Sulfate aerosols cool climate less than assumed

May 14, 2013 ? The life span of cloud-forming sulfate particles in the air is shorter than had been assumed due to a sulfur dioxide oxidation pathway which has been neglected in climate models so far.

Sulfur dioxide is as antagonist of greenhouse gases less effective than previously assumed. It forms sulfate aerosol particles in the air, which reflect sunlight, and as so-called cloud condensation nuclei influence the chemical processes within clouds. Therefore, sulfate aerosol particles help to cool Earth, making them an important factor in climate models. However, a team around researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry found out that it is likely most models overestimate the cooling effect of these particles. The reason is a largely disregarded reaction pathway catalysed by mineral dust within clouds, which has a strong influence on the life span of sulfate aerosol particles and their ability to reflect sunlight.

In their role as condensation nuclei, aerosol particles are an important trigger for the formation of clouds. As humidity accumulates on the particles droplets are formed, which later develop into clouds. Within the clouds, however, the chemical composition of these aerosol particles changes.

In order to find out exactly what happens within the clouds, Eliza Harris and B?rbel Sinha from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, together with other scientists form Mainz and further research institutes, investigated different air parcels. The special feature of their experiments was that they investigated a cloud which formed on top of a mountain. The scientists could therefore trace how the aerosol particles changed while the cloud was forming.

Eliza Harris' main focus was the analysis of sulfur compounds. She investigated their composition in air samples which were collected at different times: Before the parcels entered the cloud, while they were in the cloud, and after they left the cloud.

The sulfur compounds in the samples differed in the distribution of sulfur isotopes. Isotopes are atoms of the same elements differing in the number of neutrons in the core and thus can be differentiated with the help of a mass spectrometer. The NanoSIMS ion microprobe, a highly sensitive mass spectrometer, enabled Harris to look into the chemical processes. "The relative reaction rates of isotopes are like fingerprints, which tell us how the sulfate was formed from the sulfur dioxide," Eliza Harris explains her method, which was part of her doctoral research in the group of Peter Hoppe at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry.

Harris' measurements showed that sulfate in clouds forms mostly through the oxidation of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) by oxygen (O₂). This reaction is catalysed by so-called transition metal ions (TMI) like iron, manganese, titanium or chromium. In addition, sulfate production mostly occurred in cloud droplets which formed on large mineral dust particles, the most important source of transition metal ions. Much less often the trail led to the oxidation of SO₂ by hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and ozone (O₃). "As my colleagues and I compared the basic assumptions of climate models with my results we were very surprised, because only one of twelve models considers the role of transition metal ions in the formation of sulfate," says the scientist, who is now working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the USA. Instead, most of the models used the alternative pathways of sulfur dioxide oxidation by hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), ozone (O₃) and the hydroxyl radical (OH).

Sulfate produced catalytically through transition metal ions are formed on relatively large mineral dust particles, making them bigger than those formed through the reaction with hydrogen peroxide. Due to their size, they fall from the air at a faster rate -- by force of gravity. The time frame for climate cooling by sulfate particles could therefore be shorter than has been believed.

Eliza Harris assumes that the models have overestimated the climate cooling effect of sulfate aerosols. So far it is not quantifiable to what degree Harris' discovery will impact climate prognoses. However, future models should consider the TMI catalysis reaction as an important pathway for the oxidation of sulfur dioxide, says the scientist. She thinks that the impact on climate models of European regions might probably be low, as mineral dust concentrations in the air are small and sulfur dioxide (SO₂)emissions are declining. "In India and China, however, where sulfur dioxide emissions are expected to rise in the near future, combined with significantly higher concentrations of mineral dust in the air, the effect could be stronger," assumes Harris. Future studies will show.

The study, which has been published in the journal Science (Vol?), was conducted in collaboration with the following institutes: the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research in Leipzig, the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University, the Earth System Science Research Centre at the Institute of Geosciences at the University of Mainz, and the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Mainz.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/42CZj1voqbw/130514085309.htm

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LinkedIn forbids prostitution listings, angering legal sex workers ... - RT

LinkedIn, the social website that caters to professional networking, announced Monday that sex workers will no longer be able to use the online resume service to advertise their own personal brand.

The social network has never allowed ?unlawful? profiles, which it categorizes as those advertising illegal services, but, as prostitution is not forbidden by law everywhere in the world or even everywhere in the United States, escorts have long taken advantage of the opportunity to bring attention to themselves. ?

Under the section titled ?Don?t undertake the following,? LinkedIn's new privacy policy and user agreement stipulates, ?Even if it is legal where you are located," users must not "create profiles or provide content that promotes escort services or prostitution.??

Legal sex workers displaced by the update have criticized LinkedIn for assuming the role of moral arbiter of the Internet.?

?What?s the problem? We have a license to do this stuff,? Dennis Hof, owner of multiple legal brothels including Nevada's Moonlite Bunny Ranch, told NBC on Monday. ?Our business is legal as theirs. We?re the good guys. We have no reason to be knocked off.??

Hof said he hopes LinkedIn doesn?t try to remove his or his employees? profiles as they, like so many other legal businesses in the information age, rely on social media to attract customers.?

?LinkedIn needs to realize they don?t need to filter out legal businesses in America,? he continued. ?These are businesswomen, and some of them are making mid-six-figure incomes. If it?s okay to do that, is it okay to drop Dairy Queen too because it serves too much fat and calories??

A casual inspection of LinkedIn?s listings reveals that many young men and women, while not listing prostitution as one of their career skills, do advertise thinly-veiled massage services, independent escort professionalism, and companionship, among other professions.?

