Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/302460416?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
Italy's new economy minister aims to cut taxes and spending
ROME (Reuters) - Italy's new economy minister Fabrizio Saccomanni plans to cut taxes and public spending and lower borrowing costs, according to an interview published on Sunday in daily la Repubblica.
Saccomanni, formerly deputy governor of Italy's central bank, was sworn in as minister on Sunday as part of Prime Minister Enrico Letta's new coalition cabinet, a mix of center-right and center-left politicians and technocrats like Saccomanni.
Saccomanni told Repubblica he wanted to "restructure the state budget" to support companies and low-earners, while cutting some unproductive public spending to create resources needed to reduce taxes.
The confidence generated by these measures could allow Italy's borrowing costs to fall sharply, he said.
The interest rate differential between Italian benchmark bonds and their safer German equivalent benchmark bonds, often seen as the main indicator of investor confidence could fall to 1 percentage point or less from the current level of almost 3 points, he said.
In an interview with few direct quotes, Saccomanni said it was vital to remove political uncertainty and instill confidence to kick-start Italy's recession-bound economy.
To do this, he said he would propose a "pact" between banks, firms and consumers to boost lending, investments and consumption. He did not elaborate on what this pact could entail.
Saccomanni faces a tough task to revive the economy without allowing public finances to go off the rails and the political risks were spelled out on Sunday by a close ally of center-right leader Silvio Berlusconi whose support Letta depends on.
HOUSING TAX
Renato Brunetta, lower house leader of Berlusconi's People of Freedom party (PDL) said the government would fall unless Letta promises in his maiden speech to urgently abolish an unpopular housing tax and repay the 2012 levy to taxpayers.
"If the prime minister doesn't make this precise commitment we will not give him our support in the vote of confidence," Brunetta told daily Il Messaggero.
Brunetta, who was himself a candidate for the post of economy minister said that during negotiations for the formation of the government Letta had "given his word" on the abolition and repayment of the tax, which would leave an 8 billion euros hole in public accounts.
Moody's analyst Dietmar Hornung said Italy's fiscal "maneuver space" was quite limited after its debt-to-GDP ratio had further increased from levels that were already high.
In an interview with Il Sole 24 Ore on Sunday, Hornung, who oversees Italy, said Rome needed to boost its competitiveness by reforming its labor market, although he said prospects of a progression in economic reforms were "quite weak".
On Friday, Moody's kept Italy's sovereign debt rating at Baa2 thanks to the country's reasonably low current cost of funding and its primary surplus but kept its negative outlook.
(Writing by Gavin Jones, additional reporting by Danilo Masoni; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/italys-economy-minister-aims-cut-taxes-spending-102649094.html
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Mapping of cancer cell fuel pumps paves the way for new drugs
Apr. 28, 2013 ? For the first time, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have managed to obtain detailed images of the way in which the transport protein GLUT transports sugars into cells. Since tumours are highly dependent on the transportation of nutrients in order to be able to grow rapidly, the researchers are hoping that the study published in the scientific magazine Nature Structural & Molecular Biology will form the basis for new strategies to fight cancer cells.
In order to be able to fuel their rapid growth, cancer tumours depend on transporter proteins to work at high speed to introduce sugars and other nutrients that are required for the cell's metabolism. One possible treatment strategy would therefore be to block some of the transporters in the cell membrane which operate as fuel pumps, thus starving out and killing the cancer cells.
One important group of membrane transporters is the GLUT family, which introduces glucose and other sugars into the cell. Glucose is one of the most important energy sources for cancer cells and GLUT transporters have been shown to play a key role in tumour growth in many different types of cancer.
In the current study, researchers from Karolinska Institutet have performed a detailed study of the way in which suger transport is executed by the protein XylE, from the Escherichia colibacterium, whose function and structure is very similar to GLUT transporters in humans. For the first time, the researchers have described the way in which the protein's structure changes between two different conformations when it binds and transports a sugar molecule.
"In showing details of the molecular structure of the region that bind the sugar, our study opens up the opportunities to more efficiently develop new substances that may inhibit GLUT transporters," says P?r Nordlund at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, one of the researchers behind the study. "Information on the structure of the transport protein facilitates the development of better drugs in a shorter time. Such GLUT inhibitors could potentially be used to treat cancer in the future."
The study may be of significance not just to cancer research but also in the field of diabetes. GLUT plays a key role in diabetes since insulin works by activating the uptake of glucose from the blood by means of GLUT transporters in the cell membrane.
GLUT and the studied XylE transporter belong to the very large group of metabolite transporters called the Major Facilitator Superfamily (MFS), which is important in many diseases and for the uptake of medicines in cells.
"Many aspects concerning molecular mechanisms for the function of GLUT transporters are probably common to many members of the MFS family, which are involved in a broad spectrum of diseases in addition to cancer and diabetes," says P?r Nordlund.
As well as membrane transporters, which have undergone in-depth analysis in the current study, many different membrane proteins pass through the surface membrane of the cells. Their significance to the cell function and the development of drugs has been noted before, not least through the Nobel Prizes that were awarded to researchers who used mechanistic and structural studies to map the function of two other major membrane protein families, G-protein-coupled receptors and ion channels.
The current study has been financed by grants from the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Cancer Society, the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and The Danish Council for Independent Research.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Karolinska Institutet, via AlphaGalileo.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Esben M Quistgaard, Christian L?w, Per Moberg, Lionel Tr?saugues, P?r Nordlund. Structural basis for substrate transport in the GLUT-homology family of monosaccharide transporters. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.2569
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/YpfcBJy_z0w/130428144853.htm
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Sunday, April 28, 2013
Stocks stall on tepid US economic growth
NEW YORK (AP) ? The stock market stalled Friday after the U.S. economy didn't grow as much as hoped and earnings from a handful of big companies failed to rev up investors.
The economy grew at a 2.5 percent annual rate in the first three months of the year, the government said. That was below the 3.1 percent forecast by economists.
