Lew set to start at Treasury amid budget crisis

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Jacob Lew is scheduled to be sworn in Thursday as Treasury secretary and will have to hit the ground running.

He is taking over the job just a day before huge automatic government spending cuts are set to take effect. He's likely to be involved with any negotiations to reverse the cuts, and also in budget talks next month to continue funding the government.

The Senate confirmed Lew late Wednesday, affirming President Barack Obama's choice of a budget expert at a time when Congress and the White House are at odds over spending and taxes.

"At this critical time for our economy and our country, there is no one more qualified for this position than Jack," Obama said in a statement issued after the Senate vote. "His reputation as a master of fiscal issues who can work with leaders on both sides of the aisle has already helped him succeed in some of the toughest jobs in Washington."

The vote was 71 to 26 to support the nomination. Voting against Lew's confirmation were 25 Republicans and independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Lew, 57, had most recently served as Obama's chief of staff. He succeeds Timothy Geithner, who completed a tumultuous four-year term in which he helped lead the administration's response to the financial crisis and recession.

Lew began his government service in the 1980s as an aide to House Speaker Tip O'Neill. He brings nearly three decades of government service to the job, including two stints as White House budget director.

Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, who opposed the nomination, said Lew as budget director was the architect of the Obama's administration's failed efforts to get soaring deficits under control.

During his confirmation hearing, Lew signaled no major economic policy changes. He advocated a balanced approach to reducing the long-term budget deficit through spending cuts and additional tax revenue.

He said he would be open to reforms to Medicare, but he didn't spell out any details. Lew also said he would work with the committee on a rewrite of the tax code.

Beyond the budget, Lew is expected to hew closely to the positions Geithner struck on Europe's debt crisis, the U.S. relationship with China and the administration's defense of the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law that the banking industry has fought to weaken.

Some Republicans voted against Lew because they were not satisfied with his answers about his previous employment with Citigroup, including a brief time when he was chief operating officer for an investment unit in 2008. The unit has been criticized for making risky investments that imploded during the financial crisis. And Lew received a bonus of nearly $1 million in early 2009, a time when Citi was being bailed out by taxpayers.

Lew told the panel that he didn't make decisions about the investments being offered to clients. He said his bonus reflected compensation for his work.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, opposed Lew's nomination. He cited questions about his time at Citi, as well as Lew's compensation while working as chief operating officer at New York University.

"Mr. Lew's eagerness and skill in obtaining bonuses, severance payments, housing allowances and other perks raises concerns about whether he appreciates who pays the bills," Grassley said.

One potential weakness for Lew: His relative inexperience with financial markets and international economic crises ? areas that had played to Geithner's background. Analysts think Lew will keep pressuring Europe to deal aggressively with its budget and debt issues. But they think this will consume less of his time given that Europe's debt crisis now poses less of a threat to the global economy.

On trade, Lew is expected to keep prodding China. The U.S. trade gap with the world's second-largest economy hit another record high last year. No breakthrough is expected, though.

Lew will also need to calm investors who have grown concerned about possible currency wars after Japan's new government sought to lower the value of the yen as a way to boost exports and its weak economy. A weaker yen makes Japanese goods cheaper overseas and foreign goods costlier in Japan.

And Lew will need to defend the Dodd-Frank Act, which overhauled financial regulation after the 2008 crisis. Since the law was passed in 2010, Wall Street has fought to weaken many of its stricter regulations.

He may also need to work on his signature, which starts off with a soft "J'' but is followed by seven loopy scribbles that render it illegible. The Treasury secretary's signature is emblazoned in the lower right corner of U.S. dollar bills of all denominations.

When he announced Lew's nomination, Obama said Lew had promised to work to make one letter legible "in order not to debase our currency."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lew-set-start-treasury-budget-cuts-loom-090252492.html

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Sony to release "Annie" on Christmas Day 2014

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Sony will release "Annie," a new movie based on the iconic play, on Christmas Day of 2014, the studio announced on Wednesday.

Quvenzhane Wallis, fresh off an Oscar nomination for her performance in "Beasts of the Southern Wild," will star as young orphan who wins the heart of everyone around her. Willow Smith, the daughter of "Annie" producers Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, had been set to play that role, but opted out of the project.

Smith's Overbrook Entertainment is producing the film with Jay-Z's Marcy Media, while Will Gluck, who made "Easy A" and "Friends with Benefits" for Sony's ScreenGems imprint, will direct.

The story of "Annie" stems from Harold Gray's comic strip "Little Orphan Annie," which first appeared in 1927. Thomas Meehan, Martin Charnin ad Charles Strouse then adapted that into a Tony-winning Broadway show, featuring now legendary songs like "Tomorrow" and "It's the Hard-Knock Life." Jay-Z rapped his own version of the latter.

There have been various Broadway revivals, including a production now up on Broadway, as well as film adaptations. Will Smith announced his plans for a new spin on the tale in 2011.

Though still almost two years away, the holiday schedule for 2014 is starting to fill up with sequels and spin-offs. "Night at the Museum 3," "Minions," an offshoot of the "Despicable Me" franchise, and the next "Avatar" are all tentatively slated for December of that year. Also set to open is "Tomorrowland," Disney's top secret project from "The Incredibles" director Brad Bird and "Lost" co-creator Damon Lindelof.

Almost all of those movies, two distributed by Fox, one by Universal, one by Disney and now one by Sony, will target a young audience.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sony-release-annie-christmas-day-2014-203355517.html

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Santa Cruz reeling after 2 police detectives killed in shootout ...

Santa Cruz was in mourning after two police detectives were killed in a shootout Tuesday.

The city's Police Department, which has less than 100 sworn officers, had operated for 150 years without losing a single one in the line of duty. Until Tuesday afternoon, when two veteran detectives in plainclothes walked up to Jeremy Goulet's house as part of a misdemeanor sexual assault investigation.

Sgt. Loran "Butch" Baker, 51, and Det. Elizabeth Butler, 38, were killed on Goulet's doorstep, Santa Cruz County Sheriff Phil Wowak said during a news conference near an impromptu memorial at police headquarters.

PHOTOS: Two Santa Cruz police officers killed

"We don't know all that happened when they came into contact with Goulet," said Wowak, whose department is leading the investigation so Santa Cruz police can mourn. "We do know what was left in the aftermath."

"Thank you for your service Santa Cruz Police Department. RIP Detective Baker. RIP Detective Butler." That's what Mary Gregg wrote in neat black letters on yellow construction paper, hanging her message in the window of the downtown check-cashing store where she works.

"Something," she felt, "had to be said today."

