Gene variations predict chemotherapy side effects

Apr. 9, 2013 ? Seemingly benign differences in genetic code from one person to the next could influence who develops side effects to chemotherapy, a Mayo Clinic study has found. The study identified gene variations that can predispose people to chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, a condition that is hard to predict and often debilitating enough to cause cancer patients to stop their treatment early.

Results of the research were presented today at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2013 in Washington, D.C.

The study, which implicates the genes EPHA5, ARHGEF10, and PRX, is the first to mine large swaths of the human genome for predictors of chemotherapy side effects. Further research into these genes and others may enable clinicians to use genomic information to more safely deliver these potentially toxic treatments.

"Our study creates a path for how to approach the whole genome in order to tailor cancer treatments," says Andreas Beutler, M.D., an oncologist at Mayo Clinic Cancer Center and senior author of the study. "That is important because we would not only like to cure people's cancer or help them live longer, but we also wish to provide them with the best quality of life."

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy affects an estimated 20 to 30 percent of cancer patients treated with chemotherapy agents. The symptoms can be as mild as a light tingling or numbness, but can progress to a loss of feeling in the hands and feet, or to the point where patients can no longer walk normally and are left with a permanent feeling of numbness or pain. Currently, there is no way to predict which patients undergoing chemotherapy will develop this side effect or to what degree.

There are approximately 50 genes linked to a hereditary form of peripheral neuropathy. However, many of the people who have a mutation in one of these genes experience no symptoms until they are exposed to chemotherapy. Dr. Beutler decided to first consider those 50 genes as the most likely suspects, and then expand his search to the wider human genome for other predictors of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.

Dr. Beutler's approach relied on exome sequencing, a type of DNA sequencing that focuses on the exonic regions of the genome that code for functional proteins. These protein-coding regions are believed to harbor about 85 percent of all disease-causing mutations.

Dr. Beutler and his colleagues performed exome sequencing on 20,794 genes from 119 cancer patients, over half of whom had developed chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy during the course of a chemotherapy clinical trial.

First, they looked at the 50 hereditary neuropathy genes and found one -- EPHA5 -- that appeared to predispose the patients to chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. Next, researchers analyzed the remaining 20,000 genes and discovered two new genes -- ARHGEF10 and PRX -- that are also associated with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. They validated those findings in another group of 75 cancer patients.

The results suggest that the two conditions, hereditary neuropathy and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, may share genetic roots in some patients. They also point to ways that clinicians can improve cancer treatment. For instance, if clinicians know which patients are at risk for a particular chemotherapy side effect, they can use the information to individualize treatment.

Dr. Beutler and his team plan to expand their study to look at the entire genome, not just the protein-coding regions, in as many as 1,000 cancer patients. Dr. Beutler says any additional genes they find will add to the larger picture of symptom control in cancer treatment.

"What we are doing at Mayo is much larger than just uncovering a handful of genes," says Dr. Beutler. "We are using cutting-edge genomics research to enhance our strengths in clinical trials and develop new methods to individualize medicine."

Co-authors include, Amit Kulkarni, M.B.B.S.; Rahul Kanwar; Rui Qin, Ph.D.; Zhifu Sun, M.D.; Anh Le-Lindqwister, Terry Therneau, Ph.D.; and Charles Loprinzi, M.D., all of Mayo Clinic.

Funding for the study was provided by the American Cancer Society, the National Institutes of Health grants CA124477 and CA37404, the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine and the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation.

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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://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/2fR2tyYtLVU/130409110001.htm

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Ex-Tenn. judge sentenced in drugs, sex scheme

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) ? A former county judge in Tennessee has been sentenced to six months in federal prison for lying to cover up a scheme that provided him with painkillers and sex.

Richard Baumgartner expressed remorse at sentencing Wednesday in federal court, saying he was greatly shamed and regretted his actions. The 65-year-old former Knox County judge was convicted in November of five counts of misprision of a felony.

Authorities said he lied to cover up a conspiracy involving a defendant from his court, a woman about half his age who had supplied him with pills and sex.

An investigation also found he was using large amounts of painkillers while presiding over trials and had purchased drugs inside the county courthouse building starting around 2007 until he stepped down in 2011.

"I will forever be remorseful for any disgrace I have brought to that profession," the disgraced judge said, speaking at his sentencing hearing in Greeneville.

Baumgartner resigned from the bench and pleaded guilty in March 2011 to a state charge of official misconduct after a probe by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation found he was addicted to painkillers and purchased pills from Deena Castleman, who had graduated from his drug court program. He did not receive jail time for that plea.

Federal prosecutors had requested Baumgartner serve two years in prison, saying his actions severely disrupted the Knox County courts and required retrials of half a dozen people. In particular, retrials were ordered for two defendants in highly publicized trials involving the 2007 torture slayings of a young Knoxville couple.

The prosecutors told U.S. District Judge J. Ronnie Greer in a memo that "Baumgartner engaged in despicable conduct that has shaken the public's confidence in the criminal justice system."

But Baumgartner's attorney, Donald Bosch, pleaded for probation. The defense attorney said Baumgartner had already been publicly humiliated, financially ruined, debarred and now is a convicted felon.

In sentencing Baumgartner to prison, Greer said the defendant should serve some prison time because judges should be held to a higher standard. Greer said Baumgartner also must undergo drug testing and drug and mental health treatment upon his release.

First appointed to the Knox County Criminal Court in 1992, Baumgartner once presided over many high-profile criminal cases in Knoxville. He also launched the county's drug court.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ex-tenn-judge-sentenced-drugs-sex-scheme-174702293.html

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Jurassic Park's Dinosaur Sound Effects Were Actually Animal Sex Sounds

So, uh, this is an uncomfortable one. You know the dinosaur sounds from Jurassic Park that framed the way you imagined every dinosaur ever? They were actually recordings of animals boning, or just about to bone. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/JBSniEA6QlM/jurassic-parks-dinosaur-sound-effects-were-actually-animal-sex-sounds

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Otterbox Commuter case for the HTC One

Does one of the biggest names in smartphone protection turn a sexy piece of silver into a tank? Let's find out

Ever think about buying a Corvette and then wrapping it in the shell of an Abrams tank? That's often what you think about when you take the latest and greatest Android smartphone and put it inside an Otterbox case. But you're not buying an Otterbox for sex appeal alone, right? You're buying it because it protects your phone. Period.

