TGen and Ventana Medical Systems Inc. join forces to fight cancer

Public release date: 25-Jun-2013
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Contact: Steve Yozwiak
syozwiak@tgen.org
602-343-8704
The Translational Genomics Research Institute

2 of Arizona's premier biomedical institutions unite to develop critically needed diagnostic biomarkers for cancer

PHOENIX, Ariz. June 25, 2013 The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. (Ventana), a member of the Roche Group, today announced a collaborative research agreement to discover and develop diagnostic markers for treating cancer. The two Arizona-based institutions will leverage each other's expertise in discovery and diagnostic product development, bringing innovative cancer diagnostic tests to patients.

The first project under the umbrella research agreement will focus on diagnostic, prognostic and drug biomarkers for pancreatic cancer, the fourth leading cause of death from cancer in the United States. This year, an estimated 45,000 people will be diagnosed and more than 38,000 patients will die from the disease. Worldwide, more than 213,000 are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year, and the numbers are growing. Fewer than 1 in 4 pancreatic cancer patients survive more than a year, and fewer than 6 percent survive more than five years the worst survival rate of any cancer.

This dismal picture of pancreatic cancer is mainly due to the lack of tools for early detection and the ineffectiveness of current therapeutics. This is why new diagnostic markers and more efficacious therapies are desperately needed.

"TGen is on the cutting edge of translational research, where investigators discover the genetic components of disease," says Jeffrey Trent, Ph.D., President and Research Director of TGen. "Our goal is to rapidly translate basic research findings into actionable targets. Partnering with Ventana we hope will accelerate our goal to deliver meaningful discoveries to cancer patients today."

"When a patient is faced with cancer, getting an accurate diagnosis quickly is the most important part of their treatment," says Ventana President and CEO Mara G. Aspinall. "As the global leader in tissue-based cancer diagnostics, our strength is moving research into the clinic in order to improve the lives of all patients afflicted with cancer. We are thrilled to be able to pursue this with a partner right in our Arizona backyard."

###

About Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.

Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. ("VMSI") (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY), a member of the Roche Group, innovates and manufactures instruments and reagents that automate tissue processing and slide staining for cancer diagnostics. VENTANA solutions are used in clinical histology and drug development research laboratories worldwide. The company's intuitive, integrated staining, workflow management platforms, and digital pathology solutions optimize laboratory efficiencies to reduce errors, support diagnosis and inform treatment decisions for anatomic pathology professionals. Together with Roche, VMSI is driving Personalized Healthcare through accelerated drug discovery and the development of "companion diagnostics" to identify the patients most likely to respond favorably to specific therapies. Visit http://www.ventana.com to learn more.

VMSI Media Relations
Jacqueline Bucher
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
Phone: 520-877-7288
e-mail: jacquie.bucher@ventana.roche.com

About the Translational Genomic Research Institute

Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a Phoenix, Arizona-based non-profit organization dedicated to conducting groundbreaking research with life changing results. TGen is focused on helping patients with neurological disorders, cancer, and diabetes, through cutting edge translational research (the process of rapidly moving research towards patient benefit). TGen physicians and scientists work to unravel the genetic components of both common and rare complex diseases in adults and children. Working with collaborators in the scientific and medical communities literally world-wide, TGen makes a substantial contribution to help our patients through efficiency and effectiveness of the translational process. For more information, visit: http://www.tgen.org.

TGen Press Contact:
Steve Yozwiak
TGen Senior Science Writer
602-343-8704
syozwiak@tgen.org

---

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?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 25-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Steve Yozwiak
syozwiak@tgen.org
602-343-8704
The Translational Genomics Research Institute

2 of Arizona's premier biomedical institutions unite to develop critically needed diagnostic biomarkers for cancer

PHOENIX, Ariz. June 25, 2013 The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. (Ventana), a member of the Roche Group, today announced a collaborative research agreement to discover and develop diagnostic markers for treating cancer. The two Arizona-based institutions will leverage each other's expertise in discovery and diagnostic product development, bringing innovative cancer diagnostic tests to patients.

The first project under the umbrella research agreement will focus on diagnostic, prognostic and drug biomarkers for pancreatic cancer, the fourth leading cause of death from cancer in the United States. This year, an estimated 45,000 people will be diagnosed and more than 38,000 patients will die from the disease. Worldwide, more than 213,000 are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year, and the numbers are growing. Fewer than 1 in 4 pancreatic cancer patients survive more than a year, and fewer than 6 percent survive more than five years the worst survival rate of any cancer.

This dismal picture of pancreatic cancer is mainly due to the lack of tools for early detection and the ineffectiveness of current therapeutics. This is why new diagnostic markers and more efficacious therapies are desperately needed.

"TGen is on the cutting edge of translational research, where investigators discover the genetic components of disease," says Jeffrey Trent, Ph.D., President and Research Director of TGen. "Our goal is to rapidly translate basic research findings into actionable targets. Partnering with Ventana we hope will accelerate our goal to deliver meaningful discoveries to cancer patients today."

"When a patient is faced with cancer, getting an accurate diagnosis quickly is the most important part of their treatment," says Ventana President and CEO Mara G. Aspinall. "As the global leader in tissue-based cancer diagnostics, our strength is moving research into the clinic in order to improve the lives of all patients afflicted with cancer. We are thrilled to be able to pursue this with a partner right in our Arizona backyard."

###

About Ventana Medical Systems, Inc.

Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. ("VMSI") (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY), a member of the Roche Group, innovates and manufactures instruments and reagents that automate tissue processing and slide staining for cancer diagnostics. VENTANA solutions are used in clinical histology and drug development research laboratories worldwide. The company's intuitive, integrated staining, workflow management platforms, and digital pathology solutions optimize laboratory efficiencies to reduce errors, support diagnosis and inform treatment decisions for anatomic pathology professionals. Together with Roche, VMSI is driving Personalized Healthcare through accelerated drug discovery and the development of "companion diagnostics" to identify the patients most likely to respond favorably to specific therapies. Visit http://www.ventana.com to learn more.

VMSI Media Relations
Jacqueline Bucher
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
Phone: 520-877-7288
e-mail: jacquie.bucher@ventana.roche.com

About the Translational Genomic Research Institute

Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a Phoenix, Arizona-based non-profit organization dedicated to conducting groundbreaking research with life changing results. TGen is focused on helping patients with neurological disorders, cancer, and diabetes, through cutting edge translational research (the process of rapidly moving research towards patient benefit). TGen physicians and scientists work to unravel the genetic components of both common and rare complex diseases in adults and children. Working with collaborators in the scientific and medical communities literally world-wide, TGen makes a substantial contribution to help our patients through efficiency and effectiveness of the translational process. For more information, visit: http://www.tgen.org.

