BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Central Bank (ECB) has saved Greece from bankruptcy for the time being by securing it interim financing in the form of additional emergency loans from the Bank of Greece, German newspaper Die Welt said on Saturday.
The ECB's Governing Council agreed at its meeting on Thursday to increase the upper limit for the amount of Greek short-term loans the Bank of Greece can accept in exchange for emergency loans, the newspaper said in an advance copy of the article due to appear in its Saturday edition.
Until now the Bank of Greece could only accept T-Bills up to a limit of 3 billion euros ($3.70 billion) as collateral for emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) but it has applied to have this limit increased to 7 billion euros, the daily said, citing central bank sources.
The ECB Governing Council gave this wish the green light, the paper said.
The move should enable the Greek government to access up to an extra 4 billion euros of funds, the paper said, adding that this should ensure the country keeps its head above water until the "troika" of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund decide on the disbursement of the next tranche of money from its aid program in September.
The ECB declined to comment, the paper said.
($1 = 0.8104 euros)
(Reporting by Michelle Martin; Editing by Sandra Maler)
ScienceDaily (Aug. 2, 2012) ? Planarian flatworms have come under intense study for their renowned ability to regenerate any missing body part, even as adults. But now they may take on a starring role as a model system for studying eye development and eye diseases in vertebrates, including humans.
This expansion of the planarian job description comes courtesy of Whitehead Institute researchers, who this week are publishing in Cell Reports an exhaustive catalog of genes active in the planarian eye.
"It's exciting to get this complete list of genes in one fell swoop," says Whitehead Member Peter Reddien, who is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Early Career Scientist and an associate professor of biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "This provides perhaps the most comprehensive list of genes involved in eye biology in a model system other than Drosophila that can be used for rapidly studying the function of those genes."
The compound eyes of fruit flies were the most thoroughly studied invertebrate eyes, owing to the short fly life cycle and a library of well-described eye-related genes in fruit flies. Planarians present a new genetic system, with an eye based on one optic cup lined with pigment cells.
To create a list of genes showing enriched activity in the planarian eye, Sylvain Lapan, a graduate student in the Reddien lab, analyzed more than 2,000 planarian eyes. Lapan and Reddien found 600 active genes and studied 200 of them in more detail. Several of the identified genes are known to have versions that play a role in the vertebrate eye but have not been found in the fruit fly eye. Among these are genes involved in eye development and others associated with age-related macular degeneration and Usher syndrome, a disorder that causes progressive retinal degradation.
One of the key genes identified in planarian eye development is the transcription factor ovo, which activates the expression of many other genes as the eye forms. Until now ovo had been associated with neural tube and germ cell development in other organisms, but not with the eye. In planarians, ovo is vital for eye for regeneration and eye maintenance in the adult, and is also active in eye development in the embryo. In fact, when ovo is experimentally turned off, planarians with head amputations cannot regenerate their eyes and eyes of otherwise normal adult planarians vanish after a couple months.
"Similar mechanisms are used to make eyes during homeostasis, regeneration, and embryonic development in planarians," says Lapan. "We now know way more about genes that regulate eye formation in these animals than for any invertebrate other than Drosophila. Planarian eyes are very different from fly eyes, and we're already seeing the benefits of studying diverse model species, like the discovery of a critical role for ovo."
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Keck Foundation.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. The original article was written by Nicole Giese Rura.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Sylvain W. Lapan and Peter W. Reddien. Transcriptome analysis of the planarian eye identifies ovo as a specific regulator of eye regeneration. Cell Reports, August 2, 2012
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.
ScienceDaily (Aug. 3, 2012) ? When a damaging earthquake struck the area of L'Aquila in central Italy in 2009, it was the latest in the region's long history of strong and persistent quakes. The rich recorded history of settlement in the area, along with oral traditions, archaeological excavations, inscriptions and medieval texts, and offer insight into how often the region might expect destructive earthquakes.
But according to a new study by Emanuela Guidoboni and colleagues, the historical record on ancient and medieval earthquakes comes with its own shortcomings that must be addressed before the seismic history of L'Aquila can be useful in assessing the current seismic hazard in this area.
