Exercise May Help Those at Higher Risk for Alzheimer's: Study (HealthDay)

MONDAY, Jan. 9 (HealthDay News) -- A new study finds that an active lifestyle may help protect against Alzheimer's-related brain changes in people who have a well-known genetic risk factor. This factor is the e4 allele (version) of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene.

"The presence of an APOE e4 allele is the most established genetic risk factor for Alzheimer disease, with a higher percentage of individuals with Alzheimer's disease having an e4 allele in comparison with the general population," the authors write in the article published online Jan. 9 in the journal Archives of Neurology.

It's been suggested that the presence or absence of this gene variant might affect the relationship "between lifestyle factors such as exercise engagement and risk of cognitive decline and dementia," added researcher Denise Head and colleagues at Washington University, St. Louis.

They examined the association between exercise and amyloid deposits in the brain among 201 cognitively normal patients, ages 45 to 88, with and without the APOE e4 allele.

Deposits of amyloid protein in the brain have long been associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Patients with an active lifestyle had less cerebral amyloid deposition than those with a sedentary lifestyle, the study found.

The researchers conclude that the presence of the APOE e4 gene "is associated with increased risk of cognitive decline and elevated amyloid deposition." But they add that, "exercise engagement has been associated with reduced risk of cognitive decline and lower levels of amyloid deposition."

"In summary, our findings suggest that exercise at levels recommended by the AHA [American Heart Association] may be particularly beneficial in reducing the risk of brain amyloid deposition in cognitively normal e4-positive individuals," they concluded.

More information

The Alzheimer's Association has more about Alzheimer's disease.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/seniors/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120110/hl_hsn/exercisemayhelpthoseathigherriskforalzheimersstudy

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A wealth of habitable planets in the Milky Way

ScienceDaily (Jan. 11, 2012) ? Six years of observations of millions of stars now show how common it is for stars to have planets in orbits around them. Using a method that is highly sensitive to planets that lie in a habitable zone around the host stars, astronomers, including members from the Niels Bohr Institute, have discovered that most of the Milky Way's 100 billion stars have planets that are very similar to Earth like planets in our own solar system -- Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, while planets like Jupiter and Saturn are more rare.

The results are published in the scientific journal, Nature.

"Our results show that planets orbiting around stars are more the rule than the exception. In a typical solar system approximately four planets have their orbits in the terrestrial zone, which is the distance from the star where you can find solid planets. On average, there are 1.6 planets in the area around the stars that corresponds to the area between Venus and Saturn" explains astronomer Uffe Gr?e J?rgensen, head of the research group Astrophysics and Planetary Science at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen.

Searching for exoplanets

Over 1000 exoplanets have been found in our galaxy, the Milky Way, and most have been found using either the radial velocity method or the transit method, both of which are best suited to be able to find planets that are large and relatively close to their host star.

With the radial velocity method you can measure that a star rocks in small circular motions due to a revolving planet's gravitational force.

With the transit method you measure periodic changes in the brightness of a star. When a planet moves in front of the star, there is a little dip in the star's brightness and if this little dip occurs regularly, further observations can reveal whether there it is a planet. With both methods you most often find large planets in such small orbits around their stars, that they have no equivalents in our own solar system.

Habitable exoplanets

In order to find planets similar to the planets we know from our own solar system, researchers must use a third method -- gravitational microlensing observations. But the gravitational microlensing method requires very special conditions concerning the stars location in the galaxy.

Uffe Gr?e J?rgensen explains that you need to have two stars that lie on a straight line in relation to us here on Earth. Then the light from the background star is amplified by the gravity of the foreground star, which thus acts as a magnifying glass. When the stars pass close by each other in the sky, astronomers can observe the light from the background star first increase and then decrease again. If there is a planet around the foreground star, there might be a little extra bump on the light curve. But if the planet is very close to the star, the bump 'drowns' on the light curve, and if the planet is very far from star, you do not see it. "Therefore the method is most sensitive to planets that lie at an Earth-like distance from a star," explains Uffe Gr?e J?rgensen.

