Facebook Might Buy Tumblr - Business Insider

Screenshot

Everyone is reporting that Yahoo is in serious talks to buy Tumblr.

Tumblr is basically a Twitter for images (or, if you prefer, a dead-simple "blogging platform" that allows you to follow other users)--a digital "platform" that allows users to post and share content.

These talks between Yahoo and Tumblr make sense.

Yahoo wants to become hip and cool again, and Tumblr is hip and cool. Tumblr is also huge and growing fast: It's one of a small handful of successful social media giants that also includes Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Tumblr is a "platform," which is in keeping with Yahoo's new emphasis on being a content distributor rather than a content producer. ?Importantly, Tumblr is also affordable for Yahoo, which few other companies in this group are.

(Tumblr might be had for about $1 billion, folks are reporting. That's in the range of what Yahoo could pay without significantly diluting its equity or blowing a big percentage of its cash. Pinterest, the second-lowest-priced company in this group, would probably command at least a couple of billion, and would therefore be significantly more dilutive.)

To be sure, a Yahoo Tumblr acquisition would come with lots of questions--namely, how Yahoo would plan to "monetize" Tumblr. So far, Tumblr has had trouble generating really significant revenue, in part because of the company's attitude toward advertising. So one key question would be whether Yahoo can generate enough revenue from Tumblr to make the purchase price worth it without compromising the service's value to users.

But, from a high level, the talks make sense.

Alas, now that Tumblr is effectively "in play," Yahoo is not likely to be the only one at the table.

In fact, one can reasonably assume that the reason everyone is reporting the Yahoo-Tumblr talks is that someone on the Tumblr side wanted to announce to the world that Tumblr was in play--and, thus, notify other interested parties that they might want to get their acts together and submit bids.

And there's one other big player out there that could afford to pay a lot more for Tumblr than Yahoo can: Facebook.

These days, young, hip Internet users are quitting Facebook in favor of Instagram and... Tumblr.

So it would certainly make sense for Facebook to take a look at Tumblr.

Facebook, meanwhile, has deeper pockets than Yahoo.

Facebook has a $65 billion market cap and $10 billion of cash.

Yahoo has a ~$30 billion market cap and only $3 billion of cash.

So if Facebook really, really wants Tumblr, it has the capacity to outbid Yahoo for it.

And Facebook also has another advantage over Yahoo, which is that it's considered cooler in the tech crowd. Yahoo's new CEO, Marissa Mayer, has been tremendously successful at improving Yahoo's reputation as a cool place to work. But tech folks, especially young tech folks, are very sensitive to whether they are perceived as cool. And Tumblr might conclude that it is just cooler to become a part of Facebook than it is to become a part of Yahoo.

(I work at Yahoo, and I think it's very cool. But I think it's cool, in part, because young tech folks don't think it's cool. I'm also so ancient that the cool tech kids don't think I'm cool. And I suspect the Tumblr folks will be more concerned about whether their young friends think they're cool than whether I think they're cool. I do think the Tumblr folks are cool, though. They've built a great company!)

Anyway, as Silicon Valley writer Om Malik suggests, Facebook could indeed spoil this Yahoo Tumblr party. (Om, in fact, says he's hearing that Facebook may do that.)

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-buying-tumblr-2013-5

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Republicans see IRS scandal parallel in EPA info requests

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican lawmakers on Friday began an investigation into whether the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency greatly favored left-leaning environmentalists over conservative groups when granting fee waivers for requests to access information.

The lawmakers drew a comparison between the actions they say the EPA has taken with the Internal Revenue Service, which is embroiled in controversy over its targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny.

Republican Senators David Vitter of Louisiana, Charles Grassley of Iowa and James Inhofe of Oklahoma, and Representative Darrell Issa of California, raised the issue in a letter to the acting administrator of the EPA.

The four lawmakers serve as the top Republicans on the environment, judiciary and House oversight and government reform committees, respectively.

They asked why 92 percent of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) fee waivers were granted to "environmental allies," while just 8 percent were granted to conservative think tanks. The disparity came to light this week in a report by a conservative research group.

Agencies can waive fees for requested information if they determine the information contributes to the public understanding of governmental activities.

"This disparate treatment is unacceptable, especially in light of the recent controversy over abusive tactics at the Internal Revenue Service, which singled out conservative groups for special scrutiny," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Bob Perciasepe, the EPA's acting administrator.

The Republicans accused the EPA of colluding with groups that share its political agenda and requested that the agency takes steps to ensure this does not happen again.

They requested that the EPA provide a list of all fee waiver decision letters on a monthly basis, make the agency's FOIA officer available for a transcribed interview and provide any materials used to train FOIA officers on how to process fee waiver requests.

Vitter met with Perciasepe earlier in the week and said he made progress with him on five key areas in which the EPA can improve its transparency, including how it handles FOIA requests.

Interest groups, researchers and journalists have filed FOIA requests with the EPA to understand how it goes about its process of writing regulations. Conservative groups have called this process opaque.

Perciasepe is heading the EPA while President Barack Obama's nominee to head the agency, Gina McCarthy, remains in the middle of a tough confirmation process.

McCarthy has had requests to answer more than 1,000 questions by Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which Democrats have termed a record number.

Her nomination was sent to the full Senate on Thursday after a party line vote in committee. No date has been set for consideration. The first committee vote scheduled on McCarthy was abandoned when Republicans boycotted the meeting.

(Reporting By Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Ros Krasny and Bill Trott)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/republicans-see-irs-scandal-parallel-epa-requests-005432889.html

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Invasive 'crazy ants' are displacing fire ants in areas throughout southeastern U.S.

May 16, 2013 ? Invasive "crazy ants" are displacing fire ants in areas across the southeastern United States, according to researchers at The University of Texas at Austin. It's the latest in a history of ant invasions from the southern hemisphere and may prove to have dramatic effects on the ecosystem of the region.

The "ecologically dominant" crazy ants are reducing diversity and abundance across a range of ant and arthropod species -- but their spread can be limited if people are careful not to transport them inadvertently, according to Ed LeBrun, a research associate with the Texas invasive species research program at the Brackenridge Field Laboratory in the College of Natural Sciences

The study by LeBrun and his colleagues was published in Biological Invasions.

