is ideal: Feedly says a common refrain in its survey results is that users want to ?remove friction from the type of sharing which is currently implemented using email.?

RELATED: Smaller and Wiser, Digg Appears to Be Back

Respondents also told Feedly that they want to ?be able to target smaller groups of people (wife, family, team, subset of friends with similar interest) and not pollute their Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn timelines.? This is actually the logic behind Google+ Circles, but it would seem Google+ isn?t cutting it here: Feedly says ?people requesting this feature are savvy sharers who [already heavily use] Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and email ? almost evenly.? In other words, the results suggest Google+ isn?t fulfilling users? desire to target small groups. And 78 percent of respondents to Feedly?s survey said they ?want support for threaded conversations (i.e., this is more about triggering interesting private conversations than simply sharing information).?

RELATED: Why Digg Disappeared from Google

Feedly says that it is working on a beta with some of these features and will roll them out in a few weeks. Digg, meanwhile, says its beta RSS reader will be released in June. And it seems likely that that product will be paid. Digg notes that ?We?re not sure how pricing might work, but we do know that we?d like our users to be our customers, not our product. So when we asked survey participants whether or not they would be willing to pay, we were pleased to see that over 40 percent said yes.?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/digg-feedly-search-future-rss-sharing-193043258.html

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2 police shot outside Italian premier's office

AAA??Apr. 28, 2013?8:37 AM ET
2 police shot outside Italian premier's office
By FRANCES D'EMILIOBy FRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press??

A wounded Carabinieri paramilitary police officer lies on the ground after being shot outside the Chigi Premier's office, in Rome, Sunday, April 28, 2013. Two paramilitary police officers were shot and wounded Sunday in a crowded square outside the Italian premier's office as the new leader Enrico Letta was sworn in about a kilometer (half-mile) away. It was unclear if there was any connection between the events. (AP Photo/Mauro Scrobogna, Lapresse) ITALY OUT

A wounded Carabinieri paramilitary police officer lies on the ground after being shot outside the Chigi Premier's office, in Rome, Sunday, April 28, 2013. Two paramilitary police officers were shot and wounded Sunday in a crowded square outside the Italian premier's office as the new leader Enrico Letta was sworn in about a kilometer (half-mile) away. It was unclear if there was any connection between the events. (AP Photo/Mauro Scrobogna, Lapresse) ITALY OUT

A wounded Carabinieri paramilitary police officer lies on the ground after being shot outside the Chigi Premier's office, in Rome, Sunday, April 28, 2013. Two paramilitary police officers were shot and wounded Sunday in a crowded square outside the Italian premier's office as the new leader Enrico Letta was sworn in about a kilometer (half-mile) away. It was unclear if there was any connection between the events. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

A man believed to be the assailant lies on the ground detained by police after a shootout outside the Chigi Premier's office, in Rome, Sunday, April 28, 2013. Reports say two paramilitary police officers were shot and wounded outside the Italian premier's office as the new leader Enrico Letta was sworn in about a kilometer (half-mile) away. It was unclear if there was any connection between the events. (AP Photo/Mauro Scrobogna, Lapresse) ITALY OUT

A wounded Carabiniere paramilitary police officer is assisted after being shot at outside the Chigi Premier's office, in Rome, Sunday, April 28, 2013. The shootout took place as Italy's new premier, Enrico Letta, was been sworn into office with his Cabinet at the nearby Quirinale presidential palace. News reports said a paramilitary policeman was shot and wounded about a kilometer (half-mile) away in the square outside the premier's office. Sky TG24 TV said an assailant had been detained by police. It was unclear if there was any connection between the events. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

A wounded Carabiniere paramilitary police officer is assisted after being shot at outside the Chigi Premier's office, in Rome, Sunday, April 28, 2013. The shootout took place as Italy's new premier, Enrico Letta, was been sworn into office with his Cabinet at the nearby Quirinale presidential palace. News reports said a paramilitary policeman was shot and wounded about a kilometer (half-mile) away in the square outside the premier's office. Sky TG24 TV said an assailant had been detained by police. It was unclear if there was any connection between the events. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

ROME (AP) ? Italy's interior minister says the shooting that seriously wounded two policemen in a square outside the premier's office in Rome was a "tragic criminal gesture by an unemployed man."

A female passer-by was slightly injured in the shooting, which happened just as Premier Enrico Letta and his new government were being sworn in Sunday elsewhere in the city.

Interior Minister Angelino Alfano told reporters the alleged gunman ? Luigi Preiti, a 49-year-old Italian ? wanted to kill himself after the shooting but ran out of bullets. The minister says Preiti fired six shots.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-04-28-Italy-Politics/id-4b69c15d7fee425688da2bdc32a8004f

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Residents concerned about health effects of hydrofracking

Apr. 28, 2013 ? s living in areas near natural gas operations, also known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, are concerned their illnesses may be a result of nearby drilling operations. Twenty-two percent of the participants in a small pilot study surmise that hydrofracking may be the cause of such health concerns as sinus problems, sleeping difficulties, and gastrointestinal problems.

The findings will be presented at the American Occupational Health Conference on April 28 in Orlando, Florida.

Scientists collected responses from 72 adults visiting a primary care physician's office in the hydrofracking-heavy area of Bradford County, Pa., who volunteered to complete an investigator-faciliated survey.

"Almost a quarter of participants consider natural gas operations to be a contributor to their health issues, indicating that there is clearly a concern among residents that should be addressed," says Poun? Saberi, MD, MPH, the study's principal investigator with the department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. She is also an investigator with the Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET) at Penn.

Within these 22 percent of responders, 13 percent viewed drilling to be the cause of their current health complaints and 9 percent were concerned that future health problems can be caused by natural gas operations. The previous health complaints by participants were thought to be anecdotal in nature as they were individual cases reported publicly only by popular media.

"What is significant about this study is that the prevalence of impressions about medical symptoms attributed to natural gas operations had not been previously solicited in Pennsylvania. This survey indicates that there is a larger group of people with health concerns than originally assumed," explains Saberi.

The survey included questions about 29 health symptoms, including those previously anecdotally reported by other residents and workers in other areas where drilling occurs. Some patient medical records were also reviewed to compare reported symptoms with those that had been previously documented. "Sinus problems, sleeping difficulties, and gastrointestinal problems were the most common symptoms reported on the Bradford survey," notes Saberi. "Of the few studied charts, there were no one-to-one correlations between the participants' reported symptoms on the survey and the presenting symptom to the medical provider in the records. This raises the possibility of communication gaps between residents with concerns and the medical community and needs further exploration. An opportunity exists to educate shale region communities and workers to report, as well as health care providers to document, the attributed symptoms as precisely as possible."

