Specialist Meric Greenbaum, left, works with traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday, April 29, 2013. A pair of encouraging economic reports helped propel the stock market up in early trading on Monday. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Specialist Meric Greenbaum, left, works with traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday, April 29, 2013. A pair of encouraging economic reports helped propel the stock market up in early trading on Monday. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
The handheld device of trader Joseph Tarangelo, center, is reflected in his glasses as he works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday, April 29, 2013. A pair of encouraging economic reports helped propel the stock market up in early trading on Monday. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader George Ettinger works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday, April 29, 2013. A pair of encouraging economic reports helped propel the stock market up in early trading on Monday. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Luigi Muccitelli, left, and specialist Michael Pistillo, center, work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday, April 29, 2013. A pair of encouraging economic reports helped propel the stock market up in early trading on Monday. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Technology companies led the stock market higher Monday, pushing the Standard & Poor's 500 index back up to the record high it reached earlier this month.
A pair of strong economic reports also encouraged investors. Wages and spending rose in the U.S. last month, and pending home sales hit their highest level in three years.
Shortly after 12 p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average was up 85 points at 14,798, a gain of 0.6 percent. Microsoft and IBM were among the Dow's best performers, rising 2 percent each.
Big tech firms have slumped this month. Concerns about weak business spending and slower overseas sales have weighed on the industry, said Marty Leclerc, the managing partner of Barrack Yard Advisors, an investment firm in Bryn Mawr, Pa. Revenue misses from IBM and other big tech companies have highlighted the industry's vulnerability to the world economy.
"The areas of the stock market that haven't done as well rely on exports," Leclerc said. "Those stocks more dependent on the domestic economy have done the best."
Tech played catch-up on Monday. Information technology stocks rose the most of the 10 industry groups in the S&P, 1.5 percent. It's the only group that remains lower over the past year.
The S&P 500 index was up 11 points to 1,593, a gain of 0.7 percent. That matches its all-time closing high reached on April 11.
The Nasdaq composite rose 32 points at 3,311, a rise of 1 percent. Apple, the biggest stock in the index, rose 3.5 percent to $431.95.
The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes reached the highest level since April 2010, according to the National Association of Realtors. Back then, a tax credit for buying houses had lifted sales. Separately, the government reported that Americans' spending and income both edged up last month.
Moody's and Standard & Poor's parent company McGraw-Hill surged following news that the ratings agencies settled lawsuits dating back to the financial crisis that accused them of concealing risky investments. McGraw-Hill gained 6 percent to $54.80, while Moody's jumped 10 percent to $61.02, the biggest gain in the S&P 500.
Eaton Corp. gained 5 percent to $61.31 after reporting that its quarterly net income jumped, beating Wall Street's estimates. The results were helped by its acquisition of Cooper Industries, an electrical equipment supplier.
In the market for government bonds, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to 1.65 percent. That's down from 1.67 percent late Friday.
Apr. 28, 2013 ? From which ancestors have turtles evolved? How did they get their shell? New data provided by the Joint International Turtle Genome Consortium, led by researchers from RIKEN in Japan, BGI in China, and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the UK provides evidence that turtles are not primitive reptiles but belong to a sister group of birds and crocodiles. The work also sheds light on the evolution of the turtle's intriguing morphology and reveals that the turtle's shell evolved by recruiting genetic information encoding for the limbs.
Turtles are often described as evolutionary monsters, with a unique body plan and a shell that is considered to be one of the most intriguing structures in the animal kingdom.
"Turtles are interesting because they offer an exceptional case to understand the big evolutionary changes that occurred in vertebrate history," explains Dr. Naoki Irie, from the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology, who led the study.
Using next-generation DNA sequencers, the researchers from 9 international institutions have decoded the genome of the green sea turtle and Chinese soft-shell turtle and studied the expression of genetic information in the developing turtle.
Their results published in Nature Genetics show that turtles are not primitive reptiles as previously thought, but are related to the group comprising birds and crocodilians, which also includes extinct dinosaurs. Based on genomic information, the researchers predict that turtles must have split from this group around 250 million years ago, during one of the largest extinction events ever to take place on this planet.
"We expect that this research will motivate further work to elucidate the possible causal connection between these events," says Dr. Irie.
The study also reveals that despite their unique anatomy, turtles follow the basic embryonic pattern during development. Rather than developing directly into a turtle-specific body shape with a shell, they first establish the vertebrates' basic body plan and then enter a turtle-specific development phase. During this late specialization phase, the group found traces of limb-related gene expression in the embryonic shell, which indicates that the turtle shell evolved by recruiting part of the genetic program used for the limbs.
"The work not only provides insight into how turtles evolved, but also gives hints as to how the vertebrate developmental programs can be changed to produce major evolutionary novelties." explains Dr. Irie.
Another unexpected finding of the study was that turtles possess a large number of olfactory receptors and must therefore have the ability to smell a wide variety of substances. The researchers identified more than 1000 olfactory receptors in the soft-shell turtle, which is one of the largest numbers ever to be found in a non-mammalian vertebrate.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by RIKEN, via AlphaGalileo.
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Zhuo Wang, Juan Pascual-Anaya, Amonida Zadissa, Wenqi Li, Yoshihito Niimura, Zhiyong Huang, Chunyi Li, Simon White, Zhiqiang Xiong, Dongming Fang, Bo Wang, Yao Ming, Yan Chen, Yuan Zheng, Shigehiro Kuraku, Miguel Pignatelli, Javier Herrero, Kathryn Beal, Masafumi Nozawa, Qiye Li, Juan Wang, Hongyan Zhang, Lili Yu, Shuji Shigenobu, Junyi Wang, Jiannan Liu, Paul Flicek, Steve Searle, Jun Wang, Shigeru Kuratani, Ye Yin, Bronwen Aken, Guojie Zhang, Naoki Irie. The draft genomes of soft-shell turtle and green sea turtle yield insights into the development and evolution of the turtle-specific body plan. Nature Genetics, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/ng.2615
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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Contact: Judy Lowry jhlowry@usf.edu 813-974-3181 University of South Florida (USF Innovation)
New technologies speed health care delivery, reduce costs, pioneer new therapies
TAMPA, Fla. (April 22, 2013) The current special issue of Technology and Innovation Proceedings of the National Academy of Inventors (https://www.cognizantcommunication.com/component/content/article/636), devoted to studies on medical technology and health care delivery, focuses on a wide range of topics, from new technologies to reduce the cost of health care to understanding the human microbiome.
