Police visited home of man accused of holding women captive

Updated 4:55 pm ET

CLEVELAND, Ohio?Police visited the home of Ariel Castro, the man who police say held three young women captive for the past decade, at least once while they were being held inside. But it wasn?t until Monday when one of the women, 27-year old Amanda Berry, managed to escape and phone 911 that officers came and got them to freedom.

With Ariel Castro, 52, and brothers Pedro, 54, and Onil Castro, 50, in custody and awaiting charges, authorities have come under scrutiny for how they missed clues that Berry and two other young women were being kept as prisoners in the rundown home in the city's west side neighborhood.

Berry, whom police called a hero for breaking out of the house Monday and summoning help, had disappeared in 2003 when she was 16. Michelle Knight went missing in 2002, when she was 20. Gina DeJesus, then 14, was reported missing in 2004.

Police, along with officials of the Children and Family Services department, visited the house in January 2004 to follow up on a report that Castro, then a bus driver for the Cleveland public schools, had left a child on a bus while he ate lunch.

Police say they investigated that incident, but felt there was no criminal wrong-doing and the matter was dropped.

?He was interviewed extensively due to that investigation,? Deputy Cleveland Police Chief Ed Tomba told reporters at a news conference Tuesday.

Other reports said neighbors had called police after seeing suspicious activity at the house over the years.

This undated combination photo released by the Cleveland Police Department shows from left, Onil Castro, Ariel??One neighbor, Elsie Cintron, told a reporter from the BBC that her granddaughter saw a naked woman crawling in the backyard of Ariel Castro. Cintron said she told her grandchildren to stay away from the home. She also said she told police, but got discouraged a lack of action by police.

Officials said Ariel Castro had called police to his home in March 2000, when he reported a fight in the street outside his home on Seymour Avenue on the city?s west side. But that was before any of the women were missing.

Shortly before 6 p.m. ET Monday, Tomba said, Berry, with the help of neighbors, was able to break out of the house and summon police. She was reported missing on April 21, 2003, after vanishing on the way home from her job at a local Burger King.

After Berry called 911, police responded to the home at 5:52 p.m. DeJesus and Knight were found inside.

Berry escaped the house along with a 6-year-old girl. Police confirmed the child was Berry's daughter but would not say who the father was. According to reports,

While police would not comment publicly on whether the women had been abused or raped while held captive, several publications quote police sources as saying the women had been forced to have sex with their captors, resulting in multiple pregnancies.

The stories of Berry and DeJesus have captivated the city of Cleveland for a decade. They have been the subject of numerous vigils and city searches. Police have followed leads over the years, including digging up two backyards seeking their remains. On Monday, crowds gathered in the neighborhood where they were found and at the hospital where they were taken later.

?Our prayers have finally been answered?this nightmare is over,? said Stephen Anthony, special agent in charge of the Cleveland office of the FBI.

While much has been written about Berry and DeJesus, and the efforts to find them, not much has been written about Michelle Knight. "She has been the focus of very few tips," Tomba said.

Police said all three women appeared healthy, other than needing a good meal. They were taken to a Cleveland hospital, where they were reunited with their families?a scene police described as "chaotic."

According to public records, Ariel Castro has owned the home where the kidnapped women were found since 1992. Records also show Castro has at least one adult son and a grown daughter living two to three hours from Cleveland.

Several media outlets also report that a younger daughter, Emily Castro, is in an Indiana prison for slashing the throat of her then-10-month-old daughter in 2007. Indiana prison records confirm Emily Castro is currently serving 25 years for attempted murder.

At Emily Castro?s trial, defense attorney Zachary Witte argued that she suffered from paranoid delusional thoughts. At the time of the attack, she feared that her family was trying to kill her and take her baby away. The child survived the attack.

Witte told Yahoo News on Tuesday that he didn?t recall his client saying much about her father.

?I think she was estranged from her dad,? Witte said.

Photos on a Facebook page show the man believed to be Castro?s son visiting Emily Castro in prison earlier this year.

?A Father's Love for his Children is like none other,? reads a comment on the photo from a man who identifies himself as Ariel Castro on Facebook.

Mayor Frank Jackson said housing and building records also have been reviewed and no reports of violations were found.

Outside the Castro home Tuesday, which police are still treating as an active crime scene, an American flag and a Puerto Rican flag hung above the front door. The Puerto Rican flag bothered Lucy Delgado, a nearby resident with family living in the largely Puerto Rican neighborhood.

"It doesn't deserve to be there," Delgado said of the flag. "This is like, oh my God crazy stuff like this should never happen here."

Delgado described the community as tight knit. "Everybody knows each others business," she said.

Police declined to provide specific details about the home where the women were kept or its condition upon their arrival on Monday. They said the home is an active crime scene and detectives were processing it through the night.

Asked if they believe the kidnappings were part of a larger operation, police officials said they were looking into every possible angle. It appears that Berry, DeJesus and Knight were the only victims.

Click image to see more photos. (AP/Cleveland Police Dept.)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/escaped-cleveland-woman-amanda-berry-real-hero-kidnapping-141444873.html

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Diplomat: Special forces stopped from going to Benghazi

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Four members of Army special forces ready to head to Benghazi, Libya, after the deadly assault on the American diplomatic mission had ended were told not to go, according to a former top diplomat.

Gregory Hicks also argued in an interview with Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that if the U.S. military had flown aircraft over the Benghazi facility after it came under siege it might have prevented the second attack on the CIA annex that killed two CIA security officers.

Excerpts of the interview with the former deputy chief in Libya were released Monday in advance of Hicks' testimony on Wednesday before the panel.

The Sept. 11, 2012, assault killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Nearly eight months later, Republicans insist that the Obama administration is guilty of a cover-up of the events despite a scathing independent report that faulted the State Department for inadequate security at the diplomatic mission.

Hicks' comments and the hearing are likely to revive the politically charged debate in which GOP lawmakers and outside groups have faulted former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, a possible presidential candidate in 2016.

After the first word of the attack in Benghazi, a seven-member security team, including two military personnel, flew from Tripoli to Benghazi. Upon their arrival, they learned that Stevens was missing and the situation had calmed after the first attack, according to a Pentagon timeline released last year.

Meanwhile, a second team was preparing to leave on a Libyan C-130 cargo plane from Tripoli to Benghazi when Hicks said he learned from the Libyan prime minister that Stevens was dead. The Libyan military agreed to transport additional personnel as reinforcements to Benghazi on its cargo plane, but Hicks complained the special forces were told not to make the trip.

"They were told not to board the flight, so they missed it," Hicks told GOP committee staff. Pressed on why, he said, "I guess they just didn't have the right authority from the right level."

Defense officials said Monday that four members of Army special forces were in Tripoli on Sept. 11, 2012, as part of a regular training mission. The officials said they were trying to track down information about the Libyan cargo plane and could not verify whether or not the special forces were told not to get on the plane.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said it is normal procedure for U.S. service members to get permission to fly on another country's military aircraft.

That flight left Tripoli after the second attack on the CIA annex that killed two security officers ? Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.

Hicks also contended that if the U.S. military has scrambled jet fighters after the first attack that it would have prevented the mortar attack on the CIA annex around 5:15 a.m.

"I believe the Libyans would have split. They would have been scared to death that we would have gotten a laser on them and killed them," Hicks said, according to the excerpts.

Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other military leaders have said there wasn't enough time for the military to respond as the events in Benghazi occurred too quickly ? a point reinforced by the Pentagon on Monday.

