Human disease leptospirosis identified in new species, the banded mongoose, in Africa

Human disease leptospirosis identified in new species, the banded mongoose, in Africa

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

The newest public health threat in Africa, scientists have found, is coming from a previously unknown source: the banded mongoose.

Leptospirosis, the disease is called. And the banded mongoose carries it.

Leptospirosis is the world's most common illness transmitted to humans by animals. It's a two-phase disease that begins with flu-like symptoms. If untreated, it can cause meningitis, liver damage, pulmonary hemorrhage, renal failure and death.

"The problem in Botswana and much of Africa is that leptospirosis may remain unidentified in animal populations but contribute to human disease, possibly misdiagnosed as other diseases such as malaria," said disease ecologist Kathleen Alexander of Virginia Tech.

With a grant from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Coupled Natural and Human Systems Program, Alexander and colleagues found that the banded mongoose in Botswana is infected with Leptospira interrogans, the pathogen that causes leptospirosis.

Coupled Natural and Human Systems is part of NSF's Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability investment and is supported by NSF's Directorates for Biological Sciences; Geosciences; and Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences.

"The transmission of infectious diseases from wildlife to humans represents a serious and growing public health risk due to increasing contact between humans and animals," said Alan Tessier, program director in NSF's Division of Environmental Biology. "This study identified an important new avenue for the spread of leptospirosis."

The results are published today in a paper in the journal Zoonoses and Public Health. The paper was co-authored by Alexander, Sarah Jobbins and Claire Sanderson of Virginia Tech.

The banded mongoose, although wild, lives in close proximity to humans, sharing scarce water resources and scavenging in human waste.

The disease-causing pathogen it carries can pass to humans through soil or water contaminated with infected urine.

Mongoose and other species are consumed as bushmeat, which may also contribute to leptospirosis exposure and infection in humans.

"I was convinced that we were going to find Leptospira interrogans in some species in the ecosystem," said Alexander.

"The pathogen had not been reported previously in Botswana, with the exception of one cow more than a quarter of a century ago.

"We looked at public health records dating back to 1974 and there were no records of any human cases of leptospirosis. Doctors said they were not expecting to see the disease in patients. They were not aware that the pathogen occurred in the country."

Alexander conducted a long-term study of human, wildlife and environmental health in the Chobe District of Northern Botswana, an area that includes the Chobe National Park, forest reserves and surrounding villages.

"This pathogen can infect many animals, both wild and domestic, including dogs," said Jobbins. "Banded mongoose is likely not the only species infected."

The researchers worked to understand how people, animals and the environment are connected, including the potential for diseases to move between humans and wildlife.

"Diseases such as leptospirosis that have been around for a very long time are often overlooked amid the hunt for the next newly emerging disease," Alexander said.

Leptospirosis was first described in 1886, said Jobbins, "but we still know little about its occurrence in Africa."

With the new identification of leptospirosis in Botswana, Alexander is concerned about the public health threat it may pose to the immunocompromised population there. Some 25 percent of 15- to 49-year-olds are HIV positive.

"In much of Africa, people die without a cause being determined," she said.

"Leptospirosis is likely affecting human populations in this region. But without knowledge that the organism is present in the environment, overburdened public health officials are unlikely to identify clinical cases in humans, particularly if the supporting diagnostics are not easily accessible."

The researchers looked for Leptospira interrogans in archived kidneys collected from banded mongoose that had been found dead from a variety of causes. Of the sampled mongoose, 43 percent tested positive for the pathogen.

"Given this high prevalence in the mongoose, we believe that Botswana possesses an as-yet-unidentified burden of human leptospirosis," said Jobbins.

"There is an urgent need to look for this disease in people who have clinical signs consistent with infection."

Because banded mongoose have an extended range across sub-Saharan Africa, the results have important implications for public health beyond Botswana.

"Investigating exposure in other wildlife, and assessing what species act as carriers, is essential for improving our understanding of human, wildlife, and domestic animal risk of leptospirosis in this ecosystem," the scientists write in their paper.

The paper also cites predictions that the region will become more arid, concentrating humans and animals around limited water supplies and increasing the potential for disease transmission.

"Infectious diseases, particularly those that can be transmitted from animals, often occur where people are more vulnerable to environmental change and have less access to public health services," said Alexander.

"That's particularly true in Africa. While we're concerned about emerging diseases that might threaten public health--the next new pandemic--we need to be careful that we don't drop the ball and stop pursuing important diseases like leptospirosis."

Alexander is working to identify immediate research and management actions--in particular, alerting frontline medical practitioners and public health officials to the potential for leptospirosis in humans.

###

National Science Foundation: http://www.nsf.gov

Thanks to National Science Foundation for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128271/Human_disease_leptospirosis_identified_in_new_species__the_banded_mongoose__in_Africa

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Select Cabinet Refinishing Kansas City ? Hot Article Depot

Having a new home is wonderful, but it is not obtainable for the initial buyer. In its place, they will purchase a fixer-upper. A most typical home-improvement task they will do is improving the cooking area. Folks will get cabinet refinishing Kansas City, or they will decide to replace the entire kitchen.

In some cases, it makes good financial sense to refurbish the cabinets if the interior of the boxes is in good condition. It is not cost-effective to do makeover if the interiors of the units are not in good repair. Consequently, when choosing to do updates in the kitchen thoroughly checked the boxes.

One approach to refurbishing the cupboards is quite unique. A skilled crew will eliminate and replace the doors with fresh ones. The models and rails are next laminated using the same material which is on the brand new doors. All of the moldings and also the hardware are changed last.

This procedure goes quick and makes the room look new again. There is far less mess and the room is returned to the homeowner faster. Folks who are conscious about the environment like the fact that there is less debris headed to the landfill. However, this is of the most expensive procedures.

An alternative choice there for the homeowner has withstood the test of time. If the cupboards are manufactured using all wood materials, they might be stained again or repainted. This sort of project might be done by the owner to save money. All it requires is work and a pair of weekends.

Nowadays, new products made for refinishing wood make the work go much easier. For example, grease removers cut through all the dirt and grime thereby exposing the original material. Next, good quality stains have the varnish included in this makes coating the product easier. Easy clean up with soap and water.

