XBMC audio engine gets big rewrite, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio hit your media hub

Fans of XBMC who've wanted their HTPCs to replace the higher-end components of a home theater setup, like Blu-ray players and higher-end receivers, are having their wishes fulfilled through a completely reworked sound system. AudioEngine, as it's called, can processevery stage of audio encoding and decoding, even with 7.1-channel formats like Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. As the code uses more precise floating point math, the improvements can bolster heavily compressed audio and allow for upmixing from stereo to a native surround format. Sound should sync more closely to video and avoid any jarring interruptions from system sounds, too. The AudioEngine update is still limited to experimental nightly builds of XBMC, so don't be surprised if something goes awry, but it's slated as part of the main development track and should be a boon for just about any XBMC media junkie before long.

XBMC audio engine gets big rewrite, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio hit your media hub originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 May 2012 17:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For Antelope Valley African Americans, a lower life expectancy

Life is shorter for African Americans in the High Desert.

Antelope Valley residents of all races face higher mortality rates than in the rest of Los Angeles County, but the rates for black residents are even more pronounced. African Americans in the region die four years sooner than black residents elsewhere in the county and 10 years earlier than county residents in general, according to the most recent health statistics.

As the number of African Americans living in cities like Palmdale and Lancaster continues to grow, county officials acknowledge that they have yet to investigate the causes and consequences of lowered life expectancy.

But healthcare providers and African American patients suggest that limited access to medical care may play a role. Patients who cannot visit general practitioners or specialists are likely to forgo treatment or wait until illnesses become so severe that they must go to the emergency room. Health statistics show that black residents in the Antelope Valley who have coronary heart disease, diabetes or renal failure will probably die sooner than similar patients elsewhere in the county.

The problem is especially acute for the area's 87,000 uninsured residents, they say.

"It's hard to see doctors, period," said Vicki Harris, 56, who moved to Lancaster in 1988 after she was injured in a drive-by shooting near her L.A. home. She contracted hepatitis C through a blood transfusion, and she has high blood pressure, among other ailments. "No one really wants to take your plan," she said.

At the Antelope Valley Community Clinic in Lancaster, Chief Executive James A. Cook said his facility was expecting some 70,000 patient visits this year, more than triple the 22,000 in 2010. "Neither the county nor other community providers ? can keep pace with the huge demand for primary care services for the uninsured," Cook said.

Health advocates say the High Desert is particularly lacking in medical specialists: dermatologists, cardiologists, rheumatologists, ophthalmologists and gastroenterologists. Psychiatric access is "almost nonexistent" and the county-funded Antelope Valley Community Clinic is one of the only facilities to provide dental care for uninsured adults, according to Cook.

L.A. County health officials say they have a strong commitment to providing adequate and quality health services to low-income High Desert residents.

Christina Ghaly, deputy director of strategic planning at the county Department of Health Services, said that all patients on the county's low-income Healthy Way LA program are assigned a primary care provider, and the cost of necessary medical services is not capped. The county funds five private nonprofit clinics in the Antelope Valley that last year had about 140,000 patient visits for primary and specialty care, officials said. A new multi-service ambulatory center is set to open in Lancaster in July 2014, Ghaly said. The county also operates one health center in the High Desert that provides free and low-cost services, such as immunizations and communicable disease testing and treatment.

Although county health authorities have not studied why black residents die earlier in the Antelope Valley, Steven Teutsch, chief science officer at the county's Department of Public Health, pointed to several possible factors. These include social environment, such as level of education and jobs; health behaviors, including diet and obesity; physical milieu, such as walkability of the community; and access to healthcare and the quality of that care.

In 2007, the latest year for which the county has statistics, blacks were living until about age 70 in the High Desert compared to age 74 elsewhere in the county. By comparison, life expectancy in general for county residents was almost 81.

Antelope Valley African Americans who suffer serious illnesses also die sooner than other county residents who suffer from the same illnesses.

According to age-adjusted county Health Department statistics, blacks died from coronary heart disease at a rate of 281 per 100,000 people, compared with 211 elsewhere in the county. And High Desert blacks suffering from diabetes died at a rate of 98 per 100,000 people, compared with the rate of 38 for those elsewhere in the county. (Age-adjusted mortality rates are calculated to account for differing age distributions in various populations.)

An estimated 32% of patients treated at the Antelope Valley Community Clinic in Lancaster are African American, and the majority have a combination of heart disease, diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure, Cook said.

Regina Tate is among those patients. Once a month, she travels to the clinic to get treatment for a several conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, sciatic nerve pain and obesity. The $44 round-trip taxi fare is a burden for the 61-year-old, who applied for Social Security disability in 2006 but has yet to receive any payment. Tate recently started receiving aid for medical care under the county's Healthy Way LA program.

"This was a godsend," Tate said of the clinic. "Otherwise, I'd been going back and forth to the ER."

But Antelope Valley health advocates say it is common for uninsured patients to wait two to three months for specialty care at county facilities. Those who do snag an appointment must "be prepared to wait all day," said Harris, a Lancaster resident. She recalled once waiting from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. to see a specialist at the High Desert Multiservice Ambulatory Care Center.

Infant mortality for L.A. County's blacks is also highest among African Americans who live in the Antelope Valley, because of a lack of prenatal care and easy access to health providers and clinics, according to the Black Infant Health Program of the Antelope Valley, which was created to help address this concern.

Palmdale resident Ruby Williams, 45, said she didn't see a doctor for the first six months of her most recent pregnancy. The mother of 13 children, who previously had three miscarriages, did not have insurance. Now she goes to the Antelope Valley Community Clinic and is enrolled in the Black Infant Health program.

