Scientists see 'sloshing' galaxy cluster

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

A Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) scientist is part of a team that has recently discovered that vast clouds of hot gas are "sloshing" in Abell 2052, a galaxy cluster located about 480 million light years from Earth. The scientists are studying the hot (30 million degree) gas using X-ray data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and optical data from the Very Large Telescope to see the galaxies.

"The X-ray images were amazing. We were able to see gas sloshing like liquid in a glass" explains NRL's Dr. Tracy Clarke. "Of course this would be one enormous glass since we see the gas sloshing over a region of nearly a million light years across!"

The Chandra data reveal the huge spiral structure in the hot gas around the outside of the image. Zooming in on the cluster reveals "cavities" or "bubbles" surrounding the central giant elliptical galaxy. The spiral began when a small cluster of galaxies collided off-center with a larger one positioned around that central galaxy.

The gravitational attraction of the smaller cluster drew the hot gas out of the central cluster toward the smaller cluster. Once the smaller cluster passed by the central cluster core, the gas movement reversed and it was pulled back toward the center of the main cluster. The hot cluster gas overshot the cluster center, creating the "sloshing" effect that is like the sloshing that occurs when a glass holding a liquid is quickly jerked sideways. In the cluster, gravity pulls back on the gas cloud, creating the spiral pattern.

For scientists, the observation of the "sloshing" motion in Abell 2052 is important for two reasons. First, the "sloshing" helps to move some of the cooler, dense gas in the center of the core farther away from the core. This cooler gas is only about 10 million degrees, as compared to the average temperature of 30 million degrees. This movement reduces the amount of cooling in the cluster core and could limit the amount of new stars being formed in the central galaxy. The "sloshing" movement in Abell 2052 also helps redistribute heavy elements like iron and oxygen, which are created out of supernova explosions. These heavy elements are an important part of the make-up of future stars and planets. The fact that Chandra's observation of Abell 2052 lasted more than a week was critical in providing scientists with the details detected in this image.

Besides the large-scale spiral feature, the Chandra observations also allowed scientists to see details in the center of the cluster related to outbursts from the supermassive black hole. The data revealed bubbles resulting from material blasted away from the black hole which are surrounded by dense, bright, cool rims. In the same way that the "sloshing" helps to reduce the cooling of the gas at the core of the cluster, the bubble activity has the same effect, limiting the growth of the galaxy and its supermassive black hole.

This research was published in the August 20, 2011 issue of The Astrophysical Journal. The authors were Elizabeth Blanton of Boston University, Boston, MA; Scott Randall of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, MA; Tracy Clarke of the Naval Research Laboratory, Remote Sensing Division, in Washington DC; Craig Sarazin of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA; Brian McNamara of the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Canada; Edmund Douglass of Boston University and Michael McDonald of the University of Maryland, College Park, MD.

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Naval Research Laboratory: http://www.nrl.navy.mil

Thanks to Naval Research Laboratory for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/117200/Scientists_see__sloshing__galaxy_cluster

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BTG's varicose-vein drug successful in U.S. study (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? British pharmaceutical firm BTG said the first of two U.S. trials of its varicose vein treatment Varisolve had met all its end-points, bringing a launch of the long-delayed product a step closer.

Varisolve is a ground-breaking treatment that uses an injectable foam to dissolve the veins as an alternative to stripping.

Its development, however, received a major setback in 2003 when regulators in the United States halted a trial of the drug over concerns about side effects of the foam and its active agent Polidocanol.

BTG's Chief Executive Louise Makin said on Monday that she was "delighted" with the outcome of the first trial.

She said the results of a second study would follow, and the group was on track to submit an application to U.S. regulators by the end of the year.

BTG, which also sells niche anti-poison treatments, decided in 2010 to market Varisolve itself in the United States rather than sharing development costs with a partner.

Shares in BTG, which have risen 15 percent in the last three months, closed at 323.7 pence on Friday, valuing the firm at 1.06 billion pounds ($1.66 billion).