Painting the boxes will likely be another option to select. After applying the grease remover said above, give the units a solid coat of primer. The basic coverage helps the coat of paint keep on the frames. Then, put along two or three layers of color paint using a top quality brush. The completed product can make the whole kitchen seemed like new again.

Now, many people will not have time to do this work. For them, they can hire an experienced painter. Equality paint contractor has to tools to paint or stain the material professionally and quickly. This may cost the homeowner a bit more money, but is best in the end. The owner can now tackle other projects.

How to look for a good paint supplier is using the Web. Lots of them have their very own Website that will list the required details about their business and what locations they serve. It will even have contact information.

These days, is almost impossible for a young couple to purchase a new home. However, they can purchase a fixer upper to save some money. They can do some of the work or they could choose to have cabinet refinishing Kansas City. In no time all, the fixer-upper will look like a brand new home.

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Source: http://hotarticledepot.com/select-cabinet-refinishing-kansas-city-2/

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First direct proof of Hofstadter butterfly fractal observed in moir? superlattices

May 15, 2013 ? A team of researchers from Columbia University, City University of New York, the University of Central Florida (UCF), and Tohoku University and the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan, have directly observed a rare quantum effect that produces a repeating butterfly-shaped energy spectrum, confirming the longstanding prediction of this quantum fractal energy structure, called Hofstadter's butterfly.

The study, which focused on moir?-patterned graphene, is published in the May 15, 2013, Advance Online Publication (AOP) of Nature.

First predicted by American physicist Douglas Hofstadter in 1976, the Hofstadter butterfly emerges when electrons are confined to a two-dimensional sheet, and subjected to both a periodic potential energy (akin to a marble rolling on a sheet the shape of an egg carton) and a strong magnetic field. The Hofstadter butterfly is a fractal pattern -- it contains shapes that repeat on smaller and smaller size scales. Fractals are common in classical systems such as fluid mechanics, but rare in the quantum mechanical world. In fact, the Hofstadter butterfly is one of the first quantum fractals theoretically discovered in physics but, until now, there has been no direct experimental proof of this spectrum.

Previous efforts to study the Hofstadter butterfly, which has become a standard "textbook" theoretical result, attempted to use artificially created structures to achieve the required periodic potential energy. These studies produced strong evidence for the Hofstadter spectrum but were significantly hampered by the difficulty in creating structures that were both small and perfect enough to allow detailed study.

In order to create a periodic potential with a near-ideal length scale and also with a low degree of disorder, the team used an effect called a moir? pattern that arises naturally when atomically thin graphene is placed on an atomically flat boron nitride (BN) substrate, which has the same honeycomb atomic lattice structure as graphene but with a slightly longer atomic bond length. This work builds on years of experience with both graphene and BN at Columbia. The techniques for fabricating these structures were developed by the Columbia team in 2010 to create higher-performing transistors, and have also proven to be invaluable in opening up new areas of basic physics such as this study.

To map the graphene energy spectrum, the team then measured the electronic conductivity of the samples at very low temperatures in extremely strong magnetic fields up to 35 Tesla (consuming 35 megawatts of power) at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. The measurements show the predicted self-similar patterns, providing the best evidence to date for the Hofstadter butterfly, and providing the first direct evidence for its fractal nature.

"Now we see that our study of moir?-patterned graphene provides a new model system to explore the role of fractal structure in quantum systems," says Cory Dean, the first author of the paper who is now an assistant professor at The City College of New York. "This is a huge leap forward -- our observation that interplays between competing length scales result in emergent complexity provides the framework for a new direction in materials design. And such understanding will help us develop novel electronic devices employing quantum engineered nanostructures."

"The opportunity to confirm a 40-year-old prediction in physics that lies at the core of most of our understanding of low-dimensional material systems is rare, and tremendously exciting," adds Dean. "Our confirmation of this fractal structure opens the door for new studies of the interplay between complexity at the atomic level in physical systems and the emergence of new phenomenon arising from complexity."

The work from Columbia University resulted from collaborations across several disciplines including experimental groups in the departments of physics (Philip Kim), mechanical engineering (James Hone), and electrical engineering (Kenneth Shepard) in the new Northwest Corner building, using the facilities in the CEPSR (Columbia's Schapiro Center for Engineering and Physical Science Research) microfabrication center. Similar results are concurrently being reported from groups led by Konstantin Novoselov and Andre Geim at the University of Manchester, and Pablo Jarillo-Herrero and Raymond Ashoori at MIT.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/W8rieeisaFg/130515131554.htm

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Analysis: Syria peace talks look doomed in advance

By Alistair Lyon

LONDON (Reuters) - If anyone saw last week's U.S.-Russian agreement to convene a peace conference on Syria as a potential breakthrough, Western leaders have been going out of their way to disabuse them.

International envoy Lakhdar Brahimi hailed the plan as the "first hopeful news" on Syria in a long time and deferred his own plans to resign after nine months of futile mediation.

He called the proposal "only a first step". But even its sponsors are dampening expectations that a civil war estimated to have killed well over 70,000 can be doused soon, and pitfalls they cite in public are only a few of those lying in wait.

"I'm not promising that it's going to be successful," U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday. Obstacles, he said, include Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah, both of which support President Bashar al-Assad, as well as the al Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front on the rebel side.

Obama did not mention chronic disunity in the ranks of the Western-backed opposition or its almost complete lack of control over the now mostly Islamist insurgent forces on the ground.

Once "the furies have been unleashed ... it's very hard to put things back together", he said.

Syria has descended into a ferocious civil war, whose sectarian dimension was illustrated at the weekend by a video showing a Sunni Muslim rebel commander cutting out and biting into the heart of a slain Alawite soldier.

The United States and Russia share interests in Middle Eastern stability and in curbing Islamist militancy, but remain far apart on how to pacify Syria and shape its political future.

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who opposes foreign military intervention or arming the rebels, said after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "It is extremely important to avoid any actions that could aggravate the situation.

Israel, pursuing a campaign against Iran and Hezbollah, bombed targets near Damascus this month - part of a range of regional conflicts that are complicating and fuelling the Syrian war; some of them have strong sectarian overtones, such as the struggle between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shi'ite Iran.

"MANY DIFFERENCES"

Moscow, which has shielded Assad diplomatically since mostly secular peaceful protests against him erupted in March 2011, has long echoed the Syrian leader's line that what later turned into an armed revolt is the work of foreign-backed Islamists.