So we've got the HTC One. And we've got the Otterbox Commuter case, with its rubber sleeve and hard, outer plastic shell. Beauty and the beast? We've got a quick look, after the break.

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/JSDTaQ6Le7w/story01.htm

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Tim Armstrong Defends Aol's Content Business, Announces New Ad ...

Aol CEO Tim Armstrong sang the praises of programmatic, automated advertising today during his keynote presentation at the Ad:Tech conference in San Francisco, and he announced a new Marketplace tool to help publishers manage their ads. So when Fortune?s Adam Lashinsky took the stage to interview him, he asked: Was it meaningful that Armstrong didn?t talk about Aol?s content and publishing business?

After all, Lashinsky pointed out that Aol has made some pretty big investments in content, especially with the acquisition of properties like the Huffington Post and, yes, TechCrunch. Armstrong answered that he still sees content as a big opportunity ? he was just tailoring his message to the audience.

Indeed, if you look at companies like Amazon, Netflix, Google and Microsoft, it seems like more tech companies are getting into the content business. Armstrong argued that Aol was one of the first online ad companies to ?try and jump in and do both sides.?

At the same time, Armstrong acknowledged that there does seem to be a shortage of big-name talent in web content and that he?s looking forward to seeing ?a lot of the brainpower? moving from offline to online. (I?m not sure what kind of talent he was referring to, so I?ll try not to take that personally.)

?If we were to take all the technology people in this room and switched them to content management systems, the opportunity is just as big,? Armstrong added.

Continuing on that theme, Lashinsky said that traffic to Aol properties doesn?t seem to be growing. Armstrong said it?s been ?a very, very challenging situation? because Aol is trying to ?switch the engines while the plane is flying? ? there are new properties that are growing, but the company is also saddled with others that are declining or that it has shut down. The good thing, Armstrong said, is that the mix of Aol?s traffic ?looks different than it did three years ago,? that ?Wall Street has gotten more excited,? and that ?we?ve been able to stuff the company with lots of talent.?

Lashinsky also asked Armstrong about his earlier statement that if he was making the decision for himself (rather than Aol), he?d be interested in buying Time Inc. Armstrong said that?s because he?s a big believer in the media brands that Time has built: ?People undercut how powerful brands are.?

My boss Alexia Tsotsis really hates that word, but to illustrate his point, Armstrong said that Fortune hosts a successful conference every year based on the magazine?s brand ? if Armstrong wanted to start ?Tim?s online finance site? and hold his own conference, he said, ?I would bet on Fortune more than Tim?s finance.? He also said that Aol is trying to acquire ?meaningful? online brands. That was the rationale behind the HuffPo and TechCrunch acquisitions, and he said they?ve led to traffic and revenue that has ?exploded.?

As for the new Marketplace product, it?s a supply-side platform that Aol is pitching as a competitor to Google and as something that completes the company?s ad-tech stack.

May 24, 1985

April 12, 2009, NYSE:AOL

AOL is a global advertising-supported Web company, with display advertising network in the U.S., a substantial worldwide audience, and a suite of popular Web brands and products. The company?s strategy focuses on increasing the scale and sophistication of its advertising platform and growing the size and engagement of its global online audience through leading products and programming. History of Aol: AOL was founded in the early 1980?s as Control Video Corp, with an online service, Gameline, for the Atari 2600 console. ...

? Learn more

Tim Armstrong was appointed CEO and Chairman of AOL in March 2009. Before becoming the CEO of AOL, Armstrong presided over Google?s North American and Latin American advertising sales and operations teams. His team provided customers with local partnerships as well as centralized sales and services. They worked with some of the world?s most widely recognized brands and advertising agencies in addition to some of the fastest growing medium-sized companies. Armstrong joined Google from Snowball.com, where he was vice president of...

? Learn more

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/09/tim-should-talk-about-techcrunch-more/

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US says hacking undermines China's interests

BEIJING (AP) ? Hacking that originates inside China is undermining its relationship with the United States and harms Beijing's long-term interests, a top U.S. diplomat said Tuesday, in the latest high-level public expression of concern over a problem that has prompted threats of commercial retaliation from Washington.

The U.S. believes cyber intrusions originating from China that result in the theft of sensitive information have reached very high levels, adding to existing problems with the lack of protection for intellectual property rights, U.S. undersecretary of state for economic growth, Robert Hormats said.

He urged China to take firm action against hacking and said Chinese officials needed to question whether such activity "serves China's real interests" as it seeks to upgrade its economy, the world's second largest.

"The long term interest of the Chinese government is to investigate and halt these cyber intrusions wherever in this country they come from," Hormats said. "The U.S. government is taking an active role in addressing this issue and we continue to raise our concerns with senior Chinese officials."

Hormats' comments in an address to an Internet Industry conference in Beijing follow a forensically detailed report by Internet security company Mandiant that accused a Chinese military unit of carrying out a years-long hacking attack against U.S. companies.

China's government and military deny carrying out cyberattacks. A senior Chinese official attending the conference repeated Beijing's contention that Beijing was itself a victim of hacking.

"Our opposition to all forms of hacking is clear and consistent," said Qian Xiaoqian, a vice minister and deputy director of the State Internet Information Office.

"Lately people have been cooking up a theory of a Chinese Internet threat, which is just an extension of the old 'China threat' and just as groundless," Qian said.

Such statements seem to be doing little to allay concerns over a suspected official role in wholesale hacking linked to China. Foreign military and government organizations have been targeted by the attacks, as well as private companies, including those in sensitive industries such as energy and aerospace.

Craig Mundie, a senior adviser to the CEO of Microsoft, a sponsor of the conference, said that regardless of whether China-based hacking was the work of rogue actors, Beijing's efforts to stop it are clearly not effective.

"And given that China's policy position is that such activity is absolutely illegal, our two countries clearly need to work together to figure out how to enforce that policy more effectively, because right now the evidence suggests China's policy enforcement approaches are not working adequately," Mundie said.

Mandiant, a Virginia-based cybersecurity firm, released a torrent of details in February that tied a secret Chinese military unit in Shanghai to years of cyberattacks that compromised more than 140 companies. Mandiant linked the breaches to the People's Liberation Army's Unit 61398.

In response to the hacking reports, the Obama administration has been considering fines and other trade actions against China or any other country guilty of cyberespionage.

