An empty hallway in the U.S. Capitol Sunday morning, Sept. 29, 2013, as a government shutdown looms, in Washington. The political and economic stakes mounting with each tick of the clock, the White House and congressional Democrats say a House-approved delay in President Barack Obama's health care law does nothing but push Washington to the brink of the first government shutdown in 17 years. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
An empty hallway in the U.S. Capitol Sunday morning, Sept. 29, 2013, as a government shutdown looms, in Washington. The political and economic stakes mounting with each tick of the clock, the White House and congressional Democrats say a House-approved delay in President Barack Obama's health care law does nothing but push Washington to the brink of the first government shutdown in 17 years. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
The sun rises behind the White House in Washington, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2013. Locked in a deepening struggle with President Barack Obama, the Republican-controlled House approved legislation early Sunday imposing a one-year delay in key parts of the nation's health care law and repealing a tax on medical devices as the price for avoiding a partial government shutdown in a few days' time. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The United States braced for a partial government shutdown Tuesday that no one in the seat of democracy seems to want or believes is good for the country, yet the only point of agreement in Washington is that the other political party is to blame.
If the midnight Monday deadline passes without a deal, a shutdown would affect a wide range of programs, from national parks to the Pentagon.
President Barack Obama and the leader of the Democratic-controlled Senate dismissed a late developing plan approved early Sunday by the GOP-run House that would delay by a year key part of the new health care law and repeal a tax on medical devices, in exchange for avoiding a shutdown.
The White House promised a veto and said Republicans were pursuing "a narrow ideological agenda ... and pushing the government toward shutdown."
Lawmakers spoke past one another on the Sunday talk shows, often rehashing the turbulent fights about the health overhaul that the Supreme Court has upheld, as the nation edged toward the first government shutdown in 17 years.
"I agree we should have this debate, but we shouldn't connect it to a government shutdown. That's the fundamental disagreement between the two sides here," said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.
"We're not going to pass it because it is wrong to do a shutdown of government as the lever to make a change."
The House's near party-line vote was 231-192, shifting the focus to the Senate less than 48 hours before government funds would run dry.
Even if that happens, some critical services such patrolling the borders, inspecting meat and controlling air traffic would continue. Social Security benefits would be sent and the Medicare and Medicaid health care programs for the elderly and poor would continue to pay doctors and hospitals.
The Senate was not scheduled to meet until midafternoon Monday, 10 hours before a shutdown would begin, and even some Republicans said privately they feared that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., held the advantage in the fast-approaching end game.
If so, a House GOP rank and file that includes numerous tea party allies would have to choose between triggering a shutdown or coming away empty-handed from their latest confrontation with Obama.
"We will not shut the government down," said the No. 3 House GOP leader, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California. "If we have to negotiate a little longer, we will continue to negotiate," he added without elaboration.
He suggested the House would "get back together in enough time, send another provision not to shut the government down, but to fund it, and it will have a few other options in there for the Senate to look at again."
McCarthy said the House would not relent on demands for "fundamental changes into 'Obamacare' that can protect the economy."
Republicans said the law was costing jobs and driving up costs.
"The American people overwhelmingly reject 'Obamacare,'" said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. "They understand it's not working. The only people who aren't listening to the argument are the career politicians in Washington. It's Harry Reid who wants to use brute political force."
Obama has said he won't let the law, his chief domestic achievement, be gutted. Democrats say Republicans are obsessed with attacking the overhaul, which is aimed at providing health coverage for millions of uninsured Americans, and the president.
The House bill did contain new concessions from Republicans, who have criticized the requirements imposed on insurers.
They said their measure would leave intact most parts of the law that have taken effect, including requiring insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions and to let families' plans cover children up to age 26.
An exception: Insurers would be allowed to deny contraception coverage based on religious or moral objections.
But it would delay a requirement for people to purchase coverage or face a penalty, and the creation of marketplaces, which are supposed to start functioning this Tuesday, where people could shop for coverage from private insurers.
McCarthy and Kaine were on "Fox News Sunday," while Cruz appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press."
There have been rumors that TSMC would handle some of Apple's future chip production, but details of the purported arrangement have been vague. The Korea Economic Daily may have just filled us in, however. It claims that Samsung will make 30 to 40 percent of Apple's A8 processors next year, with TSMC presumably assembling the lion's share. Apple wanted TSMC to be the sole manufacturer, but the challenge of building 20 nanometer-class chips led to a supplementary agreement with Samsung, according to the Daily's tipsters. Neither side has commented on the report, so take it with a large grain of salt. If the story is accurate, though, it suggests that Apple will have only modest success in excluding its arch-rival's technology from next-generation iOS devices.
Measuring less than 1mm thin, the MicroShell protects your iPhone 5 from scuffs and scratches while providing eye-catching designs that make your device stand out from the rest. Color options include Onyx Flowerbed and Goosebumps.
Throughout times of recession, numerous entrepreneurs take up the task to fight back against the financial struggle faced by many. In the United Kingdom , the amount of people starting out with new business ideas and starting to work for themselves has increased 10% since the beginning of the recession . The number of people employed by others has fallen , as many new entrepreneurs start to depend entirely on the earnings from their new businesses.
When you look back in history there have been a several key cycles when economic climates have shifted, producing huge problems for some and significant opportunity for others.
So where do aspiring entrepreneurs nowadays look for their new business ideas and how do they do become successful? Even though numerous jobs have now been taken away by technology, the online or digital economy has produced an extraordinary quantity of new business opportunities for entrepreneurs. There has been an obvious movement to people shopping for products online and this continues to expand which is good news for anyone carrying out business online.
But how do new business ideas become a reality on the internet? There are millions of of websites online and all fighting to get noticed. The only way to survive in the highly competitive internet business environment is be knowledgeable on how to use it to your full advantage There are a number of factors to follow:
1. Update Your Website Regularly
Your website material must be kept fresh and informative . Search engines like new content so you have to update your website frequently. Don?t just create a website for your new business and let it sit there forever without ever adding new content to it.
2. Get Organic Website Traffic.
This is your search engine optimisation SEO strategy. First, you have to know and prepare your keywords. Keywords are the words that people type into a search engine to find something on the internet . What will people type in if they were looking for your products or services?