"When you talk to folks who live in the invaded areas, they tell you they want their fire ants back," said LeBrun. "Fire ants are in many ways very polite. They live in your yard. They form mounds and stay there, and they only interact with you if you step on their mound."

LeBrun said that crazy ants, by contrast, "go everywhere." They invade people's homes, nest in crawl spaces and walls, become incredibly abundant and damage electrical equipment.

The crazy ants were first discovered in the U.S. in 2002 by a pest control operator in a suburb of Houston, and have since established populations in 21 counties in Texas, 20 counties in Florida, and a few sites in southern Mississippi and southern Louisiana.

In 2012 the species was formally identified as Nylanderia fulva, which is native to northern Argentina and southern Brazil. Frequently referred to as Rasberry crazy ants, these ants recently have been given the official common name "Tawny crazy ants."

The Tawny crazy ant invasion is the most recent in a series of ant invasions from South America brought on by human movement. The Argentine ant invaded through the port of New Orleans in about 1891. In 1918 the black imported fire ant showed up in Mobile, Ala. Then in the 1930s, the red imported fire ant arrived in the U.S. and began displacing the black fire ant and the Argentine ants.

The UT researchers studied two crazy ant invasion sites on the Texas Gulf Coast and found that in those areas where the Tawny crazy ant population is densest, fire ants were eliminated. Even in regions where the crazy ant population is less dense, fire ant populations were drastically reduced. Other ant species, particularly native species, were also eliminated or diminished.

LeBrun said crazy ants are much harder to control than fire ants. They don't consume most of the poison baits that kill fire ant mounds, and they don't have the same kinds of colony boundaries that fire ants do. That means that even if they're killed in a certain area, the supercolony survives and can swarm back over the area.

"They don't sting like fire ants do, but aside from that they are much bigger pests," he said. "There are videos on YouTube of people sweeping out dustpans full of these ants from their bathroom. You have to call pest control operators every three or four months just to keep the infestation under control. It's very expensive."

LeBrun said that in northern Argentina and southern Brazil, where the ants are native, populations are likely held in check by other ant species and a variety of natural enemies. In the U.S. there is no such natural control.

Here the crazy ants can attain densities up to 100 times as great as all other ants in the area combined. In the process, they monopolize food sources and starve out other species. LeBrun said the crazy ants, which are omnivorous, may also directly attack and kill other ant and arthropod species.

The overall result is a significant reduction in abundance and biodiversity at the base of the food chain, which is likely to have implications for the ecosystem as a whole.

"Perhaps the biggest deal is the displacement of the fire ant, which is the 300 pound gorilla in Texas ecosystems these days," said LeBrun. "The whole system has changed around fire ants. Things that can't tolerate fire ants are gone. Many that can have flourished. New things have come in. Now we are going to go through and whack the fire ants and put something in its place that has a very different biology. There are going to be a lot of changes that come from that."

LeBrun said a great deal about the Tawny crazy ants remains unknown, including their potential range. So far, most of the colonies are in fairly wet environments with mild winters, near the coast, so it may be the case that they can't thrive in drier or colder climates, and that fire ants will remain dominant in those areas.

The spread of the Tawny crazy ants may also be limited, even within the more hospitable climates, by caution from humans. The reproductive members of the species don't fly. So when left to their own devices, crazy ant colonies can only advance about 200 meters a year. That means they're dependent on humans to colonize new areas.

"They are opportunistic nesters," said LeBrun. "They can take up residence in everything from a house plant, to an empty container left outside, to an RV. So they're easily transported by us. But the flip side of that is that if people living in or visiting invaded areas are careful and check for the crazy ants when moving or going on longer trips, they could have a huge impact on the spread." Nursery products also appear to be a key way these ants spread, so both buyers and sellers should be watchful for these ants.

LeBrun said that cutting down on the number of transplantation events could slow the spread by years or decades. And that extra time could give the ecosystem time to adapt and researchers time to develop better control methods.

"We can really make a difference," he said, "but we need to be careful, and we need to know more."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/NMEk72jeZow/130516123916.htm

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Cells must use their brakes moderately for effective speed control

May 15, 2013 ? How cells regulate their own function by "accelerating and braking" is important basic knowledge when new intelligent medicines are being developed, or when plant cells are tweaked to produce more bioenergy. In a study published by Nature Communications 14 May, researchers at Uppsala and Ume? universities show a model of how cells' regulatory systems work.

All living cells have a regulatory system similar to what can be found in today's smartphones. Just like our phones process a large amount of information that we feed them, cells continuously process information about their outer and inner environment. Inside the cells, information is sent and processed via a large network of interactions between signalling molecules.

In electronic circuits it is common with negative feedback, inhibiting functions, to make signals clearer and to reduce noise that can obscure important information. Cells also use this technique for reducing unwanted noise. Almost half of all signalling molecules that regulate which genes should be on or off, regulate their own genetic expression through biochemical reactions acting as inhibitors.

"If the number of signalling molecules is more than necessary, they shut down their own production for a short while, to later resume it. The difference between feedback in electronic systems and biological systems is that biological systems are much more imprecise and slow," explains Andreas Gr?nlund, lead author, currently active at Ume? University.

Together with professors Per L?tstedt and Johan Elf, both at Uppsala University, he has used new data and mathematical models to calculate how long the molecules must remain in their binding sites to make the feedback exactly strong enough to reduce noise as much as possible.

The calculations showed that the molecules ideally should bind significantly weaker than previously believed, a characteristic that turned out to correspond well to the binding strength found in global regulatory molecules in E. coli bacteria.

"A car driver needs to know when and how hard to press the brake in different situations and which way to turn the steering wheel in a left turn. In the same way, we need to increase our understanding of regulatory systems in cells to be able to develop new intelligent medicines when the regulation system doesn't work or to be able to control plant cells to produce green energy through more efficient production of bio mass," says Johan Elf.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/YHzJZAy7BDQ/130515085330.htm

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Karateka Classic brings classic beat-em-up to iOS

Legendary game designer Jordan Mechner went back to his roots in 2012 with a reimagined Karateka, a brand new game based on his original 1984 Apple II hit (it would eventually make its way to just about every other common home computer platform of the day). Now the original has returned in all its eight-bit glory.

