LEAD Pittsburgh is working to help college students manage stress

Your Jan. 28 story "High Levels of Stress at Carnegie Mellon Decried" and the insightful and heartbreaking column it was based on, written by Carnegie Mellon University senior Katie Chironis, have done great public service in putting the spotlight on the serious issue of students ill-prepared to deal with stress.

While it may be impossible to know all the factors that contributed to the tragic incident at the center of these stories -- a sophomore student's suicide -- we do know from student surveys and independent research that demands on students have increased while resources to help them manage stress or identify more serious problems have not.

Alarmed by numbers that suggest an epidemic-scale problem of depression generally in American society, Pittsburgh philanthropist Sheila Fine organized a group of community volunteers to form Leading Education and Awareness of Depression -- LEAD Pittsburgh. The mission is to develop practical, effective solutions to treat this pervasive behavioral health disorder.

Sobering statistics such as the 1,100-student suicide number reported in your article have prompted LEAD to focus on the college student population.

The result is a new program in the beginning stages of implementation: Student Curriculum on Resilience Education, or SCoRE, which is designed to provide college students with an online, privacy-secured program where they learn effective strategies for dealing with stress. The program is based on education and resiliency skills identified by college professionals, specifically for 18- to 25-year-old students.

Last year, nine colleges and universities launched SCoRE, www.scoreforcollege.org, through a Web-enabled, instructor-led process. This month, LEAD has released a self-paced version for use on college campuses. Students who have participated in early stage testing of the program have found it valuable in helping them become more self-reliant and confident in their ability to manage stress.

LEAD Pittsburgh and the seven Pittsburgh-based foundations that support it believe that one student succumbing to otherwise treatable conditions related to stress is one too many. We are committed to making our college population among the most educated and best-equipped groups in our society to deal effectively with mental health issues related to stress and depression.

TONI MACPHERSON
Executive Director
LEAD Pittsburgh
Downtown

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Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/letters/lead-pittsburgh-is-working-to-help-college-students-manage-stress-672576

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Kapor & NewSchools-Backed Mytonomy Wants To Bring Crowdsourced College Counseling To The Masses

At the end of 2010, Vinay Bhargava decided to leave Google -- not a decision he made lightly after spending seven-plus years in Mountain View and Washington D.C. But the decision became clear after talking to a group of students at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia. The students helped him realize that, in spite of the fact that nearly 26 percent of students hire an independent counselor to help with the college search, the resources for college-bound high school students are few and far between -- especially those that cater to those who are the first in their family to go to college.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/mkb9wOLfV8g/

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No building, no burglary, says Washington court

WENATCHEE, Wash. (AP) -- A Chelan County burglary conviction was overturned when an appeals court decided a fenced area with three sides did not meet the definition of a building.

The appeals court in Spokane said a fenced area can meet the definition of a building, but this case is one fence short.

The Wenatchee World reports ( http://bit.ly/12abjbz ) the decision overturned the conviction of 31-year-old Enrique Retana Gonzalez of Mattawa who was stopped near Wenatchee in August 2011 with a stolen outboard motor in his car. He was convicted of second-degree burglary.

Chief Appellate Judge Kevin Korsmo said in an opinion issued Tuesday that it wasn't a burglary because the motor was taken from a partially fenced storage yard.

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Information from: The Wenatchee World, http://www.wenatcheeworld.com

Source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WA_BURGLARY_CONVICTION_OVERTURNED_WAOL-?SITE=VAWAY&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

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My Bloody Valentine ? Electric Brixton, London 27/01/13

My Bloody Valentine fans have got to be amongst the most patient in the world. Their last album came out in 1991. That was 22 years ago. That is longer than some of their fans have been alive.

To be fair to them Loveless is a work of genius and if it has taken them over two decades to recreate even one iota of their past efforts then we can begin to understand where people?s staying power comes from. Whether they manage to create that of course, remains to be seen, as their forthcoming record feels a little less than forthcoming. Even this evening as we file into the unfamiliar but rather Troxy like Electric Brixton we are given but a morsel of the new, and Kevin Shields gently goading opening remark to a heckler that the new album will be out in ?2 or 3 days.?

The morsel in question is known only to us as ?Rough Song?. It is the song they choose to open the set with. A bold move and perhaps one that would have paid off more if the sound wasn?t so muddled. It is a boring complaint I know. It is just as boring for me to have to say it as it is for you to have to read it but that doesn?t detract from the fact that it is true. Everyone here tonight knows it. The shifting glances. The fleeting (to steal an analogy from a friend) Emperor?s New Clothes moment where you are wondering if you?re the only one hearing what you?re hearing. Are you alone in your frustrations? Can everyone else actually hear the vocals? No. No they can?t. Is this supposed to be an instrumental song? No. No it isn?t. But ignoring the fact that we can?t hear Bilinda Butcher?s voice we focus on what we?re left with, and what My Bloody Valentine do best, make noise.

Built around a kind of hollow, bounding rhythm and scattered guitar loop, the debut airing of their first new composition in over 20 years is hardly the most inspiring moment in rock and roll history. But then, it is difficult to really explain why we would have expected anything else. Even regardless of the fact this is a warm up show, designed to iron out the kinks, My Bloody Valentine hardly have a track record of undertaking the most technically proficient outings. The sound desk eventually half catches up with itself around ?Cigarette In Your Bed?, sadly leaving unfulfilled versions of ?Honey Power? and ?You Never Should? in its wake. A rare airing of the You Made Me Realise EP track ?brings the disorientating levels of noise promised and warned against in the Electric?s hallway and the myth of My Bloody Valentine?s vomit inducing, glass smashing decibel levels.

As we watch portions of the crowd swell with the swirling facets of ?Thorn? and the perfectly psychedelic visuals, we can?t help but cast our minds back to an article we?d published earlier in the day about 10 fictional bands we wished were real because it included Disaster Area, the loudest band in the galaxy. And while Hotblack Desiato Kevin Shields ain?t, we have to smile at the fact this is probably the closest we?ll ever be to getting our wish. ?To Here Knows When? and ?Soon? are beyond blistering highlights, enveloping your senses and invading your personal space. No matter how much you adjust those cheap foam ear plugs the distorted ravaging, pitch bending guitars will consume you. You are powerless to resist.