The CEET team also mapped the addresses of patients who agreed to provide them in relation to drilling to determine if proximity to drilling operations may relate to health problems.

"We hope this pilot study will guide the development of future epidemiological studies to determine whether health effects in communities in which natural gas operations are occurring is associated with air, water, and food-shed exposures and will provide a basis for health care provider education," says CEET director Trevor Penning, PhD. "The goal of science should be to protect the public and the environment before harm occurs; not simply to treat it after the damage has been done."

The Bradford County health concerns pilot study is one of three hydrofracking studies currently underway at CEET, one of 20 Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers (EHSCC) in the US, funded by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).

CEET is also partnering with Columbia University's EHSCC to measure water quality and billable health outcomes in areas with and without hydrofracking on the Pennsylvania-New York border. Using a new mapping tool developed by Harvard University, CEET and Harvard researchers are creating maps of drilling sites, air quality, water quality, and health effects to locate possible associations. Initial studies will focus on Pennsylvania. Results of both studies are expected in early 2014. These collaborative studies are funded by pilot project funds from the respective EHSCCs, which in turn obtain their financial support from NIEHS.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/IVvBTUbZKJQ/130428230423.htm

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Would You Ever Use a Facebook-Connected Beer Mug?

In the grand scheme of things, social media is pretty great by most accounts. It's changed the face of the Internet. Drinking is also pretty great. It formed the shape of the world. So how about Facebook-connected beer receptacles? Two great tastes that taste great together or "noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo*gasp*oooooooooooooo"?

Budweiser's "B?ddy Cup" aims to help you make friends not just by getting drunk, but by Facebook-friending you and your cohorts at the clink(?) of a cup. All you do is load up your profile and then touch your mouth-surface together with strangers' mouth-surfaces like there's no tomorrow. It's certainly...an idea. But would you ever do it? Is this as ill-advised as it seems, or does maybe just maybe make a secret kind of sense? [CNET]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5995477/would-you-ever-use-a-facebook+connected-beer-mug

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Scenes From ?Nerd Prom?: America?s Celebrities and Politicians Mingle at Glam Correspondents? Dinner

The annual gathering not far from the White House that brings together journalists, government officials, politicians and media personalities for what's usually an evening of light-hearted banter and celebrity gawking has begun.

Often referred to as "Nerd Prom," the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner is being hosted this year by entertainer, comedian and late-night TV talk-show host Conan O'Brien.

Here are some images from the event so far:

Correspondents' Dinner

US first lady Michelle Obama (2L) and Michael Clemente (2R) of FOX listen as comedian Conan O'Brien (L) and US President Barack Obama joke during the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Correspondents' Dinner

Comedian Conan O'Brien (L) and US first lady Michelle Obama joke during the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Correspondents Dinner

US Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia poses for a photo during the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

WHCD

Piers Morgan and Gerard Butler attend the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Getty Images)

Correspondents Dinner

Ben Sherwood, Ty Burrell, Sofia Vergara, Nick Loeb and Holly Burrell attend ABC News, Yahoo! News, Univision Pre-White House Correspondents Dinner cocktail reception at Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Getty Images for Yahoo! News)

WHCD

Korie Robertson and Willie Robertson attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Getty Images)

Correspondents Dinner

(L-R) Kerry Washington, Betsy Beers and Shonda Rhimes attend ABC News, Yahoo! News, Univision Pre-White House Correspondents Dinner cocktail reception at Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Getty Images for Yahoo! News)

Correspondents Dinner

Actor Kevin Spacey and actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus talk during the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

WHCD

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Sharon Malone attend ABC News, Yahoo! News, Univision Pre-White House Correspondents Dinner cocktail reception at Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Getty Images for Yahoo! News)

Correspondents Dinner

(L-R) Aasif Mandvi, Charles Esten, Connie Britton and George Stephanopoulos attend ABC News, Yahoo! News, Univision Pre-White House Correspondents Dinner cocktail reception at Washington Hilton on April 27, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Getty Images for Yahoo! News)

The Associated Press contributed to this report.? It will be updated.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/scenes-nerd-prom-america-celebrities-politicians-mingle-glam-022037171.html

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Putin says Boston bombing shows Russia, U.S. must work together

MUNICH, April 23 (Reuters) - Barcelona centre half Gerard Pique acknowledged his team were thoroughly second best as Bayern Munich romped to a 4-0 win in their Champions League semi-final first leg at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday. "They gave us a thrashing," he said. "We will try to turn it around in the return leg (on May 1) and put in a good performance for the fans. "They were better and faster than us. There is no point talking about the referee, there is no excuse." Arjen Robben, who sparkled on the wing for Bayern and scored one of the goals, hailed his team's spectacular performance. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/putin-says-boston-bombing-shows-russia-u-must-091322783--business.html

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Cell Phones Yes, Toilets No, World Body Laments ? Global Issues

• by Thalif Deen (united nations)
• Thursday, April 25, 2013
• Inter Press Service

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 25 (IPS) - Speaking of the widespread sanitation crisis, U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson was quick to produce staggering numbers: of the world's seven billion people, about six billion have mobile phones but only about 4.5 billion have access to toilets.

Indian children use a microfinanced facility in their backyard in a Bhubaneswar slum. Credit: Manipadma Jena/IPS

"And that leaves about 2.5 billion people, mostly in rural areas, without proper sanitation," he points out.

Ironically, the world is saturated with an abundance of cell phones but is desperately searching for non-existing toilets.

A cartoon in a World Bank 2013 calendar puts the numbers in an even more realistic but light-hearted perspective.

The sketch shows a villager in some remote corner of the world, armed with a roll of toilet paper in one hand and a smart phone on the other, trying to track down the nearest toilet on the global positioning system (GPS).

The screen on the mobile phone reads: "Nearest toilet 2 kilometres away."

Still, he is considered fortunate, because an estimated 1.1 billion people, (out of the 2.5 billion without adequate sanitation), are forced to defecate in the open because there are no toilets anywhere, says Eliasson.

And so, the World Bank is trying to help resolve the world's sanitation problems with digital technology and mobile phone applications (Apps).