Best known for its surfing museum and a roller coaster that Bay Area newspaper columnist Herb Caen described as "one long shriek," Santa Cruz is not used to the kind of pain that rippled through town the day after a gunfight left two veteran detectives ? and the man they were investigating ? dead.

The 35-year-old Goulet, who had a long history of run-ins with the law, killed and disarmed the detectives before fleeing in Baker's car, Wowak said. Law enforcement officers from throughout the region began a sweep of the Santa Cruz neighborhood where Baker and Butler were slain. A short time later, Goulet ditched the car and tried to flee on foot.

In the ensuing gun battle, Wowak said, Goulet shot up a firetruck, sending firefighters, medical personnel and passersby scrambling. After killing the suspect, authorities discovered Goulet had been wearing body armor and had three guns.

"It is our belief that two of the three weapons belonged to the Santa Cruz Police Department, but we haven't confirmed it," said Wowak, adding that it was still unclear whether Goulet had taken the body armor from Baker's car or had it on before the shooting broke out.

"We know now that he was distraught," the sheriff said. "We know now that he had the intention of harming himself and possibly the police. ...?There's no doubt in anyone's mind that the officers who engaged Goulet stopped an imminent threat to the community."

Goulet had been arrested Friday on suspicion of disorderly conduct. Local news accounts said he had broken into the home of a co-worker and had been fired from his job at The Kind Grind coffeehouse Saturday. A manager at the beachfront shop declined to comment Wednesday.

According to Goulet's father, the barista ? who recently had moved from Berkeley to Santa Cruz ? was a ticking time bomb who held police and the justice system in deep contempt. Ronald Goulet, 64, told the Associated Press that his son had had numerous run-ins with the law and had sworn he would never go back to jail.

But the elder Goulet said he never thought his troubled son would turn to such violence.

Goulet said his son undermined any success he had in the military (he reportedly was a member of the Marine Corps Reserves and later the Army) or college because of an insatiable desire to peep in the windows of women as they showered or dressed.

"He's got one problem, peeping in windows," his father said. "I asked him, 'Why don't you just go to a strip club?' He said he wants a good girl that doesn't know she's being spied on, and said he couldn't stop doing it."

In 2008, a Portland, Ore., jury convicted Jeremy Goulet on misdemeanor counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and invasion of personal privacy after he peeked into a woman's bathroom as she showered, said Don Rees, a chief deputy district attorney in Multnomah County.

Goulet faced additional charges, including attempted murder, after he allegedly fired a gun at the woman's boyfriend. The two had fought after Goulet was spotted outside the woman's condo, but a jury acquitted him of those charges, Rees said.

During the trial, Goulet admitted that he liked to use his cellphone to record unsuspecting women undressing, according to the Oregonian newspaper. Prosecutors alleged he had peeped at women "hundreds of times" without getting caught.

Goulet was given three years' probation, Rees said, but spent time in jail after his probation was revoked.

As law enforcement officials Wednesday released new details of the unprecedented police killings, residents struggled to come to terms with what they said was the latest in a spate of high-profile acts of violence.

Earlier this month, a 21-year-old woman was beaten and raped while walking on the campus of UC Santa Cruz. Just days earlier, a UC Santa Cruz student had been shot in the head during a robbery at a bus stop on the city's west side. And a few weeks ago, a young man was gunned down in front of the Red Room, a popular downtown nightspot

Denise Paris Shaw, 58, has lived in Santa Cruz her entire life. Four generations of her family have graduated from Santa Cruz High School. Butler and Baker's deaths, she said, were "the most devastating thing I've seen."

Shaw's husband, Michael, was driving not far from Goulet's residence when the shootings began. Denise, a retired special education teacher, was home following the unfolding violence on television. The first thing she did was call her husband and say: "Two officers have been shot. You need to get home right now. The suspect is on the loose."

The more she watched, the more worried she became. "I had a feeling it was bad," she said, "when EMTs went in with two gurneys and came out with two gurneys and they were empty."

The Shaws keep an altar in their living room, dedicated to people they know who have died. Michael's father was a sheriff's lieutenant 50 years ago. When Michael got home, they put his father's badge on the altar. They lit a candle. And Michael began to sob.

On Wednesday, Denise Shaw brought a bouquet of red and white roses to the makeshift memorial at police headquarters. She laid it alongside the chocolate-filled hearts, candles and handwritten notes. She listened as local officials gave voice to the city's grief.

"They weren't just officers," Mayor Hilary Bryant said of Baker and Butler. "They were our friends. Our neighbors. They had families in our schools."

Police Chief Kevin Vogel, trembling and close to tears, said: "Today is one of the darkest days in the history of the department.

"We're having a tough time with this. We're doing the best job that we know how. It's been devastating. There are absolutely no words for me to describe what this department is going through."

He paused. And remembered one more thing he had to do.

"This is going to be hard," he said. Then he held up photographs of the slain officers, his detectives, his friends.

His hands shook.

ALSO:

Suspects allegedly kidnap man, force him to drive to strip club

Santa Cruz killings: Gunman took officers? weapons, police say

Gunman who killed 2 Santa Cruz cops wore body armor, police say

-- Lee Romney in Santa Cruz and Maria LaGanga in San Francisco

Photo: Sky Hall leaves flowers in front of the Santa Cruz Police Department on Wednesday at a memorial for two police detectives who were killed Tuesday. Suspect Jeremy Goulet, 35, was shot and killed by officers. Credit: Thomas Mendoza / Associated Press

Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2013/02/santa-cruz-reeling-after-2-police-detectives-killed-in-shootout.html

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How did those dinosaurs get such long necks anyway?

A British study found that the 50-foot necks of sauropods, thought to be the largest land animals ever, were made mostly of air.

By Charles Choi,?LiveScience / February 25, 2013

Plant-eating dinosaurs called sauropods had the longest necks in the animal kingdom. Here an adult Brontomerus mother.

Francisco Gasc? under the direction of Mike Taylor and Matt Wedel

Enlarge

How did the largest of all dinosaurs evolve necks longer than any other creature that has ever lived? One secret: mostly hollow neck bones, researchers say.

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The?largest creatures?to ever walk the Earth were the long-necked, long-tailed dinosaurs known as the?sauropods. These vegetarians had by far the longest necks of any known animal. The dinosaurs' necks reached up to 50 feet (15 meters) in length, six times longer than that of the current world-record holder, the giraffe, and at least five times longer than those of any other animal that has lived on land.