3. Buy Website Traffic.
You will need to commit some money into paid website traffic to push potential customers to your website. These strategies include pay per click ads , online banner ads , ezine adverts and social media marketing.
4. Who Is Your Customer.
It?s vital that you have a clear understanding of who your target customer is and why they should purchase from you instead of your competitor. Think of like this, if you don?t know how can you expect your prospective customer to know?
5. Stay Consistent.
To improve the overall performance of your internet business you need to stay consistent, adding fresh new content to your website and always aiming for the best exposure to keep the momentum going.
When setting up an online business there can seem to be a mountain of obstacles to climb ? from understanding search engine optimisation to blogging, from pay per click advertising to social media marketing, from finding the right products to sell to finding customers to buy them, the list goes on. To learn how to quickly and easily guide your online business to success Click Here.
London (AFP) - Juan Mata inspired a Chelsea recovery as the first managerial clash between former colleagues Jose Mourinho and Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas ended in a 1-1 draw on Saturday.
Much had been made of the breakdown in the relationship the two managers had once shared in the build-up to the Premier League game at White Hart Lane.
Villas-Boas was a trusted scout at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan before the pair parted ways in Italy.
Villas-Boas then began his own career in management, which saw him sacked as Chelsea manager in March 2012 and then appointed by Tottenham last season.
Terse pre-match comments and a brief handshake moments before kick-off were exchanged, but it was a player with whom Mourinho has a strained relationship who was to prove central on the day.
Chelsea had been outclassed in the first half and trailed to Gylfi Sigurdsson's goal, but they were transformed once Mata -- a player Mourinho has used sparingly due to concerns over his work rate -- was allowed to come on for the second half.
Indeed, Chelsea were strong enough to see the game out with 10 men after Fernando Torres was questionably shown a second yellow card for an elbow on Jan Vertonghen.
The home side took the lead in the 19th minute through Sigurdsson, who capped a fine move with a neat finish to record his third goal of the campaign.
Christian Eriksen was the architect, nipping past Frank Lampard before passing to Roberto Soldado, who, with a defender at his back, laid the ball off for Sigurdsson. The Iceland midfielder rode John Terry's challenge before beating Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech.
Mourinho sat morosely in his seat as Villas-Boas celebrated by punching the air and the home side continued to dominate when play restarted.
Branislav Ivanovic had to put a Soldado cross over this own bar, and Cech was soon required to save from Kyle Naughton following more good work from Eriksen.
Chelsea saw an Eden Hazard drive deflected behind for a corner and Andros Townsend, having neatly turned Ashley Cole, was booked for diving as Lampard challenged.
Townsend's response was to set Paulinho up for a chance that saw his shot beat Cech but hit the goalkeeper's near post and bounce away to safety. Chelsea were fortunate not to be two goals down, although Terry headed a good chance wide just before the break.
Mourinho had scuttled off down the tunnel before the half-time whistle and he made an immediate change for the second period, with Mata replacing John Mikel Obi.
Oscar was on the end of a Torres ball across the box, but could not hit the target at full stretch, as Ramires dropped back into one of the two defensive midfield slots to accommodate Mata in the number 10 role, with Hazard switching to the right.
Torres was booked for tripping Vertonghen before embarking on a run that saw him beat Michael Dawson before Hugo Lloris came out to make a smart stop.
Mata put the ball in the net but it was ruled out for offside, before Hazard forced Lloris into another save with a long-range effort.
Vertonghen was booked for a late challenge on Ramires and Chelsea levelled from the free-kick. Terry lost his marker to head Mata's delivery past Lloris, but Mourinho barely reacted to that goal either.
Andre Schurrle replaced Hazard before Lewis Holtby came on for Eriksen, who had faded, and Villas-Boas then played his final card, with Jermain Defoe coming on for Soldado for the last 15 minutes.
Chelsea finished with 10 men after referee Mike Dean judged that Torres had used an arm in an aerial tussle with Vertonghen and was shown a second yellow card.
Sigurdsson almost won it for Tottenham late on with an effort that beat Cech but just drifted wide.
Earlier this month we launched our Skift Trends Report subscription service, and as part of that, the first report ?Rise of the Chinese Independent Traveler? is?most definitive report ever done covering what the next generation of Chinese travelers want from their experience.
While outbound travel for Chinese mainland citizens is still dominated by group tours that often bus the tourists from city to city, its growth is slowing when compared to?the meteoric rise of independent tourism. Fully independent outbound tourism is growing even faster than foreign travel in general, and the market is still in its infancy.?This trend goes hand-in-hand with a demographic sea change for China: a second generation of affluent consumers coming of age.
From the report, an extract on the six characteristics that define this next generation of Chinese travelers (lot more in the report): ?Buy the Report
Younger ? 60% are in the consumer ?sweet spot? between 25 and 45.
Richer ? Over 80% have an annual income over 60,000 RMB. The average for urban consumers is 24,000 RMB.
More educated ? The vast majority at least have bachelors degrees.
More sophisticated travelers ? Fully independent tourists usually aren?t on their first trip abroad. Many study or have studied in other countries. Even when they aren?t fluent in foreign languages, they aren?t afraid to deal with locals on their own. Younger Chinese are more worldly than their parents, but still proudly Chinese.
More connected ? The internet is the main source of information?for independent tourists. They see internet and social networking access as a major necessity. They often consult friends for travel advice and use first-hand travelogues?in blogs when planning a trip.
Demanding ? This whole generation of only children that grew up in relative abundance is accustomed to high quality and attentive service.
To get more characteristics, understand the forces that are influencing China?s outbound market, and learn strategies that will help travel providers understand and market to this demographic, get our report, click on the button below to get more information.
Seated at the table from left, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton attend a meeting of the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany during the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
Seated at the table from left, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton attend a meeting of the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany during the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Iran's foreign minister says his country is willing to forgive the United States' history with Iran but will not decades of distrust between the two nations.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (jah-VAHD' zah-REEF') says Tehran is open to negotiations with the United States over its nuclear program, but Washington must end its crippling sanctions. Zarif says Iran is not developing a military nuclear program and has no desire for one.
