regimentation starlit: June 2013

Saturday, June 22, 2013

US stocks calmer after 2-day plunge

Wall Street steadied after a two-day plunge caused by news that the Federal Reserve was getting ready to wind down its massive bond-buying program by mid-2014.

Markets were a lot calmer Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 24 points, or 0.2 percent, at 14,732 as of 11:24 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The Dow and other indexes were moving between small gains and losses in early trading.

The Dow plunged 560 points Wednesday through Thursday, wiping out its gains from May and June. The Fed's easy money policies have been a big driver behind the stock market's bull run the last four years. The plunge came just three weeks after the Dow hit a record high of 15,409.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell six points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,582 points. The S&P hit its own record high a month ago.

Kim Forrest, senior analyst with Fort Pitt Capital Group, a portfolio management firm in Pittsburgh, said the market had the "right reaction" to the news that the Fed would wind down its stimulus if the economy continues to improve, but the move may have been overblown.

"We're getting news that made the market uncomfortable," she said. "We shouldn't be sitting at these highs given the fact that the Fed signaled that someday it's going to take some liquidity off the table. So the reaction is right, the magnitude is probably a little off."

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.49 percent from 2.42 percent late Thursday. The yield has risen sharply since Wednesday as investors sold bonds in anticipation that the Fed would slow, and eventually end, its bond purchases.

The yield, which is a benchmark for interest rates on many kinds of loans including home mortgages, is at its highest level since August 2011. On Tuesday, the day before the Fed's announcement, it was 2.19 percent. It hit a low for the year of 1.63 percent on May 3.

Technology shares fell more than the rest of the market after business software maker Oracle reported disappointing earnings late Thursday. Oracle plunged $3.04, or 9 percent, to $30.17, the biggest drop in the S&P 500 index. Oracle is struggling to adapt as customers shift away from software installed on their own computers toward software that runs remotely.

Oracle's results are a poor omen for business spending on technology. Technology stocks in the S&P index fell 1 percent, the most of the 10 industry groups in the index.

The Nasdaq composite index, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, fell 30 points, or 0.9 percent, to 3,333. Apple, the biggest stock in the index, fell $8.15, or 1.9 percent, to $408.75. Microsoft fell 26 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $33.23.

The price of gold recovered after plunging the day before. Gold was up $6.40, or 0.5 percent, to $1,292.40 an ounce. Crude oil fell $1.15, or 1.2 percent, to $94 a barrel in New York.

The dollar rose against other currencies as traders anticipated that U.S. interest rates would rise as the Fed winds down its bond purchases.

Among other stocks making big moves:

? Darden Restaurants, which runs Olive Garden and Red Lobster, fell $1.16, or 2.3 percent, to $50.07 after rising expenses hurt its fourth-quarter earnings.

? CarMax, which runs used car dealerships, reported that its first-quarter profit jumped 21 percent as sales rose. Its stock rose 63 cents or 1.4 percent, to $45.20.

A Fed policy statement and comments from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke started the selling in stocks, bonds and commodities Wednesday. Bernanke said the Fed expects to scale back its bond-buying program later this year and end it by mid-2014 if the economy continues to improve. The bank has been buying $85 billion a month in Treasury and mortgage bonds, which has made borrowing cheap for consumers and businesses. The program has also encouraged investors to buy stocks instead of bonds.

The S&P 500 is still up 11.9 percent, for the year, not far from its full-year increase of 13.4 percent last year.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei index rose 1.7 percent, but other Asian markets fell. European markets slipped. France's CAC-40 fell 0.3 percent and Germany's DAX fell 0.9 percent.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-stocks-calmer-2-day-plunge-153452122.html

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Senate immigration bill boosted by border deal

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Far-reaching immigration legislation offering the prize of U.S. citizenship to millions is swiftly gaining ground in the Senate following agreement between Republicans and Democrats on dramatic steps aimed at securing the border with Mexico.

The deal to double Border Patrol agents and fencing along the Southwest border has won support from four undecided Republican senators for the immigration bill that's a top priority for President Barack Obama. More appeared likely to come on board, putting the legislation within reach of securing the bipartisan vote that its authors say is needed to ensure serious consideration by the GOP-controlled House.

"It is safe to say that this agreement has the power to change minds in the Senate," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a lead author of the bill, said Thursday. "With this agreement, we have now answered every criticism that has come forward about the immigration bill."

