As fireworks proliferate, injuries haven't. What does that say about safety?

Number of injuries relative to use of fireworks has gone down, say?fireworks groups, noting a trend toward looser state restrictions. But 11 were injured July 3 at a Pelham, N.H., home. Last year saw 9,600 emergency-room injuries related to fireworks.?

By Stacy Teicher Khadaroo,?Staff writer / July 5, 2012

Nate Murray holds a sparkler at a home in Scarborough, Maine, Wednesday, July 4.

Joel Page/AP

Enlarge

The fireworks display that went horribly awry at a Pelham, N.H., home on July 3 ? reportedly injuring 11, including five children ? has prompted some calls for a rethinking of liberal fireworks laws.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "off"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

But fireworks advocates insist the industry?s track record is a good one, with the rate of injuries on the decline even as more states loosen restrictions.

Last year, there were at least four deaths and an estimated 9,600 emergency-room injuries related to fireworks, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission reported in June.

Since 1996, the number of injuries per year has ranged from 7,000 to 11,000, but the differences have not been statistically significant.

But purchases of fireworks have been on the upswing ? with annual revenue from consumer fireworks valued at about $650 million in the US. So the number of injuries in proportion to their use has gone down, fireworks groups say.

From 2000 to 2012, the injury rate declined 43 percent, the American Pyrotechnics Association (APA) reports. The late 1990s saw six to eight injuries per 100,000 pounds of fireworks purchased, but in the 2000s, the rate dipped below four per 100,000 pounds.

States that the APA says allow some or all types of consumer fireworks permitted by the federal government have increased to 46 plus the District of Columbia. The four states that still ban all for individual purchase: Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York.

Most states, including New Hampshire, have some restrictions on what people can buy and where fireworks can be used, but at least five have broadened what?s allowed during the past two years, according to the APA.

?While the number of fireworks-related injuries ? has declined significantly, this is not a time for consumers to be lax about safety,? said Julie Heckman, executive director of the APA, in a statement last month.

Police and fire officials say they are investigating the exact cause of the Pelham fireworks explosion. A police statement did indicate that a large amount of fireworks were in and around the home. Injuries included serious burns to an 8-month-old and a 2-year-old, the Lowell Sun (Mass.) reports.

Fire Chief Jim Midgley said the town had not received complaints about what is reportedly an annual neighborhood fireworks display at the home, but added that the incident ?warrants further investigation and re-evaluation of what the current statutes are in the state of New Hampshire,? the Lowell Sun reports.

The Fourth of July is the time of year when most fireworks injuries occur.

According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission?s report on 2011:

  • 65 percent of fireworks injuries took place between mid-June and mid-July.
  • 26 percent of injuries were sustained by children under 15 (and the year before, the figure was 40 percent).
  • 68 percent of the injured, and all four of the fatalities, were males.

Sparklers are often seen as harmless fun for children, but they will be the focus of an education program soon, said Inez Tenenbaum, chairman of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, at an APA conference in February. In 2011, sparklers caused 1,100 emergency room visits.

?The Internet has facilitated greater exposure to safety information about sparklers, but it also has created challenges,? said Ms. Tenenbaum, whose commission has developed?fireworks safety tips. ?It is especially important that we warn parents about ? teenagers who go on YouTube and watch how to make sparkler bombs.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/5VoppCHJvRQ/As-fireworks-proliferate-injuries-haven-t.-What-does-that-say-about-safety

pebble beach golf beverly hilton roland martin whitney houston dead at 48 whitney houston dead 2012 whitney houston passed away heartbreak hotel

Asian nations want to sink South Korea whale hunt plan

PANAMA CITY | Thu Jul 5, 2012 3:10am EDT

PANAMA CITY

(Reuters) - South Korea on Wednesday proposed resuming whaling for scientific research, angering other Asian countries and conservationists who said the practice would skirt a global ban on whale hunting.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she would fight the proposal, which was made at a meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Panama City.

Critics said the move to pursue whaling in domestic waters was modeled on Japan's introduction of scientific whaling after the IWC imposed a 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling.

Japan says it has a right to monitor the whales' impact on its fishing industry. South Korea says whaling is a longstanding cultural tradition.

