burgesothoi: এপ্রিল 2013

মঙ্গলবার, ৩০ এপ্রিল, ২০১৩

Acer Aspire S7-191-6640

The Acer Aspire S7-191-6640 ($1,199.99) is a road warrior's ultrabook. It has high-end features like a 128GB SSD, 1080p ten-point touch screen, and weighs less than 2.25 pounds without accessories. The ultrabook comes highly recommended as a commuter or jet traveler who must have a full Windows 8 PC with her at all times. Only a few stumbles?like limited ports and anemic standard battery life?keep the system from our highest honors.

Design and Features
The S7-191-6640 looks every bit the little brother of the 13.3-inch Acer Aspire S7-391-9886 ($1,649.99), with a slim, compact profile, measuring only 11.25 by 7.75 by 0.48 inches (HWD). The S7-191-6640 has an aluminum lid with a diagonal brushed pattern, Gorilla Glass 2 covering the 11.6-inch touch screen, and a silver-colored keyboard and keyboard deck. The full sized keyboard is backlit, and is comfortable to use despite a very shallow key travel. Like its big brother, the S7-191-6640 eschews the row of function keys, rather incorporating those keys into the number keys on the top of the keyboard. Other keys do double duty as well: Fn-U increases the keyboard backlit brightness, for example.

The S7-191-6640 weighs a scant 2.24 pounds alone, and a still svelte 2.63 pounds with the included extended battery installed. This makes the system just as portable as systems like the Apple MacBook Air 11-inch (Mid 2012) ($999) and HP EliteBook 2170p ($1,099). These are road warrior systems, where you give up a little (processor power, number of I/O ports, etc.) in return for a system that fits easily in your commute bag and can travel with you everywhere.

The S7-191-6640 comes with a 11.6-inch, 1,920-by-1,080-resolution touch screen, which significantly more packed with pixels than the 1,366 by 768 resolution screen usually seen on smaller displays. This means that you can view all the video in a 1080p HD online video, as well as several full pages of data when viewing a spreadsheet or Word document. You'll find a larger work surface on the S7-191-6640 than on systems like the HP Envy X2 (11-g012nr) ($849), which has an 11.6-inch 1,366 by 768 screen. But 1080p in such a small screen can also mean that text at 100% zoom will be quite small, so you may have to fiddle with the zoom settings a bit if you're eyesight isn't 20/20. Also, some games may not look quite right until you find the right combination of settings. That said, we think many users will welcome the HD video capabilities of the S7-191-6640.

The screen uses IPS technology, so it's visible from many angles. Speaking of angles, the system's screen hinge has a dual friction setup, so it's harder to push the screen past 90 degrees. Acer did this to help curb screen bounce when you use the built-in touch screen. The touch screen is responsive, correctly interpreting our taps with a single finger. This is an improvement over the Acer Iconia W700-6465 tablet ($999.99), which had some trouble by registering a tap on the maximize button when we meant to tap the close button on windows in Desktop mode.

Speaking of video, the S7-191-6640 comes with a micro-HDMI port on the back, which requires an adapter, which isn't included. It's the same for other formats like VGA or DVI. The S7-191-6640 comes with a Bluetooth mouse for precise pointing. The system only has two USB 3.0 ports, so connecting your smartphone and an external hard drive would fill up the ports.

There are a couple of indents built into the chassis to hook up the included extended battery. The system doesn't have a traditional removable battery or a docking port, so the extended battery uses the laptop's charging port to pass power through. This simplistic workaround has a drawback: The extended battery doesn't show up in Windows, so you'll have to interpret the five-lights in the LED indicator on the side of the extended battery to figure out how much charge you've got. Thumbwheel screws hold the battery in place, making the whole exercise feel like a laptop battery setup from the mid 1990s. It's effective, but nevertheless feels like a kludge on what is otherwise an elegant looking system.

Thanks to Microsoft Signature setup, the S7-191-6640 comes with no extra software pre-loaded aside from Microsoft products like Office Trial, Skype, and Windows Defender. This is a vast improvement over systems like the HP Envy X2, which has quite a few programs pre-installed. The S7-191-6640 comes with a 128GB SSD, with about 75GB free when you take it out of the box. The system has a one-year warranty.

Performance
The Intel Core i5-3317U and four GB of memory are pretty standard specs for systems in this price range, The Acer Iconia W700-6465, HP EliteBook 2170p, and the Editor's Choice for high-end ultrabooks, the Asus Zenbook Prime Touch UX31A-BHI5T ($1199), all come with this setup. Therefore, it's no surprise that these systems all have similar CineBench, Handbrake, and Photoshop CS6 results. The HP lags behind the others in PCMark7, due to its spinning hard drive, but all are closely matched on the 3D tests, since they all have Intel HD Graphics 4000.

The performance stat that really matters is the system's battery rundown score, and on that note the S7-191-6640 is mixed. The sealed internal battery is only good for a short 3 hours 42 minutes. This is far less than the Asus UX31A-BHI5T (6:38) or the MacBook Air (5:19). However, when you add the extended battery, the S7-191-6640 achieves an excellent 6:58. It's like Acer had to follow a mandate to make this system one of the thinnest and lightest, then said wait a minute, we can't ship a laptop that lasts less than four hours. The extended battery feels like an afterthought, one that it easily lost and less sturdy than if they had simply added a couple of millimeters to the system's thickness.

And there's the rub: If the Acer Aspire S7-191-6640 had been a few millimeters thicker with a larger capacity battery and the same 2.63 pound weight, it might have given serious competition to the Editors' Choice Asus Zenbook Prime Touch UX31A-BHI5T. The Asus UX31A-BHI5T has a larger screen and includes a mini-VGA-to-VGA adapter, so it's better suited to corridor dwellers than road warriors, but otherwise the systems are similar in specs, capabilities, and pricing. The S7-191-6640 is just a touch better for the road warrior, but it's not enough for a clear-cut victory.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Acer Aspire S7-191-6640 with several other laptops side by side.

More laptop reviews:
??? iBuyPower Valkyrie CZ-17
??? Acer Aspire S7-191-6640
??? HP Pavilion TouchSmart 15z-b000 Sleekbook
??? Gigabyte P2742G-CF1
??? Acer Aspire V5-571PG-9814
?? more

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সোমবার, ২৯ এপ্রিল, ২০১৩

RLPC-Banks see big opportunities in Nigerian syndicated loans

By Michelle Meineke

LONDON (Reuters) - Nigeria's borrowers have led the way in Africa's syndicated loan market so far this year, with more than $10 billion of deals signed or in the market.

The appetite has been driven by a growth in confidence among international lenders as the continent's second-largest economy makes inroads into resolving transparency and credit risk concerns.

MTN Nigeria became the latest borrower last week when it agreed a $3 billion loan to expand its network through Nigeria's Guaranty Trust Bank and other lenders Citigroup, Standard Chartered, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Development Bank and China Construction Bank.

