torsdag, juni 30, 2011
Copa América
Här kan man se datum när matcherna i Copa América spelas (Canal + visar).
http://www.marca.com/deporte/futbol/internacional/copa_america/2011/calendario.html
http://www.marca.com/deporte/futbol/internacional/copa_america/2011/calendario.html
Senate confirms Gen. David Petraeus as CIA chief
Gen. David H. Petraeus has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate as the new director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The vote was 94-0.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
David Howell Petraeus, född 7 november 1952 i Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, är en fyrstjärnig general i USA:s armé. Petraeus är sedan den 4 juli 2010 befälhavare för multinationella styrkan ISAF i Afghanistan. Petraeus var tidigare militärbefälhavare för United States Central Command 2008-2010 och befälhavare för Multinationella styrkan i Irak 2007-2008./Wikipedia
LOS ANGELES TIMES
David Howell Petraeus, född 7 november 1952 i Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, är en fyrstjärnig general i USA:s armé. Petraeus är sedan den 4 juli 2010 befälhavare för multinationella styrkan ISAF i Afghanistan. Petraeus var tidigare militärbefälhavare för United States Central Command 2008-2010 och befälhavare för Multinationella styrkan i Irak 2007-2008./Wikipedia
World Cup Will Not Help Women's Fight for Equality /DER SPIEGEL
The Women's Football World Cup, which is currently being held in Germany, is massively overhyped. Despite the media's best efforts, there is no real enthusiasm among the general public. The event shows just how far women have to go in their fight for equal rights.
A well-known German tabloid newspaper, which shall remain nameless, likes to advertise with the slogan: Every truth needs someone to say it.
Michael Antwerpes is the name of the poor soul who fate assigned the job of speaking the truth about the Women's Soccer World Cup, which is currently taking place in Germany. Not that he likely meant to be so open. It's hard to believe that Antwerpes, a sports commentator for the German public broadcaster ARD, was in full possession of his mental faculties when, during the tournament's opening game, he said: "It's the Women's World Cup, but it can still be fun nevertheless."
Ahead of the World Cup, ARD had launched a huge poster campaign across the country with slogans such as -- in reference to Germany's showing at the men's Soccer World Cup in 2010 -- "Third place is for men" and "Lads, we will get your revenge." But even before the beginning of the event, the campaign revealed the dilemma that the sport faces: Women's soccer primarily defines itself in relation to men's soccer. No matter how successful the German women's team is, they will be left with one insurmountable deficit: They are not men. The broadcaster's posters couldn't help but create the impression that ARD and Germany would have preferred a men's World Cup.
That thought is also behind Antwerpes' slip of the tongue. He involuntarily revealed the rather forced public obligation to have fun and enjoy the Women's World Cup. Ideally, everything would be like it was back in the summer of 2006 , during the men's World Cup hosted by Germany, when there were good-natured German fans and a sea of black, red and gold German flags everywhere you looked. The only problem is that back then there was genuine excitement. This time around, the enthusiasm is artificial.
That should have been obvious right from the start. Let's not beat around the bush: Women's football is a niche sport. A women's league match attracts, on average, around 830 spectators. A men's game typically gets more than 42,000.
But the Women's World Cup is more than just a sporting event. It is being exploited by organizations, companies and politicians as part of the gender equality debate. The proactive support that this World Cup is getting is a placebo to replace real affirmative action. There are plenty of reasons to expand the institutionalized promotion of women in the workplace. After all, in the 200 largest German companies, only 3.2 percent of board positions are filled by women. But Chancellor Angela Merkel said a few months ago that she does not think introducing a gender quota would change anything. Of course, introducing such a quota would involve her taking on Germany's powerful industrial lobby. It is so much easier for the chancellor to ceremoniously open an exhibition about women's football and be photographed in ecstatic rapture at the opening game.
Reinforcing Male Ideas Similarly, Germany's highly influential tabloid Bild is exploiting the World Cup to temporarily transform itself from the country's central organ of male chauvinism into a feminist journal. Following Antwerpes' faux pas, the newspaper declared the hapless commentator its "Loser of the Day," a daily front-page feature. "The World Cup would be fun if we didn't have to listen to such stupid remarks!" the paper wrote. It's well known that the Bild editors are experts in women's issues -- after all, they have to choose a new naked female model for the paper's cover every day.
The newspaper was back on its usual territory, however, when a couple of players from the women's Bundesliga stripped off for the German edition of Playboy, causing Bild to comment that "women's football is reeeaaally sexy." The sad thing is that the young women in question probably considered themselves to be particularly self-confident, while in reality they were unconsciously reinforcing male ideas about women's roles. Iris Radisch, an astute journalist with the heavyweight German weekly Die Zeit, reacted to the development with concern. "Damage is caused by the image of female availability, which such things keep alive."
But the clearest reflection of the different value that society puts on female and male achievements can be seen in what female footballers earn. While a professional male player in Germany's top league, the Bundesliga, earns on average €1 million a year, a top woman's footballer takes home €800 a month.
If female footballers wanted to take a stance, they could let themselves be inspired by the legendary African-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who won medals in the 200-meter race at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. At the medal ceremony, they bowed their heads and raised their black-gloved fists in the air in a now-iconic Black Power salute.
Should the German team win the Women's World Cup, they could make a similar gesture at the ceremony. Perhaps they could pull their shirts up, but only far enough to reveal the words "Equal pay now." Conveniently enough, it has exactly 11 letters.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/
 |
| The Spiegel headquarters in Hamburg |
published in Hamburg . It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.
Since 1952, Der Spiegel has been headquartered in its own building in the old town part of Hamburg.
Copa América
I morgon startar årets Copa América, fotbollens äldsta världsdelsturnering.
Favoriter Argentina och Brasilien. Men Chile, Colombia och Uruguay
kommer att ge favoriterna hårt motstånd.
Synd att endast dyra Canal+ ger oss möjligheter att följa turneringen.
