A group of men pray with tornado survivor Tim Wardwell. (Jason Sickles/Yahoo News)
MOORE, Okla. ? Atop a pile of rubble that had been his home, Tim Wardwell choked back tears, grateful for the strangers who prayed with him to give thanks that he wasn?t among the 24 tornado fatalities.
Wardwell and his wife, Kelsey, had biked back to the house?which had collapsed on him and their two dachshunds?to survey the damage. They managed to recover their family birth certificates, a handful of photos and a few keepsakes for their children.
?The bear still squeaks,? said Kelsey, pointing to a tattered toy.
An upended car rests on what was once a house. (Jason Sickles/Yahoo News)
Reuters reports the Oklahoma Emergency Management office estimates 2,400 homes were damaged or destroyed and about 10,000 people affected. The 200 mph twister cut a path of destruction 17 miles long and 1.3 miles wide. On Wednesday, the Medical Examiner's office identified 16 of the 24 victims by name. Ten of them are children; two of those infants.
Economic experts fear the storm?s financial toll could top $3 billion. Donations have been coming in from kids with piggy banks to professional athletes. And charity groups said more cash will be needed for the months ahead.
"What this enables us to do is send those funds to the area where they're needed most immediately," Red Cross spokeswoman Anne Marie Borrego told Reuters.
The Moore Fire Department announced on Wednesday morning that its search for victims at the hard-hit Plaza Towers Elementary School, where seven children reportedly died, had ended with no new casualties discovered.
Wednesday will be a big day in the recovery effort. With rescue missions for trapped victims winding down, authorities are allowing more residents back into devastated neighborhoods. Government officials are setting up disaster centers to help thousands of people begin the process of applying for aid.
And Mother Nature is finally cooperating. Sunny skies are forecast for Wednesday before a 50 percent chance of thunderstorms through Saturday.
?Take advantage of today?s good weather,? KFOR-TV meteorologist Emily Sutton told listeners.
On Wednesday morning, displaced residents swapped advice and encouragement in the breakfast room at a Hampton Inn.
Allen Anderson and his wife, JoAnn, had made it back to their demolished home on Tuesday. He said the piles of muddy broken bricks and boards make it difficult to determine what?s what.
?You can?t go through the house like you normally would,? Allen, 63, told Yahoo News.
The Andersons said their longtime insurance company dropped them last year when it decided to quit covering houses in Oklahoma. JoAnn said she breathed a sigh of relief when their new carrier immediately gave them emergency cash and approved the hotel for 31 days.
?We?re going to have to find a house to rent, and we?re going to have to find a car,? she said.
Danielle Stephan holds boyfriend Thomas Layton as they pause between salvaging through the remains of a family member's home one day after a tornado devastated the town Moore, Oklahoma, in the ... more? Danielle Stephan holds boyfriend Thomas Layton as they pause between salvaging through the remains of a family member's home one day after a tornado devastated the town Moore, Oklahoma, in the outskirts of Oklahoma City May 21, 2013. Rescuers went building to building in search of victims and thousands of survivors were homeless on Tuesday after a massive tornado tore through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, wiping out whole blocks of homes and killing at least 24 people. REUTERS/Adrees Latif (UNITED STATES - Tags: DISASTER ENVIRONMENT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTXZVON less?
NEW YORK (AP) ? A businessman was snatched from a New York City street in broad daylight, then held captive for more than a month in a warehouse where he was bound and burned with acid as he was held for a $3 million ransom his family back in Ecuador did not have, authorities said.
Pedro Portugal, 52, was found this week by detectives who had been monitoring phone calls, noticed pizza deliveries to a deserted area in Queens and zeroed in on the warehouse, police said. Three men were arrested and charged with kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment; one is still believed to be at large in the U.S.; and three fled to Ecuador, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Thursday.
Portugal, a father of six who owned a small accounting and tax firm in Queens, was burned with acid and spent the better part of a month with his head cloaked, authorities said. He remained hospitalized Thursday and authorities said he did not want to speak to the press.
Police said he was approached by three captors on April 18. One flashed what looked like a police badge and called out the victim's name, police said. He was forced into an SUV where he was held at knifepoint and bound, then taken to the warehouse. His mother in Quito, Ecuador, got a call from a man calling himself "Tito" and demanding a $3 million ransom, police said.
Kelly said the family had some property ? but nowhere near enough cash to come up with the ransom. Five detectives were sent to Ecuador to learn more about the victim and his family.
"It's something that we're still investigating to see why these people thought that 3 million might have been available," Kelly said.
Meanwhile, Portugal was burned, beaten, and threatened with mutilation and death, authorities said, including threats to cut off his fingertips if the family didn't come up with the money. The man "suffered physical injuries and has been deeply traumatized by the ordeal," said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
On May 20, investigators who had been casing the area noticed a light upstairs in the otherwise dark warehouse in Long Island City, in Queens. They went in and discovered Portugal with his hands bound in a makeshift apartment.
"The person who was 'babysitting' him, as they called it, got away, but he was arrested very quickly," Kelly said, praising the detective work.
Luis Lopez, vice consul of Ecuador in New York, said police kept the consulate informed about the investigation.
Christian Acuna, 35, and Dennis Alves, 32, both of Queens, and Eduardo Moncayo, of Lyndhurst, N.J., were arraigned late Wednesday and were being held without bail.
