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Monday, February 4, 2013

Pioneering research helps to unravel the brain's vision secrets

Feb. 3, 2013 ? A new study led by scientists at the Universities of York and Bradford has identified the two areas of the brain responsible for our perception of orientation and shape.

Using sophisticated imaging equipment at York Neuroimaging Centre (YNiC), the research found that the two neighbouring areas of the cortex -- each about the size of a 5p coin and known as human visual field maps -- process the different types of visual information independently.

The scientists, from the Department of Psychology at York and the Bradford School of Optometry & Vision Science established how the two areas worked by subjecting them to magnetic fields for a short period which disrupted their normal brain activity. The research which is reported in Nature Neuroscience represents an important step forward in understanding how the brain processes visual information.

Attention now switches to a further four areas of the extra-striate cortex which are also responsible for visual function but whose specific individual roles are unknown.

The study was designed by Professor Tony Morland, of York's Department of Psychology and the Hull York Medical School, and Dr Declan McKeefry, of the Bradford School of Optometry and Vision Science at the University of Bradford. It was undertaken as part of a PhD by Edward Silson at York.

Researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) equipment at YNiC to pinpoint the two brain areas, which they subsequently targeted with magnetic fields that temporarily disrupt neural activity. They found that one area had a specialised and causal role in processing orientation while neural activity in the other underpinned the processing of shape defined by differences in curvature.

Professor Morland said: "Measuring activity across the brain with FMRI can't tell us what causal role different areas play in our perception. It is by disrupting brain function in specific areas that allows the causal role of that area to be assessed.

"Historically, neuropsychologists have found out a lot about the human brain by examining people who have had permanent disruption of certain parts of the brain because of injury to it. Unfortunately, brain damage seldom occurs at the spatial scale that allows the function of small neighbouring areas to be understood. Our approach is to temporarily disrupt brain activity by applying brief magnetic fields. When these fields are applied to one, small area of the brain, we find that orientation tasks are harder, while disrupting activity in this area's nearest neighbour only affected the ability to perceive shapes."

Dr McKeefry added: "The combination of modern brain scanning technology along with magnetic neuro-stimulation techniques provides us with a powerful means by which we can study the workings of the living human brain.

"The results that we report in this paper provide new insights into how the human brain embarks upon the complex task of analysing objects that we see in the world around us.

"Our work demonstrates how processing of different aspects of visual objects, such as orientation and shape, occurs in different brain areas that lie side by side. The ultimate challenge will be to reveal how this information is combined across these and other brain areas and how it ultimately leads to object recognition."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of York, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Edward H Silson, Declan J McKeefry, Jessica Rodgers, Andre D Gouws, Mark Hymers & Antony B Morland. Specialized and independent processing of orientation and shape in visual field maps LO1 and LO2. Nature Neuroscience, 2013 DOI: 10.1038/nn.3327

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/YNIcNhtOjlY/130203145511.htm

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New rules aim to get rid of junk foods in schools

FILE - In this Sept. 12, 2012 file photo, side salads, apple sauce and plums await the students of Eastside Elementary School in Clinton, Miss. The government for the first time is proposing broad new standards to make school snacks healthier, a move that would ban the sale of almost all candy, high-calorie sports drinks and greasy foods on campus. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Most candy, high-calorie drinks and greasy meals could soon be on a food blacklist in the nation's schools.

For the first time, the government is proposing broad new standards to make sure all foods sold in schools are more healthful.

Under the new rules the Agriculture Department proposed Friday, foods like fatty chips, snack cakes, nachos and mozzarella sticks would be taken out of lunch lines and vending machines. In their place would be foods like baked chips, trail mix, diet sodas, lower-calorie sports drinks and low-fat hamburgers.

The rules, required under a child nutrition law passed by Congress in 2010, are part of the government's effort to combat childhood obesity. While many schools already have improved their lunch menus and vending machine choices, others still are selling high-fat, high-calorie foods.

