5:30 PM: A McEachern (Georgia) High School football, track & girls' basketball assistant coach has been arrested on charges of having a sexual relationship with a female student.
5:15 PM: Georgia Bulldogs RB Isaiah Crowell has been dismissed from the team following his arrest on weapons charges early Friday.
5:00 PM: Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz has reportedly agreed to a new multi-year contract extension.
4:45 PM: Video of ESPN's Andy Katz at the NBA Draft saying that Jared Sullinger was medically red-flagged by teams for having "bulging d*cks".
4:30 PM: A 15-year-old Ethiopian boy who took part in the Olympic torch relay in England has gone missing from his hotel in Nottingham.
4:15 PM: From The Onion: "Bill Simmons Releases 2,000-Page Book Exploring How F***ing Clever He Is"
4:00 PM: Texas A&M freshman QB Johnny Manziel was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct & using a fake ID after being involved in a fight in College Station early Friday morning.
3:45 PM: The Arizona Republic reports that Diamondbacks TV play-by-play guy Daron Sutton was suspended for wearing suits instead of polo shirts with the D-Backs' logo during broadcasts.
3:30 PM: Former L.A. Kings coach Terry Murray, who was fired during the season before the Kings won the Stanley Cup, has been hired as coach of the AHL's Adirondack Phantoms.
3:15 PM: The Washington Post reports a volunteer at the AT&T National golf tournament suffered cuts to his arteries on both sides of his neck when he drove a golf cart into a nylon rope that separated the course from the fans' area.
3:00 PM: The San Antonio Express-News reports Texas A&M has chosen Eric Hyman as its new athletic director. Hyman had spent the past seven years as AD at South Carolina.
2:45 PM: Arizona Diamondbacks rookie pitcher Trevor Bauer wanted to keep the ball from his first MLB career pitch, but he threw it to the Atlanta Braves dugout instead.
2:30 PM: Miami Heat guard Mike Miller is auctioning off his Florida house to the highest bidder with no minimum price: "There's risks with everything but that's my nature. The way I play basketball is the same way I do business, and that's aggressive."
2:15 PM: A 91-year-old grandmother of 10 & great-grandmother of 15 snagged a foul ball during a recent San Jose Giants minor league game.
2:00 PM: Being booed by the Prudential Center crowd to start last night's NBA Draft, David Stern reacts by holding his hand to his ear a la Hulk Hogan.
Source: www.nytimes.com --- Friday, June 29, 2012 The $2.2 billion deal will give Sony control over a huge catalog -- from "Over the Rainbow" to songs by Amy Winehouse. ...
In the fourth quarter of 2011, eBay Marketplaces reported 100 million active users worldwide. According to eBay on its marketplace a woman?s dress sells every 8 seconds and someone buys a cell phone every 5 seconds. ?
EBay is still a very popular buying and selling platform and used by many different types of sellers ? SOHO ecommerce owners, part-time eBay enthusiasts and large businesses. Different sellers need different eBay tools.? While eBay offers its own listing tools, you may find ? like many other people do ? that eBay?s tools don?t provide the listing features you need; for example, listing your inventory across multiple auctions sites in addition to your own Web store.
Many of the inventory management and multiple-channel selling tools for eBay sellers we list below offer a free trial, so you can try different eBay tools to see which ones best suit your business needs before you make a cash investment.
Even if you sell on eBay and make a profit, many sellers prefer to manage their own off-eBay Web store and list the same products on other sites such as Amazon or eBay alternative sites.? The problem is that manually tracking sales across multiple channels and removing products from one online listing when it sells elsewhere is not a good business strategy.
Inventory management and multi-channel ecommerce software can help you to create your own online store if you don?t have one and synchronize your inventory and stock levels across all the places you do business. Here are 13 options to help you better manage a multiple channel selling strategy for eBay.
1.? AuctionBlox eMarketConnect provides access to eBay and Amazon.com from your existing online store. By connecting your store with eBay, AuctionBlox allows you to list your products on eBay and to process checkout in your own store. CRE Loaded, oscommerce, Zen Cart and Magento art software is supported. ?AuctionBlox Storefront pricing starts at $99/month.
2.? AuctionSound is eBay auction-management software that helps sellers manage eBay consignment and online inventory. AuctionSound provides image hosting, eBay templates and consignor-management and reporting tools. Pricing starts at a $24.99/month; free 30-day trial.
3. BigCommerce lets you create your own Web shop, plus you can sell on Facebook and eBay.? Extra features include multi-channel retailing, mobile commerce, SEO, and easy upselling. Pricing starts at a $24.95/month.
4.? ChannelMAX is an inventory-management service that lets you create a Web store plus list your inventory to multiple online marketplaces including eBay, Overstock and uBid. You can schedule listings, create listing templates and more.? Pricing starts at $24.99/month.
5.? DesignCart is an online, hosted shopping cart designed for a small to mid-size business that wants to sell products on the Web. It works on any hosting platform and is eBay compatible. DesignCart provides capability to list and complete payment for your eBay auctions. Winning bidders will be presented with an add-button via email, and upon successful payment, the cart will update the eBay auction status automatically. Pricing starts at $18/month; free 14-day trial.
6.? Infopia offers SaaS (Software as a Service) ecommerce solutions including a Marketplaces product to build a multi-channel business by optimizing product sales across your own website and online marketplaces like eBay and Amazon. Sellers can manage all online inventory, marketplace listings, and orders from one place.? Contact Infopia for pricing details.
7.? Kosmos CentraleBay ecommerce integration software lets you upload items from your online store to your eBay account, and download orders from eBay to your ecommerce website ? integrating all purchases into one system to keep your eBay and online storefronts in sync. You?ll find pricing for different Kosmos services on its website.
8.? Mercantec E-Commerce Express offers an entry-level storefront and cart service so you can sell in a number of places including your own site and eBay. You can use E-Commerce Express for auction (and other types of online checkouts including eBay fixed price listings. Mercantec lets you create an Instant Storefront or generate Snippets that are embedded into existing content. E-Commerce Express is a free service.
