Syria's neighbors cautious about U.S.-led intervention

By Nick Tattersall

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Syria's neighbors, wary of stirring a conflict that could spill back over their borders, would be reluctant partners in a U.S.-led intervention but are ultimately likely to support limited military action if widespread use of chemical weapons is proven.

The White House disclosed U.S. intelligence on Thursday that Syria had likely used chemical weapons, a move President Barack Obama had said could trigger unspecified consequences, widely interpreted to include possible U.S. military action.

Syrian neighbors Jordan and Turkey, their support key in any such intervention, have long been vocal critics of Bashar al-Assad. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, an erstwhile ally of the Syrian President, was among the first to call openly for his overthrow while allowing armed opponents to use Turkish soil.

But their rhetoric has been tempered by the changing circumstances of a war that has dragged on beyond their expectations and grown increasingly sectarian, as well as by the suspicion they will be left bearing the consequences of any action orchestrated by Western powers thousands of miles away.

For Turkey's leaders, facing elections next year, talk of chemical weapons is an uncomfortable reminder of the wave of anti-U.S. sentiment which followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, justified by intelligence on nuclear, chemical and biological weapons that turned out to be erroneous.

Turkey, which shares a 900-km border with Syria, has reacted cautiously to the U.S. disclosure while Jordan, fearful of the growing influence of radical Islamists in the Syrian rebel ranks, has voiced its preference for a political solution.

"The international community, and especially the peoples of the Middle East, have lost confidence in any report which argues that there are weapons of mass destruction or chemical weapons," said one source close to the Turkish government.

"Right now, no-one wants to believe them. And if Assad uses chemical weapons some day ... I still think Turkey's primary reaction would be asking for more support to the opposition rather than an intervention."

Turkey's rhetoric on Syria, at least in public, has toned down markedly over the past six months, even as shelling and gunfire spilled over the border and the influx of refugees to camps on its territory swelled to a quarter of a million.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's push for a foreign-protected "safe zone" inside Syria gained little traction among allies and appears to have quietly slipped from the agenda. Even Erdogan, whose speeches were regularly laced with bellicose anti-Assad rhetoric, mentions the conflict less frequently.

But many analysts believe both the pro-U.S. monarchy in Jordan and Erdogan's government in Ankara would toe the line should Washington seek their cooperation in military action.

Turkey's relations with Washington have at times been prickly - notably in 2003 when it failed to allow the deployment of U.S. forces to Turkey to open a northern front in the Iraq war - but strategic cooperation has generally remained strong.

Turkish support and bases proved vital, for example, to U.S. forces in Afghanistan, while Turkey hosts a U.S.-operated NATO radar system to protect against any regional threat from Iran.

"Given the texture of the current government's relations with the U.S. and given the history of its discourse on Syria, I think it would be not impossible but rather difficult for Mr Erdogan not to oblige U.S. demands," said Faruk Logoglu, former Turkish ambassador to Washington and vice chairman of the main opposition Republican People's Party.

RELUCTANT PARTNERS

Although Obama has warned Syria that using chemical weapons against its own people would cross a "red line", he has also made clear he is in no rush to intervene on the basis of evidence he said was still preliminary.

Syria denies using chemical weapons in the two-year-old conflict in which more than 70,000 people have been killed.

Mindful of the lessons of the start of the Iraq war, aides have insisted Obama will need all the facts before deciding what steps to take. But acknowledgment of the intelligence assessment appears to have moved the United States closer - at least rhetorically - to some sort of action, military or otherwise.

Turkey and Jordan would be key to any such move, but they may prove reluctant.

From the outset, Turkey has felt slighted.

Before the crisis, Erdogan cultivated a friendship with Assad, personal ties which he tried to use after the start of the uprising in March 2011 to persuade the Syrian leader to embrace reform and open dialogue. He was rebuffed.

When his strategy changed, he began calling for Assad's removal and allowing the Syrian opposition to organize on Turkish soil. Ankara felt it gained praise from Washington and its allies but little in the way of concrete support.

"Turkey feels lonely in many senses," the Turkish source said, saying that a military intervention now would leave Turkey and Syria's other neighbors reeling from the consequences.

"There is always the risk of creating more destruction and creating a failed state in Syria ... This thing is happening next door. The flames are reaching us, starting to burn us, where they can't reach the United States, Qatar, or the UK."

Jordan's King Abdullah said last year Assad should step down, but the kingdom is increasingly concerned by the growing strength in Syrian rebel ranks of Islamist fighters who view the monarchy with just as much hostility as they do Assad.

Further fuelling those fears is the presence of fighters from the Nusra Front, which has declared its allegiance to al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri, among rebels who have taken territory across Syria's southern province of Deraa, only 120 km (75 miles) from the Jordanian capital Amman.

Officials fear Syria has become a magnet for Islamist fighters who could one day turn their guns on Jordan - as Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi did during the sectarian conflict in neighboring Iraq. Zarqawi was widely believed to have been behind simultaneous attacks on Jordanian tourist hotels which killed dozens of people in November 2005.

SENSE OF URGENCY

Such fears could push the U.S. and its allies to act.

"The fact that the opposition is divided cuts both ways. It makes the logistics and even the politics of an intervention more difficult," said Sinan Ulgen of the Istanbul-based Center for Economic and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM).

"But at the same time it reinforces the urgency of an intervention: the more the international community does not intervene in Syria, the more likely it is that the radical elements will gain the upper hand in a post-Assad Syria."

Turkish officials and diplomats have expressed concern about the role Saudi Arabia may be playing in providing weapons which are going to the hands of radical Islamist elements among the Syrian rebel ranks.

U.S. intelligence agencies believes Assad's forces may have used the nerve agent sarin on a small scale against rebel fighters. The fear is that an increasingly desperate Assad may use such weapons more widely the longer the conflict drags on.

An attack like that on the Iraqi Kurdish city of Halabja - where an estimated 5,000 people died in a poison gas attack ordered by former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein 25 years ago, the most notorious use of chemical weapons in the Middle East in recent history - could sway public opinion in the region.

"A major chemical attack would outrage the Arab and Muslim street ... It would be difficult just to watch, then everyone would intervene," said retired Jordanian air force general Mamoun Abu Nowar.

The role Turkey or Jordan would play in any military action will depend on Washington's strategy, but logistical support for limited missile strikes or possible assistance in enforcing the sort of no-fly zone long advocated by Turkey appear more likely than sending in ground troops.

