2 policemen shot in Rome as Italy gets new govt

ROME (AP) ? An unemployed bricklayer shot two Italian policemen in a crowded square outside the premier's office Sunday just as the nation's new government was being sworn in, investigators said.

The gunman's intended target was politicians, a top Italian official said after interviewing him.

Mired in recession and suffering from soaring unemployment, Italy has been in political paralysis since an inconclusive February election. Social and political tensions have been running high among voters divided between center-left, conservative and anti-government political parties.

Sunday was supposed to be a hopeful day when debt-ridden Italy finally got new government to solve its many problems. But shots rang out in Colonna Square near a busy shopping and strolling area shortly after 11:30 a.m. just as Premier Enrico Letta and his new ministers were taking their oaths at the Quirinal presidential office about a kilometer (half mile) away.

The suspected gunman, dressed in a dark business suit, was immediately grabbed by other police outside Chigi Palace, which houses the premier's office and other government offices. The politicians were supposed to have met at the palace later Sunday for their first Cabinet meeting.

Rome Prosecutor Pierfilippo Laviani told reporters he had questioned the alleged assailant, who was taken to a hospital with bruises after being wrestled to the ground. He identified the man as Luigi Preiti, 49, from Calabria, a southern agricultural area plagued by organized crime and chronic unemployment.

Laviani said Preiti had "confessed everything" and didn't appear mentally unbalanced.

"He is a man full of problems, who lost his job, who lost everything," the prosecutor said. "He was desperate. In general, he wanted to shoot at politicians, but given that he couldn't reach any, he shot at the Carabinieri" paramilitary police.

One of the policemen, shot in the neck, was in critical condition. The other, shot in the leg, suffered a fracture, doctors said.

The shooting "was the tragic gesture of a 49-year-old unemployed man," Interior Minister Angelino Alfano told reporters after briefing Letta and his new Cabinet.

A woman passing by during the shooting was slightly injured, Rome's mayor said. It was unclear if she was grazed by a bullet or hurt in the panic sparked by the gunfire.

The 46-year-old Letta had nailed down a coalition deal only a day ago between two bitter political enemies ? his center-left forces and the conservative bloc of ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi. Letta will speak to Parliament on Monday, laying out his strategy to reduce joblessness while still sticking to the austerity measures needed to keep the eurozone's No. 3 economy from descending into a sovereign debt crisis. He will then face confidence votes.

A video surveillance camera on the Parliament building caught the attacker on film just before and during the shooting, Italian news reports said.

The attacker was walking at a steady pace along a narrow street that leads from the square outside Parliament's lower house to the square outside the premier's office, when police officers appear to have stopped him to ask where he was going.

About 90 minutes later, Letta and his ministers were due to enter Chigi Palace. It was not immediately known if the attacker knew about their arrival.

Shortly after police approached him, he began firing, according to the surveillance camera.

An AP television producer saw the two wounded Carabinieri officers in the square outside the palace. One of them lay on the pavement with blood pouring out of his neck.

Alfano said the alleged gunman wanted to kill himself after the shooting but ran out of bullets. He said six shots were fired in all. The gunman used a semi-automatic pistol whose serial number had been scraped off, Sky TG24 TV said.

The interior minister said security was immediately stepped up near key venues in the Italian capital, but added authorities were not worried about possible related attacks.

"Our initial investigation indicates the incident is due to an isolated gesture, although further investigations are being carried out," he said.

Doctors at Rome's Umberto I Polyclinic said a 50-year-old brigadier had been hit in the neck by a bullet that damaged his spinal column and was lodged near his shoulder. The doctors said it wasn't yet known if the spinal column injury had caused any paralysis.

The head of St. John's Hospital, Gianluigi Bracciale, told Sky TG24 TV the second officer suffered a broken leg from a gunshot. He said Prieti didn't appear to have any injuries other than bruises.

Preiti's uncle, interviewed by Sky, said the alleged gunman had moved back to his parents' home in Calabria because he could no longer find work as a bricklayer. "He was a great worker. He could build a house from top to bottom," said the uncle, Domenco Preiti.

The shooting sparked ugly memories of the 1970s and 1980s in Italy, when domestic terrorism plagued the country during a time of high political tensions between right-wing and left-wing blocs.

The new Cabinet ministers were seen smiling in a group photo as news of the shooting broke.

"The news arrived after the swearing-in," said Dario Franceschini, one of the new ministers.

The ministers were kept briefly inside for security reasons until it was clear there was no immediate danger.

