The Obama administration?s allies continue to fail to understand the definition of ?irony.? In an ad released today, the Obama-supporting SuperPAC Priorities USA attacks GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney of ?drowning companies in debt? and costing workers their jobs and benefits as a result. And after they?re done feeling clever, no doubt every Obama voter is now asking themselves, ?Wait, debt impacts employment and benefits? Who knew??
Watch this most recent piece of unintentional comedy below:
ANTAKYA, Turkey (Reuters) - Helicopter gunships bombarded a strategic town in northern Syria overnight and tanks moved close to the commercial hub of Aleppo, rebels said, but kept well clear of new Turkish air defenses installed to curb Syrian action near its frontiers.
Turkish commanders inspected the missile batteries deployed on the border region on Thursday following Syria's shooting down of a Turkish warplane a week ago, which has sharply raised tensions between the two nations.
The Turkish deployments, a graphic warning to President Bashar al-Assad, coincide with rising violence across Syria and increasingly urgent international efforts to forge a peace deal as the nation slips into full-blown war.
As the Turkish-Syrian dimension ratcheted up further pressure, peace envoy Kofi Annan said on Friday he was "optimistic" that crisis talks in Geneva on Saturday would produce an acceptable outcome, which has so far proved elusive.
Regional analysts said that while neither Turkey nor its NATO allies appeared to have any appetite to enforce a formal no-fly zone over Syrian territory, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had made it clear Assad would be risking what he called the 'wrath' of Turkey if its aircraft strayed close to its borders.
Recently, there were clashes close to the border between Syrian forces and rebels. Last weekend, Damascus said "terrorists" infiltrating from Turkey were killed and there have been reports of Syrian forces shooting into camps for refugees in Turkey.
The United States, Britain and France have said that Assad is responsible for the violence, which the United Nations estimates has killed at least 10,000 people, and is no longer fit to govern. Russia and China, however, reject what they describe as Western calls for "regime change".
Turkey, sheltering some 34,000 Syrian refugees and providing bases for the rebel Free Syria Army (FSA), is in the forefront of the efforts to bring down Assad.
SYRIAN TANKS MASS
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 190 people, including 125 civilians, were killed on Thursday.
General Mustafa al-Sheikh, head of the Higher Military Council, a grouping of senior officers who defected from Assad's forces, said around 170 Syrian tanks had assembled at an infantry school near the village of Musalmieh northeast of the city of Aleppo, just 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the Turkish border.
"They're either preparing to move to the border to counter the Turkish deployment or attack the rebellious (Syrian) towns and villages in and around the border zone north of Aleppo," Sheikh told Reuters by telephone from the border.
Omar Abdallah, an activist in Idlib coordinating with the Free Syrian Army said: "After taking hits in rural Aleppo and Idlib, the army is re-grouping ... There is speculation that these forces intend to ring Aleppo starting July 1."
Rebel sources in Turkey's Hatay region said Assad's helicopters attacked Saraqeb, a strategic town deep in Idlib province, but kept away from the area directly along the Turkish border in the rural regions of Idlib and Aleppo provinces.
Neither Turkey, which fears a local clash escalating into a regional sectarian conflagration, nor Syria, has any interest in a confrontation on their shared border.
Ankara, which has the second biggest army in NATO, called an emergency NATO meeting after its warplane was shot down.
Turkey has in the past talked about creating a humanitarian corridor on Syrian territory if refugee flows became dangerously unmanageable or the scale of killing in Syria became intolerable. But it had always said this would require international endorsement.
"NATO just doesn't look like it's in the mood," David Hartwell, Middle East analyst, IHS Jane's, said. "What you might get is the Turks forcing a de facto no-fly zone."
SQUARING UP?
Erdogan announced earlier this week that he had issued new rules of engagement to his border troops and said any Syrian military elements approaching Turkish borders and deemed a threat would be treated as a target. But he failed, perhaps deliberately, to specify how close Syrian forces could come to the border before becoming vulnerable.
Rebels sources said they saw two Syrian attack helicopters on Friday flying about 4 km from the Turkish border in Idlib province and landing at an army base at Bab al-Hawa, close to Reyhanli, one of the places where Turkey has stationed anti-aircraft defenses.
It was the first time aircraft had been spotted close to the border and appeared to test Turkey's new rules of engagement.
"The Syrians might accept a very narrow zone along the border. Syria will remain very reluctant to get involved in any conflict with Turkey. They would be up against a very serious military foe," Malcolm Chalmers, research director at Britain's Royal United Services Institute, said.
The world has been accused by Syrian opposition activists of inertia over the bloodshed. Diplomacy has failed to produce agreement between Western powers, backing the opposition, and Russia, which has used its U.N. veto to block Western and Sunni Arab moves to drive Assad from power.
Ahead of Saturday's meeting, Russia proposed changes to Annan's plan for a national unity government in Syria, despite initially supporting it, but the United States, Britain and France rejected the amendments, Western diplomats said.
Russia and the other permanent U.N. Security Council members told Annan this week they supported a transitional cabinet that could include government and opposition members but would "exclude ... those whose continued presence and participation would undermine the credibility of the transition and jeopardize stability and reconciliation," according to Annan's proposal.
Diplomats told Reuters that Annan's idea of excluding certain people was clearly referring to Assad.
Although Russia signaled to Annan this week that his plan was acceptable, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reversed course on Thursday, diplomats said. Diplomats said the Russians demanded that Annan remove from his proposal the language about excluding people from a Syrian national unity government.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Lavrov were due to hold talks on Friday in St. Petersburg that could be decisive in breaking the impasse. The pair are scheduled to attend the Geneva talks on Saturday.
Annan had made preliminary acceptance of his guidelines for a political transition for Syria a condition for organizing Saturday's meeting in Geneva. The meeting is to include the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, Turkey, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar. Iran and Saudi Arabia were not invited.
"I think we are going to have a good meeting tomorrow(Saturday). I am optimistic," Annan told Reuters Television.
Assad on Thursday dismissed the notion of any outside solution to the 16-month-old uprising against his rule.
"We will not accept any non-Syrian, non-national model, whether it comes from big countries or friendly countries. No one knows how to solve Syria's problems as well as we do."