($1 = 0.6383 British pounds)

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Sarah Young)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/meds/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120130/hl_nm/us_btg

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The 5 Reasons Why Facebook Is Worth So Much Money

How did Facebook become worth so much money that it could?file for the biggest IPO in tech history? By building?a highly defensible product, platform, and advertising business on top of brilliant talent and valuable data. It now has several competitive?advantages?that protect it from disruption and could give it a long life as the primary online identity provider. Here are the 5 components that make Facebook a smart long-term bet for investors, regardless of its exact IPO pricing.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/zS_ng0Ur7Mw/

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Connecticut police chief resigns amid civil rights (Reuters)

EAST HAVEN, Connecticut (Reuters) ? The police chief in this working class community abruptly resigned on Monday amid a police harassment scandal made worse by a bungling mayor who further enraged the Latino community with a quip about tacos.

Police Chief Leonard Gallo, 64, oversaw the East Haven Police Department where four officers were charged with harassing and using excessive force against Latinos. His resignation comes a week after a federal indictment charging the officers was unveiled.

"While Chief Gallo's departure comes at a difficult time for the police department, it provides an opportunity for a new leader to come in and move forward," Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr., who has heard calls for his own resignation, said at a news conference.

A deputy chief was appointed to temporarily lead the department once Gallo's resignation becomes effective February 3. A search committee was formed to find Gallo's successor, the mayor said.

Meanwhile, a move was underway by the chairman of the East Haven Police Commission to fire Gallo before his resignation takes effect, which would save about $150,000 in personal and sick time pay.

"I expect the road ahead to be difficult," said Maturo, whose ham-fisted response to the rift in his community has become national news.

Last week, Maturo, in response to a reporter's question about what he would do for Latinos, quipped, "I might have tacos."

Although the mayor later apologized, angered Latino advocates sent a mountain of 500 tacos to Town Hall the next day to draw a spotlight to what was variously criticized as ineptness, racism or some combination of the two.

At Monday's news conference, Gallo's lawyer, Jonathan Einhorn, also confirmed that the police chief was the unnamed "co-conspirator 1" who appeared in the federal indictment.

As such, Gallo is accused trying to block the FBI from investigating allegations against Sergeant John Miller and Officers Dennis Spaulding, David Cari and Jason Zullo, who were later arrested.

The federal grand jury indictment also said Gallo -- as the unnamed co-conspirator -- and two union leaders sought to "strongly discourage, and even to threaten, fellow officers and other witnesses, who might report officer misconduct or cooperate in the investigations of the East Haven Police Department."

Gallo's decision to step down from the job, which he reached on Friday and then shared with the mayor, is not an admission of

wrongdoing, his lawyer said.

Rather, it was an effort to stop mounting calls for Gallo and Maturo's resignations, which have been upsetting, his lawyer said.

"He desires not to be a distracting element," said Einhorn.

Both Gallo, who was 50 when he became chief, and Maturo have held their posts for years with one brief gap. After Maturo was narrowly voted out of office in 2007, the new mayor put Chief Gallo on leave once the Justice Department began investigating the police department. When Maturo was voted back in as mayor in 2011, he quickly reinstated Gallo, angering some community members.

(Editing By Barbara Goldberg and Paul Thomasch)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120130/us_nm/us_connecticut_police_profiling

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Euro, rich-poor gap proved key issues at Davos

The mountain resort of Davos pictured during the last day of the 42nd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. The overarching theme of the Meeting, that took place from Jan. 25 to Jan. 29 was "The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models". (AP Photo/Keystone/Laurent Gillieron)

The mountain resort of Davos pictured during the last day of the 42nd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. The overarching theme of the Meeting, that took place from Jan. 25 to Jan. 29 was "The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models". (AP Photo/Keystone/Laurent Gillieron)

Workers remove material during the last day of the 42nd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Keystone/Jean-Christophe Bott)

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) ? Europe's crippling debt crisis dominated the world's foremost gathering of business and political leaders, but for the first time the growing inequality between the planet's haves and have-nots became an issue, thanks largely to the Arab Spring uprisings, the Occupy movement and other protests around the globe.