It is rare that two planets pass by each other closely enough to create a microlens. We have therefore implemented a strategic search on two levels. Every starry night the research group scans 100 million stars using telescopes in Chile and New Zealand. If the scanning identifies a stellar location with a possible microlensing effect, it is automatically registered and all researchers are notified. Then the best 'lenses' are observed more closely at high resolution and their light curves are analysed. One of the places this is done is at the Danish 1.5 meter telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile.

"In a six year period from 2002 to 2007, we observed 500 stars at high resolution. In 10 of the stars we directly see the lens effect of a planet, and for the others we could use statistical arguments to determine how many planets the stars had on average. To be exact, we found that the zone that corresponds to the area between Venus and Saturn in our solar system had and average of 1.6 planets the size of five Earth masses or more," explains Uffe Gr?e J?rgensen.

Billions of habitable planets

The microlensing results complement the best existing transit and radial velocity measurements. Using transit measurements, the American Kepler satellite has identified a very large number of relatively small planets in orbits smaller than even the innermost planet in our own solar system, Mercury, while many years of radial velocity measurements have revealed a large number of very large planets in both very small orbits and slightly larger orbits.

"Our microlensing data complements the other two methods by identifying small and large planets in the area midway between the transit and radial velocity measurements. Together, the three methods are, for the first time, able to say something about how common our own solar system is, as well as how many stars appear to have Earth-size planets in the orbital area where liquid what could, in principle, exist as lakes, rivers and oceans -- that is to say, where life as we know it from Earth could exist in principle," says Uffe Gr?e J?rgensen. He explains that a statistical analysis of all three methods combined shows that out of the Milky Way's 100 billion stars, there are about 10 billion stars with planets in the habitable zone. This means that there may be billions of habitable planets in the Milky Way. For thousands of years people have been guessing how many planets there might be out there among the stars, where we could, in principle at least, live. Today we know this.

Are we alone in the universe?

But it is one thing, that the planets have the right temperature to be habitable in principle, but quite another thing, whether they are inhabited -- whether there is life and perhaps even intelligent life on the planets.

"There are so many unique events in our solar system that have created the basis for the development of life on Earth. Comets brought water to our planet so that life could arise and a series of random events set in motion an evolution that lead to humans and intelligent life. It is very unlikely that the same circumstances would be present in other solar systems," believes Uffe Gr?e J?rgensen, "but perhaps other coincidences in other solar systems have led to entirely different and exciting new forms of life. Recent research of planets around other stars has shown us that there is in any case billions of planets with orbits like Earth and of comparable size to the Earth."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Copenhagen.

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Journal Reference:

  1. A. Cassan, D. Kubas, J.-P. Beaulieu, M. Dominik, K. Horne, J. Greenhill, J. Wambsganss, J. Menzies, A. Williams, U. G. J?rgensen, A. Udalski, D. P. Bennett, M. D. Albrow, V. Batista, S. Brillant, J. A. R. Caldwell, A. Cole, Ch. Coutures, K. H. Cook, S. Dieters, D. Dominis Prester, J. Donatowicz, P. Fouqu?, K. Hill, N. Kains, S. Kane, J.-B. Marquette, R. Martin, K. R. Pollard, K. C. Sahu, C. Vinter, D. Warren, B. Watson, M. Zub, T. Sumi, M. K. Szyma?ski, M. Kubiak, R. Poleski, I. Soszynski, K. Ulaczyk, G. Pietrzy?ski, ?. Wyrzykowski. One or more bound planets per Milky Way star from microlensing observations. Nature, 2012; 481 (7380): 167 DOI: 10.1038/nature10684

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/TzfJHyUPcr8/120111133943.htm

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Netflix may not turn profitable in 2012 (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? Online video and DVD rental company Netflix began gaining U.S. subscribers again in the fourth quarter of last year after a sudden price hike sparked an exodus in the third quarter, Chief Executive Reed Hastings said on Monday.

"What we said a quarter ago was that it was going to turn up in the back half of Q4 and everything's been consistent with that," Hastings told Reuters in an interview in London as Netflix launched its service in the UK and Ireland.

