CAIRO (AP) — "Welcome to The Program!" Every week Egyptians obsessively tuned in to hear that slogan and watch groundbreaking TV political satirist Bassem Youssef flay their politicians. Some loved his biting humor, others were infuriated, but no one could ignore it. For four months, they've gone without him, his show kept off the air by turmoil surrounding the country's coup.
Now the man known as "Egypt's Jon Stewart" is back, returning to the air Friday night in a country radically different from four months ago.
When Youssef's final show of last season aired, the president was Islamist Mohammed Morsi — Youssef's favorite target. The satirist mocked him and his Islamist supporters mercilessly week after week for mixing religion and politics and for botching the governing of the country. Soon after the last show, massive protests began against Morsi, paving the way for the military to remove him.
Since then, divisions have grown deeper and hatreds stronger. Hundreds have been killed in crackdowns on protesters demanding Morsi's reinstatement. Attacks by Islamic extremists have increased. A nationalist, pro-military fervor is gripping the country, leaving little tolerance among the public or officials for criticism of the new leadership, with military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi lionized as a hero.
So the question hanging over Friday's episode of "El-Bernameg" — Arabic for "The Program": Will Youssef mock the military-backed leadership and its supporters as sharply as he did Morsi and the Islamists?
Doing so could anger Youssef's mainly liberal fan base, who adored the way he excoriated Islamists and who now largely support the military. But if he avoids it and focuses his jokes against Islamists, he could appear to be caving in to pressure. Morsi supporters — some of whom "hate-watched" Youssef as obsessively as his fans did — are already predicting the 39-year-old satirist will sell out.
In an article Tuesday, Youssef took up the challenge, criticizing the intimidating atmosphere.
"I admit things are much harder now," Youssef wrote in his weekly article in Al-Shorouk. "Not only because the raw material coming from religious stations or from Morsi has diminished," he quipped, referring to the rich vein of folly from Islamists he often mined for jokes — "but because the general mood is different."
"In reality, there is no tolerance on the Brotherhood side or among those who call themselves liberals. Everyone is looking for a pharaoh that suits them," he wrote.
He said military supporters tell him, "Don't talk about el-Sissi" — "even though they were the same ones waiting for me to talk about Morsi."
He noted that under Morsi's year-long presidency, Islamist critics sent him to the prosecution office for questioning on possible charges of insulting the presidency. "I may be visiting (it) again soon at the hands of other people, who allegedly love freedom dearly — when it works in their favor," he jabbed.
Most of all, he pointed to the difficulty of joking amid tragedy. "How do we come up with a comedy program when the talk all day is about blood?" he wrote. "When people live in fear, terror, hate and anger, no one listens to reason, let alone satire."
The surgeon-turned-comedian's form "Daily Show"-style program brought an entirely new type of political satire to Egypt. He began with short, independently made YouTube episodes during the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak. His show was picked up by a TV station popular among young revolutionaries. As his star rose, he moved to another station, CBC, seen as stacked by former supporters of Mubarak.
Many thought Youssef would follow the station's conservative line. But he turned his jokes against his own station, mocking its claims of revolutionary credentials. With sky-high ratings bringing advertising cash, CBC was not about to drop him.
But his biggest target was the Islamist elite that rose to power in post-Mubarak elections — excoriating them so sharply that some credit him for fueling the tidal wave of protests against Morsi. In fast-paced jokes, Youssef lampooned Morsi's clumsy speeches and gestures. He played clips from Islamist TV stations to expose hypocrisy in their mix of religion and politics. He fact-checked the president. One episode in which he played video clips showing 2010 remarks by Morsi, calling Zionists "pigs," caused a brief diplomatic tiff with Washington.
In reply, Islamist lawyers tried to sue him for "corrupting morals" or "violating religious principles" and prompted the arrest warrant for "insulting the presidency." He was questioned by prosecutors and released without charges.
Naila Hamdy, a journalism professor at the American University in Cairo, said Youssef might go after the military-backed civilian government or satirize out-of-control pro-military fervor. But mocking the military directly is harder, given the public mood. "It is a very highly mobilized nationalist feeling in the country. Even Bassem Youssef would not want to go against that."
Social media have been buzzing. A Twitter hashtag of "#Joy" was started by fans for his return.
"Will he be like all the other media personalities or will he stand out?" tweeted one fan, referring to other media's unquestioning backing of the military.
One pro-Morsi protester, Mahmoud Mohammed said Friday he always watched Youssef "to know what the other camp is saying."
And he's convinced the comedian will stick to knocking Islamists and avoid the military. "The government repression is too heavy."
FILE - In this Oct. 11, 2013, photo, House Budget Committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., laughs as he walks to his office on Capitol Hill in Washington. Forget a grand bargain. Reaching even a small budget deal will be a challenge when negotiators start meeting in an effort to salvage any kind of agreement in the aftermath of this month’s shutdown debacle and debt limit crisis. "If we focus on some big, grand bargain then we’re going to focus on our differences and both sides are going to require that the other side compromises some core principle and then we’ll get nothing done," Ryan, said in an interview on Oct. 24. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 11, 2013, photo, House Budget Committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., laughs as he walks to his office on Capitol Hill in Washington. Forget a grand bargain. Reaching even a small budget deal will be a challenge when negotiators start meeting in an effort to salvage any kind of agreement in the aftermath of this month’s shutdown debacle and debt limit crisis. "If we focus on some big, grand bargain then we’re going to focus on our differences and both sides are going to require that the other side compromises some core principle and then we’ll get nothing done," Ryan, said in an interview on Oct. 24. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — On this, GOP budget guru Rep. Paul Ryan and top Senate Democrat Harry Reid can agree: There won't be a "grand bargain" on the budget.
Instead, the Wisconsin Republican and the Nevada Democrat both say the best Washington can do in this bitterly partisan era of divided government is a small-ball bargain that tries to take the edge off of automatic budget cuts known as sequestration.