According to the criminal complaint, Moncayo said he met a guy named Claudio Ordonez, known as "Doctor," and they agreed to kidnap Portugal. Moncayo is accused of flashing the fake police badge that caused Portugal to stop on the street.
The men were accused of being paid between $800 per week and $5,000 total by Ordonez to stay with Portugal at the warehouse.
David Strachan, a lawyer for Moncayo, said his client was presumed innocent. "And I am going to defend him with the greatest of my abilities," he said.
Alves' arraignment attorney had no comment, and the attorney for Acuna didn't return a call seeking comment. Ordonez was at large, as was an unknown man wearing a red sweat shirt who was captured on surveillance footage at a Chase bank in Manhattan trying to withdraw money from Portugal's account.
___
Associated Press writer Claudia Torrens contributed to this report.
Contact: Anne A. Oplinger aoplinger@niaid.nih.gov 301-402-1663 NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
NIH-funded study examined transmissibility of emerging virus
Chinese and U.S. scientists have used virus isolated from a person who died from H7N9 avian influenza infection to determine whether the virus could infect and be transmitted between ferrets. Ferrets are often used as a mammalian model in influenza research, and efficient transmission of influenza virus between ferrets can provide clues as to how well the same process might occur in people. The research was supported, in part, by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.
The researchers dropped H7N9 virus into the noses of six ferrets. A day later, three uninfected ferrets were placed inside cages with the infected animals, and another three uninfected ferrets were placed in cages nearby. All the uninfected ferrets inside the cages became infected, while only one of three placed in nearby cages became infected. The team concluded that the virus can infect ferrets and be transmitted between ferrets both by direct contact and, less efficiently, by air. The scientists detected viral material in the nasal secretions of the ferrets at least one day before clinical signs of disease became apparent. The potential public health implication of this observation is that a person infected by H7N9 avian influenza virus who does not show symptoms could nevertheless spread the virus to others.
The researchers also infected pigs with the human-derived H7N9 virus. In natural settings, pigs can act as a virtual mixing bowl to combine avian- and mammalian-specific influenza strains, potentially allowing avian strains to better adapt to humans. New strains arising from such mixing have the potential to infect humans and spark a pandemic, so information about swine susceptibility to H7N9 could help scientists gauge the pandemic potential of the avian virus. Unlike the ferrets, infected pigs in this small study did not transmit virus to uninfected pigs, either through direct contact or by air. All the infected ferrets and pigs showed mild signs of illness, such as sneezing, nasal discharge, and lethargy, but none of the infected animals became seriously ill.
###
ARTICLE:
H Zhu et al. Infectivity, transmission and pathogenesis of human-isolated H7N9 influenza virus in ferrets and pigs. Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1239844 (2013).
WHO:
NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., is available to discuss this research.
CONTACT:
To schedule interviews, please contact Anne A. Oplinger, (301) 402-1663, aoplinger@niaid.nih.gov.
This research was supported, in part, through contract HSN266200700005C.
NIAID conducts and supports researchat NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwideto study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID Web site at http://www.niaid.nih.gov.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov/.
NIH...Turning Discovery Into Health
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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.
Contact: Anne A. Oplinger aoplinger@niaid.nih.gov 301-402-1663 NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
NIH-funded study examined transmissibility of emerging virus
Chinese and U.S. scientists have used virus isolated from a person who died from H7N9 avian influenza infection to determine whether the virus could infect and be transmitted between ferrets. Ferrets are often used as a mammalian model in influenza research, and efficient transmission of influenza virus between ferrets can provide clues as to how well the same process might occur in people. The research was supported, in part, by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.
The researchers dropped H7N9 virus into the noses of six ferrets. A day later, three uninfected ferrets were placed inside cages with the infected animals, and another three uninfected ferrets were placed in cages nearby. All the uninfected ferrets inside the cages became infected, while only one of three placed in nearby cages became infected. The team concluded that the virus can infect ferrets and be transmitted between ferrets both by direct contact and, less efficiently, by air. The scientists detected viral material in the nasal secretions of the ferrets at least one day before clinical signs of disease became apparent. The potential public health implication of this observation is that a person infected by H7N9 avian influenza virus who does not show symptoms could nevertheless spread the virus to others.
The researchers also infected pigs with the human-derived H7N9 virus. In natural settings, pigs can act as a virtual mixing bowl to combine avian- and mammalian-specific influenza strains, potentially allowing avian strains to better adapt to humans. New strains arising from such mixing have the potential to infect humans and spark a pandemic, so information about swine susceptibility to H7N9 could help scientists gauge the pandemic potential of the avian virus. Unlike the ferrets, infected pigs in this small study did not transmit virus to uninfected pigs, either through direct contact or by air. All the infected ferrets and pigs showed mild signs of illness, such as sneezing, nasal discharge, and lethargy, but none of the infected animals became seriously ill.
###
ARTICLE:
H Zhu et al. Infectivity, transmission and pathogenesis of human-isolated H7N9 influenza virus in ferrets and pigs. Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1239844 (2013).
WHO:
NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., is available to discuss this research.
CONTACT:
To schedule interviews, please contact Anne A. Oplinger, (301) 402-1663, aoplinger@niaid.nih.gov.
This research was supported, in part, through contract HSN266200700005C.
NIAID conducts and supports researchat NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwideto study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID Web site at http://www.niaid.nih.gov.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov/.
NIH...Turning Discovery Into Health
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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.
