New details: Giffords gunman was polite, cooperative

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) ? As authorities investigated the rampage that killed six people and wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, they compiled nearly 3,000 pages of documents that include everything from interviews with survivors and victims to police reports filed from the scene of the crime.

The documents were released Wednesday, and they provide new insight into how the shooting occurred and the motivations behind gunman Jared Loughner. One of the main themes to emerge was the increasingly erratic behavior of Loughner, perhaps summed up best by his father as he told investigators: He "just doesn't seem right lately."

A look at some of the major findings:

LOUGHNER

The gunman was polite and cooperative with authorities who were holding him the afternoon following his morning shooting rampage. The conversation as Loughner sat in restraints in an interview room was mainly small talk. Little was said over the four hours. Loughner asks at one point if he can please use the restroom and says "Thank you" when allowed. At another point he complained that "I'm about ready to fall over."

GUNMAN'S MOTHER

Loughner's mother, Amy, described his run-ins with authorities, his use of marijuana and cocaine, his journals and his increasingly erratic behavior. She also says the parents took a shotgun away from Loughner after he was kicked out of a community college and tested him for drugs because his behavior was so strange.

GUNMAN'S FATHER

Randy Loughner said his son became increasingly difficult, and it was a challenge to have a rational conversation with him. "I tried to talk to him. But you can't, he wouldn't let you," he said "Lost, lost, and just didn't want to communicate with me no more."

MENTAL ILLNESS

Despite their son's increasingly bizarre behavior, Loughner's parents never sent him to get help. Randy Loughner said that his son had never been diagnosed with a mental illness. Had he seen a doctor, the detective asked. "No," replied the father. The parents were also asked about any journals or writings that Loughner kept. The father said they were written in an indecipherable script.

GOING TO THE SCENE

Loughner went to a convenience store immediately before the shooting and had the clerk call a cab for him. As he waited for the car, he was pacing inside and outside the store and went to the bathroom three or four times. The employee said that as Loughner was waiting for the cab, he looked up at a clock and said, "nine twenty-five, I still got time."

TRAFFIC STOP

Loughner was pulled over earlier in the day for a traffic violation by a wildlife agent. He cried and said, "I've just had a rough time," and then composed himself, thanked the agent and shook his hand after he was let go with a warning. The agent asked Loughner again if he was OK, and Loughner said he was going home.

THE SCENE

Giffords intern Daniel Hernandez helped tend to his boss after she was shot in the head. In an interview, he described the chaos: "She couldn't open her eyes. I tried to get any responses for her. Um, it looked like her left side was the only side that was still mobile. Um, she couldn't speak. It was mumbled. She was squeezing my hand.

"I did some training as a Certified Nursing Assistant and as a phlebotomist, um, when I was in high school. So I knew that we need to see if she's got a pulse. She was still breathing. Her breathing was getting shallower. Uh, I then lifted her up so that she wasn't flat on the ground against the wall," he said.

GUNS

Loughner bought a 12-gauge shotgun in 2008, but his parents took it away from him after he was expelled from college and administrators recommended that any firearms be taken away. The shotgun was the only gun his parents knew Loughner owned.

CARING FOR GIFFORDS

A firefighter described how he cared for Giffords after arriving at the scene. "You'd ask her to grab your hand and she would grab your hand," he said. He and paramedics rushed her to the hospital in an ambulance, giving her oxygen and an IV.

THE ENCOUNTER

Hernandez described how constituents and other people were lining up to see Giffords, and he was helping people sign in. He recalled handing Loughner a clipboard. "The next thing I hear is someone yell, 'gun,'" he said.

LOUGHNER FRIEND

One-time Loughner friend Zachary Osler was an employee at a store where Loughner later bought a Glock handgun before the shooting. Osler was questioned about seeing Loughner shopping inside, sometime before Thanksgiving. He describes an awkward encounter with his former friend. "His response is nothing. Just a mute facial expression. And just like he, he didn't care." Osler told investigators he had grown uncomfortable with Loughner's personality, "He would say he could dream and then control what he was doing while he was dreaming." Osler says Loughner never mentioned Giffords to him.

REACTION

Osler said when he learned that Loughner was the suspect in the shooting, "my jaw just dropped. And I was like I know this person. Why he would do it? What would his motive be? If he had people help him? I do not know."

POSSESSIONS

Police reports show what authorities found in Loughner's possession after the shooting. In Loughner's left front pocket were two magazines for a Glock, both fully loaded. In his other front pocket was a foldable knife with about a 4-inch blade. In his back right pocket, he had a baggie with some money, a Visa credit card and his Arizona driver's license. He was wearing a black beanie, a black hoodie-type sweatshirt, khaki pants and Sketchers shoes.

WITNESS

A witness described seeing an ominous-looking man in his early 20s wearing a backpack near the shooting scene. The witness later described recognizing Loughner as the same person from photos on the news.

FILE - In this Wednesday, March 6, 2013 file photo, former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords smiles as she raises a fist pump to the crowd as she, husband Mark Kelly, and a number of other Tucson mass ... more? FILE - In this Wednesday, March 6, 2013 file photo, former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords smiles as she raises a fist pump to the crowd as she, husband Mark Kelly, and a number of other Tucson mass shooting victims returned to the site of the shooting in Tucson, Ariz., that left her critically wounded to urge key senators to support expanded background checks for gun purchases. Giffords has been named this year's recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage award. The JFK Library and Museum announced Friday that the Arizona Democrat is being honored for the "political, personal, and physical courage she has demonstrated in her fearless public advocacy for policy reforms aimed at reducing gun violence." (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File) less? ?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/major-findings-records-giffords-shooting-155158671.html

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U.S. rapper Gucci Mane jailed for alleged assault

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Rapper Gucci Mane was jailed in Georgia on Wednesday for allegedly hitting a fan in the head with a champagne bottle at an Atlanta nightclub earlier this month.

Mane, whose real name is Radric Davis, turned himself in to authorities late on Tuesday, according to Fulton County Sheriff's Office records.

Mane, 33, faces an aggravated assault charge after causing a "severe laceration" to the man whom he hit with a champagne bottle on March 16, according to a police report. The fan had approached Mane and tried to strike up a conversation, police said. Mane left the nightclub before police arrived.

A magistrate judge denied bond for Mane at his first court appearance on Wednesday, sheriff's spokeswoman Tracy Flanagan said.

Mane did not enter a plea. His next hearing will be on April 10, Flanagan said.

Mane's attorney, Drew Findling, told Reuters he would appeal the denial of bond to a higher court. He said six witnesses interviewed by his office about what he described as a melee at the club did not pin blame on the rapper.

"None of them said Gucci had anything to do with it," Findling said.

The incident is the latest in a long string of legal troubles for the rapper, who has appeared in remixes with the Black Eyed Peas and Usher.

