US stockpile security and international monitoring capabilities strengthened, says new report on technical issues behind the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 30-Mar-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Molly Galvin
news@nas.edu
202-334-2138
National Academy of Sciences

WASHINGTON The United States is now in a better position than at any time in the past to maintain a safe and effective nuclear weapons stockpile without testing and to monitor clandestine nuclear testing abroad, says a new report from the National Research Council. The report, requested by the Office of the Vice President and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, reviews and updates a 2002 study that examined the technical concerns raised about the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The report does not take a position on whether the U.S. should ratify the treaty.

"So long as the nation is fully committed to securing its weapons stockpile and provides sufficient resources for doing so, the U.S. has the technical capabilities to maintain safe, reliable nuclear weapons into the foreseeable future without the need for underground weapons testing," said Ellen D. Williams, chief scientist at BP and chair of the committee that wrote the report. "In addition, U.S. and international technologies to monitor weapons testing by other countries are significantly better now than they were a decade ago."

U.S. verification of compliance with the CTBT would be accomplished through a combination of information gathered by the U.S. military and intelligence agencies, the International Monitoring System (IMS), which is now more than 80 percent complete, and other publicly available geophysical data. U.S. global monitoring capabilities are superior to those of the IMS and can focus on countries of national concern, the report says. However, the IMS provides valuable data to the U.S., both as a common baseline for international assessment and as a way of disclosing potential violations when the U.S. needs to keep its own data classified. Therefore, the U.S. should support both the completion of the IMS and its operations regardless of whether CTBT enters into force, the report says.

The improvements in the IMS and the U.S. monitoring network reduce the likelihood of undetected nuclear explosion testing and inhibit development of new types of strategic nuclear weapons, the report says. Technologies for detecting clandestine testing in four environments -- underground, underwater, in the atmosphere, and in space -- have improved significantly in the past decade. In particular, seismology, the most effective approach for monitoring underground nuclear explosion testing, can now detect underground explosions well below 1 kiloton in most regions. A kiloton is equivalent to 1,000 tons of chemical high explosive. The nuclear weapons that were used in Japan in World War II had yields in the range of 10 to 20 kilotons.

The report acknowledges that weapons threats could arise without being detected even if a test ban existed. For example, a rudimentary nuclear weapon could be built and deployed without testing by a nation with access to sufficient material, or a previously tested weapon design might be manufactured without further testing by a country that obtained the design. Such weapons could pose local or regional threats "of great concern," but they would not require the U.S. to return to weapons testing in order to respond, the report says. The U.S. already has or could produce weapons of equal or greater capability based on its own nuclear explosion test history. In addition, if the U.S. determined that there was a technical need to develop a new type of nuclear weapon that has not been tested previously, it could invoke the "supreme national interest clause" and withdraw from the CTBT.

The administration and Congress should develop and implement a comprehensive plan with a clear strategy for maintaining the nation's nuclear deterrence capabilities and competencies, the report says. The nation's Stockpile Stewardship Program, which collectively maintains the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal in the absence of testing, has had "significant advances" in technical knowledge and capability since the 2002 report, such as completion and operation of new major research facilities. The report calls for a strong national commitment to recruiting and sustaining high-quality workers, repairing aging infrastructure, and strengthening the science, engineering, and technology base for both stockpile maintenance and monitoring capabilities.

Initiated nearly 50 years ago under President Eisenhower, negotiations for the CTBT were completed in 1996. The treaty has been signed by 182 nations, including the United States. The pact, which would prohibit nuclear weapons testing in all environments, would establish a network of monitoring stations to help track compliance and provide for inspections of suspected tests. It would permit research, development, and design activities by the nuclear-weapon states, but experiments producing a nuclear yield would be forbidden.

The treaty would enter into force after ratification by the 44 countries that either already possessed nuclear weapons or had nuclear reactors in 1996. To date, 36 have done so, including Russia, the United Kingdom, and France. The U.S. Senate failed to give its advice and consent to ratification in 1999. The Obama administration has indicated that it will seek ratification. The U.S. has observed a testing moratorium since October 1992.

###

The study was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of State, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are private, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter. The Research Council is the principal operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. For more information, visit http://national-academies.org. A committee roster follows.

Contacts:
Molly Galvin, Senior Media Relations Officer
Shaquanna Shields, Media Relations Assistant
Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; e-mail news@nas.edu

Pre-publication copies of The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty: Technical Issues for the United States are available from the National Academies Press; tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242 or on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
Division on Policy and Global Affairs

Committee on Reviewing and Updating Technical Issues Related to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Ellen D. Williams1 (chair)
Chief Scientist
BP
London

Marvin L. Adams
Professor of Nuclear Engineering
Texas A&M University
College Station

Linton F. Brooks
Independent Consultant
Vienna, Va.

Theodore W. Bowyer
Scientist and Program Manager
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Richland, Wash.

Donald D. Cobb
Senior Adviser
Defense Threat Reduction Agency
Los Alamos, N.M.

Richard L. Garwin1, 2, 3
Fellow Emeritus
IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center
Yorktown Heights, N.Y.