Under the proposal, the Agriculture Department would set fat, calorie, sugar and sodium limits on almost all foods sold in schools. Current standards already regulate the nutritional content of school breakfasts and lunches that are subsidized by the federal government, but most lunchrooms also have "a la carte" lines that sell other foods. Food sold through vending machines and in other ways outside the lunchroom has never before been federally regulated.

"Parents and teachers work hard to instill healthy eating habits in our kids, and these efforts should be supported when kids walk through the schoolhouse door," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.

Most snacks sold in school would have to have less than 200 calories. Elementary and middle schools could sell only water, low-fat milk or 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice. High schools could sell some sports drinks, diet sodas and iced teas, but the calories would be limited. Drinks would be limited to 12-ounce portions in middle schools and to 8-ounce portions in elementary schools.

The standards will cover vending machines, the "a la carte" lunch lines, snack bars and any other foods regularly sold around school. They would not apply to in-school fundraisers or bake sales, though states have the power to regulate them. The new guidelines also would not apply to after-school concessions at school games or theater events, goodies brought from home for classroom celebrations, or anything students bring for their own personal consumption.

The new rules are the latest in a long list of changes designed to make foods served in schools more healthful and accessible. Nutritional guidelines for the subsidized lunches were revised last year and put in place last fall. The 2010 child nutrition law also provided more money for schools to serve free and reduced-cost lunches and required more meals to be served to hungry kids.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, has been working for two decades to take junk foods out of schools. He calls the availability of unhealthful foods around campus a "loophole" that undermines the taxpayer money that helps pay for the healthier subsidized lunches.

"USDA's proposed nutrition standards are a critical step in closing that loophole and in ensuring that our schools are places that nurture not just the minds of American children but their bodies as well," Harkin said.

Last year's rules faced criticism from some conservatives, including some Republicans in Congress, who said the government shouldn't be telling kids what to eat. Mindful of that backlash, the Agriculture Department exempted in-school fundraisers from federal regulation and proposed different options for some parts of the rule, including the calorie limits for drinks in high schools, which would be limited to either 60 calories or 75 calories in a 12-ounce portion.

The department also has shown a willingness to work with schools to resolve complaints that some new requirements are hard to meet. Last year, for example, the government relaxed some limits on meats and grains in subsidized lunches after school nutritionists said they weren't working.

Schools, the food industry, interest groups and other critics or supporters of the new proposal will have 60 days to comment and suggest changes. A final rule could be in place as soon as the 2014 school year.

Margo Wootan, a nutrition lobbyist for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said surveys by her organization show that most parents want changes in the lunchroom.

"Parents aren't going to have to worry that kids are using their lunch money to buy candy bars and a Gatorade instead of a healthy school lunch," she said.

The food industry has been onboard with many of the changes, and several companies worked with Congress on the child nutrition law two years ago. Major beverage companies have already agreed to take the most caloric sodas out of schools. But those same companies, including Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, also sell many of the non-soda options, like sports drinks, and have lobbied to keep them in vending machines.

A spokeswoman for the American Beverage Association, which represents the soda companies, says they already have greatly reduced the number of calories that kids are consuming at school by pulling out the high-calorie sodas.

___

Follow Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mcjalonick

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-02-Healthier%20School%20Foods/id-6f77b701621346b6beccdbf5f500c179

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Friday, February 1, 2013

U.S. calls embassy blast an 'act of terror'

ANKARA (Reuters) - A far-leftist suicide bomber killed a Turkish security guard at the U.S. embassy in Ankara on Friday, officials said, blowing open an entrance and sending debris flying through the air.

The attacker detonated explosives strapped to his body after entering an embassy gatehouse. The blast could be heard a mile away. A lower leg and other human remains lay on the street.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said the bomber was a member of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), a far-left group which is virulently anti-U.S. and anti-NATO and is listed as a terrorist organization by Washington.

