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বুধবার, ২২ মে, ২০১৩

The Next Xbox: Everything We Think We Know

We're finding out about the new Xbox in just a few hours. But that doesn't mean we have no idea what's coming. Here's a rundown of everything we know, or think we know, about the next Xbox.

Los Angeles votes in mayor's race without a clear front-runner

Comedian Mort Sahl once called Los Angeles ?100 suburbs in search of a city.? As the nation?s second largest metropolis votes for a new mayor Tuesday, it is also in search of a clear winner.

Two Democrats ? former City Controller Wendy Greuel and former City Council President Eric Garcetti, are in a dead heat, vying for the top post. Voter turnout is expected to be low ? though an extra push by both candidates for the absentee ballot nod is expected to help the numbers from falling to historic lows.

All in all, ?this is a diffuse race with no clear front-runner,? says Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a senior fellow at the School of Policy, Planning, and Development at the University of Southern California.

RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about California? Take our quiz.

Beyond the general voter apathy that bedevils many local races, Los Angeles politics also suffers from the city's far-flung geography, which breeds a disconnect between City Hall and the city?s nearly 4 million residents. ?City Hall is downtown and far away from most neighborhoods,? says Ms. Jeffe. ?Potholes and issues like that are what get attention, not the mayor?s race.?

People turn out to vote when they think that the outcome will make a big difference, agrees Jack Pitney, professor of government at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, Calif. In this case, he points out that people don't see much daylight between the two candidates. ?Both are progressive Democrats with ties to labor unions,? he says via e-mail, albeit different unions.

The issue of pension-fund liabilities looms large over any California city because cities are on the hook for unmet pension payments to retirees. But, ?either will have a hard time meeting the city's pension obligations,? he says. ?Neither can repeal arithmetic.?

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Because of the way the Los Angeles city government is structured, compared with other cities, the mayor is not a particularly powerful figure, says Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Nonetheless, the city has an $8 billion budget, and the mayor is a national figure.

Other items on the ballot can often help to drive voters to the polls, but in this case, ?the down-ballot races have failed to capture the public's attention,? says Ms. Levinson via e-mail. There are three ballot measures dealing with medical marijuana and are somewhat overlapping and confusing, she notes. ?Only a few people go to the polls just to weigh in on medical marijuana.?

Beyond the issues, for many voters it feels like the November elections weren't that long ago, and local elections not tied to statewide elections generally get dismal voter turnout, Levinson says. ?Some people are not aware of the fact that there is an election today.?

The people who do turnout Tuesday will be those who rarely miss an election or feel strongly about the mayoral candidates or medical marijuana, she says. ?We can expect to see few more than the particularly civic-minded show up to the polls today.?

What that means is that the predominantly white, older, educated resident is expected to drive results in the mayor?s race, Jeffe says. Both candidates have made strong pitches for the Latino vote, reaching out to local leaders. But neither the private nor the public polls have come up with any definitive answers, Jeffe adds.

If the internal polls each side conducts had come up with a clear advantage, ?you better believe they would be trumpeting those numbers." But, she adds, ?they are not, so it?s anybody?s guess who will win tonight.?

RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about California? Take our quiz.

মঙ্গলবার, ২১ মে, ২০১৩

Common food supplement fights degenerative brain disorders, study suggests

May 21, 2013 ? Widely available in pharmacies and health stores, phosphatidylserine is a natural food supplement produced from beef, oysters, and soy. Proven to improve cognition and slow memory loss, it's a popular treatment for older people experiencing memory impairment. Now a team headed by Prof. Gil Ast and Dr. Ron Bochner of Tel Aviv University's Department of Human Molecular Genetics has discovered that the same supplement improves the functioning of genes involved in degenerative brain disorders, including Parkinson's disease and Familial Dysautonomia (FD).

In FD, a rare genetic disorder that impacts the nervous system and appears almost exclusively in the Ashkenazi Jewish population, a genetic mutation prevents the brain from manufacturing healthy IKAP proteins -- which likely have a hand in cell migration and aiding connections between nerves -- leading to the early degeneration of neurons. When the supplement was applied to cells taken from FD patients, the gene function improved and an elevation in the level of IKAP protein was observed, reports Prof. Ast. These results were replicated in a second experiment which involved administering the supplement orally to mouse populations with FD.

