Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Microsoft Being Probed For Bribery By U.S. Investigators

images (39)Federal regulators are investigating Microsoft for allegedly bribing foreign governments for favor in software contracts. “Lawyers from the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are examining kickback allegations made by a former Microsoft representative in China, as well as the company’s relationship with certain resellers and consultants in Romania and Italy,” sources familiar with the allegations, tell The Wall Street Journal, which broke the story earlier today. An anonymous tipster alleges that Microsoft’s China division instructed him to offer kickbacks in exchange for signing off on software contracts. To further complicate the allegations, the tipster was also involved in a labor dispute with the software giant. The tipsters contact with Microsoft ended in 2008. “Like every large company with operations around the world we sometimes receive allegations about potential misconduct by employees or business partners,” John Frank, Microsoft’s vice president and deputy general counsel, tells The Journal. “We cooperate fully in any government inquiries,” Frank added. The probe is also investigating bribery practices in Italy, related to consultants of Microsoft’s customer loyalty program. Consultants were used as “vehicles for used such consultants as vehicles for lavishing gifts and trips on Italian procurement officials in exchange for government business.” Federal investigators are conducting the probe under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and a new whistleblower program at the Securities and Exchange Commission. “Filing allegations simultaneously with the company and the government provides whistleblowers some job security. Companies can face private lawsuits for sacking employees in retaliation for submitting allegations to the SEC, even if the tips never lead to an enforcement action,” explains the Journal. While Microsoft says it is diligent about investigating corruption, it has offices in over 100 countries and roughly 640,000 partners businesses around the globe. Interestingly enough, ZDnet argues the claims against Microsoft should be taken with a healthy dose of skepticism, since The?Journal itself was recently investigated for bribery, but never pursued by the U.S. government. “It comes only a few days after the Journal itself was investigated by U.S. federal authorities over what appear to be claims of bribery, but were not pursued by the U.S. government. Instead, the Journal, owned by the Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation empire, blamed China for retaliating against the newspaper’s critical reporting of Beijing in recent weeks,” writes Zack Whittaker. More on this story as it develops.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/5qMQr53x1OA/

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Vaccines May Wear Off: Consider Getting Your Childhood Vaccinations Again

Vaccines May Wear Off: Consider Getting Your Childhood Vaccinations AgainWe vaccinate children against a handful of illnesses at an early age, but now evidence shows that these vaccines seem to wear off after a number of years. If you want to avoid something awful like whooping cough, you should speak with your doctor about getting vaccinated again.

How long does the whooping cough vaccination last? One study shows you get about three years, and other sources expect a little more. Vaccines are supposed to create antibodies that last a lifetime, so this evidence may seem strange. Consider, however, that flu vaccines are offered yearly because the virus changes. Whether that's the case with whooping cough or any other illnesses is still unknown, but if you want to protect yourself further you should ask your doctor about getting vaccinated again.

Photo by Peeradach Rattanakoses (Shutterstock).

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/eB4ThpL_K8s/vaccines-may-wear-off-consider-getting-your-childhood-vaccinations-again

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Antarctic's First-Ever Whale Skeleton Found

For the first time ever, scientists say they have discovered a whale skeleton on the ocean floor near Antarctica. Resting nearly a mile below the surface, the boneyard is teeming with strange life, including at least nine new species of tiny of deep-sea creatures, according to a new study.

Though whales naturally sink to the ocean floor when they die, it's extremely rare for scientists to come across these final resting places, known as "whale falls." Discovering one typically requires a remote-controlled undersea vehicle and some luck.

"At the moment, the only way to find a whale fall is to navigate right over one with an underwater vehicle," study researcher Jon Copley, of the University of Southampton in England, said in a statement. The team's chance encounter with a 35-foot-long (10.7 meter) spread of bones that belonged to a southern Minke whale came as they were exploring an undersea crater near the South Sandwich Islands.

"We were just finishing a dive with the U.K.'s remotely operated vehicle, Isis, when we glimpsed a row of pale-colored blocks in the distance, which turned out to be whale vertebrae on the seabed," Copley explained.

When whales die and sink to the ocean floor, their carcasses provide nutritional boosts and habitats for deep-sea life. Though their flesh decomposes within weeks, whale bones can last anywhere from 60 to 100 years, supporting bacteria and strange creatures like zombie worms, which are mouthless, eyeless animals that feed off the skeletons.

"The planet's largest animals are also a part of the ecology of the very deep ocean, providing a rich habitat of food and shelter for deep sea animals for many years after their death," said Diva Amon, another University of Southampton researcher. "Examining the remains of this southern Minke whale gives insight into how nutrients are recycled in the ocean, which may be a globally important process in our oceans."

The Antarctic whale fall, thought to have been on the seafloor for several decades, was surveyed using high-definition cameras, and samples were collected to be studied back on land. The team encountered several new species of sea snails and worms that were living off the bones. They found a new species of isopod crustacean, similar to woodlice, crawling over the skeleton, according to a statement from the U.K. National Oceanography Centre. The researchers also found an undescribed species of zombie worms (Osedax), which could help scientists study how the mysterious species has managed to become surprisingly diverse and widespread. (They've been found in whale falls in the eastern and western Pacific as well as the North Atlantic.)

"One of the great remaining mysteries of deep ocean biology is how these tiny invertebrates can spread between the isolated habitats these whale carcasses provide on the seafloor," Adrian Glover, a researcher at the Natural History Museum in London, said in a statement.

A recent study suggested that the sex strategy of zombie worms is the key to their success. Females of the species Osedax japonica quickly mature and then constantly produce eggs that harems of dwarf males fertilize, scientists found. What's more, zombie worm larvae can swim actively for at least 10 days before settling on bones on the ocean floor, according to the new research, detailed last month in the journal Naturwissenschaften.

The study of the whale fall was recently published online in the journal Deep-Sea Research II: Topical Studies in Oceanography.

Email Megan Gannon or follow her @meganigannon. Follow OurAmazingPlanet?@OAPlanet, Facebook?and Google+. Original article on LiveScience's OurAmazingPlanet.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/antarctics-first-ever-whale-skeleton-found-211259247.html

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What would 501-day mission to Mars feel like? 'Survivor' in space.

Scientists and space enthusiasts are trying to discover how humans would manage missions beyond the moon. A proposed 2018 mission to Mars is adding urgency.

By Pete Spotts,?Staff writer / March 19, 2013

A drawing provided by Dennis Tito?s nonprofit Inspiration Mars project shows an artist?s conception of a spacecraft that would take a couple on a flyby mission to Mars in 2018.