Official Capitol Hill negotiations start next week, but Ryan and Reid both weighed in Thursday to tamp down any expectations that the talks might forge a large-scale agreement where several previous high-level talks have failed.
Long-standing, entrenched differences over taxes make a large-scale budget pact virtually impossible, according to lawmakers, their aides and observers who will be monitoring the talks.
Republicans say they simply won't agree to any further taxes atop the 10-year, $600 billion-plus tax increase on upper-income earners that President Barack Obama and Democrats muscled through Congress in January. Without higher taxes, Democrats say they won't yield to cuts in benefit programs like Medicare.
"If we focus on some big, grand bargain then we're going to focus on our differences, and both sides are going to require that the other side compromises some core principle and then we'll get nothing done," Ryan, who chairs the House Budget Committee, said in an interview Thursday. "So we aren't focusing on a grand bargain because I don't think in this divided government you'll get one."
In an interview Thursday with Nevada public radio station KNPR, Reid, the Senate majority leader, agreed that a large-scale grand bargain wasn't in the cards.
"They have their mind set on doing nothing, nothing more on revenue, and until they get off that kick, there's not going to be a grand bargain," Reid said. "We're just going to have to do something to work our way through sequestration."
Ryan, his party's vice presidential nominee a year ago, and Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., are two of the key congressional figures in the talks. They both say they're seeking common ground between the sharply different Republican and Democratic budgets.
Common ground, however, is a much different concept than compromise. It involves finding ideas upon which they can agree rather than compromising principles such as Republican opposition to tax increases or the unwillingness by many Democrats to consider cutting future Social Security benefits by decreasing the annual cost-of-living adjustments.
Instead of a broad agreement encompassing tax hikes and structural curbs on the growth of benefit programs like Medicare and Medicaid, Ryan says he's seeking a "smaller, more achievable objective."
The talks, he said, also will focus on alleviating another upcoming round of automatic spending cuts and replacing them with longer-term cuts.
Sequestration mostly hits so-called discretionary spending, the money approved by Congress each year to run agency operations. Ryan wants to cut autopilot-like spending on entitlement programs like Medicare to ease sequestration's effects on both the Pentagon and domestic programs.
"I think we all agree that there's a smarter way to cut spending" than sequestration, Ryan said. "If I can reform entitlement programs where the savings compound annually ... that is more valuable for reducing the debt than a one-time spending cut in discretionary spending."
The White House and Democrats are pressing to include new revenue from closing tax loopholes and infrastructure spending to boost the economy.
"Even if we do not have the big grand bargain, if you were to have a medium deal or small deal, those deals could have permanent loophole closures and permanent mandatory savings that would help our permanent long-term fiscal situation," senior White House official Gene Sperling told a business group Friday.
The automatic spending cuts are required because a 2011 deficit-reduction supercommittee failed to reach an agreement. The cuts would carve $91 billion from the day-to-day budgets of the Pentagon and domestic agencies in 2014 compared with the spending caps set by a 2011 budget deal. The Pentagon would absorb almost 60 percent of the cuts.
While the first official meeting of the larger House-Senate negotiating team is scheduled for next week, Ryan and Murray have been talking already.
Republicans are looking at a bushel basket of cuts to Medicare health care providers contained in Obama's budget. They also have voiced support for curbing Social Security cost-of-living adjustments, an idea Obama has backed, but only in the context of a broader deal in which Republicans would allow tax increases. That proposal won't fly in the current talks.
There are also several supercommittee ideas like curbing Postal Service cost overruns, making federal workers contribute more to their pensions and raising premiums on higher-income Medicare beneficiaries.
Democrats, meanwhile, are wary of using cuts to Medicare and other entitlement programs to ease cuts in the defense budget. Negotiators still might explore curbing generous military retirement, health care and prescription drug benefits as a way to restore cuts to readiness and procurement of weapons systems.
"Congressional Democrats and the White House, rightly in my view, don't want to use domestic entitlement cuts to offset easing or eliminating the defense side of sequestration on top of the nondefense discretionary side," said Robert Greenstein, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday urged Mozambique's government and the Renamo opposition movement to "move back from the brink" and take steps to quell an escalation in tensions that many worry could disrupt the country's strong economic growth.
The Renamo former rebel group declared on Monday it was terminating a 1992 peace accord that ended a 1975-1992 civil war, complaining that government forces overran base of opposition leader Afonso Dhlakama in the Gorongosa forest.
"We are deeply concerned by the escalation in violence between government security forces and members of the opposition party Renamo," said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf. "We are encouraging the two parties to take visible and decisive steps to de-escalate the current tense environment."
Mozambique media reported on Tuesday that suspected Renamo guerrillas fired on a police station at Maringue, just north of the Gorongosa district, but no casualties were reported.
Asked whether the attack could provoke more violence, Harf said: "We are deeply concerned by this violence and this escalation and are urging all sides to take steps to move back from the brink and de-escalate what has been happening."
Dhlakama, who has struggled to recover from a string of election defeats by the ruling Frelimo party, is widely regarded as a spent political force with little power to drag the country back into a civil war.
He has complained that the Frelimo-led government has monopolized political and economic power.
Mozambique's economy is set to grow by 7 percent this year - one of the fastest in Africa - and investors such as Brazil's Vale, London-listed Rio Tinto, Italy's Eni and U.S. oil firm Anadarko are working to develop some of the world's largest untapped coal and gas reserves.
Renamo raids in April and June in central Mozambique had already caused alarm. They killed at least 11 soldiers and police and six civilians and forced a temporary suspension of coal exports sent by rail to the coast.
(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Christopher Wilson)
A mechanic repairs a bike at Calmera bike shop in Madrid, Spain, on Sept. 19. As car sales slump across Europe, bicycle sales in Spain are outpacing cars — a trend seen across much of Europe.
Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images
A mechanic repairs a bike at Calmera bike shop in Madrid, Spain, on Sept. 19. As car sales slump across Europe, bicycle sales in Spain are outpacing cars — a trend seen across much of Europe.
Indeed, earlier this month, NPR's Lauren Frayer reported that Spain, which has long had a love affair with cars, is embracing the bicycle: For the first time on record, Lauren noted, bicycles outsold cars in the country.
But it's becoming a continent-wide phenomenon. More bikes were sold in Italy than cars — for the first time since World War II.
This prompted us to look at the figures across the 27 member states of the European Union for both cars and bicycles. New car registrations for Cyprus and Malta weren't available, so we took them out of the comparison.
Here's what we found: bicycle sales outpaced new car sales last year in every one of those countries, except Belgium and Luxembourg. The top five countries by bicycle sales can be seen in the top chart.
We decided to delve a little deeper into the figures and see which of these countries had the highest rates of bicycle-to-car ownership. Those states can be seen in the second chart.
So, what explains the numbers?
Part of the data can be explained by the slump in car sales across Europe. Car sales reached a 20-year low earlier this year. More recent figures showed they were recovering.
Samsung reported that its Q3 operating profit surged 26% to 10.2 trillion won (about $9.6 billion), but continued to warn that its smartphone sales will slow thanks to increased competition. Its earnings growth was driven mainly by Samsung’s chip business profit, which doubled to 2.06 trillion won, the highest in three years, thanks to stronger chip prices this year after a fire last month at one of competitor SK Hynix’s Chinese plants created a shortage in a key component. Demand for chips was driven by mobile devices, servers and the release of new game consoles.
Samsung’s mobile division reported a record 6.7 trillion won, thanks to growing shipment volumes of its inexpensive smartphone models, which balanced slowing sales of high-end handsets like the Galaxy S4 and Note 3. The company warned that demand for its smartphones will slowdown during the upcoming holiday season, due to competition from other devices (such as Apple’s iPhone) as well as tighter margins as it ramps up spending on yearend advertising and marketing. Samsung says it expects to see smartphone shipments grow about 1% to 5% in the current quarter from the previous quarter.
Samsung has now reported record profits in six of the past seven quarters, but the South Korean tech giant has also warned investors over the past year to expect a slump in mobile sales thanks to the slowing global smartphone market and increased competition. Its most recent product launches are also unlikely to be major growth drivers. Samsung’s Galaxy Gear smartwatch got a lukewarm response from consumers and its curved smartphone, the Galaxy Round, will have a limited launch in Korea only.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) — A Northern California community is anguished over the fatal shooting by a deputy of a popular, 13-year-old boy who had been carrying a pellet gun that looked like an assault rifle.
A Sonoma County sheriff's deputy twice asked the boy, Andy Lopez, to drop the weapon, but instead he raised it in their direction, police said at a news conference Wednesday.
"The deputy's mindset was that he was fearful that he was going to be shot," said Santa Rosa Police Lt. Paul Henry, whose agency is investigating the Tuesday afternoon shooting in Santa Rosa.
Only after the shooting did deputies realize the gun was a plastic replica that looked strikingly similar to a real AK-47 assault rifle, authorities said.
Residents of Santa Rosa, a suburban town of roughly 170,000 people about 50 miles northwest of San Francisco in California's wine country, were shaken by the boy's death.
Hundreds marched on Wednesday night to remember the teen and protest the shooting, chanting "We need justice," as they questioned how the deputy mistook a pellet gun for an assault rifle.
"We don't know the reason why they killed him," Katia Ontiveros, 18, told the Press Democrat of Santa Rosa. She said her brother was Andy's friend. "They should know if a gun is real."
The marchers went to the site at the edge of a field where the boy was shot. Community members had left candles, teddy bears and flowers there.
Andy, an eighth-grade student who played trumpet in his school band, was described as a bright and popular student, liked by many in his community, including Lawrence Cook Middle School assistant principal Linsey Gannon.
"Andy was a very loved student, a very popular, very handsome young man, very smart and capable," Gannon said Wednesday. "Our community has been rocked by his loss."
In a statement, Sheriff Steve Freitas said the shooting was a "tragedy" and that he would do everything he could to ensure the investigation was thorough and transparent.
"As a father of two boys about this age, I can't begin to imagine the grief this family is going through," he said.
Two deputies were riding in a marked patrol vehicle and were in their patrol uniforms when they spotted the teen in a hooded sweatshirt and shorts around 3:15 p.m. Tuesday, police said. His back was turned toward the deputies, and they did not realize he was a boy.
One of the deputies saw what appeared to be an assault-style rifle similar to an AK-47 in his left hand. The deputies pulled over and took cover behind an open passenger door, according to police.
A witness reported seeing their lights go off and hearing the chirp of a siren, police said.
One of the deputies ordered Andy to drop the weapon twice, according to a witness, police said. There was no language barrier that would have prevented the boy from understanding the deputy, according to police.
Andy was about 20 or 30 feet away from the deputies with his back toward them when he began turning around with what one deputy described as the barrel of the assault rifle rising up and turning in his direction, police said.
The deputy then fired several rounds, striking the boy at least once, Henry said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
At Wednesday's news conference, Santa Rosa police displayed the pellet gun.
Deputies also found a plastic handgun in the boy's waistband, police said.
The pellet gun did not have an orange tip like other replica firearms, including the plastic handgun found in the boy's waistband, police said.
The deputies, who have not been identified, have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard after a shooting, sheriff's officials said.
The boy's family was back at their mobile home Tuesday night after identifying the teen's body, the Press Democrat reported.
Andy's father, Rodrigo Lopez, told the newspaper he last saw his son Tuesday morning. He said the gun was a toy that belonged to a friend of his son's.
"I told him what I tell him every day," he said in Spanish. "Behave yourself."
