Space shuttle Endeavour takes to California skies

The Space Shuttle Endeavour sits atop NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012. Endeavour returned to its California roots after a wistful cross-country journey that paid homage to NASA workers and former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her astronaut husband. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

The Space Shuttle Endeavour sits atop NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012. Endeavour returned to its California roots after a wistful cross-country journey that paid homage to NASA workers and former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her astronaut husband. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

The retired shuttle Endeavour piggy-backs a modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Aircraft Carrier during its final flight Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012 as the pair soar over White Sands Missile Range east of Las Cruces, N.M, before reaching their landing destination in California. (AP Photo/Las Cruces Sun-News, Shari Vialpando-Hill)

Bill Mader, of Las Cruces, checks out the Endeavour flyover with his binoculars on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012.. "God, it's really something," he said while he mentioned that his brother, Dr. Thomas Mader, of Anchorage, Alaska, was an optical surgeon who had an ocular pressure experiment on one of the shuttles in the past. (AP Photo/The Las Cruces Sun-News, Robin Zielinski)

In this photo provided by the Southwest Photo Bank, former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, watch the Space Shuttle Endeavor fly over Tucson, Ariz. on its way to Los Angeles, Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012. Kelly, Endeavour's last commander, requested that the shuttle pass over Tucson to honor Giffords, who is recovering after suffering a head wound in a shooting rampage last year. (AP Photo/Southwest Photo Bank, P.K. Weis) MANDATORY CREDIT

Ashely Olson, left, poses with her sisters, Alexis, center, and Alyssa in front of the Space Shuttle Endeavour at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012. Endeavour returned to its California roots after a wistful cross-country journey that paid homage to NASA workers and former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her astronaut husband. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Space shuttle Endeavour took off Friday morning on a sightseeing tour of California, the last aerial hurrah before retiring to a Los Angeles museum.

Hitching a ride on top of a jumbo jet, the pair departed Edwards Air Force Base, 100 miles north of Los Angeles, circling the high desert that gave birth to the shuttle fleet and headed north toward Sacramento.

Thousands of spectators jammed rooftop buildings and streets around the state Capitol for a glimpse as Endeavour soared overhead. School children squealed as the shuttle looped around a second time.

Endeavour was headed for San Francisco Bay area and several Los Angeles-area landmarks including the Santa Monica Pier, Hollywood Sign and Disneyland.

At the Griffith Observatory, overlooking the Hollywood Sign, throngs of people ? many dressed in shorts and flip-flops with kids in tow ? camped out on beach chairs and blankets on the lush lawns, waiting for a flyover later in Endeavor's journey.

The nearly 5-hour flyover will culminate with an afternoon landing at the Los Angeles International Airport for an arrival ceremony ? then, in a few weeks, a slow-speed journey across town through neighborhoods to its final museum home.

Since Endeavour will buzz by some of the Golden State's most iconic sights, law enforcement and transportation authorities warned motorists not to "gawk and drive."

"We want people to take in this majestic show," Los Angeles police Cmdr. Scott Kroeber said earlier this week. "But if you're driving, please drive and don't try to take in the show simultaneously."

Extra officers will be on duty along the freeways near the airport to make sure traffic flows smoothly as the shuttle zooms overhead.

Endeavour returned to its birthplace Thursday after an emotional cross-country ferry flight that made a special flyover of Tucson, Ariz., to honor its last commander, Mark Kelly, and his wife, former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Giffords, who is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head, was "hooting and hollering" as Endeavour looped around her hometown, according to her former aide C.J. Karamargin.

NASA's shuttle fleet, which retired last year after three decades of flight, was assembled in Palmdale near Edwards Air Force Base. The military outpost 100 miles north of Los Angeles served as the original shuttle landing strip and remained a backup site in case of stormy weather at Cape Canaveral, Fla.

"We're so excited to be welcoming Endeavour home in grand style with these flyovers," Jeffrey Rudolph, president of the California Science Center, said earlier this week.

The youngest shuttle, Endeavour replaced Challenger, which blew up during liftoff in 1986. NASA lost another shuttle, Columbia, in 2003 when it disintegrated during re-entry. Fourteen astronauts were killed.

During 25 missions, Endeavour spent 299 days in space and orbited Earth nearly 4,700 times, racking up 123 million miles.

