Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/164472028?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Monday, 21 November 2011
Sunday, 20 November 2011
FOOD52 Is the Best Cooking App for the Holidays [IPad Apps]
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How Olympus Reportedly Got Tangled Up With the Japanese Mafia [Olympus]
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Saturday, 19 November 2011
Friday, 18 November 2011
Nokia Has a Windows 8 Tablet in the Works for 2012 [Rumors]
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False confessions may lead to more errors in evidence, study shows
ScienceDaily (Nov. 16, 2011) ? A man with a low IQ confesses to a gruesome crime. Confession in hand, the police send his blood to a lab to confirm that his blood type matches the semen found at the scene. It does not. The forensic examiner testifies later that one blood type can change to another with disintegration. This is untrue. The newspaper reports the story, including the time the man says the murder took place. Two witnesses tell the police they saw the woman alive after that. The police send them home, saying they "must have seen a ghost." After 16 years in prison, the falsely convicted man is exonerated by DNA evidence.
How could this happen? "False confessions can corrupt other evidence, both from laypeople and forensic experts," says John Jay College of Criminal Justice psychologist Saul Kassin, summarizing a new study conducted with Daniel Bogart of the University of California Irvine and Nova Southeastern University's Jacqueline Kerner. The findings, which will appear in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal published by the Association for Psychological Science, have far-reaching implications for judges and juries, prosecutors and defense attorneys.
Confessions, when true, are an important tool in convicting criminals. But false confessions frequently play a major role in convicting innocent people. Experiments show that juries and potential witnesses are influenced by confessions even if they know they were coerced. Also in the lab, experienced polygraph examiners, fingerprint experts, and other experts, when informed of a confession, see what they expect to see -- that is, evidence of guilt.
To back up these findings with real-life data, the psychologists thoroughly reviewed the trial records of 241 people exonerated by the Innocence Project since 1992. Of these, 59 -- or 25 percent -- involved false confessions, either by the defendant or an alleged accomplice. One-hundred eighty -- or 75 percent -- involved eyewitness mistakes. The analysis revealed that multiple errors turned up far more often in false confession cases than in eyewitness cases: 69 percent versus fewer than half. And two thirds of the time, the confession came first, followed by other errors, namely invalid forensic science and government informants.
Kassin believes the findings "greatly underestimate the problem" because of what never shows up in court: evidence of innocence. Told the suspect confessed, "alibi witnesses back out, thinking they're mistaken," police stop searching for the real culprit. "We show that confessions bring in other incriminating evidence that is false. What we don't see is a tendency to suppress exculpatory evidence."
The study throws doubt on a critical legal concept designed to safeguard the innocent: corroboration. Appeals courts uphold a conviction even if a false confession is discovered, as long as other evidence -- say, forensics or other witness testimony -- independently shows guilt. "What these findings suggest is that there may well be the appearance of corroboration," says Kassin, "but it is false evidence that was corrupted by the confession -- not independent at all."
Already, many states require that interrogations be taped, so that confessions are not coerced or taken when the suspect is in psychological distress. With this study, "Juries and judges have more reason to critically evaluate the conditions under which that other evidence was taken, too."
The article is entitled, "Confessions that Corrupt: Evidence from the DNA Exoneration Case Files."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Association for Psychological Science.
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Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/I31-SnzvKi8/111116151333.htm
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Thursday, 17 November 2011
Researchers uncover steps in synapse building, pruning
ScienceDaily (Nov. 16, 2011) ? Like a gardener who stakes some plants and weeds out others, the brain is constantly building networks of synapses, while pruning out redundant or unneeded synapses. Researchers at The Jackson Laboratory led by Assistant Professor Zhong-wei Zhang, Ph.D., have discovered a factor in synapse-building, also showing that the building and pruning processes occur independent of each other.
Mammals are born with functioning but not-yet-developed brains. After birth, external stimuli and internal programs continue to shape the connections between neurons, known as synapses, and the formation of networks of synapses known as neuronal circuits. Some grow stronger, some grow weaker, redundant connections are eliminated, and so on. Such "plasticity," the ongoing refinement of neural connections and networks, continues throughout life, albeit more subtly with time and maturation.
Much about plasticity remains unknown. How the neural circuits are modified, what controls the modification, the mechanics of strengthening or eliminating specific synapses and much more are subjects of ongoing research. Besides gaining a better picture of normal brain development, scientists seek to understand the errors in synapse building and pruning that are associated with autism, mental retardation and schizophrenia.
Zhang and colleagues investigated a major type of synapse in the brain (called the glutamatergic synapse) that undergoes rapid refinement soon after birth. What they discovered is that these synapses are strengthened through the addition of a particular kind of glutamate receptors, beginning about a week after birth for mice. Notably, sensory deprivation disrupts the strengthening of the synapses, highlighting the role of early experience in synapse building.
