রবিবার, ৩০ সেপ্টেম্বর, ২০১২

Clonal evolution in maxillary sinus carcinoma

ScienceDaily (Sep. 28, 2012) ? Knowing how tumors evolve can lead to new treatments that could help prevent cancer from recurring, according to a study published September 29 by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Scottsdale Healthcare.

TGen researchers tracked several years of tumor evolution in a 47-year-old male patient with maxillary sinus carcinoma (MSC), a rare cancer of the sinus cavities beneath the cheeks that often requires surgical removal that is disfiguring. Fewer than half of MSC patients live more than 5 years after diagnosis.

"The ability to characterize clonal evolution of this rare cancer and identify its Achilles' heel can significantly impact treatment, leading to more personalized medicine," according to the study published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Clonal evolution refers to the often-rapid genetic changes that occur in cancer cells, which continually mutate and, thus, frequently resist anti-cancer drug compounds intended to destroy them.

"If we can understand the genomic basis of how this cancer evolves, perhaps we can find new treatments that could help improve the longevity and quality of life for patients," said Dr. Glen Weiss, Clinical Associate Professor at TGen, and Director of Thoracic Oncology at Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center Clinical Trials at Scottsdale Healthcare, a partnership with TGen. Dr. Weiss is one of the study's senior co-authors.

MSC represents nearly four of every five cases of paranasal sinus cancers, which grow rapidly and invade nearby tissues but also are usually slow to spread to distant sites. Patients usually die from a local recurrence of the tumor, even after aggressive treatment.

"This is the first report to study the clonal population of MSC arising in longitudinal samples from the same patient," the study said. "One of the aims of this study was to closely follow disease progression and the clonally evolving metastases for molecular profiling and accumulation of data for future use in development of personalized treatment."

The patient in the study received conventional treatment, which included surgical removal of his tumors, radiation therapy and chemotherapy, and participation in a clinical trial.

Over time, however, the cancer spread to his upper right lung, lower left lung, left kidney, brain and part of his intestine. He eventually was hospitalized, received hospice care and prior to passing away gave permission to have his cancer studied after death in a rapid autopsy research program.

"Because his cancer resumed growth despite several courses of systemic chemotherapy and radiation therapy, we speculated that acquired secondary genetic changes evolved with the evolution of resistance to these therapies," said Dr. Michael Barrett, Associate Professor in TGen's Clinical Translational Research Division, and the study's other senior co-author.

Analysis of his tumors following surgeries, biopsies and autopsy revealed several genetic aberrations, including multiple copies of a region on chromosome 4q, which includes the KIT gene. KIT is an oncogene, a gene with the potential to cause cancer, and is a potential treatment target.

The authors suggest the results provide a unique description of how the drug resistant cancer cells replicate and progress to metastatic MSC. Additional findings included the loss of the gene PKP4, which is associated with increased tumor size.

"These results show that molecular analyses of patient samples can add to the information about the tumor and help us in tracking back the progression of the disease," the authors concluded. "Identification of selected genetic changes, and the biological processes they regulate arising in primary MSC tumors, will advance individualizing therapy and improve the outcome of patients with rare cancers."

"These kinds of cutting-edge studies are made possible through the collaboration of major research and clinical practices, such as the partnership between TGen and Scottsdale Healthcare," said Dr. Mark Slater, Vice President of Research at Scottsdale Healthcare.

The authors remain particularly grateful to the patient and his family for their contribution to understanding more about this type of cancer and hope this dissemination of knowledge may help others.

Scottsdale Healthcare, Scottsdale Medical Imaging, and Sun Health Research Institute at Banner Healthcare contributed to this study, which was funded by the IBIS Foundation of Arizona and by the Scottsdale Healthcare Foundation.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by The Translational Genomics Research Institute, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Arora S, Korn RL, Lenkiewicz E, Cherni I, Beach TG, et al. Clonal Evolution of a Case of Treatment Refractory Maxillary Sinus Carcinoma. PLoS ONE, 2012 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0045614

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/~3/DmhL_5c5pHU/120929140338.htm

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Henson set to return for London Welsh in October


Gavin Henson practices his kicking in the off season

Email Article | | Print Article | Click here for a Free ?50.00 Rugby bet

Article Published: Friday 28 September 2012



Former Wales centre Gavin Henson is set to make his comeback for London Welsh against Stade Francais in the European Challenge Cup on the 13th of October.

London Welsh plan to use Henson as a fly half bute he injured his cheekbone in a pre-season friendly match against the Scarlets .

Henson has missed the last month of rugby with a fractured cheekbone but has still trained with the Premiership newcomers.

"Gavin is training with us at the moment," head coach Lyn Jones told BBC Radio Wales.

"He's back on the field and running around, but just no contact yet."

Thirty-year-old Henson joined London Welsh in he off season after he was sacked by Pro 12 Rugby club Cardiff Blues in April.

"He's going to be fit for contact on 6 October and he's going to be involved, probably, in our first Amlin game against Stade Francais," added Jones who coached Henson at the Ospreys.

"He's excited and we're all excited to have him back. "

"We are just utilising him at the moment, and he's helping some of our back-three players improve their kicking and he's enjoying that responsibility.

London Welsh have been one of the surprise packages of this season's Aviva Premiership and have played four matches and won two already.

Source: http://www.rugbyweek.com/news/article.asp?id=36589

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শনিবার, ২৯ সেপ্টেম্বর, ২০১২

ICC World T20: Australia pleased with recent win over India ...

ICC World T20: Australia pleased with recent win over India ? Cricket News Update

Having secured a comprehensive 9-wicket win over India in the ongoing ICC World Twenty20 2012, Australia are understandably pleased with the solid start to the Super Eights stage, with skipper George Bailey lauding the team for their ?impressive performance?.

?It was an impressive performance,? said George Bailey, after his team?s victory at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on September 28. ?Set up by some good bowling. Patty [Cummins] was outstanding, the best we have seen him bowl in this tournament so far.?

The match kicked off with India, fresh from their massive 90-run victory over England, winning the toss and electing to bat first. However, having opted to rest Virender Sehwag in favour of playing an extra specialist spinner, the Indian batting order was considerably weakened, and troubled as they were by young pacer Pat Cummins (4-0-16-2) and all-rounder Shane Watson (4-0-34-3), the Men in Blue only managed a final total of 140.

When it came to the batting, despite Bailey?s insistence that Australia are not entirely dependent on Watson, the fact remains that the all-rounder has been the driving force behind his team?s victories in the tournament so far, and this game was no different.

Chasing 141, Australia faced no trouble as Watson top-scored with 72 at the top of the order, in addition to setting up a 133-run stand with fellow opener David Warner (63*), which won him the Player of the Match award and enabled Australia to clinch a massive 9-wicket victory.

?The last couple of games have been pretty good,? said Watson. ?It's nice when things come together like this. Probably batting is a bit more enjoyable ... but enjoying being an all-rounder.?

Bailey was also all-praise for the openers, whose partnership saw them becoming the first pair to have scored more than a 1000 T20I partnership runs.

?The absolute beauty of those two openers is, that when they are on, there are no better hitters,? observed Bailey.

However, despite the victory, which sees Australia continuing their unbeaten run in the ongoing competition, Bailey stressed the need for the team to avoid a complacent attitude, and carry the same momentum into their upcoming match against South Africa, due to be played at the same venue on September 30.

?As good as this win is, we have to be up and ready for South Africa,? he insisted.

Source: http://blogs.bettor.com/ICC-World-T20-Australia-pleased-with-recent-win-over-India-Cricket-News-Update-a191165

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Like her TV alter, VanCamp prefers to be a mystery

FILE - This May 15, 2012 file photo shows actress Emily VanCamp attending the Entertainment Weekly and ABC Upfronts Party in New York. A year ago, Emily VanCamp worried no one would watch her TV show "Revenge" on ABC. Now, a year later, it's about to debut its second season and is one of the hottest shows on television. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, file)

FILE - This May 15, 2012 file photo shows actress Emily VanCamp attending the Entertainment Weekly and ABC Upfronts Party in New York. A year ago, Emily VanCamp worried no one would watch her TV show "Revenge" on ABC. Now, a year later, it's about to debut its second season and is one of the hottest shows on television. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, file)

FILE - This May 15, 2012 file photo shows actress Emily VanCamp attending the Entertainment Weekly and ABC Upfronts Party in New York. A year ago, Emily VanCamp worried no one would watch her TV show "Revenge" on ABC. Now, a year later, it's about to debut its second season and is one of the hottest shows on television. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, file)

NEW YORK (AP) ? What a difference a year makes.

