Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.
BOSTON (AP) -- John W. Henry took a backward ballclub in a dilapidated park and transformed it into a two-time World Series champion that is one of baseball's model franchises.
As the owner of The Boston Globe, he will try to turn around a newspaper that - like many other major metro dailies - is shedding staff, subscribers and advertisers as it makes the transition into the Internet age.
Henry agreed to buy the Globe along with the Worcester Telegram & Gazette and the Boston Metro for $70 million, a fraction of the $1.1 billion The New York Times Co. paid 20 years ago. Henry apparently made this deal without his Red Sox partners, though he said in a statement that more information will soon be available "concerning those joining me in this community commitment and effort."
The son of southern Illinois soybean farmers now worth an estimated $1.5 billion, Henry was a minority owner of the New York Yankees and the sole owner of the Florida Marlins when he led a group that bought the Red Sox for $660 million in 2002. (The original group included The New York Times, which sold the last of its 17.5 percent ownership last year.)
They soon set out to preserve Fenway Park while taking a wrecking ball to most everything else that had mired the franchise in failure for more than eight decades.
Henry, who made his money by taking a mathematical approach to the commodities markets, brought a similar method to the baseball diamond, hiring the statistically savvy Theo Epstein, then 28 years-old, as the youngest general manager in baseball history. They hired statistical pioneer Bill James as a consultant, putting the Red Sox at the forefront of the revolution that had just begun to take hold in front offices long dominated by old-time and hidebound scouting types.
But, perhaps more importantly, the new owners turned what had long been a stagnant family business into a revenue spigot.
They took NESN, which had been almost exclusively an outlet for Red Sox and Boston Bruins games, into a full-fledged sports network. (Not every effort - like the sports-themed dating show "Sox Appeal" - was a success.) And they spent more than $285 million turning the once-doomed Fenway Park into a modern - well, as modern as a 100-year-old ballpark can be, anyway - sporting venue.
With seats above the Green Monster and a roof deck in right field, a high-tech scoreboard and new concourses and concessions, Fenway sold out 820 consecutive games - by official count, anyway - the longest such streak in professional sports history. Thousands more file through the turnstiles 12 months a year, paying up to $16 just to see the park when it is empty.
Though fans sometimes chafed at the team's new businesslike approach, the initiatives helped pay for a player payroll that grew from $75.5 million in 2000 to more than $130 million by 2004. That year, the Red Sox won the World Series for the first time in 86 years, ending one of the longest title droughts in sports.
They won again three years later.
Henry was also a different kind of owner than Bostonians had grown accustomed to.
While most owners of the local franchises had treated their teams like family fiefdoms or corporate cash registers - or both - Henry engaged with fans, chatting with them on Internet message boards (he would also became an early adopter on Twitter). He spent less time in his luxury box and more in his dugout-side seats, and was once seen running the bases on the Fenway diamond with the woman who is now his wife.
And Henry kept looking beyond baseball.
Through a sister company, the Red Sox owners bought into NASCAR as co-owners of Roush Fenway Racing; soccer, by purchasing the Liverpool FC of the English Premier League; and basketball, through a sponsorship deal with LeBron James. Their business offshoot, known as New England Sports Ventures, has also dabbled in marketing for college sports and professional golf.
In buying a newspaper, Henry enters an industry in turmoil and joins a progression of publishers who have tried to figure out how to balance the free-flowing information of the internet with the costs of quality journalism.
While providing no clues, Henry vowed to try.
"The Boston Globe's award-winning journalism as well as its rich history and tradition of excellence have established it as one of the most well-respected media companies in the country," he said in his statement. "This is a thriving, dynamic region that needs a strong, sustainable Boston Globe playing an integral role in the community's long-term future."
---
Follow Jimmy Golen on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jgolen .
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Ambiguous Loss: Grieving the Sociopath ... Seek professional help if you find that the loss controlling your thoughts and behaviors and/or causing marked distress for an extended period of time. ... Running (8), Science (3), Self Improvement (160 ), Social Studies (10), Sociopaths (143), Spirituality (178), Tattoo (7), Tattoo Removal (5), teenagers (1), The Washington Times (22), Trailer (1), Uncategorized (38), Undead (2), Video (4), Washington D.C. (19), weight loss (5) ...
The unemployment rate fell to 7.4 percent in July, the lowest level since Obama took office. But job growth was tepid, at best. The numbers mean the Fed is unlikely to interrupt its stimulus measures anytime soon, analysts say.
By Harry Bruinius,?Staff writer / August 2, 2013
A woman waits to talk with employers at a job fair for laid-off IBM workers in South Burlington, Vt., July 15, 2013. The US economy continues to move forward adding 162,000 new jobs in July.
Toby Talbot/AP/File
Enlarge
The US economy continues to hobble forward at a cumbersome pace as job growth failed to meet most analysts' expectations, adding 162,000 new jobs in July ? the lowest number since January.
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
At the same time, however, the unemployment rate fell to 7.4 percent, slightly beating expectations and representing the lowest rate of joblessness since President Obama took office.
The weaker-than-expected jobs numbers, reported Friday morning, reveal a slight change in what had been a steady trend: The US economy had posted job gains averaging roughly 195,000 a month during the past few quarters, and most analysts had expected July job growth to continue this tepid but steady trend.
But the Labor Department revised downward the number of jobs created in June, dropping it from 195,000 to 188,000. It also revised May?s number, dropping its previous estimate by 19,000 for a new total of 176,000 jobs created.
The spiritless numbers were anticipated by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, perhaps, when it downgraded its economic outlook and said the economy was expanding at a "modest" pace, rather than the "moderate" pace seen in June. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) also said it planned to continue current monetary policy, including its stimulus program of quantitative easing, an $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program.
"The report is disappointing, with weaker job growth in July compared to the first half of 2013," PNC senior economist Stuart Hoffman told ABC News.?"Despite the drop in the unemployment rate, the softer job growth in July, combined with the downward revisions to May and June, makes the Federal Reserve slightly less likely to reduce its purchases of long-term assets when it next meets in mid-September."
Indeed, analysts had been wondering whether the Fed would begin to ?taper? the program after Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested that the central bank would slowly ease back from this stimulus policy, if the employment rate were closer to 7 percent. He also said the Fed would maintain its 0 percent interest-rate policy "at least as long" as the jobless rate stayed above 6.5 percent.