"The fact of the matter remains, as we have repeatedly indicated, that U.S. military forces could not have arrived in time to mount a rescue of those Americans who were killed and injured that night," said Pentagon press secretary George Little.

At the State Department on Monday, spokesman Patrick Ventrell said the committee's work appeared to have political aims rather than ensuring the protection of U.S. diplomats serving overseas.

"It certainly seems so, so far," he replied when asked if the department believed the investigation to be driven by partisan politics. "I mean, this is not sort of a collaborative process where the committee is working directly with us and trying to establish facts that would help as we look to keep our people safe overseas in a very complex environment."

Democrats on the committee said Monday they have been excluded from the investigation.

Ventrell said the department had not seen the full transcript of Hicks' statements to committee investigators and could not comment until it had or until after his testimony on Wednesday. At the same time, he insisted that the department was not blocking any employee from appearing before Congress or intimidating them into silence.

"We understand this testimony's going to go forward, and we want people to go and tell the truth," he told reporters. "But in terms of the full context of these remarks or these sort of accusations, we don't have the full context, so it's hard for us to respond."

Ventrell also pushed back against allegations from congressional Republicans and their surrogates that the independent panel appointed by former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had not conducted a comprehensive or credible investigation into the Benghazi incident and were somehow involved in a cover-up.

He noted that the independent panel, called the Accountability Review Board, had produced a harshly critical report, blaming systematic leadership and management failures at senior levels of the State Department for the inadequate security at the Benghazi compound.

Meanwhile the co-chairs of the review board, retired Adm. Mike Mullen, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and former senior diplomat Thomas Pickering, released a statement rejecting claims that their panel had been denied access to key witnesses or had conducted anything less than a thorough and impartial probe.

"From the beginning of the ARB process, we had unfettered access to everyone and everything including all the documentation we needed," the two men said. "Our marching orders were to get to the bottom of what happened, and that's what we did."

Meanwhile, the former head of the State Department's counterterrorism bureau, Daniel Benjamin, denied allegations that his office had been cut out of the loop in the discussions and decision-making processes in the aftermath of the attack.

"This charge is simply untrue," he said. "At no time did I feel that the bureau was in any way being left out of deliberations that it should have been part of."

____

Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/diplomat-us-team-stopped-going-benghazi-212327859.html

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Is This Glasshole on a Phone Really a Vision of the Gadget Apocalypse?

Google Glass is weird. It's not quite like anything we've seen before. It's the best. It's the worst. It's polarizing. This picture of a Google Glass-wearing subway-rider showed up on Twitter earlier today, and sparked a Buzzfeed article that posits Glass will just bring on more of the distraction it claims to alleviate.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/h22RixqCfMI/is-this-glasshole-on-a-phone-really-a-vision-of-the-gad-493179145

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East about to be overrun by billions of cicadas

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Any day now, billions of cicadas with bulging red eyes will crawl out of the earth after 17 years underground and overrun the East Coast. The insects will arrive in such numbers that people from North Carolina to Connecticut will be outnumbered roughly 600-to-1. Maybe more.

Scientists even have a horror-movie name for the infestation: Brood II. But as ominous as that sounds, the insects are harmless. They won't hurt you or other animals. At worst, they might damage a few saplings or young shrubs. Mostly they will blanket certain pockets of the region, though lots of people won't ever see them.

"It's not like these hordes of cicadas suck blood or zombify people," says May Berenbaum, a University of Illinois entomologist.

They're looking for just one thing: sex. And they've been waiting quite a long time.

Since 1996, this group of 1-inch bugs, in wingless nymph form, has been a few feet underground, sucking on tree roots and biding their time. They will emerge only when the ground temperature reaches precisely 64 degrees. After a few weeks up in the trees, they will die and their offspring will go underground, not to return until 2030.

"It's just an amazing accomplishment," Berenbaum says. "How can anyone not be impressed?"

And they will make a big racket, too. The noise all the male cicadas make when they sing for sex can drown out your own thoughts, and maybe even rival a rock concert. In 2004, Gene Kritsky, an entomologist at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, measured cicadas at 94 decibels, saying it was so loud "you don't hear planes flying overhead."

There are ordinary cicadas that come out every year around the world, but these are different. They're called magicicadas ? as in magic ? and are red-eyed. And these magicicadas are seen only in the eastern half of the United States, nowhere else in the world.

There are 15 U.S. broods that emerge every 13 or 17 years, so that nearly every year, some place is overrun. Last year it was a small area, mostly around the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee. Next year, two places get hit: Iowa into Illinois and Missouri; and Louisiana and Mississippi. And it's possible to live in these locations and actually never see them.

This year's invasion, Brood II, is one of the bigger ones. Several experts say that they really don't have a handle on how many cicadas are lurking underground but that 30 billion seems like a good estimate. At the Smithsonian Institution, researcher Gary Hevel thinks it may be more like 1 trillion.

Even if it's merely 30 billion, if they were lined up head to tail, they'd reach the moon and back.

"There will be some places where it's wall-to-wall cicadas," says University of Maryland entomologist Mike Raupp.

Strength in numbers is the key to cicada survival: There are so many of them that the birds can't possibly eat them all, and those that are left over are free to multiply, Raupp says.

But why only every 13 or 17 years? Some scientists think they come out in these odd cycles so that predators can't match the timing and be waiting for them in huge numbers. Another theory is that the unusual cycles ensure that different broods don't compete with each other much.

And there's the mystery of just how these bugs know it's been 17 years and time to come out, not 15 or 16 years.

"These guys have evolved several mathematically clever tricks," Raupp says. "These guys are geniuses with little tiny brains."

Past cicada invasions have seen as many as 1.5 million bugs per acre. Of course, most places along the East Coast won't be so swamped, and some places, especially in cities, may see zero, says Chris Simon of the University of Connecticut. For example, Staten Island gets this brood of cicadas, but the rest of New York City and Long Island don't, she says. The cicadas also live beneath the metro areas of Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington.

Scientists and ordinary people with a bug fetish travel to see them. Thomas Jefferson once wrote about an invasion of this very brood at Monticello, his home in Virginia.

While they stay underground, the bugs aren't asleep. As some of the world's longest-lived insects, they go through different growth stages and molt four times before ever getting to the surface. They feed on a tree fluid called xylem. Then they go aboveground, where they molt, leaving behind a crusty brown shell, and grow a half-inch bigger.

The timing of when they first come out depends purely on ground temperature. That means early May for southern areas and late May or even June for northern areas.

The males come out first ? think of it as getting to the singles bar early, Raupp says. They come out first as nymphs, which are essentially wingless and silent juveniles, climb on to tree branches and molt one last time, becoming adult winged cicadas. They perch on tree branches and sing, individually or in a chorus. Then when a female comes close, the males change their song, they do a dance and mate, he explained.

The males keep mating ("That's what puts the 'cad' in 'cicada,'" Raupp jokes) and eventually the female lays 600 or so eggs on the tip of a branch. The offspring then dive-bomb out of the trees, bounce off the ground and eventually burrow into the earth, he says.

"It's a treacherous, precarious life," Raupp says. "But somehow they make it work."

