Liver protein crucial for pregnancy

June 30, 2013 ? A protein first shown to function in the liver plays a crucial role in pregnancy in mice and has a key role in the human menstrual cycle, according to researchers at the University of Montreal. Mice that were genetically engineered not to produce the liver receptor homolog-1 (Lrh-1) molecule were unable to create the uterine conditions necessary for establishing and sustaining pregnancy, resulting in the formation of defective placentas. The researchers then showed that Lhr-1 was present in the human uterus and the essential processes related to the success of early gestation.

"We previously showed that Lrh-1 is essential for ovulation. Our newest studies have revealed that it is plays an important role in the uterus, raising the possibility that Lrh-1 deficiency contributes to human gestational failure," explained lead author Bruce Murphy, of the university's Animal Reproduction Research Centre. "We worked with mice before looking at human tissues. I believe it premature to propose determination of Lrh-1 in uterine biopsies as a diagnostic tool, but we are working on determining the receptor's pattern of expression across the menstrual cycle."

The researchers also looked at whether hormone replacement therapy might restore normal uterine functions in the mice. "Progesterone did not make a difference. Although hormone therapy allowed for the embryos to implant, we saw problems with the lining in the uterus, compromised formation of the placenta, fetal growth retardation and fetal death," Murphy said. "However, there are new Lrh-1 agonists and antagonists, currently in clinical trials to treat hepatic consequences of type II diabetes, and thus therapeutic intervention might be possible."

The study was published in Nature Medicine on June 30, 2013, and was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The US National Institutes of Health funded collaborators at Baylor University that contributed to the study.?

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/XMMTwWhUK3A/130630144447.htm

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BadCreditAutoLoans.me Releases Article Warning Car Shoppers Of ...

In their latest article, BadCreditAutoLoans.me shows how financing through a car dealership can be a bad idea.

Seattle, Washington (PRWEB) June 30, 2013

BCAL covers some of the dangers of financing through a dealership in their article titled, ?Should I Finance Through A Dealership?? They hope that by providing solid, trustworthy advice, those with bad credit will be able to get a car loan. Dealerships, according to BadCreditAutoLoans.me, are not the best or only option for those with bad credit.

The article is very specific about financial managers that work at most dealerships, saying ?Dealerships have financial managers not for the convenience of the customer, but for the added income they earn. Many car dealerships spend a lot of money on their financial managers. These financial managers will do whatever it takes to smooth talk you into agreeing to an auto loan at a higher price through the dealership.?

The article also explains that there are other options. Using the internet to shop is another way to get approved for an auto loan, which can then be taken to a dealership and used to buy a car. Little comparison shopping can be done at a dealership when it comes to loans, and this is part of the reason they are not recommended, says BadCreditAutoLoans.me.

About BadCreditAutoLoans.me

BadCreditAutoLoans.me is part of Complete Auto Loans, a national auto and car finance lender in the USA. They help consumers find a low interest rate car loan despite their credit standing. Their custom?auto lending system?has been developed to specifically cater towards the consumers needs for auto loans. Voted for best "Quality Customer Service", they've serviced thousands of car shoppers. Their finance team is available to immediately help anyone choose the best loan program that fits a consumers budget guidelines.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/bad-credit-auto-loans/complete-auto-loans/prweb10886248.htm

Source: http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2013/06/30/badcreditautoloansme-releases-article-warning-car-shoppers-bad-dealership-financing

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Car buyers appear unfazed by stock market gyrations

Autos

Joseph Szczesny The Detroit Bureau

6 hours ago

Keith Srakocic / AP

In this Wednesday, May 8, 2013 photo, a row of new 2013 Ford Fusions is seen at an automobile dealership in Zelienople, Pa.

It seems like the recent stock market tumble, and the perception that interest rates are rising, are, at most, background noise to American car buyers.

Sales of new cars and trucks continue to move along at a steady clip during June, according to new estimates from J.D. Power & Associates and LMC Automotive. A monthly sales forecast based on direct dealer data indicates new-vehicle retail sales are showing no signs of letting up at the start of the summer selling season.

New-vehicle retail sales in June are projected to come in at 1,118,800 vehicles, which represent a Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Rate of 13.2 million units, a healthy increase of 500,000 from the May SAAR. Retail transactions are the most accurate measure of true underlying consumer demand for new vehicles.

Total light-vehicle sales in June 2013 are expected to grow by 12 percent from June 2012 to 1,380,800 units. Fleet sales in June are just 19 percent of total sales. Fleet volume for the month is projected at 262,000 units.

Adding together retail and fleet business and the overall SAAR is expected to reach 15.7 million units this month. That?s a big jump from the 14.5 million vehicles sold in 2012 ? a five-year high ? and nudges by even the most optimistic forecasts for 2013, which general had set a high of around 15.5 million sales this year.

The strong selling pace continues to be matched by strong transaction prices. Thus far in June, the average transaction price of new vehicles ? what customers actually spend when both incentives and options are included ?is $28,900, the highest figure ever for June.

While sales overall are strong, not all segments are selling at the same pace. Sales of premium vehicles account for just 11.7 percent of new-vehicle retail sales thus far in June, down from 12.9 percent in June 2012.

?Although the premium segment growth has lagged non-premium, there is some good news for the industry in that the average price of premium vehicles in June is $47,000, up almost 4 percent from June 2012,? said John Humphrey, J.D. Power senior vice president of the global automotive practice. ?New premium vehicles entering the market late this year will also help bolster sales through the second quarter of 2014.?

Among other new models due for launch are the all-new Mercedes-Benz S-Class and a trio of luxury diesels from Audi.

The underperformance of premium light-vehicle sales is largely due to the age of the models in these segments. J.D. Power calculates that the average age ? the number of months the vehicle has been in the market since it was introduced or redesigned ? of premium models sold in the second quarter of 2013 was 43 months. In comparison, the average age of non-premium models, excluding pickup trucks is only 34.5 months.

Hyundai America chief executive officer John Krafcik noted last week that competition in the auto industry is very fierce and forces manufacturers to intensify efforts to win over customers. Even the threat of higher interest rates hasn?t undermined the market?s momentum, he said.

