Syria urges restraint after Turkish strike

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Shikun & Binui, Israel's leading construction group, won a contract worth $390 million from the government of Nigeria to pave and widen a highway in the Sagamu-Benin region. The work will be carried out over three years. Shikun & Binui is controlled by the Arison Group, the investment arm of billionaire Shari Arison. Its shares were up 3.3 percent in morning trade in Tel Aviv.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syria-urges-restraint-turkish-strike-213417889.html

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Acoustic cell-sorting chip may lead to cell phone-sized medical labs

ScienceDaily (Oct. 2, 2012) ? A technique that uses acoustic waves to sort cells on a chip may create miniature medical analytic devices that could make Star Trek's tricorder seem a bit bulky in comparison, according to a team of researchers.

The device uses two beams of acoustic -- or sound -- waves to act as acoustic tweezers and sort a continuous flow of cells on a dime-sized chip, said Tony Jun Huang, associate professor of engineering science and mechanics, Penn State. By changing the frequency of the acoustic waves, researchers can easily alter the paths of the cells.

Huang said that since the device can sort cells into five or more channels, it will allow more cell types to be analyzed simultaneously, which paves the way for smaller, more efficient and less expensive analytic devices.

"Eventually, you could do analysis on a device about the size of a cell phone," said Huang. "It's very doable and we're making in-roads to that right now."

Biological, genetic and medical labs could use the device for various types of analysis, including blood and genetic testing, Huang said.

Most current cell-sorting devices allow the cells to be sorted into only two channels in one step, according to Huang. He said that another drawback of current cell-sorting devices is that cells must be encapsulated into droplets, which complicates further analysis.

"Today, cell sorting is done on bulky and very expensive devices," said Huang. "We want to minimize them so they are portable, inexpensive and can be powered by batteries."

Using sound waves for cell sorting is less likely to damage cells than current techniques, Huang added.

In addition to the inefficiency and the lack of controllability, current methods produce aerosols, gases that require extra safety precautions to handle.

The researchers, who released their findings in the current edition of Lab on a Chip, created the acoustic wave cell-sorting chip using a layer of silicone -- polydimethylsiloxane. According to Huang, two parallel transducers, which convert alternating current into acoustic waves, were placed at the sides of the chip. As the acoustic waves interfere with each other, they form pressure nodes on the chip. As cells cross the chip, they are channeled toward these pressure nodes.

The transducers are tunable, which allows researchers to adjust the frequencies and create pressure nodes on the chip.

The researchers first tested the device by sorting a stream of fluorescent polystyrene beads into three channels. Prior to turning on the transducer, the particles flowed across the chip unimpeded. Once the transducer produced the acoustic waves, the particles were separated into the channels.

Following this experiment, the researchers sorted human white blood cells that were affected by leukemia. The leukemia cells were first focused into the main channel and then separated into five channels.

The device is not limited to five channels, according to Huang.

"We can do more," Huang said. "We could do 10 channels if we want, we just used five because we thought it was impressive enough to show that the concept worked."

Huang worked with Xiaoyun Ding, graduate student, Sz-Chin Steven Lin, postdoctoral research scholar, Michael Ian Lapsley, graduate student, Xiang Guo, undergraduate student, Chung Yu Keith Chan, doctoral student, Sixing Li, doctoral student, all of the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Penn State; Lin Wang, Ascent BioNano Technologies; and J. Philip McCoy, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health.

The National Institutes of Health Director's New Innovator Award, the National Science Foundation, Graduate Research Fellowship and the Penn State Center for Nanoscale Science supported this work.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Penn State.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Xiaoyun Ding, Sz-Chin Steven Lin, Michael Ian Lapsley, Sixing Li, Xiang Guo, Chung Yu Chan, I-Kao Chiang, Lin Wang, J. Philip McCoy, Tony Jun Huang. Standing surface acoustic wave (SSAW) based multichannel cell sorting. Lab on a Chip, 2012; 12 (21): 4228 DOI: 10.1039/C2LC40751E

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/od2vxyiMkCI/121002161953.htm

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Countrywide: It's baaack - The Term Sheet: Fortune's deals blog - CNN

PennyMac CEO Stanford Kurland, who spent most of career at Countrywide, is recreating his old firm.

FORTUNE --The Federal Reserve's recent decision to buy mortgage bonds until the economy recovers has made home lending more attractive than it has been in years. The spread between what it costs to fund a mortgage loan and what borrowers actually pay is nearly three times as large as usual. So it's perhaps no surprise that one of the first firms to rush into this profit-filled fun house is headed by the former executives of the most notorious subprime lender of the era that led to the financial crisis.

