Friday, February 24, 2012

Postdoctoral position in Cellular Neuroscience Ume? University ...

Posted by admin on Thursday, February 23, 2012 ? Leave a Comment?

A postdoctoral position is accessible, provided and available under the direction of Prof. Staffan Johansson in the Department of Integrative Medical Biology (Physiology Section). The candidate will work with electrophysiological (mostly patch clamp) and/or optical techniques to study, examine synaptic transmission and neuronal excitability in cell/tissue preparations. The research will address the role of ion channels and ion transporters of importance for synaptic plasticity and for conditions of raised excitability, such as in epilepsy and neuropathic pain. Presynaptic ion channels and the control of GABA release in addition to the postsynaptic control of excitability via GABA- and/or glycine-gated channels and intracellular ion concentrations should be in focus. The candidate will work in close collaboration, teamwork with the members of the research panel at the laboratory of ion channels and neuronal signalling and is anticipated to contribute directly to the project design, experimental, trail work and advanced data analysis, study.

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Eligibility:

The applicant must have doctoral degree (PhD or equivalent) in a relevant discipline (neuroscience/physiology) and not in excess of three years old. Practical experience, skill with patch-clamp recording and analysis, brain slice preparations, acute dissociation of neurons or related techniques is necessary, required. Special education in bioethics and animal research is considered a merit. It is presupposed that the candidate masters scientific English and have first-class general communication skills in English (written and verbal). The applicant must be able to work both independently and as part of a team. Much focus will be given to the candidate?s prospective, potential collaborative expertise.?

Application should include:

  • A short cover letter (not more than 2 pages) to include a concise summary of previous research experience and interests, and a short statement telling why the applicant is interested and desire to take part in this position.?
  • CV including: copies of appropriate certificates, list of scientific publications, technical skill, education, and names and contact information for at least two reference persons.?

For more information, contact Professor Staffan Johansson, Department of Integrative Medical Biology, Ume? University, 901 87 Ume?, Sweden. Phone: +46 90 786 77 31, E-mail: staffan.johansson@physiol.umu.se.?

The position is for one year with option of extension. The earliest date of start is April 1, 2012.?

Other information:

Union information is available from
  • SACO +46 (0)90-786 53 65,?
  • SEKO civil +46 (0)90-786 52 96 and ST +46 (0)90-786 54 31.?
  • The applications will be discarded or, if the applicant wishes, returned two years after the position has been filled. Applications that are submitted email should be in Word or PDF format.?
  • Your complete application, marked with reference number 315-130-12, should be sent to jobb@umu.se (state the reference number as subject) or to the Registrar, Ume? University, SE-901 87 Ume?, Sweden. ?

Application Deadline: 27 February 2012.

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Source: http://www.youreducationblog.com/2012/02/23/postdoctoral-position-in-cellular-neuroscience-umea-university-sweden/

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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Monday, February 20, 2012

Five Kinds of Fungus Discovered to Be Capable of Farming Animals!

This article is the fifth (see the first,??second,?third and fourth articles here)??in a miniseries of six articles ?that will be posted over six days about civilization, fungus, and alcohol.

They found themselves, like any first creatures, lost. Without means, they were unable to survive by anything other than what was in the immediate surroundings. ?They ate what grew. They planted nothing. They never left home. There were many dire moments, until they found the animals. The first time would have been accidental. A young one caught an animal and rode it out somewhere, the way a storybook character might ride a boat down the river and out to sea.

With time though, they learned more tricks. They waited where the animals came to feed. They found them where they slept. Soon they were riding them all the time, clinging to their dark bodies as they darted here and there into the unknown.? Good luck took them to more food. Bad luck killed them. Time, birth and death made good luck more common.

Over years, they reined their new beasts in until, as is the case today, the steeds go out and gather food and bring it back. The fungi grow and wait. They have become fat kings whose success can be measured by the number of their beasts. And they are not few. These protagonists, each one a fungal herders, have evolved multiple times. They are exotic, and yet in some contexts, far closer to home than you might believe.

1-The Tree Eaters?We can start with the tree eaters. The problem facing tree-eating fungi, like any gatherers, is not the amount of food. The problem is finding the food, being where it is at the right moment.? This problem is made worse by the absence of legs. A fungus can grow toward food, of course, or toss its spores up into the wind. But one can grow only so fast and the wind is fickle and mean-spirited. The trick, if you want to know, is to find an animal that will carry you to the next dead thing. It needs to be quick and it is best if it is going where you would like to go. As a fungus, you want to arrive before the godforsaken bacteria can begin to divide. Bacteria can turn a good piece of wood terrible faster than you would imagine, at least from the perspective of fungus.