Anti-whaling activists regularly harass Japanese vessels engaging in their annual whale hunt in the Southern Ocean off Australia and Antarctica, with the two sides sometimes clashing violently. At least one activist boat has sunk in recent years.

In Seoul, a government official said South Korea abided by international regulations and it would be up to the IWC to assess its proposal.

"We've submitted a proposal to the IWC's Scientific Committee to resume scientific whaling in our waters and will await the committee's assessment," said an official at the Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry.

"If it says it is not adequate in their assessment of the legitimacy of scientific research, we'll make further preparations."

South Korea said its fishermen were complaining that growing whale populations were depleting fishing stocks, an assertion that the World Wildlife Fund said had no scientific basis.

Environmental activists dismissed the term scientific whaling as a thinly veiled ruse to conduct commercial whaling.

"It's an absolute shock this happened at this meeting and it's an absolute disgrace because to say that hunting whales is happening in the name of science is just wrong," James Lorenz from Greenpeace told Australian television. "Essentially, it's commercial whaling in another form."

The minke whales that South Korea proposes hunting are considered endangered, the World Wildlife Fund said in a statement.

Former Australian Environment Minister Ian Campbell, now on the board of the anti-whaling activist group Sea Shepherd, said the organization would "have to get organized to go out to the oceans and save the whales off South Korea".

AUSTRALIA TO PROTEST, SAYS PM

Australia has long opposed Japanese whaling and Gillard said it would lodge a diplomatic protest against South Korea's move.

"We will make our voices heard today," she told reporters. "Our ambassador will speak to counterparts in South Korea at the highest levels of the South Korea government and indicate Australia's opposition to this decision."

Australia has filed a complaint against Japan at the International Court of Justice in The Hague to stop scientific whaling. A decision is expected in 2013 or later.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said the announcement was a setback to global conservation efforts as whales in its waters were already targeted by Japan.

"The portrayal of this initiative as a 'scientific' program will have no more credibility than the so-called scientific program conducted by Japan, which has long been recognized as commercial whaling in drag," he said in a statement.

Panama's delegate to the IWC conference, Tomas Guardia, denounced the South Korean proposal "because it goes against the ban ... we don't support whale hunting under any circumstances".

Twitter was awash with condemnations.

"I don't care what justification you give," wrote a user identifying herself as Savannah, from Australia. "It's crap. Stop killing whales."

Many Koreans view whale meat as a delicacy. Murals some 5,000 years old depicting whaling have been excavated around Ulsan, centre of the whaling industry on the southeastern coast since the late 19th century.

Officials say that before South Korea joined the moratorium in 1986, its average annual catch was 600 whales, most of which was consumed. Whaling is now subject to prosecution and punishable by a jail or fines, but meat is available from mostly minke that get caught in fishing nets "by accident" or wash ashore.

(Reporting by Elida Moreno in Panama City, Jack Kim and Laeticia Ock in Seoul, and James Grubel and Maggie Lu YueYang in Canberra; Writing by Ron Popeski; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)

(This story was corrected in paragraph 11 to make clear that Campbell is on the board of the activist group, not aboard the ship)

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/scienceNews/~3/9ur3zc6h94o/us-whaling-korea-idUSBRE86403L20120705

cleveland news daytona race the cutting edge fox 8 news indy 500 angelina jolie leg daytona

Will Romney Pretend To Have A Health Plan?

New York Magazine:

The health-care ruling has exposed a delicate dance within the Republican Party. Romney does not want to run on the health-care issue. To the extent that he wants to invoke the issue, it's to flay Obama for having focused on it as a distraction from the economy, not as an ideological crusade against Big Government. But conservative activists want to be sure that, if Romney wins, he will commit his political capital to repealing the Affordable Care Act.

Read the whole story at New York Magazine

Contribute to this Story:

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/03/will-romney-pretend-to-ha_n_1648118.html

uc davis super committee walmart black friday ad 2011 nl mvp nl mvp verlander verlander

A&M to outsource golf course

Published:?Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Updated:?Tuesday, July 3, 2012 19:07

Texas A&M golf course managers and operators met with Rene Rangel, CEO of Sterling Golf, Monday to discuss plans to outsource the University golf course.

