New OHSU research helps explain early-onset puberty in females

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

New research from Oregon Health & Science University has provided significant insight into the reasons why early-onset puberty occurs in females. The research, which was conducted at OHSU's Oregon National Primate Research Center, is published in the current early online edition of the journal Nature Neuroscience.

The paper explains how OHSU scientists are investigating the role of epigenetics in the control of puberty. Epigenetics refers to changes in gene activity linked to external factors that do not involve changes to the genetic code itself. The OHSU scientists believe improved understanding of these complex protein/gene interactions will lead to greater understanding of both early-onset (precocious) puberty and delayed puberty, and highlight new therapy avenues.

To conduct this research, scientists studied female rats, which like their human counterparts, go through puberty as part of their early aging process. These studies revealed that a group of proteins, called PcG proteins, regulate the activity of a gene called the Kiss1 gene, which is required for puberty to occur. When these PcG proteins diminish, Kiss1 is activated and puberty begins.

PcG proteins are produced by another set of genes that act as a biological switch during the embryonic stage of life. The role of these proteins is to turn off specific downstream genes at key developmental stages.

OHSU scientists found that both the activity of these "master" genes and their ability to turn off puberty are impacted by two forms of epigenetic control: a chemical modification of DNA known as DNA methylation, and changes in the composition of histones, a specialized set of proteins that modify gene activity by interacting with DNA.

Using this new information, researchers were then able to delay puberty in female rats. They accomplished this by increasing PcG protein levels in the hypothalamus of the brain using a targeted gene therapy approach so that Kiss1 activation failed to occur at the normal time in life. The hypothalamus is a region of the brain that controls reproductive development.

"While it was always understood that an organism's genes determine the timing of puberty, the role of epigenetics in this process has never been recorded until now," said Alejandro Lomniczi, Ph.D., a scientist in the Division of Neuroscience at the OHSU Oregon National Primate Research Center.

"Because epigenetic changes are driven by environmental, metabolic and cell-to-cell influences, these findings raise the possibility that a significant percentage of precocious and delayed puberty cases occurring in humans may be the result of environmental factors and other alterations in epigenetic control," said Sergio Ojeda, D.V.M, who is also a scientist in the Division of Neuroscience at the OHSU ONPRC.

"There is also much more to be learned about the way that epigenetic factors may link environmental factors such as nutrition, man-made chemicals, social interactions and other day-today influences to the timing and completion of normal puberty."

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Oregon Health & Science University: http://www.ohsu.edu

Thanks to Oregon Health & Science 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.

This press release has been viewed 38 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126531/_New_OHSU_research_helps_explain_early_onset_puberty_in_females_

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Biden to CNN: Why the GOP's wrong about Hagel (CNN)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/281564193?client_source=feed&format=rss

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BlackBerry External Battery Charger Bundle Means The Z10 Can Live Longer Away From Outlets For $49.99

BlackBerry didn't only unveil the Z10 today, it also introduced a couple of accessories, including the external battery charger for the LS1, the Z10's 1800 mAh battery. The external charger is extremely slim and portable, and houses a covered slot for a spare battery, as well an integrated micro USB cable that slides nicely into the case when not in use.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/vo_0-vamS3M/

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A Beautiful Look at the Galaxy that Will Collide With Us In 4 Billion Years

In four billion years, Andromeda will collide with the Milky Way. That will be an amazing view—but until then we have to look at it from a distance. This new photo by the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory shows a beautiful view. From NASA: More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/C6zPdPTItMc/a-beautiful-look-at-the-galaxy-that-will-collide-with-us-in-4-billion-years

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West Nile virus spreading due to mosquitoes in orchards and vineyards, experts warn

Jan. 30, 2013 ? Washington State University researchers have linked orchards and vineyards with a greater prevalence of West Nile virus in mosquitoes and the insects' ability to spread the virus to birds, horses and people.

The finding, reported in the latest issue of the journal PLOS ONE, is the most finely scaled look at the interplay between land use and the virus's activity in key hosts. By giving a more detailed description of how the disease moves across the landscape, the study opens the door to management efforts that might bring the disease under control, says David Crowder, a WSU entomologist and the paper's lead author.

Since it was first seen in New York in 1999, West Nile virus has reached across the country and shown few signs of abating. Last year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control had the highest number of reported cases -- 5,387, including 243 deaths -- since 2003.

Roughly one in five infected people experience a fever, headache, body aches and, in some cases, a skin rash and swollen lymph glands. One in 150 people can get a high fever, headache, neck stiffness, disorientation and neurological problems.

Most efforts to figure out the ecological workings of the virus have focused on reports of infected people, "a crude indicator at best," says Crowder. Almost all victims have no symptoms or are misdiagnosed, while others can be infected far from where they file a report, he says.

Agricultural areas have seen higher percentages of infected people, but that still does not get at the underlying mechanism.

"Is that because there are more birds there?" says Crowder. "Is that because there are more mosquitoes there? That hasn't really been linked together."

Crowder, working with fellow entomologist Jeb Owen, other WSU colleagues and the state Department of Health, merged data from a variety of sources, including West Nile infections in humans, horses and birds, surveys of virus-bearing mosquitoes, breeding bird surveys, and detailed land use maps and climate data from around the Northwest.

The researchers found that habitats with high instances of the disease in horses and birds also have significantly more mosquitoes -- as well as American robins and house sparrows, the two bird species implicated the most in the disease's transmission.

"These same habitats are also resulting in much higher rates of infection within mosquitoes themselves," said Crowder.

"We find that all three of these things -- abundances of house sparrows and American robins, abundance of mosquitoes and the actual prevalence of West Nile in mosquitoes -- are increasing in landscapes with a higher proportion of land in orchard habitats." These habitats, says Crowder, include both orchards and vineyards.

It's still unclear why the habitats would create such a perfect storm for the virus. The researchers speculate that mosquitoes are drawn to orchards for plant nectar during flowering, while robins and house sparrows use them for nesting and feeding. Together, the insects and birds become focal points for the disease.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Washington State University. The original article was written by Eric Sorensen.

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. David W. Crowder, Elizabeth A. Dykstra, Jo Marie Brauner, Anne Duffy, Caitlin Reed, Emily Martin, Wade Peterson, Yves Carri?re, Pierre Dutilleul, Jeb P. Owen. West Nile Virus Prevalence across Landscapes Is Mediated by Local Effects of Agriculture on Vector and Host Communities. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (1): e55006 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0055006

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/kVKjNpbbJ28/130130184318.htm

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Miami New Times' Releases Images Of Mentions Of Washington Nationals' Starter Gio Gonzalez In Notebooks Of Alleged PED Supplier

Washington Nationals' left-hander Gio Gonzalez's name is mentioned five times in the notebooks of alleged PED supplier Tony Bosch, whose clinic "Biogenesis" is the subject of a Miami New Times' investigation. The Miami New Times released images from Mr. Bosch's notebooks this afternoon.