"They were really stupidly, absurdly oversized," said researcher Michael Taylor, a vertebrate paleontologist at the University of Bristol in England. "In our feeble, modern world, we're used to thinking of elephants as big, but sauropods reached 10 times the size elephants do. They were the size of?walking whales."

Amazing necks

To find out how sauropod necks could get so long, scientists analyzed other long-necked creatures and compared sauropod anatomy with that of the dinosaurs' nearest living relatives, the birds and crocodilians.

"Extinct animals ? and living animals, too, for that matter ? are much more amazing than we realize," Taylor told LiveScience. "Time and again, people have proposed limits to possible animal sizes, like the five-meter (16-foot) wingspan that was supposed to be the limit for flying animals. And time and again, they've been blown away. We now know of flying pterosaurs with 10-meter (33-foot) wingspans. And these extremes are achieved by a startling array of anatomical innovations." [Image Gallery: 25 Amazing Ancient Beasts]

Among living animals, adult bull giraffes have the longest necks, capable of reaching about 8 feet (2.4 m) long. No other living creature exceeds half this length. For instance, ostriches typically have necks only about 3 feet (1 m) long.

When it comes to extinct animals, the largest land-living mammal of all time was the rhino-like creature?Paraceratherium, which had a neck maybe 8.2 feet (2.5 m) long. The flying reptiles known as pterosaurs could also have surprisingly long necks, such as?Arambourgiania, whose neck may have exceeded 10 feet (3 m).

The necks of the?Loch?Ness?Monster-like marine reptiles?known as plesiosaurs could reach an impressive 23 feet (7 m), probably because the water they lived in could support their weight. But these necks were still less than half the lengths of the longest-necked sauropods.

Sauropod secrets

In their study, Taylor and his colleagues found that the neck bones of sauropods possessed a number of traits that supported such long necks. For instance, air often made up 60 percent of these animals' necks, with some as light as birds' bones, making it easier to support long chains of the bones. The muscles, tendons and ligaments were also positioned around these vertebrae in a way that helped maximize leverage, making neck movements more efficient.

In addition, the dinosaurs' giant torsos and four-legged stances helped provide a stable platform for their necks. In contrast,?giraffes?have relatively small torsos, while ostriches have two-legged stances. [Image Gallery: Animals' Amazing Headgear]

Sauropods also had plenty of neck vertebrae, up to 19. In contrast, nearly all mammals have no more than seven, from mice to whales to giraffes, limiting how long their necks can get. (The only exceptions among mammals are sloths and aquatic mammals known as sirenians, such as manatees.)

Moreover, while pterosaur?Arambourgiania?had a relatively giant head with long, spear-like jaws that it likely used to help capture prey, sauropods had small, light heads that were easy to support. These?dinosaurs did not chew their meals, lacking even cheeks to store food in their mouths; they merely swallowed it, letting their guts break it down.

"Sauropod heads are essentially all mouth. The jaw joint is at the very back of the skull, and they didn't have cheeks, so they came pretty close to having Pac Man-Cookie Monster flip-top heads," researcher Mathew Wedel at the Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, Calif., told LiveScience.

"It's natural to wonder if the lack of chewing didn't, well, come back to bite them, in terms of digestive efficiency. But some recent work on?digestion?in large animals has shown that after about 3 days, animals have gotten all the nutrition they can from their food, regardless of particle size.

"And sauropods were so big that the food would have spent that long going through them anyway," Wedel said. "They could stop chewing entirely, with no loss of digestive efficiency."

What's a long neck good for?

Furthermore, sauropods and other dinosaurs probably could?breathe like birds, drawing fresh air through their lungs continuously, instead of having to breathe out before breathing in to fill their lungs with fresh air like mammals do. This may have helped sauropods get vital oxygen down their long necks to their lungs.

"The problem of breathing through a long tube is something that's very hard for mammals to do. Just try it with a length of garden hose," Taylor said.

As to why sauropods evolved such long necks, there are currently three theories. Some of the dinosaurs may have used their long necks to feed on high leaves, like giraffes do. Others may have used their necks to graze on large swaths of vegetation by sweeping the ground side to side like geese do. This helped them make the most out of every step, which would be a big deal for such heavy creatures.

Scientists have also suggested that long necks may have been sexually attractive, therefore driving the evolution of ever-longer necks; however, Taylor and his colleagues have found no evidence this was the case.

In the future, the researchers plan to delve even deeper into the mysteries of sauropod necks. For instance,?Apatosaurus, formerly known as?Brontosaurus, had "really sensationally strange neck vertebrae," Taylor said. The scientists suspect the necks of?Apatosaurus?were used for "combat between males ? fighting over women, of course."

Taylor and Wedel detailed their findings online Feb. 12 in the journal PeerJ.

Follow LiveScience on Twitter?@livescience. We're also on?Facebook?&?Google+.?

Copyright 2013?LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/Xrmad8eoAJ0/How-did-those-dinosaurs-get-such-long-necks-anyway

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Doubts Emerge on the Value of Very Low Cholesterol Levels

Image: frentusha /iStockphoto

From Nature magazine.

Soon after Joseph Francis learned that his levels of ?bad? LDL cholesterol sat at twice the norm, he discovered the short?comings of cholesterol-lowering drugs ? and of the clinical advice guiding their use. Francis, the director of clinical analysis and reporting at the Veterans Health Administration (VA) in Washington DC, started taking Lipitor (atorvastatin), a cholesterol-lowering statin and the best-selling drug in pharmaceutical history. His LDL plummeted, but still hovered just above a target mandated by clinical guidelines. Adding other medications had no effect, and upping the dose of Lipitor made his muscles hurt ? a rare side effect of statins, which can cause muscle breakdown.

So Francis pulled back to moderate Lipitor doses and decided that he could live with his high cholesterol. Later, he learned that other patients were being aggressively treated by doctors chasing stringent LDL targets. But Francis found the science behind the target guidelines to be surprisingly ambiguous. ?You couldn?t necessarily say lowering LDL further was going to benefit the patient,? he says.

The standard advice may soon change. For the first time in more than a decade, the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute is revising the clinical guidelines that shaped Francis?s treatment (see ?How low can you go??). Expected to be released later this year, the fourth set of guidelines, called ATP IV, has been drawn up by an expert panel of 15 cardiologists appointed by the institute. The guidelines will set the tone for clinical practice in the United States and beyond, and will profoundly influence pharmaceutical markets. They will also reflect the growing debate over cholesterol targets, which have never been directly tested in clinical trials.

Since 2002, when ATP III called on doctors to push LDL levels below set targets, the concept of low cholesterol has become synonymous with heart health. Patients brag about their cholesterol scores, physicians joke about adding statins to drinking water, and some hospitals reward doctors when patients hit cholesterol targets.

