The RIM PlayBook by just received a developers update that adds some interesting new Android functionality to RIM’s tablet. This new version now supports Android apps running in their own windows, improving compatibility with the general Android app universe. From Crackberry: Improved HTML5 support Portrait support for Email, Calendar and Contacts Improved folder support including IMAP folder support Full device encryption is now supported, so that the whole device and personal partition can be secure. Screenshots are now saved in lossless PNG format. Each Android app will now run in its own window. This greatly improves the user experience and consistency among the other application runtimes. Access to the Camera hardware is now supported for Android apps, allowing many more application types to work on the BlackBerry? PlayBook? tablet. In-App Payment is now supported through the BlackBerry Payment SDK, so Android applications can include virtual items for sale in their applications. This version is butting up against the incoming BB10 OS that will soon appear on phones and tablets, but, as the Verge notes, the BB10 PlayBook should be able to run apps written for previous OS versions. Oddly, this version seems like a bit of a dead end but it’s nice to see Android functionality getting fleshed out more concretely. via RIM
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LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Homes in some stage of the foreclosure process saw their share of overall U.S. home sales grow in the first quarter even as sales of bank-owned homes fell.
The increase was driven by a spike in short sales, or homes that sell for less than what the owner owed on their mortgage, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.
Short sales make up the vast majority of homes sold while still in the foreclosure process. Those that aren't sold or auctioned off typically end up being repossessed by banks, what most people commonly think of as foreclosures.
In the first quarter, short sales grew 25 percent from a year earlier, hitting a three-year high. In contrast, sales of bank-owned properties declined 15 percent versus the first three months of last year, the firm said.
The trend indicates a greater likelihood that home prices will continue to soften, as foreclosures and short sales typically sell at sharp discounts to other homes.
It also suggests a shift in the way lenders handle mortgages that have gone unpaid.
Lenders may be favoring short sales versus waiting for troubled loans to go through the foreclosure process to take back the homes securing the loan, said Daren Blomquist, a vice president at RealtyTrac.
"A short sale is a safer alternative to avoid any potential problems that they face because of the way they're processing foreclosures," Blomquist said.
Last year, mortgage lenders grappled with allegations that they had been processing foreclosures without verifying documents. The pace of foreclosures slowed sharply as the nation's biggest mortgage lenders worked to hammer out a settlement with state and federal officials.
They reached a $25 billion settlement in February, clearing the way for banks to take action on unpaid mortgages.
All told, 233,299 bank-owned homes or those in some stage of foreclosure sold in the first quarter, making up 26 percent of all U.S. home sales in the period, the firm said.
That's the highest percentage of overall sales since the figure hit 28 percent in the third quarter of 2010, before the foreclosure abuse claims against mortgage lenders surfaced.
Foreclosure sales made up 22 percent of all sales in the last three months of 2011 and one-fourth in the first quarter a year ago.
As of end of April, there were 637,668 bank-owned homes yet to be sold, representing a 17-month supply, Blomquist said. Another 722,467 were in some stage of the foreclosure process.
Sales of all previously occupied homes jumped in January to the highest pace in nearly two years, but declined slightly the next two months. Sales rose 3.4 percent in April from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.62 million, according to the National Association of Realtors. That nearly matched January's pace of 4.63 million, but was below the nearly 6 million that most economists equate with healthy markets.
While rising, the share of foreclosure sales remains well below its first-quarter 2009 peak of 45 percent of all sales. They comprised less than 1 percent of all sales in 2005, at the height of the housing boom.
More foreclosure sales also means potentially more pain for homeowners, who could see the value of their homes erode further as neighboring foreclosures sell.
Combined, bank-owned homes and those still in the foreclosure process sold for an average of $161,214 in the first quarter. That's down 1 percent from the fourth quarter of last year and down 2 percent from the first quarter of 2011.
Compared to non-foreclosure homes, the average price of a foreclosure sale was 27 percent below the average sales price of a home not in foreclosure or owned by a bank during the quarter. That discount is unchanged from the fourth quarter last year, but is down from a discount of 29 percent in the first quarter of 2011.
Two of the most relevant Labor Codes to workers? compensation are Division 4 and Division 1. Division 4 is titled ?Workers? Compensation and Insurance?.
It covers anything relating to workers? compensation claims, proceedings, and operations of a compensation case.
Division 1 is titled ?Department of Industrial Relations? and covers more of the administration side with topics such as claims adjusters, medical examiners, privacy, and returning to work programs.
Assuring your customers that your website is secure will bring you more business. Always make sure that their security is a priority with you so that they will see you as a trusted source to work with.
Descriptive and eloquent words are important to enhance the professionalism on your site. Adjectives and adverbs can be great tools to use in order to pique the interest of your audience. Don?t rely on the same adjective and phrases that your competitors use because creative descriptions will help you stand out. Tempt them to visit again to find out what you will say next.
Make a page on some of the social networking sites. Make sure, however, that you do not send information to people who didn?t request it; this can quickly turn off potential customers.
Remember every detail when it comes to each page on your site. Put your site?s title in the upper right corner of all pages, and include a short description of what your site is about. Customers may have several tabs or pages open, and they need to see easily which site they?re on at any given time.
For increasing user satisfaction with your business online, try making a FAQ page for your site. You can make your customers feel more comfortable and increase sales by answering their questions right away. The big benefit is for your customers because if they understand your website, they are more likely to buy from you.
To help your online business have a bigger customer base when you are Internet marketing, try social media sites. Set up a fan page on Facebook so that your customers can leave feedback, get news, and connect with each other. This can dramatically increase your online visibility. You can easily chat informally with all your customers using your Twitter account.
Your competition is an important factor. Find out what is working for them and what isn?t, and keep track of their strategies. There is a lot to learn from other people?s actions. This can help your business more forward and not repeat any mistakes that others have made.
You can develop your website to look and feel more like a social gathering or club than a business website. This will keep customers coming back, rather than visiting once and leaving immediately. This also keeps your website front and center in peoples? minds. Providing free graphics for people to use on their own websites will increase your visibility and give you free advertising.
Email marketing is an important, beneficial tool. It is important to protect your emails. Try to use a service that saves all of your old emails so that you can keep dialogues with your customers. You might try finding separate email archiving solutions, especially if your business involves sensitive material being communicated between customers or consultants using email.
You now know that Internet marketing is the key to attaining new customers. It is also an excellent way to retain the customers you already have. It allows communication between customers and the business in a way that was never before possible. Implement what you?ve learned from this article, and start a rewarding Internet marketing journey.
An anonymous reader writes "The BBC has an article about scientists at NASA who believe that they have found a new test that can detect osteoporosis earlier than existing tests. Their test involved having healthy volunteers confined to bed rest for 30 days; 'the technique was able to detect bone loss after as little as one week of bed rest.' Bone loss is an issue for astronauts as well as people affected by osteoporosis. They expect this test will help detect bone loss as a symptom of osteoporosis, but have not yet done a trial to confirm this. This is another point against anyone who claims NASA, and going to space in general, is a complete waste of money."
