Google selected two popular smartphones to run on clean versions of Android software. Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One starts selling today special editions of smartphones equipped with Google?s new image.
Google selected two popular smartphones to run on clean versions of Android software. Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One starts selling today special editions of smartphones equipped with Google?s new image.
Well, the smartphones will still have the latest version of Android 4.2 Jelly Bean software but tweaked a little to make it more Google. Both default widgets which normally have the social media and news in the homepage are replaced by Google Play and other widgets linked to Google. If you have already seen Nexus 4, then you know what I mean.
The only drawback is that these Google edition smartphones will cost you more than their non-Google versions. There is a cost to have cleaner Android software I believe. The HTC One will sell at $599 while the Samsung Galaxy S4 is at $649. These are handset only since they will not be bundled with any carrier though AT&T and T-Mobile SIM cards will work on them.
Aside from the Google widget, is it really worth the price? Google promises that these smartphones will have constant Android software updates and will be the first to have new software features even before they announce it to the public. That makes you ahead of anyone else. A new version of Android software will be launched by the end of this year which will be called Key Lime Pie and these smartphones are most likely to be the first to be updated.
Another promise is that it is faster than the non-Google Play edition Android smartphones since the company had eliminated the clutters that have been affecting the speed of these devices.
Those that are interested on purchasing these cleaner, faster, Google Play edition smartphones may go to Google?s Play Store to order. They will start shipping the devices on July 9.
You need men and women to come in your home and say, ?Wow!? You want them to search around and think you are a millionaire. They ought to ask you who your interior designer is. This should come within your budget. This article will explain to you the ropes in relation to smart furniture shopping.
When buying a chair for your residence office, try to find maximum flexibility. To find the best office chair, target one that will permit the seat, armrests and backrest being adjusted. Lumbar support is vital for good back stability and health. If you maximize comfort in an office chair, you are going to enhance your productivity.
If you are searching for garden furniture, August is the ideal month to get it. Many people think about patio furniture early in the year and Summer, and also August they are will no longer shopping for it. This means stores are discounting their inventory in order to move it well the showroom floor.
Determine whether you may get a warranty for just about any furniture you acquire. Furniture is an investment of sorts. All things considered, you use it each day and you also have to be sure that whatever you buy will probably be functional for as long as you want it. That?s why it?s a good idea to see what kind of warranties or guarantees you can get.
Sometimes a shop may have an item that was bought but returned and it will be around at a discounted price. It could have been returned due to the fact it didn?t easily fit into the owners house or some other benign reason. Even though it possesses a scratch or two, that will get you a level bigger discount. In the end, the minor imperfection is normally easily fixed and you will probably eventually scratch the goods yourself at some point, so that it doesn?t really matter,
Consider obtaining the charge cards provided by large furniture stores. You may then find some good interesting discounts on the furniture you buy and make small monthly obligations. This really is a good way to improve your credit score and possibly acquire some rewards if you are using these cards regularly.
Check if there is a furniture outlet in your town. The maker might have an outlet store where one can get some pieces. This is a great idea if you?re looking to avoid wasting funds on excellent items. You may even call the maker directly and ask about any outlet stores in your community.
Consider searching for furniture at a place in which you know the salespeople are paid on commission. When someone pays on commission, they actually want to close that sale. This can mean big discounts are given, and negotiating is obviously possible. Go prepared to provide a low cost on your own favorite piece, to see where it gets you. You may well be amazed!
If you require some garden furniture, wait until August or September. A lot of people purchase their patio furniture ahead of the summer. Pricing is reduced after the season since stores need to make room for other things and do not anticipate selling exactly the same items through the next season.
Alter furniture pieces. For those who have different furniture pieces or could get pieces that may not be your chosen, you may change it. There are several methods to change some furniture in your liking. You can add a cover, spray paint it, stain it or find other ways to modify up a piece thus it becomes your new favorite.
Now your friends will compliment your decor. They are going to look around by using a smile upon their face. They will ask you just how you will did it all without breaking a sweat. This article taught you what you must know, now go go shopping for furniture and obtain what you need.
Thanks for reading. For more tips on home improvement and making your house look the best, including information on bmw door handle, striped carpets and kitchen bin cream please see our website
Tagged with: Home Improvement
Filed under: Uncategorized
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
There are waaay too many social networks out there already, but people keep making them so what the hell, why not add one more. Anchor is social media for your office and is an easy way to keep all your coworkers' contact information available in one place. It also allows chatting and has ample room for overshares in the "company lobby," like 'went to the bathroom brb guys.'
ALEXANDRIA/CAIRO (Reuters) - Two people, one an American, were killed when protesters stormed an office of Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood in Alexandria, adding to growing tension ahead of mass rallies aimed at unseating the Islamist president.
A third man was killed and 10 injured in an explosion during a protest in Port Said, at the mouth of the Suez Canal. Police on Saturday said the cause was unclear but protesters, believing it was a bomb, attacked an Islamist party office in the city.
Egypt's leading religious authority warned of "civil war" after violence in the past week that had already left several dead and hundreds injured. They backed President Mohamed Mursi's offer to talk to opposition groups ahead of Sunday's protests.
The United Nations, European Union and United States have appealed for restraint and urged Egypt's deadlocked political leaders to step back from a confrontation threatening the new democracy that emerged from the Arab Spring revolution of 2011.
The U.S. embassy said in a statement it was evacuating non-essential staff and family members and renewed a warning to Americans not to travel to Egypt unless they had to.
The Muslim Brotherhood said eight of its offices had been attacked on Friday, including the one in Alexandria. Officials said more than 70 people had been injured in the clashes in the city. One was shot dead and a young American man who was using a small camera died after being stabbed in the chest.
A Brotherhood member was also killed overnight in an attack on a party office at Zagazig, in the heavily populated Nile Delta, where much of the recent violence has been concentrated. Mursi's movement said five supporters in all had died this week.
"Vigilance is required to ensure we do not slide into civil war," said clerics at Cairo's ancient Al-Azhar institute, one of the most influential centers of scholarship in the Muslim world.
In a statement broadly supportive of Mursi, they backed his offer of dialogue and blamed "criminal gangs" who besieged mosques for the violence. The Brotherhood warned of "dire consequences" and "a violent spiral of anarchy".
It accused liberal leaders, including former U.N. diplomat Mohamed ElBaradei, of personally inciting violence by hired "thugs" once loyal to ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak.
Opposition leaders condemned the violence. The army, which has warned it could intervene if political leaders lose control, issued a statement saying it had deployed across the country to protect citizens and installations of national importance.
In the capital, Cairo, tens of thousands turned out for rival events some miles apart and there was little trouble. An Islamist rally included calls to reconciliation. On Tahrir Square, cradle of the uprising against Mubarak, there was a festive atmosphere and a determination to shake Mursi on Sunday.
