Feb. 27, 2013 ? Advertisers who put images of female celebrities and models next to their products spark scorn rather than shopping, according to new research.
A new study from Warwick Business School has found women are turned off products placed next to 'attractive' images of female models, but they are likely to buy the product if the images are used subtly instead.
Previous studies on how using attractive models affects women's perception of the product have been contradictory, but a new look at the subject has found that only adverts using images of perfectly shaped models subtly actually lead to consumers liking the product.
Dr Tamara Ansons, Assistant Professor at Warwick Business School, said: "To successfully use idealised images in marketing communications, they should be presented subtly.
"We found that the way the picture of the perfectly shaped model was used was very important in determining a positive or negative effect on women's self-perception.
"We showed that when exposure to these images of beautiful models is subtle, a sub-conscious automatic process of upward social comparison takes place leading to a negative self-perception. But that led to a more positive attitude towards the brand.
"Yet when the exposure to the idealised image of a woman is blatant, a conscious process is activated and consumers employ defensive coping strategies, ie they belittle the model or celebrity to restore a positive perception of themselves. So the product in the advert becomes associated with negative reactions."
The women were put through various experiments including being shown magazine pages that contained different adverts, one of which was for a vodka. Some women received adverts that did not feature an attractive model, other women received adverts that had a bikini-clad model on the opposite page to a picture of the vodka -- meaning they were subtly exposed to the idealised female image -- and the third had the attractive model on a whole page next to the vodka -- meaning they were blatantly exposed to the idealised female image.
Through a series of tests the team of researchers found different responses to the adverts from the women.
Dr Ansons said: "Attractive female models and celebrities are routinely used in advertisements and yet previous research has shown mixed reactions, some have found the effect to be positive, while others have found it to be negative.
"We wanted to find out why this was. We found that a woman's self-perception and consequent effects on product evaluation depend on the degree of attention paid to the idealised image of a woman in advertisements."
This study in a paper entitled 'Defensive reactions to slim female images in advertising: The moderating role of mode of exposure' published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes could have far reaching implications for the marketing industry and how they use models and celebrities to sell their products.
"It is important to understand when we might expect positive effects by using idealised body images in marketing on customers' self-perception and how that influences purchase decisions," said Dr Ansons.
"We showed that when consumers are blatantly exposed to idealised images of thin and beautiful women they are more likely to use a defensive coping strategy to boost self-evaluation by denigrating the pictured woman. This can negatively affect the products these models endorse through the transfer of the negative evaluation of the model to the endorsed product.
"However when subtly exposed to these perfectly shaped models consumers do not engage in defensive coping by disparaging the model. Instead it leads to negative self-evaluation but does not interfere with their evaluation of the pictured model. Thus, the generally positive evaluation of the model leads to a favourable reaction to the product she is endorsing."
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Journal Reference:
Fang Wan, Tamara L. Ansons, Amitava Chattopadhyay, Jason P. Leboe. Defensive reactions to slim female images in advertising: The moderating role of mode of exposure. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2013; 120 (1): 37 DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2012.07.008
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Researchers at The Johns Hopkins University and Yale University have discovered that a specialized receptor, normally found in the nose, is also in blood vessels throughout the body, sensing small molecules created by microbes that line mammalian intestines, and responding to these molecules by increasing blood pressure. The finding suggests that gut bacteria are an integral part of the body's complex system for maintaining a stable blood pressure.
A description of the research, conducted in mice and test tubes, appeared online Feb. 11 in the journalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"The contribution that gut microbes apparently make to blood pressure regulation and human health is a surprise," says Jennifer Pluznick, Ph.D., assistant professor of physiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "There is still much to learn about this mechanism, but we now know some of the players and how they interact," she adds.
Pluznick says that several years ago, thanks to a "happy coincidence," she found ? in the kidney ? some of the same odor-sensing proteins that give the nose its powers. Focusing on one of those proteins, olfactory receptor 78 (Olfr78), her team specifically located it in the major branches of the kidney's artery and in the smaller arterioles that lead into the kidney's filtering structures. Olfr78 also turned up in the walls of small blood vessels throughout the body, she says, particularly in the heart, diaphragm, skeletal muscle and skin.
To figure out which molecules bind and activate Olfr78, the scientists programmed cells to have Olfr78 protein receptors on their surface. They also gave these same cells the ability to start a light-producing chemical reaction whenever Olfr78 is activated. By adding different cocktails of molecules to the cells and measuring the light the cells produced, they homed in on a single mixture that activated Olfr78. They then tested each component in that mix and found that only acetic acid (a.k.a. vinegar) bound Olfr78 and caused the reaction.
Acetic acid and its alter ego, acetate, are part of a group of molecules known as short chain fatty acids (SCFAs). When the team tested other molecules in this group, they found that propionate, which is similar to acetate, also binds Olfr78. In the body of mammals, including humans, SCFAs are made when zillions of bacteria lining the gut digest starch and cellulose from plant-based foods. The SCFAs are absorbed by the intestines into the blood stream, where they can interact with Olfr78.
To pinpoint the effect of Olfr78, the scientists gave SCFAs to mice missing the Olfr78 gene and found that the rodents' blood pressure decreased, suggesting that SCFAs normally induce Olfr78 to elevate blood pressure. However, when they gave SCFAs to normal mice with intact Olfr78, they did not see the expected increase in blood pressure, but rather a decrease, though it was less pronounced than before.
To test the effect of reducing the SCFAs available to Olfr78, the team gave mice a three-week course of antibiotics to wipe out the gut microbes responsible for SCFA production. In this case, normal mice showed very little change in blood pressure, but mice without Olfr78 experienced an increase in blood pressure, suggesting that there were other factors involved in the Olfr78/SCFA/blood pressure relationship.
The mystery was solved, Pluznick says, when the team examined mice lacking Gpr41, a non-smell-related protein receptor located in blood vessel walls that also binds SCFAs. When SCFAs bind to Gpr41, blood pressure is decreased. The researchers eventually discovered that Olfr78 and Gpr41 both are activated by SCFAs, but with contradictory effects. The negative effect of Gpr41 is counterbalanced by the positive effect of Olfr78, but Gpr41's effect is stronger, so an increase in SCFAs produces an overall decrease in blood pressure.
"We don't have the full story yet," says Pluznick. "There are many players involved in the maintenance of stable levels of blood pressure, and these are just a few of them. We don't know why it would be beneficial for blood pressure to decrease after eating or why gut microbes would play a part in signaling that change. But our work opens the door for exploring the effects of antibiotic treatments, probiotics and other dietary changes on blood pressure levels in mice, and perhaps eventually people."