The findings, which have been published in the journal Human Molecular Genetics, are very encouraging, says Prof. Ast. "That we see such an effect on the brain -- the most important organ in relation to this disease -- shows that the supplement can pass through the blood-brain barrier even when administered orally, and accumulate in sufficient amounts in the brain."

Slowing the death of nerve cells

Already approved for use as a supplement by the FDA, phosphatidylserine contains a molecule essential for transmitting signals between nerve cells in the brain. Prof. Ast and his fellow researchers decided to test whether the same chemical, which is naturally synthesized in the body and known to boost memory capability, could impact the genetic mutation which leads to FD.

Researchers applied a supplement derived from oysters, provided by the Israeli company Enzymotec, to cells collected from FD patients. Noticing a robust effect on the gene, including a jump in the production of healthy IKAP proteins, they then tested the same supplement on mouse models of FD, engineered with the same genetic mutation that causes the disease in humans.

The mice received the supplement orally, every two days for a period of three months. Researchers then conducted extensive genetic testing to assess the results of the treatment. "We found a significant increase of the protein in all the tissues of the body," reports Prof. Ast, including an eight-fold increase in the liver and 1.5-fold increase in the brain. "While the food supplement does not manufacture new nerve cells, it probably delays the death of existing ones," he adds.

Therapeutic potential for Parkinson's

That the supplement is able to improve conditions in the brain, even when given orally, is a significant finding, notes Prof. Ast. Most medications enter the body through the blood stream, but are incapable of breaking through the barrier between the blood and the brain.

In addition, the researchers say the supplement's positive effects extend beyond the production of IKAP. Not only did phosphatidylserine impact the gene associated with FD, but it also altered the level of a total of 2400 other genes -- hundreds of which have been connected to Parkinson's disease in previous studies.

The researchers believe that the supplement may have a beneficial impact on a number of degenerative diseases of the brain, concludes Prof. Ast, including a major potential for the development of new medications which would help tens of millions of people worldwide suffering from these devastating diseases.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/q1h7TAfYouo/130521121511.htm

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Yahoo announces changes for Flickr, including a new Android app

Flickr

Free storage has been bumped to 1TB, and a new version of the Android app is on the way

EDIT: The update is now live in Google Play. Go get it.

Yahoo is doing more than buying blog platforms today, and during an event in New York they have announced a complete revamp of Flickr. The interface of the website has changed, and now features content blocks and full bleed images instead of the thumbnail or list view of the past. In addition, registered users now have 1TB (as in a terabyte) of free storage space to keep their photos, more than any other online service. That's all well and good, but we're mostly concerned with the update to the Android app.

Last December, the Flickr app for iOS received a nice update, and today Yahoo says the Android app will be updated to the same version. That includes a UI change away from the grid we have now to a more content-focused layout resembling the website, as well as better social sharing through Facebook and Tumblr, photo editing and filters via Aviary, and photo-viewing enhancements like zooming and photo details. The update is expected to go live at any time, so if you're a user be sure to check Google Play for the notification, or try the link above.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/hPQ7a1X5Cpc/story01.htm

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Today in History

Today is Tuesday, May 21, the 141st day of 2013. There are 224 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On May 21, 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean as she landed in Northern Ireland, about 15 hours after leaving Newfoundland.

On this date:

In 1471, King Henry VI of England died in the Tower of London at age 49.

In 1542, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto died while searching for gold along the Mississippi River.

In 1863, the Seventh-day Adventist Church was officially organized.

In 1881, Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross.

In 1892, the opera "Pagliacci," by Ruggero Leoncavallo, premiered in Milan, Italy.

In 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh landed his Spirit of St. Louis near Paris, completing the first solo airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 33? hours.

In 1941, a German U-boat sank the American merchant steamship SS Robin Moor in the South Atlantic after the ship's passengers and crew were allowed to board lifeboats.

In 1956, the United States exploded the first airborne hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.

In 1959, the musical "Gypsy," inspired by the life of stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, opened on Broadway with Ethel Merman starring as Mama Rose.

In 1972, Michelangelo's Pieta, on display at the Vatican, was damaged by a hammer-wielding man who shouted he was Jesus Christ.