"This special issue of Technology and Innovation on transformative health care technologies truly explores new frontiers where technology and health care cross," said Dr. Paul R. Sanberg, senior vice president for Research & Innovation at the University of South Florida and president of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). "The pioneering researchers who contributed to this issue are leading us into a new era in health that promises to be more efficacious, less expensive and as personal as an individual's health data, microbes and brain cells."
Automated Educational Intervention reduces prescription and hospital costs
A study into the effectiveness of a program to analyze prescription data launched in Missouri in 2003 by Care Management Technologies (CMT), found that physicians who received educational intervention about their patients' prescriptions ultimately helped reduce the costs of care for their Medicaid patients with schizophrenia.
"Pharmacy costs were growing 15 percent annually, and the greatest growth was in psychotropic drugs," says study lead author John P. Docherty of Care Management Technologies, Inc., Weill Cornell Medical College. The study analyzed the CMT program's ability to determine, from prescription data from 2002 to 2005, the deviations from best practices that could increase pharmacy and service costs for a Medicaid subset of patients (173,609) with schizophrenia. According to Docherty and his co-authors, by one year later the intervention program resulted in cost reductions for an estimated 6,310 patients with schizophrenia.
Contact: John P. Docherty, M.D., Care Management Technologies, Inc., 1 Copley Parkway, Suite 500, Morrisville, NC 27560. Email jdochert@med.cornell.edu
Citation: Docherty, J. P.; Veach, J.; Carmel, H.; Oestreich, G. L.; Gorman, J. M.; Parks, J. J. Transforming physician prescribing: the reduction of pharmacy and hospital costs in a population of state Medicaid patients through an automated educational intervention. Technology and Innovation. Appeared or available online: April 18, 2013.
Creating health outcomes indices
There is no widely accepted metric that accurately and timely measures the burden of disease or tracks health status or health system performance through the use of real-world patient data, according to lead author Efthimios Parasidis of Global Health Outcomes, Inc., and co-authors.
"We aim to fill this gap through creating 'health outcomes indices' (HOIs)," explains Parasidis. "By accurately tracking patient outcomes over time, HOIs provide health care stakeholders with a valuable tool with which to measure, assess and predict health outcomes."
According to Parasidis, creating HOIs is dependent on a three-phase framework by which multiple data sources 'real world' patient data, key drivers of patient outcomes, and identification of outcome variables are analyzed to judge the impact of new therapies and justify the allocation of health care dollars.
"Paramount to the long-term fiscal challenges [of health care] is how to manage rising costs without adversely affecting health outcomes," note the authors. "The HOI model seeks to fill this gap by providing stakeholders with a valuable tool to measure, compare and predict health outcomes."
Contact: Efthimios Parasidis, Center for Health Law Studies, St. Louis University School of Law, 3700 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108. Email eparasid@slu.edu
Citation: Parasidis, E.; Petratos, G.; Dastrup, E.; Kamauu, A.; DesRosiers, C.; Zafar, J.
A dynamic method for quantifying healthcare status and burden of disease through health outcomes indices. Technology and Innovation. Appeared or available online: April 18, 2013.
The Microbiome and us
Dr. William A. Peck, director of the Center for Health Policy at the Washington University School of Medicine says in "The Microbiome: A Mediator of Human Wellness," that an understanding the human microbiome the tens of trillions of microbes inhabiting our bodies has expanded dramatically through the use of advanced technologies that have increased the mounting evidence of the microbiome's role in human health and disease.
Advanced technologies, particularly culture independent DNA sequencing and computational analytics have been valuable, according to Peck. An innovative research technology called "highly parallel DNA sequencing" allows for simultaneous analysis for standardized data across multiple samples. What additional research may tell us about the function and benefits of the microbiome is critical to future health care, he says.
"Additional research on microbiome manipulations may well yield novel preventive strategies and treatments," Peck concludes.
Contact: William A. Peck, M.D., Director, Center for Health Policy, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Dr., Campus Box 1162, Charles Knight Education Center, Room 166, St. Louis, MO 63130. Email peckw@wustl.edu
Citation: Peck, W. A. The microbiome: a mediator of human wellness. Technology and Innovation. Appeared or available online: April 18, 2013.
###
The National Academy of Inventors is a 501(c)3 non-profit member organization comprised of more than 70 U.S. and international universities, and federal and non-profit research institutions, with over 2,000 individual academic inventor members, and growing rapidly. It was founded in 2010 to recognize and encourage inventors with patents issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, enhance the visibility of academic technology and innovation, encourage the disclosure of intellectual property, educate and mentor innovative students, and translate the inventions of its members to benefit society. http://www.academyofinventors.org
The NAI edits the multidisciplinary journal, Technology and Innovation Proceedings of the National Academy of Inventors, published by Cognizant Communication Corporation (NY), with editorial offices located at the University of South Florida Research Park of Tampa Bay, 3702 Spectrum Blvd., Suite 165, Tampa, Florida, 33612 USA. Tel: +1-813-974-1347. Email TIJournal@research.usf.edu
News Release by Florida Science Communications, http://www.sciencescribe.net
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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.
Contact: Judy Lowry jhlowry@usf.edu 813-974-3181 University of South Florida (USF Innovation)
New technologies speed health care delivery, reduce costs, pioneer new therapies
TAMPA, Fla. (April 22, 2013) The current special issue of Technology and Innovation Proceedings of the National Academy of Inventors (https://www.cognizantcommunication.com/component/content/article/636), devoted to studies on medical technology and health care delivery, focuses on a wide range of topics, from new technologies to reduce the cost of health care to understanding the human microbiome.
"This special issue of Technology and Innovation on transformative health care technologies truly explores new frontiers where technology and health care cross," said Dr. Paul R. Sanberg, senior vice president for Research & Innovation at the University of South Florida and president of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). "The pioneering researchers who contributed to this issue are leading us into a new era in health that promises to be more efficacious, less expensive and as personal as an individual's health data, microbes and brain cells."
