What type of investment property should you buy -- a condo or single-family home? Until recently, that was a trick question, as real estate was too risky and illiquid for most investors. But growing evidence of a rebound in the housing market reduces the risk your investment property would lose value. Rising prices also improve your chances of selling without too long a wait if being a landlord doesn't suit you.
On Tuesday, S&P Dow Jones Indices reported that its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices showed home prices gained 7.3 percent nationwide last year. Various other surveys have showed gains, but the Case-Shiller gauge is widely viewed as one of the most definitive, and it's a very healthy gain. "As of the fourth quarter of 2012, average home prices across the United States are back at their autumn 2003 levels," the firm said. That's a good-news/bad-news statement: good because the market's improving, but also a reminder of how bad things were.
Low mortgage rates make homes very affordable at today's prices, and investors have become very active in many markets. If you've already decided you can live with the hassles of being a landlord, what type of property is best -- a single family home or condo? To a large extent, that will depend on the individual market. In communities such as the Florida coast, there may be many more condos than single-family homes. In suburbs and rural areas, single-family homes dominate.
Rental rates on the two types of properties are a key issue. Investors generally assume that it will take four or five years of rent increases for income to cover maintenance costs, taxes and other expenses. If there's a glut of condos or single-family homes, you may not be able to raise rents very fast, prolonging your time in the red. Of course, a glut also means home prices will not rise very fast. The ideal rental property is in high demand, allowing the owner to raise rents every year and assume that property values will rise at a good clip.
Generally, operating costs are easier to estimate on condos, because the exterior work is covered by your association fees. With a single-family home, costs for a new roof, landscaping and exterior painting could hit you out of the blue. Another factor to consider: the type of renter likely to be drawn to your property. A recent survey by Premier Property Management Group, which manages 1,700 properties in 20 U.S. cities, found that renters of single-family homes are 18 percent more likely to stay in the home for five years or longer. Generally, that's good for the property owner, because each change in tenants can mean going a month or two without rent.
The survey noted an increase in recent years of the number of single-family homes for rent. That's due, in part, to the large numbers of foreclosed properties that have been turned into rentals and the difficulty many renters have had in getting mortgages. "Single-family renters make more money and are nearly twice as likely to have children as apartment dwellers," the survey found. Around the country, the median income for single-family renters ranges from $75,000 to $100,000, compared with $50,000 to $75,000 for renters in multifamily housing. About 63 percent of single-family renters have children, compared with 34 percent of multifamily renters. Single-family renters also tend to be older.
No doubt, there are lots of terrific tenants among the childless 20- and 30-somethings who prefer multifamily housing and are likely to move fairly often. But tenants who are older, more prosperous, used to dealing with responsibilities such as children and likely to stay in the home for a number of years can be especially appealing for the property owner. With an unusually large number of renters of this type looking for homes, the single-family investment property is worth considering.
More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area. See celebrity real estate.
Follow us on Twitter at @AOLRealEstate or connect with AOL Real Estate on Facebook.
A small business virtual telephone performs like a high priced telephone system, answering calls and forwarding it to different people or departments without giving you a busy tone.? According to recent research, a virtual phone is one of the important communication devices that can trim your IT budget significantly while simultaneously making it more effective. A virtual phone is capable enough to change the way your business is perceived. It has some advanced features like automated call attendant and voicemail that makes your business look big and also ensures that none of your business calls go unattended.
You?re Tool for Business Communication
You should have a sound communication system to help your customers and prospects reach you easily. This can be difficult for independent firm owners and entrepreneurs who usually work with tight budgets.? A virtual telephone is just perfect for owners and entrepreneurs like this. Initially there was a notion that a virtual phone is only for small businesses. But it has proven to be equally beneficial for small, medium and big businesses. It is important that you stay connected with your customers and yet do not run up a big bill. So your need for a phone system is inevitable and in this case it is a virtual phone.
Auto Operator The auto attendant of your virtual telephone receives your calls, greets your callers and routes them to the right person or department 24x7. Your customers need to follow just few simple instructions of the automated receptionist to reach the right person/department without wasting much time. You can either record your own message on the auto attendant or can hire a professional voice over artist. It can make you sound more professional and your business bigger. You also have the flexibility to customize your messages.
Answer Your Customers 24x7
The auto attendant routes your caller to the right person or department. It receives any call and forwards it to the right person. It can forward calls to more than one number of your choice. You can also set the time and day on your virtual telephone when you are available on each of the numbers. But if the right person is not available to answer the call, the automated attendant forwards the call to the voicemail box. It can also transfer calls to another extension or to an outside phone number. So it helps you to receive and answer your customer?s call ? anywhere and at any time. Virtual Fax
Sending fax online or virtual fax is a special feature of a virtual telephone. It completely eliminates the need for a fax machine and paper and instead sends and receives fax online using paperless documents. It?s simple to use and is faster than the traditional faxing system. All you need is to send the right files to your customers through an online interface. You select the entire document that you want to send fax online (http://www.itelecenter.com/Send-Fax-Online.aspx) and enter the recipient?s number.? Your fax is sent almost instantly.
Flexible Service Level
Unlike any other phone service provider, you do not need to sign any agreement with your virtual telephone service provider.? You can cancel the service anytime if you are not happy. A virtual phone provider usually has multiple plans to meet the demands of all types of businesses. Most plans are based on the number of minutes you are using.
Wii-playing surgeons may improve performance on laparoscopic proceduresPublic release date: 27-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jyoti Madhusoodanan onepress@plos.org 415-568-4545 Public Library of Science
Surgeons who played games on Nintendo Wii improved certain metrics of performance on laparascopies
Laparoscopic surgeons may improve certain aspects of surgical performance by regularly playing on a Nintendo Wii, according to research published February 27 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Gregorio Patrizi and colleagues from the University of Rome, Italy.
