rosealiza52: November 2012

Friday, November 30, 2012

Garbage bug may help lower the cost of biofuel

Public release date: 29-Nov-2012
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Contact: Susan Jongeneel
sjongene@illinois.edu
217-333-3291
University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

One reason that biofuels are expensive to make is that the organisms used to ferment the biomass cannot make effective use of hemicellulose, the next most abundant cell wall component after cellulose. They convert only the glucose in the cellulose, thus using less than half of the available plant material.

"Here at the EBI and other places in the biofuel world, people are trying to engineer microbes that can use both," said University of Illinois microbiologist Isaac Cann. "Most of the time what they do is they take genes from different locations and try and stitch all of them together to create a pathway that will allow that microbe to use the other sugar."

Cann and Rod Mackie, also a U of I microbiologist, have been doing research at the Energy Biosciences Institute on an organism that they think could be used to solve this problem.

Mackie, a long-distance runner, found the microbe in the garbage dump of a canning plant while running in Hoopeston, Ill., in 1993. He noticed that the ground was literally bubbling with microbial activity and took samples. He and his son Kevin, who was in high school at the time, isolated microbes from the samples.

Among these was a bacterium that was later named Caldanaerobius polysaccharolyticus. "We found many exciting enzymes from this organism," said Cann, who joined the project when he came to Mackie's lab as a postdoctoral researcher.

Specifically, the bacterium contains all of the proteins and enzymes needed to break down xylan, which is the most common hemicellulose, and then to transport the fragments into the cell and metabolize them. All of the genes are located in a single cluster on the microbe's genome.

"So instead of taking a piece from here and from there and stitching them together, we can just take this part of the gene," Cann explained. "You can cut this and put it into another microbe."

On the surface of the cell, there is an enzyme that cuts the xylan into small pieces and a protein that binds to the pieces and brings them inside the cell. Enzymes within the cell metabolize the sugar.

The reason that this microbe, unlike most others used to make biofuels, is able to degrade xylan is that it has evolved an enzyme that allows it to remove the side chains, or decorations, that are part of xylan's structure. They hinder the degradation process by preventing complete accessibility of the enzymes to the sugar chain.

Once the side chains have been removed, another enzyme in the microbe breaks the sugar chain down into single sugars, or xylose. Other enzymes within the cell then metabolize the xylose.

Having the enzymes next to each other on the genome is convenient for scientists who are working on engineering microbes that can degrade both cellulose and hemicellulose. The cluster could be designed as a cassette and put into a microbe that normally degrades only cellulose.

Moreover, being next to each other allows them to work efficiently. "You have a set of enzymes that have co-evolved," Cann explained. "If they have co-evolved over millions of years, it means they have been fine-tuned to work together."

Another advantage of Caldanaerobius polysaccharolyticus is that it is a thermophilic bacterium, and its enzymes are resistant to temperatures as high as 70 degrees Celsius. Biofuel fermentation is usually done at 37 degrees Celsius, a temperature at which most microbes can survive. This means that the material in the fermentation vats is easily contaminated.

The next step for Cann and his collaborators is to develop techniques for transferring this gene cluster, which is quite large, into microbes.

###

The research was recently published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry and is available at http://www.jbc.org/content/287/42/34946.full?sid=3f2242e5-c278-4d3e-b16c-1c6f79b01f4b. Yejun Han, Vinayak Agarwal, Dylan Dodd, Jason Kim, Brian Bae, and Satish K. Nair are co-authors.

The Energy Biosciences Institute is a four-partner research collaboration that includes the University of Illinois, the University of California at Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and BP, the energy company that funds the work. It is dedicated to applying the biological sciences to the challenges of producing sustainable, renewable energy for the world.

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

Garbage bug may help lower the cost of biofuel Public release date: 29-Nov-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Susan Jongeneel
sjongene@illinois.edu
217-333-3291
University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

One reason that biofuels are expensive to make is that the organisms used to ferment the biomass cannot make effective use of hemicellulose, the next most abundant cell wall component after cellulose. They convert only the glucose in the cellulose, thus using less than half of the available plant material.

"Here at the EBI and other places in the biofuel world, people are trying to engineer microbes that can use both," said University of Illinois microbiologist Isaac Cann. "Most of the time what they do is they take genes from different locations and try and stitch all of them together to create a pathway that will allow that microbe to use the other sugar."

Cann and Rod Mackie, also a U of I microbiologist, have been doing research at the Energy Biosciences Institute on an organism that they think could be used to solve this problem.

Mackie, a long-distance runner, found the microbe in the garbage dump of a canning plant while running in Hoopeston, Ill., in 1993. He noticed that the ground was literally bubbling with microbial activity and took samples. He and his son Kevin, who was in high school at the time, isolated microbes from the samples.

Among these was a bacterium that was later named Caldanaerobius polysaccharolyticus. "We found many exciting enzymes from this organism," said Cann, who joined the project when he came to Mackie's lab as a postdoctoral researcher.

Specifically, the bacterium contains all of the proteins and enzymes needed to break down xylan, which is the most common hemicellulose, and then to transport the fragments into the cell and metabolize them. All of the genes are located in a single cluster on the microbe's genome.

"So instead of taking a piece from here and from there and stitching them together, we can just take this part of the gene," Cann explained. "You can cut this and put it into another microbe."

On the surface of the cell, there is an enzyme that cuts the xylan into small pieces and a protein that binds to the pieces and brings them inside the cell. Enzymes within the cell metabolize the sugar.

The reason that this microbe, unlike most others used to make biofuels, is able to degrade xylan is that it has evolved an enzyme that allows it to remove the side chains, or decorations, that are part of xylan's structure. They hinder the degradation process by preventing complete accessibility of the enzymes to the sugar chain.

Once the side chains have been removed, another enzyme in the microbe breaks the sugar chain down into single sugars, or xylose. Other enzymes within the cell then metabolize the xylose.

Having the enzymes next to each other on the genome is convenient for scientists who are working on engineering microbes that can degrade both cellulose and hemicellulose. The cluster could be designed as a cassette and put into a microbe that normally degrades only cellulose.

Moreover, being next to each other allows them to work efficiently. "You have a set of enzymes that have co-evolved," Cann explained. "If they have co-evolved over millions of years, it means they have been fine-tuned to work together."

Another advantage of Caldanaerobius polysaccharolyticus is that it is a thermophilic bacterium, and its enzymes are resistant to temperatures as high as 70 degrees Celsius. Biofuel fermentation is usually done at 37 degrees Celsius, a temperature at which most microbes can survive. This means that the material in the fermentation vats is easily contaminated.

