মঙ্গলবার, ২৬ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৩

Obama warns spending cuts could idle shipbuilder

President Barack Obama addresses the National Governors Association in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Barack Obama addresses the National Governors Association in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, accompanied by fellow members of the House GOP leadership, responds to President Barack Obama's remarks to the nation's governors earlier today about how to fend off the impending automatic budget cuts, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama is arguing that looming government-wide spending cuts could idle military resources like naval aircraft carriers, while Republicans are criticizing the president for taking his arguments outside Washington instead of staying to work out a plan before Friday's deadline.

The president planned to appear Tuesday at Virginia's largest industrial employer, Newport News Shipbuilding, which would be affected by cuts to naval spending. Obama warned Monday that if the so-called sequester goes into effect later this week, the company's "workers will sit idle when they should be repairing ships, and a carrier sits idle when it should be deploying to the Persian Gulf."

Obama urged Congress to compromise to avoid the cuts, but there has been no indication the White House and congressional Republicans are actively negotiating a deal. The last known conversation between Obama and GOP leaders was last week, and there have been no in-person meetings between the parties this year.

Obama wants the replace the sequester with a package of targeted cuts and tax increases, while Republican leaders insist the savings should come from reduced spending alone.

Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, chair of the House Republican Conference, criticized Obama for traveling to southern Virginia rather than up the street to Capitol Hill to come up with a solution.

"We need the president to stop campaigning for higher taxes, come back here to Washington, D.C., and lead," McMorris Rodgers said during a press conference Monday with GOP leaders.

The sequester was designed as an unpalatable fallback, meant to take effect only if a congressional super-committee failed to come up with at least $1 trillion in savings from benefit programs.

The White House has warned the $85 billion in cuts could affect everything from commercial flights to classrooms to meat inspections. The cuts would slash domestic and defense spending, leading to furloughs for hundreds of thousands of workers.

The cuts also would impact Newport News Shipbuilding, which builds and maintains the nation's nuclear-powered aircraft carriers as well as other warships. The Navy has already delayed a long-planned overhaul of the USS Abraham Lincoln at the shipyard as a result of the budget uncertainty, and other plans call for delaying the construction of other ships.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., offered a potential way out of the stalemate Monday by indicating he was open to raising tax revenue if Obama offered to overhaul big-ticket entitlement programs. Many Republicans say they are done raising revenue after letting taxes on top earners increase in December.

"I'll raise revenue. Will you reform entitlements?" Graham said in a challenge to the president on CNN. "And both together, we'll set aside sequestration in a way that won't disrupt the economy and hurt the Defense Department."

___

Associated Press writers Jim Kuhnhenn in Washington and Brock Vergakis in Norfolk, Va., contributed to this report.

___

Follow Nedra Pickler on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nedrapickler

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-02-26-Budget%20Battle/id-8a8bba3c264d4aba92afbeabf5e77a0c

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সোমবার, ২৫ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৩

Reprogramming cells to fight diabetes

Feb. 22, 2013 ? For years researchers have been searching for a way to treat diabetics by reactivating their insulin-producing beta cells, with limited success. The "reprogramming" of related alpha cells into beta cells may one day offer a novel and complementary approach for treating type 2 diabetes. Treating human and mouse cells with compounds that modify cell nuclear material called chromatin induced the expression of beta cell genes in alpha cells, according to a new study that appears online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

"This would be a win-win situation for diabetics -- they would have more insulin-producing beta cells and there would be fewer glucagon-producing alpha cells," says lead author Klaus H. Kaestner, Ph.D., professor of Genetics and member of the Institute of Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Type 2 diabetics not only lack insulin, but they also produce too much glucagon.

Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are caused by insufficient numbers of insulin-producing beta cells. In theory, transplantation of healthy beta cells -- for type 1 diabetics in combination with immunosuppression to control autoimmunity -- should halt the disease, yet researchers have not yet been able to generate these cells in the lab at high efficiency, whether from embryonic stem cells or by reprogramming mature cell types.

Alpha cells are another type of endocrine cell in the pancreas. They are responsible for synthesizing and secreting the peptide hormone glucagon, which elevates glucose levels in the blood.

"We treated human islet cells with a chemical that inhibits a protein that puts methyl chemical groups on histones, which -- among many other effects -- leads to removal of some histone modifications that affect gene expression," says Kaestner. "We then found a high frequency of alpha cells that expressed beta-cell markers, and even produced some insulin, after drug treatment.

Histones are protein complexes around which DNA strands are wrapped in a cell's nucleus.

The team discovered that many genes in alpha cells are marked by both activating- and repressing-histone modifications. This included many genes important in beta-cell function. In one state, when a certain gene is turned off, the gene can be readily activated by removing a modification that represses the histone.

"To some extent human alpha cells appear to be in a 'plastic' epigenetic state," explains Kaestner. "We reasoned we might use that to reprogram alpha cells towards the beta-cell phenotype to produce these much-needed insulin-producing cells."

Co-authors are Nuria C. Bramswig, Logan Everett, Jonathan Schug, Chengyang Liu, Yanping Luo, and Ali Naji, all from Penn, and Markus Grompe, Craig Dorrell, and Philip R. Streeter from the Oregon Health & Science University. The Oregon group developed a panel of human endocrine cell type-specific antibodies for cell sorting.

The research was supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (U01 DK070430, U42 RR006042, U01DK089529, R01DK088383, U01DK089569) and by the Beckman Research Center/NIDDK/Integrated Islet Distribution Program (10028044).

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Journal Reference:

  1. Nuria C. Bramswig, Logan J. Everett, Jonathan Schug, Craig Dorrell, Chengyang Liu, Yanping Luo, Philip R. Streeter, Ali Naji, Markus Grompe, Klaus H. Kaestner. Epigenomic plasticity enables human pancreatic ? to ? cell reprogramming. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2013; DOI: 10.1172/JCI66514

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/YsxoP3tN1kI/130223111356.htm

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রবিবার, ২৪ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৩

Mad Catz F.R.E.Q. 7 gaming headset hands-on

Mad Catz announced the F.R.E.Q. 7 gaming headset last week, and the company has the $200 cans on hand here at Mobile World Congress. As you may recall, the marquee spec is Dolby Pro Logic IIx processing, which expands 5.1-channel audio to 7.1 channels for a richer aural experience. Another cool feature: these over-ears come bundled with both a standard stereo connector and a cord with USB for connecting directly to your computer (both have mini-USB on one end). The F.R.E.Q. 7 wasn't plugged in so we can't speak to sound quality, but they feel lightweight, and the red color really pops in real life. (There's also a matte black option.) The devices are currently available for pre-order, but you can get a hands-on look now in our gallery.