This time last year, Emily VanCamp was hoping and praying her ABC series "Revenge" would be a success. It was ? and regularly won its time slot.

Now she's gearing up for the show's second season, premiering Sunday at 9 p.m. EDT.

"I was wondering what was going to happen with the show and, oh gosh, I remember just trying to repress the stress so much," VanCamp said in a recent interview. "You just want to focus on the work and not pay too much attention to all that stuff, but you're putting so much of yourself into it, and the fact that it all paid off and that it did so well has been kind of extraordinary. It's been a crazy year to say the least."

VanCamp plays Emily Thorne, a young woman out to get even for her father's death. She infiltrates a wealthy community in the Hamptons to take down the people who betrayed her family.

Like her character, 26-year-old VanCamp is a private person who prefers to remain a bit of a mystery to the public. She doesn't like to talk about her personal life (although she's rumored to be dating her "Revenge" co-star Josh Bowman) and says she's trying to come to terms with the public's interest in her life now that she has a hit TV show.

"We live in a time where the media is a very difficult thing to navigate because it's everywhere, and I tend to want to be a lot more private with my life," she said. "I've managed to do that for 10 years in this business.

"I've found a really nice balance, but this show is a different scale so ... I'm trying to figure all that out at the moment but ... some of the actors that I admire the most do have an element of intrigue. You don't know everything about them. It's very important to be able to distinguish the actors from the characters they play."

One thing VanCamp is getting used to as a leading lady is being sleep deprived.

"I'm exhausted almost all the time," she said. "I keep saying I'm weirdly preparing myself for motherhood because once you can get ahold of this sleep deprivation thing I think you have a leg up. And I'm definitely sleep deprived."

VanCamp also has adjusted to her high-profile role in "Revenge" by seeing herself as part of an "incredible" cast.

"I think it's really interesting to say 'my show' or 'I'm a lead of it' because it is such a collaborative thing ... but I am definitely there all the time," she laughed.

"I'm excited by challenging myself physically and mentally every day. That's what keeps me going and makes me love what I do so I really can't complain about it." She pauses then says: "I complain sometimes. I'm not gonna lie."

___

Online:

http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/revenge

___

Alicia Rancilio covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow her online at http://www.twitter.com/aliciar

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-09-28-People-Emily%20VanCamp/id-558dd61c522d4f679273fcaf8aa7923c

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Top 50 good guys in wrestling history

Some folks might try to tell you it?s?the villains that make sports-entertainment fun. And why not? It?s the baddies in the black hats who get to throw fireballs, electrocute millionaires and run people over with monster trucks. But it?s the good guys who give the fans something to believe in, a hero to look up to and a reminder that, more often than not, good does triumph over evil.

In compiling our list of the 50 greatest good guys in sports-entertainment history, WWE Classics extended our gaze beyond WWE history, paying specific attention to local heroes who made an impact in smaller territories across the country in the days before television. Popularity was important, but so was character ? there was a special place on this list for those who never strayed far from the path of righteousness. More than anything, though, we were just looking for heroes, those inspiring competitors worthy of being enshrined on a tattered poster on a kid?s bedroom wall.

Here, we present the 50 Superstars that wrestling fans grew up admiring???and still do today. (PHOTOS)

Jump ahead to:?35 |?15

Agree? Disagree? Let us hear about on the WWE Classics Facebook page.

Source: http://www.wwe.com/classics/classic-lists/top-50-good-guys

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Save on Cost: Outsource Your Business Design | MICINC Business ...

For small business owners, handling business designs in-house may seem like a great way to save money. After all, small business owners tend to look at any expense as something to be avoided. With the somewhat tumultuous nature of current world financial markets, this is usually a healthy mentality to hold. However, it can end up costing business owners more money than they?re saving in certain conditions. Graphic design is one example of something that should be outsourced to professionals.

How Do-It-Yourself Can Cost You

For a business owner, the concept of an hourly wage flies entirely out the window. When someone is in charge of an entire business, they work long hours that make any income seem small in comparison. This says a lot about the strength, determination, and work ethic of those bold souls who enter the business world. However, it also displays the need for speed and efficiency in everything a business owner does. All time is precious here.

Some people mistakenly look at design as something that anyone can do. The truth is that
graphic designers undergo years of training and work experience to learn their craft. This is not something that comes easily, and it is something which should be taken seriously. When a business owner hires a trained designer to do designs for a business, then he or she can save money in the long run.

Outsourcing Design for Profit

When this concept is looked at in a rational way, it makes quite a lot of sense. You should consider how much time it will take to essentially learn an entire trade. The time spent messing around with design software and learning coding could be spent on projects that earn money. Instead of spending time learning a design software, business owners should be developing customer relationships and making sales. In the end, business owners usually end up needlessly spending a significant amount of time in the creation of a sub-par design. This is not a smart use of time by any standard.

Design professionals are trained in how to use software and how to create eye-catching designs. This is a trade requiring skills that take years to develop. Business owners should absolutely consider outsourcing their design needs to a qualified design professional. It saves time, it saves money, and it results in a much more attractive and useful business design.

This article was brought to you by Kwik Kopy, a leading provider of?graphic design?and?printing services.

Source: http://www.micinc.com/articles/save-on-cost-outsource-your-business-design

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শুক্রবার, ২৮ সেপ্টেম্বর, ২০১২

'Looper' Props Came From eBay And A Smoke Shop?

Prop master James Kroning tells MTV News the secrets of seeking perfect time-travel objects for Rian Johnson-directed film.
By Kevin P. Sullivan


Joseph Gordon-Levitt in "Looper"
Photo: TriStar Pictures

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1694591/looper-movie-props.jhtml

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Voter registration problems widening in Florida

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) ? What first appeared to be an isolated problem in one Florida county has now spread statewide, with election officials in nine counties informing prosecutors or state election officials about questionable voter registration forms filled out on behalf of the Republican Party of Florida.

State Republican officials already have fired the vendor it had hired to register voters, and took the additional step of filing an election fraud complaint against the company, Strategic Allied Consulting, with state officials. That complaint was handed over Friday to state law-enforcement authorities.

A spokesman for Florida's GOP said the matter was being treated seriously.

"We are doing what we can to find out how broad the scope is," said Brian Burgess, the spokesman.

Florida is the battleground state where past election problems led to the chaotic recount that followed the 2000 presidential election.

The Florida Democratic Party called on the state to "revoke" the ability of state Republicans to continue to register voters while the investigation continues. Oct. 9 is the deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 6 presidential election.

"It is clear that the Republican Party of Florida does not have the institutional controls in place to be trusted as a third-party, voter registration organization," said Scott Arceneaux, executive director of the Florida Democratic Party.

The Republican Party of Florida has paid Strategic Allied Consulting more than $1.3 million, and the Republican National Committee used the group for work in Nevada, North Carolina, Colorado and Virginia.

The company said earlier this week that it was cooperating with elections officials in Florida. It said the suspect forms were turned in by one person, who has been fired.

"Strategic has a zero-tolerance policy for breaking the law," Fred Petti, a company attorney, said Thursday.

An email request to the company seeking additional comment, following the company's instructions, was not immediately returned Friday.

In Florida, it is a third-degree felony to "willfully submit" any false voter registration information, a crime punishable by up to five years in prison.

In recent years, Florida's Republican-controlled Legislature ? citing suspicious voter registration forms turned in by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN ? has cracked down on groups holding voter registration drives.

The League of Women Voters filed a federal lawsuit against some of the restrictions and Florida agreed earlier this month to drop a new requirement to turn in registration applications within 48 hours after they are signed. The state has reinstated a 10-day deadline.

