Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Half-plant, half-predator, all-weird

Still on my honeymoon, far away from any form of internet, so this is another old post from my previous blog. The post itself is not one of the best I?ve written, but the subject matter was so fascinating I feel it needed reposting!

This post came to light due to?Captain Skellet (whose been around SciAm?lately!) alerting me to?Hatena. I?ve heard of several organisms containing proto-plasmids; symbiotic chloroplasts which haven?t completely been endosymbiosed, but the strange?life-cycle?of ?the protist Hatena was a new one so I went to look it up. And I?m very glad I did, because it?s pretty amazing.

Hatena

Hatena, taken from the reference (link below).

The picture above shows a micrograph of Hatena. The green blob is the symbiont living inside it and the scale bar is 10um. As a quick point of background information?chloroplasts are the little membrane enclosed vesicles in plants which carry out photosynthesis. The current theory for how they developed is that they were once free-living bacterial type organisms (cyanobacteria) which were engulfed by a larger cell and over time lost their own identity to become photosynthesising factories inside the larger cell.

Hatena arenicola doesn?t have a chloroplast, but it does have a symbiotic relationship with another organism;?nephroselmis.?The?nephroselmis is always found in the same place in the Hatena, and carries out photosynthesis to provide energy for both of them. Unlike regular chloroplasts,?nephroselmis has its own proper nucleus and even its own mitochondria although most of the internal cellular organisation and any kind of motile apparatus (such as flagella) has been lost. Nephroselmis is a sort of half-symbiont, with enough of it?s own machinery to be a clearly distinct organism, but once it gets inside its host organism, it?s happy to stay there and mutually benefit the both of them.

The weirdest thing about these two organisms though, is their replication cycles. When Hatena replicates, the?nephroselmis doesn?t, and as a result only one of the offspring gets the photosynthesising symbiont. The other organism remains colourless and develops a complex feeding apparatus at the apex of the cell, presumably as it can no longer rely on the symbiont for food. This wierd ?half plant, half predator? lifecycle is shown below. (Picture taken from the reference, scale bar 10um):

The replicating life-cycle of Hatena. Ref link below.

That?s just weird. Seriously odd. The?Hatena?is able to move seemingly freely between being a predator consuming other cells for food, and being a plant-like organism once it settles down with its symbiotic partner. The grey non-symbiont organisms can be induced to take up free-moving nephroselmis and (in the words of the paper) ?tentitavely? maintain a symbiotic relationship with them but it also seems perfectly happy to survive on its own.

The paper suggests that?Hatena?cycles between these two modes of living, depending on circumstance. Thus the ?predator? grey cell shown above will continue eating fellow cells until it consumes a?nephroselmis, at which point it degrades its complex feeding apparatus, accepts energy from the symbiont until it?s ready to divide. One of the daughter cells will then go through the whole cycle again while the other remains as a non-predating plant. The authors freely admit that there is little evidence for much of these stages, but it seems a reasonable way to explain what is going on.

As this is clearly a very early stage in symbiotic capture it has important implications for the endosymbiotic theory of chloroplast evolution. Along with various other ?intermediate? symbionts (such as?Karenia mikimotoi and?Lepidodinium viride) the?Hatena helps to show how chloroplasts might have first formed in the cellular ancestor of plants.?Hatena and its symbiont have already acquired an intimate structural association, only the coordination of their cell cycles would be required to turn the nephroselmis into an internally replicating plastid.

?

Ref:?OKAMOTO, N., & INOUYE, I. (2006). Hatena arenicola gen. et sp. nov., a Katablepharid Undergoing Probable Plastid Acquisition Protist, 157 (4), 401-419 DOI: 10.1016/j.protis.2006.05.011

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=f54b378216014d22cefea294dcc1ec83

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Braun makes passing reference to drug test

(AP) ? Ryan Braun referred only in passing to his positive drug test and possible 50-game suspension as he accepted the National League MVP award at a black-tie dinner Saturday night.

After congratulating other award winners and thanking teammates, family, and the Milwaukee organization, the Brewers left fielder, speaking before a crowd of around 800 in a hotel ballroom, thanked the Major League Baseball Players Association for supporting him through his entire career, "especially for supporting me through everything I've went through over the last couple of months."

ESPN.com first reported in December that Braun had tested positive in October. Braun's grievance appeal before arbitrator Shyam Das to avoid a suspension began Thursday.

"You know, sometimes in life, we all deal with challenges we never expected to endure," Braun told the crowd. "We have an opportunity to look at those challenges and view them either as obstacles or as opportunities, and I've chosen to view every challenge I've ever faced as an opportunity and this will be no different. I have always believed that a person's character is revealed through the way they deal with those moments of adversity."

Braun, the NL Rookie of the Year in 2007, hit .312 with 33 home runs and 111 RBIs last season in leading Milwaukee to the NL Central title. He was not available to take questions from reporters Saturday night, his first public appearance since news broke about the positive test.

Braun's appearance overshadowed a sometimes funny, sometimes poignant 89th dinner of the BBWAA's New York chapter that honored, among others, former Mets catcher Gary Carter, who is fighting brain cancer. The Hall of Fame slugger was represented by his three children.

Carter received the "You Gotta Have Heart" award. Fighting tears, his pregnant daughter, Chrissy, said: "I'll tell my dad about the standing O ? he'll like that."

Also honored was Yankees head athletic trainer Gene Monahan, who retired at the end of last season after 49 years with the organization.

Monahan, the night's final award recipient, was honored for long and meritorious service to baseball. He was introduced, appropriately, by Yankees closer Mariano Rivera ? who had earlier received the "Toast of the Town" award. In an emotional speech, Monahan acknowledged late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner on several occasions and concluded by saying, "To do what you do the best and love the most, that's what happiness is all about."

