Wall Street English launches first branch in Vietnam ? TalkVietnam

Wall Street English, one of the leading providers in English language instruction for adults around the world, on May 21 opened its first branch in Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City .
As a member of Pearson Education, Wall Street English has established over 450 centres in 26 countries and regions, offering English language curriculum in conformity with the Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR) highly valued by more than two million students worldwide.

Courses of the Wall Street English enable students to choose the most convenient time and forms of learning.

Wall Street English CEO David Kedwards said the Vietnam-based centre will reimburse the fee to students if their English level is not improved after completing the courses.-VNA

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  Lecturer pans ministry for testing English teachers

  A college lecturer in English slams the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) for suddenly checking local English teachers' language command against a European framework, saying it is "unfair" and "arbitrary." MoET has been testing the English proficiency of Vietnamese teachers across the country since last year, using guidelines from the... [Read more]
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  English teaching in Vietnam: Teacher 're-education'

  English learning and teaching have been a bone of contention for years in Vietnam as teacher qualifications and assessment methodologies are blamed for students' failure to use the language in real life. These two issues are a major problem. Vietnamese students start studying English as early as middle school, with... [Read more]
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  Teacher shortage hits English pilot programme

  >> HCM City primary schools face dire English teacher shortage Since the launch of a national pilot programme last year to teach English as a compulsory subject to third- and fourth-graders, local authorities have been struggling to find qualified teachers. The Ministry of Education and Training first introduced the programme for third-graders... [Read more]
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  HCM City in dire need of English teachers

  The status of an economic and educational hub does not prevent Ho Chi Minh City from falling into the same trap as other localities: the majority of its English teachers failed last month's test in the subject they are teaching. In fact, this city now seriously lacks qualified English... [Read more]
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  English teachers in Vietnam lag behind world standards?

  English teachers in Ho Chi Minh City at a training session designed to prepare them to be tested on their language skills An ongoing national survey has revealed that the English skills of most teachers of the language in Vietnam are falling behind international standards. Nguyen Ngoc Hung, chief of the national... [Read more]
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  PhD candidates subject to European language standards

  PhD candidates' foreign language capability must reach the second broad division of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) before they can study for doctoral degrees, the Ministry of Education and Training said in a circular issued Wednesday. Their language skills must reach level... [Read more]

• Germany assists German language teaching in Vietnam

  The German Embassy in Hanoi on Nov. 10 recognised the Lomonosov primary school in Hanoi as a member of the "Schools: Partners for the Future" (PASCH) network. The recognition is one of the activities to mark the 35 th anniversary of the Vietnam-Germany diplomatic ties. The school has become an official... [Read more]
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  Online training sees huge potentials

  Vietnam's online training market will develop strongly in the next one or two years due to an increasing number of Internet users and the uptrend in attending online courses, experts in the education sector forecast. Phan Thanh Son, general director of IDJ Education, said the potential of the online training market... [Read more]
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  Vietnam lays red carpet to welcome foreign teachers

  VietNamNet Bridge - Thousands of English teachers would come to Vietnam within the framework of the national program on teaching foreign languages at schools by 2020. An agreement has been signed between the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and ELC, the Australian organization would provide thousands volunteer teachers to... [Read more]

• UK volunteers cycle for Vietnamese babies

  (VOV) -Over 10 days, 25 British volunteers have been riding 1,500km from Lao Cai to Danang to spread the latest newborn baby nursing advancements throughout Vietnam. One of the volunteers, Mike Hall, once set a world cycling circumnavigation record by riding nearly 29,000km in only 92 days. Foreign business chief executive... [Read more]

Source: http://talkvietnam.com/2013/05/wall-street-english-launches-first-branch-in-vietnam/

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Marilyn Manson Helped Avril Lavigne Find 'Bad Girl' ... And Shave Her Head

Canadian pop-rock star talks to MTV News about her relationship with Manson outside of the studio.
By Christina Garibaldi

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1707863/avril-lavigne-marilyn-manson-bad-girl.jhtml

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Reducing caloric intake delays nerve cell loss

May 21, 2013 ? Activating an enzyme known to play a role in the anti-aging benefits of calorie restriction delays the loss of brain cells and preserves cognitive function in mice, according to a study published in the May 22 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The findings could one day guide researchers to discover drug alternatives that slow the progress of age-associated impairments in the brain.

Previous studies have shown that reducing calorie consumption extends the lifespan of a variety of species and decreases the brain changes that often accompany aging and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. There is also evidence that caloric restriction activates an enzyme called Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), which studies suggest offers some protection against age-associated impairments in the brain.

In the current study, Li-Huei Tsai, PhD, Johannes Gr?ff, PhD, and others at the Picower Institute For Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, tested whether reducing caloric intake would delay the onset of nerve cell loss that is common in neurodegenerative disease, and if so, whether SIRT1 activation was driving this effect. The group not only confirmed that caloric restriction delays nerve cell loss, but also found that a drug that activates SIRT1 produces the same effects.

"There has been great interest in finding compounds that mimic the benefits of caloric restriction that could be used to delay the onset of age-associated problems and/or diseases," said Luigi Puglielli, MD, PhD, who studies aging at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and was not involved in this study. "If proven safe for humans, this study suggests such a drug could be used as a preventive tool to delay the onset of neurodegeneration associated with several diseases that affect the aging brain," Puglielli added.

In the study, Tsai's team first decreased by 30 percent the normal diets of mice genetically engineered to rapidly undergo changes in the brain associated with neurodegeneration. Following three months on the diet, the mice completed several learning and memory tests. "We not only observed a delay in the onset of neurodegeneration in the calorie-restricted mice, but the animals were spared the learning and memory deficits of mice that did not consume reduced-calorie diets," Tsai explained.

Curious if they could recreate the benefits of caloric restriction without changing the animals' diets, the scientists gave a separate group of mice a drug that activates SIRT1. Similar to what the researchers found in the mice exposed to reduced-calorie diets, the mice that received the drug had less cell loss and better cellular connectivity than the mice that did not receive the drug. Additionally, the mice that received the drug treatment performed as well as normal mice in learning and memory tests.

"The question now is whether this type of treatment will work in other animal models, whether it's safe for use over time, and whether it only temporarily slows down the progression of neurodegeneration or stops it altogether," Tsai said.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/Wv4NlP6C26I/130521193952.htm

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Another Pack of Storms Are Heading Through the Midwest

Mother nature isn't going to give the Midwest a chance to breathe today: after a pack of tornadoes tore through the region on Sunday, the National Weather Service warned of more severe weather on the way this week, with Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas expected to take the next round of brutal thunderstorms and possible tornadoes. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service writes:

After over 300 reports of severe weather on Sunday,another round of dangerous severe weather is expected Monday with the greatest threat once again in the southern Plains targeting Oklahoma and parts of Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas. However, severe weather is possible much further north towards Chicago and Madison as well.

