Big-City Fireworks and Beaches Dominate Priceline.com's List of the Most Popular Destinations for July 4th 2012

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NORWALK, Conn., June 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Big cities, with their spectacular fireworks displays, and beaches from Key West to Maui, dominate priceline.com's (PCLN) 2012 list of the top 50 destinations for the upcoming July 4th holiday.

New York City's Midtown West neighborhood was the most popular destination this year, edging out the Chicago neighborhoods that had occupied the top spot in 2010 and 2011. Priceline.com's annual Top 50 Destinations list is based on hotel room booking requests made by customers using priceline.com's Name Your Own Price hotel reservation service. Because the survey is based on thousands of credit card-backed booking requests, and not on consumer preference polls or votes, priceline.com believes the annual survey is one of the more accurate predictors of July 4th travel trends.

"This year, there were really two themes," said priceline.com's Travel Ekspert Brian Ek. "Many travelers decided to visit cities like New York, Chicago, Boston and Washington, DC, where there are big July 4th celebrations planned. Others decided to escape the recent heat wave by heading for the beaches."

There were a few surprises on the list this year. "Because the 4th falls on a Wednesday, many travelers are making a week's vacation out of it," said Ek. "And some are splurging a bit on their trips. Hawaii destinations are #6, #9 and #39. This is the first time I've seen Hawaii ranked so high, or so many times. Despite record high international summer airfares, London and Paris made the list, perhaps because of the recent strength of the dollar."

Priceline.com says it still has airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, and air & hotel packages available for July 4th travel.Visit http://www.priceline.com for full details.

Priceline.com's Top 50 Destinations for July 4th 2012

#1 New York City, Midtown West #2 Chicago, North Michigan Ave./River North Area #3 San Diego, Downtown & Harbor Island #4 San Francisco, Fisherman's Wharf #5 Las Vegas, Strip North #6 Oahu, Waikiki Beach Area #7 New York City, Times Square/Theater District #8 New York City, Upper East Side #9 Maui, Ka'anapali/Lahaina #10 Boston, Waterfront/Convention Center #11 Los Angeles, Santa Monica/Marina Del Rey #12 Chicago, Millennium Park/Loop & Grant Park #13 Seattle, Downtown/Pike Place #14 Orange County, Disneyland/Anaheim North #15 Niagara Falls, St. Catharines #16 Las Vegas, Strip Vicinity South #17 New York City, Midtown East #18 Paris, Champs Elysees/Arc de Triomphe #19 Seattle, City Center/Space Needle #20 Montreal, Downtown/City Center #21 Portland, Downtown #22 San Francisco, Union Square East #23 Milwaukee, Downtown #24 Orange County, Newport/Huntington Beach #25 Orange County, Disneyland/Anaheim South/Orange/Garden Grove #26 Washington, DC, Convention Center/Capitol Hill Area #27 St. Louis, Downtown #28 Washington, DC, Crystal City #29 Newark, Jersey City/Hoboken/Weehawken #30 New Orleans, French Quarter #31 Toronto, Downtown/Toronto North #32 Boston, Harbor Front/Aquarium #33 London, Westminster #34 San Antonio, Riverwalk Area #35 Orlando, Downtown Disney/Lake Buena Vista #36 San Diego, Coronado #37 Boston, Copley Square/Back Bay #38 St. Petersburg, Clearwater Beach #39 Oahu, Executive Center Area #40 San Francisco, Financial District/Embarcadero #41 Chicago, Greater Chicago #42 Los Angeles, Downtown #43 Washington, DC, White House/Downtown #44 Niagara Falls, Buffalo Side #45 San Diego, Coastal Area #46 Key West #47 New York City, Central Park South #48 Los Angeles, Airport Area #49 San Francisco, SOMA/Moscone Center #50 Washington, DC, Dupont Circle/Woodley Park

About The Priceline Group The Priceline Group (PCLN) is a leader in global online hotel reservations, with over 235,000 participating hotels worldwide. The Group is composed of four primary brands Booking.com, priceline.com, Agoda.com and Rentalcars.com and several ancillary brands. The Priceline Group provides online travel services in over 175 countries in Europe, North America, South America, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa.

Booking.com is the number one online hotel reservation service in the world, offering over 205,000 hotels (as of May 9, 2012), and is available in 41 languages. More recent hotel counts are available on the Booking.com website.