The shortfall reinforced the perception that the economy is grinding, rather than charging, ahead. Investors have also been troubled by reports in the last month of weaker hiring, slower manufacturing and a drop in factory orders. Many economists see growth slowing to an annual rate of around 2 percent a year for the rest of the year.
U.S. government bonds, where investors seek safety, rose after the report.
"There are some concerns as we head into the summer," said JJ Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist for TD Ameritrade. "In the last three weeks, we've seen numbers that weren't exactly what you'd love to see."
Corporate earnings this week have also contained worrisome signs. Many companies missed revenue forecasts from financial analysts, even as they reported higher quarterly profits. For example, Goodyear Tire slipped 3.3 percent to $12.51 Friday after revenue fell short of analysts' estimates, hurt by lower global tire sales.
Of the companies that have reported earnings so far, 70 percent have exceeded Wall Street's expectations, compared with a 10-year average of 62 percent, according to S&P Capital IQ. But 43 percent have missed revenue estimates. Just over half of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported quarterly results.
The S&P 500 index dropped 2.92 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 1,582.24.
The Dow rose 11.75 points, or 0.1 percent, to 14,712.55. The index got a big lift from Chevron. Profit for the U.S. oil company beat expectations of financial analysts in the first quarter, pushing shares up 1.3 percent to $120.04.
Three stocks fell for every two that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.
Both indexes were up for the week and remain slightly below their all-time highs reached April 11. The Dow index rose 1.1 percent this week while the S&P gained 1.7 percent.
The market has been bolstered by the Federal Reserve's easy money policy. The disappointing growth figure for the economy will ensure that the Fed sticks with its stimulus policy, providing support for stocks, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital.
"The economic data that we've been getting points to no early exit for the Fed's stimulus," Cardillo said.
The Nasdaq composite fell 10.72 points to 3,279.26, a decline of 0.3 percent. The index is 2.3 percent higher this week.
The tech-heavy index has lagged the Dow and the S&P 500 this year, but it led the way higher this week, boosted by Microsoft. The software giant, which makes up 5.3 percent of the Nasdaq, recorded its biggest weekly gain since January of last year ? up 6.8 percent. It reported earnings April 19 that beat Wall Street expectations. The company also began an aggressive push into the computer tablet market.
Apple, the largest stock in the Nasdaq, also had a good week. The stock rose 6.8 percent to $417.20, its best weekly gain since November, despite posting a decline in quarterly profit Tuesday. Apple accounts for 7.6 percent of the Nasdaq composite.
Among other big names investors focused on:
Amazon.com fell 7 percent to $254.81 after the company warned of a possible loss in the current quarter. The online retailer also reported lower income for the first quarter as it continued to spend heavily on rights to digital content.
Expedia fell 10 percent to $58.56 after the online travel company reported a quarterly loss.
Homebuilder D.R. Horton surged 8.7 percent to $26.66 after its income nearly tripled thanks to a continuing recovery the housing market. The results handily beat the forecasts of financial analysts who follow the company.
J.C. Penney jumped 12 percent to $17 after the billionaire financier George Soros disclosed that he had taken a 7.9 percent stake in the struggling company.
In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to its lowest rate of the year, 1.67 percent, from 1.71 percent the day before. The yield has fallen from 2.06 percent six weeks ago as traders move money into lower-risk investments.
The dollar weakened against the euro.
The European currency bought $1.3029 at the end of day, compared with $1.3002 the day before. The ISE dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against a group of other world currencies including the Japanese yen and the euro, dropped 0.3 percent, to 82.48.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-stall-tepid-us-economic-growth-195845422.html
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Friday, April 26, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Amazon Just Beats Estimates As Q1 Sales Rise 22 Percent To $16B, While Net Income Drops 37 Percent To $82M
Today, Amazon continued the trend, still finding itself in a bit of a hangover after missing expectations in Q4. The eCommerce giant reported earnings from Q1 after the market closed this afternoon, in which it saw cash flow increase 39 percent to $4.25 billion, compared to $3 billion for the prior year, while net sales increased 22 percent to $16.07 billion in Q1, compared to $13.18 billion in first quarter 2012.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/mUSFJAPnbOk/
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PFT: GM calls 2013 NFL draft class 'historically bad'
Getty ImagesLarry Felser, a longtime pro football reporter and columnist for the Buffalo News, passed away?on Wednesday at age 80, the publication reported.
Felser covered the Bills from 1960, when they were one of the charter members of the American Football League, through 2001, the News said. He also was sports editor of the News.
In a statement issued by the Bills, owner Ralph Wilson Jr. praised Felser?s work.
?Larry was there at the beginning of the American Football League and along with fellow reporters such as Will McDonough and others, played an important role in the growth of our league,? Wilson said. ?He was the consummate professional ? tough, but fair, and never one to shy away from clearly stating his opinion.
?I had tremendous respect for Larry and we developed a deep friendship that lasted throughout our lifetimes. We shared some great laughs over the years and that?s what I am remembering most today about Larry. I will truly miss him. My deepest sympathies and condolences go out to his lovely wife, Beverly, and their family.?
In 1984, Felser earned the Dick McCann Award, an honor voted upon by the Pro Football Writers of America and awarded by the Pro Football Hall of Fame for?meritorious reporting on the sport.
For those wishing to read an example of Felser?s work, the Buffalo News recently republished a column he wrote after the Bills? remarkable comeback against the Oilers in January 1993.
Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/04/23/one-gm-says-this-draft-is-historically-bad/related/
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Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Robot & baby sea turtles reveal principles of motion
Apr. 23, 2013 ? For sea turtle hatchlings struggling to reach the ocean, success may depend on having flexible wrists that allow them to move without disturbing too much sand. A similar wrist also helps a robot known as "FlipperBot" move through a test bed, demonstrating how animals and bio-inspired robots can together provide new information on the principles governing locomotion on granular surfaces.
Both the baby turtles and FlipperBot run into trouble under the same conditions: traversing granular media disturbed by previous steps. Information from the robot research helped scientists understand why some of the hatchlings they studied experienced trouble, creating a unique feedback loop from animal to robot -- and back to animal.