According to a Miami New Times' report released on Tuesday, Gio Gonzalez's name was mentioned, alongside those of several other major league players, in the notebooks of Anthony Bosch, a 49-year-old "clinic chief" at a Florida-based anti-aging company called, "Biogenesis." The clinic is believed to have been, "... selling performance-enhancing drugs, from human growth hormone (HGH) to testosterone to anabolic steroids," before, following a previously established pattern detailed in the Miami New Times' report, "... it closed last month and its owner abruptly disappeared."

? LINK: "The Gio Gonzalez Files: Every Mention of The Nationals Pitcher in Tony Bosch's Notebooks" - Miami New Times - Riptide 2.0

An employee of the company provided what is described in the report as "an extraordinary batch of records" to the New Times, including the personal notebooks believed to belong to Mr. Bosch. According to the Miami New Times' report, they conducted, "Interviews with six customers and two former employees," who corroborated, "the tale told by the patient files, the payment records, and the handwritten notebooks kept by the clinic's chief."

The Nationals' left-hander was one of nine pro athletes named in the article, though its author, Tim Elfrink, noted that Gonzalez's was a "curious case":

"There's also the curious case of Gio Gonzalez, the 27-year-old, Hialeah-native, left-handed hurler who won 21 games last year for the Washington Nationals. Gonzalez's name appears five times in Bosch's notebooks, including a specific note in the 2012 book reading, "Order 1.c.1 with Zinc/MIC/... and Aminorip. For Gio and charge $1,000." (Aminorip is a muscle-building protein.)

Gonzalez's father, Max, also appears on Bosch's client lists and is often listed in conjunction with the pitcher. But reached by phone, the Hialeah resident insists his son has had no contact with Bosch.

"My son works very, very hard, and he's as clean as apple pie," the elder Gonzalez says. "I went to Tony because I needed to lose weight. A friend recommended him, and he did great work for me. But that's it. He never met my son. Never. And if I knew he was doing these things with steroids, do you think I'd be dumb enough to go there?"

As several sources noted, none of the items mentioned in connection to the Nats' starter in yesterday's article were on MLB's banned substance list. Gio Gonzalez, through his his personal (verified) Twitter account @GioGonzalez47) released a statement disputing the information in the report and claiming he'd never met with Mr. Bosch :

Nationals' GM Mike Rizzo released a statement last night which read simply, "The issue is currently being reviewed by Major League Baseball and it would be inappropriate for the Nationals to comment until that review is completed." Major League Baseball released a statement shortly after the Miami New Times' article was published which said that they were investigating the claims made in the report:

"We are always extremely disappointed to learn of potential links between players and the use of performance-enhancing substances. These developments, however, provide evidence of the comprehensive nature of our anti-drug efforts. Through our Department of Investigations, we have been actively involved in the issues in South Florida. It is also important to note that three of the players allegedly involved have already been disciplined under the Joint Drug Program..."

Gonzalez has never failed a drug test. His name is mentioned five times in Mr. Bosch's notes according to a follow-up article this afternoon entitled, "The Gio Gonzalez Files: Every Mention Of The Nationals Pitcher in Tony Bosch's Notebook." You can now see photos of the actual notes which have been posted at the Miami New Times, which posted all of the mentions of Alex Rodriguez in the notebooks yesterday. The first image has Gonzalez's name mentioned alongside Texas Rangers' slugger Nelson Cruz and Toronto Blue Jays' outfielder Melky Cabrera, who was suspended for 50 games last year after he tested positive for testosterone.

In the second Gonzalez's name appears along with his father's. The third image, dated 2/20, shows Gonzalez's name and a comparison of two rows of stats next to a what is said in the article to be a formula for "pink cream" which Yahoo!Sports.com's Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) noted on Twitter this afternoon, is, "a synthetic testosterone."

The final entry in the notebook refers again to Gonzalez's father.

Reports this afternoon by both The Washington Post's James Wagner and The Washington Times' Amanda Comak are now noting the Nationals' starter's connection to, "Jimmy Goins, the strength and conditioning coach for the [Miami] Hurricanes baseball team for the past nine seasons," who was mentioned in Tuesday's Miami New Times' report as well:

"Goins is recorded in multiple client lists; in one detailed page dated December 14, 2011, Bosch writes he's selling him Anavar, testosterone, and a Winstrol/B-12 mix and charging him $400 a month. Another, from this past December, includes sales of HGH and testosterone."

Gonzalez posted a photo of himself with Mr. Goins earlier this winter via Instagram, writing that Goins was his, "offseason strength coach." Mr. Goins, through his attorney, denied any wrongdoing or connection to the clinic as reported in a Florida Sun Sentinel article by Michael Casagrande:

"He hasn't done anything wrong either personally or as a representative of the University of Miami," said Fenderson, an attorney specializing in DUI defense with offices in Jacksonville and Coral Gables. "And as far as being on a client list of a certain doctor, any connection of the University of Miami or their baseball program would be purely coincidental."

Neither Gonzalez, the Nationals or Major League Baseball have made any further statements today.

You can view the images alleged to be from Mr. Bosch's notebooks below:

LINK: "The Gio Gonzalez Files: Every Mention of The Nationals Pitcher in Tony Bosch's Notebooks" - Miami New Times - Riptide 2.0

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Source: http://www.federalbaseball.com/2013/1/30/3933854/miami-new-times-images-of-mentions-of-washington-nationals-gio-gonzalez-notebooks-tony-bosch

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travel & leisure: Ways to Get The Perfect Sleeping Bag For ...

By Angela Tang

Lots of people enjoy going camping. However there are things that you need that can easily make your camping experience a pleasant one. Among the things that will make a genuine difference is a great sleeping bag. There are numerous designs and styles to pick from it can get mind-boggling attempting to choose the most appropriate one. The following sleeping bag buyers guide can help them through the process:

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Camping bags incorporate synthetic or down fiber materials that have their advantages and drawbacks . Down sleeping bags are typically lighter and simpler to carry however they do cost more. However down is naturally warm so they're fantastic for cold temperature camping and people who go camping quite frequently.