In 2011, US doctors wrote nearly 250 million prescriptions for cholesterol-lowering drugs, creating a US$18.5-billion market, according to IMS Health, a health-care technology and information company based in Danbury, Connecticut. ?The drug industry in particular is very much in favour of target-based measures,? says Joseph Drozda, a cardiologist and director of outcomes research at Mercy Health in Chesterfield, Missouri. ?It drives the use of products.?

ATP III reflected a growing consensus among physicians that sharply lowering cholesterol would lessen the likelihood of heart attacks and strokes, says Richard Cooper, an epidemiologist at the Loyola University of Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in Illinois, who served on the committee that compiled the guidelines. The committee drew heavily on clinical data, but also took extrapolations from basic research and post hoc analyses of clinical trials. LDL targets were set to be ?less than? specific values to send a message, Cooper says. ?We didn?t want to explicitly say ?the lower the better? because there wasn?t evidence for that,? he says. ?But everybody had the strong feeling that was the correct answer.?

By contrast, the ATP IV committee has pledged to hew strictly to the science and to focus on data from randomized clinical trials, says committee chairman Neil Stone, a cardiologist at Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago. If so, Krumholz argues, LDL targets will be cast aside because they have never been explicitly tested. Clinical trials have shown repeatedly that statins reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, but lowering LDL with other medications does not work as well. The benefits of statins may reflect their other effects on the body, including fighting inflammation, another risk factor for heart disease.

Krumholz?s scepticism is rooted in experience. In 2008 and 2010, the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) clinical trial challenged dogma when it reported that lowering blood pressure or blood sugar to prespecified targets did not reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke. In the case of blood sugar, the risks were worsened. The trial demonstrated the folly of assuming that risk factors must have a causal role in disease, says Robert Vogel, a cardiologist at the University of Colorado, Denver. ?Short people have a higher risk of heart disease,? he says. ?But wearing high heels does not lower your risk.?

Jay Cohn, a cardiologist at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis, also worries that the focus on LDL levels offers up the wrong patients for statin therapy. Most of those who have a heart attack do not have high LDL, he notes. Cohn advocates treating patients with statins based on the state of health of their arteries, as revealed by noninvasive tests such as ultrasound. ?If your arteries and heart are healthy, I don?t care what your LDL or blood pressure is,? he says.

?We can?t just assume that modifying the risk factor is modifying risk.?
Not all cardiologists want to abolish LDL targets. Indeed, Seth Martin, a fellow in cardiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, believes that ATP IV should reduce LDL targets further. The simplicity of targets has helped to deliver an important public-health message, he says, and motivated many patients to get the statin therapy that he believes they need. ?Just to throw that out the window doesn?t seem like the ideal scenario.?

Whatever the decision, the pharmaceutical industry will be watching closely, says Donny Wong, an analyst at Decision Resources, a market-research company based in Watertown, Massachusetts. Although most statins are off patent, the big pharmaceutical companies are racing to bring the next LDL-lowering drug to market. In particular, millions of dollars have been poured into drugs that inhibit a protein called PCSK9, an enzyme involved in cholesterol synthesis. This approach lowers LDL but has not yet been shown to reduce heart attacks or strokes.

Francis expects the new guidelines to relax the targets. He and his colleagues decided last autumn to change the VA?s own clinical standards, so that they no longer rely solely on an LDL target but instead encourage doctors to prescribe a moderate dose of statin when otherwise healthy patients have high LDL cholesterol. The ATP IV guidelines will take a similar approach, he speculates, noting that the VA consulted several outside experts who are also serving on the ATP committee.

Despite an increasingly vegetarian diet, Francis?s cholesterol has not budged. ?Sometimes I want to call my physician and say, ?Don?t worry about that target,?? he says. ?It?s going to be changing very soon.?
?

This story is reprinted with permission from Nature. It was first published on February 26, 2013.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=cce506b4a151d1f8aa11d637c60ec862

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Small molecules in the blood might gauge radiation effects after exposure

Feb. 25, 2013 ? Ohio State University cancer researchers have identified molecules in the bloodstream that might accurately gauge the likelihood of radiation illness after exposure to ionizing radiation.

The animal study, led by researchers at The Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center -- Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC -- James), shows that X-rays or gamma rays alter the levels of certain molecules called microRNA in the blood in a predictable way.

If verified in human subjects, the findings could lead to new methods for rapidly identifying people at risk for acute radiation syndrome after occupational exposures or accidents such as the recent Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor incident. The microRNA markers might also help doctors plan radiation therapy for individual patients by taking into account how different people respond to radiation treatment, the researchers say.

The findings are reported in the journal PLOS ONE.

"Our paper reports the identification of a panel of microRNA markers in mice whose serum levels provide an estimate of radiation response and of the dose received after an exposure has occurred," says senior author Dr. Arab Chakravarti, chair and professor of Radiation Oncology, the Max Morehouse Chair in Cancer Research and co-director of the Brain Tumor Program.

"Accurate dose evaluation is critical for making medical decisions and for the timely administration of therapy to prevent or reduce acute and late effects."

The findings might also one day allow doctors to evaluate radiation toxicity during the course of therapy based on an individual's biology. "This would particularly benefit leukemia and lymphoma patients who receive total body irradiation in preparation for stem-cell transplantation," Chakravarti says.

First author Dr. Naduparambil Jacob, a research assistant professor in radiation oncology, noted that the study could be an important step in the development of biological dosimetry, or biodosimetry, a technology for identifying people at risk for acute radiation illnesses that develop within weeks of radiation exposure, and cancers and degenerative diseases that can occur months or years later.

"Biodosimetry is an emerging concept that could enable us to identify individuals who need immediate treatment after a radiation exposure and to better develop personalized radiation treatment plans for patients," Jacob says.

For this study, Chakravarti, Jacob and their colleagues evaluated dose-dependent changes in levels of 88 individual microRNAs in serum from mice after a single acute radiation exposure, and after fractionated doses of radiation that are typical of radiation treatment prior to stem-cell transplantation. Samples were collected from exposed and control animals 24 or 48 hours after exposure.

