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Across the country, this week's landmark Supreme Court rulings on same-sex marriage have energized activists and politicians on both sides of the debate. Efforts to impose bans ? and to repeal them ? have taken on new intensity, as have lawsuits by gays demanding the right to marry.
The high court, in two 5-4 decisions Wednesday, opened the way for California to become the 13th state to legalize gay marriage, and it directed the federal government to recognize legally married same-sex couples.
But the rulings, while hailed by gay-rights activists, did not declare a nationwide right for gays to marry. Instead, they set the stage for state-by-state battles over one of America's most contentious social issues. Already, some of those battles are heating up.
In Pennsylvania, the only Northeast state that doesn't legally recognize same-sex couples, gay state Rep. Brian Sims, a Philadelphia Democrat, says he will introduce a bill to allow same-sex marriages. The bill may flounder in the GOP-led Legislature, but the issue is likely to be volatile in next year's gubernatorial race, pitting GOP Gov. Tom Corbett, an opponent of gay marriage, against any of three Democrats who favor it.
In Arizona, gay-rights supporters have begun circulating petitions aimed at repealing the state's 2008 ban on same-sex marriage by way of a ballot measure next year. With California's ban in the process of being quashed, Arizona is now among 29 states with constitutional amendments that limit marriage to one-man, one-woman unions.
Gay-rights activists and Democratic politicians in several other states also hope to repeal the bans in their states ? in Oregon, Ohio and Arkansas with possible ballot measures next year, and in Nevada and Michigan with referendums in 2016.
Ohio activist Ian James of FreedomOhio said his group's resolve to collect signatures "has been doubled" as a result of the Supreme Court decisions. And Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, a Democrat who favors repealing his state's ban, said the court action "underscores the urgency of extending the freedom to marry to all our citizens."
"Oregon has not yet lived up to the ideal of equal rights for all," Kitzhaber said.
In Indiana and West Virginia, some Republican politicians want to move in the other direction, joining the ranks of states with constitutional bans. Both states have laws that bar gays from marrying, but constitutional amendments are viewed as more durable measures that resist being overturned by litigation.
The leaders of Indiana's Republican-controlled Legislature had deferred action on an amendment during this year's session, opting to wait for the Supreme Court rulings. Now, with the backing of GOP Gov. Mike Pence, they say the Legislature will consider the ban in the session starting in January, possibly putting the question to voters later next year.
Micah Clark, executive director of the conservative American Family Association of Indiana, was pleased by that prospect.
"The future of marriage matters," he said. "And it belongs in the hands of Hoosier voters, not the courts, not Hollywood, and not the activists seeking to change it from what it is and always has been."
West Virginia, like Indiana, has a state law prohibiting gay marriages. Until now, though, it has not joined the parade of states taking a further step with a constitutional amendment. After the Supreme Court rulings, the leader of the large Republican minority in the House of Delegates suggested there is now an urgent need for an amendment,
"We don't know when someone might file a lawsuit or have some other issue come up where a judge can review that," said Tim Armstead. "We need to go to the next step."
Democratic Delegate Stephen Skinner, West Virginia's first openly gay lawmaker, disagreed. "There's really not much reason for a constitutional amendment, except to promote discrimination and promote homophobia," he said.
National gay-rights leaders expect that lawsuits seeking to expand gay marriage rights will eventually bring the issue back to the Supreme Court in a quest for a ruling that would establish a 50-state policy.
Lawsuits already are pending in a number of states. Some of those involved were heartened by the past week's rulings.
"What this does is establish very, very powerful precedents that we will be able to use in our case," said Mark Lawrence of Restore Our Humanity, which is backing a legal challenge by three same-sex couples to a ban approved by Utah voters in 2004.
Michigan's constitutional ban, also approved in 2004, is the target of a pending lawsuit by Detroit-area nurses April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse seeking a right to jointly adopt each other's children. The federal judge hearing the case had been waiting for the Supreme Court before issuing a judgment.
In New Mexico, two gay men from Santa Fe asked the state Supreme Court on Thursday to decide whether same-sex marriage is legal. The lawsuit contends that denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples violates the state constitution, including provisions prohibiting gender-based discrimination and guaranteeing equal protection under the law.
New Mexico is one of only five states ? along with West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Wyoming and Indiana ? that has neither extended legal recognition to gay couples nor enacted a ban-gay-marriage constitutional amendment. There also is litigation in three states offering civil unions to gay couples, providing the rights and responsibilities of marriage but not extending that title.
In New Jersey, one lawsuit contends that civil unions do not fulfill a state Supreme Court mandate from 2006 that gay couples receive equal treatment to married heterosexual couples. The plaintiffs say they will soon file a motion arguing that, in light of the Supreme Court ruling, the only thing that is keeping the couples from equal treatment is the state law.
New Jersey's Democratic-majority Legislature passed a bill last year to legalize gay marriage, but it was vetoed by Republican Gov. Chris Christie. He says the matter should be decided in a referendum.
"There is no longer any excuse to delay," said Troy Stevenson of the gay-rights group Garden State Equality. "It is as immoral as it is impractical to force any New Jersey family to be stripped of critical economic and legal protections every time they cross the Hudson or Delaware Rivers."
Hawaii's civil union law, adopted in 2011, is being challenged in federal court by two women who want to marry rather than enter into a civil union. Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who supports a right to same-sex marriage, says the Supreme Court ruling on federal benefits for same-sex couples bolsters his argument.
Illinois also allowed civil unions in 2011, but efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in the recently ended legislative session fell short. The sponsor of the measure, Democratic Rep. Greg Harris, said the Supreme Court rulings should bolster efforts to revive the bill in the fall session.
Meanwhile, gay-rights lawyers are pressing ahead with a lawsuit on behalf of more than two dozen same-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses in Cook County. The suit also challenges an Illinois law that defines marriage as between a man and woman.
Gay-rights activists in some conservative states say there is no near-term prospect for softening their states' gay-marriage bans, and they're looking toward a more incremental approach.
In states such as Georgia, Idaho and Louisiana, these efforts include lobbying for local and statewide anti-discrimination laws that would extend protections to gays and lesbians.
In Wisconsin, a state that has tilted Democratic in national elections, Republicans now hold power at the Statehouse, and there's little discussion by gay-rights supporters of mounting an effort to repeal the gay-marriage ban approved by voters in 2006.
Instead, gay-rights activists there are trying to defeat a conservative group's lawsuit challenging a 2009 domestic partnership law that ended some legal rights to same-sex couples.
Wyoming has no constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, but proposals to permit civil unions and to ban discrimination against gays died in the latest legislative session.