9.? ProStores offers sellers a complete ecommerce platform, including Web store, shopping cart, built-in templates and more. EBay sellers can sync eBay and ProStores inventory and also list on eBay from the ProStores interface. Pricing starts at $20.95/month in addition to per transaction fees; free 30-day trial.
10.? Solid Commerce is a multi-channel ecommerce platform that allows you to sell and list items across a number of sites including eBay and Amazon. Inventory management features lets you synchronize your inventory stock levels in real-time across your various sale channels and manage your business from a central interface.? Pricing is based on monthly sales revenue.
11.? Techwave Free Shopping Cartsoftware provides everything you need to build, update and maintain an online store. Techwave is fully integrated with Microsoft CRM, Sugar CRM for organized business and sharing procedure, and also offers an EBay Integration Module for Techwave Ecommerce that will fully integrate your ecommerce website with an eBay store.? Contact Techwave for pricing details.
12.? T-HUB for QuickBooks is an order-management solution designed to integrate your ecommerce stores with QuickBooks and Shipping services (UPS/FedEx/USPS).? T-HUB works with several leading ecommerce platforms and shopping carts such as Amazon, eBay, Yahoo stores, Magento, Volusion, GoDaddy, X-Cart, BigCommerce, AmeriCommerce, osCommerce, AspDotNetStorefront and others. Pricing starts at $550 for standard software purchase, with Pro and Advanced versions available.
13.? Vendio eBay Listing Software is part of the Vendio Platform and is an eBay listing tool that you can use to create and manage your online auction pages. It?s a multi-channel solution that can manage sales across eBay, Amazon, a Vendio Store and more.? Pricing for Vendio Marketplace starts at $19.95/month (a basic plan is free).
If you?re not ready to list across multiple selling channels, and you?re happy to stick with just eBay right now, the following eBay auction-management tools will help you create eBay auction pages, manage images and give you options for professional eBay templates to make your pages more appealing to potential buyers.
14.? AuctionSplash is a desktop tool that gives eBay sellers access to listing templates, picture hosting (up to eight photos) and scheduling. It works with eBay U.S., eBay UK, eBay CA, eBay AU and others. The service offers a no-hassle single page listing screen.? AuctionSplash is free to use.
15.? Auctiva auction management provides eBay sellers with a number of tools including professional eBay templates, marketing tools, image hosting, listing software, and inventory management.? The unlimited plan is $9.99/month; a free basic plan for image hosting is available.
16.? Blackthorne Basic is a software application that lets you create professional listings in bulk, track the status of sales, and manage buyer communication and feedback. And it integrates in your eBay selling manager. Pricing starts at $9.99/month; free 30-day trial.
17.? Blackthorne Pro includes all the features of Blackthorne Basic, plus additional options for inventory management, reporting, multiple user profiles, and is available in a desktop version. Pricing is $24.99/month; free 30-day trial.
18.? eBay Selling Manager is free for all eBay sellers and can be accessed from within your ?My eBay? tab. The tool is designed to help medium-volume sellers manage their eBay listings. Features include the option to track active listings, generate bulk feedback, and print invoices and labels in bulk.? The eBay Selling Manager is free via an eBay account.
19.? eBay Turbo Lister is a free tool that lets sellers list multiple items and upload in bulk to eBay. Turbo Lister offers bulk editing capability, search tools, and a toolbar for better control of your listings. The eBay Turbo Lister is free via an eBay account.
20.? EZLister.Net is a Web-based auction business management solution. Sellers can use EZLister.Net to automate routine tasks associated with listing and managing eBay auctions and item listings. Pricing is based on a per-listing fee, and it starts at $56 for 250 listings.
21.? Supreme Auction is an eBay Compatible application that lets you create multiple listings and submit them to eBay. The application offers free template designs, widgets, images and more. With this tool you can list on eBay U.S., eBay UK, eBay Germany. Supreme Auction is free, and there are optional paid upgrades available.? A basic version with all features is free, and sellers can upgrade to a paid Premium account.
EcommerceGuide.com wants to know: What is your favorite eBay selling tool? Tell us about it in the comments section below.
From beginner guides to expert tips, our selection of eBay and Web shop articles can help you to better manage your ecommerce business.
Based in Nova Scotia, Canada, Vangie Beal has spent the last decade contributing featured articles and reviews to more than 20 technology-focused publications, including Webopedia and Ecommerce-Guide. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG.
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WEDNESDAY, June 27 (HealthDay News) -- With enough cycles and the right egg and age of a woman, the chances of in vitro fertilization resulting in a baby approaches that of natural conception, a large new study finds.
A woman's age is the best predictor of whether in vitro fertilization will result in a baby, with women under age 34 having the greatest chances of success. But older women can largely overcome poorer odds by using donor eggs from a younger woman, according to the research.
Those are among the findings of a massive study on in vitro fertilization that, while offering few surprises, provides what experts say is the most detailed, nuanced look at who is likely to be successful using assisted reproductive technology.
"What this study does is look at a woman's chances of conception based on adding all cycles together and taking into account her age, the diagnosis that brought her in for fertility treatments, whether there were additional embryos [preserved] and the stage the embryos were transferred," said lead study author Barbara Luke, professor and epidemiologist at Michigan State University in East Lansing. "When women come in for treatment, there isn't a simple answer about their chances of conception. There are a lot of factors to be taken into consideration."
For example, after the third treatment cycle, women aged 31 and younger had a 63 percent to 75 percent chance of ending up with a baby, while women 41 or 42 using their own egg had a 19 percent to 28 percent chance. Those 43 or older had a 7 percent to 11 percent chance.
When donor eggs were used, the rates were much higher -- 60 percent and 80 percent, respectively, for all ages.
"If you use a younger egg, you will vastly improve the chances of conception," Luke said.
