billed as tools that can revolutionise the continent ' s response to emergencies. but it is not just fews net that is struggling to live up to expectations. last month, nigeria ' s emergency management agency accused state governments of ignoring early warnings of floods that killed more than an estimated 140 people and left tens of thousands homeless. in nigeria, the problem was a failure of state governments to act upon warnings by clearing drains and evacuating people living in flood plains. the weakest link similar barriers held back the famine warning in the horn of africa. " there is a weak link between early warning and response, " says gideon galu, a scientist with fews net based in nairobi, kenya. although fews net works with decision - makers in the national government to highlight its findings, the link - up to local authorities and rural communities relies on national government structures, he says. kenya, for example, has a food security steering group that passes scientific information on to decision - makers. nongovernmental organisations and other partners can attend meetings and get a consensus on the scale and magnitude of a problem. but the final link in the flow of information is problematic in kenya, and in ethiopia ; and it ' s particularly weak in countries like somalia where governance is fragile. there are scant resources and information dissemination networks to make sure that messages reach the local level. these failures illustrate a key obstacle that many african countries must overcome. the impact of science - based early warning systems hinges on governments ' capability ( and perhaps willingness ) to turn warnings into readiness on the ground. avoiding warning fatigue in time, the early warning community will learn from its mistakes as it establishes strong networks that reach down to the community level — an activity that fews net is working on. the organisation is also working to address the underlying vulnerability to food crises via the us feed the future programme, a us $ 3. 5 billion investment in strengthening agriculture in ethiopia, kenya and other countries. better links to local government and rural communities will also improve fews net ' s capability to collect data on variables such as rainfall and temperature, making prediction more of a two - way street, adds gulu. " they are now able to provide us with additional data about what is happening in the field, " he says. but there is a downside : the explosion in early warning systems means that individual warnings could grow into a cacophony of calls to emergency action that compete for policymakers ' attention and scarce resources. such ' warning fatigue ' would make it harder to discern credible


downside : the explosion in early warning systems means that individual warnings could grow into a cacophony of calls to emergency action that compete for policymakers ' attention and scarce resources. such ' warning fatigue ' would make it harder to discern credible alerts and act on them. in that future, a warning system well - connected to decision - makers with functioning lines of communication with local officials is likely to be more effective than one where all the money has gone to improving the science while neglecting the capacity to put the evidence to good use. journalist linda nordling, based in cape town, south africa, specialises in african science policy, education and development. she was the founding editor of research africa and writes for scidev. net, nature and others. funk, c. we thought trouble was coming, nature, 476, 7 ( 2011 ) susan fm lwec ( living with environmental change | united kingdom ) 5 october 2011 this in some ways is a chilling article. however, i had a good insight into early warning fatigue at a humanitarian vision / nerc workshop to bring climate scientists into better dialogue with ngos. we role played how we ' d manage early warning of flood and it gave fascinating first hand insights into risk perception and how it varied in the room. strikes me that this is very relevant in this context all scidev. net material is free to reproduce providing that the source and author are appropriately credited. for further details see creative commons.


la jolla, calif., july 18, 2012 – in their quest to treat cardiovascular disease, researchers and pharmaceutical companies have long been interested in developing new medicines that activate a heart protein called apj. but researchers at sanford - burnham medical research institute ( sanford - burnham ) and the stanford university school of medicine have now uncovered a second, previously unknown, function for apj — it senses mechanical changes when the heart is in danger and sets the body on a course toward heart failure. this means that activating apj could actually be harmful in some cases — potentially eye - opening information for some heart drug makers. the study appears july 18 in nature. " just finding a molecule that activates apj is not enough. what ' s important to heart failure is not if this receptor is ' on ' or ' off, ' but the way it ' s activated, " said pilar ruiz - lozano, ph. d., who led the study. ruiz - lozano, formerly assistant professor at sanford - burnham, is now associate professor of pediatrics in the stanford university school of medicine and adjunct faculty member at sanford - burnham. stretching the heart apj is a receptor that sits on the cell surface in many organs, where it senses the external environment. when a hormone called apelin comes along and binds apj, it sets off a molecular chain reaction that influences a number of cellular functions. many previous studies have shown that apelin - apj activity directs beneficial processes such as embryonic heart development, maintenance of normal blood pressure, and new blood vessel formation. according to ruiz - lozano ' s latest study, however, apj can also be activated a second, more harmful, way that doesn ' t involve apelin. in this pathway, apj senses and responds to mechanical changes in the heart. to better understand these mechanical changes, let ' s look at a person with high blood pressure. in this case, the person ' s heart has to work harder to pump the same amount of blood at the same rate as a healthy person. to meet the increased demand, individual heart muscle cells start making more proteins, making the cells bigger. eventually, cell membranes stretch and each cell begins to pull away from its neighbor. this leads to an enlarged heart — a condition known as hypertrophy. in pathological ( disease ) conditions, hypertrophy can lead to heart failure. apj and heart failure the best way to determine the role a protein plays in a particular cellular process is to see what happens when it ' s


mar. 20, 2007 an overexpressed protein protects human pancreatic cancer cells from being forced to devour themselves, removing one of the body ' s natural defenses against out - of - control cell growth, researchers at the university of texas m. d. anderson cancer center report in the march issue of molecular cancer research. the protein tissue transglutaminase, known by the abbreviation tg2, previously has been found by researchers at m. d. anderson and elsewhere to be overexpressed in a variety of drug - resistant cancer cells and in cancer that has spread from its original organ ( metastasized ). " in general, you rarely see overexpression of tg2 in a normal cell, " says kapil mehta, ph. d., professor in the m. d. anderson department of experimental therapeutics, who began 10 years ago studying tg2 as an inflammatory protein. mehta and colleagues in the past year have connected tg2 overexpression to drug - resistant and metastatic breast cancer, pancreatic cancer and melanoma. expression of tg2 is tightly regulated in a healthy cell, mehta says, and is temporarily increased in response to certain hormones or stress factors. " however, constitutive expression of this protein in a cancer cell helps confer protection from stress - induced cell death, " mehta says. " we are developing tg2 as a pharmaceutical target and are now working with a mouse model to that end. " the mechanisms by which tg2 might promote drug - resistance and metastasis have remained elusive, the researchers note. in this paper, the m. d. anderson team shows in lab experiments that inhibiting the protein in pancreatic cancer cells leads to a form of programmed cell suicide called autophagy, or self - digestion. tg2 was inhibited in two separate ways. first, the researchers blocked another protein known to activate tg2. secondly, they also directly targeted tg2 with a tiny molecule known as small interfering rna tailored to shut down expression of the protein. in both cases, the result was a drastic reduction of tg2 expression ( up to 94 percent ) and telltale signs of autophagy in the cancer cells, which became riddled with cavities called vacuoles. when autophagy occurs, a double membrane forms around a cell organ, or organelle. this autophagosome then merges with a digestive organelle called