Friday?s report makes it unlikely the FOMC will decide to taper the program in its September meeting.
Worrying many analysts, too, is the fact that the new jobs data show continued increases in the weakest sectors of the economy. Much of the growth is stemming from new positions taken in retail trade and the leisure and hospitality industry ? sectors with the lowest-paying jobs and fewest working hours.
Leisure and hospitality added 38,000 new jobs in July, down from 75,000 workers in June. Retail trade added 47,000 new jobs. Those two sectors account for more than half of the new jobs created in July. ?
Employers' use of part-time and temporary workers, meanwhile, has been surging. The number of involuntary part-time workers held steady at 8.25 million, after jumping by 322,000 to 8.23 million in June. Those individuals marginally attached to the labor force held steady at 1.2 million workers.
Many of my antique collections have come from my father?s side of the family since his sister saved everything.? However, this is one collection that I get to thank my British mom for saving and shipping to the United States.?? Her father, grandfather AND great-grandfather were builders.?? I have some fond early memories of my grandfather, Fred Chick.? I remember the smell of his tools in his small, brick, detached garage (which he pronounced ?gar-ridge?).? I remember nailing scraps of wood together and making unrecognizable, unusable objects that he praised highly.
Here he is, pipe in hand, enjoying himself at his local pub in the early 1960s.
His father, George Chick, built these homes in the Leckhampton area of Cheltenham, England.
These simple homes would be called duplexes in America but are called ?semi-detached? in England.
My mom had her father?s tool box refinished for me as a Christmas gift one year.? It held this panoramic view of homes that he built in the 1940?s close to the Cotswold village of Stow-on-the-Wold.
The old box also held a few of the tools that I love so much.? Mom actually shipped over many more and for now they are stored in totes.
This large plane is being measured by one of his folding rulers.?? An early version of our current ?retractable? measuring tapes?
My favorites are the planes with varying profiles used for molding and trim.? His mother, Emily, had 14 children and not only did his father build homes to support them but also made cabinetry and coffins.?? His mother, by the way, also ran a laundry out of their home.?? I suppose they had lots of little hands to help!
Tool loss and theft was probably as much of an issue back then as it is now.? Men had metal stamps made with their names so that they could mark their tools. ?This plane bears his name and what I believe is a cancelling stamp made over the name of a previous owner.
Size marks such as this ?1 IN? ?were also stamped into a tool.
I also enjoy handling these metal tools, some of which were made by Edward Preston & Sons, Ltd. in Birmingham.
It is not surprising that my mom went on and married a builder ? an American, though.? I know that my dad and his father-in-law had lots to talk about regarding the history of the trade and the differences between both sides of the pond.? In fact, a business that I have in addition to my auto repair shop is a modular home business here in the Lowcountry, Headwater Homes.? I only wish my father and grandfather were around to talk with.? ?Mom has some memories but it?s not like firsthand experience.? ?However, I am so very grateful that she saved these ?tools of the trade?.
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/31/2013 6:36:51 PM
Energy drink manufacturers took some tough questions from a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Wednesday on the marketing of energy drinks to children - which the witnesses said they did not do - both online and in other media.
?
A clip from an ad featuring an animated zebra - shades of Joe Camel - and photos of children with cans of the product and in sports settings (skateboarders, for example) were on display to counter claims that the beverages were not aimed at children.
?
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) did not leave the Joe Camel association unstated, pointing out that cigarette manufacturers target the next generation of smokers - those manufacturers always argued their marketing was about brand switching, not recruitment. He advised the energy drink companies to "focus on safety not semantics."
?
Representatives of Red Bull, Monster and Rockstar, to varying degrees, promised to take steps to prevent underage consumption of their beverage, which they suggested would be by children 12 and under, but all insisted they do not market to the younger demographic. Asked whether they thought an ad featuring a teenager would appeal to a child, Monster CEO Rodney Sacks said no.
?
Academics on the witness panel begged to differ.?
Witness Dr. Jennifer Harris, director of marketing initiatives at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale, said that marketing featuring 16 year olds "are really appealing to younger kids."
?
The energy drink execs said they were not targeting teens, though they also said teens would not be harmed by drinking their product, citing numerous studies.
?
They also said that if the government is going to limit caffeine marketing, it needs to look beyond their product to sodas, teas and coffee.?
?
"We remain open to discussing changes for the entire beverage industry, and believe that any comprehensive effort regarding child and teen nutrition must include all sugar - and caffeine containing beverages," said Amy Taylor, VP and general manager of Red Bull North America.
Related Content
Topics
Author
Most Popular Pages
No related content found.
TMS
Since 1965 TMS has provided world-class TV & movie data to businesses whose success depends on the accurate, engaging display of entertainment content. More than 4,000 customers rely on TMS data to fuel the most exciting guides and UIs on the planet.
To learn more, please vis..more
Just the other day, I posted about a ?prayer caravan? organized by Cullman County Schools (Alabama) Superintendent Billy Coleman. The idea was that he would lead a group of people to all the schools in the district and pray? becauseI guess that raises test scores in Alabama or something. They?ve been doing this for a few years running.
Superintendent Billy Coleman
We also learned from the Freedom From Religion Foundation (PDF) that the caravan wasn?t the school?s only violation of the law:
We were also informed that schools in the Cullman County system recite the Lord?s Prayer over the loudspeaker each morning. We understand that an attempt to mask this illegal practice is made by giving students ?the option? to participate.
So why bring this all up again?
Because FFRF has learned that they?ve only hit the tip of the iceberg when it comes to violations of church/state separation in the district:
FFRF has received reports from at least seven local families about additional violations in area schools, mostly regarding unconstitutional prayers. FFRF has been informed the district schools lead recitations of the Lord?s prayer during the school day including over the loudspeaker system, have teacher-led prayer before lunch, at graduation ceremonies and according to one student ?every school event? starts with a prayer.?
Cullman Country Schools often hold school events in churches rather than schools themselves. Coleman frequently schedules a student investment dinner and school meetings at various churches around the area.
