JUBA, South Sudan (AP) ? South Sudan is warning that it may stop exporting oil through Sudan's pipelines again.
An official in South Sudan's oil ministry told The Associated Press that Sudan has blocked the export of South Sudanese oil. The official insisted he not be identified because he is not authorized to release the information.
While speaking at a police graduation ceremony in Juba on Monday, South Sudan President Salva Kiir warned there could be oil shutdown like the one that ended nearly two months ago. He said Juba was still working with Sudan "in a diplomatic way."
South Sudan resumed oil production in April this year, 16 months after a shutdown caused by disagreements with Sudan over oil transit fees.
NIH researchers conduct first genomic survey of human skin fungal diversityPublic release date: 22-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Raymond MacDougall macdougallr@mail.nih.gov 301-402-0911 NIH/National Human Genome Research Institute
Location on the body surface determines fungal composition with the greatest diversity on feet
While humans have harnessed the power of yeast to ferment bread and beer, the function of yeast or other types of fungi that live in and on the human body is not well understood. In the first study of human fungal skin diversity, National Institutes of Health researchers sequenced the DNA of fungi at skin sites of healthy adults to define the normal populations across the skin and to provide a framework for investigating fungal skin conditions.
Human skin surfaces are complex ecosystems for microorganisms, including fungi, bacteria and viruses, which are known collectively as the skin microbiome. Although fungal infections of the skin affect about 29 million people in the United States, fungi can be slow and hard to grow in laboratories, complicating diagnosis and treatment of even the most common fungal skin conditions, such as toenail infections.
The research team from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), both parts of NIH, extended their recent genome sequencing study of skin bacteria, using DNA sequencing techniques optimized for identifying fungi. The study appears in the May 22, 2013 early online issue of Nature.
The researchers found that a single type of fungus, belonging to the genus Malassezia, is predominant on the head and trunk. Hands, which harbor a great diversity of bacteria, are home for relatively few types of fungi. In contrast, feet, including toenails, heels and toe webs contain tremendous diversity.
"Applying DNA sequencing to a study of the skin's fungi is the natural progression in understanding microbial life that co-exists on our bodies," said NHGRI Scientific Director Daniel Kastner, M.D., Ph.D. "Along with recent genome sequencing to define bacterial diversity, this analysis of fungal diversity provides a more complete human microbiome picture."
"Fungal communities occupy complex niches, even on the human body," said Heidi Kong, M.D., co-senior author and an investigator in the dermatology branch of NCI's Center for Cancer Research. "By gaining a more complete awareness of the fungal and bacterial ecosystems, we can better address associated skin diseases, including skin conditions which can be related to cancer treatments."
The researchers collected samples at 14 body sites from 10 healthy adults. DNA sequencing of the fungi in the samples identified fragments of DNA, called phylogenetic markers, which can be counted and used to distinguish one type of fungus from another. The sequencing efforts generated more than 5 million markers, from the samples, representing more than 80 fungal types, or genera. In contrast, traditional culturing methods produced 130 colonies of fungi that represented only 18 fungal genera.
In 20 percent of the study participants, the researchers observed problems such as heel and toe web scaling or toenail changes consistent with possible fungal infections. From genome sequencing analysis, the researchers found that different individuals with heel site infections have common fungal communities at that site, while those with toenail infections display tremendously different fungal communities.
"DNA sequencing reveals the great diversity of fungi, even those that are hard to grow in culture," said Julie Segre, Ph.D., co-senior author and senior investigator, NHGRI Genetics and Molecular Biology Branch. Her expertise is the development of microbial DNA sequencing technology. "DNA sequencing enabled us to learn immeasurably more about where fungi predominate as a part of the human skin microbiome."
The researchers identified fungi from two phyla, Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes, as part of the normal fungal census at the 14 skin sites. The most common genus Malassezia was present in 11 of 14 sites sampled on the body. The researchers found Malassezia fungus on every skin surface of healthy volunteers, whether on the back of the head, behind the ears, in nostrils and on the heels. Heels were also home to many additional fungi, including the genera Aspergillus, Cryptococcus, Rhodotorula, and Epicoccum.
"DNA sequence-based methods of identification enabled us to differentiate among species of fungi and to conclude that the diversity of fungi is highly dependent on the body site rather than the person who is sampled," said Dr. Kong. A dermatologist, Dr. Kong explained why these sites were selected for exploration: "Our study focused on areas of the skin where we commonly find skin diseases that have been associated with fungi."
The most complex site, the heel, is home to about 80 genus-level types of fungi. The researchers found about 60 types in toenail swab samples and 40 types in samples from the webs of the toes. Sites with moderate fungal diversity are inside the bend of the arm, inside of the forearm and palm, with each location supporting 18 to 32 genera of fungi. Surprisingly, head and trunk body sites including the back, back of the neck, inside the ears, behind the ears, and between the eyebrows have far fewer fungi types, with just two to 10 genera each.
The research team compared fungal diversity data with the skin bacteria on the same healthy adults. They found that while arms have high measures of bacterial diversity, they have lower fungal diversity. They found the reverse to be true for sites on the feet. Core body sites had neither a high bacterial diversity nor a high fungal diversity. The researchers had previously shown that bacterial diversity can be predicted by whether skin is moist, dry or oily. Fungal diversity, instead, seems to depend upon where a particular skin site is on the body.
The researchers observed, in addition, that there is greater similarity in the fungal community structure on the left and right sides of the same person's body compared to the same body parts on any two individuals. Fungal communities also appear to be quite stable over time, with little change when tested on two separate occasions, up to three months apart.
"The data from our study gives us a baseline about normal individuals that we never had before," Dr. Segre said. "The bottom line is your feet are teeming with fungal diversity, so wear your flip flops in locker rooms if you don't want to mix your foot fungi with someone else's fungi."
###
For fluorescent microscope images of fungi on the skin, go to http://goo.gl/eJakd.
NHGRI is one of the 27 institutes and centers at the NIH, an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The NHGRI Division of Intramural Research develops and implements technology to understand, diagnose and treat genomic and genetic diseases. Additional information about NHGRI can be found at its website, http://www.genome.gov.
NCI leads the National Cancer Program and the NIH effort to dramatically reduce the burden of cancer and improve the lives of cancer patients and their families, through research into prevention and cancer biology, the development of new interventions, and the training and mentoring of new researchers. For more information about cancer, please visit the NCI website at http://www.cancer.gov or call NCI's Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237).