Priceline.com gives leisure travelers multiple ways to save on their airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, vacation packages and cruises. In addition to getting compelling published prices, travelers can take advantage of priceline.com's famous Name Your Own Price service, which can deliver the lowest prices available. Agoda.com is an Asia-based online hotel reservation service that is available in 37 languages. Rentalcars.com is a multinational car hire service, offering its reservation services in over 4,000 locations. Customer support is provided in 38 languages.

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Big-City Fireworks and Beaches Dominate Priceline.com's List of the Most Popular Destinations for July 4th 2012

Beaches re-open after E. coli scare

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Readmore: Local, Water Issue, News, Health, Water Issue, E Coli, Chippewa County, E Coli Outbreak, Beaches Closed

CHIPPEWA COUNTY -- Several Chippewa County beaches are re-opened after an E. coli scare forced many to close late last week.

The beaches were closed due to elevated levels of E. coli in the water.

Three beaches remain closed, under a beach water advisory; Brimley State Park in Superior Township, Big Pines Picnic Area in Bay Mills Township and Bay View Campground in Bay Mills Township.

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Beaches re-open after E. coli scare

E. coli alerts posted at beaches

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By Alissa Widman

The Columbus Dispatch Tuesday June 26, 2012 11:57 PM

State health authorities have posted warnings at two beaches at Buckeye Lake, where E. coli levels have exceeded safety standards.

Ohio Department of Health officials say Crystal and Fairfield beaches were added to the contamination advisory list for most of June.

As of today, the states BeachGuard website listed 32 advisories for high bacteria levels. Most of the beaches are on Lake Erie.

Bacteria naturally occur in water, but high levels can make people sick, said Scott Fletcher, deputy chief for Ohios state parks.

Swimmers should use caution, but they arent prohibited from getting in the water while advisories are in effect. Children, older people and those with weak immune systems are most at risk.

We encourage people not to swim during this time, Fletcher said. If E. coli is high, we can reasonably assume other bacteria levels are high as well.

Fletcher said high temperatures and stagnant water can cause problems.

Buckeye Lake is a shallow, people-made lake, so this time of year this is very common, he said. You can draw a parallel between the lake and a Petri dish.

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E. coli alerts posted at beaches

AI On The Rise Weekly: Big Data, Surveillance, and Chinese-Speaking Siri

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If still alive, Alan Turing turns a century old on June 23rd the computer scientist that breathed life to algorithm and computation or computing. Some five decades ago, he perpetrated the infamous Turing Test which until now is the standard that defines artificial intelligence. But while no one has yet to be successful in passing this trial, there have been countless of innovations around AI that are deemed monumental; Siri being one of the hottest items of today. Other industries have also jumped into the bandwagon, hoping they could pioneer AI technologies.

Siri, Search and Smartphone Market

The undisputed queen of virtual assistance that runs on a sophisticated path of artificial intelligence, Siri has finally arrived in China and speaks Chinese. The Cantonese and Mandarin-speaking Siri was first unveiled during the recent Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. Perhaps this move is to appeal to the worlds most populated nation, that somewhat felt neglected for awhile. Aside from adapting to the local language, Apple has also integrated the following Chinese-tailored features into the operating system: microblogging site Sina Weibo, search engine Baidu, video sites Youku and Tudou, easier input for emoticons and Chinese pinyin and spelling Chinese words in Roman letters. However, the freedom of speech lover Siri loathes talking about a rather sensitive topic to the country, the Tinanmen Square. It cant even provide simple directions on how to go to this historic landmark. Twitter screenshots showed the following responses from the virtual assistant:

Do you know about the Tiananmen incident? with the answer: I couldnt find any appointments related to Do you know about Tiananmen. A second try with the question rephrased What happened on June 4, 1989?produced an even stranger response: Im sorry, the person you are looking for is not in your address book.

The growing smartphone and tablet market in the Asian region is staggering. Tim Cook realizes this and the vitality of penetrating the largest of them allthe Chinese Market. Earlier this month, Apple just received a green light in opening two more flagship stores in Shenzhen and Chengdu.

In the United States where the battle for smartphone supremacy heightens, artificial intelligence is expected to drive the market by leaps and bounds. Key observations were noted in this article.

United States Smartphone market is expected to grow at the compounded annual growth rate of 18% in terms of volume for the next five year. It is forecasted that 90% mobile phones sales will be of smartphones by the year 2017 in United States. The factors such as decreasing prices, expanding 4G network, product innovation and increasing competition among carriers will drive growth for this industry, said Mr. Karan Chechi, Research Director with TechSci Research.