However, the administration is expected to proceed cautiously because of the issue's sensitivity, and Hormats and other conference attendees repeatedly called for communication and joint efforts against hacking rather than outright confrontation.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-04-09-China-US-Hacking/id-6a5df253f45443a9a6500098da9bd83d

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NKorea urges foreigners to vacate South Korea

A North Korean soldier stands beneath roadside propaganda which reads "Let's Uphold the Military First Revolutionary Leadership of the Great Comrade Kim Jong Un With Loyalty" in Pyongyang on Tuesday, April 9, 2013. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

A North Korean soldier stands beneath roadside propaganda which reads "Let's Uphold the Military First Revolutionary Leadership of the Great Comrade Kim Jong Un With Loyalty" in Pyongyang on Tuesday, April 9, 2013. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

A North Korean flag hangs on a light pole as a pedestrian passes by along a Pyongyang street on Tuesday, April 9, 2013. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

U.S. Army soldiers drive armored vehicles during annual military drills in Yeoncheon, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Tuesday, April 9, 2013. North Korea has unleashed a flurry of war threats and provocations over U.N. sanctions for its last nuclear test, and over the ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills, which the allies say are routine but Pyongyang says is a preparation for a northward invasion. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A U.S. Army soldier stands on an armored vehicle during annual military drills in Yeoncheon, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Tuesday, April 9, 2013. North Korea has unleashed a flurry of war threats and provocations over U.N. sanctions for its last nuclear test, and over the ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills, which the allies say are routine but Pyongyang says is a preparation for a northward invasion. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

U.S. Army soldiers prepare for an exercise during their annual military drills with South Korea in Yeoncheon, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Tuesday, April 9, 2013. North Korea has unleashed a flurry of war threats and provocations over U.N. sanctions for its last nuclear test, and over the ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills, which the allies say are routine but Pyongyang says is a preparation for a northward invasion. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) ? North Korea on Tuesday urged all foreign companies and tourists in South Korea to evacuate, saying the two countries are on the verge of a nuclear war. The new threat appeared to be an attempt to scare foreigners into pressing their governments to pressure Washington and Seoul to act to avert a conflict.

Analysts see a direct attack on Seoul as extremely unlikely, and there are no overt signs that North Korea's army is readying for war, let alone a nuclear one.

In Pyongyang, there were no signs of a military buildup. Scores of people were armed on a cold spring day with shovels, not guns, and were busy planting trees as part of a forestation campaign. The national flag fluttered across the city as North Korea marked the 20th anniversary of late leader Kim Jong Il's appointment as chairman of the National Defense Commission, and workers began preparing the city for the April 15 birthday of late President Kim Il Sung.

South Korea's military has reported missile movements on North Korea's east coast, but nothing pointed toward South Korea.

"The situation on the Korean Peninsula is inching close to a thermonuclear war due to the evermore undisguised hostile actions of the United States and the South Korean puppet warmongers and their moves for a war against" the North, said a statement by the North Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, an organization that deals with regional matters.

The statement is similar to past threats that analysts call an attempt to raise anxiety in foreign capitals.

Analysts see the threats of war as a bid to win Pyongyang-friendly policy changes in Seoul and Washington. Last week, North Korea told foreign diplomats in Pyongyang that it will not be able to guarantee their safety starting Wednesday. It is not clear what significance that date holds.

Observers also say the torrent of North Korean prophecies of doom and efforts to raise war hysteria are partly to boost the image and military credentials of young leader Kim Jong Un.

Air Koryo's daily flight from Beijing was only half full on Tuesday. Flight attendants in red suits and blue scarves artfully kept in place by sparkling brooches betrayed no sense of fear or concern.

Among the tourists who arrived Tuesday was Mark Fahey, a biomedical engineer from Sydney, Australia, who said he thought a war was "pretty unlikely."

Fahey, a second-time visitor to North Korea, said he booked his trip to Pyongyang six months ago, eager to see how North Korea might have changed under Kim Jong Un. He said he chose to stick with his plans, suspecting that most of the threats were rhetoric.

"I knew that when I arrived here it would probably be very different to the way it was being reported in the media," he told The Associated Press at Pyongyang airport. He said his family trusts him to make the right judgment, but "my colleagues at work think I am crazy."

He said he took no special precautions. "I haven't brought anything at all - just a camera," he said with a laugh. But he noted that several other tourists who had been slated to travel with his group had canceled their journeys.

Chu Kang Jin, a Pyongyang resident, said everything is calm in the city.

"Everyone, including me, is determined to turn out as one to fight for national reunification ... if the enemies spark a war," he said, using nationalist rhetoric employed by many North Koreans when speaking to the media.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who has sought to re-engage North Korea with dialogue and aid since taking office in February, expressed exasperation Tuesday with what she called the "endless vicious cycle" of Seoul answering Pyongyang's hostile behavior with compromise, only to get more hostility.

U.S. and South Korean defense officials have said they've seen nothing to indicate that Pyongyang is preparing for a major military action, and there was no sign of an exodus of foreign companies or tourists from South Korea.

Still, the United States and South Korea have raised their defense postures, as has Japan, which deployed PAC-3 missile interceptors in key locations around Tokyo on Tuesday as a precaution against possible North Korean ballistic missile tests.

In Rome, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described the tensions on the Korean Peninsula as "very dangerous" and said that "any small incident caused by miscalculation or misjudgment" may "create an uncontrollable situation."

Also Tuesday, North Korea pulled out more than 50,000 workers from the Kaesong industrial park, which combines South Korean technology and know-how with cheap North Korean labor. It was the first time that production has been shut down at the complex, the only remaining product of economic cooperation between the two countries that began about a decade ago when relations were much warmer.

Other projects from previous eras of cooperation such as reunions of families separated by war and tours to a scenic North Korean mountain stopped in recent years.

___

Associated Press writers Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, and Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.

___

Follow AP's Korea bureau chief on Twitter at twitter.com/newsjean.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-04-09-Koreas-Tension/id-dad3e0b271d949c0b3a49d3e86def3ae

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NYC Met Museum gets renowned $1B Cubist collection

NEW YORK (AP) ? New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art is getting a billion-dollar Cubist collection it says will "transform" it.

The museum announced Tuesday cosmetics executive and philanthropist Leonard Lauder has pledged his renowned collection of Cubist works.

The collection of 78 works includes pieces from Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Juan Gris and Fernand Leger and is considered one of the most pre-eminent Cubism collections in the world. It's valued at more than $1 billion.

Museum Director Thomas Campbell says the gift is "truly transformational" and will fill in a critical area in the museum's collection.

