A new premium collection wine and spirits store in the Village at Pine is attracting plenty of attention after recently opening for business.?
The Fine Wine & Good Spirits Premium Collection Store at 125 Towne Center Drive is the first for the Pittsburgh region.
At more than 10,000 square feet, the new store is double the size of the wine and spirits store it replaces in the Wexford Plaza Shopping Center.
The focal point is a center table, where consumers can find staff to answer questions or provide guidance. The center table is equipped with a tasting bar and counters that highlight new products and featured selections.
It also provides a gathering place for consumers to learn about products and find recommendations.
?The focus of the rebranding initiative is to improve the shopping experience for consumers by making our stores warmer, more inviting and customer-focused,? Joseph E. Brion, PLCB chairman said in a news release.
The store has an expanded selection of Chairman?s Selection? and luxury products to serve consumers, he said. Educational materials are also available, providing information such as a vintage chart, food pairing and party planning guides.
An easy-to-use overview of the most popular wines and spirits helps consumers navigate the many choices available throughout the store.
To supplement the shopping experience, informational cards showcasing ?staff picks? are also on display.
The new store has a retail wine specialist on staff to conduct product tastings, provide information and recommendations and answer questions.
The retail wine specialist is a new position at most Premium Collection stores to provide additional service for consumers wanting more assistance.
The PLCB wanted to develop a store that was attractive and environmentally responsible. The majority of the lighting is state-of-the-art LED or energy-efficient compact-fluorescent lighting, using a fraction of the energy of traditional lighting. The store also sells reusable shopping bags made from 60 percent recycled materials.
Similar stores are planned in Monroeville and Philadelphia, and will replace the current state Wine & Spirits stores in the next month or two.
The premium collection store in Wexford is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Sunday will mark the end of the first quarter. It's been a busy three months in MMA, so it's a good time to look back at the past three months and see who rose above the rest.
Biggest upset: Did you expect to see Robbie Lawler walk away with the win over Josh Koscheck at UFC 157? What about Antonio Rogerio Nogueira beating former UFC light heavyweight champ Rashad Evans? But there's no question who scored the biggest upset of the first quarter of 2013. Antonio Silva's TKO of Alistair Overeem at UFC 156 left more than Overeem's jaw on the floor.
Best knockout: Vitor Belfort's knockout of Michael Bisping at the January UFC on FX was memorable, as was Tyron Woodley's 36-second dismantling of Jay Hieron at UFC 156. Wanderlei Silva, Robbie Lawler and a slew of Bellator fighters have posted impressive knockouts. But the one that had everyone talking was on "The Ultimate Fighter." Uriah Hall's knockout of Adam Cella* was perfectly executed, and had the rest of the TUF house worried about Hall's skills. For that, Hall wins knockout of the first quarter.
* The knockout actually occurred last year, but aired in the first quarter of 2013.
Best submission: For the best tapouts of the first three months of 2013, Bellator provided a nominee when Dave Vitkay choked out Jesse Peterson in just 18 seconds. Gabriel Gonzaga's guillotine of Ben Rothwell stands out, as is Ronda Rousey's arm bar of Liz Carmouche at UFC 157. The winner comes from the undercard of UFC 157 as Kenny Robertson managed a weird yet incredibly painful looking kneebar-esque submission of Brock Jardine. It was the kind of submission that left MMA fans wondering what had happened.
Best rising star: There were plenty of candidates for fighters who really made an impressive leap in the MMA world early in 2013. Jordan Mein's UFC debut at UFC 158 included rolling out of an arm bar with Dan Miller, and then knocking him out before the first round ended. Abel Trujillo's TKO win by knees to the body of Marcus Levesseur was pretty fantastic, too. But it's Trujillo's opponent at UFC 160, Khabib Nurmagomedov who is taking home the prize. His TKO of Thiago Tavares in Brazil showed he can fight well under any conditions.
Best fight: Johny Hendricks and Carlos Condit put on a great scrap at UFC 158. Brian Stann and Wanderlei Silva's bout was thrilling before Stann was knocked out. Demetrious Johnson and John Dodson's title fight at UFC on Fox 6 was memorable, as was Frankie Edgar and Jose Aldo's title bout at UFC 156. The one fight that stood out above the rest, though, was Dennis Bermudez and Matt Grice's fight from UFC 156. Throughout the bout, both fighters should have given up. Both fighters should have been knocked out. But neither man gave in. Bermudez won the decision, but both fighters will be remembered for this bout.
Do you agree? Speak up in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.
The average annual percentage rate, or APR, for variable-rate credit cards fell 3 basis points to 15.12 percent from 15.15 percent, according to Bankrate's latest survey of interest rates. A basis point is one-hundredth of 1 percentage point. The APR for fixed-rate cards remained at 13.02 percent.
The amounts that banks can charge before a credit card account is opened can't be capped, according to a final ruling Friday from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The agency said any fees incurred before an account's opening are not subject to a provision in the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 that says fees in the first year can't exceed 25 percent of the credit card's limit. The ruling from the CFPB reflected a federal court ruling last year.
NEW YORK (AP) ? Investors just can't get past Europe.
Renewed worries about the region's long-running debt crisis weighed on the Dow Jones industrial average on Wednesday, and held the Standard & Poor's 500 index back from reaching an all-time high.
Investors are watching to see if Cyprus can shore up its banking system. They are also keeping an eye on Italy, where political parties are struggling to form a new government in the eurozone's third-largest economy.
The Dow fell 33.49 points to close at 14,526.16, a loss of 0.2 percent. It dropped as many as 120 points in morning trading then spent the rest of the day climbing back.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 0.92 to 1,562.85, less than three points short of its all-time high set in October 2007.
Bad news out of Europe and good news from the U.S. have tossed the stock market around over the past week.
"There are still plenty of worries about (Europe's) banking system," said J.J. Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist at TD Ameritrade. "But the U.S. really is on a nice little roll."
As stocks slumped early Wednesday, Kinahan said he thought the S&P 500 would recover its losses and could make another run at its record high on Thursday.
Cyprus is working out how to reopen its banks on Thursday after a nearly two-week shutdown. An international bailout calls for money from large depositors to help pay for the rescue of its banking system.
In Italy, a center-left party failed in its attempt to form a new government. The political stalemate has raised fears that the country will be unable to manage its deep debts, undermining confidence in the euro.
Those worries hit Europe's bond markets especially hard. Borrowing rates for Italy and Spain shot higher, a sign of weaker confidence in their financial health. Rates for Germany and France, two of Europe's more stable countries, sank as traders shifted money into their bonds.
In other trading, the Nasdaq composite inched up 4.04 points, or 0.1 percent, to 3,256.52.
Four of the 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 index edged higher. Utilities and health care, which investors tend to buy when they want to play it safe, made the biggest gains.
Kim Forrest, a senior equity analyst at Fort Pitt Capital, said it appears that many investors are treating certain stocks as if they were bonds.
"There's a recognition that bonds are overpriced, so people are moving into healthcare and utilities that pay a nice dividend," she said. "Those are pretty boring investments, and by that I mean their prices don't move a lot."
News about Italy also helped drive traders into the safety of U.S. government bonds, pushing benchmark yields to their lowest level this month. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped to 1.84 percent, a steep fall from 1.91 percent late Tuesday.
