In the ongoing ICC Africa Under-19s World Cup Qualifiers, Nigeria Under-19s won the 5th place play-off after beating Zambia Under-19s by 128 runs in the match that was played at Kyambogo Cricket Oval, Kampala.
Bimbo Adu?s majestic 57 was enough to help his side pile a decent score of 221 on the board which his side handsomely defended by restricting the opposition on a meagre 93 in 50 overs.
After winning the toss, Nigeria chose to bat first, but received an early blow when they lost opener Afeez Obisesan for two, with only four runs on the board. This was a major blow for the batting side, however, the second-wicket partnership between Daniel
Ajeku and Daniel Gim halted the bowlers long enough to take the score to 38, before the former became the next batsman to find his way off the field after he was dismissed by Azhar Haveliwala with 17 runs to his name.
The partnership between Gim and Adu was impressive as the two batsmen led the side towards 51, before the former lost his wicket after scoring 11 runs.
Adu was then joined by Joseph Adedeji and the two batsmen continued the batting onslaught by hammering the bowlers all around the park. This batting pair played a key role in breaking the back of Zambia?s bowling attack.
After taking the score to 114, this partnership met its end on the wicket of Adedeji, who fell with 29 runs to his name.
Isaac Okpe was then the next man in, and together with Adu he forged a potent partnership. The two batsmen hammered their side towards 187 runs before Okpe finally lost his wicket after hitting an important half century.
Adu was then joined by Mojeed Adiamo and this pair steered the side towards 204 before Adu was dismissed after playing a very important knock. Later, for the loss of nine wickets, Nigeria managed to end the innings with enough runs on the board to give their
opponents a run for their money.
Zambia Under-19s made a decent start with their openers crafting a stand of 37 runs, before Nigeria struck for the first time when Olakunle Awosanmi grabbed the wicket of Naeem Patel.
The partnership between Azhar Haveliwala and skipper Chetan Reddy was productive as it took the score to 44, before the captain lost his wicket on six. The side then kept losing wickets regularly, bringing a staggering decline in their scoring rate. With
most batsmen falling without reaching in double figures, the side fell short of the required target by a huge margin.
Adu was named as the Player of the Match for his brilliant work with the bat.
Portable and pocket friendly. Built-in Lightning connector. Sturdy aluminum construction. Provides hours of battery life for iPhone 5.
Cons
Easy to lose removable cap.
Bottom Line
The Phonesuit Flex Pocket Charger is a sturdily built, portable battery with a built-in Lightning connector?it'll add hours of battery life, but your best bet for all day endurance is still a battery case.
By Eugene Kim
Adding LTE, making the screen larger, and slimming down the dimensions all made the iPhone 5 one of the best smartphones available, but none of those things did it any favors for battery life. Those changes, coupled with the slow rollout of Apple-approved Lightning connector accessories means batteries and battery cases for the iPhone 5 are few and far between. The Phonesuit Flex Pocket Charger ($69.95 direct) is one of the first portable batteries we've seen with Apple's Lightning connector built right in. While its removable cap is too easy to lose, the sturdy aluminum casing, portable design, and hours of battery life make it a good choice for people who want to keep extra power on hand, but don't want the added bulk of a battery case.
The Phonesuit Flex is pocket friendly at 1.1 by 2.8 by 0.8 inches (HWD) and 2.78 ounces. The barrel-like design features a teardrop profile, with the bottom encased in anodized aluminum and a removable plastic cap on top. One end is bare, while the other houses a micro USB port, four LED indicators, and a capacitive status button. A notch in the middle of the cap makes it easy to remove, revealing a single Lightning connector. I would have liked to see some sort of tether for the cap, as I can see myself easily losing it once removed. The Lightning connector is slightly elevated on a small platform, making it easy to use even if you keep your iPhone 5 in a case. The Flex outputs at 1 amp, so while it can provide power to the fourth-gen iPad and iPad mini, it'll be slow going, since both require 2.1-amp power sources. ??
Inside the Phonesuit Flex is a 2,600mAh battery, which is nearly double the iPhone 5's 1,440mAh internal battery. The Flex allows pass-through charging, meaning you can charge both the iPhone 5 and Flex at the same time using the included micro USB cable. In my tests, making a continuous call with LTE enabled with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth switched off, the Flex added 6 hours of talk time to my completely drained AT&T iPhone 5. The iPhone 5 itself lasted 8 hours, 40 minutes on the same test, while a battery case like the Mophie Juice Pack Helium?added 6 hours, 20 minutes. ?
When it comes to iPhone 5 battery accessories, your choices are still a bit limited. If you like to keep your phone in a case, you'll probably want to check out the aforementioned Juice Pack Helium, which combines a sleek and lightweight case design with solid battery performance. Not everyone wants the added heft of a battery case, though, and the Phonesuit Flex is a great choice for people who want to keep spare power on hand just in case.
By Eugene KimJunior Analyst, Consumer Electronics
Before joining the consumer electronics team at PCMag, Eugene worked at local news station NY1 doing everything from camera work to writing scripts. He grew up in Montclair, New Jersey and graduated from the University...
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Chicago?s controversial decision to close 50 public schools was challenged by a third lawsuit Wednesday, inflaming a public relations war between City Hall and the teachers union that polls say is being waged at a time that Mayor Rahm Emanuel is more vulnerable politically.
Two federal lawsuits were filed last week by parents saying that the closings violate the civil rights of special needs children and those living in poorer, marginalized neighborhoods.
On Wednesday the Chicago Teachers Union announced it is filing a lawsuit in Circuit Court against the Chicago Public School System, saying the school board violated its own code guidelines in closing 10 elementary schools.
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In each case, the union and the parent groups say they want the closures delayed for at least a year, giving time for the matter to be given due consideration in court.
Both the Chicago Public School System (CPS) and its challengers say they are pressing forward for the sake of Chicago?s schoolchildren. The CPS is making the case that the closings ? it is the largest mass school closure in US history ? are justified to achieve meaningful reform in the lagging school district, while its critics say the sheer magnitude of the closings will create irreparable harm to those neighborhoods, which are suffering the most from neglect, and will heighten gang violence.
Becky Carroll, chief communications officer for CPS, says union leadership ?remains committed to a status quo that is failing too many children trapped in underutilized, under-resourced schools.?
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CPS, which came under fire from teachers and parents groups when it proposed the closings months ago, announced last week it would close 50 schools, the majority on the South and West sides of the city.