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Erika Solomon and Mariam Karouny in Beirut, writing by Ralph Boulton and Peter Millership; editing by Janet McBride)
Despite the personal support that President Obama and leaders of both parties have given the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act), the SEC will not be meeting the Congressional deadline to issue the new rules promised in the April legislation.
The JOBS Act, enacted in April 2012 with wide bipartisan support, is intended to reduce regulatory burdens for smaller companies, in order to help them raise capital and grow. A key component of the new law is to lift the long-standing ban on general advertising for private securities offerings.
SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro, who has been outspoken in her criticism of the JOBS Act in the past, testified yesterday before the U.S. House Subcommittee on TARP, Financial Services and Bailouts of Public and Private Programs Oversight and Government Reform Committee that the deadlines imposed by the JOBS Act were not realistic and not achievable. The SEC continues to fall behind on various deadlines related to the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act, originally adopted in 2010.
Although part of the JOBS Act went into effect immediately, other parts, including removing the general solicitation ban, require explicit SEC rulemaking. The SEC is now required to modify the prohibition against general solicitation and general advertising in Rule 506 of Regulation D and Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act).
New rules lifting the ban will likely seek to limit any negative impact on investor protection. Typically, before issuing a new rule, the SEC would conduct an extensive exercising that would include writing the new rule, conducting a certain amount of economic and cost/benefit analysis and provide for public review and comment.
Shapiro claims that the SEC will get to this when they feel like it significant progress has been made on the draft rules and that a staff proposal should be forthcoming in the near future.
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Google has opted to deliver Android 4.1 Jelly Bean as an OTA update to the ICS already on the Nexus phones and tablets it just handed everyone at I/O 2012, and there's a manual download link available too. As Android Police notes, only GSM phones running the IMM330D firmware will take the update (which you probably don't have, although a fresh phone from the initial Google Play run might work.) With this release already in the wild it's surely only a matter of time before various third parties open it up to a wider variety of hardware. As always with early and somewhat untested software YMMV, keep an eye on those XDA Developers threads for the latest updates.
Update: Just that quickly, an SDK port has already popped up for the HTC One X. Of course, it's described as unstable and the author has no plans to try to fix the numerous problems but if you're desperate to see Jelly Bean you can, you just probably shouldn't.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Little more than four months before the U.S. presidential elections, Republican hopeful Mitt Romney's foreign policy team is facing the same kind of internal rivalries that dogged the administrations of Ronald Reagan and both George Bushes.
Romney's official campaign website lists 42 official foreign and defense advisers, including some of the Republican Party's most prestigious experts, many veterans of past administrations.
But the team includes personalities strongly identified with contending factions whose internecine battles have dogged Republican foreign policy circles for a generation. One, more pragmatic, group is known as the "moderates." Members of the other, with a harder ideological edge, are loosely known as "neocons," short for neo-conservatives.
Already, fights have broken out over touchstone issues such as Russia and China, according to individuals close to the campaign.
One Romney campaign contributor who has interacted with the outside advisers said they held only one meeting as a group, in the offices of former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. It ended in an argument between moderates and neocons over Afghanistan policy.
Some Republican heavyweights from the more pragmatic, realpolitik school, including President George H.W. Bush national security adviser Brent Scowcroft, have declined thus far to endorse Romney.
Vigorous debates are common within any presidential campaign, and it remains to be seen whether those in the Romney camp become a major problem, much less endure should he become president.
Campaign spokespeople and Romney partisans described the foreign policy debates as healthy - and aimed at giving the presumptive nominee the best advice. Some suggested the complaints represent the griping of advisers who are on the campaign's margins, with little access.
CONSERVATIVE TREND
Andrea Saul, a Romney campaign spokeswoman, denied that its foreign policy team was bogged down in feuding and dysfunction.
"The foreign policy advisory team is a group of respected experts who work collectively, collegially, and closely to provide their best advice to Gov. Romney. He evaluates their opinions and ultimately make his own decisions on policy. Any rumors to the contrary are simply false and uninformed speculation that demonstrates a deep unfamiliarity with the campaign's decision making," Saul said.
Most of Romney's public foreign policy pronouncements have leaned toward the conservative side of the spectrum.
On occasion, the former Massachusetts governor, has evoked the Cold War. In a March interview with CNN, he called Russia "without question our No. 1 geopolitical foe."
On Iran, Romney has laid down a hard line, saying: "If I am president, I will begin by imposing a new round of far tougher economic sanctions on Iran ... I will back up American diplomacy with a very real and very credible military option."
And Romney has harshly criticized Obama for announcing a timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan, saying in February: "Why in the world do you go to the people that you're fighting with and tell them the date you're pulling out your troops? It makes absolutely no sense."
A long-time Republican activist who has been in contact with some of the Romney camp's more centrist elements said that moderates "are very concerned about the fact that if Romney needs to call anyone, his instinct is to call the Cheney-ites."
This is a reference to acolytes of former Vice President Dick Cheney. Several top former Cheney aides are among Romney's advisers.
But they also include prominent moderates such as Chertoff; former CIA and National Security Agency director General Michael Hayden and Mitchell Reiss, a former State Department official and prominent advocate of peace talks with the Afghan Taliban. (Romney himself has not taken that position).
"LIKES DIVERGENT VIEWS"
A Republican source aligned with some of the party's conservative elements said there have been "huge fights over policy" which have roiled the Romney adviser corps, resulting in full-time staffers trying to limit Romney's public statements on foreign policy.
Richard Williamson, a senior Republican strategist who advises Romney, acknowledged a "difference of views" among the advisers, which he characterized as normal for a presidential campaign.
But Williamson denied the campaign was plagued by factional squabbles.
Campaigns "by their nature" involve some infighting, said Williamson, whom the campaign made available to Reuters. He said that Romney "likes divergent views."
"I think that's a plus," Williamson said. "I look at it as healthy... I find it comforting that Mitt Romney makes up his own mind."
Richard Grenell, who was briefly the Romney campaign's foreign policy spokesman but resigned after controversies erupted over his archive of tart twitter messages and support for gay rights, said that in practice, the campaign relied on a fairly small array of advisers for day-to-day operations.
This meant it was possible some official and would-be advisers felt isolated from the candidate. "If an adviser is saying that Mitt Romney's campaign is ... chaotic, it's because they're not being used," he said.