'Transformers' 3 has biggest day at box office for any movie in 2011
Paramount Pictures' "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" sold $37.3 million worth of tickets in the U.S. and Canada on its first full day in theaters, the biggest single day for any movie this year but 40% less than the second "Transformers" did in 2009.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
LOS ANGELES TIMES
MSNBC Suspends Analyst For Calling Obama a “Dick”
MSNBC has suspended one of its senior political analysts indefinitely after he said he thought President Obama acted like "a dick” at recent press conference.
Mark Halperin, who is also Time magazine’s editor-at-large, made the comments on Thursday’s Morning Joe. At the time he joked that he thought the producers would have bleeped his remarks out. They did not.
Halperin later offered an on-air apology. “Joking aside, this is an absolute apology,” he said. “I shouldn’t have said it. I apologize to the president and the viewers who heard me say that.” /Slate
MSNBC (stylized as msnbc) is a cable news channel based in the United States and available in the US, Germany (Berlin, Local), South Africa, the Middle East and Canada. Its name is derived from those of "Microsoft" and "NBC".
Mark Halperin, who is also Time magazine’s editor-at-large, made the comments on Thursday’s Morning Joe. At the time he joked that he thought the producers would have bleeped his remarks out. They did not.
Halperin later offered an on-air apology. “Joking aside, this is an absolute apology,” he said. “I shouldn’t have said it. I apologize to the president and the viewers who heard me say that.” /Slate
MSNBC (stylized as msnbc) is a cable news channel based in the United States and available in the US, Germany (Berlin, Local), South Africa, the Middle East and Canada. Its name is derived from those of "Microsoft" and "NBC".
Bin Laden is dead, but al-Qaeda is not
Adviser and longtime No. 2 to bin Laden. Head of Egyptian Islamic Jihad group.
Leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Security chief, succeeded Muhammad Atef. Former Eqyptian army officer who joined the mujaheddin in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Reportedly being held under house arrest in Iran, but may have been released.
Joined bin Laden in the 1980s and became an explosives expert.
Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah - Nationality: Egypt
Financial operations.
Propagandist. Grew up in California and converted to Islam as a teenager. Moved to Pakistan in 1998 and appeared in several al-Qaeda videos. Indicted and charged with treason in 2006.
Operations. Lived in the United States with his father, a Muslim cleric.
Source: Washington Post
OSCAR I and Amateur Radio Satellites: Celebrating 50 Years
This year sees the 50th anniversary of the historic launch of the first Amateur Radio satellite OSCAR 1 built by radio hams in California. A video of the operational backup on display at Dayton is now available (see below).
OSCAR 1 sent a greeting of HI on 144.9830 MHz CW to Amateurs around the world.
It was a 4kg, 30 by 30cm satellite and three of them were built. One of the satellites went up into space on December 12, 1961, one is on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC and the other was until recently sitting in a display case on the first floor of the HQ building in Newington.
ARRL Lab Test Engineer Bob Allison, WB1GCM had a lightbulb moment: Why not take the back-up OSCAR I on display at ARRL Headquarters and make it work again?
Read the full ARRL article OSCAR I and Amateur Radio Satellites: Celebrating 50 Years
http://www.arrl.org/news/oscar-i-and-amateur-radio-satellites-celebrating-50-years
The operational backup of the historic OSCAR 1 satellite was on display and tranmitting CW at the ARRL stand at Dayton Hamfest 2011.
OSCAR 1 sent a greeting of HI on 144.9830 MHz CW to Amateurs around the world.
It was a 4kg, 30 by 30cm satellite and three of them were built. One of the satellites went up into space on December 12, 1961, one is on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC and the other was until recently sitting in a display case on the first floor of the HQ building in Newington.
ARRL Lab Test Engineer Bob Allison, WB1GCM had a lightbulb moment: Why not take the back-up OSCAR I on display at ARRL Headquarters and make it work again?
Read the full ARRL article OSCAR I and Amateur Radio Satellites: Celebrating 50 Years
http://www.arrl.org/news/oscar-i-and-amateur-radio-satellites-celebrating-50-years
The operational backup of the historic OSCAR 1 satellite was on display and tranmitting CW at the ARRL stand at Dayton Hamfest 2011.
Chile
Vad man mest minns från norra Chile är sand. I övrigt är Chile ett mycket vackert land.
Most Distant Quasar Found
A team of European astronomers has used ESO's Very Large Telescope and a host of other telescopes to discover and study the most distant quasar found to date. This brilliant beacon, powered by a black hole with a mass two billion times that of the Sun, is by far the brightest object yet discovered in the early Universe.
The results will appear in the 30 June 2011 issue of the journal Nature.
/Swedish:/ En quasar, svenska kvasar är en extremt ljusstark och avlägsen aktiv galaxkärna. Den överglänser sin värdgalax så mycket att denna inte tidigare kunnat observeras. Först med CCD-teknik och senare adaptiv optik har många värdgalaxer kunnat påvisas.
Detta energiutstrålande objekt i universum avger enorma mängder elektromagnetisk strålning från radiovågor till gammastrålning. Det är faktiskt inte ovanligt för en ensam kvasar att utstråla energi på en nivå, som motsvarar flera hundra vanliga galaxer tillsammans. Själva kvasaren är ett förhållandevis litet objekt, men många ligger på ofantligt stora avstånd från oss sett.
I ett vanligt teleskop ser en kvasar ut som en väldigt svag stjärna, som strålar från en punkt i förhållande till observatören, eftersom den är så avlägsen.
The results will appear in the 30 June 2011 issue of the journal Nature.
/Swedish:/ En quasar, svenska kvasar är en extremt ljusstark och avlägsen aktiv galaxkärna. Den överglänser sin värdgalax så mycket att denna inte tidigare kunnat observeras. Först med CCD-teknik och senare adaptiv optik har många värdgalaxer kunnat påvisas.
Detta energiutstrålande objekt i universum avger enorma mängder elektromagnetisk strålning från radiovågor till gammastrålning. Det är faktiskt inte ovanligt för en ensam kvasar att utstråla energi på en nivå, som motsvarar flera hundra vanliga galaxer tillsammans. Själva kvasaren är ett förhållandevis litet objekt, men många ligger på ofantligt stora avstånd från oss sett.