A prime reason cited for the closures is financial. The city?s public school system, which is the third largest in the nation and operates under the control of City Hall, faces a $1 billion budget deficit in the new fiscal year. It maintains that each closed school will save the district $500,000 and $800,000.
CPS also says that transitioning children from low-performing schools to higher-performing ones will inevitably make them better students.
Critics are disputing those assertions, and many say that while they expected some consolidation, the high volume of schools closed suggests that Mayor Emanuel is paving the way for more charter schools, and is intent on crippling the teachers union.
?He is creating a vacuum to bring in the charters. [Emmanuel] always had this Republican attitude for school reform, there?s no other way to describe it,? says Chicago Alderman John Arena of the city?s 41st Ward. ?This is probably one of the worst approaches to [school reform] I can imagine.?
One of the biggest issues to emerge is violence. Critics say that the closings will force children to travel a longer distance to school, which will inevitably expose them to competing gang turf.
According to the Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago, students travel an average of 3.5 miles to higher-performing schools in the city, while those in lower-performing schools travel about half a mile.
Marisa de la Torre, a director at the Consortium, says her research shows consolidation only improves student achievement when students are reassigned to schools that are in the top quartile of all CPS schools.
However, out of all the elementary schools where displaced children will be reassigned this fall, only three are in the top quartile.
?If the goal is to improve the academic outcome of the student, clearly the only thing to keep in mind is that the receiving school plays a big role into that,? says Ms. de la Torre. ?We see a changed education outcome of students when they go to the highest performing receiving school.?
Steve Tozer, director of the Center for Urban Education Leadership at the University of Illinois at Chicago, says the CPS budget dilemma is very real because it is funded at a much lower level than other districts in the state.
?The Illinois school funding disparity is such that if Chicago were funded at a level as some neighboring districts were funded, we would not have this budget crisis,? Professor Tozer says.
Compounding the difficulties is the district?s failure to create a long-term plan, and the push for more charter schools. Combined with the budget shortfalls, they create a ?perfect storm that is causing disruption that nobody, including [CPS], wants to see.?
Emanuel has remained largely mute on the subject since last week, when he released a statement saying, ?More hard work lies ahead, but I am confident that together with teachers and principals, engaged parents and community support, our children will succeed.?
The closings come at a time when polling shows a growing vulnerability for the mayor. According to a Chicago Tribune and WGN-TV poll released in early May, 50 percent approve of his job performance while 40 percent disapprove; a year ago, those numbers were at 52 and 29 percent respectively.
His lowest approval numbers are from black voters: 44 percent approve of his performance and 33 percent disapprove; last year, 48 percent approved while 40 percent disapproved.
The poll was conducted by phone in late April among 800 Chicago voters with a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
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May 29, 2013 ? Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania have developed a new gene therapy to thwart a potential influenza pandemic. Specifically, investigators in the Gene Therapy Program, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, directed by James M. Wilson, MD, PhD, demonstrated that a single dose of an adeno-associated virus (AAV) expressing a broadly neutralizing flu antibody into the nasal passages of mice and ferrets gives them complete protection and substantial reductions in flu replication when exposed to lethal strains of H5N1 and H1N1 flu virus. These strains were isolated from samples associated from historic human pandemics -- one from the infamous 1918 flu pandemic and another from 2009.
Wilson, Anna Tretiakova, PhD, Senior Research Scientist, Maria P. Limberis, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, all from the Penn Gene Therapy Program, and colleagues published their findings online this week in Science Translational Medicine ahead of print. In addition to the Penn scientists, the international effort included colleagues from the Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg; the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg; and the University of Pittsburgh. Tretiakova is also the director of translational research, and Limberis is the director of animal models core, both with the Gene Therapy Program.
"The experiments described in our paper provide critical proof-of-concept in animals about a technology platform that can be deployed in the setting of virtually any pandemic or biological attack for which a neutralizing antibody exists or can be easily isolated," says Wilson. "Further development of this approach for pandemic flu has taken on more urgency in light of the spreading infection in China of the lethal bird strain of H7N9 virus in humans."
At the Ready Influenza infections are the seventh leading cause of death in the United States and result in almost 500,000 deaths worldwide per year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The emergence of a new influenza pandemic remains a threat that could result in a much loss of life and worldwide economic disruption.
There is also interest by the military in developing an off-the-shelf prophylactic vaccine should soldiers be exposed to weaponized strains of infectious agents in biologic warfare.
Human antibodies with broad neutralizing activity against various influenza strains exist but their direct use as a prophylactic treatment is impractical. Now, yearly flu vaccines are made by growing the flu virus in eggs. The viral envelope proteins on the exterior, namely hemagglutinin, are cleaved off and used as the vaccine, but vary from year to year, depending on what flu strains are prevalent. However, high mutation rates in the proteins result in the emergence of new viral types each year, which elude neutralization by preexisting antibodies in the body (specifically specific receptor binding sites on the virus that are the targets of neutralizing antibodies).
This approach has led to annual vaccinations against seasonal strains of flu viruses that are predicted to emerge during the upcoming season. Strains that arise outside of the human population, for example in domestic livestock, are distinct from those that normally circulate in humans, and can lead to deadly pandemics.
These strains are also not effectively controlled by vaccines developed to human strains, as with the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. The vaccine development time for that strain, and in general, was not fast enough to support vaccination in response to an emerging pandemic.
Knowing this, the Penn team proposed a novel approach that does not require the elicitation of an immune response, which does not provide sufficient breadth to be useful against any strain of flu other than the one for which it was designed, as with conventional approaches.
The Penn approach is to clone into a vector a gene that encodes an antibody that is effective against many strains of flu and to engineer cells that line the nasal passages to express this broadly neutralizing antibody, effectively establishing broad-based efficacy against a wide range of flu strains.
A Broad Approach The rational for targeting nasal epithelial cells for antibody expression was to focus this expression to the site of the body where the virus usually enters the body and replicates which is the nasal and oral mucosa. Antibodies are normally expressed from B lymphocytes so one challenge was to design vectors that could deliver antibody genes to the non- lymphoid respiratory cells of the nasal and lung passages and could express functional antibody protein.
Targeting the respiratory cells was achieved through the use of a vector based on a primate virus -- AAV9 -- which was discovered in the Wilson laboratory and evaluated previously by Limberis for possibly treating patients with cystic fibrosis. The team constructed a genetic payload for AAV9 that expressed an antibody that was showed by other investigators to have broad activity against flu.