They've recreated the original gameplay experience right down to the sound of a floppy disk drive grinding away reading sectors off a 5.25-inch disk as the game first loads. What's more, settings let you adjust between color, green, or amber displays, since color displays were relatively rare back in the day.

Karateka Classic is, quite literally, the same game that appeared for the Apple II in 1984. It's the original game code running within an Apple IIGS emulator developed to work on iOS and other platforms called ActiveGS. The game runs natively on iPhone and iPad.

Karateka was Mechner's first game, before he created the Prince of Persia series that he's best known for. He programmed it when he was still a university undergrad, and it is, for its age, a real gem. It's a side-scrolling martial arts combat action game set in feudal Japan. You assume the role of the titular karateka (literally, a practitioner of karate) as you attempt to save Princess Mariko from the clutches of the evil Akuma.

Debug 7: Jordan Mechner and Karateka
with Guy English and Rene Ritchie

To do so, you must make your way inside Akuma's heavily guarded fortress, squaring off against opponent after opponent in karate duels. The game's original keyboard commands have been replaced with on-screen buttons that control your movement, your fighting stance, three punching positions, and three kicking positions. You can turn off the button overlay if you find it distracting.

Each time your opponent hits you, you'll lose a health point, and once you're down to zero, that's it - game over. You need to restart from the beginning. And just like the original Apple II game, there's no saved game or continue feature. Your health does slowly regenerate in between rounds, so sometimes it's a good idea to not rush into the next melee before you've had a chance to catch your breath.

In addition to other run-of-the-mill enemies you need to defeat, you'll occasionally be attacked by Akuma's hawk (which can be deflected with a well-timed punch), and avoid various pitfalls around the castle. Then, finally, you'll face off against Akuma himself in a boss battle.

The good

• Bit-perfect recreation of the original Apple II game that first put Jordan Mechner on the map.
• Inexpensive
• Fun to play

The bad

• No save game feature
• Limited replay value once you've beaten the game

Bottom line

For a 29 year old game, Kareteka is surprisingly challenging, and it still looks good. Working within the significant technical limitations imposed by the hardware of the day, Mechner employed techniques like rotoscoping to get realistic animations for his characters. The simple graphics and color palette won't challenge gamers cut on today's sophisticated titles, but the gameplay more than makes up for it.

• $0.99 - Download now

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/X7lggP3mAsE/story01.htm

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Kepler, a prolific hunter for other Earths, is suddenly in trouble (+video)

Kepler's quest for an Earth-like planet orbiting a sun-like star has been put on hold, NASA said, after the spacecraft sensed it was facing in the wrong direction and put itself in 'safe mode.'

By Pete Spotts,?Staff writer / May 15, 2013

This file artist's rendering shows the Kepler space telescope. NASA scientists are attempting to repair the spacecraft after it apparently lost its long-distance planet-hunting abilities. Kepler has been collecting data for 4 years, scientists hope it will be able to continue to do so.

AP Photo/NASA, File

Enlarge

The planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft?s dramatic, some would say romantic, quest for an Earth-like exoplanet orbiting a star in its habitable zone has suddenly been put on hold, NASA officials said Tuesday, while engineers try to figure out what caused the craft to lose its ability to point itself at its distant targets.

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The spacecraft is essentially hibernating, NASA said at a hastily called briefing late Wednesday afternoon, having put itself into "safe mode" on Sunday after sensing it was pointing in the wrong direction.

Controllers discovered the glitch Tuesday during their twice-a-week touch-base with the craft, currently some 40 million miles away in an Earth-like orbit around the sun.

When the craft is in safe mode, thrusters control its orientation, rather than the fast-spinning ?reaction wheels? that normally provide stability. The craft uses these wheels to maintain the exquisite pointing precision needed to relentlessly stare at stars long enough to detect the telltale dimming imposed by a planet as its orbit carries it in front of the star.

As controllers tried to restart the craft's reaction wheels Tuesday, one of the wheels woke up, then balked. This left the craft with two functioning wheels. It needs three to resume observing the patch of sky that for four years it has scanned for Earth-like planets in Earth-like orbits around sun-like stars.

While the malfunction is serious, NASA officials were not ready Wednesday to declare the mission over.

"The loss of the reaction wheel is not good news," said Charles Sobeck, Kepler's deputy project manager at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif.

The goal now is to place the craft in an operating mode that reduces the use of its thrusters in order to preserve fuel and "take the time to figure out what to do next," he said.

Kepler was launched in March 2009 as a kind of planetary census taker. The mission's aim is to observe the same 170,000 stars in a hunt for rocky planets orbiting in their stars' habitable zones ? roughly defined as a distance that leaves a planet's surface not too hot or not too cold, but just right for liquid water to persist on its surface. Liquid water is a key prerequisite for organic life.

To date, Kepler has found Earth-mass planets. And it has found larger, super-Earths orbiting in their star's habitable zones. The Kepler team has yet to uncover its ultimate planets. But after bagging more than 2,700 planet-candidates so far, finding the first "just right" extra-solar planet isn't far off, says William Borucki, the mission's lead scientist.

"I'm absolutely delighted that we've got all this data," he said at the briefing. "The mission was designed for four years. It operated four years. It gave us excellent data for four years. On the other hand, I would have been even happier if it continues another four years."

The discoveries the additional data would have yielded "would have been in some sense frosting on the cake," he acknowledged. "But we have an excellent cake."

If Kepler can't be revived, analyzing the 2,700 planet-candidates in the queue so far will keep the team busy for at least two more years, he noted.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/ZE4vVXTt7jQ/Kepler-a-prolific-hunter-for-other-Earths-is-suddenly-in-trouble-video

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U.S. advisory on mercury in fish tied up at health department

By Toni Clarke

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Updated federal advice on mercury levels in fish appears to have stalled within the U.S. department of health, frustrating scientists and advocacy groups who argue that exposure to mercury may be dangerous at lower levels than previously thought.

The government last revised its mercury guidance in 2004 when it said young children, pregnant women, nursing mothers and women who might become pregnant should eat seafood but avoid shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish, which contain relatively high levels of mercury.