The research could help robot designers better understand locomotion on complex surfaces and lead biologists to a clearer picture of how seat turtles and other animals like mudskippers use their flippers. The research could also help explain how animals evolved limbs -- including flippers -- for walking on land.
The research is scheduled to be published April 24 in the journal Bioinspiration & Biomimetics. The work was supported by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory's Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) Program, the U.S. Army Research Office, and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.
"We are looking at different ways that robots can move about on sand," said Daniel Goldman, an associate professor in the School of Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "We wanted to make a systematic study of what makes flippers useful or effective. We've learned that the flow of the materials plays a large role in the strategy that can be used by either animals or robots."
The research began in 2010 with a six-week study of hatchling loggerhead sea turtles emerging at night from nests on Jekyll Island, one of Georgia's coastal islands. The research was done in collaboration with the Georgia Sea Turtle Center.
Nicole Mazouchova, then a graduate student in the Georgia Tech School of Biology, studied the baby turtles using a trackway filled with beach sand and housed in a truck parked near the beach. She recorded kinematic and biomechanical data as the turtles moved in darkness toward an LED light that simulated the moon.
Mazouchova and Goldman studied data from the 25 hatchlings, and were surprised to learn that they managed to maintain their speed regardless of the surface on which they were running.
"On soft sand, the animals move their limbs in such a way that they don't create a yielding of the material on which they're walking," said Goldman. "That means the material doesn't flow around the limbs and they don't slip. The surprising thing to us was that the turtles had comparable performance when they were running on hard ground or soft sand."
The key maintaining performance seemed to be the ability of the hatchlings to control their wrists, allowing them to change how they used their flippers under different sand conditions.
"On hard ground, their wrists locked in place, and they pivoted about a fixed arm," Goldman explained. "On soft sand, they put their flippers into the sand and the wrist would bend as they moved forward. We decided to investigate this using a robot model."
That led to development of FlipperBot, with assistance from Paul Umbanhowar, a research associate professor at Northwestern University. The robot measures about 19 centimeters in length, weighs about 970 grams, and has two flippers driven by servo-motors. Like the turtles, the robot has flexible wrists that allow variations in its movement. To move through a track bed filled with poppy seeds that simulate sand, the robot lifts its flippers up, drops them into the seeds, then moves the flippers backward to propel itself.
Mazouchova, now a Ph.D. student at Temple University, studied many variations of gait and wrist position and found that the free-moving mechanical wrist also provided an advantage to the robot.
"In the robot, the free wrist does provide some advantage," said Goldman. "For the most part, the wrist confers advantage for moving forward without slipping. The wrist flexibility minimizes material yielding, which disturbs less ground. The flexible wrist also allows both the robot and turtles to maintain a high angle of attack for their bodies, which reduces performance-impeding drag from belly friction."
The researchers also noted that the robot often failed when limbs encountered material that the same limbs had already disturbed. That led them to re-examine the data collected on the hatchling turtles, some of which had also experienced difficulty walking across the soft sand.
"When we saw the turtles moving poorly, they appeared to be suffering from the same failure mode that we saw in the robot," Goldman explained. "When they interacted with materials that had been previously disturbed, they tended to lose performance."
Mazouchova and Goldman then worked with Umbanhowar to model the robot's performance in an effort to predict how the turtle hatchlings should respond to different conditions. The predictions closely matched what was actually observed, closing the loop between robot and animal.
"The robot study allowed us to test how principles applied to the animals," Goldman said. While the results may not directly improve robot designs, what the researchers learned should contribute to a better understanding of the principles governing movement using flippers. That would be useful to the designers of robots that must swim through water and walk on land.
"A multi-modal robot might need to use paddles for swimming in water, but it might also need to walk in an effective way on the beach," Goldman said. "This work can provide fundamental information on what makes flippers good or bad. This information could give robot designers clues to appendage designs and control techniques for robots moving in these environments."
The research could ultimately provide clues to how turtles evolved to walk on land with appendages designed for swimming.
"To understand the mechanics of how the first terrestrial animals moved, you have to understand how their flipper-like limbs interacted with complex, yielding substrates like mud flats," said Goldman. "We don't have solid results on the evolutionary questions yet, but this certainly points to a way that we could address these issues."
This research has been supported by the National Science Foundation under grant CMMI-0825480 and the Physics of Living Systems PoLS program, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory's (ARL) Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) Program under cooperative agreement W911NF-08-2-0004, the U.S. Army Research Office (ARO) and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award. Any conclusions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF, ARL or ARO.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkHA3tL4z5U&feature=youtu.be
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Georgia Institute of Technology, Research Communications. The original article was written by John Toon.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Nicole Mazouchova, Paul B. Umbanhowar and Daniel I. Goldman. Flipper-driven terrestrial locomotion of a sea turtle-inspired robot. Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, 2013
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/~3/qkoK9zihsW0/130423211711.htm
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Microsoft Surface Pro and Surface RT now shipping in more countries
Microsoft's Surface Pro and RT are striking out to more far flung corners of the globe. Redmond just announced this morning that its two Windows 8 tablets will be made available to even more markets, with the Surface RT being the first to branch out, shipping on April 25th to Malaysia and then soon after to Mexico, Korea and Thailand by end May / early June. When it finally hits that early summer release window, the Surface RT will be accessible to a total of 29 markets globally. As for its older sibling, the feature-packed Surface Pro, that angular slate's set to expand beyond its current limited availability (U.S., Canada and China) to 19 additional markets across Europe (including the UK), Asia and Oceania by the end of next month. And if you've been searching high and low for a 128GB Surface Pro to no avail, chin up, as Microsoft's taken note of your demand and is working with retailers to keep that model "consistently in stock."
Filed under: Tablets, Microsoft
Source: Microsoft Surface blog
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Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Wife of China's jailed Nobel winner: I'm not free
BEIJING (AP) ? Liu Xia, under house arrest in China's capital since her imprisoned husband Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize, made a rare appearance Tuesday at a trial, yelling out a car window: "I'm not free."