Russia says Assad's survival in power is not its goal, but insists his removal must not be a precondition for talks.

A Russian official said at the weekend there was broad agreement that the Syrian crisis was dire, "beyond that there are very many differences: who can take part in this format, who is legitimate and who is not legitimate".

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius questioned whether the Geneva talks aimed at creating a transitional government that would take over Assad's powers would even happen.

"I'm supporting the 'Geneva 2' talks, but it's extremely difficult," Fabius told RTL radio on Tuesday.

Tentative cooperation between Washington and Moscow might help - Brahimi's predecessor Kofi Annan quit last year in frustration at the diplomatic paralysis caused by big power divisions - but even acting in concert they might be impotent to staunch a conflict already spilling over to Syria's neighbors.

It remains to be seen if they can cajole their deeply skeptical Syrian allies into joining the Geneva negotiations, whose earliest timing has now slipped from May to early June.

The main opposition coalition, backed by Western and some Arab states, meets in Istanbul on May 23 to decide its stance. Previously it has demanded Assad's exit before any talks, but Washington now seems ready to leave his future to negotiations.

A French official, who asked not to be named, said rivalry between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the two main Arab sponsors of Assad's enemies, was hampering the emergence of a credible new opposition leader with a mandate to negotiate.

"It's vital that they get someone that could be at the table," the official said. "They know that continuing disunity among the opposition doesn't work. It's not just about Assad, the Free Syrian Army and the Islamists - the Syrian people need to be represented politically by the opposition."

Jordan said on Tuesday that it would host a meeting next week of the rebels' allies in the "Friends of Syria". One Jordanian official said: "The peace conference will be the focus of the meeting."

"GROSS MISCALCULATIONS"

Assad himself, buoyed by military gains against rebel strongholds in recent weeks, seems determined to cling to power.

On the battlefield, both sides have seen gains and reverses in recent weeks; rebels including the Nusra Front counter-attacked east of Damascus to retake a town that served as a conduit for arms from Jordan into the capital before it was seized by government forces last month, rebel sources said.

The rebels' struggle to end four decades of Assad family rule has been complicated in part by internal divisions along ideological and political lines, but in a rare move, brigades operating in Ghouta, a largely agricultural region on the eastern outskirts of Damascus, united under one command.

"With God's will this will be a decisive battle in rural Damascus that will stop the advance of the regime army and reopen the supply route," said one commander.

Information Minister Amran Zoabi said Assad's leadership role was a decision "only for the Syrian people and the ballot box". He said Syria wants specifics on the Geneva talks before deciding whether to attend.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said staying away would be "another one of President Assad's gross miscalculations", but added: "I don't believe that that is the case at this moment. The Russians, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has already given him the names of people who will negotiate."

Western powers want to step up pressure on Assad to hasten his fall, but have no appetite for the huge risks and costs of direct military intervention and have stopped short of arming fractured rebel factions, who have struggled to make headway.

Although France and Britain want the European Union to ease its weapons embargo on Syria to allow some arms supplies to rebels, it is hard to imagine how this would swiftly swing the military balance against Assad, whose forces are bolstered by Russian hardware and help from Iran and Hezbollah.

Nor is it clear that arms sent to those rebels Westerners see as moderates could dent the influence of the Islamist militants now spearheading the struggle - and spreading alarm in neighboring states Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon and Israel.

Meanwhile the death toll mounts. The United Nations put it at 70,000 three months ago. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based activist group, put out a new estimate on Tuesday of at least 94,000 deaths and added that, with information hard to pin down, it was likely to over 120,000.

The devastating conflict, now well into its third year, may have prompted a new international initiative. But the talks would only be a start, as the French official made plain, saying: "Let's be clear, even if we do have this conference, it doesn't mean there will be peace in Syria."

(Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle in Stockholm, Oliver Holmes in Beirut, John Irish in Paris, Matt Spetalnick in Washington, Steve Gutterman in Moscow; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-syria-peace-talks-look-doomed-advance-152150359.html

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Google Hangouts: Unified Chat, Unlimited Reach

After taking some major steps forward earlier this week with the announcement that Google Talk support would finally be hitting Outlook, the long-anticipated Babel all-in-one chat service has finally been revealed as... Hangouts. Which yes, we already have sort of?but not like this.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/BUw8ZPiCfHk/google-hangouts-unified-chat-unlimited-reach-506733952

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U.S. says looking to revive vacant Guantanamo policy job -Holder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government intends to revive a vacant position coordinating policy for the military prison camp for foreign terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and is looking at candidates, Attorney General Eric Holder said on Tuesday.

President Barack Obama is facing renewed pressure from foreign governments and human rights advocates to close the prison who assail it as a lasting stain on the United States' international reputation.

Obama last month renewed his years-old pledge to try to close the camp, where the United States is holding about 166 detainees, in most cases without charge or trial. Some detainees have been there since 2002 and scores are on hunger strike in protest against their indefinite detention.

In January, the U.S. State Department reassigned the special envoy, Daniel Fried, who had been in charge of trying to persuade countries to take Guantanamo inmates approved for transfer and no one was assigned to take his place. The vacancy was viewed by many Guantanamo inmates and rights group as a strong sign that Obama did not consider closing the prison a priority.

"We're in the process of working on that now. We're looking at candidates," Holder told a news conference. However, he did not say who the candidates were to fill the position of coordinating Guantanamo, or whether the person eventually appointed would work at the State Department, the White House or elsewhere.

Holder, the highest U.S. law enforcement official and an Obama appointee, has supported using the civilian courts to put some of the remaining detainees on trial.

The administration will make "a renewed effort to close Guantanamo," Holder said, citing the prison's high cost and the impact on U.S. relations with other nations.

(Reporting by David Ingram; Editing by Howard Goller and Christopher Wilson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-says-looking-revive-vacant-guantanamo-policy-job-204549404.html

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Facebook Now Lets You Rate Movies, TV, And Books To Turn Graph Search Into A GoodReads For Everything

Facebook is hoping to give developers a better way to get discovered and improve Graph Search. So today it announced it's finished rolling out "Sections" for Timeline that show what apps you use, which people now add 200 million items to daily. New features coming alongside the rollout include the ability for users to rate different types of media and for developers to track traffic from Sections.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/vC9i8zUrnmM/

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Ohio gas prices down from last week

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Ohio motorists are seeing lower gas prices to start the work week.