In Alexandria, as several thousand anti-Mursi protesters marched along the seafront, a Reuters reporter saw about a dozen men throw rocks at guards outside the Brotherhood office. They responded. Bricks and bottles flew. Guns were fired.
Officials said dozens were wounded by birdshot. The party office was ransacked and documents were burned, watched by jubilant youths chanting against Egypt's Islamist leaders.
In Port Said, a bastion of anti-Islamist sentiment, police had suspected an accident but later said a device exploded among protesters. Canal traffic has not been affected by violence.
CAIRO CALM
Islamists gathered round a Cairo mosque after weekly prayers to show support for Mursi. His opponents hope millions will turn out on Sunday to demand he step down, a year to the day after he was sworn in as Egypt's first freely chosen leader.
Mursi, backed by the Brotherhood, has dismissed such demands as an assault on democracy, setting up an angry confrontation.
"I came to support the legitimate order," said Ahmed al-Maghrabi, 37, a shopkeeper from the Nile Delta city of Mansoura whose hand bore grazes from street fighting there this week. "I am with the elected president. He needs to see out his term."
Some speakers reflected fear and anger among Islamists that opponents aim to suppress them as Mubarak did. But there was also talk from the podium of the need for dialogue - a concern also of international powers worried by the bitter polarization.
A few hundred opposition protesters gathered outside the presidential palace, a focus for Sunday's rally. Mursi has moved elsewhere. Thousands turned out after dark in Tahrir Square, waving national flags and sampling street food.
Abdelhamid Nada, a 32-year-old accountant, had come from the provinces with eight friends to camp out "until Mursi goes". "The Muslim Brotherhood has no plan at all," he said, standing by his white tent. "They don't have any economic plan, they don't have any social plan, they don't have any political plan."
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE
The army, which heeded mass protests in early 2011 to push Mubarak aside, has warned it will intervene again if there is violence, and to defend the "will of the people". Both sides believe that means the military may support their positions.
The United States, which funds Egypt's army as it did under Mubarak, has urged compromise and respect for election results. Egypt's 84 million people, control of Suez and its peace treaty with Israel all contribute to its global strategic importance.
U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon urged Egyptians to respect "universal principles of peaceful dialogue". European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton called for peaceful protests, building trust and a "spirit of dialogue and tolerance".
In Alexandria, opposition marchers said they feared the Brotherhood was usurping the revolution to entrench its power and Islamic law. Others had economic grievances, among them huge lines for fuel caused by supply problems and panic buying.
"I've nothing to do with politics, but with the state we're in now, even a stone would cry out," said 42-year-old accountant Mohamed Abdel Latif. "There are no services, we can't find diesel or gasoline. We elected Mursi, but this is enough.
"Let him make way for someone else who can fix it."
It is hard to gauge how many may turn out on Sunday, but even those sympathetic to Islamic ideas are frustrated by the economic slump and many blame the government.
Previous protest movements since the fall of Mubarak have failed to gather momentum, however, among a population anxious for stability and fearful of further economic hardship.
(Additional reporting by Yasmine Saleh, Alexander Dziadosz, Omar Fahmy and Alastair Macdonald in Cairo; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Peter Graff, Kevin Liffey and Jackie Frank)
In Swords, Ireland, an important change is about to take place. Due to lack of funding, a 10 percent cut to special education hours is looming before the start of the next school year. Although the percentage may not sound that high, it is likely to have a significant negative impact on families like the Liebenbergs, whose 7-year-old son Finn has quadriplegic cerebral palsy and is non-verbal.
Finn is currently attending a mainstream school, a feat that he was able to achieve two years ago through his own determination and that of his mother, Alicia, and his resource teacher. He is a bright boy who has to try harder than most children to learn due to his physical limitations, but he has benefitted immensely from being in a typical classroom with others his age. It is something that would not be possible without the assistance of his full-time resource teacher, Alicia says. Finn?s entry into the mainstream classroom was not without some bumps, and it was his resource teacher who realized first what the problem was and how to correct it. She is their liaison with the educational psychologists, speech therapists, and other specialists who are needed to help Finn make the most of his time in school. Alicia worries that when his resource teacher?s hours are cut, she will be unable to fully help Finn as she has been doing.
As she says, ?It?s easy to say on a piece of paper that we are cutting resource hours across the board, it?s not going to affect anybody. But it?s not just a few kids that have a little problem with learning, it?s a lot of kids that really rely on resource teachers to enable them to stay in mainstream and to stay up to date with their work and get a proper education.?
The Liebenbergs, and other parents in their situation, will doubtless advocate for their children while hoping to get the cuts reversed so that they have one less daily battle to fight. Unfortunately, for the near future at least, the cuts are going to be defining their son?s school experience.
June 27, 2013 ? A team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics conducted the most expensive and most elaborate computer simulations so far to study the formation of neutron stars at the center of collapsing stars with unprecedented accuracy. These worldwide first three-dimensional models with a detailed treatment of all important physical effects confirm that extremely violent, hugely asymmetric sloshing and spiral motions occur when the stellar matter falls towards the center. The results of the simulations thus lend support to basic perceptions of the dynamical processes that are involved when a star explodes as supernova.
Stars with more than eight to ten times the mass of our Sun end their lives in a gigantic explosion, in which the stellar gas is expelled into the surrounding space with enormous power. Such supernovae belong to the most energetic and brightest phenomena in the universe and can outshine a whole galaxy for weeks. They are the cosmic origin of chemical elements like carbon, oxygen, silicon, and iron, of which Earth and our bodies are made of, and which are bred in massive stars over millions of years or freshly fused in the stellar explosion.
Supernovae are also the birth places of neutron stars, those extraordinarily exotic, compact stellar remnants, in which about 1.5 times the mass of our Sun is compressed to a sphere with the diameter of Munich. This happens within fractions of a second when the stellar core implodes due to the strong gravity of its own mass. The catastrophic collapse is stopped only when the density of atomic nuclei -- gargantuan 300 million tons in a sugar cube -- is exceeded.
What, however, causes the disruption of the star? How can the implosion of the stellar core be reversed to an explosion? The exact processes are still a matter of intense research. According to the most widely favored scenario, neutrinos, mysterious elementary particles, play a crucial role. These neutrinos are produced and radiated in tremendous numbers at the extreme temperatures and densities in the collapsing stellar core and nascent neutron star. Like the thermal radiation of a heater they heat the gas surrounding the hot neutron star and thus could "ignite" the explosion. In this scenario the neutrinos pump energy into the stellar gas and build up pressure until a shock wave is accelerated to disrupt the star in a supernova. But does this theoretical idea really work? Is it the explanation of the still enigmatic mechanism driving the explosion?
