'Best Mother's Day' ever for mother of freed Cleveland captive

By Kevin Gray and Kim Palmer

CLEVELAND (Reuters) - The mother of Gina DeJesus is celebrating the "best Mother's Day" ever on Sunday after her daughter was freed with three other captives last week from a long imprisonment in a Cleveland home.

DeJesus, 23, Amanda Berry, 27, and Berry's 6-year-old daughter were welcomed into their family homes last week after an escape and rescue on Monday from the dungeon-like house.

"This is the best Mother's Day I could ever have," said Nancy Ruiz when asked by a reporter last week how this year's celebration of motherhood would differ from those during the nine years her daughter was missing after she vanished while walking home from junior high school.

Mother's Day has a changed meaning for Berry, who during 10 years in captivity lost her mother and conceived and bore her own child, who DNA indicates was fathered by accused kidnapper Ariel Castro, police and prosecutors said.

There was no homecoming for the fourth captive, Michelle Knight, 32, the longest-held, who slipped into seclusion after being released from a hospital on Friday. She shunned hospital visits from family members, some of whom believed she was a runaway when she disappeared 11 years ago after losing custody of her young son, her grandmother said.

The Cuyahoga County prosecutor is seeking murder charges, which could carry the death penalty, against Castro, 52, a former school bus driver who police said induced several miscarriages by beating and starving Knight.

Castro is being held on $8 million bail on charges he kidnapped and raped the three women while keeping them locked up in a rundown Cleveland home stocked with ropes and chains.

Knight was kidnapped in 2002 at the age of 20; Berry in 2003 the day before her 17th birthday; and DeJesus in 2004, when she was 14. Castro forced Knight to deliver Berry's daughter, and he threatened to kill Knight if the baby died, according to a police report.

Berry told police her escape had been her first chance to break free in the 10 years she was held, seizing an opportunity during Castro's momentary absence. With the help of neighbors, she and her daughter broke free, and police freed the other two women.

'BIG HEALING PROCESS'

The community has rallied around the women, with offers of help pouring in from around the world and people offering cash, furniture and even use of a vacation home to help them rebuild their lives.

Three members of the Cleveland City Council have set up a fund to provide financial assistance to the women.

"It's a big healing process that is beginning," Councilwoman Dona Brady said on Saturday.

Since it was established last week, the fund has raised more than $50,000, said Cleveland Councilman Brian Cummins, who helped arrange the Cleveland Courage Fund, which is administered by a non-profit organization.

Cummins said the fund for the three women had received donations from people across the United States, as well as Canada, France and Australia.

The money will be distributed to organizations to help the women pay for therapy, doctor's visits, housing and other expenses, Cummins said.

(Editing by Barbara Goldberg, Mary Wisniewski and Peter Cooney)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/best-mothers-day-ever-mother-freed-cleveland-captive-100254982.html

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Better dyes for imaging technology

May 12, 2013 ? From microscopes to MRI scanners, imaging technology is growing ever more vital in the world's hospitals, whether for the diagnosis of illness or for research into new cures. Imaging technology requires dyes or contrast agents of some sort. Current contrast agents and dyes are expensive, difficult to work with and far from ideal. Now, Danish chemists have discovered a new dye and proved its worth against any of the dyes currently available.

Thomas Just S?rensen and Bo Wegge Laursen are chemists at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. In a series of publications, they have shown that the aza-oxa-trangulenium dyes have the potential to outperform all fluorescent dyes currently used in imaging.

"Our dyes are ten times better, far cheaper and easier to use. The latter I believe, will lead to expanded opportunities and broadened use, by physicians and researchers in developing countries, for example." Says Thomas Just S?rensen.

Visual noise blocks correct diagnosis

It might seem odd, but one of the central challenges when taking pictures of cells and organs, is to avoid noise. The agents that make it possible to see microscopic biological structures are luminescent, but then, so is tissue. Consequently, the contrast agent's light risks being overpowered by "light noise." Just as the dial and hands of a watch might glow-in-the-dark, tissue becomes luminescent when exposed to light. Tissue and other organic structures luminesce, or lights up, for 10 nanoseconds after exposure to light. The light-life of an ordinary dye is the same -- 10 nanoseconds. But triangulenium dyes produce light for an entire 100 nanoseconds.

The long life of the triangulenium dyes means that an image can be produced without background noise. Furthermore, the extra 90 nanoseconds opens the possibility of filming living images of the processes occurring within cells, for example when a drug attacks an illness.