The next step for Cann and his collaborators is to develop techniques for transferring this gene cluster, which is quite large, into microbes.

###

The research was recently published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry and is available at http://www.jbc.org/content/287/42/34946.full?sid=3f2242e5-c278-4d3e-b16c-1c6f79b01f4b. Yejun Han, Vinayak Agarwal, Dylan Dodd, Jason Kim, Brian Bae, and Satish K. Nair are co-authors.

The Energy Biosciences Institute is a four-partner research collaboration that includes the University of Illinois, the University of California at Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and BP, the energy company that funds the work. It is dedicated to applying the biological sciences to the challenges of producing sustainable, renewable energy for the world.

[ | E-mail | Share ]
?

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-11/uoic-gbm112912.php
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CobbQ Cobb Kitchen In A Bag ? Food "n" Drinks

CobbQ Cobb Kitchen In A Bag The COBB Grill is made of only the highest quality durable materials and because the COBB has no moving parts, nothing can go wrong. This highly portable grill weighs only 4kg (8.5 lbs) and has a height of 30cm (12 Inches) and diameter of 30 cm (12 inches). Its stainless steel mesh base creates a heat shield with air pockets built-in, so it stays cool to the touch, and can be picked up or touched while cooking (a GREAT safety feature making it perfect for boating). you can cook on any surface... this is a true tabletop grill The COBB is very fuel efficient, using only 8 charcoal briquettes (300grams / 9oz) for 3 hours of cooking! Because it can be easily taken apart and put it in the dishwasher and has a Xylan-coated cooking surface. The flow of air through the holes in the grill into the dome ensures an even cooking area, so that meat comes out both moist and crispy this feature also makes the grill great for smoking. Use the flavor well for marinades and vegetables, makes lovely gravies you can simply spoon out Concave grill with solid center keeps juices off the coals, hence almost no smoke or flare-ups. The award winning COBB system barbecues, grills, bakes, smokes, boils and warms. This unique light-weight cooking system is simple to use and maintain. The COBB includes a heavy-duty carry bag. The COBB system may vary from country to country. Approved by the South African Heart Foundation, the COBB's unique design allows fat and grease to drain into the flavor well for healthy cooking. The COBB cooking system is virtually smokeless, since the fat and oil drain away from the fire. The Cobb is patented worldwide

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Source: http://boyajianmarc.com/foodndrinks/2012/11/29/cobbq-cobb-kitchen-in-a-bag/

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Thursday, November 29, 2012

WATCH: Rand Paul: GOP in danger of 'becoming a dinousaur'

President Barack Obama has proposed raising taxes on the rich to put America's fiscal house in order, but critics say federal spending is so massive that the wealthy don't have enough money to cover the nation's unprecedented debt.

In an?interview?with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell, Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) said President Barack Obama's plan to raise taxes on the wealthy would only generate enough revenue to fund the federal government for eight days.

"The president?s plan to increase taxes on the upper two percent covers the spending by this federal government not for eight years, not for eight months, not for eight weeks but for eight days. Eight days only," said Mr. Price. "It?s not a real solution. So, again, I?m puzzled by an administration that seems to be more interested in raising tax rates than in gaining economic vitality."

The problem is that the rich don't have enough money to put so much as a dent in America's $16 trillion national debt. "If the IRS grabbed 100 percent of income over $1 million, the take would be just $616 billion,"?writes?John?Stossel. "That?s only a third of this year?s deficit. Our national debt would continue to explode."

Evernote adds text-to-speech to Clearly Chrome extension, for Premium members only

If you ever wanted to catch up on your online reading while on the treadmill or puttering about the kitchen, Evernote now offers you the ability to do so without actually, well, reading. The online brain dump has introduced text-to-speech functionality to its Clearly extension for Google Chrome, a plugin that clears out ads and other distractions for a clean reading experience. While the Clearly extension itself is free, the text-to-speech feature is only for Premium accounts, each of which costs $5 a month or $45 a year. Words are highlighted as they're read, and you can pause and skip as you like. The feature launches with support for over twelve languages and is powered by iSpeech, which has worked with BlackBerry apps and connected homes in the past. Just don't accidentally blast TMZ articles during your next conference call, ok?

Filed under: Internet

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Source: Evernote

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/OGuz6_BMcwA/

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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Chinese Tea by Kidaubis Design

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Marvin Miller

Marvin Miller, chief counsel for the Major League Baseball Players Association, in May 1981

Photo by AP/Pickoff.

Marvin Miller, the longtime head of the Major League Baseball Players Association who died Tuesday at 95, was no visionary. That was what made him a great man. As he described his own career, in his terrific autobiography A Whole Different Ball Game and in a series of cantankerous interviews in his later years, the revolution he led in American sports was premised on nothing more than an eye for detail, a willingness to let his enemies hang themselves, and a basic sense of right and wrong.

?There was nothing noble about what we did,? he told Yahoo?s Jeff Passan earlier this year. ?We did what was right.?

The scope of Miller?s achievements mark him as one of the most significant figures in baseball history, right there with Alexander Cartwright?the closest thing there is to an identifiable inventor of the game?and Branch Rickey, who led the sport?s integration and created the farm system. As outsized as his greatest triumphs were, though?he was more or less directly responsible for the creation of free agency, led the only really successful strikes in the history of American sports, and built what is often described as the most powerful union in the country?his impact is in some ways best described by his smaller victories.

In 1966, when he was elected to run the players? union, Miller was in some ways too big for the job. An economist and leader in the United Steelworkers union, he had met and directly negotiated with American presidents and been offered both a visiting professorship at Harvard and work directing a long-term study for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Baseball, by contrast, was a backwater. The players were so na?ve that he had to explain to them at an early meeting that they were being screwed over because their pensions didn?t have any mechanisms to adjust for inflation. He also warned his soon-to-be constituency that Richard Nixon, a rival for the job, probably had political ambitions beyond heading their union. (Later, he was able to gloat. ?I was glad to see he had managed to find work after losing out on the Players Association job,? he wrote of meeting President Nixon in 1969.) When he was finally elected to head the union, newspaper reports didn?t even refer to him as a labor leader; he was instead, according to the Miami Herald, ?a liaison and coordinator with Commissioner William Eckert and club owners.?