To illustrate some of these potential gaps in knowledge, the researchers combed through written records and information from archaeological excavations, covering the period from ancient Roman occupation in the first century A.D. to the late Middle Ages of the 15th century A.D. The authors say, researchers must piece together information ranging from collapsed roofs within an ancient Roman city, to the evidences of rebuilding damaged baths and cisterns. In later years, better written records offer more detail on the specific location and size of earthquakes occurring in 1349, 1456, and 1461 (a long seismic sequence).
The authors say that the early to middle Middle Ages, in particular, have a dearth of information that needs to be addressed to have a more complete picture of the region's seismic history. Overall, the records confirm that the region appears to have been host to a high number of strong earthquakes. The authors also point out a tendency in the area to produce multiple and nearly simultaneous seismic events that vary considerably in their impact.
As Guidoboni and her colleagues note, the earthquakes have had a strong influence in the region's economy and culture. It is a impact that can be seen clearly in the historical records, such as a written account of a large earthquake in 1315. During that quake, warring factions in the town came together after they "were struck with fear at the strong shaking when a frightening earthquake soon afterwards struck that place in a terrible way," the official account says, "and they abandoned their wrongdoing and returned to the narrow path of their conscience."
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Seismological Society of America, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Emanuela Guidoboni, Alberto Comastri, Dante Mariotti, Cecilia Ciuccarelli and Maria Giovanna Bianchi. Ancient and Medieval Earthquakes in the Area of L'Aquila (Northwestern Abruzzo, Central Italy), A.D. 1-1500: A Critical Revision of the Historical and Archaeological Data. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 2012
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Li Xiaoxia has been known in China as "Ms. No. 2," partly for table tennis matches she has lost to Ding Ning, including the final in last year's world championship. That's no more.
Li won the gold medal in an upset victory over her teammate Ding on Wednesday.
Li was asked several times if the victory erased her No. 2 status. Her reply was muted and a throwback to a time when Chinese athletes seldom spoke to reporters.
"There is no second," she said. "Everyone is first."
? Stephen Wade ? Twitter: https://twitter.com/StephenWadeAP
___
EDITOR'S NOTE ? "Eyes on London" shows you the Olympics through the eyes of Associated Press journalists across the 2012 Olympic city and around the world. Follow them on Twitter where available with the handles listed after each item.
Brain imaging can predict how intelligent you are, study finds Public release date: 1-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Gerry Everding gerry_everding@wustl.edu 314-935-6375 Washington University in St. Louis
'Global Brain Connectivity' explains 10 percent of variance in individual intelligence
When it comes to intelligence, what factors distinguish the brains of the exceptionally smart from those of average humans?
As science has long suspected, overall brain size matters somewhat, accounting for about 6.7 percent of individual variation in intelligence. More recent research has pinpointed the brain's lateral prefrontal cortex, a region just behind the temple, as a critical hub for high-level mental processing, with activity levels there predicting another 5 percent of variation in individual intelligence.
Now, new research from Washington University in St. Louis suggests that another 10 percent of individual differences in intelligence can be explained by the strength of neural pathways connecting the left lateral prefrontal cortex to the rest of the brain.
Published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the findings establish "global brain connectivity" as a new approach for understanding human intelligence.
"Our research shows that connectivity with a particular part of the prefrontal cortex can predict how intelligent someone is," suggests lead author Michael W. Cole, PhD, a postdoctoral research fellow in cognitive neuroscience at Washington University.
The study is the first to provide compelling evidence that neural connections between the lateral prefrontal cortex and the rest of the brain make a unique and powerful contribution to the cognitive processing underlying human intelligence, says Cole, whose research focuses on discovering the cognitive and neural mechanisms that make human behavior uniquely flexible and intelligent.
"This study suggests that part of what it means to be intelligent is having a lateral prefrontal cortex that does its job well; and part of what that means is that it can effectively communicate with the rest of the brain," says study co-author Todd Braver, PhD, professor of psychology in Arts & Sciences and of neuroscience and radiology in the School of Medicine. Braver is a co-director of the Cognitive Control and Psychopathology Lab at Washington University, in which the research was conducted.