?I?m not saying we?re going to do a purge, though we very well may,? said Hani Durzy, LinkedIn?s director of corporate communications, during an interview with NBC. ?In a nutshell, as we become aware of profiles that violate our policies we will take the appropriate actions. Does that mean shutting them down on day one? Or giving our members the benefit of the doubt, and telling them that?s a violation and you?ve got to change it? There is no hard and fast rule.?

Source: http://rt.com/usa/linkedin-forbids-sex-workers-282/

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Guide to Philadelphia abortion doctor murder case

Longtime Philadelphia abortion provider Dr. Kermit Gosnell was found guilty Monday of first-degree murder in the deaths of three babies prosecutors said were delivered alive and killed, and guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the drug-overdose death of a patient who had undergone an abortion. He was acquitted in the murder of a fourth baby. A look at key facts in the case:

___

THE INVESTIGATION

In 2010, federal agents raided Gosnell's clinic in search of drug violations but instead stumbled upon "deplorable and unsanitary" conditions, including blood on the floor and parts of aborted fetuses in jars.

State regulators shut down the Women's Medical Society clinic in west Philadelphia and suspended Gosnell's license.

___

THE GRAND JURY REPORT

A nearly 300-page grand jury report released in 2011 described Gosnell's clinic as a filthy, foul-smelling operation that was overlooked by regulators. The district attorney called it a "house of horrors."

Prosecutors said Gosnell made millions of dollars over three decades performing thousands of dangerous abortions, many of them illegal late-term procedures. The clinic had no trained nurses or medical staff other than Gosnell, a family physician not certified in obstetrics or gynecology, yet authorities say many administered anesthesia, painkillers and labor-inducing drugs.

Furniture and blankets in Gosnell's clinic were stained with blood, instruments were not properly sterilized and disposable medical supplies were used repeatedly, the grand jury report said. Bags, jars and bottles holding aborted fetuses were scattered throughout the building, which reeked of cat urine because of the animals allowed to roam freely.

State regulators ignored complaints about Gosnell and the 46 lawsuits filed against him and made just five annual inspections since the clinic opened in 1979, investigators said. Several state employees were fired and two agencies overhauled their regulations after the allegations.

___

THE CHARGES

Gosnell was charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of four newborns and third-degree murder in the 2009 death of a 41-year-old Bhutanese refugee who prosecutors say received lethal doses of sedatives and painkillers at the clinic while awaiting an abortion. He also was charged with violating Pennsylvania abortion law by performing abortions after 24 weeks, operating a corrupt organization and other crimes.

He pleaded not guilty and remained held without bail after his arrest.

Prosecutors estimated Gosnell ended hundreds of pregnancies by inducing labor and cutting the babies' spinal cords and caused scores of women to suffer infections and permanent internal injuries, but they said they couldn't prosecute more cases because he destroyed files.

Eight clinic workers including Gosnell's wife, a beautician accused of helping him perform illegal third-term abortions, pleaded guilty various crimes. Three of Gosnell's staffers, including an unlicensed medical school graduate and a woman with a sixth-grade education, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder for their roles in the woman's overdose death or for cutting babies in the back of the neck to ensure their demise.

Gosnell still faces federal drug charges for running what investigators said was a "pill mill" at his street-corner clinic, where they allege a steady stream of people paid for painkiller prescriptions.

___

THE REACTION

Abortion-rights and anti-abortion activists alike have decried Gosnell's alleged offenses from the time of his arrest in 2011. The case added fuel to the heated national debate over late-term abortions and oversight of providers.

Abortion-rights supporters have said state and local authorities apparently didn't enforce existing regulations and that women would be safer if they had more options. Anti-abortion activists have said self-policing along with regulations in many states are insufficient and that tighter restrictions are needed.

___

THE DEFENSE

In an interview with the Philadelphia Daily News after the clinic was raided, Gosnell described himself as someone who wanted to serve the poor and minorities in the neighborhood where he grew up and raised his six children, who include a doctor and a college professor.

Gosnell's defense lawyer, Jack McMahon, disputes that any babies were born alive. He has suggested that the woman who died, Karnamaya Mongar, had undisclosed respiratory problems that could have caused fatal complications.

McMahon has accused officials of "a targeted, elitist and racist prosecution" and "a prosecutorial lynching" of his client, who is black, and of applying "Mayo Clinic" standards to Gosnell's inner-city, cash-only clinic. He said Gosnell performed as many as 1,000 abortions annually, and at least 16,000 over his long career, with a lower-than-average complication rate.

___

THE TRIAL

During the trial, which began March 18, Gosnell's former employees testified that they were just doing what their boss trained them to do and described long, chaotic days performing gruesome work for little more than minimum wage paid under the table. An assistant testified she snipped the spines of at least 10 babies at Gosnell's direction, sobbing as she recalled taking a cellphone photograph of one baby she thought could have survived, given his size and pinkish color.

Mongar's 24-year-old daughter testified about the labor-inducing drugs and painkillers her mother was given as she waited hours for Gosnell to arrive for the procedure. She said her mother was later taken to a hospital, only after firefighters struggled to cut bolts off a side door of the clinic, but she died the next day.

Prosecutors wrapped up their five-week case April 18 with a former worker at Gosnell's clinic who testified that she saw more than 10 babies breathing before they were killed. The defense called no witnesses and Gosnell did not testify in his own defense.

Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Minehart threw out three of the seven murder charges involving aborted babies for lack of sufficient evidence from prosecutors that those three babies were born alive and then killed.

McMahon reiterated in closing arguments his assertion that Gosnell was targeted because he is black. He said his client's clinic wasn't perfect but it also wasn't the criminal enterprise and "house of horrors" that prosecutors claim.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the infant deaths.

___

THE COVERAGE

Weeks into the trial, some religious leaders and conservative commentators called some media outlets to task for their lack of coverage in the Gosnell trial. Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput said the Gosnell case is "exactly the kind of topic that brings on a sudden case of snow blindness" in the media.

