Thursday, April 25, 2013

Mammal and bug food co-op in the High Arctic

Apr. 24, 2013 ? Who would have thought that two very different species, a small insect and a furry alpine mammal, would develop a shared food arrangement in the far North?

University of Alberta researchers were certainly surprised when they discovered the unusual response of pikas to patches of vegetation that had previously been grazed on by caterpillars from a species normally found in the high Arctic.

U of A biology researcher Isabel C. Barrio analyzed how two herbivores, caterpillars and pikas, competed for scarce vegetation in alpine areas of the southwest Yukon. The caterpillars come out of their winter cocoons and start consuming vegetation soon after the snow melts in June. Weeks later, the pika starts gathering and storing food in its winter den. For the experiment, Barrio altered the numbers of caterpillars grazing on small plots of land surrounding pika dens.

"What we found was that the pikas preferred the patches first grazed on by caterpillars," said Barrio. "We think the caterpillar's waste acted as a natural fertilizer, making the vegetation richer and more attractive to the pika."

U of A biology professor David Hik, who supervised the research, says the results are the opposite of what the team expected to find.

"Normally you'd expect that increased grazing by the caterpillars would have a negative effect on the pika," said Hik. "But the very territorial little pika actually preferred the vegetation first consumed by the caterpillars."

The researchers say it's highly unusual that two distant herbivore species -- an insect in its larval stage and a mammal -- react positively to one another when it comes to the all-consuming survival issue of finding food.

These caterpillars stay in their crawling larval stage for up to 14 years, sheltering in a cocoon during the long winters before finally becoming Arctic woolly bear moths for the final 24 hours of their lives.

The pika does not hibernate and gathers a food supply in its den. Its food-gathering territory surrounds the den and covers an area of around 700 square metres.

The researchers say they'll continue their work on the caterpillar-pika relationship to explore the long-term implications for increased insect populations and competition for scarce food resources in northern mountain environments.

Barrio was the lead author on the collaborative research project, which was published April 24 in the journal Biology Letters.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Alberta, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS. The original article was written by Brian Murphy.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. I. C. Barrio, D. S. Hik, K. Peck, C. G. Bueno. After the frass: foraging pikas select patches previously grazed by caterpillars. Biology Letters, 2013; 9 (3): 20130090 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2013.0090

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.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/apG4-pzYpt8/130424161114.htm

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From Wrestling Captain to Terrorism Suspect

Since the FBI named Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother the primary suspects of the Boston Marathon bombing last week, investigators, journalists, and the public have scoured his life for clues behind his motivations. They've questioned his friends and family members, dug into his school records, interviewed his mechanic, and even?extrapolated his sleeping habits from his Twitter account. The timeline below shows the important things we know about his life. Check back for updates as his prosecution unfolds.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=928448f4dd90c0260ed9d5182f6820dd

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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

UK takes ownership of stored plutonium, may fuel new reactors

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said it would take ownership of 2,950 kg of waste plutonium that it has been storing on behalf of European utilities and may reprocess it into fuel for a planned new generation of nuclear plants.

The ownership change does not mean that more nuclear fuel will be brought into Britain, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said.

The government wants to recycle the world's largest civilian stockpile of used plutonium - stored at the Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria - into MOX fuel for a new generation of plants currently under discussion with France's EDF and others.

A decision on whether to build a dedicated plant to convert plutonium into MOX fuel is not expected until 2015, a spokesman for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority said. Britain's new reactor fleet is not due to become operational until the 2020s, with launch dates still subject to commercial discussions.

The UK government currently spends 2 billion pounds ($3.1 billion) a year to manage its growing plutonium stockpile.

The radioactive byproduct is found in used or spent fuel when it is removed from a reactor. It can be extracted by reprocessing and can then be reused to make MOX fuel, which can be used to power other nuclear reactors.

"There are advantages to having national control over more of the civil plutonium in the UK as this gives us greater influence over how we ultimately manage it," Britain's minister of state for energy, Michael Fallon, said in a statement.

The latest deals, agreed with Britain's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, involve a complex series of swaps to take ownership of 750 kg of German-owned plutonium and 350 kg of Dutch-owned material.

In addition, the state will assume control of 1,850 kg of plutonium previously earmarked to repay to France.