The ambrosia fungi have evolved the ability to get beetles carry them from one piece of dead wood to another. Many different fungi ride many different beetles. Outside your house there is a veritable mid-air highway of fungal horseman heading out to new lands. But the ambrosia fungi have bent the beetles to their needs more than have other fungi. The beetles, in turn, cautious of their riders demanding riders, have evolved saddle-like pouches in which to carry the fungus and feed them during the ride. And once the beetles have reached their destination, they put the fungus in a safe place (with few other fungi and bacteria to compete with) and get to work reproducing, in order to make more beetles, in order to carry the demanding fungus to even more dead trees. By riding beetles, ambrosia fungi have colonized most of the world, in some cases traveling from one continent by taking advantage of the beetles who, in turn, take advantage of us. We, accidentally, move these beetles around in dead wood and in doing so extend their fungus?s domain1.

These fungi, these beetle tamers, make use of no fewer than five different lineages of beetles, each of which has evolved special attributes to assure the fungi?s success.

[Image 1. The ambrosia fungus?s beetles (Coptodryas pubifer) caring for them in the fungal nest. Photo by Jiri Hulcr.]

2-The Leaf-Eaters?Leaf-eating fungi face a problem different from those who eat dead trees. Leaf-feeding fungi have food everywhere, but growing the long distances necessary to colonize it is costly, especially in dry lands. ?It requires miles of dangerous ground to be crossed. Life would be so much easier, if the leaves were gathered, brought to a single place. Fungi love a leaf pile. In New England, fungi are rewarded each fall by busy parents and children who gather leaves. Elsewhere though, these same clans of fungi have tamed termites.

[Image 2. The fungi that tamed termites. Photo by Piotr Naskrecki.]

Across Africa, fungi live in giant nests built for them by termites. They have for at least twenty million years. The termites travel hundreds of meters and sometimes kilometers to bring the fungi leaves, which they also bite into small, easy to digest pieces deposited in the form of fecal pellets on the fungus2. If the fungi who tend beetles are like nomads with their goats, the fungi who farm termites are more like Midwestern dairy farmers, who send their cows out to pasture and then milk them at the barn. The termites don?t produce milk, but they do produce pre-digested leaves, which to the fungus are, if not visually appealing (the fungi do not have eyes), wonderful. These fungi have become enormously successful and termites build palatial homes for them all over Africa3.

[Image 3: Leaf-eating fungi and the nest termites have built for them, photo from... http://www.williamyuezhang.com/2011/11/termites.html].

3-The Green Eaters?More successful even than the beetle riders or the dead leaf eaters are the eaters of living leaves. Instead of farming termites, these fungi farm ants. These fungi began to take advantage of ants more than forty million years ago. Once, these fungi relied on insect parts and other dead animals gathered by their ants. Some still do. But for others, their demands became greater and more elaborate. For these latter fungi, the ants now gather, on their behalf, bits of flowers and leaves. It is a dangerous job, but, to the fungus, the ants are expendable. The leaves are brought back with care and then fed to the fungus. The ants also produce compounds that help to kill other pathogenic fungi around the fungus (and may even farm antibiotic producing bacteria that help in this same job). The fungus, in other words, makes the ants do weeding4. This fungus has spread throughout the Americas. On the backs of ants, it has been very successful. In some cases, the nests of this fungus can include millions of ants, all working on the fungus?s behalf. Many different species of ants are now farmed by the descendents of the first fungus to be farmed by ants, each with its own small (or large) farm. The ants like many domesticated beasts, have become totally dependent on their fungi and cannot live without them. In order to colonize new habitats, the fungi rides the ants to new places, in a specialized pocket, in their tiny, mouths.

[Image 4. The nest of the leaf-fungus in which ants (Atta cephalotes) tend to its needs. Photo by Alex Wild.]

4-Egg Fungi?In an early piece in this series, I have already described the fungi that mimic termite eggs. These fungi have convinced termites to care for them and bring them to food. These fungi offer little in return, but succeed because their termites seem to have never really figured things out. These fungi have not yet taken over their termites, not totally, and yet they offer a measure of just how simply animals can be tricked. In the end, this is a key piece of the story of fungi and animals. In order to farm animals, fungi must offer them rewards, whether real or perceived (It is better, in the case of the fungi, if they are only perceived.). Rewards keep the animals doing the long hours of work their fungi require.