Turkey is home to NATO's second-largest army and to the Incirlik Air base, which provided logistical support for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is already hosting hundreds of U.S. soldiers operating part of a NATO Patriot missile system to defend against possible Syrian attack.

Washington meanwhile announced last week it was sending an army headquarters unit - which could theoretically command combat troops - to Jordan, bolstering efforts started last year to plan for contingencies there as Syria's conflict deepens.

"A surgical strike to get the stocks of chemical weapons ... or establishing air superiority through a number of strikes against Syrian air defenses, this is the type of scenario being contemplated in Turkey," said EDAM's Ulgen.

"Anything beyond that is much more difficult to see."

(Additional reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi and Khaled Oweis in Amman; Writing by Nick Tattersall)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrias-neighbors-cautious-u-led-intervention-120014537.html

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Daily Chronicle | Are lesbians more accepted than gay men?

CHICAGO ? It may be a man?s world, as the saying goes, but lesbians seem to have an easier time living in it than gay men do.

High-profile lesbian athletes have come out while still playing their sports, but not a single gay male athlete in major U.S. professional sports has done the same. While television?s most prominent same-sex parents are the two fictional dads on ?Modern Family,? surveys show that society is actually more comfortable with the idea of lesbians parenting children.

And then there is the ongoing debate over the Boy Scouts of America proposal to ease their ban on gay leaders and scouts.

Reaction to the proposal, which the BSA?s National Council will take up next month, has been swift and often harsh. Yet amid the discussions, the Girl Scouts of USA reiterated their policy prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, among other things. That announcement has gone largely unnoticed.

Certainly, the difference in the public?s reaction to the scouting organizations can be attributed, in part, to their varied histories, including the Boy Scouts? longstanding religious ties and a base that has become less urban over the years, compared with the Girl Scouts?.

But there?s also an undercurrent here, one that?s often present in debates related to homosexuality, whether over the military?s now-defunct ?Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell? policy or even same-sex marriage. Even as society has become more accepting of homosexuality overall, longstanding research has shown more societal tolerance for lesbians than gay men, and that gay men are significantly more likely to be targets of violence.

That research also has found that it?s often straight men who have the most difficult time with homosexuality ? and particularly gay men ? says researcher Gregory Herek.

?Men are raised to think they have to prove their masculinity, and one big part about being masculine is being heterosexual. So we see that harassment, jokes, negative statements and violence are often ways that even younger men try to prove their heterosexuality,? says Herek, a psychologist at the University of California, Davis, who has, for years, studied this phenomenon and how it plays out in the gay community.

That is not, of course, to downplay the harassment lesbians face. It can be just as ugly.

But it?s not as frequent, Herek and others have found, especially in adulthood. It?s also not uncommon for lesbians to encounter straight men who have a fascination with them.

?The men hit on me. The women hit on me. But I never feel like I?m in any immediate danger,? says Sarah Toce, the 29-year-old editor of The Seattle Lesbian and managing editor of The Contributor, both online news magazines. ?If I were a gay man, I might ? and if it?s like this in Seattle, can you imagine what it is like in less-accepting parts of middle America??

One of Herek?s studies found that, overall, 38 percent of gay men said that, in adulthood, they?d been victims of vandalism, theft or violence ? hit, beaten or sexually assaulted ? because they were perceived as gay. About 13 percent of lesbians said the same.

A separate study of young people in England also found that, in their teens, gay boys and lesbians were almost twice as likely to be bullied as their straight peers. By young adulthood, it was about the same for lesbians and straight girls. But in this study, published recently in the journal Pediatrics, gay young men were almost four times more likely than their straight peers to be bullied.

At least one historian says it wasn?t always that way for either men or women, whose ?expressions of love? with friends of the same gender were seen as a norm ? even idealized ? in the 19th century.

?These relationships offered ample opportunity for those who would have wanted to act on it physically, even if most did not,? says Thomas Foster, associate professor and head of the history department at DePaul University in Chicago.

Today?s ?code of male gendered behavior,? he says, often rejects these kinds of expressions between men.

We joke about the ?bro-mance? ? a term used to describe close friendships between straight men. But in some sense, the humor stems from the insinuation that those relationships could be romantic, though everyone assumes they aren?t.

Call those friends ?gay,? a word that?s still commonly used as an insult, and that?s quite another thing. Consider the furor over Rutgers University men?s basketball coach Mike Rice, who was recently fired for mistreating his players and mocking them with gay slurs.

If two women dance together at a club or walk arm-in-arm down the street, people are usually less likely to question it ? though some wonder if that has more to do with a lack of awareness than acceptance.

?Lesbians are so invisible in our society. And so I think the hatred is more invisible,? says Laura Grimes, a licensed clinical social worker in Chicago whose counseling practice caters to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender clients.

Grimes says she also frequently hears from lesbians who are harassed for ?looking like dykes,? meaning that people are less accepting if they look more masculine.

Still, Ian O?Brien, a gay man in Washington, D.C., sees more room for women ?to transcend what femininity looks like, or at least negotiate that space a little bit more.?

O?Brien, who?s 23, recently wrote an opinion piece tied to the Boy Scout debate and his own experience in the Scouts when he was growing up in the San Diego area.

?To put it simply: Being a boy is supposed to look one way, and you get punished when it doesn?t,? O?Brien wrote in the piece, which appeared in The Advocate, a national magazine for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.

Joey Carrillo, a gay student at Elmhurst College in suburban Chicago, remembers trying to be as masculine as possible in high school. He hid the fact that he was gay, particularly around other athletes. As a wrestler, he says he never wanted to hear someone say, ?Oh, THAT?S why he wrestles.?

In fact, though more gay and lesbian athletes are coming out in college, gay male professional athletes in major sports have waited to do so until they have left their sport, one of the more recent being Robbie Rogers, an American soccer player who played professionally in England. There have been reports that gay male athletes who are currently playing may be on the verge of going public.

But women have already done so with little backlash.

U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe, for instance, came out right before she played in last year?s Olympics. WNBA star Seimone Augustus and the league?s No. 1 draft pick, Brittney Griner, are some of the more recent female athletes to follow suit.

In Hollywood in recent years, both openly gay men and lesbians have had successful careers. And when it comes to television and movies, it appears there are more high-profile gay male characters.

Still, while many see the two dads on the ?Modern Family? sitcom as groundbreaking, others have a sense that the societal discomfort with gay men as parents is at the root of many of the jokes.