cancer cells, which became riddled with cavities called vacuoles. when autophagy occurs, a double membrane forms around a cell organ, or organelle. this autophagosome then merges with a digestive organelle called a lysosome and everything inside is consumed, leaving the vacuole and a residue of digested material. if enough of this happens, the cell dies. gabriel lopez - berestein, m. d., professor of experimental therapeutics and study co - author, notes that the research also shows that the self - consuming cell death prevented by tg2 is independent of a prominent molecular pathway also known to regulate autophagy called the mammalian target of rapamycin. " targeting tg2, or its activating protein pkc, or both, presents a novel and potentially effective approach to treating patients with pancreatic cancer, " lopez - berestein said. research in the mouse model remains in the early stages, the researchers caution. the researchers also show that the tg2 pathway also is separate from another, better known, form of programmed cell death called apoptosis. apoptosis, like autophagy, is a normal biological defense mechanism that systematically destroys defective cells by forcing them to kill themselves. in apoptosis, the cells die via damage to their nucleus and dna, with other cellular organelles preserved. autophagy kills by degrading those other organelles while sparing the nucleus. mehta ' s lab reported in a cancer research paper last september that tg2 overexpression also activates a protein called nuclear factor - kb known to play a role in regulating cell growth, metastasis and apoptosis. this pathway, mehta explained, could make tg2 an attractive target for other forms of cancer as well. co - authors with mehta and lopez - berestein are : co - first authors ugur akar, ph. d., and bulent ozpolat, m. d., ph. d., and jansina fok, all of the department of experimental therapeutics, and yasuko kondo, m. d., ph. d, of the m. d. anderson department of neurosurgery. funding for this research was provided by the national cancer institute of the national institutes of health. other social bookmarking and sharing tools : note : materials may be edited for content and length. for further information, please contact the source


mar. 4, 2013 behind locked doors, in a lab built like a bomb shelter, perry gerakines makes something ordinary yet truly alien : ice. this isn ' t the ice of snowflakes or ice cubes. no, this ice needs such intense cold and low pressure to form that the right conditions rarely, if ever, occur naturally on earth. and when gerakines makes the ice, he must keep the layer so microscopically thin it is dwarfed by a grain of pollen. these ultrathin layers turn out to be perfect for recreating some of the key chemistry that takes place in space. in these tiny test tubes, gerakines and his colleagues in the cosmic ice lab at nasa ' s goddard space flight center in greenbelt, md., can reproduce reactions in ice from almost any time and place in the history of the solar system, including some that might help explain the origin of life. " this is not the chemistry people remember from high school, " says reggie hudson, who heads the cosmic ice lab. " this is chemistry in the extreme : bitter cold, harsh radiation and nearly non - existent pressure. and it ' s usually taking place in gases or solids, because generally speaking, there aren ' t liquids in interstellar space. " the cosmic ice lab is one of a few laboratories worldwide where researchers have been studying the ultracool chemistry of cosmic ice. with its powerful particle accelerator, the goddard lab has the special ability to mimic almost any kind of solar or cosmic radiation to drive these reactions. and that lets them dig deep to study the chemistry of ice below the surface of planets and moons as well as ice in space. recipe for disorder in a vacuum chamber about the size of a lunchbox, gerakines recreates a little patch of deep space, in all its extremes. he pumps out air until the pressure inside drops to a level a billion times lower than normal for earth, then chills the chamber to minus 433 degrees fahrenheit ( 15 kelvins ). to get ice, all that remains is to open a valve and let in water vapor. the instant the sprightly vapor molecules enter the chamber they are literally frozen in their tracks. still pointing every which way, the molecules are transformed immediately from their gaseous state into the disorderly solid called amorphous ice. amorphous ice is exactly the opposite of the typical ice on earth, which forms perfect crystals like those that make up snowflakes or frost needles. these crystals are so orderly


gaseous state into the disorderly solid called amorphous ice. amorphous ice is exactly the opposite of the typical ice on earth, which forms perfect crystals like those that make up snowflakes or frost needles. these crystals are so orderly and predictable that this ice is considered a mineral, complete with a rating of 2. 5 on the mohs scale of hardness - - the same rating as a fingernail. though almost unheard of on earth, amorphous ice is so widespread in interstellar space that it could be the most common form of water in the universe. left over from the age when the solar system was born, it is scattered across vast distances, often as particles no bigger than grains of dust. it ' s also been spotted in comets and icy moons. the secret to making amorphous ice in the lab, gerakines finds, is to limit the layer to a depth of about half a micrometer - - thinner than a strand of spider ' s silk. " water is such a good insulator that if the ice gets too thick, only the bottom of the sample, closer to the cooling source, will stay sufficiently cold, " says gerakines. " the ice on top will get warm enough to crystallize. " the superthin ice can be spiked with all kinds of interesting chemicals found in space. one set of chemicals that gerakines works with is amino acids, which are key players in the chemistry of life on earth. researchers have spent decades identifying a whole smorgasbord of amino acids in meteorites ( including some involved in life ), as well as one found in a sample taken from a comet. " and because water is the dominant form of frozen material in the interstellar medium and outer solar system, " says gerakines, " any amino acids out there are probably in contact with water at some point. " for his current set of experiments, gerakines makes three kinds of ice, each spiked with an amorphous form of an amino acid ( either glycine, alanine or phenylalanine ) that is found in proteins. the real action begins when gerakines hits the ice with radiation. earlier studies by other researchers have looked at ice chemistry using ultraviolet light. gerakines opts instead to look at cosmic radiation, which can reach ice hidden below the surface of a planet or moon. to mimic this radiation, he uses a proton beam from the high - voltage particle accelerator, which resides in an underground room lined