Philadelphia-based news organizations have regularly covered the case since 2011 including the monthlong trial, as has The Associated Press. Some national television news outlets sent reporters to the trial after the allegations of underreporting arose.

Amid the outcry, White House spokesman Jay Carney was asked if President Barack Obama was aware of the case. Carney said Obama "does not and cannot take a position on an ongoing trial," but added that "the things you hear and read about this case are unsettling."

___

THE VERDICT

Gosnell was found guilty Monday of first-degree murder in the deaths of three babies born alive and of involuntary manslaughter in the patient's overdose death. He was acquitted him in the death of a fourth baby.

First-degree murder, defined in Pennsylvania as the premeditated and malicious killing of another person, comes with a sentence of execution by lethal injection or life in prison without the chance of parole.

Jurors will return May 21 to hear evidence on what sentence Gosnell should receive; prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Though he did not testify during his trial, he could take the stand in the penalty phase.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/guide-philadelphia-abortion-doctor-murder-case-181517410.html

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

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RadioShack Beats Pill Ad [THE BRIEF] - Business Insider

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Mother, daughter fight breast cancer (video) - Victoria Advocate

• J.R. Ortega ?
• Originally published May 11, 2013 at 8 p.m., updated May 12, 2013 at 8:14 a.m.

• Breast Cancer Statistics

• About 1 in 8 women in the United States will develop an invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime.

  ??As of 2011, more than 2.6 million breast cancer survivors lived in the U.S.

  ??In 2009, 211,731 women in ...

• SHOW ALL ?

Breast Cancer Statistics

About 1 in 8 women in the United States will develop an invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime.

??As of 2011, more than 2.6 million breast cancer survivors lived in the U.S.

??In 2009, 211,731 women in the U.S. were diagnosed with breast cancer.

??This year, the American Cancer Society estimates there will be 232,340 new cases of invasive breast cancer diagnoses. About 64,640 cases will be the earliest form of breast cancer.

source: american cancer society

• To learn more

• Contact the American Cancer Society, 4401 Lilac Lane in Victoria, or call 361-578-2849.

"Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah," is what Linda Amaro heard in October - the voice of what sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher saying indecipherable nothings.

Amaro felt the world stop, and she felt the air leave the room.

"You have breast cancer," the voice of her oncologist became clear now, as did the reality of her diagnosis.

The 48-year-old crumbled. She felt defeated and broke the news to her tight-knit family.

Her only daughter, Dionne Vela, 33, worried not only for her mom but also for herself. She decided the lump in her breast could no longer be ignored.

One week later, Vela took Mom's advice and went to get checked.

Within hours, the doctor came into the room, and the same muffled voice began, unveiling a harsh coincidence.

"You have breast cancer."

The diagnosis

The tail end of 2012 was a hard time for the mother-daughter duo from Victoria.

Today, the two lean on one another even more because of their bond through cancer. While this Mother's Day will be strikingly different from those in the past, the two feel even closer.

"I wasn't important anymore," Amaro said through tears about her daughter's diagnosis. "Everything changed. As a mother, she was important."

Amaro, who works at Wal-Mart Supercenter, first felt a dull pain in her left breast in September. The soreness lingered until her husband finally convinced her to see her doctor.

She had no lump, so the process took days, until Oct. 23, when she received the call that she had breast cancer.

Vela stayed strong for her family, but in secret, she would find time to let the tears flow.

As her mother began coping with her diagnosis, that's when Vela found out about her breast cancer.

The diagnosis took one day.

Vela's lump was large and had metastasized. A biopsy confirmed her worst fear.

"I cried for days," Vela said, dabbing a tissue under her eyes, careful not to smudge the makeup that still makes her feel beautiful. "Your life flashes before your eyes. I know they say that a lot, and it really does happen."

Though diagnosed with the same cancer, there is something very different about the two that makes it hard for any mother to understand.

"Mine is an early stage," Amaro said. "But Dionne's is not."

An unbreakable bond

Vela, a stay-at-home mom, doesn't like thinking of her cancer in stages, but the truth is she is at stage 4.

"The stage is what scares you," she said.

Immediately after being diagnosed, Vela had eight aggressive chemotherapy treatments to downsize the tumor, which was the size of a grapefruit.

In about one week, Vela will begin radiation treatments, while her mother just started chemotherapy.

They both coach one another about what they've experienced.

Vela shares the frightening reality of waking up to find clumps of hair on her pillow, and her mother shares what a 13-hour-long double mastectomy with reconstruction feels like.

Her mother is not the only one in the loop. Vela has made her cancer a family affair. When she decided to shave off her hair, she made a party of it.

She laughed, and she cried.

Both have not let their cancer stop them from living life. Every morning, Vela wakes up, puts on her jet-black wig, applies her makeup and pulls some of the best fashion in her closet off the hanger.

"I never wanted them to see me sick," Vela said of her husband and three children.

She refuses to let her cancer get the best of her or her mom.

The two continue going to softball and baseball games for Vela's children. They make it a point to laugh at the world - and even themselves sometimes - because that's how their family pushes through, they said.

"I say it's been a good adventure," Vela said.

"We're a very close family," Mom chimes in. "We're going to get through it together."

Source: http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2013/may/11/jo_mothersday_051213_209195/

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Red Wings force Game 7 against Ducks

DETROIT (AP) ? Three periods haven't been enough for the Anaheim Ducks and Detroit Red Wings to decide three straight games and four overall in their first-round series.

No one will be surprised if Game 7 extends beyond regulation to tie an NHL record.