Oklahoma to Arkansas to Chicago is a large swath of the country as this map shows:?

RELATED: Nor'easter Athena Left Us with a Lot of Snow

RELATED: Winter Storm Naming Leaves Local Weathermen Out in the Cold

What's worrisome is that this is the second round of brutal storms for the states who saw the most damage on Sunday. "Damaging winds greater than 60 mph, large hail and tornadoes are possible with the strongest thunderstorms that develop," reads the report from Accuweather.?Oklahoma saw multiple twisters touch down with an estimated 300 homes damaged or destroyed CNN reported on air this morning. Tractors trailer flipped, and so much damage was dealt that "Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency in 16 counties," NBC News reported.?And here's what Oklahoma has to deal with today:?

RELATED: Town in Indiana 'Completely Gone' After Tornado

RELATED: A Tornado Touches Down in New York City

And the small town of Rozel, Kansas, saw these two monster tornadoes touch down:?

RELATED: North Texas Hit Hard By Deadly Tornadoes

Part of the reason the storms seem to be focusing on the Plains region is due to a dip in the jet stream. This combined with moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, the Weather Channel reports, is pulling the turbulent weather into the Midwest states:?

According to CBS News and the AP, a 79-year-old man was killed and 21 were injured during the slew of storms and officials are trying to go from home to home to this morning to assess the damage. Officials told the AP, that "many times in such situations, people who are not found immediately are discovered later to have left the area ahead of the storm." The severe weather is expected to continue into this week.?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/another-pack-storms-heading-midwest-121823816.html

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Does Kelly Rowland Have The 'X Factor'?

Rowland and Paulina Rubio are rumored to be in final negotiations to join the judging panel for season three.
By Jocelyn Vena

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1707648/x-factor-kelly-rowland-paulina-rubio-judges.jhtml

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Amalric plays a Frenchman in America in 'Jimmy P'

CANNES, France (AP) ? Playing a Freudian analyst helped Mathieu Amalric overcome his fear and loathing of psychotherapy.

The French actor depicts a maverick academic counseling Benicio Del Toro's Native American war vet in "Jimmy P.: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian," director Arnaud Desplechin's Cannes Film Festival contender.

Based on a true case study from the late 1940s, it's the story of two men ? doctor and patient ? who go on difficult journeys into their own minds.

Amalric says he went on a similar trip himself. Before making the movie, psychoanalysis "frightened me so much that I rejected it, because my parental culture that told me maybe psychoanalysis had to do with weakness."

"You are not supposed to show weakness. You are supposed to 'be a man' ... That's what my father would think of psychoanalysis."

What the 47-year-old actor found through the movie was something different ? "a world of adventure: of research, of physical danger and how the body and the mind expand."

Analysts could put that on their calling cards. No wonder Desplechin says the movie is "a manifesto for psychoanalysis," as well "a film about a man who needs to heal his own soul."

Amalric ? most famous internationally as the villain in James Bond adventure "Quantum of Solace" ? plays real-life French analyst Georges Devereux, who moved to the United States in the 1930s. He spent time living with Mojave Indians and helped develop the field of ethnopsychiatry, which studies the ways mental illness is understood in different cultural contexts.

Del Toro is his patient Jimmy Picard, who returned from World War II service in France with a head injury and debilitating psychological symptoms his doctors were unable to diagnose.

One of 20 films competing for the Palme d'Or at Cannes, the movie is a trans-Atlantic hybrid ? an American story told by a French writer-director with a cast including Amalric, Puerto Rico-born Del Toro and British actress Gina McKee as Devereux's sophisticated love interest.

Desplechin says he sees it less as a specifically American tale than as a story of displaced people: both Jimmy, living on a Montana reservation, and Devereux, who initially struggled to find support for his ideas in the U.S.

Amalric, one of France's busiest actors, is such a Cannes darling he once appeared in three competition films in the same year. This year he's in two ? "Jimmy P." and Roman Polanski's "Venus in Fur."

He says he enjoyed his time as a fish out of water filming in the U.S. "Jimmy P." was shot in Monroe, Michigan, a place Amalric remembers with a shudder of Gallic horror: "There was nothing there. Nothing."

"It was very intense, and the situation of the shooting itself made it even stronger, the fact that we would live all together in a hotel where there was nothing to do," he said during an interview on a Cannes rooftop terrace that would be idyllic if not for a bitter wind off the Mediterranean. "It was very close to the situation they were living in the middle of nothing."

The actor and Del Toro share a strong onscreen bond in the talk-heavy film. For long stretches the movie is an intense two-hander, with the slight Amalric and the beefy Del Toro making a compelling double act. Del Toro plays Jimmy with stoic understatement, while Amalric's Devereux is a piano-playing bundle of energy.

Amalric said he was initially surprised by Del Toro's working method. The actor didn't like to socialize off the set, or to rehearse ? a technique Amalric now says turned out to be invaluable.

"During psychoanalysis, the words surprise you," he said. "You don't know why these words are coming out. But an actor is supposed to know his lines by heart, so you have this paradox.

"I didn't understand it," he said. "I understood it yesterday after seeing the film."

___

Jill Lawless can be reached at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/amalric-plays-frenchman-america-jimmy-p-103850563.html

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One in 10 teens using 'study drugs,' but parents aren't paying attention

May 20, 2013 ? As high schoolers prepare for final exams, teens nationwide may be tempted to use a "study drug" ?- a prescription stimulant or amphetamine -- to gain an academic edge. But a new University of Michigan poll shows only one in 100 parents of teens 13-17 years old believes that their teen has used a study drug.

Study drugs refer to stimulant medications typically prescribed for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); commonly prescribed medicines in this category include Adderall, Concerta, Ritalin, and Vyvanse.

Among parents of teens who have not been prescribed a stimulant medication for ADHD, just 1% said they believe their teen has used a study drug to help study or improve grades, according to the latest University of Michigan Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health. However, recent national data from Monitoring the Future indicate that 10% of high school sophomores and 12% of high school seniors say they've used an amphetamine or stimulant medication not prescribed by their doctor.

Sometimes students without ADHD take someone else's medication, to try to stay awake and alert and try to improve their scores on exams or assignments. Taking study drugs has not been proven to improve students' grades, and it can be very dangerous to their health, says Matthew M. Davis, M.D., M.A.P.P., director of the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health.

"Taking these medications when they are not prescribed for you can lead to acute exhaustion, abnormal heart rhythms and even confusion and psychosis if the teens get addicted and go into withdrawal," says Davis.

"What we found in this poll is a clear mismatch between what parents believe and what their kids are reporting. But even though parents may not be recognizing these behaviors in their own kids, this poll also showed that one-half of the parents say they are very concerned about this abuse in their communities," Davis says.

White parents were most likely to say they are "very concerned" (54%), compared with black (38%) and Hispanic/Latino (37%) parents.