Considering the technical skills required to perform laparascopic procedures, several studies aim to evaluate and improve training for surgeons outside the operating room. Previous studies have assessed the effect of playing video games on hand-eye coordination and spatial attention. In the current research, the authors combined these two aspects by analyzing how a four-week training regimen on the Nintendo Wii impacted the laparoscopic skills of post-graduate residents in the first or second year of their surgical training. Half the surgeons were assigned to a training regimen on the Wii while the other half were not. Before and after the regimen, all the participants' performance was tested on a laparoscopic simulator.
The study found that participants in both groups improved their skills over the four week period, but those who had been trained on the Wii showed a significant improvement over the other group in their performance on several specific metrics like economy of instrument movements and efficient cautery. The study concludes, "The Nintendo Wii might be helpful, inexpensive and entertaining part of the training of young laparoscopists, in addition to a standard surgical education based on simulators and the operating room."
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Citation: Giannotti D, Patrizi G, Di Rocco G, Vestri AR, Semproni CP, et al. (2013) Play to Become a Surgeon: Impact of Nintendo WII Training on Laparoscopic Skills. PLoS ONE 8(2): e57372. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0057372
Financial Disclosure: No current external funding sources for this study.
Competing Interest Statement: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
PLEASE LINK TO THE SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT (URL goes live after the embargo ends): http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0057372
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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.
Wii-playing surgeons may improve performance on laparoscopic proceduresPublic release date: 27-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jyoti Madhusoodanan onepress@plos.org 415-568-4545 Public Library of Science
Surgeons who played games on Nintendo Wii improved certain metrics of performance on laparascopies
Laparoscopic surgeons may improve certain aspects of surgical performance by regularly playing on a Nintendo Wii, according to research published February 27 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Gregorio Patrizi and colleagues from the University of Rome, Italy.
Considering the technical skills required to perform laparascopic procedures, several studies aim to evaluate and improve training for surgeons outside the operating room. Previous studies have assessed the effect of playing video games on hand-eye coordination and spatial attention. In the current research, the authors combined these two aspects by analyzing how a four-week training regimen on the Nintendo Wii impacted the laparoscopic skills of post-graduate residents in the first or second year of their surgical training. Half the surgeons were assigned to a training regimen on the Wii while the other half were not. Before and after the regimen, all the participants' performance was tested on a laparoscopic simulator.
The study found that participants in both groups improved their skills over the four week period, but those who had been trained on the Wii showed a significant improvement over the other group in their performance on several specific metrics like economy of instrument movements and efficient cautery. The study concludes, "The Nintendo Wii might be helpful, inexpensive and entertaining part of the training of young laparoscopists, in addition to a standard surgical education based on simulators and the operating room."
###
Citation: Giannotti D, Patrizi G, Di Rocco G, Vestri AR, Semproni CP, et al. (2013) Play to Become a Surgeon: Impact of Nintendo WII Training on Laparoscopic Skills. PLoS ONE 8(2): e57372. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0057372
Financial Disclosure: No current external funding sources for this study.
Competing Interest Statement: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
PLEASE LINK TO THE SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT (URL goes live after the embargo ends): http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0057372
[ | 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.
Drink a glass of water upside down. Hold your breath until just before you pass out. Have someone scare the crap out of you. Everyone swears by a hiccup remedy. What's yours? More »
By Kailee Bradstreet Tue, Feb 26 2013 12:47 pm | Comments
Reef, Vans, The North Face, and Timberland parent company has named Scott Roe as its new Vice President ? Controller & Chief Accounting Officer.
PRESS RELEASE: GREENSBORO, N.C.?(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 26, 2013? VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC), a leader in branded lifestyle apparel and footwear, today announced that Scott A. Roe has been named as the company?s Vice President ? Controller and Chief Accounting Officer and a member of its Operating Committee. As announced on May 29, 2012, Bradley A. Batten, who previously held the role, is retiring after 10 years of service with VF
?Scott has played an important role in the evolution of our finance team; most recently in providing financial oversight of our international business during a period of exceptional growth,? said Bob Shearer, VF Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. ?His experience will serve our shareholders well as he assumes this important leadership position at VF.?
In 2012, Roe was promoted to VF?s Vice President ? Finance and began working closely with Batten on transition plans. During this period, he also assumed responsibility for financial oversight of the Jeanswear Americas and Imagewear coalitions. From 2006 to 2012, Roe served as VF?s Vice President ? Finance and Chief Financial Officer of the company?s international business. Prior to that, he held a series of financial leadership roles within the company?s Intimates coalition. Roe joined VF in 1996 after serving as a senior auditor for Ernst & Young.
About VF
VF Corporation is a global leader in branded lifestyle apparel and footwear with more than 30 brands. The company?s largest five brands are The North Face?, Wrangler?, Timberland?, Vans?, and Lee?. Other brands include 7 For All Mankind?, Bulwark?, Eagle Creek?, Eastpak?, Ella Moss?, JanSport?, Kipling?, lucy?, Majestic?, Napapijri?, Nautica?, Red Kap?, Reef?, Riders?, Splendid? and Smartwool?. For more information, visit www.vfc.com.
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CATEGORIZED: movers, News, skateboarding, snowboarding, surf TAGS: bob shearer, reef, scott roe, the north face, timberland, vans, vf corp
(Reuters) - A state assemblyman apologized on Monday for donning blackface and wearing an Afro wig at a party celebrating the Jewish holiday of Purim, a costume that drew criticism from fellow lawmakers and the Anti-Defamation League bias monitoring group.
Democratic Assemblyman Dov Hikind of New York City, who had earlier defended the costume on his blog, said he did not mean to offend anyone with the outfit, which also included black sunglasses and an orange jersey.
"It was not meant to offend anybody, it was not meant to hurt anybody. I'm sorry that anyone was," Hikind said in an impromptu news conference, a video of which was posted on the New York Post website.
The costume, which he wore at a party at his home on Sunday, had drawn criticism from the Anti Defamation League, which said that he had "showed terrible judgment," according to the New York Times.