Last month, PennyMac (PMT), a finance company run almost entirely by alumni of Countrywide Financial, opened its first retail branch. The company expects to hire as many as 100 employees for the office, which is in Pasadena, California, including loan officers and underwriters.

To head the office, PennyMac has tapped Stephen Brandt, who, according to a Congressional report released in July, ran Countrywide's "Friends of Angelo" program. The report found that Brandt's former unit handed out hundreds of?sweetheart loans to members of Congress, their staffs and other government employees. One of the main thrusts of the division, according to the report, which was nicknamed after Countrywide's former CEO, Angelo Mozilo, was to soften anti-predatory lending laws.

MORE: Card companies keep low rates for themselves

"There's free money on the table and you don't have to work that hard to get it, especially if you are the former executives of Countrywide," says Michael Widner, an analyst who covers PennyMac at brokerage firm Stifel Nicolaus. "You've done this before."

PennyMac has been around for a couple of years. But when it was started in 2008 by a dozen former executives of Countrywide, including Stanford Kurland, who was Countrywide's No. 2 executive before leaving in 2006, PennyMac's stated business plan was to buy up delinquent mortgage loans on the cheap, offer modifications and make some money in the process.

In the past year, though, PennyMac has morphed into something that more resembles Countrywide.?In recent investor presentations, Kurland and other PennyMac executives have talked up the company's unit that finances new mortgage loans made by outside brokers and small banks. The unit was launched a year ago, and now accounts for about a third of the company's profits.

PennyMac has been more tight-lipped about its direct lending operation, which is still relatively small. A number of analysts who follow the company were unaware of it. PennyMac spokesman Kevin Chamberlain, and Countrywide alumni, says PennyMac's retail operation is focused on refinancing delinquent borrowers whose mortgages have been acquired by PennyMac into affordable loans. He says the Pasadena office is not for walk-ins. Chamberlain says the firm has no plans to make subprime loans.

MORE: The housing pick up won't produce much economic growth

What's more, Chamberlain says direct lending is not a part of PennyMac's investor presentations because the division is part of the company's private operations, not its publicly traded company. On Brandt, Chamberlain says the executive oversaw 700 to 800 employees at Countrywide, including "one to three employees whose partial responsibility was to take loans for the VIP unit."

PennyMac, though, doesn't seem to be hiding its lending operations from potential customers. The company is using direct mail to solicit customers. The company's website advertises new home loans with rates as low as 3.5%, and has an 800-number to call. The person who answers says he works for PennyMac.

PennyMac's odd corporate structure has worried some Wall Street analysts. PennyMac runs a public mortgage REIT, but not all of the company's business and profits go to the REIT. For instance, PennyMac's mortgage REIT is not approved to sell loans to Ginnie Mae, which is the government entity that backs FHA loans. So when PennyMac finances those loans - $1.6 billion in July and August alone - the public REIT passes them along to a private division of the company, which is owned and operated by PennyMac's executives and its two outside investors, asset manager Blackrock and private equity firm Highfields Capital. The REIT makes a small fee, just 0.03%, on those deals and the private entity pockets the rest, which is the bulk of the profits.

"Kurland definitely has aspirations to grow the company into something that is substantial and in the end will probably look something like Countrywide," says Widner, who rates PennyMac a hold. "But with the stock what you are getting is a subdivision of the company."

MORE: Young workers earn $10,000 less than in 2005

To meet those aspirations, Kurland has recruited many of the same executives who helped him build Countrywide into a mortgage behemoth. Of the 313 PennyMac executives who are listed on professional networking site LinkedIn, 75 had spent some time at Countrywide. Along with Kurland, PennyMac's chief operating officer, chief financial officer and chief credit officer all hail from Countrywide, as do the firm's head of marketing, head of consumer lending and head of human resources.

So far it appears to be working. PennyMac has funded over $9 billion in mortgages this year, up from less than $1 billion in 2011. Executives say they hope to be on pace to finance $30 billion in mortgage loans next year. That would make the PennyMac the 12th largest mortgage lender in the country, according to trade publication Inside Mortgage Finance. Still, that would be a fraction of what Countrywide was, which at its height financed about $500 billion in home loans a year, and regularly ranked as the nation's largest mortgage lender.