The White House said the suicide attack was an "act of terror" but that the motivation was unclear. U.S. officials said the DHKP-C were the main suspects but did not exclude other possibilities.

Islamist radicals, extreme left-wing groups, ultra-nationalists and Kurdish militants have all carried out attacks in Turkey in the past. There was no claim of responsibility.

"The suicide bomber was ripped apart and one or two citizens from the special security team passed away," said Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

"This event shows that we need to fight together everywhere in the world against these terrorist elements," he said.

Turkish media reports identified the bomber as DHKP-C member Ecevit Sanli, who was involved in attacks on a police station and a military staff college in Istanbul in 1997.

KEY ALLY

Turkey is a key U.S. ally in the Middle East with common interests ranging from energy security to counter-terrorism and has been one of the leading advocates of foreign intervention to end the conflict in neighboring Syria.

Around 400 U.S. soldiers have arrived in Turkey over the past few weeks to operate Patriot anti-missile batteries meant to defend against any spillover of Syria's civil war, part of a NATO deployment due to be fully operational in the coming days.

The DHKP-C was responsible for the assassination of two U.S. military contractors in the early 1990s in protest against the first Gulf War and launched rockets at the U.S. consulate in Istanbul in 1992, according to the U.S. State Department.

Deemed a terrorist organization by both the United States and Turkey, the DHKP-C has been blamed for suicide attacks in the past, including one in 2001 that killed two police officers and a tourist in Istanbul's central Taksim Square.

The group, formed in 1978, has carried out a series of deadly attacks on police stations in the last six months.

The attack may have come in retaliation for an operation against the DHKP-C last month in which Turkish police detained 85 people. A court subsequently remanded 38 of them in custody over links to the group.

"HUGE EXPLOSION"

U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardone emerged through the main gate of the embassy shortly after the explosion to address reporters, flanked by a security detail as a Turkish police helicopter hovered overhead.

"We're very sad of course that we lost one of our Turkish guards at the gate," Ricciardone said, describing the victim as a "hero" and thanking Turkish authorities for a prompt response.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland condemned the attack on the checkpoint on the perimeter of the embassy and said several U.S. and Turkish staff were injured by debris.

"The level of security protection at our facility in Ankara ensured that there were not significantly more deaths and injuries than there could have been," she told reporters.

It was the second attack on a U.S. mission in four months. On September 11, 2012, U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three American personnel were killed in an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

The attack in Benghazi, blamed on al Qaeda-affiliated militants, sparked a political furor in Washington over accusations that U.S. missions were not adequately safeguarded.

A well-known Turkish journalist, Didem Tuncay, who was on her way in to the embassy to meet Ricciardone when the attack took place, was in a critical condition in hospital.

"It was a huge explosion. I was sitting in my shop when it happened. I saw what looked like a body part on the ground," said travel agent Kamiyar Barnos, whose shop window was shattered around 100 meters away from the blast.

CALL FOR VIGILANCE

The U.S. consulate in Istanbul warned its citizens to be vigilant and to avoid large gatherings, while the British mission in Istanbul called on British businesses to tighten security after what it called a "suspected terrorist attack".

In 2008, Turkish gunmen with suspected links to al Qaeda, opened fire on the U.S. consulate in Istanbul, killing three Turkish policemen. The gunmen died in the subsequent firefight.

The most serious bombings in Turkey occurred in November 2003, when car bombs shattered two synagogues, killing 30 people and wounding 146. Part of the HSBC Bank headquarters was destroyed and the British consulate was damaged in two more explosions that killed 32 people less than a week later. Authorities said those attacks bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda.

(Additional reporting by Daren Butler and Ayla Jean Yackley in Istanbul, Mohammed Arshad and Mark Hosenball in Washington; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Stephen Powell)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blast-front-u-embassy-ankara-wounded-media-113357754.html

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Spurs Popovich to coach West All-Stars

NEW YORK (AP) - San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich will coach the Western Conference All-Stars for the third time in his career.