Liu was allowed to leave the Beijing apartment where she has been held for two-and-a-half years to attend the trial of her brother on fraud charges that his lawyers said are trumped up to punish the family. Taken by car to the court in Beijing's suburbs, she sat through the morning-long proceedings, and when she came out accompanied by her lawyer, she shouted from an open window at diplomats and reporters.
"I'm not free. When they tell you I'm free, tell them I'm not," she said.
Her trip to the Huairou People's Court is one of the few instances when Liu has broken the security cordon that has surrounded her. A poet and activist in her own right, Liu became an exponent for democracy and freedom of expression after her husband was jailed in late 2008 for authoring and disseminating a program for political reform called Charter '08.
Liu Xiaobo was later sentenced to 11 years in prison, his fourth prison term in 20 years of political activism. Since he was awarded the Nobel in 2010, authorities have tried to turn Liu Xia into a non-entity to prevent her from becoming a rallying point for Chinese seeking democratic change. She has been allowed out of her apartment once a week to buy food and see her parents and once a month to visit her husband in prison.
Authorities in China routinely put pressure on family members of political activists and government critics to cow them into falling in line.
On her way to the court Tuesday morning, Liu Xia told Hong Kong reporters that the case against her brother was aimed at her.
"They want to break one leg and then break another. But I am demanding to stand up straight and not be afraid," said Liu. She added later: "My heart feels weary because my younger brother is very important to me. Though I am his older sister, he has been taking care of me for so many years."
The charges against the brother, Liu Hui, relate to a real estate deal in which prosecutors said Liu and a partner pocketed 3 million yuan ($500,000) that was claimed by another party to the transaction.
His attorneys said the funds have been returned and the dispute does not rise to the level of crime. Investigators previously looked into the dispute last year and did not pursue charges, reviving them only in February. In the weeks before that, outsiders ? a group of Associated Press reporters and separately five political activists ? twice managed to slip past the police and visit Liu Xia in her apartment, embarrassing the security forces.
Being able to leave the apartment for her brother's trial, Liu said, was welcome change from house arrest. "I hope that from today on every day can be like this," she said.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wife-chinas-jailed-nobel-winner-im-not-free-062344520.html
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Mushrooms can provide as much vitamin D as supplements
Apr. 22, 2013 ? Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have discovered that eating mushrooms containing Vitamin D2 can be as effective at increasing and maintaining vitamin D levels (25-hydroxyvitamin D) as taking supplemental vitamin D2 or vitamin D3. These findings will be presented at the American Society for Biochemistry and Microbiology annual meeting in Boston on April 22 and also concurrently appear in Dermato-Endocrinology on line open access.
Vitamin D is crucial for good bone health and muscle strength; adequate amounts help the body maintain bone density reducing the risk of fracture, osteomalacia, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. The nutrient also plays an integral role in modulating the immune system to help fight infections like the flu and reduces the risk of many common diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease, depression and diabetes.
The study to be presented consisted of 30 healthy adults who were randomized to take capsules containing 2000 International Units (IU) of vitamin D2, 2000 IU of vitamin D3 or 2000 IU of mushroom powder containing vitamin D2 once a day for 12 weeks during the winter. Baseline serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], a measure to determine a person's vitamin D status, were not significantly different among the groups. The serum 25(OH)D levels among the three groups gradually increased and plateaued at seven weeks and were maintained for the following five weeks. After 12 weeks of the vitamin D supplements, serum 25(OH)D levels were not statistically significantly different than those who ingested 2000 IU of vitamin D2 in mushroom powder.
"These results provide evidence that ingesting mushrooms which have been exposed to ultraviolet light and contain vitamin D2, are a good source of vitamin D that can improve the vitamin D status of healthy adults. Furthermore we found ingesting mushrooms containing vitamin D2 was as effective in raising and maintaining a healthy adult's vitamin D status as ingesting a supplement that contained either vitamin D2 or vitamin D3," said Michael F. Holick, PhD, MD, the principal investigator of the abstract. The study is available on line concurrently in the journal Dermato-Endocrinology. "These results confirm other studies that have demonstrated that ingesting vitamin D2 either from fortified orange juice, a supplement or a pharmaceutical formulation were all capable of increasing total circulating 25(OH) D concentrations for at least 3 months, and up to 6 years," added Holick, the senior author of the study.
According to Holick and his coauthors ingesting mushrooms containing vitamin D2 can be an effective strategy to enhance a persons' vitamin D status. "The observation that some mushrooms when exposed to UVB light also produce vitamin D3 and vitamin D4 can also provide the consumer with at least two additional vitamin Ds," he added.
In a second poster presentation, the researchers were able to determine how mushrooms make vitamin D2 and found that the process is similar to what occurs in human skin after sun exposure. They were also able to show that mushrooms not only produce vitamin D2, but can produce vitamin D3 and vitamin D4.
"Although it has been previously reported that mushrooms have the ability to produce both vitamin D2 and vitamin D4, through our own research we were able to detect several types of vitamin Ds and provitamin Ds in mushroom samples including vitamin D3 which is also made in human skin," added Holick.
According to the researchers these abstracts as well as the on line published study demonstrate that mushrooms are another good natural food source for vitamin D that can easily be found in ones' local grocery store.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Boston University Medical Center, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/92E0W09oa14/130422132801.htm
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5 dead in shooting south of Seattle
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. (AP) ? Gunfire erupted at an apartment complex in a city south of Seattle and five people were shot to death, including a suspect who was shot by arriving officers, police said early Monday.
Officers responding to an emergency call at 9:30 p.m. PDT Sunday at the apartments in Federal Way encountered a chaotic scene, with bullets flying.
"When officers arrived there were still shots being fired," said Federal Way police spokeswoman Cathy Schrock.
They found two wounded men on the ground in a parking lot. One of the men reached for a gun as police moved in to assist the two, she said.
At that point, officers opened fire. The suspect died but police said it wasn't immediately clear if it was from their gunfire.
The other man on the ground and a third man in the parking lot were found dead.
In a search of the complex, police found a fourth man dead in one apartment and a slain woman in another unit. Schrock said police were trying to determine if the woman was hit by a stray bullet.