?

Student Body President John Claybrook tweeted Sunday, ?Coming Fall 2013: the nations finest on-campus golf course. Amazing plans from Sterling Golf at virtually no net cost to students.?

?

Golf course student-worker and reporter for The Battalion Aaron Deering said the new course could have three additional holes as well as renovations to current holes.

?

Renovations may include changes to the clubhouse such as the addition of concessions.

?

KBTX reported in March that a University official said the golf course has lost $600,000 in the last four years.

Source: http://www.thebatt.com/a-m-to-outsource-golf-course-1.2879786

occupy los angeles comedian patrice o neal occupy philadelphia occupy philadelphia conrad murray conrad murray jack del rio

Samsung Galaxy Chat revealed with QWERTY keyboard

Most of Samsung's Android smartphones are a touch screen only affair when it comes to their keyboard inputs. Today, the company officially announced plans to launch an Android 4.0 smartphone that will include a physical keyboard for the text messaging heavy audience.

The official company blog Samsung Tomorrow has posted the first details of the Galaxy Chat, which has a three inch 480 x 320 resolution touch screen combined with a QWERTY-style keyboard on the bottom. It also has four GB of on-board storage and a MicroSD card slot to expand the storage up to an additional 32 GB. There's a two megapixel rear camera but there's no front facing camera at all.

All in all, the hardware specs on the Galaxy Chat sounds like it will be a relatively cheap device. So far, Samsung has only said that the smartphone will have a "competitive price point" when it is launched.

The company will first release the Galaxy Chat in Spain later this month and will expand its reach to include other parts of Europe in the near future, along with Latin America, the Middle East, China, Southeast Asia, and Southwest Asia. Oddly, there's no listing of a US release for the Galaxy Chat.

Source: Samsung Tomorrow website

Source: http://www.neowin.net/news/samsung-galaxy-chat-revealed-with-qwerty-keyboard

sacha baron cohen best picture nominees 2012 academy awards 2012 albert nobbs a star is born oscar nominees oscar nominations 2012

Romney presses attacks on "Obamacare" before ruling

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

2012 westminster dog show abe lincoln vampire hunter jeremy lin xi jinping matt bomer westminster kennel club dog show jeremy lin game winner

Remapping gang turf: Math model used for mapping chimp territories applies

ScienceDaily (June 25, 2012) ? A mathematical model that has been used for more than 80 years to determine the hunting range of animals in the wild holds promise for mapping the territories of street gangs, a UCLA-led team of social scientists reports in a new study.

"The way gangs break up their neighborhoods into unique territories is a lot like the way lions or honey bees break up space," said lead author P. Jeffrey Brantingham, a professor of anthropology at UCLA.

Further, the research demonstrates that the most dangerous place to be in a neighborhood packed with gangs is not deep within the territory of a specific gang, as one might suppose, but on the border between two rival gangs. In fact, the highest concentration of conflict occurs within less than two blocks of gang boundaries, the researchers discovered.

The findings appear online?June 25 in Criminology, a peer-reviewed scholarly journal published by the American Society of Criminology, the world's largest society of scholars conducting research on crime.

"Maps of gang territories provide police with a better understanding of how to allocate resources," said research co-author George E. Tita, an associate professor of criminology, law and society at UC Irvine. "So figuring out the most accurate approach is really important for effectively deploying law enforcement."

Currently, law enforcement agencies map gang territories based on police observation of such clues as graffiti and where gang members hang out. In these maps, geographic features like streets, parks and schoolyards typically delineate gang territories.

For the Criminology study, the team used Lotka-Volterra equations, which were designed to model the population dynamics of species competing for common resources. Since the 1930s, ecologists have used the equations to study the relationships between competing groups as diverse as bee colonies, troops of chimpanzees and prides of lions.

The equations are based on the principle that competition between groups determines where the boundaries between rivals form, and even a tiny amount of competition is enough to cause territories to form.

"What's at work is a competitive balancing act where both gangs are trying to keep their rival as far away as possible," Brantingham said.