The Lauder collection is expected to be presented in an exhibition opening in the fall of 2014.

The museum says a new research center for modern art will be created at the museum.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nyc-met-museum-gets-renowned-1b-cubist-collection-000345871.html

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Conn. gov faults gun lobbyists over restrictions

In this April 4, 2013, photo, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, center, signs legislation at the Capitol in Hartford, Conn., that includes new restrictions on weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines, a response to last year's deadly school shooting in Newtown. Neil Heslin, behind left, father of Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis, Nicole Hockley, right, mother of Sandy Hook School shooting victim Dylan, and Conn. Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, left, watch. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

In this April 4, 2013, photo, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, center, signs legislation at the Capitol in Hartford, Conn., that includes new restrictions on weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines, a response to last year's deadly school shooting in Newtown. Neil Heslin, behind left, father of Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis, Nicole Hockley, right, mother of Sandy Hook School shooting victim Dylan, and Conn. Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, left, watch. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) ? Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy harshly criticized gun industry lobbyists on Sunday, saying they are doing too little to halt gun violence.

Just three days after he signed into law new restrictions on weapons and large-capacity magazines, the governor compared Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, to clowns and said lobbyists want to ensure that the industry can sell guns indiscriminately.

"Wayne reminds me of the clowns at the circus," Malloy said of LaPierre on CNN's "State of the Union." ''They get the most attention and that's what he's paid to do."

Representatives of the NRA did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

"What this is about is the ability of the gun industry to sell as many guns to as many people as possible even if they're deranged, even if they're mentally ill, even if they have a criminal background," Malloy said. "They don't care. They want to sell guns."

Robert Crook, executive director of the Connecticut Coalition of Sportsmen, a lobbying group, said Malloy's criticism was "absolutely false."

"It's another political statement from a governor with little knowledge," he said.

Connecticut's gun industry supports a gun trafficking task force and tighter background checks of buyers, Crook said.

Andrew Doba, a spokesman for Malloy, said the Democratic governor was criticizing lobbyists, not the gun industry. Malloy has said he wants Connecticut's large gun industry to remain in the state, though gun manufacturers say the new restrictions will hurt their business.

"People are welcome to stay in our state as long as they're producing a product that can be sold in the United States legally," Malloy said.

Nearly four months after a gunman killed 20 children and six educators at an elementary school in Newtown, lawmakers and Malloy enacted legislation that adds more than 100 firearms to the state's assault weapons ban. It also immediately bans the sale of magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition. People who purchased those guns and magazines before midnight Wednesday will be allowed to keep them if they're registered with the state police before Jan. 1.

Required background checks for private gun sales also take effect.

Other parts of the new law include a ban on armor-piercing bullets, establishment of a deadly weapon offender registry, expansion of circumstances when a person's mental health history disqualifies them from holding a gun permit, mandatory reporting of voluntary hospital commitments, doubled penalties for gun trafficking and other firearms violations, and $1 million to fund the statewide firearms trafficking task force.

Malloy said he preferred an "all-out ban" on magazines of more than 10 rounds of ammunition, but the legislature opposed him on the issue.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-07-Gun%20Control-Conn/id-77f0c259ff6e4bcb98c05219c97f495c

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German thieves swipe 5 tons of Nutella

To ring in this year's Holocaust Memorial Day, the classy hackers at Anonymous took down a bunch of Israeli government websites on Sunday and say they caused over $3 billion in damage. But they didn't totally get away with it. Within a few hours of the attack which Anonymous says affected 100,000 websites, 40,000 Facebook pages, 5,000 Twitter accounts and 30,000 bank accounts, an Israeli hacker broke into the website that Anonymous had set up for the attack, dubbed Operation Israel. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/germany-thieves-swipe-5-tons-chocolate-spread-103316137.html

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PFT: Tebow plans to attend Jets' voluntary workouts

Reuters

We begin our analysis of each team?s draft needs with a look at the Kansas City Chiefs, who hold the No. 1 overall selection and have eight picks overall ? but lack a second-round selection after the trade for quarterback Alex Smith:

Offensive tackle:?The Chiefs gave left tackle Branden Albert the franchise tag, but it seems they are open to considering moving him in the right deal. Even if the Chiefs keep Albert, drafting a top left tackle prospect like Texas A&M?s Luke Joeckel or Central Michigan?s Eric Fisher?makes a lot of sense. Albert is signed for just one more season, and he prefers left tackle, not right tackle.

Running back:?The Chiefs have a clear-cut featured back in Jamaal Charles. However, the depth behind Charles needs improvement. Kansas City doesn?t necessarily need to address this position early in the draft, given how running backs are valued these days, but adding a back ? perhaps one with a little more bulk than Charles ? would be wise. The good news for Chiefs fans? The Eagles showed a sharp eye for running back talent throughout Andy Reid?s tenure as head coach.

Inside linebacker: Here?s another position where the Chiefs have a building block (in this case, Derrick Johnson) and some questions otherwise. Also, just like at running back, positional value would suggest inside linebacker is more likely to be addressed on the second or third day of the draft.

Outside linebacker:?The Chiefs are set here entering 2013 with Justin Houston and Tamba Hali. However, they need to begin preparing for the future at the position. Hali has been productive (62.5 sacks) and dependable (two missed games in seven seasons), but he will be 30 in November. He has two years left on his deal, as does Houston ? who comes off a 10-sack season in 2012 and figures to garner a big-time second contract, considering the value of pass rushers. The Chiefs might want to add a mid-round prospect and groom him for 2015. You can never have enough pass-rush help.

Tight end: It wouldn?t be a surprise if the Chiefs drafted a tight end even after signing Anthony Fasano in free agency.?Tony Moeaki enters the final year of his contract, and more options at the position wouldn?t be a bad idea. Reid?s draft history suggests tight end might be more of a third-day consideration. The majority of tight ends selected in Reid?s Philadelphia tenure came off the board in Round Five or later.