Inspiration Mars/AP

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For the Inspiration Mars project, it's the Red Planet or bust in 2018.

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The plan is daring, and the challenges enormous. Multimillionaire Dennis Tito wants to send a manned spacecraft on a Mars flyby, and to do it, he will need to find money and the right hardware. But perhaps most intriguingly, he will need to find two people willing to hurtle through space together for 501 days in a capsule roughly the size of an ice-cream truck.

The question of how to keep astronauts healthy and relatively happy once they leave Earth is one that has commanded the attention of the US space program for 50 years. Now, the Inspiration Mars project is adding some urgency to the issue of how to keep astronauts healthy and happy for a year or more beyond the comparative safety of low-Earth orbit.

If humankind is to become a spacefaring species, as Mr. Tito clearly wishes, it is an issue that must be addressed. Space travelers will have to cope with an environment that affects them on scales from the molecular to the physiological and psychological.

For now, space enthusiasts trying to simulate long-term space travel are cramming themselves into confined habitats for months on end to learn how to prevent a potential space mission from devolving into a zero-gravity version of "Survivor." Scientists are performing experiments in terrestrial labs, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is using the International Space Station to learn about how life in space affects humans ? from microgravity to the lack of a conventional day-night cycle.

The Inspiration Mars project ? if it truly gets off the ground ? will certainly not be for the faint of heart, especially for the crew.

"Once they've left planet Earth, they ain't getting off that bus," Jayne Poynter, president and cofounder of a company working on life-support systems for Inspiration Mars, wryly noted at the project unveiling last month.

Incredible advances are taking place in this field in space and on Earth, "all with the aim of decreasing risks and allowing humans to spend longer and longer periods of time in space," says Jeffrey Sutton, a neuroscientist at Baylor University who heads the National Space Biomedical Research Institute in Houston.

The challenge, he says, is that "You have very healthy individuals that are going into a very dangerous environment and also an environment where day-to-day living is different."

That environment includes increased exposure to cosmic radiation and communications that can take the best part of an hour to complete. But the Inspiration Mars project, in particular, has highlighted the prospect of spending long periods of time in cramped quarters. Initial plans call for a spacecraft and two crew members ? a male and female joined in a form of solitary confinement, if not matrimony ? living in a 33-cubic-meter capsule. Even a larger volume for living and storage wouldn't erase the issues.

To understand how astronauts might cope in such environments, researchers and those who train astronauts pay close attention not just to the experiences of past and current astronauts, but also to Earth-bound simulations ? a kind of near-Mars experience.

For instance, grumpiness can come easily with prolonged isolation, even when your "spaceship" or "habitat" sprawls across three acres, notes Ms. Poynter, chairwoman and president of Paragon Space Development Corporation, based in Tucson, Ariz.

She was one of eight people who spent two years and 20 minutes inside Biosphere 2, a vast structure on the backside of the Santa Catalina Mountains outside Tucson. The facility represented an experiment in designing and using a self-contained environment with a range of artificial ecosystems hospitable to plants, animals, and the crew.

Conceptually, it was the kind of large habitat one could envision as the nucleus of a colony on Mars. In practice, it often seemed a vehicle for turning molehills into mountains.

"There were mood swings; there was depression," especially moving into the third quarter of the mission, Poynter recalls. "We broke into warring factions, which is often common. In fact, for about 18 months of the mission, some of the crew members barely spoke to other crew members ? only enough to actually operate the Biosphere. It could have been dangerous, and it certainly affected the creativity with which we could address the challenges that we had."

Such experiences underscore the importance of screening and training a crew, as well as the people who will staff "mission control," specialists say.

Indeed, the move toward long-duration, deep-space missions is changing the traits recruiters will be looking for in astronauts, suggests Stacy Cusack, who leads the chief training officers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

A different kind of astronaut

This has already become apparent in the transition from two-week space-shuttle missions to six-month stays on the space station. In short, astronauts needed to be more MacGyver-like. The shift to interplanetary spaceflight will put an even higher premium on crew initiative and resourcefulness ? and on mission control's skills at sensing when a crew member might need additional support from the ground.

Ms. Cusack is that rare individual who already has been to Mars twice, in a manner of speaking. She spent two weeks as a crew member at one of the Mars Society's analogue Mars habitats in the Utah desert. Seven years later, she spent five weeks as a crew member at the society's analogue habitat on Devon Island in the Canadian Arctic.

The simulations included communications delays similar to those a crew on Mars would experience ? up to 40 minutes between phoning home and learning whether anybody was home to take the call.

"We quickly learned that with the comm[unication] delays and the distance you're dealing with the crew has to be incredibly autonomous. They are completely relying on each other to get everything done. They can't wait for help from mission control all the time," Cusack says.

That may be a blessing for mission control, as well. During both simulations, she says, "it was very interesting to me to see how quickly you get into an us-versus-them mentality."

She cites the "case of the clogged toilet system" during her stint at the habitat in Utah. Effluent flowed into the habitat.

"That was a really low point," she says. The crew needed plumbing diagrams and troubleshooting tips from the mission-support team. From the crew's perspective, the support team was too slow to respond or the information was incomplete.

"Crew frustration built very, very quickly to a point where we started feeling like we weren't even going to keep them in the loop anymore," she says. "We'd just have to do it on our own and let them figure it out later."

This was the sort of "freebie malfunction" ? glitches not accounted for during training ? that turns simulated expeditions into object lessons for real-deal mission planning.

The habitat experiences also showed the crucial role crew selection plays in a mission's success. It's not enough to build a team of individuals who are smart and capable, Cusack says. "The way you put that team together is also a huge factor."

So is the selection of a team leader. Of the two Mars Society expeditions in which she took part, the more successful one was led by someone who was able to keep the crew working well as a unit without being a dictator and with a keen eye to balancing workload, she says.

In some respects, one could find many of these points in a decent book on how to be an effective manager, Cusack acknowledges.

"Everyone has those intentions in mind," she says. "But in practice, especially when things get stressful, everyone's base personalities come out. When you're living with the same people day in and day out with no break from them, ever, all those little personality quirks become enhanced."

In some ways, it may be easier to confront the stress of space travel than the stress of Earth-based simulations, suggests Taber MacCallum, the cofounder and chief technology officer for Paragon Space Technology Development Corp. He also was a member of the Biosphere 2 crew and is now Poynter's husband.

At Biosphere 2, Mr. MacCallum recalls, he'd look at the air lock to the outside world every day and remind himself: I'm not going out that door. Astronauts have no choice but to stay. During conversations MacCallum says he had later with some Russian cosmonauts who have spent long periods in space, they agreed that a daily decision to stay or go would be an extra level of stress. Currently, the record for the longest human spaceflight is held by Russian Valeri Polyakov, who spent 437 days on the Mir space station in 1994-95.