In other findings: The chances of getting pregnant were higher when physicians transferred a "blastocyst embryo" (an embryo that is five to six days old) instead of a "cleavage embryo" (one that is two to three days old). At the third cycle, live-birth rates were 52 percent to 81 percent for blastocyst embryos and 43 percent to 65 percent for cleavage embryos.
The study, published in the June 27 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, looked at data on nearly 250,000 women who underwent 471,000 in vitro fertilization cycles from 2004 to 2009 at approximately 400 clinics. The treatments resulted in 141,000 babies. The data was from the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology Clinic Outcome Reporting System.
Rather than look at the likelihood of success per cycle, the researchers were able to track women over several years to determine their cumulative rates of success -- that is how likely they were to get pregnant and carry a baby to term on subsequent in vitro fertilization cycles if their first, second or even third cycle was unsuccessful.
Many women quit after one or two cycles, often because of stress, discouragement or finances. One cycle of in vitro fertilization costs approximately $10,000 to $12,000. The study findings, which included women who had up to seven or more cycles, suggested some may be giving up too soon, Luke said.
About 25 percent of women quit after the first cycle, and about one-third of the remainder quit after two cycles, Luke said.
"One of the messages to take away from this is to think about infertility treatment as a course of treatment that, for most women, will take more than one cycle," she said. "This is showing your success rate may be right around the corner. One more try may do it."
By the same token, women 40 and older should take a hard look at their odds and perhaps consider a donor egg more quickly, she added.
The new study also looked at infertility diagnoses that could influence chances of success. Having a low number of eggs or a diagnosis of diminished ovarian reserve was associated with lower odds of a live birth. Uterine factors -- such as fibroids, endometriosis or adhesions on the uterus -- also were associated with a markedly lower success rate.
Other factors, such as male infertility, polycystic ovarian syndrome and tubal factor infertility, had less of an impact, the study found.
Dr. William Gibbons, former president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and director of the division of reproductive endocrinology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said the new study was unprecedented in that it involved such a large number of women.
He also commented that the data enabled researchers to track women over time to determine the overall chances of success based on a variety of factors.
Couples want to know their chances of ultimately having a baby, and if it makes sense for them to continue going through the expense and stress of multiple in vitro fertilization cycles, Gibbons said. One major message from the study is that an older woman's chances of getting pregnant after three cycles are pretty similar to a younger woman's chances if the older woman is willing to use a donor egg, he said.
The new statistics will enable doctors to give more detailed information to couples as they make their decision about whether they want to keep going with in vitro fertilization, to turn to donor eggs or to keep trying with their own.
"We can show this to couples, and it can be used in counseling patients," Gibbons said.
More information
The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more on in vitro fertilization.
So you just got that shiny, new HTC One X or One S (or One V outside the U.S.), and suddenly it's no longer running the latest version of Android. That's no good. Neither is it HTC's fault, but still.
So what does the Taiwanese manufacturer have planned in the way of updates for Android 4.1 Jelly Bean? Here's the official word:
"We are excited about Android Jelly Bean and are planning to support it across a variety of our devices. We are reviewing the software to determine our upgrade plans and schedule, so please stay tuned for more updates on specific device upgrade plans."
Nothing surprising there. It's a pretty safe bet that we'll see the HTC One line get updates. But after that? And how long will it take?
TomTom has seen the inexorable rise of smartphonenavigation and decided that it needs a cheaper way of updating its head units. Its cunning solution has been to open its MapShare community to all 60 million TomToms in the wild -- which was previously limited just to smartphone apps and select devices. MapShare works by allowing users to update their, erm, maps, when they spot a change has been made, which is then uploaded when they get home. It'll now be aggregated and pushed out as a free daily download. Users can filter updates, deciding if they want ones submitted by "some," "many" or those officially verified by the company itself -- so don't bother trying to game the system to make your morning commute easier.
We've had some indication that podcasts would be receiving an app of their own with iOS 6, but it looks like we won't have to wait that long after all. The company has just its own app, dubbed simply Podcasts, which will run on current iPhones and iPads.
Pay-Per-Click marketing has become an online phenomenon, with marketers only paying for traffic they receive. As Internet marketing has evolved, pay-per-click is seen by many as the middle ground between paying per impression and paying per sale. Advertisers only pay when they receive traffic that may or may not be targeted.
The pay-per-click advertisements are usually displayed with the advertisement from the highest paying bidder in the top position.
Navigating the complex web of Internet marketing, publishers and marketers are often confronted with terms that seem foreign. This simple guide will assist marketers in navigating the Pay-Per-Click marketing model.
Bid - The amount that an advertiser is willing to pay for a click on a specific keyword.
Budget - The amount of money that an advertiser sets aside for an advertising campaign. Different publishers allow for advertisers to set daily, weekly or monthly budgets.
Clickthrough Rate (CTR) - The percentage of clicks on a link. This is usually a percentage based on the total number of clicks divided by the number of impressions that an advertisement has received.
Conversion Rate - The relationship between visitors to a web site and actions considered to be a "conversion", such as a sale or request to receive more information: the percentage of people whose clicks have resulted in a sale or desired action in relation to the total number of clicks on an advertisement.
Cost Per Click (CPC) - The cost or cost-equivalent paid per click-through to an advertiser's website.
Cost Per Thousand (CPM) - The amount an advertiser pays for one thousand advertisement impressions, regardless of the consumer's subsequent actions.
Delisting - The removal of a listing as a result of inaction or poor performance.
GeoTargetting - An advertisement targeted at a specific geographical region, area or location.
Impressions - The number of times an advertisement is viewed by web surfers.
Keywords - Search terms or phrases that are related to an advertisement or ad copy.
Landing Page - The specific web page that a visitor ultimately reaches after clicking an advertisement. Often, this page is optimized for a specific keyword term or phrase.
Linking Text - The text that is contained within a link.
Pay Per Click (PPC) - Advertising model in which advertisers pay for click-throughs to their website. Ads are served based on keywords or themes.
Rank - How well a particular web page or web site is listed in a search engine or advertising results.