People familiar with campaign operations said that day-to-day handling of foreign policy was largely in the hands of full-time campaign staff and that only a handful of outsiders regularly talked with Romney about foreign affairs.
One of the principal gatekeepers to the candidate is Alex Wong, a young lawyer who holds the campaign staff title of Director of Foreign, Defense and Judicial Policy.
Williamson is also said to have Romney's ear.
While not promoting himself as Romney's foreign policy guru, Williamson confirmed that he had helped prepare Romney for primary debates. He also said he had "never had a problem getting my views in the mix" or to Romney.
Republican sources characterized Williamson generally as a "moderate" figure whose credentials as a one-time close aide to Ronald Reagan likely protect him from the kind of obloquy some conservatives have directed towards other moderates on the Romney team.
HARDLINE OPEN LETTER
One of the few other prominent Republican foreign policy figures who several campaign sources said also had frequent access to Romney is John Bolton, a Cheney ally and former State and Justice department official and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
Bolton, who has made several campaign appearances for Romney, has fiercely attacked President Barack Obama, suggesting at one point, while on the stage with Romney, that Obama "has done almost everything possible to weaken the United States, to jeopardize our interests and our friends around the world."
In late March, after Obama was overheard telling then Russian President Dimitri Medvedev that he would "have more flexibility" after this year's election, Bolton and 35 of Romney's other listed advisers signed an "open letter" to the president. It raised a series of hardline points about topics such as missile defense, Iran's nuclear program, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, and Israel's standoff with the Palestinians.
Notable by their absence from the list of signatories were Chertoff and Hayden, the co-chairs of the Romney campaign's "working group" on counter-terrorism and intelligence, as well as five other advisers listed on the Romney campaign website.
A Romney aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the campaign could not reach some of the seven in time, and others had a policy of publishing their opinions on their own.
(Additional reporting by Lauren French; Editing by Warren Strobel and Eric Walsh)
One of the casualties of the "Great Recession" in Oregon was the recreational vehicle (RV) manufacturing industry. After growing through the 1990s and into the 2000s, RV manufacturing in Oregon peaked at nearly 7,700 jobs in March of 2005. A little over half (53%) of that employment was in Lane County, with the rest spread out across the state.
RV manufacturing was hit hard?during the severe national recession from 2007 to 2009, as credit died up, investment returns declined, and jobs were lost.? RV manufacturing employment dropped to 1,610 by April 2009, a loss of 79 percent from its peak.
We know from the industry data that many relatively high-skilled and high-paying jobs were lost. But what happened to the workers in the RV manufacturing industry as a result of the recession? Were they able to regain employment in the industry? Were they able to transition to other industries? Did their earnings decline or grow?
Of the 7,303 workers reported as employed in the RV manufacturing industry in the third quarter of 2007, 858 (11.7%) were still employed in the RV industry four years later. Half were employed in Oregon in some other industry. More than a third (36%) were not found in the Oregon unemployment insurance wage records in the third quarter of 2011.
More than 1,000 workers - the largest portion that found employment in another industry - worked in some other manufacturing. Of those, food manufacturing and wood product manufacturing were the most common. But workers were spread out across a variety of manufacturing industries. Since RV manufacturing requires many skills, from assembly to automotive to upholstery and cabinetry, workers coming out of RV manufacturing had skills transferable to other manufacturing sectors.
Learn more about the fate of the RV manufacturing workforce in the full article, written by Regional EconomistBrian Rooney.?
Note: This post was originally featured on Role/Reboot and was republished with permission. You can find the original here.
Have you ever been involved with someone you were totally into, who seemed much less interested than you did? Or have you ever been with someone who was way more into you than you were into them? These situations happen to almost everyone eventually, and as a culture, we?ve devised a few ways to discuss them. For example, we have lingo like ?friend zone? to indicate a person who?s pining after a friend. What?s hard is finding good advice on how to deal with those relationships?from either position.
Values like ?equality? and ?egalitarianism? are deeply embedded in U.S. culture. This, among other factors, makes it difficult to talk about power differentials in relationships. A lot of the time, the instinct seems to be to ignore a given power differential, because it?s uncomfortable to think about it. And I guess that for some couples, that works. At least, it works inasmuch as they can make the relationship function without talking about it?sometimes only barely, but it functions. In my experience, though, it?s best to have some mutual awareness and communication of what?s going on within a power differential, because in that case, it?s easier to be gentle and responsible with our partners.
Lots of relationship formations are relevant to a discussion about power differentials: S&M play is the most obvious example, but there are also examples like cross-generational relationships, relationships where one partner has way more money than the other, etc. The important questions become: How does the partner in the more powerful position avoid abusing the other partner? How often is power a one-way street, anyway? Again, since S&M plays with power so blatantly, these questions are most often out in the open with S&Mers. For example, S&Mers are fond of saying that ?the submissive has all the real power,? what with safewords and all. But if a rich older man falls for and marries a beautiful but poor young woman, then is it always obvious that he has far more power? Does she, sometimes, merely wield a different kind of power?
Outsiders are often quick to condemn such relationships. But these arrangements have always struck me as incredibly contextual; they?re dependent on how much genuine respect the partners have for each other, and the depth of their communication?as with any relationship.
I see ?mixed-investment? relationships, where one partner is way more into the other, as part of this tapestry. For one thing, there?s the one-way street question: Does the person who?s less invested always have more power? Sometimes, the partner who?s less invested will spend so much time feeling anxious about hurting the other partner that they strongly limit their own actions.
In all relationships containing a strong power differential, there?s a question of when (if ever) the ?powerful? partner has a responsibility to end things with the ?less powerful? partner. In the case of mixed-investment relationships, I think there often comes a point where the more ?powerful? partner can too easily abuse the other partner?s affections, and thus has a responsibility to end it. Detecting that point can be difficult, though.
Often, this is complicated by the fact that a more-invested partner can tell that the other partner is less invested?and will become anxious about ?scaring them off.? Being in love with someone means wanting to spend time with them, and wanting to spare them pain. Say I?m totally in love with some guy who is Not That Into Me. If it?s obvious to me that showing a guy how much I like him could make him feel uncomfortable and cause him to limit his time with me, then my natural instinct will be to hide my investment.