A gallon of regular gas in Ohio was listed at an average of about $3.57 in Monday's survey from auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. That's down 11 cents from last Monday's average of $3.68.

The Ohio price this week is about a penny lower than the national average.

The state average is about 16 cents higher than this time last month ? but 7 cents lower than at the same time in 2012.

The lowest average price in the state Monday was about $3.48 in the Canton-Massillon areas.

Online:

AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report: http://fuelgaugereport.aaa.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ohio-gas-prices-down-last-135624605.html

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GOP governors want special prosecutor in IRS case

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Two Republican governors are urging President Barack Obama to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the Internal Revenue Service's admission that it targeted conservative political groups.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker call the allegations "Big Brother come to life."

They want a special prosecutor to find out if any laws were broken and say Obama should fire any IRS employees responsible for the situation.

The IRS has apologized for what it calls "inappropriate" targeting of conservative political groups. The agency targeted groups during the 2010 congressional elections and the 2012 presidential election.

Jindal is the chairman of the Republican Governors Association and Walker is the group's vice chairman. Both are potential presidential candidates in 2016.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gop-governors-want-special-prosecutor-irs-case-151532487.html

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Argentina faces very different debt default if loses legal fight

By Hilary Burke

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - When Argentina defaulted on its debt in 2002, the economy was collapsing and a bloody popular revolt had helped topple two presidents in a week. Now, the country could default again, but it would be over a matter of principle rather than necessity.

After a decade of sleepy litigation, investors got a jolt late last year when U.S. courts ruled in favor of "holdout" creditors who had rejected Argentine debt exchanges in 2005 and 2010 and sued to be repaid in full on their defaulted bonds.

A U.S. judge ordered Argentina to pay the holdouts the full $1.33 billion owed them the next time it serviced restructured debt. Argentina appealed, and a ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is expected in the coming weeks.

Investors are following the case closely because Argentina appears willing to enter into technical default in order to avoid paying the holdouts any more than other creditors received.

The nearly 93 percent of bondholders who accepted the debt exchanges got returns of as low as 25 cents on the dollar.

Tough-talking Argentine President Cristina Fernandez has pledged to keep paying the restructured debt but vows never to pay the "vultures" that bought the bonds at a steep discount and sued for full repayment.

When Argentina defaulted on some $100 billion in bonds 11 years ago, its debt represented 166 percent of gross domestic product. Bank deposits were frozen and devalued, the economy shrank 11 percent in one year, and millions lost their jobs.

Argentina's economy rebounded after that crisis and boomed during most of the last decade. Although growth slowed sharply in the last year and inflation is high, the debt burden is down to about 42 percent of GDP.

In other words, Argentina could pay the holdouts if it wanted, but it refuses to do so.

"Argentina will not blink and neither will the holdouts, so this will lead to a technical default," said Shahriar Shahida, co-founder of Constellation Capital Management LLC in New York, which is currently invested in Argentina and believes it would be unfair to favor the holdouts over exchange bondholders.

"This is an unparalleled case of somebody defaulting not because they don't have capacity, not because they don't have willingness, but because somebody is forcing them to do something egregious," he said.

MARKETS ON EDGE

Argentina says it will fight the holdouts - led in this case by Elliott Management affiliate NML Capital and Aurelius Capital Management - all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Sources familiar with the position of Elliott and Aurelius say Argentina has never shown a willingness to negotiate.

Investors anticipate the country will eventually defy U.S. courts if they insist the holdouts be paid in full.

In that scenario, Argentina is widely expected to force a technical default on the restructured bonds issued under New York law - which would be most directly affected by the rulings - while trying to create a new payment scheme for those bonds.

One option would be a swap in which the exchange bondholders turned in their New York paper for new Argentine-law bonds. Some analysts warn that might not be doable, however.

The default would be technical because Argentina might try to pay the exchange bondholders without paying the holdouts, and the courts could then disrupt the payments. Or the country could suspend payments on the restructured bonds citing its own laws, which bar it from paying the holdouts on better terms.

Argentine economic officials have refused to discuss whether they are evaluating a "Plan B" for payments. The next interest payments on restructured bonds come due June 2 and June 30.

When the court rulings first came down last year, many investors scrambled to sell off their Argentine bonds and some firms specializing in distressed debt moved in to buy.

The market has since stabilized and the restructured bonds regained some ground in April. Argentina's Global 2017, issued during the 2010 debt swap, is now yielding around 16.3 percent, down from 19.6 percent in early March.

In terms of credit default swap contracts - which act as insurance against a default - the maximum payout possible dropped sharply in late 2012 and now stands at about $1.53 billion, data from the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp shows.

CDS payouts would likely be less, however, after an auction process to determine the recovery value of the defaulted bonds.

Ultimately, Argentina is no longer as relevant to global credit markets as it used to be. It has not issued international debt since the 2002 default and its weighting on the JPMorgan Chase EMBI+ emerging market sovereign bond index has shrunk to 1.8 percent from over 23 percent in early 2001.

Capital controls and more-recent foreign currency restrictions have further isolated the country, which is seen as an anomaly in largely market-friendly Latin America.

Credit Suisse analysts said last week that most of their contacts in Buenos Aires believe the spillover effects of a technical default "would be relatively small due to Argentina's relative isolation from international capital markets and the ongoing deterioration in Argentina's business climate."

LEGAL OUTLOOK

In November, U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa ordered Argentina to deposit the $1.33 billion owed to holdouts in an escrow account by December 15, when restructured debt came due.

He also required that third parties involved in payments on Argentina's restructured bonds be held accountable if the court order were evaded. This included Bank of New York Mellon Corp, which acts as trustee for the exchange bondholders.

The 2nd Circuit suspended these orders under an emergency judicial stay while reviewing Argentina's appeal.

It is not clear, however, that the stay would remain in place if Argentina had to appeal to the Supreme Court. Most analysts seem to think it would, but there is no guarantee.

It is also anyone's bet how the 2nd Circuit will rule. The court upheld Griesa's original decision, finding Argentina had discriminated against the holdouts and violated the "pari passu" or equal treatment clause in their defaulted bond contracts.