It is also believed that Googles acquisition of Motorola will forever change the game. The cornerstone of Apple, Siris popularity has attracted competition from mobile developers and now has several clones. Dulles Airport recently added a virtual assistant named Paige to greet international travellers. Search and mobile biggie Google appears to be challenging the voice assistance capability of Apples iPhone 4s gem. Code-named Majel, is this the long-awaited opponent that can give Siri a run for its money? Well see.

But while Google is busy thinking on how to overtake Siri, the latter shows no sign of retaliation. In fact, Apple together with its new alliances, are marching forward towards challenging Googles kingship on the search business.

Oren Etzioni, a search and artificial intelligence expert at the University of Washingtons computer science department noted a potent observation:Google is very difficult to dislodge on the desktop, he said, but mobile search is a very different beast, and the jury is still out on the question of who the ultimate winner in mobile (search) is.

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The Triumph of Artificial Intelligence! 16,000 Processors Can Identify a Cat in a YouTube Video Sometimes

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In the quest for ever-smarter artificial intelligence, it's easy to let hype get ahead of performance.

What Google's neural network looks for in a cat or body. #newaesthetic

What they found was that even without humans training the computers to know certain objects ("This is a cat"), the machines were able to teach themselves the features of a cat face, as you can dimly see above, among many other objects. As one of the researchers told The Times, "[The system] basically invented the concept of a cat" by looking at all those photos and looking for patterns.

It's an impressive feat, but this is a field that moves slower than its hype (even though its achievements are very real and significant). If we look at the Google researchers' paper, we find that if you show their system a random picture from a database of images, its accuracy is about 16 percent. That's a 70 percent improvement over the state of the art, but it's worth considering what that says about the state of the art.

Basically, there are two important curves at play in artificial intelligence today. One is the falling cost of computing, which the Times and most people note. But the other is the falling value of each additional piece of data you feed into the system. Sure, throwing more data at an algorithm makes it better, just like people know more words as they read more books. But as you go, the amount of data you need to make the algorithm better gets larger. To extend the metaphor: you have to read many more words to learn a new one.

Just look at this study: They increased the amount of data fed into the system by 900 percent and got a 70 percent increase in accuracy. (We need a name for this other curve.)

I've learned through the years that it's a terrible idea to bet against Moore's Law, but people expecting massive change due to artificial intelligence need to be aware that there is a major diminishing returns problem inherent in our current techniques.

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Aerospace contractors ready to make cuts if funding fails

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Aerospace contractors ready to make cuts if funding fails

Experts debate the challenges and opportunities of the Welsh aerospace sector

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The aerospace sector is key to improving the competitiveness of the Welsh economy. Here a panel of experts explore the challenges and opportunities it faces.

David Pickernell of the University of Glamorgan assesses the importance of the aerospace sector to the Welsh economy:

AEROSPACE is a key sector in Wales, comprising around 150 firms, 20,000 people employed and contributing around 2bn to the economy.

Further, it is engaged in complex overlapping activities from aircraft manufacture (AM), through maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), to Research Development and Training (RDT).

Accurate secondary data analysis is often problematic, however, given that many firms with aerospace activities are often officially classified into other sectors, such as automotive or electronics.

The differences between pure manufacturing and MRO are also often blurred, with aerospace RDT difficult to disentangle from other supporting activities.

Nevertheless, broadly, given the capital-intensive nature of aerospace manufacturing, it has a relatively high average unit (i.e. firm) size. Aerospace also has relatively high levels of employee compensation, being significantly above the Welsh average for the economy as a whole.

The important high value-adding nature of the sector is also highlighted by GVA per head figures which are well above the Welsh and UK averages for all industries. Input-output tables also reveal that the sector is very open in terms of (geographically) external trade linkages, which is to be expected given the nature of the products produced and the global nature of the market.

Simultaneously, however, all three sectors in Wales face particular challenges. This is because of greater external competition, particularly from developing countries, but also because of the changing nature of the aerospace product itself.

Recent trends, for example, include the increased use of composites in aircraft manufacture, which reduces that value of the strong metal-specific expertise inherent in Welsh aerospace manufacturing. Countries such as Spain and Japan have over recent years acquired such composite expertise, and the Welsh industry will need to continue to develop its expertise in this area over the coming years.

