NEW YORK (AP) ? Keeping things quick in 90-degree heat, defending U.S. Open champion Novak Djokovic wrapped up another easy victory to reach the third round, beating 112th-ranked Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 Friday.
Djokovic didn't face any break points and finished with more than twice as many winners, 29, as unforced errors, 14. He needed a little more than 90 minutes to make sure he would keep intact his record of never having lost to a player ranked outside the top 100 at a major tournament.
The second-seeded Serb has dropped a total of seven games through two matches this year at Flushing Meadows.
Dutra Silva never has reached the third round at a Grand Slam tournament.
A controversial plan to carve the city of Los Angeles into 11 new and exclusive commercial trash hauling franchise areas was approved unanimously by two City Council committees Wednesday.
The matter now goes to the full council for a vote despite objections from some business interests and apartment owners, as well as the city's top budget guru, Chief Administrative Officer Miguel Santana.
The plan is backed by a powerful coalition of labor and environmental groups, who say it will boost recycling, reduce truck traffic, and improve working conditions in a hazardous industry. The city's sanitation department also backs the plan.
Hillary Gordon of the Sierra Club was one of a number of environmentalists who spoke during a 41/2- hour hearing and hailed the franchise plan as "absolutely better for the environment."
Maria Elena Durazo, who heads the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, said the exclusive system would also be better for workers. "We have health and safety laws now, but they are abused daily by the waste and recycling industry," she said.
Many trash companies and business interests spoke against exclusive franchises, saying the city could achieve the same recycling and environmental goals while maintaining a more competitive trash hauling market. Some also have asserted that exclusive franchises are a gambit by organized labor to represent more refuse workers.
The city picks up trash from single-family homes and small apartment buildings. But privatized trash hauling for large apartment buildings, factories and businesses involves about 150 companies whose trucks crisscross the city. The firms collect about $224 million a year in Los Angeles.
"Competition is what drives the solid waste industry in Los Angeles," said Ron Saldana, head of the Los Angeles County Disposal Assn. "Kill it and you will be dependent on moving forward ? with a new, inefficient bureaucracy."
Speakers on both sides of the issue said the current commercial trash system needs improvement.
Santana, the city's CAO, has backed a retooled, non-exclusive plan, saying it could produce similar benefits and provide the cash-strapped city up to $30 million as soon as next year.
But at a joint session, six council members on the ad hoc waste and environmental committees disagreed, after hearing lengthy comments on the trash-hauling needs of movie studios, practices of other cities and how the city can meet a 2025 goal of recycling up to 90% of its waste.
Councilman Paul Koretz said creating better regulated, exclusive franchise territories would set a standard that the rest of the country can emulate. Council members Richard Alarcon, Jose Huizar, Paul Krekorian and Dennis Zine agreed.
Council member Tony Cardenas asked for a "minority report" suggesting the full council also consider a non-exclusive franchise system. It is "disingenuous to approve an exclusive franchise model on the false premise that it is the only way to achieve high environmental standards," he said in a statement.
By John Holland, Chief Content Officer of CustomerCentric Selling? - The Sales Training Company
Read this article to learn the common closing mistake to avoid and?improve sales performance.
Sellers manage sales cycles in different ways, but execute a sequence of similar steps (initiate opportunities, discovery, need development, etc.). The last two steps are usually close and negotiate. Blurring them into a single step is a mistake that gets sellers into trouble. Close and negotiate are two critical steps that should be kept separate and distinct.
Simply stated, closing is asking for an order. Issuing a proposal or submitting an RFP response can be viewed as closing, but the preferred way is asking a person to move forward with your proposal. Closing decision makers yields a high probability of getting orders. In many cases, only the vendor of choice is given this opportunity. Other vendors were invited to compete late in the process to provide pricing leverage to negotiate with the pre-determined vendor of choice.
A more challenging situation is closing non-decision makers. When asked to move forward, a common response from these buyers is: "I need your best price." How the seller responds will determine if close and negotiate morph into a single step.
Register now for?one of our sales training workshops.?
IMO life is too short to negotiate before buyers indicate they want to buy. To keep closing as a separate step, when pressured for better pricing ask the following question: "Are we the vendor of choice and is price the only obstacle?" If the answer is anything but yes, my suggested response is: "It appears you have to further evaluate your options. If you reach a point where we are the vendor of choice, at that time I'd like to see if we can reach agreement."
If you are the vendor of choice, you'll be given an opportunity to finalize the transaction. If you're not and you discount you leave a low price on the street that can be used to negotiate with their vendor of choice. In the event you are invited back in and they want to do business, if you discounted when asked, smart buyers make that the starting point for further negotiations.
If the buyer indicates you are the vendor of choice and you're talking to the decision maker, you can begin to negotiate. If you're with a lower level person that may say yes just to get a better price, respond with something like: "I'd like to see if we can reach agreement. Can we schedule a meeting or conference call with (the decision maker), my manager, you and me?" This question should smoke out requests for discounts when you aren't the vendor of choice and will get you where you want to be: negotiating with the decision maker.
You won't always be able to execute this approach but I hope you agree when you can make closing and negotiating separate activities the likely outcome will be a higher price.
It sounds like the setup to a weird, utterly geeky joke -- "So Apple's CEO calls up Google's CEO..." -- but according to a new report from Reuters, the situation is anything but. Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Larry Page have recently spent time chatting with each other over the phone, and they plan to continue doing so at least for the time being. Exactly what the two titans of tech are talking about isn?t totally clear yet, but it?s probably safe to assume that they dispensed with the pleasantries pretty quickly. No, these supposed conversations were all about patents ? how they could they not be, given Apple?s recent legal triumph over Samsung ? and Reuters? sources pointed to the possibility of an arrangement between the respective companies that could help ease some tension.