5-The Fungi that Tamed Humans?One clan of fungi has evolved the ability to control humans. Once these fungi were relatively uncommon. They floated in the air and landed where they could, to eat what they might. But then at least some of them figured out the weakness of humans, alcohol. Humans would work in order to get alcohol.? In this way, the humans were better for the fungus than were the beetles, termites or ants. The humans carried fungus from place to place. They had ceremonies in which they celebrated their fungus. They poured libation to the fungus. They also fed them, endlessly, no matter the cost. The termites gathered dead leaves. The ants gathered live leaves. But it was only the humans who went out and planted fields just to make food to feed their fungus (While many animals farm, we appear to be the only species to farm plants) whereas the fungi rewarded beetles, termites and ants with valuable food (essentially, part of their body) the humans asked for nothing. All they claimed was waste, an alcohol. The humans asked for even less than the termites tricked by the pretend termite eggs. All the humans ever wanted was what the fungus would never ever need. These humans are, of course, you and me and this fungus is our yeast6.

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We tend to view the evolutionary stories of animals and fungi from the perspective of the animals. We are animals. We relate to the animals. But the animals have been the ones more constrained by the origins of agriculture than have been the fungi. As Uhlrich Mueller and colleagues put it in a recent review of agriculture in insects,

?Interestingly, there are no known cases of reversal from agricultural to nonagricultural life in any of the nine agricultural insect lineages?, suggesting that the transition to [farming fungus] is a drastic and possibly irreversible change that greatly constrains subsequent evolution.?

One might extend this statement to humans. No major societies seem to have abandoned the farming of yeast. But the fungi have, in many cases, abandoned their animals. They use, but do not always require the species of animals they interact with. Does this suggest the animals have been farmed to a greater extent than the fungi? Maybe. Maybe not. In the stories of animals and fungi, it is never very clear who is winning or who is ?farming? who. This is the nature of evolutionary ?partnerships? between species. With very few exceptions, there are no true partnerships, there are just relationships in which the best interests of species coincide more or coincide less. When both species benefit, it is a mutualism. When one benefits but the other bears no cost, it is a commensalism. When one benefits and the other loses, it is parasitism. If humans and yeast both benefit from the production of beer, wine, and the like, they will both go on, the yeast ?farming? the humans and, from the human perspective, the humans farming the yeast. But it is in the best interest of the humans to cheat the yeast, just as it has long been in the best interest of the fungi to cheat the humans.

In the first article in this series, I considered the possibility that human agriculture began because we needed crops in order to brew beer, which is to say, in order to feed our yeast. Maybe it was reasonable to begin farming in order to feed our yeast, because making beer helped us to survive. But don?t think for a second that the yeast wasn?t trying to cheat us the whole time. It didn?t do it consciously of course. Yeast have no brain, but yeast evolve quickly, perhaps as quickly as human culture can change and so the non-exclusive possibility is that, if we did begin to farm in the first place, in part to make beer, that we did it ?because the yeast tricked us into doing so, taking advantage of our the weakness of our minds to alcohol. Termites are unable to tell a ball of fungus from their own children. We are unable to tell what is good for us apart from what feels good to us. Drinking beer, for example, ?is good for the fungus, yeast, ?many beers after the societal good is gone. For now, the yeast seems to have gotten more out of society than we have gathered from it and so in the final chapter of this series, I will consider the story of humanity from the perspective of the more successful species, the yeast.

Continue reading (tomorrow)

Table of evolutionary contents: Here you can skip ahead or backward to the other chapters in the story of the other species in our daily lives, whether they bethe cow,?the chicken,?the hamster, bacteria (on Lady Gaga,?on feet,?in bathrooms,as influenced by antimicrobial wipes,?as probiotics,?in the appendix),?pigeons and urban gardens, house sparrows (to be published next week, stay tuned),?predators,diseases,?dust mites,?basement dwellers,?lice,?field mice,?viruses,??yeast, the fungus that produces?penicillin,?bedbugs,?houseflies, or something?more.

Or for the big picture of how Rob thinks these stories come together to make us who and who we are, check out The Wild Life of Our Bodies. Rob Dunn is a writer and evolutionary biologist in the Department of Biology at North Carolina State University. Find him on twitter at robrdunn. Find him in person somewhere in Europe with his family while they are all on sabbatical.

Scientific Endnotes

1-Check out a great story and slideshow of/about these beetles with more photos by Jiri Hulcr.

2-One is tempted to see this as a sort of protest against the fungus, but it is not. The feces is rich in the nutrients the fungus needs.