One possible explanation of the findings, the research team suggests, is that the lateral prefrontal region is a "flexible hub" that uses its extensive brain-wide connectivity to monitor and influence other brain regions in a goal-directed manner.
"There is evidence that the lateral prefrontal cortex is the brain region that 'remembers' (maintains) the goals and instructions that help you keep doing what is needed when you're working on a task," Cole says. "So it makes sense that having this region communicating effectively with other regions (the 'perceivers' and 'doers' of the brain) would help you to accomplish tasks intelligently."
While other regions of the brain make their own special contribution to cognitive processing, it is the lateral prefrontal cortex that helps coordinate these processes and maintain focus on the task at hand, in much the same way that the conductor of a symphony monitors and tweaks the real-time performance of an orchestra.
"We're suggesting that the lateral prefrontal cortex functions like a feedback control system that is used often in engineering, that it helps implement cognitive control (which supports fluid intelligence), and that it doesn't do this alone," Cole says.
The findings are based on an analysis of functional magnetic resonance brain images captured as study participants rested passively and also when they were engaged in a series of mentally challenging tasks associated with fluid intelligence, such as indicating whether a currently displayed image was the same as one displayed three images ago.
Previous findings relating lateral prefrontal cortex activity to challenging task performance were supported. Connectivity was then assessed while participants rested, and their performance on additional tests of fluid intelligence and cognitive control collected outside the brain scanner was associated with the estimated connectivity.
Results indicate that levels of global brain connectivity with a part of the left lateral prefrontal cortex serve as a strong predictor of both fluid intelligence and cognitive control abilities.
Although much remains to be learned about how these neural connections contribute to fluid intelligence, new models of brain function suggested by this research could have important implications for the future understanding and perhaps augmentation of human intelligence.
The findings also may offer new avenues for understanding how breakdowns in global brain connectivity contribute to the profound cognitive control deficits seen in schizophrenia and other mental illnesses, Cole suggests.
###
Other co-authors include Tal Yarkoni, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Colorado at Boulder; Grega Repovs, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; and Alan Anticevic, an associate research scientist in psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine.
Funding from the National Institute of Mental Health supported the study (National Institutes of Health grants MH66088, NR012081, MH66078, MH66078-06A1W1, and 1K99MH096801).
[ | 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.
Brain imaging can predict how intelligent you are, study finds Public release date: 1-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Gerry Everding gerry_everding@wustl.edu 314-935-6375 Washington University in St. Louis
'Global Brain Connectivity' explains 10 percent of variance in individual intelligence
When it comes to intelligence, what factors distinguish the brains of the exceptionally smart from those of average humans?
As science has long suspected, overall brain size matters somewhat, accounting for about 6.7 percent of individual variation in intelligence. More recent research has pinpointed the brain's lateral prefrontal cortex, a region just behind the temple, as a critical hub for high-level mental processing, with activity levels there predicting another 5 percent of variation in individual intelligence.
Now, new research from Washington University in St. Louis suggests that another 10 percent of individual differences in intelligence can be explained by the strength of neural pathways connecting the left lateral prefrontal cortex to the rest of the brain.
Published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the findings establish "global brain connectivity" as a new approach for understanding human intelligence.
"Our research shows that connectivity with a particular part of the prefrontal cortex can predict how intelligent someone is," suggests lead author Michael W. Cole, PhD, a postdoctoral research fellow in cognitive neuroscience at Washington University.
The study is the first to provide compelling evidence that neural connections between the lateral prefrontal cortex and the rest of the brain make a unique and powerful contribution to the cognitive processing underlying human intelligence, says Cole, whose research focuses on discovering the cognitive and neural mechanisms that make human behavior uniquely flexible and intelligent.
"This study suggests that part of what it means to be intelligent is having a lateral prefrontal cortex that does its job well; and part of what that means is that it can effectively communicate with the rest of the brain," says study co-author Todd Braver, PhD, professor of psychology in Arts & Sciences and of neuroscience and radiology in the School of Medicine. Braver is a co-director of the Cognitive Control and Psychopathology Lab at Washington University, in which the research was conducted.
One possible explanation of the findings, the research team suggests, is that the lateral prefrontal region is a "flexible hub" that uses its extensive brain-wide connectivity to monitor and influence other brain regions in a goal-directed manner.