Automated Educational Intervention reduces prescription and hospital costs
A study into the effectiveness of a program to analyze prescription data launched in Missouri in 2003 by Care Management Technologies (CMT), found that physicians who received educational intervention about their patients' prescriptions ultimately helped reduce the costs of care for their Medicaid patients with schizophrenia.
"Pharmacy costs were growing 15 percent annually, and the greatest growth was in psychotropic drugs," says study lead author John P. Docherty of Care Management Technologies, Inc., Weill Cornell Medical College. The study analyzed the CMT program's ability to determine, from prescription data from 2002 to 2005, the deviations from best practices that could increase pharmacy and service costs for a Medicaid subset of patients (173,609) with schizophrenia. According to Docherty and his co-authors, by one year later the intervention program resulted in cost reductions for an estimated 6,310 patients with schizophrenia.
Contact: John P. Docherty, M.D., Care Management Technologies, Inc., 1 Copley Parkway, Suite 500, Morrisville, NC 27560. Email jdochert@med.cornell.edu
Citation: Docherty, J. P.; Veach, J.; Carmel, H.; Oestreich, G. L.; Gorman, J. M.; Parks, J. J. Transforming physician prescribing: the reduction of pharmacy and hospital costs in a population of state Medicaid patients through an automated educational intervention. Technology and Innovation. Appeared or available online: April 18, 2013.
Creating health outcomes indices
There is no widely accepted metric that accurately and timely measures the burden of disease or tracks health status or health system performance through the use of real-world patient data, according to lead author Efthimios Parasidis of Global Health Outcomes, Inc., and co-authors.
"We aim to fill this gap through creating 'health outcomes indices' (HOIs)," explains Parasidis. "By accurately tracking patient outcomes over time, HOIs provide health care stakeholders with a valuable tool with which to measure, assess and predict health outcomes."
According to Parasidis, creating HOIs is dependent on a three-phase framework by which multiple data sources 'real world' patient data, key drivers of patient outcomes, and identification of outcome variables are analyzed to judge the impact of new therapies and justify the allocation of health care dollars.
"Paramount to the long-term fiscal challenges [of health care] is how to manage rising costs without adversely affecting health outcomes," note the authors. "The HOI model seeks to fill this gap by providing stakeholders with a valuable tool to measure, compare and predict health outcomes."
Contact: Efthimios Parasidis, Center for Health Law Studies, St. Louis University School of Law, 3700 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108. Email eparasid@slu.edu
Citation: Parasidis, E.; Petratos, G.; Dastrup, E.; Kamauu, A.; DesRosiers, C.; Zafar, J.
A dynamic method for quantifying healthcare status and burden of disease through health outcomes indices. Technology and Innovation. Appeared or available online: April 18, 2013.
The Microbiome and us
Dr. William A. Peck, director of the Center for Health Policy at the Washington University School of Medicine says in "The Microbiome: A Mediator of Human Wellness," that an understanding the human microbiome the tens of trillions of microbes inhabiting our bodies has expanded dramatically through the use of advanced technologies that have increased the mounting evidence of the microbiome's role in human health and disease.
Advanced technologies, particularly culture independent DNA sequencing and computational analytics have been valuable, according to Peck. An innovative research technology called "highly parallel DNA sequencing" allows for simultaneous analysis for standardized data across multiple samples. What additional research may tell us about the function and benefits of the microbiome is critical to future health care, he says.
"Additional research on microbiome manipulations may well yield novel preventive strategies and treatments," Peck concludes.
Contact: William A. Peck, M.D., Director, Center for Health Policy, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Dr., Campus Box 1162, Charles Knight Education Center, Room 166, St. Louis, MO 63130. Email peckw@wustl.edu
Citation: Peck, W. A. The microbiome: a mediator of human wellness. Technology and Innovation. Appeared or available online: April 18, 2013.
###
The National Academy of Inventors is a 501(c)3 non-profit member organization comprised of more than 70 U.S. and international universities, and federal and non-profit research institutions, with over 2,000 individual academic inventor members, and growing rapidly. It was founded in 2010 to recognize and encourage inventors with patents issued from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, enhance the visibility of academic technology and innovation, encourage the disclosure of intellectual property, educate and mentor innovative students, and translate the inventions of its members to benefit society. http://www.academyofinventors.org
The NAI edits the multidisciplinary journal, Technology and Innovation Proceedings of the National Academy of Inventors, published by Cognizant Communication Corporation (NY), with editorial offices located at the University of South Florida Research Park of Tampa Bay, 3702 Spectrum Blvd., Suite 165, Tampa, Florida, 33612 USA. Tel: +1-813-974-1347. Email TIJournal@research.usf.edu
News Release by Florida Science Communications, http://www.sciencescribe.net
[ | 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.
We can all grow to be leaders and also followers. Each are fundamental but the leader sets the effective example for his/her followers. A great leader has a fantastic follower.
If you think you are not a good quality leader, perhaps you should have a self-improvement seminar.
Self-improvement seminar for leaders is instruction them to be fantastic to the followers.
There are a range of self-improvement seminar for you. But leadership instruction seminar is the b?
What are you? A leader or a follower?
We can all grow to be leaders and also followers. Both are significant but the leader sets the effective example for his/her followers. A effective leader has a excellent follower.
If you assume you are not a fine leader, maybe you need to have a self-improvement seminar.
Self-improvement seminar for leaders is training them to be good to the followers.
There are a assortment of self-improvement seminar for you. But leadership instruction seminar is the right for you.
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two. Optimistic Attitude ? A leader who has a positive attitude will influence his/her followers to carry that same attitude. A great example of a leader with a optimistic attitude could be a parent or teacher.
Mothers, fathers, or elementary teachers seem and are viewed as role models to the young children they are teaching and nurturing.
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If a parent is nurturing and loving to their kid, they will thrive under this encouragement.
If a school teacher supplies a constructive learning knowledge to the kid, they will succeed and that good results will grow to be contagious? In any circumstance, a leaders positive attitude will have higher effect and influence on their followers.
three. Motivation ? In an athletic globe, a motivating leader could be a coach, trainer or even a fellow teammate. Whilst the talent of players is a fantastic determinant of a winning group, their coach is also an critical factor. buy facebook likes If a coach can not produce a winning team, his job is at stake. A coachs motivation entails infusing his players with high requirements, and setting challenging but attainable objectives as they perform effectively. Hence, his/her capacity to motivate his players will improve their performances.