Competition in the mid-sized segment has been particularly fierce in recent months with Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Ford, General Motors, Hyundai, Volkswagen and Kia all introducing new or substantially updated models. The compact and subcompact segment also have seen a flood of new entries.

J.D. Power expects that by the second quarter of 2014, the average age of premium products will fall to just 33 months, as new and redesigned products enter the marketplace.

LMC Automotive continues to hold the outlook for total light-vehicle sales in 2013 at 15.4 million units, but has increased its forecast for retail light-vehicle sales to 12.6 million units from 12.5 million units, as retail sales growth expands.

More from The Detroit Bureau:

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Would you buy a Chinese-made Ford

Copyright ? 2009-2013, The Detroit Bureau

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Gay marriage ruling will help many veteran spouses

WASHINGTON (AP) -- For Stewart Bornhoft, who completed two tours of duty in Vietnam, the Supreme Court's decision granting federal benefits to married, same-sex couples means that he and his spouse, Stephen McNabb, can one day be buried together at Arlington National Cemetery.

For Joan Darrah, who served nearly 30 years in the Navy and lived through the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon, the decision means her spouse, Lynne Kennedy, can join her more generous, less expensive health plan.

Just two years ago, gays and lesbians were prevented from serving openly in the military. Now, with the Supreme Court ruling this week, same-sex spouses of gay veterans and service members will be able to share in their benefits.

The Williams Institute, a think tank at the UCLA School of Law, reports that 650,000 same-sex couples live in the United States and about 13 percent of those relationships include a veteran. The institute said it's unknown how many of those estimated 85,000 relationships involve marriages. A dozen states and the District of Columbia allow for gay marriage.

Same-sex spouses of military veterans now will be able to get help with college tuition and can be buried in a national cemetery. They also can get a monthly indemnity payment that compensates them for the death of the veteran. Meanwhile, veterans receive enhanced disability compensation for their injuries if they're married, generally amounting to several thousands of dollars over the course of a lifetime.

But under the Defense of Marriage Act and the law covering Veterans Administration benefits, such extra assistance was unavailable to veterans who were part of a same-sex marriage. That all changed with the Supreme Court ruling Wednesday.

President Barack Obama said he's directed Attorney General Eric Holder to work with all members of the Cabinet to ensure that changes to benefits are implemented swiftly and smoothly.

David McKean, legal director at Outserve-SLDN, which provides legal counsel to gay and lesbian service members and veterans, said Congress may need to update the statute governing VA benefits because it stipulates that marriages are valid only if they are viewed as such by the state where the veteran lives. That means the current VA statute doesn't recognize as valid a marriage that takes place between two residents of, say, Texas or Florida, even if the veteran has a marriage certificate from Massachusetts or Vermont.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., has introduced legislation that would liberalize the definition of spouse to include anyone whose marriage is considered valid in the state where it occurred.

After the court's decision, Shaheen wrote letters to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki saying she hoped policies that "discriminate against loving, same-sex couples will no longer be enforced."

"The sooner people can access benefits that should be available to them, the better for them and their families," she said.

Testifying last month at a Senate hearing, the VA said it supported exempting the department from the Defense of Marriage Act, and that it supported the Shaheen bill.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, said the panel would take up Shaheen's bill next month if the VA cannot act on the Supreme Court's decision without congressional legislation. "The ruling means that all men and women who served our country and their families must be treated fairly and equally," Sanders said.

But Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., the chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, said he's waiting for an analysis from the VA to determine how it will comply with the court's ruling.

"Until VA's review is complete, any talk of legislative actions in response to the Supreme Court's ruling is premature," he said.

Josh Taylor, a VA spokesman, said the department was reviewing relevant statutes and would try to implement any changes to benefits for veterans "swiftly and smoothly."

In the days leading up to the Supreme Court's decision, Bornhoft said he felt the nation he had served for 26 years was discriminating against him.

"There is not equal treatment. There is not equal protection. There is not equal support," said Bornhoft, a resident of Bonita, Calif., who served in the Army and graduated from West Point in 1969.

After the ruling, Bornhoft said he wanted to read the ruling's fine print before celebrating.

"I'm obviously in no hurry to get planted at Arlington Cemetery, but it's very comforting to know that eventually Stephen could be there by my side, as he has been in life," Bornhoft said.

Darrah, a resident of Alexandria, Va., said it's been stunning to watch the country move from the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays and lesbians serving in the military to having her marriage recognized, all in less than two years. She, too, hopes one day to be buried at Arlington with her spouse.

"Change is never fast enough, but I'm dumbfounded with how quickly the country has moved," Darrah said. "I wanted it to happen. I never thought it could happen."

Major veterans groups have been largely silent on the issue of extending benefits to married, same-sex veterans. One exception was Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which applauded the Supreme Court's decision.

Earlier this year, Shinseki approved the first burial of a same-sex spouse of a veteran in a national cemetery, but officials emphasized at the time the decision didn't establish a precedent or policy. Rather, Shinseki used his discretion as secretary to approve a specific veteran's request based on a showing of a committed relationship.

One of Leon Panetta's final acts as defense secretary was extending certain benefits not covered through DOMA, such as access to on-base commissaries.

The financial gain from the Supreme Court's decision could be significant for some veterans. For example, a veteran considered 100 percent disabled gets VA compensation amounting to $2,816 a month. A similarly disabled veteran with a spouse gets $2,973 ? a difference of nearly $1,900 annually. In another example, a spouse of a veteran who died as a result of injuries or illness incurred while on active duty is eligible to receive at least $1,195 a month in indemnity compensation.

Under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, veterans can transfer to their spouse or children their unused educational benefits. The VA will pay the in-state tuition rates and fees for veterans attending public schools and up to $17,500 for veterans attending private schools.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gay-marriage-ruling-help-many-152820586.html

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Complex activity patterns emerge from simple underlying laws, ant experiments show

June 28, 2013 ? A new study from researchers at Uppsala University and University of Havana uses mathematic modeling and experiments on ants to show that a group is capable of developing flexible resource management strategies and characteristic responses of its own.

The results are now published in Physical Review Letters.

