WARSAW, Poland (AP) ? A Polish TV station is reporting that 19 coal miners were trapped underground in a mine after an earthquake but that a rescue effort succeeded in getting them all out after a seven-hour search.
TVN24 said the quake struck Tuesday evening with a magnitude of 4.7. That caused rocks to fall, trapping the miners about 950 meters (3,120 feet) underground at the Rudna copper mine in Polkowice, in southern Poland. Four others were able to get out early.
A team of 25 worked seven hours to reach the men.
One suffered minor injuries to his head but all the others are in good shape and are going home. They will be able to return to work on Thursday.
Program highlights from the upcoming meeting of the American Physiological SocietyPublic release date: 19-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Donna Krupa 301-634-7209 American Physiological Society
Presentations to be made at Experimental Biology 2013 Meeting
BETHESDA, Md. (March 18, 2013)The American Physiological Society (APS) is one of six scientific societies sponsoring the meeting Experimental Biology 2013 (EB 2013), being held April 20-24, 2013 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC), in Boston, Mass. The APS has programmed some 2,700 scientific abstracts for this year's meeting and dozens of symposia. Program highlights, with times and locations include:
Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine Lecture:
Unraveling Smell: How are we able to differentiate between smells? How does the brain remember them? Nobel Laureate Linda Buck, Ph.D., from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Wash., went looking for answers. In 2004 she, along with Richard Axel, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work on olfactory receptors. Dr. Buck will deliver this year's Laureate lecture as part of the APS's annual meeting. (Wednesday, April 24, 4:45 p.m. Location: BCEC, 210BC)
New Experimental Approaches to Human Brain Function in Health and Disease:
The last decade has seen an explosion in discoveries about the brain. This symposium brings together four nationally recognized experts in brain research who approach a variety of human brain functions and disorders throughout the lifespan from: early brain development and the evolution of human cognition and its maldevelopment in idiopathic mental retardation; to how the human brain makes decisions in health and in diseases such as Parkinson's disease; to the analysis of neurotransmission and neuromodulation in adult psychiatric disease; to the study of cellular and signaling processes in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. (Sunday, April 21, 8 a.m. Location: BCEC, 208)
Eating Disorders:
The first cases of anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) were diagnosed more than 80 years ago; binge-eating disorder (BED) was first recorded in 1959. These most deadly of psychiatric disorders are not easily understood and treatment protocols are often found wanting. However a shift has recently occurred to understand eating disorders as biological conditions. Four lectures in this symposium will offer a discussion of how the use of animal models has resulted in novel mechanisms and treatment targets for possible use in understanding and ultimately treating these disorders. (Tuesday, April, 23, 3:15 p.m. Location: BCEC, 210BC) (Note: Part of the program, Physiology In Focus: From Animals to Human Models of Disease)
Sex-Based Differences in Exercise Metabolism:
Men and women are certainly different, and those differences are readily apparent in each gender's physiological response to exercise. Four lectures will address how differences in male and female metabolism, both during and after exercise based on other factors, can be linked to differences in body composition, insulin sensitivity, and inflammation. Attendees will take away from this symposium an up-to-date view of the sex-based differences in various aspects of metabolismfat, protein, and post-exercise recoveryand be able to link this into a comparative view of how men and women adapt to various forms of chronic exercise training. (Wednesday, April, 24, 10:30 a.m. Location: BCEC, 206A)
Emerging Concepts in Understanding Mechanisms of Diabetes:
The Diabetes Health Center reports that more than half of all Americans may develop diabetes or prediabetes by 2020 unless prevention strategies aimed at weight loss and increased physical activity are widely implemented. Key to prevention is effective research and the five lectures in this symposium will address kidney function, endocrine function and insulin resistance, cardiac and vascular function, role of muscle mass in insulin resistance, cell physiology and adipogenesis, and stem cell differentiation. This session will provide new insights and emerging concepts about the pathology of obesity and diabetes on many different physiological systems. (Wednesday, April 24, 2:30 p.m. Location: BCEC, 2l0A)
Animal Models of the Irritable Bowel Syndrome:
