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Saturday, March 31, 2012
Video Game Review: Assassin's Creed: Revelations | The-Mirror
By: Adam Shaw ?New York
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'ASSASSIN'S CREED: REVELATIONS'--This is the cover of the video game "Assassin's Creed: Revelations." The CNS classification is O--morally offensive. The Entertainment Software Ratings Board rating is M--Mature. (CNS photo/Ubisoft)
?Inspired by historical events, this work of fiction was designed, developed, and produced by a multicultural team of various religious faiths and beliefs.?
The above line may seem an unusual introduction to a video game. Yet anyone who has played any of the predecessors of the ethically illiterate ?Assassin?s Creed: Revelations? (Ubisoft) will understand exactly why the developers decided to cover their, er, backsides once again.
?Revelations? is the fourth major installment in this pseudohistorical series, and is a direct sequel to the third entry??Assassin?s Creed: Brotherhood??which will go down in history as one of the most anti-Catholic video games ever created. A game, that is, in which every member of the church hierarchy is presented as vicious, corrupt, or downright evil, set in a world where cardinals walk around half-naked and engage in orgies, and where the pope is marked as a legitimate target for assassination?by the player.
?Revelations,? however, is much less of an attack on religion than its elder brother, perhaps because the main setting is the Islam-dominated Constantinople of 1511. The developers would not be the first media group to enjoy bashing Catholicism, but then wax respectful?or, perhaps, timid?when Muslims step up for their turn.
As played for review on the Xbox 360, this latest installment continues to focus on the adventures of modern-day Desmond Miles, who, using a machine called the ?Animus,? can access memories of his freedom-fighting ancestors: Altair ibn-La?Ahad and Ezio Auditore da Firenze. By doing this, he hopes to defeat the modern successors of the ancient Knights Templar (how very Dan Brown!) who, it seems, are chasing him.
Although parts of the game takes place in Desmond?s modern-day world, or in Altair?s 12th- and 13th-century Holy Land, the majority takes place in Ezio?s Renaissance-era Constantinople, having moved forward?in more respects than one ?from the medieval Italy of the previous title.
With a lessened anti-religious sentiment, tighter (if unoriginal) gameplay, and crisp new environments for the gamer to explore, it might seem that the latest entry would be a ?Creed? Catholics could potentially support. Unfortunately, however, this iteration ruins itself by advancing and supporting some of the most hypocritical characters to ever (dis-)grace a video game.
Characters ramble inanely, and in haughty tones, about fighting for ?freedom? and on behalf of ?the people.? Yet one of the first missions involves the player using Ezio?s persona to pickpocket passersby. And humble soldiers?drawn, presumably, from the ranks of the unfortunate and the oppressed?have their throats ripped out by trained killers on a regular basis.
Although dispatching opposition forces is an all-too-common element of gaming, it is (thankfully) rare to find the player being encouraged to slay his or her adversaries in such an unprovoked, indiscriminate and bloodthirsty way, and to have death portrayed with such obvious relish.
That this sequential slaughter should be tricked out as a sort of ethical quest, complete with the hit men offering forms of absolution to their victims as the latter expire, will only make it more repugnant to gamers of faith.
Although it?s by no means as blasphemous as its predecessor, the heedless approval of butchery that underlies ?Revelations,? and the slow-motion death sequences by which such mayhem is accompanied, make this one statement of faith to which no believer will want to subscribe.
Also available on Playstation 3 and Microsoft Windows.
The game contains sacrilegious incidents, frequent, excessively gory violence, some mild sexuality, a few uses of profanity, and occasional crude and crass language. The CNS classification is O?morally offensive. The Entertainment Software Ratings Board rating is M?Mature.
Shaw reviews video games for Catholic News Service.
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Tricks to assist your dog and its particular flea difficulties ...
Irrespective of wherever anyone reside, for those who have any dog eventually the dog may have bugs. Flea treatments for pet dogs have introduced extra ease and comfort for pet dogs almost certainly than any other medication within the veterinarian place. A new scratching dog can be quite a nuisance to the manager yet to the dog, it is actually a miserable situation. Fleas crawl about for the pores and skin of the canine, using small gnaws below high along with dog are capable of doing very little to own clear of the bugs. Your pet?s simply recourse should be to scuff what itches understanding that frequently translates to scratching wherever they can accomplish. Dogs will certainly rub in household furniture, place on Advantage Flea Control locations of their backs scrubbing versus a fence as well as munch his or her feet until they will hemorrhage. Itching brings about head of hair lowering as well as skin infections for a number of pet dogs. An allergy towards saliva regarding bugs just isn?t unconventional as well as creates any issue referred to as flea allergy dermatitis. Dogs with this particular hypersensitivity could create important pores and skin issues which were tough to take care of as well as really annoying to the canine. Dogs will certainly munch his or her pores and skin until you will find organic patches in the test to cease the particular itchiness a result of flea gnaws. Thank goodness the dog won?t should switch themselves in a pretzel wanting to eliminate horrible bugs. For pet dogs using flea allergy dermatitis, the optimal goods tend to be flea falls which can be placed for the pores and skin around the top rated of the guitar neck after monthly. For increased pet dogs, it happens to be suggested anyone break down the approval in between the particular guitar neck as well as diminished for the back around the foundation of the end. Three of the absolute best identified goods tend to be Advantage, Frontline In addition as well as Canine Advantix.
Dogs requirement remedies to be able to drive back cardiovascular worms, digestive tract worms, as well as pest gnaws. These kinds of treatments assistance to help keep a pet wholesome, despite the fact that additionally decreasing the particular threat the particular individuals that will are available in acquire with them is going to be bitten or afflicted. A great deal of title brand name treatments may be really expensive. Hence, common K9 Advantix II capsules along with other pet treatments are available to cut back the value towards dog?s manager. Heartgard treatments assistance to defend pet dogs from the likelihood regarding cardiovascular worm as well as digestive tract unwanted organisms. These kinds of unwanted organisms could cause the particular dog to create disease, particularly involving the cardiovascular, that might encourage the crooks to become really not well. Or even stopped or managed, the illness could become really important as well as almost certainly outcome throughout dying. Medicines assistance to cut back this particular threat simply by getting rid of the particular larvae just before they?ve already a possibility to create. Inside initial phases, they don?t pose since a good deal of the menace towards dog. It can be on that basis really essential the particular manager continue to be in top rated of the preventive care. Even so, cardiovascular worm remedies may be expensive to preservation through the particular lifestyle of the dog. Your Dishes as well as Drug Administration (FDA) features accepted Tri-Heart In addition being a common model of the recognized Heartgard In addition for Dogs. In the event the man or woman chooses to do business with this particular alternatively, they will typically understand it for about 50 percent the cost of the particular title brand name model. It is important to examine this particular choice with the veterinarian. Nevertheless, the benefits ought to end up being in regards to the similar because the extra expensive form of this particular common supplement. Other varieties regarding bugs, this type of since fleas and ticks, can also have an impact on the particular well-being of the dog.