Prior to 2009, many injured plaintiffs were most concerned with investing their settlement proceeds in the stock and real estate markets. Since 2009, I have seen a shift in focus. The largest concern by injured plaintiffs today is outliving their money. There is good cause for worry.
A recent article posted on MarketWatch cites a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research showing that 46% of American retirees have just $10,000 when they die. While people can live with limited savings, the study?s findings are a reminder of how fragile our economic conditions are if a financial emergency occurs. A structured settlement that prepares for unforeseen medical and other uncertainties during retirement means injured parties can enjoy financial peace of mind when it matters most.
For the full article, visit Yahoo Finance (http://finance NULL.yahoo NULL.com/news/half-americans-die-almost-no-040133462 NULL.html?l=1). National Bureau of Economic Research Study: Here (http://www NULL.nber NULL.org/papers/w17824 NULL.pdf?new_window=1)
Leonardo Da Vinci's "Horse and Rider" sculpture (Jolson PR)A 504-year-old sculpture created by Leonardo Da Vinci was unveiled to the world in a special ceremony in Los Angeles this week. The "Horse and Rider" sculpture is the only known three-dimensional piece of art created by Leonardo that is known to still exist and is one of only about two-dozen authenticated works made by the Renaissance master in the world today.
"It's a momentous occasion, Art Encounter's Rod Maly told Yahoo! News before the statue's unveiling at the historic Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. "It's been in private collections for nearly 500 years, so it has not been promoted. Nothing like this has ever happened in the history of mankind."
And in a development that is sure to intrigue both historians and art fans alike, the sculpture is believed to contain a thumbprint of Leonardo himself.
For the past 500 years, the sculpture has only existed in beeswax form, along with the original mold itself. Experts spent the last three years crafting the first metal "master" sculpture, using the original mold, hand-crafted by Leonardo.
The small sculpture mold measures 12'' high, 12'' long and 7'' high and is believed to have been intended to serve as the model for a much larger sculpture. "Horse and Rider," features a Renaissance military figure riding upon a horse was created in 1508 by Leonardo as a gift for his friend and benefactor, French military governor Charles d'Amboise. After Leonardo's death in 1519, the sculpture was given to his apprentice Francesco Mezi and is believed to have remained with his family in Italy until the 1930's when it was moved to Switzerland for safe-keeping.
A thumbprint believed to belong to Leonardo Da Vinci (Eric Pfeiffer/Yahoo! News)
In 1985, American businessman Richard A. Lewis purchased the mold. "In all honesty, I was very na?ve to what I had," Lewis told Yahoo! News during an interview before the statue's unveiling. That same year, Lewis was contacted Dr. Carlo Pedretti, widely considered to the world's foremost living authority on Leonardo and Professor Emeritus of Art History and the Chair of Leonardo Studies at UCLA. Dr. Pedretti studied and eventually authenticated the mold.
"For someone to call up and say 'I think I own a Leonardo Da Vinci mold,' you're like yeah right, I'd like to put it next to my Mona Lisa," Brett Barney, president of the American Fine Arts Foundry told Yahoo! News. "But when he brought it in, right away we knew we had something."
Using what is called a "lost wax casting process," Barney and his team at the Foundry spent three years working with the mold and eventually created a bronze casting from it. In essence, they have created a new piece of sculpture from one of the world's true artistic masters, nearly 500 years after his death.
"It's the opportunity of a lifetime," Barney said. "To be part of a masterpiece by Da Vinci himself, I can't think of anybody that would be more prestigious."
When the mold was studied in detail, it was discovered that along the horse's right breast a thumbprint exists. And while there is currently no way to verify, the print is believed to belong to Leonardo himself.
The mold casting actually sat in Lewis' closet for more than 25 years before he contacted the Foundry. And now, Lewis is determined to share the discovery with the world. And along with the piece's historic value, Lewis is using the unveiling for a good cause. Several hundred metal castings have been made from the mold, which Art Encounter will be auctioning off. Lewis himself has committed to donating $1 million of the proceeds to the Salvation Army's substance abuse program.
"It is a magnificent piece of art and I'd like to have as many people as possible be able to appreciate it," Lewis told Yahoo! He said he eventually plans to donate the original mold and master sculpture to a museum.
After it's unveiling in Los Angeles, the mold and master sculpture will be displayed at various locations in New York, London and Las Vegas, home to a new Leonardo exhibit at the Venetian Hotel.
The original "Horse and Rider" mold crafted by Leonardo Da Vinci (Jolson PR)
Yu Darvish turned in his best start since April on Tuesday, blanking the Rays for seven innings and striking out 10 as the Rangers won 1-0.
It was Darvish?s third straight quality start, but also the first time since July 21 that he?s ended a start without allowing at least three runs. Darvish went without giving up a run for the second time as a big leaguer; he pitched 8 1/3 scoreless innings in a win over the Yankees on April 24.
James Shields was the hard-luck loser for the Rays tonight, allowing one run and three hits in seven innings. He struck out eight while falling to 12-8.
Darvish reached double figures in strikeouts for the eighth time this year. R.A. Dickey is?second?in the majors with six such games. Felix Hernandez, Shields and Stephen Strasburg have five such games.
While Darvish has been inconsistent in amassing a 4.31 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP, he is 13-9 and the Rangers have gone 15-9 in his starts. The postseason will likely determine whether his rookie campaign is viewed as a disappointment or not.