Rome was jammed Sunday with tourists and residents enjoying a warm sunny morning on the last day of a four-day weekend.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/2-policemen-shot-rome-italy-gets-govt-161126469.html

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Leak at BP platform could have caused "major accident"

By Nerijus Adomaitis

OSLO (Reuters) - Oil major BP must review the way it handles risk and maintenance at its offshore oil platforms in Norway following a leak at a North Sea platform that could have caused a major accident, Norway's oil safety watchdog said on Monday.

Last September some 1,600 kilogrammes of gas and 125 barrels of oil leaked from the production platform at the Ula field in the Norwegian section of the North Sea, a quantity considered significant by the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway.

"The incident had the potential to become a major accident, with the risk that a number of lives might have been lost and substantial material damage caused," the agency said on Monday.

The watchdog was concerned by the incident as BP had already been told to improve the way it handles maintenance at ageing platforms following a fire at the Valhall field in the North Sea in 2011.

The leak at Ula was caused by the fracturing of the bolts holding together a valve in a separator outlet. Production was shut for 67 days. No one was injured.

"The investigation has identified a number of serious breaches of the regulations, related in part to BP's management system for activities (off Norway)," the PSA said. "Deficiencies still exist in the maintenance system."

BP said it was addressing the issues raised by the watchdog. "The findings closely match BP's own investigation and work has already started to address the issues raised and to fully comply with the orders by the end of 2013," said Jan Erik Geirmo, a spokesman for BP Norway.

Ula is estimated to hold 98.8 million barrels of recoverable oil reserves, according to data from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. BP owns 80 percent of the field and is the operator. Denmark's DONG Energy holds 20 percent.

(Editing by Keiron Henderson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/leak-bp-platform-could-caused-major-accident-142313927.html

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Equip Yourself With Slingshots For The Zombie Apocalypse

When you think about how you would deal with a zombie invasion, the weapons that come to mind probably don't include slingshots. But if the story of David and Goliath has taught us anything it's that slingshots are pretty deadly. Plus that whole underdog thing. Whatever.

Joerg Sprave wanted to make sure he was ready for the undead so he got fellow YouTubers, Zombie Go Boom, to send him two of their rubber zombie heads. Then he filled the head cavities with red wine. Because of course he did. He tested a homemade slingshot and a commercially made model and the results were pretty solid. You can inflict a lot of damage with a slingshot. At least if you're Joerg. The main takeaway here? A zombie apocalypse where the monsters bleed red wine will be way more relaxing and full of antioxidants than any alternative. [Slingshot Channel]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5995488/equip-yourself-with-slingshots-for-the-zombie-apocalypse

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Court: State can block out of state use of FOIA

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Supreme Court says it's legal for Virginia to block out-of-state people from using its Freedom of Information Act to get state documents.

The court unanimously upheld a Virginia Supreme Court decision validating that state limitation of its FOIA law to state citizens and some media outlets.

Men from California and Rhode Island wanted to use the Virginia FOIA law to get state documents, but were denied because they are not Virginia citizens. The two men argued that it was unconstitutional to not allow everyone access to the protections of a state's FOIA law.

Justice Samuel Alito says that Virginia made most of the information the men wanted available to them and its refusal to make the rest of it available did not violate their constitutional rights.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/court-state-block-state-foia-141957853.html

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Questions And Answers:

Answers To Questions That You May Have: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Q:?Why are you selling?

A:?I build these sites as a hobby. At first, I started out building a few website related to Forex and Stocks for my own use. I soon found that building websites relaxes me and have continued to build high-quality websites ever since.

When I started building sites I had no idea that the demand for my sites would be so great. I am pleased to be able to offer such high-quality at prices that anyone can afford.
UPDATE:?By popular demand I've decided to expand my offerings by teaming up with some top-notch web designers, copywriters, and product creators to offer Flippa members a wider variety of quality niche websites.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Q: Do you provide service after the sale?

A: Yes, I pride myself in making sure you get up and running quickly and easily.

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Q: Has the site already been properly search engine optimized?

A: Yes, I have personally done the necessary keyword research.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Q: Where is the domain registered?

A: The domain name is registered with Godaddy. I will transfer the domain name to you free of charge.

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Q: When do I have to pay when I am the winning bidder?

A: Payment is due immediately after notification of your winning bid.

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I will happily move your website for you for free within 5 days of purchase as long as your host has cpanel.

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Source: https://flippa.com/2919471-self-improvement-multiple-income-streams-great-content-gorgeous-pro-design

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NATO: 4 service members killed in plane crash

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? A plane crashed in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing four international service members on the same day the Taliban said they were gearing up to launch their spring offensive with attacks on military and diplomatic targets.

Initial reporting indicated there was no enemy activity in the area where the plane went down, the NATO-led coalition said in a statement confirming the crash. Coalition personnel secured the site and were investigating the cause of the crash, NATO said.