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Link to article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1215927110
Thanks to Johns Hopkins Medicine for this article.
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Global tipping point not backed by science: StudyPublic release date: 28-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Professor Barry Brook barry.brook@adelaide.edu.au 61-420-958-400 University of Adelaide
A group of international ecological scientists led by the University of Adelaide have rejected a doomsday-like scenario of sudden, irreversible change to the Earth's ecology.
In a paper published today in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution, the scientists from Australia, US and UK argue that global-scale ecological tipping points are unlikely and that ecological change over large areas seem to follow a more gradual, smooth pattern.
This opposes recent efforts to define 'planetary tipping points' ? critical levels of biodiversity loss or land-use change that would have global effect ? with important implications for science and policy-makers.
"This is good news because it says that we might avoid the doom-and-gloom scenario of abrupt, irreversible change," says Professor Barry Brook, lead author of the paper and Director of Climate Science at the University of Adelaide. "A focus on planetary tipping points may both distract from the vast ecological transformations that have already occurred, and lead to unjustified fatalism about the catastrophic effects of tipping points.
"An emphasis on a point of no return is not particularly helpful for bringing about the conservation action we need. We must continue to seek to reduce our impacts on the global ecology without undue attention on trying to avoid arbitrary thresholds."
A tipping point occurs when an ecosystem attribute such as species abundance or carbon sequestration responds rapidly and possibly irreversibly to a human pressure like land-use change or climate change.
Many local and regional-level ecosystems, such as lakes and grasslands, are known to behave this way. A planetary tipping point, the authors suggest, could theoretically occur if ecosystems across Earth respond in similar ways to the same human pressures, or if there are strong connections between continents that allow for rapid diffusion of impacts across the planet.
"These criteria, however, are very unlikely to be met in the real world," says Professor Brook. "First, ecosystems on different continents are not strongly connected. Second, the responses of ecosystems to human pressures like climate change or land-use change depend on local circumstances and will therefore differ between localities."
The scientists examined four principal drivers of terrestrial ecosystem change ? climate change, land-use change, habitat fragmentation and biodiversity loss ? and found they were unlikely to induce global tipping points.
Co-author Associate Professor Erle Ellis, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, says: "As much as four fifths of the biosphere is today characterised by ecosystems that locally, over centuries and millennia, have undergone human-driven regime shifts of one or more kinds. Recognising this reality and seeking appropriate conservation efforts at local and regional levels might be a more fruitful way forward for ecology and global change science."
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Global tipping point not backed by science: StudyPublic release date: 28-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Professor Barry Brook barry.brook@adelaide.edu.au 61-420-958-400 University of Adelaide
A group of international ecological scientists led by the University of Adelaide have rejected a doomsday-like scenario of sudden, irreversible change to the Earth's ecology.
In a paper published today in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution, the scientists from Australia, US and UK argue that global-scale ecological tipping points are unlikely and that ecological change over large areas seem to follow a more gradual, smooth pattern.
This opposes recent efforts to define 'planetary tipping points' ? critical levels of biodiversity loss or land-use change that would have global effect ? with important implications for science and policy-makers.
"This is good news because it says that we might avoid the doom-and-gloom scenario of abrupt, irreversible change," says Professor Barry Brook, lead author of the paper and Director of Climate Science at the University of Adelaide. "A focus on planetary tipping points may both distract from the vast ecological transformations that have already occurred, and lead to unjustified fatalism about the catastrophic effects of tipping points.
"An emphasis on a point of no return is not particularly helpful for bringing about the conservation action we need. We must continue to seek to reduce our impacts on the global ecology without undue attention on trying to avoid arbitrary thresholds."
A tipping point occurs when an ecosystem attribute such as species abundance or carbon sequestration responds rapidly and possibly irreversibly to a human pressure like land-use change or climate change.
Many local and regional-level ecosystems, such as lakes and grasslands, are known to behave this way. A planetary tipping point, the authors suggest, could theoretically occur if ecosystems across Earth respond in similar ways to the same human pressures, or if there are strong connections between continents that allow for rapid diffusion of impacts across the planet.
"These criteria, however, are very unlikely to be met in the real world," says Professor Brook. "First, ecosystems on different continents are not strongly connected. Second, the responses of ecosystems to human pressures like climate change or land-use change depend on local circumstances and will therefore differ between localities."
The scientists examined four principal drivers of terrestrial ecosystem change ? climate change, land-use change, habitat fragmentation and biodiversity loss ? and found they were unlikely to induce global tipping points.
Co-author Associate Professor Erle Ellis, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, says: "As much as four fifths of the biosphere is today characterised by ecosystems that locally, over centuries and millennia, have undergone human-driven regime shifts of one or more kinds. Recognising this reality and seeking appropriate conservation efforts at local and regional levels might be a more fruitful way forward for ecology and global change science."
###
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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.
Feb. 28, 2013 ? According to Finnish-Estonian joint research with data obtained on two crustacean species, there is apparently no reason to consider silver nanoparticles more dangerous for aquatic ecosystems than silver ions. The results were reported in the journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research late last year. Jukka Niskanen has utilised the same polymerisation and coupling reactions in his doctoral dissertation studying several hybrid nanomaterials, i.e. combinations of synthetic polymers and inorganic (gold, silver and montmorillonite) nanoparticles. Niskanen will defend his doctoral thesis at the University of Helsinki in April.
Part of the magic of nano-science is that on the scale of a billionth of a metre, matter and materials behave in ways that are not yet known. Neither is it always known what types of effects the nano version of the parent matter will have on its environment.
-Due to the fact that silver in nanoparticle form is bactericidal and also fungicidal and also prevents the reproduction of those organisms, it is now used in various consumer goods ranging from wound dressing products to sportswear, says Jukka Niskanen from the Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry at the University of Helsinki, Finland.
While the usefulness of silver has been established, the debate over the toxicity mechanisms of its various forms to microorganisms but also to non-target species continues. Anne Kahru, Head of the Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology at the National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics, Estonia, talks about a whole new field of ecotoxicology: nanoecotoxicology.
So far, little is known about the environmental effects of silver nanoparticles and their toxicity to aquatic organisms. A joint study from the University of Helsinki and the National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics (Tallinn, Estonia), Toxicity of two types of silver nanoparticles to aquatic crustaceans Daphnia magna and Thamnocephalus platyurus , shows that silver nanoparticles are apparently no more hazardous to aquatic ecosystems than a water-soluble silver salt. The study compared the ecotoxicity of silver nanoparticles and a water-soluble silver salt.