Despite this concern, only 27 percent of parents polled said they have talked to their teens about using study drugs. Black parents were more likely to have discussed this issue with their teens (41%), compared with white (27%) or Hispanic (17%) parents.

"If we are going to make a dent in this problem, and truly reduce the abuse of these drugs, we need parents, educators, health care professionals and all who interact with teens to be more proactive about discussing the issue," says Davis.

Over three-quarters of parents polled said they support school policies aimed at stopping abuse of study drugs in middle schools and high schools. Overall, 76% of parents said they believe schools should be required to discuss the dangers of ADHD medication abuse.

Another 79% support a policy to require students with a prescription for ADHD medications to keep their pills in a secure location such as the school nurse's office -- a requirement that would prohibit students from carrying medicines of this nature that could potentially be shared with, or sold to, other students.

"We know teens may be sharing drugs or spreading the word that these medications can give their grades a boost. But the bottom line is that these prescription medications are drugs, and teens who use them without a prescription are taking a serious risk with their health," Davis says.?

Full report: http://mottnpch.org/reports-surveys/one-ten-teens-using-%E2%80%9Cstudy-drugs%E2%80%9D-are-parents-paying-attention

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/mental_health/~3/BeA1mHx0gWw/130520094454.htm

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Animal Planet Hide & Seek Pets By Cupcake Digital | Appy Mall

By?Christie Dwyer

Overall Impression

Animal Planet Hide & Seek Pets is an easy to maneuver and intuitively designed app for toddlers and preschool children! There are plenty of animal fun activities to keep your child engaged and at the same time practicing basic skills based on US Common Core State Standards. Children can play with animals, trace letters, do jigsaw and memory puzzles, color, and even play a virtual piano. There is definitely plenty of content to keep a child busy exploring the different areas and characteristics of the animals. Realistic photos of the animals are included. Coloring is great as it helps avoid those who get frustrated because they have difficulty staying within the lines. The ability to save coloring pictures is included. And the tracing section provides the direction in which the child should trace each letter as well as doesn?t allow random scribbles. So for those lovers of animals, hide and seek, and coloring and other activities, this is a great engaging all-in-one app with great features to check out.

Overall Rating:?4??

Appy Ratings (Appy?s):

Category:

• Game
• Language Arts
• Science

Goals:

• Coloring
• Comprehension
• Counting
• Drawing
• Find Same Objects
• Letters
• Matching
• Music
• Numbers
• Tracing Skills

Age Group:

• Baby-Toddler (Age 0-3)
• Pre-School (Age 4-5)

Overview

Animal Planet Hide & Seek Pets is another great app for the toddler/preschool age children to explore pet-based activities. Partnered with the Discovery Channel (Animal Planet series), developer Cupcake Digital has packed activities that will appeal to all pet lovers. After pressing the play button, the user winds up seeing a cute little hamster on a wheel. Tap the hamster to start spinning him and which animal related icon he lands on determines which of six different pet animals will be introduced. For example, there is a bone for a dog and yarn for a cat. The learner begins to play hide and seek to find the particular animal in various different clever ways, including using a flashlight to find a turtle or removing flower petals to uncover a rabbit. The app has cute graphics throughout, and does an excellent job of using photo realistic pics of the animals. Once uncovered, the animals can be moved around the page.

I was impressed with how many fun filled facts are included and how the text is highlighted as it is being narrated. This is great feature for all pre-emergent and beginning readers. And my preschooler was fascinated with these facts, and has mentioned some of them to me when seeing the particular animals outside of the app?s context, whether it be in a story or in real life. So this app does a great job at engaging a child with knowledge and having fun doing it. At the bottom of the screen, a child has the ability to play various fun activities, such as completing a jigsaw puzzle, tracing, memory matching, as well as a hide and seek activity. Each activity section is based on the section?s particular animal and has both an ?easy? as well as a ?hard? mode to choose from. Tracing is well thought out as learners trace either the capital/lowercase first letter of the animal (easy) or the entire name of the animal (hard section.)

Throughout the app from the menu hamster wheel to each individual game, there is a ??? icon that when pressed explains directions of how to play the game or take the next step. Also, the paw print in the top left corner allows for the user to return home at anytime. The paw print also opens up more fun activities that can be enjoyed- paint, music, sticker, learn, and options. The painting section has many different pictures to pick from as well as different coloring sources- paintbrush, chalk, crayon, spray paint, and even a paint bucket. The user can save his artwork to the iPad?s camera, or even erase the work by tapping the ?recycle? button. I was impressed by the fact to erase one?s work, one has to first answer the yes/no question, ?are you sure you want to erase all?? So with this two-step process, one cannot just accidentally touch the recycle button, and suddenly have it all disappear.

The music section includes an animal piano, where the particular animals can make the sounds of the keys, or hear the piano tones. The sticker section has resizable stickers that can be moved anywhere across the screen, as well as recycled if not interested in keeping it in the scene. The learn section has a place to rate the app, see credits, see common core standards, as well as a neat ?Grown-Up?s Corner? which gives some stimulating questions for parents/teachers to have a conversation with the child/children. The options section allow for volume change in music, sound, and voice narration. There is really no need for tracking progress or multiple different users, as this is more a fun app that has valuable features that can be read or played over and over again.

Issues/Wishlist

• I wish in the hide and seek sections, the animals could be hidden in different places each time.

Price and Download link

View Description from Developer

***Featured in New and Noteworthy Section in Education of iTunes App Store***

***Top Rated Awesome Kids Apps*** ***?We highly recommend Animal Planet Hide & Seek Pets for young children!? ? Kindertown*** ***?Children can play with the animals, but there?s also plenty of educational content, including letter tracing, puzzles, colouring and a virtual piano ? all based on US Common Core State Standards.? ? Apps Playground*** ***?Little ones especially the preschoolers who love animals will adore this app.? ? Real Kids Apps***

Spin the wheel and get ready to play! This vibrant app brings six adorable pets to life for kids ages 3 and up. Peek at the puppy! Swish with the fish! Squawk for the bird and much more! Kids begin their journey of discovery with this feature-rich app, packed with playful pet animations, engaging games and skill-building activities. Includes letter tracing, memory matching, puzzle play, creative coloring?plus a special interactive animal piano! Beautifully designed and easy to navigate, this app brings kids and their favorite pets together.

FEATURES ? Educational Games?Designed to engage kids with bright, colorful interactivity, young learners practice critical skills required by the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for kindergarten.

? Tap-and-Play Creativity?The textured paint palette and pet personalization sticker book found in each environment encourage open-ended play.

? Dynamic Art?Tap-to-animate photorealistic pets pop to life against vibrant, kid-friendly backgrounds.

? Original Music?Jazz musician and composer Ben Allison adds a playful beat to each pet experience with engaging music and sound effects.

? Common Core Corner?This special feature provides parents and caregivers with detailed information on the CCSS educational overlay infused throughout this app.

? Grown-up?s Corner?Thoughtful questions prompt discussion, initiate collaborative conversation and encourage critical thinking.