The mood at the end of the five-day meeting in Davos was somber, and more than 2,500 VIPs headed home Sunday concerned about what lies ahead in 2012. Plenty of champagne flowed in this alpine ski resort ? but the atmosphere was flat and the bubbling enthusiasm of some past World Economic Forums was noticeably absent.

Despite some guarded optimism about Europe's latest attempts to stem the eurozone crisis, fears remain that turmoil could return and spill over to the rest of the world. And there were no answers to the widening inequality gap, but a mounting realization that economic growth must include the poor, that job creation is critical, and that affordable food, housing, health care and education need to part of any solution.

Just before the forum began, the International Monetary Fund reduced its forecast for global growth in 2012 to 3.3 percent from the 4 percent pace it projected in September. Many other economic forecasters also predict a slowing economy, including New York University's Nouriel Roubini, who is widely acknowledged to have predicted the crash of 2008 and who said he might be "even slightly more bearish" on the new IMF forecast.

Asia is expected to remain the engine for global growth though at a slower rate, with China leading the way at more than 8 percent, followed by India and Indonesia.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde warned that the eurozone crisis is not the region's problem alone.

"It's a crisis that could have collateral effects, spillover effects, around the world," she said. "What I have seen, and what the IMF has seen in numbers and forecasts, is that no country is immune and everybody has an interest in making sure that this crisis is resolved adequately."

The IMF is the world's traditional lender-of-last-resort and Lagarde is trying to increase its resources by $500 billion so it can help if more lending is needed in Europe or elsewhere. European countries have said they're prepared to give the IMF $150 billion, but that means the rest of the world will have to come up with $350 billion.

At a closing panel Sunday, Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, said a readjustment in Europe is essential "because, if you want to really simplify it, we've lived above our means, and we've done that for too long, and the moment of truth has arrived."

Vikram Pandit, CEO of the global bank Citigroup Inc., said the euro crisis "is costing us about 1 percent in GDP around the world. You do the math. You do the math and say: 'How many jobs is that? How many people are not working because of that? What can we do to go after the biggest question we've got for this decade which is jobs?'"

The world needs 400 million new jobs between now and the end of the decade, not counting the 200 million needed just to get back to full employment, so "that should be our number one priority," he said.

To keep the spotlight on jobs and poverty at the forum, the Occupy movement that began on Wall Street and spread to dozens of cities around the world set up a protest camp in igloos in Davos. They demonstrated in front of City Hall.

In a separate protest, three Ukrainian women were arrested when they stripped off their tops ? despite temperatures around freezing ? and tried to climb a fence surrounding the invitation-only gathering holding banners saying: "Poor, because of you" and "Gangsters party in Davos."

Citi's Pandit said to create the conditions for growth, economic uncertainty must end and that means quickly resolving the eurozone crisis, ending regulatory uncertainty, and getting the public and private sector together to build infrastructure that can create jobs.

Unilever's Polman said it's unacceptable that more than 1 billion people are hungry every day while another billion are obese.

"How do we pull up the people that are excluded from the work force, at the bottom of the pyramid?" he asked. "That we haven't quite figured out yet."

Sheryl Sandberg, CEO of Facebook, said the Internet sector has been creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and to keep up innovations in technology "great scientists" need to be educated all over the world, investment in infrastructure is critical, and regulations must not stifle growth or access.

Nobel economics laureate Peter Diamond, an economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said in an Associated Press interview that in the U.S. there is "an unemployment crisis," especially among young people who aren't accumulating experience. He said the government should fix the Social Security system, fix aging infrastructure, spend on research, and start fixing the education system.

When the forum opened, its normally upbeat founder Klaus Schwab said he remained a deep believer in free markets but that capitalism is out of whack and needs to be fixed "to serve society." He welcomed critics' ideas of how to fix it ? including from the Occupy protesters, though they walked out of a side event where a representative had been invited to talk.