The NIH Common Fund encourages collaboration and supports a series of exceptionally high impact, trans-NIH programs. Common Fund programs are designed to pursue major opportunities and gaps in biomedical research that no single NIH Institute could tackle alone, but that the agency as a whole can address to make the biggest impact possible on the progress of medical research. Additional information about the NIH Common Fund can be found at http://commonfund.nih.gov.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 institutes and centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.
For more information, contact:
Raymond MacDougall
National Human Genome Research Institute
301-402-0911
macdougallr@mail.nih.gov
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.
NIH researchers conduct first genomic survey of human skin fungal diversityPublic release date: 22-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Raymond MacDougall macdougallr@mail.nih.gov 301-402-0911 NIH/National Human Genome Research Institute
Location on the body surface determines fungal composition with the greatest diversity on feet
While humans have harnessed the power of yeast to ferment bread and beer, the function of yeast or other types of fungi that live in and on the human body is not well understood. In the first study of human fungal skin diversity, National Institutes of Health researchers sequenced the DNA of fungi at skin sites of healthy adults to define the normal populations across the skin and to provide a framework for investigating fungal skin conditions.
Human skin surfaces are complex ecosystems for microorganisms, including fungi, bacteria and viruses, which are known collectively as the skin microbiome. Although fungal infections of the skin affect about 29 million people in the United States, fungi can be slow and hard to grow in laboratories, complicating diagnosis and treatment of even the most common fungal skin conditions, such as toenail infections.
The research team from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), both parts of NIH, extended their recent genome sequencing study of skin bacteria, using DNA sequencing techniques optimized for identifying fungi. The study appears in the May 22, 2013 early online issue of Nature.
The researchers found that a single type of fungus, belonging to the genus Malassezia, is predominant on the head and trunk. Hands, which harbor a great diversity of bacteria, are home for relatively few types of fungi. In contrast, feet, including toenails, heels and toe webs contain tremendous diversity.
"Applying DNA sequencing to a study of the skin's fungi is the natural progression in understanding microbial life that co-exists on our bodies," said NHGRI Scientific Director Daniel Kastner, M.D., Ph.D. "Along with recent genome sequencing to define bacterial diversity, this analysis of fungal diversity provides a more complete human microbiome picture."
"Fungal communities occupy complex niches, even on the human body," said Heidi Kong, M.D., co-senior author and an investigator in the dermatology branch of NCI's Center for Cancer Research. "By gaining a more complete awareness of the fungal and bacterial ecosystems, we can better address associated skin diseases, including skin conditions which can be related to cancer treatments."
The researchers collected samples at 14 body sites from 10 healthy adults. DNA sequencing of the fungi in the samples identified fragments of DNA, called phylogenetic markers, which can be counted and used to distinguish one type of fungus from another. The sequencing efforts generated more than 5 million markers, from the samples, representing more than 80 fungal types, or genera. In contrast, traditional culturing methods produced 130 colonies of fungi that represented only 18 fungal genera.
In 20 percent of the study participants, the researchers observed problems such as heel and toe web scaling or toenail changes consistent with possible fungal infections. From genome sequencing analysis, the researchers found that different individuals with heel site infections have common fungal communities at that site, while those with toenail infections display tremendously different fungal communities.
"DNA sequencing reveals the great diversity of fungi, even those that are hard to grow in culture," said Julie Segre, Ph.D., co-senior author and senior investigator, NHGRI Genetics and Molecular Biology Branch. Her expertise is the development of microbial DNA sequencing technology. "DNA sequencing enabled us to learn immeasurably more about where fungi predominate as a part of the human skin microbiome."
The researchers identified fungi from two phyla, Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes, as part of the normal fungal census at the 14 skin sites. The most common genus Malassezia was present in 11 of 14 sites sampled on the body. The researchers found Malassezia fungus on every skin surface of healthy volunteers, whether on the back of the head, behind the ears, in nostrils and on the heels. Heels were also home to many additional fungi, including the genera Aspergillus, Cryptococcus, Rhodotorula, and Epicoccum.
"DNA sequence-based methods of identification enabled us to differentiate among species of fungi and to conclude that the diversity of fungi is highly dependent on the body site rather than the person who is sampled," said Dr. Kong. A dermatologist, Dr. Kong explained why these sites were selected for exploration: "Our study focused on areas of the skin where we commonly find skin diseases that have been associated with fungi."
The most complex site, the heel, is home to about 80 genus-level types of fungi. The researchers found about 60 types in toenail swab samples and 40 types in samples from the webs of the toes. Sites with moderate fungal diversity are inside the bend of the arm, inside of the forearm and palm, with each location supporting 18 to 32 genera of fungi. Surprisingly, head and trunk body sites including the back, back of the neck, inside the ears, behind the ears, and between the eyebrows have far fewer fungi types, with just two to 10 genera each.
The research team compared fungal diversity data with the skin bacteria on the same healthy adults. They found that while arms have high measures of bacterial diversity, they have lower fungal diversity. They found the reverse to be true for sites on the feet. Core body sites had neither a high bacterial diversity nor a high fungal diversity. The researchers had previously shown that bacterial diversity can be predicted by whether skin is moist, dry or oily. Fungal diversity, instead, seems to depend upon where a particular skin site is on the body.
The researchers observed, in addition, that there is greater similarity in the fungal community structure on the left and right sides of the same person's body compared to the same body parts on any two individuals. Fungal communities also appear to be quite stable over time, with little change when tested on two separate occasions, up to three months apart.
"The data from our study gives us a baseline about normal individuals that we never had before," Dr. Segre said. "The bottom line is your feet are teeming with fungal diversity, so wear your flip flops in locker rooms if you don't want to mix your foot fungi with someone else's fungi."
###
For fluorescent microscope images of fungi on the skin, go to http://goo.gl/eJakd.
NHGRI is one of the 27 institutes and centers at the NIH, an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The NHGRI Division of Intramural Research develops and implements technology to understand, diagnose and treat genomic and genetic diseases. Additional information about NHGRI can be found at its website, http://www.genome.gov.
NCI leads the National Cancer Program and the NIH effort to dramatically reduce the burden of cancer and improve the lives of cancer patients and their families, through research into prevention and cancer biology, the development of new interventions, and the training and mentoring of new researchers. For more information about cancer, please visit the NCI website at http://www.cancer.gov or call NCI's Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237).
The NIH Common Fund encourages collaboration and supports a series of exceptionally high impact, trans-NIH programs. Common Fund programs are designed to pursue major opportunities and gaps in biomedical research that no single NIH Institute could tackle alone, but that the agency as a whole can address to make the biggest impact possible on the progress of medical research. Additional information about the NIH Common Fund can be found at http://commonfund.nih.gov.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 institutes and centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.