Any notion that Miller would be a management-friendly patsy like his predecessors was quickly done away with. By the end of 1966, the players had the first real labor agreement in sports; though it only covered pensions and insurance, it marked a beginning. Two years later, he had not only secured an increase in the minimum salary from $6,000 to $10,000?a very big deal at the time, since as of 1967 a third of players were making $10,000 or less?but negotiated a full labor agreement. It codified such common-sense reforms as implementing a formal grievance procedure, so that clubs couldn't discipline players at will, and an understanding that baseball wouldn't make any major rules changes without running them by the players.

The two most notable points here were that Miller had made the owners collectively bargain, something they'd never had to do before, and that he'd held his powder. On reading baseball's infamous reserve clause, which allowed owners to renew player contracts ad infinitum and essentially pay them whatever management wanted, Miller was struck by the fact that its language plainly allowed an owner to renew a contract only once. A ballplayer who played for one year under such a deal and then declined to sign a new one would clearly be a free agent, able to sign with any team he'd like. Rather than pushing this obviously sound interpretation, though, Miller settled for a slower route that would allow the union to amass power and even tried to discourage Curt Flood from his eventually unsuccessful attempt to sue his way out of his blatantly illegal contract.

Where someone else might have put all his energies into demonstratively righting the great wrongs that underlay baseball's economy, Miller focused on the mechanisms of power. The 1968 accord, for instance, won players the right to appeal decisions their teams made to the commissioner. Building on that victory, Miller argued that the commissioner, an agent of management, was not an impartial arbiter and so won, in 1970, the right for players to appeal to a third-party mediator. In the broader context of labor negotiations, this was nothing radical, but the eventual abolition of the reserve clause in 1975, in the case of Andy Messersmith, a player who declined to sign a renewal of his contract, came as a result of a decision made by such a mediator, Peter Seitz. Miller?s great triumph was the direct result of the patient work of winning minor technical concessions.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=9b97f558196294426b2ed51beca3c191

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Beaten, twisted, sprayed and sat on: how Samsung stress tests its phones (video)

Just treated yourself to a new Samsung Galaxy S III or a Note II but wondering how the plastic body will stand up to the rigors of daily life? The manufacturer's showing off a smorgasbord of tests its smartphones go through in the labs while being prepped for prime time. These experiments are engineered to see how sample and prototype devices fare when subjected to use and abuse -- including having their buttons mashed thousands of times, being twisted, splashed with water, and tossed in a churning pot of killer corn to gauge scratch resistance. One test even plonks a fake, denim-clad posterior onto unsuspecting phones, attempting to bend them out of shape. Sammy's hardly going to smash things in its own marketing, but you may still glean some sadistic pleasure from the video after the break -- and understanding Korean is optional.

Continue reading Beaten, twisted, sprayed and sat on: how Samsung stress tests its phones (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung

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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Video: Home Prices Rise for Sixth Straight Month

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/49978896/

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Monday, November 26, 2012

Historic Jewish cemetery in Caribbean fades away

In this Nov. 12, 2012 photo, a portion of the Beth Haim cemetery, backdropped by the Isla oil refinery, is seen in Blenheim, on the outskirts of Willemstad, Curacao. Beth Haim, believed to be one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in the Western Hemisphere, established in the 1950s and considered an important landmark on an island where the historic downtown has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is slowly fading in the Caribbean sun. Headstones are pockmarked with their inscriptions faded, stone slabs that have covered tombs in some cases for hundreds of years are crumbling into the soil, marble that was once white is now grey, likely from the acrid smoke that spews from the oil refinery that looms nearby. (AP Photo/Karen Attiah)

In this Nov. 12, 2012 photo, tombs in the Beth Haim cemetery are back dropped by the Isla oil refinery in Blenheim, on the outskirts of Willemstad, Curacao. Beth Haim, believed to be one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in the Western Hemisphere, established in the 1950s and considered an important landmark on an island where the historic downtown has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is slowly fading in the Caribbean sun. Headstones are pockmarked with their inscriptions faded, stone slabs that have covered tombs in some cases for hundreds of years are crumbling into the soil, marble that was once white is now grey, likely from the acrid smoke that spews from the oil refinery that looms nearby. (AP Photo/Karen Attiah)

In this Nov. 12, 2012 photo, a tombstone lays in the Beth Haim cemetery in Blenheim on the outskirts of Willemstad, Curacao. Beth Haim, believed to be one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in the Western Hemisphere, established in the 1950s and considered an important landmark on an island where the historic downtown has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is slowly fading in the Caribbean sun. Headstones are pockmarked with their inscriptions faded, stone slabs that have covered tombs in some cases for hundreds of years are crumbling into the soil, marble that was once white is now grey, likely from the acrid smoke that spews from the oil refinery that looms nearby. (AP Photo/Karen Attiah)

In this Nov. 12, 2012 photo, a headstone stands in the Beth Haim cemetery in Blenheim on the outskirts of Willemstad, Curacao. Beth Haim, believed to be one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in the Western Hemisphere, established in the 1950s and considered an important landmark on an island where the historic downtown has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is slowly fading in the Caribbean sun. Headstones are pockmarked with their inscriptions faded, stone slabs that have covered tombs in some cases for hundreds of years are crumbling into the soil, marble that was once white is now grey, likely from the acrid smoke that spews from the oil refinery that looms nearby. (AP Photo/Karen Attiah)

In this Nov. 12, 2012 photo, a crumbling tomb stands in the Beth Haim cemetery in Blenheim on the outskirts of Willemstad, Curacao. Beth Haim, believed to be one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in the Western Hemisphere, established in the 1950s and considered an important landmark on an island where the historic downtown has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is slowly fading in the Caribbean sun. Headstones are pockmarked with their inscriptions faded, stone slabs that have covered tombs in some cases for hundreds of years are crumbling into the soil, marble that was once white is now grey, likely from the acrid smoke that spews from the oil refinery that looms nearby. (AP Photo/Karen Attiah)

WILLEMSTAD, Curacao (AP) ? Headstones are pockmarked, their inscriptions faded. Stone slabs that have covered tombs for centuries are crumbling. White marble has turned grey, likely from the acrid smoke that spews from a nearby oil refinery.

One of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in the Western Hemisphere, Beth Haim on the island of Curacao, is slowly fading in the Caribbean sun.

Beth Haim was established in the 17th century and is considered an important landmark even on an island so rich in history that its downtown has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The sparsely populated island of nearly 150,000 people just north of Venezuela is known today mostly as a diving destination or for its namesake blue liqueur made from citrus fruit.

