Romney wins endorsement from Thune (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Wednesday announced the endorsement of South Dakota Sen. John Thune, a rising star in the Republican Party who had weighed a White House bid of his own.

"On the issues that I have been fighting for in my campaign ? creating a better business environment, lessening the regulatory burden, and ending Washington's spending addiction ? Sen. Thune has been a leading voice in the Senate," Romney said in a statement.

Thune was the latest high-profile Republican to back Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who opened the week with the backing of another emerging GOP star, Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire. Romney, who enjoys steady support in the polls and a sophisticated political and fundraising machine, is looking to demonstrate his strength with fewer than six weeks before the first nominating contests.

"Mitt Romney has shown throughout his life in the private sector, as leader of the Olympics, as governor and in this campaign that he will not back down from difficult challenges," Thune said in a statement. "His plans to revitalize the private sector and restore our country's fiscal health are drawn from his 25-year career as a conservative businessman."

Thune considered undertaking his own campaign for president before deciding to stay in the Senate and move up in his party's leadership. He first won his Senate seat by defeating Democratic Leader Tom Daschle in 2004 and coasted to a second term last year without a Democratic opponent.

Thune joined Romney in Des Moines on Wednesday. The endorsement came a day after Romney posted yet another strong debate performance and a day before most campaigns planned a brief break from politics for Thanksgiving.

Thune also is the latest of the Republicans who mulled a White House bid ? or, in the case of former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, actually launched one ? only to line up behind Romney.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who reconsidered his early insistence he would not run after party leaders pined for him, backed Romney last month.

Earlier this week, Rep. Charlie Bass of New Hampshire joined Romney's campaign. Bass, who served six terms in Congress before losing his re-election bid in 2006, only to win back his seat in 2010, was named a national adviser to the campaign. He joins other New Hampshire notables, including Ayotte, former Sen. Judd Gregg and former Gov. John H. Sununu.

Romney has long enjoyed a strong advantage in New Hampshire, where he placed second during his 2008 White House bid and where he owns a vacation home. Romney, the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts, has high name recognition in New Hampshire and has built a solid get-out-the-vote operation.

But he's starting to eye Iowa as a target as well. He recently opened a campaign office there, and his campaign gave first word of the Thune endorsement to The Des Moines Register and The Sioux City Journal in the hopes of building buzz there.

In 2008, Romney spent $7 million on Iowa airwaves and built an enormous statewide organization, but he never won over conservatives who dominate the early decision-making.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111123/ap_on_el_pr/us_romney_thune

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"Legends Pack" DLC for "WWE '12" arriving this winter

THQ's third downloadable content (DLC) pack for WWE ?12 features three former WWE Champions in its "Legends Pack": "Macho Man" Randy Savage, "The Animal" Batista, and "Hardcore Legend" Mick Foley.

The "WWE Legends Pack" will be available this winter, featuring the three playable Legends, plus WWE Superstar Brodus Clay, who will be available as a free download for all players. Each will be available individually for $0.99 each (on PlayStation 3), or 80 MS Points (on Xbox 360).

Also planned for WWE '12 downloadable content are the following packs:

The ?WrestleMania Pack? (PHOTOS)? includes:

The ?Divas Pack? (PHOTOS) includes:

  • Kharma as playable Diva
  • Brie & Nikki Bella as playable Divas
  • Trish Stratus as playable Diva
  • Alicia Fox as playable Diva (will be FREE for download for all gamers)
  • Vickie Guerrero as selectable Superstar manager

?

THQ offers savings of 25 percent on DLC packs if you buy their ?WWE ?12 ?Fan Axxess? subscription. For a one-time cost of $11.99 (on PS3) or 960 MS points, all post-launch DLC THQ releases for WWE ?12 will be yours upon its release, instead of buying each individual item separately.

WWE ?12 is in stores now. For more information, visit THQ's WWE '12 microsite by clicking here.