___
Information from: The Santa Rosa Press Democrat, http://www.pressdemocrat.com
NIH funds development of novel robots to assist people with disabilities, aid doctors
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
24-Oct-2013
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Contact: Margot Kern NIBIBPress@mail.nih.gov 301-496-3500 NIH/National Institute of Biomedical Imaging & Bioengineering
Robots enhance mobility for visually and physically impaired, improve treatment for atrial fibrillation
Three projects have been awarded funding by the National Institutes of Health to develop innovative robots that work cooperatively with people and adapt to changing environments to improve human capabilities and enhance medical procedures. Funding for these projects totals approximately $2.4 million over the next five years, subject to the availability of funds.
The awards mark the second year of NIH's participation in the National Robotics Initiative (NRI), a commitment among multiple federal agencies to support the development of a new generation of robots that work cooperatively with people, known as co-robots.
"These projects have the potential to transform common medical aids into sophisticated robotic devices that enhance mobility for individuals with visual and physical impairments in ways only dreamed of before," said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. "In addition, as we continue to rely on robots to carry out complex medical procedures, it will become increasingly important for these robots to be able to sense and react to changing and unpredictable environments within the body. By supporting projects that develop these capabilities, we hope to increase the accuracy and safety of current and future medical robots."
NIH is participating in the NRI with the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. NIH has funded three projects to help develop co-robots that can assist researchers, patients, and clinicians.
A Co-Robotic Navigation Aid for the Visually Impaired: The goal is to develop a co-robotic cane for the visually impaired that has enhanced navigation capabilities and that can relay critical information about the environment to its user. Using computer vision, the proposed cane will be able to recognize indoor structures such as stairways and doors, as well as detect potential obstacles. Using an intuitive human-device interaction mechanism, the cane will then convey the appropriate travel direction to the user. In addition to increasing mobility for the visually impaired and thus quality of life, methods developed in the creation of this technology could lead to general improvements in the autonomy of small robots and portable robotics that have many applications in military surveillance, law enforcement, and search and rescue efforts. Cang Ye, Ph.D., University of Arkansas at Little Rock (co-funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering and the National Eye Institute)
MRI-Guided Co-Robotic Active Catheter: Atrial fibrillation is an irregular heartbeat that can increase the risk of stroke and heart disease. By purposefully ablating (destroying) specific areas of the heart in a controlled fashion, the propagation of irregular heart activity can be prevented. This is generally achieved by threading a catheter with an electrode at its tip through a vein in the groin until it reaches the patient's heart. However, the constant movement of the heart as well as unpredictable changes in blood flow can make it difficult to maintain consistent contact with the heart during the ablation procedure, occasionally resulting in too large or too small of a lesion. The aim is to develop a co-robotic catheter that uses novel robotic planning strategies to compensate for physiological movements of the heart and blood and that can be used while a patient undergoes MRIan imaging method used to take pictures of soft tissues in the body such as the heart. By combining state-of-the art robotics with high-resolution, real-time imaging, the co-robotic catheter could significantly increase the accuracy and repeatability of atrial fibrillation ablation procedures. M. Cenk Cavusoglu, Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland (funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering)
Novel Platform for Rapid Exploration of Robotic Ankle Exoskeleton Control: Wearable robots, such as powered braces for the lower extremities, can improve mobility for individuals with impaired strength and coordination due to aging, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, or stroke. However, methods for determining the optimal design of an assistive device for use within a specific patient population are lacking. This project proposes to create an experimental platform for an assistive ankle robot to be used in patients recovering from stroke. The platform will allow investigators to systematically test various robotic control methods and to compare them based on measurable physiological outcomes. Results from these tests will provide evidence for making more effective, less expensive, and more manageable assistive technologies. Stephen G. Sawicki, Ph.D., North Carolina State University, Raleigh; Steven Collins, Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh (co-funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research and the National Science Foundation)
These projects are supported by the grants EB018117-01; EB018108-01; NR014756-01; from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), the National Eye Institute (NEI), and the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) and by award #1355716 from the National Science Foundation.
For details about projects funded by NSF, please see the announcement, National Robotics Initiative invests $38 million in next-generation robotics.
A program announcement, soliciting for NRI applications for fiscal year 2014, has recently been published: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2014/nsf14500/nsf14500.htm. In 2014, the participating NIH institutes are interested in targeting this solicitation to support the development of assistive robotic technology to achieve functional independence in humans; improve quality of life; assist with behavioral therapy and personalized care; and promote wellness/health.
###
About the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB): NIBIB's mission is to support multidisciplinary research and research training at the crossroads of engineering and the biological and physical sciences. NIBIB supports emerging technology research and development within its internal laboratories and through grants, collaborations, and training. More information is available at the NIBIB website: http://www.nibib.nih.gov.
About the National Eye Institute (NEI): NEI leads the federal government's research on the visual system and eye diseases. NEI supports basic and clinical science programs that result in the development of sight-saving treatments. For more information, visit http://www.nei.nih.gov
About the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR): NINR supports basic and clinical research that develops the knowledge to build the scientific foundation for clinical practice, prevent disease and disability, manage and eliminate symptoms caused by illness, and enhance end-of-life and palliative care. For more information about NINR, visit the website at http://www.ninr.nih.gov
About the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR): NINR supports basic and clinical research that develops the knowledge to build the scientific foundation for clinical practice, prevent disease and disability, manage and eliminate symptoms caused by illness, and enhance end-of-life and palliative care. For more information about NINR, visit the website at http://www.ninr.nih.gov.
About the National Science Foundation (NSF): The NSF is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, its budget was $7.0 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 50,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards about $593 million in professional and service contracts yearly. http://www.nsf.gov
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): The NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.