Zarif also says Iran is willing to open its nuclear facilities to international inspectors.
The foreign minister's comments follow a sudden thaw in U.S.-Iranian relations after decades as adversaries. President Barack Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani spoke Friday by telephone, the first direct contact between the two countries' leaders in three decades.
Indonesian police officers patrol around the venue of the Miss World competition in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013. The Miss World final will be held later in the day after weeks of protests from Muslim hardliners and warnings that extremists could attack the pageant. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)
Indonesian police officers patrol around the venue of the Miss World competition in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013. The Miss World final will be held later in the day after weeks of protests from Muslim hardliners and warnings that extremists could attack the pageant. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)
Indonesian police officers stand guard near the venue of the Miss World competition in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013. The Miss World final will be held later in the day after weeks of protests from Muslim hardliners and warnings that extremists could attack the pageant. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)
BALI, Indonesia (AP) ? Security is tight ahead of the crowning of Miss World on Indonesia's resort island of Bali, where the event was moved following protests by Muslim hardliner groups.
Despite threats from the Islamic Defenders Front to disrupt Saturday night's crowning, police say no rallies have been staged. The group has demonstrated for weeks, calling for the government to cancel the pageant because members say it goes against Islamic teachings.
Miss World organizers had earlier agreed to cut bikinis from the swimsuit competition, replacing them with more conservative sarongs. But pressure continued to mount, and more mainstream groups joined in and called for the show to be banned.
The government announced three weeks ago that the final would be moved to Hindu-dominated Bali from the outskirts of the capital, Jakarta.
Captive audience for launch of energy saving scheme
Posted on 29 September 2013 by Tom Grimwood
London Zoo is to play host to the launch of the Low Energy Company scheme this week.
The Energy Managers Association is organising the programme, which will kick off to a captive audience in front of the zoo?s new penguin pool on 3rd October.
The scheme will provide training to employees on how to reduce energy use in the workplace and help employers prove their sustainable credentials through certification as an audited Low Energy Company. London Zoo is the first to take part.
Speaking at the 2degrees Live event on Friday Lord Rupert Redesdale, CEO of the Energy Managers Association said London Zoo faced many of the same energy concerns as other businesses as well as a few unique ones. According to Lord Redesdale penguins become incontinent whilst swimming, meaning the 500,000 litres of water which fills the penguin pool have to be filtered three times every day to remove the faeces, consuming large amounts of energy.
Moving on from penguin poo he added: ?What we?re doing with London Zoo is we?re training most of their staff. The staff feel engaged. The staff then are coming forward to us and actually coming up with ideas of how they can make further savings that haven?t been thought of.
?They?re changing their behaviour and the great thing is they take that behaviour change home with them.?
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., left, and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., right, arrive for the Senate to vote on a bill to fund the government, but stripped of the defund "Obamacare" language, as crafted by House Republicans, Friday, Sept. 27, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Republican-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate are at an impasse as Congress continues to struggle over how to prevent a possible shutdown of the federal government when it runs out of money in three days. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., left, and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., right, arrive for the Senate to vote on a bill to fund the government, but stripped of the defund "Obamacare" language, as crafted by House Republicans, Friday, Sept. 27, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Republican-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate are at an impasse as Congress continues to struggle over how to prevent a possible shutdown of the federal government when it runs out of money in three days. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Sept. 27, 2013, as he arrives to vote on a the Senate version of a bill to fund the government, but stripped of the defund "Obamacare" language as crafted by House Republicans. The Republican-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate are at an impasse as Congress continues to struggle over how to prevent a possible shutdown of the federal government when it runs out of money in three days. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., foreground, and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. , stand next to a countdown clock indicating three days to go before the federal government is due to run out of money, Friday, Sept. 27, 2013, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, after passing a stopgap spending bill to keep the government running, but stripped of the defund "Obamacare" language, as crafted by House Republicans. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, center, accompanied by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., left, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, right, express their frustration after the Senate passed a bill to fund the government, but stripped it of the defund "Obamacare" language as crafted by House Republicans, Friday, Sept. 27, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Republican-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate are at an impasse as Congress continues to struggle over how to prevent a possible shutdown of the federal government when it runs out of money in three days. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. gestures while speaking during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Sept. 27, 2013, as Congress continues to struggle over how to fund the government and prevent a possible shutdown. The top House Democrat announced that the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as "Obamacare," will go into effect next Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013, despite Republican efforts to defund the health care law. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Heat is building on balkanized Republicans, who are convening the House this weekend in hopes of preventing a government shutdown but remain under tea party pressure to battle on and use a must-do funding bill to derail all or part of President Barack Obama's health care law.
The weekend session comes after the Senate on Friday sent back to the House legislation to keep the government's doors open until Nov. 15, but only after Democrats stripped from the bill a provision to defund the Affordable Care Act, also called "Obamacare."
Congress faces a midnight deadline Monday. Failure to pass a short-term funding bill by then would mean the first partial government shutdown in almost 20 years.
The Senate's 54-44 vote was strictly along party lines in favor of the bill, which would prevent a shutdown of nonessential government services.
That tally followed a 79-19 vote to cut off a filibuster by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, which exposed a rift among Republicans eager to prevent a shutdown and those, like Cruz, who seem willing to risk one over derailing the health care law.
All 52 Democrats, two independents and 25 of 44 Republicans voted in favor. That included Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and most of the GOP leadership.
Cruz was whipping up House conservatives to continue the battle over heath care, urging them to reject efforts by Speaker John Boehner and other GOP leaders to offer scaled-back assaults on the law like repealing a tax on medical devices as the House response.
Some conservatives were taking their cues from Cruz rather than GOP leaders like Boehner hoping to avoid a shutdown, especially one that could weaken Republicans heading into an even more important battle later in October over allowing the government to borrow more money.
"We now move on to the next stage of this battle," Cruz said shortly after the Senate vote. He told reporters he had had numerous conversations with fellow conservatives in recent days.
"I am confident the House of Representatives will continue to stand its ground, continue to listen to the American people and ... stop this train wreck, this nightmare that is Obamacare," he said.
