Saturday, June 30, 2012

Trend of Fad: Social Media & Internet Marketing | Giveaway Library

26-week Internet Marketing Plan Blueprint

Author: Massi Karimi

What is Social Media?

The latest buzz around the world is Social Media. Social media is basically a media outlet that you use to communicate through. The growth of social media has been exponential in the past 5 years. New websites with different features and interactive capabilities are being developed constantly. Technology savvy individuals are working towards the new Facebook and Twitter.

The main question that arises now is whether social media is a trend or fad?

The simple answer to that is that social media is a trend and not a fad. The growth and use of social media is becoming very important in today?s society. You use your Facebook and Twitter account to communicate with friends, colleagues, and family and much more.

New Trend in Social Media

The role they have established in our daily lives is becoming larger than ever. They can no longer be categorized as a stage for social interaction. The credibility and trust people have contributed to them has immensely helped their popularity. They can now be seen as media outlets that have become very informative. You can constantly receive information from newspapers, major conferences, and famous personalities. Information can be passed on instantaneously and to millions and millions of people.

In today?s global world, information is only as valuable as to the timing of it. There is no point of receiving important information when it doesn?t reach to you on time.

Internet Marketing

Internet Marketing is a new form of marketing that has catapulted as a result of social media. In simple terms, internet marketing is promoting your website, product, or services over the internet. It is one of the cheapest and highly effective forms of marketing.

Communication and networking are the critical success factors of any business. Build your strategy around internet marketing. When you have a solid base for communication with your customers, then decision making process for your company becomes faster. You will increase your company?s customer intimacy and be better to satisfy their changing needs. Satisfying the demand of your customers will lead to increased profitability. Use internet marketing as a competitive advantage for your company.

Latest Statistics

There are over 95 million Tweets per day, and 700 billion minutes per month being spent on Facebook. By establishing internet marketing as a part of your overall strategy you can market yourself to those statistics. Internet marketing is the gateway to success in the future.

Understanding the importance of these numbers and developing a sound strategy on how to take full advantage of them will set you and your company apart from others.

Conclusion

Social media is a trend with increasing role in our society. Internet marketing is helping small businesses and entrepreneurs that lack advertisement budget to compete with larger companies.

Internet marketing has increased competition between companies. Realizing the importance of internet marketing and how to use it to your advantage will set your company apart from others in the future. The sooner you are able to implement an internet marketing strategy in your company the sooner you will be able to reap the benefits.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/international-marketing-articles/trend-of-fad-social-media-internet-marketing-4404894.html

About the Author

Massi Karimi

Business Development & Marketing

http://www.blackthornbookkeeping.com

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Source: http://giveawaylibrary.com/trend_of_fad_social_media__internet_marketing/

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Source: http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10150984483377856&id=262971987855

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Digital Media Agency India - Spotlight Shifted to Digital Marketing


by Shailendra Singh
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Digital Media Agency India More Details about Digital Media Agency India here.

Digital marketing has been hogging all the limelight off late now since the time TV and other electronic devices have been used. But now digital marketing has been used more and more widely and it is now focused all its attention on the internet where all the major companies highlight their brand. This new change has ushered in because everyone is utilizing their energies on the internet and is promoting their brand online. As by promoting their brand online they would receive a wider and a larger audience.

Digital marketing basically focuses on utilizing the electronic or digital medium to market or publicize the manufactured goods through several medium and several tools. These tools are banner ads, web blogs on websites, social media promotion, maintaining the online reputation, and by using search engine optimization.

Internet advertising has been widely used by people to advance their reputation in the industry and various organizations, agencies, portals and consultancies have established their presence in the online media. These portals provide various online marketing services like they prepare an outline for marketing strategies for various companies and they even consult with them and give them advice on various issues.

Search Engine Optimization has been admired a lot in the industry and digital marketing services are also used in the internet to promote one's business. With the usage of Google ad words the world promotes their brand in a new and innovative way. These services target the audience and make advertisements in such a manner that the audience relates to them. The movements of the ad words can be changed and altered and its effects can be calculated accordingly.

There are a number of social media optimization services that includes Facebook, Twitter, Flicker, LinkedIn, YouTube etc. and they have created a rage in the digital marketing industry. Even the large promotion companies and individuals are focusing on targeting the digital marketing services. Social websites like Facebook and MySpace have been greatly admired by the digital marketing medium. A wide number of digital media agency India who would help you get the right website for your business.

Pay per click advertisement is one such online promotional tool where the customer uses the pay per click scheme. PPC India is a great option that you can choose for your company or your product. PPC India uses the advertisement and gets various keywords and key phrases on this basis. With the help of the advertisements and online promotion on the internet one can search their brand on various search engines like MSN, Google or Yahoo. The client benefits from the traffic flow that is happening on their brand. So make more money by promoting your brand with digital media agency India in the right manner.

JumpHigher Global is a SEO Company in Delhi offering PPC India and digital media agency India services at very affordable price.

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Contact the Author

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More Details about Digital Media Agency India here.

Digital Media Agency India

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Source: http://www.ideamarketers.com/?articleid=3360084

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Advertising Bans Work: Quebec Has Lowest Childhood Obesity Rate

June 29th, 2012 by Len Saunders

From Care2?..

?Two all beef patties special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onions in a sesame seed bun?? I can still remember the jingle, word for word, from being exposed to those Big Mac commercials as a child. But does childhood exposure to fast food advertising have an impact beyond giving us a horrible ear worm for life? Recent research suggests that it does.

The province of Quebec in Canada has the lowest childhood obesity rates in the country despite having one of the most sedentary lifestyles. How is that possible? A study by Tirtha Dhar and Kathy Baylis found that Quebec?s 32 year ban on advertising to children led to an estimated:

- US $88 million annual reduction in expenditures on fast food
- 13.4 billion to 18.4 billion fewer fast food calories being consumed per year

The study also found that patterns established in childhood carried into adulthood, with French speaking young adults in Quebec being 38% less likely to purchase fast food than French speaking young adults in Ontario (where there is no advertising ban).

Parents should ?just say no?

This study provides further proof that advertising works. It also demonstrates that parents whose children are constantly begging for fast food (after being exposed to ads) end up purchasing fast food more frequently than parents whose children are not exposed to advertising. Many people say that those parents should ?just say no? and take some personal responsibility. Perhaps that is true, but is that the best we can do as a society?