Unfortunately (or luckily!) the processes in the center of exploding stars cannot be reproduced in the laboratory and many solar masses of intransparent stellar gas obscure our view into the deep interior of supernovae. Research is therefore strongly dependent on most sophisticated and challenging computer simulations, in which the complex mathematical equations are solved that describe the motion of the stellar gas and the physical processes that occur at the extreme conditions in the collapsing stellar core. For this task the most powerful existing supercomputers are used, but still it has been possible to conduct such calculations only with radical and crude simplifications until recently. If, for example, the crucial effects of neutrinos were included in some detailed treatment, the computer simulations could only be performed in two dimensions, which means that the star in the models was assumed to have an artificial rotational symmetry around an axis.
Thanks to support from the Rechenzentrum Garching (RZG) in developing a particularly efficient and fast computer program, access to most powerful supercomputers, and a computer time award of nearly 150 million processor hours, which is the greatest contingent so far granted by the "Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe (PRACE)" initiative of the European Union, the team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA) in Garching could now for the first time simulate the processes in collapsing stars in three dimensions and with a sophisticated description of all relevant physics.
"For this purpose we used nearly 16,000 processor cores in parallel mode, but still a single model run took about 4.5 months of continuous computing," says PhD student Florian Hanke, who performed the simulations. Only two computing centers in Europe were able to provide sufficiently powerful machines for such long periods of time, namely CURIE at Tr?s Grand Centre de calcul (TGCC) du CEA near Paris and SuperMUC at the Leibniz-Rechenzentrum (LRZ) in Munich/Garching.
Many Terabytes of simulation data (1 Terabyte are thousand billion bytes) had to be analysed and visualized before the researchers could grasp the essence of their model runs. What they saw caused excitement as well as astonishment. The stellar gas did not only exhibit the violent bubbling and seething with the characteristic rising mushroom-like plumes driven by neutrino heating in close similarity to what can be observed in boiling water. (This process is called convection.) The scientists also found powerful, large sloshing motions, which temporarily switch over to rapid, strong rotational motions. Such a behavior had been known before and had been named "Standing Accretion Shock Instability," or SASI. This term expresses the fact that the initial sphericity of the supernova shock wave is spontaneously broken, because the shock develops large-amplitude, pulsating asymmetries by the oscillatory growth of initially small, random seed perturbations. So far, however, this had been found only in simplified and incomplete model simulations.
"My colleague Thierry Foglizzo at the Service d' Astrophysique des CEA-Saclay near Paris has obtained a detailed understanding of the growth conditions of this instability," explains Hans-Thomas Janka, the head of the research team. "He has constructed an experiment, in which a hydraulic jump in a circular water flow exhibits pulsational asymmetries in close analogy to the shock front in the collapsing matter of the supernova core." This phenomenon was named "SWASI" ("Shallow Water Analogue of Shock Instability") and allows one to demonstrate dynamical processes in the deep interior of a dying star by a relatively simple and inexpensive experimental setup of table size, of course without accounting for the important effects of neutrino heating. For this reason many astrophysicists had been sceptical that this instability indeed occurs in collapsing stars.
The Garching team could now demonstrate for the first time unambiguously that the SASI also plays an important role in the so far most realistic computer models. "It does not only govern the mass motions in the supernova core but it also imposes characteristic signatures on the neutrino and gravitational-wave emission, which will be measurable for a future Galactic supernova. Moreover, it may lead to strong asymmetries of the stellar explosion, in course of which the newly formed neutron star will receive a large kick and spin," describes team member Bernhard M?ller the most significant consequences of such dynamical processes in the supernova core.
The researchers now plan to explore in more detail the measurable effects connected to the SASI and to sharpen their predictions of associated signals. Moreover, they plan to perform more and longer simulations to understand how the instability acts together with neutrino heating and enhances the efficiency of the latter. The goal is to ultimately clarify whether this conspiracy is the long-searched mechanism that triggers the supernova explosion and thus leaves behind the neutron star as compact remnant.
Jukely is a social concert app that helps friends get together a group to see a show and then acts as the ticketing agent. After quietly piloting in New York, Jukely formally launched at Techstars Demo Day with plans to serve 200 cities worldwide ? and to raise $500k today. Whereas other apps like ThrillCall and Bandsintown match an individual with upcoming shows they might like, the point of Jukely is to focus on your core group of friends and connect fans with similar music taste. If two of your friends indicate they want to see a certain band play, you’ll get a notification and you can then all buy tickets. Founder Bora Celik’s time as a concert promoter taught him a few things about the music industry: first, half of concert tickets are typically not sold, the equivalent of 24 billion dollars left on the table annually. Second, he noticed that getting people to a show was easy once they had a group together. Although Celik says he doesn’t want Jukely to become known as a ticketing app ? he wants people to come for the social aspect and stay for the easy purchase ? you do in fact buy tickets through the app. Jukely makes direct deals with promoters and serves as a sub-promoter to the masses. It’s clubby like that: when you get to the door, you just say you’re on the Jukely list. The plan is for Jukely to expand into creating awareness campaigns for artists’ managers and record labels. By pinging an artist’s superfans when there’s an upcoming show, they’ll also hit their friends in a ripple effect of notifications. When the artist goes on world tour, Jukely will be there every step of the way. Celik says Jukely is currently talking with Groupme to see if there is a way to integrate the two. Outside of existing friend groups, there’s also the possibility of Jukely serving to organizing concert night meet-ups among people going to the same show or simply connecting strangers with the same taste in music. In its pilot stage, Jukely saw 72% of users returning active, with 15% purchasing tickets. These numbers are solid, if a little revenue lean. However, if it helps build the popularity of live music it may just have a chance with artists, venues, and, most important, fans.
SANFORD, Fla. (AP) ? A friend of Trayvon Martin's who was on the phone with him shortly before his fatal fight with George Zimmerman testified Thursday that she thought the encounter was racially charged.
Rachel Jeantel testified for the second day in a row, saying she thought race was an issue because Martin told her he was being followed by a white man.
"He was being followed," Jeantel said.
Her answer came in response to questioning from defense attorney Don West about why she had given differing accounts about what she had heard over the phone when Martin first encountered Zimmerman on a rainy night on Feb. 26, 2012, at the Retreat at Twin Lakes townhome complex.
West suggested in his cross-examination that 19-year-old Jeantel had raised the racial issue in some accounts but not others. In some accounts, West implied, Jeantel said Zimmerman responded one way when he first encountered Martin, but in other accounts she said he responded another way. Jeantel gave her version of events in a deposition, in a letter to Martin's mother and in a recorded interview with an attorney for the Martin family.
