Partner Abuse Still Not on Radar of Health Care Providers | Psych ...

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on March 21, 2013

A new Penn State University study finds that many health care providers are failing when it comes to?dealing with intimate partner violence in female patients.

Researchers found that only 20 percent of central Pennsylvania women who experienced intimate partner violence were asked or counseled by a health care provider about abuse.

Moreover, approximately only one in nine women has received preventive counseling about violence and safety.

?Our research shows that we (as a health care community) haven?t been doing a good job of identifying and counseling about intimate partner violence,? said Jennifer S. McCall-Hosenfeld, M.D., a primary care physician.

?Only 20 percent of the women who been exposed to intimate partner violence received safety and violence counseling in the two years following the abuse, and only 11 percent of all women had discussed violence and safety at home with a health care provider.?

McCall-Hosenfeld and colleagues examined preventive health care services for women of reproductive age and how exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) was associated with relevant preventive healthcare services.

The study focused on women who had reported experiencing IPV ? specifically physical violence, sexual violence and threats of either by a current or former partner or spouse.

More than one-third of women in the U.S. have experienced IPV, according to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The researchers point out that this abuse can lead to serious immediate and long-term health problems, as a result of inadequate preventive health care services.

Between 2004 and 2007, McCall-Hosenfeld and colleagues surveyed 1,420 women of reproductive age who were participating in the Central Pennsylvania Women?s Health Study.

The women responded to questions regarding intimate partner violence, health care access, socio-economic status and whether they had received preventive healthcare services.

The results of the study are published in the March/April issue of Women?s Health Issues.

In the first survey, the researchers established whether women had recently been exposed to IPV by asking them to respond ?yes? or ?no? to a series of questions.

Each question was preceded by, ?In the past 12 months, has a spouse, partner or boyfriend?? and completed with statements including ?Threatened to hit you or throw something at you?? and ?Pushed, grabbed, shoved or slapped you??

Two years after the first survey the researchers followed up with the women, asking about any preventive health care services and preventive counseling they had received over the past 24 months.

Again, the women surveyed were asked to respond ?yes? or ?no? to a series of questions, including ?Have you been tested for sexually transmitted infections or HIV?? and ?Has a doctor or health professional asked you or talked to you about concerns about safety or violence in your home??

Researchers believe the study findings represent ?a missed opportunity for health promotion among women exposed to IPV.?

?Our data suggest that many women who have been exposed to IPV are not being appropriately identified in health care settings and are not getting many of the health care services they need,? said McCall-Hosenfeld.

In January 2013, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released a guideline recommending that clinicians screen all women of reproductive age for IPV and help provide intervention services when necessary.

?We have a long way to go for health care to be in compliance with this guideline,? said McCall-Hosenfeld. ?We?ll need to have a culture shift in many settings so that health care providers are comfortable with asking patients about IPV, patients are comfortable with being asked and the health care systems work to ensure that all patients get the services they need.?

Furthermore, additional studies are indicated to specifically address methods to improve preventive services for those who have experienced IPV, McCall-Hosenfeld said.

Source: Penn State

APA Reference
Nauert PhD, R. (2013). Partner Abuse Still Not on Radar of Health Care Providers. Psych Central. Retrieved on March 23, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/03/21/partner-abuse-still-not-on-radar-of-health-care-providers/52851.html

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Source: http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/03/21/partner-abuse-still-not-on-radar-of-health-care-providers/52851.html

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Biogen wins EU backing for big new MS drug hope

By Ben Hirschler

LONDON, March 22 - European regulators have recommended approval of two new multiple sclerosis pills from Biogen Idec and Sanofi, both of which are expected to become major sellers.

Friday's decision by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) was particularly significant for Biogen, since the U.S. biotech company is still awaiting a verdict on Tecfidera, or BG-12, in the United States.

Biogen's Tecfidera is one of the most highly anticipated new drug approvals for the pharmaceuticals industry in 2013, with analysts predicting billions of dollars a year in sales.

It will compete in the oral MS drug market against Novartis's existing Gilenya and Aubagio, but many investors already see it as best in class.

"We believe Tecfidera will raise expectations for what people living with MS can achieve with their therapy," Biogen CEO George Scangos said in a statement welcoming the news.

Oral drugs are changing the MS market dramatically, by offering patients a highly effective alternative to traditional injections, which can be painful and may cause flu-like symptoms.

Tecfidera and Sanofi's Aubagio were both endorsed for treating relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (MS), though the EMA decision still needs to be finalized before the drugs can be launched.

Aubagio was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the same use in September, while an FDA decision on the Biogen product is due by March 28.

Mark Schoenebaum, an analyst with ISI Group, said the European decision on Tecfidera was reassuring since the EMA only flagged up two safety issues.

The agency's press release merely highlighted as side effects flushing, or redness of the skin, and gastrointestinal events, such as diarrhea and nausea.

FOUR-IN-ONE HIV TABLET

The London-based agency also gave a green light to Gilead Sciences's four-drug combination pill to treat HIV/AIDS, called Stribild, and recommended wider use of Bayer and Johnson & Johnson's anti-clotting drug Xarelto for treating acute coronary syndromes.

The flurry of positive recommendations for new medicines, each of which analysts believe will become multibillion-dollar-a-year sellers, underscores a recent pick-up in research productivity by the pharmaceutical industry.

Sales of the Biogen MS drug are expected to reach $3.0 billion a year by 2017, outstripping revenues by the same time of $2.5 billion for Gilenya and $1.1 billion for Aubagio, according to consensus forecasts compiled by Thomson Reuters Pharma.

Tecfidera will add an important new leg to Biogen's multiple sclerosis business, which already includes the injectable drugs Avonex and Tysabri.

Ariad Pharmaceuticals also won a recommendation for its drug Iclusig for chronic myeloid leukemia, while Baxter International and Halozyme Therapeutics secured EMA backing for HyQvia as a treatment for immunodeficiencies.

Recommendations for marketing approval by the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, or CHMP, are normally endorsed by the European Commission within a couple of months.

(Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-agency-backs-ms-drugs-biogen-sanofi-122529290--finance.html

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Spring Cleaning Tips for Your Air Conditioning System | B&W ...

Failure to clean and properly maintain an air conditioning system is linked to more than half of all A/C failures.? Before starting your air conditioning system this spring, consider these topics for preventative maintenance and troubleshooting?

Troubleshoot: Low Refrigerant Levels?

Under ideal conditions, an air conditioning system should not need refrigerant fills or changes.? Air conditioners don?t consume refrigerant the way a car consumes oil.? If your system is low on refrigerant it probably indicates another problem such as a leak.? If you experience this issue, you should have the system checked and repaired before adding more.? Units that are more than 10 years old can be especially susceptible to leaks due to mechanical flared fittings, which can loosen over time from vibrations.