?Animal Planet Hide & Seek Pets? was developed by Cupcake Digital in partnership with Discovery Communications and Joester Loria Group.

Hey, parents and caregivers! We care about your kids and their safety. This app contains gated links to ensure that only adults can access social networking sites, send contact e-mails or visit app stores. A pixel embedded in this app collects anonymous data to help us understand downloads by device. We never collect personal data from children and we never use data for behavioral targeting. For more information, or to view our full app privacy policy, please visit www.cupcakedigital.com/appsprivacy.

?

About Christie Dwyer:

• Christie Dwyer is a certified elementary school teacher currently away from the classroom to be a stay-at-home mother to her two young children.

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Source: http://www.appymall.com/blog/2013/05/20/animal-planet-hide-seek-pets-by-cupcake-digital/

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Everyday Carry Bags ? Bill Henderson

This entry is part 6 of 5 in the series

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/05/19/everyday-carry-bags-bill-henderson/

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Senate panel approves US ambassador to Libya (The Arizona Republic)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/305761871?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Brent holds above $102 as dollar eases, but supply outlook weighs

By Manash Goswami

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent futures held steady above $102 a barrel on Wednesday as the U.S. dollar eased, but gains were capped by forecasts of rising supplies from the United States amid a bleak outlook for global demand growth.

Oil is also drawing support from equities, with Wall Street rallying without a significant correction since the start of the year, pushing major indexes to all-time highs.

Brent is down some 14 percent from its peak for the year so far, however, as demand in China weakens and stockpiles in the United States touch record peaks.

Brent crude had gained 12 cents to $102.72 a barrel by 0253 GMT, after settling 22 cents lower. The contract is $16 below this year's high of $119.17.

U.S. oil climbed 13 cents to $94.33. It had fallen for four straight days, with the longest previous losing streak of five days marked last December.

"The strong performance in equity markets is helping oil," said Ker Chung Yang, senior investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.

"But both data from the United States and comments by the IEA show that demand is weak and that is posing a downside risk for oil."

Rising U.S. shale oil production will help meet most of the world's new oil demand in the next five years, even if the global economy picks up steam, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.

"North America has set off a supply shock that is sending ripples throughout the world," IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven said.

STOCKPILES

The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported that crude inventories rose by 1.1 million barrels in the week to May 10, far higher than forecast.

The gain was led by a more than 750,000 barrel increase in Midwest stockpiles. Crude stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma, hub for the U.S. oil futures contract climbed by more than 540,000 barrels for the week.

Investors are now waiting for data from the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration (EIA) later in the day to gauge the country's demand outlook.

Brent is expected to drop to $101.35 as it is riding on a downward wave c, while U.S. oil should drop to $92.43, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/brent-holds-above-102-dollar-eases-supply-outlook-065928673.html

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Penguins Top Senators In Game 1, 4-1: Paul Martin, Chris Kunitz Score Power-Play Goals (VIDEO)

PITTSBURGH ? The Ottawa Senators know there is little margin for error if they want to upset the Pittsburgh Penguins.

If they don't slow down Pittsburgh's potent power play, they'll have a difficult time against Sidney Crosby and the rest of the Penguins.

Paul Martin and Chris Kunitz scored power-play goals and Pascal Dupuis added his sixth goal of the playoffs and the Penguins beat the Senators 4-1 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Tuesday.

"We know it's a good start, but it's just like the rest of the playoffs we know it's just the start," Pittsburgh forward Jarome Iginla said.

A promising one at that.

Evgeni Malkin extended his points streak to seven games with a goal and an assist for the Penguins while Tomas Vokoun stopped 35 shots to win his third straight game since replacing struggling starter Marc-Andre Fleury.

Colin Greening scored for the Senators. Craig Anderson made 26 saves but Ottawa had no answer for Pittsburgh's power play.

"Their power play is good," Anderson said. "We knew that going in and if we want to have good chance to win a game we're going to have to shoot down their special teams. It's huge for them. If we're able to kill those off, it's a different game."

It wasn't in the opener.

The Senators had the NHL's best penalty kill during the regular season and turned aside 16 of 19 penalties against Montreal in the first round.

Yet they couldn't stop the Penguins from going 2 for 4 on the power play to improve to 9 of 24 with the man advantage in the playoffs, the best of the eight teams remaining.

"This power play that they have with all those players, they're dangerous," Ottawa defenseman Marc Methot said. "Whether we've got to play with more discipline, whatever that is, whatever the answer is it's something we have to focus in on."

Better hurry up. Game 2 is on Friday night and the Penguins appear to be hitting their stride after needing six games to get by the New York Islanders in the opening round.

"I love the way our team came out and played that game," Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said. "We're not just counting on one guy to carry a load ... we were able to do a lot of good things."

The 36-year-old Vokoun made his 713th NHL start on Tuesday, but his first with the stakes this big. Despite admitting to some butterflies when told he would get the starting assignment for Game 1, Vokoun overcame some shaky moments early to settle down.

Having the lead most of the night certainly helped.

Pittsburgh didn't need to wait long to get a chance to put the power play to work. Ottawa's Kyle Turris drew a high-sticking penalty before the game was 90 seconds old, and barely a minute later, Pittsburgh jumped in front.

Malkin worked his way into the corner then threaded a pass between two Ottawa defenders to Martin at the point. Martin's slap shot from the point deflected off Ottawa defenseman Jared Cowen and scooted past Anderson just 2:41 into the game.

The Senators didn't take long to tie it, evening things at 1 on the kind of soft goal Vokoun had avoided during his two stellar starts against the Islanders.

Ottawa's Erik Condra won a battle in the corner for the puck then threw it from behind the goal to the side of the net.

Vokoun, anticipating a crossing pass instead of a shot, found himself out of position. The puck squirted behind him and was inches from the goal line before Greening reached over the goaltender and poked it in.

Malkin responded with his third goal of the playoffs, though his linemates did all the hard work. James Neal poke-checked the puck away from Cowen behind the Ottawa net then fed it to Chris Kunitz.

Kunitz then zipped a pass to Malkin's awaiting stick just outside the goal crease and all the reigning NHL MVP had to do was tap it in to put the Penguins back in front.

Ottawa, facing the Penguins for the fourth time in the postseason since 2007, had little trouble getting to Vokoun.

They even managed to get the puck by him a few times. Just not into the net. On several occasions Vokoun would find himself on the ground as the puck skittered through the crease or toward the goal. Each time it was steered out of danger.

"The guys worked really hard," Vokoun said. "They really sacrifice and block shots."

The pucks bouncing around Anderson weren't always cleaned up so nicely. Pittsburgh went back to the power play late in the second period and Kunitz stuffed home a rebound off an Iginla shot to give the Penguins a 3-1 cushion.

"When you get a late goal like that late in a period, you like to build on that," Crosby said.