The S&P 500 closed within three points of its record high of 1,565.15, helped by rising U.S. home prices and orders for manufactured goods. The stock index hit that peak on Oct. 9, 2007, before the Great Recession and a financial crisis roiled financial markets.
Among other stocks making big moves:
? Cliffs Natural Resources, an iron ore mining company, plunged 14 percent, the biggest loss in the S&P 500. Analysts warned that falling iron ore prices would likely sink the company's stock. Cliffs fell $2.97 to $18.46.
? Science Applications International Corp. surged 5 percent after the security and communications technology provider reported a fourth-quarter profit that was better than analysts were expecting. SAIC also announced a special dividend of $1 per share, and its stock gained 50 cents to $13.32.
Rapper Riff Raff has not exactly remained quiet about the fact that he thinks James Franco ripped off his persona for the role of Alien in "Spring Breakers." But has Riff Raff actually seen Harmony Korine's indie hit? Well, now he has. The folks over at Next Movie did the world a favor and got [...]
Environmental enrichment important factor impacting cell transplantation and brain repairPublic release date: 27-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Robert Miranda cogcomm@aol.com Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair
Test animals receiving ASCs improved neurobehavioral function with running and exposure to novel objects
Putnam Valley, NY. (March. 27, 2013) A team of Korean researchers investigated whether "environmental enrichment" can improve the neurobehavioral function of six week-old mice after transplantation of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) to treat hypoxic-ischemic brain injury, and found that brain repair (neurogenesis) was aided in some animals through exercise-induced fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2), a strong pro-angiogenic factor.
The post-transplantation environmental enrichment (EE) included use of a running wheel and exposure to "novel objects."
The study appears as an early e-publication for the journal Cell Transplantation, and is now freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/pre-prints/ct0633seo.
"FGF2 was synergistically enhanced in the striata of mice treated with EE after ASC transplantation," said study co-author Dr. Sung-Rae Cho of the Yonsei University College of Medicine in Seoul, Korea. "The underlying mechanisms of this synergism included an enhanced repair process, such as higher engraftment of the transplanted ASCs, increased endogenous neurogenesis, and astrocytic activation coupled with the increase in FGF2."
Astrocytes, star-shaped brain cells that are also the most abundant brain cell, perform many functions, including supporting the cells that form the bloodbrain barrier and providing nutrients for nervous system tissue. Multipotent ASCs have been used for promoting angiogenesis (blood vessel growth) and are also known to secrete potentially beneficial growth factors.
"Hypoxic-ischemic brain injury is a major cause of damage to the fetal and neonatal brain," said Dr. Cho. "The majority of affected children demonstrate neurodevelopment impairment. However, cell-based therapy has emerged as a potential treatment. In this study we applied EE in the chronic stage of impairment and studied its synergistic effects in the test mice at six weeks, five weeks after induced brain injury."
The authors noted that cerebral palsy has been associated with hypoxic brain injury, resulting in "considerable incidence or morbidity." They also noted that exercise has shown to be beneficial to children with CP. However, they also reported that ASC transplantation in animal models of CP has yet to be studied.
The researchers concluded that, compatible with other studies, EE increases endogenous cell migration to an ischemic injury and facilitates functional repair.
"The role of FGF2 as a mediator of the effects of exercise on the brain, and that FGF2 can be induced by physical exercise and regulated in an activity-dependent fashion, raises the possibility that FGF2 is involved in behavioral function," explained Dr. Cho. "We propose that the increase in FGF2 may provide a favorable microenvironment for repair purposes, and thus contribute to functional recovery."
They concluded that a rehabilitative strategy of cell-based therapy coupled with environmental enrichment could be effective for treating CP and other neurological diseases, including adult stroke.
"This study highlights the potential impact that combination therapies, such as stem cell transplantation and rehabilitation, could have on brain disorders, possibly due to their interaction with survival or integration of the implanted cells or to modulation of the host microenvironment," said Prof Stephen Dunnett of Cardiff University's Brain Repair Group, "but it is important to emphasise that such initial observations are a very long way from yet providing a clinical therapy. We still need to understand the mechanisms by which implanted cells and growth factors work together to enhance functional recovery, we need better animal models to test the cells that are directly relevant to the specific human disorder targeted, and there are profound technical and safety issues still to be resolved before such novel stem cell strategies can be used safely in first-in-man clinical trials".
###
Contact:
Sung-Rae Cho
Yonsei University College of Medicine
Research Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine
134 Shinchon-dong, Seodaemun-gu
Seoul, South Korea 120-752
Ph: 82-2-2228-3715
Fax: 82-2-363-2795
Email: srcho918@yuhs.ac
Citation: Seo, J. H.; Kim, H.; Park, E. S.; Lee, J. E.; Kim, D. W.; Kim, H. O.; Im, S. H.; Yu, J. H.; Kim, J. Y.; Lee, M-Y.; Kim, C. H.; Cho, S. R. Environmental enrichment synergistically improves functional recovery by transplanted adipose stem cells in chronic hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. Cell Transplant. Appeared or available online: February 4, 2013.
The Coeditors-in-chief for CELL TRANSPLANTATION are at the Diabetes Research Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Center for Neuropsychiatry, China Medical University Hospital, TaiChung, Taiwan. Contact, Camillo Ricordi, MD at ricordi@miami.edu or Shinn-Zong Lin, MD, PhD at shinnzong@yahoo.com.tw or David Eve, PhD at celltransplantation@gmail.com.
News release by Florida Science Communications http://www.sciencescribe.net.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Environmental enrichment important factor impacting cell transplantation and brain repairPublic release date: 27-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Robert Miranda cogcomm@aol.com Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair
Test animals receiving ASCs improved neurobehavioral function with running and exposure to novel objects
Putnam Valley, NY. (March. 27, 2013) A team of Korean researchers investigated whether "environmental enrichment" can improve the neurobehavioral function of six week-old mice after transplantation of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) to treat hypoxic-ischemic brain injury, and found that brain repair (neurogenesis) was aided in some animals through exercise-induced fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2), a strong pro-angiogenic factor.
The post-transplantation environmental enrichment (EE) included use of a running wheel and exposure to "novel objects."
The study appears as an early e-publication for the journal Cell Transplantation, and is now freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/pre-prints/ct0633seo.
"FGF2 was synergistically enhanced in the striata of mice treated with EE after ASC transplantation," said study co-author Dr. Sung-Rae Cho of the Yonsei University College of Medicine in Seoul, Korea. "The underlying mechanisms of this synergism included an enhanced repair process, such as higher engraftment of the transplanted ASCs, increased endogenous neurogenesis, and astrocytic activation coupled with the increase in FGF2."
Astrocytes, star-shaped brain cells that are also the most abundant brain cell, perform many functions, including supporting the cells that form the bloodbrain barrier and providing nutrients for nervous system tissue. Multipotent ASCs have been used for promoting angiogenesis (blood vessel growth) and are also known to secrete potentially beneficial growth factors.
"Hypoxic-ischemic brain injury is a major cause of damage to the fetal and neonatal brain," said Dr. Cho. "The majority of affected children demonstrate neurodevelopment impairment. However, cell-based therapy has emerged as a potential treatment. In this study we applied EE in the chronic stage of impairment and studied its synergistic effects in the test mice at six weeks, five weeks after induced brain injury."