-Our conclusion was that the environmental risks caused by silver nanoparticles are seemingly not higher than those caused by a silver salt. However, more research is required to reach a clear understanding of the safety of silver-containing particles, Niskanen says.
Indeed, silver nanoparticles were found to be ten times less toxic than the soluble silver nitrate -- a soluble silver salt used for the comparison..
The bioavailability of silver varies in different test media
To explain this phenomenon, the researchers refer to the variance in the bioavailability of silver to crustaceans in different tested media.
University lecturer Olli-Pekka Penttinen from the Department of Environmental Sciences of the University of Helsinki goes on to note that the inorganic and organic compounds dissolved in natural waters (such as humus), water hardness and sulfides have a definite impact on the bioavailability of silver. Due to this, the toxicity of both types of tested nanoparticles and the silver nitrate measured in the course of the study was lower in natural water than in artificial fresh water.
The toxicity of silver nanoparticles and silver ions was studied using two aquatic crustaceans, a water flea (Daphnia magna) and a fairy shrimp (Thamnocephalus platyurus). Commercially available protein-stabilised particles and particles coated with a water-soluble, non-toxic polymer, specifically synthesised for the purpose, were used in the study. First, the polymers were produced utilising a controlled radical polymerisation method. Synthetic polymer-grafted silver particles were then produced by attaching the water-soluble polymer to the surface of the silver with a sulfur bond.
Jukka Niskanen has utilised such polymerisation and coupling reactions in his doctoral dissertation, Polymeric and hybrid materials: polymers on particle surfaces and air-water interfaces, studying several hybrid nanomaterials , i.e., combinations of synthetic polymers and inorganic (gold, silver and montmorillonite) nanoparticles. Niskanen will defend his doctoral thesis in the field of polymer chemistry at the University of Helsinki in April 2013.
It was previously known from other studies and research results that silver changes the functioning of proteins and enzymes. It has also been shown that silver ions can prevent the replication of DNA. Concerning silver nanoparticles, tests conducted on various species of bacteria and fungi have indicated that their toxicity varies. For example, gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli are more sensitive to silver nanoparticles than gram-positive ones (such as Staphylococcus aureus). The difference in sensitivity is caused by the structural differences of the cell membranes of the bacteria. The cellular toxicity of silver nanoparticles in mammals has been studied as well. It has been suggested that silver nanoparticles enter cells via endocytosis and then function in the same manner as in bacterial cells, damaging DNA and hindering cell respiration. Electron microscope studies have shown that human skin is permeable to silver nanoparticles and that the permeability of damaged skin is up to four times higher than that of healthy skin.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Helsingin yliopisto (University of Helsinki), via AlphaGalileo.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Irina Blinova, Jukka Niskanen, Paula Kajankari, Liina Kanarbik, Aleksandr K?kinen, Heikki Tenhu, Olli-Pekka Penttinen, Anne Kahru. Toxicity of two types of silver nanoparticles to aquatic crustaceans Daphnia magna and Thamnocephalus platyurus. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2012; DOI: 10.1007/s11356-012-1290-5
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Household debt for homes headed by people under the age of 35 plummeted by 29% from 2007 to 2010. One big reason is the millennials are getting by without buying houses and cars, a report by the Pew Research Center found.?
The millennial generation seems to have figured out the formula to avoiding racking up debt: buy less stuff.
The median debt of American households headed by young adults has plummeted over the course of the great recession, a new study by the Pew Research Center has found.
In all, debt in households headed by people under the age of 35 fell by a whopping 29% between 2007 and 2010, the study said.
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By comparison, households headed by adults over the age of 35, debt fell by just 8%.
More good news for millennials was found in an analysis of their credit card debt. While 48% of adults over the age of 35 carried a credit card balance in 2007, just 39% did in 2010.
According to Pew, the sudden frugal streak was best illustrated in two main areas where Americans have routinely found themselves piling on debt: homes and cars.
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The share of younger households owning their primary residence fell sharply from 40% in 2007 to 34% in 2011, the study stated.
Whether they couldn?t afford to buy one, or identified automobiles as another source of debt, just 66% of millennial households owned a car in 2011, down seven percentage points from 2007.
While remaining more or less flat for American households lead by adults over the age of 35, the big drops in the percentage of debt for millennials may signify a cultural sea change.
?These shifts in the debt profile of younger adults reflect a broader societal shift toward delayed marriage and household formation that has been under way for decades,? the Pew report stated.
Though student loan debt has continued to edge up over the past 12 years, a record high 22% of younger households reported having no debt whatsoever, which Pew noted was the largest number since the federal government began gathering the data in 1983. ?
The explosions, which injured scores of market goers, come amid ongoing tensions in India over its recent execution of convicted terrorist Mohammad Afzal Guru.
By Arthur Bright,?Staff writer / February 21, 2013
Fire fighters extinguish a fire at the site of an explosion in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad February 21, 2013. Two bombs placed on bicycles exploded in a crowded market-place in Hyderabad on Thursday, and the federal home minister said at least 11 people were killed and 50 wounded.
Reuters
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A pair of bicycle bombs rocked a crowded marketplace in Hyderabad today, killing at least 11 people and injuring scores more in the southern Indian city of 6.8 million, a major hub for information technology where Microsoft and Google have a large presence.
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Arthur Bright is the Europe Editor at The Christian Science Monitor.? He has worked for the Monitor in various capacities since 2004, including as the Online News Editor and a regular contributor to the Monitor's Terrorism & Security blog.? He is also a licensed Massachusetts attorney.
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Reuters reports that India has gone on high alert after the explosions, which local television stations report may have killed up to 15 people and wounded at least 50.?The last major bomb attack in India was a blast in September of 2011 outside the high court in New Delhi that killed 13 people.
"Both blasts took place within a radius of 150 meters," federal Home (Interior) Minister Sushil Shinde told reporters, adding the explosives were placed on bicycles parked in the crowded marketplace. "Eight people died at one place, three at the other."
The explosions come less than two weeks after India hanged a Kashmiri man for a militant attack on the country's parliament in 2001 that had sparked violent clashes.
Witnesses told Reuters they heard at least two explosions in the Dilsukh Nagar area of Hyderabad just after dusk but there could have been more.
The Hindustan Times reports that Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters that "it was too early to say anything" about whether it was a terrorist attack, but that the government was investigating. But the Times notes that the country had already been on alert for attacks due to the recent execution of Mohammad Afzal Guru, a convict in the 2001 terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament.