For more information, contact:
Raymond MacDougall
National Human Genome Research Institute
301-402-0911
macdougallr@mail.nih.gov
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.
Sending animals to do our dirty work?specifically of the drug-sniffing, bomb-hunting variety?isn't a novel concept by any means. But while an animal bomb-sniffing squad might conjure up the image of a noble K9 dog, Croatians are now depending on a very different, perhaps not quite as lovable bomb fiend: the common honeybee.
Because though the Balkan wars may have ended several decades ago, there's still over 460 square miles of territory just brimming with unexploded mines. The European Union, which will finally call Croatia its own come July 1, understandably has a bit of problem with this. Since the start of the Balkan war in 1991, it's estimated that around 2,500 people have died from land mine explosions, and the 90,000 mines scattered around the country were placed at random and without any sort of map.
So Nikola Kezic, a professor at Zagreb University and honeybee behavior expert, has been working with a team of researchers to bend the bees to our bomb-hunting will. Honeybees, conveniently, have a perfect sense of smell?all the better to track down delicious nectar with. Making use of this (figurative) nose that far surpasses our own, the scientists have been drizzling a team of bees' food with TNT particles. This way, the bees begin to associate the smell of real, live explosives with their next meal.
Apparently, it's been working. To test whether or not the bees were able to retain their newfound knowledge, the researchers set up multiple feeding points, only sprinkling the explosives on a few. And just as Kezic hypothesized, the bees generally avoided the pure sugar water, preferring to go towards the now familiar, TNT-seasoned batches instead. But their work isn't over yet. according to Kezic:
It is not a problem for a bee to learn the smell of an explosive, which it can then search. You can train a bee, but training their colony of thousands becomes a problem.
The TNT itself presents another obstacle, since its smell tends to evaporate relatively quickly, leaving only trace amounts to act as the bees' guide. The final controlled test will come when they send the bees off into actual (marked) minefields. Of course, the bees will never be able to uncover every single mine lying around, but by sending them off into supposedly de-mined minefields and tracking their movement with heat-seeking cameras, they could prove invaluable in uncovering the missed explosives. And save countless lives in the process. [Associated Press]
So, how much does a?concrete patio cost? Is it $600, $800, or even $1,000? Well, since it is a tricky question, we cannot sump it in just one simple answer. The thing is that defining the cost of a concrete patio is not easy because there are several aspects to consider. However, this doesn't mean that defining the cost is impossible to do, we just need more knowledge and understanding if we are expecting to get the closest possible calculation. So, how do we start, then? First, the cost of a concrete patio will hugely depend on the width of the patio itself. Logically, if your area is big, then you will need to spend big money and if it is small, there is a small amount of money needed. Apart from the width of the concrete patio, the material prices will also affect the cost of a concrete patio. With high quality materials, you can create a fabulous concrete patio that will certainly bring the best out of your outdoor area and create a perfect area to relax and enjoy the quality time. However, high quality materials will mean you need to spend a more expensive?concrete patio cost?for buying the materials. After all, quality concrete patio is worth every penny of your cash, isn't it?
So, be aware of deciding the materials for your concrete patio. Although in most cases it is true, having a quality patio doesn't always mean spending a huge amount of money. You can always discussing with your friends, or seeking advice from professional designers to gain more ideas. You can always negotiate to create a beautiful concrete patio of your own within your budget. So, the next thing that will affect the?concrete patio cost?if the cost of installation. For your information, the installation cost of the high quality concrete patio can reach the amount of $1,000! Is it shocking for you? Indeed, this is what happens when you aim to get the best concrete patio. However, as we mentioned above, we can always negotiate to avoid expensive cost of building a concrete patio by hiring a licensed and bonded concrete contractor to complete the installation.
Related Image of How much does a concrete patio cost?
How much? When? Where? Who cares? If you aren't exactly interested in knowing how much the impending Xbox One will cost you -- let alone when it'll actually hit your doorstep -- you can sign up to be notified of your opportunity to pre-order the console right now. To be clear, this isn't a sign-up for a pre-order. It's just a sign-up to be notified of pre-orders officially opening up. So really, what's to lose? Hit the source link below in order to share your email address, and you'll get a $10 Microsoft online store credit for your trouble. (Or, you can hit the Amazon link for those needing an excuse to make better use of their Prime subscription.)
May 20, 2013 ? NOAA presented to the U.S. Coast Guard today a new report that finds that 36 sunken vessels scattered across the U.S. seafloor could pose an oil pollution threat to the nation's coastal marine resources. Of those, 17 were recommended for further assessment and potential removal of both fuel oil and oil cargo.
The sunken vessels are a legacy of more than a century of U.S. commerce and warfare. They include a barge lost in rough seas in 1936; two motor-powered ships that sank in separate collisions in 1947 and 1952; and a tanker that exploded and sank in 1984. The remaining sites are 13 merchant marine ships lost during World War II, primarily along the Atlantic Seaboard and Gulf of Mexico. To see a list of the ships and their locations, visit: http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/protect/ppw/.
The report, part of NOAA's Remediation of Underwater Legacy Environmental Threats (RULET) project, identifies the location and nature of potential sources of oil pollution from sunken vessels. Knowing where these vessels are helps oil response planning efforts and may help in the investigation of reported mystery spills--sightings of oil where a source is not immediately known or suspected.
"This report is the most comprehensive assessment to date of the potential oil pollution threats from shipwrecks in U.S. waters," said Lisa Symons, resource protection coordinator for NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. "Now that we have analyzed this data, the Coast Guard will be able to evaluate NOAA's recommendations and determine the most appropriate response to potential threats."
"The Coast Guard is pleased to receive these risk assessments from our partner agency NOAA and looks forward to our continued coordination on the matter of potential pollution associated with sunken vessels in U.S. waters," said Capt. John Caplis, the Coast Guard's chief of marine environmental response. "Coast Guard federal on-scene coordinators receiving the risk assessments will carefully review the data and incorporate it into their area contingency plans."
In 2010, Congress appropriated $1 million for NOAA to develop a list of the most significant potentially polluting wrecks in U.S. waters, including the Great Lakes, specifically addressing ecological and socio-economic resources at risk. Those funds were not intended for oil or vessel removal.
NOAA maintains the internal Resources and UnderSea Threats (RUST) database of approximately 30,000 sites of sunken material, of which 20,000 are shipwrecks. The remaining items are munitions dumpsites, navigational obstructions, underwater archaeological sites, and other underwater resources.