The issue of inadequate healthcare services has taken center stage in an ongoing battle over the use of Section 8 housing vouchers in the High Desert. At least 70% of Lancaster's subsidized housing recipients are African American, according to city officials.

The mayor, R. Rex Parris, says that instead of providing necessary health services, county authorities are encouraging low-income minorities to use their housing vouchers to relocate to the Antelope Valley ? an allegation the county denies.

"They are sending poor people [here] to die," Parris has said. "No one who is suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure, ? kidney disease would voluntarily move to the Antelope Valley if they knew they would die many years earlier as a result."

Whether poor or upwardly mobile, more and more African Americans are moving from urban Los Angeles to northern L.A. County in hope of improving their quality of life. Today, African Americans make up about 20% of Lancaster's population of 157,000 ? up from about 7% in the late 1990s. Recent transplants cite greater public safety and successful public schools as reasons for moving. Military families have also been drawn by nearby Edwards Air Force Base and the aerospace companies at U.S. Plant 42.

Many low-income African Americans interviewed said the dearth of healthcare services and specialists was unlikely to affect their decision to live in the Antelope Valley.

"Up here the house is double the space ? and there are more houses to rent," said Williams, who moved from Watts two years ago and is able to use her Section 8 voucher to rent a five-bedroom, three-bathroom property for $537 a month.

And "for seniors, it's good," said Joe Johnson, 63, who walks with crutches after a hip replacement. "The environment is cleaner. The police don't bother you."

ann.simmons@latimes.com

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Consumer confidence expected to edge up for May

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3 Things You Will Study During Business Management Courses ...

Last updated 1 hour 37 minutes ago

Business management courses cover the ins and outs of running a business from a managerial standpoint. There are three main tracks you can follow: General Management, Sale Management, and Hospitality Management. If you like problem-solving, planning, and working with others, you may be interested in working towards a Business Management Associate (A.A.S.) degree. Whichever track you choose to focus on, you will also learn about entrepreneurship, sales promotion, marketing, and finance and money management.

• Organizing
  Creating a business structure is a large part of what you will study in business management courses. You will learn effective ways to structure a business, like dividing your business up into departments and establishing effective hierarchies. You will also learn about breaking down the various parts of a business by dividing responsibility among the various levels you create. The goal of organizing your business is to achieve maximum output by arranging resources in the most effective way possible.
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• Planning
  Learning how to plan properly will help you to complete a project from start to finish. This is a key part of learning about business management, as it ensures that your business will effectively make progress and profits. In learning about planning, you will cover how to establish a plan of action. A plan of action is an outline of what needs to be done, who should be completing it, and how every step will work to achieve the desired outcome. In its essence, planning covers how to establish goals and reach them by taking logical, ordered steps.
  ?? ? ?
• Staffing
  Staffing is another important aspect of business management you will learn about when earning your degree. Human resource management relates to understanding the needs of a business in terms of human capitol, and seeks to find the best applicants for available job openings. Learning how to discover strengths and weaknesses of a potential employee is a key part of staffing. You will learn about determining the needs of the business in regards to staffing, and you will also learn various effective recruiting techniques.

Business management courses will cover a range of topics, but structuring, planning, and staffing are at the core of your business studies, no matter the focus. This knowledge is the foundation on which you will build your business management skills. For more information about business management or to learn about technical colleges that offer these courses, contact Bramson ORT College at (347) 741-8589.

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Censured ex-governor of Sulaymani moves to London

May 27, 2012 at 11:02 am | Posted in Turkmens | Leave a comment
Tags: Corruption, Dana Ahmed Majid, Sulaymaniyah

Censured ex-governor of Sulaymani moves to London

News and Comment by The Kurdistan Tribune: 25.5.2012 ? Dana Ahmed Majid?s conduct as the governor of Sulaymani (from 2005 to 2009) was twice censured by the audit office: For using public money for his office and close aides and for mismanaging money allocated to tackle the drought that hit the Sulaymani region?s countryside. These reports were issued by Jalal Sam Agha, the Sulaymani audit office director, at the end of 2010.

Recently corruption charges were brought against Sulaymani mayor Zana Hama Salih, who was arrested and last month died mysteriously in a security cell. Some observers speculated at the time that Dana Ahmed Majid ? who publicly switched his allegiance from the PUK to Gorran in 2010 ? might also face legal proceedings. However, this has not happened so far and our sources inform us that Majid moved to London last December and hasn?t been home since.

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Nigerian students protest university name change

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Why Chinese girls who dye their hair blond look cheap ? a study of beauty

May 25, 2012

Please do not sexualize this. I didn?t say just because an oriental girl dyed her hair peroxide blond that she is necessarily cheap. I said it looks cheap. That is my opinion, it is subjective, never imputed ontu the beliefs of other men either ? that is my opinion. And let me tell you why young lady ? I know what is true beauty. I know it certainly doesn?t come out from a bottle or through a needle of an injection or the nip and tuck of a plastic surgeon. True beauty exist ONLY in the mind eye. What we have come to regard today as ?true? beauty is something that came out from an advertisement firm that has been hired by corporations that ONLY know how to make this. But since they haven?t figured out how to market what they have manufactured ? they hire ad people, spin doctors and the whole motley crew to figure out how to sell to all of us. And along with moisturizing cream, eau de cologne, underwear briefs, these people have also whirled THEIR idea of what a successful person should look like, what should he wear, what kinda car should he drive, right to even what type of wife a successful man should have ? and the counterrevolution to this marketing manifesto is one sentence: THAT IS NOT WHAT LIFE IS ABOUT. Life is not about trying to be Peter Pan, we all can?t look as good as we used too, at 18. We can try under the surgeons knife- but that?s really a dead end. What we should perhaps understand about the whole idea of beauty is it has nothing to do with what people are trying to sell us things 24/7 regularly force feed us with ? instead, it has everything to do with how beauty is an evolving thing, like a tree. When it is young, it is frisky, in midlife serious, as an old tree stately and in it?s final hours ? it is at peace. It is this progression that is beautiful ? but the world has embellished this true version of beauty and supplanted it for tight bodies, high ridged noses, fuller lips et al. The whole works, from your make up to scents and even coloring the way you dress.