I ett vanligt teleskop ser en kvasar ut som en väldigt svag stjärna, som strålar från en punkt i förhållande till observatören, eftersom den är så avlägsen.
Eurons framtid
Det krävs närmast underverk för att klara alla åtaganden och dramatiska förändringar i EU-samarbetet för att säkra eurons framtid /Dagens Nyheter
Nickel Prices Continue to Slide
Avastin not effective for breast cancer
The U.S. panel voted 6-0 against the best-selling cancer drug in the world, citing little benefit and causes dangerous side effects./USATODAY
Read more >> http://usat.ly/jKsHxP.
Field Management Reforms to Reduce Costs and Enhance Data Quality
As a valued stakeholder to the Census Bureau, we want to inform you about
some key changes we are making in order to be a prudent steward of the taxpayers’money and fulfill our mission to provide the country important statistical information.
Today, we are announcing a realignment of our national field office structure and management reforms designed to keep pace with modern survey collection methods worldwide and reduce costs by an estimated $15 - $18 million annually beginning in 2014.
Over the next 18 months we will transition to a new supervisory structure to
manage some almost 7,000 professional interviewers. The changes will result inpermanently closing six of our 12 Regional Offices and a reduction of the national field workforce of about 115-130 positions. Most of the reductions will happen through attrition, early retirements, or transfers to vacant jobs at Census headquarters or elsewhere. The six Regional Offices that will close are Boston, Charlotte, Dallas, Detroit, Kansas City and Seattle. The six Regional Offices that will remain open are Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia. Advances in technology have allowed survey organizations to provide better tools to their field interviewers and move to a leaner management structure. More “virtualization” of supervision using more timely management information can yield both cost and quality advantages. We want to keep pace with these innovations. Our professional field interviewers are the front line of producing the nation’s vital statistics about our economy, our communities, and our households. We owe it to the nation to constantly improve our processes and become more efficient. More than 20 percent of the interview workload involves conducting surveys for
other federal statistical agencies. Our customers are confronting tighter fiscal budgets as well, and have challenged us to improve our systems. Indeed, the nation depends upon us to slow the cost inflation in our survey work if we are to maintain the highest quality statistics. As we go through this transition over the next 18 months, our Regional Office employees who are affected by this realignment are our first priority.
The closing of six Regional Offices was a difficult decision and one that will
produce disruption and pain in the lives of our colleagues in those offices. We are committed to employ all methods legally possible to reduce the negative impact of this change on our affected employees.
For more detailed information on this transition, please visit:
http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/miscellaneous/realignment.html
/Swedish:/ Som stor fan av statistik med nära vänner som US Census och svenska SCB, och i tron att det kan intressera någon annan, lägger jag ut denna text vars hopträngdhet må förlåtas.
PS Vad vore livet utan fotboll, musik och statistik (mina drömyrken: spela första fiol i Berlinerfilharmonikerna, spela (vara) spjutspets i FC Barcelona vid sidan av Messi och Maradonas svärson (troligen nyförvärv) och vara ensam rådgivare hos SCB) ?
Myspace to be sold for $35 million
Los Angeles Times
June 29, 2011
11:27 a.m.
Myspace, formerly the dominant online social network, will be sold to Irvine-based Specific Media for $35 million in cash and stock, a person familiar with the matter said. News Corp., which acquired Myspace in 2005 for $580 million, plans to retain a small stake in company.
June 29, 2011
11:27 a.m.
Myspace, formerly the dominant online social network, will be sold to Irvine-based Specific Media for $35 million in cash and stock, a person familiar with the matter said. News Corp., which acquired Myspace in 2005 for $580 million, plans to retain a small stake in company.
onsdag, juni 29, 2011
Sale el sol para Nadal
Rafael Nadal se clasificó para las semifinales de Wimbledon después de superar en cuatro mangas a Mardy Fish (6-3, 6-3, 5-7 y 6-4) en un encuentro donde la mejor noticia es que de sus problemas físicos nada se supo. El viernes buscará billete para la final ante Murray. /Marca
Wimbledon
Nadal till semifinal. Federer däremot utslagen av Jo-Wilfried Tsongai i kvartsfinalen
Wimbledon
Nadal till semifinal. Federer däremot utslagen av Jo-Wilfried Tsongai i kvartsfinalen
Stiff Sediments Made 2004 Sumatra Earthquake Deadliest in History
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At a typical subduction zone, the fault ruptures primarily along the boundary between the two tectonic plates and dissipates in weak sediments (a), or ruptures along "splay faults" (b); in either case, stopping far short of the trench. In the area of the 2004 Sumatra earthquake, sediments are thicker and stronger, extending the rupture closer to the trench for a larger earthquake and, due to deeper water, a much larger tsunami. |
"The results suggest we should be concerned about locations with large thicknesses of sediments in the trench, especially those which have built marginal plateaus," said Sean Gulick, research scientist at The University of Texas at Austin's Institute for Geophysics. "These may promote more seaward rupture during great earthquakes and a more significant tsunami."
The team's results appear this week in an article lead-authored by Gulick in an advance online publication of the journal Nature Geoscience.
The team from The University of Texas at Austin, The University of Southampton in the United Kingdom, The Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology in Indonesia and The Indonesia Institute for Sciences used seismic instruments, which emit sound waves, to visualize subsurface structures.
Early in the morning of Dec. 26, 2004, a powerful undersea earthquake started off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The resulting tsunami caused devastation along the coastlines bordering the Indian Ocean with tsunami waves up to 30 meters (100 feet) high inundating coastal communities. With very little warning of impending disaster, more than 230,000 people died and millions became homeless.
The earthquake struck along a fault where the Indo-Australian plate is being pushed beneath the Sunda plate to the east. This is known as a subduction zone and in this case the plates meet at the Sunda Trench, around 300 kilometers west of Sumatra. The Indo-Australian plate normally moves slowly under the Sunda plate, but when the rupture occurred, it violently surged forward.