Meanwhile, Dangote Group, West Africa's largest conglomerate, is in talks to raise a debut $3.5 billion loan to fund fertiliser and oil refinery projects with lead banks Barclays, Guaranty Trust Bank, Standard Bank and Standard Chartered.

Combined, the two jumbo loans almost match the $7.96 billion Nigerian borrowers raised throughout 2012, which is the country's highest-ever annual loan volume.

"The feeling is that Nigeria will have outstripped South Africa as the top market by 2015 from a loan market perspective. You have already seen that this year - you can't ignore Nigeria," one London-based banker said.

Also this year, Nigerian National Petroleum Corp agreed a $1.5 billion corporate deal in January, Indorama Eleme took a $800 million project finance loan in mid-February to fund a $1.2 billion green field fertiliser project, and oil and exploration company Neconde Energy marked its debut in the market with a $470 million corporate deal in early April.

Nigerian banks have traditionally been rare borrowers in the loan market, but Skye Bank became the first since 2008 when it agreed a $150 million debut in May last year, while Fidelity Bank recently agreed an oversubscribed $100 million debut deal through co-ordinators Citigroup and HSBC.

The deal's success is expected to buoy appetite from fellow bank borrowers, with First City Monument Bank expected to return after a four-year hiatus and Skye Bank already eyeing the market for a speedy return.

"Nigerian banks have been through their reshuffle and I think there is a bit more trust and transparency from the banks than there previously was," a second London-based banker said.

INTERNATIONAL APPETITE

Increasing transparency and the rapid growth of strong parent companies -- South Africa's MTN Group for MTN Nigeria's multi-billion deal, for example -- means more international banks are opening up their books to cash in on what is considered a huge potential market.

"Nigeria is a big economy and it poses as a very good window for investors to get started on the continent, which will benefit the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa," a third London-based banker said.

The International Monetary Fund forecasts 7 percent growth in Nigeria over the next two years, in contrast with South Africa's -- historically a syndicated loan hot spot -- forecast of 2.8 percent in 2013 and 3.3 percent in 2014.

Nigeria's foreign direct investment is projected to continue rising, from $5.8 billion in 2011 to $6.8 billion for last year, once the figures are in, the IMF said. It projects FDI to grow to $7.3 billion this year, $8.7 billion next year and $9.6 billion in 2015.

Much of the investment requirements are focused on oil and gas, reflecting Nigeria's status as Africa's top oil producer, as well as the power and infrastructure sectors.

Dollar financing is being increasingly sought for infrastructure projects, especially from power companies buying state assets under a privatisation programme launched this year.

Further debt demands from the country's telecoms companies is expected, as they look to expand networks to tap into the West African nation's 162 million population.

That growing demand for funds will be partly met by a vast increase in available liquidity open to potential Nigerian borrowers.

"It is not just four international banks in Nigeria any more, consisting of ABSA, Citigroup, Standard Bank and Standard Chartered. There are at least 15 strong international banks that are keen to do deals now," a fourth London-based banker said, citing French lenders such as Societe Generale and Natixis.

Japanese banks Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ , Mizuho and SMBC are also beginning to show an interest in Nigeria's loan market, while South Africa's Investec Bank, Nedbank and Rand Merchant Bank are increasingly active.

STEP BY STEP

Despite the increasing desire to undertake deals in Nigeria, international lenders, particularly those with little or no historical presence in the country, have to adhere to strict credit and country risk criteria, as well as higher pricing.

Interest margins are expected to hover around 400 bps, in line with the 375 bps margin on NNPC's $1.5 billion deal in January.

Pricing will vary depending on the borrower, but nearly all deals are expected to be above Nigeria's five-year credit default swaps, which were quoted at 271.81 bps on April 29, according to Thomson Reuters CreditViews.

The seven-year maturity secured by MTN Nigeria on its multi-billion deal and now being targeted by Dangote Group is deemed possible because of both borrowers' national and continental prominence - although other borrowers with weaker credentials cannot guarantee to get the same treatment, unless pricing fully compensates the risk for lenders, bankers said.

"Borrowers start getting into a finite space for tenors of five years or more, even for a strong credit. One thing that may get the deal get through is the Africa growth story," the first banker said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rlpc-banks-see-big-opportunities-nigerian-syndicated-loans-114221466.html

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Boston bombing reveals a new American maturity toward insecurity

The post-9/11 'new normal' has evolved: The tactical and emotional responses to the Boston Marathon bombings show what experts call a national maturity toward terrorism that echoes longer experience with such crises in England, Spain, Russia, Japan, and Israel.

By Mark Sappenfield,?Staff writer, Christa Case Bryant, in Jerusalem,?Staff writer, Andr?s Cala, in Madrid,?Correspondent, Ian Evans, in London,?Correspondent, Jenna Fisher, in Boston,?Staff wrter, Justin McCurry, in Tokyo,?Correspondent, Fred Weir, in Moscow,?Correspondent / April 28, 2013

Monitoring CCTV cameras in London. This is the cover story in the May 6 issue of The Christian Science MonitorWeekly.

Kieran Doherty/REUTERS/File

Enlarge

In ways both big and small, both fleeting and transformational, this time simply felt different.

Skip to next paragraph

Graphic: Terrorist attacks on US soil
(Source: Nat'l Consortium for Study of Terrorism & Responses to Terrorism / Graphic: Rich Clabaugh/Staff)

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On the lawn of the First Baptist Church in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Eve Nagler stood at a prayer vigil two days after terrorists attempted to shred the joy of Boston's biggest day with nails and BB's and bits of hurtling metal.

This, she knew, was not 9/11 ? the scale, the shock, the fear were nothing like people had felt 12 years ago. Yet something else had shifted, too ? something perhaps less easily definable but no less palpable to many of those at the vigil and across the suburbs that bound themselves together as "Boston Strong."

There was a calm, not only in the streets but in raw and wounded hearts.

"For myself, it's more an opening of the heart than a tearing of a big wound inside me. It feels different from 9/11," said Ms. Nagler. Dressed for a run after the vigil, her voice grew defiant when she added that the bombings would not deter her training for a coming triathlon.

What has changed since 9/11 is America itself. The Boston Marathon bombings were tragic, but they hit a city and a nation that were prepared for them, both tactically and emotionally. The calls for retribution, to apportion blame, or to lash back at Islam have all been notably muted. Even when 1 million residents were told to stay put and hunker down for 10 hours after a blazing police shootout with the suspected bombers that left one of them dead and the other on the loose, there was no panic or resentment, only resolve.

In that way, Boston has hinted at a new American maturity, say experts. Because of it, the "new normal" post-Boston might not look too different from what came before ? a more robust police presence at big events, more surveillance cameras on urban streets perhaps. But like other cities worldwide that have faced the threat of bombings for decades ? from London to Madrid to Jerusalem ? Boston has made the more profound step of showing that a community's greatest defense against terrorism is in the determination of its people.

"Boston is showing you can take a blow like this, and you can keep going," says Stephen Flynn, codirector of the George J. Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security at Northeastern University in Boston.