Detail the Condenser Unit

The condenser unit is the part of the A/C system that is installed outside.? Make sure this equipment is clear of any yard debris such as sticks or leaves.? You can use a pressurized air system or the blowing feature of a shop vac to clean the coils and remove any leaves or debris that might be lodged inside. Also make sure that no lawn furniture or toys are sitting on or very near the equipment.? You want to make sure that the condenser unit can properly remove hot air from the coils when air passes over them.

Replace or Clean Filters

A clean filter is extremely important for the proper operation of your A/C system.? It will improve the efficiency of your system, prevent frozen evaporator coils, and improve the air quality in your home.? Replace disposable filters or clean electrostatic filters every month during both heating and cooling seasons.

Remove and Clean the Drain Line

The drain line for your system is necessary for allowing water to drain away from the evaporator coil.? Calcium deposits and mold can build up in the line and cause clogs.? To prevent damage to the system, the drain line should be removed and cleaned regularly to ensure proper drainage.? You can use a solution of hot water and bleach to remove mold or minerals that have accumulated.? If there is a more serious clog, use a wire with bristles to scrub the line and force the clog out, then rinse with the bleach solution.

Clear Buildup on Blower Fan

If any dust, hair, or greasy substance has accumulated on the fan?s surface, be sure to clean it off thoroughly before starting your system.? Proper operation of the fan requires plenty of clear air circulation to produce effective cooling power.

Remove Dust from Evaporator Coil

Over time, the evaporator coil in your system can get filled with dust or other debris.? This slows airflow and can potentially lead to freezing the coil and damaging your unit.? A professional will have access to the proper equipment to make sure the evaporator coil is thoroughly cleaned without causing any damage to the system.

Source: http://bwheatcool.com/blog/hvac-tuneup/spring-cleaning-tips-for-your-air-conditioning-system/

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Microalgae could be a profitable source of biodiesel

Public release date: 21-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Octavi L?pez Coronado
octavi.lopez@uab.cat
34-935-813-301
Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona

Researchers at the UAB's Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA-UAB) and the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC), have analysed the potential of different species of microalgae for producing biodiesel, comparing their growth, production of biomass and the quantity of lipids per cell (essential for obtaining fuel).

Their study shows that one type of marine algae that has received little attention till now - dinoflagellate microalgae - is highly suitable for cultivation with the aim of producing biodiesel.

The scientists carried out the whole production process in exterior cultures, in natural conditions, without artificial light or temperature control, in cultivation conditions with low energy costs and subject to seasonal fluctuations. Detailed analysis of all costs over 4 years gives promising results: microalgae cultures are close to producing biodiesel profitably even in uncontrolled environmental conditions.

"If we make simple adjustments to completely optimise the process, biodiesel obtained by cultivating these marine microalgae could be an option for energy supplies to towns near the sea", points out Sergio Rossi, an ICTA researcher at the UAB.

Among these adjustments, scientists highlight the possibility of reusing leftover organic pulp (the glycerol and protein pulp that is not converted into biodiesel) and using air pumps and more efficient cultivation materials.

Though similar studies have been done on other alga species, dinoflagellate microalgae have shown themselves to be a very promising group that stands out from the rest. Moreover, these microalgae are autochthonous to the Mediterranean, so they would present no environmental threat in the event of leakage.

Third-generation biodiesel

First-generation biodiesel and bioethanol (obtained from monoculture of palm oil, sugar cane, maize, etc.) have presented problems that make them less attractive. The crops cover large areas of land and need huge amounts of fresh water, and their use implies diverting food products to the energy market.

The possibility of creating energy from hydrocarbons extracted from organisms like marine phytoplankton, the so-called third-generation biodiesel, has several advantages. Firstly, algae offer the same production levels while taking up only between 4 and 7 per cent of the area occupied by crops on land, thanks to their high concentration of energy per cell. Secondly, they do not need fresh water, as sea water is sufficient, which makes them viable even in deserts or arid areas near the coast. Finally, marine algae are not, a priori, sources of food for human consumption, which avoids the ethical problem of monoculture to provide fuel rather than food.

###

This study was led by scientists from the UAB's Institute of Environmental Science and Technology and involved researchers from the Department of Marine and Oceanographic Biology of the Institute of Marine Sciences of the CSIC, from the UAB spin-off Indit Innovaci SL, in the UAB Research Park, and from the SOSTENIPRA research group, of the UAB's Department of Chemical Engineering.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 21-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Octavi L?pez Coronado
octavi.lopez@uab.cat
34-935-813-301
Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona

Researchers at the UAB's Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA-UAB) and the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC), have analysed the potential of different species of microalgae for producing biodiesel, comparing their growth, production of biomass and the quantity of lipids per cell (essential for obtaining fuel).

Their study shows that one type of marine algae that has received little attention till now - dinoflagellate microalgae - is highly suitable for cultivation with the aim of producing biodiesel.

The scientists carried out the whole production process in exterior cultures, in natural conditions, without artificial light or temperature control, in cultivation conditions with low energy costs and subject to seasonal fluctuations. Detailed analysis of all costs over 4 years gives promising results: microalgae cultures are close to producing biodiesel profitably even in uncontrolled environmental conditions.

"If we make simple adjustments to completely optimise the process, biodiesel obtained by cultivating these marine microalgae could be an option for energy supplies to towns near the sea", points out Sergio Rossi, an ICTA researcher at the UAB.

Among these adjustments, scientists highlight the possibility of reusing leftover organic pulp (the glycerol and protein pulp that is not converted into biodiesel) and using air pumps and more efficient cultivation materials.

Though similar studies have been done on other alga species, dinoflagellate microalgae have shown themselves to be a very promising group that stands out from the rest. Moreover, these microalgae are autochthonous to the Mediterranean, so they would present no environmental threat in the event of leakage.

Third-generation biodiesel

First-generation biodiesel and bioethanol (obtained from monoculture of palm oil, sugar cane, maize, etc.) have presented problems that make them less attractive. The crops cover large areas of land and need huge amounts of fresh water, and their use implies diverting food products to the energy market.

The possibility of creating energy from hydrocarbons extracted from organisms like marine phytoplankton, the so-called third-generation biodiesel, has several advantages. Firstly, algae offer the same production levels while taking up only between 4 and 7 per cent of the area occupied by crops on land, thanks to their high concentration of energy per cell. Secondly, they do not need fresh water, as sea water is sufficient, which makes them viable even in deserts or arid areas near the coast. Finally, marine algae are not, a priori, sources of food for human consumption, which avoids the ethical problem of monoculture to provide fuel rather than food.

