Indy battens down hatches for Super Bowl security (AP)

INDIANAPOLIS ? From pickpockets and prostitutes to dirty bombs and exploding manhole covers, authorities are bracing for whatever threat the first Super Bowl in downtown Indianapolis might bring.

Some ? nuclear terrorism, for instance ? are likely to remain just hypothetical. But others, like thieves and wayward manhole covers, are all too real.

Though Indianapolis has ample experience hosting large sporting events ? the Indianapolis 500 attracts more than 200,000 fans each year, and the NCAA's men's Final Four basketball tournament has been held here six times since 1980_ the city's first Super Bowl poses some unique challenges.

Unlike the Final Four, which is compressed into a weekend, the Super Bowl offers crowd, travel and other logistical challenges over 10 days leading up to the Feb. 5 game. And unlike the 500, where events are largely concentrated at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway about seven miles from Lucas Oil Stadium, the NFL's showcase event will consume 44 blocks ? about a mile square ? in the heart of the city, closing off streets and forcing an anticipated 150,000 or more NFL fans to jockey with downtown workers for space much of the week.

"This is clearly bigger in terms of the amount of people who will be downtown over an extended period of time," city Public Safety Director Frank Straub said.

Under a security risk rating system used by the federal government, the Super Bowl ranks just below national security events involving the president and the Secret Service, said Indianapolis Chief of Homeland Security Gary Coons. The ratings are based on factors including international attention, media coverage, number of people the event attracts and visits by celebrities and foreign dignitaries, he said. The Indianapolis 500 ranks two levels below the Super Bowl.

The city has invested millions of dollars and worked with local, state and federal agencies to try to keep all those people safe. Up to 1,000 city police officers will be in the stadium and on the street, carrying smartphones and other electronic hand-held devices that will enable them to feed photos and video to a new state-of-the-art operations center on the city's east side or to cruisers driven by officers providing backup, Straub said. Hundreds of officers from other agencies, including the state police and the FBI, will be scanning the crowd for signs of pickpocketing, prostitution or other trouble.

One concern has been a series of explosions in Indianapolis Power & Light's underground network of utility cables. A dozen underground explosions have occurred since 2005, sending manhole covers flying.

Eight explosions have occurred since 2010. The latest, on Nov. 19, turned a manhole cover into a projectile that heavily damaged a parked car and raised concerns about the safety of Super Bowl visitors walking on streets and soaring above the Super Bowl village on four zip lines installed for the festivities.

Since December, IPL has spent about $180,000 to install 150 new locking manhole covers, primarily in the Super Bowl village and other areas expected to see high pre-game traffic.

IPL officials say the new Swiveloc manhole covers can be locked for security reasons during the Super Bowl. In case of an explosion, the covers lift a couple of inches off the ground ? enough to vent gas out without feeding in oxygen to make an explosion bigger ? before falling back into place.

An Atlanta consultant hired by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission last summer to audit IPL's underground network of cables for a cause of the explosions says the new covers are merely a Band-Aid.

"We've argued it's better to prevent," said Dan O'Neill of O'Neill Management Consulting, which filed its report in December.

O'Neill's team couldn't pinpoint an exact cause for the explosions but said a flawed inspection process contributed, noting that IPL workers missed warning signs such as road salt corroding an old cable or leaks in nearby steam pipes. In a report filed Jan. 19 with Indiana utility regulators, the power company said it had overhauled its inspection process.

IPL will dispatch extra crews to the area around the stadium in case of power-related problems, such as a recent breaker fire that left 10,000 customers in homes south of downtown without power. Spokeswoman Crystal Livers-Powers said the company doesn't anticipate any power issues.

Straub, the public safety director, said he's confident the city is prepared and notes that Indianapolis hosts major events "pretty regularly."

Special teams from the Department of Energy will sweep Lucas Oil Stadium and the surrounding area for nuclear terror threats, and a new $18 million high-tech communications center that opened in time for the lead-up to the game will tie it all together.