Robbery, as other crimes against business, is most often a crime of opportunity.?But, according to the Boston Police Department, there are extra precautions you can take to keep the bad guys at bay.
To prevent a robbery:
Don?t put any signs or posters on your front doors and windows to ensure you have good two-way visibility. That way your employees can see any people who are acting suspiciously outside and passers-by can see what?s going on inside;
Be sure the outside of your business is well lit at night;
Use video surveillance and post a sign letting people know you use it. Use cameras and/or mirrors so you can observe your entire store;
Greet everyone who enters your business. Pay close attention to people pretending to be customers. These individuals will be loitering or glancing around your store while they pretend to shop or browse through magazines;
If you see something suspicious report it to the police. Your local police department?may have knowledge of other robberies that are similar to what you?re reporting;
Be sure to lock your side and back doors. If it?s possible, ask your employees to use the main entrance;
Place markers at the entrance that employees can use to help determine the height of a robber as he leaves;
Make bank deposits as often as possible, but at least once a day.
The Boston Police Department also has some tips to keep you safe during a robbery:
Try to stay calm;
Don?t make any sudden movements to upset the robber;
Do as exactly what the robber tells you to do. Don?t resist;
Try to get a good look at the robber so that you can describe him to police later;
Notice the direction the robber traveled when he left your store;
If you can do it without putting yourself in danger, try and get a description of the robber?s vehicle.
After the robbery:
Call the police immediately after the robbery, even if you?ve already activated your alarm;
Go outside when the police arrive so they?ll know the robber has left and you?re safe;
Don?t touch anything that the robber may have touched so police can identify his fingerprints;
Ask any witnesses to stay or get their names and telephone numbers so police can contact them;
Don?t tell anyone except the police how much money was taken.
Remember, no business is too small for a business security system. Today, a good business security system should include a business video surveillance system, which can send out digital alerts to automatically notify the authorities as soon as suspicious behavior is detected in or around your business. And that means police officers and private security guards are often able to catch those bad guys before they do any damage.
In the words of Ben Franklin, ?An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.?
Flame is something new in cyberwar, experts say. It can take screenshots and record audio on infected computers. The malware was almost certainly made by a nation-state.
By Mark Clayton,?Staff writer / May 29, 2012
A cyber warfare expert holds a notebook computer while posing for a portrait in Charlotte in this December 2011 file photo. A United Nations agency charged with helping member nations secure their national infrastructures plans to issue a sharp warning about the risk of the Flame virus that was recently discovered in Iran and other parts of the Middle East.
John Adkisson/Reuters/Files
Enlarge
Stuxnet move over. Cybersecurity researchers on Monday announced the discovery of Flame,?a piece of malicious software that one firm has called "arguably ...?the most complex malware ever found."
At this early stage of analysis, only a few of Flame's functions are understood,?reports Kaspersky Lab, the Boston-based cybersecurity company that uncovered it.?Because of Flame's size and complexity, it could take years to unpack completely what the program can ? and has ? done, experts add.
From what is known now, however, Flame can spread?via a USB drive, a Bluetooth device, or other machines on a network. In affected machines, it can wait?for certain software programs of interest to run, then take screenshots, turn on the internal microphone to record conversations, and intercept e-mail, chats, or other network traffic. It can package these data, encrypt them, and send them off to designated command-and-control computers worldwide.
"It pretty much redefines the notion of cyberwar and cyberespionage," writes Alexander Gostev, head Kaspersky's Global Research and Analysis Team, in his blog.
Kaspersky found that Flame has been snaking through computer networks ? predominantly in the Middle East ? for at least the past two years, but possibly longer. The way it works and what it does suggests that Flame was made by a nation-state, experts say, and only?four candidates have the technical know-how to create such software: the US, Russia, China, and Israel.?
"Flame can easily be described as one of the most complex threats ever discovered," writes Mr. Gostev. "It?s big and incredibly sophisticated."
In fact, at 20 megabytes, Flame is?about 20 times bigger than the Stuxnet digital weapon that wreaked havoc on Iran's nuclear centrifuge fuel-enrichment program around 2009.
Like Stuxnet, Flame has been deposited ? nobody knows just how ? on a few thousand computers across the Mideast, meaning that it is highly targeted.?Stuxnet's key flaw was that it spread far too broadly ? to an estimated 100,000 machines around the world and blew its cover as a result. Flame's creators ? apparently some government with a keen interest in Iran, the Palestinian West Bank, Hungary, and Lebanon ? may have tried to learn from that misstep.
While Flame's internal structure allows it to spread via a USB drive, Bluetooth device, or network, it is programmed to prevent spreading indiscriminately.
"While its features are different [from Stuxnet], the geography and careful targeting of attacks coupled with the usage of specific software vulnerabilities seems to put it alongside those familiar ?super-weapons? currently deployed in the Middle East by unknown perpetrators," Gostev writes.
The Roots of acupuncture and Amazing benefits To Great Health
The documented heritage of China clearly demonstrates how acupuncture was developed there thousands of years ago. Even so it wasn?t until some time ago, Maybe couple of hundreds years, That this mode of the treatment plan made its way into Europe. It took until around the twenty first century before acupuncture received popular natural beauty in the US and additional countries. The situation now is that a lot of study has been performed. The ancient and modern Chinese texts assert that quite a few types of ailments are treated. Though, It is still highly advised that you talk to your family doctor prior to acupuncture. Just as a broad summary, There are specified meridian lines by the body processes which are the areas for the points. Meridians are situated all over the body, And the number of them is perhaps hundreds of. The meridians are energy channels elsewhere in your system, And the right flow of energy must be existing for optimum health and fitness and vigor. The action of the acupuncture needles is to clean the obstacle to energy flow and restore well-being and health. Discomfort caused by other ailments can be reduced utilizing the same basis. truly, You can find an excessive amount of people who regularly receive this treatment for pain control. But you can find known circumstances such as help with stress connected headaches as a result of tension. Migraines are a typical problem that runners use acupuncture for, And they which effective treatment can occur. This operation can be very safe but only when treated by someone who is properly trained with the right qualifications. Apparently there may perhaps be some side effects with some types of problems, But the best path to take is ask a quality professional acupuncture therapist.
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Bruce Walker, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, M.I.T. and Harvard, talks about his article in the July issue of Scientific American magazine called "Controlling HIV," about rare individuals who never develop AIDS after being infected by the virus
May 29, 2012?|
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Bruce Walker, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, M.I.T. and Harvard, talks about his article in the July issue of Scientific American magazine called "Controlling HIV," about rare individuals who never develop AIDS after being infected by the virus.??