?A good portion of that is for comedic effect,? says Don Todd, a 32-year-old father in a two-dad family in Orange, Calif. He doesn?t think most people would think it was as funny if the characters were two moms.

Herek, the researcher at UC-Davis, has, in fact, found in surveys that heterosexuals think lesbians would be better parents than gay men.

Nancy Dreyer, a mother in a two-mom family, has noticed this in her own life.

?With gay male friends of ours who have kids, people will say, ?My gosh, who takes care of this baby?? ? as if they?re not capable,? says Dreyer, whose 57 and lives in suburban Boston.

The assumption, she says, is that men aren?t nurturing. And if they?re too nurturing, she says, people get suspicious, noting that no one has ever questioned her and her partner about their ability to raise their son, who?s now in college.

She?s noticed the different ways society treats gay men and lesbians, partly because she has a brother, Benjamin Dreyer, who?s gay. The Dreyer siblings say it?s difficult to compare their experiences because Benjamin came out in college, and Nancy in her early 30s.

So he was the first to tell their parents. ?They yelled at me. They took you to dinner,? Benjamin Dreyer, who?s 54 and works in publishing in New York City, now jokes with his sister.

Truth was, as a young gay man coming of age as the AIDS epidemic took hold, his parents simply worried, and with good reason, his sister says.

There?s little doubt, they both say, that AIDS influenced the perception of gay men.

Benjamin Dreyer says he dealt with societal bias by avoiding it, and surrounding himself with people he knew would be supportive, including his parents, eventually.

But he?s also realizing how quickly the need to do that is disappearing. He was surprised and pleased, for instance, when he attended his nephew?s high school graduation last year. There, he saw a gay male graduate with his boyfriend, open and accepted by all his peers.

?It?s mind-boggling,? Benjamin Dreyer says. ?It?s wonderful.?

Carrillo, too, decided to live openly when he arrived at Elmhurst College. He joined a fraternity and even painted a rainbow ? a common symbol of the gay community ? on his fraternity paddle. To his surprise, there was some backlash from a couple of his straight fraternity brothers who feared people would think their fraternity was the ?gay fraternity.?

?There?s a long way to go,? says Carrillo, who graduates next month. But he still feels hopeful.

?Honestly, I see it ? everywhere there?s progress.?

___

Martha Irvine is an AP national writer. She can be reached at mirvine(at)ap.org or at http://twitter.com/irvineap

There are 33 hours, 6 minutes remaining to comment on this story.

Source: http://www.daily-chronicle.com/2013/04/27/are-lesbians-more-accepted-than-gay-men/ao2g0gn/

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Samsung's Galaxy S4 Camera Versus the Competition

Last month, we tested the best smartphone cameras out there and declared the HTC One's ultrapixel camera the master of all. Now it's time to see how the Samsung Galaxy S4 and Sony Xperia Z measure up. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Q6MeKGJPJpY/samsungs-galaxy-s4-camera-versus-the-competition

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Stained Glass Restoration - KWQC-TV6 News and Weather For The ...

• Manchester IL Girl Improving After Surviving Shooting That Kills 5 Family Members

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  Updated: Thursday, April 25 2013 2:26 PM EDT2013-04-25 18:26:07 GMT

  The Coroner in Scott County, Illinois, Justin Daws, officially released the names of the five murder victims in the Manchester, Ill., homicide investigation. The bodies of the three adults and two childrenMore >>The Coroner in Scott County, Illinois, Justin Daws, officially released the names of the five murder victims in the Manchester, Ill., homicide investigation. The bodies of the three adults and two childrenMore >>

• Moline Detective Sheds Light On 23-Year-Old Cold Case

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  Local police are looking into a cold case that stems back to October of 1990. A Moline, Ill. detective recently started looking into a missing person investigation of 52-year-old Jerry A. Wolking. NearlyMore >>Local police are looking into a cold case that stems back to October of 1990. A Moline, Ill. detective recently started looking into a missing person investigation of 52-year-old Jerry A. Wolking. NearlyMore >>

• Moline Police Digging For Clues In 1990 Disappearance

  Moline Police Digging For Clues In 1990 Disappearance

  Updated: Wednesday, April 24 2013 6:16 PM EDT2013-04-24 22:16:23 GMT

  Moline Police are digging through a rural area of Milan, searching for new clues in a cold case. Back in October, 1990, 52-year-old Jerry Wolking was reported missing. His blood-stained GMC SuburbanMore >>Moline Police are digging through a rural area of Milan, searching for new clues in a cold case. Back in October, 1990, 52-year-old Jerry Wolking was reported missing. His blood-stained GMC SuburbanMore >>

• Davenport Schools Investigate Test Discrepancy

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  Some students at Madison Elementary School in Davenport are going to have to retake state standardized tests after an investigation into erasure marks on several of the answer pages. KWQC-TV 6 is workingMore >>Some students at Madison Elementary School in Davenport are going to have to retake state standardized tests after an investigation into erasure marks on several of the answer pages. KWQC-TV 6 is workingMore >>

• Police say 5 people found dead in small Ill. town

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  Authorities are investigating the slayings of five people whose bodies were found in a house in the tiny Scott County community of Manchester. A suspect is in custody.More >>Authorities are investigating the slayings of five people whose bodies were found in a house in the tiny Scott County community of Manchester. A suspect is in custody.More >>

• Sylvan Island Bridge Closed Due To Safety Concerns

  Sylvan Island Bridge Closed Due To Safety Concerns

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  The Sylvan Island Bridge in Moline, Ill., is closed due to safety concerns. With the increase in foot traffic, it has been deemed unsafe for use and will remain closed until engineers can determine howMore >>The Sylvan Island Bridge in Moline, Ill., is closed due to safety concerns. With the increase in foot traffic, it has been deemed unsafe for use and will remain closed until engineers can determine howMore >>

For years, they were part of the splendor at Saint Irenaeus Church in Clinton. Three large stained glass windows are?the originals from the church. Over time, pieces from the windows began to deteriorate, and were desperately in need of repair.

That's where?technicians from Glass Heritage of Davenport stepped in. For?several months, the technicians have been involved in a labor intensive project to restore the windows. Each piece of glass is cleaned. Technician Patricia Rogers says the pieces are placed on a build pattern. That pattern shows the lead lines of the windows.??

Kirk Prebyl says technicians do their homeowrk before the repairs and replacements are made. Technicians spend hours planning, documenting, and finding ways to restore the windows as much as possible to their original look. Workers treasure every scrap of original glass, replacing the original only when there is no other choice.