On its maiden flight in 1992, a trio of spacewalking astronauts grabbed a stranded communications satellite in for repair. It also flew the first repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope to fix a faulty mirror. But most of its flights ferried cargo and equipment to the International Space Station, which is near completion.

Under White House orders to explore beyond low-Earth orbit, NASA is hitching rides on Russian rockets to the orbiting laboratory until private companies can provide regular service.

Endeavour is the second of three remaining shuttles to head to its retirement home. In April, Discovery arrived at the Smithsonian Institution's hangar in Virginia. Atlantis, which closed out the shuttle program, will stay in Florida where it will be towed a short distance to the Kennedy Space Center's visitor center in the fall.

Endeavour will remain at an airport hangar for several weeks as crews ready the shuttle for its own road trip. Unlike Atlantis, it will creep through city streets to the California Science Center near downtown.

Some 400 trees will be cleared along the 12-mile route to make room, a move that has riled some residents in affected neighborhoods. Museum officials have pledged to replant double the number of chopped trees.

___

Online:

Shuttle history: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle

California Science Center: http://www.californiasciencecenter.org

___

Alicia Chang can be followed at http://twitter.com/SciWriAlicia

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-09-21-Space%20Shuttle-Last%20Stop/id-dda8ce1ce1074cd3be6617db4b647156

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CSN: Patriots believe in Flacco's skills

September 20, 2012, 5:35 pm

FOXBORO -- Last week the Ravens put their game against the Eagles in Joe Flacco's hands . . . and lost.

On a third-and-2, and with one of the best running backs in the NFL in Ray Rice in the backfield, Baltimore asked Flacco to pass for the game-saving first down. His throw went incomplete. On fourth down the Ravens lined up in a shotgun formation and put it on Flacco again. With pressure baring down on him, he flipped a pass too long for Rice and the game was over. Eagles won, 24-23.

The Ravens coaching staff reiterated its trust in its quarterback on Thursday.

"Joe Flacco . . . I?m going to have a ton of confidence in Joe," Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron said. "It has nothing to do with lack of confidence in anyone else. I like our chances, and as you guys have seen with Joe Flacco, with his ability to get the ball to any of those other five [receivers]. And will we do that all the time? No, but in critical situations you are going to see that a lot.?

Flacco carries a 60.8 percent completion percentage for his career. Last year that was down a bit to 57.6 percent. His career quarterback rating is 86.2 and his touchdown-to-interception ratio is slightly less than 2-1 (83 touchdowns to 47 picks). By the numbers, he's a middle-of-the-pack quarterback.

As last week showed, though, the Ravens trust him implicitly. And the Patriots believe he will cause them problems on Sunday night.

"He's always been a tough quarterback," Vince Wilfork said. "He's been playing very, very well this year. He's tough, physically. He's very physically tough, and mentally. He doesn't let much get to him, and that's a big time leader when you have a leader, especially the quarterback, who can be physically and mentally tough. It says a lot about that guy as an individual and as a player. He's definitely . . . he's playing lights out right now."

Flacco had a tough Week 2 in which he was 22-for-42 for 232 yards, a touchdown and an interception. In Week 1, he was, as Wilfork put it, lights out. Against the Bengals, Flacco was 21-for-29 for 299 yards and two touchdowns in a 44-13 win.

On Thursday it sounded like the Patriots were expecting the Flacco they saw in Week 1.

"Joe Flacco's a great player," said Chandler Jones. "I admire his game. I've been watching for a while because I've been watching my brother (Arthur) play for the Ravens. I'm real familiar with him and he's a great player."

While he may not have prolific passing numbers from week to week, Flacco will be the best and most experienced quarterback the Patriots have faced to this point in the season. He will likely be better than both Tennessee's Jake Locker and Arizona's Kevin Kolb, and will provide the Patriots with a legitimate test.

He was a challenge last season in the AFC Championship Game. Had Ravens receiver Lee Evans held onto a fourth-quarter touchdown pass, Flacco would have been the hero and the Ravens would have likely gone to Super Bowl XLVI. Even without that completion, his numbers were good: 22-for-36, 306 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception.

As the Patriots prepare for Flacco this week, it sounds as though they're not thinking about his up-and-down career numbers, or his up-and-down start to this season. No, theirs is a selective memory where they hold onto the best of Flacco in the hopes that they're ready for it if it shows up on Sunday night.