It recommended that this population eat up to 12 ounces a week of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury, such as shrimp, salmon, pollock and catfish. These recommendations were by and large incorporated into dietary guidelines adopted by the health and agriculture departments in 2010.

Yet the 2004 advisory was based on studies conducted 20 years ago or more, and some say the results of those studies are out of date.

"Research carried out in the past decade has both clarified the beneficial nutritional effects of fish consumption during pregnancy and found adverse effects of prenatal methylmercury exposure at very low doses, at least an order of magnitude below exposures known to be harmful when the current Advisory was written," a group of 40 or so scientists and environmental advocacy groups wrote in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius last month.

The scientists said they understood, from discussions with government officials, that the Food and Drug Administration and Environmental Protection Agency have jointly crafted an updated advisory but that the draft has stalled within the health department.

Both the FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services, of which the FDA is part, said the advisory is still under review but declined to indicate how far along it is in the process or when it might be released for public comment. The EPA referred questions to HHS.

"FDA and EPA are actively engaged in updating our advice, taking into account new science and data that has emerged since the 2004 advice published," an FDA spokeswoman, Theresa Eisenman, said in a statement.

The recent letter follows a similar request last July to President Barack Obama from a group of 22 U.S. senators who urged the FDA to release the updated advisory.

In September, Sebelius responded to the senators, saying that completing the updated advisory remained a priority, but she gave no details as to when the advisory might be released.

The FDA's 2004 advisory said that for most people, there is little danger from eating fish but that "some fish and shellfish contain higher levels of mercury that may harm an unborn baby or young child's developing nervous system."

As a U.S. senator, Obama worked to prevent the release of surplus U.S. mercury into global commerce.

He introduced a bill with Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski to prohibit the transfer of elemental mercury by federal agencies and to ban U.S. exports of mercury by 2013. The Mercury Export Ban Act of 2008 was signed into law by President George W. Bush.

The National Fisheries Institute, which represents seafood producers, wholesalers, retailers and trade groups, did not immediately respond to telephone and emailed requests for comment, but on May 6 it announced it had created a new website "to correct dangerous misinformation about seafood and mercury."

"A space dedicated to debunking mercury myths is desperately needed because for years, activists have willfully fed an often lazy, unsuspecting and sympathetic media groundless warnings about eating fish," the organization's vice president, Mary Anne Hansan, said in the announcement.

The scientists who signed the letter to Sebelius want the government to give more detailed, and more nuanced, advice as to the risks and benefits associated with eating fish.

According to food safety consultant Edward Groth III, who was a signatory to the letter and published a 2012 report suggesting that the 2004 advisory is no longer adequate for protecting public health, said he expects the FDA's draft, based on discussions with its authors, to give consumers a much broader range of fish to choose from and more data to inform their decisions.

"All in all, the updated advisory seems like a significant improvement in both the quantity and quality of information for consumers on this topic, and it is really important that it move forward."

While a list of mercury concentrations in individual fish is listed in tables on the FDA's website, health advocates want to see the information presented in a way that the public can easily understand. In her letter to the senators last year, Sebelius said the health department is working on that too.

The FDA and EPA, she said, are working to craft supplemental materials "that will provide additional, plain language insights to consumers about fish consumption during pregnancy."

(Reporting By Toni Clarke; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-advisory-mercury-fish-tied-health-department-230800120.html

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How I gamified a home improvement project | Maritz Motivation ...

Have you ever found yourself totally immersed in something? We all know the feeling. You set aside a small amount of time to complete a task and find yourself working on it several hours or days later. Something about that task keeps you there. But what?

My most recent experience with this was painting my unborn son?s nursery. Let me start by saying I hate painting (at least when I have to stay inside the lines). Such a tedious and thankless task. But I knew those lilac walls?wouldn?t?paint themselves so I begrudgingly purchased the supplies and prepped my work space. I never had any intention of finishing this project in one day. Between you and me, I secretly planned to fake fatigue in hopes that my husband would complete the task for me. After all, a woman in my condition?shouldn?t?be subject to paint fumes. And?isn?t?the step-ladder a fall hazard? Clearly, I have a disadvantage. There?s no way I can complete this task. Maybe I?shouldn?t?even start.

?I have to try,? I told myself. Because like any expectant mother, I was anxious to get the house ready for baby. I have nothing to lose by trying. The worst that could happen is I don?t finish. So off I went.

That?s when it happened.

I?hadn?t?been painting long when I stepped back to view my progress and thought, ?Look how far?I?ve?come in such a short time. Maybe I CAN do this!? Suddenly, I was motivated. Cautiously motivated, but motivated. I knew better than to get my hopes up. I?m only 4 weeks shy of my due date and my skill level around this particular task is low. But my progress was impressive and I couldn?t abandon it now. Challenge accepted.?

Then reality set in. I was up against a deadline and the paint job isn?t even halfway finished! I had plans with friends later in the evening and I needed to give myself plenty of time to clean up. With the clock counting down, it was either step up my game or quit for the day. But I was already here with my tools by my side. No sense quitting now. Motivation amplified.?

As my deadline approached, the bargaining cycle began: ?Just 10 more minutes and I won?t wash my hair. Just 20 more minutes and I?ll pay to use the parking garage. They won?t mind if I?m just a few minutes late, will they?? Let me rephrase: I was blowing off an activity which I love for the sake of completing a task which I hate. The rest is mostly a blur. I?m not sure how I did it, but I finished painting the nursery in about 9 hours. Mission accomplished.

As a Motivation Professional, what did I learn from this experience?

1. Even though I was skeptical in the beginning, focusing mostly on my disadvantages, viewing my progress invoked an overwhelming desire to continue toward my goal.
2. I became less likely to abandon my project when my tools were in sight and within reach.
3. The deadline created suspense and mitigated procrastination.

What types of activities have you found yourself immersed in lately?

?