The three windows depict the Crucified Christ, and two figures on either side. Each of the windows has about a thousand pieces of stained glass. The windows should be installed in the church in June.

The Clinton County Historical Society owns the church building. The society acquired it when the Diocese of Davenport decided to close the church. ?The society raised about fourteen thousand dollars for the restoration work.?Glass Heritage is certified by the Stained Glass Association of America. ?

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Source: http://www.kwqc.com/story/22076115/stained-glass-restoration

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Officials: Bomb suspect silent after read rights

BOSTON (AP) ? Sixteen hours after investigators began interrogating him, the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings went silent: he'd just been read his constitutional rights.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev immediately stopped talking after a magistrate judge and a representative from the U.S. Attorney's office entered his hospital room and gave him his Miranda warning, according to four officials of both political parties briefed on the interrogation. They insisted on anonymity because the briefing was private.

Before being advised of his rights, the 19-year-old suspect told authorities that his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, only recently had recruited him to be part of the attack that detonated pressure-cooker bombs at the marathon finish line, two U.S. officials said.

The CIA, however, had named Tamerlan to a terrorist database 18 months ago, said officials close to the investigation who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case with reporters.

The new disclosure that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was included within a huge, classified database of known and suspected terrorists before the attacks was expected to drive congressional inquiries in coming weeks about whether the Obama administration adequately investigated tips from Russia that Tsarnaev had posed a security threat.

Shortly after the bombings, U.S. officials said the intelligence community had no information about threats to the marathon before the April 15 explosions that killed three people and injured more than 260.

Tsarnaev died Friday in a police shootout hours before Dzhokhar was discovered hiding in a boat in a suburban back yard. He was wounded.

Washington is piecing together what happened and whether there were any unconnected dots buried in U.S. government files that, if connected, could have prevented the bombings.

Lawmakers who were briefed by the FBI said they have more questions than answers about the investigation of Tamerlan Tsarnaev. House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said lawmakers intend to pursue whether there was a breakdown in information-sharing, though Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, said he "hasn't seen any red flags thus far."

U.S. officials were expected to brief the Senate on the investigation Thursday. That same day, the suspects' parents, Anzor Tsarnaev and Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, plan to fly to the U.S. from Russia, the father was quoted as telling the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. The family has said it wants to take Tamerlan's body back to Russia.

It is unclear whether the issue of their younger son's constitutional rights will matter since the FBI say he confessed to a witness. U.S. officials also said Wednesday that physical evidence, including a 9 mm handgun and pieces of a remote-control device commonly used in toys, was recovered from the bombing scene.

But the debate over whether suspected terrorists should be read their Miranda rights has become a major sticking point in the debate over how best to fight terrorism. Many Republicans, in particular, believe Miranda warnings are designed to build court cases, and only hinder intelligence gathering.

Christina DiIorio Sterling, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, said in an email late Wednesday, "This remains an ongoing investigation and we don't have any further comment."

Investigators have said the brothers appeared to have been radicalized through jihadist materials on the Internet and have found no evidence tying them to a terrorist group.

U.S. investigators traveled to the predominantly Muslim province of Dagestan in Russia and were in contact with the brothers' parents, hoping to gain more information.

They are looking into whether Tamerlan, who spent six months in Russia's turbulent Caucasus region in 2012, was influenced by the religious extremists who have waged an insurgency against Russian forces in the area for years. The brothers have roots in Dagestan and neighboring Chechnya but had lived in the U.S. for about a decade.

Dzhokhar told the FBI that they were angry about the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the killing of Muslims there, officials said.

Dzhokhar's public defender had no comment on the matter Wednesday. His father has called him a "true angel," and an aunt has insisted he's not guilty.

Investigators have found pieces of remote-control equipment among the debris and were analyzing them, officials said. One official described the detonator as "close-controlled," meaning it had to be triggered within several blocks of the bombs.

That evidence could be key to the court case. And an FBI affidavit said one of the brothers told a carjacking victim during their getaway attempt, "Did you hear about the Boston explosion? I did that."

Officials also recovered a 9 mm handgun believed to have been used by Tamerlan from the site of an April 18 gunbattle that injured a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority officer, two U.S. officials said.

The officials told the AP that no gun was found in the boat where Dzhokhar was hiding. Boston police Commissioner Ed Davis said earlier that shots were fired from inside the boat.

Asked whether the suspect had a gun in the boat, Davis said, "I'm not going to talk about that."

But Kurt Schwartz, director of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, said a police officer was shot within half a mile of where Tsarnaev was captured, "and I know who shot him."

Authorities had previously said Dzhokhar exchanged gunfire with them for more than an hour Friday night before they captured him inside a tarp-covered boat in a suburban Boston neighborhood backyard. But two U.S. officials said Wednesday that he was unarmed when captured, raising questions about the gunfire and how he was injured.

In other developments:

? Vice President Joe Biden condemned the bombing suspects as "two twisted, perverted, cowardly, knockoff jihadis" while speaking at a memorial service Wednesday for Sean Collier, a campus police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was ambushed in his cruiser three days after the bombing. More than 4,000 mourners paid tribute to the officer.

? The Office of Health and Human Services in Massachusetts confirmed a Boston Herald report Wednesday that Tamerlan, his wife and toddler daughter had received welfare benefits up until last year, when he became ineligible based on family income. The state also says Tamerlan and his brother received welfare benefits as children through their parents while the family lived in Massachusetts.

? The area around the marathon finish line was reopened to the public.

____

Yost and Jakes reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Kimberly Dozier, Matt Apuzzo, Eileen Sullivan, Adam Goldman and Eric Tucker in Washington, David Crary, Denise Lavoie, Bridget Murphy and Bob Salsberg in Boston and Lynn Berry in Moscow contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/officials-bomb-suspect-silent-read-rights-105521551.html

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Northwest Indiana Travel & Leisure: Time for Wine Tours Again!

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Digital Storm's Latest Gaming PCs Are Almost As Cheap As DIY

Every time I post a review of a boutique gaming PC, someone in the comments has to mention that they could build a similar machine themselves for less money. That's still true for Digital Storm's newly-launched Vanquish line of gaming PCs, but it's a narrow truth ? we're talking $20 to $60 narrow.