The Sunda Trench is full of ancient sediment, some of which has washed out of the Ganges over millions of years forming a massive accumulation of sedimentary rock called the Nicobar Fan. As the Indo-Australian plate is subducted, these sediments are scraped off to form what's called an accretionary prism. Usually an accretionary prism slopes consistently away from the trench, but here the seabed shallows steeply before flattening out, forming a plateau.
Subduction earthquakes are thought to start tens of kilometers beneath the Earth's surface. Displacement or "slip" on the fault, as geologists call it, propagates upwards and generally dissipates as it reaches weaker rocks closer to the surface. If it were an ordinary seismic zone, the sediment in the Sunda Trench should have slowed the upward and westward journey of the 2004 earthquake, generating a tsunami in the shallower water on the landward (east) side of the trench.
But in fact the fault slip seems to have reached close to the trench, lifting large sections of the seabed in deeper water and producing a much larger tsunami.
This latest report extends work published last year in the journal Science that found a number of unusual features at the rupture zone of the 2004 earthquake such as the seabed topography, how the sediments are deformed and the locations of small earthquakes (aftershocks) following the main earthquake. The researchers also reported then that the fault zone was a much lower density zone than surrounding sediments, perhaps reducing friction and allowing a larger slip.
Funding for the research was provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the UK Natural Environment Research Council.
A copy of the paper, "Updip rupture of the 2004 Sumatra earthquake extended by thick indurated sediments," is available online.
A low pressure area develop into a full-fledged tropical storm
Have you ever seen a low pressure area develop into a full-fledged tropical storm? The GOES-13 satellite has and now you can see it in a new animation released today from NASA and NOAA.
>> http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/archives/2011/h2011_Arlene.html
>> http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/archives/2011/h2011_Arlene.html
Tumörcellsdödande mekanismer kartlagda
HAMLET, ett ämne som finns i bröstmjölk, har väckt uppmärksamhet genom sin förmåga att döda cancerceller av många olika slag utan att påverka intilliggande friska celler. Nu visar HAMLETs upptäckare, forskare vid Lunds universitet, i ett stort internationellt samarbete vad det är som gör ämnet dödligt just för tumörceller.
HAMLET* har i laboratorieförsök gett effekt på över 40 olika typer av cancerceller – tumörer från lungor, njurar, prostata, äggstockar och tarm samt melanom, leukemier m.m. Det har i djurförsök visat sig minska tillväxten av hjärntumören glioblastom, och i försök på människor gett god effekt mot papillom (en sorts hudtumörer) och cancer i urinblåsan.
I en nyligen publicerad artikel i tidskriften Oncogene visar författarna att HAMLET siktar in sig på en av de mest grundläggande "onkogenerna", de gener som är inblandade i uppkomsten av cancer. Genen kallas c-Myc och är välkänd för alla cancerforskare. HAMLET påverkar också cellens ämnesomsättning så att glykolysen, förmågan att få energi av socker, stoppas.
– Alla tumörceller har en förändrad ämnesomsättning som gör dem mycket sockerberoende. HAMLETs effekt på ämnesomsättningen är väldigt snabb. På bara en timma har man stängt av cellens energitillförsel, förklarar professorn och forskningsledaren Catharina Svanborg.
Hennes medarbetare Petter Storm har sett inte bara HAMLETs effekt på tumörceller, utan också försökens effekt på andra cancerforskare.
– De hade först varit lite avvaktande. Men när vi gjort de första experimenten så tändes ett ljus i deras ögon! säger han.
Petter Storm talar om lundagruppens samarbetspartners vid Cold Spring Harbor-laboratoriet i USA. Det är ett känt laboratorium för cancerforskning som letts av nobelpristagaren James Watson, känd som en av DNA-spiralens upptäckare.
Den 83-årige Watson står med som en av författarna till den långa forskningsartikel som lundagruppen och dess partners nu publicerat. En av delstudierna i artikeln använder en teknik som utvecklats i Cold Spring Harbor, där man i ett enda försök kan slå ut cellernas alla ca 20 000 gener en i taget. Genom att använda denna metod i kombination med HAMLET har man kunnat visa att det är just genen c-Myc som HAMLET siktar in sig på. C-Myc påverkar i sin tur ämnesomsättningen, vilket förklarar HAMLETs effekt på denna.
– Vi har fått stor respons på artikeln från kollegor runtom i världen. Det finns redan forskning om HAMLET bland annat i Storbritannien, Ryssland, Italien och USA, och vår nya publikation kan nog ge en ytterligare skjuts åt intresset, säger Catharina Svanborg.
HAMLET hittades 1994, när Catharina Svanborg och hennes medarbetare höll på att testa den bakteriehämmande effekten av bröstmjölk. Av praktiska skäl hade man valt odlade tumörceller att testa på, vilket gav det överraskande resultatet att många av cellerna helt enkelt dog.
HAMLETs speciella kombination av en fettsyra och ett bröstmjölksprotein i en viss veckningsform finns inte i mammans nybildade bröstmjölk. Lundagruppen tror att proteinkomplexet bildas först nere i magen på spädbarnet. Där finns nämligen också mängder av nybildade celler, och proteinets uppgift kan vara att utrota felaktiga exemplar som kunde ha utvecklats till tumörceller.
*HAMLET är ett komplex mellan ett protein och en fettsyra, och namnet står för Human Alfa-lactalbumin Made LEthal to Tumor cells.
Artikeln i tidskriften Oncogene kan läsas på www.nature.com/onc/index.html, skriv in Svanborg i sökrutan
Greek Parliament Votes in Favor of Austerity Plan, Staving Off Risk of Default
Greek Parliament Votes in Favor of Austerity Plan, Staving Off Risk of Default
Greece’s Parliament on Wednesday voted in favor of an austerity plan demanded by the country’s foreign lenders before they would provide it with a financial rescue package and avert a debt crisis that could have shaken its European neighbors and economies throughout the world.