3?More than three hundred species of termites of the Macrotermitinae are farmed by fungi of the genus Termitomyces. Also, here I want to take a moment to apologize. In contrast to what I have said elsewhere, termite biologists are likeable, interesting people. I swear. I really mean it. I do. I hope I?m not protesting too much.

4-Which is incomplete. The ants weed pathogens of the fungi, but do not tend to weed out different cultivars of fungi, such that in a given nest two or more fungal species (or at least ?cultivars?) might be fighting for the rights to the ants.

5-Yeasts, although we don?t tend to think of them as such, are single-celled fungi. They are the rot in your beer and wine, but also in your bread and many other foods.

6-Interestingly, one of the differences between agriculture between fungi and insects and that between our crops and us is that we do not tend to sequester our crops in our cities away from their competition. This is true for our crops like wheat, but, interesting, it is not true of our fungus. We do sequester yeast. With the exception of minor uses, like some homemade breads, yeast is nearly always kept in doors and attempts are made, even within that environment, to exclude other species. We are even more like the ants, beetles and termites than we sometimes seem.

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Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=5e69db2721ae69061a7f19b14352e43b

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Sunday, February 19, 2012

Apple's iPhone loses China market share (Reuters)

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A policeman looks out from a balcony as the crowd is dispersed from the front of an Apple store in the Beijing district of Sanlitun January 13, 2012. REUTERS/David GrayReuters - Apple Inc's share of China's booming smartphone market slipped for a second straight quarter in October-December, as it lost ground to cheaper local brands and as some shoppers held off until after the iPhone 4S launch last month.


Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120217/tc_nm/us_apple_china

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Saturday, February 18, 2012

Canon EOS 60D SLR Camera Review | Best Buy Product by Noonui ...

Canon 60D is created like a semi-professional Digital slr camera. Evaluating using its predecessor 7D and 50D, it?s accomplished a great deal of discoveries which causes it to be not just a semi-professional camera but a up-market camera.

It?s broadly acknowledged that Canon 60D is really a alternative for Eos 550d 50D, a semi-professional camera. As starting new cameras, Canon pronounced Eos 550d 50d obsolete just simultaneously.

Really it is a fact the Canon 50d is a touch aged and outclassed even evaluating using the more novice-friendly Eos 550d 550D which is the owner of a chance to shoot movie clip and includes sensor resolution. It?s affirmed that Canon 60D has boasted hosts of the serious of recent treats. It?s IFCL metering system that is new from Canon, 1080 p HD movie capture that has plenty of frame rates as well as an 18 Mega pixel sensor. Everyone knows that Canon 550D is the owner of a 3:2 aspect ratio LCD with 1040 k pixel resolution, Canon 60D comes this time around having a full pivoting facility that leads to begin with for those Canon Digital slr cameras.

There?s an additional stop on top of Canon 60D that is in standard sensitivity ranges. It provides a restriction of ISO 6400 and ISO 12800 within the broadened mode while evaluating with 50d. Canon 60D gets in the predecessor 50d on a number of other aspects. Its DIGIC 4 image processor and 9-point autofocus system allow it to looks a bit bit poor while evaluating using the 7d. Since dual DIGIC 4 processors along with a 19-point AF system are incorporated in Canon 7d. in certain degree, we are able to state that 7d is really a speed freak which supplies a continuing shooting speed of 8 fps. About this aspect, 60D is a touch reduced than by using a speed of 5.3 fps. However the shooting speed of 60D is certainly enough for semi-professional videographers without any needs for excessive speed.

Unlike the magnesium alloy body of 50d that is tough and appears classic, a brand new type of material is utilized on Canon 60D. To really make it lighter to deal with easily and appears more fashionable, plastic spend can be used because the body of 60D. We are able to say that it?s a significant crucial change of the appearance of 60D which causes it to be keep using its aspiration of semi-professional. Another variations of 60D at first glance are its couple switches to Secure Digital as opposed to the memory of compact expensive. Each one of these factors makes Canon 60D looks much a lot more like an up-market camera, although not a semi-professional contender.

Did you like this? Share it:

Source: http://noonuishopping.com/canon-eos-60d-slr-camera-review/

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Friday, February 17, 2012

Cruise Ship Styles and Differences | Vacation of a lifetime

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Most writers dream of travel writing. If you've launched yourself into the wonderful world of travel website content writing you're bound to love it. And then hate it. And then love it again. You can't help but share a love hate ... February 16, 2012 Cruise Ship Reviews. Article by Alicia Chewe. A cruise ship are ships whose only focus is leisure and recreational holidays on the water. The cruise industry continues to grow rapidly and more and more of them are becoming specialized.