"We're using more technology, and state of the art technology, than has been used in any Super Bowl before this one," Straub said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_super_bowl_security

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This was our Macworld

This was our Macworld. Other Macworlds were different. But this one was ours. Macworld | iWorld 2012 was not the event of old, where Apple and Steve Jobs took to

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EU leader: we have not done enough

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, and Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti speak together prior to a meeting at the European Council in Brussels ahead of the European Union leaders summit, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. European leaders were trying Monday to come up with ways to boost economic growth and jobs, which are being squeezed by their own governments' steep budget cuts across the continent. (AP Photo/Philippe Wojazer, pool) FRANCE MAGS OUT

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, and Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti speak together prior to a meeting at the European Council in Brussels ahead of the European Union leaders summit, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. European leaders were trying Monday to come up with ways to boost economic growth and jobs, which are being squeezed by their own governments' steep budget cuts across the continent. (AP Photo/Philippe Wojazer, pool) FRANCE MAGS OUT

British Prime Minister David Cameron, left, speaks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. European leaders will try to come up with ways to boost growth despite steep budget cuts across the continent when they meet in Brussels on Monday. The 27 heads of state and government will get a taste of the popular frustration with austerity and high unemployment as they try to get to the summit in a city paralyzed by strikes. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, and Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti speak together prior to a meeting at the European Council in Brussels ahead of the European Union leaders summit, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. European leaders were trying Monday to come up with ways to boost economic growth and jobs, which are being squeezed by their own governments' steep budget cuts across the continent. (AP Photo/Philippe Wojazer, pool) FRANCE MAGS OUT

Belgium's Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, left, speaks with Czech Republic's Prime Minister Petr Necas during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. European leaders will try to come up with ways to boost growth despite steep budget cuts across the continent when they meet in Brussels on Monday. The 27 heads of state and government will get a taste of the popular frustration with austerity and high unemployment as they try to get to the summit in a city paralyzed by strikes. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

British Prime Minister David Cameron, left, walks by German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. European leaders will try to come up with ways to boost growth despite steep budget cuts across the continent when they meet in Brussels on Monday. The 27 heads of state and government will get a taste of the popular frustration with austerity and high unemployment as they try to get to the summit in a city paralyzed by strikes. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

BRUSSELS (AP) ? A top official says the European Union realizes it has not done enough to get out of its financial crisis and must do more to stimulate the it economy.

"We recognize that financial stability is not enough in itself to get out of the crisis," said Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, said Monday after a summit meeting of European leaders. "We must do more, particularly in the areas of growth and employment."

Critics have accused the EU of focusing relentlessly on austerity to the exclusion of economic growth, thereby potentially pushing Europe toward recession.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

BRUSSELS (AP) ? All European Union countries, except Britain and the Czech Republic, agreed Monday to sign up to a new treaty designed to stop overspending on the eurozone and put an end to the bloc's crippling debt crisis, while also pledging to stimulate growth across the region.

The new treaty, agreed at a summit of European leaders in Brussels Monday, is known as the fiscal compact and includes strict debt brakes and makes it more difficult for deficit sinners to escape sanctions. The 17-country eurozone hopes that the tighter rules will convince investors that all countries will get their debts under control and restore confidence in their joint currency.

"We have a majority of 25 that will now sign up to the fiscal compact," said Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.

Although the new rules only apply to the 17 euro states, the currency union was hoping to get broad support from the other EU states, in the hope that the accord could eventually be integrated into the main EU treaty.

Britain had already said in December that they wouldn't sign the new treaty. Reinfeldt said that the Czech Republic didn't sign up because of parliamentary procedural problems.

The Swedish prime minister said it he decided Sweden should join even though it does not use the euro because the new accord gives it more influence on policy within the currency union.

The summit also promised to stimulate growth and create jobs across the region, in a tacit acknowledgment that their exclusive focus on austerity has had painful side effects. Earlier Monday the meeting pledged to offer more training for young people to ease their transition to the work force, deploy unused development funds to create jobs, reduce barriers to doing business across the EU's 27 countries, and ensure that small businesses have access to credit. However there was no offer of any new financial stimulus.

"We must do more to get Europe out of the crisis," they said in a statement.

The European Commission, the EU's executive, says that there are still euro82 billion in development funds that have yet to be allocated, and the statement from Monday's summit said they should be "rapidly" committed to projects focused on growth and job-creation.

Europe's debt crisis has put the continent and its leaders in an almost impossible situation. While they have to slash their deficits to reassure investors reluctant to lend to them, the debt crisis has also hammered the so-called "real economy," sending unemployment soaring. Many analysts, politicians and trade unions think that only government spending can restart growth.