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It's critical to choose a sleeping bag with a good temperature rating. What these ratings outline is the lowest temperature you'll be able to sleep in and still stay warm. You want to choose one which will keep you comfortable, so look for a rating which is about ten degrees below the temperature you normally camp in. This will permit any variation in temperatures and boost their security.

Looking at these few elements can easily help you decide which sleeping bag meets your needs. They just need to research intensively, do comparisons, and get from reliable retailers who'll sell them high quality products.

About the Author:

To find the ideal sleeping bag meant for your wants it's best to look at sleeping bag ratings to make sure you are making an well-versed choice.

Source: http://bidding-travel.blogspot.com/2013/01/ways-to-get-perfect-sleeping-bag-for.html

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Fossilized conduits suggest water flowed beneath Martian surface

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Networks of narrow ridges found in impact craters on Mars appear to be the fossilized remnants of underground cracks through which water once flowed, according to a new analysis by researchers from Brown University.

The study, in press in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, bolsters the idea that the subsurface environment on Mars once had an active hydrology and could be a good place to search for evidence of past life. The research was conducted by Lee Saper, a recent Brown graduate, with Jack Mustard, professor of geological sciences.

The ridges, many of them hundreds of meters in length and a few meters wide, had been noted in previous research, but how they had formed was not known. Saper and Mustard thought they might once have been faults and fractures that formed underground when impact events rattled the planet's crust. Water, if present in the subsurface, would have circulated through the cracks, slowly filling them in with mineral deposits, which would have been harder than the surrounding rocks. As those surrounding rocks eroded away over millions of years, the seams of mineral-hardened material would remain in place, forming the ridges seen today.

To test their hypothesis, Saper and Mustard mapped over 4,000 ridges in two crater-pocked regions on Mars, Nili Fossae and Nilosyrtis. Using high-resolution images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the researchers noted the orientations of the ridges and composition of the surrounding rocks.

The orientation data is consistent with the idea that the ridges started out as fractures formed by impact events. A competing hypothesis suggests that these structures may have been sheets of volcanic magma intruding into the surrounding rock, but that doesn't appear to be the case. At Nili Fossae, the orientations are similar to the alignments of large faults related to a mega-scale impact. At Nilosyrtis, where the impact events were smaller in scale, the ridge orientations are associated with each of the small craters in which they were found. "This suggests that fracture formation resulted from the energy of localized impact events and are not associated with regional-scale volcanism," Saper said.

Importantly, Saper and Mustard also found that the ridges exist exclusively in areas where the surrounding rock is rich in iron-magnesium clay, a mineral considered to be a telltale sign that water had once been present in the rocks.

"The association with these hydrated materials suggests there was a water source available," Saper said. "That water would have flowed along the path of least resistance, which in this case would have been these fracture conduits."

As that water flowed, dissolved minerals would have been slowly deposited in the conduits, in much the same way mineral deposits can build up and eventually clog drain pipes. That mineralized material would have been more resistant to erosion than the surrounding rock. And indeed, Saper and Mustard found that these ridges were only found in areas that were heavily eroded, consistent with the notion that these are ancient structures revealed as the weaker surrounding rocks were slowly peeled away by wind.

Taken together, the results suggest the ancient Martian subsurface had flowing water and may have been a habitable environment.

"This gives us a point of observation to say there was enough fracturing and fluid flow in the crust to sustain at least a regionally viable subsurface hydrology," Saper said. "The overarching theme of NASA's planetary exploration has been to follow the water. So if in fact these fractures that turned into these ridges were flowing with hydrothermal fluid, they could have been a viable biosphere."

Saper hopes that the Curiosity rover, currently making its way across its Gale Crater landing site, might be able to shed more light on these types of structures.

"In the site at Gale Crater, there are thought to be mineralized fractures that the rover will go up and touch," Saper said. "These are very small and may not be exactly the same kind of feature we studied, but we'll have the opportunity to crush them up and do chemical analysis on them. That could either bolster our hypothesis or tell us we need to explore other possibilities."

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Brown University: http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau

Thanks to Brown 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.

This press release has been viewed 35 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126530/Fossilized_conduits_suggest_water_flowed_beneath_Martian_surface

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Standoff: Ala. gunman kills bus driver, seizes boy

Heavily armed men move away from the suspects home at the scene of a Dale County hostage scene in Midland City, Ala. on Wednesday Jan. 30, 2013. Authorities were locked in a standoff Wednesday with a gunman authorities say on Tuesday intercepted a school bus, killed the driver, snatched a 6-year-old boy and retreated into a bunker at his home in Alabama. (AP Photo/Montgomery Advertiser, Mickey Welsh) NO SALES

Heavily armed men move away from the suspects home at the scene of a Dale County hostage scene in Midland City, Ala. on Wednesday Jan. 30, 2013. Authorities were locked in a standoff Wednesday with a gunman authorities say on Tuesday intercepted a school bus, killed the driver, snatched a 6-year-old boy and retreated into a bunker at his home in Alabama. (AP Photo/Montgomery Advertiser, Mickey Welsh) NO SALES

Heavily armed men come back down the hill from the direction of the suspect's home at the Dale County hostage scene near Ozark, Ala. on Wednesday Jan. 30, 2013. Police SWAT teams and hostage negotiators were locked in a standoff Wednesday with a gunman authorities say intercepted a school bus, killed the driver, snatched a 6-year-old boy and retreated into a bunker at his home. (AP Photo/Montgomery Advertiser, Mickey Welsh) NO SALES

Police SWAT teams and hostage negotiators are gathered at standoff and hostage scene in Dale County near Ozark, Ala. on Wednesday Jan. 30, 2013. Authorities were locked in a standoff Wednesday with a gunman authorities say on Tuesday intercepted a school bus, killed the driver, snatched a 6-year-old boy and retreated into a bunker at his home in Alabama. (AP Photo/Montgomery Advertiser, Mickey Welsh) (AP Photo/The Montgomery Advertiser, ) NO SALES

Police vehicles are staged near where a gunman has positioned himself below ground with a child hostage, in Midland City, Ala. on Wednesday Jan. 30, 2013. Authorities were locked in a standoff Wednesday with a gunman authorities say on Tuesday intercepted a school bus, killed the driver, snatched a 6-year-old boy and retreated into a bunker at his home in Alabama. (AP Photo/Montgomery Advertiser, Mickey Welsh)

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. (AP) ? A gunman holed up in a bunker with a 6-year-old hostage kept law officers at bay Wednesday in an all-night, all-day standoff that began when he killed a school bus driver and dragged the boy away, authorities said.

SWAT teams took up positions around the gunman's rural property and police negotiators tried to win the kindergartener's safe release.