"They're doing some amazing things," Wilfork said. "Defensively we have to be ready to bunker down and take everything that we're thrown out there because I'm they're going to give us everything they have."

Tags: New England Patriots, Vince Wilfork, Baltimore Ravens, Joe Flacco

Source: http://www.csnne.com/09/20/12/Patriots-believe-in-Flaccos-skills/nbcsnf.html?blockID=776565&feedID=10950

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Principal who called disabled student a 'psychopath' loses job

Oxford
-
After reportedly calling a disabled student a "psychopath" and joking that a Latino teen was destined to be a gardener, a Pennsylvania high school principal lost his job Thursday, following a six month public outcry for his resignation.
The Oxford Area School District board accepted the resignation of Oxford Area High School principal David C. Madden on Thursday, ending a six month battle that outraged parents and students, The Providence Journal reported.


"We're thrilled," said Chrissie Shelly, a parent who complained to state education authorities that Madden treated her son, who has cystic fibrosis, unfairly because of his illness. "We're sad to see a man's career gone, but we're thrilled for the children of Oxford and their futures."


According to Oxford's Avon Grove Sun newspaper, the announcement was made as the final item on the board agenda addressing personnel. It was a brief statement for approval: ?The resignation of Dr. Madden effective June 30, 2013 and the agreement related thereto.?


The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that it all started during a meeting in December with the family of a bipolar child and a special-education advocate, Lisa Lightner of the Arc of Chester County, who was sitting next to Madden when she happened to glance at his phone and read an insult he was texting to another administrator. She said in the text Madden used an an obscenity in referring to the teen and labeled him a "manipulator."


The dominoes kept falling from there. The Arc of Chester County, which provides services to the disabled, requested all Madden's communications in reference to the student when the advocate at the meeting reported it to her supervisor. The Arc of Chester County found out that Madden's text during the meeting was just the tip of a very deep iceberg. Not only did that request uncover other belittling messages about the teen, but exposed other similar messages about other special-education students.


It appears as though even the superintendent was fair game. In one e-mail Madden wrote of him: "Ray is an absolute liar and manipulator and I am not going to take it from him. He better pray I don't snap one day/night."


The school's director of special education, who had headed Oxford Area High School since 2005, Jenny LeSage, quit last spring rather than work for Madden.


"Save Dave" Some of Madden's emails were first made public in March. Despite growing calls from special-education parents and superintendent Raymond A. Fischer that Madden lose his job, the principal's allies on the school board initially suspended him for four months instead, The Inquirer said. He not only had allies on the school board, but in the student body as well. Madden, a former Marine was popular with many students and teachers. Besides a "Save Dave" Facebook page that had more than 400 supporters, The Inquirer reported that many people wore "Save Dave" buttons to school board meetings to help fight to keep his job. In addition to that, a petition was started on change.org to "Re-Instate Dr. David Madden to his position as OASH Principal." It seemed to work. Although Madden was absent from the school through the spring, he appeared at graduation in June and was returned to the principal?s position in the high school on July 1. The outrage began all over again. Everyone makes mistakes in life Some parents like Paul Matthews, whose son is in 10th grade, have seen the good in Madden and thinks that he deserves another chance. "Everyone makes mistakes in life," he told the Inquirer. "We all get frustrated and say things and do things we don't mean to say. I don't think it's worth ruining this man's career who has so much love for that school and kids." But another parent, Bill Winand, who has two children in the district, neither in special education told the Inquirer he was baffled that it took this long. "If I would have said something like that to one of my clients," said the sales manager, referring to Madden's e-mails, "my boss would have fired me in a second."

Source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/333279

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Brain: Multiple contacts are key to synapse formation

ScienceDaily (Sep. 21, 2012) ? Multiple synaptic contacts between nerve cells facilitate the creation of a new contact, as neuroscientists from the Bernstein Center Freiburg and the Forschungszentrum J?lich report in the latest issue of the journal PLoS Computational Biology. An integral mechanism of memory foundation is the formation of additional contacts between neurons in the brain. However, until now it was not known what conditions lead to the development of such synapses and how they are stabilized once created. By studying mathematical models, the scientists found a simple explanation for how and when synapses form -- or disappear -- in the brain.