The questionable forms tied to the Republican Party have showed up in South Florida, including Miami-Dade, as well as counties in southwest and northeast Florida as well as the Florida Panhandle.

Election officials in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties on Thursday handed over more than 100 suspect forms to local prosecutors. They did so days after officials in Palm Beach County also alerted prosecutors.

Ann Bodenstein, the elections supervisor for Santa Rosa County, said her staff started raising questions after an employee saw a form that changed the home address of a neighbor.

Paul Lux, election supervisor for Okaloosa County, said questionable forms in the Florida Panhandle appear to have all come from Strategic's effort based at the local Republican Party headquarters. He said his office has turned up dozens of suspect forms.

Lux said there have been forms that listed dead people and were either incomplete or illegible. He met with local prosecutors on Friday, but added that his staff was still going through hundreds of forms dropped off by Strategic employees.

Lux, who is a Republican, said he warned local party officials earlier this month when he first learned the company was paying people to register voters.

"I told them 'This is not going to end well,'" Lux said.

But Lux added that he did not blame the Republican Party of Florida.

"I can't place the blame on RPOF if they hired a firm and that firm wasn't following the rules they were given to follow," Lux said.

The state party filed the complaint against Strategic Allied Consulting with state election officials, who late Friday handed the case over to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

An FDLE spokeswoman said the agency would not automatically open a criminal investigation, but would review to see if there were "possible criminal acts."

___

Follow Gary Fineout on Twitter: http://twitter.com/fineout

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-09-28-Voter%20Registration-Florida/id-5e29d5e77ce643dbb943f84dc4902037

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বৃহস্পতিবার, ২৭ সেপ্টেম্বর, ২০১২

Why It's Bad That Smartphones Have Banished Boredom

When I started my meditation practice I was a full blown smart-phone addict. One of the hardest earliest barriers to get over was the idea of sitting idle for 30 minutes. Somehow mindlessly browsing reddit was okay but just sitting and watching my breath was not. I'd get flooded with all kinds of thoughts about how I should be doing something productive and typically that was accompanied by anxiety.

At some point I had to stop and ask myself, who exactly do I think is judging my behavior? Why do I even feel like I need to justify what I'm doing with my personal time? Of course the realization came that it was all me, all my mind, and I let go of the habit.

Now I meditate regularly and still use my smart phone. I look forward to sitting and knowing I get time to just be. I'm comfortable with that and reap the benefits. I'm significantly less stressed during the day and my mind is calmer. I understand myself and my actions better. I still use the phone, but sometimes I don't. Sometimes it's nice to just be with your own mind.

I wouldn't say smartphones have only banished boredom though. They, like many of our modern baubles, have also lowered the bar for when boredom sets in.

An aside I feel is related I can't remember the last time I had a good meaningful conversation with a group of friends or even one on one. Hell, even meaningless conversation with depth seems to have left. It seems like on average things are being reduced to one or two sentences on a topic and topics which require multiple layers of thinking just don't come up.

I find it paradoxical as someone who was a loner in school I can look at my life now and see more friends, supportive family, great co-workers, technology like facebook, SMS, and smart phones to be always connected and yet I feel more alone than I ever have. I feel lacking in community.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/pxyaI6RWL5Y/why-its-bad-that-smartphones-have-banished-boredom

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Video: Kniffen: Consumer Can Spend Right Now

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/49183737/

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Europe's dimming prospects in spotlight at Paris auto show

PARIS (Reuters) - As executives bemoan the worsening outlook for the European car market, they hope the no-frills small cars on display at the Paris auto show will lure customers in austerity-hit markets and premium limousines will attract buyers in China.

Even the carmakers that had until recently been thriving, poaching market share from ailing competitors, are now feeling the pinch as austerity measures, high unemployment and fears about the future keep customers away from showrooms.

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co on Wednesday said it was deferring its sales and market share target by at least a year due to the dismal outlook that is now starting to worry the stronger carmakers as well as the weak.

Volkswagen AG , Europe's largest automaker, warned a day earlier that business conditions had become "significantly more difficult.

That assessment followed Daimler AG's September 20 warning that slowing demand in Europe and China would hit profit at its flagship Mercedes-Benz division this year.

CHINA CONCERNS

Prospects for China's auto market - the world's largest - will be in focus at the show, which opens to the public on Saturday. After boosting the earnings of premium carmakers such as Daimler, Audi and BMW , Chinese demand is beginning to slow.

Closer to home, mass-market automakers squeezed by low-cost brands on the one hand and premiums on the other are hoping their own forays both up-market and down-market will pay off.

French carmaker Renault SA's Romanian affiliate, Dacia, is showing all-new versions of the Logan and Sandero models that have been an unexpected hit in Europe, as its core brand struggles.

Carlos Tavares, chief operating officer of Renault, said last week Europe's auto slump was "likely to last.

(Writing by Helen Massy-Beresford; editing by Matthew Lewis)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/europes-dimming-prospects-spotlight-paris-auto-show-231042190--finance.html

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Windows Phone 8 SDK gets leaked and peeked (video)

Microsoft announces Windows Phone 8 SDK preview program, Windows Phone Store to replace Marketplace

While Microsoft's freshest Mobile OS is still a few weeks away from its big debut, versions of its SDK have begun to crop up online. The peeps over at WPCentral have snagged build 9900 of the software and are offering up a video tour of the reasonably-finished setup. It's not clear if this is a fully-loaded edition or if we're going to see a few more surprises if / when it launches next month, but if you'd care to see for yourself, check out the video after the break.

Continue reading Windows Phone 8 SDK gets leaked and peeked (video)

Filed under: , ,

Windows Phone 8 SDK gets leaked and peeked (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Sep 2012 11:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Next Web  |  sourceWPCentral  | Email this | Comments


Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/14hVKUbLZ18/

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বুধবার, ২৬ সেপ্টেম্বর, ২০১২

Smartphones conquer boredom, but at what cost?

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A 'Carmageddon' noise test

Sherman Oaks resident Bob Anderson recalls the Friday of Carmageddon as "wonderful" and "quiet," despite all the warnings of a traffic nightmare.

He enjoyed a glass of wine with his wife, watched TV and drifted peacefully into a sound slumber without the sounds of cars zipping down the northbound 405 freeway near his house. Then the roar of a helicopter jolted Anderson awake at 11 p.m.

"It sat above our house for two hours until 1 a.m. Then it went away," Anderson said. "We were thrilled, slept for a couple hours, and then it came back at 5 a.m."

Anderson was angry enough to grab a pair of binoculars and call the news station that owned the helicopter to complain. More than a year after the closure of a section of the 405 Freeway to remove the southern half of the aging Mulholland Drive bridge, Anderson has become the chairman of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn.'s Helicopter Noise Committee, a position he has used to demand that those flying over this weekend's sequel "stop having wine and cheese parties on helicopters to watch the bridge come down."

Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, U.S. Rep. Howard Berman and Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) joined Anderson earlier this week in asking that pilots flying above the closure of 10 miles of the 405 between the 10 and 101 freeways be mindful of residents. The officials asked operators not to hover over homes, and to fly higher.

Mike Cavender, executive director of the Radio Television Digital News Assn., cautioned it would be "difficult" to set an "arbitrary limit" before an event.

"You use whatever angle or whatever distance or whatever location for the photo or video that will best illustrate your story," he said. "I would expect the media in Los Angeles to take note of the concern, but ultimately if it's a newsworthy story they're covering, they have an obligation to cover it."

After the first closure, Berman (D-Valley Village) introduced legislation that would require the Federal Aviation Administration to establish rules on flight paths and minimum altitudes for helicopter operations in Los Angeles. The proposal has stalled.

Berman said helicopter pilots have asked to move away from regulation and toward voluntary compliance.

"Next weekend is a very important test of whether self-restraint and self-regulation will make it better for the people whose quality of life has been damaged," Berman said.

matt.stevens@latimes.com

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/q8fXbnHjF00/la-me-carmageddon-helicopters-20120926,0,2789450.story

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how to make money online free ? 60 seconds | Amazing Winning ...