Don Newcombe, 85, elicited laughter as he introduced Tigers ace Justin Verlander, who joined the former Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher as the only players to win a Cy Young Award, MVP trophy and Rookie of the Year.

On a Mets-themed evening that acknowledged the 50th anniversary of the team's first season, Frank Thomas, Jay Hook and Al Jackson spoke on behalf of the 1962 Mets, remembered for their 40-120 record.

Former Mets player and manager Bobby Valentine was lightly and briefly booed when introduced as Boston's new manager. Valentine joked about traveling from the Boston chapter's Thursday dinner before introducing Yankees reliever David Robertson, who received an award for community service.

Former Mets and new Miami shortstop Jose Reyes accepted the writers' "Good Guy" award, and outfielder Tommy Davis received the "You Could Look It Up" award, honoring the 50th anniversary of his 153-RBI season with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Stu Sternberg, principal owner of the Tampa Bay Rays, accepted Manager of the Year and AL Rookie of the Year on behalf of Joe Maddon and Jeremy Hellickson, respectively. Maddon, who spoke by video, is on vacation with his wife in the Greek islands, a trip planned in early September, before the Rays made their big comeback to reach the AL playoffs.

Cardinals third baseman David Freese was in attendance to accept the Babe Ruth award as postseason MVP.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-22-BBWAA%20Dinner-Braun/id-ac12ff2befc94266b4d9cd551782426f

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Monday, January 23, 2012

Daily Crunch: New Eyes

1527Here are some of yesterday’s stories on TechCrunch Gadgets: HumanBirdWings Guy Survives First Test Flight Marketing Genius: Two Twins Giggling As They Sell You Designer 3D Glasses Math-Blind AI Teaches Itself Basic Number Sense Watch This Delightful Crowdsourced Star Wars Fan Film Immediately iPhone 4S and iPad 2 Finally Get Proper, Untethered Jailbreaks

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Y0fs_NdGono/

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Friday, January 20, 2012

Helix Nebula in new colors

ScienceDaily (Jan. 19, 2012) ? ESO's VISTA telescope, at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, has captured a striking new image of the Helix Nebula. This picture, taken in infrared light, reveals strands of cold nebular gas that are invisible in images taken in visible light, as well as bringing to light a rich background of stars and galaxies.

The Helix Nebula is one of the closest and most remarkable examples of a planetary nebula*. It lies in the constellation of Aquarius (The Water Bearer), about 700 light-years away from Earth. This strange object formed when a star like the Sun was in the final stages of its life. Unable to hold onto its outer layers, the star slowly shed shells of gas that became the nebula. It is evolving to become a white dwarf star and appears as the tiny blue dot seen at the centre of the image.

The nebula itself is a complex object composed of dust, ionised material as well as molecular gas, arrayed in a beautiful and intricate flower-like pattern and glowing in the fierce glare of ultraviolet light from the central hot star.

The main ring of the Helix is about two light-years across, roughly half the distance between the Sun and the nearest star. However, material from the nebula spreads out from the star to at least four light-years. This is particularly clear in this infrared view since red molecular gas can be seen across much of the image.

While hard to see visually, the glow from the thinly spread gas is easily captured by VISTA's special detectors, which are very sensitive to infrared light. The 4.1-metre telescope is also able to detect an impressive array of background stars and galaxies.

The powerful vision of ESO's VISTA telescope also reveals fine structure in the nebula's rings. The infrared light picks out how the cooler, molecular gas is organised. The material clumps into filaments that radiate out from the centre and the whole view resembles a celestial firework display.

Even though they look tiny, these strands of molecular hydrogen, known as cometary knots, are about the size of our Solar System. The molecules in them are able to survive the high-energy radiation that emanates from the dying star precisely because they clump into these knots, which in turn are shielded by dust and molecular gas. It is currently unclear how the cometary knots may have originated.

Please note that this text was modified on 18 January 2012 to correct some minor errors.

*Planetary nebulae have nothing to do with planets. This confusing name arose because many of them show small bright discs when observed visually and resemble the outer planets in the Solar System, such as Uranus and Neptune. The Helix Nebula, which also bears the catalogue number NGC 7293, is unusual as it appears very large, but also very faint, when viewed through a small telescope.

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Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120119101553.htm

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Thursday, January 19, 2012

Canon EOS C300 cinema cam gets pre-order status, ships at month's end for $16,000

Back in November we joined Martin Scorsese and other Hollywood luminaries at Paramount Studios for the unveiling of Canon's latest cinema video camera, which is now available for pre-order. The EOS C300, that aims to compete directly against the Reds of the world, carries a Super 35mm CMOS sensor capable of up to 4K resolution 1080p capture, and should be helped in large part by the company's top-shelf lenses; like the 14.5 - 60mm and 30 - 300mm. When we first met the C300 we told you it'd be priced at a hefty $20,000, but that's no longer the case, instead it'll cost a less painful $16,000 for the body only. The camera will begin shipping "after January 30th," and if it seems like a little too much for you, at least you can still watch our precious hands-on time with it.

Update: We've updated to clarify that while the sensor is 4K the camera only captures in 1080p.

Canon EOS C300 cinema cam gets pre-order status, ships at month's end for $16,000 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/xlMsZ10QSw0/

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Monday, January 16, 2012

How Does Jon Huntsman's Withdrawal Affect the Presidential Race? (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | Jon Huntsman, the former governor of Utah and former ambassador to China, has decided to withdraw from the race for president and to throw his support behind Mitt Romney, according to the Washington Post. It was all in all a concession to reality.