Source: http://www.wwe.com/inside/thq/wwe-12/25046575

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The Sims 3: Pets < PopMatters

I am a fan of The Sims.? I have enjoyed it through a number of iterations and on a number of platforms, both PC and console.? That being said, I?ve never really been much of a sandbox gamer.

I like goals.? I want a game to drive me in a direction, tell me a story, give me that sense of satisfaction in beating it.? As a result, I am one of those weird players who has generally enjoyed The Sims on consoles, more so than on its ?home platform,? the PC.? Despite lower res graphics, longer load times, rather silly plot lines, and usually problematic control schemes, The Sims on a console keeps me playing, whereas while I enjoy building a sim household in the PC sandbox versions of the game, at some point I typically find my interests in free form sim play fizzle into boredom.? I just need to feel like I?ve gotten somewhere by playing for a game to fully matter for me.

In this regard, I rather liked the focus of The Sims 3 on lifetime goals, mini-goals, and the like.? It made my PC experience a bit more fulfilling than it usually is.

I know that for most folks the likely appeal of The Sims 3: Pets is that subtitle that follows the colon in its title.? And, yes, there are doggies and kitties in this version of The Sims (and I will discuss them in a bit).? However, what I was most impressed by is that this console version of the game is so very much more polished than previous versions of The Sims on consoles, while still retaining a more goal-driven version of The Sims than its PC counterpart (at least the ?plain Jane? version of The Sims 3).

While Sims ports to the console have always struggled with making the transition from the elegance of the mouse-driven simulation to the clunkier controller (making issuing your sims orders and navigating the overhead world of The Sims awkward at best) this version of the game is tremendously successful at creating a sensible control scheme via the controller.? I was initially put off by this scheme, which essentially maps something like visual menus to buttons on the controller.? It isn?t intuitive.? However, after a half hour or so (when the alien nature of this configuration finally sunks in), it became for me the most efficient system that I have seen in interfacing with a Sims title on a console.

Additionally, instead of giving you rather simplistic narrative goals, like attempting to move out of your mom?s house and then for some reason shuttling you between different and progressively weirder types of homes (from the trailer park to a spooky gothic manor for contrived reasons) as you do in The Sims: Bustin? Out, for example), the game merely adds a treasure hunting subplot that is related to learning the history of the coastal town that your sims occupy.

Between this little series of adventures and the aforementioned titular pets, I found that my console experience with The Sims 3: Pets was considerably more engrossing than my PC experience with The Sims 3 last year.

The pets, of course, add a layer of complexity to sim life with both dogs and cats (of a rather large variety of breeds that can also be cross bred) requiring normal mood maintenance.? Each type of animal can be controlled like a normal sim and has normal needs, like satisfying hunger, the desire for fun, and replenishing energy through sleep.? Hygiene is replaced as a need (though bathing pets is still necessary to keep your house clean), though, by a dog?s need for destruction and a cat?s need to scratch, leading to the need to train animals to channel these energies in the appropriate directions.

Better still, though (again, for me), is how the pets are integrated into the ?storyline? of the game.? Dogs can dig and cats can stalk and hunt, skills that aid in treasure hunting quests.? One of my problems with my experience of The Sims 3 is that?despite the addition of easier ways to transition the world and more city life to experience through maps that don?t require constant reloading during travel?as an achiever-type of gamer, I still tended to hunker down in my house in the game and grind out skills to achieve my goals.? As a result, I really experienced very little of what the game offered in terms of exploration.? The treasure hunting quests (and the fact that I can bring my doggy and kitty pals along to help out on them) drove me to ?get out more? in the game, which made me realize just how cool a trip to the beach with the Sims or a night out in town square could be.

Strangely, The Sims 3: Pets put me, as a gamer, on more of a leash, and I frankly like it all the more for doing so.