The Monitor reported earlier this month that Mr. Afzal Guru's death sentence, though handed down in 2002, was carried out on Feb. 9 without advance warning, and appears to involve a significant political impetus.
The execution is being seen by analysts as the ruling Congress party?s way of regaining public confidence in the wake of several corruption scandals and protests over the recent Delhi gang-rape. Political commentator Seema Mustafa says the sudden decision to execute Afzal Guru, after years of dilly-dallying, is part of a Congress party effort?to improve its position for the 2014 general elections. ?The Congress in its usual cynical manipulation of the votes is trying to eat into the majority constituency with this action,? she says.
Executions had become more rare up until [that of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist in the 2008 Mumbai attacks] ? the first in India in eight years. Like Kasab's hanging in November, Azfal Guru's?came just ahead of a parliament session. ?I would just say it's extremely tragic if Indian democracy is going to survive on executing someone or the other before every Parliament session,? says lawyer Vrinda Grover. Congress party spokesman?Abhishek Manu Singhvi called such suggestions about the timing "irresponsible and childish."
The execution led to days of protest in Kashmir, where Afzal Guru was from.
TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares scaled their highest levels since August 2011 on Wednesday after an improving global economic outlook whetted investor appetite for risk, while the yen firmed amid doubts over Japan's commitment to drastic reflation.
Asian shares have been on an uptrend as risks from the euro zone debt crisis and the U.S. fiscal impasse abated and signs of recovery emerged in major economies including China. Corporate earnings have also been generally positive.
"The tide continued to push higher for equity markets across Asia today, with solid leads from Europe and the U.S. enough to keep traders in a buying frame of mind," said Tim Waterer, senior trader at CMC Markets.
News of new possible mergers boosted U.S. stocks on Tuesday, pinning the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> near a five-year high, while European shares rose after the German ZEW investor sentiment index rose to a three-year high.
European markets will likely consolidate, with financial spreadbetters predicting London's FTSE 100 <.ftse>, Paris's CAC-40 <.fchi> and Frankfurt's DAX <.gdaxi> would open down 0.1 percent. U.S. stock futures were flat to suggest a subdued start for Wall Street. <.l><.eu><.n/>
The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> added 0.8 percent, up for a third day in a row, led by a 1.9 percent gain in its technology sector <.miapjit00pus>. The index has risen 4.3 percent year to date.
South Korean shares <.ks11> outperformed their peers with a 1.8 percent jump to a one-month high, as foreigners stepped up buying and a pause in the yen's falling trend soothed sentiment.
Australian shares <.axjo> rose 0.3 percent, extending their bull run at 4-1/2-year highs on improving sentiment overseas and a better-than-expected domestic earnings season. The Australian market has risen nearly 10 percent this year.
Positive growth in Southeast Asia has drawn foreign investors, keeping regional stocks robust. The Philippines stock market <.psi> extended gains to a record high while Bangkok's SET index <.seti> hit a fresh 18-year high.
Rallying stocks weighed on assets perceived as safe-haven, with spot gold inching up 0.2 percent to $1,606.84 an ounce but stuck near a six-month low.
Asian credit markets took their cues from stocks, tightening the spread on the iTraxx Asia ex-Japan investment-grade index by two basis points.
London copper edged up 0.2 percent to $8,067.75 a metric ton, off Tuesday's three-week lows.
"A shift to cyclicals from defensives has come full circle and investors are now looking at sector-specific factors within an asset class, selecting those with a tight supply/demand outlook," said Naohiro Niimura, a partner at research and consulting firm Market Risk Advisory.
He said industrial metals and oil are favored by investors. Within base metals, copper will likely rise further as economic activity increases, as will Brent crude oil, while U.S. crude was seen weighed by ample supply.
U.S. crude steadied around $96.72 a barrel but Brent eased 0.2 percent to $117.31.
Platinum and palladium also have further upside scope due to supply concerns.
The rise in equities weighed on assets perceived as safe-haven, such U.S. Treasuries and gold on Tuesday. Spot gold inched up 0.2 percent to $1,607.94 an ounce, but hovered near a six-month low hit the day before.
YEN INSTABILITY RISES
Tokyo's Nikkei stock average <.n225> closed 0.8 percent higher at its highest close since late September 2008. <.t/>
The yen remained jittery, swinging in narrow ranges on concerns Japan may not be able to pursue as strong a reflationary policy mix as previously perceived.
The government delayed nominating a new Bank of Japan governor, fuelling talk of friction between the prime minister and the finance minister over who is best suited to implement the bold steps needed to reignite the economy.
The G20 meeting last weekend gave tacit approval to a weak currency as long as it was as a result of domestic monetary easing, but maintained its traditional opposition to currency manipulation aimed at fostering exports and growth of one country at others' expense.
"In light of the G20 statement to avoid competitive devaluation, it will be difficult to talk down the yen specifically. I think the onus now is on policy to do the work," said Sim Moh Siong, FX strategist for Bank of Singapore.
The dollar fell 0.4 percent to 93.15 yen, off its highest since May 2010 of 94.465 hit on February 11. The euro eased 0.3 percent to 124.91 yen. It touched a peak since April 2010 of 127.71 yen on February 6.
Japan logged its biggest monthly trade deficit on record in January, underscoring the country's deteriorating trade balances and accenting the yen's weak fundamental trend.
Sterling was under pressure on growing speculation the UK could soon lose its prized triple-A credit rating. Sterling traded at $1.5444, having plumbed a seven-month low at $1.5414 in New York.
Investors remained wary of possible U.S. federal spending cuts and outcome of the upcoming Italian election. They also awaited the release later in the session of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's January policy meeting for clues to its future bond-buying plans.
The ZEW report was a positive sign ahead of the more important euro zone flash PMIs on Thursday and Germany's IFO business sentiment on Friday, said Vassili Serebriakov, a strategist at BNP Paribas.
The euro extended its gains, rising 0.2 percent to $1.3413.
(Additional reporting by Masayuki Kitano in Singapore and Thuy Ong in Sydney; Edting by Eric Meijer)
The Colorado House passed four gun-control measures Monday, a notable shift for a typically libertarian, pro-gun state. Has the political climate changed enough for bills to pass state Senate?
By Amanda Paulson,?Staff writer / February 20, 2013
Democrat Rep. Rhonda Fields speaks before the Colorado House Monday as they consider a bill she sponsored that prohibits large capacity ammunition magazines. Colorado House Democrats passed four gun-control bills responding to recent mass shootings.