The scientists investigated the hypothesis that synapses between nerve cells strengthen if they are active in quick succession. This consolidates memory. The team used theoretical computer models to determine what conditions need to be present for synapses to form -- or disappear. Until now it was not known how it is decided on the level of individual nerve cells whether a connection with another neuron will be formed or not. The problem is that a single cell has no access to information concerning whether a synapse will contribute to the establishment of a particular memory.

Dr. Moritz Deger from the Bernstein Center Freiburg and his colleagues have found a simple mechanism which allows them to explain the formation of synapses: If one nerve cell is already connected to a second cell by several synaptic contacts, all of the contacts work together to stimulate the latter cell. This means that under these conditions the individual contacts cooperate to form synapses. But synapses will form and remain only if the neurons become active in the right order; otherwise they will disappear again. This order in cell activity must be measurable for the synaptic contacts, and indeed, physiologists have already found chemical compounds within the brain that might play this role.

As the scientists from Freiburg and J?lich report, their mathematical model can explain the frequency of synaptic connections observed in experiments. This is a strong indication that they have discovered a long-sought mechanism for memory formation.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Forschungszentrum Juelich.

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Journal Reference:

1. Moritz Deger, Moritz Helias, Stefan Rotter, Markus Diesmann. Spike-Timing Dependence of Structural Plasticity Explains Cooperative Synapse Formation in the Neocortex. PLoS Computational Biology, 2012; 8 (9): e1002689 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002689

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/cdWPSb_yIWY/120921083156.htm

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After heart attacks, pain drugs' risks seem to last

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Common painkillers like ibuprofen and naproxen are considered risky for people who've had a heart attack. And now a large study suggests those risks do not go away with time.

"Based on this, we have to assume that if you've ever had a heart attack, you should use NSAIDs with caution, and only in consultation with your doctor," said Dr. Gordon Tomaselli, chief of cardiology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

NSAID stands for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. In a study of almost 100,000 first-time heart attack sufferers, researchers found that those who used the medications afterward were more likely to have a repeat heart attack or die over the next five years.

In the first year after the heart attack, 20 percent of NSAID users died, versus about 12 percent of non-users.

Death rates in both groups then declined over the next four years. But NSAID users' rate remained about double that of non-users.

The findings suggest that painkiller use "should be on the list of things you talk about with your doctor" soon after a heart attack, said Tomaselli, who was not involved in the study and is immediate past president of the American Heart Association (AHA).

NSAIDs include over-the-counter painkillers like aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and naproxen (Aleve), as well as prescription arthritis drugs known as COX-2 inhibitors.

OVER-THE-COUNTER CONCERNS

With the exception of aspirin, which is known to cut the risk of heart attack, the safety of NSAIDs for people with heart disease has long been in doubt.

It started with COX-2 inhibitors, which were linked to increased risks of heart attack and other cardiovascular problems. Two of the drugs - rofecoxib (Vioxx) and valdecoxib (Bextra) - were pulled from the market in 2004 and 2005; a third, celecoxib (Celebrex), is still prescribed.

Studies since then have also raised questions about over-the-counter NSAIDs.

Since 2007, the AHA has advised that people with heart disease first try acetaminophen (marketed as Tylenol) or aspirin when they need pain relief.

If that's not enough, an NSAID, at a low dose and for a short time, may be needed. Some studies have suggested that of the NSAIDs, naproxen is safest for the heart - but that's still being studied.

What hasn't been clear is whether the risks connected to NSAIDs change over time.

The new findings suggest the drugs "have no apparent safe treatment window among patients with (heart attack)," lead researcher Dr. Anne-Marie Schjerning Olsen, of Copenhagen University Hospital Gentofte, told Reuters Health by email.

NEARLY 100,000 STUDIED

The study, reported in the journal Circulation, is based on records from 99,187 Danish adults who suffered a first-time heart attack between 1997 and 2009.

Based on pharmacy records, 44 percent were prescribed an NSAID at some point after the heart attack. (During the study period, ibuprofen was the only NSAID available over the counter in Denmark, according to the researchers.)

Over the follow-up, nearly 29,000 people had a repeat heart attack or died of cardiovascular problems. The risk was higher among NSAID users, even when Olsen's team accounted for patients' age, other medical conditions and certain other factors.

Both Olsen and Tomaselli said this type of study can only point to a link between NSAIDs and heart risks, and cannot on its own prove cause and effect.

But, Tomaselli said, a number of studies have now consistently uncovered the same pattern. And there are biological reasons to believe non-aspirin NSAIDs could be risky to people with heart disease, he added.

