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VisTrails interface
Uncertainty Visualization

Uncertainty Estimation Techniques

With large computational simulations there is substantial uncertainty inherent in any prediction of sciencebased systems. A number of factors contribute to uncertainty, including experimental measurements, mathematical formulation, and the way different processes are coupled together in the numerical approach for simulation. Tracking of and analysis of this uncertainly is critical to any work that will truly impact the creation of future energy systems.

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Container explosion simulation
Scientific Visualization

Large-Scale Ray Tracing Visualization

We plan on investigating ray-tracing for the analysis of large-scale data. In particularly, ray-tracing is efficient for datasets best represented by a large number of spherical glyphs such as MPM simulations such as those in Uintah as well as moleculate simulations. We will investigate the use of state of the art NUMA architectures for interactive ray-tracing of massive datasets. We will investigate the optimal acceleration structure by studying the scaling of both grid-based methods and bounding volume hierarchies.

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Uintah fire simulation

Dynamic Task Scheduling for Scalable Parallel AMR

Uintah is a general purpose, fluid-structure interaction code has been used to characterize a wide array of physical systems and processes, examples include stage-separation in rockets, the biomechanics of microvessels the effects of wounding on heart tissue the properties of foam under large deformation, and evolution of transportation fuel fires.

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Machine room
Algorithm Development

Solving PDEs on GPUs

Most current streaming processors rely on a SIMD programming model in which a single kernel is applied to a very large number of data items with no data dependencies among streams. Extensions to the C language, such as CUDA, provide this SIMD capability on standard C data structures, and the interested parties seem to be converging on open standards (e.g. OpenCL) for general purpose computing on the streaming architectures. The future of high-performance computing promises a variety of new architectures that embody the streaming paradigm.

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Provence Enabling Uintah

Exploration of large-scale scientific systems using computational simulations produces massive amounts of data that must be managed and analyzed. Because of the volume of data manipulated, and the complexity of the simulations and analysis workflows it is crucial to maintain detailed provenance (i.e., an audit trail) of the derived results. Provenance is necessary to ensure reproducibility as well as enable verification and validation of the simulation codes and results.

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Content-Type: application/http; msgtype=response

WARC-Type: response

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Danville Schools Netstorage Remote File Access

To access the system you must be either a student of the Danville Schools or an authorized staff member.
Attempting to access this system without authorization is a violation of State and Federal Law.

This system will allow you to access your home folder and other network files from home whenever you need them.

When asked to login use your network login with DANVILLE\ before it.

Example: DANVILLE\username

To access the system follow this link: Login to Netstorage

warcinfo:
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-153-172-175.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2016-36
operator: CommonCrawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for August 2016
publisher: CommonCrawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf


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Sunday, October 01, 2006

New England Australia - Railways Introduction

Photo: Northern mail train.

Returning to the history of New England, I began a post discussing the rise of agriculture then realised that there was a missing building block that needed to be filled in first, the railways.

In earlier posts I discussed the impact of transport costs on early European settlement (see here for a stocktake summary of earlier historical posts), pointing also to the way in which geography, transport and fights over transport helped shape New England's history.

The first railways in New England were the coal tramways in the lower Hunter. This was followed by the construction of Great Northern Railway - by far the largest construction work in New England in the 19th century - linking Newcastle with Tenterfield and the Queensland border. Spurs were built from this line to open new agricultural areas. Then the first decades of the twentieth saw the progressive completion of the North Coast line.

Railways, their construction and impact, were a constant theme in New England politics.

The railways encouraged the spread of agriculture, especially wheat, in inland New England, leading to the growth of centres such as Tamworth and Inverell.

The progressive construction of the Great Northern Railway had other profound impacts on towns along the route. Small local industries - soap works, breweries are examples - vanished in the face of increased competition. Traffic was diverted from the river ports to the new railway, briefly creating what Lazlo called an economic commonwealth centred on Newcastle, before the opening of the Hawkesbury River bridge diverted Newcastle traffic to Sydney.

In earlier posts (here and here) I looked at the history of inland river transport as a case study in inter-colonial rivalry, at the way in which transport policy was used to benefit commercial interests in the respective capital cities, to centralise traffic.

The New England railways reflected this pattern. Freight rates were set so as to benefit the whole system, and that effectively meant Sydney. Initially the rates were designed to attract traffic from rival transport modes. Then when the line from Sydney to Newcastle finally opened, freight rates on that line were set so as to divert traffic from Newcastle to Sydney. This effectively meant that some northern freight was initially carried at zero rates on this last stretch.

Economic concepts such as network economics or the multiplier had not then been developed, so people lacked the analytical tools that we have today to look at impacts. This is not insignificant. Had the multiplier (the way in which one dollar of spend creates further spend) been invented, the negative static financial analysis used to discredit the proposed Northern New State during the 1924 Cohen Royal Commission could itself have been discredited.

But while people lacked the tools, they were not blind to the practical effects of the railways and railway policies. The need for east-west linkages was a constant theme. From the Hunter Valley in the south to the far Northern Tablelands, from the 1880's to the 1950's, lines were proposed, some were approved by the NSW Parliament, construction even started in at least one case, none were finished.

The first part of what would become the North Coast rail line - in this case linking the Tweed with the Clarence and the rival river ports with their most immediate hinterland - was approved by the Parkes Government as a compromise to a rival east-west proposal. The problem in all cases lay in trenchant railway opposition on one side, rival and fragmented local interests on the other.

The North Coast line, built in fits and starts from Maitland to the Queensland border, finally allowed through traffic from Sydney to Brisbane from 1930, although a train ferry was still required at Grafton until the bridge over the Clarence was completed in 1932.

Blocked from east-west traffic, now facing direct north-south competition from rail, the North Coast ports entered their final decline. Of all New England's ports, only Newcastle would survive and prosper because of its industrial base and its role as a coal export port.

The bifurcation of New England into two north-south zones - an inland and coastal strip zones -was now complete, although it would take a number of years before the effects were fully felt, including the rise of the coast and parallel decline of the inland.

Initially Brisbane-Sydney rail traffic was carried on both lines. As a child I remember the haunting early morning wail of the Brisbane Mail as it passed through Armidale, of getting up early so that Dad could catch the Brisbane train. But traffic steadily passed to the upgraded coastal route, finally culminating in the closure of the Great Northern Railroad north of Armidale.

Initially, too, the New England Highway remained the main north-south traffic route. The Pacific Highway was narrow and winding and even in the 1960's punts were used to cross certain rivers, leading to longish waits. Again this period is imprinted on my memory in part because of the sounds, in this case the trucks changing gear in the early morning as they climbed the hill two blocks west of our home.

Again, even in the 1960's population structures in inland and coastal New England were similar outside Newcastle as New England's biggest city. While inland New England was losing young people (by 1960 as many people born on the Northern Tablelands lived elsewhere as lived on the Tablelands itself), Armidale and Tamworth were comparable in size to Lismore or Grafton as the biggest coastal cities, Inverell was bigger than Coffs Harbour.

Even though there were no east-west railways and in fact few tarred roads (the first tarred road to the coast dates from the early sixties), the east-west links established by history and maintained through the campaigns of the New England New State Movement were still apparently strong.

To my mind, the turning point came in 1967 with the narrow defeat of the New State plebiscite. Much of New England voted yes, with majorities over eighty per cent in some booths. However, the ALP, fearful of being locked into a minority position in any New England State, mounted a powerful campaign against.

Polling before the vote showed that if Newcastle people were asked the question, if there is to be a New England New State should Newcastle be part, there was a clear yes majority. If the question was rephrased to say, Labor is opposed to the New England New State, do you support it, the yes vote dropped to 30 per cent.

The anti-new state campaign by Labor gathered most of the Labor faithful in Newcastle and the coal mining areas into the no camp. There was also a strong no campaign among dairy farmers in the lower Hunter fearful of losing access to the Sydney milk market. Together, this powerful no vote was just sufficient to defeat the plebiscite.

The issue of inclusion of Newcastle in New England had been a vexed one among some New Englanders. However, the reality was that the Hunter had always been part of New England in geographic terms. Further, Maitland as the junction point for the Great Northern and coastal rail lines needed to be included, and you couldn't really put a state boundary through the middle of the Hunter Valley. All these factors had combined to lead the 1930's Nicholas Royal Commission, the second Royal Commission forced by the New Englanders, to recommend boundaries including Newcastle.