Group-living animals are led to regulate their activity and to make decisions on how to manage resources, under the action of a variety of environmental stimuli and of their intrinsic interactions. The latter are typically cooperative, in the sense that the activity of a single animal increases nonlinearly with the number of already active ones.

The researchers monitored experimentally and using mathematical modeling the activity profile of food-searching ants in a natural environment. The number of ants entering in or exiting the nest was recorded as well as the local temperature over several days.

The study shows that the group is capable of developing flexible resource management strategies and characteristic responses of its own. This is achieved by operating in an aperiodic fashion close to a regime of chaos, where nonlinearity is especially pronounced and offers the group more options than just following passively the day/night temperature cycle.

Furthermore, the group bursts into its foraging activity rapidly and subsequently relaxes to the inactive mode more slowly. This flexible behavior is reminiscent of "free will" in the sense that groups' activities are not totally constrained by the environment but on the contrary constitute new, emerging modes of behavior not encoded in the external stimuli or in the activity rhythms of the individuals within the group.

"Our results are likely to account for a wide range of temporal rhythms observed across the animal kingdom as well as in human societies," says Stamatios Nicolis, researcher at the Department of Mathematics, who lead the study.

"For instance, signal processing in the brain typically leads to complex patterns of electrical activity as witnessed by the electroencephalogram whose aperiodic, chaotic-looking structure is not a simple replica of the signal but reflects instead the ability of the brain to store vast amounts information and to process them selectively depending on the circumstances," says Stamatios Nicolis.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/s8EfwWh0yUw/130628091951.htm

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Stress: It should never be ignored, experts say

June 27, 2013 ? Work pressure, tension at home, financial difficulties ? the list of causes of stress grows longer every day. There have been several studies in the past showing that stress can have negative effects on health (cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure and more). The Inserm researchers at unit 1018, "The Epidemiology and Public Health Research Centre," working in collaboration with researchers from England and Finland have demonstrated that it is essential to be vigilant about this and to take it very seriously when people say that they are stressed, particularly if they believe that stress is affecting their health. According to the study performed by these researchers, with 7268 participants, such people have twice as much risk of a heart attack, compared with others.

These results have been published in European Heart Journal.

Today, stress is recognized as one of the main health problems. When people face a situation that is considered stressful, they may experience several physical, emotional and behavioural symptoms (anxiety, difficulty in concentrating, skin problems, migraines, etc.). Previous studies, particularly the recent studies performed within the Whitehall II cohort[1], composed of several thousand British civil servants, have already shown that the physiological changes associated with stress can have an adverse effect on health.

Herman Nabi, Inserm researcher at Unit 1018 "The Epidemiology and Public Health Research Centre," and his team went further and studied people who declared themselves to be stressed, in order to look more closely at whether there was a link between their feeling and the occurrence of coronary disease some years later.

Using a questionnaire prepared for the Whitehall II cohort, the participants were invited to answer the following question: "to what extent do you consider the stress or pressure that you have experienced in your life has an effect on your health," the participants had the following answers to choose from: "not at all," "a little," "moderately," "a lot" or "extremely."

The participants were also asked about their stress level, as well as about other factors that might affect their health, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, diet and levels of physical activity. Arterial pressure, diabetes, body mass index and socio-demographic data such as marital status, age, sex, ethnicity and socio-economic status were also taken into account.

According to the results, the participants who reported, at the start of the study, that their health was "a lot" or "extremely" affected by stress had more than twice the risk (2.12 times higher) of having or dying from a heart attack, compared with those who had not indicated any effect of stress on their health.

From a clinical point of view, these results suggest that the patient's perception of the impact of stress on their health may be highly accurate, to the extent that it can predict a health event as serious and common as coronary disease.

In addition, this study also shows that this link is not affected by differences between individuals related to biological, behavioural or psychological factors. However, capacities for dealing with stress do differ massively between individuals depending on the resources available to them, such as support from close friends and family.

According to Hermann Nabi, "the main message is that complaints from patients concerning the effect of stress on their health should not be ignored in a clinical environment, because they may indicate an increased risk of developing and dying of coronary disease. Future studies of stress should include perceptions of patients concerning the effect of stress on their health."

In the future, as Hermann Nabi emphasizes, "tests will be needed to determine whether the risk of disease can be reduced by increasing the clinical attention given to patients who complain of stress having an effect on their health."

[1] Created in 1985, the Whitehall II cohort, consisting of British civil servants, is making a major contribution to research in social epidemiology and is considered internationally to be one of the main sources of scientific knowledge concerning social determinant factors for health.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/heart_disease/~3/K2nponAqd5k/130627131839.htm

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Samsung lures former BlackBerry UK chief for EU business unit

When Rob Orr left his role as BlackBerry's UK and Ireland chief earlier this month, we knew it wouldn't be long before another company sought out his skills. Turns out, his final destination has been Samsung, where the seven-year RIM veteran will take up a vice presidential role in the Korean giant's business-to-business telecoms operation. There's an official release from Samsung after the break, but we'd have preferred it if Orr had posted something amusing to his Linkedin.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung, Blackberry

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Via: Mobile Today

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/27/rob-orr-goes-to-samsung/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Mormon church-owned Utah NBC affiliate to air SNL

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ? A Mormon church-owned NBC television station in Utah plans to begin airing first-run Saturday Night Live episodes this fall after years of refusing to air the popular comedy show.

KSL-TV's Tami Ostmark says the move is part of a plan to make the station's lineup stronger and improve its relationship with NBC.

KSL-TV is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has not aired certain shows over the years due to violent or inappropriate content. But Ostmark says content was never the issue with SNL. She says the station didn't want to bump a popular sports show that aired at the same time.

First-run episodes of Saturday Night Live have previously aired on Utah's CW30 affiliate, KUCW.