Key technical findings include:

• After a one-time exposure, miRNA-150 showed a clear decrease over time with increasing radiation dose, with a drop of 30 percent after 24 hours and of 50 percent after 48 hours, even at the lowest exposure of one gray of radiation.
• miRNA-200b and miRNA-762 showed increased levels after radiation exposure, with the changes more pronounced in animals receiving higher doses.
• Animals receiving fractioned doses showed similar changes; e.g., miRNA-150 dropped about 50 percent after 24 hours in animals receiving 4 gray.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Ohio State University Medical Center, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Naduparambil Korah Jacob, James V. Cooley, Tamara N. Yee, Jidhin Jacob, Hansjuerg Alder, Priyankara Wickramasinghe, Kirsteen H. Maclean, Arnab Chakravarti. Identification of Sensitive Serum microRNA Biomarkers for Radiation Biodosimetry. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (2): e57603 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057603

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/QFEUY1j3rl0/130225201928.htm

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Pirate Bay moves from Sweden to Norway, Spain

STOCKHOLM (AP) ? Embattled file-sharing site The Pirate Bay is looking for safe havens in Norway and Spain after its Swedish host came under legal pressure to shut it down.

The Swedish Pirate Party, a small political party advocating transparency and freedom online, has provided Internet access to the site for the past three years.

But it's handing over those duties to sister parties in Norway and Spain's Catalonia region following legal threats from the Rights Alliance, a Swedish anti-piracy group representing the entertainment industry, officials for all three parties told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

"Basically, the service that was provided by the Swedish Pirate Party is nowadays provided by the Norwegian Pirate Party, and soon also by the Catalan Pirate Party," said Kenneth Peiruza, a spokesman for the Catalan group.

The Pirate Bay is one of the world's biggest free file-sharing websites, offering millions of users a forum for downloading music, movies and computer games. The site doesn't host any pirated material itself, but acts as an index to help people find files they can share with each other using BitTorrent software. The entertainment industry has failed to shut it down, even after its operators were convicted of copyright violations in Sweden in 2009.

Sara Lindback of the Rights Alliance said the case underlines how difficult it is to combat illegal file-sharing online, but suggested the fight against The Pirate Bay would continue.

"It's a step in the right direction that the service is driven out of Sweden," Lindback said. "But as long as the service is up we will do what we can to protect our rights-holders."

Pirate Party officials said the laws in Norway and Catalonia would make it hard for the entertainment industry to prevent them from offering web hosting services to The Pirate Bay.

By doing so, the parties are only acting as a "digital post office," said Geir Aaslid, leader of the Norwegian Pirate Party. "We're not responsible for the mail passing through the pipeline."

The Pirate Bay didn't comment on the move directly, but changed the name of the site temporarily to The Hydra Bay, an apparent reference to a mythological beast that grows two new heads when one head is cut off.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-02-26-EU-Sweden-Pirate-Bay/id-486c63bf493a4a3688186f2bca34b661

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ClockworkMod SuperUser released in beta, free and open-sourced

Koushik Dutta of ClockworkMod, ROM Manager and Carbon (Backup) fame continues his long standing contributions to the Android community with his latest creation, ClockworkMod SuperUser. Currently in beta, eventually there will be an installation process in the APK itself, but for now it must be flashed either via ROM Manager or manually via recovery. 

There's a few headline features to speak of, the first of which is that unlike the Chainfire SuperUser offerings, this one is open-sourced with the full code available for download from Koush's Github. Also on board is support for the multi-user option found in Android 4.2. Impressive. Equally impressive is that this one version is compatible with both ARM and x86, with Koush claiming "magic" in getting it working. 

The impressive full feature set reads as follows:

• Multiuser support
• Open source
• Free
• Leverages Android's permission model
• Logging (and per app logging)
• Pretty UI
• PIN Protection
• Request Timeout
• Customize notifications
• x86 and ARM support
• Handle concurrent su requests properly
• NDK clean

Follow the source link below or head on into ROM Manager on your rooted device to flash a copy and take a look for yourselves. Click on further past the break for a demo video of ClockworkMod SuperUser in action. 

Source: +Koushik Dutta

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/9ItN15mhzJo/story01.htm

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Egypt's Morsi calls for dialogue on elections

CAIRO (AP) ? Egypt's Islamist president has invited political forces to join him in a dialogue to find ways to ensure the "integrity and transparency" of upcoming parliamentary elections.

Speaking in a television interview, Mohammed Morsi also rejected opposition charges that the elections he called for April were ill timed given the wave of unrest roiling the country.

"I see that the climate is very agreeable for an election," he said.

Morsi used the interview, recorded on Sunday but aired early Monday 5 ? hours behind schedule, to try and improve his standing nearly eight months into his four-year term.

He repeatedly declared that he was a "president for all Egyptians," claimed he had no quarrel with any of the nation's political forces and reasserted his respect and confidence in the military.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-morsi-calls-dialogue-elections-013943925.html

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South Korea Swears in First Woman President (Voice Of America)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/287138105?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Olympus confirms that Sony is now its largest shareholder

Sony got a stake in Olympus' future when it made a $645 million investment into the troubled camera firm last September, getting a board representative and a controlling share of a medical imaging project. As of this weekend, however, the foot is that much further in the door: it's now Olympus' largest shareholder. A share transfer promised alongside the investment, and officially completed on the 22nd, has boosted Sony's stake from 4.7 percent to just under 11.5 percent. The share switch doesn't give Sony enough influence to dictate Olympus' day-to-day affairs, but Sony won't have to do as much to rally support if it wants action. Olympus isn't in the best position to kick such a large investor to the curb, either. We'd expect the company to at least listen more closely to what its major funding source has to say.

Filed under: Cameras, Sony

Comments

Source: Olympus (PDF)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/25/olympus-confirms-that-sony-is-now-its-largest-shareholder/

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Cyber Attacks Sound Scarier When You Call Them the New Cold War

The New York Times is the latest media outlet to liken the quiet standoff between the United States and China over cyber security to "a new Cold War." In a Sunday evening piece of news analysis, the paper's David E. Sanger wrote about "how different the worsening cyber-cold war between the world's two largest economies is from the more familiar superpower conflicts of past decades ? in some ways less dangerous, in others more complex and pernicious." The article's peg is clearly the recent spate of cyber attacks on U.S. companies, including The Times itself, that have come from Chinese origins. In fact, a lot of them can be traced back to a single neighborhood in the suburbs of Shanghai where the People's Liberation Army has its cyber command. The Chinese deny any involvement in the attacks. In fact, they blame us.

RELATED: Chinese Army Hackers Are Trying to Bring Down U.S. Infrastructure, After All

The "cyber Cold War" metaphor's been made before, but this time it seems serious ? and not just because it's the Grey Lady that's making it. The entire nation got a wake up call when Obama called out cybersecurity in his State of the Union address and issued an executive order on the matter the following day. The order came after an Obama-backed cybersecurity bill failed to make it through the Senate last year. Within a couple of weeks, the cybersecurity firm Mandiant released a massive report revealing the origin of a large number of cyber attacks again U.S. companies, government agencies and critical infrastructure were indeed coming from a single facility on the outskirts of Shanghai. It's become frightfully apparent, frightfully quickly that there is indeed a war happening in cyberspace, one that stands to affect the average citizen rather seriously if it escalates.