Mad Catz F.R.E.Q. 7 gaming headset hands-on

Zach Honig contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/24/mad-catz-f-r-e-q-7-gaming-headset-hands-on/

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Harlem Shake: Skydiving Style!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/harlem-shake-skydiving-style/

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German: US to leave 8,000-12,000 troops in Afghan (The Arizona Republic)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

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Fathom Is an Immersive Guide To New Music Through the Artists You Love

Fathom Is an Immersive Guide To New Music Through the Artists You Love A lot of services help you discover new music through songs you or your friends like, but Fathom takes a unique visual approach that lets you explore dozens of bands and sample their music (or listen to full tracks) just by typing in the name of an artist you like.

Unlike streaming services like Pandora or Spotify, Fathom is designed to help you find and explore new music, as opposed to just stream tracks while you work. Type in the name of an artist you enjoy, and Fathom will start playing songs from one of their albums right up front in the center of the page. (If you're an Rdio subscriber you'll hear full songs, otherwise you'll hear previews.) You can listen to anything on the album that's playing, or view the artist or album at Amazon MP3, iTunes, Grooveshark, Last.fm, and more.

On the left and right of the album in the center, you'll see related artists and albums, any one of which you can click on to browse the tracks on the album, add them to your queue, or remove from the list and replace with another suggestion. The project is a labor of love, and you can read more about what developer Ian Gilman was aiming to do with it at his blog. It's not an automatic, hands-off music experience, but if you like getting hands-on with music discovery and playing with the songs you find, Fathom is worth trying.

Fathom

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/Iv_heQluEMw/fathom-is-an-immersive-guide-to-new-music-through-the-artists-you-love

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শনিবার, ২৩ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৩

Flu shot doing a poor job of protecting elderly

ATLANTA (AP) ? It turns out this year's flu shot is doing a startlingly dismal job of protecting senior citizens, the most vulnerable age group.

The vaccine is proving only 9 percent effective in people 65 and older against the harsh strain of the flu that is predominant this season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

Health officials are baffled as to why this is so. But the findings help explain why so many older people have been hospitalized with the flu this year.

Despite the findings, the CDC stood by its recommendation that everyone over 6 months get flu shots, the elderly included, because some protection is better than none, and because those who are vaccinated and still get sick may suffer less severe symptoms.

"Year in and year out, the vaccine is the best protection we have," said CDC flu expert Dr. Joseph Bresee.

Overall, across the age groups studied, the vaccine's effectiveness was found to be a moderate 56 percent, which means those who got a shot have a 56 percent lower chance of winding up at the doctor with the flu. That is somewhat worse than what has been seen in other years.

For those 65 and older, the vaccine was only 27 percent effective against the three strains it is designed to protect against, the worst level in about a decade. It did a particularly poor job against the tough strain that is causing more than three-quarters of the illnesses this year.

It is well known that flu vaccine tends to protect younger people better than older ones. Elderly people have weaker immune systems that don't respond as well to flu shots, and they are more vulnerable to the illness and its complications, including pneumonia.

But health officials said they don't know why this year's vaccine did so poorly in that age group.

One theory, as yet unproven, is that older people's immune systems were accustomed to strains from the last two years and had more trouble switching gears to handle this year's different, harsh strain.

The preliminary data for senior citizens is less than definitive. It is based on fewer than 300 people scattered among five states.

But it will no doubt surprise many people that the effectiveness is that low, said Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota infectious-disease expert who has tried to draw attention to the need for a more effective flu vaccine.

Among infectious diseases, flu is considered one of the nation's leading killers. On average, about 24,000 Americans die each flu season, according to the CDC.

This flu season started in early December, a month earlier than usual, and peaked by the end of year. Hospitalization rates for people 65 and older have been some of the highest in a decade, at 146 per 100,000 people.

Flu viruses tend to mutate more quickly than others, so a new vaccine is formulated each year to target the strains expected to be the major threats. CDC officials have said that in formulating this year's vaccine, scientists accurately anticipated the strains that are circulating this season.

Because of the guesswork involved, scientists tend to set a lower bar for flu vaccine. While childhood vaccines against diseases like measles are expected to be 90 or 95 percent effective, a flu vaccine that's 60 to 70 percent effective in the U.S. is considered pretty good. By that standard, this year's vaccine is OK.

For senior citizens, a flu vaccine is considered pretty good if it's in the 30 to 40 percent range, said Dr. Arnold Monto, a University of Michigan flu expert.

A high-dose version of the flu shot was recently made available for those 65 and older, but the new study was too small to show whether that has made a difference.

The CDC estimates are based on about 2,700 people who got sick in December and January. The researchers traced back to see who had gotten shots and who hadn't. An earlier, smaller study put the vaccine's overall effectiveness at 62 percent, but other factors that might have influenced that figure weren't taken into account.

The CDC's Bresee said there is a danger in providing preliminary results because it may result in people doubting ? or skipping ? flu shots. But the figures were released to warn older people who got shots that they may still get sick and shouldn't ignore any serious flu-like symptoms, he said.

___

Online:

CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/flu-shot-doing-poor-job-protecting-elderly-215638352.html

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MLB union head: Media shouldn't jump to conclusions over Florida clinic

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) - Baseball union head Michael Weiner says reporters should refrain from jumping to conclusions about media reports linking players to a Florida anti-aging clinic accused of distributing banned performance-enhancing drugs.

Starting his annual tour of the 30 spring training camps, Weiner cautioned that Major League Baseball is still investigating Biogenesis of America, a defunct anti-aging clinic in Coral Gables, Fla.

"The players understand that what's happening in Miami at this point remains to be seen in terms of fairness and judging things on the evidence," Weiner said Thursday. "But there is a lot of talk in the clubhouse about where we should be on the joint drug program, and that's a good thing."

After his one-hour session with the Mets, Weiner also discussed the agreement with management last month to extend blood testing for human growth hormone into the regular season. HGH testing began last year but was limited to spring training.

As part of the changes to the joint drug agreement, the World Anti-Doping Agency laboratory in Laval, Quebec, will keep records of each player, including his baseline ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone.

"They understand the blood testing is only postgame, so nobody can have their blood drawn pregame, and they also understand there are protections there in case there's a health-related or a weather/heat related reason why they can't give blood," Weiner said. "Players understand it's important to have the strongest program possible, and given both the testosterone changes and the HGH changes, they're very much for it."

Weiner succeeded Donald Fehr as union head in 2009, and this tour is his first of spring training since announcing in August he is being treated for a brain tumor. The 51-year-old appeared thin and never specifically addressed his health or how he was feeling. He spent time in the Mets clubhouse before the meeting chatting and laughing with players, including third baseman David Wright and pitcher Johan Santana.