Merial producers Frontline In addition. It?s really a remedy for the two pet cats as well as pet dogs. For pet dogs, the particular remedy to do business with is actually shown by his or her unwanted weight. It can be safe and sound to do business with for young dogs as well as cats as young as 8 weeks of aging. Furthermore, the idea works extremely well in breeding, lactating, or expecting a baby girls. This kind of could make the idea really functional. Additionally it is really all to easy to employ. The ultimate way to use Frontline In addition Because of the provided contractor, you simply area falls for the nape of the guitar neck. You never ought to location falls all over the pet or spread the idea physically. This performs with the sebaceous glands of the canine. This disperses efficiently to all or any factors within your pet. Any kind of older bugs, ova, as well as larvae is going to be useless within 14 a long time. Your pet can be now guarded for any 30 days. Frontline Plus In addition may be re-applied at the moment for yet another 30 days regarding safety. When you have around one particular pet, you might need to take care of all animals. Guarantee anyone use the appropriate remedy for each and every form regarding canine as well as unwanted weight. Fleas could leap quite a few inches and may on that basis leap from your managed pet on your untreated one particular. Deal with them from after. Fleas can also be witnessed in comfortable locations visited from the domestic pets. This kind of consists of his or her bed linen. Bed linens will certainly ought to end up being rinsed as well as cleaned occasionally. Locations through the entire bed linen ought to be used good care of additionally. Any kind of spot the pet settles for time frame ought to have concentrate. This kind of consists of outdoors locations simultaneously. For everybody who is dealing with a great attack that has happened, it happens to be suggested anyone use a home fogger made with this operate. Fleas are often not being consumed lightly.
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Brand New Sony XAV-72BT 7? In-Dash ... - Atlanta Auto Finance
Sony's XAV-72BT DVD receiver combines a bright, high-resolution 7" touchscreen with the safety of hands-free calls with your Bluetooth? phone. Built-in Bluetooth Once you pair your mobile device with the XAV-72BT, your days of fumbling around for your phone are over. When a call comes in, you just touch a button and start talking - the supplied microphone picks up your voice and sends it to your caller, while you hear your caller's voice over your car's speakers. Touchscreen control with a twist As you'd expect, you control all your receiver functions and entertainment options with the big 7" touchscreen. But Sony adds a couple of cool twists. Gesture Control lets you make quick changes to your music or video. Cool A/V capabilities Sony's SensMe? technology lets you organize an entire library of music according to your mood. Load a USB memory device with a library of songs, then use the included SensMe software in your computer to organize it into channels like Morning, Energetic, Chillout Drive, and Going Home - 20 channels in all. Audio control Sony's Advanced Sound Engine gives you lots of options for making your music sound its best. You can use the 7-band EQ to adjust the highs, mids, and lows to fit your vehicle, then time align your speakers so all the music reaches the driver's seat at the same time. Seamless iPod? control You can plug your iPod into the XAV-72BT's USB input for direct control and playback of audio files - add Sony's optional RC-202IPV cable for playback of your iPod video content. You can switch to Passenger Control mode if you or your passengers prefer using the iPod's controls. Search for music by Playlist, Artists, Album, Genre, Track, or Podcast, all with a few touches of the screen. Note: If you're going to use your iPod with this receiver, be sure to check "Details" for specific iPod model compatibility with this receiver on the manufacturers site.
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Friday, March 30, 2012
RFO for CSJMM Strategic Planning Services
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP)
Issue Date: March 30, 2012
Proposal Due Date: April 23, 2012 (By close of business day 6:00 p.m.)
Anticipated Award Date: May 4, 2012
All Bidders should prepare a response before April 20, 2012.
I. Introduction
IREX, (International Research & Exchanges Board), under the scope of G-MEDIA program is seeking proposals from qualified organizations to provide Strategic Planning Services for IREX/G-MEDIA sub-grant recipient Caucasus School of Journalism and Media Management (CSJMM) at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA).
II. Project Requirements
A. Background
About IREX
IREX (the International Research & Exchanges Board) is the premier US nonprofit organization specializing in higher education, independent media, Internet development, and civil society programs in the United States, Europe, Eurasia, the Near East, and Asia. Since its founding in 1968, IREX has supported over 15,000 students, scholars, policymakers, business leaders, journalists, and other professionals. IREX serves as a major resource for universities, governments, and the corporate sector in understanding international political, social, economic, and business developments.
The IREX Mission
? Foster democracy in transitioning societies
? Strengthen and help internationalize educational, nongovernmental, and media organizations
? Support the highest-quality research in the social sciences and humanities
? Identify and train the next generation of leaders by working together with universities, nongovernmental organizations, foundations, governments, and corporations
About G-MEDIA Program
Funded by USAID, Georgian Media Enhance Democracy, Informed Citizenry and Accountability Program (G-MEDIA) is to improve the public?s access to a range of sources of news and information by developing a more politically balanced, editorially independent, professional and viable media sector that reaches audiences across Georgia through diverse delivery channels. The program seeks to raise the quality and diversity of media content and broaden delivery channels; improve professionalism, including through university journalism education; depoliticize the regulatory environment and strengthen journalists? capacity to address infringements to their rights and breaches of professional ethics; and improve the viability of media outlets.
IREX has designed and implemented independent media projects in more than 20 countries across Europe and Eurasia. IREX also publishes the annual Media Sustainability Index (MSI), a valuable tool that analyzes the status and progress of independent media
About CSJMM
IREX/G-MEDIA grant recipient the Caucasus School of Journalism and Media Management (CSJMM) is one of three graduate schools at the Zurab Zhvania Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), a non-profit organization concerned with building capacity for effective government, media and civil society. CSJMM currently offers three master?s degree programs: Journalism and Media Management; Journalism and Communication Management and Public Relations. In addition to its degree granting courses, CSJMM trains students and professionals in non-degree programs and trainings.
B. Task Description
IREX is seeking a vendor to facilitate a strategic planning process for the Caucasus School of Journalism and Media Management (CSJMM) that will provide guidance to its management for future decision making and continuous development of its programs and services. The purpose of the strategic planning process will be to assist in (1) determining the local needs which should be addressed; (2) developing a comprehensive and effective 10 year strategic plan.
C. Scope of Services
IREX is seeking a vendor who can assist CSJMM in developing Strategic Plan that will ensure achievement of its mission: to support the development of independent media in the Caucasus by means of educational and training programs in journalism, communication and media management. The school?s philosophy is that journalists? well-grounded in skills to report fairly and accurately and communication specialists ? facilitating a free access to information? will raise the level of journalism where they practice, and will serve the public by providing truthful information and upholding the highest ethical standards of the profession.
IREX is seeking the best strategy that will enable CSJMM to accomplish its mission by (1) exploiting the opportunities and strengths while (2) neutralizing its threats and (3) and correcting (or avoiding) its weaknesses.