But with the U.S. government arguing Griesa's rulings could complicate future sovereign debt restructurings, the 2nd Circuit may seek to limit the scope of the payment orders.

The appeals court asked Argentina to submit its own payment proposal, which essentially echoed the terms of the 2010 swap. NML and Aurelius rejected this outright.

If Argentina appealed to the Supreme Court and its case were accepted for review, a ruling could be made as late as June 2015, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts.

A new Argentine default, no matter how short-lived, would tend to push bond prices lower and hurt the balance sheets of local banks, which hold lots of debt. But most economists do not think there would be massive fallout, in part because Argentine exporters are much less reliant on trade finance than in 2002.

Guillermo Nielsen, who as finance secretary helped push through Argentina's tough debt restructuring in 2005, said nonetheless a default should be avoided at all costs.

"The New York financial market is important not only for less developed countries but also for developed countries. Even Sweden issues debt in the New York market," Nielsen said. "And here we have everything to be made, to be built, to be created. We need that financing."

(Additional reporting by Daniel Bases in New York and Alejandro Lifschitz and Guido Nejamkis in Buenos Aires; Editing by Kieran Murray, Bernard Orr)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/argentina-faces-very-different-debt-default-loses-legal-110556026.html

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'Blue Arctic' Samsung Galaxy S4 sighted in Japan

Docomo could carry dark blue variant of Samsung's new handset

So far the Samsung Galaxy S4 has only been available in "white frost" and "black mist" color options, but it seems a third option may be about to join them. Japanese blog Rbmen has spotted the new "blue arctic" color option on a promotional leaflet from Japanese carrier Docomo, and it looks a lot like the old "pebble blue" Galaxy S3.

There's no word on whether this color option might be offered outside of Japan, but Samsung has a history of offering its phones and tablets in all kinds of weird and wonderful colors, so we wouldn't be surprised to see a wider release at some point.

Aside from new color options, the spec sheet also mentions a couple of Japanese-specific features, like FeliCa support for use with electronic payment cards, and a retractable TV antenna.

Docomo reportedly has a presentation scheduled for May 15, so Japanese buyers shouldn't be too long to learn more about their Galaxy S4 variant.

Source: Rbmen; via: SamMobile

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/SNiGirBKrCE/story01.htm

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Shaun Business Start-up: Marketing & Promoting

The use of search engines for a n online business

The social media websites?that I will? look at are - Facebook, Twitter &?LinkedIn.

How do they operate?

How can Facebook be used for a business online?

Facebook is the largest online social networking website and has currently over 1 billion users.

More and more businesses with an online presence will link users to a Facebook page. They will also frequently use twitter and RSS feeds.?Knowing how to use?Facebook for business has become an essential skill to have in the job search and a vital part of online marketing strategies.?Facebook has found a way to make itself the link between the brand and the consumer.

Fan Pages are targeted more toward a specific entity rather than an individual social networking with friends and family. Just because they are labelled Fan Pages does not necessarily mean that the entity is a celebrity, a band, etc.

Fan sites can be created for anything, especially online stores. More and more businesses are making use of Fan pages to target their users to a Facebook entity that represents their enterprise.
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How can Twitter be used for a business online?

Twitter is a good way to promote your business online in my opinion. These facts will help you to understand why:

You will be able to connect to your customers as they themselves will be using Twitter. Twitter has become a daily routine for many people as an unsatisfied customer will leave feedback on there and then you can help them.

Branding is one of the main uses for Twitter, this allows you to connect with people and allows you to create an account.

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Once you have connected with your customers you will for sure be getting feedback on how you can improve your product, your services and maybe even improve your customer?s service. Listening to them will help you in the future.

Marketing?is one of the?reasons to use twitter?as it gets?your?market your product or services to more people and the best part about that is its free. You don?t have to pay.

If you have succeeded gaining some popularity with your Twitter account you will know how viral Twitter can be. This will be part of your marketing strategies that you can use in the future.

Twitter can help you increase sales and help make a profit.

Once you have engaged with Twitter then your customers/followers will be loyal to your brand for a long time.

This is a link to my Twitter account, @tampsett10

How can LinkedIn be used for a business online?

LinkedIn is the biggest professional network in the world with 100 million members. There are a lot of reasons why LinkedIn?could be really valuable to your business, so let me share with you some reasons you should use LinkedIn.

To attract business clients, accelerate go to market opportunities, generate new leads & fill pipelines, shorter sales cycles, larger per deal purchases, longer clients lifecycles, to create an online community, to maintain "Top of mind awareness" and to establish cutting edge social strategies.

How to use them effectively?

The use of social media can be very useful in online businesses today as everyone goes online and most people nowadays own a computer.

It is a fact of corporate life nowadays that more and more businesses are waking up to the potential of social networking and how they can exploit it in order to gain a competitive advantage.

This could mean that Facebook or Twitter can be used purely as a marketing tool or as another customer-facing communication channel.

Did you know that around 83 percent of people in the United Kingdom own a computer.

To see some fascinating statistics about the internet and how many people use it from different countries then click on the link below:
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats4.htm

Other areas of promotion - Podcasts & Banner Adverts

Research into trends, competitor analysis etc.

Source: http://shaun-business-start-up.blogspot.com/2013/05/marketing-promoting.html

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Applying for Obamacare (Powerlineblog)

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2 bodies found after NJ standoff; suspect killed

AAA??May. 12, 2013?5:44 PM ET
2 bodies found after NJ standoff; suspect killed
By BRUCE SHIPKOWSKIBy BRUCE SHIPKOWSKI, Associated Press??