Popovich earned the spot after San Antonio beat Charlotte 102-78 on Wednesday, ensuring the Spurs (37-11, .771) will have the best record in the West through games played Sunday.

The Oklahoma City Thunder's Scott Brooks was not eligible to coach in this year's midseason classic by virtue of having coached the West team in last year's game.

Popovich, in his 17th season as San Antonio's head coach, has led the Spurs to four NBA championships. He coached the West All-Stars in 2005 and 2011.

The All-Star Game will be played at the Toyota Center in Houston on Feb. 17.

Source: http://www.kwes.com/story/20878201/spurs-popovich-to-coach-west-all-stars

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Stocks end lower after GDP data released

5 hrs.

Javier E. David , CNBC

Major U.S. stock benchmarks fell on Wednesday, after dour U.S. growth data reinforced a decision by the?Federal Reserve?to maintain its commitment to massive economic stimulus.

In a decision widely expected by analysts, the Fed emphasized that it would stick to its bond-buying program. That outcome was cast into doubt just weeks ago, after minutes from the central bank's last policy meeting showed some Fed members were growing concerned about ultra-low borrowing costs.

The decision converged with data that showed the U.S. economy?shrank by an annualized?0.1 percent in the final three months of 2012, and reinforced expectations that the Fed would likely err on the side of more stimulus.

Despite a run of strong corporate earnings, the GDP data fanned concerns about the economy's ability to absorb higher tax rates ? some of which took effect when the payroll tax holiday expired at the beginning of the year ? and efforts to cut government spending.

"The real risk out there, and the Fed was very vague in how they characterized it?I think we're going to see major government spending cuts that are going to come through sequestration," Diane Swonk, chief economist and senior managing director,?Mesirow Financial, told CNBC's "Street Signs"

"That is something the Fed has to deal with. That not only means weaker growth, which justifies lower rates, but it also means more Fed action."

After floating for most of the session between modest gains and losses in directionless trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed about 44 points, trading around 13,910.19, drifting further away from the psychologically-important 14,000 barrier being watched by analysts.

The S&P 500 Index slipped by nearly six points to 1,501.93, while the the Nasdaq dipped five points to trade above 3,142.31.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered to be the market's best gauge of fear in the market, rose above just shy of 14.

After floating for most of the session between modest gains and losses in directionless trading, the?Dow Jones Industrial Average?shed about 44 points, trading around 13,910.19, drifting further away from the psychologically-important 14,000 barrier being watched by analysts.

The?S&P 500?Index slipped by nearly six points to 1,501.93, while the the?Nasdaq?dipped five points to trade above 3,142.31.

The?CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered to be the market's best gauge of fear in the market, rose above just shy of 14.

Meanwhile, after weeks of buying on the rumor of?Research In Motion's new BlackBerry 10, investors on Wednesday opted to sell the fact.

The company ? which officially changed its corporate name to BlackBerry ? unveiled the new smartphone that many analysts see as essential to its long-term survival. Still, investors voted with their feet as RIM shares?plunged more than ten percent in volatile trading. It finished the session near near $14.

Volume in the company's stock this month is 85 percent higher than the average daily volume in the previous three months, 34.2 million. RIM?shares?are?up about 29 percent this month, its largest gain?since November, when it rose 46 percent.

The GDP report came just on the heels of a policy decision by the Fed. Some analysts, however, saw the slippage in U.S. growth as a temporary blip.

"[The] bottom line is that while this is the first reading for output for the final quarter, both inventories and trade could be revised firmer," said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at?Miller Tabak.

"We expect 2013 to start with a rebound in inventory building, something evidenced by firm durable goods orders that will likely filter through into shipments moving into" the first quarter of this year, he added.

Still, markets were encouraged by a spate of strong quarterly earnings reports.?Boeing?rose one percent after the company reported fourth-quarter profit of?$1.28 per share, above analyst estimates. The company dismissed speculation that its bottom line would take a hit from widely publicized problems with its 787 Dreamliner, and expects to maintain its production and delivery forecast.