In 2001, Mane was arrested for cocaine possession and spent 90 days in jail. He served a six-month prison term in 2005 for assault, and in 2009 was imprisoned for a year for violating probation in that case.

A Georgia judge sentenced Mane to six months in jail in 2011 after he admitted to pushing a woman out of his car.

(Reporting by David Beasley; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Bernadette Baum and Leslie Adler)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rapper-gucci-mane-jailed-alleged-assault-bottle-142618639.html

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Search Retargeting | TurnClick

What?s Search retargeting?

Showing up on a search engine results page (SERP) has the tendency of reaching those who are information or task oriented. Display ad marketing often reaches desirable profiles but it?s never known if the profile has an immediate need or interest in your product or service. The quandary within display advertising isn?t the lack of being able to reach an internet user, the dilemma is being able to display relevant messaging to relevant users within a relevant time frame. Search retargeting?brings the above ideas together by using search query history as a way to signal intent and is followed by using IP address tracking to then target the unique user via display advertising while they surf the web. This powerful form of display advertising is all about increasing relevancy and subsequently the performance and impact of banner ads served to internet users.

Take today?s typical consumer buying cycle for example:

1) Develop a need or desire

2) Research online for options to satisfy that need or desire (Search)

3) Consider the options discovered while researching (Time-span of minutes to months)

4) Purchase

5) Review purchase (Voluntary task)

The 3rd step of the consumers buying cycle is where search retargeting has a huge impact on the success of your marketing mix when? compared to that of your competitors. There is a positive relationship between the length of time a consumer spends considering his/her options and the price-point (i.e. cost) of the item the user is considering to purchase. Therefore, the larger the ticket price, the longer it takes to make a purchase decision and the more imperative it is to keep your brand top-of-mind to get that big sale.

Search retargeting allows us to shadow the consideration phase of the buying cycle which subsequently complements other marketing efforts (e.g. PPC or SEO) and thus leads to more sales. The data obtained through search retargeting includes: the keyword, the IP address and the time the user made the search. This gives us the ability to target just the individuals who have recently searched for a specific keyword. In a sense, the consumer has raised their hand and pre-qualified themselves as a worthy candidate for products or services related to the keyword searched. The only filter left to further qualify the user as a candidate is to determine if they are within the desired geographic market area and because we are targeting ads via IP address, determining the location of the candidate is a very simple task. The question now is: Why wouldn?t you want to stay top of mind while consumers consider their options?

What?s the setup look like?

The setup is much like the preparation for a pay-per-click campaign, we set-up ad groups that consists of relevant keywords that will indicate a propensity for your business. We then design tailor-fit banner ads that relate to the keyword, product and user being targeted. Next we define the DMA?s or geographic market areas ?in order to target users based on their IP address location.

This process allows companies to keep their brand in front of consumers after they have shown a propensity for their products or services showing your brand, highly targeted messaging, promotions and call-to-actions. In the marketing world,?Search retargeting?is a game changer.

• Only target individuals who have shown a propensity for your product

• Achieve higher click-through rates than traditional display advertising

• Map your market-penetration geographically

Another important aspect to mention is that there comes a point when a company?s pay-per-click (PPC) program is as effective as it?s going to get, mainly because there is only so much search volume available. The average amount of time users spend searching on search engines like Google equates to 21% of total time spent online; the other 79% of time is spent surfing: reading online news, visiting websites, socializing, etc? (as of February 2013, http://www.go-gulf.com/blog/online-time) Search retargeting will maximize your business?s digital marketing mix by following the natural tendencies of a consumer?s buying cycle.

Source: http://www.turnclick.com/blog/incorporate-the-effectiveness-of-search-with-the-reach-of-display

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Portman's Son Describes Personal Side of Senator's Shift on Same ...

4:58 p.m. | Updated When Senator Rob Portman, the Ohio Republican, announced his support for same-sex marriage, he said his son?s admission that he was gay prompted the change of heart. But the timeline left some puzzled: If the son, Will, came out two years ago, why did the senator?s announcement come 10 days ago?

The younger Mr. Portman answers that question in a deeply personal essay in the student paper at Yale, where he is a junior. As he describes sending a letter to his parents, Will Portman suggests that his own reticence to make his sexuality public explains much of the timeline.

?Part of the reason for that is that it took time for him to think through the issue more deeply after the impetus of my coming out,? Will Portman writes. ?But another factor was my reluctance to make my personal life public.?

He also describes how his father told the Romney campaign that his son was gay when he was being vetted as a potential running mate, and that the family would have been open about that on the campaign trail.

In yet another reminder of how simply knowing gay people seems to influence one?s position on marriage, Senator Claire McCaskill announced on her blog on Sunday that she, too, is getting behind same-sex marriage rights.

?My views on this subject have changed over time, but as many of my gay and lesbian friends, colleagues and staff embrace long-term committed relationships, I find myself unable to look them in the eye without honestly confronting this uncomfortable inequality,? writes Ms. McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat.

However, the center of the marriage debate is a few blocks from the Senate at the Supreme Court, where justices will hear arguments over bans on same-sex marriage on Tuesday and Wednesday. In the audience will be Jean Podrasky, a cousin of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and a lesbian from California who hopes to marry her girlfriend, according to the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

On the organization?s Web site, Ms. Podrasky writes that the Portmans? experience ?got me thinking a little more about family relationships and the impact that living your life proudly, and honestly, may have on those who have yet to become allies.?

She continues, ?I know that my cousin is a good man. I feel confident that John is wise enough to see that society is becoming more accepting of the humanity of same-sex couples and the simple truth that we deserve to be treated with dignity, respect and equality under the law.?

Update: Senator Mark R. Warner, Democrat of Virginia, announced his support for same-sex marriage rights on Monday afternoon.

?I support marriage equality because it is the fair and right thing to do,? he wrote on Facebook. ?Like many Virginians and Americans, my views on gay marriage have evolved, and this is the inevitable extension of my efforts to promote equality and opportunity for everyone.?

Source: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/25/portmans-son-describes-personal-side-of-senators-shift-on-same-sex-marriage/

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Crisis in tiny Cyprus creates big mess for Europe

John W. Schoen , NBC News ? ? ? 13 hrs.

For such a tiny country, Cyprus and its failing banks have created an awfully big economic, financial and geopolitical mess for European bankers and government officials.

The island nation ? with land mass and economy smaller than Vermont ? was bracing Sunday for the looming collapse of its banking system and economy, as scores of officials from Brussels to Nicosia spent the weekend scrambling to avert the crisis.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, en route to the European capital of Brussels on Sunday, has "a very difficult task to accomplish to save the Cypriot economy and avert a disorderly default," a government spokesman said.

That task grew more difficult by the hour.

