Economy created modest amount of jobs in Dec.

3 hrs.

Employers last month shrugged off worries about the high-profile budget battle in Washington and continued hiring at a slow, steady pace, government data showed Friday.

?(The job market) has been very resilient to a lot of the uncertainty that people have been talking about,? said Jared Bernstein, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and former economic adviser to Vice President Joseph Biden. ?This is an okay job report at a time when you might have expected something worse.?

But the pool of workers looking for a job remains nearly twice as big as it was before the 2007 recession began to take hold.

The Labor Department reported Friday that payrolls, rose by 155,000 in December. That?s just about fast enough to keep pace with the growth of the population, but not enough to make a dent in the unemployment rate, which remained stuck at 7.8 percent last month.

?This has been the story throughout the recovery that began more than three years ago,? said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capitol Economics.

The number of unemployed Americans last month was essentially unchanged, at 12.2 million. That?s down from a peak of 15.4 million in October, 2009, but much higher than the 6.7 million who were out of work in March 2007.

The job gains last month were spread over a broad segment of the economy, from construction to manufacturing to health care.

Economists say the breadth of jobs gains is a good indication that the slow but steady recovery remains on track. But most forecasters expect the lackluster pace of growth ? about two percent as measured by the gross domestic product ? to continue through 2013.

Wage growth also remained flat, after adjusting for inflation, as it has since the recovery began. That trend runs counter to past economic rebounds, when wages have traditionally risen as the unemployment rate has fallen, according to Wells Fargo chief economist John Silvia.

?(That) supports the message of weaker consumer spending and GDP growth ahead,? he said

While the political spectacle of a dysfunctional government seems have had little impact on December hiring, the results of the budget battle are expected to have at least some dampening effect on hiring. Government spending, a critical target in the ongoing debate, makes up roughly 20 percent of U.S. economic activity.

Friday?s numbers demonstrated the impact of the ongoing budget squeeze on the job market. In December, government at all levels cut 13,000 jobs. For all of 2012, government payrolls shrank by 68,000.

While the December jobless rate was nearly a percentage point lower than a year ago, it?s still well above the average over the last 60 years of about 6 percent. The drop has also come as millions of workers have given up trying to find work. As a result, the portion of the population officially counted in the labor force is at the lowest level in three decades.

The pool of ?long-term? jobless workers ? those without a paycheck for 27 weeks or more ? remained unchanged in December at 4.8 million, or nearly 40 percent of the unemployed.

That high level of persistent unemployment prompted the Federal Reserve to embark on its latest, open-ended round of bond buying in September to force interest rates lower and help spur hiring. The central bank has kept interest rates near zero since 2008. On Thursday, however, minutes from the Fed's December meeting suggested that some policymakers were growing more concerned about the impact of that policy on the financial markets.

Friday?s lackluster job data will likely help support proponents of the Fed?s continued easy-money policy, said Ashworth.

?If this state of affairs continues throughout most of this year, as we expect, then it is hard to see the Fed dialing back or stopping its (bond) purchases as some officials currently envisage,? he said.

The December report included a number of revisions, in part due to annual tweaks in the adjustments the Labor Department uses to smooth out seasonal swings in hiring. The government raised its estimate for the unemployment rate in November by a tenth of a point to 7.8 percent. The payroll number for November was also raised to 161,000 new jobs, from 146,000.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/economywatch/economy-creates-modest-amount-jobs-labor-market-heals-slowly-1B7822595

jaleel white levi johnston 2013 srt viper scott walker recall fisker atlantic social darwinism jamie lynn spears

Gene variant linked to active personality traits also linked to human longevity

Jan. 3, 2013 ? A variant of a gene associated with active personality traits in humans seems to also be involved with living a longer life, UC Irvine and other researchers have found.

This derivative of a dopamine-receptor gene -- called the DRD4 7R allele -- appears in significantly higher rates in people more than 90 years old and is linked to lifespan increases in mouse studies.