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the deal should satisfy those Republicans concerned that the border security provisions in the bill were too weak. "If they can't accept these provisions, then border security is not their problem," McCain said.

The deal was developed by Republican Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and John Hoeven of North Dakota, in consultation with Schumer, McCain and other members of the so-called Gang of Eight senators who wrote the immigration bill. It prevents immigrants now here illegally from attaining permanent resident status until a series of steps have been taken to secure the border.

These include doubling the Border Patrol with 20,000 new agents, 18 new unmanned surveillance drones, 350 miles of new fencing to add to the 350 miles already built, and an array of fixed and mobile devices to maintain vigilance, including high-tech tools such as infrared ground sensors and airborne radar.

The new provisions would be put in place over a decade, in line with the 10-year path to a permanent resident green card that the bill sets out for immigrants here illegally. During that time, the immigrants could live and work legally in a provisional status.

Vice President Joe Biden told a predominantly Latino crowd of 1,100 gathered in Las Vegas for the national conference for the League of United Latin American Citizens that now is the time for a "fair, and firm and unfettered path for 11 million people" to become U.S. citizens.

"The question you should ask is, 'What will immigration reform do for America?'" Biden said Thursday. "The answer is clear and resounding: It can and will do great things for America."

Hoeven said the 10-year cost of the border security amendment included $25 billion for the additional Border Patrol agents, $3 billion for fencing and $3.2 billion for other measures.

It's "border security on steroids," said Corker, who along with Hoeven had been uncommitted on the immigration bill. Both are now prepared to support it, assuming their amendment is adopted, as is expected to happen early next week. Sens. Dean Heller, R-Nev., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., also announced their support Thursday.

Corker and Hoeven had said they expected the legislation to be formally unveiled in the Senate late Thursday, but for unexplained reasons, that did not happen. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., adjourned the Senate around 10:30 p.m., saying the amendment was nearly ready and the Senate could move forward with it Friday.

The deal on border security came together quickly over the past several days after talks had bogged down over Republicans' insistence that green cards be made conditional on catching or turning back 90 percent of would-be border crossers. Schumer, other Democrats and Obama himself rejected this trigger, which they feared could delay the path to citizenship for years. Obama made his objections known in a phone call to Schumer from Air Force One during his trip to Europe for the Group of Eight summit earlier in the week, according to a Senate aide who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

The breakthrough came when the Congressional Budget Office released a report Tuesday finding that the bill would cut billions of dollars from the deficit. Schumer's top immigration aide, Leon Fresco, had the idea of devoting some of those billions to a dramatic border build-up.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., an author of the bill who helped run interference between Corker and Hoeven and Democrats in the group, said that with the CBO finding in hand, he sat down with Schumer and Corker and said, "OK, let's go big."

The idea immediately appealed to the left and the right.

For Republicans, it provided concrete assurances that the bill would aim to achieve a secure border. For Democrats, it offered goals that, if dramatic, were achievable and measurable.

Still, not everyone was won over.

Shortly before Corker and Hoeven went to the Senate floor to announce their agreement Thursday afternoon, five leading Republican opponents of the bill held a news conference to denounce the deal as little more than an empty promise.

"In short, I think this amendment is designed to pass the bill but not to fix the bill," Sen. David Vitter, R-La., said.

About 10 Republicans have indicated they will vote for the bill, far more than enough to ensure it will have the 60 votes required to overcome any attempted filibuster by last-ditch opponents. Democrats control 54 seats, and party aides have said they do not expect any defections.

In addition to the border security components and eventual citizenship for the 11 million people now here illegally, the immigration bill would create new work visa programs and expand existing ones to allow tens of thousands of workers into the country to work in high- and low-skilled jobs.

Employers would have to verify their workers' legal status.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-immigration-bill-boosted-border-deal-073020424.html

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Digitally Speaking: Why Writers Should Self-Publish Rather than ...

Simply stated, when a publisher digitally publishes a book vs. hardcover publishing, his profit margin per book actually goes up; but, guess what? The author's royalty per book goes down :(

This begs the question: should authors get a higher?eBook royalty rate?

Check out the table below for a detailed financial analysis revealing publishing profit margin?between the two book formats:

Note: The third column reflects the e-book agency pricing mode.