Overall, 23 million people are jobless across the EU, 10 percent of the active population. In Spain, unemployment has soared to nearly 23 percent and closed in on 50 percent for those under age 25, leaving more than 5 million people ? or almost one out of every four ? out of work as the country slides toward recession.

Even countries in the so-called European "core" ? which are generally better off ? are suffering. The French government was forced Monday to revise down its growth forecast for the year from 1 percent to just 0.5 percent.

In fact, many now fear that Europe is on the verge of another recession, and leaders gathering in Brussels said that while austerity is important, more needs to be done for growth. Economists often note that cutting spending is just one way to slash deficits; another equally important method is to boost growth, which increases the amount of money pouring into government coffers.

While the leaders meeting in Brussels focused on walking the fine line between reining in spending and stimulating growth, the elephant in the room was Greece.

Greece and its bondholders have come closer to a deal to significantly reduce the country's debt and pave the way for it to receive a much-needed euro130 billion ($170 billion) bailout.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he hoped a final agreement on Greece will be achieved "in the coming days," either at a special meeting of eurozone finance ministers or leaders.

Negotiators for Greece's private creditors said Saturday that a debt-reduction deal could become final within the next week. If the agreement works as planned, it could help Greece avoid a catastrophic default, which would be a blow to Europe's already weak financial system.

But European officials are afraid that even that deal may not be enough to fix Greece's finances, with some blaming Athens for dithering on its promise to cut spending and introduce austerity measures.

___

Associated Press writers Don Melvin, Robert Wielaard and Raf Casert contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-30-EU-Europe-Financial-Crisis/id-8dd17ac5b6a342cc9b83046c3e6b4276

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Fickle GOP Voters Now Tiring of Newt (Little green footballs)

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RIM CEO eyes "significant" plans for BlackBerry (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Research in Motion's Thorsten Heins plans to waste no time in his new job. The BlackBerry maker's chief executive said he will present the board with his plan for company's future in just a matter of weeks.

The German-born executive, who took over from two longstanding co-CEOs on Saturday, said his plans for RIM would be "significant" though he did not divulge details in an interview with Reuters.

"I will have time with the board in two weeks to present my ideas and changes," Heins said.

But the executive, who was promoted from the role of chief operating officer, said he has already done groundwork to tackle his company's most pressing problem - persuading the U.S. market to covet the BlackBerry again.

While RIM is growing in other countries, Heins conceded that its U.S. business is in need of a major revival after losing out to rivals like Apple Inc's iPhone at U.S. service providers and corporations, where it once had a clear advantage among employees heavily dependent on its email service.

"In general I wouldn't consider RIM as a turnaround candidate. It is a turnaround candidate in the U.S.," he said. "We lost market share in this market quite substantially. That is something that we have to address."

While U.S. operators such as Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc have helped BlackBerry with heavy advertising and promotions in the past, these operators have been much more focused in the last few years on devices like iPhone and smartphones based on the Google Inc operating system.

Heins' quest to regain ground with these operators has been complicated by the fact that RIM had to announce in December that it is delaying the launch of phones based on BlackBerry 10 - its next-generation software - until the later part of 2012 as it is awaiting the availability of a high-powered chip.

The executive would not say when exactly these phones would hit the market but implied that they would arrive in time for the year-end holiday-shopping season in the fourth quarter.

So in the meantime, Heins will concentrate on getting the most current BlackBerrys into more consumers hands. He noted that only 20 percent of U.S. BlackBerry users have the company's latest phones, which he says are competitive with rival smartphones.

The rest of RIM's U.S. customers have devices with older RIM software, some of which are "two generations behind," he said.

To overcome this, RIM has devised a new upgrade plan with U.S. operators to promote phones with the BlackBerry 7 system, which was launched in August last year.

"All the plans are ready. The carrier agreements are all ready. Now we have to get off the starting grid. Now we need to execute that upgrade program," Heins said.

While he did not want to disclose specifics about the new agreements, Heins said RIM could look at new ways of bundling different devices together or offering carriers smartphones with a package of pre-loaded applications.

He is also betting on the company's PlayBook tablet to compete with the Apple iPad tablet. This spring, Heins said that RIM will launch a version of the Playbook, with a high-speed wireless connection based on LTE - a technology that the top three U.S. operators are building into their networks.