Robert Moyzis, professor of biological chemistry at UC Irvine, and Dr. Nora Volkow, a psychiatrist who conducts research at the Brookhaven National Laboratory and also directs the National Institute on Drug Abuse, led a research effort that included data from the UC Irvine-led 90+ Study in Laguna Woods, Calif. Results appear online in The Journal of Neuroscience.

The variant gene is part of the dopamine system, which facilitates the transmission of signals among neurons and plays a major role in the brain network responsible for attention and reward-driven learning. The DRD4 7R allele blunts dopamine signaling, which enhances individuals' reactivity to their environment.

People who carry this variant gene, Moyzis said, seem to be more motivated to pursue social, intellectual and physical activities. The variant is also linked to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and addictive and risky behaviors.

"While the genetic variant may not directly influence longevity," Moyzis said, "it is associated with personality traits that have been shown to be important for living a longer, healthier life. It's been well documented that the more you're involved with social and physical activities, the more likely you'll live longer. It could be as simple as that."

Numerous studies -- including a number from the 90+ Study -- have confirmed that being active is important for successful aging, and it may deter the advancement of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's.

Prior molecular evolutionary research led by Moyzis and Chuansheng Chen, UC Irvine professor of psychology & social behavior, indicated that this "longevity allele" was selected for during the nomadic out-of-Africa human exodus more than 30,000 years ago.

In the new study, the UC Irvine team analyzed genetic samples from 310 participants in the 90+ Study. This "oldest-old" population had a 66 percent increase in individuals carrying the variant relative to a control group of 2,902 people between the ages of 7 and 45. The presence of the variant also was strongly correlated with higher levels of physical activity.

Next, Volkow, neuroscientist Panayotis Thanos and their colleagues at the Brookhaven National Laboratory found that mice without the variant had a 7 percent to 9.7 percent decrease in lifespan compared with those possessing the gene, even when raised in an enriched environment.

While it's evident that the variant can contribute to longevity, Moyzis said further studies must take place to identify any immediate clinical benefits from the research. "However, it is clear that individuals with this gene variant are already more likely to be responding to the well-known medical adage to get more physical activity," he added.

First author Deborah Grady, Maria Corrada, Valentina Ciobanu, Alexandra Moyzis, Chuansheng Chen and Dr. Claudia Kawas of UC Irvine; Diana Shustarovich and Gene-Jack Wang of Brookhaven; David Grandy of Oregon Health & Science University; Marcelo Rubinstein of Argentina's National Scientific & Technical Research Council; and Qi Dong of Beijing Normal University also contributed to the study, which was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Institute on Aging, and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism intramural program.

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 - Irvine.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. D. L. Grady, P. K. Thanos, M. M. Corrada, J. C. Barnett, V. Ciobanu, D. Shustarovich, A. Napoli, A. G. Moyzis, D. Grandy, M. Rubinstein, G.-J. Wang, C. H. Kawas, C. Chen, Q. Dong, E. Wang, N. D. Volkow, R. K. Moyzis. DRD4 Genotype Predicts Longevity in Mouse and Human. Journal of Neuroscience, 2013; 33 (1): 286 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3515-12.2013

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.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/Rj_SO25pTTI/130103151515.htm

face transplant maundy thursday fab melo google glasses kim kardashian and kanye west henrik stenson jobs act

Rig accident shows need to pause Arctic drilling: Green groups

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Opponents of Royal Dutch Shell's ambitious Arctic oil drilling program has called on the Obama administration to put offshore drilling plans in the region on hold after the dramatic grounding this week of Shell's oil rig in Alaska.

The Natural Resources Defense Council and The Wilderness Society on Thursday said the accident involving Shell's Kulluk oil rig is new evidence that oil companies are not prepared to safely manage the extreme conditions of the Arctic.

The 30-year-old Kulluk rig ran aground on New Year's Eve in "near hurricane" conditions while it was being towed south for the winter.

"This string of mishaps by Shell makes it crystal clear that we are not ready to drill in the Arctic," Chuck Clusen, NRDC's director of Alaska projects, told reporters during a teleconference.