Initial screening of these shipwrecks revealed 573 that could pose substantial pollution risks, based on the vessel's age, type, and size. This includes vessels built after 1891, when U.S. vessels began using fuel oil; vessels built of steel; vessels over 1,000 gross tons, and any tank vessel.
Additional research about the circumstances of each vessel's loss narrowed that number to 107 shipwrecks. Of those, some were deemed navigational hazards and demolished, and others were salvaged. Most of the 107 wrecks have not been directly surveyed for pollution potential, and in some cases little is known about their current condition.
To prioritize and determine which vessels are candidates for further evaluation, NOAA used a series of risk factors to assess the likelihood of substantial amounts of oil remaining onboard, and the potential ecological and environmental effects if that oil spills. Risk factors include the total oil volume onboard as cargo or fuel, the type of oil, and the nature of the sinking event. For example, a vessel that was struck by multiple torpedoes would likely contain less oil than a vessel that sank in bad weather.
After this third level of screening, 87 wrecks remained on the list developed for the Coast Guard's area contingency plans. Among this group, NOAA determined that 36 shipwrecks are candidates for a "Worst Case" discharge event in which the shipwreck's entire fuel oil and oil cargo would be released simultaneously, and recommended that 17 of these wrecks be considered for further assessment and feasibility of oil removal.
Six wrecks are potential candidates for a "Most Probable" discharge event, where a shipwreck could lose approximately 10 percent of its fuel oil or oil cargo. To date, known oil discharges from shipwrecks are typically in the "Most Probable" category or smaller.
The report, including 87 risk assessments, is not intended to direct Coast Guard activities, but rather provide the Coast Guard with NOAA's scientific and technical assessment and guidance as a natural resource and cultural heritage trustee.
The Coast Guard, as the federal On-scene Coordinator for mitigating oil spills in the coastal marine environment, the Regional Response Teams, and local Area Committees, as established under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, will review and incorporate the assessments into regional and area marine environmental response contingency plans. The individual risk assessments not only highlight concerns about potential ecological and socio-economic impacts, but also characterize most of the vessels as historically significant and many of them as grave sites, both civilian and military.
Funding for any assessment or recovery operations determined to be necessary is dependent upon the unique circumstances of the wreck. If a wreck still has an identifiable owner, that owner is responsible for the cost of cleanup. Coast Guard officials say that if no responsible party exists, the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund would likely be accessed.
To view the report, 2012 Risk Assessment for Potentially Polluting Wrecks in U.S. Waters, visit http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/protect/ppw/.
BAGHDAD -- A wave of car bombings across Baghdad's Shiite neighborhoods and in the southern city of Basra killed at least 40 people on Monday, striking at market places and crowded bus stops during the busy morning hours, officials said.
The attacks are the latest in a recent spike of bombings that has hit both Sunni and Shiite civilian targets over the past week. The bloodshed has raised fears of a return to the widespread sectarian violence of 2006-2007 that brought the country to the edge of civil war.
In the Iraqi capital, nine car bombs went off at bus stops, open-air markets and in the streets of Shiite areas, killing 27 people and wounding 116, according to police officials.
The deadliest attacks came in the northern Sabi al-Boor neighborhood and in Baghdad's eastern suburb of Kamaliya. Seven people were killed in each of those attacks.
In the southern city of Basra, two car bombs ? one near a restaurant and the other at the city's main bus station ? killed at least 13 and wounded 40, according to the provincial police spokesman, Col. Abdul-Karim al-Zaidi, and the head of city's health directorate, Riadh Abdul-Amir.
The blast at the Basra bus station ripped through food stalls that serve falafel and eggs to travelers. Slippers lay scattered on the bloodstained pavement.
A Basra resident, Talib Dakhil, said he was at the station when the explosion went off. "This will not discourage us from continuing out life," he said. "We will continue challenging terrorism, whatever happens."
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts but such large-scale bombings bear the hallmarks of al-Qaida in Iraq.
Hospital officials in Baghdad and Basra confirmed the casualty tolls. All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
In Baghdad, Malik Ibrahim blamed the government and political parties for the bloodshed and the lack of security in the country.
"How long do we have to continue living like this, with all the lies from the government," asked the 23-year-old Baghdad resident. "Whenever they say they have reached a solution, the bombings come back stronger than before."
"We're fed up with them and we can't tolerate this anymore," he added.
Tensions have been intensifying in Iraq since the country's minority since Sunnis began protesting what they say is mistreatment at the hands of the Shiite-led government, including random detentions and neglect.
The protests, which began in December, have largely been peaceful, but the number of attacks rose sharply after a deadly security crackdown on a Sunni protest camp in the country's north on April 23.
Majority Shiites control the levers of power in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq. Wishing to rebuild the nation rather than revert to open warfare, they have largely restrained their militias over the past five years or so as Sunni extremist groups such as al-Qaida have targeted them with occasional large-scale attacks.
___
Associated Press writer Nabil Al-Jurani in Basra contributed to this report.
?Known for providing a vacation experience that is ?180 Degrees from Ordinary,? Windstar Cruises is a market leader when it comes to small ship cruising. And they?re taking that to new levels along with their recent expansion.? Xanterra Parks and Resorts, parent company of Windstar Cruises, recently announced in February they?re acquiring three yachts from Seabourn Cruises for Windstar Cruises ? this will double their fleet.
?More about the additions to Windstar Cruises
Reception area onboard
Over a two year period starting spring 2014, the three yachts that will become part of Windstar Cruises? fleet include the Seabourn Spirit, Seabourn Pride and Seabourn Legend.? The first of to undergo renovations is Seabourn Pride. ?She?ll be renamed Star Pride and will be launched May 2014. ?Renovations to Seabourn Legend and Seabourn Spirit will follow. They?ll be renamed and then begin sailing under Windstar Cruises in May 2015.
?
The ?Power Yachts? Complement Windstar Cruises
Open Bridge onboard Windstar Cruises
?Although Windstar Cruises? heritage is tied to sailing, because their modern tall ships have computer-controlled sails that augment the motor propulsion, overall their intimate yacht style of cruising is really what Windstar Cruises is known for. ?The addition of these three all-suite ?power yachts? will be the first in Windstar?s fleet that don?t have sails, but fit in well with the intimate cruising style. The Star Pride, along with her sister power yachts each have a capacity of accommodating 212 guests in 106 suites and are 400 feet long with six passenger decks. Each will undergo Windstar branded renovations, showcasing many of Windstar?s experiences ? the line?s open bridge policy as well as their famous Yacht Deck Barbeque Gala and celebratory sail away party are a few.