"There is evidence that the lateral prefrontal cortex is the brain region that 'remembers' (maintains) the goals and instructions that help you keep doing what is needed when you're working on a task," Cole says. "So it makes sense that having this region communicating effectively with other regions (the 'perceivers' and 'doers' of the brain) would help you to accomplish tasks intelligently."
While other regions of the brain make their own special contribution to cognitive processing, it is the lateral prefrontal cortex that helps coordinate these processes and maintain focus on the task at hand, in much the same way that the conductor of a symphony monitors and tweaks the real-time performance of an orchestra.
"We're suggesting that the lateral prefrontal cortex functions like a feedback control system that is used often in engineering, that it helps implement cognitive control (which supports fluid intelligence), and that it doesn't do this alone," Cole says.
The findings are based on an analysis of functional magnetic resonance brain images captured as study participants rested passively and also when they were engaged in a series of mentally challenging tasks associated with fluid intelligence, such as indicating whether a currently displayed image was the same as one displayed three images ago.
Previous findings relating lateral prefrontal cortex activity to challenging task performance were supported. Connectivity was then assessed while participants rested, and their performance on additional tests of fluid intelligence and cognitive control collected outside the brain scanner was associated with the estimated connectivity.
Results indicate that levels of global brain connectivity with a part of the left lateral prefrontal cortex serve as a strong predictor of both fluid intelligence and cognitive control abilities.
Although much remains to be learned about how these neural connections contribute to fluid intelligence, new models of brain function suggested by this research could have important implications for the future understanding and perhaps augmentation of human intelligence.
The findings also may offer new avenues for understanding how breakdowns in global brain connectivity contribute to the profound cognitive control deficits seen in schizophrenia and other mental illnesses, Cole suggests.
###
Other co-authors include Tal Yarkoni, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Colorado at Boulder; Grega Repovs, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; and Alan Anticevic, an associate research scientist in psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine.
Funding from the National Institute of Mental Health supported the study (National Institutes of Health grants MH66088, NR012081, MH66078, MH66078-06A1W1, and 1K99MH096801).
[ | 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.
Health insurance can be a difficult and frustrating Air Max Pas Cher enterprise. Laws always keep altering and overall health experts modify their guidelines more quickly compared to pace of gentle but because you require medical health insurance will not alter sooner so continue reading for a few helpful and fascinating tips about how to get the most from enough time you devote to this business of health insurance.
A fantastic hint for people shopping for health insurance, would be to investigate whether or not your insurance provider or its opponents provide incentive programs for that adoption of a healthier way of life. Several insurance companies offer policy savings for individuals who join health and fitness courses or demonstrate noted advancement in their private health. Benefiting from these opportunities may result in significant price savings.
Make a list Air Max of your own goals in relation to health insurance. If you want a definite medical doctor you really should look for providers that will incorporate them. Perhaps you don?t attention that you see, and only want decrease monthly premiums. Everybody has diverse demands, so find out exactly what you require before you decide to speak to any of the companies.
Do not forget to get your perspective into consideration when buying a new health insurance insurance policy. You need to know just how much you possess used on eyesight assessments, cups, connections, or other eye related devices. You must even consider the expense of cleaning up products like saline and anti-fog wipes.
1 essential Air Max function associated with an insurance coverage is medication medicine insurance. Be sure you inspect all the details of the doctor prescribed substance prepare so that you understand how your health-related insurer deals with prescription medications. It?s especially essential to understand how they deal with diverse lessons of medication, and if they provide generics for that prescription medications you generally get.
Medical insurance might not exactly entirely deal with the expense of childbirth management or well-woman appointments along with your medical professional. A substitute for an ordinary doctor is Planned Parenthood, that offers tests, therapy and delivery handle on a slipping size, which means the quantity you are billed Air Max will depend on what you can do to cover. Region well being centers could also supply these services.
In case a health insurance business consultant requests you a question that you may not understand the answer, let them know so. There is not any shame in telling them that you are currently unclear about what they are inquiring, and so they must call your personal doctor to have the correct solution. They can seem to be disappointed, but that?s ok. Don?t allow it take the time you.