The green groups said they plan to send a letter to the Department of the Interior demanding that they stop issuing permits in the Arctic, and prevent drilling in the sensitive area until it is determined that the environment can be fully protected.

Shell has spent $4.5 billion since 2005 to develop the Arctic's vast oil reserves, but the company has faced intense opposition from environmentalists and native groups, as well as regulatory and technical hurdles.

The company has yet to complete a single well, giving up on plans to explore for oil last year after its required oil spill containment system was damaged during tests.

Officials from Shell were not immediately available to comment.

Even without government action, the grounding of the Kulluk could threaten Shell's 2013 drilling timetable because its oil-spill plans require a second rig to be available at all times in case a relief well needs to be drilled to kill a well.

The Noble-owned Discoverer is Shell's other Alaska rig. The Kulluk is also operated by Noble.

While Shell has made the most progress toward exploring Alaska's offshore for oil, ConocoPhillips also has significant holdings in the Chukchi Sea.

ConocoPhillips paid more than $500 million in 2008 for leases in the area and has said it plans to drill an exploration well in the Chukchi in 2014 or later.

Massachusetts Congressman Edward Markey, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources committee, also voiced concerns about Shell's fitness to operate in the Arctic.

"This is just the most recent incident in Shell's attempt to drill offshore in the Arctic and it raises serious questions about the company's ability to conduct these operations safely and in a way that protects the environment," Markey, an outspoken critic of oil and gas companies, said in a letter to Shell.

Markey asked the company to provide him with any plans it has developed to deal with severe weather in the region and for information about how the company plans to prevent similar accidents in the future. (Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rig-accident-shows-pause-arctic-drilling-green-groups-200451497--sector.html

louis oosthuizen phil mickelson 10 year old gives birth c. difficile carmelo anthony nurse jackie nurse jackie

Online science news with user comments fraught with unintended consequences, study suggests

Jan. 3, 2013 ? A science-inclined audience and wide array of communications tools make the Internet an excellent opportunity for scientists hoping to share their research with the world. But that opportunity is fraught with unintended consequences, according to a pair of University of Wisconsin-Madison life sciences communication professors.

Dominique Brossard and Dietram Scheufele, writing in a Perspectives piece for the journal Science, encourage scientists to join an effort to make sure the public receives full, accurate and unbiased information on science and technology.

"This is an opportunity to promote interest in science -- especially basic research, fundamental science -- but, on the other hand, we could be missing the boat," Brossard says. "Even our most well-intended effort could backfire, because we don't understand the ways these same tools can work against us."

Recent research by Brossard and Scheufele has described the way the Internet may be narrowing public discourse, and new work shows that a staple of online news presentation -- the comments section -- and other ubiquitous means to provide endorsement or feedback can color the opinions of readers of even the most neutral science stories.

"Today, I can use my mobile phone, tablet, or laptop to almost instantly look up more information than ever before," Scheufele says. "But the way most people look up information in online settings may significantly restrict what types of information they encounter." Online news sources pare down discussion or limit visibility of some information in several ways, according to Brossard and Scheufele.

Many news sites use the popularity of stories or subjects (measured by the numbers of clicks they receive or the rate at which users share that content with others or other metrics) to guide the presentation of material.

The search engine Google offers users suggested search terms as they make requests (offering up "nanotechnology in medicine, " for example, to those who begin typing "nanotechnology" in a search box). Users often avail themselves of the list of suggestions, making certain searches more popular, which in turn makes those search terms even more likely to appear as suggestions.

"Our analyses showed a self-reinforcing spiral, which means more people see a shrinking, more similar set of news and opinions on science and technology subjects when they do online searches," Brossard says.

The consequences become more daunting for the researchers as Brossard and Scheufele uncover more surprising effects of Web 2.0.

In their newest study, they show that independent of the content of an article about a new technological development, the tone of comments posted by other readers can make a significant difference in the way new readers feel about the article's subject. The less civil the accompanying comments, the more risk readers attributed to the research described in the news story.