RELATED: Five Best Wednesday Columns

The Obama administration, however, has been shy about naming China the enemy in this war, because exactly what it does not want is for this new Cold War to escalate. "We were told that directly embarrassing the Chinese would backfire," an unnamed intelligence official told The Times. "It would only make them more defensive and more nationalistic." You would not like China when it's more defensive and more nationalistic.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cyber-attacks-sound-scarier-call-them-cold-war-042640166.html

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Huawei reveals 'fastest smartphone in the world'

This undated product image provided by Huawei, shows the Chinese company's new flagship model that it calls "the fastest smartphone in the world."The company said Sunday, Feb. 24, 2012, the device supports faster download speeds than other phones, but today's wireless networks aren't equipped to supply those speeds. (AP Photo/Huawei)

This undated product image provided by Huawei, shows the Chinese company's new flagship model that it calls "the fastest smartphone in the world."The company said Sunday, Feb. 24, 2012, the device supports faster download speeds than other phones, but today's wireless networks aren't equipped to supply those speeds. (AP Photo/Huawei)

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) ? Huawei, a Chinese company that recently became the world's third-largest maker of smartphones, calls its new flagship product "the fastest smartphone in the world" and wants to use it to expand global awareness of its brand.

Parts of the presentation of the phone at a press conference Sunday in Barcelona, Spain, suggest that the company has some way to go in polishing its pitch for a global audience.

Richard Yu, head of Huawei's consumer business group said the new phone can be programmed to display more than 100 different "themes," or looks. This is important because "ladies like flowers, colorful things," Yu said.

Yu also said Huawei is learning from Apple how to make Google's Android software easier to use, a lawsuit-friendly utterance considering that Apple is on a global campaign to sue makers of Android phones for copying from the iPhone.

The new phone, the Ascend P2, will have a 4.7 inch screen. Yu said it will be available in the April to June time frame for about $525 without a contract. It's the "fastest" because it supports faster download speeds than other phones. However, today's wireless networks aren't equipped to supply those speeds.

Huawei Technologies Ltd. was the world's third largest seller of smartphones, after Samsung and Apple, in the fourth quarter of last year, according to research firm IDC. That's despite selling very few phones in the U.S., where the big phone companies mostly ignore it. It has a much better position in Europe, where cellphone companies have embraced its network equipment, and France's Orange is committed to selling the phone.

In the U.S., a congressional panel recommended in October that phone carriers avoid doing business with Huawei or its smaller Chinese rival, ZTE Corp., for fear that its network equipment could contain "back doors" that enable access to communications from outside. The Chinese government rejected the report as false and an effort to block Chinese companies from the U.S. market.

Meanwhile, a report by a private U.S. cybersecurity firm concluded recently that a special unit of China's military is responsible for sustained cyberespionage against U.S. companies and government agencies. China has denied involvement in the attacks in which massive amounts of data and corporate trade secrets, likely worth hundreds of millions of dollars, were stolen.

"It has not been an easy journey for us," Huawei's global brand director, Amy Lou, said Sunday of the company's quest to become globally recognized and trusted. She called the company "a great consumer brand in the making."

The world's largest cellphone trade show, Mobile World Congress, opens Monday in Barcelona.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-24-EU-TEC-Wireless-Show-Huawei/id-f2f99fd9c2224e69a28030917ba5ca74

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Senate panel plans Tuesday vote on Lew nomination

FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2013, file photo Jack Lew, President Barack Obama's choice to be treasury secretary, testifies during his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington before the Senate Finance Committee. Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, says the committee will vote on Lew's nomination Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, said Lew had answered the committee's questions "in a thorough and fully transparent manner" and that the committee has conducted a "thorough review" of the nominee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2013, file photo Jack Lew, President Barack Obama's choice to be treasury secretary, testifies during his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington before the Senate Finance Committee. Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, says the committee will vote on Lew's nomination Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, said Lew had answered the committee's questions "in a thorough and fully transparent manner" and that the committee has conducted a "thorough review" of the nominee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee says the committee will vote on Tuesday on the nomination of former White House chief of staff Jack Lew to be treasury secretary.

Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana says in a statement that Lew has answered the committee's questions "in a thorough and fully transparent manner" and the committee has conducted a "thorough review" of the nominee.

Lew would succeed Timothy Geithner in President Barack Obama's second-term Cabinet.

Some of the toughest questions he faced during his confirmation hearing dealt with his short time at Citibank. Lew was a top executive during the height of the financial crisis.

On policy matters, he addressed Europe's debt crisis, U.S.-China relations and the 2010 financial regulatory overhaul.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-02-24-US-Treasury-Lew/id-1bb47708426c478ba3af4554b7763dc5

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iPad 2 or 3 Leather Case (with Rotatable Mechanism for Easier Viewing) - Now Only ?9.99

This strong, durable and classic PU leather case will protect your iPad 2 or iPad 3 from dust, shocks, scratches and damage.

The revolving feature within the case makes this cover very flexible, enabling easy one touch adjustment to put your iPad into either the horizontal or vertical position, providing optimum comfort for perfect viewing of movies, slide shows or videos of your choice.

The clever design of this case also means that your iPad is held stable when it is in the view position with several angles for your screen to choose from.

The soft micro fibre interior lining which is colour coded with the cover?s outside offers safe protection and can double as a screen cleaner to ensure you get the best possible view at all times.

This case also comes with the magnetic function which automatically awakens the iPad when lifting the cover or puts it into power-saver mode when the cover is closed, preserving the valuable battery life.

This cover is both attractive and practical; it will make the ideal treat for your own iPad or a great present for the special iPad owner in your life.

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• Compatible with Apple iPad 2 AND the new iPad 3
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• Dimension: 25x19x1.5cm
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Source: http://deals.discountvouchers.co.uk/deal/32534/rotatable-ipad-case

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Notes from the Field: Zinc Deficiency Dermatitis in Cholestatic Extremely Premature Infants After a Nationwide Shortage of Injectable Zinc ? Washington, DC, December 2012

In mid-December 2012, three extremely premature infants with cholestasis in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) developed dermatitis in the diaper region, perioral erosions, and bullae on the dorsal surfaces of their hands and feet (Figure). The infants were similar in gestational age (23?24 weeks) and corrected postnatal age (33?38 weeks). All had severe cholestasis (direct bilirubin >3 mg/dL) and had received prolonged parenteral nutrition (PN). Each infant was in a private room and cared for by different nurses.