Of course, resolve was in no short supply after 9/11, and the flag planted at ground zero in New York came to symbolize the nation's determination to move on unbowed. Yet in many ways it could not. September 11 laid bare not only shocking gaps in the US intelligence network, but also the full array of terrorist groups targeting America. Quite simply, America had work to do ? and new threats for its residents to process ? before it could move on.

What Boston has done, indelibly, is confirm that those post-9/11 changes have become deep-rooted.

Take the number of foiled plots during the past decade ? more than 150, according to Gary LaFree, director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland in College Park. Law enforcement's success at rooting them out has given Americans confidence that authorities are doing all they can to stem the terrorist threat. Moreover, those plots have spotlighted the diversity and sheer volume of schemes against the United States.

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Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/OoFA3cWFKxE/Boston-bombing-reveals-a-new-American-maturity-toward-insecurity

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Report: Algeria's president has mini-stroke

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, right, shakes hands with his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma as they pose for photographers prior to their meeting at the presidential palace in Algiers, Algeria, Monday, April 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Anis Belghoul)

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) ? Algeria's president was hospitalized Saturday after having a mini-stroke without serious complications, the state news agency said.

Abdelaziz Bouteflika, 76, had a brief blockage of a blood vessel ? called a transient ischemic attack ? around noon, Rachid Bougherbal, the director of the national center of sports medicine told the state news agency.

"His excellency the president of the republic must observe a period of rest for further examinations," he said, adding that "there was no reason for worry."

Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal said the president was hospitalized, "but the situation is not serious."

Bouteflika has ruled the oil-rich North African country since 1999 and has long believed to be in poor health and rarely appears in public. The state news agency rarely carries any reports on the president's health

The announcement also comes as speculation is rife that Bouteflika will run for a fourth term in presidential elections just a year away, despite promises to step down. In Algeria, power is delicately shared between civilian politicians and the powerful military.

Algeria is one of Africa's richest countries, as the No. 3 supplier of natural gas to Europe, with $190 billion in reserves, up $8 billion in the last year alone.

On Jan. 16, a band of al-Qaida affiliated militants attacked the Ain Amenas gas plant and took dozens of foreign workers hostage. After a four-day standoff, the Algerian army moved in and killed 29 attackers and captured three others. At least 37 hostages, including one Algerian worker, died in the battle.

According to the American Stroke Association, a TIA, as it is known, is caused by a temporary blood clot and lasts just a short time and "usually causes no permanent injury to the brain." A third of those suffering from TIA, also known as "warning strokes," go on to have a full stroke within the next year, according to website of the association.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-04-27-Algeria-President%20Stroke/id-e4bf422ef18c4ceda1c5ad28a03fa264

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রবিবার, ২৮ এপ্রিল, ২০১৩

Bangladesh building collapse death toll nears 350

SAVAR, Bangladesh (AP) ? Police in Bangladesh took five people into custody in connection with the collapse of a shoddily-constructed building that killed at least 348 people, as rescue workers admitted Saturday that voices of survivors are getting weaker after four days of being pinned under the increasingly unstable rubble.

Still, in a boost for the rescuers, 29 survivors were pulled out Saturday, said army spokesman Shahinul Islam.

Most of the victims were crushed by massive blocks of concrete and mortar falling on them when the 8-story structure came down on Wednesday morning -- a time many of the garment factories in the building were packed with workers. It was the worst tragedy to hit Bangladesh's massive garment industry, and focused attention on the poor working conditions of the employees who toil for $38 a month to produce clothing for top international brands.

Among those arrested Saturday were two owners of a garment factory, who a Dhaka court ruled can be questioned by police for 12 days without charges being filed. Also detained are two government engineers and the wife of the building owner, who is on the run, in an attempt to force him to surrender. Violent public protests continued sporadically in Dhaka and spread to the southeastern city of Chittagong where several vehicles were set on fire.

Working round-the-clock since Wednesday through heat and a thunderstorm, rescuers on Saturday finally reached the ground floor from the top of the mountainous rubble through 25 narrow holes they have drilled, said Brig. Gen. Ali Ahmed Khan, the head of the fire services.

"We are still getting response from survivors though they are becoming weaker slowly," he said, adding that rescue workers were now able to see cars that were parked at the ground level.

"The building is very vulnerable. Any time the floors could collapse. We are performing an impossible task, but we are glad that we are able to rescue so many survivors." He said the operations will continue overnight as chances fade of people surviving for a fifth day with possibly grievous injuries and the heat.

The building site was a hive of frenzied activity all day with soldiers, police and medical workers in lab coats working non-stop. Rescuers passed bottles of water and small cylinders of oxygen up a ladder leaning against the side of the building to be given to possible survivors inside.

They used bare hands and shovels, passing chunks of brick and concrete down a human chain away from the collapsed structure. On the ground, mixed in the debris were several pairs of pink cotton pants, a mud-covered navy blue sock and a pile of green uncut fabric.

Nearby, Abul Basar wept as he awaited news of his wife, who worked in one of the garment factories. "My son says that his mother will come back some day. She must return! " he cried.

Every once in a while a badly decomposed body would be brought out, covered in cloth and plastic, to a spot where ambulances were parked. Workers furiously sprayed air-fresheners on the bodies to cover the stench, leaving the air thick with the smell of death and cheap perfume.

The bodies were kept at a makeshift morgue at the nearby Adharchandra High School before being handed over to families. Many people milled around at the school, waving photos of their missing loved ones.

Junior local government minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak put the death toll at 348. Military spokesman Shahinul Islam said 2,429 survivors were accounted for, including 29 who were pulled out Saturday.

Junior Home Minister Shamsul Haque Tuku said police had arrested Bazlus Samad, managing director of New Wave Apparels Ltd., and Mahmudur Rahman Tapash, the company chairman. He told reporters that police had also detained the wife of Mohammed Sohel Rana, the owner of the collapsed Rana Plaza building, for questioning. The top three floors of the eight-story building were illegally constructed.

Authorities are still searching for Rana, a local politician, who hasn't been seen publicly since the building collapsed. Negligence cases have been filed against him. Police in Bangladesh often detain relatives of missing suspects as a way to pressure them to surrender.

Dhaka police superintendent Habibur Rahman said Rana was a local leader of ruling Awami League's youth front. His arrest, and that of the factory owners, was ordered by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is also the Awami League leader.

Police said they detained for questioning two engineers working for the Savar municipality, Imtemam Hossain and Alam Ali. They did not say what role they played in approving the design of the building but it was clear that the arrests amounted to a widening crackdown. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

A garment manufacturers' group said the factories in the building employed 3,122 workers, but it was not clear how many were inside it when it collapsed.

Police say they ordered an evacuation of the building on Tuesday after cracks in Rana Plaza were found, but the factories ignored the order and were operating when it collapsed the next day. Video before the collapse shows cracks in walls, with apparent attempts at repair. It also shows columns missing chunks of concrete and police talking to building operators.

Officials said soon after the collapse that numerous construction regulations had been violated.