GOP leaders had yet to announce a plan heading into an emergency meeting Saturday of House Republicans. A vote on the as-yet-unwritten measure seemed most likely on Sunday, leaving little time for the Senate to respond on Monday.
Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., warned that the Senate will not accept any House measure that contains provisions opposed by Democrats. And he knows better than anyone that any single senator could slow down the Senate's ability to return yet another version to the House.
"This is it. Time is gone," Reid said. Republicans "should think very carefully about their next steps. Any bill that continues to play political games will force a government shutdown."
Obama criticized conservative Republicans on Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address, arguing that even many GOP senators and governors were urging their House colleagues to "knock it off."
"Republicans in the House have been more concerned with appeasing an extreme faction of their party than working to pass a budget that creates new jobs or strengthens the middle class," the president said.
Late Friday, more than five dozen conservatives rallied behind an amendment by Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ga., to delay Obamacare through the end of next year. That's a nonstarter with the Senate.
If lawmakers miss the deadline, hundreds of thousands of nonessential federal workers would have to stay home on Tuesday, though critical services like patrolling the borders, inspecting meat and controlling air traffic would continue. Social Security benefits would be sent and the Medicare and Medicaid health care programs for the elderly and poor would continue to pay doctors and hospitals.
Also on Tuesday, Obamacare insurance exchanges would open, a development that's lent urgency to the drive to use a normally routine stopgap spending bill to gut implementation of the health care law.
"I'm more concerned about the impact of this law on the American people than I am about my re-election," said freshman Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C.
But veterans like Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., a former head of the House GOP's campaign arm, warned that the political risk of a shutdown is simply too great.
"I think anybody who doesn't think it's high risk is not playing with a full deck," Cole told reporters. "Our numbers ... are getting better. There's every reason to believe the midterms will be favorable. They're playing defense in the Senate. You don't want to disrupt that pattern of events."
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Associated Press writer Josh Lederman contributed to this report.
If you want to ask someone for advice, tackle it now They'll do their best to tell you what they think in a fair and honest way, without being ridiculously optimistic or hopelessly pessimistic. If you're at work, you'll do an excellent job and will manage to keep your head admirably if a mini crisis develops or you're in a terrible hurry.
A Saudi woman sits in the passenger seat of a vehicle on Sept. 22 in Riyadh. Saudi women activists have called for a new day of defiance next month of the longstanding ban on women driving in the ultra-conservative kingdom.
By Lubna Hussain, NBC News Producer
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia ? Many women in Saudi Arabia have had it. They want the right to drive and argue there is no religious justification for them not to.
The oil rich country of 27 million is the only nation in the world where women are forbidden to drive.
Saudi female activists who want the Kingdom to lift the de facto ban have launched an online campaign urging women to drive on Oct. 26. ??
Over 10,000 women have already signed the oct26driving.com declaration that says: ?Since there are no clear justifications for the state to ban adult, capable women from driving. We call for enabling women to have driving tests and for issuing licenses for those who pass.?
Although there is no traffic law that specifically prohibits women from driving, religious edicts are often interpreted to mean women are not allowed to operate a vehicle.?
This is not the first effort to overthrow the ban, but organizers hope to get more traction this time on the heels of recent comments by the newly appointed head of the morality police.
"Islamic sharia does not have a text forbidding women driving," said Sheikh Abdulatif Al al-Sheikh, who was appointed by Saudi's ruler King Abdullah last year to head the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.
He said that the morality police had not pursued or stopped any women for driving since he was made head of the organization in a recent interview with Reuters. ?
His comments were a departure from the hardline attitude of his predecessors with regards to this highly contentious issue. ?
King Abdullah has pushed for cautious social and economic reforms in the world?s top oil exporter, including greater rights for women.
?I think that the time is right to allow women to drive because the whole of the Arab world is changing,? said Hanan, a young Saudi mother of two teenage girls who only gave her first name because of the sensitivity of the issue.
?The government has taken gradual steps towards this as they have been educating more and more women and increasing the opportunities and outlets for them."
In May 2011, prominent Saudi women?s rights activist Manal al-Sharif was arrested and spent more than a week in jail for getting behind the wheel after she posted a YouTube video of her foray. She was hailed as a hero by women across the country and her arrest inspired the Women2Drive campaign a month later. About 70 women flouted the unwritten regulations and got behind the wheel.
Still, opinions in this deeply conservative country have been mixed, with some women welcoming the push for greater rights and others believing that such open defiance will only set the cause back like it did during the first campaign in 1991.
?I don?t agree with women driving in Saudi,? remarked Hawazen, a mother and a college graduate who also declined to give her last name. ?Maybe it will help, but maybe it will make things worse. Eighty percent of the people in this city are not open-minded and won?t accept it.?
When asked if she would allow her teenage daughter to drive should the ban be overturned, she shrugged and admitted, ?My grandmother learned to ride a horse in the north of Saudi Arabia and then learned to drive. My 14-year-old daughter is already choosing the car she wants with her father who fully supports this.?
For many women, the driving issue is a visually symbolic one bringing much needed attention to deeper women?s rights issues of guardianship and custody.
?You can?t send Saudi women abroad for years where they live an independent life and then pretend that you didn?t think about the repercussions when they come back,? complained Reem, a housewife from an upper middle class family who also spoke on the condition of anonymity. ?You cannot take people out of the box and then put them back in the box again.?
There is also the question of the financial burden the driving ban places on many middle class families. Drivers cost the Saudi economy hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
?If the government doesn?t let women drive then they should be responsible for paying the salaries of drivers and the cost it incurs to import them,? argued Hanouf, a 30-year-old administrator in academic affairs at Al Faisal University.
?I know many girls who can?t turn up for work or university because their fathers are sleeping, or their brothers are busy, and they have no other means of transportation.?
Asked if she would drive if it were allowed she says, ?No, I would never drive. But this is not the point!
?I don?t think the concept is for all of us to drive. We are waiting to be told the reasons as to why we can?t drive!?