Digital Storm's more expensive systems can run upwards of $8,000. Those premium systems are for hobbyists with money to burn. Then there's the Bolt, a custom-engineered slimline system aimed at people looking to pay a premium for a small footprint.

The Vanquish line, as far as I can tell, is for people that just want a damn gaming PC. It's a box with a window that runs computer applications and games, the only concession to flash a pair of red LED lights in the bottom of the case. Inside there are name-brand components, exactly the sort of name-brand components you can purchase at a place like Newegg.com.

In fact, to prove their price point, Digital Storm went ahead and priced out each of the four Vanquish models as parts at the online retailer's website.

S

The low-end Vanquish is $38 more than parts. The high-end, which I've been trying out for the past week, is $58 more. That's $58 worth of assembly, testing, warranty and lifetime tech support. As far as I'm concerned, Digital Storm made its point right there. I don't even know why I was sent a system to try out for the past week. Maybe they wanted me to make a video.

Not quite as comprehensive and informative as their own, but I'm just a guy sitting in front of a computer desk, asking it to love me.

S

I could discuss performance, noting that the Intel Core i7 3770K 3.50 GHz processor and the Nvidia GeForce GTX 6600 Ti, while not my first choice of CPU and graphics card, did an admirable job of playing the games I'm likely to be seen playing these days. It ran Tomb Raider on ultra at 68 frames-per-second, BioShock Infinite at 82 and Shogun 2: Total War at a respectable 64 on highest settings. It's not a machine meant to break land-speed graphics records, but it's a damn fine starting point with plenty of room to expand. It's exactly the sort of system I would build if I still had the time or inclination to make my PC gaming a little more personal.

I could also show you this really cool picture of the cooling pipes bathed in red LED light.

S

Digital Storm's aim with the Vanquish line is to end the age-old DIY Vs. pre-built debate. It will not do that, not because it doesn't deliver what it promises, but because folks that build themselves PCs can always go to eBay or one of the hundreds of discount online stores with websites from the late 90s and find bargains. The Vanquish will not likely silence them.

What the Vanquish can do make those that would rather not build their own PC an excellent system backed by warranty and support that feels like a system they could have put together themselves, because they certainly could of.

The Vanquish line is available for purchase now at Digital Storm.

This week Nvidia released its latest high-tech graphics card, the GeForce GTX Titan. The? Read?

Source: http://kotaku.com/digital-storms-latest-gaming-pcs-are-almost-as-cheap-a-479639190

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People seek items dropped in Marathon panic

BOSTON (AP) ? Christopher Baldwin came to police headquarters Tuesday in hopes of recovering the cell phone he dropped in the chaos following the twin bombings at last week's Boston Marathon. Learning that the FBI likely had his phone, he tried to keep things in perspective.

"It's not that important, having my phone, really," the haggard-looking photographer from Cambridge said as he emerged from the processing room empty-handed. "I went a week without it, but there's a lot more people out there that are actually hurt, and my heart goes out to them."

Behind a pair of blue curtains in the department's media room, items wrapped in plastic and brown paper scrawled with numbers lay in a pile about 6 feet high: Wallets, purses, backpacks, cameras and baby strollers that were scooped up in the search for additional bombs, but have been cleared as non-evidentiary.

Mike Kincade came in search of his eyeglasses, phone and a coat. The 27-year-old Boston sales manager was sitting on the patio of the Charlesmark Hotel on Boylston Street when the first bomb went off.

"I really just kind of reacted, just got up and really just kind of paused for a second, just to see what was happening," said Kincade, who came dressed in a crimson Boston Red Sox jacket. "And then the second bomb went off. And at that point, everyone just kind of just scattered different places. It was kind of hysterical."

He was told the FBI had his stuff. The bureau has been processing items, particularly phones and cameras that might have usable images, and those may take longer to return.

Like Baldwin, Kincade was sanguine about the delay in getting his things back.

"You just react to it and thank God you're all right, and the worst thing that happened was that I lost some of my items," he said.

The Boston Police Department put out the call Monday for people to retrieve their belongings. The response was immediate.

"Even as recently as last night when this went out on the air, somebody brought in somebody else's purse that they had recovered and didn't know what do with," Sgt. Det. William Doogan of the BPD homicide unit, who is helping coordinate the effort to reunite people with their belongings.

For people who live in the greater Boston area, the department is offering to have detectives deliver items to their homes. For those who live farther out, the BPD is coordinating with other departments to return lost property.

"And if WE don't have it," Doogan said, "we can reach out to the FBI," which can arrange to return property that isn't evidence.

For those who witnessed the blasts, recovering their peace of mind might be a little more difficult.

Baldwin, who was taking photographs for a corporate client, was high on a scaffold overlooking the finish line. He was talking with his mother on the phone when the first of the two pressure-cooker bombs exploded.

"I was kind of in shock and I don't even know what happened to the phone, to be honest," he said. "Pretty much the worst thing was I couldn't communicate to my family and tell them that I was all right."

Kincade said recovering from the shock and recovering his property will both take time.

"It's just a process," he said.

"The first day was a little on edge, the adrenaline running," he said. "But after that, you know, you just begin to really think about what COULD have happened, and just kind of move on from there."

___

People looking for property lost at the marathon can send an e-mail to lostproperty.bpd(at)cityofboston.gov

___

Allen G. Breed is a national writer, based in Raleigh, N.C. He can be reached at features(at)ap.org. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/(hash)!/AllenGBreed

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/people-seek-items-dropped-marathon-panic-203446380.html

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Michigan School Chief: End Project By Secret Group

Detroit News:

East Lansing-- Michigan's school chief on Monday urged the disbanding of a work group that has been secretly developing ways to lower the cost of public education through technology and a funding mechanism that resembles vouchers.

Mike Flanagan, state superintendent of public instruction, said he was pulling a Department of Education employee off the work group on the same day Gov. Rick Snyder began distancing himself from the project started by his administration's chief information officer, David Behen.

Read the whole story at Detroit News

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/23/michigan-school-chief-end_n_3138227.html

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Body Sculpting Exercises for Women Over 40 (Fit Expert Series ...

The Fit Expert Series of books are not like any other health and fitness books!

Tips, tricks, exercises and advice is presented to you by not just one but a number of top health and fitness experts.

Look Amazing at 40+

Body Sculpting Exercises for Women Over 40 is a 7 chapter, no fluff guide for any woman who wants to look and feel the best they can be.

As with all the, ?Fit Expert Series? books this volume delves into the heart and soul of looking great at 40 and beyond.