"The day of reading a story and then turning the page to read another is over," Scheufele says. "Now each story is surrounded by numbers of Facebook likes and tweets and comments that color the way readers interpret even truly unbiased information. This will produce more and more unintended effects on readers, and unless we understand what those are and even capitalize on them, they will just cause more and more problems."

If even some the for-profit media world and advocacy organizations are approaching the digital landscape from a marketing perspective, Brossard and Scheufele argue, scientists need to turn to more empirical communications research and engage in active discussions across disciplines of how to most effectively reach large audiences.

"It's not because there is not decent science writing out there. We know all kinds of excellent writers and sources," Brossard says. "But can people be certain that those are the sites they will find when they search for information? That is not clear."

It's not about preparing for the future. It's about catching up to the present. And the present, Scheufele says, includes scientific subjects -- think fracking, or synthetic biology -- that need debate and input from the public.

"A lot of people are saying we're in an intense period of change, let's see where the dust settles. But we're in a world where the dust is not going to settle for a long time," he says. "What we really do need is a systematic effort between sciences and social sciences to use this new environment to get the science across and public reactions across without biases that the process itself may incorporate."

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 Wisconsin-Madison. The original article was written by Chris Barncard.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. D. Brossard, D. A. Scheufele. Science, New Media, and the Public. Science, 2013; 339 (6115): 40 DOI: 10.1126/science.1232329

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.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/oq_e1TXpDzE/130103143203.htm

bohemian rhapsody bohemian rhapsody spike lee carson daly heejun han donovan mcnabb donovan mcnabb

Top SEO Trends in 2013 for Small Business Owners - B2C Internet ...

SEO Trends for 20132013 is the year of the snake which symbolizes that all things are possible.

Even if you?re not fond of Chinese Zodiac Calendars, I wanted to share that with 2013, we can expect a lot of things to happen in the world of Search Engine Optimization

Before I share the top SEO predictions and trends for 2013, let?s have a recap of what happened in the previous years, 2011 and 2012.

The SEO world had major overhauls.

Panda was first released in 2011, targeting hundreds of low-quality websites.

Penguin targeted spammy link building techniques and link networks during summer of 2012.

If you relied mostly on these spammy link building methods and link networks, you will most likely be hit with the Penguin Update.

If you?re a business owner, it?s important to have Google Analytics installed and mark the date and week your traffic and rankings dropped.

These drops in dates will give you clues whether you have been penalized by the Panda or Penguin updates.

Don?t know where to start? No problem, we can help you get your site out of the Panda and Penguin penalties.

1. ?Google Authorship ? If you are a business owner and have a website, it?s highly recommended that you claim your content and get a Personal Google+ profile that links to your site.

Google has been pushing Google+ across all their products and this could mean a bigger shift to what the search engine giant wants to do in the future.

Ever noticed the (not provided) results in your analytics? Most of those visits are coming from people who are logged in one of Google?s products.

I was thinking of saying social signals, but until Facebook gives full access to their data for the search engines to crawl, we might not be seeing a lot of SEO benefits from facebook shares.

2. Build a Twitter Profile ? If you have daily deals, updates, events and new products and services for your business, then you need to have a twitter account.

Twitter profiles and links can give a significant boost to your SEO campaigns if you have built an authoritative Twitter profile.

3. Repurpose your Content in Different Forms of Media ? You can now transform your articles into PDF files and submit them to doc sharing sites like slideshare.com and scribd.com

Turn your viral posts and top tips into Youtube videos. The most popular Youtube videos are either the funniest, or the most helpful.

Start a Podcast or create an Ebook and promote it as a free download in exchange of their emails or contact details.

4. Use WordPress ? Self hosted wordpress allows you to do a lot of things to your website that a standard html or php program won?t.

Mobile websites
Responsive Design
E-Commerce Sites
Search Engine Optimized Websites
and more?

The top websites and small businesses use wordpress. It?s free and highly customizable.

5. Diversify Links? ? Unfortunately a link is still a link. Even after the Panda and Penguin updates, no one will argue that a backlink is what helps the search engines rank a website for a particular term.

But it?s more important now than ever, not to rely on only one or two types of links. If people asked us how we build links and acquire them, this is what we do.