In 1982, during the Falklands War, British amphibious forces landed on the beach at San Carlos Bay.

In 1998, teen gunman Kip Kinkel opened fire inside Thurston High School in Springfield, Ore., killing two students, a day after he'd killed his parents. (Kinkel was sentenced to nearly 112 years in prison.) In the wake of deadly protests, Indonesia President Suharto stepped down after 32 years in power.

Ten years ago: Christie Whitman resigned as Environmental Protection Agency administrator. The most devastating earthquake to hit Algeria in two decades killed at least 2,200 people. Ruben Studdard edged Clay Aiken to win the second "American Idol" competition on Fox.

Five years ago: Oil prices blew past $130 a barrel and gas prices climbed above $3.80 a gallon. Israel and Syria unexpectedly announced the resumption of peace talks after an eight-year break. David Cook won "American Idol" in a landslide over David Archuleta.

One year ago: President Barack Obama and other world leaders meeting in Chicago locked in place an Afghanistan exit path that would keep their troops fighting there for two more years. Former Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi (dah-ROON' RAH'-vee), who'd used a webcam to spy on his gay roommate, Tyler Clementi, who then committed suicide, was sentenced to 30 days in jail (he served 20). A Yemeni man detonated a bomb during a rehearsal for a military parade, killing 96 fellow soldiers; al-Qaida's branch in Yemen claimed responsibility. Grammy-winning polka great Eddie Blazonczyk, 70, died in Palos Heights, Ill.

Today's Birthdays: Rhythm-and-blues singer Ron Isley (The Isley Brothers) is 72. Rock musician Hilton Valentine (The Animals) is 70. Actor Richard Hatch is 68. Musician Bill Champlin is 66. Singer Leo Sayer is 65. Actress Carol Potter is 65. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., is 62. Actor Mr. T is 61. Music producer Stan Lynch is 58. Actor Judge Reinhold is 56. Actor-director Nick Cassavetes is 54. Actor Brent Briscoe is 52. Actress Lisa Edelstein is 47. Actress Fairuza Balk is 39. Rock singer-musician Mikel Jollett (Airborne Toxic Event) is 39. Rapper Havoc (Mobb Deep) is 39. Actress Ashlie Brillault is 26. Actor Scott Leavenworth is 23. Actress Sarah Ramos is 22.

Thought for Today: "Our present addiction to pollsters and forecasters is a symptom of our chronic uncertainty about the future.... We watch our experts read the entrails of statistical tables and graphs the way the ancients watched their soothsayers read the entrails of a chicken." ? Eric Hoffer, American philosopher (1902-1983).

(Above Advance for Use Tuesday, May 21)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/today-history-050206767.html

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Former Wyoming legislator worked to legalize MMA, now getting in the cage

As a state legislator in Wyoming, Bryan Pedersen helped author the bill to legalize and regulate MMA in his home state. This weekend, he will test that bill by fighting at the Colosseum Fight Series, the first fights in Cheyenne since the bill passed.

Pedersen, who is 38 years old, has trained in MMA for the past four years. Like many fighters, he originally tried out the sport for fitness reasons only. But once MMA was allowed in his state, and Cheyenne was set to host fights, Pedersen couldn't help but say yes to an offer to fight on the CFS card.

"This is not something I normally do," he said to the Wyoming Star-Tribune. "But I really believe in the sport."

He served for six years in the Wyoming state legislature. Now a financial consultant, he plans on making this both his debut and retirement bout. The weigh-ins will take place at a familiar venue for Pedersen -- the steps of the Wyoming State Capitol Building.

Pedersen is taking the fight seriously, as he drives an hour and a half daily to Easton Training Center in Colorado, the training home of UFC veteran Eliot Marshall.

"I have a goal," he said. "Without a goal, you wouldn?t do it. It creates a sense of urgency and panic. Because every day I?m not training, my opponent is probably getting better. And I?m not."

He's the latest government official to set his sights on the cage, though Pedersen appears to be taking his fight more seriously than the two mayors in south Florida who are planning a bout. Perhaps MMA should become part of the legislative process.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/former-wyoming-legislator-worked-legalized-mma-now-getting-210946127.html

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Apple 'tax gimmicks': rotten to the core or sensible business?