Dupuis, whose five goals against the Islanders led the team, beat Anderson at the end of a short-handed 2-on-1 breakaway with 8:36 remaining to put it away.

NOTES: The Senators went 0 for 5 on the power play and are just 1 for 17 with the man advantage against Pittsburgh this season. ... Vokoun is 13-1 in his past 14 starts. ... Iginla's seven-game point streak in the playoffs is the longest of his career. ... Injured Ottawa C Jason Spezza (back) did not travel with the team for Game 1 but has not been ruled out for Game 2.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/14/penguins-top-senators-game-1-martin-kunitz_n_3276601.html

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Cloud business ebook ? Simplogy

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Summary of this e-book

This guide to cloud computing, SaaS and Web hosted business applications for business owners and managers contains:

1. An introduction for you to discover and explore cloud / SaaS;
2. know about developments that have taken place over the past 5 years; and
3. A directory of selected?cloud computing, SaaS and Web hosted business applications.

Introduction

SaaS is a model of deploying a software application whereby it can be used as a service on demand. Because the management of application is moved to the application?s host data centre, you only have to use it ensuring that it is accessed securely. You are not required to host or maintain it on your own servers.

You may be reminded of Web based e-mail services such as Hotmail or Yahoo Mail. However, today?s SaaS deployments, often also called hosted, on-demand or cloud applications, go much further.

Cloud hosted applications are available for many aspects of your business from accounting and finance to SEM (search engine marketing) bid management. Because these applications are inexpensive, it can help established businesses cut costs. More crucially, it can help a start-up-company-operating-on-a-bootstrap-budget to use all the needed applications without breaking their bank.

There are many guides and material on the emerging cloud applications in business but I felt that there is a need for a document that:

1. explains the concept of cloud, SaaS and hosted application to business owners and corporate managers clearly;
2. points them to comprehensive resources to help them get familiar with the landscape; and
3. present a comprehensive list of editor-selected, high quality, hosted products, services and applications.

Please note that this guide is for business owners and corporate managers, not just for IT managers.

SaaS, cloud, hosted, on-demand?why should I care

The epic battle

In the past 15 years, much of the debate in the field of business computing was centred on who will win the battle for computing:

The traditional thick-client ?approach to computing dominated by Wintel or the challenger network-oriented, thin-client approach

The verdict: Mixed. Draw, sort of. Why?

Both the computing models seems to have survived. Windows 8?running on ever thicker clients co-exists with client-server applications.

But then, a third player entered the field and is looking promising enough to dominate it soon, leaving both thick client and client-server leaving in its wake.

The dark horse

The concept of Web 2.0 , together with the enabling technology of cloud computing has suddenly revolutionised applications industry as it has moved computing to the Internet as a platform.

Mainstream use of Salesforce CRM , increasing popularity of Google Docs? and exploding usage of social networking and content sharing services such as Facebook , Twitter? and Digg has meant that the winning team of Web 2.0 and cloud computing has clouded out everyone else.

The World Wide Web is now main stream. It has emerged as a key player in much as a range of Web applications , Web 2.0, cloud computing and Software as a Service (SaaS) has changed the rules of the game.

Businesses, whether small or large, new, emerging or established, bricks or clicks based, now have a range of cloud services available to them. Almost all the common applications and functionalities that they desire are within their reach on the cloud. These applications are inexpensive, flexible, and have negligible to low entry costs. In one stroke, these services have further lowered the barriers to their usage by business.

Am I correct in saying that today, you no longer do most of your work on the desktop and then fire up the browser to check the latest news in your free minute? More likely, you do most of the work online and use the desktop storage to store local copies of your work occasionally.

Catch up or else?

However, because of the rapid pace with which the situation has changed, most business owners and managers don?t appreciate what cloud and SaaS can do for them.

This guide is a handy resource for them to make use of SaaS as a business resource to save time and money and gain a competitive edge.

In this article, we have covered:

1. What is cloud why work on the cloud?
2. Reasons for popularity of cloud applications in business
3. ???? Benefits
4. Listing of the full range of Web, cloud and SaaS services and applications available.

Basics of cloud, its benefits and possible usage scenarios

Most of us write letters and reports in a word processing software, enter numbers and calculate on spreadsheets, build presentations, do accounting and countless other tasks on applications located in, and running on our own computers.

This means we need to buy a licence for each user, load these applications on our computer?s hard disk, upgrade these applications as and when new versions are released, provide for security so no cracker enters and access our ?local? information, maintain a backup schedule to ensure continuity in case the memory is corrupted (disk crash!) or if the computer is destroyed ? All this to protect and maintain our information.

A long list of tasks and efforts! A chore that comes with the computer. Right?

No, if the emerging trends of cloud computing, and especially SaaS (Software as a Service) continue and succeed.

What is cloud computing all about?

The concept of cloud in the context of business computing is essentially that applications are provided as a service over the Internet. Users need not host the critical technology of the applications in their own machine and need not have knowledge of the technology infrastructure which resides in the cloud.

The significance of cloud can be traced back to computer network diagrams in which Internet is mostly depicted as a cloud, like this example:

?

Source (www.techfornonprofits.com)

Cloud computing is linked with the concept of SaaS in which an application is licenced for use as a service on-demand. The client company does not have to host the application on every user machine (desktop, tablet PC, mobile phone or any other device). Instead, users simply access the application over the Internet often using only a browser. So, all the hosting, version control and complexity is moved to the Web and on to the data centres. The user is locally responsible for business usage only.

SaaS works on the concepts of multi-tenancy and virtualisation so that multiple instances of the same application can be started and can access a shared data model. It is designed for the Web.

Why work in the cloud?

For the software vendor:

• Centralised control of business applications leads to better control and troubleshooting.
• On-demand licensing is easier to manage.

For the client company:

• there is lesser need of computing resources and therefore lower cost of hardware as more applications move to the cloud.
• SaaS leads to lower cost of the application itself as it can be licensed for shorter time, only for the required number of users and with no need to install it on each user?s machine.
• Support can be streamlined ? only a single fix is required to solve an issue.

For the end user:

• SaaS translates to better mobility as access to browser (in most cases) and authentication (such as log-in and password) is all that is required to access a business application anywhere.

Internet has facilitated the phenomenon of the long tail which as Chris Anderson describes in his book is the new paradigm of profiting from selling less of more. Check out The Long Tail on Amazon

SaaS as a software business model lowers the delivering and supporting each incremental copy of software licence to virtually zero, enabling the vendor to sell at a lower cost to a large number of customers.

Note:

Good broadband connections at home and office, low costs, reliability, and highly usable applications have made it easier and cheaper to rent software and work on the Web rather than buy and work on the desktop. Corrolarily, where conditions in terms of Internet connectivity or security are not ideal, it may not be recommended to rely on the cloud.

A real scenario

As a business worker, I probably represent a typical cloud user.