IREX recognizes that development of a long range plan should be done as a collaborative process. The strategic planning will include planning, facilitating and evaluating a Planning Retreat with the CSJMM management and staff and, IREX/G-MEDIA representatives to:
? Review and revise, as necessary CSJMM vision and mission statements
? Develop short and long-long term goals and objectives
? Develop key strategies
? Develop key indicators and outcomes that can serve as the basis for performance measurement
The location, cost and event planning of the retreat will be coordinated through IREX/G-MEDIA.
D. Deliverables
Contractor will be responsible for submitting the first draft of the Strategic Plan to IREX and CSJMM for review. After making corrections and revisions to the draft, contractor will make official presentation of the final Strategic Plan to CSJMM and IREX representatives. The dates for submitting the first draft and final Strategic Plan will be specified in the agreement between IREX and Contractor.
IREX anticipates that successful development of a strategic plan will lead to a follow-up project in which vendors will be asked to submit proposals for execution of the plan and direct implementation assistance.
III. Proposal Timeline
A. RFP Release ??March 30
B. Deadline to Submit Questions ??April 9
All questions must be submitted in writing, no later than 6:00 p.m. on April 9, 2012 to the address listed at the end of the document. E-mails are accepted. E-mail subject line must be CSJMM-RFP.
C. Answers to written questions (TENTATIVE) ??April 16
D. Deadline for Proposal Submission ??April 23
E. Review/Approval of Proposal (TENTATIVE) ??May 4
F. Announcement of winner (TENTATIVE) ??May 7
G. Contract signed (TENTATIVE) ??May 14
IV. Proposal Submission
A. Proposal must be received no later than the date and time for proposal submission: April 23, 2012 (By 6 p.m.)
B. All correspondence, including the proposals, must be submitted to:
Tamar Gabisonia, Senior Journalism Education Officer
IREX Georgia
6 Marjanishvili Street
Tbilisi 0102, Georgia
Email: gmedia@irex.ge
C. Proposal Format
Proposals must be submitted in BOTH hard copy and electronic copy in English before the deadline and should contain the following:
1. Summary of organization?s background and experience in similar projects. Vendor must have minimum of (5) years of experience in facilitating the strategic planning process for an educational institution or similar type of organizations.
2. Name, phone number and address of at least three references from similar contracts.
3. A brief synopsis explaining how the vendor sees CSJMM?s needs and how Vendor plans to meet these needs.
4. A detailed description of the proposed plan to achieve the Scope of Services, Section II, as understood by the vendor and the proposed timeline.
5. Cost. Budget proposal excluding VAT which itemizes all costs required to accomplish the work by task. To itemize salaries, indicate each project team member?s name and title, estimated number of hours to work by each, the hourly wage for each, and each employee?s total salary for the work. Hourly wages submitted shall remain in effect until project completion. If the estimated number of hours worked is exceeded, IREX bears no responsibility to compensate for those hours.
6. Resumes of key staff that will be assigned to the project;
7. Certificate of company registration;
8. Proof that company does not have debts to the tax authorities;
9. Any other pertinent information needed to evaluate proposal.
E. Proposal Condition
A. Contingencies
This request does not commit IREX to award a contract. IREX reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals or any part(s) of any or all proposals if IREX determines it is in the best interest of the IREX and CSJMM to do so.
B. Evaluation Process
All proposals will be subject to a standard review process developed by IREX. This includes technical review and evaluation, as well as cost evaluation. The primary consideration shall be the effectiveness of the organization in the delivery of comparable or related services based on demonstrated performance. Performance factors to be evaluated include past experience, delivery date of Strategy Document, cost effectiveness, quality of service, ability to provide complete and through documentation as required by IREX.
Responsive proposals will be evaluated and scored on the following criteria:
? Cost Effectiveness (25%)
? Qualifications of key personnel (25%)
? Quality and appropriateness of the overall methodology and planned activities (30%)
? Organizational capacity ? ability to provide complete and through documentation as required (10%)
? Past references (10%)
C. Incurred Costs
This request does not commit IREX to pay any costs incurred in the preparation of a proposal in response to this request and Proposer agrees that all costs incurred in developing this proposal are the Proposer?s responsibility.
D. Contract Award
Contract will be awarded based on a competitive selection of proposals received.
E. Contract Negotiations
IREX may require the potential contractors selected to participate in negotiations and to submit revisions to pricing, technical information, and/or other items of their proposals as may result from negotiations. The contents of the proposal of the successful Proposer will become contractual obligations, subject to negotiation, and failure to accept these obligations in a contractual agreement may result in cancellation of the award.
Source: http://irex.ge/archives/887
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EPA pulls order forcing driller to provide water
HOUSTON (AP) ? The Environmental Protection Agency said Friday it is no longer requiring a gas driller it had accused of contaminating private wells to provide water to two North Texas families.
The EPA submitted the withdrawal to the court in Texas on Thursday, not long after Judge Trey Loftin concluded residents in Parker County had collaborated with an environmental consultant to falsify video showing how their water ? supposedly contaminated with methane ? could be ignited.
It remains unclear whether the judge's ruling in January influenced the EPA to withdraw its order against Fort Worth, Texas-based Range Resources. But the agency said in a statement this move allows the focus to move "away from litigation and toward a joint effort on the science and safety of energy extraction." Range has agreed to conduct periodic testing at 20 area water wells.
The Texas Railroad Commission, which oversees oil and gas drilling, and Range Resources have long insisted drilling did not cause the water contamination.
The EPA and some Parker County residents had argued fracking had contaminated the water with benzene, methane and other toxic gases. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a drilling method used to extract oil and natural gas embedded in impermeable layers of rock. The process involves pumping chemical-laced water at a high pressure into the ground to release once out-of-reach gas and oil.
The method has allowed drillers to extract gas and oil from shale formations nationwide ? and even globally ? but has been accompanied by concern that it is not environmentally safe.
In northeastern Pennsylvania, the EPA announced earlier this month that testing of water wells had failed to show evidence of contamination. The agency had been delivering water to three of the 11 homes in Dimock, Pa., where residents accuse drillers of contaminating their water. Dimock has been at the center of fierce debate over the environmental impact of drilling in the Marcellus shale.
Range Resources and the Texas Railroad Commission both argued the aquifer in Parker County has always been laced with naturally occurring methane.
"We are very pleased to see that the EPA's order has been withdrawn," Range Resources spokesman Matt Pitzarella said. "It's important for people to know that their environment, health and safety is protected and hopefully this provides them with that comfort."
Pitzarella declined to say whether the January ruling was what sparked negotiations with the EPA. "We believe that the fact that they're withdrawing this order speaks volumes," he said.
The Railroad Commission also welcomed the EPA's decision.
The agency is "guilty of fear mongering, gross negligence and severe mishandling of this case," Commissioner David Porter said in a statement.