Ending their set as they always do on ?You Made Me Realise? the vocals still find themselves way too low in the mix and the guitars way too high. It?s ?holocaust? section, which in onslaughts of old lasted between 30 and 40 minutes, tonight only clocks in around the 5 minute mark, in a more subdued manner than we had hoped. But then, as I mentioned earlier, it is very difficult to explain what we hoped for going in to the Electric and it would have been pretty ludicrous to have expected it anyway. So rather, we?ll focus on what we actually got which was a largely inaudible fairly underwhelming outing that eventually morphed into an inaudible yet mesmerising reaffirmation that my god, My Bloody Valentine are back and we?re still perfectly happy to wait, patiently.

Setlist

Rough Track
I Only Said
When You Sleep
You Never Should
Honey Power
Cigarette In Your Bed
Come In Alone
Only Shallow
Thorn
Nothing Much To Lose
To Here Knows When
Slow
Soon
Feed Me With Your Kiss
You Made Me Realise

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thelineofbestfit/~3/VFZm43Ri5ds/my-bloody-valentine-electric-brixton-london-270113-117101

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Reconcilable differences: Study uncovers the common ground of scientific opposites

Jan. 30, 2013 ? Searching for common elements in seemingly incompatible scientific theories may lead to the discovery of new ones that revolutionize our understanding of the world.

Such is the idea behind a mathematical framework Princeton University researchers developed that strips away the differences between scientific laws and theories to reveal how the ideas are compatible. In a recent report in the journal Physical Review Letters, the authors explain how the mathematical model finds common ground between the famously at-odds physics equations that govern classical and quantum mechanics.

In their paper, the researchers attempt to reconcile classical and quantum mechanics. Simply put, classical mechanics -- based on the ideas of English scientist Isaac Newton -- describes the ordered laws of motion for large objects and systems. Quantum mechanics relates more to the chaotic motion and activity of microscopic particles.

Lead author Denys Bondar, a postdoctoral research associate in Princeton's Department of Chemistry, explained that the Princeton framework -- called operational dynamic modeling -- is intended to streamline the development of novel theories, a typically painstaking process that can be for naught if the end result does not agree with experimental data. The framework unpacks and mathematically tests the basic algebra of a theory against that of observed data. If they reconcile, the newborn theory might be valid, Bondar said.

"We have a new theoretical tool that we can use to look at old problems and try to solve new problems," Bondar said. He worked with second author Renan Cabrera, a Princeton postdoctoral research associate in chemistry; senior researcher Herschel Rabitz, Princeton's Charles Phelps Smyth '16 *17 Professor of Chemistry; Robert Lompay, a physics graduate student at Uzhgorod National University in Ukraine; and Misha Ivanov, a physics professor at Imperial College London.

The Princeton model builds on theorems that Austrian physicist Paul Ehrenfest developed in the 20th century to illustrate the similarities between classical and quantum mechanics. Putting these theorems into action, Bondar and his colleagues pared the differences between these branches of physics down to a single mathematical consideration: to commute or not to commute. This Shakespearean-sounding crossroads relates to whether the result relies on the order of the experimental measurements.

If the same conclusion can be drawn regardless of how the measurements are arranged, the theory is commutative. If the result depends on a specific sequence, it is non-commutative. At this point, any novel theory can be characterized as classical or quantum, Bondar said. If the theory is commutative it is classical; if not, it has quantum elements.

"Scientists are taught from the time they are students that classical and quantum mechanics can never be reconciled," Bondar said. "But now we have one equation for classical and quantum mechanics. We can make the transition from classical to quantum mechanics in a smooth and straightforward way."

The benefit of the model, Cabrera said, is that experimental systems can be constructed more in accordance with particular mechanics as they are being developed. In addition, it can reveal if and how a novel theory relates to classical or quantum mechanics in a way that might not have been considered initially, he said.

"This model allows us to experience mathematically classical or quantum theories in a more similar way than before and find common ground only differentiated by the ability to commute or not commute," Cabrera said.

Robert Gilmore, a physics professor at Drexel University, said that the Princeton framework is a unique and well-designed initial step toward bringing classical and quantum mechanics under the same theoretical roof. Gilmore is familiar with the work, but had no role in it.

The researchers "provide the smoothest possible transition from quantum mechanics to classical mechanics," Gilmore said. "Their vision is that it is possible to formulate physical theory in such a way that both classical mechanics and quantum mechanics play by the same rules. In order to do this, they upend one of the classical early results of quantum mechanics: the Ehrenfest theorems."

Though the model is simple -- its experimental basis is the position and velocity of a single electron -- it could be matured to describe more complicated physical phenomena, Gilmore said.

"In order to deepen our understanding of quantum mechanics, this theory must be extended in several directions," he said. "This paper seems to provide one footing for a larger foundation that will be needed to build a more comprehensive theory including both classical and quantum mechanics."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Princeton University.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Denys Bondar, Renan Cabrera, Robert Lompay, Misha Ivanov, Herschel Rabitz. Operational Dynamic Modeling Transcending Quantum and Classical Mechanics. Physical Review Letters, 2012; 109 (19) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.190403

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/top_news/top_technology/~3/fPgylwUPCNA/130130132447.htm

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California police probe stunts that shut down freeways

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The California Highway Patrol is investigating two apparently unrelated stunts that jammed freeways over the weekend, including one involving hundreds of motorcyclists celebrating a marriage proposal that inconvenienced motorists east of Los Angeles.

Both events created a flurry of viral Internet videos, fueling concerns about a repeat performance by copycats.

On Interstate 10 east of Los Angeles on Sunday, up to 300 bikers stopped traffic so that one of them could propose to his girlfriend, said Officer Vince Ramirez, a Los Angeles-area spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.

Video that surfaced online of the stunt showed some bikers creating a wall of smoke by spinning their tires against the concrete. In the middle of the gathering, pink smoke could be seen wafting into the air.

As they exited the freeway, several bikers were later ticketed for reckless riding unrelated to their possible role in the freeway shutdown, Ramirez said.

He said officers were working with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office to prepare additional charges against some of the bikers.

The stunt did not cause any injuries or collisions, he said.

In Oakland on Saturday, traffic ground to a halt on Interstate 880 near the city's sports coliseum, as several sports cars did doughnuts, spinning around and filling the air with tire smoke, officials said. Stunned motorists exited their cars and watched.

Several motorists caught in the sudden traffic jam were frightened or angry, according to recordings of calls to authorities released on Tuesday.

"I can't believe this - I have three kids in the car," one caller told an Oakland-area dispatcher. "It scares the hell out of me."

