MUMBAI (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's said on Thursday India's budget for the 2013/14 fiscal year would have no impact on the country's sovereign credit ratings, warning there was potential for the government to exceed its budgeted spending.
S&P also said there had been "little progress" in structural reforms to reduce the "vulnerability" in the government's fiscal position.
S&P last year cut its outlook on India's "BBB-minus" sovereign ratings to "negative," threatening to push the country into sub-investment category.
(Chidambaram calls for tough choices, click http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/02/28/india-union-budget-2013-growth-idINDEE91R03G20130228)
(Rich taxpayers to pay 10 percent surcharge, click http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/02/28/india-budget-tax-surcharge-1-crore-idINDEE91R05I20130228?type=economicNews)
Grape seed and skin extract a weapon in the fight against kidney disease caused by high-fat dietsPublic release date: 28-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jenny Ryan jenny.ryan@nrcresearchpress.com 613-949-8667 Canadian Science Publishing (NRC Research Press)
New insight into grape seed extract as a therapeutic and preventative measure to fight obesity-induced kidney damage
Ottawa, ON (February 28, 2013) New insight into grape seed extract as a therapeutic and preventative measure to fight obesity-induced kidney damage is presented in a new study. Grape seed and skin extract (GSSE) is known to contain powerful antioxidants. This study, published in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, is the first to make a link between GSSEs and high-fat-diet-induced renal disease.
The authors examined the effect of GSSE processed from a grape cultivar ('Carignan') of Vitis vinifera from northern Tunisia on rats. Rats were fed a high-fat diet that induced a low-grade reno-lipotoxicity, that is, kidney damage associated with lipids. This was characterized by elevations in plasma urea and protein in the urine. The researchers found increased deposits of triglycerides (TG) (especially saturated fatty acids), increased signs of oxidative stress and depleted copper levels in the kidneys. There was also histological evidence of disturbance in the kidney structure. When the animals received GSSE at 500 mg/kg bw (which corresponds to 35g/day for a 70 kg human adult) along with the high-fat diet there was a partial reversal of the TG deposition as well as the histological damage. The authors suggest polyphenols including resveratrol are likely the components in GSSE responsible for the positive effects. Furthermore the GSSE prevented the oxidative stress and copper depletion.
"In our research, obesity-induced leaky kidney and proteinuria are shown to be prevented by GSSE, which suggests the use of GSSE as a preventive nutriceutical for high-risk patients," said co-author Kamel Charradi, a researcher with the Laboratory of Bioactive Substance at the Center of Biotechnology of Borj-Cedria (CBBC) in Tunisia. This research group has previously published work showing the benefits of GSSE in combating obesity, heart dysfunction, brain lipotoxicity and kidney cancer.
###
The article "Grape seed and skin extract alleviates high-fat-diet-induced renal lipotoxicity and prevents copper depletion in rats" is available Open Access in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, DOI: 10.1139/apnm-2012-0416
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/apnm-2012-0416
Full Reference:
Charradi, K., Elkahoui, S., Karkouch, I., Limam, F. Hamdaoui, G., Ben Hassine, F. El May, M.-V., Ahmed El May, Aouani, E. Grape seed and skin extract alleviates high-fat diet-induced renal lipotoxicity and prevents copper depletion in rat. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 10.1139/apnm-2012-0416.
Related information:
The University of Maryland Medical Center: http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/grape-seed-000254.htm
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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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.
Grape seed and skin extract a weapon in the fight against kidney disease caused by high-fat dietsPublic release date: 28-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jenny Ryan jenny.ryan@nrcresearchpress.com 613-949-8667 Canadian Science Publishing (NRC Research Press)
New insight into grape seed extract as a therapeutic and preventative measure to fight obesity-induced kidney damage
Ottawa, ON (February 28, 2013) New insight into grape seed extract as a therapeutic and preventative measure to fight obesity-induced kidney damage is presented in a new study. Grape seed and skin extract (GSSE) is known to contain powerful antioxidants. This study, published in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, is the first to make a link between GSSEs and high-fat-diet-induced renal disease.
The authors examined the effect of GSSE processed from a grape cultivar ('Carignan') of Vitis vinifera from northern Tunisia on rats. Rats were fed a high-fat diet that induced a low-grade reno-lipotoxicity, that is, kidney damage associated with lipids. This was characterized by elevations in plasma urea and protein in the urine. The researchers found increased deposits of triglycerides (TG) (especially saturated fatty acids), increased signs of oxidative stress and depleted copper levels in the kidneys. There was also histological evidence of disturbance in the kidney structure. When the animals received GSSE at 500 mg/kg bw (which corresponds to 35g/day for a 70 kg human adult) along with the high-fat diet there was a partial reversal of the TG deposition as well as the histological damage. The authors suggest polyphenols including resveratrol are likely the components in GSSE responsible for the positive effects. Furthermore the GSSE prevented the oxidative stress and copper depletion.
"In our research, obesity-induced leaky kidney and proteinuria are shown to be prevented by GSSE, which suggests the use of GSSE as a preventive nutriceutical for high-risk patients," said co-author Kamel Charradi, a researcher with the Laboratory of Bioactive Substance at the Center of Biotechnology of Borj-Cedria (CBBC) in Tunisia. This research group has previously published work showing the benefits of GSSE in combating obesity, heart dysfunction, brain lipotoxicity and kidney cancer.
###
The article "Grape seed and skin extract alleviates high-fat-diet-induced renal lipotoxicity and prevents copper depletion in rats" is available Open Access in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, DOI: 10.1139/apnm-2012-0416
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/apnm-2012-0416
Full Reference:
Charradi, K., Elkahoui, S., Karkouch, I., Limam, F. Hamdaoui, G., Ben Hassine, F. El May, M.-V., Ahmed El May, Aouani, E. Grape seed and skin extract alleviates high-fat diet-induced renal lipotoxicity and prevents copper depletion in rat. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 10.1139/apnm-2012-0416.
