Problem-solving governs how we process sensory stimuli

Public release date: 25-Jun-2013
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Contact: Fritjof Helmchen
helmchen@hifo.uzh.ch
41-446-353-340
University of Zurich

This news release is available in German.

Various areas of the brain process our sensory experiences. How the areas of the cerebral cortex communicate with each other and process sensory information has long puzzled neu-roscientists. Exploring the sense of touch in mice, brain researchers from the University of Zurich now demonstrate that the transmission of sensory information from one cortical area to connected areas depends on the specific task to solve and the goal-directed behavior. These findings can serve as a basis for an improved understanding of cognitive disorders.

In the mammalian brain, the cerebral cortex plays a crucial role in processing sensory inputs. The cortex can be subdivided into different areas, each handling distinct aspects of perception, decision-making or action. The somatosensory cortex, for instance, comprises the part of the cerebral cortex that primarily processes haptic sensations. The different areas of the cerebral cortex are intercon-nected and communicate with each other. A central, unanswered question of neuroscience is how exactly do these brain areas communicate to process sensory stimuli and produce appropriate behav-ior. A team of researchers headed by Professor Fritjof Helmchen at the University of Zurich's Brain Research Institute now provides an answer: The processing of sensory information depends on what you want to achieve. The brain researchers observed that nerve cells in the sensory cortex that con-nect to distinct brain areas are activated differentially depending on the task to be solved.

Goal-directed processing of sensory information

In their publication in Nature, the researchers studied how mice use their facial whiskers to explore their environment, much like we do in the dark with our hands and fingers. One mouse group was trained to distinguish coarse and fine sandpapers using their whiskers in order to obtain a reward. Another group had to work out the angle, at which an object a metal rod was located relative to their snout. The neuroscientists measured the activity of neurons in the primary somatosensory cortex using a special microscopy technique. With simultaneous anatomical stainings they also identified which of these neurons sent their projections to the more remote secondary somatosensory area and the motor cortex, respectively.

The primary somatosensory neurons with projections to the secondary somatosensory cortex pre-dominantly became active when the mice had to distinguish the surface texture of the sandpaper. Neurons with projections to the motor cortex, on the other hand, were more involved when mice needed to localize the metal rod. These different activity patterns were not evident when mice pas-sively touched sandpaper or metal rods without having been set a task in other words, when their actions were not motivated by a reward. Thus, the sensory stimuli alone were not sufficient to explain the different pattern of information transfer to the remote brain areas.

Impaired communication in the brain

According to Fritjof Helmchen, the activity in a cortical area can be transmitted to remote areas in a targeted fashion if we have to extract ('filter') specific information from the environment to solve a problem. In cognitive disorders such Alzheimer's disease, Autism, and Schizophrenia, this communi-cation between brain areas is often disrupted. "A better understanding of how these long-range, inter-connected networks in the brain operate might help to develop therapies that re-establish this specific cortical communication," says Helmchen. The aim would be to thereby improve the impaired cognitive abilities of patients.

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Public release date: 25-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Fritjof Helmchen
helmchen@hifo.uzh.ch
41-446-353-340
University of Zurich

This news release is available in German.

Various areas of the brain process our sensory experiences. How the areas of the cerebral cortex communicate with each other and process sensory information has long puzzled neu-roscientists. Exploring the sense of touch in mice, brain researchers from the University of Zurich now demonstrate that the transmission of sensory information from one cortical area to connected areas depends on the specific task to solve and the goal-directed behavior. These findings can serve as a basis for an improved understanding of cognitive disorders.

In the mammalian brain, the cerebral cortex plays a crucial role in processing sensory inputs. The cortex can be subdivided into different areas, each handling distinct aspects of perception, decision-making or action. The somatosensory cortex, for instance, comprises the part of the cerebral cortex that primarily processes haptic sensations. The different areas of the cerebral cortex are intercon-nected and communicate with each other. A central, unanswered question of neuroscience is how exactly do these brain areas communicate to process sensory stimuli and produce appropriate behav-ior. A team of researchers headed by Professor Fritjof Helmchen at the University of Zurich's Brain Research Institute now provides an answer: The processing of sensory information depends on what you want to achieve. The brain researchers observed that nerve cells in the sensory cortex that con-nect to distinct brain areas are activated differentially depending on the task to be solved.

Goal-directed processing of sensory information

In their publication in Nature, the researchers studied how mice use their facial whiskers to explore their environment, much like we do in the dark with our hands and fingers. One mouse group was trained to distinguish coarse and fine sandpapers using their whiskers in order to obtain a reward. Another group had to work out the angle, at which an object a metal rod was located relative to their snout. The neuroscientists measured the activity of neurons in the primary somatosensory cortex using a special microscopy technique. With simultaneous anatomical stainings they also identified which of these neurons sent their projections to the more remote secondary somatosensory area and the motor cortex, respectively.

The primary somatosensory neurons with projections to the secondary somatosensory cortex pre-dominantly became active when the mice had to distinguish the surface texture of the sandpaper. Neurons with projections to the motor cortex, on the other hand, were more involved when mice needed to localize the metal rod. These different activity patterns were not evident when mice pas-sively touched sandpaper or metal rods without having been set a task in other words, when their actions were not motivated by a reward. Thus, the sensory stimuli alone were not sufficient to explain the different pattern of information transfer to the remote brain areas.

Impaired communication in the brain

According to Fritjof Helmchen, the activity in a cortical area can be transmitted to remote areas in a targeted fashion if we have to extract ('filter') specific information from the environment to solve a problem. In cognitive disorders such Alzheimer's disease, Autism, and Schizophrenia, this communi-cation between brain areas is often disrupted. "A better understanding of how these long-range, inter-connected networks in the brain operate might help to develop therapies that re-establish this specific cortical communication," says Helmchen. The aim would be to thereby improve the impaired cognitive abilities of patients.