In December 2011 Britain was home to 118.2 tonnes of plutonium, of which 27.9 tonnes is owned by foreign entities, according to the latest available data from the office for nuclear regulation.

DECC declined to say to what extent the ownership transfers benefited UK taxpayers.

Greenpeace did not immediately have any comment.

(Reporting by William James; Editing by Oleg Vukmanovic and Jane Baird)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uk-takes-ownership-stored-plutonium-may-fuel-reactors-154010689--finance.html

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Sprint posts narrower loss, weak subscriber numbers

(Reuters) - Sprint Nextel Corp, an acquisition target of both Japan's SoftBank Corp and Dish Network Corp, on Wednesday posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss, but its customer growth suffered as its Nextel network winds down.

While Sprint, the No. 3 U.S. mobile service provider, recorded higher-than-expected revenue, it said the Nextel network shutdown was also stunting growth in its remaining network because large business customers were leaving.

Sprint added 12,000 customers to its network, compared with the average estimate of almost 198,000 from five analysts contacted by Reuters. Their expectations ranged from 110,000 to 275,000 net additions.

The company's top priority was to convince Nextel customers to move to the Sprint network ahead of the final shutdown at the end of this quarter. Some Nextel business clients also canceled subscriptions to Sprint's remaining network, Chief Executive Officer Dan Hesse told analysts on a conference call.

Including the Nextel network defections, Sprint lost 560,000 subscribers, compared with the analysts' average estimate of a loss of almost 525,000.

By contrast, top U.S. mobile provider Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc, added 677,000 subscribers in the quarter, and second-ranked AT&T Inc added 296,000.

Macquarie analyst Kevin Smithen said Sprint was also facing tough competition from a new marketing push by smaller rival T-Mobile USA, a Deutsche Telekom unit.

"The AT&T and Sprint results confirm that T-Mobile USA has been taking share in the last few months," Smithen said.

However, he said he was impressed that Sprint's first-quarter loss narrowed to $643 million, or 21 cents per share, from $863 million, or 29 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts expected a loss of 33 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Smithen said Sprint was reducing costs faster than expected from the wind-down of the Nextel network, which is based on an older technology called iDen.

Sprint's revenue rose to $8.79 billion from $8.73 billion. Analysts had expected $8.71 billion.

The company now expects 2013 adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization to reach the high end of its previously announced target of between $5.2 billion and $5.5 billion, excluding costs of closing strategic transactions.

Sprint's board is evaluating a $25.5 billion acquisition offer from No. 2 U.S. satellite TV service Dish, which has challenged the company's October agreement to sell 70 percent of itself to SoftBank for $20.1 billion.

During a conference call with analysts, Sprint did not comment on the Dish offer but said the SoftBank deal could close as soon as July 1.

Sprint shares were up 0.3 percent at $7.12 in early trading. At Tuesday's close, the stock had risen 14 percent since Dish announced its unsolicited bid on April 12 as investors bet that SoftBank might sweeten its offer.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe, Gerald E. McCormick and Lisa Von Ahn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sprint-posts-increase-quarterly-revenue-111713705--sector.html

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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Fab Is Raising A Mondo Round At A $1 Billion Valuation

75592v16-max-250x250We're hearing from multiple sources that design-focused retail site Fab is raising a new round of funding at a $1 billion valuation. The company has previously raised $171 million in funding and we're hearing it seeks to raise more than $100 million in this round. At Fab's last round of financing, the company was worth around $600 million. Twelve million users strong, Fab is continuing to grow at a fast clip after its initial pivot. Last year, the company saw $150 million in revenue, and revealed in February that sales were up by nearly 300% in January 2013 over January 2012. In fact, January was Fab?s 3rd highest sales month ever.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/EOK9cCLYnu0/

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Sabathia, Yanks rocked by Rays in Tampa

Associated Press Sports

updated 10:17 p.m. ET April 22, 2013

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Matt Moore made Tampa Bay history and helped the Rays extend their home-field dominance over the New York Yankees.

Moore became the first Rays pitcher to win his first four starts of a season, Ryan Roberts homered twice and Tampa Bay beat CC Sabathia and the Yankees 5-1 on Monday night.

"I think a lot of it is just each night I'm out there I've got run support," Moore said. "So, it makes it that much easier to pitch."