Return On Investment (ROI) - The percentage of profit that results in a marketing or advertising campaign. Naturally, advertisers want the amount of money made to exceed the money spent.
Understanding the above terminology will help marketers navigate the pay-per-click advertising model, which has emerged on the Internet and become one of the leading advertising models in the online world.
About the author: About the Author: Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for NotePage http://www.notepage.net a wireless text messaging software company.
It appears unlikely that Biden?s boss will send him a follow up ?well said, Joe? Tweet for this blast from the recent past:
Biden was responding to a question posed by the Boston Globe, which asked Biden, ?Does executive privilege cover testimony or documents about decision-making within the executive branch not involving confidential advice communicated to the president himself??
Biden delivered an unqualified response.
?The executive privilege only covers communications between the president and his advisors,? Biden said in a Boston Globe interview published in Dec. 20, 2007. ?Even when the privilege does apply, it is not absolute; it may be outweighed by the public?s interest in the fair administration of justice.?
Biden, then serving as a U.S. senator from Delaware and seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, was speaking about President Bush and the issues of warrantless surveillance and interrogation of terror suspects in his interview with the Globe.
Biden said that in the same year then-Senator Obama knocked the Bush administration for trying to ?hide behind executive privilege.?
Tomorrow, Biden visits Waterloo. Insert your own campaign metaphor joke here.
**Written by Doug Powers
Twitter @ThePowersThatBe
~ For the latest breaking news, be sure to join Michelle's e-mail list ~
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If you're a UK resident, missed out a ticket to the London 2012 Olympics and find the extensive home and mobile coverage to be lacking in pixels have no fear -- free tickets are available for Super Hi-Vision screenings at three locations. While certain days and times are already fully booked, you can still get one of the first public glimpses of NHK's 8KUltra HDTV technology at the BBC Radio Theatre, BBC Scotland (Glasgow) and the National Media Museum in Bradford (other viewing locations are in Japan and Washington D.C.) Before the games get started, the Radio Theater is screening a London Prepares promo from July 23rd to the 28th. During the games (July 28th - August 12th) all will have highlights of the previous day's action from the Aquatic Centre, Olympic Stadium, Velodrome, and Basketball Arena plus clips of the Opening Ceremony. The lone live feed is scheduled for Sunday July 29th, from the Aquatics Centre. Sure, you could be paying a fortune for scalped passes to be in the house when Usain Bolt, Ryan Lochte or Michael Phelps are doing their thing, or you could be enjoying 33MP video and 22.2 channel surround sound in one of the custom setups TechRadar previewed in March. Your choice.
Gaza's Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, center, waves the Palestinian and Egyptian flags during celebrations of the victory of Mohammed Morsi in the Egyptian presidential elections, in Gaza City, Sunday, June 24, 2012. The Muslim Brotherhood victory in Egyptian presidential elections raises fears in Israel that the historic 1979 peace agreement with its southern neighbor is now in danger, a scenario that would have grave implications for regional security. But in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, ecstatic residents flock to the streets, fire guns into the air and distribute candies in celebration, hopeful that Mohammed Morsi's election will usher in a new era for the blockaded seaside territory. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
Gaza's Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, center, waves the Palestinian and Egyptian flags during celebrations of the victory of Mohammed Morsi in the Egyptian presidential elections, in Gaza City, Sunday, June 24, 2012. The Muslim Brotherhood victory in Egyptian presidential elections raises fears in Israel that the historic 1979 peace agreement with its southern neighbor is now in danger, a scenario that would have grave implications for regional security. But in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, ecstatic residents flock to the streets, fire guns into the air and distribute candies in celebration, hopeful that Mohammed Morsi's election will usher in a new era for the blockaded seaside territory. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in his Jerusalem office, Sunday, June 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, Pool)
Palestinians wave green Islamic flags that represent Hamas and the Egyptian national flag as they celebrate the victory of Mohammed Morsi in the Egyptian presidential elections, in Gaza City, Sunday, June 24, 2012. The Muslim Brotherhood victory in Egyptian presidential elections raises fears in Israel that the historic 1979 peace agreement with its southern neighbor is now in danger, a scenario that would have grave implications for regional security. But in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, ecstatic residents flock to the streets, fire guns into the air and distribute candies in celebration, hopeful that Mohammed Morsi?s election will usher in a new era for the blockaded seaside territory. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
Palestinians wave green Islamic flags that represent Hamas and the Egyptian national flag as they celebrate the victory of Mohammed Morsi in the Egyptian presidential elections, in Gaza City, Sunday, June 24, 2012. The Muslim Brotherhood victory in Egyptian presidential elections raises fears in Israel that the historic 1979 peace agreement with its southern neighbor is now in danger, a scenario that would have grave implications for regional security. But in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, ecstatic residents flock to the streets, fire guns into the air and distribute candies in celebration, hopeful that Morsi's election will usher in a new era for the blockaded seaside territory. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
JERUSALEM (AP) ? The Muslim Brotherhood victory in Egyptian presidential elections, announced Sunday, has raised fears in Israel that its strategic 1979 peace agreement with its southern neighbor could be in danger.
In contrast, in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, ecstatic residents flocked into the streets, fired guns in the air and handed out candy in celebration.
Israel's peace agreement with Egypt, its first with an Arab country, is a cornerstone of Israeli security. The agreement ended decades of hostilities, with to five wars and thousands of deaths.
While relations have never been warm, Egypt has upheld the deal, keeping its bordering Sinai peninsula largely demilitarized, allowing the Israeli military to focus on other hostile borders with the Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon.
In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he respected the results of Egypt's democratic process and hoped the peace agreement would remain intact.
"Israel expects to continue cooperation with the Egyptian government on the basis of the peace agreement between the two countries, which is of interest to the two peoples and contributes to regional stability," he said.
With the Egyptian military still the ultimate power in Egypt, senior Israeli defense officials who maintain contacts with Egypt said Sunday that they do not expect any immediate changes in relations. Over the long term, they warned, the Brotherhood may seek to cancel the peace agreement. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing a sensitive security assessment.