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Aerospace contractors ready to make cuts, if funding falls

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LOS ANGELES -- The nation's military contractors say they are preparing to shut facilities, tear up supplier contracts and issue pink slips to thousands of aerospace employees to deal with proposed federal budget cuts threatening to hit Pentagon spending.

After a decade of heady growth amid the military buildup following Sept. 11, 2001, contractors had already braced themselves for $487 billion in cuts over the next decade. But an additional $500 billion in cuts are now being discussed in Washington.

The new cuts are part of an automatic round set to take effect in January if Congress fails to reach an agreement on reducing the mounting federal deficit.

Although there is much speculation about whether Congress would let those automatic cuts actually occur in January, military contractors are ringing alarms now. Pentagon boosters in Congress, including Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, are also issuing stark warnings.

"Congress is playing political chicken with people's jobs," McKeon said in an interview. "The clock is ticking."

The automatic cuts would come if a budget deal fails to emerge in Washington. Under a law approved last year, federal funds of all kinds would be held back -- "sequestered" -- until there is agreement, at which time the funds may or may not be reinstated. Congress passed an amendment last week, calling on the Obama administration to specify

The buzzword used by contractors is "sequestration," and aerospace workers and subcontractors will be hearing that word a lot in the months ahead.

The Aerospace Industries Association, a trade and lobbying organization in Arlington, Va., has estimated that 1 million jobs of all kinds nationwide would be lost if sequestration occurs.

Still, there is skepticism about whether sequestration will take place. If it happens, it would affect both military, which is a core issue for Republicans, and social spending, which is important to Democrats, said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a website for military policy research.

"Because of the convergence of these two things, I have a hard time believing that sequestration will go forward," he said. "I have tended to think the whole thing is smoke and mirrors."

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Align Aerospace Steps Up Presence at Farnborough International Airshow 2012

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CHATSWORTH, Calif., June 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Align Aerospace LLC, a global provider of aerospace fasteners, assembly component and supply chain solutions, announced today that it is an official sponsor of the world-renowned Farnborough International Airshow (FIA) held in the UK July 9-15, 2012 and will exhibit in Hall 2, Booth A-17C. Key representatives from the Southern California-based company will attend this year's trade exhibition including Align's recently appointed executives CEO Richard C. Organ and General Manager-Europe Jerome de Truchis.

"Align Aerospace, which was the Aerospace Hardware division of Anixter International before becoming an independent company, has exhibited at FIA for many years," said CEO Richard C. Organ. "We are excited to launch a new creative campaign that reminds our customers that we are here to provide smart supply-chain solutions that ultimately elevate their business. We look forward to this opportunity to interface with our customers and prospects."

Align Aerospace's performance and execution has recently been recognized through the receipt of multiple awards including the top FACC Excellent Supplier Award 2011 in Gold, and a Boeing Silver Performance Excellence Award 2011 for superior supplier performance. The company was also appointed an Authorized Distributor for Click Bond Aerospace Products, further demonstrating Align's commitment to elevating supply chain performance through superior execution.

About Align:Align Aerospace is a leading supplier of hardware and related components to a broad range of aerospace and defense OEMs and their subcontractors throughout the world. Experts in bid-to-buy, JIT, VMI, lean manufacturing and supply chain management, Align has more than 90,000 unique parts in stock from over 2,000 suppliers ready to ship from its warehouses throughout the U.S. and Europe. Between 1998 and 2011, the Company operated as Pentacon, Eurofast SAS, and Anixter Aerospace Hardware. Align began independent operations in August 2011 as a result of the divestiture of the business by Anixter International to Greenbrier Equity Group.

About FIAFarnborough International Airshow (FIA) takes place in the UK every other year, and draws some 1,400 exhibitors from the aerospace, defense, space and security sectors to showcase and demonstrate aircraft, equipment and technologies.

http://www.alignaero.com

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Align Aerospace Steps Up Presence at Farnborough International Airshow 2012

Healthscope to commercially launch Circadian’s Cancers of Unknown Primary Diagnostic Test

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MELBOURNE, Australia, June 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Circadian Technologies Limited (ASX: CIR, OTCQX: CKDXY) announces that it has been advised by its development partner, Healthscope Advanced Pathology, that it will commercially launch Circadian's novel technology for aid in the diagnosis of "Cancers of Unknown Primary" (CUP), on Monday July 16 2012 in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia under the brand CUPGUIDE.