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four. Assertiveness ? A leader has the responsibility to guide the direction of his or her business. When a leader is firm and assertive in delegating tasks to his subordinates, they will hold a greater respect to adhere to by way of on their assignments.
An assertive leader has the ability to convey enforcement without becoming too autocratic or threatening to their subordinates.
Furthermore, an assertive leader really should not make his subordinates really feel like theyre in a hostile atmosphere. Alternatively, an assertive leader need to respect his men and women, and call for suitable accountability at the identical time. A leaders assertiveness and confidence earns respect. With that respect, people are a lot alot more probably to adhere to, assistance, and emulate their leader to attain results.
Self-improvement is vital for leaders. Attending self-improvement seminars can be a fantastic assist in being a wonderful leader.
Source: http://web5.uottawa.ca/www2/inter/?p=330
bob beckel anna paquin warren buffett 2012 nfl schedule dishonored april 18 delonte west
ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG said it had teamed up with biotech firm Ascletis to develop and commercialize its investigative drug danoprevir in China for the treatment of the Hepatitis-C virus.
Under the terms of the agreement, Ascletis will fund and be responsible for regulatory affairs and developing and manufacturing danoprevir in greater China, including Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.
Ascletis will receive payments upon reaching certain development and commercial milestones from Roche.
Ten million patients are infected annually with Hepatitis-C in China and there are no direct antiviral agents currently marketed to treat the disease, Ascletis said.
HAVANA (AP) ? Visitors to the elite feeder school for Cuba's renowned National Ballet might be forgiven for thinking they're suddenly seeing triple.
Identical triplets Angel, Cesar and Marcos Ramirez wear matching black leotards and white socks as they leap, prance and twirl across the linoleum floor of the mirrored studio. They share the same wiry build, olive complexion, mussed hairstyles and coffee-colored eyes. And they speak the same fast-paced Spanish in the high-pitched voice of children.
Even their instructors have trouble telling the Ramirez boys apart, but they say the 13-year-olds have already separated themselves from their peers technically and artistically, and all three have the talent to make a big splash in the ballet world when they grow up.
If they succeed, they will join a long line of celebrated dancers trained in Cuba, where fans from every social stratum follow the careers of ballet stars like Carlos Acosta and Rolando Sarabia as closely as those of baseball players or boxers.
"I want to be a dancer. The National Ballet of Cuba turns out great male dancers," said Marcos, sweat dripping from his face after a recent workout in the steamy studio as his brothers nodded in agreement. "And go on tour in many countries and travel the world by dancing."
Toward that end, the Ramirez brothers spend 12 hours a day at the National School of Ballet, housed in a graceful, cream-porticoed building that occupies a full half-block in colonial Old Havana. Classes include not only dance, but more mundane subjects like language, math and history.
A former social club with broad hallways and a majestic marble staircase, this is where the creme de la creme of young dancers from across the country train for a shot at stardom.
The school was founded seven decades ago by famed prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso, now age 92, who is probably the most recognized person in Cuba not named "Castro."
"This school means a lot to us," Angel said. "It gives us the training to graduate as ballet dancers, which is the thing we want most."
While the odds are tough, Mirlen Rodriguez, a 24-year-old teacher and former student at the school, says the brothers all have a chance of making their careers onstage.
"They are at a level that is beyond high," Rodriguez said.
The three have already beaten long odds simply by being born.
According to 2010 data compiled by the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, only 0.14 percent of births that year were triplets or higher-order multiple births.
Naturally born identical triplets, involving a single egg separating into three fetuses rather than multiple eggs being fertilized, are much rarer.
Mothers of Supertwins, a U.S. nonprofit group that provides support, education and research on higher-order multiple births, says about one of every 62,500 pregnancies results in identical triplets ? or 0.0016 percent.
The Ramirezes, born into a family that lives in the gritty neighborhood of Center Havana, say they are extremely close.
In conversation they often finish each other's thoughts. They also seem to have fun with their uniqueness, introducing themselves to a reporter as if their relationship wasn't apparent.
"My name is Angel Jesus Ramirez Castellanos, and I'm 13 years old," the first said with a sly smile, followed in turn by the others:
"My name is Marcos Abraham Ramirez Castellanos, and I'm 13 years old."
"My name is Cesar Josue Ramirez Castellanos, and I'm 13 years old."
While some identical siblings find it difficult to carve out their own identities, the Ramirezes say they relish their tripleness.
"For me it's a real stroke of luck being a triplet, being able to count on my brothers," Cesar said. "The disadvantage is that sometimes they scold you or correct you for something that another one did."
Instructors rely on tricks to tell them apart.
"There's one that has a little mark above the eyebrow. Another one gets dimples when he laughs," Rodriguez said.
"Then there's another that doesn't have dimples or a mole. During exams you have to put one of them there, another one here, the other way over there, and they have to stay in that formation."
She added, however, that while the boys share the same DNA and have been trained by the same instructors, they have unique personalities that show up in their dance. One is more mischievous, another more serious, the third the most talkative.
"They have the same physical form, the same configuration of legs and arms, but in their minds, each one is unique," Rodriguez said.
The triplets say they fell in love with dance in 2007 when their mother took them to a performance of "The Nutcracker," which is put on every Christmas season and costs just pennies to attend.
All three said it never occurred to them to worry about being teased for taking up dance. Ballet is broadly popular in Cuba, and the idea of a man donning a leotard has remarkably little stigma attached to it for a society that in other ways retains some macho attitudes.
The Ramirezes enrolled in the ballet school at age 10 after passing a rigorous exam and being selected over dozens of other children with similar dreams. More than 300 boys and girls train here in eight different grades, all hoping to make it to the National Ballet.
"It's a virus that can't be cured with antibiotics," said Ramona de Saa, the school's director. "And all that passion can be felt in the school."
The grueling day runs from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mornings are devoted to traditional school subjects, while afternoons are for perfecting demi plies and barre work.
"One, two, three, four!" an instructor's voice called out during a recent rehearsal as the Ramirezes twirled around and around on tiptoe. "Again!"
"It's a career that requires a lot of sacrifice. It takes away much of your childhood," Rodriguez said. "While others maybe are at home watching cartoon movies, they have to be at rehearsal."
___
Associated Press writer Peter Orsi contributed to this report.
