8 industries China leads where the US used to

Americans are used to the U.S. being the leader, or a top-ranked nation, in many areas. But in a number of industries and businesses, the U.S. has lost that first place, usually to China. While some, such as coal production, may not come as a surprise, other industries the U.S. has lost the market leadership might. 24/7 Wall St. looked at a large number of manufacturing, agricultural and financial businesses to find those in which China has surpassed the U.S.

For several years, economists have said that China?s GDP growth indicates that its economy will pass that of the U.S. in the next two or three decades. China?s GDP is measured at about $6.5 trillion, now second in the world. America?s GDP is over $15.2 trillion, according to the International Monetary Fund. While China certainly has much catching up to do, the two countries? rate of GDP growth is also very different. Last year, China?s economy expanded at more than 9 percent. America?s GDP grew at a little better than 2 percent.

One reason that China continues to gain so rapidly on the U.S. is the high cost of American labor and manufacturing. In fact, U.S. manufacturing costs have risen so much that they are much higher than in any developed nation with factory capacity. This includes countries like China, Mexico and South Korea ? places the U.S. and Japanese companies often contract to do their factory work. The labor price advantage has helped China become the largest steel producer in the world. China is also first place in car manufacturing.

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Low labor costs are not the sole reason China has become the single largest provider of many goods. China?s 1.3 trillion citizens have become voracious consumers as workers in its manufacturing sector have grown the number of its middle class. China also has decided that it is often financially better to provide its own raw material for its factories? items like cotton ? than it is to import such items from overseas.

24/7 Wall St. examined the manufacturing, agricultural and financial businesses in which China has surpassed the U.S. China likely will become the world?s largest economy based on GDP. It certainly has shown that it has the capacity to advance on that position ? one large industry at a time.

1. Steel

• China production: 627 million metric tons in 2010
• U.S. production: 80 million metric tons in 2010
• U.S. position: 3rd

In 1973, the U.S. was the largest producer of steel, making more than 136 million metric tons of crude steel, according to the International Iron and Steel Institute. Up to that point, the U.S. had enjoyed many decades of industry dominance, centered around the city of Pittsburgh. The following year, U.S. production was overtaken by the USSR, which produced 136.2 million metric tons, compared with the U.S.?s 132.2 million. Today, however, completely different players dominate the steel market. In 2010, the world?s top producer of crude steel was China, which produced approximately 627 million metric tons. Japan was a distant second-largest producer with nearly 110 million metric tons. The U.S. was third, producing approximately 80 million.

2. Cotton

• China production: 7.3 million metric tons in 2011
• U.S. production: 3.4 million metric tons in 2011
• U.S. position: 3rd

In 2000, the U.S. produced 4.2 million metric tons of cotton ? the largest amount in the world. China was not far behind, producing 3.81 million metric tons. By 2008, however, China had not only surpassed the U.S., but made nearly double the U.S.?s production amount. China produced approximately 8.1 million metric tons to the U.S.?s 4.2 million. A year earlier, the U.S. lost its second spot among top cotton producers to India, thanks in part to technological breakthroughs in seed and production practices. Between 2011 and 2012, China produced 7.3 million metric tons, India produced 6 million and the U.S. was third, producing 3.4 million.

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3. Initial Public Offerings

• China production: $73 billion raised in 2011
• U.S. production: $30.7 billion raised in 2011
• U.S. position: 2nd

Even in the world of finance the U.S. is losing its dominance to China. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, ?the yearly average of U.S. IPOs has decreased from 27 percent (global share) in the 1990s to 12 percent in the 2000s.? And as the U.S.?s share of IPO proceeds decreased, China?s share increased. It is now the world leader in IPOs. In 2011, companies raised a total of $73 billion through IPOs in the Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong stock markets. This is nearly double the amount raised in New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, according to Dealogic. The last time the U.S. raised the most in IPO funds globally was 2008.

4. Tobacco

• China production: 3 million metric tons in 2010
• U.S. production: 0.33 million metric tons in 2010
• U.S. position: 4th

Until 1976, the U.S. produced the largest share of the world?s tobacco. Today, the U.S. only produces 6 percent of the global output, according to Stephan Richter, editor-in-chief of The Globalist, in an interview by Marketplace. The most recent data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations places the U.S. as the fourth-largest producer of tobacco in the world. China is the largest, producing more than 3 million metric tons of the crop in 2010. The U.S. produced slightly more than 326,000 metric tons that year. The other larger producers are Brazil and India, in that order.

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5. Autos

• China production: 18.3 million autos in 2010
• U.S. production: 7.8 million autos in 2010
• U.S. position: 3rd

Automotive manufacturing is considered one of the U.S.?s most critical industries. But in recent years, other countries have surpassed the U.S., which is now the third-largest producer of autos in the world, according to the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers. The American auto industry nearly collapsed in 2008, requiring massive federal support for General Motors and Chrysler. By 2010, the U.S. manufactured 7.8 million cars and commercial vehicles. Japan, which is headquarters to major brands such as Toyota, Honda, Nissan, and Mazda, produced 9.6 million vehicles ? the second most ? although damage caused by the earthquake has hurt production in the country. China is the world?s largest carmaker, producing 18.3 million in 2010.

6. Beer Production

• China production: 443.8 million hectoliters in 2010
• U.S. production: 227.8 million hectoliters in 2010
• U.S. position: 2nd

The U.S. lost its top position even in beer production. In 2000, the U.S. beer industry was the greatest in the world, producing 232 million hectoliters, compared with China?s 220 million. One decade later, and China is in first place, generating 443.8 million hectoliters of beer, versus the U.S.?s 227.8 million. Not only does China have a population that is more than four times that of the U.S., but beer consumption in the country has increased dramatically in recent years. According to the World Health Organization, the average Chinese citizen drank about half a bottle of beer in 1961. By 2007, that amount had increased to 103 beers per year.

24/7 Wall St.: States losing the most jobs to China

7. High-Technology Exports

• China production: $348 billion in 2009
• U.S. production: $142 billion in 2009
• U.S. position: 2nd

High-technology exports are defined as ?products with high R&D intensity, such as in aerospace, computers, pharmaceuticals, scientific instruments, and electrical machinery,? according to the World Bank. The U.S. remains home to the largest pharmaceutical industry in the world, and the rest of industries mentioned are also huge domestically. According to the World Bank, China began earning more from high-technology exports than the U.S. as recently as 2005. In 2009, Chinese high-technology exports were worth $348 billion. High-technology exports from the U.S. were worth a more modest $142 billion.