###

This study was led by scientists from the UAB's Institute of Environmental Science and Technology and involved researchers from the Department of Marine and Oceanographic Biology of the Institute of Marine Sciences of the CSIC, from the UAB spin-off Indit Innovaci SL, in the UAB Research Park, and from the SOSTENIPRA research group, of the UAB's Department of Chemical Engineering.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/uadb-mcb032113.php

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Corona Labs Debuts Corona Cloud, A Customizable All-In-One Cross-Platform Mobile Gaming Network

Corona Labs is publicly launching Corona Cloud today, a cross-platform social gaming network that brings multiplayer support, leaderboards and achievements, chat and push notifications to a mobile gaming app through a single RESTful API. For developers, it means an easy way to add social features to their game that, unlike Game Center, can connect players outside of platform-specific communities.

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

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Recognizing Eating Disorders in Athletes | WOD Talk Magazine

When the term ?Eating Disorder? is brought up as it relates to athletes the most obvious focal direction of the mind is on long distance runners with anorexia and wrestlers with bulimia. However, the most prevalent eating disorder is one that doesn?t have defined characteristics or clear diagnostic markers. It is, unfortunately, the most inadequately researched, with the highest amount of individual variability. As a result, there is a pronounced knowledge deficit in health and fitness professionals along with a paucity of evidence based models for treatment.

307.50 Eating Disorder Not Other Wise Specified is the diagnosis for individuals who do not meet the criteria for any specific category (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 2000, p. 594). Today, EDNOS diagnoses significantly outnumber cases of anorexia and bulimia. In fact, Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention reported findings that 50 to 70 percent of the individuals who present for treatment of an eating disorder are being diagnosed with this illness (Weiner, 2013). Regularly, the severity of this diagnosis is overlooked by the general public because individuals often don?t present with abnormally low body mass indices, and aren?t exhibiting typical binge/purge behaviors. Since manifestations of this disorder present behaviorally many individuals go undiagnosed, misdiagnosed, and untreated. This high level of complexity means that the women, men, and children with eating disorders are presenting with more medical and psychiatric comorbidities, and associated behaviors and phobias are often more severe (?Program Design Supporting Emerging,? 2011).

Eating Disorders are often described as diseases of disconnection both biologically and psychologically. (Tantillo & Sanftner, 2010, p. 102). They include non-modifiable and modifiable behavioral risk factors. Examples of biogenetic, non-modifiable risk factors include the underdevelopment of the pre-frontal cortex, temperament, and disturbances in GABA, Dopamine, Norepinephrine, and Serotonergic system. Just as Obesity has been linked to Melacortin-4 (MC4R) receptor mutations, restrictive eating disorders are linked to Brain Derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) which acts downstream from MC4R. Humans with low serum BDNF levels display an aberrant eating behavior. BDNF levels might be involved in the severity of eating disorders (EDs) through the modulation of psychopathological traits that are associated with the ED phenotype (Scherag, Hebebrand, & Hinney, 2010). To compound the complexity of biological risk factors eating disorders also have a strong familial link.

Health and fitness professionals can be the most influential by increasing their understanding of EDNOS. It is important to recognize warning signs and increase awareness of maladaptive behaviors. Interestingly, the very same perfectionist, overachieving and people-pleasing temperament that fuels achievement in athletic competition, both elite and casual, closely mirrors the personality traits of those individuals who tend to develop eating disorders. For both male and female athletes, the combination of these traits, along with the body shape and weight-focused demands of many competitive sports creates the perfect storm that can trigger eating disordered thoughts and behaviors (Weiner, 2012). If that?s not significant enough, research published back in 1999 found at least one-third of female college athletes have some type of eating disorder (Johnson, Powers, & Dick, 1999). Identifying sings of eating disorders can be difficult because they closely mirror characteristic signs of over training. Some indicators include a decrease in performance, an increase in training frequency, an increased prevalence of overuse injuries, GI problems, loss of concentration, withdrawal, and avoiding eating in the presence of others.

Many individuals that struggle with eating disorders are very high functioning and characteristically surround themselves with subcultures where everyone exhibits the same behavioral patterns related to exercise and food, such as bodybuilding, CrossFit, gymnastics etc. The athlete can often times be completely unaware or fail to make the connection that their thoughts and beliefs systems about food are impairing their psychosocial functioning. Denial and defensive attitudes are common when the issue is confronted. If restrictive eating is advocated for at the highest level of sport like it is in CrossFit and Figure/Bodybuidling then that has an even bigger impact on athletes. Phone applications, diet journals, calorie counting, and food measuring can all increase the severity of obsessive disorders so commonly found in competitive individuals.

Toxic societal values emphasizing appearance, control, competition, and ultra-independence are behaviors that increase the?disconnection of perceived mutuality (Tantillo & Sanftner, 2010, p. 102). CrossFit for example, is beneficial because it abhors social isolation which is a hallmark behavior of advancing eating disorders. However, a paradox exists with the esteem of social media. There is a colossal amount of disconnection associated with digital communication. Instantaneous uploading of pictures on sites specifically developed on an award, or ?like? system perpetuates the compulsivity of competition as it relates in this case specifically to body image. Individuals striving in restrictive ways to ?win? diet challenges with the added pressure of photos being made public have the capacity to create a self-inflicted, peer encouraged pressure systems that can lead to social isolation, depression, and exacerbated behaviors of EDNOS. Harvard Medical School compared the rates of eating disorders in urbanized regions who have access to social media, to regions of Fiji where as little as 8% of households owned a television and determined those exposed to social media increased their risk of developing an eating disorder by 60%.

Health and fitness professionals have a unique challenge to promote an environment that is proactive in advocating for the wellness of athletes over which they have stewardship. They have a responsibility to provide sensitivity, confidentiality, and support to achieve productive outcomes (?Eating Disorders in Athletes,? n.d.). Eating disorders usually start with an attempt to lose weight- essentially to ?diet.? The impetus often occurs at the times in the individual?s life when they are confronted with issues they find difficult (Newell, 2010, p. 21). Coaches and fitness professionals can mitigate risks by being mindful to emphasize performance over physical appearance and avoid promoting restrictive eating strategies such as ?Paleo Challenges.? Also, limiting revealing clothing is preferred as it has the propensity to exacerbate eating disorder behaviors in athletes and promote insecurity surrounding body dissatisfaction. Avoiding self taken ?selfie? photographs of abdominal regions, and correlating images of extremely low body fat with success in CrossFit is highly discouraged. Understanding and respecting the fragility of the athletes and clients of whose fitness lives and habits are being molded is encouraged among fitness professionals and CrossFit Coaches. Prevention and early intervention by increasing self-awareness may not be enough to solve complex psychosocial problems but it will undoubtedly prevent further harm.

Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness at 20% (Newell, 2010, p. 20). Health and fitness professionals play a vital role in creating cultural sensitivity in such a critical market. Expanding resource intelligence when situations exceed the scope of qualification is also of key importance. Being mindful of what types of conversations and actions are taking place in gyms and affiliates surrounding dieting and body image, and demonstrating prudence in relation to photos that are chosen to represent facilities on social networking sites is imperative for exhibiting exemplary professionalism.

For more information on Eating disorders and the role of Health and Fitness professionals please visit the National Eating Disorders website. https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/

References

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders (4th ed.). (2000). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

Eating Disorders in Athletes [Blog post]. (n.d.). Retrieved from Eating Recovery Center website: http://www.eatingrecoverycenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Eating-Disorders-in-Athletes-Flyer-for-Website-2.pdf

Johnson, C., Powers, P.S., & Dick, R. (1999). Athletes and Eating Disorders: The National Collegiate Athletic Association Study. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 26, 179-188.

Newell, C. (2010). Early recognition of eating disorders. Practice Nurse, 39, 20-25.

Program Design Supporting Emerging Eating Disorder Pathology in Children and Adolescents. (2011). The Road to Recovery, 1(4).

Scherag, S., Hebebrand, J., & Hinney, A. (2010). Eating Disorders: the current status of molecular genetic research. European Child & Adolecent Psychiatry, 19(3), 211-226.

Snell, L., Crowe, M., & Jordan, J. (2010). Maintaining a therapeutic connection: nursing in an inpatient eating disorder unit. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 19, 351-358.

Tantillo, M., PhD, RN, CS FAED, & Sanftner, J., PhD. (2010). Measuring Perceived Mutuality in Women With Eating Disorders: The Development of the Connection-Disconnection Scale. Journal of Nursing Measurement, 18, 100-119.

Weiner, K., M.D., FAED, CEDS. (2012, July 3). Eating Disorders in Athletes. Retrieved February 11, 2013, from Huffington Post website: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kenneth-l-weiner-md-faed-ceds/eating-disorders-athletes_b_1643383.html

Weiner, K., M.D., FAED, CEDS. (2013, January 14). Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS) Explained. Retrieved February 11, 2013, from Huffington Post website: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kenneth-l-weiner-md-faed-ceds/ednos_b_2317325.html

Wendy Spin

Wendy is a coach and trainer at CrossFit Frontier in Cheyenne, WY. She is also a wildland firefighter, nursing student, blogger, and advocate for those who have struggled with eating disorders and addiction.

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Source: http://www.wodtalk.com/2013/03/19/recognizing-eating-disorders-in-athletes/

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Goldstone radar snags images of asteroid 2013 ET

Mar. 19, 2013 ? A sequence of radar images of asteroid 2013 ET was obtained on March 10, 2013, by NASA scientists using the 230-foot (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, Calif., when the asteroid was about 693,000 miles (1.1 million kilometers) from Earth, which is 2.9 lunar distances.

The radar imagery suggests the irregularly shaped object is at least 130 feet (40 meters) wide. The 18 radar images were taken over a span of 1.3 hours. During that interval, the asteroid completed only a fraction of one rotation, suggesting that it rotates once every few hours.

The radar observations were led by scientists Marina Brozovic and Lance Benner of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Radar is a powerful technique for studying an asteroid's size, shape, rotation state, surface features and surface roughness, and for improving the calculation of asteroid orbits. Radar measurements of asteroid distances and velocities often enable computation of asteroid orbits much further into the future than if radar observations weren't available.

NASA detects, tracks and characterizes asteroids and comets passing close to Earth using both ground- and space-based telescopes. The Near-Earth Object Observations Program, commonly called "Spaceguard," discovers these objects, characterizes a subset of them, and plots their orbits to determine if any could be potentially hazardous to our planet.

JPL manages the Near-Earth Object Program Office for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

More information about asteroids and near-Earth objects is at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch. More information about asteroid radar research is at: http://echo.jpl.nasa.gov/. More information about the Deep Space Network is at: http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn.

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/KYP3jhfZXMM/130319111054.htm

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Jawbone UP companion app now available for Android

Until today the Jawbone UP has been an iOS only affair if you want to take advantage of the mobile aspect, but that has changed with the release of the Android companion app. If you're not familiar with the device, it tracks sleeping and exercise habits, and when mated with your smartphone the companion application allows users to keep track of their diet as well, making it an all around fitness and health system.

The app has just now gone live in the Play Store for users to download, so head to the link at the top of this post to take a look.

Via: Engadget

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/EspYq6HaB8A/story01.htm

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Behind the oil boom lurks oil well depletion

Recent oil discoveries sound large, Cobb writes, but, when put into the context of how much we consume, they won?t extend the oil age by much. Current oil wells are constantly being depleted.

By Kurt Cobb,?Guest blogger / March 18, 2013

A mixture of oil, diesel fuel, water and mud sprays as roughnecks wrestle pipe on a True Company oil drilling rig outside Watford, N.D. Production from "tight oil" wells has risen, Cobb writes, but not enough to offset declines elsewhere.

Jim Urquhart/Reuters/File

Enlarge

With the media awash in stories telling us how much oil is being discovered around the world, there is one word which the optimists quoted in these stories refuse to utter: Depletion.

Skip to next paragraph Resource Insights

Kurt Cobb?is the author of the peak-oil-themed thriller, 'Prelude,' and a columnist for the Paris-based science news site Scitizen.?He is a founding member of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas?USA, and he serves on the board of the Arthur Morgan Institute for Community Solutions. For more of his Resource Insights posts, click?here.

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The simple fact is that depletion never sleeps. It starts as soon as an oil well begins production and goes on 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Furthermore, it is not exactly news that oil is being discovered all around the world. The industry has been spending record amounts to find it.

What?s critical is the difference between the annual additions to oil production capacity and the annual decline in the rate of production from existing wells, a decline which is running anywhere from 4 to 9 percent depending on whom you talk to.

Even at the low end of decline rate estimates, the world must find and put into production the equivalent of what is currently coming out of the entire North Sea, one the world?s largest finds, and we must do so EVERY SINGLE YEAR before worldwide production can rise. So difficult has this task become, that we?ve only just been able to keep global production on?a bumpy plateau since 2005. For now, the oil industry is on a treadmill which requires ever more drilling just to keep production even.?