The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928, is a pan-Arabic movement that favors creation of a Muslim state that encompasses the entire Middle East. It has never given up that goal, but as it gains official power in Egypt, winning parliamentary elections and now the presidency, it has indicated pragmatic willingness to accept the existence of Israel.
Addressing his nation Sunday evening, Morsi declared he had a "message of peace. We will respect all international agreements," he said, without mentioning Israel.
Although some Brotherhood leaders have said they will never meet with an Israeli official, they have been careful to say they would not cancel the treaty. Like many other Egyptians, they favor amendments ? primarily to allow more Egyptian troops into the Sinai. Israel has already permitted an increase of troops there, demanding that Egypt bring violent extremists under control.
Armed gangs are believed to control wide swaths of territory, smugglers have helped thousands of African migrant workers sneak into Israel and various Arab militant groups, some believed to have ties to al-Qaida, operate freely.
Eli Shaked, a former Israeli ambassador to Egypt, said the Egyptians would "have a lot to lose" if they canceled the peace, including Western investment and billions of dollars in U.S. aid. Even so, he warned, the treaty was not safe.
In the Gaza Strip, tens of thousands of joyous Palestinians took to the streets across the territory after the result was announced.
Gunmen fired automatic weapons in the air, and mosque loudspeakers reverberated with prayers. Some revelers handed out candy on street corners.
The celebrations were marred when one person was killed and six others wounded by celebratory gunfire.
Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood's ascent to power in Egypt has raised hopes that Gaza's relations with its powerful southern neighbor will improve.
"Today is new era for us in Gaza. The days of suffering due to the Egyptian authorities are over, said Rawhi Talab, 51, a food store owner.
Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar told a rally in downtown Gaza that "the heart of Jerusalem has started to beat again," adding, "We are not asking Egypt to fight on our behalf." Hamas does not recognize Israel.
Mubarak collaborated with Israel in a blockade of Gaza. The blockade, first imposed after Hamas-linked gunmen captured an Israeli soldier in 2006, was tightened the following year when Hamas violently seized power in the seaside strip.
Israel said the blockade was needed to prevent arms shipments to Hamas. Under heavy international pressure, Israel lifted some limits two years ago and Egypt eased travel restrictions after Mubarak's ouster.
Morsi has not yet said what plans he has for dealing with Gaza, which shares a 15-kilometer (nine-mile) border with Egypt, which ruled Gaza from 1948 to 1967.
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh phoned Morsi to congratulate him on becoming Egypt's first Islamist president. "This is a victory for all Arabs and Muslims, and this is God's promise to his believers," the Hamas leader said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a secular leader who governs in the West Bank, also congratulated Morsi. "The president expressed his respect for the choice of the great Egyptian people," according to a statement from the official Wafa news agency.
The leaders of Kuwait and Bahrain sent cables to Morsi congratulating him, according to statements carried by their official news agencies.
___
Barzak reported from Gaza City, Gaza Strip. Ian Deitch and Blake Sobczak in Jerusalem, Mark Lavie in Cairo, Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank, and Adam Schreck in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
Genome-wide analysis shows previously undetected abnormalities in parents of affected childrenPublic release date: 24-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Mary Rice mary.rice@riceconseil.eu European Society of Human Genetics
Nuremberg, Germany: The use of genome-wide array analysis[1] in parents whose children are suspected of having a genetic disease shows that the parents frequently also have previously undetected genetic abnormalities, a researcher from The Netherlands told the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics today (Sunday). Being aware of this is important to parents because it means that their risk of having another affected child is significantly increased.
Dr. Nicole de Leeuw, a clinical laboratory geneticist in the Department of Human Genetics of the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in Nijmegen, and colleagues performed genome-wide SNP[2] array analysis in 6,500 patients and 1,874 parents. The patients had intellectual disability and/or congenital abnormalities, and the parents of those in whom an aberration was detected were tested in a similar way to determine whether they had the same aberration as their child. Mosaic aberrations, where both genetically normal and abnormal cells are present in an individual, were not only found in one in every 300 patients, but in one in every 270 parents as well. "These abnormalities occurred more frequently than we had expected", said Dr. de Leeuw. "Armed with this knowledge, we can try to understand not only why, but also how genetic disease arises in individuals, and this can help us to provide better genetic counselling."
Analysis of patients' genomes showed 6.5% de novo (spontaneously arising) genomic imbalances, 9.1% of rare, inherited imbalances, and 0.8% of X-linked abnormalities. Moreover, with the additional data from their SNP array test results, the researchers were able to subsequently find pathogenic mutations in recessive disease genes, uniparental disomies (where a single chromosome is doubled leading to two genetically identical ones), and mosaic aneuploidies (an extra or missing chromosome in some of the cells of the body) in about 30 patients.
"In at least seven families, these findings meant that what we had thought of as a spontaneously arising, non-inherited genetic abnormality in a child was in fact already present in some form in the parent", said Dr. de Leeuw. "Furthermore, when we tested in different cell lines for example, DNA from blood and that from a mouth swab we often found that results varied. This is because mosaic aberrations can occur in cells in some organs and not in others, and underlines the importance of not just relying on one type of cell line for this kind of genetic diagnosis."
In two cases these tissue-dependent differences changed over time, and the researchers believe that this was due to an attempt by the body to correct and rescue the situation. "Such rescue attempts are best known in cases of trisomy, where there are three chromosomes instead of two in a cell, or monosomy, where there is only one. In both these cases, the body may try to correct the situation by respectively deleting or adding (doubling) a chromosome. Such rescue mechanisms may be more common than we expected, and by using genome-wide SNP array analysis it will help us to reveal them. For some patients, it would be particularly interesting if we could test multiple samples of these patients over time", said Dr. de Leeuw.