Europe?s so-called "troika" ? its central bank; its political body, the European Union; and the International Monetary Fund ? were holding firm to a joint ultimatum to accept their latest bailout offer by Monday. If the Cypriot parliament won't go along, the country faces an immediate cutoff of a financial lifeline that has kept Cyprus? bloated banks ? a lucrative tax haven for wealthy Russian depositors ? afloat for months.

The latest gambit, a 20 percent tax on bank accounts bigger than the $130,000 insured limit, has yet to win approval from the Cypriot parliament. The plan would also intensify the ongoing political backlash from wealthy Russian depositors, along with local account holders still seething with resentment over Europe?s insistence that any bailout inflict direct financial hardship on the Cypriot people.

So far, there appears to be little immediate risk of the crisis spreading to the global economy or financial market, according to most analysts.

"The market doesn't care,? said Carnegie Mellon economist Adam Lerrick. ?Cyprus is a tiny economy. Its banks are not highly connected with the rest of the international financial system. There is no risk of contagion here."

But even if a deal can be struck to fill in a $7.5 billion hole in the Cypriot banking system, the standoff between Nicosia and Brussels has inflicted lasting damage on the island nation?s economy, opened up new rifts between Russia and Europe and widened the political divide pitting the eurozone?s wealthy northern countries against its struggling southern neighbors.

?What could go wrong here?? wondered Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics. ?Just about everything.?

For starters, a $7.5 billion bailout would amount to a band-aid for Cyprus' bloated banks. Swollen by more than $30 billion in Russian deposits, they've recently held up to 10 times the nation?s annual economic output. Much of the rest consists of bad bets on Greek bonds recently subject to a European-imposed "haircut."

Even with a proposed restriction on withdrawals, those banks now face a tidal wave of withdrawals and losses when they reopen after a week-long, government-imposed ?holiday.?

The bailout also would do little to rescue the indebted Cypriot government.

?After the banking system is stabilized ? a technocratic matter ? the government itself is out of cash and has no access to the financial market,? said Weinberg. ?The terms for fixing the government, unlike the stark choices for resolving busted banks, are still wide open to negotiation.?

The crisis has left European leaders with even bigger problems.

The plan to force bank depositors to pay for their own bailout, a so-called ?bail-in,? hasn't gone unnoticed in other heavily indebted countries with weak banking systems. Now, millions of deposits in other southern European countries with much bigger economies, like Portugal, Spain and Italy, are left to wonder just whether their banks accounts may be the next to be raided.

?This is the first time that a government has ever reneged on the 100,000 euro guaranteed deposit scheme," said Wilbur Ross, an American investors who specializes in turning around failed companies. "That's a little bit scary because there's no bank in the whole world that can withstand a real run.?

Europe?s weaker banks can ill-afford to see depositors grow more nervous. In Spain, for example, cash has been flying out the door since last summer, when the government took over four banks sinking under the weight of bad mortgages and stuffed their bad assets into a new entity called Sareb. With house prices ? and the overall Spanish economy - still shrinking, state-owned banks continue to post massive losses, adding to the Spanish government?s debt.

Failure to strike a bailout deal with Cyprus also would rattle more than just a Spanish bankers nerves.

By turning its back one of its member states, European central bankers would renege on a pledge to do ?whatever it takes? to keep the common currency intact. The likely departure of Cyprus from the euro would increase the odds that voters in Spain, Italy, Greece or Ireland, chafing under northern Europe?s demands for economic sacrifice, might also decide to go it alone.

?The whole condition of the euro has been that once you go in you cannot get out,? said Julian Callow, Barclays chief international economist. ?Now, if a country does leave for whatever reason, that sets a really important precedent. People start asking questions in other countries as well.?

Resentment has been simmering for two years in countries with weaker southern economies looking to their northern neighbors for help. While voters in Germany grow weary of subsidizing ongoing bailouts, many in the southern tier believe that the wealthier northern companies are profiting from their economic pain.

?Despite the very peculiar rhetoric that German voters hear from some of their politicians, they have benefited handsomely from this crisis,? said Athanasios Orphanides, the former Cyprus central bank governor who oversaw its entry to the euro. ?The German government is essentially getting money at zero interest rates in the credit markets, and then it's loaning it to Ireland at very high interest rates. And of course, the money goes back to the German citizens.?

Despite the widespread political and financial risks, European officials and central bankers appear steadfast in holding Cyprus to the onerous terms that have produced ongoing street protests as one failed plan yielded to another.

Some analysts believe that resolve has been fortified by long-running frustration with Cypriot bankers? refusal to rein in risky deposits, based in part on the assumption that Europe would have to bail them out if they got into trouble. Ongoing tensions between Europe and Russia on a range of issues - including Cyprus? recently-discovered, sizable natural gas deposits ? have further complicated matters.

But in the end, Europe may pay a heavy price if it refuses what amounts to about $23 in aid for every Cypriot citizen, according to Weinberg.

?That is less than a night at the movies with a family or cafe lattes and croissants for two at Starbucks,? he said. ?This is the cost of ensuring that the public sees no bank in Euroland will be allowed to fail and that they can take out their deposits. Is this so much to pay??

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653351/s/29eee46a/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Ceconomywatch0Ccrisis0Etiny0Ecyprus0Ecreates0Ebig0Emess0Eeurope0E1B90A45378/story01.htm

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NASA: Boulder-size asteroid caused East Coast meteor

The dramatic fireball that lit up skies over the U.S. East Coast Friday evening (March 22) was caused by an asteroid just 3 feet (0.9 meters) or so wide, scientists say.

Such boulder-size asteroids slam into Earth's atmosphere every two or three days, so Friday's "Manhattan meteor" ? which shone as brightly as the full moon and was apparently visible from Maine to North Carolina ? isn't a terribly rare event. But the sensation it created on Twitter and other social media outlets is understandable nonetheless, said NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke.

"When you have something like this occur at 8 o'clock at night over one of the most populated regions of the United States, it's going to get people's attention," Cooke, head of the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., told reporters today (March 23).

Indeed, a similar meteor?caused a stir last month when it blazed through the skies above California's densely populated Bay Area. [5 Amazing Fireball Videos]

The Manhattan meteor entered our planet's atmosphere over eastern Pennsylvania Friday and streaked southeast from there, flaming out over the Atlantic Ocean. While space rocks of this size sometimes produce meteorites (rocks that survive to reach Earth's surface), Cooke said, it's unlikely that scientists or collectors will snag any pieces of this one.

"The eyewitness accounts indicate that this meteor was last seen about 70 kilometers [43 miles] into the Atlantic, so I do not believe there are any meteorites on land from this event," Cooke said.

Some eyewitnesses have posted videos of the meteor to YouTube, which Cooke and his colleagues have been poring over. NASA runs a network of fireball cameras, but the instruments were apparently all clouded out or too far away to observe the event, Cooke said.