To read the full story?..Click here

Entry Filed under: Health / Fitness Articles

Source: http://www.lensaunders.com/wp/?p=1780

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U.S. investigating Google unit over patent licensing

WASHINGTON | Fri Jun 29, 2012 11:59pm BST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. antitrust regulators are investigating whether Google (GOOG.O) unit Motorola Mobility is living up to licensing commitments made when its patents were adopted as industry standards, two people familiar with the probe said on Friday.

The Federal Trade Commission sent civil investigative demands, essentially civil subpoenas, to companies this week asking them about Motorola Mobility's licensing practices, one person said.

The industry standards affected have to do with Wi-Fi and video standards, one of the people said.

Motorola Mobility has sued Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) for infringement of industry standard patents and asked for its Xbox product to be barred from the U.S. market.

Standard-setting bodies meet periodically to determine which technology will be used industry-wide, which ensures devices will work together. Companies who hold those patents commit to licensing them broadly and on reasonable terms, even to competitors.

"We take our commitments to license on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms very seriously," a Google spokeswoman said in an email when asked about the probe.

A spokeswoman for Microsoft confirmed receipt of the FTC inquiry but declined to describe what was in it. Apple Inc (AAPL.O) declined comment on whether it received a similar inquiry.

The FTC declined to comment.

The FTC also has a broader investigation underway into whether Google distorts its search results to steer people to its related businesses, like Google Places. The agency recently hired a big name litigator, Beth Wilkinson, to lead its probe.

Bloomberg was the first to report the Motorola patent investigation on Friday.

(Reporting By Diane Bartz and Poornima Gupta; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/UKTechnologyNews/~3/IRdMxZSfJ3s/us-google-standards-ftc-idUKBRE85S1K320120629

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Polywell Poly i1000A-3770T


Looks can be deceiving. Or big things come in little packages. These, along with countless other aphorisms, can be applied to the Polywell Poly i1000A-3770T ($899 direct), the latest in Polywell's line of small-form-factor desktops. There's plenty of muscle inside its super-compact chassis, particularly its mighty quad-core Intel Core i7-3770T processor. Of course, this firepower comes at a price: At just a shade under $900, the Poly i1000A costs $100 more than our current Editors' Choice for compact desktop PCs, the Apple Mac mini (Thunderbolt) ($799 list, 4.5 stars). Adding insult to injury, it ships with neither a keyboard nor a mouse (but then again, neither does the Mac mini). That said, its benchmark scores ultimately justify its price and challenge the notion that small-form-factor systems must necessarily compromise performance. For all these reasons, this scrappy underdog justly earns the Editors' Choice for small-form-factor desktops.

Design and Features

Measuring 8.2 by 2.9 by 7.9 inches (HWD) with the included stand (and 7.7 by 1.6 by 7.9 inches without it), the Poly i1000A's slender jet-black metallic chassis is so streamlined that most folks passing by in the Labs (justifiably) assumed it was a router. For all intents and purposes, it's almost identical in minimalist appearance to the Polywell Poly i2303 i5-2467M ($899 direct, 2.5 stars). The i1000A can attribute its compact chassis to the lack of an internal optical drive; those who need (or want) one would likely be better served by either the Acer Aspire AX1930 ($499 list, 3 stars) or the Polywell Poly ITX-Z6800 ($999 street, 3 stars).

Like the Poly i2303, the Poly i1000A is light on the frivolities. Aside from a negligible Polywell logo on the system's left side, everything on the chassis serves a practical function. The air vents located on the body's top, bottom, and sides quietly keep the system cool, and the ports have been judiciously arranged in order to accommodate as many as possible on such a tiny surface area. The i1000A's front panel has three USB 2.0 ports and an SD card reader. On the rear are two additional USB 2.0 ports, dual USB 3.0 ports, an eSATA port, an Ethernet port, HDMI and DVI outputs, audio and microphone jacks, and an RF jack for the included the wireless antennae (it isn't a router, after all).

Given its incredibly slim profile, it comes as no surprise that the i1000A yields minimal room to accommodate internal upgrades; that would be akin to jamming the complete Encyclopedia Britannica into a stuffed suitcase. At least Polywell ships the i1000A in a number of customizable configurations, so you can outfit it with your desired components at the outset.

A critical shortcoming that curdled our enthusiasm for the Poly i2303 and Poly ITX-Z6800 was the frustrating dual-drive configuration both systems utilized. Each came equipped with a supplemental 20GB solid-state drive (SSD) that theoretically facilitated quick boot-up speeds. But in practice, the glaring scarcity of available storage space on the SSD nearly precluded each system from fully operating, in effect creating a virtual straitjacket. Thankfully, the i1000A solves this problem by supplementing its 5400rpm 500GB HDD with a more generous 120GB SSD.

Another satisfying aspect of the Poly i1000A is the total absence of bloatware, as is often the case when purchasing a system from a custom outfit like Polywell. As soon as you plug it in (and find a mouse and keyboard), the Poly i1000A hits the ground running. The gratifying feeling of being able to use the system right out of the box instead of first uninstalling a load of unnecessary software is difficult to overstate.

Performance
Polywell Poly i1000A-3770T

With a few exceptions, the Poly i1000A almost uniformly outgunned other systems in its class. This hardly comes as a surprise, given its potent combination of a quad-core Intel Core i7-3770T processor (with integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000) and 8GB of DDR3 RAM. Its impressive Futuremark PCMark 7 score of 5,412 blew the rest out of the water, with the closest runner-up, the Poly ITX-Z6800 (3,662), falling considerably short. Meanwhile, both the Acer Aspire AX1930 (2,371) and Apple Mac mini (Thunderbolt) (1,936) were effectively lapped by the i1000A as well. As far as multimedia creation, the Poly i1000A towered above its peers, cranking out our Handbrake video-encoding test in a brisk 1 minute 11 seconds. The next best performer, the Poly ITX-Z6800, took 17 seconds longer (1:28) The others were completely left in the i1000A's dust, including the Apple Mac mini (Thunderbolt) (1:42). Likewise, the i1000A screamed through our CineBench R11.5 test with a score of 6.30, placing it well ahead of the Poly ITX-Z6800 (5.64) and, to a more pronounced extent, the others. The i1000A churned out our Photoshop CS5 test in 3 minutes 3 seconds, markedly faster than both the Aspire AX1930 (3:37) and the Mac mini (Thunderbolt) (3:47), while the rest of the class couldn't even complete this test.