Space station's role

The Earth analogues have their place in exploring the psychological dimensions of interplanetary space travel. NASA also participates in studies from a second remote training center on Devon Island. But NASA's primary tool for studying how a long-term space mission might affect astronauts is the space station.

To that end, NASA and Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, have tapped Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko to team up for the first year-long stay on the International Space Station. They will test hardware and procedures for interplanetary missions and take part in biomedical tests as the space agencies look for ways to keep crews healthy. The duo is slated for launch sometime in the spring of 2015.

The space station is a unique laboratory for understanding how the body responds to microgravity. That field of study has come a long way since the early days of human spaceflight, when flight surgeons were worried that astronauts wouldn't be able to swallow in space or that they wouldn't be able to digest food.

The human body evolved in Earth's gravitational embrace, so spending long periods in microgravity "tends to be a pretty disruptive kind of change," says Julie Robinson, NASA's space-station program scientist.

But, she adds, "it's not nearly as disruptive as people thought before humans went into space. Our bodies turn out to be much more resilient than we thought."

One facet that has received attention recently is the effect a lack of the right kind of light and the lack of a day-night cycle can have on sleep patterns and crew effectiveness. Earlier this year, researchers reported the results of a study of sleep patterns among a six-member crew that spent 520 days inside a simulated capsule at the Russian Academy of Science's Institute of Biomedical Problems in Moscow.

As time went on, normal sleep patterns were disrupted, but the severity differed among the crew and overall. Armed with a detailed look at the disrupted patterns, the researchers noted that mission planners could schedule activities in ways that reduced the risks the altered patterns could pose to the crew's effectiveness.

Researchers have developed counter-measures for long-observed conditions such as space-motion sickness or the loss of bone and muscle mass in orbit.

But they don't have enough experience with missions of nine to 12 months' duration to know what course those conditions might take over longer periods of time, Dr. Robinson says.

And spaceflight can still spring unpleasant surprises. Over the past couple of years, she says, some crew members have experienced a buildup of fluids in the brain and spinal cord that impairs their vision, a condition, she says, that could become permanent on the ground.

No one had seen this condition before, and it now represents the most serious health risk astronauts in low-Earth orbit face, says the National Space Biomedical Research Institute's Dr. Sutton. He adds that it has affected about 25 percent of the male astronauts who have served on the space station.

Cosmic rays and solar wind

For travel beyond low-Earth orbit and the protection of Earth's magnetic field, radiation remains the biggest health concern, Sutton says. Galactic cosmic rays ? charged particles and atomic nuclei accelerated to high energies ? come from all directions. The sun also sheds particles as solar wind, and at higher energies, as solar storms.

So far, the only ways to reduce a crew's exposure involve making the trip to Mars as quickly as possible and putting as much shielding between the crew and the source as practical.

Jonathan Clark, an associate professor of neurology at Baylor University and a former NASA flight surgeon, estimates that Tito's one-off Mars mission would expose the couple to an elevated risk of cancer mortality of about 3 percent above NASA's maximum allowable career exposure for astronauts.

It's a risk longtime Mars exploration advocate Robert Zubrin, founder and president of the Mars Society, compares with the risk astronauts faced during the shuttle program.

NASA initially anticipated that the risk of losing a shuttle and its crew was about 1 in 100,000. Over the course of 100 missions, NASA lost two shuttles and 14 astronauts. That suggests, he says, that the increased cancer risk to an Inspiration Mars crew would be roughly comparable to the risk astronauts took when they were strapped into a shuttle.

If Inspiration Mars succeeds, its biggest contribution to interplanetary travel may well be slaying a cosmic equivalent of the sea dragons lurking over the horizon for sailors in the Middle Ages, he says.

Fear of the dragon is the showstopper for NASA, he says, not the radiation itself. If Inspiration Mars succeeds, "it can destroy the fear. This can show it can be done."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/5SNWzMrXBGk/What-would-501-day-mission-to-Mars-feel-like-Survivor-in-space

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Supreme Court takes up Arizona voter law

By Pete Williams, Justice Correspondent, NBC News

Arizona is asking the Supreme Court to uphold its process for registering voters, one that several states say will reduce voter fraud but that civil rights groups insist is an effort to discourage participation by legal immigrants.

The justices hear arguments Monday in a dispute over Proposition 200, adopted by Arizona voters in 2004.? It requires residents to submit proof of citizenship when they register to vote in the state.

REUTERS/Molly Riley

The Supreme Court building seen in Washington May 20, 2009.

A coalition of civil rights groups says the law "requires naturalized citizens -- predominantly Latinos and Asians -- to surmount additional and unique hurdles to exercise their fundamental right to vote."

The case presents a conflict between two powers granted in the Constitution -- the right of states to set their own rules for electing federal officials and the authority given Congress to change those laws.

A decade ago, Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act, better known as the Motor Voter law. It requires all states to treat an application for a driver's license as a request for voter registration.

Applicants can also register by mail, in addition to the traditional method of showing up in person at a local election office. Under the Motor Voter law, each state is required to "accept and use" a federal registration form or their own version of it, as long as it deemed to be equivalent.?

U.S. citizenship is a requirement to vote in any federal election, and the federal form requires applicants to state, under penalty of perjury, that they are American citizens. But Arizona's Proposition 200 goes further, requiring applicants to provide some form of proof at the time they want to register.

The challengers argue that it's a burden for naturalized citizens to provide the proper documentation. Using a naturalization document for proof, for example, requires an applicant to show up in person, because federal law prohibits making a copy of it. And they say the state's records are incomplete, lacking data that would allow election officials to accept some other forms of proof, such as any Arizona driver's license issued before 1996.

"Often, naturalized citizens must submit a voter registration application multiple times before they successfully register to vote," says a coalition of Latino and Asian American groups.

A federal appeals court ruled that Arizona went too far, departing so far from the Motor Voter act that the state was essentially rejecting the federal form.

Not so, says the state.? "The requirement that applicants provide additional evidence to support their application does not constitute a 'rejection' of the federal form any more than an identification check at at airport gate entrance constitutes a 'rejection' of a passenger's ticket," says Arizona's legal brief in the Supreme Court.

Three other states have nearly identical laws -- Alabama, Georgia and Kansas. They've joined Arizona in urging the court to uphold the additional requirements for proof of citizenship.

If the Supreme Court agrees with Arizona, states would have broader powers to impose their own registration requirements. ?A ruling will come some time before July.