The Web gives a wide variety of earning possibilities for people approximately the environment. No matter if you are a ten calendar year old lady or a 70 calendar year old gentleman, you can simply get options to make revenue on line. There are various possibilities to make revenue in diverse fields, and a single has to get the proper way as for each his education, practical knowledge, expertise, expertise-set and interest. The following we are planning to talk about about the ten greatest options to make revenue on line.

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Source: http://13forex.com/how-to-make-money-online-free-60-seconds/

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Oscillating microscopic beads could be key to biolab on a chip

ScienceDaily (Sep. 25, 2012) ? If you throw a ball underwater, you'll find that the smaller it is, the faster it moves: A larger cross-section greatly increases the water's resistance. Now, a team of MIT researchers has figured out a way to use this basic principle, on a microscopic scale, to carry out biomedical tests that could eventually lead to fast, compact and versatile medical-testing devices.

The results, based on work by graduate student Elizabeth Rapoport and assistant professor Geoffrey Beach, of MIT's Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE), are described in a paper published in the journal Lab on a Chip. MIT graduate student Daniel Montana '11 also contributed to the research as an undergraduate.

The balls used here are microscopic magnetic beads that can be "decorated" with biomolecules such as antibodies that cause them to bind to specific proteins or cells; such beads are widely used in biomedical research. The key to this new work was finding a way to capture individual beads and set them oscillating by applying a variable magnetic field. The rate of their oscillation can then be measured to assess the size of the beads.

When these beads are placed in a biological sample, biomolecules attach to their surfaces, making the beads larger -- a change that can then be detected through the biomolecules effect on the beads' oscillation. This would provide a way to detect exactly how much of a target biomolecule is present in a sample, and provide a way to give a virtually instantaneous electronic readout of that information.

This new technique, for the first time, allows these beads -- each about one micrometer, or millionth of a meter, in diameter -- to be used for precise measurements of tiny quantities of materials. This could, for example, lead to tests for disease agents that would need just a tiny droplet of blood and could deliver results instantly, instead of requiring laboratory analysis.

In a paper published earlier this year in the journal Applied Physics Letters, the same MIT researchers described their development of a technique for creating magnetic tracks on a microchip surface, and rapidly transporting beads along those tracks. (The technology required is similar to that used to read and write magnetic data on a computer's hard disk.) An operational device using this new approach would consist of a small reservoir above the tracks, where the liquid containing the magnetic beads and the biological sample would be placed.

Rather than pumping the fluid and the particles through channels, as in today's microfluidic devices, the particles would be controlled entirely through changes in applied magnetic fields. By controlling the directions of magnetic fields in closely spaced adjacent regions, the researchers create tiny areas with extremely strong magnetic fields, called magnetic domain walls, whose position can be shifted along the track. "We can use the magnetic domain walls to capture and transport the beads along the tracks," Beach says.

In the researchers' most recent paper, Rapoport explains, they have now shown that once a bead is captured, a magnetic field can be used to shake it back and forth. Then, the researchers measure how fast the bead moves as they change the frequency of the oscillation. "The resonant frequency is a function of the bead size," she says -- and could be used to reveal whether the bead has grown in size through attachment to a target biomolecule.

Besides being potentially quicker and requiring a far smaller biological sample to produce a result, such a device would be more flexible than existing chip-based biomedical tests, the researchers say. While most such devices are specifically designed to detect one particular kind of protein or disease agent, this new device could be used for a wide variety of different tests, simply by inserting a fresh batch of fluid containing beads coated with the appropriate reactant. After the test, the material could be flushed out, and the same chip used for a completely different test by inserting a different type of magnetic beads. "You'd just use it, wash it off, and use it again," Rapoport says.

There are dozens of types of magnetic beads commercially available now, which can be coated to react with many different biological materials, Beach explains, so such a test device could have enormous flexibility.

The MIT team has not yet used the system to detect biological molecules. Rather, they used magnetic beads of different sizes to demonstrate that their system is capable of detecting size differences corresponding to those between particles that are bound to biological molecules and those that are not. Having succeeded in this proof of concept, the researchers' next step will be to repeat the experiment using biological samples.

"We now have all the elements required to make a sensing device," Beach says. The next step is to combine the pieces in an operational device and demonstrate its performance.

R. Sooryakumar, a professor of physics at Ohio State University who was not involved in this research, calls this an "innovative approach."

"It is very interesting how the researchers combine technologies that are well understood for applications in computing and data storage, and apply them to something completely different," Sooryakumar says. He adds, "These magnetic devices are potentially valuable tools that could go well beyond how one may normally expect them to be used. The ramifications, for example in food safety and health care, such as pathogen or cancer detection, are indeed exciting."

The research was partly funded by MIT's Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation, and the test devices were made at the MIT NanoStructures Laboratory.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The original article was written by David L. Chandler.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. E. Rapoport, D. Montana, G. S. D. Beach. Integrated capture, transport, and magneto-mechanical resonant sensing of superparamagnetic microbeads using magnetic domain walls. Lab on a Chip, 2012; DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40715A

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/NHZDYysuJTY/120925102705.htm

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Drone flights into hurricanes near end

This year, storms over the Atlantic have gotten some extra company ? and lots of extra scrutiny ? thanks to a new NASA research project that sends unmanned drones high above tropical storms and hurricanes for hours at a time.

Dubbed the Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel project, or HS3, the mission uses Global Hawk aircraft outfitted with specialized instruments to collect reams of data on the storms, in hopes of discovering what factors determine a storm's temperament.

"We're trying to better understand what leads to intensification of the stronger storms versus the ones that fail to intensify, and trying to look at how much of that is driven by the large-scale environment, and how much is driven by what's happening in the storm itself," said Scott Braun, a NASA research meteorologist and HS3's lead mission scientist.

So far, a single Global Hawk, a windowless drone capable of flying for up to 30 hours at a time, has flown five flights into storms, Braun told OurAmazingPlanet. Four of those expeditions targeted Tropical Storm Nadine ? a tenacious storm that has refused to dissipate despite adverse conditions. The most recent flight was conducted over this past weekend.

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Eyes in the sky
Although the project was given access to two Global Hawks, each outfitted with instruments designed to examine differing aspects of a storm ? its surrounding environment and its inner workings ? one of the planes isn't yet ready for meteorology research. High demand for the high-performance aircraft among government agencies prevented NASA from fitting one of the Global Hawks with its specialized instruments on time, but both aircraft will presumably be available to the researchers in 2013, Braun said.

The Global Hawk in working research mode flies out of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, and must take off and land during daylight hours; a smaller, manned aircraft escorts the drone out of and back into American air space. In the dark, the pilots in the so-called chase plane have a hard time spotting their quarry.

The drone flights typically last about 26 hours, Braun said. Takeoff and touchdown are controlled from Wallops, but once a Global Hawk travels out over the ocean, control is handed over to pilots at NASA's Dryden Flight Center in California's Mojave Desert.

Once it reaches a storm, the Global Hawk spends some 18 to 20 hours flying what Braun calls "a lawnmower pattern," soaring back and forth at altitudes of up to 65,000 feet (19,800 meters).

Two instruments aboard the plane spy on the storm from above, collecting data on temperature, moisture and the properties of the clouds. [ 50 Amazing Hurricane Facts ]

A third tool sends dozens of instruments equipped with tiny parachutes hurtling down through the storm. Called dropsondes, the instruments take snapshots of existing conditions ? temperature, relative humidity, pressure, wind speed and direction ? about 10 times per second before they crash-land into the ocean. On a typical flight, a Global Hawk releases more than 60 dropsondes into a storm.

Better forecasts
The hours-long flights are aimed, in part, at deciphering one of the biggest mysteries in hurricane research : the role of the Saharan air layer, "that hot, dry, dusty air mass that comes off the Sahara," as Braun put it.

There's a dearth of direct observational data, and some studies suggest the desert air can fuel a storm, while others suggest the dry air can tamp down a burgeoning storm's fury.

"We're trying to figure out if it's more of a positive or negative influence on storm development," Braun said.