Raymond Jeanloz1
Professor in Earth and Planetary Science and Astronomy
University of California
Berkeley

Richard W. Mies
President and CEO
The Mies Group Ltd.
Fairfax Station, Va.

C. Bruce Tarter
Director Emeritus
E.O. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Livermore, Calif.

Subcommittee on Seismology to the Committee to Review and Update Technical Issues Related to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Lynn R. Sykes 1 (chair)
Higgins Professor Emeritus of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Columbia University
Palisades, N.Y.

Hans Hartse
Staff Seismologist
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos, N.M.

Paul G. Richards
Emeritus Mellon Professor of Natural Sciences
Columbia University
New York City

Gregory Van Der Vink
Visiting Lecturer
Department of Geosciences
Princeton University
Princeton, N.J.

William R. Walter
Scientific Staff
Earth and Energy Division
E.O. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Livermore, Calif.

STAFF

Benjamin J. Rusek
Study Co-Director

1 Member, National Academy of Sciences
2 Member, National Academy of Engineering
3 Member, Institute of Medicine


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share 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.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 30-Mar-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Molly Galvin
news@nas.edu
202-334-2138
National Academy of Sciences

WASHINGTON The United States is now in a better position than at any time in the past to maintain a safe and effective nuclear weapons stockpile without testing and to monitor clandestine nuclear testing abroad, says a new report from the National Research Council. The report, requested by the Office of the Vice President and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, reviews and updates a 2002 study that examined the technical concerns raised about the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The report does not take a position on whether the U.S. should ratify the treaty.

"So long as the nation is fully committed to securing its weapons stockpile and provides sufficient resources for doing so, the U.S. has the technical capabilities to maintain safe, reliable nuclear weapons into the foreseeable future without the need for underground weapons testing," said Ellen D. Williams, chief scientist at BP and chair of the committee that wrote the report. "In addition, U.S. and international technologies to monitor weapons testing by other countries are significantly better now than they were a decade ago."

U.S. verification of compliance with the CTBT would be accomplished through a combination of information gathered by the U.S. military and intelligence agencies, the International Monitoring System (IMS), which is now more than 80 percent complete, and other publicly available geophysical data. U.S. global monitoring capabilities are superior to those of the IMS and can focus on countries of national concern, the report says. However, the IMS provides valuable data to the U.S., both as a common baseline for international assessment and as a way of disclosing potential violations when the U.S. needs to keep its own data classified. Therefore, the U.S. should support both the completion of the IMS and its operations regardless of whether CTBT enters into force, the report says.

The improvements in the IMS and the U.S. monitoring network reduce the likelihood of undetected nuclear explosion testing and inhibit development of new types of strategic nuclear weapons, the report says. Technologies for detecting clandestine testing in four environments -- underground, underwater, in the atmosphere, and in space -- have improved significantly in the past decade. In particular, seismology, the most effective approach for monitoring underground nuclear explosion testing, can now detect underground explosions well below 1 kiloton in most regions. A kiloton is equivalent to 1,000 tons of chemical high explosive. The nuclear weapons that were used in Japan in World War II had yields in the range of 10 to 20 kilotons.

The report acknowledges that weapons threats could arise without being detected even if a test ban existed. For example, a rudimentary nuclear weapon could be built and deployed without testing by a nation with access to sufficient material, or a previously tested weapon design might be manufactured without further testing by a country that obtained the design. Such weapons could pose local or regional threats "of great concern," but they would not require the U.S. to return to weapons testing in order to respond, the report says. The U.S. already has or could produce weapons of equal or greater capability based on its own nuclear explosion test history. In addition, if the U.S. determined that there was a technical need to develop a new type of nuclear weapon that has not been tested previously, it could invoke the "supreme national interest clause" and withdraw from the CTBT.

The administration and Congress should develop and implement a comprehensive plan with a clear strategy for maintaining the nation's nuclear deterrence capabilities and competencies, the report says. The nation's Stockpile Stewardship Program, which collectively maintains the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal in the absence of testing, has had "significant advances" in technical knowledge and capability since the 2002 report, such as completion and operation of new major research facilities. The report calls for a strong national commitment to recruiting and sustaining high-quality workers, repairing aging infrastructure, and strengthening the science, engineering, and technology base for both stockpile maintenance and monitoring capabilities.

Initiated nearly 50 years ago under President Eisenhower, negotiations for the CTBT were completed in 1996. The treaty has been signed by 182 nations, including the United States. The pact, which would prohibit nuclear weapons testing in all environments, would establish a network of monitoring stations to help track compliance and provide for inspections of suspected tests. It would permit research, development, and design activities by the nuclear-weapon states, but experiments producing a nuclear yield would be forbidden.

The treaty would enter into force after ratification by the 44 countries that either already possessed nuclear weapons or had nuclear reactors in 1996. To date, 36 have done so, including Russia, the United Kingdom, and France. The U.S. Senate failed to give its advice and consent to ratification in 1999. The Obama administration has indicated that it will seek ratification. The U.S. has observed a testing moratorium since October 1992.

###

The study was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of State, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are private, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter. The Research Council is the principal operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. For more information, visit http://national-academies.org. A committee roster follows.