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Plushnick-Masti can be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com//RamitMastiAP
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How conservatives lost faith in science
msnbc.com
How do liberals and conservatives differ in their attitudes toward science? Statistics indicate that conservatives' confidence in science as an institution has declined dramatically since 1974.
By Alan Boyle
An analysis of 36 years' worth of polling data indicates that confidence in science as an institution has steadily declined among Americans who consider themselves conservatives, while confidence levels have been at steadier levels for other ideological groups.
The study, published in the April issue of the American Sociological Review, provides fresh ammunition for those who complain that conservative views on issues such as climate change are at odds with the scientific consensus.
"You can see this distrust in science among conservatives reflected in the current Republican primary campaign," Gordon Gauchat, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Sheps Center for Health Services Research, said in a news release from the American Sociological Association. "When people want to define themselves as conservatives relative to moderates and liberals, you often hear them raising questions about the validity of global warming and evolution, and talking about how 'intellectual elites' and scientists don't necessarily have the whole truth."
It's not clear how much impact Gauchat's study will have on the debate over politics and science: Liberals are likely to see it as confirmation of what they already believe, while conservatives who are skeptical about the scientific elite are likely to greet these scientific claims with skepticism as well.
But the analysis represents a serious effort to flesh out political attitudes toward science with real data. Gauchat bases his findings on a statistical analysis of survey results from the General Social Survey, a long-running project that has weighed public confidence in social institutions since 1974. The GSS has been conducted annually or semiannually by the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center, or NORC, with an annual average of 1,500 Americans taking part.
Gauchat cross-referenced attitudes toward the scientific community with various demographic categories, and found that two categories showed a significant erosion of trust in science: conservatives and frequent churchgoers. People who identified themselves as conservatives voiced more confidence in science than moderates or liberals in 1974, but by 2010, that level had fallen by more than 25 percent.
Gordon Gauchat / UNC-Chapel Hill / ASR
This graph shows the unadjusted mean values for public trust in science, classified by self-reported political ideology between 1974 and 2010. The figures are derived from the General Social Survey.
Why the drop? Gauchat suggested that the character of the conservative movement has changed over the past three and a half decades ? and so has the character of the scientific establishment.
"Over the last several decades, there's been an effort among those who define themselves as conservatives to clearly identify what it means to be a conservative," he said. "For whatever reason, this appears to involve opposing science and universities, and what is perceived as the 'liberal culture.' So, self-identified conservatives seem to lump these groups together and rally around the notion that what makes 'us' conservatives is that we don't agree with 'them.'"
Meanwhile, the perception of science's role in society has shifted as well.
"In the past, the scientific community was viewed as concerned primarily with macro structural matters such as winning the space race," Gauchat said. "Today, conservatives perceive the scientific community as more focused on regulatory matters such as stopping industry from producing too much carbon dioxide."
Gauchat's findings run counter to at least one liberal stereotype about conservatives: that right-wingers are distrustful of scientists because they have less education. The figures do support a link between more education and more trust in science, but they also show that more highly educated conservatives are, if anything, more distrustful.
That trend fits best with the concept that "educated or high-information conservatives will hold hyper-opinions about science, because they have a more sophisticated grasp about what types of knowledge will conform with or contradict their ideological positions, and they will prefer to believe what supports their ideology," Gauchat wrote.
So what does this mean for the role of science in setting national policy? "In a political climate in which all sides do not share a basic trust in science, scientific evidence no longer is viewed as a politically neutral factor in judging whether a public policy is good or bad," Gauchat said. Heightened distrust could turn young people away from careers in science and engineering, and in the long run, that could hurt America's standing in a global economy that is becoming increasingly competitive on the technological front.
Vanderbilt University's Jonathan Metzl and Northwestern University's Jennifer Richeson explain the science behind how the brain weighs decisions and forms political beliefs.
'The Republican Brain'
Gauchat took on this project to assess the claims made by science journalist Chris Mooney in his 2005 book, "The Republican War on Science" ? and Mooney, who reviewed the paper before publication, said the findings confirmed those claims.
Wiley
"The Republican Brain" is the latest book from Chris Mooney.
"It's certainly gratifying to see this study come out," Mooney told me. "I appreciate that the author actually undertook to use data. I'm glad I wasn't just whistling in the wind when it came to Republicans and science."
Now Mooney is coming out with another book, titled "The Republican Brain: The Science of Why They Don't Believe in Science."
"In the book, I'm really careful to say there's what we call 'nature' and what we call 'nurture,' and you can't explain anything in politics without both of them," he said. "Whenever you see change in a group over time, that's probably 'nurture.'"
Mooney said the factors Gauchat mentioned would fit in the nurture category, along with the GOP's "Southern strategy" to bring what were once traditionally Democratic states into the Republican fold. "This is tapping into the power of nurture, but I also say we've ignored nature for too long," he said.
In "The Republican Brain," Mooney weaves his case for "nature" in politics from a variety of studies tracing the brain-based differences between liberal and conservative views of reality. (You'll find some of them by following the links below.)
Live Poll
How much of a role do you think genetics plays in political orientation?
179957
It's the biggest factor.
10%
179958
It's a factor, but not that big.
45%
179959
It's not a factor at all.
44%
VoteTotal Votes: 2337
"You're starting to find things about fixity of belief, desire to have certainty, and you see that these things are also associated with conservatism," he said. "These traits are content-neutral. You could take today's conservatives, stick them in [Soviet] Russia, and they can be very pro-science."
Mooney said people may be born with brains that predispose them either to liberal-leaning traits such as "openness to experience," or conservative-leaning traits such as "conscientiousness."
"The research suggests that people are born with a predisposition, but it's only a predisposition," Mooney said. "'Just born that way' is a phrase that makes me uncomfortable, because it implies some sort of hard wiring. Genes aren't destiny."
If you haven't figured it out by now, Mooney considers himself a liberal, and he's doubtful that any amount of "nurture" could turn him into a conservative. But he said liberals could learn a lot from conservatives, specifically about loyalty to leaders and to their cause. Like conservatives, some liberals may find themselves at odds with the scientific consensus on some issues. Which issues, specifically? Mooney pointed to hard-line stands against hydraulic fracturing (a.k.a. fracking), nuclear power, childhood vaccination and genetically modified organisms.
"Liberals have wanted to believe that if the system were just fair, then everybody would agree with us," he said. "That's a liberal fantasy. Actually, it turns out that liberalism is not the only way of being. ... Liberals should realize that not everybody's like them, and liberals' instincts in politics could be exactly what you don't want to do."
I'm imagining there's a lot to disagree with here, whether you're a liberal or a conservative. Good thing there's a comment section below. To paraphrase Monty Python, this is the right room for an argument.
More about politics and science:
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding Cosmic Log's Google+ page to your circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.