A total of eight officers fired their weapons, Schrock said. All have been placed on administrative leave, per standard policy, as the investigation continues.
There was no immediate word what set off the shooting. Police scheduled a briefing for late Monday morning.
"We still don't have any idea what started this disturbance tonight," Schrock said.
After police flooded the area and carried out searches, authorities said they were confident there were no more casualties from the shooting.
They said they did not think another shooter was on the loose or that there was an immediate threat to the public.
By dawn, a King County medical examiner's office truck arrived at the scene to pick up bodies. Crime scene investigators continued working. One officer was seen carrying books and a gun to what appeared to be an evidence van.
There were no reports of any officers being injured. The names of the five people killed were not immediately available.
Federal Way is about 20 miles south of Seattle.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/police-5-dead-shooting-south-seattle-081054003.html
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Heat roll, and LeBron says they can play better
Miami Heat's LeBron James, top, goes to the basket as Milwaukee Bucks' Ersan Ilyasova (7) looks on during the first half of Game 1 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series in Miami, Sunday April 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
Miami Heat's LeBron James, top, goes to the basket as Milwaukee Bucks' Ersan Ilyasova (7) looks on during the first half of Game 1 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series in Miami, Sunday April 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade (3) congratulates Chris Andersen (11) after Andersen scored against the Milwaukee Bucks during the second half of Game 1 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series in Miami, Sunday April 21, 2013. The Heat won 110-87. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade (3) shoots as Milwaukee Bucks' Monta Ellis (11) defends during the first half of Game 1 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series in Miami, Sunday April 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
Milwaukee Bucks power forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute practices before Game 1 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series against the Miami Heat in Miami, Sunday, April 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
Milwaukee Bucks point guard Brandon Jennings arrives at the American Airlines for Game 1 in the first round of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Miami Heat in Miami, Sunday April 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
MIAMI (AP) ? LeBron James looked at the stat sheet, then looked at the cameras and said words that were absolutely not what the Milwaukee Bucks wanted to hear.
They might have even seemed downright ominous.
"We know we can play a better game," James said.
His assessment came after the defending NBA champion Miami Heat pretty much did whatever they wanted in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
James scored 27 points on 9-for-11 shooting ? finishing two assists shy of a triple-double ? while Ray Allen scored 20 off the bench and the Heat picked up where they left off in last year's playoffs, never trailing on the way to beating the Bucks 110-87 on Sunday night.
James also had game-highs of 10 rebounds and eight assists. According to STATS LLC, in the last 26 years, only Anthony Mason had finished a game (albeit one of the regular-season variety) with at least 27 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists on 11 or fewer shots until the league's reigning MVP did it on Sunday.
"He's in playoff mode," Heat guard Dwyane Wade said.
Wade scored 16, Chris Bosh added 15 and Chris Andersen finished with 10 on 4-for-4 shooting for the Heat, who opened their title defense by holding Milwaukee to 42 percent shooting.
Brandon Jennings scored 26 points and Monta Ellis added 22 for the Bucks, who have not won the opening game of a playoff series since May 2001.
Game 2 is Tuesday in Miami.
"We've got nothing to lose," Jennings said. "Nobody should be scared or anything. Let's just hoop."
It might take more than that.
The Bucks lost by 23, and afterward, it was the Heat who seemed like the team more disappointed in its level of play.
Miami shot 7 of 23 from 3-point range, nearly 10 percent worse than its regular-season norm in that department. The Heat turned the ball over 19 times, five more than usual. They gave the Bucks 22 points off those miscues, which matched Miami's sixth-highest total of the season.
And yet they still outscored Milwaukee in every quarter, led by as many as 25 in the late going and outrebounded the Bucks 46-31 ? especially impressive considering the Bucks finished the regular season with the fifth-most rebounds per game in the league while Miami finished the year ranked last out of 30 teams.
"It's a great way to start the series," Bosh said. "They're a feisty team over there. We wanted to make sure that we played good on defense and keep doing what we've been doing."
James took a bit of a break at the end of the season while dealing with a strained right hamstring, was excused from the team for its final regular-season game to tend to personal matters and said he came back to Miami late last week rested, refreshed and ready to open the title defense.
It showed. He alternated between steady and showtime modes, either running the offense or getting to the rim for spectacular left-handed dunks.
"We love him in that mode," Wade said. "The time away was good and now he's focused on his goal and his goal is to dominate every game and help take this team to a championship."
James had taken only 11 shots in a playoff game twice before, and his postseason per-game average entering Sunday was just under 21 tries. But with the way he controlled the game Sunday, he didn't exactly need to shoot.
"All I care about is the win," James said. "I didn't even know my stats. I just knew that we were playing efficient offensively besides the turnovers. We want to try to keep that going."
That's probably not the best of signs for the Bucks.
"Obviously, incredibly efficient," Bucks coach Jim Boylan said. "When you have a game like that, what can you do?"
Milwaukee came into the series with Jennings predicting his team would oust the reigning champions in six games.
They'll have to win four of five now for that to happen. And with James playing like this, the odds would seem particularly slim.
"I think we played good basketball in stretches," said Ellis, whose team finished with 10 offensive rebounds, all in the first half. "They're a great team. They capitalized on our mistakes. I think they were more aggressive towards the end. In the third and fourth, they never looked back."
The Bucks said coming into Game 1 that they would brace for Miami to come out flying, and the Heat more than delivered on that expectation. Miami scored on its first five possessions and after back-to-back scores at the rim by James ? the first of those a vicious one-handed slam after Wade set him up on a 3-on-1 break ? the Heat were up 21-8 early.
Milwaukee settled down quickly, getting within 26-24 at the end of the first, with Jennings scoring 10 in the period. And the Bucks hung around for the remainder of the first half, with Miami leading just 52-45 going into intermission.
"I thought in the first half we played with some good energy, had some good ball movement, created some turnovers and took advantage of that," Boylan said. "In the third quarter they came out a little bit more focused ... with a little more purpose, I think."