Huntsman, though he certainly had the experience in foreign and domestic policy to be president, never quite was able to justify the idea of his being president. He ran as a moderate, a curious strategy considering the conservative nature of the Republican electorate. Romney is considered a moderate by many. Indeed that has been an accusation in campaign ads by his opponents. But even Romney is running to the right, emphasizing cutting government and taxes as his main issues.

The polls have not been kind to Huntsman. Nationwide, he is in the low single digits, according to Gallup Tracking. He is at 5 percent in South Carolina in the latest Rasmussen poll.

Huntsman was an also-ran in Iowa, with 0.6 percent, due to the fact he did not contest the Iowa caucus. He came in third in New Hampshire, getting 16.9 percent behind Ron Paul and Romney.

In the end, there was no path to victory for Huntsman. The smooth, moderate, Mandarin speaking politician lacked widespread appeal, especially in the southern states with primaries coming up. It just took him until today to realize what most people had already concluded.

The question arises, who does Huntsman's withdrawal benefit? The obvious answer would be Romney, who is touted as a candidate who can appeal to the same kind of moderate independents that Huntsman had in his corner.

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air doubts Huntsman's withdrawal will have much of an impact at all. His support was almost nonexistent and consisted of disaffected Democrats, some of them who still seem to like Obama and hate the tea party.

On the other hand, those Democrats will remain disaffected with or without Huntsman in the race. Where will they go? Perhaps to Romney in the end. Or they may just stay home on Election Day, not being enthused about any candidate.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120116/pl_ac/10841027_how_does_jon_huntsmans_withdrawal_affect_the_presidential_race

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Keeping an eye on the Universe

Keeping an eye on the Universe [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 13-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Daniel Stolte
stolte@email.arizona.edu
520-626-4402
University of Arizona

Astronomers from the California Institute of Technology and the University of Arizona have released the largest data set ever collected that documents the brightening and dimming of stars and other celestial objects 200 million in total

The University of Arizona's Catalina Sky Survey keeps a watchful eye on asteroids that might cross the Earth's path. A byproduct of that effort is the largest database compiling the brightnesses of 200 million objects in the universe, including supernovae and stars torn up by super-massive black holes.

The night sky is filled with objects such as asteroids that dash across the sky and others such as exploding stars and variable stars that flash, dim, and brighten. Studying such phenomena can help astronomers better understand the evolution of stars, massive black holes in the centers of galaxies, and the structure of the Milky Way.

These types of objects also were essential for the recent discovery of dark energy the mysterious energy that dominates the expansion of the universe that earned last year's Nobel Prize.

Using images obtained by the UA's asteroid-hunting Catalina Sky Survey, the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey, or CRTS, lets CalTech astronomers systematically scan the heavens for these dynamic objects, resulting in an unprecedented data set that will allow scientists worldwide to pursue new research.

"Exploring variable objects and transient phenomena like stellar explosions is one of the most vibrant and growing research areas in astrophysics," said S. George Djorgovski, professor of astronomy at Caltech and principal investigator on the CRTS. "In many cases, this yields unique information needed to understand these objects."

The new data set is based on observations taken with the 0.7-meter telescope on Mt. Bigelow in Arizona. The observations were part of the Catalina Sky Survey, a search for Near-Earth Objects, or NEOs asteroids that may pose a threat to Earth conducted by astronomers at the UA.

By repeatedly taking pictures of large swaths of the sky and comparing these images to previous ones, the CRTS is able to monitor the brightness of about half-billion objects, allowing it to search for those that dramatically brighten or dim. In this way, the CRTS team identified tens of thousands of variables, maximizing the science that can be gleaned from the original data.

The new data set contains the so-called brightness histories of a total of 200 million stars and other objects, incorporating more than 20 billion independent measurements.

"This set of objects is an order of magnitude larger than the largest previously available data sets of their kind," said Andrew Drake, a staff scientist at Caltech and lead author on a poster presented at the meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Austin on Jan. 12.

"It will enable many interesting studies by the entire astronomical community."

One of the unique features of the survey, Drake said, is that it emphasizes an open-data philosophy. "We discover transient events and publish them electronically in real time, so that anyone can follow them and make additional discoveries."

"It is a good example of scientific-data sharing and reuse," Djorgovski added. "We hope to set an example of how data-intensive science should be done in the 21st century."

The data set includes more than 1,000 exploding stars called supernovae, including many unusual and novel types, as well as hundreds of so-called cataclysmic variables, pairs of stars in which one spills matter onto another, called a white dwarf; tens of thousands of other variable stars; and dwarf novae, which are binary stars that dramatically change in brightness.

"We take hundreds of images every night from each of our telescopes as we search for hazardous asteroids," said Edward Beshore, principal investigator of the UA's asteroid-hunting CSS. "As far back as 2005, we were asking if these data could be useful to the community of astronomers. We are delighted that we could forge this partnership. In my estimation, it has been a great success and is a superb example of finding ways to get greater value from taxpayers' investments in basic science."

The team said it soon plans to release additional data taken with a 1.5-meter telescope on Mt. Lemmon in Arizona and a 0.5-meter telescope in Siding Spring in Australia.

###

In addition to Djorgovski, Drake and Beshore, the team includes staff scientist Ashish Mahabal, computational scientist Matthew Graham, postdoctoral scholar Ciro Donalek and research scientist Roy Williams from Caltech.

Researchers from other institutions include Steve Larson, Andrea Boattini, Alex Gibbs, Al Grauer, Rik Hill and Richard Kowalski from the UA; Mauricio Catelan from Universidad Catholica in Chile; Eric Christensen from the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii; and Jose Prieto from Princeton University.