8. Coal Production

• China production: 3.24 billion short tons produced in 2010
• U.S. production: 985 million tons produced in 2010
• U.S. position: 2nd

America led the world in coal production up until 1984, and it is now a distant second to China. According to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy, the U.S. produced just under 1 billion tons of coal in 2010. China produced more than three times that amount, generating 3.2 billion short tons. There has been exponential growth in the Chinese energy infrastructure in the past decade. Since 2005, American coal production has decreased slightly, while Chinese production has increased by nearly 38 percent. Despite the U.S.?s decline in coal production, it is still the world?s second-largest producer, and combined, the two countries account for more than half of the world?s total coal production.

Copyright ? 2012 24/7 Wall St. Republished with permission.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46181723/ns/business-world_business/

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Big Banks' Small Business Lending: Do The Numbers Really Add Up?

Big banks' reputations have taken a hit over the last few years, starting with the financial crisis and culminating with the Occupy Wall Street protests. Meanwhile, small businesses have been cast as the economy's earnest underdogs, generating rhetorical support from Congress to the campaign trail to Wall Street. So it's no surprise that Bank of America, Chase, Citibank and Wells Fargo were eager to release seemingly impressive small-business lending figures for 2011. Problem is, many of those loans may be going to businesses that aren't that small.

For lending purposes, the nation's four biggest banks define small businesses as those with annual revenues up to $20 million -- an amount far higher than many businesses on Main Street will ever reach. This could explain the ongoing disconnect between big banks' upbeat lending reports and the 61 percent of small-business owners who say it's harder to get loans now than four years ago, according to a study released Thursday by the American Sustainable Business Council, Small Business Majority and Main Street Alliance.

Sarwan "Rimpy" Singh, owner of seven Taco Time restaurants in the Portland, Ore., area, experienced the disconnect when two big banks rejected his application for a $300,000 loan to buy property he is leasing. One bank told Singh it doesn't give loans to restaurants because they're high-risk, though Singh has been in business for 16 years, has excellent credit, a sizable down payment and has been a longtime bank customer. Earning $2.5 million to $3 million in 2011 revenue, Singh said he wonders whether he's at the wrong end of the revenue spectrum when it comes to borrowing. "There are a lot of mixed messages from the big banks," he said. "That definition is completely wrong. They have no clue what a small business is."

In other words, big bank loans to so-called small businesses may very well be going to businesses closer to the $20 million end of the revenue spectrum. Without more transparency, it remains unknown.

"The big banks make their small-business lending numbers look as good as possible by stretching the limits as far as possible," said Ami Kassar, founder and CEO of Philadelphia-based MultiFunding, which helps small businesses find the best loans available to them. "They include companies with up to $20 million of revenue. These companies are less risky, and less complicated to lend to. They also require larger loans that make the big banks' total small-business lending numbers look much better."

Here's a snapshot of the banks' 2011 small-business lending figures -- to businesses with revenue of $20 million or less:

• Bank of America: $6.4 billion, a 20 percent increase from 2010.
• Chase: $17 billion, a 52 percent increase.
• Citibank: $7.9 billion, a 30 percent increase.
• Wells Fargo: $13.9 billion, an 8 percent increase.

Big banks' definition of small business also differs from that of government agencies that monitor small-business lending. These agencies tend to adopt the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. call reports definition of small-business lending -- business loans in the amount of $1 million or less. Based on this definition, the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy reported that total outstanding small-business loans fell 1.2 percent to $599.7 billion in the third quarter last year, from $606.9 billion in the second quarter, while small-business loans by the big banks were nearly flat for the same period.

The Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have also adopted this inter-agency definition, though the Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey published by the Fed defines small businesses as those with sales of $50 million or less. The Treasury Department does not have a definition of small businesses or small-business loans, but adheres to specific parameters for its two small-business lending programs, the State Small Business Credit Initiative, which targets borrowers with 500 employees or less with loan amounts not exceeding $5 million, and the Small Business Lending Fund, which offers business loans of $10 million or less to businesses with revenues up to $50 million.

Even small banks use a narrower definition of small businesses than the big banks. Umpqua Bank, a community bank serving Oregon, Washington, Northern California and Northern Nevada, defines small businesses as those with $1 million or less in annual revenue. Umpqua lent more than $328 million in 2011 to these small businesses.

To put the "small business" population in some perspective, of the 27,486,691 total businesses that filed taxes with the IRS in 2003, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 26,226,922 -- or more than 95 percent -- had less than $1 million in total revenues.

Bank of America, Chase, Citibank and Wells Fargo don't publicly break down small-business lending according to revenue. But Kassar has crunched the data the four banks reported for the quarterly FDIC call reports and found that these banks did not show increases in outstanding small-business loan balances from the end of 2010 to the third quarter of 2011.

The banks' outstanding small-business loan balances -- based on the standard of $1 million or less -- from the end of 2010 to Sept. 30, 2011 are:

• Bank of America: $31.16 billion, down from $33.3 billion.
• Chase: $24.5 billion, about the same as the end of 2010.
• CitiGroup: $7.6 billion, down from $7.7 billion.
• Wells Fargo: $37.8 billion, down from $40.1 billion.

Because decreases in outstanding balances could also reflect loans being paid off, it's almost impossible to compare apples to apples and determine how effective small-business lending programs are. If big banks broke down how these funds are distributed, the true state of small-business lending might be clearer, observers said.

Kassar isn't holding his breath. "If the big banks were to use this definition in their reporting to the public, there would be political and public outrage," he said. "The numbers in the FDIC call reports reflect a horrible record of large banks supporting small business throughout the recession."

'Inflated Numbers'

So how did the banks come up with this $20 million revenue figure as a definition of small business? Although they're perfectly in sync about the threshold itself, there's no consensus where that number originated.

"In our experience, when a business hits about $20 million in annual revenue, the way they use financial services changes and they would probably be better served in our middle market banking group," said MaryJane Rogers, a Chase spokeswoman. "We have more than 2 million small-business clients at Chase, and they represent the spectrum of business size and scope."

Similarly, at Wells Fargo, "the way we define small business starts with the customer and our vision to help our customers succeed financially," said Marc Bernstein, Wells Fargo executive vice president of in charge of the small business segment. "Every small business is unique, and while businesses under $20 million in annual revenue vary widely, we have found that these businesses have characteristics that distinguish them from large businesses -- such as management/ownership structures, number of employees, operating models and financial needs. While there's no perfect definition, we believe the categorization of businesses with less than $20 million in annual revenue is a good representation of small business."

Raj Seshadri, head of small business lending for Citibank, disregarded the idea of using the FDIC call reports as a measuring stick for small-business lending performance. "Comparing the SBA small-business lending commitment number to the FDIC number is a case of apples and oranges," Seshadri said. "The FDIC tracks non-farm, non-residential commercial and industrial loans of $1 million or less. The loans are made to commercial enterprises that are not farms and the loans are not collateralized using residential real estate."