A search for environmental causes addressed infectious and toxic etiologies, medication reactions, use of new adhesives, and changes in PN. Searches for an infectious cause, including bacterial (wound, blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid) and viral cultures, were negative. One infant treated empirically with intravenous antibiotics and acyclovir showed no improvement.

Recognition of the nationwide shortage of injectable zinc focused attention on the possibility of zinc deficiency. The hospital's PN pharmacy exhausted its supply of injectable zinc on November 21, 2012, and the infants had not received zinc supplementation as of mid-December. Because other preparations of parenteral trace elements contain insufficient zinc to meet premature infants' requirements and might cause trace element toxicity in cholestatic infants, no alternatives to the injectable zinc supplements were available.

The ranges of levels of plasma zinc (14?56 ?g/dL [normal: 70?120 ?g/dL]) and alkaline phosphatase, a zinc-dependent enzyme (32?62 U/L [normal: 150?420 U/L]), in the three infants were markedly low. Skin biopsy specimens from two of the infants showed findings consistent with zinc deficiency dermatitis. The fraternal twin of one of the infants received full-formula feedings and was clinically and biochemically unaffected. The infants' skin lesions were managed with petrolatum dressings, and their PN was supplemented with zinc-containing enteral supplements. As their zinc levels improved, so did their skin lesions.

Zinc is an essential cofactor in approximately 300 enzyme-dependent processes. Fetal zinc accumulation via placental transport is maximal at 24?34 weeks of gestation. Extremely premature infants require 400 mg/kg per day because of negligible tissue stores of zinc, low albumin binding, increased catabolic state, and increased urinary zinc losses (1). Inadequate zinc supplementation leads to cutaneous changes, diarrhea, immunologic impairment, growth failure, and poor wound healing.

Because of the nationwide shortage of injectable zinc, other NICUs caring for PN-dependent, extremely premature, cholestatic infants might encounter similar cases. The two U.S. manufacturers of injectable zinc, Hospira (zinc chloride) and American Regent (zinc sulfate), have no available inventory. Hospira expects to resume production in March 2013 (2).The American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition provides recommendations for conserving and prioritizing trace element products in short supply (3). NICUs should monitor levels of zinc in infants at risk.

Reported by

Scott A. Norton, MD, Dept of Dermatology; Lamia Soghier, MD, June Hatfield, MS, Jeffrey Lapinski, MS, Dept of Neonatology, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC. Wanda D. Barfield, MD, Div of Reproductive Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC. Corresponding contributor: Scott A. Norton, snorton@cnmc.org, 202-476-5065.

References

1. American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition: nutritional needs of low-birth-weight infants. Pediatrics 1985;75:976?86.
2. American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Zinc injection. Bethesda, MD: American Society of Health-System Pharmacists; 2013. Available at http://www.ashp.org/drugshortages/current/bulletin.aspx?id=777.
3. American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. Parenteral nutrition trace element product shortage considerations. Silver Spring, MD: American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition; 2011. Available at http://www.nutritioncare.org/news/parenteral_nutrition_trace_element_product_shortage_considerations.

FIGURE. Zinc deficiency dermatitis manifesting as bullous and erosive lesions on the hands and feet of a newborn infant ? Washington, DC, December 2012

Alternate Text: The figure above shows zinc deficiency dermatitis manifesting as bullous and erosive lesions on the hands and feet in a newborn infant in Washington, DC during December 2012. In mid-December 2012, three extremely premature infants with cholestasis in a neonatal intensive care unit developed dermatitis in the diaper region, perioral erosions, and bullae on the dorsal surfaces of their hands and feet.

Source: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6207a5.htm?s_cid=mm6207a5_x

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?Anonymous? becomes latest victim in Twitter hacking spree

Feb 22 (Reuters) - Like a sporting Cinderella, Sauber Formula One driver Nico Hulkenberg has been given the shoe that fits. Whether his season turns out to be a fairytale with a happy ending remains to be seen but the tall German was content on Friday to have swept away at least one of his problems. Hulkenberg, who has moved to the Swiss team from Force India, had trouble getting comfortable in his new cockpit at the first pre-season test in Jerez this month with talk of it being too tight for him. "The media has blown up all these stories. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/anonymous-becomes-latest-victim-twitter-hacking-spree-040055307.html

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Union fights Council on nonresort lodging

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Japan stages rally over disputed islands with S. Korea

TOKYO, Feb 22, 2013 (AFP) - Japan held an annual rally on Friday over Tokyo's claim to a set of tiny islands controlled by South Korea, which has been at the centre of a long-standing territorial feud.

Some 500 people flocked to the event in Shimane prefecture in western Japan, including the highest-ranking Japanese government official ever to attend and local and national politicians.

Seoul reacted angrily to the rally and the expected presence of Aiko Shimajiri, a parliamentary secretary in Tokyo's Cabinet Office, with foreign ministry spokesman Cho Tai-Young describing it as "greatly regrettable".

"Japan should not conduct such behaviours (if it hopes) to promote friendship between Seoul and Tokyo," he added before the ceremony began, warning of "appropriate measures".

Tokyo refers to the islands in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) as Takeshima while they are known as Dokdo in South Korea.

"Takeshima is an integral part of our country," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference in Tokyo.

"We dispatched our parliamentary secretary as a matter of course."

Police officers were deployed to guard the Shimane Prefectural Assembly Hall, the venue of the rally, as protesters from both countries were expected to stage separate demonstrations outside.

Relations between the two countries have regularly been strained by the territorial dispute and other issues of contention arising from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule over the Korean peninsula.

The territorial row deteriorated last year following a surprise visit by South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak to the island chain, as Tokyo remains embroiled in separate territorial spats with China and Russia.

Japan's conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who swept national elections in December, sent a message to South Korean president-elect Park Geun-Hye last month seeking a new start to a relationship dogged by bitter historical disputes.

During his past stint as prime minister, Abe angered South Koreans by denying the Japanese military's direct involvement in forcing women into sexual slavery during World War II.

Source: http://www.mysinchew.com/node/83268

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In artist's show, creation merges with destruction

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) ? It took Ryan Travis Christian four days to fill the paper sheet stretching 6?-by-30 feet and push-pinned to the white museum wall. Spreading charcoal with a chamois and Latex-gloved hand, he conjured a dreamy cloudscape of reclining, mouthless ghosts, zigzag patterns and disembodied duck heads.