Neither expensive, nor difficult or technically demanding

Medical image analysis departments currently devote an incredible amount of time to staining samples, because all samples must be treated with two agents. The use of triangulenium dyes necessitates only one dye. And in contrast with typical dyes, no specialized equipment is needed to see the dyes in tissue samples. A lens from a pair of polarized sunglasses and an ordinary microscope are all that are required.

Open Source dye despite obvious competitiveness

When one compares the advantages of triangulenium dyes against the three million Danish kroner per gram price tag of traditional dyes,(500.000$US)(320.000?) you would expect that the new dye would immediately out-compete its predecessors. However, up to now S?rensen and Laursen have had to give their dye away. "I know that our dye is better, but biologists and physicians don't. Therefore, we are giving the dye away to anyone that wants to perform a comparison test. Someone who needs to assess the health of sick people wouldn't dare to rely on an untested substance. Only when several researchers have shown triangulenium dyes to perform just as effectively as its predecessors can we hope for our substance to become more widely adopted," concludes Thomas Just S?rensen.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/U277veoAGJY/130512105523.htm

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RedStateEclectic : Against Political Biology

Lysenko, one of the masters of political biology.

Following up on my Scientists Not Interested in Science, find below a level-headed reminder of some facts of basic, depoliticised biology.

In his summary, Lubo? Motl writes:

The basic theme of the [below] article is simple and most of us learned it as fifth-graders: CO₂ is primarily the plant food while its other implications for nature are negligible in comparison. Humanitarian organizations should work hard to help the mankind to increase the CO₂ concentration and it's surprising that virtually all of them are failing to do so.

Thus, ex-moonwalker Harrison Schmitt and physics professor Will Happer of Princeton argue:

Of all of the world's chemical compounds, none has a worse reputation than carbon dioxide. Thanks to the single-minded demonization of this natural and essential atmospheric gas by advocates of government control of energy production, the conventional wisdom about carbon dioxide is that it is a dangerous pollutant. That's simply not the case. Contrary to what some would have us believe, increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will benefit the increasing population on the planet by increasing agricultural productivity.

The entire brief article.

Source: http://redstateeclectic.typepad.com/redstate_commentary/2013/05/against-political-biology.html

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Garcia goes 1 up on Tiger at Players Championship

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) ? Sergio Garcia must have been inspired once he saw Tiger Woods in the lead at The Players Championship.

Garcia ran off five straight birdies Friday, then added a 40-foot birdie putt on the par-3 eighth hole for a 7-under 65. That gave him a one-shot lead over Woods among the early starters at TPC Sawgrass. He was at 11-under 133.

Woods played right behind Garcia. He tied for the lead with a 20-foot eagle putt at No. 2, and took the outright lead ? just briefly ? with a short birdie on the fourth hole. Woods made a birdie on his final hole for a second straight 67. That's six shots better than his previous best start at Sawgrass.

Roberto Castro, who opened with a 63, played in the afternoon.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/garcia-goes-1-tiger-players-championship-175341195.html

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Judge Tosses DMCA Defenses, Creating Unexpected Copyright Liability for Web Services In New York

Editor?s note: Sid Venkatesan is an IP partner specializing in high stakes IP disputes and IP counseling for technology companies in the Silicon Valley office of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.?James Freedman?is an associate in Orrick?s IP group and a recent Stanford Law School graduate.? A New York appellate court has recently ruled in?UMG Recordings v.Escape Media Group that the safe harbor protections that Congress designed for Internet companies do not cover sound recordings made before 1972. The decision is a new and unexpected break with earlier decisions by?state?and federal?trial courts.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/CmdbrjWww5s/

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Brown: Direct Tax Relief Gives Much-Needed Breathing Room For ...

?

Press release ??Assembly Republican Budget Committee member Christopher J. Browncalled for bipartisan support of an Assembly Republican tax-relief plan to reduce the suffocating burden on hard working, middle class families, job-creating businesses and senior citizens.

Chris Brown

?Taxes in this state are suffocating senior citizens, small businesses and low- and moderate-income families,? Brown, R-Burlington, Camden and Atlantic, said. ?After Trenton Democrats raised taxes and fees 115 times to the tune of $8.3 billion last decade, Republican leadership has been able to reduce a number of those increases by $2.44 billion.

?We can, and must, do more,? Brown added.

Brown, one of several Republicans sponsoring the Direct Tax Relief for New Jersey Families Act, which would provide direct relief to middle class homeowners and renters, and low-income workers.

?We need to stop bickering and start working together to cut taxes,? Brown said. ?Our tax plan will give some much-needed breathing room to most taxpayers in New Jersey.?

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Source: http://www.njassemblyrepublicans.com/?p=9382

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Is easy credit coming to Mexico?