Source: http://www.maritzmotivation.com/maritzmotivationsolutionsblog/gamification/gamified-home-improvement-project/

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TWC TV Android update with live TV streaming away from home now available

Just as promised, Time Warner Cable has delivered a new version of its TWC TV app for Android users that includes access to live TV streams of certain channels while away from home. That new feature is accompanied by several other tweaks, including TV mini guide filtering and expanded device support for devices running Android 2.2 and higher. Out of home streaming is still more limited than that provided by solutions like Slingbox or Cablevision's Optimum, and streaming over cellular connections are restricted to Verizon only (for now.) Despite the restrictions, the app is out now and will hopefully see them loosened in the future, subscribers can grab it now at the link below.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Mobile

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Source: Google Play

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/bJqCtMv7B6o/

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Huge drug cost disparities seen in health overhaul (The Arizona Republic)

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Health Insurance Exchange Helpers Prepare in California : Roll Call ...

California plans to deploy 21,000 people across the state to sign up consumers when enrollment in the health insurance exchange begins Oct. 1. The squads of trained, government-paid helpers will be armed with the know-how to untangle the complexities of insurance coverage.

In addition, the state is on track to open three call centers staffed by 1,200 customer service representatives who will explain the 2010 health care law and guide callers through their health insurance purchases. Those to be hired will be fluent in multiple languages, including Spanish, Cantonese and Vietnamese, according to state officials.

Effective sign-up is key for the Obama administration as it seeks success in the final phase of implementation of the law in 2014, and that means troops on the ground. Some states probably will fare better than others. California was the first state to create its own state-run health insurance exchange after enactment of the law. ?Covered California,? as the exchange is called, is further along when it comes to organizing the advisers who will be providing guidance and information.

The challenge in the Golden State is huge. Some 2.6 million people are expected to be eligible for federal tax credits to help pay for their insurance policies, and there?s another 2.7 million who earn too much to qualify for subsidies but still may be signing up for coverage. The target population lives in a mix of rural and urban counties, with hundreds of thousands of people in Southern California alone who might enroll, according to exchange documents.

To reach out to Californians, ?in-person assisters,? as they?re called, will be hired, trained and certified beginning this summer. They will work either as individuals or in association with an organization such as a city government agency, Chamber of Commerce, trade organization, labor union or religious group. More than 3,000 organizations are expected to participate.

Some issues continue to confront the state board that runs the exchange. Should there be fingerprinting and criminal background checks run on the assisters, given that they will have access to sensitive information such as Social Security numbers? Should the assisters partner with retail stores and conduct sign-up sessions in the aisles? How many days should training for the assisters take, and should they do it in person or via computers?

The pay isn?t bad, depending on how fast applicants are processed. California in January received $673 million in federal grants to pay for its exchange functions, including the helpers. Assisters will be paid $58 for each new person they successfully enroll, with $25 for annual renewals.

Source: http://www.rollcall.com/news/health_insurance_exchange_helpers_prepare_in_california-224747-1.html

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Kidnapping victims thank supporters, ask for privacy

>>> and gratitude on mother's day from the three women who spent more than ten years in the so-called house of horrors.

>> amanda berry said, "thank you so much for everything you're doing and continue to do. i am so happy to be home with my family."

>> gina dejesus says, "i'm so happy to be home. i want to thank everyone for all of your prayers. i just want time now to be with my family. michelle knight says "thank you to everyone for your support and good wishes. i am healthy, happy and safe, and will reach out to family, friends and supporters in good time."

>> that statement was read by a spokesman for the women. meanwhile, ariel castro, the man accused of kidnapping and raping the women is in jail on $8 million bond. nbc's ron allen is on the ground force in cleveland. ron what more did we hear from the spokesman today?

>> well, craig, i think we now know that the women are getting a lot of professional help. obviously, a good, smart thing for them to do. there are a team of lawyers here, a firm helping in crisis management . they said they weren't going to do any interviews and the statements they gave, very brief, were obviously designed to fill the void and fill the enormous desire for some comment from them from the press who are here. they were also speaking not just to the media but to the community and to law enforcement as well 34-of-in expressing gratitude. the police and prosecutors who helped build the case against ariel castro. there was that. in recent days, the families have really stepped back. there were at a time huge displays of balloons, flowers and cards and so forth in front of two of the houses that the da jesus and berry homes. those, taken away. another clear sign they want privacy and want left alone. the attorneys who spoke for them said they wouldn't make comments after after the criminal proceedings worked themselves out, which is could be a long time. we'll see if that happens. we understand that -- and it's safe to assume they are being offered all kinds of deals, book, movie deals. you name it, from people who want to talk to them about this incredible ordeal. so at this point, they are hungering down and asking for, the statement said, "pleading for" privacy.

>> quickly, before i let you go. michelle knight, of course, the oldest of the three women who were taken. how is she doing?

>> well, her statement said, precisely, that she is healthy and happy. that was important, because as you were indicating, her case is somewhat unique, because she didn't have a family to be reunited with. as far as we know, she's on her own and getting help from professional counselors i assume. not totally on her own, obviously, but her case is a little different. estranged, was before all this happened and now continues to be. a special concern in the community for her, because of this unique and unfortunate circumstance. but, again, her statement, and there's every indication she is also getting the help and support of these lawyers and crisis managers. i'm sure they're helping her and perhaps an indication that all three families are pulling together to try and coordinate and work this out and be together. which seem as smart thing to do, because there are only three people in this world who understand what those women went through, and them, of course. and it's probably a good time to he help -- to be together and get through this best they can.

>> ron allen on the ground for us in cleveland, ohio on this sunday afternoon. ron, thank you, sir. appreciate your

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2bd21a91/l/0Lvideo0Bmsnbc0Bmsn0N0Cid0C51860A173/story01.htm

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Mariah Carey World Tour: In the Works?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/mariah-carey-world-tour-in-the-works/

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Could Ariel Castro be tried for murder? Case would be unprecedented.

Aggravated murder charges likely will be sought against Ariel Castro, a prosecutor said. Experts say it is unprecedented to sentence someone to death for killing a fetus in a case in which the mother survives.

By Mark Guarino,?Staff writer / May 10, 2013

Ariel Castro appears in Cleveland Municipal court alongside defense attorney Kathleen DeMetz, right, Thursday, in Cleveland.

Tony Dejak/AP

Enlarge

When Ariel Castro was arrested this week, he was charged with the kidnapping and rape of three women he allegedly held captive for a decade in his Cleveland house.