A recent analysis by the Wall Street Journal found that Countrywide has cost Bank of America, which acquired the giant mortgage lender in 2008, nearly $40 billion in additional costs since the deal was completed, much of it due to subprime and other high-risk loans that Countrywide made at the height of the housing bubble that have since gone bad.

In December, Bank of America agreed to pay $335 million to settle charges that Countrywide loan officers regularly charged minority borrowers higher rates and fees than those paid by similar white borrowers. In the past year, a number of former Countrywide employees have come forward to say they tried to warn regulators about abusive or lax lending practices at the firm but were either silenced by their superiors, or fired.

None of the executives at PennyMac are directly linked to any of the alleged wrongdoing at Countrywide. Unlike Mozilo and other high-ranking Countrywide executives, Kurland was not charged with fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Kurland has been sued by former shareholders of Countrywide, but PennyMac spokesman Chamberlain says Kurland left Countrywide before much of the practices alleged in the suits occurred.

Either way, PennyMac's current investors don't seem to be bothered by Kurland and his team's past, or by the company's complicated structure. Shares of the REIT have risen nearly 50% in the past year. It doesn't hurt that PennyMac has a 9.3% dividend yield at a time when investment income is hard to come by.

More surprising is the reaction PennyMac gets from consumer advocates. John Taylor, who heads the National Community Reinvestment Coalition and has been a frequent critic of subprime lenders, welcomes the firm. He says mortgage rates have stayed frustratingly high, and that there is a huge number of borrowers who are still having trouble refinancing. Taylor thinks PennyMac and firms like it could help.

"These are not the type of people I want to have over my house for dinner," says Taylor. "But competition is good."

Source: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/10/02/countrywide-is-back-pennymac/

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No relief for relief workers: Humanitarian aid work raises risk of depression and anxiety

ScienceDaily (Oct. 1, 2012) ? Humanitarian workers are at significant risk for mental health problems, both in the field and after returning home. The good news is that there are steps that they and their employers can take to mitigate this risk.

These findings, from a new study by scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and collaborators, including Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, are published online in the journal PLOS ONE.

Researchers surveyed 212 international humanitarian workers at 19 NGOs. Prior to deployment, 3.8% reported symptoms of anxiety and 10.4%, symptoms of depression, broadly in line with prevalence of these disorders in the general population. Post-deployment, these rates jumped to 11.8% and 19.5%, respectively. Three to six months later, while there was some improvement in rates of anxiety -- they fell to 7.8% -- rates of depression were even higher at 20.1%.

Adjusting to home life is often difficult. "It is quite common for people returning from deployment to be overwhelmed by the comforts and choices available, but unable to discuss their feelings with friends and family," says Alastair Ager, PhD, study co-author and Professor of Clinical Population & Family Health at the Mailman School.

Even tuning into one's own family can be a challenge. "I remember one highly capable humanitarian worker struggling because the time she spent with her children simply didn't give the same 'buzz' as leading emergency operations in the field," adds Dr. Ager. "She felt guilty in this, but her nervous system had become 'wired' for emergency settings."

It was continual exposure to a challenging work environment that increased risk for depression, not the experience of particular dangerous or threatening situations. Weak social support and a history of mental illness also raised risks. On the plus side, aid workers who felt highly motivated and autonomous reported less burnout and higher levels of life satisfaction, respectively.

The paper outlines several recommendations for NGOs: (1) screen candidates for a history of mental illness, alert them to the risks associated with humanitarian work, and provide psychological support during and after deployment; (2) provide a supportive work environment, manageable workload, and recognition; and (3) encourage and facilitate social support and peer networks.

The well-being of humanitarian workers can be overshadowed by the needs of the populations they serve. "It has been challenging to get mental health care for workers onto the agendas of agencies employing them -- and even onto the radar of workers themselves," says Dr. Ager. "Depression, anxiety and burnout are too often taken as an appropriate response to the experience of widespread global injustice. We want them to know that the work they are doing is valuable and necessary and the situations difficult, but this doesn't mean they need to suffer." The study, he notes, provides "the first robust research evidence to establish the case that good staff care can make a real difference."