It is only when we understand that true beauty resides in the progression of life at every stage from cradle to grave can we really begin to appreciate the nuances of it?s multifacetted beauty ? The way a woman at 35,, may even look more attractive than a nubile teen ? as only at 35, will her hips acquire a fullness, the curl of her lips begin to settle at the right tension, not to loose or tight, just the way it was meant to be. But the most beautiful features will be her eyes, as at only 35 will she lose that sense of innocence that one so often sees in the uninitiated ? instead she sees the world with benefit of experience with a sort of knowingness ? so you see at age 35, this woman is a ravishing beauty in every sense of the word to the thinking man. She can engage him at many levels of understanding that a younger woman cannot ? as she lacks life experience.

What makes all this possible is UNDERSTANDING of how our lives are not frozen along some timeline ? where we will always be sweet 21. Rather true beauty is in appreciating the changes that occur within that time line called life. Like the beauty each season offers to the senses ? It is only when we are conscious of NOW and not obsessing how tight our bums used to be at circa 18, that we can begin to appreciate the nuances in progression and how every stage of our life offers another layer of beauty waiting to be explored by the perceptive traveller in life ? this is what I can ONLY describe as the antitheses of what has been regularly feed into our brains by advertisements and marketing gurus.?

For a man his prime comes at 50. This is really the high point of his life ? that at least is based on my experience gleaned from older friends I keep. But back to the point ? at 50, a man would be who he was meant to be or never. He is cut out there and then, if he is a skirt chaser at 50, he will probably be a skirt chaser till the day either he or his dick expires. 50 is also the age when the man is the most sexy; there is a gravitas about him; a fatherly knowingness that seems to tell you. This is a lau chaiu. He is the guy that knows how to pick his battles like chess pieces ? if it favors him he will attack; if not he can wait it out ? he is in no rush. At 50 he knows how to play the game of life. As when a man reaches 50, the sleeper has awakened. He is suddenly aware of the fragility of life. He learns to use his energy sparingly, never dissipating it on trivial pursuits, except those that keep him razor sharp. At 50 he has suffered just enough set backs to learn how to cut all the right moves ? in his trade, he is professional that understands the art of dealing with people ? he tows the line even when it scissors his conscience. As at 50, he knows it doesn?t pay to go against the grain. It is only at 50 that a man acquires a mix of hardness and softness that will be his character till the day he dies ? at 50 he is really just starting to see the world with a practiced eye of a cognoscenti. At 50 a man would know the difference between sauvignon and pinot noire; he would realized if offered either smoked Salmon in the cafe Royale, London or the a Poisson de la creme supreme in Maxim?s in the 5th Arrondisment in Paris ? which to choose. At 50, he would have realized, those he cannot defeat, he should at least embrace and live and let live. At 50 he would know at least a dozen ways to sweep a woman off her feet; he may fly her to his favorite Jazz bar in Munich for a soiree; take her across the paraffin blue of the Med with his plastic sail boat and whip her a creme boiche cognac for breakfast in his buddies cafe in Cannes ? look out at the setting sun and exotic cars that trace across the shoreline from the balcony of the Hotel du Paradis in Monaco. And the best part is only at 50 would this man learn to do a thing cleanly. He never steps into a place that he can?t walk out of. At 50 all these goodies will come to you. From there on, to each stage of the progression in life ? you will see and experience another level of beauty (I am still researching this area will write more abt it when I have time to met up with my very old friends.)?

That my friend is the beauty of life.

Darkness 2012

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?When I was young my teachers called me a bad boy. So as time went by, they all called me a bad boy. This was how it started. There was a majestic flame of the forest just outside my school ? she was my friend. I called her aunty. As when I was young, I was told to address anyone taller by that name. So I called her aunty tree. As I didn?t learn the name of trees yet. I loved the tree. She was my friend. One day, they widened the road, another day a water pipe was laid ? and I began to notice ? the slow progression of auntie Trees death ? it started with the tips getting yellowish, the pale ochre. I knew something was wrong with Auntie Tree, so I tried to save her. As a boy I didn?t know about fertilizers, didn?t even know such things existed ? so I asked a neighbor who knew an uncle who came from a farming family ? he said piss on it. So that was what I did everyday at school ? I would cross the road and piss on the tree. One day there was this evil teacher who saw me giving the kiss of life to auntie Tree ? she is the ramrod Christian type lah; the ones that you know would end up as CEO of a convent if she was born in the dark ages and still masturbated at supersonic speed and still be counted to say her quota of whatever lah. She saw my natural act of relieving myself as the sign of the devil ? so picked trouble with me. She hauled up my parents; they said I needed to see a doctor; I had to be put away ? but the final straw was when they got the PE teacher to cane me. I remember the before, during and after ? the first whip is usually the most painful, by the second and third it mellowed out; beyond 6 or 7, it could only get better then a white numbing light ? one where nothing existed. But I kept pissing on the auntie Tree. As for the canings, they got harder ? so did I. I didn?t get it easy either with my schoolmates; their mothers heard about this and they too called me a bad boy ? so many of the other boys avoided me ? but I kept pissing on the auntie tree ? and somewhere in this mixture of pain, isolation and the need to just drink as much water and pissing as hard as I could at Auntie tree ? I realized, I?ve got to be my own man. You see it is very simple: I had no choice. A boy who does not have anything resembling a choice, learns resignation at a very young age ? and so I excepted this as life.?