When you travel to Canada, you need to ensure that you have travel insurance canada. This visitors to canada medical insurance is a necessary addition to your travel expenses. If you are injured or ill during your travels, it?s very possible that you won?t find a doctor or hospital that accepts your medical insurance. What?s more, they may require you to pay for your treatments in advance, prior to giving you the treatment that you need. If you?re in this situation, can you afford to pay for your own medical bills? If the answer is no, then you need to make other arrangement.
You have several options when it comes to visitors to canada health insurance. If you?re traveling to Canada on business, you can choose something like critical care travel insurance. This insurance will cover you in the event something major happens such as a serious illness or a major accident. You can also choose full medical coverage that will cover anything from the sniffles to a heart attack and everything in between.
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This undated photograph made available by ecologist Nikki Gammans shows a short haired bee on red clover in New Zealand. They've been away but now they are -- hopefully -- buzzing back to their rightful place in the bucolic British countryside. Around 50 short-haired bees were released into an English nature reserve Monday May 28, 2012, some two decades after they were wipe out from most of rural Britain. The reintroduction plan has been supported by farmers who have agreed to grow flowers and plants that help bees flourish. 'Our farmland always used to have wild flower borders. We are just asking farmers to go back to the way things were and the response has been overwhelmingly positive,'? ecologist Nikki Gammans told the Associated Press. (AP Photo/Nikki Gammans, HO)
This undated photograph made available by ecologist Nikki Gammans shows a short haired bee on red clover in New Zealand. They've been away but now they are -- hopefully -- buzzing back to their rightful place in the bucolic British countryside. Around 50 short-haired bees were released into an English nature reserve Monday May 28, 2012, some two decades after they were wipe out from most of rural Britain. The reintroduction plan has been supported by farmers who have agreed to grow flowers and plants that help bees flourish. 'Our farmland always used to have wild flower borders. We are just asking farmers to go back to the way things were and the response has been overwhelmingly positive,'? ecologist Nikki Gammans told the Associated Press. (AP Photo/Nikki Gammans, HO)
This undated photograph made available by ecologist Nikki Gammans shows Gammans collecting bees in a field in Sweden. They've been away but now they are -- hopefully -- buzzing back to their rightful place in the bucolic British countryside. Around 50 short-haired bees were released into an English nature reserve Monday May 28, 2012, some two decades after they were wipe out from most of rural Britain. The reintroduction plan has been supported by farmers who have agreed to grow flowers and plants that help bees flourish. 'Our farmland always used to have wild flower borders. We are just asking farmers to go back to the way things were and the response has been overwhelmingly positive,'? ecologist Nikki Gammans told the Associated Press. (AP Photo/Nikki Gammans, HO)
LONDON (AP) ? They've been away, but now they are ? hopefully ?buzzing back to their rightful place in the bucolic British countryside.
Around 50 short-haired bees were released into an English nature reserve Monday, some two decades after they were wiped out from most of rural Britain. Ecologists hope that with the support of farmers who have agreed to grow flowers and plants that help bees flourish they will zip across the country again.
"Our farmland always used to have wild flower borders. We are just asking farmers to go back to the way things were and the response has been overwhelmingly positive," Nikki Gammans, who is leading the ambitious project, told The Associated Press.
The population of short-haired bees ? scientific name Bombus subterraneus ? has declined dramatically across most of Europe the last two decades as their habitat was destroyed. The bees were declared extinct in Britain 12 years ago.
But they survived in Skane, southern Sweden and three years ago Natural England, a conservation program that advises the UK government, launched a program to bring the bees back into the wild along with the Royal Society for Protection of Birds, Bumblebee Conservation Trust and ecology research group Hymettus.
Natural England gave farmers grants to plant flower-rich hay meadows on their land and border their fields with wildflowers to attract bees. Once the wildflowers were in place, Gammans collected nearly a hundred bees from Sweden, and held them in quarantine while screening them for parasites.
The 51 that made it through the screening process were released into the wild Monday in a nature reserve in Dungeness, Kent in southeast England, filled with wild flowers such as red clover, white dead nettle, yellow flag and tufted vetches.
"There are corridors of wild flowers all over the country so we really hope the bees will be able to spread out and thrive in the English countryside again," Gammans said.
Britain has 250 species of bees, but numbers are falling fast, as they appear to be worldwide.
A U.N. report last year said the world's bee population is likely to continue declining unless habitats are protected. Pesticides, wet weather and a parasite called the varroa mite also are hitting numbers. The U.N. estimates that of the 100 crop species that provide 90 percent of the world's food, more than 70 are pollinated by bees, and therefore the declining bee population could soon hit food supplies.
In Britain, both honey bees and wild bees, like the short-haired bee, are under threat.
"The problem of vanishing bees is a complex one and there is no single solution, but the planting of wildflowers is enormously helpful," said Tim Lovett, a former president of British Bee Keepers Association. "Other people can help too, by planting bee friendly plants like lavender in their garden, and local authorities can plant more trees. We all have to do something because we are all in it together.
The game is over. That game where they get to hire you for 40 years, pay you far less than you create, and then give you a gold watch, and then you get bored, you get depressed, and you die alone. It wasn't that fun of a game anyway. When I had a corporate job I would wake up depressed. I couldn't move out of bed. The sun would be coming in. A cat on the fire escape staring at me through the window. Even it was more excited to be alive than me. And, by the way, I had the best job in the world. I interviewed prostitutes for a living at three in the morning. But they were going to kill me in my cubicle.
PHILADELPHIA ? They were 12 hairy years in Sherman Barton?s life. The Burlington County, N.J., resident worked in military intelligence for the U.S. Army in Germany and Italy from 1972 to 1984, getting shot three separate times while hunting terrorists, he said.
The personal toll was vast, including the loss of two ribs, a part of his lower intestines and some hearing, along with three broken neck vertebrae, ankle stiffness and instability, muscle weakness and depression.
Those injuries earned Barton an honorable discharge and classification by the Department of Veterans Affairs as having ?a 100 percent permanent and total service-connected disability.?
It was a tough-to-take classification for the Edgewater Park resident whose military career was distinguished by his ability to hold up against many physical challenges.
Twenty-six years later ? and after an 18-year second career as a disabled-veterans counselor and special projects coordinator at the Department of Veterans Affairs in Philadelphia ? Barton would see a silver lining in his disability designation: a leg up in competing for federal government contracts as a small-business owner. Or so he thought.
Even with laws and a presidential executive order in place to help steer government work to Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses, or SDVOSBs, Barton said he has found the opportunities maddeningly few and the process for securing such work too slow and unreliable on which to build a business.
He?s on a mission to change that. His primary target is one of the largest Department of Defense purchasing centers in the United States ? Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support in northeast Philadelphia. The center provides more than $14.5 billion annually in food, clothing, textiles, medicines, medical supplies, construction equipment and industrial hardware to troops around the world and others in need.
After two years of emails, calls and near-monthly visits to DLA Troop Support ? including an unauthorized failed attempt in October to see the commander ? Barton?s supply company, VE Source LLC in Shrewsbury, Monmouth County, N.J., which currently is solely focused on getting government work, has secured just one SDVOSB contract. Awarded in March, it is worth $111,420 for 250 portable tents.