The majority of genetic diseases are not treatable, but in some cases a special diet may reduce the severity of the symptoms ,for example, in phenylketonuria (PKU) or in coeliac disease, in others the same can be obtained by periodic examination of certain organs (for example in Down syndrome or Marfan syndrome). Sometimes hormone treatment will be of benefit to the patient, for example growth hormone treatment in Turner syndrome. For most patients with a genetic disorder, there is no cure, but knowing the genetic cause of their disease may help and improve the care for these patients through knowledge about other patients with the same disease. And if the family is at risk of a genetic disease, couples considering having children can be better informed as to their options, the researchers say.
"By using genome-wide array analysis to look for imbalances in the human genome, we will uncover more and more accurate findings in patients. This will not only increase our knowledge of genetic disorders and the human genome in general, but if we can also collect the clinical features of these patients in a structured and uniform way, the information will become increasingly valuable. Fortunately, this is becoming easier due to advances in tools and software applications, and many professionals in the academic and commercial world have agreed to collaborate in order to substantially increase the genotype/phenotype collection and make these anonymised data publicly available to medical professionals in order to improve patient care worldwide", Dr. de Leeuw concluded.
###
Abstract no: C04.5, Session: Sunday, June 24, 1:15 pm
[1] A DNA microarray (or gene chip) is a collection of microscopic DNA spots attached to a solid surface, used to measure the relative quantity of large numbers of genes simultaneously in multiple regions of a genome, thereby determining the DNA copy number.
[2] A SNP (pronounced 'snip'), or single nucleotide polymorphism, is a relatively common DNA sequence variation, a change in a single nucleotide A, T, C or G in the genome, without clinical consequences. Each person has about 3 million SNPs in his or her genome, a unique genetic signature. In a SNP microarray, the probes (small pieces of DNA) bind only to the complementary piece of DNA being analysed if it is an exact match, making it possible to determine the genotype (SNP composition) of a DNA sample in addition to the DNA copy number.
[ | 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.
Genome-wide analysis shows previously undetected abnormalities in parents of affected childrenPublic release date: 24-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Mary Rice mary.rice@riceconseil.eu European Society of Human Genetics
Nuremberg, Germany: The use of genome-wide array analysis[1] in parents whose children are suspected of having a genetic disease shows that the parents frequently also have previously undetected genetic abnormalities, a researcher from The Netherlands told the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics today (Sunday). Being aware of this is important to parents because it means that their risk of having another affected child is significantly increased.
Dr. Nicole de Leeuw, a clinical laboratory geneticist in the Department of Human Genetics of the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in Nijmegen, and colleagues performed genome-wide SNP[2] array analysis in 6,500 patients and 1,874 parents. The patients had intellectual disability and/or congenital abnormalities, and the parents of those in whom an aberration was detected were tested in a similar way to determine whether they had the same aberration as their child. Mosaic aberrations, where both genetically normal and abnormal cells are present in an individual, were not only found in one in every 300 patients, but in one in every 270 parents as well. "These abnormalities occurred more frequently than we had expected", said Dr. de Leeuw. "Armed with this knowledge, we can try to understand not only why, but also how genetic disease arises in individuals, and this can help us to provide better genetic counselling."
Analysis of patients' genomes showed 6.5% de novo (spontaneously arising) genomic imbalances, 9.1% of rare, inherited imbalances, and 0.8% of X-linked abnormalities. Moreover, with the additional data from their SNP array test results, the researchers were able to subsequently find pathogenic mutations in recessive disease genes, uniparental disomies (where a single chromosome is doubled leading to two genetically identical ones), and mosaic aneuploidies (an extra or missing chromosome in some of the cells of the body) in about 30 patients.
"In at least seven families, these findings meant that what we had thought of as a spontaneously arising, non-inherited genetic abnormality in a child was in fact already present in some form in the parent", said Dr. de Leeuw. "Furthermore, when we tested in different cell lines for example, DNA from blood and that from a mouth swab we often found that results varied. This is because mosaic aberrations can occur in cells in some organs and not in others, and underlines the importance of not just relying on one type of cell line for this kind of genetic diagnosis."
In two cases these tissue-dependent differences changed over time, and the researchers believe that this was due to an attempt by the body to correct and rescue the situation. "Such rescue attempts are best known in cases of trisomy, where there are three chromosomes instead of two in a cell, or monosomy, where there is only one. In both these cases, the body may try to correct the situation by respectively deleting or adding (doubling) a chromosome. Such rescue mechanisms may be more common than we expected, and by using genome-wide SNP array analysis it will help us to reveal them. For some patients, it would be particularly interesting if we could test multiple samples of these patients over time", said Dr. de Leeuw.
The majority of genetic diseases are not treatable, but in some cases a special diet may reduce the severity of the symptoms ,for example, in phenylketonuria (PKU) or in coeliac disease, in others the same can be obtained by periodic examination of certain organs (for example in Down syndrome or Marfan syndrome). Sometimes hormone treatment will be of benefit to the patient, for example growth hormone treatment in Turner syndrome. For most patients with a genetic disorder, there is no cure, but knowing the genetic cause of their disease may help and improve the care for these patients through knowledge about other patients with the same disease. And if the family is at risk of a genetic disease, couples considering having children can be better informed as to their options, the researchers say.
"By using genome-wide array analysis to look for imbalances in the human genome, we will uncover more and more accurate findings in patients. This will not only increase our knowledge of genetic disorders and the human genome in general, but if we can also collect the clinical features of these patients in a structured and uniform way, the information will become increasingly valuable. Fortunately, this is becoming easier due to advances in tools and software applications, and many professionals in the academic and commercial world have agreed to collaborate in order to substantially increase the genotype/phenotype collection and make these anonymised data publicly available to medical professionals in order to improve patient care worldwide", Dr. de Leeuw concluded.
###
Abstract no: C04.5, Session: Sunday, June 24, 1:15 pm
[1] A DNA microarray (or gene chip) is a collection of microscopic DNA spots attached to a solid surface, used to measure the relative quantity of large numbers of genes simultaneously in multiple regions of a genome, thereby determining the DNA copy number.