Verizon Wireless and AT&T are already promoting LTE devices including smartphones and tablets from RIM's rivals. RIM's first smartphones with LTE connections will be in the company's BlackBerry 10 line-up, Heins said.

MOMENT OF SURPRISE

In his first presentation to Wall Street as CEO earlier this week, Heins said he did not think the company needed drastic change, causing some analysts to worry that the executive would not do enough to reverse the company's fortunes.

But the executive said on Friday that he was merely telling Wall Street that he does not want to change the core of RIM.

"Is RIM up for sale, is RIM up for a split-up?" He rejected those possibilities as "a drastic, seismic change because it would tear the company apart."

Heins, who has been with RIM for four years after spending over two decades at German engineering group Siemens, was became COO responsible for software and products seven months ago.

He explained that RIM had succession plans for co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie in place for some time and that he had an inkling that he was being groomed to follow in their footsteps when he was named COO.

"The moment they tell you it's still a surprise," Heins said, smiling broadly and adding that he immediately said yes.

Lazaridis and Balsillie, who turned the BlackBerry maker into a global company and a household name, stepped down last week but will remain on the board.

Some analysts have worried whether these executives would have too much of a say in the future strategy of the company because of their position on the board.

Heins said, it would be an advantage to be able to tap into the experience and company knowledge of RIM founder Lazaridis, but he made it clear that he would be the one calling the shots.

"What I do with the company is my decision. The CEO runs the company."

(Reporting By Sinead Carew; Additional reporting by Alastair Sharp and Peter Lauria; Editing by Gary Hill)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120128/tc_nm/us_researchinmotion_ceo_heins

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Wendy Kopp: We Need to Put Education on the Global Agenda (Huffington post)

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Ford hit by commodity costs, international woes (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Ford Motor Co reported a lower-than-expected fourth-quarter profit on Friday as commodity costs shot up and results from operations outside North America fell short of expectations.

The No. 2 U.S. automaker's losses in Europe nearly quadrupled during the quarter as the economy suffered amid the ongoing debt crisis. Flooding in Thailand led to a loss in Asia, and increased competition blunted profits in South America.

"We saw the external environment deteriorate, and that really affected most regions other than North America," Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth told reporters, "and then we saw slightly greater than we expected impact of commodities, currency and also the Thai floods."

Shares of Ford, which derives the bulk of its revenue from North America, fell more than 5 percent in premarket trading.

Excluding one-time items, Ford's operating profit fell to $1.1 billion, or 20 cents per share, from nearly $1.3 billion, or 30 cents per share, a year earlier.

On that basis, analysts on average were expecting 25 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

"It's been a tough go for Ford," said portfolio manager Gary Bradshaw of Hodges Capital Management of Dallas, which owns Ford shares. "It seems like the company continues to execute, but there are plenty of headwinds."

Besides higher commodity costs, Ford also said it missed expectations because of unfavorable exchange rates.

Profit margins in Ford's automotive business fell to 5.4 percent in 2011 from 6.1 percent in 2010. Commodity costs for the year came to $2.3 billion, up slightly from the company's $2.2 billion forecast.

NOT IMMUNE TO EUROPE

Ford's losses in Europe widened to $190 million in the fourth quarter from $51 million a year earlier. In South America, the company's pretax operating profit fell to $108 million from $281 million.

Ford posted a quarterly loss of $83 million in Asia, compared with a year-earlier profit of $23 million. The company flagged the loss in Asia earlier this month.

Booth said he expected Ford to be "modestly profitable" in Asia in 2012, but he did not provide a forecast for Europe, where he said rivals have piled on incentives to sell vehicles. Ford expects European growth will be tempered by the debt crisis and austerity measures in 2012.

Compared with Detroit rival General Motors, Ford is less exposed to Europe, Jefferies analyst Peter Nesvold said.

"Ford won't be immune to a downturn in Europe, but I think the product lineup is a little bit fresher and a little bit better, and it's a smaller piece of the overall pie," said Nesvold, who has a "buy" rating on Ford. "Europe is less of an anchor for Ford's shares than it is potentially for GM's shares."