The most disturbing information FFRF received regards West Point Elementary School. Every Tuesday, according to a complainant a preacher visits to proselytize. Teachers reportedly have told student their teachers ?would be disappointed? if students chose not to listen to the preacher.
Now that people are learning that FFRF is looking at the district, they?re starting to come forward with even more damning pieces of information.
There?s no lawsuit yet, because that?s always a last resort. First, FFRF has requested a response from Coleman by next week. I can?t wait to hear how he tries to explain and get out of all this shit he?s dragged the district into?
Doctors urged to talk to patients about parking cellphonesPublic release date: 30-Jul-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Bryan Alary balary@ualberta.ca 780-492-0436 University of Alberta
(Edmonton) Family physicians regularly counsel patients about medical risks associated with heart disease, stroke, diabetes and smoking, and a team from the University of Alberta wants to add cellphone use and driving to the discussion.
Talking on a cellphone while driving raises the risk of collision by four to six timescomparable to getting behind the wheel while under the influence, studies show. Addressing the problem requires educating the public about the risks, and a good place to start is in the doctor's office.
"The evidence is clear and compelling. Epidemiologic, driver simulator and naturalistic studies demonstrate that cellphones and driving are a dangerous combination. Unfortunately, while most drivers view cellphone use as driving as unacceptable, many of them still engage in it," writes Victoria K. Lee, a family medicine resident at the U of A, in a commentary published July 29 in the journal Canadian Family Physician.
Lee co-wrote the article with pediatrics resident Chantelle Champagne and Louis Hugo Francescutti, a professor in the School of Public Health and adjunct professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine.
The trio maintains that physicians have a role in educating patients through open dialogue about their views to see if they're aware of the hazards of talking while behind the wheel. They offer a number of discussion points, from increased odds of a collision to risks associated with talking on a hands-free device (studies show it's just as dangerous), text messaging (collision risk jumps 23 times) and the lack of hard statistics about cellphone-related crashes.
"Once patients are convinced of the risks of cellphone use while driving, help to prevent them from developing the habit or help them change their behaviour," they write, listing the following advice:
turn off your cellphone when you enter your vehicle or switch it to silent mode and put it somewhere you cannot reach it;
set up caller ID and a reliable voice mail system that lets callers know you might be driving and will return their call at a later time;
ask passengers to help by operating cellphones and other electronic devices. If you are the passenger, speak up and offer to help;
if you need to make an important call, pull over and park in a safe location before reaching for your cellphone;
do not call your friends, co-workers, clients, or family when you know they are driving.
The U of A team says driver education, workplace restrictions, new technologies, media attention and legislation can all play a role in changing cellphone use behaviours, in addition to primary care physicians.
"Patients regard us as community leaders and experts in health and safety. We are in a unique position to influence the thoughts and behaviour of people regarding their overall health and well-being by educating them about the issue of distracted driving."
###
[ | 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.
Doctors urged to talk to patients about parking cellphonesPublic release date: 30-Jul-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Bryan Alary balary@ualberta.ca 780-492-0436 University of Alberta
(Edmonton) Family physicians regularly counsel patients about medical risks associated with heart disease, stroke, diabetes and smoking, and a team from the University of Alberta wants to add cellphone use and driving to the discussion.
Talking on a cellphone while driving raises the risk of collision by four to six timescomparable to getting behind the wheel while under the influence, studies show. Addressing the problem requires educating the public about the risks, and a good place to start is in the doctor's office.
"The evidence is clear and compelling. Epidemiologic, driver simulator and naturalistic studies demonstrate that cellphones and driving are a dangerous combination. Unfortunately, while most drivers view cellphone use as driving as unacceptable, many of them still engage in it," writes Victoria K. Lee, a family medicine resident at the U of A, in a commentary published July 29 in the journal Canadian Family Physician.
Lee co-wrote the article with pediatrics resident Chantelle Champagne and Louis Hugo Francescutti, a professor in the School of Public Health and adjunct professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine.
The trio maintains that physicians have a role in educating patients through open dialogue about their views to see if they're aware of the hazards of talking while behind the wheel. They offer a number of discussion points, from increased odds of a collision to risks associated with talking on a hands-free device (studies show it's just as dangerous), text messaging (collision risk jumps 23 times) and the lack of hard statistics about cellphone-related crashes.
"Once patients are convinced of the risks of cellphone use while driving, help to prevent them from developing the habit or help them change their behaviour," they write, listing the following advice:
turn off your cellphone when you enter your vehicle or switch it to silent mode and put it somewhere you cannot reach it;
set up caller ID and a reliable voice mail system that lets callers know you might be driving and will return their call at a later time;
ask passengers to help by operating cellphones and other electronic devices. If you are the passenger, speak up and offer to help;
if you need to make an important call, pull over and park in a safe location before reaching for your cellphone;
do not call your friends, co-workers, clients, or family when you know they are driving.
The U of A team says driver education, workplace restrictions, new technologies, media attention and legislation can all play a role in changing cellphone use behaviours, in addition to primary care physicians.
"Patients regard us as community leaders and experts in health and safety. We are in a unique position to influence the thoughts and behaviour of people regarding their overall health and well-being by educating them about the issue of distracted driving."
###
[ | 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.
Evolution of diverse sex-determining mechanisms in mammalsPublic release date: 29-Jul-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Amanda Petrak amanda.petrak@case.edu 216-368-0345 Case Western Reserve University
Scientists historically have argued that evolution proceeds through gradual development of traits. But how can incremental changes apply to the binary switch between two sexes, male or female? Researchers at Case Western Reserve University's School of Medicine have found that a genetic process among the many species of rodents could have significant implications regarding our assumptions about sex determination and the pace of evolution.
"What we addressed is a long-standing puzzle in natural history: why different types of rodents can exhibit profound differences in how male sex is determined in the embryo," said Michael Weiss, MD, PhD, chairman of the Department of Biochemistry, the Cowan-Blum Professor of Cancer Research and a professor of biochemistry and medicine. "Some rodent populations have both XY males and XY females, and in other populations the Y chromosome has disappeared entirely."
In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Weiss and his research team analyzed the Sry gene, which is part of the Y chromosome. This mammalian gene, which steers differentiation in the embryonic gonad toward the development of testes, begins the process leading to the birth of males. For most mammals, including primates, Sry is a conserved feature of the Y chromosome, ultimately giving rise to male anatomy; females generally have two X chromosomes and no Y.