Polywell Polu i1000A-3770T

The i1000A didn't completely shame the competition, however. Its 3DMark 11 score of 1,200 on the Entry preset was in second place behind the Mac mini (Thunderbolt)'s 1,542, but its Extreme score of 201 landed it towards the lower end of the pack, between the Poly i2303 (215) and the Poly ITX-Z6800 (188).

The i1000A also stumbled on gaming. It churned out an almost-playable 25 frames per second (fps) in Crysis with Medium detail settings, well behind the Apple Mac mini (Thunderbolt) (48fps) and slightly behind both the Poly i2303 (27fps) and the Poly ITX-Z6800 (29fps). The i1000A fared better on our Lost Planet 2 benchmark test, pumping out 18fps and finishing right behind the pack-leading Mac mini (Thunderbolt) (19fps). All systems unsurprisingly fared equally poorly when we increased the resolution and the settings to High, an understandable outcome given the fact that they weren't designed with gaming in mind.

As far as small-form-factor desktops go, the Polywell Poly i1000A-3770T is as agile as they come. By remedying the disproportionately allocated dual-drive setup that had plagued its previous systems and packing a quad-core Intel Core i7-3770T processor into the i1000A, Polywell has delivered a system that handily outperforms others in its class. That's why, despite its shortcomings, it earns our Editors' Choice award for small-form-factor desktops and further proves that big things can indeed come in small packages. Just be sure to bring a keyboard and mouse along with your own aphorism.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Polywell Poly i1000A-3770T with several other desktops side by side.

More desktop reviews:
??? Polywell Poly i1000A-3770T
??? Samsung Series 3 Chromebox (XE300M22)
??? Sony VAIO L24 (SVL24114FXB)
??? HP Pavilion p7-1225
??? Origin Genesis (i7-3930k)
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/YUz8Lfd5Zhs/0,2817,2406505,00.asp

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British-Australian woman set for Cuba-Florida swim

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/british-australian-woman-set-cuba-florida-swim-011457207--spt.html

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iowahawkblog: LSP Energy. Energy Conservation Devices. Unisolar. Azure Dynamics. Evergreen Solar. Fisker (pending) #ObamaGreenEnergyGraveyard

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Source: http://twitter.com/iowahawkblog/statuses/218474691340410880

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Apple staff in Chinese factories labouring under deplorable work conditions

Beijing News.net Friday 29th June, 2012

Workers at Apple factories in China have complained of experiencing 'deplorable' conditions, a Chinese labour rights watchdog has claimed.

China Labor Watch (CLW) said a four-month investigation of 10 suppliers to Apple in southern and eastern China uncovered violations of workers' rights, including excessive overtime and hazardous work conditions.

According to the watchdog, other problems comprised inadequate trade unions, excessive use of agency labour, poor food and routine cheating of overtime pay, The Independent reports.

The organisations also revealed that the investigation in factories based in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Jiangsu Province showed abuses exist across Apple's Chinese suppliers and are worse at non-Foxconn factories.

Apple had earlier admitted it had a human rights problem at its biggest Chinese supplier, Foxconn, in February when it launched an investigation by the Fair Labour Association following the suicide or attempted suicide of 13 Foxconn staff.

The FLA found 'serious and pressing' concerns over excessive working hours, unpaid overtime and health and safety failings.

CLW revealed that workers at Apple factories could take off one day a month, but, sometimes during peak demand, they worked every day for several months.

All the factories except Foxconn City made heavy use of short-term 'despatched labour', whose pay and conditions were worse than contracted staff, the watchdog said. (ANI)

Source: http://www.beijingnews.net/index.php?sid/207040659/scat/55582c89cb296d4c

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3DS Mod - Guidance For Buying Real Estate In The Okanagan

Spring is here in Vernon BC.

While several components of Canada remain shivering and shoveling, daytime temperature in the North Okanagan city have settled above 0 Celsius. Flowers are poking from the ground, kids are cleaning off their bikes and are individuals are shooting upwards their barbecues.

The break in the weather has people hunting to buy property in areas Click Here . Long a popular vacation destination for Canadians searching for sun and soil without exiting their own country, the Okanagan is viewing more persons from the oil field hotbeds of Alberta and Saskatchewan getting homes there to allow them to have a permanent area to remain ? whether for a limited days or maybe a limited months.

And thats good information for realtors in Vernon, Armstrong, Lake Country as well as the sleep of the North Okanagan. According to reports introduced by the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board, there have been 91 attributes available in areas in February. That showed a modest heighten from the 81 sales in January, yet a drop from the 109 sales in February 2010.

These symptoms point to the provinces property sales appearing from the recession of recent years.

That has dealers in the North Okanagan, and further south in Kelowna and Penticton, feeling more positive regarding putting their homes in the industry. The property marketplace upwards and down the Okanagan Valley looks to be waking from its yearly wintertime slowdown in anticipation of another hot and busy summer.

Theres furthermore good information for buyers.

The average cost of the house for deal was $377,500 in February ? down 23% from the February 2010 average cost of $492,417. With a normal time to sell to arrive at 122 days ? regarding four months ? signing up with a Realtor now can view the offer done soon enough for summer holidays!

A little preparation now usually allow these phones invest more than just a limited days enjoying Okanagan lakes, beaches, wineries, trekking, cycling along with other attractions.

Here are some techniques to boost the risk for complete procedure go smoothly:

  • Hire a realtor. Their riches of experience, technical knowledge and knowledge with the community are invaluable, and is by far the most significant house looking tip you can use.
  • Get pre-approved for financing. Visit how much you can afford by getting your mortgage amount pre-approved. This avoids disappointments and lost time hunting at attributes which are out of your cost range.
  • Ask many queries. Confer with your property agent and dont be nervous to inquire about the difficult queries when viewing attributes.
  • Stay organized. Youll be hunting at a great deal of homes in individual, in the paper and on the Online, and it may be difficult to keep the facts straight. Take photos of your favorite homes and attributes, making notes that will assist you narrow the search.