?How can you call this trying?? Barton said he has asked officials at DLA more than once.
According to the agency, DLA had 1,045 SDVOSB contracts totaling $62 million in 2010 and 3,780 valued at $48 million last year.
In all, DLA?s small-business contracts totaled $2.4 billion in 2011, or 30.7 percent of the contract dollars eligible for small businesses. The remaining
$5.4 billion in work eligible for small-business awards went, instead, to larger domestic companies. DLA officials said they feel a responsibility to support bigger firms to ensure they will be around at times of heavy need, such as troop deployment.
Barton said he has been assured by DLA officials that more opportunities are coming for small businesses owned by disabled veterans. Those assurances have been accompanied by reminders that the agency must also answer to other mandates, including that it provide work when possible to programs that employ federal prison inmates, and the blind or severely disabled. DLA Troop Support?s contracts to two such primary programs, Federal Prison Industries and AbilityOne, totaled $422 million last year, said spokeswoman Stacey Hajdak.
By law, those programs are given priority over service-disabled veterans and other small-business subsets, such as women-owned and minority-owned firms.
?That?s kind of a delicate balancing act we have to go through,? Michael McCall, director of small business at DLA in Philadelphia, said earlier this month.
?As the (federal) budget shrinks, that balancing act gets more and more difficult because everybody is trying to get their share of the pie.?
Barton, 59, VE Source?s president and majority owner, said he doesn?t begrudge set-asides for other groups. He just wants more action for himself and other disabled veterans trying to forge new careers. Those opportunities are imperative as troops return home from Iraq and Afghanistan to a stingy job market, said Barton, who plans to hire disabled veterans as soon as his company lands some substantial deals.
?With the downsizing of the military, there are going to be more and more veterans like myself trying to start companies because there is no employment for them in the civilian sector,? Barton said last week.
He formed VE Source with two partners in 2010 to take advantage of an executive order issued by President Bush in October 2004 to strengthen opportunities for SDVOSBs. That directive called on the heads of federal agencies to ?more effectively implement? previously adopted SDVOSB initiatives.
They included the Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Act of 1999, which established an annual governmentwide goal of awarding not less than 3 percent in total value of all prime contracts and subcontracts to SDVOSBs.
In December 2003, the Veterans Benefits Act was passed by Congress to build upon the 1999 measure. For instance, it allowed ? but did not require ? federal contracting officers to restrict competition to SDVOSBs and award a sole-source or set-aside contract under certain conditions, such as if it could be done at a fair market price.
In May 2004, the Small Business Administration established a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Concern Program to implement the Veterans Benefits Act, establishing criteria and guidelines.
From Barton?s perspective, it was an encouraging string of initiatives ? until he retired from his Veterans Administration job in December 2009 and ventured into the trying world of entrepreneurship and DLA Troop Support.
The military supply agency would represent little more than tantalizing but unrealized opportunities, Barton said. Take, for example, a $28 million contract for cold-weather jackets for which VE Source submitted a bid to provide in July 2010. Seventeen extensions later, the contract still has not been awarded, Barton said.
?It?s just bad bureaucracy,? he said, adding that few small businesses have the financial wherewithal to endure such a waiting game.
At a closed hearing in December held at Burlington County College in Mount Laurel, one of Barton?s partners, Christopher Neary, told the House Armed Services Committee?s Defense Business Panel that the DLA ?is not doing right by the policy of the executive order for the SDVO small business program or the veterans themselves,? according to a copy of his remarks.
Long before that hearing, deficiencies with the SDVOSB procurement program had apparently registered at DLA headquarters in Fort Belvoir, Va., according to a July 2010 internal memo obtained by The Philadelphia Inquirer. In it, Nancy Heimbaugh, acquisition management director, and Peg Meehan, then-director of the office of small business programs, urged recipients to ?reinvigorate your efforts to increase business opportunities for SDVOSB concerns.?
The memo concluded: ?Our wounded warrior entrepreneurs deserve nothing less.?
At DLA Troop Support in Philadelphia, McCall said he shares that sentiment.
?We have the utmost respect for these people,? he said.
McCall would not discuss why the contract for cold-weather jackets still has not been awarded nearly two years after bids were solicited.
?I can?t go over the issues because it?s an open acquisition,? said McCall, a 30-year veteran of government contracting.
In general, such contracts, especially for large acquisitions, require substantial research, in part to determine if the companies wanting the work are legitimate and can be counted on, and if their costs are in line.
?Our No. 1 priority is we support the warfighter and we do that at a fair and reasonable price,? McCall said. ?We?re stewards of the taxpayer. We want to make sure we spend wisely.?
He acknowledged Barton?s frustrations and did not fault his aggressive efforts to be heard, including the former Army intelligence officer?s unauthorized visit in October to the office of Rear Admiral David F. Baucom, who happened to be out of town.
?The same tenacity they had that served us well in the military, they brought to business,? McCall said of veterans as a whole.
Months later, Baucom took what McCall said was unusual action. He called Barton in February to discuss his complaints about the lack of set-asides for SDVOSBs.
?He assured me that the future would be brighter,? Barton said.
A month later, VE Source got the tent contract, its first sale. McCall said other SDVOSB opportunities are in the pipeline, including a $50 million contract for Navy uniforms, a $20 million deal for body bags, and a $4 million agreement for rifle slings.
?The trend is definitely, well hopefully, going up,? he said.
As the region?s only procurement center representative for the SBA, Ricardo Sacidor keeps pressure on the DLA to provide work for all varieties of small business. He also warns those business owners that dealing with government is far different than the private sector in that ?we don?t have the luxury of making deals because we like you. When you are a contracting officer, you represent the taxpayer.?
Having been a government employee for 30 years, Barton gets that. He just wants improvement.
?I?m not expecting anybody to give me anything,? he said. ?I want the opportunity to compete.?
Residents of Japan may be able to breathe a sigh of relief as the World Health Organisation (WHO) recently announced that radiation levels in most of the country are ?below cancer-causing levels.? It has been 14 months since the earthquake and tsunami in Japan caused a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The damage caused massive radiation leaks and forced the evacuation of thousands of people. At the time, the disaster was said to be worse than Chernobyl, but now the WHO report suggests that the contamination is not as bad as originally supposed.
As expected, areas near the plant still have relatively high levels of radiation, but radiation levels in surrounding regions are close to normal. The report states that two areas,?Namie town and Itate village, which were located near the plant in eastern Japan, were exposed to radiation levels of 10-50 millisieverts (mSv). The rest of Fukushima had radiation levels of 1-10 mSv.
Infants in Namie were thought to have received thyroid radiation doses of between 100 and 200 mSv a year. ?That would be one area because of the estimated high dose that we would have to keep an eye on,? according to WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl. ?Below 100 mSv, the studies have not been conclusive.? Most of Japan has levels of 0.1-1 mSv, while neighbouring countries have less than 0.01 mSv. The report also suggests that radiation levels outside of Japan are ?very small? and below?those regarded by the international radiological protection community as a concern.