___

Online:

http://www.cicadamania.com

http://www.magicicada.org/magicicada_ii.php

___

Seth Borenstein can be followed at http://twitter.com/borenbears

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/east-overrun-billions-cicadas-181335011.html

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New York to sue BofA, Wells Fargo over mortgage practices

By Karen Freifeld and Aruna Viswanatha

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said on Monday he plans to sue Bank of America Corp and Wells Fargo and Co for violating the terms of a settlement designed to end mortgage servicing abuses.

Schneiderman issued the announcement, which suggests lawsuits could be filed against the banks within two months, ahead of a widely anticipated report from the monitor for the multi-state settlement, which is expected to be critical of banks.

The planned action is the first involving allegations that top banks, which agreed last year to provide $25 billion in relief to homeowners and comply with a set of servicing standards to atone for foreclosure misconduct, are not living up to their obligations under the deal.

Schneiderman said that, since last October, his office had documented 339 violations of standards - 210 by Wells Fargo and 129 by Bank of America - dictating the timeline for banks to process mortgage modification applications.

Schneiderman said he would seek injunctive relief and an order requiring the two banks to comply with the settlement. His statement did not say he was seeking damages or penalties.

But it is unclear how far Schneiderman can take his efforts, because they come outside the primary channel authorized by the settlement for any potential violations.

The settlement authorized the monitor to first work with a servicer to correct any potential violations and sue only if the servicer does not fix the errors.

In an afternoon news conference, Schneiderman acknowledged the authority provided to the monitor, but said he could still move forward.

"There is more than one cop on the beat," he said.

The action draws further attention to the continuing plight of borrowers facing foreclosures some five years after the start of the housing crisis. Some borrowers say they wait months for word from their bank on a request to modify a loan, only to be told their paperwork has been lost.

It also highlights the banks' lingering mortgage headache, even if this latest move might not result in significant additional monetary penalties.

"Wells Fargo and Bank of America have flagrantly violated those obligations, putting hundreds of homeowners across New York at greater risk of foreclosure," the attorney general said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for Wells Fargo declined to comment. Bank of America said in a statement that it takes seriously the allegations of servicing problems and will work quickly to address them.

Bank of America and Wells Fargo are among five banks that agreed to the settlement in February 2012. At the news conference, Schneiderman declined to say whether the other three banks - JPMorgan Chase & Co , Citigroup Inc and Ally Financial Inc - could face similar lawsuits, but said his announcement had "implications" for the other servicers.

WATCHDOG REPORT COMING SOON

The National Mortgage Settlement was brokered between the banks and 49 state attorneys general.

While the settlement's monitor has issued several reports on monetary relief provided to homeowners under the settlement, an upcoming report will be its first assessment of compliance on troubled borrowers. That report, expected in the next few weeks, will include how quickly banks must respond to requests for loan modifications.

The monitor, former North Carolina Banking Commissioner Joe Smith, said in a statement on Monday that he appreciates Schneiderman's interest in the issue. He also said he will use the full force of his own power to hold banks accountable.

"Under the Settlement, there is a process that allows me to conduct reviews of the banks' compliance and report them to the public. I am following this process and look forward to sharing my findings and enforcement activities in June," Smith said.

A committee comprised of federal regulators and more than a dozen state attorneys general will have the first crack at pursuing any potential litigation. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development General Counsel Helen Kanovsky, whose agency sits on the committee, said HUD takes violations of the settlement seriously and expected "further action to be taken" after Smith releases his findings.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who spearheaded last year's settlement, said in a statement that his office has been in discussions with Smith about several issues, including missed deadlines.

Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen, who is also on the monitoring committee, said he was aware of many of the issues raised by New York and will work with the committee to ensure the banks comply with the settlement.

Some housing advocates welcomed Schneiderman's move ahead of other states and the settlement's monitor.

"We hope this action by the AG will push other state and federal regulators to draw a line in the sand against abusive mortgage servicing practices," Josh Zinner, co-director of the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project in New York, said in a statement.

In an interview, Zinner said housing advocates were worried that a lot of problems still remained since last year's settlement.

The February 2012 settlement released the banks from claims over faulty foreclosure practices and the mishandling of requests for loan modifications.

It was supposed to speed mortgage relief to homeowners in need and provide $2,000 payments to borrowers who lost their homes to foreclosure.

(Reporting by Karen Freifeld in New York and Aruna Viswanatha in Washington; Editing by John Wallace and Andre Grenon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/york-ag-sue-bofa-wells-fargo-over-mortgage-144026003.html

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Politics, Priorities, Psychology and Hope WITHIN The Black ...

Detroit Free Press article

Let me be clear from the outset:

While I applaud former GM executive Roy Roberts work to stabilize the fiscal condition of the Detroit Public School System - as I say with the European sovereign debt problem - the act of "pushing paperwork (financial instruments, ie: bonds, debt cancelation, etc) without the evidence of organic production and value creation that backs these "new figures" is not proof of a new direction for the entity in question."

Roy Roberts has proven competence and organizational leadership skills.
THIS POST AIN'T ABOUT ROY ROBERTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We need to make note that - after a more than 35 year run of leadership in Detroit - THE (mostly) Black children who were preparing themselves to live up to the oft heard phrase: "EDUCATION IS THE GATEWAY TO EQUALITY" were instead assaulted as the forces that the adults in their community yielded their "Black Community Development HOPES" to failed them but ultimately knew that the community would still support them IF they promoted an ENEMY for the congregation to rally in defense of.

I HAVE ACCEPTED POLITICS FOR WHAT IT IS:?? ORGANIZED FRAUD AND LYING for the purposes of advancing a particular agenda (all before the entity that the 'Dung Producing Party Animals' goes bankrupt from the 'flimflam' that they are both running).

I HAVE A PROBLEM when "THE BLACK COMMUNITY CONSCIOUSNESS" is USED as a facade for this fraud.??? The interests of the Black community is summarily TRICKED AWAY as the "The Least Of These" that have INVESTED THEIR VALUABLES in the past - are strung along.?? In this "Three Card Monte" game - they never get wise to the fraudulent card game that they are compelled to play by the EMBEDDED CONFIDENCE MEN that they have entrusted.

In The "Victories" That The Black Community Recognizes For "The Team" - There Is Great Loss Of "Black Institutional Integrity" - Thus Retaining "The Blacks" As Disproportional Representation In "The Least Of These" - Causing The Disciples Of "Fake Social Justice Jesus" To Asked To Be Judged On HOW THEY TREAT THE POOR - Rather Than HOW MANY OF THEIR VALUABLES THEY HAVE TAKEN

What we are seeking, people, is the product of the FUSION of the "Black Community Consciousness" in with "The Malcolm X Political Football Game".???? With VOTING as evidence of POPULARISM - those who can point to the grand total of "VOTES FROM AMERICANIZED NEGROES AS AFFIRMATION OF THOSE WHO HAVE THEIR INTERESTS IN MIND" - Black People who choose to accept this CIRCULAR REFERENCE are co-conspirators.

Those who are responsible for ENGINEERING this "Americanized Consciousness" via the Black Media - can point to the bang up job that they have done in framing the issue - KEEPING THE ENEMY ON TRIAL.?? It is only when we move beyond POPULARISM and instead LOOK AT THE CONDITION OF THE NEGRO despite his AFFIRMATIONS to "stay the course" - that we see the hand of the FRAUDULENT ENGINEERS that go unchecked per their access the the "Black Community Consciousness Nucleus".

The problem IS NOT "VOTING".
The problem is what the AMERICANIZED NEGRO HOPES TO ACHIEVE THROUGH VOTING.