State Rep. Cathy Connolly, the openly lesbian Democrat who sponsored those bills, says Wyoming's strong libertarian streak might be conducive to a legalization of same-sex marriage at some point in the future.
___
Cristina Silva in Phoenix, Tom LoBianco in Indianapolis, Nigel Duara in Portland, Ore., Matt Moore in Philadelphia, Larry Messina in Charleston, W.Va., and other AP reporters nationwide contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gay-marriage-states-hodgepodge-lies-ahead-201327666.html
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Developer, John Niemi (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)
An Austrian businessman has been ordered to pay $62 million to a Colorado developer, professional golfer Jesper Parnevik and another investor in a Breckenridge condominium deal that collapsed in debt.
But Erwin Lasshofer, a resident of Salzburg, apparently has no intention of paying, despite mounting fines of $10,000 a day, a warrant for his arrest for contempt of court and the wrath of an increasingly frustrated federal judge.
"Suffice it to say that this was a first in this court's experience," U.S. District Court Judge R. Brooke Jackson of Denver wrote in an order in April.
Jackson also ordered Lasshofer to pay $10,000 a day until he ponies up $2.18 million to Parnevik, developer John Niemi and Robert Naegele, a
Investor, Bob Naegele (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)
third partner. That tab reached $820,000 on Sunday, but Lasshofer has ignored every order issued by Jackson. Kevin Evans, Lasshofer's lawyer, said Lasshofer has no U.S. assets that could be seized.It is unlikely that the arrest warrant will lead to Lasshofer's extradition, said former Denver District Court Judge Christina Habas, a lawyer with Keating Wagner Polidori Free. "Even though it is a criminal process, it is in a civil case. Now, if he was under indictment ... "
Evans said the plaintiffs ? Niemi, Parnevik and Naegele ? have no grounds for their lawsuit, and have misled Jackson. Lasshofer's lawyers also say Jackson lacks jurisdiction in the case, and they are appealing the judgment.
Lasshofer didn't return calls from The Denver Post.
"The way he has been treated thus far, he has no appetite to speak to anybody in the states," Evans said. "Everything that has happened in this case has been suspect."
Niemi's lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Denver claims he and his partners were duped into paying millions in upfront money to Lasshofer and Michael Burgess, who worked with him, in return for financing to build the Breckenridge development.
Burgess and Lasshofer never delivered and the project fell apart, leaving Niemi and his investors with losses that Jackson calculated to be the $62 million in damages he awarded.
Judge: "They got taken"
"I have a great deal of sympathy for their situation. They got taken, taken out of a lot of money. This project would have been a huge success but for the lack of funding," Jackson said.
Niemi's tale begins in 2006, when he purchased three Breckenridge properties to develop in partnership with Fairmont Hotels and Resorts for $42 million in debt and equity.
His plan called for a blue-chip, mixed-use development with two lodges, more than 200 condominiums, underground parking, a spa and a restaurant.
The first phase of the development lasted nearly three years and saddled Niemi with $24 million in expenses for planning, architecture, design and other costs, according to the lawsuit.
Sales of duplexes completed along the Blue River shoreline, one of the properties, went well, generating $12 million in revenue.
Niemi started looking for financing of up to $220 million to pay off early loans and fund the remaining work.
A mortgage broker in Orlando, Fla., introduced him to Burgess, a South African businessman who headed now-defunct Prosperity International. Burgess had a partnership with Lasshofer and a collection of his companies ? the Innovatis Group ? that provide global asset management and consulting services.
Parnevik jumps inIn September 2009, Niemi locked into a single consolidated construction loan agreement with Prosperity, according to the suit. Lasshofer and Burgess promised to get financing from lenders, and Niemi and his partners agreed to pay upfront collateral of $2.18 million.
Burgess indicated that loan disbursements could begin in early 2010, Niemi said.
Parnevik, a longtime friend of Niemi's, jumped on the bandwagon when the developer showed him plans for a piece of the property called Shock Hill, where a lodge was to be located.
The land was "50 steps" from a stop on a gondola that rises from the town of Breckenridge to base areas in the ski resort, Niemi said.
It was a time for celebration. The project was full-speed ahead, despite a recession that had stalled development elsewhere.
"The pre-billings were very high. It was just a matter of getting it built and it would have been pretty much sold," said Parnevik, who with his family and friends invested about $6 million in the project.
"We celebrated the signing of the contract at my house in Florida," Parnevik said.
Burgess attended the party. "He seemed very nice," Parnevik said. "I talked to his colleagues, and they made me feel very secure that they were professional, and he seemed very professional. It never crossed my mind that it was a scam."
When the loans didn't materialize, Niemi became concerned, and in February 2010, he flew to Zurich to meet Lasshofer.
At the end of a week in which Lasshofer never arrived, he and Burgess drove the six hours to Salzburg and met with the Austrian.
Niemi said he asked him to return the $2.18 million and void the loan agreement. "Lasshofer looks at me like that's not going to happen. He stood up and said, 'You can call my attorney.' "
Things grew heated, and Burgess stepped between the two when the confrontation threatened to become violent, Niemi said.
Niemi returned to the U.S. to find the Fairmont Breckenridge project on the verge of collapse. Sponsors, contractors and clients were threatening to withdraw unless the Prosperity financing came through.
"Things started slowing down when we didn't receive the funds from Lasshofer and Burgess. All of us put in more money to cover it, and it just kind of fell apart," Parnevik said.
At the end of June, Burgess told Niemi he was returning to the U.S. from Europe the following day and funding would commence within a week.
But when Burgess stepped off a plane at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Secret Service agents were waiting to arrest him in a case that sounds a lot like Niemi's lawsuit.
An indictment accused Burgess of bilking Plymouth Rock Studios, a company planning a $550 million transformation of 240 acres in Massachusetts into a movie studio.
Burgess, Prosperity and unnamed co-conspirators promised to get financing for the studio project in return for a deposit of $3.5 million, according to the indictment.
Burgess sentencedAnne Conway, chief judge for U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, sentenced him to serve 15 years in prison and ordered him to pay restitution of more than $94 million.
At his sentencing, Burgess implicated an "associate partner," who Niemi's lawyers believe was Lasshofer.
"I was very trusting with all those I had been working with over the past four years, and especially my associate partner for the past 11 to 12 years," Burgess said, according to a court transcript of the November 2011 hearing. "I knowingly followed everything that this associate partner instructed me to do even though I was told by others to be more (wary) of my association with him. I was easily influenced, which has been a weakness of mine."
Burgess is listed as a defendant in Niemi's lawsuit, but the developer sees no hope of collecting any damages from him. At 71, "he is 1? years into a 15-year term," Niemi said.