Ellis opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer, getting the Bucks within four. Then came Miami's second big flurry of the night, and the Bucks had no more answers.
An 11-1 Heat run stretched the lead to 14, and Miami closed the quarter with seven straight points ? James started that burst with a left-handed slam, then set up Andersen for another dunk. Another dunk by Andersen, this time when he soared in for a two-handed flush of a missed 3-pointer by Shane Battier, sent the building into overdrive, with people in the "White Hot" crowd waving their giveaway T-shirts in unison.
NOTES: Both teams practice in Miami on Monday. ... Miami outrebounded Milwaukee 22-9 after halftime. ... Rihanna was in attendance. ... Miami's bench outscored Milwaukee's reserves 43-25. ... Mason's game that compared with James' Game 1 stat line came for Charlotte against Orlando on Feb. 17, 1997, when he made all 11 of his shots and finished with 28 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. Before that, the last player with a game of at least 27-10-8 on no more than 11 shots was Doc Rivers ? now the Celtics coach, who did it in both December 1986 and December 1987 as a member of the Atlanta Hawks.
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Monday, April 22, 2013
Sunday, April 21, 2013
GE 1Q earnings rise on NBC sale; Europe drags
NEW YORK (AP) ? General Electric's first quarter results were dragged down by deteriorating economic conditions in Europe, highlighting the danger that the region's struggles still pose to the global economy.
GE CEO Jeff Immelt said he expected results in Europe to be bad in the quarter ? and they were worse. Revenue from the region fell 17 percent compared with last year.
"We planned for Europe to be similar to 2012, down again, but it was even weaker than we expected," Immelt said in a call with investors.
While GE's results were roughly what analysts expected and Immelt said the company remained on track to meet its financial goals for the year, his gloomy comments about Europe and the weak performance of the company's core industrial operations sent GE shares tumbling.
GE shares dropped 87 cents, or 3.8 percent, to $21.80 in afternoon trading Friday.
This even though the company's earnings rose in the first quarter, helped by the sale of NBC Universal and increased profit from selling aircraft engines and transportation equipment. GE reported net income of $3.5 billion, or 34 cents per share, on revenue of $35 billion. During last year's first quarter, GE earned $3 billion, or 29 cents per share, on $35.2 billion in revenue.
Adjusted to reflect earnings only from continuing operations, GE earned 35 cents per share. That matches what analysts surveyed by FactSet expected. The analysts expected slightly lower revenue of $34.5 billion.
But sales from the company's core industrial equipment and services divisions ? the divisions GE are counting on to deliver growth ? fell 6 percent, and profit fell 11 percent.
Immelt said he thought the first half of this year would be difficult, but some customers delayed purchases and revenue came in about $200 million lower than he had hoped. He expects those customers to come back later in the year, and help improve the company's performance.
That's not what investors wanted to hear. "Investors want to see results now," said Christian Mayes, an analyst at Edward Jones. "They don't like the whole 'wait for the second half of the year' approach."
Europe's struggles hit GE's sales of power generation and water treatment equipment especially hard. Revenue for that division fell 26 percent in the quarter, and profit fell 39 percent.
Profits in the oil and gas segment and GE's tiny energy management division also slipped in the quarter, offsetting profit gains in aviation, healthcare, transportation and home and business appliances.
"It's a big company and it takes a lot to get it firing on all cylinders," Mayes said.
The company's sale of NBC added earnings of 8 cents per share, while profit rose 9 percent at GE Capital, the company's finance arm.
GE is in the midst of shaping itself into a more focused conglomerate that sells and services industrial equipment and appliances. It is shedding divisions such as NBC Universal and shrinking its banking operations. GE sold its 49 percent of NBC Universal to Comcast for $16.7 billion in the first quarter. Earlier this month, GE announced an agreement to buy the oilfield equipment maker Lufkin Industries Inc. for $3.1 billion, as part of a push to grow its oil and gas equipment division.
Orders for oil and gas equipment rose 24 percent in the first quarter. Orders for aviation equipment, powered by a new jet aircraft engine, rose 47 percent.
But GE is not expecting any growth this year from two divisions that make up half the company's revenue ? power and water and GE Capital. That will make growing the company as a whole difficult.
Immelt said in order to hit the company's profit targets for the year, it will have to aggressively cut costs throughout the year.
Jonathan Fahey can be reached at http://twitter.com/JonathanFahey .
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ge-1q-earnings-rise-nbc-sale-europe-drags-121216833--finance.html
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Saturday, April 20, 2013
Deal of the Day: 60% off Cruzerlite SPI-Force Case for iPhone 5
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Friday, April 19, 2013
8 Scientists Named to TIME's 100 Influential People List
Several scientists made TIME Magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world for 2013.
Included on TIME's list are spaceflight entrepreneur Elon Musk; breast cancer researcher Kimberly Blackwell; asteroid hunter Don Yeomans; NASA Mars rover Curiosity's project managers; and the scientists who cured an HIV-positive baby.
Leaders in medicine
Kimberly Blackwell, 44, director of the breast cancer program at Duke Cancer Institute, made TIME's?list for her work to develop treatments for this deadly disease. Blackwell's research focuses on a highly aggressive form in which cells produce too much of the protein HER2, which accounts for about one in five breast cancers, according to the Mayo Clinic. Blackwell's treatment approach, known as a "smart bomb," consists of an anticancer toxin that contains an antibody that can recognize the tumor, so healthy cells are not affected ? meaning?fewer side effects and better chances of survival. Film studio executive Sherry Lansing, who wrote the TIME?piece about Blackwell, had a mother die of cancer. "The brilliant work of Kimberly and scientists like her gives us real hope that we may, at last, be turning the corner in the fight against cancer," Lansing wrote.