In a somewhat surprising finding, the Zhang lab also discovered that the elimination of redundant synapses was not dependent on the other synapses' being strengthened. Since synaptic strengthening usually precedes removal of redundant synapses, it was not known if such elimination is dependent on the prior strengthening. In mice lacking the receptor, which prevented significant strengthening of synaptic connections, redundant synapses were eliminated as usual.
The Jackson Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institution and National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center based in Bar Harbor, Maine, with a facility in Sacramento, Calif., a planned facility in Farmington, Conn., and a total staff of about 1,400. Its mission is to discover the genetic basis for preventing, treating and curing human disease, and to enable research and education for the global biomedical community.
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Journal Reference:
- Hao Wang, Hong Liu, Zhong-Wei Zhang. Elimination of Redundant Synaptic Inputs in the Absence of Synaptic Strengthening. Journal of Neuroscience, 2011; 31 (46): 16675-16684 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4569-11.2011
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111116162242.htm
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
Concern grows in U.K., U.S. over Somali-based militants (Reuters)
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Singer Pink Reveals She Wants ?Lots And Lots Of Children?
Singer Pink Reveals She Wants “Lots And Lots Of Children”
Pink and Carey Hart, who welcomed daughter Willow five months ago, reveals they want an entire basketball team. The couple apparently love being parents and [...]
Singer Pink Reveals She Wants “Lots And Lots Of Children” Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News
Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2011/11/14/singer-pink-reveals-she-wants-lots-and-lots-of-children/
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Tuesday, 15 November 2011
January trial sought for Golden Globes dispute (AP)
LOS ANGELES ? The organizers of the Golden Globe Awards are asking a federal judge to begin a trial to decide who owns the show's broadcast rights in early January when final preparations for the glitzy gala will be under way.
The request by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for a trial during the first week of January is opposed by the show's longtime producer, dick clark productions. In court filings, attorneys for the producer say holding the trial in early January will disrupt the Jan. 15 broadcast of the 2012 awards ceremony by NBC.
The association argues in a court filing Monday that the case needs to be resolved to remove any uncertainty about the broadcast future of the show, which honors top Hollywood stars from movies and television.
"Delay may mean that potential networks will fill their broadcasting slates, the overall market may depress further, and HFPA will suffer incalculable injury," the association's attorneys wrote.
The producer's attorneys, however, argue the upcoming show will suffer if the trial begins in January.
"A trial that commences only one week before the show is scheduled to air, and that would be ongoing on the actual air date, can be expected to negatively impact the show by focusing attention away from the awards ceremony and towards the parties' dispute," attorneys for dick clark productions wrote.
A conference with the judge who will hear the case is scheduled for Nov. 30, but he has already told both sides that a January trial will be difficult to coordinate because of other cases he is hearing.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association sued dick clark productions in November 2010 after the company negotiated an extension with NBC to broadcast the show until 2018.
The journalists' group argued the producers overstepped their authority and are asking a judge to invalidate the deal so they can negotiate with other networks.
The production company, however, claims it has rights to stage the Globes as long as the show airs on NBC, and that it was granted those rights "in perpetuity" because it restored the show's prominence after it was knocked from airwaves by a scandal in the early 1980s.
The Globes are one of Hollywood's highest-profile awards shows, attracting A-listers from television and movies for a gala that sometimes helps stars build momentum during Hollywood's awards season, which culminates with the Oscars.
Tens of millions of dollars are at stake for both sides.
A trial to settle the broadcast dispute had been scheduled for September but was abruptly canceled by a federal judge who said she could no longer hear the case. The two sides agreed to allow dick clark productions to work on the 2012 show, but settlement talks have been unsuccessful so far.
___
McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP
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Monday, 14 November 2011
Eli Lilly faces tough times with patent losses (Reuters)
HONOLULU (Reuters) ? Eli Lilly and Co has hit a tough spot with the pharmaceutical company's top treatment now facing competition from cheaper generic brands and the looming loss of patent protection on other drugs.
"It may be one of our most challenging periods in our history because, as the way fate would have it, we lose patent protection on a number of products between now and 2014," Lilly's Chief Executive John Lechleiter told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit.
Lilly's best selling product, its $4.5 billion a year Zyprexa schizophrenia treatment, began facing cheaper generics in the United States a few weeks ago and the company will lose protection for antidepressant Cymbalta in 2013 and its Evista osteoporosis drug the year after.
"Right now I have got my hands full. My goal is to help Lilly navigate through this tough patch," said Lechleiter, who joined Lilly in 1979 as an organic chemist and became CEO in 2008.