The austerity steps, which include wage cuts, tax increases and privatizations in a recession-starved country, were required to unlock the next installment of aid that the country needs to avoid default on its debts./NEW YORK TIMES
The tax evaders with Swiss bank accounts, the lazy who live on welfare, etc. are going to see very little impact.
Same thing happened here. The bankers who should have been wiped out if we hadn't bailed them out but had the banks restructured under the free market laws." /Dana Point, CA
Greece’s Parliament on Wednesday voted in favor of an austerity plan demanded by the country’s foreign lenders before they would provide it with a financial rescue package and avert a debt crisis that could have shaken its European neighbors and economies throughout the world.
The austerity steps, which include wage cuts, tax increases and privatizations in a recession-starved country, were required to unlock the next installment of aid that the country needs to avoid default on its debts./NEW YORK TIMES
Readers' Comments (NY Times):
"The austerity plans are going to hurt those Greeks that work hard, live on pension, that save, that pay taxes.The tax evaders with Swiss bank accounts, the lazy who live on welfare, etc. are going to see very little impact.
Same thing happened here. The bankers who should have been wiped out if we hadn't bailed them out but had the banks restructured under the free market laws." /Dana Point, CA
Scientists Study Earthquake Triggers in Pacific Ocean
June 29, 2011
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| The CRISP research site is located 174 km (108 miles) off Costa Rica. |
Nearly 1,500 meters (almost one mile) of sediment cores collected from the ocean floor off the coast of Costa Rica reveal detailed records of some two million years of tectonic activity along a seismic plate boundary.
The scientific drilling vessel JOIDES Resolution retrieved the samples during a recent month-long Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Costa Rica Seismogenesis Project (CRISP) Expedition.
The expedition and IODP are funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
"It's critical to understand how subduction zone earthquakes and tsunamis originate--especially in light of recent events in Japan," says Rodey Batiza of NSF's Division of Ocean Sciences. "The results of this expedition will also help us learn more about our own such zone off the Pacific Northwest."
Participating scientists aim to use the samples to better understand the processes that control the triggering of large earthquakes at subduction zones, where one plate slides beneath another.
"We know that there are different factors that contribute to seismic activity--these include rock type and composition, temperature differences and how water moves within the Earth's crust," explained co-chief scientist Paola Vannucchi of the University of Florence in Italy, who led the expedition with co-chief scientist Kohtaro Ujiie of the University of Tsukuba in Japan.
Vannucchi added, "but what we don't fully understand is how these factors interact with one another and if one may be more important than another in leading up to different magnitudes of earthquakes.
"This expedition provided us with crucial samples for answering these fundamental questions."
More than 80 percent of global earthquakes above magnitude 8.0 occur along subduction zones.
The Pacific Ocean is famous for these boundaries, known as convergent margins, which are found along the coasts of the East Pacific from Alaska to Patagonia, New Zealand, Tonga and Marianas--all the way to Japan and the Aleutians.
The margins of the world's largest ocean basin are therefore a primary target for research into the triggering mechanisms of large quakes.
During four weeks at sea, the scientists and crew successfully drilled four sites, recovering core samples of sand and clay-like sediment and basalt rock.
In a preliminary report published this month, CRISP scientists say that they have found evidence for a strong subsidence, or sinking, of the Costa Rica margin combined with a large volume of sediment discharged from the continent and accumulated in the last two million years.
"The sediment samples provide novel information on different parameters which may regulate the mechanical state of the plate interface at depth," said Ujiie.
"Knowing how the plates interact at the fault marking their boundary is critical to interpreting the behavior and frequency of earthquakes in the region."
Vannucchi adds, "for example, we now know that fluids from deeper parts of the subduction zone system have percolated up through the layers of sediment.
"Studying the composition and volume of these fluids, as well as how they have moved through the sediment, helps us better understand the relationship between the chemical, thermal and mass transfer activity in the seafloor and the earthquake-generating, or seismogenic, region of the plate boundary.
"They may be correlated."
Members of the research party are currently analyzing cores from the CRISP Expedition at their home institutions.
The expedition is unique because it focuses on the properties of erosional convergent margins, where the overriding plate gets "consumed" by subduction processes
These plate boundaries are characterized by trenches with thin sediment covering less than 400 meters (1,312 feet), fast convergence between the plates at rates greater than eight centimeters per year, and increased seismicity.
The seismically active CRISP research area is the only one of its kind that is accessible to research drilling.
However, this subduction zone is representative of 50 percent of global subduction zones, making scientific insights gleaned here relevant to Costa Ricans and others living in earthquake-prone regions all around the Pacific Ocean.
The recent Tohoku Earthquake in Japan was generated in an erosive portion of the plate interface.
Other geoscience research drilling programs, such as IODP's Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NantroSEIZE), near the southeast coast of Japan, focus on accretionary margins, where the front part of the overriding tectonic plate is built up by the subduction processes, sometimes forming mountains, and the plate boundary input is trench material.
In these environments, the trench sediments are greater than 1,000 meters, or more than half a mile.
Accretionary margins are known for their large earthquakes, such as the 1964 Alaska and the 2004 Sumatra quakes.
Japan's Nankai Trough was the center of two magnitude 8 earthquakes in 1944 and 1946.
The CRISP team hopes to return to the same drill site in the future to directly sample the plate boundary and fault zone before and after seismic activity in the region.
Changes observed may provide new insights into how earthquakes are generated.
The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) is an international research program dedicated to advancing scientific understanding of the Earth through drilling, coring and monitoring the subseafloor.
The JOIDES Resolution is a scientific research vessel managed by the U.S. Implementing Organization of IODP (USIO). Together, Texas A&M University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University and the Consortium for Ocean Leadership comprise the USIO.
IODP is supported by two lead agencies: the U.S. National Science Foundation and Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
Additional program support comes from the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling, the Australian-New Zealand IODP Consortium, India's Ministry of Earth Sciences, the Ministry of Science and Technology in the People's Republic of China and the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources.