TGen Press Contact:
Steve Yozwiak
TGen Senior Science Writer
602-343-8704
syozwiak@tgen.org

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/ttgr-tav062413.php

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Send him back: US urges nations to return Snowden

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The U.S. grasped for help Monday from both adversaries and uneasy allies in an effort to catch fugitive National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden. The White House demanded that he be denied asylum, blasted China for letting him go and urged Russia to "do the right thing" and send him back to America to face espionage charges.

Snowden was believed to be in Russia, where he fled Sunday after weeks of hiding out in Hong Kong following his disclosure of the broad scope of two highly classified counterterror surveillance programs to two newspapers. The programs collect vast amounts of Americans' phone records and worldwide online data in the name of national security.

Snowden had flown from Hong Kong to Russia, and was expected to fly early Monday to Havana, from where he would continue on to Ecuador, where he has applied for asylum. But he didn't get on that plane and his exact whereabouts were unclear.

The founder of WikiLeaks, the secret-spilling organization that has embraced Snowden, said the American was only passing through Russia on his way to an unnamed destination to avoid the reach of U.S. authorities. Julian Assange said Snowden had applied for asylum in Ecuador, Iceland and possibly other countries.

Despite its diplomatic tough talk, the U.S. faces considerable difficulty in securing cooperation on Snowden from nations with whom it has chilly relations.

The White House said Hong Kong's refusal to detain Snowden had "unquestionably" hurt relations between the United States and China. While Hong Kong has a high degree of autonomy from the rest of China, experts said Beijing probably orchestrated Snowden's exit in an effort to remove an irritant in Sino-U.S. relations. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping met earlier this month in California to smooth over rough patches in the countries' relationship, including allegations of hacking into each other's computer systems.

Secretary of State John Kerry urged Moscow to "do the right thing" amid high-level pressure on Russia to turn over Snowden.

"We're following all the appropriate legal channels and working with various other countries to make sure that the rule of law is observed," Obama told reporters when asked if he was confident that Russia would expel Snowden.

Obama's spokesman, Jay Carney, said the U.S. was expecting the Russians "to look at the options available to them to expel Mr. Snowden back to the United States to face justice for the crimes with which he is charged."

Carney was less measured about China.

"The Chinese have emphasized the importance of building mutual trust," he said. "And we think that they have dealt that effort a serious setback. ...This was a deliberate choice by the government to release a fugitive despite a valid arrest warrant, and that decision unquestionably has a negative impact on the U.S.-China relationship."

Snowden has acknowledged revealing details of top-secret surveillance programs that sweep up millions of phone and Internet records daily. He is a former CIA employee who later was hired as a contractor through Booz Allen to be a computer systems analyst. In that job, he gained access to documents ? many of which he has given to The Guardian and The Washington Post to expose what he contends are privacy violations by an authoritarian government.

Snowden also told the South China Morning Post that "the NSA does all kinds of things like hack Chinese cellphone companies to steal all of your SMS data," and is believed to have more than 200 additional sensitive documents.

Assange and attorneys for WikiLeaks assailed the U.S. as "bullying" foreign nations into refusing asylum to Snowden. WikiLeaks counsel Michael Ratner said Snowden is protected as a whistleblower by the same international treaties that the U.S. has in the past used to criticize policies in China and African nations.

The U.S. government's dual lines of diplomacy ? harsh with China, hopeful with the Russians ? came just days after Obama met separately with leaders of both countries in an effort to close gaps on some of the major disputes facing them. Additionally, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said the U.S. has made demands to "a series of governments," including Ecuador, that Snowden be barred from any international travel other than to be returned to the U.S.

Ventrell said he did not know if that included Iceland. Icelandic officials have confirmed receiving an informal request for asylum conveyed by WikiLeaks, which has strong links to the tiny North Atlantic nation. But authorities there have insisted that Snowden must be on Icelandic soil before making a formal request.

Ecuador's president and foreign minister declared that national sovereignty and universal principles of human rights ? not U.S. prodding ? would govern any decision they might make on granting asylum to Snowden.

Ecuador has rejected some previous U.S. efforts at cooperation and has been helping Assange avoid prosecution by allowing him to stay at its embassy in London.

Formally, Snowden's application for Ecuadoran asylum remains only under consideration. But Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino made little effort to disguise his government's position. He told reporters in Hanoi that the choice Ecuador faced in hosting Snowden was "betraying the citizens of the world or betraying certain powerful elites in a specific country."

Patino said late Monday he did not know Snowden's exact whereabouts.

President Rafael Correa said on Twitter that "we will take the decision that we feel most suitable, with absolute sovereignty." Correa, who took office in 2007, is a frequent critic of U.S. foreign policy in Latin America and is an ally of leftist president Evo Morales of Bolivia. Correa also had aligned himself with Venezuela's late leader, Hugo Chavez, a chief U.S. antagonist in the region for years.

In April 2011 the Obama administration expelled the Ecuadorean ambassador to Washington after the U.S. envoy to Ecuador, Heather Hodges, was expelled for making corruption allegations about senior Ecuadorean police authorities in confidential documents disclosed by WikiLeaks.

American experts said the U.S. will have limited, if any, influence to persuade governments to turn over Snowden if he heads to Cuba or nations in South America that are seen as hostile to Washington.

"There's little chance Ecuador would give him back" if that country agrees to take him, said James F. Jeffrey, a former ambassador and career diplomat.

Steve Saltzburg, a former senior Justice Department prosecutor, said it's little surprise that China refused to hand over Snowden, and he predicted Russia won't either.

"We've been talking the talk about how both these countries abuse people who try to express their First Amendment rights, so I think that neither country is going to be very inclined to help us very much," said Saltzburg, now a law professor at George Washington University in Washington. "That would be true with Cuba if he ends up there."

The United States formally sought Snowden's extradition but was rebuffed by Hong Kong officials who said the U.S. request did not fully comply with their laws. The Justice Department rejected that claim, saying its request met all of the requirements of the extradition treaty between the U.S. and Hong Kong.

Snowden had been believed to have been in a transit area in Moscow's airport where he would not be considered as entering Russian territory. Assange declined to discuss where Snowden was but said he was safe. The U.S. has revoked his passport.

___

Associated Press writers Julie Pace, Eileen Sullivan, Kimberly Dozier and Robert Burns in Washington, Lynn Berry, Vladimir Isachenkov and Max Seddon in Moscow, Kevin Chan in Hong Kong and Sylvia Hui in London contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/send-him-back-us-urges-nations-return-snowden-221545517.html

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The future of solar financing ? Tech News and Analysis - GigaOM

This article originally appeared on GigaOM Pro, GigaOM?s premium subscription research service.