When the orchestrators have success in compelling the "Americanized Negro" to assume an existential defensive posture against THE ENEMY THREAT - and they compel the "Americanized Negro" to hand over their valuables - the THOUGHT LEADERSHIP within the Black Community - who, per their egoism created a CENTRALIZED model because a DISTRIBUTED model would threaten their own position which is seen as "Helping The Black Victim Against The Racist Right-Wing Threat" (that even threatens the BLACKEST, most PROGRESSIVE cities in America) - we see that all of this is engineered for the purpose of USING THE 'IGNORANT AMERICANIZED NEGRO' FOR THE PURPOSES OF KEEPING THIS DOMINATE IDEOLOGY AND BRAIN TRUST IN POWER.

There IS NO INDEPENDENT ENTITY that dares to SEPARATE the "EXECUTIVE" from the "POLICY MAKING" within the Black Community. ? ? With this fusion within the Black community - the REGULATORY CAPTURE THAT THE EMBEDDED CONFIDENCE MEN NEED TO ALLOW THEMSELVES TO GO UNCHECKED - AT THE EXPENSE OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY - IS CONTINUED.

Source: http://withintheblackcommunity.blogspot.com/2013/05/as-detroit-schools-emergency-manager.html

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Five women killed in San Francisco limo fire

A limousine in the San Francisco area caught fire Saturday night while carrying nine women. Four of the passengers and the male driver managed to escape, but five of the women died in the blaze.

By Associated Press / May 5, 2013

California Highway Patrolmen light flares as they investigate the scene of a limousine fire on the westbound side of the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge in Foster City, Calif., on Saturday. Five women died when they were trapped in the limo that caught fire as they were traveling, and four others and the driver were able to escape.

Jane Tyska/Oakland Tribune-Bay Area News Group/AP

Enlarge

A limousine traveling on a major bridge in the San Francisco area burst into flames, killing five female passengers who were trapped inside and injuring four others who escaped, authorities said Sunday.

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The limo was carrying nine female passengers and a male driver when it caught fire late Saturday on the San Mateo bridge,?California?Highway Patrol officer Art Montiel told The Associated Press.

Five occupants became trapped, while four others suffered injuries but managed to get out after the vehicle came to a stop on the bridge, the patrol said. The driver escaped uninjured.

Montiel said that the victims were all in their 30s. Authorities said the names of the dead would be released once families have been notified.

The blaze occurred around 10 p.m. on westbound lanes of the bridge, which connects San Mateo and Alameda counties, about 20 miles southeast of San Francisco.

The patrol said that smoke started coming out of the rear of the limo, and the driver pulled over as the vehicle quickly became engulfed in flames. Officers were trying to determine the cause of the blaze, which wasn't the result of an accident.

"We have no idea right now where they were going or where they were coming from," CHP officer Amelia Jack told KGO-TV.

Two of the women who escaped were taken to Stanford Hospital and the two others were taken to Valley Medical Center in San Jose. All four are being treated for smoke inhalation and burns.

The westbound lanes of the bridge were closed as officers investigated the cause of the deadly fire, but the patrol said one lane of traffic reopened early Sunday.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/QdAa7zip12Q/Five-women-killed-in-San-Francisco-limo-fire

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Utah cabin swarmed with 60,000 honeybees

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ? It was the biggest beehive that that Ogden beekeeper Vic Bachman has ever removed ? a dozen feet long, packed inside the eaves of a cabin in Ogden Valley.

"We figure we got 15 pounds of bees out of there," said Bachman, who said that converts to about 60,000 honeybees.

Bachman was called to the A-frame cabin last month in Eden, Utah. Taking apart a panel that hid roof rafters, he had no idea he would find honeycombs packed 12 feet long, 4 feet wide and 16 inches deep.

The honeybees had been making the enclosed cavity their home since 1996, hardly bothering the homeowners. The cabin was rarely used, but when the owners needed to occupy it while building another home nearby, they decided the beehive wasn't safe for their two children. A few bees had found their way inside the house, and the hive was just outside a window of a children's bedroom.

They didn't want to kill the honeybees, a species in decline that does yeoman's work pollinating flowers and crops.

So they called Bachman, owner of Deseret Hive Supply, a hobbyist store that can't keep up with demand for honeybees. Bachman used a vacuum cleaner to suck the bees into a cage.

"It doesn't hurt them," he said.

The job took six hours. At $100 an hour, the bill came to $600.

"The bees were expensive," said Paul Bertagnolli, the cabin owner. He was satisfied with the job.

Utah calls itself the Beehive state, a symbol of industriousness. Whether this was Utah's largest beehive is unknown, but Bachman said it would rank high.

"It's the biggest one I've ever seen," he said. "I've never seen one that big."

He used smoke to pacify the bees, but Bachman said honeybees are gentle creatures unlike predatory yellow jackets or hornets, which attack, rip apart and eat honeybees, he said.

"They just want to collect nectar and come back to the hive," he said. "Most people never get stung by honeybees ? it's a yellow jacket."

Bachman reassembled the hive in a yard of his North Ogden home, while saving some of the honeycomb for candles and lotions at his store. He left other honeycombs for the cabin owners to chew on.

"We caught the queen and were able to keep her," Bachman said. "The hive is in my backyard right now and is doing well."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/utah-cabin-had-uninvited-guests-60-000-bees-180046644.html

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America Gussies Up Its Biggest Bunker Buster to Nix Iranian Nukes

The GBU-57A-B Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) is 5,300 pounds of high explosive wrapped in 30,000 pounds of steel, and designed to obliterate fortified positions and underground bunkers from the inside. Developed by the US Air Force with help from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and built by Boeing, the $400 million MOP project is the largest Bunker Buster bomb in the US arsenal by a good 25,000 pounds; capable of burrowing through 60 feet of reinforced concrete. But the MOP may have met its match in Iran's Fordow nuclear enrichment complex. This 300-centrifuge facility isn't just tucked safely underground, it's buried under an entire mountain. Not even an MOP can punch through that much Earth?yet.

And if the prospect of a nuclear-powered Iran weren't enough, Israel has matched Tehran's hardline saber-rattling, barb for barb, by promising a preemptive strike against Iran's nuclear facilities should the nation succeed in developing atomic weapons. To prevent this rhetorical powder keg from cascading into World War III (at least until Iran's national elections in June), the US has just finished an $86 million upgrade to the MOP, tuning it specifically to strike the Fordow facility, in hopes of dissuading the Israeli's from launching unilateral action.

The newest iteration of the GBU-57AB employs a sturdier detonator fuse than its predecessor, allowing the new version to drive further into the multiple layers of granite and steel that insulate the complex before detonating. What's more, the bombs have been outfitted with counter-air defense systems to negate Iran's burgeoning electronic warfare and anti-aircraft capabilities. And if a single MOP can't do the job, as military analysts fear, the new iteration also employs an improved guidance system, allowing B-2 and B-52H bombers?the only two craft in the USAF capable of toting such a huge ordnance?to drop multiple munitions directly on top of one another, incrementally excavating the earthen defenses until one of them breaks through and wipes out the complex.

And while it was adapted specifically for penetrating Fordow's defenses, the modified MOP will do a number on North Korea's lightly armored enrichment facilities if the need arises. Though, with any luck, that won't ever be necessary.