At the time of the defeat the New England New State Movement had been campaigning in a sustained way since the end of the Second World War. Well over a 100,000 pounds had been raised and spent on campaigning, especially since the launch of Operation Seventh State in 1961. Exhausted and dispirited, the Movement collapsed. With it went the political cohesion that had been holding New England together.

Since then, New England has fragmented into a series of competing localities and sub-regions. It has lost much of the sense of its own identity and has declined in influence across every dimension.

In a small way, this blog is an attempt to bring it back, to capture and present the New England experience. I was and remain a proud New Englander.

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JERSEY CITY - A New Jersey priest who loved adventure has died fulfilling a lifelong dream.

Father Robert Cormier, 57, fell about 1,000 feet from the top of Oregon's tallest peak Tuesday.
Cormier was a priest at St. Patrick's and Assumption All Saints in Jersey City. His friends say climbing Mt. Hood was his dream, and something he had talked about for 35 years.

The climber had reached the top only to step onto a ledge of snow with nothing underneath, and plunging hundreds of feet. Search crews located his body at the 10,500 foot level. There was no sign of life.

"I'm sure he was thrilled that he made it to the summit of Mt. Hood," says Cormier's secretary, Mary Elaine Connell. "That was his goal. He was training for it for several months."
Cormier, who also wrote several books, had only been at St. Patrick's for 15 months, but his adventurous spirit left a lasting impression.

Father Bob, as he was known at the church, had been climbing mountains with the same group of high school friends for 40 years, but according to Connell, this trip was special.

"They had decided that this would be their last climb, Mount Hood," se says. "And it was, for him."

Due to weather conditions on the mountain, Father Bob's body cannot be retrieved for at least several more days.


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Community Map

Silver City

The little valley with its spring and marsh that was to become the site of Silver City long had been an Apache camping site, and the early Spanish miners, in negotiating with the Apaches to mine copper at nearby Santa Rita, wisely agreed not to settle in the Apaches’ valley, which the Spaniards called La Cienega de San Vicente (Saint Vincent, most celebrated of the Spanish martyrs, died at Valencia in 304).


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Inexperienced Brashear, Carrick meet for big matchup

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Since their championship season in 2008, the Brashear program has produced Division I prospects and has been a participant in the City League playoffs each year. This summer, they joined forces with Langley, after it was shut down by the school board.

But they’ve begun this season with a lowly 1-4 overall mark, and face a must win contest against struggling Carrick (0-2, 0-5).

Head coach Rick Murphy is taking nothing for granted. “We have to start taking care of the football,” he said. “We’ve been making some really costly decisions and those have to stop if we’re going to be a competitive football team. We have to get that going, starting this week.”

Brashear has 10 seniors this season, six of which were Langley Mustangs last year.

“Only two of our seniors this year that we had last year has seen regular action on the field,” Murphy said. “We are extremely inexperienced and lost quite a bit of talent in our skill positions. But the guys we have now are learning and if we’re able to limit our mistakes, we can begin to be more successful.”

Carrick, with a number of off-the-field issues, is still hoping to get their first victory.

“We’re having problems with keeping some of our guys academically eligible,” Carrick coach Jeff McCafferty said. “As it is, we’re experiencing overall issues with the enthusiasm of our players right now. It’s not an easy or fun thing for us to be losing like we are right now. But we will muddle through this and continue to seek out wins.”

They, too, are inexperienced and only feature four seniors.

“Many of our starters don’t belong on the varsity level,” McCafferty said. “A lot of kids don’t have much experience on this level and it would probably benefit them to have a better introduction to the way that high school football should be played.”

In their non-conference matchup against Fort Hill High of Maryland, the Raiders were outgained 405-110 and their opponent scored on all eight of its possessions in the 54-8 romp.

“We just can’t tackle effectively,” McCafferty said. “It’s really been a struggle for us on defense. We have to tackle better.”

Brashear, on the other hand went down in a hard fought match with Erie Strong Vincent at Cupples Stadium. They lost, 21-14, and are winless against nonconference opponents.

Other games:

U.S.O. (University Prep, Sci-Tech, and Obama) had a bye and will face Allderdice on Friday night at 7 p.m. for a huge conference battle at Cupples Stadium. The Dragons are coming off their nonconference game on 9/29 against Wheeling Central Catholic that they dropped, 35-20.

Perry lost to Liberty Christian Academy of Virginia, 49-7, and was outgained 331-146. A 73-yard touchdown hookup from Ahmad Turner to Mallory Claibourne was the only scoring play that the Commodores were able to register.

Westinghouse remains winless (0-5) as they were defeated by Steubenville High by the count of 33-6.

(Follow our continuing coverage of City League football and add your comments to our website at

(Malik Vincent can be reached at mvincent@newpittsburgh or on Twitter @malikvincent.)

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Looming shortfall in Luzon power supply feared

Posted at Dec 13 2012 07:20 PM | Updated as of Dec 14 2012 04:15 PM

MANILA, Philippines - The Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) is urging the government and the private sector to act now to avert a looming shortfall in power supply in Luzon by 2015.

“The price of electricity has always been debated among consumers and business but we need to see the bigger problem we’re facing—the thinning supply of power compared to growing demand. We must realize that the most expensive kind of power is no power. Proposed power projects need to be supported and pushed through,” FPI chairman Jesus Arranza said in a statement.

Based on estimates from the Department of Energy (DoE), three new power plants with a 600-megawatt (MW) capacity each are needed to be online per year from 2015 to 2017 to address the demand.

The Department of Energy’s Philippine Energy Plan states that more than 16,000 MW in capacity is needed until 2030. Currently, the country only has 15,000 MW.

This projection is based on a 4.79-percent annual growth in energy demand. However, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) earlier said demand growth has already reached more than 8% in its franchise area alone covering Metro Manila and nearby regions.

Arranza said the country can’t afford to go back to the years of daily brownouts in the country. He said “the quick band-aid solution, however, also resulted in exorbitant power rates that consumers still suffer from until today.”

He noted there has been opposition to the planned use of fossil fuels. Still, new technologies make such power facilities environmentally-friendly, he claimed.

“If we go all [renewable energy], it’s going to be a more expensive source of energy, so we need to keep a balance of what we can afford, what the consumers can afford and what the environment can afford,” Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla also said.


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SC urged: Stop EO on use of Malampaya funds

Posted at Aug 22 2013 12:59 PM | Updated as of Aug 22 2013 08:59 PM

Watch also in iWantv or

MANILA - Lawyer Harry Roque has filed a petition calling on the Supreme Court to declare Executive Order 683 unconstitutional.

EO 683 issued by former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo authorizes the use of the Malampaya funds as a special fund for development projects.

Roque said the Malampaya gas project is not under a special pact and its proceeds should not be used as a special fund.

He also wants 40 percent of the fund to go to Palawan since the Malampaya offshore gas project is within the jurisdiction of Palawan. Currently, the province only gets 20 percent.

Roque said any use of the fund should pass through Congress.

In 2009, Roque's group also filed a petition questioning government's use of the Malampaya funds. Until now, the Supreme Court has yet to resolve the matter.

Roque said had the court acted on their petition, the funds would have been spared from corruption.

"Had the Court decided the case immediately after oral arguments almost 4 years ago, we would not have just prevented Napoles from squandering 900 million of government money. We would probably have been able to prevent PGMA's plunder of 26.3 Billion of taxpayers money to benefit her lying, cheating, and stealing regime," the petition read.

In recent weeks, the misuse of the Malampaya funds by businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles hit headines.

ANC Dateline Philippines, August 22, 2013


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BBC Homepage World Service Education
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BBC News Online
 You are in: World: Africa
Front Page
Middle East
South Asia
From Our Own Correspondent
Letter From America
UK Politics
Talking Point
In Depth

The BBC's Colin Blane
"Neighbours.. believe both were political murders"
 real 56k

Kathy Olds, Gloria Olds' daughter-in-law
"There's nothing for me to go back to"
 real 28k

Friday, 9 March, 2001, 18:00 GMT
Murdered Zimbabwe farmer is buried
War veterans, loyal to President Robert Mugabe.
Farmers fear renewed attacks from Mugabe supporters
Hundreds of people have attended a funeral service in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, for Gloria Olds, the 72-year-old widow who was murdered on her farm last Sunday.