###

---

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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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/uoz-pgh062513.php

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Students' device aims to avert repeated breast cancer surgeries

June 25, 2013 ? When a breast tumor is detected, many women opt to have a lumpectomy, which is surgery designed to remove the diseased tissue while preserving the breast. But during this procedure, doctors cannot learn right away whether all of the cancerous tissue has been removed, with no microscopic signs that cancer cells were left behind. Because of this delay, one in five of these women -- up to 66,000 patients annually in the U.S. alone -- must return for a second surgery to remove remaining cancer. These follow-up operations boost healthcare costs and can lead to delays in receiving other treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy.

To reduce the need for these second surgeries, four Johns Hopkins graduate students have designed a device to allow pathologists to quickly inspect excised breast tissue within 20 minutes, while the patient is still in the operating room. If this inspection indicates that the tumor was not fully removed, additional tissue can then be removed during the same operation. Eliminating the need for a second operation could also curb some of the additional anxiety these patients face.

The device is still in its prototype stage, but the students say their goal is to give breast cancer patients the same rapid review that commonly occurs when tumors are removed from elsewhere in the body. The students learned about the second-surgery dilemma while observing medical procedures last summer as part of a year-long biomedical engineering master's degree program. In this program, students learn to design new medical tools and products that address urgent healthcare needs.

"We spoke to breast cancer surgeons," said Hector Neira of Silver Spring, Md., one of the student inventors. "They told us that they are desperate for something that will allow them to remove the tumor in its entirety the first time, so that the patient doesn't have to come back for a second surgery."

So far, the team's system has been tested on animal tissue and human breast samples from a tissue bank, but it has not yet been used on patients. Over the past year, however, the students' device design and market analysis have earned them more than $40,000 in college business plan prize money. In the recent Design Day event for Johns Hopkins biomedical engineering students, the team received the top People's Choice award. And, although all of the student inventors received their master's diplomas in May, two have received funding to remain at Johns Hopkins and continue refining the project over the coming year.

Although the financial support and recognition is helpful, "that's not our ultimate goal," said Anjana Sinha of Princeton, N.J., another one of the student inventors. "We're not doing it for the money. We want to improve healthcare practices and raise the standard of care for these breast cancer patients. Why can't they get the same type of quick results that people with other types of cancer receive?"

When most tumors, such as those in the liver, are removed, the pathology staff can quickly flash-freeze the tissue and slice off paper-thin samples for microscopic examination. If the pathologist sees that cancer cells extend to the outer edge or margin of a sample, the surgeon is advised to remove more tissue from the patient. But breast tissue poses a problem: it possesses a high fat content and does not freeze well, causing the samples to smear, form gaps and become unsuitable for a quick review. Instead, breast tissue must be preserved and analyzed in a more time-consuming process that requires the patient to return to the operating room if the first surgery appears to have left cancer cells behind.

To solve this problem, the graduate students brainstormed for an engineering solution. Their most promising and practical idea was a device that applies an adhesive film to the breast tissue before it is sliced. The film holds the delicate tissue together, preventing damage to the samples during the slicing process. The result, the students said, is a sample that can be clearly reviewed by a pathologist within 20 minutes of its removal, potentially eliminating the need for a second operation on another day.

The low-cost system includes a reusable applicator and a proprietary disposable film. The students said the need for their product is significant, citing the estimated 330,000 lumpectomies that are performed annually in the United States alone.

"I think the students have been incredibly creative in their development of this concept, and they are addressing a very real need in the field of breast cancer surgery," said Melissa Camp, a Johns Hopkins assistant professor of surgery who worked with the team. "Accurate assessment of margin status during the initial operation will lead to fewer re-operations, and this will be beneficial for patients in many respects. I look forward to their continued work!"

At Johns Hopkins, the pathology device was developed under the supervision of the university's Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design. The center teams students with faculty researchers, physicians and others who help them understand healthcare needs and guide them as they propose solutions, then build and test prototypes. CBID operates within the Department of Biomedical Engineering, which is shared by the university's School of Medicine and its Whiting School of Engineering.

Along with Neira and Sinha, the student inventors of the breast cancer device were Qing Xiang Yee of Singapore and Vaishakhi Mayya of India. Sinha and Mayya will remain at Johns Hopkins during the coming year to continue working on the project with David Shin of Seattle, another recent graduate of the CBID master's program. The students also will continue collaborating with advisers from the School of Medicine, including Ashley Cimino-Mathews, an assistant professor of surgical pathology, and James Shin, a surgical pathology research specialist. Jason Benkoski, a senior materials scientist from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, will serve as a technical adviser to the team. The Wallace H. Coulter Foundation is providing funding for these students to continue working on the project this year.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/W03UTDCZgwA/130625161900.htm

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Particle Pals: Neutrino Experiment Shows Protons and Neutrons Pairing Up

The first physics results from MINERvA shed light on subtle nuclear behavior

By John Matson

NEUTRINO CATCHER: MINERvA co-spokesperson Deborah Harris in front of the detector. Image: FNAL

• 

  We?ve long understood black holes to be the points at which the universe as we know it comes to an end. Often billions of times more massive than the Sun, they...

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Neutrinos are notoriously antisocial, nearly always slipping past atoms of matter without so much as a ?how do you do.? But new research indicates that on the rare occasion a neutrino and an atomic nucleus do make contact, the interaction is surprisingly involved.

By training a beam of neutrinos on a plastic target, researchers at the MINERvA experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Ill., have found that when a neutrino collides with an atom it often knocks free not just one proton or neutron, but two. Some of the particles within the atomic nuclei, it appears, are pairing up rather than moving about independently, only to be sprung free in twos when a neutrino strikes. The results will have implications for precision neutrino measurements, which often rely on carefully reconstructing the physics of rare collisions between neutrinos and atoms.

MINERvA, an apparatus about the size of a bread truck, is parked in the path of a Fermilab neutrino beam, nearly all of which passes cleanly through the detector and into another neutrino experiment called MINOS. MINERvA?s detector contains a variety of different materials, including layers of lead and iron fronting the hydrocarbon plastic material of the inner detector. ?It?s chewy on the inside and crunchy on the outside,? says Deborah Harris, a Fermilab physicist and co-spokesperson for the MINERvA collaboration. ?One of the goals is to measure the neutrino interaction on several different nuclei.? Now the experiment has produced its first physics results, an analysis of neutrino interactions with carbon nuclei in the plastic portion of the detector.