To put these radiation levels into perspective, most people are exposed to around 2 mSv of radiation a year from the natural environment. For those working in nuclear plants, the single-year limit for occupational exposure is 50 mSv.?The report states that it has used conservative assumptions, and says some of the levels may have been overestimated so as to avoid any underestimation of the potential danger.
The BBC also reports that a UN scientific committee has announced that several workers at the plant have been ?irradiated after contamination of their skin.???Six workers have died since the accident but none of the deaths were linked to irradiation,? according to a statement based on interim findings by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Radiation (UNSCEAR).
LG unveiled the production version of its revolutionary 55-inch OLED to European dealers and journalists in Monaco this week?against the backdrop of the final preparations for the weekend?s Grand Prix race. The prototype was first seen at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show?in Las Vegas last January.
The company?is targeting the first shipments of the TV ?? which will cost $10,000? ? to?the United States, South?Korea and select European countries, starting?in July.
The 55EM9600?s screen is just 4 mm thick, and uses white organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) to produce a very bright, highly saturated image. LG developed its??Color Refiner??filter?technology (using four color sub-pixels?? red, green, blue and white)?to enhance image contrast and color.
Taking a cue from Formula 1 race cars, the 55EM9600 uses carbon fiber to strengthen and lighten the TV?s plastic exterior. The 9600 weighs in at just 22 pounds, a record low for a 55-Inch display (and?about 29 pounds less than LG?s 55-Inch LM8600 LED LCD).
"With OLED TV leading our premium product line-up in Europe, we have a very strong case to become the No. 1?TV brand in this region," said Stanley Cho, head of LG?s Europe Operations. "Until that day, we will continue to develop the products that have made us the most innovative home entertainment company in the industry."
LCD and LED LCDs rely on light bulbs (whether fluorescent or a few dozen white LED lamps) to illuminate the image. The light from these lamps or bulbs must pass through the LCD panel before reaching the surface of the TV, causing most of the light to be beamed toward viewers sitting closest to the center of the screen. As one moves off-center, the LCD image dims, contrast decreases and colors tend to shift and desaturate.
OLEDs emits light directly from the surface, extending the viewing angle to 180 degrees and providing superb, highly saturated colors without the dimming, color shift or loss of contrast seen on LCDs and LED LCDs.
The 55EM9600 is a full-featured HDTV incorporating LG?s passive Cinema 3-D technology as well as Smart TV Internet connectivity and its own browser for streaming movies and Web surfing.
The TV will be available in three mounting versions: table top, wall mount and pole mount. Each configuration incorporates the same OLED panel but a uses a different case. The inputs and drive electronics are located within the stand on the table top model (see photo) and features a transparent arm between the base and panel. The wall mount version and pole mount models will have a separate box that houses the electronics.
We'll be sharing more information?about the 55EM9600 in the days ahead, including specifications and other photos.
Have a question for the HD Guru? Send an email.
Disclsoure: Our content partner, HD?Guru, accepted travel expenses from LG for this press event.?
Class Instructor Sarah Benoit - Asheville Internet Marketing Specialist
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Course Section Number ? SBC-2058-100EN Description ? Learn how to use social media and other websites to optimize and promote your website by increasing links and search engine exposure. Find out how to register for the linkbuilding and SEO class today.
Web advertising, also referred to as internet advertising, refers towards the promotion of a item or service more than the Globe Wide Internet. This mode of advertising not just reaches a bigger section of audience but can also be economical. It features a broad scope because it consists of advertising through e-mail as well as other wireless media. This digital technique of promotion has assisted numerous businesses improve their revenues. An web advertising firm assists accomplish this objective. They offer particular on-line advertising services that target numerous customers. This has been a boon towards the marketing business, which have carried out away using the conventional advertising techniques and have adopted a modernized method.
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These on the internet marketing and advertising services are implemented as well as the outcomes are analyzed. The organization tracks the site visitors obtained on the ads and adjustments are created accordingly.
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FILE - In this May 30, 2011 file photo, IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon, of England, poses with his family, wife Susie, left, holding Oliver, and Sebastian, right, next to the Borg-Warner Trophy during the traditional winners photo of the Indianapolis 500 auto race champion on the start/finish line at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis. Seven months after the accident that killed her husband, Wheldon heads to the Indianapolis 500, for ceremonies honoring the defending race winner. She'll arrive Thursday night and spend the weekend, accompanied by her two sons, who were present for their dad's surprise win last year, but isn't sure if she'll attend Sunday's race. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
FILE - In this May 30, 2011 file photo, IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon, of England, poses with his family, wife Susie, left, holding Oliver, and Sebastian, right, next to the Borg-Warner Trophy during the traditional winners photo of the Indianapolis 500 auto race champion on the start/finish line at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis. Seven months after the accident that killed her husband, Wheldon heads to the Indianapolis 500, for ceremonies honoring the defending race winner. She'll arrive Thursday night and spend the weekend, accompanied by her two sons, who were present for their dad's surprise win last year, but isn't sure if she'll attend Sunday's race. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
FILE - This June 22, 2008 file photo shows Dan Wheldon, of England, kissing his wife, Susie, after winning the IndyCar Series' Iowa Corn Indy 250 auto race at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. Seven months after the accident that killed her husband, Wheldon heads to the Indianapolis 500, for ceremonies honoring the defending race winner. She'll arrive Thursday night and spend the weekend, accompanied by her two sons, who were present for their dad's surprise win last year, but isn't sure if she'll attend Sunday's race. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
This undated photo provided by Susie Wheldon, shows Dan and Susie Wheldon. Seven months after the accident that killed her husband, Wheldon heads to the Indianapolis 500, for ceremonies honoring the defending race winner. She'll arrive Thursday night and spend the weekend, accompanied by her two sons, who were present for their dad's surprise win last year, but isn't sure if she'll attend Sunday's race. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Susie Wheldon)
This undated photo provided by Susie Wheldon, shows Dan and Susie Wheldon. Seven months after the accident that killed her husband, Wheldon heads to the Indianapolis 500, for ceremonies honoring the defending race winner. She'll arrive Thursday night and spend the weekend, accompanied by her two sons, who were present for their dad's surprise win last year, but isn't sure if she'll attend Sunday's race. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Susie Wheldon)
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) ? Some days are better than others for Susie Wheldon, and there's rarely any warning what will trigger the emotional roller coaster she's been on since husband Dan Wheldon's fatal crash in last year's IndyCar finale.
A familiar coffee shop brings back a flood of memories; a song can make her sad. Most recently, it was a trip to the emergency room for a stomach bug 1-year-old son Oliver couldn't shake. In an instant, she was reliving the frantic efforts to save the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner following the Oct. 16 crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
"Almost immediately when I walked in, they brought me back to a room just to wait for a doctor, and I just sat there and I instantly felt panic," she said. "I hadn't been in a hospital since, and I just saw all these machines. Something like that, that I didn't even think would be a big deal. It was just a really horrible thing.