"This chart illustrates very clearly something that agents have been arguing for several years now, and that publishers have been saying just isn?t true: that their savings on printing, binding and distribution make up for the lower revenue from lower e-book prices? and that increased profitability is coming entirely off the backs of authors."?Brian DeFiore

One interesting point to note is that if an e-book author self-publishes his take is the entire 70% of the unit book price ($10.49 in above sample).?

Writers just can't seem to trust publishers - even when publishers go to e-books, they are still trying to screw with the writers.

Over at the AARdvark blog, DeFiore and Company founder?Brian DeFiore?shared the most important stats?(chart embedded above):?a ?$27.99 hardcover generates $5.67 profit to publisher and $4.20 royalty to author? and a ?$14.99 agency priced e-book generates $7.87 profit to publisher and $2.62 royalty to author.?

We have all heard the additional argument: that for a very large percentage of authors this is irrelevant since their advances don?t earn out? effectively raising their per unit royalty. That may be true, but it logically leads to what seems to me the most unfair aspect of all: That, therefore, the only authors that are financially punished by this system are the ones whose books perform very well. The ones whose books earn out. The big name authors and the celebrities whose books don?t perform to expectation are untouched; the author who gets a reasonable advance and whose book sells much better than expected are the ones who suffer the greatest loss.

Source Site?

Source: http://johnaustinblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/digitally-speaking-why-writers-should.html

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Friday, June 21, 2013

17 Bizarre Themed Bars Will Get You Trashed In Style

Some bars just want to pour booze down your gullet and collect your cash. Well, all bars want to do that. But some do it with style. Today, we're looking at bars around the world that draw you in with their quirky, awesome, weirdness.

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Underdog trounces major brands in full HD smartphone display shootout

By Francesca Trianni NEW YORK (Reuters) - Anthony Marshall, the only child of late millionaire philanthropist Brooke Astor, has been a Broadway producer, a decorated war hero and U.S. diplomat and is set to add prison inmate to his life story. On Thursday, barring a last-minute reprieve, Marshall will be known by the number on his New York State Corrections Department identification card when he begins serving a one- to three-year sentence for siphoning millions of dollars from his ailing mother incapacitated by dementia. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/underdog-trounces-major-brands-full-hd-smartphone-display-170515888.html

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Thursday, June 20, 2013

'Dexter' prepares for new season with cold treat

Anna Chan TODAY

4 hours ago

Anna Chan / TODAY.com

The "Dexter" Coolhaus truck in midtown Manhattan on June 19, 2013.

"Dexter" fans in New York and Los Angeles are in for a tasty treat. As Showtime prepares for the launch of the hit drama's final season and its push for some Emmy recognition, the network is giving fans in the two cities a special creation: a "Killer Combo" of an ice cream sandwich from Coolhaus this Wednesday through Sunday.

We hit up the Coolhaus truck parked at E. 53rd St. and Park Avenue in midtown Manhattan on Wednesday to check out the offering, and it was a concoction worthy of the vigilante killer. The sandwich features two sides to represent Dexter Morgan -- his light (Snickerdoodle cookie) and dark halves (double chocolate cookie), with Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream and a bloody delicious cherry swirl sandwiched in the middle.

Anna Chan / TODAY.com

The "Killer Combo" ice cream sandwich.

Yes, it was as yummy as it looks and sounds. (It would've been more fitting to have the sandwich dripping with all the blood Dexter tends to find at his crime scenes, but we're just being nitpicky.)

We weren't the only ones who were excited by the sight of Dexter Morgan's face on the side of an ice cream truck in New York. (And also a sign that read "FREE ice cream sandwich!") The line of "Dexter" and sweet treat fans went around the corner of the block. According to an employee, after being open for only two hours, they had already given away more than 265 ice cream sandwiches.

"Dexter" season eight kicks off on June 30 on Showtime. To see where the Coolhaus trucks will be next in New York and Los Angeles, follow @CoolhausNY and @CoolhausLA on Twitter.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/dexter-gets-tasty-cold-start-ice-cream-sandwich-6C10382403

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Estrogen deficiency: Education for all! | Dr Colin Holloway ...