The American Spectator : Legal Feeding Frenzy

It?s not news that countless bogus lawsuits are filed in this country every year. What?s less well known is that because of obscure procedural rules, even the most self-evidently absurd lawsuits typically cost blameless defendants plenty of money, time, and anguish before any judge even considers whether to throw them out.

Take the angry man who sued a Washington, D.C. cleaner for $67 million in 2007 for allegedly losing a pair of his pants. The damage claim was obviously absurd. In a sensible system the judge would have tossed it out without dragging the cleaner into court or forcing him to hire a lawyer. Indeed, the plaintiff never even proved that the cleaner had lost his pants. But the courts kept the case alive for more than two years of legal wrangling, at a reported cost of over $100,000 in legal fees to the store?s struggling Korean-born owners.

Or take the prison inmate who sued the owners of Arm & Hammer in federal court for $425 million for failing to warn that it?s illegal to mix their baking soda with cocaine to make crack. Before that one was dismissed in 2004, the defendant had to pay a big law firm tens of thousands of dollars to prepare responses.

Fighting a lawsuit can be costlier than settling out of court. Entrepreneurial plaintiffs? lawyers know this, so they bring lawsuits that have no real chance of winning in order to extract thousands or sometimes millions of dollars from beleaguered defendants, who pay up simply to make the problem go away.

A 2004?Stanford Law Review study of employment discrimination suits, for example, concluded that although ?many employers simply detest settling frivolous cases,? it ?almost always makes good business sense to settle a case for $4,000.? Especially when the alternatives are to pay as much as $10,000 to defend at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, at least $75,000 to seek summary judgment in federal court, or between $125,000 and $500,000 to defend at trial.

This perverse logic applies to governments, too. Between 2007 and 2011, New York City jail inmates and their lawyers won $111 million in more than 8,000 lawsuits against the Department of Corrections, according to a New York Post report. That includes $35 million paid to settle a class-action lawsuit claiming corrections officers illegally strip-searched those arrested for misdemeanors.

Lawsuits can snowball to include hundreds or thousands of parties. In a tort extravaganza in northeast Texas, after the Lone Star Steel mill shut down, 3,000 former employees sued more than 500 of the company?s suppliers. Some of Lone Star?s former employees were sick with what the lawsuit called ?chemical AIDS,? and others might someday become so. The enterprising lawyers behind the case charged that unspecified substances the suppliers sent to the plant created a toxic cloud, according to a 1996?Texas Monthly report. ?The chemical fog would creep in ever so quietly on little cats? feet, do its damage to the unsuspecting worker, and just as silently disappear,? the suit read. But everyone was pulled into the legal maelstrom, even firms that had sold the plant felt-tip markers, folding tables, ordinary gasoline, and hand soap.

Texas Monthly reported that Sam Fowler, a healthy worker who received about $22,000 from settlements, didn?t exactly offer a stunning indictment when deposed: ?I heard that they were getting a suit up about stuff that we had breathed out here at the plant, and I figured I had been out there thirty-seven years and I breathed about everything everybody else breathed, and so I wanted to get in on the party.?

A sensible legal system would have thrown out the claims against most of these defendants without requiring them to respond. Instead, the law firm won more than $90 million in settlements without ever making a plausible case against most (if any) of the defendants.

Here?s my own story: I paid thousands of dollars about six years ago to rid my daughter and myself of a frivolous $200,000 lawsuit filed by her landlord for nonexistent damage to the landlord?s property. The only alternative was to pay thousands more in legal fees, deposition transcripts, and the like, while wasting countless hours of our own time. Learned Hand, one of our greatest judges, was not far off when he wrote that ?as a litigant, I should dread a lawsuit beyond almost anything else short of sickness and death.?

ONE OF THE REASONS for such litigation horror stories is that federal and state civil court rules delegate to private individuals the governmental power to issue an official court summons. Anyone can, with little more than a court filing fee, require anyone else to respond to any charges?no matter how far-fetched?without even having a judge read them, let alone find them to be legitimate and in good faith.

This is very bad policy. It is also raises constitutional problems. In an article for the Florida Law Review last year, E. Donald Elliott, a longtime Yale law professor and former EPA general counsel, now a corporate attorney at Covington & Burling, calls the rules?in particular Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4?a ?strange departure from our usual approach of requiring safeguards against abuse of governmental power.?

The laws are supposed to protect us from the arbitrary exercise of government power, especially by those seeking to harass us or to enrich themselves at our expense. In the criminal justice system and many other contexts, the laws do protect against delegation of power to people seeking money from us.

FBI agents and cops cannot (absent exigent circumstances) search your home, for example, or summon you to face criminal charges unless a judge or magistrate has issued a warrant finding that there is evidence implicating you in possible wrongdoing.

But civil lawsuits are another story. Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, anyone who pays $350 to file a complaint against you can unilaterally command you?by presenting a summons to the court clerk, who must sign it?to ?appear and defend? or face ?a default judgment?for the relief demanded in the complaint.?

Source: http://spectator.org/archives/2013/03/18/legal-feeding-frenzy

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Highly effective communities of bacteria in the world's deepest oceanic trench

Monday, March 18, 2013

An international research team announces the first scientific results from one of the most inaccessible places on Earth: the bottom of the Mariana Trench located nearly 11 kilometers below sea level in the western Pacific, which makes it the deepest site on Earth.

Their analyses document that a highly active bacteria community exists in the sediment of the trench - even though the environment is under extreme pressure almost 1,100 times higher than at sea level.

In fact, the trench sediments house almost 10 times more bacteria than in the sediments of the surrounding abyssal plain at much shallower water depth of 5-6 km water.

Deep sea trenches are hot spots

Deep sea trenches act as hot spots for microbial activity because they receive an unusually high flux of organic matter, made up of dead animals, algae and other microbes, sourced from the surrounding much shallower sea-bottom. It is likely that some of this material becomes dislodged from the shallower depths during earthquakes, which are common in the area. So, even though deep sea trenches like the Mariana Trench only amount to about two percent of the World Ocean area, they have a relatively larger impact on marine carbon balance - and thus on the global carbon cycle, says Professor Ronnie Glud from Nordic Center for Earth Evolution at the University of Southern Denmark.

Ronnie Glud and researchers from Germany (HGF-MPG Research Group on Deep-Sea Ecology and Technology of the Max Planck Institute in Bremen and Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven), Japan (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology), Scotland (Scottish Association for Marine Science) and Denmark (University of Copenhagen), explore the deepest parts of the oceans, and the team's first results from these extreme environments are today published in the widely recognized international journal Nature Geoscience.