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US teen guilty of murdering 2 British tourists
SARASOTA, Florida?? A Florida teenager is facing a life sentence after a jury convicted him of first-degree murder Wednesday in the shooting deaths of two young British tourists last April, a case that generated blaring tabloid headlines in the U.K. press.
Shawn Tyson, 17, sat stone-faced as the jury's verdict was read and as two friends of the victims spoke angrily about the crime. The verdict came after two hours of deliberations. Because he is under 18, Tyson is ineligible for the death penalty and is facing a mandatory life sentence.
During the trial witnesses testified that Tyson shot James Cooper, 25, and James Kouzaris, 24, last April 16. The two men were vacationing in Sarasota and spent an evening drinking when they got lost and walked into a housing project where Tyson lived. Details of their deaths have gripped the British news media. Tabloids there have written stories saying the men were "slaughtered" in a Florida "ghetto."
In a statement, the families of Cooper and Kouzaris accused Tyson of being "evil," saying that they had been given "a life sentence when our sons were so brutally and needlessly taken from us. Ours is a life sentence, with no chance of parole from a broken heart, and a shattered soul."
Joe Hallett, a friend of the victims who sat through the entire trial, said the pair befriended people from different walks of life and would have tried with Tyson, as well.
"I have to try to make you understand the pain you brought to so many people," Hallett said to Tyson. "It was through your deadly action that you've taken us all on a journey to hell. Every night before you go to sleep, every morning you wake up, I want you to think of my friends who were murdered."
A prosecutor also read a statement from Cooper's parents and played a video at the request of his parents. The video, which portrayed the young man from the time he was born, was also played at his funeral.
Kouzaris was from Northampton and Cooper was from Hampton Lucy, Warwick. Both were considered fun-loving world travelers by friends -- but also smart and cautious. Authorities said both were drunk when they got lost and wandered just before 3 a.m. into the housing project where Tyson lived.
Witnesses testified that Tyson told them he saw two "crackers" -- his phrase for white people -- walking through the neighborhood and that he intended to rob them. The tourists said they didn't have any money and begged Tyson to let them go home. The men also told Tyson that they were lost.
"Since you ain't got no money, then I have something for your ass," Tyson recounted to a witness, then added that he shot the men several times.
The tourists' bodies were found shirtless on the street and their baggy pants were pulled down to their thighs. Both men still had their wallets and did in fact have money; Cooper also had a cellphone and camera in his pants pocket. Authorities later found that Kouzaris' blood alcohol level was 0.243 and Cooper's was 0.214 -- well past Florida's legal limit for intoxication when driving, which is 0.08.
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'An opportunity to rob and kill'
During closing arguments, Assistant State Attorney Ed Brodsky told the jury that the case was about "opportunities."
"For James Cooper and James Kouzaris, they had seized an opportunity to travel abroad," Brodsky said. "Shawn Tyson seized upon an opportunity to rob and kill two men."
In the end, Tyson was his own undoing. Several prosecution witnesses said Tyson told friends about the shootings in the hours after the killings, then asked friends to hide the murder weapon and bury bullets. A DNA expert said Tyson's skin cells were found on Cooper's jeans.
Tyson maintained to police that he was at home during the murders. But witnesses spotted him crawling into his window shortly after hearing gunshots.
Tyson did not testify. His attorneys called only one witness, a crime scene technician, and questioned him briefly. Defense attorneys also tried to discredit the witnesses by saying many of them had criminal records and cooperated with detectives to avoid jail time.
The defense also said no one saw Tyson shoot Cooper and Kouzaris.
Authorities say Tyson wasn't alone the night of the shooting; police have not charged the second suspect because they don't have enough evidence. That person is currently in prison on unrelated charges.
Paul Davis, another friend of the men who attended the trial, had another message for Tyson.
"You might think that being a man is about carrying a gun, but it isn't," Davis said. "The stupid thing about what you've done is that you've ended your own life."
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46885491/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
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Real Estate Investing: How To Make Money In A Down Market
One of the most stimulating things about real estate investing is understanding what markets will produce the best long term returns ? particularly while in the middle of a challenging real estate market.
In a down market, savvy investors in real estate are enthusiastic to discover how they can best leverage their resources. And expert forecasts are some of the finest tools they can utilize to back up their methods. An excellent example comes from property consulting firm John Burns Real Estate (JBRE), that has?forecast that home-ownership will fall from 70.0% to 62.1% by 2015 thanks to a soft?economy, low consumer confidence, limited mortgage availability, increased rates of foreclosures and short sales, among other?things.
John Burns Real Estate predicted, although based primarily on broad market conditions, points out that we're going to see a rising number of renters and so a larger demand and need for rental housing.
Savvy investors in real estate select investment properties that are located in markets with the best long-term growth potential. This enables them to invest intelligently?today while hedging their bets on the future expansion and appreciation of their target markets.
Our 2012 Housing Market Forecast lists the Top 100 Metropolitan Markets based?on future job growth and projected price appreciation. If you're interested in finding growth markets with robust appreciation potential, then the McAllen-Edinburgh-Mission, Texas metropolitan area could be your primary choice. We project its 10-year future job expansion to jump by 32.3% and home values to appreciate by 37.9% in 5 years. Additionally, property values remain comparatively affordable with the median sales price around $100,000.
Apart from this Texas metropolitan?investment area, our report uncovers other real estate markets with great potential including 2 from Colorado (Colorado Springs and Denver-Aurora) along with California (Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, and Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura). Other markets that made the Top 10 include North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL; Las-Vegas-Paradise, NV; Hartford, CT; Springfield, MA; and Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ. These areas have a five-year appreciation outlook well above 21%. (You can download the full report here.)
And what does this mean for property investors? There's a gold-mine out there waiting for you to take advantage of! A fall in home-ownership means a rise in rental units to deal with the surge in demand from people who have recently lost their homes to foreclosure, people who can't afford to purchase property, and people who are still saving up for a new home. Last October 2011, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced that the amount of rental houses had gone up to 38 million units in 2Q11 and the vacancy rate of single-family houses and multi -family units was at a record low rate of 9.2%.
Investors never think twice about snapping up bargain properties with positive cash flow. As NAR chief economist, Lawrence Yun, puts it, "The dynamics of falling rental vacancy rates mean increased owner pricing power. Naturally as a consequence rents have been pushed higher... Rising rents mean an improved rate of return for property investors."
Cash flow investment properties are indeed your best hedge against the negative impacts of a down market. Take it from Morgan Stanley's "Housing 2.0 The New Rental Paradigm" report. The financial services company observes that gross rents are "historically attractive relative to current distressed prices. Adding to this attractiveness is the fact that multi-family data shows rents continuing to rise." Therefore it favors single-family houses as the most ideal type of property investment in today's market due to their large rental potential.
JBRE's outlook also reveals that home-ownership won't be on an upturn until 2025 at 67.1% on the back of foreclosed homes returning to ownership, improved market conditions and regular mortgage credit, and a rise in the tendency of households to own a house. That can signal the time to think about selling your portfolio and taking a decent profit, or trading up into more real estate utilizing the IRS 1031 tax deferred exchange.