It?s easy to say that I ?should? be open about my feelings with him?but most of us have faced this choice before, and know how hard it is.
Another complication is that sometimes, the relationship mismatch will change or flip over time. I chased my first boyfriend for years before he committed to me, but a few years after that, I was the one who dumped him and he was the one who was devastated.
I?ve known people who felt that every time a relationship is uneven, it?s the more invested partner?s responsibility to end it. But again, if we place these relationships within a wider context, it becomes clear that they?re just another kind of relationship with a power differential. Like the others, it?s a question of communication and respect. If both partners respect and value each other, then a mixed-investment relationship doesn?t have to be a problem. The problems come in when partners aren?t transparent about their expectations, and don?t stay aware of what they need.
So perhaps the best advice to give people in a mixed-investment relationship would be thoughts like:
Know what you want, and what you are willing to give.
If you want the relationship to develop further, and your partner makes it clear that it won?t, then perhaps it?s time to evaluate walking away.
If you don?t want the relationship to develop further, and your partner does, then making that clear is very important.
Relationships like these can often feel like a ?waste of time? to the more-invested partner. Are they? It?s a question each person should ask themselves.
Relationships like these can also be stressful on the less-invested partner. Are you worrying a lot about whether your partner?s feelings are too strong? That?s another question people can ask themselves.
More thoughts are always welcome. How would you advise a person in a mixed-investment relationship?
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), PPC (Pay Per Click) ? digital marketing is an acronym-heavy minefield that businesses can spend precious resources attempting to decode. That?s why it?s helpful to understand the pros and cons of each marketing strategy before determining the one that?s right for you and your business objectives.
Although the most effective marketing plans integrate both strategies, maximising ROI (Return On Investment) depends on your understanding of the characteristics of each. Our roundup of digital marketing facts will help you on your way.
PPC is better for conversions; SEO is the biggest driver of traffic
It?s true that pay per click (PPC) advertising is a powerful conversion tool ? the context-sensitive nature of the model sparks more clicks than its search engine optimisation (SEO) counterpart. However, SEO accounts for 88 per cent of all web traffic, while PPC generates a modest 12 per cent. These are important statistics to consider when deciding on a specific online marketing technique that is in line with your priorities.
PPC is easier to customise
It?s important that your online marketing techniques are agile enough to adapt to changing business needs, such as new customer subsets and products you?re interested in highlighting. PPC is the obvious winner in this department, allowing marketers to change a campaign?s keywords in moments. Conversely, SEO keywords are usually incorporated into titles, headings and unique quality content ? a fact that makes implementing change a risky and labour-intensive affair.
PPC achieves a higher ranking in SERPS
Because paid ads create higher profits for search engines, PPC ads are displayed at the top and along the right hand side of a search page, boding well for the online visibility of your business. However, SEO?s capacity to draw long-tail traffic equates to greater longevity in terms of search.
SEO?s higher barriers to entry create a stronger competitive advantage
Using SEO as your primary online marketing strategy demands extensive keyword research and a considered approach to quality content creation. But this means that nailing good SEO practices from the onset and maintaining these as your business evolves is likely to generate traffic and conversions over the long haul. Mastering good SEO can give you a ranking that?s consistently higher than your rivals ? an attribute that gives you a powerful competitive edge.
If there is one point that online businesses must take away, it is that SEO and PPC both have a significant place in the digital marketing landscape. Dependent upon what you are trying to achieve online, your budget and your current business goals, SEO and PPC have different attributes that can help you achieve your goals.
In this fast pace digital world, it can be confusing and difficult to know what the best practice is; you might need to have a chat with an SEO or SEA expert who would be able to provide you with a more guided outline of your next digital step.
There are a variety of reasons why everyone that owns a vehicle needs to have auto insurance, but even if you have had a number of insurance policies in your life how can you be sure you are really getting the best deal? Do you know where to look for it? Read more...
Going on vacation, each of us may want different things. Some of us are simply looking for a place to bask in the sun and enjoy blue waves, while others may wish to stroll around a foreign town and learn new cultures. Although some get their holiday fix from shopping, others may prefer to visit museums and marvel at ancient artifacts. As no one?s paradise destination is the same, then how can we fulfill all of these needs all at once? Fret not, whether for fun, knowledge, relaxation, or business; Greece is your go-to destination.
At one point in our history, Greece was the hub of civilization. It was so vibrant with culture and arts that even the Romans took cue from their customs and worships and made it their own. Thousands of years later, well beyond the times of Archimedes, Greece indeed has evolved into a modern tourist destination. Its many shopping centers and WHAT stand to testify to this. But first and foremost, Greece is still the center of culture and history it was. Within strolls length from our Athens hotel, for example, we can reach and rediscover the ruins of the Parthenon. Once the heat of the day is at its peak, we can easily walk into a restaurant and order a Greek salad in the comfort of the town center. It is this eclectic mix of the best of both ages that make Greece so interesting to visit. History buffs will feel right at home, while those seeking for a more serene environment can opt for a cruise on Greece?s glittering shores--Greece is known for the beauty and warmth of its lands as well as its people. If you are seeking for a vacation trip what will leave everyone in awe and satisfied, book a hotel Athens Greece; a trip to Greece is the very picture of a perfect vacation.
Tropical Storm Debby has hammered more than 300 miles of Florida, where there have also been three reported tornadoes. NBC's Kerry Sanders reports.
By Weather.com, msnbc.com staff and news services
Updated at 4:45 p.m. ET --?Tropical Storm Debby whipped Florida with bands of drenching rain Monday while its center was nearly stationary in the Gulf of Mexico. Its slow progress meant the most pressing threat from the storm was flooding, not wind.
Florida governor Rick Scott declared a statewide emergency, and a tropical storm warning was in effect for most of the state's Gulf Coast, as the storm parked offshore.
A tropical storm warning for the coast of Alabama was discontinued early Monday.?Yet even with the storm's center far from land, it lashed Florida with heavy rains and spawned isolated tornadoes that killed at least one person. Another person was missing in rough surf off Alabama.
Residents in several counties near the crook of Florida's elbow were urged to leave low-lying neighborhoods because of the threat of flooding.
