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Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Go Go Gadget Eyes?and Brain

Enhancing your level of vision on demand sounds like something out of a comic book. Superman, if you recall, had the power to turn his x-ray vision on and off like a light switch. So is x-ray vision possible? I?m sorry to say: no. The ability of our naked eyes to see through layers of objects remains an idea conjured up in the minds of science fiction writers. However, the possibility of training your brain to flip to a heightened level of visual discrimination and detection whenever you want may in fact be a reality.

Last month, researchers in Switzerland found that participants who were successfully trained to consciously up-regulate the level of activity in their early visual cortex as seen by neurofeedback on fMRI in real time were also able to voluntarily give their level of visual discrimination and detection a boost. This study may sound like science fiction but it is not. Here is how it was done.

Sixteen, young healthy participants with normal or corrected-to-normal vision were told to focus on a central fixation light while they imagined high resolution pictures of changing color, shape and intensity in a particular part of their visual field which the researchers called the target region of interest. They visualized such things as writing their name in the air, a boat sailing on the ocean, patterns of spinning wheels and spirals, a model walking down the runway or their pet. They received on-the-spot visual feedback indicating how well their visualizations were boosting their brain activity to aid in their brain training. By imagining these detailed objects, seven out of the sixteen participants were able to train themselves to consciously up-regulate activity in areas of their early visual cortex over the course of a series of separate training sessions. In essence what the participants did was learn how to jump-start their visual cortex. Once their visual cortex was held at a higher state of activity, it was more sensitive and could better detect other stimuli in the target region of interest where they projected their visualizations.

Now before you go and imagine pink elephants in your peripheral vision to keep the other team from stealing second while pitching at the next company softball game, note that really wasn?t the intention of this research. It is said that those who have suffered a stroke and are enduring visual perceptual deficiencies and visual neglect are the people who the researchers intended to benefit from this work.

Still, the idea of being able to amp up the baseline activity of the visual cortex in order to be better prepared to notice something else in your vision is really intriguing to me. It reminds me of when I was in elementary school and teachers would tell us to put our ?thinking caps? on. Could trying to consciously control our state of awareness and alertness really turn us into better stimulus detectors and could this work for other senses? If one imagines music, could that enhance our auditory sensitivity?

Well, researchers are investigating whether or not real time fMRI feedback training can be used to dampen auditory overactivity in patients with chronic tinnitus. Similar to the visual perception experiment, in 2010 Haller et al. used neurofeedback training through real time fMRI on six participants with chronic tinnitus in order to try to teach them to voluntarily lessen brain activity in their auditory cortex. Two out of the six participants were successfully trained to be able to control and reduce the level of activity in their auditory cortex and they reported an improvement in tinnitus symptoms.

More research needs to be done to fully investigate and understand the potential of real time fMRI neurofeedback training but it has given hope to many. It perhaps is very comforting to think that certain ailments may have the possibility of being even mildly alleviated with the age-old adage of ?mind over matter.?

References

Haller S, Birbaumer N, Veit R. Real-time fMRI feedback training may improve chronic tinnitus. Eur Radiology. 2010 Mar; 20 (3): 696-703. doi: 10.1007/s00330-009-1595-z

Scharnowski F, Hutton C, Josephs O, Weiskopf N, Reese G. Improving Visual Perception through Neurofeedback. J Neurosci.2012 Dec 5; 32(40): 17830-41. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.6334-11.2012.

Photo credits: eye and Beverly (by Fran Priestly/stockxchng photo), author pic (by Erica Angiolillo/Gotcha! By Erica)

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=c40ab9fc08f4cece5ef7f7002655fb3a

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Apple rumored to (again) be working on a cheaper iPhone, could arrive in late 2013

Remember this song and dance? You should. Major news agencies far and wide have been asserting that Apple would be producing a "cheaper iPhone" for years now, and it looks as if a few fresh rumors have the smoke all roiled up again. The Wall Street Journal is today reporting that Apple is "working on a lower-end iPhone," citing only "people familiar with the matter" as proof. The article notes that the company has "explored such a device for years," but that exploration is getting closer to reality now that the smartphone universe is beginning to shift in a major way.

As the story goes, the cheaper phone "could resemble the standard iPhone, with a different, less-expensive body" -- perhaps an iPhone that relies on polycarbonate plastic instead of metal / glass. It's most certainly unlike Apple to cater to the lower-end; when the netbook craze was in full force, it resisted the obvious urge to cut corners on its MacBook Air in order to play ball in that space. And, most recently, its smaller iPad didn't come close to matching items like the Nexus 7 in price.