Wringing the damages out of Lasshofer, who has already appealed the $62 million order and whose cash is in countries with banking regulations that shroud depositors' finances in secrecy, isn't going to be any easier.
"I think the chances of him paying are very slim indeed," Burgess said in an e-mail from a low-security lockup in the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina.
Lasshofer's lawyers blame any fraud on Burgess.
"It was Burgess who sought out Innovatis and persuaded them to help with certain aspects regarding the project finance. Innovatis believed these deals were real and that Burgess was a highly successful and prominent businessman who intended to perform," Washington D.C.-based lawyer Carl Rauh told Jackson, according to a court document. "Their belief, like everybody else's now, in Burgess was wrong."
Niemi has hired Hubertus P. Weben, an Austrian lawyer, to pursue the case. Weben has filed a criminal complaint there against Lasshofer, according to a document in U.S. District Court.
Lasshofer "has been investigated for fraud on other occasions in the recent past," Weben said in the document.
Seven years after the Breckenridge project began, the land that Niemi, Parnevik and Naegele invested so much money and hope in is owned by others, after going through foreclosure and sale.
Homes are being built on one piece, and time-share condos on another.
The centerpiece of Niemi's project, Shock Hill, where he envisioned a lodge branded with the Fairmont name, will be the location of townhomes and duplexes.
Niemi still dreams of what might have been.
"We would have made $4 million a year just renting it out," he said.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671, tmcghee@denverpost.com or twitter.com/dpmcghee
Source: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_23569214/breckenridge-condo-project-collapses-dept?source=rss
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BETHESDA, Md. (AP) ? Jordan Spieth, playing with nothing to lose, gave himself another chance to win going into the weekend at the AT&T National.
Spieth hit every green in regulation Friday and extended his streak to 29 holes without a bogey on a tough Congressional course, giving him a 5-under 66 and a share of the lead with Roberto Castro (69) before storms halted the second round.
They were at 7-under 135, with the round to be completed Saturday morning.
Players went back out to the practice range after a two-hour delay, only for more storms to approach and extended the suspension until the PGA Tour called it for the day. Andres Romero was at 5 under with five holes remaining. No one else was within four shots of the lead.
Spieth is the 19-year-old Texan who started the season with no status, uncertain where he was going to play. He now has earned over $900,000 ? the equivalent of being No. 39 on the PGA Tour money list ? and is assured of a tour card when the new season starts in October.
But he won't be eligible for the lucrative FedEx Cup playoffs unless he's a PGA Tour member, and he can't be a member this year unless he wins.
"Honestly, I think it's a great position to be in," Spieth said. "I'm just free swinging. I can't be in the playoffs unless I win, and that makes winning the No. 1 goal. You'd like to get in the playoffs and play against the top players, the best players from this year. It's everyone's goal out here to win the FedEx Cup. My goal is to move up the world rankings as much as I can, and that's the way to do it, is to get into those playoffs."
D.H. Lee had a 66 and was two shots behind at 5-under 139. Cameron Tringale (67) and James Driscoll (69) were another shot behind, while the group at 3-under 139 included former British Open champion Stewart Cink (69), Gary Woodland (69) and David Lingmerth, who went from around the cut line to contention with a 65.
Spieth has lived up to the hype he first generated when he played late on Sunday in the Byron Nelson Championship at age 16 and tied for 16th. In one year at Texas, the Longhorns won the NCAA title. And in six months as a pro, he has shown quickly that he belongs.
He already has four top 10s and has special temporary membership, meaning he gets unlimited exemptions. His goal was to somehow get a PGA Tour card for 2013-14 season, and a win would be over the top.
Even so, the teenager who was born just three years before Tiger Woods turned pro is savvy to realize the tournament is not even halfway over.
"I can't really think about that at this point," he said. "There's a long way to go. I'm kind of free swinging. I've gotten in a position where I can play a pretty full schedule this year, and I know I'll have my card for next year. Now all there's left to do is try and get a win to make the playoffs. So I'm just going out there trying to win and being aggressive, and hopefully, it will work out for me."
Scoring was slightly better at Congressional, a course that has hosted the U.S. Open three times. Warmer weather in the morning made the ball fly a little farther and shortened the longest PGA Tour course on the mainland.
Spieth began his day with a 25-foot birdie putt on the first hole, avoided a long three-putt from above the hole on No. 4 by making a 12-foot par putt and then picked up four birdies over the final five holes on the front nine for a 31. He made nine pars on the back nine, never coming close to a bogey.
It was a clean round, executed well by a teenagers who plays like he knows where he is going.
"I'm excited for what the weekend is going to bring," he said.
Castro tied the course record on the TPC Sawgrass in May with a 63 to lead the opening round of The Players Championship, and then he followed with a 78 and never seriously challenge the rest of the week. After opening with a 66 at Congressional, he dropped a shot early from a fairway bunker on No. 3 and was plodding along until finishing the back nine with a pair of birdies, and then adding a birdie on the par-5 16th.
"I felt good," he said. "I probably learned a lot there (at Sawgrass) and realized that one round doesn't mean anything ? just got to keep going. And I was able to do that."
Defending champion Woods is not playing because of an elbow injury, and U.S. Open champion Justin Rose withdrew earlier in the week because of fatigue. Some of the other big names most likely won't be around for the weekend, such as Hunter Mahan, who had a 72 and was at 5-over 147. Masters champion Adam Scott traded birdies and bogeys in his round of 71 that left him nine shots behind.
Brandt Snedeker had to salvage a scrappy round with two late birdies for a 71, leaving him five shots behind.
DIVOTS: The tee on the par-5 ninth hole was moved forward Friday, making it play only 613 yards. Six players went for the green in two ? compared with none Thursday when the hole was 635 yards ? with Angel Cabrera and Jason Day going just over the back. Both made birdie. ... Charlie Beljan, who opened with an 84, called officials Friday morning to say he had withdrawn. ... Russell Henley holed out from 149 yards for eagle on No. 9. He was at 3-under 139.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/spieth-takes-share-early-lead-congressional-185543072.html
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JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? President Barack Obama is meeting with South Africa's leader at the start of a weekend visit that will pay tribute to the legacy of critically ill former President Nelson Mandela.
As Obama harkens back to Mandela's leadership against apartheid, he'll also be trying to engage Africa's future by addressing some of the youth who make up such a large segment of the population on the continent.
Obama is making his first visit as president to South Africa, a leading African partner in U.S. trade and the fight against AIDS. His events Saturday are scheduled to begin with a bilateral meeting and news conference with President Jacob Zuma at the Union Buildings, where Mandela was inaugurated as the country's first black president in 1994 after 27 years behind bars under racist rule.