We have seen far worse holders of the No. 1 pick than the 2013 Chiefs. This is a team that had a half-dozen Pro Bowl representatives in January ? and all of them are still on the roster. Still, they have some work to do in April. With a good draft, a climb out of the cellar in the AFC West wouldn?t shock anyone, especially with the Raiders and Chargers trying to climb back into contention themselves. Finally, the Smith trade opens some options for the Chiefs. They don?t need a quarterback this year. If any team falls in love with a prospect, the Chiefs shouldn?t let the call go to voicemail.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/04/08/tebow-plans-to-attend-jets-voluntary-workouts/related

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Drinks at GQ? - BoF - The Business of Fashion

LONDON, United Kingdom ? Late last February in Istanbul?s upscale Etiler neighbourhood, an attractive crowd of men in slim-cut suits and their stylish companions gathered for the official opening party of the city?s first GQ Bar. That?s GQ as in Gentlemen?s Quarterly, the successful men?s style magazine with nearly 20 international editions. But at the event, the only identifiable sign of the publication was the name. Spread over two floors and featuring a gigantic retractable crystal chandelier suspended over its centre, the sparkling venue is a dining spot for the city?s moneyed, style-hungry elite. After midnight, the chandelier is retracted, as if by magic, and the space turns into a throbbing dance club.

Come June, a Vogue Club is set to open on the 45th and 46th floors of a Singapore skyscraper, comprising a restaurant and a lounge area that will feature live music and stay open late into the night, distilling the glamour of the famous fashion bible into an immersive environment for eating, drinking and socialising.

And that?s just the start.?Following the success of an existing Vogue Caf? and GQ Bar in Moscow, over the next 12 months, GQ- and Vogue-themed bars, cafes and clubs will open in Singapore, Dubai and Bangkok. Similar ventures are planned in Latin America.

Meanwhile, in London, 45 students are getting ready to commence classes, next week, at the Cond? Nast College of Fashion and Design, the publisher?s first foray into the business of education.

With these moves, Cond? Nast International, the publisher of the non-American editions of Vogue, Wired, Vanity Fair and GQ, among other titles, is extending its most famous magazine brands ? powerful lifestyle signifiers ? into a number of new, non-publishing businesses.

?Our business can no longer be defined strictly as publishing, but takes the form of brand management,? Jonathan Newhouse, chairman and chief executive of Cond? Nast International told BoF. ?We want to bring the experience of the publishing brands to end users in new forms in order to strengthen the brands and their relevance. Of course, we aim to do so profitably.?

It?s no secret that traditional, ad-supported editorial outlets have been trying to diversify their revenue streams since the Great Recession caused dramatic slashing of advertising spending. In May of 2011, Cond? Nast (US) chief executive Chuck Townshend acknowledged to The Wall Street Journal: ?My eyes are wide open. I don?t consider [the traditional ad-revenue model] to be a perennially sustainable stream of revenue.?

While Cond? Nast International was not as severely affected by the downturn as the company?s US business, according to Newhouse, the international arm did experience a drop in revenue in 2009. In some regions ad revenues fell by as much as 20 per cent between 2008 and 2009, a loss compounded by the continued shift away from print products ? where Cond? Nast still makes the majority its revenues ? towards the Internet, where large volumes of media content are freely available to consumers.

Starting in 2010, advertising revenues began to recover. And, for 2011, despite wider trouble in the Eurozone, revenues at Cond? Nast International rose 7.7 percent to ?460 million, thanks to the steady return of luxury advertisers and the company?s ability to offset some of its losses through the growth of its online properties. But the fallout from the financial crisis clearly catalysed the company to focus on new revenue opportunities through brand extensions, a move that was met with a fair degree of skepticism from some industry observers.

Moscow has been something of a testing ground for Cond? Nast?s hospitality ventures. A Vogue Caf? opened there back in 2004 and, following its success, the company opened two more establishments tied to its famous brands in the Russian capital, all of them run in partnership with local restaurant management companies through franchise deals.

?For several years now Cond? Nast International has licensed a GQ Bar and Vogue Caf? in Moscow catering to glamorous, high-spending clientele,? Stuart Nielsen, director of Cond? Nast International Restaurants, told BoF. ?More recently a Tatler Club was opened, also in Moscow. The successful operations in Russia led to the consideration of opening further restaurants and bars under license partnerships around the world.?

Cond? Nast?s first hospitality venture in the Middle East, a Vogue Caf?, is set to open ?at a high-end shopping mall in Dubai this month, followed by a GQ Bar at a luxury hotel in the same city later in the year.

As for the Cond? Nast College, the two main courses offered by the fledgling institution, a year-long foundation course and a 10-week ?certificate? track, are strategically named after the company?s most influential brand, Vogue, and will cost each student ?19,560 and ?6,600 in tuition fees, respectively.

?Both Vogue courses are intended to provide a strong foundation course for anyone wishing to enter the fashion industry, whether their calling is styling, buying, merchandising, digital marketing, finance, PR and social media, journalism or working for a large luxury brand,? Nicholas Coleridge, managing director of Cond? Nast Britain and president of Cond? Nast International, explained. ?The curriculum has been put together by professional education experts, and the main point of difference between us and other players in the field is that the Cond? Nast College of Fashion & Design has a much fuller and more intense curriculum with up to sixteen hours of contact time (comprised of teaching and tutorials) per week. Four to five hours is the industry norm,? he added.

But while the school is accredited by the British Accreditation Council, for now, it will not confer official degrees and it remains to be seen if the Vogue name will carry any clout with prospective employers. Still, there does appear to be demand for such courses. Coleridge reported that the new academy received 200 applications from 40 countries for the 45 spots in its first certificate course, which begins next week.

But how are all these brand the extensions performing?

According to Newhouse, the new businesses are either already profitable or expected to be profitable in the near future. ?Otherwise we would not pursue them,? he said, adding that non-core businesses, meaning neither print nor online publications, generated $18 million for Cond? Nast International in 2010 and is set to drive $75 million in revenues this year, contributing approximately 10 percent of the company?s total revenues.

?These businesses are already having a significant impact,? continued Newhouse. ?For instance, the restaurant business which began in earnest two years ago, outperforms many countries where we publish magazines.

Interestingly, the company is limiting its hospitality ventures to new and emerging markets.

?There are no plans to extend operations to the US or Europe at this stage,? Nielsen told BoF, suggesting that these ventures have some risk of brand dilution, especially in markets where the brands are already well known. ?We?re currently targeting the Asian, Middle Eastern and Latin American markets where there is a strong appetite for luxury brands in retail and hospitality,? he added.

According to brand strategy expert David Aaker, Disney offers an exemplary case of a company that has successsfully transferred its brand into new products, services and experiences without weakening its image. In fact, Aaker says, brand extensions can be a winning strategic option so long as certain pre-conditions are met. Critically, the extensions must enhance the core brand?s image, rather than dilute it.