Assemblyman Karim Camara, the chairman of the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, said he hoped Hikind could recognize the painful history behind blackface.
Blackface was often used in minstrel shows in the 19th and early 20th centuries featuring white performers portraying African Americans, often in a degrading manner.
"A lot of black leaders and clergy ? elected officials, everyday citizens ? were very upset or offended, and had a lot of questions as to, from their point of view, how could someone be so insensitive," Camara was quoted by the New York Times as saying.
Hikind had earlier defended the costume on his blog, saying the objections amounted to "political correctness to the absurd."
(Reporting by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Bill Trott)
Nottingham technology in heart development breakthroughPublic release date: 25-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Emma Thorne emma.thorne@nottingham.ac.uk 44-115-951-5793 University of Nottingham
Technology developed at The University of Nottingham has been used in a breakthrough study aimed at developing the first comprehensive model of a fully functioning fetal heart.
The abdominal fetal ECG device, designed originally by academics in the University's Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and on commercial sale throughout the world since 2008 through the University spin-out company Monica Healthcare Ltd, has been used to observe living fetal hearts of babies in their mothers' wombs.
The collaborative study led by experts at The University of Leeds has discovered that the walls of the human heart are a disorganised jumble of tissue until relatively late in pregnancy with development much slower compared to other mammals.
Professor Barrie Hayes-Gill, Professor of Electronic Systems and Medical Devices at The University of Nottingham and joint founder and research director at Monica Healthcare said: "It's absolutely fantastic to see our device being used to detect fetal ECG morphology (i.e. ECG shape) in a non-invasive manner from the surface of the maternal abdomen. In this study the Monica device has been specifically deployed to observe the development of the fetal heart as it goes through gestation.
"It's an important development and we are delighted to see Nottingham technology playing such an integral part of the study. We expect that non-invasive morphological analysis during pregnancy and labour will become routine clinical practice in years to come as Monica continues to gain traction in the marketplace."
The fetal heart monitor is a portable, non-invasive device which attaches to the mother's abdomen and measures the electrical activity from the heart of the baby inside her womb. It is currently being used worldwide to monitor fetal heart rates during labour and delivery.
The device uses complex algorithms to correctly identify signals related to the fetal heart rate (FHR) using sensitive ECG-style electrodes. This method of using electrophysiological signals differs from current external monitoring devices that collect FHR and uterine activity data based on physical changes (e.g. change in reflected sound waves and changes on strain gauge) that may cause problems in data interpretation.
The monitor is simple to use, beltless, requires no wires to connect to the display or printer. There is also no need for the constant re-positioning of transducers, which is required with older technology and the mother is free to walk around if necessary.
As part of their study, which has been published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface Focus, the team from the University of Leeds used the device to administer a weekly fetal ECG recording from 18 weeks until just before delivery.
The data from this, alongside two different MRI scans from the hearts of dead fetuses, was incorporated into a 3D computerised model built up using information about the structure, shape and size of the different components of the heart.
Early results suggest that the human heart may develop on a different timeline from other mammals. While the tissue in the walls of a pig heart develops a highly organised structure at a relatively early stage of a fetus' development, their work suggests there is little organisation in the human heart's cells until 20 weeks into pregnancy. Despite this, the human heart has a regular heartbeat from about 22 days.
Developing an accurate, computerised simulation of the fetal heart is critical to understanding normal heart developments in the womb and, eventually, to opening new ways of detecting and dealing with some functional abnormalities early in pregnancy.
Dr Eleftheria Pervolaraki, lead researcher on the project at the University of Leeds' School of Biomedical Sciences, said: "For a heart to be beating effectively, we thought you needed a smoothly changing orientation of the muscle cells through the walls of the heart chambers. Such an organisation is seen in the hearts of all healthy adult mammals.
"Fetal hearts in other mammals such as pigs, which we have been using as models, show such an organisation even early in gestation, with a smooth change in cell orientation going through the heart wall. But what we actually found is that such organisation was not detectable in the human fetus before 20 weeks," she said.
Professor Arun Holden, from The University of Leeds' School of Biomedical Sciences, said: "The development of the fetal human heart is on a totally different timeline, a slower timeline, from the model that was being used before. This upsets our assumptions and raises new questions. Since the wall of the heart is structurally disorganised, we might expect to find arrhythmias, which are a bad sign in an adult. It may well be that in the early stages of development of the heart arrhythmias are not necessarily pathological and that there is no need to panic if we find them. Alternatively, we could find that the disorganisation in the tissue does not actually lead to arrhythmia."
A detailed computer model of the activity and architecture of the developing heart will help make sense of the limited information doctors can obtain about the fetus using non-invasive monitoring of a pregnant woman.
Professor Holden said: "It is different from dealing with an adult, where you can look at the geometry of an individual's heart using MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) or CT (Computerised Tomography) scans. You can't squirt x-rays at a fetus and we also currently tend to avoid MRI, so we need a model into which we can put the information we do have access to."
He added: "Effectively, at the moment, fetal ECGs are not really used. The textbooks descriptions of the development of the human heart are still founded on animal models and 19th century collections of abnormalities in museums. If you are trying to detect abnormal activity in fetal hearts, you are only talking about third trimester and postnatal care of premature babies. By looking at how the human heart actually develops in real life and creating a quantitative, descriptive model of its architecture and activity from the start of a pregnancy to birth, you are expanding electrocardiology into the fetus."
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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.
Nottingham technology in heart development breakthroughPublic release date: 25-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Emma Thorne emma.thorne@nottingham.ac.uk 44-115-951-5793 University of Nottingham
Technology developed at The University of Nottingham has been used in a breakthrough study aimed at developing the first comprehensive model of a fully functioning fetal heart.
The abdominal fetal ECG device, designed originally by academics in the University's Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and on commercial sale throughout the world since 2008 through the University spin-out company Monica Healthcare Ltd, has been used to observe living fetal hearts of babies in their mothers' wombs.