[Defense Update - WSJ - Wikipedia - Images: USAF]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/america-gussies-up-its-biggest-bunker-buster-to-nix-ira-492256766

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Air Force's X-51A hypersonic aircraft sets record during its final test

U.S. Air Force

The U.S. Air Force's sleek, light-colored X-51A Waverider hypersonic vehicle can be seen tucked under the wing of a B-52H Stratofortress for this week's test launch.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

The U.S. Air Force's $300 million, nine-year test program for a hypersonic plane ended on a high note this week, when the last of its X-51A Waverider vehicles made the longest flight of its kind. The success was made sweeter by the fact that it followed last year's high-profile failure.

---

"I believe?all we have learned from the X-51A Waverider will serve as the bedrock for future hypersonics research and ultimately the practical application of hypersonic flight," Charlie Brink, X-51A program manager for the Air Force Research Laboratory Aerospace Systems Directorate, said in a news release.

The 14-foot-long (4.3-meter-long), scramjet-powered vehicle hit a top speed of Mach 5.1 during just over six minutes of flight on May 1, the Air Force said. That's the longest of the Boeing-built X-51A's four test flights, and the longest air-breathing hypersonic flight ever.

Hypersonic scramjet propulsion has been widely touted as eventually opening up the way for flights between London and New York in less than an hour. But in reality, the first?application?is more likely to come in the form of super-fast cruise missiles.

Scramjet is a short way of saying "supersonic combustion ramjet." There have been?many?efforts?through the years?to perfect hypersonic aircraft?? that is, vehicles that travel at speeds beyond Mach 5. But the Air Force says the X-51A is unique primarily because it used hydrocarbon fuel rather than hydrogen fuel. Without any moving parts, the fuel is injected into the scramjet's combustion chamber, where it mixes with the air rushing through the chamber. The fuel is ignited in a process that's been likened to lighting a match in a hurricane. ? ? ?

This week's experiment followed the flight profile used for the X-51A's earlier tests: A B-52H Stratofortress took off from California's Edwards Air Force Base, flew 50,000 feet over a Pacific test range, and then released a solid rocket booster with the plane attached. When the cruiser reached Mach 4.8, the X-51A separated from the booster and lit up its scramjet engine. The scramjet exhausted its fuel in 240 seconds. The sleek vehicle coasted for another couple of minutes and splashed down into the ocean as planned. The X-51 traveled more than 230 nautical miles and yielded 370 seconds of data, the Air Force said.

"This success is the result of a lot of hard work by an incredible team.? The contributions of Boeing, Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne, the 412th Test Wing at Edwards AFB, NASA Dryden and DARPA were all vital," Brink said. ?

From 2012: ITV's Lawrence McGinty talks about the X-51A Waverider hypersonic vehicle in advance of its third test. That test ended in failure, but this week's test was successful.

All this is a huge improvement over the previous test, which ended in failure last August. During that flight, the X-51A veered off course less than a minute after launch and crashed, due to a problem with one of its control fins. The issue was resolved after a months-long investigation. The first X-51 test was?successful in May 2010, resulting in a 200-second flight, but the second test in June 2011?was a disappointment.?

There's no immediate successor to the X-51A, but the Air Force has pledged to continue with hypersonic research. It says the lessons learned during the X-51A program "will pay dividends to the High Speed Strike Weapon program" at the Air Force Research Laboratory.

More about supersonic flight:

---

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the?Cosmic Log?community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space,?sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

?

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2b7b0bc1/l/0Lcosmiclog0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A50C0A30C180A380A190Eair0Eforces0Ex0E51a0Ehypersonic0Eaircraft0Esets0Erecord0Eduring0Eits0Efinal0Etest0Dlite/story01.htm

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Cool House #1 | The Most Valuable Real Estate Blog

( This is the first story in a new theme. I see a lot of cool houses out there, so I?ve decided to write about them whether they are on the market or not. If you see a cool house and you want to know its story, just email me)

?

This former firehouse on Ashland Street in Malden is currently being used as a single family home.

A number of years ago, Jonathan Beckemeier and Lisa Sulda, were renting in Cambridge.

?

Like a lot of buyers, when they started their home search they had dreams of buying something a little out of the ordinary. Having marketing and advertising backgrounds, they weren?t afraid to take on something that challenged their creative spirit. They considered buying an old home and renovating it. They also considered buying a gas station and turning it into a living space.

?

Then a friend in Malden who owned a firehouse told the couple that another firehouse was coming up for sale on Ashland Street. Designed by Tristan Griffin, an architect known for the Queen Anne style, the firehouse had been built in 1898. It was not on the historical record, but the firehouse had impressive curb appeal and more than 6,000 square feet of space.

?

It took eighteen months and a host of public hearings, but in the end the couple was able to outwit, outlast and outplay a number of developers and secure the firehouse for single family living. Over time, they have renovated much of the space ? and the space they have renovated is beautiful. Jonathan comes from a family in the business of antiques, and everything which adorns the interior, from the Stickley Furniture to the fire extinguisher lamp, adds to the classic feel of the space. Lisa picked out some amazing paint colors that synergize and soothe. Friends tell them the only firehouse accoutrement they don?t have is a Dalmatian, the dog often considered a firehouse mascot. ?

?

?

Much of the interior has been beautifully renovated.

?

In addition to classic firehouse features, like the firepole?one of which is still in the house? the owners adorned the home with many themed accents like the lamp in this picture.

?

Source: http://www.batesrealestatereport.com/cool-house-1/05/03/2013/

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South Korean MPs plot to regulate 'addictive online games' - Develop

New bill groups games with drugs, alcohol and gambling

A South Korea politician backed by 14 MPs has proposed a bill to labelling online games as a source of addiction and calling for the strict regulation on the sector.

Gamemeca reports, as translated by Kotaku, that Saenuri Party MP Shin Eui-jin has grouped online games with addictive substances such as drugs and alcohol, as well as gambling.

It is claimed that the bill states the governing body should be able to ?regulate manufacturing, distribution and sale of addictive substances and also limit the promotion of them".

This could result in more stringent rules on the type of content developers can create in South Korea, and may also affect the marketing of online games.

?It is regretful that the government views games in the same category as drugs and gambling,? said one developer to Inews24.

?The previous administration viewed games negatively, and it?s the same with the current administration. They are talking about a creative economy and yet are constantly trying to regulate one of leading industry for content business.?

The bill comes after a small number players in South Korea and the surrounding region are said to have died as a result of playing games for an extended period of time, with competitive gaming a hugely popular sector in the country.

In 2005 a 28-year old South Korean man died after playing a game for 50 hours. In 2009, it was also reported that a three-month child died of malnutrition after parents neglected the girl after playing an online game in which they raised a virtual child.

Source: http://www.develop-online.net/news/44078/South-Korea-MPs-plot-to-regulate-addictive-online-games

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Giant rubber duck makes splash in Hong Kong harbor

HONG KONG (AP) ? A six-story-high rubber duck is making a big splash in Hong Kong.

Crowds watched the inflatable duck being pulled by tugboat across Victoria Harbor in front of Hong Kong's signature skyscraper skyline.

Tourist Zhang Wenjin from Shanghai says it's a big surprise. "This is huge. My daughter liked it when she saw it just now. Because kids like cute stuff."

Yu Kwan Yee of Hong Kong was part of the crowd. "The duckie is swimming," the 2 ?-year-old said.

Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman created the bright-yellow duck, and it was built of PVC material in New Zealand by a company specializing in large sails.

Hofman was on hand as the duck arrived and said it later had to be deflated because high winds and waves created a "big challenge."