The gunman, identified by neighbors as Jimmy Lee Dykes, a 65-year-old retired truck driver, was known around the neighborhood as a menacing figure who once beat a dog to death with a lead pipe, threatened to shoot children for setting foot on his property and patrolled his yard at night with a flashlight and a shotgun.

He had been scheduled to appear in court Wednesday morning to answer charges he shot at his neighbors in a dispute last month over a speed bump.

The standoff along a red dirt road began on Tuesday afternoon, after a gunman boarded a stopped school bus filled with children in the town of Midland City, population 2,300. Sheriff Wally Olsen said the man shot the bus driver when he refused to hand over a 6-year-old child. The gunman then took the boy away.

"As far as we know there is no relation at all. He just wanted a child for a hostage situation," said Michael Senn, a pastor who helped comfort the traumatized children after the attack.

The bus driver, Charles Albert Poland Jr., 66, was hailed by locals as a hero who gave his life to protect 21 students.

Authorities gave no details on the standoff, and it was unclear if Dykes made any demands from his underground bunker, which resembled a tornado shelter.

The sheriff said in a brief statement Wednesday evening that negotiators continued talking to the suspect and "at this time we have no reason to believe that the child has been harmed."

About 50 vehicles from federal, state and local agencies were clustered at the end of a dirt road near where Dykes lived in a small travel trailer. Nearby homes were evacuated after authorities found what was believed to be a bomb on his property.

State Rep. Steve Clouse, who met with authorities and visited the boy's family, said the bunker had food and electricity, and the youngster was watching TV. He said law enforcement authorities were communicating with the gunman, but he had no details on how.

At one point, authorities lowered medicine into the bunker for the boy after his captor agreed to it, Clouse said. The lawmaker said he did not know what the medicine was for or whether it was urgently needed.

Chris Voss, a former international kidnapping negotiator for the FBI, said negotiators at the scene should remain patient and calm, resisting the urge to force a quick resolution.

"Getting what you want is not the same as getting even," said Voss, whose firm, the Black Swan Group, now consults on high-stakes negotiations. "Flooding the zone will not save lives."

Mike and Patricia Smith, who live across the street from Dykes and whose two children were on the bus when the shooting happened, said their youngsters had a run-in with him about 10 months ago.

"My bulldogs got loose and went over there," Patricia Smith said. "The children went to get them. He threatened to shoot them if they came back."

"He's very paranoid," her husband said. "He goes around in his yard at night with a flashlight and shotgun."

Patricia Smith said her children told her what happened on the bus: Two other children had just been dropped off and the Smith children were next. Dykes stepped onto the bus and grabbed the door so the driver couldn't close it. Dykes told the driver he wanted two boys, 6 to 8 years old, without saying why.

According to Smith, Dykes started down the aisle of the bus and the driver put his arm out to block him. Dykes fired four shots at Poland with a handgun, Smith said.

"He did give his life, saving children," Mike Smith said.

Patricia Smith said her daughter, a high school senior, began corralling the other children and headed for the back of the bus while Dykes and the driver were arguing. Later, Smith's son ran inside his house, telling his mother: "The crazy man across the street shot the bus driver and Mr. Poland won't wake up."

Patricia Smith ran over to the bus and saw the driver slumped over in his seat. Her daughter used another child's cellphone to call 911.

Another neighbor, Ronda Wilbur, said Dykes beat her 120-pound dog with a lead pipe for coming onto his side of the dirt road. The dog died a week later.

"He said his only regret was he didn't beat him to death all the way," Wilbur said. "If a man can kill a dog, and beat it with a lead pipe and brag about it, it's nothing until it's going to be people."

Dykes had been scheduled to appear in court Wednesday to face a charge of menacing some neighbors as they drove by his house weeks ago. Claudia Davis said he yelled and fired shots at her, her son and her baby grandson over damage Dykes claimed their pickup truck did to a makeshift speed bump in the dirt road. No one was hurt.

"Before this happened, I would see him at several places and he would just stare a hole through me," Davis said. "On Monday I saw him at a laundromat and he seen me when I was getting in my truck, and he just stared and stared and stared at me."

__

Associated Press writers Bob Johnson in Montgomery and Jay Reeves in Birmingham contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-01-30-US-School-Bus-Driver-Shot/id-3dc806bd9df44cc89930ef63c8b99e3c

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How To Run A Successful Web Marketing Campaign | Jim ...

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Posted by Administrator on Jan 29, 2013 in Uncategorized | Comments Off

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TIP! Illustrate every product?s quality with crisp, clear photographs. A clear and crisp graphic of your product will be appreciated by your customers.

You can use organic methods to increase the visibility of your business and you can pay to advertise online. This can be done through companies like Google?s AdSense. You just need to do the work of creating the ad up front, and let them do the rest of the work for you with the sharing of your information with potential customers afterward.

Whenever you correspond online, include links to your business webpage in your signature. If you participate in forums, place a link to your site in the signature of your posts. Also, put your business link in your outgoing mail signature. This is a way to subtly advertise your website and could increase your ratings in search engines too. Above your link, make sure that there is an interesting line that will make them want to click it.

Try exploring mobile marketing. You can give your site visitors the opportunity to get text alerts when a special sale is going on or when a new product is launched. It is one of the newest ways of advertising and it is going to help you in your online marketing campaign.

TIP! Learn how to use your email to benefit your business. When you send emails to your customers, make it newsletter style and interesting.

You can read studies that been done on the psychological impact of web design and it?s effects on Online marketing. Psychology can play a part in the way someone looks at your site, depending on a lot of different factors. Knowing this information will prove very valuable towards increasing your profit margin.

You normally do not want to mix pleasure and business, but in this instance, you may want to. This is because it can be seen as a lucrative hobby and high-pressure in regards to work is not prevalent. Do this along with the help of your husband or wife.

TIP! Here is a tip for internet marketing! Make sure you know what you want your customers to do when they land on your site. The webpage is purely about sales; nothing more, nothing less.

In conclusion, we have provided you with some important factors regarding Internet promotion. Make the most of this information and apply it to your current strategy. Use this advice and find success with your Internet promotion efforts.

Are you ready to have success in the home based business industry and build it on autopilot? Click below to register for free today. See how it works here. Also check out our team benefits here

Source: http://leucabiz.com/blog/how-to-run-a-successful-web-marketing-campaign/

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Fitness program plans to reshape student health | The Bell Ringer

JILLIAN HOBDAY | STAFF
Georgia Regents students work out on elliptical machines at the Wellness Center at the Health Sciences campus, an example of exercise promoted by the fitness program.