Efficacy of the treatment was tested in mice that were exposed to lethal quantities of three strains of H5N1 and two strains of H1N1, all of which have been associated with historic human pandemics (including the infamous H1N1 1918).
Flu virus rapidly replicated in untreated animals all of which needed to be euthanized. However, pretreatment with the AAV9 vector virtually shut down virus replication and provided complete protection against all strains of flu in the treated animals. The efficacy of this approach was also demonstrated in ferrets, which provide a more authentic model of human pandemic flu infection.
"The novelty of this approach is that we're using AAV and we're delivering the prophylactic vaccine to the nose in a non-invasive manner, not a shot like conventional vaccines that passively transfer antibodies to the general circulation," says Limberis.
"There's a long history of using antibodies for cancer and autoimmune disease, but only two have been approved for infectious diseases," notes Tretikova. "This novel technique has allowed for the development of a prophylactic passive vaccine that is cost effective, easily administered, and quickly manufactured."
The team is working with various stakeholders to accelerate the development of this product for pandemic flu and to explore the potential of AAV vectors as generic delivery vehicles for countermeasures of biological and chemical weapons.
The research was supported in part by ReGenX, the Public Health Agency of Canada (#531252), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (#246355) and the National Institutes of Health (GM083602).
PARIS (Reuters) - France said on Wednesday its intelligence services believed 3-4,000 guerillas from Lebanon's Hezbollah militia fighting alongside President Bashar al-Assad's army in Syria's civil war.
"As far as Hezbollah militants present in the battlefield, the figures range from 3,000 to 10,000, our estimates are between 3,000 and 4,000," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told lawmakers.
The United Nations' human rights chief Navi Pillay said on Wednesday a dramatic increase in the role of Iran-backed Hezbollah militants backing Syrian government forces was inflaming regional tensions, without giving numbers.
Fabius pointed the finger at Iran for pushing Hezbollah into the Syrian conflict.
"When you have fighters that are really well armed that are prepared to die and they are several thousand that makes a difference," he said.
Fabius has dismissed any suggestion that Iran could be involved in resolving the Syrian crisis, because of its backing of Assad's government.
"There has been a change on the ground. The involvement of Hezbollah and the fact the Russians have delivered weapons has changed things," he said. "Even if many elements that are fighting are Syrian, they are being guided by Iranian officials."
France said on May 23 it hoped an initiative could be agreed by the end of June to put the armed wing of Hezbollah on the EU's list of terrorist organizations, on the grounds the group is importing Syria's war into Lebanon.
Paris has traditionally been cautious about backing steps to sanction Hezbollah, fearing it could destabilize Lebanon and put U.N. peacekeepers at risk, but in recent weeks has said it would consider all options.
(Reporting by John Irish; editing by Andrew Roche)
Study: Antibiotic stewardship program using mass spec system reduces hospital stays, costsPublic release date: 15-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Barbara Lindheim blindheim@brandwidthsolutions.com 212-584-2276 BLL Partners, LLC
In peer-reviewed study, the accuracy and speed of Bruker's Biotyper analyzer integrated into a comprehensive antibiotic stewardship program reduced hospital stays by days & per patient costs substantially
Denver, Colorado May 15, 2013 A co-author of a groundbreaking study documenting reductions in patient length of stay and overall costs from implementation of an antibiotic stewardship program using Bruker's MALDI Biotyper will share her observations at a Bruker symposium to be held during the upcoming American Society for Microbiology (ASM) General Meeting. The study, which is currently available in an online edition1, showed that the average length of stay was reduced by two days for participants in the antibiotic stewardship intervention group and overall costs were reduced by almost $20,000 per patient.
"We know that time is the enemy when dealing with serious infections," noted George Goedesky, Executive Director of Marketing/ Business Development. "This study demonstrates that reducing the time to diagnosis and optimal treatment through use of a rapid and accurate pathogen identification system, such as the MALDI Biotyper, when integrated into a comprehensive antibiotic stewardship program, improves patient care while significantly reducing length of stay and total costs."
The authors from The Methodist Hospital in Houston Texas set out to assess how patient care could be improved and cost savings achieved by a combination of rapid pathogen identification and a systematic approach to antimicrobial stewardship. Study patients with gram-negative blood infections were assigned to either routine care or to the intervention program, which included rapid pathogen identification and immediate antimicrobial susceptibility testing using the MALDI Biotyper, along with protocols for timely communication of results to inform therapeutic decisions.
The study authors report that in the pre-intervention period, final pathogen identification and susceptibility results took on average 47.1 hours, and in the intervention period, final results took 24.4 hours on average. The mean time to organism identification was 36.6 hours in the pre-intervention group versus 10.2 hours in the intervention arm. The mean length of stay in the pre-intervention group was 11.9 days with a mean hospital cost of $45,709. In the intervention group, length of stay averaged 9.3 days at an average cost of $26,162.
Patricia Cernoch, Manager of the Microbiology Laboratory at Methodist Hospital and a study co-author, commented, "At a time when pressures to reduce costs while improving patient care are escalating, we are delighted to show that combining a rapid and accurate pathogen detection system such as the MALDI Biotyper with common sense improvements in communication and treatment protocols produced such positive results for both patients and the hospital. We look forward to helping to implement similar programs throughout our system."
The MALDI Biotyper is the market-leading system for microbial identification based on MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. It is widely used in clinical microbiology, industrial microbiology, animal health and food safety and has become the laboratory standard for next generation microbial identification. The Biotyper system covers a broad range of more than 4,600 microbial isolates from gram-negative bacteria, gram-positive bacteria, yeasts, multi-cellular fungi and mycobacteria. Microbial identification with the MALDI Biotyper uses a proteomic fingerprint and allows for instantaneous identification of colonies from a plate. This unique species-specific pattern is automatically compared with reference spectra in the MALDI Biotyper library. In addition, the MALDI Biotyper supports the Open Microbiology Concept which allows customers to generate their own database entries from regional isolates.
The Bruker MALDI Biotyper is currently available for research use in the U.S. FDA clearance for clinical use is expected later this year.