This is a very important message for all menopausal women, and their gynecologists. I have also just added a new page to my website, Titled? Menopause- recommendations? Read it, as these recommendations? have? just been published by the British Menopause Society.?? This is as mainstream as you can get, and yet they now recommend natural progesterone as the safest form of progestogen, and transdermal ( through the skin ? like troches) as the best way to introduce hormones. They also now recommend that women can take HRT for as long as they benefit by it. It is gratifying to see the major menopause bodies moving in the direction that I have been advocating for many years. This has been opposed by most specialists and GPs, as many of you will have experienced. I have recently posted the benefits of oestrogen for women (Look back in Archives) and now this adds more spice to what I wrote.

In July 2011, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists published the Expert Advisory Group Report High Quality Women?s Health Care: A Proposal for Change. ¹ This landmark publication highlighted a new concept ? the continuum of important aspects of women?s health through puberty, the reproductive years, menstruation, pregnancy, contraception and fertility, through to the menopause and postreproductive health.

We feel the concept of a life-course approach to healthcare should be widely adopted with an emphasis on the fluid and changing challenges in women?s health. Healthcare providers need to be reminded that many conditions and disease processes evolve during the process of aging. This means that the same condition may have different manifestations depending upon her age and consequently her endocrinological status. For example, a history of polycystic ovarian syndrome increases the risk of endometrial cancer and so would influence the threshold for investigation of increased perimenopausal bleeding or postmenopausal bleeding; pregnancy-related problems such as pre-eclampsia increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in later life; the use of hormonal contraceptives may influence a woman?s views, and those of her doctor, on the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT); diabetes influences the use of contraception, pregnancy and management of the menopause as clearly outlined in this issue in the review paper by Morling.²

So has this concept been applied to the care of women experiencing the menopause, and to the management of postmenopausal health? There has certainly been a broadening of interest in postmenopausal health and focus has moved away simply from ?the menopause? and the pros and cons of HRT, but it appears that the concept of changing health as life progresses after the point of the menopause has not been widely adapted. When women attend gynaecology clinics with postmenopausal bleeding, is full assessment taken of the number of years since the menopause, i.e. since she became estrogen deficient, whether or not she is still experiencing vasomotor symptoms, what has been the effect of estrogen deficiency on her vagina and bladder, how healthy are her bones and what is her cardiovascular risk? The same can be applied to women attending with prolapse, continence problems, and even when asymptomatic and attending for cervical or breast screening after the age of 50. If these assessments of the effects of estrogen deficiency are not being made, then surely opportunities are being lost?

While cognisance has to be made of time limitations and what is realistically achievable, surely at least gynaecologists should take on the broader, life-course view of women?s health and of the continuum of estrogen deficiency in particular and address the possible effects in any woman attending their clinics who is in an estrogen-deficient state. How can this message be adapted? It is time that primary care doctors and nurses, gynaecologists, physiotherapists, physicians, indeed all healthcare professionals caring for estrogen-deficient women had a broad understanding of the consequences of estrogen deficiency not only in the short term but throughout the years after periods stop and understood the life-course of women?s health. How? Education, education, education!

? RCOG Press. High

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Source: http://drcolinholloway.com/2013/06/19/estrogen-deficiency-education-for-all/

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Drought curbs spread of feral hogs in Southeastern New Mexico

ADVANCE FOR SUNDAY JUNE 16 AND THEREAFTER - This undated photo provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services shows a group of trapped feral pigs. South Dakota wildlife officials want to send wild pigs crying all the way home. The state does not currently have an established population of feral pigs, but that appears to be changing.(AP Photo/Courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services)

New Mexico is leading the nation in the coordinated effort to eliminate non-native and highly invasive feral hogs, a panel of experts said Monday. A panel discussion on how to enhance collaboration to eliminate feral hogs in the state was held Monday in Albuquerque during the New Mexico Cattle Growers conference.

Woods Houghton, Eddy County Extension Service agriculture agent, said the hogs are a "problem, but not a huge problem" in Eddy County and he attributes that to the drought.

"Compared to everyone else that I have spoken with, the drought has certainly helped," Houghton said. "They are staying close to the Delaware River and Black River (south of Carlsbad) where there is much more food and water. The drought, for now, has stopped their migration into different areas of Eddy County and causing more damage on farms and ranches."

To date, feral hogs have been reported in 22 of 33 New Mexico counties and continue to spread rapidly. Eddy County is among the 22 counties with a large feral hog population.