Source: http://www.ikhnaton2.com/cruise-ship-styles-and-differences.htm

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Friday, February 10, 2012

A Communication Degree to Build Relationships and Make Money ...

Posted By admin on February 9, 2012

Know how you can establish good relationships and earn good salary with a communication degree.

Communication applies in all areas of life; career is just a small part of it. You need to communicate with other people if you wish to establish meaningful and long-lasting relationships. A Communication degree may only be necessary when establishing a career in communication but the training and education also helps students become better individuals, friends and family members.

It is said that good communication is a key to lasting relationships. Much of the truth in this statement lies in the fact that as you refuse to communicate with people, you begin to alienate yourself and lose the chance of establishing lasting relationships. If you think about it, the thing you do most of the time is communicating ? making yourself known, expressing yourself, listening to people, getting information, and so on.

Those abilities and activities are what make humans unique. Only humans can communicate with each other using an elaborate system of sounds and symbols. Some researchers believe that dolphins communicate as well, but whatever system it is they are using, it cannot compare to how people communicate.

Not only can people communicate, they also invent and use all kinds of tools to enhance how they express and exchange ideas. Today, everybody uses the computer as an extremely effective tool for communication. It makes use of texts, images, pictures, sounds and all sorts of media to deliver a message straight to your study desk.

Here is how the computer can help you communicate better. One, you can produce personalized birthday, wedding, or anniversary cards using your own computer and printer. It is always best to send a personalized card that came straight from the heart than from a department store.

Two, the computer and the Internet allow you to get in touch with long-lost and faraway friends or relatives. When e-mail first came out, everybody was delighted by the ability to send messages without going to the post. Today, with the arrival of social media websites, not many people use email anymore since chatting or Skype-ing is much faster.

Three, social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter have changed and continue to change how the world is communicating. News, information and personal updates have never been as quickly transmitted than now. Not only are social media websites informative, they are also a lot of fun.

In addition to social media websites, blogging is a very important modern communication innovation. Being known and being heard is so easy and the audience is the world. Blogging is the modern version of journaling and keeping a personal diary, only this time everybody gets to read what you write.

While the ability to communicate well is important in building and keeping relationships, it is also an effective tool in making money. People and corporations pay good writers, the most creative artists and compelling communicators. Writers, editors and graphic artists are either hired by companies or earn money as freelancers.

A Communication degree supplements one?s ability and natural talent to communicate. If you have what it takes and want to build a career in communication, work to get a degree. If you are already a practitioner in communication, working for a Masters in communication is the next step.

Source: http://www.0701h.com/?p=265

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Thursday, February 9, 2012

Oscar statues fly from Chicago to Los Angeles

(AP) ? United Airlines is renaming a commercial flight from Chicago to Los Angeles "Oscar 1" in honor of its tiniest and most famous passenger.

Oscar had his own boarding pass ? and a major entourage ? as film academy president Tom Sherak carried the golden statuette through the O'Hare International Airport.

The Oscar statuettes are made at local foundry R.S. Owens, and Sherak and other academy officials are personally escorting 42 of the coveted trophies back to academy headquarters in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Sherak surprised people throughout the airport with the golden guy, and ticketed passengers lined up for a chance to be photographed with Oscar.

Passengers aboard the plane will also have a chance to meet Oscar and win Academy Awards-related souvenirs.

The Oscars will be presented Feb. 26.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-02-09-Flying%20Oscars/id-a5b7643fe2c24ee7a531390bf893f1e6

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Tuesday, February 7, 2012

How to Find The Perfect Personal Finance Software - Firing Thoughts

the welbeck group

The personal finance software you work with can have a big impact on your financial situation. The more advantageous programs allow you to manage your budget and simply see an accurate amount of how much is coming in and going out. Some programs, though, are more appropriate for small businesses, others for investors and others for keeping up-to-date with your household budget. Following are some analyses of renowned personal finance software programs and suggestions for opting on one of them.

A personal finance software with all the features you require is one of the most important things to consider. Equally important, however, is how easy the software is to use and how easy it is to install. More advanced programs may be comfortable for those who are familiar with financial programs and technology in general. User reviews are the best way to determine if a software is user friendly or not. It really doesn?t matter how good a software is to the experts if you find that you are not able to figure the software out.

One popular product you should consider is the You Need A Budget since it can be used on just about any operating system including Linux, Windows and Mac. YNAB is well reviewed among consumers for its ease of use and many helpful features. Those new to budgeting will appreciate this program for its ability to teach them the overall rules of budgeting.