I built a hard shell around myself ? like the one I once saw in comic, it was a force field. I remember it was orange and just translucent enough to believe no one could ever hurt me when I am in that amber light ? I called this place in my tiny body my sanctuary. No words will have power over my force field; no number of whippings from the PE teacher either; no amount of evil stares from nasty neighbors. I was alone, yet curiously at peace as best a child could be ? pissing everyday at auntie tree like a monk who only wakes up to meditate. And getting caned and teased and always alone.

One day I stopped pissing on auntie tree ? I figured, she was definitely out of harm?s way ? this was at least how my childish mind figured; as she was starting to flower again after two years of not having done so ? everyone was surprised when I no longer pissed on the tree opposite the school, they said that it was due to strict disciplining ? he will see the light and saw it he did! I even had a stage manager, that bitch that hailed Mary ten million times a day. She believed that divine intervention had been the sole cause of my keeping my pecker where God divined it to be.?

I knew otherwise ? you see people believe in what they have too to get by in life. All I really wanted to do was to save my friend auntie tree and now that the job was done I could put back my pecker. When I think back, there is a beauty in the innocence of youth just as there is probably undiscovered beauty in your own life ? when kids pop up or when you turn the corner around another decade.?

Many years later when I had grown up ? I saw a boy like myself ? he was looking at birds this time; he looked at them so intensely that his hands and feet even moved like a cheerleader and the grandma of this parents would always sit the boy down. I knew he could see something that we all couldn?t in birds ? so I stretched out like a highly trained Mossad agent, I deliberately infiltrated the family, found out the husband gymed nearby at Safra; we even doubled pressed together; they invited me for dinner I was in their home ? and although the boy could not speak; I could understand what he saw in the indolent flight of birds ? his eyes were the same as the ones I had in the moment of my youth when I first realize I could talk to trees ? this boy and me share a kindred spirit hood; where they (even his father and mother) can never understand the beauty of his world) ? to them, its a hassle, a perpetual challenge to raise such a kid ? maybe if they didn?t watch so much TV, or didn?t feel the need to keep up with Joneses and simply stilled their minds, they too can begin to make out sweet tweets of birds in flight; they too might even be raptured by the simple beauty of a birds flight, their grace, ease and mastery ? their beauty. Your beauty.?

You see my friends, the world likes to say beauty is really in the eyes of the beholder. Not true. As to be at one with beauty, one is part of it, as it is part of one?s inner being ? one can only behold the beautiful moments, never encase it ? the look of a newborn baby ? the pride of bringing back the bacon ? all these things are beautiful. Even the simple act of giving up smoking so that there is more money for the monthly groceries and doing it with a quiet seriousness where you don?t throw your temper at your better half and kids is beautiful. Or going out to far off lands to create a better tomorrow for your loved one?s and facing up to the path you have chosen in life ? these things are also incredibly beautiful. May not realize it when you?re suffering and struggling. But when it all settles down and you look out across the vast expanse of your lands in Africa, Malaysia, Honduras or anywhere else ? and remember all these things that once cross your path at this age or other; it will bring a smile to you.?

Rated Uncategorized ? send directly from the message capsule of Darkness 2012 on board the Free French Cruiser ? Les Enfants du Paradis ? relayed by the mineral cruiser KDD ?

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Wildfires force evacuations in New Mexico, along Colorado-Utah border

This photo provided by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources shows a wildfire in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The fire grew by 17 percent to more than 21,000 acres Saturday as officials warned of tough conditions and welcomed help from water-dumping aircraft from the Michigan National Guard. (Michigan Department of Natural Resources)

ALBUQUERQUE???Residents near a privately owned New Mexico ghost town were ordered Saturday to evacuate as a blaze in the Gila National Forest continued to burn erratically, as Colorado crews took to fighting a new fire along the Utah-Colorado border.

Fire officials in New Mexico said Saturday that the Whitewater-Baldy Complex fire has shrunk slightly to 82,000 acres but is still zero percent contained because of weather conditions.

The evacuation of Mogollon, a privately owned ghost town, was ordered due to extreme wind around the southwestern New Mexico fire. Four helicopters and more than 500 firefighters from across the state were on hand to fight the blaze but still had to contend with "extreme conditions."

Cities as far away as Albuquerque remained under a health alert until this afternoon due to smoke from the fire, which has spread across the state. Officials were warning residents to limit outdoor activities.

Meanwhile on Saturday, crews in Colorado battled a wildfire that has scorched at least 3,000 acres of rugged canyon land near the Colorado-Utah border. U.S. Forest Service spokesman Steve Segin said the fire started Friday afternoon and is burning in a remote area near Paradox. It is not threatening any structures, and no injuries have been reported.

Shannon Borders, a spokeswoman for The Bureau of Land Management, said sheriff's deputies have evacuated the Buckeye Reservoir area, a popular recreation spot near the Utah border. The Rock Creek and Sinbad Valley areas also were evacuated.

In California, higher humidity and light winds were helping firefighters get ahead of a wildfire that has charred 4,100 acres of tinder-dry grass and brush in rural San Diego County.