?Launch of ?Global Windstar? and New itineraries
When Windstar Cruises begins adding these new ships, they?ll be marketing themselves as ?Global Windstar.? Being able to expand to other regions and areas of the world by expanding their fleet allows Windstar to offer new itineraries and destinations.
?Starting spring 2014, the Star Pride will spend its first season in Europe, with four exclusive European voyages. The new ?Black Sea Tapestry? voyage is one Windstar is offering for the first time, and lets guests enjoy the hidden wonders of Europe?s Black Sea.? ?Pride of the Aegean? lets guests explore the breath of the Aegean Sea from the southernmost tip of Crete to Istanbul. And ?Riviera Enchantment? takes guests to some of the world?s most glamorous ports along the French Riviera. With??Venetian Passageways? guests have a chance to uncover the wonders of Venice and then through the Corinth Canal to the ancient oracle of Delphi as well as on to the majestic fjords of Montenegro.
Another new itinerary? In 2014 Windstar will be offering a ?Sicilian Splendors? voyage. This ten day sailing roundtrip from Rome, Italy includes visits to five new ports.
Besides some new itineraries, the Star Pride will also be offering many Windstar favorites.
Market Leader for small ship cruising
Amphora Restaurant onboard
?
?Unique voyages to some of the world?s best small ports and hidden harbors are what Windstar Cruises has become best known for. And now with the expansion and doubling its fleet, that continues. Windstar Cruises is the market leader when it comes to small ship cruising, combined with ambiance, fine dining and casual elegance.? More details about itineraries for the other two ?power yachts? that will be part of the Windstar Cruises? fleet are coming.?
If your group members enjoy casual elegance, along with a cruise experience that provides some pampering and entertaining, yet allows them to experience some of the smaller harbors that larger ships can?t reach? ?Windstar Cruises does provide another option.
May 18, 2013 ? Chronic trauma can inflict lasting damage to brain regions associated with fear and anxiety. Previous imaging studies of people with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, have shown that these brain regions can over-or under-react in response to stressful tasks, such as recalling a traumatic event or reacting to a photo of a threatening face. Now, researchers at NYU School of Medicine have explored for the first time what happens in the brains of combat veterans with PTSD in the absence of external triggers.
Their results, published in Neuroscience Letters, and presented today at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatry Association in San Francisco, show that the effects of trauma persist in certain brain regions even when combat veterans are not engaged in cognitive or emotional tasks, and face no immediate external threats. The findings shed light on which areas of the brain provoke traumatic symptoms and represent a critical step toward better diagnostics and treatments for PTSD.
A chronic condition that develops after trauma, PTSD can plague victims with disturbing memories, flashbacks, nightmares and emotional instability. Among the 1.7 million men and women who have served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an estimated 20% have PTSD. Research shows that suicide risk is higher in veterans with PTSD. Tragically, more soldiers committed suicide in 2012 than the number of soldiers who were killed in combat in Afghanistan that year.
"It is critical to have an objective test to confirm PTSD diagnosis as self reports can be unreliable," says co-author Charles Marmar, MD, the Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Psychiatry and chair of NYU Langone's Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Marmar, a nationally recognized expert on trauma and stress among veterans, heads The Steven and Alexandra Cohen Veterans Center for the Study of Post-Traumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injury at NYU Langone Medical Center.
The study, led by Xiaodan Yan, a research fellow at NYU School of Medicine, examined "spontaneous" or "resting" brain activity in 104 veterans of combat from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars using functional MRI, which measures blood-oxygen levels in the brain. The researchers found that spontaneous brain activity in the amygdala, a key structure in the brain's "fear circuitry" that processes fearful and anxious emotions, was significantly higher in the 52 combat veterans with PTSD than in the 52 combat veterans without PTSD. The PTSD group also showed elevated brain activity in the anterior insula, a brain region that regulates sensitivity to pain and negative emotions.
Moreover, the PTSD group had lower activity in the precuneus, a structure tucked between the brain's two hemispheres that helps integrate information from the past and future, especially when the mind is wandering or disengaged from active thought. Decreased activity in the precuneus correlates with more severe "re-experiencing" symptoms -- that is, when victims re-experience trauma over and over again through flashbacks, nightmares and frightening thoughts.
Key scientific contributors include researchers at NYU School of Medicine, the University of California at San Francisco, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, and the Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases at the VA Medical Center in San Francisco.
ELIZABETH, N.J. (AP) ? Two cups of coffee ended life on the run for an Internet sensation known as Kai the hatchet-wielding hitchhiker.
An employee at a Starbucks in Philadelphia is credited with recognizing 24-year-old Caleb "Kai" McGillvary, whose fledgling celebrity took a turn toward notoriety when authorities announced this week that he was wanted in the beating death of a New Jersey lawyer three times his age.
The unlikely pair met amid the neon lights of New York City's Times Square over the weekend and headed back to the squat brick home of 73-year-old Joseph Galfy Jr. on a quiet cul-de-sac in suburban Clark, N.J., authorities say. On Monday, Galfy was found beaten to death in his bedroom, wearing only his socks and underwear. McGillvary was arrested Thursday shortly after leaving the Starbucks and charged with killing Galfy.
McGillvary gained a measure of fame in February after intervening in an attack on a California utility worker. In an interview viewed millions of times online, he described using a hatchet he was carrying to repeatedly hit a man who had struck a worker with his car, fending off a further attack, and thus became known as "Kai the hatchet-wielding hitchhiker."
Galfy's funeral was held Friday in a small stone chapel in Warren, N.J. He was buried in East Hanover.
Galfy was an "excellent land use attorney," said friend Robert Ellenport. He said Galfy loved to travel and was a fan of the New York Giants and the Seton Hall University basketball team. Galfy would fly to warmer climes to watch Seton Hall play its first games of the season and was urging Ellenport and his partner to travel to Bali, one of Galfy's favorite vacation spots.
The victim's sister-in-law, Diane Galfy, said at her home that "he was a very well-respected man. That's what we want people to know," she said. She said her husband didn't want to talk and her children were devastated.
Galfy was a respected lawyer who in recent years handled land use and domestic violence cases, according to Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow, whose office is prosecuting McGillvary. The two knew each other through legal circles.
"He was just a nice man, a gentle man, well-regarded in the community," Romankow said.
In addition to his law practice, Galfy was the attorney for the planning board in Green Brook, N.J., and played drums in a wedding band.
Authorities said McGillvary was arrested Thursday evening after he walked into a Starbucks near a bus station in downtown Philadelphia and ordered two coffees. The woman who served McGillvary recognized him and alerted her manager, who called the police.