Gerald "Skip" Murphy, 38, is seen in this photograph provided by the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office in Trenton, N.J., Sunday, May 12, 2013. Three children are safe after a 36-hour standoff with Murphy, who was armed, ended early Sunday, in Trenton, N.J., state law enforcement officials said. Murphy was killed during the rescue, officials said. But the bodies of a woman, presumed to be homeowner Carmelita Stevens, 44 -- the mother of the children -- and a young boy, presumed to be her 13-year-old son, were found decomposing in the home. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Gerald "Skip" Murphy, 38, is seen in this photograph provided by the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office in Trenton, N.J., Sunday, May 12, 2013. Three children are safe after a 36-hour standoff with Murphy, who was armed, ended early Sunday, in Trenton, N.J., state law enforcement officials said. Murphy was killed during the rescue, officials said. But the bodies of a woman, presumed to be homeowner Carmelita Stevens, 44 -- the mother of the children -- and a young boy, presumed to be her 13-year-old son, were found decomposing in the home. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Gerald "Skip" Murphy, 38, is seen in this photograph provided by the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office in Trenton, N.J., Sunday, May 12, 2013. Three children are safe after a 36-hour standoff with Murphy, who was armed, ended early Sunday, in Trenton, N.J., state law enforcement officials said. Murphy was killed during the rescue, officials said. But the bodies of a woman, presumed to be homeowner Carmelita Stevens, 44 -- the mother of the children -- and a young boy, presumed to be her 13-year-old son, were found decomposing in the home. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph L. Bocchini Jr., left, and Trenton Police Director Ralph Rivera Jr., right, listen in Trenton, N.J., Sunday, May 12, 2013, as New Jersey State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes answers a question after announcing that Gerald Tyrone Murphy, 38, had been shot by police and later died after a standoff with police. Three children held by Murphy are safe after a 36-hour standoff in Trenton ended early Sunday. Fuentes said officers made an entry into the room where the hostages were being held, and a single shot was fired at the suspect as he made a violent move toward one of the children. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

New Jersey State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes answers a question in Trenton, N.J., Sunday, May 12, 2013, after announcing that Gerald Tyrone Murphy, 38, who also goes by the name Skip, had been shot by police and later died after a standoff with police. Three children held by Murphy are safe after a 36-hour standoff in Trenton ended early Sunday. Fuentes said officers made an entry into the room where the hostages were being held, and a single shot was fired at the suspect as he made a violent move toward one of the children. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

New Jersey State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes, left, and Trenton Police Director Ralph Rivera Jr., right,, listen in Trenton, N.J., Sunday, May 12, 2013, as Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph L. Bocchini Jr., answers a question after announcing that Gerald Tyrone Murphy, 38, who is also known as Skip, had been shot by police and later died after a standoff with police. Three children held by Murphy are safe after a 36-hour standoff in Trenton ended early Sunday. Fuentes said officers made an entry into the room where the hostages were being held, and a single shot was fired at the suspect as he made a violent move toward one of the children. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) ? Police stormed a New Jersey home early Sunday and fatally shot a registered sex offender who had held his girlfriend's three children hostage, ending their 37-hour ordeal and recovering the bodies of the captives' mother and another sibling, authorities said.

Officers initially went to the South Trenton home Friday afternoon after a relative of 44-year-old Carmelita Stevens said she hadn't spoken to her in weeks and was worried, authorities said at a news conference Sunday. Upon further investigation, authorities then discovered her children hadn't been to school in 12 days.

Police entered the home through a rear door and smelled an odor consistent with that of a decomposing body, Trenton Police Director Ralph Rivera Jr. said. The officers also noticed maggots throughout the residence.

They found 38-year-old Gerald "Skip" Tyrone Murphy in an upstairs bedroom and he told them he was armed with a gun and explosives and had three children with him, Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph L. Bocchini Jr. said. Officers noticed one of the dead victims before they retreated from the second floor and rescued Stevens' 19-year-old son from the basement, who said he hadn't seen her or his siblings since about April 24.

Homes on the surrounding block were evacuated as a precaution, and police tape cordoned off the street in front of the house. A SWAT team was called, and an arson bomb unit was also on the scene. Police said Murphy could be seen from a window holding a black handgun.

Police remained in contact with Murphy throughout the standoff and passed food into the home through an upstairs window, state police Col. Rick Fuentes said. Murphy kept the captives with him inside the roughly 10-foot-by-11-foot bedroom throughout the standoff, authorities said.

As the standoff stretched into a third day, officers entered the home around 3:45 a.m. Sunday after noting Murphy's "deteriorating state of mind" and deciding it was necessary to enter to help ensure the captives survived, Fuentes said. An officer shot Murphy because he was threatening one of the children, he said.

Murphy was taken to a hospital and later died of his injuries. No law enforcement personnel were injured during the standoff or the confrontation with Murphy.

"This was a very complex matter, considering the space (where the hostages were) and that three children were involved," Fuentes said. "Our mission over those 37 hours was to save innocent lives."

Authorities found the bodies of Stevens and her 13-year-old son in separate bedrooms. Stevens' body was in an advanced state of decomposition, and police said she and her son may have been killed two weeks ago. Police didn't say which of the bodies they had seen inside the home Friday afternoon.

Three of Stevens' children ? an 18-year-old woman, a 16-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy ? were rescued and taken to a medical center for evaluation and treatment. Murphy had abused and assaulted the captives, Bocchini said.

Murphy and Stevens had been dating for a few months, and both lived in the house, police said. He was not the father of any of her children.

Authorities wouldn't comment on a possible motive or say how the victims died, citing the ongoing investigation. They also would not say whether any bombs or other explosives were recovered at the residence.

Attempts to contact the victims' relatives and neighbors were unsuccessful on Sunday.

Murphy had a long criminal history including convictions for aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy, Bocchini said. He had previously been arrested for robbery and weapons offenses and child endangerment. He also had an arrest warrant in Pennsylvania for failing to register as a sex offender.

Associated Press
People, Places and Companies: Trenton

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-05-12-US-Barricaded-Home/id-bb9596d8085c4f2a90ac09bd728ba4cc

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Project aims to track big city carbon footprints

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Every time Los Angeles exhales, odd-looking gadgets anchored in the mountains above the city trace the invisible puffs of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases that waft skyward.

Halfway around the globe, similar contraptions atop the Eiffel Tower and elsewhere around Paris keep a pulse on emissions from smokestacks and automobile tailpipes. And there is talk of outfitting Sao Paulo, Brazil, with sensors that sniff the byproducts of burning fossil fuels.

It's part of a budding effort to track the carbon footprints of megacities, urban hubs with over 10 million people that are increasingly responsible for human-caused global warming.

For years, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse pollutants have been closely monitored around the planet by stations on the ground and in space. Now, scientists are eyeing large cities ? with LA and Paris as guinea pigs ? and aiming to observe emissions in the atmosphere as a first step toward independently verifying whether local ? and often lofty ? climate goals are being met.