[2] A SNP (pronounced 'snip'), or single nucleotide polymorphism, is a relatively common DNA sequence variation, a change in a single nucleotide A, T, C or G in the genome, without clinical consequences. Each person has about 3 million SNPs in his or her genome, a unique genetic signature. In a SNP microarray, the probes (small pieces of DNA) bind only to the complementary piece of DNA being analysed if it is an exact match, making it possible to determine the genotype (SNP composition) of a DNA sample in addition to the DNA copy number.
[ | 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.
Faster, cheaper gas and liquid separation using custom designed and built mesoscopic structuresPublic release date: 24-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: David Kornhauser pr@icems.kyoto-u.ac.jp 81-757-539-755 Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences, Kyoto University
Building larger porous coordination polymer architectures
Kyoto, Japan -- In what may prove to be a significant boon for industry, separating mixtures of liquids or gasses has just become considerably easier.
Using a new process they describe as "reverse fossilization," scientists at Kyoto University's WPI Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) have succeeded in creating custom designed porous substances capable of low cost, high efficiency separation.
The process takes place in the mesoscopic realm, between the nano- and the macroscopic, beginning with the creation of a shaped mineral template, in this case using alumina, or aluminum oxide. This is then transformed into an equivalently shaped lattice consisting entirely of porous coordination polymer (PCP) crystals, which are themselves hybrid assemblies of organic and mineral elements.
"After creating the alumina lattice," explains team leader Assoc. Prof. Shuhei Furukawa, "we transformed it, molecule for molecule, from a metal structure into a largely non-metallic one. Hence the term 'reverse fossilization,' taking something inorganic and making it organic, all while preserving its shape and form."
After succeeding in creating both 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional test architectures using this technique, the researchers proceeded to replicate an alumina aerogel with a highly open, sponge-like macro-structure, in order to test its utility in separating water and ethanol.
"Water/ethanol separation has not been commonly possible using existing porous materials," elaborates Dr. Julien Reboul. "The PCP-based structures we created, however, combine the intrinsic nano-level adsorptive properties of the PCPs themselves with the meso- and macroscopic properties of the template aerogels, greatly increasing separation efficiency and capacity."
Lab head and iCeMS Deputy Director Prof. Susumu Kitagawa sees the team's achievement as a significant advance. "To date, PCPs have been shown on their own to possess highly useful properties including storage, catalysis, and sensing, but the very utility of the size of their nanoscale pores has limited their applicability to high throughput industrial processes. Using reverse fossilization to create architectures including larger, mesoscale pores now allows us to begin considering the design of such applications."
###
The article, "Mesoscopic architectures of porous coordination polymers fabricated by pseudomorphic replication" by Julien Reboul, Shuhei Furukawa, Nao Horike, Manuel Tsotsalas, Kenji Hirai, Hiromitsu Uehara, Mio Kondo, Nicolas Louvain, Osami Sakata, and Susumu Kitagawa is to be published online in the June 24, 2012 issue of Nature Materials.
About WPI-iCeMS
The WPI Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) at Kyoto University in Japan aims to advance the integration of the cell and material sciences -- both traditionally strong fields for the university -- in a uniquely innovative global research environment. Part of the Japanese science ministry's WPI initiative, the iCeMS combines the biosciences, chemistry, materials science, and physics to capture the potential power of stem cells (e.g., ES/iPS cells) and of mesoscopic sciences (e.g., porous coordination polymers). Such developments hold the promise of significant advances in medicine, pharmaceutical studies, the environment, and industry.
[ | 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.
Faster, cheaper gas and liquid separation using custom designed and built mesoscopic structuresPublic release date: 24-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: David Kornhauser pr@icems.kyoto-u.ac.jp 81-757-539-755 Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences, Kyoto University
Building larger porous coordination polymer architectures
Kyoto, Japan -- In what may prove to be a significant boon for industry, separating mixtures of liquids or gasses has just become considerably easier.
Using a new process they describe as "reverse fossilization," scientists at Kyoto University's WPI Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) have succeeded in creating custom designed porous substances capable of low cost, high efficiency separation.
The process takes place in the mesoscopic realm, between the nano- and the macroscopic, beginning with the creation of a shaped mineral template, in this case using alumina, or aluminum oxide. This is then transformed into an equivalently shaped lattice consisting entirely of porous coordination polymer (PCP) crystals, which are themselves hybrid assemblies of organic and mineral elements.
"After creating the alumina lattice," explains team leader Assoc. Prof. Shuhei Furukawa, "we transformed it, molecule for molecule, from a metal structure into a largely non-metallic one. Hence the term 'reverse fossilization,' taking something inorganic and making it organic, all while preserving its shape and form."
After succeeding in creating both 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional test architectures using this technique, the researchers proceeded to replicate an alumina aerogel with a highly open, sponge-like macro-structure, in order to test its utility in separating water and ethanol.
"Water/ethanol separation has not been commonly possible using existing porous materials," elaborates Dr. Julien Reboul. "The PCP-based structures we created, however, combine the intrinsic nano-level adsorptive properties of the PCPs themselves with the meso- and macroscopic properties of the template aerogels, greatly increasing separation efficiency and capacity."
Lab head and iCeMS Deputy Director Prof. Susumu Kitagawa sees the team's achievement as a significant advance. "To date, PCPs have been shown on their own to possess highly useful properties including storage, catalysis, and sensing, but the very utility of the size of their nanoscale pores has limited their applicability to high throughput industrial processes. Using reverse fossilization to create architectures including larger, mesoscale pores now allows us to begin considering the design of such applications."
###
The article, "Mesoscopic architectures of porous coordination polymers fabricated by pseudomorphic replication" by Julien Reboul, Shuhei Furukawa, Nao Horike, Manuel Tsotsalas, Kenji Hirai, Hiromitsu Uehara, Mio Kondo, Nicolas Louvain, Osami Sakata, and Susumu Kitagawa is to be published online in the June 24, 2012 issue of Nature Materials.