A wildfire in Michigan's Upper Peninsula grew by 17 percent to more than 21,000 acres Saturday as officials warned of tough conditions and welcomed help from water-dumping aircraft from the Michigan National Guard. The fire, known as the Duck Lake fire, was 20 percent contained.

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Smoke from n.m. wafts into colo.

Police dispatchers and other authorities along the Front Range and in other parts of Colorado reported receiving calls from residents concerned by the smell of smoke and the haze in the air. Officials said it was due to strong winds kicking up smoke from a massive wildfire that has torched 82,000 acres in southwestern New Mexico. Although much of Colorado is under a "red flag" warning ? meaning that low humidity and high winds create conditions ripe for a fire ? there were no sizable fires in the state as of Saturday afternoon. The Denver Post

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China on the capitalist road

China Daily, the largest English-language newspaper in China, carried a front-page headline last week: "Village Gratitude Shows Integrity of Task."

Not clear what that's about, and the opening sentence isn't much help: "On a hot afternoon, Zhou Yi picked up a bag of freshly boiled eggs that had been left on the doorstep of the committee office in Chaqulak village in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region." I figured this must be some feel-good story about the noble, uncorrupted country folk taking care of the less fortunate in their midst.

But read on. Zhou Yi is not a homeless man dependent on the generosity of his fellow peasants who have little enough for themselves, etc. He is one of a group of "regional-level officials sent to live in Chaqulak as part of an initiative to provide officials with firsthand experience of working at the grass-roots." The officials were grateful for the eggs. Apparently they don't get a per diem.

A program to send bureaucrats into the countryside to see what real work is like? It's possible the story is not so simple, and maybe China Daily has an agenda here. But it sure sounds like what went on during Mao Tse-tung's Cultural Revolution of 1966-76, doesn't it? The founding editor of China Daily himself spent nine years doing menial work on a farm somewhere before he was allowed to return to Beijing.

I thought that stuff didn't happen anymore. In 1979, just three years after the Cultural Revolution collapsed, Deng Xiaoping reversed course and China started down the capitalist road, with stunning results that any visitor can see: small towns converted into huge cities with millions of people living in high-rises, driving cars (or taking new subways); choking on pollution but nevertheless happy to be enjoying the fruits of a free-market economy.

And yet the Communist Party retains absolute political power (although there are now real elections at the village level, with multiple candidates and all the fixin's). In fact, the party takes credit for reforming the economy, and may even deserve it.

So how does all this fit together? How free is the average Chinese citizen? How much communism is left in the Communist Party? Will free-market capitalism inevitably lead to democracy? Or have the Chinese discovered some new Confucian synthesis of free markets and authoritarian rule?

These are the kind of questions that an American visitor to China will naturally have. And after eight days there (in a small group of journalists whose way was paid by a foundation funded by a Hong Kong billionaire), I now have all the answers.

Actually, whatever insights I may have gained during my visit came mostly from reading James Fallows' new book, "China Airborne," on the plane coming home. Fallows spent several years in China with the explicit and full-time purpose of trying to understand it. He writes that to talk about China (population 1.3 billion) as a single entity is absurd:

"When acting on the international stage, or when imposing some internal political rules, the central government can operate as a coordinated entity. But most of the time, visitors ? and Chinese people too ? see vividly and exclusively the little patch of 'China' that is in front of them, with only a guess as to how representative it might be of happenings anywhere else."

Fortunately, while Fallows was learning about China firsthand, I was in Washington taking an advanced course in guesswork at the National Punditry Institute. So here is my best guess about China: More than two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it's pretty well established that freedom and democracy really are universal appetites. Everybody wants them, with no special exemption for Asian cultures.

But would you give up your right to vote in exchange for a job in the city, indoor plumbing, a TV? That's what many Chinese people believe their country is doing: moving slowly in introducing democracy in order not to interfere with the mad dash to capitalism.

The Chinese are still ruled by a regime that killed millions in defense of a philosophy it no longer believes in. But now it rules with a lighter, and somewhat whimsical touch.

An older dissident type told us that young adults didn't even know about the events 23 years ago in Tiananmen Square. We asked a bunch of college students. They giggled and snorted: Of course they knew about Tiananmen Square. Would they write about it in the school paper? More snorting: Of course not. They seemed perfectly comfortable with the anomaly, maybe because they think it won't last.

Even more comfortable was a huge manufacturing firm that had set up a series of inspirational posters near the front door. Most of them were filled with business school babble about corporate culture. In this environment, one poster about the important role of the Communist Party stood out. And in fact the party had supplied funds to get this company started. In every other respect, it seemed like a big company anywhere in the capitalist world. (And I was there for more than 45 minutes, listening to a discussion in a foreign language, so I know.)

The best-known bit of totalitarian-style repression in China is the notorious "one child" policy. It is still the rule, but it is enforced somewhat sporadically. If you are an only child of your parents, you yourself may have more than one. Some people who can afford it just pay the fine as a cost of having children. And meanwhile China faces a shortage of working-age people to support a growing number of old folks. So even putting ethical issues aside, the whole thing looks like a mistake. It won't last.

Yes, the Chinese Communist Party continues to do terrible things, as the case of Chen Guangcheng demonstrates. But the party also seems to function as sort of a Rotary Club that you join if you want to get ahead in China's raucous, utterly non-communist economy.

Michael Kinsley, a former editorial page editor of The Times, is a Bloomberg View columnist.

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Winter football looking up in Australia - bring it on!

Winter football looking up in Australia - bring it on!

I didn't watch the State of Origin I rarely do.