For the past year, a high-tech sensor poking out from a converted shipping container has stared at the Los Angeles basin from its mile-high perch on Mount Wilson, a peak in the San Gabriel Mountains that's home to a famous observatory and communication towers.

Like a satellite gazing down on Earth, it scans more than two dozen points from the inland desert to the coast. Every few minutes, it rumbles to life as it automatically sweeps the horizon, measuring sunlight bouncing off the surface for the unique fingerprint of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases.

In a storage room next door, commercially available instruments that typically monitor air quality double as climate sniffers. And in nearby Pasadena, a refurbished vintage solar telescope on the roof of a laboratory on the California Institute of Technology campus captures sunlight and sends it down a shaft 60 feet below where a prism-like instrument separates out carbon dioxide molecules.

On a recent April afternoon atop Mount Wilson, a brown haze hung over the city, the accumulation of dust and smoke particles in the atmosphere.

"There are some days where we can see 150 miles way out to the Channel Islands and there are some days where we have trouble even seeing what's down here in the foreground," said Stanley Sander, a senior research scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

What Sander and others are after are the pretty much invisible greenhouse gases spewing from factories and freeways below.

There are plans to expand the network. This summer, technicians will install commercial gas analyzers at a dozen more rooftops around the greater LA region. Scientists also plan to drive around the city in a Prius outfitted with a portable emission-measuring device and fly a research aircraft to pinpoint methane hotspots from the sky. (A well-known natural source is the La Brea Tar Pits in the heart of LA where underground bacteria burp bubbles of methane gas to the surface.)

Six years ago, elected officials vowed to reduce emissions to 35 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 by shifting to renewable energy and weaning the city's dependence on out-of-state coal-fired plants, greening the twin port complex and airports and retrofitting city buildings.

It's impractical to blanket the city with instruments so scientists rely on a handful of sensors and use computer models to work backward to determine the sources of the emissions and whether they're increasing. They won't be able to zero in on an offending street or a landfill, but they hope to be able to tell whether switching buses from diesel to alternative fuel has made a dent.

Project manager Riley Duren of JPL said it'll take several years of monitoring to know whether LA is on track to reach its goal.

Scientists not involved with the project say it makes sense to dissect emissions on a city level to confirm whether certain strategies to curb greenhouse gases are working. But they're divided about the focus.

Allen Robinson, an air quality expert at Carnegie Mellon University, said he prefers more attention paid to measuring a city's methane emissions since scientists know less about them than carbon dioxide release.

Nearly 58 percent of California's carbon dioxide emissions in 2010 came from gasoline-powered vehicles, according to the U.S. Energy Department's latest figures.

In much of the country, coal ?usually as fuel for electric power ? is a major source of carbon dioxide pollution. But in California, it's responsible for a tad more than 1 percent of the state's carbon dioxide emissions. Natural gas, considered a cleaner fuel, spews one third of the state's carbon dioxide.

Overall, California in 2010 released about 408 million tons of carbon dioxide into the air. The state's carbon dioxide pollution is greater than all but 20 countries and is just ahead of Spain's emissions. In 2010, California put nearly 11 tons of carbon dioxide into the air for every person, which is lower than the national average of 20 tons per person.

Gregg Marland, an Appalachian State University professor who has tracked worldwide emissions for the Energy Department, said there's value in learning about a city's emissions and testing techniques.

"I don't think we need to try this in many places, but we have to try some to see what works and what we can do," he said.

Launching the monitoring project came with the usual growing pains. In Paris, a carbon sniffer originally tucked away in the Eiffel Tower's observation deck had to be moved to a higher floor that's off-limits to the public after tourists' exhaling interfered with the data.

So far, $3 million have been spent on the U.S. effort with funding from federal, state and private groups. The French, backed by different sponsors, have spent roughly the same.

Scientists hope to strengthen their ground measurements with upcoming launches of Earth satellites designed to track carbon dioxide from orbit. The field experiment does not yet extend to China, by far the world's biggest carbon dioxide polluter. But it's a start, experts say.

With the focus on megacities, others have worked to decipher the carbon footprint of smaller places like Indianapolis, Boston and Oakland, where University of California, Berkeley, researchers have taken a different tack and blanketed school rooftops with relatively inexpensive sensors.

"We are at a very early stage of knowing the best strategy, and need to learn the pros and cons of different approaches," said Inez Fung, a professor of atmospheric science at Berkeley who has no role in the various projects.

___

Follow Alicia Chang at http://twitter.com/SciWriAlicia

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-05-12-Megacities-Carbon%20Footprint/id-96798ba72286473d881816a27a9311b5

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New discovery may lead the way to improved whooping cough vaccine

May 10, 2013 ? Scientists at Trinity College Dublin have made novel discoveries concerning the current vaccine against whooping cough that may lead to the development of an improved future vaccine. The findings could help reduce the incidence of the disease which is increasing in developed countries. The research led by Professor of Experimental Immunology, Kingston Mills has just been published in the journal PLoS Pathogens.

A new vaccine against whooping cough, caused by the bacteria Bordetella pertussis was first introduced to the routine vaccination schedule for infants and children in most developed countries, including Ireland over a decade ago. Prior to the introduction of this vaccine, children were immunised with a vaccine made from whole bacteria. Although this 'whole cell pertussis vaccine' was effective at preventing the infection, it had been associated with side effects. Dissatisfaction with that vaccine led to the development of an 'acellular pertussis vaccine' made from components of the bacteria combined with an adjuvant to boost immune responses.

Following its introduction in the late 1990s, the new vaccine has proved to be very safe and has been effective in controlling the potentially fatal disease of whooping cough in children. However, protective immunity conferred with the vaccine falls quite quickly, necessitating frequent booster vaccinations. This fall off in the immunity may be contributing to the number of whooping cough cases which are increasing with quite dramatic increases reported in certain countries, including the US, Australia and the Netherlands.

Professor Kingston Mills's research team at the School of Biochemistry and Immunology in the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute has discovered important mechanistic differences in the type of immune responses induced with the new 'acellular' and old 'whole cell' vaccine. The whole cell vaccine, although much more likely to cause adverse reactions in recipients, was capable of inducing strong cellular immune responses mediated by white blood cells called T cells, in particular a type of T cell called Th1 cells. In contrast, the new acellular vaccine, although safer, was less effective in inducing cellular immunity, but instead induced immunity mediated by antibodies and another type of T cell called a Th17 cell.