Related information:
The University of Maryland Medical Center: http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/grape-seed-000254.htm
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Having many sons may shorten women's lives after their last birth more than having daughters, according to new research.
The findings, which came from a group of Finnish women born mostly before industrialization, are correlational, so they can't prove sons actually cause shorter lives for their moms relative to daughters. And because the effect varies across the world, social factors, rather than intrinsic biological effects, may be to blame.
But the study, published today (Feb. 26) in the journal Biology Letters, suggests that cultural differences in how sons and daughters have historically been raised may affect women's life spans.
"Adult sons may be beneficial for their parental well-being and thus survival in some countries, but girls may be beneficial in other countries," study co-author Samuli Helle, an evolutionary ecologist at the University of Turku in Finland, wrote in an email.
Costly process
Pregnancy and breast-feeding both require extra nutrients and calories.
That extra energy requirement can take a toll on women who have more children and shorten their lives, even if they start out healthier than other women to begin with, said Grazyna Jasienska, a biological anthropologist at Jagiellonian University in Poland, who was not involved in the study. [8 Odd Ways a Woman's Body Changes During Pregnancy]
And because males are born slightly heavier than females on average, researchers have hypothesized that they may require more nutrients, making them more reproductively costly to rear.
But studies throughout the world have shown conflicting effects. In China, males seem to confer a longevity advantage, for instance.
To see how the effect played out in Finland, Helle and his colleagues tracked Lutheran church parish records for more than 11,000 women and their children from the last three centuries. The vast majority of the women were born before 1960.
The more sons a woman had, the more likely she was to live a shorter time after last giving birth. The effect held whether women were rich or poor.
Cultural effect
The reason for this shortening probably doesn't have to do with the extra energetic costs associated with boys during pregnancy and infancy, Jasienska told LiveScience.
Instead, it probably reflects the prevailing social norms at the time.
"Girls in many traditional societies are, as we know, much more helpful to mothers than boys," Jasienska said. "They may help with child care, they may help with many tasks."
And because the study was looking at a mostly pre-industrial society, where food was scarcer and woman had no birth control, the effects may not persist today, Helle wrote.
"One could speculate that owing to modern medical care, smaller family size and more abundant resources, the biological costs of reproduction might not play that important role in modern societies anymore," Helle wrote.
But other social differences could still make sons and daughters affect women's longevity differently, he added.
Follow Tia Ghose on Twitter @tiaghose?or LiveScience @livescience. We're also on Facebook?& Google+.?
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Developmental biologist Arthur Lander named Donald Bren ProfessorPublic release date: 28-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Andrea Burgess andrea.burgess@uci.edu 949-824-6282 University of California - Irvine
UCI researcher is noted for advancing nascent field of systems biology
Irvine, Calif., Feb. 28, 2013 Arthur Lander, a recognized leader in the emerging field of systems biology whose research has helped identify underlying causes for some cancers and birth defects, has been named the Donald Bren Professor of Developmental & Cell Biology at UC Irvine.
The Bren Professors Endowment was established with a gift from Donald Bren, chairman of the Irvine Company, to help UC Irvine attract and retain the nation's foremost scholars. Lander joins a distinguished group of faculty researchers, including two School of Biological Sciences colleagues, evolutionary biologist Francisco J. Ayala, a 2001 National Medal of Science honoree, and evolutionary biologist Michael Clegg, foreign secretary of the National Academy of Sciences.
Lander, 54, holds appointments in both developmental & cell biology and biomedical engineering at UC Irvine and is founding director of the campus's Center for Complex Biological Systems. He chaired the Department of Developmental & Cell Biology from 2000 to 2007. A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, he earned a Ph.D. and an M.D. at UC San Francisco and joined the UC Irvine faculty in 1995.
"Arthur Lander is an exemplary, world-class leader in systems biology, and this endowment recognizes his success and continued dedication to understanding how complex cell interactions can lead to serious diseases and conditions," said Albert Bennett, the Hana & Francisco J. Ayala Dean of UC Irvine's School of Biological Sciences.
Lander and his laboratory team study how cells communicate with each other to coordinate the elaborate behaviors that underlie development and regeneration. The research helps explain why birth defects happen, how tissues control their size and how cancers grow. Lander helped identify the gene for Cornelia de Lange syndrome, a disabling, multisystem, genetic disease that affects one in 10,000 children and, with collaborators at UC Irvine, created animal models that are being used to find ways of preventing and treating it.
For more than a decade, he has also been an acknowledged pioneer in systems biology, an emerging field that exploits the tools of mathematics, engineering and computer science to examine how networks of molecules, cells, tissues and organs interact to ensure that biological systems function reliably.
In 2001, Lander founded UC Irvine's Center for Complex Biological Systems, the first of its kind in California. Since then, the facility has helped UC Irvine garner more than $36 million in federal and private aid for research, education and outreach by teams of biologists, mathematicians, physical scientists and engineers. It's currently among 15 National Centers for Systems Biology funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, one of the National Institutes of Health.
"I am grateful to UC Irvine and the Bren Professors Endowment for giving me this exciting opportunity to continue and expand my efforts in research, teaching and community engagement," Lander said. "I have found UC Irvine to be a great environment for doing crosscutting, interdisciplinary research, because the academic culture here really rewards openness and collaboration. The ease with which one can form a team of colleagues from different disciplines has been critical to my ability to work on some of the most complex and difficult biological problems out there."
###
About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Led by Chancellor Michael Drake since 2005, UC Irvine is among the most dynamic campuses in the University of California system, with more than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students, 1,100 faculty and 9,400 staff. Orange County's second-largest employer, UC Irvine contributes an annual economic impact of $4.3 billion. For more UC Irvine news, visit news.uci.edu.
News Radio: UC Irvine maintains on campus an ISDN line for conducting interviews with its faculty and experts. Use of this line is available for a fee to radio news programs/stations that wish to interview UC Irvine faculty and experts. Use of the ISDN line is subject to availability and approval by the university.