Source: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/151130-the-sims-3-pets/

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Spooked Momentum Investors Punish Pandora

Pandora FQ3 Earnings DoneDespite yesterday's FQ3 earnings statement?indicating that Pandora beat Wall Street projections and that it has abundant long-term growth opportunities,?Pandora?s stock price fell 11.3% since yesterday to $10.51.?This is likely because?Pandora lowered its FQ4 guidance to a loss ($0.03) in earnings per share, worse than its $0.02 EPS for last quarter and Wall Street's ($0.02) guidance for next quarter. Investors see Pandora as a momentum story, betting on it gradually but steadily growing towards?significant?profitability.?The slightly grim guidance, due to increased investments which will go towards hiring more sales people, may have spooked some investors with a distaste for any signs of slowing momentum.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/O4Rxwdf-ZRw/

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Mortgage insurance for a successful project | Mortgage Calculator

To realize its real estate project, you must obtain a mortgage and a loan insurance. The loan insurance will be put into play when a risk such as death, injury or illness occurs.

The credit institution may also require collateral such as a bond or mortgage and will be implemented if the loan is not repaid.

1. Why insure a mortgage?

The mortgage insurance protects the borrower and his family. Thus, in case of death, accident or illness, the insurance covers the total or partial repayment of the loan depending on the contract signed.

This insurance makes it possible to avoid financial difficulties that could lead to the sale of the property to repay the lender

2. When seeking a mortgage insurance?

To accomplish with confidence its real estate project, you need to plan the search for lassurance before signing the sales agreement and without waiting for the acceptance of the loan.

This allows the borrower to:
To compete more contracts by comparing the offers (guarantees, benefits, prices ?)
Save time if you must answer detailed questionnaires on the health and perform additional medical examinations
Know in advance if you are insured and under what conditions: level of coverage, exclusions, or specific standard rate.

3. What type of mortgage insurance purchase?

The loan insurance can cover various risks: death, disability, incapacity, loss of employment. Before purchasing, it should check with their advisor and read the information leaflet of the insurance contract to understand all the terms of insurance.

Life assurance covers not only the death but also disability cases extremely serious, called ?total and irreversible loss of autonomy? (TILA). In both cases, it pays to the borrower instead of the capital outstanding at the credit institution. It is essential to the security of spouse, co-borrowers, children or dependents.

Disability Insurance / incapacity for work supports the repayment deadlines if the result of an illness or accident, the borrower is unable to carry on business or any other paid activities a non-final or partial.

The extent of the guarantee and the concept of disability / incapacity for work included in the contract.

Insurance job loss is to support all or part repayment deadlines in case of unemployment. It comes into play under certain conditions and may cease when the insured reaches a certain age. The conditions for compensation are different depending on the contract.

Note: The death and disability insurance may be required by the credit institution where the demand for mortgage insurance when job loss is optional.

4. How can a mortgage?

If the mortgage is established on behalf of several persons (co-borrowers), the proportion of the sum insured for each must be specified. This concept is usually expressed as a percentage, ?is every man for all the capital (time x 100%). Thus, in case of death of one of the co-borrowers, the insurer will pay the entire outstanding principal, ?or for each part of the capital. For example, if everyone is insured up to 50% in case of death of one of them, the insurer will pay half of what remains due.

If the borrower takes with her husband, it is recommended to ensure each for the total loan amount (each 100%) or at least to ensure 100% one with the most revenue.

5. To insure that the mortgage?

It is possible to take out insurance to mortgage credit institutions, insurers and brokers.

The credit institution, which was filed with the loan application may offer a loan insurance (group insurance or individual).

The insurance group is a group insurance contract negotiated by the bank with an insurer for the benefit of its customers. Membership formalities are simple and if put into play the insurance, the management is facilitated.

It is possible to offer the bank a specific individual contract underwritten by an insurer of choice of the borrower. The insurer designates the credit institution as the beneficiary of capital guaranteed by issuing a ?delegation of insurance.? This document is signed and accepted by the credit institution, the insurer and the borrower agree to respect each other. The insurer agrees to pay the amount due to the credit institution, in case of death, for example, and to inform in case of non-payment by the borrower.