Her son, Martin, was shot dead on his farm less than a year ago, and opposition leaders believe both killings were politically motivated.

Kathy Olds at her husband's funeral
Daughter-in-law Kathy Olds doubts she will ever return
She was the eighth member of Zimbabwe's white farming community to be killed since ruling party militants and veterans of the country's independence war began occupying white-owned farms last year with the backing of President Robert Mugabe and his government.

In all more than 30 opposition supporters and officials have been killed.

When men need semiautomatic weapons to murder a 72-year-old woman, they are not men, they are scum, they are cowards

Minister Paul Andrianatos
Farmers' leaders say they are afraid a new campaign of political violence may be starting against white land owners.

Mrs Olds' friends and neighbours, many of them white farmers, packed the small Presbyterian church in Bulawayo, shocked by the brutality of her murder.

Mrs Olds died in a hail of bullets as men with automatic weapons opened fire as she came to her gate. She attempted to crawl to safety but the gunmen forced the gate and fired more shots at her where she lay.

She had refused to give the farm up even after the murder of her son, Martin. But his widow, Kathy Olds, did and now lives in Britain.

The minister, Paul Andrianatos, described her as a strong-willed, no-fuss, independent person.

Farm occupation in 2000
Farm occupations were backed by the government

"When men need semiautomatic weapons to murder a 72-year-old woman, they are not men, they are scum, they are cowards," he said.

Mr Andrianatos also officiated at Martin Olds' funeral, where he described Mr Mugabe as a criminal and a murderer.

The minister has now had his work permit cancelled and is due to leave Zimbabwe on Sunday.

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09 Mar 01 | Africa
Violence haunts white farmers
04 Jul 00 | Africa
Forced to flee Zimbabwe
10 Feb 01 | From Our Own Correspondent
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26 Oct 00 | Africa
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text:
Page last updated at 16:00 GMT, Thursday, 29 January 2009

No evidence Polish hero murdered

By Adam Easton
BBC News, Warsaw

General Wladyslaw Sikorski
The general was the leader of Poland's government-in-exile

Investigators in Poland say there is no evidence to back up theories that the country's wartime leader, General Wladyslaw Sikorski, was murdered.

The general died when his plane crashed off Gibraltar in 1943, but some of the details of the crash remain unclear.

This has fuelled some people's belief that he may have been killed by the Soviet Union or Britain.

Two months ago, the Polish authorities exhumed the general's body in a bid to clear up the mystery.

But the results of their medical tests have dealt a severe - if not quite fatal - blow to the theory that Gen Sikorski was murdered.

The investigation found that Poland's wartime hero, who led its government-in-exile, died as a result of multiple organ failure of the kind typically sustained in a plane crash.

It found no evidence that he was poisoned, shot or strangled.

But the institute which investigates World War II-era crimes said it would continue to probe whether sabotage caused the general's Liberator bomber to crash seconds after it took off from Gibraltar.

A British investigation at the time found that the plane crashed for unknown reasons, perhaps because its controls had jammed.

Over the years historians and even playwrights have speculated that Gen Sikorski was murdered on the orders of Joseph Stalin or British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to prevent a split between the allies.

Shortly before he died, Gen Sikorski had demanded an investigation into the discovery of the bodies of thousands of Polish officers in mass graves in forests near Katyn in the former Soviet Union.

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BBC Onepolitics show

Last Updated: Thursday, 19 October 2006, 07:56 GMT 08:56 UK
West Midlands: Government 'night-mayor'
Nick Watson
Nick Watson
The Politics Show
West Midlands

Former Lord Mayor of London, Michael Savory
Whilst being resplendent, this is not the image of a Mayor for 2006

Revolution is in the air in the Potteries, as a campaign to abolish the post of directly-elected Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent begins to gather pace.

"Democracy 4 Stoke" claims that 4,000 people have already signed a petition calling for the post to be scrapped.

They are aiming to collect 10,000 signatures before Christmas and hope eventually to trigger a referendum on the issue.

The current Mayor is Labour's Mark Meredith.

He was elected with a thumping majority in 2005, taking the job from the Independent Mike Wolfe.

Stoke-on-Trent has traditionally been a Labour stronghold, but bringing the job back into the political fold has not ended criticism of the way in which the Mayoral system works.

In fact, quite the opposite.

Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent, Mark Meredith
Mark Meredith, a mayor with splits in the Labour ranks

Splitting Labour

The move to oust the Mayor has actually split the local Labour party as Democracy 4 Stoke is being led by Labour councillor Mike Barnes.

But it is not just a war within the Labour group.

Stoke's Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are also supporting Democracy 4 Stoke with only the British National Party, which has five councillors, saying they back the present system.

So is the campaign all about councillors trying to protect their interests or is there more to it than that?

On their website, Democracy 4 Stoke outlines its manifesto for change.

"The system which supports the office of Elected Mayor and Council Manager is undemocratic, paternalistic and unsafe".

It is about changing a system in which people are distant from the decision making that affect their local communities
Cllr Mike Barnes

In fact Stoke is the only area of the 12, with adopted elected Mayors, which has the model of Mayor plus Council manager to run the city's affairs.

"Let me make it absolutely clear that this is not about personalities or individuals or their ability to be elected mayor," says Cllr Mike Barnes in his manifesto.

"It is about changing a system in which people are distant from the decision making that affect their local communities.

"It is about having a local government system in place in which everybody is clear about who is making those decisions and ultimately who is responsible.

"Ultimately it's about empowering local people to elect local people to make democratic decisions based on sound reason and argument."

Bad timing

What Democracy 4 Stoke is proposing is a return to the old system where there is a council leader and councillors are then appointed to chair the important committees.

For the government, the timing couldn't be worse.

The new Local Government White Paper, which is due soon, is thought to recommend the expansion of the directly-elected Mayor principle - this time at the head of a series of new City Regions.

With an active campaign against the Mayoral system up and running in Stoke-on-Trent and others already underway in Hartlepool, Doncaster and the London boroughs of Lewisham and Newham, it seems that the issue could be turning into something of a "nightmayor" for the government.

Also in the programme...

Congestion zone sign in London
Could this be a common site on city roads in the West Midlands?

Would you be happy to pay up to an extra 17p a mile to drive on the roads of the West Midlands?

Despite the apparent success of London's congestion charge, the idea has not caught on in this part of the world - not that congestion is not a problem here of course!

Ring-fencing parts of the centres of our cities, as in London, has proved unpopular with businesses concerned about loss of trade.

The same goes for so-called zonal systems that would see motorists charged for driving across carefully defined boundaries.

The fear here is that some places could turn into ghost towns as motorists try to dodge the charge.

So that leaves a pay-as-you-drive charge levied at anywhere between 13p and 27p - but would the public buy it?

The carrot would see the cash reinvested in public transport - but is that tempting enough?

Our transport correspondent Peter Plisner has been finding out.

The Politics Show wants to hear from you.

Let us know what you think.

Ring 0845 300 1138 and leave a message for us.

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Join the Politics Show team... Sunday 22 October 2006 at 12:00 BST on BBC One.

If you have an issue you would like us to follow up then please write to Nick Watson, BBC Politics Show Midlands, The Mailbox, Birmingham, B1 1RF or email nicholas.watson@bbc.co.uk

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Defence analyst Rahul Bedi
"A flight that has been awaited for many years"
 real 28k

Thursday, 4 January, 2001, 14:28 GMT
Fighter project beset with problems
LCA emerges from hangar
Successive governments were loathe to scrap the project
By Defence analyst Rahul Bedi

Defence officials in India say that the successful test flight of a prototype of a new Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is a great achievement.

Indian navy ships
The navy has turned to Russian fighters
They say that they hope eventually to sell the indigenously developed aircraft on the international market, undercutting global competition.

It is the first time such an aircraft has been designed and constructed entirely in India - but critics say the entire project is plagued by serious technical uncertainties and excessive costs.