Contact:
Andrea Burgess
949-824-6282
andrea.burgess@uci.edu
UCI maintains an online directory of faculty available as experts to the media. To access, visit www.today.uci.edu/experts.
NOTE TO EDITORS: Photo available at
http://news.uci.edu/press-releases/developmental-biologist-arthur-lander-named-donald-bren-professor/
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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.
Developmental biologist Arthur Lander named Donald Bren ProfessorPublic release date: 28-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Andrea Burgess andrea.burgess@uci.edu 949-824-6282 University of California - Irvine
UCI researcher is noted for advancing nascent field of systems biology
Irvine, Calif., Feb. 28, 2013 Arthur Lander, a recognized leader in the emerging field of systems biology whose research has helped identify underlying causes for some cancers and birth defects, has been named the Donald Bren Professor of Developmental & Cell Biology at UC Irvine.
The Bren Professors Endowment was established with a gift from Donald Bren, chairman of the Irvine Company, to help UC Irvine attract and retain the nation's foremost scholars. Lander joins a distinguished group of faculty researchers, including two School of Biological Sciences colleagues, evolutionary biologist Francisco J. Ayala, a 2001 National Medal of Science honoree, and evolutionary biologist Michael Clegg, foreign secretary of the National Academy of Sciences.
Lander, 54, holds appointments in both developmental & cell biology and biomedical engineering at UC Irvine and is founding director of the campus's Center for Complex Biological Systems. He chaired the Department of Developmental & Cell Biology from 2000 to 2007. A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, he earned a Ph.D. and an M.D. at UC San Francisco and joined the UC Irvine faculty in 1995.
"Arthur Lander is an exemplary, world-class leader in systems biology, and this endowment recognizes his success and continued dedication to understanding how complex cell interactions can lead to serious diseases and conditions," said Albert Bennett, the Hana & Francisco J. Ayala Dean of UC Irvine's School of Biological Sciences.
Lander and his laboratory team study how cells communicate with each other to coordinate the elaborate behaviors that underlie development and regeneration. The research helps explain why birth defects happen, how tissues control their size and how cancers grow. Lander helped identify the gene for Cornelia de Lange syndrome, a disabling, multisystem, genetic disease that affects one in 10,000 children and, with collaborators at UC Irvine, created animal models that are being used to find ways of preventing and treating it.
For more than a decade, he has also been an acknowledged pioneer in systems biology, an emerging field that exploits the tools of mathematics, engineering and computer science to examine how networks of molecules, cells, tissues and organs interact to ensure that biological systems function reliably.
In 2001, Lander founded UC Irvine's Center for Complex Biological Systems, the first of its kind in California. Since then, the facility has helped UC Irvine garner more than $36 million in federal and private aid for research, education and outreach by teams of biologists, mathematicians, physical scientists and engineers. It's currently among 15 National Centers for Systems Biology funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, one of the National Institutes of Health.
"I am grateful to UC Irvine and the Bren Professors Endowment for giving me this exciting opportunity to continue and expand my efforts in research, teaching and community engagement," Lander said. "I have found UC Irvine to be a great environment for doing crosscutting, interdisciplinary research, because the academic culture here really rewards openness and collaboration. The ease with which one can form a team of colleagues from different disciplines has been critical to my ability to work on some of the most complex and difficult biological problems out there."
###
About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Led by Chancellor Michael Drake since 2005, UC Irvine is among the most dynamic campuses in the University of California system, with more than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students, 1,100 faculty and 9,400 staff. Orange County's second-largest employer, UC Irvine contributes an annual economic impact of $4.3 billion. For more UC Irvine news, visit news.uci.edu.
News Radio: UC Irvine maintains on campus an ISDN line for conducting interviews with its faculty and experts. Use of this line is available for a fee to radio news programs/stations that wish to interview UC Irvine faculty and experts. Use of the ISDN line is subject to availability and approval by the university.
Contact:
Andrea Burgess
949-824-6282
andrea.burgess@uci.edu
UCI maintains an online directory of faculty available as experts to the media. To access, visit www.today.uci.edu/experts.
NOTE TO EDITORS: Photo available at
http://news.uci.edu/press-releases/developmental-biologist-arthur-lander-named-donald-bren-professor/
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
We're just a few weeks away from knowing for sure, but news from Taiwan today suggests that Samsung will be using multiple types of processors for the different Galaxy S4 variants worldwide. According to the Taipei Times, investor group JP Morgan said in a note to clients
Similar to its previous Galaxy S3, Samsung is expected to adopt multiple solutions for the application processors and baseband chips in its new Galaxy S4, which will be unveiled in New York on March 14
If this is the case, we have to wonder if global units will have full LTE support. It stands to reason that Qualcomm's new gear will support LTE as well as their current offerings do, so maybe Samsung wants to provide the best experience possible while they work on LTE support in-house.
Right now, everything is just a rumor. We'll know more on March 14.
Many of the government's proposed changes to the Resource Management Act are "deeply troubling" because of the "radical shift of power to Ministers" and the introduction of new economic development objectives to compete with environmental outcomes, says the Environmental Defence Society.
The country's leading lobby group on environmental law and regulation, the EDS says many of the proposals in a discussion paper released this morning by Environment Minister Amy Adams "go too far."
"The changes could encourage unsustainable and environmentally damaging urban sprawl," said EDS executive director Gary Taylor in a statement. "Developers will be thinking all their Christmases have come at once."
Among issues highlighted in a hastily prepared seven page analysis of the proposals is the intention to create a new government agency which could step in over the heads of local governments to speed up developments regarded as being nationally significant.
Adams focused particularly on the need to release new land for housing in Auckland, but EDS fears this is "another example of the government removing responsibility from elected representative local authorities and placing it in the hands of the executive or their nominees."