Friday's meteor follows closely on the heels of several other dramatic space rock events. For example, a huge fireball detonated?without warning over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk on Feb. 15, wounding more than 1,200 people. Just hours later, a 130-foot-wide (40 m) asteroid called 2012 DA14 gave Earth an uncomfortably close shave, coming nearer than our planet's ring of geosynchronous satellites.

But people shouldn't start worrying that the sky is falling, Cooke stressed.

"If you look at the actual number of fireballs for this month so far, it's normal ? it's the same as every other year before this one," he said. "It's just that people are paying more attention and looking up, I think, because of recent events."

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter?@michaeldwall.?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/boulder-size-asteroid-caused-fridays-east-coast-meteor-194918370.html

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Obama salutes soldiers who served during Iraq war

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama is saluting U.S. troops for their conduct during the war in Iraq, declaring on the 10th anniversary of the start of the war that the sacrifice of Americans gave the Iraqi people "an opportunity to forge their own future after many years of hardship."

Obama opposed the war and ran for president on a pledge to end it. The last U.S. troops left in 2011.

In a statement Tuesday, Obama said the nation honors the memory of nearly 4,500 Americans who died in Iraq.

He said the U.S. still needs to meet its obligations toward those who served in Iraq, including more than 30,000 wounded. He said the nation must improve treatment for traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-03-19-Obama-Iraq/id-a90eed6f7cd0490ba231496ad1cea098

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Apple TV update brings bug fixes, redesigned Hulu Plus

The Apple TV has been updated to software version 5.1.2 with fixes for a number of security bugs, but the big news in this update is the Hulu Plus app which has been completely redesigned.

When opening Hulu Plus, content categories can be found across the top of the screen, separating TV, Movies, and Kids programming for quick access. There is now a ?Shows You Watch? section on the first screen of the app for easier navigation to the programs you watch regularly. Hulu also added a couple of small but very useful tweaks for controlling playback. First, when you find the show you want to watch, just highlight it and press play to start playing the latest episode. Finally, during playback, hold down the ?Select? button on your Apple TV remote to bring up the Subtitles and Audio options.

To update your Apple TV firmware to the latest version, go to Settings > General > Update Software.

Source: Hulu

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/GY6YchlYhdM/story01.htm

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A$AP Rocky Hopes To Win His First-Ever Award At Woodies

Tune in to the 2013 mtvU Woodie Awards special, airing Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on MTV and mtvU!
By Rob Markman

A$AP Rocky
Photo: MTV

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1703680/asap-rocky-mtvu-woodies.jhtml

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New Printble Coupons for Hasbro Board Games and Toys: Draw ...

About Me

Tracie is a stay at home mom to three young children; ages 4, 6 and 8 in Raymore, Missouri.??? In November 2007, she and her husband decided to eliminate their debt and made many changes in their lifestyle to do just that. In 27 months, they eradicated over $37,000 in debt through both budgeting and learning how to live a frugal life.? She now shares her knowledge in order to help you stretch your hard-earned dollars so you can live the life you want.

Source: http://www.pennypinchinmom.com/new-printble-coupons-for-hasbro-board-games-and-toys-draw-something-play-doh-and-more/

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10 Tallest Apartment Buildings In The World (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

It doesn't take a city dweller to appreciate the idea of living in a magnificent skyscraper. Not only are the views from high-rises often breathtaking, but the amenities that accompany the structures are usually equally as extravagant. To satisfy our curiosity about the best and the biggest, we did a little research on the tallest apartment buildings in the world -- and it turns out that one city in particular has quite the monopoly of them. Can you guess which one? Click through the slideshow below to see the ten tallest apartment buildings in the world, and here's the view from the top of the Princess Tower in Dubai's Marina district.

• 1. The Princess Tower

  As of 2012, The Princess Tower in Dubai, United Arab Emirates stands as the world's tallest residential skyscraper at 1,358 feet. With 101 floors (according to <a href="http://www.emporis.com/building/princesstower-dubai-unitedarabemirates">Emporis</a>), the tower is located in the city's Marina district -- the only area in Dubai where Western Europeans form the majority.

• 2. 23 Marina

  Also in Dubai's Marina district is 23 Marina, and at 1289 feet, it stands as the world's second tallest residential building. The 23 Marina boasts a 6-story entrance hall to receive residents, 8 elevators and 57 swimming pools among other lavish amenities. Check out this promotional video to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibo-la26Luw">learn more about the skyscraper</a>.

• 3. Elite Residence

  The third largest apartment building (at 1248 feet) is in the same one-mile radius of the first two. Elite Residence stands at number three in Dubai's Marina district. Though the floor count stops at 87, this building's exceptional view over the man-made island Palm Jumeirah makes it just as desirable.

• 4. The Torch

  If you couldn't already tell, Dubai has amassed quite a few of these incredible architectural sites. And the city caps off our list's top four spots with 'The Torch', a high-rise that stands at 1105 feet. Also in the Marina district, 'The Torch' joins Dubai's impressive line-up and solidifies the city as the leading developer of residential skyscrapers.

• 5. Queensland Number One (Q1)

  At number 5 is Australia's 'Queensland Number One' (1058 feet), or simply Q1. Located in Surfer's Paradise on the Gold Coast, Australia, Q1 is the tallest building in both the country and the Southern Hemisphere.

• 6. HHHR Tower

  Returning to Dubai, number 6 on our list goes to The HHHR Tower (1042 feet), designed by <a href="http://www.alhashemi.ae">Al Hashemi</a> (a UAE-based architectural firm.) Watch the accompanying video for more details on this building.

• 7. Ocean Heights

  The final residential skyscraper from Dubai goes to Ocean Heights, an unusual structure with a slight curve that stands at 1017 feet. Be sure to watch the promotional video for an inside look at the building.

• 8. The Gramercy Residences

  Named 'The Gramercy Residences', the building is modeled after New York City's Gramercy Park. Projected to be the 8th tallest residential building, the exclusive complex is located in Makati, Philippines. Still in-progress, construction plans are explored in greater detail in this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4ThSNKFsSs">promotional video</a>.

• 9. The City Of Capitals

  Moscow, Russia makes the list with its multi-complex named 'The City of Capitals.' 'Moscow', the tallest of the buildings, stands at 1016 feet. Together, the structures symbolize the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg.

• 10. We've The Zenith Towers

  'We've The Zenith' of Busan, South Korea is a multiplex of 3 residential towers. Tower A stands tallest among them at 988 feet, while Tower B and Tower C stand at 924 feet and 869 feet, respectively. The complex is the second tallest building in South Korea.