###
1. Arch Pathol Lab Med. doi: 10.5858/arpa.2012-0651- OA. Published Online December 6, 2012.
Visit Bruker's ASM booth #715 to learn more about the MALDI Biotyper. The 113th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology will be held in Denver, Colorado May 18- 21, 2013. For more information, visit http://gm.asm.org/
About the Bruker MALDI Biotyper
The dedicated MALDI Biotyper solution enables molecular identification, and taxonomical classification or de-replication of microorganisms like bacteria, yeasts and fungi. Classification and identification of microorganisms is achieved reliably and quickly using proteomic fingerprinting by high-throughput MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Applications include clinical routine microbial identification, environmental and pharmaceutical analysis, taxonomical research, food and consumer product safety and quality control, as well as marine microbiology. The robust MALDI Biotyper method requires minimal sample preparation and offers low consumables cost. The MALDI Biotyper is available in a research-use-only version, or in an IVD-CE version according to EU directive EC/98/79 in various European countries. In the United States, the MALDI Biotyper is available for research use only, and not for use in diagnostic procedures.
About Bruker Corporation
Bruker Corporation is a leading provider of high-performance scientific instruments and solutions for molecular and materials research, as well as for industrial and applied analysis. For more information, please visit http://www.bruker.com.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Study: Antibiotic stewardship program using mass spec system reduces hospital stays, costsPublic release date: 15-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Barbara Lindheim blindheim@brandwidthsolutions.com 212-584-2276 BLL Partners, LLC
In peer-reviewed study, the accuracy and speed of Bruker's Biotyper analyzer integrated into a comprehensive antibiotic stewardship program reduced hospital stays by days & per patient costs substantially
Denver, Colorado May 15, 2013 A co-author of a groundbreaking study documenting reductions in patient length of stay and overall costs from implementation of an antibiotic stewardship program using Bruker's MALDI Biotyper will share her observations at a Bruker symposium to be held during the upcoming American Society for Microbiology (ASM) General Meeting. The study, which is currently available in an online edition1, showed that the average length of stay was reduced by two days for participants in the antibiotic stewardship intervention group and overall costs were reduced by almost $20,000 per patient.
"We know that time is the enemy when dealing with serious infections," noted George Goedesky, Executive Director of Marketing/ Business Development. "This study demonstrates that reducing the time to diagnosis and optimal treatment through use of a rapid and accurate pathogen identification system, such as the MALDI Biotyper, when integrated into a comprehensive antibiotic stewardship program, improves patient care while significantly reducing length of stay and total costs."
The authors from The Methodist Hospital in Houston Texas set out to assess how patient care could be improved and cost savings achieved by a combination of rapid pathogen identification and a systematic approach to antimicrobial stewardship. Study patients with gram-negative blood infections were assigned to either routine care or to the intervention program, which included rapid pathogen identification and immediate antimicrobial susceptibility testing using the MALDI Biotyper, along with protocols for timely communication of results to inform therapeutic decisions.
The study authors report that in the pre-intervention period, final pathogen identification and susceptibility results took on average 47.1 hours, and in the intervention period, final results took 24.4 hours on average. The mean time to organism identification was 36.6 hours in the pre-intervention group versus 10.2 hours in the intervention arm. The mean length of stay in the pre-intervention group was 11.9 days with a mean hospital cost of $45,709. In the intervention group, length of stay averaged 9.3 days at an average cost of $26,162.
Patricia Cernoch, Manager of the Microbiology Laboratory at Methodist Hospital and a study co-author, commented, "At a time when pressures to reduce costs while improving patient care are escalating, we are delighted to show that combining a rapid and accurate pathogen detection system such as the MALDI Biotyper with common sense improvements in communication and treatment protocols produced such positive results for both patients and the hospital. We look forward to helping to implement similar programs throughout our system."
The MALDI Biotyper is the market-leading system for microbial identification based on MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. It is widely used in clinical microbiology, industrial microbiology, animal health and food safety and has become the laboratory standard for next generation microbial identification. The Biotyper system covers a broad range of more than 4,600 microbial isolates from gram-negative bacteria, gram-positive bacteria, yeasts, multi-cellular fungi and mycobacteria. Microbial identification with the MALDI Biotyper uses a proteomic fingerprint and allows for instantaneous identification of colonies from a plate. This unique species-specific pattern is automatically compared with reference spectra in the MALDI Biotyper library. In addition, the MALDI Biotyper supports the Open Microbiology Concept which allows customers to generate their own database entries from regional isolates.
The Bruker MALDI Biotyper is currently available for research use in the U.S. FDA clearance for clinical use is expected later this year.
###
1. Arch Pathol Lab Med. doi: 10.5858/arpa.2012-0651- OA. Published Online December 6, 2012.
Visit Bruker's ASM booth #715 to learn more about the MALDI Biotyper. The 113th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology will be held in Denver, Colorado May 18- 21, 2013. For more information, visit http://gm.asm.org/
About the Bruker MALDI Biotyper
The dedicated MALDI Biotyper solution enables molecular identification, and taxonomical classification or de-replication of microorganisms like bacteria, yeasts and fungi. Classification and identification of microorganisms is achieved reliably and quickly using proteomic fingerprinting by high-throughput MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Applications include clinical routine microbial identification, environmental and pharmaceutical analysis, taxonomical research, food and consumer product safety and quality control, as well as marine microbiology. The robust MALDI Biotyper method requires minimal sample preparation and offers low consumables cost. The MALDI Biotyper is available in a research-use-only version, or in an IVD-CE version according to EU directive EC/98/79 in various European countries. In the United States, the MALDI Biotyper is available for research use only, and not for use in diagnostic procedures.
About Bruker Corporation
Bruker Corporation is a leading provider of high-performance scientific instruments and solutions for molecular and materials research, as well as for industrial and applied analysis. For more information, please visit http://www.bruker.com.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Internal Revenue Service in 2012 reviewed allegations that conservative Tea Party groups had come under extra scrutiny by the tax service's agents and found bias against conservatives, Republican members of Congress said on Tuesday.
"At no point did you or anyone else at IRS inform Congress of the results of these findings," Republican Darrell Issa, chairman of the House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee, wrote in a letter to Lois Lerner, the head of the IRS' tax exempt organizations unit.
Lerner publicly apologized about the extra scrutiny on Friday at a conference, setting off a storm of controversy.
Republicans probing the IRS scrutiny said the tax agency's officials informed them of the 2012 review in a meeting on Monday.
IRS officials also told Republicans that 471 groups had been placed under additional scrutiny as part of the agency's process, Issa said, citing the meeting.
"It is unclear whether conservative and Tea Party groups are continuing to be targeted even today," Issa said in the letter.