The diagnostic test method has been developed in collaboration between Circadian, Healthscope, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, a leading specialty cancer centre, and scientists at NICTA, Australia's Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Research Centre of Excellence.

A publication in March 2012 from Healthscope reported that the CUP test was able to detect actual primary source of tumour type with 93% accuracy within the first three predictions and had 98.5% specificity across 15 different tumour types.

Healthscope, through its subsidiary Clinical Laboratories Pty Ltd, has rights to develop, clinically validate and market the test throughout Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore. Circadian retains rights to market the test in the remainder of the world. Healthscope has paid Circadian an upfront fee, and will pay a royalty on sales of the test. Circadian, through its wholly owned subsidiary Cancer Therapeutics Limited, owns exclusive worldwide rights to the test through a licensing arrangement with the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and NICTA.

The CUP diagnostic methodology identifies a patient's tumour type by comparing its pattern of gene expression to a database of known tumours. It is hoped that by correctly identifying a patient's tumour type, clinicians can choose the most effective treatment strategy for the cancer. CUP is generally less well known and publicised than other cancer types. However, it is actually more common than leukaemia and is the fifth most common cause of death due to cancer in Australia. In 2007, Cancer Council Australia estimated the incidence of CUP to be around 2900 case per annum; American Cancer Society estimated USA incidence at around 32,000 per annum and Cancer Research UK estimated UK incidence at 14,000 per annum.

Robert Klupacs, Circadian Managing Director and CEO stated, "We are absolutely delighted that after all of the efforts of the collaborative partners that CUPGUIDE will now be available to oncologists and pathologists. We are extremely hopeful that CUPGUIDE will have a major impact in significantly improving the clinical diagnosis of CUP."

Dr Keith Byron, Scientific Director of Healthscope's Advanced Pathology Division said, "Healthscope is proud and excited that after the extensive development program we have undertaken with our partners that we will now be able to provide this ground breaking diagnostic technology on a commercial basis. The test is an important addition to our existing business of providing diagnostic tools for doctors throughout our 43 hospitals and the health care industry in general."

Prof David Bowtell, Head of the Cancer Genomics Program at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and a co-inventor of the diagnostic methodology added, "The approach was initially developed in our lab several years ago but the assay needed to be made more generally available. Circadian and Healthscope have been critical to taking the work forward and it is very gratifying that this product of our translational research efforts will be made available to clinicians throughout the region. The concept of personalising treatments for patients based on highly specialised diagnostics is now very well accepted in oncology and has been shown to have significant patient benefit. We believe that the assay will lead to earlier diagnosis, improved treatment outcomes and enhanced quality of life for patients."

Dr Adam Kowalczyk, Leader of Diagnostic Genomics Team in NICTA's Victorian Research Laboratory, and a co-inventor of the diagnostic methodology added, "It is very satisfying that formal techniques for signal detection and pattern recognition can be utilised in practical medical applications. This diagnostic test heralds imminent arrival of many new developments bringing promises of personalised medicine and genomics, in particular, to everyday usage that benefits patients."

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PRACTICAL NUTRITION: Watch your drinks, as well as your food

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Did you hear about the woman in New Zealand who died from drinking too many sodas? Turns out she drank more than 2 gallons of Coca-Cola and smoked at least 30 cigarettes daily. She also ate very little food.

Any extreme habits or addictions can be dangerous, so soda only played a part in her death. However, sodas aren't completely innocent.

According to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines, 16 percent of our total calories come from added sugars. Of that amount, 46 percent come from sodas, energy drinks, sports drinks and sugar-sweetened juice drinks.

Many people are totally unaware of the number of calories they drink. Often people come to me for weight-loss counseling, and they drink 800 to 1,000 soda calories daily. They won't lose weight until they cut back or cut out those calories and make better food choices.

Some people switch to diet sodas, which does cut calories. However, both regular and diet sodas can contain caffeine, which is problematic for some individuals. Also the phosphorus in all sodas increases calcium loss, which raises osteoporosis risk, if consumed in large amounts.

Others add water to soda or juice to save calories. Adding water increases the volume and dilutes the beverage, but those calories don't magically disappear.

Often people trade sodas for juice. They exchange the caffeine, phosphorus and calories in soda for the vitamins, minerals and calories of juice. Twelve ounces of Fanta Orange soda has 160 calories; 12 ounces of orange juice has 165.