Contacts:
Molly Galvin, Senior Media Relations Officer
Shaquanna Shields, Media Relations Assistant
Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; e-mail news@nas.edu

Pre-publication copies of The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty: Technical Issues for the United States are available from the National Academies Press; tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242 or on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
Division on Policy and Global Affairs

Committee on Reviewing and Updating Technical Issues Related to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Ellen D. Williams1 (chair)
Chief Scientist
BP
London

Marvin L. Adams
Professor of Nuclear Engineering
Texas A&M University
College Station

Linton F. Brooks
Independent Consultant
Vienna, Va.

Theodore W. Bowyer
Scientist and Program Manager
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Richland, Wash.

Donald D. Cobb
Senior Adviser
Defense Threat Reduction Agency
Los Alamos, N.M.

Richard L. Garwin1, 2, 3
Fellow Emeritus
IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center
Yorktown Heights, N.Y.

Raymond Jeanloz1
Professor in Earth and Planetary Science and Astronomy
University of California
Berkeley

Richard W. Mies
President and CEO
The Mies Group Ltd.
Fairfax Station, Va.

C. Bruce Tarter
Director Emeritus
E.O. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Livermore, Calif.

Subcommittee on Seismology to the Committee to Review and Update Technical Issues Related to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Lynn R. Sykes 1 (chair)
Higgins Professor Emeritus of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Columbia University
Palisades, N.Y.

Hans Hartse
Staff Seismologist
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos, N.M.

Paul G. Richards
Emeritus Mellon Professor of Natural Sciences
Columbia University
New York City

Gregory Van Der Vink
Visiting Lecturer
Department of Geosciences
Princeton University
Princeton, N.J.

William R. Walter
Scientific Staff
Earth and Energy Division
E.O. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Livermore, Calif.

STAFF

Benjamin J. Rusek
Study Co-Director

1 Member, National Academy of Sciences
2 Member, National Academy of Engineering
3 Member, Institute of Medicine


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share 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.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-03/naos-uss033012.php

kasey kahne angelina jolie right leg saving face academy award winners best picture 2012 oscar winners channel 3 news

Business Ethics: Why Greg Smith Left Goldman Sachs (Advanced ...

Business Ethics ESL Lesson Plan: Warm-up (Pair Work)

1) What?s the best way to invest for your future?
2) What companies do you feel overcharge or abuse their customers?
3) What is the purpose of a corporation or financial institution?
4) Have you ever quit a job for ethical reasons?
5) What are the values of the company you work for?

Reading: Why Greg Smith Left Goldman Sachs (March, 2012)

Greg Smith has created a significant buzz on Wall Street. When he resigned on March 14th as an executive director at Goldman Sachs, one of the world?s largest investment banks, he decided to publish his resignation letter in the New York Times. Needless to say, he has definitely burned his bridges with his former employer. After 12 years at Goldman Sachs, which he writes was ?long enough to understand the trajectory of [the company?s] culture?, Smith claims he could no longer in good conscience identify with what the company stood for. He complains of a shift in the company?s practices from protecting client interests towards a culture of money-grubbing in which the client?s interests are sidelined. According to Smith, the mission today is to get clients to trade whatever brings the biggest profit to Goldman. He writes:

?

?Integrity? It is eroding. I don?t know of any illegal behavior, but will people push the envelope and pitch lucrative and complicated products to clients even if they are not the simplest investments or the ones most directly aligned with the client?s goals? Absolutely. Every day, in fact.?

?

He described an environment where colleagues callously boast about ripping off clients, whom directors refer to as ?muppets.?

?

Smith concludes his letter by stating:

?

?I hope this can be a wake-up call to the board of directors. Make the client the focal point of your business again. Without clients you will not make money. In fact, you will not exist. Weed out the morally bankrupt people, no matter how much money they make for the firm. And get the culture right again, so people want to work here for the right reasons. People who care only about making money will not sustain this firm ? or the trust of its clients ? for very much longer.? [299 words]

[Original: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/opinion/why-i-am-leaving-goldman-sachs.html]

Business Ethics ESL Lesson Plan: Comprehension & Follow-Up Questions

1)??? What prompted Greg Smith to resign?

2)??? True or False: Smith accused Goldman Sachs of illegal business practices.

3)??? Who are ?muppets??

4)??? What does the phrase morally bankrupt mean?

5)??? What effect does Smith hope his letter will have?

6)??? Your Opinion: Do you commend Greg Smith for how he resigned?

7)??? Your Opinion: What surprised you about the article?

Answers

1 ? He resigned because of a shift in the company culture away from protecting client interests towards pursing profits at the expense of the clients.

2 ? False.

3 ? The muppets, in this situation, are the clients. Smith's claims his coworkers referred to clients as muppets, most likely because of the way they can manipulate them.

4 ? It means that the employees had no moral values.

5 ? He hopes it will make the board of directors wake up, and decide to improve the culture of the business by making it client-focused once again.

6 ? ?

7 ? ?