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Detroit Michigan Real Estate | Salem Foreclosures as of 3-13-13

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UK study: Violence more likely among vets, troops

FILE - In this Monday, Feb. 15, 2010 file photo, a British soldier walks with his machine gun on the roof of a residential house in the village Qari Sahib, Nad Ali district, Helmend province, southern Afghanistan. Young men who have served in the British military are about three times more likely than civilians to have committed a violent offense, researchers reported Friday, March 15, 2013 in a study that explores the roots of such behavior. The research found that merely being sent to Iraq or Afghanistan made no difference in rates of violent crime later on. Instead, a key predictor was violent behavior before enlisting. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)

FILE - In this Monday, Feb. 15, 2010 file photo, a British soldier walks with his machine gun on the roof of a residential house in the village Qari Sahib, Nad Ali district, Helmend province, southern Afghanistan. Young men who have served in the British military are about three times more likely than civilians to have committed a violent offense, researchers reported Friday, March 15, 2013 in a study that explores the roots of such behavior. The research found that merely being sent to Iraq or Afghanistan made no difference in rates of violent crime later on. Instead, a key predictor was violent behavior before enlisting. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)

LONDON (AP) ? Young men who have served in the British military are about three times more likely than civilians to have committed a violent offense, researchers reported Friday in a study that explores the roots of such behavior.

The research found that merely being sent to Iraq or Afghanistan made no difference in rates of violent crime later on. Instead, a key predictor was violent behavior before enlisting. Combat duty also raised the risk, as did witnessing traumatic events during deployment or misusing alcohol afterward. Still, the vast majority ? 94 percent ? of British military staff who return home after serving in a combat zone don't commit any crimes, researchers told reporters at a briefing.

The study found little difference in the lifetime rates of violent offenses between military personnel and civilian populations at age 46 ? 11 percent versus almost 9 percent. Among younger men, however, being in the military seemed to make a difference: Nearly 21 percent of the military group under age 30 had a conviction for a violent offense in their lifetime compared to fewer than 7 percent of similarly aged men in the general population, according to British crime statistics.

"The problem is that some of the qualities you want in a soldier are the same ones that get people arrested for violent behavior," said Walter Busuttil, director of medical services for Combat Stress, a British veterans' charity that was not part of the study. Busuttil said many of those recruited into the army are from disadvantaged backgrounds where violence is more common.

The research was published online Friday in the journal Lancet. Researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London looked at data from more than 13,800 U.K. military personnel and veterans and compared that to records of violent crimes ranging from verbal threats to assaults and homicides. Some people were followed for up to seven years. Nearly 1,500 women were included, though they were mostly in noncombat roles.

Deirdre MacManus, the study's lead author, said combat experience seemed to matter when they compared violent crime rates among military personnel. "Being deployed in itself wasn't a risk factor for violent offenses but being exposed to multiple traumas, like seeing someone get shot, increased the risk by 70 to 80 percent," she said, compared to someone who hadn't witnessed such a harrowing ordeal.

Researchers said other studies have made similar findings.

Britain currently has some 5,000 soldiers in the NATO-led mission fighting in Afghanistan and it is the second-largest foreign contingent after the U.S. It withdrew its soldiers from Iraq in 2009 after six years. The U.K. Ministry of Defense has been under pressure to develop more mental health programs for veterans after reports of returning servicemen committing crimes, like the 2012 case of an ex-soldier in Leeds jailed for shooting his landlady after fighting in Afghanistan. He had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder but had not been monitored or treated.

In the U.S., there have been numerous cases of veterans committing violent crimes, including a Marine charged with killing six people in California last year. Soldiers from a single Army unit in Colorado killed 11 people over a few years after their return home. An Army report in 2009 placed part of the blame on the psychological trauma of fierce combat in Iraq. And this week, a U.S. Senate panel heard women in the military describe sexual assaults by fellow soldiers.

American researchers said it is possible the same links the British study found between fighting in a war and violent crime exist in the U.S. but that there isn't enough data yet.

"For some soldiers, it's hard to stop being a warrior," said Brett Litz, a psychology professor at Boston University who studies veterans' issues. "What happens during a war may be a prescription for a small percentage of men to get into trouble," he said. "They may find it very difficult to switch out of a wartime mindset."

But given the differences between Britain and the U.S., Litz said it was impossible to predict what effects would be seen in the United States. "Maybe the economy is better here, maybe the (department of defense) does a better job with transition, maybe (the) culture is different especially with respect to alcohol," Litz said.

"There will be a lot of returning soldiers who have to be reintegrated and unfortunately there is no quick fix," he said.

____

Online:

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(12)60354-2/abstract

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2013-03-14-EU-MED-Veterans-Violence/id-92d3ca71ce274b299dcc84f762fb23a7

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Tobacco industry appears to have evaded FDA ban on 'light' cigarette descriptors

Thursday, March 14, 2013

New research from Harvard School of Public Health (HPSH) shows that one year after the federal government passed a law banning word descriptors such as "light," "mild," and "low" on cigarette packages, smokers can still easily identify their brands because of color-coding that tobacco companies added to "light" packs after the ban. These findings suggest that the companies have, in effect, been able to evade the ban on misleading wording?thus still conveying the false and deceptive message that lights are safer than "regular" cigarettes.

In addition, the companies failed to apply for applications to have these products approved as "new products" as called for by the law.

The study was published online March 13, 2013 in Tobacco Control.

"The tobacco industry was found guilty by a federal court in 2006 for deceptively promoting 'light' cigarettes as safer after countless smokers who switched to lights died prematurely, thinking they had reduced their health risks. After a new federal law was passed in 2009 to end the tobacco industry's deceptive marketing practices, the industry has apparently circumvented it by using new and sophisticated ways to deceive consumers and has not sought Food and Drug Administration approval for these products as required by law," said study co-author Gregory Connolly, director of the Center for Global Tobacco Control at HSPH and professor of the practice of public health in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

After the U.S. Surgeon General's 1964 report found that cigarette smoking causes disease, tobacco companies began marketing "light" cigarettes with ventilation holes that allowed air to mix with smoke, which the companies said would limit the amount of smoke a person would inhale. However, a 2001 National Cancer Institute (NCI) report found that smokers compensate for the lower smoke yield in "light" cigarettes?and thus ingest as much tar and nicotine as "regular" cigarettes?by smoking more intensely, more often, or by blocking the ventilation holes with their fingers or lips.

In 2006, a U.S. federal court ruled that tobacco companies should be banned from any future use of descriptive words that convey a false health message. The FDA?given the authority to regulate tobacco products in 2009 as part of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act?subsequently issued its ban.

To see whether the tobacco companies were complying with or circumventing the ban, the HSPH researchers examined retailer manuals from the tobacco company Philip Morris; manufacturers' annual reports filed with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health; national cigarette sales data; and the results of a 2011 national public opinion survey that included questions about smokers' perceptions of their brands being "light" or regular.