McGillvary took off before police arrived, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said, and without his coffee. But an officer went to a nearby bus terminal and found McGillvary, who was arrested there.
"He wasn't lying low," Romankow said. "He was out there."
McGillvary was arraigned Friday and being held without bail on charges in Galfy's killing, though a court official said he has a U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detainer for three arrests in Canada in recent years. ICE officials did not immediately return a request to confirm the detainer. It's not clear whether McGillvary would be deported rather than sent to New Jersey to face prosecution in Galfy's death.
Romankow said that McGillvary, who said in his TV appearance he prefers to be called "home-free" instead of homeless, traded on his newfound prominence to meet fans across the country.
Those fans include Terry Ratliff, 32, of Kingsland, Ga., who said he spoke to McGillvary a few times recently about working on music with him. Ratliff said he made about $70 from a YouTube video featuring McGillvary and sent him $34 on May 8. Ratliff said McGillvary was in New York at the time.
The two haven't met, but Ratliff started a fund for McGillvary's legal defense that has only raised $66 so far. It's not clear whether McGillvary has a lawyer, and the public defender's office in Philadelphia had no record of him.
"If he is telling the truth, then maybe better legal representation will help get that truth out," Ratliff said.
McGillvary has made statements before, though, that don't add up.
He has said he is from Sophia, W.Va., but Mayor Danny Barr said Friday that he and the fire chief know everyone in the town of 1,334, have never heard of him and found nothing about him in town records.
McGillvary also wrote statements on Facebook following Galfy's death that were "sexual in nature," Romankow said, and noted that they could have been self-serving.
McGillvary's last post, dated Tuesday, asks "what would you do?" if you awoke in a stranger's house and found you'd been drugged and sexually assaulted. One commenter suggests hitting him with a hatchet, and McGillvary's final comment on the post says, "I like your idea."
Ratliff says he is the commenter McGillvary was responding to. He said he had sent McGillvary an email the night before the post saying he had a song idea for him. Ratliff says when McGillvary responded with "I like your idea," on Facebook, Ratliff wasn't sure if McGillvary was referring to his email about music or suggestion to beat up the man.
It was a hatchet that helped give McGillvary a brief taste of fame in February when he gave a rambling, profanity-laced interview to a Fresno, Calif., television station about thwarting an unprovoked attack on a Pacific Gas & Electric employee. The interview went viral, with one version viewed more than 3.9 million times on YouTube. McGillvary later traveled to Los Angeles to appear on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"
Noting that his photo had been all over, Ramsey said it apparently wasn't difficult to recognize McGillvary.
"Being on YouTube too much," the police commissioner said, "is not always a good thing."
___
Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Kathy Matheson in Philadelphia; Vicki Smith in Morgantown, W.Va.; and Rema Rahman in Trenton, N.J.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida | Fri May 17, 2013 7:49pm EDT
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - An automated telescope monitoring the moon has captured images of an 88-pound (40 kg) rock slamming into the lunar surface, creating a bright flash of light, NASA scientists said on Friday.
The explosion on March 17 was the biggest seen since NASA began watching the moon for meteoroid impacts about eight years ago. So far, more than 300 strikes have been recorded.
"It exploded in a flash nearly 10 times as bright as anything we've ever seen before," Bill Cooke, with NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, said in a statement.
A NASA satellite orbiting the moon is now on a hunt for the newly formed crater, which scientists estimate could be as wide as 66 feet.
The flash was so bright that anyone looking at the moon at the moment of impact could have seen it without a telescope, NASA said.
After reviewing digital recordings made by one of the program's telescopes, scientists determined the space rock was about 1 foot in diameter, and traveling about 56,000 mph when it slammed into the moon and exploded with the force of five tons of TNT.
That same night, cameras detected an unusually high number of meteors blasting through Earth's atmosphere as well. Most meteors burn up well before reaching the ground.
But not always. In February, an asteroid estimated to be about 66 feet in diameter exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, damaging buildings and shattering glass, leaving more than 1,500 injured. It was the largest object to strike Earth since 1908.
"The Russian fireball was many orders of magnitude larger and possessed 100,000 times more energy," than the lunar impact, Cooke wrote in an email to Reuters.
He believes the lunar impact and the March 17 meteor shower on Earth are related, the result of both bodies traveling together through a region of space sprinkled with small rocks and dust.
"We'll be keeping an eye out for signs of a repeat performance next year when the Earth-moon system passes through the same region of space," Cooke said.
By Monte Sonnenberg
Simcoe Reformer
Friday, May 10, 2013; 4:58:13 EDT
?
JARVIS?-?The wind energy company Nextera suffered a public relations setback last fall when it dismantled a tree containing an eagle?s nest near Fisherville.
With the permission of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Nextera did the deed at dawn on a November morning. The nest was a recent addition to the neighbourhood and was located where three wind turbines were ready to go.
By time the tree was down, a large, angry crowd had gathered. The OPP attended to keep an eye on things. The mating pair that had been displaced also watched from some nearby trees. Over the next 48 hours, outrage spread across Ontario and beyond.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The long-awaited, controversial new edition of the bible of psychiatry can be characterized by many numbers: its 947 pages, its $199 price tag, its more than 300 maladies (from "dependent personality disorder" and "voyeuristic disorder" to "delayed ejaculation," "kleptomania" and "intermittent explosive disorder"), each limning the potential woes of being human.
But to the psychiatrist who shepherded the tortuous creation of the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders," perhaps the single most important number is the "5" in its title: This is the DSM-5, not the DSM-V.
That may seem like a cosmetic change, but the American Psychiatric Association, which will release the book on Saturday at its annual meeting, decided to use Arabic instead of Roman numerals because "we want it to be a living document," said Dr David Kupfer of the University of Pittsburgh, the chairman of the task force that produced the DSM-5. Rather than waiting another generation to revise the manual - the DSM-IV was published in 1994 - psychiatrists will regularly update it with, for example, findings from genetics and neuroscience, labeling the revisions DSM-5.1 and DSM-5.2 and so on.
"We used '5' because V.0 and V.1 just don't look good," said Kupfer.
The fact that the world's most powerful psychiatrists (their decisions determine what counts as a mental disorder, and thus what insurers cover and which children receive special services in school) are already building in ways to change the manual is commendable, even its critics say.
But it is also emblematic of the DSM-5's failures, they argue, which include turning normal human behavior and feelings into mental illnesses, and expanding the criteria for disorders until an astonishing one in four U.S. adults has a diagnosable mental illness every year - and even more do over a lifetime.