The brief statement did not identify the nationalities of the victims, or say exactly where the crash occurred.

However, Mohammad Jan Rasoulyar, deputy governor of the southern province of Zabul, said an aircraft belonging to foreign forces crashed Saturday afternoon in Shah Joy district. He confirmed the site had been surrounded by international forces.

The spring Taliban offensive, which is to begin on Sunday, comes as U.S.-backed efforts to try to reconcile the Islamic militant movement with the Afghan government have so far failed.

Insurgents already have stepped up attacks this spring as they try to position themselves for power ahead of national elections and the planned withdrawal of most U.S. and other foreign combat troops by the end of 2014.

The Afghan Defense Ministry said its security forces are prepared for Taliban's new campaign. "The Afghan National Army is ready to neutralize the offensive," the ministry said, adding that the soldiers now have the support and trust of many Afghans.

The Taliban's leadership vowed on Saturday that "every possible tactic will be utilized in order to detain or inflict heavy casualties on the foreign transgressors" during its spring offensive.

In a sign of Taliban's determination to replace Afghanistan's government with one promoting a stricter interpretation of Islamic law, the insurgents named the new offensive after a legendary Muslim military commander, Khalid ibn al-Walid. Also known as the "Drawn Sword of God," he was a companion of Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

The Taliban threatened to infiltrate the Afghan security forces and conduct more attacks on Afghan policemen and soldiers as well as foreign troops. Such attacks threaten the strength of the Afghan forces as they work to take over responsibility from international troops. The latest one occurred in March, when a member of Afghanistan's government-backed village defense program shot and killed five of his colleagues in Badghis province in northwest Afghanistan

April has already been the worst month for combat deaths so far this year. According to an Associated Press tally, 257 people ? including civilians, Afghan security forces and foreign troops ? have been killed in violence around the nation. During that time 217 insurgents have died.

Last year during the month of April, 179 civilians, foreign troops and Afghan security forces were killed and 268 insurgents.

Still, U.S. Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, the top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said Wednesday that the security situation had improved across the country, with Afghan forces now leading 80 percent of all conventional operations.

As the traditional fighting season begins, the insurgents will face a combined Afghan force of 350,000 soldiers and police, he said.

"The insurgency can no longer use the justification that it is fighting foreign occupiers ? that message rings hollow," Dunford said in a statement.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, the Taliban late Friday freed nine civilian de-miners it had captured in the southern province of Kandahar after negotiations involving tribal elders, provincial spokesman Javeed Faisal said.

The Afghan men were being driven back from a mine field last Sunday when they were captured. Afghanistan has a legacy of land mines going back decades and remains one of the most heavily mined countries in the world.

___

AP writer Rahim Faiez in Kabul contributed to this report.

___

Follow Thomas Wagner on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/tjpwagner.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nato-4-members-killed-plane-crash-170208072.html

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What type of pet would you recommend for my circumstances? | The ...

Issue:

I live in an apartment in a college town where most pets that can?t be kept in a terrarium, aquarium or cage are not allowed. With these restrictions in mind what good pets would you recommend?

(If the pet doesn?t make a lot of mess and doesn?t smell I might consider keeping it even if it breaks the lease agreement.)

Question :

What type of pet would you recommend for my circumstances?

Best Solver (Answer):

Answer by andreea
a cat..

Rating: 5? 99% like it? Reviewed by Master on Saturday,April 27th, 2013 In What type of pet would you recommend for my circumstances?

Source: http://www.thebestsolver.com/what-type-of-pet-would-you-recommend-for-my-circumstances.html

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New app reveals painting's past with a swipe

Stephanie Pappas , LiveScience ? ? ? 19 hrs.

A new app for iPhones and iPads lets art viewers see the path a painting took from sketches to completion, from any angle.

Repentir, a free app developed by researchers in the United Kingdom's Newcastle University and Northumbria University, works so far with only one painting. But the developers say that the technology could soon be applied to many new paintings, and maybe even old ones.

"What you could do is take the actual imagery art historians have been making of old paintings and actually use the app as a way to reveal them," said Jonathan Hook, a professor at Newcastle University who studies human-computer interactions. At present, the app can reveal the history of "Transamerica," a new painting by artist Nathan Walsh. [ Top 10 Science Apps for Your Phone ]

Both the app and the painting are being formally revealed in Paris today (April 26) at the 2013 Association for Computing Machinery Conference on Human Factors in Computing. Walsh is a realist painter, which often makes art viewers believe he's "cheated" by altering photographs or otherwise not really creating his work by hand, Hook told LiveScience.

"What's really cool about the app is it allows people not just to believe that what Nathan does is real, but to get a handle on the process," Hook said.