The duck has been transported around the world since 2007, bringing a message of peace and harmony. It has previously been to Osaka, Japan, Sydney, Sao Paulo, Auckland, New Zealand, and Amsterdam.

It will be anchored at a Hong Kong terminal for display until June.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/giant-rubber-duck-makes-splash-hong-kong-harbor-071337129.html

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Experimental Air Force aircraft goes hypersonic

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? An experimental unmanned aircraft developed for the U.S. Air Force has flown at more than five times the speed of sound in a test off California.

The Air Force said in a statement Friday the X-51A WaveRider flew for more than three minutes under power from its exotic scramjet engine and hit a speed of Mach 5.1

The WaveRider was released Wednesday from a B-52 bomber 50,000 feet above the Pacific and was initially accelerated by a rocket before the scramjet kicked in. The flight ended with a planned plunge into the ocean.

It was the fourth and final flight of an X-51A by the Air Force, which is studying ways to deliver strikes around the globe within minutes. Previous flights ended in failure or didn't reach the intended speed.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2013-05-03-X-51-Hypersonic%20Flight/id-084333c7d34145daa1c4783aa19505ab

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Arthritis Pain Relief Without Medicine : Easy Health Options?

Carl Lowe | May 03, 2013 | Comments 0 |

If you want to fight the pain of arthritis without medication, scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill think they have the answer. They have discovered an effective way to significantly improve and manage arthritis pain without taking pills.

The magic, do-it-yourself treatment is regular exercise.

?(Our) study showed that (an) exercise program is suitable for every fitness level, even inactive older individuals,? says researcher Leigh Callahan. ?Many people believe the myth that exercise exacerbates their symptoms. The truth revealed in the study is that symptoms improved with exercise.?

Exercising for joint health is different than exercising for heart health. People living with arthritis don?t have to get sweaty to help their condition. A basic eight-week activity program developed by the Arthritis Foundation consists of low-impact routines with gentle range-of-motion movements that can be done while sitting or standing. You can order a DVD of the program here.

?Even minor lifestyle changes like taking a 10-minute walk three times a day can reduce the impact of arthritis on a person?s daily activities and help to prevent developing more painful arthritis,? explains Patience White, M.D., chief public health officer of the Arthritis Foundation. ?Physical activity can actually reduce pain naturally and decrease dependence on pain medications.?

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Filed Under: Alternative Medicine ? Arthritis ? Easy Health Options News ? Pain

Source: http://easyhealthoptions.com/alternative-medicine/arthritis-pain-relief-without-medicine/

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Kobe Bryant battles mom, NJ business over auction

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) ? Kobe Bryant is in a court battle to try to keep his mother from auctioning off mementoes from his high school days in Pennsylvania and his early years with the Los Angeles Lakers.

A New Jersey auction house filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Camden on Thursday for the right to sell the stuff after the NBA star's lawyers wrote the firm telling it to cancel a planned June auction.

The disagreement is a high-value, high-profile version of a question many families face: Can Mom get rid of the stuff a grown child left at home?

In this case, the 900 mementoes happen to be worth upward of $1.5 million.

Among the first 100 or so items Pamela Bryant intends to sell: the NBA star's jerseys, practice gear and sweatsuits from Lower Merion High School; varsity letters; a trophy for being the outstanding player at the 1995 Adidas ABCD basketball camp; and a signed basketball from the 2000 NBA championship game.

And then there are rings, for the 1996 Pennsylvania high school championship, a pair that the Lakers made for Bryant's parents for the 2000 NBA championship and one from the 1998 NBA All-Star game.

According to court filings, Pamela Bryant struck a deal in January with Goldin Auctions in Berlin, N.J., which earlier this year sold a rare Honus Wagner baseball card for a record $2.1 million.

She got $450,000 up front, which she intended to use for a new home in Nevada.

In its court filings, Goldin says Pamela Bryant told the auction house that she asked her son five years ago what he wanted to do with the items that were in her home.

"Kobe Bryant indicated to Pamela Bryant that the items belonged to her and that he had no interest in them," the auction house's attorneys wrote. So she put them in a $1,500-per-month New Jersey storage unit.

The challenge came Tuesday when Goldin sent a news release announcing the auction. By day's end, Kobe Bryant's lawyer had sent a cease-and-desist letter telling the auction house to call off the sale and return the items to him.

Kenneth Goldin, owner of the auction house, says he can't cancel the auction because he's already advanced $450,000 to Bryant's mother and put money into advertising the auction.

Kobe Bryant's lawyer Mark Campbell said in a statement, "Mr. Bryant's personal property has ended up in the possession of someone who does not lawfully own it. We look forward to resolving this legal matter through the legal system."

Bryant has had a sometimes icy relationship with his mother and father, Joe "Jellybean" Bryant, a former pro basketball player who is now coaching in Thailand.

___

Follow Mulvihill at http://www.twitter.com/geoffmulvihill

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-05-03-Kobe%20Bryant-Lawsuit/id-17b4190f7bad49beb35f53de9bb861d0

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Bank of England unlikely to follow ECB's rate cut

By William Schomberg

LONDON (Reuters) - The chances of the Bank of England following the European Central Bank by cutting its benchmark interest rate look slim.

The British economy remains weak and the next governor of the central bank, Canadian Mark Carney, probably wants to send a strong signal of intent when he takes over in July.

Yet the option of cutting the Bank of England's benchmark rate below its already record low level of 0.5 percent - where it has sat for four years - is probably not on the list of policymakers at the central bank, for several reasons.

Carney himself noted the concerns of the Bank of England's top policymakers that a rate cut might be counter-productive when he made his only detailed assessment so far of Britain's economy, in an appearance before lawmakers in February.

The bank has argued that a further cut would hit the profits of Britain's building societies - mutually-owned mortgage lenders - and possibly hurt an important source of credit in the economy.

"We need our building societies. As banks' appetite to lend has fallen, the societies now provide 22 percent of gross mortgage lending compared with 13 percent in 2009," Jim Leaviss, head of retail fixed interest at M&G Investments, said.

Another big hurdle to a surprise cut in rates would be the steady opposition from a majority of the Bank of England's rate-setters to fresh measures to spur the economy.

Six of the nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) have voted in each of the past three months against expanding a programme of government bond-buying, the bank's most aggressive weapon to date to prop up demand.

The bank's most recent move to help the economy has been to expand its Funding for Lending Scheme, trying to increase lending by banks to small and medium-sized firms which have complained about problems in getting credit.

The blunter option of a benchmark rate cut would be a major shift and none of the more than 60 economists polled by Reuters on Wednesday predicted one in the year ahead.

"The first hurdle you have to get over is that you have to persuade the MPC that there needs to be more loosening anyway," said Simon Hayes, an economist at Barclays Capital. "For me, that is the biggest impediment to anything more interesting on the policy front."

One option that Carney might be tempted to put to the MPC is a more targeted cut in the 0.5 percent interest rate that the Bank pays banks for parking their reserves at the central bank, without changing the benchmark rate.

This might encourage banks to lend more to companies for investment, helping economic growth.

Hayes said speculation about such a move was probably why rates in the overnight sterling market were below 0.5 percent. But there were some concerns about the legal implications of decoupling the rate used in financial markets from the bank's benchmark rate, he said.