Moore (4-0) allowed one run, two hits, three walks and had nine strikeouts over eight innings. Roberts connected in the first and third to help the Rays take an early 5-0 lead.

"The thing that I saw tonight was that he has built off of the first three," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said of Moore. "The first couple starts, he got through some moments, was not really sharp. But today he was sharp. Tonight was the first night I thought he put everything together since the beginning of the season. Matt was really the story tonight."

Over the past three games, Tampa Bay has held opponents to two runs - including the final two games of a three-game sweep of Oakland. It was the third straight game Tampa Bay pitching has given up three or fewer hits.

"A lot of it is just feeding off each other," Moore said.

Tampa Bay has won 12 of its last 14 home games against the Yankees dating back to July 2011. Kyle Farnsworth completed the two-hitter.

Yankees infielder Kevin Youkilis, who left Saturday's game at Toronto with lower back stiffness, was a late scratch Monday after the back tightened up following batting practice.

"It might be a couple more days," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "Well see how he is tomorrow."

Sabathia (3-2) had a three-start winning streak end. The left-hander gave up five runs and seven hits, including three homers, over seven innings.

"I was trying to be more fluid with my delivery, and I think that took some of my aggressiveness away," Sabathia said. "I just have to be more aggressive, let the ball go and not think so much. I'm usually aggressive. It's just one of those things tonight where I don't know what I was thinking. I felt like I had better stuff than I've had, but it was a bad day."

The Yankees ace dropped to 10-10, including 3-6 in road decisions, against the Rays.

The Rays took a 4-0 lead in the first. After Roberts hit a solo homer on an 0-2 pitch from Sabathia, Evan Longoria singled and scored on Sean Rodriguez's triple. Yunel Escobar then put Tampa Bay up 4-0 with a two-run shot.

Roberts homered again in the third to make it 5-0. It was his third career multihomer game.

Sabathia had given up just one homer over 28 innings in his four previous starts this season. The Rays are the only team - with three - to have more than one game with three or more homers against him.

"You wouldn't necessarily think that any team would give C.C. a lot of trouble because he's been such a good pitcher, but they seem to give him more trouble here than at our place, and I'm not really sure why," Girardi said.

Robinson Cano cut the deficit to 5-1 on a homer in the fourth inning, which was New York's first hit. Cano also had the other hit off Moore, an infield single during the sixth.

The Yankees have homered in all nine of their road games this year, matching the team's longest streak since 2000.

The second game of the series Tuesday night has AL CY Young Award winner David Price (0-1) facing New York's Phil Hughes (0-2). The Rays have lost Price's four starts this season, which is the fifth time, and first since Ton Glavine in 1999, that a reigning Cy Young Award winner's team has lost his first four starts.

NOTES: Star NFL CB Darrelle Revis, acquired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday from the New York Jets, threw the ceremonial first pitch. He received a big ovation from the crowd. ... Yankees OF Curtis Granderson (broken right forearm) hit off a tee and soft toss throws for the first time at the team's complex in nearby Tampa. ... Rays DH Luke Scott (strained right calf) is expected to start a minor league rehab assignment Tuesday at Class-A Charlotte. ... Sabathia has been scored upon in the first inning in two consecutive starts after a stretch of 13 starts where he kept the opponent scoreless in the opening inning. ... Longoria has reached base safely in 33 straight games dating back to last season.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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There's no place like home

CSN: Mike Napoli loves playing at Fenway Park. He hit a fifth inning grand slam to lift the Red Sox over the A's, 9-6. In 19 career games at Fenway, Napoli has hit .306 with seven homers and 17 RBIs.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/51627389/ns/sports-baseball/

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Monday, April 22, 2013

Personal development tips you should consider ? The Punch ...

Personal development tips you should consider

Human resource managers say it is important for individuals to continuously work towards self-improvement. SIMON EJEMBI writes on ways that can be achieved

?No matter how good or effective you are at work or in life generally, experts say it is important that you strive to improve yourself.

According to them, this will make you more productive and successful ? that is if you are already productive. If you are not, then self-improvement will increase your chances of turning the table around. This is because it would help you correct the flaws or weaknesses that have hindered your growth and equip you for success.