The model the researchers derived from the equation predicted that gang boundaries would form midway between the home bases of rivals and would run in a perpendicular line between them.

The team looked at 13 gangs in the 6.5-square-mile area of Boyle Heights, a densely populated neighborhood on Los Angeles' east side that is bounded by three freeways. Gang activity tends to be confined within the freeway-bounded area.

To determine the home bases for each gang, the researchers relied on a prior study by Tita and his UC Irvine colleagues. The locations of the home bases ranged from a specific street corner to someone's house, a neighborhood business or any other specific location where a gang gathers most frequently.

Using the Lotka-Volterra formula, Brantingham's team drew boundaries between the known gangs. Unlike law enforcement's maps, the resulting effort did not produce gang boundaries that neatly followed streets. Instead, the boundaries ran through the yards of homes and businesses and through alleyways. When the boundaries did land on streets, they were as likely to crisscross them as follow them.

Using police records, the researchers then mapped 563 known gang crimes that occurred between 1999 and 2002 and have been attributed by police to at least one of the 13 gangs. To their surprise, most of the crimes fell on the borders that the model laid between gang territories. When crime locations did deviate from the borders, they did so in a configuration that was consistent with the model. For instance, the theory predicted that 58.8 percent of the crimes would occur within one-fifth of a mile of the border between two gangs -- or just under two blocks -- and 87.5 percent within two-fifths of a mile of the border -- or just over three blocks. Overall, 99.8 percent of crimes could be expected to occur within one mile of the border, according to the theory.

In fact, the team found that 58.2 percent occurred within two blocks of the border and 83.1 percent within just over three blocks of the border; in total, 97.7 percent of the crimes took place within one mile of the border between gangs.

"You would think that we're more complicated than other animals, so a model this simplistic shouldn't work, but I was surprised that it fit as well as it did," said co-author Martin B. Short, an assistant adjunct professor of mathematics at UCLA.

It's no coincidence that Lotka-Volterra equations would have bearing on the configurations of gang territories: The same forces that define territories in the animal kingdom also are at work in all kinds of rivalries between groups of people, the researchers stress.

"The findings match up with what we know about any conflict," Tita said. "Skirmishes tend to occur on disputed boundaries on which individuals, organizations or nation-states seek control."

The researchers plan to compare their gang maps with those derived by law enforcement.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:


Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Los Angeles, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. P. Jeffrey Brantingham, George E. Tita, Martin B. Short, Shannon E. Reid. The Ecology of Gang Territorial Boundaries. Criminology, 2012; DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-9125.2012.00281.x

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

the last waltz columbine earth day activities mel gibson splunk dark shadows iau

Brain structure helps guide behavior by anticipating changing demands

ScienceDaily (June 24, 2012) ? Every day the human brain is presented with tasks ranging from the trivial to the complex. How much mental effort and attention are devoted to each task is usually determined in a split second and without conscious awareness. Now a study from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers finds that a structure deep within the brain, believed to play an important role in regulating conscious control of goal-directed behavior, helps to optimize behavioral responses by predicting how difficult upcoming tasks will be. The report is receiving advance online publication in Nature.

"The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), which lies deep beneath the outer layer of the frontal lobes, is part of an ancient and enigmatic part of the brain," says Emad Eskandar, MD, of the MGH Department of Neurosurgery, senior author of the Nature paper. "Some have speculated that it plays a role in detecting errors or monitoring for conflicting demands, but exactly how it contributes to regulating behavioral responses is unclear, so we used a variety of scientific techniques to get a better picture of its function."

The study enrolled six participants who were scheduled to undergo cingulotomy -- a procedure in which a small, precisely placed lesion is created within the ACC -- to treat severe obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) that has not responded to other types of treatment. A standard part of the cingulotomy procedure involves microelectrode recordings of the activity of single neurons in the area where the lesion is to be placed. To evaluate dACC function, the investigators recorded brain activity from several neurons within the structure while participants performed a behavioral task testing their reactions to visual images.