Diving robot

One of the team's methods was to measure the distribution of oxygen into these trench sediments as this can be related to the activity of microbes in the sediments. It is technically and logistically challenging to perform such measurements at great depths, but it is necessary in order to get accurate data on rates of bacterial activity. "If we retrieve samples from the seabed to investigate them in the laboratory, many of the microorganisms that have adapted to life at these extreme conditions will die, due to the changes in temperature and pressure. Therefore, we have developed instruments that can autonomously perform preprogrammed measuring routines directly on the seabed at the extreme pressure of the Marianas Trench", says Ronnie Glud. The research team has, together with different companies, designed the underwater robot which stands almost 4 m tall and weighs 600 kg. Among other things, the robot is equipped with ultrathin sensors that are gently inserted into the seabed to measure the distribution of oxygen at a high spatial resolution.

"We have also made videos from the bottom of the Mariana Trench, and they confirm that there are very few large animals at these depths. Rather, we find a world dominated by microbes that are adapted to function effectively at conditions highly inhospitable to most higher organisms", says Ronnie Glud.

The remaining "white spots"

The expedition of the Mariana Trench took place in 2010. Since then, the research team has sent their underwater robot to the bottom of the Japan Trench which is approximately 9 km deep, and later this year they are planning a dive in the world's second deepest trench, the 10.8 kilometers deep Kermadec-Tonga Trench near Fiji in the Pacific.

"The deep sea trenches are some of the last remaining "white spots" on the world map. We know very little about what is going on down there or which impact the deep sea trenches have on the global carbon cycle as well as climate regulation. Furthermore, we are very interested in describing and understanding the unique bacterial communities that thrive in these exceptional environments. Data from multiple deep sea trenches will allow us to find out how the general conditions are at extreme depths, but also the specific conditions for each particular trench ? that may experience very different deposition regimes. This will contribute to our general understanding of Earth and its development, says Ronnie Glud.

###

See the article "High rate of microbial carbon turnover in sediments in the deepest oceanic trench on Earth" in Nature Geoscience.

Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/NGEO1773

University of Southern Denmark: http://www.sdu.dk/

Thanks to University of Southern Denmark 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/127333/Highly_effective_communities_of_bacteria_in_the_world_s_deepest_oceanic_trench

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Gas prices up slightly in Ohio as work week begins

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Ohio drivers are seeing a bump in gas prices at the pump compared with a week ago.

A gallon of regular gas in Ohio was listed at an average of $3.67 in Monday's survey from auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. That's 9 cents more than last Monday's average of $3.58.

The national average for regular gas is almost $3.69 per gallon, down about a cent compared with a week ago.

The price of oil slid Monday as investors grew worried about possible fallout from a plan to pay for a bailout for cash-strapped Cyprus by slapping a tax on deposits in the country's banks.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gas-prices-slightly-ohio-week-145204466.html

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The GOP Is The Creature From Palin Island (OliverWillisLikeKryptoniteToStupid)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/291776821?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Guatemala court approved extradition of ex-president to US

JURIST serves as both a professional legal publication and an excellent vehicle for legal education for its readers and staffers. . . . JURIST [is] one of the most innovative and valuable publications in the legal field right now. ?[ more ]

Dwyer Arce - Pitt Law 2012 and former Managing Editor

Source: http://jurist.org/thisday/2013/03/guatemala-court-approved-extradition-of-ex-president-to-us.php

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Gunmen kill 6 at bar in Mexico resort town of Cancun

By Isela Serrano, Elinor Comlay and Mohammad Zargham, Reuters

MEXICO CITY -- Two men armed with a machine gun and a handgun opened fire in a bar on the outskirts of the Mexican tourist resort of Cancun on Thursday, killing six people and wounding five, the office of the state's attorney general said.

Cancun, a major tourist destination on Mexico's Caribbean coast, has largely escaped the drug-related violence that has racked Acapulco, a faded tourist hot spot on the Pacific coast.

Last month, six Spanish women were raped by hooded gunmen who forced their way into the Acapulco beach house the women had rented.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has vowed to reduce the violence that soared after his predecessor, Felipe Calderon, launched an assault on drug cartels.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico since 2007.

Related:

6 arrested in Acapulco tourists' rape

PhotoBlog: Church bricks up windows, installs warning system amid Mexico violence

Slideshow: Narco culture permeates Mexico, leaks across border

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/16/17335592-gunmen-kill-6-at-bar-in-mexico-resort-town-of-cancun-5-wounded?lite

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The novel resurgence of independent bookstores

Defying the onslaught of the e-book revolution, many small bookshops see a rise in sales, aided by savvy business practices and the 'buy local' movement.?

By Yvonne Zipp,?Correspondent / March 17, 2013

Tammy Heupel (l.) sits with her son, Johann, and Annie Philbrick, owner of Bank Square Books in Mystic, Conn. This is the cover story in the Mar. 18 issue of The Christian Science MonitorWeekly.

Ann Hermes/The Christian Science Monitor

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Last October, when superstorm Sandy ripped through Connecticut, it flooded Bank Square Books in Mystic. Owner Annie Philbrick recalls walking inside to the smell of the ocean and a soaking wet carpet.

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She and her staff had moved everything as high as they could before the storm, but water and paper are a disastrous combination. With no power to turn on pumps or fans, Ms. Philbrick was in danger of losing her stock of more than 30,000 books.

She put out an update on her Facebook page: We have to get these books out of here or we're going to lose them all. The volunteers started arriving. Philbrick's neighbors and customers helped the staff load 400 packing crates of books ? enough to fill two Mayflower moving vans.

After the walls and floors had been repaired, more volunteers showed up to carry the books back inside the store. They loaded cards on spinner racks, dropped off cookies, and cleaned the windows and the floor. A PayPal Sandy Relief Fund raised $7,000 ? enough for Philbrick to pay the movers and her staff.

The Heupels ? Eric, Tammy, and their 12-year-old son, Johann ? arrived to help the shop where Johann has attended "story time" since he was 3. Eric took a day off work to ferry crates, while Tammy and Johann volunteered for a week, alphabetizing and organizing stock.

"We were worried that if it took too long, it would be too damaging to their sales and they might not open at all," says Tammy.

Not to worry. Three weeks after superstorm Sandy, on Nov. 16 at 11 a.m., Bank Square Books reopened for business. "We couldn't have done it without the help of our community," says Philbrick. "It was pretty incredible."

That community support is by no means unique to Bank Square Books, and it may be the secret ingredient behind a quiet resurgence of independent bookstores, which were supposed to go the way of the stone tablet ? done in first by the national chains, then Amazon, and then e-books.