Do not hesitate to question its bank advisor for more information.

Note: If the insurance is chosen other than that proposed by the bank, it should present a level of coverage equivalent to that of the group contract.

Good to know: a standardized information sheet must be delivered consistently by all professionals since that is sought insurance for a mortgage. It presents the benefits offered and an example of personal cost of insurance, it is easier to compare offers. You can also file an application to different insurers.

6. What are the things to check in an insurance contract mortgage?

Regardless of the contract, it must be read carefully. You should check the extent of coverage offered and the terms of management of loan maturity in the event of work stoppage or exclusion of certain activities.

We must carefully check all assi exclusions whether general or personal following consideration of the case.

Source: http://www.your-mortgage-calculator.com/blog/2011/11/mortgage-insurance-for-a-successful-project/

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Ulcer-causing bacteria tamed by defect in cell-targeting ability

ScienceDaily (Nov. 21, 2011) ? Without the ability to swim to their targets in the stomach, ulcer-causing bacteria do not cause the inflammation of the stomach lining that leads to ulcers and stomach cancer, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Online Early Edition, week of Nov. 21-25), provide new clues about how the bacteria, called Helicobacter pylori, trigger harmful inflammation in some people. About half of all people worldwide are infected with H. pylori, but in most cases the infection does not cause any problems. Severe inflammation leading to ulcers or cancer occurs in only about ten percent of infections.

"If we can understand the pathways that cause the infection to go to this bad state of chronic inflammation, we may eventually be able to design treatments that would limit it," said Karen Ottemann, a professor of microbiology and environmental toxicology at UC Santa Cruz and senior author of the PNAS paper.

Ottemann has been studying H. pylori chemotaxis, which is the bacteria's ability to respond to specific chemicals in its environment by swimming toward or away from them. Her lab has developed a strain of the bacteria that is missing a single gene essential for chemotaxis. These defective bacteria cause much less inflammation than normal strains, even though they seem to have little trouble establishing infections in the stomach.

In the new study, the researchers looked at how the immune system responds to infections with normal and mutant strains of the bacteria. Their findings highlight the role of a particular type of white blood cell known as T-helper cell type 17 (Th17). Th17 cells promote chronic inflammation, but the researchers found that these cells were missing in the immune response to infection with the mutant strain.

The connection between chemotaxis and the immune response involves several steps. Previous work by other researchers has shown that Th17 cells respond to the combination of bacterial infection and dying host cells. Ottemann's group found that the mutant strain of H. pylori causes much less cell death than normal strains. The researchers hypothesize that without chemotaxis, the mutant strains are not able to get close enough to the cells lining the stomach to deliver the bacterial toxins that induce cell death. The toxins trigger a process called apoptosis, a suicide program built into all cells and triggered by certain types of cell damage.

"The bacteria use chemotaxis to get close to the host stomach cells, and then they deliver packages of nasty molecules that kill host cells," Ottemann said. "Previously, people thought the bacteria have to bind to the stomach cells. But it turns out they just have to be close enough to hit the cells with the cell-killing molecules. We think one reason they have the ability to swim is to hover close to their target cells."

The missing gene in the mutant strain, called CheY, provides a link between the bacteria's chemical sensors and their swimming mechanism, a whip-like flagellum that propels the spiral-shaped bacteria. The mutant bacteria can still swim, but they move aimlessly. "They've lost the connection between the sensory input and the behavior, so they just swim blindly," Ottemann said.

H. pylori infections can be cured by taking antibiotics, but some studies have indicated that the infection may actually have some beneficial effects, at least for people who don't get ulcers or stomach cancer. For example, H. pylori infection seems to reduce the chances of getting esophageal cancer. Some doctors have argued that controlling the negative effects of the infection may be preferable to eliminating it with antibiotics.