But within anomalous families of rodents, common in South America, activation of the Sry gene may have uncertain consequences. Some of these groups have both XY males and XY females as normal components of the population. Other related species have even lost their Y chromosomes altogether. Without the emergence of compensating ways of specifying sex, the species could not produce malesand would become extinct. For such rodents, therefore, evolution meant inventing entirely different methods of sex determination. These mammals have in essence evolved other ways to play nature's mating game.
The CWRU team attributed the rapid evolvability of sex determination in rodents to a novel protein domain added to the SRY protein. Scientists knew that this domain existed, but Weiss and his team wanted to understand more about its function in gene regulation and its role in evolution. The team determined that the new protein domain acts as a "genetic capacitor," providing a protective buffer to the Sry gene. This buffer allowed male development even when a mutation occurs elsewhere in the gene that might otherwise cause sex reversalbut the buffer is unstable over generations. Slippage of DNA during the production of sperm can lead to sudden changes in the length of the buffer and the degree of protection. By analogy to a capacitor in an electric circuit, the team suggested that this domain can "discharge" to accelerate the pace of evolutionary change. The idea of a genetic capacitor was pioneered by MIT Professor Susan Lindquist in studies of heat-shock proteins in fruit flies in (Nature, "Hsp90 as a capacitor for morphological evolution") and the present paper extended this idea to the pace of mammalian evolution.
How did the Sry buffer arise? "We discovered that a genetic accident 20 million years ago in an ancestral rodent holds the key to solving this puzzle. A simple DNA repeat sequence (called a 'micro-satellite') invaded the Y chromosome and was incorporated into the Sry gene. This invasion accelerated the evolvability of Sry and probably the Y chromosome in general, enabling this subgroup of rodents to explore new molecular mechanisms of sex determination," Weiss said.
Weiss and his team will continue this research, but believe these initial results may have additional implications for our understanding of human evolution and genetics. Because rodents have higher mutation rates and shorter life spans, they also evolve more rapidly and so provide a natural laboratory for studies of mammalian evolution.
Research last year at MIT has shown that in humans and other primates the Y chromosome has been stable for at least the past 25 million years (Nature, Strict evolutionary conservation followed rapid gene loss on human and rhesus Y chromosomes), which Weiss suggests may reflect the absence of micro-satellite-related slippage in the Sry gene. Yet the transcriptional strengths of the murine and human Sry factors are similar. The research suggests that human SRY and its specification of male development has evolved to be just above a genetic threshold of activity, which may in turn enable human communities to benefit from a diversity of male characteristics and behaviors.
"A key lesson of this 20 million-year history is that maleness is a 'close call' as the Sry protein functions near the edge of ambiguity," Weiss explained. "We think that the 'genetic decision' in an embryo to create a testis (instead of an ovary) is tenuous in all social mammals, including us. The critical next question is why?"
###
About Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Founded in 1843, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine is the largest medical research institution in Ohio and is among the nation's top medical schools for research funding from the National Institutes of Health. The School of Medicine is recognized throughout the international medical community for outstanding achievements in teaching. The School's innovative and pioneering Western Reserve2 curriculum interweaves four themes--research and scholarship, clinical mastery, leadership, and civic professionalism--to prepare students for the practice of evidence-based medicine in the rapidly changing health care environment of the 21st century. Nine Nobel Laureates have been affiliated with the School of Medicine.
Annually, the School of Medicine trains more than 800 MD and MD/PhD students and ranks in the top 25 among U.S. research-oriented medical schools as designated by U.S. News & World Report's "Guide to Graduate Education."
The School of Medicine's primary affiliate is University Hospitals Case Medical Center and is additionally affiliated with MetroHealth Medical Center, the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the Cleveland Clinic, with which it established the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University in 2002. http://casemed.case.edu
[ | 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.
Evolution of diverse sex-determining mechanisms in mammalsPublic release date: 29-Jul-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Amanda Petrak amanda.petrak@case.edu 216-368-0345 Case Western Reserve University
Scientists historically have argued that evolution proceeds through gradual development of traits. But how can incremental changes apply to the binary switch between two sexes, male or female? Researchers at Case Western Reserve University's School of Medicine have found that a genetic process among the many species of rodents could have significant implications regarding our assumptions about sex determination and the pace of evolution.
"What we addressed is a long-standing puzzle in natural history: why different types of rodents can exhibit profound differences in how male sex is determined in the embryo," said Michael Weiss, MD, PhD, chairman of the Department of Biochemistry, the Cowan-Blum Professor of Cancer Research and a professor of biochemistry and medicine. "Some rodent populations have both XY males and XY females, and in other populations the Y chromosome has disappeared entirely."
In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Weiss and his research team analyzed the Sry gene, which is part of the Y chromosome. This mammalian gene, which steers differentiation in the embryonic gonad toward the development of testes, begins the process leading to the birth of males. For most mammals, including primates, Sry is a conserved feature of the Y chromosome, ultimately giving rise to male anatomy; females generally have two X chromosomes and no Y.
But within anomalous families of rodents, common in South America, activation of the Sry gene may have uncertain consequences. Some of these groups have both XY males and XY females as normal components of the population. Other related species have even lost their Y chromosomes altogether. Without the emergence of compensating ways of specifying sex, the species could not produce malesand would become extinct. For such rodents, therefore, evolution meant inventing entirely different methods of sex determination. These mammals have in essence evolved other ways to play nature's mating game.
The CWRU team attributed the rapid evolvability of sex determination in rodents to a novel protein domain added to the SRY protein. Scientists knew that this domain existed, but Weiss and his team wanted to understand more about its function in gene regulation and its role in evolution. The team determined that the new protein domain acts as a "genetic capacitor," providing a protective buffer to the Sry gene. This buffer allowed male development even when a mutation occurs elsewhere in the gene that might otherwise cause sex reversalbut the buffer is unstable over generations. Slippage of DNA during the production of sperm can lead to sudden changes in the length of the buffer and the degree of protection. By analogy to a capacitor in an electric circuit, the team suggested that this domain can "discharge" to accelerate the pace of evolutionary change. The idea of a genetic capacitor was pioneered by MIT Professor Susan Lindquist in studies of heat-shock proteins in fruit flies in (Nature, "Hsp90 as a capacitor for morphological evolution") and the present paper extended this idea to the pace of mammalian evolution.