This year for the first time, the forum invited about 60 "Global Shapers" ? young leaders under 30 ? to the forum to try to address issues confronting the generation that will be running the world in decades to come.

Among the younger generation also at Davos were Chelsea Clinton, daughter of the former U.S. president and present secretary of state, who moderated a panel on philanthropy and philanthropist Howard Buffett, son of Warren Buffett, whose foundation focuses on promoting agriculture and fighting hunger, especially in Africa.

The possibility of Iran developing nuclear weapons was among top concerns at Davos this year. There were also several follow-up panels on the Arab Spring and a session moderated by Schwab with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, which demonstrated the deep divisions over getting peace negotiations back on track.

But although the conflict in Syria ? where the U.N. estimates a crackdown on anti-government protesters has killed some 5,400 people over the past year ? came up in the Arab Spring panels, it wasn't a hot issue.

Julia Marton-Lefevre, director general of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, said that this year for the first time at Davos "the environment is not treated so much as separate topic, which I think is a good thing."

"We are moving towards a more integrated approach to the world's challenges," she said. "Environment is not a side issue, it's really a part of everything. For me, of course, nature is a life support system ? and finally it is being recognized as being a part of the solution."

(This version CORRECTS Corrects spelling of 'Vikram' and first reference to bank as Citigroup Inc. in 10th paragraph. This story is part of AP's general news and financial services.)

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-29-EU-Davos-Forum/id-d2874e61d51a457382aa5baf44aadb41

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Goldman executives get access to restricted stock (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Top Goldman Sachs Group Inc executives received previously restricted stock awards that are now worth $47.7 million, according to regulatory filings, though the executives are still limited in selling most of their Goldman stock.

Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein, Chief Financial Officer David Viniar, Chief Operating Officer Gary Cohn and top investment banker and vice chairman John Weinberg each received 45,497 shares worth $5.1 million, based on Goldman's closing price of $111.77 on Friday.

Seven other executives each received previously awarded shares worth $2.8 million to $5 million, according to Form 4 filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Among those executives are vice chairmen Michael Evans and Michael Sherwood, as well as Goldman's legal chief, Gregory Palm, its accounting chief, Sarah Smith, and compliance chief Alan Cohen.

The stock awards became unlocked on Wednesday, but the 11 executives did not immediately sell those shares. They did sell an additional $20.2 million worth of Goldman stock at $107.44 apiece to cover tax obligations.

The transactions took place on Wednesday, when executives received access to the previously restricted stock.

Starting in 2009, Wall Street banks began shifting more of their bonus awards into stock that executives are required to hold for multi-year periods in an effort to align incentives with long-term performance.

In 2011, some of those payments started coming due, leaving compensation costs stubbornly high for big investment banks, even as they cut jobs and bonus pools due to weak business.

Last year, Goldman paid $12.2 billion in compensation costs, down 21 percent from 2010, and reduced its payroll by 2,400 jobs. Yet because revenue fell even more, compensation as a percentage of revenue rose to 42.4 percent from 39.3 percent the previous year.

(Reporting By Lauren Tara LaCapra; editing by Andre Grenon)

(Corrects story to make clear that Goldman Sachs executives cannot immediately sell all of the shares received from a previous award)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120128/bs_nm/us_goldman_stockawards

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[OOC] Shape-Shifters

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Stormwolf321

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This looks like an interesting roleplay :D I'll be sure to join.

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Iran web developer sentenced to death (AP)

TEHRAN, Iran ? Iran's state media say the Supreme Court has upheld a death sentence against a web developer convicted of spreading corruption.

The semiofficial Fars news agency says blogger Saeed Malekpour was found guilty of promoting pornographic sites. It says the Supreme Court approved the death sentence handed down by a Revolutionary Court that deals with security crimes.

Malekpour was reported imprisoned in October, 2008 and confessed on Iranian TV that he developed and promoted pornographic websites.