___
Follow Andrea Rodriguez on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ARodriguezAP
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Apr. 9, 2013 ? The 'Mongolian Death Worm', called olgoi-khorkhoi by the local population is a legendary animal with an unconfirmed existence that has preoccupied the imagination of the inhabitants and travelers in the region. It is said to inhabit the southern Gobi Desert where it terrorizes travelers with its deadly abilities to project acid that, upon contact, turns anything it touches yellow and corroded.
Two new sub-species of earthworms, Eisenia nordenskioldi mongol and E. n. onon, are reported from the same region. Although neither of them possesses the fatal characteristics of olgoi-khorkhoi, the sibling species exhibit the ability to partly regrow body parts when cut in two. Relatives of the sub-species are found in habitats as diverse as high mountains, deserts and geothermal hot-springs. They demonstrate extreme temperature tolerances and survival ranges thriving in environments from as little as -30?C up to +40?C.
E. nordenskioldi mongol has its name derived from the region of discovery. The name E. n. onon bears more romantic connotations, being inspired by the Onon River in Outer Mongolia, where Genghis Khan was born and grew up. The region is also supposed to be the resting place of this historical figure that inspires stories of great conquests, victories and brutality.
Earthworms as a group organisms have other more tangible, importance from an ecological point of view. Charles Darwin, for example, spent 50 years of his working life studying these humble worms. They are key organisms for monitoring and maintaining soil fertility. Earthworms are also the basis of food-chains as the Early-bird and any fishermen knows.
Whether olgoi-khorkhoi really exists, and whether the two new sub-species of the Siberian E. nordenskioldi species-complex are in any way related to it, is yet to be
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Pensoft Publishers. The original story is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
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Robert Blakemore. Earthworms newly from Mongolia (Oligochaeta,?Lumbricidae, Eisenia). ZooKeys, 2013; 285 (0): 1 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.285.4502
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LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Stephen Hawking toured a stem cell laboratory Tuesday where scientists are studying ways to slow the progression of Lou Gehrig's disease, a neurological disorder that has left the British cosmologist almost completely paralyzed.
After the visit, the 71-year-old Hawking urged doctors, nurses and staff at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to support the research.
Hawking recalled how he became depressed when he was diagnosed with the disease 50 years ago and initially didn't see a point in finishing his doctorate. But his attitude changed when his condition didn't progress quickly and he was able to concentrate on his studies.
"Every new day became a bonus," he told a packed room.
Cedars-Sinai received nearly $18 million last year from California's taxpayer-funded stem cell institute to study the debilitating disease also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. ALS attacks nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control the muscles. People gradually have more and more trouble breathing and moving as muscles weaken and waste away.
There's no cure and no way to reverse the disease's progression. Few people with ALS live longer than a decade.
Diagnosed at age 21 while a student at Cambridge University, Hawking has survived longer than most. He receives around-the-clock care, can only communicate by twitching his cheek, and relies on a computer mounted to his wheelchair to convey his thoughts in a distinctive robotic monotone.
A Cedars-Sinai patient who was Hawking's former student spurred doctors to invite the physicist to glimpse their stem cell work.
"We decided it was a great opportunity for him to see the labs and for us to speak to one of the preeminent scientists in the world," said Dr. Robert Baloh, who heads the hospital's ALS program.
During the tour, Hawking viewed microscopic stem cells through a projector screen and asked questions about the research, Baloh said.
Cedar-Sinai scientists have focused on engineering stem cells to make a protein in hopes of preventing nerve cells from dying. The experiment so far has been done in rats. Baloh said he hopes to get governmental approval to test it in humans, which would be needed before any therapy can be approved.
Renowned for his work on black holes and the origins of the universe, Hawking is famous for bringing esoteric physics concepts to the masses through his best-selling books including "A Brief History of Time," which sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. Hawking titled his speech to Cedars-Sinai employees "A Brief History of Mine."
Despite his diagnosis, Hawking has remained active. In 2007, he floated like an astronaut on an aircraft that creates weightlessness by making parabolic dives.
Space exploration is important "for the future of humanity," he told the audience.
Hawking said he did not think Earthlings would survive "without escaping beyond your fragile planet."
And he gave some advice: Look up at the stars. Stay curious.
"However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at," he said.
Doctors don't know why some people with Lou Gehrig's disease fare better than others. Baloh said he has treated patients who lived for 10 years or more.
"But 50 years is unusual, to say the least," he said.
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Earlier today, Google announced that it would bring its gigabit Google Fiber Internet service and Google Fiber TV with about 200 HD channels to Austin, Texas, by the middle of 2014. After the event, Google hosted a phone call with press and analysts to discuss the announcement in more detail. During the call, Austin’s Mayor Lee Leffingwell reiterated that the city reapplied for Fiber after it lost out to Kansas City in the first round. He said that he believes Fiber will be a major driver for the city’s economy in the long run and that Austin will benefit from what Google learned by rolling out Fiber in Kansas City first.?”It’ll be good for everybody involved. It’ll make Austin a much more attractive city for those who want to bring their businesses to Austin.” Leffingwell also stressed that the city did not provide any monetary incentives to get Google to roll out Fiber in Austin. Kevin Lo, Google’s general manager for Fiber, also stressed that Google is doing this as a part of its strategy to make early investments in Internet technologies. Thanks to its efforts in Kansas City and Austin, he also argued, many cities now talk about getting gigabit Internet access to their cities. There is clear customer demand for these gigabit networks, Lo stressed. More than 90 percent of the original Kansas City fiberhoods met their sign-up thresholds. There, Google is ramping up the rollout and is currently working in 40 percent of its fiberhoods already and has finished work in 10 neighborhoods. Fiber In Austin: Similar To What’s Now Available In Kansas City, But Not The Same As for the products that will roll out in Austin, Lo pointed out that Google plans to roll out a service that will be similar to what it is currently offering in Kansas City (including the free offering it makes available in Kansas City), but the exact details and the pricing will likely be somewhat different. So far, Google argues, the company hasn’t done enough engineering work to nail down all the details. What Google is rolling out today is just a starting point, Lo noted. The company’s objective is to roll out as fast as possible, but Google is focused on what “users, entrepreneurs, companies and business will do with a gig,” so it wants to on-board users as fast as possible. Google, Lo said, wants to be
Ask a VC is back this week with Index Ventures' partners Danny Rimer. You can submit questions for Rimer either in the comments or here and we?ll ask them during the show.