The collaborative study led by experts at The University of Leeds has discovered that the walls of the human heart are a disorganised jumble of tissue until relatively late in pregnancy with development much slower compared to other mammals.
Professor Barrie Hayes-Gill, Professor of Electronic Systems and Medical Devices at The University of Nottingham and joint founder and research director at Monica Healthcare said: "It's absolutely fantastic to see our device being used to detect fetal ECG morphology (i.e. ECG shape) in a non-invasive manner from the surface of the maternal abdomen. In this study the Monica device has been specifically deployed to observe the development of the fetal heart as it goes through gestation.
"It's an important development and we are delighted to see Nottingham technology playing such an integral part of the study. We expect that non-invasive morphological analysis during pregnancy and labour will become routine clinical practice in years to come as Monica continues to gain traction in the marketplace."
The fetal heart monitor is a portable, non-invasive device which attaches to the mother's abdomen and measures the electrical activity from the heart of the baby inside her womb. It is currently being used worldwide to monitor fetal heart rates during labour and delivery.
The device uses complex algorithms to correctly identify signals related to the fetal heart rate (FHR) using sensitive ECG-style electrodes. This method of using electrophysiological signals differs from current external monitoring devices that collect FHR and uterine activity data based on physical changes (e.g. change in reflected sound waves and changes on strain gauge) that may cause problems in data interpretation.
The monitor is simple to use, beltless, requires no wires to connect to the display or printer. There is also no need for the constant re-positioning of transducers, which is required with older technology and the mother is free to walk around if necessary.
As part of their study, which has been published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface Focus, the team from the University of Leeds used the device to administer a weekly fetal ECG recording from 18 weeks until just before delivery.
The data from this, alongside two different MRI scans from the hearts of dead fetuses, was incorporated into a 3D computerised model built up using information about the structure, shape and size of the different components of the heart.
Early results suggest that the human heart may develop on a different timeline from other mammals. While the tissue in the walls of a pig heart develops a highly organised structure at a relatively early stage of a fetus' development, their work suggests there is little organisation in the human heart's cells until 20 weeks into pregnancy. Despite this, the human heart has a regular heartbeat from about 22 days.
Developing an accurate, computerised simulation of the fetal heart is critical to understanding normal heart developments in the womb and, eventually, to opening new ways of detecting and dealing with some functional abnormalities early in pregnancy.
Dr Eleftheria Pervolaraki, lead researcher on the project at the University of Leeds' School of Biomedical Sciences, said: "For a heart to be beating effectively, we thought you needed a smoothly changing orientation of the muscle cells through the walls of the heart chambers. Such an organisation is seen in the hearts of all healthy adult mammals.
"Fetal hearts in other mammals such as pigs, which we have been using as models, show such an organisation even early in gestation, with a smooth change in cell orientation going through the heart wall. But what we actually found is that such organisation was not detectable in the human fetus before 20 weeks," she said.
Professor Arun Holden, from The University of Leeds' School of Biomedical Sciences, said: "The development of the fetal human heart is on a totally different timeline, a slower timeline, from the model that was being used before. This upsets our assumptions and raises new questions. Since the wall of the heart is structurally disorganised, we might expect to find arrhythmias, which are a bad sign in an adult. It may well be that in the early stages of development of the heart arrhythmias are not necessarily pathological and that there is no need to panic if we find them. Alternatively, we could find that the disorganisation in the tissue does not actually lead to arrhythmia."
A detailed computer model of the activity and architecture of the developing heart will help make sense of the limited information doctors can obtain about the fetus using non-invasive monitoring of a pregnant woman.
Professor Holden said: "It is different from dealing with an adult, where you can look at the geometry of an individual's heart using MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) or CT (Computerised Tomography) scans. You can't squirt x-rays at a fetus and we also currently tend to avoid MRI, so we need a model into which we can put the information we do have access to."
He added: "Effectively, at the moment, fetal ECGs are not really used. The textbooks descriptions of the development of the human heart are still founded on animal models and 19th century collections of abnormalities in museums. If you are trying to detect abnormal activity in fetal hearts, you are only talking about third trimester and postnatal care of premature babies. By looking at how the human heart actually develops in real life and creating a quantitative, descriptive model of its architecture and activity from the start of a pregnancy to birth, you are expanding electrocardiology into the fetus."
###
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?
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.
Feb. 25, 2013 ? The second International Space Station Commercial Resupply Services flight by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is set for liftoff at 10:10 a.m. EST on March 1 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Carried by a Falcon 9 rocket, the Dragon spacecraft will ferry 1,268 pounds of supplies for the space station crew and for experiments being conducted aboard the orbiting laboratory.
The Falcon 9 and Dragon were manufactured at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., and arrived at the Florida launch site by truck. The rocket, topped with the spacecraft, stands 157-feet tall.
The two-stage rocket uses nine engines to power the first stage, generating 855,000 pounds of thrust at sea level, rising to nearly 1,000,000 pounds of thrust as Falcon 9 climbs out of Earth's atmosphere. One engine powers the second stage to complete the climb to space. The 14.4-foot-tall Dragon spacecraft is capable of carrying more than 7,000 pounds of cargo split between pressurized and unpressurized sections.
On March 2, Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford and Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn of NASA are scheduled use the station's robot arm to grapple Dragon following its rendezvous with the orbiting outpost. Ground commands will be sent to attach the spacecraft to the Earth-facing port of the station's Harmony module where it will remain for a few weeks while astronauts unload cargo. The crew then will load more than 2,600 pounds of experiment samples and equipment for return to Earth.
Dragon is scheduled for a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California on March 25.
This SpaceX flight is the second of at least 12 missions to the space station that the company will fly for NASA under the Commercial Resupply Services contract.
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SEOUL, South Korea - Even before she takes office Monday as South Korea's first female president, Park Geun-hye's campaign vow to soften Seoul's current hard-line approach to rival North Korea is being tested by Pyongyang's recent underground nuclear detonation.