In my day job, I am alerted to a story to work on by my boss located half a world away via an Instant Messaging application. I write my article and host it on Google Docs to share with my colleague for feedback. After clarifying a few points with her on Skype, I publish it on a Web content management system.

It?s now time to send a newsletter to my Web magazine?s subscribers. I quickly log on to an outsourced on-demand e-mail service provider, create the newsletter content but use a template that?s already hosted in my account, pick the updated-to-the-minute mailing list of subscribers and click to send. I pay them by the number of subscribers in my list but I could have paid as well by number of e-mails sent.

Before heading home, I log-in to my hosted project management software to check the status of current projects, updated it and shared a file with a colleague.

Back home, I checked the e-mails received in my personal Web based account at Hotmail (nothing new but this was probably the earliest conquest of the Web), check my POP e-mail at Google Apps, a few of which are invitations to become Linkedin connections.

I access Linkedin and Facebook, accept those connections and friends requests to add to my social network, browsed others? updates on their profiles, had a glance at Twitter to know what friends are doing and pushed my own update.

Let?s look at Web enabled but human-driven services too. Before going to sleep, I access eLance to post an RFP for a small assignment to which I am sure to receive several bids on, when I wake up in the morning.

I also give a task to my freelance Web assistant on Support Resort who is located 5 hours behind my time, so when I get up in the morning, I would find the task ready in my e-mail that I can look at on my way to work on my iPhone.

Let?s see how we can make the above scenario, and much more, happen today for you.

Here is a comprehensive list of business applications and resources that are:

• free and paid;
• at enterprise level, small business level and individual level; and
• in a range of business areas.

Communication ? E-mail, Instant Messaging and calendar

Let?s start this discussion with e-mail. Today, Web based e-mail services provide huge storage going up to 6 GB. E-mails can be accessed from anywhere. You can sort, search and organise your e-mails, all for free.

There is more. You are now no longer restricted to the e-mail domain of a service provider like Yahoo or Hotmail in your e-mail address.

You can set up your POP mail in Google Apps and use all the advanced features of Gmail as an e-mail reader to manage your e-mail. You can maintain several POP e-mails in addition to your Gmail account through the same Gmail interface. The inbox messages are identified by the e-mail account they are in and you can choose the account from which to send your new messages.

As an example, I check e-mails on my editor@webbusinessage.com account at the same time as those arriving at my hzaheer@gmail.com account in a single access. When sending e-mails, I can choose which account to send it from.

To set up POP e-mails on Gmail, you need to set forwarding options and authenticate your ownership of that e-mail account.

Free Web based e-mail, IM and calendar for individual use

Most of the free e-mail services are bundled with an instant messaging and calendar with the same log-in id. These have basic facilities such as maintaining contact lists, search, some storage space, forwarding to another account, holiday / out-of-office message. These free services are:

Hosted POP3 e-mail account

Web based e-mail accounts that allow you to have a personalised address (such as your name@yourcompany.com) and POP and mail forwarding plus search within e-mails, storage space, contact lists and integrated Google Talk to communicate with voice or text.

Office applications ? Word processing, spreadsheets, presentations

Applications that let you create, edit and share your online documents, spreadsheets and presentations have templates to build your own documents. You can share your documents with specified colleagues or with anyone whom you can send a link viz., public sharing.

What about all your existing documents written in proprietary formats? Most of these services promise that these can load all of your existing Microsoft Word documents.

What about spreadsheets? Zoho Sheets claims you can import your Excel sheet, then export it back to Excel, or copy-paste from Excel, and can use advanced features of Macros and Pivot tables. Google Docs has a spreadsheet too.

Presentations look nice and professional on Zoho Show and Google Docs , almost as good as the presentation you create on your laptop using Microsoft PowerPoint. The good news is, you don?t have to attach it to an e-mail to share it around. You can just send a link instead. Or share it on Slideshare.

Meeting and Conferencing

Move your meetings to the Web, share desktop, conduct demos, and collaborate in real time with web conferencing solutions.

• Webex? for Web meetings, webinars, online events, selling and e-learning
• GotoWebinar Web meetings, webinars, online events, selling and e-learning
• Skype for free online chat via text or voice.
• Yugma web conferencing
• Campfire for team collaboration with real time chat.

Collaboration

Calendar and collaboration applications help you:

• organise your schedule
• same application
• synchronise your plans with theirs
• share your own events and get reminders and alerts.

A few collaboration options:

Wikis are simple Web sites that you create for a project, a business, even a family or an event to collect all information in one place, and share with group members while still controlling who can view or edit the website. Check out Google Sites which enables you to create rich Web pages, collect all your information in one place and control who can view and edit the page.

Project management

So, you are running a business and need project management software? There are easy-to-use applications that are elegant and thoughtful and all run from the Web.

CRM (Customer relationship management)

CRM for business of all sizes via SaaS has been pioneered and perfected by Salesforce. It enables sales force automation, marketing automation, customer service and support, and partner relationship management.

ERP

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solutions are enterprise level applications that straddle and connect data and functions of different areas of an enterprise ? human resources, finance, operations, accounting etc. These solutions are offered as modules individually and in groups. On-demand applications are especially useful for companies that operate in multiple locations and countries.

HRMS (Human resources management system)

On-demand applications to manage payroll and human capital are listed here. Some of these are part of a large ERP solution but is also offered as a module.

Accounting

• Saasu is a completely Web based business accounting application.
• PocketSmith is a personal cash flow management application.
• Mint is a personal money management application.

Applications to manage finance need to be customised for your location and need extensive work with the vendor.

• NetSuite
• Coda financial management software integrated with Salesforce
• Freshbooks online time tracking and invoicing for consultants and small business

Enterprise computing and storage

Web enabled outsourcing services and marketplaces

These applications are not technically Web services but these interactions take place (and benefits delivered) via the Web. Freelance services enable you to post projects and tasks and let freelancers bid on completing the projects. You can view their profiles and past work, ask questions, enter into contracts and interact through the Web site.

Content management system and landing pages

Web content management systems (CMS) help place Web site management in the hands of end-users ? the writers and journalists. This leads to easier, quicker and better updates and management.

• Sitemasher is a complete Web site solution with a Web site builder, content management, analytics, SEO and managed hosting all on one platform.
• Mongoose Web Publishing system in Australia.
• Clickability for enterprise level Web content management with social media, built-in analytics, management of campaigns, multiple Web sites and workflow and multi-lingual capability.
• CrownPeak for Web content management
• Lyris Hot Banana Web content management for marketing.
• Valtira helps generate custom landing pages, add personalisation and build Web sites.
• PageVester to create, publish and optimize landing pages.