For the fourth quarter, Ford reported net income of $13.6 billion, or $3.40 per share, buoyed by a one-time tax-related gain of $12.4 billion. Net income was $190 million, or 5 cents per share, a year earlier.

The higher net income was the result of an accounting change that Ford said reflects confidence in its long-term profit outlook. The one-time gain resulted in full-year net income of $20.2 billion, the highest since 1998.

(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman, Ben Klayman and Bernie Woodall; Editing by Derek Caney and Lisa Von Ahn)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/bs_nm/us_ford

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Nintendo releases quarterly earnings report: 61 percent drop in profit, grim forecast

Nintendo released its latest quarterly earnings report this morning and, as with last quarter's report, there's not a whole lot to celebrate. The company posted profits of ¥40.9 billion (about $631.6 million) for the October - December period, representing a 61 percent quarterly drop. That's especially disappointing, considering that this period has traditionally been strong for Nintendo, which had previously forecast an operating profit of ¥1 billion (around $12.9 million). Those forecasts have since changed, however, with the manufacturer now predicting a ¥45 billion ($580 million) operating loss for the full year, ending March 31st. Nintendo blames the poor showing to sagging 3DS sales, which have forced it to slash prices. Also on Thursday, President Satoru Iwata told reporters that his company plans to release its new Wii U console across the US, Europe Australia and Japan in time for the 2012 year-end holiday season. Read the report in full, at the source link below.

Nintendo releases quarterly earnings report: 61 percent drop in profit, grim forecast originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Eyes-on the innards of Fujitsu's K supercomputer

Fujitsu's K supercomputer was on our radar before it was even completed, and naturally, we let you know when it smoked the competition and became the supercomputing speed king. So, when we had the opportunity to see a piece of K at Fujitsu's North America Technology Forum today, we couldn't pass it up. In case you forgot, K is a massive machine powered by 864 racks with 24 boards per rack housing SPARC64 CPUs. We got to see one of those boards, and Yuichiro Ajima -- who designed the inter-connection chips (ICC) on them -- was gracious enough to give us some more info on this most super of supercomputers.

Gallery: Eyes-on the innards of Fujitsu's K supercomputer

As you can see in the gallery above, each board has extensive plumbing to keep the SPARC silicon running at a manageable 32 - 35 degrees Celsius (90 - 95 Fahrenheit) under load. Underneath that copper cooling system lies four processors interspersed between 32 memory modules (with 2GB per module) and four ICCs lined up next to the board's rack interconnect ports. Currently, the system takes 30 megawatts to do its thing, though Ajima informed us that K's theoretical max electricity consumption is about double that -- for perspective, that means K could consume the entire output of some nuclear power plants. When asked if there were plans to add more racks should Fujitsu's supercomputer lose its crown, Ajima-san said that while possible, there are no plans to do so -- we'll see if that changes should a worthy opponent present itself.

Eyes-on the innards of Fujitsu's K supercomputer originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Miley, step away from the penis cake

By Kurt Schlosser

It's time for Miley Cyrus to either stop eating cake or to party in a world where no cameras or recording devices of any kind are allowed. This is starting to feel like scrolling through the Facebook feed of your most clueless friend.

Danny Moloshok / Reuters

The 19-year-old singer's latest sweet treat was unveiled Saturday night at a birthday party for boyfriend Liam Hemsworth, 22. Because every silly move she makes is apparently caught on camera, Cyrus can be seen over at TMZ?posing provocatively with a giant penis cake.

Any bachelorette who has ever set foot in an erotic bakery has seen one of these cakes. Cyrus is an adult and she can eat what she wants. But it surprises us how poorly she manages to either control herself at her parties or manage the oversharing people she invites.

Just days before Thanksgiving we were asking the same thing?when Cyrus celebrated her own birthday and was feted with a Bob Marley cake. "You know you're a stoner when your friends?make you a Bob Marley cake," Cyrus was quoted as saying. "You know you smoke way too much f---ing weed!"

Back then, Miley's rep offered this limp defense: "It's all been taken out of context. The cake was a joke and Miley's response was intended to be sarcastic."

Just last week we were reading reports?of how Cyrus allegedly spent $50,000 to lose 15 pounds to get bikini-ready for Hemsworth (there's no cake in that diet!) And at the People's Choice Awards earlier this month, the former Disney star won raves for her fashion-forward look (she's turned a corner!)