Over the past few years it?s become obvious to all involved in selling both residential and commercial rooftop solar systems that customers will balk at the hefty upfront costs of purchasing, installing, and maintaining a solar panel system. Into the fray have stepped companies offering financing solutions, ranging from power purchase agreements at fixed rate electricity prices to 20-year leases.

The question I?ve mulled over in my head has been whether the solar installation game is likely to become vertically integrated with installation and financing under one roof. SolarCity has gone this route, handling both financing and installation, and its success will be tightly linked to its cost of capital. Effectively, how cheap can it get money in order to help its customers finance their systems?

In a previous column examining First Solar?s small re-entry into manufacturing panels for the residential market in Japan, I?ve even wondered whether there?s room for a complete vertical integrator that could do panel manufacturing, installation, and financing.

On the other end of this equation is Clean Power Finance, which is expressly built around connecting financiers like Google and Morgan Stanley with regional solar installers so that these installers can offer financing options for customers. Investors now have a conduit for funneling money into rooftop solar investments.

?We?re running an online marketplace,? said Clean Power Finance CEO Nat Kreamer. ?We?ve got people on one side of the marketplace who are out there everyday using that software to sell to consumers, to design and build systems. On the other side you have companies offering PPA, leases, loan products to the people out there selling. We?re running a business to business marketplace.?

Loving solar

Kreamer and I had a lengthy conversation recently about challenges and opportunities in renewable energy financing. He clearly believes that the market is getting large enough to have companies offering specific services at key points in the value chain.

He noted that investors are getting ?high single digits to low single teens? rates of return on their solar investments. But perhaps more importantly, he?s focused on building a platform that will allow his investors to specify the degree of consumer credit risk they will take, the types of solar systems or panels they?ll finance, and ultimately the rate of return.

The introduction of risk-based pricing into solar financing could be an additional innovation driving Wall Street further into funneling money into renewable energy.

When I pressed Kreamer on whether he thought we might see solar contracts packaged as securities, he said, ?There are a lot of really smart people on Wall Street working on turning portfolios of solar systems into asset backed securities. You can break the investment into two parts. I have a tax return, meaning I get the investment tax credit and the deprecation. And then I?ve got this flow of consumer cash flow.?

I concur that there are some attractive aspects of solar-backed securities, notably that it?s actually easier not to pay your mortgage than not to pay for electricity. Also, if we?ve learned anything from the mortgage crisis, it?s that underwriters will be under pressure to glean accurate credit pictures of borrowers.

And with sophisticated risk-based pricing, returns can be correlated with credit risk. Finally, because solar systems are so new in terms of financing products, investors will get a premium for being the first to purchase these products.

So why couldn?t one large company still handle installations as well as financing? It could and SolarCity is doing just that. In fact, many of the largest automakers have their own captive financing groups in house to handle leases for car customers.

But at the same time if a company like Clean Power Finance can build strong relationships with investors and become known as the most efficient and sophisticated method for providing safe returns, correlated to risk, there?s a strong argument that the company will provide additional and necessary value in the market.

Clean Power Finance is taking investors at an initial commitment of $50 million with a willingness to do around $250 million, and running just under a billion in financing through its platform each year. As solar installation rates grow, the company is gunning to capture an increasingly large part of the financing capital flowing into solar. And to solidify itself as the conduit of choice for investors moving capital into rooftop solar investments.

Source: http://gigaom.com/2013/06/24/the-future-of-solar-financing/

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You Can Finally Buy the Magical Spray That Waterproofs Everything

We first heard about Rust-Oleum's liquid-repelling product, NeverWet almost two years ago. It looked absolutely magical, and now you can finally buy it.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/rNxHveP0sYA/you-can-finally-buy-the-magical-spray-that-waterproofs-563613333

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East Rutherford Sinkhole? How a forklift saved a man.

East Rutherford Sinkhole? A forklift worker narrowly escaped serious injury after a warehouse floor collapsed in East Rutherford, N.J.?

By Eoin O'Carroll,?Staff / May 21, 2013

A forklift operator found himself suddenly waist-deep in a viscid and aromatic pool of cooking oil and soy sauce, following the collapse of a warehouse floor in East Rutherford, N.J., on Monday.

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Shortly after noon, Danny Rodriguez was moving pallets near the loading dock of a warehouse unit rented by the trucking company?AM Express Freight, when the floor gave way. Mr. Rodriguez, his forklift, and several containers of oil and soy sauce plunged into a hole that witnesses described as six to 10-feet deep and 30 to 40-feet wide. Rodriguez escaped from the warehouse unit ? which at this point resembled the world's largest wok ? ?with only minor injuries.

"Fortunately for the operator, the forklift went straight down and didn?t tip to the side because then he could have really been hurt," said borough Police Chief Larry Minda, in an interview with The Record, a North Jersey daily newspaper.

Authorities declared the warehouse unit and two adjacent ones unsafe and ordered them evacuated.

It is not clear what caused the collapse. The Record quotes property manager, Bruce Jordan, who said that the unit's reinforced concrete floor sat atop a forgotten basement. "We had no idea it was hollow under there,? he said. ?We thought the floor was built over dirt."

The news aggregator site New Jersey Online attributes the collapse to a sinkhole, an underground hollow caused by the erosion of sedimentary rock, such as limestone or dolomite, by groundwater or, in some instances, burst water mains.

In recent years, sinkholes have appeared in?Florida;?California;?Illinois;?Washington, D.C.;?Pennsylvania;?Guangzhou, China;?Guatemala City;?Quebec;?Milwaukee;?Germany; and Chicago.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/IJufGL56n50/East-Rutherford-Sinkhole-How-a-forklift-saved-a-man

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5 Things Every Copywriter Needs to Know About Their Prospects ...

What do you really know about your prospect?

Their age range perhaps? Where they live? What they do for a living?

Useful definitely, but not enough to create copy that rouses emotion and compels action.

For that we need to take a journey much deeper into the dark recesses of our customers? minds ?

Want to join me?

Today?s article is inspired by someone who understood that in writing, how well you knew your ?characters? made the difference between captivating an audience, or boring them.

In 1946 The Art of Dramatic Writing, (now regarded as one of the best works on the subject of playwriting), was published.

The author, Lajos Egri, had a simple rule: know your characters and you?ll know your story.

And the same principle works in copywriting. Before you can write content that gets and grips your reader?s attention, you have to get to know them ? intimately.

Fortunately, Egri has some advice to help us do just that.

The one thing your reader wants most is ?

? to be important.

According to Egri, this is the number one desire that motivates all characters.