The latest revision began in 1999 with high hopes for putting mental illness on a scientific footing, using neuroscience in particular to tell the difference between, say, normal sadness and major depression.
That reflected persistent criticism that "drawing a line between sickness and disease is a special problem in psychiatry," said psychotherapist Gary Greenberg, who participated in the "field trials" that tested the DSM-5's proposed diagnostic criteria before they made the final cut. "We don't have blood tests or other objective criteria to distinguish mental sickness from health. So you have a set of criteria that are very common, which means the potential for many people being diagnosed as mentally ill when they're not."
STILL WAITING FOR SCIENCE
The 1,500 experts who contributed to the DSM-5 would have liked nothing better than to base diagnoses on genetics or neuroscience, rather than on subjective judgment and lists of mostly self-reported symptoms such as fear of acting "in a way that will be negatively evaluated" (social anxiety disorder) or approaching and interacting "with unfamiliar adults" (disinhibited social engagement disorder in children).
"It would be great if we had been able to have a paradigmatic shift" by basing the diagnosis of mental illness on biology, as the APA hoped to when it began the DSM-5 process, said Dr Jeffrey Lieberman, chairman of psychiatry at Columbia University and president-elect of the APA.
But the science did not arrive in time. "The DSM can only reflect the research we have," said Lieberman." With rare exceptions such as narcolepsy, which can be diagnosed by testing cerebrospinal fluid, there are no objective biological measures for mental illness.
This lack of scientific rigor led the nation's leading mental health official to attack the DSM-5 for a "lack of validity," as Dr Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, said in a blog post late last month.
The manual bases diagnoses on symptoms, he noted, but "symptoms alone rarely indicate the best choice of treatment." Allergies and flu share some symptoms, for instance, but no doctor would try to treat flu with an antihistamine.
"Patients with mental disorders deserve better," said Insel, who announced that "NIMH will be re-orienting its research away from DSM categories."
Pittsburgh's Kupfer shrugged off this attack. "NIMH expressed that a couple of years ago," he said. "It would be a mistake to reify the DSM for research purposes."
"Reification" has become a buzzword among the DSM's critics. In this context, it means "taking a concept and turning it into a reality," said Greenberg, whose new book, "The Book of Woe: The DSM and the Unmaking of Psychiatry" argues that the manual and the process behind it are hopelessly and dangerously flawed. "The categories are not reliable in a biological sense."
That can cause harm to people who are labeled "mentally ill" when all they have is a variation of normal human behavior, said Greenberg. "The sphere of normality has to have room for some distress, which is part of being human."
On a practical level, "once you have a diagnosis in your medical record you can have trouble getting insurance or a security clearance, and it changes how you think of yourself," said Greenberg.
BLACK-BOX WARNING
Changes that make it easier to qualify as mentally ill - fewer symptoms, lasting for a shorter time - have drawn the most impassioned criticism of the DSM-5. Dr Allen Frances, the psychiatrist who led the development of the last DSM and who has emerged as the new one's fiercest and most eminent critic, warns of a "hyperinflation" of diagnoses and calls for "a black-box warning" in the dozen or so most controversial changes, much like the black-box warning that regulators require on the labels of potentially dangerous drugs.
The black box, he said in a 2012 essay, would indicate the risks of calling people who engage in binge eating, for instance, or who grieve a dead child mentally ill, and would serve as "an admission that the change is a hypothesis," not a scientific fact.
The new DSM does not include more disorders than its predecessor, said Lieberman, "and it shouldn't increase the number of people who warrant a diagnosis of mental illness."
The changes it does make, however, could have far-reaching consequences.
It classifies compulsive gambling as an addiction, the first behavior to be so categorized. That could make it easier for pathological gamblers to get help, said Jeff Beck of the New Jersey Council on Compulsive Gambling and a recovering gambling addict.
The new manual also breaks out compulsive hoarding from obsessive-compulsive disorder and makes it a stand-alone disorder. That should tell clinicians that treatments that work in OCD are not the best way to treat hoarders, said psychologist Randy Frost of Smith College, who has developed a unique therapy for hoarding.
One of the more controversial changes was to eliminate the previous DSM's "bereavement exclusion" for depression. Now, if a father grieves for a murdered child for more than a couple of weeks, he is mentally ill. A footnote in the DSM-5 explains that "the inability to anticipate happiness or pleasure" in such a situation is a diagnostic criterion for the mental disorder of depression.
To some, this smacks of pathologizing a normal, understandable human reaction. "This completely leaves the person out of the equation and turns people into patients," said psychotherapist Eric Maisel, a critic of the DSM. "The DSM claims that an unwanted, distressing feeling is a sign of a disorder rather than being just a feeling, and it isn't at all interested in whether your circumstances could have caused those feelings."
It is important to consider circumstances, he said, because if someone experiences deep anxiety as a result of losing her job, becoming ill or facing foreclosure, "the remedy shouldn't be a pill," the usual outcome of a diagnosis of "generalized anxiety disorder."
The DSM-5 will likely reduce diagnoses of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). It eliminated Asperger's syndrome and tightened the ASD criteria.
While no one wants to see children incorrectly labeled, said Katie Weisman of the patient advocacy group Safe Minds, "children who were borderline cases under the previous DSM now won't get a diagnosis, which means they won't be eligible" for early, intensive behavior therapy - or won't have it paid for by insurance.
A mother of triplets on the autism spectrum, Weisman says "I'm not sure my boys would be where they are today" - in regular school classrooms, not special education - "without these services."
Whether the critics' fears come true will become clear only once psychiatrists, psychologists and even primary-care providers - who write the majority of prescriptions for drugs to treat mental illness - begin using the new DSM. "We're trying to establish accurate and reliable guidelines, and you can't completely control how they're applied," said Columbia's Lieberman. "The problem is not with the instrument but with the way it's used."
(Reporting by Sharon Begley; Editing by Douglas Royalty)
NAIROBI (Reuters) - National Bank of Kenya will raise more than 10 billion shillings in a cash call next year to fund expansion and increased lending, its chief executive said.
Ranked number 12 out of 43 lenders in east Africa's biggest economy, National declined from a top-three lender in 1996, as its model of focusing on government banking and personal lending was upended by newer, nimbler rivals like Equity.
Munir Ahmed, appointed to lead the bank eight months ago from Standard Chartered, said the key goal was to double the bank's return on capital employed to between 20 and 25 percent.
National is targeting revenue growth, with greater focus on sectors such as home loans and business lending, and a sharp cut in its cost-to-income ratio.
"That will come from growing, very aggressively, the 8 billion shillings we had as revenue at the end of 2012 to 31 billion by 2017," Ahmed told Reuters.