Gatorade and other electrolyte replacement drinks don't seem so sweet, but 12 ounces provide 75 calories. Energy drinks are higher in calories for 12 ounces: Amp, 165, and Red Bull, 160.

Milk is a good source of vitamin D, calcium and protein. To protect your bones, aim for 8 ounces, three times daily. That amount of skim milk provides 258 calories. But 16-ounce portions three times daily would double it to 516 calories. So watch portions of even healthy beverages.

The Institute of Medicine states that the average healthy adult male needs 13 cups of fluid daily, just more than 3 quarts. Women need 9 cups or about 1 quarts. While we get some fluid from our food, water is a simple and natural way to help meet that need.

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PRACTICAL NUTRITION: Watch your drinks, as well as your food

Nutrition, finances win with healthful school snacks, report says

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The federal government is slated to come up with rules governing the food sold at school thats not part of the regular meals.

Those foods are often called competitive foods, because whats sold in the student store or in vending machines or other spots at schools often competes with the meal programs.

Ensuring that schools sell nutritious foods is critical to improving childrens diets, a report issued Tuesday says. This is one of the goals of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.

That law, passed in 2010, directs the federal government to update standards for all foods sold at school by bringing them into alignment with dietary guidelines.

An assessment of what those new rules might do for kids health and the schools bottom line was released Tuesday by two projects from the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The projects argue for standards that require competitive foods and beverages to be healthy. Many districts have implemented standards already: In Los Angeles, for example, no soda can be sold and there are fat, salt and sugar standards for snack foods sold at schools.

The federal standards to come from the Department of Agriculture would be the minimum required, and some districts already have high standards, says Jessica Donze Black, director of one of the projects, the Kids Safe & Healthful Foods Project.

Theres frequent complaining that kids wont eat healthful food at school, but Black says thats not so. Given the choice between carrots and chips, they might choose the chips, but if the choice is carrots or celery, kids will eat.

If they have fewer unhealthy options, they are far more likely to choose heathier school lunch options, she said in a telephone interview Monday.

She also says that school districts can help get kids interested in healthful food with taste tests, free samples and other marketing tricks.

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Nutrition, finances win with healthful school snacks, report says

Caraviello: Kenseth's impact goes beyond wins, longevity

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This one is going to take some getting used to.

Matt Kenseth's first start at NASCAR's highest level was in 1998 at Dover, where he drove a No. 98 car in relief of Bill Elliott, whose father had passed away. The sixth-place effort turned in by the Wisconsin native that Sunday ranked as the best debut by a Cup newcomer since Rusty Wallace had finished second in Atlanta 18 years earlier. In every event that Kenseth has run since in what is now Sprint Cup, all 451 of them entering Saturday night's race at Kentucky Speedway, he has been behind the wheel of the No. 17.

It's as much a part of him as his steady driving style or his dry sense of humor, and it's going to be very odd seeing him drive anything else -- although that will be the case next season, given the news Tuesday that the 2003 champion and two-time Daytona 500 winner will part ways with Roush Fenway Racing at the end of the year. Nationwide Series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr., as much a star in the making as Kenseth was in that first race at Dover all those years ago, will step into the No. 17 next season, and his predecessor will move on to a new organization that's yet to be determined.

This isn't a total shock. For some time now, Roush Fenway has had too many good drivers and not enough cars and sponsors, and the team needed to do something to ensure that Stenhouse would stay in the fold. Kenseth is in a contract year, and even for him, he's been exceedingly tight-lipped when asked about his status. His sponsorship situation was patchwork at best, forcing Roush Fenway to occasionally fund the car on its own. There are other drivers out there in the final years of their contracts, and cars with sponsorship that would be available should teams decide to take action. Kenseth, who would be an upgrade almost anywhere he goes, wrote on Twitter that he has nothing yet to announce for 2013. But it's difficult to believe a driver as smart as he is would make such a move without a plan.

Regardless, it's going to be very strange to see Kenseth paired with another car number, given how much personal investment he's poured into the No. 17. No, he hasn't been synonymous with any certain sponsor, and he hasn't worn the same color firesuit for his entire stint with owner Jack Roush. But other than Mark Martin, who put Roush's team on the map and gave it year-in, year-out credibility, there's been no more important driver to the organization. It was Kenseth who brought Roush his first premier-series championship after years of painfully close calls, and six years later he delivered the team's first victory in the Daytona 500.