Cond? Nast International?s inroads into hospitality and education could well turn out to be a smart (and necessary) strategic move, provided adequate measures are taken to ensure that these ventures do not undermine the positive perception of the brands involved. But the moment a caf?-goer in Istanbul thinks of Vogue and GQ as food and drink establishments first, and glossy magazines that conjure up worlds of glamour, second, the brand extensions may become more of a liability than an asset.

Source: http://www.businessoffashion.com/2013/04/drinks-at-gq.html

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Baby Boomers get ready! Kids in their mid 30?s moving back home ...

I have noticed around my neighborhood alot of adult children moving back in with their parents? Many of these neighbors are not happy at all with their moving back in!

So lets ask the parents, would you let your kids move back?

http://money.ca.msn.com/retirement/gordonpowers/when-adult-kids-move-back-home

Nearly all boomers surveyed (93 per cent) have provided some form of financial support to their adult children.

The list includes helping them pay for college tuition or loans (71 per cent), allowing them to live at home rent-free (55 per cent) and helping them to buy a car (53 per cent).

But few, it seems, are complaining. Despite uncertainty around meeting their own financial goals, a majority of parents (86 per cent) say that if they had to do it again, they would still support their adult children financially.

In fact, 20 per cent say they actually feel guilty about not being able to do more for their adult kids, particularly those that find their way home.

Nonetheless, parents still need to set some boundaries and stick to them when kids return, warns Susan Newman, author of Under One Roof Again: All Grown Up and (Re)learning to Live Together Happily.

But that doesn?t mean making a life plan for your adult children. This is something they need to devise on their own so they?ll follow it.

Try to be a coach, rather than a boss; act as a sounding board and help them see different perspectives before they make their own decisions, she suggests.

Be sure to have the ?good guest? talk at the outset, says Jennifer Berry, a consultant with Mosaic Counselling and Family Services in Kitchener, Ont. At the same time, discuss how long your son or daughter plans on staying.

?When children grow up in a home, they often adopt the attitude that the home they live in is their house and the cars are their cars,? she explains.

http://money.ca.msn.com/retirement/gordonpowers/when-adult-kids-move-back-home

The good old days of once they turned 18 they are on their own is long gone? Economists are now saying that a kid today will now cost $240,000 more over their lifetime than they used to-due to the economic environment!

?

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Source: http://investmentwatchblog.com/baby-boomers-get-ready-kids-in-their-mid-30s-moving-back-home-economists-are-now-saying-that-a-kid-today-will-now-cost-240000-more-over-their-lifetime-than-they-used-to-due-to-the-economic-envir/

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Margaret Thatcher Was Tougher Than Reagan

Margaret Thatcher?s long twilight has come to an end, and most Americans will view her through the lens of her ties to Ronald Reagan. After all, the relationship between Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher is probably the best-known and most-revered tie between an American president and a foreign leader, outside of the one between Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. Anglo-American ties have been called ?the special relationship,? and the personal bond between the Gipper and the Iron Lady was particularly strong, although not entirely in the way that it's remembered and perhaps in ways that offer some insight for our times.

There were obvious parallels and affinities between Reagan and Thatcher. Both were champions of the free market and small government; both favored a more aggressive posture toward the Soviet Union; and both pushed their center-right parties to the right.

But there were differences. Reagan faced an ailing America, Thatcher a dying Britain. It?s hard to imagine now the way coal strikes by the nation?s powerful miners unions plunged Britain into darkness. It?s hard to believe that nationalized industries included gas, electricity, television, and airlines. British newsrooms famously banned computers. Really. The printer?s union, the National Typographical Association, had a monopoly on keyboards. Journalists could use typewriters, but computers were the province of printers.?The top tax rate was 83 percent,?the Telegraph notes,?and the tax on unearned income was 98 percent.

Thatcher slashed, but there was no Reaganesque free candy. She lowered the rates, but she also raised other taxes, such as the value added tax. She was about sacrifice, cutting government subsidies and programs in a way that Reagan never matched. Millions of people went on the dole because of her cuts, whereas the recession in the U.S. did not result from Reagan cutting the budget but from Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker tightened money dramatically in order to wring inflation from the economy. (To be fair, Reagan did reappoint Volcker once.)

Thatcher called Reagan ?the second most important man in my life.? And both drew strength from the other. It helped at home. It was hard for Americans or Britons to dismiss their leader as a crazy outlier if your most important ally had an elected leader with a similar worldview. Bill Clinton and Tony Blair would mutually reinforce each other in the same way as they took on their own party?s established interests.?When Thatcher and Reagan differed, as on the Falklands war, where the Reagan administration had coddled the ?authoritarian? regime in Buenos Aires, it strained the relationship but never broke it.?

In all, though, Thatcher was more about sacrifice than easy victories. Reagan invaded Grenada?a move that Thatcher?s government denounced. Taking on the Falklands was a much bigger challenge. Thatcher was about cuts and upheaval. When she said during one of her most despised periods that??the lady does not turn,??she embodied her principled determination. There was no ?Aw, shucks? charm like Reagan, just castor oil.

In only one sense did she have it easier than Reagan. The Democratic Party may have been a mess, but it was nothing like Britain?s Labor Party, which became more socialist after her victory. Labor?s 1983 platform under leader Malcolm Foot was described by one wag as ?the world?s longest suicide note.?

Thatcher famously warned George H.W. Bush before the first Persian Gulf War, ?Don?t go wobbly on us, George.? ?But Bush and Thatcher?s successor, John Major, were seen by conservatives as wobbly short-timers facing revived opponents from the left in the form of Clinton and Blair. Blair finally crushed any hopes of renationalization of industries or a return to pre-Thatcher Britain, not that the embers burned particularly bright. Thatcher was eventually pushed out of office like Churchill, the price of victory one supposes. Being indispensable is a guarantee, it seems, of becoming dispensable when the work is done. Thatcher's legacy, too, is Churchillian??maybe not bigger than Reagan?s because her nation was smaller, but arguably more impressive.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/margaret-thatcher-tougher-reagan-095501172--politics.html

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Al-Qaida leader urges Muslims to unite in struggle

CAIRO (AP) ? Al-Qaida's leader has urged Muslims in Arab Spring countries to unite to institute an Islamic state, while warning France that its intervention in Mali will be bogged down.