Some of the tips suggested by experts are highlighted below.

?Be disciplined

According to experts, without discipline, it is difficult for you to succeed at work, home and in terms of personal finance management. They stress that for you to successfully execute any plan or complete a task, discipline is required.

By disciplining yourself, you will be able to overcome such bad habits as procrastination and the tendency to blame others for failure or problems.

Experts warn that people, who never accept blame or reality, are unlikely to take needed steps to correct their flaws or develop themselves.

They say one of the first things people who want to develop themselves should do is to become disciplined.

?Set goals

To achieve personal development, experts say it is important to have a target in life. Some say once those set goals are achieved, it is okay to set new goals. This, according to them, is because without set goals or targets, you are likely to relax and become comfortable with the way things are; and life may just pass you by.

They explain that in certain goals, you have to look at your present circumstance and decide the changes you want to make.

Are you always late for work? Do you always fail to complete tasks?? These are examples of things you may consider in setting goals. Of course, things you want to change can be more serious, depending on your circumstance or challenges.

In certain goals, it is important that you think about the plan you have for your life ? career, family, etc. ? and ensure that the set goals are in tune with them. That way, you won?t spend time working on goals that will not add anything to you or your plan in the long run.

?Learn to think positively

In his book, ?The Power of Positive Thinking?, Norman Vincent Pearle stresses that positive thinking is an attitude that anticipates happiness, health and successful results.

Indeed, experts agree that positive thinking is important for people who are interested in self-development. They explain that bringing out the best in people helps to avoid negative talk and traits such as the tendency to blame others for everything that goes wrong.

According to experts, there is also the need to control your thinking. They say by controlling what you think, you stand a better chance of controlling your life.

This will require you to organise your thoughts. And one thing that may be handy in this regard is meditation, which they say can clear your mind and remove negative thoughts.

?Start right away

Having thought about what you want to achieve or change and set goals to achieve that, experts say it is important that you get a good start.

They stress that once you have your plan, you should start implementing it right away as procrastination may see your circumstance worsened. So, the advice is that you should not leave what you can do today for tomorrow.

It will also be helpful that you get up early every day, as this will leave you with more time to complete tasks, than when you wake up late every morning.

?Break tasks down

As you strive to achieve your personal development targets and as you go about your activities every day, there are many tasks that you will be required to complete. Many people get overwhelmed by the amount of tasks they have to complete on a daily basis. Experts say this is sometimes because they fail to break these tasks down into smaller tasks and in such a way that they could easily handle them. To avoid that, organise the tasks you are given and come up with a schedule for all you have to do.

?Increase your knowledge

They say knowledge is power. Experts say increasing your knowledge is key if you want to achieve personal development.

Apart from getting additional training in various areas where you have noticed that you are weak, they stress that it is important for you to read relevant literature. They say by reading about the mistakes of others, you can speed up your personal development process.

Instead of learning the hard way ? through experience, you are advised to learn from others. And while finding a mentor is great, you can learn about the mistakes of others by reading widely.

?Embrace change

Experts say it is okay to be conservative at times, but in a world that is changing at a rapid pace, people that welcome change are better off than those who are resistant to it. While they admit that change is difficult to accept, they warn that there is no escaping it, hence the earlier you learn to embrace it the better. Imagine the difficulties an individual who was refused to use mobile phones in today?s world will face. While that may be hard to imagine for you, if you examine some of the changes, which you have refused to embrace, you may find that they have a similar effect.

?Get organised

How organised are you? Do you plan your day and activities ahead or do you do things at the last moment? By getting organised or more organised, you are likely to find it easier to complete your tasks and thereby become more productive. This is because you will be able to focus on important tasks. And because you have planned in advance, you will find it easier to accomplish more, having thought of likely obstacles and ways to tackle them before they pop up.

?Evaluate

Once you have decided to develop yourself and started taking steps towards that, it is important that you evaluate the progress you have made from time to time. Experts say once you start wanting to create value regularly, then it means you are improving yourself.

Other things that will be helpful to you in your quest to develop yourself include regular exercise, dealing with the right kind of people or having good friends, and keeping bad habits in check, among others.

It is important to note that personal development basically involves everything that can transform your life in a positive way. This means there are many other tips that will be helpful.