Overall, the mission, which will conduct flights for about a month per year through 2014, is aimed at improving hurricane forecasts. Researchers have gotten very good at figuring out where a hurricane is headed, but a precise understanding of what storms will look like when they get there remains elusive.

Aside from tireless Nadine, the Atlantic basin is now empty. And unless another storm appears soon, the HS3 team may not get another research subject before their 2012 field campaign ends. This year's mission is scheduled to wrap up on Oct. 5; it can extend to Oct. 12 at the very latest.

Reach Andrea Mustain at amustain@techmedianetwork.com, or follow her on Twitter @AndreaMustain. Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter @OAPlanet. We're also on Facebook and Google+.

? 2012 OurAmazingPlanet. All rights reserved. More from OurAmazingPlanet.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49154998/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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Gen. Wesley Clark says Libya doesn't meet the test for U.S. military action

In March of 1974, when I was a young Army captain, I was sitting in a conference on civil-military relations at Brown University. Rep. Les Aspin (D-Wis.) was onstage expounding on the lessons from Vietnam about military interventions. He then stopped and looked right at me and the four West Point cadets at my side. "You, the young officer and cadets sitting there - never in your lifetimes will you see us intervene abroad," I recall him saying. "We've learned that lesson."

For all his brilliance, Aspin couldn't have been more wrong.

We have launched many military interventions since then. And today, as Moammar Gaddafi looks vulnerable and Libya descends into violence, familiar voices are shouting, once again: "Quick, intervene, do something!" It could be a low-cost win for democracy in the region. But before we aid the Libyan rebels or establish a no-fly zone, let's review what we've learned about intervening since we pulled out of Vietnam.

The past 37 years have been replete with U.S. interventions. Some have succeeded, such as our actions in Grenada (1983), Panama (1989), the Persian Gulf War (1991) and the Balkans (1995-2000). Some were awful blunders, such as the attempted hostage rescue in Iran (1980), landing the Marines in Lebanon (1982) or the Somalia intervention (1992-94).

Some worked in the short run, but not the longer term - such as the occupation of Haiti in 1994. Others still hang in the balance, such as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, consuming hundreds of billions of dollars and wrecking thousands of American lives. Along the way, we've bombed a few tyrants such as Saddam Hussein and Gaddafi himself, operated through proxies in Central America, and stood ready with fly-overs, deployments, mobility exercises and sail-bys across the globe.

I've thought about military interventions for a long time - from before my service in Vietnam to writing a master's thesis at Fort Leavenworth to leading NATO forces in the Kosovo war. In considering Libya, I find myself returning to the guidelines for intervention laid out by Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger in 1984. The world has changed a great deal since then, so I've adapted and updated his vision to develop my own rules for when the United States should deploy its blood and treasure in operations far from home.

Understand the national interests at stake, and decide if the result is worth the cost.

We went into Lebanon with a reinforced battalion of Marines in 1982 because we believed that it was in our national interest to stabilize the situation after the Israelis had been forced out of Beirut. But after the terrorist bombing of their barracks killed 241 U.S. service members the next year, we pulled out. After the tragedy, any benefits seemed to pale in light of the cost and continuing risks.

In 1999, when we launched the NATO air campaign against Serbian ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, President Bill Clinton had to state publicly that he didn't intend to use ground troops. He did so in an effort to limit the costs of an initiative that the public and Congress did not consider to be in our nation's vital interest. The administration and I, as the NATO commander in Europe, were in a difficult position, and Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic knew it. But what Milosevic didn't understand was that once we began the strikes - with NATO troops deployed in neighboring countries and the Dayton Peace Agreement to enforce in Bosnia - NATO couldn't afford to lose. And the United States had a vital interest in NATO's success, even if we had a less-than-vital interest in Kosovo.

In 2001, when the United States went into Afghanistan, it was clear that we had to strike back after the attacks of Sept. 11. And we're still there, despite all the ambiguities and difficulties, because we have a vital interest in combating al-Qaeda and similar terrorist groups there and across the border in Pakistan.

How do we apply this test to Libya? Protecting access to oil supplies has become a vital interest, but Libya doesn't sell much oil to the United States, and what has been cut off is apparently being replaced by Saudi production. Other national interests are more complex. Of course, we want to support democratic movements in the region, but we have two such operations already underway - in Iraq and Afghanistan. Then there are the humanitarian concerns. It is hard to stand by as innocent people are caught up in violence, but that's what we did when civil wars in Africa killed several million and when fighting in Darfur killed hundreds of thousands. So far, the violence in Libya is not significant in comparison. Maybe we could earn a cheap "victory," but, on whatever basis we intervened, it would become the United States vs. Gaddafi, and we would be committed to fight to his finish. That could entail a substantial ground operation, some casualties and an extended post-conflict peacekeeping presence.

Know your purpose and how the proposed military action will achieve it.

In 1989, when the United States wanted regime change in Panama, a powerful U.S. force took over the country, captured dictator Manuel Noriega and enabled the democratic opposition to form a new government. Panama today is a thriving democracy.

On the other hand, in Somalia in 1992-94, we started out on a humanitarian mission, gradually transitioned to greater use of military power and then had a tragic tactical stumble trying to arrest a warlord. The loss of 18 Americans caused national outrage, and eventually we pulled out. We experienced classic mission creep, without reconsidering the strategy or the means to achieve it.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wp-dyn/rss/print/outlook/index_xml/~3/lgji7n0O6MM/AR2011031107048.html

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To Facebook, or not to Facebook? - Digital Culture & Education

John Hilton III & Kenneth Plummer

Published Online: In press
Full Text: HTML, PDF (460 KB)

Abstract

A significant shift in computer-mediated communication has taken place, in which in some cases, social media is becoming the dominant form of communication. Organisations who wish to communicate effectively are turning to social media; however, there are challenges associated with using it. This article chronicles the attempts of one educational institution to implement the use of social media in their organisation.

Keywords: e-culture, Facebook, higher education, social media

Introduction

The use of social networks has exploded in the past few years. Social networks have been defined as ?Web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system? (Boyd & Ellison, 2008). There are several social media sites, most of which are based on a common underlying purpose of digitally connecting people.? Some are work-related (LinkedIn.com) and others got started by promoting music bands (MySpace).

At the time of the present study, Facebook is the largest social networking site in the world. Facebook started as a social media site in 2004 oriented towards college students.? (Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007). Over the next year they gradually expanded to allow high school students, professionals, and eventually everyone to create a Facebook account. Over the past few years, Facebook has become a powerful communication medium. Facebook (2011) reports having more than 600 million users, over half of whom log in on any given day. And while some estimate that over half of all U.S. Internet users log into Facebook at least monthly (eMarketer, 2011) Facebook is not solely a U.S. sensation. Over 350,000,000 of its users are outside the United States. Globally, people spend more than 700,000,000,000 (seven hundred billion) minutes on Facebook per month. (Facebook, 2011a).

While reports as recent as June 2011 have shown a slight drop in the number of users, Facebook continues to be described ?as one of the new titans of the Internet, challenging even Google? (Schwartz, 2011). It facilitates user interconnectivity through personal relationships and recommendations through such features as like and comment.

As of March 2011 the average number of friends per user was slightly over 120 (Facebook, 2011). Globally, slightly more males (51.2%) than females (48.8%) use Facebook.? The largest Facebook user age group worldwide are those between 26-34 years of age (26.6%) followed by 18-25 year olds (26.4%) and then 13-17 year olds (20.5%).? In the United States the order differs as follows:? The largest Facebook user age group is 18-25 year olds (35%) followed by 26-34 year olds (20%) and then 35-44 year olds (16%) (Burbary, 2011). 30% of Facebook user pairs interact consistently from one month to the next (Viswanath et al., 2009).

Many companies, educational institutions, non-profits and others are seeking to leverage Facebook to increase exposure to their organisations. The ability to attract a younger demographic is particularly attractive. But although there are benefits associated with using Facebook as a communication medium, it also has inherent risks. The purpose of this article is to discuss some of the benefits and risks, and examine how a private educational institution responded to the opportunities and challenges presented by Facebook.