Seshadri said the SBA set the definition. "The Small Business Administration defined the small-business lending commitment last summer as capital provided to a business with annual revenues under $20 million," she said. "Under this definition, we made a commitment that we would extend $24 billion over 2011-2013 to American small businesses. We are happy to report that we exceeded the lending commitment we made in 2011 by $900 million. Regardless of these and other definitions, our mission remains clear -- we want to help small businesses grow by providing the banking services they need. This includes lending, where our goal is to responsibly get to 'yes' for as many small-business owners as possible. We are now working hard to meet and surpass our commitment for 2012."

(SBA spokesman Mike Stamler responded that the SBA has told banks they "could use their own internal size standards" for non-SBA loans.)

Bank of America declined to comment on its definition of small-business loans. Spokesman Don Vecchiarello noted, "We know how important small businesses are to the economy -- at both the national and local level. That's why we're working to help small businesses succeed through a wide range of efforts."

MultiFunding's Kassar said he sees the $20 million definition that big banks use for small-business lending -- and the disconnect between the big banks' optimistic statements and Main Street's sour experiences -- as having dire consequences. "Big banks use their inflated numbers to encourage small-business owners to come in and apply for loans, where they are met with slow and cumbersome loan processes," Kassar said. "This slows down innovation and jobs. It also frustrates and exasperates. It's not good for small business, and it's not good for the country."

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/30/big-banks-small-business-lending-stats_n_1225955.html

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The Omni Group talks iPad apps, user interface, and the future of the platform

The Omni Group is famous for their high quality, thoughtfully designed, and enormously useful productivity apps for iPhone, iPad, and Macs, including OmniFocus, OmniGraphSketcher, OmniGraffle, and OmniOutliner

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/dfG2YpyaTpI/story01.htm

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Scientists reveal how cholera bacterium gains a foothold in the gut

Saturday, January 28, 2012

A team of biologists at the University of York has made an important advance in our understanding of the way cholera attacks the body. The discovery could help scientists target treatments for the globally significant intestinal disease which kills more than 100,000 people every year.

The disease is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which is able to colonise the intestine usually after consumption of contaminated water or food. Once infection is established, the bacterium secretes a toxin that causes watery diarrhoea and ultimately death if not treated rapidly. Colonisation of the intestine is difficult for incoming bacteria as they have to be highly competitive to gain a foothold among the trillions of other bacteria already in situ.

Scientists at York, led by Dr. Gavin Thomas in the University's Department of Biology, have investigated one of the important routes that V. cholerae uses to gain this foothold. To be able to grow in the intestine the bacterium harvests and then eats a sugar, called sialic acid, that is present on the surface of our gut cells.

Collaborators of the York group at the University of Delaware, USA, led by Professor Fidelma Boyd, had shown previously that eating sialic acid was important for the survival of V. cholerae in animal models, but the mechanism by which the bacteria recognise and take up the sialic was unknown.

The York research, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), demonstrates that the pathogen uses a particular kind of transporter called a TRAP transporter to recognise sialic acid and take it up into the cell. The transporter has particular properties that are suited to scavenging the small amount of available sialic acid. The research also provided some important basic information about how TRAP transporters work in general.

The leader of the research in York, Dr. Gavin Thomas, said: "This work continues our discoveries of how bacteria that grow in our body exploit sialic acid for their survival and help us to take forward our efforts to design chemicals to inhibit these processes in different bacterial pathogens."

The research is published in the latest issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry and was primarily the work of Dr Christopher Mulligan, a postdoctoral fellow in the Dr Thomas's laboratory.

###

University of York: http://www.york.ac.uk

Thanks to University of York 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/117153/Scientists_reveal_how_cholera_bacterium_gains_a_foothold_in_the_gut

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A confident Dana White defends policy of confidentiality on fighter pay and welcomes government scrutiny

CHICAGO -- Dana White has his mind made up. You're never going to know what UFC fighters truly make and that's just the way it has to be.

"So just because you don't know everything, you don't have to know anything, and to be honest with you? It's none of your [expletive] business how much these guys are making. They're making a lot of money. [...] How much money is none of your business. I'm not asking how much money you're making," said White (3:10 mark).

White believes that the salary information, so readily available in the other pro sports has ruined things for the athletes. He pointed to the recent $214 million megadeal inked by Detroit Tigers first baseman Prince Fielder.

"His whole life is going to change. He thought it was bad before with the (expletive) he had going on in his life? Everybody and their mother is coming after that 214," White said (2:10 mark). "Believe me when I tell you. Mark my words, Prince Fielder talk to me in five years and tell me what it was like when the news put out there that you were making $214 million dollars. I'm not going to do that to my guys."

The UFC often gets a bad rap for fighter pay because the only numbers revealed are those given to state commissions. The promotion beefs up the pay with behind-the-scenes discretionary and pay-per-view bonuses. White is often asked if all the complaints about pay would go away if Zuffa simply revealed all the details.

"Even when we sat down and had that first FOX meeting, the guys at FOX were like, holy [expletive]! They're like, 'Why don't you plaster this everywhere? This is the thing that will put you guys over the top. This is the thing that people love to see and talk about. Look at Mike Tyson.' And I said, 'Yeah, look at Mike Tyson,'" White said. "I've had these conversations with Mike. Mike said that when his money was reported, his [expletive] life was miserable. I'm not doing it."

Some believe the UFC's reluctance to be more transparent prompted the Federal Trade Commission to open an anti-trust violation investigation to look into Zuffa's practices.

"My understanding is that yes [the FTC has] opened a non-public investigation based on the acquisition we made of Strikeforce," said UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta.

CBSSports.com's Gregg Doyel said this is a sign of awful things to come for the UFC.

The FTC vs. the UFC? That's a heavyweight fight. That's Dana White's worst nightmare. The FTC looks for antitrust violations, picking apart monopolies as the unfair bullies they are -- and as far as I'm concerned, the UFC is guilty as charged.

The story set off White.

"There was guy yesterday, he wrote this story and you could tell this thing was like 'I want some attention. I want some attention. Maybe he'll get mad and say some [expletive].' [...] When we get stories written about us like that, I know it seems like I get crazy and come off too personal ... well, [expletive] yeah it's personal! What you're saying is untrue," said White (0:51 mark).

White said everything about the promotion is on the up and up.

"If the government wants to come in and look inside and take a peak and look around, they're more than welcome," White said. "Many of you have heard stories and all kinds of things ... mark my [expletive] words right here, right now, today ... we're not going anywhere. And everything we say is true."

As far as we know the FTC is still looking at Zuffa. White certainly came off sounding very confident nothing will come from the investigation.

White pointed out that there is no sport that has been more heavily scrutinized by governments all levels. The promotion has survived and thrived to become what White called the best sports story of the last 50 years.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/confident-dana-white-defends-policy-confidentiality-fighter-pay-175442433.html

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Mom Who Publicly Punished Her Son By Making Him Wear A Sign Speaks Out Exclusively To Dr. Drew

In their first national TV interview, the mom (Dynesha) who made her son (Alont’a) wear a sign that read “I Lie, I Steal, I Sell Drugs, I Don’t Follow the Law” sits down with Dr. Drew and opens up about why she took this action. Dr. Drew also offers Alont’a a life changing plan for [...]