Last week it announced three prize-winners of the Sanitation Hackathon and App Challenge, described as a yearlong project to recognise innovative and locally relevant apps that address sanitation challenges.

Manobi, a mobile and internet services firm based in Dakar, Senegal, has developed an SMS (short message service) reporting tool that enables students, parents, and teachers to monitor and report on school sanitation facilities.

Sun-Clean, developed by a team of students at the University of Indonesia, is an app designed to teach children good sanitation and hygiene practices. The app includes two games: Disposal Trash and Hand Wash for Kids.

And Taarifa, created by a team of developers based in England, Germany, the United States and Tanzania, is an open source web application that enables public officials to tag and respond to citizen complaints about the delivery of sanitation services.

Asked about the digital approach to sanitation, Joseph Pearce, technical advisor at the London-based WaterAid, told IPS: "These apps are great examples of the wealth of ICT (information and communication technologies) innovations that are being produced to improve monitoring and education around water, sanitation, and hygiene."

He said such simple ideas have the potential to transform lives. However, there are key technical and governance challenges in translating these projects into lasting solutions.

"Apps will play an increasingly important role in informing decision-making, but there is no technical solution to using this data," he added.

Data collection still costs money, and political will is required to finance and act upon the findings. Turning data into decisions and concrete actions to improve access to water and sanitation, he cautioned, is perhaps the hardest part.

Clarissa Brocklehurst, former chief of water, sanitation and hygiene at the U.N. children's agency UNICEF, told IPS that sanitation is such a huge and, so far, intractable problem that "we need to bring every bit of innovation to it that we can".

This means solutions in terms of technology, institutions, behaviour change, financing and monitoring.

"The kinds of innovation the information technology (IT) community can bring are very welcome as a contribution. We clearly need more than apps and websites but they represent important new ways to tackle parts of the sanitation problem," said Brocklehurst, who was in the World Bank team that ran the App contest.

Andy Narracott, deputy chief executive officer of Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), and who leads the organisation's Enterprises Business Unit, told IPS that technology alone cannot solve the global sanitation crisis.

"But by combining it with business experts, strategists, sociologists and engineers, then real innovation can happen."

This is what the Sanitation Hackathon sought to achieve, and by looking at the winning solutions, this has been a hugely successful initiative, he added.

Technology-based innovations can play a key role in many sanitation-related challenges, including mapping demand for sanitation services, identifying coverage gaps, capturing customer feedback and communicating sanitation and hygiene messages to change people's behaviour, Narracott said.

"But the critical challenge is how this information is used and acted upon," he said.

He said the sector also needs sufficient capacity and finance to convert this information into increased access for people, especially those living in low-income areas in cities and towns across the developing world.

"The challenge has only just begun," he cautioned.

Tools are only effective if people know how to use them were interested to see how the deployment of these tools works out, he added.

"We'd like to see this initiative now extended into a global collaborative platform, where many people can use them and iterate them collaboratively," he noted.

Asked about the validity of the criticism that the international community is paying more attention to water than sanitation, Brocklehurst told IPS, "I think that in the past the international community has paid more attention to water, and that this is why we see such a huge difference in progress.

"We have met the water MDG (Millennium Development Goals) target, and 89 percent of the world's population uses at least an improved source of water, even though some of that water may be of dubious quality, while only 63 percent of the world's population has improved sanitation and over a billion still resort to open defecation."

But that is starting to change, she said, as the impact of poor sanitation becomes clearer.

The health impacts are more generally researched and recognised, but more importantly, the economic impacts are now widely discussed.

Asked about the severity of the sanitation crisis in the run-up to the MDG deadline of 2015, Brocklehurst said, "The sanitation crisis is serious as we are a long way off from reaching the MDG target, and current estimates are that we will miss it by many millions of people."

She said in many countries a huge acceleration in progress would be needed to reach the MDG, "and at current rates we would not reach it at a global level until 2026."

More serious is the large proportion of people who lack improved sanitation who are actually using no sanitation at all, but resorting to the dangerous practice of open defecation ? a practice that is dangerous not only for themselves, but for anyone living in their communities.

According to a press release, over 100 local partners supported the Sanitation Hackathon events.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provided financial support, alongside the World Bank, and Toilet Hackers provided critical in-kind support.

? Inter Press Service (2013) ? All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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Online privacy is evolving. Does it matter to you?

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Online privacy rules are changing. The question now is how much you'll care.

America's tech industry is finalizing voluntary disclosure standards on the sensitive information being sucked from your smartphone like your location, surfing habits and contacts. Senate Democrats are pushing for a clearer opt-out button for all online tracking. And Microsoft is offering a new browser that encourages people to block the technology that enables tracking.

Industry officials say they understand some people want greater control. But they are betting that consumers don't really mind trading some basic information about themselves for free access.

"Consumers are very pragmatic people," Lou Mastria, managing director of the Digital Advertising Alliance, said in an interview this week. "They want free content. They understand there's a value exchange. And they're OK with it."

Mobile applications like Google Maps, Angry Birds and GasBuddy have become popular, inexpensive ways to personalize smartphones or tablets and improve their functionality. Often free or just 99 cents to download, apps can turn a phone into a sophisticated roaming office or game console with interactive maps and 24-7 connectivity.

But like all those websites that offer medical advice or parenting tips, there's a hitch: They want information from you like your birthdate or ZIP code. Developers say data collection is necessary for the software to work as promised and to reward the intellectual creativity behind it.

"There's no free lunch," said Adam Thierer, a senior research fellow at George Mason University's Mercatus Center. "It's essentially a quid pro quo. You'll trade a little bit of information for all that free content and great services."

The online privacy debate has stumped Congress and prompted limited input from the Obama administration, mindful of consumers' concerns but reluctant to crush a growing industry in a difficult economy.

Some lawmakers, mostly Democrats but some libertarian Republicans, say consumers should have the option of not being tracked at all. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, planned a hearing Wednesday to press his proposal to subject companies to penalties by the Federal Trade Commission if they violate a consumer's "do not track" request.

Industry is pushing back. The Digital Advertising Alliance points to its web-based icon program that links consumers to an opt-out site of participating advertisers. They say some 20 million people have visited their site and only 1 million of those consumers chose to opt out of all ad tracking.

But privacy advocates, backed by the FTC, say the issue goes well beyond targeted advertising, particularly when it comes to a mobile device. Because a smartphone can divulge a person's location, the FTC warned in a recent report that detailed profiles of a person's movements can be collected over time and in surprising ways, revealing a person's habits and patterns and making them vulnerable to stalking or identity theft.