our bodies create a tremendous amount of internal heat. we normally cool ourselves by sweating and radiating heat through our skin. under certain circumstances, such as unusually high temperatures, high humidity, or vigorous exercise in hot weather, this natural cooling system may begin to fail, allowing internal heat to build up to dangerous levels. the result may be heat illness, which can come in the form of heat cramps, heat exhaustion, or heatstroke. heat cramps are brief, severe cramps in the muscles of the legs, arms, or abdomen that may occur during or after vigorous exercise in extreme heat. the sweating that occurs with vigorous exercise causes the body to lose salts and fluids. and the low level of salts causes the muscles to cramp. children are particularly susceptible to heat cramps when they haven ' t been drinking enough fluids. although painful, heat cramps aren ' t what to do : most heat cramps don ' t require special treatment. a cool place, rest, and fluids should ease your child ' s discomfort. massaging cramped muscles may also help. heat exhaustion is a more severe heat illness that can occur when a person in a hot climate or environment hasn ' t been drinking enough fluids. symptoms may include : - clammy skin - nausea and / or - hyperventilation ( rapid breathing ) what to do : - bring your child indoors or into the shade. - loosen or remove your child ' s clothing. - encourage your child to eat and drink. - give your child a bath in cool ( not cold ) water. - call your child ' s doctor for further advice. if your child is too exhausted or ill to eat or drink, intravenous fluids may be necessary. if left untreated, heat exhaustion may escalate into heatstroke, which can be fatal. the most severe form of heat illness, heatstroke is a life - threatening medical emergency. the body loses its ability to regulate its own temperature. body temperature can soar to 106 degrees fahrenheit ( 41. 1 degrees celsius ) or even higher, leading to brain damage or even death if it isn ' t quickly treated. prompt medical treatment is required to bring the body temperature under control. factors that increase the risk for heatstroke include overdressing and extreme physical exertion in hot weather with inadequate fluid intake. heatstroke can also happen when a child is left in, or becomes accidentally trapped in, a car on a hot day. when the outside temperature is 93 degrees fahrenh


traditionally has been a common explanation for diseases of which the causes were unknown. although traditional indigenous religions generally include or accommodate belief in the efficacy of witchcraft, they generally approve of harmful witchcraft only for defensive or retaliatory purposes and purport to offer protection against it. in the past several years, interest in healing through traditional religion and through prayer reportedly has increased as hiv / aids has infected an estimated one - third of the adult population, and affordable science - based medicines effective in treating hiv / aids have remained unavailable. the witchcraft suppression act ( wsa ) criminalizes purporting to practice witchcraft, accusing persons of practicing witchcraft, hunting witches, and soliciting persons to name witches ; penalties include imprisonment for up to 7 years. the law defines witchcraft as " the use of charms and any other means or devices adopted in the practice of sorcery, " and provides punishments for intending to cause disease or injury to any person or animal through the use of witchcraft. since 1997 zinatha has proposed amendments to the law that would redefine witchcraft only as the practice of sorcery with the intent to cause harm, including illness, injury, or death ; however, mainstream christian churches reportedly have opposed such legislation. human rights groups also generally supported the existing wsa ; the act has been used since independence primarily to protect persons, primarily women, who have been accused falsely of causing harm to persons or crops in rural areas where traditional religious practices are strong. in march 2002, the traditional medical practitioners council, formed from members of zinatha to oversee traditional healers, called for amendments to the wsa that would authenticate the existence of witches and wizards and remove penalties for accusing persons of practicing witchcraft. there is some tension between the government and some indigenous african churches because of the latter ' s preference for prayer over science - based medical practices that result in the reduction of avoidable childhood diseases and deaths in those communities. some members of the indigenous churches and groups believe in healing through prayer only and refuse to have their children vaccinated. the ministry of health has had limited success in vaccinating children against communicable childhood diseases in these religious communities. human rights activists also have criticized these indigenous churches for their sanctioning of marriages of underage girls. president mugabe has expressed skepticism about the increasing membership in evangelical and indigenous churches and has indicated that he believes that they could be subversive. according to press reports, he has refused to meet with bishops from indigenous churches since 1997. the government maintains a monopoly


, two catholic nuns, and a catholic brother in zaka after they met with u. s. officials. the perpetrators said the fact that the religious figures had met with u. s. diplomats suggested they were opposition supporters. although local ruling party officials later apologized to the victims, the perpetrators were not charged with any crime. several prominent evangelical, roman catholic and protestant bishops, however, did collaborate in an attempt to bring the ruling and opposition parties back to the negotiating table to re - start dialog aimed at resolving the country ' s political crisis during the period covered by this report. another area of ecumenical collaboration has been translation of the bible into the majority language, shona. several priests and ministers have worked on this project since 1987. fambidzano, which means " walking together, " is a relatively new grouping of indigenous churches. a south african dutch reformed church theologian and social anthropologist, inus daneel, who has researched these churches in south africa and zimbabwe, founded the organization in the mid - 1970 ' s. fambidzano was created to give the leaders of these churches more theological and biblical education, according to daneel. there is little dialog between fambidzano and the catholic church ; however, the two organizations are discussing the need to work with the indigenous churches, to which many persons are turning because of their emphasis on physical healing and spiritual salvation. zinatha is an organization that represents traditional indigenous religions. the head of that organization is a university professor and vocal anglican who is working to increase interreligious dialog between zinatha and mainstream christian churches. in 2002 zinatha members formed the traditional medical practitioners council to certify and oversee traditional healers. there were continuing reports of tensions between mainstream christian churches and practitioners of traditional indigenous religions. a notable feature of some of the indigenous churches is the acceptance of polygamy among some of its members. sexual abuse, the spread of hiv / aids, and the avoidance of modern medicines also are growing problems within these churches. in addition leaders of the christian churches reportedly opposed the repeal or modification of the wsa sought by practitioners of traditional indigenous religions. there were no reports of ritual murders associated with traditional religious practices during the period covered by this report, and the government generally enforces the law against murder in the case of ritual murders. gordon chavanduka, chairman of zinatha, reportedly has stated that the black - market demand for human body parts used in making potions has increased greatly in recent years. during the period covered by