-NSF-
Shuttle Atlantis ready to fly July 8: NASA
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| The shuttle Atlantis is ready to fly on its final mission to the International Space Station on July 8, NASA said Tuesday after a meeting to review plans for last-ever US space shuttle flight. The shuttle is set to take off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 11:26 am (1526 GMT), NASA announced. |
The blood pressure
" --- If you have a mildly high blood pressure when seeing a new doctor, don't jump to conclusions. Some studies have found that systolic blood pressure falls an average of 15 points by the third visit to a new doctor. Diastolic blood pressure falls by an average of 7 points.
If you have high blood pressure, you are likely to need treatment for the rest of your life. I recommend that you buy a blood pressure cuff at a pharmacy. It is worth making an extra effort -- and spending a little bit of money -- to make sure that your treatment is right.
A blood pressure cuff is easy to use. Many of them are automatic and can give you a digital reading of your blood pressure. Use your blood pressure cuff this way:
- Record your blood pressures at home at different times during the day.
- Talk to your doctor if 40% or more of your home blood pressure readings are above 135 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) for the top number or above 85 for the bottom number. Numbers like this mean you need more treatment.
- Talk to your doctor if your numbers are lower than 120/80 and you are feeling side effects from your medicines. You might be overtreated.
- Talk to your doctor if your numbers are higher before you take your daily medicine than after you take it. You might do better if you take medicine twice each day.
- Pay attention to whether your blood pressure is sensitive to what you eat. Particularly note whether it is higher on days after you eat salty foods.---"
Storbritanniens premiärminister Cameron sex-skämtar
Well... this is something you don't see in Congress.
The British House of Commons were meeting yesterday when PM David Cameron was asked about a 2013 Greek bailout by MP Peter Bone of Wellingborough and Rushden.
What happened next? Well... it's probably best if you watch for yourself:
The British House of Commons were meeting yesterday when PM David Cameron was asked about a 2013 Greek bailout by MP Peter Bone of Wellingborough and Rushden.
What happened next? Well... it's probably best if you watch for yourself:
tisdag, juni 28, 2011
River Plate
Former Argentina midfielder Matias Almeyda will be relegated River Plate's coach in the Nacional B division next season after the resignation of JJ Lopez, the club said on Monday.
Notre-Dame reste le monument le plus visité de Paris
Les musées et monuments parisiens ont réalisé 71,6 millions d'entrées en 2010. Parmi les sites payants, le Louvre et la Tour Eiffel se taillent la part du lion.
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| La cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris a attiré 13,6 millions de visiteurs en 2010 |
The New Sweden - Dagens pang-pang
Skottlossning i centrala Norrköping i kväll utanför restaurang New Delhi . Minst en skadad (se bilden).
![]()
-Det är förmodligen gängrelaterat, sade länsvakthavande polisbefälet Ronny Dahlqvist till TT vid 21-tiden, en halvtimme efter larmet.
Polisen har spärrat av delar av innerstaden och har en klar idé om var de ska koncentrera jakten på gärningsmännen.
Tillståndet för de skadade är oklart.
Natten mot tisdagen avlossades flera skott vid Herstadbergs marina i utkanten av Norrköping. Det är oklart om det skottdramat har en koppling till tisdagskvällens överfall. /Tidningen Corren (Linköping)
Åtminstone en av de beskjutna bar tröja med texten "OUTLAWS".
Efterspel:
En man sköts i magen och en annan blev knivstucken i centrala Norrköping på tisdagskvällen. Enligt vittnen deltog 4-6 personer i överfallet.
-Det är förmodligen gängrelaterat, sade länsvakthavande polisbefälet Ronny Dahlqvist till TT vid 21-tiden, en halvtimme efter larmet.
Polisen har spärrat av delar av innerstaden och har en klar idé om var de ska koncentrera jakten på gärningsmännen.
Tillståndet för de skadade är oklart.
Natten mot tisdagen avlossades flera skott vid Herstadbergs marina i utkanten av Norrköping. Det är oklart om det skottdramat har en koppling till tisdagskvällens överfall. /Tidningen Corren (Linköping)
Åtminstone en av de beskjutna bar tröja med texten "OUTLAWS".
Efterspel:
Din insyn som bostadsköpare ökar, och kraven skärps på att fastighetsmäklaren är en opartisk mellanhand. Det är två effekter av den nya fastighetsmäklarlag som träder i kraft på fredag. Mäklarna blir bland annat tvungna att upprätta noggranna budgivningslistor.
Nio av tio affärer går via en mäklare. Men allmänhetens förtroende för mäklarna har efter de senaste årens skenande budgivningar naggats i kanten. Inte minst på grund av misstankar om att vissa mäklare använt fejkade bud för att trissa upp priserna på villor och bostadsrätter.
Hittills har budgivningslistorna varit frivilliga, även om de varit en del av god mäklarsed. Dessutom har listorna bara kunnat lämnas till köparen om spekulanterna gett sin tillåtelse.
– Men i och med att budgivningslistan bli lagfäst behövs inte längre något sådant medgivande, säger Anna-Lena Järvstrand.
Bra att det blir slut på mäklares fejkade bud.
Nio av tio affärer går via en mäklare. Men allmänhetens förtroende för mäklarna har efter de senaste årens skenande budgivningar naggats i kanten. Inte minst på grund av misstankar om att vissa mäklare använt fejkade bud för att trissa upp priserna på villor och bostadsrätter.
Hittills har budgivningslistorna varit frivilliga, även om de varit en del av god mäklarsed. Dessutom har listorna bara kunnat lämnas till köparen om spekulanterna gett sin tillåtelse.
– Men i och med att budgivningslistan bli lagfäst behövs inte längre något sådant medgivande, säger Anna-Lena Järvstrand.
Bra att det blir slut på mäklares fejkade bud.
France’s Lagarde Named New Head of I.M.F.
Christine Lagarde was selected Tuesday as the new managing director of the International Monetary Fund, taking on one of the most powerful positions in global finance as a worsening debt crisis in Greece rattles financial markets worldwide.