Authorities have not found or identified any of the drivers, said California Highway Patrol Sergeant Diana McDermott.

California Highway Patrol officers said they feared the weekend events' popularity on social media websites could start a dangerous trend. So far, such stunts have been rare, they said.

"That's why the investigation is expanding," Ramirez said.

"If there are any criminal charges that can be filed as a result of this incident, they will be filed," he said.

(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis, Tom Brown and Eric Walsh)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/california-police-probe-stunts-shut-down-freeways-030440589.html

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Toyota recalls 1.29M vehicles for air bags, wipers

FILE - In this April 13, 2010 file photo, the Lexus logo is seen on a sign at a dealership in Portland, Maine. Toyota is recalling 907,000 vehicles, mostly Corolla models, around the world for faulty air bags and another 385,000 Lexus IS luxury cars for defective wipers. Toyota Motor Corp. spokesman Naoto Fuse said Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, there have been no accidents or injuries related to either of those defects, but the Japanese automaker received 46 reports of problems involving the air bags from North America, and one from Japan. There were 25 reports of problems related to the windshield wipers. (AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach, File)

FILE - In this April 13, 2010 file photo, the Lexus logo is seen on a sign at a dealership in Portland, Maine. Toyota is recalling 907,000 vehicles, mostly Corolla models, around the world for faulty air bags and another 385,000 Lexus IS luxury cars for defective wipers. Toyota Motor Corp. spokesman Naoto Fuse said Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, there have been no accidents or injuries related to either of those defects, but the Japanese automaker received 46 reports of problems involving the air bags from North America, and one from Japan. There were 25 reports of problems related to the windshield wipers. (AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach, File)

TOKYO (AP) ? Toyota is recalling over one million cars around the world for faulty air bags and defective windshield wipers.

The move comes just days after Toyota regained its spot as the world's No. 1 automaker from U.S. rival General Motors Co., with global vehicle sales that climbed to a record 9.748 million vehicles. The company is now recalling 907,000 cars, mostly Corollas, due to air bags that can improperly inflate when the vehicle's electronic signals damage a chip in the part that controls the air bags. It also is recalling 385,000 Lexus IS luxury cars with wipers that can get stuck if there is heavy snowfall.

Initially, the Japanese automaker had said there were no accidents related to either problem, but Toyota Motor Corp. spokesman Naoto Fuse said Wednesday that two crashes were reported in the U.S. related to the air bag problem. Toyota had not been able to confirm them and Fuse said it is unclear whether anyone was injured in the two crashes. Toyota has confirmed 18 cases in the U.S. of abrasion-type injuries from the air bag problem, he said. In total, the automaker has received 46 reports of problems involving the air bags from North America, and one from Japan, and 25 reports of problems related to the windshield wipers.

As part of the air bag recall, Toyota is recalling some 752,000 Corolla and Corolla Matrix cars in the U.S., about 141,000 vehicles in Canada and thousands of similar vehicles in Japan and Mexico that were manufactured between December 2001 and May 2004. The part will be corrected to be able to block damaging signals, said Fuse.

The problem wipers affect three kinds of Lexus IS models, manufactured from May 2005 to October 2011, including 270,000 vehicles in the U.S. and nearly 17,000 vehicles in Canada. The recall also affects the Lexus IS sold in Europe, the Middle East and China, Toyota said.

Toyota's reputation for top quality has been undermined in the past few years by massive recalls for a spate of problems, including bad brakes, gas pedals and floor mats, mostly in the U.S. Executives have repeatedly promised to beef up quality controls and be quicker with recalls to repair Toyota's image. Toyota has announced some recalls in recent months, but they have been relatively minor, such as floor mats, and generally affect vehicles manufactured before its latest efforts to regain sterling quality.

Last month, Toyota agreed to pay more than $1 billion in the U.S. to settle lawsuits where vehicle owners said the value of their cars and SUVs plummeted after the company recalled millions of vehicles because of sudden-acceleration issues. Executives say they are not admitting fault. But they acknowledge the company is eager to put the recall crisis behind it.

Toyota's production was hit by the quake and tsunami in northeastern Japan in 2011, where key suppliers were located, but it has since recovered, seeing sales grow not only in the U.S. but also in Asia.

___

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at www.twitter.com/yurikageyama

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-01-30-Japan-Toyota%20Recall/id-6c59480385ad4971876669afd4e0bfdb

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Italy's comeback kid Berlusconi defends Mussolini

Vincenzo Pinto / AFP - Getty Images

Italy's former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, seen giving a speech during a campaign rally in Rome Friday, appears to have shrugged off recent scandals.

By Claudio Lavanga, Producer, NBC News

ROME ? He is the comeback kid of Italian politics, but Silvio Berlusconi's attempt to revive his career is under the spotlight after he defended fascist wartime leader Benito Mussolini at a ceremony for victims of the Nazi Holocaust.?

The former prime minister said Mussolini's decision to echo Nazi Germany's anti-Jewish laws had been his "worst fault" as a leader "who in so many other ways did well."

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He said: "It is difficult now to put yourself in the shoes of people who were making decisions at that time. Obviously the government of that time, out of fear that German power might lead to victory, preferred to ally itself with Hitler's Germany rather than opposing it."

The remarks, given?to reporters in Milan on Sunday, prompted outrage from many quarters in Italy and overseas.

?He has lost the plot," said David Patsi, president of the Italian school Dante Alighieri in Jerusalem and whose father was killed in a concentration camp. "He is an idiot. But I am not surprised. Sometime he even reminds me of Mussolini."

He added: "But I don?t think he is the problem. The problem is that a large number of Italians agree with him.??

That helps explain why Berlusconi could still make his comeback, despite a track record would have forced almost any other politician to retire from public life.

In November 2011, he was forced to resign as prime minister after it became clear that his denial of the economic crisis was bringing Italy to the brink of disaster.

In October last year, he was sentenced to four years in prison for an epic offshore tax fraud, put off pending appeals to higher courts.

And, if that weren't enough, he is still on trial for allegedly paying an underage exotic dancer for sex.

His popularity hit an all-time low and the 76-year-old with a net worth of almost $6 billion --?according to Forbes magazine -- might have been expected to retire to one of his many mansions.

But he was simply waiting for the chance to strike back in the flamboyant style that won him three terms as prime minister.