Henrik Zetterberg scored his second goal 1:04 into overtime, lifting the Red Wings to a 4-3 win over Anaheim in Game 6 on Friday night after they blew a two-goal lead late in the third period.

"The guys who have been there before all stepped up and said what had to be said," said Zetterberg, a first-year captain. "We didn't have to say that much.

"We just had to flush it and go out and play."

Second-seeded Anaheim will host seventh-seeded Detroit on Sunday night in the elimination game.

Both teams have set franchise records for OT games in a series and if another one is necessary, a league mark will be matched.

The 1951 Stanley Cup finals in which Toronto beat Montreal and the 2012 Western Conference finals in which Chicago got past Phoenix are the only series in NHL history that had five games decided by OT, according to STATS.

Three of the OT games in the Detroit-Anaheim series have ended soon after the third intermission.

Zetterberg scored quickly Friday night, sending a slap shot from the top of the left circle past Jonas Hiller. Anaheim's Nick Bonino won Game 5 just 1:54 into OT and Detroit's Gustav Nyquist ended Game 2 just 1:21 into OT.

The Red Wings, in their 22nd straight postseason, have a chance to win their first series after being down 3-2 since the 2002 Western Conference finals, when they beat Colorado and went on to hoist the Stanley Cup.

With a team that is trying to rebuild while staying competitive, they've got a shot to do it again.

"We're excited," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "We said the shorter we can make the series, advantage us, and you can't make it any shorter than this."

The Red Wings wasted a two-goal lead in the last 3? minutes of the third period of Game 6 by allowing Emerson Etem and Bobby Ryan to score 51 seconds apart to pull the Ducks into a 3-3 tie.

Zetterberg, who scored a go-ahead goal 6:19 into the third period on a power play, had a shot to win it with about a minute left. His shot hit the right post and slid across the crease.

His first goal snapped a career-long, seven-game postseason skid ? dating to last year's first-round exit against Nashville.

"If you're from Detroit, I guess it's just a matter of time," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said.

And if you're rooting for the Ducks, you hope Corey Perry can snap his eight-game skid in the playoffs without a goal and that Ryan Getzlaf can bounce back from a pointless Game 6 with at least his fourth goal of the series in Game 7.

"We need more out of Corey and Getzy, we rely on them," Boudreau said. "We've been a four-line team all year long. The (Kyle) Palmieris and Etems are the guys who are playing as good as anybody right now. If we can equalize Zetterberg and (Pavel) Datsyuk, I think we have a good chance."

Detroit's Jimmy Howard made 34 saves, all in regulation, and Hiller stopped 25 shots.

Datsyuk netted the Red Wings' first goal of the pressure-packed game and Daniel Cleary created a two-goal cushion by scoring with 8:30 left in regulation.

Detroit looked like it got comfortable and it made some costly mistakes to spoil a chance to win in regulation.

Red Wings forward Valtteri Filppula carried the puck behind Howard and passed it back to where Etem was the only one in a position to get it ? much to Howard's surprise. The goalie wasn't ready to slide over to make a save.

Then Ryan slammed a shot past Howard with 2:37 remaining to tie it.

"I don't know why we need to be two goals down to finally start playing," Hiller said. "Finally to get pressure on the net, finally going in harder and have that desperation that we lacked a little bit before that."

Detroit was knocked out of the first round last year following five consecutive postseasons in which it advanced at least once, a run that included winning an NHL title in 2008 and falling a win short of repeating the next year.

The Ducks are trying to earn a spot in the second round for the first time since 2009, when they were eliminated by the Red Wings in Game 7 of the conference semifinals.

___

Follow Larry Lage on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/larrylage

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/red-wings-force-game-7-against-ducks-072858793.html

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Orpik's OT goal sends Penguins to 2nd round

Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71), of Russia, celebrates with center Tyler Kennedy (48) and defenseman Brooks Orpik, below, after Orpik scored the winning goal in overtime of Game 6 of the Penguins' first-round NHL Stanley Cup playoff hockey series against the New York Islanders, in Uniondale, N.Y., Saturday, May 11, 2013. The Penguins won 4-3 in overtime, and advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71), of Russia, celebrates with center Tyler Kennedy (48) and defenseman Brooks Orpik, below, after Orpik scored the winning goal in overtime of Game 6 of the Penguins' first-round NHL Stanley Cup playoff hockey series against the New York Islanders, in Uniondale, N.Y., Saturday, May 11, 2013. The Penguins won 4-3 in overtime, and advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Pittsburgh Penguins, including defenseman Brooks Orpik (44), celebrate with goalie Tomas Vokoun (92), of the Czech Republic, after Orpik scored in overtime of Game 6 of the team's first-round NHL Stanley Cup playoff hockey series against the New York Islanders in Uniondale, N.Y., Saturday, May 11, 2013. The Penguins won 4-3, and advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Pittsburgh Penguins center Tyler Kennedy celebrates with defenseman Brooks Orpik (44), who scored the winning goal in overtime of Game 6 of a first-round NHL Stanley Cup playoff hockey series against the New York Islanders in Uniondale, N.Y., Saturday, May 11, 2013. The Penguins won 4-3, and advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin, right, of Russia, congratulates defenseman Brooks Orpik (44), who scored the winning goal in overtime of Game 6 of a first-round NHL Stanley Cup playoff hockey series against the New York Islanders in Uniondale, N.Y., Saturday, May 11, 2013. The Penguins won 4-3. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Pittsburgh Penguins center Tyler Kennedy celebrates with defenseman Brooks Orpik (44), who scored the winning goal in overtime of Game 6 of a first-round NHL Stanley Cup playoff hockey series against the New York Islanders in Uniondale, N.Y., Saturday, May 11, 2013. The Penguins won 4-3, and advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) ? Brooks Orpik's goal would have been memorable even if wasn't in overtime and didn't put the Pittsburgh Penguins into the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

When you are a defensive-minded defenseman with only 12 goals in nine NHL seasons, they all tend to stand out.