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NIH funds development of novel robots to assist people with disabilities, aid doctors
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
24-Oct-2013
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]
Share
Contact: Margot Kern NIBIBPress@mail.nih.gov 301-496-3500 NIH/National Institute of Biomedical Imaging & Bioengineering
Robots enhance mobility for visually and physically impaired, improve treatment for atrial fibrillation
Three projects have been awarded funding by the National Institutes of Health to develop innovative robots that work cooperatively with people and adapt to changing environments to improve human capabilities and enhance medical procedures. Funding for these projects totals approximately $2.4 million over the next five years, subject to the availability of funds.
The awards mark the second year of NIH's participation in the National Robotics Initiative (NRI), a commitment among multiple federal agencies to support the development of a new generation of robots that work cooperatively with people, known as co-robots.
"These projects have the potential to transform common medical aids into sophisticated robotic devices that enhance mobility for individuals with visual and physical impairments in ways only dreamed of before," said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. "In addition, as we continue to rely on robots to carry out complex medical procedures, it will become increasingly important for these robots to be able to sense and react to changing and unpredictable environments within the body. By supporting projects that develop these capabilities, we hope to increase the accuracy and safety of current and future medical robots."
NIH is participating in the NRI with the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. NIH has funded three projects to help develop co-robots that can assist researchers, patients, and clinicians.
A Co-Robotic Navigation Aid for the Visually Impaired: The goal is to develop a co-robotic cane for the visually impaired that has enhanced navigation capabilities and that can relay critical information about the environment to its user. Using computer vision, the proposed cane will be able to recognize indoor structures such as stairways and doors, as well as detect potential obstacles. Using an intuitive human-device interaction mechanism, the cane will then convey the appropriate travel direction to the user. In addition to increasing mobility for the visually impaired and thus quality of life, methods developed in the creation of this technology could lead to general improvements in the autonomy of small robots and portable robotics that have many applications in military surveillance, law enforcement, and search and rescue efforts. Cang Ye, Ph.D., University of Arkansas at Little Rock (co-funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering and the National Eye Institute)
MRI-Guided Co-Robotic Active Catheter: Atrial fibrillation is an irregular heartbeat that can increase the risk of stroke and heart disease. By purposefully ablating (destroying) specific areas of the heart in a controlled fashion, the propagation of irregular heart activity can be prevented. This is generally achieved by threading a catheter with an electrode at its tip through a vein in the groin until it reaches the patient's heart. However, the constant movement of the heart as well as unpredictable changes in blood flow can make it difficult to maintain consistent contact with the heart during the ablation procedure, occasionally resulting in too large or too small of a lesion. The aim is to develop a co-robotic catheter that uses novel robotic planning strategies to compensate for physiological movements of the heart and blood and that can be used while a patient undergoes MRIan imaging method used to take pictures of soft tissues in the body such as the heart. By combining state-of-the art robotics with high-resolution, real-time imaging, the co-robotic catheter could significantly increase the accuracy and repeatability of atrial fibrillation ablation procedures. M. Cenk Cavusoglu, Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland (funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering)
Novel Platform for Rapid Exploration of Robotic Ankle Exoskeleton Control: Wearable robots, such as powered braces for the lower extremities, can improve mobility for individuals with impaired strength and coordination due to aging, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, or stroke. However, methods for determining the optimal design of an assistive device for use within a specific patient population are lacking. This project proposes to create an experimental platform for an assistive ankle robot to be used in patients recovering from stroke. The platform will allow investigators to systematically test various robotic control methods and to compare them based on measurable physiological outcomes. Results from these tests will provide evidence for making more effective, less expensive, and more manageable assistive technologies. Stephen G. Sawicki, Ph.D., North Carolina State University, Raleigh; Steven Collins, Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh (co-funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research and the National Science Foundation)
These projects are supported by the grants EB018117-01; EB018108-01; NR014756-01; from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), the National Eye Institute (NEI), and the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) and by award #1355716 from the National Science Foundation.
For details about projects funded by NSF, please see the announcement, National Robotics Initiative invests $38 million in next-generation robotics.
A program announcement, soliciting for NRI applications for fiscal year 2014, has recently been published: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2014/nsf14500/nsf14500.htm. In 2014, the participating NIH institutes are interested in targeting this solicitation to support the development of assistive robotic technology to achieve functional independence in humans; improve quality of life; assist with behavioral therapy and personalized care; and promote wellness/health.
###
About the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB): NIBIB's mission is to support multidisciplinary research and research training at the crossroads of engineering and the biological and physical sciences. NIBIB supports emerging technology research and development within its internal laboratories and through grants, collaborations, and training. More information is available at the NIBIB website: http://www.nibib.nih.gov.
About the National Eye Institute (NEI): NEI leads the federal government's research on the visual system and eye diseases. NEI supports basic and clinical science programs that result in the development of sight-saving treatments. For more information, visit http://www.nei.nih.gov
About the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR): NINR supports basic and clinical research that develops the knowledge to build the scientific foundation for clinical practice, prevent disease and disability, manage and eliminate symptoms caused by illness, and enhance end-of-life and palliative care. For more information about NINR, visit the website at http://www.ninr.nih.gov
About the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR): NINR supports basic and clinical research that develops the knowledge to build the scientific foundation for clinical practice, prevent disease and disability, manage and eliminate symptoms caused by illness, and enhance end-of-life and palliative care. For more information about NINR, visit the website at http://www.ninr.nih.gov.
About the National Science Foundation (NSF): The NSF is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, its budget was $7.0 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 50,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards about $593 million in professional and service contracts yearly. http://www.nsf.gov
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): The NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.
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Enjoying a truly feminine event, Kate Bosworth attended Lucky Magazine's East Coast FABB: Fashion and Beauty Blog Conference in New York City on Thursday (October 24).
The "Blue Crush" star wore a long-sleeved cream top and silver short skirt as she posed with her gorgeous magazine cover.