While technology giants like Apple are esteemed by the public for their role as innovative engines of America?s economy, two influential senators will grill the tech giant Tuesday for what they see as a less sterling part of its resume: tax avoidance.

Sens. Carl Levin (D) of Michigan and John McCain (R) of Arizona will put Apple CEO Tim Cook to a congressional roasting before their Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, alleging that the company shielded as much as $10 billion in profits per year through creative accounting measures which, while legal, violate the spirit of American tax law.

Apple?s tax moves are ?right at the top of the list of creative tax gimmicks,? Senator Levin told reporters Monday. ?I had never seen anything like this, and we don?t know anybody who has seen anything like this.?

RECOMMENDED: What does the federal government do with your money? Take our taxes quiz.

Apple isn?t alone in drawing the committee?s ire: Last year, fellow tech titans Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard were the focus of another hearing on tax avoidance strategies. Apple holds some $100 billion in cash overseas.

The inquiry cuts right to the heart of several brewing debates in Washington. First are questions of equity in the tax system, where lawmakers find it hard to explain why a US-based company like Apple can negotiate a special 2 percent tax rate with Ireland for a chunk of its foreign profits, for example.

That question of tax fairness is of particular importance in today?s tight fiscal times, with lawmakers straining for ways to find new revenues in politically palatable ways or reduce spending without cutting into core government functions from military spending to the social safety net.

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In the long run, the issue of how the nation should structure corporate taxation is a key piece of America?s global competitiveness, an issue often raised by tax reformers like Sen. Max Baucus (D) of Montana and Rep. Dave Camp (R) of Michigan, the chairs of the tax-writing committees in the Senate and House. They want to close tax deductions and lower tax rates for both individuals and corporations ? and shift most corporate profits earned abroad into a lower tax threshold than the 35 percent rate that hits many private sector bottom lines today.

But Senators Levin and McCain are wary of focusing either on the comprehensive fix sought by Chairmen Baucus and Camp or the ?grand bargain? pursued by President Obama and congressional leaders in years past, which they see as an excuse for delay.

?Every lobbyist in this town comes to my office and tells me, ?We?re all for closing these loopholes, we know they are outrageous, but we must wait until we have a grand bargain ... because revenues have to be balanced by entitlement reform.? It?s a cop out. It?s an absolute cop out,? McCain told reporters Monday.

?Why should we continue to allow an egregious practice like this to continue on and wait until we have a grand bargain which may never happen,? he continued. ?When you see egregious activity like this, why wait??

In its prepared testimony, Apple disputes that anything egregious is going on at all.

The company reminds that it pays a notch over 30 percent in taxes on its US profits, putting it at the upper range of US corporate ratepayers, and that because of its massive size and profitability, its $6 billion in US income taxes made up 2.5 percent of all corporate Treasury receipts last year.

The company argues that it has substantial cash overseas because almost two-thirds of its sales happen outside the US. What the senators see as dodging tax laws, Apple points out, are IRS-sanctioned activities which the company has been engaged in since 1980.

Apple also takes a swing at the US corporate tax system, pointing out that it can issue debt (as it recently did) at extremely low interest rates and use the resulting cash to repurchase stock or pay a dividend to its investors instead of repatriating cash held overseas and paying the 35 percent federal tax it would incur.

Instead of that 35 percent rate (which is higher than all America?s competitors in the developed world, although a bevy of deductions allow many companies to be a much lower rate), Apple suggests a ?dramatic simplification? of the nation?s corporate tax scheme that doesn?t raise the revenue paid by all corporations but wipes out deductions and lowers tax rates proportionately.

?Apple supports this plan,? the company?s testimony says, ?even though it would likely result in Apple paying more US corporate tax.?

But while that?s just the sort of comprehensive change that Levin and McCain support in theory, the two senators made it clear that they believe that holding out for a dramatic rewrite of all the nation?s tax laws is a dodge. It allows too much bad policy to survive in the interim.

Whether Levin and McCain move a stand-alone bill focusing on tax loopholes or not is ?going to be governed by all kinds of forces that are swirling around here,? Levin said, adding that the two senators were in numerous discussions about how best to proceed.

?But a lot is going on and this is a big part of what is going on,? Levin concluded. ?We are determined to close these tax loopholes, one way or another.?