Some researchers also say they suspect retailers are engaging in "price discrimination" ? the practice of setting a price based on personal data, such as the average home price in their area or a person's proximity to a competitor.

Marc Rotenberg, executive director of Electronic Privacy Information Center, said most consumers aren't even aware of the extent to which their information is being collected and how it's used. And as with any product on the market, companies should be required to take meaningful steps to make sure people don't get hurt, he said.

"You shouldn't be put at risk if a car is correctly designed when you go on the highway," Rotenberg said. "And that's our view of Internet-based services. People shouldn't have to lose their privacy to use Internet-based services."

FTC Commissioner Julie Brill says the biggest concerns are all the unknowns. The FTC has asked nine data brokers to disclose what information they collect on consumers and how they use it. Brill said she worries that companies might determine a person's eligibility for certain products and services based on information collected online, potentially violating credit reporting and fair lending laws, but without authorities knowing it.

"The industry is moving so quickly and changing so much that we need to make sure that the laws are keeping up with it," Brill said in a recent interview.

So far, the only solution to emerge has been voluntary industry standards. The Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration has been coordinating among some 80 industry lobbyists, consumer advocates, academics and technology experts to devise the new disclosure standards for mobile apps that would offer consumers a quick, easy-to-read snapshot of what information is collected and whether it's shared with third parties.

While the final agreement isn't expected until later this spring, the privacy disclosures are expected to look less like a legal manifesto and more like a nutrition label. Just as some snacks are labeled as high in fat or sodium, some mobile apps might have to fess up to being bigger data collectors than others.

In the end, Thierer isn't sure consumers will care that they've been labeled by a marketing company as someone who, for example, likes to play "Angry Birds" and lives in Ohio.

"The problem is that a lot of these cases driving the debate are worst-case scenarios ... but in reality they are still hypothetical," Thierer said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/online-privacy-evolving-does-matter-062419989--finance.html

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Five people murdered in Illinois town, suspect dead: police

By Mary Wisniewski

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Five people were slain early on Wednesday in Manchester, Illinois, and a suspect died after a shootout with police, Illinois State Police said.

State Police spokeswoman Monique Bond confirmed the killings and also said that a 6-year-old girl had been injured and taken to hospital. Initial reports were that the victims had been shot, but Bond could not confirm this.

State Police did not discuss any motive nor did they say if the victims were related. The Chicago Tribune reported, citing relatives, that they were a grandmother, a young couple, and two children.

A suspect fled in a white Chevy Lumina, police said, citing witnesses. At about 7:13 a.m., the car was spotted and chased by state and local police who exchanged gunfire with the suspect, state police said.

About 15 minutes later, the suspect was arrested and taken to hospital, and later pronounced dead, Bond said. Police did not release the person's name.

Police said there was no reason to believe that the 300 or so residents of Manchester were in danger.

"Scott County is a small community. Fortunately, this type of thing doesn't happen very often, but this is proof they can happen," Scott County State's Attorney Michael Hill said at the news conference.

"It's been a very tragic scene," said Larry Balthis, pastor of the Manchester Baptist Church. Balthis said he knew the people involved, but he declined additional comment.

Jacksonville School District 117 was closed for the day, according to Debbie McKean, secretary to Superintendent Steve Ptacek. The school district covers 222 square miles and includes the area where the suspect was reportedly apprehended, McKean said.

(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Greg McCune; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/five-people-reported-shot-dead-illinois-town-143459246.html

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Stocks briefly drop, recover, on fake AP bomb tweet

NEW YORK (AP) -- The stock market briefly dropped, then recovered, after the Associated Press' Twitter account was hacked and a fake tweet about an attack on the White House was posted.

The AP released the following statement at 1:12 p.m.: "The (at)AP twitter account has been hacked. The tweet about an attack at the White House is false. We will advise more as soon as possible."

The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 150 points after the fake Twitter posting, then quickly recovered.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-briefly-drop-recover-fake-172814328.html

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EPA on Keystone XL: Significant Climate Impacts from Tar Sands Pipeline

In a draft assessment of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, consultants for the U.S. State Department judged that building it would have no significant impact on greenhouse gas emissions. Why? Because the analysts assumed the tar sands oil would find a way out with or without the new pipeline.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency does not agree. Keystone XL's ability to carry an additional 830,000 barrels of tar sands oil per day is vital to expanded production of the tarry crude in Alberta. The EPA contends that the analysis by State got the economics all wrong. In particularly the consultants were too optimistic about the ease with which the oil could be moved by railroad rather than pipeline--an alternative already in use. But such tar sands oil transportation alternatives can more than triple the cost of moving crude. State's report also neglected to consider the potential for congestion on the railroads with an uptick in oil transport, EPA contends. Of course, from a greenhouse gas perspective, transport by pipeline results in fewer emissions than transport by rail, truck or barge. The bottom line, from a climate perspective: "oil sands crude is significantly more [greenhouse gas] intensive than other crudes, and therefore has potentially large impacts," wrote EPA's Cynthia Giles about the State Department's attempts to assess the full implications of Keystone. "Lifecycle emissions from oil sands crude could be 81 percent greater than the average crude refined in the U.S.," a difference that can grow "depending on the assumptions made." The EPA also cited its experience from cleaning up after the spill of tar sands oil from a pipeline near the Kalamazoo River in Michigan. This pipeline, smaller than Keystone XL, managed to spill some 20,000 barrels in 2010, much of which ended up at the bottom of the river. Despite three years of clean up effort, the river will have to be dredged because the oil sands crude "will not appreciably biodegrade," Giles wrote. In other words, the kind of microbes that chewed up the oil from BP's blown out Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico could find no purchase on diluted bitumen from Alberta. Such heavy oil results in the tarballs ubiquitous along the Gulf Coast and, apparently, a layer of tar at the bottom of the Kalamazoo River. All of that experience suggests that would-be pipeline operator TransCanada should be required to prepare for such submerged oil in the event of a leak from Keystone XL as well as having equipment in place to deal with a spill before it happens, the EPA suggests. That's a particular concern because, despite a re-routing around ecologically sensitive regions in Nebraska, the Keystone XL pipeline would still cross over the nation's largest freshwater aquifer: the Ogallala. All of that leads the agency to object to the State Department's analysis on the grounds of "insufficient information" and "significant" environmental objections. What impact, if any, that has on the approval or disapproval of the pipeline by the Obama administration remains to be seen but the impact of Keystone XL on climate change is clear. Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news.
? 2013 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/epa-keystone-xl-significant-climate-impacts-tar-sands-001100447.html

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Iraq: Clashes erupt at Sunni protest site

BAGHDAD (AP) ? Officials in Iraq say clashes have erupted between demonstrators and security forces in a northern Sunni town, leading to multiple casualties.