You can improve your financial situation, get out of debt and control your expenses with this program that revolves around the Four Rules of Cash Flow. Live classes and tutorials are among the available support resources for this program. This program has an impressive price tag of about $60.

If you operate a Macintosh, iBank 4 is one of the personal finance software programs to think about. This is a comprehensible program that a high number of Mac users discover are accommodating for managing their finances. You can effortlessly keep an eye on your account balances, and furthermore watch your investments. It permits you to import transactions from an array of programs, like Quicken for Mac, and also to export to TurboTax to file your taxes. It lets you have a free 30 day trial along with support, so you can test it out for an entire month before making a decision on whether or not you want to keep it. If you do want to continue using it, the price is quite reasonable at around $60. iBank 4 is a nice selection if you use a Mac and desire a finance program which has a variety helpful countenances.

You will find the right one if you look hard enough. There are a lot of options for online and downloaded programs available. As you can see there are even free ones available. The above information on personal finance software can point you in the right direction as you search for the best solution for you.

Source: http://firingthoughts.co.uk/how-to-find-the-perfect-personal-finance-software/

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Monday, February 6, 2012

Bigger US role against companies' cyberthreats?

FILE - In this Sept. 21, 2011, file photo Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn. presides over the committee's hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. A developing Senate plan that would bolster the government?s ability to regulate the computer security of companies that run critical industries is drawing strong opposition from businesses that say it goes too far and security experts who believe it should have even more teeth. ?But where the market has failed, and critical systems are insecure, the government has a responsibility to step in,? said Leiberman. (AP Photo Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 21, 2011, file photo Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn. presides over the committee's hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. A developing Senate plan that would bolster the government?s ability to regulate the computer security of companies that run critical industries is drawing strong opposition from businesses that say it goes too far and security experts who believe it should have even more teeth. ?But where the market has failed, and critical systems are insecure, the government has a responsibility to step in,? said Leiberman. (AP Photo Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

(AP) ? A developing Senate plan that would bolster the government's ability to regulate the computer security of companies that run critical industries is drawing strong opposition from businesses that say it goes too far and security experts who believe it should have even more teeth.

Legislation set to come out in the days ahead is intended to ensure that computer systems running power plants and other essential parts of the country's infrastructure are protected from hackers, terrorists or other criminals. The Department of Homeland Security, with input from businesses, would select which companies to regulate; the agency would have the power to require better computer security, according to officials who described the bill. They spoke on condition of anonymity because lawmakers have not finalized all the details.

Those are the most contentious parts of legislation designed to boost cybersecurity against the constant attacks that target U.S. government, corporate and personal computer networks and accounts. Authorities are increasingly worried that cybercriminals are trying to take over systems that control the inner workings of water, electrical, nuclear or other power plants.

That was the case with the Stuxnet computer worm, which targeted Iran's nuclear program in 2010, infecting laptops at the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

As much as 85 percent of America's critical infrastructure is owned and operated by private companies

The emerging proposal isn't sitting well with those who believe it gives Homeland Security too much power and those who think it's too watered down to achieve real security improvements.

One issue under debate is how the bill narrowly limits the industries that would be subject to regulation.

Summaries of the bill refer to companies with systems "whose disruption could result in the interruption of life-sustaining services, catastrophic economic damage or severe degradation of national security capabilities."

Critics suggest that such limits may make it too difficult for the government to regulate those who need it.

There are sharp disagreements over whether Homeland Security is the right department to enforce the rules and whether it can handle the new responsibilities. U.S. officials familiar with the debate said the department would move gradually, taking on higher priority industries first.

"The debate taking place in Congress is not whether the government should protect the American people from catastrophic harms caused by cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, but which entity can do that most effectively," said Jacob Olcott, a senior cybersecurity expert at Good Harbor Consulting.

Under the legislation, Homeland Security would not regulate industries that are under the authority of an agency, such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, with jurisdiction already over cyber issues.

"Where the market has worked, and systems are appropriately secure, we don't interfere," said Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. "But where the market has failed, and critical systems are insecure, the government has a responsibility to step in."

The bill, written largely by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and the Senate homeland panel, is also notable for what it does not include: a provision that would give the president authority to shut down Internet traffic to compromised Web sites during a national emergency. This '"kill switch" idea was discussed in early drafts, but drew outrage from corporate leaders, privacy advocates and Internet purists who believe cyberspace should remain an untouched digital universe.

While the Senate is pulling together one major piece of cybersecurity legislation, the House has several bills that deal with various aspects of the issue.