With its lavish monuments and multilingual epitaphs, Curacao's cemetery helps tell the little-known history of Jews in the Caribbean who fled Spain and Portugal to escape the Inquisition aimed at ridding the Christian nations of Jews, Muslims and others people deemed heretics. Many of the exiles first found refuge in the Netherlands, with their descendants later settling in this former Dutch colony, now a highly diverse society and a semi-autonomous part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

But the landmark is in danger. The steady erosion, likely intensified by the proximity of the antiquated refinery, is now considered unstoppable, said Rene Maduro, president of the Mikve Israel-Emanuel Synagogue, which owns and maintains the cemetery.

"Believe me, I wish there was something we could do to protect the cemetery," said Maduro, whose family came to Curacao in the 1600s and has 75 to 100 ancestors buried in Beth Haim. "It is beyond the point of repair."

The Curacao cemetery is among several at-risk burial sites that "preserve the cultural, ethnic, biographical and religious history" of Jews in the Caribbean, said Rachel Frankel, a New York architect who has studied and documented historic Jewish sites throughout the Americas, including burial grounds in Jamaica and Suriname.

The Curacao congregation is considering preserving the cemetery electronically by setting up a website with records and photos, Maduro said. The plan for a digital memorial is still in development, but a lower-tech effort has put replicas of 10 of the most ornate headstones on display at the Jewish Historical Museum in the capital of Willemstad.

Besides being sacred sites, Frankel said, the cemeteries help document the Caribbean migration of Sephardic Jews whose forefathers fled or were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula during the Inquisition, and Ashkenazic Jews who later left central and eastern Europe to seek their fortunes in the New World. Along with Curacao and Jamaica, large populations of Jews were once found on the smaller Dutch island of St. Eustatius, as well as in St. Thomas and Barbados.

On some islands, colonial Jews numbered in the hundreds, and other locations in the thousands, said Frankel. By the mid-20th century, most of the congregations had declined, but the cemeteries that in some cases had accepted burials for more than two centuries remained.

The Jewish community in Curacao dates back to the 1650s, with the arrival of Sephardic Jews from Amsterdam who had previously fled Spain and Portugal. At its peak, in the late 1700s, the Jewish community on the island numbered about 2,000.

They established the Mikve Israel-Emanuel Synagogue, which is billed as the oldest continually operating synagogue in the Western Hemisphere, as well as Beth Haim cemetery. The synagogue today has about 350 members, of which only about 200 actually live on Curacao. An orthodox synagogue in another part of Willemstad has a membership of about 60 families.

The cemetery occupies what was once plantation land on about 10 acres on the outskirts of Willemstad. The oldest confirmed inscription is from 1668 on a stone made of potter's clay, according to records maintained by the synagogue. Congregation members have determined more than 5,000 people are buried there, but only a third of the inscriptions are legible in a mix of languages that includes Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and Hebrew. Also vanishing are some of the engravings known as sepulchral illustrations, some of which are considered artworks.

Ivan Becher, president of the Shaarek Tsedek synagogue in Willemstad, said his grandfather was among the last to be buried in Beth Haim nearly 60 years ago.

"My grandfather's grave is pretty well kept, but with the rest of the graves, there is a lot of erosion," he said. "It's too bad."

Experts who have studied the headstones say the deterioration is caused by a combination of factors, including wind, salt air and humidity, said Michael A. Newton, an architect who works with the Curacao Monuments Foundation, a preservation group.

Many on the island also blame the oil refinery that towers over the cemetery and on many days spews sooty clouds that burn the eyes of visitors to Beth Haim as well as those of residents in the poor neighborhoods of the area.

A spokesman for the refinery, which is owned by the Curacao government and operated under contract by Venezuela's state-owned oil company, did not return calls seeking comment.

The refinery's operators have occasionally helped with the cemetery's maintenance, which has otherwise cost the congregation "many, many thousands" of dollars over the years, Maduro said.

Congregation members have consulted with experts from the Netherlands and the United States on possible solutions to halt erosion, but the options were too expensive and considered long-shots at best.

Jewish law forbids disturbing remains so moving the cemetery to another part of Curacao that would be less threatened by refinery smoke is out of the question, Maduro said.

Frankel, the New York architect, said that preservation has also proved difficult for other historic cemeteries in the Caribbean that no longer receive burials and have dwindling populations of Jewish heirs to care for them.

"In places where pollutants are not a problem, there are other challenges," she said. "Vegetation grows fast and furious in the subtropical climate. Goat herds ? which exist even in urban centers ? make their way through open cemetery gates. And as Caribbean cities become more densely populated, cemeteries sometimes become garbage dumps where public sanitation is lacking."

But appreciation of the cemeteries as historic sites has grown over the past two decades, Frankel said, with local governments, academics and congregants are working together to document, study, and preserve them while also making them accessible to the public.

The Curacao cemetery is occasionally visited by tourists from the cruise ships stopping at downtown Willemstad.

Maduro hopes future visitors will also be able to view the cemetery virtually, on the hoped-for website.

"Not that we can preserve it, but we are trying to make it easier for people to know what's there and who is buried there," he said.

___

On the Web:

Official website of the Mikve Israel-Emanuel Synagogue in Curacao

http://www.snoa.com/snoa.html

___

Associated Press writer Anita Snow contributed to this report from Mexico City.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-11-25-Curacao-Jewish%20Cemetery/id-29eca1a015d24fce8c15c724f4c972ad

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No. 2 Alabama steamrolls Auburn 49-0

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) ? Alabama left no doubt it's tops in the state.

Proving it's the best team in the Southeastern Conference and perhaps the nation won't be nearly so easy.

AJ McCarron passed for four touchdowns and Eddie Lacy rushed for 131 yards and two scores to lead the second-ranked Crimson Tide to a 49-0 beatdown of rival Auburn on Saturday, the most lopsided Iron Bowl in 64 years.

The Tide (10-1, 7-1 Southeastern Conference) clinched the Western Division title outright and a spot in the conference title game against No. 3 Georgia with the winner likely getting a BCS national championship shot.

"To me, in all those games that I've been a part of, they are about as good as any game in the country other than the national championship game," Alabama coach Nick Saban said of the SEC title matchup.

Georgia will certainly present a tougher challenge the Tide faced Saturday.

Auburn (3-9, 0-8) completed the worst season for any team within two years of winning an Associated Press national title in what might have been the last game for embattled coach Gene Chizik.

University President Jay Gogue has only said he'll evaluate the program at season's end.