Part of Weiner's talk with media was a discussion of changes to draft-pick compensation for free agents under the new labor contract. Teams made $13.3 million qualifying offers last November to nine free agents - teams signing those players would lose a top selection in this June's amateur draft.

The Mets were hesitant to negotiate with outfielder Michael Bourn because they didn't want to lose the 11th overall pick. While the teams among the top 10 selections cannot lose their first-round pick, the Mets were vulnerable because they dropped from 10th to 11th in the selection order when Pittsburgh failed to sign No. 8 pick Mark Appel last summer - meaning the Pirates gained an extra selection after this year's eighth pick.

New York had maintained its first-round pick should have been protected because it originally was among the top 10. Bourn agreed to a $48 million, four-year deal with Cleveland, and the issue never went before an arbitrator.

Pitcher Kyle Lohse is the only one of the nine free agents carrying compensation who remains unsigned.

"Prior to going to the qualifying offer system, we had 30, 35 guys that carried compensation with them; it was reduced to nine, and many of those nine had no problem signing like Nick Swisher or B.J. Upton and others," Weiner said. "Is it a concern that it seemed to be an issue and continues to be an issue with Kyle Lohse, that is seemed to be an issue with Adam LaRoche, that it seemed to be an issue with Michael Bourn? Yes. And we'll try to address that.

"The good news is we're down to, in the Basic Agreement, a very small number of players who carry compensation. The compensation affected those guys fairly dramatically this year, and we'd like to try to address that."

While the current collective bargaining agreement runs through 2016, Weiner said there could be discussions about altering the agreement before then.

Weiner also said that Mets owner Fred Wilpon and chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon should work with general manager Sandy Alderson and assistant GM John Ricco to boost spending on players.

"The New York franchise in the National League is one of the flagship franchises in baseball," Weiner said. "I think everybody would like to see the Mets as a competitive team, and it's going to require a higher payroll. I trust that the Wilpons and Sandy Alderson, John Ricco and all those people will end up putting together a competitive team shortly."

Notes: The Mets rescheduled banner day for May 11 before a game against Pittsburgh after its original date, May 26, was moved to a night game by ESPN. ... The promotional schedule announced Thursday includes bobblehead giveaways that include Ron Darling (April 21), John Franco (May 25), David Wright (June 30), Dwight Gooden (July 21) and Tom Seaver (Aug. 25). ... The Mets are to play an intrasquad scrimmage Friday, with relievers LaTroy Hawkins, Greg Burke, Brandon Lyon and Pedro Feliciano scheduled to pitch. ... RHP Jenrry Mejia is expected to report Friday. Mejia's arrival was delayed by visa problems in the Dominican Republic. ... A hot-air balloon landed in the parking lot outside Tradition Field before 8 a.m. Thursday An employee for the High On You Balloon Team said nothing was wrong with the flight, but rather the crew sets down wherever it's safe to do so.

Source: http://www.komonews.com/sports/Baseball-union-head-Media-shouldnt-jump-to-conclusions-over-Florida-clinic-192397491.html

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শুক্রবার, ২২ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৩

America's Moscow ambassador embroiled in Texas adoption row

Alexei Pushkov, the head of the State Duma's committee on international affairs, admonished US envoy Michael McFaul for refusing to attend parliament to discuss "the death of our children in the United States".

Mr Pushkov said on Twitter that the refusal showed the US was "not ready for serious dialogue on this question".

Mr McFaul, an active user of social media, shot back: "As a norm, US ambassadors to [sic] not participate in hearings of foreign parliaments. Do Russian ambassadors?" He then added: "Always happy to meet you and your colleagues to discuss all issues in US-Russian relations, including adoptions." The controversy is likely to be high on the agenda when Sergei Lavrov, Russia's veteran foreign minister, meets John Kerry, the new US secretary of state, in Germany next week.

Russia's children's rights ombudsman, Pavel Astakhov, announced on Monday that a three-year-old Russian boy, Maxim Kuzmin, had been murdered by his adoptive American mother in Gardendale, Texas.

The case is highly charged because President Vladimir Putin approved a ban on US parents adopting Russian children in December, citing cases of abuse and the death of 19 adoptees in America in the past decade.

The ban was also a response to US legislation introduced earlier the same month preventing alleged Russian human rights abusers from entering the country.

Pro-Kremlin politicians and officials have rushed to condemn the alleged murder of the boy in Texas, whom the Russian foreign ministry said had been beaten and given powerful drugs for adult schizophrenics by his adoptive mother, Laura Shatto.

Police in Texas have expressed surprise at Moscow jumping to conclusions, saying that an autopsy on the toddler ? known to his US family as Max Alan Shatto ? is not complete and no cause of death has been established.

The local sheriff said on Wednesday that the toddler had been playing outside with his brother before he was found unresponsive by his mother.

Mr Astakhov has called for the dead boy's two-year-old brother, who was also adopted by the Shattos, to be returned to Russia.

Source: http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/568617/s/28cfe98f/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Cnews0Cworldnews0Ceurope0Crussia0C98856420CAmericas0EMoscow0Eambassador0Eembroiled0Ein0ETexas0Eadoption0Erow0Bhtml/story01.htm

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Engadget and Joystiq are broadcasting live outside of Sony's PlayStation event tonight!

Hammerstein Ballroom may be known for its long history as a concert venue, but tonight Sony's taking over to unveil the PlayStation ... something. All signs point to a reveal of the game console we've only known by its codename thus far, "Orbis," and we'll be on site liveblogging the whole shindig. But that's not all! Our intrepid EIC, Tim Stevens, is joining Joystiq's EIC, Ludwig Kietzmann, for a little pre- and post-show conjecture / analysis -- you can find the former here, and the latter right here. We've also got an embedded stream of the event, should you prefer to follow along visually while we break the news apart into so many digestible pieces. Our coverage kicks off around 4PM ET, and the event itself officially begins at 6PM ET -- all we expect from you is wonderful, wonderful GIFs. But then you already knew that, didn't you?

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/20/engadget-joystiq-live-from-sony-standups/

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বৃহস্পতিবার, ২১ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৩

Morocco: Pit-bull owners denounce law banning the keeping of ...

By Larbi Arbaoui

Morocco World News

Taroudant- Feb 21, 2013

Moroccan Pit-bull owners, interviewed on Jan. 30 in Fez, Morocco, denounced a new Moroccan law banning certain breeds, which are considered dangerous and requires their owners to euthanize them.

The act was introduced in response to various incidents of serious injury or death resulting from attacks by aggressive and uncontrolled dogs, particularly on children.

Under the draft Act 12-56 introduced recently by the legislative chamber, it is illegal to own specific dangerous dogs mainly pit-bull.

