Thursday, February 28, 2013

Prague Day 1 | Travel Blog

Posted: February 27, 2013 by phoenixafterdark in Prague 21.-24.02.2013

After a leisurely breakfast we took off on foot to the main station of Dresden to board our train to Prague. After hunting for seats (successfully) we took in the charm of the train?. ahem?let?s say sociolist chic best describes it :)Train to Prague

Two hours later we arrived in Prague and continued on foot to the closest Tram station. They are really easy to use and look so cute? A short-term ticket costs 24CKR (about 1?) and is valid for 30min on all public transportation.

Cute Tram

Cute Tram

Tickets can be bought in metro stations and most tobacco shops around the Tram stations. 10min on the train and we found ourselves in the middle of the suburbs of Prague?and it felt like a 30-year time-warp into bygone soviet times?.seriously. It was slightly scary. But after a 2min walk we got to the hotel and already the lobby made up for the surroundings. I had booked the hotel via HRS as a Hot Deal for 21? per night with breakfast?unbeatable pricing.

The hotel itself -?http://www.ostruvek.cz/index.php?lang=ger&menu=kontakt?- was like a shining pearl in the middle of seaweed and murk? Set back from the main road with nicely furnished modern rooms, and the food was AWESOME?and cheap ^^ .

Room 308

Room 308

?

But I digress? after check-in we retreated to our rooms and since it was already around 5pm we decided to meet for an early dinner (ok, looks like we?re grey-haired retired people, but we hadn?t eaten since breakfast) which turned into a 5 hour long food and drink festival? We each had a main course and later in the evening two desserts and enough drinks to last a normal person for days ^^ And all that in the end cost us around 60??for 4 people o.O

Yummy Czech 'Pancake' with mushrooms and cheese

Yummy Czech ?Pancake? with mushrooms and cheese

Palatschinken (pancake) with peach jam

Palatschinken (pancake) with peach jam

Cheers to beer and Slivovice

Cheers to beer and Slivovice

Our game....every time we meet

Our game?.every time we meet

And that was pretty much it for the first day?after the restaurant closed we just fell into the comfy beds and were dead to the world?

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Source: http://phoenixandarmergeddonontour.wordpress.com/2013/02/27/prague-day-1/

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Source: http://www.hellofour.com/blog/50730/specialist-search-engine-optimization-services-business/

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Connecticut man, 68, arrested after complaining about anti-gay shirt

Wolcott Police

Derrell Rice, 68, was arrested after causing disturbances in two Connecticut schools to protest a decision to allow a student to wear a T-shirt with an anti-gay symbol.

By LeAnne Gendreau, NBCConnecticut.com

Police have charged a 68-year-old Torrington man with breach of peace and criminal trespass after he caused disturbances at two schools to? complain about a decision to allow a student to wear a T-shirt with an anti-gay message to school, according to police.

Wolcott schools, under pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, decided to allow a senior at Wolcott High School to wear a T-shirt with a slash through the rainbow after the ACLU threatened to sue.

Derrell Rice, 68, of Torrington, took issue with the decision, according to police, and went to the school to complain.

But, first he lodged the complaint in Plymouth.

Read more at NBCConnecticut.com

Rice, who school officials described as an elderly, well-dressed gentleman, drove to the Plymouth Center School on North Street on Wednesday morning and rang the buzzer to be let in, Plymouth police told Wolcott Police.

When school officials questioned him through the intercom, the man said he was there to register his granddaughter for school, so school staff met him at the door.

But, the man, later identified as Rice, began to express his displeasure with the school department allowing an anti-gay shirt to be allowed in school, according to police.

School officials told Rice that the shirt incident happened in Wolcott and not Plymouth.
They said Rice was upset, loud and causing annoyance and alarm, so the school officials called Plymouth Police and Rice drove away, according to police.

At 10 a.m., Wolcott Police received a call from the Plymouth Police about the incident, so they notified the Wolcott School Department to be on the look-out for Rice.

Soon after, Wolcott school officials called police and said a man who met Rice?s description was there and wanted to be let in. When police responded, they found Rice ringing the buzzer to be let in, police said.

When police asked Rice why he was there, he said he wanted to speak to the superintendent of schools because he did not agree with his allowing a shirt with an anti-gay message to be worn, according to police.

Supt. Joseph Macary met with Rice and told him he understood his concerns and that the decision to allow the shirt was based on the First Amendment, as well as school policy, police said.

Macary then told Rice that he is not allowed on any Wolcott School property and could leave because the conversation was over.

But Rice refused to leave and said he was going to the high school to tell everyone what was going on, police said.