In order of top priority, we gather links from:

1. Most powerful links / link neighborhood of your competitors. ? Your top 10 competitors will have diverse links. We are experts in discovering which links would beneficial to your site and which links aren?t.

2. Golden Linking opportunities that are not spammy and that are hard to get, but will also be hard for your competitors to acquire.

These require a lot of work, and it is part of our Search Engine Optimization process.

3. Foundation links - These are links from directories, web 2.0 sites, blog comments, guest posts and more. These creates the initial layer of links that supports your website?s link profile.

Are These Predictions Enough? What Do You Think?

In my opinion, 2013 is like SEO when it first started. No one knows about it, and people kept wondering how to rank their websites.

Today, the search engines has filters and tons of penalties that can drop your site?s rankings and traffic overnight. This could mean an overnight loss of business and could definitely cripple or shutdown your business.

But fortunately a lot of developments happened in SEO. The right tools are now available at our disposal to help us determine what works and what doesn?t. We don?t blindly guess what would work for your website and small business.

We have a proven track record of improving our client?s SEO and rankings in the past few years by as much as 6742% in a span of just a few years.

Would you like to get the same SEO results for 2013?

Click the orange button below to get started


// ]]>

Photo Credit Tiny Snake by Tobyotter under CreativeCommons 2.0

Source: http://blog.yourwsiadvantage.com/seo-trends-2013/

selena lamichael james lamichael james derrick rose acl earthquake los angeles unemployment

World shares hit highest since July 2011

The heated fiscal cliff negotiations are over ? for now ? so it's time to assess your wallet. You probably understand the centerpiece of President Obama's much maligned offer to Republicans, which raised income taxes on the wealthiest Americans by allowing the Bush-era tax cuts to expire for the highest brackets. (Obama was aiming to increase taxes on individuals making more than $250,000 per year and, but eventually settled on a threshold of $400,000, and $450,000 for couples. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/world-shares-hit-highest-since-july-2011-153758727--finance.html

beach boys tony bennett joe walsh the civil wars duggar miscarriage roman holiday belize

Congress OKs cliff deal, signaling future fights

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Congress' excruciating, extraordinary New Year's Day approval of a compromise averting a prolonged tumble off the fiscal cliff hands President Barack Obama most of the tax boosts on the rich that he campaigned on. It also prevents House Republicans from facing blame for blocking tax cuts for most American households, though most GOP lawmakers parted ways with Speaker John Boehner and opposed the measure.

Passage also lays the groundwork for future battles between the two sides over federal spending and debt.

Capping a holiday season political spectacle that featured enough high and low notes for a Broadway musical, the GOP-run House voted final approval for the measure by 257-167 late Tuesday. That came after the Democratic-led Senate used a wee-hours 89-8 roll call to assent to the bill, belying the partisan brinkmanship that colored much of the path to the final deal.

"A central promise of my campaign for president was to change the tax code that was too skewed towards the wealthy at the expense of working middle-class Americans," Obama said at the White House before flying to Hawaii to resume his holiday break. "Tonight we've done that."

The bill would boost the top 35 percent income tax rate to 39.6 percent for incomes exceeding $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples, while continuing decade-old income tax cuts for everyone else. In his re-election campaign last year Obama had vowed to boost rates on earnings at somewhat lower levels ? $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for families.

Scores of GOP lawmakers voted for the measure, reversing a quarter-century of solid Republican opposition to boosting any tax rates at all.

The bill would also raise taxes top earners pay on dividends, capital gains and inherited estates; permanently stop the alternative minimum tax from raising levies on millions of middle-income families; extend expiring jobless benefits; prevent cuts in Medicare reimbursements to doctors; and delay for two months billions in budget-wide cuts in defense and domestic programs slated for this year.

Both sides lamented their failure to reach a significant deficit-cutting agreement. But neither much mentioned another omission: The immediate expiration of a two-year, 2-percentage-point cut in the Social Security payroll tax.