KSL-TV announced the decision Wednesday on its Facebook page.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-06-27-Saturday%20Night%20Live-Utah/id-934d3c24ac1d421a84d6029931e2c526

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Cats and Bird Populations | Adventure Sports Journal

While habitat loss as a result of human encroachment is a primary threat to birds and wildlife of all kinds, outdoor cats, counting both pets and feral animals, no doubt exacerbate the problem by killing up to 3.7 billion birds each year ? along with up to 20 billion other small mammals. Photo: iStockPhoto

I understand that pet cats prey on lots of birds and other ?neighborhood? wildlife, but isn?t it cruel to force felines to live indoors only? And isn?t human encroachment the real issue for bird populations, not a few opportunistic cats?
? Jason Braunstein, Laos, NM

While it is true that habitat loss as a result of human encroachment is a primary threat to birds and wildlife of all kinds, outdoor cats are no doubt exacerbating the loss of biodiversity as their numbers swell and they carry on their instinctual business of hunting.

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute?s Peter Marra estimates that outdoor cats in the United States, counting both pets and feral animals, kill up to 3.7 billion birds each year?along with up to 20 billion other small mammals. Researchers estimate that roughly 114 million cats live in the contiguous U.S., 84 million of them pets and the rest feral?and that as many as 70 percent of pet cats spend some time roaming outside and hunting.

?Cats are a nonnative species,? reminds Marra, adding that they often target native species and can transform places that would normally harbor many young birds into ?sinks that drain birds from neighboring populations.? As a result of this ongoing predation, many environmentalists and animal lovers think cats should stay inside. ?The big message is responsible pet ownership,? Marra says. He acknowledges that feral cats may be the bigger problem, but pet cats still catch as many as two billion wild animals a year.

The non-profit American Humane Association reports that there are several ways to keep indoor cats happy even though they are restricted from chasing and hunting wildlife. Getting Fluffy a companion (another cat or even a dog) is a good way to provide an outlet for play. Likewise, interactive toys, scratching posts, cat perches and other amenities?check with any well-stocked local pet store?can make the indoor environment a stimulating yet safe one for housebound cats and should serve to prevent stir-crazy behavior.

Meanwhile, another non-profit, the American Bird Conservancy (ABC), adds another reason why cat owners might want to think about restricting their pet?s territory to inside: Research shows that indoor cats live significantly longer lives than their free-roaming counterparts. ?Life for outdoor cats is risky,? reports the group. ?They can get hit by cars; attacked by dogs, other cats, coyotes or wildlife; contract fatal diseases, such as rabies, feline distemper, or feline immunodeficiency virus; get lost, stolen, or poisoned; or suffer during severe weather conditions.?

But the fact that feral cat populations have gotten so large in recent years makes the problem that much more vexing. Researchers concede that efforts to catch and either neuter or euthanize feral cats have proven ineffective given their booming populations, leaving cat owners wondering whether jeopardizing Fluffy?s mental health for the sake of saving a few birds is really even worthwhile.

CONTACTS: Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, nationalzoo.si.edu/scbi/; American Humane Association, www.americanhumane.org; American Bird Conservancy, www.abcbirds.org.

EarthTalk? is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E ? The Environmental Magazine (www.emagazine.com). Send questions to: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Subscribe: www.emagazine.com/subscribe. Free Trial Issue: www.emagazine.com/trial.

Source: http://adventuresportsjournal.com/blogs/earth-talk/cats-bird-populations

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Adobe Acquires Conversational Marketing Platform Neolane For $600M In Cash To Bolster Its Marketing Cloud

Adobe today announced that it has acquired Neolane, a conversational marketing company with an annual revenue of just under $60 million, in a transaction that’s worth $600 million in cash. Neolane was founded in 2001 and is currently headquartered in Paris, France, with offices around Europe, North America and Asia. The company’s customers include the likes of Accor Hotels, Alcatel-Lucent, IKEA, Samsung, Sony and Dior. For Adobe, which is putting quite a few resources into its Marketing Cloud, this acquisition adds a new piece to its feature lineup. Adobe does offer Adobe Social, which provides a number of social media-tracking and analysis tools. Neolane’s feature lineup, however, is far larger and includes tools like handling leads, marketing resource management, high-volume email marketing campaigns and a real-time offer recommendation engine for personalized, one-to-one messages.?Neolane, Adobe says, will become the sixth solution in the Marketing Cloud, joining its existing Analytics,?Target,?Social, Experience?Manager?and Media?Optimizer?offerings. Last year, Neolane raised a $27 million funding round led by?Battery Ventures?with participation by?Auriga Partners and XAnge Private Equity. ?The?acquisition?of?Neolane?brings critical?cross-channel?campaign?managementcapabilities?to the?Adobe Marketing?Cloud,??said?Brad?Rencher,?senior?vice?presidentand?general?manager?of Adobe?s?Digital?Marketing?business in a canned statement today. ?Adobe?has long?been the trusted?partner?to?creative?professionals?and?we?are?now?extending?our?lead?in?the digital marketing?space?with?the?addition?of?Neolane. From?campaign?creation?through planning, execution?and?optimization,?Adobe?technology?is?driving?the?entire?marketing?process.?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/P82IKZm66XY/

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Brain Cancer Hunger for Amino Acids Makes It More - BioSpace

6/25/2013 7:29:57 AM

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An enzyme that facilitates the breakdown of specific amino acids makes brain cancers particularly aggressive. Scientists have discovered this in an attempt to find new targets for therapies against this dangerous disease. To fuel phases of fast and aggressive growth, tumors need higher-than-normal amounts of energy and the molecular building blocks needed to build new cellular components. Cancer cells therefore consume a lot of sugar (glucose A number of tumors are also able to catabolize the amino acid glutamine, an important building block of proteins. A key enzyme in amino acid decomposition is isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH). Several years ago, scientists discovered mutations in the gene coding for IDH in numerous types of brain cancer. Very malignant brain tumors called primary glioblastomas carry an intact IDH gene, whereas those that grow more slowly usually have a defective form.

Hey, check out all the research scientist jobs. Post your resume today!