Oh well. As we wait for reps and friends to jump to Cyrus' defense again, we'll just have the ice cream, thanks.

Related content:

Source: http://entertainment.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/25/10234150-miley-step-away-from-the-penis-cake

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Mild cognitive impairment is common, affects men most, study finds

ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2012) ? Researchers involved in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging report that more than 6 percent of Americans age 70 to 89 develop mild cognitive impairment (MCI) every year. Also, the condition appears to affect men and those who only have a high school education more than women and those who have completed some higher education. People with MCI are at the stage between suffering the normal forgetfulness associated with aging and developing dementia, such as that caused by Alzheimer's disease.

The study -- published in the Jan. 25, 2012, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology -- reports that 296 of the 1,450 study participants developed MCI, an incidence rate of 6.4 percent per year overall. Among men, the incidence rate was 7.2 percent, compared with 5.7 percent per year for women.

"While incidence rates for MCI have been reported previously, ours is one of the few studies designed specifically to measure the incidence of MCI and its subtypes using published criteria," says lead author Rosebud O. Roberts, M.B., Ch.B., of the Mayo Clinic Division of Epidemiology. "The statistically significant difference between incidence rates among men and women represents an important finding for those evaluating patients for MCI."

The study also looked in more detail at patients with MCI, dividing them according to whether they developed amnestic MCI (aMCI) -- in which the condition affects the memory domain -- or non-amnestic MCI (naMCI).

Similar to the overall results, the incidence rates for aMCI and naMCI were higher in men than in women. In addition, the study found that individuals with only a high school education developed either aMCI or naMCI at a higher rate than those with some higher education.

"Understanding the distribution of incident MCI by age, sex and other demographic variables is critical to helping us understand the cause of the condition, as well as how to prevent MCI and its progression to full-blown, irreversible dementia," Dr. Roberts says. "This study advances our understanding of MCI and will help clinicians provide even better care for their patients, especially during initial evaluations."

About Mild Cognitive Impairment

People with MCI have mild problems with thinking and memory that do not interfere with everyday activities, although their forgetfulness is often apparent to them and their friends and family. While not everyone with MCI develops dementia, an estimated 5 to 10 percent do.

Symptoms of MCI include:

• Difficulty learning and remembering new information
• Difficulty solving problems or making decisions
• Forgetting recent events or conversations
• Taking longer to perform complex or difficult mental activities.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Mayo Clinic, via Newswise.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. R. O. Roberts, Y. E. Geda, D. S. Knopman, R. H. Cha, V. S. Pankratz, B. F. Boeve, E. G. Tangalos, R. J. Ivnik, W. A. Rocca, R. C. Petersen. The incidence of MCI differs by subtype and is higher in men: The Mayo Clinic Study of Aging. Neurology, 2012; DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e3182452862

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://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120125163412.htm

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Photos | MTV Buzzworthy: Pop Stars Making Taylor Swift Faces!

MTV Buzzworthy: Pop Stars Making Taylor Swift Faces!

Related Artists

• Taylor Swift
• Kanye West
• JoJo
• Drake
• Jennifer Lopez

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3 killed as storms sweep through Alabama

Powerful storms spawned a number of reported tornadoes across the South, causing damage in Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama. NBC's Al Roker reports.

By msnbc.com staff and news services

Updated at?9:10 a.m. ET: At least three people were killed as storms swept through Jefferson County near Birmingham, Ala.,?officials reported.

Two people were killed in Center Point and one in Oak Grove, said Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency spokesman Mark Kelly said.

A storm system produced a possible tornado that moved across northern Jefferson County around 3:30 a.m., causing damage in Oak Grove, Graysville, Fultondale, Center Point, Clay and Trussville.

"Center Point was hit pretty badly," Kelly said.

"We have major, major damage," said Bob Ammons, another Jefferson County EMA official, speaking of Center Point, Trussville and some unincorporated areas of the county.

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"Some roads are impassable, there are a number of county roads where you have either debris down, trees down, damage from homes," added Yasamie Richardsond, a spokeswoman for the Alabama Emergency Management Agency.

In Clanton, about 50 miles south of Birmingham, rescuers were responding to reports of a trailer turned over with people trapped, City Clerk Debbie Orange said.