Robot drivers of the future may steer clear of potholes, toppled power lines and stray cats thanks to an artificial neural network modeled after the fear-response mechanism in mammals.
The system, called STARTLE, uses existing hardware and sensors to scan the environment for threats. If one is detected, it will cue other systems to deal with it swiftly.
The system is programmed to kick into gear when it notices something abnormal. That could be a pothole, which it focuses resources to steer around, or?a child running out into the street after a soccer ball, prompting it to hit the brakes.
New Scientist has the details:
The design mimics the amygdala, which provides a rapid response to threats. The amygdala helps small animals to deal with complex, fast-changing surroundings, allowing them to ignore most sensory stimuli.
STARTLE was developed Roke Manor Research, a Hampshire, England, based research and development firm that boasts a ?diverse portfolio of products protecting military people and platforms against a constantly changing threat.?
With that kind of background, we can expect to see STARTLE outfitted on tanks and Humvees, but this type of technology will almost certainly find a home in the robot cars destined to soon clog our roadways.?
In fact, similar safety mechanisms are under development at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where robotic co-pilots take over the wheel when it senses a driver is about to crash.
?? via New Scientist?
John Roach is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.
A 61-year-old neighbor of mine in Oregon recently incurred a $45,000 hospital bill. She is unemployed and uninsured. The hospital gave her some financial assistance, but because she has some savings, including an IRA worth $220,000, the hospital argues that she has the resources to pay the balance. What should she do? Should she withdraw funds from her IRA, resort to a reverse mortgage or risk defaulting and being turned over to a collection agency? ? L. Wilson
Your neighbor should negotiate the terms of a payment plan with the hospital, spreading the payments over as many years as possible to make them easier to fit into her budget. "Don't let this go to a collection agency," warns Anna Sergunina, with Mainstreet Financial Planning in San Mateo, Calif. "It's a lot easier to negotiate with the hospital than with the collection agency."
Your neighbor doesn't have many other options. If she drew on her IRA assets, she'd have to pay income tax on the withdrawal, which likely would add between $6,750 and $11,250 to her cost, depending on her tax bracket. A reverse mortgage is out: They are only for people age 62 or older. One possibility she could consider is a home equity line of credit. "Interest rates are low," says Sergunina. "But she might have difficulty qualifying because she's unemployed and has very little income."
If collection agencies do get involved, she should know that her Social Security benefits and IRA assets are safe. Social Security payments can't be garnished, except by the federal government, and in Oregon, IRA assets are protected from creditors (the rules vary from state to state).
? Austin Kilham
Got a question for the Help Desk? Send it to?helpdesk@cnnmoney.com.
An update to?Twitter Monday removed a minor but well-liked feature that let users see the app or service with which others were tweeting. It's the latest in a series of changes that are meant to emphasize the core Twitter experience.
At the bottom of many tweets, one would often see a subtle "via Tweetdeck" or "via Seesmic," indicating that a third-party app or site was in use. Some apps provided a clearer view of the user's followers and followed users. Others would allow a user to schedule tweets, automate attachments or link shortening, and other minor, helpful features.
Removing the "via" badge on Tweets does simplify the presentation slightly, but some users relied on it to tell whether a tweet was live or delayed, whether a person was mobile or at their computer, and other metadata valuable to power users.
As has happened before when Twitter pushes an unpopular update, the users are up in arms and #OccupyTwitter is the rallying cry. Recent changes have alienated developers and soured relations with competing and complementary services, driving many to support a less restrictive and ad-free (but not free to use) alternative called App.net?or otherwise protest Twitter's crackdown.
Given the steady rate at which Twitter has been announcing changes, it may not be too long?before another update?is announced. Stay tuned, and don't get too comfortable.
Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.
ScienceDaily (Aug. 28, 2012) ? Furry, agile, intelligent and voracious: the raccoon is far from being a cuddly toy, which is what many people believe when they get one as a pet. It is more like an invader that escapes and is able to adapt and survive in new habitats. According to a study, its expansion across Spain and Europe is bringing infectious and parasitic diseases like rabies. This puts the health of native species and people at risk.
Originating in North America, the raccoon (Procyon lotor) is an invasive species that has established itself in Europe due to hunting and the fur trade along with its acquisition as a pet. In Spain, its presence in the wild is already commonplace in Madrid and Guadalajara and is sporadic in other regions such as the island of Mallorca. Its presence is however far from welcomed.
"Due to its rapid expansion and the long list of illnesses that it may carry, it poses a health risk that we must bear in mind," according to Beatriz Beltr?n-Beck, the lead author of the study published in the European Journal of Wildlife Research and researcher at the Research Institute of Hunting Resources (IREC, joint centre of the University of Castilla-La Mancha, the CSIC, and Castilla-La Mancha Council).
Bearing in mind that its population density could exceed 100 raccoons per km2, the success of the expansion of this small opportunistic carnivore is down to its ability to quickly adapt to different surroundings and omnivorous food habitats, its high reproductive potential and the absence of natural predators.
However, as Beltr?n-Beck points out, "the impact that their expansion and invasion could have on the environment and the health of native species and humans is unknown." The researcher adds that the increase in population numbers and expansion to other countries and/or urban environments could increase the transmission of dangerous parasites and illnesses to domestic animals and humans.
The guest that nobody wants in their home
The research team gathered all types of information on the infectious and parasitic diseases that raccoons can transmit. The aim was to assess the propagation risk of infections along with possible control methods. But, according to the author, "there is little data in Europe on this species."