While it is impossible for all of them to be listed here by being willing to embrace change, reading a lot, being willing to embrace change and ensuring that you are disciplined, you stand a very good chance of achieving your personal development goals.

More Stories in AM Business

Source: http://www.punchng.com/am-business/personal-development-tips-you-should-consider/

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Sunday, April 21, 2013

When you need to trim workforce, focus RIF criteria on measurable ...

The key to a successful, challenge-proof reduction in force is using objective, measurable factors to determine who stays and who goes. That greatly reduces the likelihood that a former employee who loses his job to a RIF will win a discrimination case.

Recent case: Victor, who is black, worked as a financial advisor trainee for Merrill Lynch.

Early on, he received a written ?letter of education? based on conduct that occurred during an official visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo. He had bought dinner for several government officials without first getting company approval. During that trip, he was also ob??served spending considerable time with another financial advisor who had previously charged the company with discrimination.

Victor was terminated as part of a reduction in force that affected 200 financial advisors. He sued, arguing that the real reason was his association with the other advisor and not his performance.

But Merrill Lynch showed the court the criteria it had used to pick the layoff candidates. Among the crucial factors were things like hitting sales goals and earning bonuses, two categories in which Victor had come up short.

The court tossed out his case, reasoning that Victor couldn?t show?through his sales numbers?that he was at least as successful as the lowest-performing individual who had kept his job. (Jarvis v. Bank of America, No. 1:10-CV-896, MD NC, 2012)

Like what you've read? ...Republish it and share great business tips!

Attention: Readers, Publishers, Editors, Bloggers, Media, Webmasters and more...

We believe great content should be read and passed around. After all, knowledge IS power. And good business can become great with the right information at their fingertips. If you'd like to share any of the insightful articles on BusinessManagementDaily.com, you may republish or syndicate it without charge.

The only thing we ask is that you keep the article exactly as it was written and formatted. You also need to include an attribution statement and link to the article.

" This information is proudly provided by Business Management Daily.com: http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/34478/when-you-need-to-trim-workforce-focus-rif-criteria-on-measurable-factors "

Source: http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/34478/when-you-need-to-trim-workforce-focus-rif-criteria-on-measurable-factors

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Saturday, April 20, 2013

WHO data on bird flu raises new questions about human transmission

By Megha Rajagopalan

BEIJING (Reuters) - More than 50 percent of patients infected with a new type of bird flu in China had no contact with poultry, the World Health Organization said on Friday, further raising questions about whether the virus was transmitted between humans.

The H7N9 virus has so far infected 87 people in China and killed 17, but it remains unclear how they contracted the disease. A Chinese official earlier this week said about 40 percent of patients had been in no contact with poultry.

The WHO's China representative, Michael O'Leary, issued the new data, but said human-to-human transmission was rare.

"As the investigation gets deeper we're finding that more than half have had no contact with poultry", O'Leary told a briefing.

"It's hard to definitively rule in or rule out chickens", he said. "This is still an animal virus that occasionally infects humans. With rare exceptions, we know that people are not getting sick from other people".

O'Leary said investigators had tested 80,000 birds for the flu, but only 40 tested positive and none of those was sick.

"This is unusual in that we haven't been finding sick birds", he said.

An international team of epidemiologists and other experts led by the WHO and Chinese government officials will visit live chicken markets and hospitals over the next several days in Beijing and Shanghai.

Some bird samples in markets have tested positive.

China has culled thousands of birds and shut down some markets selling live poultry to try to stave off the spread of infection.

Widespread culls of poultry would be premature, O'Leary said, though he added that he was not criticizing those that had already taken place.

China has warned that there could be more infections to come. Many of the 87 cases, and 11 of the deaths, have occurred in the commercial center of Shanghai.

The flu is linked to the migration of wild birds, the official China Daily newspaper on Friday quoted an investigator at the Chinese Academy of Sciences as saying.

"The infection time and route coincided with the migration of water birds," He Hongxuan told the newspaper.

China's poultry sector has recorded losses of more than 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) since reports of the flu surfaced two weeks ago, an industry official told Reuters this week.

(Writing by Terril Yue Jones and Megha Rajagopalan; Editing by Ron Popeski)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/data-bird-flu-raises-questions-human-transmission-072712645.html

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