Swarming robots could be the servants of the future

Public release date: 28-Mar-2013
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Contact: Beck Lockwood
beck@campuspr.co.uk
University of Sheffield

Swarms of robots acting together to carry out jobs could provide new opportunities for humans to harness the power of machines.

Researchers in the Sheffield Centre for Robotics, jointly established by the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University, have been working to program a group of 40 robots, and say the ability to control robot swarms could prove hugely beneficial in a range of contexts, from military to medical.

The researchers have demonstrated that the swarm can carry out simple fetching and carrying tasks, by grouping around an object and working together to push it across a surface.

The robots can also group themselves together into a single cluster after being scattered across a room, and organize themselves by order of priority.

Dr Roderich Gross, head of the Natural Robotics Lab, in the Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering at the University of Sheffield, says swarming robots could have important roles to play in the future of micromedicine, as 'nanobots' are developed for non-invasive treatment of humans. On a larger scale, they could play a part in military, or search and rescue operations, acting together in areas where it would be too dangerous or impractical for humans to go. In industry too, robot swarms could be put to use, improving manufacturing processes and workplace safety.

The programming that the University of Sheffield team has developed to control the robots is deceptively simple. For example, if the robots are being asked to group together, each robot only needs to be able to work out if there is another robot in front of it. If there is, it turns on the spot; if there isn't, it moves in a wider circle until it finds one.

Dr Gross said: "We are developing Artificial Intelligence to control robots in a variety of ways. The key is to work out what is the minimum amount of information needed by the robot to accomplish its task. That's important because it means the robot may not need any memory, and possibly not even a processing unit, so this technology could work for nanoscale robots, for example in medical applications."

This research is funded by a Marie Curie European Reintegration Grant within the 7th European Community Framework Programme. Additional support has been provided by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

The robots were showcased on Channel 5's The Gadget Show this week and will be demonstrated at this year's Gadget Show Live, to be held at the NEC in Birmingham from 3-7 April 2013. For more information go to: http://www.gadgetshowlive.net/

###

Notes for Editors:

1. A YouTube video of the robots in action can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e12RicAy1Q

2. The Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sheffield - the 2011 Times Higher Education's University of the Year - is one of the largest in the UK. Its seven departments include over 4,000 students and 900 staff and have research-related income worth more than 50M per annum from government, industry and charity sources. The 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) confirmed that two thirds of the research carried out was either Internationally Excellent or Internationally Leading.

The Faculty of Engineering has a long tradition of working with industry including Rolls-Royce, Network Rail and Siemens. Its industrial successes are exemplified by the award-winning Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) and the new 25 million Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (NAMRC).

The Faculty of Engineering is set to ensure students continue to benefit from world-class labs and teaching space through the provision of the University's new Engineering Graduate School. This brand new building, which will become the centre of the facultys postgraduate research and postgraduate teaching activities, will be sited on the corner of Broad Lane and Newcastle Street. It will form the first stage in a 15 year plan to improve and extend the existing estate in a bid to provide students with the best possible facilities while improving their student experience.

To find out more about the Faculty of Engineering, visit: http://www.shef.ac.uk/faculty/engineering/

---

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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-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Beck Lockwood
beck@campuspr.co.uk
University of Sheffield

Swarms of robots acting together to carry out jobs could provide new opportunities for humans to harness the power of machines.

Researchers in the Sheffield Centre for Robotics, jointly established by the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University, have been working to program a group of 40 robots, and say the ability to control robot swarms could prove hugely beneficial in a range of contexts, from military to medical.

The researchers have demonstrated that the swarm can carry out simple fetching and carrying tasks, by grouping around an object and working together to push it across a surface.

The robots can also group themselves together into a single cluster after being scattered across a room, and organize themselves by order of priority.

Dr Roderich Gross, head of the Natural Robotics Lab, in the Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering at the University of Sheffield, says swarming robots could have important roles to play in the future of micromedicine, as 'nanobots' are developed for non-invasive treatment of humans. On a larger scale, they could play a part in military, or search and rescue operations, acting together in areas where it would be too dangerous or impractical for humans to go. In industry too, robot swarms could be put to use, improving manufacturing processes and workplace safety.

The programming that the University of Sheffield team has developed to control the robots is deceptively simple. For example, if the robots are being asked to group together, each robot only needs to be able to work out if there is another robot in front of it. If there is, it turns on the spot; if there isn't, it moves in a wider circle until it finds one.

Dr Gross said: "We are developing Artificial Intelligence to control robots in a variety of ways. The key is to work out what is the minimum amount of information needed by the robot to accomplish its task. That's important because it means the robot may not need any memory, and possibly not even a processing unit, so this technology could work for nanoscale robots, for example in medical applications."