"I warn France that it will meet in Mali, with God's permission, the same fate America met in Iraq and Afghanistan," Ayman Al-Zawahri said in a 103-minute audio message posted on militant websites late Saturday.

In the recording, al-Zawahri urged Muslims to liberate their lands from oppressive regimes and foreign troops, apply Islamic law, halt the plundering of Muslim wealth, support rebellious Muslims and oppressed people worldwide, and establish the Islamic Caliphate, or religious state.

His last audio message, in which he urged Muslims to join Somali militants, was in November.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/al-qaida-leader-urges-muslims-unite-struggle-092030984.html

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The most (and least) satisfied workers

24/7 Wall St. staff , 24/7 Wall St. ? ? ? 17 hrs.

Where you work can be an excellent predictor of your health, happiness and stress levels. A recent Gallup poll demonstrates the extent to which workers in different professions tend to have similar levels of overall well-being. According to the 2012 results of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, physicians had the highest level of well-being of any major profession, while transportation workers, including drivers, pilots, flight attendants and air traffic controllers had the lowest.

Gallup-Healthways asked more than 170,000 workers a series of 55 questions covering physical and emotional health, life evaluation and workplace environment. Gallup assigned a score between 0 to 100 to each of 14 major professional categories, with 100 representing ideal well-being. Based on Gallup's score, these are the most and least satisfied professions.

24/7 Wall St.: America's Most Content (and Miserable) Cities

While each of the 55 questions had some impact on the profession?s final well-being score, certain measures highly contribute to workers' health. These include such factors as getting regular exercise, not smoking, learning something new every day, and being treated well by their employers, to name a few.

In an interview with 24/7 Wall St., Dan Witters, research director for the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, explained that the professions with high levels of obesity and related conditions like heart attacks and chronic physical pain were more likely to have much lower overall well-being. Just 14 percent of physicians were considered obese, compared to the more than 37 percent of transportation workers.

The majority of health insurance coverage in the United States is provided by employers, resulting in some dramatic differences between professions. Virtually all physicians surveyed (97 percent) reported having health insurance, while just 77 percent of transportation workers could say the same. Witters explained that health insurance, besides making people more likely to receive treatment they need, ?has a lot of influence on the proactive nature of which people tend to their health.?

Conventional wisdom suggests that working long hours has long-term negative mental and physical health effects. In fact, Witters explained, the data do not support this. While working long hours can lead to stress, many of the jobs with the longest hours, including doctors, professionals such as lawyers and engineers, and business owners, have among the highest levels of well-being. One reason for this, Witters noted, is that long hours translate to higher income in these positions. Higher income, he explained, has a very high correlation with well-being, as it gives people access to basic needs.

One group that may surprise some with its high level of well-being is teachers, which ranked only behind physicians for well-being. ?Teachers are a lot higher than a lot of people would guess. They are good eaters, their obesity, while too high, is well below the national average, and they have good workplace well-being. They get to use their strengths a lot.?

24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 14 professional categories surveyed by the Gallup-Healthway?s Well-Being Index in 2012. On top of calculating an overall national level of well-being, the index also calculates the well-being for each profession, assigning scores from 0 to 100, with 100 representing ideal well-being. In generating the rank, Gallup combined six separate indices, measuring access to basic needs, healthy behavior, work environment, physical health, life evaluation and optimism, and emotional health. In addition to the index, we considered income data and job descriptions from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook.

24/7 Wall St.: The 10 Best Countries for Tourism

The most satisfied professions.

1. Physician

? Job types: Internist, obstetrician, anesthesiologist

? Well-being index score: 78.0

? Obesity: 86.0 percent

? Percent with health insurance: 96.7 percent

? Percent satisfied with job: 95.5 percent

Physicians ranked higher than every other profession due to top marks in life evaluation, healthy behaviors, emotional and physical health, as well as access to basic needs. Physicians were by far the most likely professionals to be described by Gallup as ?thriving." They were also less likely than any other workers to have felt sad or angry in the past day, and the most likely to have the energy needed to be productive. Physicians are often exceptionally well-paid. According to the Medical Group Management Association, primary care physicians earned a median annual compensation of more than $200,000, while for those with medical specialties the figure exceeded $350,000.

2. Teacher

? Job types: High school, special education teacher, teacher assistants

? Well-being index score: 73.6

? Obesity: 79.4 percent

? Percent with health insurance: 95.7 percent

? Percent satisfied with job: 91.1 percent

Teachers had higher self-evaluations of their lives than workers in every other occupation beside physicians. Nearly 70 percent of teachers qualifying as ?thriving? based on their current and expected future quality of life. Teachers were also the most likely workers to report they smiled or laughed, experienced enjoyment or experienced happiness within the past day. Teachers surveyed also regularly practiced healthy behaviors. More than 64 percent ate at least five servings of fruits and vegetables at least four days a week, second only to nurses, and just under 6 percent smoked, less than only physicians. According to the BLS, median pay for ?education, training and library occupations" was just over $45,000 in 2010 -- higher than the median for all occupations.

3. Business Owners

? Job types: Contractor, store owner, entrepreneur

? Well-being index score: 73.4

? Obesity: 79.5 percent

? Percent with health insurance: 77.6 percent

? Percent satisfied with job: 93.3 percent

Business owners are more likely than any other class of workers to rate their work environment highly. Over 93 percent of business owners said they were satisfied with their job or the work they did, higher than any occupation except for physician. Additionally, nearly 89 percent of business owners reported their work environment was trusting and open -- by far the highest of any type of worker. According to the BLS, as of February there were almost 14.5 million self-employed workers, down from nearly 15.9 million five years prior.

24/7 Wall St.: Companies Paying the Least in Taxes

The Least Satisfied Professions

1. Transportation

? Job types: Bus drivers, flight attendants, air traffic controllers

? Well-being index score: 63.3

? Obesity: 62.9 percent

? Percent with health insurance: 77.0 percent

? Percent satisfied with job: 84.8 percent

Just over 80 percent of transportation employees believe that they use their strengths at work, lower than any other occupation except for clerical workers. Many transportation jobs, such as bus drivers and cab drivers, pay low wages, possibly contributing to a lower sense of well-being. Other positions in the industry pay quite well. For instance, air traffic controllers had a median pay of $108,040 in 2010, a pretty good haul considering that the position only needs an associate?s degree. However, the position involves a high amount of stress due to the intense concentration necessary and the nights and weekends involved.