Rabies and a very pathogenic parasite to man (Baylisascaris procyonis), which was found in Germany, are some of the most significant illnesses found in the raccoon. But, along with bacterial illnesses, these are added to the West Nile virus which affects human, birds, horses and sheep.
Although in Western Europe rabies have been eliminated thanks to the oral vaccination for foxes (Vulpes vulpes), there is still concern that the raccoon could complicate the situation in some areas of Eastern Europe that are still home to rabies. In recent years 142 cases of rabies in raccoons have been identified, above all in Ukraine, Estonia, Germany and Lithuania.
This small American carnivore has been confirmed to be the host of the nematode worm Baylisascaris procyonis, which is responsible for Larva migrans, an illness caused by larval migration and parasite persistence under the skin, in the brain and in other organs. In the past this disease could only be found in America but is now emerging and on the rise in Europe.
"The infected raccoons can scatter millions of nematode B. procyonis eggs, which cause significant environmental contamination," warn the scientists. In the USA, between 68% and 82% of mammals have this parasite. Prevalence is also high in Germany although in Japan, for example, the parasite was not detected in any of the 1,688 raccoons captured for the purposes of other studies.
According to Beltr?n-Beck, "more epidemiological studies are necessary on the current health situation and the implementation of measures that limit the possible impact of invading raccoons."
An unpleasant "pet"
Given its exotic origin and its rapid expansion since the 1970's, the raccoon is considered an invasive species in Europe. However, the majority of European countries, like Spain, do not control the trade of this animal, which is introduced onto the market as a pet.
"The case of Spain is a good example. The origin of its expansion is probably due to it escaping from the home where it was kept as a pet and due to the owners releasing it into the countryside when it reaches adulthood and becomes aggressive," adds the researcher.
According to the researcher, "this is mainly the case because there is a complete lack of knowledge of the biology, ecology, distribution and population density of the raccoon in Europe.
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Journal Reference:
Jes?s T. Garc?a, Francisco Jos? Garc?a, Fernando Alda, Jos? Luis Gonz?lez, Mar?a Jos? Aramburu, Yolanda Cort?s, Beatriz Prieto, Bel?n Pliego, Mar?a P?rez, Javier Herrera, Loreto Garc?a-Rom?n. Recent invasion and status of the raccoon (Procyon lotor) in Spain. Biological Invasions, 2011; 14 (7): 1305 DOI: 10.1007/s10530-011-0157-x
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[unable to retrieve full-text content]Wherever citizens of a country have access to the internet, they will also have access to your articles. ... List building is powerful, and coupled with article marketing you can build a list as targeted as you want it to be. You can ...
LOME, Togo (AP) ? The female wing of a civil rights group is urging women in Togo to stage a week-long sex strike to demand the resignation of the country's president.
Women are being asked to start withholding sex from their husbands or partners as of Monday, said Isabelle Ameganvi, leader of the women's wing of the group Let's Save Togo. She said the strike will put pressure on Togo's men to take action against President Faure Gnassingbe.
Ameganvi, a lawyer, told The Associated Press that her group is following the example of Liberia's women, who used a sex strike in 2003 to campaign for peace. "We have many means to oblige men to understand what women want in Togo," Ameganvi said.
The sex strike was announced at a rally Saturday of several thousand in the capital city, Lome. The demonstration was organized by a coalition that is protesting recent electoral reforms which they say will make it easier for Gnassingbe to win reelection in the polls set for October.
Gnassingbe came to power in 2005, following the death of his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, who ruled the West African country for 38 years. Gnassingbe has not commented on the sex strike, nor has his wife. Earlier this month, two anti-Gnassingbe protests were dispersed by police using tear gas and more than 100 people were arrested.
At Saturday's rally, which ended peacefully, Jean-Pierre Fabre, leader of the National Alliance for Change opposition party, called for Gnassingbe's resignation. Other opposition leaders called for civil disobedience.
But it is the sex strike that has people talking in this small country of 7 million people.
"It's a good thing for us women to observe this sex strike as long as our children are in jail now. I believe that by observing this, we will get them released," Abla Tamekloe said. "For me, it's like fasting, and unless you fast, you will not get what you want from God."
When asked if her husband would agree, Tamekloe said: "It is easy for me to observe it. I am used to it, but I am not sure my husband will accept, but I have to explain to him."
Another Togolese woman said she supports the sex strike, but she does not know if she can carry it out for a full week.
"I do agree that we women have to observe this sex strike but I know my husband will not let me complete it. He may agree at first, but as far as I know him, he will change overnight," Judith Agbetoglo said. "So I don't believe I can do the one-week sex strike. Otherwise, I will have serious issues with him. He likes that too much."
Though the call for a sex strike seemed to please many women, some men, including heads of opposition parties and human rights groups in the anti-Gnassingbe coalition, did not believe it would be a success.
"One week sex strike is too much," said Fabre of the National Alliance for Change, who suggested a shorter period, amid laughter from the crowd at the demonstration. "Let's go for only two days".
Others were skeptical of Isabelle Ameganvi's call.
"It is easy for her to say because she is not married herself. She does not live with a man at home," said Ekoue Blame, a Togolese journalist. "Does she think women who live with their husband will be able to observe that? By the way, who controls what couples do behind closed doors?"
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama is hailing the late astronaut Neil Armstrong as one of America's greatest heroes.
The first man to walk on the moon, Armstrong died Saturday at the age of 82.
In a statement issued by the White House, Obama said Armstrong and the rest of the crew of Apollo 11 carried with them the aspirations of an entire nation when they set out for the moon in 1969.