That break, which put an extra $1,000 in the wallets of typical families earning $50,000 a year, was an Obama priority two years ago as a way to boost consumer spending and spark the flagging economy, but it fell victim this time to other priorities.

House Democrats voted by an overwhelming 172-16 for the agreement, which was crafted over the weekend by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Vice President Joe Biden.

But Republicans tilted against it 151-85. It is rare for leaders to bring a bill to the House floor that will be opposed by most lawmakers from their own party, and the decision underscored the pressure GOP leaders felt to approve the legislation.

Boehner, R-Ohio, took no public stance on the measure before the vote. But he guided the compromise to the House floor after an unsuccessful attempt by many conservatives to persuade leaders to add spending cuts to the bill.

Had the House inserted those budget cuts and the Senate refused to consider them, the legislation could have died. That left House Republicans worried that voters might blame them for a huge, sweeping tax increase and for any swoon the nation's financial markets might take when they reopened Wednesday.

"You can be right and you can be dead right. Which is it?" said Rep. Rich Nugent, R-Fla., of the quandary Republicans faced. "Right now you need to take the tax issue off the table" and move on to a focus on curbing spending, he said.

Boehner voted for the bill, an unusual step because speakers seldom vote, and he was joined by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the GOP's vice presidential candidate last fall. Voting "no" were the other two top GOP leaders, Reps. Eric Cantor of Virginia and Kevin McCarthy of California.

Passage came nearly 24 hours after a decade's worth of tax cuts enjoyed by tens of millions of Americans expired with the stroke of the new year, technically raising taxes by more than $500 billion in 2013 alone.

Those tax increases ? plus $109 billion in defense and domestic spending cuts that were to be automatically triggered Wednesday ? became known as the fiscal cliff. Economists warned that their combined impact would hurl the economy back into recession, but Obama's signature on the bill would prevent the "cliff" from taking hold.

Obama can sign the bill remotely using a machine called an "autopen," or the bill can be flown to Hawaii for his signature.

Overall, the legislation would add nearly $4 trillion to federal deficits over the next decade compared with what would have happened had all the tax cuts expired, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

"I'm embarrassed for this generation. Future generations deserve better," complained one foe, Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas.

The agreement's journey to passage was a tortured one. It included negotiations between Obama and Boehner on a larger, deficit-cutting deal that collapsed, and a failed effort by the speaker to drum up enough GOP votes to pass a "Plan B" that would have limited tax boosts to incomes exceeding $1 million.

It took weekend talks between McConnell and Biden, former Senate colleagues, to craft the more modest package that focused on averting the worst impacts of the fiscal cliff while postponing any deficit reduction efforts to coming months.

Those first showdowns will come over the next three months, when the government's legal ability to borrow money will expire and temporary financing for federal agency budgets will expire. Republicans have already said that, as they did in 2011, they will demand spending cuts as a condition for extending the debt ceiling.

"Now the focus turns to spending" and overhauling the tax code, Boehner said in a written statement after the vote. He said the GOP will fight for "significant spending cuts and reforms to the entitlement programs that are driving our country deeper and deeper into debt," a reference to costly benefit programs like Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid.

In his White House remarks, Obama said that while he was open to compromise, he would demand deficit-cutting savings from added revenue on the well-off, not just spending cuts.

He also pointedly said he would "not have another debate with this Congress" over extending the federal borrowing limit.

"If Congress refuses to give the United States government the ability to pay these bills on time, the consequences for the entire global economy would be catastrophic ? far worse than the impact of a fiscal cliff," he said.

Though its focus was on taxes, the measure approved Tuesday would prevent a potential doubling of milk prices and prevent a $900 salary increase for members of Congress in March. Its extension of jobless benefits would help 2 million people out of work at least six months, and it would prevent a 27 percent cut in reimbursements doctors get for treating Medicare patients.

Weighing in with criticism of the compromise were the chief authors of an influential bipartisan deficit-cutting proposal, former GOP Sen. Alan Simpson and Democrat Erskine Bowles, a former White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton. They called the measure "truly a missed opportunity to do something big to reduce our long term fiscal problems."