This story was originally published on

Source: http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/18/17326321-supreme-court-takes-up-arizona-voter-registration-law?lite

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Union County High School UCHS Varsity Baseball 3/19 ? Chapman ? Home ? 7:30 p.m....

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Sunday, March 17, 2013

Feedly picks up over 500,000 Google Reader defectors

DNP 500,000 Google Reader users defect to Feedly

It looks like Feedly's promises of a "seamless transition" worked. The newsfeed service recently reported that more than 500,000 Google Reader users have joined its ranks following the announcement that the popular aggregator will close this summer. It multiplied its bandwidth ten times over, added new servers to cope with the sudden influx and hopes to keep the service up as much as possible as more users pour in. In an effort to keep its new clientele happy, Feedly has promised to listen to suggestions and add new features on a weekly basis as well. But if it doesn't, don't worry; we suspect there'll be many more alternatives pitching for your RSS feeds over the coming weeks.

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Guilty verdicts in Steubenville high school rape trial

The judge in the Steubenville, Ohio rape case finds the two defendants are 'adjudicated delinquent' on all three counts which is equivalent to a finding of guilty in adult court.

By Andrew Welsh-Huggins, The Associated Press

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio ? Two Ohio high school football players have been found guilty of raping a drunken 16-year-old girl in a case that roiled a small city and stirred reaction from activists online.

The trial of two Ohio high school football players accused of raping a 16-year-old girl resumed on Saturday. NBC's Ron Allen reports.

Judge Thomas Lipps ruled Sunday in juvenile court that Steubenville High School students Trent Mays and Ma'Lik Richmond are guilty of attacking the girl after an alcohol-fueled party last August.

The 17-year-old Mays and 16-year-old Richmond were charged with digitally penetrating the West Virginia girl, first in a car and then in a house. They could be held in a juvenile jail until they turn 21.

The case divided the community amid allegations that more students should have been charged and led to questions about the influence of the football team, a local source of a pride.

Related:

Prosecution, defense rest their cases in Steubenville rape trial

Steubenville high school rape trial zeroes in on texts, photos, video

As rape trial opens, prosecutors says girl was 'too impaired to say no'

? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/17/17346127-verdict-in-steubenville-high-school-rape-trial?lite

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Saturday, March 16, 2013

CITES makes historic decision to protect sharks and rays

Friday, March 15, 2013

CITES plenary today accepted Committee recommendations to list five species of highly traded sharks under the CITES Appendices, along with those for the listing of both manta rays and one species of sawfish. Japan, backed by Gambia and India, unsuccessfully challenged the Committee decision to list the oceanic whitetip shark, while Grenada and China failed in an attempt to reopen debate on listing three hammerhead species. Colombia, Senegal, Mexico and others took the floor to defend Committee decisions to list sharks.

"We are thrilled with this result and the groundswell of government commitment that made it happen," said Amie Brautigam, Marine Policy Advisor for Wildlife Conservation Society. "These hard-fought decisions to secure CITES regulations on international trade in sharks and rays are based on a solid foundation built over two decades, and surmount the long-standing opposition to listing shark species that are taken at a commercial scale."

The oceanic whitetip shark, porbeagle, three species of hammerheads, and both manta rays ? all classified as threatened on the IUCN Red List -- will now be added to CITES Appendix II, which prompts permits to ensure exports are sustainable and legal. The only sharks listed under CITES previous to this meeting ? basking, whale, and white sharks ? are not taken in the high volumes associated with the newly listed sharks. The freshwater sawfish will be transferred from Appendix II to I, where all other sawfishes are listed, thereby completing a global ban on international commercial trade in these critically endangered species.

"We're grateful to proponent governments for recognizing the value of thriving shark and ray populations, and for championing sound proposals," said Ania Budziak, Project AWARE's Associate Director. "We're proud that the divers' voice has contributed to achieving this key milestone in shark and ray conservation."

Proponents of the various listing proposals include the 27 Member States of the EU, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ecuador, Egypt, Honduras, Mexico, and the USA. The shark and ray proposals received more than the two-thirds majority of votes necessary for adoption while the sawfish listing succeeded by consensus.

"With relief that the Committee decisions were not overturned, we now turn our focus to the essential phase of their implementation," said Sonja Fordham, President of Shark Advocates International. "We urge all Parties to recognize the urgency of the shark and ray plight and to begin this work to ensure the sustainability of international trade in newly listed species, as a matter of priority."

###

Wildlife Conservation Society: http://www.wcs.org

Thanks to Wildlife Conservation Society for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127318/CITES_makes_historic_decision_to_protect_sharks_and_rays

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Japanese P2 study shows potential of combined vaccine and steroid drug in castration resistant PCa

Japanese P2 study shows potential of combined vaccine and steroid drug in castration resistant PCa [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 15-Mar-2013
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Contact: Ivanka Moerkerken
i.moerkerken@uroweb.org
31-026-389-0680
European Association of Urology

Arnhem, 11 March 2013- Multi-peptide vaccination therapy combined with the low-dose steroid drug dexamethasone shows promise in treating chemotherapy-naive castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) patients.

The study, which won the third prize for best abstract in oncology at the 28th European Association of Urology Congress held in Milan, Italy from 15 to 19 March, showed the promising benefit of this combination therapy in patients who are chemotherapy-naive or those not yet exposed to specific antigens.

"Results of our randomized prospective study suggest that multi-peptide vaccination therapy in combination with low dose dexamethasone has the therapeutic potential as a safe and efficient option for chemotherapy-nave CRPC patients," said lead study author Dr. Takahiro Kimura, of the Jikei University School of Medicine, Dept. of Urology, Tokyo, Japan.

Since immunotherapy does not have a strong ability to decrease tumour burden, it is considerably difficult to evaluate the full extent of a significant therapeutic effect with peptide vaccines, explained Kimura. "Taking this into consideration, the present evidence is promising," he said.

The researchers have previously developed MHC class-I restricted peptide vaccines for prostate cancer and carried out a phase 1 trial to assess safety and immunological evaluation. In the present study, Kimura and his colleagues conducted a randomized phase 2 study to evaluate the efficacy of peptide vaccine therapy for chemotherapy nave CRPC patients.

Early stage CRPC (PSA

Kimura said that although percentage PSA decline is the same in both vaccination/dexamethasone and dexamethasone alone group, PSA-PFS was significantly longer (p

"This means that the anti-tumour immune response may play an important role in suppressing disease progression. This therapeutic strategy using peptide vaccines is likely to be comparable as that from currently developed anti-androgenic agents such as abiraterone acetate, MDV3100," Kimura noted.