Technical problems

A majority of its vital components - such as the engine and flight control computers - are from the United States, and substitute systems would be difficult to develop locally.

LCA problems
Indian engine building expertise lacking
Other vital components behind schedule
Spiralling project costs
India hopes to replace the American-built engines by locally designed Kaveri engines.

These underwent extensive testing in Russia two years ago.

But defence officials said it would take several years before they will be ready for use.

They privately concede that Indian expertise in producing engines is poor.

Delay in service

There are also questions about the amount of time before the aircraft enters service.

The Indian Air Force ( IAF ) recently told a parliamentary defence committee that the LCA was unlikely to be inducted into service before 2015 - some 32 years after the idea was first conceived.

The LCA is a classic example of good money chasing bad

Unnamed Indian official
A parliamentary report published last month said that if indigenous efforts in military self-reliance are to be successful, results have to be visible within a more reasonable timeframe.

Another recent report by India's Comptroller and Auditor General stated that delays in the project had compelled the IAF to seek interim measures to cover the shortfall in combat aircraft by accepting foreign help to upgrade around 125 MiG-21 fighters at a cost of over $20bn.

The CAG report said that the LCA's development was beset with delays for almost every vital component of the aircraft.

It said that the development of its engine, airframe, multi-mode radar and flight control system were all behind schedule.

It said there is still no certainty about a final completion date and no figures as to the final cost.

Navy pessimism

The Indian Navy is also pessimistic about the LCA's future.

It has decided instead to acquire around 40 Russian MiG-29's for over one billion dollars.

A senior source said that the naval version of the LCA is still at the drawing board stage, and that officers were not prepared to wait indefinitely while India's operational preparedness was being jeopardised.

Many military commentators say the price of the project alone should provide the government with a convincing reason for scrapping it.

So far it has cost millions of dollars, they argue, and it should not be allowed to become a bottomless pit.

Yet critics say that successive governments have lacked the political courage to scrap it, especially since India had committed itself to achieving 75% self-reliance in defence equipment by 2005.

"Like other Indian defence projects, the LCA is a classic example of good money chasing bad," an official said.

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Last Updated: Tuesday, 18 May, 2004, 16:43 GMT 17:43 UK
Sonia Gandhi turns down PM post
Sonia Gandhi supporters outside her residence
Sonia Gandhi supporters plead for her to become PM
India's Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi says she will not be the country's next prime minister.

"I must humbly decline this post," she told shocked Congress party MPs, just days after a surprise election win.

Mrs Gandhi, whose mother-in-law Indira and husband Rajiv were assassinated, said she faced no threat but had never set out to be prime minister.

Stock markets have been volatile since the defeat of the governing BJP, which has criticised her Italian origins.

Congress party MPs are expected to meet on Wednesday with some reports saying Mrs Gandhi will nominate her preferred candidate for the post of prime minister.

It is not clear if the MPs would simply accept her decision or take a vote on it.

Mrs Gandhi's emotional announcement late on Tuesday sparked uproar among Congress MPs and there were emotional scenes in parliament's central hall in Delhi as they pleaded with her to reconsider.

Mrs Gandhi went into little detail about her decision.

Sonia Gandhi
I never wanted to be the prime minister and that was never my intention
Sonia Gandhi

She told her MPs she had decided to listen to her "inner voice".

"I must abide by the principles that have guided me all along. I appeal to you to understand the force of my conviction.

"There is no threat to me from anywhere. I want to give India a secular government that is strong and stable."

Angry and upset Congress MPs told her millions of voters had given her a mandate to govern and urged her to ignore attacks over her foreign birth.

One tearful MP, Renuka Choudhury, told Mrs Gandhi it was the party's request "that you continue to lead us, because it is the need of the hour".

"Not just for women, not just for children, but as a human being who has upheld the finest tradition of what it means to be an Indian."

Markets rallied on the rumours of Mrs Gandhi's decision and reports that the architect of India's reform programme, Manmohan Singh, was being tipped as a front-runner to be prime minister.

Day of rumours

Mrs Gandhi's announcement capped another day of drama in the Indian capital, which began with her going to see President APJ Kalam.

This time she has shown that she is a unique leader who is not power hungry
Ritwij Kulkarni, NY, US

She emerged from the meeting saying she needed more time to form a coalition government, but added she would return to see the president on Wednesday with letters of support from her allies.

She said a swearing-in ceremony would take place "as soon as possible".

The unexpected delay sparked fresh speculation that she was in two minds about being prime minister - and Congress MPs and party allies fed the rumours all afternoon.

Large crowds of Mrs Gandhi's supporters converged on her home in Delhi chanting: "Long live Sonia Gandhi."

One even threatened to commit suicide if she refused to become the prime minister.

Sonia Gandhi (right) with senior Congress leader Manmohan Singh

The defeated Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has led attacks on Mrs Gandhi's foreign origins, promising to boycott any swearing-in ceremony.

One former minister, Sushma Swaraj, even said she would resign from parliament and shave her head as a sign of protest.

But non-BJP politicians and the Indian media have attacked the party for its stand. The Times of India said in an editorial that voters had rejected what it described as the BJP's "mindless xenophobia".

Shares rally

Reports that Mrs Gandhi was considering turning down the job of prime minister were a factor in Indian shares rebounding dramatically.

A day after its biggest fall, the benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange sensitive index recorded its biggest gain in a single day's trading - up 371 points, more than 8%.

Monday's stock market crash was a result of investor fears that the Communists would block economic reforms - especially privatisation of state-owned companies.

The Congress party has promised the financial community it has nothing to fear.

The party's victory in the general election came as a surprise.

The BJP and its allies had been widely expected to win on the strength of a buoyant economy and peace moves with Pakistan.

Congress has the support of some 320 MPs in the 543-member house. Communists, the party's biggest allies, have said they would back Mrs Gandhi but not formally join her government.

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Page last updated at 08:15 GMT, Thursday, 17 December 2009

UK community groups win free wi-fi

A vicar with a laptop
Churches were among 500 entries to the competition

Mother and toddler groups, youth clubs and unemployment centres are among the winners of a competition offering free wi-fi to remote areas.

From the Orkney Islands to southern Cornwall, 46 communities have been chosen to receive free wi-fi for a minimum of three years.

The competition was launched by wi-fi hotspot firm Freerunner.

The firm uses a combination of broadband, satellite and 3G to connect remote communities.

The connections will be paid for by a combination of advertisements and corporate sponsorship.

Rural town Stromness in Orkney is a typical winner.

The pier is a gathering point for both tourists and locals and having wi-fi installed will benefit a range of groups including local artists, the Ladies Lifeboat Guild and the Fisherman's Co-operative.

Other winners include a church in the Midlands which is working with refugees and asylum seekers, a community centre in Stirling running a group for mothers and toddlers and a youth club in Devon.

"The Freerunner mission is to give everyone free access to fast wi-fi whether you are in a coffee shop in the West End of London or a community centre in the suburbs of Newcastle," said chief executive Owen Geddes.

"It is incredible to think that a small piece of relatively low cost technology is going to fundamentally change nearly 50 communities across the UK," he said.

Broadband supplier BE is the first sponsor to the scheme and will roll out free broadband to those with no connection.

"We agree that wi-fi should be more widely available," said Tom Williams, head of operations at BE Broadband.

Ian Johnson is a project leader for the Black Country Learning Academy which is among the winners.

"Many people in our area have never been online and know little about IT. Wi-fi means we can set up new internet-enabled computers allowing us to run more, improving the employment prospects of people across the region."

The UK government has pledged to provide broadband running at a minimum speed of 2Mbps (megabits per second) to all homes by 2012.

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Page last updated at 13:51 GMT, Tuesday, 4 January 2011

Injury ends Dafydd Jones' Wales and Scarlets career

Scarlets back-row Dafydd Jones won 42 Wales caps
Scarlets back-row Dafydd Jones won 42 Wales caps

Wales and Scarlets back-row Dafydd Jones has been forced to retire from rugby because of injury.

The 31-year-old has not played since injuring his left shoulder after coming on as a replacement in Wales' defeat to New Zealand in November 2009.

Jones underwent two surgeries to try and repair the A/C joint and nerve damage but he has been forced to hang up his boots on medical advice.