The Caltech research is supported by the National Science Foundation. The work done at the UA is supported by NASA.



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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.


Keeping an eye on the Universe [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 13-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Daniel Stolte
stolte@email.arizona.edu
520-626-4402
University of Arizona

Astronomers from the California Institute of Technology and the University of Arizona have released the largest data set ever collected that documents the brightening and dimming of stars and other celestial objects 200 million in total

The University of Arizona's Catalina Sky Survey keeps a watchful eye on asteroids that might cross the Earth's path. A byproduct of that effort is the largest database compiling the brightnesses of 200 million objects in the universe, including supernovae and stars torn up by super-massive black holes.

The night sky is filled with objects such as asteroids that dash across the sky and others such as exploding stars and variable stars that flash, dim, and brighten. Studying such phenomena can help astronomers better understand the evolution of stars, massive black holes in the centers of galaxies, and the structure of the Milky Way.

These types of objects also were essential for the recent discovery of dark energy the mysterious energy that dominates the expansion of the universe that earned last year's Nobel Prize.

Using images obtained by the UA's asteroid-hunting Catalina Sky Survey, the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey, or CRTS, lets CalTech astronomers systematically scan the heavens for these dynamic objects, resulting in an unprecedented data set that will allow scientists worldwide to pursue new research.

"Exploring variable objects and transient phenomena like stellar explosions is one of the most vibrant and growing research areas in astrophysics," said S. George Djorgovski, professor of astronomy at Caltech and principal investigator on the CRTS. "In many cases, this yields unique information needed to understand these objects."

The new data set is based on observations taken with the 0.7-meter telescope on Mt. Bigelow in Arizona. The observations were part of the Catalina Sky Survey, a search for Near-Earth Objects, or NEOs asteroids that may pose a threat to Earth conducted by astronomers at the UA.

By repeatedly taking pictures of large swaths of the sky and comparing these images to previous ones, the CRTS is able to monitor the brightness of about half-billion objects, allowing it to search for those that dramatically brighten or dim. In this way, the CRTS team identified tens of thousands of variables, maximizing the science that can be gleaned from the original data.

The new data set contains the so-called brightness histories of a total of 200 million stars and other objects, incorporating more than 20 billion independent measurements.

"This set of objects is an order of magnitude larger than the largest previously available data sets of their kind," said Andrew Drake, a staff scientist at Caltech and lead author on a poster presented at the meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Austin on Jan. 12.

"It will enable many interesting studies by the entire astronomical community."

One of the unique features of the survey, Drake said, is that it emphasizes an open-data philosophy. "We discover transient events and publish them electronically in real time, so that anyone can follow them and make additional discoveries."

"It is a good example of scientific-data sharing and reuse," Djorgovski added. "We hope to set an example of how data-intensive science should be done in the 21st century."

The data set includes more than 1,000 exploding stars called supernovae, including many unusual and novel types, as well as hundreds of so-called cataclysmic variables, pairs of stars in which one spills matter onto another, called a white dwarf; tens of thousands of other variable stars; and dwarf novae, which are binary stars that dramatically change in brightness.

"We take hundreds of images every night from each of our telescopes as we search for hazardous asteroids," said Edward Beshore, principal investigator of the UA's asteroid-hunting CSS. "As far back as 2005, we were asking if these data could be useful to the community of astronomers. We are delighted that we could forge this partnership. In my estimation, it has been a great success and is a superb example of finding ways to get greater value from taxpayers' investments in basic science."

The team said it soon plans to release additional data taken with a 1.5-meter telescope on Mt. Lemmon in Arizona and a 0.5-meter telescope in Siding Spring in Australia.

###

In addition to Djorgovski, Drake and Beshore, the team includes staff scientist Ashish Mahabal, computational scientist Matthew Graham, postdoctoral scholar Ciro Donalek and research scientist Roy Williams from Caltech.

Researchers from other institutions include Steve Larson, Andrea Boattini, Alex Gibbs, Al Grauer, Rik Hill and Richard Kowalski from the UA; Mauricio Catelan from Universidad Catholica in Chile; Eric Christensen from the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii; and Jose Prieto from Princeton University.

The Caltech research is supported by the National Science Foundation. The work done at the UA is supported by NASA.



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share 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/2012-01/uoa-kae011312.php

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Sunday, January 15, 2012

Success in the markets means picking the best stocks

Poor stock selection is one of the biggest mistakes a trader can make. But how do you spot the good ones?

My friend Joe Fahmy is one of the best traders I've ever met.

Skip to next paragraph Joshua M. Brown

Joshua has been managing money for high net worth clients, charitable foundations, corporations and retirement plans for more than a decade.

Recent posts

Schooled at the side of the legendary Mark Minervini, Fahmy's style is both momentum-driven and risk averse at the same time.? He trades when the market is healthy and bides his time doing research when the market is sick.? And he is a Big Game Hunter - he's looking to bag elephants and find stocks to trade that have the ability to go up exponentially ($AAPL, $HANS, $NFLX, $ISRG etc), not 5 or 10%.

Joe is doing his first ever full-day seminar in NYC on March 3rd.? Barry Ritholtz is speaking there and I am drinking free ginger ale in the audience.? He is also doing one in LA.? Go here to learn more about it.

Joe and I had a great conversation over sushi the other day and I asked him to expand on his philosophy for a series of three blog posts.? In this post, we talk about why good trading begins with good stock selection more than anything else:

Josh: Your concept that most investors fail because they start off not knowing where to look for winners is very powerful, could you expand on that?