Blogging and content sharing

• WordPress.com free blogs on hosted WordPress platform.
• Blogger free hosted blogs
• OM4Business for hosted and supported blog with your own domain name. This is a paid service.
• Blips video blogging, podcasting and video sharing.
• Blog Talk Radio Radio network to host your own online talk show.
• Feed Burner to distribute your blog and RSS feeds
• Delicious to store and share bookmarks
• Slideshare to store and share presentations
• Flickr to store and share photos
• Youtube to store and share video

Marketing and lead generation

A B2B marketing systems such as StrategyMix help you manage your relationship with prospects, engage with them by sending and presenting the right content at different stages of their life-cycle.

• StrategyMix helps a B2B company manage the process of buyer?s journey through the sales cycle.
• HubSpot is a B2B inbound marketing system.

Surveys and market research

Online Advertising

Online advertising, especially search marketing is growing rapidly. It is naturally offered online. On Google AdWords, you can register to create an account, select targets ? keywords or Web sites, write ads, specify bid amount that you will pay if your ads are clicked and manage your search marketing account completely online. Campaign and bid management tools help manage these campaigns in bulk.

• Google Adwords to advertise on the most popular search engine and its network of search engines and content sites.
• Google Maps to find local business and local advertising
• Yahoo! Search Marketing to advertise on Yahoo! and its network.
• Adapt Pay-per-click campaign management tool

E-mail service providers

Hosted outsourced providers enable you to manage contact lists, promote your newsletter, add to mailing list via subscription boxes, create, send and track e-mails.

Web analytics

On-site analytics tools measure the visitor?s once on the Web site including its drivers and conversions to measure the performance of the Web site in commercial terms.

Integrating social media and widgets

• Kickapps to integrate social and media applications into a website
• WidgetBox to make widgets and integrate into your Web site
• SocialTwist?s Tell-a-friend , is a widget to help visitors of your Web site share it ? e-mail, bookmark, IM, blog and social media.
• Google Friend Connect to add social features to your Web site
• Sharethis is a widget to help visitors of your Web site share it ? e-mail, bookmark, IM, blog and social media.
• Addthis is a widget to help visitors of your Web site share it ? e-mail, bookmark, IM, blog and social media.

Building a hosted social networking Web site of your own

• Ning enables you to create your own hosted social network.
• Collectivex to build free group sites.
• Team Task is a group collaboration site to build and host community oriented Web sites with discussion forums, calendar, wiki and blogs.

Building a social network on common social networks

• Linkedin is a global professional social network.
• Zaabiz is an Australian and Indian professional network
• Twitter is social networking by short messaging service that answers the question ?What are you doing??
• Facebook is increasingly used by professionals.

Conclusion

With a range of easy and simple Web based methods to create, share, interact and collaborate in building plans, documents, sheets, presentations, schedules, knowledge, content and Web properties, there is no excuse to delay that project you always wanted to execute or build upon the idea using a multi-national team.

In fact, these tools enable your small business to act like a multi-national company, with software developers in India, marketing manager in Sydney and subject matter? specialists in China, Brazil, USA or wherever. And business applications, when hosted on the cloud enable the team to access any document from anywhere.

With SaaS, you?d just walk to the nearest computer, log-in to your account in the cloud, work on your documents, schedules, e-mails, chat, Web and log-off. Your employer or business would not buy licences with huge upfront costs. Rather, you or they would pay per-user per-month or may be even per-use.

I have shown you a tip of the SaaS, on-demand and cloud applications. This was only a glimpse into the new models being tested, built and that are being used by a increasingly large number of users. Welcome in the clouds and good luck!

Resources

Video on cloud computing

Mike Walsh on why Web services are changing the way we work

Please fill the form below to download your e-book right away.

If you found this e-book useful, please share this page with your friends and colleagues.

Please help us develop this into Internet?s most comprehensive directory of cloud resources by suggesting your text or directory items in comments. We will include it in the main text after going through the entries.

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Source: http://www.simplogy.com/2013/05/cloud-business/

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Photonic quantum computers: A brighter future than ever

May 13, 2013 ? Harnessing the unique features of the quantum world promises a dramatic speed-up in information processing as compared to the fastest classical machines. Scientists from the Group of Philip Walther from the Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna succeeded in prototyping a new and highly resource efficient model of a quantum computer -- the boson sampling computer.

The results will be published in the upcoming issue of the scientific journal Nature Photonics.

Quantum computers work by manipulating quantum objects as, for example, individual photons, electrons or atoms and by harnessing the unique quantum features. Not only do quantum computers promise a dramatic increase in speed over classical computers in a variety of computational tasks; they are designed to complete tasks that even a supercomputer would not be able to handle. Although, in recent years, there has been a rapid development in quantum technology the realization of a full-sized quantum computer is still very challenging. While it is still an exciting open question which architecture and quantum objects will finally lead to the outperformance of conventional supercomputers, current experiments show that some quantum objects are better suited than others for particular computational tasks.

The computational power of photons

The huge advantage of photons -- a particular type of bosons -- lies in their high mobility. The research team from the University of Vienna in collaboration with scientist from the University of Jena (Germany) has recently realized a so-called boson sampling computer that utilizes precisely this feature of photons. They inserted photons into a complex optical network where they could propagate along many different paths. "According to the laws of quantum physics, the photons seem to take all possible paths at the same time. This is known as superposition. Amazingly, one can record the outcome of the computation rather trivially: one measures how many photons exit in which output of the network," explains Philip Walther from the Faculty of Physics.

How to beat a supercomputer

A classical computer relies on an exact description of the optical network to calculate the propagation of the photons through this circuit. For a few dozen photons and an optical network with merely a hundred inputs and outputs, even today's fastest classical supercomputer is unable to calculate the propagation of the photons. However, for a boson sampling computer this ambitious task is within reach. The researchers met the challenge and built their prototype based on a theoretical proposal by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA). "It is crucial to verify the operation of a boson-sampling computer by comparing its outcome with the predictions of quantum physics. Ironically, this test can only be performed on a classical computer. Fortunately, for small enough systems classical computers are still able to accomplish this," as Max Tillmann, first author of the publication, points out. Thus, the researchers successfully showed that their realization of the boson-sampling computer works with high precision. These encouraging results may lead the way to the first outperformance of classical computers in the not-so-far future.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/physics/~3/88QdRx7j5Xc/130513103803.htm

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Study questions if bed rest prevents prematurity

In this undated family photo, Sandy Lutton of McLean, Va., sits with her three children, twins Lilly and Luke and their older brother Jack, right. Lilly and Luke were born after Lutton spent 18 weeks of her pregnancy on strict bed rest. Research is raising new concern about the value of bed rest in preventing premature birth, and some specialists are urging strict clinical trials to settle the questions. (AP Photo)

In this undated family photo, Sandy Lutton of McLean, Va., sits with her three children, twins Lilly and Luke and their older brother Jack, right. Lilly and Luke were born after Lutton spent 18 weeks of her pregnancy on strict bed rest. Research is raising new concern about the value of bed rest in preventing premature birth, and some specialists are urging strict clinical trials to settle the questions. (AP Photo)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? New research is raising fresh concern that an age-old treatment for troubled pregnancies ? bed rest ? doesn't seem to prevent premature birth, and might even worsen that risk.