Source: http://www.celebritymound.com/mom-who-publicly-punished-her-son-by-making-him-wear-a-sign-speaks-out-exclusively-to-dr-drew/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mom-who-publicly-punished-her-son-by-making-him-wear-a-sign-speaks-out-exclusively-to-dr-drew

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'Barefoot Bandit' sentenced to 6 1/2 years

FILE - In this Dec. 16, 2011 file photo, Colton Harris-Moore, also known as the "Barefoot Bandit," glances at the courtroom gallery as he walks to the defense table, in Island County Superior Court, in Coupeville, Wash. Harris-Moore is scheduled to be sentenced Friday, Jan. 27, 2012, in a U.S. federal court for his two-year international crime spree of break-ins and boat and plane thefts. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 16, 2011 file photo, Colton Harris-Moore, also known as the "Barefoot Bandit," glances at the courtroom gallery as he walks to the defense table, in Island County Superior Court, in Coupeville, Wash. Harris-Moore is scheduled to be sentenced Friday, Jan. 27, 2012, in a U.S. federal court for his two-year international crime spree of break-ins and boat and plane thefts. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

John Henry Browne, the attorney for Colton Harris-Moore, talks to reporters outside the Federal Courthouse in Seattle, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012, following the federal sentencing hearing for Harris-Moore, who is also known as the "Barefoot Bandit." (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Pam Kohler, center, the mother of Colton Harris-Moore, who is also known as the "Barefoot Bandit," glares at photographers, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012, as she leaves the federal sentencing hearing for her son in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

John Henry Browne, the attorney for Colton Harris-Moore, talks to reporters outside the Federal Courthouse in Seattle, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012, following the federal sentencing hearing for Harris-Moore, who is also known as the "Barefoot Bandit." (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Assistant U.S. Attorney Darwin Roberts, right, talks to reporters as Kelly Kneifl, center, who had his home broken into by Barefoot Bandit Colton Harris-Moore, and FBI Agent Steven Dean, left, look on, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012, following the federal sentencing hearing for Harris-Moore in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

SEATTLE (AP) ? After a two-year international crime spree in which he survived a handful of crash landings, Colton Harris-Moore ? the infamous "Barefoot Bandit" ? says he's lucky to be alive.

Harris-Moore spoke publicly in court Friday for the first time since his 2010 arrest. A short while later, he was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in federal prison, which will be served concurrently with state prison time.

"What I did could be called daring, but it is no stretch of the imagination to say that am lucky to be alive ... absolutely lucky," he said. "I should have died years ago."

He particularly apologized for stealing planes, saying his arrogance led him to keep alive his dream of flying.

But Harris-Moore, once a gangly teenager, was more than just a self-taught pilot.

He hopscotched his way across the United States, authorities said. He flew a plane stolen in northwestern Washington to the San Juan Islands, stole a pistol in British Columbia and took a plane from Idaho to Washington state, stole a boat in southwestern Washington to go to Oregon, and took a plane in Indiana and flew to the Bahamas, where was arrested.

The 20-year-old earned his nickname because he committed several of the crimes without wearing shoes, and he attracted fans across the nation for his ability to evade police.

Friday's sentencing all but ends his exploits, providing the final details for a movie that an entertainment lawyer and federal prosecutors said 20th Century Fox has in the works.

But far from a gloating star, Harris-Moore apologized Friday to his victims.

"I now know a crime that took place overnight will take years to recover from," he said in court.

Defense attorney John Henry Browne said he expects Harris-Moore to be out of prison in about 4 1/2 years, accounting for the 18 months he's already been in custody. Federal prosecutors declined to comment on how much time he might serve, saying that will be up to the Bureau of Prisons.

Outside the courthouse, Harris-Moore's mother, Pam Kohler of Camano Island, said her son gave her a letter in court, but she refused to talk to reporters. She used her purse to hit a television crew's microphone and camera, and a newspaper photographer's camera.

In court, U.S. District Judge Richard Jones asked Harris-Moore to speak to young people who may look up to him because of his exploits.

"I would say to younger people they should focus on their education, which is what I am doing right now," he said. "I want to start a company. I want to make a difference in this world, legally."

Before the sentencing, defense attorneys said federal prosecutors released cherry-picked excerpts from emails in an effort to make Harris-Moore appear callous and self-aggrandizing.

He called the Island County sheriff "king swine," called prosecutors "fools," and referred to reporters as "vermin." He also described his feats ? stealing and flying planes with no formal training ? "amazing" and said they were unmatched by anyone except the Wright brothers.

But Harris-Moore's lawyers claim the full emails show that he is sorry for what he did and thankful for the treatment he received from a state judge who called his case a "triumph of the human spirit." The state judge sentenced him last month to seven years, at the low end of the sentencing range.

The attorneys acknowledged that in certain instances he bragged, but they said those writings were simply the product of an impulsive adolescent and don't reflect his true remorse.

Harris-Moore apologized for those emails in court Friday.

Federal prosecutors had asked for Jones to impose a 6 1/2 year sentence to be served while Harris-Moore serves his state time. His attorneys had asked for a federal sentence of just under six years.

The judge acknowledged that Harris-Moore had a difficult childhood, one with "complete lack of parental guidance" and alcohol and drug abuse from his parents. But he said he was concerned that that his previous court appearances didn't have an impact on him.

Jones acknowledged that Harris-Moore committed his early crimes to survive after fleeing from home. But he said "most of the federal offenses were committed for one reason: to fulfill your passion for flying at all costs and consequences."

The judge encouraged Harris-Moore to get treatment in prison.

"The most important day in your life is what you do when you are released. It will be up to you to create a new flight plan," Jones said.

Harris-Moore's defense lawyers said treatment was already under way.

There will be another hearing in a month to decide how much restitution Harris-Moore will be required to pay.

Federal prosecutor Darwin Roberts said he doesn't expect the movie deal to provide enough money to cover the estimated $1.3 million restitution.

Entertainment lawyer Lance Rosen said outside the courtroom that Academy Award winner Dustin Lance Black ? who wrote "Milk" and the recent "J. Edgar" ? has met with Harris-Moore several times and has turned in a draft of the script.

One of Harris-Moore's victims, Kelly Kneifl, made the trip from Yankton, S.D., to speak at the sentencing. Harris-Moore broke into Kneifl's home while he and his family were away on vacation.

Kneifl said he just caught a glimpse of a naked Harris-Moore escaping and wanted get some closure by watching him getting sentenced to prison.