Review of literature

Corporations and other organisations interested in attracting attention have started noticing the marketing power of Facebook. Brands such as Visa, Bank of America, Wal-Mart and even Skittles all have Facebook pages. Fifty-six percent of 2010 Fortune 500 companies are on Facebook (Barnes, 2010). Unlike the dot com era when many companies scrambled to have an online presence minus a coherent game plan, companies today though aware of Facebook?s capabilities, manifest an uncertainty as to how these can be leveraged to benefit their overall organisationsal strategy (McCorkindale, 2010).? That being said, as these organisations find the right entry point into social media channels like Facebook, they may be able to unlock the power of social networks to further their objectives.

Businesses aren?t the only ones noticing the importance of social media in attracting attention. Colleges are starting to look more to social media to communicate with students, particularly as some studies show that email usage is decreasing in favour of social media use among their target audience. In fact, one study showed that high school students (whom colleges are trying to recruit) are more likely to use social media than email (Alexander, 2008). A study investigating Facebook usage of 92 undergraduate students found that on average this sample were on Facebook 30 minutes throughout the day with the majority of the time dedicated to viewing the posts of others and to a much lesser extent posting themselves (Pempek, Yermolayeva,? & Calvert, 2009).?? Moulaisons (2010) noted that Facebook has been used as a medium of communication in parts of the world where university online communication systems are simply not available.? They provide a global reach that is not paralleled by any learning management system.? Barnes and Mattson (2010), report that ?admissions officers have clearly embraced Facebook and other social networking sites as viable forms of communication with their constituency? (p. 2).? Madge et al. (2009) investigated the impact of using Facebook as a pre-registration tool and its impact on students? post-registration social networks.?? One key finding was that first year undergraduate ?Students reported that they specifically joined Facebook pre-registration as a means of making new friends at University? (Madge et al, 2009, p. 141).? Their survey results further evidenced that Facebook has the potential of assisting students in settling into University life.

While student recruitment constitutes one avenue of Facebook?s potential use, another potential lies in its use as a course management system, posting links to course materials.? Loving and Ochoa (2011) note that ?Instructors realised that asking college students to visit online university course sites differs greatly from bringing the course site to them? (p. 123).? Selwyn (2009) analysed 68,169 student wall posts for evidence of academic-related communication and classified these in categories such as reflection on University experience, the exchanging of practical and academic information as well as expressions of disengagement and pleas for assistance.? Loving and Ochoa (2011) noted in a case study they conducted that even though the costs or drawbacks of appropriating technologies such as Facebook for academic purposes are many, their value over conventional course management systems in many ways are ?worth the necessary work arounds? (p. 129).

Often when businesses and educational institutions use Facebook they take advantage of Facebook?s option to have ?Groups? or ?Pages.? As late as 2010 there was extensive discussion about whether organisations should use ?Groups? or ?Pages? to connect with constituents (O?Neill, 2010).? However, in 2011 Facebook made changes to their ?Groups? that made it clear that organisations should use ?Pages? rather than groups. Facebook (2011b) states, ?Pages are for organisations, businesses, celebrities, and bands to broadcast great information in an official, public manner to people who choose to connect with them.?

When organisations begin using social networks, individuals associated with those organisations also will be using them. In some cases this could create additional benefits (or drawbacks) for the organisations. For example, when students use social networking to engage faculty and personnel, those faculty and personnel may seem more accessible to students. When faculty form appropriate informal connections with students, their instructional effectiveness is enhanced (Pascarella & Terrenzini, 1991).? Sturgeon and Walker (2010) conducted a small study at a southern university with 120 faculty members, of which 90% mentioned that Facebook provides an open line of communication between them and their students.? This openness it was perceived could make the classroom experience seem less daunting and more inviting. In a study examining what happens when students connect with teachers on Facebook, Mazer, Murphy and Simonds (2007), state that:

Student perceptions of a teacher?s credibility and their reports of motivation and affective learning may also be affected by what the teacher discloses on Facebook. The number of photographs and the amount of information provided on the virtual social network may positively or negatively alter student perceptions. Much like when a teacher self-discloses face to face in the classroom, the comments made by the teacher?s Facebook friends, the special interest groups the teacher is affiliated with on Facebook, and the personal information the teacher discloses in his or her Facebook biography all may affect students? perceptions of the teacher. (.p4)

Overall, their study found that students generally perceived teachers as more open and friendly when they visited their Facebook pages. However, not all students appreciated having this kind of connection with their teachers. Hewitt and Forte (2006) observed that people use Facebook as a medium to manage their image.? They note that such control becomes onerous when tending to a variety of audiences with a myriad of tastes and crossing multiple generations and professional and educational boundaries. They also found that 33% of 136 students surveyed felt a discomfort with faculty accessing student Facebook accounts, because of what they called ?Identity Management? as well as privacy issues.? It is interesting to note that in this study males were more likely to condone faculty presence than females.

In a similar vein, privacy (or the lack thereof) has been a key area in which Facebook has been criticised. boyd and Hargittai (2010) report that ?Far from being nonchalant and unconcerned about privacy matters, the majority of young adult users of Facebook are engaged with managing their privacy settings on the site at least to some extent.? Concerns about privacy can work both ways. For example, in an educational setting some students would be aghast if they knew the kinds of information that their instructors could collect about them on Facebook. At the same time, teachers may not want their students to know about their private lives.

Not all of the concerns about professor-student Facebook interactions come from the students. In fact, some studies have shown that students are more amenable than faculty members to using social networking sites to enhance their academic experience (Roblyer et al., 2010). This reluctance on the part of professors may stem from a concern that they would be perceived as uninvited guests to a party where the rules of engagement are only vaguely familiar to them (Lipka, 2007). Some may fear that an entry into the informal cyber world of their students may undermine their credibility as qualified professors (Hartshorn and Ajjan, 2008).?? Some faculty members have expressed concern that the act of friending students may create in the students an inappropriate expectation in terms of grading and accountability (Lipka, 2007).

In any sector of society, the use of social media can create conflicting opportunities where the line between professional and client becomes blurred. For example, Jain (2009) reported on an awkward situation that arose when he (as a medical intern) accepted a Facebook friend request from a former patient. Jain said:

Confirming this patient as my ?friend? on Facebook, I was merging my professional and personal lives. From my Facebook page, Ms. Baxter could identify and reach anyone in my network of friends, view an extensive collection of personal photographs, read my personal blog, and review notations that others had left on my ?wall.? The anxiety I felt about crossing boundaries is an old problem in clinical medicine, but it has taken a different shape as it has migrated to this new medium.

In addition to awkward situations faced by individuals, from an institutional perspective, damage to an institution could occur should individuals associated with the institution make inappropriate posts on Facebook.

Chretien et. al., (2009) reported that according to their survey, 60% of medical schools ?reported incidents of students posting unprofessional online content. Violations of patient confidentiality were reported by 13%.? Similar challenges were reported by Greysen et. al. (2010). These types of incidents could reflect very poorly both on the medical school or sponsoring hospital.

In the field of education, much has been written about teachers who have been fired or reprimanded for posts on Facebook that were deemed to be inappropriate (Shapira, 2009, Knight, 2011, Heussner, 2010). In one case, a New York City public school teacher was fired for making comments like ?This is sexy? on photos of female students at his school (Chiaramonte & Gonen, 2010). In another case, a teacher was fired for stating on Facebook that students were ?snobby? and ?arrogant? (Heussner, 2010).

Individuals need to make their own decisions about how they should interact with others on Facebook. However, in some cases organisations can dictate what their employees should or should not do on Facebook, particularly in connection with the organisations. For example, some organisations have prohibited employees from using Facebook to connect with clients.

From an organisational perspective, one wonders if the damage that can potentially be caused by inappropriate posts on Facebook is worth the potential benefits of increased exposure that the medium allows. Obviously institutions cannot control whether or not their employees use Facebook on their own time. The question is, do benefits accrue to institutions who encourage their employees to use Facebook for the purposes of the organisations? The present study seeks to document the efforts of one educational institution to answer that question.