In two new studies that will appear in the journal Physical Review Letters, the MINERvA collaboration reports on several months of experimental operation in 2010 and 2011. The analyses focus on so-called quasi-elastic scattering, which in the simplest case involves a neutrino colliding with a neutron in one of the carbon atoms. The interaction of those two electrically neutral particles yields two oppositely charged particles, a positively charged proton and a negatively charged muon, which scatter outward like billiard balls struck by a cue ball. ?It spits out a proton, and leaves the rest of the nucleus basically undisturbed,? Harris says. ?Some fraction of the time, it looks like more than just one proton comes out.?

The appearance of an extra proton alongside a neutron-turned-proton indicates that neutrinos tend to strike particle pairs. ?Twenty-five percent of the time, with some errors, protons are traveling around with neutrons,? Harris says. The physicists observed a similar trend in analogous reactions involving antineutrinos?the particles? antimatter counterpart. ?Let?s say that the carbon nucleus was really just six pairs of protons and neutrons? rather than a dozen independent particles, Harris explains, ?so whenever you hit a proton you?re also hitting a neutron. That?s kind of an extreme view of what might be going on in the nucleus.?

Neutrinos and antineutrinos come in three flavors?electron, muon and tau?each of them associated with a charged elementary particle of the same name. But as a neutrino zips through space at nearly the speed of light, it oscillates between the three possible flavors, a phenomenon that several experiments around the world are currently investigating. The tendency toward nuclear pairings documented at MINERvA could inform the analysis of those neutrino-oscillation experiments. ?It is not accounted for in the standard kinds of simulations of how neutrinos interact in all these oscillation experiments,? Harris says. ?In order to predict what the neutrino energy was coming in, you have to make some assumptions about what was going on in the nucleus.?

Adds physicist John Arrington of Argonne National Laboratory, who did not contribute to the new research: ?You really have to understand those reaction mechanisms to know what?s going on? in experiments where neutrinos scatter off of atomic nuclei. ?That really just wasn?t possible with the types of neutrino-scattering experiments that have been done before.??

Source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=neutrino-minerva

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Man arrested over British family murder in French Alps

LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) - Police in Britain have arrested a man on suspicion of conspiracy to murder a British family of Iraqi origin who were killed in a high-profile murder in France last year, French public prosecutor Eric Maillaud said on Monday.

Saad al-Hilli, an Iraqi-born British engineer, was found shot dead in September 2012 with his wife and mother-in-law in their BMW car on a remote mountain road near the village of Chevaline, with the body of a cyclist, Sylvain Mollier, discovered nearby.

They were killed in what appeared to be execution-style murders, with at least two hits to the head from a semi-automatic pistol.

Speaking to Reuters, Maillaud identified Saad al-Hilli's brother Zaid as the man arrested.

"Several lines of questioning closed over time... The main theory today is linked to the family," he said.

"There seems to have been a real desire on Zaid's part to recover his father's wealth, to Saad's detriment, by any means necessary, including illegally."

Maillaud said there was no formal evidence, but that police now had enough elements to question Zaid as a suspect.

Hilli's two daughters survived the attack, despite the gunman trying to kill the eldest - 7-year-old Zainab - by beating her around the head after running out of bullets.

Four-year-old Zeena was found safe hiding beneath the legs and skirt of her dead mother in the backseat of the car.

The brutality and unexplained nature of the killings led to prominent coverage of the case in British media.

Investigators have said previously they were looking at various theories, including robbery, a family feud, a possible link to Hilli's work in the aerospace industry or his Iraqi origins.

(Reporting By Costas Pitas in London and Gerard Bon in Paris; writing by John Irish; editing by Stephen Addison and Michael Roddy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/man-arrested-over-british-family-murder-french-alps-104058627.html

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Boy Band Gangs? Aaron Carter Jumped By NKOTB Fans?

Boy Band Gangs? Aaron Carter Jumped By NKOTB Fans?

Singer Aaron Carter was reportedly involved in a skirmish by men that didn’t appreciate him being on NKOTB turf. WTF? The 25-year-old singer, who currently in the middle of his The After Party tour, uploaded pictures of his bruised face and knuckles following the altercation in Boston on Saturday night. Aaron Carter, the younger brother ...

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Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/06/boy-band-gangs-aaron-carter-jumped-by-nkotb-fans/

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Ken Duke wins Travelers Championship in playoff

Ken Duke watches his tee shot on the second hole during the final round of the Travelers Championship golf tournament in Cromwell, Conn., Sunday, June 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)

Ken Duke watches his tee shot on the second hole during the final round of the Travelers Championship golf tournament in Cromwell, Conn., Sunday, June 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)

Ken Duke celebrates, right, with his caddie after winning the Travelers Championship golf tournament in Cromwell, Conn., Sunday, June 23, 2013. Duke won the second playoff hole against Chris Stroud. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)

Ken Duke celebrates after sinking a birdie putt on the second playoff hole at the Travelers Championship golf tournament in Cromwell, Conn., Sunday, June 23, 2013. Duke won a playoff against Chris Stroud with the birdie. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)

Ken Duke holds the trophy after winning the Travelers Championship golf tournament in Cromwell, Conn., Sunday, June 23, 2013. Duke won the tournament with a birdie on the second playoff hole. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)

CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) ? Ken Duke needed 187 starts on the PGA Tour to get his first win, securing it at a tournament that is building a reputation for such breakthroughs.

The 44-year-old journeyman made a 2? foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole Sunday to beat Chris Stroud at the Travelers Championship.

Stroud, who also was looking for his first title, had chipped in from 51 feet on the 18th hole, to get to 12-under par and force the playoff.

But Duke made the better approach shot on the second extra hole, bouncing his ball in front of the flag and rolling it close.

"Yeah, it's been a long time," said Duke, who turned pro in 1994." I've been on the Canadian tour, the mini tours, Asian Tour, South American Tour, all of them; Web.com, and it's just great to be a part of this big family on the PGA Tour."