Basic and Translational Implications: It is not clear why patients develop irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Currently there is no cure for the disease, only treatment designed to alleviate symptoms. One challenge for the development of novel and effective treatments is the lack of animal models that recapitulate all aspects of IBS. This symposium, comprised of four lectures, will address how recent animal research has contributed to our understanding of IBS and the development of new treatment strategies. (Sunday, April 21, 3:15 p.m. Location: BCEC, 210BC) (Note: Part of the program, Physiology In Focus: From Animals to Human Models of Disease)
The Role of Psychological Stress and Depression in Determining Cardiovascular Disease Risk The Use of Animal Models and Clinical Applications:
This symposium brings together clinical and basic science researchers who examine the role of stress and depression on cardiovascular disease (CVD) development as well as the impact of inflammation. Lecturers are international experts in the fields of cardiovascular behavioral medicine, vascular biology, psychoneuroimmunology, and stress neurobiology. The six lectures will address the role of the renin angiotensin system (the hormonal system that regulates blood pressure and water in the brain during stress), the impact of early life stress on cerebral vascular function, the role of inflammation as well as clinical studies and treatments centered on stress, and depression and CVD risk. (Wednesday, April 24, 8 a.m. Location: BCEC, 205C)
Lessons from New Animal Models of Cystic Fibrosis:
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States. The disease is caused by a mutation in the gene that encodes a protein called cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), which functions as a chloride channel at the surface of airways and moves chloride out of the cells. This symposium will explore how new animal research has produced novel models that recapitulate key features of CF disease, providing new insights into how CTFR gene disruption occurs and informing new therapeutic thinking that may lead to new treatments. (Monday, April, 22, 3:15 p.m. Location: BCEC, 210BC) (Note: Part of the program, Physiology In Focus: From Animals to Human Models of Disease)
###
Media Registration
Free registration is available to credentialed representatives of the press, and an onsite newsroom will be available for media. For additional information contact Donna Krupa, or pre-register at Media@faseb.org.
About the American Physiological Society
Physiology is the study of how molecules, cells, tissues, and organs function in health
and disease. Established in 1887, the American Physiological Society (APS) was the first US society in the biomedical sciences field. The Society represents more than 11,000 members and publishes 14 peer-reviewed journals with a worldwide readership.
Contact: Donna Krupa
Twitter: @Phyziochick
[ | 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.
Program highlights from the upcoming meeting of the American Physiological SocietyPublic release date: 19-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Donna Krupa 301-634-7209 American Physiological Society
Presentations to be made at Experimental Biology 2013 Meeting
BETHESDA, Md. (March 18, 2013)The American Physiological Society (APS) is one of six scientific societies sponsoring the meeting Experimental Biology 2013 (EB 2013), being held April 20-24, 2013 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC), in Boston, Mass. The APS has programmed some 2,700 scientific abstracts for this year's meeting and dozens of symposia. Program highlights, with times and locations include:
Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine Lecture:
Unraveling Smell: How are we able to differentiate between smells? How does the brain remember them? Nobel Laureate Linda Buck, Ph.D., from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Wash., went looking for answers. In 2004 she, along with Richard Axel, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work on olfactory receptors. Dr. Buck will deliver this year's Laureate lecture as part of the APS's annual meeting. (Wednesday, April 24, 4:45 p.m. Location: BCEC, 210BC)
New Experimental Approaches to Human Brain Function in Health and Disease:
The last decade has seen an explosion in discoveries about the brain. This symposium brings together four nationally recognized experts in brain research who approach a variety of human brain functions and disorders throughout the lifespan from: early brain development and the evolution of human cognition and its maldevelopment in idiopathic mental retardation; to how the human brain makes decisions in health and in diseases such as Parkinson's disease; to the analysis of neurotransmission and neuromodulation in adult psychiatric disease; to the study of cellular and signaling processes in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. (Sunday, April 21, 8 a.m. Location: BCEC, 208)
Eating Disorders:
The first cases of anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) were diagnosed more than 80 years ago; binge-eating disorder (BED) was first recorded in 1959. These most deadly of psychiatric disorders are not easily understood and treatment protocols are often found wanting. However a shift has recently occurred to understand eating disorders as biological conditions. Four lectures in this symposium will offer a discussion of how the use of animal models has resulted in novel mechanisms and treatment targets for possible use in understanding and ultimately treating these disorders. (Tuesday, April, 23, 3:15 p.m. Location: BCEC, 210BC) (Note: Part of the program, Physiology In Focus: From Animals to Human Models of Disease)
Sex-Based Differences in Exercise Metabolism:
Men and women are certainly different, and those differences are readily apparent in each gender's physiological response to exercise. Four lectures will address how differences in male and female metabolism, both during and after exercise based on other factors, can be linked to differences in body composition, insulin sensitivity, and inflammation. Attendees will take away from this symposium an up-to-date view of the sex-based differences in various aspects of metabolismfat, protein, and post-exercise recoveryand be able to link this into a comparative view of how men and women adapt to various forms of chronic exercise training. (Wednesday, April, 24, 10:30 a.m. Location: BCEC, 206A)
Emerging Concepts in Understanding Mechanisms of Diabetes:
The Diabetes Health Center reports that more than half of all Americans may develop diabetes or prediabetes by 2020 unless prevention strategies aimed at weight loss and increased physical activity are widely implemented. Key to prevention is effective research and the five lectures in this symposium will address kidney function, endocrine function and insulin resistance, cardiac and vascular function, role of muscle mass in insulin resistance, cell physiology and adipogenesis, and stem cell differentiation. This session will provide new insights and emerging concepts about the pathology of obesity and diabetes on many different physiological systems. (Wednesday, April 24, 2:30 p.m. Location: BCEC, 2l0A)
Animal Models of the Irritable Bowel Syndrome:
Basic and Translational Implications: It is not clear why patients develop irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Currently there is no cure for the disease, only treatment designed to alleviate symptoms. One challenge for the development of novel and effective treatments is the lack of animal models that recapitulate all aspects of IBS. This symposium, comprised of four lectures, will address how recent animal research has contributed to our understanding of IBS and the development of new treatment strategies. (Sunday, April 21, 3:15 p.m. Location: BCEC, 210BC) (Note: Part of the program, Physiology In Focus: From Animals to Human Models of Disease)
The Role of Psychological Stress and Depression in Determining Cardiovascular Disease Risk The Use of Animal Models and Clinical Applications:
This symposium brings together clinical and basic science researchers who examine the role of stress and depression on cardiovascular disease (CVD) development as well as the impact of inflammation. Lecturers are international experts in the fields of cardiovascular behavioral medicine, vascular biology, psychoneuroimmunology, and stress neurobiology. The six lectures will address the role of the renin angiotensin system (the hormonal system that regulates blood pressure and water in the brain during stress), the impact of early life stress on cerebral vascular function, the role of inflammation as well as clinical studies and treatments centered on stress, and depression and CVD risk. (Wednesday, April 24, 8 a.m. Location: BCEC, 205C)
Lessons from New Animal Models of Cystic Fibrosis:
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States. The disease is caused by a mutation in the gene that encodes a protein called cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), which functions as a chloride channel at the surface of airways and moves chloride out of the cells. This symposium will explore how new animal research has produced novel models that recapitulate key features of CF disease, providing new insights into how CTFR gene disruption occurs and informing new therapeutic thinking that may lead to new treatments. (Monday, April, 22, 3:15 p.m. Location: BCEC, 210BC) (Note: Part of the program, Physiology In Focus: From Animals to Human Models of Disease)
###
Media Registration
Free registration is available to credentialed representatives of the press, and an onsite newsroom will be available for media. For additional information contact Donna Krupa, or pre-register at Media@faseb.org.
About the American Physiological Society
Physiology is the study of how molecules, cells, tissues, and organs function in health
and disease. Established in 1887, the American Physiological Society (APS) was the first US society in the biomedical sciences field. The Society represents more than 11,000 members and publishes 14 peer-reviewed journals with a worldwide readership.