"I do have empathy for him. I hope ... he can get on the right track someday," Kneifl said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-27-Barefoot%20Bandit/id-6ef202f5a16d410cb0d08ecb807b67b6

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World's longest lab experiment still going strong, via webcam

In 1927, a physics professor named Thomas Parnell launched an experiment on viscous liquids. 85 years later, we're still waiting for his results. It all began with a funnel, a beaker, and some melted tar pitch. Parnell, a professor at the University of Queensland in Australia, was hoping to demonstrate that brittle tar pitch actually behaves as a liquid when kept at room temperature. To prove this, he melted some tar pitch, let it cool for three years, and placed it within the funnel, held over the beaker. The first drop rolled down the funnel eight years later. The second came nine years after that. By the time the third rolled around, Parnell had already passed away. Following his death, the experiment was shelved, quite literally, in a closet, before Professor John Mainstone revived it shortly after joining the University of Queensland in 1961. In 1975, Mainstone successfully lobbied the university to put the experiment on display, but he likely could've never imagined how large an audience it would ultimately have. Today, in fact, the experiment is on display 24 hours a day, via a dedicated webcam. It's been hailed as the world's longest running lab experiment, and it's available for gazing at the source link below. Mainstone expects the next drop to come down the pipeline sometime next year, but you probably shouldn't hold your breath. The last drop ran down the funnel in 2000. Unfortunately, it was never recorded on video, due to a very untimely camera malfunction.

World's longest lab experiment still going strong, via webcam originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/_flvXQw9FGo/

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Sources: About 12 groups submit Dodgers bids

NEW YORK (AP) ? About 12 groups submitted initial bids to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers from Frank McCourt, several people familiar with the process said Tuesday.

Among the bidders were Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and former YES Network chief executive officer Leo Hindery, two people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the bids were to remain confidential.

One of the people also confirmed a Los Angeles Times report that Stan Kroenke was involved in the bidding. Kroenke already controls the NFL's St. Louis Rams, the NBA's Denver Nuggets, the NHL's Colorado Avalanche, Arsenal of the English Premier League and Major League Soccer's Colorado Rapids.

Hindery's bid, made with Marc Utay, was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Bidders said they were waiting to hear from Blackstone Group, which is representing McCourt, what the next step in the process will be. Blackstone may ask Major League Baseball to conduct due diligence on up to 10 bidders, with each chosen group paying MLB $25,000 to cover baseball's costs.

McCourt is to pick his chosen owner by early April, with Major League Baseball approving the sale in time for a transfer by April 30, the day McCourt must pay former wife Jamie a $131 million divorce settlement.

Some of the other groups include former Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson, former Dodgers manager Joe Torre, former Dodgers owner Peter O'Malley and former agent Dennis Gilbert.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-25-BBN-Dodgers-Sale/id-d037eb71bed14b3d891cb0ca1036e2da

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Study: Adolescents from unstable families lose ground in rigorous high schools

Public release date: 25-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Daniel Fowler
pubinfo@asanet.org
202-527-7885
American Sociological Association

WASHINGTON, DC, January 25, 2012 Research continues to support a connection between instability in the home and school performance in adolescents, but a new study in the January issue of Sociology of Education takes the research a step further by exploring how the relationship between family structure change and adolescent academic careers is also affected by the kinds of schools they attend.

According to study co-author Shannon Cavanagh, a professor in The University of Texas at Austin's Department of Sociology, schools vary considerably in terms of socio-demographic composition and "academic press," measured by whether the school is defined by academic, achievement-oriented values, goals, and norms and by specific standards of achievement.

"For these reasons, we were curious about whether the family instability effect on course-taking behaviors might be different (stronger or weaker) in different kinds of schools," she said.

What Cavanagh and study co-author Paula Fomby, an assistant professor in the University of Colorado Denver's Department of Sociology, found supports what is called the "mismatch hypothesis"a theory that suggests that students who have experienced repeated changes in their family structure status will be less successful academically when attending schools with higher levels of academic press.

Cavanagh and Fomby used data from a nationally representative, longitudinal study of students who were in high school in the mid-1990s. They chose to focus on math course-taking patterns, since math is among the strongest predictors of college matriculation. Academic status in mathematics at the end of high school not only represents interest and ability in the subject, but, more generally, it captures a clearer picture of a student's cumulative high school career.

Because the data from the chosen study included information on students' school records and their families as well as multiple reporter accounts of the characteristics of their schools, Cavanagh and Fomby were able to relate a specific characteristic of each studenttheir family structure historywith school characteristics such as the level of academic press and the percentage of students who were from single-parent homes.

"This interaction allowed us to determine the context in which a student's own family history had the greatest impact on their course-taking patterns," Cavanagh said.

"While students in a high-academic press school, regardless of family instability histories, are higher achieving in terms of course-taking compared to their peers overall, students who have experienced repeated family structure changes lose some part of their advantage," Cavanagh said. As such, Cavanagh and Fomby frame their results in terms of "lost gains."

Unfortunately, the results of the study complicate the work of policymakers and educators who have historically sought to mitigate social disadvantages through access to opportunities and resources found in higher-performing schools. While acknowledging that there are people specifically trained to convert academic findings into policy, Cavanagh does highlight the need for teachers and school leaders to clarify what she calls the "opaque process of college preparation" and to help parents ask the right questions about their student's college preparation.

"[School administrations] can remove some of this opacity with broad information campaigns about the expectations that colleges and employers have for student learning," Cavanagh suggested. "Local business and community leaders who join schools in an effort to prepare college-ready high school graduates may also be effective in reaching parents and adolescents."

###

About the American Sociological Association and the Sociology of Education

The American Sociological Association (www.asanet.org), founded in 1905, is a non-profit membership association dedicated to serving sociologists in their work, advancing sociology as a science and profession, and promoting the contributions to and use of sociology by society. The Sociology of Education is a quarterly, peer-reviewed journal of the ASA.

The research article described above is available by request for members of the media. For a copy of the full study, contact Daniel Fowler, ASA's Media Relations and Public Affairs Officer, at (202) 527-7885 or pubinfo@asanet.org.

For more information about the study, members of the media can also contact Michelle Bryant, Office of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin, at (512) 914-4540 or mbryant@austin.utexas.edu.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

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

Public release date: 25-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Daniel Fowler
pubinfo@asanet.org
202-527-7885
American Sociological Association

WASHINGTON, DC, January 25, 2012 Research continues to support a connection between instability in the home and school performance in adolescents, but a new study in the January issue of Sociology of Education takes the research a step further by exploring how the relationship between family structure change and adolescent academic careers is also affected by the kinds of schools they attend.

According to study co-author Shannon Cavanagh, a professor in The University of Texas at Austin's Department of Sociology, schools vary considerably in terms of socio-demographic composition and "academic press," measured by whether the school is defined by academic, achievement-oriented values, goals, and norms and by specific standards of achievement.