Duke, who came in ranked 144th in the world, is the sixth golfer in eight years to get his first PGA Tour win here, joining J.J. Henry (2006), Hunter Mahan (2007), Bubba Watson (2010), Fredrik Jacobsen (2011) and Marc Leishman last year.

Canadian Graham DeLaet finished a stroke back in third place with a 269. Watson finished fourth, two shots behind, after making a six on the par-3 16th hole.

"You gotta believe in yourself in everything you do," Duke said. "That's why those guys at the top are winning week in, week out because they believe they can do it. It's kind of one of those things once you finally do it it might come easier the next time. That's kind of the way I feel."

Duke wouldn't have been in position to win at all had luck not intervened on the 10th hole, when his ball ricocheted off a tree and onto the green to about 5 feet from the pin, allowing him to make birdie.

After a 17-foot birdie putt on the next hole, he made a 45-footer on the 13th hole, a shot that looked as though it might go past the hole to the right, before falling in.

He battled Watson for the lead down the back nine, until the former Masters champion found trouble on the 16th.

Watson put his drive into the water and put his next shot over the green.

He finished two strokes back in fourth place.

"The wind affected the first shot, and the wind didn't affect the next shot," Watson said. "I flew it three feet past the hole, which you can't do right now because the greens are so firm."

Duke looked as though he had the tournament sewn up after saving par on 18, despite a tee shot that went well right and onto a hill, and a second shot that went just over the green. He used a putter to put the ball within 2 feet, then sank the putt as the crowd roared for what they thought was a winning shot.

It looked even more secure when Stroud's second shot hit near the stick, but then rolled well off the green. That just set up the dramatic chip shot.

Stroud hit his tee shot over the cart path and 94 yards from the hole on the first playoff hole, while Duke's first shot jumped out of a fairway bunker and into the rough.

Duke bounced his second shot onto the green. Stroud's went into a greenside bunker.

Stroud chipped to 8 feet but had to watch as Green almost sank a long putt that would have ended it.

The two both struck the ball well on the second playoff hole, but Stroud missed a 25-foot birdie putt, and Duke made his short putt.

"I had three shots from 94 yards on 18, the exact same yardage, and I could not figure out a way to stop that ball," Stroud said. "Regulation, luckily, I chipped it in."

Watson, Charley Hoffman and DeLaet began the day tied for the lead, but 21 other players were within five strokes.

Webb Simpson shot a 65 to finish at 271, then headed home immediately after his round despite being just a stroke behind the leaders at the time. He said he knew the score wouldn't be good enough to win.

"I'm itching to get to my family, so I'm going to head to the airport," he said.

Justin Rose followed his U.S. Open win by shooting 6-under par for this tournament. He was in contention, with two birdies on his first seven holes, but didn't get another until the final hole and made three bogeys. He said fatigue was a factor.

"I'm still able to put one foot in front of the other," he said. "I still feel OK, but my guess is there's just a little bit of sharpness that I might be lacking."

No player has gone back-to-back after capturing the U.S. Open since 1997, when Ernie Els won the Buick Classic at the Westchester Country Club in New York.

Rose plans to play next week at Congressional before taking two weeks off to prepare for the British Open.

DeLaet a native of, Weyburn, Saskatchewan, said his thoughts this week have been with the people of Alberta, where widespread flooding is blamed for at least three deaths and forced thousands to evacuate.

He had the words "For Alberta" written on his cap Sunday.

The 2009 Canadian Tour player of the year pledged to donate $1,000 for every birdie he made to help the relief efforts.

PGA Tour Canada, a bank and a Canadian businessman all agreed to match the donation. He finished with three birdies on Sunday and nine for the weekend.

"Hopefully it puts a small dent in what they need," he said. "But our hearts are still with them."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-06-23-Travelers%20Championship/id-d7eaefe474cc488291a8742a23d3ff71

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Kremlin says unaware of Snowden's plans

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said on Sunday that he was unaware of the location or plans of former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

The South China Morning Post reported that Snowden had left Hong Kong on a flight for Moscow and that his final destination may be Ecuador or Iceland.

Asked whether Snowden was en route to Moscow and whether he had ask for asylum, Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said he did not know. A Russian Foreign Ministry official declined immediate comment.

Peskov said earlier this month that Russia would consider granting Snowden asylum if he were to ask for it and pro-Kremlin lawmakers supported the idea, but there has been no indication the fugitive American has done so.

U.S. authorities have charged Snowden with theft of U.S. government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information and willful communication of classified communications intelligence to an unauthorized person, with the latter two charges falling under the U.S. Espionage Act.

The United States had asked Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, to send him home.

(Reporting by Alexei Anishchuk; Writing by Steve Gutterman; Editing by Lidia Kelly and Pravin Char)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kremlin-says-unaware-snowdens-location-plans-083140205.html

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I love it when anti-GLBT candidates lose (Offthekuff)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

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Facebook Adds Like Button To Mobile Messages, A One-Touch ?OK?

"Alright", "Yes", and the much-hated "k" just got a visual redesign. Facebook's iOS and Android apps have rolled out the option in messages to reply with a one-tap thumbs-up Like button sticker. It's a highly-functional flourish that replaces the greyed-out Send button when you haven't typed anything. And while it seems simple, I'm finding it quite satisfying.

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

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Wing walker, pilot die in crash at Ohio air show

CINCINNATI (AP) ? A plane carrying a wing walker crashed at an air show and exploded into flames Saturday, killing the pilot and stunt walker, authorities said.

The crash of the 450 HP Stearman happened at around 12:45 p.m. at the Vectren Air Show near Dayton in front of thousands of horrified spectators. No one else was hurt.

A video posted on WHIO-TV shows the plane turn upside-down as the performer sits on top of the wing. The plane then tilts and crashes to the ground, erupting into flames as spectators screamed.

Ian Hoyt, an aviation photographer and licensed pilot from Findlay, was at the show with his girlfriend. He told The Associated Press he was taking photos as the plane passed by and had just raised his camera to take another shot.

"Then I realized they were too low and too slow. And before I knew it, they hit the ground," he said.