According to AFP, ?A dangerous dog is one which displays, by nature of its breed or morphological characteristics, aggression deemed to be dangerous to man,? the new law reads, adding that a list of dangerous dogs will be drawn up.

The Act has been denounced by the animal welfare associations in Morocco, but gained wide support from the public opinion.

?The primary responsibility is not on the dog, but rather on the master of the dog. It is the master of the dog who trained it in a bad manner,? Saad Mohamed, breeder and owner of Vega, a pit-bull female dog, said.

?Here is my dog, can you just kill it? I think neither religion nor law, nor the human side can permit this? Nezha El-Amrani, mother of Saad, exclaimed.

?More than 50,000 cases of people being bitten by dogs? are registered each year, also increasing the number of deaths because of rabies, Interior Minister Mohand Laenser was quoted by AFP as saying.

Source: http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2013/02/79306/morocco-pit-bull-owners-denounce-law-banning-the-keeping-of-dangerous-dogs/

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শনিবার, ১৬ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৩

India vs Australia, 1st Test - CricSchedule.com

Chennai on Feb 22, 2013 from 09:30 Local | 04:00 GMT

Description

India would take on Australia in the 1st Test match of the India vs Australia Test Series 2013. The match will be hosted at Chennai. Schedule time for Test match is 09:30 Local Time (04:00 GMT). The match of AUS vs IND is schedule to be played in the month of February 2013. The match between IND vs AUS would be played in day time at Chennai.

The tickets of India vs Australia Test Series 2013, 1st Test is likely to be available at Viagogo.com. You can purchase 1st tickets of Australia vs India and watch the match at Chennai. The tickets of India vs Australia, 1st Test match will be delivered to you by international courier. You should purchase the Chennai match tickets at least a month before Australia vs India match begins.

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Source: http://www.cricschedule.com/schedule/1377-india-vs-australia-1st-test-match.php

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শুক্রবার, ১৫ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৩

Facebook bests German watchdog in real names court tiff

Facebook bests German watchdog in real name case

After a German privacy watchdog ordered Facebook to allow the use of fake usernames "immediately," an appeals court has said nein. While the protection body in the tiny state of Schleswig-Holstein argued that Facebook's ban on pseudonyms breached the nation's privacy laws, an administrative court in the region ruled that those laws don't apply to the company, since its European HQ is located in less-stringent Ireland. Facebook argued that requiring the use of real names protects its users, but the regulator said it'll appeal the decision all the same -- thus prolonging the social network's long-running German headache.

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Via: Techmeme

Source: Associated Press

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/15/facebook-bests-german-watchdog-in-real-names-court-tiff/

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Military veterans avoid job-seeking obstacle course, join tech boot camp

More than 30 participating veterans and their mentors participated in MassMVP kick-off event. Front row, center are Massachusetts Life Sciences Center President and CEO Susan Windham-Bannister, and MassMEDIC President Tom Sommer to her left.

After serving a year in Afghanistan, Massachusetts National Guardsman Mark Bastien wanted to hunker down in his hometown of Spencer, Mass. and find a job where he could put his mind to work and his bachelor?s degree to good use. A posting on Facebook inviting veterans to join a training boot camp sparked his interest, so he filled out the necessary paperwork and rushed it in just before the deadline. Bastien got word that he would be accepted into boot camp, but it wasn?t going to be like the one he experienced when he joined the U.S. Army.

Bastien and more than 30 other military veterans participated in a ?boot camp? Thursday to kick off the Massachusetts Technology Veterans Program (MassMVP). This boot camp didn?t include obstacle courses, abdominal crunches or push ups in flea-filled sandpits. Instead, the boot camp introduced the veterans to their year-long mentoring and internship program which focused on connecting them with mentors in the medical device technology industry.

Through the program, organized by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council, veterans will get an inside look at careers in the med device industry, will receive career development coaching and will have an opportunity to network with those in the industry.

Veterans in the boot camp did not have to face screaming drill sergeants, but they were paired with industry mentors from a slew of companies, including Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX), Haemonetics (Nasdaq:HAE), Medtronic, and Abiomed (Nasdaq:ABMD).

Bastien, 28, was paired up with Judith Merritt at Covidien, a Mansfield, Mass.-based med device company. Just like in basic training, Bastien got right to work. This time, however, it was to work on his resume. He also listened to the organizers who stressed that participants need to work as hard as they did in the military, only this time with finding a job.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bizj_boston/~3/D8Yk5O4a_Yw/military-veterans-avoid-job-seeking.html

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In China, a Skyscraper-Sized Knock-Off

We?re all familiar with China?s big business in bootlegged merchandise like wristwatches and handbags. There?s a knock-off being made in China right now that?s skyscraper-sized.

A huge office complex called Wangjing Soho is under construction in Beijing, consisting of three futuristic glass mountains designed by the superstar British architect Zaha Hadid. A thousand miles south, towers with an uncanny resemblance are rising in the city of Chongqing. Those developers didn?t hire Hadid; their project Meiquan 22nd Century appears to be a real-time pirated copy of Wangjing Soho. Adding insult to injury, the unauthorized version might be finished first.

Hadid?s project director speculated that someone stole the digital files of the project. But the architect?s reaction was surprisingly measured. When Der Spiegel first broke this story, Hadid expressed excitement at the innovative possibilities that come with cloned buildings.

?We?re used to things being copied, but not at this speed, and not at this scale,? the architecture critic Edward Lifson tells Kurt Andersen. Lifson helps run the USC Architecture School?s American Academy in China. ?When I teach Chinese students, there is a very different attitude about, let?s say, ?honoring a master.? They don?t call it copying or imitating, it?s a part of their educational system, you ?honor the master.??

Lifson says that attitude creates less shame about copying ideas than Westerners would typically express. The Chinese government hasn?t been scrupulous about cracking down on piracy of intellectual property, like DVDs and fashion, and the building scenario isn?t a clear-cut case: the buildings will differ in many small ways, and the Beijing complex consists of three towers, where Chongqing has two. But China is sensitive to global opinion. ?If there?s enough press that says, ?This is wrong. This is not how we do it in the contemporary world. If you want to belong to international trade organizations, don?t act like that,? the Chinese government could force the [Chongqing] developer to change the project.?

That traditional attitude of honoring or copying may also be changing under global pressure. Lifson points out that ?the number of Chinese patents is going up and up exponentially every single year. So as a nation they are starting to worry more about copying and fakes ? and protecting their own good ideas.?

Source: http://www.studio360.org/2013/feb/15/in-china-a-skyscraper-sized-knock-off/

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Lovers' hearts beat in sync

Feb. 13, 2013 ? When modern-day crooner Trey Songz sings, "Cause girl, my heart beats for you," in his romantic ballad, "Flatline," his lyrics could be telling a tale that's as much physiological as it is emotional, according to a University of California, Davis, study that found lovers' hearts indeed beat for each other, or at least at the same rate.