The present study

Administrators at a large private educational institution considered the possibility of using Facebook as a tool to recruit students to enroll in classes and participate in programme activities. This institution has several hundred satellite campuses across the world, and over 350,000 participants. At the time of the present study these local campuses offered classes and activities to both instruct and bring together groups of individuals. One of the potential benefits seen by the organisations of using Facebook was that since many of their constituents were on Facebook it could be a potentially good way to get the word out. In addition, several of the local organisations had unofficial Facebook Groups that had been created by students ? many local leaders felt that making these Groups official would make them more effective. A simple study was commissioned to answer the following questions:

  1. What are the benefits of using Facebook as a recruitment tool at these programmes?
  2. What are the costs of using Facebook as a recruitment tool at these programmes?

Twelve programme directors spanning four states (Texas, California, Florida and Utah) and two countries (United States and Per?) participated in this study.? The sample was purposeful in terms of geographical spread, but not large enough to produce statistically significant results.? Students attending these programmes consist mostly of young adults in their twenties. A few were married, most were single.? The directors of these programmes ranged from ages 30 to 60.? A few of them had earned doctoral degrees and the remainder attained at least a master?s degree.? These participants were invited to use Facebook to encourage student enrolment and participation in their programmes for 3 months.

These directors participated in Facebook in two major ways. First they created their own personal profiles on Facebook and were given the option of becoming Facebook friends with students if they felt it was appropriate. Second, they formed Facebook Groups for their local educational institutions. At that time Groups had different features that made them more appropriate for this organisations. Based on recent changes made by Facebook if this study were to be replicated, the organisations would have used ?Pages.? However, this difference is not important in terms of the present study, as the functionality of ?Groups? at that time was similar to the current functionality of ?Pages.?

A brief orientation was held to help introduce the directors as to how Facebook could be used as a recruitment tool; in addition, they were provided with some brief documentation that explained how to setup Facebook. This included statements such as, ?Remember that everything you post on Facebook is public. Please be very careful and follow all the guidelines put in place by the organisations so that nothing on your Facebook page would detract from its mission and purpose.?

Many of the participants had never used Facebook at all, and needed basic orientation to the programme. Selecting such participants was done purposefully, as it was determined that a large number of members in the organisations had never used Facebook, and in order to determine the true benefits and costs, individuals with a broad range of experience with Facebook were selected for participation. After their brief orientation, directors were largely left to their own devices in determining how to use Facebook most effectively. They were able to contact a member of the organisations in charge of technology if they had questions that they were not able to figure out on their own.

An eleven item survey (Appendix A) was administered to participants at the conclusion of the trial period.? Items directed respondents to self-assess their familiarity and comfort level with Facebook, the average amount of time spent using it each week for work purposes, and specifically how they used it as a communication tool.? In terms of benefits, respondents were directed to indicate the degree to which students were better informed about activities and class information.? They also responded to items regarding the degree to which class and activity attendance increased.? At the end of the survey they were invited to share both positive and negative experiences about using Facebook for the purposes targeted by the study.

Results

Four of the twelve participants indicated that before this study was initiated they were very familiar with using Facebook.? The other eight were mostly to very unfamiliar with using it.? At the conclusion of the study, all but one participant reported feeling either a ?high? or ?medium? level of comfort using Facebook. This seems to indicate that Facebook is a relatively easy tool to learn, and that extensive training in how to use it may not be needed.

In terms of how they used Facebook, the majority of the directors (10/12) posted information on their Facebook wall and created events.? Half of the participants used Facebook to communicate with individual students and groups of students as well as to post pictures.

On a scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree, half of the respondents strongly agreed that students were better informed about activities/classes because of their programme Facebook group.? The other half slightly or mostly agreed that students were better informed.? No one disagreed.?? One respondent shared that students in his classes were sending their friends to Facebook to check out the programme?s scheduled classes and activities.? Another indicated that based on his experience, Facebook was a superior communication tool to other more traditional forms of communication stating:

In the past, whenever I have sent emails to groups of students advertising events or classes, they tended not to respond or even get the emails. Using Facebook, however, I noticed a marked increase in the number of those who not only received the announcement but also responded. I have found that if I post something on someone?s wall, they will usually respond.

In some cases, students would use the Facebook page as a way to directly contact programme administrators. In one instance, a student wanted to attend some make up classes in order to receive a special recognition offered by the institution. The director was able to publicly respond to the question, thus addressing the needs of one individual, and hopefully passing on the information to others.

Several students in one programme expressed their appreciation to the programme director for using Facebook to communicate with them.? In the one of the programmes in Per? the director reported greater interest in their activities than they have seen before. Another director found that posting information on student?s walls generated a much higher response rate from the student than an email would.

In terms of class and activity attendance, eleven respondents felt that class attendance slightly to dramatically increased through the use of Facebook (See Figure 1).? All twelve felt that programme activity attendance increased as a result of its use with almost half strongly feeling that this was the case.? One director reported a specific increase of additional students, stating ?At our last activity we had close to 15 additional people that came as a direct result of the Facebook posting (announcement). We have seen a few of them more involved now with [our classes as well]. Anne [a new participant in the programme] volunteered to make our weekly breakfast ?. Her connection and comfortableness came because of the Facebook friends and connection.?

One other director reported tripling of the number of students enrolled in class.? For the other programme directors class and activity attendance had increased more modestly, where they reported small but noticeable increases. A third of the respondents stated that over the course of the study, momentum for its use as a programme communication tool among students did and they projected would continue to increase.

A negatively phrased item was crafted to encourage the respondents to really think about the benefit of this medium in terms of increasing class attendance.? It read ?Overall, Facebook is nice but does not really make a difference in getting more young people to attend programme classes?.? Ten of the twelve slightly-to-strongly disagreed with this statement with only one slightly agreeing with it (see Figure 2). The respondent who slightly agreed felt that asking students to go somewhere online to find out information about the classes/activities was less effective than sending the information directly to them via email.? On the whole though, respondents commented that Facebook is a medium where students they cater to communicate and express themselves.? By going directly to where they ?hang out? to promote programme classes and activities they are able to enter a place where the free flow of communication among their target audience is most prevalent.

Hilton1

One programme administrator put it this way: ?I feel that Facebook is more than nice in that it is a major way in which young adults communicate and express themselves. I?ve had a far higher rate of accountability for absences than before.? Another stated, ?Ultimately, the real difference maker is the principle of personal contact, be that via Facebook, email, text, phone call, personal visit, etc. I feel that Facebook has assisted me as a teacher and administrator better facilitate that personal contact.?

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Another area in which respondents were surveyed concerned the amount of time that was spent using Facebook. Obviously, even if there were an increase in participation in programme activity, if this came at the cost of multiple hours spent on Facebook, the use of Facebook would need to be more carefully considered. Nine of the twelve reported spending on average 15 minutes to one hour a week using Facebook for programme purposes. ?Two reported an average use of two hours and one reported four hours.? Thus it was determined that for the most part, Facebook would not be such a time-consuming issue as to detract from other responsibilities of programme administrators.

One of the concerns from an institutional perspective was that being on Facebook would have unintended consequences for the programme, such as the inappropriate posts described in the review of literature. In addition, a concern was that spammers would make posts on these pages and cause damage to the online reputation of the organisations.

To see if this was the case, researchers observed the various groups that were set up. They found that spammers did make posts on 3 of the walls, but these were quickly taken down by the local institutions. In general, spam did not appear to be a problem. The directors as a whole did not seem to consider taking down spam or inappropriate comments to be a problem. One of the directors from Peru said, ?No considero mayor problema, siempre que se pueda quitar los comentarios inadecuados? (?I don?t consider it to be a big problem, one can always take down inappropriate comments?).

Another concern shared by administrators of the programme was the possibility of inappropriate postings being made that would reflect poorly on the organisations. For example, if a programme director were to post something like, ?I hate it when people worry so much about the environment? or ?I loved what President Obama said yesterday!? there was a potential for people with different political views to be offended by such a posting, and as a result stop their participation in the programme. Over the course of the study, no inappropriate postings were observed.