What remains unclear, however, is if this report is merely a masked rehash of a DigiTimes report that surfaced earlier in the day. For those unaware, DigiTimes doesn't have the purest reputation when it comes to nailing Apple rumors, and given that a low-end iPhone has been rumored for nearly as long as the iPhone has existed, it's even more unclear if there's a reason to put more stock in this one compared to those prior.

Comments

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/08/apple-cheaper-iphone-rumor-2013/

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Molecular 'two-way radio' directs nerve cell branching and connectivity

Jan. 7, 2013 ? Working with fruit flies, Johns Hopkins scientists have decoded the activity of protein signals that let certain nerve cells know when and where to branch so that they reach and connect to their correct muscle targets. The proteins' mammalian counterparts are known to have signaling roles in immunity, nervous system and heart development, and tumor progression, suggesting broad implications for human disease research.

A report of the research was published online Nov. 21 in the journal Neuron.

To control muscle movements, fruit flies, like other animals, have a set of nerve cells called motor neurons that connect muscle fibers to the nerve cord, a structure similar to the spinal cord, which in turn connects to the brain. During embryonic development, the nerve cells send wire-like projections, or axons, from the nerve cord structure out to their targets. Initially, multiple axons travel together in a convoy, but as they move forward, some axons must exit the "highway" at specific points to reach particular targets.

In their experiments, the researchers learned that axons travelling together have proteins on their surfaces that act like two-way radios, allowing the axons to communicate with each other and coordinate their travel patterns, thus ensuring that every muscle fiber gets connected to a nerve cell. "When axons fail to branch, or when they branch too early and too often, fruits flies, and presumably other animals, can be left without crucial muscle-nerve connections," says Alex Kolodkin, Ph.D., a Howard Hughes investigator and professor of neuroscience at the Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

At the center of the communications system, Kolodkin says, is a protein called Sema-1a, already known to reside on the surface of motor neuron axons. If a neighboring axon has a different protein, called PlexA, on its surface, it will be repulsed by Sema-1a and will turn away from the axon bundle. So Sema-1a acts as an instructional signal and PlexA as its receptor. In the fruit fly study, the scientists discovered that Sema-1a can also act as a receptor for PlexA. "We used to think that this pair of surface proteins acted as a one-way radio, with information flowing in a single direction," says Kolodkin. "What we found is that instructional information flows both ways."

The Johns Hopkins team identified the "two-way" system by knocking out and otherwise manipulating fruit fly genes and then watching what happened to motor neuron branching. In these experiments, the researchers uncovered still other proteins located within the motor axons that Sema-1a interacts with after receiving a PlexA signal. When the gene for a protein called Pebble was deleted, for example, motor axons bunched together and didn't branch. When the gene for RhoGAPp190 was deleted, motor axons branched too soon and failed to recognize their target muscles.

Through a series of biochemical tests, Kolodkin's team found that Pebble and RhoGAPp190 both act on a third protein, Rho1. When Rho1 is activated, it collapses the supporting structures within an axon, making it "limp" and unable to continue toward a target. Sema-1a can bind to Pebble or to RhoGAPp190, and subsequently, these proteins can bind to Rho1. Binding to Pebble activates Rho1, causing axons to branch away from each other. However, binding to RhoGAPp190 shuts down Rho1, causing axons to remain bunched together. Thus, says Kolodkin, balance in the amounts of available Pebble and RhoGAPp190 can determine axon behavior, although what determines this balance is still unknown.

"This signaling is complex and we still don't understand how it's all controlled, but we're one step closer now," says Kolodkin. He notes that "a relative" of the Sema-1a protein in humans has already been implicated in schizophrenia, although details of this protein's role in disease remain unclear. "Our experiments affirm how important this protein is to study and understand," adds Kolodkin.

Other authors on the paper include Sangyun Jeong and Katarina Juhaszova of The Johns Hopkins University.

This work was supported by funds from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01 NS35165) and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Johns Hopkins Medicine.

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

Journal Reference:

Sangyun Jeong, Katarina Juhaszova, Alex?L. Kolodkin. The Control of Semaphorin-1a-Mediated Reverse Signaling by Opposing Pebble and RhoGAPp190 Functions in Drosophila. Neuron, 2012; 76 (4): 721 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2012.09.018

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/0hFdB37H9mU/130107145711.htm

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Monday, January 7, 2013

Stamp duty for land registration to go up - Real Estate India

??|?? January 6, 2013 ?? 01:43pm ??|Contributed by manoja

HYDERABAD: From April 1, 2013, people who register their properties with the stamps and registrations department have to cough up more charges. This is because chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Saturday cleared the proposal to increase market land value for registration of properties.