The authors noted that cerebral palsy has been associated with hypoxic brain injury, resulting in "considerable incidence or morbidity." They also noted that exercise has shown to be beneficial to children with CP. However, they also reported that ASC transplantation in animal models of CP has yet to be studied.
The researchers concluded that, compatible with other studies, EE increases endogenous cell migration to an ischemic injury and facilitates functional repair.
"The role of FGF2 as a mediator of the effects of exercise on the brain, and that FGF2 can be induced by physical exercise and regulated in an activity-dependent fashion, raises the possibility that FGF2 is involved in behavioral function," explained Dr. Cho. "We propose that the increase in FGF2 may provide a favorable microenvironment for repair purposes, and thus contribute to functional recovery."
They concluded that a rehabilitative strategy of cell-based therapy coupled with environmental enrichment could be effective for treating CP and other neurological diseases, including adult stroke.
"This study highlights the potential impact that combination therapies, such as stem cell transplantation and rehabilitation, could have on brain disorders, possibly due to their interaction with survival or integration of the implanted cells or to modulation of the host microenvironment," said Prof Stephen Dunnett of Cardiff University's Brain Repair Group, "but it is important to emphasise that such initial observations are a very long way from yet providing a clinical therapy. We still need to understand the mechanisms by which implanted cells and growth factors work together to enhance functional recovery, we need better animal models to test the cells that are directly relevant to the specific human disorder targeted, and there are profound technical and safety issues still to be resolved before such novel stem cell strategies can be used safely in first-in-man clinical trials".
###
Contact:
Sung-Rae Cho
Yonsei University College of Medicine
Research Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine
134 Shinchon-dong, Seodaemun-gu
Seoul, South Korea 120-752
Ph: 82-2-2228-3715
Fax: 82-2-363-2795
Email: srcho918@yuhs.ac
Citation: Seo, J. H.; Kim, H.; Park, E. S.; Lee, J. E.; Kim, D. W.; Kim, H. O.; Im, S. H.; Yu, J. H.; Kim, J. Y.; Lee, M-Y.; Kim, C. H.; Cho, S. R. Environmental enrichment synergistically improves functional recovery by transplanted adipose stem cells in chronic hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. Cell Transplant. Appeared or available online: February 4, 2013.
The Coeditors-in-chief for CELL TRANSPLANTATION are at the Diabetes Research Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Center for Neuropsychiatry, China Medical University Hospital, TaiChung, Taiwan. Contact, Camillo Ricordi, MD at ricordi@miami.edu or Shinn-Zong Lin, MD, PhD at shinnzong@yahoo.com.tw or David Eve, PhD at celltransplantation@gmail.com.
News release by Florida Science Communications http://www.sciencescribe.net.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
They have gone. The room is empty. She is not at all sure that she understands. He has decided everything without even giving her a chance to speak. It is only the stale, cold, unmoving air that tells Ayesha that she is now alone.
In her head, the words still reverberated. ?ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! DON?T WANT ANYONE?S ADVICE OR SYMPATHY! SHE ISN?T DYING OKAY? SHE IS VERYMUCH ALIVE AND VERY MUCH CAPABLE OF DOING EVERYTHING BETTER THAN YOU AND I! I WANT EVERYONE OUT OF OUR HOUSE RIGHT NOW!? He yelled. First time in the whole of eight years that she had known him, he yelled. Even in his anger he cared for her. He hadn?t changed.
When the air failed to move for a few more minutes, she whispered, ?Sameer?? She strained her ears to listen to the shuffle of his feet, even his exasperated sigh, but there was nothing. She was alone, her and darkness, for the first time in two months.
It had been two months now since Ayesha had lost her eyesight. One fateful day had changed the way Ayesha looked at her life. In fact, it barred her from looking at anything at all. It was the 26th of March and it had been raining on their anniversary like always. Sameer was singing in his croaky voice when out of nowhere another bike cut their way and Sameer lost control of his own bike. In a moment, the world turned upside down and Ayesha slid all the way down the flyover with the bike on top of her. Sameer remained motionless on the top, unconscious. When he opened his eyes he saw everyone staring at him with moist pupils but his wife. Soon enough he was told that Ayesha had suffered a traumatic head injury which had damaged her retinal muscles completely. It struck the daylights out of Sameer to know that Ayesha, the only person who mattered to her, will never be able to see the light of day.
Ayesha had taken it in a different stride all together. She was dejected and angry at the same time but she never blamed Sameer. She knew that it wasn?t his fault. She knew he would never hurt her even in her dreams. But those first few weeks were gruesome.
After waking up every morning, she would lie in her bed for ages, trying to stretch her eyelids apart with all her might, hoping that maybe if she tore her iris apart by pushing them hard enough, she will be able to see a tiny speck of light one morning. Tired, she would get up; put her feet down on the ground to find her slippers at the same bloody place every day. Furious, she would kick them only to convince herself that she will be able to find them again. Some days she would, some days she would fail and most of the days she ended up crying. She would feel nervous when she would feel Sameer?s piercing gaze at her back, the only man who would pray that may she walk to the bathroom without stumbling into the furniture; furniture which disappeared every day, one piece at a time, just like Ayesha?s passion. She would feel ashamed when Sameer would strip her to give her a bath and excited when his fingers would run down her spine. She would be frustrated every time Sameer would sigh at her naked beauty and angry when he decided against making love to his blind wife. When Sameer would leave for work, Ayesha would sit in front of the muted TV. She would continue staring at it till Sameer came home and would only move when he lifted her up to feed her. She often wondered whether Sameer cried when he saw her scribbling random letters on a paper, when he saw her genius slip away in vain with each drop of ink. At night, Ayesha couldn?t differentiate between her dream and her reality. Because all she ever saw now, was black.
After three weeks, Ayesha had accustomed herself to everything ?new?. She got used to the stumbling and the black holes in her life while Sameer continued his occasional sobbing through the night. Until one night when Ayesha bared herself to him, took his hand and put it on her breasts. She knew Sameer wanted to love her and she knew she wanted to be loved. As the night dropped down so did her inhibition and the fear that Sameer did not love her anymore. The bodies melted together in unison as the hot summer sky ignited their passions even more. Next morning the slippers weren?t where they should be and Ayesha was happy.
Ayesha began familiarizing herself to her own house. At ten steps to the front was her dresser and at 27 to the right was her bathroom. She had started cooking too. In a week she figured out how her OCD-struck mind had organized the whole kitchen. Her hours of sitting idle in front of the TV were replaced by her obsession, writing. Her whole existence had found meaning in those five hours when she would write for her online magazine. She found happiness in doing things that she would have found tiresome otherwise. She would go to dinner every Sunday with Sameer. She started listening to things which no one else could hear. The chirp of the bird in the cacophonic city life of Bombay, the click of the lock at 6.15 sharp every evening when Sameer would come, the periodic dripping sound of water echoing through the house, and the soft ?tsk? of Sameer?s kiss on her lips. Every sound meant something to her now. For her, everything that was simple earlier had become complex except for her life. Overnight, a complex whole of her had become so simple that she no longer recognized herself.