Proposed changes to Sections 6 and 7 of the RMA, governing the approach to nationally important matters, could also weaken the Act's current bias in favour of maintaining environmental bottom-lines and instead allow a bias in favour of economic development.
The government discussion paper says the changes are necessary because in practice, the RMA may have resulted in "an under-weighting of the positive effects (or net benefits) of certain economic and social activities."
However, EDS says that merging the two sections and adding new requirements for local government to take into account communities' future needs "will place greater emphasis on economic effects to the detriment of the environment."
EDS did, however, welcome some aspects of the proposed reforms, particularly the government's rejection of recommendations from a Technical Advisory Group that would have weakened protections for coasts, landscapes, and native flora and fauna.
"However, the inclusion of competing economic development matters may dilute that protection."
While the plan to reduce the number of planning documents in operation could work, EDS is concerned this could see a loss of regional planning at the expense of plans focused at the district level.
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Our life is a little better thanks to @PartnersTrust, whose gorgeous contemporary home bathed in rich wood in California's Santa Monica Canyon handily topped our weekly #housepornthurs contest on Facebook. Our runner-up, @discovercrc, was right on their tails, though, with a beautiful fairy-tale home in Salem, S.C. You gave it a good fight, guys!
The $5.975 million Santa Monica stunner had everyone's jaws dropping for an obvious reason: those walls of wood intertwining with walls of glass that look onto the natural marvel that is the canyon. The home was designed by celebrated architect Ray Kappe in the 1970s, but it has been restored and renovated into a masterpiece. The grounds are mesmerizing, with multiple decks and fire pits turning the backyard into an entertainer's dream. (That pool, koi pond and spa doesn't hurt, either.)
The four-bedroom, three-bathroom, three-level home's crown jewel, though, is the full-floor master suite. It has a private roof deck where you can sit back and take in the gorgeous views. The home also has two large glass rooms for entertaining and a screening room. "This property is bound to leave one speechless," the listing says. So we'll shut up now and just admire.
See the listing for more details.
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All Critics (51) | Top Critics (20) | Fresh (51) | Rotten (0)
What ultimately is so compelling about 56 Up is the universality of the experiences. We were all once children. And we all will die. And in between, there is everything else.
We feel good, refreshed and depressed in watching these people get older, also embarrassed in moments and cautioned about the passage of time.
Apted, himself now in his early 70s, says he hopes to continue the series further. Long may it live.
Watching "56 Up" gives you the wonderful feeling of seeing a sociological experiment blossom into something novelistically rich and humane.
Time has been neither kind nor cruel to the 13 men and women profiled in "56 UP." It has just been time, which is what this groundbreaking series is about.
We are all older now, and this series proves it in a most deeply moving way.
Those British kids are now 56
Watching the eighth film is intriguing but, in a way, disappointing. At this point in the game, it feels as if all the characters have determined their lots in life and are simply plodding through their interviews.
Quite simply one of the great documentary projects in the history of cinema, an engrossing sociological experiment on film; and though this mostly mellow installment isn't as revelatory as some earlier ones, it's still a remarkable document.
... feels like a retrospective and summation of the whole series, with ample quotation from the previous films, an approach that makes it interesting even for viewers who haven't seen the previous installments.
A completely unique and remarkable documentary project.
Apted skillfully weaves old footage with the new, and we become poignantly aware of another factor shaping their lives (and our own): biology, as the we watch the once-cute kids grow gray and heavy.
Perhaps the boldest and probably longest running sociological experiment on film.
I think the best thing about this movie (and the entire series) is that it forces the viewer to think about their own lives. It's kind of an awakening experience.
Once again, Apted assembles a captivating documentary that's profoundly educational, essential viewing to aid the understanding of the human experience.
"56 Up" is well worth seeing.
56 Up is still moving and philosophic, though not as exciting as earlier episodes, which had more drama.
The running time is over two hours, but the lives here are richly revealed and vastly rewarding.
Apted possesses the unsettling ability to shape perceptions of their lives and personalities from inside an editing suite, a fact that the members of his flock begin to recognize at varying points throughout their adult years.
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Fast food linked to higher asthma and allergy risk
New study links fast-food consumption to a greater risk for developing asthma, eczema and allergies.
Tue, Jan 15 2013 at 8:56 AM
Teens and kids who eat a lot of fast food may be at greater risk for developingasthma, eczema?and allergies, according to a new study published in the British Medical Journal's respiratory magazine,?Thorax.
?
For the study, researchers from?the University of Auckland in New Zealand and the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom looked at surveys from more than 500,000 kids in 51 countries to determine how diet affected their allergy-related risks. They found that?eating fast food three times a week may lead to asthma, eczema?and itchy, watery eyes in children. ?
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Researchers surveyed kids and their parents to determine whether or not they experienced symptoms of allergies, asthma and eczema. Participants also shared what types of foods they consumed each week. In the study, children in their early teens who ate fast food three or more times each week had a 39 percent greater risk of severe asthma. For 6- and 7-year-olds, there was a 27 percent increased risk. Overall, kids who ate fast food three or more times a week had about a 30 percent increased risk of severe allergies. The results were consistent across all age groups regardless of gender or socioeconomic status. ?
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Interestingly, kids who ate fruit were able to cut their risk of developing these conditions. Researchers found that kids who ate three or more portions of fruit each week reduced their risk of severe asthma, eczema and allergies by between 11 and 14 percent.
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Related allergies and asthma stories on MNN:
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The opinions expressed by MNN Bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of MNN.com. While we have reviewed their content to make sure it complies with our Terms and Conditions, MNN is not responsible for the accuracy of any of their information.
The Cheesecake Factory is rolling out a new computer system to make sure its customers are happier with its famed desserts.
The global cheesecake company is pairing up with IBM Big Data analytics to better track information on the quality of its 200-plus ingredients from the time they are shipped to their arrival on store shelves.?
The information will be consolidated into one system so the company can better monitor data on the freshness of its food from Dallas to Dubai.