a geological tour of tumbledown mountain on any given fine - weather day in any of the four seasons, tumbledown mountain in township 6 north of weld ( figure 1 ), is visited by scores of people ; most in pursuit of the excellent views afforded by the bald peaks, and perhaps a few mistakenly seeking the solitude of a wilderness experience. while a few individuals may come specifically to look at the beautifully exposed bedrock here, over the course of an outing almost every visitor will develop some interest in the rocks if for no other reason than its near constant exposure along some of the popular summit trails. it is easy to guess the origin of the name " tumbledown " simply by viewing the south side of the mountain from any of the trails that lead to the summit. cliffs of several hundred feet bear the scars, old and new, of rock slides that have left piles of rubble ( talus ) at their bases ( figure 2 ). western maine is underlain by a regular sequence of layered metamorphic rocks which began their existence as layers of sand and mud on the edge of an ocean basin about 430 million years ago. as these sediments accumulated over millions of years, through a number of processes they gradually hardened into sandstone and shale. during the last great mountain building event that helped form the northern appalachians about 415 million years ago, these layers were folded, thrust upward, and heated. great masses of molten rock formed at depth and moved upward through the contorted layers of rock, cooling into solid rock some distance below the surface. hundreds of millions of years of erosion have now exposed the resulting granites and granodiorites at the surface of the earth. | let ' s look at some examples of these rocks. figure 3 is a photograph showing some of the thinner layers of schist and granofels that can be found near tumbledown pond. the lighter layers are quartz - feldspar granofels, and the darker layers are andalusite schist. note that while each light layer begins with a very sharp boundary on the right, there is only a gradual change to the corresponding dark layer on the left. this is a characteristic carried over from the sedimentary origins of the rock and is referred to as graded bedding. when the sediments that formed this rock were deposited, the actions of water flow were such that the coarser sand grains ( quartz and feldspar ) fell to the bottom first, followed by progressively smaller grains. deposited last during each sedimentary event were very small grains of clay, before the next slug of


the actions of water flow were such that the coarser sand grains ( quartz and feldspar ) fell to the bottom first, followed by progressively smaller grains. deposited last during each sedimentary event were very small grains of clay, before the next slug of sediment came down and the process began anew. geologists use graded beds to determine which direction was originally up in the layers. this is important in determining which are the younger rocks in a sequence. through the process of metamorphism, the quartz and feldspar grains changed little, but the clay grains changed into a variety of minerals including micas, staurolite, and andalusite, the coarsest grains in the rocks today. so, while the grain size of the sediment originally changed from coarse to fine as one moved from right to left in each bed, the grain size change of the metamorphic minerals is just the opposite. there is a good deal of variability in the thickness of layers at tumbledown. figure 4 shows some of the most striking layering exposed near the summit. in many places the layers are several feet thick and continuous for hundreds of feet. in several places on the mountain, large folds are exposed. one of the best examples is between tumbledown pond and the eastern summit of tumbledown mountain ( figure 5 ). these folds developed at the time the northern appalachians were forming, when the rocks today at the surface were at considerable depth and subject to higher temperatures and pressures which were not uniform in all directions. both sides ( limbs ) of the fold are inclined in the same direction in what geologists term an overturned some who have ventured to tumbledown have interpreted the shape of the mountain and the pond nestled among the peaks to be volcanic in origin. while this certainly is an exciting idea, it simply isn ' t true. as we ' ve already explained, the rocks were formed in a sedimentary basin and are not at all volcanic in nature. the landscape or topography is also not of volcanic origin but formed through the interaction of several processes. | the first important factor in defining the topography is the nature of the bedrock, here composed of metamorphic rocks and granite intrusions. from the top of tumbledown, a most striking feature of the landscape is the ring of mountains the completely encircle webb lake to the south ( figure 6 ). webb lake is underlain by granite while the ring of mountains is underlain by metamorphic rocks. in particular, these metamorphic rocks were subjected to even greater heat as the originally molten granite was intruded into


the south ( figure 6 ). webb lake is underlain by granite while the ring of mountains is underlain by metamorphic rocks. in particular, these metamorphic rocks were subjected to even greater heat as the originally molten granite was intruded into them. one consequence of this process is that the metamorphic rocks immediately surrounding the granite are slightly more resistant to erosion than any of the other rocks. granite, with its large crystals and abundant feldspar, is actually fairly susceptible to erosion. the result of all this is the ring of mountains underlain by metamorphic rocks, and the basin of webb lake, underlain by easily eroded granite. at the mount blue state park visitor ' s center there is a plaster model of the landscape which illustrates this ring of mountains well. | the greatest agent of erosion is the glaciers which swept over the landscape just a few tens of thousands of years ago and represent the second most important factor in defining the topography. as the glaciers progressed across the landscape in a southeasterly direction, they scraped soils and weathered rock off the less erodable rock units and deeply gouged the earth in the more erodable rock units. due to the complex processes of glacial flow, in many places the glaciers polished the northern slopes of mountains into rounded shapes, while they plucked broken rock without any polishing on the southern slopes of mountains. this is readily apparent in the landscape at tumbledown. on the summit the rocks are well polished, and there are numerous knobs with smoothly rounded surfaces facing north and steep, unrounded surfaces facing south ( see figure 4 ). tumbledown pond itself ( figure 7 ) was produced by this gouging and plucking action. in many places on the summit, scratches formed by rocks imbedded in the base of the glacier as it advanced across the landscape, point to the northwest from whence the | many trails ( figure 8 ) provide free public access to the summit and tumbledown pond through the auspices and stewardship of the hancock timber resources group, inc. originally published on the web as the april 1998 site of the month. last updated on april 19, 2012