"This has been a really tough time for me and my family," Jones said.

"It's a very hard decision to retire from rugby which has been the sport and career I've known and loved since I was a teenager.

"All my efforts have gone into playing rugby for the Scarlets and for Wales and I am very proud of and enjoyed everything I have done.

"It has taken a while to sink in that I'm not actually going to be playing any more, but the decision was really made for me as the medics said there was no way back from the damage caused by the injury.

"The good thing is I have great memories of playing - some great contests and victories to look back on with real enjoyment, I'm lucky that I've played alongside, against and worked with some world-class rugby greats."

Aberaeron product Jones made his senior Llanelli debut in the 1996/7 season, on St Valentine's Day against Leeds, and became a mainstay of the west Wales side both for the club and later as the Scarlets region.

The 6ft 3in powerhouse played 201 games for Llanelli and the Scarlets, scoring 24 tries, and earned his first Wales cap against Fiji on 9 November 2002, going on to represent his country on 42 occasions, scoring two tries.

"I've had great opportunities as a player - a World Cup in 2003, being part of the Wales squad for the 2005 Grand Slam and there's the 2004 international against the All Blacks and being up against Richie McCaw - I won't forget that contest!" Jones added.

"There's been lots of great Scarlets highlights, mainly the European ones like beating Northampton at Franklin Gardens, the Toulouse back-to-back wins home and away, and I was part of two Celtic league [title] wins for the Scarlets as well."

The Scarlets say that Jones will continue his association with them for the next six months by undertaking various roles within the region to develop his non-rugby skills and experience.

These roles will include assisting with the Academy, working within the community department to help inspire young players of the future and sponsor relationship duties.

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see also
Henson links up with Wales squad
04 Jan 11 |  Welsh
Scarlets & Wales await Jones news
22 Sep 10 |  Welsh
Flanker Jones' new shoulder blow
09 Jun 10 |  Scarlets
Shoulder injury rules out Jones
09 Nov 09 |  Welsh
Wales' rugby fixtures
26 Jun 07 |  Welsh
Wales rugby results archive
15 Oct 03 |  Welsh
Heineken Cup
11 Apr 07 |  Rugby Union
RaboDirect Pro12
11 Apr 07 |  Rugby Union
Anglo-Welsh Cup
11 Apr 07 |  Rugby Union
Coming up next on Scrum V...
03 Nov 08 |  Welsh
BBC Sport Wales coverage
03 Oct 11 |  Wales

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Page last updated at 08:55 GMT, Monday, 22 October 2012 09:55 UK

Why we all have 'earworms'

Why do certain songs stay in your head, playing endlessly on repeat?

It is a recognised phenomenon. These songs are known as "earworms" and psychologists at Goldsmiths have come up with a scientific formula which describes why certain songs are catchier than others.

Dr Lauren Stewart, leader of the study, said "it is interesting to us to find out whether earworms actually have a role to play."

Terry Dobson, founder of the band Black Lace and famous for hits such as Do the Conga, Superman, and Agadoo, explained: "We just wrote the songs, played them and hoped that they would capture the imagination."

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Girls with ADHD more prone to self-injury, suicide as they enter adulthood

Girls with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) – and their families – often look forward to the likely decline in visible symptoms such as fidgety or disruptive behavior as they mature into young women.

Young woman

Study finds ADHD symptoms in girls go undercover as they enter adulthood

However, new findings from UC Berkeley caution that, as they enter adulthood, girls with histories of ADHD are more prone to internalize their struggles and feelings of failure – a development that can manifest itself in self-injury and even attempted suicide.

“Like boys with ADHD, girls continue to have problems with academic achievement and relationships, and need special services as they enter early adulthood,” said Stephen Hinshaw, UC Berkeley professor of psychology and lead author of a study that reports after 10 years on the  largest-ever sample of girls whose ADHD was first diagnosed in childhood.

“Our findings of extremely high rates of cutting and other forms of self-injury, along with suicide attempts, show us that the long-term consequences of ADHD females are profound,” he added.

The study is published today (Tuesday, August 14) in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. Its results are consistent with earlier findings by the UC Berkeley team that, as girls with ADHD grow older, they show fewer visible symptoms of the disorder, but continue to suffer in hidden ways. The findings challenge assumptions that girls can “outgrow” ADHD, and underscore the need for long-term monitoring and treatment of the disorder, Hinshaw said.

The longitudinal study, which began when the girls were ages 6 to 12, is funded by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health. Since 1997, Hinshaw and his team have tracked a racially and socio-economically diverse group of girls with ADHD in the San Francisco Bay Area through early childhood summer camps, adolescence and now early adulthood. In addition to this new study, many others have been published by the team about the girls every five years.

In the United States, more than 5 million children ages 3-17 – approximately one in 11 – have been diagnosed with ADHD, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ADHD is characterized by poor concentration, distractibility, hyperactivity, impulsiveness and other symptoms that are inappropriate for the child’s age. Evidence-based treatment includes stimulant medications and various forms of behavior therapy.

The new UC Berkeley study, assessing the girls 10 years after it began, examined 140 of them, ages 17-24, comparing their behavioral, emotional and academic development to that of a demographically similar group of 88 girls without ADHD.  It also gauged the symptoms of two major ADHD subtypes: Those who entered the study with poor attention alone versus those who had a combination of inattention plus high rates of hyperactivity and impulsivity.

The study’s major finding was that the group with combined inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity during childhood was by far the most likely to manifest self-injury and suicide attempts in early adulthood. In fact, the study pointed out, more than half of the members of this subgroup were reported to have engaged in self-injurious behavior, and more than one-fifth had attempted suicide, Hinshaw said.

“A key question is why, by young adulthood, young women with ADHD would show a markedly high risk for self-harm … Impulse control problems appear to be a central factor,” the study said.

In the first study on this group, published in 2002, the 6- to- 12-year old girls attended five-week camps where they were closely monitored as they partook in art and drama classes and outdoor activities. Those taking ADHD medication volunteered to go off the drug treatment for much of the summer camp study. The counselors and staff observing all the participants did not know which of them had been diagnosed with ADHD.

That study found that girls with ADHD were more likely to struggle academically and to be rejected by their peers, compared to the comparison peer group. The five-year follow-up study, when the girls were 12 to 17 and experiencing early to mid-adolescence, found that the fidgety and impulsive symptoms tended to subside in the early teen years, but that the learning gap between girls with ADHD and their non-ADHD peers had widened, and eating disorders and substance abuse had surfaced.

For the latest study, in which 95 percent of the original sample of girls participated, the researchers conducted intensive interviews with the subjects and their families. Those interviews include personal reports on behaviors such as self-harm and suicide attempts, drug use, eating habits and driving behavior.

Researchers also measured key cognitive functions such as executive planning skills, which include goal-setting and monitoring, planning and keeping on task despite distractions.

While many girls in the study showed improvement in ADHD symptoms during the 10-year period, certain problems persisted and new ones emerged, suggesting that careful monitoring and treatment are essential, Hinshaw said.

“The overarching conclusion is that ADHD in girls portends continuing problems, through early adulthood,” the study concluded. “Our findings argue for the clinical impact of ADHD in female samples, the public health importance of this condition on girls and women, and the need for ongoing examination of underlying mechanisms, especially regarding the high risk of self-harm in young adulthood.”

That said, Hinshaw added, “ADHD is a treatable condition, as long as interventions are monitored carefully and pursued over a number of years.”

In addition to Hinshaw, authors and researchers of the study are Elizabeth Owens, Christine Zalecki, Emily Schrodek and Erika Swanson at UC Berkeley; Suzanne Perrigue Huggins at the University of Maryland and Adriana Montenegro-Nevado at Palo Alto University.

  • A PDF of the study is available online through the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology


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Thanksgiving Dinner

Come and experience a traditional Thanksgiving dinner! Thanksgiving is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. Traditional Thanksgiving meals often feature roasted turkey, and include many aide dishes such as stuffing, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Yum! Gather together with your friends and enjoy a Thanksgiving Dinner at Clark!