Also plugging her Kate Bosworth for Topshop collection, the 30-year-old actress enjoyed herself, tweeting, "Had the BEST time speaking with @evachen212 at #LuckyFABB - thank you @LuckyMagazine - what a great audience, could have stayed forever!"
Speaking about the new line, Kate explained, "The collection is tailored and classic. For fall, we wanted to create luxurious pieces with a strong minimalist approach. Slim silhouettes are cloaked in a masculine shape, staying true to the mix of masculine/feminine balance that exists in my personal aesthetic."
DALLAS (AP) — Average fares are rising on Southwest Airlines Co., the fuel bill is shrinking, and profit is soaring.
The airline is gearing up for the holiday travel season, and officials say that bookings for November and December are strong.
Southwest released third-quarter results Thursday and gave more evidence that the airline industry continues to rebound from the 2008 recession. Mergers have reduced the number of competitors, and the remaining airlines are boosting fares by controlling growth and limiting seats.
The results sent Southwest shares up 61 cents, or 3.7 percent, to close at $17.02.
Southwest said that third-quarter net income jumped to $259 million, or 37 cents per share, from $16 million, or 2 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding special items such as fuel-hedging, the company said it would have earned 34 cents per share. That matched analysts' forecast of adjusted profit.
Revenue rose 5.5 percent to a record $4.55 billion. Analysts were expecting $4.54 billion, according to FactSet.
The average one-way fare on Southwest increased 11.3 percent, to $159.39. That reflects longer flights — the average trip was 1,000 miles, an extra 41 miles — and long-term trends in fuel prices, Southwest officials said.
The airline was forced to boost fares to offset fuel prices that rose for several years, "and finally we're getting caught up," Chairman and CEO Gary Kelly said on a conference call with analysts and reporters. "If fuel prices are flat next year, I would hope that we wouldn't have to have fare increases."
Over the past three years, Southwest's price per gallon of fuel has risen faster than the average fare — fuel 26 percent, fares 20 percent. Over four years, fuel is up 37 percent while the average fare is up 40 percent.
In the last few months, airlines have gotten a break from rising fuel bills as oil prices have stabilized. In the third quarter, Southwest paid a few cents less per gallon and consumed 12 million fewer gallons than a year ago. The combination reduced Southwest's biggest expense by 5.1 percent, to $1.45 billion.
That was helpful because the second-largest expense, labor, rose 6.9 percent to $1.27 billion. The company blamed contract raises for union workers and higher health insurance costs.
The third quarter includes the last two months of the busy summer travel season, so it's a strong period for airlines. Even with higher fares than last year, Southwest was able to fill 80.8 percent of its seats, although that was down from 82.1 percent in summer 2012.
When summer vacations end, travel drops off, but Southwest is hinting at a busy holiday season. Officials said the recent partial government shutdown cost Southwest $20 million in October, but they said that bookings for November and December were strong.
Kelly called the third-quarter results "very solid," and said that his airline — once known as a scrappy underdog to the giants, but now the fourth-biggest U.S. carrier — was transforming itself for the future.
Southwest is converting more AirTran Airways flights to its own colors and brand, and expects to fully absorb AirTran by the end of 2014. The conversion includes using Southwest planes on international flights beginning next year.
___
Follow David Koenig at http://www.twitter.com/airlinewriter
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German biotech company Morphosys raised its profit expectations for this year again due to higher revenues and lower costs at its cancer treatment alliance with U.S. partner Celgene.
Morphosys now expects earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of between 7 million euros ($9.7 million) and 10 million euros, after previously predicting EBIT of 2 million euros to 6 million euros, it said on Thursday after stock markets closed.
Revenues will come in at the upper end of the predicted range of 74 million to 78 million euros, it said.
($1 = 0.7245 euros)
(Reporting by Peter Dinkloh; Editing by Anthony Barker)
When Primal Scream started recording their most recent album, lead singer Bobby Gillespie told us, they wanted to create "a sprawling, psychedelic epic of a record." Having written enough material to make a few new records, it's clear the Glaswegian dance-rock icons haven't dwelled on past successes. New songs like "It's Alright, It's OK" are strong reminders of the group's talent.
Lock screen replacements for Android aren't exactly new -- some even come as part of a larger overlay that customizes your home screen experience entirely. However, few lock screen replacements do as much as Cover, a new invite-only solution that launches today, promises to do. Not only is Cover ...
TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010, AT 6:19 PM Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma
FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2011, AT 3:07 PM Obama Gets Firsthand Look at a Tornado Damage
TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010, AT 6:19 PM Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long. Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long.
TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010, AT 6:19 PM Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long. Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long.
The last quarterly report from LG noted record sales of 12.1 million smartphones in Q2, today's number's show the company has maintained that pace with 12 million units moved in Q3. It sold $2.75 billon worth of phones -- 24 percent more than during the same time period last year -- actually lost ...
Aside from the small fact that he is Jigsaw, the mastermind behind the terrifying Saw flicks, he is not the worst roommate ever. He likes to watch sports, he enjoys the company of others, and he is down to play games all day, every day.
Do you have an exit strategy for you and yours in place, should a major earthquake, terrorist attack, or similar large scale disaster occur? You should. And with the help of San Francisco's new social emergency preparation website, you will.
New Focus Features CEO Peter Schlessel is making Elton John biopic Rocketman a priority as he takes over the reins of the specialty division.
Starring Tom Hardy as the legendary performer, the Rocket Pictures biopic is the first FilmDistrict title that Schlessel is bringing with him and slotting on Focus' slate. FilmDistrict, the distribution entity co-founded by Schlessel, ponied up a hearty $10 million this summer for U.S. rights to Rocketman, which John is executive producing.
Under the rule of longtime Focus CEO James Schamus, Focus was more art house oriented. FilmDistrict had a more diverse slate, and Rocketman heralds that the company won't shy away from bigger, wide releases.