The task presented participants with a random series of images of three numerals, which could be 0, 1, 2, or 3. In each image, two of the numerals were identical. Participants responded by pressing one of three buttons, the position of which would indicate the identity of the number that was different, with the left button indicating 1, the middle 2 and the right button 3. Each image was ranked in difficulty depending on how much the position of the target numeral or the identity of the duplicate numerals might distract participants from the correct response. For example, when presented with 3-3-2, the correct response would be to press the middle button for number 2; and that image would be ranked more difficult than 3-2-3, in which both the target number and the correct button were in the same position.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of four participants performing the behavioral task prior to the cingulotomy procedure revealed that the task increased metabolic activity within the dACC, a result seen in previous fMRI studies. The fMRI images also revealed that responding to more difficult images produced greater activity levels within the dACC and in other structures known to be involved in decision making. Intraoperative microelectrode recordings of all participants demonstrated that this apparent increase in metabolic activity corresponded with an increase in neuronal activity, linking for the first time the increased activation revealed by fMRI with increased neuronal firing.

Analysis of individual neuron activity indicated that dACC neuronal activity remained elevated immediately after difficult trials. Moreover, participant reaction time revealed that the difficulty of the prior trial had an impact on the next trial: if the preceding trial was of the same level of difficulty, reaction time was shorter; if the two tests were of different difficulty levels -- even if the second test was easier -- reaction time was longer. By anticipating the difficulty of upcoming tasks, the authors note, it appears that the dACC speeds up responses when difficulty levels are constant but slows response time down when faced with changing demands in order to promote accuracy.

While behavioral tests conducted after the cingulotomy procedure -- which destroys tissue within the dACC -- did not indicate a change in participants' ability to perform the test accurately, the impact of preceding trials on reaction time appeared to vanish. "Participants could still perform the task, but the dACC's role of priming the system based on immediate prior experience was gone," Eskandar explains. "We believe this result indicates an important role for the dACC in rapidly adjusting to different cognitive demands, possibly by recruiting other areas of the brain to solve particular problems."

An associate professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, Eskandar adds that, while significant cognitive changes have not been reported in patients undergoing cingulotomy, the apparent role of the dACC in adapting to changing situations implies a possible role for the structure in several psychiataric disorders. "A lack of behavior flexibility and adjustment is characteristic of OCD, for example. Whether or not our findings directly relate to these disorders remains to be determined, but we hope that continued study using complex tasks, such as the behavioral test used here, will be helpful in diagnosing or monitoring psychiatric disorders."

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:


Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Massachusetts General Hospital, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Sameer A. Sheth, Matthew K. Mian, Shaun R. Patel, Wael F. Asaad, Ziv M. Williams, Darin D. Dougherty, George Bush, Emad N. Eskandar. Human dorsal anterior cingulate cortex neurons mediate ongoing behavioural adaptation. Nature, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nature11239

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.

donovan mcnabb lottery ticket megga millions what is autism the giver march 30 rimm

Turkey jet crisis unlikely to pull NATO into Syria

BRUSSELS (AP) ? Syria's downing of a Turkish fighter-bomber has the feel of a turning point that could drag Western powers into a conflict that is spiraling out of control.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has vowed to hold Syria to account, while Britain's foreign minister said Damascus won't be allowed to act with impunity.

But for all the hard talk, the prospect of Western military intervention in Syria remains remote, at best.

For one thing, military action is unlikely to get the support of either the U.N. Security Council or the Arab League, and outside intervention without the blessing of both of those bodies is all but unthinkable. And there is little appetite among the 28 NATO countries ? of which the U.S. is the largest ? for another war in the Middle East.

Libya was hard enough, and for a many nervous months it looked as if that conflict might end in an embarrassing stalemate for the West. And Syria would be tougher than Libya. Syrian President Bashar Assad's army is better equipped, better trained, better paid and far more loyal than was that of late Libyan leader Moammar Gaddhafi.

So for the moment, despite the increasing violence and the staggering number of deaths, action by the international community seems to be limited to sanctions and strong words.

And so it was on Monday, when foreign ministers from the 27 European Union countries condemned Syria's downing Friday of a Turkish jet, but said the bloc would not support military action in the troubled country.

"What happened is to be considered very seriously," said Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal. Having gotten his denunciation out of the way, he let the other shoe drop: "We do not go for any interventions."