Joe Fahmy:? When the head coach of an NFL team has the 14th pick in the draft, the media always asks him: "Who are you going to pick?" The coach usually says: "The best player available." In the stock market, we have roughly 6,000 stocks to choose from (3,000 in the NYSE and 3,000 in the NASDAQ). The problem is that most investors do not choose "the best stocks available."

The biggest mistake investors make right off the bat is poor stock selection. To continue with the sports analogy, if you randomly draft 5 football players from LSU or 5 players from The Yeshiva University, don't you have a higher probability of finding a better player from the LSU pool of athletes? The same goes for the stock market. At least give yourself a shot by starting with a quality group of stocks. The problem is that most people don't know what to look for because they haven't studied the big winners throughout history. Therefore, they settle for poor quality stocks that have low probabilities of outperforming the market.

My goal is not to produce results that are simply "in line" with the market. My goal is to achieve superior returns. Screening for stocks that match the characteristics of the greatest winning stocks in history is a great way to narrow the field of 6,000 down to a solid group of names. This is a major topic that I cover in my seminar because it can greatly improve your chances of selecting a potential big winner.

***

Stay tuned for more.

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here.To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on www.thereformedbroker.com.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/5Cale01xoPY/Success-in-the-markets-means-picking-the-best-stocks

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Italian cruise ship runs aground, six reported dead (Reuters)

ROME (Reuters) ? A large Italian cruise ship carrying more than 4,000 people ran aground on a sandbar off the west coast of Italy overnight, and rescue workers were quoted on Saturday as saying at least six people had been killed in the incident.

The some 3,200 passengers and 1,023 crew on board the ship, the 290-metre-long Costa Concordia, were being evacuated by lifeboats, helicopters and other ships in the area, a statement from the Italian coastguard said.

They were being taken to the tiny island of Giglio and put up in schools, homes and churches for the night. The ship ran aground at about 10 p.m. (2100 GMT) near Giglio off the Tuscan coast.

The Italian news agency Ansa quoted rescue workers as saying at least six people were killed and a number injured, but that the cause of the deaths was not immediately known. Ansa said some people had jumped into the water.

No official confirmation of the reported deaths was immediately available.

About five hours after the incident, several hundred people were still on board the ship and waiting to be evacuated.

Ansa quoted passengers as saying the ship jolted as dinner was being served and that the electricity went out for a while before the evacuation operation began.

Media reports said the passengers included several nationalities as well as Italians.

The Italian coastguard said the ship had taken on water and was listing about 20 degrees but that there was no danger of it sinking.

The cruise ship company said the cause of the incident was being investigated.

(Editing by Ralph Gowling)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120114/wl_nm/us_italy_ship

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Saturday, January 14, 2012

Clue as to why alcohol is addicting: Scientists show that drinking releases brain endorphins

ScienceDaily (Jan. 11, 2012) ? Drinking alcohol leads to the release of endorphins in areas of the brain that produce feelings of pleasure and reward, according to a study led by researchers at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

The finding marks the first time that endorphin release in the nucleus accumbens and orbitofrontal cortex in response to alcohol consumption has been directly observed in humans.

Endorphins are small proteins with opiate-like effects that are produced naturally in the brain.

"This is something that we've speculated about for 30 years, based on animal studies, but haven't observed in humans until now," said lead author Jennifer Mitchell, PhD, clinical project director at the Gallo Center and an adjunct assistant professor of neurology at UCSF. "It provides the first direct evidence of how alcohol makes people feel good."

The discovery of the precise locations in the brain where endorphins are released provides a possible target for the development of more effective drugs for the treatment of alcohol abuse, said senior author Howard L. Fields, MD, PhD, a professor of neurology and Endowed Chair in Pharmacology of Addiction in Neurology at UCSF and director of human clinical research at the Gallo Center.

The study appears on January 11, 2012, in Science Translational Medicine.

The researchers used positron emission tomography, or PET imaging, to observe the immediate effects of alcohol in the brains of 13 heavy drinkers and 12 matched "control" subjects who were not heavy drinkers.

In all of the subjects, alcohol intake led to a release of endorphins. And, in all of the subjects, the more endorphins released in the nucleus accumbens, the greater the feelings of pleasure reported by each drinker.

In addition, the more endorphins released in the orbitofrontal cortex, the greater the feelings of intoxication in the heavy drinkers, but not in the control subjects.

"This indicates that the brains of heavy or problem drinkers are changed in a way that makes them more likely to find alcohol pleasant, and may be a clue to how problem drinking develops in the first place," said Mitchell. "That greater feeling of reward might cause them to drink too much."

Results Suggest Possible Approach to Treat Alcohol Abuse

Before drinking, the subjects were given injections of radioactively tagged carfentanil, an opiate-like drug that selectively binds to sites in the brain called opioid receptors, where endorphins also bind. As the radioactive carfentanil was bound and emitted radiation, the receptor sites "lit up" on PET imaging, allowing the researchers to map their exact locations.

The subjects were then each given a drink of alcohol, followed by a second injection of radioactive carfentanil, and scanned again with PET imaging. As the natural endorphins released by drinking were bound to the opioid receptor sites, they prevented the carfentanil from being bound. By comparing areas of radioactivity in the first and second PET images, the researchers were able to map the exact locations -- areas of lower radioactivity -- where endorphins were released in response to drinking.

The researchers found that endorphins released in response to drinking bind to a specific type of opioid receptor, the Mu receptor.

This result suggests a possible approach to improving the efficacy of treatment for alcohol abuse through the design of better medications than naltrexone, said Fields, who collaborated with Mitchell in the design and analysis of the study.