quantum teleportation leaps to new distance record a new record of roughly 60 miles has been set in the field of qubit transmission. " this is just a transmission method, so it could have wide utility, though i expect the cost will initially make it best for huge data streams, " said analyst rob enderle. " something like this could turn us into a saas world. " scientists in china have transmitted quantum bits, or qubits, over a record distance of 97 km, or roughly 60 miles. this is more than six times the distance of the previous record of 16 km, set by another team of chinese researchers in may of 2010, as reported in nature. com. the results represent a step toward the establishment of a global quantum network, and the methods used in the experiment could be utilized for satellite - based quantum communications, the scientists said. " this is just a transmission method, so it could have wide utility, though i expect the cost will initially make it best for huge data streams, " rob enderle, principal analyst at the enderle group, told technewsworld. this technology " could end up changing much of the world " because it ' s both potentially higher bandwidth and lower latency, approaching zero, and these factors " could drive massive computer centralization on a world scale and force a massive shakeout of security, networking and computer companies, " enderle continued. " something like this could turn us into a saas ( software as a service ) world. " the theory behind the experiment the latest experiment demonstrated quantum teleportation of an independent unknown state between two optical free - space links 97 km apart with multi - photon entanglement. quantum teleportation is a process for transmitting information using quantum physics to, in effect, encrypt the data transmitted. it ' s also known as entanglement - assisted teleportation. in quantum teleportation experiments, beams of lights are used to encode qubits. the encoded beam of light, which is described as quantum entangled, is split into two and transmitted. when a qubit at one receiver is observed and take a defined form, the other half of the qubit at the other receiver takes the same defined form. quantum entanglement results when particles such as photons or electrons interact physically and then become separated but remain in the same quantum state. a quantum state is a set of mathematical variables, including position, momentum and spin, that fully describes a quantum system


even with these advances, the fuel cell wouldn ’ t come on instantly, and turning it on and off with every short trip in the car would cause a lot of wear and tear, reducing its lifetime. instead, it would be paired with a battery pack, as a combustion engine is in the volt, wachsman says. the fuel cell could then run more steadily, serving to keep the battery topped without providing bursts of acceleration. the researchers achieved their result largely by modifying the solid electrolyte material at the core of a solid - oxide fuel cell. in fuel cells on the market, such as one made by bloom energy, the electrolyte has to be made thick enough to provide structural support. but the thickness of the electrolyte limits power generation. over the last several years, researchers have been developing designs that don ’ t require the electrolyte to support the cell so they can make the electrolyte thinner and achieve high power output at lower temperatures. the university of maryland researchers took this a step further by developing new multilayered electrolytes that increase the power output still more. the work is part of a larger u. s. department of energy effort, over the past decade, to make solid - oxide fuel cells practical. the first fruits of that effort likely won ’ t be fuel cells in cars — so far, wachsman has only made relatively small fuel cells, and significant engineering work remains to be done. the first applications of solid oxide fuels in vehicles may be on long - haul trucks with sleeper cabs. equipment suppliers such as delphi and cummins are developing fuel cells that can power the air conditioners, tvs, and microwaves inside the cabs, potentially cutting fuel consumption by 85 percent compared to idling the truck ’ s engine. the delphi system also uses a design that allows for a thinner electrolyte, but it operates at higher temperatures than wachsman ’ s fuel cell. the fuel cell could be turned on monday, and left to run at low rates all week and still get the 85 percent reduction. delphi has built a prototype and plans to demonstrate its system on a truck next year.


- onset diabetes. " we know that type 2 diabetes is a progressive illness where insulin secretion is high and then goes down over time, but why does it do that? this ties some connection between chloride channels and granular function to the ability of insulin to come out of the cell, " philipson said. " this could be an important pathway in type 2 diabetes, so it ' s not just the rare patient that ' s affected, it ' s 25 million people in the united states. " the study, " the granular chloride channel clc - 3 is permissive for insulin secretion, " was published in the journal cell metabolism on october 7. alongside deriy, philipson, and nelson, erwin gomez, david jacobson, xueqing wang, jessika hopson, xiang liu, guangping zhang, and vytautas bindokas are listed as authors. all authors come from the university of chicago. funding for the research was provided by the national institutes of health and by the university of chicago diabetes research and training center. the university of chicago medicine 950 e. 61st street, third floor chicago, il 60637 phone ( 773 ) 702 - 0025 fax ( 773 ) 702 - 3171


ph. d., director of clinical research for nmmf. “ shared large brains that have high blood glucose demands may explain why two completely different species - humans and dolphins - have developed similar physiological mechanisms to handle sugar. ” additional evidence collected from this study shows that humans and dolphins may share similar chronic disease outcomes associated with diabetes such as insulin resistance, hemochromatosis ( iron overload ) and kidney stones. model for epilepsy discovered from marine exposure to toxic algae noaa researchers found that for the first time exposing laboratory animals to a toxin produced by blooms of microscopic ocean algae can induce seizures and eventually lead to epilepsy in almost all of the animals tested. establishing this novel linkage of oceans and health offers a new perspective to researchers and clinicians studying human epilepsy. working with the marine mammal center in sausalito, calif., and other partners, scientists initially suspected a marine environmental cause of epilepsy by studying marine mammals and other wildlife with seizures that washed up on california beaches over the past decade. the seizures were found to be caused by exposure to domoic acid, a neurotoxin produced by the pseudo - nitzschia australis alga. after realizing thatsome sea lions were stranded with seizures when there were no harmful algal blooms, researchers started to believe that domoic acid poisoning may have progressed to chronic epileptic disease. chief of harmful algal blooms & analytical response at noaa ' s national centers for coastal ocean science, john ramsdell, ph. d., conducted laboratory experiments to validate the field observations seen in sea lions. his research team exposed laboratory rats to domoic acid at levels similar to what a sea lion or dolphin might ingest in the wild by eating contaminated fish. “ within six months of the initial exposure, 92 percent of laboratory rats tested developed epileptic disease that worsened over their lifetime, ” said ramsdell. “ the domoic acid itself is not directly causing the epilepsy, but triggers a brief period of seizures that leads to changes in the brain, resulting in spontaneous and reoccurring seizures, the hallmark of epilepsy. ” the type of epilepsy in the rat model resembles human temporal lobe epilepsy, as confirmed by at least one human case traced back to eating mussels contaminated with the domoic acid toxin. this research could provide important insight into how dolphins and other species, including humans, respond to domoic acid poisoning. stranded dolphins with high domoic acid levels do not