Sameer too had realized that Ayesha was the same person if not physically different. The sway of her hips was still breathtaking and her hair left the same fragrance in every room she had stepped into. Her food had the same phenomenal taste and her eyes?well her eyes were deeper now. As vacant as they looked, they held so much of meaning. As much sorrow as they held within them, they still managed to make him laugh every time they crinkled at the edges. If possible he had fallen in love with this new Ayesha who had embraced life in her own unique way.
Together both of them wove themselves into a comfortable routine of life. Everything continued to go on as normally as it could till two days ago.
Ayesha stood in front of the mirror, gazing at something she could not even see. Her hand stuck to her belly. It was 6.10. Five more minutes and Sameer was to come home. She had never been more scared and excited at the same time. Tik. Tok. Tik. Tok. Each second punctuated her life. Click. She could hear his footsteps approaching. There was a certain bounce in them, she decided. Her heart dove deeper and deeper. Finally Sameer?s touch, he hugged her from behind and whispered, ?You?re pregnant!?
The entire world came to a standstill. She could hear his smile but she could hear the scream of her own heart as well. She was joyous, no doubt, this was what she always wanted, but things were different back then. She clutched her stomach and sat on the ground. She couldn?t breathe for one more minute. She let out a piercing wail and hugged her own knees. For her it was almost like fire licking her already charred soul. To know that you will never be able to see your own child, it had to be God?s cruel game.
Sameer, confused and befuddled, asked what happened. How would he know? How could Ayesha tell that she was jealous of her own husband? Thick tears trickled down her cheek and onto his shirt as she held onto her husband tightly. Sameer?s hand went down to her belly, an action that invited belligerence. She pushed him away, got up and walked towards the bathroom. In that moment of utter grief, her quantum Physics had gone so awry. All the paths she had familiarized herself to were stranger today. She collided into every single piece of furniture. Each collision marked her defeat, yet again.
Scared, Sameer called up, her parents first and then his, to give them the news of the baby. Similar reactions of anger followed. The next two days Ayesha stayed stuck in front of the mirror, her hand rubbing the stomach and her eyes crying. She practiced opening and closing eyes to confirm her blindness. Only tears rolled out. Sometimes she wondered why she could even cry now that she had already lost her eyes. Sameer didn?t bother Ayesha too. He maintained his distance. For the first time in eight years he was unable to decipher Ayesha. He couldn?t think of why she would be sad when all she ever wanted was a baby.
Two days later, the parents stood at the door. Ayesha was wrapped in her mother?s arms. Anxious advices flew into her ears. Ayesha remained silent, answering in her own head.
?Don?t have the baby Aishu.?
Why.
?How will you take care of it??
Just like everyone else does.
?You cannot see.?
I know, but how does it matter? I still have a heart. Didn?t you know that I was not well without even seeing my face?
?How will you manage??
Like a normal human being. I AM A NORMAL HUMAN BEING!
In the other room Sameer?s parents ranted out their woes and worries. They oscillated between the concern of their own child and Ayesha. ?What will happen to your future beta? With Ayesha?s condition you will have to be at home for the baby most of the time. And not only that, how will Ayesha run through the house when the baby cries? A mother should always be there on her toes for her child, will Ayesha be able to do that? Sameer, you have a job, you are the only earning member of your family. How will this work out? As much as we are happy about Ayesha?s pregnancy, we don?t want you to go ahead with it. Drop it son.?
That was it. It was his life. He had called them to celebrate not to deliberate. He stood up, went to Ayesha held her hand, let out a sigh and yelled, ?ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! I DON?T WANT ANYONE?S ADVICE OR SYMPATHY! SHE ISN?T DYING OKAY? SHE IS VERYMUCH ALIVE AND VERY MUCH CAPABLE OF DOING EVERYTHING BETTER THAN YOU AND I! I WANT EVERYONE OUT OF OUR HOUSE RIGHT NOW!?
Ayesha came back to the present. Her heart felt contended. She had decided. One more time she whispered, ?Sameer?? This time he heard her. Ayesha heard the heavy feet dragging across the room.
Ayesha spoke, ?I am ready.?
Sameer was not really sure if he understood what she meant.
Ayesha continued, ?I am ready to have this baby. If you believe that I am capable of doing all things better than anyone else then I should be. I trust you Sameer.?
Ayesha could not see, but she knew that Sameer was crying. A tear dropped down from his cheek on Ayesha?s foot. She moved a step forward, blindly. She stretched her hands to hold onto her husband, the only person who still thought of her, as her. He held onto her almost immediately. Her hands moved up to the familiar territory of Sameer?s wet face. She wiped the tears and kissed him on his cheek. He did not know what to say. A vacuum had formed around both of them. Voids created by the past were being filled by the news of the present.
He whispered thank you in her ear and clutched onto his wife tighter, seeking solace in her when she herself was searching for comfort in him. They both complemented each other, like always. Like they did from the first time he said, ?Will you?? and before he could complete she had said ?YES!? and like they did when on their first night together they realized that they fit in each other?s craters perfectly.
They stood still on the same spot, embracing their lives. For in that moment, they both understood that they are never alone.
Making the decision to file for bankruptcy isn?t an easy one, but sometimes it can be the only way out of a mountain of debt. It is best to go into this kind of thing when you know what going on and how to go about doing it. This article contains wisdom and knowledge to help you fully understand the bankruptcy process.
Find people who are going through bankruptcy on the internet and talk with them. Going through bankruptcy can put a strain on your mental health and make you feel like a stranger when you are trying to have fun with friends. The Internet gives you a place to talk about your hardships and seek advice from those who?ve previously filed for bankruptcy.
Gain an understanding of bankruptcy law before you file. There are many traps in the bankruptcy laws that could trip up your case. Small errors could even cause your case to be dismissed. Do the proper research on bankruptcy before taking the next step. This will make things easier in the long run.
TIP! Examine all of the possible options available to you before you choose to file for bankruptcy. Take stock of your debts, and figure out which ones can be discharged through bankruptcy.
Do not delay in filing your personal bankruptcy case. If you have no other options, then delaying it will not improve the situation. Your financial position may deteriorate even further and make an already stressful situation even less tolerable. Stress has an adverse affect on your health and negatively impacts your life. It is best to file as quick as possible.
Be brutally honest when you file for bankruptcy, as hiding assets or liabilities, will only come back to haunt you. Penalties may include fines, imprisonment or denial of the filing. Don?t withhold information, and create a smart way of coping with the reality of the situation.
Learn as much as you can about bankruptcy by going to informational websites. The United States Justice Department, the ABI (American Bankruptcy Institute), as well as the NABCA (National Assoc. Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys) are excellent sources of information. You will find that the process of filing for personal bankruptcy is easier and less of a hassle with the more information on the subject you gather ahead of time.
If you?re considering filing for bankruptcy, it is critical that you assess what events and behaviors brought you to this point. You should not worry about your money managing skills if you owe money because of unplanned medical expenses, but if most of your money has been spent irresponsibly, you need to look for a long-term solution to manage your finances. If you are a spend-a-holic, you should consider getting some help so you can avoid putting yourself right back into the same bad financial situation once the bankruptcy is complete.