Chizik met Saban briefly at midfield, hugged McCarron, and walked off the field with cameras following his every move. He declined to discuss his future afterward.

"I'm not going to go into all of the job situation with any questions," he said. "This isn't about me. I've got a locker room of guys that are here that are very disappointed. That's my focus, I'm not going to entertain any of those questions. My focus is to be back in there with them."

Chizak said the Tigers' performance was "sad."

"Obviously that was a very disappointing loss, embarrassing loss to our state rivals," he said. "It was obvious to everybody.

"The Auburn fans, the Auburn alumni, don't deserve that."

And most haven't seen a game like this one. The biggest Iron Bowl margin was Alabama's 55-0 victory in 1948, the most lopsided in a rivalry that captivates a state.

This one could have topped that but Saban played subs for much of the second half. The Tide lost a fumble inside Auburn's 10 and then ran out the final seconds after getting to the 5.

Alabama outgained the Tigers 483-163 and had 25 first downs to Auburn's seven.

"We didn't take our foot off the gas," Lacy said. "We kept playing in the fourth quarter."

Auburn hasn't scored an offensive touchdown in the last two meetings since Cam Newton & Co. completed the rivalry's largest comeback in the Tigers' last visit to Bryant-Denny Stadium two years ago. This one supplied another milestone of sorts.

It's the first time Alabama has scored 40-plus points in two straight Iron Bowls, following last season's 42-14 win when Auburn managed to score on a kick return and fumble recovery.

The 42-0 halftime score was the same as the Tide had last week against FCS team Western Carolina, which finished 1-10. The previous largest halftime margin in the Iron Bowl was 34-0 by Auburn in 1957 in a 40-0 win during its only national title run before 2010.

"We had that sick feeling in our mouth," offensive lineman Chad Slade said. "You know, you hate to feel that way. I lost it last year, and I lose it this year. It's hard, it's real hard just to speak on it. Next year has to be a different story."

McCarron completed 15 of 21 passes for 216 yards in 2-1/2 quarters, including a pair of touchdowns apiece to Amari Cooper and Kevin Norwood.

Lacy ran 18 times for 131 yards, pinballing off defenders from a defense that ranks last in the SEC against the run.

Auburn freshman Jonathan Wallace completed 5 of 14 passes with two interceptions against the nation's top scoring defense. He's only the third freshman quarterback to start an Iron Bowl for the Tigers and first since Gabe Gross in 1998.

Wallace voiced his support for Chizik.

"He should be back. I definitely love coach Chizik and the whole coaching staff," he said. "They know exactly where this program needs to go, and they know what to do. I hope they are back next year. I really have no doubt. I really do believe they will be."

Tre Mason ran 21 times for 82 yards for Auburn, topping 1,000 for the season on the game's final play.

The Tide produced an array of big plays running and passing. McCarron and Cooper ? who had five catches for 109 yards ? connected for touchdowns of 37 and 29 yards. Norwood scored on a 7-yarder and a 38-yarder that completed the scoring with 24 minutes left.

Alabama produced touchdowns on its first seven possessions until a fumble deep in Auburn territory ended that streak.

The Tide also converted its first 11 third-down tries.

The worst news for Alabama was on the injury front. Saban said wide receiver Kenny Bell sustained a broken left leg and will have to have a rod inserted.

Auburn only pushed the ball across midfield only twice, making it as far as the Tide's 41 in the first quarter before punting. The Tigers have been outscored by 129 points in their last three SEC games, all against Top 10 SEC opponents Texas A&M, Georgia and Alabama.

The Tide shut out four opponents this season, the most in a season for Alabama since 1979. Last season's team also shut out LSU in the BCS title game in January.

"This was a great team victory," Saban said. "Everybody contributed. We asked for everyone to play their best game today. When you make a commitment to something, it comes from the heart, and I really thought our players did that."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/no-2-alabama-steamrolls-auburn-49-0-235451444--spt.html

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Internet Marketing Search Engine Optimization SEM SEO service ...

There are millions of different online businesses out there, and if you expect your particular business to be successful, then you need to implement some sound marketing techniques. By reading through this information, you will find valuable information on how to best utilize the Internet for marketing purposes. Keep reading for great Internet marketing information.

Think about methods you want to use to advertise your webpage. Free or cheap methods to promote your business are to make a blog or use social networks to promote your business. There are many ways to get people to come to your site. It just takes some creativity.

Make sure that you maximize the quality of third-party security with transactions. Many different companies offer a variety of secure services. VeriSign is one of the programs that helps to keep financial information private. Security systems can cost money, but they are absolute necessities for doing business online safely.

Internet marketing is both similar to, and different from, other marketing tactics. Be ready for any changes that may come up, like if search engines stop putting focus on title tags. Knowing this, you might need to place more effort in marketing a video to viral audiences.

Every company should have both an interesting slogan and a professional logo, no matter the size of the company. You customers will remember you by how you portray your brand. Customers tend to remember catchy slogans for quite a while. When a customer is ready to buy a product, he might remember your slogan even if he doesn?t remember the name of your business. In the age of the internet, that?s not a big problem.

Sending emails is a great way to stay in touch with your customers, but make sure you send out varied content. A block of links that remain the same with every email your customers receive is easy to start ignoring. Create variety in your emails to gain attention.

Another option would be combining products into a package deal and selling it for a lower price. That way the customer gets more bang for their buck. Advertisements for sales or promotions must be detailed and contain the exact conditions of the offer.

Use social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to connect with your audience. You can use these sites to advertise new offers or to share your latest articles. However, make sure to not over-advertise on these websites. Rather, strive to post useful and smart messages with intermittent marketing messages interspersed.

Making your site stand out is a great Internet promotion advantage you can use. Making your site stand out is what drives visitors towards your site, and there are a lot out there so this is a good strategy. You should showcase something you offer that no one else does.

Make a webpage specifically built for public relations. This is where you can include information that online magazines and newspapers can publish. Not only is this simple to do, but it also is an excellent way to promote your business.

Spin the positives when selling your goods. Concentrate on the value your product or service will add to their life. Tell them how it will make their life better. Having a positive attitude, and being confident that your product will work to the customer?s benefit, will encourage more sales.

High-quality graphics of your products can make or break an online sale. Your customers need to be able to visualize the items they are about to buy, and see the detail of your high-quality products. Allow customers to post their own images of your products to show how they use them. If your product warrants use of ?before and after? pictures, they can be an effective selling tool.