(editing by David Stamp)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bank-england-unlikely-ecbs-rate-cut-174702718.html

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PLOS ONE study: Droplet Digital? PCR works for GMO quantification

Public release date: 2-May-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Ken Li
kli@chempetitive.com
312-532-4675
Chempetitive Group

Ljubljana, Slovenia May 2, 2013 A study published today in PLOS ONE finds that Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR) technology is suitable for routine analysis of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food, feed, and seeds.

More than 60 countries representing 40 percent of the world's population require labeling of food and feed when GMOs reach certain thresholds. Screening for and quantifying GMOs is essential to the integrity of this labeling policy.

"Droplet Digital PCR could replace or be a good alternative to qPCR, the current benchmark in GMO quantification," said Dr. Dany Morisset, the paper's lead author and a researcher at Slovenia's National Institute of Biology. Dr. Morisset, in collaboration with the EU Reference Laboratory for GM Food and Feed (EU-RL GMFF), also coordinates an international R&D project to standardize screening methods for detecting GMOs in food and feed.

The paper showed that Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR) technology is more accurate and reliable than real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) for quantifying GMOs, especially at low levels. Study authors also found that the ddPCR method meets international food standards of applicability and practicality.

qPCR has Drawbacks for Detecting GMOs

The most common technique for quantifying the presence of GMOs is qPCR, thanks to its accuracy and precision. However, according to Dr. Morisset, qPCR has several drawbacks. It is often unreliable and inaccurate when quantifying very small numbers of DNA targets or when those targets are part of complex matrices such as foods or feed that contain inhibitory substances.

A 2010 research study found that chamber digital PCR (cdPCR) delivered accurate quantification at low target copy number without the need for a standard curve. The matrix also did not inhibit cdPCR because as an end-point assay the data are less affected by amplification efficiency. However, Dr. Morisset says its high costs make cdPCR impractical for real-world use.

The ddPCR System Meets or Exceeds International Recommendations for Performance Parameters

Dr. Morisset learned about Droplet Digital PCR technology, which was developed as an alternative to cdPCR due to its easy workflow, low cost and high throughput. Commercialized as the QX100 Droplet Digital PCR system, the ddPCR system provides thousands more partitions than in cdPCR, resulting in greater precision and per-sample costs that are up to 150 times less.

The Slovenian researchers analyzed food and feed matrices containing different percentages of a well-characterized GMO transgene. They found the ddPCR system's performance parameters (precision, accuracy, sensitivity, and dynamic range) complied with the guidelines of the EU-RL GMFF and were comparable or superior to those for qPCR. Compared with the conventional qPCR assay, the ddPCR assay offered better accuracy at low target concentrations and greater tolerance to inhibitors found in matrices such as wheat flour and feed.

ddPCR Technology is Practical for Everyday Lab Use

International food safety standards specify that new methodologies should be easy for labs to implement in terms of cost, time, and workflow.

In the authors' hands, a ddPCR assay requires 190 minutes and a qPCR assay takes 160 minutes for the typical number of samples run in parallel in mid-size GMO laboratories. However, due to the greater number of PCR reactions required per sample in the qPCR assay, the time and expense of the qPCR assay grows rapidly with increasing sample throughput. Droplet Digital PCR is also simpler to set up and involves less hands-on labor than qPCR.

Dr. Morisset's findings reveal that ddPCR is a less expensive alternative to qPCR due to the lower number of reactions. Droplet Digital PCR capitalizes on its ability to "duplex" as opposed to qPCR's traditional approach of performing separate assays for both control and transgene targets. The ddPCR assay also doesn't require reactions for a standard curve or dilutions due to lower anticipated inhibition.

###

Research Funding Sources

This work was cofinanced by the Slovenian Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, Metrology Institute (MIRS) in the frame of contract 640118/2008/67 on performing activities as a holder of the national standard MIRS/NIB/FITO for the amount of substances in foods of plant origin.

About the National Institute of Biology

The National Institute of Biology is a public nonprofit organization performing basic and applied research in the fields of biology, biotechnology, medicine, and ecology as well as interdisciplinary fields, joining biosciences with statistics and bioinformatics. It employs approximately 130 people and was awarded the ISO 9001 quality certificate for all its activities. The Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology focuses its research and development activities on three topics: omics, microorganisms, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). As a national reference laboratory, the department is a member of the European network of GMO laboratories (ENGL) and performs official GMO testing in seed, food, and feed samples under the ISO17025 accreditation.

About Bio-Rad

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: BIO and BIOb) has been at the center of scientific discovery for 60 years, manufacturing and distributing a broad range of products for the life science research and clinical diagnostic markets. The company is renowned worldwide among hospitals, universities, major research institutions, as well as biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies for its commitment to quality and customer service. Founded in 1952, Bio-Rad is headquartered in Hercules, California, and serves more than 100,000 research and industry customers worldwide through its global network of operations. The company employs approximately 7,300 people globally and had revenues exceeding $2 billion in 2012. For more information, please visit http://www.biorad.com.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 2-May-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Ken Li
kli@chempetitive.com
312-532-4675
Chempetitive Group

Ljubljana, Slovenia May 2, 2013 A study published today in PLOS ONE finds that Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR) technology is suitable for routine analysis of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food, feed, and seeds.

More than 60 countries representing 40 percent of the world's population require labeling of food and feed when GMOs reach certain thresholds. Screening for and quantifying GMOs is essential to the integrity of this labeling policy.

"Droplet Digital PCR could replace or be a good alternative to qPCR, the current benchmark in GMO quantification," said Dr. Dany Morisset, the paper's lead author and a researcher at Slovenia's National Institute of Biology. Dr. Morisset, in collaboration with the EU Reference Laboratory for GM Food and Feed (EU-RL GMFF), also coordinates an international R&D project to standardize screening methods for detecting GMOs in food and feed.

The paper showed that Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR) technology is more accurate and reliable than real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) for quantifying GMOs, especially at low levels. Study authors also found that the ddPCR method meets international food standards of applicability and practicality.

qPCR has Drawbacks for Detecting GMOs

The most common technique for quantifying the presence of GMOs is qPCR, thanks to its accuracy and precision. However, according to Dr. Morisset, qPCR has several drawbacks. It is often unreliable and inaccurate when quantifying very small numbers of DNA targets or when those targets are part of complex matrices such as foods or feed that contain inhibitory substances.

A 2010 research study found that chamber digital PCR (cdPCR) delivered accurate quantification at low target copy number without the need for a standard curve. The matrix also did not inhibit cdPCR because as an end-point assay the data are less affected by amplification efficiency. However, Dr. Morisset says its high costs make cdPCR impractical for real-world use.

The ddPCR System Meets or Exceeds International Recommendations for Performance Parameters

Dr. Morisset learned about Droplet Digital PCR technology, which was developed as an alternative to cdPCR due to its easy workflow, low cost and high throughput. Commercialized as the QX100 Droplet Digital PCR system, the ddPCR system provides thousands more partitions than in cdPCR, resulting in greater precision and per-sample costs that are up to 150 times less.

The Slovenian researchers analyzed food and feed matrices containing different percentages of a well-characterized GMO transgene. They found the ddPCR system's performance parameters (precision, accuracy, sensitivity, and dynamic range) complied with the guidelines of the EU-RL GMFF and were comparable or superior to those for qPCR. Compared with the conventional qPCR assay, the ddPCR assay offered better accuracy at low target concentrations and greater tolerance to inhibitors found in matrices such as wheat flour and feed.

ddPCR Technology is Practical for Everyday Lab Use

International food safety standards specify that new methodologies should be easy for labs to implement in terms of cost, time, and workflow.