"Took me back there again, just the panic of everything of that day."
Seven months after the accident, Wheldon heads back to the race track at the Indianapolis 500 for ceremonies honoring the defending race winner. She'll arrive Thursday and spend the weekend, accompanied by her two sons, who were present for their dad's surprise win last year, but isn't sure if she'll attend Sunday's race. In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Wheldon said she's just not sure how she'll handle the tumult of returning to the track her husband loved so much.
She couldn't do it in March, when she left town rather than face the pain of IndyCar's season opener in St. Petersburg, where she still resides in the family home with Oliver and 3-year-old Sebastian.
But Indy?
"I'm ready. I think I'm ready, or I have to be ready, because it's something that I want to do and I want to be able to be a part of that for Dan as far as having the boys there," she said. "His family is the most important part of his legacy, so we want to be there to honor him in that way as far as him being last year's winner and everything about that race that he loved so much. I feel like it's important for me to be there, and I'm trying to prepare myself as much as possible."
Dan Wheldon, who also won the 500 in 2005, will be remembered on the race day ticket that features him pouring the traditional winner's bottle of milk over his head in victory lane last year. His race-winning car was on display in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum last week, will be on the Pagoda Plaza (a famed area of the race track) on Saturday and will be driven by car owner Bryan Herta in a lap of honor during Sunday's pre-race ceremonies.
Fans entering the track Sunday will be given a pair of white sunglasses, Dan's preference, to wear during tributes on the parade lap, lap 26 and lap 98, which recognize the numbers of his winning cars.
Susie Wheldon is scheduled to participate in Saturday's public drivers meeting and will accept the Champion of Champions ring on behalf of Wheldon's 2011 victory in a ceremony Thursday afternoon.
Emma Dixon, wife of driver Scott Dixon and close friend of Susie, is hopeful Wheldon can manage the many emotions this weekend will bring.
"I am a bit nervous for her, worried it is really going to tear her heart out because it's such a special place for Dan," Dixon said. "It held a lot of big memories, and I think it is going to be incredibly hard. But the one thing is, she wants to do what Dan wants her to do, and he'd want her to be holding her head up high and remembering the good times."
The Dixons have rallied around Wheldon and her sons since the accident, even temporarily relocating to St. Petersburg during the offseason. They tried to maintain a steady pace of outings and vacations, but knew Wheldon would eventually need to return to a routine for both the boys and her own healing process. They returned to Indianapolis before the start of the season, but Emma and another friend schedule a girls' getaway every two months to give Wheldon something to look forward to. Their last trip was the Kentucky Derby earlier this month.
Dixon witnessed firsthand the various stages of grief ? "shock, disbelief, and 'this can't be happening' and then around six months, the 'Oh my God, I want him back,' missing him stage" ? and knows that Wheldon has more dark days than bright. Although they've laughed and enjoyed their getaways, Dixon said she's seen only sadness in Wheldon's eyes on all but one occasion.
"Her eyes have never been the same since this happened. It was always Dan for her; they were so mad for each other and he was her absolute dream man," Dixon said. "And Dan was entering into the best times of his career. He was getting a fast car, he was an amazing driver, and this is not how it should be. He's meant to be here adoring his children, and he loved his family and they were so happy.
"They really did have the world at their feet, and it got ripped away from them and it's desperately unfair."
Race car drivers often say they accept the risks involved with their profession, and their loved ones understand that accidents sometimes happen with dire consequences. But constant safety improvements have dramatically reduced fatalities, and IndyCar had just three driver deaths since this league began in 1996.
The last fatality was Paul Dana, in 2006, during the warm-up session for the season opener at Homestead. Wheldon went on to win that race later the same day.
So, sure, the wives and girlfriends know bad things can happen when cars are on the track at very high speeds. But it's not something Susie Wheldon was dwelling on when her husband strapped into his car last October.
Dan Wheldon didn't have a full-time job last year; he refused to settle for a ride that didn't give him a chance to win and instead took the season off. He stayed home with his young family. Oliver was born last March, two months before Dan headed back to Indianapolis with Herta because he believed he could win in that car. And he did, inheriting the lead when rookie JR Hildebrand crashed coming out of the final turn.
"That is one of the things that I loved about Dan ? he believed in himself," his wife said. "He definitely rallied and got everybody around him on fire. It was a little team, it was their second start at Indy and probably not a lot of people thought they had a shot at winning that race."
From there, Dan Wheldon settled into a summer of testing IndyCar's new car during Dallara's development and working as a commentator for some of the race broadcasts. Things picked up as the season wound down, with Wheldon moving closer to completing a deal to return to Andretti Autosport in a full-time ride in 2012 as Danica Patrick's replacement.
Then he agreed to enter the $5 million challenge being offered by IndyCar to any outside driver who could come from the back of the field to win the season finale at Las Vegas. When no driver from any other series accepted the challenge, Wheldon was ruled eligible because he wasn't a full-time IndyCar driver.
He ran Kentucky two weeks earlier as a warm-up, then went into Las Vegas convinced he could win the race.
The entire weekend was festive ? on a whim, Dan and Susie got each other's initials tattooed on their wrists the night before the race. Never did anyone think the day would end in tragedy.
It happened quickly, a fiery 15-car accident just minutes after the start, and it was immediately apparent that Wheldon was seriously injured.
Susie Wheldon does not discuss the events of that day. And if she second-guesses his participation, she doesn't let on.
"No, not mad that he did that race. No," she said quietly.
But the reality is the race changed her life. She's now a 33-year-old widow, with two toddlers who will never know their father. His family is in England, her parents in North Carolina, and she's essentially alone trying to pick up the pieces and move forward.
This isn't the life she imagined ? "That's actually a phrase we've used, this isn't how it was supposed to be," said Emma Dixon ? and Wheldon has been angry about different things during her stages of grief, but not at Dan, at least not yet.
"Maybe that will come later, I don't know," she said. "We definitely shared something. It sounds silly to say because it sounds so cliche, but I know a lot of people don't experience that, what we had. I feel lucky (but) our four years of being married is like a second (in time). I get angry sometimes at that, that I wish we could have grown old together.
"I am thankful just for everything that we do have. Did have. Two beautiful children. We had an amazing life together and I know most people don't experience that in a lifetime. That's something that I hold on to."
Wheldon is also grateful for the support she's received from inside the racing community ? an auction started by Graham Rahal after the accident raised $627,203 ? and she's been touched by fans who sent her thoughtful notes about her husband. She read every one, replied with hand-written thank you letters and saved them all to one day show her sons.