Pyongyang, Washington, Beijing and Tokyo are all watching to see if Park, the daughter of a staunchly anti-communist dictator, pursues an ambitious engagement policy meant to ease five years of animosity on the divided peninsula or if she sticks with the tough stance of her fellow conservative predecessor, Lee Myung-bak.
Park's decision is important because it will likely set the tone of the larger diplomatic approach that Washington and others take in stalled efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons ambitions.
It will also be complicated by North Korea's warning of unspecified "second and third measures of greater intensity," a threat that comes as Washington and others push for tightened U.N. sanctions as punishment for the Feb. 12 atomic test, the North's third since 2006.
That test is seen as another step toward North Korea's goal of building a bomb small enough to be mounted on a missile that can hit the United States. The explosion, which Pyongyang called a response to U.S. hostility, triggered global outrage.
Park has said she won't yet change her policy, which was built with the high probability of provocations from Pyongyang in mind. But some aren't sure if engagement can work, given North Korea's choice of "bombs over electricity," as American scientist Siegfried Hecker puts it.
"Normalization of relations, a peace treaty, access to energy and economic opportunities ? those things that come from choosing electricity over bombs and have the potential of lifting the North Korean people out of poverty and hardship ? will be made much more difficult, if not impossible, for at least the next five years," Hecker, a regular visitor to North Korea, said in a posting on the website of Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation.
As she takes office, however, Park will be mindful that many South Koreans are frustrated at the state of inter-Korean relations after the Lee government's five-year rule, which saw two nuclear tests, three long-range rocket launches and attacks blamed on North Korea that killed 50 South Koreans in 2010.
Park's policy calls for strong defense but also for efforts to build trust through aid shipments, reconciliation talks and the resumption of some large-scale economic initiatives as progress occurs on the nuclear issue. Park has also held out the possibility of a summit with new North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Much is riding on Park's conclusion.
"The overall policy direction on North Korea among the U.S., Japan and South Korea will be hers to decide," said Victor Cha, a former senior Asia adviser to President George W. Bush. "If Park Geun-hye wants to contain, the U.S. will support that. But if Park Geun-hye, months down the road, wants to engage, then the U.S. will go along with that too. "
Engagement by Park would provide a sharp contrast with the rule of her father, Park Chung-hee, whose antipathy toward Pyongyang during his 18-year rule in the 1960s and `70s prompted a failed attack on the Blue House by 31 North Korean commandos in 1968. In 1974, Park's wife was shot and killed by a Japan-born Korean claiming he was acting on assassination orders by North Korea founder and then leader Kim Il Sung.
Critics say Park Geun-hye's North Korea policy lacks specifics. They also question how far she can go given her conservative base's strong anti-Pyongyang sentiments.
But Park has previously confounded ideological expectations. She travelled to Pyongyang in 2002 and held private talks with the late Kim Jong Il, the father of Kim Jong Un, and her gifts to Kim Jong Il are showcased in a museum of gifts to the North Korean leaders. During the often contentious presidential campaign, she responded to liberal criticism by reaching out to the families of victims of her father's dictatorship.
She said in her 2007 autobiography that she visited Pyongyang because she thought her painful experiences with the North made her "the one who could resolve South-North relations better than anyone else." She also wrote that Kim Jong Il apologized for the 1968 attack.
"I don't think this latest spike in the cycle of provocation and response undermines her whole platform of seeking to somehow re-engage the North," said John Delury, an analyst at Seoul's Yonsei University. North Korea wants a return of large-scale aid and investment from South Korea.
Before the election, Pyongyang's state media repeatedly questioned the sincerity of Park's engagement overture. Since the election, however, although regular criticism of Lee as "human scum" continues, the North's official Korean Central News Agency hasn't mentioned Park by name, though her political party is still condemned.
Pyongyang sees the nuclear crisis as a U.S.-North Korea issue, Delury said. "From a North Korean mindset, ramping up the tension and hostility with the U.S. does not equal jettisoning relations with the South."
Park may take a wait-and-see stance in coming months.
A possible positive turning point could come if North Korea resists tests or launches during April, when it celebrates two state anniversaries ? Kim Il Sung's birthday and the army's founding anniversary ? according to analyst Hong Hyun-ik at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea. Pyongyang conducted a failed long-range rocket launch during last year's celebrations.
Hong predicts that the United States will seek nuclear talks with North Korea in a few months, something that could help Park's efforts to engage North Korea.
"The nuclear test sets back and complicates but does not necessarily doom her engagement efforts over the long term," said Ralph Cossa, president of Pacific Forum CSIS, a Hawaii-based think tank.
Park warned after the test that North Korea faces international isolation, economic difficulties and, eventually, a collapse if it continues to build its atomic program. She also pressed Pyongyang to respond to her overtures.
"We can't achieve trust with only one side's efforts. Isn't there a saying that `We need both hands to make a clapping sound?'" she said.
24 February 2013Last updated at 19:13 ETBy Rebecca MorelleScience reporter, BBC World Service
Fragments of an ancient continent are buried beneath the floor of the Indian Ocean, a study suggests.
Researchers have found evidence for a landmass that would have existed between 2,000 and 85 million years ago.
The strip of land, which scientists have called Mauritia, eventually fragmented and vanished beneath the waves as the modern world started to take shape.
The study is published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Supercontinent
Until about 750 million years ago, the Earth's landmass was gathered into a vast single continent called Rodinia.
And although they are now separated by thousands of kilometres of ocean, India was once located next to Madagascar.
Now researchers believe they have found evidence of a sliver of continent - known as a microcontinent - that was once tucked between the two.
The team came to this conclusion after studying grains of sand from the beaches of Mauritius.
While the grains dated back to a volcanic eruption that happened about nine million years ago, they contained minerals that were much older.
Professor Trond Torsvik, from the University of Oslo, Norway, said: "We found zircons that we extracted from the beach sands, and these are something you typically find in a continental crust. They are very old in age."