The website gerdab.ir, affiliated with the elite Revolutionary Guard, called Malekpour the head of the biggest Persian-language network of pornographic websites.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_death_sentence

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Euro rises to 6-week high against dollar (AP)

NEW YORK ? The euro jumped to a six-week high against the dollar after a European official said that Greece is close to reaching a deal with creditors to lower its debt.

Traders also sold the dollar after the government said that the U.S. economy grew at a slower pace in the fourth quarter than economists had expected.

The euro rose to $1.3208 late Friday from $1.3104 late Thursday. It rose as high as $1.322, its highest point since Dec. 13.

European Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said that a Greek debt deal may be reached by the weekend. His comments were made at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Greece needs to reach a deal with its creditors to receive its next installment of bailout cash and avoid defaulting on its debt. A default could hurt Europe's financial system and trigger a financial panic around the world.

The euro rose even though ratings agency Fitch said Friday that it is downgrading the credit ratings of Italy, Spain, Belgium, Cyprus and Slovenia. Earlier in the month, Standard & Poor's downgraded nine euro zone countries.

Across the Atlantic, the U.S. government reported that the economy grew at a 2.8 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter. Economists believe growth would need to be much stronger to sharply reduce unemployment.

The dollar was weaker against most other currencies Friday.

The British pound rose to $1.5724 from $1.5688. The dollar fell to 76.72 Japanese yen from 77.49 Japanese yen, to 0.9129 Swiss franc from 0.9205 and to 1.0012 Canadian dollar from 1.0014 Canadian dollar.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_bi_ge/us_dollar

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Brain-derived neurotrophic factor: Finding may have implications for Rett Syndrome, other neurological disorders

ScienceDaily (Jan. 27, 2012) ? Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have discovered that a molecule critical to the development and plasticity of nerve cells -- brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) -- is severely lacking in brainstem neurons in mutations leading to Rett syndrome, a neurological developmental disorder. The finding has implications for the treatment of neurological disorders, including Rett syndrome that affects one in 10,000 baby girls.

The new discovery is published online in Neuroscience and is expected in the print issue of Neuroscience in March.

Using a mouse model of Rett syndrome, the OHSU team found that mutant neurons in the brainstem fail miserably at making BDNF. When normal neurons are faced with a respiratory challenge, such as low oxygen, they dramatically increase the production of BDNF, whereas mutant neurons do not.

According to the National Institutes of Health, Rett syndrome is estimated to affect one in every 10,000 to 15,000 live births and almost exclusively girls because it is caused by an X-linked gene mutation. In addition to severe problems with motor function, other symptoms of Rett syndrome may include breathing difficulties while awake.

"The new finding, coupled with our previously published data that show BDNF is involved in normal maturation of neuronal pathways controlling cardiorespiratory function, could play a significant role in the development of a treatment for Rett syndrome," said Agnieszka Balkowiec, M.D., Ph.D., principal investigator and associate professor of integrative biosciences in the OHSU School of Dentistry; and adjunct assistant professor of physiology and pharmacology in the OHSU School of Medicine. To conduct this research, Balkowiec partnered with John M. Bissonnette, M.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology, and cell and developmental biology in the OHSU School of Medicine.

Additional study authors include: Anke Vermehren-Schmaedick, Ph.D., OHSU Department of Biomedical Engineering; Victoria K. Jenkins, B.A., who is currently pursuing her doctorate at Boston University; and Sharon J. Knopp, a research assistant in Bissonnette's lab.

The study was supported by grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health; March of Dimes; and International Rett Syndrome Foundation.

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Journal Reference:

1. Anke Vermehren-Schmaedick, Victoria K. Jenkins, Sharon J. Knopp, Agnieszka Balkowiec, John M. Bissonnette. Acute intermittent hypoxia-induced expression of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor is disrupted in the brainstem of mecp2 null mice. Neuroscience, 2012; DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2012.01.017

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120127174838.htm

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Costa offers $14.5K/passenger for ruined cruise (AP)

ROME ? Costa Crociere SpA has offered passengers euro11,000 ($14,460) apiece to compensate them for their lost baggage and psychological trauma after its cruise ship ran aground and capsized off Tuscany when the captain deviated from his route.