Three AIDS researchers ? Hannah Gay, Katherine Luzuriaga and Deborah Persaud ? earned kudos from TIME?for curing a newborn baby of AIDS. Gay, a pediatrician at the University of Mississippi; Luzuriaga, an immunologist at the University of Massachusetts; and Persaud, a virologist at Johns Hopkins Children's Center, gave an HIV-positive baby HIV antiviral drugs within hours of its birth. Two-and-a-half years later, the child appears HIV-free, and does not require medication. Although this result represents only a single case, it "gives us more ammunition in the fight against HIV and AIDS," Mark Dybul, director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, wrote in TIME. The treatment offers hope for preventing AIDS in newborns, and possibly even adults ? a recent study claims 14 other patients have been able to keep their HIV under control.
Space pioneers
Aerospace and astronomy featured prominently in this year's list, as stories of private rocket launches and meteorite impacts dominated the headlines. SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk, 41, appears on one of seven separate TIME covers and is listed in the "titans" category. TIME's tribute by business magnate Richard Branson hails Musk's achievements in private spaceflight (which include two successful unmanned missions to the International Space Station with SpaceX's Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rocket). Musk, who also founded the companies Paypal, Tesla Motors and SolarCity, also gets a nod for his work in developing clean, renewable energy.
NASA asteroid hunter Don Yeomans, 70, made the list in Time's "pioneers" category. Yeomens finds and tracks near-Earth objects, and "is one of the reasons we can all sleep a little better at night," according to former astronaut Rusty Schweickart, who founded the asteroid-hunting B612 Foundation and wrote about Yeomans for Time. Yeomans leads a team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) that uses data collected by telescopes around the world to predict the trajectory of space rocks that could pose a threat to Earth years or decades from now. This threat was brought home earlier this year by the meteor explosion over Chelyablinsk, Russia, on Feb. 15, and the unrelated flyby of Asteroid 2012 DA14. Someday a stray rock might warrant a deflection campaign to spare humanity from the same fate as the dinosaurs, Schweickart wrote. [Top 10 Ways to Destroy Earth]
In light of the successful deployment of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, TIME recognized the missions project managers Peter Theisinger and Richard Cook, of JPL. Theisinger, 67, and Cook, 47, orchestrated the harrowing task of sending an SUV-sized spacecraft to Mars and lowering it on cables to the Red Planet's surface, where it is currently exploring. Seven months after landing, the rover has already found evidence of past life on Mars, its primary mission goal. "We can't thank Pete, Richard and their team enough for getting [the rover] there safely, and we should continue to thank them for the wisdom and thrills the rover will bring us as it explores its new home," wrote Caltech space scientist and former JPL Director Ed Stone in TIME.
Follow Tanya Lewis on Twitter?and Google+.?Follow us @livescience, Facebook?& Google+. Original article on?LiveScience.com.
Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Source: http://news.yahoo.com/8-scientists-named-times-100-influential-people-list-214919359.html
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Thursday, April 18, 2013
Obama: North Korea can?t put nukes on ballistic missile
Military officials applaud together with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, during the Unhasu concert in Pyongyang,??President Barack Obama said in an interview broadcast Tuesday that North Korea likely does not have the ability to arm a ballistic missile with nuclear warheads. He also compared the Stalinist regime?s recent belligerent rhetoric to a child?s temper tantrum.
NBC News? Savannah Guthrie asked Obama to clarify whether Pyongyang?which has tested nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles before?could combine the two.
?Based on our current intelligence assessments we do not think that they have that capacity,? the president said. ?But we have to make sure that we are dealing with every contingency out there. That?s why I repositioned missile defense systems: to guard against any miscalculation on their part.?
Asked whether North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un is unstable, Obama told NBC: ?I?m not a psychiatrist. And I don?t know the leader of North Korea.?
But he described Pyonyang?s escalating rhetoric over the past six weeks as ?provocative? and ?unnecessary? and vowed not to reward it.
?You don?t get to bang your spoon on the table and somehow you get your way,? the president said. Still, the volatile standoff isn?t over, Obama said.
?All of us would anticipate that North Korea will probably make more provocative moves over the next several weeks,? he said. ?But our hope is, is that we can contain it and that we can move into a different phase in which they try to work through diplomatically some of these issues.?
?This is the same kind of pattern that we saw his father engage in, and his grandfather before that," Obama said. ?If they want to rejoin the community of nations, that path is available to them."
The interview was conducted Monday, shortly before the tragic bombings at the Boston Marathon.
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Purported next-gen iPad case pictured, again pointing to major redesign
By Jethro Nededog LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Andy Cohen has definitely made the best of his programming executive level job at Bravo Media. Aside from becoming the face of the network and hosting its popular late night show, "Watch What Happens Live," he was instrumental in developing and producing the network's flagship "Real Housewives" franchise. The same franchise, by the way, that he famously put a fork in when he announced in 2011 that the network wouldn't be extending the series. ...
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/purported-next-gen-ipad-case-pictured-again-pointing-142553134.html
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Wednesday, April 17, 2013
NASA Moon Probe Sheds Light on Space Radiation Risks
A NASA moon probe equippd with plastic that mimics living tissue is helping researchers learn how deep-space radiation may affect astronauts and electronics on future missions, researchers say.
These findings could lead to the development of leaner, more efficient spacecraft that are better at balancing radiation protection against weight, scientists added.
Potentially dangerous radiation pervades outer space, such as electrically charged particles from the sun and high-mass, high-energy cosmic rays known as HZE particles that emerge from deep space. Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field block about 99.9 percent of this radiation, protecting those of us on the planet's surface. [Stunning Photos of Solar Flares & Sun Storms]
"The atmosphere serves as just a big thick shield ? the weight exerted by the atmosphere is equivalent to a column of mercury about 30 inches (76 centimeters) high, so you can think of the atmosphere as a huge slab of dense metal a yard thick,"study lead author Mark Looper, a space radiation physicist at The Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, Calif., told SPACE.com. "The magnetic field, in addition, shunts aside most of the radiation from Earth's surface."
To find out more about radiation hazards in space, Looper and his colleagues are relying on the Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation instrument (CRaTER) aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been zipping around the moon at an altitude of about 30 miles (50 kilometers) since 2009.