The president says that when Armstrong set foot on the moon, he delivered what he called "a moment of human achievement that will never be forgotten."
A lesson in sleep learningPublic release date: 26-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Yivsam Azgad news@weizmann.ac.il 972-893-43856 Weizmann Institute of Science
Is sleep learning possible? A new Weizmann Institute study appearing today in Nature Neuroscience has found that if certain odors are presented after tones during sleep, people will start sniffing when they hear the tones alone even when no odor is present both during sleep and, later, when awake. In other words, people can learn new information while they sleep, and this can unconsciously modify their waking behavior.
Sleep-learning experiments are notoriously difficult to conduct. For one thing, one must be sure that the subjects are actually asleep and stay that way during the "lessons." The most rigorous trials of verbal sleep learning have failed to show any new knowledge taking root. While more and more research has demonstrated the importance of sleep for learning and memory consolidation, none had managed to show actual learning of new information taking place in an adult brain during sleep.
Prof. Noam Sobel and research student Anat Arzi, together with Sobel's group in the Institute's Neurobiology Department in collaboration with researchers from Loewenstein Hospital and the Academic College of Tel Aviv Jaffa, chose to experiment with a type of conditioning that involves exposing subjects to a tone followed by an odor, so that they soon exhibit a similar response to the tone as they would to the odor. The pairing of tones and odors presented several advantages. Neither wakes the sleeper (in fact, certain odors can promote sound sleep), yet the brain processes them and even reacts during slumber. Moreover, the sense of smell holds a unique non-verbal measure that can be observed namely sniffing. The researchers found that, in the case of smelling, the sleeping brain acts much as it does when awake: We inhale deeply when we smell a pleasant aroma but stop our inhalation short when assaulted by a bad smell. This variation in sniffing could be recorded whether the subjects were asleep or awake. Finally, this type of conditioning, while it may appear to be quite simple, is associated with some higher brain areas including the hippocampus, which is involved in memory formation.
In the experiments, the subjects slept in a special lab while their sleep state was continuously monitored. (Waking up during the conditioning even for a moment disqualified the results.) As they slept, a tone was played, followed by an odor either pleasant or unpleasant. Then another tone was played, followed by an odor at the opposite end of the pleasantness scale. Over the course of the night, the associations were partially reinforced, so that the subject was exposed to just the tones as well. The sleeping volunteers reacted to the tones alone as if the associated odor were still present by either sniffing deeply or taking shallow breaths.
The next day, the now awake subjects again heard the tones alone with no accompanying odor. Although they had no conscious recollection of listening to them during the night, their breathing patterns told a different story. When exposed to tones that had been paired with pleasant odors, they sniffed deeply, while the second tones those associated with bad smells provoked short, shallow sniffs.
The team then asked whether this type of learning is tied to a particular phase of sleep. In a second experiment, they divided the sleep cycles into rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM sleep, and then induced the conditioning during only one phase or the other. Surprisingly, they found that the learned response was more pronounced during the REM phase, but the transfer of the association from sleep to waking was evident only when learning took place during the non-REM phase. Sobel and Arzi suggest that during REM sleep we may be more open to influence from the stimuli in our surroundings, but so-called "dream amnesia" which makes us forget most of our dreams may operate on any conditioning occurring in that stage of sleep. In contrast, non-REM sleep is the phase that is important for memory consolidation, so it might also play a role in this form of sleep-learning.
Although Sobel's lab studies the sense of smell, Arzi intends to continue investigating brain processing in altered states of consciousness such as sleep and coma. "Now that we know that some kind of sleep learning is possible," says Arzi, "we want to find where the limits lie what information can be learned during sleep and what information cannot."
###
Prof. Noam Sobel's research is supported by Regina Wachter, NY; the estate of Lore Lennon; the James S. McDonnell Foundation 21st Century Science Scholar in Understanding Human Cognition Program; the Minerva Foundation; and the European Research Council.
The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world's top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions. Noted for its wide-ranging exploration of the natural and exact sciences, the Institute is home to 2,700 scientists, students, technicians and supporting staff. Institute research efforts include the search for new ways of fighting disease and hunger, examining leading questions in mathematics and computer science, probing the physics of matter and the universe, creating novel materials and developing new strategies for protecting the environment.
Weizmann Institute news releases are posted on the World Wide Web at http://wiswander.weizmann.ac.il/, and are also available at http://www.eurekalert.org/
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A lesson in sleep learningPublic release date: 26-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Yivsam Azgad news@weizmann.ac.il 972-893-43856 Weizmann Institute of Science
Is sleep learning possible? A new Weizmann Institute study appearing today in Nature Neuroscience has found that if certain odors are presented after tones during sleep, people will start sniffing when they hear the tones alone even when no odor is present both during sleep and, later, when awake. In other words, people can learn new information while they sleep, and this can unconsciously modify their waking behavior.
Sleep-learning experiments are notoriously difficult to conduct. For one thing, one must be sure that the subjects are actually asleep and stay that way during the "lessons." The most rigorous trials of verbal sleep learning have failed to show any new knowledge taking root. While more and more research has demonstrated the importance of sleep for learning and memory consolidation, none had managed to show actual learning of new information taking place in an adult brain during sleep.