Rice was charged with breach of peace and first-degree criminal trespass because he caused annoyance and alarm and refused to leave school, according to police.

Plymouth police also charged Rice with breach of peace.

Bond was set at $1,000.??

NBC Connecticut was not able to find a phone number for Rice.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/27/17119941-connecticut-man-68-arrested-after-complaining-about-anti-gay-shirt?lite

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meQuilibrium: Stress 101: Eat Well, Sleep More and Move Around a Lot

"Eat well, sleep more and move around a lot." That's what I say to people who are asking for the primer on how to take better care of themselves to manage stress. I'll admit it, I don't know what I could possibly say about eating, resting and exercising that hasn't been said already. Advice about how to take care of yourself and studies on the rationale for doing so abound, and anyone who's been paying attention can probably distinguish good choices from bad.

Everywhere I turn, I see recipes for kale smoothies and apps to inspire physical activity and track sleep quality. There are plenty of voices telling me what to do to nurture myself. In humble recognition of that fact, I'm here to discuss not what you should eat or how you should work out and why, but to suggest that we reframe the conversation about how we take care of ourselves. Rather than talking about what we should do, let's think instead about what happens when we stray from our sense about what is right, and why we do so. Let's talk about making bad choices.

Our days are filled with decisions: what to wear, which route to take to work, what to tackle first when we get there. Some choices hardly demand consideration. How often do you wrestle with forcing yourself to brush your teeth or put shoes on before leaving the house? Other actions, however, require more internal negotiation, and we have tricky ways of telling ourselves that we're avoiding something unpleasant or inconvenient or difficult for rational reasons. This is especially true with food, exercise and rest. Here is a good example of how I can talk myself out of a good choice.

Weekday mornings offer half an hour of family time before we all scatter for work and school. I often struggle to leave the house and go for a run. I have to choose between getting in a quick but invigorating workout and being in the kitchen while the kids have breakfast, a precious window of time together. I know on one level that I'll feel better all day (and be more productive, and make better food choices) if I go for the run, but I rationalize not going by telling myself that it is important to be there for the kids; as a working mother, I often feel like being present for my family is more valuable than the benefits I'll gain from the run.

On one level, this logic might be the product of laziness -- who doesn't occasionally search for an excuse to avoid a workout? -- but on a deeper level, I am coming up against a very real internal struggle between serving my family and serving myself. More often than not, I probably skip the run and feel the consequences of doing so, perhaps in the form of bad food choices, restlessness in my desk chair or an inability to fall asleep at night.

The reason I bring this up is that the moment of the internal negotiation -- the point at which I weigh my two options -- is an important teachable moment. I wish that in those moments, I had the ability to step outside of the situation and reexamine the tradeoff I had formulated. Looking back, I wish I had been able to stop and tell myself the following:

  • You are not helping your family by putting your own needs behind their needs; in fact, you're creating more of a struggle for yourself by telling yourself that your needs are somehow in conflict with those of your kids. They value your company, but they will be best served by a mother who is energetic and balanced and not mad at herself for skipping her work out.
  • You will be more productive and present in the rest of your day if you take time for yourself, and you will make better choices throughout the day if you make a good choice now.

What we often think of as sensible arguments are in fact the product of a false view of the situation, often rooted in deep beliefs (called "iceberg beliefs") we have about how the world should be. If we could teach ourselves to stop and think more critically in these moments of decision, we'd have a fighting chance of preventing the stress that results from our bad choices about what to eat, whether (or not) to exercise and how to rest.

For more by meQuilibrium, click here.

For more on stress, click here.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mequilibrium/stress-and-health_b_2765337.html

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Famous fraud cases foster a revolution in photograph conservation research

Famous fraud cases foster a revolution in photograph conservation research [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 27-Feb-2013
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Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
202-872-6042
American Chemical Society

Two fraud cases that sent shock waves through the world of photography are helping to trigger a revolution in photo conservation science, according to the cover story in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News. C&EN is the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.

Sarah Everts, C&EN European correspondent, explains that the prestige and prices of photographs long dismissed by the art establishment as a second-tier medium began to rival those of paintings and sculptures in the 1980s. Collectors began paying hundreds of thousands of dollars and even up to $1 million for vintage and contemporary photographs. Fraud cases appeared in parallel with that rise in popularity.

The article describes those cases, and explains how they led to million-dollar settlements that helped stimulate photo conservation research, transforming a niche field into what is now a mature science. Those conservation efforts embrace everything from family snapshots to priceless masterpieces, the article points out.