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner had announced earlier Tuesday that the United States would back Ms. Lagarde, France’s influential finance minister, over the Mexican central bank governor, Agustín Carstens, her only competitor for the job, a move that all but sealed her victory. /N Y TIMES
Vattenpiprökning kan ge allvarlig kolmonoxidförgiftning
Risk för bestående neurologiska skador
LÄKARTIDNINGEN
Sammanfattat
Här presenteras två fall av kolmonoxidförgiftning efter vattenpiprökning, en form av tobaksrökning som ansetts harmlös och som nått popularitet bland ungdomar i västvärlden.
Kolmonoxidförgiftning av denna svårighetsgrad är ett behandlingkrävande tillstånd med risk för bestående neurologiska skador.
Läs mer >> http://www.lakartidningen.se/07engine.php?articleId=16677
Vattenpiprökning, stollig modegrej; för visst handlar det om mode (?)
LÄKARTIDNINGEN
Sammanfattat
Här presenteras två fall av kolmonoxidförgiftning efter vattenpiprökning, en form av tobaksrökning som ansetts harmlös och som nått popularitet bland ungdomar i västvärlden.
Kolmonoxidförgiftning av denna svårighetsgrad är ett behandlingkrävande tillstånd med risk för bestående neurologiska skador.
Läs mer >> http://www.lakartidningen.se/07engine.php?articleId=16677
Vattenpiprökning, stollig modegrej; för visst handlar det om mode (?)
Scientists a step closer to understanding 'natural antifreeze' molecules
By Staff Writers
Leeds UK (SPX) Jun 28, 2011
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| Cryoprotectants, such as glycerol, lower the freezing temperature of water to prevent crystallisation. Credit: Wikipedia, Benjah-bmm27 |
Researchers from the Universities of Leeds and Illinois, and Columbia University in New York, studied a particular type of cryoprotectants known as osmolytes. They found that small osmolyte molecules are better at protecting proteins than larger ones.
The findings, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could help scientists develop better storage techniques for a range of materials, including human reproductive tissue used in IVF.
Biological systems can usually only operate within a small range of temperatures. If they get too hot or too cold, the molecules within the system can become damaged (denatured), which affects their structure and stops them from functioning.
But certain species of fish, reptiles and amphibians can survive for months below freezing by entering into a kind of suspended animation. They are able to survive these extreme conditions thanks to osmolytes - small molecules within their blood that act like antifreeze -preventing damage to their vital organs.
These properties have made osmolytes attractive to scientists. They are used widely in the storage and testing of drugs and other pharmaceuticals; in food production; and to store human tissue like egg and sperm cells at very low temperatures (below -40 degrees C) for a long period of time.
"If you put something like human tissue straight in the freezer, ice crystals start to grow in the freezing water and solutes - solid particles dissolved in the water - get forced out into the remaining liquid.
This can result in unwanted high concentrations of solutes, such as salt, which can be very damaging to the tissue," said Dr Lorna Dougan from the University of Leeds, who led the study. "The addition of cryoprotectants, such as glycerol, lowers the freezing temperature of water and prevents crystallisation by producing a 'syrupy' semi-solid state. The challenge is to know which cryoprotectant molecule to use and how much of it is necessary.
"We want to get this right so that we recover as much of the biological material as possible after re-thawing. This has massive cost implications, particularly for the pharmaceutical industry because at present they lose a large proportion of their viable drug every time they freeze it."
Dr Dougan and her team tested a range of different osmolytes to find out which ones are most effective at protecting the 3D structure of a protein. They used an atomic force microscope to unravel a test protein in a range of different osmolyte environments to find out which ones were most protective. They discovered that smaller molecules, such as glycerol, are more effective than larger ones like sorbitol and sucrose.
Dr Dougan said: "We've been able to show that if you want to really stabilise a protein, it makes sense to use small protecting osmolytes. We hope to use this discovery and future research to develop a simple set of rules that will allow scientists and industry to use the best process parameters for their system and in doing so dramatically increase the amount of material they recover from the freeze-thaw cycle."
The research was funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the US National Institutes of Health and the China National Basic Research Program.
Dr Dougan and her team at Leeds are also exploring what a 'syrupy mixture' of glycerol and water looks like using neutron diffraction experiments at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratories. Their latest findings have been published in Journal of Physical Chemistry B.
______________________________________________
Cryoprotectant (Swedish: cryoprotectant?)
A is a substance that is used to protect biological tissue from freezing damage (damage due to ice formation). Arctic and Antarctic insects, fish, amphibians and reptiles create cryoprotectants in their bodies to minimize freezing damage during cold winter periods. Insects most often use sugars as cryoprotectants. Arctic frogs use glucose, but Arctic salamanders create glycerol in their livers for use as cryoprotectant.
Conventional cryoprotectants are glycols (alcohols containing at least two hydroxyl groups), such as ethylene glycol, propylene glycol and glycerol. Ethylene glycol is commonly used as automobile antifreeze and propylene glycol has been used to reduce ice formation in ice cream. Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is also regarded as a conventional cryoprotectant. Glycerol and DMSO have been used for decades by cryobiologists to reduce ice formation in sperm and embryos that are cold-preserved in liquid nitrogen.
Mixtures of cryoprotectants have less toxicity and are more effective than single-agent cryoprotectants. A mixture of formamide with DMSO, propylene glycol and a colloid was for many years the most effective of all artificially created cryoprotectants. Cryoprotectant mixtures have been used for vitrification, i.e. solidification without any crystal ice formation. Vitrification has important application in preserving embryos, biological tissues and organs for transplant. Vitrification is also used in cryonics in an effort to eliminate freezing damage.
Some cryoprotectants function by lowering a solution's or a material's Glass transition temperature. In this way, the cryprotectants prevent actual freezing, and the solution maintains some flexibility in a glassy phase. Many cryoprotectants also function by forming hydrogen bonds with biological molecules as water molecules are displaced. Hydrogen bonding in aqueous solutions is important for proper protein and DNA function. Thus, as the cryoprotectant replaces the water molecules, the biological material retains its native physiological structure (and function), although they are no longer immersed in an aqueous environment. This preservation strategy is most often observed in anhydrobiosis.