As we get older our bodies change and gravity begins to kick in. We lose more and more muscle tone and so in order to stay strong and look youthful we need to incorporate a regular health and fitness program into our lives.

Now that doesn?t mean you have to train seven days a week for 4 hours a day and eat like a rabbit. No, you need to live your life, but you also need to take a little extra care of your body as you age.

Who Can Benefit from this Book?

First of all you don?t have to be aged 40 to enjoy the benefits that this book has to offer. All information provided is primarily directed at the older woman but the exercises and routines can be used by anyone younger.

• Women who are noticing certain areas of their bodies beginning to sag and want to take control to firm those areas up.
• Women who are not sure what type of program is best for them and would like to choose which they feel would suit their lifestyle best.
• Women searching for the ideal nutrition plan.
• Women who are very busy and only have a small amount of time to train each day.
• Women who are out of shape, maybe have been living a sedentary lifestyle, and want to break the cycle by living a healthier life.
• Women who don?t feel comfortable going to the gym and want an exercise program they can follow at home.
• Women who are bored with the same old advice and same old exercise workouts.
• Women who want to improve their confidence so as they can get all they can out of life.
• Women who are already living a healthy lifestyle and want to learn more about bettering themselves mentally and physically.
• Women who are single and want to look at their best when going on dates.
• Women who want to try new experiences and discover their personal best with whatever they do.
• Men can do these programs too. Hey why not? If you are a couple why not train together.

Each chapter in this book has been written by a different expert. The information offered by these trainers are unique to this book and will provide you with the tools to look and feel amazing.

How Can this Book Help Improve your Life?

1. You will discover ways to lift and firm up your breasts and buttocks. Just by firming up these areas alone will improve the overall shape of your body.
2. Your toned thighs will look amazing in a skirt or pants.
3. Physical activities will get easier as you get stronger. That means improved exercise performance and more fun playing the sports you enjoy.
4. You will have clearer skin. You won?t need to spend time putting on and taking off make-up to hide any wrinkles.
5. Mentally you will feel more vibrant and generally happier. This is a huge benefit as increased confidence can help in all areas of life.
6. Improved posture and general balance. A better posture means you will not only look amazing but feel that way also.
7. Your confidence will skyrocket.
8. You will save money, (no gym membership or personal training bills).
9. You will look and feel younger.
10. Add years to your life. If you are going to live longer you may as well enjoy those years in health.

The benefits are almost endless. For the price of this one book you will have all the information you need to achieve your goals to looking great.

Here is the list of fitness experts who contributed to this book:

Forbes Riley
Linda T. Gottlieb
Dr. Marisa R. Silver
Susan Grossman
Warren T. Martin
Danny Kavadlo
Meredith Bartolomei

by

• Body Sculpting Exercises for Women Over 40 (Fit Expert Series ? Book 5)

Source: http://www.itswritenow.com/3562/body-sculpting-exercises-for-women-over-40-fit-expert-series-book-5/

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Preva Mobile for iOS aims to track your workouts, keep you going to the gym

Dragging yourself to the gym in the wee hours of the morning already takes a heaping helping of dedication, but fitness equipment manufacturer Precor is betting that it can provide additional motivation with its new iOS app: Preva Mobile. By wielding the software, users can monitor and set goals for calories burned, distance and duration, and even log their actions outside the gym for activities ranging from rollerblading to skiing. What's more is that the application acts as an extension of the firm's Preva fitness tracking console built into its 880 line of cardio equipment, and keeps data synced between devices and exercise machines through the cloud.

In addition to helping folks keep tabs on their activity, the digital logbook rewards users with points and badges, which they can brag about share on Twitter and Facebook. There's no sign of an Android version just yet, but we doubt your personal trainer will buy that as an excuse to stray from your workout regimen.

Filed under: Software, Mobile

Comments

Source: Preva (iTunes)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/a6WXpdHPPM4/

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Monday in politics: Senate hearing on immigration, and more

By Gregory Blachier MONTE CARLO, April 21 (Reuters) - Rafael Nadal admitted he is still trying to recapture his best form but remained optimistic for the French Open after losing his Monte Carlo crown to Novak Djokovic on Sunday. Nadal, who returned to action in March after seven months out with injury, went down 6-2 7-6 to the Serbian world number one, ending his eight-year reign on the principality's clay. "I need to put in a little bit more physical performance," the Spaniard told a news conference. "That's the real thing - to play all the points with the same intensity. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/monday-politics-senate-hearing-immigration-more-100343868--election.html

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Ranking Amazon?s TV Pilots

Every year the television networks roll out massive slates of new television shows, and, reliably, there are at least a dozen of them that audiences watch and wonder, ?Who let this on air?? Now, the answer will be: you.

We?re waist-deep in the strange new waters of online original programming now, and, as such, Amazon is changing things up with the launch of its first slate of original series. Late last week, the Web juggernaut posted all 14 of the the ?TV? pilots it ordered and asked the public to view, rate, and review them all. Of the eight comedy and four children?s pilots posted, those with the most views and best viewer feedback will be ordered to a whole series. In other words, only the most popular ones?the ones you like?will move forward.

READ MORE Violet Crawley vs. Olenna Tyrell

While the move seems like a brilliant no-brainer?if audiences get to chose the shows that are produced, then they?ll also, presumably, watch the shows that get produced?there are certain drawbacks. Take a look at the weekly TV ratings, for example. If network executives only produced TV shows that were popular, then the TV lineup would be a steady rotation of Duck Dynasty and NCIS, while culturally important and, you know, good series like 30 Rock, Community, and even Mad Men would never see the light of day.

Nonetheless, I watched the eight comedy pilots?as someone who gets mild epileptic seizures from watching three minutes of Yo Gabba Gabba, I?m in no position to understand, let alone rate, children?s programming?and ranked them in order of which most deserve series orders. You can watch them here. Do you agree?

READ MORE Phoenix: French Rock Gods

1. Onion News Empire

About: How far broadcast journalists will go to keep ratings big.