Dr. Ager and colleagues are also looking at the experience of those working as humanitarian workers in their own country. Results are due later this year.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Barbara Lopes Cardozo, Carol Gotway Crawford, Cynthia Eriksson, Julia Zhu, Miriam Sabin, Alastair Ager, David Foy, Leslie Snider, Willem Scholte, Reinhard Kaiser, Miranda Olff, Bas Rijnen, Winnifred Simon. Psychological Distress, Depression, Anxiety, and Burnout among International Humanitarian Aid Workers: A Longitudinal Study. PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (9): e44948 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0044948

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/iql3Ya7EIFM/121001132152.htm

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Some "Curious" US And French Military Deployments

Regular readers are aware that periodically, usually weekly, Zero Hedge presents critical naval updates demonstrating the positioning of key US maritime assets, primarily strategic aircraft carriers. The location of these indicates far more what US foreign policy is focused on at any moment, than propaganda distributed for general consumption via the coopted media. Today, however, instead of focusing on aircraft carriers, using Stratfor analysis, we present several broad "curious" US and French military developments.

What the ultimate purpose of these movements is for now unclear - they may be perfectly normal deployments or they may be a precursor to something more. Remember: we know that both CVN-74 (which is currently just briefly caught up in that whole Senkaku Snafu between Japan and China) Stennis and Marine force LHA-1 Peleliu are en route to Iran, where following last week's modestly paliative Netanyahu comments, the military strategists believe the tide has turned and there will be no war with Iran in the immediate future. Ironically, following a spike in war chatter in the early summer, we said that precisely because of that there will be no conflict imminently as the Israeli military will never telegraph what it plans on doing in advance.

And, as always when dealing with military data originating from "sources", reader beware. Ultimately, even if untrue, the information will provide hints about whose agenda it is to foment military tensions.

Analysis, via Stratfor

According to a worldwide network of aircraft spotters and trackers, at least a dozen MC-130H, HC-130N, HC-130P and AC-130U military transport planes and gunships crossed the Atlantic Ocean on Sept. 13 heading eastbound. These aircraft are typically used for a variety of special tasks, including in close cooperation with special operations forces. The last reported stop for the aircraft was Souda Bay, Crete. It is unclear whether the aircraft have left Crete, but we are working on tracking them down.

A week and a half later, on Sept. 24, the same network of aircraft spotters noted 12 U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets arriving in two waves at Moron air base in Spain. It is not known where the squadron is heading, though it could be en route to Afghanistan to reinforce elements there. The Harrier squadron that suffered heavy losses in the Sept. 14 attack on Camp Bastion has already been replaced by another Harrier unit, so it is unlikely that the squadron's deployment is directly linked to that event. It is also possible that the F/A-18s are heading to the Gulf Cooperation Council region. A number of air superiority squadrons, including an F-22 Raptor squadron, have already deployed to the region. If that is the case, the squadron is intended simply as reinforcements or replacements for assets currently deployed there.

Also on Sept. 24, The New York Times published an article stating that Iraq and the United States were negotiating an agreement that could result in the return of small units of U.S. soldiers to Iraq on training missions. At the request of the Iraqi government, according to U.S. Gen. Robert Caslen, a unit of Army special operations soldiers was recently deployed to Iraq to advise on counterterrorism and to help with intelligence. It is possible that at least some of the MC-130 aircraft previously mentioned were delivering these special operations troops to Iraq.

Another report on Sept. 24, this one by the Le Figaro French-language newspaper, said some 100 French special operations troops had been deployed in the sub-Saharan region to counteract militants in northern Mali. Le Figaro also reported that maritime patrol aircraft that can be used to collect intelligence will be deployed to the region and that commandos of the French navy will reinforce the French special operations troops.

Finally, Italian journalist Guido Olimpio reported in September that U.S. unmanned aerial vehicles are currently tracking militants in Cyrenaica, the historical name for eastern Libya. He also said "reliable sources" had confirmed that U.S. special operations forces were planning to carry out intelligence operations that could be in preparation for surgical strikes in North Africa, including in Libya and in Mali.

All these deployments could be previously scheduled movements for training or part of ongoing operations. They also do not necessarily mean any one mission is imminent. The United States and France could simply be positioning military assets in a region that is rife with conflict and that may eventually require rapid military intervention or action.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blacklistednews/hKxa/~3/IgxZNsNl_5A/M.html

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Bo Xilai's son defends disgraced Chinese politician

Bo Guagua (left) defended his father, Bo Xilai, in a statement he posted to his Tumblr.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Bo Guagua said "it is hard for me to believe the allegations"
• NEW: The 24-year-old is the son of disgraced politician Bo Xilai
• He posts a statement on Tumblr defending his father
• Bo Xilai is accused corruption, abuse of power and adultery

(CNN) -- The son of disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai says the laundry list of allegations leveled against his father contradicts "everything I have come to know about him throughout my life."