Emilio Ferrer, a UC Davis psychology professor who has conducted a series of studies on couples in romantic relationships, found that couples connected to monitors measuring heart rates and respiration get their heart rate in sync, and they breathe in and out at the same intervals.

To collect the data, the researchers conducted a series of exercises, sitting 32 heterosexual couples a few feet away from each other in a quiet, calm room. The couples did not speak or touch.

"We've seen a lot of research that one person in a relationship can experience what the other person is experiencing emotionally, but this study shows they also share experiences at a physiological level," Ferrer said.

The couples, in one of the exercises, were asked to sit across from each other and mimic each other, but still not speak, and researchers collected very similar results.

The researchers also mixed up the data from the couples. When the two individuals were not from the same couple, their hearts did not show synchrony, nor did their breathing closely match.

Additionally, both partners showed similar patterns of heart rate and respiration, but women tended to adjust theirs to their partners more. This was true not only for physiological but for day-to-day emotional experiences as well.

"In other words, we found that women adjust in relationship to their partners," said Jonathan Helm, a UC Davis psychology doctoral student and primary author of the study. "Her heart rate is linked to her partner's. I think it means women have a strong link to their partners -- perhaps more empathy."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California, Davis.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal References:

  1. Jonathan L. Helm, David Sbarra, Emilio Ferrer. Assessing cross-partner associations in physiological responses via coupled oscillator models.. Emotion, 2012; 12 (4): 748 DOI: 10.1037/a0025036
  2. Emilio Ferrer, Jonathan L. Helm. Dynamical systems modeling of physiological coregulation in dyadic interactions. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 2012; DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2012.10.013

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/zcNp9KWyUKY/130213093220.htm

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বুধবার, ১৩ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৩

Obama issues plan to protect US business networks

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama signed an executive order Tuesday aimed at helping protect the computer networks of crucial American industries from cyberattacks and prodded Congress to enact legislation that would go even further.

Senior administration officials said Obama's order calls for the development of voluntary standards to protect the computer systems that run critical sectors of the economy like the banking, power and transportation industries. It also directs U.S. defense and intelligence agencies to share classified threat data with those companies.

"Now, Congress must act as well by passing legislation to give our government a greater capacity to secure our networks and deter attacks," Obama said in his annual State of the Union address.

The president said America's enemies are "seeking the ability to sabotage our power grid, our financial institutions and our air traffic control systems. We cannot look back years from now and wonder why we did nothing in the face of real threats to our security and our economy."

Obama's executive order has been months in the making and is the product of often difficult negotiations with private sector companies that oppose any increased government regulation.

While largely symbolic, the plan leaves practical questions unanswered: Should a business be required to tell the government if it's been hacked and U.S. interests are at stake? Can you sue your bank or water treatment facility if those companies don't take reasonable steps to protect you? And if a private company's systems are breached, should the government swoop in to stop the attacks ? and pick up the tab?

Under the president's new order, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has a year to finalize a package of voluntary standards and procedures that will help companies address their cybersecurity risks. The package must include flexible, performance-based and cost-effective steps that critical infrastructure companies can take to identify the risks to their networks and systems and ways they can manage those risks.

Officials will also come up with incentives the government can use to encourage companies to meet the standards, and the Pentagon will have four months to recommend whether cybersecurity standards should be considered when the department makes contracting decisions.

The administration was limited by law in what it could include in an executive order. But the order also calls for agencies to review their existing regulations to determine if the rules adequately address cybersecurity risks.

Congress has been struggling for more than three years to reach a consensus on cybersecurity legislation. Given that failure and the escalating risks to critical systems, Obama turned to the order as a stopgap measure with the hope that lawmakers will be able to pass a bill this year. Leaders of the House Intelligence Committee said they plan to re-introduce their bill that encourages the government to share classified threat information and also empowers companies to also share data while also providing privace and liability protections.

The process has exposed how difficult and complex the issue is, turning the long-awaited executive order into a bureaucratic scramble aimed at showing countries like China and Iran that the U.S. takes seriously the protection of consumer secrets. It's been an intensive effort by White House staff and industry lobbyists wary of government intervention but fearful about their bottom line.

"I think in general it means (the U.S.) will advance the case of cybersecurity, and that's important," said Paul Smocer, the head of the technology policy division at The Financial Services Roundtable, a powerful lobbying group that represents the nation's biggest banks. "How much teeth versus how much gum there is, we'll see."

The cyberthreat to the U.S. has been heavily debated since the 1990s, when much of American commerce shifted online and critical systems began to rely increasingly on networked computers. Security experts began to warn of looming disaster, including threats that terrorists could cut off a city's water supply or shut down electricity. But what's emerged in recent years, according to cyber experts, is the constant pilfering of America's intellectual property by U.S. competitors.

"We have, as the U.S. government, set up lawn chairs, told the burglars where the silver is in the bottom drawer, and opened up the case of beer and watched them do it," Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee, told CBS' "Face the Nation" this week.

The U.S. has been preparing a new intelligence estimate that details cyber espionage as a growing economic problem. One official told The Associated Press last week that the estimate was expected to cite more directly a role by the Chinese government and favor aggressive action against the Chinese government. The official was not authorized to discuss the classified report and spoke only on condition of anonymity.

The report is expected to expand on a November 2011 report by U.S. intelligence agencies that accused Russia and China of systematically stealing American high-tech data for their own economic gain. China has denied the claims.

Richard Clarke, a former White House cybersecurity adviser during the Clinton administration, said that executive orders and intelligence estimates aside, the U.S. in 15 years of debate on the subject still hasn't answered the very practical questions of who exactly is in charge of stopping a cyberattack on commercial networks and at what point the government should deploy its own resources.

___

Follow Anne Flaherty on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AnneKFlaherty .

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-02-12-Cybersecurity/id-4c1c38c6a526403b811d2c9fd755a4fb

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Reducing Hurricane Sandy to a Tropical Storm Undercut Warnings

[unable to retrieve full-text content]A report released by the National Hurricane Center on Tuesday charged that downgrading Hurricane Sandy to a post-tropical cyclone limited the warnings that weather forecasters could issue.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/nyregion/reducing-hurricane-sandy-to-a-tropical-storm-undercut-warnings.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Seas0nPass jailbreak and aTV Flash (black) version arrive for Apple ...