Issa, whose committee has subpoena power, requested a list of documents from the IRS related to his panel's probe.
The U.S. Treasury's Inspector General for Tax Administration is expected soon to issue a report on the allegations of bias against conservatives.
(Reporting by Kim Dixon and Richard Cowan; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Christopher Wilson)
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) ? Syria's information minister says Damascus needs more details about a proposed U.S.-Russian initiative before it decides whether to attend. The main opposition group has taken a similar stand.
Omran al-Zoubi says in remarks carried by state news agency SANA Tuesday that Syria will not take part in any political dialogue that infringes on the country's sovereignty.
The U.S. and Russia called last week for an international conference to start talks accompanied by a cease-fire. The two nations are on opposite sides of the Syria conflict. This marks their first serious joint attempt at Syria diplomacy in a year.
Syria's Foreign Ministry welcomed the U.S.-Russian initiative without saying whether it would attend.
The main opposition bloc, the Syrian National Coalition, said Monday it wants to consult its allies before deciding.
Maryland Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
With the rumbling of so much scandal ripping through Washington this week?woeful stories about Benghazi, the DOJ subpoena of journalists' phone records and the IRS unfairly targeting conservative groups?it's hard to keep track of all the terrible.
Even lawmakers sometimes struggle.
At Rep. Steny Hoyer's weekly meeting with reporters on Tuesday, the Maryland Democrat was asked if he was concerned about the DOJ seizing phone records from Associated Press journalists working in the House press gallery in the Capitol building.
Hoyer's answer was well-delivered: Articulate, clear, firm and precise.
One problem: He responded to the wrong scandal.
"The IRS activity was inappropriate, inconsistent with our policies and practices as a country, very concerning, needs to be reviewed carefully," Hoyer, one of the top-ranking House Democrats, said in response to a question from Fox News' Chad Pergram about the DOJ. "We need to ensure that this does not happen again, and we need to find out how long it continued, when it was stopped. It is my understanding?there was a front-page story on this at the [Washington] Post?it's my understanding that [IRS official] Lois Lerner, who was apparently overseeing this, at some point in time found out about this and said ..."
When Hoyer named Lerner, Pergram interrupted.
"We're talking about two things," Pergram, who apparently had not heard the first mention of the IRS, said from across the table, "You said Lois Lerner and the IRS."
Another reporter sitting closer to Hoyer, Public Radio International's Todd Zwillich, learned over and said softly, "He's talking about the AP story."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, excuse me," Hoyer said, pausing briefly. "Whatever happened, we need to find out why it happened. But clearly it should not have happened. I don't know enough about whether there was a warrant sought."
Boom. He nailed it!
But Hoyer wasn't finished.
"I don't know fully the rationalization or justification that was being used, but the president's statement that it was outrageous, that there was no place for it and that they have to be held fully accountable is a statement in which I agree," Hoyer went on to say.
The only problem is that President Barack Obama didn't comment about the DOJ story. And he certainly didn't call it "outrageous." In fact, the White House has declined to say much of anything about the DOJ investigation. Was he talking about the IRS story again? Yup.
Hoyer continued: "He then points out in another statement with which I agree: 'I can tell you that if you've got the IRS operating in anything less ...'" Hoyer's voice trailed off. "Oh I keep going IRS. I'm really fired up on the IRS."
Hoyer regrouped and returned to his answer about the DOJ.
"I don't have the president's statement on that, but I'm sure the president's statement on that was very much like that regarding the IRS," he said. (It wasn't.) "Neither of the activities is justifiable, outside the ambit in the case of the AP of having a legal mechanism where an interception of communications would have been warranted or justified by a court."
Now for the homestretch. Almost there!
"The House needs to look at this," Hoyer continued. "We need to find out exactly what happened and we need to make sure?that's why I'm confusing the two?that those folks who were involved in this are held accountable if in fact there was wrongdoing. Clearly we should not have either House lines, but particular the lines of the Fourth Estate?the press?subject to being intercepted without knowledge and without court oversight."
We've been eager to try out Aereo's TV streaming service, which sends live broadcast content to devices over the internet. But the service has had at least one significant flaw: it's only available to subscribers in the New York City area. That will soon change when it heads to Boston on May 15th, though, and the streaming service has now announced that the rates will be changing slightly then as well. The base plan, which includes unlimited streaming and 20 hours of DVR storage, will remain unchanged at $8 per month, but the $12 monthly tariff will include 60 hours of storage, compared to the 40 hours Aereo previously offered.
And that's it -- no more $1 daily or $80 yearly plans, though that latter option is still available until the new structure goes live on Wednesday. The service is supported on iOS, Chrome, IE 9, Firefox, Safari, Opera and Roku devices, though those geographic restrictions keep the access pool quite limited. New Yorkers can take the service for a spin today, Bostonians will get the green light come May 15th, and the rest of you can see what you're missing in the demo video after the break.
A creeping wave of ice comes ashore on the banks of a lake in Minnesota.
By Daniel Arkin, Staff Writer, NBC News
Minnesotans saw scenes reminiscent of a Hollywood sci-fi spectacle this weekend when massive waves of ice surged out of the water and crept onto the shore like some fast-moving glacier.
Powerful gusts of wind drove giant sheets of ice toward townhouses hugging the southern lip of Lake Mille Lacs at the northwest end of the state.
Amateur video footage captured at the scene shows 2-foot blocks of wind-whipped ice jams stubbornly inching across residential patios at a speed of 2-feet-per-minute, according to NBC meteorologist Dylan Dreyer.
In one of the videos uploaded to YouTube, a woman can be heard comparing the sound of the ice blocks charging toward homes to that of a train chugging on tracks. Moments later, the ice sheets collide with homes facing the river, pressing intently on glass windows and doors.
?It?s hitting the houses! It?s crawling up the walls of the houses,? the woman can be heard saying.
Seconds later, the woman sees an ice block plow through a neighbor?s sliding glass door.
"Oh my God! Their door is in,? the woman can be heard saying.
No injuries have been reported, but several homes were damaged after the ice blocks piled onto shore.
Winds around Lake Mille Lacs were easing Sunday morning and the tide of ice waves had stemmed, according to Dreyer.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Cyprus and Malta have a lot in common: Mediterranean islands enjoying 10 months of sunshine a year, they joined the European Union in 2004, use the euro and have banking sectors that dwarf their economies.