Tags: Click Here, Real Estate Listings Vernon, Vernon Real Estate

Source: http://3dsmod.net/index.php/2012/06/guidance-for-buying-real-estate-in-the-okanagan-16/

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U.S. To Mexico Weekly Livestock Export Summary

USDA ??|?? Updated: June 28, 2012

AL_LS635???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Las?Cruces,?NM????Thu,?Jun?28,?2012???USDA?Market?News?????????????????????????
US?to?Mexico?Weekly?Livestock?Export?Summary???????????????????????????????????
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
???????????????????????????Current?????Previous???Current?????Previous?????????
????????????????????????????Week?????????Week??????Y-T-D????????Y-T-D*?????????
Species???????????????????6/23/2012????6/16/2012???????????????????????????????
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Dairy?totals?include?61?head?of?Canadian?Dairy.????????????????????????????????
Hog?totals?include?968?head?of?Canadian?Hogs.??????????????????????????????????

Beef?Cattle????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
???Slaughter??????????????????????0???????????0????????0???????????0???????????
???Breeding?Males????????????????23???????????0??????318?????????356???????????
???Breeding?Females??????????????27???????????0????1,005?????????463???????????
???Total?Beef?Cattle?????????????50???????????0????1,323?????????819???????????

Hogs???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
???Slaughter??????????????????????0???????????0????????0???????????0???????????
???Breeding?Males???????????????108???????????0????1,157?????????555???????????
???Breeding?Females?????????????575?????????161????9,999???????3,133???????????
???Total?Hogs???????????????????683?????????161???11,156???????3,688???????????

Sheep??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
???Slaughter?Lambs????????????????0???????????0????????0???????????0???????????
???Slaughter?Ewes?????????????????0???????????0????????0???????8,925???????????
???Breeding?Males?????????????????0???????????0????????0??????????21???????????
???Breeding?Females???????????????0???????????0????????6???????????7???????????
???Total?Sheep????????????????????0???????????0????????6???????8,953???????????

Dairy?Cattle???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
???Breeding?Males?????????????????0???????????0???????18??????????18???????????
???Breeding?Females??????????????40???????????0????2,677???????6,975???????????
???Total?Dairy?Cattle????????????40???????????0????2,695???????6,993???????????

Goats??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
???Angora?????????????????????????0???????????0????????0???????????0???????????
???Spanish????????????????????????0???????????0????????0???????????0???????????
???Other??????????????????????????0???????????0????????0???????????0???????????
???Total?Goats????????????????????0???????????0????????0???????????0???????????

Horses?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
???Slaughter??????????????????2,191???????2,305???44,741??????28,336???????????
???Breeding?Males????????????????36??????????52????1,496???????1,582???????????
???Breeding?Females??????????????42??????????41????1,802???????2,219???????????
???Geldings???????????????????????8???????????9??????442?????????379???????????
???Burro/Mule/Pony???????????????17???????????8??????128??????????38???????????
???Total?Horses???????????????2,294???????2,415???48,609??????32,554???????????

Exotics???????????????????????????0???????????2??????108?????????178???????????

Grand?Total?All?Species???????3,067???????2,578???63,897??????53,185???????????

Source:???USDA?Market?News?Service,?Las?Cruces,?NM?????????????????????????????
??????????John?Langenegger?(575)527-6861??FAX(575)527-6868?????????????????????
??????????LasCruces.LGMN@ams.usda.gov??????????????????????????????????????????
??????????www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/AL_LS635.txt?????????????????

0821M?LG?????????????

Source: http://www.cattlenetwork.com/cattle-news/markets/feeder-cattle/U-S--To-Mexico-Weekly-Livestock-Export-Summary-166796-160696355.html

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Dr. John Ebersole: Why Does College Cost So Much?

Between 1997-2007, home prices increased by nearly 70 percent. In that same period, college costs grew even more rapidly, by over 80 percent. As a result, average student loan debt has grown to over $25,000. The total amount owed exceeds our country's collective credit card debt. What is going on?

There is neither a single nor a simple reason for the exploding cost of college. Quality higher education has always been relatively expensive. In fact, it is often more costly to deliver than what is paid by tuition. Research, philanthropy, and, for public institutions, tax dollars make up the difference. However, cash-strapped states are now reducing their support to either meet other needs or to just balance their budgets. As a result, students and their parents are having to pay more -- much more in many cases -- to cover the formerly subsidized costs of instruction. But this shift in support, from tax payers to students, doesn't tell the full story. Tuition and fees are growing at private institutions, as well.

Little noticed is the fact that an increasing number of new federal, state, college system and accreditor requirements are being imposed upon institutions of higher education. According to the American Council on Education, over 150 new rules, regulations and requirements became effective after the 2008 reauthorization of the federal Higher Education Act. Some of the most onerous and costly of these went live in July of 2011.

An example is the U.S. Department of Education's so called "program integrity" rules and the DOE's willingness to withhold Title IV financial aid from students if host institutions do not comply with a growing list of federal requirements. These extend to requiring every institution that offers an online program to seek "authorization" from 54 separate jurisdictions, even if they have but a single student in one of these jurisdictions. While such "authorization" may allow the institutions to cross a state line for purposes of Internet-delivered instruction, it does not permit them to recruit, advertise, meet, or be "physically present." Those actions require a separate process of "registration." In some states, this process requires the review of hundreds, if not thousands, of documents, fees that can run over $100,000, a site visit, and can take over a year to complete. These rules apply to all, public and private, for profit and non-profit institutions. Between fees (which are increasing as several states seek new income), labor and specialized expertise, the cost of compliance for all institutions has risen to an estimated $500,000,000, all of which can be expected to be passed on in future tuition increases. The alternative is for students to lose their eligibility for Pell Grants and Stafford loans.

Other requirements include the submission of all proposed certificate programs to the Secretary of Education for approval; requiring instruction to be measured by clock hours or "seat time" (imagine doing this online); filing reports on campus crime and student alcohol use when there is no physical campus; and so forth. When combined with other new state and local regulations, institutions have been required to hire additional administrators and compliance officers to ensure that they are not in violation of these various rules.

While federal courts have recently ruled against the Department of Education in regard to some elements of these rules, the "genie" is nonetheless "out-of-the-bottle." Nothing in either the initial or appellate rulings limit states from persisting in their various requirements, nor from issuing "cease and desist orders" to those who fail to comply.