###

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

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Famous fraud cases foster a revolution in photograph conservation research [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 27-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
202-872-6042
American Chemical Society

Two fraud cases that sent shock waves through the world of photography are helping to trigger a revolution in photo conservation science, according to the cover story in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News. C&EN is the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.

Sarah Everts, C&EN European correspondent, explains that the prestige and prices of photographs long dismissed by the art establishment as a second-tier medium began to rival those of paintings and sculptures in the 1980s. Collectors began paying hundreds of thousands of dollars and even up to $1 million for vintage and contemporary photographs. Fraud cases appeared in parallel with that rise in popularity.

The article describes those cases, and explains how they led to million-dollar settlements that helped stimulate photo conservation research, transforming a niche field into what is now a mature science. Those conservation efforts embrace everything from family snapshots to priceless masterpieces, the article points out.

###

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

Follow us: Twitter Facebook


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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/2013-02/acs-ffc022713.php

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Oscar Ratings Up, Seth MacFarlane Says 'No Way' To Second Go-Round

'Lotta fun to have done it, though,' MacFarlane tweets about Oscars, whose rating were up 11 percent among 18-49 viewers.
By Gil Kaufman


Seth MacFarlane at the 2013 Oscars
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702623/oscar-ratings-seth-macfarlane.jhtml

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Officials: Iran widens use of clandestine oil tankers

Tim Chong / Reuters file

The Delvar, a Malta-flagged Iranian crude oil supertanker, is seen anchored off Singapore on March 1, 2012.

By Jonathan Saul, Reuters

LONDON - Iran is using old tankers, saved from the scrapyard by foreign middlemen, to ship out oil to China in ways that avoid Western sanctions, say officials involved with sanctions who showed Reuters corroborating documents.

The officials, from states involved in imposing sanctions to pressure Iran to curb its nuclear program, said the tankers - worth little more than scrap value - were a new way for Iran to keep its oil exports flowing by exploiting the legal limitations on Western powers' ability to make sanctions stick worldwide.

Officials showed Reuters shipping documents to support their allegation that eight ships, each of which can carry close to a day's worth of Iran's pre-sanctions exports, have loaded Iranian oil at sea. Publicly available tracking and other data are consistent with those documents and allegations.

"The tankers have been used for Iranian crude," one official said. "They are part of Iran's sanctions-busting strategy."


Dimitris Cambis, the Greek businessman who last year bought the ships - eight very large crude carriers, or VLCCs - to carry Middle East crude to Asia, flatly denied doing any business with Tehran or running clandestine shipments of its oil to China.

Cambis said he had not been involved in shipping before but had bought the tankers as part of a new venture he runs from the United Arab Emirates. He denied trading with Iran - though he has contacts there from his previous work in the oil industry.

Related story:?Skulduggery at sea: Iran uses tankers off Malaysia to evade oil embargo

He denied his vessels have loaded oil from Iran while at anchor in the Gulf. Known as ship-to-ship transfers, or STS, such movements are hard to track as crews can switch off tracking beacons or not update their recorded positions for periods to conceal that one vessel has come alongside another.

Cambis also explained a stop in Iran by one of his tankers - recorded in publicly available tracking data - as having been only for an emergency repair, not to load an oil cargo.

"There is no Iranian vessel that has done any STS with us," Cambis told Reuters in Athens in response to the officials' allegations of taking oil from Iranian tankers owned by Tehran shipping group NITC. "We have nothing to do with NITC."

The officials involved with sanctions dispute his account and showed documents detailing several ship-to-ship loadings. They said all eight of the tankers were involved in Iran trade.

In one instance in early December, according to the shipping documents shown to Reuters by the officials, an NITC tanker named Marigold loaded Iranian crude onto the Leycothea, one of Cambis's eight ships, while both were at anchor off the UAE emirate of Sharjah. Public tracking showed Cambis's tanker made a call about a month later to Zhanjiang oil terminal in China.

Loading at sea lets vessels pick up a cargo without visiting the country of origin of the crude. Officials allege the tankers are also used as offshore storage for Iranian oil which can then be transferred onward to other ships, concealing its origins.

Officials in Iran, which rejects Western allegations it is seeking nuclear weapons, did not respond to requests for comment.

Muddying waters
Experts on sanctions law said that by operating outside the European Union, ship-owners had no clear obligation to observe rules barring EU companies from buying Iranian oil, though banks and insurers with EU or U.S. business ties are giving a wide berth to firms they suspect of dealing with Iran, given U.S. and EU efforts to penalize such firms within their own jurisdiction.?

"Such ships would be used to delete traces of a trade taking place," a London-based ship broker said.