Jeantel is one of the prosecution's most important witnesses because she bolsters the contention that Zimmerman was the aggressor. She was on the phone with Martin moments before he was fatally shot.
Jeantel testified Wednesday that her friend's last words were "Get off! Get off!" before the phone went silent. But on Thursday, under cross-examination, she conceded that she hadn't mentioned that in her account of what happened to Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton.
She had left out some details to spare Fulton's feelings, and also because neither Fulton nor the Martin family attorney asked her directly about them, Jeantel said. At one point, West handed her a letter she had written with the help of a friend to Martin's mother explaining what happened. She looked at it but then said she couldn't read cursive handwriting.
When asked by West if she had previously told investigators that she heard what sounded like somebody being hit at the end of her call with Martin, Jeantel said, "Trayvon got hit."
"You don't know that? Do you? You don't know that Trayvon got hit," West answered angrily. "You don't know that Trayvon didn't at that moment take his fists and drive them into George Zimmerman's face."
Later in the morning, West accused Jeantel of not calling police after she lost contact with Martin because she thought it was a fight he had provoked.
"That's why you weren't worried. That's why you didn't do anything because Trayvon Martin started the fight and you knew that," West said.
"No sir!" Jeantel said. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Jeantel recounted to jurors on Wednesday how Martin told her he was being followed by a man as he walked through the Retreat at Twin Lakes townhome complex on his way back from a convenience store to the home of his father's fiancee.
She testified that Martin described the man following him as "a creepy-ass cracker" and that he thought he had evaded him. But she said Martin told her a short time later the man was still behind him, and she told him to run.
Martin said Zimmerman was behind him and she heard Martin ask: "What are you following me for?"
In one account, according to West, she said Zimmerman responds, "What are you doing around here?" In another account, according to West, she says Zimmerman said, "What are you talking about?"
She then heard what sounded like Martin's phone earpiece dropping into wet grass, and she heard him say, "Get off! Get off!" The phone then went dead, she said.
Later, she bristled and teared up when West asked her why she didn't attend Martin's funeral and about lying about her age. She initially told Martin's parents she was a minor when she was 18. She said she didn't want to get involved in the case.
The exchanges also turned testy, including one moment when she urged West to move on to his next question: "You can go. You can go." And she gave him what seemed like a dirty look as he walked away after he had approached her on the stand to challenge her on differences between an initial interview she gave to Martin family attorney, Benjamin Crump, and a later deposition with the defense. Jeantel explained it by saying she "rushed" the interview with Crump because she didn't feel comfortable doing it.
And when the judge asked if both sides wanted to break for the day, prosecutors said they'd like to continue, believing the testimony could take another two hours, to which Jeantel reacted with surprise, repeating, "Two hours?" Instead, the judge decided to continue the cross examination Thursday, carefully instructing Jeantel to return at 9 a.m. and not discuss her testimony with anyone.
Jeantel's testimony was more subdued on Thursday, and West took note of her calmer demeanor. She answered many of West's questions by repeating "yes, sir," almost in a whisper.
"You feeling OK today? You seem different than yesterday," West said.
"I got some sleep," she answered.
Zimmerman, 29, could get life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder. Zimmerman followed Martin in his truck and called a police dispatch number before he and the teen got into a fight.
Zimmerman has said he opened fire only after the teenager jumped him and began slamming his head against the concrete sidewalk. Zimmerman identifies himself as Hispanic and has denied the confrontation had anything to do with race, as Martin's family and their supporters have claimed.
___
Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KHightower
Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP
In this Monday, June 10, 2013 photo, traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Global stock markets staged a modest recovery Wednesday, June 26, 2013 boosted by strong data releases that portray a U.S. economy on the upswing. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
NEW YORK (AP) ? The stock market is closing higher for the second day in a row.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 149 points, or 1 percent, to 14,910 points Wednesday.
It's the first two-day gain since the Federal Reserve said last week that it could end its bond-buying program by the middle of next year so long as the economy improves.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 15 points, or 1 percent, to 1,603. All 10 industry sectors in the S&P rose.
The Nasdaq composite index rose 28 points, or 0.9 percent, to 3,376.
Investors also bought bonds, sending the yield on the 10-year Treasury note down to 2.55 percent.
The price of gold fell to the lowest level in nearly three years.
June 27, 2013 ? Research scientists have developed a new method for stabilising areas with difficult soil mechanics. The concept is based on blowing expanded clay (Leca) spheres into enormous "sausage skins" made from geotextiles.
Building and renovation in steep, difficult terrain can be challenging. Urban areas where accessibility with construction vehicles is difficult pose similar problems.
These days, the prevalence of landslides, shifting sediments and unstable substrates is drawing increasing attention to these problems. Closed roads and railways and the evacuation of residential areas which have to be rehabilitated and rebuilt are expensive for society, and this has prompted researchers to think innovatively. "We have developed a solution in which material is simply blown into place, making it possible to get to places where space is limited, there is no access for construction machinery and existing roads or railway lines have collapsed, to mention just some of the problems," says Arnstein Watn, SINTEF's Research Director.
Advanced "geomaterials" make it possible Geotextiles are woven or knitted fabrics or nets based on polymers, which can be used to reinforce sedimentary masses. They are stacked up to create a light wall -- a kind of shuttering. The wall is then bonded firmly to the uncompacted material behind using hooks and an anchoring system which is also made from geotextiles. This solution saves both time and space because it does not require an access road for heavy construction machinery.
The result is a light, stable wall capable of withstanding slopes of up to 90 degrees, and which can also be concealed by various facings, such as turf, climbing plants or various types of fa?ade sheets as required. When the wall is in place, the space behind is filled with light expanded clay aggregate, either using conventional construction machinery or by blowing it in. "What makes the method unique is that it facilitates drainage and the result is light and stable as well as being easy to put in place," says Watn.
Already tested in the field SINTEF has been responsible for developing the technical solution and the construction method used. So far the method has been tested at two localities. At Saint-Gobain Weber's factory property in Fredrikstad, an embankment was first built in the form of a 2.5-metre high pilot wall to test the principle and construction process. Later, an almost five-metre high test wall was built at Weber's factory property in R?lingen, where erosion and surface slips on sloping ground were causing problems for the operation of the plant.
"Our experience with the field trials was very positive as regards both the development of the product itself and the building method. We now also have a demonstration site where interested parties can see the solution and various types of fa?ade coverings," says Arnstein Watn. "The system is primarily intended to enable the building of vertical structures without using large, heavy machinery," adds Oddvar Hyrve at Saint-Gobain Weber.
Contact: Albert Ang press@inderscience.com Inderscience Publishers
Ingestion of commonly encountered nanoparticles at typical environmental levels is unlikely to cause overt toxicity, according to US researchers. Nevertheless there is insufficient evidence to determine whether chronic exposures could lead to subtle alterations in intestinal immune function, protein profiles, or microbial balance.