___

AP reporters David Espo, Charles Babington, Andrew Taylor and Larry Margasak contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/congress-oks-cliff-deal-signaling-future-fights-080422547--finance.html

march madness scores doonesbury padma lakshmi daughtry lakers trade ann arbor news ides of march

Malala's father given diplomatic role in UK

LONDON (AP) ? The father of a teenage Pakistani activist shot in the head by Taliban for advocating girls' education has been given a diplomatic post in the U.K.

Malala Yousufzai has been recovering at a hospital in Birmingham, England, after she was shot in October in Pakistan. The Taliban have vowed to target her again.

Pakistan's High Commissioner to Britain, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, confirmed a BBC report Wednesday saying that Malala's father, Ziauddin, has been appointed Pakistan's education attache in Birmingham.

The position ? with an initial 3-year commitment ? virtually guarantees Malala will remain in the U.K.

Malala's case won worldwide recognition for the struggle for women's rights in Pakistan. In a sign of her reach, the 15-year-old made the shortlist for Time magazine's "Person of the Year" for 2012.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/malalas-father-given-diplomatic-role-uk-191411776.html

beach boys tony bennett joe walsh the civil wars duggar miscarriage roman holiday belize

Let crying babes lie: Study supports notion of leaving infants to cry themselves back to sleep

Jan. 2, 2013 ? Today, mothers of newborns find themselves confronting a common dilemma: Should they let their babies "cry it out" when they wake up at night? Or should they rush to comfort their crying little one?

In fact, waking up in the middle of the night is the most common concern that parents of infants report to pediatricians. Now, a new study from Temple psychology professor Marsha Weinraub gives parents some scientific facts to help with that decision.

The study, published in Developmental Psychology, supports the idea that a majority of infants are best left to self-soothe and fall back to sleep on their own.

"By six months of age, most babies sleep through the night, awakening their mothers only about once per week. However, not all children follow this pattern of development," said Weinraub, an expert on child development and parent-child relationships.

For the study, Weinraub and her colleagues measured patterns of nighttime sleep awakenings in infants ages six to 36 months. Her findings revealed two groups: sleepers and transitional sleepers.

"If you measure them while they are sleeping, all babies -- like all adults -- move through a sleep cycle every 1 1/2 to 2 hours where they wake up and then return to sleep," said Weinraub. "Some of them do cry and call out when they awaken, and that is called 'not sleeping through the night.'"

For the study, Weinraub's team asked parents of more than 1,200 infants to report on their child's awakenings at 6, 15, 24 and 36 months. They found that by six months of age, 66 percent of babies -- the sleepers -- did not awaken, or awoke just once per week, following a flat trajectory as they grew. But a full 33 percent woke up seven nights per week at six months, dropping to two nights by 15 months and to one night per week by 24 months.

Of the babies that awoke, the majority were boys. These transitional sleepers also tended to score higher on an assessment of difficult temperament which identified traits such as irritability and distractibility. And, these babies were more likely to be breastfed. Mothers of these babies were more likely to be depressed and have greater maternal sensitivity.

The findings suggest a couple of things, said Weinraub. One is that genetic or constitutional factors such as those that might be reflected in difficult temperaments appear implicated in early sleep problems. "Families who are seeing sleep problems persist past 18 months should seek advice," Weinraub said.

Another takeaway is that it is important for babies to learn how to fall asleep on their own. "When mothers tune in to these night time awakenings and/or if a baby is in the habit of falling asleep during breastfeeding, then he or she may not be learning to how to self-soothe, something that is critical for regular sleep," she said.

According to Weinraub, the mechanism by which maternal depression is connected to infant awakenings is an area that would benefit from further research. On the one hand, Weinraub said, it's possible that mothers who are depressed at six and 36 months may have been depressed during pregnancy and that this prenatal depression could have affected neural development and sleep awakenings. At the same time, it's important to recognize that sleep deprivation can, of course, exacerbate maternal depression, she said.

"Because the mothers in our study described infants with many awakenings per week as creating problems for themselves and other family members, parents might be encouraged to establish more nuanced and carefully targeted routines to help babies with self-soothing and to seek occasional respite," said Weinraub.