"For these reasons, we were curious about whether the family instability effect on course-taking behaviors might be different (stronger or weaker) in different kinds of schools," she said.

What Cavanagh and study co-author Paula Fomby, an assistant professor in the University of Colorado Denver's Department of Sociology, found supports what is called the "mismatch hypothesis"a theory that suggests that students who have experienced repeated changes in their family structure status will be less successful academically when attending schools with higher levels of academic press.

Cavanagh and Fomby used data from a nationally representative, longitudinal study of students who were in high school in the mid-1990s. They chose to focus on math course-taking patterns, since math is among the strongest predictors of college matriculation. Academic status in mathematics at the end of high school not only represents interest and ability in the subject, but, more generally, it captures a clearer picture of a student's cumulative high school career.

Because the data from the chosen study included information on students' school records and their families as well as multiple reporter accounts of the characteristics of their schools, Cavanagh and Fomby were able to relate a specific characteristic of each studenttheir family structure historywith school characteristics such as the level of academic press and the percentage of students who were from single-parent homes.

"This interaction allowed us to determine the context in which a student's own family history had the greatest impact on their course-taking patterns," Cavanagh said.

"While students in a high-academic press school, regardless of family instability histories, are higher achieving in terms of course-taking compared to their peers overall, students who have experienced repeated family structure changes lose some part of their advantage," Cavanagh said. As such, Cavanagh and Fomby frame their results in terms of "lost gains."

Unfortunately, the results of the study complicate the work of policymakers and educators who have historically sought to mitigate social disadvantages through access to opportunities and resources found in higher-performing schools. While acknowledging that there are people specifically trained to convert academic findings into policy, Cavanagh does highlight the need for teachers and school leaders to clarify what she calls the "opaque process of college preparation" and to help parents ask the right questions about their student's college preparation.

"[School administrations] can remove some of this opacity with broad information campaigns about the expectations that colleges and employers have for student learning," Cavanagh suggested. "Local business and community leaders who join schools in an effort to prepare college-ready high school graduates may also be effective in reaching parents and adolescents."

###

About the American Sociological Association and the Sociology of Education

The American Sociological Association (www.asanet.org), founded in 1905, is a non-profit membership association dedicated to serving sociologists in their work, advancing sociology as a science and profession, and promoting the contributions to and use of sociology by society. The Sociology of Education is a quarterly, peer-reviewed journal of the ASA.

The research article described above is available by request for members of the media. For a copy of the full study, contact Daniel Fowler, ASA's Media Relations and Public Affairs Officer, at (202) 527-7885 or pubinfo@asanet.org.

For more information about the study, members of the media can also contact Michelle Bryant, Office of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin, at (512) 914-4540 or mbryant@austin.utexas.edu.

---

[ | 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/2012-01/asa-saf012512.php

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Case-Mate Pop! Case with Stand for iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 review

“The ability to use the Case-Mate Pop! Case for iPhone in both portrait and landscape modes, at multiple angles, and without worrying about it slipping is simply brilliant.” The Case-Mate

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/qUOGv5imapk/story01.htm

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Japan's first trade deficit since 1980 (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) ? Japan first annual trade deficit in more than 30 years calls into question how much longer the country can rely on exports to help finance a huge public debt without having to turn to fickle foreign investors.

The aftermath of the March earthquake raised fuel import costs while slowing global growth and the yen's strength hit exports, data released on Wednesday showed, swinging the 2011 trade balance into deficit.

Few analysts expect Japan to immediately run a deficit in the current account, which includes trade and returns on the country's huge portfolio of investments abroad. A steady inflow of profits and capital gains from overseas still outweighs the trade deficit.

But the trade figures underscore a broader trend of Japan's declining global competitive edge and a rapidly ageing population, compounding the immediate problem of increased reliance on fuel imports due to the loss of nuclear power.

Only four of the country's 54 nuclear power reactors are running due to public safety fears following the March disaster.

"What it means is that the time when Japan runs out of savings -- 'Sayonara net creditor country' -- that point is coming closer," said Jesper Koll, head of equities research at JPMorgan in Japan.

"It means Japan becomes dependent on global savings to fund its deficit and either the currency weakens or interest rates rise."

That prospect could give added impetus to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's push to double Japan's 5 percent sales tax in two stages by October 2015 to fund the bulging social security costs of a fast-ageing society.

The biggest opposition party, although agreeing with the need for a higher levy, is threatening to block legislation in parliament's upper house in hopes of forcing a general election.

Japan logged a trade deficit of 2.49 trillion yen ($32 billion) for 2011, Ministry of Finance data showed, the first annual deficit since 1980, after the economy was hit by the shock of rising oil prices.

Were Japan to run a current account deficit, it would spell trouble because it would mean the country cannot finance its huge public debt -- already twice the size of its $5 trillion economy -- without overseas funds.

Japanese investors currently hold about 95 percent of Japan's government bonds, which lends some stability to an otherwise unsustainable debt burden.

Domestic buyers are less likely to dump debt at the first whiff of economic trouble, unlike foreign investors, as Europe's debt crisis has shown.

The trade data helped send the yen to a one-month low against the dollar and the euro on Wednesday.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Graphic on 2011 trade data http://link.reuters.com/mev26s

Dec trade balance http://link.reuters.com/vyq65s

Exports by destination http://link.reuters.com/far65s

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"HOLLOWING OUT," AGEING POPULATION

Total exports shrank 2.7 percent last year while imports surged 12.0 percent, reflecting reduced earnings from goods and services and higher spending on crude and fuel oil. Annual imports of liquefied natural gas hit a record high.

In a sign of the continuing pain from slowing global growth, exports fell 8.0 percent in December from a year earlier, roughly matching a median market forecast for a 7.9 percent drop, due partly to weak shipments of electronics parts.

Imports rose 8.1 percent in December from a year earlier, in line with a 8.0 percent annual gain expected, bringing the trade balance to a deficit of 205.1 billion yen, against 139.7 billion yen expected. It marked the third straight month of deficits.

Japan managed to sustain annual trade surpluses through the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s and the post-Lehman Brothers global recession that started in late 2008, which makes the 2011 dip into deficit all the more dramatic.

A generation ago, Japan was the world's export juggernaut, churning out a stream of innovative products from the likes of Sony and Toyota.

Much like China today, Japan's bulging trade surplus became a source of friction with the United States and other advanced economies, who pressed Tokyo to allow the yen to rise more rapidly in order to reduce the imbalance.

A 1985 agreement between Japan, the United States and Europe's big economies -- known as the Plaza Accord after the New York hotel where it was signed -- pushed the yen higher against the U.S. dollar.

Many economists argue that sowed the seeds of Japan's current debt woes. After the Plaza Accord, Japan's economy weakened and its central bank slashed interest rates, which contributed to a credit boom that eventually spawned a financial crisis and led to two decades of economic stagnation.

Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said on Tuesday he did not expect trade deficits to become a pattern, and did not foresee the country's current account balance tipping into the red in the near future.

But Japan's days of logging huge trade surpluses may be over as it relies more on fuel imports and manufacturers move production offshore to cope with rising costs and a strong yen, a trend that may weaken the Japanese currency longer term.

A fast-ageing population also means a growing number of elderly Japanese will be running down their savings.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said the government wants to closely watch the trend of exports and imports.

"There are worries that the yen's strength is driving Japanese industry to go abroad," said Fujimura. "We have to create new industries ... implement comprehensive steps to boost growth. It is important to secure employment within the nation."

($1=77.71 yen)

(Additional writing by Leika Kihara; Editing by Linda Sieg and Emily Kaiser)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120125/bs_nm/us_japan_economy

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The price of your soul: How the brain decides whether to 'sell out'

Monday, January 23, 2012

An Emory University neuro-imaging study shows that personal values that people refuse to disavow, even when offered cash to do so, are processed differently in the brain than those values that are willingly sold.

"Our experiment found that the realm of the sacred ? whether it's a strong religious belief, a national identity or a code of ethics ? is a distinct cognitive process," says Gregory Berns, director of the Center for Neuropolicy at Emory University and lead author of the study. The results were published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.

Sacred values prompt greater activation of an area of the brain associated with rules-based, right-or-wrong thought processes, the study showed, as opposed to the regions linked to processing of costs-versus-benefits.

Berns headed a team that included economists and information scientists from Emory University, a psychologist from the New School for Social Research and anthropologists from the Institute Jean Nicod in Paris, France. The research was funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the National Science Foundation.

"We've come up with a method to start answering scientific questions about how people make decisions involving sacred values, and that has major implications if you want to better understand what influences human behavior across countries and cultures," Berns says. "We are seeing how fundamental cultural values are represented in the brain."

The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to record the brain responses of 32 U.S. adults during key phases of an experiment. In the first phase, participants were shown statements ranging from the mundane, such as "You are a tea drinker," to hot-button issues such "You support gay marriage" and "You are Pro-Life." Each of the 62 statements had a contradictory pair, such as "You are Pro-Choice," and the participants had to choose one of each pair.

At the end of the experiment, participants were given the option of auctioning their personal statements: Disavowing their previous choices for actual money. The participants could earn as much as $100 per statement by simply agreeing to sign a document stating the opposite of what they believed. They could choose to opt out of the auction for statements they valued highly.

"We used the auction as a measure of integrity for specific statements," Berns explains. "If a person refused to take money to change a statement, then we considered that value to be personally sacred to them. But if they took money, then we considered that they had low integrity for that statement and that it wasn't sacred."

The brain imaging data showed a strong correlation between sacred values and activation of the neural systems associated with evaluating rights and wrongs (the left temporoparietal junction) and semantic rule retrieval (the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex), but not with systems associated with reward.

"Most public policy is based on offering people incentives and disincentives," Berns says. "Our findings indicate that it's unreasonable to think that a policy based on costs-and-benefits analysis will influence people's behavior when it comes to their sacred personal values, because they are processed in an entirely different brain system than incentives."

Research participants who reported more active affiliations with organizations, such as churches, sports teams, musical groups and environmental clubs, had stronger brain activity in the same brain regions that correlated to sacred values. "Organized groups may instill values more strongly through the use of rules and social norms," Berns says.

The experiment also found activation in the amygdala region, a brain region associated with emotional reactions, but only in cases where participants refused to take cash to state the opposite of what they believe. "Those statements represent the most repugnant items to the individual," Berns says, "and would be expected to provoke the most arousal, which is consistent with the idea that when sacred values are violated, that induces moral outrage."

The study is part of a special issue of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, titled "The Biology of Cultural Conflict." Berns edited the special issue, which brings together a dozen articles on the culture of neuroscience, including differences in the neural processing of people on the opposing sides of conflict, from U.S. Democrats and Republicans to Arabs and Israelis.

"As culture changes, it affects our brains, and as our brains change, that affects our culture. You can't separate the two," Berns says. "We now have the means to start understanding this relationship, and that's putting the relatively new field of cultural neuroscience onto the global stage."

Future conflicts over politics and religion will likely play out biologically, Berns says. Some cultures will choose to change their biology, and in the process, change their culture, he notes. He cites the battles over women's reproductive rights and gay marriage as ongoing examples.

###

Emory University: http://www.emory.edu

Thanks to Emory University 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/116931/The_price_of_your_soul__How_the_brain_decides_whether_to__sell_out_

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Who needs snow? LA crashes jump after rain

By Samantha Tata, NBCLosAngeles.com

Crashes on Southern California?s wet roads Saturday morning jumped nearly sixfold compared to the same time last weekend when the roads were dry.

The California Highway Patrol recorded 315 crashes on Southern California freeways between 12:01 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Saturday, compared with 55 crashes in the same period a week ago.

Read the original story at NBCLosAngeles.com

The bulk of the crashes - about 280 - occurred in the last four hours from dawn to 9 a.m., when the showers hit, the CHP said.

"There?s a misconception that the rain causes these crashes," said CHP Officer Francisco Villalobos. "It?s not the rain, it?s the way people are driving in the rain."

He blamed motorists driving too fast for the road conditions.

"You can?t drive the same speed as you can on a dry roadway, especially with the first rain of the season," Villalobos said.

Most of the crashes occurred on bends in freeway roads such as on-ramps, off-ramps and transitions, Villalobos said. Vehicles across Los Angeles County either spun out or hit guard rails on the bends, he said.

Several freeways were blocked by surface flooding, crashed cars and trucks, or combinations of problems.

The multilevel interchange of the 210, 134 and 710 freeways in Pasadena was snarled in several directions by flooding or wrecks.

Westbound 210 lanes were blocked for four hours by a big rig that jackknifed before dawn.

RELATED:?Weekend Rainstorm Hits SoCal

And the tunnel that brings the eastbound 210 through the interchange was expected to be closed until 1 p.m. by wreckage from a multicar pileup.

At least three separate crashes occurred over two hours at the 101-405 interchange in the San Fernando Valley. And the southbound 5 truck lanes in the Newhall Pass were closed all morning by a spilled truckload of oranges that had to be scooped up with heavy machinery.

Dozens of other ramps and transition roads, from Castaic to Santa Fe Springs, were blocked by wrecked cars and trucks, or fire trucks. The CHP reported 75 crashes by 5 a.m., up from the 30 wrecks in the same period last week, according to the CHP.

In Los Angeles, about 6,500 Department of Water and Power accounts were in the dark before dawn, the result of various storm-related mishaps. A crash at Nordhoff Street and Sepulveda Boulevard caused a transformer fire that blacked out much of the North Hills, said DWP spokeswoman MaryAnne Pierson.