Writing in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Biomedical Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, researchers have compared existing laboratory and experimental animal studies pertaining to the toxicity of nanoparticles most likely to be intentionally or accidentally ingested. Based on their review, the researchers determined ingestion of nanoparticles at likely exposure levels is unlikely to cause health problems, at least with respect to acute toxicity. Furthermore, in vitro laboratory testing, which often shows toxicity at a cellular level, does not correspond well with in vivo testing, which tends to show less adverse effects.
Ingrid Bergin in the Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Frank Witzmann in the Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, at Indiana University School of Medicine, in Indianapolis, explain that the use of particles that are in the nano size range (from 1 billionth to 100 billionths of a meter in diameter, 1-100 nm, other thereabouts) are finding applications in consumer products and medicine. These include particles such as nano-silver, which is increasingly used in consumer products and dietary supplements for its purported antimicrobial properties. Nanoparticles can have some intriguing and useful properties because they do not necessarily behave in the same chemical and physical ways as non-nanoparticle versions of the same material.
Nanoparticles are now used as natural flavor enhancers in the form of liposomes and related materials, food pigments and in some so-called "health supplements". They are also used in antibacterial toothbrushes coated with silver nanoparticles, for instance in food and drink containers and in hygienic infant feeding equipment. They are also used to carry pharmaceuticals to specific disease sites in the body to reduce side effects. Nanoparticles actually encompass a very wide range of materials from pure metals and alloys, to metal oxide nanoparticles, and carbon-based and plastic nanoparticles. Because of their increasing utilization in consumer products, there has been concern over whether these small scale materials could have unique toxicity effects when compared to more traditional versions of the same materials.
Difficulties in assessing the health risks of nanoparticles include the fact that particles of differing materials and shapes can have different properties. Furthermore, the route of exposure (e.g. ingestion vs. inhalation) affects the likelihood of toxicity. The U.S. researchers evaluated the current literature specifically with respect to toxicity of ingested nanoparticles. They point out that, in addition to intentional ingestion as with dietary supplements, unintentional ingestion can occur due to nanoparticle presence in water or as a breakdown product from coated consumer goods. Inhaled nanoparticles also represent an ingestion hazard since they are coughed up, swallowed, and eliminated through the intestinal tract.
Based on their review, the team concludes that, "Ingested nanoparticles appear unlikely to have acute or severe toxic effects at typical levels of exposure." Nevertheless, they add that the current literature is inadequate to assess whether nanoparticles can accumulate in tissues and have long-term effects or whether they might cause subtle alterations in gut microbial populations. The researchers stress that better methods are needed for correlating particle concentrations used for cell-based assessment of toxicity with the actual likely exposure levels to body cells. Such methods may lead to better predictive value for laboratory in vitro testing, which currently over-predicts toxicity of ingested nanoparticles as compared to in vivo testing.
###
"Nanoparticle toxicity by the gastrointestinal route: evidence and knowledge gaps" in Int. J. Biomed Nanosci Nanotechnol, 2013, 3, 163-210
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Albert Ang press@inderscience.com Inderscience Publishers
Ingestion of commonly encountered nanoparticles at typical environmental levels is unlikely to cause overt toxicity, according to US researchers. Nevertheless there is insufficient evidence to determine whether chronic exposures could lead to subtle alterations in intestinal immune function, protein profiles, or microbial balance.
Writing in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Biomedical Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, researchers have compared existing laboratory and experimental animal studies pertaining to the toxicity of nanoparticles most likely to be intentionally or accidentally ingested. Based on their review, the researchers determined ingestion of nanoparticles at likely exposure levels is unlikely to cause health problems, at least with respect to acute toxicity. Furthermore, in vitro laboratory testing, which often shows toxicity at a cellular level, does not correspond well with in vivo testing, which tends to show less adverse effects.
Ingrid Bergin in the Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Frank Witzmann in the Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, at Indiana University School of Medicine, in Indianapolis, explain that the use of particles that are in the nano size range (from 1 billionth to 100 billionths of a meter in diameter, 1-100 nm, other thereabouts) are finding applications in consumer products and medicine. These include particles such as nano-silver, which is increasingly used in consumer products and dietary supplements for its purported antimicrobial properties. Nanoparticles can have some intriguing and useful properties because they do not necessarily behave in the same chemical and physical ways as non-nanoparticle versions of the same material.
Nanoparticles are now used as natural flavor enhancers in the form of liposomes and related materials, food pigments and in some so-called "health supplements". They are also used in antibacterial toothbrushes coated with silver nanoparticles, for instance in food and drink containers and in hygienic infant feeding equipment. They are also used to carry pharmaceuticals to specific disease sites in the body to reduce side effects. Nanoparticles actually encompass a very wide range of materials from pure metals and alloys, to metal oxide nanoparticles, and carbon-based and plastic nanoparticles. Because of their increasing utilization in consumer products, there has been concern over whether these small scale materials could have unique toxicity effects when compared to more traditional versions of the same materials.
Difficulties in assessing the health risks of nanoparticles include the fact that particles of differing materials and shapes can have different properties. Furthermore, the route of exposure (e.g. ingestion vs. inhalation) affects the likelihood of toxicity. The U.S. researchers evaluated the current literature specifically with respect to toxicity of ingested nanoparticles. They point out that, in addition to intentional ingestion as with dietary supplements, unintentional ingestion can occur due to nanoparticle presence in water or as a breakdown product from coated consumer goods. Inhaled nanoparticles also represent an ingestion hazard since they are coughed up, swallowed, and eliminated through the intestinal tract.
Based on their review, the team concludes that, "Ingested nanoparticles appear unlikely to have acute or severe toxic effects at typical levels of exposure." Nevertheless, they add that the current literature is inadequate to assess whether nanoparticles can accumulate in tissues and have long-term effects or whether they might cause subtle alterations in gut microbial populations. The researchers stress that better methods are needed for correlating particle concentrations used for cell-based assessment of toxicity with the actual likely exposure levels to body cells. Such methods may lead to better predictive value for laboratory in vitro testing, which currently over-predicts toxicity of ingested nanoparticles as compared to in vivo testing.
###
"Nanoparticle toxicity by the gastrointestinal route: evidence and knowledge gaps" in Int. J. Biomed Nanosci Nanotechnol, 2013, 3, 163-210
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
While Disney and Marvel Studios prepare for the home video release of?Iron Man 3 as it nears the end of its theatrical run, and while?Captain America 2, Thor 2 and?Guardians of the Galaxy overlap production, Marvel?s placed the attention of fans even further into the future. Adding to the five confirmed features releasing between and the end of 2015, there are three unannounced Marvel Studios films with dates in 2016-17.