"The best advice is to put infants to bed at a regular time every night, allow them to fall asleep on their own and resist the urge to respond right away to awakenings."

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 Temple University, 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. Marsha Weinraub, Randall H. Bender, Sarah L. Friedman, Elizabeth J. Susman, Bonnie Knoke, Robert Bradley, Renate Houts, Jason Williams. Patterns of developmental change in infants' nighttime sleep awakenings from 6 through 36 months of age.. Developmental Psychology, 2012; 48 (6): 1511 DOI: 10.1037/a0027680

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.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/27s9ke0_IrU/130102161811.htm

buckeye west side story final four 2012 bridesmaids winning lottery numbers megamillions winner kansas jayhawks

10 To-dos For A Healthy Relationship In 2013 - Romance - Nairaland

Magforwomen believes it is not difficult to have a healthy relationship. What is difficult is to remember always that you do not want the relationship to go haywire. So you tend to give in to certain situations, fight with your partner, argue over things that do not make much difference, allow your ego to get the better of you and eventually ruin the relationship which meant so much to you at the onset. It is, therefore, essential to always keep in mind that no matter what happens you should know whether the issue at hand is something more crucial than the relationship itself. Listed below are 10 rules for a healthy relationship you should know.

1. Be fair
Fairness is mandatory. You cannot expect to have an upper hand in a relationship nor should you allow him to be too demanding and give in to his expectations without thinking. If you allow him to mold you as per his whims, remember that the relationship is not a healthy one. The same holds true if you are unfair in your expectations, demands and arguments.

2. Be honest
Honesty is the best policy ? if not everywhere, definitely in case of relationships. You cannot afford to lie to your partner because trust forms the foundation of a healthy relationship. Being truthful also earns you respect in his eyes.

3. Curb over-expectations
Do not have too many expectations from your partner. Remember that he is a normal human being and even he has dreams and aspirations, and his sole purpose in life cannot be to fulfill every wish you have. Not that he can be lackadaisical about your needs, but you cannot have unrealistic expectations from him because that is not what a healthy relationship is all about.

4. Give space
One of the very important rules is to give him space and most definitely, not nag. When you are in a relationship, yours and his personal lives do not cease to exist. Spending quality time together is undoubtedly important, but sticking together all the while is a bad idea. You also have your friends and family who have not disappeared!

5. Forgive
To err is human. Your partner can make mistakes ? it is very normal. Even you can make mistakes. But if you want to maintain a healthy relationship, you should be able to look over the little faults that your partner has because nobody is perfect. Learn to forgive and watch how beautiful your relationship becomes.

6. Have fun
Being in a relationship does not mean that you have to be very serious always. Have as much fun as you can together because these are the memories that will help you build a stronger and healthier relationship with the person you love.

7. Have a sense of responsibility
Always have a sense of responsibility. Just because you are in a relationship does not mean that all your responsibilities now fall on him. No doubt that he should be responsible but it does not give you the excuse to act irresponsibly. At the end of the day, you are responsible for your life, health and well being.

8. Do not be over-dependent
Being dependent on a partner is nice, but being over-dependent kills the beauty in a relationship. It then becomes more of an obligation which no one likes to bear. Do not make yourself an obligation for your partner because in such a case, he will not want to be with you any longer. Be independent, stand on your own feet, and you will earn more love and respect in his eyes.

9. Listen
You should know how to listen. Avoid the tendency to talk relentlessly without giving your partner scope to talk. Listening is a quality that makes you earn more respect in his eyes and he knows that you will be there to listen when he talks.

10. Express your love
Last but not the least, you should express your love often. Say ?I love you? often. Expressing affection by kissing, hugging and holding hands will perk up your relationship and make it healthier with time.

http://naijapose.com/10-rules-for-a-healthy-relationship/

Source: http://www.nairaland.com/1148084/10-to-dos-healthy-relationship-2013

texas chainsaw massacre uk vs louisville university of kansas buckeye west side story final four 2012 bridesmaids