A funny thing happened on the way to the funeral.

While beloved bookstores still close down every year, sales at independent bookstores overall are rising, established independents are expanding, and new ones are popping up from Brooklyn to Big Stone Gap, Va. Bookstore owners credit the modest increases to everything from the shuttering of Borders to the rise of the "buy local" movement to a get-'er-done outlook among the indies that would shame Larry the Cable Guy. If they have to sell cheesecake or run a summer camp to survive, add it to the to-do list.

"2012 was the year of the bookstore," says Wendy Welch, co-owner of Tales of the Lonesome Pine in Virginia and author of the 2012 memoir "The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap." In her memoir, she recounts how she and her husband, Jack Beck, created ? sometimes despite themselves ? a successful used-book store in a town that, by any business measure, is too small to support one.

"Jack and I will never be rich. But we found a place where people said there wasn't a market and we said 'yes there was,' " says Ms. Welch. "We feel like it's important for bookslingers to hang together ? we'll hang together or we'll hang separately.... And we're holding the line."

Sales at independent bookstores rose about 8 percent in 2012 over 2011, according to a survey by the American Booksellers Association (ABA). This growth was all the more remarkable since the sales of the national chain Barnes & Noble were so tepid. "I think the worst days of the independents are behind them," says Jim Milliot, coeditorial director for Publishers Weekly magazine. "The demise of traditional print books has been a bit overblown. Everybody is a little anxious, but they are starting to think they've figured it out for the time being."

1?|?2?|?3?|?4?|?5

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/Bu4q5-oys88/The-novel-resurgence-of-independent-bookstores

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County's proposed ordinance on Pine Island golf carts

?BikeWalkLee is pleased that the draft county ordinance on golf carts on Pine Island would ban their use by all users on all bike/ped facilities. We'll keep you posted re: when the BoCC will vote on the proposal.

Background: ? Last year the Pine Island community recommended to BoCC that they permit golf carts on roads and shared use paths on Pine Island (with some exceptions and restrictions).? BikeWalkLee issued a policy statement on the issue last year. After legal review of the issue by the County Attorney's office and LeeDOT, a draft ordinance was made available this week which proposes allowing golf carts on a list of designated roads on Pine Island (excluding most of Pine Island Road and Stringfellow Rd.).? Most importantly, the draft ordinance prohibits golf carts on bike/ped facilities, and states "No person may operate golf carts on any bicycle paths, shared-use paths, or sidewalks on Pine Island."

A date for a public hearing by the BoCC on the draft ordinance has not yet been scheduled, but we'll keep you posted.? When the meeting is scheduled, the draft ordinance and a staff briefing paper with recommendations (bluesheet) will be posted online.

Here's the link to a story that was reported on NBC-2 News on March 14th:

Golf carts are a common sight on Pine Island; but driving them on county roads is illegal. Thursday, Lee County commissioners got their first look at an ordinance to change that.

Pine Island resident Butch Cleveringa says he loves driving his golf cart for a number of reasons.
"It's open air, it's saving gas, it's more like a recreational vehicle," he said.

But technically, he could be ticketed by law enforcement for taking his relaxing drives.
A draft of a new Lee County ordinance could change the rules - allowing golf carts on designated roads on Pine Island.

"There are golf carts permissible on a lot of islands out here, so I think it's a good deal for everybody," Cleveringa said.

Not everyone agrees.
"I'm not opposed to golf carts for anybody's use; but on busy streets and subdivisions where there's traffic and cars, it could pose a problem," said Pine Island resident Frank Galardi.

Drivers and passengers on golf carts would have to adhere to all rules of the road with one exception - a golf cart is defined as a vehicle that can't go faster than 20 miles per hour.
The speed limit in downtown St. James city is 35 mph.

"There's a place for golf carts, there's a place for bicyclists, there's a place for cars - that's the way I look at it," said Galardi.

No special paths would be built and golf carts would be banned from multi-use and bicycle lanes.

Drivers must also have a valid driver's license and the recreation vehicles wouldn't be allowed out at night.

But Galardi says that doesn't solve all the problems.

"You've got insurance problems. What if they hit you, you hit them - what do you do?" he asked.
Cleveringa says he agrees that all of those scenarios are possible.
"You can run into things, you can hurt somebody or something - we're very conscious of that and careful," he said.

The ordinance will go to a public hearing before commissioners take a final vote. No dates have been set.

If approved golf carts would only be allowed on certain roads on Pine Island and not in Matlacha.

Click here for a complete list of those designated roads.

Source: http://bikewalklee.blogspot.com/2013/03/countys-proposed-ordinance-on-pine.html

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RolePlayGateway?

Hi, Your friendly neighborhood Create_Something here. I'm in search of, you guessed it, a long term RPing partner, whether it be for 1x1s or to collaborate ideas for small group RPs.

So first, a little about me and what I'm looking for in my partner. Please bare with me, I've never been good at these 'about me' things:
? Decent punctuation, everyone makes mistakes, including me, I just ask you do your best with proper grammar and spelling.
? Nothing less than a paragraph, please. I believe in quality over quantity, but even with that concept in place, there is no reason to post anything less than a paragraph. Even during my most writers block plagued days, I will at least post a paragraph. I ask you do the same.
? I'm pleasantly candid, don't be afraid to be the same. I'm always open to suggestions and critiques, and I try to compromise so that we're both having fun. If you're looking for a certain type of character to compliment or play opposite yours, I'll do my best to suit your needs. So don't be afraid to ask or suggest, and if I'm not diggin' it, I'll just say so. No harm, no foul, I expect the same from you.
? I suck at codes, if you haven't noticed already, please me patient with me.
? I prefer to play female characters, but I have been known to try a male on for size (minds outta the gutters please).
? Since my RPs tend to have adult content (language, violence and suggestive sexual situations) I' need my partner to be of age.
? I try to stay active, posting at least 2 - 3 times a week, sometimes multiple times in a day. Again, I ask the same, if you need to disappear into the world out yonder, just give me a heads up. There's nothing worse than just being left high and dry with no word. Actually, it quite pisses me off, I hope it does everyone.

I will NOT do a high school genre. I don't mind a school being present and important in the storyline, but I will not do the whole Twilight/Super hero/ Harry Potter high school thing. Its over played and has run out of its luster long ago. I'm a big fan of drama, conflict, action( in moderation), violence and twisted dark situations. Romance is okay as long as it's not forced, no love at first sight, for example. I enjoy scifi, modern fantasy and horror. I might be into some realism if its mafia or crime based, never really gave it a go. I'll do fandoms if I'm familiar with them, if not you'll have to explain the whole concept to me. Fandoms I love include Supernatural, Doll House, Push, and X-Men (or super being genre).