Michael Gracey is set to start shooting Rocketman in fall 2014 from an original screenplay by Lee Hall (War Horse). Elton John will re-record many of his iconic hits to parallel the emotional beats of the film.
"Tom is a stellar talent who will add extraordinary depth and nuance in bringing Elton's story to life," said Rocket Pictures CEO Steve Hamilton Shaw. "We are excited to have such a gifted actor on board, and equally excited to be in the hands of Peter Schlessel and the entire Focus Features team."
Schlessel added: "Tom is quickly becoming known as one of the world's most versatile actors, and like others at the top of their craft, he has proven his ability to transform himself completely into the character or subject found in the material. We are confident that Tom will embody the physicality and spirit of Sir Elton. This, in conjunction with the creative team led by Michael and Rocket Pictures, will provide the foundation for something that will be a unique cinematic event."
Rocketman is produced by Hamilton Shaw and David Furnish of Rocket Pictures and Lawrence Bender on behalf of financier AI Film. Len Blavatnik is executive producing alongside John, AI Film CEO Aviv Giladi and Schlessel. UTA Independent Film Group arranged financing for the project and negotiated the project's sale to FilmDistrict. Good Universe is handling international sales.
It's no secret that Windows XP is nearly six months away from its formal end-of-life support from Microsoft. Although many IT organizations have begun the migration to Windows 7 and some are testing Windows 8, a very large percentage of companies have made little effort to move from XP.
I believe users will prefer Window 7 because it's more familiar and has fewer big changes to stress about compared to Windows 8 or its newly released update, Windows 8.1. Plus, few PCs have touch capability, which is important because using Windows 8 on nontouch PCs is awkward. But there's an important reason to consider moving to Windows 8.1 despite the greater comfort of using Windows 7: Windows 8.1's better security.
According to Dustin Ingalls, group program manager at Microsoft for Windows security and identity, one of the major problems enterprises face today is the hit-or-miss security functionality seen in users' PCs. For example, many PCs don't have a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip, which is required to encrypt a Windows 8 PC's contents via Microsoft's BitLocker encryption technology. A TPM is also required to support InstantGo (previously called Connected Standby), which keeps Metro data, apps, and tiles updated with current information through a network connection that allows automatic syncing. Microsoft is pushing for TPM 2.0 to be required on all devices by January 2015, but there's no such requirement for today's devices.
All editions of Windows 8.1 (including the RT version) now support BitLocker encryption using both TPMs and the hardware-level UEFI protection approach. The trick is to make sure your PCs are InstantGo-certified so that you can take advantage of the encryption. Microsoft is also working on biometrics for both touch and swipe readers. "The goal is to move toward biometrics for everything from the Windows Store app to logging into secure sites, as well as your OS itself," Ingalls says.
Multifactor authentication is also enhanced in Windows 8.1 with virtual smart cards (VSCs), which uses the TPM to provides two-factor authentication, just like a physical smart card does. One is factor is the password or PIN, the other is VSC, with the private key stored on the system's hard drive.
Windows Defender has been enhanced with network behavior monitoring to help stop the execution of malware. Sometimes malware is known, other times it isn't, so Defender now looks at "bad behaviors in memory, the registry, or the file system, even before signatures have been created," Ingalls says. In addition, Internet Explorer 11 scans binary extensions (ActiveX, for example) in use before potentially harmful code runs. In contrast, pre-Windows 8.1 systems may allow malicious sites to exploit vulnerabilities in binary extensions like ActiveX controls. Additionally, IE's Enhanced Protection Mode is now enabled by default in the Windows Desktop version of IE. (It was autoenabled in the Metro edition in Windows 8.0, as it still is in Windows 8.1.)
Windows 8.1 introduces Remote Data Removal, which allows organizations to remove company data (email, attachments, and orporate data that came from Work Folders) without completely wiping the personal user's data in the process. Note that this capability requires Windows Server 2012 R2 to support Work Place Join and Work Folders.
Security is always going to be a concern for both the home and corporate user, even more so when you consider many users work from home PCs and other personal devices. As an IT admin looking to ensure the greatest level of security, you should give serious consideration to adopting Windows 8.1 instead of Windows 7.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, opens coalition talks with representatives of the Social Democrats in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013. Merkel on Wednesday launched coalition negotiations with the main opposition Social Democrats, SPD, that are likely to set the stage for weeks of hard bargaining to form a new government. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, opens coalition talks with representatives of the Social Democrats in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013. Merkel on Wednesday launched coalition negotiations with the main opposition Social Democrats, SPD, that are likely to set the stage for weeks of hard bargaining to form a new government. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
FILE - The May 30, 2012 file photo shows German Chancellor Angela Merkel checking her mobile phone prior to the opening of the Council of the Baltic Sea States in Stralsund, Germany. German Chancellor Angela Merkel complained to President Barack Obama on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013 after learning that U.S. intelligence may have targeted her mobile phone, and said that would be “a serious breach of trust” if confirmed, her government said. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)
FILE - The March 4, 2008 file photo shows German Chancellor Angela Merkel posing with a cell phone at the booth of Sony Ericsson during her opening walk at the CeBIT in Hanover, northern Germany. Merkel complained to President Barack Obama on Wednesday, Oct.23, 2013 after learning that U.S. intelligence may have targeted her mobile phone, and said that would be “a serious breach of trust” if confirmed, her government said. (AP Photo/Joerg Sarbach)
BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel complained to President Barack Obama on Wednesday after learning that U.S. intelligence may have targeted her mobile phone, saying that would be "a serious breach of trust" if confirmed.
For its part, the White House denied that the U.S. is listening in on Merkel's phone calls now.
"The president assured the chancellor that the United States is not monitoring and will not monitor the communications of the chancellor," White House spokesman Jay Carney said. "The United States greatly values our close cooperation with Germany on a broad range of shared security challenges."