College leaders do need to do a better job of reducing the expense associated with going to college. Passing the costs of lost subsidies or budget increases along to students in the form of higher tuition and fees is not sustainable. Yet, these leaders are going to need help from the politicians, law makers, and bureaucrats who have failed to see the connection between over-regulation and the rising cost of higher education. Informed analysis suggests that most of the new federal regulations have been imposed as a result of the actions of very few. However, rather than employing existent powers to deal with such miscreants, ideologues within the administration have elected to proceed down the regulatory path in search of evil for-profit institutions while, ala Dick Cheney, spraying all of higher education with their "bird shot."

?

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-john-ebersole/college-tuition-rise-costs_b_1635834.html

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What Is Acute Myelogenous Leukemia, the Cancer That Struck Nora Ephron?

Ask the Experts | Health

The When Harry Met Sally screenwriter recently succumbed to this enigmatic form of cancer, but there are new treatments in the pipeline


cancer, leukemia,disease, bloodBRAVE FACE: Nora Ephron at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival. She was first diagnosed in 2006 with a type of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a category of blood diseases also referred to as "preleukemia." This later progressed to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Image: Courtesy of David Shankbone, via Wikimedia Commons

Nora Ephron's final act played out in Manhattan on June 26 where the 71-year-old writer and movie director died from pneumonia brought on by acute myeloid leukemia (AML), one of the most common types of leukemia among adults. AML is a cancer caused when abnormal cells grow inside bone marrow and interfere with the production of healthy blood cells. The marrow eventually stops working correctly, leaving a person with an increased risk of bleeding and infections.

Ephron?best known for writing When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle?was first diagnosed in 2006 with one of the myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a category of blood diseases also referred to as "preleukemia" that can progress into AML if the bone marrow continually fails to produce enough healthy platelets, red blood cells and white blood cells over time. MDS made headlines recently when ABC's Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts announced she has been diagnosed with the disease.

Some types of leukemia, including AML, develop as a result of exposure to certain chemicals (including herbicides and pesticides), chemotherapy drugs (such as etoposide and a class of drugs known as alkylating agents) and radiation. Typically, however, a doctor is unable to pinpoint the exact cause in individual cases.

Although estimates vary, there are between 10,000 and 12,000 new cases of MDS in the U.S. annually. More than 80 percent of all MDS patients are older than 60. The National Cancer Institute projects that 13,780 men and women?7,350 men and 6,430 women?will be diagnosed with AML and that 10,200 men and women will die of the malady this year.

Scientific American spoke with Bart Scott, a medical oncologist specializing in the treatment of patients with MDS, about syndrome's progression to AML, who is most at risk for this cancer and whether there are any promising treatments on the horizon. Scott is also director of hematology and hematologic malignancies at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and an assistant member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center's clinical research division.

[An edited transcript of the interview follows.]

What is the typical trajectory for this form of cancer?
The trajectory of myelodysplastic syndrome is highly dependent upon two factors?the bone marrow myeloblast count and the cytogenetics. [A myeloblast is an immature blood cell that will eventually develop into a type of white blood cell.] The higher the bone marrow myeloblast count is at time of diagnosis the more likely a patient is to progress to acute myeloid leukemia. In general, the more abnormal the cytogenetics [a cell's hereditary and functionalm characteristics] are the more likely a patient is to progress to AML, but there are certain abnormalities that have a good prognosis.

Who are the typical victims of this form of leukemia?
The median age of diagnosis of MDS is 72, it is slightly more common in men than women, and there is a correlation between incidence and age. I would say that Ephron's course does seem consistent with MDS progression to AML.

What are the risk factors for this cancer?
They are based on increasing age as well as certain environmental exposures like pesticides and herbicides. This is not casual contact?we are talking about prolonged, persistent exposure. The amount of exposure required to cause the disease is unknown, however.

Given that Ephron lived most of her life in New York City, whose residents are not typically exposed to inordinately large amounts of pesticides or herbicides, what might account for her condition?
Some researchers have tried to understand MDS in terms of clustering, although there is very little clustering data available. The idea is to understand whether MDS tends to cluster in areas of higher exposure to certain toxic agents. In 2007 Xiaomei Ma [an associate professor of epidemiology the Yale School of Public Health] and a team of researchers published a paper in Leukemia Research regarding this phenomenon. They found that cases of MDS in Connecticut were clustered near the western border. In general, clustering supports the idea that environmental exposure is contributory to the development of a disease. This is the only paper that I know of that has demonstrated clustering in MDS.

We are doing a similar study in the state of Washington. Hanford Site is a nuclear production complex near the Tri-Cities area in southeastern Washington [encompassing Kennewick, Pasco and Richland]. We are looking to see if there is clustering in the Tri-Cities area. But these studies are difficult given the mobility of the area's population, unknown exposure time and any delay in the development of MDS after exposure.

What is the usual treatment?
There are three FDA approved treatments. One is azacitidine, approved by the FDA in 2004 and marketed as Vidaza. Decitabine, sold as Dacogen and approved in 2010 to treat MDS, is another option. [The FDA's oncologic drugs advisory panel in February, however, recommended against the approval of Dacogen to treat older patients with AML. The drug's maker wants FDA approval to use Dacogen in AML patients 65 years and older and who are not considered good candidates for high-dose chemotherapy as an initial treatment for AML.] The third is lenalidomide, also known as Revlimid and introduced in 2004.

However, the only curative treatment is stem cell transplantation. Stem cells are infused just like a blood transfusion. Sources of stem cells include cord blood cells, peripheral blood mobilized stem cells or bone marrow. Success depends on the stage of disease. The one-year treatment related mortality is approximately 20 percent. If patients are transplanted in an early stage of the disease, we have a success rate of 80 percent.

Are there any promising treatments in late-stage testing?
Yes, there are several drugs being investigated in phase II and phase III trials. We currently have a phase III trial open with a drug called rigosertib for patients who have failed prior treatment with azacitidine or decitabine, which are known as demethylating agents. The proposed mechanism of action for these drugs is that they alter gene expression profiles in the cancer cells and increase their susceptibility to death. Rigosertib is a cell cycle inhibitor and would prevent the cancer cells from growing and induce direct damage to the cancer cells, causing their death.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=920d74b7be2c0b0108d262bd8a7ac2c2

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5 Things I Was Never Told About Pregnancy ? Live, Love, Leslie

by L.J. Acker & filed under My Life, Parenthood.