There are so many similarities that some investors have wondered whether Malta might follow Cyprus in needing a bailout to survive the region's economic crisis.
But Malta's risk profile is far different to that of Cyprus, which received a 10-billion-euro aid package last month aimed at preventing its collapse and a possible exit from the euro zone.
On the basis of banking risk and its economy, it seems unlikely that it will be the next euro member - after Cyprus, Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Spain - to need rescuing.
"The business model of the financial sector in Malta is not as shady and controversial as it was in Cyprus," said Carsten Brzeski, economist with ING bank in Brussels. "The picture is also different at the macro level ... Malta should be off the screens for quite some time."
The European Commission expects growth on the small island economy of just 450,000 people to pick up this year and next, driven by rising domestic demand and increased net exports.
The unemployment rate, at 6.4 percent, is around half that of the euro zone, debt as a proportion of GDP is 72 percent, below the euro zone average, and the deficit is in check. All of Cyprus's pre-crisis numbers were far less rosy.
BANKS
Nevertheless, Malta's banking sector is eight times larger than its GDP, about the same as it was in Cyprus before the rescue. This leaves the economy exposed to financial shocks.
But in Cyprus the banking sector was dominated by two domestic banks, both of which relied heavily on foreign deposits, many from Russia, and invested those deposits in government bonds abroad, particularly in Greece.
In Malta, the bulk of banking-sector assets belong to subsidiaries of foreign banks which would be responsible for bailing them out in case of trouble.
The assets of domestic Maltese banks, which would not be allowed to fail because the economy would collapse, add up to around 200 percent of GDP. That is a large but not terrifying amount and the ratio in Cyprus's was twice as high.
Maltese domestic banks are highly capitalized, profitable and liquid. What is more, they fund themselves largely from the domestic retail deposit market, lend locally and hold securities issued in Malta, rather than having taken on board risky assets such as Greek government bonds.
"I want to be very clear, there is no banking sector in the European Union that is comparable to the Cypriot one. Malta, Ireland, Luxembourg, they are not comparable to Cyprus," European Central Bank Executive Board member Joerg Asmussen told a European Parliament committee last week.
"One has to look deeper at the structure of the assets and liabilities of the banking sector."
In a report last month, ratings agency Fitch said Malta would be far more capable of handling a crisis than Cyprus was.
"The contingent liability that potential bank support places on the Maltese sovereign - around 128 percent of GDP - is significantly lower than in Cyprus," Fitch said.
The IMF was equally reassured, saying in a report in May 2012: "The sensitivity of the Maltese banking sector to sovereign risk events in Europe is low given very low direct exposures to vulnerable countries, as well as domestic banks' reliance on a traditional retail deposit-based banking model."
FLIGHT RISK
Some analysts say Malta is vulnerable to a sudden dip in confidence that could prompt investors to withdraw deposits, something that the hit on Cypriot bank customers could easily have triggered.
"The key risk ... is that its international offshore investors begin to relocate in light of the policy uncertainty created by the Cypriot bail-in," Myles Bradshaw, a portfolio manager at PIMCO, said.
"This would have significant negative economic effects that could in turn create a problem with domestic banks' asset quality. Together with the deep recession, this could force Malta to seek external assistance."
In a recent assessment, the European Commission also expressed some macroeconomic concerns, noting Malta's relatively high level of private debt, notably home mortgages.
But it said that despite some overvaluation and possible oversupply, there was no immediate risk of a property market crash.
British entrepreneur Richard Branson, left, poses with AirAsia's Chief Executive Tony Fernandes while dressed up as an AirAsia flight attendant at a low cost carrier terminal in Malaysia, Sunday, May 12, 2013. Branson wore the costume after losing a bet with his friend Fernandes on which of their 2010 Formula One racing car teams would finish ahead of the other. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
British entrepreneur Richard Branson, left, poses with AirAsia's Chief Executive Tony Fernandes while dressed up as an AirAsia flight attendant at a low cost carrier terminal in Malaysia, Sunday, May 12, 2013. Branson wore the costume after losing a bet with his friend Fernandes on which of their 2010 Formula One racing car teams would finish ahead of the other. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
British business magnate Richard Branson, right, dressed up as an AirAsia flight attendant, and AirAsia's Chief Executive Tony Fernandes prepare to spray champagne during an AirAsia promotional event after Branson arrived at the low cost carrier terminal in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sunday, May 12, 2013. The Virgin Group founder had his legs shaved, put on lipstick and squeezed into the red skirt to honor a bet by serving as a flight attendant on an AirAsia trip from Perth, Australia, to Malaysia. Branson lost a bet to Fernandes in 2010 after they both wagered their Formula One racing teams would finish ahead of each other. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
British entrepreneur Richard Branson arrives at a low cost carrier terminal dressed up as an AirAsia stewardess from a flight from Australia to Malaysia, Sunday, May 12, 2013. Branson wore the costume after losing a bet with his friend AirAsia's Chief Executive Tony Fernandes on which of their 2010 Formula One racing car teams would finish ahead of the other. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
British entrepreneur Richard Branson, left, poses with AirAsia's Chief Executive Tony Fernandes while dressed as an AirAsia flight attendant at a low cost carrier terminal in Malaysia, Sunday, May 12, 2013. Branson wore the costume during his flight from Australia to Malaysia after losing a bet with Fernandes on which of their 2010 Formula One racing car teams would finish ahead of the other. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
British entrepreneur Richard Branson speaks during a press conference while dressed up as an AirAsia flight attendant at a low cost carrier terminal in Malaysia, Sunday, May 12, 2013. Branson wore the costume during his flight from Australia to Malaysia after losing a bet with his friend AirAsia's Chief Executive Tony Fernandes on which of their 2010 Formula One racing car teams would finish ahead of the other. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
SEPANG, Malaysia (AP) ? British business magnate Richard Branson has lost his latest job because of orange juice.
The Virgin Group founder had his legs shaved, put on lipstick and squeezed into a red skirt to honor a bet by serving as a flight attendant Sunday on an AirAsia trip from Perth, Australia, to Malaysia.
But he earned a reprimand from AirAsia chief Tony Fernandes after he deliberately dumped a tray of orange juice on Fernandes' lap.
Branson lost a bet to Fernandes in 2010 after they wagered that their Formula One racing teams would finish ahead of each other. Fernandes' team landed two spots above Branson's.