Automobiles for export and import park at a port in Kawasaki, south of Tokyo, Tuesday, April 30, 2013. Japan's manufacturing improved slightly in March, with factory output rising 0.2 percent, while the jobless rate also fell slightly. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Tuesday that the figures, the fourth straight monthly increase, suggest the economy is poised for recovery. It cited strength in chemicals, electrical components, telecommunications equipment and steam turbines. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)
Automobiles for export and import park at a port in Kawasaki, south of Tokyo, Tuesday, April 30, 2013. Japan's manufacturing improved slightly in March, with factory output rising 0.2 percent, while the jobless rate also fell slightly. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Tuesday that the figures, the fourth straight monthly increase, suggest the economy is poised for recovery. It cited strength in chemicals, electrical components, telecommunications equipment and steam turbines. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)
TOKYO (AP) ? Japan's central bank says the world's third-biggest economy is "picking up" as demand recovers in other countries and remains resilient at home, though the trade deficit widened in April, for the tenth straight month.
The Bank of Japan ended a policy meeting on Wednesday with no change to its strategy of doubling the monetary base to reach a 2 percent inflation target and jolt the economy out of two decades of stagnation. That outcome was expected.
The central bank said in a statement, though, that there is a "high degree of uncertainty concerning Japan's economy" and that prices show no signs yet of rebounding.
Japan's economy grew 3.5 percent last quarter, but progress in increasing exports and boosting corporate investment and wages has lagged. A weakening in the Japanese yen linked to the aggressive monetary easing has helped stabilize exports, which climbed 3.8 percent in April from a year earlier, but it is also accentuating rising import costs.
The trade deficit jumped nearly 70 percent over a year earlier to 879.9 billion yen ($8.6 billion) in April, according to preliminary figures reported Wednesday by the Finance Ministry.
Japan's trade deficit ballooned to a record $83.4 billion in the fiscal year that ended in March, as imports climbed and a surge in exports to the U.S. failed to offset the impact from territorial tensions with China and weak demand from crisis-stricken Europe.
In April, exports totaled 5.78 trillion yen ($56.3 billion), but their increase was dwarfed by a 9.4 percent jump in imports, to 6.66 trillion yen ($64.9 billion).
The yen has slid in value by over 20 percent against the U.S. dollar and euro, in turn pushing up other currencies in relative value. That has raised costs for imports of crude oil, gas and other commodities for this resource-scarce nation.
In April, the cost of oil imports slipped as crude oil prices moderated, but the value of imports of liquefied natural gas jumped 18 percent from a year earlier. Japan's demand for natural gas has ballooned since most of its nuclear power plants remain closed following the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. The deterioration in the trade balance is adding to pressure from the pro-nuclear government to restart more plants.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made a recovery of Japan's export industries a priority of his administration. While he's achieved the end to what the Japanese called the "endaka," or high yen era, longer-term structural reforms to improve Japan's international competitiveness are still pending.
The U.S. remained Japan's biggest export market in April, as shipments rose 15 percent to 1.1 trillion yen ($10.7 billion), while imports edged up less than 1 percent to 534 billion yen ($5.2 billion), leaving a surplus in of 563 billion yen ($5.5 billion).
The deficit with China rose 60 percent to 442 billion yen ($4.3 billion) as exports edged slightly higher from a year earlier to 998.4 billion yen ($9.7 billion), while imports surged 13.3 percent to 1.44 trillion yen ($14 billion). Exports to the European Union fell 3.5 percent.
Research offers promising new approach to treatment of lung cancerPublic release date: 22-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Oleh Taratula oleh.taratula@oregonstate.edu 541-737-3424 Oregon State University
CORVALLIS, Ore. Researchers have developed a new drug delivery system that allows inhalation of chemotherapeutic drugs to help treat lung cancer, and in laboratory and animal tests it appears to reduce the systemic damage done to other organs while significantly improving the treatment of lung tumors.
This advance in nanomedicine combines the extraordinarily small size of nanoparticles, existing cancer drugs, and small interfering RNA (siRNA) that shut down the ability of cancer cells to resist attack.
The combination of these forces resulted in the virtual disappearance of lung tumors in experimental animals.
Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer in both men and women. Despite advances in surgery, chemotherapy still plays a major role in its treatment. However, that treatment is constrained by the toxic effects of some drugs needed to combat it and the difficulty of actually getting those drugs into the lungs.
The findings were made by Oleh Taratula at Oregon State University and Tamara Minko and O. Garbuzenko at Rutgers University and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. They were just published in the Journal of Controlled Release.
"Lung cancer damage is usually not localized, which makes chemotherapy an important part of treatment," said Taratula, an assistant professor in the OSU College of Pharmacy and co-author on this study. "However, the drugs used are toxic and can cause organ damage and severe side effects if given conventionally through intravenous administration.
"A drug delivery system that can be inhaled is a much more efficient approach, targeting just the cancer cells as much as possible," he said. "Other chemotherapeutic approaches only tend to suppress tumors, but this system appears to eliminate it."
A patent is being applied for on the technology, and more testing will be necessary before it is ready for human clinical trials, the researchers said.
The foundation of the new system is a "nanostructured lipid nanocarrier," tiny particles much smaller than a speck of dust that are easily inhaled and also readily attach to cancer cells. This carrier system delivers the anticancer drug. However, it also brings siRNA that makes the cancer cell more vulnerable.
Cancer cells often have two forms of resistance to drugs "pump" resistance that tends to pump the drug out of cells, and "nonpump" resistance that helps keep the cell from dying. The siRNA used in this system helps to eliminate both those forms of resistance, and leaves the cancer cell vulnerable to the drug being used to kill it.