Joe Amon/The Denver Post/AP
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It?s hard to imagine a state that better symbolizes America?s conflicting relationship with guns and gun control than Colorado.
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A Western state with a strong libertarian streak, it boasts a large number of gun enthusiasts and hunters, and many residents have a knee-jerk reaction against government infringement of individual liberties.
It?s also been host to two of the worst gun massacres in recent years ?? at Columbine High School and the Aurora movie theater. And, as of the most recent election, has a state government entirely controlled by Democrats.
Now, Colorado is on its way to enacting a package of gun-control bills that would make the state significantly tougher than any of its Western neighbors.?As lawmakers in a number of other states introduce bills trying to preemptively exempt their state from any possible future federal gun restrictions, it?s notable that Colorado is going the other direction. And the mass shootings are a primary driver.?
On Monday, the Colorado House of Representatives passed four bills that would place some limits on gun ownership: ammunition magazines limited to 15 rounds; a requirement for background checks for all gun transactions; a requirement that gun purchasers pay for their own background checks; and a ban on concealed guns in stadiums and on college campuses.
"Enough is enough. I'm sick and tired of bloodshed," said Democratic Rep. Rhonda Fields, a sponsor of both the magazine-capacity bill and the universal background check bill. Representative Fields is from the district where the Aurora shooting took place, and her son was killed in a 2005 shooting.
Debate on the House floor was heated, and several Democrats sided with Republicans (all of whom voted against the bills).
Now, the bills move on to the state Senate?, which is also controlled by Democrats, albeit by a slimmer margin.
?These are draconian controls and not things we?re feeling happy about,? says Dudley Brown, executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners.
Mr. Brown says he holds out some hope that the Senate may block at least one of the bills, but either way, his organization?plans to target everyone who votes for them in marginal districts in the 2014 elections.
New IOM report highlights PEPFAR's successesPublic release date: 20-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Christine Stencel news@nas.edu 202-334-2138 National Academy of Sciences
New IOM report highlights PEPFAR's successes, calls on initiative to intensify efforts to enhance partner countries' management of programs and to improve prevention
WASHINGTON -- The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has saved and improved millions of lives worldwide and offered proof that HIV/AIDS services can be effectively delivered on a large scale even in countries with high rates of disease and resource constraints, says a new congressionally mandated evaluation conducted by the Institute of Medicine.
Moving forward, PEPFAR needs to intensify efforts to help its partner countries develop the capacity to manage their own programs, sustain the gains that have been made in controlling the HIV epidemic, and improve their citizens' access to services, said the committee that wrote the report.
Even with PEPFAR's substantial contributions to the global scale-up of HIV/AIDS services, many needs remain, the report notes, and future progress will require partner countries and donors to work together to make difficult but necessary decisions on how to allocate finite resources. As PEPFAR increases its focus on fostering countries' ability to take on greater long-term responsibility, results may not occur as rapidly or dramatically as in the past, the committee cautioned.
"During our visits to partner countries, we repeatedly heard PEPFAR described as a lifeline," said committee chair Robert Black, chair, department of international health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore. "People credit the initiative with restoring hope. As it moves forward, PEPFAR must continue to be bold in its vision, implementation, and global leadership."
PEPFAR was established in 2003 through legislation that authorized $15 billion for HIV/AIDS and other related global health issues over five years. In 2008, the legislation was reauthorized, providing up to $39 billion through 2013 for PEPFAR bilateral HIV/AIDS programs as well as U.S. contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. PEPFAR has supported HIV/AIDS programs in over 100 countries, with the largest share of the investment currently in 33 partner countries. As part of the reauthorization, Congress requested that IOM evaluate various aspects of the initiative, a task that IOM's international committee of experts carried out through visits to 13 partner countries as well as the review of volumes of documentation and data. IOM previously evaluated PEPFAR in its initial implementation phase and issued a report in 2007.
Overall, PEPFAR has reset the world's expectations for what can be accomplished with ambitious goals, ample funding, and humanitarian commitment to a public health crisis, the committee concluded. Working with a wide range of international and local partners, PEPFAR has expanded HIV testing and increased the number of people living with HIV who are receiving care and being treated with antiretroviral drugs. The initiative has trained hundreds of thousands of service providers, strengthened partner countries' health systems, provided additional nonclinical support services for people living with HIV, and made an unprecedented investment in programs for orphans and vulnerable children living with or affected by HIV.
PEPFAR has successfully increased services to prevent HIV transmission from mothers to their children during pregnancy and birth. The initiative has become increasingly flexible over time in its approach to other prevention strategies, and it has achieved positive results by supporting data collection to better understand the factors driving the epidemic in each country and scaling up prevention programs for the general population and for populations at elevated risk. However, greater attention to a range of prevention strategies is needed, the report says. In particular, countries need to increase the focus on prevention of sexual transmission, which is responsible for the majority of new infections. PEPFAR should lead the way by supporting innovations in strategies to decrease risk factors that contribute to HIV transmission.
The committee underscored the importance of partner countries receiving support to take on greater responsibility for and management of their own HIV/AIDS programs. In recent years, PEPFAR has begun providing less direct support and more technical assistance and support for strengthening partner countries' health systems and capacity to lead their efforts, a shift that the report deems reasonable and appropriate. PEPFAR's guidance should reorient from prescribing specific activities to outlining key outcomes and enabling partner countries to determine how to prioritize their efforts to achieve these outcomes.
###
The study was sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. Established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine provides objective, evidence-based advice to policymakers, health professionals, the private sector, and the public. The Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and National Research Council together make up the private, nonprofit National Academies. For more information, visit http://national-academies.org or http://iom.edu. A committee roster follows.
Contacts:
Christine Stencel, Media Relations Officer
Luwam Yeibio, Media Relations Assistant
Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; e-mail news@nas.edu
Pre-publication copies of Evaluation of PEPFAR are available from the National Academies Press on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu or by calling tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above). Additional information is available at http://www.iom.edu/pepfar2.
INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE
Board on Global Health
and
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education
Board on Children, Youth, and Families
Committee on Planning the Assessment/Evaluation of HIV/AIDS Programs Implemented Under U.S. Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, TB, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008
Robert E. Black, M.D., M.P.H. (chair)
Edgar Berman Professor and Chair
Department of International Health
Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore
Judith D. Auerbach, Ph.D.
Former Vice President of Research and Evaluation
San Francisco AIDS Foundation
San Francisco
Mary T. Bassett, M.D., M.P.H.