Business Ethics ESL Lesson Plan: Vocabulary Matching

Match the words with their meaning as used in the news lesson.

burn your bridges
trajectory
in good conscience
money-grubbing
integrity
erode (verb)
push the envelope
lucrative
callous
rip sb off (phr. verb)
focal point
weed out (phr. verb)
Answers
  • burn your bridges ? destroy a relationship so you cannot return somewhere
  • trajectory ? the curved paths sth thrown in the air will travel
  • in good conscience ? honestly
  • money-grubbing ? trying to get a lot of money (disapproving)
  • integrity ? the quality of being honesty or having strong principles
  • erode ? wear away; crumble; deteriorate
  • push the envelope ? go beyond the limit of what is usually done
  • lucrative ? profitable
  • callous ? without caring about other people's feelings
  • rip sb off ? cheat sb by making them pay too much
  • focal point ? the center of interest or activity
  • weed out sth ? remove or get rid of unwanted things from a group

Business Ethics ESL Lesson Plan: Connect the below idea(s) to make a sentence.


Business Ethics ESL Lesson Plan: Dissatisfied Employees

What can companies do to prevent dissatisfied or disgruntled employees from making their feelings public?

Business Ethics ESL Lesson Plan:? Role-Play (Pair Work)

Student A

It?s March 13th. Your friend, Greg Smith, tells you he plans to resign tomorrow. You don?t believe he should. Try to think of reasons why he shouldn?t. (Possible reasons: 1) money 2) businesses are all the same 3) if he wants to make a difference, then stay and fix the problem, etc.)

Student B

?

It?s March 13th. Tomorrow, you plan to quit your job. Tell your friend (Student A), about your plan to resign and also post your resignation letter publicly.

Business Ethics ESL Lesson Plan: Thrasymachus? Challenge

In Plato?s The Republic, Thrasymachus challenges Socrates to tell him why it is better in life to be just. Thrasymachus argues that it is not only more profitable to be unjust and immoral but also more rational to be so. He argues that the unjust life is more pleasant and offers more rewards. The life of the moral man, however, is wretched and unhappy. How would you respond to Thrasymachus? challenge?

Business Ethics ESL Lesson Plan: Situations

Discuss the below situations with a partner. Share your ideas with the class when finished.

1. If you are overworked and underpaid, is it okay to conduct personal business on company time?

2. If you and two other members of a five-person team did all the work on a project, would you tell management about this? Is it okay to put the other co-workers in a negative light?

Business Ethics ESL Lesson Plan: Mission, Vision, and Values (Optional Pair Work)

Combine you and your partner?s last names to make the name of a financial institution. Next, draw up a basic company mission statement that outlines its core values.

Business Ethics ESL Lesson Plan: Discussion Questions

1) Why should companies value anything other than their own profits?
2) What are the pros and cons of exit interviews?
3) What repercussions do you think await Greg Smith?
4) Whistle-blowing: Is Gregory Smith a whistle-blower?
5) Banking: Would banking services improve if banks were public?
6) How can the business culture described by Smith be changed?

?

?

?

Business Ethics ESL Lesson plan copyright Matthew Barton of Englishcurrent.com

Source: http://www.englishcurrent.com/business-ethics-greg-smith-goldman-sachs-advanced/

amazing race maya angelou mary kay ash tiny houses joan of arc tony robbins bon iver

Total Recall: Sequels to Remakes

disableOverlay=, param.forceOverlay=

With Wrath of the Titans hitting theaters, we take a look at movies whose do-overs were popular enough to warrant a follow-up.

Featured on RT

Comments

Top Headlines

Log in with Facebook to share your reviews with friends, create a want-to-see list, and more!

Log In with Facebook

Quantcast

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1924823/news/1924823/

james harrison james harrison falcons giants game norman borlaug santorum atlanta falcons

Deciding The Name Of Your Home Based Business | My Second ...

As soon as you decide to go into business, one of your immediate act would be to think of an appropriate name for your business. The question is what would be the best? What is the most recognizable word that customers will easily remember? Thinking too hard tends to block the mind, so take it easy and before you know it you have a title that will be most appropriate for your home based business. Every so often, we fail to notice what is evident due to too much thinking on so many things.

In selecting a name for your home based business, you should first write down the nature of the business. You will be selling what items? A product, service or something else? Make the title a little different and distinct from others. If the business is a sole proprietorship, your name may appear in the business name. To illustrate, if Jane is selling pet bed designs and similar products, the name of her business may be ?Jane?s Pampered Pets.? The title, whatever it is, should be representative of your products or services. The name of your business should read and sound delightful so give it a some humor. Should people feel good about your business name, they will be more interested to know what could be of further interest to them in your business.

When deciding the name of your home based business, you should first verify with the state?s business office that your title cannot be confused with other business entities. If you do not want any trademark infringement troubles at the beginning of your new business endeavor, do a thorough job of examining other business names. Furthermore, your business is original. It is a matter of your service or product and you, so it is natural that it should similarly be distinctive.

At the end of the day, be confident that you have selected a name for your home based business that you will be glad to put in your business cards and in promotions locally and nationally. People will focus first on the name of your business.
Only after they have known of your name will they make contact by phone of through your website, or place an order. Please them and they will undoubtedly do business with you.