The chief minister also directed the stamps and registration department to reduce the registration charges including transfer of duty.

For the first time, the rationalization would be done by publishing the proposed market value rates in public domain by calling for suggestions and objections from the public for one month, the chief minister said.

Kiran Kumar Reddy, who held a review meeting with the stamps and registrations (S&R) department on Saturday, asked them to do the revision in a transparent manner, a press release said.

Officials informed that land value is generally decided based on the quantum of stamp duty and registration fee. The last revision in both the urban and rural areas was done on August 1, 2010.

However, for two consecutive years, the revision of properties was not taken up. According to officials, though land value has gone up in some areas, it remained stagnant in some areas while it declined in some other areas.

The state government had increased the fee for encumbrance, marriage certificate and other services of the registration and stamps department in August 2011. Though the S&R department had readied the proposals by July, 2011, the revision of land values was kept on hold in view of the hike in EC, marriage certificate, gift deed and other services.

The chief minister said the reduction in the cost of registration as per the directions of the Centre would be a major reform.

According to officials, in 2011-12, as against the gross revenue target of Rs 5,602.81 crore, the stamps and registrations department earned Rs 5,492.11 crore which was about 98.02% of the target. The figures also recorded a 14.60% growth over the previous year?s (2010-11) earning of Rs 4,428.25 crore.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Stamp-duty-for-land-registration-to-go-up/articleshow/17907573.cms

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Source: http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-india/hyderabad/stamp-duty-for-land-registration-to-go-up.html

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Holmes hearing: At last, a chance for victims to testify

The preliminary hearing into the shooting attack in Aurora, Colo., last summer that left 12 people dead and 58 wounded opened Monday, offering a week-long window into details of the mass shooting at a midnight screening of ?The Dark Knight Rises.?

Most intriguingly, testimony at the hearing could shed light on the mindset of the alleged shooter, James Holmes, the former neuroscience graduate student whose hair was colored the same orange as that of the Batman movie villain the Joker.

Until now, most key documents in the case have been kept locked up, with very few released to the public, most heavily edited. Three days after the shooting on July 20 in the Denver suburb, District Judge William Sylvester ordered attorneys and investigators to refrain from speaking about the case publicly.

Recommended: Second Amendment Quiz

The purpose of the preliminary hearing in Centennial, Colo., is for Judge Sylvester to decide whether or not there is probable cause for a trial down the road. The hearing will feature testimony by witnesses who will be questioned by both the prosecution and defense. There will be no jury.

In the very first session Monday, a police officer, Jason Oviatt, described finding Mr. Holmes outside the theater in the moments after the shooting, saying the suspect was ?very relaxed,? without ?normal emotional responses to anything,? The New York Times reported.

But beyond making details of the attack public for the first time in the hearing, the procedure will serve several other functions, perhaps none more poignant than creating a potential emotional outlet for victims and their families who will have the chance to testify.

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Doug Godfrey, professor of law from Chicago Kent, says he will be watching for how many eyewitnesses are put on the stand, as opposed to police. He says the amount of time given to the hearing ? five days, which is very rare ? is indicative of motivations that go beyond fact and legal findings.

?There has been a huge movement in criminal law toward giving victims a voice in what happens ? which provides both some solace and closure,? he says.

The hearing could also allow prosecutors and defense lawyers to assess the other?s strengths and weaknesses, potentially providing the backdrop for Holmes to negotiate and accept a plea agreement before trial that could see him avoid the death penalty.

?The evidence is overwhelming in this case, so it might be just the opportunity Holmes needs to strike a deal that could spare his life,? says Robert Pugsley, professor of law at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles.

Legal analysts say they are keen to find out how the defense will proceed.

?It's difficult to say whether a theory of defense will be articulated, although one likely theory might be mental and/or emotional incompetence,? says Bernard Gershman, law professor at Pace University in New York. ?The evidence of guilt is so powerful that I don?t think Holmes has any possible chance of prevailing on the merits.?

For both sides, preliminary hearings can be useful as a way to freeze a witness's testimony, analysts say.

?If they change their story later, they can be challenged on it. Especially in a case like this, which will undoubtedly take a very long time to get to verdict, it will be useful to have people commit on the record, under oath, to what they remember,? says Joel Jacobsen, an assistant attorney general in the criminal appeals division for New Mexico. ?What they remember three years from now, after telling the story a million times to their friends, could well be different.?

What is clear is that the court has its work cut out for it, say analysts.