Lechleiter ruled out acquisitions to plug the hole left by Zyprexa and pointed to Lilly's pipeline of potential medicines that were in the last stages of trials in the United States.
"You can't just order up a new menu item like it's McDonald's. It's a longer-term cycle. Investors understand that," he said.
The Indiana-based company has forecast a minimum of $20 billion in sales, $3 billion in net income, and $4 billion in operating cash flow for the next few years.
Lilly, the 10th largest pharmaceutical company in the world, is now vying to become the largest player for diabetes treatments. A recent break-up with long-term biotech partner Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc has freed up Lilly to pursue all types of diabetes products instead of being blocked by firewalls enacted as part of their partnership.
Becoming No. 1 is "not out of the realm of possibility," said Lechleiter. The company, which was the first to bring insulin to consumers in the 1920s, trails Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk.
Lechleiter said his company could be in a position to compete effectively in insulin and oral diabetes medicines as well as maintaining its presence among a type of drug that stimulates insulin release when glucose levels become too high.
Lechleiter and dozens of other executives were in Honolulu for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and discussed trade and business concerns with officials from the 21 Asia Pacific countries, including China.
(Editing by Maureen Bavdek)
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Sunday, 13 November 2011
Spain's Telefonica posts first loss in 9 years (AP)
MADRID ? Spanish telephone company Telefonica said Friday it lost euro429 million ($584 million) in the third quarter, its first quarterly loss in nine years, after hefty costs laying off workers in Spain's moribund economy.
It compared to profits of euro5.1 billion in the same period of 2010, although that figure included a one-off gain from Telefonica's takeover of Brazilian cell phone company Vivo.
Telefonica said the third quarter 2011 results included costs of euro1.87 billion in compensation for workers being laid off in Spain.
Revenue in Spain for the quarter was down 8.8 percent. But total revenue for the quarter ? in Spain and all the countries where Telefonica operates ? was up 3.7 percent to euro15.8 billion.
The poor performance in Spain was offset by a 17.5 percent rise in revenue in Latin America.
Telefonica is eliminating up to 6,500 jobs, or close to 20 percent of its work force, in Spain through 2013 to reduce costs.
Telefonica's profits for the first nine months of the year were down 69 percent to euro2.73 billion, again in part because of redundancy costs. Revenue for the January-September period rose 5.4 percent.
Telefonica shares were practically unchanged at euro13.9 in early trading.
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Feds use more unmanned aircraft to secure border (AP)
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas ? Two Border Patrol agents walked by a patch of brush on a remote ranch and saw nothing. But 19,000 feet overhead in the night sky, a Predator unmanned aircraft kept its heat-sensing eye on the spot.
In an operations center about 80 miles away, all eyes were on a suspicious dark cluster on a video screen. Moments later, the drone operators triggered the craft's infrared beam and pointed the agents directly to the undergrowth where two silent figures were hiding.
Last week's mission was just another night out for a Predator program that is playing a larger role in the nation's border security as the U.S. Customs and Border Protection adds to its force of unmanned aircraft. The agency received its second Predator B aircraft in Texas last month and will add its sixth overall on the Southwest border when another is based in Arizona by the end of the year.
The aircraft are credited with apprehending more than 7,500 people since they were deployed six years ago. They bring the latest in military technology to one of the oldest cat-and-mouse pursuits in the country. But on the border, even sophisticated devices struggle with the weather and conditions ? just as humans do.
"I'm trying to mark. I'm looking for a hole in the clouds," said an exasperated operator as he lost his video image of a "hotspot" in a stand of trees. Cloud cover, along with crosswinds and rain, are the drones' enemies.
The aircraft can remain airborne for 30 hours though missions typically run eight or nine hours with the ground crews rotating in the control trailers. Smugglers of humans, drugs and guns are the chief prey.
The Predators, which were being used in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, were introduced on the border in 2005, the year before Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared war on his country's drug gangs and violence along the border exploded. Since then, the aircraft have logged more than 10,000 flight hours and aided in intercepting 46,600 pounds of illegal drugs.
"It's like any other law enforcement platform," said Lothar Eckardt, director of the Office of Air and Marine's Predator operation housed at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. "No different than a helicopter."
A Predator system ? the plane, sensors, control consoles and antennas ? costs $18.5 million. The craft's 66-foot wingspan stretches out from a relatively small body supported by spindly landing gear, making them appear almost insect-like. A single propeller powers them from behind, allowing for relatively quiet flights.
Inside the ground control trailer, a pilot and sensor operator sit side by side at consoles that include four screens each, a joystick, keyboard, several levers and rudder pedals. The pilot does the flying. The sensor operator works the infrared equipment and other technology under the aircraft's nose.