Costa, a unit of the world's biggest cruise operator Carnival Corp., will also reimburse passengers the full costs of their cruise, travel expenses and any medical expenses sustained after the grounding.

The agreement was announced Friday after a day of negotiations between Costa representatives and Italian consumer groups representing 3,206 people from 61 countries who suffered no physical harm when the Costa Concordia hit a reef on Jan. 13.

Passengers and crew are free to pursue legal action if they aren't satisfied with the deal.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_italy_cruise_aground

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Twitter Censorship Policy Ignites Global Outrage

Associated Press

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Crude price rises on promise of low interest rates (AP)

NEW YORK ? Benchmark oil prices rose Wednesday afternoon, briefly topping $100 per barrel, after the Federal Reserve said it would keep interest rates at record lows for a year longer than expected.

The Fed's plan allows consumers and business to continue to borrow money cheaply in the U.S., which should help boost the economy of the world's largest oil consumer. The central bank, which has kept its benchmark interest rate near zero for three years, said it doesn't plan to raise the rate before late 2014.

"They're telling investors `Hey, there's a lot of uncertainty in this world, but the one thing you can count on is that we're going to keep interest rates low,'" PFG Best analyst Phil Flynn said. That kind of promise should spark more expansion among American businesses "and that will hopefully encourage more energy demand."

Benchmark crude on Wednesday rose by 45 cents to finish at $99.40 per barrel in New York. At one point it was as high as $100.40. Brent crude fell 22 cents to end at $110.21 per barrel in London.

Major stock indices also rose in afternoon trading following the Fed statement.

Earlier in the day, the Energy Department said the nation's crude supplies increased by 3.6 million barrels last week, far more than analysts expected. Demand for oil dropped by about 4 percent. Gasoline demand was down as well, with the four-week average 6.4 percent below year-ago levels.

Supplies of gasoline and distillates, which include diesel fuel, dropped as refineries slowed operations in the face of slack demand.

Meanwhile, Iran ratcheted up tensions in the Persian Gulf with threats to halt oil sales to Europe.

Iran, the world's third-largest oil exporter, has been engaged in a lengthy dustup with Western nations over its secretive nuclear program, which may be developing a nuclear bomb. The European Union recently announced plans to embargo Iranian oil this summer. Iran now threatens to cut oil off to Europe sooner than that. EU nations account for about 18 percent of Iran's oil sales, and Iranian lawmakers think stopping oil sales to Europe would hurt those nations more than it would Iran.

Natural gas prices continued to rebound from recent 10-year lows, rising 17 cents, or nearly 7 percent, to finish at $2.73 per 1,000 cubic feet on Wednesday. Prices are being pushed up by forecasts for cooler winter temperatures across much of the country, closer to average for this time of year. The mild winter thus far has slowed demand for natural gas to heat homes.

Gasoline pump prices in the U.S. were flat on Wednesday at a national average of $3.38 per gallon, according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. That's about the same as a week ago, 15 cents higher than a month ago and 27 cents more than a year ago.

In other energy trading heating oil was virtually unchanged at $3.02 a gallon and gasoline futures rose by 3 cents to end at $2.83 a gallon.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices

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Longtime Oprah associate exits OWN (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES, Jan 26 (TheWrap.com) ? Another day, another shakeup for Oprah Winfrey's struggling network OWN.

Lisa Erspamer, the network's executive vice president of production and development, left on Wednesday. An OWN spokesperson told TheWrap in a statement that Erspamer is leaving "by mutual agreement to pursue other opportunities."

Erspamer was no casual employee of Winfrey's. She came aboard the network in January 2010 as a 15-year veteran of Winfrey's Harpo Productions, Inc., and had been the co-executive producer of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" since 2006. During her tenure at "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Erspamer oversaw key events such as Winfrey's two-part interview with Whitney Houston, and the now-infamous car giveaway.