Then, on the fifth day of the two-week installation at the Contemporary Art Museum, he began blacking over his original design. By day's end, it was gone ? swallowed in the undulating coils of a gigantic black and white snake.

"That's how it goes in my studio," the Chicago-based artist said nonchalantly as he stood beside the re-imagined piece. "There's a lot of pieces that I'll work on, become unhappy with, eradicate them, come out with something completely different. It's all very responsive. But yeah. People were nervous about it ? and surprised."

CAM Executive Director Elysia Borowy-Reeder admits she was initially taken aback when she saw Christian's radical new direction. But that's why she gave the 29-year-old artist this show in the first place.

"It's like the biggest blind date, you know?" says Borowy-Reeder, who first began following Christian's career while working at the Art Institute of Chicago. "I always believe in the artist's intent ... You want to fuel that creativity and that freedom."

Christian was a tad nervous himself. After all, the installation is his first museum exhibition.

"That's a really frustrating thing to feel when you're kind of in a high-pressure situation ? which I'd consider this," he says. But it's also exhilarating.

Borowy-Reeder took over CAM Raleigh in May 2011. During a visit to Chicago later that year, she caught Christian's "River Rats" show at the Western Exhibitions gallery and was mesmerized.

"His imagery is inventive. It's memorable," she says. "He has all this new text ... He juxtaposes it against older cartoons from the Dust Bowl era. He has this nice tension between what's old and what's new."

And that is why she gave him free rein in the museum's "emerging artist" gallery, housed on the lower level of this converted downtown warehouse.

Christian, who studied graphic design and painting at Northern Illinois University, says his "all-time biggest inspiration and favorite artist all around" is Ub Iwerks, the Oscar-winning Disney animator who created Mickey Mouse. Christian adapted the sinister, phantom-like figures that populate many of his recent works from the late cartoonist's famous dancing ghosts.

"I just love them, how they're adorable, but they're menacing," Christian says of the characters, which vaguely resemble condoms.

Christian, who normally works in graphite, also integrates '80s pop patterns and video game imagery into his pieces.

He says his works are "a metaphysical diary, plugged in through, like, a throwback cartoon language and patterns. And it's slowly changing always."

In the finished work, the snake stretches in an accordion pattern across the entire wall as a bug-eyed frowny face, grinning banana and one of his ghost heads pop from the black background. In addition to charcoal, Christian used spray paint, car finish and gesso ? a mixture of white paint, chalk and gypsum.

Christian calls the piece "You Had to Be Here."

The show opened Friday and will run through June 17.

Christian has done several other large-scale works, but they were drawn right on the walls. This is the first that won't be erased when the show is over.

"After the exhibition, it will get rolled up in a massive tube and, who knows after that?" he says. "I may rework it again, as I'm prone to do."

___

Online:

CAM Raleigh http://camraleigh.org/

Western Exhibitions http://westernexhibitions.com/christian/

___

A. Breed is a national writer, based in Raleigh, N.C. He can be reached at features(at)ap.org. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/(hash)!/AllenGBreed

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/artists-show-creation-merges-destruction-135508879.html

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Political newcomer Lincoln enters race for Connellsville mayor

By Marilyn Forbes

Published: Wednesday, February 20, 2013, 7:12?p.m.
Updated 3 hours ago

Greg Lincoln, 39, of Connellsville, is seeking a nomination for the Democratic ticket for his first political run for office ? mayor of the City of Connellsville. Lincoln is hoping to get enough votes on the Democratic ticket in the May primary that his name will appear on the ballot in the general election in November.

Lincoln is a volunteer member of the Connellsville Park and Recreation Board.

It was because of his time serving on this city board that he decided to wanted to run for public office.

?After volunteering my time on the city's parks and recreation board, I have been able to see the truths of what is occurring in our city and feel that we all deserve better. Change is needed in order for Connellsville to prosper and I want to be part of that change,? Lincoln said.

The political newcomer feels he has a good vision for the town that he would like to pursue.

?I feel like I would be a great mayor because I have a vision of what Connellsville can be and I have the passion and energy to make that vision a reality,? said Lincoln.

Lincoln is a graduate of Connellsville Area High School and attained his BA in science at the University of South Carolina. He is presently employed with the North Fayette County Municipal Authority.

With a focus on community service and coming to the aid of others in the city, Lincoln would like to work closely with local nonprofit groups while also encouraging a stronger sense of neighbors helping neighbors.

?Community service is one of the main focus points I will have if elected and I will work with all the city's nonprofits to assist in this effort,? Lincoln said. ?I would like to get community service programs organized through our local schools to provide the opportunity for all children to see that giving back to your community is a great way to keep it safe, strong and vibrant. I would ask all citizens to take pride in your neighborhood, get involved, and keep your property maintained. Since we do have an older population throughout the city, I would ask that you offer assistance to those who may need it. Community service simply builds pride and enhances the quality of life for all citizens.?

Since his involvement with the city parks and recreation board, Lincoln has seen the need to keep the city's parks thriving and would plan to try to implement ways to not only keep them maintained but to enhance them for the community that uses them.

?Another focus point is getting funding for the parks and recreation department included in the city's budget,? Lincoln said. ?Connellsville cannot allow our parks to fall apart and deteriorate. The parks provide a safe environment for adults and kids that are full of fun and free activities. Parks also play a very big part in attracting new families to our city.?

Lincoln said concentration needs to be focused on the city's finances. He believes it's important a mayor also focuses on finding ways to attract new businesses and families into the city and to promote growth in the city. A mayor must let the people know the city is a viable place to live, work and find entertainment, he said.

?The number one issue addressing the city right now is its finances,? Lincoln said. ?The City of Connellsville is in financial distress and the citizens need to know what is occurring. The city had to take out a second loan of $650,000 loan in order to stay afloat and to help pay off the $450,000 loan from the prior year. They continue to take on additional financial burdens not knowing how much they will collect in taxes and I promise to never pass a budget that inflates revenue just to get it approved. I would also work to promote our city outside of the local area to attract new businesses here. New business will increase our tax base which the city so desperately needs and provide additional employment opportunities for our citizens.?

?As Mayor, I would be transparent in my leadership and welcome all citizens of Connellsville to be a part of the decisions that affect their town,? Lincoln, ?I personally am dedicated to building a community that will prosper for generations and if given the opportunity by the citizens, I promise to do my best and make decisions based on what is best for the entire city now and in the future.?

Lincoln and wife Leigh Ann have two children.

Marilyn Forbes is a freelance writer.

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