2. Manufacturing or Production

? Job types: Assembly line workers, bakers, machine workers

? Well-being index score: 64.3

? Obesity: 70.4 percent

? Percent with health insurance: 78.8 percent

? Percent satisfied with job: 83.4 percent

Manufacturing and production employees -- such as factory workers, food preparation workers, garment or furniture manufacturers -- had lower ratings of their work environments than nearly all other occupations. They were less likely to feel satisfied in their job and among the least likely to be satisfied with how their supervisor treated them. Many of these jobs are low wages jobs. The median annual salaries of bakers and food processors were $23,450 and $23,950, respectively in 2010. The median 2010 salaries of assemblers, metal and plastic machine workers, and printing workers were all below the national median for all occupations. Manufacturing and production employees also ranked as the nation?s worst for healthy behavior due to high rates of smoking and low rates of exercise.

3. Installation or Repair

? Job types: Mechanic, linesman, maintenance worker

? Well-being index score: 64.8

? Obesity: 70.7 percent

? Percent with health insurance: 75.9 percent

? Percent satisfied with job: 87.2 percent

Installation and repair workers, such as linesmen, mechanics, as well as maintenance and repair workers, were less likely to practice healthy behaviors. They were among the least likely employees to regularly eat fruits and vegetables, and among the most likely to smoke. Additionally, these workers also provided lower self-evaluations of their current lives than all occupations except for transportation workers. Many of these positions require no more than a high school diploma alongside moderate or long-term on-the-job training and do not pay considerably more than the median pay of $33,840 for all occupations.

Click here to read the rest of 24/7 Wall St.'s The Most (and Least) Satisfied Professions

?2013 24/7 Wall St.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653351/s/2a6e88e6/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Cmost0Eleast0Esatisfied0Eworkers0E1C90A80A645/story01.htm

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Tin nanocrystals for the battery of the future

Apr. 8, 2013 ? More powerful batteries could help electric cars achieve a considerably larger range and thus a breakthrough on the market. A new nanomaterial for lithium ion batteries developed in the labs of chemists at ETH Zurich and Empa could come into play here.

They provide power for electric cars, electric bicycles, smartphones and laptops; nowadays, rechargeable lithium ion batteries are the storage media of choice when it comes to supplying a large amount of energy in a small space and light weight. All over the world, scientists are currently researching a new generation of such batteries with an improved performance. Scientists headed by Maksym Kovalenko from the Laboratory of Inorganic Chemistry at ETH Zurich and Empa have now developed a nanomaterial which enables considerably more power to be stored in lithium ion batteries.

The nanomaterial is composed of tiny tin crystals, which are to be deployed at the minus pole of the batteries (anode). When charging the batteries, lithium ions are absorbed at this electrode; while discharging, they are released again (see box). "The more lithium ions the electrodes can absorb and release -- the better they can breathe, as it were -- the more energy can be stored in a battery," explains Kovalenko.

Uniform crystals

The element tin is ideal for this: every tin atom can absorb at least four lithium ions. However, the challenge is to deal with the volume change of tin electrodes: tin crystal becomes up to three times bigger if it absorbs a lot of lithium ions and shrinks again when it releases them back. The scientists thus resorted to nanotechnology: they produced the tiniest tin nanocrystals and embedded a large number of them in a porous, conductive permeable carbon matrix. Much like how a sponge can suck up water and release it again, an electrode constructed in this way can absorb lithium ions while charging and release them when discharging. If the electrode were made of a compact tin block, this would practically be impossible.

During the development of the nanomaterial, the issue of the ideal size for the nanocrystals arose, which also carries the challenge of producing uniform crystals. "The trick here was to separate the two basic steps in the formation of the crystals -- the formation of as small as a crystal nucleus as possible on the one hand and its subsequent growth on the other," explains Kovalenko. By influencing the time and temperature of the growth phase, the scientists were able to control the size of the crystals. "We are the first to produce such small tin crystals with such precision," says the scientist.

Larger cycle stability

Using uniform tin nanocrystals, carbon, and binding agents, the scientists produced different test electrodes for batteries. "This enables twice as much power to be stored compared to conventional electrodes," says Kovalenko. The size of the nanocrystals did not affect the storage capacity during the initial charging and discharging cycle. After a few charging and discharging cycles, however, differences caused by the crystal size became apparent: batteries with ten-nanometre crystals in the electrodes were able to store considerably more energy than ones with twice the diameter. The scientists assume that the smaller crystals perform better because they can absorb and release lithium ions more effectively. "Ten-nanometre tin crystals thus seem to be just the ticket for lithium ion batteries," says Kovalenko.

As the scientists now know the ideal size for the tin nanocrystals, they would like to turn their attention to the remaining challenges of producing optimum tin electrodes in further research projects. These include the choice of the best possible carbon matrix and binding agent for the electrodes, and the electrodes' ideal microscopic structure. Moreover, an optimal and stable electrolyte liquid in which the lithium ions can travel back and forth between the two poles in the battery also needs to be selected. Ultimately, the production costs are also an issue, which the researchers are looking to reduce by testing which cost-effective base materials are suitable for electrode production. The aim is to prepare batteries with an increased energy storage capacity and lifespan for the market, in collaboration with a Swiss industrial partner.

How lithium ion batteries work

In lithium ion batteries, the energy is stored in the form of positively charged lithium atoms (ions) that are found at the minus pole in a charged battery. If energy is taken from the battery, negatively charged electrons flow from the minus pole to the plus pole via the external circuit. To balance the charge, positively charged lithium ions also flow from the minus pole to the plus pole. However, these travel in the electrolyte fluid inside the battery. The process is reversible: lithium ion batteries can be recharged with electricity. In most lithium ion batteries these days, the plus pole is composed of the transition metal oxides cobalt, nickel, and manganese, the minus pole of graphite. In more powerful lithium ion batteries of the next generation, however, elements such as tin or silicon may well be used at the minus pole.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by ETH Zurich. The original article was written by Fabio Bergamin.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Kostiantyn Kravchyk, Loredana Protesescu, Maryna I. Bodnarchuk, Frank Krumeich, Maksym Yarema, Marc Walter, Christoph Guntlin, Maksym V. Kovalenko. Monodisperse and Inorganically Capped Sn and Sn/SnO2Nanocrystals for High-Performance Li-Ion Battery Anodes. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2013; 135 (11): 4199 DOI: 10.1021/ja312604r

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/biochemistry/~3/EVV_Zc2w5Aw/130408123254.htm

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