Houghton said reports are coming in that feral hogs are now being seen in higher altitudes in the Sacramento Mountains, which he said has not been heard of before.

In January, the USDA gave New Mexico a $1 million grant to support the collaborative effort to remove feral hogs, along with state and private funding and in-kind donations, which may also be a contributing factor in keeping Eddy County's feral hog population somewhat under

control. "Right now, we have four government trappers working in this area through a cooperative federal and state program," Houghton said.

State Land Commissioner Ray Powell said during a recent stop in Carlsbad that he commissioned a study on the feral hog problem in 2011 to determine the distribution of feral hogs on state trust lands. He said the hogs were becoming a threat to domestic livestock, native wildlife and human health, as well as posing an economic threat.

"Feral hogs are capable of carrying more than 35 infectious diseases," said Powell, who is a veterinarian, botanist and plant ecologist. "We need to deal with this problem now, and this collaborative effort moves us closer to our goal of eliminating them in a humane manner."

Powell said his agency is an active member of the New Mexico Feral Swine Eradication team and has been aggressively working to eliminate the invasive and destructive species.

Experts estimate that feral hogs can cause more than $1 billion in damage annually in the United States.

Feral hogs were originally brought into New Mexico for commercial hunting and quickly escaped. They carry infectious diseases that can be transmitted to agricultural animals, wildlife and humans. They are known to be extremely destructive to agriculture lands and native habitat.

Source: http://www.currentargus.com/ci_23483408/drought-curbs-spread-feral-hogs-southeastern-new-mexico?source=rss_viewed

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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Record-high margin debt signals potential stock-market crash

The Economic Collapse blog notes that similar spikes occurred in 1929 and 2000

What do 1929, 2000 and 2007 all have in common? Those were all years in which we saw a dramatic spike in margin debt. In all three instances, investors became highly leveraged in order to "take advantage" of a soaring stock market. But of course we all know what happened each time.?

The spike in margin debt was rapidly followed by a horrifying stock market crash. Well, guess what? It is happening again. In April (the last month we have a number for), margin debt rose to an all-time high of more than $384 billion. The previous high was $381 billion, which occurred back in July 2007. Margin debt is about 29 percent higher than it was a year ago, and the S&P 500 has risen by more than 20 percent since last fall. The stock market just continues to rise even though the underlying economic fundamentals continue to get worse. So should we be alarmed? Is the stock market bubble going to burst at some point? Well, if history is any indication, we are in big trouble. In the past, whenever margin debt has gone over 2.25% of GDP, the stock market has crashed. That certainly does not mean that the market is going to crash this week, but it is a major red flag.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BlanchardInvestingNewsBlog/~3/YgxIvKBhOcc/econ.php

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HIV-derived antibacterial shows promise against drug-resistant bacteria

Public release date: 19-Jun-2013
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Contact: Jim Sliwa
jsliwa@asmusa.org
202-942-9297
American Society for Microbiology

A team of researchers at the University of Pittsburgh has developed antibacterial compounds, derived from the outer coating of HIV, that could be potential treatments for drug-resistant bacterial infections and appear to avoid generating resistance. These new agents are quite small, making them inexpensive and easy to manufacture. The research was published in the June 2013 issue of the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

The first of many probable applications will likely be the chronic bacterial infections in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients "that frequently develop resistance to all standard antibiotics, and are the leading cause of death in these patients," says senior author Ronald Montelaro.

The lead compound shows powerful antibacterial activity against clinical isolates of diverse pathogenic bacteria that are resistant to most antibiotics. These agents, called engineered cationic antimicrobial peptides (eCAPs) "may be applicable to treatment of other respiratory infections, topical infections, and systemic infections," says Montelaro.

The genesis of the new agent was basic research on HIV envelope protein structure and function, says Montelaro. As part of this research, "we identified highly conserved unique protein sequences that were predicted by computer modeling to assume structures characteristic of natural antibacterial peptides. Since antibacterial peptides specifically target and disrupt the integrity and function of bacterial membranes, we thought that these similar peptide sequences in the HIV envelope protein might contribute to toxicity and death in infected cells by altering cell membranes."

The team engineered the original HIV peptides for greater effectiveness and smaller size, the latter to reduce manufacturing expenses. The engineering involved modifying amino acid content (they contain just two different amino acids), peptide length, charge, and hydrophobicity. The current paper describes the third generation peptides. The lead agent contains just 12 amino acid residues.