Fields explained that naltrexone, which prevents binding at opioid receptor sites, is not widely accepted as a treatment for alcohol dependence -- "not because it isn't effective at reducing drinking, but because some people stop taking it because they don't like the way it makes them feel," he said.

"Naltrexone blocks more than one opioid receptor, and we need to know which blocking action reduces drinking and which causes the unwanted side effects," he said. "If we better understand how endorphins control drinking, we will have a better chance of creating more targeted therapies for substance addiction. This paper is a significant step in that direction because it specifically implicates the Mu opioid receptor in alcohol reward in humans."

Co-authors of the study are James P. O'Neill and Mustafa Janabi of Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and Shawn M. Marks and William J. Jagust, MD, of LBL and the University of California, Berkeley.

The study was supported by funds from the Department of Defense and by State of California Funds for Research on Drug and Alcohol Abuse.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California, San Francisco, via Newswise. The original article was written by Jennifer O'Brien.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. J. M. Mitchell, J. P. O'Neil, M. Janabi, S. M. Marks, W. J. Jagust, H. L. Fields. Alcohol Consumption Induces Endogenous Opioid Release in the Human Orbitofrontal Cortex and Nucleus Accumbens. Science Translational Medicine, 2012; 4 (116): 116ra6 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3002902

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/~3/X2HObp4dcMU/120111155137.htm

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Gunman in Afghan uniform kills US soldier on base (AP)

KABUL, Afghanistan ? A man in an Afghan army uniform opened fire on a group of Americans at a base in the south of the country, killing a U.S. soldier and wounding another, an Afghan military spokesman said Monday.

Spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said the gunman was also killed in the shootout on Sunday. "Right now, an investigation is going on to determine whether he really was a soldier or someone using an army uniform. And if he was a soldier, what caused the shooting," Azimi said.

Similar attacks have raised fears of increased Taliban infiltration of the Afghan police and army as NATO speeds up the training of the security forces. In some cases the attackers were Afghan soldiers who turned on NATO troops. Others involved insurgents dressed in Afghan uniforms.

A NATO statement released late Sunday said only that a coalition service member was killed in the incident, apparently by an Afghan soldier, but provided no details on the location or the victim's nationality.

Azimi said the shooting occurred inside one of the Afghan National Army's bases in Zabul province, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) south of Kabul.

The shooting brought to 11 the number of NATO soldiers killed this month.

On Dec. 29, an Afghan soldier shot and killed two members of France's elite 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment, a part of the Foreign Legion. A week earlier, an Afghan soldier opened fire on coalition troops inside an outpost in western Herat province, wounding a number of alliance troops.

NATO is encouraging the rapidly expanding Afghan security forces to take more responsibility ahead of the coalition's 2014 pullout target date. NATO's training mission hopes have about 350,000 Afghan troops and police trained and ready by then.

Meanwhile, Taliban fighters ambushed a convoy carrying supplies for NATO in western Afghanistan, killing two private security guards and wounding three. Seven of the attacking insurgents were also killed, said deputy police chief Mohammad Ghaws Milyar.

The convoy was heading toward the city of Farah, about 420 miles (700 kilometers) west of Kabul, when it was hit.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120109/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan

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Thursday, January 12, 2012

China, SKorea hold summit on NKorea post-Kim (AP)

BEIJING ? The presidents of South Korea and China on Monday hold their first summit since Kim Jong Il's death opened the chance for major changes in North Korea, a country that is of vital interest to Seoul and Beijing, as well as a subject of strong disagreement.

While North Korea is often a topic when Chinese and South Korean leaders meet, the death of its leader last month has pushed it to the center of the summit, which had been intended to focus on mending frayed relations over Chinese fishing-fleet incursions in South Korean waters and Beijing's support for Pyongyang.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak arrived for the three-day visit Monday. After a pomp-filled formal welcome later Monday, Lee was to hold extensive talks with President Hu Jintao. He also is scheduled to meet with China's premier and the head of the legislature.

Beijing is expected to offer to open talks on a three-way free-trade agreement with Japan, Chinese state media reported, highlighting the robust economic ties China and Seoul share in contrast with the strains on other fronts.

The presidents are expected to emphasize their shared interest in the stability of poor but nuclear-armed North Korea, as their neighbor makes an uncertain transition to rule by Kim's youngest son, Kim Jong Un, and a coterie of his father's advisers.

"North Korea is under a transition period and is solidifying internal solidarity. Now is not the time to provoke North Korea," said Yoo Ho-yeol, a professor at Korea University.

Beyond that, however, priorities diverge, and the differences were on display soon after Kim Jong Il's death.

The Chinese leadership team immediately sent messages of support to the younger Kim, and Hu and other top leaders paid condolence visits to the North Korean Embassy in Beijing. South Korea's Lee put his military on high alert, and while expressing a wish for better relations he vowed a stern reaction to any provocation.

While Beijing, which already accounts for the bulk of North Korea's trade and investment, wants to see an acceleration of economic reforms, it also wants to ensure that Pyongyang's current rulers remain in power. A North Korean meltdown, in Beijing's eyes, would send refugees into China and pave the way for a unified Korea under Seoul, with its strong alliance to the U.S.

Seoul, meanwhile, would like to see North Korea retreat from its near constant war footing. It worries that in the short run, the new leadership around the younger Kim might provoke a crisis with South Korea to rally support among the public and political elite.

"Certainly Lee hopes China will exert a strong influence on North Korea and Kim Jong Un and guide it to a path of de-nuclearization and reform and opening. But I doubt how much China can do in this regard," Zhang Liangui, a veteran Korea watcher at the Central Party School, said in an interview published Monday in the state-run Global Times newspaper.