I am four months pregnant with my first child. I?m one of four children and I have a huge family with dozens of cousins. Yet, somehow, in the midst of breeding rabbits I was never told some mysterious and ugly things about pregnancy. Here?s my list so far. I may follow up with more things as my pregnancy progresses.

1. Heightened Sense of Smell

The first thing that I noticed was my increased sense of smell. One would think, ?Oh yes, this would be nice to have so I can experience flavors and scents in all of their glory!? No. This is not what happens. What happened to me is that every unpleasant smell is magnified 10 times making it horrible, unbearable, and vomit worthy.

For example, I would be on the other side of the house and I could smell in the kitchen my husband, Mr J, pouring hot water onto dog food for our 15 year old dog so that she could better chew her chow. The second I smelled this ungodly concoction, I would jump up and down insisting he remove it from my presence immediately. Our poor aging pup, Peaches, had been banished to the front porch to eat her hot meal. Even with the door closed, I could smell the food, so we just stopped that and opted to buy soft food instead.

2. Bathroom Troubles

Perhaps, for good reason, I had never been told of this otherwise disgusting subject by my pregnant friends and family. One day, I found myself sitting on the commode, praying for relief, and then the next day I?m hoping that whatever goes in doesn?t splash violently back up. There isn?t enough fiber in the world to help what you?ve got going on in your bowels. Pregnancy pushes a gal into playing bowel movement roulette and I?m hoping I don?t lose the gamble for the day.

3. Emotional Roller Coaster Ride

I?m a pretty emotionally stable person. I usually opt for the sunny side of life and I like to think that I deal with life?s ups and downs with grace and poise. However, with pregnancy, I have discovered a whole new side of myself that can go from the Incredible Hulk type rage to Whinny The Pooh type softness.

In the car the other day, I was going along flipping through radio stations. I landed on a French commercial that just grated my nerves. I couldn?t stand the sound of the guy?s voice, which got me into ranting about how horrible French commercials are because of this strange breathy way they speak. Normally, I would never care to notice, nor comment, but this commercial just got me going from zero to sixty on the irritated scale with a rant on French commercial culture. No sooner than five minutes later, I hear Outkast?s ?Hey Ya!? on the radio and I?m tearing up, thinking of all the wonderful memories I had in college and with my friends at university.

4. Extreme Hunger and Cravings

Well, I had heard about cravings, like pickles and ice cream at two in the morning. My mom had pica during her pregnancy with my twin set of brothers. I didn?t realize that this hunger is a type of hunger I?ve never felt before. This type of hunger is specific. It?s like a ?If I don?t get something to eat right now ? and not just anything mind you, the most complicated, difficult thing to find right now ? then I was destroy a Japanese city like Godzilla!?

I remember I had to have Mexican food, but not just any Mexican food; a specific type of dish, with guacamole made just right, with spices that came from Mexico itself. We live in the French alps. Finding Mexican food isn?t nearly as simple as finding a taco joint in San Diego. I was beside myself with tears because I just had to have a fajita made just so or it would be the end of me and all humanity. Mr J, the fast actor, googled a Mexican restaurant in a neighboring village, got me in the car, and eating fajitas in record time. Let?s just say, he?s become an expert in food crisis management.

5. Slug Mode

I?m an active person. Reading, writing, working, managing my home and family. It?s all very natural for me to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Then, it seemed out of nowhere that there were days that my body was saying with a horrible sense of what felt like a hangover without any of the fun the night before, ?Hold it right there! You?re on house arrest!? I?ve heard family and friends say, ?Take it easy.? But I thought they meant, don?t go 100 miles an hour, instead go 50 miles an hour. I found myself going nowhere fast thanks to the nausea.

Just walking my dogs around the neighborhood was out of the question. Sitting at my work desk was an unsurmountable task. Even thinking about nothing was just too much work for me. So, there were days when I found myself on the lounger watching movies I?ve seen 50 times before. All I could muster was a shower, a change of clothes, and meals. I?d like to think my days are getting better and better, but I still find myself randomly crawling into bed in the middle of the afternoon to gather my strength to finish the day.

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Tags: humor, parenting, pregnancy


Source: http://liveloveleslie.com/2012/06/28/things-i-was-never-told-about-pregnancy/

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Android design chief, Matias Duarte, would love to work with RIM on Android devices

Android design chief, Matias Duarte, would love to work with RIM on Android devices


Not that it wasn?t expected after yesterday?s earnings call, but other company execs are saying they?d be willing to have RIM come over to their ?dark? side if temptation strikes. Matias Duarte, head of design for Android at Google, said yesterday at Google I/O that he would love to work with RIM to create a great Android phone with a RIM-quality keyboard ? something that users have been clamouring for in recent years.

?If RIM wanted to work on Android devices, I would really welcome that. They clearly make great physical keyboards,? he told ABC News. ?I think there is a place for [physical keyboards] ? it?s all about choice and different types of devices. I would love, personally, to have a portrait oriented device, like we made at Palm.? Before coming to Google, Duarte worked as the design lead on many innovative products, including the hardware-sporting Palm Pre.

The question really is whether there is still a market for QWERTY devices; the proliferation of accurate soft keyboards like SwiftKey and BlackBerry 10?s upcoming solution, are making hardware keyboards a thing of the past. Sure, the average business person may still prefer plucking away at a BlackBerry Bold 9900 than an iPhone, but that is quickly changing.

Despite the delay until Q1 2013, RIM is on track to bring a QWERTY BB10 device to market by the first part of next year, barring any further delays. Portrait Android devices like the Motorola Pro+ and HTC Status were met with tepid responses, so perhaps it?s best that hardware devices slowly go away.

What do you think? Would you buy a QWERTY Android device if RIM designed it?

Source: ABC News

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Michelle Obama Cites Jesus as Model for Citizenship

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/michelle-obama-cites-jesus-model-citizenship-155359755--abc-news-politics.html

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United Technologies sent military copter tech to China

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - United Technologies Corp on Thursday admitted selling China software that helped Beijing develop its first modern military attack helicopter, one of hundreds of export control violations over nearly two decades.

At a federal court hearing in Bridgeport, Connecticut, United Technologies and its two subsidiaries, Pratt & Whitney Canada and Hamilton Sundstrand Corp, agreed to pay more than $75 million to the U.S. government to settle criminal and administrative charges related to the violations.