"Another potential application is biodefense, where eCAPs may be used as a rapid postexposure aerosol treatment in individuals after exposure to aerosolized pathogens, where the goal of immediate treatment would be to rapidly reduce bacterial dose from a lethal to a nonlethal or subclinical level," says Montelaro.

###
A copy of the article can be found online at http://bit.ly/asmtip0613a.
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy is a publication of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The ASM is the largest single life science society, composed of over 39,000 scientists and health professionals. Its mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide.

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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.

HIV-derived antibacterial shows promise against drug-resistant bacteria Public release date: 19-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jim Sliwa
jsliwa@asmusa.org
202-942-9297
American Society for Microbiology

A team of researchers at the University of Pittsburgh has developed antibacterial compounds, derived from the outer coating of HIV, that could be potential treatments for drug-resistant bacterial infections and appear to avoid generating resistance. These new agents are quite small, making them inexpensive and easy to manufacture. The research was published in the June 2013 issue of the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

The first of many probable applications will likely be the chronic bacterial infections in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients "that frequently develop resistance to all standard antibiotics, and are the leading cause of death in these patients," says senior author Ronald Montelaro.

The lead compound shows powerful antibacterial activity against clinical isolates of diverse pathogenic bacteria that are resistant to most antibiotics. These agents, called engineered cationic antimicrobial peptides (eCAPs) "may be applicable to treatment of other respiratory infections, topical infections, and systemic infections," says Montelaro.

The genesis of the new agent was basic research on HIV envelope protein structure and function, says Montelaro. As part of this research, "we identified highly conserved unique protein sequences that were predicted by computer modeling to assume structures characteristic of natural antibacterial peptides. Since antibacterial peptides specifically target and disrupt the integrity and function of bacterial membranes, we thought that these similar peptide sequences in the HIV envelope protein might contribute to toxicity and death in infected cells by altering cell membranes."

The team engineered the original HIV peptides for greater effectiveness and smaller size, the latter to reduce manufacturing expenses. The engineering involved modifying amino acid content (they contain just two different amino acids), peptide length, charge, and hydrophobicity. The current paper describes the third generation peptides. The lead agent contains just 12 amino acid residues.

"Another potential application is biodefense, where eCAPs may be used as a rapid postexposure aerosol treatment in individuals after exposure to aerosolized pathogens, where the goal of immediate treatment would be to rapidly reduce bacterial dose from a lethal to a nonlethal or subclinical level," says Montelaro.

###
A copy of the article can be found online at http://bit.ly/asmtip0613a.
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy is a publication of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The ASM is the largest single life science society, composed of over 39,000 scientists and health professionals. Its mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide.

[ | E-mail | Share ]
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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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/asfm-has061913.php
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Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Obama?s Gamble in Syria

Free Syrian Army fighters run up the stairs of a building in Aleppo's Salaheddine neighborhood on April 28, 2013.

Photo by Aref Hretani/Reuters

It?s hard to assess President Obama?s decision to send arms to the Syrian rebels because we still don?t know what kinds of arms he?s sending, how long he?s willing to keep the stuff flowing, or what kind of outcome he?s seeking?both to the civil war in Syria and to the political balance in the region.

Still, a few things are clear about this new stage of U.S. military involvement.

First, this is not about ?humanitarian intervention.? A few news reports have attributed Obama?s sudden shift on the issue to the recent ascension of Susan Rice as his national security adviser and Samantha Power as his U.N. ambassador. This is nonsense, on the face of it: No pair of advisers can make such a dramatic impact on policy so swiftly?especially in this White House, where the president sets the tone on foreign policy and national security.

Nor is it about the Syrian army?s use of chemical weapons, although Obama?s oft-repeated statements over the past year?that the use of chemical weapons would cross a ?red line,? would be a ?game-changer,? and that Bashar al-Assad would be ?held accountable??have put him in a situation where he had to do something, lest he lose credibility on other pledges and threats. True, U.S. intelligence agencies have firmed up their conclusion that the traces of sarin gas can be traced to Assad?s regime?but their verdict was pretty firm several weeks ago.