Director for the African Health Initiative
Medical Research Program
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
New York City
Ronald Brookmeyer, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Biostatistics
School of Public Health
University of California
Los Angeles
Lola Dare M.D., M.Sc.
CEO
Center for Health Sciences Training, Research, and Development International
Ibadan, Nigeria
Alex C. Ezeh, Ph.D., M.Sc.
Executive Director
African Population and Health Research Center
Nairobi, Kenya
Sofia Gruskin, J.D., M.I.A.
Professor of Preventive Medicine
Keck School of Medicine;
Professor of Law and Preventive Medicine
Gould School of Law; and
Director
Program on Global Health and Human Rights Institute for Global Health
University of Southern California
Los Angeles
Angelina Kakooza, M.B.Ch.B., M.D.
Pediatrician and Lecturer
Department of Pediatrics and Child Health
School of Medicine
Makerere University College of Health Sciences
Kampala, Uganda
Jennifer Kates, M.A., M.P.A.
Vice President, and
Director
Global Health Policy and HIV
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
Washington, D.C.
Ann Kurth, Ph.D., C.N.M.
Professor and Director
Global Health Initiatives
New York University College of Nursing
New York City
Anne C. Petersen, Ph.D.
President
Global Philanthropy Alliance, and
Research Professor
Center for Human Growth and Development
University of Michigan
Kalamazoo
Douglas D. Richman, M.D.
Director
Center for AIDS Research
VA San Diego Healthcare System, and
Florence Seeley Riford Chair in AIDS Research and
Distinguished Professor of Pathology and Medicine
University of California
San Diego
Jennifer Prah Ruger, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Division of Health Policy and Administration
Yale School of Public Health
New Haven, Conn.
Deborah L. Rugg, Ph.D., M.A.
Director
Inspection and Evaluation Division
United Nations
New York City
Papa Salif Sow, M.D., M.Sc.
Senior Program Officer, HIV
Global Health Program
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Seattle
Dawn K. Smith, M.D., M.S., M.P.H.
Biomedical Interventions Implementation Officer
Epidemiology Branch, DHAP, NCHSTP
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Atlanta
Taha E. Taha, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor and Co-Director
Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Department of Epidemiology
Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore
Kathryn Whetten, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Associate Professor of Public Policy Studies, Community and Family Medicine, and Nursing, and
Director
Health Inequalities Program
Center for Health Policy
Duke University
Durham, N.C.
Catherine M. Wilfert, M.D.
Scientific Director Emerita
Elizabeth Glaser Pediatrics AIDS Foundation, and
Professor Emerita
Duke University Medical Center
Chapel Hill, N.C.
STAFF
Kimberly Scott
Study Co-Director
Bridget B. Kelly
Study Co-Director
[ | 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.
New IOM report highlights PEPFAR's successesPublic release date: 20-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Christine Stencel news@nas.edu 202-334-2138 National Academy of Sciences
New IOM report highlights PEPFAR's successes, calls on initiative to intensify efforts to enhance partner countries' management of programs and to improve prevention
WASHINGTON -- The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has saved and improved millions of lives worldwide and offered proof that HIV/AIDS services can be effectively delivered on a large scale even in countries with high rates of disease and resource constraints, says a new congressionally mandated evaluation conducted by the Institute of Medicine.
Moving forward, PEPFAR needs to intensify efforts to help its partner countries develop the capacity to manage their own programs, sustain the gains that have been made in controlling the HIV epidemic, and improve their citizens' access to services, said the committee that wrote the report.
Even with PEPFAR's substantial contributions to the global scale-up of HIV/AIDS services, many needs remain, the report notes, and future progress will require partner countries and donors to work together to make difficult but necessary decisions on how to allocate finite resources. As PEPFAR increases its focus on fostering countries' ability to take on greater long-term responsibility, results may not occur as rapidly or dramatically as in the past, the committee cautioned.
"During our visits to partner countries, we repeatedly heard PEPFAR described as a lifeline," said committee chair Robert Black, chair, department of international health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore. "People credit the initiative with restoring hope. As it moves forward, PEPFAR must continue to be bold in its vision, implementation, and global leadership."
PEPFAR was established in 2003 through legislation that authorized $15 billion for HIV/AIDS and other related global health issues over five years. In 2008, the legislation was reauthorized, providing up to $39 billion through 2013 for PEPFAR bilateral HIV/AIDS programs as well as U.S. contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. PEPFAR has supported HIV/AIDS programs in over 100 countries, with the largest share of the investment currently in 33 partner countries. As part of the reauthorization, Congress requested that IOM evaluate various aspects of the initiative, a task that IOM's international committee of experts carried out through visits to 13 partner countries as well as the review of volumes of documentation and data. IOM previously evaluated PEPFAR in its initial implementation phase and issued a report in 2007.
Overall, PEPFAR has reset the world's expectations for what can be accomplished with ambitious goals, ample funding, and humanitarian commitment to a public health crisis, the committee concluded. Working with a wide range of international and local partners, PEPFAR has expanded HIV testing and increased the number of people living with HIV who are receiving care and being treated with antiretroviral drugs. The initiative has trained hundreds of thousands of service providers, strengthened partner countries' health systems, provided additional nonclinical support services for people living with HIV, and made an unprecedented investment in programs for orphans and vulnerable children living with or affected by HIV.
PEPFAR has successfully increased services to prevent HIV transmission from mothers to their children during pregnancy and birth. The initiative has become increasingly flexible over time in its approach to other prevention strategies, and it has achieved positive results by supporting data collection to better understand the factors driving the epidemic in each country and scaling up prevention programs for the general population and for populations at elevated risk. However, greater attention to a range of prevention strategies is needed, the report says. In particular, countries need to increase the focus on prevention of sexual transmission, which is responsible for the majority of new infections. PEPFAR should lead the way by supporting innovations in strategies to decrease risk factors that contribute to HIV transmission.
The committee underscored the importance of partner countries receiving support to take on greater responsibility for and management of their own HIV/AIDS programs. In recent years, PEPFAR has begun providing less direct support and more technical assistance and support for strengthening partner countries' health systems and capacity to lead their efforts, a shift that the report deems reasonable and appropriate. PEPFAR's guidance should reorient from prescribing specific activities to outlining key outcomes and enabling partner countries to determine how to prioritize their efforts to achieve these outcomes.
###
The study was sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. Established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine provides objective, evidence-based advice to policymakers, health professionals, the private sector, and the public. The Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and National Research Council together make up the private, nonprofit National Academies. For more information, visit http://national-academies.org or http://iom.edu. A committee roster follows.