Even small actions are attempts to increase our importance in the world. Whether it?s going for a promotion, dressing up for a date, or making sure your children are healthy and happy. These actions are influenced by our goals to be well-respected, noticed, or loved. And if we succeed, we have a measure of how important we are to others.

So how do companies make their customers feel important?

A business owner wants a better looking website to be more important to prospects. A web designer wants better tools to offer a high-quality service, and be more important to her customers. A blogger wants to produce epic content to be important to readers so they keep coming back.

When you know what makes your customer wants to feel important, you can ensure it is one of the leading benefits in your copy.

But this is just the beginning, because when you stir the murky waters of the desire for importance, you?re just a few steps away from another piece of the puzzle that helps you understand your customer.

Your customer is insecure (but do you know why?)

According to Egri, no-one is wholly satisfied with themselves, because if people were satisfied and happy, no-one would ever do anything.

Apparently, insecurities cause dissatisfaction which then motivates us to pursue activities to make us feel more important.

And the angle of your copywriting can change dramatically when you?re targeting different insecurities, even if the product is the same.

For example, not everyone who decides to get fit is motivated by the same reasons.

One guy might be embarrassed about his body and decide once and for all to get buff for the ladies. Another guy might have a chronic condition that he fears will cause him to miss out on life unless he can gain strength by increasing his fitness.

While the same fitness product might work for both people, the same approach to writing copy may not. And if you want to write copy that resonates deeply with your customer, you have to tackle their fears as well as their goals.

You can find vital clues in their past

Most customer profile templates focus on the present-day. Where does your customer live now? What problems do they have today?

Egri understood that if you really wanted to understand a character you had to go back in time and know the events that made your ?character? who they are today.

So what about your own customer? What events turned them into your target market?

If you help small business owners, how did they get there? Were they always self-employed? Have they been in business long? Have they always ?gone their own way? or are they more used to conforming and being told what to do?

Taking this journey through your target market?s history helps you build a better view of your customer?s values. And again, this helps you shape your content and pick themes that appeal specifically to your customer.

Consider the following target market divided by different histories:

• Business owners ? forced into self-employment after the recession
• Business owners ? starting up fresh out of university

How might you change the theme of your copy for each group?

The conflict reveals your customer?s true character

Egri suggested that in conflict, people?s true characteristics are revealed ? but what conflict is your customer really facing?

Some conflicts are obvious. It?s an action that causes a problem that needs to be solved by a reaction: your car breaks down, you need to be somewhere ? you call a mechanic.

Your pipes burst, you don?t want water damage, you call a plumber.

Other conflicts are more subtle but no less worrying to your customer.

A business owner wants a polished looking website to look important to her customers.

No real conflict there.

Looking a little bit closer, we discover that maintaining a professional appearance is something she worries about.

Okay, we know more about her insecurity, but still there?s no real conflict.

Do a bit more digging and we find out it?s likely to be a start-up business and she?s probably new to online technology. She doesn?t have the funds to hire a design company, but she doesn?t know enough about technology to do her own design.

The business that solves this problem and understands this conflict can plan content to reach this customer much better than the business that simply advertises affordable web design.

Now, you don?t have to know the individual story for each and every customer you may have, but without an idea of the conflict faced by the majority of your target market, understanding their real character (and writing copy to appeal to them) will be a challenge.

Okay, we know what makes our customer feel important, what makes them secure, what their past is, and their conflict.

Finally, you need to know ?

How far are they willing to go?

In fiction, you need to know if your characters are prepared to go bankrupt, embark on an adventure, commit a crime, or declare love to achieve their dreams.

And you need to know the same about your customer.

Okay, you don?t need to know if your customer will go to Mordor for new computer software, but it does help to know what they?re willing to do to resolve their particular conflict.

• What price are they willing to pay?
• Are they willing to shop around or is it more of an impulse purchase?
• How desperate are they to solve the problem?
• Do they need to solve it quickly or can a solution take time?
• How much do they want to work with you compared to another company?

Your research might lead you to try new approaches in the way you present your offer to prospects. If you discover your customer likes to shop around, and reads lots of information before making a buying decision, you can create content to cater to this need.

Getting to know your customer isn?t a quick, cursory task. Egri would spend hours plotting question and answer scenarios with characters, thinking of a range of different back-stories and visualizing how they might react with different events and opposing personalities.

Now granted, your customers aren?t imaginary but you can use the same inquisitive approach to build a clearer profile of your customer.

How do you get to know your customers?

What do you find helps gain a better understanding of your reader?

How does this affect the copy you write?

Let us know in the comments below ?

About the Author: Amy Harrison helps business owners take simple content marketing steps. For a free, easy-to-use customer profile download (and a slightly bizarre video) click here.

Source: http://www.copyblogger.com/copywriting-prospect-research/

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Reports Find Variation in Prostate, Breast Cancer Treatments Across ...

Treatments for prostate and breast cancer vary in California depending on where patients live, according to two reports released by the California HealthCare Foundation, the Contra Costa Times reports.

CHCF publishes California Healthline.

Findings on Prostate Cancer Treatment

The report on prostate cancer treatment found that physicians in Tracy use internal radiation to treat men for prostate cancer at more than four times the state average, the highest rate in California.

Meanwhile, men living 60 miles away?near Stanford University?undergo the same procedure about half as often as the state average, according to the report.

Findings on Breast Cancer Treatment

The report on breast cancer treatment found that women in Livermore undergo a lumpectomy without radiation to treat early stage breast cancer at 192% of the state average.

In San Mateo, women undergo the treatment at 64% of the state average, according to the report.

Comments on Findings

Researchers said that the variations in care indicate that physicians often determine which treatments will be used, rather than patients or medical science.

Matthew Cooperberg -- a member of the advisory committee for the study and an assistant professor in the departments of urology and epidemiology and biostatistics at UC-San Francisco -- said, "There are very different financial incentives for one treatment over another."?

Maribeth Shannon -- director of CHCF's market and policy monitor program -- said, "Physicians, for whatever reason, get comfortable with a particular treatment," adding, "There's not as much true shared decision-making as there should be."

She said that if patients played a bigger role in deciding their treatments, there would be less variation in prostate and breast cancer care across the state (Kleffman, Contra Costa Times, 5/21).

Source: http://www.californiahealthline.org/articles/2013/5/21/reports-find-variation-in-prostate-breast-cancer-treatments-across-calif.aspx

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Aggressive behavior linked specifically to secondhand smoke exposure in childhood

May 21, 2013 ? Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke in early childhood are more likely to grow up to physically aggressive and antisocial, regardless of whether they were exposed during pregnancy or their parents have a history of being antisocial, according to Linda Pagani and Caroline Fitzpatrick of the University of Montreal and its affiliated CHU Sainte-Justine hospital. No study to date has controlled for these factors.