Source: http://www.biospace.com/news_story.aspx?StoryID=300966&full=1

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Saints Row IV banned in Australia due to 'unjustified' evil

For every tearful accountant at Saints Row HQ, there must be a gleeful marketing person punching the air, playing mini golf and doing whatever else marketing people do when they're full of glee. Conflicted emotions aside, however, game publisher Deep Silver can now claim the notorious distinction of having its latest title, Saints Row IV, rejected outright by the Australian Classification Board (ACB). It's the first such refusal since the ACB implemented a new R18+ rating, which is meant to allow for adult themes within games but which evidently couldn't cope with Saints Row's peculiar depictions of sexual violence (which were "not justified by context") or its drug-themed reward system (which is "prohibited by the computer games guidelines"). According to The Guardian, this effectively means Saints Row IV is banned from sale in retail stores in Australia, but Joystiq has received word from Deep Silver saying it intends to create a "reworked" version of its open-world game specifically for that country. Meanwhile, the regular version has been given PEGI 18 and ESRB M ratings elsewhere, and it looks to be on track for an August release date.

Filed under: Gaming

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Source: Joystiq, The Guardian

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/T198rRBAaqc/

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Asian tiger mosquitoes: What you need to know

Asian tiger mosquitoes are spreading in the continental US. Scientists warn that Asian tiger mosquitoes?bite throughout the day, carry disease, and lay eggs that can survive winter.

By Marc Lallanilla,?Assistant Editor, LiveScience.com / June 25, 2013

Michelle Dann holds a t-shirt outside her home in May 2013. A new species of mosquito was introduced to Texas in the 1980s and has now spread to 26 states.

Sally Finneran/The Grand Rapids Press/AP/File

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There's a new pest invading many American towns: the Asian tiger mosquito.

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Named for the black-and-white stripes on its body, the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) was first brought to Texas in a shipment of tires (which are notorious for holding the standing water that mosquitoes require for breeding), the?Wall Street Journal?reports.

The bug is worrisome for several reasons: Unlike other mosquitoes, the aggressive Asian tiger bites all day long, from morning until night. It's partial to humans, but also attacks dogs, cats, birds and other animals.

"Part of the reason it is called 'tiger' is also because it is very aggressive," Dina Fonseca, associate professor of entomology at Rutgers University, told the Journal. "You can try and swat it all you want, but once it's on you, it doesn't let go."

The Asian tiger mosquito joins other insects now threatening U.S. residents.?Gallinippers?(Psorophora ciliata), for example, are a type of shaggy-haired mosquito with an unusually painful bite; they're currently found throughout much of Florida.

But few insects are as effective at spreading illness as the Asian tiger mosquito, say scientists. The pest can transmit more than 20 diseases, according to the?Cornell Chronicle, including West Nile fever, dengue fever, yellow fever, and two types of encephalitis.

Since its introduction to the United States in the 1980s, the Asian tiger mosquito has spread to 26 states, primarily in the eastern United States, the CDC reports. The bug is also established in South and Central America, southern Europe, and several Pacific islands.

Part of its success at spreading throughout the world is due to a warming climate, but the Asian tiger mosquito has one other pesky adaptation: Its eggs are tough enough to survive a cold winter, according to?Science News.

If there's a silver lining to this story, it might be this: The Asian tiger mosquito is displacing another disease-carrying mosquito species,?Aedes aegypti.?Every time a male Asian tiger mosquito mates with a female?A. aegypti,?chemicals in his semen make her sterile, Science News reports.

But this also means Asian tiger mosquitoes are expanding their territory. Experts recommend removing all sources of standing water, wearing insect repellent and covering up with long sleeves and pants to avoid the bloodthirsty mosquitoes.

Follow Marc Lallanilla on?Twitter?and?Google+. Follow us?@livescience,?Facebook?&?Google+. Original article on?LiveScience.com.

Copyright 2013?LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/OV6zMzEXbsE/Asian-tiger-mosquitoes-What-you-need-to-know

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iOS 7 beta 2 released, brings its magic to iPad

We got to see quite a bit of iOS 7 back at WWDC 2013, but we only saw it working on an iPhone. Well, we've got some good news for big screen Apple devs, as a new iOS 7 beta's been released OTA and it now works on the iPad. Of course, the new beta also brings the usual nebulous "bug fixes and improvements" for all devices, and among those improvements is the addition of the Voice Memos app and Siri's new voices in English as well. It's available now, so if you're in the beta, you best get to downloading!

Filed under: Software, Apple

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/B5acrDiEbe0/

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Stocks rise on higher home prices, durable goods

NEW YORK (AP) ? U.S. stocks rose in midday trading Tuesday, pushed higher by a trifecta of encouraging economic reports.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 79 points, or 0.5 percent, to 14,739 at noon Eastern Daylight Time. The Standard & Poor's index was up 10 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,583. Bank stocks, which sank the day before, rose the most of the 10 industry groups in the index.

Investors were encouraged by three main data points. The Commerce Department said U.S. businesses made more orders for long-lasting manufactured goods, including a surge in commercial aircraft orders. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index showed year-over-years gains in all cities tracked for the fourth straight month, a sign that the housing market is continuing to recover. And the Conference Board reported that consumer confidence rose sharply in June to the highest level in more than five years, bolstered by an improving outlook for hiring.

Shares of homebuilders, including Toll Brothers and KB Home, rose after the Case-Shiller report. Homebuilder Lennar, which also reported quarterly results that beat analysts' expectations, rose $1.20, or 3.4 percent, to $36.19. The company said demand in all its housing markets continues to outpace supply.

Jonathan Lewis, chief investment officer at Samson Capital Advisors, cautioned against reading too much into a single day of economic reports. That's been a familiar refrain among market watchers this year, as practically every sign that the economy is improving seems to be met with another that says it's stagnating.

"It's nice to see that consumer confidence came in well over expectations, but of course they also revised down last month's," Lewis said. "Of course it's nice to see home prices up ... but the sharp rise in rates means mortgage rates are rising higher."

In recent weeks, the market has been driven not so much by economic fundamentals, but by speculation about when the Federal Reserve might raise interest rates or pull back on a bond-buying program that is meant to stimulate the economy. Stocks plunged Wednesday after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed could rein in its bond-buying program this year. Though in some ways that is good news ? after all, it means the Fed thinks the economy is improving ? investors have largely treated the idea of a Fed pullback as bad news, worrying how the market will fare without the central bank propping it up.

Starting Wednesday, the Dow plunged by triple digits for three out of four days. The fact that the second quarter ends this Friday will probably add to the volatility: Money managers need to book profits for their clients before then.