Category: Community Published on Friday, 27 September 2013 10:10 Written by Michigan Chronicle Staff
UAW Locals will also adopt 25 DPS schools
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Every student in grades K-8 in Detroit Public Schools will have the opportunity to play in an organized sport and every DPS elementary and middle school will offer arts/music programs, due to funding and a partnership announced today at Nichols Preparatory Academy by DPS, the DPS Foundation, United Auto Workers, Ford Motor Company, and Ford Motor Company Fund.
The UAW-Ford National Programs Center will provide $355,000, Ford Motor Company Fund $125,000 and the Detroit Public Schools Foundation $60,000 to support this initiative. DPS is working with other partners and will utilize other non-general fund sources to provide remaining operating costs of the program?estimated at $1.2 annually.
?With these organizations? support, I am confident that Detroit Public Schools will provide the necessary enrichment experiences our children need in order to grow into well-rounded, dynamic and accomplished adults,? said Emergency Manager Jack Martin.
The new Detroit Public Schools Arts, Music and Athletics Enrichment Initiative is a key Phase I pillar of the district?s new five year strategic plan and will launch this year to enhance the educational experience of all interested K-8 students. DPS will partner with several private and non-profit providers including Healthy Kids Inc., The Horatio Williams Foundation and Courageous Inc. to offer organized sports team competition for each grade level during the 2013-2014 school year. Fall sports will include soccer, basketball and football and Winter sports will include basketball and other offerings.
The combined programs will constitute a new DPS Elementary-Middle School League to add to DPS? legacy in high school athletics through its Public School League. Team sports will begin as soon as October 7.
Detroit Public Schools will offer arts/music at every elementary and middle school this school year, expanding the programs to cover all schools not previously offering arts/music. The programs will include daytime instruction by DPS teachers as well as afterschool enrichment with offerings including vocal music, instrumental music, visual arts, dance and/or literary arts. DPS is interviewing teachers for new positions for the daytime classes and completing a strategic sourcing process to offer afterschool enrichment programs to requesting schools via several Detroit-based music-art educational providers.
?UAW-Ford recognizes the importance of supporting arts, music and athletics in our schools because of the tremendous impact these enrichments can have on the overall development of students,? said Jimmy Settles Jr., vice president and director, UAW National Ford Department. ?Today?s students are our future leaders and that is why as part of our on-going mission we continually seek opportunities to brighten their path.?
?There is nothing more critical than the education and development of our young people, which is why Ford Fund has focused on education from its start 64 years ago,? said Jim Vella, president, Ford Fund and Community Services. ?This initiative is important, not just for Detroit students, but all of us who care about our community.?
As part of the expanded enrichment and afterschool offerings, more schools are expected to offer dedicated tutoring opportunities and latchkey services. Additionally, the UAW-Ford has adopted 25 Detroit Public Schools for which they will provide additional support in a variety of areas.
Understanding that the identification of long-term funding for these programs is critical to their future success, the District has entered into preliminary discussions with the DPS Foundation to establish an endowment for their on-going operations.
?The DPS Foundation believes that the arts are an essential component of a holistic education. We are therefore pleased to have an opportunity to participate in extending the educational experiences for DPS students by ensuring that music/art are available at every elementary and middle school,? said Dr. Glenda Price, President of the Detroit Public Schools Foundation.
Registration information for the new sports leagues is being sent home to parents today, with sign up for fall sports to take place at schools on Wednesday, October 2
Over the past year, Facebook has seen its fair share of departures from employees and executives who are either starting a VC fund or camping out at a firm to figure out what their next startup or company will be. In the past two weeks, product manager Justin Shaffer left, and rumor has it he is starting a VC fund. Facebook engineering and product lead Greg Badros announced his departure, and it sounds like he'll be focusing on investing. Former Facebook exec Chamath Palihapitiya has been collecting technical talent from Facebook into his EIR program. And there are many more examples of Facebookers going to VC firms or starting to invest of late. Our question is, why doesn't Facebook just form its own venture group so some of these employees could stay connected to the company?
Update 4:15 PM ET:Users in comments are reporting updates globally, so make sure to check yours
Late Friday afternoon here and we can pass along that Nokia has updated some offline map data for their HERE services. No, that?s not an app update but rather the map data that you hopefully have downloaded for offline usage.
We were tipped by reader Corey S. and the Windows Phone Central staff were able to confirm updates for at least Florida, Alabama, California, Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts. In other words, it looks like a lot of the US has received some form of a minor update.
And we use the word ?minor? here on purpose as this is not updating all of your maps but seemingly just parts of them, hence the relatively small file sizes (our three states were 52 MB).
So how to go about getting the updates? It will depend if you are using HERE Maps from Nokia or the native Windows Phone 8 Maps. We?ll give instructions below for both.
Maps (HTC, Samsung, Huawei)
Tap???at the bottom of the Microsoft Maps app
Settings
Check for Updates
Install
HERE Maps?(Lumias, anyone who uses HERE)
Tap???at the bottom of the HERE Maps app
Download maps
Update current maps
Install
Are you outside the US and have an update? Let us know and we?ll change the headline!
Contact: Dr. Hermann J. Heipieper hermann.heipieper@ufz.de 49-341-235-1694 Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ
Scientists examine the alternatives to toxic dispersants
This news release is available in German.
Leipzig. Teams of international scientists have decrypted the effectiveness of two types of bacteria, which could be used in the future to help combat oil spill disasters. According to a report written by scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in the peer-reviewed journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Alcanivorax borkumensis converts hydrocarbons into fatty acids which then form along the cell membrane. New insights on the bacteria Oleispira antarctica are important to understand their adaptation to low temperatures and could help in mitigation strategies for oil spills in polar seas or the deep sea, according to comments made by an international team in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications
Until now, chemicals have often been used to clean up oil disasters, to break up the oil/water emulsion, making oil more soluble and thus removing it from the surface water. According to data from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) around seven million litres of such chemicals were used to combat oil pollution in the Gulf of Mexico, resulting from a spill of about 700,000 tons of crude oil into the sea from the offshore oil drilling platform "Deepwater Horizon" in 2010. Some of the most well-known of these were dispersants with the brand name Corexit developed following the notorious tanker accident of the Exxon Valdez in Alaska in 1989. These substances have been heavily criticised however because of their side effects on humans and the environment. In the context of the EU-project BACSIN, scientists from different countries have therefore been investigating alternatives. "One approach for example could be to stimulate oil-degrading bacteria in their growth or for example by making them easier to use by freeze-drying so that they can be sprayed more easily than powders over the oil slick", explains Dr. Hermann J. Heipieper from the UFZ. "However, there are still lots of details that require fine-tuning before the day arrives when they can be used to combat damage from oil spills. The precautionary principle should therefore be given priority. No matter how concerted efforts are, nature will never completely return to its original state, not to mention the fact that the mitigation of environmental damage from oil spills is much more costly than its prevention."