Fundamentally, Obama?s shift is about balance-of-power politics. His deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes, said as much at the June 14 White House press conference where he announced the new policy. The decision to provide ?dramatically increased assistance? to the armed rebels took hold, he said, ?as we saw a deteriorating situation in general, with outside actors like Iran and Hezbollah getting involved.?

Rhodes did not specify what kinds of weapons Obama will provide; Obama himself may not yet know. ?This is a fluid situation,? Rhodes said, ?so it?s necessary ? to consult with all the leaders? of the pro-rebel alliance, in Europe and the Middle East, about ?the types of support.?

But it is clear that, whatever gets shipped, weapons are only part?and perhaps not the most important part?of the package. Speaking of the rebel forces, Rhodes said it was important to ?strengthen their cohesion,? to turn these ?disparate groups of opposition fighters in different parts of the country? into an ?organized opposition.?

In other words, he?s talking about command and control, communications, intelligence, logistics?the connective tissues of warfare, which only an outside professional military power can provide.

This tissue is political as well as military. As Rhodes put it, ?We want to connect [the rebels] to us, but also to our other partners who are providing assistance,? including Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Turkey. All those countries want to help the rebels?if just to stave off the expansionist ambitions of Iran?but they have shown little knack for working together on such matters, or for agreeing on a leader and ceding authority to him. The United States can be that coordinating leader. Some of Obama?s critics ridicule this as ?leading from behind,? but sometimes, for example in Libya, it can work.

What is Obama?s endgame in this? That?s less clear, or rather it?s not clear whether the endgame, as Rhodes articulated it, is feasible. At his press conference, Rhodes put it this way: ?We still continue to discuss with the Russians whether there is a way to bring together elements of the [Assad] regime and the opposition to achieve a political settlement.?

Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2013/06/barack_obama_s_objective_in_syria_the_president_needs_to_explain_why_the.html

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LG Optimus G Pro tops 1 million sales in South Korea

LG doesn't lead the sales charts quite like Samsung, but it does have something to crow about today: it just racked up its millionth Optimus G Pro sale in South Korea. The supersized phone reached the milestone three months quicker than LG's previous record-holder, the Optimus LTE, and sold at an average rate of 8,000 units per day. About the only thing dampening the company's enthusiasm is the context -- Samsung topped a million domestic Galaxy Note II sales three months after launch, or roughly one month faster than LG. We don't have comparable international figures, either. Nonetheless, it's clear that LG has had little trouble drawing interest on its home turf.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, LG

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Source: LG (translated)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/18/lg-optimus-g-pro-tops-1-million-sales-in-south-korea/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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U.S. participates in Syria war games exercise

ZARQA, Jordan (AP) ? Under the watchful eye of stern-faced American advisers, hundreds of U.S.-trained Jordanian commandos fanned across this dusty desert plain, holding war games that could eventually form the basis of an assault in Syria.

With the recent deployment of Patriot missiles near the Syrian border, and the mock Syrian accents of those playing the enemy, the message was clear: There is fear of spillover from the Syrian war in this U.S.-allied kingdom, and the potential for a Jordanian role in securing Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles should Bashar Assad's regime lose control.

Dubbed Eager Lion, the 12-day exercise involves combined land, air and sea maneuvers across the country. It brings together 8,000 personnel from 19 Arab and European nations to train on border security, irregular warfare, terrorism and counterinsurgency.

Marine Corps Lt. Col. Duke Shienle said Syria "is a concern that all our regional partners share."

The Syrian crisis is "causing all military in the region to increase intensity," he said as he supervised masked commandos in black uniforms from Jordan and two other Syria neighbors ? Iraq and Lebanon ? in a mock exercise to free a hijacked aircraft on an airstrip in the eastern Jordanian desert.

Nearby, U.S. military strategists taught Jordanian riot police to quickly contain a mock protest by angry mobs in a crowded refugee camp. The trainers refused to name the camp, but the trainees said it was "Zaatari," a reference to a refugee settlement straddling the border with Syria that shelters around 185,000 displaced Syrians.

"We want freedom! We want a free Syria!" the trainees shouted, speaking the Syrian dialect as they depicted Syrian refugees. Others looked on from under dusty tents pitched on a strip of desert outside a Jordanian army compound. The location of this exercise and others could not be disclosed in line with Jordanian army regulations.