READ MORE The MOCA Gala Red Carpet

Is it any good? In the world of Onion News Empire, The Onion is ?one of the world?s most powerful media, lumber, computer, and fake-Christmas-tree-manufacturing conglomerates,? and its journalists?played by a comedy dream team including Chris Masterson, Jeffrey Tambor, William Sadler, and a studly Cheyenne Jackson?superficially ruthless in pursuit of ratings. The tight script is packed with 30 Rock-caliber jokes?in one fake news item, sleeper-cell terrorists, in their effort to pose as ordinary Americans, became too fat to fit into their suicide vests. One producer is pursuing a story on the most shocking shark shootings. Another wants to make sure the camera shot is tight on the handsome reporter?s bulge. ?Can you walk and talk at the same time?? one character asks. ?Yes, I took a class.? Early on, a reporter is praised for landing the ?cable news trifecta??violence, sex, and animals. The story: a bear mauling at a porn-star charity car wash. Like it sounds, the series is essentially a joke-packed Onion story spoofing ratings-obsessed news networks. And, like it sounds, that?s a great thing.

2. Dark Minions

READ MORE Interview With Cute Alien Cat 'Lil Bub'

About: A stop-motion animated comedy about two slackers who begrudgingly take low-level jobs on an intergalactic warship.

Is at any good? The pilot opens with a crudely drawn, barely animated address to the audience that only half the episode will be fully animated in stop-motion?but reassures that if the show is picked up to series everything will be properly animated. The warning sets the tone for the ensuing Adult Swim/Archer-like humor that will be highly appealing to people who think a buddy comedy about two guys who swear and get high a lot is hilarious. It?s silly, fun, and smartly written, and the audience for it definitely exists. Dark Minions isn?t as strong as Onion News Empire, but it may be Amazon?s best shot at a successful series.

READ MORE Porn??s Dirty Whistleblower

3. Zombieland

About: Four survivors fight off the zombie apocalypse while searching for a place to call home.

READ MORE Best Celebrity Twitter Pictures

Is it any good? Easily the most high-profile of Amazon?s pilots, Zombieland is the series version of the hit 2009 comedy starring Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, and Emma Stone. The film?s writers are back and the setup in the pilot is almost exactly the same as the film. The dialogue is sharp and the production value is solid?the opening zombie-attack segment is as awesomely bloody as it is hilarious. The biggest drawback is something the show really can?t do anything about: franchise attachment. The pilot sorely misses the film?s original cast, especially as the script hews so closely to the movie?s screenplay. Still, the concept remains as unique as it was in 2009. Without Harrelson and Company, the series may seem a bit like a cheap knockoff, but it?s a knockoff of something stellar that?s still pretty good.

4. Betas

READ MORE The Man Behind 'The Band'

About: Four friends trying to launch the next big social network.

Is it any good? Betas gets lots of mileage out of Silicon Valley cliches. Developers play ping-pong and have Nerf wars in Cheeto-littered office spaces. The socially awkward algorithm genius proudly states, ?I don?t own pants.? Hoodie-wearing twentysomething startup CEOs celebrate seed-money investments with rounds of Jaeger bombs. But far more interesting than the workplace comedy is the Scrubs-like heart given to the friendship dynamics of the four buddies struggling to make their new app?symbolically, a social network that helps you meet people you?d want to socialize with sans screen?succeed.

READ MORE Jennifer Hudson Gets 'Crazy'

5. Supanatural

About: An animated comedy about how two divas fight the supernatural when they?re off from their shifts at the mall.

READ MORE Public Enemy Was Overdue

Is it any good? The series couldn?t be more high-concept, and it?s worrisome whether a conceit like this has legs or if the joke?two sassy divas bantering matter-of-factly while on absurd ghost-hunting missions?will be repetitive past one or two episodes. But as a pilot, Supanatural is strong. The sassy supernatural experts are drawn a bit too broadly, but it?s hard to not chuckle as they bicker about Instagramming selfies while trying to coax spirits out of a haunted house.

6. Alpha House

READ MORE The Week in Viral Videos

About: A group of four GOP senators are roommates who bond over doing the bare minimum to stay in office. John Goodman and Mark Consuelos star.

Is it any good? The conceit?Friends meets Washington politicians?is a clever one, and no one does beleaguered and put-upon like John Goodman, who is the pilot?s standout. The problem, though, is that the throwaway jokes work better than the obvious punch lines. A quick sight gag?the roommates all grab flag pins from the house?s candy dish on the way to the Capitol?is far funnier than the been-there jokes about the Republican Party (one character receives the Say No to Sodomy Award by the Council for Normal Marriage) and lazy politicians (Goodman launching into a litany of swears after learning he has to do real work gets old after the fourth time).

READ MORE All Hail The Onion

7. Those Who Can?t

About: Three foul-mouthed teachers act more juvenile than the high-school students they teach.

READ MORE Networks Double Down on Boston

Is it any good? The show?s clearly aiming for a Workaholics-set-at-a-high-school vibe, but the fratty humor here isn?t as smart. As a result, the grown-men-act-immature-and-it?s-adorable antics come off as obnoxious and unappealing. The humor isn?t raunchy or bawdy enough to attain any shock value, like in Bad Teacher, and the dialogue isn?t clever enough to excuse the men-behaving-badly behavior, in the way that The League and Workaholics work.

8. Browsers

READ MORE Netflix Trips With ?Hemlock Grove?

About: Broke interns toiling in New York City. Also, it?s a musical. With original songs.

Is it any good? The opening song includes the lyric, ?I?m 22 and I live in Queens / I don?t eat nothing but rice and beans.? One character belts a key change on the word ?donut.? No, it?s not any good. In fact, it?s pretty embarrassing.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ranking-amazon-tv-pilots-084500651--politics.html

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Jennings turns rare DP as Rays edge A's

Rays center fielder Desmond Jennings turned the rare 8-unassisted double play in the top of the third inning during today?s game against the Athletics. After Eric Sogard singled with one out, starter Jeremy Hellickson got Coco Crisp to fly out to center. Sogard misread Jennings? ability to catch the ball, so he rounded second hard instead of retreating to first base. Jennings caught the ball on the run, and lightly jogged towards first base to get the second out to end the inning.

ESPN Stats & Info tweeted, via the Elias Sports Bureau, that Jennings? 8-unassisted was the first since Mike Cameron accomplished the feat in 2003.

Click here to see a .gif of the play.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/04/20/desmond-jennings-turns-rare-8-unassisted-double-play/related/

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Study Finds Scientific Basis for 'Chemo Brain' in Breast Cancer ...

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Study Finds Scientific Basis for ?Chemo Brain? in Breast Cancer Patients




By Janice Wood Associate News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on April 19, 2013

While breast cancer patients often report difficulties with memory, concentration and other cognitive functions following treatment, there?s been a debate in the medical community as to whether this mental fogginess is psychosomatic or a symptom of changes in brain function.