Contacts:
Christine Stencel, Media Relations Officer
Luwam Yeibio, Media Relations Assistant
Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; e-mail news@nas.edu
Pre-publication copies of Evaluation of PEPFAR are available from the National Academies Press on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu or by calling tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above). Additional information is available at http://www.iom.edu/pepfar2.
INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE
Board on Global Health
and
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education
Board on Children, Youth, and Families
Committee on Planning the Assessment/Evaluation of HIV/AIDS Programs Implemented Under U.S. Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, TB, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008
Robert E. Black, M.D., M.P.H. (chair)
Edgar Berman Professor and Chair
Department of International Health
Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore
Judith D. Auerbach, Ph.D.
Former Vice President of Research and Evaluation
San Francisco AIDS Foundation
San Francisco
Mary T. Bassett, M.D., M.P.H.
Director for the African Health Initiative
Medical Research Program
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
New York City
Ronald Brookmeyer, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Biostatistics
School of Public Health
University of California
Los Angeles
Lola Dare M.D., M.Sc.
CEO
Center for Health Sciences Training, Research, and Development International
Ibadan, Nigeria
Alex C. Ezeh, Ph.D., M.Sc.
Executive Director
African Population and Health Research Center
Nairobi, Kenya
Sofia Gruskin, J.D., M.I.A.
Professor of Preventive Medicine
Keck School of Medicine;
Professor of Law and Preventive Medicine
Gould School of Law; and
Director
Program on Global Health and Human Rights Institute for Global Health
University of Southern California
Los Angeles
Angelina Kakooza, M.B.Ch.B., M.D.
Pediatrician and Lecturer
Department of Pediatrics and Child Health
School of Medicine
Makerere University College of Health Sciences
Kampala, Uganda
Jennifer Kates, M.A., M.P.A.
Vice President, and
Director
Global Health Policy and HIV
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
Washington, D.C.
Ann Kurth, Ph.D., C.N.M.
Professor and Director
Global Health Initiatives
New York University College of Nursing
New York City
Anne C. Petersen, Ph.D.
President
Global Philanthropy Alliance, and
Research Professor
Center for Human Growth and Development
University of Michigan
Kalamazoo
Douglas D. Richman, M.D.
Director
Center for AIDS Research
VA San Diego Healthcare System, and
Florence Seeley Riford Chair in AIDS Research and
Distinguished Professor of Pathology and Medicine
University of California
San Diego
Jennifer Prah Ruger, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Division of Health Policy and Administration
Yale School of Public Health
New Haven, Conn.
Deborah L. Rugg, Ph.D., M.A.
Director
Inspection and Evaluation Division
United Nations
New York City
Papa Salif Sow, M.D., M.Sc.
Senior Program Officer, HIV
Global Health Program
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Seattle
Dawn K. Smith, M.D., M.S., M.P.H.
Biomedical Interventions Implementation Officer
Epidemiology Branch, DHAP, NCHSTP
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Atlanta
Taha E. Taha, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor and Co-Director
Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Department of Epidemiology
Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore
Kathryn Whetten, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Associate Professor of Public Policy Studies, Community and Family Medicine, and Nursing, and
Director
Health Inequalities Program
Center for Health Policy
Duke University
Durham, N.C.
Catherine M. Wilfert, M.D.
Scientific Director Emerita
Elizabeth Glaser Pediatrics AIDS Foundation, and
Professor Emerita
Duke University Medical Center
Chapel Hill, N.C.
STAFF
Kimberly Scott
Study Co-Director
Bridget B. Kelly
Study Co-Director
[ | 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.
One of my favorite Developers "Kejar31" the creator of the famed Gummy Rom series, as well as a slew of former team Liquid members are back at it. They have released their Carbon Rom to the masses. This new Galaxy Note II rom is described as an aftermarket firmware that is based on the Android Open Source Project. The Liquid code has been forked by the team to create a rom that is faster, better coded, and hopefully more stable. This Rom is also Linaro compiled which should bring even more speed and performance as well as kill any lag.
This rom features all sorts of custom mods including the ones that you would find from AOKP as well as some of the features found in slim rom. There are plenty of custom performance tweaks, and other theming mods. This rom was incredibly stable and responsive during the week that I tested it on my Galaxy Note II. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite AOSP Roms.
Google is reportedly in talks with Warby Parker to make glasses that look less like Geordi La Forge's eyewear and more like something a style-conscious person in the early 21st century would be happy to put on his or her face. A New York Times story cites unnamed sources who say that Google is negotiating with the NYC-based e-commerce startup to help it create fashionable frames (both companies declined to confirm the report).
The strange plot by a prison inmate to kidnap, murder, and castrate Justin Bieber was foiled last November when authorities found out a hitman had been hired to nab the singer during his show at Madison Square garden. The chilling audio recording between convicted rapist and murderer Dana Martin and Tanner Ruane have just been ...
Malique Killing knocked down a jumper from the left elbow with 0.7 second left, completing a furious Muhlenberg College rally as the Mules defeated Gettysburg 45-43 in the first round of the Centennial Conference men's basketball tournament Wednesday evening at Allentown.
The Bullets' season comes to a close at 12-14. Muhlenberg (17-9) plays top-seeded Franklin & Marshall College in the semifinals on Friday at Lancaster.
The Mules trailed 31-14 at the half, but outscored the Bullets 31-12 in the second period, including 9-1 in the final 3:21. Killing scored Muhlenberg's final nine points.
Sophomore guard Sango Amolo scored a game-high 19 points to lead the Bullets while senior Derek Brooks added 12 in his final collegiate game. Sophomore center Christian Healy grabbed a career-high nine rebounds while senior center Christian Bors, also playing his final game, made a career-high four blocked shots.
Killing led the Mules with 16 points while Kevin Hargrove finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Amolo drew a foul driving to the rim with 18 seconds left and hit a free throw, tying the game at 43 before Killing's game-winner. After the Bullets called timeout, the Mules tipped the final inbound pass and Gettysburg was unable to get off a shot.
The Bullets never trailed in the opening half. With less than 12 minutes to go, the scoreboard read just 8-2 in favor of the Bullets, but Gettysburg held the Mules to 1-for-14 shooting to open the night.
Gettysburg's
lead reached double figures when junior forward Connor Poston converted a fast-break lay-up with 8:33 on the clock. Muhlenberg trailed 23-14 after Matt O'Hara's 3-pointer with 3:40 showing, but the Bullets answered with a pair of treys to end the period and give the Bullets their 17-point halftime lead.