safer from this natural hazard. ” the qcn, a collaborative research project between cochran and jesse lawrence of stanford university, uses computers that are installed with software and special sensors to record moderate - to - large earthquakes and aftershocks. citizen volunteers have the sensors installed externally to their desktop computers or internally to their laptop computers. these computers become seismic stations by providing the physical infrastructure, computer, internet connection, power, and the location and measurement of seismic activity. the computers are then networked using distributed computing techniques that allow scientists to monitor the sensors and retrieve earthquake data automatically. “ the quake - catcher network is a way to involve the public in scientific data collection in high - risk earthquake and aftershock zones in the united states and around the world and to collect seismic data in non - traditional ways, ” said cochran. | dr. elizabeth cochran. | by using this sensor - driven process, a great number of seismic data can be processed in a short period of time and produce nearly instantaneous detection and characterization of earthquakes. the first release of the software was in reno, nev., in april 2008. a few people from the area signed up to get the software, just in time to record a swarm of earthquakes that hit in june of that year. “ when the swarm of earthquakes struck reno, the information from these citizen volunteers enabled us to test our system, and from that, we learned that the sensors and data communication were working correctly, ” said cochran. “ for this set of earthquakes, we had some of the closest seismic stations to the swarm. we had records of those earthquakes that looked like typical seismograms. i was really excited that it worked. it was really fun. ” since then, volunteers have popped up in just about every state in the united states and across the world. after the magnitude 8. 8 earthquake struck chile in early 2010, cochran and her team enlisted 100 volunteers in chile to hook up the sensors to their computers. when the aftershocks kept occurring, the instrumentation provided invaluable information to scientists and proved the value of the qcn. “ in the case of chile, we could get estimates of magnitude and locations in about 20 to 30 seconds after earthquake started, ” said cochran. “ we found we can actually do well recording earthquakes this way, and eventually we hope this is a way to augment existing seismic networks to provide more precise early earthquake warning. ” the data cochran and her team gathered from chile was especially valuable in analyzing small scale ground shaking — how it is different


earthquakes this way, and eventually we hope this is a way to augment existing seismic networks to provide more precise early earthquake warning. ” the data cochran and her team gathered from chile was especially valuable in analyzing small scale ground shaking — how it is different in one location versus a half a mile away. “ there is a lot of variation in ground shaking, even in small scales, ” said cochran. “ we were able to generate our own quake - catcher network shakemaps, or what seismologists call microzonation, where you can examine specific areas for earthquake hazards. this information can provide critical data to feed back into building codes and to help determine where critical infrastructure such as power plants, hospitals, water lines and transportation facilities should be built. ” when the magnitude 7. 0 earthquake struck new zealand in september 2010, cochran and her team deployed 180 sensors in the area. a paper on the results of the data is expected out this fall. “ we are in the middle of demonstrating that the data from these sensor stations in new zealand show the same amplitude and waveform characteristics as do other strong motion sensors in the area and is sufficient enough quality to produce reliable results, ” said cochran. in early september 2011, cochran and her team set out on an ambitious goal : to install 500 sensor stations in the san francisco bay area, a high - risk earthquake location. volunteers need to have a high speed internet connection ; a computer, about 5 years old or less that runs on a windows or macintosh operating system with a spare usb port to which the sensor can be connected ; and, a small space about the size of a post - it note for mounting the sensor. information for those interested in volunteering or learning more about the qcn is available online. “ i came up with the idea for the quake - catcher network by playing around on a mac laptop, and my husband pointed out that you could download a widget that would allow you to see the real - time output from the sensor, ” said cochran. “ i downloaded the widget and was seeing output from tapping i was doing on the computer, and it dawned on me that if it picked up this movement, it would probably pick up earthquake movements. i also knew about distributed computing that allows people to donate their unused cpu processing time to scientific projects and thought that combining the low cost sensors with distributed computing would be a perfect way to gather data from moderate to large earthquakes at very little cost. i discussed it with my colleague jesse lawrence who said, ‘ that ’ s the coolest idea


scientific projects and thought that combining the low cost sensors with distributed computing would be a perfect way to gather data from moderate to large earthquakes at very little cost. i discussed it with my colleague jesse lawrence who said, ‘ that ’ s the coolest idea i ever heard, ’ and then we pursued and received a grant from the national science foundation to start it up. ” cochran ’ s research is fundamental to the mission of the usgs to continue to innovate the recording of weak and strong ground motions necessary to accurately locate earthquakes, to study their rupture process, and to map the variations in the strong ground motions caused by the local soil conditions and the details of the earthquake rupture process. “ i am really excited that the quake - catcher network is moving forward and has continued to be successful, ” said cochran. since its inception in 2008, the qcn has gained academic partners from the university of california - berkeley, california institute of technology, university of california - san diego and the university of delaware. after receiving her phd in geophysics and space physics from ucla in 2005, cochran served as a postdoctoral fellow at the scripps institution of oceanography until the end of 2006, when she joined uc riverside in 2007 as an assistant professor in earth sciences, supervising both graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. she joined the usgs in june 2011. her accomplishments have been recognized by her receiving the nsf faculty early career development ( career ) award in 2010 and the geological society of america subaru outstanding woman in science in 2006 for the scientific impact of her work on the geosciences. she is the author or co - author of 21 peer - reviewed journal publications, 9 as a first author, and has a scopus h - index of 7. her first - author papers have been published in prestigious journals science, journal of geophysical research, geophysical research letters, bulletin of the seismological society of america, seismological research letters, and geology. she has also played prominent roles in professional organizations, including as the co - chair of the seismology discipline for the southern california earthquake center since 2009 and as a member of the iris data management system standing committee from 2008 to 2010. the presidential early career awards for scientists and engineers was established by president clinton in 1996 and are coordinated by the office of science and technology policy within the executive office of the president. awardees are selected for their pursuit of innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology and their commitment to community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education,


dangling modifiers are words or phrases which “ dangle ” because they have no word in the sentence to describe : while taking a shower, the doorbell rang. - - the doorbell was taking a shower? revise dangling modifiers by adding a headword — a noun or pronoun that is described : while i was taking a shower, the doorbell rang. or while taking a shower, i heard the doorbell ring. a misplaced modifier is placed too close to some other word that it does not intend to modify : i only speak one language. - - all you ever do is speak one language? revise misplaced modifiers by placing the modifier next to its headword : i speak only one language. split infinitives are misplaced modifiers which are placed between the preposition to and the verb in an infinitive - - a grammatical unit consisting of the word to plus a verb ( to eat, to sleep, etc. ) : dentists encourage children to regularly brush their teeth. - - the modifier regularly is splitting the infinitive to brush. revise split infinitives by moving the modifier to another part of the sentence : dentists encourage children to brush their teeth regularly. squinting modifiers are misplaced modifiers that seem to modify two words : patty who was walking quickly reached the disco. - - is patty walking quickly, or is she quickly reaching the disco? revise squinting modifiers by changing the word order so there is no ambiguity : patty, who was quickly walking, reached the disco. or patty who was walking...