Butch Dill / AP

This neighborhood in Trussville, Ala., was among those hit by a suspected tornado overnight.

The Birmingham News reported that in DeKalb County, which suffered casualties and serious damage following the April 27, 2011, tornado, public storm shelters are still not installed, and they will likely not be ready in time for the new tornado season.

Updated at 7:27 a.m. ET:?Firefighters started house-to-house searches in Center Point, Ala., early Monday amid reports that people?were trapped after storms swept through the area.

Butch Dill / AP

Rescue workers help a family out of their neighborhood in Trussville, Ala. on Monday.

Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency Duty Manager Bob Ammons?told The Associated Press that rescuers would do "whatever it takes" to free victims from?damaged?buildings.?

Updated at 6:45 a.m. ET: Alabama Emergency Management Agency says it has received?reports of heavy storm damage in Center Point and other parts of Jefferson County with many houses damage or destroyed.

Updated at 5:21 a.m. ET: A line of "strong to severe storms" that could feature tornadoes pushed through?parts of?Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama early Monday,?Weather.com reported.

Tornadoes were also spotted in Arkansas on Sunday night, but there were no reports of any injuries.

"Some segments within the long line of storms can contain a short-lived, rain-wrapped tornado," Weather.com warned on its website at 5:15 a.m. ET.

Forecasters said?Monday's storms could?feature "damaging winds in excess of 50 mph, heavy downpours and frequent lightning."

Published at 4:47 a.m. ET: Twisters downed trees and power lines in Arkansas leaving thousands without?electricity late Sunday, as forecasters warned that tornadoes and heavy storms could mete out damage to several southeast states into Monday.

The National Weather Service said it received reports of possible tornadoes in Arkansas, Dallas, Lonoke, Prairie and Cleveland counties Sunday night. The storms also brought hail and strong winds as they moved through parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, Illinois and Mississippi.

A tornado tore into an area outside of Fordyce, some 70 miles south of state capital Little Rock at around 8:00 p.m. local time, damaging houses and felling trees and power lines as it moved, according to Accuweather.com.

An official at Dallas County sheriff's department told Reuters that emergency responders rescued a woman after she become trapped in her home. No injuries were reported.

Accuweather carried reports of five other twisters touching the ground in Arkansas, which was pelted by softball-sized hailstones and buffeted by winds gusting up to 70 miles per hour.

The storms were part of a system threatening parts of the South and Midwest overnight. A tornado watch was in effect for parts of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee early Monday.

National Weather Service forecaster Marlene Mickelson in Memphis, Tenn., told The Associated Press that the Memphis area had some damage from winds that reached 60 to 70 mph.

Funnel clouds were spotted within 20 miles of Little Rock, according to a national weather service alert, which also issued a flood advisory for the city.

Roughly 13,400 homes were without power across Arkansas as the storms intensified, according to utility provider Entergy Arkansas, Inc.

Msnbc.com, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.??

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/23/10214424-3-people-killed-as-storms-sweep-through-alabama

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Lively NKorean capital celebrates Lunar New Year (AP)

PYONGYANG, North Korea ? North Koreans bundled against the freezing cold paid respects again to late leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang's main plaza Monday and celebrated the Lunar New Year holiday with colorful flowers and children's games.

A massive portrait of Kim Jong Il, absent after the mourning period for his death last month, has been restored at the vast Kim Il Sung Square. People stood in line to bow and lay single red flowers ? the late leader's namesake "kimjongilia" begonias ? made of fabric.

The capital city that was barren and somber for several weeks is filled with color again: flower beds and planters bursting with blossoms and the red, white and blue national flag fluttering from signposts. Banners celebrating the year and posters marking the holiday called "Sol Myong Jol" here were pinned to buildings and walls.

The North Korean year "Juche 101" counts from 1912, the year founder Kim Il Sung was born.

The holiday comes as new leader Kim Jong Un, who has pledged to uphold his father's "military first" policy, visits military units. North Korea recently credited him with commanding nuclear tests and working closely with his father on military and economic matters, dismissing other countries' doubts about his ability to lead a country with an active nuclear program and chronic food shortages.

The new era of leadership comes as North Korea prepares to celebrate the 100th anniversary in April of the birth of national founder, late President Kim Il Sung.