Like I said, I'm game and will try something if it's interesting enough. I have no specific plots in mind, so hit me up and lets collaborate.

CS

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/RolePlayGateway

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Oil and natural gas end the week higher

Natural gas and oil ended the week with solid gains, with one boosted by forecasts for colder temperatures and the other by signs that U.S. manufacturing is heating up.

The price of natural gas rose 6 cents, or 1.6 percent, to finish at $3.87 per 1,000 cubic feet. It gained nearly 7 percent for the week, boosted mainly by forecasts for cold temperatures in many gas-consuming regions through the end of the month. Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates, said in a note to clients that he expects natural gas to make "a run at the $4 mark early next week" assuming no change in weather forecasts.

The price of oil rose 42 cents to end at $93.45 per barrel. It was up $1.50, or 1.6 percent, for the week on signs of improvement in the U.S. job market and manufacturing sector. On Friday the government said a strong increase in auto output boosted U.S. factory production by a seasonally-adjusted 0.8 percent last month.

Brent crude, used to price many kinds of oil imported by U.S. refineries, gained 86 cents to finish at $109.82 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Experts said Brent's rise was due partly to reports of lower oil exports from Iran ? which is enduring sanctions from Western powers because of its nuclear program ? and expectations about aggravated geopolitical tensions in the Middle East related to the upcoming visit to Israel by President Barack Obama.

A weaker dollar was also supporting oil prices, making crude cheaper for traders using other currencies. On Friday the euro was up at $1.3057 from $1.3010 late Thursday.

At the pump, the average price for gas dipped to $3.695 a gallon. That's about 12 cents cheaper than a year ago,

In other energy futures trading on the Nymex:

? Wholesale gasoline added 2 cents to end at $3.16 a gallon.

? Heating oil rose 1 cent to finish at $2.94 a gallon.

___

Pamela Sampson in Bangkok and Pablo Gorondi in Budapest contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-03-15-Oil-Prices/id-ddd6434227844511884c2addfeb8f9f2

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Colo. fire burns in warm weather, threatens homes

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) ? An 800-acre wildfire is burning near homes in northern Colorado amid gusty winds and warm weather and has prompted more than 50 people to leave the area.

The fire began Friday west of Fort Collins and is burning near the scene of a large wildfire last summer that burned 259 homes and killed one person.

Officials say no homes are immediately threatened, but they have issued a second round of evacuation orders. They haven't said how many people or homes are covered by the evacuations.

Some residents are being allowed back to their home to retrieve valuables and pets but are being warned not to stay.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Firefighters have controlled a second, smaller fire nearby.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/colo-fire-burns-warm-weather-threatens-homes-213204492.html

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Patent Trolls on the Hot Seat | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Today Congress heard overwhelming evidence about how patent trolls?companies that assert patents as a business model instead of creating products?are abusing the system to stifle innovation. At a hearing before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet, witness after witness testified about patent trolls who use the threat of ruinous defense costs to pressure companies into paying settlements on vague and overbroad patents. The Subcommittee also heard testimony about the disturbing trend of patent trolls targeting end-users?such as cafes providing Wi-Fi or businesses using standard office technology like scanners and email.

Janet Dhillon from J.C. Penney (which has the terrible misfortune of being located in the patent-troll-friendly Eastern District of Texas) explained that in the last four years her company has been hit with over two dozen patent lawsuits?all from patent trolls. It has been sued by trolls for such basic things as displaying catalog images and having drop down menus on its website. Before the rise of the patent troll, they had no patent litigation at all. That makes sense. After all, it is a clothing retailer, not a technology company.

Mark Chandler explained that Cisco spends $50 million every year on legal fees patent cases with nearly all of that budget going toward fighting trolls. He also told the Subcommittee about the patent troll Innovatio which has targeted more than 13,000 small businesses?such as cafes and hotels?for providing WiFi. Yes, that's right. For providing Wi-Fi.

John Boswell from SAS emphasized that, because shell company patent trolls don?t make any products and don?t have any witnesses, they face minimal litigation costs. At the same time, the troll can use the litigation process to impose enormous discovery costs on defendants to pressure settlement. Boswell did not hold back, calling patent trolls ?business terrorists.?

Pro-patent troll witness Graham Gerst of Global IP Law Group gamely tried to defend the business model, arguing that it helps fund innovation. This ignores the fact than that less than 2 percent of the costs imposed by patent trolls flows to inventors. The reality is that trolls cause massive damage for almost no gain. Thankfully, despite Gerst's best efforts, the Subcommittee seemed convinced that patent trolls are a serious problem.

EFF submitted our own written comments in advance of today's hearing. In those comments, we told Congress what we've said many times before: the patent system is broken, and that patent trolls are a symptom. We explained that the patent troll problem is a software patent problem:

Software patents are an attractive tool for patent trolls because they are notoriously difficult to interpret?giving unscrupulous patent owners the ability to claim that their patent covers a wide range of technology.
...
This escalation of patent troll litigation has been very costly. The research shows that ?NPE lawsuits are associated with half a trillion dollars of lost wealth to defendants from 1990 through 2010. During the last four years the lost wealth has averaged over $80 billion per year."

We also encouraged members of Congress to support the SHIELD Act, important legislation that would make life harder for patent trolls and easier for targets of those trolls who want to fight back. But it's not just EFF's support. As we said in our comments:

We have seen an overwhelming public response in support of the SHIELD Act and patent reform more generally. More than 12,000 people contacted their members of Congress through EFF?s website to support the Act. In addition, a coalition of entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators?including investor Mark Cuban and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian?joined EFF and Engine Advocacy in sending an open letter to the House Committee on the Judiciary explaining that patent trolls are chilling innovation, which in turn stifles job growth in the expanding tech sector.?

Finally, while we applaud the House Judiciary Committee for taking up the matter of patent trolls, we are disappointed by the lack of testimony from software engineers or smaller start-up companies. Of course, it is those individuals and small companies who often suffer the most?debilitating?harm from patent trolls. We'd also remind those in Congress what happened last time they forgot to "Bring in the Nerds"?we saw the spectacular defeat of the Stop Online Piracy Act.

Today's hearing was another example of the growing momentum for patent reform. Last month, President Obama called for reform to topple trolls. At EFF, we have proposed a number of reforms at Defend Innovation. Please check them out and give us your thoughts. We also urge you to support the SHIELD Act by contacting your representatives through our action alert.

Source: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/03/patent-trolls-hot-seat

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