Orpik fired a slap shot from the left point that hit the back of the net 7:49 into overtime Saturday night to give the Penguins a 4-3 victory over the New York Islanders that ended the Eastern Conference first-round series in six games.

The top-seeded Penguins advanced to face the No. 7 Ottawa Senators despite being outshot 38-21 in the decisive win.

Orpik had never scored in 77 previous playoff games and didn't have one in the past 106 contests of any kind since his last goal, also against the Islanders, on Nov. 21, 2011.

"Felt great, of course, to score. I don't score too many," Orpik said.

Evgeni Malkin moved the puck from behind the net to Tyler Kennedy, who fed it to Orpik. The drive might have clipped Islanders forward Brad Boyes on its way past goalie Evgeni Nabokov.

"I'm definitely not a goal-scorer, but he laid it right on a tee for me," Orpik said. "I wish I can say I was trying to go there, but I was just trying to put it on net, and found a hole."

The Islanders were just 5:16 away from sending the series back to Pittsburgh for one more game when another defenseman, Paul Martin, got the Penguins even for the third time.

"It's great to finish it, I tell you that," goalie Tomas Vokoun said. "We got everything we could have handled. They played great and it was a tough series."

Evgeni Malkin assisted on the tying and winning goals. On Martin's goal, Malkin curled behind the New York net with the puck and sent a hard pass high in the zone to Martin, who ripped a drive through traffic in front.

Michael Grabner had given the Islanders a 3-2 edge 2:21 into the third.

He scored his second career NHL postseason goal off a feed from Keith Aucoin to give the Islanders their third lead ? on their 30th shot ? against the top-seeded Penguins. The goal left Vokoun sprawled on his stomach.

The teams had alternated wins since the Penguins took the opener 5-0 at home. Pittsburgh got into position to advance to the second round for the first time since 2010 when it won 4-0 in Game 5 with Vokoun in goal instead of Marc-Andre Fleury.

"To be thrown into the middle of a series and play the way he did, that's huge," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. "Especially tonight. They carried the play and had a lot of great chances. He was sturdy and solid for us."

Vokoun had trouble early matching the success he had all season against the Islanders, but still pulled out the win. The Penguins had lost all three previous postseason meetings with the Islanders ? including two defeats in Game 7.

John Tavares, Colin McDonald and Grabner gave New York leads in each period. Aucoin had two assists, and Nabokov made 17 saves.

The Islanders got back into the playoffs this year after being out of the postseason since 2007. With a move to Brooklyn upcoming in the near future, the Islanders could be turning a corner back into hockey respectability.

"We really came together," said Tavares, an NHL MVP finalist. "I hope we can bring more next year. We found out what it takes to be successful. Great character in this room. I like where we are headed."

Jarome Iginla tied it in the first, and Pascal Dupuis made it 2-2 in the second for Pittsburgh, which got 35 saves from Vokoun.

Despite being outplayed for much of the game ? as evident by the shot disparity of 28-13 through two periods ? the Penguins entered the third in a 2-2 tie.

Pittsburgh overcame a pair of New York power plays in the second ? including one for too many men on the ice that had coach Dan Bylsma irate on the bench ? and got even again when Dupuis scored his fifth of the series with 9:01 remaining.

Joe Vitale raced along the right wing boards and flung the puck in front to Dupuis, who redirected it past Nabokov.

Pittsburgh nearly took its first lead of the night in the final minute of the second when Crosby eluded Frans Nielsen behind the New York net and found Chris Kunitz at the right post for a quick one-timer that Nabokov blocked.

The Islanders showed no signs of nervousness or that the moment was too big for them, despite the lack of playoff experience throughout the roster.

New York forced the Penguins into an early icing violation that caused Bylsma to burn his lone timeout just 1:19 in in order to rest the tired players forced to stay on the ice.

The Islanders kept the pressure on, and spent a large chunk of time in the Pittsburgh end ? largely in the corners and behind the net ? but it paid off with an early goal.

Josh Bailey dug the puck out of the right corner and fed a perfect backhanded pass out to Tavares, who was left alone as he skated into the slot. Tavares grabbed the puck and snapped off a crisp wrist shot from the hashmarks that beat Vokoun at 5:36.

As the Islanders celebrated, Tavares was showered with chants of "M-V-P, M-V-P" one day after he was announced as a finalist for the Hart Trophy.

The goal carried even more significance than the 1-0 lead it created as it was the Islanders' first against Vokoun in two games this series.

Counting the regular season and his shutout win Thursday in Game 5, Vokoun entered with a 4-0 mark, an 0.69 goals-against average, and .977 save percentage this year in five games against the Islanders.

But Crosby, also one of the three Hart finalists, created the tying goal with a strong, unimpeded drive on Nabokov. Crosby surged to the net and put a backhand on the goal. Nabokov made the stop, but couldn't grab the puck before Iginla came into the middle and poked the rebound in at 7:39.

It appeared the game would remain tied until the intermission, however McDonald put the Islanders back in front 2-1 with 37 seconds left in the first.

More hard work on the end boards led to the goal as Grabner fought off Martin and managed to shove the puck out front to Aucoin, who quickly sent a pass across the crease from the left post to the right, where McDonald was left unchecked. In one motion he steered the puck into the open side before Vokoun could recover.