There are many real estate investing opportunities out there today. Be certain to take action, do your homework and invest intelligently. As John Burns?puts it, "The American dream of home-ownership is still alive and well."
Source: http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/articles/real-estate-investing-how-to-make-money-in-a-down-58976.aspx
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S.F. Subway customers lose $5 footlong deal
Diane Bondareff / AP
In this photo taken by AP Images for Subway, NY Giants defensive end and world champion Justin Tuck rides in the Footlong Nation vehicle to give fans free $5 Footlongs in celebration of Subway restaurants' FebruANY.
By Martha C. White
Subway customers in San Francisco may be disappointed when they get to the counter and find out that the everyday selection of $5 footlong sandwiches has been scrapped, reportedly in response to a recent increase in the minimum wage. A story in local media outlet SF Weekly blamed the ban on $5 footlongs in local stores to the higher cost of doing business.
According to workers interviewed by SF Weekly, it's because of the local $10.24-per-hour minimum wage. San Francisco has a minimum wage that adjusts annually according to the Consumer Price Index. Business groups regularly decry automatically adjusting minimum wages, but usually don't tie their labor costs as explicitly to the price of their goods.
Subway spokesman Les Winograd said?franchisees weren't running afoul of any corporate rules by scrapping the sandwich promotion.?"We don't set prices, we recommend prices, so the franchisees do set their own prices," he said. The San Francisco case, he said, was the first instance he'd seen of a market eschewing the national $5 footlong price.?
San Francisco customers, meanwhile, are relegated to tuna salad with jalapenos ? the monthly "special" footlong ? if they want a $5 lunch.
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Rate of Autism Diagnoses Has Climbed, Study Finds
[unable to retrieve full-text content]A review of 2008 data found a 20 percent rise in diagnoses among children over the previous two years.
Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=cb4101fd7ab06dc65e132796dc17497f
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Thursday, March 29, 2012
asics sale Computers and Technology Data Recovery
There was a duration is some attested namely iSCSI namely never mature plus namely never appropriate to serve the storage needs of high claiming data centers Those days have passed,paul smith online shop,plus even those companies who promoted Fibre Channel,asics sale, are starting apt venture iSCSI products There is not disagreement anymore that iSCSI has taken grasp as the interface of the alternative for current storage installations. All recent market studies have shown that Fibre Channel storage mall has been both steady or has had a slight year to year correction meantime iSCSI storage mall has been aboard the twice digit climb annual afterward annual.
Related articles?
Source: http://asics.manablog.jp/archives/14377
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The Silence Within ? Online Meditation Course Ebooks & Cds ...
The Silence Inside ? On the web Meditation Course Ebooks & Cds Tina Heathers Has A Degree In Metaphysics ? The Science Of Currently being, Spirituality And Psychic Awareness. She Teaches Meditation And Makes use of Her Meditation Practice To Additional Her Spiritual Studies. The Silence Inside ? On the web Meditation Course Ebooks & [...]
The Silence Inside ? On the web Meditation Course Ebooks & Cds
Tina Heathers Has A Degree In Metaphysics ? The Science Of Currently being, Spirituality And Psychic Awareness. She Teaches Meditation And Makes use of Her Meditation Practice To Additional Her Spiritual Studies.
The Silence Inside ? On the web Meditation Course Ebooks & Cds
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Source: http://sarahdevaki.com/health-and-fitness/the-silence-within-online-meditation-course-ebooks-cds
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Telenav opens up Scout for Apps, the HTML5 GPS navigation service, to all interested devs
We tested the browser-based Scout service on our Android handset to run a few errands, and we found it a useful tool, but it certainly pales in comparison to its application counterparts. There's noticeable lag when attempting to swipe around maps, no pinch to zoom (onscreen buttons are the only option), and it lacks features like traffic reports or a way to remember favorite locations. That said, it does do a good job of getting you where you want to go, and the rudimentary nav functionality is certainly more appealing than the static maps found in apps currently. Plus, it's quite nice to not have to launch a separate application to get directions. If you want to test Scout for Apps on your mobile, hit the source link below, but check out the PR and video after the break to learn a little more before you do.
Telenav opens up Scout for Apps, the HTML5 GPS navigation service, to all interested devs originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Mar 2012 17:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Scout for Apps, Telenav Developers | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/28/telenav-opens-up-scout-for-apps-the-html5-gps-navigation-servic/
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Frequent Chocolate Eaters Have Lower BMI
60-Second Health |
Health
People who ate chocolate frequently consumed more calories and more saturated fat but had lower average body mass indexes than non-chocolate eaters. Katherine Harmon reports.
March 28, 2012?|
More 60-Second Health
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It's a dangerous time of year for a chocoholic?chocolate rabbits and eggs abound. But a weakness for the cocoa bean might not be a bad thing: those who indulge more frequently seem to actually have lower Body Mass Indexes, BMIs.
Researchers surveyed more than 1,000 adults to see how often they ate chocolate each week. Those who indulged more frequently consumed more calories and more saturated fat than others. But the frequent chocolate eaters still had, on average, lower BMIs. The results are in Archives of Internal Medicine. [Beatrice A. Golomb, Sabrina Koperski and Halbert L. White, Association Between More Frequent Chocolate Consumption and Lower Body Mass Index]
And no, the study was not funded by Hershey, Nestle?or even the Cadbury Bunny.?
Dark chocolate has been linked to better heart health. And this study supports previous findings that certain chocolate compounds can have metabolic benefits.
The research can't prove that chocolate was behind all the smaller behinds. And it's possible that some people will add pounds from their chocolate habit. The only sure way to find out will be to conduct a randomized controlled study. Which leaves me with only one question: where do I sign up?
?Katherine Harmon
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast]
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=c03dac6f7de5edf2190c5d8a8556030b
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HP ePrint Home & Biz v. 4.1 (for iPhone)
HP pulled off a coup in late 2010 when some of its printers became the sole beneficiaries of Apple?s AirPrint printing feature for iPhones, iPads, and iPods. HP?s own mobile printing app, ePrint, has evolved (replacing the old ePrint Photo) to provide a better alternative in some situations than printing with AirPrint. However, some of its functions still have kinks that need to be worked out.
HP ePrint Home and Biz v. 4.1 (for iPhone) lets users print photos saved on your i-thing as well as ones shot from within the app; print other document types (as well as transfer documents from your computer to your i-device for printing, either wirelessly or over your iPhone?s cable), Web pages, images, and initiate scans. It also lets you print email attachments received in your iPhone?s email client.
All recent HP wireless printers support HP ePrint Home & Biz 4.1; a full list is available on HP?s Web site. Among the file types it supports printing from are JPEGs, PDFs, TXT, and the Microsoft Office suite. ?The app also works on iPhones and iPods touch (and there?s an Android version as well); I tested it with an iPhone 4 and an HP Envy 110 printer.