Obama has called Mandela a "personal hero" and said the imprisoned activist's willingness to risk his life for the cause of equal rights helped inspire his own political activism. Obama said his message during the visit will draw on the lessons of Mandela's life, with a message that "Africa's rise will continue" if its people are unified instead of divided by tribe, race or religion.
"I think the main message we'll want to deliver if not directly to him but to his family is simply a profound gratitude for his leadership all these years and that the thoughts and prayers of the American people are with him and his family and his country," Obama said on his flight into the country.
Obama will be only about a 10-minute drive from the Pretoria hospital where 94-year-old Mandela lies in critical condition, but the president indicated he's not angling for a visit but instead is grateful that he, his wife and daughters had a chance to meet him previously. Obama hangs his photo of the introduction he had to Mandela in 2005 in his personal office at the White House ? their only meeting, when Obama was a senator.
"I don't need a photo op," Obama said. "The last thing I want to do is to be in any way obtrusive at a time when the family is concerned about Nelson Mandela's condition."
Obama also is paying tribute to the fight against apartheid by visiting Soweto township Saturday afternoon for a town hall with students at the University of Johannesburg. At least 176 young people were killed there 27 years ago this month during a youth protest against the apartheid regime's ban against teaching local Bantu languages. The Soweto Uprising catalyzed international support against apartheid, and June is now recognized as Youth Month in South Africa.
The university plans to bestow an honorary law degree on the U.S. president, while protesters are planning demonstrations against U.S. policy on issues including the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the war in Afghanistan and global warming. Hundreds marched to the U.S. Embassy on Friday, carrying signs that read: "No, You Can't Obama," a message inspired by Obama's "yes, we can" campaign slogan.
Obama, the son of an African man, has been trying to inspire the continent's youth to become civically active and part of a new democratically minded generation. Obama hosted young leaders from more than 40 African countries at the White House in 2010 and challenged them to bring change to their countries by standing up for freedom, openness and peaceful disagreement.
Obama wraps up his South Africa stay Sunday, when he plans to give a sweeping speech on U.S.-Africa policy at the University of Cape Town and take his family to Robben Island to tour the prison where Mandela spent 18 years.
___
Follow Nedra Pickler on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nedrapickler
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-paying-tribute-mandela-africa-072017840.html
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By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Clinical Trials Week -- Investigators publish new report on Diabetes. According to news reporting originating in Bronx, New York, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, "Obesity is important for the development of type-2 diabetes as a result of obesity-induced insulin resistance accompanied by impaired compensation of insulin secretion from pancreatic beta cells. Here, based on a randomized pilot clinical trial, we report that intranasal oxytocin administration over an 8-week period led to effective reduction of obesity and reversal of related prediabetic changes in patients."
The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, "Using mouse models, we further systematically evaluated whether oxytocin and its analogs yield therapeutic effects against prediabetic or diabetic disorders regardless of obesity. Our results showed that oxytocin and two analogs including [Ser4, Ile8]-oxytocin or [Asu1,6]-oxytocin worked in mice to reverse insulin resistance and glucose intolerance prior to reduction of obesity. In parallel, using streptozotocin-induced diabetic mouse model, we found that treatment with oxytocin or its analogs reduced the magnitude of glucose intolerance through improving insulin secretion. The anti-diabetic effects of oxytocin and its analogs in these animal models can be produced similarly whether central or peripheral administration was used."
According to the news reporters, the research concluded: "Oxytocin and its analogs have multi-level effects in improving weight control, insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion, and bear potentials for being developed as therapeutic peptides for obesity and diabetes."
For more information on this research see: Treatment of obesity and diabetes using oxytocin or analogs in patients and mouse models. Plos One, 2013;8(5):e61477. (Public Library of Science - www.plos.org; Plos One - www.plosone.org)
Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting H. Zhang, Dept. of Molecular Pharmacology, Diabetes Research Center, Institute of Aging, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, United States (see also Diabetes).
Keywords for this news article include: Bronx, Obesity, New York, Diabetes, Treatment, Bariatrics, Proinsulin, United States, Overnutrition, Peptide Hormones, Diet and Nutrition, Nutrition Disorders, North and Central America, Clinical Trials and Studies.
Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world. Copyright 2013, NewsRx LLC
To see more of the NewsRx.com, or to subscribe, go to http://www.newsrx.com .
Source: http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=19561&Section=Aging
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Combo Crew, the latest Android title from developer The Game Bakers, aims to eliminate one of the problems inherent to mobile action games: poor touch screen controls. Instead of requiring gamers to continuously jam their digits onto a glass screen, Combo Crew maps punches, kicks, and super moves to swipes?a far superior way to interact with a touchscreen interface. While it's easy to unleash moves in this arena-style 2D brawler, design elements intended to streamline the controls remove the challenge and the need for move set mastery.
Welcome to the Jungle
Combo Crew opens with a generic backstory that plays out as a pseudo-parody of games of this type: Mr. Boss invites Gina (a Hair-Fu practitioner), Dolph (an action movie star), and Parker (a video game junkie) to his Boss Tower for dinner?but it's a trap! The baddie simply wants to challenge and defeat the best fighters in order to stroke his ego.
Although Combo Crew introduces you to three cutesy protagonists, only Gina and Parker are available for fisticuffs duty right away; you unlock Dolph after you've fought a few matches and earned 20 in-game credits (that's right, in-game currency?no cash needed). A fourth character, Sammo, is also a 20-credit buy.
Each brawler starts with four attacks?a mix of regular blows, guard breakers, and crow ground attacks. New moves are unlocked as you complete chapters, while other moves are unlocked after successfully completing missions in Combo Crew mode (a series of fight-based challenges). Once new moves are acquired, you can use them to replace the old ones if you'd like, but you can only carry four attacks at a time. Spending credits in the Shop lets you purchase Boosts (temporary power-ups such as a health-replenishing burger) or Perks (permanent character improvements such as a greater damage output).
Fight Club
Swipe-based inputs are how you unleash your fury onto Mr. Boss' foot soldiers. Swiping up, down, left, or right executes basic attacks, but there are advanced methods, too. Tapping the screen, holding, and then swiping toward an enemy delivers a guard breaker that crumbles a block defense. Swiping with two fingers uncorks impressive auto-combos that string multiple hits together without any further input. When your super-meter is full, tapping the super-attack icon lets you bust out a flurry of hard-hitting moves. There's a surprisingly amount of depth to the combat system: you can even do air juggles and knockdown attacks. Your combos are tallied as you land blows, and the music gets remixed on the fly as the total grows.