So what does that mean for cheesecake fans?
For one, products that aren't up to snuff will be taken off shelves faster, said Angela Nardone, Chief Innovation Officer of IBM Business Partner, N2N Global. That includes anything from ketchup that isn't the right color or consistency to a retail product slapped with the wrong label. For a company that has 180 locations and serves 80 million customers a year, getting sub-par ingredients out of the supply chain with speed is key, she said.
Better analytics could also help The Cheesecake Factory incorporate more local ingredients into its products, since their quality can be tracked more efficiently, Nardone said.?
In time, the company also plans to monitor social media outlets more heavily to improve product quality, said?Paul Chang, IBM's Global Leader for Consumer Products Strategy.
For example, if a customer posts a photo of a mediocre meal at the restaurant on Instagram, it could be fixed faster.
"If something is not up to standard, word could spread very quickly," Chang said, a problem for a restaurant world that relies more and more on positive Yelp reviews. "Using big data and other technology to mind the chatter that?s going on and take action against it quickly will benefit the business and the brand as a whole."
Watch the video below to see The Cheesecake Factory explain its new data-driven system:
(Reuters) - The case of the deeply bronzed New Jersey woman known as "Tan Mom" appears destined to fade away. A grand jury declined to indict her on child endangerment charges, a prosecutor said on Tuesday.
Patricia Krentcil was arrested in April 2012 after her then 5-year-old daughter showed up at school with a sunburn and officials accused her of taking the child into a tanning booth.
At the time, the blonde mother's chocolate-brown hue testified to many hours spent under the intense ultraviolet light of a tanning bed or out in the sun soaking up rays.
New Jersey is among several states that have adopted regulations prohibiting anyone age 14 or under from tanning with using ultraviolet devices because of the risk of skin cancer.
A grand jury considering the case against Krentcil, 44, of Nutley, New Jersey, decided not to indict her on charges of endangering the welfare of a child, the Essex County prosecutor's office said on Tuesday.
"We presented all the available evidence in the case to the grand jury," said Assistant Essex County Prosecutor Gina Iosim.
"The grand jurors voted not to indict Mrs. Krentcil. ... We respect their decision," Iosim said.
Krentcil's attorney Natalia Diaz hailed the panel's decision, noting that the mother of could have faced a prison term of up to 10 years had she been convicted of the charge.
"The case was just basically ridiculous," Diaz said. "It's almost like a witch hunt."
The child, now 6, is fair-skinned and showed up at school with a sunburn after spending time outside on a sunny day, not in a tanning booth, Diaz said.
Krentcil, who is also "very, very fair skinned," said she frequented tanning booths because she wanted to look "nice and dark," Diaz said. But that is all in the past.
By Kyle Bonagura and Jodi Hernandez, NBCBayArea.com
An adventurous Oakland couple who had been out of contact with family members for a month -? and believed to be missing - were heard from on Tuesday in Peru, much to the relief of their families and global social media community rallying for their safe return.
Garrett Hand and Jamie Neal, both 25, were aboard a small vessel on the Napo River on their way to Ecuador, according to Neal?s sister, Jennifer. The U.S. Embassy told Jennifer that Hand reached out to Peruvian officials after being informed the couple was the subject of a search.
"They said the police reported to them Garrett called them over the phone and gave his passport number and confirmed he and my sister are in good health and that they're fine,? Neal said. "Someone from a town they were passing through had seen them and had been watching the news and told them they need to call the local authorities.?
Neal told NBC Bay Area she was happy to get the news, but won?t be completely at peace until either Hand or her sister makes contact with a family member.
?I still have not talked to my sister," she said. "If it's true, I feel great I'm so glad. I want my sister to be having a blast over there and having fun. I don't want to worry about her and think anything bad happened to her.?
Neal is hoping to hear her sister?s voice tomorrow.
"Supposedly they were going to be hitting the border in Ecuador tomorrow and the authorities were going to make them call their family members when they get there,? Neal said.
Read more from NBCBayArea.com
The avid cyclists left for South America at the end of November and regularly chronicled their journey through Facebook, but the updates stopped on Jan. 25, along with any financial activity on the couple?s bank accounts and credit cards.
The couple was unaware of the search effort, which picked up steam over late last week when family members took to social media to generate awareness and help. The family set up a Facebook page called Missing in Peru Garrett Hand and Jamie Neal.
On Feb. 13, the U.S. Embassy in Lima warned Americans of a potential kidnapping threat by an unnamed criminal organization in the Cusco area. The embassy reported the threat to be "credible at least through the end of February."
Francine Fitzgerald, the mother of Garrett Hand released the following statement:
"We have received phone calls from the U.S. Embassy and Peruvian government that my son Garrett Hand and his girlfriend Jamie Neal have been spotted in a remote village in Peru.? The information told to me is that they are on a boat on the river and that they are sending a plane to find them.? I am told to expect information by tomorrow sometime.
While I appreciate the extraordinary efforts of the media, the U.S. and Peruvian governments, until I hear from and see my son directly, we will not stop.? This young couple is someone?s son and brother, someone?s daughter and sister and United States citizens.? We have not heard from them since January 25, nor have they accessed bank accounts since that time.? We have only the worst to consider as to why.
Thank you those of you who are helping ? friends, family, reporters, officials ? and our task is done when Garrett and Jamie are home and safe."
Feb. 21, 2013 ? Researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) have successfully generated human kidney cells from human embryonic stem cells in vitro1. Specifically, they produced the renal cells under artificial conditions in the lab without using animals or organs. This has not been possible until now.
According to IBN Executive Director, Professor Jackie Y. Ying, "This discovery has wide-reaching implications for in vitro toxicology, drug screening, disease models and regenerative medicine. In particular, we are interested in applying our technology to develop predictive in vitro drug testing and renal toxicity models as alternatives to animal testing."