By being inhaled, this system also avoids degradation of the chemotherapeutic agents that occurs when they are injected, researchers said. They arrive in more intact form, ready to do their job on lung cancer cells, while minimizing any side effects.
In more conventional chemotherapy for lung cancer, the drugs tend to accumulate in the liver, kidney and spleen, with much less of the drugs ever making it to the lungs. In this study, the amount of the drug delivered to the lungs rose to 83 percent with the inhalation approach, versus 23 percent with injection.
###
This work was supported by the National Cancer Institute, National Science Foundation, and the Department of Defense.
Editor's Note: A digital graphic of a nanotech particle is available online to illustrate this story: http://bit.ly/182k1Jk
The study this story is based on is available online: http://bit.ly/16hegtY
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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.
Research offers promising new approach to treatment of lung cancerPublic release date: 22-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Oleh Taratula oleh.taratula@oregonstate.edu 541-737-3424 Oregon State University
CORVALLIS, Ore. Researchers have developed a new drug delivery system that allows inhalation of chemotherapeutic drugs to help treat lung cancer, and in laboratory and animal tests it appears to reduce the systemic damage done to other organs while significantly improving the treatment of lung tumors.
This advance in nanomedicine combines the extraordinarily small size of nanoparticles, existing cancer drugs, and small interfering RNA (siRNA) that shut down the ability of cancer cells to resist attack.
The combination of these forces resulted in the virtual disappearance of lung tumors in experimental animals.
Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer in both men and women. Despite advances in surgery, chemotherapy still plays a major role in its treatment. However, that treatment is constrained by the toxic effects of some drugs needed to combat it and the difficulty of actually getting those drugs into the lungs.
The findings were made by Oleh Taratula at Oregon State University and Tamara Minko and O. Garbuzenko at Rutgers University and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. They were just published in the Journal of Controlled Release.
"Lung cancer damage is usually not localized, which makes chemotherapy an important part of treatment," said Taratula, an assistant professor in the OSU College of Pharmacy and co-author on this study. "However, the drugs used are toxic and can cause organ damage and severe side effects if given conventionally through intravenous administration.
"A drug delivery system that can be inhaled is a much more efficient approach, targeting just the cancer cells as much as possible," he said. "Other chemotherapeutic approaches only tend to suppress tumors, but this system appears to eliminate it."
A patent is being applied for on the technology, and more testing will be necessary before it is ready for human clinical trials, the researchers said.
The foundation of the new system is a "nanostructured lipid nanocarrier," tiny particles much smaller than a speck of dust that are easily inhaled and also readily attach to cancer cells. This carrier system delivers the anticancer drug. However, it also brings siRNA that makes the cancer cell more vulnerable.
Cancer cells often have two forms of resistance to drugs "pump" resistance that tends to pump the drug out of cells, and "nonpump" resistance that helps keep the cell from dying. The siRNA used in this system helps to eliminate both those forms of resistance, and leaves the cancer cell vulnerable to the drug being used to kill it.
By being inhaled, this system also avoids degradation of the chemotherapeutic agents that occurs when they are injected, researchers said. They arrive in more intact form, ready to do their job on lung cancer cells, while minimizing any side effects.
In more conventional chemotherapy for lung cancer, the drugs tend to accumulate in the liver, kidney and spleen, with much less of the drugs ever making it to the lungs. In this study, the amount of the drug delivered to the lungs rose to 83 percent with the inhalation approach, versus 23 percent with injection.
###
This work was supported by the National Cancer Institute, National Science Foundation, and the Department of Defense.
Editor's Note: A digital graphic of a nanotech particle is available online to illustrate this story: http://bit.ly/182k1Jk
The study this story is based on is available online: http://bit.ly/16hegtY
[ | 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.
Initially, access to water defined where humanity could grow and develop. But now the opposite is true, and we're the ones directing the future of our global water system. Watching that transition unfold is as sobering as it is stunning.
This three minute video, created by Felix Pharand for the opening of the Bonn meeting in Germany (meant to highlight major global water research), tracks this shift in power and the unsettling consequences to come.
"Anthropocene" is the informal term for the newest geologic epoch, one in which humans are the major factor in global change. So in terms of our water supply, as humanity grows, the carbon and nitrogen cycles continue to shift while damming, extraction, and irrigation alter the water flow we so desperately depend on.
The video lays out the facts of our current status, which can be troubling enough: rivers exist that never meet the sea; we move massive amounts of sediment that would, otherwise, not be affected by natural erosion; 48,000 large dams have been built; and we've drained half of the global wetlands. And the consequences of our actions don't sound hopeful?800 million people have no safe drinking water, and four out of five people across the entire world face risk to their water security.
While, sure, most of us are aware that our fresh water supply is limited, seeing the numbers displayed so plainly is shocking. Btu hopefully, with conferences like the Bonn meeting kicking off today, we'll be able to change the direction of the water cycle again, but this time for the better. [Eureka Alert via Felix Pharand]
May 20, 2013 ? Individuals who learn two languages at an early age seem to switch back and forth between separate "sound systems" for each language, according to new research conducted at the University of Arizona.
The research, to be published in a forthcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, addresses enduring questions in bilingual studies about how bilingual speakers hear and process sound in two different languages.