Muhlenberg was held to 20.7-percent shooting in the opening half while the Bullets connected on 46.4 percent of their shots. Amolo led Gettysburg with 14 points.
The Mules got back into it at the second half, outscoring the Bullets 11-2 to open the period, but Brooks; jumper made it 40-27 in favor of Gettysburg with 9:42 to go.
However, that's when Muhlenberg scored nine unanswered points to pull within four following Austin Curry's 3-pointer with 4:19 remaining.
Amolo stemmed the rally with an acrobatic layup with 3:42 showing, but Killing answered for the Mules. His 3-point play on a driving bank shot with 36 seconds left gave the hosts their first lead, 43-42, setting up Amolo's foul shot.
Three Gettysburg seniors who missed the game due to injury saw their careers come to an end. Alex Zurn finished with 1,034 points as a Bullet while Benjamin Constable and Larry Geedey also helped Gettysburg reach the Centennial Conference playoffs in three of the last four years.
?An Ivory Coast military spokesman says that Guinean soldiers have occupied a border village in western Ivorian territory. Col. Cherif Moussa said Tuesday that the seizure of Kpeaba village was part of a territorial dispute between the two countries dating back to Ivory Coast?s independence in 1960.?
Source: Guinean troops take Ivory Coast village: Official ? Yahoo! News
FILE - In this April 22, 2009 file photo, 27-year-old Ingmar Guandique, center, accused of killing Washington intern Chandra Levy, is escorted from the Violent Crimes Unit in Washington by detectives Tom Williams, left, and Emilio Martinez. Levy vanished April 30, 2001 after completing a federal internship in Washington, and her remains were found in 2002 in a heavily wooded area of Washington?s Rock Creek Park. Lawyers for Guandique, who was convicted of killing Levy, said in documents unsealed Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013 that his prosecution was "predicated on a lie," and they intend to file a motion for a new trial. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
FILE - In this April 22, 2009 file photo, 27-year-old Ingmar Guandique, center, accused of killing Washington intern Chandra Levy, is escorted from the Violent Crimes Unit in Washington by detectives Tom Williams, left, and Emilio Martinez. Levy vanished April 30, 2001 after completing a federal internship in Washington, and her remains were found in 2002 in a heavily wooded area of Washington?s Rock Creek Park. Lawyers for Guandique, who was convicted of killing Levy, said in documents unsealed Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013 that his prosecution was "predicated on a lie," and they intend to file a motion for a new trial. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
FILE - In this November 2000 file photo provided by Jennifer Baker, Chandra Ann Levy, left, poses for a photo with Rep. Gary Condit, D-Calif., and her friend, Jennifer Baker, in the congressman's office in Washington. Levy vanished April 30, 2001 after completing a federal internship in Washington, and her remains were found in 2002 in a heavily wooded area of Washington?s Rock Creek Park. Lawyers for Ingmar Guandique, the man convicted of killing Levy, said in documents unsealed Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013 that his prosecution was "predicated on a lie," and they intend to file a motion for a new trial. (AP Photo/Courtesy Jennifer Baker via The Modesto Bee, File) EDS NOTE: MUST PUBLISH UNCROPPED SHOWING ALL THREE PEOPLE, PER RELEASE AGREEMENT WITH JENNIFER BAKER.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Lawyers for the man convicted of killing Washington intern Chandra Levy said in documents unsealed Tuesday that his prosecution was "predicated on a lie," and that they intend to file a motion for a new trial.
The statements made by attorneys for Ingmar Guandique were included in approximately 200 pages of documents related to hearings held in December and January. Reporters and the public were not permitted to hear the discussion between the judge and lawyers because prosecutors argued that making the hearings open would endanger a witness.
The decision to close the proceedings was challenged by media organizations including The Associated Press. The judge in the case said some material would be unsealed.
The records show that government prosecutors asked to seal the Dec. 18 hearing to talk about information they learned about after Guandique was sentenced. Defense attorneys say the information calls into question the testimony of one witness and "drastically undercut" the government's case.
More than 20 witnesses testified for the prosecution during the trial. The original case hinged on a jailhouse informant who said Guandique had confessed to killing Levy. The unsealed documents show prosecutors learned a year ago about a problem with a witness but it's not clear if that person was the informant.
The Levy case was one of the most high-profile trials in Washington in years when it began in 2010. Levy, a 24-year-old intern for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, disappeared in 2001 after leaving her apartment in jogging clothes.
The case attracted particular attention because of her romantic relationship with Gary Condit, then a California congressman. Her remains were found in 2002 in a heavily wooded area of Washington's Rock Creek Park. Guandique, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, was ultimately convicted of her murder and is serving a 60-year prison sentence. He said when he was sentenced that he had nothing to do with her killing.
The documents unsealed Tuesday include transcripts from hearings on Dec. 18 and Jan. 4. They also include court documents filed by prosecutors and Guandique's defense attorneys. Significant portions of the records are blacked out, sometimes for pages.
"Mr. Guandique and the public have a right to know precisely what happened at Mr. Guandique's trial and why the government allowed its prosecution to be predicated on a lie," Guandique's attorneys argue in a motion unsealed Tuesday.
A transcript also shows John Anderson, one of Guandique's attorneys, said during the January hearing that the defense plans to file a motion to dismiss the indictment and request a new trial.
In a document filed with the court, defense attorneys compare the Guandique case to the prosecution of the late Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, whose 2008 conviction on corruption charges was vacated after the Justice Department admitted withholding evidence from the defense.
It wasn't clear, however, that the new information would have been admissible at trial. The unsealed transcripts seem to show that during the hearing in December, a government prosecutor, Fernando Campoamor, told the judge "it would have been litigated whether it could have been used at trial, and if so, to what extent it could have been used at trial." A defense attorney, James Klein, said that was "astounding."
The transcripts also show attorneys wrestling with the closure of the proceedings. The defense had wanted them to be open, but the judge sealed the hearings after prosecutors argued that a witness' personal safety would be endangered if they were public. The defense has said prosecutors were not specific about the threats the witness would face.
The last hearing in the case was Thursday and its transcript was not released. The judge has scheduled another hearing for April 11.
______
Follow Jessica Gresko at http://twitter.com/jessicagresko and Ben Nuckols at https://twitter.com/APBenNuckols .
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The strange plot by a prison inmate to kidnap, murder, and castrate Justin Bieber was foiled last November when authorities found out a hitman had been hired to nab the singer during his show at Madison Square garden. The chilling audio recording between convicted rapist and murderer Dana Martin and Tanner Ruane have just been ...