He couldn't tell exactly what happened, but it appeared that the plane stalled and didn't have enough air speed, he said. He credited the pilot for steering clear of spectators and potentially saving lives.

"Had he drifted more, I don't know what would have happened," Hoyt said. He said he had been excited to see the show because he'd never seen the scheduled performer ? wing walker Jane Wicker ? in action.

On the video, the announcer narrates as the plane glides through the sky and rolls over while the stuntwoman perches on a wing.

"Now she's still on that far side. Keep an eye on Jane. Keep an eye on Charlie. Watch this! Jane Wicker, sitting on top of the world," the announcer said, right before the plane makes a quick turn and nosedive.

Federal records show that biplane was registered to Wicker, who lived in Loudon, Va. A man who answered the phone at a number listed for Wicker on her website said he had no comment and hung up.

One of the pilots listed on Wicker's website was named Charlie Schwenker. A post on Jane Wicker Airshows' Facebook page announced the deaths of Wicker and Schwenker and asked for prayers for their families.

A message left at a phone listing for Charles Schwenker in Oakton, Va., wasn't immediately returned.

Dayton International Airport spokeswoman Linda Hughes and Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. Anne Ralston confirmed that a pilot and stunt walker had died but declined to give their names. The air show also declined to release their identities.

The show was canceled for the rest of the day, but organizers said events would resume Sunday and follow the previous schedule and normal operations. The National Transportation Safety Board said it is investigating the crash.

Another spectator, Shawn Warwick of New Knoxville, told the Dayton Daily News that he was watching the flight through binoculars.

"I noticed it was upside-down really close to the ground. She was sitting on the bottom of the plane," he said. "I saw it just go right into the ground and explode."

Than Tran, of Fairfield, said he could see a look of concern on the wing walker's face just before the plane went down.

"She looked very scared," he said. "Then the airplane crashed on the ground. After that, it was terrible, man ... very terrible."

Wicker's website says she responded to a classified ad from the Flying Circus Airshow in Bealeton, Va., in 1990, for a wing-walking position, thinking it would be fun. She was a contract employee who worked as a Federal Aviation Administration budget analyst, the FAA said.

She told WDTN-TV in an interview this week that her signature move was hanging underneath the plane's wing by her feet and sitting on the bottom of the airplane while it's upside-down.

"I'm never nervous or scared because I know if I do everything as I usually do, everything's going to be just fine," she told the station.

Wicker wrote on her website that she had never had any close calls.

"What you see us do out there is after an enormous amount of practice and fine tuning, not to mention the airplane goes through microscopic care. It is a managed risk and that is what keeps us alive," she wrote.

In 2011, wing walker Todd Green fell 200 feet to his death at an air show in Michigan while performing a stunt in which he grabbed the skid of a helicopter.

In 2007, veteran stunt pilot Jim LeRoy was killed at the Dayton show when his biplane slammed into the runway while performing loop-to-loops and caught fire.

Organizers were presenting a trimmed-down show and expected smaller crowds at Dayton after the Air Force Thunderbirds and other military participants pulled out this year because of federal budget cuts.

The air show, one of the country's oldest, usually draws around 70,000 people and has a $3.2 million impact on the local economy. Without military aircraft and support, the show expected attendance to be off 30 percent or more.

___

Thomas reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press writers Kerry Lester in Chicago and Randy Pennell in Philadelphia contributed to this report.

___

Online:

Raw video of crash: http://bit.ly/11Vf7JA

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wing-walker-pilot-die-crash-ohio-air-show-191655523.html

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Secret college admissions practice for men

Syracuse University graduates at the 2012 commencement on May 13, 2012 at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York.??

The Supreme Court is poised to release its opinion on an affirmative-action case that could forever change the way public colleges and universities consider race in admissions. But even if, as some predict, the justices issue a broad ruling slapping down the use of race in admissions, an open secret in higher education?that many colleges lower their admissions standards for male applicants?remains unchallenged and largely unremarked upon.

For years, the percentage of men enrolled in college has been declining, with women making up nearly 57 percent of all undergrads at four-year colleges last year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. While schools are prohibited under the federal Title IX law from discriminating based on gender, some admissions officials have admitted in recent years that male applicants get a leg up from colleges hoping to avoid gender imbalances on campus.

Jennifer Delahunty Britz, the dean of admissions at the private liberal arts school Kenyon College, was among the first to admit this when she wrote an op-ed titled "To All the Girls I've Rejected" in The New York Times in 2006.

"The reality is that because young men are rarer, they're more valued applicants," she wrote, adding that two-thirds of colleges report that more women than men apply for admission. "What messages are we sending young women that they must, nearly 25 years after the defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment, be even more accomplished than men to gain admission to the nation's top colleges?"

Delahunty Britz's acknowledgment opened the floodgates, and reporters began looking closely at schools that admitted a much higher percentage of male than female applicants.

Of course, these gaps don't necessarily mean that women are being discriminated against. It's possible that the male applicant pool is better qualified on average, though that's hard to ascertain when colleges generally resist releasing their admissions data.

The University of Richmond, a private liberal arts school, acknowledged in 2009 that it attempts to keep its gender balance at about 50-50, which meant women's admit rate was about 13 percentage points lower than men's over the previous 10 years. Admissions officer Marilyn Hesser told CBS that men and women had about the same standardized test scores, but that male applicants' GPA was lower on average. (The college's admission rate suddenly became more gender neutral the following year, in 2010-2011, when men's acceptance rate was only 3 percentage points higher than women's.)

The same year, the College of William and Mary, a public institution in Virginia, accepted 39.4 percent of its male applicants and 27.2 percent of female applicants. The school's admissions dean, Henry Broaddus, said men have slightly higher standardized test scores but lower GPAs than women, on average.

Broaddus defended the policy, insisting that William and Mary's female students want the college to to be gender-balanced and that colleges in general risk becoming less attractive to both men and women when the gender balance tips too far toward women.

"Even women who enroll ... expect to see men on campus," Broaddus said at the time. "It's not the College of Mary and Mary; it's the College of William and Mary."

In 2005, some of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's trustees reportedly wondered whether they should instate "affirmative action for men," to counteract the declining percentage of men on campus. (The school is more than 58 percent female.)