Bo Xilai was once considered a top contender for the Politburo Standing Committee, the team of nine politicians who effectively rule China. But last week, the Communist Party relieved him of his duties and expelled him.

He also faces possible criminal charges in connection with the murder of a British businessman, a crime for which is wife has been convicted.

On Saturday, Bo's son, Guagua, posted a statement on Tumblr, a microblogging site, where he defended his "upright" father. The statement made no mention of his mother.

"Personally, it is hard for me to believe the allegations announced against my father, because they contradict everything I have come to know about him throughout my life," the younger Bo wrote.

"Although the policies my father enacted are open to debate, the father I know is upright in his beliefs and devoted to duty."

In an e-mail to CNN on Sunday, the son declined to comment further on the case. He said his statement posted to Tumblr was all he could say at the moment.

The statement followed news Friday by the state-run Xinhua new agency that the elder Bo had been expelled from the Communist Party and faced prosecution on criminal charges. The Xinhua report on his expulsion painted a portrait of corruption, abuse of power and improper sexual relationships.

The party said the politician made "severe mistakes" in the killing of the British businessman and a diplomatic incident involving a police official, Xinhua reported.

Investigators cited influence peddling, bribery and womanizing, new details found in the course of the party's investigation.

"Bo had or maintained improper sexual relationships with a number of women," the state news agency said.

He also took advantage of his power to seek profits and received bribes, and his family "accepted a huge amount of money and property from others," Xinhua said.

The son said he could not reconcile the man accused of such acts and the man he knows as his father.

"He has always taught me to be my own person and to have concern for causes greater than ourselves. I have tried to follow his advice," he said in the statement.

"At this point, I expect the legal process to follow its normal course, and I will await the result."

The elder Bo is a charismatic, albeit controversial, politician who launched a "smashing black, singing red" campaign in the southwestern city of Chongqing that promoted Communist ideology and zealously cracked down on organized crime.

His economic programs, which included millions spent on social welfare, made him a popular leader in Chongqing. But analysts say his populist policies and high-profile personal style were seen as a challenge to the more economically liberal and reform-oriented faction that dominates the current party leadership.

The politician's fortunes changed when news surfaced this year that his wife, Gu Kailai, was a suspected accomplice in the poisoning of businessman Neil Heywood.

Heywood died in November in Chongqing, where the elder Bo was the Communist Party chief. His death was originally blamed on excessive alcohol consumption.

The politician was soon stripped of his top posts for "serious breach of discipline." In August, his wife received a suspended death sentence after a seven-hour trial.

The case also put the son under scrutiny as reports emerged over his lavish student lifestyle. Photographs of him bare-chested with his arms around women at a party at the University of Oxford were widely published and received badly in China.

The father defended his son when the reports first came out, accusing people of trying to make the 24-year-old look bad.

The younger Bo graduated from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government in May. He previously attended the University of Oxford, graduating in 2010.

Wang Lijun, the former police chief of Chongqing, set off the controversial story on February 6, when he fled to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu and told American diplomats that Gu was a suspected accomplice in a murder case.

After his request for asylum was turned down, Wang left the consulate and was taken away by Chinese officials. But his accusations rocked the world's most populous nation.

Wang last week was sentenced to 15 years for defection, cover-up, bribe taking and abuse of power.

CNN's Jason Kessler and Paul Armstrong contributed to this report.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/30/world/asia/china-bo-xilai-son/index.html?eref=edition

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Korean singer Psy tops UK charts with Internet hit

LONDON (Reuters) - South Korean singer Psy jumped to the top of the British pop charts on Sunday with the quirky dance track "Gangnam Style", an Internet phenomenon that has clocked up more than 300 million views on YouTube.

The 34-year-old became the first Korean artist to top the weekly UK chart, helped by the success of a video shot in locations around Gangnam, an upmarket neighborhood in the South Korean capital, Seoul.

Psy, whose real name is Park Jai-sang, spawned hundreds of online imitators with his unusual dance move, where he pretends to ride an invisible horse. It topped the U.S. digital songs chart earlier this week.

Last week's UK number one, Irish band The Script, slipped to second place with "Hall of Fame". Third place went to U.S. rapper Flo Rida's "I Cry".

There was a new entry at the top of the album chart for English folk rock band Mumford & Sons and "Babel".

(Reporting by Peter Griffiths; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/korean-singer-psy-tops-uk-charts-internet-hit-180138411.html

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