"The idea is that our bodies have adapted to it, and in 90 percent of people the bacteria act like a normal part of the body's flora," Ottemann said. "So the best thing might be to keep H. pylori in the stomach, but tame it so it wouldn't cause inflammation. It's possible we could tame it by targeting chemotaxis."

Annah Rolig, a graduate student in molecular, cell, and developmental biology at UC Santa Cruz, is the first author of the PNAS paper. Coauthor J. Elliot Carter is at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine. This work was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Santa Cruz. The original article was written by Tim Stephens.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/39L8l0NJyl4/111121151544.htm

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Science & the Public: Lost to history: The ?churk?

Chickens and turkeys weren't meant to cross

Web edition : Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

More than a half-century ago, researchers at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center outside Washington, D.C., engaged in some creative barnyard breeding. Their goal was the development of fatherless turkeys ? virgin hens that would reproduce via parthenogenesis. Along the way, and ostensibly quite by accident, an interim stage of this work resulted in a rooster-fathered hybrid that the scientists termed a churk.

The creatures were literally twisted, with crooked legs and beaks and feathers exhibiting a strange torsion.

Adding insult to injury, the crosses were mentally retarded, possessing only about half of the intelligence of their parents, according to Marlow Olsen, who headed the fowl research project.

It would be tempting to call this bird an ugly chuckling or pathetic gobbler ? except that the hybrid remained largely silent unless disturbed. Then it emitted a puny chickeny chirp.

But that didn?t prevent Science News from crowing about the animal as a ?history making cross? in its November 5, 1960, cover story. The story billed it as "the first known hybrid of two families of birds."

The text also suggested why we?d hear little more of the animal. The hybrids were all male, so they couldn?t reproduce ? except, I guess, by cloning (which wasn?t an option at the time). The offspring proved devilishly difficult to nurture, even just to hatching. The three Beltsville birds that lived to seven months of age were the sole survivors of 2,900 artificially-inseminated eggs.

Olsen was not the first to encounter trouble creating a chicken-turkey hybrid. A 1960 paper he authored in the Journal of Heredity cited a reference to 12 trials, none of which resulted in a single hatchling. Several additional reports claimed to produce a few live young, he says, but offered no details. Part of the problem likely traced to a dramatic mismatch in the parents? genomes.

Chickens possess six pairs of chromosomes, turkeys have nine. Each offspring receives one-half of each pair from its mom and dad, which are supposed to then create new matched pairs. Except that the 15 chromosomes that each hybrid started with had no chance of pairing appropriately.

Mother Nature, however, has created what looks like a healthy chicken-turkey hybrid: the colorfully named Transylvanian Naked Neck bird. There are no turkeys in this animal?s ancestry, however.?Once dubbed a Churkey or a Turken because of its hybrid appearance, this chicken developed?its distinctive look from a complex genetic mutation.

And as their name implies, these chickens have featherless necks. ?We initially worked on identifying the mutation that causes the naked neck trait in chickens as we are interested in understanding how patterns arise during development,? explains Denis Headon of The Roslin Institute and University of Edinburgh?s Royal School of Veterinary Studies in Scotland. He says his team traced the trait to where ?part of chromosome 1 had moved across to chromosome 3 and inserted there.? Followup studies, he adds, showed that the neck skin of birds ?is generally primed to allow loss of feathering. His team described some of their findings, earlier this year, in PLoS Biology.

As for Transylvania as the birds? ancestral home: ?This seems quite unlikely,? Headon says. ?Domestic animals often have geographically misleading names (the turkey itself being a great example).? Naked necked chickens occur around the world. In some parts of the Middle East, Africa and Asia, he ventures, ?this may be partly because they are more tolerant of heat than are fully feathered chickens.?


Found in: Agriculture, Biology, Science & Society and Zoology

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/336385/title/Lost_to_history_The_%E2%80%9Cchurk%E2%80%9D

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