Grab your Papa Johns coupons and take advantage of the latest deals. We keep you updated with the Red lobster coupons you?re looking for.

Business, Family, home, home based business, home business

Source: http://mysecondsalary.com/2012/03/30/deciding-the-name-of-your-home-based-business/

ben affleck and jennifer garner google privacy changes windows 8 preview leap year moratorium dwts season 14 cast leap day

Spectacular brain images reveal simple wiring

Stunning new visuals of the brain reveal a deceptively simple pattern of organization in the wiring of this complex organ.

Instead of nerve fibers travelling willy-nilly through the brain like spaghetti, as some imaging has suggested, the new portraits reveal two-dimensional sheets of parallel fibers crisscrossing other sheets at right angles in a gridlike structure that folds and contorts with the convolutions of the brain.

  1. More science news from msnbc.com

    1. 'Game of Thrones' plays off real-life sword science

      Updated 75 minutes ago 3/30/2012 2:10:13 AM +00:00 Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: All swords are not created equal, particularly when it comes to "Game of Thrones," the HBO series based on George R.R. Martin's sword-and-sorcery saga.

    2. Spectacular brain images reveal simple wiring
    3. Peru animal mounds likely oldest ever found
    4. How conservatives lost faith in science

This same pattern appeared in the brains of humans, rhesus monkeys, owl monkeys, marmosets and galagos, researchers report Thursday in the journal Science.

"The upshot is the fibers of the brain form a 3-D grid and are organized in this exceptionally simple way," study leader Van Wedeen, a neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, told LiveScience. "This motif of crossing in three axes is the basic motif of brain tissue." [Inside the Brain: A Journey Through Time]

The organized brain
The surface of the brain contains about 40 billion nerve cells, each making about 1,000 connections in a pattern that brain researchers have yet to decipher, said Marsel Mesulam, the director of the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center at Northwestern University. Mesulam, who was not involved in the study, called Wedeen's work "very exciting."

"There can be no more fundamental question in philosophy, in psychology," Mesulam told LiveScience. "The human brain is the single most complex device in the known universe, and it works by nerve cells talking to each other. If we can't figure out how they decide who to talk to and what they tell each other, we just don't understand how the brain functions."

Using a technique he developed called diffusion spectrum magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Wedeen traced the movement of water molecules along the intersections of brain fibers (the cellular projections that form the brain's communication network), tracking the orientation of each fiber at each crossing.

"What emerged was astonishing," Wedeen said. "What emerged was that the set of fibers that crossed a given fiber, invariably ? and that's a really strong invariably ? look like mutually parallel fibers all coming in like the teeth of a comb and crossing it in one direction." [See video of the brain structure]

Animal studies had suggested this pattern might exist, and researchers already knew that the nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain stem were organized in very structured parallels and perpendiculars even in humans (consider the long nerve fibers that run down the backbone and then branch out perpendicularly from the vertebrae). But it's difficult to get high-resolution scans of fiber connectivity in the human cortex, given that humans tend to become uncomfortable if left in an MRI scanner for more than 45 minutes or so, Wedeen said. For that reason, images of human brain connections have tended to look like tangled spaghetti, he said.

Wedeen and his colleagues scanned four types of primate brains from deceased animals, enabling them to image the brains for up to 48 hours, as well as brains from living human subjects using a new scanner that can achieve 10 times the resolution of conventional MRI machines. Using special software, the researchers then reconstructed three-dimensional images of the brain-fiber pathways.

"Looking across multiple species, it emerged that the pattern was substantially similar," Wedeen said. "When you went from primates with small brains to primates with big brains ? the rules were the same, but they were being applied more diversely and with more layers in the larger, more complex brains."

Adaptable brain
The finding of clear up-down, front-back and side-to-side organization in the brain makes sense, Wedeen said, given that the brain has had to rewire both evolutionarily (to form the specialized brains humans boast today) and during its lifetime (as it grows and learns, for example). If the organization of communication were chaotic, that wouldn't work.

"It's like rewiring your basement at random," Wedeen said. "First thing that happens, house burns down, you die."

In other words, adapting a complexly wired brain that will still allow the next generation to survive would be next to impossible.

"If you try to picture what would happen if you tried to turn one spaghetti brain into a different spaghetti brain, you realize you would need an impossibly knowledgably intelligent designer standing above the brain and rewiring it," Wedeen said.

With an organized grid structure, however, evolution can easily build on what came before ? adding in a more complex forebrain in humans versus our monkey relatives, for example.

More work should be done to link the imaging methods of Wedeen with traditional neuroanatomy methods to confirm the findings, Mesulam said. Wedeen plans to expand the map of the human brain into more detail. It's also important to understand the relationship between a brain's structure and its function, he said. Understanding the structure of a typical brain would ultimately help scientists comprehend what happens when brain development goes wrong, as in Alzheimer's or mental illness.

"Say somebody comes to you with their 2-year-old and they say, 'My 2-year-old is just not looking me in the eyes.' Is this the first sign of Asperger's or just an individual difference?" Wedeen said. "You'd know how to begin. You'd know what you were doing."