There's evidence, for instance, that the drugs may affect blood clotting, blood vessel function and blood pressure.

A limit of the current study is that the researchers do not know why people were using NSAIDs, or exactly what dose they were on.

"We don't know if taking them once in a while, for your sore muscles, would have the same risks" as more chronic NSAID use, Tomaselli said.

But it's best to be cautious, he said, and talk with your doctor about all pain reliever use.

Olsen noted that in Denmark, NSAID use among heart patients "has not declined at all" since the potential hazards have emerged.

"I therefore think we need better education, particularly of general practitioners, who tend to prescribe these drugs to many patients," she said.

The fact that some NSAIDs are available over the counter may also lead consumers to believe they are completely safe, Olsen noted.

"People need to know that NSAIDs are still dangerous to patients with a history of (heart attack)," she said, "even five years after their event."

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/U76FTp Circulation, online September 10, 2012.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/heart-attacks-pain-drugs-risks-seem-last-172607066.html

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Romney controversy points to power of viral video (The Arizona Republic)

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Actress sues California man behind anti-Muslim film

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An actress in an anti-Islam film that triggered violent protests across the Muslim world sued a California man linked to its production on Wednesday for fraud and slander, saying she had received death threats after the video was posted on YouTube.

Actress Cindy Lee Garcia, who also named Google Inc and its YouTube unit as defendants, asked that the film be removed from YouTube and said her right to privacy had been violated and her life endangered, among other allegations.

It was the first known civil lawsuit connected to the making of the video, which depicts the Prophet Mohammad as a womanizer and a fool, and helped generate a torrent of violence across the Muslim world last week.

The violence included an attack on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi in which the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed. U.S. and other foreign embassies were also stormed in cities in Asia, Africa and the Middle East by furious Muslims.

Garcia accused a producer of the movie, whom she identified as Nakoula Basseley Nakoula and said he used the alias Sam Bacile, of duping her into appearing in a "hateful" film that she had been led to believe was a simple desert adventure movie.

"There was no mention of 'Mohammed' during filming or on set. There were no references made to religion nor was there any sexual content of which Ms. Garcia was aware," said the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

For many Muslims, any depiction of the prophet is blasphemous. Caricatures deemed insulting in the past have provoked protests and drawn condemnation from officials, preachers, ordinary Muslims and many Christians.

"This lawsuit is not an attack on the First Amendment nor on the right for Americans to say what they think, but does request that the offending content be removed from the Internet," the lawsuit said.

A representative for Nakoula's criminal attorney declined to comment on the lawsuit. A Google spokesman said the company was reviewing the complaint and "will be in court tomorrow."

APPARENT DUBBING

Garcia, who had a relatively small part in a trailer available online, has said that her character was forced to give away her child to a character named "Master George" in one scene. An expired casting call available online describes a character named George as a "strong leader" and a "tyrant."

But in the English-language trailer at YouTube, Garcia's character appears to be dubbed over in that scene, with a voice-over for her character referring to Mohammad instead of George.

Garcia's lawsuit said her voice was also "dubbed into Arabic" in another version of the trailer.

She said the film, which has circulated online as a 13-minute trailer, had prompted her family to refuse to allow her to see or babysit her grandchildren, fearing for their safety.

The suit accuses Nakoula, Google and YouTube of invasion of privacy, unfair business practices, the use of Garcia's likeness without permission and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

U.S. officials have said authorities were not investigating the film project itself and that even if it was inflammatory or led to violence, simply producing it cannot be considered a crime in the United States, which has strong free speech laws.

But Nakoula, a Coptic Christian California man who pleaded guilty to bank fraud in 2010, was interviewed by federal probation officers on Saturday probing whether he violated the terms of his release while making the film.

Nakoula, who was released from prison in 2011, is prohibited from accessing the Web or assuming aliases without the approval of his probation officer, court records show. Violations could result in him being sent back to prison.

Nakoula, 55, did not return to his house in the Los Angeles suburb of Cerritos following his interview with federal probation officers, and his whereabouts are unknown. Last week, he denied involvement in the film in a phone call to his Coptic bishop in Los Angeles.

(Additional reporting by Gerry Shih; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Christopher Wilson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/actress-sues-california-man-behind-anti-muslim-film-031549567.html

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