A bill from a House Homeland Security subcommittee doesn't go as far as the Senate's in setting the government's role. Still, it would require DHS to develop cybersecurity standards and work with industry to meet them.

"We know voluntary guidelines simply have not worked," said Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I. "For the industries upon which we most rely, government has a role to work with the private sector on setting security guidelines and ensuring they are followed."

Stewart Baker, a former assistant secretary at Homeland Security, said the government must get involved to force companies to take cybersecurity more seriously.

Concerns about federal involvement, he said, belie the fact that computer breaches over the past several years make it clear that hackers and other governments, such as China and Russia, are already inside many industry networks.

"They already have governments in their business, just not the U.S.," said Baker. "For them to say they don't want this suggests they don't really understand how bad this problem is."

Industry groups have lobbied against the Senate bill's regulatory powers and say new mandates will drive up costs without increasing security.

They say businesses are trying to secure their networks and need legal protections built into the law so they can share information with authorities without risking antitrust or privacy violations.

In a letter to lawmakers this past week, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said any additional regulations would be counterproductive and force businesses to shift their focus from security to compliance.

Liesyl Franz, a vice president at TechAmerica, which represents about 1,200 companies, said businesses would prefer to work with the government to enhance security rather than face more regulations. She said companies coping with the potential security risks, market consequences, and damage to corporate reputations, are defending against cyberthreats.

Senior national security officials were on Capitol Hill last week to talk to senators about the growing cybersecurity threat. After the meeting, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she's always had a sense of urgency about it, adding, "I hope the briefing gives that same sense of urgency to members to put aside turf battles."

She said senators are reviewing concerns raised by the Chamber about the bill.

___

Follow Lolita Baldor on Twitter: http://twitter.com/lbaldor

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-02-06-Cyber-Regulating%20Industry/id-ffd79707750a4cabb5d6145e5050b971

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Saturday, February 4, 2012

If you're a major time fan of vehicle games, you are a successful one ...

If you?re a major time fan of vehicle games, you are a successful one as anyone can have an enjoyable time playing this online game online. It?s simple to play the games with friends and family at home. All you need is an web connection, drinks, pizza and, a while away from your busy arrange. Doing offers online is actually fun as it is a place where you find amazing variety of games. It can be addictive also because you can play as much as you wish to and there is no time restrict. | Decent Work Forum

Source: http://www.decentworkforum.eu/if-youre-a-major-time-fan-of-vehicle-games-you-are-a-successful-one-as-anyone-can-have-an-enjoyable-time-playing-this-online-game-online-its-simple-to-play-the-games-with-friends-and-family-at-h/

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Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Genes linked to cancer could be easier to detect with liquid lasers

Genes linked to cancer could be easier to detect with liquid lasers [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 31-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Nicole Casal Moore
ncmoore@umich.edu
734-647-7087
University of Michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.Using a liquid laser, University of Michigan researchers have developed a better way to detect the slight genetic mutations that might predispose a person to a particular type of cancer or other diseases.

Their results are published in the current edition of the German journal Angewandte Chemie.

This work could advance understanding of the genetic basis of diseases. It also has applications in personalized medicine, which aims to target drugs and other therapies to individual patients based on a thorough knowledge of their genetic information.

The researchers say their technique works much better than the current approach, which uses fluorescent dye and other biological molecules to find and bind to mutated DNA strands. When a patrol molecule catches one of these rogues, it emits a fluorescent beacon. This might sound like a solid system, but it's not perfect. The patrol molecules tend to bind to healthy DNA as well, giving off a background glow that is only slightly dimmer than a positive signal.

"Sometimes, we can fail to see the difference," said Xudong Fan, an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and principal investigator on the project. "If you cannot see the difference in signals, you could misdiagnose. The patient may have the mutated gene, but you wouldn't detect it."

In the conventional fluorescence technique, the signal from mutated DNA might be only a few tenths of a percent higher than the background noise. With Fan's new approach it's hundreds of times brighter.

"We found a clever way to amplify the intrinsic difference in the signals," Fan said.

He did it with a bit of backtracking.

Liquid lasers, discovered in the late '60s, amplify light by passing it through a dye, rather than a crystal, as solid-state lasers do. Fan, who works at the intersection of biomedical engineering and photonics, has been developing them for the past five years. In his unique set-up, the signal is amplified in a glass capillary called a "ring resonator cavity."

Last year, Fan and his research group found that they could employ DNA (the blueprints for life that reside in all cells) to modulate a liquid laser, or turn it on and off. His group is one of just a few in the world to accomplish this, Fan said. At the time, they didn't have a practical application in mind. Then they had an epiphany.