"A lot of research has shown that bilinguals are pretty good at accommodating speech variation across languages, but there's been a debate as to how," said lead author Kalim Gonzales, a psychology doctoral student at the University of Arizona. "There are two views: One is that bilinguals have different processing modes for their two languages -- they have a mode for processing speech in one language and then a mode for processing speech in the other language. Another view is that bilinguals just adjust to speech variation by recalibrating to the unique acoustic properties of each language."
Gonzales's research supports the first view -- that bilinguals who learn two languages early in life learn two separate processing modes, or "sound systems."
The study looked at 32 Spanish-English early bilinguals, who had learned their second language before age 8. Participants were presented with a series of pseudo-words beginning with a 'pa' or a 'ba' sound and asked to identify which of the two sounds they heard.
While 'pa' and 'ba' sounds exist in both English and Spanish, how those sounds are produced and perceived in the two languages varies subtly. In the case of 'ba,' for example, English speakers typically begin to vibrate their vocal chords the moment they open their lips, while Spanish speakers begin vocal chord vibration slightly before they open their lips and produce 'pa' in a manner similar to English 'ba.' As a result of those subtle differences, English-only speakers might, in some cases, confuse the 'ba' and 'pa' sounds they hear in Spanish, explains co-author Andrew Lotto, associate professor of speech, language and hearing sciences at the University of Arizona.
"When most people think about differences between languages, they think they use different words and they have different grammars, but at their base languages use different sounds," Lotto said.
"One of the reasons it sounds different when you hear someone speaking a different language is because the actual sounds they use are different; they have a sound code that's specific to that language," he said. "One of the reasons someone might sound like they have an accent if they learn Spanish first is because their 'pa' is like an English 'ba,' so when they say a word with 'pa,' it will sound like a 'ba' to an English monolingual."
For the study, the bilingual participants were divided into two groups. One group was told they would be hearing rare words in Spanish, while the other was told they would be hearing rare words in English. Both groups heard audio recordings of variations of the same two words -- bafri and pafri -- which are not real words in either language.
Participants were then asked to identify whether the words they heard began with a 'ba' or a 'pa' sound.
Each group heard the same series of words, but for the group told they were hearing Spanish, the ends of the words were pronounced slightly differently, with the 'r' getting a Spanish pronunciation.
The findings: Participants perceived 'ba' and 'pa' sounds differently depending on whether they were told they were hearing Spanish words, with the Spanish pronunciation of 'r,' or whether they were told they were hearing English words, with the English pronunciation of 'r.'
"What this showed is that when you put people in English mode, they actually would act like English speakers, and then if you put them in Spanish mode, they would switch to acting like Spanish speakers," Lotto said. "These bilinguals, hearing the exact same 'ba's and 'pa's would label them differently depending on the context."
When the study was repeated with 32 English monolinguals, participants did not show the same shift in perception; they labeled 'ba' and 'pa' sounds the same way regardless of which language they were told they were hearing. It was that lack of an effect for monolinguals that provided the strongest evidence for two sound systems in bilinguals.
"Up until this point we haven't had a good answer to whether bilinguals actually learn two different codes -- so a 'ba-pa' English code and a 'ba-pa' Spanish code -- or whether they learn something that's sort of in the middle," Lotto said. "This is one of the first clear demonstrations that bilinguals really do have two different sounds systems and that they can switch between one language and the other and then use that sound system."
This is true primarily for those who learn two languages very young, Lotto said.
"If you learn a second language later in life, you usually have a dominant language and then you try to use that sounds system for the other language, which is why you end up having an accent," he said.
Research on bilingualism has increased in recent years as the global climate has become more intermixed, Lotto noted. These new findings challenge the idea that bilinguals always have one dominant language.
"This raises the possibility that bilinguals can perceive speech like a native speaker in both languages," said Gonzales, whose own son is growing up learning English and Chinese simultaneously.
"The predominant view of late has been that bilinguals will never be able to perceive a second language beyond what a late learner is capable of, or someone who learns a second language late in life. So even if you learn two languages simultaneously from birth, you're always going to perceive one of them like a late learner," Gonzales said. "Our findings cast doubt on that prominent view in the bilingual literature."
WASHINGTON (AP) ? A string of unrelated events is highlighting divisions among Republicans just when they'd like to show a united front and take full advantage of President Barack Obama's latest political problems.
Tensions between libertarian-leaning and more mainstream Republicans were on vivid display Tuesday as Sens. Rand Paul and John McCain clashed over Apple Inc.'s tax-avoidance strategies. Paul, a tea party favorite and son of a libertarian hero, had feuded earlier with McCain ? the party's 2008 presidential nominee ? over the use of unmanned aircraft to kill suspected terrorists.
Meanwhile, an immigration plan that's backed by Obama and many establishment Republicans appears closer to a showdown with wary House conservatives. And Oklahoma's deadly tornado threatened to reopen a painful intra-GOP debate over the wisdom of borrowing money to help storm victims.
All political parties have their divisions, of course. It's possible the controversies dogging the White House will play a much bigger role in next year's elections than will Republican disagreements.
Moreover, mainstream and tea party Republicans joined forces in 2010 ? the last midterm election ? to lift the party to huge congressional and gubernatorial victories. It's entirely possible they will do it again next year.
But the rise of nonestablishment Republicans, such as Paul of Kentucky and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, underlines the party's continued struggle to resolve basic philosophical differences after losing four of the last six presidential elections.