The simplified combat works well and the hits are quite satisfying, but there are some associated tradeoffs. You don't actually move your opponent; swiping causes your character to dash toward a foe and attack. You can't rely on positioning to set up attacks/dodges as you can with classic beat 'em ups like Double Dragon or River City Ransom. If you want to avoid an attack, you must swipe attack when an exclamation point appears over an enemy's head to perform a counter. The streamlined controls also result in button-mashing as a viable combat scheme, which removes the challenge.
Combo Crew is a solo experience, but there is an unusual (and creative) asynchronous co-op element. Suppose a bad guy gives you the business and whittles your health down to zero. Instead enduring a game over, you can ask a Combo Crew-playing friend to remotely take over your game. Your buddy has the opportunity to finish up your mess, and if s/he beats the round, your friend's score is converted into health for your character. When your fighter's health gauge is filled, any remaining points are added to your score.
Knuckle Up
Combo Crew is an entertaining diversion that should scratch genre fans' beat 'em up itch. It's cute, colorful, and had a surprisingly deep combat system. Still, you don't necessarily need to learn it; button-mashing can get the job done, too. What makes Combo Crew work, the simple control scheme, also works against it. Still, those who want to punch a few grunts in the face will find a lot to like.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/ctQKZOPkw8o/0,2817,2421192,00.asp
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New research suggests a single dose of methylphenidate (brand name Ritalin) can help to improve brain function in cocaine addiction, which ultimately could make it an add-on treatment for such addictions.
Researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York performed imaging studies to develop their hypothesis. They found that the drug modified connectivity in certain brain circuits that underlie self-control and craving among cocaine-addicted individuals.
The research is published in the current issue of JAMA Psychiatry.
Previous research has shown that oral methylphenidate improved brain function in cocaine users performing specific cognitive tasks such as ignoring emotionally distracting words and resolving a cognitive conflict.
Similar to cocaine, methylphenidate increases dopamine (and norepinephrine) activity in the brain, but, administered orally, takes longer to reach peak effect, giving it a lower potential for abuse.
By extending dopamine?s action, the drug enhances signaling to improve several cognitive functions, including information processing and attention.
?Orally administered methylphenidate increases dopamine in the brain, similar to cocaine, but without the strong addictive properties,? said Rita Goldstein, Ph.D., who led the research while at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in New York.
?We wanted to determine whether such substitutive properties, which are helpful in other replacement therapies such as using nicotine gum instead of smoking cigarettes or methadone instead of heroin, would play a role in enhancing brain connectivity between regions of potential importance for intervention in cocaine addiction.?
Anna Konova, a doctoral candidate at Stony Brook University, who was first author on this manuscript, added, ?Using fMRI, we found that methylphenidate did indeed have a beneficial impact on the connectivity between several brain centers associated with addiction.?
For the study,?Goldstein and her team recruited 18 cocaine-addicted individuals. Participants were then randomized to receive an oral dose of methylphenidate or placebo.
The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure the strength of connectivity in particular brain circuits known to play a role in addiction before and during peak drug effects. They also assessed each subject?s severity of addiction to see if this had any bearing on the results.
Methylphenidate decreased connectivity between areas of the brain that have been strongly implicated in the formation of habits, including compulsive drug seeking and craving.
The scans also showed that methylphenidate strengthened connectivity between several brain regions involved in regulating emotions and exerting control over behaviors?connections previously reported to be disrupted in cocaine addiction.
?The benefits of methylphenidate were present after only one dose, indicating that this drug has significant potential as a treatment add-on for addiction to cocaine and possibly other stimulants,? said?Goldstein.
?This is a preliminary study, but the findings are exciting and warrant further exploration, particularly in conjunction with cognitive behavioral therapy or cognitive remediation.?
Source: The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine
APA Reference
Nauert PhD, R. (2013). Ritalin for Cocaine Addiction?. Psych Central. Retrieved on June 28, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/06/28/ritalin-for-cocaine-addiction/56583.html
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Source: http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/06/28/ritalin-for-cocaine-addiction/56583.html
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Public release date: 28-Jun-2013
Share ] Contact: Susie Weller
sweller@panthera.org
347-446-9904
Panthera
Panama City, Panama A significant victory was achieved for the future of jaguars this week with the establishment of an historic conservation agreement by the government of Panama and Panthera, a global big cat conservation organization.
Gathering in Panama City at the prominent Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), the Office of Panama's National Environmental Authority (ANAM) General Administrator, Mr. Silvano Vergara, presided over the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Panthera, the National Environmental Authority, and the Mastozoological Society of Panama (SOMASPA). Through this agreement, Panthera and the government of Panama pledged to collaboratively implement conservation initiatives on behalf of the country's jaguars and their habitats within Panama's Protected Areas System, strategically balance economic development and jaguar habitat preservation throughout Panama, mitigate rancher-jaguar conflict, and initiate jaguar conservation education for the people of Panama.
As Panthera's fifth jaguar conservation agreement with a Latin American government, and two more agreements under review with the governments of Belize and Brazil, this MOU represents a giant step forward for the conservation of the jaguar.
Upon signing the agreement today, Panthera's CEO and renowned jaguar scientist, Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, stated, "The significance, location and timing of the Panama-Panthera conservation agreement for the jaguar are truly historic. Panama represents the birth place of the Jaguar Corridor Initiative, and after just seven years, we have come full circle in establishing the partnerships and projects required to successfully conserve the jaguar and its habitats long into the future."
Rabinowitz continued, "We're seeing jaguars move through human landscapes - ranches, plantations, even swimming the Panama Canal. The ability for these animals to safely get through is what is ensuring genetic connectivity across their range. The corridor is not just a theoretical model, it's alive and functional, and a pathway for the jaguar's long-term survival."
In 2006, Dr. Rabinowitz joined environmental ministers from Central America at the Second Mesoamerica Protected Area Congress meeting to reach consensus on the benefits of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor for the connectivity and conservation of the jaguar in the region. Held in Panama City, this meeting helped launch what is now the largest carnivore conservation program in existence, spanning nearly six million square kilometers: Panthera's Jaguar Corridor Initiative (JCI).
Initiated in 2008, the JCI seeks to 'connect and protect' jaguar populations ranging from Mexico to Argentina within human landscapes to ensure the genetic diversity and survival of the species. Panama's role within this Corridor cannot be overemphasized. As one of 18 Latin American countries that harbor wild jaguars, Panama is also one of 13 countries in which Panthera is conducting jaguar conservation science. Home to a treasure chest of biodiversity, including significant jaguar populations, the narrow isthmus of Panama that snakes between Costa Rica and Colombia serves as the only bridge connecting jaguar populations between Central and South America.