This research is funded by a Marie Curie European Reintegration Grant within the 7th European Community Framework Programme. Additional support has been provided by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

The robots were showcased on Channel 5's The Gadget Show this week and will be demonstrated at this year's Gadget Show Live, to be held at the NEC in Birmingham from 3-7 April 2013. For more information go to: http://www.gadgetshowlive.net/

###

Notes for Editors:

1. A YouTube video of the robots in action can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e12RicAy1Q

2. The Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sheffield - the 2011 Times Higher Education's University of the Year - is one of the largest in the UK. Its seven departments include over 4,000 students and 900 staff and have research-related income worth more than 50M per annum from government, industry and charity sources. The 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) confirmed that two thirds of the research carried out was either Internationally Excellent or Internationally Leading.

The Faculty of Engineering has a long tradition of working with industry including Rolls-Royce, Network Rail and Siemens. Its industrial successes are exemplified by the award-winning Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) and the new 25 million Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (NAMRC).

The Faculty of Engineering is set to ensure students continue to benefit from world-class labs and teaching space through the provision of the University's new Engineering Graduate School. This brand new building, which will become the centre of the facultys postgraduate research and postgraduate teaching activities, will be sited on the corner of Broad Lane and Newcastle Street. It will form the first stage in a 15 year plan to improve and extend the existing estate in a bid to provide students with the best possible facilities while improving their student experience.

To find out more about the Faculty of Engineering, visit: http://www.shef.ac.uk/faculty/engineering/

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/uos-src032813.php

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Lion kills heron: A stork reminder of big cats' wild nature

Lion kills heron: A video of four lions setting upon a blue heron at a Dutch zoo serves as a reminder of the King of the Jungle's wild instincts.

By Mai Ng?c Ch?u,?Contributor / March 28, 2013

A group of four lions, like the one pictured at left, and a heron, like the one at right, had an encounter at an Amsterdam zoo that did not turn out well for the heron.

Lion: Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP/File; Heron: Robert Harbison / The Christian Science Monitor

Enlarge

A video of four lions preying upon a heron at a Dutch zoo, shot last year and reposted on YouTube Wednesday, reminds us that you can take the lion out of the wild, but you can't take the wild out of the lion.?

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This Dutch family was visiting the zoo on a quiet Sunday afternoon when things got a bit more exciting than seeing bored animals lying around their enclosures. A lion spots a heron near the water. Following her instincts she sneaks up on it and manages to grab it. The whole family wants in on the prize, but a sneaky cub gets away with it.

In the video, a blue heron?at the Artis Royal Zoo wandered into a small pool while a group of four lions were basking in the sun, about 25 yards away. ?

As the the bird came into view of a lioness, instinct kicked in.?The lioness darted toward the bird, which desperately attempted to take flight but was pulled from the air with a leaping snatch.?The rest of her pride joined in to finish off the heron. ?

The footage of the killing has drawn thousands of views, because it's not often to see animals prey on one another at zoos. Experts said that, though the kings of the jungle are kept in captivity, cared and fed by humans, their original wildness remains untamed.?

Earlier this month, an African lion broke out of its pen and killed a 24-year-old intern at the Cat Haven sanctuary in California who was cleaning the main enclosure. According to CNN, the?5-year-old, 350-pound?killer was one of the victim's favorites.

Captive lions tend to act on their wild instincts whenever potential prey catches their eyes. A pair of videos titled "lion tries to eat baby" have attracted in total more than 7.6 millions views on YouTube since they were uploaded last April. The clips show an Oregon Zoo lioness snarling and baring her fangs in vain at a happily oblivious toddler protected by reinforced glass.

"Most of the time they seem relaxed and cuddly?so it's easy to forget that they react to meat with the reflexive instincts of a shark." Professor Craig Packer, a leading big cat expert at the University of Minnesota, noted in a recent interview with National Geographic News.?"Ten years ago Roy Horne (of Siegfried ?and Roy) was attacked by a tiger that they had handled for years?these attacks happen when people forget about the shark inside."

Early this month, The Monitor's Gloria Goodale interviewed Zara McDonald, executive director of the Bay Area Felidae?Conservation Fund?regarding the death of the Seattle woman.?

?Cats are predators,? said McDonald.?"I don?t care how tame anyone thinks one might be, they are always a wild animal with the ability to hurt humans.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/Xjz_5a1RHBo/Lion-kills-heron-A-stork-reminder-of-big-cats-wild-nature

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Gary Irving, Convicted Serial Rapist, Captured After 34 Years On The Run

A convicted rapist who for decades has been on the run from the law was captured by police this week.

According to The Boston Globe, 52-year-old Gary Irving has been on the Massachusetts State Police Most Wanted list for the past 34 years, since a fateful day in 1979 when the convicted serial rapist fled from his Massachusetts home.

Irving, who was found guilty in Norfolk County, Mass., of raping three young women, including a 16-year-old girl, was arrested Wednesday in his home in Gorham, Maine.

Reuters reports that Irving had been sentenced to life in prison in 1979, but that he had fled after the judge in his case chose to delay his sentence by two days to allow him to make arrangements before his prison term started.

For decades, Massachusetts State Police have been searching for the fugitive. Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey said that law enforcement officers had previously followed leads across New England and several states, including Georgia, Colorado and Florida, in search of Irving.