NOTES: This was the 16th overtime game of the first round, tying last year's record. Home teams are 10-6 after going 4-12 in 2012. ... Dupuis had five goals and two assists in the series, earning at least one point in all six games. ... C Brock Nelson made his NHL debut for the Islanders. LW Jesse Joensuu, who played in Game 5, sat out. ... Malkin had nine assists in the series.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-05-11-Penguins-Islanders/id-e8992c9421294c458ef26c12f926b327

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Cleric Abu Qatada may leave Britain voluntarily

By Estelle Shirbon

LONDON (Reuters) - Radical cleric Abu Qatada will return to Jordan voluntarily if the Jordanian parliament ratifies a deal with Britain that ensures he will receive a fair trial, the cleric's lawyer said on Friday.

Britain's government has for years tried to deport Abu Qatada, who is accused of being Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe, but judges have repeatedly blocked this on grounds he could receive an unfair trial, embarrassing the government.

Abu Qatada has never been charged with an offence in Britain, but faces terrorism charges in Jordan.

Judges say they fear evidence obtained through torture may be used against him in Jordan. Britain last month signed a new treaty with Jordan aimed at addressing those concerns.

"If and when the Jordanian parliament ratifies that treaty, Mr Othman (Abu Qatada) will voluntarily return to Jordan," Edward Fitzgerald, a lawyer representing him told a British court.

The hearing was related to the cleric's arrest in March for having mobile phones and other communications equipment in his home, a breach of his bail conditions.

(Writing by Mohammed Abbas; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cleric-abu-qatada-may-leave-britain-voluntarily-090621056.html

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Black voters a surprise, especially to GOP

Two months before President Barack Obama won re-election, Secretary of the Commonwealth Carol Aichele embarked on a damage control tour to assure Pennsylvania voters that the Republican-controlled Legislature really wasn't out to suppress anyone's vote, despite all evidence to the contrary.

Too many folks, apparently, had taken too literally House Republican Leader Mike Turzai's quip that the state's voter ID law was "going to allow Gov. [Mitt] Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania."

"We are doing the most aggressive public relations campaign this state has ever seen, to both educate the voters on the election in November and then to make sure they know about photo ID," Ms. Aichele said during a visit to Chartiers Valley High School.

"The message is -- if you care about this country, vote. I'm expecting -- and it would please me to no end if we had -- the biggest voter turnout we've ever had in Pennsylvania," Ms. Aichele said.

It was the kind of hope that stunk of the Corbett administration's usual Pollyanna. Left unexplained by the former math teacher was how a voter ID law considered by many to be one of the most draconian in the nation could possibly result in a larger voter turnout in Pennsylvania.

Fast forward eight months to a headline in The New York Times this week: "For First Time on Record, Black Voting Rate Outpaced Rate for Whites in 2012."

It turns out that Ms. Aichele was on to something, although she couldn't possibly have known that when she made her prediction. It was Republican orthodoxy at the time that black turnout for 2012 would be much smaller than it was in 2008.

Conservative pundits assured the party faithful that black voter disenchantment was widespread and that Mr. Obama's support for gay marriage would further depress enthusiasm among older, more religious blacks who never miss an election. What the pundits never counted on was the level of indignation that voter ID laws would generate, especially among citizens who have a collective memory of what voter disenfranchisement felt like not too long ago.

No one predicted a record African-American voter turnout in 2012. Even the most optimistic Democratic partisan would've been happy with a rate identical to 2008. Republicans were predicting a turnout closer to that of 2004, if not earlier. They were confidently telling each other that 2008 was a fluke and that 2010 was a better indicator of what would happen in 2012.

No one predicted that black turnout nationally would reach 66.2 percent in 2012, compared to 64.1 percent for non-Hispanic whites. On the contrary, we all expected hundreds of thousands of voters to "disappear" from the rolls of key states.

It was concern about the fairness of the election that prompted so many African-Americans to turn out in record numbers in the states that allow early voting and stand in line -- all day, if necessary -- in states that didn't. That's what happens when people get mad and expect the worst. They wanted to see for themselves how far the architects of voter ID laws were willing to take their politically opportunistic assault on the democratic process.

When all of the votes were tallied, 1.8 million more blacks turned out in 2012 than in 2008. Black women led the charge, but black men weren't that far behind. Middle-aged and older blacks voted the most. And as many conservative commentators have pointed out, 90 percent of them voted for President Obama, which may explain why the outreach to blacks by the GOP in the last election cycle was minimal or non-existent.

Ignoring the black vote was a self-fulfilling prophecy by a party that ironically claims to be colorblind. Blacks may represent the highest voting rate in America as of 2012, but it doesn't make us any more visible or relevant to the GOP than we were a decade ago.

There's also the very strange phenomenon of 2 million missing white voters in 2012, compared to 2008. The nation's overall turnout rate dropped to 61.8 percent from 63.6 in 2008. The new political orthodoxy is that having Mr. Obama on the ticket energized the black vote, but expect that to go away once the next white Democrat is nominated for president.

That's a stunningly clueless bit of analysis and wishful thinking. If nothing else, Mr. Obama has taught black Americans -- and everyone else -- that we all have a stake in the system and that the only way to maintain a seat at the table is to pull up a chair and vote.

In two weeks, we'll see how many blacks will factor in this city's future by voting.

Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/tony-norman/black-voters-a-surprise-especially-to-gop-687059

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Belgium says 31 detained in $50M diamond heist

BRUSSELS (AP) ? Authorities claimed a major breakthrough on Wednesday in their investigation of a spectacular $50 million diamond heist, detaining at least 31 people in a three-nation sweep some three months after robbers pulled off the theft with clockwork precision at Brussels Airport

A Frenchman who is believed to have been one of the actual robbers at the airport was arrested in France, while six to eight people were detained in Geneva, and 24 in and around Brussels. Police did not indicate what the other suspects' roles might have been.

What's more, police say they have proof that diamonds found in Switzerland were part of the cache that was spirited away in the brazen Feb. 18 robbery that ranks among the biggest diamond heists of recent times.