By Karl Frazier, Correspondent

With the number of unhealthy students continuing to rise, one fitness program is taking action to solve the problem.

Kaelan Woodall, a senior nursing student and chair of a student wellness and intramural committee at Georgia Regents University, said the idea of the Student Health Initiative developed after noticing a limited amount of opportunity for students.

?There were no programs to incentivize fitness or wellness,? Woodall said. ?I thought what better way to get people up and get them motivated than to have a little bit of healthy competition amongst students.?

The initiative will give students the possibility of winning money, getting free stuff and losing weight at the same time, Woodall said. The program?s main goal is for students to get healthier. Because the program is health oriented, Woodall said the program is not just about losing weight.

Woodall started the program in October 2012. After getting the approval from her advisors, Woodall said she received help from the marketing and IT program to start a website. Eventually, the program received a lot of support from the community, including both campuses.

?We have been getting support from the administrators because it is the first (Georgia Regents) initiative, and it?s all student led,? Woodall said. ?We have gotten funds from the (Student Government Association), college of Nursing (and) College of Medicine. We have gotten a lot of support from them.?

While being healthy involves losing weight, Woodall said there are other steps a person must take to be healthy, facets of health involving nutrition, mental health and cardiovascular wellness. Although some people are smaller in weight, Woodall said a person who is small can still be unhealthy because of bad exercise habits, poor quality of eating and may even have high blood pressure. Woodall also said that because a person has a higher body mass index, it doesn?t mean that they are not healthy, but they have a different body structure and metabolism.

Meagan David, a senior nursing student at Georgia Regents, said she joined the program because it fit in with her way of life.

?Wellness and fitness is something I am really passionate about,? David said. ?I love working out and being outdoors. With a lot of people being in the nursing program, medical and ASU we can let (exercising) get away from us. I thought this would be a great way to get everybody to be a little healthier.?

David said she believes a lot of people are unhealthy out of convenience, such as getting a quick meal from the school campus or stopping at a fast-food restaurant and giving excuses for not going to the gym. David said she believes a lot of people are stressed out because they are not exercising enough.

The program is going to have manuals and logbooks so that people can write down their BMI, blood pressure, etc., Woodall said.

Woodall said people should start being healthy before they enter college. She said if they could get started now, they won?t have to worry about taking a lot of pills when they get older. Faculty members have been impressed with the program?s success.

?I have been so amazed at what Kaelan and her group has done,? said Gayle Bentley, an associate professor in the College of Nursing at Georgia Regents. ?What she is doing is using a lot of social networking and to advertise and create that team competition.?

Source: http://www.asubellringer.com/fitness-program-plans-to-reshape-student-health/

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'First Time' May Influence Sexual Satisfaction for Life | Psych Central ...

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on January 29, 2013

New research suggests a person?s first sexual experience can set the tone for the rest of one?s sexual life.

Matthew Shaffer, a doctoral student in psychology at the University of Tennessee, and C. Veronica Smith, Ph.D., an assistant psychology professor at the University of Mississippi, devised the research project to study the effects of losing one?s virginity.

The study is published in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy and is the first to look at whether the circumstances of losing one?s virginity have lasting consequences.

?The loss of virginity is often viewed as an important milestone in human development, signifying a transition to adulthood,? said Shaffer.

?However, it has not been studied in this capacity. We wanted to see the influence it may have related to emotional and physical development.?

The researchers examined how first-time sexual satisfaction impacts long-term sexual function as well as how first-time physical and emotional responses affect long-term sexual experiences.

They found that positive first-time experiences were predictive of physical and emotional satisfaction. Specifically, those who felt loved and respected by their partner found later encounters more emotionally satisfying.

The researchers asked 331 young men and women about how they lost their virginity. The anonymous participants ranked the experience according to emotions related to anxiety, contentment and regret.

Survey responders also answered questions about their sex life using scales measuring sense of control, satisfaction and well-being. Finally, the participants filled out a diary for two weeks describing each sexual experience.

A series of analyses revealed those who were most emotionally and physically satisfied the first time found their sex lives the most fulfilling. Those who reported higher levels of anxiety and negativity with the first time reported lower overall sexual functioning.

?While this study doesn?t prove that a better first time makes for a better sex life in general, a person?s experience of losing their virginity may set the pattern for years to come,? said Shaffer.

Shaffer suggests that a first-time sexual experience may create a general pattern of thought and behavior that guides sexual experiences and understanding of information concerning sexuality.

Source: University of Tennessee

APA Reference
Nauert PhD, R. (2013). ?First Time? May Influence Sexual Satisfaction for Life. Psych Central. Retrieved on January 29, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/01/29/first-time-may-influence-sexual-satisfaction-for-life/50954.html

?

Source: http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/01/29/first-time-may-influence-sexual-satisfaction-for-life/50954.html

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Cumbria nuclear waste dump vote

28 January 2013 Last updated at 10:54 ET By Francesca Williams BBC News

Britain needs to find a site for the long-term underground disposal of high-level radioactive waste.

With some of it staying dangerous for up to 100,000 years, the government's agreed solution is to bury it - permanently.

Three Cumbria councils are due to vote on Wednesday on whether to proceed to the next stage in the process of investigating whether such a facility would be possible - and safe - in the county.

The underground storage facility would be up to four times the size of Sellafield - between 6 sq km and 23 sq km (2.5 and 9 sq miles).

Continue reading the main story

What is radioactive waste?

• Material containing levels of radioactivity hazardous to humans and the environment
• Usually a by-product of nuclear power generation - 95% of UK's radioactive waste comes from the nuclear power industry
• Waste is categorised by its radioactivity level - high (heat-generating), intermediate and low
• High level waste (HLW) is the liquid by-product of reprocessing highly-radioactive spent nuclear fuel
• HLW is converted into glass blocks within steel containers, then placed in a store where it is cooled by air - for at least 50 years

Source: Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC)

At its smallest, it would be about the size of Workington or Whitehaven; at its biggest, larger than Carlisle.

However above ground the footprint would be about 1 sq km (0.4 sq miles).

Waste would be stored in underground vaults at a depth of between 200m (656ft) and 1,000m (3,280ft) and there would be some buildings on the surface.

About 1,000 construction workers would take about 15 years to complete it at an estimated cost of ?12bn, the Department of Energy and Climate Change said.

It said it would have an average of 550 workers over the entire lifetime of the facility, which is more than 100 years.

Currently, radioactive waste is stored above ground in various "long-term temporary" sites around the UK, mostly at Sellafield.