Fernandes gleefully declared after Sunday's nearly six-hour flight on his budget airline that Branson's skills as an attendant were "rubbish" and that he was being immediately fired.
A cheerful Branson, who was tasked with pouring beverages, serving meals and making flight announcements, posed with Fernandes and popped champagne after stepping out of the plane at Malaysia's main low-cost carrier terminal south of Kuala Lumpur.
He said in brief remarks that he was "glad to have gotten the bet over with and (was) looking forward to getting back into my clothes."
"I always wanted to be an air hostess, but it looks like I have to get back to normality," Branson said. The flight helped raise money for an Australian foundation for hospitalized children.
Asked how Branson rated as an attendant, Fernandes quipped, "Out of 10, maybe one, for a bit of humor."
"I wanted to kill him actually" for spilling the juice, the Malaysian told reporters.
"He looked at me, I said, 'don't you dare,' and the next thing I know, he tipped the whole tray on me," Fernandes added. "He and the girls mopped it up, but I was walking around the flight in my underwear for a while because I didn't bring another pair of trousers."
First baseman Ryan Howard, 33 years old and still suffering lingering effects of an Achilles injury suffered in Game Five of the 2011 NLDS, should be on the trading block according to David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News. The lefty slugger entered tonight?s game against the Diamondbacks with a .262/.299/.476 line and is in the second year of a five-year, $125 million contract signed in April 2010.
As the Yankees? acquisition of Vernon Wells shows, moving an albatross contract isn?t impossible. The Angels are paying $9.5 million this year and $18.6 million next year for Wells to play in the Bronx. The Phillies would similarly have to assume a very large portion of Howard?s remaining contract.
Murphy writes:
The Phillies are going to be paying Howard regardless, and with a free-agent market that features potential replacements like Mike Morse, Corey Hart, Mark Reynolds and a gaggle of bounce-back candidates, the Phillies could pay Howard the bulk of his salary to play for another team and use the remaining dollars to sign a capable replacement. This is about the talent the Phillies need at the premium positions that they are going to need to fill, and if trading Howard and eating a significant chunk of dollars can land them a potential second baseman or third baseman or shortstop of the future, they would be wise to move heaven and earth to make it happen.
The Phillies, if they continue dragging their feet, will head towards the deadline with the ability to trade free agents-to-be Chase Utley, Michael Young, Roy Halladay, along with Cliff Lee and Jonathan Papelbon, both under long-term contracts, potentially. Howard could be among them as well.
You might think it's all fun and games when you're Instagramming your dinner before you dig in, but former identity thief Nathaniel Troy Maye will tell you otherwise; doing just that got him arrested.
Nathaniel Troy Maye and Tiwanna Tenise Thomason are now facing up to 12 years in prison after a guilty plea this Friday, but just a few months ago, they were successful thieves offering sweet deals on what they claimed to be a collection of 700,000 stolen identities. A witness working undercover with the IRS had dinner with the pair, and purchased a jumpdrive containing said to pack 50,000 identities, and that's when the trouble all began.
On the drive (in addition to a scant 50 identities) investigators found metadata referencing one "Troy Maye." That lead them to the (now private, unfortunately) Instagram account of the same name, which featured a photo of the very meal Troy had eaten at the illicit dinner-meeting and a few selfies that the witness was able to positively identify.
The damning shot of a steak and some mac and cheese and other information gleaned from the account ultimately let investigators track down and arrest the pair, who were found with a collection of 55,000 pilfered identities. So let that be a lesson to you about Instagramming food at business meetings, especially if those meetings are illegal as hell. [South Florida Sun Sentinel via Fark]
This is a serious blog about death, about what can go wrong in the dying process and how it can be put right.? It arises out of an Inquest where I represented a family member who found the medical and caring profession had misunderstood what was meant by a ?duty of care? and tried to impose futile treatment on a dying elderly woman when she ought to have been allowed to die in peace and dignity.? I urge you to read on if you have the time because this is a case which shows what should not happen and, as a result of the decisions of the Coroner to write formal letters under Rule 43 of the Coroners Rules, it might lead to changes in practice in this vital area of care.
Jean Robson was 87 years old, confused by dementia and had had a substantial stroke as well as other co-morbidities.? She was confused, had a low quality of life and her life cycle was coming to the end.? She was treated in the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital but returned to a care home to die a peaceful death.? She had expressed clear views, recorded at a time when she had capacity, that she did not want to be kept alive artificially when her time came, and her family were in agreement that her wishes should be respected.? The highly impressive consultant, Professor David Nicholls, agreed a clear care plan with the family which included the absence of active treatment.? A DNAR was signed, although (at the time) it was unclear if the document went beyond an instruction not to apply cardio-pulmonary resuscitation.? Mrs Nicholls was returned to the care home and, 10 days later, developed pneumonia.? The decision was made by the GP and her daughters not to give her antibiotics. ?
The care staff recognised that Mrs Robson was dying, but they also rightly recognised that they had a duty to provide care and support for her.? So far, nothing appeared to be wrong.? However the care plan in the home?s paperwork did not have anything like the clarity about the agreed course of not providing active treatment which had been agreed by the Professor and the family.? When Mrs Robson showed signs of having breathing difficulties the care staff, including a registered nurse, mistook Mrs Robson?s aspiration for choking.? They tried appropriate techniques to remove a blockage (which of course was not there) and then, because her breathing was still laboured, called for an ambulance.? Mrs Robson?s daughter objected to this but that did not prevent the ambulance being called.
When the ambulance staff arrived there was a heated and unpleasant stand off between Mrs Robson?s daughter.? She was attempting to prevent ambulance staff actively treating her mother and transferring her back to hospital.? Mrs Robson?s daughter?s demanded that her mother be left to die in peace.? Three things then happened in quick succession.? First, Mrs Robson died.? This frail elderly lady may not have appreciated that her last breaths were taken in the middle of a heated argument, with her daughter guarding her bed to prevent active but futile treatment being administered to her by ambulance staff and care home nurses, but this is not the way any of us should recall the last moments of our parents? life.? Secondly, the ambulance staff were shown the DNAR documents which, they later accepted, justified the stance that the daughter took.? Thirdly, following Mrs Robson?s death, the ambulance staff called the police, the room was declared a crime scene and Mrs Robson?s daughter was interviewed by the police for the suspected crime of assisting a suicide, because she had refused to permit the ambulance staff to administer treatment to her mother.? The police later accepted that no crime had been committed.?