After two months of investigation on some of the suspects, police moved in. Suspects in France and Switzerland were detained on Tuesday, and the following day Belgian police carried out a massive operation, with 250 police involved in 40 house searches.

"In Switzerland, we have found diamonds that we can already say are coming from the heist, and in Belgium large amounts of money have been found. And the investigation is still ongoing," said Jean-Marc Meilleur, a spokesman for the Brussels prosecutor's office. He said police had also found luxury cars.

Meilleur was scant on detail, yielding no clues how police got on the trail of the suspects. Authorities were expected to announce later Wednesday how many of the detainees would be charged and arrested.

In Geneva, a police statement said that "a very important quantity of diamonds was seized" during the sweep "coming from the spectacular heist at Brussels airport." While Belgian authorities spoke of six detentions in Switzerland, Geneva police put it at eight, including a businessman and a lawyer. Authorities were alerted when suddenly a member of a major criminal organization appeared in their city. The value of the diamonds was still being estimated.

It was the first breakthrough in a robbery that many had started comparing to an "Ocean's Eleven"-type Hollywood script for its clinically clean execution during which no one was injured.

On a cold winter evening, the diamonds had been loaded on a plane bound for Zurich when robbers, dressed in dark police clothing and hoods, drove through a hole they had cut in the airport fence in two black cars with blue police lights flashing. They drove onto the tarmac, approached the plane, brandished machine guns, offloaded the diamonds, then made their getaway in an operation that barely took five minutes. Later that night, investigators found the charred remains of a van most likely used in the heist, but little else.

The stolen parcels contained both rough and polished stones. The trail ran dry until the surprise announcement on Wednesday.

Meilleur said that the man held in France is suspected to be one of the robbers. "This person has a very heavy judicial background in France and his extradition to Belgium has been requested."

Belgian authorities said that about 10 of the 24 people detained in Belgium were known criminals. The suspects ranged in age from 30 to 50, they said.

The diamond industry, too, was totally caught by surprise by Wednesday's developments. "But we can only be happy," said Caroline De Wolf, spokeswoman for the Antwerp World Diamond Center.

___

Associated Press writer Frank Jordans contributed from Berlin.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/belgium-says-31-detained-50m-diamond-heist-093628614.html

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Warriors vs. Spurs Game 2 Predictions For NBA Playoffs Odds 5/8/13

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The Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs are going to square off in Game 2 of their playoff series in a crucial NBA betting affair on May 8th. Join us here at Cappers Info, as we make our predictions for basketball for what should be a great game on Wednesday.

NBA Predictions: Golden State Warriors @ San Antonio Spurs
Date: Wednesday, May 8th, 9:30 ET
Location: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
NBA Betting Odds: San Antonio -6.5
Warriors vs. Spurs NBA TV Schedule: TNT

Spurs Lead Series 1-0

Game 1 might have been the best game that the NBA has seen thus far this season. The Spurs had to go on an 18-2 run over the course of the last four minutes of play to force the game to overtime, and then two sessions later, it was G Manu Ginobili who hit the three-point shot that ultimately won the game for the hosts. There were 205 total shots from the field in the game, and 56 three-point attempts between the two clubs. It was the exact game that Golden State wanted to play. G Stephen Curry scored 44 points, and he dished out 11 assists. He played 58 minutes and shot the ball 35 times. Is there a way that the Warriors can even get up to play Game 2? That?s the biggest question that we have right now. They had everything go exactly the way that they wanted, and they just didn?t have enough at the end. There are too many weapons here for San Antonio, and fatigue has to be a factor as well. Not only did Curry play 58 minutes, but F Harrison Barnes played 53. For the Spurs, no one played more than 48 minutes, and only G Tony Parker, G Danny Green, and F Kawhi Leonard played more than 40 minutes. There is still plenty of gas left in the San Antonio tank. We don?t know how much is really left for Golden State. Lay the points in Game 2.

Warriors @ Spurs Game 2 Pick: San Antonio Spurs -7
Warriors @ Spurs Score Prediction: Spurs 103 ? Warriors 93

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Cappersinfo-Sports-Handicapping/~3/UzNmt2QlySQ/

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Williamstown: Church youth to present pageant

Wednesday May 8, 2013

The Youth Musicians of Second Congregational Church will present their spring pageant, "The Seven Days of Creation," during the 9 a.m. worship service on Sunday, May 12, Mother?s Day.

The event is free and open to the public. A free-will donation will be collected which will go toward the sponsorship of Manoj, a 7-year-old boy in southern India.

The church is located on Route 43, South Williamstown, near Five Corners.

Source: http://www.berkshireeagle.com/local/ci_23198668/williamstown-church-youth-present-pageant?source=rss

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How Ultraviolet Light Will Sterilize Super Bugs

Hospital infection rates are on the rise with 1 in 20 Americans already being admitted to the hospital this year, according to CDC estimates, and in some instances, winding up more sick than when they arrived. These infections kill around 100,000 vulnerable patients and cost the healthcare industry $30 billion annually. To combat hyper-infectious agents like Clostridium difficile (C-diff) or Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), doctors are turning to a different method of disinfection to destroy bacteria by tearing their DNA apart with UV light.

Known as Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI), this new method employs light in the ultraviolet wavelength (400 nm and 10 nm?shorter than visible light, longer than X-rays). UV light is present in natural sunlight and, although the most damaging wavelengths (extreme UV from 10 nm to 120 nm and midrange UV from 280 nm to 315 nm) are filtered by our ozone layer before they penetrate the atmosphere (97 percent of UV overall), all wavelengths can alter molecular bonds and are capable of damaging biological tissue. The most common form of ionizing damage incurred by humans is sunburn, though UV rays will burn through a cornea if given the chance. Long term exposure to UV has also been linked to numerous forms of skin cancer.