IBN Team Leader and Principal Research Scientist Dr Daniele Zink elaborated, "The kidney is a major target organ for drug-induced toxic effects. Therefore, it is important for pharmaceutical companies to find out early in the development phase whether their drugs would cause nephrotoxicity in humans. However, animal models are of limited predictability, and there is currently no regulatory accepted in vitro assay based on renal cells to predict nephrotoxic effects. A major problem is the lack of suitable renal cells, which may now be resolved through our discovery."
At present, human kidney cells are extracted directly from human kidney samples. However, this method is not efficient because such samples are limited, and the extracted cells die after a few cell divisions in the petri dish. Also, cells obtained from different samples would display variable features, depending on age, gender, health status and other conditions of the donor. Therefore, cells that have been isolated from human samples are of limited suitability for research and applications in industry and translational medicine, which require large cell numbers.
An alternative approach is to use human renal cell lines that have been rendered immortal, i.e. they can be reproduced indefinitely in the lab. However, such cells may not be used in many applications due to safety issues, and their functional features have usually been changed so profoundly that they may no longer be useful toward predicting cell behavior in the human body.
IBN's technique, on the other hand, enables human embryonic stem cells to differentiate into renal proximal tubular-like cells. This particular kidney cell type plays an important role in kidney disease-related processes and drug clearance. Results showed that the renal proximal tubular-like cells generated by IBN were similar to the renal proximal tubular cells isolated from fresh human kidney samples. For example, they displayed very similar gene and protein expression patterns. Also, since human embryonic stem cells may grow indefinitely in cell culture, the IBN researchers have discovered a potentially unlimited source of human kidney cells.
"We are currently adapting our approach to use induced pluripotent stem cells as the source," shared Dr Karthikeyan Narayanan, IBN Senior Research Scientist. "We are also planning to modify our protocol in order to generate other renal cell types from stem cells."
The IBN researchers have tested the renal cells they generated in in vitro nephrotoxicology models developed by the Institute, and have obtained very promising test results. They welcome industry partners to collaborate with IBN on commercializing this technology.
IBN has recently received a grant from A*STAR's Joint Council Office Development Program to further develop predictive in vitro models for liver- and kidney-specific toxicity. This project will be conducted in collaboration with the Experimental Therapeutics Centre, the Bioinformatics Institute and the National University Health System.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore.
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Journal Reference:
Karthikeyan Narayanan, Karl M Schumacher, Farah Tasnim, Karthikeyan Kandasamy, Annegret Schumacher, Ming Ni, Shujun Gao, Began Gopalan, Daniele Zink, Jackie Y Ying. Human embryonic stem cells differentiate into functional renal proximal tubular?like cells. Kidney International, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/ki.2012.442
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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
* Global markets shaken by fears of new euro zone instability * Vote is stunning success for populist movement * Berlusconi stages comeback but cannot govern alone * Centre-left big losers although will try to form government By Barry Moody and James Mackenzie ROME, Feb 25 (Reuters) - A huge protest vote by Italians enraged by economic hardship and political corruption left the euro zone's third-largest economy facing a dangerous vacuum on Monday after an election in which no group won enough votes to form a government. The result, in which anti-euro parties took more than 50 percent of the vote and a novice populist movement scored a stunning success, rocked global markets with fears of a new euro zone crisis. Europe's common currency slumped against the dollar and yen and U.S. stocks suffered their biggest one-day drop since November. With more than 99 percent of returns in from polling stations, results showed the centre-left had taken a slim victory of around 130,000 votes in the lower house of parliament, enough to give it comfortable control thanks to a big winner's bonus. But no party or likely coalition won enough seats to form a majority in the upper house, creating a deadlocked parliament - the opposite of the stable result that Italy desperately needs to tackle a deep recession, rising unemployment and a massive public debt. The outcome fanned fears of a new European financial crisis, with prospects of a long period of paralysis and uncertainty in Italy. "This is the worst possible outcome from the market's point of view ... It seems inevitable that there will be a new election," said Alessandro Tentori, Citigroup head of global rates. The result was an extraordinary success for Genoese comic Beppe Grillo, leader of the populist 5-Star Movement, who toured the country in his first national election campaign hurling obscenity-laced insults against a discredited political class. He was set to become the biggest single party in the lower house, riding a potent wave of anger against rampant waste and corruption by ageing political leaders. His success fulfilled the predictions of some analysts that the most uncertain and closely watched election in years would herald a political revolution. "This is the end of a system, not a government," respected commentator Massimo Franco told Reuters before the vote. Grillo polled more around a quarter of the vote in a meteoric rise from the 1.8 percent he garnered in his movement's first local political test in 2010. The result was a humiliating slap in the face for colourless centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani, who threw away a 10-point opinion-poll lead less than two months ago against Silvio Berlusconi's centre right. He failed to turn up for a press conference after the result became clear. His deputy, Enrico Letta, as well as outgoing technocrat premier Mario Monti, said responsible forces must form a government and avoid another election. But the result raised a big question over whether that would be possible. Billionaire media magnate Berlusconi, 76, who staged an extraordinary comeback from sex and corruption scandals since diving into the campaign in December, came in a close second in the Senate race, with an estimated 117 seats. With almost all results in, the centre-left was set to take 121 seats in the upper house, Grillo 54, and Monti languishing on only 22 after a campaign which never took off. The Senate majority is 158. Berlusconi, a master politician and communicator, wooed voters with a blitz of television appearances and promises to refund Monti's hated housing tax despite accusations from opponents that this was an impossible vote buying trick. Grillo has attacked all sides in the campaign and ruled out a formal alliance with any group although it was not immediately known how he would react to his stunning success or how his supporters would behave in parliament. The next move to solve the crisis will be when head of state Giorgio Napolitano calls in political leaders to discuss how to form a government. But this is not expected until March 10 after the election result is formally confirmed and parliament convened. Letta said the centre-left, as biggest party in the lower house, had the right to be the first to try to form a government.