In the authors' hands, a ddPCR assay requires 190 minutes and a qPCR assay takes 160 minutes for the typical number of samples run in parallel in mid-size GMO laboratories. However, due to the greater number of PCR reactions required per sample in the qPCR assay, the time and expense of the qPCR assay grows rapidly with increasing sample throughput. Droplet Digital PCR is also simpler to set up and involves less hands-on labor than qPCR.

Dr. Morisset's findings reveal that ddPCR is a less expensive alternative to qPCR due to the lower number of reactions. Droplet Digital PCR capitalizes on its ability to "duplex" as opposed to qPCR's traditional approach of performing separate assays for both control and transgene targets. The ddPCR assay also doesn't require reactions for a standard curve or dilutions due to lower anticipated inhibition.

###

Research Funding Sources

This work was cofinanced by the Slovenian Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, Metrology Institute (MIRS) in the frame of contract 640118/2008/67 on performing activities as a holder of the national standard MIRS/NIB/FITO for the amount of substances in foods of plant origin.

About the National Institute of Biology

The National Institute of Biology is a public nonprofit organization performing basic and applied research in the fields of biology, biotechnology, medicine, and ecology as well as interdisciplinary fields, joining biosciences with statistics and bioinformatics. It employs approximately 130 people and was awarded the ISO 9001 quality certificate for all its activities. The Department of Biotechnology and Systems Biology focuses its research and development activities on three topics: omics, microorganisms, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). As a national reference laboratory, the department is a member of the European network of GMO laboratories (ENGL) and performs official GMO testing in seed, food, and feed samples under the ISO17025 accreditation.

About Bio-Rad

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: BIO and BIOb) has been at the center of scientific discovery for 60 years, manufacturing and distributing a broad range of products for the life science research and clinical diagnostic markets. The company is renowned worldwide among hospitals, universities, major research institutions, as well as biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies for its commitment to quality and customer service. Founded in 1952, Bio-Rad is headquartered in Hercules, California, and serves more than 100,000 research and industry customers worldwide through its global network of operations. The company employs approximately 7,300 people globally and had revenues exceeding $2 billion in 2012. For more information, please visit http://www.biorad.com.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/cg-pos042613.php

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Bug's view inspires new digital camera's unique imaging capabilities

May 1, 2013 ? An interdisciplinary team of researchers has created the first digital cameras with designs that mimic those of ocular systems found in dragonflies, bees, praying mantises and other insects. This class of technology offers exceptionally wide-angle fields of view, with low aberrations, high acuity to motion, and nearly infinite depth of field.

Taking cues from Mother Nature, the cameras exploit large arrays of tiny focusing lenses and miniaturized detectors in hemispherical layouts, just like eyes found in arthropods. The devices combine soft, rubbery optics with high performance silicon electronics and detectors, using ideas first established in research on skin and brain monitoring systems by John A. Rogers, a Swanlund Chair Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and his collaborators.

"Full 180 degree fields of view with zero aberrations can only be accomplished with image sensors that adopt hemispherical layouts -- much different than the planar CCD chips found in commercial cameras," Rogers explained. "When implemented with large arrays microlenses, each of which couples to an individual photodiode, this type of hemispherical design provides unmatched field of view and other powerful capabilities in imaging. Nature has developed and refined these concepts over the course of billions of years of evolution." The researchers described their breakthrough camera in an article, "Digital Cameras With Designs Inspired By the Arthropod Eye," published in the May 2, 2013 issue of Nature.

Eyes in arthropods use compound designs, in which arrays of smaller eyes act together to provide image perception. Each small eye, known as an ommatidium, consists of a corneal lens, a crystalline cone, and a light sensitive organ at the base. The entire system is configured to provide exceptional properties in imaging, many of which lie beyond the reach of existing human-made cameras.

The researchers developed new ideas in materials and fabrication strategies allowing construction of artificial ommatidia in large, interconnected arrays in hemispherical layouts. Building such systems represents a daunting task, as all established camera technologies rely on bulk glass lenses and detectors constructed on the planar surfaces of silicon wafers which cannot be bent or flexed, much less formed into a hemispherical shape.

"A critical feature of our fly's eye cameras is that they incorporate integrated microlenses, photodetectors, and electronics on hemispherically curved surfaces," said Jianliang Xiao, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at University of Colorado Boulder and coauthor of the study.

"To realize this outcome, we used soft, rubbery optics bonded to detectors/electronics in mesh layouts that can be stretched and deformed, reversibly and without damage."

The fabrication starts with electronics, detectors and lens arrays formed on flat surfaces using advanced techniques adapted from the semiconductor industry, said Xiao, who began working on the project as a postdoctoral researcher in Rogers' lab at Illinois. The lens sheet -- made from a polymer material similar to a contact lens -- and the electronics/detectors are then aligned and bonded together. Pneumatic pressure deforms the resulting system into the desired hemispherical shape, in a process much like blowing up a balloon, but with precision engineering control.

The individual electronic detectors and microlenses are coupled together to avoid any relative motion during this deformation process. Here, the spaces between these artificial ommatidia can stretch to allow transformation in geometry from planar to hemispherical. The electrical interconnections are thin, and narrow, in filamentary serpentine shapes; they deform as tiny springs during the stretching process.

According to the researchers, each microlens produces a small image of an object with a form dictated by the parameters of the lens and the viewing angle. An individual detector responds only if a portion of the image formed by the associated microlens overlaps the active area. The detectors stimulated in this way produce a sampled image of the object that can then be reconstructed using models of the optics.

Over the last several years, Rogers and his colleagues have developed materials, mechanics principles and manufacturing processes that enable classes of electronics that can bend, twist, and stretch like a rubber band. This device technology has been used in fields ranging from photovoltaics, to health/wellness monitors, to advanced surgical tools and digital cameras with designs of the mammalian eye.

"Certain of the enabling ideas build on concepts that originated in our labs a half dozen years ago," Rogers remarked. "Ever since, we have been intrigued by the possibility of creating digital fly's eye cameras. Such devices are of longstanding interest, not only to us but many others as well, owing to their potential for use in surveillance devices, tools for endoscopy, and other applications where these insect-inspired designs provide unique capabilities."

The other co-lead authors of the paper are Young Min Song, Yizhu Xie, and Viktor Malyarchuk, all of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Co-authors include Ki-Joong Choi, Rak-Hwan Kim and John Rogers at Illinois; Inhwa Jung of Kyung Hee University in Korea; Zhuangjian Liu of the Institute of High Performance Computing A*star in Singapore; Chaofeng Lu of Zhejiang University in China and Northwestern University; Rui Li, of Dalian University of Technology in China; Kenneth Crozier of Harvard University; and Yonggang Huang of Northwestern.

The research was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the National Science Foundation.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Illinois College of Engineering, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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Journal Reference:

1. Young Min Song, Yizhu Xie, Viktor Malyarchuk, Jianliang Xiao, Inhwa Jung, Ki-Joong Choi, Zhuangjian Liu, Hyunsung Park, Chaofeng Lu, Rak-Hwan Kim, Rui Li, Kenneth B. Crozier, Yonggang Huang, John A. Rogers. Digital cameras with designs inspired by the arthropod eye. Nature, 2013; 497 (7447): 95 DOI: 10.1038/nature12083

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/NbaqFGdyeWc/130501131949.htm

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