Following the resignation of Mario Monti -- the technocratic prime minister who replaced him in 2011 promising to reinvigorate Italy's languishing economy -- Berlusconi has done what he does best: He carpet-bombed the Italian media with guest appearances, clocking up an impressive 63 hours of airtime in only 21 days.

In essence, it's as if during the recent U.S. presidential election, former president George W. Bush was given more airtime than Barack Obama and Mitt Romney combined.

Crisis 'wasn't my fault'
Seems inconceivable, but then Italy has always been an exception in the Western world, and flamboyant and media-friendly Berlusconi, even as an outsider, draws a bigger audience than his closest competitors combined.

Officially, Berlusconi is not actually running as a candidate prime minister -- because this was the price it took to persuade the Northern League party to join?Berlusconi's People of Freedom party in a coalition.

But a good result in the elections could mean that all bets are off.

Karima el Marough, better known as "Ruby the Heart Stealer," was called to testify over allegations that former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi paid to have sex with her when she was still a minor. NBC's Claudio Lavanga reports.

?Italy?s economic crisis wasn?t my fault. It was the consequence of the wider international crisis,? a defiant Berlusconi recently told a TV host, before he refused to apologize for previously denying the extent of the crisis.

It would seem to be an uphill task for Berlusconi to win the premiership for a fourth time -- in polls his coalition is trailing the center-left Democratic Party by at least 12 points.

But, after his TV onslaught, Berlusconi's bloc saw its poll rating rise by 3 percentage points.

Berlusconi 'very clever'

Italians are tired of painfully high unemployment rates, rising taxes, tax-evasion clampdowns and plummeting spending power.

But it remains to be seen whether they really believe Berlusconi when he claims that the economic crisis wasn't his fault and that his tax-cutting strategy is the solution.

?Berlusconi has been very clever. He stepped aside when the new government introduced very unpopular austerity measures and has come back in the limelight only now, saying that the cure was worse than the illness,? Maurizio Caprara, a journalist for the daily Corriere della Sera, said.

?Now he is trying to rally again his troops. Many became disillusioned following his many scandals, but many, as the polls show, may decide to give him one more try,? he added.

Monti recently called Berlusconi the "Pied Piper of Hamelin," who ?leads the mice to drown in the river, having fooled Italians three times already.?

And yet, at least according to his recently rising popularity, many Italians seem to find his tune irresistible.??

Related:

Italy's 'bunga bunga' man Berlusconi, 76, unveils girlfriend, 27

Witness: Italian ex-PM Berlusconi hosted strippers dressed as nuns

Woman dressed as burlesque Obama for Berlusconi, court told

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/29/16697505-italys-comeback-kid-berlusconi-defends-wartime-fascist-mussolini?lite

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Integr8 goes global with Fax Unplugged - Bandwidth Blog

The Integr8 Group is re-branding Integr8 Fax to Fax Unplugged as part of the company?s global expansion plans.

Integr8 Fax is a well established and renowned leader in innovative cloud-based technologies around paper to electronic based unified communications, with Fax to email as one of its core offerings.

The company is one of a handful of providers that own and manage their own platform, with a substantial base of resellers that offer fax to email services under their own white labelled brand.

Robert Sussman, joint CEO of Integr8, explains that Fax Unplugged offers precisely the same level of performance, reliability and ease-of-use that customers have come to expect from the company?s fax2email service ? only that it is now being managed under a different brand.

Executive management believe the Fax Unplugged brand has global appeal and also the technical clout to be established more independently and aggressively in the market.

?This will further cement our fax-to-email offering as a corporate service which differentiates itself from casual, non-established email providers in that it is an enterprise grade service. Platforms globally are hosted in carrier grade data centres with full triangulation and redundancy,? Sussman continues.

All communication through the fax servers is recorded via an advanced algorithm which allows for archiving and indexing according to the South African ECT Act or regulatory compliance in the respective country.

Management at Integr8 believe the offering empowers global consumers of solutions that facilitate the transition from paper-based fax to electronic communication.

They also emphasise the opportunity and growing requirement for this level of technology and support within the government sector.

?Whilst it is tricky to quantify the size of the market with total accuracy, there is said to be in the region of almost 13 million email users in South Africa alone. There is definitely growth within the international fax-to-email market and an increase in awareness and interest in this technology on the domestic front,? comments Ashleigh Whitfield, COO, Fax Unplugged.

?This growth is being driven by the advantages this system offers users, including the fact that there is no limit on the number of faxes that can be received, the speed of operation and cost saving due to the automated process that is involved,? she adds.

For more information visit ?www.faxunplugged.com

Source: http://www.bandwidthblog.com/2013/01/29/integr8-goes-global-with-fax-unplugged/

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Murray unveils online budget tool as GOP digs in - Spokesman.com ...

WASHINGTON ? It didn?t take long for U.S. Sen. Patty Murray to get comfortable in her new cyberspace digs.
A few days after officially assuming the role of Budget Committee chairwoman, the senior senator from Washington unveiled on Monday a new way for Internet users to get involved in the budget discussion.
The digital solicitation comes as Republican leadership continues chiding the Democrat-led Senate for failing to pass a budget and affirming its staunch opposition to tax hikes. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, for example, said Sunday that inaction from Senate Democrats has led his party to believe??

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WASHINGTON ? It didn?t take long for U.S. Sen. Patty Murray to get comfortable in her new cyberspace digs.

A few days after officially assuming the role of Budget Committee chairwoman, the senior senator from Washington unveiled on Monday a new way for Internet users to get involved in the budget discussion.

The digital solicitation comes as Republican leadership continues chiding the Democrat-led Senate for failing to pass a budget and affirming its staunch opposition to tax hikes. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, for example, said Sunday that inaction from Senate Democrats has led his party to believe deep, automatic spending cuts known as sequestration will occur.

Murray is taking the pressure in stride, rolling out an online destination for taxpayers to share their thoughts on the budget process.

?The federal budget is where we lay out our values, our priorities, and our vision for what our government should look like now and in the future,? Murray said in a statement announcing the online MyBudget tool. ?So I believe that it is absolutely critical that the ideas and perspectives of families across America are heard loud and clear in a budget process that belongs to them, but is too often limited to politicians and bureaucrats.?

The Senate Budget Committee is responsible for bringing a budget resolution to the floor for a vote. That hasn?t happened since April 2009, which prompted a move by House Republicans last week to call for withholding pay from members of Congress until they?ve come up with a spending plan.