"It's the end of an incredible run between Jack and Matt, one that has spanned 15 years, which in his day and age of professional sports is much longer than you'd expect," said Roush Fenway president Steve Newmark. "So we're proud of everything that's been accomplished there."

But it all goes much deeper than the time span. Even after Kenseth leaves, his fingerprints will be all over his former organization. Robbie Reiser, the Roush Fenway general manager often credited with helping to build the team into the three-headed monster it is now, came up with Kenseth on the Wisconsin late-model circuit and broke through first as the driver's car owner, and later as a championship-winning crew chief. And then there's Kenseth himself, who often has been given the latitude to mold the No. 17 team as he sees fit, making crew chief changes and maintaining a degree of supervision over that program that not all elite drivers have.

Yes, it's going to be an odd transition, and not just because of the car number -- although if you remember a press release touting a new associate sponsor for this season, one that allegedly entailed a new numeral on the side of Kenseth's vehicle, it did not sit well with the masses. Yes, Tony Stewart left the No. 20. Yes, Dale Earnhardt Jr. walked away from the No. 8. But neither of those drivers were in those cars for as long as Kenseth has been in the No. 17. Stewart may have won a pair of championships in his former ride, but until he became an owner, he couldn't match Kenseth's de facto management role. Earnhardt had the level of personal investment at Dale Earnhardt Inc. but couldn't match his friend's results on the race track.

Kenseth did it all. He didn't just drive the No. 17; when times were tough, he bled over it. Roush might have owned the vehicle, but no one held more of a sense of ownership in it than Kenseth. When he faced struggles like those that followed his back-to-back wins at Daytona and Fontana to open the 2009 season, he seemed to take them personally. When it came time to shuffle personnel to try and get things back on track, Kenseth played an active role in shaping the direction of the program. Some crew chief moves -- and there were a few of them back then, until Jimmy Fennig arrived from the research and development department to straighten everything out -- were solely the driver's call.

Surely, Kenseth will bring that same level of involvement to whatever organization becomes his next home. His sudden availability only will tighten the microscope around drivers like Joey Logano and AJ Allmendinger, who are in contract years at Joe Gibbs Racing and Penske Racing, respectively. This isn't Kurt Busch, burning bridges when no others are available. This is a championship-caliber driver with a good reputation and a strong work ethic who would fit in well at a number of places and will absolutely land on his feet.

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Thermal Gradient Announces Manufacture of Next Generation DNA Testing Device

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ROCHESTER, N.Y., June 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Thermal Gradient, Inc., a developer of disposable ultra-fast DNA testing devices, announced today that it has initiated the manufacture of its next generation device. Robert Juncosa, the company's Chief Technology Officer stated, "Our previous generation device was a huge success. It performs PCR, the critical step in almost all DNA tests, in less than eight minutes. This new device is capable of "real-time" PCR, a process used to determine the amount of initial DNA being tested. This is very important when testing for infectious diseases like HIV."

Because of design improvements over the previous generation, the new device will is expected to perform better but will cost less to manufacture.

"Our recent breakthroughs and this new device position us as the premier technology for both point of care and high throughput clinical laboratory testing," says CEO Joel Grover. "Because of our speed, low cost, and fundamental design, the hardware module required to perform a quantitative DNA test is small. This makes it easily scalable to achieve high throughput systems in a modest instrument footprint."

The company will begin testing the new devices in the third quarter. Dr. Grover added, "When our internal testing is complete, we will then make cartridges and demonstration platforms available to diagnostic systems developers for their evaluation and assay optimization."

About Thermal GradientThermal Gradient develops devices and systems based on its patented technology that enables nucleic acid testing to be performed in minutes instead of an hour or more. Systems based on this technology can be developed for clinics and remote settings as well as for main-line diagnostic platforms for the clinical laboratory. For more information, please visit: http://www.thermalgradient.com

Contact:Joel Grover, Ph.D Chief Executive Officer Thermal Gradient, Inc. 585-248-9598 info@thermalgradient.com

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Thermal Gradient Announces Manufacture of Next Generation DNA Testing Device

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Research and Markets: DNA Sequencing and PCR Markets

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/5f3wk7/dna_sequencing_and) has announced the addition of the "DNA Sequencing and PCR Markets" report to their offering.