Offshore oil and gas operators in the Gulf of Mexico are also evacuating more than 30 percent of production platforms and rigs that are in the path of Debby. The storm is moving slowly, allowing its clouds more time to unload rain.
Tropical Storm Debby is expected to move north throughout the week with as many as 15 inches of rain expected in the state. Weather Channel meteorologist Jim Cantore reports.
The Coast Guard rescued a family Sunday, who were stranded on a small island on the northwestern Florida Gulf coast due to inclement weather caused by the storm.
Officials at the Coast Guard watch center in Mobile, Ala., received a call around 12:30 p.m. from a man reporting his family of five adults, four children and two dogs were stranded in a vacation house on Dog Island, south of Carrabelle, Fla.
Water was reportedly surrounding the house, and there was no way for them to evacuate to higher ground. The ship that brought them to the island would not return for them due to rough conditions.
Rescue crews from the Coast Guard Aviation Training Center deployed a helicopter to the family?s location. The crew hoisted and transported the family, including the dogs, to Carrabelle Airport. No injuries or medical concerns were reported.?
'Heavy rain' High winds forced the closure of an interstate bridge that spans Tampa Bay and links St. Petersburg with areas to the southeast. In several locations, homes and businesses were damaged by high winds authorities believe were from tornadoes.
"Locally heavy rain and flooding will impact much of Florida and southeast Georgia into Monday," weather.com reported. "Portions of northern Florida and southeast Georgia could see 6 to 12 inches of rain."
Weather.com severe weather expert Dr. Greg Forbes warned that?Debby could spawn isolated tornadoes in Florida through Monday.?
Tropical storm warnings?and?watches?were posted along portions of the Alabama and Florida Gulf Coasts. "Tropical-storm force winds (40 mph or higher) are possible in these areas," weather.com added. "Storm surge flooding?is also a significant threat along the Florida Panhandle coast and the western coast of Florida since Debby's circulation is embedded in a rather large wind field."
Brad Mcclenny / The Gainesville Sun via AP
Cedar Key Fire Chief Robert Robinson walks on a section of a floating dock that broke loose during a storm surge from Tropical Storm Debby in Cedar Key, Fla., on Sunday.
Debby's center was essentially stationary about 90 miles south-southwest of Apalachicola, Fla., early Monday. Debby's top sustained winds decreased to near 50 mph. The forecast map indicated the storm could inch forward through the week, eventually coming ashore over the Panhandle. However, a storm's path is difficult to discern days in advance.
Underscoring the unpredictable nature of tropical storms, forecasters discontinued a tropical storm warning Sunday afternoon for Louisiana after forecast models indicated Debby wasn't likely to turn west. At one point, forecasters expected the storm to come ashore in that state.
"There are always going to be errors in making predictions. There is never going to be a perfect forecast," said Chris Landsea, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center.
The Highlands County Sheriff's Office said in a news release that several tornadoes moved through the area southeast of Tampa, damaging homes.
Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Nell Hays said a woman was found dead in a house in Venus that was destroyed in the storm. A child found in the same house was taken to the hospital. No further information was available on the child's condition or either person's age.
Marina's roof torn off Authorities urged residents to leave low-lying neighborhoods in Franklin, Taylor and Wakulla counties because of flooding. Shelters were open in the area.
Wind tore the roof off a marina in St. Pete Beach, and a pier was heavily damaged, said Tom Iovino, a Pinellas County government spokesman. He said no injuries were reported.
In Orange Beach, Ala., a 32-year-old man disappeared Sunday in rough surf kicked up by the storm, a Coast Guard official said. Further information wasn't immediately available.
As of Sunday, 23 percent of oil and gas production in the region had been suspended, according to a government hurricane response team. Employees have been evacuated from 13 drilling rigs and 61 production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
The storm was not expected to result in higher oil and gas prices.
"It's largely a non-event for oil," said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service.
Weather.com, msnbc.com staff and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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One of the greatest, most successful athletes of our generation turns 38 years old today.
Yes, folks, Derek Jeter is celebrating a birthday, along with a 7-1 New York Yankees win over the Cleveland Indians last night.
The five-time world champion got his 3,000th career hit last year and kicked off 2012 on a blistering pace. He's since slowed down and is currently batting just .304.
But the Yankees are 44-28 and in first place by three games, and we all know Derek Jeter is simply about winning. He's also seen 2010's Sexiest Woman Alive naked on many occasions. That talented, lucky bastard.
Also celebrating birthdays today: Michael Vick (32), Nick Offerman (42), Chris O'Donnell (42), Chris Isaak (56).
Novel radiation therapy safely treats prostate cancer and lowers the risk of recurrence Public release date: 26-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: John Wallace wallacej@vcu.edu 804-628-1550 Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, Va. (June 22, 2012) A recent Phase I/II clinical trial has shown that a new combination of radiation therapies developed at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center escalates radiation doses to safely and effectively treat prostate cancer and lower the risk of recurrence with minimal radiation exposure to nearby healthy tissue and organs.
Recently published in the journal Brachytherapy, a novel treatment protocol designed by Michael Hagan, M.D., Ph.D., radiation oncologist at VCU Massey Cancer Center, that combines intensity-modulated radiation therapy with high-dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy was tested on 26 prostate cancer patients. Intensity-modulated radiation therapy uses computer-controlled linear accelerators to modulate the intensity of an external radiation beam to more accurately deliver radiation to tumors. HDR brachytherapy is an internal form of radiation therapy that uses small radioactive pellets implanted near the tumor.
"Recent studies have shown that both higher daily doses and higher total doses of radiation are better than standard doses in controlling prostate cancer, but these higher doses may be associated with higher rates of bladder and bowel complications," says the study's lead author Mitchell Anscher, M.D., Florence and Hyman Meyers Chair of Radiation Oncology and program co-leader of Radiation Biology and Oncology at VCU Massey Cancer Center. "Our study was designed to reduce radiation exposure to nearby healthy tissue and organs and we were pleased to find that this unique dosing schedule is safe and effective."
The toxicity of the therapy was relatively low and all 26 patients were able to complete treatment. The treatment required only one HDR brachytherapy implant, and all participants were treated as outpatients. After 4.5 years, none of the patients relapsed and the rate of long-term side effects was low.