While Iran has its own substantial tanker fleet, capable of carrying over 72 million barrels, the 2 million barrels that each of the eight tankers can move would be a useful addition to its capacity, analysts said - particularly as their foreign ownership and management could help conceal the Iranian origin of the oil, making it easier to obtain insurance, finance and other ship services that are affected by EU and U.S. sanctions.

Cambis said that between August and November he bought the eight ships: Leycothea, Glaros, Nereyda, Ocean Nymph, Seagull, Zap, Ocean Performer and Ulysses I. The first five are now managed by his firm, Sambouk Shipping, in Sharjah and he is in the process of transferring management of the remaining three.

In other movements indicated by the shipping documents, the Nereyda was also involved in a separate ship-to-ship transfer with NITC's Rainbow in the Gulf in November, while the Glaros took an offshore transfer from the Marigold there in December.

The Nereyda was later recorded arriving at a terminal in China in December. The Glaros appears to have remained in the Gulf since that December transfer, according to tracking data.

Asked about publicly available ship tracking data showing that the Glaros stopped at Iran's Larak Island oil terminal on October 20 last year, Cambis provided what he said was an affidavit by the ship's master describing an emergency repair carried out by Iranian divers when the tanker was headed to Saudi Arabia.

The master, named as I. Bonoutas, could not be reached for comment. Cambis denied loading any oil in Iran. After its stop at Larak, Glaros's next recorded visits, according to ship tracking data, were at Chinese ports between November 24 to December 1.

The eight tankers, built up to 20 years ago, can carry about 16 million barrels of oil among them, shipping databases show.

Iranian crude exports declined to an average of 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2012, down about 1 million bpd from 2011 levels, data from the International Energy Agency showed.

NITC blacklisted
The eight tankers were bought last year for a total of about $204 million, ship trading sources said - reflecting prices only 3-4 percent above their worth as raw metal. The purchases have been the object of considerable discussion among ship brokers - not least because they would more typically have been broken up.

A ship dealer based in London said, however: "They can carry on trading for as long as people are willing to employ them.

"There's really not much that any authorities can do."?

NITC has been blacklisted by the West and the EU has imposed an outright ban on providing ship insurance that would benefit Iran. The exit from Iran of top providers of ship certification, vital for port access, and the removal of Iranian vessels from international registries have added to operational challenges.

While NITC has expanded its fleet in recent months, experts say access to additional foreign tankers would give Tehran more flexibility in maintaining exports.

"The key word for the Iranians is resistance as in the Supreme Leader's declaration of a resistance economy," said Scott Lucas, a specialist on Iran at Birmingham University.

"This is not an economy which is going to produce growth but it is one which is going to try and avoid a domestic collapse."

More related stories

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/26/17105999-iran-widens-use-of-clandestine-tanker-fleet-to-bust-oil-sanctions-international-officials-say?lite

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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Singer Scott Weiland responds to STP firing

(AP) ? Singer Scott Weiland said he learned that he'd been fired by the Stone Temple Pilots when the band released a one-sentence statement to the media Wednesday.

"I learned of my supposed 'termination' from Stone Temple Pilots this morning by reading about it in the press," he wrote in a statement. "Not sure how I can be 'terminated' from a band that I founded, fronted and co-wrote many of its biggest hits, but that's something for the lawyers to figure out."

The statement by the band said: "Stone Temple Pilots have announced they have officially terminated Scott Weiland." No other information was provided.

Weiland said he's focusing on his solo tour, which kicks off Friday in Flint, Mich.

Stone Temple Pilots' 1992 debut, "Core," has sold more than 8 million units in the United States. Their hits include "Vasoline," ''Interstate Love Song" and "Plush," which won a Grammy in 1993 for best hard rock performance with vocal.

Weiland was also in the supergroup Velvet Revolver with Slash and other musicians. The 45-year-old has dealt with drug addiction, run-ins with the law and two failed marriages. He released his memoir, "Not Dead & Not for Sale," in 2011.

The Stone Temple Pilots' latest album is their self-titled 2010 release.

___

Online:

http://www.stonetemplepilots.com/

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-02-27-Music-Stone%20Temple%20Pilots/id-66ee7a2d313147158d8a78a122895d38

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Police and firefighters at higher risk for mental disorders following traumatic events

Police and firefighters at higher risk for mental disorders following traumatic events [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 26-Feb-2013
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Contact: Natalie Wood-Wright
nwoodwri@jhsph.edu
410-614-6029
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health

Police, firefighters and other protective services workers who are repeatedly exposed to traumatic events and are new to their profession are at greater risk of developing a psychiatric disorder, according to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The researchers also found that protective services workers do not appear to have a higher prevalence of mental health problems than workers in other occupations. The study results are featured in the February 2013 issue of Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness.