You can follow LiveSciencesenior writer Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescienceand on Facebook.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46897519/ns/technology_and_science-science/

ipo jim rome ufc on fox 2 weigh ins brandi glanville convulsions john tyler chuck

Expanding Your Business With The Help Of SEO Internet Marketing ...

Expand Your Business with SEO Internet Marketing

Two of the core concepts regarding SEO marketing plans are website branding and usability, which are major factors in determining your web page ranking. The challenge for business websites is not only getting customers to visit the site, but also keeping them coming back and staying longer each time. In most cases, though, people will search and shop the internet with specific products and items in mind. Establishing connections between customers? needs and your website is where SEO marketing excels.

Regardless of the specific search engine, internet users must use specific key words to begin their search process. In turn, the search engine will produce a list of all the web pages that contain those key words. The SEO is designed to increase the likelihood of your website appearing at the top of these lists, ideally within the top ten. If a considerable amount of SEO has been done for your site, you greatly increase your presence in the search results.

Considering all that is involved to make SEO marketing really effective, it may prove to be too daunting of a task for any one person. Besides the development of key words and phrases, SEO marketing also includes many other processes, including web page indexing and analyzing, back link creation, and social networking. A SEO internet marketing operation will not produce the desired results unless there are dedicated personnel and resources to ensure its success. It may be more productive for you to hire an outside internet marketing specialist, whether this is a private contractor or a SEO marketing firm.

==========
More sales
To get your site at the top of Google inexpensively, simply fill in the form in the right hand column.
This entry is provided by MoreCustomersAndMoreSales.com.

==========

Any business looking survive through the present transition to the new global economy must realize the necessity of using SEO internet marketing. Even for those businesses which have traditionally had only physical locations, they must also transition their operations to establish a web presence for themselves. Certainly, having a forward-thinking, innovative approach to your internet marketing will present your business with a considerable advantage over your competitors.

In the current information age, more of any given company?s operations are being conducted online, especially publicity and marketing. With corporate success becoming increasingly reliant on the internet technologies, it is now all important for businesses to have a website or some established presence in blogs and search engines. In fact, given the way people will search the internet when they have questions or interests in a particular product, online marketing is becoming the primary marketing strategy for many businesses. Of the various online marketing strategies, SEO marketing has been proven to be one of the more effective and efficient, in terms of ease, time, and cost.

When you enter vancouver seo into Bing Search, do you discover what you need?

Related posts:

  1. Hiring A Nc Internet Marketing Company On The Internet
  2. Internet Marketing Of Small Business
  3. The Various Kinds Of Internet Marketing
  4. Advertising and Marketing Your Internet Marketing Business Without Google PPC!
  5. Top Internet Marketing services Tips Strategies

Source: http://morecustomersandmoresales.com/expanding-your-business-with-the-help-of-seo-internet-marketing/

carlos the jackal namibia namibia hell on wheels hell on wheels new york city marathon andy williams

Leadership Traits You Can Develop

If you consider what makes a great leader, you?ll find many examples of politicians, sports men and women or those that have fought for change in the world. Advancing in your business or trade can be done once you understand the leadership skills that these good individuals possessed and how to implement them in your specific business. If you model the attributes of successful folks you can start to change yourself into a high achieving manager or business leader. If you would like to improve your business, and enhance your own leadership skills, this article will show you how to improve your business.

The first quality to consider is courage and this can be advantageous in many ways. Although history will paint these individuals as being fearless leaders, in reality, they had simply learned to control the same fear that keeps you from becoming great yourself. If you feel cornered or have arrived at a plateau in your life, it is typically the case that you prefer to stay in your comfort zone. People who face fear often, and actively seek new challenges daily, have a tendency to progress in their careers more so than other folks. It is a wonderful leadership characteristic to be able to make decisions, take calculated risks and embrace responsibility.

Focus is the one thing that all successful leaders generally have, and it is important for a couple reasons, In the business world frequently you will hear of someone being target driven and what this really means is that they have the ability to concentrate on attaining their objectives and deadlines. The way that focus works for an effective leader is that they have the ability to finish crucial tasks and they aren?t tempted to put difficult decisions or work to one side. It is vital that you give priority to the projects that you need to accomplish. You have to be able to complete what you start whatever it is that you may be doing.

Once you are able to develop some level of respect for staff, they, and other peers, will cooperate with you because of your outstanding people skills. There is a balance to be struck between being assertive so that you are seen as a leader but also being rational and respecting the thoughts and viewpoints of others. If you?re able to do this, you will have those who want to work with you as opposed to going against you. It?s about working with ethics and consistency. You should position yourself in a way that will present a very good leadership image that is appreciated and esteemed.

And so if you want long-term success as a leader, having continuing education and working on self-improvement is what you should do. We are living in a world where technology has influenced all aspects of life. There are lots of ways that you can promote yourself, and your business, on the Internet as well. Knowledge pretty much is power, giving us the ability to improve our lives, our business, and our jobs. The traits needed for leadership may be developed and you can try to acquire these yourself.