The zircon dated to between 1,970 and 600 million years ago, and the team concluded that they were remnants of ancient land that had been dragged up to the surface of the island during a volcanic eruption.
Continue reading the main story
?Start Quote
We need seismic data which can image the structure... This would be the ultimate proof?
End QuoteProfessor Trond TorsvikUniversity of Oslo
Prof Torsvik said that he believed pieces of Mauritia could be found about 10km down beneath Mauritius and under a swathe of the Indian Ocean.
It would have spanned millions years of history, from the Precambrian Era when land was barren and devoid of life to the age when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
But about 85m years ago, as India started to drift away from Madagascar towards its current location, the microcontinent would have broken up, eventually disappearing beneath the waves.
However, a small part could have survived.
"At the moment the Seychelles is a piece of granite, or continental crust, which is sitting practically in the middle of the Indian Ocean," explained Prof Torsvik.
"But once upon a time, it was sitting north of Madagascar. And what we are saying is that maybe this was much bigger, and there are many of these continental fragments that are spread around in the ocean."
Further research is needed to fully investigate what remains of this lost region.
Prof Torsvik explained: "We need seismic data which can image the structure... this would be the ultimate proof. Or you can drill deep, but that would cost a lot of money."
BEIJING (AP) -- A survey shows China's manufacturing activity this month has declined to a four-month low in a reminder of possible threats to its shaky economic recovery.
HSBC Corp. said Monday the preliminary version of its purchasing managers index for February fell to 50.4 on a 100-point scale on which numbers above 50 show activity expanding. That was down from January's 52.3.
Growth in the world's second-largest economy rebounded in the final quarter of 2012 but analysts say a recovery will be gradual and could be vulnerable if trade or investment decline.
HSBC said its survey found export orders decreased while output and overall orders grew at a slower rate.
HSBC economist Hongbin Qu says in a statement that "the Chinese economy is still on track for a gradual recovery."
This undated product image provided by Huawei, shows the Chinese company's new flagship model that it calls "the fastest smartphone in the world."The company said Sunday, Feb. 24, 2012, the device supports faster download speeds than other phones, but today's wireless networks aren't equipped to supply those speeds. (AP Photo/Huawei)
This undated product image provided by Huawei, shows the Chinese company's new flagship model that it calls "the fastest smartphone in the world."The company said Sunday, Feb. 24, 2012, the device supports faster download speeds than other phones, but today's wireless networks aren't equipped to supply those speeds. (AP Photo/Huawei)
This undated product image provided by Huawei, shows the Chinese company's new flagship model that it calls "the fastest smartphone in the world." The company said Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013, the device supports faster download speeds than other phones, but today's wireless networks aren't equipped to supply those speeds. The new phone, the Ascend P2, will have a 4.7 inch screen. (AP Photo/Huawei)
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) ? Huawei, a Chinese company that recently became the world's third-largest maker of smartphones, calls its new flagship product "the fastest smartphone in the world" and wants to use it to expand global awareness of its brand.
Parts of the presentation of the phone at a press conference Sunday in Barcelona, Spain, suggest that the company has some way to go in polishing its pitch for a global audience.
Richard Yu, head of Huawei's consumer business group said the new phone can be programmed to display more than 100 different "themes," or looks. This is important because "ladies like flowers, colorful things," Yu said.
Yu also said Huawei is learning from Apple how to make Google's Android software easier to use, a lawsuit-friendly utterance considering that Apple is on a global campaign to sue makers of Android phones for copying from the iPhone.
The new phone, the Ascend P2, will have a 4.7 inch screen. Yu said it will be available in the April to June time frame for about $525 without a contract. It's the "fastest" because it supports faster download speeds than other phones. However, today's wireless networks aren't equipped to supply those speeds.
Huawei Technologies Ltd. was the world's third largest seller of smartphones, after Samsung and Apple, in the fourth quarter of last year, according to research firm IDC. That's despite selling very few phones in the U.S., where the big phone companies mostly ignore it. It has a much better position in Europe, where cellphone companies have embraced its network equipment, and France's Orange is committed to selling the phone.
In the U.S., a congressional panel recommended in October that phone carriers avoid doing business with Huawei or its smaller Chinese rival, ZTE Corp., for fear that its network equipment could contain "back doors" that enable access to communications from outside. The Chinese government rejected the report as false and an effort to block Chinese companies from the U.S. market.
Meanwhile, a report by a private U.S. cybersecurity firm concluded recently that a special unit of China's military is responsible for sustained cyberespionage against U.S. companies and government agencies. China has denied involvement in the attacks in which massive amounts of data and corporate trade secrets, likely worth hundreds of millions of dollars, were stolen.
"It has not been an easy journey for us," Huawei's global brand director, Amy Lou, said Sunday of the company's quest to become globally recognized and trusted. She called the company "a great consumer brand in the making."
The world's largest cellphone trade show, Mobile World Congress, opens Monday in Barcelona.
This undated image provided by Roche on Friday, Feb. 22, 2013 shows a vial and packaging for the drug Kadcyla. On Friday, Feb. 22, 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the approval of the first-of-a-kind breast cancer medication that targets tumor cells while sparing healthy ones. (AP Photo/Roche)
This undated image provided by Roche on Friday, Feb. 22, 2013 shows a vial and packaging for the drug Kadcyla. On Friday, Feb. 22, 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the approval of the first-of-a-kind breast cancer medication that targets tumor cells while sparing healthy ones. (AP Photo/Roche)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Food and Drug Administration has approved a first-of-a-kind breast cancer medication that targets tumor cells while sparing healthy ones.
The drug Kadcyla from Roche combines the established drug Herceptin with a powerful chemotherapy drug and a third chemical linking the medicines together. The chemical keeps the cocktail intact until it binds to a cancer cell, delivering a potent dose of anti-tumor poison.
Cancer researchers say the drug is an important step forward because it delivers more medication while reducing the unpleasant side effects of chemotherapy.