In its final report, the West Cumbria Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) Partnership - set up to coordinate discussions - said there could be "positive and negative impacts".

Concerns include the noise and traffic caused by construction and possible effects on landscape, tourism, investment and jobs, the report said.

But the partnership said: "Our overall opinion is that, at this stage, we are fairly confident that an acceptable process can be put in place to assess and mitigate negative impacts, and maximise positive impacts."

The waste needs to go somewhere and Cumbria is the only area still considering an underground storage facility.

Continue reading the main story

Timeline highlights

March 2009 - West Cumbria Managing Radioactive Waste Safely (MRWS) Partnership is formed by Copeland and Allerdale Borough Councils and Cumbria County Council.

November 2009 - MRWS starts to inform residents about government plans to store radioactive waste underground.

March 2010 - a public meeting is held to discuss the possibilities.

June 2010 - a geological survey starts to assess which areas are unsuitable.

November 2010 - people are again asked for their views but West Cumbria Friends of the Earth, describes the consultation as "tokenistic."

September 2011 - MRWS members visit a research facility in France to find out about geological disposal in other countries.

November 2011 - a four-month consultation starts.

Feb 2012 - a study is published looking at how to counter bad publicity created by the research.

May 2012 - the results of an Ipsos Mori poll suggest a majority is in favour of considering hosting the facility. In Copeland, which covers Sellafield, 68% of people backed entering formal talks with government. Across Cumbria as a whole, 53% were in favour and 33% opposed.

July 2012 - MRWS publishes its final report. It says a suitable rock formation that could act as an effective barrier would be essential for the construction of a safe disposal facility.

October 2012 - The three councils ask the government for more time and further information before deciding whether to allow detailed studies and investigations to take place.

January 2013 - that decision is due to be made.

Dungeness in Kent, who had initially shown interest, withdrew at the end of 2012 in the face of opposition from residents.

The government, keen to attract volunteers, rather than impose the proposal on an unwilling area, has promised certain benefits, such as money for transport, public service infrastructure and housing, for any council which agreed to accept the storage facility.

Advocates of the plans say it will protect, and create, nuclear industry jobs, with more than 9,000 people already working at Sellafield.

Jamie Reed, Labour MP for Copeland, which encompasses the plant, said: "Cumbria stands to benefit hugely, in a genuinely unprecedented fashion, should a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) ever be sited here."

He stressed the "investment package" must be suitable, the final decision must "rest with a local referendum not politicians" and unsuitable geology would put paid to the whole scheme.

Lynn Berger, who runs the Woolpack Inn near Boot in the Eskdale Valley, is more concerned about the effect of "scaremongering" on tourism than the facility itself.

"It's not going to make any difference to us from a radiation point of view," she said.

"And, if anything, everything is so much more controlled because it [Sellafield] is there. The house isn't going to fall down, we're not going to bash a hole in the cellar wall and find the beer turns green."

John Rowlands, of Romar Innovate in Whitehaven, is also positive: "We've had waste stores at Sellafield before and it hasn't affected the industry.

"The nuclear industry has worked alongside tourism for as long as I can remember."

There are concerns about safety and, particularly, the perception of safety among tourists and investors.

Critics are also concerned about visual damage to the landscape and the effect on farming.

Some point out the research is pointlessly going over old ground, citing a plan by Nirex, the agency then responsible for the disposal of nuclear waste, to build an underground waste laboratory in the 1990s which was scrapped after a planning inspector ruled the area's geology made it unsafe.

Former Nirex inspector, Chris McDonald, has said he was "very surprised" West Cumbria was again being suggested as a potential site and "the probability of their finding a suitable site is low".

The Lake District National Park Authority has already told the government that a repository "would not be in the long-term interests of the Lake District" and would risk the area's "brand image".

Its chairman, Bill Jefferson, has said the effects on the landscape and tourism could be disastrous and that tourism brings more income to the area than the nuclear industry.

Campaigner Harry Marsland, from Keswick, has said a "nuclear dump will do significant damage" to the area's image.

"In Cumbria tourism is worth ?2bn per annum, and employs 56,000 people directly, plus it provides the work for countless trades people, suppliers and retailers. Let's be clear, it depends upon the Lake District," he said.

Cumbria County Council, Copeland Borough Council and Allerdale Borough Council will decide whether to move to the next stage of a process that is still decades away from completion, even if approved.

They have sought further assurances from the government, including clarification on when, exactly, they could legally withdraw from the process should they want to.

"Stage 4" would involve undertaking vast geological investigations, properly testing theories for and against, and holding formal talks with the government over any "community benefits package".

Unsuitable sites will be ruled out and, if any remain, further tests will be carried out, including seismic surveys.

If any site is ultimately deemed acceptable construction could begin as soon as 2025.

For more on this story watch Inside Out at 19:30 GMT on BBC One on Monday 28 January.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-21161367#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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The Daily Roundup for 01.29.2013

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

Microsoft Office 365 Home Premium review

It feels like we've been talking about Office 2013 for a while now...

What we know about BlackBerry 10

Despite -- or rather thanks to -- major delays in releasing BlackBerry 10...

The shape of things to come: A consumer's guide to 3D printers

Apple boosts fourth-generation iPad to 128GB

Apple's iPad line has topped out at 64GB since it was born. That perennial ceiling has been smashed: the company is hiking the capacity of the fourth-generation iPad...

You also might like:

• 128GB Surface Pro ships with 83GB free, 64GB has only 23GB
• HTC to hold press events on February 19th, will show off 'what's next'
• Reminder: We're live at RIM's BlackBerry 10 unveiling tomorrow

Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/NyG3eG6mqo8/

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Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat from Iowa, will not seek reelection

Tom Harkin, considered one of the most liberal Democratic senators, announced Saturday, he will not seek reelection in 2014. Harkin's departure could leave Democrats vulnerable in Iowa. ?

By Reuters / January 26, 2013

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. talks about the fiscal cliff with reporters, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 28. On Saturday, Harkin announced he will not run for reelection in 2014.

Susan Walsh/AP

Enlarge

Democratic U.S. Senator Tom?Harkin?of?Iowa?said on Saturday he will not seek re-election in 2014, saying he felt that after 40 years in?Congress, it will be "somebody else's turn."

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Harkin, 73, is one of the most liberal senators and has focused much of his long congressional career on farm policy and legislation aiding people with disabilities.

Iowa, site of the early presidential caucuses, is considered a political swing state, putting Democrats' long-held?Senate?seat at risk. Republican?Charles Grassley?is?Iowa's other U.S. senator.