"Our findings suggest that exposure to diverse types of traumatic events among protective services workers is a risk factor for new onset of psychopathology and alcohol use disorders," said Christopher N. Kaufmann, MHS, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in the Bloomberg School's Department of Mental Health. "When we examined the relationship of exposure to common traumas with the development of mood, anxiety and alcohol use disorders among protective services workers, we found that these workers were at greater risk for developing a mood or alcohol use disorder. Interestingly, this relationship was not seen in those who had been in these jobs for a longer period, but was strong and statistically significant in workers who recently joined the profession. Developing curricula in coping skills and providing timely interventions for early career protective services workers may help reduce future psychiatric morbidity in these workers."

Using data from the U.S National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions researchers compared the prevalence of mental disorders of protective services workers to that of adults in other occupations. In addition, they examined the association of exposure to common traumatic experiences with the development of new mood, anxiety and alcohol use disorders among protective services workers who recently joined the workforce and those who had been in these jobs for a longer period. Lifetime and recent trauma events most commonly reported by protective services workers included: seeing someone badly injured or killed; unexpectedly seeing a dead body; having someone close die unexpectedly and having someone close experience a serious or life-threatening illness, accident or injury.

"The association between the number of different traumatic event types and incident mood and alcohol-use disorders, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder, was virtually confined to the group of early career protective services workers," said Ramin Mojtabai, MD, PhD, MPH, senior author of the study and an associate professor with the Bloomberg School's Department of Mental Health. "Future research should examine the coping skills of protective services workers who have been in these jobs for many years, which might make them less likely to develop psychiatric complications in the face of various potentially traumatic experiences."

The authors note, "Special support programs and services for these early career workers can potentially help to prevent development of chronic psychopathology and attrition from these critical jobs."

###

"Mental Health of Protective Services Workers: Results From the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions," was written by Christopher N. Kaufmann, Lainie Rutkow, Adam P. Spira and Ramin Mojtabai.


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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.


Police and firefighters at higher risk for mental disorders following traumatic events [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 26-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Natalie Wood-Wright
nwoodwri@jhsph.edu
410-614-6029
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health

Police, firefighters and other protective services workers who are repeatedly exposed to traumatic events and are new to their profession are at greater risk of developing a psychiatric disorder, according to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The researchers also found that protective services workers do not appear to have a higher prevalence of mental health problems than workers in other occupations. The study results are featured in the February 2013 issue of Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness.

"Our findings suggest that exposure to diverse types of traumatic events among protective services workers is a risk factor for new onset of psychopathology and alcohol use disorders," said Christopher N. Kaufmann, MHS, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in the Bloomberg School's Department of Mental Health. "When we examined the relationship of exposure to common traumas with the development of mood, anxiety and alcohol use disorders among protective services workers, we found that these workers were at greater risk for developing a mood or alcohol use disorder. Interestingly, this relationship was not seen in those who had been in these jobs for a longer period, but was strong and statistically significant in workers who recently joined the profession. Developing curricula in coping skills and providing timely interventions for early career protective services workers may help reduce future psychiatric morbidity in these workers."

Using data from the U.S National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions researchers compared the prevalence of mental disorders of protective services workers to that of adults in other occupations. In addition, they examined the association of exposure to common traumatic experiences with the development of new mood, anxiety and alcohol use disorders among protective services workers who recently joined the workforce and those who had been in these jobs for a longer period. Lifetime and recent trauma events most commonly reported by protective services workers included: seeing someone badly injured or killed; unexpectedly seeing a dead body; having someone close die unexpectedly and having someone close experience a serious or life-threatening illness, accident or injury.

"The association between the number of different traumatic event types and incident mood and alcohol-use disorders, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder, was virtually confined to the group of early career protective services workers," said Ramin Mojtabai, MD, PhD, MPH, senior author of the study and an associate professor with the Bloomberg School's Department of Mental Health. "Future research should examine the coping skills of protective services workers who have been in these jobs for many years, which might make them less likely to develop psychiatric complications in the face of various potentially traumatic experiences."

The authors note, "Special support programs and services for these early career workers can potentially help to prevent development of chronic psychopathology and attrition from these critical jobs."

###

"Mental Health of Protective Services Workers: Results From the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions," was written by Christopher N. Kaufmann, Lainie Rutkow, Adam P. Spira and Ramin Mojtabai.