Lewis said he thought that the market's Tuesday morning gain was partly due to investors stepping back and taking a more reasoned, less reactive view of the Fed's potential pullback plan. For example, the Fed wants the Fed wants the jobless rate to be at 6.5 percent before it starts raising short-term interest rates. Last month, it was 7.6 percent.

"This is the day," Lewis said, "where the dust appears to be settling."

The stronger economic news released Tuesday led investors to sell U.S. government debt, sending bond yields higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, a benchmark for many kinds of loans, rose to 2.59 percent from 2.54 percent late Monday. Investors have also been selling bonds in anticipation of the Fed winding down its stimulus program.

Despite the gains in U.S. stocks and the rise in U.S. bond yields, there were ample reminders of economic uncertainty around the world. Stocks continued to fall in China, where investors are fretting that the government's new efforts to curb unregulated lending will hurt companies and choke already-slowing economic growth.

In debt-riddled Greece, new cabinet members met for the first time after a hasty reshuffling of top government posts that the prime minister was forced to agree to after his contentious order to close the state broadcaster, a move meant to save money. And the head of Germany's central bank, Jens Weidmann, called for a "strict and thorough" review of the finances of European banks, even as the head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, defended an ECB stimulus program that German leaders have criticized.

In other trading, the Nasdaq composite index was up 17 points, or 0.5 percent, to 3,335.

Commodities prices were mixed. Gold fell $2.30 to $1,274 an ounce and the price of crude oil rose 40 cents to $95.57 a barrel.

Among stocks making big moves:

?Walgreen, the nation's largest drugstore chain, slipped after reporting earnings and revenue that missed analysts' expectations ? a result, the company said, of lower-than-expected sales outside the pharmacy. Walgreen fell $3.85, or 8 percent, to $44.20.

?Barnes & Noble dipped after reporting that its loss more than doubled in the latest quarter. The bookseller has struggled to compete with online retailers and discounters, and its Nook e-book continues to lose money. The stock fell $3, or 16 percent, to $15.82.

?Clothing chain Men's Wearhouse rose after saying it had fired executive chairman George Zimmer, the company's founder and star of its TV commercials, because he had advocated for "significant changes that would enable him to regain control." The stock rose $1.90, or 5.4 percent, to $37.03.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-rise-higher-home-prices-durable-goods-142656999.html

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Brother MFC-9340CDW

The Brother MFC-9340CDW is the most full featured of Brother's three new laser-class (LED-based) multifunction printers (MFPs). It includes all the features of the Brother MFC-9330CDW and Brother MFC-9130CW, and like them, it has a 35-page automatic document feeder (ADF) for copying, scanning, and faxing multipage documents unattended. But it's the only one whose ADF is duplexing, able to scan both sides of a two-sided document?on a single pass, no less.

Features
The MFC-9340CDW can print, copy, scan, and fax. It lets you fax either from your computer (PC Fax), or standalone faxing from the MFP's touch-sensitive keypad without needing to be connected to a computer. As an LED printer, the MFC-9340CDW uses LEDs as a light source instead of lasers. LED printers are typically smaller than the equivalent laser printer; and this model is reasonably compact at 16.1 by 16.1 by 19.0 inches (HWD) and weighs 51.8 pounds.

This two-toned (off-white and black) MFP is boxy except for a swept-back front panel, which includes a 3.7-inch color touch screen. The backlit numerical keypad to the right of the touch screen only appears when you press Fax or other functions that require data entry. The only physical button is the start/stop button. A front-facing port lets you print JPEG and PDF files from (and scan files to) a USB thumb drive.

Paper capacity is 250 sheets, plus a one-page manual feed slot, with no additional paper options. It has an automatic duplexer for printing on both sides of a sheet of paper.

The MFC-9340CDW connects to a PC via a USB cable, or to a network via Ethernet or Wi-Fi. It also supports Wi-Fi Direct, which enables direct printing between compatible devices without needing to go through a WiFi network. It supports mobile printing via Apple AirPrint, Brother iPrint&Scan (which allows you to print from or scan to an Apple, Android, or Windows Phone mobile device as well as Kindle Fire), Google Cloud Print, and Cortado WorkPlace. I tested it over an Ethernet connection with the drivers installed on a computer running Windows Vista.

Printing Speed
The MFC-9340CDW printed out our business applications suite (as timed with QualityLogic's hardware and software) at 5.8 effective pages per minute (ppm), a reasonable speed considering its 23 page per minute rated speed for both color and monochrome printing, which should be about its print speed when printing text only. (Our test suite includes text pages, graphics pages, and pages combining text and graphics.) Its tested speed was a bit lower than the Brother MFC-9330CDW (6.8 ppm), also rated at 23 pages per minute, and the Brother MFC-9130CW (6.5 ppm), despite its rating of only 19 ppm.

The Editors' Choice Dell 2155cn, rated at 24 ppm for both color and black output, tested at 5.9 ppm, while the Canon Color imageClass MF8580Cdw, rated at 21 pages per minute for simplex printing and 10 ppm for duplex, tested at 4.9 ppm in its default duplex mode, and 6 ppm in ad-hoc testing using simplex mode.

Output Quality
Overall output quality was a touch below par. The MFC-9340CDW's text quality was typical of laser-class printers, which is to say it's very good. It's suitable for any business uses short of those requiring very small fonts.

Graphics quality was on the low side of average for a color laser. Though colors were generally bold and well saturated, some darker backgrounds looked slightly faded or blotchy. I noticed traces of banding (a regular pattern of faint striations) in many of the illustrations. The printer had some trouble maintaining distinctions between similar shades of colors, with little differentiation between them. Graphics are suitable for basic PowerPoint handouts, though perhaps not to clients you're seeking to impress.

Photo quality was slightly sub-par for a laser-class printer. Several prints showed mild tinting. Dithering (graininess) was evident in a few of the prints, and there was a loss of detail in some bright areas.

The Editors' Choice Dell 2155cn provides good speed and better output quality than the MFC-9340CDW, though it only supports simplex scanning and lacks an auto-duplexer as well. The Canon Color imageClass MF8580Cdw has both of those items?and an even larger-capacity (50-sheet) duplexing ADF, plus better output quality than the MFC-9340 (though not the 2155cn).