same methodology, designed to answer the some of the niggling questions and help the government provide clearer guidance than it ' s been able to so far. - - eliza barclay the researchers bought more than 450 plastic items from stores including walmart and whole foods. they chose products designed to come in contact with food — things like baby bottles, deli packaging and flexible bags, says george bittner, one of the study ' s authors and a professor of biology at the university of texas, austin. then certichem, a testing company founded by bittner, chopped up pieces of each product and soaked them in either saltwater or alcohol to see what came out. the testing showed that more than 70 percent of the products released chemicals that acted like estrogen. and that was before they exposed the stuff to real - world conditions : simulated sunlight, dishwashing and microwaving, bittner says. " then, you greatly increase the probability that you ' re going to get chemicals having estrogenic activity released, " he says, adding that more than 95 percent of the products tested positive after undergoing this sort of stress. but what about all those products marketed as bpa - free? that ' s a claim being made for everything from dog bowls to bento boxes these days. the team concentrated on bpa - free baby bottles and water bottles, bittner says, " and all of them released chemicals having estrogenic activity. " sometimes the bpa - free products had even more activity than products known to contain bpa. the testing didn ' t show which chemicals are to blame, which is likely to be frustrating to manufacturers. but bittner says consumers should be encouraged that at least some plastic products had no estrogen - like activity. he says that shows it is possible to make these products. early reaction to the study was mixed. some scientists wondered about the test ' s reliability. others noted that wine and many vegetables also can act like estrogen. and a few observed that bittner has a financial interest in the testing lab and in a company involved in making plastic products that don ' t release estrogenic chemicals. on the other hand, groups that have warned about the potential dangers of bpa in the past seemed to welcome the new research. " this is really helpful because they took a look at very common products, " says sonya lunder, a senior analyst at the environmental working group. but the results suggest that concerns about plastics can ' t be solved by worried consumers at the checkout counter, lunder


fr. ayodele ayeni cssp april 2, 2012 at the dawn of creation, " the spirit of god was moving over the surface of the waters ( genesis 1. 2 ). " the waters at creation not only manifest the symbolism of water in christian theology, but also its creational importance. water sustains life and its absence spells doom or death. the story of noah and the ark gives a christian account of the havoc excessive water may cause, even if there will be a rebuilding or newness that follows. however, wherever water cohabits with the spirit of god, as we see in genesis 1. 2, creational order unfolds from chaos. the spirit of god hovering over water gives life and saving effects to water - " wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live " ( ezekiel 47. 9 ). water and spirit have come a long way. in recognition of the association of water with the spirit, we now say, in the second eucharistic prayer : " make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down your spirit upon them like the dewfall. " here again, the spirit is associated with water, in the form of a dewfall, with the mission of creating something new - the transubstantiation ( changing ) of bread and wine into the body and blood of christ. st. paul already anticipated this link between water and spirit when he said : " for in the one spirit we were all baptized into one body - jews or greeks, slaves or free - and we were all made to drink of one spirit ( 1 corinthians 12. 13 ). " what a theological evolution! st. paul anticipated the theological link between water and spirit. the instructions of god at creation ( genesis 1. 1 - 2. 4 ) brought creation into being, and every creature was given its limits, including water : " i ( god ) placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass ; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail, though they roar, they cannot pass over it " ( jeremiah 5. 22 ). the human person pushed his boundary by " sin of origin, " only to discover his frailty. when humans needed regeneration or salvation from their sins, water was readily available : " you ( god ) set the beams of your chambers on the waters, you make the clouds your chariot, you ride on the wings of the wind.... when you send forth


search : nuclear chemistry, darmstadtium, germany in honour of scientist and astronomer nicolaus copernicus ( 1473 - 1543 ), the discovering team around professor sigurd hofmann suggested the name copernicium with the element symbol cp for the new element 112, discovered at the gsi helmholtzzentrum fur schwerionenforschung ( center for heavy ion research ) in darmstadt. it was copernicus who discovered that the earth orbits the sun, thus paving the way for our modern view of the world. thirteen years ago, element 112 was discovered by an international team of scientists at the gsi accelerator facility. a few weeks ago, the international union of pure and applied chemistry, iupac, officially confirmed their discovery. in around six months, iupac will officially endorse the new element ' s name. this period is set to allow the scientific community to discuss the suggested name copernicium before the iupac naming. " after iupac officially recognized our discovery, we – that is all scientists involved in the discovery – agreed on proposing the name copernicium for the new element 112. we would like to honor an outstanding scientist, who changed our view of the world ", says sigurd hofmann, head of the discovering team. copernicus was born 1473 in torun ; he died 1543 in frombork, poland. working in the field of astronomy, he realized that the planets circle the sun. his discovery refuted the then accepted belief that the earth was the center of the universe. his finding was pivotal for the discovery of the gravitational force, which is responsible for the motion of the planets. it also led to the conclusion that the stars are incredibly far away and the universe inconceivably large, as the size and position of the stars does not change even though the earth is moving. furthermore, the new world view inspired by copernicus had an impact on the human self - concept in theology and philosophy : humankind could no longer be seen as the center of the world. with its planets revolving around the sun on different orbits, the solar system is also a model for other physical systems. the structure of an atom is like a microcosm : its electrons orbit the atomic nucleus like the planets orbit the sun. exactly 112 electrons circle the atomic nucleus in an atom of the new element " copernicium ". element 112 is the heaviest element in the periodic table, 277 times heavier than hydrogen