"Transamerica" is a street scene as seen reflected in a San Francisco Chinatown gift shop. As he painted, Walsh took a photograph every day of the unfinished canvas, starting from pencil sketches and ending in oil paint. Hook and his colleagues then compiled these photographs into layers. Repentir app users can scroll through the layers using a scroll bar, or they can rub top layers away on-screen with a fingertip, revealing the earlier work underneath.

Viewers can snap a picture of the artwork from any angle as they view it in person, and the program will recognize the picture and adjust the layers accordingly. This means that you can even get up close and photograph just a tiny portion of the picture and the app will still recognize it, Hook said.

"Rather than some alternative approaches like looking for a square shape or a QR code, this actually uses features within the image to match where the painting is," he said.

Repentir currently needs "Transamerica" to work, but any artist with digital photography equipment could join the project, Hook said. "Transamerica" will remain on display in Paris until May 2 and then is set to go to the Bernarducci Meisel Gallery in New York, where Hook and his colleagues plan to study whether the app changes the way art lovers approach the painting.

"The next step is to actually evaluate whether Repentir affects the way that gallery patrons experience Nathan's work," Hook said.

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter andGoogle+. Follow us@livescience, Facebook &Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.

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

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2b3fd750/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Cgadgetbox0Cnew0Eapp0Ereveals0Epaintings0Epast0Eswipe0E6C9644962/story01.htm

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Frozen Metal Plates Changed The Way We Eat Forever

It's easy to forget that almost nothing you eat was grown remotely near you and plenty of it wasn't even grown recently. And for that miracle of modern day life, we have gigantic metal plates, frozen to subzero temperatures to thank. Or at least that's how it all started. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/P1aN88sZbq0/frozen-metal-plates-changed-the-way-we-eat-forever

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What universities do dentistry in uk? - Wiki Q&a

Sarah on Apr 28, 2013 Reply

University of Aberdeen
Barts and the London, Queen Mary School of Medicine and Dentistry
University of Birmingham
University of Bristol
Cardiff University
University of Dundee
University of Edinburgh
University of Glasgow
Kings College London
University of Leeds
University of Liverpool
University of Manchester
Newcastle University
Queens University Belfast
University of Sheffield
University College London

That is a list of university which offers dentistry degree. All of the unis listed are brilliant. Down south the universities you could apply to are:

Barts and the London, Queen Mary School of Medicine and Dentistry
Kings College London
University College London

All the best and I hope you get into dentistry. Its a great profession.

Source: http://www.wiki-qa.com/education-reference/higher-education/what-universities-do-dentistry-in-uk.html

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Mobile App Ratings: Teens Review Their Favorite Social Apps From ...

This article was written by teen reporters from The Mash, a weekly publication distributed to Chicagoland high schools.

By Ashley Black, St. Charles East high school, and Mikhaela Padilla, Whitney Young high school

The time of simple communication is dwindling toward extinction. Think about it: When?s the last time you called a friend from a landline phone and talked for hours? Year after year, study after study, it?s shown that teens favor communicating through social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

But now, there?s a new crop of social networking applications that are readily available to teens (aka free)?and there?s something for everyone. Want to show off a vacation photo? Instagram is your best bet. Interested in documenting your life, one check-in at a time? Path can help you with that. Or maybe you just want to send a silly selfie to your best friends? Check out Snapchat.

We rounded up some of the most popular communication apps, tried them out for ourselves and gave them report cards.

Instagram

Instagram allows its users to play professional photographer with filters, a cropping tool and focus options. Plus, you can see what your friends (and celebs) are up to through live updates.
Unlike Facebook and Twitter, Instagram is a photo-only app that banks on creativity. ?People love it because it shows a little bit of your personality and your life,? said Brianna Booth, a freshman at Barrington.

Since Instagram?s launch in 2010, heaps of knockoff apps have debuted. Still, most lack the massive following that Instagram has built.

Instagram did come under fire late last year after changing its terms of service. Users worried that the app could sell their works of art. Instagram cleared that up: You own your photos, but Instagram can share your user data with its parent company, Facebook.

Grade: A
Top marks for: user-friendly tools, creativity and cult-like following
Could improve: confusing service terms

GifBoom

In a nutshell, GifBoom is a moving Instagram. The app makes it easy to create and share your very own gifs (aka animated photographs, like the ones on whatshouldwecallme.tumblr.com). Unlike Tumblr, GifBoom only allows its users to share gifs?no still photos allowed.

One major complaint? It?s not super user-friendly at first. ?It was hard to navigate for the first week,? said Gina Paletta, a freshman at St. Charles East. ?I had no idea what I was doing and it took time to figure out.?