The addition of a duplexing ADF makes the Brother MFC-9340CDW stand out among the three recently launched Brother MFPs. Its speed and output quality are solid if unspectacular, and it has a good feature set and range of connectivity choices. It's best for a small or home office that does mostly text printing but has occasional need for color for casual or in-house use.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/v8Nh0Ki2FVc/0,2817,2420931,00.asp

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Welcome to the Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential speculation sweepstakes (Washington Post)

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France says Syrian rebels need to wrest areas from radicals

By Yara Bayoumy

DOHA (Reuters) - Syrian rebels need to wrest back control of territory held by Islamist militants whose involvement in the conflict gives Bashar al-Assad a pretext for more violence, French President Francois Hollande said on Sunday.

Radical Islamist groups such as the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front have joined in fighting against the Syrian president's forces in the conflict which has killed more than 90,000 people and displaced millions.

"The opposition needs to win back control of these areas ... ????????they have fallen into the hands of extremists," Hollande told a news conference in the Qatari capital Doha.

"If it seems that extremist groups are present and tomorrow they could be the beneficiaries of a chaotic situation, it will be Bashar al-Assad who will seize on this pretext to continue the massacre."

The French president was in Doha for a meeting of 11 Western and Arab countries, known as the "Friends of Syria", over the two-year-old Syrian conflict.

The countries agreed on Saturday to give urgent military support to the rebels, channeled through the Western-backed Supreme Military Council, a move that Washington and its European allies hope will prevent weapons falling into the hands of Islamist radicals.

Hollande said the countries still needed to work out how to supply arms to the Syrian opposition and that deliveries were conditional on the rebels organizing politically and militarily.

"We cannot imagine delivering weapons to groups which could use them to the detriment of interests of a democratic Syria or eventually against us," he said.

The aim, he said, was to assert military pressure on Assad, because doing nothing would benefit "Assad on the one hand and the most radical elements on the other ... We refuse that."

He also called on Iran's new President Hassan Rohani to use his influence to help the Syrian situation.

"Elections have taken place in Iran, (there is) a new president. It's up to him to show he can maybe be useful, that he can also exert pressure on Bashar al-Assad to find a solution."

The United Nations said on Sunday it had so far raised 33 percent of the $5 billion of humanitarian aid it was seeking to help the Syrian people.

"The United Nations is trying its best to help the Syrian refugees to help the Syrian refugees but a political solution is the way out of this crisis," Panos Mounties, regional coordinator of the U.N. refugee agency, said after a meeting with the Arab League in Cairo.

(Additional reporting by Aymin Samier in Cairo; Writing by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Sami Aboudi and Robin Pomeroy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/france-says-syrian-rebels-wrest-areas-radicals-144603165.html

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The Daily Roundup for 06.24.2013

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

Filed under: Misc

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/24/the-daily-roundup-for-06-24-2013/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Custom-built Katamari controller is made from yoga ball, DualShock 2 pad, power of the cosmos (video)

Conventional wisdom would suggest that making a for-real Katamari Damacy ball would be tricky, but that didn't stop Chris McInnis, Ron LeBlanc and Tom Gwozdz from taking up the challenge. As part of the Nuit Blanche festival in London, Canada (which also included some building-projected gaming), they were able to fashion their very own Katamari ball from a yoga ball, some stickers, wood, an Arduino microcontroller, several optical mice and a dissected DualShock 2 controller. See how it steers after the break.

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals, Science, Alt

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Via: UbercoolStuffldnont (YouTube)

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Junior Czech coalition party wins speaker post in reshuffle plan

PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech coalition agreed on Saturday that the junior party can have the post of parliamentary speaker if the current one becomes prime minister in a reshuffle caused by a spying and bribery scandal.

The deal clears a potential hurdle for the three-party center-right coalition which hopes to avoid a snap election after Prime Minister Petr Necas resigned over the scandal.

It has put forward lower house speaker Miroslava Nemcova, from Necas's Civic Democrat party, to replace him.

President Milos Zeman, a leftist who has criticized the government, has the sole right to appoint a prime minister. He is holding meetings with party heads over the weekend before announcing a decision on Tuesday.

Zeman has not said if he will accept Nemcova or pick a leader of his choice. The opposition Social Democrats are pushing for a snap election - ahead of the one scheduled for May next year. Opinion polls indicate it would win easily.

Saturday's deal is a victory for the TOP09 party, which had hinted that it wanted the speaker's position as the price of sustaining the shaky coalition that has faced collapse several times since taking power in 2010.

"TOP09 should make the nomination and the coalition should stand behind it," Martin Kuba, acting Civic Democrat party leader, said in comments broadcast on Czech Television.

Police have charged eight people for offences including bribery and illegal spying on people including the prime minister's wife.

Necas's closest aide, Jana Nagyova, is charged with ordering illegal spying. Prosecutors also accuse her of offering bribes, in the form of posts at state companies, to three parliamentary deputies last year in exchange for abandoning a rebellion against the prime minister.

Necas himself has not been charged but his Civic Democrats have suffered a severe hit in popularity.

A lawyer for Nagyova, who is in custody, says she denies some of the allegations against her, while on others she argues that she acted in good faith.

(Reporting by Jason Hovet; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/junior-czech-coalition-party-wins-speaker-post-reshuffle-204801613.html

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Report: Cyclist Jan Ullrich admits blood doping

BERLIN (AP) ? Jan Ullrich, the 1997 Tour de France winner, has admitted for the first time that he received blood-doping treatment from Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes during his career, according to an interview with a German magazine published Saturday.

Ullrich had previously acknowledged having unspecified "contact" with Fuentes, but went further in an interview with the weekly Focus.

"Yes, I received treatment from Fuentes," the German rider was quoted as saying.

Asked if he only engaged in blood doping with Fuentes, Ullrich replied that "the doctor's diagnosis says that." He said he couldn't remember how many times he had received treatment from Fuentes.

In February 2012, the Court of Arbitration for Sport banned Ullrich for two years for blood doping.