For her part, Murray joined several prominent Democrats in promising a budget would pass the Senate this spring. Murray said the MyBudget initiative is a way of incorporating the priorities and ideas of all Americans into that process.

MyBudget, available through the Democratic Majority Budget Committee?s webpage at budget.senate.gov/democratic, is set up like an online survey. Users must submit their name, city, state and email address to weigh in on questions concerning budget priorities, ideas for spending cuts and how federal spending impacts their lives. In her announcement, Murray said she?d eventually like to see the platform work as a social media hub, allowing users to share ideas with friends and organize through the service.

Failure to come up with a viable spending plan looms large over Washington with sequestration looming. If no alternative is agreed to, automatic spending cuts totaling $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years will begin in March, affecting defense and discretionary spending.

Ryan used weekend appearances on TV news programs to urge movement from the Senate.

?This isn?t a Republican or a Democrat thing,? Ryan told NBC?s David Gregory. ?It?s a math thing, and we have to get serious with this problem if we want to save people from the problems that inevitably would result from a debt crisis.?

Ryan reiterated Republicans? position that further revenue increases through tax hikes would not be a part of the House?s budget plan. He said that issue had been settled with this month?s fiscal cliff deal.

House Speaker John Boehner has said the Republican budget will balance the budget in 10 years. Without tax increases, that plan will likely include deeper cuts to federal spending programs such as Medicare and Pell grants than the budget Ryan drafted last year.

MyBudget will allow a public largely skeptical of Ryan?s budget decisions to offer concrete proposals to Senate committee members. His Medicare voucher proposal, in particular, did not sit well with many Americans. According to an August poll by the Pew Research Center, 49 percent of respondents opposed the plan to reform Medicare by offering future credit for enrollees to purchase private insurance, while 34 percent backed?it.

Kip Hill, a student in the University of Missouri Washington, D.C., Reporting Program, is a correspondent for The?Spokesman-Review.

Source: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/jan/28/murray-unveils-online-budget-tool-gop-digs/

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Early menopause may occur in women with BRCA gene, new study finds

Public release date: 29-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Elizabeth Fernandez
elizabeth.fernandez@ucsf.edu
415-502-6397
University of California - San Francisco

Women with harmful mutations in the BRCA gene, which put them at higher risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer, tend to undergo menopause significantly sooner than other women, allowing them an even briefer reproductive window and possibly a higher risk of infertility, according to a study led by researchers at UC San Francisco.

Moreover, the study showed that carriers of the mutation who are heavy smokers enter menopause at an even earlier age than non-smoking women with the mutation.

While the authors note that further research is needed, given the size and demographics of the study, women with the abnormal gene mutation should consider earlier childbearing, and their doctors should encourage them to initiate fertility counseling along with other medical treatments, the scientists said.

The study will be published online in Cancer on January 29, 2013.

This is the first controlled study to explore the association between BRCA1 and BRCA 2 and the age at onset of menopause, the authors said.

"Our findings show that mutation of these genes has been linked to early menopause, which may lead to a higher incidence of infertility,'' said senior author Mitchell Rosen, MD, director of the UCSF Fertility Preservation Center and associate professor in the UCSF Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences. "This can add to the significant psychological implications of being a BRCA1/2 carrier, and will likely have an impact on reproductive decision-making,'' Rosen said.

Mutations in either of the genes BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 can produce a hereditary, lifetime risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Some women decide to reduce their risk by undergoing prophylactic surgery to remove at-risk tissue, including their breasts and ovaries. The abnormal genes are the most identified inherited cause of breast cancer carriers are five times more likely to develop breast cancer than those without the mutations, according to the National Cancer Institute.

The new study was designed to determine whether women with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation have an earlier onset of menopause compared with unaffected women.

The researchers looked at nearly 400 female carriers of mutations in the BRCA gene in northern California and compared their onset of menopause to that of 765 women in the same geographic area without the mutation. Most of the women in the study were white because almost all of the BRCA1/2 carriers within the UCSF cancer risk registry are white.

The scientists found that women with the harmful mutation experienced menopause at a significantly younger age 50 years -- compared to age 53 for the other midlife women.

Heavy smokers (more than 20 cigarettes a day) with the abnormal gene had an even earlier onset of menopause -- 46 years. By comparison, only seven percent of white women in northern California had undergone menopause by that age, said the authors. Smoking has been shown to alter menstrual cycles and estrogen status, among other impacts.

The authors point out that while their study shows a possible increased risk of infertility for the mutation carriers, further study is needed. They also said that data regarding the age of natural menopause is limited because most women with the mutation are recommended to undergo risk-reducing surgery after they complete childbearing.

"Women with the mutation are faced with challenges in reproductive choices,'' said study co-author Lee-may Chen, MD, a professor in the UCSF Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Services. "These data may help women understand that their childbearing years may be even more limited by earlier menopause, so that they can make decisions about their reproductive choices and cancer risk-reducing surgery.''

###

The first author of the study is Wayne T. Lin, MD, MPH, who at the time of the research was a resident at UCSF and is now a fellow at the Brigham and Women's Hospital at Harvard Medical School. Other authors include Marcelle Cedars, MD, a UCSF professor and director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Services ; and Mary Beattie, MD, clinical professor in the UCSF Department of Medicine. Study data was collected from the Cancer Risk Program at UCSF and the northern California site of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation, a project of the University of California Davis and Kaiser Permanente.

Funding for the study was provided by National Institutes of Health grants NR004061, AG012505, AG012535, AG012531, AG012539, AG012546, AG012553, AG012554, and AG012495. Support was also provided by the UCSF Cancer Risk Program Patient Registry, which is supported by the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation has grant support from the NIH, Department of Health and Human Services through the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Nursing Research, and the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health.

UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.

Follow UCSF
UCSF.edu | Facebook.com/ucsf | Twitter.com/ucsf | YouTube.com/ucsf

---

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?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 29-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Elizabeth Fernandez
elizabeth.fernandez@ucsf.edu
415-502-6397
University of California - San Francisco

Women with harmful mutations in the BRCA gene, which put them at higher risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer, tend to undergo menopause significantly sooner than other women, allowing them an even briefer reproductive window and possibly a higher risk of infertility, according to a study led by researchers at UC San Francisco.

Moreover, the study showed that carriers of the mutation who are heavy smokers enter menopause at an even earlier age than non-smoking women with the mutation.

While the authors note that further research is needed, given the size and demographics of the study, women with the abnormal gene mutation should consider earlier childbearing, and their doctors should encourage them to initiate fertility counseling along with other medical treatments, the scientists said.