The disaster is the worst ever for the country's booming and powerful garment industry, surpassing a fire five months ago that killed 112 people and brought widespread pledges to improve worker-safety standards. Since then, very little has changed in Bangladesh, where low wages have made it a magnet for numerous global brands.

Bangladesh's garment industry was the third largest in the world in 2011, after China and Italy, having grown rapidly in the past decade. The country's minimum wage is the equivalent of about $38 a month.

Among the garment makers in the building were Phantom Apparels, Phantom Tac, Ether Tex, New Wave Style and New Wave Bottoms. Altogether, they produced several million shirts, pants and other garments a year.

The New Wave companies, according to their website, make clothing for several major North American and European retailers.

Britain's Primark acknowledged it was using a factory in Rana Plaza, but many other retailers distanced themselves from the disaster, saying they were not involved with the factories at the time of the collapse or had not recently ordered garments from them.

Wal-Mart said none of its clothing had been authorized to be made in the facility, but it is investigating whether there was any unauthorized production.

___

AP writers Chris Blake and Gillian Wong in Dhaka, Stephen Wright in Bangkok, Kay Johnson in Mumbai, Matthew Pennington in Washington and AP Retail Writer Anne D'Innocenzio in New York contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bangladesh-building-collapse-death-toll-nears-350-134516592.html

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শনিবার, ২৭ এপ্রিল, ২০১৩

Muslim-Christian relationship fuels row in Egypt

CAIRO (AP) ? An alleged romance between an Egyptian Muslim college student and a Coptic Christian man heightened sectarian tension on Friday in a small rural Egyptian town where police fired tear gas to disperse stone-throwing Muslims who surrounded a Coptic church in anger over the inter-faith relationship, a security official and priest said.

The Muslim protesters accuse Saint Girgis Church of helping 21-year-old Rana el-Shazli, who is believed to have converted to Christianity, flee to Turkey with a Coptic Christian man.

Stories of conversions to Christianity or Islam, inter-faith romances and the illegal building and expanding of churches have caused a series of deadly sectarian incidents in recent years. Since Islamists rose to power after Egypt's 2011 uprising that forced out longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, Christians have grown more fearful of intimidation and violence from fellow Egyptians, especially ultraconservative Salafis.

The alleged romance has been fueling sectarian tension for nearly two months in Wasta, a rural town in Beni Suef province, about 95 kilometers (60 miles) south of Cairo.

Muslims have attacked churches there and forced Christians to close their shops for nearly eight days last month and members of the Christian man's family have been arrested, including his mother and father, after a prosecutor accused them of collaborating in hiding the woman. The woman's family issued an ultimatum for the church to bring her back early this month, but when it didn't, violence erupted anew.

On Friday, ultraconservative Salafis distributed flyers accusing the church of "proselytizing Christianity," according to a copy of the flyer posted on a social networking site. It called on residents to rally inside a mosque located meters (yards) from the church to "rescue a Muslim soul and bring her back from the deviant path."

Father Bishoy Youssef of the church said he heard loudspeakers from the adjacent mosque calling on worshippers to join a march to the church for the sake of the girl. He said churches in Wasta had been forewarned about "threats to attack the churches" and scheduled early morning masses that would be finished before Friday prayers at the mosque.

"God protect us," he said. "We have nothing to do with this whole story,"

Clashes erupted when protesters hurled stones at security forces that had cordoned off streets leading to the church. Police fired tear gas, according to a security official, who added that police arrested five people, including the girl's uncle. According to the security official at the scene, two people were injured by gunshots and others suffered breathing problems from the tear gas.

Last month, another priest from the same church told Coptic Christian Karama TV network that protesters set his car on fire.

Like previous incidents, sessions to foster reconciliation were held with elders from the town, but extremists seemed intent on escalating the tension, Youssef said.

Abu Islam, a well-known extremist cleric who was tried in an Egyptian court for insulting Christianity, appeared last month on his television program, which is broadcast on The Nation TV, calling on Muslims to take action against any church network that seeks to convert Muslim women to Christianity.

"This girl is not coming back," he said. "The Christians mess with our honor and faith."

Also on Friday, a Christian girl disappeared in the southern ancient city of Luxor. A security official said the family of 20-year-old Rania Manqaryous filed a complaint with police accusing a Muslim man, who was a neighbor, of abducting their daughter.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

In the past, similar incidents have triggered deadly sectarian violence.

In 2010, the ultraconservative Muslim Salafis claimed that Camilla Shehata, a Coptic Christian wife of a priest, had converted to Islam, but was abducted by the church to force her to return to Christianity. Iraq's branch of al-Qaida used the incident as justification for an attack on a Baghdad church that killed 68 people, and threatened to conduct similar attacks in Egypt until the church released her. On Dec. 31, 2011, a suicide bomber killed at least 21 Christians at a church in the port city of Alexandria ? an attack linked to the Shehata case.

In May 2011, at least 12 people were killed and a Cairo church was burned in clashes after a Christian woman had an affair with a Muslim man. When she disappeared, the man alleged that Christian clergy had snatched her and were holding her prisoner in a local church because she had converted to Islam.

Separately, dozens of mostly masked protesters hurled stones and firebombs in clashes with riot police at Egypt's presidential palace in a Cairo suburb. Protests have become a weekly occurrence in Egypt with unrest continuing since the 2011 uprising.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/muslim-christian-relationship-fuels-row-egypt-200817211.html

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Famed UK publicist charged with indecent assault

LONDON (AP) ? Prominent celebrity publicist Max Clifford has been charged with 11 counts of indecent assault, British officials said Friday.

The 70-year-old public relations guru, the second person to be charged as part of a broad investigation into child sex abuse spurred by the scandal involving the late BBC personality Jimmy Savile, professed his innocence, saying there was "absolutely no truth and substance" to the allegations.

Prosecutors said the charges against Clifford relate to assaults allegedly committed between 1966 and 1985. The charges involve seven female complainants who were between the ages of 14 and 19 at the times of the alleged assaults, they added in a statement.

Clifford, considered an affable and sage "go to" guy for celebrities embroiled in public relations fiascos, was arrested in December 2012. He said Friday he's been in a "24/7 nightmare" since then and vowed to clear his name.

"The allegations in respect of which I have been charged are completely false ? very upsetting, very distressing, but completely false," he told reporters outside of his home. "I have never indecently assaulted anyone in my life, and this will become clear during the course of the proceedings."

Clifford will appear at a London court on May 28.

Former BBC chauffeur David Smith, 55, is the only other person so far to be charged as a result of Operation Yewtree, an investigation launched after revelations that Savile may have targeted hundreds of young victims over five decades. Savile died in 2011 at age 84.

About a dozen people have been arrested as part of the Yewtree probe, including veteran entertainer Rolf Harris and former pop star Gary Glitter.

Clifford long has been a fixture on British television news programs and in newspapers, which frequently seek his thoughts on how celebrities can come up with novel marketing strategies to maximize their appeal ? and how celebrities dealing with marital breakdowns, drug problems, legal issues or fading popularity can rebound.