its electrons orbit the atomic nucleus like the planets orbit the sun. exactly 112 electrons circle the atomic nucleus in an atom of the new element " copernicium ". element 112 is the heaviest element in the periodic table, 277 times heavier than hydrogen. it is produced by a nuclear fusion, when bombarding zinc ions onto a lead target. as the element already decays after a split second, its existence can only be proved with the help of extremely fast and sensitive analysis methods. twenty - one scientists from germany, finland, russia and slovakia have been involved in the experiments that led to the discovery of element 112. since 1981, gsi accelerator experiments have yielded the discovery of six chemical elements, which carry the atomic numbers 107 to 112. the discovering teams at gsi already named five of them : element 107 is called bohrium, element 108 hassium, element 109 meitnerium, element 110 darmstadtium, and element 111 is named roentgenium. the new element 112 discovered by gsi has been officially recognized and will be named by the darmstadt group in due course. their suggestion should be made public over this summer. the element 112, discovered at the gsi helmholtzzentrum fur schwerionenforschung ( centre for heavy ion research ) in darmstadt, has been officially recognized as a new element by the international union of pure and applied chemistry ( iupac ). iupac confirmed the recognition of element 112 in an official letter to the head of the discovering team, professor sigurd hofmann. the letter furthermore asks the discoverers to propose a name for the new element. their suggestion will be submitted within the next weeks. in about 6 months, after the proposed name has been thoroughly assessed by iupac, the element will receive its official name. the new element is approximately 277 times heavier than hydrogen, making it the heaviest element in the periodic table. “ we are delighted that now the sixth element – and thus all of the elements discovered at gsi during the past 30 years – has been officially recognized. during the next few weeks, the scientists of the discovering team will deliberate on a name for the new element ”, says sigurd hofmann. 21 scientists from germany, finland, russia and slovakia were involved in the experiments around the discovery of the new element 112. since 1981, gsi accelerator experiments have yielded the discovery of six chemical elements, which carry the atomic numbers 107 to 112. gsi has already named their officially recognized elements 107 to 111 :


atommate is a chemistry card game that consists of a deck of 49 playing cards with the names, symbols and facts about the elements of the periodic table. it is used to play games that involve making chemical compounds. designed for students aged 10 and up, it is a grow - with - me game. beginning students learn the names and symbols of the elements. intermediate students learn to combine the elements to form molecules and compounds. more advanced students can use the cards to enhance their understanding of simple reactions. instructions for eight easy games, which range in difficulty from easy to complex, are included. there are several games that may be played with these cards. all games are designed for 2 to 4 players. the deck contains a sub - set of the elements in the periodic table, with repetitions of some elements. some of the elements have the word toxic on them - this gives the card special powers in some of the games. there are 8 non - element cards : 4 reduce and 4 oxidize. these allow the player to make additional moves in some of the games. the following information on the cards may be used to play the games : atommate is a game developed by dr. carol brevett who has taught chemistry at iowa state university and has been working in industry, including at the dupont company of delaware, as a research scientist for over 13 years. she has developed and tested the atommate games over many years. a must for the chemistry enthusiast, the science scholar, the science - oriented pupil or anyone who wants to play an unusual and novel card game. with each order we ' ll send you a free silky periodic table bookmark and a free glossy laminated postcard sized periodic table for your noticeboard! delivery and shipping | terms and conditions | about us |


probable reservoir. secondary human - to - human spread by aerosol or direct contact accounts for about 28 % of cases... " ( my emphasis ) so, let us make a simple addition. this virus is an orthopox virus, which means, literally translated, a real pox virus. this virus spreads among humans causing an exanthem resembling smallpox, and causing disease and death among the infected ( between february and august 1996, 71 cases were notified in the katako - kombe area in zaire, 6 of which 4 died from the disease ( 5 ). so what is the difference between smallpox and human monkeypox? the difference is a difference in protein structure. nucleotide sequence analysis revealed different structures. but what does this really matter it both viruses affect us in the same way, spread in the same way, and cause the same eruptions and the same clinical disease? scientists do, the victims dont! it is quite odd that the authors do not mention the smallpox vaccination status of the infected. all they mention is that in a preliminary study none of the examined had a scar of smallpox vaccination. which does not mean that they had not been vaccinated as the vaccine may not have taken. no figures are available about antibodies against smallpox, so that we have no real clue whether, in this study, the vaccine showed any protection against monkeypox or not. many of the patients described elsewhere were vaccinated. arita and henderson ( 6 ) found 94 children with facial scarring caused by monkeypox ; all except two who also showed scars typical for smallpox vaccination. so the least one can do is to question the protection offered by smallpox vaccination against the new monkey - pox virus. apparently the new virus is quite infectious, since 42 cases, including 3 deaths, were reported in a small village with only 346 inhabitants. the article further states that " present cluster of cases constitutes a reemergence of human monkeypox on a scale greater in magnitude than the approximate 65 annual cases previously indicated for kasai oriental, bandundu, and equateur regions from 1981 to 1986 " and also that " it contains a more extensive occurrence of person - to - person transmission than previously recognised. " the conclusion of the authors is that " because sequence analyses have indicated that zairian monkeypox strains have not diverged greatly from the first isolate from the area in 1970 and monkeypox and smallpox variola viruses are independently evolved species (


the conclusion of the authors is that " because sequence analyses have indicated that zairian monkeypox strains have not diverged greatly from the first isolate from the area in 1970 and monkeypox and smallpox variola viruses are independently evolved species ( 7 ), notions of monkeypox virus mutating into variola virus are unfounded. " this does not sound very reassuring. former suggestions that " prolonged episodes or sustained cascades of transmission of human monkeypox would be unlikely " ( 8 ) do not hold up. although the smallpox virus appears to have died down a few decades ago, obviously the disease is still present on this earth and able to make a come - back. whether this is due to the mutation of the original virus or to a new virus that generates the same disease is a question that remains unanswered. another pillar of the vaccine dogma, its victory over smallpox, has fallen into pieces. 1. personal communication with a staff member. 2. mukinda, v. b. k. ; et al reemergence of human monkeypox in zaire in 1996. lancet, 1997 ; 349 : 1449 - 50 3. von magnus, p. ; et al a pox - like disease in cynomolgus monkeys. acta pathologica et microbiologica scandinavica, 1959 ; 46 / 2 : 156 - 76 4. gipsen, r. ; et al monkeypoxspecific antibodies in human and simian sera from the ivory coast and nigeria. bull, who, 1976 ; 53 ; 355 - 60 5. who. monkeypox, zaire. widy epidemiol aec, 1996 ; 71 : 326 6. arita, i. ; henderson, d. a. ; monkey - pox and whitepox viruses in west and central africa. bull who, 1976 ; 53 : 347 - 53 7. douglass, n. ; dumbell, k. r. ; independent evolution of monkeypox and variola viruses. j virol, 1992 ; 66 : 7565 - 7 8. jezek, z. ; fenner, f. ; human monkeypox. monographs in virology vol 17, j. l. melnick, ed. basel, switzerland : karger, 1988 [ vaccination ] [ gaublomme ] [ smallpox ]