In downtown Pyongyang, lanterns printed with "2012" and "Congratulations" dangled from the eaves of Pothong Gate. At the plaza in front of the Pyongyang Grand Theater, hundreds of children scampered and shouted as they flew kites and played traditional Korean games in freezing temperatures.

Pyongyang residents said they were encouraged to celebrate the holiday as they usually do, despite the death of Kim Jong Il, only the second leader North Koreans have known since the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was founded in 1948. State television aired a segment late Sunday on making rice cake soup, a traditional New Year's meal in both Koreas.

At the Mangyongdae Schoolchildren's Palace, high-ranking military and political officials watched an annual song-and-dance performance by students and a troupe of performers from the ethnic Korean community in Japan.

On Mansudae Street, Ro Chang Hae said his first emotion on Lunar New Year's Day was to miss the late leader.

"My eyes sting with tears whenever I think about how he provided us with such a comfortable home and always worried so much about us year after year," he told The Associated Press.

His granddaughters, an 8-year-old dressed in a school uniform and a 3-year-old wearing in a pink Korean dress, bowed as they wished him well.

The girls poured a tumbler of Korean liquor for him, saying: "Grandfather, we hope you'll be healthy and hope for your longevity."

Ro, 68, said the whole family would gather at lunchtime for rice cake soup.

___

Follow AP's North Korea coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/newsjean and twitter.com/dguttenfelder.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_re_as/as_nkorea_new_year

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Another side of Ai Weiwei shown in Sundance film (Reuters)

PARK CITY, Utah (Reuters) ? A new documentary film offers a glimpse into the life of Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei, conveying a creative, brave, yet humble man who has become more cautious following his 81-day government detention in 2011.

"Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry," which premiered at the Sundance film festival on Sunday, features interviews China's leading artists and activists and people who surround Ai in is life.

It includes footage that humanizes the man, showing suprising tears from his mother worried about his safety, the artist playing with his young son, and highlights from his projects such as a poor response to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

Ai, who was named the world's most powerful artist by U.K-based ArtReview magazine in October since his release, appears in interviews only before his detention, but not after his release.

The 54-year-old bearded, burly Chinese artist wanted to attend the Sundance screening "but felt it was just going to invite too much trouble," the film's director Alison Klayman told the audience after a standing ovation in Park City, Utah, where the festival takes place.

Ai became a symbol for China's crackdown on artists and dissidents when his disappearance and secret detention after battling Chinese authorities sparked an international outcry.

Last November he paid a bond of 8.4 million yuan (then $1.3 million) on a tax evasion charge, which he denies, while his supporters continued to raise the full, combined bill of 15 million yuan (then $2.4 million.)

Klayman spent several years chronicling his rise to prominence and told the audience she believed the detention of the artist, which became a rallying point for China's free speech and other movements, had changed him.

"There was absolutely a change. I really think about it as: there was the time before the detention and there was the time after," she said. "The big thing is that he is constantly changing, he always has been, so I don't know where it is going to end up."

INSIGHT INTO AI

The film offers audiences some insight into Ai's childhood, family, formative time spent living for years in New York and his reasons for often criticizing China's government, which is expressed in many of his contemporary works.

"If you don't act, the danger becomes stronger," says Ai, who had a hand in designing the Bird's Nest stadium at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and has had installations at some of the world's major museums including London's Tate Modern Gallery.

"Never Sorry" shows his efforts gathering and listing more than 5,000 names of students who died in the Sichuan earthquake,

pointing to shoddy school construction and claiming that he was punched in the head by police in Sichuan's capital Chengdu.

But it also offers glimpses of a loving father and stoic son rarely publicly separated from his art and activism.

"Every night I can't sleep," his mother, Gao Ying, says to him in the film before breaking down in tears because she is worried she will not see him again.

"We'll endure what we can," he answers calmly, before later calling himself "an eternal optimist."

Klayman, who doubted there would be a public screening of the film in China, told the audience it was clear that being a father had altered Ai's life, too, along with detention.

He seems more careful, she said, when talking about footage in the documentary showing that upon his release, Ai uncharacteristically speaks little to reporters.

"He does have to be a lot more cautious. If this was a year ago he would be here," said Klayman.

(Reporting By Christine Kearney; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/stage_nm/us_sundance_aiweiwei

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Congratulations, Newt (Powerlineblog)

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