Prof. Noam Sobel and research student Anat Arzi, together with Sobel's group in the Institute's Neurobiology Department in collaboration with researchers from Loewenstein Hospital and the Academic College of Tel Aviv Jaffa, chose to experiment with a type of conditioning that involves exposing subjects to a tone followed by an odor, so that they soon exhibit a similar response to the tone as they would to the odor. The pairing of tones and odors presented several advantages. Neither wakes the sleeper (in fact, certain odors can promote sound sleep), yet the brain processes them and even reacts during slumber. Moreover, the sense of smell holds a unique non-verbal measure that can be observed namely sniffing. The researchers found that, in the case of smelling, the sleeping brain acts much as it does when awake: We inhale deeply when we smell a pleasant aroma but stop our inhalation short when assaulted by a bad smell. This variation in sniffing could be recorded whether the subjects were asleep or awake. Finally, this type of conditioning, while it may appear to be quite simple, is associated with some higher brain areas including the hippocampus, which is involved in memory formation.
In the experiments, the subjects slept in a special lab while their sleep state was continuously monitored. (Waking up during the conditioning even for a moment disqualified the results.) As they slept, a tone was played, followed by an odor either pleasant or unpleasant. Then another tone was played, followed by an odor at the opposite end of the pleasantness scale. Over the course of the night, the associations were partially reinforced, so that the subject was exposed to just the tones as well. The sleeping volunteers reacted to the tones alone as if the associated odor were still present by either sniffing deeply or taking shallow breaths.
The next day, the now awake subjects again heard the tones alone with no accompanying odor. Although they had no conscious recollection of listening to them during the night, their breathing patterns told a different story. When exposed to tones that had been paired with pleasant odors, they sniffed deeply, while the second tones those associated with bad smells provoked short, shallow sniffs.
The team then asked whether this type of learning is tied to a particular phase of sleep. In a second experiment, they divided the sleep cycles into rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM sleep, and then induced the conditioning during only one phase or the other. Surprisingly, they found that the learned response was more pronounced during the REM phase, but the transfer of the association from sleep to waking was evident only when learning took place during the non-REM phase. Sobel and Arzi suggest that during REM sleep we may be more open to influence from the stimuli in our surroundings, but so-called "dream amnesia" which makes us forget most of our dreams may operate on any conditioning occurring in that stage of sleep. In contrast, non-REM sleep is the phase that is important for memory consolidation, so it might also play a role in this form of sleep-learning.
Although Sobel's lab studies the sense of smell, Arzi intends to continue investigating brain processing in altered states of consciousness such as sleep and coma. "Now that we know that some kind of sleep learning is possible," says Arzi, "we want to find where the limits lie what information can be learned during sleep and what information cannot."
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Prof. Noam Sobel's research is supported by Regina Wachter, NY; the estate of Lore Lennon; the James S. McDonnell Foundation 21st Century Science Scholar in Understanding Human Cognition Program; the Minerva Foundation; and the European Research Council.
The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world's top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions. Noted for its wide-ranging exploration of the natural and exact sciences, the Institute is home to 2,700 scientists, students, technicians and supporting staff. Institute research efforts include the search for new ways of fighting disease and hunger, examining leading questions in mathematics and computer science, probing the physics of matter and the universe, creating novel materials and developing new strategies for protecting the environment.
Weizmann Institute news releases are posted on the World Wide Web at http://wiswander.weizmann.ac.il/, and are also available at http://www.eurekalert.org/
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Ezine marketing is other of the low budget and very good means of advertising your products or services that you can use to promote your easy home business on Internet.
The ezines sometimes named ?news letters? are very popular among small business entrepreneurs, because ezine marketinng works, and that?s why many times when you decide to publish your ad, you can find that there?s a waiting list.
Just take a look at your favorite ezine? Are there any ads on it?
I?m sure you found many, and the reason for that is very simple: people put ads on the ezines, because ezine marketing get results.
Most ezines do not reach more than a couple of thousand of subscribers, so what?s the secret of the ezine marketing? The secret is that when you put an ad on an ezine, you can reach your target audience, if the ezine has 3000 subscribers, you know in advance that 3000 targeted ?might be customers? are going to see it. And this is the reason why the ezines and newsletters are one of the most effective ways to promote your easy home business.
Other very popular way of advertising on Internet are the banners, but compared with the high costs of web site banner advertising, ezine markering?s costs are a bargain.
YOU CAN HAVE YOUR OWN EZINE
Is there a better option, than ezine marketing?
Yes, there is and it?s to publish your own ezine.
I know that if you have never published an ezine, this can seem to be much difficult than it really is, but you will soon find that it?s easy, and you can publish it weekly, biweekly and even monthly.
Your advantage?
* No printing costs * No postage costs * You can offer free subscriptions to engross your subscriptors list * A regular contact with your customers/prospects, establishes both your reputation and your marketing expertise
WHY SHOULD YOU HAVE AN EZINE?
If you are the ezine?s owner you can obtain many advantages from it, like:
* You can be constantly in touch with your customers * You don?t need to pay for the ads you put on it * You can keep your customers and prospects abreast of any new product or service that you decide
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It seems unnecessary to hire an expert Madison plumber to scrub your drainage system but there are many reasons why you need to consider it. ?Knowing these reasons will assist you to make right decision.
Many reasons exist for why you ought to work with a professional when you must have your plumbing drain cleaning done. Knowing these reasons will help in making a smart decision.
1. Experience and knowledge
Professional plumbers nationwide all have the experience and expertise to completely clean drains right the 1st time. You won?t be part of their learning experience because these have completed that part before these folks were licensed. Anyone without that certified knowledge and experience in cleaning drains will require additional time to consentrate what you ought to do. Furthermore, they are not even certain of the results because they lack experience and may possibly not have encountered a similar problem before.