Seas0nPass jailbreak and aTV Flash black version arrive for Apple TV 52, bring Bluetooth keyboard compatibility

Cupertino finally saw fit to give users access to Bluetooth keyboards when it rolled out version 5.2 for Apple TV. It took a bit of time, but the folks at Firecore have finished up the Seas0nPass jailbreak for the new OS iteration. Along with the jailbreak, a revised version of its aTV Flash (black) software is also now available to give the new Bluetooth functionality to folks who prefer it to a stock Apple TV experience. Excited? Head on down to the source for the full how-to, and you'll have a wireless keyboard hooked up to your hacked Jobsian hockey puck in no time.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/13/seas0npass-jailbreak-atv-flash-black-apple-tv/

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মঙ্গলবার, ১২ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৩

Mayor wants to downsize Cleveland fire departments

CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO)- In an effort to save money, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson is removing fire crews from two east?side stations.

Mayor Jackson?said it's part of the integration of fire and EMS crews

As of Monday, the stations on East 116th and East 172nd and Superior will remain open with EMS crews in place of firefighters.

The firefighter's union cautions the local community that this change impacts cuts to their service.?

Carlin Mcnary's always felt pretty secure at his barbershop on E. 116th. His barbershop is located across the street from the fire station.?Mcnary felt a sense of security knowing fire crews were within spitting distance of his business.?But now, Mayor Frank Jackson has decided to take the fire trucks out of this station along with the station on E. 74th and Superior to save money.

Locals interviewed in the neighborhood said they need the fire department because there's always something going on.

Frank Szabo, the President of Local 93 firefighter's union, says that the coding that's used to define emergencies doesn't always tell the whole story. People having medical emergencies often are in need of rescuing, too.?

According to Szabo, the cuts are a creative way of trying to downsize the fire department and kind of try to hide it behind a veil of a service increase when it's really a service decrease because there are less firefighters working every day.

Szabo wonders what would have happened on the scene of a devastating fire that happened on Dunham Avenue last year.? He says the fact that firefighters were located nearby helped them rescue and save the lives of the children inside.??

The Mayor says what's being done is the right step forward for the community.?

Copyright 2013 WOIO. All rights reserved.

Source: http://clevelandeast.woio.com/news/news/89418-mayor-wants-downsize-cleveland-fire-departments

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This Qwiki Keeps the Smiles Coming

When Apple selected Qwiki for iPhone as an Editor's Choice app, I ignored it, then came back to it wondering what the heck it was: The icon has a couple of blocks and maybe a horizontal head shaped like a "Q," which vaguely looks like, well, I'm just not sure. I get more info from most fluffy white clouds.

Source: http://ectnews.com.feedsportal.com/c/34520/f/632000/s/28728c39/l/0L0Stechnewsworld0N0Crsstory0C772720Bhtml/story01.htm

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Wall Street closes flat as market takes a breather

Stocks ended a quiet session with slight moves on Monday as investors found few reasons to keep pushing shares higher following a six-week advance, though the longer-term trend was still viewed as positive.

The benchmark index is up more 6.4 percent in 2013, putting both the S&P 500 and Dow industrials near multi-year highs. The S&P is less than 4 percent from its all-time intraday high of 1,576.09, hit in October 2007.

"This is still a market that looks terrific, but when you're up for six weeks in a row, everyone is going to want to take a pause going into the seventh week even if there is no bad news out there," said Eric Kuby, chief investment officer at North Star Investment Management in Chicago.

Volume was light, with about 4.812 billion shares changing hands on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and NYSE MKT, well below the daily average so far this year of about 6.48 billion shares.

Wall Street was modestly lower throughout the session but regained some ground in the final hour of trading as Google Inc rebounded off earlier losses. Shares of the Internet search giant dipped 0.4 percent to $782.42, recovering from earlier declines of 1 percent after the company said in a filing former chief executive Eric Schmidt is selling roughly 42 percent of his stake in the company.

Also in the tech space, Apple Inc rose up 1 percent to $479.93 after the New York Times reported the iPhone maker was experimenting with the design of a device similar to a wristwatch.

The Federal Reserve's Vice Chair Janet Yellen, seen as a potential successor to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke next year, said the Fed is still aggressively stimulating an anemic U.S. economic recovery that has failed to bring rapid progress on employment.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 21.81 points, or 0.16 percent, at 13,971.16. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 0.92 points, or 0.06 percent, at 1,517.01. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 1.87 points, or 0.06 percent, at 3,192.00.

Upbeat U.S. and Chinese data last week helped the S&P 500 extend its weekly winning streak to six. The index gained about 8 percent over that period.

Equities have been strong performers lately and many investors have used any declines in the market as opportunities to buy.

"Everyone wants to buy on a dip in this market, but if you're on the sidelines right now, the decline we're seeing today just isn't the kind you would jump in on," Kuby said.

President Barack Obama will describe his plan for spurring the economy in his State of the Union address on Tuesday. He is expected to offer proposals for investment in infrastructure, manufacturing, clean energy and education.

Opposition has grown to the $24.4 billion buyout of Dell Inc , the No. 3 personal computer maker, as three of the largest investors joined Southeastern Asset Management on Friday in raising objections. Dell said in a regulatory filing it had considered many strategic options before opting to go private in a buyout led by Chief Executive Michael Dell.

Dell shares hovered near $13.65, the buyout offer price.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc shares rose 2.7 percent at $170.35 after it said longtime drug development partner Sanofi plans to boost its stake.

Moody's Corp was one of the strongest percentage gainers on the S&P 500, rising 4.9 percent to $45.49. Last week the stock plunged 22 percent after the U.S. government launched a civil lawsuit against the company. The sell-off marked the stock's worst week since October 2008.

About 53 percent of stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange closed lower while slightly more Nasdaq-listed stocks closed in negative territory.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/wall-street-ends-flat-investors-take-breather-1B8331170

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Coffee, Tea, Orange Juice, Milk - Which one do you drink for ...



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Coffee, Tea, Orange Juice, Milk - Which one do you drink for breakfast?


Which of the above beverages do you drink for breakfast?

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Re: Coffee, Tea, Orange Juice, Milk - Which one do you drink for breakfast?


People think I'm weird because I drink milk even when it's not breakfast..But I'm from Texas, and most of us are tea drinkers, so I also drink sweet tea every day. It's a necessity in my household ;D

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Web Hosting: Clean It Up | Internet Marketing Secrets, Affiliate ...

Web Hosting: Clean It Up

Let?s face it, the affiliate marketing game can be tough. ?I first came to this realization about four years ago, before I even knew about affiliate marketing.

I was just starting to enter Internet marketing, and obviously one of the first steps is to pick up a hosting package. So just like everyone else, I went to Google to search for things like ?web hosting reviews? and ?top hosting companies?. The results on all of the sites seemed to be consistent with the top companies. The same companies were always coming up on top, and so the choice seemed obvious.

Three months later, I was dealing with terrible servers that were almost always down, and I had borderline useless support. How could the top hosting company on these sites have so many issues? All hosting companies must be terrible, right?