If you can you should give your away something branded for free to help spread awareness of your business. For example, if it?s a wallpaper, submit it to sites that offer free wallpapers. Many websites give their customers freebies, downloads, and e-zines that accept links for you to submit your site.

As stated above, Internet marketing helps your business get noticed. Traditional advertising methods just cannot give you the visibility and the worldwide presence that Online marketing can provide. Use the helpful tips here, and find out what works best for you.

The formatting of your website?s text plays an important role in its attractiveness and success. You can emphasize a single word using tags to underline, bold, or italicize it. This can help to distinguish how you want your customer to receive a certain message, which can help with the clarity of what you are trying to say.

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Sunday, November 25, 2012

Smart Comebacks For Common Diet Splurges Your Health Journal ...

From Everyday Health?..

?I?m a big believer in enjoying your life,? says registered dietitian Jim White, RD, founder of Jim White Fitness & Nutrition Studios in Virginia Beach, Va., and a spokesman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. No matter how well you?re doing with your weight-loss plan, the day will come when you have a special event or a strong craving for an old favorite that can lead to diet slipups ? and that?s okay. In fact, some dietitians argue in favor of cheat days, when you can enjoy foods on your no-go list in small quantities to avoid binging on forbidden foods later on or feeling deprived.

When it comes to cheat days, White?s philosophy is pragmatic: Budget your calories according to your plans, and give yourself a break if you do splurge spontaneously. Whether it?s fatty French fries, sweets, or a few glasses of vino that got you off track, recover well with these tips.

Skip Saturated Fat After a Burger

If you made a cheeseburger at home, you could pick a lean beef, turkey, or garden patty; veggie toppings; and maybe a whole-wheat bun. But restaurant versions often feature a half-pound of beef and high-calorie extras, such as cheese, bacon, fried onions, and mayonnaise or special dressing.

Get back on track: Balance out the burger over the next few days by avoiding red meat to scale down your saturated fat intake. This also means redoubling your efforts to go no- or low-fat with dairy foods, another serious source of saturated fat. Compensate for your diet slipups by filling up on low-calorie fruits and vegetables, advises Manuel Villacorta, MS, RD, author of Eating Free: The Carb-Friendly Way to Lose Inches, Embrace Your Hunger, and Keep the Weight Off for Good.

Hydrate After French Fries

Are these crispy sticks of greasy goodness your guilty pleasure? At home you can bake sweet potato fries with barely any oil for weight loss, but when you?re out with friends, it?s the deep-fried white potato loaded with salt and doused in salty (and surprisingly sugary) ketchup.

Get back on track: First, hydrate! French fries are high in sodium, which causes you to retain water. ?This will cause bloating, and one cure is hydration,? Villacorta explains. Next, make yourself a light, healthy breakfast that?s full of bloat-beating foods, such as fresh vegetables, fruit, and lemon juice. For the next few days, skip sodium-laden items, such as processed and prepared foods, lunch meats, and condiments.

To read the full story?..Click here

Source: http://www.lensaunders.com/wp/?p=7335

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Video: Outside the box: Is the package more fun than the toy?

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

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Egypt's top judges blast?Morsi decree?as 'attack'

President Mohammed Morsi says he must take radical action to save Egypt from the remnants of Hosni Mubarak's regime; his critics say he is turning the country in Iran. NBC's Jim Maceda reports.

By Tom Perry, Reuters

CAIRO -- Egypt's highest judicial authority on Saturday said President Mohammed Morsi's decree granting himself new powers marked an "unprecedented attack" on the independence of the judiciary, while critics and supporters planned for rival rallies on Tuesday.??

Meanwhile, a huge explosion rocked the city of Rafah near the Gaza Strip, and al Arabiya reported that part of an intelligence building had collapsed. The border crossing at Rafah has been closed on and off over security issues, severely restricting the flow of goods to Gaza.

Youths clashed with police in Cairo for a second day, confronting Egypt with a crisis that has exposed the split between newly empowered Islamists and their opponents.?

A handful of hardcore activists hurling rocks battled riot police in the streets near Tahrir Square, where several thousand protesters massed on Friday to demonstrate against a decree that has rallied opposition ranks against Morsi.?

Following a day of violence in Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said and Suez, the smell of teargas hung over the square, the heart of the uprising that swept Hosni Mubarak from power in February 2011.

More than 300 people were injured on Friday. Offices of the Muslim Brotherhood, which propelled Morsi to power, were attacked in at least three cities.

The Muslim Brotherhood called for a mass demonstration in Cairo on Tuesday to show support for Morsi. It also called for shows of support in public squares across Egypt after early evening prayers on Sunday.

Parties opposed to the decree have also called for a protest on Tuesday in Cairo, though in a different square from the one where the Brotherhood called on its supporters to gather.?

Leftist, liberal and socialist parties have called for an open-ended sit-in with the aim of "toppling" the decree, which has also drawn statements of concern from the United States and the European Union. A few dozen activists manning makeshift barricades kept traffic out of the square on Saturday.

Calling the decree "fascist and despotic", Morsi's critics called for a big protest on Tuesday against a move they say has revealed the autocratic impulses of a man jailed by Mubarak, who outlawed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.

"We are facing a historic moment in which we either complete our revolution or we abandon it to become prey for a group that has put its narrow party interests above the national interest," the liberal Dustour Party said in a statement.

Issued late on Thursday, the decree marks an effort by the Morsi administration to consolidate its influence after it successfully sidelined Mubarak-era generals in August.

"We are here because the goals of the revolution have yet to be achieved," one protester said as people took to the streets after President Mohamed Morsi decreed more power for himself. Critics call it a power grab, and there have been calls for a million-man march against Morsi. NBC's Jim Maceda reports.

The decree reflects the Muslim Brotherhood's suspicion towards sections of a judiciary unreformed from Mubarak's days: it guards from judicial review decisions taken by Morsi until a new parliament is elected in a vote expected early next year.

It also shields the assembly writing Egypt's new constitution from a raft of legal challenges that have threatened the Islamist-dominated assembly with dissolution.

The Morsi administration has defended the decree on the grounds that it aims to speed up a protracted transition from Mubarak's rule to a new system of democratic government.

"It aims to sideline Morsi's enemies in the judiciary and ultimately to impose and head off any legal challenges to the constitution," said Elijah Zarwan, a fellow with The European Council on Foreign Relations.

"We are in a situation now where both sides are escalating and its getting harder and harder to see how either side can gracefully climb down," Zarwan said.