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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/2013-02/jhub-paf022613.php

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AP Newsbreak: Drop in Taliban attacks incorrect

FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2013 file photo, outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta speaks during his last news conference as defense secretary. at the Pentagon. The U.S.-led military coalition in Afghanistan incorrectly reported a decline in Taliban attacks last year, and officials said Tuesday that there was actually no change in the number of attacks on international troops from 2011 to 2012. In mid-December, Panetta said "violence is down," in 2012, and that Afghan forces "have gotten much better at providing security" in areas where they have taken the lead role. He said the Taliban can be expected to continue to attack, "but overall they are losing." (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2013 file photo, outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta speaks during his last news conference as defense secretary. at the Pentagon. The U.S.-led military coalition in Afghanistan incorrectly reported a decline in Taliban attacks last year, and officials said Tuesday that there was actually no change in the number of attacks on international troops from 2011 to 2012. In mid-December, Panetta said "violence is down," in 2012, and that Afghan forces "have gotten much better at providing security" in areas where they have taken the lead role. He said the Taliban can be expected to continue to attack, "but overall they are losing." (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

A security official stands guard the scene of a suicide car bomb attack which killed and injured several people at the National Directorate of Security in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Sunday, Feb 24, 2013. A series of early morning attacks hit eastern Afghanistan Sunday, with three separate suicide bombings in outlying provinces and a shootout between security forces and a would-be attacker in the capital city of Kabul. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

A U.S. soldier, right, photographs the scene where an insurgent was shot to death near an Afghan intelligence office in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. A series of early morning attacks hit eastern Afghanistan Sunday, with three separate suicide bombings in outlying provinces and a shootout between security forces and a would-be attacker in the capital city of Kabul. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

A security official stands guard at the scene of a suicide car bomb attack which killed and injured several people at the National Directorate of Security in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Sunday, Feb 24, 2013. A series of early morning attacks hit eastern Afghanistan Sunday, with three separate suicide bombings in outlying provinces and a shootout between security forces and a would-be attacker in the capital city of Kabul. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

(AP) ? The U.S.-led military coalition in Afghanistan incorrectly reported a decline in Taliban attacks last year, and officials said Tuesday that there was actually no change in the number of attacks on international troops from 2011 to 2012.

The corrected numbers ? from the original reports of a 7 percent decline to one of no change ? could undercut the narrative promoted by the international coalition and the Obama administration of an insurgency in steep decline.

A coalition spokesman, Jamie Graybeal, attributed the miscounting to clerical errors and said the problem does not change officials' basic assessment of the war.

The 7 percent figure had been included in a report posted on the coalition's website in late January as part of its monthly update on trends in security and violence. It was removed from the website recently without explanation. After The Associated Press asked last week about the missing report, coalition officials said they were correcting the data and would re-publish the report in coming days.

U.S. and allied officials have often cited declining violence as a sign that the Taliban has been degraded and that Afghan forces are in position to take the lead security role when the last U.S. combat troops leave Dec. 31, 2014.

In mid-December, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said "violence is down," in 2012, and that Afghan forces "have gotten much better at providing security" in areas where they have taken the lead role. He said the Taliban can be expected to continue to attack, "but overall they are losing."

On Tuesday, Pentagon spokesman George Little said Panetta was "concerned to learn of the errors" and was only very recently briefed on the matter.

"This particular set of metrics doesn't tell the full story of progress against the Taliban, of course, but it's unhelpful to have inaccurate information in our systems," Little said.

The Taliban have lost a good deal of territory since a 2010 surge of U.S. forces in the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar, and they failed to recover it during the last two fighting seasons. Even so, they are resilient, and they are expected to severely test Afghan forces as the U.S. and its coalition partners step further into the background this year and complete their combat mission next year.

Graybeal did not fully explain ISAF's erroneous reporting of 2012 Taliban attacks. It was not clear, for example, at what point the data errors began or who discovered them.

"During a quality control check, ISAF recently became aware that some data was incorrectly entered into the database that is used for tracking security-related incidents across Afghanistan," Graybeal said from Kabul, speaking for the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF.

Graybeal said an audit determined that portions of the data from unilateral Afghan military operations were "not properly reflected" in the trends ISAF had reported in its monthly updates.

"After including this unilateral ANSF (Afghan National Security Force) data into our database, we have determined that there was no change in the total number of EIAs (enemy initiated attacks) from 2011 to 2012," Graybeal said.

"This was a record-keeping error that we recognized and have now corrected," he added.