Rita Mullin, senior vice president of content strategy for Discovery Fit & Health, will step into Erspamer's position in the interim. In addition to Discovery, Mullin has also served as vice president of development at TLC, where she developed such hits as "Jon & Kate Plus 8" and "18 Kids and Counting."

Erspamer's exit is the latest in a string of departures, voluntary and otherwise, for the fledgling network. Last May, CEO Christina Norman was replaced by Discovery Communications COO Peter Liguori. (Winfrey herself assumed the title of "permanent CEO" of the network in July.) More recently, longtime Winfrey pal Gayle King left to take a seat at CBS' morning offering "Early Show," while OWN's programming boss Rod Aissa jumped ship to Oxygen Media earlier this month.

Despite the tumult, there have been signs of life for OWN lately. Its new offering "Oprah's Next Chapter" premiered on January 1 to the network's biggest numbers since its January 2011 launch, with the second installment of the interview series growing 45 percent over the premiere, with 1.6 million total viewers.

Deadline first reported the news of Erspamer's departure.

(Editing By Zorianna Kit)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enindustry/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120126/media_nm/us_own

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New version of Google Music Manager allows easy downloading of purchased tracks

Here at AC, we love Google Music, and some of us have it cranked high all day long while the lovingly sweet sounds of Led Zepplin or Motorhead coax us through the workday.  But I digress, and maybe that's only me.  We especially love it when changes get made to makes things easier, and today is a good day for easy.  Google has updated the Google Music Manager program to allow for easy downloading of songs you have uploaded or purchased from the Android Market.  Music Manager is the portion of the service you run on your computer to upload and manage your library, and we have to admit when compared to competitors like iTunes or Zune it's a little sparse.  

With today's update, you can download all your legitimately *cough* purchased and uploaded music with just a few button clicks.  Right click on the Music Manager in your system tray, open the options dialog and choose the "Download" tab.  From there you have the option to download your library.  If you've downloaded it before, you'll also have an option to only download newly added songs.  The tracks are saved in the folder you specify as 320 kbps .mp3 files.  Your songs still stay in the cloud, but now you've got a local copy as well.

In addition, server side changes now allow you to share the Youtube video for purchased songs with your Google+ circles.  Click the dropdown next to the song title to share the video with your circles, and they'll see it in their Google+ timeline.  Now if only the rest of the planet could use Google music, it would be perfect.

Source: Android Market support; via +Android

 

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/1hJse_21Xfc/story01.htm

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GTA III for Android hits 1.3, brings Liberty City to the Transformer Prime

Select iOS and Android devices have had the ability to terrorize Liberty City while on-the-go since December, but sadly those with Transformer Primes thus far have been left out of all that fun. Luckily, an update to the game ends that double standard, enabling Rockstar's classic to run on ASUS' tablet and Medion Lifetabs everywhere. It doesn't just bring expanded hardware support to the table though, as amongst other "technical fixes," the release also heralds new video display settings, Immersion haptics support and the capability of installing the game on a SD card. And fans of tactility, know that controls on the Xperia Play have been reworked, and it now boasts full support for GameStop's wireless controller. Still here? You shouldn't be -- grab the update in the source link below.

GTA III for Android hits 1.3, brings Liberty City to the Transformer Prime originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/26/gta-iii-for-android-hits-1-3-brings-liberty-city-to-the-transfo/

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Trial over Globes broadcast rights opens in LA

FILE - In this Jan. 11, 2009 file photo, celebrities arrive at the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif. A trial is scheduled to begin in a Los Angeles federal court on Tuesday to determine whether the Globes' organizers, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, or its longtime producers have rights to negotiate broadcast deals. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, file)

FILE - In this Jan. 11, 2009 file photo, celebrities arrive at the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif. A trial is scheduled to begin in a Los Angeles federal court on Tuesday to determine whether the Globes' organizers, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, or its longtime producers have rights to negotiate broadcast deals. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, file)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? The executive who negotiated a deal that brought the Golden Globe Awards to the NBC television network in the mid-1990s testified Tuesday that he didn't think it was necessary to tell its organizers they were signing away rights that could keep the show on the network indefinitely.