The three projects were made official over the last two weeks, representing the bulk of Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which kicks off with?Ant-Man in November 2015. With Marvel now expected to release details on their?new slate of upcoming projects at Comic-Con next month, will we finally learn who will star in?Ant-Man?
Looking past rumors about the two new characters, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, joining Joss Whedon?s?Avengers sequel, one of the most important characters Marvel must cast in the near future is the protagonist spearheading Phase Three. It may be a stretch, but Armie Hammer (The Social Network)?earning his spot in the Disney family by starring as the titular character alongside Disney go-to-man?Johnny Depp in The Lone Ranger, makes us curious as to whether or not Dsiney and Marvel have him eyed to one day joins Earth?s Mightiest. Why would we think that? He recently visited the set of Captain America: The Winter Soldier so?during Disney?s press junket for?The Lone Ranger?last week, Amy Nicholson asked him.
Ant-Man costume from Edgar Wright?s test footage
Hammer?s awkward, dodgy and at times, funny responses to the topic really got us thinking.
So, you and Edgar Wright visited the?Captain America 2?set?
Me and Edgar? Who?s Edgar? The actor?
The director. Edgar Wright.
Edgar Wright?
Is this an act? If this is an act, you?re convincing.
No, it?s not an act. Who?s Edgar Wright?
The supposed director of?Ant-Man.
Of what?
Ant-Man.
Ant-Man??Oh! Wait! You think you know something! No, there?s nothing! What do you know? What?s the rumor?
That you were spotted on the?Captain America 2?set with Edgar Wright.
No, there?s nothing.
Really?
Yeah!
Really.
I promise. I promise-promise. Ant-Man?
You?re saying it like you?ve never heard of him before.
No, I know the character Ant-Man?like, the comic book character.
You can?t tell me that this is the first time you?ve heard the rumor that you?re playing Ant-Man.
First in my life. I swear to god, cross my heart, hope to die. Amy! [Turns to his publicist Amy, who says, '"I've never heard of that ever ever. Who's Ant-Man?"] They make him shrink! You?re a news-breaker right there.
Potentially fictitious, apparently.
Well, it works. [Fake enthusiasm] I?m doing?Ant-Man, I?m?very?excited about it. Me and Edgar.
Congrats.
I did go visit the set, though. Not with Edgar.
With who?
Just by myself.
Any reason?
Um? a buddy of mine was working on the movie so I just wanted to go say hi.
[Update: Armie admitted he was on set visiting a friend but denied that Edgar was there as well. Edgar took to Twitter to say as much, and that he hasn't even met Mr. Hammer.]
But... I haven't been on the Cap 2 set...
? edgarwright (@edgarwright) June 25, 2013
Or met Mr. Hammer...
? edgarwright (@edgarwright) June 25, 2013
From pretending to not know anything to admitting he was on the set of Captain America 2. Maybe Mr. Hammer was just going to visit a friend, maybe it was something more. With rumors that we?ll meet the?Guardians of the Galaxy at Comic-Con, and that the event may see?Doctor Strange?finally become an official part of Marvel?s big screen future, it would be the place to announce any major castings as well. Ant-Man is still quite a while away but with its 2015 release date, it should begin shooting late next year. Marvel president and film producer Kevin Feige spoke earlier this year about the casting of?Ant-Man?which may provide a hint on the timeline of casting:
?We?ve talked about various names over the past eight years, but as you can imagine, they keep changing as time goes by. But toward the end of this year, we?ll buckle down and start casting and start refining the script.?
Would Armie Hammer make for a good Ant-Man? Would you like to see him play another character in the MCU? Here are 10 actors we listed a while back for who could play?Ant-Man.
_____
Iron Man 3?is currently in theaters,?Thor: The Dark World?on November 8, 2013,?Captain America: The Winter Soldier?on April 4, 2014,?Guardians of the Galaxy?on?August 1, 2014,?The Avengers 2?on May 1, 2015,?Ant-Man?on November 6, 2015, and unannounced films for?May 6 2016, July 8 2016 and?May 5 2017.
Follow Amy on Twitter @TheAmyNicholson and?Rob @rob_keyes.
June 25, 2013 ? A team of astronomers has combined new observations of Gliese 667C with existing data from HARPS at ESO's 3.6-metre telescope in Chile, to reveal a system with at least six planets. A record-breaking three of these planets are super-Earths lying in the zone around the star where liquid water could exist, making them possible candidates for the presence of life. This is the first system found with a fully packed habitable zone.
Gliese 667C is a very well-studied star. Just over one third of the mass of the Sun, it is part of a triple star system known as Gliese 667 (also referred to as GJ 667), 22 light-years away in the constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion). This is quite close to us -- within the Sun's neighbourhood -- and much closer than the star systems investigated using telescopes such as the planet-hunting Kepler space telescope.
Previous studies of Gliese 667C had found that the star hosts three planets with one of them in the habitable zone. Now, a team of astronomers led by Guillem Anglada-Escud? of the University of G?ttingen, Germany and Mikko Tuomi of the University of Hertfordshire, UK, has reexamined the system. They have added new HARPS observations, along with data from ESO's Very Large Telescope, the W.M. Keck Observatory and the Magellan Telescopes, to the already existing picture [1]. The team has found evidence for up to seven planets around the star [2].
These planets orbit the third fainter star of a triple star system. Viewed from one of these newly found planets the two other suns would look like a pair of very bright stars visible in the daytime and at night they would provide as much illumination as the full Moon. The new planets completely fill up the habitable zone of Gliese 667C, as there are no more stable orbits in which a planet could exist at the right distance to it.
"We knew that the star had three planets from previous studies, so we wanted to see whether there were any more," says Tuomi. "By adding some new observations and revisiting existing data we were able to confirm these three and confidently reveal several more. Finding three low-mass planets in the star's habitable zone is very exciting!"
Three of these planets are confirmed to be super-Earths -- planets more massive than Earth, but less massive than planets like Uranus or Neptune -- that are within their star's habitable zone, a thin shell around a star in which water may be present in liquid form if conditions are right. This is the first time that three such planets have been spotted orbiting in this zone in the same system [3].
"The number of potentially habitable planets in our galaxy is much greater if we can expect to find several of them around each low-mass star -- instead of looking at ten stars to look for a single potentially habitable planet, we now know we can look at just one star and find several of them," adds co-author Rory Barnes (University of Washington, USA).
Compact systems around Sun-like stars have been found to be abundant in the Milky Way. Around such stars, planets orbiting close to the parent star are very hot and are unlikely to be habitable. But this is not true for cooler and dimmer stars such as Gliese 667C. In this case the habitable zone lies entirely within an orbit the size of Mercury's, much closer in than for our Sun. The Gliese 667C system is the first example of a system where such a low-mass star is seen to host several potentially rocky planets in the habitable zone.