Contact: Donna Krupa
Twitter: @Phyziochick
[ | 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.
Mar. 18, 2013 ? Researchers from North Carolina State University have come up with a low-cost way to enhance a polymer called MEH-PPV's ability to confine light, advancing efforts to use the material to convert electricity into laser light for use in photonic devices.
"Think of a garden hose. If it has holes in it, water springs out through a million tiny leaks. But if you can eliminate those leaks, you confine the water in the hose and improve the water pressure. We've plugged the holes that were allowing light to leak out of the MEH-PPV," says Dr. Lewis Reynolds, a teaching associate professor of materials science and engineering at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the research.
MEH-PPV is a low-cost polymer that can be integrated with silicon chips, and researchers have long sought to use the material to convert electricity into laser light for use in photonic devices such as optical amplifiers and chemical sensors. However, attempts to do this have failed because the amount of electricity needed to generate laser light in MEH-PPV was so high that it caused the material to degrade.
Now researchers have developed an inexpensive way to confine more light in the material, which lowers the energy threshold needed to produce focused laser light by 50 percent. The researchers did this by sandwiching the MEH-PPV between two materials that have matching indices of refraction, efficiently reflecting light back into the MEH-PPV and preventing light from escaping. This results in lower thresholds for laser light.
"This approach is fairly inexpensive and could also be easily scaled up for large-scale processing," Reynolds says.
The "sandwich" also makes the material more stable by limiting the MEH-PPV's exposure to oxygen. This makes the material less subject to degradation due to photo-oxidation, which occurs when materials are exposed to both light and oxygen.
"This is a meaningful step forward for low-cost fabrication of these devices, but further optimization is required," says Dr. Zach Lampert, a former Ph.D. student at NC State and lead author of the paper. "We're working on that now."
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by North Carolina State University.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Zach E. Lampert, John M. Papanikolas, C. Lewis Reynolds. Enhancement of optical gain and amplified spontaneous emission due to waveguide geometry in the conjugated polymer poly[2-methoxy-5-(2?-ethylhexyloxy)-p-phenylene vinylene]. Applied Physics Letters, 2013; 102 (7): 073303 DOI: 10.1063/1.4793422
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Y Combinator-backed Kamcord got off to a strong start last year ? it locked up $1.5 million in seed funding just a few months after its official debut ? and now co-founder/CEO Matt Zitzmann says the team has its sights set on hitting some lofty usage goals. For the uninitiated, Kamcord is an SDK for iOS that allows mobile game developers using a handful of popular game engines (think Unity, cocos2d, and the like) to quickly and easily add support for recording in-game video without totally killing game performance.
Update: CyanogenMod on its Google+ account reminds us all that of its official position on the Galaxy S4 -- which is to say it doesn't have one yet. CM also reminds us all that individual developers' do not speak for CM as a whole. (Which is why the quotes in the following piece are from Team Hacksung and not CyanogenMod.) CM adds that it intends to wait for retail release of the Galaxy S4 before commenting on support, as it does for all new devices.
Original story: With the Samsung Galaxy S4 presumably coming soon, many are excited about the possibility of running a more stock Android-based experience, like CyanogenMod, on the hardware. It looks like that's going to be a slower transition than many were hoping, as the current Samsung CM maintainers have said that they have no plans to support the device.
The relationship between Samsung and the people trying to hack CM onto Samsung phones has been pretty tumultuous as of late. On one side, Samsung has to try to protect their IP. Some of the decisions they have made to help do this just aren't very developer-friendly, and some even violate the GPL (an open source license that covers everything in the Linux kernel used in Android). On the other side, you have a group of people that have to have a little access to this IP so they can build a working firmware for the device. They need everything covered under the GPL, and even a little friendly advice from the manufacturers is what it takes sometimes to get everything working just right. With the two sides unable to get together, frustration has set in and the developers have spoken. XpLoDWilD, speaking for Team Hacksung states:
Nobody at Team Hacksung (the team behind Galaxy S2, Note, S3, Note2, G Tabs... official CM ports) plans to buy it, neither develop for it. There are two variants which will be a pain to maintain, [and] the bugs we have on the S3 will probably be there on S4, too (camera), and we all know Samsung ability to release sources while staying in line with mainline. Yes Qualcomm releases sources, but Exynos sources we had were far from [working on] actual Galaxy products. I'm pretty sure the same will happen for this one.