DNA sequencing and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) are two major technology platforms of value in life science research, drug discovery and clinical diagnostics. The markets for sequencing are extremely competitive, driven by rapid technological advancements and aggressive price wars. Next-generation sequencing presents an exciting area of growth for life science tool vendors, including those providing sequencers, ancillary instrumentation, reagents and software.

This TriMark Publications report provides an in-depth analysis of key technology and market trends in the high-throughput sequencing space while analyzing the main drivers of growth in markets for PCR products and applications. The study provides a thorough overview of DNA sequencing and PCR, including applications, opportunities, technological trends, and market share and dynamics with a particular focus on the U.S., Japan, European, and Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) markets.

This report also analyzes almost all of the companies known to be marketing, manufacturing or developing DNA sequencing and PCR products in the U.S. and worldwide. Each company is discussed in extensive depth with a section on its history, product line, business and marketing analysis, and a subjective commentary of the company's market position. Detailed tables and charts with sales forecasts and market data are also included.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Overview

2. Introduction to DNA Sequencing and PCR Technology

3. DNA Sequencing Technologies and Market Analysis

4. PCR and DNA Amplification Technologies and Markets

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Research and Markets: DNA Sequencing and PCR Markets

Posted in DNA

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals to Present at the 2012 American Association for Cancer Research Chemical Systems Biology …

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Two Abstracts Selected for Oral Presentation

Three Posters to be Presented, Each on Different Examples of Applying the Network Biology Approach to Therapeutic Development

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 26, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (MACK), a biopharmaceutical company with a pipeline of eight oncology therapeutics and multiple diagnostics, announced today that two oral presentations and three posters on its Network Biology approach to therapeutic development will be presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Special Conference "Chemical Systems Biology: Assembling and Interrogating Computational Models of the Cancer Cell by Chemical Perturbations" being held June 27 -- 30, 2012, at the Marriott Copley Place in Boston, Mass.

About Merrimack

Merrimack is a biopharmaceutical company discovering, developing and preparing to commercialize innovative medicines paired with companion diagnostics for the treatment of serious diseases, with an initial focus on cancer. Merrimack applies Network Biology, its proprietary systems biology-based approach to biomedical research, throughout the research and development process. Merrimack currently has five targeted therapeutic oncology candidates in clinical development.

Forward-looking statements

Any statements in this press release about Merrimack's future expectations, plans and prospects constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. Merrimack anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause its views to change. However, while Merrimack may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, Merrimack specifically disclaims any obligation to do so.

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Merrimack Pharmaceuticals to Present at the 2012 American Association for Cancer Research Chemical Systems Biology ...

Loch Ness Monster real in biology textbook

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An undated photo of a shadowy shape that some people say is the Loch Ness monster. (AP)

This would be funny if it werent so, well, not funny.

A biology textbook used by a Christian school in Louisiana that will be accepting students with publicly funded vouchers in the fall says that the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland is real. And it isnt just any monster but a dinosaur an effort to debunk evolution and bolster creationist theory.

The story, reported in the Scotsman newspaper in Scotland, says that Eternity Christian Academy in Westlake is one of the many Christian schools in the United States that uses these books published by Accelerated Christian Education.

The Biology 1099 edition includes a passage about the Loch Ness Monster that says, in part, according to the newspaper:

Are dinosaurs alive today? Scientists are becoming more convinced of their existence. Have you heard of the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland? Nessie for short has been recorded on sonar from a small submarine, described by eyewitnesses, and photographed by others. Nessie appears to be a plesiosaur.

Marie Carrier, principal of Eternity Christian Academy, was quoted by the New York Daily News as saying that she would like to accept 135 voucher students for next year to join the 38 children already attending the school in grades 1 through 8.

The reason all of this matters now to the public is that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal recently signed a law that sets up the largest voucher program of any state in the country. Some 125 private and religious schools from across the state are qualified to participate in the Louisiana Believes program, which gives families public money to pay school tuition for their children.

It is interesting to note that one of the schools originally on the list, the Islamic School of Greater New Orleans, withdrew its application for voucher students after an outcry about its participation by some lawmakers.

It seems that fundamentalist Christian schools are acceptable to receive public money, but Islamic schools are not. Republican state Rep. Kenneth Harvard was quoted by the Associated Press that he would not support public funding for Islamic teaching.

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Loch Ness Monster real in biology textbook