"Our goal is to improve outcomes for our patients, so we are continually researching ways to reduce unnecessary radiation exposure to healthy tissues and make treatments shorter and more manageable. We're hopeful our findings will lead to better tumor control rates and fewer complications for men with prostate cancer," says Anscher.
Moving forward, the researchers plan to continue exploring prostate cancer therapies using higher dose rates and shorter treatment times. The next step will likely be a four-treatment study utilizing stereotactic body radiosurgery, a technique popular with brain cancer that provides higher accuracy and requires fewer treatments by focusing high-powered X-rays on a very small area.
###
In addition to Hagan, Anscher collaborated on this study with Michael Myers, M.D., Dorin Todor, Ph.D., Lynn Gilbert, Ph.D., Nitai Mukhopadhyay, Ph.D., Jessica Randolph, M.D., and Jeffrey Heilmiller from VCU Massey Cancer Center's Department of Radiation Oncology.
View the full manuscript of this study at:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1538472111003564
This study was supported, in part, with funding from VCU Massey Cancer Center's NIH-NCI Cancer Center Support Grant P30 CA016059.
News directors: Broadcast access to VCU Massey Cancer Center experts is available through VideoLink ReadyCam. ReadyCam transmits video and audio via fiber optics through a system that is routed to your newsroom. To schedule a live or taped interview, contact John Wallace, (804) 628-1550.
About VCU Massey Cancer Center
VCU Massey Cancer Center is one of only 66 National Cancer Institute-designated institutions in the country that leads and shapes America's cancer research efforts. Working with all kinds of cancers, the Center conducts basic, translational and clinical cancer research, provides state-of-the-art treatments and clinical trials, and promotes cancer prevention and education. Since 1974, Massey has served as an internationally recognized center of excellence. It has one of the largest offerings of clinical trials in Virginia and serves patients in Richmond and in four satellite locations. Its 1,000 researchers, clinicians and staff members are dedicated to improving the quality of human life by developing and delivering effective means to prevent, control and ultimately to cure cancer. Visit Massey online at www.massey.vcu.edu or call 877-4-MASSEY for more information.
About VCU and the VCU Medical Center
Virginia Commonwealth University is a major, urban public research university with national and international rankings in sponsored research. Located on two downtown campuses in Richmond, VCU enrolls more than 31,000 students in 222 certificate and degree programs in the arts, sciences and humanities. Sixty-six of the programs are unique in Virginia, many of them crossing the disciplines of VCU's 13 schools and one college. MCV Hospitals and the health sciences schools of Virginia Commonwealth University compose the VCU Medical Center, one of the nation's leading academic medical centers. For more, see www.vcu.edu.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Novel radiation therapy safely treats prostate cancer and lowers the risk of recurrence Public release date: 26-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: John Wallace wallacej@vcu.edu 804-628-1550 Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, Va. (June 22, 2012) A recent Phase I/II clinical trial has shown that a new combination of radiation therapies developed at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center escalates radiation doses to safely and effectively treat prostate cancer and lower the risk of recurrence with minimal radiation exposure to nearby healthy tissue and organs.
Recently published in the journal Brachytherapy, a novel treatment protocol designed by Michael Hagan, M.D., Ph.D., radiation oncologist at VCU Massey Cancer Center, that combines intensity-modulated radiation therapy with high-dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy was tested on 26 prostate cancer patients. Intensity-modulated radiation therapy uses computer-controlled linear accelerators to modulate the intensity of an external radiation beam to more accurately deliver radiation to tumors. HDR brachytherapy is an internal form of radiation therapy that uses small radioactive pellets implanted near the tumor.
"Recent studies have shown that both higher daily doses and higher total doses of radiation are better than standard doses in controlling prostate cancer, but these higher doses may be associated with higher rates of bladder and bowel complications," says the study's lead author Mitchell Anscher, M.D., Florence and Hyman Meyers Chair of Radiation Oncology and program co-leader of Radiation Biology and Oncology at VCU Massey Cancer Center. "Our study was designed to reduce radiation exposure to nearby healthy tissue and organs and we were pleased to find that this unique dosing schedule is safe and effective."
The toxicity of the therapy was relatively low and all 26 patients were able to complete treatment. The treatment required only one HDR brachytherapy implant, and all participants were treated as outpatients. After 4.5 years, none of the patients relapsed and the rate of long-term side effects was low.
"Our goal is to improve outcomes for our patients, so we are continually researching ways to reduce unnecessary radiation exposure to healthy tissues and make treatments shorter and more manageable. We're hopeful our findings will lead to better tumor control rates and fewer complications for men with prostate cancer," says Anscher.
Moving forward, the researchers plan to continue exploring prostate cancer therapies using higher dose rates and shorter treatment times. The next step will likely be a four-treatment study utilizing stereotactic body radiosurgery, a technique popular with brain cancer that provides higher accuracy and requires fewer treatments by focusing high-powered X-rays on a very small area.
###
In addition to Hagan, Anscher collaborated on this study with Michael Myers, M.D., Dorin Todor, Ph.D., Lynn Gilbert, Ph.D., Nitai Mukhopadhyay, Ph.D., Jessica Randolph, M.D., and Jeffrey Heilmiller from VCU Massey Cancer Center's Department of Radiation Oncology.
View the full manuscript of this study at:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1538472111003564
This study was supported, in part, with funding from VCU Massey Cancer Center's NIH-NCI Cancer Center Support Grant P30 CA016059.
News directors: Broadcast access to VCU Massey Cancer Center experts is available through VideoLink ReadyCam. ReadyCam transmits video and audio via fiber optics through a system that is routed to your newsroom. To schedule a live or taped interview, contact John Wallace, (804) 628-1550.
About VCU Massey Cancer Center
VCU Massey Cancer Center is one of only 66 National Cancer Institute-designated institutions in the country that leads and shapes America's cancer research efforts. Working with all kinds of cancers, the Center conducts basic, translational and clinical cancer research, provides state-of-the-art treatments and clinical trials, and promotes cancer prevention and education. Since 1974, Massey has served as an internationally recognized center of excellence. It has one of the largest offerings of clinical trials in Virginia and serves patients in Richmond and in four satellite locations. Its 1,000 researchers, clinicians and staff members are dedicated to improving the quality of human life by developing and delivering effective means to prevent, control and ultimately to cure cancer. Visit Massey online at www.massey.vcu.edu or call 877-4-MASSEY for more information.