The CAS ruled that the German was "fully engaged" in Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes' doping program, exposed in the Operation Puerto probe. The court stripped him of his third-place finish at the 2005 Tour. Ullrich retired in 2007.

Ullrich didn't contest the CAS ruling, saying at the time that he wanted to "put an end to the issue."

IOC vice president Thomas Bach said the confession is "too little, too late."

"Jan Ullrich had his chance for a creditable admission a couple of years ago and he missed it," Bach said in an emailed statement. "Today's confirmation of some of the already well known and established facts does not help Jan Ullrich nor cycling."

In Saturday's interview, the 39-year-old Ullrich said that while he had made bad decisions during his career, "I did not harm or defraud anyone."

"Almost everyone took performance-enhancing substances then. I took nothing that the others didn't also take," he was quoted as saying. "For me, fraud starts when I gain an advantage. That wasn't the case. I wanted to ensure equality of opportunities.

"The issue is dealt with for me. I only want to look forward, and never again backward."

Ullrich's interview comes after Lance Armstrong, the dominant cyclist of his generation, acknowledged in January that he doped for all seven of his Tour wins from 1999-2005. On three of those occasions, Ullrich finished second.

"I am no better than Armstrong, but no worse either," Ullrich was quoted as saying. "The great 'heroes' of earlier years are now people with failures that they have to come to terms with."

Earlier this year, Armstrong said doping became so routine it was "like saying we have to have air in our tires or water in our bottles."

Asked about that comment, Ullrich told Focus: "I can't understand that. I always knew that I was doing something forbidden and wrong."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/report-jan-ullrich-admits-blood-doping-091803638.html

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US Tells Hong Kong to Turn Over Snowden (ABC News)

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Book Talk: The dark doubts in the heart of a Mormon missionary

By Elaine Lies

TOKYO (Reuters) - They're a familiar sight around the world, whether in northern Japan or southern Argentina: a pair of men in dark suits, with nameplates, often riding bicycles as they go about their job preaching the Mormon religion.

"Elders", Ryan McIlvain's debut novel, illuminates the lives of one such pair, American Elder McLeod and his Brazilian counterpart Elder Passos, through their frustrating daily round of knocking on doors and missionary work, the service that all adult Mormons must perform.

McIlvain, a former Mormon who went to Brazil on his mission, spoke about his book and basing fiction on his own life.

Q: How did this book get going?

A: It's something I know a lot about just by virtue of the fact that I was a Mormon missionary. More broadly, I thought it would be interesting to pay very close attention to the interior lives of two Mormon missionaries, people that we see almost exclusively from the outside ... They're so lonely, the pressures they face on a daily basis are so tremendous. Because of the nature of their work, they're seen as annoying at best and predatory at worst.

Q: Are a lot of the events in the book your own?

A: I gave some of my own experiences to McLeod and Passos, particularly mental experiences, to the extent that McLeod doubts and Passos feels a worldly longing for success. But the behavior themselves was where the fiction started to take over.

The experience of being a missionary is the experience of being a permanent foreigner, you wear this nametag and uniform that is meant to mark you out as different so you never feel that you can just blend in or have a lazy afternoon. You always feel on call and in fact, you are. Mormon missionaries are told to believe that they've received a call from God and that involves certain responsibilities. So instead of going to parties or football games or whatever your average 19 to 20-year-old does, they go out and preach the Gospel for two years.

Q: What was it like to put the fictional stamp on some of your own experiences and take it to the next level?

A: If a memory or an image surfaced and it felt like it would serve the story well, I'd put it in there ... The fiction kind of existed in its own world with its own set of needs and its own expedient rhythms that were different from the reality and that would be different from the needs of a non-fiction writer. Now it's funny, as I look back, I started to confuse what was real and what I'd embellished onto the real. There's something sad about that. I've now muddied the waters of my memories a little bit, I've kind of lost hold of that time.

Q: People talk about "the great Mormon novel"? What do you think about that idea?

A: I came to the material a little hesitantly, because I was nervous about being seen as a Mormon writer or someone that could be pigeon-holed. But I think that fear is almost universal. I remember reading Roth or Bellow as I was growing up ... They would very much bristle if someone tried to describe them as Jewish writers even though the vast majority of their protagonists were Jewish. People don't want to be labeled for fear of being dismissed or marginalized, maybe. So I don't identify as a Mormon writer - but then again, I'm not sure who would. You just want to be a writer who happens to take up this subject and that subject.

Q: In this book, there's a lot of questions the characters face about their beliefs. Is it common to be thrown into your mission experience and have a lot of questions?

A: Yes, I think it is. First of all, it's such a formative time. Young men serve at 19, typically, and young women at least until very recently served their missions at 21. Whether it's 19 or 21, your mind is still in its formative stages and especially when you're taken out of the comfort zone of your country and language, things get shaken up. I served in Brazil at the same time as I set the story, as the United States was revving up to the war with Iraq. It was really formative to see that political theatre from an outsider's perspective. I came back to the United States much more tentative in thinking about my country's role in the world. When I left I was pretty cocksure and confident that America was more just than not in the way it dealt with other countries. I came back without any of that certainty. It wasn't just doctrinal uncertainty that the mission gave me, it was a sort of national uncertainty as well.

Q: In terms of writing, did having grown up as a Mormon have any influence?

A: Well, I'll say yes, though of course I've only lived one life. Having grown up Mormon, I can say that it's a people of the book. In some corners, a somewhat anti-intellectual strain, but certainly in the corners that I felt drawn to, Mormons read a lot and they read closely. Every morning during high school I would wake up early and go to seminary, an hour of scripture study and Bible before school. Those pitch-black, cold Massachusetts mornings, my twin sister and I would flip a coin to see who had to go start the car, and let it warm up. We'd drive the twenty minutes to church and sit there and pay very close attention to those wonderful, rich Biblical texts. So yes, I do think that the prose of particularly the King James Bible has been an influence, and I've tried to take the best of that and update it for a contemporary prose style. Also just the economy and the really magical arcs that those Biblical stories manage to accomplish in such a short amount of space really influenced me?.I did imbibe some of that.

(Reporting by Elaine Lies, editing by Paul Casciato)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/book-talk-dark-doubts-heart-mormon-missionary-141748796.html

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