Loading

Source: http://projectmanagerblog.com/leadership-traits-you-can-develop/

dish network cbs news manny pacquiao fight pacquiao marquez pacquiao marquez penn state game radiohead tour

gel kayano 17 Health and Fitness Childhood Obesity

There are many obstacles you want face while you attempt apt director your child toward a healthy heaviness There are typically changes namely absence to be made.changes involving types of foods your kids dine while they dine plus how they dine Be prepared as complaints to put it mildly)?the kids are never going to favor having their food?muddled with?. You ambition knob with some obstacles along the way If you are expecting the problems,gel kayano 17, you ambition be better equipped to deal with them. Here are a few of the snags you may escape within apt plus suggestions aboard how to derail them: 1. Your babe is altogether accustomed to dessert and?throws a eligible (literally or figuratively) meantime you dare to recommend that this namely the current access of deed things. The agreeable health of your babe far outweighs any protests he or she may make They have to comprehend that there is a current Sheriff within town and the laws have changed. Don?t reserve your babe within the black as apt what your motives are. Learn as yourself,timberland 6 inch,and afterward explain among terms you babe tin comprehend the basics of sound nutrition.
Related articles?

Source: http://asics.manablog.jp/archives/14263

ed lee garmin nuvi 1450 tommy john surgery colorado weather alcohol poisoning alcohol poisoning mark ingram

Blu Homes Offers Residential Real Estate Developers an Easier ...

SAN FRANCISCO and WALTHAM, Mass., March 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- California and Massachusetts-based Blu Homes (www.bluhomes.com) today announced that it is partnering with real estate developers nationwide to bring customers its beautiful, green, precision-built homes. Developers interested in learning more can go to http://www.bluhomes.com/partners/developers/.

To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click: http://www.multivu.com/mnr/53077-blu-homes-easier-greener-and-more-cost-effective-way-to-build

(Photo:? http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120328/MM77820 )

One of Blu's first partnerships is with Neil Costa, a developer in Columbia County, New York, who has worked with local conservancy groups to sustainably develop a dozen home sites ranging from five to forty-five acres. ?Blu is the exclusive builder for Neil's project, which is located two hours north of New York City and three hours west of Boston. ?Blu will begin construction of a Breezehouse model home on the property this Spring.

The Costa sites offer privacy, wooded areas, streams, ponds and lovely vistas of the Hudson River Valley and the Berkshires. They are a perfect fit for Blu's beautiful, cedar-sided and glass-walled homes that celebrate "bringing the outside in." ?The public is invited to tour the sites on April 29, 2012. More information can be found at http://www.bluhomes.com/news-and-events/events/.

"Blu's spacious, light-filled homes are exactly what I've always dreamed of building on this land. I am thrilled that I will be able to offer buyers the opportunity to have homes that blend harmoniously with the natural beauty of the property," said Neil Costa. "And the fact that Blu streamlines the building process, reduces subcontractor management by hundreds of hours, and offers such extraordinarily high quality construction?as well as providing a significant source for buyers?makes them the perfect partner."

"80% of Blu's 25,000 registered prospective buyers do not have land. This is a highly motivated customer base that we can bring to developers. At the same time, we are helping buyers by connecting them with beautiful land in unique places where they want to build," said Maura McCarthy, Blu Homes co-founder and VP of sales and marketing. "It's all in line with our mission to make buying a home less complicated and more enjoyable. And to be able to work cooperatively with visionary developers like Neil is a real pleasure. "

Blu is now working with developers to build vacation homes, downsizer homes, adult lifestyle communities and primary residences in California, British Columbia, and New York. Blu partners with developers who can benefit from Blu's nationwide client-demand, skilled architecture and design team, and experienced project managers. ?

By using Blu's proprietary 3-D online design tools and Blu's advanced manufacturing technology, developers can reduce uncertainty and cost for themselves and their customers.? Blu designs, engineers and builds its high quality homes in its own 250,000 sq feet of weather-controlled, precision tooled factory space, and all Blu homes are permitted on its facilities.? "Management of the labor force, all vendors and even full permit inspections are taken care of for me by Blu," said Neil Costa. "With only a few weeks of construction time on site, a great deal of risk is reduced for me, my customers and our financing sources."

Blu's new developer program includes:

  • Architect-designed, pre-engineered products of unparalleled quality, sustainability, and beauty that can be customized by buyers online and in 3-D, to each developer's specifications;
  • A marketing program to thousands of local buyers interested in purchasing Blu homes, but in need of land;
  • A collection of seven "hit models" with great market appeal, including the iconic Glidehouse and Breezehouse designs as well as accessories including garages, carports, roof decks, etc;
  • In-house design talent that customizes and combines homes to fit developers' site concepts;
  • High tech, green, and modern features for accessibility, security, energy monitoring, and air quality control;
  • High quality and durable finishes and fixtures, all warrantied under Blu's programs;
  • An "end to end" solution for developers, including project management and skilled factory craftspeople, that allows Blu to vastly reduce subcontractor management for developers;
  • Time for on-site homebuilding significantly reduced from 12-18 months to just weeks per home;
  • Significantly reduced financing and carry cost due to shorter time frames, as well as financing partner introductions through Blu's financing partnerships.