About VCU and the VCU Medical Center
Virginia Commonwealth University is a major, urban public research university with national and international rankings in sponsored research. Located on two downtown campuses in Richmond, VCU enrolls more than 31,000 students in 222 certificate and degree programs in the arts, sciences and humanities. Sixty-six of the programs are unique in Virginia, many of them crossing the disciplines of VCU's 13 schools and one college. MCV Hospitals and the health sciences schools of Virginia Commonwealth University compose the VCU Medical Center, one of the nation's leading academic medical centers. For more, see www.vcu.edu.
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?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
E-Commerce, what do you know about this word? Many people have heard this word. But only some of them can know the exact definition of it. Let me explain that the term e-commerce refers to the purchase or sale of goods and services over the Internet. In simple terms e-commerce is online business will have to interact with customers, vendors and organizations using the Internet or they just sell or buy products online.
E-commerce solutions that will help you earn more without having to worry about ?how to? get the money. E-commerce solution is now becoming an important part of e-commerce business. If you are the best solution for ecommerce business, then you can beat your competitors. E-commerce solutions, but what the hell is?
Mystery of ecommerce solution
The site is the main tool in ecommerce solutions, it is quite clear that you will need to be integrated in your website that will provide you with the best e-commerce solutions.
* As the main aim of e-commerce business is to get money from the site, you need to integrate payment gateways that are good enough to serve the state of the art. Choose the type of payment gateway that provides secure high-end and allows credit card transactions because the customer now has widespread acceptance of credit cards to purchase goods from. And that is why they need high-end security.
* Create a platform for customers to interact with you and also a platform that will help you to maintain customer information. In such case, CRM is the best choice for you as you are able to retain all the raw materials are in CRM, you can store customer interaction, so that in future you will be aware that in parts of the site. Your business needs to be updated.
* Order tracking system will now become more demandable in the e-commerce site. Clients often want to know when their products will be delivered.
* Create shopping cart which will provide all the information of selected products by customers. Remember, the cart must contain information such as product name, price and payment options.
By providing these features, you will create a platform that is totally oriented to customer needs. The above features and you will certainly lead to your e-commerce business to the next level. All the best!
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Ecommerce: Problems And Solutions, 10.0 out of 10 based on 1 rating
Actress tells People her latest photos are 'a lot more sophisticated.' By Kara Warner
Jenny McCarthy on the cover of Playboy magazine Photo:
Actress/model/advocate Jenny McCarthy has once again set tongues wagging with her sixth appearance on the cover of Playboy. The blonde bombshell is featured on the cover of the July/August issue wearing nothing but some black knee-high tights and coordinating fingerless fishnet gloves. In addition to the cover photo, McCarthy appears in an eight-page photo spread inside the magazine, her seventh pictorial for Playboy.
The 39-year-old told People magazine that this particular photo shoot was particularly special because of the classy factor.
"I'm really proud of it," McCarthy told the magazine. "The pictures are really gorgeous and classy. They could be out of W magazine. They're really elegant. It's probably a lot more sophisticated than a lot of the stuff you'd see of people with their clothes on."
McCarthy made her Playboy debut in 1993 as a centerfold and later went on to be named Playmate of the Month and Playmate of the Year. Shortly thereafter MTV enlisted McCarthy to co-host our popular '90s dating show "Singled Out," which officially put the model/personality on the pop culture map. Entertainment Weekly deemed McCarthy "the Vanna White for the MTV generation," and praised her plucky, outspoken and signature touchy-feely hosting methods.
McCarthy parlayed her fame into multiple roles in television series and film, including two of her own self-titled sitcoms, but in recent years has become more well-known for her work as an activist for autism awareness, on behalf of her own autistic son Evan and the challenges and preconceptions associated with parenting autistic children. McCarthy also made headlines from her four-year relationship with Jim Carrey.
Contact: Robert Braun rbraun@igem-bielefeld.de 49-162-316-7424 University of Bielefeld
Bielefeld University students participating in MIT competition
This release is available in German.
A biological filter to remove estrogens from waste water and drinking water. The 15 Bielefeld students submitting this project to the 'international Genetically Engineered Machine competition' (iGEM) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, USA are setting their sights high. They are persuading internationally active companies and associations in the biotechnology and chemistry sector to contribute several ten thousands of Euros to cover the costs of entering this rapidly expanding global competition in synthetic biology. Since May, they have been spending their free time in the laboratory making new DNA building blocks, reproducing them, and producing enzymes. First results give reason for optimism.
The birth control pill is a widespread contraception method. However, large amounts of these modified estrogens leave the body again in urine. The conventional methods in sewage treatment plants are unable to treat this waste water sufficiently because the most frequently used estrogen ethinylestradiol is very difficult to break down. As a result, the hormone finds its way into rivers and lakes and also accumulates in drinking water with serious consequences for fish and other aquatic life. These range from reproductive and severe developmental disorders to the formation of female sexual characteristics in males. The long-term consequences of increasing estrogen pollution for human beings are still largely unknown. Nonetheless, declining sperm counts and thereby increasing infertility in men living in industrial nations may well relate to this hormonal pollution. In addition, testicular and prostate cancers as well as osteoporosis (a reduction in bone density) could be a consequence of overly high concentrations of estrogen in the human body.
Bio filters from tree fungi
The goal of the Bielefeld iGEM team is to develop a biological filter in which certain enzymes (so-called laccases) break down the estrogen. Laccases are to be found in many organisms, and one of their properties is an ability to break down aromatic compounds to which the estrogens belong. One source of particularly efficient laccases for this process is the turkey tail, a type of fungus that likes to grow on trees. The Bielefeld students are aiming to manufacture this enzyme economically and safely with the help of methods from synthetic biology. It should also be possible to extend the concept to other, in part poisonous and carcinogenic pollutants in drinking and waste water. The students already have one first success to announce: they have managed to isolate the genes of several laccases from various bacteria and have placed them in a standard, allowing further development. By the time of the European Jamboree in October, they want to have confirmed how the enzymes break down various substrates such as estrogens, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals and to be starting to immobilize them to filter materials.