CRaTER aims to measure not only radiation near the moon, but also the effects radiation has on sensitive materials such as human tissue or electronic parts that might absorb it behind shielding. The instrument uses sensors behind blocks of plastic designed to mimic the muscle tissue over a person's radiation-sensitive bone marrow.
"We've never had such tissue-equivalent plastics as part of a complex sensor in space before," Looper said.
The researchers found that although HZE particles only make up 1 percent or so of the radiation the telescope saw, "they made up close to half of the energy deposited by radiation," Looper said. "You get much more energy deposited by these heavies."
By looking with precision at the range of energies deposited by various sources of radiation, scientists can estimate the effects they might have. "It's like the difference between being hit with a bat or a bullet ? different kinds of radiation may deposit the same amount of energy, but they distribute it differently," Looper said.
Altogether, these findings could help researchers optimize just how much shielding spacecraft need without making them too heavy for missions.
"The name of the game is risk management," Looper said. "To decide how much shielding you need, you need to be able to measure the effects. The more precision with which you can measure those effects, the less likely you are to add more shielding than you need, which is expensive and makes spacecraft harder to launch."
CRaTER also revealed radiation emerging from the moon ? showers of protons blasted off the moon's surface by cosmic rays from deep space.
"Detection of these protons is a first, and we can build up a map of the moon from them that may help tell us where hydrogen-bearing materials such as water are on the lunar surface," Looper said.
In the future, "we can learn more about what effects solar radiation might have," Looper said.
The scientists detailed their findings online April 3 in the journal Space Weather.
Follow us?@Spacedotcom,?Facebook?or?Google+. Originally published on?SPACE.com.
Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-moon-probe-sheds-light-space-radiation-risks-200938050.html
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Good Reads: China's limits, competitive America, charitable giving, and New York childhoods
This week's round-up of Good Reads includes the 'glass ceiling' superpower China faces, optimism about the long-term prospects for the US economy, a look at charitable giving in the US, and tales of growing up in New York City.?
Workers install models in preparation for a real estate exhibition in Shanghai, China.
Aly Song/Reuters
EnlargeChina faces a ?glass ceiling? in its efforts to become the predominant world power, argues Geoff Dyer in Foreign Policy.
Skip to next paragraph David T. CookSenior Editor and Washington Bureau Chief
Cook is senior editor and Washington bureau chief of The Christian Science Monitor and host of the Monitor's newsmaker breakfasts.
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Key constraints on China?s ascendency include suspicious and fast-growing neighbors combined with obstacles imposed by China?s state-controlled economic system, says Mr. Dyer. So even if China overtakes the United States and becomes the world?s largest economy ? as some experts predict will happen within the next 10 years ? the Asian giant will not dislodge Washington from its place as the world?s leading power for the foreseeable future, Dyer argues.?
China ?is implementing plans which challenge U.S. military, economic, and even political supremacy. But on each front, the last few years have demonstrated China?s limitations, not the inevitability of its rise,? says Dyer, a former Beijing bureau chief for the Financial Times.??
One limit on China?s rise is that its assertiveness is generating suspicion among economically vibrant neighboring nations, including South Korea and Vietnam. ?China?s strategic misfortune is to be bordered by robust and proud nation-states which expect their own stake in the modern world,? Dyer says.
As for China?s efforts to have its currency rival the dollar, ?it can have an international currency that might challenge the U.S. dollar or it can keep its brand of state capitalism,? Dyer says. ?But it cannot have both.?
The America that works
?Cheer up? is the advice from The Economist in its 14-page special report on American competitiveness.
True, there are worrisome developments on a variety of issues ? innovation, energy policy, education, immigration, and infrastructure. ?America?s politicians have been feckless,? the magazine concludes. ?The combination of dysfunctional politics and empty coffers? is preventing Congress from dealing with many problems.
Still, the magazine comes away hopeful about the long-term prospects for the US economy: ?The America That Works? is the title of the cover package. The optimism stems from what is happening out in the country, away from Washington. ?[T]he main reason for cheer is that beyond the Beltway no one is waiting for the federal government to fix the economy. At the regional and local level America is already reforming and innovating vigorously,? The Economist reports, with the states serving as laboratories for experimentation.
Of course, political feuding in Washington imposes costs. ?The United States could become far more competitive far more quickly if Congress punched its weight,? The Economist says, adding that so far ?the politicians in Washington have not inflicted any crippling damage yet.?
Surprising facts about charitable giving
Just in time for tax season, The Atlantic serves up a fascinating look at charitable giving in the US.??
?One of the most surprising, and perhaps confounding, facts of charity in America is that the people who can least afford to give are the ones who donate the greatest percentage of their income,? writes Ken Stern, author of a recent book on charities.??
The wealthiest Americans ? those with earnings in the top 20 percent ? gave on average 1.3 percent of their income to charity in 2011, the latest year for which statistics are available. By comparison, Americans with incomes in the bottom 20 percent donated 3.2 percent of their income.
Wealth helps determine the recipients of charity. The poor tend to give to religious organizations and social service charities like the Salvation Army, The Atlantic says. The wealthy tend to focus their giving on colleges and museums.
What you see around you also influences how much you give, Mr. Stern says. Wealthy people who live where most of their neighbors make $200,000 a year or more give less than those who live in more socioeconomically diverse surroundings and see people in need on a daily basis.??
A New York view of childhood
To celebrate its 45th anniversary, New York Magazine features a wide array of current and former city residents reminiscing about their childhoods in the city. It is an eclectic group ranging from comedian Whoopi Goldberg to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Some of the memories are specific to New York City, but many speak to the joys and sometimes painful lessons of childhood in general. Ms. Goldberg says of her mother that she ?demanded that you tell the truth or be insanely creative about lying. It had to be a good story. If it was a terrible story, you ran the risk of really having her disappointed in your lack of imagination.?
Justice Scalia writes about a girl named Theresa, the object of his first crush, and also about his sixth-grade teacher, Consuela Goins. Of this lovingly remembered teacher Scalia observes, ?Every cloud has a silver lining, and one of the benefits of the exclusion of women from most professions was that we had wonderful teachers, especially the women who today would probably be CEOs.?
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