However, Carney did not specifically say that that U.S. had never monitored or obtained Merkel's communications.
The German government said it responded after receiving "information that the chancellor's cellphone may be monitored" by U.S. intelligence. It wouldn't elaborate, but German news magazine Der Spiegel, which has published material from NSA leaker Edward Snowden, said its research triggered the response.
Merkel spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement the chancellor made clear to Obama in a phone call that "she views such practices, if the indications are confirmed ... as completely unacceptable."
Merkel said among close partners such as Germany and the U.S., "there must not be such surveillance of a head of government's communication," Seibert added. "That would be a serious breach of trust. Such practices must be stopped immediately."
Carney, the White House spokesman, said the U.S. is examining Germany's concerns as part of an ongoing review of how the U.S. gathers intelligence.
The White House has cited that review in responding to similar spying concerns from France, Brazil and other countries.
U.S. allies knew that the Americans were spying on them, but they had no idea how much.
As details of National Security Agency spying programs have become public, citizens, activists and politicians in countries from Latin America to Europe have lined up to express shock and outrage at the scope of Washington's spying.
Merkel had previously raised concerns over the electronic eavesdropping issue when Obama visited Germany in June, has demanded answers from the U.S. government and backed calls for greater European data protection. Wednesday's statement, however, was much more sharply worded and appeared to reflect frustration over the answers provided so far by the U.S. government.
Merkel called for U.S. authorities to clarify the extent of surveillance in Germany and to provide answers to "questions that the German government asked months ago," Seibert said.
Overseas politicians are also using the threat to their citizens' privacy to drum up their numbers at the polls — or to distract attention from their own domestic problems. Some have even downplayed the matter to keep good relations with Washington.
After a Paris newspaper reported the NSA had swept up 70.3 million French telephone records in a 30-day period, the French government called the U.S. ambassador in for an explanation and put the issue of personal data protection on the agenda of the European Union summit that opens Thursday.
"Why are these practices, as they're reported — which remains to be clarified — unacceptable? First because they are taking place between partners, between allies, and then because they clearly are an affront to private life," Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, the French government spokeswoman, said Wednesday.
But the official French position — that friendly nations should not spy on each another — can't be taken literally, a former French foreign minister said.
"The magnitude of the eavesdropping is what shocked us," Bernard Kouchner said in a radio interview. "Let's be honest, we eavesdrop too. Everyone is listening to everyone else. But we don't have the same means as the United States, which makes us jealous. "
The French government, which until this week had been largely silent in the face of widespread U.S. snooping on its territory, may have other reasons to speak out now. The furor over the NSA managed to draw media attention away from France's controversial expulsion of a Roma family at a time when French President Francois Hollande's popularity is at a historic low. Just 23 percent of French approve of the job he is doing, according to a recent poll.
In Germany, opposition politicians, the media and privacy activists have been vocal in their outrage over the U.S. eavesdropping. Up until now, Merkel had worked hard to contain the damage to U.S.-German relations and refrained from saying anything bad about the Americans.
Merkel has said previously her country was "dependent" on cooperation with the American spy agencies — crediting an American tip as the reason that security services foiled an Islamic terror plot in 2007 that targeted U.S. soldiers and citizens in Germany.
In Italy, major newspapers reported that a parliamentary committee was told the U.S. had intercepted phone calls, emails and text messages of Italians. Premier Enrico Letta raised the topic of spying during a visit Wednesday with Secretary of State John Kerry. A senior State Department official said Kerry made it clear the Obama administration's goal was to strike the right balance between security needs and privacy expectations.
Few countries have responded as angrily to U.S. spying than Brazil. President Dilma Rousseff took the extremely rare diplomatic step of canceling a visit to Washington where she had been scheduled to receive a full state dinner this week.
Analysts say her anger is genuine, though also politically profitable, for Rousseff faces a competitive re-election campaign next year.
David Fleischer, a political scientist at the University of Brasilia, said since the Sept. 11 attacks Brazilian governments knew the Americans had stepped up spying efforts.
"But what the government did not know was that Dilma's office had been hacked as well," Fleischer said.
Information the NSA collected in Mexico appears to have largely focused on drug-fighting policies or government personnel trends. But the U.S. agency also allegedly spied on the emails of two Mexican presidents, Enrique Pena Nieto, the incumbent, and Felipe Calderon.
The Mexican government has reacted cautiously, calling the targeting of the presidents "unacceptable." Pena Nieto has demanded an investigation but hasn't cancelled any visits or contacts, a strategy that Mexico's opposition and some analysts see as weak.
"Other countries, like Brazil, have had responses that are much more resounding than our country," said Sen. Gabriela Cuevas of Mexico's conservative National Action Party.
Yet Mexico has much-closer economic and political ties to the United States that the Mexican government apparently does not want to endanger.
Beyond politics, the NSA espionage has been greeted with relative equanimity in Mexico, since the government has had close intelligence cooperation with the United States for years in the war on drugs.
"The country we should really be spying on now is New Zealand, to see if we can get enough information so the national team can win a qualifying berth at the World Cup," Mexican columnist Guadalupe Loaeza wrote.
The two rivals play Nov. 13.
__
AP writers Julie Pace in Washington, Lori Hinnant in Paris, Frank Jordans in Berlin, Stan Lehman in Sao Paulo, Mark Stevenson in Mexico City, Lara Jakes in Rome and Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed.
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Lock screen replacements for Android aren't exactly new -- some even come as part of a larger overlay that customizes your home screen experience entirely. However, few lock screen replacements do as much as Cover, a new invite-only solution that launches today, promises to do. Not only is Cover ...
The last quarterly report from LG noted record sales of 12.1 million smartphones in Q2, today's number's show the company has maintained that pace with 12 million units moved in Q3. It sold $2.75 billon worth of phones -- 24 percent more than during the same time period last year -- actually lost ...