I was duped. And this is so obvious to anyone with any affiliate marketing experience at all. These web hosting review sites are naming the ?top hosting companies? based on who gives the highest commission. Well this makes sense, if a company is giving out a $150 commission, they must be the best company. Give me a break! These review sites don?t care about you, they?re after the money.

So I?ve decided to clean things up, and I?ve created a site, Reviewpon.com. I?ve gone around and reviewed eighteen different hosting companies so far. Obviously, as an Internet marketer, I?m looking to earn a living, but the reason behind this site was far from that reason. I have a core belief about being ethical, and I just think if you focus on doing things the right way, long term, you?ll be able to create a much more powerful brand, and you?ll feel a lot better knowing you?re doing things the right way.

Okay, great. Why are you telling us this?

Well, there are two things that I wanted to get across with this article, Firstly, evaluate how you?re doing things in your own business or site. Do you really believe in what you?re doing? Do you believe in something? Why does your business exist? If you answer with: ?to make money?, you need to reevaluate your situation.

Secondly, I wanted to talk about the importance of getting the right hosting company for your sites. So let?s get to it.

You need a fast site, and this should seem obvious, but check out this staggering graph:

Drop Off Graph

(credit: http://blog.kissmetrics.com/loading-time/)

Obviously, there are certain WordPress plugins that can help your site speed, but hosting plays a huge roll in your site speed. If you?re hosting your site with a garbage shared hosting company, there?s a good chance they?re overselling their server space, causing your site to slow down. With these systems your site becomes way too reliant on other people?s sites that are on your same server. Do you really want to risk your reputation?

Because of the constant struggle to get traffic to your site, you cannot afford to have your visitors leaving because your site?s down, or just plain slow.

If you?re stuck with a host that you?re not satisfied with, that?s not an issue. Please, don?t use the excuse that it?s too much trouble to change hosting companies. Almost all of the good hosting companies are willing to transfer your sites for free, when you sign up.

If you?re trying to build a serious business online or even just some affiliate sites, don?t think you can get away with $1 a month hosting. It just doesn?t work that way, you?re going to have issues, and I?m willing to guarantee that.

I?d love to get a discussion going. Tell me what you think about web hosting in general or just some of your experiences.

Related articles

Hate your day job? Build an online business with my free 12 part internet marketing video training course now!

We take your privacy very seriously. Your email address will never be shared or sold.

Source: http://mattsmarketingblog.com/affiliate-marketing/the-web-hosting-industry-clean-it-up/

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সোমবার, ১১ ফেব্রুয়ারী, ২০১৩

After early start, worst of flu season may be over

Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance, grimaces as he receives a flu shot from Tyler Poncy, a licensed vocational nurse during a free flu vaccine clinic at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Monday, Jan. 28 , 2013. Dozens waited for over an hour to get vaccinations at the clinic that was sponsored by Anthem Blue Cross. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance, grimaces as he receives a flu shot from Tyler Poncy, a licensed vocational nurse during a free flu vaccine clinic at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Monday, Jan. 28 , 2013. Dozens waited for over an hour to get vaccinations at the clinic that was sponsored by Anthem Blue Cross. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

(AP) ? The worst of the flu season appears to be over.

The number of states reporting intense or widespread illnesses dropped again last week, and in a few states there was very little flu going around, U.S. health officials said Friday.

The season started earlier than normal, first in the Southeast and then spreading. But now, by?some measures, flu activity has been ebbing for at least?four weeks in much of the country. Flu and pneumonia deaths also dropped the last two weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

"It's likely that the worst of the current flu season is over," CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said.

But flu is hard to predict, he and others stressed, and there have been spikes late in the season in the past.

For now, states like Georgia and New York ? where doctor's offices were jammed a few weeks ago ? are reporting low flu activity. The hot spots are now the West Coast and the Southwest.

Among the places that have seen a drop: Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown, Pa., which put up a tent outside its emergency room last month to help deal with the steady stream of patients. There were about 100 patients each day back then. Now it's down to 25 and the hospital may pack up its tent next week, said Terry Burger, director of infection control and prevention for the hospital.

"There's no question that we're seeing a decline," she said.

In early December, CDC officials announced flu season had arrived, a month earlier than usual. They were worried, saying it had been nine years since a winter flu season started like this one. That was 2003-04 ? one of the deadliest seasons in the past 35 years, with more than 48,000 deaths.

Like this year, the major flu strain was one that tends to make people sicker, especially the elderly, who are most?vulnerable to flu and its complications

But back then, that year's flu vaccine wasn't made to protect against that bug, and fewer people got flu shots. The vaccine is reformulated almost every year, and the CDC has said this year's vaccine is a good match to the types that are circulating. A preliminary CDC study showed it is about 60 percent effective, which is close to the average.

So far, the season has been labeled moderately severe.

Like others, Lehigh Valley's Burger was cautious about making predictions. "I'm not certain we're completely out of the woods," with more wintry weather ahead and people likely to be packed indoors where flu can spread around, she said.

The government does not keep a running tally of flu-related deaths in adults, but has received reports of 59 deaths in children. The most ? nine ? were in Texas, where flu activity was still high last week. Roughly 100 children die in an average flu season, the CDC says

On average, about 24,000 Americans die each flu season, according to the CDC.

According to the CDC report, the number of states with intense activity is down to 19, from 24 the previous week, and flu is widespread in 38 states, down from 42.

Flu is now minimal in Florida, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

___

Online:

CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2013-02-08-Flu%20Season/id-8a3023ffa6a74b8abcc3e0ebd2d23008

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Northeast trying to get back on track after storm

Tony Colon uses a snowblower to clear his driveway in Derby, Conn., as residents face massive snow removal, Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013, following a severe blizzard that dumped up to three feet of snow across the state. (AP Photo/The Connecticut Post, Autumn Driscoll) MANDATORY CREDIT

Tony Colon uses a snowblower to clear his driveway in Derby, Conn., as residents face massive snow removal, Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013, following a severe blizzard that dumped up to three feet of snow across the state. (AP Photo/The Connecticut Post, Autumn Driscoll) MANDATORY CREDIT

Brian Tinker, 14, walks to a friends house across East Main Street in West Brookfield, Mass., in the aftermath of an overnight storm on Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Tom Rettig)

A.J. Cooper sleds on a hill in Cummings Park, Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013, in Stamford, Conn. (AP Photo/The Stamford Advocate, Lindsay Perry) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT

Justin Bertollo, 10, is followed by his dogs Daisy and Nelson as he pushes the snowblower while clearing the sidewalk along Third Street in Berwick, Pa., Saturday morning, Feb. 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Press-Enterprise, Jimmy May)

Snow covers vehicles at the Wayne Ford car dealership, Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013, after a snow storm in Wayne, N.J. (AP Photo/The Record of Bergen County, Tariq Zehawi) ONLINE OUT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET OUT; NO ARCHIVING; MANDATORY CREDIT

(AP) ? Emergency crews and residents struggled to clear roadways and sidewalks from a storm that rampaged through the Northeast, dumping up to 3 feet of snow and bringing howling winds that knocked out power to hundreds of thousands.