"We thought, 'Let's look at the laser output. Can we see what's causing the different outputs and use it to detect differences in the DNA?'" Fan said. "I had an intuition, and it turns out the output difference was huge."

The journal editors named this a "hot paper" that "advances knowledge in a rapidly evolving field of high current interest."

The paper is titled "Distinguishing DNA by Analog-to-Digital-like Conversion by Using Optofluidic Lasers." The research was funded by the National Science Foundation. The first author is Yuze Sun, a doctoral student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. The university is pursuing patent protection for the intellectual property, and is seeking commercialization partners to help bring the technology to market.

###

The University of Michigan College of Engineering is ranked among the top engineering schools in the country. At more than $130 million annually, its engineering research budget is one of largest of any public university. Michigan Engineering is home to 11 academic departments and a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center. The college plays a leading role in the U-M Energy Institute and hosts the world-class Lurie Nanofabrication Facility. Michigan Engineering's premier scholarship, international scale and multidisciplinary scope combine to create The Michigan Difference. Find out more at www.engin.umich.edu.

EDITORS: See photo at: http://www.ns.umich.edu/new/releases/20189-genes-linked-to-cancer-could-be-easier-to-detect-with-liquid-lasers


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

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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.


Genes linked to cancer could be easier to detect with liquid lasers [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 31-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Nicole Casal Moore
ncmoore@umich.edu
734-647-7087
University of Michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.Using a liquid laser, University of Michigan researchers have developed a better way to detect the slight genetic mutations that might predispose a person to a particular type of cancer or other diseases.

Their results are published in the current edition of the German journal Angewandte Chemie.

This work could advance understanding of the genetic basis of diseases. It also has applications in personalized medicine, which aims to target drugs and other therapies to individual patients based on a thorough knowledge of their genetic information.

The researchers say their technique works much better than the current approach, which uses fluorescent dye and other biological molecules to find and bind to mutated DNA strands. When a patrol molecule catches one of these rogues, it emits a fluorescent beacon. This might sound like a solid system, but it's not perfect. The patrol molecules tend to bind to healthy DNA as well, giving off a background glow that is only slightly dimmer than a positive signal.

"Sometimes, we can fail to see the difference," said Xudong Fan, an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and principal investigator on the project. "If you cannot see the difference in signals, you could misdiagnose. The patient may have the mutated gene, but you wouldn't detect it."

In the conventional fluorescence technique, the signal from mutated DNA might be only a few tenths of a percent higher than the background noise. With Fan's new approach it's hundreds of times brighter.

"We found a clever way to amplify the intrinsic difference in the signals," Fan said.

He did it with a bit of backtracking.

Liquid lasers, discovered in the late '60s, amplify light by passing it through a dye, rather than a crystal, as solid-state lasers do. Fan, who works at the intersection of biomedical engineering and photonics, has been developing them for the past five years. In his unique set-up, the signal is amplified in a glass capillary called a "ring resonator cavity."

Last year, Fan and his research group found that they could employ DNA (the blueprints for life that reside in all cells) to modulate a liquid laser, or turn it on and off. His group is one of just a few in the world to accomplish this, Fan said. At the time, they didn't have a practical application in mind. Then they had an epiphany.

"We thought, 'Let's look at the laser output. Can we see what's causing the different outputs and use it to detect differences in the DNA?'" Fan said. "I had an intuition, and it turns out the output difference was huge."

The journal editors named this a "hot paper" that "advances knowledge in a rapidly evolving field of high current interest."

The paper is titled "Distinguishing DNA by Analog-to-Digital-like Conversion by Using Optofluidic Lasers." The research was funded by the National Science Foundation. The first author is Yuze Sun, a doctoral student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. The university is pursuing patent protection for the intellectual property, and is seeking commercialization partners to help bring the technology to market.

###

The University of Michigan College of Engineering is ranked among the top engineering schools in the country. At more than $130 million annually, its engineering research budget is one of largest of any public university. Michigan Engineering is home to 11 academic departments and a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center. The college plays a leading role in the U-M Energy Institute and hosts the world-class Lurie Nanofabrication Facility. Michigan Engineering's premier scholarship, international scale and multidisciplinary scope combine to create The Michigan Difference. Find out more at www.engin.umich.edu.

EDITORS: See photo at: http://www.ns.umich.edu/new/releases/20189-genes-linked-to-cancer-could-be-easier-to-detect-with-liquid-lasers


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share 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.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/uom-glt013112.php

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