Holmes is charged with 160 counts, including attempted murder and murder. Officials say he was wearing body armor and a gas mask when he threw two canisters of gas and began shooting at the midnight showing of the movie, a much-anticipated conclusion of the latest Batman movie series.

?The judge's job will be to keep track of a lot of detail, roughly four to six elements for more than 160 crimes, which is a lot,? says Jacobsen. ?Essentially the prosecution has to touch each and every one of those bases. So the legal questions will be detailed, but the answers to each question will be simple: yes or no.?

Holmes?s attorneys reportedly have told the judge that Holmes is mentally ill but have not divulged whether or not they intend to use the insanity defense. They say he was seeing a university psychiatrist and that he tried to call that psychiatrist, just minutes before the shooting began.

But according to Mr. Jacobsen, the insanity defense is hard to win.

?Among other things, it requires a person to admit that they committed the crime, so it precludes any defense that the police might have erred ? and takes as its starting point that the defendant has done something wrong, or in this case monstrously, inconceivably horrible.?

He says the percentage of cases in which the insanity defense leads to a not guilty verdict is something close to 5 percent.

Recommended: Second Amendment Quiz

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Obama warns debt ceiling fight could be 'catastrophic'

HONOLULU - In his first weekly address of the New Year, President Obama touts the "fiscal cliff" compromise as "one more step in the broader effort to grow our economy and shrink our deficits" but warns that another "manufactured crisis" over the debt ceiling could wreak havoc on the economy.

Continuing his effort to frame the looming fight over the nation's debt limit, Obama makes clear "one thing I will not compromise over is whether or not Congress should pay the tab for a bill they've already racked up."

"If Congress refuses to give the United States the ability to pay its bills on time, the consequences for the entire global economy could be catastrophic," he continues. "The last time Congress threatened this course of action, our entire economy suffered for it."

Speaking from Hawaii, where the president is vacationing with his family, Obama cautions that another "messy brinkmanship" in Congress would make business owners and consumers less confident.

By the end of February, lawmakers must deal with the need to raise the nation's debt ceiling and tackle the delayed across-the-board sequester cuts.

Obama vows to do more to reduce the deficit but continues to insist that any future spending cuts must be balanced with tax reforms.

"The wealthiest individuals and the biggest corporations shouldn't be able to take advantage of loopholes and deductions that aren't available to most Americans," he says.

"If we focus on the interests of our country above the interests of party, I'm convinced we can cut spending and raise revenue in a manner that reduces our deficit and protects the middle class," he concludes. "These aren't just things we should do, they're things we must do. And in this New Year, I'll fight as hard as I know how to get them done."

Large earthquake strikes off Alaska coast

By Marian Smith, NBC News

A 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Alaska near midnight on Friday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, prompting tsunami warnings and advisories down the coast of Alaska and Canada's British Columbia.

All tsunami warnings, watches and advisories were later canceled, the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) said.

The Alaska Tsunami Warning Center said the waves were too small to pose a threat, reaching just six inches above normal sea level in places such as Sitka and Port Alexander.

"Initially, in the first 15 to 20 minutes, there might have been a bit of panic," Sitka Police Chief Sheldon Schmitt told The Associated Press. But he said things calmed down as the town waited for the all clear and the tsunami warning was canceled by 2 a.m., according to the Daily Sitka Sentinel.

Residents of Sitka gathered at the high school early Saturday, bundled up with pillows in tow, waiting for more information.

The quake struck in the Pacific Ocean about 60 miles southwest of Port Alexander, Alaska, at a depth of about 6 miles?at 11:58 p.m. local time (3:58 a.m. ET), the USGS said.

Initially, the USGS reported that the temblor had a magnitude of 7.7, but it later downgraded the quake's strength to 7.5.

Read real-time updates from BreakingNews.com

A?6-inch rise in sea level?was reported in Port Alexander, but there were no early reports of damage.

A tsunami warning was issued for the coastal areas of British Columbia from the north tip of Vancouver Island to Cape Suckling, but it was later canceled.

"A tsunami was generated by this event but does not pose a threat to these areas," NOAA said in a statement. "Some areas may see small sea level changes. The decision to re-occupy hazard zones must be made by local authorities."

The NOAA also issued tsunami advisories from the Washington state-British Columbia border to the north tip of Vancouver Island. They were later canceled.

According to the NOAA, a tsunami warning means "that a tsunami with significant widespread inundation is expected or is already occurring."

There was no danger of a tsunami hitting Hawaii, according to the NOAA's Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.

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Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/05/16363797-large-earthquake-strikes-off-alaska-coast-prompting-tsunami-warnings?lite&preview=true

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