This whole episode was a horrendous experience for a relative who was only attempting to ensure that care professionals stuck to the care plan and gave her mother a peaceful death.
The Coroner examined why this happened and made it clear in her ruling that this was not the right way to manage the dying process for a frail elderly lady who should have been left to die in peace.? The Coroner is raising her concerns about the system failures in this case by writing letters under Rule 43 of the Coroners Rules to the Hospital Trust, the CQC and the Secretary of State for Health.?
My impression is that what went wrong in this case was that care staff thought that a duty of care meant that they had a duty to administer treatment.? It may have been possible for the ambulance staff to have artificially assisted Mrs Robson?s breathing so that she did not die at that precise moment.? However she would have been transferred to hospital away, from the care home, and died a medicalised death within a very short number of hours or days. That treatment would have been futile and would result in precisely the death that Mrs Robson and her family did not want.? It might have been different if there had been a clear care plan at the Care Home which set this out.? In the absence of a clear plan staff were left with the (incorrect) default position of administering any form of treatment which could extend life.?
There are difficult lessons emerging form this case for those preparing hospital discharge summaries (not prepared in this case by Professor Nicholls).? The discharge summary must make the care plan clear.? There are also lessons for GPs and in particular for those operating care homes and their staff.? ?There are also some important lessons for ambulance staff because there will be times when the default position of applying treatment in an ?emergency? may not be in a patient?s best interests.
"There is a restaurant that serves only the freshest food," a voice says over footage of fresh vegetables and happy workers. The restaurant in question? McDonald's.
The fast food chain started a campaign in Poland that aims to show consumers its dedication to staying fresh by having an artist draw a new billboard with chalk twice a day to show the daily menu.
Of course the offerings don't really change that much. One oversized menu item, for example, is the Big Mac. Another: The Egg McMuffin.
DDB Warsaw,?Good Looking art studio, and Krewcy Krawcy production are behind the campaign.
Did the chalk convince you that the food is fresh?
SEATTLE (AP) -- The second-driest start to May on record in Seattle will end in time for rain on Mother's Day, the National Weather Service said.
Saturday will likely be the final dry day in a stretch that began April 30, said meteorologist Dana Felton.
"We've got a system coming in. We might squeeze out one more dry day tomorrow," he said Friday.
Eleven dry days at the beginning of May would be the second-longest period since 1946 when it didn't rain until May 24. In 1958, May also had a dry start with nine days without rain.
Oddly, this dry spell follows the second-wettest April on record in Seattle.
"We had a really fast transition, not only to really dry but to really warm," Felton said.
The high temperature of 78 forecast for Friday at Sea-Tac Airport would approach the record of 81 for the day set in 1987. A near-record high also was forecast Friday for Olympia. The expected high of 82 pushes the record of 85, also set in 1987.
That would be terrific weather for Mother's Day, but it's not going to happen.
"Unfortunately, that's the case," Felton said. Have your picnic Saturday, he suggested.
The rain coming in late Saturday will not be a big producer, but it will dampen the dust and drop the high temperatures in Western Washington back to the more-normal 60s by next week, with showers.
The front will lower Eastern Washington's 90s, but the high temperatures are expected to remain in the 80s east of the Cascades, even with some clouds.
"They could see showers and thunderstorms but not the steady rain like we get over here on the west side," Felton said.
Many rivers in Eastern Washington and the Idaho Panhandle are running high because of melting snow in the mountains. Minor flooding is expected on the Okanogan, Kettle and Stehekin rivers. Other rivers nearing flood stage are the Entiat, Kootenai, Methow, Moyie and Similkameen.
Awful as some of the climate-change predictions are, this one might hit a lot of Northern California residents where it hurts (assuming their homes aren't gobbled up by the sea first): Global warming will dramatically impact many of the world's most famous wine-producing regions, according to a new study.
The first-ever worldwide analysis of climate change's impact on wine production and conservation, appearing today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests wine production will shift to new areas as climate change makes the existing ones less
Wente vineyards grow along Arroyo Road in Livermore, Calif., on Thursday, March 7, 2013. (Jim Stevens/Staff) ( JIM STEVENS )
hospitable.
Researchers found the area suitable for wine production will shrink by as much as 73 percent by 2050 in certain parts of the globe ? about 70 percent in California ? with high potential for stress on rivers and other freshwater ecosystems as vineyards use water to cool grapes or irrigate to compensate for rising temperatures and declining rainfall.
"Climate change is going to move potential wine-producing regions all over the map," Lee Hannah, the study's lead author and senior scientist for climate change biology at Conservation International's new Betty and Gordon Moore Center for Ecosystem Science and Economics, said in a news release.
"These global changes put the squeeze on wildlife and nature's capacity
to sustain human life in some surprising places," Hannah said. "Consumer awareness, industry and conservation actions are all needed to help keep high quality wine flowing without unintended consequences for nature and the flows of goods and services it provides people. This is just the tip of the iceberg ? the same will be true for many other crops."
The researchers looked at nine major wine producing areas: California, Western North America, Chile, Mediterranean Europe, Northern Europe, Cape Floristic region of South Africa, parts of Australia with Mediterranean climate, parts of Australia with non-Mediterranean climate and New Zealand.
"Chile and California are areas with traditions of irrigation and high Freshwater Impact Index values, indicating that their freshwater habitats may be most at risk as a result of climate change impacts on vineyard water use," the study found. "Adaptation strategies involving viticulture, vinification, marketing, land use planning, and water management can all help avoid conflicts with conservation objectives in areas of declining as well as expanding suitability."
Another key finding from the study is that new areas will become more productive, including parts of Western North America and Northern Europe. These places at higher latitudes and higher elevations will become increasingly suitable for wine making and sought after by vineyards as they search for the climatic conditions that are ideal for wine grape growing.
According to the study, the greatest area of increasing wine production suitability is in the Rocky Mountains near the Canadian-U.S. border, putting at risk species such as the grizzly bear, gray wolf and pronghorn.
Climate change will set up competition for land between agricultural and wildlife ? wine grapes are but one example," said Rebecca Shaw, the study's co-author and associate vice president for the Environmental Defense Fund's Land, Water and Wildlife program. "This could have disastrous results for wildlife. Fortunately, there are pro-active solutions. We are creating incentive-based programs with private landowners to provide wildlife habitat as we expand our capacity to feed a growing planet in the future under a changing climate."
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Public release date: 15-May-2013
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