"That is a 32 percent compounded annual growth rate over the five-year period."
The bank, which posted a 53 percent drop in profit last year, bucking the trend of profit growth across the industry, will centralise operations to cut costs and wastage.
"We have got cost-to-income ratio upwards of 70 percent. The aim is by December we should be down to no more than 65 percent and to push that down over the following 12 months to just over 50 percent," the chief executive said.
He blamed an over-concentration of lending to individuals for the profit drop in 2012, saying the bank is cutting back on personal loans.
Wary of higher default levels, the bank could not raise lending rates for small borrowers who accounted for 70 percent of total loans at a time when cost of funds soared due to a jump in official rates.
"We have cut it down, we are well on our way to achieve an end of year of reduction to no more than 35 percent of our balance sheet," Ahnmed said.
"That cushions from any impact of concentration on a very risky sector."
National, which is 70 percent owned by the government and the state pension fund, aims to double its profit this year, Ahmed said.
It will invest 400 million shillings in opening of 10 new outlets this year as well as acquisition of electronic channels like mobile phone and Internet banking.
It has also cast its eye on neighbouring countries.
"We are already looking at South Sudan, Somalia and Uganda as the first areas that we go in probably in that order," Ahmed said, adding it could open outlets in South Sudan next year.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi accused Republicans of using the alleged scandals involving the Internal Revenue Service, Department of Justice and the State Department as an "evasion" from passing bills she said would increase job growth.
Over the past few weeks, the IRS admitted to targeting conservative groups applying for nonprofit status and the Department of Justice seized AP journalists' phone records. Earlier this week, the White House provided more details about the Obama administration's initial response to last year's attack on an American compound in Benghazi, Libya.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Pelosi called the IRS and DOJ issues "legitimate"?she condemned the IRS' practices outright?but suggested that Republicans were trying to exploit them for political gain.
"Any issue that comes up, they will try to exploit," Pelosi said. "And some of them are legitimate issues, but they should not dominate everything. And so, what I think is that they have used talking points on Benghazi, they will use the IRS, they will use the AP, they will use these as subterfuges, evasions, of what the American people want us to do here. They want us to create jobs.
"Now, if you're a party in Congress and you have no intention of creating jobs, you want to change the subject," she continued. "So I think this is as much about forcing their anti-government ideology of not a public role in the creation of jobs as well as undermine the president of the United States."
Consumers experiencing relationship problems are more likely to prefer aesthetic experiences that reflect their negative mood, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
"Emotional experiences of aesthetic products are important to our happiness and well-being. Music, movies, paintings, or novels that are compatible with our current mood and feelings, akin to an empathic friend, are more appreciated when we experience broken or failing relationships," write authors Chan Jean Lee (KAIST Business School), Eduardo B. Andrade (FGV School of Administration), and Stephen E. Palmer (University of California, Berkeley).
Consumers experience serious emotional distress when intimate relationships are broken, and look for a surrogate to replace the lost personal bond. Prior research has reported that consumers in a negative mood prefer pleasant, positive aesthetic experiences (cheerful music; fun comedies) to counter their negative feelings. However, under certain circumstances, consumers in negative moods might choose aesthetic experiences consistent with their mood (sad music; tear-jerking dramas) even when more pleasant alternatives are also available.
In one study, consumers were presented with various frustrating situations and asked to rate angry music relative to joyful or relaxing music. Consumers liked angry music more when they were frustrated by interpersonal violations (being interrupted; someone always being late) than by impersonal hassles (no internet connection; natural disaster).
In another study, consumers were asked to recall experiences involving loss. Preference for sad music was significantly higher when they had experienced an interpersonal loss (losing a personal relationship) versus an impersonal loss (losing a competition).
"Interpersonal relationships influence consumer preference for aesthetic experiences. Consumers seek and experience emotional companionship with music, films, novels, and the fine arts as a substitute for lost and troubled relationships," the authors conclude.
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University of Chicago Press Journals: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu
Thanks to University of Chicago Press Journals for this article.
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The city of Indianapolis took on the old Central State Hospital site in the early 1990?s, Now families living around the west side?s long-time eyesore should expect to see several multi-million dollar investments made into their community. City officials say plans for a K through 12 school and senior living facility are nearly finalized.
?Ninety-four percent of our kids are on free or reduced lunch,? said Carey ?Dahncke, Christel House Academy Director, who will oversee the second school.?
?Dahncke said the global nonprofit, nationally recognized for its success with kids in high need areas, has grown out of its space at its current location, and they have more than 300 kids on their waiting list. ?
?I was kind of nervous. I didn?t think they?d get in,? said Jeff Davis, Jr., a Christel House Academy parent.
The project will also include a tuition free high school for adults. Christel House is waiting on Charter approval now that the city has donated several acres.
?It puts a significant anchor of excellence in the neighborhood, and the end goal is a $12 to $14 million complex,? said Adam Thies, Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development Director.
City officials are also talking about building a city park that would serve the school and the nearby community as well as some needed infrastructure.
?There are issues related to public safety. Open buildings become open targets,? said Thies, who still said some of the vacant, boarded up buildings could be rehabbed.
Thies said the idea is to redefine what it means to live on the west side with new development on the rare and massive underused site which could also be home to commercial space and new housing.
?If Christel House has families wanting to move here because they want to send their kids to that school, that?s a positive for us,? said Diane Arnold, Hawthorne Community Center Director.
?We want to work with inner city families and give them a truly first class education,? said Dahncke.
Christel House and the senior living facility developer have plans to break ground on the site this summer.
Specialist Bradley Kessler, lewft, works with traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, May 7, 2013. The Dow Jones industrial average punched through another milestone Tuesday: its first close above 15,000. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Specialist Bradley Kessler, lewft, works with traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, May 7, 2013. The Dow Jones industrial average punched through another milestone Tuesday: its first close above 15,000. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Weak sales from Wal-Mart and discouraging economic reports resulted in a down day on the stock market.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 42 points to close at 15,233 Thursday, a loss of 0.3 percent. Disney and Wal-Mart led the Dow lower.
The Standard & Poor's 500 fell eight to 1,650, or 0.5 percent. It was only the second loss for the S&P out of the last 11 days.
The Nasdaq fell six points to 3,465, or 0.2 percent.
Wal-Mart blamed higher payroll taxes, bad weather and delayed tax refunds for a sales slump.
Stocks were mixed most of the day, then slid in the last hour of trading.
Three stocks fell for every two that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was average at 3.5 billion shares.
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Public release date: 22-May-2013
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