After I downloaded HP ePrint Home & Biz v. 4.1 (for iPhone) and opened it, it had no trouble locating the HP printer on my network, though I had to register my phone with HP?s ePrintCenter before it could print certain items (like Web pages and Office documents). This is done by entering an e-mail address to which HP sends a confirmation with a validation code.
Interface
Once you?ve registered your iPhone, when you open HP ePrint Home & Biz, you?ll see a menu containing several choices: Photo Albums; Saved Files; Web Browser; Camera; and Scanner, each with a corresponding icon. At the bottom of the screen are two other choices: ePrint Job Status, and Settings. If your HP printer is ePrint compatible (and most recent HP printers are), registering it with HP?s ePrintCenter will get the printer its own email address to which you can send print jobs for it to print out?even if you?re halfway around the world. (It?s a little confusing, registering both mobile device and printer with HP?s ePrintCenter, but both add entirely different printing functionalities, and registering the iPhone unlocks some of the app?s most important features.)
Tapping on Photo Albums displays all your iPhone?s photo albums. Touching a photo brings up a print preview. You can select paper size, image size, paper type (plain or photo paper), and paper source (main or automatic?usually photo?tray). Depending on the dimensions and orientation of the photo, printed image size may max out at 4 by 6 or go up to 5 by 7 or ?custom size?. Print settings are quite limited compared with some mobile printer apps we?ve seen such as Epson iPrint 2.0 (which, granted, only works with Epson printers). Print quality is good, but on several occasions I?d get an error message that there appeared to be an unidentified print problem?even when the WiFi connection seemed to be strong.
Clicking on Web Browser opens the app?s own Web browser. You can save bookmarks, but you can?t import them. Once you?ve called up a page, clicking on Print Preview formats the page for printing. Watch out, though, it will occasionally mangle text; for example, the dates of blog entries in several CNN blogs were indecipherable?as they were when I printed out the pages from the app.
Direct from the Camera
You can print out photos directly from your camera by clicking the main menu?s Camera item. Once you snap, it gives you the option to retake or use. If you choose the latter, you?ll see a print preview from which you can print.
Clicking on Scan lets you initiate a scan from your phone. When you preview the scan, you can crop the image as you like before scanning. You can save the scan as an image or document.
You can also print email attachments from your iPhone?s email client.? Once you?ve opened the email, tapping on the attachment will bring up a list of programs you can open it in. Clicking on HP ePrint Home & Biz will preview the document for printing.
One feature the app lacks is the ability to print from or save to cloud-based services such as EverNote and Google Docs. Several other mobile apps for other brands of printers, such as Epson iPrint, have incorporated this.
Anybody with a recent HP wireless printer should give this free app a try. It offers versatility in print settings that AirPrint lacks, and it?s a big step forward from the old images-only ePrint Photo. It?s the best choice for HP printer owners, but has some problems like the wonky Web browser, and it falls well short of the best mobile printing apps we?ve seen.
More iPhone App Reviews:
??? HP ePrint Home & Biz v. 4.1 (for iPhone)
??? Mass Effect Infiltrator
??? Mass Effect 3 Datapad
??? Angry Birds Space
??? Adaptu Wallet for iPhone
?? more
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/EJbVez_Zk0c/0,2817,2402122,00.asp
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Wednesday, March 28, 2012
In immersion foreign language learning, adults attain, retain native speaker brain pattern
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 28-Mar-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Karen Mallet
km463@georgetown.edu
Georgetown University Medical Center
WASHINGTON -- A first-of-its kind series of brain studies shows how an adult learning a foreign language can come to use the same brain mechanisms as a native speaker. The research also demonstrates that the kind of exposure you have to the language can determine whether you achieve native-language brain processing, and that learning under immersion conditions may be more effective in reaching this goal than typical classroom training. The research also suggests that the brain consolidates knowledge of the foreign language as time goes on, much like it does when a person learns to ride a bike or play a musical instrument.
The latest in this series of studies was published online in today's PLoS ONE by researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) and the University of Illinois at Chicago.
"In the last few years, research has begun to suggest that adults learning a foreign language can come to rely on the same brain mechanisms as native speakers of a language, and that this might be true even for those parts of a foreign language that are particularly difficult to learn, such as its grammar," explains Michael Ullman, Ph.D., a professor of neuroscience at GUMC and senior investigator of the studies. "We confirmed this in our studies."
However, even if it's true that foreign language learners might be able to achieve native-like processing of grammar, Ullman says it has not at all been clear just how they can get there that is, what exactly allows a learner to attain native-like processing.
Ullman and lead author Kara Morgan-Short, Ph.D., from the University of Illinois at Chicago, first tested whether the conditions under which a person learns a foreign language matter. Specifically, is the type of foreign language exposure typically found in classrooms, with a lot of explanations about the grammar, more or less beneficial than the type of exposure in an immersion situation, in which there are no such explanations, but simply many language examples?
"Surprisingly, previous studies have found that the type of exposure typically found in classrooms leads to better learning than that typically found in immersion. However, no studies have looked at the actual brain mechanisms after different types of exposure," Morgan-Short says. Also, because a foreign language is so slow to learn, previous studies have not examined the outcomes of different types of exposure beyond the early stages of learning, since it would take far too long to wait until participants reached high proficiency, she says.
To get around this problem, the scientists came up with a clever solution. Rather than teach people a full foreign language, they taught them a very small one, with only 13 words, which referred to the pieces and moves of a computer game. The language itself was made-up, and its grammar was constructed so that it was like that of other natural languages, but differed from the participants' native language English in important respects, such as its grammatical structure.
The scientists found that after a few days, adults had indeed reached high proficiency in the language, whether they had undergone classroom- or immersion-like training. However, measures of brain processing showed that different types of training led to different brain mechanisms.
"Only the immersion training led to full native-like brain processing of grammar," Ullman says. "So if you learn a language you can come to use native language brain processes, but you may need immersion rather than classroom exposure." (These results were published online Aug. 23, 2011 in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.)
For the study published in PLoS ONE, the researchers asked another very interesting question: What happens after you've reached high proficiency in a foreign language, if you're not regularly exposed to it? Do you lose the use of any native-language brain mechanisms that you've attained? Many learners do not always have ongoing exposure, which makes this is a critical question, Ullman says.
So, without having warned their research participants beforehand, the researchers called them an average of five months later, and asked them to come back for another round of brain scanning. Because the language was made-up, the scientists were sure that the participants hadn't had any exposure to it during this entire time.
The researchers weren't sure what they would find, since this was the first study examining the brain after such a period of no exposure. However, previous studies testing only proficiency changes found, not surprisingly, that foreign language learners generally did worse after such periods, so the scientists assumed that the brain would also become less native-like.
"To our surprise, the participants actually became more native like in their brain processing of grammar," Ullman says. "And this was true for both the classroom and immersion training groups, though it was still the case that only the immersion group showed full native-like processing."