The ESO scientist responsible for HARPS, Gaspare Lo Curto, remarks: "This exciting result was largely made possible by the power of HARPS and its associated software and it also underlines the value of the ESO archive. It is very good to also see several independent research groups exploiting this unique instrument and achieving the ultimate precision."
And Anglada-Escud? concludes: "These new results highlight how valuable it can be to re-analyse data in this way and combine results from different teams on different telescopes."
Notes
[1] The team used data from the UVES spectrograph on ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile (to determine the properties of the star accurately), the Carnegie Planet Finder Spectrograph (PFS) at the 6.5-metre Magellan II Telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, the HIRES spectrograph mounted on the Keck 10-metre telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii as well as extensive previous data from HARPS (the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher) at ESO's 3.6-metre telescope in Chile (gathered through the M dwarf programme led by X. Bonfils and M. Mayor 2003-2010.
[2] The team looked at radial velocity data of Gliese 667C, a method often used to hunt for exoplanets. They performed a robust Bayesian statistical analysis to spot the signals of the planets. The first five signals are very confident, while the sixth is tentative, and seventh more tentative still. This system consists of three habitable-zone super-Earths, two hot planets further in, and two cooler planets further out. The planets in the habitable zone and those closer to the star are expected to always have the same side facing the star, so that their day and year will be the same lengths, with one side in perpetual sunshine and the other always night.
[3] In the Solar System Venus orbits close to the inner edge of the habitable zone and Mars close to the outer edge. The precise extent of the habitable zone depends on many factors.
Google's Cloud Platform holds a certain amount of appeal for developers looking to quickly build robust web apps. Of course, getting started is a bit involved. You'll first need to download and install several tools and an SDK on your local machine. Cloud Playground offers the chance to dip your toes in the water and experiment with services like App Engine, Cloud Storage and Cloud SQL sans the lengthy installation process. The browser-based tool is designed for testing out sample code, evaluating APIs and even sharing code snippets without the hassle of building a complete development environment. This isn't a proper solution to web-based development, however. For now you're limited to Python 2.7 App Engine apps, and the code editor and mimic development server have a rather basic feature set. Still, for those who are tempted by Cloud Platform, but not quite ready to dive in head first, the Playground is a welcome treat.
'Singing' rats show hope for older humans with age-related voice problemsPublic release date: 24-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Chelsey B. Coombs diya@illinois.edu 217-333-5802 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. A new study shows that the vocal training of older rats reduces some of the voice problems related to their aging, such as the loss of vocal intensity that accompanies changes in the muscles of the larynx. This is an animal model of a vocal pathology that many humans face as they age. The researchers hope that in the future, voice therapy in aging humans will help improve their quality of life.
The research appears in the Journals of Gerontology.
University of Illinois speech and hearing science professor Aaron Johnson, who led the new study along with his colleagues at the University of Wisconsin, said that aging can cause the muscles of the larynx, the organ that contains the vocal folds, to atrophy. This condition, called presbyphonia, may be treatable with vocal training, he said.
Johnson explains in a healthy, young larynx the vocal folds completely close and open during vibration. This creates little puffs of air we hear as sound. In people with presbyphonia, however, the atrophied vocal folds do not close properly, resulting in a gap during vocal fold vibration.
Degradation of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), or the interface between the nerve that signals the vocal muscle to work and the muscle itself, also contributes to the symptoms of presbyphonia, Johnson said. In a healthy human, when the signal reaches the NMJ, it triggers a release of chemicals that signal the muscle to contract. But an age-related decline in the NMJ can cause weakness and fatigue in the muscle, and may result in a person having a breathy or weak voice and to become fatigued as a result of the extra effort needed to communicate.
Surgery and injections may help correct the gap between the vocal folds seen in presbyphonia, but these invasive procedures are often not viable in the elderly population, Johnson said.
His previous experience working with the elderly as a former classical singer and voice teacher propelled Johnson to "become interested in what we can do as we get older to keep our voices healthy and strong."
"We know exercise strengthens the limb musculature, but we wanted to know if vocal exercise can strengthen the muscles of the voice," Johnson said.
To find out if vocal training could have an effect on the strength and physiology of the vocal muscles in humans, Johnson turned to a rat model. Rats make ultrasonic vocalizations that are above the range of human hearing, but special recording equipment and a computer that lowers the frequency of the rat calls allows humans to perceive them. (They sound a bit like bird calls).
Because rats and humans utilize similar neuromuscular mechanisms to vocalize, the rats make ideal subjects for the study of human vocal characteristics, Johnson said.
Both the treatment and control groups contained old and young male rats. In the treatment group, a female rat was placed into a cage with a male rat. When the male expressed interest in her, the female was removed from the cage, causing the male rat to vocalize. The male was rewarded with food for these vocalizations, and after eight weeks of this operant conditioning in which rewards were only given for certain responses, all of the rats in the treatment group had been trained to increase their number of vocalizations during a training session.
At the end of the eight-week period, the researchers measured the intensity of the rats' vocalizations and analyzed the animals' larynges to see whether the training had any effect on the condition of their neuromuscular junctions.
The researchers found the trained old and young rats had similar average vocal intensities, but the untrained older rats had lower average intensities than both the trained rats and the young rats that had not been trained. They also found several age-related differences within the groups' neuromuscular mechanisms.
"Other research has found that in the elderly, there is a dispersion, or breaking apart, of the neuromuscular junction at the side that is on the muscle itself," Johnson said. "We found that in the older rats that received training, it wasn't as dispersed," Johnson said.
These "singing rats" are the "first evidence that vocal use and vocal training can change the neuromuscular system of the larynx," Johnson said.
"While this isn't a human study, I think this tells us that we can train ourselves to use our voices and not only reduce the effects of age on the muscles of our voices, but actually improve voices that have degraded," Johnson said.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
'Singing' rats show hope for older humans with age-related voice problemsPublic release date: 24-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Chelsey B. Coombs diya@illinois.edu 217-333-5802 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. A new study shows that the vocal training of older rats reduces some of the voice problems related to their aging, such as the loss of vocal intensity that accompanies changes in the muscles of the larynx. This is an animal model of a vocal pathology that many humans face as they age. The researchers hope that in the future, voice therapy in aging humans will help improve their quality of life.
The research appears in the Journals of Gerontology.
University of Illinois speech and hearing science professor Aaron Johnson, who led the new study along with his colleagues at the University of Wisconsin, said that aging can cause the muscles of the larynx, the organ that contains the vocal folds, to atrophy. This condition, called presbyphonia, may be treatable with vocal training, he said.