The stories prompted admissions consultants who charge $200 per hour to caution on their web site that women applicants must try harder. "The best advice we can give female applicants is to follow the same advice we're giving everyone?only more strictly: start your college applications early, apply to an appropriate number and range of schools, and prepare each one of your applications carefully."

Interestingly, none of these revelations prompted a wave of lawsuits, or even much outrage, from feminist organizations or other groups. It's even more surprising since the issue is probably more clear-cut, legally speaking, than race-based affirmative action.

In Grutter v. Bollinger, the 2003 case that set current law around race-based affirmative action, the Supreme Court ruled that in order to achieve a "critical mass" of underrepresented minority groups, colleges can use race as a limited factor in admissions decisions. The court said at the time they believed affirmative action would no longer be necessary after 25 years, an argument the Supreme Court is now reconsidering with Fisher v. University of Texas, a case brought by a white student who was rejected by the university.

Many legal experts expect the court, which is more conservative now than it was in 2003, to rule against UT, which could mean public colleges could have to stop considering race in admissions as a way to increase on-campus diversity.

But with men, there's no "critical mass" argument to make; men are outnumbered by women on campus, but not so vastly that they can be considered an underrepresented minority. The constitution does allow for more discrimination based on gender than race. (The courts treat any classification based on race with strict scrutiny; gender-based classifications get a more relaxed degree of review.)

But Title IX pretty clearly forbids any admissions decision that discriminates based on gender, meaning Congress has already made gender-balancing admissions decisions effectively illegal. In the one known case on this issue, plaintiffs challenged the University of Georgia in 2000 for both race and gender admissions preferences, and a federal circuit court found that gender preferences were illegal and struck them down. The school declined to appeal.

Why haven't there been more lawsuits?

Gail Heriot, a conservative law professor at the University of San Diego and a member of the federal U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, said it's partly the murky politics of the issue. Liberal, feminist groups tend to support affirmative action for racial minorities, and could be wary that attacking gender preferences for men would lead them into attacking racial preferences.

Meanwhile, conservative groups that reject race-based affirmative action would rather draw attention to the "boy crisis" they believe harms men than seize the chance to deal a blow to both race and gender admissions preferences.

Heriot began a Commission investigation into whether colleges were discriminating against female applicants in 2009, but the eight-member panel voted to end it at the suggestion of a Democratic appointee in 2011. Several schools had refused to hand over the admissions data to Heriot, which made the investigation difficult.

Heriot dismissed the argument that women would rather attend gender-balanced schools, even if it means they had to get better grades in high school than their male peers to get in.

"It strikes me as a very troubling argument to say, 'Gosh, women want to be discriminated against,'" she said. "You're going to have to prove that to me."

She still believes that a case against gender preferences at public schools could win.

"I'm a conservative so I tend to be on the other side of issues from Justice [Ruth Bader] Ginsburg. But I'd be happy to argue this one to her. I think I have a shot," Heriot said.

Meanwhile, admissions officers who do not want to give a leg up to men are left to find other means to attract men to campus. Brandeis University (57 percent female) tried offering free baseball caps to their first 500 male applicants, according to Heriot.

Eric Felix, an admissions officer for the University of San Diego, a small liberal arts school that is 45 percent male, says he tries to encourage qualified men to apply by tailoring applications materials to them, highlighting the school's engineering programs and sports teams instead of the beautiful campus shots sent to women. He also visits all-boys schools and ROTC programs to recruit.

Felix said he does not use gender preferences, but that male applicants can often make up for their on average lower GPAs through "non-cognitive" factors such as leadership roles in extracurriculars. "We're only going to admit students that we feel are successful," Felix said. "Once you get to the non-academic pieces then men start to shine, because they put an emphasis on extracurriculars."

Felix said that although men may not be an oppressed minority, they are often discouraged from emphasizing academics because they are expected to get a part-time job or join the military. Felix also argued that gender is part of diversity on campus.

"Students need to be able to interact with a diverse population and part of that diversity is gender," Felix said. "If there's a discussion about rape and sexual assault in court cases [in class] and there's not men to add a voice, that's a conversation that's really missing."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/court-prepares-affirmative-action-decision-softer-standards-men-182205509.html

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High-speed mobile data congestion in Tokyo; iPhone worse than Android

By Ken Y-N ( June 22, 2013 at 00:26) ? Filed under Mobile, Polls, Statistics

Advertisement

Mobile Marketing Data Laboratory recently conducted a study into data packet congestion in LTE 4G networks in Tokyo. Packet congestion was defined in this survey as when on an LTE connection the web page under test ? Yahoo! Japan?s top page was used ? fails to completely load within 30 seconds.

Demographics(?)

Between the 10th and 14th of June 2013 the investigation team visited the six busiest stations on the Tokyo Yamanote line, choosing two spots on each to test, during both the morning peak period of 7 am to 9 am, and evening peak of 5 pm to 7 pm. 100 connections were made from each collection point, for a total of 1,200 tests for each phone.

Specifically, the stations and locations were Shinjuku South and East entrances, Ikebukuro in front of South ticket wicket and Seibu East entrance, Shibuya in front of Tamagawa ticket wicket and Hikarie entrance, Tokyo Yaesu Central entrance and Marunouchi North entrance, Shinagawa Minato South entrance and Central ticket wicket, and Shinbashi Kasumori entrance and SL Plaza. For the tests, au and SoftBank iPhone 5s tested out Apple connections, and Android was represented by docomo?s Xperia Z, au?s HTC J butterfly, and SoftBank?s Aquos Phone Xx.

Instead of a graph, here?s Shinbashi?s SL Plaza:

SL is the abbreviation used in Japan for Steam Locomotive, as you might have guessed!