His clients have included entertainment mogul Simon Cowell, former Harrods owner Mohamed al-Fayed, and the late reality TV star Jade Goody. He also has represented dozens of ordinary people who found themselves at the vortex of the news and who sought to sell their stories to the press, which is a common, and lucrative, practice in Britain.

___

Cassandra Vinograd can be reached at http://twitter.com/CassVinograd

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/famed-uk-publicist-charged-indecent-assault-202011273.html

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Kate Middleton Polka Dot Dress Sells Out Within Hours

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/kate-middleton-polka-dot-dress-sells-out-within-hours/

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Fish win fights on strength of personality

Apr. 26, 2013 ? When predicting the outcome of a fight, the big guy doesn't always win suggests new research on fish. Scientists at the University of Exeter and Texas A&M University found that when fish fight over food, it is personality, rather than size, that determines whether they will be victorious. The findings suggest that when resources are in short supply personality traits such as aggression could be more important than strength when it comes to survival.

The study, published in the journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, found that small fish were able to do well in contests for food against larger fish provided they were aggressive. Regardless of their initial size, it was the fish that tended to have consistently aggressive behaviour -- or personalities -- that repeatedly won food and as a result put on weight.

Dr Alastair Wilson from Biosciences at the University of Exeter said: "We wondered if we were witnessing a form of Napoleon, or small man, syndrome. Certainly our study indicates that small fish with an aggressive personality are capable of defeating their larger, more passive counterparts when it comes to fights over food. The research suggests that personality can have far reaching implications for life and survival."

The sheepshead swordtail fish (Xiphophorus birchmanni) fish were placed in pairs in a fish tank, food was added and their behaviour was captured on film. The feeding contest trials were carried out with both male and female fish. The researchers found that while males regularly attacked their opponent to win the food, females were much less aggressive and rarely attacked.

In animals, personality is considered to be behaviour that is repeatedly observed under certain conditions. Major aspects of personality such as shyness or aggressiveness have previously been characterised and are thought to have important ecological significance. There is also evidence to suggest that certain aspects of personality can be inherited. Further work on whether winning food through aggression could ultimately improve reproductive success will shed light on the heritability of personality traits.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Exeter, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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

Journal Reference:

Alastair J Wilson, Andrew Grimmer, Gil G. Rosenthal. Causes and consequences of contest outcome: aggressiveness, dominance and growth in the sheepshead swordtail, Xiphophorus birchmanni. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 2013; DOI: 10.1007/s00265-013-1540-7

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/yQOUDvwPT-0/130426115454.htm

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Earth's center is 1,000 degrees hotter than previously thought, synchrotron X-ray experiment shows

Apr. 25, 2013 ? Scientists have determined the temperature near the Earth's centre to be 6000 degrees Celsius, 1000 degrees hotter than in a previous experiment run 20 years ago. These measurements confirm geophysical models that the temperature difference between the solid core and the mantle above, must be at least 1500 degrees to explain why the Earth has a magnetic field. The scientists were even able to establish why the earlier experiment had produced a lower temperature figure.

The results are published on 26 April 2013 in Science.

The research team was led by Agn?s Dewaele from the French national technological research organization CEA, alongside members of the French National Center for Scientific Research CNRS and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility ESRF in Grenoble (France).

The Earth's core consists mainly of a sphere of liquid iron at temperatures above 4000 degrees and pressures of more than 1.3 million atmospheres. Under these conditions, iron is as liquid as the water in the oceans. It is only at the very centre of the Earth, where pressure and temperature rise even higher, that the liquid iron solidifies. Analysis of earthquake-triggered seismic waves passing through the Earth, tells us the thickness of the solid and liquid cores, and even how the pressure in the Earth increases with depth. However these waves do not provide information on temperature, which has an important influence on the movement of material within the liquid core and the solid mantle above. Indeed the temperature difference between the mantle and the core is the main driver of large-scale thermal movements, which together with the Earth's rotation, act like a dynamo generating the Earth's magnetic field. The temperature profile through the Earth's interior also underpins geophysical models that explain the creation and intense activity of hot-spot volcanoes like the Hawaiian Islands or La R?union.

To generate an accurate picture of the temperature profile within the Earth's centre, scientists can look at the melting point of iron at different pressures in the laboratory, using a diamond anvil cell to compress speck-sized samples to pressures of several million atmospheres, and powerful laser beams to heat them to 4000 or even 5000 degrees Celsius."In practice, many experimental challenges have to be met," explains Agn?s Dewaele from CEA, "as the iron sample has to be insulated thermally and also must not be allowed to chemically react with its environment. Even if a sample reaches the extreme temperatures and pressures at the centre of the Earth, it will only do so for a matter of seconds. In this short timeframe it is extremely difficult to determine whether it has started to melt or is still solid."

This is where X-rays come into play. "We have developed a new technique where an intense beam of X-rays from the synchrotron can probe a sample and deduce whether it is solid, liquid or partially molten within as little as a second, using a process known diffraction," says Mohamed Mezouar from the ESRF, "and this is short enough to keep temperature and pressure constant, and at the same time avoid any chemical reactions."

The scientists determined experimentally the melting point of iron up to 4800 degrees Celsius and 2.2 million atmospheres pressure, and then used an extrapolation method to determine that at 3.3 million atmospheres, the pressure at the border between liquid and solid core, the temperature would be 6000 +/- 500 degrees. This extrapolated value could slightly change if iron undergoes an unknown phase transition between the measured and the extrapolated values.

When the scientists scanned across the area of pressures and temperatures, they observed why Reinhard Boehler, then at the MPI for Chemistry in Mainz (Germany), had in 1993 published values about 1000 degrees lower. Starting at 2400 degrees, recrystallization effects appear on the surface of the iron samples, leading to dynamic changes of the solid iron's crystalline structure. The experiment twenty years ago used an optical technique to determine whether the samples were solid or molten, and it is highly probable that the observation of recrystallization at the surface was interpreted as melting.

"We are of course very satisfied that our experiment validated today's best theories on heat transfer from the Earth's core and the generation of the Earth's magnetic field. I am hopeful that in the not-so-distant future, we can reproduce in our laboratories, and investigate with synchrotron X-rays, every state of matter inside the Earth," concludes Agn?s Dewaele.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by European Synchrotron Radiation Facility.