DANGER OF NEW ELECTION Investors fear a return of the kind of debt crisis that took the euro zone close to disaster and brought the technocrat Monti to office, replacing Berlusconi, in 2011. The results showed more than half of Italians had voted for the anti-euro platforms of Berlusconi and Grillo. A centre-left government either alone or ruling with Monti had been seen by investors as the best guarantee of measures to combat a deep recession and stagnant growth in Italy, which is pivotal to stability in the currency union. But the failure of Monti to gain traction at the head of a centrist force, despite support from business leaders and foreign governments, and the weak showing by the centre-left meant they do not have nearly enough Senators to do this. The upper and lower houses have equal law-making power. The benchmark spread between Italian 10-year bonds and their German equivalent widened from below 260 basis points to above 300 and the Italian share index lost all its previous gains after projections of the Senate result.
Monti helped save Italy from a debt crisis when Rome's borrowing costs were spiralling out of control in November 2011, but few Italians now see him as the saviour of the country, which is reeling under its longest recession for 20 years. Grillo's movement rode a wave of voter anger about both the pain of Monti's austerity programme and a string of political and corporate scandals. It had particular appeal for a frustrated younger generation shut out of full-time jobs. "I'm sick of the scandals and the stealing," said Paolo Gentile, a 49-year-old Rome lawyer who voted for 5-Star. "We need some young, new people in parliament, not the old parties that are totally discredited." Berlusconi, a billionaire media tycoon, exploited anger against Monti's austerity programme, accusing him of being a puppet of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, but in many areas Grillo was a bigger beneficiary of public discontent. Italians wrung their hands at prospects of an inconclusive result that will mean more delays to essential reforms. "It's a classic result. Typically Italian. It means the country is not united. It is an expression of a country that does not work. I knew this would happen," said 36-year-old Rome office worker Roberta Federica. Another office worker, Elisabetta Carlotta, 46, shook her head in disbelief. "We can't go on like this," she said.
Cambridgeshire, UK -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/26/2013 -- Search engine optimization continues to play a vital role in online marketing campaigns. From strategic keyword placement to White Hat techniques, SEO is designed to ensure optimal visibility for websites and forums. It can also increase a site?s rank across leading search engines, while effectively driving traffic and connecting users to the products and services they seek.
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The infographic also chronicles the rise of mobile Internet use in the UK. In fact, over 50% of users now utilize mobile and wireless devices to access the Internet. This includes shopping, along with information searches and other online tasks. An additional 67% of adults in the UK use their computers every day. For businesses in Great Britain, these numbers serve as an incentive to tap into these burgeoning trends. According to industry experts, there will come a time where 100% of the UK?s citizens will all be online.
About Cookied Web Design: Cookied.co.uk is a professional web design company that specializes in SEO campaigns. From existing businesses to new upstarts, they have the tools and experience to put client ideas into fruition. With a highly talented and dedicated staff, the company has helped countless businesses gain vital exposure across vast digital networks. They also specialize in online marketing, along with graphic design and promotional campaigns. See their newly released infographic here - http://www.cookied.co.uk/roi-of-seo.html.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) ? Superlative-hungry Dubai is adding another to its list: A 72-story hotel billed as the world's tallest.
The JW Marriott's Marquis Dubai formally opened Tuesday after gaining the title of tallest hotel from Guinness World Records.
At 355 meters (1,099 feet), the hotel would tower over skylines in most cities. But in Dubai, it sits in the shadow of its more than twice-as-high neighbor, the Burj Khalif, the world's tallest skyscraper at 828 meters (2,717 feet).
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama and his officials are doing their best to drum up public concern over the shock wave of spending cuts that could strike the government in just days. So it's a good time to be alert for sky-is-falling hype.
Over the last week or so, administration officials have come forward with a grim compendium of jobs to be lost, services to be denied or delayed, military defenses to be let down and important operations to be disrupted. Obama's new chief of staff, Denis McDonough, spoke of a "devastating list of horribles."
For most Americans, though, it's far from certain they will have a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day if the budget-shredder known as the sequester comes to pass. Maybe they will, if the impasse drags on for months.
For now, there's a whiff of the familiar in all the foreboding, harking back to the mid-1990s partial government shutdown, when officials said old people would go hungry, illegal immigrants would have the run of the of the land and veterans would go without drugs. It didn't happen.
For this episode, provisions are in place to preserve the most crucial services ? and benefit checks. Furloughs of federal workers are at least a month away, breathing room for a political settlement if the will to achieve one is found. Many government contractors would continue to be paid with money previously approved.
Warnings of thousands of teacher layoffs, for example, are made with the presumption that local communities would not step in with their own dollars ? perhaps from higher taxes ? to keep teachers in the classrooms if federal money is not soon restored. Education Secretary Arne Duncan says teacher layoffs have already begun, but he has not backed up that claim and school administrators say no pink slips are expected before May, for the next school year.
To be sure, the cuts are big and will have consequences. Knowing what they will be, though, is far from a precise exercise.
And there is a lot of improbable precision in administration statements about what could happen: more than 373,000 seriously ill people losing mental health services, 600,000 low-income pregnant women and new mothers losing food aid and nutrition education, 1,200 fewer inspections of dangerous work sites, 125,000 poor households going without vouchers, and much more.
"These numbers are just numbers thrown out into the thin air with no anchor, and I think they don't provoke the outrage or concern that the Obama administration seeks," said Paul Light, a New York University professor who specializes in the federal bureaucracy and budget. For all the dire warnings, he said, "It's not clear who gets hurt by this."
The estimates in many cases come from a simple calculation: Divide the proscribed spending cut by a program's per-person spending to see how many beneficiaries may lose services or benefits under the sequester.
But in practice, through all the layers of bureaucracy and the everyday smoke and mirrors of the federal budget, there is rarely a direct and measurable correlation between a federal dollar and its effect on the ground.