"Secondhand smoke is in fact more dangerous that inhaled smoke, and 40% of children worldwide are exposed to it. Moreover, exposure to this smoke at early childhood is particularly dangerous, as the child's brain is still developing," Pagani said. "I looked at data that was collected about 2,055 kids from their birth until ten years of age, including parent reports about secondhand smoke exposure and from teachers and children themselves about classroom behaviour. Those having been exposed to secondhand smoke, even temporarily, were much more likely to report themselves as being more aggressive by time they finished fourth grade."

The study was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health on May 21, 2013.

Given that it would be unethical to exposure children to secondhand smoke, Pagani relied on longitudinal data collected by Quebec health authorities from birth onward on an annual basis. Because parents went about raising their children while participating in the study, the data provided a natural experiment of variations in the child population of household smoke exposure throughout early childhood. Although no direct causal link can be determined, the statistical correlation suggests that secondhand smoke exposure does forecast deviant behavior in later childhood. The very detailed information collated for the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development enabled her to do something no other researcher has done to date: distinguish the unique contribution of secondhand smoke exposure on children's later deviant behavior. "Previous studies looking at groups of children have generally asked mothers whether they smoked or not, and how much at each follow-up, rather than asking whether someone smoked in the home where young children live and play," Dr. Pagani said. "Furthermore, few studies have looked at antisocial behaviour in the parents and even fewer have investigated the subsequent influence of prolonged exposure to secondhand smoke over the long term. None have taken into account the fact that disadvantaged families are less likely to participate in a long study like this one, which of course skews the statistics."

The statistics are backed by other biological studies into the effects of smoke on the brain. Secondhand smoke comprises 85% sidestream smoke emanated from a burning cigarette and 15% inhaled and then exhaled mainstream smoke. Sidestream smoke is considered more toxic than mainstream smoke because it contains a higher concentration of many dispersed respirable pollutants over a longer exposure period. "We know that the starvation of oxygen caused by smoke exposure in the developing central nervous system can cause low birth weight and slowed fetal brain growth," Dr. Pagani said. "Environmental sources of tobacco smoke represent the most passive and preventable cause of disease and disability. This study suggests that the postnatal period is important for the prevention of impaired neurobehavioral development and makes the case for the promotion of an unpolluted domestic environment for children."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Universit? de Montr?al.

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Journal Reference:

1. Linda S Pagani, Caroline Fitzpatrick. Prospective associations between early long-term household tobacco smoke exposure and antisocial behaviour in later childhood. J Epidemiol Community Health, 2013 DOI: 10.1136/jech-2012-202191

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/kRJ7JOBiU-k/130521132116.htm

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Sea Butterfly Photos Show Stunning Underwater Biodiversity

We're consistently impressed by the variety of biodiversity out there, but these sea butterflies are really something else.

The creatures, also known as pteropods, were photographed by Karen Osborn, a research zoologist with the Smithsonian Institution. They're related to snails and use a muscular foot to swim through the ocean.

Osborn found all of the pteropods off the coasts of Mexico and California and photographed them in a shallow tank of clear water to "inspire interest in these weird, wild animals," she told Smithsonian Magazine.

Many pteropods have shells made of calcium carbonate and are vulnerable to changes in the ocean's acidity. A study released earlier this month said the average surface acidity in oceans worldwide is 30 percent higher than at the start of the industrial revolution and the Smithsonian wrote last year that many shelled creatures in the Arctic have already started dissolving.

But while they're still here, take a look at more incredible images of the sea butterflies below:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/18/sea-butterfly-photos_n_3294436.html

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Topography of Eastern Seaboard muddles ancient sea level changes

May 16, 2013 ? The distortion of the ancient shoreline and flooding surface of the U.S. Atlantic Coastal Plain are the direct result of fluctuations in topography in the region and could have implications on understanding long-term climate change, according to a new study.

Sedimentary rocks from Virginia through Florida show marine flooding during the mid-Pliocene Epoch, which correlates to approximately 4 million years ago. Several wave-cut scarps (rock exposures), which originally would have been horizontal, are now draped over a warped surface with up to 60 meters variation.

Nathan Simmons of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and colleagues from the University of Chicago, Universite du Quebec a Montreal, Syracuse University, Harvard University and the University of Texas at Austin modeled the active topography using mantle convection simulations that predict the amplitude and broad spatial distribution of this distortion. The results imply that dynamic topography and, to a lesser extent, glacial adjustment, account for the current architecture of the coastal plain and nearby shelf.

The results appear in the May 16 edition of Science Express, and will appear at a later date in Science Magazine.

"Our simulations of dynamic topography of the Eastern Seaboard have implications for inferences of global long-term sea-level change," Simmons said.

The eastern coast of the United States is considered an archetypal Atlantic-type or passive-type continental margin.

"The highlight is that mantle flow is a major component in distorting the Earth's surface over geologic time, even in so-called 'passive' continental margins," Simmons said. "Reconstructing long-term global sea-level change based on stratigraphic relations must account for this effect. In other words, did the water level change or did the ground move? This could have implications on understanding very long-term climate change."

The mantle is not a passive player in determining long-term sea level changes. Mantle flow influences surface topography, through perturbations of the dynamic topography, in a manner that varies both spatially and temporally. As a result, it is difficult to invert for the global long-term sea level signal and, in turn, the size of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, using east coast shoreline data.

Simmons said the new results provide another powerful piece of evidence that mantle flow is intimately involved in shaping Earth's surface and must be considered when attempting to unravel numerous long-term Earth processes such as sea-level variations over millions of years.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/jW9qO3BU-Bs/130516182028.htm

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Making gold green: New non-toxic method for mining gold

May 14, 2013 ? Northwestern University scientists have struck gold in the laboratory. They have discovered an inexpensive and environmentally benign method that uses simple cornstarch -- instead of cyanide -- to isolate gold from raw materials in a selective manner.

This green method extracts gold from crude sources and leaves behind other metals that are often found mixed together with the crude gold. The new process also can be used to extract gold from consumer electronic waste.

Current methods for gold recovery involve the use of highly poisonous cyanides, often leading to contamination of the environment. Nearly all gold-mining companies use this toxic gold leaching process to sequester the precious metal.

"The elimination of cyanide from the gold industry is of the utmost importance environmentally," said Sir Fraser Stoddart, the Board of Trustees Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. "We have replaced nasty reagents with a cheap, biologically friendly material derived from starch."

Sir Fraser's team discovered the process by accident, using simple test tube chemistry. A series of rigorous follow-up investigations provided evidence for the competitive strength of the new procedure.

The findings will be published May 14 in the online journal Nature Communications.