Since 2008, Panthera has worked in partnership with ANAM and SOMASPA to monitor jaguar and prey populations in Panama's protected areas, assess human-jaguar conflict across the country, evaluate the vitality of jaguar habitat via aerial surveys, and train field staff to implement population monitoring studies, conflict mitigation techniques and conservation education workshops.
A majority of these efforts have been carried out in jaguar habitat lying within Panama's Indigenous 'comarcas' or autonomous territories. Due to the country's slim figure, measuring as short as 80 km between its coasts, collaboration with these native communities is necessary to maintain connectivity between jaguar populations. Recently, after months of outreach, Panthera received permission from the Ngobe Bugle community to conduct research in a significant Jaguar Corridor within their territory.
In LightHawk flights taken earlier this year with ANAM General Administrator Silvano Vergara and others, Panthera's team also confirmed that the Kuna Yala and Madugandi indigenous territories in the northeastern stretch of the country, and the neighboring Corridor between Soberania and Alto Chagres National Parks, maintain relatively healthy jaguar habitat.
Now, with the establishment of the nation's first jaguar conservation strategy, Panthera will collaborate with the Panamanian government to strategically shape the development of land in and around the Jaguar Corridor, including the Panama Canal, to ensure a positive balance of economic development and jaguar habitat preservation. As one of the world's most remarkable engineering achievements, the Panama Canal zone continues to experience rapid human development. Today, this represents one of the key threats facing Panama's jaguars, and if unaddressed, could constitute a grave barrier to jaguars at a continental scale.
Panthera's Executive Director of Jaguar Programs, Dr. Howard Quigley, explained, "Through our conservation efforts in Panama, Panthera and our partners have uncovered a fascinating phenomenon jaguars swimming hundreds of meters of the trans-ocean Panama Canal to continue their gene line. While this demonstrates the incredible resilience of the species, we must act now to preserve the jaguar's habitat and ensure this passageway does not soon become the species' only route of survival. We know we can have jaguars, canals and cattle ranching side-by-side if we plan in a way that makes it possible."
Along with implementing new rancher outreach and conflict mitigation projects, Panthera's scientists will continue to work with our regional partners to complete 'ground-truthing' Panama's habitats in 2013, identifying the presence and distribution of the country's jaguars and the safest passageways for the species to move in Panama and between Central and South America. Having surveyed all other jaguar range within Mesoamerica, Panama and Guatemala represent the last remaining corridors for Panthera's scientists to verify.
ANAM General Secretary, Geremas Aguilar, who represented ANAM`s General Administrator at the ceremony, additionally highlighted the role Panama takes on in its efforts to preserve biodiversity and the jaguar in the region, stating, "It is a mammal of the utmost importance to the health of the environment. The loss of biodiversity due to unsustainable human developments is one of the most significant global environmental threats in recent times. This agreement intends to improve the survival condition of the jaguar, a species who represents the good health of Panamanian habitats."
###
See a map of Panama and other resources.
About the Jaguar Corridor Initiative
Panthera's Jaguar Corridor Initiative seeks to link core jaguar populations across the jaguar's range within human landscapes, from Mexico to Argentina, to preserve the species' genetic diversity. Through multilateral partnerships, government support, and local buy-in, Panthera is the driving force behind this initiative. Saving jaguars range-wide is a winning strategy for conserving vast landscapes and ecosystem functions, and preserving human health and livelihoods. Visit the Jaguar Corridor Initiative.
About Panthera
Panthera, founded in 2006, is devoted exclusively to the conservation of wild cats and their ecosystems. Utilizing the expertise of the world's premier cat biologists, Panthera develops and implements global conservation strategies for the largest, most imperiled cats tigers, lions, jaguars, and snow leopards. Representing the most comprehensive effort of its kind, Panthera works in partnership with local and international NGOs, scientific institutions, local communities and governments around the globe. Visit http://www.panthera.org
[ | 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: 28-Jun-2013 Share ] Contact: Susie Weller
sweller@panthera.org
347-446-9904
Panthera
Panama City, Panama A significant victory was achieved for the future of jaguars this week with the establishment of an historic conservation agreement by the government of Panama and Panthera, a global big cat conservation organization.
Gathering in Panama City at the prominent Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), the Office of Panama's National Environmental Authority (ANAM) General Administrator, Mr. Silvano Vergara, presided over the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Panthera, the National Environmental Authority, and the Mastozoological Society of Panama (SOMASPA). Through this agreement, Panthera and the government of Panama pledged to collaboratively implement conservation initiatives on behalf of the country's jaguars and their habitats within Panama's Protected Areas System, strategically balance economic development and jaguar habitat preservation throughout Panama, mitigate rancher-jaguar conflict, and initiate jaguar conservation education for the people of Panama.
As Panthera's fifth jaguar conservation agreement with a Latin American government, and two more agreements under review with the governments of Belize and Brazil, this MOU represents a giant step forward for the conservation of the jaguar.
Upon signing the agreement today, Panthera's CEO and renowned jaguar scientist, Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, stated, "The significance, location and timing of the Panama-Panthera conservation agreement for the jaguar are truly historic. Panama represents the birth place of the Jaguar Corridor Initiative, and after just seven years, we have come full circle in establishing the partnerships and projects required to successfully conserve the jaguar and its habitats long into the future."
Rabinowitz continued, "We're seeing jaguars move through human landscapes - ranches, plantations, even swimming the Panama Canal. The ability for these animals to safely get through is what is ensuring genetic connectivity across their range. The corridor is not just a theoretical model, it's alive and functional, and a pathway for the jaguar's long-term survival."
In 2006, Dr. Rabinowitz joined environmental ministers from Central America at the Second Mesoamerica Protected Area Congress meeting to reach consensus on the benefits of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor for the connectivity and conservation of the jaguar in the region. Held in Panama City, this meeting helped launch what is now the largest carnivore conservation program in existence, spanning nearly six million square kilometers: Panthera's Jaguar Corridor Initiative (JCI).
Initiated in 2008, the JCI seeks to 'connect and protect' jaguar populations ranging from Mexico to Argentina within human landscapes to ensure the genetic diversity and survival of the species. Panama's role within this Corridor cannot be overemphasized. As one of 18 Latin American countries that harbor wild jaguars, Panama is also one of 13 countries in which Panthera is conducting jaguar conservation science. Home to a treasure chest of biodiversity, including significant jaguar populations, the narrow isthmus of Panama that snakes between Costa Rica and Colombia serves as the only bridge connecting jaguar populations between Central and South America.
Since 2008, Panthera has worked in partnership with ANAM and SOMASPA to monitor jaguar and prey populations in Panama's protected areas, assess human-jaguar conflict across the country, evaluate the vitality of jaguar habitat via aerial surveys, and train field staff to implement population monitoring studies, conflict mitigation techniques and conservation education workshops.