Once you get the hang of it, GifBoom is a unique app to have. If you?ve ever wished your Instagram photos could move, this app is for you.

Grade: B+
Top marks for: growing user base and clean design
Could improve: ease of use and tools

Pheed

If Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube had a baby (don?t ask us how), it would be Pheed. The easy-to-use, clutter-free app is quickly gaining popularity and followers. You can use Pheed to share texts, photos, videos, audio and live broadcasts.

Some would say the concept is new, but others find it repetitive. ?Facebook is all I need because other apps are basically all just the same,? said Jose Garcia, a junior at Carl Schurz.

But there is something that sets Pheed apart: Users can subscribe to premium channels for a fee (anywhere from $1.99 to $34.99 per month). For example, a singer might broadcast their performance or concert on Pheed and users would have to subscribe?and possibly pay a fee?to view it.

Grade: A-
Top marks for: clutter-free design and ease of use
Could improve: originality and premium fees

Path

If you love the idea of Facebook?s timeline, Path might just be your new favorite app. The new-ish concept allows you to share almost anything: your current location, what you?re listening to, future plans, cute stickers and more. The app also allows you to have conversations with friends (as shown above).

?Facebook and Instagram are easier to use and understand, but Path is a more minute-by-minute timeline of someone?s day,? said Brooke Rinker, a senior at St. Charles East.

One major difference between Facebook and Path is that you can have only 150 friends on Path. It creates a more close-knit feeling for many users, but some find it too restrictive.

Grade: B
Top marks for: live updating and variety
Could improve: sharing restrictions and ease of use

Snapchat

Snapchat is like nothing else on the app market. You take a photo or short video, add text or a doodle and send it to your friends to view for a set amount of time (one to 10 seconds, your choice). Once your friends open the pic, they have to press down on their phone screen to view your photo. After the timer is up, the photo or video disappears forever ? or so we?re told.

?Snapchat allows people to easily share information about their lives on a whole (different) level using photos,? said Willie Stevan, a sophomore at Whitney Young. ?I send about 15 snaps a day and receive, like, 50!?

One downfall? The privacy settings are questionable. A University of Michigan student and hacker, Raj Vir, reported that users secretly can save incoming images. Note to all: Don?t send anything via Snapchat that you wouldn?t want to resurface.

Grade: B+
Top marks for: originality and easy-to-use tools
Could improve: privacy settings

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/27/mobile-app-ratings-teens-_n_3171661.html

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Senators Pass Bill to Ease Air-Travel Delays (WSJ)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/301651282?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Sea surface temperatures reach highest level in 150 years

Public release date: 26-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Shelley Dawicki
shelley.dawicki@noaa.gov
508-495-2378
NOAA Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Science Center

Sea surface temperatures in the Northeast Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem during 2012 were the highest recorded in 150 years, according to the latest Ecosystem Advisory issued by NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC). These high sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are the latest in a trend of above average temperature seen during the spring and summer seasons, and part of a pattern of elevated temperatures occurring in the Northwest Atlantic, but not seen elsewhere in the ocean basin over the past century.

The advisory reports on conditions in the second half of 2012.

Sea surface temperature for the Northeast Shelf Ecosystem reached a record high of 14 degrees Celsius (57.2F) in 2012, exceeding the previous record high in 1951. Average SST has typically been lower than 12.4 C (54.3 F) over the past three decades.

Sea surface temperature in the region is based on both contemporary satellite remote-sensing data and long-term ship-board measurements, with historical SST conditions based on ship-board measurements dating back to 1854. The temperature increase in 2012 was the highest jump in temperature seen in the time series and one of only five times temperature has changed by more than 1 C (1.8 F).

The Northeast Shelf's warm water thermal habitat was also at a record high level during 2012, while cold water habitat was at a record low level. Early winter mixing of the water column went to extreme depths, which will impact the spring 2013 plankton bloom. Mixing redistributes nutrients and affects stratification of the water column as the bloom develops.

Temperature is also affecting distributions of fish and shellfish on the Northeast Shelf. The advisory provides data on changes in distribution, or shifts in the center of the population, of seven key fishery species over time. The four southern species - black sea bass, summer flounder, longfin squid and butterfish - all showed a northeastward or upshelf shift. American lobster has shifted upshelf over time but at a slower rate than the southern species. Atlantic cod and haddock have shifted downshelf."

"Many factors are involved in these shifts, including temperature, population size, and the distributions of both prey and predators," said Jon Hare, a scientist in the NEFSC's Oceanography Branch. A number of recent studies have documented changing distributions of fish and shellfish, further supporting NEFSC work reported in 2009 that found about half of the 36 fish stocks studied in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, many of them commercially valuable species, have been shifting northward over the past four decades.

The Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) extends from the Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The NEFSC has monitored this ecosystem with comprehensive sampling programs since1977. Prior to 1977, this ecosystem was monitored by the NEFSC through a series of separate, coordinated programs dating back decades.

Warming conditions on the Northeast Shelf in the spring of 2012 continued into September, with the most consistent warming conditions seen in the Gulf of Maine and on Georges Bank. Temperatures cooled by October and were below average in the Middle Atlantic Bight in November, perhaps due to Superstorm Sandy, but had returned to above average conditions by December.

"Changes in ocean temperatures and the timing and strength of spring and fall plankton blooms could affect the biological clocks of many marine species, which spawn at specific times of the year based on environmental cues like water temperature," Kevin Friedland, a scientist in the NEFSC Ecosystem Assessment Program, said. He noted that the contrast between years with, and without, a fall bloom is emerging as an important driver of the shelf's ecology. "The size of the spring plankton bloom was so large that the annual chlorophyll concentration remained high in 2012 despite low fall activity. These changes will have a profound impact throughout the ecosystem."

Michael Fogarty, who heads the Ecosystem Assessment Program, says the abundance of fish and shellfish is controlled by a complex set of factors, and that increasing temperatures in the ecosystem make it essential to monitor the distribution of many species, some of them migratory and others not.

"It isn't always easy to understand the big picture when you are looking at one specific part of it at one specific point in time," Fogarty said, a comparison similar to not seeing the forest when looking at a single tree in it. "We now have information on the ecosystem from a variety of sources collected over a long period of time, and are adding more data to clarify specific details. The data clearly show a relationship between all of these factors."

"What these latest findings mean for the Northeast Shelf ecosystem and its marine life is unknown," Fogarty said. "What is known is that the ecosystem is changing, and we need to continue monitoring and adapting to these changes."

###

Ecosystem advisories have been issued twice a year by the NEFSC's Ecosystem Assessment Program since 2006 as a way to routinely summarize overall conditions in the region. The reports show the effects of changing coastal and ocean temperatures on fisheries from Cape Hatteras to the Canadian border. The advisories provide a snapshot of the ecosystem for the fishery management councils and also a broad range of stakeholders from fishermen to researchers.

The Spring 2013 Ecosystem Advisory, covering the fall of 2012 with supporting information, is available online at http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/ecosys/advisory/current/advisory.html.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

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

Public release date: 26-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Shelley Dawicki
shelley.dawicki@noaa.gov
508-495-2378
NOAA Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Science Center

Sea surface temperatures in the Northeast Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem during 2012 were the highest recorded in 150 years, according to the latest Ecosystem Advisory issued by NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC). These high sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are the latest in a trend of above average temperature seen during the spring and summer seasons, and part of a pattern of elevated temperatures occurring in the Northwest Atlantic, but not seen elsewhere in the ocean basin over the past century.

The advisory reports on conditions in the second half of 2012.

Sea surface temperature for the Northeast Shelf Ecosystem reached a record high of 14 degrees Celsius (57.2F) in 2012, exceeding the previous record high in 1951. Average SST has typically been lower than 12.4 C (54.3 F) over the past three decades.

Sea surface temperature in the region is based on both contemporary satellite remote-sensing data and long-term ship-board measurements, with historical SST conditions based on ship-board measurements dating back to 1854. The temperature increase in 2012 was the highest jump in temperature seen in the time series and one of only five times temperature has changed by more than 1 C (1.8 F).

The Northeast Shelf's warm water thermal habitat was also at a record high level during 2012, while cold water habitat was at a record low level. Early winter mixing of the water column went to extreme depths, which will impact the spring 2013 plankton bloom. Mixing redistributes nutrients and affects stratification of the water column as the bloom develops.

Temperature is also affecting distributions of fish and shellfish on the Northeast Shelf. The advisory provides data on changes in distribution, or shifts in the center of the population, of seven key fishery species over time. The four southern species - black sea bass, summer flounder, longfin squid and butterfish - all showed a northeastward or upshelf shift. American lobster has shifted upshelf over time but at a slower rate than the southern species. Atlantic cod and haddock have shifted downshelf."

"Many factors are involved in these shifts, including temperature, population size, and the distributions of both prey and predators," said Jon Hare, a scientist in the NEFSC's Oceanography Branch. A number of recent studies have documented changing distributions of fish and shellfish, further supporting NEFSC work reported in 2009 that found about half of the 36 fish stocks studied in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, many of them commercially valuable species, have been shifting northward over the past four decades.

The Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) extends from the Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The NEFSC has monitored this ecosystem with comprehensive sampling programs since1977. Prior to 1977, this ecosystem was monitored by the NEFSC through a series of separate, coordinated programs dating back decades.