Paul is drawing national attention, having made a major speech to Iowa Republicans and visiting other early primary states as he weighs a presidential run. He renewed his advocacy of libertarian principles Tuesday at a Senate hearing into Apple's multinational strategies to avoid paying billions of dollars in U.S. taxes.
Most senators either rebuked Apple or at least questioned its tactics. McCain said: "For years, Apple has opted to forgo fully contributing to the U.S. Treasury and to American society by shifting profits and circumventing U.S. taxes. In the last four years alone, Apple has avoided paying taxes on $44 billion in income."
Paul took a strikingly different view. "I'm offended by a $4 trillion government bullying, berating and badgering one of America's greatest success stories," he said. "The Congress should be on trial here for creating a Byzantine and bizarre tax code."
Republicans typically portray themselves as the low-tax or anti-tax party. A serious Paul bid for president, however, could push that argument to levels that might help Democrats paint Republicans as champions of tax evaders.
Also on Tuesday, a high-stakes immigration bill moved closer to a Senate vote. Obama and other Democrats have long sought a way to bring millions of immigrants living here illegally out of the shadows. The Republican establishment backs the idea in hopes of starting to heal the GOP's poor standing with Hispanic voters, a fast-growing group.
It's unclear whether the Republican-run House will embrace the Senate proposal, which would create a pathway to citizenship for many who entered the country illegally.
"There's no bill I've seen that I can support," Rep. Kenny Marchant, R-Texas, said in an interview Tuesday. When his constituents hear explanations of the proposed pathway to citizenship, he said, "they omit that paragraph and pencil in 'amnesty.'"
Even if Congress passes an immigration overhaul, opponents' remarks in the upcoming Senate and House debates could offer sound bites and video clips that Democrats can use to depict Republicans as hostile to Hispanics.
Monday's devastating tornado near Oklahoma City prompted widespread expressions of sadness and condolences in Congress. But it also was a reminder of tensions among Republicans regarding disaster relief and deficit spending.
After sometimes fierce debate, most House Republicans voted in January against a $50.5 billion bill that primarily helped victims of Superstorm Sandy. The bill passed with mostly Democratic support.
Republican opponents noted that the bill included non-Sandy spending items, and it added to the federal deficit because, like most disaster relief measures, it was not offset by spending cuts elsewhere. Those arguments infuriated some Republicans, including Rep. Peter King of New York. He said Congress has a long tradition of helping disaster victims without demanding it be paid for immediately.
The debate threatened to resurface Tuesday, although it's possible that current disaster funds can handle Oklahoma's needs without new congressional appropriations.
GOP Rep. Tom Cole, who lives in the hard-hit town of Moore, Okla., told National Public Radio his state will need federal help and he's proud he voted for the Sandy relief bill.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., differed on the Sandy bill and took a defensive stance. His office said "if an additional emergency aid package is necessary," Coburn will not change his long-held view that "supplemental bills should be paid for by reducing spending on less vital priorities."
More divisive issues may be heading toward the Republican caucus. Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., plans to introduce a bill to ban abortions nationwide after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Planned Parenthood called the proposal outrageous, adding, "Voters and the courts agree that decisions about a woman's pregnancy are not for an Arizona congressman or any other politician to make."
Anti-abortion initiatives are generally popular with the GOP's stalwart supporters. Whether they hinder efforts to reach crucial independent voters, however, is a question that worries campaign consultants eager to find a formula for electing Republican presidents.
___
Follow Charles Babington on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cbabington .
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May 15, 2013 ? After taking a rented camper outfitted with special equipment to measure methane on a cross-continent drive, a UC Santa Barbara scientist has found that methane emissions across large parts of the U.S. are higher than currently known, confirming what other more local studies have found. Their research is published in the journal Atmospheric Environment.
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, stronger than carbon dioxide on a 20-year timescale, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, though on a century timescale, carbon dioxide is far stronger. "This research suggests significant benefits to slowing climate change could result from reducing industrial methane emissions in parallel with efforts on carbon dioxide," said Ira Leifer, a researcher with UCSB's Marine Science Institute.
Leifer was joined by two UCSB undergraduate students on the road trip from Los Angeles to Florida, taking a primarily southern route through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, and along the Gulf of Mexico. They used specialized instrumentation, a gas chromatograph, to measure methane. The device was mounted in the RV, with an air ram on the roof that collected air samples from in front of the vehicle.
"We tried to pass through urban areas during nighttime hours, to avoid being stuck in traffic and sampling mostly exhaust fumes," Leifer said. "Someone was always monitoring the chromatograph, and when we would see a strong signal, we would look to see what potential sources were in the area, and modify the survey to investigate and, if possible, circumnavigate potential sources."
The researchers meandered slowly through areas of fossil fuel activity, such as petroleum and natural gas production, refining, and distribution areas, and other areas of interest. The wide range of sources studied included a coal-loading terminal, a wildfire, and wetlands.
The team analyzed the data in conjunction with researchers at the University of Bremen, Germany, who analyzed inventories and satellite data from the Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography (SCIAMACHY) instrument onboard the European Space Agency's (ESA) ENVISAT satellite to confirm the finding of strong methane sources in regions of fossil fuel activity. The surface measurements found methane levels increased as the researchers moved toward Houston, and then decreased as they continued westward -- the same trend observed in satellite data spanning the continent.
Previous methane studies have focused primarily on large-scale airborne data, which were challenging to separate from local sources, according to Leifer. In fact, clear identification of individual sources often could not be conducted, requiring computer models and other surface measurements.