"There's a lot of times, I think, that when people pass away everybody that's left sometimes can romanticize about the idea of what that person was or what they did," she said. "With Dan, he really was that amazing guy. It wasn't like you're kind of embellishing because everyone wants to say good things about someone when they're not here. He really was that guy.
"He was an incredible human being. He was obviously a fierce competitor, but he was an even better person. That's not an exaggeration."
Science magazine prize awarded to course that brings biology and math worlds closerPublic release date: 24-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Natasha Pinol npinol@aaas.org 202-326-7088 American Association for the Advancement of Science
Students can view natural phenomena as engineering problems that have been solved
An undergraduate course that allows students to build mathematical models of biological phenomenaand to experience a convergence of disciplines with potential in areas ranging from cancer treatment to reforestationis the winner of the Science Prize for Inquiry-Based Instruction (IBI).
Hillel Chiel, professor of biology, neurosciences, and biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University, is the creator of the course. As he explains, biology students who know how to build models of biological phenomena and engineering students who can explore biological phenomena for engineering insights are better prepared to do research in their fields.
"People who have training in both are going to have an advantage," says Chiel.
Science's IBI Prize was developed to showcase outstanding materials, usable in a wide range of schools and settings, for teaching science courses at the college level. The materials must be designed to encourage students' natural curiosity about how the world works, rather than to deliver facts and principles about what scientists have already discovered. Organized as one free-standing "module," the materials should offer real understanding of the nature of science, as well as providing an experience in generating and evaluating scientific evidence. Each month, Science publishes an essay by a recipient of the award, which explains the winning project. The essay about the Dynamics of Biological Systems course, by Chiel, Jeffrey Gill, Jeffrey McManus, and Kendrick Shaw, will be published on May 25.
"We want to recognize innovators in science education, as well as the institutions that support them," says Bruce Alberts, editor-in-chief of Science. "At the same time, this competition will promote those inquiry-based laboratory modules with the most potential to benefit science students and teachers. The publication of an essay in Science on each winning module will encourage more college teachers to use these outstanding resources, thereby promoting science literacy."
A review of Chiel's background shows the protean tendency that would evolve into the interdisciplinary approach evidenced by much of his workincluding his novel designs for biologically inspired robotsand by the course module Dynamics of Biological Systems. As a child growing up on Long Island, Chiel planned to be a scientist and was fascinated by how things worked, but he was so fond of reading novels that once he was almost locked in his school library overnight.
At age 14, Chiel was given an opportunity to study calculus with physicist Alan Natapoff, which he says was "a very positive experience." When it was time for Chiel to go to college, however, he chose Yale over MIT, becoming an English major, enchanted at the thought of spending his time reading in the stacks of Yale's Sterling Memorial Library.
During the summer between Chiel's junior and senior years, he worked in the neurochemistry lab of Richard Wurtman, doing research that resulted in the publication of Chiel's first scientific paper. Chiel graduated from Yale and then went on to do a Ph.D. with Wurtman at MIT.
At MIT, Chiel says other students did a mental calculation when they learned he had gotten his undergraduate degree in the humanities. "They immediately subtracted about thirty IQ points," he says. He felt, however, that his study of English had given him an exceptional ability to write about his work, which has been helpful in winning grants, publishing journal articles, and more generally, in reaching an audience. Furthermore, Chiel says, the interpreting of texts that he did as an English major, working through the themes in a novel to understand a complicated reality and see a deeper structure underlying the surface helped him in the study of biology. "You have to piece together from fragments an understanding of what's going on. Biological systems are equally complex and overwhelming, also with a welter of detail" to unscramble. The paper from his doctoral thesis at MIT was published in Science in 1981.
In 1987, after postdoctoral work at Columbia's Center for Neurobiology and Behavior and AT&T Bell Labs Molecular Biophysics Department, Chiel joined the faculty of Case Western Reserve University, which was in a sense a perfect place for him to develop the Dynamics of Biology module. The student body is dominated by engineering and pre-med students, and very rarely do the two populations overlap academically. Students who by inclination are drawn to study biology are wary of math, and engineering students often dislike the detail and memorization required of biology classes, preferring clear principles. Generally, the students' education before they take a class like Dynamics of Biology reinforces their tendency to stay in one camp or the other.
"I wanted to try to change that," says Chiel, who gives a concrete example of the kind of insight that biology can bring to engineering. In nine months, a fertilized human egg becomes an organized set of trillions of cells: a baby. "That's a problem that evolution has solved," Chiel says. "But if you think of it as an engineering problem, it seems intractable."
As Chiel writes in his Science essay, "Life is an alien technology whose mastery would create novel approaches to hard problems."
Similarly, if a student with a solid foundation in and feeling for biology can mathematize a biological phenomenon, exceptionally complex processes can be modeled, and sophisticated predictions may be made with regard to such processes as the spread of epidemics, wound healing, or cancer cell growth. A stunning example of this was James Watson and Francis Crick's discovery of the structure of DNA, which won a Nobel Prize in 1962. "The thing they showed the world was a model, not the biological data itself" Chiel says. "Topics that are subject to mathematical models include everything in biology."
In order to explore these concepts, students in Dynamics of Biology experience what it is like to be a researcher, an approach that Chiel says derives from his first love, research. "Giving undergraduates the opportunity to explore real research questions is the best way to help them understand science, and perhaps to help them develop their own passion for the subject," he says.
Students reconstruct already existing mathematical models of biological phenomena, sometimes even improving the original research.
"A crowning validation for the module arises out of the student work itself, as students have found and corrected errors in the peer-reviewed models of biological systems they are tasked with reconstructing," says Melissa McCartney, editorial fellow at Science.
Perhaps even more importantly, the students extend the existing models to test new ideas, actually working with the concepts to build something new, and exercising their own understanding to do original research.
Having won the IBI Prize, Chiel reflects on what he would consider the best result of receiving the award and publishing an essay about the course module in Science. "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If people decided to steal this and use it, I'd be delighted."
To see the interactive textbook for Dynamics of Biology, go to http://biol300.case.edu.
###
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal, Science as well as Science Translational Medicine and Science Signaling. AAAS was founded in 1848, and includes some 261 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world, with an estimated total readership of 1 million. The non-profit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, public engagement and more. For the latest research news, log onto EurekAlert!, www.eurekalert.org, the premier science-news Web site, a service of AAAS. See www.aaas.org.
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Science magazine prize awarded to course that brings biology and math worlds closerPublic release date: 24-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Natasha Pinol npinol@aaas.org 202-326-7088 American Association for the Advancement of Science
Students can view natural phenomena as engineering problems that have been solved
An undergraduate course that allows students to build mathematical models of biological phenomenaand to experience a convergence of disciplines with potential in areas ranging from cancer treatment to reforestationis the winner of the Science Prize for Inquiry-Based Instruction (IBI).
Hillel Chiel, professor of biology, neurosciences, and biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University, is the creator of the course. As he explains, biology students who know how to build models of biological phenomena and engineering students who can explore biological phenomena for engineering insights are better prepared to do research in their fields.