One long-term shared interest has been coaxing North Korea to relinquish its nuclear weapons programs. But in Beijing's desire to maintain North Korea as a buffer state and see its new leadership ensconced, analysts question whether it is placing a lower priority on resuming disarmament talks.

Talks on North Korea's nuclear program, involving the two Koreas, China, Japan, the United States and Russia, have been stalled since 2009.

Victor Cha, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said Beijing may be concerned that outside pressure on North Korea over nuclear arms could set off infighting between groups for or against reforms.

"Early interaction could destabilize things internally if there are competing factions," said Cha in an email. "No one knows of course but Beijing does not seem to be expressing the same enthusiasm for diplomacy now."

___

Associated Press reporters Hyung-jin Kim and Foster Klug contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120109/ap_on_re_as/as_china_south_korea

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Stocks drift higher on yet another slow trading day

The Dow crept up 33 points to close at 12393 as traders waited for quarterly financial results from Alcoa Corp. that might offer clues about the economic recovery.

Stocks drifted higher Monday in a fourth consecutive listless session. Traders waited for corporate financial results to start rolling in so they could look for clues about the economy.

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In the unofficial kickoff to earnings season, Alcoa, considered an economic bellwether because so many companies use its products, said it lost $34 million from October through December because of lower demand for aluminum.

The results were released after the market closed for the day. Alcoa stock finished up 27 cents, or 2.9 percent, at $9.43, the biggest gain of the 30 companies in the Dow Jones industrial average.

The Dow closed up 32.77 points, or 0.3 percent, at 12,392.69. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 2.89 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,280.70. The Nasdaq composite index rose 2.34, or 0.1 percent, to 2,676.56.

Stock trading has been subdued in recent days. The Dow's high and low were only 75 points apart Monday. In all of 2011, trading was that narrow on only 26 days. In the final five months, the average daily swing was 249 points.

The broader market has been calm, too. The S&P rose 19 points Jan. 3, the first trading day of the year, but has risen or fallen by less than four points each of the following four days.

Analysts think profit growth slowed for U.S. multinational companies from October through December because of weaker demand overseas. Europe is on the brink of recession, and China's explosive economy is cooling.

Quarterly profits for S&P 500 companies will probably only grow at half the rate of the previous three quarters, said Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P's Capital IQ. The companies generate about half their revenue overseas, he said.

The U.S. is in a "half-speed recovery, and that probably isn't enough to offset the weakness in Europe and Asia," Stovall said.

Many analysts expect materials companies such as Alcoa to suffer as developing nations expand more slowly. Government-funded construction booms had driven up prices for metals and other basic products.

"China, India, Latin America ? that's where those companies have been really driving sales in the last few quarters," said John Butters, senior earnings analyst at FactSet, a provider of financial data.

He said investors should pay close attention to what companies say about their overseas sales for clues to their future performance.

Analysts with S&P Capital IQ took a brighter view of the materials sector. They said in a note to clients that rising prices for steel, gases and chemicals will help offset declining global demand.

Another reason to expect slower profit growth: The results for the last three months of 2011 will be compared with the last three months of 2010, which are not as easy to improve on as results from earlier in 2010.

In early 2010, the U.S. was just emerging from its deepest recession in decades. Changes in the economy since late 2010 have been less dramatic, so the comparisons are more challenging, Butters said.

European markets closed lower Monday. French and German leaders met to craft the regional fiscal treaty that they agreed to pursue last year. It was their first crisis summit of the year.

The treaty would strengthen controls of spending by the 17 countries that use the euro. Excessive borrowing by nations such as Greece and Italy has hurt the European economy and roiled the financial industry.

About two stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume remained light at 3.28 billion shares.

In other corporate news:

? Netflix Inc. shot up 13.8 percent after the company made its debut in Britain and Ireland. The stock has gained 28 percent this year, best in the S&P 500. Netflix traded above $300 last summer, then plunged to $62 after the company surprised customers with a price increase.

? CareFusion Corp. plunged 8.6 percent, the most in the S&P 500. The company, which makes medical equipment, announced preliminary results that were weaker than analysts had expected.

? Inhibitex Inc., which makes medicine to treat hepatitis C, soared 140 percent after Bristol-Myers Squibb said over the weekend that it would buy the company for $2.5 billion. Other developers of hepatitis C treatments followed the rally. Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. jumped 37 percent, and Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc. added 22.7 percent.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/9GIdTduhv70/Stocks-drift-higher-on-yet-another-slow-trading-day

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Sunday, January 8, 2012

Scientists map the frontiers of vision

Friday, January 6, 2012

There's a 3-D world in our brains. It's a landscape that mimics the outside world, where the objects we see exist as collections of neural circuits and electrical impulses.

Now, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies are using new tools they developed to chart that world, a key step in revolutionizing research into the neurological basis of vision.

For the first time, the scientists have produced neuron-by-neuron maps of the regions of the mouse brain that process different kinds of visual information, laying the groundwork for decoding the circuitry of the brain using cutting-edge, genetic research techniques only possible in mice.

"In the field of cognitive research, this puts the mouse on the map - by putting the map on the mouse," says James Marshel, a Salk research associate. Marshel and Marina Garrett, a graduate student at University of California San Diego, were lead authors on a paper reporting the advance in the December 22 issue of Neuron.

To understand the extraordinarily complex computations of the human brain, including those behind visual cognition, scientists have mostly relied on studies on primates, such as monkeys, our closest relatives in the animal kingdom, and the most like us in terms of cognitive ability.