As part of the settlement, Pratt & Whitney Canada pleaded guilty to two federal criminal charges - violating a U.S. export control law and making false statements.

Federal prosecutors said the company knew that its export of modified software to China would allow Beijing to test and develop its new military helicopter, called the Z-10, using 10 engines that had been legally exported as commercial items.

They said the company's motive was to gain access to China's lucrative civilian helicopter market.

"P&WC exported controlled U.S. technology to China, knowing it would be used in the development of a military attack helicopter in violation of the U.S. arms embargo with China," said U.S. Attorney David Fein of Connecticut.

"P&WC took what it described internally as a ?calculated risk,' because it wanted to become the exclusive supplier for a civil helicopter market in China with projected revenues of up to $2 billion," Fein said.

The case comes amid growing U.S. concerns about China's military expansion and escalating electronic espionage.

Federal authorities have brought five major cases since last February, involving everything from drone technology to radiation-hardened computers used in satellite communications.

SLAP ON THE WRIST?

United Technologies said it accepted full responsibility for the violations and deeply regretted that they had occurred. It said it had already spent $30 million to beef up export controls and had hired more than 1,000 full and part-time employees to address the issue.

"These violations revealed important opportunities to strengthen our export compliance program," United Technologies Chief Executive Louis Chenevert said in a statement, adding that both the Justice and State departments had recognized the company's "significant remedial actions."

Fein said the penalties were substantial, but analysts said they amounted to a slap on the wrist for a major global industrial conglomerate with annual revenues of $58.1 billion.

Hamilton Sundstrand and Pratt & Whitney Canada also admitted that they had failed to make timely disclosures, required by regulations, to the U.S. State Department about the exports.

The government said the $75 million settlement included $20.7 million in criminal fines, forfeitures and other penalties to be paid to the Justice Department, and $55 million in payments to the State Department as part of a consent agreement resolving 576 administrative export control violations.

"The Justice Department will spare no effort to hold accountable those who compromise U.S. national security for the sake of profits and then lie about it to the government," said Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco.

About $20 million of the State Department fines may be used by the company for improving its export control procedures and hiring an independent monitor, United Technologies said.

As part of the agreement, the U.S. State Department also will impose curbs on new export licenses for Pratt & Whitney Canada, although the company can request licenses on a case-by-case basis. The debarment does not affect the parent company or Hamilton Sundstrand, and the Canadian unit can request full reinstatement in one year.

The company's shares closed $1.56 lower on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, a drop of 2.1 percent. It said it had put money in reserve to cover the payments.

A CAPABLE, MODERN HELICOPTER

Western experts said the Z-10, first delivered to China's People's Liberation Army in 2009, is developing into one of the world's most modern and capable combat helicopters.

Full production of the Z-10 would give China's military unprecedented levels of "aerial artillery" to support an amphibious invasion and subsequent operations against Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own, said Richard Fisher, an expert on China's military use of so-called dual-use technologies.

U.S. authorities said China had been trying to develop a specialized modern military attack helicopter since the 1980s. But since the Chinese government's 1989 crackdown on the pro-democracy movement, the U.S. government has prohibited the export to China of U.S. defense equipment and technology.

The U.S. case against United Technologies said P&WC knew as early as 2000 that China's effort to develop a new helicopter involved a military variant, but repeatedly made false statements about its knowledge.

U.S. authorities said that Pratt & Whitney Canada's initial involvement in the program was to deliver 10 engines to China from Canada in 2001 and 2002. The company believed the engines did not constitute defense equipment subject to the U.S. military embargo on China because the engines were identical to those it was supplying China for commercial helicopters.

The problem arose when Hamilton Sundstrand delivered certain modifications to the engine control software, which allowed China to test and develop the Pratt & Whitney Canada engines as it was developing the new military helicopter.

U.S. authorities say the software modifications were specifically for use on the military program, making them subject to the U.S. military embargo on China.

KNEW FROM OUTSET

According to court documents, Pratt & Whitney Canada allegedly knew from the outset of the Z-10 project in 2000 that China was developing a military helicopter, but failed to notify its U.S. parent and Hamilton Sundstrand until years later.

According to court documents, in one 2001 internal e-mail, a Pratt & Whitney Canada manager said: "We must be very careful that the helicopter programs we are doing with the Chinese are not presented or viewed as military programs. As a result of these sanctions, we need to be very careful with the Z10C program. If the first flight will be a gunship, then we could have problems with the U.S. government."

In the United States, U.S. investigators say, Hamilton Sundstrand believed it was providing its software to Pratt & Whitney Canada for use in a civilian Chinese helicopter, although it learned in 2004 about a possible export law problem and stopped working on the Z-10 program. But authorities say Pratt & Whitney Canada then modified software on its own and continued to export it to China through June 2005.

A law enforcement source said the companies did not even launch an internal inquiry until a non-governmental organization involved in examining "socially responsible" investments in February 2006 asked United Technologies whether Pratt & Whitney Canada's involvement in the Z-10's development might violate U.S. export laws. The group threatened to recommend that investors sell their holdings in UTC.

That investigation led to an initial disclosure, in July 2006, to U.S. authorities about the Z-10 issue.

Analysts said the settlement was a setback for United Technologies, which is trying to transform itself into an aerospace giant. But the penalties are unlikely to affect the company's sales in China, which accounted for almost $10 billion of its 2011 sales.

"It's certainly a black eye," said analyst Jeff Sprague of Vertical Research Partners.

United Tech expects to close in coming weeks on its $16.5 billion acquisition of aircraft components maker Goodrich Corp. It has put three units up for sale, including the industrial arm of the Hamilton Sundstrand division.

Jay DeFrank, a spokesman for Pratt & Whitney, said the company continued to do business in China, but it had launched major efforts to educate all 70,000 employees in United Technologies' aerospace units about export controls.

"China is and remains an important market for UTC and we will continue to do business there in full compliance with the law," he said.

The Obama administration has lent high-level backing to United Technologies' work in China.

Then-Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, now the U.S. ambassador to China, visited a Pratt & Whitney joint venture in Shanghai in May 2010, according to the company's website.