Now, a new study has shown a correlation between poorer performance on neuropsychological tests and memory complaints in post-treatment, early-stage breast cancer patients, particularly those who have undergone chemotherapy and radiation.

?The study is one of the first to show that such patient-reported cognitive difficulties ? often referred to as ?chemo brain? in those who have had chemotherapy ? can be associated with neuropsychological test performance,? said Dr. Patricia Ganz, director of cancer prevention and control research at the University of California-Los Angeles?s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Ganz and her colleagues looked at 189 breast cancer patients who enrolled in the study about a month after completing their initial breast cancer treatments and before beginning endocrine hormone-replacement therapy. Two-thirds had breast-conserving surgery, more than half had received chemotherapy, and three-quarters had undergone radiation therapy. Average age of the women was 52.

Because cognitive complaints following cancer treatment have often been associated with anxiety and depressive symptoms, the researchers excluded women with serious depressive symptoms. They also took into account the cancer treatments used and whether menopause and hormonal changes could be influencing the cognitive complaints. A group of healthy women of about the same age was used as a control group.

The researchers gave a self-reporting questionnaire to the women and found that those with breast cancer reported more severe complaints than normal ? 23.3 percent had higher complaints about their memory, and 19 percent reported higher complaints about higher-level cognition, such as problem-solving and reasoning.

The researchers noted that the breast cancer patients who reported more severe memory and higher-level cognition problems were more likely to have undergone both chemotherapy and radiation.

The UCLA researchers found that even when patients reported subtle changes in their memory and thinking, neuropsychological testing showed detectable differences.

For instance, they discovered that poorer performance on the neuropsychological test was associated with higher levels of cognitive complaints and with combined radiation and chemotherapy treatment, as well as with symptoms related to depression.

?In the past, many researchers said that we can?t rely on patients? self-reported complaints or that they are just depressed, because previous studies could not find this association between neuropsychological testing and cognitive complaints,? Ganz said. ?In this study, we were able to look at specific components of the cognitive complaints and found they were associated with relevant neuropsychological function test abnormalities.?

The findings are part of an ongoing study that seeks to examine the extent to which hormone therapy contributes to memory and thinking problems in breast cancer survivors, she said. This latest study provided a pre-hormone therapy assessment, which was able to separate the effects of initial treatments on these cognitive problems, she said. Earlier post-treatment studies of breast cancer patients were difficult to interpret, as they included women already taking hormone therapy, she noted.

?As we provide additional reports on the follow-up testing in these women, we will track their recovery from treatment, as well as determine whether hormone therapy contributes to worsening complaints over time,? Ganz said.

The study was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Source: University of California-Los Angeles

Breast cancer patient photo available from Shutterstock

APA Reference
Wood, J. (2013). Study Finds Scientific Basis for ?Chemo Brain? in Breast Cancer Patients. Psych Central. Retrieved on April 20, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/04/20/study-finds-scientific-basis-for-chemo-brain-in-breast-cancer-patients/53922.html

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Source: http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/04/20/study-finds-scientific-basis-for-chemo-brain-in-breast-cancer-patients/53922.html

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Scientists find ethnicity linked to antibodies

Friday, April 19, 2013

Cracking the DNA code for a complex region of the human genome has helped 14 North American scientists, including five at Simon Fraser University, chart new territory in immunity research.

They have discovered that a good number of our antibody genes, how well they operate and, potentially, what they fight off, actually vary from person to person. That means even though drugs, treatments and vaccinations are designed to treat whole populations our response to them could be individualistic.

After completely sequencing the immensely repetitive DNA in the human genome's one million nucleotide-long immunoglobulin heavy (IGH)-chain locus, these scientists have also found ethnicity influences immunity.

"Time will confirm the extent to which this is true. But we've found that sections of the IGH-chain locus' DNA sequence are either missing or inserted into a person's genome, and this could vary depending on ethnicity," explains Corey Watson.

A postdoctoral researcher at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, Watson completed his doctoral studies under the supervision of SFU biologist Felix Breden who leads this research project. Watson and Breden still collaborate on research.

Scientists have long known that our IGH-chain locus is our most prolific producer of the 50-plus varied and diverse antibody-encoding genes that our B cells use to fight off infections and diseases.

But thanks to new data-mining technology, this is the first study to radically refine and, until now, roughly-piecemealed genomic map of the human IGH-chain locus.

"Because this is the most complete version of a human's IGH sequence," says Watson, "our data has been integrated into the official human genome project assembly."

Using a single chromosome of an individual, the latest study sequences all possible antibody-encoding genes in our IGH-chain locus. It also identifies 11 possible large DNA insertions and deletions of antibody-encoding genes in the region that determine our antibody gene count/diversity and, in some cases, have been implicated in disease susceptibility.

The scientists uncovered the link between antibody makeup and ethnicity when they screened the chromosomes of 425 people of Asian, African and European descent for several DNA insertions and deletions.

"Again, it's early days," emphasizes Watson, "but these findings could mean that past environmental exposures to certain pathogens caused DNA insertions or deletions in different ethnic groups, which could impact disease risk. Our results demonstrate that antibody studies need to take into account the ethnicity of DNA samples used."

This study's findings will advance research on how IGH-related antibody genetic variation between individuals impacts our ability to fight viruses such as the flu and HIV.

Watson, Breden, three other SFU scientists (Jamie Scott, Jeffery Joy and Robert Holt), science alumnus Jeremy Willsey and researchers in the United States and at the B.C. Cancer Agency contributed equally to this study.

Evan Eichler, a scientist at Seattle's University of Washington genome sciences department and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, developed the technology making this study possible.

The American Journal of Human Genetics (Cell Press) published its findings in the article Complete Haplotype Sequence of the Human Immunoglobulin Heavy-Chain Variable, Diversity and Joining Genes and Characterization of the Allelic and Copy-Number Variation, in its March 28 issue.

###

Simon Fraser University: http://www.sfu.ca

Thanks to Simon Fraser University for this article.

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

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127822/Scientists_find_ethnicity_linked_to_antibodies

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Kim Kardashian And Kris Humphries Officially Divorced

MTV News confirms that the reality star and basketball player have reached a settlement after filing papers in October 2011.
By Jocelyn Vena

Kim Kardashian arrives to court in Los Angeles on April 12
Photo: David McNew/ Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1706045/kim-kardashian-kris-humphries-divorce-official.jhtml

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