"I don't by any means plan to retire completely from public life at the end of this?Congress,"?Harkin?said in a statement. "But I am going to make way for someone new in this?Senate?seat. I think that is right not just for me, but for?Iowa, as well."

In his remaining two years in office,?Harkin?said he will focus on implementing President?Barack Obama's healthcare reforms, expanding job opportunities for people with disabilities and expanding access to education.

Harkin?was first elected to the?House of Representatives?in 1974 and the?Senate?in 1984.

"When the current?Congress?is over, I will have served in the?United States?House of Representatives?and the U.S.Senate?for a total of 40 years. After 40 years, I just feel it's somebody else's turn," he said.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/RRFF-aW3hXc/Senator-Tom-Harkin-Democrat-from-Iowa-will-not-seek-reelection

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UFC on Fox 6?s Three Stars: Anthony Pettis, Ricardo Lamas and T.J. Grant

In the home of the 6-0 Chicago Blackhawks, the UFC had its sixth showing on Fox. In hockey's tradition, here are the Three Stars from the card.

No. 1 star ? Anthony Pettis: Once upon a time, Pettis was the WEC champion and had a shot at the UFC lightweight title. But then Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard fought to a draw and required a rematch, and Pettis lost to Clay Guida. But with a nasty liver kick that took out Donald Cerrone, Pettis showed he was still worthy of that title shot.

No. 2 star ? Ricardo Lamas: Speaking of title shots, Lamas made a convincing case on Saturday night for the featherweight belt. He used punishing ground and pound to make Erik Koch's face explode on the way to a TKO. Lamas has four wins in a row, and has earned the shot to be the next fighter with a shot at the featherweight belt after this weekend's fight between Edgar and champion Jose Aldo.

No. 3 star -? T.J. Grant: The lightweight division is stacked, but Grant's showing on Saturday night showed another fighter creeping into the top ranks. He elbowed his way to a win over Matt Wiman.

These are Cagewriter's Three Stars. Who are yours? Speak up in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-fox-6-three-stars-anthony-pettis-ricardo-142552282--mma.html

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Best friends influence when teenagers have first drink

Jan. 28, 2013 ? Chances are the only thing you remember about your first swig of alcohol is how bad the stuff tasted. What you didn't know is the person who gave you that first drink and when you had it says a lot about your predisposition to imbibe later in life.

A national study by a University of Iowa-led team has found that adolescents who get their first drink from a friend are more likely to drink sooner in life, which past studies show makes them more prone to abusing alcohol when they get older. The finding is intended to help specialists predict when adolescents are likely to first consume alcohol, with the aim of heading off problem drinking at the pass.

"When you start drinking, even with kids who come from alcoholic families, they don't get their first drinks from their family," says Samuel Kuperman, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the UI. "They get their first drinks from their friends. They have to be able to get it. If they have friends who have alcohol, then it's easier for them to have that first drink."

The basis for the study, published this month in the journal Pediatrics, is compelling: One-third of eighth graders in the United States report they've tried alcohol, according to a 2011 study of 20,000 teenagers conducted by the University of Michigan and funded by the National Institutes of Health. By 10th grade, more than half say they've had a first drink, and that percentage shoots to 70 percent by their senior year.

"There's something driving kids to drink," explains Kuperman, corresponding author on the paper. "Maybe it's the coolness factor or some mystique about it. So, we're trying to educate kids about the risks associated with drinking and give them alternatives."

Kuperman and his team built their formula from two longstanding measures of adolescent drinking behavior -- the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics and Alcoholism and the Achenbach Youth Self Report. From those measures of nearly two-dozen variables and a review of the literature, the UI-led team found five to be the most important predictors: two separate measures of disruptive behavior, a family history of alcohol dependence, a measure of poor social skills, and whether most best friends drink alcohol.

The researchers then looked at how the five variables worked in concert. Surprisingly, a best friend who drank and had access to alcohol was the most important predictor. In fact, adolescents whose best friend used alcohol were twice as likely to have a first drink, the researchers found. Moreover, if considered independently of the other variables, teenagers whose best friends drank are three times as likely to begin drinking themselves, the study found, underscoring the sway that friends have in adolescents' drinking behavior.

"Family history doesn't necessarily drive the age of first drink," notes Kuperman, who has studied teen drinking for more than a decade. "It's access. At that age (14 or 15), access trumps all. As they get older, then family history plays a larger role."

The current study drew from a pool of 820 adolescents at six sites across the country. The participants were 14 to 17 years old, with a median age of 15.5, nearly identical to the typical age of an adolescent's first drink found in previous studies. More than eight in 10 respondents came from what the researchers deemed high-risk families, but more than half of the teenagers had no alcohol-dependent parents. Tellingly, among those adolescents who reported having had drunk alcohol, nearly four in ten said their best friends also drank.

The result underscores previous findings that teenagers who have their first drink before 15 years of age are more likely to abuse alcohol or become dependent. It also supports the screening questions selected in the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the American Academy of Pediatrics initiative to identify and help youth at risk for alcohol use, the researchers write.

Kuperman, whose faculty appointment is in the Carver College of Medicine, says he hopes to use the study to delve into the genetics underpinning alcoholism, chiefly tracking adolescents who use alcohol and see whether they have genes that match up with their parents if they also are problem drinkers.

"We're trying to separate out those who experiment with alcohol to those who go on to problematic drinking," he says.

Contributing authors include John Kramer from the UI; Grace Chan and Victor Hesselbrock, University of Connecticut Health Center; Leah Wetherill, Indiana University School of Medicine; Kathleen Bucholz, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis; Danielle Dick, Virginia Commonwealth University; Bernice Porjesz and Madhavi Rangaswamy, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn; and Marc Schuckit (principal investigator on the grant), University of California San Diego School of Medicine.

The National Institutes of Health (grant number: 5 U10 AA008401), the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Institute on Drug Abuse funded the study.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Iowa. The original article was written by Richard C. Lewis.