Most vaccines include a component called an adjuvant to boost immune responses to the bacterial or viral antigens in the vaccine and the acellular pertussis vaccine uses an aluminium salt, called alum. However, Dr Padraig Ross, Dr Sarah Higgins and Ms Aideen Allen in Professor Mills' laboratory, working in collaboration with Dr Rachel McLoughlin and Dr Ed Lavelle, have shown that the vaccine could be improved further through the use of a different adjuvant.

The current vaccine does not enhance the induction of Th1 cells, required for conferring optimum protective immunity against the bacteria. They showed that by switching the adjuvant from alum to an adjuvant based on bacterial DNA, they could induce the crucial Th1 cells and thereby enhance the efficacy of the vaccine against Bordetella pertussis infection in a murine model. The new vaccine has the potential to protect a higher proportion of immunised children using a lower number of doses.

Commenting on the significance of the findings, Professor Mills said: "Although it will not be an easy task to implement, our findings should pave the way for an improved vaccine against whooping cough in children."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/sad3XlnB4jc/130510124457.htm

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U.S stocks rise for third week in a row

In this Wednesday, April 24, 2013, photo, Kenneth Polcari, right, works with fellow traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Japan's benchmark stock index surged Friday May 10, 2013 after the dollar hit a four-year high against the yen. Markets elsewhere gained as traders digested a positive U.S. jobs report. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

In this Wednesday, April 24, 2013, photo, Kenneth Polcari, right, works with fellow traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Japan's benchmark stock index surged Friday May 10, 2013 after the dollar hit a four-year high against the yen. Markets elsewhere gained as traders digested a positive U.S. jobs report. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Small was beautiful this week.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 15,000 for the first time on Tuesday, then held above that milestone for the next three days. But an index of small-company stocks has been putting the blue-chip gauge to shame. On Friday, the Russell 2000 closed the week up 2.2 percent, more than double the Dow's gain.

Investors are in love with small stocks because they stand a greater chance of surging ahead than large, global companies do if the U.S. economy continues to fare better than Europe.

"GDP growth was 2.5 percent in the first quarter ? not spectacular, but better than Europe," said Joseph Tanious, global market strategist of J.P. Morgan Funds. "Europe is sucking wind."

On Friday, the Dow, an index of 30 large-company stocks including global giants like IBM and Caterpillar, rose 35.87 points to close at 15,118.49 after flitting between gains and losses most of the day.

The Dow's meager gain of 0.2 percent was trumped by the 0.9 percent advance in the Russell 2000. The small-company index rose 8.90 points to 975.16. Both indexes, as well as the Standard & Poor's 500, closed at record highs. All three rose for a third straight week.

The sharp increase in small-company stocks is also a sign that investors are more willing to take on risk. Small stocks can offer investors greater returns, but they are also more volatile than large stocks.

Dow stocks were held back by falling commodity prices. Exxon Mobil, Caterpillar and Alcoa ? Dow members whose fortunes are tied to the prices of crude oil and other basic materials ? closed down 1 percent or more.

The price of commodities including crude oil and gold fell sharply as the dollar strengthened against other currencies, especially the Japanese yen. When the dollar rises against other currencies, it tends to weaken demand for commodities. Since commodities are priced in dollars, buyers using other currencies get less for their money when the dollar appreciates, and they respond by buying less.

Stocks have benefited from record-high corporate profits. Nearly all companies in the S&P 500 have reported first quarter earnings. The average net income for companies in the index is expected to rise 5 percent, according to S&P Capital IQ, a research firm.

"The talk at the end of April was company earnings are slowing" and investors might sell, said Gary Flam, who manages stock portfolios at Bel Air Investment Advisors. "But clearly that's not been the case in the first ten days."

The S&P rose every day since the beginning of the month until Thursday, when it fell six points. On Friday it closed up 7.03 points at 1,633.70, an increase of 0.4 percent.

Flam speculates that stocks are rising partly because investors have shifted from fear to greed.

"The last few years, risk was defined as losing money," he said. "The last few months, it's been defined as not making money."

In another sign that investors were embracing risk, prices for ultra-safe U.S. government bonds fell, sending their yields higher. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose sharply, to 1.90 percent from 1.81 percent late Thursday.

The gains in the stock market were broad. Nine of the ten industry groups in the S&P 500 index were higher. Health care stocks rose the most, 1.1 percent.

The Nasdaq composite index was up 27.41 points, or 0.8 percent, to close at 3,436.58.

One dollar was worth 101.58 yen, more than the 100.54 yen it bought late Thursday. The yen has been weakening since last fall as the Bank of Japan floods the Japanese economy with cash in an effort to shake the country out of a two-decade slump.

Japanese stocks surged. A weaker yen is a boon to Japanese exporters of cars, electronics and other goods because they can charge cheaper prices in overseas markets. Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index jumped 2.9 percent to close at 14,607, its highest level since January 2008.

Prices for crude oil and gold fell. Crude fell 35 cents to $96.04 a barrel in New York, a loss of 0.4 percent. Gold fell $32 to $1,436 an ounce, or 2.2 percent.

Among stocks in the news:

? Priceline.com and chip maker Nvidia both rose about 4 percent after reporting higher earnings. Priceline jumped $27.91 to $765 and Nvidia was up 63 cents to $14.54.

? Clothing store chain Gap rose after reporting higher sales in April and predicting first-quarter earnings that were higher than financial analysts expected. Gap rose $2.18 to $40.99, or 5.6 percent.

? True Religion Apparel, known for high-priced jeans, rose $2.38, or 8 percent, to $31.82 after announcing it had agreed to a buyout offer of about $826 million from the investment management firm TowerBrook Capital Partners LP.

? Dell climbed after activist investor Carl Icahn and another big investor fighting founder Michael Dell's offer to take the company private launched another broadside against the plan. In a letter to Dell's board, they proposed a deal that would keep the company public and pay shareholders cash or stock worth $12 a share. Dell rose 13 cents, or 1 percent, to $13.45 per share.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-05-10-US-Wall-Street/id-fba935aab51b4032b32a7a4dc9a72d83

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