Date: November 15 (Thursday)
Time: 5:00-6:30pm
Location: Grace and Lurie Conference Rooms (UC)

GSOM is sponsoring this event for GSOM students ONLY. For free admissions, you must see Graduate Assistants, Melissa or Courtney, in Carlson 226 for a meal ticket at the following times:

Nov 6 (Tuesday) 1-5pm
Nov 7 (Wednesday) 12:30-2:30pm

Tickets are first come, first serve. Limit 2 tickets per person.

If you picking up for another person, you need to know their Clark Email and ID number.


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MAR 26, 2013 - Futurity

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Google math predicts lung cancer’s path

USC (US) — A mathematical model like the one Google Search uses to rank webpages also offers insight into how lung cancer spreads. The researchers used an algorithm similar to the Google PageRank, which predicts which websites people are most apt to visit, and to the Viterbi Algorithm for digital communication to analyze the spread patterns of lung cancer. Their findings could potentially impact clinical care by helping guide physicians to targeted treatment options designed to curtail the spread of lung cancer.

Tags: Google math predicts lung cancer’s path,  Google Latest News


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13 Hot London Startups You Need To Watch

We recently visited London and toured the startup scene there. We met with investors and executives and found out which early-stage companies are buzzing abroad. While there are large, promising tech companies coming out of London (Hailo and MindCandy to name a few), we're highlighting very early stage startups that few people have heard of but are up and coming.  With some more work, they could grow to become the next big things in tech. Disclosure: London & Partners, a not-for-profit funded by the city's mayor's office, paid for my trip to London to explore England's startup ... Read More

Tags: 13 Hot London Startups You Need To Watch,  Fitbit Latest News


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March 5, 2013

Brain scan can decode whom we're thinking of

brain imaging
Nathan Spreng
Region of the brain in medial prefrontal cortex where patterns of activity can be decoded to determine who someone is thinking about.

Our mental picture of another person produces unique patterns of brain activation that can be detected using advanced imaging techniques, report Cornell neuroscientist Nathan Spreng and his colleagues in a study published online in Cerebral Cortex.

"When we looked at our data, we were shocked that we could successfully decode who our participants were thinking about based on their brain activity," said Spreng, the study's lead author, with Demis Hassabis of University College London, and an assistant professor of human development and the Rebecca Q. and James C. Morgan Sesquicentennial Faculty Fellow in Cornell's College of Human Ecology.

"Our findings shed light on how the brain formulates models of people's personality in order to anticipate their behavior -- a faculty critical for success in the social world," Spreng added.

For their study, the researchers asked 19 young adults to learn about the personalities of four people who differed on key personality traits. Participants were given different scenarios (i.e., sitting on a bus when an elderly person gets on, and there are no seats) and asked to imagine how a specified person would respond. During the task, their brains were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow.

Nathan Spreng
Nathan Spreng

The researchers found that different patterns of brain activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) were associated with each of the four different personalities. In other words, which person was being imagined could be accurately identified based solely on the brain activation pattern.

The results suggest that the brain codes the personality traits of others in distinct brain regions, and that this information is integrated in the mPFC to produce an overall personality model used to plan social interactions, the authors said.

"Prior research has implicated the anterior mPFC in social cognition disorders such as autism, and our results suggest people with such disorders may have an inability to build accurate personality models," said Spreng. "If further research bears this out, we may ultimately be able to identify specific brain activation biomarkers not only for diagnosing such diseases, but for monitoring the effects of interventions."

The study, published online in Cerebral Cortex, was also co-authored by Andrie Rusu, Vrije Univesiteit; Raymond Mar, York University; and Clifford Robbin and Daniel L. Schacter, Harvard University.

The research was supported in part by the Wellcome Trust and the National Institutes of Health.

Karene Booker is an extension support specialist in the Department of Human Development.


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Change at the Top of Schwab Championship - Lehman Now Leads

Tom Lehman fired an 8-under 62 to take over the lead from Jay Haas through 54 holes of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. The $2.5 million tournament, the season-ending event on the Champions Tour, began Thursday on the Cochise Course at Desert Mountain Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Lehman overtook Haas, who began the third round with a five-stroke lead, thanks to eight birdies and 12 pars. He stands at 17-under 193, a shot ahead of Fred Couples.

If the 53-year-old Minnesotan pulls off the victory on Sunday he will win the season-long Charles Schwab Cup for the second year in a row.

He'll be paired in the final round with Couples, who also shot a 62. Couples' round Saturday also featured some fireworks, but in the form of four birdies and two eagles on the eighth and 15th holes - both par-5s.

Despite taking two months off prior to the tournament to rest and treat his chronically bad back, Couples hasn't missed a beat this week, posting rounds of 66, 66 and 62 to get to 16-under. "Very happy with the way I played today," Couples said at greenside. "I felt I hit the ball well today and I need to do that tomorrow."

Added Couples, "I knew I needed a good round to have a shot (at victory on Sunday)."

Two strokes behind Lehman is Haas, who followed up his scintillating 60 on Friday with a 69. The 58-year-old carded four birdies and three bogeys Saturday.

Alone in fourth at 200 is the tournament's defending champion, Jay Don Blake, who carded a 65, while in solo fifth another stroke back is Russ Cochran, who shot a 64.

Fred Funk (66), Mark Calcavecchia (68), David Frost (68) and Olin Browne (69) are tied for sixth at 202. Sharing 10th at 204 are Corey Pavin (69), Michael Allen (69), Bill Glasson (69) and Bernhard Langer (70).

Before the start of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, Langer held a 211-point edge over Lehman in the season-long Cup points' race.

For all the scores, visit


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Christie Blatchford: Ashley Smith still laughed with guards even as her life sputtered toward its end

More from Christie Blatchford

Ashley Smith peeks out of her cell during an incident with her guards on Oct. 15, 2007.

Ashley Smith still laughed even as her life sputtered toward its end

In the fall of 2007, Ashley Smith’s days at the Grand Valley Institution for Women were dwindling down to a precious few, but, oh my, how full they were.

Coroner Dr. John Carlisle and the five-member jury now probing her death Wednesday watched two more lengthy prison videos which document the confines of the teenager’s increasingly small life.

Ashley’s activities ran, as an old line has it, the gamut from A to D.

If she wasn’t busy “tying up” (or tightly wrapping a homemade ligature around her neck), or wedging herself between a wall of her isolation cell and her metal bed, she was turning purple, or nearly dying.

On Sept. 1, the date of one of the videos, she did this at least nine times.

Her reward was attention, and the only human contact she had.

Her guards would see the ligature, invariably made of white strips cut from her white high-security gown or high-security blanket or high-security mattress pad.

First, they would ask her to remove it; rarely, she would, but just to hide it for future use, and sometimes she would say she’d taken it off, but refuse to show herself so the guards could confirm it.

This negotiation would go on for a time until the guards, fearing for her, went into the cell to get it.

By 9.35 p.m. on Sept. 1, Ashley had already tied up five times.

The guards went in, cut off the ligature — a delicate operation, because sometimes Ashley tied one ligature over another, and sometimes the material would be partly covered by a fold of her neck.

Sometimes, the 19-year-old spit at the guards — on this video, she could be heard once gathering up a gob of phlegm. She swore and yelled.

‘We’re walking a very fine line. The longer we wait to go in, the closer Ashley is to death’

The guards cuffed her behind her back to keep her still enough to cut the thing off, and then they backed out of the cell. Ashley then stuck her arms out through the meal slot in the door, and the guards undid the cuffs.

With ligature No. 7, the ligature was so tight she couldn’t get it off.

With ligature No. 8, after repeated warnings, the guards used OC (for oleoresin capsicum) spray to subdue her.

That meant they then had to take her to the segregation shower for “decontamination.” OC spray in the eyes is painful, and Ashley complained, “I can’t see, I can’t see!”

It took more than 20 minutes before she was able to open her eyes, and then, hands cuffed behind her back, she was led back to her cell.

The guards waited for her to put her arms through the meal slot so they could take off the cuffs. Ashley refused.

“You want to stand there, after a freezing cold shower for 15 minutes, with your hair in your face, no blanket, no pad – you’re good with that?” one of the guards asked.

Across five experiments with some 200 participants, researchers found that reading a statement three times, as opposed to just once, made people significantly more likely to recall it as valid later on. This “truth effect” occurred regardless of whether the source was explicitly identified to the reader as untrustworthy.