?I've never watched the Brumbies despite being a passionate Canberran.? Rugby just doesn't do it for me.

?Football is my sport - my thing. So it is great relief that Aussie football returns after what seems like a huge break - well two weeks since the last ACL games.

?And better still this one is crucial.

Adelaide United at home to Josh Kennedy's Nagoya Grampus at Hindmarsh - Winner takes all and flies through to the next round.

The loser - well that's it.

?This is the type of football game I particularly love. Everything on the line. I'll be cheering long and loud for the Aussies and hope for once Josh Kennedy - if he plays - is on the losing side.

And then it's Denmark, and the real stuff begins. Other sports are seemingly well followed in Australia so they don't need me.

Asian Champions League followed by World Cup Qualifiers. Bring it on!

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Microsoft To Build Windows Phone Camera Systems Specifically For Skype

May 26th, 2012 by Manan

I stumbled upon a senior hardware engineer job posting by Microsoft specifically for?Windows Phone camera and Skype. The current Skype experience on Windows Phone is horrible, which is a little ironic since Microsoft bought Skype but since the acquisition happened while Windows Phone Mango was already on its way out, Microsoft cannot be blamed. However, it was clear that Microsoft has serious plans for Skype integration in Windows Phone and as the job posting I came across indicates, the company is ready to go deep into the phone?s hardware components to offer a better experience.

The senior hardware engineer with comprehensive skills in working with camera architecture like CMOS sensors and System on Chip architecture will work on developing testing scenarios and camera systems specifically to work with Skype. The key responsibility from the position description:

The Camera Chief Engineer is responsible for research, design, development, test, and qualification of camera hardware for Skype products. The ideal candidate will take leadership roles in development of very high performance compact camera products.

Duties include developing architecture for camera systems, working with a multi-disciplinary team to develop performing both lab type and production type testing and software (including image quality, electrical and mechanical testing) for camera system/module/component performance evaluation including CMOS sensor pixel, lens quality, actuator system, illumination technology and ISPs etc., performing testing/data analysis on benchmark products.

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Dutch-born Nazi war crimes convict dies in Germany

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NBA Player Blatantly Disses Young Fans

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Structure of human protein critical for silencing genes solved

ScienceDaily (May 25, 2012) ? In a study published in the journal Cell on May 24, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) scientists describe the three-dimensional atomic structure of a human protein bound to a piece of RNA that "guides" the protein's ability to silence genes. The protein, Argonaute-2, is a key player in RNA interference (RNAi), a powerful cellular phenomenon that has important roles in diverse biological processes, including an organism's development.

"Detailed knowledge of the structure of human Argonaute-2 and the way it interacts with its RNA guides will greatly improve our understanding of its biological mechanism of action," says CSHL Professor and HHMI Investigator Leemor Joshua-Tor, Ph.D., the study's leader. "Such precise structural information of the human Argonaute bound to an important RNA guide could potentially aid both basic research to understand the function of genes and also advance the development of RNAi as a therapeutic strategy in clinical settings."

Upon the activation of a gene within a cell, the gene's DNA is copied into a messenger RNA (mRNA) "transcript." The instructions encoded within this transcript are then used as a blueprint by the cell's protein synthesis machinery to generate a working protein. The gene is "silenced" or prevented from giving rise to the protein, however, when an Argonaute-2 protein that is bound to a small piece of "guide" RNA -- either a short-interfering RNA or a microRNA -- intercepts the mRNA molecule. The guide RNA, whose nucleotide sequence matches that of the target mRNA, acts as a homing device that helps the Argonaute-2 protein zero in on the mRNA target.

A few years ago, Joshua-Tor collaborated with CSHL Professor and HHMI Investigator Gregory Hannon, Ph.D., who is also a co-author in this study, to show that Argonaute proteins, which are made up of different domains or parts, act like a pair of molecular scissors that slice up target mRNAs, thus preventing proteins from being made and enforcing the silencing of their genes. The discovery of the Argonautes' "slicer" activity stemmed in part from solving the crystal structure of an Argonaute protein from Pyrococcus furiosus, an archebacterium that thrives in extremely high temperatures.

"But we still know nothing about the biological functions or mechanisms of action of archebacterial Argonautes," says Joshua-Tor. "We therefore next focused on solving the structures of Argonautes from higher organisms such as mammals, in which Argonaute functions and target recognition are well documented."

Joshua-Tor's team and other research groups subsequently determined the atomic structures of individual parts of Argonaute proteins from higher organisms. While these studies revealed several important details -- for example, the interaction between two parts of the Argonaute protein, called the PAZ and Mid domains, with the two ends of guide RNAs -- Joshua-Tor's goal was to solve the structure of the entire human Argonaute protein in complex with a single human guide RNA.

Overcoming a complicated series of technical challenges, her team has achieved this goal by analyzing the structure of a full-length human Argonaute-2 protein bound to a small RNA called miR-20a, which is known to play a role in cancer development. Although Argonautes from higher organisms diverged from their archebacterial cousins more than three billion years ago, the team's analysis shows remarkable similarity between the two structures, especially in the regions that are important for target recognition and slicing activity.

"Our structure shows that the guide RNA, which is anchored at both ends by the PAZ and Mid domains, kinks and twists its way through the structure of the entire protein, making several points of contact within each domain and with the linker loops that join them," explains Joshua-Tor. "The guide RNA thus acts like a backbone that rigidly locks together the otherwise flexible Argonaute protein and gives it stability."