Apr. 8, 2013 ? A study from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine offers new insights into how the nervous system processes hot and cold temperatures. The research led by neuroscientist Mark J. Zylka, PhD, associate professor of cell biology and physiology, found an interaction between the neural circuits that detect hot and cold stimuli: cold perception is enhanced when nerve circuitry for heat is inactivated.
"This discovery has implications for how we perceive hot and cold temperatures and for why people with certain forms of chronic pain, such as neuropathic pain, or pain arising as direct consequence of a nervous system injury or disease, experience heightened responses to cold temperatures," says Zylka, a member of the UNC Neuroscience Center.
The study also has implications for why a promising new class of pain relief drugs known as TRPV1 antagonists (they block a neuron receptor protein) cause many patients to shiver and "feel cold" prior to the onset of hyperthermia, an abnormally elevated body temperature. Enhanced cold followed by hyperthermia is a major side effect that has limited the use of these drugs in patients with chronic pain associated with multiple sclerosis, cancer, and osteoarthritis.
Zylka's research sheds new light on how the neural circuits that regulate temperature sensation bring about these responses, and could suggest ways of reducing such side-effects associated with TRPV1 antagonists and related drugs.
The research was selected by the journal Neuron as cover story for the April 10, 2013 print edition and was available in the April 4, 2013 advanced online edition.
This new study used cutting edge cell ablation technology to delete the nerve circuit that encodes heat and some forms of itch while preserving the circuitry that sense cold temperatures. This manipulation results in animals that were practically "blind" to heat, meaning they could no longer detect hot temperatures, Zylka explains. "Just like removing heat from a room makes us feel cold (such as with an air conditioner), removing the circuit that animals use to sense heat made them hypersensitive to cold. Physiological studies indicated that these distinct circuits regulate one another in the spinal cord."
TRPV1 is a receptor for heat and is found in the primary sensory nerve circuit that Zylka studied. TRPV1 antagonists make patients temporarily blind to heat, which Zylka speculates is analogous to what happened when his lab deleted the animals' circuit that detects heat: cold hypersensitivity.
Zylka emphasizes that future studies will be needed to confirm that TRPV1 antagonists affect cold responses in a manner similar to what his lab found with nerve circuit deletion.
The study was conducted in the Zylka lab by postdoctoral scientists Eric S. McCoy, Sarah E. Street, and Jihong Zheng and by research associates Bonnie Taylor-Blake and Alaine Pribisco. Funding for the research came from the Searle Scholars Program, The Klingenstein Foundation, The Rita Allen Foundation, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
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TOKYO (AP) ? It's easy to write off North Korea's threats to strike the United States with a nuclear-tipped missile as bluster: it has never demonstrated the capability to deploy a missile that could reach the Pacific island of Guam, let alone the mainland U.S.
But what about Japan?
Though it remains a highly unlikely scenario, Japanese officials have long feared that if North Korea ever decides to play its nuclear card it has not only the means but several potential motives for launching an attack on Tokyo or major U.S. military installations on Japan's main island. And while a conventional missile attack is far more likely, Tokyo is taking North Korea's nuclear rhetoric seriously.
On Monday, amid reports North Korea is preparing a missile launch or another nuclear test, Japanese officials said they have stepped up measures to ensure the nation's safety. Japanese media reported over the weekend that the defense minister has put destroyers with missile interception systems on alert to shoot down any missile or missile debris that appears to be headed for Japanese territory.
"We are doing all we can to protect the safety of our nation," said chief Cabinet spokesman Yoshihide Suga, though he and Ministry of Defense officials refused to confirm the reports about the naval alert, saying they do not want to "show their cards" to North Korea.
North Korea, meanwhile, issued a new threat against Japan.
"We once again warn Japan against blindly toeing the U.S. policy," said an editorial Monday in the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of its ruling party. "It will have to pay a dear price for its imprudent behavior."
Following North Korea's third nuclear test in February, Japanese experts have increasingly voiced concerns that North Korea may already be able to hit ? or at least target ? U.S. bases and major population centers with nuclear warheads loaded onto its medium-range Rodong missiles.
"The threat level has jumped" following the nuclear test, said Narushige Michishita, a former Ministry of Defense official and director of the Security and International Studies Program at Tokyo's National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.
Unlike North Korea's still-under-construction intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, program, its arsenal of about 300 deployed Rodong missiles has been flight tested and is thought to have a range of about 1,300 kilometers (800 miles).
That is good enough to reach Tokyo and key U.S. military bases ? including Yokota Air Base, which is the headquarters of the U.S. 5th Air Force; Yokosuka Naval Base, where the USS George Washington aircraft carrier and its battle group are home-based; and Misawa Air Base, a key launching point for U.S. F-16 fighters.
Michishita, in an analysis published late last year, said a Rodong missile launched from North Korea would reach Japan within five to 10 minutes and, if aimed at the center of Tokyo, would have a 50-percent probability of falling somewhere within the perimeter of Tokyo's main subway system.
He said Japan would be a particularly tempting target because it is close enough to feasibly reach with a conventionally or nuclear-armed missile, and the persistent animosity and distrust dating back to Japan's colonization of the Korean Peninsula in 1910 provides an ideological motive.
Also, a threat against Japan could be used to drive a wedge between Tokyo and Washington. North Korea could, for example, fire one or more Rodong missiles toward Tokyo but have them fall short to frighten Japan's leaders into making concessions, stay out of a conflict on the peninsula or oppose moves by the U.S. forces in Japan to assist the South Koreans, lest Tokyo suffer a real attack.
"Given North Korea's past adventurism, this scenario is within the range of its rational choices," Michishita wrote.
Officials stress that simply having the ability to launch an attack does not mean it would be a success. They also say North Korea is not known to have actually deployed any nuclear-tipped missiles.
Tokyo and Washington have invested billions of dollars in what is probably the world's most sophisticated ballistic missile defense shield since North Korea sent a long-range Taepodong missile over Japan's main island in 1998. Japan now has its own land- and sea-based interceptors and began launching spy satellites after the "Taepodong shock" to keep its own tabs on military activities inside North Korea.