Castration resistant prostate cancer is a difficult patient group to manage since although a number of therapeutic modalities have been developed, none have lived up to the full expectations and treatment options remain limited.

Kimura added that although the concept of immunotherapy for cancer is not new, recent technological advances have opened new avenues to explore and optimize peptide-based immunotherapy.

"Since the anti-tumour effects of peptide vaccination are driven by different mechanisms as those from ADT and chemotherapy, we may circumvent many of the pitfalls experienced with the current therapies. We believe that this treatment approach will be key in order to achieve a breakthrough as a new therapeutic option for CRPC," he said.

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Japanese P2 study shows potential of combined vaccine and steroid drug in castration resistant PCa [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 15-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Ivanka Moerkerken
i.moerkerken@uroweb.org
31-026-389-0680
European Association of Urology

Arnhem, 11 March 2013- Multi-peptide vaccination therapy combined with the low-dose steroid drug dexamethasone shows promise in treating chemotherapy-naive castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) patients.

The study, which won the third prize for best abstract in oncology at the 28th European Association of Urology Congress held in Milan, Italy from 15 to 19 March, showed the promising benefit of this combination therapy in patients who are chemotherapy-naive or those not yet exposed to specific antigens.

"Results of our randomized prospective study suggest that multi-peptide vaccination therapy in combination with low dose dexamethasone has the therapeutic potential as a safe and efficient option for chemotherapy-nave CRPC patients," said lead study author Dr. Takahiro Kimura, of the Jikei University School of Medicine, Dept. of Urology, Tokyo, Japan.

Since immunotherapy does not have a strong ability to decrease tumour burden, it is considerably difficult to evaluate the full extent of a significant therapeutic effect with peptide vaccines, explained Kimura. "Taking this into consideration, the present evidence is promising," he said.

The researchers have previously developed MHC class-I restricted peptide vaccines for prostate cancer and carried out a phase 1 trial to assess safety and immunological evaluation. In the present study, Kimura and his colleagues conducted a randomized phase 2 study to evaluate the efficacy of peptide vaccine therapy for chemotherapy nave CRPC patients.

Early stage CRPC (PSA

Kimura said that although percentage PSA decline is the same in both vaccination/dexamethasone and dexamethasone alone group, PSA-PFS was significantly longer (p

"This means that the anti-tumour immune response may play an important role in suppressing disease progression. This therapeutic strategy using peptide vaccines is likely to be comparable as that from currently developed anti-androgenic agents such as abiraterone acetate, MDV3100," Kimura noted.

Castration resistant prostate cancer is a difficult patient group to manage since although a number of therapeutic modalities have been developed, none have lived up to the full expectations and treatment options remain limited.

Kimura added that although the concept of immunotherapy for cancer is not new, recent technological advances have opened new avenues to explore and optimize peptide-based immunotherapy.

"Since the anti-tumour effects of peptide vaccination are driven by different mechanisms as those from ADT and chemotherapy, we may circumvent many of the pitfalls experienced with the current therapies. We believe that this treatment approach will be key in order to achieve a breakthrough as a new therapeutic option for CRPC," he said.

###



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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/eaou-jps031113.php

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Rainy Day Activities for Kids: 16 Fun, Simple Boredom Busters

This post is a part of a student-written series, 20 Ideas for Travel Bliss. Amy Green is a student at? Taylor University in Upland, Ind. Check out Amy?s personal blog ? Just the Fiction, Ma?am.

On vacation, where toys are left at home and craft supplies might be hard to come by, it can be hard to know what to do when you?re faced with a rainy day. If the weather doesn?t cooperate with your plans to go on a hike or explore the Smoky Mountain trails, here are some fun, simple boredom busters, activities, and games to do with your kids.

Rainy day activities for two can be played with just one child?with some help from Mom or Dad. They can be adapted so others can join in too. Rainy day activities for groups need two players or more.

Rainy Day Activities For Two

1.???? Comics Scavenger Hunt: Get a few pages of comic strips from the daily newspaper. Then have your child try to find different items that you call out (for example, a lamp, question mark, someone with a ponytail, a cloud, the word ?what,? a clock).

?2.???? Birthday Present Game: Pick an interesting character, like ?a mermaid? or ?the President? or ?a very old man.? Then have the player run and find an item she would give this person for their birthday. Set a time limit to make it more challenging. Then have the player present their ?gift? and explain why she chose it.

3.???? Upside Down Picnic: Spread out a blanket and eat on the floor under the dinner table. For extra fun, eat dessert first!

4.???? Phone Book Bingo: Using a phone book, see how quickly your child can find people fitting a particular description. Here are some examples: ?Someone whose first name is over 10 letters long,? ?A person whose initials spell a word,? ?the best name for a villain,? ?a woman with the name of a Disney princess.?

5.???? Stuffed Animal Witness Protection Program: Bring out a stuffed animal and take turns using everyday items to create different ?disguises? for it. You can use prompts, such as ?How could the teddy bear sneak into Santa?s workshop?? or ?What would be the best disguise for a spy travelling to the rainforest?? Vote on your favorite.

6.???? Make-Your-Own Mad Libs: Write a short story, about 7-8 sentences long. Then remove some of the key words. Call out the parts of speech of the missing word (?noun,? ?verb with ?ing,? ?interjection?) and let the other player fill in a new word. Then read the now mixed-up story out loud. If you want an even easier version, check out these pre-made Mad Libs.

7.???? Close-up Match-up: Using a digital camera, take close-up pictures of items around the room. Then call in your child, show him the pictures, and ask him to guess what it shows. If you want, let your child play the part of photographer next.

8.???? Object ID: Wrap everyday household items in newspaper. Pass them around and let your child shake, feel, and otherwise poke around at it without removing the newspaper. Then have her write down a guess for what the object is.?To get some ideas, watch this video and try your luck at figuring out what you?re really seeing.

Rainy Day Activities for Groups

9.???? Penny Hunt: Set several pennies in fairly obvious places around the room. Then close the curtains, turn the lights off, and have a race to see who can find the most loose change. Be careful not to hide the pennies completely out of sight?it?s harder than it sounds! Give each player a flashlight if you?d like.

10.? Wacky Coloring Contest: Divide into partners, and have each pair choose a page from a coloring book, or print out some pages from Crayola?s website. Give them several crayons each. Then tell them that only one of them can touch the crayons, and that person must be blindfolded. Don?t forget to set a time limit. If you?d like, repeat by making players color with their non-dominant hand or with their toes.

11.? Silent Movie Charades: Write down names of popular movies and have the player act it out?but without saying anything. Make sure you pick movies that everyone in the family has seen.