Oil-degrading bacteria are not a human invention. In fact, they have been around for millions of years. The only thing that is new is the quantity of oil being spilt in the sea from oil disasters. Therefore, science has been looking into novel ways to accelerate natural degradation processes. One focus has been on hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria - so-called marine obligate hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria. These specialists at degrading hydrocarbons in marine ecosystems are able to degrade aliphatic hydrocarbons and use them as a source of energy. These bacteria are common in sea water all over the world, even if only in small quantities. If they come into contact with crude oil, then their population increases exponentially. A kind of bloom is formed, similar to those that we are familiar with from marine algae blooms. And yet, in spite of their important ecological meaning, still relatively little is known about the processes taking place in the cells of these bacteria. Headed by Dr. Hermann J. Heipieper, researchers from the UFZ have therefore been conducting detailed physiological and genomic analyses of the two reference strains of this group of bacteria (Alcanivorax borkumensis and Oleispira antarctica) that is tremendously versatile. This can be seen in particular by changes to the cell surface, by the way in which biologically oxidized aliphatic hydrocarbons are built into the cell membranes and by the regulation of genes to adapt to environmental stress.
Alcanivorax borkumensis is a marine bacterium, owing its name to the place where it was discovered the island of Borkum (in spite of its worldwide distribution). It is considered to be one of the most important organisms with the ability to degrade oil spills in marine systems. Nevertheless, up until now there had been a lack of information on the growth and physiology of these bacteria in relation to hydrocarbons with different chain lengths. The recent investigations found that the bacterium were particularly effective at processing alkanes with carbon chain lengths of between 12 and 19 carbon atoms. "The cell growth confirmed that this bacterium is not only able to take up the intermediates of fatty acids in its own body but also to convert them", explains Heipieper.
By contrast, for the significantly colder polar seas or the deep sea Oleispira would be the more suitable bacterium. It can survive at temperatures around 5 degrees Celsius that are typical for example on the seabed of the Gulf of Mexico. With eleven protein crystal structures it has the largest quantity of structures under the cold-loving microorganisms and it clearly has more negative charges at the surface than microorganisms in moderate temperatures. Even if most of the enzymes of this bacterium no longer work optimally under cold weather conditions, they still work sufficiently to accelerate growth and outdo other competitors, if a hydrocarbon diet from crude oil suddenly becomes available. The persistence of these bacteria is proof of their ecological competitiveness in cold environments, therefore making them good candidates for the development of biotechnological solutions for oil pollution mitigation in polar regions. The new insights about the two bacteria are a small, but important step forward in the search for alternatives to the toxic dispersants that have been used so far.
###
Tilo Arnhold
Publications:
Naether D.J., Slawtschew S., Stasik S., Engel M., Olzog M., Wick L.Y., Timmis K.N., Heipieper H.J. (2013): Adaptation of hydrocarbonoclastic Alcanivorax borkumensis SK2 to alkanes and toxic organic compounds - a physiological and transcriptomic approach. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 79:4282-4293, in press. doi: 10.1128/AEM.00694-13
http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/AEM.00694-13
The study was funded by the European Commission in the context of the EU-project BACSIN.
Kube M., Chernikova T.N., Al-Ramahi Y., Beloqui A., Lopez-Cortez N., Guazzaroni M.E., Heipieper H.J., Klages S., Kotsyrbenko O.R., Langer I., Nechitaylo T.Y., Lnsdorf H., Fernndez M., Jurez S., Ciordia S., Singer S., Kagan O., Egorova O., Petit P.A., Stogios P., Kim Y., Tchigvintsev A., Flick R., Denaro R., Genovese M., Albar J.P., Reva O.N., Martnez-Gomariz M., Tran H., Ferrer M., Savchenko A., Yakunin A.F., Yakimov M.M., Golyshina O.V., Reinhardt R., Golyshin P.N. (2013):
Functional genome analysis of Oleispira antarctica RB-8, a key oil-degrading bacterium in cold and deep marine environments. Nature Communications 4:2156, 23 July 2013. doi:10.1038/ncomms3156
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms3156
The study was funded by the European Commission within the EU projects MAMBA, ULIXES, MAGIC PAH and MICROB3, by the government of Canada, the National Institutes of Health of the USA, the Max-Planck Institute as well as by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Further information:
Dr. Hermann J. Heipieper
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ)
Tel.: 0341-235-1694
http://www.ufz.de/index.php?de=4531
EU-Project: "Bacterial abiotic cellular stress and survival improvement" (BACSIN)
http://www.unil.ch/bacsin
Wie Agent Orange im Golf von Mexiko" (ZEIT.de vom 18.06.2010):
http://www.zeit.de/wissen/gesundheit/2010-06/oelpest-chemie-gesundheit
"lteppich: Bakterien sollen Dreckbrhe verputzen" (Spiegel.de vom 31.07.2006):
http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/natur/oelteppich-bakterien-sollen-dreckbruehe-verputzen-a-428979.html
At the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) scientists are interested in the wide-ranging causes and impacts of environmental change. They conduct research on water resources, biodiversity, the impacts of climate change and adaptation strategies, environmental and biotechnologies, bioenergy, the behaviour of chemicals in the environment and their effects on health, modelling and sociological issues. Their guiding motto: our research serves the sustainable use of natural resources and helps towards long-term food and livelihood security in the face of global change. The UFZ has over 1100 employees working in Leipzig, Halle und Magdeburg. It is funded by the federal government, as well as by the State of Saxony and Saxony Anhalt.
http://www.ufz.de/
The Helmholtz Association contributes to finding solutions for large and pressing issues in society, science and the economy through excellence in the following six areas of research: energy, earth and the environment, health, key technologies, structure of matter, transport and aerospace. With almost 35,000 employees and coworkers in 18 research centres and an annual budget of approx. 3.8 billion Euros the Helmholtz Association is the largest scientific organization in Germany. Work is conducted in the tradition of the renowned natural scientist Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894). http://www.helmholtz.de/
[ | 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.