Research results

1. iPhone 5 packet congestion rates

Station	au iPhone 5 congestion rate	SoftBank iPhone 5 congestion rate
Shinjuku	40.0%	3.0%
Ikebukuro	9.5%	2.0%
Shibuya	3.0%	0.0%
Tokyo	5.0%	0.0%
Shinagawa	52.5%	9.0%
Shinbashi	12.5%	0.0%
Total	20.4%	2.3%

2. iPhone 5 page load time

Station	au iPhone 5 page load time	SoftBank iPhone 5 page load time
Shinjuku	18.11 seconds	5.50 seconds
Ikebukuro	8.24 seconds	4.84 seconds
Shibuya	6.46 seconds	3.74 seconds
Tokyo	7.49 seconds	4.15 seconds
Shinagawa	18.32 seconds	7.94 seconds
Shinbashi	9.64 seconds	3.28 seconds
Total	11.38 seconds	4.91 seconds

By time of day, au was about 50% slower in the evening, versus about 20% for SoftBank. By day of the week, Monday and Friday mornings were slower than the mid-week mornings for both carriers, and Friday evening was the slowest overall for au.

3. Android packet congestion rates

Station	docomo Xperia Z congestion rate	au HTC J congestion rate	SoftBank Aquos Phone Xx congestion rate
Shinjuku	4.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Ikebukuro	17.5%	0.0%	0.0%
Shibuya	2.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Tokyo	3.5%	0.0%	0.0%
Shinagawa	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Shinbashi	2.5%	0.0%	0.0%
Total	4.9%	0.0%	0.0%

4. Android page load time

Station	docomo Xperia Z page load time	au HTC J page load time	SoftBank Aquos Phone Xx page load time
Shinjuku	6.27 seconds	2.47 seconds	3.30 seconds
Ikebukuro	8.96 seconds	3.16 seconds	5.12 seconds
Shibuya	4.78 seconds	2.76 seconds	3.76 seconds
Tokyo	8.06 seconds	2.98 seconds	3.46 seconds
Shinagawa	4.00 seconds	3.28 seconds	3.86 seconds
Shinbashi	5.08 seconds	3.24 seconds	4.19 seconds
Total	6.19 seconds	2.98 seconds	3.95 seconds

It was difficult to see any obvious trend by time of day or weekday here.

Read more on: android,iphone,lte,mmd laboratory

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WhatJapanThinks/~3/iyqmEgHddw4/

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[iPad Mini] Technology in education with iPads

Quote:

I thought I'd share this with you all - it involves providing technology in my classroom and seemed relevant. If this is not acceptable here, I'll remove it immediately. Please help spread the word! http://http://igg.me/at/biologymonk/x/3678558

Your link is slightly off. Here is the corrected URL.

http://igg.me/at/biologymonk/x/3678558

I have been toying with the concept of flipping my classroom as well, but face challenges in motivating my weaker pupils to view my screencasts, as well as finding the time and energy to record them after a long day's work.

I appreciate the share, as I am also a teacher using an ipad in the classroom, and am always in the lookout for new and inventive ways to utilize my ipad better.

Source: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1599562&goto=newpost

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STOCKHOLM: Pirate Bay Swede sentenced for hacking, fraud ...

FILE - In this May 20, 2013 file photo, Pirate Bay founder Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, center, is escorted into the courtroom at Nacka District Court, in Stockholm, Sweden. A Swede serving a sentence for involvement with file-sharing site Pirate Bay has been found guilty of fraud, hacking into Sweden?s tax authority and a bank, and the attempted illegal transfer of money between accounts in Europe. The Nacka District Court in Stockholm on Thursday, June 20, 2013 gave Gottfrid Svartholm Warg a two-year prison sentence, and also found another Swede, Mathias Gustafsson, guilty of hacking and placed him on probation. It was not immediately clear if they will appeal. (AP Photo/Erik Martensson, file) SWEDEN OUT

ERIK MARTENSSON ? AP

STOCKHOLM ? A founder of the popular file-sharing website Pirate Bay who was arrested in Cambodia under an international warrant was convicted in Sweden on Thursday of hacking and fraud and given a two-year prison sentence.

The Nacka District Court in Stockholm said 28-year-old Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, who is currently serving a one-year sentence for copyright violation, was found guilty of hacking into a company that handles sensitive information for Sweden's police force, the country's tax authority, and Nordic banking group Nordea AB. The court also convicted him of fraud and attempted fraud for stealing money from an account in Denmark and trying to illegally transfer euros 654,000 ($863,000) of money in European accounts.

Another Swede, Mathias Gustafsson, age 36, was found guilty of hacking and was placed on probation. It was not immediately clear if they would appeal.

"The data intrusion has been very extensive and technically advanced," the court said in its ruling.

The men denied wrongdoing, claiming their computers were used remotely by others, but computer forensic experts told the court they found evidence that the two men were behind the hacking.

In 2009, a Swedish court gave Svartholm Warg and three Pirate Bay colleagues one-year sentences for copyright violation. They also were ordered to pay 46 million kronor ($6.5 million) in damages to the entertainment industry.

Svartholm Warg appealed that ruling, but he left the country and was arrested in Cambodia in 2012, after Sweden issued an international arrest warrant for him. He was repatriated and his one-year prison sentence was upheld in an appeal court hearing last year.

Known by his Internet alias "Anakata," Svartholm Warg also is wanted in Denmark, where he is suspected of hacking to access sensitive information. During the Swedish investigation, police tipped off colleagues in neighboring Denmark who investigated and found traces of hacking of Danish sites, possibly by Svartholm Warg and a Dane.

The Danish Justice Ministry said the hackers had accessed "some information" from the Schengen Information System - a large European database maintained by police and legal officials - and had copied Danish social security numbers and data from the country's register of public and private businesses.

The Pirate Bay is one of the world's biggest free file-sharing websites, offering millions of users a forum for downloading music, movies and computer games.

Associated Press writer Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2013/06/20/3547385/pirate-bay-swede-sentenced-for.html

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Hank, The National Zoo's Sloth Bear Cub, Makes Adorable First Pubic Appearance (PHOTOS)

Say hello to Hank, the National Zoo's sloth bear cub, born in December. (Hi Hank!)

He's spent the last six months with his mother inside a den, where he could be seen on a webcam.

But now you can meet Hank in the fur, as it were. This little guy made his public debut on the zoo's Asia Trail on Thursday morning.