That's a uniform "no" from us.
The other developers are saying basically the same. Codeworkx, Entropy512, and kernel developer Gokhan Moral have said they refuse to develop for the Galaxy S4. Read through the break for some discussion of what this might mean for users like us.
Mayor Euille and City Council at March 12, 2013 meeting (Courtesy photo)
The Alexandria City Council voted unanimously last night to advertise the maximum real estate tax rate for calendar year 2013 and fiscal year 2014 at $1.038 per $100 of assessed value, a potential increase of four cents. Council also voted to advertise the maximum personal property tax rate on vehicles at $5 per $100 of assessed value, an increase of 25 cents. ?Council is also considering a number of other tax increases during the current budget deliberations.
?I am only going to vote for this item because the four-cent increase is a maximum and the discussions here tonight indicate that my colleagues generally agree with me that anything above the Manager?s recommended 2.5-cent increase will be used for capital projects, which are not included in his budget,? said Councilman Paul Smedberg. ?I do not want to spend this extra money to fund operating expenses.?
Councilman Justin Wilson agreed. ?I certainly hope that we can adopt a final tax rate that is closer to the 2.5 cents recommended by the City Manager and agree with Mr. Smedberg that additional funds should go to pay for very important capital projects,? he said.
Council considered raising the real estate tax rate by 5.5 cents, three cents of which could have been used for cash capital. ?After speaking to my colleagues over the past week, I concluded that almost everyone could agree to a maximum increase of four cents and that is what we are proposing tonight,? said Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille. ?Everyone needs to remember that this is a maximum rate, not necessarily what we are going to adopt on May 6. We can certainly adopt a lower tax rate but this establishes the highest rate we can adopt.?
Currently, Council sets aside 2.2 cents of the real estate tax rate for transportation projects. Last night, Council agreed to increase this amount by 0.5 cents, bringing the total amount set aside for transportation projects to 2.7 cents. This will allow Alexandria to take advantage of additional transportation funding, which was included in the legislation passed by the General Assembly and awaiting amendments or Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell?s signature.
Last night?s ordinance includes: The continuation of the dedication of 0.6 cents of the base real estate tax rate for affordable housing; the dedication of 0.3 percent of the real estate tax revenues for open space (exclusive of any add-on tax for transportation purposes on commercial properties); the continuation of the dedication of 0.5 cents for the Stormwater Management Infrastructure Trust Fund and the same Tier I Potomac Yard Metrorail Station Special Services District Tax Rate of $0.20 for all real property located in that District.
The value of one cent of real estate property taxes is $3.4 million, which means that an additional four cents would add $13.6 million in revenue for the City. The City Manager's proposed increase of 2.5 cents would increase revenue by $8.6 million, leaving $5 million available for additional capital projects if Council adopts the advertised maximum?increase?of four cents.
Council will hold a public hearing on the proposed real property tax rate and personal property tax rate on April 13. Final budget adoption and passage of the ordinance setting the real and personal property tax rates is scheduled for May 6, the same date as final FY2014 budget adoption.
Readdle has updated their popular Calendars app for iPhone and iPad, and renamed it Calendars+. That's because they're also introducing an all new, all free version under the original Calendars name.
The free version of Calendars has the same slick interface, Google sync, and other features. Calendar+ has even more features, including recurring events, task management, invitations, and multiple reminders.
I'm not a huge fan of the free app model. I'd rather pay for great apps so developers can afford to make more apps, but Denys Zhadanov of Readdle tells me they're hoping users of the free Calendars app graduate to the for-pay Calendars+.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 19-Mar-2013
Share ] 
Y Combinator-backed 
?Print 