Some question whether the remotely-piloted aircrafts' impact justifies the price.
"The big knock on the UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) program ... is that it's so expensive," said T.J. Bonner, former president of the National Border Patrol Council, the agents' union. He said the money would be better spent on more boots on the ground and manned aircraft.
The Predator's touchiest missions are those that take it across the border into Mexico. A 2008 U.S. diplomatic cable posted by Wikileaks described a meeting between then Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and several members of Mexico's national security cabinet in which Mexican officials appeared to enthusiastically endorse the idea of surveillance flights. But publicly Mexican officials have been loath to speak about anything that could be perceived as impinging on the nation's sovereignty. In March, Mexican officials defended allowing U.S. surveillance flights and said a Mexican official was always present in the control room.
The Predator program now has one continuous patrolling zone from the Texas-Louisiana line, down the Gulf coast and up the border to El Centro, Calif.
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, who pushed to add the second unmanned aircraft in Texas and eventually hopes to have six based here, called them an "extremely important" part of the border enforcement mix of agents and technology.
"At that height out there, they can cover so much territory," he said.
Arizona will add its fourth Predator in Sierra Vista to help patrol from California to New Mexico and into West Texas. Eventually, one of the Texas aircraft will receive specialized maritime radar and concentrate on searching for smugglers in the Gulf of Mexico and western Caribbean.
For now, the Predator's greatest focus is along the US-Mexico border, where the drug war has increased concerns about spillover violence. They are especially valuable in night operations.
On that mission in the predawn hours Tuesday, the Predator guided agents tracking a group of six to eight illegal immigrants through thick clusters of oak trees and high grass an hour north of the Rio Grande. Seen through the agents' night-vision goggles the Predator cast a pillar of green light that illuminated two men lying in the undergrowth.
"It's awesome," Border Patrol agent Daniel Hernandez said. "It's a great asset to have here; something that made my job a little more efficient."
Saturday, 12 November 2011
HBT: Reyes, Marlins close to deal
We knew that the Marlins met with Jose Reyes on Wednesday, but Jorge Sedano of 790 AM The Ticket in Miami tweeted last night that Reyes is ?almost a done deal? in Miami.
This would certainly be a major deal for the Marlins. ?It would mean Hanley Ramirez would have to move, most likely to third base. Not that he shouldn?t keep his shortstop pants in his locker given Reyes? injury history, but still.
Today is the official unveiling of the Marlins new uniforms, logos, and team name ? the Miami Marlins ? how freakin? huge would it be if it was also the day they reeled in their biggest free agent catch in years?
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4 years, $50M? Seriously, Phils?
There were many, many potential closers on the market this morning. None had signed yet. None made the sort of money Jonathan Papelbon did last year, have the mileage on their arms that he does and most of them aren?t his age. ?Yet, somehow, Ruben Amaro decided that Papelbon needed a four-year, $50 million deal.
You OK with that, Philly fans? ?You OK with Papelbon getting one more year and $13 million more than Brad Lidge got on his last deal?
Not to say that Papelbon is bad. ?He?s not. Had a really nice bounceback year in 2011. ?The real issue here is a four-year deal for a closer of any stripe. ?Those are pretty rare and rarely have they ever worked out. Joe Nathan had a decent one at the same age as Papelbon. ?As Alex Speier noted in a column the other day, though, 11 closers have been given multi-year deals worth $9 million or more. ?With the exception of Mariano Rivera, they just haven?t worked out and most have been fairly disastrous. ?And that?s just multi-year deals, not four freaking years.
I?ll grant that Papelbon could be a moderate improvement over Ryan Madson in the near term, but it doesn?t make them markedly better as a team. It certainly doesn?t make them any younger, as this deal takes Papelbon through his age 34 season. It doesn?t help the Phillies bottom line by damn sight, and it?s already pretty heavily-loaded with big salaries owed to aging players.
So the question is why? Why these dollars to this dude? ?Why, when there are other holes to fill on this team ? offense is a concern, pitching not nearly as much ? do the Phillies need to go out and get an expensive Proven Closer?
I?m?baffled.
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Friday, 11 November 2011
Boulder Dash on Android? Oh, hell, yes!
It's 1984 all over again, folks, and not in the scary way. The original Boulder Dash has come to the Android Market, bringing with it not one but five games (four accessible via in-app upgrades). It's got all of the classic Boulder Dash creatures and features, original retro graphics for the last three cave backs (new graphics for the first two), and ties into OpenFeint so you can compete against your friends.
Boulder Dash for Android is 99 cents for a limited time; we've got download links and demo video after the break.
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/wTS4G0V6U7E/story01.htm
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