Knowledge and experience enable professional plumbers to proceed with their job in the joyful manner. Most of the time, there are many problems discovered by professionals during drain cleaning which a non-professional might not exactly even notice. ?
2. Equipment
Professional plumbers spend money on plumbing equipment since it&rsquos required in their job or plumbing business.? The best equipment and cleaners enable them for the job faster and better. ?It&rsquos not practical for homeowners to pay lots of money for equipment that they will just use for their own plumbing system. There are lots of tools that will make drain cleaning by professionals faster, For instance, they?ve got the device to detect in which the clog in a very short time without digging all around your garden. ???
3. You Save Time
Making use of their knowledge, experience as well as the right equipment, professional plumbers can perform the job considerably faster than the non professional. It does not long to enable them to diagnose the issue and begin the perfect solution right away.
4. You?ll Save Money
You save money given that they speed up and definately will charge a fee accordingly. What feels like a challenging project for others is going to be a simple one for that professional plumbers. Cleaning your drain by learning from mistakes may well be more expensive over time. In addition, your drain concern is not immediately solved by non-professionals.
5. Effective Cleaning
Professional plumbers are updated for the latest cleaning techniques. In addition they make use of the latest machines for drain cleaning. For instance are you experiencing pressurized cleaning equipment? ?They can even show their customers photos of the clogged drain before cleaning.
It seems harmful for hire professional for madison plumbing work. But considering that they complete the task expertly and efficiently to own your problem in plumbing madison wi solved, their services are worth the number you paid.?
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation,
or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Fisker has had more than its fair share of teething troubles with the Karma, but it has to be given credit for going out of its way to listen to early adopters. The hybrid car builder has confirmed to Autoblog that a question and answer session making the rounds is the official result of town hall discussions that have both acknowledged problems and promised fixes where they're possible. The answers we've been given are a mix of sober realities and practical remedies. Drivers hoping for outright hardware upgrades to improve performance with existing Karmas will have to keep wishing; thankfully, a host of firmware fixes are on the way to improve at least the sedan's Command Center system and mirrors. PR lead Roger Ormisher even hints that there could be an in-person council that would tackle concerns more directly than the remote pep talks. We're mostly hoping for the day when Fisker stamps out the bugs and doesn't need the Q&A to put Karma owners' minds at ease.
Many people who are faced with growing debt troubles find it required to engage the services of a loan modification attorney. Whilst you can easily modify some things like the principal, awareness and amount of payment, you don?t need to the forces to negotiate efficiently without ample legal representation.
As well, an LLC isn?t a good choice regarding companies trying to find massive advancement. LLC?s cannot be exchanged publicly, consequently investors may be more unwilling to fund any project. In some declares startup fees and taxes can be larger. Finally, when a member passes away or results in, restructuring must be completed or the LLC will probably be terminated. For companies having a quick transformation, this can quickly turn into a headaches. If you?re unclear about whether an LLC works for you, an enterprise attorney can help take into consideration the pros and cons within your specific circumstances.
It often takes a personal injury lawyer to have the settlement that a lot of people need along with deserve. This method is often time-consuming and while this can be taking place, the bank notes continue to tally up. The health professionals, hospital, in addition to specialists are looking to always be paid for their particular services and everyone is waiting with the settlement to return through. It requires time nevertheless eventually, through the help of their legal representative, many customers are able to get back on his or her feet financially and go forward with their lives.
Employing an increases the likelihood that you will reach your goals in your circumstance. Judges realize when mom and dad hire legal representatives that they are set on the family law make any difference and are prepared to sacrifice fiscally in order to practice a matter during which they believe. A party who does not have adequate advice is less likely to be considered genuine.
Thirdly, your own injury declare lawyer will not charge a fee any expenses. Your injury claim will probably be handled cost free. This is because an excellent injury lawyer will undoubtedly handle states which has value and will retrieve his legal costs from the liable party.
Just what limitations really does the lawyer express you have? What is the first step? Have an idea of how much going through this method when working with this particular professional.
One particular assumption that a great many immigrants have is that they don?t require an immigration law lawyer to help them together with the immigration process. The reason they provide is that there is lots of information about immigration that could be found in ebooks and on the world wide web. However, the info that is found on the internet and in the guides is not as straightforward as it sounds. There are some assertions that are created that need interpretation. Some people attempt to figure out the details on their own in addition to end up misconception everything. It really is when the law grabs up with all of them that they plan to look for a good immigration lawyer. Consequently, it is better to engage the services of a great immigration lawyer from the onset.
The criminal lawyer is someone to whom court instances are a widespread affair. They?re completely utilized to the concept of going to trial and managing big situations and thus they are very knowledgeable about the process, what to expect and also what will come about. The first thing they are able to do for you then is usually to help you to determine what to expect and also to prepare consequently. They can make it easier to know what you must take for your occasion, they could help you to understand how likely you?re to your situation and they may reassure you at every step of the way.
Audyssey makes killer speakers—the best AirPlay speaker of them all, in fact. But we don't usually equate Bluetooth with killer audio, and in fact, usually it's the opposite. Not this time. More »
So, as you may have noticed, I have a thing for botanicals.??Small-scale botanicals are fairly easy to find- in books, on etsy, ebay, calendars, flea markets, antique shops, etc. (they're usually all bookplates or copies of bookplates so the size is no larger than the book) but large-scale botanicals aren't always as easy to come by.?