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Journal References:

S. Anzellini, A. Dewaele, M. Mezouar, P. Loubeyre, G. Morard. Melting of Iron at Earth's Inner Core Boundary Based on Fast X-ray Diffraction. Science, 2013; 340 (6131): 464 DOI: 10.1126/science.1233514
R. Boehler. Temperatures in the Earth's core from melting-point measurements of iron at high static pressures. Nature, 1993; 363 (6429): 534 DOI: 10.1038/363534a0

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/IAZlNezwVJ4/130425142355.htm

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Dual-SIM Samsung Galaxy S 4 launches in China with an Exynos 5 Octa inside

Remember the leaked GT-i9502, that dual-SIM variant of the Galaxy S 4 that ultimately confirmed many rumors? That smartphone is at last exists beyond a collection of photos, as Samsung just launched it for China Unicom customers. The support for an extra cellular line is naturally the highlight, although there's another perk for GS 4 connoisseurs: the i9502 has the same 1.6GHz Exynos 5 Octa processor as the i9500, which might eke out more performance than the Snapdragon 600 models. There isn't any word on whether or not the i9502 edition will leave China, although we wouldn't count on European or North American editions when there isn't LTE inside to please 4G-obsessed carriers.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung

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Source: Samsung (translated)

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Twitter?s Vine video sharing app coming soon to Android

WARSAW, April 25 (Reuters) - Borussia Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski played down his stunning one-man demolition of Real Madrid, saying he had played better than Wednesday's four-goal masterclass. The Poland international scored all his team's goals in a 4-1 win over the nine-times champions in their Champions League semi-final first leg. "In the second half Real Madrid did not know how they should play, at some moments they were helpless," Lewandowski told the Polish pay-TV platform nc+. "We took the first step (towards the final). "I felt confident, but there were even better matches. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/twitter-vine-video-sharing-app-coming-soon-android-232046243.html

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Thinx upgrades the video monitor with embedded LTE and SMS alerts; ships in Q3 for around $500

As part of our tour through Verizon's Waltham, Mass.-based Innovation Center this week, we were able to see a brief demo of the Thinx 4G LTE video monitor -- a product that was briefly teased at CES, but we've heard precious little about since. Essentially, this is a rather sophisticated 1080p video monitor, designed for small businesses that would prefer that their monitors do more than just capture reels of archived footage. Thinx's solution throws in an admin panel and a smartphone app; users can install the camera and then define hot zones for the sensor to keep tabs on. If and when a specific event occurs (e.g. 50 individuals cross a virtual line), owners can be alerted via SMS -- and, of course, they can then view only the footage pertaining to said event with merely a click.

Those apps (available for iOS and Android) will allow owners to look in live at any time, with recorded video automatically stored on the included 4GB SD card, a personal NAS or a cloud storage facility like Dropbox. Better still, the control panel supports multiple cameras for those trying to cast eyes over an entire office complex, and there's room for a 12V battery that'll keep it humming along "for a few hours" should the power cut out. Tom Thomasson, vice president of marketing at Thinx, told us that the product is slated to go on sale in the US during the third quarter of this year, and it's one of "over 30" new products that Verizon will help launch during the 2013 / 2014 time frame.

Filed under: Cameras, Wireless, Mobile, Verizon

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Source: Thinx

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/24/thinx-video-monitor-embedded-lte-sms-alerts/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Syrian troops capture key town near Damascus

This Wednesday, April 24, 2013 photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows a damaged street in Otaybah town, east of Damascus, Syria. After five weeks of battle, Syrian government troops captured a strategic town near Damascus, cutting an arms route for rebels trying to topple President Bashar Assad's regime, state media and activists said Thursday. (AP Photo/SANA)

This Wednesday, April 24, 2013 photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows two Syrian Army soldiers aiming their weapons, in Otaybah town, east of Damascus, Syria. After five weeks of battle, Syrian government troops captured a strategic town near Damascus, cutting an arms route for rebels trying to topple President Bashar Assad's regime, state media and activists said Thursday. (AP Photo/SANA)

En esta foto del 22 de septiembre de 1973 se ve el minarete de la mezquita Umayad en Alepo, Siria. La prensa estatal siria y activistas opositores dijeron que el minarete fue destruido, aunque las dos partes lo atribuyen a sus adversarios (AP Foto/Azad, Archivo)

This undated citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows the minaret of a famed 12th century Umayyad mosque before it was destroyed by the shelling, in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria. The minaret of a famed 12th century Sunni mosque in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo was destroyed Wednesday, April; 24, 2013, leaving the once-soaring stone tower a pile of rubble and twisted metal scattered in the tiled courtyard. President Bashar Assad's regime and anti-government activists traded blame for the attack against the Umayyad mosque, which occurred in the heart Aleppo's walled Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was the second time in just over a week that a historic Sunni mosque in Syria has been seriously damaged. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center, AMC)

Map locates Aleppo, Syria, where the minaret of a 12th century mosque was destroyed

BEIRUT (AP) ? After five weeks of battle, Syrian government troops captured a strategic town near Damascus, cutting an arms route for rebels trying to topple President Bashar Assad's regime, state media and activists said Thursday.

By taking the town of Otaybah, east of the capital, the army dealt a major setback to opposition forces that in recent months have made gains near the city they eventually hope to storm.

Also Thursday, the White House and other top Obama administration officials said that U.S. intelligence has concluded with "varying degrees of confidence" that the Syrian government has twice used chemical weapons in the civil war, which has dragged on for two years.

However, officials also said more definitive proof was needed and the U.S. was not ready to escalate its involvement in Syria beyond non-lethal aid despite President Barack Obama's repeated public assertions that Syria's use of chemical weapons, or the transfer of its stockpiles to a terrorist group, would cross a "red line."

Syria's main Western-backed opposition promptly called on the international community to act "urgently and decisively." The opposition's statement said: "Failure to act will be seen by the regime as encouragement to use chemical weapons on a larger scale in the future."

Ahmad Ramadan, a member of the Syrian National Coalition opposition group's executive body, called the U.S. assertion an "important step" that should be followed by actual measures. "The U.S. has a moral duty to act ... we are waiting for the next steps," he told The Associated Press by phone from Istanbul.

The Syrian conflict began with largely peaceful protests against the Assad regime in March 2011, but eventually turned into a full-scale civil war. The fighting has exacted a huge toll on the country, killing an estimated 70,000 people and laying waste to cities, towns and villages.

With fresh supplies of weapons from foreign backers, the rebels have recently seized military bases and towns south of the capital in the strategically important region between Damascus and the border with Jordan, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) away.

The regime has largely kept the rebels at bay in Damascus, although opposition fighters control several suburbs of the capital from which they have threatened the heart of the city, the seat of Assad's power. Last month, government troops launched a campaign to repel the opposition's advances near the capital, deploying elite army units to the rebellious suburbs and pounding rebel positions with airstrikes.

The director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdul-Rahman, said government troops regained control of Otaybah late Wednesday.

State-run SANA news agency said Thursday that the army has "restored complete control" over Otaybah. The official news services also said Assad's troops "discovered a number of tunnels which were used by terrorists to move and transfer weapons and ammunitions."

The regime and state media refer to rebels as terrorists and accuse them of being part of a foreign plot seeking to destroy Syria.

"It's a huge victory for the regime, and a big blow to the opposition that is now in danger of losing other towns and villages around Damascus," Abdul-Rahman said of the army's campaign.

On Thursday, the army was already capitalizing on the territorial gains, pounding southern suburbs of Damascus, including the long-contested Daraya with artillery barrages and airstrikes, according to the Observatory. The group, which relies on a network of activists on the ground, also reported fierce clashes between rebels and army troops to the east of the capital.