The coalition defines enemy initiated attacks as attacks by small arms, mortars, rockets and improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. But it does not include IEDs that are found and cleared before they explode.

Trends in Taliban attacks are one yardstick used by ISAF to measure war progress. Others include the state of security in populated areas, the number of coalition and Afghan casualties, the degree to which civilians can move about freely, and the performance of Afghan security forces.

Graybeal said that even though the number of 2012 Taliban attacks was unchanged from 2011, "our assessment of the fundamentals of campaign progress has not changed. The enemy is increasingly separated from the population and the ANSF are currently in the lead for the vast majority of partnered operations."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-26-US-Insurgent-Attacks-Error/id-6a27c2928b344b5089061cdf71b5301f

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When Apple's Engraving Service Goes Wrong

When Redditor jayhawk503 bought his new iPod, he got more than he bargained for. He claims he didn't want any damn engraving. We're not sure how true that is, but it's funny nonetheless. [Reddit via Geekosystem] More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/42QsShzEfqQ/when-apples-engraving-service-goes-wrong

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Kyocera DuraPro keeps the rugged flip phone alive on US Cellular for $100

Kyocera DuraPro keeps the rugged flip phone alive on US Cellular, ships February 28th for $99

The rumors of the basic cellphone's death have been greatly exaggerated -- it's just finding niches to hide in while smartphones take over the mainstream. Witness today's launch of the Kyocera DuraPro on US Cellular. Although it's just a flip phone, it meets the US military's 810G specs for dust, shock, temperature and water resistance, all of which help it survive a rough workplace or an accidental splash at the beach. That and a loud speakerphone are the real highlights, although you will get microSD support and a 3.2-megapixel camera for your trouble. Do the math before you pick up a DuraPro in-store on February 28th, though. At $100 on contract after a $50 rebate, it's carrying smartphone-level pricing that could steer some buyers away from its retro rugged chic.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/H0w7NvmMLzI/

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March of the pathogens: Parasite metabolism can foretell disease ranges under climate change

March of the pathogens: Parasite metabolism can foretell disease ranges under climate change

Monday, February 25, 2013

Knowing the temperatures that viruses, bacteria, worms and all other parasites need to grow and survive could help determine the future range of infectious diseases under climate change, according to new research.

Princeton University researchers developed a model that can identify the prospects for nearly any disease-causing parasite as the Earth grows warmer, even if little is known about the organism. Their method calculates how the projected temperature change for an area would alter the creature's metabolism and life cycle, the researchers report in the journal Ecology Letters.

Lead author P?ter Moln?r, a Princeton postdoctoral researcher of ecology and evolutionary biology, explained that the technique is an all-inclusive complement to current methods of predicting how climate change will affect disease, which call for a detailed knowledge of the environmental factors a specific parasite needs to thrive. But for many parasites, that information doesn't exist.

The more general Princeton model is based on the metabolic theory of ecology. Under this premise, all biological organisms need a balance between body size and body temperature to maintain the metabolism that keeps their organs functioning. Like any cold-blooded creature, disease-causing parasites rely on external temperatures for this balance. Scientists with knowledge of a parasite's body size and life cycle could use the Princeton metabolic model to predict how the organism would fare in altered climates.

"Our framework is applicable to pretty much any parasite, and utilizes established metabolic patterns shown to hold across a wide variety of species," Moln?r said.

"It would be impossible to ever gather enough data to develop a separate climate-change model for each existing and emerging disease in humans, wildlife and livestock," Moln?r said. "With our physiological approach, many of the parameters for a specific pathogen can be predicted based on what is known about metabolic processes in all parasites, so that the model remains applicable to new and less-studied species as well."

The Princeton model estimates the "fundamental thermal niche" of a parasite, the area between the lowest and highest temperature in which a specific parasite prospers. The researchers show that an organism already kicking around the high end of that range could die out when things heat up, while a parasite lingering at the low end could lead to novel epidemics in host populations and extend to new areas.

Because global temperatures will still differ by elevation and distance from the equator, some parasites also might "migrate" from their previous territory ? rendered inhospitable by higher temperatures ? to one more inviting. That could expose human and animal populations to new diseases to which they may have little natural resistance. Thus, having an idea of which areas a parasite might transition to is important, Moln?r said.

"As metabolism varies with temperature, parasite life-cycle components such as mortality, development, reproduction or infectivity may also vary with temperature," Moln?r said. "If, for a specific parasite, we know the temperature dependence of its metabolism, or the temperature dependence of its life-cycle components, our model allows using these temperature effects to evaluate the impact of climate change on parasite fitness, and thus the regions in which the parasite may occur in the future."