"This antibody goes seeking out the tumor cells, gets internalized and then explodes them from within. So it's very kind and gentle on the patients ? there's no hair loss, no nausea, no vomiting," said Dr. Melody Cobleigh of Rush University Medical Center. "It's a revolutionary way of treating cancer."
Cobleigh helped conduct the key studies of the drug at the Chicago facility.
The FDA approved the new treatment for about 20 percent of breast cancer patients with a form of the disease that is typically more aggressive and less responsive to hormone therapy. These patients have tumors that overproduce a protein known as HER-2. Breast cancer is the second most deadly form of cancer in U.S. women, and is expected to kill more than 39,000 Americans this year, according to the National Cancer Institute.
The approval will help Roche's Genentech unit build on the blockbuster success of Herceptin, which has long dominated the breast cancer marketplace. The drug had sales of roughly $6 billion last year.
Genentech said Friday that Kadcyla will cost $9,800 per month, compared to $4,500 per month for regular Herceptin. The company estimates a full course of Kadcyla, about nine months of medicine, will cost $94,000.
FDA scientists said they approved the drug based on company studies showing Kadcyla delayed the progression of breast cancer by several months. Researchers reported last year that patients treated with the drug lived 9.6 months before death or the spread of their disease, compared with a little more than six months for patients treated with two other standard drugs, Tykerb and Xeloda.
Overall, patients taking Kadcyla lived about 2.6 years, compared with 2 years for patients taking the other drugs.
FDA specifically approved the drug for patients with advanced breast cancer who have already been treated with Herceptin and taxane, a widely used chemotherapy drug. Doctors are not required to follow FDA prescribing guidelines, and cancer researchers say the drug could have great potential in patients with earlier forms of breast cancer
Kadcyla will carry a boxed warning, the most severe type, alerting doctors and patients that the drug can cause liver toxicity, heart problems and potentially death. The drug can also cause severe birth defects and should not be used by pregnant women.
Kadcyla was developed by South San Francisco-based Genentech using drug-binding technology licensed from Waltham, Mass.-based ImmunoGen. The company developed the chemical that keeps the drug cocktail together and is scheduled to receive a $10.5 million payment from Genentech on the FDA decision. The company will also receive additional royalties on the drug's sales.
Shares of ImmunoGen Inc. rose 2 cents to $14.32 in afternoon trading. The stock has ttraded in a 52-wek range of $10.85 to $18.10.
FILE -This undated photo provided by Northrop Grumman Corp., shows a pre-production model of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The Pentagon on Friday grounded its fleet of F-35 fighter jets after discovering a cracked engine blade in one plane. The problem was discovered during what the Pentagon called a routine inspection at Edwards Air Force Base, California, of an F-35A, the Air Force version of the sleek new plane. The Navy and the Marine Corps are buying other versions of the F-35, which is intended to replace older fighters like the Air Force F-16 and the Navy F/A-18. All versions , a total of 51 planes , were grounded Friday, Feb. 22, 2013 pending a more in-depth evaluation of the problem discovered at Edwards. None of the planes have been fielded for combat operations; all are undergoing testing.AP Photo/Northrop Grumman, File) no sales
FILE -This undated photo provided by Northrop Grumman Corp., shows a pre-production model of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The Pentagon on Friday grounded its fleet of F-35 fighter jets after discovering a cracked engine blade in one plane. The problem was discovered during what the Pentagon called a routine inspection at Edwards Air Force Base, California, of an F-35A, the Air Force version of the sleek new plane. The Navy and the Marine Corps are buying other versions of the F-35, which is intended to replace older fighters like the Air Force F-16 and the Navy F/A-18. All versions , a total of 51 planes , were grounded Friday, Feb. 22, 2013 pending a more in-depth evaluation of the problem discovered at Edwards. None of the planes have been fielded for combat operations; all are undergoing testing.AP Photo/Northrop Grumman, File) no sales
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Pentagon on Friday grounded its fleet of F-35 fighter jets after discovering a cracked engine blade in one plane.
The problem was discovered during what the Pentagon called a routine inspection at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., of an F-35A, the Air Force version of the sleek new plane. The Navy and the Marine Corps are buying other versions of the F-35, which is intended to replace older fighters like the Air Force F-16 and the Navy F/A-18.
All versions ? a total of 51 planes ? were grounded Friday pending a more in-depth evaluation of the problem discovered at Edwards. None of the planes have been fielded for combat operations; all are undergoing testing.
In a brief written statement, the Pentagon said it is too early to know the full impact of the newly discovered problem.
A watchdog group, the Project on Government Oversight, said the grounding is not likely to mean a significant delay in the effort to field the stealthy aircraft.
"The F-35 is a huge problem because of its growing, already unaffordable, cost and its gigantically disappointing performance," the group's Winslow Wheeler said. "That performance would be unacceptable even if the aircraft met its far-too-modest requirements, but it is not."
The F-35 is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program at a total estimated cost of nearly $400 billion. The Pentagon envisions buying more than 2,400 F-35s, but some members of Congress are balking at the price tag.
Friday's suspension of flight operations will remain in effect until an investigation of the problem's root cause is determined.
The Pentagon said the engine in which the problem was discovered is being shipped to a Pratt & Whitney facility in Connecticut for more thorough evaluation.
The Feb. 24, 2013, edition of Parade magazine, available in The Journal Gazette's print edition, features Seth MacFarlane, host of the Academy Awards.
Last updated: February 22, 2013 12:57 p.m.
The Journal Gazette
Parade magazine in is included with The Journal Gazette print edition on Sundays. This is what is featured in the Feb. 24 edition:
No teddy bear: Seth MacFarlane has conquered TV (the "Family Guy" creator is the highest-paid TV writer in history) and the movies ("Ted," about a potty-mouthed teddy bear, is the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time). Now the director-writer-animator is adding Oscar host to his credits.
Three cheers for Pippi Longstocking: Author Connie Schultz, to this day, often channels her red-haired, scrappy childhood hero.