The researchers speculate that the path threaded through the Argonaute by the guide RNAs could have evolved to maximize mutual stability, in turn making the protein-RNA complexes long-lived. This long life is critical for many biological processes that are mediated by Argonautes. "This is also the kind of information that might help us to design better synthetic guide RNAs for therapeutic use," explains Joshua-Tor. "It will also be useful to researchers who are trying to find more precise ways of blocking Argonaute activity."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Elad Elkayam, Claus-D. Kuhn, Ante Tocilj, Astrid D. Haase, Emily M. Greene, Gregory J. Hannon, and Leemor Joshua-Tor. The structure of human Argonaute-2 in complex with miR-20a. Cell, May 24, 2012 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2012.05.017

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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Sac mayor raises $841k in re-election bid

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson has raised?at least?$841,394 in his re-election bid, according to campaign finance reports.

NOTE: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported the total amount of contributions.

Meanwhile, Johnson's?opponents have raised only a fraction of that amount.

Jonathan Rewers has raised nearly $1,839, including $1,689 in loans from the candidate.

Dick Jones and Leonard Padilla did not file reports by the?Thursday midnight?deadline.

Both Jones and Padilla have said they do not plan to accept campaign contributions for this race.

Johnson's report showed that his contributions have also outpaced his expenditures.

As of Saturday, the Johnson campaign reported $344,847 in available cash.

If Johnson has any money left over after this campaign, state law allows him to use it for future runs.

Among Johnson's contributors is Ron Burkle, the owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team, who has expressed interest in purchasing the Sacramento Kings.

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Hollande's hometown says goodbye to Fran?ois, hello to Monsieur le Pr?sident

French President-elect Fran?ois Hollande spent election weekend in Tulle, where he got his political start and had a reputation as an approachable, hands-on local official.

By Bastien Inzaurralde,?Correspondent / May 8, 2012

Supporters of French President-elect Fran?ois Hollande show posters of Hollande after the election results in Tulle, central France, Sunday, May 6.

Bob Edme/AP

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For the next five years, France?s president-elect Fran?ois Hollande of the Socialist Party will go by ?Monsieur le Pr?sident.??But in this central France town of about 16,000, where he has been in politics for about 30 years, he will always be known as ?Fran?ois.? Residents here know him by his first name ? and he knows theirs.?

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Mr. Hollande toured polling stations in Tulle and other nearby villages on election day. As was his habit when he was a local elected leader here, Hollande visited Tulle?s two markets on May 5, the day before the election, asking shoppers and local food producers how they were doing, shaking men?s hands, and kissing ladies on the cheeks amid a crowd of reporters.

The atmosphere was lighthearted and optimistic, with Hollande ahead of Nicolas Sarkozy in the polls, but some residents worried that it might well be the last time they saw "Fran?ois"?at the markets.?As president, he would have very little time, if any, to come visit them.?

Although not from the area originally, Hollande has been a political fixture there for decades. He served as a representative in the lower chamber of? parliament?for Corr?ze, the rural area where Tulle sits, from 1988 to 1993 and again from 1997 until now. He was president of Corr?ze?s general council ? a position equivalent to county manager ? from 2008 until now and served as mayor of Tulle from 2001 to 2008.?

While Hollande walked the open-air market by the town?s cathedral on the unexpectedly sunny day, one petite and elegant older lady waited for him near the market entrance.?Wearing a red dress and a white wool cardigan with gold buttons, the older lady had been standing there for over an hour, repeatedly asking reporters whether they knew what time ?Fran?ois? would come.

When Hollande finally got close to her after posing for photographs with supporters, she tried to catch his attention as he spoke to someone else.??Will you invite me to the Elys?e?? she called out, referring to France?s presidential palace.?Hollande didn?t hear her over the cheering supporters and journalists shouting questions.?

Walking along the market stands soon after, Hollande told reporters that just because he was likely to become president didn?t mean he would forget those who live here, and that even if he was less available, Tulle residents should be reassured that one of their own would be leading the country.

?Tulle residents won?t miss me,? Hollande said. ?If I lose, they will see me and if I win they will see me even more.??

On election night, about an hour after the announcement of his win, Hollande gave his first presidential address here, right by the cathedral, only a few feet away from the open-air market. Just before he concluded his speech, he thanked his first constituents.

?Finally, I greet my department of Corr?ze,? he said, to which the crowd responded with nearly 30 seconds of chants and applause. ?I owe you everything.?

Hollande was elected president with 51.63 percent of the votes nationally, according to results published by France?s Interior Ministry. He scored 65 percent of the vote in Corr?ze and 76 percent in Tulle.

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India's Rai Bachchan ignores chatter about weight

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['Titanic', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/titanic-anniversary/', ' ', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/b/4e/b4e5ad9f00b5dfeeec2226d53e173569.jpeg', '550', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

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A new invading sea crab reaches the Ebro Delta

Public release date: 25-May-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: SINC Team
info@agenciasinc.es
FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology

Originally endemic to the Atlantic Coast of North America, over the past 30 years Dyspanopeus sayi has been involuntarily introduced in the UK, France, the Netherlands, the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea. A study shows that in recent years the sea crab has established itself along the Western Mediterranean Coast.

A team of Spanish and German researchers have recorded the first American Dyspanopeus sayi sea crab in the bay of Els Alfacs in the Ebro Delta (Spain). Both sexes were captured along with many ovigerous females (carrying eggs) in different areas and different times. This way, it was confirmed that as a species they are well established and reproduce along the Western Mediterranean coast without problems.

This new invading crab is endemic to the North-East coast of North America stretching from Canada to Florida. In the last few decades it has reached the UK, France, the Netherlands, the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea and can now be seen in the westernmost part of the Mediterranean. Researchers are juggling with various hypotheses on their invasion.