(Additional reporting by Jim Wolf in Washington, Edith Honan in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Nick Zieminski in New York; Editing by Warren Strobel, Bill Trott and Dan Grebler)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/united-technologies-aided-chinas-military-helicopter-175050547.html

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Friday, June 29, 2012

China says plane hijack attempt thwarted

BEIJING- Six members of China?s Uighur minority tried to hijack a plane flying from a restive city in the far-western Xinjiang region on Friday but crew members and passengers thwarted them, authorities said.
The plane returned safely to the airport in Hotan city - which has seen a spate of violent clashes between mainly Muslim Uighurs and police due to simmering ethnic tensions - and the suspects were detained, authorities said. ?The six hijackers are Uighurs,? Hou Hanmin, a spokeswoman for the government of Xinjiang told AFP.
?For the moment, we don?t know the purpose of the hijack. It?s still under investigation,? she said, adding at least seven crew members and passengers had been injured in the incident. The aircraft took off at 12:25 pm (0425 GMT) from Hotan, then 10 minutes into the flight the six suspects tried to ?violently hijack? the plane, according to tianshannet.com, the Xinjiang government?s news website. But crew members and passengers soon brought them under control and the aircraft returned to the city, the website said.
The plane - which belongs to Tianjin Airlines, according to the official Xinhua news agency - had been bound for the Xinjiang capital of Urumqi, it added without providing further details.
Xinjiang is home to around nine million Uighurs, many of whom complain of religious and cultural repression by Chinese authorities - a claim the government denies - and the region is regularly hit by unrest.
Earlier this month, 12 children were injured when police raided an Islamic school in Hotan, amid the crackdown that has also targeted ?illegal? religious activities.
Police said they descended on an ?illegal religious study centre? on June 6 to free children being held there when criminal suspects ?ignited a flammable explosive device?.
They said officers had to fight to put out the fire, and 12 children suffering from burns were sent to hospital. Authorities have since launched house-to-house searches in the city.
The exiled World Uyghur Congress (WUC) group, however, has disputed the government version of events, citing sources on the ground as saying police tossed tear gas into the school and caused the confrontation.
In July last year, at least 20 people ? including Uighur protesters - were killed in Hotan in a clash with police.
State media quoted an official in the region as saying the clash was a ?terrorist? attack and said four people including a police officer were killed when a crowd set upon a police station in the remote city.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/~3/NkgMF3txJdc/china-says-plane-hijack-attempt-thwarted

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Colorful light at the end of the tunnel for radiation detection

ScienceDaily (June 29, 2012) ? A team of nanomaterials researchers at Sandia National Laboratories has developed a new technique for radiation detection that could make radiation detection in cargo and baggage more effective and less costly for homeland security inspectors.

Known as spectral shape discrimination (SSD), the method takes advantage of a new class of nanoporous materials known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Researchers discovered that adding a doping agent to an MOF leads to the emission of red and blue light when the MOF interacts with high-energy particles emanated from radiological or nuclear material, enabling more effective detection of neutrons. Neutron detection is currently a costly and technically challenging endeavor due to the difficulty in distinguishing neutrons from ubiquitous background gamma rays.

Initial work on the use of MOFs for radiation detection was internally funded by Sandia's Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program, but subsequent funding for the project has come from the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation research office.

"Improving our radiation detection capabilities is crucial to advancing NNSA's nonproliferation mission," said Anne Harrington, NNSA's deputy administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation. "Preventing the illicit movement of radiological and nuclear materials around the globe supports the president's nuclear security objectives and helps to mitigate the threat of a nuclear terror attack."

The new technology works with plastic scintillators, materials that fluoresce when struck by charged particles or high-energy photons, making it suitable for commercialization by companies who produce plastic and other organic scintillators used in radiation detection devices. Though work remains before it can move into the marketplace, Sandia is currently seeking commercial partners to license the technology.

(See a video clip at www.youtube.com/SandiaLabs that shows Sandia researchers demonstrating and explaining their work.)

Current radiation detection methods are limited in terms of speed and sensitivity, crucial elements for dynamic scenarios, such as border crossings, cargo screenings and nuclear treaty verification. This new technology monitors the color of light emissions, which have the potential to make the screening process easier and more reliable.

"We are approaching the problem from a materials-chemistry perspective," said Sandia materials scientist Mark Allendorf. "Fundamentally, it is easier to monitor the color of light emissions rather than the rate at which that light is emitted. That's the crux of this new approach." Current radiation detection methods use time to discriminate between neutrons and gamma rays, requiring complex and costly electronics.

MOFs and dopants lead to more light

Allendorf and his team have been working with MOFs for more than five years. Early on, they discovered a fluorescent, porous MOF with superb scintillation properties, an important breakthrough and the first new class of scintillators found in decades. The MOF's porosity is a key feature because it allows researchers to add other materials to fine-tune the scintillation.

The MOF's nanoporosity triggered a new idea when team member Patrick Doty read about the use of dopants to increase the efficiency of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). These dopants, usually compounds containing heavy metals such as iridium, dramatically increase OLED brightness by "scavenging" the excited-state energy in the device that was not converted to light. This energy represents as much as 75 percent of the possible light output.

Combining MOFs with OLED dopants led to a second breakthrough. By filling MOF pores with dopants, the team created a material that not only produces more light, but light of another color. Doty, a materials scientist working in Sandia's radiation/nuclear detection materials and analysis department, hypothesized that the discovery could be applied to radiation detection.

The trick, Doty said, is to add just the right amount of dopant so that both the scavenged light and fluorescence from the excited MOF itself are emitted. Then the ratio of the intensities at the two wavelengths is a function of the type of high-energy particle interacting with the material. "That's the critical thing," Doty said. "SSD allows one particle type to be distinguished from another on the basis of the color of the emitted light."

Because the ratio of neutrons to gamma rays is so low -- on the order of one neutron to 105 gamma rays -- the threshold at which current detectors can see neutrons is fairly high. Sandia calculations suggest that the threshold for detecting neutrons produced by fissionable material could be lowered substantially using SSD, perhaps improving the "figure of merit" by a factor of 10 compared to the current standards. "In principle, we could quadruple the sensitivity of the gold standard," said Allendorf.

SSD also addresses another radiation detection problem -- active interrogation. Using an active source to create a signal from special nuclear material is an effective means for detection, say Sandia researchers. But current detectors are often overwhelmed by the onslaught of gamma rays. The new materials developed at Sandia can be tuned for improved timing performance at high rates, and the new technology also could be used in radiation detectors for treaty verification.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Sandia National Laboratories, via Newswise.

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Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120629115657.htm

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