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Then came the announcement Thursday by Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty that his office will likely press additional charges of aggravated murder related to allegations that Mr. Castro beat Michele Knight so severely that she miscarried at least five times.

In Ohio, the charges of aggravated murder would make Castro eligible for the death penalty, which is reserved for the ?most depraved criminals who commit aggravated murder during the course of a kidnapping,? Mr. McGinty told reporters Thursday.

But legal experts say it is unprecedented to send someone to Death Row for killing an unborn child in a case in which the mother survives. For example, Scott Peterson was sentenced to death in 2005 after being found guilty of both the second-degree murder of his unborn son and the first-degree murder of Laci Peterson, his wife.

?Nobody has ever been prosecuted [in] a full-fledged death penalty case based on pregnancy termination all the way through,? says Douglas Berman, a professor of law at Ohio State University in Columbus who is an expert on sentencing law and policy. ?It?s a very hard case to prove and establish.?

The challenge in the Ohio case, experts say, is proving Castro intended to kill the fetuses, or even knew Ms. Knight was pregnant at the time he allegedly beat her.

?It?s going to be very difficult. Without a confession, or circumstantial evidence, it?s going to be very tough,? says Deborah Denno, a law professor at Fordham School of Law in New York City.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, at least 38 states have fetal homicide laws that impose criminal penalties for crimes against pregnant women, and 23 states, including Ohio, expand the law to cover the earliest stage of pregnancy, such as conception or fertilization.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/6gw0-D1lcQc/Could-Ariel-Castro-be-tried-for-murder-Case-would-be-unprecedented

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Texas launches criminal probe into plant explosion

WACO, Texas (AP) ? Texas law enforcement officials on Friday launched a criminal investigation into the massive fertilizer plant explosion that killed 14 people last month, after weeks of largely treating the blast as an industrial accident.

The announcement came the same day federal agents said they found bomb-making materials belonging to a paramedic who helped evacuate residents the night of the explosion. Bryce Reed was arrested early Friday on a charge of possessing a destructive device, but law enforcement officials said they had not linked the charge to the April 17 fire and blast at West Fertilizer Co.

"It is important to emphasize that at this point, no evidence has been uncovered to indicate any connection to the events surrounding the fire and subsequent explosion ... and the arrest of Bryce Reed by the ATF," the McLennan County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Texas Department of Public Safety said earlier Friday that the agency had instructed the Texas Rangers and the sheriff's department to conduct a criminal probe into the explosion. The agencies will join the State Fire Marshall's Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which have been leading the investigation and never ruled out that a crime may have been committed.

"This disaster has severely impacted the community of West, and we want to ensure that no stone goes unturned and that all the facts related to this incident are uncovered," DPS Director Steven McCraw said.

McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara said residents "must have confidence that this incident has been looked at from every angle and professionally handled ? they deserve nothing less."

The statement did not detail any further reasons for the criminal investigation and said no additional information would be released.

Reed, meanwhile, was in federal custody. A criminal complaint unsealed Friday afternoon said he was arrested after McLennan County deputies were called earlier this week to a home in Abbott, a town about five miles from West, and found bomb-making materials ? including a galvanized metal pipe, canisters filled with fuses, a lighter, a digital scale and a variety of chemical powders.

"After further investigation, it was determined that the resident had unwittingly taken possession of the components from Reed on April 26," says the complaint signed by ATF special agent Douglas Kunze.

An ATF explosives specialist and a chemist examined the items and agreed the "combination of parts can be readily assembled into a destructive device," the complaint says.

Reed made an initial appearance in federal court in Waco on Friday, but did not enter a plea.

Officials have largely treated the West explosion as an industrial accident, though investigators still searching for the cause of a fire that preceded the blast have said they would treat the area as a crime scene until all possibilities were considered.

The State Fire Marshal's Office released a statement Friday saying it decided to continue pursuing a criminal probe because roughly 250 leads have developed and more than 400 people have been interviewed.

Authorities have focused on ammonium nitrate, a chemical commonly used as a fertilizer, but that also can be explosive in the right conditions, as the cause of the explosion.

Reed was one of several paramedics who helped evacuate residents from nearby apartments after the fire erupted and shortly before the explosion. He has spoken to The Associated Press extensively, and said he was devastated by the explosion, which he said killed one of his closest friends, Cyrus Reed. Bryce Reed eulogized the firefighter at his funeral; the two are not related.

Bryce Reed was working as a West paramedic the night of the explosion, but he was "let go" two days later, according to an email that a regional EMS group sent to the Texas Department of State Health Services. The email, obtained by the AP under Texas' open-records law, included no other details.

Bryce Reed's wife, Brittany Reed, declined to comment early Friday.

"I can't. No comment, no comment, no comment right now," she said before hanging up the phone.

Crystal LeDane, who lives down the street from Reed, said he was a good neighbor who had changed her flat tire and would sometimes give medical advice about her children's minor injuries.

"I've been thinking it's an accident, and I still believe that until there's more information," said LeDane, as neighbors stood outside Reed's red brick duplex.

___

Associated Press writers Danny Robbins and Nomaan Merchant contributed to this report from Dallas. Ramit Plushnick-Masti reported from Houston. She can be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/RamitMastiAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/texas-launches-criminal-probe-plant-explosion-155018632.html

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The World's Most Creative Wedding Cakes [VIDEO]

I?ve DJ?ed many, many weddings in my day. ?I?ve seen elaborate cakes, simple cakes, cup cakes, and NO cakes. ?But I must admit, I haven?t seen clever ones like these

?

?

That?s fantastic, isn?t it? ?I wonder if it sent a subliminal message to the guests to cough up some cash during the dollar dance!

This is great too. ?It comes from a YouTube video I found on funny wedding cakes. ?Check this out.

Are you a traditionalist? ?Would you include something like this on your special day, or do you think it cheapens the occasion and makes it hokey?

Would love to know. ? ?Oh, and by the way, if you are looking for a rollickin? good time, hire a WGNA?. ?Either call me,??Richie Phillips.?Kevin Richards??Lou Roberts.?We have lots and lots of experience in providing you with great dance tunes of ALL kinds. We don?t bake cakes, but we can definitely heat up a dance floor.