The study describes how Philip Morris removed the terms "light," "ultra-light," and "mild" from cigarette packs and substituted new brand names and colors. For example, the "Marlboro Light" brand was renamed "Marlboro Gold," "Marlboro Mild" was renamed "Marlboro Blue," and Marlboro Ultra-light" was renamed "Marlboro Silver." Other tobacco companies made similar changes. The cigarettes themselves remained unchanged, however; the percentage of ventilation in each category of "light" sub-brands was the same after being renamed and given a new color descriptor. Ventilation is the principle determinant of whether a cigarette is called "light."

In addition, the study notes that a Philip Morris brochure for retailers stated, "Some cigarette and smokeless packaging is changing, but the product remains the same. For trade use only: not to be shown or distributed to consumers."

In the public opinion survey, more than 90% of the smoker respondents said that, one year after the FDA ban, they found it either "somewhat easy" (10%) or "very easy" (82%) to identify their usual brand of cigarettes?in other words, they still thought of certain brands as "light" even though the packages did not use the "light" descriptors.

"This study demonstrates the continued attempts of the industry to avoid reasonable regulation of tobacco products. Scrutiny is needed by the FDA and courts to ensure that tobacco manufacturers comply with the law and that their products no longer convey false impressions of reduced risk," said study co-author Hillel Alpert, research scientist in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

The results will be presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Nicotine and Tobacco research on March 14, 2013 in Boston.

###

Harvard School of Public Health: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu

Thanks to Harvard School of Public Health for this article.

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Pelosi Stretches an Old McConnell Quote

Rep. Nancy Pelosi seized on an old talking point, miscasting a now-famous quote by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in 2010 about the goal of making Obama a ?one-term president.?

On CNN?s ?State of the Union? on March 10, host Candy Crowley asked the leader of the House Democrats if President Barack Obama?s stated commitment to helping return the House to Democratic power, with Pelosi at the helm, wasn?t the same as McConnell?s comment about his goal of making Obama a one-term president. Crowley was referring to comments Obama made at the House Democratic Issues Conference on Feb. 7 in which he praised the work of Democratic elected officials and concluded his remarks by saying, ?And as a byproduct of doing that good work and keeping that focus, I would expect that Nancy Pelosi is going to be Speaker again pretty soon.?

Crowley: Isn?t that kind of the same thing?

Pelosi: No, it is completely different, but thank you for the question. It?s completely different, because when Mitch McConnell said that, he was talking about stopping, obstructing initiatives to create jobs, stopping initiatives that would show bipartisanship on the part of the president.

He wanted to show ? they want to show that he couldn?t come to agreement with the Republicans simply ? it didn?t matter what the subject was, they were not going to support it.

Although McConnell?s comment was often cited by Democrats during the 2012 campaign as evidence of Republicans? refusal to compromise as a strategy to regain the White House, a review of McConnell?s fuller comments suggests Pelosi and others read more into McConnell?s words than was actually said.

Here?s what McConnell said in an Oct. 23, 2010, Q&A interview with the National Journal just prior to the midterm elections.

McConnell: We need to be honest with the public. This election is about them, not us. And we need to treat this election as the first step in retaking the government. We need to say to everyone on Election Day, ?Those of you who helped make this a good day, you need to go out and help us finish the job.?

National Journal: What?s the job?

McConnell: The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.

National Journal: Does that mean endless, or at least frequent, confrontation with the president?

McConnell: If President Obama does a Clintonian backflip, if he?s willing to meet us halfway on some of the biggest issues, it?s not inappropriate for us to do business with him.

National Journal: What are the big issues?

McConnell: It is possible the president?s advisers will tell him he has to do something to get right with the public on his levels of spending and [on] lowering the national debt. If he were to heed that advice, he would, I imagine, find more support among our conference than he would among some in the Senate in his own party. I don?t want the president to fail; I want him to change. So, we?ll see. The next move is going to be up to him.

McConnell?s fuller comments ? including the vow to work with Obama ?if he?s willing to meet us halfway on some of the biggest issues? and his statement that ?I don?t want the president to fail; I want him to change? ? contradict Pelosi?s claim that McConnell was speaking in the context of opposing any bipartisan initiatives or that he was outlining a position that Republicans would not support the president no ?matter what the subject was.? One can argue about whether that turned out to be a Republican strategy or not, but that?s not what McConnell said.

In a speech at the Heritage Foundation just after the 2010 midterm elections, McConnell expanded on his comments:

McConnell, Nov. 4, 2010: Over the past week, some have said it was indelicate of me to suggest that our top political priority over the next two years should be to deny President Obama a second term in office. But the fact is, if our primary legislative goals are to repeal and replace the health spending bill; to end the bailouts; cut spending; and shrink the size and scope of government, the only way to do all these things is to put someone in the White House who won?t veto any of these things. We can hope the President will start listening to the electorate after Tuesday?s election. But we can?t plan on it.

In other words, McConnell was making the point that in order for the Republican Party to achieve the majority of its agenda, it would have to regain the White House. And Obama was making the point that voters would reward Democrats at the polls, if the party gets a chance to achieve the majority of its agenda. We leave it to the reader to judge how similar, or not, the statements by McConnell and Obama are. The fact is, without full control of Congress and the presidency, neither side can get everything it wants.

? Robert Farley

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pelosi-stretches-old-mcconnell-quote-215332144--politics.html

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In Silicon Valley, rich get richer and poor get poorer

Martha Mendoza , The Associated Press ? ? ? 9 hrs.

On a morning the stock market was sailing to a record high and a chilly storm was blowing into Silicon Valley, Wendy Carle stuck her head out of the tent she calls home to find city workers duct taping an eviction notice to her flimsy, flapping shelter walls.

"I have no idea where I'm going to go," she said, tugging on her black sweatshirt over her brown curls and scooping up Hero, an albino dog.

She glanced at the glimmering windows on a cluster of high-tech office buildings just blocks away and shook her head.

"Did you know Google shares hit $840 each this morning?" she asked. "I just heard that on the radio."

Carle, who did not want to give her age, used to manage apartments. Today she lives on a Supplemental Security Income disability payment of $826 a month due to back and joint problems.

The Silicon Valley is adding jobs faster than it has in more than a decade as the tech industry roars back. Stocks are soaring and fortunes are once again on the rise.

But a bleaker record is also being set this year: Food stamp participation just hit a 10-year high, homelessness rose 20 percent in two years, and the average income for Hispanics, who make up one in four Silicon Valley residents, fell to a new low of about $19,000 a year? capping a steady 14 percent drop over the past five years, according to the annual Silicon Valley Index released by Joint Venture Silicon Valley, representing businesses, and the philanthropic Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

Simply put, while the ultra-rich are getting even richer, record numbers of Silicon Valley residents are slipping into poverty.