TIP! No matter what?s going on, make sure you tell the truth about your situation. Lying about assets and debts is something you really should not do at all.
Before you make the final decision to file bankruptcy, consider the other options you have. Think about seeing a credit counselor. There are some good non-profit organizations that could help you. They can negotiate with each of your creditors to work out payments that you can afford, along with reduced interest rates. Often, they make the payments to your creditors, and you make your payment to them.
You will find many people, who have filed for bankruptcy, completely separate themselves from ever using credit again if possible. This isn?t necessarily a good strategy to follow because good credit is established by getting, and handling, credit responsibly. If you don?t use your credit, you won?t be able to make big purchases on credit in the future. Keep it simple with one card and take a slow approach to rebuilding.
Obtain copies of all credit reports about six months after the bankruptcy petition has been approved. Make sure that the report accurately represents your discharged debts and closed credit accounts. Ask about any discrepancies once you see any, so that you could start repairing your credit.
Make sure that you act at the appropriate time. When filing for personal bankruptcy, it is very important that you act at the correct time. Sometimes it is the best option to file quickly, whereas in other situations filing should be put off until the worst has already passed. Speak with a bankruptcy lawyer about when the best time is to file for your specific needs.
Don?t make the mistake of thinking that Chapter 7 bankruptcy is a magic debt eraser. Some debts require you to reaffirm them by signing a new repayment agreement, while some others are very rarely dischargeable at all. For instance, child support debts, court fines and alimony obligations cannot be discharged in Chapter 7 cases.
Make sure that bankruptcy is used as a last resort, so that your credit history remains as clear as possible. Some creditors will work with you on other ways to pay off your debt, such as lowering your interest rate, forgiving late fees, or extending your payment schedule. In addition to saving money, this will allow you to raise your credit score. Explore the option of a consolidation loan for your debts before filing.
If you think you have to file a petition for bankruptcy, get a lawyer who specializes in bankruptcy. An attorney can offer valuable advice and help to simplify an extremely complex process. Attorneys can prepare your documents and help you with any concerns you may have.
TIP! If you are considering using credit cards to pay your taxes and then file for bankruptcy, you may want to rethink that. In a lot of places, the debt cannot be discharged, and you may still owe money to the IRS.
When you feel certain that you must file for personal bankruptcy, refrain from squandering your life savings to pay off unsecured debt. You should not use your retirement savings unless the situation calls for it. If you do have to dig into your savings, make sure that you leave enough to sustain you and your family for a couple of months.
Nobody wants to file for bankruptcy, but in some cases the situation becomes necessary. Having studied the information in this article, hopefully you are better prepared to deal with the bankruptcy process. If you can understand the path that others have followed, your journey will be more successful.
Mar. 24, 2013 ? Semiconducting polymers are an unruly bunch, but University of Michigan engineers have developed a new method for getting them in line that could pave the way for cheaper, greener, "paint-on" plastic electronics.
"This is for the first time a thin-layer, conducting, highly aligned film for high-performance, paintable, directly writeable plastic electronics," said Jinsang Kim, U-M professor of materials science and engineering, who led the research published in Nature Materials.
Semiconductors are the key ingredient for computer processors, solar cells and LED displays, but they are expensive. Inorganic semiconductors like silicon require high temperatures in excess of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit and costly vacuum systems for processing into electronics, but organic and plastic semiconductors can be prepared on a basic lab bench.
The trouble is that charge carriers, like electrons, can't move through plastics nearly as easily as they can move through inorganic semiconductors, Kim said. Part of the reason for this is because each semiconducting polymer molecule is like a short wire, and these wires are randomly arranged.
"Charge mobility along the polymer chains is much faster than between the polymers," Kim said.
To take advantage of the good conduction along the polymers, research groups have been trying to align them into a charge-carrying freeway, but it's a bit like trying to arrange nanoscopic linguine.
Kim's group approached the problem by making smarter semiconducting polymers. They wanted a liquid polymer solution they could brush over a surface, and the molecules would automatically align with one another in the direction of the stroke, assembling into high-performance semiconducting thin-layer films.
First, they designed the polymers to be slippery -- ordinary polymers glom together like flat noodles left in the fridge, Kim said. By choosing polymers with a natural twist, the team kept them from sticking to one another in the solution. But in order to align during the brushstroke, the polymers needed to subtly attract one another. Flat surfaces would do that, so the team designed their polymer to untwist as the solvent dried up.
They stopped the unaligned polymers from forming large chunks by adding flexible arms that extended off to the sides of the flat, wire-like polymer. These arms prevented too much close contact among the polymers while the bulkiness of the arms kept them from snagging on one another. Polymers with these properties will line up in the direction of an applied force, such as the tug of a paintbrush.
"It's a big breakthrough," Kim said. "We established a complete molecular design principle of semiconducting polymers with directed alignment capability."
And it works. The team made molecules that matched their design and built a device for spreading the polymer solution over surfaces such as glass or a flexible plastic film. The force from the silicon blade, moving at a constant speed across the liquid polymer, was enough to align the molecules.
The team then built the semiconducting film into a simple transistor, a version of the electronic components that make up computer processors. The device demonstrated the importance of the polymer alignment by showing that charge carriers moved 1,000 times faster in the direction parallel to the silicon blade's brushstroke than they did when crossing the direction of the stroke.
"By combining the established molecular design principle with a polymer that has a very good intrinsic charge carrier mobility, we believe it will make a huge difference in organic electronics," he said. "We are currently developing a versatile fabrication method in order to realize high-performance and paintable plastic electronics in various length scales from nanometers to meters."
Kim believes that the technique will work equally well with atomic-scale pen nibs or large trowel-like applicators for making electronics of all sizes such as LED displays or light-absorbing coatings for solar cells.
The paper is titled "A molecular design principle of lyotropic liquid-crystalline conjugated polymers with directed alignment capability for plastic electronics."
The work is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. Two authors of the paper were partly supported by National Science Foundation and WCU program of National Research Foundation of Korea. The university is pursuing patent protection for the intellectual property and is seeking commercialization partners to help bring the technology to market.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Michigan, via Newswise.
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Journal Reference:
Bong-Gi Kim, Eun Jeong Jeong, Jong Won Chung, Sungbaek Seo, Bonwon Koo, Jinsang Kim. A molecular design principle of lyotropic liquid-crystalline conjugated polymers with directed alignment capability for plastic electronics. Nature Materials, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nmat3595
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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Personal growth is as much about strategy as it is about actual improvement and development.
It all comes down to setting the stage for your success.
Think about your growth like that of a building; without a firm foundation you?re building on ground that?s not going to support the growth. Setting this foundation means embracing tools for personal growth that can lead to long-term success. What are those tools? Here are three that are absolutely essential for long-term personal improvement.
Personal Growth Tool #1: A thorough self-assessment.
You can?t move forwards without knowing where you are now. You need to take a thorough and honest self-assessment, with a focus on identifying your flaws and working out how to solve them.
Without this essential first step, the rest of your development can be flawed, lacking in utility, and ultimately useless. Put this step ahead of all others and watch as you improve dramatically.
Personal Growth Tool #2: A simple plan for achieving your goals.