The team compared maps of estimated methane emissions based on data from the International Energy Agency of the U.S. Department of Energy with satellite methane maps. They found that, in some cases, to explain observed higher methane concentrations required higher emissions than current emission maps present, particularly in large regions of fossil fuel industrial activity. In other cases, though, they could rule out that wetlands such as swamps may have been important. In such cases, separating wetland methane contributions from fossil fuel industrial contributions was not possible with their approach, Leifer said, "This is a topic we are investigating further through new research," he added.
"Methane is the strongest human greenhouse gas on a political or short timescale, and also has more bang for the buck in terms of addressing climate change," said Leifer. "This research supports other recent findings suggesting that fugitive emissions from fossil fuel industrial activity actually are the largest methane source. This clearly indicates a need for efforts to focus on reducing these methane emissions."
The researchers found the highest methane concentrations in areas with significant refinery activity, and in California in a Central Valley region of oil and gas production. Methane levels near refineries were not uniform, varying greatly from spot to spot and at different times. Nighttime concentrations were dramatically enhanced when the winds died down, forming a calm, shallow atmospheric layer near the surface, according to Leifer.
Perhaps the most surprising discovery was made in the Los Angeles area, where the study highlighted the importance of geologic methane emissions in the North Los Angeles Basin, centered on the La Brea Tar Pits. Rough estimation of emissions from the data suggests 10-20 percent of the methane emissions from Los Angeles could be natural geologic, influenced by the vast number of abandoned wells throughout the area.
This study was supported by a National Science Foundation Rapid Response Grant, by NASA and ESA, as well as JAXA, the Japanese Space Agency. Support also came from the Department of Energy, through the Gulf of Mexico Hydrates Research Consortium, the University of Mississippi, the University of Bremen, and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Space Administration.
According to Leifer, these results illustrate the need for satellite technology to further this type of research and also to provide guidance to decision makers. "We are working with methane data from the Japanese satellite, GOSAT, to continue these investigations," Leifer said. "We look forward to when new tools, like ESA's CarbonSat and NASA's HyspIRI spacecraft, are in orbit to help, as well as results from a new joint NASA/ESA airborne campaign, COMEX, with University of Bremen researchers to improve further methane satellite designs." COMEX will test different airborne remote sensing technologies for application to methane observations.
Can breastfeeding protect against ADHD?Public release date: 14-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Vicki Cohn vcohn@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News
New Rochelle, NY, May 14, 2013Breastfeeding has a positive impact on the physical and mental development of infants. A new study suggests that breastfeeding may protect against the development of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) later in childhood. The study is reported in Breastfeeding Medicine, the Official Journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Breastfeeding Medicine website at http://www.liebertpub.com/bfm.
A team of Israeli researchers led by Aviva Mimouni-Bloch, MD compared breastfeeding history and other factors in a group of children 6-12 year of age diagnosed with ADHD to control groups of children who did not have ADHD. The results demonstrated that overall, the children with ADHD were less likely to have been breastfed at 3 and 6 months of age than the children without ADHD. This association between ADHD and lack of breastfeeding was statistically significant.
"Breastfeeding has been shown to have a positive impact on child development, good health, and protection against illness. Now, another possible benefit of breastfeeding for three months and especially six months or longer has been identified," says Ruth Lawrence, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Breastfeeding Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics, University of Rochester School of Medicine. "This study opens another avenue of investigation in the prevention of ADHD."
###
About the Journal
Breastfeeding Medicine, the Official Journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, is an authoritative, peer-reviewed journal published bimonthly in print and online. The Journal publishes original scientific papers, reviews, and case studies on a broad spectrum of topics in lactation medicine. It presents evidence-based research advances and explores the immediate and long-term outcomes of breastfeeding, including the epidemiologic, physiologic, and psychological benefits of breastfeeding. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Breastfeeding Medicine website at http://www.liebertpub.com/bfm.
About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Journal of Women's Health, Childhood Obesity, and Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonology. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN) was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 70 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website at http://www.liebertpub.com.
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. 140 Huguenot St., New Rochelle, NY 10801-5215 http://www.liebertpub.com
Phone: (914) 740-2100 (800) M-LIEBERT Fax: (914) 740-2101
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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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.
Can breastfeeding protect against ADHD?Public release date: 14-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Vicki Cohn vcohn@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News
New Rochelle, NY, May 14, 2013Breastfeeding has a positive impact on the physical and mental development of infants. A new study suggests that breastfeeding may protect against the development of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) later in childhood. The study is reported in Breastfeeding Medicine, the Official Journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Breastfeeding Medicine website at http://www.liebertpub.com/bfm.
A team of Israeli researchers led by Aviva Mimouni-Bloch, MD compared breastfeeding history and other factors in a group of children 6-12 year of age diagnosed with ADHD to control groups of children who did not have ADHD. The results demonstrated that overall, the children with ADHD were less likely to have been breastfed at 3 and 6 months of age than the children without ADHD. This association between ADHD and lack of breastfeeding was statistically significant.
"Breastfeeding has been shown to have a positive impact on child development, good health, and protection against illness. Now, another possible benefit of breastfeeding for three months and especially six months or longer has been identified," says Ruth Lawrence, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Breastfeeding Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics, University of Rochester School of Medicine. "This study opens another avenue of investigation in the prevention of ADHD."