Source: http://wgna.com/the-worlds-most-creative-wedding-cakes-video/

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Britain, Russia agree need for transitional Syrian government

By Denis Dyomkin

SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - Russia and Britain agreed on Friday to work towards a transitional government in Syria, despite acknowledging differences in their approach to the Middle Eastern country's civil war.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi that they had agreed "that as permanent members of the U.N. we must help drive this process".

He said international efforts envisaged "not just bringing the regime and opposition together at one negotiating table, but Britain, Russia, America and other countries helping shape a transitional government that all Syrians can trust to protect them."

Russia has been under pressure to cooperate more with Western powers at the United Nations Security Council on ending the bloodshed.

Moscow has supported President Bashar al-Assad's government and supplied it with weapons, but agreed with the United States this week to help bring the warring sides together for an international conference on ending the bloodshed.

"We have a common interest in the quickest end to the violence and the initiation of a peace process, and the preservation of Syria as a territorially whole sovereign state," Putin said after the talks.

"On the initiative of the British prime minister, we discussed possible options for positive developments of this process and about a number of possible joint steps," Putin added, He gave no details the proposed steps.

(Writing by Jason Bush, editing by Timothy Heritage)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/britain-russia-agree-transitional-syrian-government-150044163.html

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Texas Explosion Criminal Investigation Launched By Law Enforcement Officials

WACO, Texas ? Texas law enforcement officials are launching a criminal investigation into last month's deadly fertilizer plant explosion.

Investigators have up to now largely treated the West Fertilizer Co. blast that killed 14 people as an industrial accident.

The Texas Department of Public Safety said in a Friday statement that the agency has instructed the Texas Rangers and the McLennan County Sheriff's Department to launch a criminal probe.

DPS Director Steven McCraw says in a statement he wants to ensure "no stone goes unturned" in the investigation.

The plant blew up on the night of April 17 after a fire erupted at the facility in the rural town of West.

More from the Texas Department of Public Safety's press release:

AUSTIN ? Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Director Steven McCraw today directed the Texas Rangers to join McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara in launching a criminal investigation into the fertilizer plant explosion that occurred in West, Texas, on April 17.

?This disaster has severely impacted the community of West, and we want to ensure that no stone goes unturned and that all the facts related to this incident are uncovered,? said Director McCraw.

?The citizens of McLennan County and Texas must have confidence that this incident has been looked at from every angle and professionally handled ? they deserve nothing less,? said Sheriff McNamara.

No further information regarding this ongoing investigation will be released at this time.

Three weeks after the disaster in West, DPS Division of Emergency Management officials also continue to work with local, state and federal partners to assess the damages and facilitate recovery assistance to the victims in the community.

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/10/texas-explosion-investigation_n_3253343.html

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Source: http://www.carpages.ca/used/2010/Ford/Ranger/Maple_Ridge/British_Columbia/1223511

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Do markets erode moral values? People ignore their own moral standards when acting as market participants, researchers say

May 10, 2013 ? Many people express objections against child labor, exploitation of the workforce or meat production involving cruelty against animals. At the same time, however, people ignore their own moral standards when acting as market participants, searching for the cheapest electronics, fashion or food. Thus, markets reduce moral concerns. This is the main result of an experiment conducted by economists from the Universities of Bonn and Bamberg.

The results are presented in the latest issue of the journal Science.

Prof. Dr. Armin Falk from the University of Bonn and Prof. Dr. Nora Szech from the University of Bamberg, both economists, have shown in an experiment that markets erode moral concerns. In comparison to non-market decisions, moral standards are significantly lower if people participate in markets.

In markets, people ignore their individual moral standards

"Our results show that market participants violate their own moral standards," says Prof. Falk. In a number of different experiments, several hundred subjects were confronted with the moral decision between receiving a monetary amount and killing a mouse versus saving the life of a mouse and foregoing the monetary amount. "It is important to understand what role markets and other institutions play in moral decision making. This is a question economists have to deal with," says Prof. Szech.

"To study immoral outcomes, we studied whether people are willing to harm a third party in exchange to receiving money. Harming others in an intentional and unjustified way is typically considered unethical," says Prof. Falk. The animals involved in the study were so-called "surplus mice," raised in laboratories outside Germany. These mice are no longer needed for research purposes. Without the experiment, they would have all been killed. As a consequence of the study many hundreds of young mice that would otherwise all have died were saved. If a subject decided to save a mouse, the experimenters bought the animal. The saved mice are perfectly healthy and live under best possible lab conditions and medical care.

Simple bilateral markets affect moral decisions

A subgroup of subjects decided between life and money in a non-market decision context (individual condition). This condition allows for eliciting moral standards held by individuals. The condition was compared to two market conditions in which either only one buyer and one seller (bilateral market) or a larger number of buyers and sellers (multilateral market) could trade with each other. If a market offer was accepted a trade was completed, resulting in the death of a mouse. Compared to the individual condition, a significantly higher number of subjects were willing to accept the killing of a mouse in both market conditions. This is the main result of the study. Thus markets result in an erosion of moral values. "In markets, people face several mechanisms that may lower their feelings of guilt and responsibility," explains Nora Szech. In market situations, people focus on competition and profits rather than on moral concerns. Guilt can be shared with other traders. In addition, people see that others violate moral norms as well.

"If I don't buy or sell, someone else will."

In addition, in markets with many buyers and sellers, subjects may justify their behavior by stressing that their impact on outcomes is negligible. "This logic is a general characteristic of markets," says Prof. Falk. Excuses or justifications appeal to the saying, "If I don't buy or sell now, someone else will." For morally neutral goods, however, such effects are of minor importance. Nora Szech explains: "For goods without moral relevance, differences in decisions between the individual and the market conditions are small. The reason is simply that in such cases the need to share guilt or excuse behavior is absent."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/OmJO2M2aeyQ/130510124501.htm

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Police Offer Tips To Deter Springtime Break-ins - WILX.com

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Lansing Police are encouraging homeowners to take precautions to protect their home and family as the weather gets nicer.