The study will be published online in Cancer on January 29, 2013.

This is the first controlled study to explore the association between BRCA1 and BRCA 2 and the age at onset of menopause, the authors said.

"Our findings show that mutation of these genes has been linked to early menopause, which may lead to a higher incidence of infertility,'' said senior author Mitchell Rosen, MD, director of the UCSF Fertility Preservation Center and associate professor in the UCSF Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences. "This can add to the significant psychological implications of being a BRCA1/2 carrier, and will likely have an impact on reproductive decision-making,'' Rosen said.

Mutations in either of the genes BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 can produce a hereditary, lifetime risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Some women decide to reduce their risk by undergoing prophylactic surgery to remove at-risk tissue, including their breasts and ovaries. The abnormal genes are the most identified inherited cause of breast cancer carriers are five times more likely to develop breast cancer than those without the mutations, according to the National Cancer Institute.

The new study was designed to determine whether women with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation have an earlier onset of menopause compared with unaffected women.

The researchers looked at nearly 400 female carriers of mutations in the BRCA gene in northern California and compared their onset of menopause to that of 765 women in the same geographic area without the mutation. Most of the women in the study were white because almost all of the BRCA1/2 carriers within the UCSF cancer risk registry are white.

The scientists found that women with the harmful mutation experienced menopause at a significantly younger age 50 years -- compared to age 53 for the other midlife women.

Heavy smokers (more than 20 cigarettes a day) with the abnormal gene had an even earlier onset of menopause -- 46 years. By comparison, only seven percent of white women in northern California had undergone menopause by that age, said the authors. Smoking has been shown to alter menstrual cycles and estrogen status, among other impacts.

The authors point out that while their study shows a possible increased risk of infertility for the mutation carriers, further study is needed. They also said that data regarding the age of natural menopause is limited because most women with the mutation are recommended to undergo risk-reducing surgery after they complete childbearing.

"Women with the mutation are faced with challenges in reproductive choices,'' said study co-author Lee-may Chen, MD, a professor in the UCSF Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Services. "These data may help women understand that their childbearing years may be even more limited by earlier menopause, so that they can make decisions about their reproductive choices and cancer risk-reducing surgery.''

###

The first author of the study is Wayne T. Lin, MD, MPH, who at the time of the research was a resident at UCSF and is now a fellow at the Brigham and Women's Hospital at Harvard Medical School. Other authors include Marcelle Cedars, MD, a UCSF professor and director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Services ; and Mary Beattie, MD, clinical professor in the UCSF Department of Medicine. Study data was collected from the Cancer Risk Program at UCSF and the northern California site of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation, a project of the University of California Davis and Kaiser Permanente.

Funding for the study was provided by National Institutes of Health grants NR004061, AG012505, AG012535, AG012531, AG012539, AG012546, AG012553, AG012554, and AG012495. Support was also provided by the UCSF Cancer Risk Program Patient Registry, which is supported by the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation has grant support from the NIH, Department of Health and Human Services through the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Nursing Research, and the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health.

UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.

Follow UCSF
UCSF.edu | Facebook.com/ucsf | Twitter.com/ucsf | YouTube.com/ucsf

---

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?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/uoc--emm012513.php

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Miley Cyrus Shows Off Figure, Plans Return to "Raw"

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/01/miley-cyrus-shows-off-figure-plans-return-to-raw/

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Tina Fey: Mean Girls Musical May Happen!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/01/tina-fey-mean-girls-musical-may-happen/

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NPL part of ?1 billion graphene research consortium

Public release date: 28-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Joe Meaney
joe@proofcommunication.com
44-787-546-9309
National Physical Laboratory

10-year funding designed to speed up process of bringing graphene products to market

The UK's National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is part of a consortium that has been funded half a billion Euros by the European Commission to develop the potential of graphene along with related materials for applications in computing, batteries and sensors.

The new funding, in addition to support from the European Metrology Research Programme and the UK's National Measurement Office, will help advance NPL's work on more accurate quantum standards based on graphene an ultrathin, flexible and conducting form of carbon and other low-dimensional materials. This will help to develop and improve measurement methods, which will ultimately fast track the time it takes to bring graphene technologies to market.

The Graphene Flagship project aims to lead to development of new materials that will revolutionise diverse industries. It will be coordinated by theoretical physicist Jari Kinaret at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden.

NPL's role in the project is twofold. Firstly, it will demonstrate more accurate and easy to use quantum standards based on graphene and other low-dimensional materials, and secondly it will develop and improve the measurement methods that will help bring graphene technologies to market.

NPL's Alexander Tzalenchuk, Principal Research Scientist in NPL's Quantum Detection Group and the Principal Investigator on this project, said: "The NPL Quantum Detection Group is proud to be part of the Graphene Flagship consortium, particularly as the sole National Measurement Institute from Europe. This recognises our important contribution to the field of graphene metrology, and the essential role of measurement in underpinning the development of new science and technology for effective real world applications."

Potential applications of graphene are manifold, but those that are anticipated in the near future range from ultrathin, flexible, cheap touch-screen displays to "morphable" gadgets, such as smart-phones. Graphene could also soon have a role in developing very high frequency (THz) transistors, photo-detectors, optical modulators, mode-locked lasers, transparent electrodes for solar cells and the next generation of batteries and super-capacitors. Lightweight extra-strong composite materials, conducting paints and various coatings, as well as atom-thin filters based on graphene are also anticipated.

The European Commission chose two flagship research proposals to fund following a well publicised two-year competition. The second project aims to simulate everything known about the human brain in a supercomputer to aid medical advancement in brain disorders. Both projects will receive 1 billion over ten years, half will be provided by the European Commission and half by participants.

The Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) Flagship competition was launched in 2009 as a challenge to apply information and communication technologies to social problems. The final winners were selected from a shortlist of six projects as being the most likely to achieve the paradigm-shifting advances desired. They will now enter a 'ramp-up' phase, receiving 54 million each over 30 months from the EU's 7th Framework Programme of Research. Subsequent phases will be supported under its successor, Horizon 2020.

###

UK partners for the Graphene Flagship project are: University of Manchester, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, University College London, University of Lancaster, Aixtron Ltd., Nokia UK Oxford Instruments and NPL .

More information on the graphene project: http://www.graphene-flagship.eu.