Doing research in their own time
The Bielefeld team is composed of 15 students in the Genome-Based Systems Biology, Molecular Cell Biology, and Molecular Biotechnology degree programmes. Participating in the international competition means sacrificing many hours of their own free time, because the Bielefeld students have to carry out the research on top of their regular studies. Moritz Mller, a Master student of Molecular Biotechnology, explains why participating is nonetheless attractive: 'Taking part in the competition gives you a chance to build up your own laboratory work while you are still studying, to pursue your own ideas, and even carry out your own project. These are the sort of challenges you will be facing in your professional career'. The students are being supported by Professor Dr. Alfred Phler, Professor Dr. Erwin Flaschel, Dr. Jrn Kalinowski, and Dr. Christian Rckert from Bielefeld University's CeBiTec (Center for Biotechnology).
International competition
The iGEM competition has been held every year since 2003 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston. Starting as an MIT study course, the number of competitors has grown rapidly from five teams in 2004 to more than 190 in the present year. All teams face the same task: taking their project from the idea across the laboratory work to gaining funding and communicating the findings. As Dr. Jrn Kalinowski stresses, 'on the student level, the iGEM competition is the world championship in synthetic biology and it shows what potential this still young field of research has in the near future. Over 2,000 brilliant young minds from the best universities throughout the world are competing with each other. As in the current Bielefeld project, they set themselves ecological and social challenges and often find unconventional solutions. At the same time, the iGEM competition draws the attention of international companies and associations to the students and their promising ideas. The competition has a worldwide impact'. Because of the large numbers of competitors, continental preliminaries called jamborees have been organized since 2011. The European Jamboree will be held from 5-7 October in Amsterdam, Holland. It will decide which European teams get to travel to Boston, USA for the finals in November. Bielefeld University is competing for the third year in a row, and already succeeded in qualifying for Boston in 2010 and 2011.
###
For further information in the Internet, go to:
www.igem-bielefeld.de
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Robert Braun rbraun@igem-bielefeld.de 49-162-316-7424 University of Bielefeld
Bielefeld University students participating in MIT competition
This release is available in German.
A biological filter to remove estrogens from waste water and drinking water. The 15 Bielefeld students submitting this project to the 'international Genetically Engineered Machine competition' (iGEM) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, USA are setting their sights high. They are persuading internationally active companies and associations in the biotechnology and chemistry sector to contribute several ten thousands of Euros to cover the costs of entering this rapidly expanding global competition in synthetic biology. Since May, they have been spending their free time in the laboratory making new DNA building blocks, reproducing them, and producing enzymes. First results give reason for optimism.
The birth control pill is a widespread contraception method. However, large amounts of these modified estrogens leave the body again in urine. The conventional methods in sewage treatment plants are unable to treat this waste water sufficiently because the most frequently used estrogen ethinylestradiol is very difficult to break down. As a result, the hormone finds its way into rivers and lakes and also accumulates in drinking water with serious consequences for fish and other aquatic life. These range from reproductive and severe developmental disorders to the formation of female sexual characteristics in males. The long-term consequences of increasing estrogen pollution for human beings are still largely unknown. Nonetheless, declining sperm counts and thereby increasing infertility in men living in industrial nations may well relate to this hormonal pollution. In addition, testicular and prostate cancers as well as osteoporosis (a reduction in bone density) could be a consequence of overly high concentrations of estrogen in the human body.
Bio filters from tree fungi
The goal of the Bielefeld iGEM team is to develop a biological filter in which certain enzymes (so-called laccases) break down the estrogen. Laccases are to be found in many organisms, and one of their properties is an ability to break down aromatic compounds to which the estrogens belong. One source of particularly efficient laccases for this process is the turkey tail, a type of fungus that likes to grow on trees. The Bielefeld students are aiming to manufacture this enzyme economically and safely with the help of methods from synthetic biology. It should also be possible to extend the concept to other, in part poisonous and carcinogenic pollutants in drinking and waste water. The students already have one first success to announce: they have managed to isolate the genes of several laccases from various bacteria and have placed them in a standard, allowing further development. By the time of the European Jamboree in October, they want to have confirmed how the enzymes break down various substrates such as estrogens, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals and to be starting to immobilize them to filter materials.
Doing research in their own time
The Bielefeld team is composed of 15 students in the Genome-Based Systems Biology, Molecular Cell Biology, and Molecular Biotechnology degree programmes. Participating in the international competition means sacrificing many hours of their own free time, because the Bielefeld students have to carry out the research on top of their regular studies. Moritz Mller, a Master student of Molecular Biotechnology, explains why participating is nonetheless attractive: 'Taking part in the competition gives you a chance to build up your own laboratory work while you are still studying, to pursue your own ideas, and even carry out your own project. These are the sort of challenges you will be facing in your professional career'. The students are being supported by Professor Dr. Alfred Phler, Professor Dr. Erwin Flaschel, Dr. Jrn Kalinowski, and Dr. Christian Rckert from Bielefeld University's CeBiTec (Center for Biotechnology).
International competition
The iGEM competition has been held every year since 2003 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston. Starting as an MIT study course, the number of competitors has grown rapidly from five teams in 2004 to more than 190 in the present year. All teams face the same task: taking their project from the idea across the laboratory work to gaining funding and communicating the findings. As Dr. Jrn Kalinowski stresses, 'on the student level, the iGEM competition is the world championship in synthetic biology and it shows what potential this still young field of research has in the near future. Over 2,000 brilliant young minds from the best universities throughout the world are competing with each other. As in the current Bielefeld project, they set themselves ecological and social challenges and often find unconventional solutions. At the same time, the iGEM competition draws the attention of international companies and associations to the students and their promising ideas. The competition has a worldwide impact'. Because of the large numbers of competitors, continental preliminaries called jamborees have been organized since 2011. The European Jamboree will be held from 5-7 October in Amsterdam, Holland. It will decide which European teams get to travel to Boston, USA for the finals in November. Bielefeld University is competing for the third year in a row, and already succeeded in qualifying for Boston in 2010 and 2011.
###
For further information in the Internet, go to:
www.igem-bielefeld.de
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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Public release date: 26-Jun-2012
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