Warming conditions on the Northeast Shelf in the spring of 2012 continued into September, with the most consistent warming conditions seen in the Gulf of Maine and on Georges Bank. Temperatures cooled by October and were below average in the Middle Atlantic Bight in November, perhaps due to Superstorm Sandy, but had returned to above average conditions by December.

"Changes in ocean temperatures and the timing and strength of spring and fall plankton blooms could affect the biological clocks of many marine species, which spawn at specific times of the year based on environmental cues like water temperature," Kevin Friedland, a scientist in the NEFSC Ecosystem Assessment Program, said. He noted that the contrast between years with, and without, a fall bloom is emerging as an important driver of the shelf's ecology. "The size of the spring plankton bloom was so large that the annual chlorophyll concentration remained high in 2012 despite low fall activity. These changes will have a profound impact throughout the ecosystem."

Michael Fogarty, who heads the Ecosystem Assessment Program, says the abundance of fish and shellfish is controlled by a complex set of factors, and that increasing temperatures in the ecosystem make it essential to monitor the distribution of many species, some of them migratory and others not.

"It isn't always easy to understand the big picture when you are looking at one specific part of it at one specific point in time," Fogarty said, a comparison similar to not seeing the forest when looking at a single tree in it. "We now have information on the ecosystem from a variety of sources collected over a long period of time, and are adding more data to clarify specific details. The data clearly show a relationship between all of these factors."

"What these latest findings mean for the Northeast Shelf ecosystem and its marine life is unknown," Fogarty said. "What is known is that the ecosystem is changing, and we need to continue monitoring and adapting to these changes."

###

Ecosystem advisories have been issued twice a year by the NEFSC's Ecosystem Assessment Program since 2006 as a way to routinely summarize overall conditions in the region. The reports show the effects of changing coastal and ocean temperatures on fisheries from Cape Hatteras to the Canadian border. The advisories provide a snapshot of the ecosystem for the fishery management councils and also a broad range of stakeholders from fishermen to researchers.

The Spring 2013 Ecosystem Advisory, covering the fall of 2012 with supporting information, is available online at http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/ecosys/advisory/current/advisory.html.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/nfnf-sst042613.php

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Asia stocks mostly up as US jobless claims decline

BANGKOK (AP) ? Asian stock markets were mostly higher Friday after better-than-expected U.S. employment data boosted investor confidence, but Japan's benchmark fell amid an unwelcome drop in consumer prices.

Wall Street closed higher Thursday after the U.S. government reported the number of Americans seeking jobless benefits dropped last week by 16,000, suggesting that companies are cutting fewer jobs and that the U.S. may be headed for an uptick in job growth. Analysts said that solid U.S. corporate earnings also lifted the market mood.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.9 percent to 22,591.45. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.2 percent to 5,112.60. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, and New Zealand also rose. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.2 percent at 1,948.25.

But the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo slipped from a five-year high after Japan's consumer price index fell 0.9 percent in March from a year earlier. The result flies in the face of efforts by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who took office in December vowing to reverse a long bout of deflation, or falling prices, which has crippled economic growth.

The Nikkei, which in the morning hit its highest intraday level in five years at 13,983.87, was down 0.4 percent to 13,867.23.

Growth figures released Thursday in Britain were a surprise relief to analysts who predicted that the U.K. would sink into its third recession in five years. Instead, GDP for the first quarter of 2013 grew 0.3 percent compared with the previous quarter.

Wall Street posted modest gains Wednesday on the heels of a U.S. Labor Department report showing the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to a seasonally adjusted 339,000, the second-fewest in more than five years. The drop suggests that layoffs have declined and that job growth may pick up from last month's sluggish pace.

Among companies reporting earnings, children's clothing maker Carter's, motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson and cruise line Royal Caribbean all reported higher profit and revenue, as did 3M, the maker of Scotch tape and construction equipment.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.2 percent to 14,700.80. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 0.4 percent to 1,585.16. The Nasdaq composite index gained 0.6 percent, to 3,289.99

Benchmark oil for June delivery was down 21 cents to $93.43 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $2.21 to close at $93.64 on the Nymex on Thursday.

In currencies, the euro rose to $1.3033 from $1.3002 late Thursday in New York. The dollar fell to 98.93 yen from 99.31 yen.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asia-stocks-mostly-us-jobless-claims-decline-032818721--finance.html

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Computer scientists suggest new spin on origins of evolvability: Competition to survive not necessary?

Apr. 26, 2013 ? Scientists have long observed that species seem to have become increasingly capable of evolving in response to changes in the environment. But computer science researchers now say that the popular explanation of competition to survive in nature may not actually be necessary for evolvability to increase.