Municipal workers from New York to Boston labored through the night Saturday in snow-bound communities, where some motorists had to be rescued after spending hours stuck in wet, heavy snow. President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency for Connecticut, allowing federal aid to be used in recovery, and utilities in some hard-hit New England states predicted that the storm could leave some customers in the dark at least until Monday,

"We've never seen anything like this," said county official Steven Bellone of New York's Long Island, which got more than 2? feet of snow.

About 345,000 homes and businesses remained without power Sunday morning, down from a total of about 650,000. Some school districts announced they'd be closed on Monday, complicating parents' back to work schedules but giving kids another day for frolicking.

At least five deaths in the U.S. were blamed on the snowstorm, including an 11-year-old boy in Boston who was overcome by carbon monoxide as he sat in a running car to keep warm while his father shoveled Saturday morning. That death and the illnesses of several others exposed to carbon monoxide set off a flurry of safety warnings from public officials.

Roads across the Northeast were impassable and cars were entombed by snow drifts on Saturday. Some people found the snow packed so high against their homes they couldn't get their doors open.

"It's like lifting cement. They say it's 2 feet, but I think it's more like 3 feet," said Michael Levesque, who was shoveling snow in Quincy, Mass., for a landscaping company.

In Providence, where the drifts were 5 feet high and telephone lines encrusted with ice and snow drooped under the weight, Jason Harrison labored for nearly three hours to clear his blocked driveway and front walk and still had more work to do.

Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee cautioned that while the snow had stopped, the danger hadn't passed: "People need to take this storm seriously, even after it's over. If you have any kind of heart condition, be careful with the shoveling."

Blowing with hurricane-force winds of more than 80 mph in places, the storm hit hard along the heavily populated Interstate 95 corridor between New York City and Maine. Milford., Conn., got 38 inches of snow, and Portland, Maine, recorded 31.9, shattering a 1979 record. Several communities in New York and across New England got more than 2 feet.

Still, the storm was not as bad as some of the forecasts led many to fear, and not as dire as the Blizzard of '78, used by longtime New Englanders as the benchmark by which all other winter storms are measured.

By midday Saturday, the National Weather Service reported preliminary snowfall totals of 24.9 inches in Boston, or fifth on the city's all-time list. Bradley Airport near Hartford, Conn., got 22 inches, for the No. 2 spot in the record books there.

Concord, N.H., got 24 inches of snow, the second-highest amount on record and a few inches short of the reading from the great Blizzard of 1888.

In New York, where Central Park recorded 11 inches, not even enough to make the Top 10 list, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city "dodged a bullet" and its streets were "in great shape." The three major airports ? LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark, N.J. ? were up and running by late morning after shutting down the evening before.

Most of the power outages were in Massachusetts, where at its peak more than 400,000 homes and businesses were left in the dark. In Rhode Island, a high of around 180,000 customers lost power, or about one-third of the state.

Connecticut crews had slowly whittled down the outage total from a high of about 38,000 to about 25,000 Sunday, and power was restored to nearly all of the more than 15,000 in Maine and New Hampshire who were left without lights after the storm hit.

Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island imposed travel bans until 4 p.m. to keep cars off the road and let plows do their work, and the National Guard helped clear highways in Connecticut, where more than 240 auto accidents were reported. The Guardsmen rescued about 90 motorists, including a few who had hypothermia and were taken to hospitals.

On Long Island, hundreds of drivers spent a cold and scary night stuck on the highways. Even snowplows got bogged down or were blocked by stuck cars, so emergency workers used snowmobiles to try to reach motorists, many of whom were still waiting to be rescued hours after the snow had stopped.

Richard Ebbrecht, a chiropractor, left his office in Brooklyn at 3 p.m. on Friday and headed for home in Middle Island, N.Y., but got stuck six or seven times on the Long Island Expressway and other roads.

"There was a bunch of us Long Islanders. We were all helping each other, shoveling, pushing," he said. He finally gave up and settled in for the night in his car just two miles from his destination. At 8 a.m., when it was light out, he walked home.

"I could run my car and keep the heat on and listen to the radio a little bit," he said. "It was very icy under my car. That's why my car is still there."

Local police said Sunday that all known abandoned cars were searched and no one needing medical help was found. But A 27-mile stretch of the expressway remained closed in both directions so crews could remove snow.

Around the New York metropolitan area, many victims of Superstorm Sandy were mercifully spared another round of flooding, property damage and power failures.

"I was very lucky and I never even lost power," said Susan Kelly of Bayville. "We were dry as anything. My new roof was fantastic. Other than digging out, this storm was a nice storm." As for the shoveling, "I got two hours of exercise."

At New York's Fashion Week, women tottered on 4-inch heels through the snow to get to the tents to see designers' newest collections.

Across much of New England, streets were empty of cars and dotted instead with children who had never seen so much snow and were jumping into snow banks and making forts. Snow was waist-high in the streets of Boston. Plows made some thoroughfares passable but piled even more snow on cars parked on the city's narrow streets.

Boston's Logan Airport resumed operations late Saturday night.

Life went on as usual for some. In Portland, Karen Willis Beal got her dream wedding on Saturday ? complete with a snowstorm just like the one that hit before her parents married in December 1970.

"I have always wanted a snowstorm for my wedding, and my wish has come true to the max," she said.

In Massachusetts, the National Guard and Worcester emergency workers teamed up to deliver a baby at the height of the storm at the family's home. Everyone was fine.

Some spots in Massachusetts had to be evacuated because of coastal flooding, including Salisbury Beach, where around 40 people were ordered out.

Among them were Ed and Nancy Bemis, who heard waves crashing and rolling underneath their home, which sits on stilts. At one point, Ed Bemis went outside to take pictures, and a wave came up, blew out their door and knocked down his wife.

"The objects were flying everywhere. If you went in there, it looks like ... two big guys got in a big, big fight. It tore the doors right off their hinges. It's a mess," he said.

___

Lindsay reported from Salisbury, Mass. Associated Press writers David Klepper in Providence, Ebony Reed in Quincy, Mass., Karen Matthews in New York, Frank Eltman in Farmingville N.Y., Charles Krupa in Boston, and John Christoffersen in Fairfield, Conn., contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-10-Northeast%20Snow/id-9ca2bdc02c72483eb48945225150fa4d

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