Former dick clark productions President Francis La Maina testified he informed the then-president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association about the deal's "perpetuity clause" and he believed it was her responsibility to explain it to the full membership. The NBC deal was brought to the group in 1993, a decade after the ceremony had been bumped from network television because of scandal.

The clause allows the production company, which is no longer owned by entertainment pioneer Dick Clark, to work on the Globes as long as it airs on NBC.

La Maina was the first witness in a trial in federal court that will decide ownership of the broadcast rights to the Globes, a glitzy awards banquet that brings out Hollywood superstars and in some years serves as a predictor of Oscar contenders.

The production company, also known as dcp, used the language of the 1993 deal to support a $150 million contract extension signed in 2010 that keeps the Globes on NBC through 2018. It has noted that the association has known about the clause for years and even allowed the company to work on five shows without a formal extension, but waited until the new broadcast deal was struck to sue.

The HFPA contends the new agreement is invalid and it should be allowed to negotiate with other networks. Nearly 17 million people watched the most recent Globes, which aired Jan. 15.

"I don't think I misled the Hollywood Foreign Press," La Maina said, adding that he thought he was fulfilling his obligations by explaining the impact to the association's president. "My job is to deal with the top dog of Hollywood Foreign Press."

The trial is expected to last more than two weeks and could lead to the first restructuring of the HFPA's broadcast rights on its own terms in nearly 30 years. The group and dcp have worked together since 1983, but it wasn't until the 1993 deal with NBC was reached that both sides began to generate large sums for the Globes.

The association claims it would have never knowingly allowed the perpetuity clause and that it had assurances from dcp executives that they were not negotiating an extension with NBC in 2010. The group believes the perpetuity clause would mean it is likely to receive less money than the Globes are worth because dcp would have an incentive to keep the show on NBC.

The case will be decided by U.S. District Judge A. Howard Matz, who said Monday that the 1993 agreement and other evidence present enough ambiguity to warrant a trial.

La Maina, who left dcp in 2007, is expected to be on the stand for several days. Other witnesses may include Dick Clark, CBS CEO Leslie Moonves and several current and former HFPA members.

___

Follow Anthony McCartney at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-01-24-Golden%20Globes-Lawsuit/id-94801e719f4647f0814df776ffaaef18

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Bethenny Frankel "Beyond Excited" to Launch New Daytime Talk Show This Summer (omg!)

Bethenny Frankel sure has something to talk about!

Despite rumors to the contrary, the 41-year-old reality star is forging ahead with the launch of her own talk show, which is scheduled to debut a six-week preview in select FOX markets including New York and Los Angeles.

PHOTOS: Bethenny's 15-minute yoga routine

"The queen of too much information is coming to DAYTIME! I am indeed getting my own L.A.-based talk show this summer on FOX and I am beyond excited!" the married mom wrote on her blog Tuesday. "I am ready to start discussing the topics that are most important to my fans. It is going to be an exciting journey, with a lot of fun along the way and I can't wait for you to join me."

PHOTOS: What Bethenny and more stars love most about being a mom

Confirming the news in a joint statement Tuesday, Warner Bros. and FOX announced plans for her one-hour entertainment talk show, Bethenny, to premiere on FOX-owned stations sometime this summer.

Executive produced by the Skinnygirl entrepreneur and her talk show mentor, Ellen DeGeneres, the program will feature "Bethenny's no-nonsense perspective on everything from pop culture and current events to relationships, beauty, fitness and lifestyle segments," according to a statement.

PHOTOS: Ellen's celebrity pals

"The program will be an honest, informative and entertaining destination, where daytime viewers can learn, laugh and get inspired," the statement continued.

The third season of Frankel's Bravo reality series, Bethenny Ever After, premieres on February 20.

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_bethenny_frankel_beyond_excited_launch_daytime_talk_show211516692/44290872/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/bethenny-frankel-beyond-excited-launch-daytime-talk-show-211516692.html

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