This was guard Charlene Venter’s first exposure to Ashley Smith; she usually worked in another part of the prison.

The next time she was called to the seg unit was Oct. 15. She went to the shift briefing: Their orders had changed. Where before they had gone into Ashley’s cell right away, now they were told to “withdraw and re-assess.” Ms. Venter remembers saying, “We’re walking a very fine line. The longer we wait to go in, the closer Ashley is to death.”

The video of Oct. 15-16 shows the guards, confused, trying to make the new orders work: Repeatedly, they would crack open the cell door, assure themselves they could hear her breathing or see her move, shut the door.

At about 2:25 a.m., the camera caught Ashley actually tying a fresh ligature around her neck.

‘I recall her trying to be funny. Her trying to make me laugh’

The guards fretted: “Her face is turning purple again!” When they cut off the ligature, Ashley gasped for air.

Within a few more minutes though, she had stripped off her gown, which meant that Ms. Venter had to take over the camera, replacing the previous operator, who was a male guard.

A correctional manager sat outside her cell, warning her “You’re going to have a permanent scar there” and talking to her; Ashley soon had the woman laughing and giggling.

When a nurse showed up to do the ridiculous “health assessment” — this one done through a plastic shield held over the cracked-open door — Ashley sang.

Ms. Venter remembered a brief conversation she had with her that night. “I recall her trying to be funny,” she said, “her trying to make me laugh.”

Ashley was almost resilient enough.

She died three days later.

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Esposito has never had an internal filter. That was the case after Game 4 of the iconic series with the Soviets, when he took aim at disgruntled Canadian fans

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Eerie new underwater footage shows historic Arctic shipwreck — the northernmost known — in fresh detail

| | Last Updated: Jan 25 1:36 AM ET
More from Joe O'Connor | @oconnorwrites

A remote operated vehicle (ROV) operated by Canadian Armed Forces personnel takes a video of the Breadalbane's stern. The Breadalbane sank in 1853

Dr. Joe MacInnis understands it was a long time ago and people forget, or else new people get born and grow up without necessarily learning their history. That, in a nutshell, is a tidy summary of the history of the Canadian Arctic sovereignty story.

Planting the flag and flexing some Canadian muscle in the far North has been a priority for Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government. Each year, a new expedition sets off, flags get planted, work gets done, photos get taken and a message, in theory, gets sent that the Arctic, no matter how cold, or seemingly empty, is Canadian turf.

Both on the land and under the Arctic sea ice. That is where Dr. MacInnis was looking in 1983, when the Liberal government of the day, in partnership with National Geographic magazine and a crack team assembled by the Canadian physician/author/Arctic underwater explorer, planted a flag by filming the wreck of the Breadalbane — a wreck Dr. MacInnis and a team of Canadians on a Canadian Coast Guard vessel discovered three years earlier, after a three-year search.

The Breadalbane was a wooden vessel with three masts that was involved in the hunt for Captain John Franklin’s ill-fated expedition when it got trapped by the Arctic ice and sunk off Beechey Island in the Northwest Passage in 1853.

The images of the wreck captured in 1983 were stunning. They appeared on the cover of the National Geographic. A documentary got made. There was a buzz.

Then, the cameras and the explorer and our government moved on until this month.

Master Seaman (MS) Peter Reed, Underwater Imaging Dept. FDU (A), CFB Shearwater, Nova Scotia

A seven-person expedition, involving the Canadian navy, a Canadian archeologist and an American expert in remote, camera-equipped underwater vehicles, returned to film the Breadalbane for the first time in 31 years, using all the latest technology and high-definition camera wizardry.

This included a portable generator-sized gadget, aptly named a remote operated vehicle (ROV for short), manufactured by California-based SeaBotix, which went whirring beneath the ice, shooting footage of the Breadalbane.

“It is a ‘wow,’ there is no question about it, it is a definite ‘wow,’ ” Dr. MacInnis says from Florida after watching a video clip of the new images from the old wreck. “You see a detail, a crispness, that we just didn’t have in 1983. You can see the hull’s copper sheeting, in clear detail.

“These new images are twice as good, maybe more, than what we shot.”

As far as shipwrecks go, the Breadalbane was a masterpiece just waiting for a fresh photo shoot. Its attachment to the Franklin story — Franklin and the other Arctic explorers were the astronauts of their day — give it historical cachet, while its location gives it the distinction of being the most northern shipwreck there is.

Handout/Joint Task Force (North)

The Arctic waters, meanwhile, are brutally cold and still. That means the wreck, which sits about 100 metres below the surface, is perfectly preserved. You can see the anchor, the gaping hole in the hull, the copper sheathing, the width of each wooden plank — and much of it is covered with pink and orange coral.

It is beautiful. Eerie. Amazing.

None of the Canadian team members could be reached for comment. But Jesse Rodocker, the American co-founder of SeaBotix, got back from the expedition April 19.

“It is a really unique wreck, the history of it and the location,” he says on the phone from his home in Seattle. “But it is also the environment that it is in. It is incredibly hostile.”

It is the Arctic: It is freezing and barren.The team erected two tents on the ice, more or less right above the wreck, one for sleeping, one for working. Then they cut a hole through the 1.5-metre thick ice and off the US$250,000 ROV went, diving and ducking in and out of nooks, bringing the past into sharp relief and, later, stirring the memories of an old Canadian explorer.

Dr. MacInnis has worked with James Cameron, the filmmaker, in recent years as the physician on his Mariana Trench dive. But his attachment to the Canadian Arctic is a point of history, a lesson about our past that fits nicely with the present.

“I wasn’t just searching for a shipwreck back then, it was a sovereignty issue — and it still is,” he says.

“Watching the new video brought back a lot of memories. I remember being there, sitting on the ice, just looking down and having that century, the 1800s, come alive, and that’s the magic.

“The thing now is, what’s the next step? How is this story going to be told and shared with all Canadians?

“That’s the most important thing.”

National Post

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University's eLion makes the move to mobile Web accessibility

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State's eLion just got easier, with a new responsive design that will enable students and advisers to access the same features as the Web version of eLion on a variety of mobile devices.

ELion is Penn State's Web-based service that provides students, advisers, faculty and parents with secure, real-time access to academic and financial records.

The new layout features a more responsive streamlined design and user experience, with menu items listed across the top of the page to provide more screen space for compact viewing areas. On most smaller screens (such as cellphones), the navigation bar collapses down to a single button to toggle the menu display. Students and advisers can easily access eLion to check grades and view the schedule of classes wherever their smartphone or tablet can go.

"I carry my cellphone with me all the time so having my eLion information available to me on my iPhone will be a plus," said Hayley Ferguson, a junior in management information systems.

A quick look around campus shows that more students than not carry and use mobile devices. According to a 2012 survey, 70 percent of Penn State students own a mobile device. Survey details are available at

"Students want to access their records in a format they prefer, and for many today that format is mobile," said, Carol Findley, IT director, Office of the University Registrar.

In addition to making the site design more usable on mobile screens, the eLion site is also more accessible to students and advisers with disabilities. According to Penn State’s Accessibility website at, Penn State’s standards for accessibility require Web pages and applications to be readable by everyone, regardless of physical ability.

The eLion pages have been screened to make sure that the content doesn’t have “blockers,” or barriers to screen readers that would prevent those who are visually impaired from using the service.

For now, the improvements, which the eLion team began designing in May, will only show up on student and adviser accounts. Faculty, parents and former students can expect to see the changes in their eLion accounts in the future.

For comments and feedback regarding eLion, contact or follow eLion on Twitter @eLionPSU. For technical issues concerning eLion, contact the AIS Support Center at

Last Updated March 19, 2014


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Community college partnership enhances biology teaching

When student Jeff Schinske took part in a graduate teaching fellowship through Associate Professor of Biology Kimberly Tanner's lab, the experience inspired him to teach biology. But when he graduated and became a community college instructor, Schinske found there was little professional support.

Photo of alum Jeff Schinske

Alum Jeff Schinske is collaborating with Kimberly Tanner to help community college instructors refine their teaching.

Schinske (M.S. '07) and Tanner are collaborating on a project that meets that need. With funding from the National Science Foundation, they are bringing together Bay Area community college biology instructors and helping them find innovative ways to refine their teaching.