The army's offensive to dislodge rebel fighters from neighborhoods ringing Damascus is part of the government's broader campaign to secure central provinces of Hama and Homs, and areas along the Lebanese border. The region is of strategic value to Assad's regime because it links Damascus with the coastal enclave that is the heartland of Syria's Alawites and also home to the country's two main seaports, Latakia and Tartus.

Syria's regime is dominated by the president's minority Alawite sect ? an offshoot of Shiite Islam ? while the rebels are mostly from the country's Sunni majority. Assad's major allies, the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group and Iran, are both Shiite.

Otaybah is located on a road linking Damascus with the eastern suburbs of Damascus known as Eastern Ghouta. Rebels have been using the road to transport weapons and other supplies to the capital. Many of the capital's surrounding towns and neighborhoods have been opposition strongholds during the 2-year-old conflict.

Losing control of the town will make the defense of rebel enclaves in northeastern suburbs such as Douma, Harasta and others more difficult, Abdul-Rahman said.

In Hama, rebels ambushed and destroyed an army vehicle after a six-hour battle with troops. Amateur videos uploaded by activists online showed an army vehicle in flames amid sounds of intense gunbattles.

Another video showed rebels raising black Islamic flags over the Nasseh Alwani school after "liberating it" from troops who had transformed it into a military base, and what appeared to be the bodies of soldiers burning inside.

The videos appeared consistent with AP reporting from the area.

Fighting in Hama is rare because the government keeps it under tight control. The city was the site of a notorious massacre in 1982, when Assad's father and predecessor, Hafez, ordered the military to quell a Sunni rebellion. Amnesty International has estimated that between 10,000 and 25,000 people were killed in the siege, though conflicting figures exist and the Syrian government has never made an official estimate.

The fighting across the country has forced more than 1 million people to flee their homes and seek refuge abroad. Millions have also been displaced inside Syria.

International aid agencies have been pleading for funds to help refugees in neighboring countries such as Jordan and Lebanon. They have also been asking the Syrian government to allow aid convoys into the country and facilitate access to the area inside cities and towns that have been affected by fighting.

Jordan's U.N. Ambassador Prince Zeid al Hussein sent a letter to the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, saying the increasing influx of Syrian refugees had sparked "a grave humanitarian situation" that threatens his country's security and stability. More than 500,000 Syrians have fled to Jordan since the conflict began.

The letter asks members to make a determination that the refugee influx, "if left unchecked and in the absence of the financial assistance required to enable Jordan to cope," constitutes a threat to international peace and security, a statement obtained by AP said. The letter asked the Security Council to invite Jordan to a private meeting on the issue and to visit Jordan as soon as possible.

___

AP journalist Mohammad Hannon reported from Zaatari. AP writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-04-25-Syria/id-d76e398a1cdc412eb530faeba01199d8

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Livable super-Earths? Two candidates among Kepler's latest finds.

Researchers unveiled a total of three planets Thursday, including two potentially livable super-Earths. The discoveries bring the Kepler team closer to its goal.

By Pete Spotts,?Staff writer / April 18, 2013

An artist drew (l. to r.) Kepler-22b, Kepler-69c, Kepler-62e, Kepler 62f, and Earth to scale to show the similarities in size. Scientists using NASA's Kepler space telescope have found the best candidates yet for potentially life-bearing worlds beyond our solar system, officials said Thursday.

JPL-Caltech / NASA Ames / Reuters

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Two potentially livable super-Earths and an outsized version of Venus were unveiled Thursday, the latest in a string of remarkable discoveries from NASA's Kepler mission.

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Kepler is a space-based observatory whose unblinking gaze has rested on some 170,000 stars simultaneously since May 2009.

The three planets are the smallest the observatory has yet detected in stellar habitable zones. These zones represent distances where a planet receives enough light from its host star to harbor liquid water on its surface. Liquid water is essential for the emergence of organic life.

The discoveries bring the Kepler team tantalizingly close to its ultimate goal ? to find Earth-mass planets orbiting sun-like stars at Earth-like distances, while also taking a broader census to see how many planetary systems with an Earth-like planet the Milky Way may hold.

Led by William Borucki, a researcher at the National Aeronautic and Space Administration's Ames Research Center near Mountain View, Calif., the team has confirmed 115 extra-solar planets so far, and it has amassed a roster of more than 2,700 planet candidates.

Two of the new planets are part of a five-planet system orbiting a star some 1,200 light-years away in the constellation Lyra. The star, Kepler 62, is about two-thirds the size of the sun and has 70 percent of the sun's mass. It's also about 3 billion years older than the sun.

The system's three inner planets, one comparable in size to Mars, are too close to their sun to be livable. Kepler 62-e, the fourth planet out, however, falls within the habitable zone. Orbiting once every 122 days, the planet is about 60 percent larger than Earth.

The team speculates that the planet is covered with water, although the system is too far away to take the measurements needed to estimate the planet's mass. Researchers need that measurement to determine the planet's density, a major clue as to its bulk composition.

Instead, modeling studies have indicated that planets ranging from 1.5 to two times Earth's size tend to be far more watery than planets closer to Earth's size. Thus, while the nature of the planet remains speculative for now, "the fascinating idea is that we've actually found the first ocean planet, the first water world out there," said Lisa Kaltenegger, an astronomer with the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass., during a mission briefing Thursday afternoon.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/Bfe6a9VuJHU/Livable-super-Earths-Two-candidates-among-Kepler-s-latest-finds

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MLB-best Braves sweep?day-night with Rockies

Associated Press Sports

updated 12:00 a.m. ET April 24, 2013

DENVER (AP) - Jeff Francis was beaten by the home run ball in the opener of the day-night doubleheader. Jon Garland didn't fare much better for the Colorado Rockies in the nightcap against the Atlanta Braves.

"This Atlanta team, you have to try to keep them in the yard," Colorado manager Walt Weiss said after the Tuesday sweep. "We had a tough time doing that today."

B.J. Upton and his brother Justin hit back-to-back homers for the first time, leading the Braves to a 10-2 win in the night game of the doubleheader that began with the coldest game at Coors Field.

It was the 27th time in major league history that brothers homered in the same game, but only the second time they went deep in consecutive at-bats. Lloyd and Paul Waner of the Pittsburgh Pirates also accomplished the feat on Sept. 15, 1938.

"Mistakes. Maybe a wrong choices of pitches," Garland said. "When you miss with pitches, good hitters will get you."

In the first game, Justin Upton, Dan Uggla and rookie Evan Gattis homered in support of a solid outing by Mike Minor in a 4-3 victory in a game that began with a temperature of 23 degrees.

The weather warmed up for the night game - but only a bit. It was 30 degrees at first pitch.

In the nightcap, B.J. Upton homered to left field off Garland to start the fifth inning, his third of the season. Justin Upton drove Garland's next pitch to center for his major league-leading 11th home run.