A central element of Egypt's transition, the drafting of the constitution has been plagued by divisions between Islamists and their more secular-minded opponents, nearly all of whom have withdrawn from the body writing the document.?

Morsi's new powers allowed him to replace the prosecutor general -- a Mubarak holdover who the new president had tried to replace in October only to kick up a storm of protest from the judiciary, which said he had exceeded his authorities.

At an emergency meeting called to discuss the decree, the Supreme Judicial Council, Egypt's highest judicial authority, urged "the president of the republic to distance this decree from everything that violates the judicial authority".

The Judges' Club, a body representing judges across Egypt, late called for a strike by judges and prosecutors during a meeting interrupted with chants demanding the "downfall of the regime" -- the rallying cry in the uprising that toppled Mubarak last year.?

Al-Masry Al-Youm, one of Egypt's most widely read dailies, hailed Friday's protest as "The November 23 Intifada", invoking the Arabic word for uprising. "The people support the president's decisions," declared Freedom and Justice, the newspaper run by the Brotherhood's political party.

The ultraorthodox Salafi Islamist groups that have been pushing for tighter application of Islamic law in the new constitution have rallied behind the decree.

The Nour Party, one such group, stated its support for the Morsi decree. Al-Gama'a al-Islamiya, which carried arms against the state in the 1990s, said it would save the revolution from what it described as remnants of the Mubarak regime.

Facing the biggest storm of criticism since he won the presidential election in June, Morsi addressed his supporters outside the presidential palace on Friday. He said opposition did not worry him, but it had to be "real and strong".

Candidates defeated by Morsi in the presidential vote joined the protests against his decision on Friday. Former Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa was photographed linking arms with leftist Hamdeen Sabahi, liberal Mohamed ElBaradei and others.

Morsi is now confronted with a domestic crisis just as his administration won international praise for mediating an end to the eight-day war between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

"The decisions and declarations announced on November 22 raise concerns for many Egyptians and for the international community," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.

The European Union urged Morsi to respect the democratic process, while the United Nations expressed fears about human rights.

NBC News staff contributed to this report.

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/24/15410858-egypts-top-judges-call-morsi-decree-unprecedented-attack?lite

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Saturday, November 24, 2012

Zsa Zsa Gets The Bird | Baby Boomer Stories

By Larry Teren

It is possible to argue that Zsa Zsa Gabor was to the 1950s and 60s what Paris Hilton and her ilk are today. Not concidental, Zsa Zsa was once married for a few years in the 1940?s to Paris? great-grandfather Conrad Hilton, the founder of the fabulously successful Hilton Hotel chain. Conrad, the second of Zsa Zsa?s nine husbands, was thirty years older than her.

Zsa Zsa Gabor , still alive at the age of 95 as of November 2012, made a career of basically playing herself in several movies and countless television shows. Even though she played the blonde buxom bombshell on screen, in the real world she was outspoken for several causes and confident of her actions.

Zsa Zsa Gabor loved animals and when her Bel Air home burnt to the ground while she was performing on the road, all she was concerned about was that her several dogs were able to escape to safety. She mentioned in her 1991 autobiography two memorable events involving birds.

The first occurred when she bought a new mansion in Bel Air and hired a team of workmen to renovate a section of the house. Early one Monday morning she arrived at the house to inspect the work and unlocked the front door. When she opened it, she found a bird lying dead on the drawing room floor. The bird had apparently flown into the house on Friday before the workmen left and was trapped inside all weekend. With no source of food, the bird starved to death. She picked it up and gave it a decent burial in the back yard. She could not live in that house believing that the death of the bird caused bad luck that would come back to haunt her. She never moved in and sold the Bel Air home at a significant loss.

The second occasion involved a macaw she bought at Neiman-Marcus on a trip to Dallas. She named him Ceasar and was warned by the store to feed him an orange every morning. She followed that instruction very carefully for a few months. Then, one day she forgot to do so. A few hours went by and didn?t even bother to check on Ceasar. Finally, she remembered her obligation, put down the book and went toward the kitchen. She gave a look toward his cage and saw that Ceasar immediately gave her a long stare. As macaws are parrots that can be taught to speak, Ceasar let out with , ?forget you!? (Dear reader, you can imagine what he really said.)

Zsa Zsa cut up a piece of orange and gave it to the parrot and he ate it peacefully, but from that point and on, any time she or her husband would pass by the bird, it would shriek, ?forget you!? Zsa Zsa?s husband got tired of this treatment and proclaimed that the bird had to go back to Nieman-Marcus. The store agreed to take back Ceasar. As he was carried out of the mansion and leaving the life of luxury, his last words were, of course, ?forget you!? and seemed to have one claw lifted off its perch.

Source: http://babyboomerstories.com/zsa-zsa-gets-the-bird/

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ajairapablic: Daily Tips for Business: Industrial-Mechanical ...

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The X Factor Results: Fowl Play?

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Birth and migration mysteries of cortex's powerful inhibitors, 'chandelier' cells solved

ScienceDaily (Nov. 22, 2012) ? The cerebral cortex of the human brain has been called "the crowning achievement of evolution." Ironically, it is so complex that even our greatest minds and most sophisticated science are only now beginning to understand how it organizes itself in early development, and how its many cell types function together as circuits.

A major step toward this great goal in neuroscience has been taken by a team led by Professor Z. Josh Huang, Ph.D., at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL). Today they publish research for the first time revealing the birth timing and embryonic origin of a critical class of inhibitory brain cells called chandelier cells, and tracing the specific paths they take during early development into the cerebral cortex of the mouse brain.

These temporal and spatial sequences are regarded by Huang as genetically programmed aspects of brain development, accounting for aspects of the brain that are likely identical in every member of a given species, including humans. Exceptions to these stereotypical patterns include irregularities caused by gene mutations or protein malfunctions, both of which are now being identified in people with developmental disorders and neuropsychiatric illnesses.

Chandelier cells were first noticed only 40 years ago, and in the intervening years frustratingly little has been learned about them, beyond the fact that they "hang" individually among great crowds of excitatory cells in the cortex called pyramidal neurons, and that their relatively short branches make contact with these excitatory cells. Indeed, a single chandelier cell connects, or "synapses," with as many as 500 pyramidal neurons. Noting this, the great biologist Francis Crick decades ago speculated that chandelier cells exerted some kind of "veto" power over the messages being exchanged by the much more numerous excitatory cells in their vicinity.