Zhichang Liu, a postdoctoral fellow in Stoddart's lab and first author of the paper, took two test tubes containing aqueous solutions -- one of the starch-derived alpha-cyclodextrin, the other of a dissolved gold (Au) salt (called aurate) -- and mixed them together in a beaker at room temperature.

Liu was trying to make an extended, three-dimensional cubic structure, which could be used to store gases and small molecules. Unexpectedly, he obtained needles, which formed rapidly upon mixing the two solutions.

"Initially, I was disappointed when my experiment didn't produce cubes, but when I saw the needles, I got excited," Liu said. "I wanted to learn more about the composition of these needles."

"Nature decided otherwise," said Stoddart, a senior author of the paper. "The needles, composed of straw-like bundles of supramolecular wires, emerged from the mixed solutions in less than a minute."

After discovering the needles, Liu screened six different complexes -- cyclodextrins composed of rings of six (alpha), seven (beta) and eight (gamma) glucose units, each combined with aqueous solutions of potassium tetrabromoaurate (KAuBr4) or potassium tetrachloroaurate (KAuCl4).

He found that it was alpha-cyclodextrin, a cyclic starch fragment composed of six glucose units, that isolates gold best of all.

"Alpha-cyclodextrin is the gold medal winner," Stoddart said. "Zhichang stumbled on a piece of magic for isolating gold from anything in a green way."

Alkali metal salt waste from this new method is relatively environmentally benign, Stoddart said, while waste from conventional methods includes toxic cyanide salts and gases. The Northwestern procedure is also more efficient than current commercial processes.

The supramolecular nanowires, each 1.3 nanometers in diameter, assemble spontaneously in a straw-like manner. In each wire, the gold ion is held together in the middle of four bromine atoms, while the potassium ion is surrounded by six water molecules; these ions are sandwiched in an alternating fashion by alpha-cyclodextrin rings. Around 4,000 wires are bundled parallel to each other and form individual needles that are visible under an electron microscope.

"There is a lot of chemistry packed into these nanowires," Stoddart said. "The elegance of the composition of single nanowires was revealed by atomic force microscopy, which throws light on the stacking of the individual donut-shaped alpha-cyclodextrin rings."

The atomic detail of the single supramolecular wires and their relative disposition within the needles was uncovered by single crystal X-ray crystallography.

The research -- a prime example of serendipity at work, brought to fruition by contemporary fundamental science -- is poised to find technological application. This basic science has been forged by the team into a practical labscale process for the isolation of gold from scrap alloys.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/rs8GZyfArww/130514112856.htm

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Self Improvement | Want To Be Extraordinary? Accept Failures! | The ...

By Michael Lee ?

Do you come across people who complain all day about their lives, but don?t do a thing to change it? These are the people whose lives are fraught with inaction, and they lead a life that is unsatisfying and unfulfilling.

Though they talk nineteen to a dozen and find faults with everyone and everything around them, they are scared that if they take the first step towards changing their own life, they will meet with failure.

They simply dread the idea of stepping out of the self-made protective cocoon that they have built around themselves and simply spend their entire lives complaining. You would not want to be grouped with these kind of people, wouldn?t you?

It is easier said than done though, as there is no shortcut to success. So if you are really passionate about something but feel yourself stuck in something you are not meant to do, you need to start taking action. And the action must be taken now!

The Important Of Taking Chances.

In the words of Theodore Roosevelt ?Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered with failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the grey twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.?

Roosevelt in these immortal lines urges everyone to take chances. Taking chances is the one thing you need to do in order to start leading a better life!

By taking chances, we don?t mean that you should risk putting up all of your life?s savings in a casino! By taking chances, we mean stepping out of your comfort zone and doing what you have always dreamed of!

For instance, if you have always wanted to be a writer, do not be afraid of your manuscript getting rejected. Write for yourself, write from your heart and just as the nightingale did with the rose, colour your stories with the last drop of blood in your heart!

Take Chances and Follow Your Dreams.

When you follow a life of passion, you will see that even the Universe will conspire to make things happen in your favour. Good things will automatically fall into place for those people who have really decided to follow their passion, despite the difficulties and challenges ahead.

But until you muster up all the courage in you and step out, you will never really know what taking chances is all about!

Many people are afraid to take risks and remain comfortable in their current status in life, but you must also remember that that is exactly why their lives remain mediocre. Nothing that they do is ever path breaking! And they have the nerve to complain why life is so boring (or even depressing)!

Imagine what would have happened if Bill Gates or Steve Jobs had not taken the chances they did in life, or if Thomas Alva Edison gave up the invention of light bulb just because he failed! Yes, Edison failed not once, not twice, but more than 10,000 times before he came up with the invention that is lighting up our lives right now!

So you see, failure is inevitable. When you try your hand at something new, there are bound to be obstacles and setbacks, but failure (as the age old saying goes) is indeed the stepping stone to success.

Don?t be afraid of failure. It?s better to fail a thousand times to achieve a one-time success, than to never fail nor succeed at anything!

So step out with enthusiasm, live life with excitement, do great things for others, take your chances and be extraordinary? else you will be the person whose tombstone will read something like ?Here lies Kris, who lived a normal life and died a normal person!?

To help you achieve your dreams fast, I?d like to give you instant access to more than 100 of the best free self-improvement ebooks that could greatly change your life! Download them free at http://www.20daypersuasion.com/goldaccess.htm

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Lee
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Source: http://theselfimprovementblog.com/self-improvement/featured/want-to-be-extraordinary-accept-failures/

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Critics lukewarm on US plans in Arctic

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A new U.S. strategy for the Arctic region has gotten a lukewarm response from a think tank that says the plan amounts to a "lengthy wish list" with few specifics.

The tepid feedback from the Washington-based Arctic Institute comes as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry heads Monday to Sweden for a meeting of foreign ministers focused on Arctic issues.

Syria, Iran and Afghanistan also are on Kerry's agenda for discussion with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, according to the State Department.

The Arctic Institute praised the new White House strategy for at least outlining U.S. priorities in the icy region. Unveiled last week, the blueprint vows to protect American security, safeguard the environment and strengthen ties with foreign nations as the U.S. moves forward in the Arctic.

But the think tank said the strategy is missing examples of many specific projects to be undertaken, and lacks assessments of future U.S. capabilities in the Arctic circle. It also rapped the plan for failing to commit funding plans for the strategy.

The White House last week said it does not expect to receive more funding for the strategy.

"Without a clear budgetary plan, this strategy becomes nothing more than a lengthy wish list," said institute researcher Mihaela David. "Despite a good faith effort at articulating policy priorities and formulating mutually reinforcing objectives, the U.S. Arctic strategy remains as elusive (as) a mirage on the Arctic ice sheet."