The Uptons have homered in the same game three times this season. They each added another RBI: B.J. on a sixth-inning sacrifice fly and Justin on a ninth-inning double that was part of a four-run burst.

"You go out to throw a spot and don't get it, they can do something," Garland said. "If you don't make pitches you are going to get hit.

" A lot of those pitches were up, didn't move, walking guys, putting guys on ahead of hits," Garland said. "Just a bad night overall."

Julio Teheran (1-0) made the most of his offensive support in the nightcap, allowing one run over seven innings to quiet the Rockies, who have lost three straight at Coors Field since an 8-0 start there.

The Braves also got a home run and run-scoring double from Juan Francisco. His two-run shot in the fourth came after Freddie Freeman drew a one-out walk. Colorado had broken on top with an RBI single by Michael Cuddyer in the third.

Garland (2-1) went six innings and allowed six runs and 10 hits.

During the opener, Reed Johnson, playing right field for Atlanta because Jason Heyward underwent an appendectomy Monday night, went 4 for 4 with three doubles. Heyward was put on the 15-day disabled list.

The matchup featured baseball's hottest teams - in the coldest game-time temperature in the majors since such data collection began in 1991, according to STATS. The Rockies said the previous low at Coors Field was 28 degrees.

Donning a short-sleeve jersey with his standard T-shirt underneath while many of the other players were bundled up, Minor (3-1) allowed three runs and five hits in six innings. He said he decided against warmer attire because he wanted the same freedom of movement he feels with his arms uncovered.

By the time Craig Kimbrel pitched a one-hit ninth for his eighth save in eight chances, the temperature had warmed up to 27.

Gattis hit a tiebreaking home run in the fourth and ended the game by throwing out Wilin Rosario trying to steal second.

Jeff Francis (1-2) gave up four runs and six hits in four innings, leaving him with an 8.44 ERA.

Ground crews began working around 6 a.m. to clear several inches of snow from the playing surface at Coors Field, which opened in 1995. While there was no sign of snow on the field when the game started, some parts of the ballpark remained closed, including the snow-filled Rockpile section in center. Workers hosed off the snow on the stand of evergreen trees beyond the center-field wall. It was important that the trees be cleared of the snow because they are part of the green batters' eye background.

It's been a wintry April for Denver, which has been hit by a wave of snowy weather over the past nine days that forced postponements of games three times. The delays led to two doubleheaders within a week.

Justin Upton hit a solo drive in the first, and Uggla's two-run homer in the second made it 3-0. Colorado closed in the second on Rosario's run-scoring groundout and Jordan Pacheco's RBI single, then tied the score in the third when Dexter Fowler tripled to the right-field wall and Josh Rutledge singled.

NOTES: Rutledge stole his fifth base in the first game, adding to the Rockies' league-leading total of 18. ... The Rockies were 0-3 at home against the Braves last year and 1-6 overall. ... It isn't always freezing at Coors Field. According to the Rockies, the hottest game played here since the park's 1995 opening was 100 degrees last June 25 when Colorado hosted Washington.

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Posnanski: There is no story in baseball history quite like Rick Ankiel?s, and as it nears its conclusion, there's still much to root for.

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Stunning 3D Sperm Images Reveal New Motion

Aydogan Ozcan is an expert on optics and imaging and leads the Bio- and Nano-Photonics Laboratory in the Electrical Engineering and Bioengineering Departments at UCLA. He contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

This past week, our research team announced the discovery of an entirely new pattern of movement for a familiar microscopic swimmer: sperm.

In specimens from both humans and horses, we were able to track thousands of cells at once to identify a sperm swimming pattern we had never before seen. The unusual, coiled-ribbon pattern was significantly more complex than sperm swimming patterns we observed last year, all findings that could have implications for fertility, health and our understanding of the microscopic world.

Finding the new swimming pattern was a difficult observation to make, since the motion occurs at lengths that are smaller than one millionth of a meter. We had to develop special microscopy techniques that could achieve the necessary high resolution and fast frame rates.

Techniques we and other researchers developed for three-dimensional (3D) tracking of microscopic swimmers ? such as sperm, protists or bacteria ? had already revealed the unique swimming patterns of those organisms, including helical, star-spinning and flat motions that lie within a single plane. However, the new patterns, which we call chiral ribbons, remained undiscovered until now. [See Video of Spriraling Sperm in 3D]

While specialized lenses could provide the necessary magnification for us to observe such microscale, rapid events, lens-based microscopes are generally not well-suited for looking at a large number of objects scattered in a big volume.

Instead, we rely on an emerging set of techniques that use computation as a replacement for the physical function of lenses. Those new approaches can track a significantly larger number of individual, microscopic trajectories in 3D.

To execute those computational imaging techniques, we place samples (such as the sperm cells) onto a silicon sensor chip, the same image sensor that you might have on the back of your cellphone. By simply shining light onto the sample, we create shadows of the microscale objects and dynamically record them.

The shadows form holograms of the specimen, which we can digitally process to create an image of the micro-object without using any lenses. Our approach has a much higher throughput than others, and is better suited to reveal rare and unconventional 3D swimming events that occur at the microscale.

By simultaneously using two different wavelengths of light shining at separate angles (vertical and tilted at 45 degrees), our most recent imaging technique revealed an entirely new swimming pattern for human and horse sperm. The research was published on April 16 in Scientific Reports, a journal of the Nature Publishing Group.

We call the newly discovered swimming pattern chiral ribbons, which refers to planar surfaces that rotate orientation or slope as they move. Sperm swimming in chiral ribbon patterns swing their heads left-to-right and right-to-left along a flat plane that itself oscillates, resulting in a trajectory that tracks either as a helix or as a simple twist. The chiral ribbon swimming patterns cannot be represented or understood by any previously known swimming patterns for sperm, or any other microswimmers.

To track those unique 3D patterns, we used computational holographic imaging to follow more than 33,700 sperm cells at a high frame rate (up to 140 frames per second) over a relatively large sample volume of nine microliters ? more than 10 times what a lens-based optical microscope could achieve.

The chiral ribbon swimming behavior is rare ? less than 2 percent of the human sperm cells we tracked exhibit chiral ribbons, though the percentage increases to more than 27 percent for horse sperm. Quite interestingly, we also observed that the majority (more than 65 percent) of the chiral ribbons displayed by human sperm are right-handed, whereas around 85 percent of the chiral ribbons observed in horse sperm exhibit left-handed rotations.

In summary, our results illustrate and quantify the parameters of an entirely new swimming pattern ? chiral ribbons ? and could help us better understand the statistical behavior of various microswimmers, possibly shedding light onto the biophysics of their 3D motion.

This research could lead to a deeper understanding of how sperm move on their way to fertilization, or other functions, and how they react when encountering various stimuli including chemicals or toxins.?[Higher Sperm Counts Are a Breeze with a Kilt]

The same high-throughput technique can also be translated to better understand motion of other microscopic swimmers, including harmful bacteria.

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stunning-3d-sperm-images-reveal-motion-122426569.html

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