"People who have training in both are going to have an advantage," says Chiel.
Science's IBI Prize was developed to showcase outstanding materials, usable in a wide range of schools and settings, for teaching science courses at the college level. The materials must be designed to encourage students' natural curiosity about how the world works, rather than to deliver facts and principles about what scientists have already discovered. Organized as one free-standing "module," the materials should offer real understanding of the nature of science, as well as providing an experience in generating and evaluating scientific evidence. Each month, Science publishes an essay by a recipient of the award, which explains the winning project. The essay about the Dynamics of Biological Systems course, by Chiel, Jeffrey Gill, Jeffrey McManus, and Kendrick Shaw, will be published on May 25.
"We want to recognize innovators in science education, as well as the institutions that support them," says Bruce Alberts, editor-in-chief of Science. "At the same time, this competition will promote those inquiry-based laboratory modules with the most potential to benefit science students and teachers. The publication of an essay in Science on each winning module will encourage more college teachers to use these outstanding resources, thereby promoting science literacy."
A review of Chiel's background shows the protean tendency that would evolve into the interdisciplinary approach evidenced by much of his workincluding his novel designs for biologically inspired robotsand by the course module Dynamics of Biological Systems. As a child growing up on Long Island, Chiel planned to be a scientist and was fascinated by how things worked, but he was so fond of reading novels that once he was almost locked in his school library overnight.
At age 14, Chiel was given an opportunity to study calculus with physicist Alan Natapoff, which he says was "a very positive experience." When it was time for Chiel to go to college, however, he chose Yale over MIT, becoming an English major, enchanted at the thought of spending his time reading in the stacks of Yale's Sterling Memorial Library.
During the summer between Chiel's junior and senior years, he worked in the neurochemistry lab of Richard Wurtman, doing research that resulted in the publication of Chiel's first scientific paper. Chiel graduated from Yale and then went on to do a Ph.D. with Wurtman at MIT.
At MIT, Chiel says other students did a mental calculation when they learned he had gotten his undergraduate degree in the humanities. "They immediately subtracted about thirty IQ points," he says. He felt, however, that his study of English had given him an exceptional ability to write about his work, which has been helpful in winning grants, publishing journal articles, and more generally, in reaching an audience. Furthermore, Chiel says, the interpreting of texts that he did as an English major, working through the themes in a novel to understand a complicated reality and see a deeper structure underlying the surface helped him in the study of biology. "You have to piece together from fragments an understanding of what's going on. Biological systems are equally complex and overwhelming, also with a welter of detail" to unscramble. The paper from his doctoral thesis at MIT was published in Science in 1981.
In 1987, after postdoctoral work at Columbia's Center for Neurobiology and Behavior and AT&T Bell Labs Molecular Biophysics Department, Chiel joined the faculty of Case Western Reserve University, which was in a sense a perfect place for him to develop the Dynamics of Biology module. The student body is dominated by engineering and pre-med students, and very rarely do the two populations overlap academically. Students who by inclination are drawn to study biology are wary of math, and engineering students often dislike the detail and memorization required of biology classes, preferring clear principles. Generally, the students' education before they take a class like Dynamics of Biology reinforces their tendency to stay in one camp or the other.
"I wanted to try to change that," says Chiel, who gives a concrete example of the kind of insight that biology can bring to engineering. In nine months, a fertilized human egg becomes an organized set of trillions of cells: a baby. "That's a problem that evolution has solved," Chiel says. "But if you think of it as an engineering problem, it seems intractable."
As Chiel writes in his Science essay, "Life is an alien technology whose mastery would create novel approaches to hard problems."
Similarly, if a student with a solid foundation in and feeling for biology can mathematize a biological phenomenon, exceptionally complex processes can be modeled, and sophisticated predictions may be made with regard to such processes as the spread of epidemics, wound healing, or cancer cell growth. A stunning example of this was James Watson and Francis Crick's discovery of the structure of DNA, which won a Nobel Prize in 1962. "The thing they showed the world was a model, not the biological data itself" Chiel says. "Topics that are subject to mathematical models include everything in biology."
In order to explore these concepts, students in Dynamics of Biology experience what it is like to be a researcher, an approach that Chiel says derives from his first love, research. "Giving undergraduates the opportunity to explore real research questions is the best way to help them understand science, and perhaps to help them develop their own passion for the subject," he says.
Students reconstruct already existing mathematical models of biological phenomena, sometimes even improving the original research.
"A crowning validation for the module arises out of the student work itself, as students have found and corrected errors in the peer-reviewed models of biological systems they are tasked with reconstructing," says Melissa McCartney, editorial fellow at Science.
Perhaps even more importantly, the students extend the existing models to test new ideas, actually working with the concepts to build something new, and exercising their own understanding to do original research.
Having won the IBI Prize, Chiel reflects on what he would consider the best result of receiving the award and publishing an essay about the course module in Science. "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If people decided to steal this and use it, I'd be delighted."
To see the interactive textbook for Dynamics of Biology, go to http://biol300.case.edu.
###
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal, Science as well as Science Translational Medicine and Science Signaling. AAAS was founded in 1848, and includes some 261 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world, with an estimated total readership of 1 million. The non-profit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, public engagement and more. For the latest research news, log onto EurekAlert!, www.eurekalert.org, the premier science-news Web site, a service of AAAS. See www.aaas.org.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
The RIM PlayBook by just received a developers update that adds some interesting new Android functionality to RIM’s tablet. This new version now supports Android apps running in their own windows, improving compatibility with the general Android app universe. From Crackberry: Improved HTML5 support Portrait support for Email, Calendar and Contacts Improved folder support including IMAP folder support Full device encryption is now supported, so that the whole device and personal partition can be secure. Screenshots are now saved in lossless PNG format. Each Android app will now run in its own window. This greatly improves the user experience and consistency among the other application runtimes. Access to the Camera hardware is now supported for Android apps, allowing many more application types to work on the BlackBerry? PlayBook? tablet. In-App Payment is now supported through the BlackBerry Payment SDK, so Android applications can include virtual items for sale in their applications. This version is butting up against the incoming BB10 OS that will soon appear on phones and tablets, but, as the Verge notes, the BB10 PlayBook should be able to run apps written for previous OS versions. Oddly, this version seems like a bit of a dead end but it’s nice to see Android functionality getting fleshed out more concretely. via RIM
Robbery, as other crimes against business, is most often a crime of opportunity.?But, according to the Boston Police Department, there are extra precautions you can take to keep the bad guys at bay.
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The game is over. That game where they get to hire you for 40 years, pay you far less than you create, and then give you a gold watch, and then you get bored, you get depressed, and you die alone. It wasn't that fun of a game anyway. When I had a corporate job I would wake up depressed. I couldn't move out of bed. The sun would be coming in. A cat on the fire escape staring at me through the window. Even it was more excited to be alive than me. And, by the way,
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Public release date: 24-May-2012
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