Cryoprotectants are also used to preserve foods. These compounds are typically sugars that are inexpensive and do not pose any toxicity concerns. For example, many (raw) frozen chicken products contain a "solution" comprised of water, sucrose, and sodium phosphates.
Cryoprotectant = cryoprotectant ? Korrekt svenska (?): Glykol är en cryoprotectant (Min adress högst på sidan).
If your preschooler can't sleep -- turn off the violence and nighttime TV.
Nighttime or Violent TV Tied to Tots' Sleep Woes
June 27, 2011
That's the message in a new study that found sleep problems are more common in 3- to 5-year-olds who watch television after 7 p.m. Watching shows with violence -- including kids' cartoons -- also was tied to sleeping difficulties.
Watching nonviolent shows during the day didn't seem to have any connection with sleep problems in the 617 youngsters studied.
June 27, 2011
That's the message in a new study that found sleep problems are more common in 3- to 5-year-olds who watch television after 7 p.m. Watching shows with violence -- including kids' cartoons -- also was tied to sleeping difficulties.
Watching nonviolent shows during the day didn't seem to have any connection with sleep problems in the 617 youngsters studied.
Justices Reject Ban on Violent Video Games for Children
The Supreme Court agreed with a federal court's decision to throw out California's ban on the sale or rental of violent video games to minors, saying the law violated minors' rights.
NEW YORK TIMES
Read more >>
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/28/us/28scotus.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2
NEW YORK TIMES
Read more >>
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/28/us/28scotus.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2
Kan mångkulturella teaterprojekt verkligen främja integration?
Många ser teater som ett effektivt verktyg i främjandet av ett mångkulturellt samhälle. Skådespelare anses vara eldsjälar med stort engagemang för samhällsfrågor i allmänhet och mångfaldsfrågor i synnerhet. Men varför tros teatermänniskor vara bättre på att arbeta med integrationsfrågor än andra? Det frågar sig socialantropologen Hanna Wittrock i en ny avhandling från Lunds universitet.
Hanna Wittrock menar att det delvis beror på känslan av hopplöshet inför det svenska integrationspolitiska haveriet. Rapporter från mångetniska områden om brinnande bilar, stenkastning på förskolelekplatser och brottslighet bland unga gör att framtiden på integrationsfronten emellanåt ser dyster ut. Sverigedemokraternas intåg i riksdagen förstärker detta intryck.
- Det är inte konstigt att teater och andra kulturupplevelser, som har förmåga att beröra, blir betydelsefulla när tilltron till politiska handlingsplaner har naggats i kanten, säger Hanna Wittrock.
Men trots förkärleken för teater som instrument vet politiker och tjänstemän inte alltid vad de precist önskar ur teaterprojekt. Teaterprojekt förväntas lösa omfattande problem, samtidigt som det saknas rimliga förklaringar till hur detta skall gå till. Teaterprojektet antar då skepnaden av trollspö. Det sprakar och gnistrar visserligen tillfälligtvis, men vad sker egentligen?
Förutom ett stort antal intervjuer med politiker, tjänstemän och verksamma inom teaterbranschen har Wittrock på nära håll följt flera teaterprojekt från början till slut.
Ett av dessa är det rollspelsbaserade projektet ”En resa som ingen annan” som riktade sig till Malmö stads gymnasieungdomar. Spelet avsågs att fungera som en passage till en ny förståelse och empati för flyktingar, och i förlängningen för invandrare
Under fyra adrenalinstinna timmar iklädde sig deltagarna rollen som flyktingar. Projektets främsta verktyg för förändring var skapandet av starka känslor av utsatthet, förnedring och rädsla hos deltagarna. Flera deltagare fick mentala kollapser av spelet och tvingades avbryta.
Huruvida projektet, som beställts av Malmö stad, verkligen ledde till förändring i form av minskad främlingsfientlighet är mycket osäkert, enligt Hanna Wittrock. Däremot kan hon intyga att publiken, framför allt skolelever, som deltog i ”En resa som ingen annan” blev mycket omtumlade av upplevelsen. Helt klart är att performanceteatern lyckades röra om. Ibland kanske alltför väl.
– Man kan ställa sig frågan med vilken rätt man framkallar ett extremt obehag hos publiken, som exempelvis känslan av att bli våldtagen, säger Hanna Wittrock. När hon följde projektet ” En resa som ingen annan” slogs hon av att man inte hade någon beredskap att ta hand om människor som mådde psykiskt illa av att se föreställningen.
Hanna Wittrock har också studerat produktionen av Mohamlet som sattes upp 2006 på Malmö Stadsteater. Den nya mångkulturella varianten av Hamlet rymmer en arabisk orkester i glittrande mundering, magdans i burka, grova svordomar, vattenpipor och orientaliska tofflor i neonfärger. Alla dessa inslag kan ses både som blixtrande tecken utan djupare innebörd än att underhålla, kanske chockera, och som symbolladdade röda stoppljus, beroende på perspektiv. Vad upphovsmännen inte hade räknat med var de kraftiga reaktionerna på själva namnet, Mohamlet. Gång på gång blev teaterns företrädare tvungna att förklara att pjäsen inte alls handlade om Mohammed, profeten, utan Mohamlet, en helt vanlig kille. Upphovsmännen hade inte heller tänkt på att innehållet i pjäsen, som bland annat rymmer hedersproblematik, muslimska referenser, svordomar och galenskap, kunde uppfattas provocerande.
De teaterprojekt som Hanna Wittrock har analyserat har alla haft som mål att på ett eller annat sätt främja integration. Gemensamt för samtliga har varit att etniskt svenska regissörer och producenter har gjort sig till uttolkare av hur det är att vara flykting och invandrare. Flera av de makthavare som Hanna Wittrock har talat med påstår sig kunna identifiera sig med invandrare i utsatta bostadsområden trots att de är etniska svenskar utan någon som helst kontakt med de som bor där. Trots detta skall teatern fungera som en mötesplats på lika villkor.