How did the Sry buffer arise? "We discovered that a genetic accident 20 million years ago in an ancestral rodent holds the key to solving this puzzle. A simple DNA repeat sequence (called a 'micro-satellite') invaded the Y chromosome and was incorporated into the Sry gene. This invasion accelerated the evolvability of Sry and probably the Y chromosome in general, enabling this subgroup of rodents to explore new molecular mechanisms of sex determination," Weiss said.
Weiss and his team will continue this research, but believe these initial results may have additional implications for our understanding of human evolution and genetics. Because rodents have higher mutation rates and shorter life spans, they also evolve more rapidly and so provide a natural laboratory for studies of mammalian evolution.
Research last year at MIT has shown that in humans and other primates the Y chromosome has been stable for at least the past 25 million years (Nature, Strict evolutionary conservation followed rapid gene loss on human and rhesus Y chromosomes), which Weiss suggests may reflect the absence of micro-satellite-related slippage in the Sry gene. Yet the transcriptional strengths of the murine and human Sry factors are similar. The research suggests that human SRY and its specification of male development has evolved to be just above a genetic threshold of activity, which may in turn enable human communities to benefit from a diversity of male characteristics and behaviors.
"A key lesson of this 20 million-year history is that maleness is a 'close call' as the Sry protein functions near the edge of ambiguity," Weiss explained. "We think that the 'genetic decision' in an embryo to create a testis (instead of an ovary) is tenuous in all social mammals, including us. The critical next question is why?"
###
About Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Founded in 1843, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine is the largest medical research institution in Ohio and is among the nation's top medical schools for research funding from the National Institutes of Health. The School of Medicine is recognized throughout the international medical community for outstanding achievements in teaching. The School's innovative and pioneering Western Reserve2 curriculum interweaves four themes--research and scholarship, clinical mastery, leadership, and civic professionalism--to prepare students for the practice of evidence-based medicine in the rapidly changing health care environment of the 21st century. Nine Nobel Laureates have been affiliated with the School of Medicine.
Annually, the School of Medicine trains more than 800 MD and MD/PhD students and ranks in the top 25 among U.S. research-oriented medical schools as designated by U.S. News & World Report's "Guide to Graduate Education."
The School of Medicine's primary affiliate is University Hospitals Case Medical Center and is additionally affiliated with MetroHealth Medical Center, the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the Cleveland Clinic, with which it established the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University in 2002. http://casemed.case.edu
[ | 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.
Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. (SXL) (the ?Partnership?) today announced that Sunoco Partners LLC, its general partner, has declared a cash distribution for the second quarter 2013 of $0.60 per common unit ($2.40 annualized) to be paid on August 14, 2013 to unit holders of record on August 8, 2013. This represents a 5 percent increase over the first quarter 2013 cash distribution of $0.5725 per common unit ($2.29 annualized) and a 28 percent increase over the second quarter 2012 cash distribution of $0.47 per common unit ($1.88 annualized). This represents the thirty-third successive quarter that the Partnership has increased its distribution.
?We are pleased to announce our third consecutive 5 percent quarter over quarter increase in our distribution,? said Michael J. Hennigan, president and chief executive officer. ?We continue to execute our strategy for growth. We are committed to growing stable, ratable cash flow for the Partnership and distributing that cash to our owners.?
The Partnership also announced that it will hold a conference call on Thursday, August 8, 2013 at 8:30 a.m. ET (7:30 a.m. CT) to discuss its financial results for the second quarter 2013. Earnings are expected to be released after the market closes on Wednesday, August 7, 2013.
Those wishing to listen can access the call by dialing (USA toll free) 1-800-369-2171; International (USA toll) 1-517-308-9315 and request ?Sunoco Logistics Partners Earnings Call, Conference Code: Sunoco Logistics?. This event may also be accessed by a webcast, which will be available at www.sunocologistics.com. A number of presentation slides will accompany the audio portion of the call and will be available to be viewed and printed shortly before the call begins. Individuals wishing to listen to the call on the Partnership?s web site will need Windows Media Player, which can be downloaded free of charge from Microsoft or from Sunoco Logistics Partners? conference call page. Please allow at least fifteen minutes to complete the download.
Audio replays of the conference call will be available for two weeks after the conference call beginning approximately two hours following the completion of the call. To access the replay, dial 1-800-406-7489. International callers should dial 1-203-369-3273.
ABOUT SUNOCO LOGISTICS
Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. (SXL), headquartered in Philadelphia, is a master limited partnership that owns and operates a logistics business consisting of a geographically diverse portfolio of complementary crude oil and refined product pipeline, terminalling, and acquisition and marketing assets. SXL?s general partner is a consolidated subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (ETP). For more information, visit the Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. web site at www.sunocologistics.com.
This release is intended to be a qualified notice under Treasury Regulation Section 1.1446-4(b). Brokers and nominees should treat one hundred percent (100%) of distributions by Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. to non-U.S. investors as being attributable to income that is effectively connected with a United States trade or business. Accordingly, distributions by Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. to non-U.S. investors are subject to federal income tax withholding at the highest applicable effective tax rate.
Portions of this document constitute forward-looking statements as defined by federal law. Although Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. believes that the assumptions underlying these statements are reasonable, investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and necessarily involve risks that may affect the Partnership?s business prospects and performance causing actual results to differ from those discussed in the foregoing release. Such risks and uncertainties include, by way of example and not of limitation: whether or not the transactions described in the foregoing news release will be cash flow accretive; increased competition; changes in demand for crude oil and refined products that we store and distribute; changes in operating conditions and costs; changes in the level of environmental remediation spending; potential equipment malfunction; potential labor issues; the legislative or regulatory environment; plant construction/repair delays; nonperformance by major customers or suppliers; and political and economic conditions, including the impact of potential terrorist acts and international hostilities. These and other applicable risks and uncertainties have been described more fully in the Partnership?s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 1, 2013, and in the Partnership?s subsequent Form 8-K and 10-Q filings. The Partnership undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements in this release, whether as a result of new information or future events.