For the time being, most experts believe, North Korea cannot attack the United States with a nuclear warhead because it can't yet fashion one light enough to mount atop a long-range ICBM. But Japanese analysts are not alone in believing North Korea has cleared the "miniaturization" problem for its medium-range weapons.
In April 2005, Lowell Jacoby, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that North Korea had the capability to arm a missile with a nuclear device. In 2011, the same intelligence agency said North Korea "may now have" plutonium-based nuclear warheads that it can deliver by ballistic missiles, aircraft or "unconventional means."
The Pentagon has since backtracked, saying it isn't clear how small a nuclear warhead the North can produce.
But David Albright, a physicist at the Institute for Science and International Security think tank, said in an email he believes the North can arm Rodong missiles with nuclear warheads weighing as much as several hundred kilograms (pounds) and packing a yield in the low kilotons.
That is far smaller than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima or Nagasaki but big enough to cause significant casualties in an urban area.
Japan also is a better target than traditional enemy South Korea because striking so close to home with a nuclear weapon would blanket a good part of its own population with the fallout.
Regardless of whom North Korea strikes ? with a nuclear or conventional weapon ? it can be assured of one thing: a counterattack by the United States.
VEVO's new 24-hour digital linear music video channel, that launched last month at SXSW, plans to expand its distribution via satellite and cable --v and will move into global markets with region and language-specific programming , says Rio D. Caraeff, CEO and President of the giant music video site in this interview with Beet.TV
In interview, Caraeff speaks about the opportunity to expand the business with its existing infrastructure which will not need a "million dollar" Times Square studio.
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LAKE FOREST, Calif. (AP) ? The 27-year-old son of popular evangelical Pastor Rick Warren has committed suicide at his Southern California home, Warren's church and authorities said on Saturday.
Matthew Warren struggled with mental illness, deep depression and suicidal thoughts throughout his life, Saddleback Valley Community Church said in a statement. His body was found in his Mission Viejo home Friday night, said Allison O'Neal, a supervising deputy coroner for Orange County. She declined to release the cause and manner of death pending an autopsy of the young man.
"Despite the best health care available, this was an illness that was never fully controlled and the emotional pain resulted in his decision to take his life," the church statement said.
Rick Warren, the author of the multimillion-selling book "The Purpose Driven Life," said in an email to church staff that he and his wife had enjoyed a fun Friday evening with their son. But their son then returned home to take his life in "a momentary wave of despair."
Over the years, Matthew Warren had been treated by America's best doctors, had received counseling and medication and been the recipient of numerous prayers from others, his father said.
"I'll never forget how, many years ago, after another approach had failed to give relief, Matthew said 'Dad, I know I'm going to heaven. Why can't I just die and end this pain?'" Warren recalled.
Despite that, he said, his son lived for another decade, during which he often reached out to help others.
"You who watched Matthew grow up knew he was an incredibly kind, gentle, and compassionate man," Warren wrote. "He had a brilliant intellect and a gift for sensing who was most in pain or most uncomfortable in a room. He'd then make a bee-line to that person to engage and encourage them."
The elder Warren founded Saddleback Church in 1980, according to his biography on the church website, and over the years watched it grow to 20,000 members. He and his wife, Kay, began by holding Bible studies for people who weren't regular churchgoers.
Matthew Warren was the youngest of their three children.
As Saddleback grew over the years, it spread out from its Lake Forest headquarters, 65 miles southeast of Los Angeles, adding several other campuses and ministries around Southern California.
The church says it now offers more than 200 community ministries and support groups for parents, families, children, couples, prisoners, addicts, and people living with HIV, depression and other illnesses.
In 2008, the church sponsored a presidential forum with Barack Obama and John McCain. Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney were invited to a similar forum last fall, but Warren canceled it several days beforehand, saying the campaign had become too uncivil.
Warren was named the top newsmaker of the year for 2009 by the Religion Newswriters Association. He gained attention that year with his invocation at Obama's inauguration, as well as with comments he made in the aftermath of California's Proposition 8, which overturned gay marriage.
Kim Jong Un on horseback in an undated photo (KNS/Getty Images)
Politicians and pundits painted a pretty bleak picture of the situation in North Korea on the Sunday talk-show circuit, with South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham predicting a "major war" breaking out if Kim Jong Un attacks South Korea.
"The North Koreans need to understand if they attack an American interest or an ally of this country, they're going to pay a heavy price," Graham said on NBC's "Meet The Press" on Sunday. "I could see a major war happening if the North Koreans overplay their hand this time, because the public in South Korea, the United States, and I think the whole region, is fed up with this guy."
"I think we have to convince this new, young, inexperienced leader that he's playing a losing hand," former U.S. Defense Under Secretary Mich?le Flournoy said. "The only way out of the box to get the economic development he wants, to get the progress that he wants, is to ratchet back the rhetoric. Come back into compliance with the international obligations."
Since assuming power in late 2011, the provocative Kim has defied U.N. sanctions by continuing to develop North Korea's missile program.
"He's kind of reckless right now," Gen. James Thurman, the top U.S. military commander in South Korea, said on ?This Week with George Stephanopoulos" on ABC. "If they decided to, you know, resume hostilities, I think we've got to be ready to go."
Earlier Sunday, U.S. officials said Thurman, who was expected to travel to Washington this week to appear before the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, will instead stay in Seoul as "a prudent measure."
When asked to speculate on the outcome of a war, Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said: "The North loses and the South wins, with our help. That's what happens."
[Related: Rodman says Kim Jong Un wants Obama to ?call him?]
On "Meet The Press," former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson called Kim's leadership "belligerent," but cautioned against U.S. military action.
"I think the goal should not just be to calm them down, to cool the rhetoric down," Richardson said. "The goal has to be [to] get North Korea back to the negotiating table on nuclear proliferation, on de-nuclearization. They have to do it, because that whole Asian area is a tinderbox."
Fox News host Greta Van Susteren, who has visited North Korea three times, said negotiation is not something on the minds of most North Koreans.
"The whole time we were there, all we saw was preparation for war," Van Susteren said. "If you go inside, they have been at war with us since the early 1950s. They think that every single one of us is spending every Saturday night sitting around planning how to get them while we're busy ordering pizzas and Chinese food carryout, they think that we're getting ready for war."
Graham said the United States needs to keep its eye on Syria, too.