12.? Desert Island Game: Tell everyone to grab 10 random items of different sizes without explaining why. When they return, inform them that each person was trapped on their own desert island with only these 10 items. Give them tasks to complete, like ?make an animal trap,? ?start a fire,? or ?build a raft.? They can only use the items they have?and their creative explanation abilities. This game can also be played in teams.

13.? Four Corners: A caller stands in the middle of the room, eyes closed (or blindfolded). The caller counts to 10 while everyone else sneaks to a corner of the room. Then the caller yells out a number. Anyone in that corner has to complete a silly task invented by the caller, such as imitating an elephant or singing the ?Happy Birthday? song like a country-western star, without laughing, or they?re out. The last one in the game wins!

14.? Misfortune Telling: Fill a hat with small, random items that happen to be lying around. Then, sit in a circle and pass the hat around. Start telling a story about something unfortunate that will happen to your family while driving home from vacation. Each person must pull out an object from the hat and work it into the story.

15.? Rock, Paper, Something: This game is like Rock, Paper, Scissors?except instead of picking one of these three items, you can pick anything that isn?t a person or a weapon. The two players each name their item at the same time. Then they explain why their item could destroy the other person?s item. This can lead to epic battles, such as ?Velcro vs. a jr. high bathroom? and ?A unicorn lamp vs. a bottle of superglue.? Any non-participants are the judges and vote to decide who wins.

16.? Gargle Karaoke: Write down songs that everyone in the family knows. Then tell the player to take a small swallow of water and attempt to gargle the song. Whoever guesses it first gets to be the next to play. This one is good to play in the kitchen in case of dripping.

?

Hopefully these simple rainy day activities will be able to keep your kids busy until the weather clears up again. You might even find yourself hoping for an indoor vacation day!

What activities and games are your family?s favorites on a rainy day? Give us your boredom buster ideas in the comments section.

Source: http://blog.cabinconnection.com/2013/03/15/rainy-day-activities-for-kids-16-fun-simple-boredom-busters/

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Friday, March 15, 2013

Cloud Based Phone System Functions and Advantages | Free ...

Cloud based phone system is often a phone service which is delivered through the Internet. The cloud itself is the Internet and synonymous with Internet phone system. It plays a serious role in the telecommunications world. Before the creation of this new phone system, the traditional phone systems have been based on the PSTN (public switched telephone network) wherein the copper wires are made up the phone provider which charge monthly phone bill on their subscribers.

Now small to medium sized business enterprises are now investing in this phone equipment because of low cost and affordable way to answer business communication needs. It is great to know that in able to keep up with the fierce competition, several phone providers are enabling small business enterprises to claw back some portion of their lost profit to maintain their particular pricey monthly phone bills.

Benefits

Having multi-line phone system is ideal for home-based employees and outside contractors that is maintaining their business communication outside their workplace. Quick notifications for fax and voice messages are actually simple to be sent via SMS, electronic and real time call management apps. Also, you can increase your smartphones in retrieving your faxes, voice mails or even inserting outgoing calls. Nevertheless, enhancing your business image and improving the productivity simultaneously are the measured benefits of getting cloud based phone system.

Functionalities

Cloud based phone system is surely a forefront when it comes to building telecommunications become simple and affordable for the end user in the service. Availing this phone package is not difficult to utilize where the only equipment needed is computer of mobile phone included in their package. Because of this, it?s a good idea for you to make a list of everything you need on your business communication needs, and suit your needs to diverse cost-effective packages available in the market. It includes a variety of features which you might find standard to most packages like the following:

. Immediate answer while using auto-attendant feature. It?s going to prompt the callers to hold on and place the calls on queue. You can also ask the callers to dial extra time number to ensure that their calls are routed to particular department.
. If you wish an additional service to your phone system, it is possible to create multi-line phone system which is an individual phone line used for business functions such as remote voicemail, faxing, Internet connect and providing an additional extension for your company use.
. Each extension has own call forwarding and answering rules options. It is possible to ring the mobile phone, as well as other phone devices in rotating order or transfer calls to voice mail manually when you answer the incoming call.
. If there?s a heavy amount of calls in queue, voice mail function is needed to get rid of busy signals in which the system can configure to decline or send calls to voice mail.
. Music on hold may be customized rather than the classic ring tone. You may also include pre-recorded message regarding special promos, additional products, along with other relevant information that may keep your interest of the callers to wait on the other line.
. The call forwarding feature is often in the right place at the right time when taking calls having a cloud based phone system. It?s possible for the employees to be on call any time to answer essential messages from expected callers.

Discover important things on how cloud phone works and the benefits of multi-line phone system for your business. We also provide information regarding business telephone that will help your business with its communication needs.


Source: http://www.consultation.ayurvediccure.com/cloud-based-phone-system-functions-and-advantages/

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Russians Volosozhar-Trankov win 1st world pairs

Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, of Canada, perform their free skate program in the pairs competition at the World Figure Skating Championships Friday, March 15, 2013 in London, Ontario. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)

Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, of Canada, perform their free skate program in the pairs competition at the World Figure Skating Championships Friday, March 15, 2013 in London, Ontario. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)

Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford of Canada perform their free skate program in the pairs competition at the World Figure Skating Championships Friday, March 15, 2013 in London, Ontario. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)

Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, of Canada, perform their free skate program in the pairs competition at the World Figure Skating Championships Friday, March 15, 2013 in London, Ontario. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)

Alexa Scimeca is lifted by her partner Chris Knierim from the United States, as they perform their free skate program in the pairs competition at the World Figure Skating Championships Friday, March 15, 2013 in London, Ontario. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)

(AP) ? With the Sochi Olympics a year away, Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov are right on target.

Volosozhar and Trankov gave Russia its first pairs title in eight years at the World Figure Skating Championships on Friday, shattering two world records in the process. Their total score of 225.71 was almost eight points better than the previous mark, while their free skate score of 149.87 was exactly five points higher.

"It means we can fight for the gold in Sochi," Trankov said. "It would be big to give back for Russia the Olympic gold, because we lose it in Vancouver in 2010."

When they finished, she hopped up and down. He bent over, spent, and she smiled as she kissed the top of his head. The victory completed a sweep of the season's major titles ? Grand Prix Final, European championships, worlds ? for the Russians. They haven't lost a competition since finishing second at last year's worlds.

Volosozhar and Trankov's upset of four-time world champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy at Europeans set up what was expected to be an exciting rematch at the worlds. But the Germans turned out to be something of a dud, finishing about 20 points back with a subdued and sloppy performance. Canadians Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, second after the short program, dropped to third with a labored effort that also had errors.