Hastings reiterated that the cost of international expansion would contribute to an overall loss at Netflix this year and declined to say whether the once high-flying company could turn profitable during the course of the year.

"I can't comment," he said. "We're really focused on this global expansion and it is expensive."

Despite the increasing cost of acquiring content for the United States and new international markets, Hastings said he did not expect to raise fresh capital this year.

"No. We're doing great," he said.

Netflix raised $400 million in fresh capital in November after its share price tumbled during a buyback program.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120109/en_nm/us_netflix_profit

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InfoSpace Buys Online Tax Solutions Company TaxACT For $287.5M In Cash

taxactOnline search and SEO services company InfoSpace has acquired 2nd Story Software, the holding company for online tax solutions provider TaxACT for $287.5 million in cash, the company announced today. InfoSpace, which operates so-called 'metasearch' engines like Dogpile and metacrawler, says the acquisition is expected to close this quarter. Based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 2nd Story Software / TaxACT is the second largest provider of online tax solutions for individuals and businesses (after Intuit's TurboTax), with approximately 70 full-time employees.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/BV4nCxcF-rE/

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Agency ranks 2011 as driest year ever in Texas (AP)

HOUSTON ? The National Weather Service says 2011 was Texas' driest year on record as well as its second hottest.

The agency said Friday the average rainfall for the drought-stricken state last year was 14.88 inches. The previous driest average total was in 1917 with 14.99 inches.

The weather service says 2011's average temperature was 67.2 degrees. Texas' warmest year on record was in 1921 with an average temperature of 67.5 degrees.

Last year Texas suffered its worst single-year drought, its largest agricultural losses and the hottest summer in U.S. history. From June through August, Texas averaged 86.8 degrees, beating out Oklahoma's 85.2 degrees in 1934.

The current drought started in fall 2010. Forecasters say it is expected to drag on at least through June.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120107/ap_on_re_us/us_texas_driest_year

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Pope baptizes babies in Sistine Chapel (AP)

VATICAN CITY ? Pope Benedict XVI is baptizing 16 babies in the splendor of the Sistine Chapel.

Some of the infants looked at him wide-eyed after he poured water from a golden shell-shaped dish over their forehead, as Benedict administered the sacrament Sunday, welcoming them formally by name into the Catholic church. A few babies flailed their arms when brought up to the pontiff, but none cried in front of him. Benedict told their parents and godparents in his homily that educating children is "very challenging," and urged them to pray. He said he hoped the children would grow up with "wisdom and grace." The ceremony in the chapel frescoed by Michelangelo and where popes are elected is part of the Vatican's Christmas period traditions.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/religion/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120108/ap_on_re_eu/eu_vatican_pope_baptism

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Facebook Virus 'Ramnit' Steals 45,000 Passwords and Spreads Malware

A virus has stolen user names and passwords from more than 45,000 Facebook users in the United Kingdom and France, with the intent to spread malware to users' friends.

The Ramnit worm was first discovered in April 2010 and was described by Microsoft as "a multi-component malware family which infects Windows executable as well as HTML files," and that it has been "stealing sensitive information such as stored FTP credentials and browser cookies."

In August 2011, Ramnit was discovered to have become 'financial', meaning it was targeting financial institutions, where it was able gain remote access to businesses, compromise online banking sessions and penetrate several corporate networks.

Security expert Seculert has raised now sounded the alarm that Ramnit is being used to steal Facebook users' email addresses and passwords, then logging into their accounts and sending damaging malware to their friends.

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Seculert said in a blog post: "Since the Ramnit Facebook C&C URL is visible and accessible it was fairly straightforward to detect that over 45,000 Facebook login credentials have been stolen worldwide, mostly from users in the United Kingdom and France."

Affected users are put into a 'security roadblock' by Facebook, where account activity is locked down until the user passes through the roadblock, where they must reset their password.

The security firms believes that Ramnit is also being used to access users' email accounts and other social networks, as many people tend to use the same email address and even password on many different websites and services.