And if you think skin cancer is bad, you should see what the stuff does to bacteria. We've known since the late 19th century that UV light is a potent cellular mutagen?Niels Finsentook home the 1903 Nobel Prize for Medicine for using UV lights to treat lupus vulgaris?but it wasn't until the 1950s when researchers discovered how UV actually damaged cells.

Turns out, two specific frequencies of 265 nm and 185 nm, do most of the damage, penetrating cellular walls and disrupting DNA replication (dimerizing adjacent pairs of thymine, specifically) which in turn prevents the cell from replicating or repairing itself, rendering it harmless if not outright dead. Many American utilities have also been using UV methods for water sterilization (both potable and wastewater) since 1916 and the practice has garnered EPA approval. In additon, you can now find UV disinfection systems in public utilities, A/C ducts, food processing plants, pharmaceutical facilities, and of course, hospitals and medical research facilities across the country.

There are two primary means of producing UV light in these two frequencies?continuous mercury vapor UV lamps and pulse xenon UV. Eighty six percent of the light emitted by Mercury-vapor lamps shines at 254 nm, near one of the germicidal peaks, however these lamps are energy intensive and filled with a toxic gas. Xenon pulse lamps, flash a UV light much more energetic than what Mercury-vapor can produce, which reduces disinfection time, and utilize an intert gas instead. Regardeless of the system used, UV disinfectors only work where their light shines. As such, they require a clear line-of-sight unobstructed by shadows, dust, or fluids preferrably in a sealed environment, which allows cycling air currents to repeatedly pass under the lights. The duration of a bacteria's exposure is as paramount to the systems' effectiveness, whether its one long exposure or multiple brief ones, as is the organism's resistance to UV light.

In hospitals, surgical instruments and operating theaters aren't the only vectors for disease transmission, patients are just as likely to pick up a secondary infection from something in the rcovery room. As such, many American hospitals are now focusing on ensuring "that all the nooks and crannies are clean, and that it's done in as perfect a manner as can be done," Dr. Marisa Montecalvo, a contagious diseases specialist at Westchester Medical Center, said.

In addition to copious amounts of hand sanitizer and bleach washes, hospitals are now turning to devices like the UV emitter from Xenex Healthcare Services. ?When we started, we were having to convince hospitals and infection control that the environment matters,? said Dr. Mark Stibich, Xenex's chief scientific officer, told the San Antonio Express News. ?That is no longer the case. At least in the U.S., facilities are very aware how much the environment can impact risk for infections. So they're much more sensitive to the infections because they are directly impacting the bottom line of the hospitals.? This portable, $125,000 pulse xenon UV machine is reportedly "20 times more effective than standard chemical cleaning" and, according to one study at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northhampton, MA, reduced the rate of Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infection by a staggering 82 percent.

At this point, UV disinfection remains a supplementary process to chemical cleaning methods, however, the market for these devices is growing and is expected to grow from $30 million to $80 million in the next three years.

[R&D Mag - Xenex - Wikipedia 1, 2 - Xenon Corp - My San Antonio - Top Image: Paul Hakimata Photography / shutterstock, Xenex image: Paul Davenport / San Antonio Express News]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/how-ultraviolet-light-will-sterilize-super-bugs-489666471

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How the NYPD Hunted Down an iPhone Thief in an Awesome Subway Chase

The subway is a prime place for phone theft. Snatch, grab, run. Whether you're getting on or getting off, you'll make a quick escape from your target. It doesn't always work, though. The NYPD managed to catch someone who tried exactly that trick by using Find My iPhone and following along on the ground in a righteous chase.

According to the New York Times, the theft happened on April 15 at Main Street in Flushing, Queens. Some punk kid in a yellow hoodie snatched a phone out of a poor woman's hand and made off with it. Fortunately, the woman was able to find nearby NYPD officer with an iPhone of his own, and quickly tried to track the phone with Find My iPhone. And our numbskull thief hadn't turned his prize off. After a brief stop-and-start, the officer realized the thief was on the train.

Luckily for the victim, the 7 line runs above-ground in Queens, and the police trailed the snatcher by following the tracks in a cruiser. And with a little help from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the police were able to corner the culprit.

Phone theft is bad in NYC, so bad that the NYPD has an iTheft division. Though this may not be the typical outcome for a story like this, it sure is great to hear a little miscreant got what was coming to him. But chances are that if you get your phone stolen, you won't be as lucky. So hold on tight. [The New York Times]

Image by Error46146/Creative Commons

Source: http://gizmodo.com/how-the-nypd-hunted-down-an-iphone-thief-in-an-awesome-491380685

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HTC?s posts worst-ever earnings in Q1, but One to drive Q2 rebound

May 1 (Reuters) - Post position for Saturday's 139th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs after Wednesday's draw (listed as barrier, HORSE, jockey, trainer) 1. BLACK ONYX, Joe Bravo, Kelly Breen 2. OXBOW, Gary Stevens, D. Wayne Lukas 3. REVOLUTIONARY, Calvin Borel, Todd Pletcher 4. GOLDEN SOUL, Robby Albarado, Dallas Stewart 5. NORMANDY INVASION, Javier Castellano, Chad Brown 6. MYLUTE, Rosie Napravnik, Tom Amoss 7. GIANT FINISH, Jose Espinoza, Tony Dutrow 8. GOLDENCENTS, Kevin Krigger, Doug O'Neill 9. OVERANALYZE, Rafael Bejarano, Todd Pletcher 10. PALACE MALICE, Mike Smith, Todd Pletcher 11. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/htc-posts-worst-ever-earnings-q1-one-drive-115056866.html

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