Johnson explains in a healthy, young larynx the vocal folds completely close and open during vibration. This creates little puffs of air we hear as sound. In people with presbyphonia, however, the atrophied vocal folds do not close properly, resulting in a gap during vocal fold vibration.
Degradation of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), or the interface between the nerve that signals the vocal muscle to work and the muscle itself, also contributes to the symptoms of presbyphonia, Johnson said. In a healthy human, when the signal reaches the NMJ, it triggers a release of chemicals that signal the muscle to contract. But an age-related decline in the NMJ can cause weakness and fatigue in the muscle, and may result in a person having a breathy or weak voice and to become fatigued as a result of the extra effort needed to communicate.
Surgery and injections may help correct the gap between the vocal folds seen in presbyphonia, but these invasive procedures are often not viable in the elderly population, Johnson said.
His previous experience working with the elderly as a former classical singer and voice teacher propelled Johnson to "become interested in what we can do as we get older to keep our voices healthy and strong."
"We know exercise strengthens the limb musculature, but we wanted to know if vocal exercise can strengthen the muscles of the voice," Johnson said.
To find out if vocal training could have an effect on the strength and physiology of the vocal muscles in humans, Johnson turned to a rat model. Rats make ultrasonic vocalizations that are above the range of human hearing, but special recording equipment and a computer that lowers the frequency of the rat calls allows humans to perceive them. (They sound a bit like bird calls).
Because rats and humans utilize similar neuromuscular mechanisms to vocalize, the rats make ideal subjects for the study of human vocal characteristics, Johnson said.
Both the treatment and control groups contained old and young male rats. In the treatment group, a female rat was placed into a cage with a male rat. When the male expressed interest in her, the female was removed from the cage, causing the male rat to vocalize. The male was rewarded with food for these vocalizations, and after eight weeks of this operant conditioning in which rewards were only given for certain responses, all of the rats in the treatment group had been trained to increase their number of vocalizations during a training session.
At the end of the eight-week period, the researchers measured the intensity of the rats' vocalizations and analyzed the animals' larynges to see whether the training had any effect on the condition of their neuromuscular junctions.
The researchers found the trained old and young rats had similar average vocal intensities, but the untrained older rats had lower average intensities than both the trained rats and the young rats that had not been trained. They also found several age-related differences within the groups' neuromuscular mechanisms.
"Other research has found that in the elderly, there is a dispersion, or breaking apart, of the neuromuscular junction at the side that is on the muscle itself," Johnson said. "We found that in the older rats that received training, it wasn't as dispersed," Johnson said.
These "singing rats" are the "first evidence that vocal use and vocal training can change the neuromuscular system of the larynx," Johnson said.
"While this isn't a human study, I think this tells us that we can train ourselves to use our voices and not only reduce the effects of age on the muscles of our voices, but actually improve voices that have degraded," Johnson said.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Jukely is a social concert app that helps friends get together a group to see a show and then acts as the ticketing agent. After quietly piloting in New York, Jukely formally launched at Techstars Demo Day with plans to serve 200 cities worldwide ? and to raise $500k today. Whereas other apps like ThrillCall and Bandsintown match an individual with upcoming shows they might like, the point of Jukely is to focus on your core group of friends and connect fans with similar music taste. If two of your friends indicate they want to see a certain band play, you’ll get a notification and you can then all buy tickets. Founder Bora Celik’s time as a concert promoter taught him a few things about the music industry: first, half of concert tickets are typically not sold, the equivalent of 24 billion dollars left on the table annually. Second, he noticed that getting people to a show was easy once they had a group together. Although Celik says he doesn’t want Jukely to become known as a ticketing app ? he wants people to come for the social aspect and stay for the easy purchase ? you do in fact buy tickets through the app. Jukely makes direct deals with promoters and serves as a sub-promoter to the masses. It’s clubby like that: when you get to the door, you just say you’re on the Jukely list. The plan is for Jukely to expand into creating awareness campaigns for artists’ managers and record labels. By pinging an artist’s superfans when there’s an upcoming show, they’ll also hit their friends in a ripple effect of notifications. When the artist goes on world tour, Jukely will be there every step of the way. Celik says Jukely is currently talking with Groupme to see if there is a way to integrate the two. Outside of existing friend groups, there’s also the possibility of Jukely serving to organizing concert night meet-ups among people going to the same show or simply connecting strangers with the same taste in music. In its pilot stage, Jukely saw 72% of users returning active, with 15% purchasing tickets. These numbers are solid, if a little revenue lean. However, if it helps build the popularity of live music it may just have a chance with artists, venues, and, most important, fans.![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_t0M80tE9cbxVqu9eEW1q8fwSnZQ13o5ri3Pi9In-gtQfkKTlpJrrYXIf_zuOS1Ex2CNklPS6m47HKehFa7A4V_DNZRv1t_ycKdS4qMpXA=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 26-Jun-2013
Share ] 
![Disney Armie Hammer The Lone Ranger No Mask Armie Hammer Spotted on Captain America 2 Set; Is He Going To Play Ant Man? [Updated]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_txHoncuEtSj3iI1-lwoH76D4FvGp3-wzwzuKVrxhUzSgfj7QMwdT-hlxvENkUEZ7Jh-vaMuWOAT1lPVkcwmDE5jS9eOKFnhpCmem4E7lhCZjBgYlLEU61-9Yu6jvRqKisQlu_3uSdJBVL1MLDk2indok3KmPmDrn8-VCM0OHJg=s0-d "Armie Hammer Spotted on Captain America 2 Set; Is He Going To Play Ant Man? [Updated]")
![Ant Man Movie Costume Helmet 570x320 Armie Hammer Spotted on Captain America 2 Set; Is He Going To Play Ant Man? [Updated]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_t7krZfhX3-EqqEVZkYwwRPbI7uKlbkCcLRapldP4Z63M5YGYLeuZxAOqpdhiLX72Un45jvz7fkIMyo2ZJ8k4xRVSTIKUND_D5tQMgCt1_yR5fp2pqMQ4u9ObZ-CWYjwZSILlNPUh4hR_2vznEhuWf3fkDzip7b4YI=s0-d "Ant-Man Movie Costume Helmet")
![Ant Man 2015 Release Date Armie Hammer Spotted on Captain America 2 Set; Is He Going To Play Ant Man? [Updated]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sBW5fdSwLU0QevppwFp3nYq0g579l7jH6u4__A4qwRUY47iQC-giWqmHzxMb9iQhAD1je0R7N-W8-P2oLYhN7OngG6JDOyrw9T2RUzYKlNsVmoTwCbZ7Wwd-jRzq3UOliXL7FasicnW_mDNpw=s0-d "Armie Hammer Spotted on Captain America 2 Set; Is He Going To Play Ant Man? [Updated]")