"As demonstrated by the 45,000 compromised Facebook subscribers, the viral power of social networks can be manipulated to cause considerable damage to individuals and institutions when it is in the wrong hands," Seculert said, adding that it has forwarded everything it knows to Facebook.

UPDATE: A Facebook spokesperson has spoken to the International Business Times UK, and has said the following:

"Last week we received from external security researchers a set of user credentials that had been harvested by a piece of malware. Our security experts have reviewed the data, and while the majority of the information was out-of-date, we have initiated remedial steps for all affected users to ensure the security of their accounts.

"Thus far, we have not seen the virus propagating on Facebook itself, but have begun working with our external partners to add protections to our anti-virus systems to help users secure their devices. People can protect themselves by never clicking on strange links and reporting any suspicious activity they encounter on Facebook."

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Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/277500/20120106/facebook-virus-ramnit-steals-45-000-passwords.htm

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'Chemo Cancer Angels' aiming to help Perry Co. cancer patients

PERRY CO, IN (WFIE)-

The community in Perry County is pulling together to support several kids there who are battling cancer.

Six-year-old Lydia Haycraft recently?gave herself a?new look and she likes it.? Lydia shaved her own head.?

She says it's easy to manage and means she gets to wear lots of cute hats.

Lydia is one of at least four children or teens in Perry County dealing with cancer.

A fifth has been dealing with another serious disease most of his life, but they are not alone.

People in Perry County have come together to make things easier for these kids and their families.

This Saturday, autographed colts items along with all kinds of other things will be auctioned off to benefit 17-year-old Perry Central junior Tyler Cundiff, who was diagnosed with leukemia in November.

Just two days ago, another effort popped up in the form of a new Facebook page called 'Chemo Cancer Angels.'

Beth Hauser is the creator.?

"Well I am a nine and a half?year cancer survivor and whenever I was going through chemotherapy I found a group called Chemo Angels and they made a point to make sure I got cards or letters or something like that in the mail all the time," Hauser said.

She is asking people to donate coloring books, cards and letters that can be sent to the kids.

"Kids love to get mail and you know, to get mail when you're?six or even 17 is special. They're going through trying times, so it's a special thing for them," says Hauser.

Lydia's mom Tiffany says support like this is what's been keeping them going while they've spent weeks in the hospital.

"We're a community, we have to stick together," Tiffany says.

With some help, Beth Hauser plans to make sure soon, Lydia and the others have a reason to head to the mailbox.

If you're interested in donating supplies or money for postage, head to the 'Chemo Cancer Angels' Facebook page.?

Copyright 2012 WFIE. All rights reserved.?

Source: http://spencer-perrycounty.14wfie.com/news/community-spirit/53767-chemo-cancer-angels-aiming-help-perry-co-cancer-patients

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Sensics Natalia head-tracking 3D goggles work alone or with PCs, consoles and phones

Well, it looks like Sensics is going to give Sony some competition in the high-end, head-mounted display arena with a new 3D head-mounted display. Like the HMZ-T1, Sensics' Natalia headset has dual OLED screens and can connect to consoles, PCs, or phones to let you see your favorite movies and games in 3D. Unlike the Sony, Natalia sports higher-res 1280 x 1024 screens, and isn't simply a display: it has a 1.2GHZ dual-core CPU and 1GB of memory, an SD card slot, WiFi, Bluetooth, and runs Android 4.0. That means that it can be used as a standalone device, and the company's libSensics app programming interface gives devs the tools needed to create software for the new platform. Oh, and did we mention that Sensics' headset does 360-degree head tracking, and can track your hands to allow for immersive AR user experiences (think Minority Report). The final feather in her cap? Though Natalia can run on DC power, she also has hot-swappable batteries so you aren't tethered to an outlet. Sensics isn't telling how much this nifty bit of kit will cost, but the company's aiming for a late 2012 release and will be showing the headset off at CES next week -- where we'll be getting hands on with it and will let you know how well (and if) it works.

Continue reading Sensics Natalia head-tracking 3D goggles work alone or with PCs, consoles and phones

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