###
About the Journal
Breastfeeding Medicine, the Official Journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, is an authoritative, peer-reviewed journal published bimonthly in print and online. The Journal publishes original scientific papers, reviews, and case studies on a broad spectrum of topics in lactation medicine. It presents evidence-based research advances and explores the immediate and long-term outcomes of breastfeeding, including the epidemiologic, physiologic, and psychological benefits of breastfeeding. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Breastfeeding Medicine website at http://www.liebertpub.com/bfm.
About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Journal of Women's Health, Childhood Obesity, and Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonology. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN) was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 70 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website at http://www.liebertpub.com.
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. 140 Huguenot St., New Rochelle, NY 10801-5215 http://www.liebertpub.com
Phone: (914) 740-2100 (800) M-LIEBERT Fax: (914) 740-2101
[ | 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.
Nokia's Verizon-bound Lumia 928 may already be a reality, but there's still more to reveal, with the company's London-based Lumia event set to start Tuesday morning. We'll be there from the keen 10AM BST kickoff, so be sure to bookmark our liveblog page to ensure you get all the news. Wondering how that works in your particular time-zone? Consult the magic time bubble below and add your Lumia hopes and dreams in the comments below.
First X-class solar flare of 2013Public release date: 13-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Karen Fox Karen.c.fox@nasa.gov 301-286-6284 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
On May 12, 2013, the sun emitted a significant solar flare, peaking at 10 p.m. EDT. This flare is classified as an X1.7, making it the first X-class flare of 2013. The flare was also associated with another solar phenomenon, called a coronal mass ejection (CME) that can send solar material out into space. This CME was not Earth-directed.
Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however -- when intense enough -- they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel. This disrupts the radio signals for as long as the flare is ongoing the radio blackout associated with this flare has since subsided.
"X-class" denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength. An X2 is twice as intense as an X1, an X3 is three times as intense, etc.
This flare erupted from an active region just out of sight over the left side of the sun, a region that will soon rotate into view. This region has produced two smaller M-class flares as well.
The May 12 flare was also associated with a coronal mass ejection, another solar phenomenon that can send billions of tons of solar particles into space, which can affect electronic systems in satellites and on the ground. Experimental NASA research models show that the CME left the sun at 745 miles per second and is not Earth-directed, however its flank may pass by the STEREO-B and Spitzer spacecraft, and their mission operators have been notified. If warranted, operators can put spacecraft into safe mode to protect the instruments from solar material. There is some particle radiation associated with this event, which is what can concern operators of interplanetary spacecraft since the particles can trip computer electronics on board.
Increased numbers of flares are quite common at the moment because the sun's normal 11-year activity cycle is ramping up toward solar maximum, which is expected in 2013. Humans have tracked the solar cycle continuously since it was discovered in 1843, and it is normal for there to be many flares a day during the sun's peak activity. The first X-class flare of the current solar cycle occurred on Feb. 15, 2011, and there have been another 15 X-class flares since, including this one. The largest X-class flare in this cycle was an X6.9 on Aug. 9, 2011.
###
NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center is the U.S. government's official source for space weather forecasts, alerts, watches and warnings.
What is a solar flare?
For answers to these and other space weather questions, please visit the Space Weather Frequently Asked Questions page: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/spaceweather/index.html
[ | 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.
First X-class solar flare of 2013Public release date: 13-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Karen Fox Karen.c.fox@nasa.gov 301-286-6284 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
On May 12, 2013, the sun emitted a significant solar flare, peaking at 10 p.m. EDT. This flare is classified as an X1.7, making it the first X-class flare of 2013. The flare was also associated with another solar phenomenon, called a coronal mass ejection (CME) that can send solar material out into space. This CME was not Earth-directed.
Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however -- when intense enough -- they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel. This disrupts the radio signals for as long as the flare is ongoing the radio blackout associated with this flare has since subsided.
"X-class" denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength. An X2 is twice as intense as an X1, an X3 is three times as intense, etc.
This flare erupted from an active region just out of sight over the left side of the sun, a region that will soon rotate into view. This region has produced two smaller M-class flares as well.
The May 12 flare was also associated with a coronal mass ejection, another solar phenomenon that can send billions of tons of solar particles into space, which can affect electronic systems in satellites and on the ground. Experimental NASA research models show that the CME left the sun at 745 miles per second and is not Earth-directed, however its flank may pass by the STEREO-B and Spitzer spacecraft, and their mission operators have been notified. If warranted, operators can put spacecraft into safe mode to protect the instruments from solar material. There is some particle radiation associated with this event, which is what can concern operators of interplanetary spacecraft since the particles can trip computer electronics on board.
Increased numbers of flares are quite common at the moment because the sun's normal 11-year activity cycle is ramping up toward solar maximum, which is expected in 2013. Humans have tracked the solar cycle continuously since it was discovered in 1843, and it is normal for there to be many flares a day during the sun's peak activity. The first X-class flare of the current solar cycle occurred on Feb. 15, 2011, and there have been another 15 X-class flares since, including this one. The largest X-class flare in this cycle was an X6.9 on Aug. 9, 2011.
###
NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center is the U.S. government's official source for space weather forecasts, alerts, watches and warnings.
What is a solar flare?
For answers to these and other space weather questions, please visit the Space Weather Frequently Asked Questions page: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/spaceweather/index.html
[ | 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.
A group of men pray with tornado survivor Tim Wardwell. (Jason Sickles/Yahoo News)
An upended car rests on what was once a house. (Jason Sickles/Yahoo News)
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Public release date: 23-May-2013
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