A majority of these efforts have been carried out in jaguar habitat lying within Panama's Indigenous 'comarcas' or autonomous territories. Due to the country's slim figure, measuring as short as 80 km between its coasts, collaboration with these native communities is necessary to maintain connectivity between jaguar populations. Recently, after months of outreach, Panthera received permission from the Ngobe Bugle community to conduct research in a significant Jaguar Corridor within their territory.
In LightHawk flights taken earlier this year with ANAM General Administrator Silvano Vergara and others, Panthera's team also confirmed that the Kuna Yala and Madugandi indigenous territories in the northeastern stretch of the country, and the neighboring Corridor between Soberania and Alto Chagres National Parks, maintain relatively healthy jaguar habitat.
Now, with the establishment of the nation's first jaguar conservation strategy, Panthera will collaborate with the Panamanian government to strategically shape the development of land in and around the Jaguar Corridor, including the Panama Canal, to ensure a positive balance of economic development and jaguar habitat preservation. As one of the world's most remarkable engineering achievements, the Panama Canal zone continues to experience rapid human development. Today, this represents one of the key threats facing Panama's jaguars, and if unaddressed, could constitute a grave barrier to jaguars at a continental scale.
Panthera's Executive Director of Jaguar Programs, Dr. Howard Quigley, explained, "Through our conservation efforts in Panama, Panthera and our partners have uncovered a fascinating phenomenon jaguars swimming hundreds of meters of the trans-ocean Panama Canal to continue their gene line. While this demonstrates the incredible resilience of the species, we must act now to preserve the jaguar's habitat and ensure this passageway does not soon become the species' only route of survival. We know we can have jaguars, canals and cattle ranching side-by-side if we plan in a way that makes it possible."
Along with implementing new rancher outreach and conflict mitigation projects, Panthera's scientists will continue to work with our regional partners to complete 'ground-truthing' Panama's habitats in 2013, identifying the presence and distribution of the country's jaguars and the safest passageways for the species to move in Panama and between Central and South America. Having surveyed all other jaguar range within Mesoamerica, Panama and Guatemala represent the last remaining corridors for Panthera's scientists to verify.
ANAM General Secretary, Geremas Aguilar, who represented ANAM`s General Administrator at the ceremony, additionally highlighted the role Panama takes on in its efforts to preserve biodiversity and the jaguar in the region, stating, "It is a mammal of the utmost importance to the health of the environment. The loss of biodiversity due to unsustainable human developments is one of the most significant global environmental threats in recent times. This agreement intends to improve the survival condition of the jaguar, a species who represents the good health of Panamanian habitats."
###
See a map of Panama and other resources.
About the Jaguar Corridor Initiative
Panthera's Jaguar Corridor Initiative seeks to link core jaguar populations across the jaguar's range within human landscapes, from Mexico to Argentina, to preserve the species' genetic diversity. Through multilateral partnerships, government support, and local buy-in, Panthera is the driving force behind this initiative. Saving jaguars range-wide is a winning strategy for conserving vast landscapes and ecosystem functions, and preserving human health and livelihoods. Visit the Jaguar Corridor Initiative.
About Panthera
Panthera, founded in 2006, is devoted exclusively to the conservation of wild cats and their ecosystems. Utilizing the expertise of the world's premier cat biologists, Panthera develops and implements global conservation strategies for the largest, most imperiled cats tigers, lions, jaguars, and snow leopards. Representing the most comprehensive effort of its kind, Panthera works in partnership with local and international NGOs, scientific institutions, local communities and governments around the globe. Visit http://www.panthera.org
[ | 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.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/p-pp062813.php
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The new, unanimous, multi-year European Union budget, which includes the first cuts to EU spending in its history, determines what the bloc can spend on common infrastructure like railway or road projects, farming subsidies, and aid to poor countries.?
Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (l.) talks to France's President Francois Hollande (r.) during a European Union leaders' summit in Brussels, June 27, 2013.
Francois Lenoir/Reuters
EnlargeEuropean Union leaders reached an outline deal Friday on the 27-country bloc's 960 billion euro ($1.3 trillion) seven-year budget, overcoming a British-French dispute to sign off on the agreement.
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British Prime Minister David Cameron had held out for the same financial conditions already promised him months ago, overshadowing a summit meant to focus on the continent's youth unemployment problems.
However, in the end, all 27 nations backed the budget deal. EU President Herman Van Rompuy said "it is a quite clear 'yes'," when it came to unanimous backing of the 2014-2020 spending plan.
Beyond the seven-year spending plan, which still needs full parliamentary approval, the EU nations also agreed on the shape of future bank bailouts, injecting a sense of fresh credibility into the efforts of the leaders to control the region's economic problems.
But the budget deal also highlighted deep divisions among European countries over whether to spend or cut their way out of crisis. The UK is seeking reassurances that it won't have to contribute too much at a time of belt-squeezing across the continent.
The multi-annual budget, which includes the first cut to EU spending in its history, determines what the bloc can spend on common infrastructure like railway or road projects, farming subsidies and aid to poor countries. It's separate from national budgets ? and much smaller ? but a source of difficult and passionate debate.
The decision came after some protracted brinkmanship following the British objections to an outline reached early Thursday. Cameron surprised many by insisting that the EU stick to parts of an earlier agreement reached in February.
Due to a provision on agricultural funding, the country could have lost some of its previously negotiated repayment from the budget, costing it about an annual 200 to 300 million euros, a diplomat from a major EU country said.
The issue left London up against Paris, which would have to pay for the bulk of the shortfall otherwise, the diplomat said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't allowed to discuss the closed-door talks publicly.
In the end, Van Rompuy said the British concerns were taken on board, since "actually nothing has changed" on the question of Britain's contribution since the February agreement.
French President Francois Hollande said he signed off on the deal and praised the European Parliament for winning more wiggle room on the budget.
The summit was initially meant to focus on finding ways to get more young people employed, and calmly taking stock of EU efforts to stabilize the world's biggest economic bloc now that its deep debt troubles have subsided.
Crucially, the EU budget also includes money for the employment measures that the bloc's leaders addressed at the two-day summit which finishes Friday afternoon. No budget agreement would mean no money for those projects.
Unemployment is at a record high of 11 percent for the EU and 12.2 percent for the 17 member countries that use the euro. It is far worse for the young: Latest figures show almost one in four people aged under 25 in the EU are unemployed. In Greece and Spain, that rate has it hit more than 50 percent.
After the late-night meetings, Hollande said that 6 billion euros for youth jobs will be speeded up and spent over 2014-2015 instead of over 7 years.