"It would have been very difficult for them to arrive to Europe on their own without human involvement. They could have arrived at the Ebro Delta on sea transport or other trade exchanges," as outlined to SINC by Guillermo Guerao, co-author of the study that has been published in the Scientia Marina journal and researcher at Spain's Food and Agriculture Research and Technology Institute (IRTA).

Another possibility is that a few specimens reached the Western Mediterranean from the population in Italy. We would then be looking at a secondary introduction. "But to get more information we would need to carry out an extensive genetics study on the different native and non-native Dyspanopeus sayi populations," adds Guerao.

According to the study, the first identified specimens were captured by hand while researchers were gathering Carcinus aestuarii, the native crab species very abundant in the Ebro Delta. They also appeared in the bay of Els Alfacs amongst the catches of small-scale fisherman from Sant Carles de la Rpita (Tarragona).

A potential danger for the native fauna

"Dyspanopeus sayi is a species that can withstand temperature and salinity changes very well. It can therefore colonise shallow coastal areas (as shallow as 46 metres) and, more specifically, estuaries," explains the biologist from IRTA. It does not live in fresh water. Therefore, in the Ebro Delta they have only been found in the bay of Els Alfacs and it has not yet been confirmed whether they are present in the bay of Fangar.

This species of sea crab has a marked sexual dimorphism: the males are bigger than the females. The crabs feed on bivalve molluscs like mussels and clams and they use their strong claws to break shells. As predators they hunt at dusk or in the darkness.

Up until now the researchers have not detected any significant effect on the native fauna of the bay of Els Alfacs but monitoring with regular sampling in the area has not yet been carried out to confirm this.

However, as Guerao states, "considering their diet (bivalve molluscs) and the effect that this species has had in other places (in the Adriatic Sea it has exterminated some species like the Mytilus galloprovincialis mussel and the Ostrea edulis oyster) it would be interesting to regularly monitor the dynamic of Dyspanopeus sayi in the Ebro Delta."

###

Reference:

Schubart, Christoph D.; Guerao, Guillermo; Abello, Pere. "First record and evidence of an established population of the North American mud crab Dyspanopeus sayi (Brachyura: Heterotremata: Panopeidae) in the western Mediterranean" Scientia Marina 76(1): 79-85 DOI: 10.3989/scimar.03361.16, 2012.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 25-May-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: SINC Team
info@agenciasinc.es
FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology

Originally endemic to the Atlantic Coast of North America, over the past 30 years Dyspanopeus sayi has been involuntarily introduced in the UK, France, the Netherlands, the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea. A study shows that in recent years the sea crab has established itself along the Western Mediterranean Coast.

A team of Spanish and German researchers have recorded the first American Dyspanopeus sayi sea crab in the bay of Els Alfacs in the Ebro Delta (Spain). Both sexes were captured along with many ovigerous females (carrying eggs) in different areas and different times. This way, it was confirmed that as a species they are well established and reproduce along the Western Mediterranean coast without problems.

This new invading crab is endemic to the North-East coast of North America stretching from Canada to Florida. In the last few decades it has reached the UK, France, the Netherlands, the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea and can now be seen in the westernmost part of the Mediterranean. Researchers are juggling with various hypotheses on their invasion.

"It would have been very difficult for them to arrive to Europe on their own without human involvement. They could have arrived at the Ebro Delta on sea transport or other trade exchanges," as outlined to SINC by Guillermo Guerao, co-author of the study that has been published in the Scientia Marina journal and researcher at Spain's Food and Agriculture Research and Technology Institute (IRTA).

Another possibility is that a few specimens reached the Western Mediterranean from the population in Italy. We would then be looking at a secondary introduction. "But to get more information we would need to carry out an extensive genetics study on the different native and non-native Dyspanopeus sayi populations," adds Guerao.

According to the study, the first identified specimens were captured by hand while researchers were gathering Carcinus aestuarii, the native crab species very abundant in the Ebro Delta. They also appeared in the bay of Els Alfacs amongst the catches of small-scale fisherman from Sant Carles de la Rpita (Tarragona).

A potential danger for the native fauna

"Dyspanopeus sayi is a species that can withstand temperature and salinity changes very well. It can therefore colonise shallow coastal areas (as shallow as 46 metres) and, more specifically, estuaries," explains the biologist from IRTA. It does not live in fresh water. Therefore, in the Ebro Delta they have only been found in the bay of Els Alfacs and it has not yet been confirmed whether they are present in the bay of Fangar.

This species of sea crab has a marked sexual dimorphism: the males are bigger than the females. The crabs feed on bivalve molluscs like mussels and clams and they use their strong claws to break shells. As predators they hunt at dusk or in the darkness.

Up until now the researchers have not detected any significant effect on the native fauna of the bay of Els Alfacs but monitoring with regular sampling in the area has not yet been carried out to confirm this.

However, as Guerao states, "considering their diet (bivalve molluscs) and the effect that this species has had in other places (in the Adriatic Sea it has exterminated some species like the Mytilus galloprovincialis mussel and the Ostrea edulis oyster) it would be interesting to regularly monitor the dynamic of Dyspanopeus sayi in the Ebro Delta."

###

Reference:

Schubart, Christoph D.; Guerao, Guillermo; Abello, Pere. "First record and evidence of an established population of the North American mud crab Dyspanopeus sayi (Brachyura: Heterotremata: Panopeidae) in the western Mediterranean" Scientia Marina 76(1): 79-85 DOI: 10.3989/scimar.03361.16, 2012.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

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