When it comes to any adverse health treatment insurance plan Air Max Pas Cher through your employer, be sure to verify that your prescriptions continue to be covered in the emerging calendar year. The supported brand names and kinds of prescription medication may differ from season to 12 months. Also, generally choose a generic manufacturer if you can. Also be sure to see if you can find any discounts like owning your medications directed by means of mail.
With any luck , this information has removed several of the uncertainty and stress of medical health insurance and given you some terrific tips on which insurance coverage to watch out for and what pitfalls to prevent. This procedure has become one of these unpleasant nevertheless necessary elements of daily life which we do not really anticipate but really have absolutely no way all around so any manner of making it easier is well worth your looking directly into!
Official Nike Air Max Shop brings lots of very affordable Air Max 2012 Shoes right now with Efficient Shipping, Safeguarded Payment & Remarkable Customer Service.
Folks usually assume that boosting their residence is just too tough to allow them to do. Even so, if you do not shut your thoughts away and off to going through a new challenge, it could be rather the educative expertise. The piece listed below is loaded with concepts and assistance effective at creating your house advancement experience a nice and gratifying one.
If your present residence is lacking in the square footage for any washer and dryer, you might look at buying an area-preserving combination system. Combo models are piled and take up fifty percent the room. A combination system washes the garments and once done switches to a clothes dryer.
To make attic room room a lot more functional, buy a dormer windows. Aside from increasing the useful video footage within your attic, nicely-built dormer windows is likely to make your home more desirable from the outside. It may also enhance your living area and house benefit for the reasonably inexpensive.
Have tool boxes that include instruments and components for particular tasks. As an example, a plumbing toolbox could contain pipe accessories, wrenches and PVC fasten. Make one more package for your personal electrical resources and items. This will allow you to have the ability to locate any one of the tools you want right away.
Usually do not overlook security in your home remodeling tasks. When you overlook this, your own home could be broken or you might be damage. Before heading to operate, you should assessment all of your current tools? directions and basic safety safety measures. Find someone to indicate the way you use an instrument securely for you personally in the event you haven?t done it prior to.
Do you loathe that outdated dresser in a corner of your room? Why not provide your outdated furnishings to life by sanding them straight down and refinishing them. Whenever you handle a refinishing undertaking it will save you a lot of money and as a result your decor will look attractively refurbished. There are numerous colors you may mark your household furniture.
Fed up with your bedroom?s old dresser? A wonderful way to reinvigorate worn furnishings are to beach sand down and revarnish them. Once you take on a refinishing task it will save you lots of money and consequently your furniture will be superbly renovated. It is possible to stain older household furniture a wide variety of colours.
Prior to starting any redecorating task, spend some time to understand your desired goals. You?ll be introducing personalized details if you carry out a project.
When readying a residence available for purchase and doing makeovers, make sure to understand that the outside the home needs to be handled initially. The entrance charm of your home is what will push customers to come on the inside for a good look.
Stucco bring a great alternative for exterior siding on the property. Outside the house exterior siding is not difficult and fast to set up but you may want permits and expert guidance. Once mounted, exterior exterior siding will last for quite some time.
Have you considered producing the outer of your residence an improvement project? It is possible to change your yard into an extension of the home. It will be ideal for soothing or throwing an event with friends and family.
A neighborhood can help to save on its redesigning costs by setting up a ?neighborhood instrument chest area.? You could also acquire equipment form other people rather than buying new devices for your personal assignments. Also you can merge your property development know-how along with your neighbor?s, so you equally reward.
Keep the water usage in your mind when determining how to update your property. There are actually a range of lavatories, very hot water heaters and shower room heads at your home development store, all sure to reduce drinking water use. Updating lighting fixtures and appliances to better types not merely increases the price of your own home but it appears more desirable also.
It will take a lot of study and work to turn out to be great at redesigning, no matter how good you may think you happen to be at it. The training process with home remodeling by no means ends, and you may constantly improve. This post resolved a lot of hint that can help you figure out how to do most redecorating tasks.
There is more content available about small chicken coop check out Rayna R. Talamas?s site there is loads of information not covered in this article, take a look at Author?s website to discover supplementary information.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 1-Aug-2012
Share ]