Related: In Plain Sight: Poverty in America

"In the midst of a national economic recovery led by Silicon Valley's resurgence, as measured by corporate profits and record stock prices, something strange is going on in the Valley itself. Most people are getting poorer," said Cindy Chavez, executive director of San Jose-based Working Partnerships USA, a nonprofit advocating for affordable housing, higher minimum wages and access to health care.

Nowhere is this growing disparity more obvious than this sprawling and trash-strewn 28-acre tent city that authorities are trying to clean out. Beneath the sweeping shadow and roar of jets soaring in and out of nearby San Jose's international airport, residents here say times are so tight they have nowhere else to turn.

"This is the most ridiculous place ever," said Kristina Erbenich, 38, clambering onto her bike, a heavy pack on her back. The former chef said she spent $14,000 on hotel rooms before her savings ran out. "If everyone around here is so rich, why can't they do something to help?"

United Way Silicon Valley CEO Carole Leigh Hutton wonders the same thing.

"How is it that in an area so very rich, we have so many people so very poor? Why can't we break that cycle? With all the brain power in the Silicon Valley, we should be able to solve these problems. But what we need is the collective will."

High cost of living
The causes for the growing disparity are complex, but largely come down to one thing: a very high cost of living. The median home price is $550,000, and rents average just under $2,000 a month for a two-bedroom apartment in this region that is home to many of the nation's wealthiest companies including Facebook, Apple Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Google. For a family of four, just covering basic needs like rent, food, child care and transportation comes to almost $90,000 a year, according to the nonprofit Insight Center for Community Economic Development.

"The fact is that we have an economy now that's working well only for those at the very top," said Lawrence Mishel at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington D.C. "Unless we adopt a new approach to economic policy, we're going to continue going down this path, which means growth that does not really benefit the great majority of people in this country."

Nationally, Mishel says the declining value of the federal minimum wage is a major factor driving inequality. On Monday, in an effort to address this, minimum hourly wages will rise from $8 per hour to a new minimum of $10 per hour, the nation's largest minimum wage increase approved by voters last fall. While it's a dramatic shift for tens of thousands of workers, it's a minuscule fraction of the increases top earners in the region enjoyed last year.

Silicon Valley's top tech magnates inched up on Forbes' annual list of the richest people on the planet: Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison had a reported net worth of $43 billion, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin had about $23 billion each, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, was worth an estimated $13.3 billion, and Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs, had an estimated worth of $10.7 billion.

"The wealth numbers are staggering, they are absolutely staggering," said Alf Nucifora, who chairs the Luxury Marketing Council of San Francisco

One in five ultra-wealthy Americans, defined by having a net worth above $30 million, lives in California, stoked by the "wealth-generating cluster" of the Silicon Valley, according to WealthX, a company that tracks the super-rich. Stanford University, in Palo Alto, boasts 1,173 alumni with a net worth of more than $30 million ? only Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania have more.

"The Silicon Valley is an ecosystem of human capital, venture capital, risk, an educational infrastructure," says WealthX president David Friedman. "All of those things combine into this glorious cocktail of prosperity."

'We need help'
But many residents, even those with college educations, are finding it tougher than ever to make it in the Silicon Valley.

Before the Great Recession, about 10 percent of people seeking food had at least some college education. Today, one in four who line up at food pantries for bags of free food have been to college. Last year the share of households in Silicon Valley earning less than $35,000 rose two percentage points to 20 percent, according to the 2013 Silicon Valley Index.

"There are millionaires, even billionaires, who sit in their sunrooms watching me work in their gardens and they have no clue what's going on," said Sherri Bohan, a credentialed horticulturist who ran a landscape gardening firm for 30 years and raised two sons as a single mom. Today, retired and disabled, she picks up a free bag of groceries every week at her local food bank. Without the food, she says she would go hungry.

Silicon Valley's rich do give, and often significantly, but the money mostly leaves the area. Facebook's Zuckerberg gave $100 million to Newark N.J., public schools in 2010; his $500 million gift to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation last year has yet to be designated. The Google Foundation donated about $11 million in 2011, according to its tax forms, largely to global environmental and health projects.

"Many people come here to work, but they have no idea what's really going on," said Lisa Sobrato Sonsini, whose Sobrato Family Foundation ? funded by profits gained as a leading real estate and development firm in the region ? is the single largest contributor to local charities in the region. "The companies are generous, but they don't see the need directly in front of them, they want to send their money away."

Phyllis Kizer, a long time high-tech business analyst, is disturbed by the challenges people in her community face.

"Looking at myself, I'm very well paid for what I do, I have no complaints," she said.

Once a week, Kizer heads to a low-income school where she sits with children, including recent immigrants, helping them learn to read.

"I love books, and I love teaching," she said. "I wanted to pass that on. Some of these children, they can really go far, but we need to help."

? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/silicon-valley-rich-getting-richer-poor-getting-poorer-1C8813698

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It's all in the way we move: Bone form and locomotor behavior in bipedal and quadrupedal marsupials

Mar. 13, 2013 ? When, how and why modern humans first stood up and walked on two legs is considered to be one of the greatest missing links in our evolutionary history. Scientists have gone to the far ends of the Earth -- and the wonderful creatures in it -- to look for answers to why we walk the way we walk.

In the latest such search, researchers from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg (South Africa) have taken a closer look at bipedal kangaroos and wallabies and how they move compared to their cousin-marsupials, such as the quadrupedal Tasmanian wolf.

In an article published online in the scientific journal PLoS ONE on 12 March 2013, the researchers examine connections between bone form and locomotor behaviour in bipedal and quadrupedal marsupials. Read the article here

The study was led by Dr Kristian Carlson, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Human Evolution (IHE) at Wits University. Contributing authors include: Dr Tea Jashashvili, Postdoctoral Fellow at the IHE at Wits University; Kimberley Houghton, MSc candidate at the IHE at Wits University; Dr Michael Westaway from the Queensland Museum (Australia); and Dr Biren Patel from the University of Southern California (US).

Their article is entitled Joint loads in marsupial ankles reflect habitual bipedalism versus quadrupedalism. The research demonstrates that bipedal marsupials, such as kangaroos and wallabies, experience greater forces through their hind limb joints (e.g., ankles) when walking, compared to other marsupials that walk on four legs.

The study has several important implications in the area of research known as functional morphology.

Characterising forces that joints experience during movement is imperative to understanding how the joints of animals function and facilitate such movements. Documenting these forces, however, is extremely difficult for practical reasons.

Using physical instruments to measure joint forces is impossible without altering the natural movements of animals. By combining computed tomography (CT) and image analyses, the team of researchers was able to estimate joint forces in a non-invasive, accurate manner.

As the group predicted at the outset of the study, marsupials supporting their body with only two hind limbs during movement sustain higher estimated forces in their joints compared to marsupials that support their body with all four limbs during movement. This finding offers insight into the structural uniqueness of hind limb joints (e.g., ankles) of bipedal marsupials.