---

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 28-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Joe Meaney
joe@proofcommunication.com
44-787-546-9309
National Physical Laboratory

10-year funding designed to speed up process of bringing graphene products to market

The UK's National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is part of a consortium that has been funded half a billion Euros by the European Commission to develop the potential of graphene along with related materials for applications in computing, batteries and sensors.

The new funding, in addition to support from the European Metrology Research Programme and the UK's National Measurement Office, will help advance NPL's work on more accurate quantum standards based on graphene an ultrathin, flexible and conducting form of carbon and other low-dimensional materials. This will help to develop and improve measurement methods, which will ultimately fast track the time it takes to bring graphene technologies to market.

The Graphene Flagship project aims to lead to development of new materials that will revolutionise diverse industries. It will be coordinated by theoretical physicist Jari Kinaret at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden.

NPL's role in the project is twofold. Firstly, it will demonstrate more accurate and easy to use quantum standards based on graphene and other low-dimensional materials, and secondly it will develop and improve the measurement methods that will help bring graphene technologies to market.

NPL's Alexander Tzalenchuk, Principal Research Scientist in NPL's Quantum Detection Group and the Principal Investigator on this project, said: "The NPL Quantum Detection Group is proud to be part of the Graphene Flagship consortium, particularly as the sole National Measurement Institute from Europe. This recognises our important contribution to the field of graphene metrology, and the essential role of measurement in underpinning the development of new science and technology for effective real world applications."

Potential applications of graphene are manifold, but those that are anticipated in the near future range from ultrathin, flexible, cheap touch-screen displays to "morphable" gadgets, such as smart-phones. Graphene could also soon have a role in developing very high frequency (THz) transistors, photo-detectors, optical modulators, mode-locked lasers, transparent electrodes for solar cells and the next generation of batteries and super-capacitors. Lightweight extra-strong composite materials, conducting paints and various coatings, as well as atom-thin filters based on graphene are also anticipated.

The European Commission chose two flagship research proposals to fund following a well publicised two-year competition. The second project aims to simulate everything known about the human brain in a supercomputer to aid medical advancement in brain disorders. Both projects will receive 1 billion over ten years, half will be provided by the European Commission and half by participants.

The Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) Flagship competition was launched in 2009 as a challenge to apply information and communication technologies to social problems. The final winners were selected from a shortlist of six projects as being the most likely to achieve the paradigm-shifting advances desired. They will now enter a 'ramp-up' phase, receiving 54 million each over 30 months from the EU's 7th Framework Programme of Research. Subsequent phases will be supported under its successor, Horizon 2020.

###

UK partners for the Graphene Flagship project are: University of Manchester, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, University College London, University of Lancaster, Aixtron Ltd., Nokia UK Oxford Instruments and NPL .

More information on the graphene project: http://www.graphene-flagship.eu.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/npl-npo012813.php

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Economists feeling more optimistic about 2013

4 hrs.

The Associated Press , Staff

Economists are increasingly optimistic about growth in the year ahead with hiring expected to pick up in coming months.?

A quarterly survey by the National Association for Business Economists released Monday shows half of the economists polled now expect real gross domestic product ? the value of all goods and services produced in the United States ? to grow between 2 and 4 percent in 2013. That's up from 36 percent of respondents who felt the same way three months earlier.?

About half expect sluggish or negative performance, down from 65 percent in October.?

The latest survey was conducted between Dec. 20 and Jan. 8 and asked 65 economists and others who use economics in the workplace about conditions at their firms or industries. It found that 34 percent of firms now expect to expand their payrolls in the next six months, the highest percentage since April of last year. Meanwhile, 2 percent said they expect their companies to cut payrolls through layoffs, while 14 percent see payrolls trimmed through attrition.?

A quarter of respondents also said employment grew at their firms in the fourth quarter, which is comparable to the levels seen in the first half of 2012. The same percentage also reported a rise in wages at their firms in the final three months of the year, up 10 percentage points from the last survey.?

Overall sales growth was stable in the fourth quarter with results mixed across industries. For instance, growth slowed in the services, finance, insurance and real estate sectors, but rose in the transportation, utilities, information and communications sectors.?

Timothy Gill, chair of NABE's survey committee and director of economics at the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, noted that sales growth was stable despite "widespread uncertainty surrounding the potential impact of the fiscal cliff."?

The "fiscal cliff" refers to the steep tax hikes and spending cuts that were to take effect Jan. 1 unless the White House and Congress reached an agreement to avoid them. The survey found that 27 percent of respondents postponed at least some hiring and capital spending during the quarter as a result, while 72 percent said the issue didn't affect hiring.?

Despite stable sales growth, survey respondents noted that profit margins deteriorated in the fourth quarter, with 25 percent saying their margins increased, down from 27 percent in October. On the flipside, 18 percent reported declining profit margins, compared with 15 percent a year ago. Over the next three months slightly more than a third said they expect primary non-labor costs to rise. That's down from 43 percent in the previous survey.?

Expectations for capital spending over the next year weakened from the last survey. Only 40 percent expect their firms to grow capital spending, down from 52 percent.?

For consumers, the survey suggests modest inflation could be in the works, with two-fifths of respondents ? the highest share over the past year ? saying they expect prices to rise in coming months. Most of those expecting hike prices think the increases will be less than 5 percent.?

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/economywatch/economists-feeling-more-optimistic-about-2013-1C8137827

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Dutch Queen Beatrix abdicating, son will be king

Image taken of a TV screen showing Dutch Queen Beatrix announcing she will abdicate April 30, 2014, during a speech prerecorded in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday Jan. 28, 2013. Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, has ruled the nation of 16 million for more than 32 years and would be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. (AP Photo/NOS Television/Peter Dejong)

Image taken of a TV screen showing Dutch Queen Beatrix announcing she will abdicate April 30, 2014, during a speech prerecorded in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday Jan. 28, 2013. Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, has ruled the nation of 16 million for more than 32 years and would be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. (AP Photo/NOS Television/Peter Dejong)

FILE - In this Sept. 20, 2011 file photo, Dutch Queen Beatrix, center, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, left and Princess Maxima, second left, arrive at the "Hall of Knights" to formally open the new parliamentary year in The Hague, Netherlands. Queen Beatrix announced she is to abdicate in favor of Crown Prince Willem Alexander during a nationally televised speech Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, has ruled the nation of 16 million for more than 32 years and would be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. (AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 20, 2011 file photo, Dutch Queen Beatrix formally opens the new parliamentary year with a speech in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011. Queen Beatrix announced she is to abdicate in favor of Crown Prince Willem Alexander during a nationally televised speech Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, has ruled the nation of 16 million for more than 32 years and would be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. (AP Photo/Toussaint Kluiters, Pool, File)