In addition he said that there will be two to three times that amount in "European credits" for employment schemes.
Germany argues that governments should focus on reforms instead of new funding, to get growth going again and create more jobs.
Thursday's deal on the budget came hours after EU finance ministers reached a landmark deal determining that banks' shareholders, creditors and holders of large deposits will have to bear the brunt of future bank failures, so that taxpayers don't have to.
The joint rules on how to restructure or wind down banks are a key step toward establishing a so-called banking union for Europe, aimed at restoring stability after a tumultuous few years that have dragged down the global economy.
Angela Charlton and Sylvain Plazy in Brussels and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/2UzYq-9yXPE/EU-leaders-win-breakthrough-on-budget-deal
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June 27, 2013 ? Indium tin oxide (ITO) has become a standard material in light-emitting diodes, flat panel plasma displays, electronic ink and other applications because of its high performance, moisture resistance, and capacity for being finely etched. But indium is also rare and expensive, and it requires a costly deposition process to make opto-electronic devices and makes for a brittle electrode. Replacing indium as the default material in transparent electrodes is a high priority for the electronics industry.
Now, in a paper appearing in APL Materials, a new open-access journal produced by AIP Publishing, researchers report creating a sturdy, transparent, and indium-free electrode from silver (Ag) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) that could replace indium-based electrodes in some applications.
"Silver and titanium are much more abundant than indium in the earth's crust, and so we anticipate that electronic devices based on silver and titanium dioxide would be a more sustainable materials system and be manufactured at a low cost," said T.L. Alford, a professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Arizona State University who led the research.
The TiO2/Ag/TiO2 composite electrode multilayer film the researchers studied has been well characterized in the literature, but the team optimized both the thickness of the silver layer and the manufacturing process so that the multilayer film has a low sheet resistance and high optical transmittance, both properties necessary for high-performance.
The researchers created films with a sheet resistance as low as one sixth of that achieved by previous studies, while maintaining approximately 90 percent optical transmittance. With the choice of an underlying substrate made of polyethylene napthalate (PEN) -- a sturdy polymer used in a variety of applications from bottling carbonated beverages to manufacturing flexible electronics -- the researchers added additional durability.
Because of a less expensive manufacturing process and the wide availability of titanium dioxide, silver and PEN, the new TiO2/Ag/TiO2 thin film could one day help make devices such as electronic displays and solar cells more affordable by replacing more expensive indium-based electrodes.
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ADVANCE FOR WEEKEND EDITIONS, JUNE 22-23 - FILE - In this May 20, 2010 file photo, Lance Armstrong bleeds from a cut under his left eye after crashing during the fifth stage of the Tour of California cycling race in the outskirts of Visalia, Calif. The Tour de France, which starts next Saturday, June 29, 2013, remains a fantastic idea, not old even as it is put into practice for the 100th time. Asking riders to pedal around Western Europe's largest country and up and down some of its tallest mountains for three weeks is zany and whimsical enough to always be interesting. But is the Tour still worth taking seriously as a sports event? (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
ADVANCE FOR WEEKEND EDITIONS, JUNE 22-23 - FILE - In this May 20, 2010 file photo, Lance Armstrong bleeds from a cut under his left eye after crashing during the fifth stage of the Tour of California cycling race in the outskirts of Visalia, Calif. The Tour de France, which starts next Saturday, June 29, 2013, remains a fantastic idea, not old even as it is put into practice for the 100th time. Asking riders to pedal around Western Europe's largest country and up and down some of its tallest mountains for three weeks is zany and whimsical enough to always be interesting. But is the Tour still worth taking seriously as a sports event? (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
PORTO VECCHIO, Corsica (AP) ? The dirty past of the Tour de France came back on Friday to haunt the 100th edition of cycling's showcase race, with Lance Armstrong telling a newspaper he couldn't have won without doping.
Armstrong's interview with Le Monde was surprising on many levels, not least because of his long-antagonistic relationship with the respected French daily that first reported in 1999 that corticosteroids were found in the American's urine as he was riding his way to the first of his seven Tour wins. In response, Armstrong complained he was being persecuted by "vulture journalism, desperate journalism."
Now seemingly prepared to let bygones be bygones, Armstrong told Le Monde he still considers himself the record-holder for Tour victories, even though all seven of his titles were stripped from him last year for doping. He also said his life has been ruined by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency investigation that exposed as lies his years of denials that he and his teammates doped.
The interview was the latest blast from cycling's doping-tainted recent history to rain on the 100th Tour.
Previously, Armstrong's former rival on French roads, 1997 Tour winner Jan Ullrich, confessed to blood-doping for the first time with a Spanish doctor. French media also reported that a Senate investigation into the effectiveness of anti-doping controls pieced together evidence of drug use at the 1998 Tour by Laurent Jalabert, a former star of the race now turned broadcaster.
Not surprising in Armstrong's interview was his claim that it was "impossible" to win the Tour without doping when he was racing. Armstrong already told U.S. television talk show host Oprah Winfrey when he finally confessed this January that doping was just "part of the job" of being a pro cyclist.
The banned hormone erythropoietin, or EPO, wasn't detectable by cycling's doping controls until 2001 and so was widely abused because it prompts the body to produce oxygen-carrying red blood cells, giving a big performance boost to endurance athletes.
Armstrong was clearly talking about his own era, rather than the Tour today. Le Monde reported that he was responding to the question: "When you raced, was it possible to perform without doping?"
"That depends on which races you wanted to win. The Tour de France? No. Impossible to win without doping. Because the Tour is a test of endurance where oxygen is decisive," Le Monde quoted Armstrong as saying. It published the interview in French.
Some subsequent media reports about Le Monde's interview concluded that Armstrong was saying doping is still necessary now, rather than when he was winning the Tour from 1999-2005. That suggestion provoked dismay from current riders, race organizers and the sport's governing body, the International Cycling Union or UCI.
"If he's saying things like he doesn't think that it's possible to win the Tour clean, then he should be quiet ? because it is possible," said American rider Tejay van Garderen of the BMC team.
Asked later by The Associated Press to clarify his comments, Armstrong said on Twitter that he was talking about the period from 1999-2005. He indicated that doping might not be necessary now.
"Today? I have no idea. I'm hopeful it's possible," he tweeted.
In a statement issued before that clarification, UCI President Pat McQuaid called the timing of Armstrong's comments "very sad."
"I can tell him categorically that he is wrong. His comments do absolutely nothing to help cycling," McQuaid said in a statement. "The culture within cycling has changed since the Armstrong era and it is now possible to race and win clean.
"Riders and teams owners have been forthright in saying that it is possible to win clean - and I agree with them."
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