Born in a previously undiscovered 'country'

After three years of painstaking work that has involved using new technologies to identify and trace neural cell progenitors in ways not previously possible, and to track them as they migrate to positions in the maturing cortex, Huang and colleagues, including Dr. Hiroki Taniguchi, now at the Max Planck Florida Institute, have demonstrated that chandelier cells are born in a previously unrecognized portion of the embryonic brain, which they have named the VGZ (ventral germinal zone).

Huang, who has been on a decade-long quest to develop means of learning much more about the cortex's inhibitory cells (sometimes called "interneurons"), points out that while they are far less numerous than the excitatory pyramidal cells all around them, chandelier cells play an indispensable role in balancing message flow and ultimately in determining the functional organization of excitatory neurons into meaningful groups.

This is all the more intriguing in the case of chandelier cells, Huang explains, because of their distinctive anatomy: one cell that can regulate the messages of 500 others in its vicinity is one that we need to know about if we want to understand how brain circuits work. Unlike other inhibitory cells, chandelier cells are known to connect with excitatory cells at one particular anatomical location, of great significance: a place called the axon initial segment (AIS) -- the spot where a "broadcasting" pyramidal cell generates its transmittable message. To be able to interdict 500 "broadcasters" at this point renders a single chandelier cell a very important player in message propagation and coordination within its locality.

Because of the strategic importance of such cells throughout the cortex, it has been a source of frustration to neuroscientists that these and other inhibitory cells have been difficult to classify. Huang has pursued a strategy of following them from their places of birth in the emerging cortex.

Many inhibitory cells come from a large incubator area called the MGE (medial ganglionic eminence). Until now, it was not known that most chandelier cells are not born there, and indeed do not emerge until after the MGE has disappeared. Only at this point does the much smaller VGZ form, providing a place where neural precursor cells specifically give rise to chandelier cells.

The team learned that manufacture of a protein encoded by a gene called Nkx2.1 is among the signals marking the birth of a chandelier cell. The gene's action, they found, is also necessary to make the cells. Nkx2.1 is a transcription factor, whose expression has previously been linked to the birth of other inhibitory neuronal types. Huang's team observes that it is the timing of Nkx2.1's expression in certain precursors -- following disappearance of the MGE and appearance of the VGZ -- that enabled them to track the birth, specifically, of chandelier cells.

Highly specific migration route and cortical destinations "In addition to being surprised to discover that chandelier cells are born 'late' -- after other inhibitory cells, in a part of the cortex we didn't know about," says Huang, "our second surprise is that once born, these cells take a very stereotyped route into the cortex and assume very specific positions, in three cortical layers." (Layers 2, 5 and 6). "This leads us to postulate that other specific cortical cell types also have specific migration routes in development."

As Huang points out, his team's new discoveries about chandelier cells have implications for disease research, since it is known that the number and connective density of chandelier cells is diminished in schizophrenia. Associations of the same type have recently been made in epilepsy.

"To know the identity of a cell type in the cortex is in effect to know the intrinsic program that distinguishes it from other cell types," Huang says. "In the broadest terms, we are learning about those aspects of the brain development that make us human. 'Nurture,' or experience, also has a very important role in brain development. Our work helps clarify the 'nature' part of the nature/nurture mystery that has always fascinated us."

"The spatial and temporal origin of chandelier cells in mouse cortex" appears online ahead of print November 22, 2012 in Science Express. Publication in Science is scheduled for December 14, 2012. The authors are: Hiroki Taniguchi, Jiangteng Lu and Z. Josh Huang. ?

This research was supported by National Institutes of Health grant R01 MH094705. Other support came from the Japan Science and Technology Agency, NARSAD/The Brian and Behavior Research Foundation; The Patterson Foundation; The Simons Foundation; The Robertson Neuroscience Fund at CSHL.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/R0Bs2lU0cF4/121122152947.htm

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Friday, November 23, 2012

Social Data Analytics Startup Likely Secures $1.6M To Scale Up Offer For Brands

Social data analytics startup, Likely, has secured a ?1million (US$1.6m) equity investment led by growth capital fund New World Private Equity together with seed and early stage fund Charlotte Street Capital. The investment will be put into product development in the UK. Stephen Altman from NWPE and Bo Pedersen from Charlotte Street Capital will both join the board.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/p0HnOgSvnbQ/

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Magnesium oxide: From Earth to super-Earth

ScienceDaily (Nov. 22, 2012) ? The mantles of Earth and other rocky planets are rich in magnesium and oxygen. Due to its simplicity, the mineral magnesium oxide is a good model for studying the nature of planetary interiors. New work from a team led by Carnegie's Stewart McWilliams studied how magnesium oxide behaves under the extreme conditions deep within planets and found evidence that alters our understanding of planetary evolution. It is published November 22 by Science Express.

Magnesium oxide is particularly resistant to changes when under intense pressures and temperatures. Theoretical predictions claim that it has just three unique states with different structures and properties present under planetary conditions: solid under ambient conditions (such as on Earth's surface), liquid at high temperatures, and another structure of the solid at high pressure. The latter structure has never been observed in nature or in experiments.

McWilliams and his team observed magnesium oxide between pressures of about 3 million times normal atmospheric pressure (0.3 terapascals) to 14 million times atmospheric pressure (1.4 terapascals) and at temperatures reaching as high as 90,000 degrees Fahrenheit (50,000 Kelvin), conditions that range from those at the center of our Earth to those of large exo-planet super-Earths. Their observations indicate substantial changes in molecular bonding as the magnesium oxide responds to these various conditions, including a transformation to a new high-pressure solid phase.

In fact, when melting, there are signs that magnesium oxide changes from an electrically insulating material like quartz (meaning that electrons do not flow easily) to a metal similar to iron (meaning that electrons do flow easily through the material).

Drawing from these and other recent observations, the team concluded that while magnesium oxide is solid and non-conductive under conditions found on Earth in the present day, the early Earth's magma ocean might have been able to generate a magnetic field. Likewise, the metallic, liquid phase of magnesium oxide can exist today in the deep mantles of super-Earth planets, as can the newly observed solid phase.

"Our findings blur the line between traditional definitions of mantle and core material and provide a path for understanding how young or hot planets can generate and sustain magnetic fields," McWilliams said.

"This pioneering study takes advantage of new laser techniques to explore the nature of the materials that comprise the wide array of planets being discovered outside of our Solar System," said Russell Hemley, director of Carnegie's Geophysical Laboratory. "These methods allow investigations of the behavior of these materials at pressures and temperatures never before explored experimentally."