A chaplain at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska was ordered to remove a religious column he had written titled, ?No Atheists in Foxholes: Chaplains Gave all in World War II,? because it allegedly offended atheists serving on the Air Force base.
FOLLOW TODD ON FACEBOOK!
Lt. Col. Kenneth Reyes confirmed to Fox News that he wrote the original essay that appeared in his ?Chaplain?s Corner? column on the base website.
Reyes recounted the origin of the phrase ?There is no such thing as an atheist in a foxhole.? Father William Cummings has largely been credited with uttering the phrase in Bataan during World War II.
President Eisenhower referenced the phrase during a speech to the American Legion in 1954, noting ?I am delighted that our veterans are sponsoring a movement to increase our awareness of God in our daily lives. In battle, they learned a great truth that there are no atheists in the foxholes.?
Reyes ended his essay with a reflection on faith.
?Everyone expresses some form of faith every day, whether it is religious or secular,? he wrote. ?Some express faith by believing when they get up in the morning they will arrive at work in one piece, thankful they have been given another opportunity to enjoy the majesty of the day, or express relief the doctor?s results were negative.?
Reyes did not attack or insult atheists or non-believers in his column.
However, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation accused Reyes of going on an ?anti-secular diatribe? and publicly denigrating ?those without religion.?
They fired off a letter to the Air Force base allegedly on behalf of 42 anonymous airmen who allegedly complained.
?In the civilian world, such anti-secular diatribe is protected free speech,? wrote MRFF?s Blake Page in a letter to Col. Brian Duffy, the base commander. ?Beyond his most obvious failure in upholding regulations through redundant use of the bigoted, religious supremacist phrase, ?no atheists in foxholes,? he defiles the dignity of service members by telling them that regardless of their personally held philosophical beliefs they must have faith.?
The Air Force agreed and approximately five hours after the MRFF complained, they removed the chaplain?s essay.
?While certainly not intended to offend, the article has been removed from our website,? Col. Duffy wrote in an email to the MRFF. ?We remain mindful of the governing instructions on this matter and will work to avoid recurrence.?
But that?s not good enough for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. They want the chaplain punished for what he wrote.
?Faith based hate, is hate all the same,? Page wrote. ?Lt. Col. Reyes must be appropriately reprimanded.?
Duffy?did not respond to an email requesting information on the specific Air Force policies that the chaplain?s essay violated. Ironically, the Air Force left?six complaints about the essay on their website.
Ron Crews, the executive director of Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, told Fox News the chaplain was well within his duties to write an article about faith.
?To say ?everyone has faith? is correct,? Crews said. ?For Weinstein to say, ?I do not have faith? must mean he has never flown because to step in an airplane is to have faith in a pilot?s ability and faith that mechanics have properly maintained the plane.?
Crews said the incident is yet another example of chaplains facing attacks for expressing their religious beliefs.
?Chaplains have religious liberty as well to speak to issues,? he told Fox News. ?Mr. Weinstein appears to want to silence any speech of faith in the military. It is a sad day for the Air Force and for our country when officers obey every command from Weinstein to silence even chaplains from talking about their faith.?
Following is the column that the Air Force censored:
?Chaplain?s Corner: No Atheists in Foxholes: Chaplains Gave All in World War II?
By Lt. Col. Kenneth Reyes
Many have heard the familiar phrase, ?There is no such thing as an atheist in a fox hole.?
Where did this come from?
Research I verified in an interview with former World War II prisoner of war Roy Bodine (my friend) indicates the phrase has been credited to Father William Cummings.
As the story goes, Father Cummings was a civilian missionary Catholic priest in the Philippines.
The phrase was coined during the Japanese attack at Corregidor.
During the siege, Cummings had noticed non-Catholics were attending his services.
Some he knew were not Catholic, some were not religious and some were even known atheists.
Life-and-death experiences prompt a reality check.
Even the strongest of beliefs can change, and, I may add, can go both ways ? people can be drawn to or away from ?faith.?
With the pending surrender of allied forces to the Japanese, Cummings uttered the famous phrase ?There is no such thing as an atheist in a fox hole.?
In one of my many discussions with Roy, he distinctly remembered a period on the ?Hell Ships? ? these were ships the Japanese used to bring POWs from the Philippines back to Japan.
They were unmarked and thus ?fair game? for attacks from the allies from the air and sea.
Of the 3,000-plus POWs listed on the ships, only 180 survived the journey.
?When our own planes were attacking us,? Roy said, ?I remember Father Cummings calming us down by reciting the Lord?s Prayer and offering up prayers on our behalf.
For a brief moment I did not hear the yells and screams of dying men as our boat was attacked by our own men.?
He went on to say, ?There was a peaceful quiet during the attack that I cannot explain nor have experienced since.?
Later on during the trip to Japan, Cummings, after giving his food to others who needed it more, succumbed to his own need and died of starvation.
Everyone expresses some form of faith every day, whether it is religious or secular.
Some express faith by believing when they get up in the morning they will arrive at work in one piece, thankful they have been given another opportunity to enjoy the majesty of the day; or express relief the doctor?s results were negative.
The real question is, ?Is it important to have faith in ?faith? itself or is it more important to ask, ?What is the object of my faith???
Roy never affirmed or expressed whether his faith was rooted in religion or not, but for a moment in time on the ?Hell Ships,? he believed in Cummings? faith.
What is the root or object of your faith?
Is it something you can count on in times of plenty or loss; peace or chaos; joy or sorrow; success or failure?
Is it something you can count on in times of plenty or loss; peace or chaos; joy or sorrow; success or failure?
If the order has not been shipped; please contact DinoDirect Live Support for order cancellation.You will get your refund within 24 hours.
If the order has already been shipped; you may return the item to us postmarked within 30 calendar days of delivery. Before that, please contact our Live Support to inform that.
In that case we will refund you the payment excluding actual shipping fees already incurred.
If the item is defective, please contact DinoDirect Live Support and send an email to us at cs-center@dinodirect.com attached an image or video file clearly showing the defect of the product. And we will give you a response within 24 hours whether we will resend the item or refund the payment to you for compensation.
For customization, please consider carefully before ordering.Because we do not accept return and replacement.