It?s easy to make a simple journey too complicated, but it?s very difficult to simplify a crowded and difficult journey. In personal development, you need to make sure you take the direct, simple approach. Take an ?Occam?s Razor? approach to your personal development and focus on the strategies that lead to direct, simple results.
Personal Growth Tool #3: Honest outlook needed.
You need to be 100% honest with yourself to see any real growth in yourself. Too many people become disillusioned with their improvement and end up thinking that they?re doing better or worse than they really are.
Trust in your own judgment and make sure you?re 100% honest with yourself on your improvement, your flaws and your strengths.
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Racing to secure bailout, Cyprus agrees to a bank levy that's different than the one its legislature defeated in the legislature. This bank levy would take 20 percent from accounts over 100,000 ? at its No. 1 lender, but the deal hasn't been finalized with European Union.
By Karolina Tagaris and Laura Noonan,?Reuters / March 23, 2013
Bank employees protest outside the ministry of finance on Saturday, March 23, 2013. Politicians in Cyprus were racing to complete an alternative plan raising funds necessary for the country to qualify for an international bailout, which could involve a bank levy on high-value accounts.
Petros Giannakouris/AP
Enlarge
Cyprus conceded on Saturday to a one-off levy on deposits over 100,000 euros in a dramatic U-turn as it raced to satisfy European partners and seal an 11th-hour bailout deal to avert financial collapse.
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The island's finance minister, Michael Sarris, reported "significant progress" in talks with international lenders, with the clock running down to and end-Monday deadline for Cyprus to clinch a bailout deal with the EU or lose emergency funding for its stricken banks and risk tumbling out of the euro zone.
His counterparts in Europe's 17-nation currency union scheduled talks in Brussels for Sunday evening to see if the numbers add up, and the EU's Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said progress was being made towards a solution.
As Cypriot party leaders met, a senior Cypriot official told Reuters that Nicosia had agreed with EU/IMF lenders on a 20 percent levy over and above 100,000 euros at No. 1 lender Bank of Cyprus, and four percent on deposits over the same level at others.
Troika officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades tweeted: "We are undertaking great efforts. I hope we have a solution soon."
The conservative leader, barely a month in the job and wrestling with Cyprus's worst crisis since a 1974 invasion by Turkish forces split the island in two, was due to lead a delegation to Brussels, also on Sunday, to meet heads of the EU, the European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund, in a sign a deal might be near.
"Hopefully by tomorrow in Brussels we will have the agreement of our partners," Averof Neophytou, deputy leader of the ruling Democratic Rally party, told reporters.
Government officials held talks through the day at the finance ministry with Cyprus's 'troika' of lenders - the EU, ECB and IMF. Angry demonstrators outside chanted "resign, resign!"
Its outsized banking sector crippled by exposure to crisis-hit Greece, Cyprus needs to raise 5.8 billion euros in exchange for a 10 billion euro EU lifeline to keep the country's economy afloat.
But in a stunning vote on Tuesday, Cyprus's 56-seat parliament rejected a levy on depositors, big and small, as "bank robbery", and Sarris spent three fruitless days in Moscow trying to win help from Russia, whose citizens have billions of euros at stake in Cypriot banks.
Rebuffed by the Kremlin, Sarris said on Saturday talks with the troika were centred on a possibly levy of around 25 percent on savings over and above 100,000 euros at failing Bank of Cyprus.
In a sign of how fluid the situation remains, however, a senior ruling party lawmaker said other options were on the table, including a "voluntary haircut" in exchange for equity that would not require parliamentary approval.
The EU's Rehn said the bloc recognised the progress made by the Cypriot government, and warned of tough times ahead.
"Unfortunately, the events of recent days have led to a situation where there are no longer any optimal solutions available," he said in a statement. "Today, there are only hard choices left."
It was far from certain that a majority of lawmakers would back a revised levy, or whether the government might bypass the assembly.
Ordinary Cypriots were outraged by the original proposal, and have been besieging cash machines ever since bank doors were closed last weekend on the orders of the government to avert a massive flight of capital.
RESISTANCE
Racing to placate its European partners, Cypriot lawmakers voted in late-night session on Friday to nationalise state pensions and split failing lenders into good and bad banks - a measure likely to be applied to No.2 lender Cyprus Popular Bank , also known as Laiki.
They also gave the government powers to impose capital controls, anticipating a run on banks when they reopen on Tuesday.
A plan to nationalise semi-state pension funds has met with resistance, particularly from Germany which made clear that tapping pensions could be even more painful for ordinary Cypriots than a deposit levy.
The senior official who told Reuters of the levy agreement said the pension funds would not be part of the package to seal the bailout.
The bank restructuring has also angered Cypriots. On Saturday, around 1,500 bank workers marched on the presidency, holding banners that read, "No to the bankruptcy of Cyprus" and "Hands of workers' welfare funds".
OFFSHORE HAVEN
The pace of the unfolding drama has stunned Cypriots, who in February elected Anastasiades on a mandate to secure a bailout and save banks whose capital was wiped out by investments in Greece, the epicentre of the euro zone debt crisis.
Then news of the levy on bank deposits broke, an unprecedented step in Europe's handling of a debt crisis that has spread from Greece, to Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy.
Cypriots leaders had initially tried to spread the pain between big holdings and smaller depositors, fearing the damage it would inflict on the country as an offshore financial haven for wealthy foreigners, many of them Russians and Britons.
The tottering banks hold 68 billion euros in deposits, including 38 billion in accounts of more than 100,000 euros - enormous sums for an island of 1.1 million people which could never sustain such a big financial system on its own.
But panicked by the visceral reaction of ordinary Cypriots, support from lawmakers fell away and they rejected the levy as "bank robbery".
Under the latest proposal, Russians are unlikely to be hit hardest by the mooted percent tax, given that just five percent of deposits at Bank of Cyprus come from Russia, according to the bank's latest results statement.
The board of the Central Bank of Cyprus was likely to hold its first meeting in almost a fortnight on Sunday, a source with direct knowledge of the meeting told Reuters, in another sign a deal may be close.
Asked about the new plan for a possible 25 percent levy, Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen, whose country is allied with Germany in taking a hard line on Europe's debt-laden southern flank, replied in English:
"If it was like this, I think it might be quite suitable because it means that the highest deposits will be taxed."
If you're in a state where cousins can legally marry each other, but home brewers are forbidden to practice their craft, you must be in Alabama.
Indeed, Alabama now stands out as the only state where home brewing is illegal. Mississippi voted this week to legalize the hobby lager lovers and hopheads in America have enjoyed, even before George Washington and Sam Adams boiled up their first brews.
Alabamans don't just get slapped with a ticket if they start mixing up a batch. It's a felony.
But to a feisty band of Yellowhammer State tipplers, it's ridiculous for the government to meddle with their malt. They won't be satisfied until Alabama has the same rights enjoyed everywhere else in the country.
"This is not about alcohol. This is about civil liberties," said Kraig Torres, owner of Hop City Craft Beer and Wine in Birmingham. "If I went around in Alabama and said, 'you can't have a gun in your house,' I'm pretty sure people would be upset."
Residents who want to buy shotguns, rifles or handguns don't need permits, licenses or registrations. However, it's unclear how regulations apply to gunsmiths who forge firearms in their residences.