Doctors have known for years that there's no good evidence that bed rest offers any benefit for certain pregnancy complications, and it can cause side effects in the mother, not to mention emotional and financial strain. Yet estimates suggest nearly 1 in 5 moms-to-be is told to cut her activity ? ranging from quitting work to actually staying in bed all day ? at some point during pregnancy.

Now, spurred by the latest study, some specialists are issuing a call for strict studies to finally settle the controversy ? and until then, for doctors not to assume that a prescription to take it easy can't hurt.

"Bed rest is misperceived as an inexpensive, innocuous, logical recommendation," Dr. Joseph Biggio Jr. of the University of Alabama at Birmingham wrote in the latest issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology, a journal read by thousands of OB-GYNs.

In a separate review of past studies that failed to support bed rest, a trio of obstetricians and ethicists at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, went a step farther: They said it's not ethical to keep prescribing bed rest unless the women are enrolled in a research study, like they are for other unproven treatments.

So why is rest prescribed so often? There aren't a lot of good treatments to prevent prematurity and other problems.

"Patients want you to do something, and physicians want to do something," explained Dr. Catherine Spong, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at the National Institutes of Health who co-authored the latest research.

Spong and colleagues took a closer look at a study of treatments for women at risk of premature birth because of an increasingly diagnosed complication called a short cervix. Bed rest is a broad term that doesn't just mean staying in bed all the time ? and during that treatment study, doctors were free to decide if the participants also should restrict their activities, essentially offering a real-world test of the effects. The prescriptions ranged from no sexual activity, to partial or complete work restrictions, to complete restriction of non-work activity as well.

Nearly 40 percent of the 646 pregnant women enrolled in the study were prescribed some type of activity restriction in the second or third trimester. Most were told to restrict all three types of activity ? sexual, work and non-work ? what's usually considered bed rest.

The surprise: Some 37 percent of women who took the precautions had a premature baby, compared with just 17 percent of the women who didn't scale back, the researchers report in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

"The data suggests that bed rest does not prevent preterm birth in this high-risk population, but it doesn't definitively answer that question," cautioned Spong. She wants to see a more strict study ? the kind that randomly assigns women to rest or not ? to prove if there's a difference.

The study also raises questions about harm, although the women who rested merely may have been at higher risk for a preemie. They were older and had somewhat more serious cervical complications. But the researchers pointed to other studies that link bed rest to increased stress and anxiety, both of which are associated with prematurity and smaller babies.

Plus, bed rest is well known to increase a mother's risk of a dangerous blood clot, as well as side effects including bone and muscle loss.

Interestingly, the new study found those who rested were more likely to have private insurance, raising questions about the influence of social rather than medical factors.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says bed rest shouldn't be "routinely recommended" for prevention of preterm birth. And women face a tough decision when their doctors do bring it up.

Sandy Lutton spent the last 18 weeks of her pregnancy lying flat in bed, forbidden even to prop up with her laptop, hoping it would prevent her twins from being born too soon.

"I'm not going to sugarcoat it, it was stressful," said the McLean, Va., woman, whose twins, now 2, were born healthy. "I had a lot of time to sit and worry."

Her first son had been born on time, but she'd lost a second baby due to a weak cervix. With the twins, her doctors stitched her cervix closed and recommended strict bed rest, while making it clear there was no proof it would make a difference. Lutton bombarded them with questions, but eventually decided she had to try. Ultrasound exams showed her cervix stayed fine until doctors removed the stitch and delivered her babies; she even cheated with a little extra movement on exam days.

Amid the uncertainty, March of Dimes medical adviser Dr. Siobhan Dolan said women shouldn't hesitate to ask their doctors about the pros and cons of restricting activity.

"Sometimes you feel less regret if you did something even though it didn't change the outcome," acknowledged Dolan, who herself has prescribed bed rest less often in recent years.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2013-05-13-US-MED-HealthBeat-Pregnancy-Rest/id-b3455b175ba645e6841f4b204daed908

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To suppress or to explore? Emotional strategy may influence anxiety

May 13, 2013 ? When trouble approaches, what do you do? Run for the hills? Hide? Pretend it isn't there? Or do you focus on the promise of rain in those looming dark clouds?

New research suggests that the way you regulate your emotions, in bad times and in good, can influence whether -- or how much -- you suffer from anxiety.

The study appears in the journal Emotion.

In a series of questionnaires, researchers asked 179 healthy men and women how they managed their emotions and how anxious they felt in various situations. The team analyzed the results to see if different emotional strategies were associated with more or less anxiety.

The study revealed that those who engage in an emotional regulation strategy called reappraisal tended to also have less social anxiety and less anxiety in general than those who avoid expressing their feelings. Reappraisal involves looking at a problem in a new way, said University of Illinois graduate student Nicole Llewellyn, who led the research with psychology professor Florin Dolcos, an affiliate of the Beckman Institute at Illinois.

"When something happens, you think about it in a more positive light, a glass half full instead of half empty," Llewellyn said. "You sort of reframe and reappraise what's happened and think what are the positives about this? What are the ways I can look at this and think of it as a stimulating challenge rather than a problem?"

Study participants who regularly used this approach reported less severe anxiety than those who tended to suppress their emotions.

Anxiety disorders are a major public health problem in the U.S. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, roughly 18 percent of the U.S. adult population is afflicted with general or social anxiety that is so intense that it warrants a diagnosis.

"The World Health Organization predicts that by 2020, anxiety and depression -which tend to co-occur -- will be among the most prevalent causes of disability worldwide, secondary only to cardiovascular disease," Dolcos said. "So it's associated with big costs."

Not all anxiety is bad, however, he said. Low-level anxiety may help you maintain the kind of focus that gets things done. Suppressing or putting a lid on your emotions also can be a good strategy in a short-term situation, such as when your boss yells at you, Dolcos said. Similarly, an always-positive attitude can be dangerous, causing a person to ignore health problems, for example, or to engage in risky behavior.

Previous studies had found that people who were temperamentally inclined to focus on making good things happen were less likely to suffer from anxiety than those who focused on preventing bad things from happening, Llewellyn said. But she could find no earlier research that explained how this difference in focus translated to behaviors that people could change. The new study appears to explain the strategies that contribute to a person having more or less anxiety, she said.

"This is something you can change," she said. "You can't do much to affect the genetic or environmental factors that contribute to anxiety. But you can change your emotion regulation strategies."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/kBfZE399dDI/130513083314.htm

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How the Smithsonian is 3D-Scanning Its Entire Collection

The Smithsonian's been a fan of 3D scanning and printing for some time, but now it's decided to use lasers to preserve its entire collection for future generations.

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Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Yr7Evie6uJE/how-the-smithsonian-is-3d-scanning-its-entire-collectio-505300558

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Senators to debate immigration bill amendment on foreign students (Washington Post)

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