Sheikh Abdullah Sami al-Asi, a Sunni provincial official from Hawija, said the fighting began early Tuesday morning when security forces entered the protest area and tried to make arrests.

He says scores of people have been wounded or killed. Hawija is 240 kilometers (160 miles) north of Baghdad.

A United Nations spokeswoman in Iraq, Eliana Nabaa, confirmed that there are multiple casualties. She urged both sides to immediately lay down their weapons.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iraq-clashes-erupt-sunni-protest-074205054.html

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Box office out of this world for Cruise's 'Oblivion'

By Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter

Tom Cruise's sci-fi pic "Oblivion" opened to $38.2 million at the domestic box office to come in No. 1 after a better-than-expected performance and despite a B- CinemaScore. Overseas, the Universal pic continued to please, grossing $33.7 million in its second weekend for an international cume of $112 million and worldwide total of $150.2 million.

The movie marks the actor's best North American opening outside of the "Mission: Impossible" franchise, not accounting for inflation.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski ("Tron: Legacy"), "Oblivion" co-stars Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Melissa Leo. Peter Chernin and Dylan Clark produced. The pic cost Universal and Elliot Inc. at least $120 million to produce.

Adult male moviegoers fueled "Oblivion," making up 57 percent of the audience.

Cruise's track record domestically has been mixed. "Jack Reacher" debuted to $15.2 million in December on its way to earning a so-so $80 million in North America. Conversely, "Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol," opening to $29.6 million in December 2011, turned into a box-office monster, grossing nearly $700 million worldwide.

PHOTOS: 30 groundbreaking sci-fi films

Sci-fi is a familiar genre for Cruise, who starred in "War of the Worlds" and "Minority Report," both directed by Steven Spielberg.

Set in 2077, 60 years after Earth has been destroyed by aliens, "Oblivion" follows one of the last humans stationed on the planet as he uncovers a troubling secret.

Universal decided to get a jump on the beginning of the crowded summer box office by opening "Oblivion" now. The studio has gone aggressively after males by advertising during major sporting events including the NCAA's March Madness.

Speaking of sports, Legendary and Warner Bros.' Jackie Robinson biopic "42" continued to score strong numbers in its second weekend, declining a slim 34 percent to come in No. 2 with $18 million. The baseball drama's 10-day domestic total is $54.1 million.

Paramount's "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" jumped the $300 million mark in its fourth weekend, thanks to stellar $33 million opening in China. The sequel has grossed $111.2 million domestically and $211.7 million internationally for a worldwide cume of $322.9 million. In China, the pic outpaced the first film by a four-to-one margin.

Expanding nationwide over the weekend, Derek Cianfrance's indie drama "The Place Beyond the Pines," starring Bradley Cooper and Ryan Gosling, placed No. 6 in North America. The film, from Focus Features and Sidney Kimmel, took in $4.7 million for a total $11.4 million.

PHOTOS: Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman at "Oblivion" premiere

Below are the top 10 estimates for the April 12-14 weekend at the domestic box office.

Title, weeks in release/theater count, studio, three-day weekend total, cume.

1. "Oblivion," 1/3,783, Universal, $38.2 million
2. "42," 2/3,250, Warners/Legendary, $18 million, $54.1 million
3. "The Croods," 5/3,435, Fox/DreamWorks Animation, $9.5, $154.9 million
4. "Scary Movie 5," 2/3,402, The Weinstein Co., $6.3 million, $22.9 million
5. "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," 4/3,175, Paramount, $5.8 million, $111.2 million
6. "The Place Beyond the Pines," 4/1,542, Focus/Sidney Kimmel, $4.7 million, $11.4 million
7. "Evil Dead," 3/2,823, Sony/TriStar/FilmDistrict, $4.1 million, $48.5 million
8. "Olympus Has Fallen," 5/2,638, FilmDistrict, $4.5 million, $88.1 million
9. "Jurassic Park," 3/2,330, Universal, $4 million, $38.5 million
10. "Oz The Great and Powerful," 7/2,504, Disney, $3 million, $223.8 million

Related content:

Source: http://entertainment.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/21/17849781-tom-cruises-oblivion-obliterates-competition-with-38-milllion-box-office?lite

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George W. Bush's Reluctant Re-Emergence on the Political Scene

A few weeks into his post-presidential life, George W. Bush flew off with an old friend to launch the arduous task of raising a half-billion dollars to build his library and refurbish his tattered legacy.

After a successful pitch to a wealthy prospective donor over dinner in Lexington, Ky., his traveling companion arrived at Bush?s suite next morning to find the 43rd President in a wistful mood.

?First time I?ve had to pack my own bag in 14 years,? Bush said with a wry smile reflecting the altered reality all former presidents' experience -- one day leader of the free world, the next grubbing for money.

Now, three days before his library and ?freedom institute? are dedicated in his home town of Dallas, Bush?s future -- though not necessarily his standing with history -- are far more inviting.

His lifestyle is beyond comfortable -- corporate jets and hefty six-figure speeches as often as he chooses; weekly golf rounds at Brookhollow Country Club (despite a back still healing from disc surgery); the ham and cheese souffle at Rise, an Inwood Village bistro; hunting and fishing expeditions, and ministering to wounded U.S. warriors and AIDS victims in Africa.

His second career as a self-styled ?beginner painter? has become an unexpected passion: he paints upstairs at his North Dallas home and keeps another easel busy at his Crawford ranch near Waco, exhibiting a discipline surprising even his closest pals. Friends say he?s getting better, beginning to master the intricacies of composition with regular visits by an accomplished local artist.

?I?m done with politics but I?m not done with life and I?ve got a real good life,? he recently reminded a political ally, not for the first?time.

?He?s very content, and his new granddaughter is the exclamation point,? echoed Brad Freeman, one of his closest friends, referring to Margaret Laura ?Mila? Hager, born in New York City April 13.

?He?s enjoying the hell out of life, ? a close friend told National Journal. ?He?s his loosey-goosey self again, the way he used to be.?