About WPI-iCeMS
The WPI Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) at Kyoto University in Japan aims to advance the integration of the cell and material sciences -- both traditionally strong fields for the university -- in a uniquely innovative global research environment. Part of the Japanese science ministry's WPI initiative, the iCeMS combines the biosciences, chemistry, materials science, and physics to capture the potential power of stem cells (e.g., ES/iPS cells) and of mesoscopic sciences (e.g., porous coordination polymers). Such developments hold the promise of significant advances in medicine, pharmaceutical studies, the environment, and industry.
[ | 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.
When Apple Inc sends out its coveted invitations to major events, one CEO has always been making the guest list of late: Jeremy Stoppelman.
The co-founder and chief executive officer of consumer review website Yelp Inc has never taken the stage at these gatherings, but his company has become an important weapon in Apple?s arsenal as it steps up its assault on ally-turned-rival Google Inc.
Yelp and a handful of other major consumer content sites, including movie reviewer Rotten Tomatoes and restaurant reservation service OpenTable, will be helping to power Apple?s Siri, the voice-activated iPhone personal assistant, in the new mobile operating system iOS6.
The relationship between Apple and Yelp illustrates the power struggle over how people find what they are looking for on the Internet. Much more than just a clever feature, Siri is emerging as a key tool for what some in the industry call ?casual search? - quickly finding routine information such as a restaurant location.
This can bypass Google and other traditional search engines. That serves the interests of Apple, which sees an opportunity to muscle in on its rival?s core business and build related advertising revenue.
Siri is also a potential lifeline for Yelp and other content companies, which have found themselves competing with Google.
?Google is a direct competitor to Yelp, and I am sure Yelp is aware of that,? said Larry Cornett, founder of product strategy firm Brilliant Forge and former head of consumer products at Yahoo Inc. Yelp, which depends a lot on Google for traffic, will probably be ?ecstatic? about the direct traffic it will get through Apple?s upcoming version of Siri.
Google still reigns supreme in search, loved by consumers for its relevant results and advertisers for its reach. Deep-pocketed rivals, particularly Microsoft Corp with its Bing search engine, have tried in vain for years to reduce Google?s dominance.
Rather than compete with Google on keyword search - which would mean battling algorithms refined by the millions of searches performed every day - Apple is taking a different tack by focusing on a subset of the search universe that users are mostly likely to scour while they are out and about.
That includes restaurants, movies, sports, business listings, maps and locations - where quick, digestible bite-sized results are desired, rather than the more involved research that users perform with Google. The increasing use of mobile devices for accessing the Internet only plays into this trend.
Advertisers value these searches, which are closely linked to location, time and intent, said David Tennenhouse, venture capitalist with New Venture Partners and former CEO of A9.com, the search unit of Amazon.com Inc.
?You can think of this as cream-skimming,? Tennenhouse said. ?Can I skim off some of the most valuable searches? There is a huge range of value here.?
The stakes are high, said Oren Etzioni, a search and artificial intelligence expert at the University of Washington?s computer science department.
?Google is very difficult to dislodge on the desktop,? he said, ?but mobile search is a very different beast, and the jury is still out on the question of who the ultimate winner in mobile (search) is.?
?TRUSTED PERSONAL ASSISTANT?
Apple and Google are increasingly at odds, largely due to the rivalry between the iPhone and Google?s Android smartphone software. As the rivalry escalates, Apple is systematically dialing back its reliance on Google services - most recently by announcing it is going into mapping big-time.
Siri is still in a beta or ?trial? version, and users have criticized failings such as misinterpreted words, odd results and incomplete data. But Apple is betting that the fast-evolving technology will improve enough over time to spearhead its foray into Google?s domain.
Google is still available on the iPhone, and users can even ask Siri specifically to search it for answers. Apple?s strategy, however, is to reduce Google?s relevance on its devices as it doubles down on the investment in the voice-enabled software, experts said.
The company?s goal is to build Siri into a ?trusted personal assistant,? Tennenhouse said.
?The disintermediation of Google by Apple is really a matter of Apple putting together a front end, which happens to be Siri for now, and linking it directly to the high-frequency searches,? said Roger Kay, technology analyst with EndPoint Technologies. ?And in doing so, bypass the general search mode and more importantly, bypass Google?s advertising pages.?
LOCAL IS KING
Marketing research firm eMarketer forecast 30% growth in the U.S. search advertising market to $19.5 billion this year from $15 billion in 2011. Google accounts for about three-quarters of that market.
The company has a lesser, but still substantial, hold on the mobile advertising market. That generated $1.45 billion last year, with Google controlling about half, while Apple had 6.4 percent, eMarketer said. It expects the total market to be worth $2.6 billion this year.
Apple devices running the company?s iOS operating system are the biggest source of Google?s mobile revenue, generating roughly 40% of the total, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster.
Mobile search has long been focused on local information, such as finding which local stores have discounts or which French restaurant in the area is the best-rated. But no one has yet been able to develop the content fully.
Google signaled its seriousness about the sector when it bought Zagat last year and vowed to make the popular dining ratings authority a cornerstone of its local information offerings. In late 2009, Google was in talks to acquire Yelp for at least $500 million, according to news reports at the time, but no deal resulted.
Yelp is now one of the few websites that is deeply integrated into iOS, featured not only in Siri but also in business listings for Apple?s new map service.
Yelp?s Stoppelman said the mapping integration was key, as searches are often location-based. He also says the Yelp app on the iPhone can readily integrate user reviews into the search functionality.
?Google just doesn?t have that data,? he said. ?Yelp has the most word of mouth.?
But Apple?s success in search hinges almost entirely on the success of Siri.
Voice-recognition technology is not new, and users have so far not taken to it in great numbers. Google added this capability in its flagship Web search engine and its Android phones far earlier than Apple, but it is unclear how many people use it.
Whether Siri will be the answer also remains to be seen, New Venture Partners? Tennenhouse said. ?The test always is: If you were to take this away from people, will they feel impoverished??
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Public release date: 24-Jun-2012
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