Check out pictures from Hank's first day! Story continues below...

• Hank the sloth bear cub says "hello" to public

  "Oh, hey there!"

• Hank the sloth bear cub makes public debut June 20, 2013

• Hank and his mother, Hana, cuddling up

• Hank and Hana

• Hank climbing on the sloth bear exhibit's rocky terrain

• Hear Hank roar!

• Hank likes to sniff

  But you can't eat rock!

• Hank likes to dig!

• Sloth bear cub Hank makes his public debut June 20, 2013

• Hank the sloth bear cub

• Mother and son, Hana and Hank

• Hank checking some tree branches

• Hank and Hana on Mother's Day

  Like mother, like son! Sloth bear Hana and her cub, Hank, enjoy some play time in their indoor enclosure. Sloth bear moms are the only bears that carry their young on their backs. After emerging from the den, cubs stay at their mother's side for two to three years before heading off on their own.

The adorable Hank, whose name was chosen by the public via Facebook and is a combination of his parents' names -- Hana and Francois -- is the first sloth bear cub born at the Zoo in seven years.

Hank is one of only seven sloth bears born in North America under the species survival plan. The sloth bear is considered a "vulnerable" species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Hank alone raised the population of sloth bears under human care by three percent.

According to the zoo, Hank's climbing skills have developed enough to tackle the rocky terrain of the sloth bear exhibit. We recommend you verifying that claim by paying Hank a visit yourself.

Take a look at some of the other cute animals that were born recently at the zoo!

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/20/national-zoo-sloth-bear-cub_n_3472524.html

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How To Save Cash On Auto Insurance | Travel, fitness, life ,

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American who leaked NSA secrets is a free man in Hong Kong - for now

By James Pomfret and Anne Marie Roantree

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Edward Snowden, an American who has leaked details of top-secret U.S. surveillance programs and is believed to be in Hong Kong, is technically free to leave the China-ruled city at any time, local lawyers said on Wednesday, and one suggested he probably should.

Snowden has not been charged by the U.S. government nor is he the subject of an extradition request. If Washington asks for his extradition, it will be decided in court, where Snowden could argue to stay, the experts said.

But his best option may be to get out quickly, if he has not already done so, one lawyer said.

"If I was him, I'd be getting out of here and heading to a sympathetic jurisdiction as fast as possible and certainly before the United States issues a request for his extradition," said lawyer Kevin Egan, who has dealt with extradition cases in the city.

"The attitude of the judiciary here seems to be if Uncle Sam wants you, Uncle Sam will get you."

The big unknown in this case is China. Although it has a degree of autonomy, Hong Kong ultimately answers to Beijing and China could exercise its right to veto any ruling in a local court if the opportunity arose.

So far, there's been no indication of any moves by Hong Kong law enforcement to approach or question Snowden, last known to have checked out of a luxury hotel in the city's Kowloon district on Monday.

The Security Bureau declined comment, while the Hong Kong government has said generally it will act in accordance with the law. The Chinese government has not commented on the case.

"In strictly legal terms he's free to go, but government bodies can always find an excuse to temporize, or stop him," said Jonathan Acton-Bond, a lawyer who has dealt with high-profile extradition cases in Hong Kong.

The U.S. Justice Department is in the initial stages of a criminal investigation into the revelations, officials in Washington have said.

The key to Snowden's fate lies in the specific nature of any charges filed against him, if and when they are filed. It will then depend on whether, under Hong Kong law, he's also charged with a criminal act, without which authorities cannot arrest or take legal action against him.

"If they can't find the equivalent charge in Hong Kong, they can't extradite him," said lawyer and legislator Ronny Tong, who added any protracted extradition battle could become a high-profile test of the city's rule of law in the face of political pressure from Beijing and Washington.

BATTLE IN HONG KONG?

Sources at Hong Kong law firms have said Snowden has approached human rights lawyers in the city and may be digging in his heels for a legal fight in preparation for the United States laying charges against him.

Snowden, who admitted he disclosed classified information about National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance programs to the Guardian and Washington Post newspapers, is likely to face charges, possibly under the Espionage Act enacted in 1917, experts in the United States have said.

Under Hong Kong laws, an espionage charge could potentially find equivalence under its Official Secrets Ordinance.

The offence of "unlawful use of computers" meanwhile, is included in the list of offences in the extradition treaty between Hong Kong and the United States, and could potentially be used as grounds for extradition, legal experts say.

Either way, should Snowden face a formal extradition bid, he could challenge this in a Hong Kong court, and concurrently make a claim for political asylum in what could be a protracted legal battle that could drag out for months, if not years.

Given the political sensitivity of the case, there's a chance the United States could pressure China to fast-track any possible expedition request. The scope, however, for Beijing to influence the outcome of court extradition proceedings is limited and has rarely been exercised for cases involving non-Chinese nationals.

Despite China's ultimate authority over Hong Kong, the financial hub maintains a high degree of autonomy, with its British common law system considered one of the pillars of its success as a commercial and financial hub.

"The extradition system if it's engaged, follows strict procedures laid down by the law and that's supervised by the courts," said prominent Hong Kong lawyer Philip Dykes.

Another lawyer and extradition expert in Hong Kong who declined to be named said even if proceedings were fast tracked by the U.S. and Hong Kong governments and Snowden were arrested, he would have the right to habeas corpus - to be brought before a local court to demand release from unlawful detention.

Geoffrey Robertson, a leading London-based lawyer who has advised WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in an ongoing extradition case, said Snowden could argue he had not put lives at risk and was a political refugee. But he could consider moving out of Hong Kong.

Speaking after Russia said it would consider granting asylum to the American, Robertson told Reuters: "Mr Snowden would doubtless be safe-but-sorry in North Korea and might find refuge in Russia. A more pleasant environment would be New Zealand where he could join Kim Dotcom in resisting extradition."

Kim Dotcom is the founder of the Megaupload file sharing site, who is fighting extradition to the United States to face online piracy charges.

(Additional reporting by Lawrence Hurley and David Ingram in WASHINGTON; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/american-leaked-nsa-secrets-free-man-hong-kong-084522296.html

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