Ullman believes that, over time, memory of the language was "consolidated" in the brain, probably by the same mechanisms that also underlie native language. He says this process is probably similar to the consolidation of many other skills that a person might learn, such as learning to ride a bike or play a musical instrument.
Interestingly, the participants showed neither improvements nor loss of proficiency during the same five month period, even as their brains became more native like, Ullman says. The scientists are uncertain why this might be, though it is possible that proficiency changes might in fact have been observed with more precise measures, or that improvements had occurred some time after training but then were gradually lost in the absence of practice during the five months.
Ullman says that even without any observed changes in proficiency, the brain changes are important. "Native language brain mechanisms are clearly well suited to language, so attaining their use is a critical achievement for foreign language learners. We suspect that this should lead to improved retention of the language as well as higher proficiency over time."
###
Support for the PLoS ONE and JoCN studies was provided by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and a Georgetown University Dissertation Fellowship.
Other authors of the PLoS ONE study include Ingrid Finger, Ph.D. and Sarah Grey, Ph.D. candidate. Other authors of the JoCN study include Karsten Steinhauer, Ph.D. and Cristina Sanz, Ph.D.
The authors report having no personal financial interests related to the study.
About Georgetown University Medical Center
Georgetown University Medical Center is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through MedStar Health). GUMC's mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle of cura personalis -- or "care of the whole person." The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing & Health Studies, both nationally ranked; Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute; and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization (BGRO), which accounts for the majority of externally funded research at GUMC including a Clinical Translation and Science Award from the National Institutes of Health. In fiscal year 2010-11, GUMC accounted for 85 percent of the university's sponsored research funding.
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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-Mar-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Karen Mallet
km463@georgetown.edu
Georgetown University Medical Center
WASHINGTON -- A first-of-its kind series of brain studies shows how an adult learning a foreign language can come to use the same brain mechanisms as a native speaker. The research also demonstrates that the kind of exposure you have to the language can determine whether you achieve native-language brain processing, and that learning under immersion conditions may be more effective in reaching this goal than typical classroom training. The research also suggests that the brain consolidates knowledge of the foreign language as time goes on, much like it does when a person learns to ride a bike or play a musical instrument.
The latest in this series of studies was published online in today's PLoS ONE by researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) and the University of Illinois at Chicago.
"In the last few years, research has begun to suggest that adults learning a foreign language can come to rely on the same brain mechanisms as native speakers of a language, and that this might be true even for those parts of a foreign language that are particularly difficult to learn, such as its grammar," explains Michael Ullman, Ph.D., a professor of neuroscience at GUMC and senior investigator of the studies. "We confirmed this in our studies."
However, even if it's true that foreign language learners might be able to achieve native-like processing of grammar, Ullman says it has not at all been clear just how they can get there that is, what exactly allows a learner to attain native-like processing.
Ullman and lead author Kara Morgan-Short, Ph.D., from the University of Illinois at Chicago, first tested whether the conditions under which a person learns a foreign language matter. Specifically, is the type of foreign language exposure typically found in classrooms, with a lot of explanations about the grammar, more or less beneficial than the type of exposure in an immersion situation, in which there are no such explanations, but simply many language examples?
"Surprisingly, previous studies have found that the type of exposure typically found in classrooms leads to better learning than that typically found in immersion. However, no studies have looked at the actual brain mechanisms after different types of exposure," Morgan-Short says. Also, because a foreign language is so slow to learn, previous studies have not examined the outcomes of different types of exposure beyond the early stages of learning, since it would take far too long to wait until participants reached high proficiency, she says.
To get around this problem, the scientists came up with a clever solution. Rather than teach people a full foreign language, they taught them a very small one, with only 13 words, which referred to the pieces and moves of a computer game. The language itself was made-up, and its grammar was constructed so that it was like that of other natural languages, but differed from the participants' native language English in important respects, such as its grammatical structure.
The scientists found that after a few days, adults had indeed reached high proficiency in the language, whether they had undergone classroom- or immersion-like training. However, measures of brain processing showed that different types of training led to different brain mechanisms.
"Only the immersion training led to full native-like brain processing of grammar," Ullman says. "So if you learn a language you can come to use native language brain processes, but you may need immersion rather than classroom exposure." (These results were published online Aug. 23, 2011 in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.)
For the study published in PLoS ONE, the researchers asked another very interesting question: What happens after you've reached high proficiency in a foreign language, if you're not regularly exposed to it? Do you lose the use of any native-language brain mechanisms that you've attained? Many learners do not always have ongoing exposure, which makes this is a critical question, Ullman says.
So, without having warned their research participants beforehand, the researchers called them an average of five months later, and asked them to come back for another round of brain scanning. Because the language was made-up, the scientists were sure that the participants hadn't had any exposure to it during this entire time.
The researchers weren't sure what they would find, since this was the first study examining the brain after such a period of no exposure. However, previous studies testing only proficiency changes found, not surprisingly, that foreign language learners generally did worse after such periods, so the scientists assumed that the brain would also become less native-like.
"To our surprise, the participants actually became more native like in their brain processing of grammar," Ullman says. "And this was true for both the classroom and immersion training groups, though it was still the case that only the immersion group showed full native-like processing."
Ullman believes that, over time, memory of the language was "consolidated" in the brain, probably by the same mechanisms that also underlie native language. He says this process is probably similar to the consolidation of many other skills that a person might learn, such as learning to ride a bike or play a musical instrument.
Interestingly, the participants showed neither improvements nor loss of proficiency during the same five month period, even as their brains became more native like, Ullman says. The scientists are uncertain why this might be, though it is possible that proficiency changes might in fact have been observed with more precise measures, or that improvements had occurred some time after training but then were gradually lost in the absence of practice during the five months.
Ullman says that even without any observed changes in proficiency, the brain changes are important. "Native language brain mechanisms are clearly well suited to language, so attaining their use is a critical achievement for foreign language learners. We suspect that this should lead to improved retention of the language as well as higher proficiency over time."
###
Support for the PLoS ONE and JoCN studies was provided by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and a Georgetown University Dissertation Fellowship.
Other authors of the PLoS ONE study include Ingrid Finger, Ph.D. and Sarah Grey, Ph.D. candidate. Other authors of the JoCN study include Karsten Steinhauer, Ph.D. and Cristina Sanz, Ph.D.
The authors report having no personal financial interests related to the study.
About Georgetown University Medical Center
Georgetown University Medical Center is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through MedStar Health). GUMC's mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle of cura personalis -- or "care of the whole person." The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing & Health Studies, both nationally ranked; Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute; and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization (BGRO), which accounts for the majority of externally funded research at GUMC including a Clinical Translation and Science Award from the National Institutes of Health. In fiscal year 2010-11, GUMC accounted for 85 percent of the university's sponsored research funding.
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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-03/gumc-iif032312.php
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