They sent us the following tips to help deter thefts and break-ins, common neighborhood crimes during the spring and summer months:

1.) Keep your doors locked at all times. If you are working in the backyard, keep your front door and garage door closed and locked, and your backdoors locked if you are in the front yard. Always lock your doors if you are gone only for a few minutes. During the
warm weather people often open windows or sliding glass doors while they are at home. Always remember to close and lock them when you go to sleep.

2.) Install motion-activated lights in your front and backyards, so if someone approaches your home the lights will automatically come on and illuminate the area.

3.) Put all ladders and other tools back into a secure storage area after you use them. Ladders and other tools can be used by criminals to access your home. Always lock any storage unit or shed on your property.

4.) Be aware of home improvement scams. If you did not solicit the contractor or salesman who shows up at your door unannounced, do not do business with them. If a utility representative comes to your house request identification. True representatives will carry identification and they will gladly show it to you. Call their company for verification.

5.) Always remember to roll up your car windows, take any valuables out of your car, and lock your doors every time you exit your vehicle, even if it is parked in your own driveway.

6.) Summer is a perfect time to spend riding a bicycle. Make sure your bike is secured by locking it up when left unattended. Proper locked storage or secured inside your residence is recommended when not using your bicycle.

7.) Be a good neighbor, this can be one of the best crime prevention tools. Watchful, attentive neighbors can spot potential criminals and alert the Police. Get involved in your Neighborhood Watch Groups, and if you do not have a Neighborhood Watch, contact our Community Service Unit at 517-483-6812 to start one today.

Source: http://www.wilx.com/news/headlines/Police-Offer-Tips-To-Deter-Springtime-Break-ins-206599611.html

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Two genes that combine to cause rare syndrome identified

May 8, 2013 ? Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Duke University have identified genetic mutations that appear to underlie a rare but devastating syndrome combining reproductive failure with cerebellar ataxia -- a lack of muscle coordination -- and dementia. In a paper that will appear in the May 23 New England Journal of Medicine and is receiving early online release, the investigators describe finding mutations in one or both of two genes involved in a cellular process called ubiquitination in affected members of five unrelated families.

"This study highlights, for the first time, the importance of the ubiquitin system in a syndrome characterized by ataxia and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism -- reproductive failure due to abnormal signaling from the brain or pituitary gland," says Stephanie Seminara, MD, of the Reproductive Endocrine Unit in the MGH Department of Medicine, co-senior author of the report. "It also demonstrates how combining robust genomics with detailed functional assays can unlock complex genetic architecture."

Caused by lesions in the part of the brain responsible for coordination and balance, cerebellar ataxia can begin with difficulty walking or speaking and progress to complete disability of those functions. Genes associated with several syndromes characterized by ataxia have been identified, but none had previously been associated with the rare combination of ataxia and reproductive failure, which was first described more than 100 years ago. Several such patients have been referred to the MGH Reproductive Endocrine Unit, including a Palestinian family with several affected members who also developed dementia.

Seminara notes that, while ataxia and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism each may have several possible genetic causes, the combination of both conditions is so rare that it is more likely to be caused by mutations in a particular gene or related genes. In collaboration with researchers from the Center for Human Disease Modeling at Duke -- directed by Nicholas Katsanis, PhD, co-senior author of the NEJM article -- her team conducted whole-exome sequencing of DNA from an affected member of the Palestinian family. That screening found rare variants in both copies of 13 genes, and two of those variants were also found in samples from the patient's two affected siblings but not in several unaffected family members.

Both of the mutated genes are involved in ubiquitination, a process by which cellular proteins are marked for degredation by a protein called ubiquitin. One of them, RNF216, codes for an enzyme that attaches ubiquitin to the protein; the other, OTUD4, codes for a protein that removes ubiquitin. The researchers then sequenced both of these proteins in samples from an additional nine affected individuals from seven different families. They found that one of those individuals had two different RNF216 mutations, four others -- two in the same family -- had mutations in a single copy of that gene, but none had mutated versions of OTUD4.

All of the individuals with RNF216 mutations had similar medical histories, characterized by a lack of normal hormonal secretion, progressive ataxia and dementia; and all of those with mutations in both genes died in their 30s or 40s. Neuroimaging studies revealed similar brain abnormalities -- including atrophy of the cerebellum and cortex -- in individuals with RNF216 mutations. The four studied individuals without RNF216 mutations had very different histories, with less severe symptoms.

To get a better idea of the functional consequences of mutations in these two genes, the researchers disrupted their expression in zebrafish and found that blocking either RNF216 or OTUD4 caused disorganization of the cerebellum and reduced the size of eyes and a portion of the midbrain. The abnormalities were even greater when both genes were blocked but could be eliminated if production of the relevant proteins was induced by the introduction of the corresponding human RNA.

"The presence of RNF216 mutations in several families made its role in causing this syndrome clear, but finding OTUD4 mutation in only one family raised the question of whether it actually contributed to the disease or was just an 'innocent bystander'," says Katsanis. "The zebrafish work provided critical evidence that both genes function in a common pathway, since blocking either of them produced similar effects. And the fact that blocking both genes had a synergistic effect lends further evidence to the two genes' operating in the same pathway and to the contribution of OTUD4 mutations to this syndrome."

Although exactly how these mutations lead to the symptoms seen in these individuals is unknown, the researchers note that identifying these genes may someday lead to therapies -- potentially including drugs currently being developed for other disorders involving ubiquitination, including Parkinson's disease -- and enable genetic screening and counseling for affected families. They also hope to investigate whether less severe mutations in these genes may contribute to the presence of ataxia, dementia or hypogonadism in isolation.

Seminara is an assistant professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Katsanis is the Jean and George W. Brumley Professor of Cell Biology and Pediatrics at Duke University Medical Center. The co-lead authors of the NEJM report are David Margonin, MD, PhD, MGH Department of Neurology; Maria Kousi, PhD, Duke Center for Human Disease Modeling; and Yee-Ming Chan, MD, PhD, MGH Reproductive Endocrine Unit and Boston Children's Hospital. The study was supported by National Institute for Child Health and Human Development grants R01 HD043341, R01 HD042601 and U54 HD028138 and by other National Institutes of Health grants.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/SGGyNlcd_wo/130508213102.htm

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