Contact: Dr. Hermann J. Heipieper hermann.heipieper@ufz.de 49-341-235-1694 Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ
Scientists examine the alternatives to toxic dispersants
This news release is available in German.
Leipzig. Teams of international scientists have decrypted the effectiveness of two types of bacteria, which could be used in the future to help combat oil spill disasters. According to a report written by scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in the peer-reviewed journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Alcanivorax borkumensis converts hydrocarbons into fatty acids which then form along the cell membrane. New insights on the bacteria Oleispira antarctica are important to understand their adaptation to low temperatures and could help in mitigation strategies for oil spills in polar seas or the deep sea, according to comments made by an international team in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications
Until now, chemicals have often been used to clean up oil disasters, to break up the oil/water emulsion, making oil more soluble and thus removing it from the surface water. According to data from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) around seven million litres of such chemicals were used to combat oil pollution in the Gulf of Mexico, resulting from a spill of about 700,000 tons of crude oil into the sea from the offshore oil drilling platform "Deepwater Horizon" in 2010. Some of the most well-known of these were dispersants with the brand name Corexit developed following the notorious tanker accident of the Exxon Valdez in Alaska in 1989. These substances have been heavily criticised however because of their side effects on humans and the environment. In the context of the EU-project BACSIN, scientists from different countries have therefore been investigating alternatives. "One approach for example could be to stimulate oil-degrading bacteria in their growth or for example by making them easier to use by freeze-drying so that they can be sprayed more easily than powders over the oil slick", explains Dr. Hermann J. Heipieper from the UFZ. "However, there are still lots of details that require fine-tuning before the day arrives when they can be used to combat damage from oil spills. The precautionary principle should therefore be given priority. No matter how concerted efforts are, nature will never completely return to its original state, not to mention the fact that the mitigation of environmental damage from oil spills is much more costly than its prevention."
Oil-degrading bacteria are not a human invention. In fact, they have been around for millions of years. The only thing that is new is the quantity of oil being spilt in the sea from oil disasters. Therefore, science has been looking into novel ways to accelerate natural degradation processes. One focus has been on hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria - so-called marine obligate hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria. These specialists at degrading hydrocarbons in marine ecosystems are able to degrade aliphatic hydrocarbons and use them as a source of energy. These bacteria are common in sea water all over the world, even if only in small quantities. If they come into contact with crude oil, then their population increases exponentially. A kind of bloom is formed, similar to those that we are familiar with from marine algae blooms. And yet, in spite of their important ecological meaning, still relatively little is known about the processes taking place in the cells of these bacteria. Headed by Dr. Hermann J. Heipieper, researchers from the UFZ have therefore been conducting detailed physiological and genomic analyses of the two reference strains of this group of bacteria (Alcanivorax borkumensis and Oleispira antarctica) that is tremendously versatile. This can be seen in particular by changes to the cell surface, by the way in which biologically oxidized aliphatic hydrocarbons are built into the cell membranes and by the regulation of genes to adapt to environmental stress.
Alcanivorax borkumensis is a marine bacterium, owing its name to the place where it was discovered the island of Borkum (in spite of its worldwide distribution). It is considered to be one of the most important organisms with the ability to degrade oil spills in marine systems. Nevertheless, up until now there had been a lack of information on the growth and physiology of these bacteria in relation to hydrocarbons with different chain lengths. The recent investigations found that the bacterium were particularly effective at processing alkanes with carbon chain lengths of between 12 and 19 carbon atoms. "The cell growth confirmed that this bacterium is not only able to take up the intermediates of fatty acids in its own body but also to convert them", explains Heipieper.
By contrast, for the significantly colder polar seas or the deep sea Oleispira would be the more suitable bacterium. It can survive at temperatures around 5 degrees Celsius that are typical for example on the seabed of the Gulf of Mexico. With eleven protein crystal structures it has the largest quantity of structures under the cold-loving microorganisms and it clearly has more negative charges at the surface than microorganisms in moderate temperatures. Even if most of the enzymes of this bacterium no longer work optimally under cold weather conditions, they still work sufficiently to accelerate growth and outdo other competitors, if a hydrocarbon diet from crude oil suddenly becomes available. The persistence of these bacteria is proof of their ecological competitiveness in cold environments, therefore making them good candidates for the development of biotechnological solutions for oil pollution mitigation in polar regions. The new insights about the two bacteria are a small, but important step forward in the search for alternatives to the toxic dispersants that have been used so far.
###
Tilo Arnhold
Publications:
Naether D.J., Slawtschew S., Stasik S., Engel M., Olzog M., Wick L.Y., Timmis K.N., Heipieper H.J. (2013): Adaptation of hydrocarbonoclastic Alcanivorax borkumensis SK2 to alkanes and toxic organic compounds - a physiological and transcriptomic approach. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 79:4282-4293, in press. doi: 10.1128/AEM.00694-13
http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/AEM.00694-13
The study was funded by the European Commission in the context of the EU-project BACSIN.