Source: www.behance.net --- Sunday, July 21, 2013 When I created this site I was trying to get my hands on as many mobile projects as possible; this was an opportunity to design and concept a website where content was constantly updated, personalized and exclusive to location. ...
2-Time Ironman Florida Champion Jessica Jacobs to guide RaceQuest Athletes
POTOMAC FALLS, VirginiaRaceQuest, a travel and event management company focused exclusively on the training and race travel needs of endurance sports athletes, is offering race entries, VIP packages, and a race week travel support package for 2013 IRONMAN Florida in Panama City Beach.
Athletes and their guests who purchase a slot and choose to lodge with RaceQuest for the event will receive a host of race week amenities, race day transport, bike mechanic support and concierge services based at Grand Panama Resort.
For IRONMAN Florida, RaceQuest is offering race slots with complimentary race-specific coaching for $1,495 (U.S.) per person. Additionally, a limited number of VIP Packages are available for $1,995. Details and purchase may be secured by visiting the RaceQuest website, Race-Quest.com.
Professional Triathletes Enhance Race Week Experience Two-time IRONMAN Florida Champion, Jessica Jacobs, will be staying with RaceQuest and providing athletes with specific race course strategy, advice, and Q&A sessions throughout the week.
RaceQuest Travel shares my desire to really engage with athletes, to support their individual needs. Its a small-group setting by design. For any athlete, this approach really sets you up for success, said Jacobs, now in her seventh season as a professional.
Taking the Headache out of Multisport Travel Our athletes can be assured that they can explore new places for racing and training, and it will be a seamless experience. We are committed to taking care of our athletes and guests in a friendly, first- class manner. We handle the details so they wont have to, added RaceQuest Co-Founder Scott Coey. Coey is a world-class age-group triathlete who has competed in countless ultra-marathons and triathlons including the IRONMAN World Championship and the prestigious Norseman long- distance triathlon.
In addition to IRONMAN Florida, RaceQuest Travel also offers 5-Night Race Week Experiences for IRONMAN Lake Tahoe and a 10-Night package for the 2013 IRONMAN World Championships in Kailua- Kona, Hawaii.
About RaceQuest
RaceQuest was founded by triathletes Krista Baker-Scheyer, Scott Coey, and Kelli Eldridge with the purpose of providing exceptional training and race travel experiences tailored to the endurance sports athlete. With singular focus and passion, the RaceQuest travel team combines years of experience traveling, racing and supporting professional and age-group triathletes around the globe to deliver world-class travel services.
SAN DIEGO (AP) ? There's no such thing as just a comic book hero anymore. From big-screen films and small-screen animation to books, clothes and makeup, the hero business is big business.
Two decades ago, the only place to find the X-Men was in the pages of comics and on Saturday morning cartoons. Now, they, and others, like Superman, Batman and the zombies from "The Walking Dead" are cultural juggernauts, crossing over into everything.
And nowhere is that more evident than at Comic-Con International.
Once just 300 or so attendees in a hotel, the event now hosts more than 100,000 visitors over four days and is a top destination for film and television companies, not to mention marketers of apparel and other products, too.
Attendees can wear Avengers perfume while walking in Converse high-tops that have the Joker or Batman on the sides. They're buying glass tumblers with Marvel superheroes on them, T-shirts that bear the logo of Green Lantern, and hats with The Flash lightning bolt on the front.
It's no surprise, either, said Rob Salkowitz, a consultant and author of "Comic-Con and the Business of Pop Culture." Comics have been a foundation of entertainment for decades, but since the 1990s, the advent of better technology in film and TV has seen what was once a staple of four-color comics transform into visual spectacles.
"Superheroes were created because it was a good fit for the print technology in the 1930s and 1940s," Salkowitz said. "What happened in the late 1990s is the technology for video games and movies finally got good enough to realize the imagery of comic books in a satisfying way."
To wit, Bruce Banner's eye-popping transformation into the Incredible Hulk is easy to do, and realistic.
"Of course, the level of visual effects now, anything is possible," said Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios. "I think people, back in the day, would look at a beautiful Jack Kirby drawing and say 'That's beautiful, you could never bring that to life. Now, you can."
Now, there's a demand for content to fill stories of all stripes.
Robert Kirkman's "The Walking Dead" was a black-and-white comic drawing rave reviews. Now it's a top-rated TV show commanding millions of viewers, helping boost sales of collected editions of the graphic novels and driving interest in hiring comic book scribes for television.
Brian Michael Bendis, who writes for Marvel Entertainment, had a pilot shot for his creator-owned "Powers" series that he does with Michael Avon Oeming.
Kirkman is also going into television again with "Clone," a comic series created and written by David Schulner for his Skybound imprint. On Saturday, it was announced that "Clone" had landed a development deal with NBCU.
Schulner credited Kirkman for guidance in doing that, too.
"I knew if I went off the rails too badly, Robert would be there to put me back on track. Now I've been writing the comic for two years ? issue No. 9 comes out next week ? and I just finished writing issue 15, so to be able to turn it into a television show is just icing on the cake.
And it's not just heroes, either. Archie Comics' Sabrina was turned into the popular TV sitcom "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" starring Melissa Joan Hart. It ran for seven seasons.
Salkowitz said comics have "70 years of backstory" and an "emotional resonance" on nearly everyone.
"It becomes a very easy thing for Hollywood and video game manufacturers to plug right in to this existing mythology," he said. "They don't have to invent it all themselves. They don't have to jumpstart universes."
It boils down to loyal, enthusiastic fans, and the comic book companies have that.
"Every brand wants raving fans, they don't want consumers. They want fans, people who are participating," Salkowitz said. "Look around. Comics have fans."
The World News (WN) Network, has created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to user privacy. The following discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for wn.com, as well as e-mail newsletters.
1. Personal Information Collection and Use
We do not collect personally identifiable information about you, except when you provide it to us. For example, if you submit an inquiry to us or sign up for our newsletter, you may be asked to provide certain information such as your contact details (name, e-mail address, mailing address, etc.).
When you submit your personally identifiable information through wn.com, you are giving your consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information as set forth in this Privacy Policy. If you would prefer that we not collect any personally identifiable information from you, please do not provide us with any such information. We will not sell or rent your personally identifiable information to third parties without your consent, except as otherwise disclosed in this Privacy Policy.