Ryan Hechinger, a biologist at the University of California-Santa Barbara, said the framework adds to recent research tempering the fear that infectious diseases will uniformly flourish as global temperatures rise. Hechinger, who focuses his research on parasite ecology and evolution, is familiar with the work but had no role in it.

"There has been quite a bit of a 'the sky is falling' attitude from people claiming that infectious diseases are only going to get worse," Hechinger said. "We can't forget that most infectious diseases are caused by living agents. Like most living things, these agents may be negatively or positively affected by climate change. The modeling in this paper clarifies that infectious diseases may increase or decrease under climate change, specifically under global warming."

In addition, Hechinger said, the Princeton technique applies to any parasites that venture outside of a warm-blooded host, including organisms that plague humans, such as Plasmodium, the microorganism that causes malaria.

"If the parasites have stages when they are loose in the environment, they will be impacted by temperature. This goes for parasites with developmental stages in cold-blooded hosts because those hosts are affected by environmental temperatures," Hechinger said.

"So, the modeling framework can work for human malarias because there are parasite stages in cold-blooded mosquitos, or human schistosomiasis [most common in children in developing countries], where the parasite has stages in cold-blooded snails and free-living stages in the open environment," he said.

The Princeton model could potentially appertain to those disease carriers as well, Moln?r said. The framework could predict the future ranges of cold-blooded animals for use in combating invasive species, or even in the conservation of such animals as reptiles and amphibians, he said.

Moln?r worked with senior researcher Andrew Dobson, Princeton professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, as well as with second author Susan Kutz, an associate professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Calgary, and Bryanne Hoar, a graduate student in the Kutz lab.

The researchers tested their model on Ostertagia gruehneri, a species of nematode, or roundworm, that lives in the Arctic. Among the world's most widespread parasites, the larval stages of parasitic roundworms are free-living in the environment or utilize a cold-blooded intermediate host, while the adult stages live within their final hosts, and may cause conditions such as trichinosis.

Hoar and Kutz had reared O. gruehneri larvae in various temperatures, and recorded their development and survival. Moln?r and Dobson found that these observations correlated extremely well with how their metabolic model predicted the species would respond to increased Arctic temperatures. Under future conditions, the parasite's infectious season could split from what is now a continuous spring-to-fall transmission season into two longer fall and spring seasons separated by a hot, unlivable summer.

While the seasonal life of a nematode might seem trivial, what affects the parasite affects the host, Moln?r said. The researchers are broadening their model to gauge how O. gruehneri's new active seasons would alter the relationship with its primary host, the caribou. They also are investigating the recent range expansion of a nematode with a penchant for the lungs of muskoxen, a wooly bovine native to the Arctic.

Moln?r and his colleagues want to know what further population growth could be expected from these parasites as the Arctic climate continues to warm, and the eventual toll that would have on caribou and muskoxen herds.

###

Princeton University: http://www.princeton.edu

Thanks to Princeton University for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127004/March_of_the_pathogens__Parasite_metabolism_can_foretell_disease_ranges_under_climate_change_

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Father Charged for Leaving Toddler in Truck while at Strip Club ...

VAN NUYS, Calif. ? A father is facing charges after he allegedly left his 2-year-old daughter in a truck while he went inside a strip club and got drunk.

24-year-old Santos Barillas, a Canoga Park resident, was charged with child endangerment among other charges.

911 dispatchers got a call just after midnight that the toddler was locked in the truck outside the 7557 Club on Woodley Avenue.

Officers arrived at the location to find the man asleep with the child in the back seat of the Toyota pickup.

The man was taken into custody and child services were called to assist with the care of the little girl.

Investigators interviewed several bar patrons and workers who confirmed the man was inside the club without the child.

The suspect was allegedly intoxicated at the time of his arrest.

The temperature had dropped into the 40s overnight in the area of the club.

Source: http://ktla.com/2013/02/25/father-charged-for-leaving-toddler-in-truck-while-at-strip-club/

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Graham: 'Both need to grow up' (CNN)

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See the ASUS MWC press conference, and the unveiling of the Padfone Infinity and Fonepad

Another busy day in Spain has drawn to a close, and center of a decent piece of todays new devices announcements was ASUS. In the way that only Johnny Shih and company know how, ASUS today introduced the new Padfone Infinity and the Intel Atom powered Fonepad tablet-cum-smartphone hybrid. Just in case you missed the Android Central liveblog, ASUS has kindly posted the highlights from the, interesting, press conference for us all to watch and enjoy. 

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/EuUBW3b5Ko4/story01.htm

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