About 741 properties were blacked out in Beverly Hills, 100 in downtown Santa Monica, and an unknown number in western Malibu, where wires were down near Zuma Beach, said Southern California Edison spokesman Scott Andresen.

Authorities advised motorists driving in the rain to leave extra space between their vehicles, to allow for more time to react to or avoid potential collisions.

Southern California has been parched all winter, receiving only an inch of rain in November and not a drop since mid-December, according to the National Weather Service. L.A. already received 10 inches of rain by that time last year.

Dec. 2011 was markedly drier in the Southland than the year before, receiving only 10 to 30 percent of its normal rainfall for the month; whereas Dec. 2010 saw three to six times as as much the normal precipitation.

Oil that has seeped into the roadways has yet to be washed away, making for more dangerous conditions, Villalobos said.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News

?

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/21/10208518-who-needs-snow-la-crashes-jump-nearly-six-fold-after-rain

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Eating smart: Researcher studies foods, dietary supplements that may reduce risk of prostate cancer

Public release date: 23-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Brian Lindshield
blindsh@k-state.edu
785-532-7848
Kansas State University

MANHATTAN, KAN. -- A Kansas State University professor is turning to nutrition to tackle prostate cancer.

Brian Lindshield, assistant professor of human nutrition, is helping men make more informed diet decisions by studying foods and dietary supplements that may reduce the risk of prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer among men in the United States.

"I'm interested in researching ways to prevent prostate cancer rather than how to treat it after a person has been diagnosed with cancer," Lindshield said.

The goal of Lindshield's research is twofold: He is performing basic studies that examine specific drugs as well as dietary supplements. His research has been supported by grants from the Johnson Cancer Research Center and the National Institute of Health Center of Biomedical Research Excellence, or COBRE, for epithelial function in health and disease.

One project focuses specifically on two drugs -- finasteride and dutasteride -- that are used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH, which is an enlargement of the prostate. Both drugs inhibit enzymes that convert the male hormone testosterone to a more potent form, called dihydrotestosterone, or DHT. Finasteride inhibits one of these enzymes, while dutasteride inhibits both of these enzymes.

Because these drugs inhibit DHT production, they may also prevent the development of prostate cancer. Several clinical trials have shown that both drugs decrease prostate cancer incidence, but at a cost.

"Among the men who took these drugs and still got prostate cancer, more of them had a high-grade or more aggressive prostate cancer," Lindshield said. "It's kind of a double-edged sword. These drugs can lower the risk of developing prostate cancer, but they also might lead to worse outcomes for men who do develop the disease."

That's where Lindshield's research fits in: He is comparing finasteride and dutasteride to see if one is better than the other.

"Our hypothesis is that dutasteride is a better option because it inhibits both enzymes while finasteride only inhibits one," Lindshield said.

For a second project, Lindshield is studying different dietary supplements that affect prostate cancer risk. He is focusing on extract from saw palmetto, a type of shrub that looks similar to a palm tree. Many men take saw palmetto extract because it is believed to benefit prostatic health and inhibit the same enzymes as finasteride and dutasteride. But a lack of regulation and research surrounding saw palmetto has not provided clear insight into whether taking the extract is beneficial.

"The supplement market is kind of the wild world of whatever goes," Lindshield said. "It is not regulated in the United States, so many different kinds of saw palmetto extracts exist."

Lindshield wants to determine the composition of different saw palmetto extracts and determine which ones may be most effective. So far the researchers have collected various saw palmetto extracts -- from small liquids to capsules. They are beginning to measure the active components of each of the extracts and then will look at different extracts to see if they are effective in decreasing prostate cancer.

"We want to look at how they affect growth of prostate cancer cells and inhibit the enzymes that produce DHT," Lindshield said.

While both projects are in the early stages, Lindshield hopes that they can provide insight into ways that men can reduce their risk of prostate cancer.

###

---

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

Public release date: 23-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Brian Lindshield
blindsh@k-state.edu
785-532-7848
Kansas State University

MANHATTAN, KAN. -- A Kansas State University professor is turning to nutrition to tackle prostate cancer.

Brian Lindshield, assistant professor of human nutrition, is helping men make more informed diet decisions by studying foods and dietary supplements that may reduce the risk of prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer among men in the United States.

"I'm interested in researching ways to prevent prostate cancer rather than how to treat it after a person has been diagnosed with cancer," Lindshield said.

The goal of Lindshield's research is twofold: He is performing basic studies that examine specific drugs as well as dietary supplements. His research has been supported by grants from the Johnson Cancer Research Center and the National Institute of Health Center of Biomedical Research Excellence, or COBRE, for epithelial function in health and disease.

One project focuses specifically on two drugs -- finasteride and dutasteride -- that are used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH, which is an enlargement of the prostate. Both drugs inhibit enzymes that convert the male hormone testosterone to a more potent form, called dihydrotestosterone, or DHT. Finasteride inhibits one of these enzymes, while dutasteride inhibits both of these enzymes.

Because these drugs inhibit DHT production, they may also prevent the development of prostate cancer. Several clinical trials have shown that both drugs decrease prostate cancer incidence, but at a cost.

"Among the men who took these drugs and still got prostate cancer, more of them had a high-grade or more aggressive prostate cancer," Lindshield said. "It's kind of a double-edged sword. These drugs can lower the risk of developing prostate cancer, but they also might lead to worse outcomes for men who do develop the disease."

That's where Lindshield's research fits in: He is comparing finasteride and dutasteride to see if one is better than the other.

"Our hypothesis is that dutasteride is a better option because it inhibits both enzymes while finasteride only inhibits one," Lindshield said.

For a second project, Lindshield is studying different dietary supplements that affect prostate cancer risk. He is focusing on extract from saw palmetto, a type of shrub that looks similar to a palm tree. Many men take saw palmetto extract because it is believed to benefit prostatic health and inhibit the same enzymes as finasteride and dutasteride. But a lack of regulation and research surrounding saw palmetto has not provided clear insight into whether taking the extract is beneficial.

"The supplement market is kind of the wild world of whatever goes," Lindshield said. "It is not regulated in the United States, so many different kinds of saw palmetto extracts exist."

Lindshield wants to determine the composition of different saw palmetto extracts and determine which ones may be most effective. So far the researchers have collected various saw palmetto extracts -- from small liquids to capsules. They are beginning to measure the active components of each of the extracts and then will look at different extracts to see if they are effective in decreasing prostate cancer.

"We want to look at how they affect growth of prostate cancer cells and inhibit the enzymes that produce DHT," Lindshield said.

While both projects are in the early stages, Lindshield hopes that they can provide insight into ways that men can reduce their risk of prostate cancer.

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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/ksu-esr012312.php

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