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. S. Kuperman, G. Chan, J. R. Kramer, L. Wetherill, K. K. Bucholz, D. Dick, V. Hesselbrock, B. Porjesz, M. Rangaswamy, M. Schuckit. A Model to Determine the Likely Age of an Adolescent's First Drink of Alcohol. PEDIATRICS, 2013; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2012-0880

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/BlqvBqU0MNw/130128133136.htm

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Berlusconi defends Mussolini for backing Hitler

Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, foreground, sits in front of Norther League party's leader Roberto Maroni in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. Silvio Berlusconi says Benito Mussolini did much good, except for dictator's regime's anti-Jewish laws. Berlusconi also defended Mussolini for siding with Hitler, saying the late fascist leader likely reasoned that German power would expand so it would be better for Italy to ally itself with Germany. He was speaking to reporters Sunday on the sidelines of a ceremony in Milan to commemorate the Holocaust. When Germany's Nazi regime occupied Italy during World War II, thousands from the tiny Italian Jewish community were deported to death camps. In 1938, before the war's outbreak, Mussolini's regime passed anti-Jewish laws, barring them from universities and many professions, among other bans. Berlusconi called the laws Mussolini's "worst fault" but insisted that in many other things, "he did good." (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, foreground, sits in front of Norther League party's leader Roberto Maroni in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. Silvio Berlusconi says Benito Mussolini did much good, except for dictator's regime's anti-Jewish laws. Berlusconi also defended Mussolini for siding with Hitler, saying the late fascist leader likely reasoned that German power would expand so it would be better for Italy to ally itself with Germany. He was speaking to reporters Sunday on the sidelines of a ceremony in Milan to commemorate the Holocaust. When Germany's Nazi regime occupied Italy during World War II, thousands from the tiny Italian Jewish community were deported to death camps. In 1938, before the war's outbreak, Mussolini's regime passed anti-Jewish laws, barring them from universities and many professions, among other bans. Berlusconi called the laws Mussolini's "worst fault" but insisted that in many other things, "he did good." (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Italian Premier Mario Monti, left, and former Premier Silvio Berlusconi shake hands in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Italian Premier Mario Monti, left, and former Premier Silvio Berlusconi shake hands in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Italian Premier Mario Monti, left, and former Premier Silvio Berlusconi shake hands in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, foreground, sits in front of Northern League party's leader Roberto Maroni, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. Silvio Berlusconi says Benito Mussolini did much good, except for dictator's regime's anti-Jewish laws. Berlusconi also defended Mussolini for siding with Hitler, saying the late fascist leader likely reasoned that German power would expand so it would be better for Italy to ally itself with Germany. He was speaking to reporters Sunday on the sidelines of a ceremony in Milan to commemorate the Holocaust. When Germany's Nazi regime occupied Italy during World War II, thousands from the tiny Italian Jewish community were deported to death camps. In 1938, before the war's outbreak, Mussolini's regime passed anti-Jewish laws, barring them from universities and many professions, among other bans. Berlusconi called the laws Mussolini's "worst fault" but insisted that in many other things, "he did good." (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

ROME (AP) ? Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi praised Benito Mussolini for "having done good" despite the Fascist dictator's anti-Jewish laws, immediately sparking expressions of outrage as Europe on Sunday held Holocaust remembrances.

Berlusconi also defended Mussolini for allying himself with Hitler, saying he likely reasoned that it would be better to be on the winning side.

The media mogul, whose conservative forces are polling second in voter surveys ahead of next month's election, spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony in Milan to commemorate the Holocaust.

In 1938, before the outbreak of World War II, Mussolini's regime passed the so-called "racial laws," barring Jews from Italy's universities and many professions, among other bans. When Germany's Nazi regime occupied Italy during the war, thousands from the tiny Italian Jewish community were deported to death camps.

"It is difficult now to put oneself in the shoes of who was making decisions back then," Berlusconi said of Mussolini's support for Hitler. "Certainly the (Italian) government then, fearing that German power would turn into a general victory, preferred to be allied with Hitler's Germany rather than oppose it."

Berlusconi added that "within this alliance came the imposition of the fight against, and extermination of, the Jews. Thus, the racial laws are the worst fault of Mussolini, who, in so many other aspects, did good."

More than 7,000 Jews were deported under Mussolini's regime, and nearly 6,000 of them were killed.

Outrage, along with a demand that Berlusconi be prosecuted for promoting Fascism, quickly followed his words.

Among those voicing condemnation were prominent Jewish figures abroad.

Mussolini "modeled his anti-Jewish laws after the Nazi Nuremberg Laws barring Jews from civil service," Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said in a statement.

"It is the height of revisionism to try to reinstate an Italian dictator who helped legitimize and prop up Hitler as a 'reincarnated good guy,'" said the rabbi, whose organization monitors anti-Semitic incidents worldwide.

Berlusconi's praise of Mussolini constitutes "an insult to the democratic conscience of Italy," said Rosy Bindi, a center-left leader. "Only Berlusconi's political cynicism, combined with the worst historic revisionism, could separate the shame of the racist laws from the Fascist dictatorship."

Italian laws enacted following the country's disastrous experience in the war forbid the defense of Fascism. A candidate for local elections, Gianfranco Mascia, pledged that he and his supporters will present a formal complaint on Monday to Italian prosecutors, seeking to have Berlusconi prosecuted.

Hours later, Berlusconi issued a statement saying he "regretted" that he didn't make clear in his earlier comments that his historical analyses "are always based on condemnation of dictatorships," the Italian news agency LaPresse reported.

He also contended that the political left was trying to exploit his comment about Mussolini for election campaign fodder.

Advocating aggressive nationalism, Mussolini used brutish force and populist appeal evoking ancient Rome's glories to achieve and keep his dictatorial grip on power, starting in the early '20s and lasting well into World War II. His Fascist "blackshirt" loyalists cracked down on dissidents, through beatings and jailings.

He encouraged big families to propagate the Italian population, established a sprawling state economy and erected monumental buildings and statues to evoke ancient Rome. Mussolini sought to impose order on a generally individualistic-minded people, and Italians sometimes note trains ran on time during Fascism.

With dreams of an empire, he sent Italian troops on missions to attack or occupy foreign lands, including Ethiopia and Albania. Eventually, Italian military failures in Africa and in Greece fostered rebellion among Fascist officials, and in 1943 he was placed under arrest by orders of the Italian king. His end came at the vengeful hands of partisan fighters, who shot him and his mistress, and left their bodies to hang in a Milan square in April 1945.

Berlusconi's former government allies have included political heirs to neo-fascist movements admiring Mussolini.

In 2010, he told world leaders at a Paris conference that he had been reading Mussolini's journals, and years earlier Berlusconi had claimed that Mussolini "never killed anyone."

Berlusconi is running in Feb. 24-25 Parliamentary elections and has repeatedly changed his mind on whether he is seeking a fourth term as premier. Monti is also running, but polls put him far behind front-runner Pier Luigi Bersani, a center-left leader who supported Monti's austerity measures to save Italy from the Eurozone debt crisis.

Polls show about one-third of eligible voters are undecided.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-27-Italy-Berlusconi-Mussolini/id-603515966b054b60b73e2a23afb66ec2

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