Torres lives in Georgia and operates his flagship store there. While he'd like to sell beer-making ingredients and cookbooks in his Birmingham venture, he has gotten into trouble with the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.
In September, before he opened Hop City, state agents inspected the store. Torres said they confiscated $7,000 worth of beer-making kits and cookbooks on a follow-up visit. A lawyer for the beverage control board told HuffPost that Torres removed them from the store after he was told they were contraband.
Alabama maintains a fervent temperance movement. It's been 80 years since Prohibition's demise, but there are 25 dry counties in the so-called "Heart of Dixie." Some teetotalers there wish the libations had never started flowing again.
"We're talking about a mind-altering, addictive drug," said Joe Godfrey, a pastor and executive director of ALCAP, a group that opposes loosening any restrictions on alcohol. "This isn't barbecue. People are killed on the highways. You hear all the time about people being killed under the influence of alcohol. You never hear about people getting killed by barbecue."
Torres' experience was a rare instance of the state enforcing the home-brewing ban, according to interviews with home brewers and an Alcoholic Beverage Control Board lawyer. Just this month, however, a prosecutor in Mobile County was disciplined for flouting the home brew restrictions, Al.com reported.
Home-brewing advocates said the felony status scares away some and forces others into the shadows even though the chance of punishment looks slim.
"Home brewers would like to be able to practice their hobby in the open. They have to be fairly secretive," said American Homebrewers Association Director Gary Glass. "It just doesn't make sense that it would be prohibited. Many of the Founding Fathers were home brewers including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson."
Bills to legalize home brewing sit in both houses of the Alabama legislature awaiting a vote. It's the third straight year legislators have proposed changes to the home brew law.
Partisan squabbling on unrelated issues may derail it again, according to observers and local media reports.
"We hope it passes so we can move onto more important business," said Bob Martin, an ABC board lawyer. "We really don't care. It's a hobby. It's not our real concern unless we found out someone was making it and selling it illegally. Generally, we're not going to go into their homes."
If passed, the bills would allow Alabamians to whip up limited quantities of intoxicating drinks like beer and wine. Liquor would remain off-limits. It would also pave the way for tasting events and competitions, advocates told HuffPost.
Home brewing was for outlaws and scofflaws throughout the country as a result of Prohibition until then-President Jimmy Carter signed a federal law decriminalizing the pastime in 1978.
Hobbyists cheered Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant for ending the state's ban this week.
"I'm going to have a pint with friends at our local bar in town and then open a bottle of home brew at home" to celebrate, said Craig Hendry, president of Raise Your Pints, a group that hired lobbyists to overturn the ban.
"We want to be talked about in a positive light, not as another state that was the last to do something."
Editor's note: To be fair to Alabama, 19 other states allow first cousins to get hitched too, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
JERUSALEM (AP) ? In a landmark speech to young Israelis this week, the visiting U.S. President Barack Obama delivered an unorthodox appeal couched behind warm words of affinity for their country: Urge your leaders to change their ways and take bold new steps to reach peace with the Palestinians.
The message, potentially risking the ire of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, marked a gamble by the U.S. leader as he searches for ways to restart long-stalled Mideast peace efforts. With no breakthroughs coming out of the visit on the Palestinian front, Obama must now hope that the power of the presidency, combined with the goodwill he accumulated during the 48-hour visit, can persuade a still-skeptical Israeli leadership to abandon some deeply entrenched views and get negotiations moving again.
After a first term plagued by repeated run-ins with Netanyahu and perceptions among Israelis that he was cool to their cause and perhaps even hostile to their prime minister, Obama certainly succeeded in his goal of resetting the relationship. He was treated like a rock star in meetings with Israeli leaders and everyday people, and his every moment was followed by a fawning Israeli media.
"Israel is in Love," Yediot Ahronot, Israel's largest daily, wrote in a headline Friday.
Obama and Netanyahu, who have appeared uncomfortable together in the past, smiled, joked and exchanged pleasant small talk throughout the visit, with much of the conversation caught on live microphones permitted to join them. Netanyahu seemed almost giddy at times.
But hidden behind the public displays of affection, Obama delivered a powerful message. In the keynote address to Israeli young adults, he implored the gathering to press their leaders to take risks for peace.
He also had some tough words for his audience, criticizing Israeli settlements as "counterproductive" and speaking movingly of Palestinians suffering under Israeli military occupation.
"Let me say this as a politician. I can promise you this. Political leaders will never take risks if the people do not push them to take some risks," he said. "Ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary things."
While addressed at the Israeli public, the nationally broadcast speech was also aimed at Netanyahu. On the most public of stages, Obama embraced the key argument of Israel's left wing: that the status quo, in which Israel controls millions of disenfranchised Palestinians, is unsustainable and that making concessions for peace is good not only for the Palestinians, but vitally needed for Israel itself to be able to survive.
Obama's speech, even the lines most critical of Israel, was repeatedly interrupted by applause from the preselected audience largely comprised of university students. Perhaps the loudest ovation came when he called for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
"The speech gave young people a new spirit to push for a two-state solution," said Isaac Shickman, a 24-year-old Jerusalem university student who was in the audience. "It made me think of what I can do to promote peace and change in the country and the region."
Handled improperly, Obama's gambit might have backfired. Early on in his presidency, Obama's public criticism of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem raised tensions with Israel and contributed to more than four years of deadlock in peace efforts.
The Palestinians claim both areas, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, for their future state and have refused to negotiate while Israel continues to expand its settlements there.
Julian Zelizer, a historian at Princeton University, said Thursday's speech came straight out of Obama's playbook back home.
"This was President Obama using some of the tactics that he uses here, meaning trying to speak directly to the people to pressure the leaders to do something, rather than focusing on the leaders themselves," he said.
He said the tactic risked antagonizing Netanyahu, but that Obama deftly handled the visit. Obama's warm words for Israel, his repeated pledges to Israeli security, a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and the many joint interests of the two countries all helped blunt potential criticism.
"It's a successful speech, but it's a far cry from solving the problem," he said.
In a statement, Netanyahu's office said he "shares President Obama's view regarding the need to advance a peace that ensures the security of Israel's citizens." It would not comment on Obama's appeals to the public.
Israelis themselves were divided over the significance of the speech.
"It was a seminal speech, even an historic one," wrote Shalom Yerushalmi, a commentator in the Maariv daily. "Will it work? Who knows?"
Tzipi Livni, the leader of a small dovish political party who is Netanyahu's new chief negotiator, said she hoped Obama's message would rally more Israelis to the country's peace camp.
"I would be very happy if Israeli citizens who heard him were convinced that this is what needs to be done," she said.
But Naftali Bennett, a Cabinet minister who leads a pro-settler party, rejected the speech. "A Palestinian state is not the right way," he wrote on his Facebook page.
Such divisions in the Cabinet are a key reason why it seems unlikely that Netanyahu will make any bold new concessions to restart talks. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected back in Israel on Saturday night to discuss the matter.
During the trip, Obama also had some tough words for the Palestinians. While criticizing Jewish settlements, Obama told the Palestinians to stop using the issue as an "excuse" to do nothing and stressed that disagreements can be resolved only through negotiations.
Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian official, said she found Obama's visit disappointing, but not surprising.
"I think the purpose of the visit, clearly, was to show support and identification with Israel," she said.