Sunday with Mark Burnett and Roma Downey: The reality-TV mogul of "The Voice" and actress known for "Touched by an Angel" open up about their mini-series, "The Bible," premiering on the History channel.
WASHINGTON -- Five of the biggest U.S. banks have cut struggling homeowners' mortgage balances by $19 billion, part of a total $45.8 billion in relief provided under a landmark settlement over foreclosure abuses.
More than 550,000 borrowers received some form of mortgage relief between March 1 and Dec. 31, 2012, according to a report issued Thursday by Joseph Smith, the monitor of the settlement.
That translates to about $82,668 per homeowner, according to the report, which is based on the banks' own accounts of their progress. Smith said he must confirm the banks' data before they can get credit under the settlement.
The deal was struck a year ago by the federal government and 49 states with the five largest U.S. mortgage servicers: Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and Ally Financial Inc. Under the settlement, the five agreed to reduce balances on mortgages where the borrower owes more than the home is worth and to refinance some loans. The banks also are required to make foreclosure their last resort, and they can't foreclose on a homeowner who is being considered for a loan modification.
The settlement closed a painful chapter of the financial crisis when home values sank and millions edged toward foreclosure. Many companies had processed foreclosures without verifying documents.
The agreement reduces mortgage debt for only a fraction of those whose mortgages are underwater. About 11 million U.S. households are underwater, and the settlement is expected to help about a million of them.
Smith's report says $19.5 billion of the $45.8 billion in relief was in the form of short sales, in which lenders agree to accept less than what the seller owes on the mortgage. Lenders are increasingly favoring short sales rather than waiting for troubled loans to go through the foreclosure process.
Of the roughly $19 billion in reduced mortgage principal, according to the report, Bank of America had provided $13.5 billion; JPMorgan Chase, $1.8 billion; Citigroup, $1.9 billion; Wells Fargo, $1.4 billion; and Ally, $238 million.
Ally, the former financial arm of General Motors Co., now has fulfilled its obligation for the relief it is required to provide under the settlement, Smith said.
The banks provided another $2.2 billion in relief by refinancing 56,400 home loans with an average principal balance of $211,834. As a result, borrowers will save an average of about $417 in interest payments each month, the report says.
The banks also had $3.5 billion worth of loans under trial modifications as of Dec. 31. That could lead to permanent reduction in loan balances of $138,802 if the trials are completed.
"I believe we have made progress, particularly as it relates to (mortgage) relief, but I know from my regular conversations with advocates across the nation that the banks and I have much more work to do on behalf of borrowers," Smith said in a statement.
In separate settlements announced last month, 13 banks agreed to pay a combined $9.3 billion to settle federal complaints that they wrongfully foreclosed on homeowners who should have been allowed to stay in their homes. The settlements ended a review of loan files required under a 2011 action by federal agencies.
They could compensate borrowers whose homes were seized because of abuses such as "robo-signing," when banks automatically signed off on foreclosures without properly reviewing documents. The settlements also will help eliminate huge potential liabilities for the banks: Aurora, Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, MetLife Bank, Morgan Stanley, PNC Financial Services, Sovereign, SunTrust, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo.
Washington state House Democrats today released a $9.8 billion transportation package, with $450 million allocated to the $3.5-billion Columbia River Crossing project.
The proposed project would replace the I-5 bridge, improve interchanges, extend light rail into Vancouver and enhance pedestrian and bicycle paths.
The allocation proposed by the House Democrats would account for Washington?s portion of the project funding. Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber has included Oregon?s $450 million contribution in his budget proposal, but former Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire did not include it in her budget plan.
The rest of the project funding would come from toll revenue bonds ($1.3 billion) and federal funds contingent on the inclusion of high capacity mass transit ($850 million). $400 million would also come from Federal Highway Funds, according the Columbia River Crossing plan.
The revenue for the transportation package will come from a 2-cent per-year increase in the gas tax for the next five years, a new car tab fee and $3 billion in bonds, among other sources.
In addition to the Columbia River Crossing, the proposed transportation package would fund several big projects around the state, including connecting SR 167 and SR 509 to I-5, widening I-405 between Renton and Bellevue and widening I-90 at Snoqualmie Pass.
Rep. Jim Moeller, D-Vancouver, said the inclusion of the Columbia River Crossing in the package is critical for Southwest Washington. Moeller, who sits on the House Transportation Committee, said he knows of Democrats and Republicans who support the package.
?I?m confident we can get to an agreement,? he said. ?We simply have to.?
Moeller said he understands no one likes taxes, but people understand that gas taxes and other vehicle fees are necessary to build and maintain roads and bridges.
But Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, the ranking Republican member of the House Transportation Committee, doesn?t think the taxes will be well-received.
By its fifth year, the added gas tax would increase the state portion of the tax to 47.5 cents per gallon, he said. In 2003, the state levied about half that amount ? 23 cents ? on every gallon of gas, he said.
Currently, Washington ranks ninth in the nation for state gas tax rates at 37.5 cents per gallon, according to the Tax Foundation. Oregon comes in 17th with 31 cents per gallon.
If Orcutt had his way, there would be no transportation package this year, though it?s been eight years since the last package was passed.
?I propose we dig down into what?s driving up the cost of transportation,? he said.
Orcutt said transportation projects cost more in Washington than they do in other states due to higher cost of compliance with environmental regulations. What the state really needs is reforms, he said.
?I believe that if we implement real reforms, we can make what we have last longer,? he said. ?We need to make our current tax dollars go further before we go further into the taxpayer?s pocket.?
By Jeff Brown
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Public release date: 27-Feb-2013
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PRESS RELEASE: GREENSBORO, N.C.?(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 26, 2013? VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC), a leader in branded lifestyle apparel and footwear, today announced that Scott A. Roe has been named as the company?s Vice President ? Controller and Chief Accounting Officer and a member of its Operating Committee. As announced on May 29, 2012, Bradley A. Batten, who previously held the role, is retiring after 10 years of service with VF