Americans Alexa Scimeca and Christopher Knierim were ninth, an impressive debut for a pair that's been together not even a year. U.S. champions Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir were 13th, ensuring that the United States will be able to send two pairs to Sochi.

Russia has a sterling tradition in pairs, winning at least a share of the gold medal at every Olympics from 1964 to 2006. But that streak came to a thudding halt in Vancouver. Not only did the Russians fail to win gold, they didn't even have a pair on the podium. It was a tremendous embarrassment, made even worse by the fact the next Olympics are in Russia.

But Volosozhar and Trankov have restored the proud lineage. Despite this being only their third season together, they embody the best qualities of Russian pairs. And they were a welcome sight after an afternoon of mostly lackluster performances.

With nearly perfect unison and choreography that exquisitely fit their "Violin Muse" program, they were a pure joy. Their ballet training was evident in gorgeous lines and extensions, details that elevate a good program to greatness.

What makes pairs special, however, is that constant element of danger, and the Russians know how to thrill. She got so high on their triple twist she ought to have had clearance from Canadian aviation authorities, and they almost ran out of ice on their throw triple loop. On their final lift, not only did he carry her for what seemed like hours, he did most of it while gliding backward on only one foot, a feat that takes strength, dexterity and more than a little guts.

They weren't perfect, with him tripping after their throw triple salchow. But it hardly mattered when the rest of their program was so spectacular.

The Germans are known for brash, in-your-face programs, but they went for a different look with their flamenco "Bolero." Even their costumes, usually such a train wreck the snarky fashion folks at "Us" magazine have no words, were subdued: She wore a black dress with a colorful bikini-like top; he was in a matching shirt and black pants.

It didn't work. Any of it.

Savchenko and Szolkowy's errors were bad enough. He fell on their side-by-side triple salchows and she doubled both of the jumps in their triple toe loop-triple toe sequence. She also two-footed the landing of a throw triple axel and put her hand down, though they got a ton of points for even trying the difficult jump. But their program was so slow, it's a wonder snores weren't heard in the arena.

Fans booed when they saw Savchenko and Szolkowy's scores, which moved them ahead of Duhamel and Radford. But the Canadians had their issues, too. Their unison went off and on like a light switch in their combination spin, and they nearly bumped into each other on the last jump of their triple salchow-double toe-double toe combination.

Together less than a year, Scimeca and Knierim show tremendous potential. They have the daring athleticism that makes pairs skating thrilling ? she soared so high on their opening triple twist that he would have had time to bend down and relace his skates, and NBA players will be asking for tips on her hang time on the throw jumps ? but they're equally polished at the soft side of the discipline. Skating to "Life is Beautiful," fans could feel the connection between the two. (They're a couple off the ice as well.)

That's always the goal of pairs, of course, but some couples can only fake it. When Scimeca laid her head on Knierim's shoulder during a lift, it looked natural, not something a choreographer or coach told her to do.

Of course, the Americans have had a several other promising pairs the last few years, only to see them break up after a season or two.

"A big part of teams breaking up is they want quick success without the time behind it," said Scimeca and Knierim's coach, Dalilah Sappenfield, the premier pairs coach in the United States now. "You need that longevity."

And Scimeca and Knierim promised they will have it.

"We're in it forever," Scimeca said. "And you can quote me on that."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-15-FIG-World-Championships/id-9f8432b540864ce58e2ee1eef1c8ce4e

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Mets' Wright returns to NY because of sore ribs

United States shortstop Jimmy Rollins, left, third baseman David Wright, center, and second baseman Brandon Phillips laugh during the eight inning against Puerto Rico during a World Baseball Classic game Tuesday, March 12, 2013, in Miami. The United States won 7-1. (AP Photo/El Nuevo Herald, David Santiago) MAGS OUT

United States shortstop Jimmy Rollins, left, third baseman David Wright, center, and second baseman Brandon Phillips laugh during the eight inning against Puerto Rico during a World Baseball Classic game Tuesday, March 12, 2013, in Miami. The United States won 7-1. (AP Photo/El Nuevo Herald, David Santiago) MAGS OUT

United States' David Wright (5) high fives teammates during the player introductions before the start of a second round World Baseball Classic game against Puerto Rico, Tuesday, March 12, 2013 in Miami. The U.S. defeated Puerto Rico 7-1. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

United States' David Wright hits a three-run double during the eight inning against Puerto Rico on World Baseball Classic game Tuesday, March 12, 2013, in Miami. The United States won 7-1. (AP Photo/El Nuevo Herald, David Santiago) MAGS OUT

(AP) ? Mets third baseman David Wright flew back to New York to have his sore ribs examined by team doctors.

General manager Sandy Alderson said he expects Wright will return to Port St. Lucie on Saturday.

"In terms of the injury and its severity, we just don't know any more than David has related already publically," Alderson said. "So until he's actually examined, we won't know the exact nature of the injury, we won't know the extent of the injury and we won't have any sort of timetable for his return."

Wright, who signed an eight-year, $138 million extension with the Mets in the offseason, was a late scratch from Team USA's lineup against the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic on Thursday night.

Wright will not play against Puerto Rico on Friday night. Team USA manager Joe Torre said he doesn't expect Wright to be available if the team advances to the semifinals in San Francisco on Sunday and Monday.

While Wright said he had been feeling soreness for almost a week, Alderson said the team was not aware of any issues until Thursday. The decision to pull Wright from the lineup came about 20 minutes before the start of the game, after Wright was fully dressed and had taken batting practice.

"It was yesterday we became aware of the problem and when we became aware of it, we contacted Team USA immediately and had him re-examined," Alderson said. "We also, in addition to the medical track, on the administrative side, we contacted other team officials. So he was examined and the determination was that he would not play.

"I think David ? I'm not sure when this was first experienced ? he had hoped it would go away. It didn't and he felt a responsibility to deal with it. Again, when we were alerted, we took what we thought was the right course of action."

Wright missed most of the spring training games last year with a torn rib cage muscle.

Alderson said he didn't think the injury was related to a stress fracture Wright suffered in his lower back in 2011.

Wright had been the offensive catalyst for Team USA in the WBC, earning the nickname "Captain America" after batting .438 (7-for-16) with a game-winning grand slam against Italy and 10 RBIs in four games. Wright said he was disappointed by the decision not to play Thursday, something Alderson reiterated Friday.

"David's a guy that doesn't overreact to things," Alderson said. "He's committed, when he makes commitments he wants to execute on them, carry them out and I'm sure he felt a responsibility to Team USA. This was a difficult development for him to accept, but in the final analysis, we felt this was the right thing to do."