Members of the team are currently expanding the published study into the next phase of a larger project by documenting the same phenomenon in primates in order to investigate whether bipedal humans differ from related quadrupedal primates in parallel (or different) ways as bipedal marsupials differ from related quadrupedal marsupials.

By comparing analogous systems in primates and marsupials, team members will garner potentially new insights into the mechanics of human bipedalism. Such insights will advance current understanding of the morphological adaptations expressed by our distant hominin ancestors (e.g., australopithecines).

These insights will prove particularly timely considering the emerging trend in recognizing substantial variation in the form of bipedalism expressed by our hominin ancestor.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of the Witwatersrand.

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Journal Reference:

1. Kristian J. Carlson, Tea Jashashvili, Kimberley Houghton, Michael C. Westaway, Biren A. Patel. Joint Loads in Marsupial Ankles Reflect Habitual Bipedalism versus Quadrupedalism. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (3): e58811 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058811

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/kYcOsEgJTjE/130313112422.htm

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Structured weight loss program helps kids from low-income families lower BMI

Public release date: 13-Mar-2013
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Contact: Eileen Leahy
acadpedmedia@elsevier.com
732-238-3628
Elsevier Health Sciences

According to new study in Academic Pediatrics

Philadelphia, PA, March 13, 2013 Overweight and obese children in low-income households can meet or exceed the Expert Committee Recommendations Regarding the Prevention, Assessment, and Treatment of Childhood and Adolescent Overweight and Obesity when given access to a structured weight management program, according to a new study published in Academic Pediatrics.

The epidemic of overweight and obesity in the United States affects children, particularly those in low-income families, where they are at higher risk due to unhealthy diets and consumption of higher calorie, high-fat foods and sweetened drinks with limited opportunities for daily physical activity. If left untreated, these conditions are likely to extend into adulthood, placing the child at higher risk for obesity-related diseases, including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

The state of Tennessee has struggled with this issue and ranked fifth highest for child obesity in the 2007 National Children's Health Survey. The year before, Tennessee Medicaid (TennCare) partnered with the international commercial weight loss program, Weight Watchers, to help treat obesity. Through the TennCare Weight Watchers Partnership Program overweight and obese TennCare recipients under the age of 21 were able to participate with no out-of-pocket cost.

A group of researchers led by the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, CO evaluated the weight change of 280 qualified participants aged 10 to 17 years old, who were referred by their health care providers to participate in the program.

"We hypothesized that individuals who participated in the program would have a reduction in body mass index (BMI) z score significantly greater than zero and that there would be no difference in the reduction in BMI z score between boys and girls," says Nia S. Mitchell, MD, MPH, lead investigator and assistant professor of general internal medicine at CU School of Medicine and CU's Anschutz Health and Wellness Center and Colorado Health Outcomes. "As secondary analyses, we also determined if there was a threshold of participation, in duration or number of meetings, which might be associated with clinically significant weight loss." Use of a BMI z score is the optimal way to measure weight change in children.

The team also compared weight change to the Expert Committee Recommendations Regarding the Prevention, Assessment, and Treatment of Childhood and Adolescent Overweight and Obesity.

By the end of their participation in the program, the weight change in 53 percent of the children either met or exceeded the recommendations of the Expert Committee. Participants who attended the program for more than 12 weeks and those who attended ten or more meetings saw a five percent decrease in BMI z score. More than half the participants attended eight or fewer weekly meetings, while nearly 30 percent attended ten or more.

While it is difficult to define significant weight loss in children because they are still growing, the study demonstrated that a clinically significant change in BMI z score was achieved by the 25 percent of those who participated in the program for more than 12 weeks.

Says Dr. Mitchell, "Our analysis suggests that the TennCare Weight Watchers Partnership Program was associated with a majority of participants meeting the recommendations of the Expert Committee. Providers should, therefore, consider referring their patients to similar structured programs." The study team also points out that this type of partnership can give low-income families the opportunity to give their children a good chance for weight management success.

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Public release date: 13-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Eileen Leahy
acadpedmedia@elsevier.com
732-238-3628
Elsevier Health Sciences

According to new study in Academic Pediatrics

Philadelphia, PA, March 13, 2013 Overweight and obese children in low-income households can meet or exceed the Expert Committee Recommendations Regarding the Prevention, Assessment, and Treatment of Childhood and Adolescent Overweight and Obesity when given access to a structured weight management program, according to a new study published in Academic Pediatrics.

The epidemic of overweight and obesity in the United States affects children, particularly those in low-income families, where they are at higher risk due to unhealthy diets and consumption of higher calorie, high-fat foods and sweetened drinks with limited opportunities for daily physical activity. If left untreated, these conditions are likely to extend into adulthood, placing the child at higher risk for obesity-related diseases, including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

The state of Tennessee has struggled with this issue and ranked fifth highest for child obesity in the 2007 National Children's Health Survey. The year before, Tennessee Medicaid (TennCare) partnered with the international commercial weight loss program, Weight Watchers, to help treat obesity. Through the TennCare Weight Watchers Partnership Program overweight and obese TennCare recipients under the age of 21 were able to participate with no out-of-pocket cost.

A group of researchers led by the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, CO evaluated the weight change of 280 qualified participants aged 10 to 17 years old, who were referred by their health care providers to participate in the program.

"We hypothesized that individuals who participated in the program would have a reduction in body mass index (BMI) z score significantly greater than zero and that there would be no difference in the reduction in BMI z score between boys and girls," says Nia S. Mitchell, MD, MPH, lead investigator and assistant professor of general internal medicine at CU School of Medicine and CU's Anschutz Health and Wellness Center and Colorado Health Outcomes. "As secondary analyses, we also determined if there was a threshold of participation, in duration or number of meetings, which might be associated with clinically significant weight loss." Use of a BMI z score is the optimal way to measure weight change in children.

The team also compared weight change to the Expert Committee Recommendations Regarding the Prevention, Assessment, and Treatment of Childhood and Adolescent Overweight and Obesity.

By the end of their participation in the program, the weight change in 53 percent of the children either met or exceeded the recommendations of the Expert Committee. Participants who attended the program for more than 12 weeks and those who attended ten or more meetings saw a five percent decrease in BMI z score. More than half the participants attended eight or fewer weekly meetings, while nearly 30 percent attended ten or more.

While it is difficult to define significant weight loss in children because they are still growing, the study demonstrated that a clinically significant change in BMI z score was achieved by the 25 percent of those who participated in the program for more than 12 weeks.

Says Dr. Mitchell, "Our analysis suggests that the TennCare Weight Watchers Partnership Program was associated with a majority of participants meeting the recommendations of the Expert Committee. Providers should, therefore, consider referring their patients to similar structured programs." The study team also points out that this type of partnership can give low-income families the opportunity to give their children a good chance for weight management success.

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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/ehs-swl031213.php

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