In a paper published this week in PLOS ONE, the researchers report that evolvability can increase over generations regardless of whether species are competing for food, habitat or other factors.

Using a simulated model they designed to mimic how organisms evolve, the researchers saw increasing evolvability even without competitive pressure.

"The explanation is that evolvable organisms separate themselves naturally from less evolvable organisms over time simply by becoming increasingly diverse," said Kenneth O. Stanley, an associate professor at the College of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Central Florida. He co-wrote the paper about the study along with lead author Joel Lehman, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Texas at Austin.

The finding could have implications for the origins of evolvability in many species.

"When new species appear in the future, they are most likely descendants of those that were evolvable in the past," Lehman said. "The result is that evolvable species accumulate over time even without selective pressure."

During the simulations, the team's simulated organisms became more evolvable without any pressure from other organisms out-competing them. The simulations were based on a conceptual algorithm.

"The algorithms used for the simulations are abstractly based on how organisms are evolved, but not on any particular real-life organism," explained Lehman.

The team's hypothesis is unique and is in contrast to most popular theories for why evolvability increases.

"An important implication of this result is that traditional selective and adaptive explanations for phenomena such as increasing evolvability deserve more scrutiny and may turn out unnecessary in some cases," Stanley said.

Stanley is an associate professor at UCF. He has a bachelor's of science in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a doctorate in computer science from the University of Texas at Austin. He serves on the editorial boards of several journals. He has over 70 publications in competitive venues and has secured grants worth more than $1 million. His works in artificial intelligence and evolutionary computation have been cited more than 4,000 times.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Central Florida.

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. Joel Lehman, Kenneth O. Stanley. Evolvability Is Inevitable: Increasing Evolvability without the Pressure to Adapt. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (4): e62186 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0062186

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/computers_math/information_technology/~3/yFudqCEhgpw/130426115612.htm

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Choosing to Be a Human Reference Standard for HGP - FORA.tv

Bio

Misha Angrist

Misha Angrist is Assistant Professor of the Practice at the Duke University Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy. He holds a PhD degree in Genetics from Case Western Reserve University, an MFA in Writing and Literature from the Bennington Writing Seminars, and was formerly a board-eligible genetic counselor. He has covered the biotechnology industry as market-research analyst and worked as an independent life sciences consultant, writer and editor.

In April 2007 he became the fourth subject in Harvard geneticist George Church's Personal Genome Project and in 2009 had his full genome sequenced at Duke. His book, Here is a Human Being: At the Dawn of Personal Genomics, will be published in the fall by Harper Collins.

Dorit Berlin

Dorit S. Berlin, Ph.D., is principal investigator of the NIGMS Human Genetic Cell Repository, a large biobank funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences that focuses on heritable disorders and houses more than 11,000 cell line and nucleic acid samples at the Coriell Institute for Medical Research. Dorit is also principal investigator of the Congenital Heart Disease Genetic Network Study Biorepository, which is funded through the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Prior to joining Coriell, Dorit was a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University, where she worked on scientific curation for the Pharmacogenomics Knowledge Base. Dorit also founded and led an education project to create a web-based pharmacogenomics teaching module and implement it as an online exhibit for the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, CA. Dorit earned her undergraduate degree in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her doctorate in molecular and cell biology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Robert Krulwich

Robert Krulwich covers science for National Public Radio and is Co-host of NPR's "Radiolab." His specialty is explaining complex subjects?science, technology, economics ? in a style that is clear, compelling and entertaining. For several decades he was a correspondent at ABC and CBS News plus he hosted PBS? Frontline, Nova Science Now and a BBC cultural show, "The Edge." TV Guide called him "the most inventive network reporter in television." He has explored the structure of DNA with a banana, created his own Italian Opera "Ratto Interesso" to explain how the Federal Reserve regulates interest rates, he pioneered the use of new animation on ABC's Nightline, World News, and on NPR's Internet site to explore cellular biology and subprime lending.

Marc Salit

Marc Salit is leading a group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) dedicated to technology development and measurement infrastructure (standards, reference data, predictive models) for massively multiplexed genome-scale measurement methods. This "Multiplexed Biomolecular Science" group is a multidisciplinary team growing out of work to address microarray measurement science issues, and a long-running effort in technology and measurement science in microfluidics. Marc has worked extensively in measurement science in chemistry and physics, with emphasis on precision measurements, lab automation, algorithm development, measurement uncertainty, traceability, and standards development. His research is now focused on bringing experience from the chemical metrology community to the emerging biometrology community.

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Source: http://fora.tv/2013/04/25/Choosing_to_Be_a_Human_Reference_Standard_for_HGP

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