Global warming has melted sea ice to levels that have given rise to what experts describe as a kind of gold rush scramble to the Arctic. U.S. officials estimate the Arctic holds 13 percent of the world's undiscovered oil reserves and 30 percent of undiscovered gas deposits. Until recently, however, the resources that could reap hundreds of billions of dollars in revenues were frozen over and unreachable.

Last year, China joined Russia, Denmark and Canada and the United States in the competition, sending its first icebreaker ship through the Arctic ? even though China doesn't abut Arctic territory. China is among 14 governments now are seeking rights to attend meetings of the eight-nation Arctic Council as observers. The council traditionally seeks to address issues and problems facing the Arctic, like climate change and the region's indigenous people. It holds high-level meetings every two years, where it issues non-binding declarations about its future goals and past work.

Because of Alaska's inclusion in the Arctic circle, the U.S. is a member of the Arctic Council, which meets Tuesday and Wednesday in Kiruna, Sweden.

Jyrki Kallio, a China expert at Finnish Institute of International Affairs, downplayed Beijing's interest in the Arctic ? but predicted it will rise soon. China is the world's largest energy consumer and an uneasy U.S. ally.

"It is in China's interests now to make investments in the Arctic and prepare for the future," Kallio said. "By doing some little preparation today, it will be ready for things (to) start happening in the Arctic within the next decade."

___

Associated Press Television News Senior Producer David MacDougall contributed to this report from Helsinki, Finland.

Follow Lara Jakes on Twitter at https://twitter.com/larajakesAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/critics-lukewarm-us-plans-arctic-170624003.html

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Sony reveals prototype 13.3-inch e-ink slate with stylus, aims to put it in students' bags

Sony's no stranger to the odd e-ink device, but its latest prototype creation isn't targeted at the bookworm, it's intended to educate. The e-paper slate is quite a lot bigger than most tablets, let alone e-readers, sporting a 13.3-inch screen (1,200 x 1,600) to match the standard A4 size of normal, boring paper. That display is also an electromagnetic induction touchscreen for poking at menus and scrolling, but more importantly, it supports stylus input for scrawling notes and annotating PDFs (the only file format it currently supports). The prototype device is also only 6.8mm (0.27 inch) thick and weighs 385g (13.6 ounces) -- perfect for slipping into school bags. There's 4GB of on-board storage (with a microSD slot to increase that) and WiFi, which Sony plans to use for sharing notes with those who didn't make it to class on time. With WiFi off, the rechargeable battery inside is expected to last for three weeks of solid learning. These specs are for the prototype, of course, so after the late-2013 field trials at three Japanese universities, we might see some revisions before commercialization goes ahead sometime during the 2013 fiscal year.

Filed under: Sony

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Source: Sony (Japanese)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/13/sony-13.3-inch-prototype-e-paper-tablet/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Galaxy S 4 mini surfaces again, strikes a few poses

Mum may still be the word at Samsung, but between user agent profiles, leaked details and the word of the Wall Street Journal, the arrival of the Galaxy S 4 mini seems imminent. Still, there's nothing like a leaked gallery of snapshots to stoke the fire -- and Weibo user PunkPanda is happy to provide. A series of new images shows the diminutive Galaxy sizing up to its full sized sibling and a stray cigarette. Rumor has it the handset will debut later this summer with a 4.3-inch display, a dual-core 1.6Ghz processor and an 8MP camera. No word on pricing, availability or market just yet, but check out the attached gallery for an early eyeful.

Gallery: Galaxy S 4 Mini (Weibo)

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung

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Source: PunkPanda (Weibo)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Rj1YWqOIEqo/

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Refugees face uncertain future as Myanmar opens

MAE LA REFUGEE CAMP, Thailand (AP) ? Since the day she was born, 20-year-old Naw Lawnadoo has known almost nothing of the world beyond the fence and guard posts that hem her in with 45,000 others ? ethnic minorities from Myanmar and those like her who were born and raised in the Mae La refugee camp in neighboring Thailand.

School, family, friends, shopping and churchgoing ? many of the refugees are Christian ? have all been confined to a valley of densely packed bamboo-and-thatch huts huddled under soaring limestone cliffs.

Now, she and other camp residents face a future that will dramatically change their constricted but secure, sometimes happy lives. With the end of 50 years of military rule in Myanmar, aid groups are beginning to prepare for the eventual return of one of the world's largest refugee populations ? some 1 million people in camps and hideouts spread across five countries.

For thousands like Naw Lawnadoo, it is "repatriation" to a country they have never known, where their parents suffered under a military regime that suppressed ethnic insurgencies with brutal tactics, and where ethnic tensions continue to erupt in bloodshed despite some democratic reforms. More than half the population of the camps in Thailand is under 19.

"We are prepared to go back, but we don't know what the real situation there is like," says Naw Lawnadoo of the country previously known as Burma. "We can't speak Burmese. We have no identification cards. And I don't know what kind of a job I could get."

Just when they will have to leave remains uncertain, but Thailand, which hosts many of the camps, is eager to close them.

"We're coming to the endgame," says Sally Thompson, executive director of The Border Consortium, the main agency providing aid to a string of Thailand camps, where you can find four generations living under one roof.

Some may melt into Thailand, joining the 2.5 million migrant workers from Myanmar. A few may be resettled in third countries, though the United States is ending a program under which it has taken 80 percent of the 105,000 settled so far. With shrinking options, most will likely have no choice but to return.

While camp life is hardly cosmopolitan, some of the young can meet foreigners, have access to the Internet and occasionally slip out to a nearby town, or even the shopping malls and bright lights of Bangkok, Thailand's capital. For them, the prospect of planting rice in isolated villages to which they would probably go holds little attraction.

Naw Lawnadoo for one is seemingly confused. The young woman, dressed in neat slacks and a blouse embossed with a teddy bear, has heard the stories of how her parents fled Pea Ta Ka village in Karen state as Myanmar soldiers moved in to pillage, burn houses and kill.

At one moment she says she would like to go to Australia, where her father's three sisters and mother are settled, after finishing her studies at a Baptist college in the camp.

Later, she talks about returning to her mother's village in Myanmar as a medic or Christian missionary, thinking that perhaps she could adjust to life there. "If our neighbors could live like that, we could too," she says.

She and her parents had an opportunity to go to Australia earlier, but decided against it because her maternal grandmother still lives in Myanmar. "My mother didn't want to go. She said we would be even farther from her mother than we are now, and my father gave in to her," Naw Lawnadoo says with a distinct note of regret.

"I've never ridden a train or an airplane," she says. Her longest trip and only one to a city was to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand.

The majority of the refugees, including Naw Lawnadoo, belong to the Karen ethnic group. Others include the Karenni and Pa-o. Many of the older ones, who fled fighting in their homelands, hope to return one day but say the time is not yet right.