Blu is the leading designer and manufacturer of architect-designed, green, precision-built homes that have the ability to drop a home's carbon footprint, energy use, and water use by 70%?without sacrificing bright, open floor plans, soaring ceilings and luxury finishes. Blu provides American families?and now developers?with higher quality construction in almost every measurable way. Blu's homes are built using unique steel framing in a highly controlled factory setting. They are installed on-site in one day and completed in just two weeks by Blu's teams of craftsmen. This speed and convenience is a result of Blu's proprietary building science technology, which allows its homes to be unfolded for quick and cost-effective setting on site. All of this is done at a pre-agreed, fixed cost.

For more information on Blu Homes' developer program go to http://www.bluhomes.com/partners/developers/, follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/bluhomes) and Twitter (@BluHomes), or email us at developer@bluhomes.com.

About Blu Homes
Blu Homes, Inc. is the leading provider of beautiful and green precision-built homes in North America.? Built in its own 250,000 square foot state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Vallejo, California, Blu's inspired and nationally recognized homes can be found from New York to the Colorado Mountains and Pacific Coast. Blu's proprietary steel framing and building technology result in homes that are as strong as they are beautiful; that ship efficiently; and are conveniently finished on site by our own teams. Blu homes are more economical, healthier to live in, require lower maintenance, and are much stronger than conventional construction.?

SOURCE Blu Homes, Inc.

Source: http://www.constructiondigital.com/press_releases/blu-homes-offers-residential-real-estate-developers-an-easier-greener-and-more-cost-effective-way-to

barefoot bandit polar bear plunge lovelace antioch the grey review demi moore 911 call ipo

Building lightweight trains

ScienceDaily (Mar. 28, 2012) ? The less trains weigh, the more economical they are to run. A new material capable of withstanding even extreme stresses has now been developed. It is suitable for a variety of applications, not least diesel engine housings on trains -- and it makes these components over 35 percent lighter than their steel and aluminum counterparts.

In their efforts to render cars and trains more economical, manufacturers are trying to find lighter materials to replace those currently used. But there is a problem: Lighter materials tend not to be as tough as steel or aluminum, so they cannot simply be used in place of these metals. Rather, it is a question of manufacturers deciding which components can really afford to have weight shaved off and how to integrate them into the overall systems.

Working together with Bombardier GmbH, KraussMaffei Kunststofftechnik GmbH, Bayer MaterialScience AG, DECS GmbH, the DLR's Institute for Vehicle Concepts, the University of Stuttgart and the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT in Pfinztal have now developed a polyurethane-based sandwich material that is extremely resilient. "To demonstrate the material, we manufactured a component that is subject to significant stresses and which has to fulfill a number of requirements -- the diesel engine housing for a train," says Jan Kuppinger, a scientist at the ICT. This housing is located beneath the passenger compartment, i.e. between the car and the tracks. Not only does it shield the engine against flying stones and protect the environment from any oil that might escape, but in the event of a fire, it also stops the flames from spreading, thus meeting the flame retardant and fire safety standards for railway vehicles. Kuppinger adds: "By using this new material, we can reduce the component's weight by over 35 percent -- and cut costs by 30 percent."

The researchers opted for a sandwich construction to ensure component stability: Glass fiber reinforced polyurethane layers form the outer facings, while the core is made of paper honeycomb. Polyurethane is a bulk plastic combining two substances. Since it can be adapted to fulfill various requirements, it is referred to as a 'customizable material'. In foamed form it is soft, and can be used for example as a material for mattresses; in compact form it is strong and hard. The researchers began by incorporating various additives into their polyurethane, altering it in such a way as to ensure it would meet fire safety standards. Then, the partners optimized the standard manufacturing process, fiber spraying, by developing a mixing chamber which allows even more complex structures to be produced in any required size. The diesel engine housing they made is approximately 4.5 meters long and more than 2 meters wide.

"This is the first time it has proved possible to use this process to manufacture such a large and complex component that also satisfies the structural requirements," states Kuppinger. Previously, one problem encountered with fiber spraying was that it was impossible to determine the precise thickness of the polyurethane top layers. But now the researchers have found a way to do this, using computer tomography to inspect the manufactured layers and then applying a specially-adapted evaluation routine to establish their exact thickness. This information helps to simulate the strength of the component, as well as its ability to withstand stresses.

The scientists produced their diesel engine housing demonstrator as part of the PURtrain project, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The demonstrator passed its first strength test -- in which the scientists placed it in a test rig and then applied forces to it at various locations, measuring the extent to which it deformed -- with flying colors. In the next stage, the researchers want to trial the component in a proper field test. If that, too, proves successful, it will then be possible to use the material to make roof segments, side flaps and wind deflectors for the automobile and commercial vehicle industry, and to ramp up the manufacturing process to produce medium volumes of between 250 and 30,000 units.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:


Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, via AlphaGalileo.

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


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

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

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120328090848.htm

xi jinping matt bomer westminster kennel club dog show jeremy lin game winner 19 kids and counting chocolate covered strawberries free ecards