Researchers have identified what portions of the primate brain process different aspects of the sensory information they gather from the outside world. In particular, a great deal is known about what regions of the primate brain process certain visual information, helping them identify objects and follow their movements in three-dimensional space.

"We've learned a lot about how our eyes feed information to our brains, and a huge portion of our brain is devoted to processing this information," says Edward Callaway, a professor in Salk's Systems Neurobiology Laboratory, whose laboratory conducted the research. "Vision is a terrific system for understanding how the brain works and, ultimately, for studying mental diseases and consciousness."

Powerful new scientific tools are emerging that could allow scientists to better understand the human brain by studying the relatively simpler brains of mice. These methods allow scientists to alter genes, the instructions in DNA that control the behavior of cells - including the neurons that form brain circuits. By using genetic methods for mapping brain connections and controlling the activity of cells, scientists hope to generate detailed wiring diagrams of the brain and probe how these circuits function.

"While mice can not replace the work that is being done in monkeys, these research techniques are much further along in mice than in monkeys," Callaway says. "The ability to modify neural activity using genetic tools and to study the resulting changes in brain and nerve activity is revolutionizing neuroscience."

Although such genetic engineering techniques in mice offer huge potential, little was known about what areas of the mouse visual cortex - the high-level brain region that computes the meaning of signals from the eyes - were responsible for processing different elements of the visual information.

To remedy this, Callaway and his colleagues set out to chart a map of the mouse's visual processing system. They injected mice with a calcium-sensitive fluorescent dye that glows when exposed to a certain color of light. The amount of calcium in nerve cells varies depending on the activity level of the neurons, so the scientists could measure the activity of brain cells based on how brightly they glowed.

The scientists then displayed different types of visual stimulus on a television monitor and recorded what parts of the brain glowed. To make the recordings, they used a high-resolution camera capable of discerning the activity of individual nerve cells.

They found that a mouse's visual field, the area of three-dimensional space visible through its eyes, is represented by a corresponding collection of neurons in its brain. The researchers precisely recorded which neurons were associated with which area of the animal's visual field.

The scientists studied seven different areas of the animal's visual cortex containing full neuronal "maps" of the visible outside world, and found that each area has a specialized role in processing visual information. For instance, certain areas were more sensitive to the direction objects move in space, while other areas were focused on distinguishing fine detail.

With these maps of brain function in hand, the Salk researchers and others now have a baseline against which they can compare the brain function of mice in which circuit function is manipulated using genetic methods. Ultimately, Callaway says, understanding in detail how the mouse brain works will illuminate the workings of the human mind.

"This gives us new ways to explore the neural underpinnings of consciousness and to identify what goes wrong in neural circuits in the case of diseases such as schizophrenia and autism," Callaway said.

###

Salk Institute: http://www.salk.edu

Thanks to Salk Institute for this article.

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Yeti crabs and ghost octopuses! Antarctic deep-sea vents a trove of new species.

Yeti crabs heaped in piles, predatory sea stars stalking the perimeter, and ghostlike octopuses are among the extraordinary species discovered clustered around hydrothermal vents below the frigid waters of the Southern Ocean

Scientists doing their first exploring of deep-sea vents in the Antarctic have uncovered a ?world unlike anything found around other hydrothermal vents, one populated by new species of anemones, predatory sea stars, and piles of hairy-chested yeti crabs.

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It was "almost like a sight from another planet," said expedition leader Alex Rogers, a professor of zoology at Oxford University.?

Even in the eye-popping world of deep-sea vents, the Antarctic discoveries stand out, with the unfamiliar species of crabs found crowded in piles around the warm waters emanating from the seafloor. Many of the animals found at the vents have never been found at hydrothermal vents in other oceans, Rogers said. "To see these animals in such huge densities was just amazing," Rogers told LiveScience.

In the dayless world of deep-sea vents, energy comes not from the sun but from the hydrothermal energy generated in the oceanic crust.

The yeti crabs seem to cultivate?"gardens" of bacteria?on their chests, which are covered with hairy tendrils. These bacterial mats almost certainly provides the crabs with sustenance, Rogers said. In turn, predatory seven-armed sea stars stalk the periphery of the vents, snacking on unfortunate crabs. [See?video?and?photos?from the vents]

"We were absolutely stunned to see the animal communities, because they were so different from the hydrothermal vents seen elsewhere," Rogers told LiveScience. He and his colleagues reported their results today (Jan. 3) in the journal?PLoS Biology.

Weird life flourishes at deep-sea vents the world over, but no one had ever found hydrothermal vents in Antarctica, explained Jon Copley, a professor of earth and ocean science at the University of Southampton who also participated in the research. That's largely because it's more difficult to do research in the harsh Southern Ocean than in temperate climes. [Extremophiles: World's Weirdest Life]

"It's only quite recently that we've been able to be bold enough, really, to head to the poles," Copley told LiveScience.

In 1999, Antarctic mapping surveys turned up hints of hydrothermal vent output in the water column over the East Scotia Ridge in the Atlantic section of the Southern Ocean, between Antarctica and South America and eastward. It took 10 years for researchers to get back for a full-blown expedition, during which they lowered cameras to two areas, 8,530 feet (2,600 meters) and 7,874 feet (2,400 m) deep, catching the first glimpses of Antarctic hydrothermal vents. Among them were "black smokers," chimney-like vents that?emit dark-hued, superheated water.

Although the background temperature of the Southern Ocean in the area is 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius), the black smokers gushed water as hot as 721 degrees F (382 degrees C).

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/3mT6Cx_7YDk/Yeti-crabs-and-ghost-octopuses!-Antarctic-deep-sea-vents-a-trove-of-new-species

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