Myanmar remains a nightmare for Mu Pro, a 42-year-old woman. She still dreams about running, running, trying to flee the grasp of her pursuers who finally catch and torture her.

"No more Burma army. No more torture. No more killing. No more suffering," she says. "I don't want to go home. Since I was young, I have always been running away from Burmese soldiers."

Her aging father, like many in the war-torn regions, was forced to be a porter for the army and shot when he could not carry his load. When her husband, also shanghaied, never returned she fled her mountain village. She sent two of her sons to Thailand, while she and three younger children became internal refugees ? like some half a million others in eastern Myanmar ? for 11 years. Always on the move, they hired themselves out to feed pigs and plant rice.

When they finally arrived in Mae La, the deadline set by Thailand for refugees to register for possible resettlement to third countries had passed, though her two sons left for Australia with a friend a year ago.

"I don't trust the SPDC and I fear armed conflict will erupt again," she says, still using the acronym for the now defunct military junta, some of whose former leaders continue to wield influence. The government has signed a series of fragile cease-fires with many of the insurgent groups, but some have already frayed, with clashes having recently erupted in Shan state and the Kachin still fighting the government. Soldiers are likely to remain in Karen state for the foreseeable future.

The Karen Refugees Committee, a leading refugee organization, recently said the reforms in Myanmar "signal a ray of hope for many refugees to be able to return to their homeland," but laid down 10 conditions for repatriation ranging from a solid nationwide cease-fire to clearing the vast mine fields along the border.

Thompson cites a host of problems in Karen state and other ethnic regions, ranging from rehabilitating communities shattered by conflict to mounting land grabs that have turned the homes and fields of farmers into plantations, factories and dam sites. Some refugees who go back to check their old properties say they no longer exist, and they have no documents to reclaim them.

But she also says that "suddenly something will be triggered and they're off so we have to be prepared for that moment."

Thompson, who has worked with border refugees for more than two decades, says forced displacement of villagers has dropped dramatically and there are fewer military checkpoints, allowing people to move around more freely. Refugees crossing into Thailand have slowed to a trickle.

To prepare for an eventual return, aid groups are boosting refugee skills, from building sturdy houses to creating business plans for small enterprises to monitoring cease-fire and human rights violations. This, along with the uncertain timetable for repatriation, has also stoked unease.

"We have shifted our thinking from taking care of refugees to their return," she says. "There is hope now for the first time in decades."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/refugees-face-uncertain-future-myanmar-opens-052140524.html

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NEC NP-M271X

The LCD-based NEC NP-M271X is a fairly typical XGA (1,024-by-768) projector in some ways but decidedly atypical in others. Rated at 2,700 lumens, and light enough to carry as a regular traveling companion, it's generally in the same category as the LCD-based Editors' Choice Epson PowerLite 93+, or the DLP-based Dell 1430X. However, the NP-M271X offers its own distinct balance of features.

Both the Epson and Dell models offer a 1.2x zoom lens, which is fairly typical for the price range. The NP-M271X dwarfs that, with a 1.7x zoom, giving you far more flexibility in how far you can put the projector from the screen for a given size image. This is particularly useful for a portable projector that you need to set up repeatedly in different locations, and is one of the NP-M271X's greatest strengths.

The NP-M271X also dwarfs the Epson 93+, Dell 1430X, and most other comparable projectors in rated lamp life, at 5,000 hours in Standard mode and 10,000 hours in Eco mode. The replacement cost for the lamp is fairly typical, at $299 (direct), but the long lamp life helps ensure a relatively low total cost of ownership.

More Basics
As a three-chip LCD projector, the NP-M271X offers two important advantages over DLP projectors like the Dell 1430X. First, it's guaranteed not to show rainbow artifacts, which can be an issue for single-chip DLP projectors because of the way they create colors. Second, three-chip LCD projectors offer the same rating for color brightness as white brightness, which can affect both brightness and color quality.

The NP-M271X is light enough, at 6 pounds 6 ounces, and also small enough, at 3.9 by 13.4 by 10.1 inches (HWD), to carry easily. NEC even ships it with a soft carrying case, so you don't have to buy one separately.

Setup is absolutely standard. Plug in the appropriate cables, adjust the 1.7x zoom, and focus the image. Connectors for image sources include the usual choices, with VGA, HDMI, S-Video, and Composite video, as well as a USB A port for reading files directly from a USB key and a LAN port for sending images, but not audio, over a network as well as for controlling the projector over a network. NEC also sells a Wi-Fi option ($80 street) and an optional dongle ($45 street) for mouse pointer control from the projector's remote.

Image Quality and Other Issues
Both data and video image quality for the projector are more than acceptable, but short of excellent. On our standard suite of DisplayMate tests the NP-M271X delivered vibrant, well-saturated colors in all preset modes and excellent color balance, with suitably neutral shades of gray, in most modes. The two brightest modes showed a slight yellowish tinge in the brightest shades. However, that's not unusual, considering that most projectors have a problem with color balance in their brightest modes.

More of a potential issue for data screens was some minor streaking in images designed to cause that problem, with a faint ghost image of horizontal bars extending well past the actual bars. The streaking was faint enough so few, if any, should find it bothersome, but it's notable because few projectors today show this problem at all.

I also saw some minor pixel jitter and dynamic moir? in some images. Here again, however, it's not much of an issue, since it only shows in images with large areas of closely spaced lines or dots. If you run into the problem, you can eliminate it, and get a rock solid image, by using a digital connection.

Very much on the plus side, the projector does an excellent job with fine detail. Both black text on white and white text on black were crisp and easily readable in my tests at sizes as small as 6.8 points.

Video quality is obviously limited by the projector's native 1,024-by-768 resolution, which means you can't show HD video without scaling the image. However the quality is good enough for watching a full-length movie, which is more than most data projectors can manage. In my tests, the NP-M271X did a good job with shadow detail (details in dark areas) and skin tones, and I didn't see any issues worth mention.

Another plus is the built-in 10-watt mono speaker, which, unlike the audio systems in most data projectors in this weight class, delivers both acceptable quality and enough volume for a large conference room or classroom.

All told, the NEC NP-M271X offers a potentially attractive balance of portability, data image quality, video image quality, audio quality, and price. Its brightness is a touch lower than typical today, but it's bright enough for an appropriate size image in a small to medium size conference room or classroom. Although most projectors at this price offer higher brightness, few offer the convenience of a 1.7x zoom or a 10,000-hour maximum lamp life? two features that make the NEC NP-M271X stand out from the crowd and also help make it a potentially attractive choice.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/NqCVreTtZTs/0,2817,2418826,00.asp

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