The Mets don't have a lot of depth at the third base. Zach Lutz is the only other true third baseman on the 40-man roster, but Alderson said he would not address the team situation until Saturday, when he received a diagnosis on Wright.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-15-BBN-Mets-Wright/id-34702f4a1df945b88fc5c5b8155bf0e9

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ASU men's basketball ousted from Pac-12 Tournament as UCLA ...

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Source: http://www.azcentral.com/sports/asu/articles/20130314asu-mens-basketball-ousted-from-pac-tournament-as-ucla-rallies-in-nd-half.html

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My Mom-Friday: Fun Friday: Arts and Sports for Summer

Third Friday of the month: ?Recreation / Art / Sports

It's officially summer break - well, at least for my boy. ?My girl still has a culminating program and moving-up day on Tuesday. ?But all of us are already psyched for vacation time, which means staying up and waking up a little later that usual, no more homework, more play time, lazy days at home, and a chance to learn a new skill, a new sport, or dabble in arts and crafts.

Personally, I'm not keen on sending my children to take academic enrichment programs, summer break or not. ?They do academics during the school year already and I want our vacation (yes, it's ours 'coz I take a break from tutoring too) to be free from "studying". ?I prefer them to explore and enjoy the arts, learn a musical instrument or sport/s instead, and attend classes up to 3x/week only. ?I simply want them to have fun, relax, de-stress, and forget about schooling, at least during the break. ?But that's just us. ?Some families can make it work for them, having a packed week and still have time to travel and relax. ?That's not bad at all. ?To each his own.



Three years ago, I featured some of my co-parents in school and asked them what they usually plan for their kids during summer. ?I think what they shared are still relevant to this day. ?I've even included a?list of summer activities in this post?as a reference for parents who are also looking for ideas and classes to enroll their children. This year, we are sticking with taekwondo, maybe add swimming, and art class. ?I still wish they take up piano or guitar lessons (or whatever musical instrument they fancy) next time.

Taekwondo

The boy has been a regular taekwondo student for four years. ?He will continue with his twice-weekly classes to improve on his form, and gain more confidence in sparring. ?Lately though, he lacked the enthusiasm that he had before. ?We'll just be open to other options for him as he's now older, and his interests are changing.

To understand what this Korean national sport is all about, read more about taekwondo?in this feature?I wrote before (please note that program fees have changed since then). ?Like other martial arts, Taekwondo promotes focus, respect, discipline, and self-control. ?It's considered a way of life in Korea.

Students can be as young as 4 years old, mix of girls and boys. ?You can have your child attend a free trial class at Joyland Gym,?run by a Korean taekwondo master and Philippine junior team coach,?and see how it goes from there.?

Joyland Taekwondo Gym

2/F The Promenade (same building as Santi's Deli) - Wilson corner P. Guevarra Streets, San Juan City

Tel.: ?(632) 570-9690 ?Mobile: +63915-7193893 / +63929-3705130

Swimming

I enjoy swimming. ?We had a swimming class in high school for two years and I really had the best times learning with my classmates. ?I also want my kids to learn too but I'm not in a rush since we rarely go our swimming anyway.

My boy had his first swimming class for one semester when he was in prep. ?It was conducted by Bert Lozada Swim School teachers. ?Sadly, he did not participate more than half the time. ?He was not responsive to the lesson and preferred to wade on the side of the indoor pool instead. ?We knew he was not ready. ?He has sensory issues and his teachers were also understanding and did not force him. ?The lesson was not as rigid as I expected, but I saw how his other classmates enjoyed and learned.

It was only last summer that we observed his willingness to explore the water and swim more independently after I taught him a few basic strokes and floating techniques. ?This year, he told me he's interested to have swimming lessons. ?My girl will eventually have swimming lessons in her big school next year, also conducted by BLSS. ?Next week, we'll check out the highly-recommended Bert Lozada Swim School (BLSS) in one of their pool venues. ?I just hope the boy won't back out this time! =)

I am confident that BLSS can help my kids be good swimmers. ?Their program, Swimming at Any Age (SAGE), reintroduces swimming not just as a competitive sport but a lifestyle and recreational activity. "Swimming is for YOU- regardless of age and level of fitness." You can choose from BLSS programs designed for babies, kids and adults like the following:

  • Bath Time Babies
  • My Baby and Me
  • Kids: Learn to Swim Programs
  • Teens: PE and Varsity Programs
  • Special Needs, Private Lessons
Bert Lozada Swim School
Tel.: ?(632) 563-5532 / (632) 800-1357 ? Mobile: +63917-700-SWIM
Email: ?info@bertlozadaswimschool.com

Art / Drawing

Both my kids are fond of drawing. ?They draw random stuff everyday on their own free time, and have improved over the years. ?We're really quite impressed with what they come up with. ?Last year, the boy went to a cartoon drawing class. ?He got bored eventually and just finished the complimentary program. ?This year, it's the girl's turn at art class. ?She was invited to a trial drawing class at Kidz Art. ?She loved it and decided on the spot that she wants to take the class.


Last January, I accompanied her to the trial session and saw the facilities of the school, met a few of the teachers, and got an idea of their teaching process. ?I like the venue, the classroom set-up, the materials used, student-to-teacher ratio, and how they teach kids to draw with step-by-step instructions and on-the-spot demonstration from the teacher.

KidzArt Philippines, a franchise of KidzArt Texas, is a drawing-based art education program designed to teach children to become creative thinkers and problem solvers as well. They offer drawing classes for kids 2 - 14 years old.


The girl has already enrolled in a class for her age group and we're both excited for her to begin this April. ?You can choose from classes such as:
  • Squiggles to Grins (parent and child program) 2 - 3.5 y.o.
  • Discover - Preschool level
  • Connect, Imagine, Explore - 3 levels for children from 6 - 14 y.o.
KidzArt Philippines
Main: 3F-2 500 Shaw Zentrum, Shaw Blvd., Mandaluyong City
Tel.: (632)?925-9950 ? Mobile: +63917-8559644
Email: ?info@kidzartphilippines.com
Aside from enrolling them in these summer programs, we will still have our usual home-based activities that we will plan together, like baking day, outdoor playground day, arts & crafts day.

Do you know of unique programs for kids?
Are you a parent? What activities or classes are your kids doing this summer?

Related post:
Fun Summer Activities for Kids
Taekwondo Classes for Kids

I'd love to know your thoughts on this post. ?If you enjoyed this, feel free to share it!
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Source: http://www.mymomfriday.com/2013/03/fun-friday-arts-and-sports-for-summer.html

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