Except as otherwise disclosed in this Privacy Policy, we will use the information you provide us only for the purpose of responding to your inquiry or in connection with the service for which you provided such information. We may forward your contact information and inquiry to our affiliates and other divisions of our company that we feel can best address your inquiry or provide you with the requested service. We may also use the information you provide in aggregate form for internal business purposes, such as generating statistics and developing marketing plans. We may share or transfer such non-personally identifiable information with or to our affiliates, licensees, agents and partners.
We may retain other companies and individuals to perform functions on our behalf. Such third parties may be provided with access to personally identifiable information needed to perform their functions, but may not use such information for any other purpose.
In addition, we may disclose any information, including personally identifiable information, we deem necessary, in our sole discretion, to comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal proceeding or governmental request.
2. E-mail addresses
We do not want you to receive unwanted e-mail from us. We try to make it easy to opt-out of any service you have asked to receive. If you sign-up to our e-mail newsletters we do not sell, exchange or give your e-mail address to a third party.
E-mail addresses are collected via the wn.com web site. Users have to physically opt-in to receive the wn.com newsletter and a verification e-mail is sent. wn.com is clearly and conspicuously named at the point of
collection.
If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter and promotional communications, you may opt-out of receiving them by following the instructions included in each newsletter or communication or by e-mailing us at michaelw(at)wn.com
The security of your personal information is important to us. We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during registration and once we receive it. No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100 percent secure, however. Therefore, though we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
If we decide to change our e-mail practices, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, the homepage, and other places we think appropriate so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.
If we make material changes to our e-mail practices, we will notify you here, by e-mail, and by means of a notice on our home page.
3. Third Party Advertisers
The advertising banners and other forms of advertising appearing on this Web site are sometimes delivered to you, on our behalf, by a third party. In the course of serving advertisements to this site, the third party may place or recognize a unique cookie on your browser. For more information on cookies, you can visit www.cookiecentral.com.
4. Business Transfers
As we continue to develop our business, we might sell certain aspects of our entities or assets. In such transactions, user information, including personally identifiable information, generally is one of the transferred business assets, and by submitting your personal information on Wn.com you agree that your data may be transferred to such parties in these circumstances.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? The Afghan president on Saturday approved a new law governing next year's presidential and provincial elections, an important step toward a smooth transition of power in 2014 and the final withdrawal of all remaining foreign combat forces from the country.
Hamid Karzai's office said he signed a decree endorsing the law, which defines the legal framework for the elections and which was approved by parliament earlier this week.
The law is supported by Afghanistan's international sponsors and Karzai's approval was widely expected. Foreign donors have made holding free and transparent elections a key requirement for their continued funding.
In early July, representatives from 40 countries reaffirmed pledges of $16 billion in support for Afghanistan, but cited the approval of two new election laws as a condition.
Last week, Karzai approved another law defining the role and structure of the country's electoral watchdog and election commission. The two laws had been debated in parliament for months and were finally given the green light by a joint commission made up of Afghanistan's upper and lower house.
The balloting for a new president and council members for Afghanistan's 34 provinces will be held April 5. Under the new law, candidates have to submit nominations for the presidential election on Sept. 16.
Karzai, whose second five-year term ends next year, cannot seek a third term under the law. There have been worries that he could delay the laws, either to postpone the election in order to extend his term in office, or to have the polls on his own terms.
The European Union's ambassador to Afghanistan, Vygaudas Usackas, said the new laws show Afghans can take their future into their own hands.
"I am confident that President Karzai as a statesman of his nation will do everything possible to ensure a peaceful transfer of power in 2014 through inclusive and transparent elections," said Usackas, who had strongly lobbied both Karzai and the parliament to approve the legislation.
Karzai, who has the power to reject legislation, has expressed no interest in a third term, insisting he wants to retire after the elections. But it still remains unclear if he may seek to promote his own candidate, including a brother who is active in politics.
"We are encouraged by the adoption of the law," said Nader Nadery, founder and chairman of the Fair and Free Elections Foundation of Afghanistan, a local watchdog.
Nadery said the new law "is going to provide a better base than the previous legal structure" in place during the 2009 presidential elections.
Karzai's re-election was marred by widespread allegations of corruption, vote tampering and election fraud. He denied the charges but the acrimonious aftermath tainted his relationship with the West and the United States.
The U.S. was one of Karzai's most vocal critics and has been dealing with the aftermath of the 2009 vote to this day.
Much of Karzai's bitterness and testy relations with America is thought to stem from his expressed belief that Washington somehow sought to engineer his loss in the polls.
Afghanistan's international financial and military backers have said a smooth transition during the presidential election is necessary to ensure the country's stability once all foreign combat troops leave by the end of 2014.
NATO handed over the lead for security around the country to Afghan forces last June, as part of a phased withdrawal of foreign troops over the next year and a half.
The handover paved the way for the departure of coalition forces ? currently numbering about 100,000 troops from 48 countries, including 66,000 Americans.
By the end of the year, the NATO forces will be halved. At the end of 2014, all combat troops will have left and will be replaced, if approved by the Afghan government, by a much smaller force that will only train and advise the Afghans.
But violence has not abated around the country and the Taliban and other insurgents, emboldened by the withdrawal, have increased attacks against Afghan security forces, especially in places where coalition forces have already withdrawn.
A wave of bombings late Friday in southern Afghanistan killed 15 people, including six members of the country's security services, said Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the governor of Helmand province.
The most deadly of the attacks was when five members of the Afghan intelligence service and a policeman died when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in the Sangin district, Zwak said on Saturday. Deputy head of Sangin's intelligence service was among those killed in the explosion.
Helmand police spokesman Shamim Noorzia said three other bombings killed six civilians and two police officers.
Insurgents have increased attacks in Helmand as foreign forces withdraw from the area.
___
Associated Press writer Rahim Faiez contributed from Kabul and Mirwais Khan from Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Follow Patrick Quinn on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/PatrickAQuinn
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 30-Jul-2013
Share ] 
When I created this site I was trying to get my hands on as many mobile projects as possible; this was an opportunity to design and concept a website where content was constantly updated, personalized and exclusive to location. ...