Elsewhere, in the south, hundreds of masked Jordanian commandos in black uniforms used machine-guns, rocket propellers and tanks to overwhelm an enemy target as Jordanian helicopters and fighter jets ? all part of previous American donations ? buzzed the skies overhead.

"We want to tell anyone with malicious intentions toward Jordan that we can hit back where it hurts most painfully," said one Jordanian commando, speaking under scorching sun in the arid mountain region. He could not be named under army regulations and declined to say if the enemy he was fighting was Assad's army.

Other training focused on humanitarian relief and crisis management and involves 7,000 civilians from non-governmental organizations engaged in providing assistance to Syrian refugees, said Tawfiq Hennawi of the International Committee of the Red Cross, one of the participating NGOs.

Jordan hosts more than half a million Syrians who fled Assad's military onslaught and that number is expected to rise to 1.2 million by the end of the year.

"These exercises bolster our defense capabilities," said Jordanian army Maj. Gen. Awni Edwan, adding that the Eager Lion exercises, which end Thursday, are routine, having being held twice before at the same time.

"We don't intend to attack anybody," he said.

Jordan has been leery that Assad may eventually use his chemical weapons against his neighbors, or if his regime starts to collapse, his stockpile may fall into the hands of al-Qaida or other militants who are trying to rise to power in Syria.

There has been mounting speculation that should Assad's regime begin to lose control, Jordan will dispatch its highly-skilled, U.S.-trained and equipped commandos to secure Assad's chemical weapons and create a safe haven for Syrian refugees along the 230-mile (375-kilometer) border with Jordan, according to a Western diplomat who monitors Syria from his base in Jordan.

The purpose is to prevent a further influx of Syrian refugees into Jordan out of fear that Shiite militants from the Lebanese Hezbollah group or other Iranian agents may slip across the border to destabilize this key U.S. ally, said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because identifying him might jeopardize his intelligence-gathering on Syria.

Jordan's predominantly Sunni Muslim population is traditionally a fiery critic of the growing influence of Iran and its rival Shiite sect.

Regional media reports this week suggesting that Hezbollah activists are deploying near the Jordanian border to help Assad regain control of southern Daraa province? which has been a lifeline for arms shipments to rebels seeking to topple him ? sent jitters across Jordan. Officials said that security was immediately beefed up, with more Jordanian soldiers deployed along the border with Syria.

In recent weeks, Assad's forces have appeared to be regaining control over areas seized by rebels, particularly the strategic town of Qusair.

Jordan also fears that Assad's sleeper cells, including Hezbollah, may already be in the country and would act if instructed by Iran or Syria, where an uprising that started in 2011 has descended into all-out civil war.

Eager Lion coincides with Washington deploying one or two Patriot batteries along the border with Syria and agreeing to keep a squadron of 12 to 24 F-16 fighter jets after the exercises ? a move Syria's regime and its Russian patron have expressed concern over.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted by Russia's Interfax news agency as saying that the deployment of the air-defense systems in Jordan in order to set up a no-fly zone over Syria would be a violation of international law.

The United States has said it has no plans for military intervention in Syria, although President Barack Obama has left the door open for any possibility.

"With this exercise being the biggest fire power show ever in Jordan, coupled with the deployment of Patriot air defense systems and U.S. fighter jets, it is clear that the ground is being set for military intervention in Syria," said Col. Khalil Rawahneh, a Jordanian military strategist who participated in at least 16 U.S. and British-sponsored maneuvers until he retired four years ago.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-exclusive-us-war-games-send-signal-assad-211855222.html

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Spotify adds another big name to their catalog with the full works of Pink Floyd

Android Central

Legendary band's full back catalog available to stream only on Spotify, staking another claim to be king of the streaming game

Spotify continues to try and establish themselves as the biggest players in the streaming game, and their latest acquisition won't harm their chances. Following the addition of Metallica in late 2012, the streaming service can now add the complete works of Pink Floyd to their ever increasing catalog.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/jS6vNjgBQDU/story01.htm

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Monday, June 17, 2013

It's True: Samsung's Giving Away a Million Copies of Jay-Z's New Album

Jay-Z's modestly entitled Magna Carta Holy Grail drops on the similarly nondescript Fourth of July. But despite his clear lowering of expectations for the album, he's somehow found it within his heart to muster up some publicity by letting Samsung give away a million copies for free three days early. Galaxy owners only need apply.