Amazon.com?surged by more than four percent, trading near $270 and within striking distance of a new 52-week high despite seeing a?fourth-quarter shortfall?on both the top and bottom lines. Analysts preferred to focus instead on what they expect will be Amazon's impressive profit margins.

Looking ahead, social networking giant Facebook notched gains ahead of its fourth quarter earnings, scheduled to be released after the bell. After broad pessimism pushed its stock below $20 last year, the company's stock has steadily climbed back above $30.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/stocks-end-lower-after-gdp-data-released-1B8183010

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Thursday, January 31, 2013

Kerry gives farewell speech to Senate

Choking up twice during a farewell speech on the Senate floor, Sen. John Kerry delivered a dissenting opinion about Washington's so-called dysfunction days before taking over as the next secretary of state.

"On occasion, we have all heard a senator leave here and take their leave condemning the Senate for being broken, for having become an impossible setting in which to try to do the people's business," said Kerry, D-Mass. "I do not believe the Senate is broken, certainly not as an institution. There's nothing wrong with the Senate that can't be fixed by what's right about the Senate."

Kerry, a 29-year Senate veteran, admitted that when he first came to the Senate in 1985 everything seemed to work easier. These days, he said, part of the problem on Capitol Hill is a lack of "courage" from individual senators.

"If the Senate favors inaction over courage and gimmicks over common ground, the risk is not that we will fail to move forward," he said. "It is that we will fall behind, we will stay behind and we will surrender our promise."

But the senator, 69, said those problems are not insurmountable, avoiding casting the whole Senate as a body paralyzed by dysfunction like so many of other departing senators have done recently.

If anything, Kerry said he believes the spirit of the Senate is starting to turn around.

"There are new whispers of desire for progress, rumors of new coalitions and a sense of possibility, whether it is on energy or immigration," he said. "I am deeply impressed by a new generation of senators who seem to have come here determined not to give in to the cynicism but to get the people's business done."

Kerry called on his colleagues, many of whom were sitting at their desks on the Senate floor to watch his speech, to make the change within themselves in the bitter debates that are ahead for the Senate.

"Only senators, one by one in their own hearts, can change the approach to legislating," Kerry said. "The Senate cannot break unless we let it."

During his tenure in the Senate, Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, rose to chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. His legislative and international affairs victories included the 2010 U.S.-Russia treaty, his early work on the Iran-Contra scandal and veteran's affairs.

He noted that during his time in the Senate, huge strides were made on turning a page on gay rights, a reflection of how the body can change and develop over time.

"In 1993, I testified before Storm Thurmond's armed services committee pushing to lift the ban on gays serving in the military," he said. "And I ran into a world of misperceptions. I thought I was on a 'Saturday Night Live' skit. Today, at last, that policy is gone forever and we are a country that honors the commitment of all willing to fight and die for our country. We've gone from a Senate that passed DOMA over my objections to one that just welcomed its first openly gay senator. "

After a farewell tour of Massachusetts Thursday, Kerry will be sworn in as the next secretary of state on Friday afternoon in a private, small ceremony at the State Department, replacing Hillary Clinton.

As he prepares for his diplomatic post, Kerry said that he's aware that his credibility and the country's credibility are determined by what happens in Washington.

"If we use the time to posture politically in Washington, we weaken our position across the world," he said. "If democracy deadlocks here, we raise doubts about the democracy everywhere."

The senator - who was the 2004 Democratic nominee for president - joked that this was not the original track that he'd envisioned for leaving the Senate.

"Eight years ago, I admit that I had a very different plan, slightly different, anyway, to leave the Senate - but 61 million Americans voted that they wanted me to stay here with you," Kerry said. "I learned that sometimes the greatest lesson in life comes not from victory but from dusting yourself off after a defeat and starting over when you get knocked down."

Kerry is the 10th-most-senior senator and the second-longest-serving senator in his seat.