Turkish officials have said the jet mistakenly strayed into Syrian airspace, but was warned to leave by Turkish authorities and was a mile (1.6 kilometers) inside international airspace when Syria shot it down. The Turkish pilots are still missing.

Turkey immediately called a meeting of the North Atlantic Council, NATO's governing body, on Tuesday to discuss the incident. Any NATO member can request such consultations if their territorial integrity has been threatened.

An alliance diplomat said ambassadors will discuss Turkey's concerns ? and would likely condemn the downing.

"But there won't be anything more specific than that," said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of standing rules.

Turkey, too, appeared to be attempting to moderate the situation, trying to balance a response that would assuage domestic outrage over the shooting, while avoiding a conflict. Turkey has been one of the fiercest critics of Assad's crackdown. But at this point, it has no wish to inflame already-heightened tensions.

A Turkish government official said the government was trying to ratchet up diplomatic pressure on Syria, where activists say more than 14,000 people have been killed in the 15-month uprising. He said the country was still working out what steps to take ? though they would not include military intervention.

"We are not talking about war, but we will keep the pressure on Syria and give it no chance to catch its breath," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government rules.

Mustafa Kibaroglu, a professor of international relations at Istanbul's Okan University, said that by calling Tuesday's emergency meeting ?, Turkey was trying to show Syria that it has the full support of NATO and the European Union.

But he dismissed the possibility the alliance would activate a rule in its founding treaty ? Article 5 ? that declares that an attack against any NATO country shall be considered as an attack against them all.

"Unless there is another ... act of provocation (from Syria), there will be no activation of Article 5," Kibaroglu said.

Syria has said it was unaware that the F-4 Phantom fighter-bomber belonged to Turkey, and that it was protecting its air space against an unknown intruder. In the past, Israeli warplanes have penetrated Syrian airspace by flying over the Mediterranean coastline.

Syrian foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said the downing was an accident, caused by the "automatic response" of an officer commanding an anti-aircraft gun. The man saw a jet coming at him at high speed and low altitide and opened fire, Makdissi said.

Analysts said that, although the latest incident will likely be contained, the conflict in Syria is now threatening to draw in other nations.

"Syria's apology will probably quell the immediate outrage," said Barak Seener, a Middle East expert at the Royal United Services Institute, a British military think tank.

"But it's increasingly clear that as the conflict escalates there will be a spillover effect with regional consequences," he said. "While NATO will not get involved yet, this illustrates that international actors will increasingly be sucked into the conflict."

Still, there is a sense of war-weariness in NATO, an aversion to any more involvement in the Middle East after last year's conflict over Libya.

The alliance's primary focus remains the costly war in Afghanistan, where the alliance still has about 130,000 troops, a decade after the ouster of the Taliban regime. Although NATO forces enjoy overwhelming superiority in numbers, firepower and mobility, the guerrillas are showing no sign of giving up.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has repeatedly said that the alliance would need a clear international mandate, and regional support, before it embarked on a mission in Syria.

Last year, the alliance launched air attacks on Libyan government targets only after receiving a mandate from the U.N. Security Council, along with backing from the Arab League.

But in Syria's case, the Arab League hasn't been able to agree on the need for military intervention. Even Syria's different opposition groups are riven by divisions over whether outside military intervention would help or hurt. Some in the Syrian opposition argue that it would reduce their country to rubble, leaving them nothing on which to build a new future once Assad was gone.

And Russia and China ? both veto-wielding members of the Security Council ? have consistently shielded Assad's regime from international sanctions over its violent crackdown on protests. Russia also has continued to provide Syria with arms, despite Western calls for a halt in supplies.

Last week, President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the Syrian crisis on the sidelines of a Group of 20 economic conference in Mexico.

The meeting ended without apparent agreement on how to end the violence.

___

Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. Elizabeth Kennedy in Beirut, Lebanon, also contributed to this report.

the muppet movie the muppet movie mars rover mars rover apple cup jewelry stores sleep no more

Icon of Supreme Court press corps awaits health care ruling

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

msg network ray j anthony shadid gary carter this means war bobby brown suzanne somers