"Crazy people and nuclear weapons who proliferate those weapons throughout the world, who support terrorist organizations, are incredibly dangerous," Graham said. "That's why we need to stop Syria from getting chemical. Chemical weapons need to be controlled in Syria; the ayatollahs in Iran are just as crazy as this guy in North Korea."
He added: "This could be a nightmare in the making with these chemical weapons falling into radical Islamists. The number of radical jihadists on the ground in Syria today is growing every day this war goes on."
BAGHDAD (AP) ? A suicide bomber killed 20 people and wounded dozens on Saturday at a political rally in the Iraqi city of Baqouba, officials said.
The bomber detonated his explosives as Muthana al-Jourani, a Sunni candidate for the provincial council, was hosting lunch for supporters in a large hospitality tent pitched next to his house, councilman Sadiq al-Huseini said.
Baqouba, a mixed Sunni-Shiite city some 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad, has been a focus of insurgent attacks and sectarian conflict in the decade since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Violence is expected to surge in the lead up to Iraq's provincial elections on April 20.
A health official and police officer who provided details about the attack spoke anonymously because they weren't authorized to speak to media.
The police officer said al-Jourani, who was injured in the attack, had not requested any extra security for the political event.
Eyewitness Ahmad al-Hadlouj, a 34-year-old who was wounded in the blast, said hundreds of people had gathered in the side street for the rally. His father, a member of the candidate's political bloc, was also wounded.
"This is our blood (shed) for the people," said al-Hadlouj. "We will still participate in elections."
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the police officer said the attack was the hallmark of al-Qaida militants who have used suicide bombers, car bombings and coordinated attacks to shake security in Iraq, hoping that will undermine confidence in the Shiite-led government. The hard-line Sunni extremists see Shiites and those who work with them as heretics.
A wave of deadly bombings and attacks in March prompted Iraqi officials to conclude that al-Qaida's Iraqi branch, known as the Islamic State of Iraq, has been getting stronger. They say rising lawlessness on the Syria-Iraq frontier and cross-border cooperation with the Syrian militant group Nusra Front has improved the militants' supply of weapons and foreign fighters.
I am investigating the coping patterns, satisfaction, and stress within romantic relationships in lesbians, gay males, and transgendered individuals through a survey format. This anonymous online survey takes 5-10 minutes to complete. Participants must be in a committed romantic relationship that has lasted for at least 6 months and must be at least 18 years or older. I am hoping that this data will one day be used to inform public opinion and policy. Also, this research will help clinicians continue to provide evidence-based treatment to couples in need. The LGBTQ community is an under-researched population and this research helps to fill in some gaps that currently exist.
This week's read for 52 books in 52 weeks was Harlan Coben's Six Years.
As I mentioned in my last column, I had never read, or even heard of, Coben before, and this despite the fact that he's sold more than 50 million books worldwide. My bad.
Six Years is about a university professor named Jake Sanders who had a brief but intense fling with a woman, Natalie -- you guessed it -- six years ago. The relationship ended when she abruptly married someone else and asked Jake to leave her alone. No texts, no calls, no email, no nothing, no explanation. Jake complied, but six years later, when he sees her husband's death notice, he decides to seek her out (at her husband's funeral!). While there he discovers that Natalie was never married to this man at all, and hasn't been seen by anyone in -- you guessed it -- six years.
And thus begins Jake's improbable, sometimes obvious, circuitous and often violent ride through the next 350 pages. Where has Natalie gone? Why would she lie to him about marrying someone else? Why is everyone who knew him back then pretending they didn't? Could it possibly have something to do with a charity named Fresh Start that keeps getting mentioned but not explored until 250 pages into the book?
I grew up reading detective fiction -- PD James, Rex Stout, Agatha Christie and Dick Francis are favorites -- but I'm not one of those readers who keeps trying to figure out who did it while I'm reading. I'm usually just along for the ride. But in this case, though the ride was quick, and sometimes funny, and mostly painless, I found myself figuring out what was going on way too early in the book, in my estimation, for this genre. With the exception of the final twist, which I only sorta saw coming, the only thing that surprised me was the extreme number of coincidences.
It's not that the book wasn't fun; it was. And if I had been on an airplane or next to a beach it would've been a good companion for an afternoon. I just think that the execution didn't live up to the premise, which I found very strong, and so in the end I was left dissatisfied. Coben fans will be pleased, however, I'm sure.
And now for next week: Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler -- it debuted at No. 10 on the NYT list this week, and has been getting wonderful buzz. I'm ready to spend some time in the 1920s.
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Earlier today, Google announced that it would bring its gigabit Google Fiber Internet service and Google Fiber TV with about 200 HD channels to Austin, Texas, by the middle of 2014. After the event, Google hosted a phone call with press and analysts to discuss the announcement in more detail. During the call, Austin’s Mayor Lee Leffingwell reiterated that the city reapplied for Fiber after it lost out to Kansas City in the first round. He said that he believes Fiber will be a major driver for the city’s economy in the long run and that Austin will benefit from what Google learned by rolling out Fiber in Kansas City first.?”It’ll be good for everybody involved. It’ll make Austin a much more attractive city for those who want to bring their businesses to Austin.” Leffingwell also stressed that the city did not provide any monetary incentives to get Google to roll out Fiber in Austin. Kevin Lo, Google’s general manager for Fiber, also stressed that Google is doing this as a part of its strategy to make early investments in Internet technologies. Thanks to its efforts in Kansas City and Austin, he also argued, many cities now talk about getting gigabit Internet access to their cities. There is clear customer demand for these gigabit networks, Lo stressed. More than 90 percent of the original Kansas City fiberhoods met their sign-up thresholds. There, Google is ramping up the rollout and is currently working in 40 percent of its fiberhoods already and has finished work in 10 neighborhoods. Fiber In Austin: Similar To What’s Now Available In Kansas City, But Not The Same As for the products that will roll out in Austin, Lo pointed out that Google plans to roll out a service that will be similar to what it is currently offering in Kansas City (including the free offering it makes available in Kansas City), but the exact details and the pricing will likely be somewhat different. So far, Google argues, the company hasn’t done enough engineering work to nail down all the details. What Google is rolling out today is just a starting point, Lo noted. The company’s objective is to roll out as fast as possible, but Google is focused on what “users, entrepreneurs, companies and business will do with a gig,” so it wants to on-board users as fast as possible. Google, Lo said, wants to be
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