"It can be isolating to be a community college instructor," said Schinske, who teaches biology at De Anza College. "Unlike K-12 teachers or university professors, you don't have a professional community centered on the grade level you teach or your field of research."

A lack of professional community isn't the only challenge.

"Much like university faculty, community college biology instructors are trained to conduct scientific research but they aren't trained how to teach," Tanner said.

She runs a range of programs for current and aspiring science educators through the University's Science Education Partnership and Assessment Lab (SEPAL).

"I teach science instructors to be the best teachers that they can be," Tanner said. "This community partnership is an extension of that work."

Photo of Associate Professor of Biology Kimberly Tanner

Associate Professor of Biology Kimberly Tanner

Community College Biology Faculty Enhancement through Scientific Teaching (CCB FEST) began in in 2010 and just received another NSF grant to support it for the next four years. The program includes monthly workshops, a summer intensive session, discussion groups and opportunities for community college faculty to partner with SF State graduate students.

The program encourages community college instructors to apply the rigor of scientific research to their teaching, collecting evidence from students about what they are learning and using that to refine how they teach. The approach is called scientific teaching.

"Scientific teaching draws back the curtain between what I'm teaching and what my students are learning," Schinske said. "I'm more of a partner with my students in the learning environment that I create. I teach them how to learn and believe that knowing how to learn will help them when they transfer to a university."

The ultimate goal of CCB FEST is for community college students to be more engaged in science and make a successful transition to four-year colleges. Tanner notes that approximately 60 percent of SF State's biology graduates transferred to the University from community colleges.

With funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Tanner will launch a similar project this fall, helping faculty in the University's Biology Department to enhance their teaching.

--Elaine Bible

Last update:
2016-01-26 15:40


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The 26-year-old Canadian actress speaks of the pain she suffered hiding her sexuality, saying she is tired of "lying by omission".

Ellen Page arrives at the premiere of The East.

Video: Juno Star Comes Out As Gay

Ellen Page, who starred in the 2007 film Juno, has come out as gay.

Page, 26, made the announcement during an emotional address at a Human Rights Campaign conference in Las Vegas.

With her voice cracking at times, the Canadian actress said: "I'm here today because I am gay, and because maybe I can make a difference to help others have an easier and more hopeful time.

"I also do it selfishly, because I am tired of hiding and I am tired of lying by omission."

On several occasions members of the audience broke out in applause and rose to their feet.

The conference was attended by teachers and counsellors who work with young people who identify as lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual or queer (LGTBQ).

Actors Kate Beckinsale and Matt Dillon  present actress Ellen Page the award for best female lead for the film "Juno" at the 2008 Film Independent's Spirit Awards in Santa Monica

Ellen won much critical acclaim for her role in Juno

Page shot to fame after playing pregnant teenager Juno in the 2007 film. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress, a Golden Globe Award and a Bafta for her performance.

She also starred alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2010 film Inception.

During the eight-minute speech, the actress spoke of the pain she endured while hiding her sexuality.

"I suffered for years because I was scared to be out," she said.

"My spirit suffered, my mental health suffered and my relationships suffered.

"I'm standing here today, with all of you, on the other side of all that pain."

She said much more still needed to be done to overcome discrimination.

"There are too many kids out there suffering from bullying or rejection, or simply being mistreated because of who they are," she said.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.


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Cost of Raising a Child in Florida Is Higher Than Average, but Lower Than Future Parents Guess - BMO Harris Bank Survey

SARASOTA, FL -- (Marketwired) -- 02/27/14 --

  • Parents in Florida spend an average of $887 monthly per child, while prospective parents estimate the cost will be more than triple that
  • Florida parents say the cost of raising a child in the Sunshine State is 10 percent higher than the national average
  • BMO Harris offers tools and advice for all life stages, from planning a baby to raising a family

A new study released today by BMO Harris Bank found Florida parents spend $887 per month on their children, which is more than average Americans, who spends $795. The survey found that prospective parents estimate that they will spend even more on their first child -- an average of $2,971 per month, 40 percent higher than the national average estimate of $2,143. Fifty-five percent of all Florida respondents recognized the need to save for the costs of raising a family. When it comes to putting funds away for children, however, future parents in Florida are below the national average of those who have started saving (16 percent versus 21 percent).

Of those Florida respondents who already have children, 72 percent have a budget in place, but eight in 10 (82 percent) had to make cutbacks to cover the cost of raising them, including 27 percent who have gone into debt.

"Financial priorities usually get moved around when children enter the picture. While it's true that most parents have to change their spending habits, it's comforting to know that most of them do so with a budget in place," said Dave Maraman, Florida Regional President, BMO Harris Bank.

The study, which surveyed parents expecting to have a child in the next five years or with children less than 10 years old, found that in Florida:

  • Childcare was the greatest expected and actual cost of those future parents expecting to incur childcare expenses. They estimate the cost would be $561 per child monthly, versus the cost of $360 for those who currently pay for it (Nationally: $507 vs. $437).
  • Prospective parents planning to contribute to a 529 Plan said they expect to put away $514 on a monthly basis. By contrast, current parents who contribute said they actually put away only $202 (Nationally: $303 vs. $196).
  • Future parents estimate medical and dental expenses will average $464 monthly, but the average cost for parents was only $114 (Nationally: $362 vs. $110).

"Based on our survey results, those who are planning to become parents in Florida are not alone when it comes to high outlooks for the costs of raising their family. I'm glad to see they plan to save aggressively for their children's education; that's a very worthwhile investment," added Mr. Maraman.

The results also showed what prospective and new parents in Florida consider their top financial concerns, compared to the national average:

          Financial Concern                Florida            National
Saving for their children's education        76%                87%
Healthcare costs                             81%                87%
The costs of raising children                75%                86%
The cost of living                           84%                84%
Having enough money to retire                79%                83%
The value of their investments               54%                71%
Job security                                 67%                67%
Making their mortgage payments               48%                51%

At a national level, the survey found:

  • Most parents (85 percent) report having to make cutbacks to pay for children.
  • More than a quarter (28 percent) have gone into debt.
  • 82 percent of new and expecting parents have a budget in place.

"The cost of raising a child is a major outlay for households, but current and would-be parents have to be careful to incorporate these actual and expected outlays in their family budgets. This often means cutting back on spending elsewhere and exercising caution when using credit," said Michael Gregory, Head of U.S. Economics, BMO Capital Markets. "Households across America have made remarkable progress in repairing their balance sheets during the past few years. Across all households, mortgage and consumer credit peaked at nearly 125 percent of after-tax personal incomes during 2007 and it has since fallen under 99 percent, hovering around its lowest level in more than a decade."

For more information about planning for the next Life Stage, visit bmoharris.com/yourfinanciallife.

Survey results cited in this release are from a Pollara survey with an online sample of 1,500 Americans (including 150 from Florida) conducted between November 22nd and 29th, 2013. This includes 993 interviews with parents of children under 10 and 507 interviews with Americans who expect to have their first child in the next 5 years. The margin of error for a probability sample of this size is +/- 2.5%, 19 times out of 20.

About BMO Harris Bank
BMO Harris Bank provides a broad range of personal banking products and solutions through more than 600 branches and approximately 1,300 ATMs in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Arizona and Florida. BMO Harris Bank's commercial banking team provides a combination of sector expertise, local knowledge and mid-market focus throughout the U.S. For more information about BMO Harris Bank, go to the company fact sheet. Banking products and services are provided by BMO Harris Bank N.A. and are subject to bank or credit approval. BMO Harris Bank® is a trade name used by BMO Harris Bank N.A. Member FDIC. BMO Harris Bank is part of BMO Financial Group, a North American financial organization with approximately 1,600 branches, and CDN $537 billion in assets (as of October 31, 2013).

More Stories By Marketwired .

Copyright © 2009 Marketwired. All rights reserved. All the news releases provided by Marketwired are copyrighted. Any forms of copying other than an individual user's personal reference without express written permission is prohibited. Further distribution of these materials is strictly forbidden, including but not limited to, posting, emailing, faxing, archiving in a public database, redistributing via a computer network or in a printed form.

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