"The question has to be answered by the Americans, and the international community. How are they going to proceed from here?" she said. "It's not enough to say Kerry will be here frequently."
American presidents have a long history of using their position to cajole foreign audiences.
"I think presidents rightly see it as part of their duty," said political historian Evan Cornog, dean of the School of Communication at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. "The U.S. is a nation of ideas."
In 1963, John F. Kennedy paid a historic visit to a divided Berlin to show solidarity with the people of West Germany. A quarter of a century later, Ronald Reagan famously urged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down" the Berlin Wall.
More recently, George W. Bush spoke of spreading democracy in the Middle East and turning Iraq into a model democracy. Early in his term, Obama traveled to Cairo in hopes of ushering in a new era of relations with the Muslim world.
Historians have debated whether these speeches led to changes, such as the collapse of communism or the rise of the Arab Spring, or whether they were simply signs of the times.
Cornog said assessing the impact of a president's words is hard to quantify but that Obama's appeal could play a role in swaying Israeli public opinion, particularly by bolstering the Israeli left.
"I certainly think the bully pulpit, that ability of the president to have an audience and to put forth arguments, it does mean something," he said.
(Reuters) - Cisco Systems Inc committed fraud against patent licensor XpertUniverse Inc in an intellectual property dispute, a jury found on Friday, ordering the networking company to pay $70 million in damages, according to court filings.
The verdict was delivered in a Delaware federal court.
"We are surprised and extremely disappointed with the jury's verdict," Cisco said in an emailed statement.
The company said it was "confident" its conduct was appropriate and would pursue an appeal if the judge leaves the verdict intact.
XpertUniverse developed a technology to help improve response time for customers seeking help from large organizations, which Cisco expressed an interest in commercializing, according to court filings.
However, XpertUniverse claimed that Cisco fraudulently induced it to share trade secrets and other intellectual property, with the promise that Cisco would not disclose them. But Cisco was filing several patent applications in its own name based on XpertUniverse's IP, the lawsuit said.
The jury also found on Friday that Cisco violated two XpertUniverse patents, and awarded an additional $34,000 in damages on those claims.
In a court filing this week, Cisco told U.S. District Judge Richard Andrews in Wilmington that "no evidence exists from which the jury could find in favor of XU on either its fraudulent concealment or patent claims."
XpertUniverse attorney Charles Cantine of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP said the company was "obviously very happy" with the verdict.
The case in U.S. District Court, District of Delaware is XpertUniverse Inc. vs. Cisco Systems Inc., 09-157.
(Reporting by Dan Levine in San Francisco and Erin Geiger Smith in New York; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
Since we started Makers I've made it a priority to try to visit Adafruit Industries, the amazing Manhattan-based electronics shop run by Limor Fried. Fried started her company out of her dorm room at MIT, building cool electronics kits for her friends. She slowly expanded into other hobbyist realms including Arduino add-ons, how-to books, and cases. Now her store is bustling with 1,302 items for sale with about 600 orders per day.
Who discovered Lena Dunham, creator and star of HBO?s tender delight, ?Girls??
It sounds like an MGM/Lana Turner conceit, the idea of ?discovering? someone. But somehow Dunham?who at 26 seems vulnerable and yet is already an old master?inspires this inquiry. Just as the going myth of Tina Fey is that high priest Lorne Michaels made her, and the going myth of Sheryl Sandberg is that higher priest Lawrence Summers found her at Schwab?s lunch counter, so must a powerful mentor have shrewdly seen a spark in Miss Dunham, and charitably extended a hand.
Let?s cut to the chase and guess, first off, that it was Dunham who long ago found herself. While at St. Ann?s School in Brooklyn?the Angkor Wat of kid artsiness?Dunham already claimed fully her own saltatory intelligence, hauntingly beautiful speaking voice and hauntingly unbeautiful body. At 19, while attending Oberlin College, she cast that husky self in a cool masturbation video called ?Pressure.?? A year later she cavorted naked in a YouTube video that went viral. (Slate went over Dunham?s brilliant infantilia here.) Dunham, like auteurs from Klaus Kinski to Woody Allen, clearly knew what she was about on the first take.
Now, sure, l?art pour l?art runs in her family. Dunham?s mother, Laurie Simmons, ?makes photographs in which dolls and doll-house furniture are arranged to unsettling effect,? as Rebecca Mead reverently put in in The New Yorker in 2010. Her pop, Carroll Dunham, is a distinguished painter of creatures with penises for noses.
So it was written. But from there, to be sporting, let?s wonder: Was it Mead who found Dunham for the non-masses with that full-dress November 2010 New Yorker profile? Mead granted that Dunham?s sensibility (as expressed in her first feature film, ?Tiny Furniture?), was artsy, but also mainstream and Borscht Belt.
Or was it rather?in a leering theory Gawker advanced this week in ?How David Carr Became the Daddy of Girls??avuncular Carr? He got the Dunham bug months earlier after screening ?Tiny Furniture? and, in a March 2010 New York Times mini-profile, praised Dunham for writing ?angular, quietly weaponized dialogue that her characters use to maim one another.?
Or maybe it was Janet Pierson, who runs the South by Southwest film festival, and who loved Dunham?s even earlier film, and included it in the festival, but really, really loved ?Tiny Furniture,? the film that put her on Carr?s radar, and Mead?s, and led to the creation of ?Girls??
Or maybe just maybe the person who discovered Dunham was me? After all, I fulsomely reviewed a Web film she made called ?Tight Spots? in, oh, 2007. I can?t quite bear to quote myself, but suffice it to say I laid it on very, very thick when it came to the Dunham love. So thick, in fact, that when the lady in the question barraged me with witty, grateful and self-promotional emails for months after, I was the one flattered! I thought the half-my-age filmmaker was so cool wrestling with Spanx and having bad sex in ?Tight Shots? that I was happy for her attention!
If only I had thought to introduce her to Judd Apatow, the moneybags of ?Girls,? who is another highly likely candidate for queenmaker when it comes to Dunham. If only I had known Apatow.
Dunham has no maker?she?s self-made. But my own private candidate for Dunham?s chief support is actually Jenni Konner, the executive producer of ?Girls.? But Konner hardly claims credit for nothing, even in her cryptic Twitter bio, which I think references ?The Real Housewives?: ?I can tell you when she will die, and what will happen to her family. I love that about me! -- also i write and ep #Girls on HBO.?
Apparently Konner is too busy working with Dunham on ?Girls? to stoop to join the petty credit-grab.
Aw. Let?s face it. Victory has a thousand fathers. Defeat is an orphan. And there?s just something about that victorious, bright-eyed Dunham. But rather than rummage around in old profiles, maybe we should just watch the finale of Dunham?s ?Girls? again. As Alessandra Stanley put it in the Times,? ?The closing shot ??confounding expectations??shows Adam standing up, shirtless, carrying Hannah high in his arms as if she were as delicate and endangered as Fay Wray.?
Dunham, perhaps beyond all else, knows how much men like to carry women. And how much women like to be carried. And that?s why she is Dunham, and we are not.
Sunday will mark the end of the first quarter. It's been a busy three months in MMA, so it's a good time to look back at the past three months and see who rose above the rest.![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 27-Mar-2013
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