Respondents were directed to indicate the extent to which they agreed with the following statement ?I feel uncomfortable using Facebook because of the potential of being exposed to inappropriate images, sites, or relationships?.? One fourth of the respondents slightly agreed, almost half mostly disagreed and the other fourth strongly disagreed with this statement. One respondent expressed concern because he had people he did not know ?friending? him, and these people were often scantily-clad women who would then provide links to online pornography, something this programme director did not want to participate in.

While to some it might seem like common sense to not befriend total strangers on Facebook (especially if they appear from their profile picture to be promoting something that you do not want to participate in), it was not common sense to this director. This experience demonstrated that more training may be needed to help some have a greater understanding of how to effectively use Facebook, and avoid certain areas that might be problematic.

Another respondent indicated that because the Facebook site is for institutional purposes it functions like a virtual public setting where an air of professionalism must be maintained.? He believed that an individual bent on inappropriate activities will do so regardless of the venue. In other words, the telephone, email and other technologies could be used to give the organisations a bad image. Facebook is no different, and employees of an organisations should be expected to use Facebook in a professional manner, just as they would any other technology.

Discussion and Conclusion

Facebook clearly is an important method of communication, particularly for students in their twenties. Organisationss that wish to reach this age group are increasingly turning to Facebook to help convey their messages (See Barnes and Mattson, 2010; Roblyer et al., 2010; Madge et al., 2009; Mazer, Murphy and Simonds, 2007). This study showed that the administrators of the twelve programmemes, who were directed to use Facebook as a recruitment and communication tool, felt that the resulting benefits outweighed any associated costs.

The overarching benefit observed in this study included students being better informed about class assignments and activities.? The very fact that educators went to where their students virtually ?hang out? seems to have facilitated these outcomes.? However, being on Facebook does not automatically ensure that students will be better informed, nor more likely to attend class activities.? While some students could have perceived this as an intrusion on their privacy or an inappropriate mixing of their academic and social lives (See Lipka, 2007; Hewitt & Forte (2006), in the present study as well, it did not appear to have a negative effect in the aggregate in terms of increased attendance and students being better informed. There were, as noted, instances of students sharing with their friends? class-related information.? While such an occurrence could be more or less likely to happen depending on the nature of the course, it would be interesting for some educators to consider this possibility if their objective is to generate greater interest in their courses.

While more robust studies could be conducted to more fully flesh out and quantify the related costs associated with using Facebook in this manner, these costs appear to be relatively minimal when compared to the overall benefit. Only a minimal effort was expended to deal with spam, and the potential for inappropriate comments or interactions was not realised during the duration of this study. As noted, the directors had latitude to create personal pages and friend students; however, in terms of communicating with students as an institution, they used the group created for that purpose.

This study had several limitations. First, its scope was small. Only a handful of institutions were chosen to participate in the study, largely because the organisations wanted to be cautious as it began exploring the use of Facebook. Another limitation of this study is that only members of one educational institution participated.? Future studies could expand on this one by examining larger groups of people across several different institutions.

Another limitation was that it may have been too focused on the short-term. Although directors reported seeing improvement in their communication with students, was this an effect of Facebook being a ?new thing? that would eventually wear off? On the other hand, is it possible that the communication impact associated with Facebook would have been even higher had the duration of the study been longer? Another issue that would have benefitted from a longer study period is the issue of inappropriate contact occurring because of Facebook. Just because nothing inappropriate happened in three months, does not mean nothing inappropriate would happen over the course of three years.

Overall, we believe this study should provide encouragement to educational institutions considering the use of Facebook to move forward in their efforts to recruit and interact with students in ways that further their institutional objectives.? If steps are taken to minimise costs, the benefits garnered are more likely to surface. Naturally, Facebook is not a ?silver bullet? for educational or any other kind of organisations efforts to recruit and communicate with students. The question at hand was not whether Facebook should replace email or other ways of communicating with students, but rather should it be added to the toolbox of those reaching out to young adults. Our tentative conclusion is that Facebook can be used as an additional way of connecting with students. Although there is much to learn about social media in general, and Facebook in particular, it is clearly a tool that cannot be overlooked in terms of its potential.

References

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Barnes, N. (2010). ?The Fortune 500 and Social Media: A Longitudinal Study of Blogging, Twitter and Facebook Usage by America?s Largest Companies.? (http://www.umassd.edu/cmr/studiesandresearch/bloggingtwitterandfacebookusage/).

Barnes, N., & Mattson E. (2010). ?Social Media and College Admissions: Higher-Ed Beats Business in Adoption of New Tools for Third Year.? (http://www.umassd.edu/media/umassdartmouth/cmr/studiesandresearch/socialmediaadmissions.pdf).

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Chiaramonte, P., & Gonen, Y. (2010, October 18). Teachers Fired For Flirting on Facebook With Students. New York Post.

Chretien K., Greysen S., Chretien J. & Kind T. (2009). Online posting of unprofessional content by medical students. JAMA 02(12):1309?1315.

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Greysen S, Kind, T. & Chretien, K. (2010). Online Professionalism and the Mirror of Social Media. Journal of General Internal Medicine 25(11), 1227-1229.

Hartshorn, R. & Ajjan, H. (2008). ?Investigating faculty decisions to adopt Web 2.0 technologies: Theory and empirical tests.? Internet and Higher Education 11, 71-80.

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Biographical Statements

John Hilton III received his M.Ed. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and his Ph.D. in Instructional Psychology and Technology at Brigham Young University. He is interested in researching open-access issues, particularly the creation and use of open educational resources, and looking at how free digital distribution affects learning and teaching. He can be reached via http://johnhiltoniii.org

Email: johnhiltoniii@byu.edu

Kenneth J. Plummer received his M.Ed. from the University of Utah in Educational Administration and his Ph.D. in Instructional Psychology and Technology at Brigham Young University. His research interest include making blended learning and flipped classroom models more accessible to university faculty and assessing affective outcomes in a variety of settings.

Appendix A

1. Before this pilot programme how familiar were you with using Facebook?

  • Very Familiar
  • Mostly Familiar
  • Mostly unfamiliar
  • Very unfamiliar

2. Currently, what is your comfort level with Facebook?

3. Which of the following ways did you communicate using Facebook for programme purposes?

  • Posts on the Facebook wall
  • Facebook emails to individual students
  • Facebook emails to groups of students
  • Creating events
  • Posting pictures
  • Other (please specify)

4. I believe that students were better informed about activities/class because of your programme Facebook group.

  • Strongly Agree
  • Mostly Agree
  • Slightly Agree
  • Slightly Disagree
  • Mostly Disagree
  • Strongly Disagree

5. I believe that more students came to CLASSES because of your programme Facebook group.

  • Strongly Agree
  • Mostly Agree
  • Slightly Agree
  • Slightly Disagree
  • Mostly Disagree
  • Strongly Disagree

6. I believe that more students came to programme ACTIVITIES because of our programme Facebook group.

  • Strongly Agree
  • Mostly Agree
  • Slightly Agree
  • Slightly Disagree
  • Mostly Disagree
  • Strongly Disagree

7. Overall, Facebook is nice but does not really make a difference in getting more young people to attend programme activity/classes.

  • Strongly Agree
  • Mostly Agree
  • Slightly Agree
  • Slightly Disagree
  • Mostly Disagree
  • Strongly Disagree

8. On average, how much time each week did you spend using Facebook for programme purposes? Options ? 15 to 6 hour frequency scale with 15 minute increments

9. ?I feel uncomfortable using Facebook because of the potential of being exposed to inappropriate images, sites, or relationships.?

  • Strongly Agree
  • Mostly Agree
  • Slightly Agree
  • Slightly Disagree
  • Mostly Disagree
  • Strongly Disagree

10.? Please share any concrete positive stories (you have not already shared in previous responses) that have resulted from your use of Facebook?

11.? Please share any concrete negative stories (you have not already shared in previous responses) that have resulted from your use of Facebook?

12.? Please share any other insights you have about using Facebook


Source: http://www.digitalcultureandeducation.com/uncategorized/dce_1061_hilton/

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