Miguel ?ngel Riva Palacio stuffs his savings in his sock drawer. He pays his bills and expenses with cash, doesn?t have a bank account, and never uses debit or credit cards ? neither of which are accepted at the mom-and-pop dry cleaning shop he?s worked at for the past 43 years.

?It?s something that has never interested me,? he says of opening a bank account.

Mr. Riva Palacio is among the millions of Mexicans operating outside of a banking system that has produced robust profits in recent years, but has failed to embrace customers among the unbanked or extend credit to entrepreneurs. Mexico has one of the lowest rates of commercial lending in Latin America, which has been blamed for stunting economic growth.

But a series of banking reforms introduced Wednesday by a coalition of political parties aims to change that. The legislation aims to encourage competition among banks and increase the accessibility and accountability of financial institutions. It also intends to create incentives for lending to both individuals and the private sector.

?It is a reform that will encourage banks ? to lend more and for lower rates,? President Enrique Pe?a Nieto said in announcing the reform proposals.

RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about Mexico? Take our quiz.

BANKING SECTOR THAT 'LENDS LITTLE'

The Mexican government projects an economic expansion of 3.5 percent in 2013 and President Pe?a Nieto is promoting a series of economic reforms in areas such as energy and taxation, which he says will tack an extra two percentage points annually on to the country?s GDP growth in future years.

But banking has long been a sore spot in an otherwise optimistic economic outlook, especially since Mexican financial institutions lend little in comparison to their counterparts in other emerging markets. What credit is extended often goes to state governments, whose debts have swelled, or is lent at high interest rates. Many credit cards carry interest rates often topping 40 percent.

?Mexico has ... a solid banking sector. However, it?s a banking sector that lends little,? Finance Minister Luis Videgaray Caso said at the unveiling of the reforms.

Bank credit amounts to just 26 percent of GDP in Mexico, according to Mr. Videgaray. This compares to more than 50 percent of GDP on average in Latin America and nearly 100 percent of GDP in Chile. Mexico boasts solid macroeconomic fundamentals with relatively low inflation and interest rates, and a stable currency. But Videgaray said that fundamentals have been insufficient to boost economic growth due, in part, to the lack of bank credit available to businesses and entrepreneurs.

Mexican banks lend just 43 percent of their assets to the private sector, Videgaray said, compared to the Chilean rate of 73 percent.

The financial reforms ? not to be confused with a long-pending fiscal reform meant to raise more non-oil revenues for the government ? propose overhauling bankruptcy proceedings, which currently can drag out for years. It would also make it easier for banks to foreclose on debtors.

The Association of Mexican Banks issued at a statement Wednesday, saying it supported the objectives of the financial reforms and would study the issue further.

MEXICO'S BANKING 'STAR' STATUS

Mexico?s banks have been characterized as stable and profitable internationally by acting conservatively and charging high fees. These actions have produced big profits at time when their counterparts abroad were being bailed out.

Much of Mexico's bank lending in recent years went to state governments, whose loans were considered low risk, according to central bank governor Agust?n Carstens, because federal government transfers to the states were used as collateral. Banks also bought government bonds, which provide higher profits with less risk than lending to the private sector, says Manuel Molano, adjunct director of the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness.

Most of the banks are foreign-owned and analysts say the Mexican subsidiaries of institutions like Citibank, or Spanish-owned Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria and Banco Santander have been among the best performers for their parent companies during tough economic times.

?These are the stars in the worldwide networks of these banks,? says Roberto S?nchez, administration professor at the Iberoamerican University in Mexico City.

The star status is a reversal of fortune for Mexico?s banks, which were beset by nationalizations, botched privatizations, and bailouts over the past three decades. The bailouts surrounding Mexico?s peso crisis of the 1990s became controversial as bank owners were perceived to have received sweetheart deals, while everyday Mexicans went broke, Mr. S?nchez says.

Some left-wing candidates still campaign on the outrage generated during the bailout and rail against banks and their tightfisted practices.

?This goes right to one of [the left?s] main proposals, which is to boost credit,? Eduardo Garc?a, founder of the online financial publication Sentido Com?n, says of the reforms.

?LENDING CULTURE??

How much of a difference the reforms make remains to be seen. Only 21 percent of Mexicans save their money through a bank, according to a recent Consulta Mitofsky survey. Informal methods of borrowing and savings, hiding cash at home, and using poorly regulated credit unions remain common.

?I don?t know how much the lending culture exists, how much people want to borrow,? Mr. Garc?a says.

RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about Mexico? Take our quiz.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/easy-credit-coming-mexico-184815580.html

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