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I've managed to get my hands on a?few & when Erin @ The Impatient Gardener asked me where I'd found them, I thought I'd share some of my?sources in?a post.?? (I hope you won't think I'm a one-trick pony when you see?how many botanicals I've used in projects!!? I just have a serious passion for them!! ;)? ?The reproduction German education charts in my family room (above) are from?The Evolution Store.??? They have a wide (and gorgeous!)selection of botanicals, and in particular, a lot with black backgrounds, which are higher-contrast and feel bolder and more modern than those with light backgrounds.?? I wanted my charts quickly & I needed a? pair, so going vintage wasn't really an option for me this time.? When I got the charts, I spent some time beating them up- I roughed up the edges a little and rolled and unrolled them a bunch, wrinkling them- so they'd more resemble my vintage?ones.? I also?splurged for the wooden dowels vs. the plastic dowels.? (ps- it's ridiculous that I spent all of this time making my new charts look old when I'm so careful & gentle?with my old ones. hahaha? irony.)
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The charts can be hung on nails like mine (above) or framed like these:
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?{Room by S. Gambrel and the botanicals look like framed charts to me....? The Evolution Store carries all of these exact?prints.}
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The vintage botanical chart that sparked this post (below) is in my laundry room.? I found it at an antique store.? Any time I see rolled up vintage educational charts in a store, I go digging.? I unroll every single one and buy all of the ones that I love.? I keep them until the right project comes along.?
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...And it always does.?
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I found the mushroom chart in my middle son's nursery (below) at German Favorite Antiques, a local antique store in Leesburg, Virginia.? They have a?nice selection of charts, though most that I've seen in the past are?industrial / machine parts charts.?
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Some of my favorite overscale botanicals are actual pressed botanicals or copies of actual pressed botanicals.? If you plan on buying actual pressed overscale botanicals, then get your wallet ready for it because they're not cheap (but OH MY GOSH THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL & I looooooooove them & do think it's worth the splurge if it's something you're passionate about...? Did you just hear me give myself an excuse to get one some day?? ;) ;))? BUT,?there are a few posters around of overscale pressed botanicals.? Allposters.com carries these ginko leaves and they are so perfect:
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Actual pressed plants will eventually fade over time whereas copies of the plants won't.
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I wanted to do something similar but a little more?personal for some clients of ours so, their kids & I went outside & found some pretty leaves from their back yard (from?tulip trees.)? I took the leaves?home and laid them out on my scanner and scanned them in.? Then I sent the images to an online company to have them blown up and printed on stretched canvas.? (below)
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I came across this botanical (below) out at the Old Lucketts Store in Leesburg and I think it's a framed chart of a marsh marigold.
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I found these two prints for a client's dining room (below) at Natural Curiosities, whose art work I love.? They purchase & acquire the?rights to antique & vintage prints and reproduce them, often in large scale.? Everything from Natural Curiosities is even?better in person than in photos because they "age" their papers and try to painstakingly replicate the originals.?
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...Another great source for overscale botanicals (mostly charts) is etsy.? There are sellers selling actual vintage charts & there are a bunch selling new charts in the vintage style.? (Many of the new educational charts are actually being made on the very?same machines that the originals were made on...? they are just 2012 versions of the originals, kind of like reprinting of books.? The vintage charts found online are typically more expensive than the new ones.)? It's sometimes hard to tell if a seller is selling vintage charts or reproductions so be sure to ask if? you're unsure.?
Anyway, I'm off for the day, but have a great one!!
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ps- My blog was recently redone by my blog friend Carolyn V of Life in Graz Pittsburg & she is amazing!!!!? I've had such a great experience with her and you need to check out her adorable nursery!!!? (for her brand new baby, Alexander!!!)? Also, my other talented blog friend, Emily Thompson of Indie Shopography, did my online store (www.purestylehome.co) and she is awesome too!!? I can't recommend both of them enough!!
If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.
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Close and negotiate are two critical steps that should be kept separate and distinct. 
It sounds like the setup to a weird, utterly geeky joke -- "So Apple's CEO calls up Google's CEO..." -- but according to a new report from 
Prior to 2009, many injured plaintiffs were most concerned with investing their settlement proceeds in the stock and real estate markets. Since 2009, I have seen a shift in focus. The largest concern by injured plaintiffs today is outliving their money. There is good cause for worry.![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vVwuWXZ_rSBsYaAlVMrZSUXefGPHTcRvNlIFV61T7X1eSgZP6D1Y6EAgIe0uDsT40dX3l5G_MjtPRRv-nnIUELn6ifLYxr73veqWSIRVSOERfndCIZvWTKbsCbWWEy6NKQo6l001kFeLBRwVDN8ZiyZPT9qMOGAisbYi9zDkfC4rlPXnopD0pIDzfZgVqfNKlSK7LQnjsrGjQ-hILngl-hMEKJXi-dGAlRLcqw_7tfCdfhzbWVimHk=s0-d "Leonardo Da Vinci's "Horse and Rider" sculpture (Jolson PR)")
![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sn3gGDc4S1SW8trL9xSXmtHIBLSgQpMG883CZhXQ9JJXgQiiY9-MLvMQV596568imyqlEIZcD5az0smXpYD2y_4KAIC_nQqksS114J9_JCNNBltvzEQHwocC734_EljYjnsqN7DlFHCI0x6hv8a96JsD5zLTH7iL9gogpqc62MSxMvMQ97JcYXrLqPb1Wk6Nx_ANMgQu60F1KZA_AycIXn5RDPg1Jeso1omweHLoYBJ_2PpNLYniNRwn5n=s0-d "The original "Horse and Rider" mold crafted by Leonardo Da Vinci (Jolson PR)")
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Public release date: 26-Aug-2012
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