Various confidants describe 43 as ?mellow,? ?serene? and ?tranquil,? happy with his self-imposed exile from the political grind he never really liked and ecstatic with his new life below the radar.

?You have no idea how relieved he is to be out of the game,? one of his oldest friends said. ?He doesn?t miss politics even a little.?

This week?s two days of festivities on the campus of Southern Methodist University, Laura Bush?s alma mater, mark his somewhat reluctant re-emergence into the national spotlight since leaving Washington in 2009. President Obama and the three living Presidents will join 15,000 guests to celebrate the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

The center comprises a Presidential library housing 43,000 artifacts and millions of documents from the eight years of 43?s tenure. The adjoining think tank, informally known as the ?freedom institute,? will preach the gospel of Bush?s conservative vision to future generations.

The institute is also designed by Bush as the vehicle to rehab and burnish his legacy with future historians and posterity.

?Of course he?s confident? about turning around his reputation, one longtime counselor told National Journal. ?How else could he be? But he?s got a ways to go to mending his record - if it can be done.

?There?s a lot of baggage to deal with -- Iraq, Afghanistan and most of all the (excessive) spending - and at the moment, the trajectory isn?t going in the right direction.?

Bush, by contrast, is the classic half-full politician when pondering his legacy, which he seldom does. He likes to say he?ll be long dead when history sorts his ledger out, so why dwell on it? Meanwhile, he?s convinced his presidency ultimately will get higher marks than contemporary assessments, which generally place him at the low end of the ratings.

Bush has also told friends and political associates that his success keeping the homeland safe after the 9/11 attacks will be awarded greater weight by history. That?s why it?s no coincidence the centerpiece of the library?s exhibit hall is a 17-foot, 2-ton piece of steel from the Twin Towers.

Displayed vertically, the mangled, blistered remnant is ?impact steel? -- experts have determined it was actually struck by one of the terrorist-piloted jetliners. From a distance the hallowed relic looks like a piece of modern art, but as visitors draw closer the impact of its origin has already moved some to tears.

While time is known to heal some wounds and Presidential legacies, money doesn?t hurt, either. The institute is bulging with cash, allowing its board to hire like-minded academics and pay some executives more than $650,000 a year.

Bush?s $500 million fundraising target was originally scaled back to $300 million given the unpopularity of his second term. But Obama?s unpopularity in his first two years helped loosen Republican checkbooks, and the half-billion target has been reached -- to the amazement of many in the Bush orbit.

One Bush family friend, Dallas billionaire Ray Hunt, gave his elk-hunting buddy $25 million.

Understandably, Bush and his successor don?t have much of a relationship. Despite campaigning in 2008 against what he termed Bush?s failed Presidency, Obama is said to feel a kinship with 43 from the shared responsibilities of the world?s most daunting government job and their membership in the country?s most exclusive men?s club. But calling their policy differences vast is a gross understatement.

Bush supports Obama?s aggressive escalation of drone strikes to take out terrorists but thinks the administration has made a mess of relations with Afghanistan and Pakistan and projects weakness in dealing with adversaries like Iran and North Korea. He also disdains Obama?s attempts to raise taxes on the wealthy, his soaring budget deficits and landmark health-care law.

When asked about Obama in Q&A sessions after his frequent lectures, however, Bush meticulously takes the high road, politely declining to criticize his successor. His stock answer: ?I want my President to succeed because when my President succeeds my country succeeds, and I want my country to succeed.?

Brothers Jeb and Marvin are incensed that Obama continues to blame their older sibling for assorted policy headaches four years after inheriting them. Their mother Barbara Bush is also known to be irked. But 43 ?is perfectly willing to turn the other cheek? about the brickbats, a friend who speaks with him regularly said.

Obama political handlers deny they?re still making Bush the poster child for saddling Obama with two unpaid wars, an unfunded Medicare prescription drug benefit and the 2008-09 financial meltdown.

?The President thinks he did what he thought was best for the country and we respect that,? a senior Obama adviser countered, lauding Bush as ?a gracious ex-President.?

?As time goes by Bush will benefit from the comparison with Obama,? Victor Davis Hanson of Stanford?s Hoover Institution predicted. ?If Obama had been a Bill Clinton-like figure he would have made Bush look like the caricature his opponents have suggested. But Obama has been a great gift for Bush - he?s as polarizing a figure as Bush was.?

As politicians and academics parse his historical net worth in perpetuity, Bush is delighted to remain on the sidelines.

?He loves his granddaughter, he loves playing golf, he loves making money and he loves making a difference,? a Bush stalwart said. ?And he enjoys the hell out of saying what?s on his mind without a microphone being stuck in his face anymore.?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/george-w-bushs-reluctant-emergence-political-scene-060008062--politics.html

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Hundreds of potential drug targets to starve cancer tumors identified

Apr. 21, 2013 ? A massive study analyzing gene expression data from 22 tumor types has identified multiple metabolic expression changes associated with cancer. The analysis, conducted by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center, also identified hundreds of potential drug targets that could cut off a tumor's fuel supply or interfere with its ability to synthesize essential building blocks. The study was published today in the online edition of Nature Biotechnology.

The results should ramp up research into drugs that interfere with cancer metabolism, a field that dominated cancer research in the early 20th century and has recently undergone a renaissance.

"The importance of this new study is its scope," said Dennis Vitkup, PhD, associate professor of biomedical informatics (in the Initiative in Systems Biology) at CUMC, the study's lead investigator. "So far, people have focused mainly on a few genes involved in major metabolic processes. Our study provides a comprehensive, global view of diverse metabolic alterations at the level of gene expression."

Cell metabolism is a dynamic network of reactions inside cells that process nutrients, such as glucose, to obtain energy and synthesize building blocks needed to produce new cellular components. To support uncontrolled proliferation, cancer needs to significantly reprogram and "supercharge" a cell's normal metabolic pathways.

The first researcher to notice cancer's special metabolism was German biochemist Otto Warburg, who in 1924 observed that cancer cells had a peculiar way of utilizing glucose to make energy for the cell. "Although a list of biochemical pathways in normal cells was comprehensively mapped during the last century," said Dr. Vitkup. "We still lack a complete understanding of their usage, regulation, and reprogramming in cancer."

"Right now we have something like a static road map. We know where the streets are, but we don't know how traffic flows through the streets and intersections," said Jie Hu, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia and first author of the study. "What researchers need is something similar to Google Traffic, which shows the flow and dynamic changes in car traffic."