Kube M., Chernikova T.N., Al-Ramahi Y., Beloqui A., Lopez-Cortez N., Guazzaroni M.E., Heipieper H.J., Klages S., Kotsyrbenko O.R., Langer I., Nechitaylo T.Y., Lnsdorf H., Fernndez M., Jurez S., Ciordia S., Singer S., Kagan O., Egorova O., Petit P.A., Stogios P., Kim Y., Tchigvintsev A., Flick R., Denaro R., Genovese M., Albar J.P., Reva O.N., Martnez-Gomariz M., Tran H., Ferrer M., Savchenko A., Yakunin A.F., Yakimov M.M., Golyshina O.V., Reinhardt R., Golyshin P.N. (2013):
Functional genome analysis of Oleispira antarctica RB-8, a key oil-degrading bacterium in cold and deep marine environments. Nature Communications 4:2156, 23 July 2013. doi:10.1038/ncomms3156
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms3156
The study was funded by the European Commission within the EU projects MAMBA, ULIXES, MAGIC PAH and MICROB3, by the government of Canada, the National Institutes of Health of the USA, the Max-Planck Institute as well as by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Further information:
Dr. Hermann J. Heipieper
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ)
Tel.: 0341-235-1694
http://www.ufz.de/index.php?de=4531
EU-Project: "Bacterial abiotic cellular stress and survival improvement" (BACSIN)
http://www.unil.ch/bacsin
Wie Agent Orange im Golf von Mexiko" (ZEIT.de vom 18.06.2010):
http://www.zeit.de/wissen/gesundheit/2010-06/oelpest-chemie-gesundheit
"lteppich: Bakterien sollen Dreckbrhe verputzen" (Spiegel.de vom 31.07.2006):
http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/natur/oelteppich-bakterien-sollen-dreckbruehe-verputzen-a-428979.html
At the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) scientists are interested in the wide-ranging causes and impacts of environmental change. They conduct research on water resources, biodiversity, the impacts of climate change and adaptation strategies, environmental and biotechnologies, bioenergy, the behaviour of chemicals in the environment and their effects on health, modelling and sociological issues. Their guiding motto: our research serves the sustainable use of natural resources and helps towards long-term food and livelihood security in the face of global change. The UFZ has over 1100 employees working in Leipzig, Halle und Magdeburg. It is funded by the federal government, as well as by the State of Saxony and Saxony Anhalt.
http://www.ufz.de/
The Helmholtz Association contributes to finding solutions for large and pressing issues in society, science and the economy through excellence in the following six areas of research: energy, earth and the environment, health, key technologies, structure of matter, transport and aerospace. With almost 35,000 employees and coworkers in 18 research centres and an annual budget of approx. 3.8 billion Euros the Helmholtz Association is the largest scientific organization in Germany. Work is conducted in the tradition of the renowned natural scientist Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894). http://www.helmholtz.de/
[ | 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.
A new simulation will help improve artificial sand-control measures designed to help combat desertification
In the fight against desertification, so-called straw checkerboard barriers (SCB) play a significant role. SCB consists of half -exposed criss-crossing rows of straws of wheat, rice, reeds, and other plants. The trouble is that our understanding of the laws governing wind-sand movement in SCB and their surrounding area is insufficient. Now, Ning Huang and colleagues from Lanzhou University in China have performed a numerical simulation of the sand movement inside the SCB, described in a paper just published in EPJ E. China is particularly affected by desertification, which affects 18 percent of its territory. The results will help us to understand sand fixation mechanisms that are relevant for sandstorm and land-desertification control.
The authors relied on a simulation of large eddies, which are circulations around an obstruction such as the SCB walls, to study the turbulence stress. They also used a discrete particle-tracing method to numerically simulate the wind -sand movement inside the SCB. Specifically, they described the sand as a gas, using equations to describe their space-averaged hydrodynamics. They also analysed in detail the movement characteristics of sand particles, the transverse velocities of sand particles and wind-sand flow within the SCB using a model taking into consideration the coupling effects of wind field and sand particles.
Huang and colleagues found that the SCB contributed to a decrease in the sand transport rate in its interior, thus helping the sand fixation. What is more, as the transverse distance increases, the strength of wind-sand flow eddies decreases. Meanwhile, the sand accumulates near the interior walls of the SCB. Finally, as the number of SCBs increases, the wind is less able to transport sand.
Future studies will be designed to optimise SCB design, based on the authors' theoretical analysis. These findings could also be used to study the evolution to sand dunes.
###
References
N. Huang, X. Xia, D. Tong (2013), Numerical Simulation of Wind-sand Movement in Straw Checkerboard Barriers, European Physical Journal E,DOI 10.1140/epje/i2013-13099-6
For more information visit: http://www.epj.org
The full-text article is available to journalists on request
[ | 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.
Greater desertification control using sand trap simulationsPublic release date: 27-Sep-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
A new simulation will help improve artificial sand-control measures designed to help combat desertification
In the fight against desertification, so-called straw checkerboard barriers (SCB) play a significant role. SCB consists of half -exposed criss-crossing rows of straws of wheat, rice, reeds, and other plants. The trouble is that our understanding of the laws governing wind-sand movement in SCB and their surrounding area is insufficient. Now, Ning Huang and colleagues from Lanzhou University in China have performed a numerical simulation of the sand movement inside the SCB, described in a paper just published in EPJ E. China is particularly affected by desertification, which affects 18 percent of its territory. The results will help us to understand sand fixation mechanisms that are relevant for sandstorm and land-desertification control.
The authors relied on a simulation of large eddies, which are circulations around an obstruction such as the SCB walls, to study the turbulence stress. They also used a discrete particle-tracing method to numerically simulate the wind -sand movement inside the SCB. Specifically, they described the sand as a gas, using equations to describe their space-averaged hydrodynamics. They also analysed in detail the movement characteristics of sand particles, the transverse velocities of sand particles and wind-sand flow within the SCB using a model taking into consideration the coupling effects of wind field and sand particles.
Huang and colleagues found that the SCB contributed to a decrease in the sand transport rate in its interior, thus helping the sand fixation. What is more, as the transverse distance increases, the strength of wind-sand flow eddies decreases. Meanwhile, the sand accumulates near the interior walls of the SCB. Finally, as the number of SCBs increases, the wind is less able to transport sand.
Future studies will be designed to optimise SCB design, based on the authors' theoretical analysis. These findings could also be used to study the evolution to sand dunes.
###
References
N. Huang, X. Xia, D. Tong (2013), Numerical Simulation of Wind-sand Movement in Straw Checkerboard Barriers, European Physical Journal E,DOI 10.1140/epje/i2013-13099-6
For more information visit: http://www.epj.org
The full-text article is available to journalists on request
[ | 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.
Aquarius
Over the past year, Facebook has seen its fair share of departures from employees and executives who are either starting a VC fund or camping out at a firm to figure out what their next startup or company will be. In the past two weeks, product manager 
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Public release date: 26-Sep-2013
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