FILE - In this April 30, 1980 file photo, Princess Juliana, just after her abdication, kisses her eldest daughter Queen Beatrix, left, on the balcony of the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch Queen Beatrix announces she is to abdicate in favor of Crown Prince Willem Alexander during a nationally televised speech Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, has ruled the nation of 16 million for more than 32 years and would be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. (AP Photo/ Ferry van Groen, File)

FILE - In this April 30, 1980 file photo, Queen Beatrix is shown during her crowning ceremony at Nieuwe Kerk, or New Church in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch Queen Beatrix announced she is to abdicate in favor of Crown Prince Willem Alexander during a nationally televised speech Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, has ruled the nation of 16 million for more than 32 years and would be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. (AP Photo, File)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) ? The Netherlands' Queen Beatrix announced Monday that she is ending her reign after 33 years and passing the crown to her eldest son, who has long been groomed to be king but who will have to work hard to match his mother's popularity.

The widely expected abdication comes at a time of debate over the future of the largely ceremonial Dutch monarchy, but also as calm has descended upon the Netherlands after a decade of turmoil that saw Beatrix act as the glue that held together an increasingly divided society.

"Responsibility for our country must now lie in the hands of a new generation," Beatrix, one of Europe's longest-serving monarchs, said in the simple, televised speech announcing her abdication.

The queen, who turns 75 in just a few days, said she will step down from the throne on April 30. That same day, her eldest son, Willem-Alexander, will be appointed king at an inauguration in Amsterdam. He will be the Netherlands' first king since Willem III died in 1890.

Willem-Alexander is a 45-year-old father of three young daughters, an International Olympic Committee member, a pilot and a water management expert.

Over the years, he has struggled to win the affection of this nation of 16 million, but his immensely popular wife, the Argentine-born Maxima, has helped him gain more acceptance ever since she brushed away a tear during their wedding in 2002.

They are a hard-working couple: Willem-Alexander regularly gives speeches at water conferences, sharing his low-lying nation's centuries of experience battling to stay dry, while soon-to-be Queen Maxima, a former investment banker, has carved out a career as a microfinance expert.

Together, the pair has often been seen cheering on Dutch sportsmen and women at Olympics from Beijing, to Vancouver and London.

"He's known as 'Mister Water,' isn't he? He seems like a reliable person, just like his mother," said Desiree Hoving, an Amsterdam resident. "I don't really have an emotional response to him, but I do think it's nice that Maxima is going to be queen."

Despite regular public appearances, Willem-Alexander is also fiercely private, giving reporters and photographers brief, choreographed glimpses of his family in return for being left in peace the rest of the time.

"He and Princess Maxima are fully prepared for their future roles," Beatrix said. "They will serve our nation with dedication, faithfully preserve the constitution and bring all their talents to the monarchy."

Despite her popularity, Maxima has always carried an air of controversy because her father was an agriculture minister in the military junta that ruled Argentina with an iron fist in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

In a move that may curtail possible protests, the Royal House said that Maxima told Prime Minister Mark Rutte that her parents will not attend the inauguration.

In her brief, prerecorded speech from her Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague, Beatrix said she was, "deeply grateful for the great faith you have shown in me in the many years that I could be your queen."

The queen's departure is sure to bring about an outpouring of sentimental and patriotic feelings among the Dutch, most of whom adore Beatrix. In everyday conversation, many of her subjects refer to her simply by the nickname "Bea."

Well-wishers immediately gathered outside the palace Monday.

One of them, Laura Dinkshof, took along a homemade orange banner. "We hope the queen will see it," she said. "It says we were very happy with our queen and we wish her a nice retirement and that we have trust in our new king."

Rutte, a staunch monarchist, said that ever since her coronation in 1980, Beatrix ? the nation's oldest-ever monarch ? "applied herself heart and soul for Dutch society."

Beatrix succeeded her mother, Juliana, as head of state, and her reign has been marked by tumultuous shifts in Dutch society and, more recently, by personal tragedy.

Observers believe Beatrix remained on the throne for so long in part because of unrest in Dutch society as the country struggled to assimilate more and more immigrants, mainly Muslims from North Africa, and shifted away from its traditional reputation as one of the world's most tolerant nations.

Beatrix was also thought to be giving time for her son to enjoy fatherhood before taking the throne.

The abdication also comes at a time of trial for Beatrix. A year ago, she was struck by personal tragedy when the second of her three sons, Prince Friso, was left in a coma after being engulfed by an avalanche while skiing in Austria.

And even in a job that is mostly symbolic to begin with, the previous government stripped her of one of her few remaining powers: the ability to name a candidate to begin Cabinet formation after the election of the national parliament.

Beatrix's reign began in difficult economic times and there were riots in Amsterdam at her inauguration, as thousands of demonstrators protesting the city's housing shortages fought pitched battles with police just a few hundred meters (yards) from the downtown palace where she was crowned.

But throughout her tenure she was a calming influence on society, particularly in the aftermath of the 2002 assassination of populist politician Pim Fortuyn and the murder two years later of filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a Muslim extremist.

Personal tragedies have exposed a softer side of the queen and brought her closer to her subjects.

The 2002 death of her German-born husband, Prince Claus, took a toll on her, and it was apparent how deep her reliance on the quiet man had been: she was filmed leaning heavily, almost hanging, on Prince Friso's arm as they entered the church for her spouse's funeral.

In another blow, a deranged loner tried to slam a car into an open-topped bus carrying members of the royal family as they celebrated the Queens Day national holiday in 2009. The driver killed seven people who had gathered to watch the royals, a brazen attack that shocked the nation.

Friso, who had been such a support after Claus' death, remains in a coma. Late last year, the Royal House said he showed "very minimal" signs of consciousness.

"I think it's a good time for her to leave, with all that happened in her life recently," said 44-year-old Bert Duesenberg of The Hague as he stood at the queen's palace gates. "I also think that Alexander is ready to take over, and he has to do that. It is good news, and it's time for the change."

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Associated Press writer Toby Sterling contributed from Amsterdam and Alex Furtula contributed from The Hague.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-28-Netherlands-Queen/id-544a9b9fd7a64ced91264c086025e7d5

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