Drs. Hu and Vitkup's study is an important step toward achieving this dynamic view of cancer metabolism. Notably, the researchers found that the tumor-induced expression changes are significantly different across diverse tumors. Although some metabolic changes -- such as an increase in nucleotide biosynthesis and glycolysis -- appear to be more frequent across tumors, others, such as changes in oxidation phosphorylation, are heterogeneous.

"Our study clearly demonstrates that there are no single and universal changes in cancer metabolism," said Matthew Vander Heiden, MD, PhD, assistant professor at MIT, and a co-author of the paper. "That means that to understand transformation in cancer metabolism, researchers will need to consider how different tumor types adapt their metabolism to meet their specific needs."

The researchers also found that expression changes can mimic or cooperate with cancer mutations to drive tumor formation. A notable example is the enzyme isocitrate dehydrogenase. In several cancers, such as glioblastoma and acute myeloid leukemia, mutations in this enzyme are known to produce a specific metabolite -- 2-hydroxyglutarate -- that promotes tumor growth. The Columbia team found that isocitrate dehydrogenase expression significantly increases in tumors with the recurrent mutations. Such an overexpression may create an efficient enzymatic factory for overproduction of 2-hydroxyglutarate.

The analysis also led the researchers to an interesting finding in colon cancer. In several other cancers, mutations in two enzymes -- succinate dehydrogenase and fumarate hydratase -- can promote tumor formation as a result of efflux from mitochondria and accumulation of their substrates, fumarate and succinate. The researchers found that in colon cancer, accumulation of these metabolites may be caused by a significant decrease in the enzymes' expression. This was confirmed when metabolomics data from colon tumor patients showed significantly higher concentrations of fumarate in tumors than in normal tissue.

"These are just several examples of how cancer cells use various creative mechanisms to hijack the metabolism of native cells for their own purposes," said Dr. Vitkup.

For cancer researchers looking for new drug targets, Dr. Vitkup's team also found hundreds of differences between normal and cancer cells' use of isoenzymes. This opens up additional possibilities for turning off cancer's fuel and supply lines. Isoenzymes often catalyze the same reactions, but have different kinetic properties: Some act quickly and sustain rapid growth, while others are more sluggish. In kidney and liver cancers, for example, a quick-acting aldolase isoenzyme -- suitable for fast cell proliferation -- was found to be more prevalent than the more typical slow-moving version found in normal kidney and liver tissue. Although a few examples of differential isoenzyme expression in tumors were already known, the Columbia researchers identified hundreds of isoenzymes with cancer-specific expression patterns.

"Inhibiting specific isoenzymes in tumors may be a way to selectively hit cancer cells without affecting normal cells, which could get by with other isoenzymes," said Dr. Hu.

In fact, a recent study from Matthew Vander Heiden's laboratory demonstrated the potential of targeting a specific isoenzyme, pyruvate kinase M2, expression of which often increases in tumors. "The comprehensive expression analysis suggests that a similar approach could potentially be applied in multiple other cases," said Dr. Vander Heiden.

Targeting metabolism may be a way to strike cancer at its roots. "Cancer cells usually have multiple ways to turn on their growth program," said Dr. Vitkup. "You can knock out one, but the cells will usually find another pathway to turn on proliferation. Targeting metabolism may be more powerful, because if you starve a cell of energy or materials, it has nowhere to go."

The paper is titled, "Heterogeneity of tumor-induced gene expression changes in the human metabolic network." The other authors are Jason W. Locasale (Cornell University), Jason H. Bielas (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Wash.; and University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.), Jacintha O'Sullivan (St. Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland), Kieran Sheahan St. Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland), and Lewis C. Cantley (Harvard Medical School).

Dr. Vander Heiden is a consultant and advisory board member, and Dr. Cantley is a consultant and founder, of Agios Pharmaceuticals. The authors report no other financial or potential conflicts of interest.

This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grant GM079759 to Dr. Vitkup and National Centers for Biomedical Computing grant U54CA121852 to Columbia University. Dr. Locasale is supported by an NIH Pathway to Independence Award R00CA168997. Dr. Bielas is supported by an Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholar award AG-NS-0577-09, a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences grant R01ES019319, and New Development Funds from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Dr. Vander Heiden acknowledges support from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, the Smith Family, and the National Cancer Institute.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Columbia University Medical Center.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Jie Hu, Jason W Locasale, Jason H Bielas, Jacintha O'Sullivan, Kieran Sheahan, Lewis C Cantley, Matthew G Vander Heiden, Dennis Vitkup. Heterogeneity of tumor-induced gene expression changes in the human metabolic network. Nature Biotechnology, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nbt.2530

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/top_health/~3/NxLu-Y1ENBQ/130421151616.htm

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How long does Apple keep Siri user data? Two years.

But Apple says that six months after a Siri request or command is made, the phone number of the user is 'disassociated' with the audio clip in question.?

By Matthew Shaer / April 19, 2013

A user enters a command for Siri, Apple's voice-activated personal assistant.

Reuters

Enlarge

According to the privacy agreement for Apple's Siri service, Apple is authorized to collect and store data from user commands. But how long can Apple keep that data? This was the question posed earlier this week by a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, who registered her concerns in an interview with?Robert McMillan of Wired.

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And now we have an answer, courtesy of Apple spokeswoman?Trudy Muller: Two years. "If a user turns Siri off, both identifiers are deleted immediately along with any associated data," Ms. Muller told Wired.

In addition, she explained, six months after you issue a command or query to Siri, your phone number will be "disassociated" from the audio recording (although it will not be fully scrubbed from Apple servers for another 18 months after that). Apple says it uses all that data to help improve the Siri platform, and to better understand how consumers use the service. ?

As Darrell Etherington notes over at TechCrunch, Apple isn't exactly doing anything new here.?

"The bottom line is that if an app or service requires a data connection, in all likelihood there?s a back and forth transmission of information going on, and if privacy is one of your top-of-mind concerns, you should be cautious in any such situation," Etherington writes. "Apple?s policies with Siri seem no more or less egregious than any other, but it is nice to see the company spell it out in no uncertain terms."?

Monitor readers may remember that back in March of last year, IBM revealed that it had?banned employees from using Siri on company iPhones. The reason was simple: IBM has no control over (and not much information on) what Apple does with the data. ?