That has meant a lot of tenuous "could happen" warnings by the administration, not so much "will happen" evidence.
So it was in Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius' letter to Congress laying out likely consequences of the spending cuts for her agency's operations. She said the sequester "could" compromise the well-being of more than 373,000 people who "potentially" would not get needed mental health services, which in turn "could result" in more hospitalizations and homelessness.
Duncan left himself less wiggle room. "This stuff is real," he said last week. "Schools are already starting to give teachers notices."
Asked to provide backup for Duncan's assertion, spokesman Daren Briscoe said it was based on "an unspecified call he was on with unnamed persons," and the secretary might not be comfortable sharing details.
Briscoe referred queries about layoffs to the American Association of School Administrators. Noelle M. Ellerson, an assistant director of the organization, said Monday that in her many discussions with superintendents at the group's just-completed annual meeting, she heard of no layoffs of teachers. While everyone is bracing for that possibility down the road, she said, "not a single one I spoke with had already issued pink slips."
Most school district budgets for the next school year won't be completed for two months, she said, meaning any layoff notices would come in early to mid-May. "No one had yet acted."
School districts in areas set aside for tribal lands or military bases count on Washington for a significant share of their budgets, and are to lose $60 million, or 5 percent of their federal payments, when the sequester starts. Nearly all money to run most of the nation's public schools comes from local sources such as property taxes that are not affected by the federal cuts.
As for the assertion that 600,000 women could be dropped from the Women, Infants and Children Program, that's not to say the rolls would be cut by that number. The actual number is likely to include women who are not enrolled in the program now and could be denied when seeking to join it. Federal officials say the true number will depend on how states can manage their caseloads.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has warned of impending furloughs of air traffic controllers, who may need to take one day off every two weeks, and said air-travel delays are likely across the country. Asked Friday why the airline lobby predicted no major impact on air travel from the sequester, he said, "I don't think they have the information we're presenting to them today."
"The idea that we're just doing this to create some kind of a horrific scare tactic is nonsense," LaHood said. But it's a pressure tactic nonetheless: "What I'm trying to do is to wake up members of the Congress on the Republican side to the idea that they need to come to the table."
However the cuts fall, Light at NYU says the Washington Monument ploy, also known as the Firemen First principle, is at work.
It goes like this: Put someone's budget at risk and the first thing you'll hear is a threat to close a cherished national symbol or lay off firefighters and police, when in fact there are other ways to cut spending.
It so happens the Washington Monument is already closed, for earthquake repair. But Obama indulged in the Firemen First principle quite literally.
He appeared at the White House in front of officers in blue uniforms to warn of the consequences of the sequester. "Emergency responders like the ones who are here today ? their ability to help communities respond to and recover from disasters will be degraded."
The law gives little flexibility to agencies to protect favored programs, except for big ones specifically exempted from the automatic cuts, such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and veterans benefits. FBI and Border Patrol furloughs are expected. Still, the White House has directed agencies to avoid cuts presenting "risks to life, safety or health" and to minimize harm to crucial services.
In the partial government shutdown during his presidency, Bill Clinton and his officials told some tall tales and sketched dark scenarios that didn't come to pass, though some might have if the crisis had lasted weeks or months longer. The shutdown played out over two installments totaling 26 days from mid-November 1995 to early January 1996.
National park properties closed (yes, even the Washington Monument), passport and federal mortgage insurance processing were disrupted and toxic waste cleanup stalled as hundreds of thousands of federal workers went idle, paid retroactively later. But states, communities and private groups stepped up to tide over the neediest, keeping Meals on Wheels rolling with their own resources, for example, until Clinton found emergency money to cover the costs. Warnings that Medicare treatment would be withheld proved unfounded, and veterans got their care.
Contractors, who perform many key services for government, kept working for IOUs. A claim by the government that deportations "have virtually ended" was not so.
The Justice Department told the story of a Florida gas station rejecting the government-issued credit card of a drug-enforcement agent to illustrate the indignity of it all.
But the reality was humdrum: The card had merely expired.
___
Associated Press writers Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Mary Clare Jalonick, Joan Lowy and Philip Elliott contributed to this report.
Asus has just announced the latest version of its previously awkward Padfone—but this time round, it seems that the hardware might live up to previous promises. More »
"Ready 4 the show," an invitation sent to members of the press teases, blatantly hinting that we'll be seeing the Galaxy S 4 ? the highly anticipated follow-up to the Galaxy S III smartphone ? at the event being held by Samsung on March 14.
The event will take place in New York City at 7 p.m. ET. (We'll be there to cover it live, of course.)
The Galaxy S 4 ? we're assuming by the big "4" that the only change to Samsung's incredibly consistent naming approach will be to drop the Roman numerals ? will be the company's newest flagship device.
A poster spotted by AnandTech's Brian Klug during a visit to Samsung's demo room at the Consumer Electronics Show in early January suggests that the Galaxy S 4 could be rocking a 4.99-inch 1080p screen with a whopping 440 pixels per inch. While the iPhone 5 offers the significantly less dense 326 ppi, it's worth noting that it's practically impossible for human eyes to tell the difference. After a certain point, the individual pixels simply become indistinguishable.
That's about all we know (or think we know) about the Galaxy S 4 for now, so Samsung could have plenty of surprises waiting up its sleeves come March 14.
Want more tech news or interesting links? You'll get plenty of both if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on Twitter, subscribing to her Facebook posts, or circling her on Google+.
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Public release date: 28-Feb-2013
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The $5.975 million Santa Monica stunner had everyone's jaws dropping for an obvious reason: those walls of wood intertwining with walls of glass that look onto the natural marvel that is the canyon. The home was designed by celebrated architect Ray Kappe in the 1970s, but it has been restored and renovated into a masterpiece. The grounds are mesmerizing, with multiple decks and fire pits turning the backyard into an entertainer's dream. (That pool, koi pond and spa doesn't hurt, either.)