"We're just extraordinarily conservative," an IBM exec said at the time. "It's the nature of our business."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/4AsxPSBf4IM/How-long-does-Apple-keep-Siri-user-data-Two-years.

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Learning disabilities affect up to 10 percent of children

Friday, April 19, 2013

Up to 10 per cent of the population are affected by specific learning disabilities (SLDs), such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and autism, translating to 2 or 3 pupils in every classroom according to a new study.

The study ? by academics at UCL and Goldsmiths - also indicates that children are frequently affected by more than one learning disability.

The research, published today in Science, helps to clarify the underlying causes of learning disabilities and the best way to tailor individual teaching and learning for affected individuals and education professionals.

Specific learning disabilities arise from atypical brain development with complicated genetic and environmental causes, causing such conditions as dyslexia, dyscalculia, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder and specific language impairment.

While these conditions in isolation already provide a challenge for educators, an additional problem is that specific learning disabilities also co-occur for more often that would be expected. As, for example, in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, 33 to 45 per cent also suffer from dyslexia and 11 per cent from dyscalculia.

Lead author Professor Brian Butterworth (UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience) said: "We now know that there are many disorders of neurological development that can give rise to learning disabilities, even in children of normal or even high intelligence, and that crucially these disabilities can also co-occur far more often that you'd expect based on their prevalence.

"We are also finally beginning to find effective ways to help learners with one or more SLDs, and although the majority of learners can usually adapt to the one-size-fits-all approach of whole class teaching, those with SLDs will need specialised support tailored to their unique combination of disabilities."

As part of the study, Professor Butterworth and Dr Yulia Kovas (Goldsmiths) have summarised what is currently known about SLD's neural and genetic basis to help clarify what is causing these disabilities to develop, helping to improve teaching for individual learners, and also training for school psychologists, clinicians and teachers.

What the team hope is that by developing an understanding of how individual differences in brain development interact with formal education, and also adapting learning pathways to individual needs, those with specific learning disabilities will produce more tailored education for such learners.

Professor Butterworth said: "Each child has a unique cognitive and genetic profile, and the educational system should be able to monitor and adapt to the learner's current repertoire of skills and knowledge.

"A promising approach involves the development of technology-enhanced learning applications ? such as games - that are capable of adapting to individual needs for each of the basic disciplines."

###

University College London: http://www.ucl.ac.uk

Thanks to University College London 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/127817/Learning_disabilities_affect_up_to____percent_of_children

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Amazon's Exclusive Comedy, Children's Pilots Are Available Now For Your Viewing And Judging Pleasure

Back in March, Amazon Studios announced that it had ordered six comedy series pilots to debut on Amazon Instant Video, further proof that the current television model is desperate for disruption. Today those pilots are finally available, released into the hands of viewers here in the US and the UK. Based on user feedback, Amazon will decide which of the pilots will be ordered for a full season available exclusively on Amazon’s Prime Instant Video network in the US and LoveFilm in the UK. In fact, Amazon surprised with two extra comedy pilots, as well as the simultaneous launch of six children’s series pilots which were ordered back in January. While competitors like Netflix and Hulu are working on their own exclusive content offerings, Amazon has taken a different route. Hulu has been offering exclusive content for more than two years with a broad range of different offerings, whereas Netflix has gone big with one drama, House of Cards, delivered binge-style with a full season available at once. Amazon, on the other hand, has decided to leave the power in the hands of consumers. User feedback will determine which of the total 14 pilots will become a real-life TV show based on ratings and reviews. Amazon will also monitor a number of other metrics like chatter on social media, focus group responses, and the general voice (or lack thereof) of the internet. There are no hard and fast rules about how many series will be built into full seasons — it all depends on user feedback. At first thought, I had some pretty serious reservations about this pilot-first, season-later ploy from Amazon. For one, it’s tough to fall in love with a show after 28 minutes, and only 28 minutes. And let’s say you do fall in love with Tallahassee, just a young guy in love in the middle of Zombieland, or the three charming young high school teachers in Those Who Can’t. How, then, do you stay interested while Amazon takes these shows back to the drawing board for full season production and development. Yet, after speaking with the company about the reasons behind the decision (and seeing the content myself), it actually makes sense. “To pick just one show would mean that we’re rejecting many other shows,” said Roy Price, Director of Amazon Studios. “We’re doing it this way presumably because we don’t believe in the guru model

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/9SlbNO_OykU/

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Yankees SS Jeter leaves complex for medical exam

NEW YORK (AP) ? Yankees captain Derek Jeter has left the team's minor league complex in Florida and gone for a medical exam on his injured left ankle.

Jeter went to see Dr. Robert Anderson, who operated on the All-Star shortstop's left ankle in Charlotte, N.C., after it was broken last October.

New York manager Joe Girardi said Thursday that the exam was not scheduled.

The 38-year-old Jeter was hurt in the opener of the AL championship series. He played sparingly in spring training and started the season doing recovery work at the team's complex in Tampa, Fla.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-04-18-BBA-Yankees-Jeter-Exam/id-2f8dbf2597ca4ea5b2fbde3e615da809

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After major earthquake: A global murmur, then unusual silence

Apr. 19, 2013 ? In the global aftershock zone that followed the major April 2012 Indian Ocean earthquake, seismologists noticed an unusual pattern. The magnitude (M) 8.6 earthquake, a strike-slip event at intraoceanic tectonic plates, caused global seismic rates of M?4.5 to rise for several days, even at distances thousands of kilometers from the mainshock site. However, the rate of M?6.5 seismic activity subsequently dropped to zero for the next 95 days.

This period of quiet, without a large quake, has been a rare event in the past century. So why did this period of quiet occur?

In his research presentation, Fred Pollitz of the U.S. Geological Survey suggests that the Indian Ocean earthquake caused short-term dynamic stressing of a global faulting system. Across the planet, there are faults that are "close to failure" and ready to rupture. It may be, suggests Pollitz and his colleagues, that a large quake encourages short-term triggering of these close-to-failure faults but also relieves some of the stress that has built up along these faults. Large magnitude events would not occur until tectonic movement loads stress back on to the faults at the ready-to-fail levels they reached before the mainshock.

Using a statistical model of global seismicity, Pollitz and his colleagues show that a transient seismic perturbation of the size of the April 2012 global aftershock would inhibit rupture in 88 percent of their possible M?6.5 earthquake fault sources over the next 95 days, regardless of how close they were to failure beforehand.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Seismological Society of America, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/E52AL__Wals/130419132605.htm

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