In the interim, Irving has been living under the name Gregg Irving. He has been married for 29 years and has two children, according to Boston's WCVB.com.

Reports the Boston Globe, Irving and his wife were about to tuck their granddaughter into bed Wednesday night, when police showed up at the couple's home. Irving's wife has since said that she had "no knowledge of his true identity."

An 18-year-old female neighbor of Irving's said that she was shocked to learn of his real identity.

?It actually kind of freaks me out because I never shut my shades,? Alyssa Lurvey told the Boston Globe. ?We don?t lock our door. I don?t know what I would do if he decided to walk in one day, come up to my room. That?s really, really scary.?

Police say they found numerous guns at Irving's home. He will face federal charges for illegal firearms possession, Reuters reports.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/29/rapist-34-years-gary-irving_n_2979324.html

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Gun control backers struggle to win some Democrats

FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2013 photo, Emma Clyman, 5, of Manhattan, holds a sign that reads "No More Newtowns" outside city hall park during the One Million Moms for Gun Control Rally in New York. Despite a proposal backed by over 8 in 10 people in polls, gun control supporters are struggling to win over moderate Democrats in their drive to push expanded background checks of firearms purchasers through the Senate next month. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2013 photo, Emma Clyman, 5, of Manhattan, holds a sign that reads "No More Newtowns" outside city hall park during the One Million Moms for Gun Control Rally in New York. Despite a proposal backed by over 8 in 10 people in polls, gun control supporters are struggling to win over moderate Democrats in their drive to push expanded background checks of firearms purchasers through the Senate next month. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

FILE - In this May 19, 2011 file photo, Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., speaks during a hearing of the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance on cell phone privacy on Capitol Hill in Washington. Despite a proposal backed by over 8 in 10 people in polls, gun control supporters are struggling to win over moderate Democrats like Pryor in their drive to push expanded background checks of firearms purchasers through the Senate next month. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2012 file photo, Sen.-elect Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., address her supporters in Bismarck, N.D. Despite a proposal backed by over 8 in 10 people in polls, gun control supporters are struggling to win over moderate Democrats like Heitkamp in their drive to push expanded background checks of firearms purchasers through the Senate next month. (AP Photo/Will Kincaid, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? It would seem a lobbyist's dream: rounding up votes for a proposal backed by more than 8 in 10 people in polls. Yet gun control supporters are struggling to win over moderate Democrats in their drive to push expanded background checks for firearms purchasers through the Senate next month.

Backed by a $12 million TV advertising campaign financed by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, gun control groups scheduled rallies around the country Thursday aimed at pressuring senators to back the effort. President Barack Obama was meeting at the White House with gun violence victims.

Moderate Senate Democrats like Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota are shunning Bloomberg as a meddling outsider while stressing their allegiance to their own voters' views and to gun rights. While saying they are keeping an open mind and that they support keeping guns from criminals and people with mental disorders, some moderates are avoiding specific commitments they might regret later.

"I do not need someone from New York City to tell me how to handle crime in our state. I know that we can go after and prosecute criminals without the need to infringe upon the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding North Dakotans," Heitkamp said this week, citing the constitutional right to bear arms.

Heitkamp does not face re-election next year, but Pryor and five other Senate Democrats from Republican-leaning or closely divided states do. All six, from Southern and Western states, will face voters whose deep attachment to guns is unshakeable ? not to mention opposition from the still-potent National Rifle Association, should they vote for restrictions the NRA opposes.

"We have a politically savvy and a loyal voting bloc, and the politicians know that," said Andrew Arulanandam, spokesman for the NRA, which claims nearly 5 million paying members.

The heart of the Senate gun bill will be expanded requirements for federal background checks for gun buyers, the remaining primary proposal pushed by Obama and many Democrats since 20 first-graders and six women were shot to death in December at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada has said there aren't enough votes to approve a ban on assault weapons, while prospects are uncertain for a prohibition on large-capacity ammunition magazines.

Today, the background checks apply only to sales by the nation's roughly 55,000 federally licensed gun dealers. Not covered are private transactions like those at gun shows and online. The Senate measure is still evolving as Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., use Congress' two-week recess to negotiate for additional support in both parties.

Expanding background checks to include gun show sales got 84 percent support in an Associated Press-GfK poll earlier this year. Near-universal background checks have received similar or stronger support in other national polls.

Polls in some Southern states have been comparable. March surveys by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute found more than 9 in 10 people in Florida and Virginia backing expanded background checks, the same margin found by an Elon University Poll in North Carolina in February.

Analysts say people support more background checks because they consider it an extension of the existing system. That doesn't translate to unvarnished support from lawmakers, in part because the small but vocal minorities who oppose broader background checks and other gun restrictions tend to be driven voters that politicians are reluctant to alienate.

"It's probably true that intense, single-issue gun voters have been more likely to turn out than folks who want common-sense gun laws," said Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the group that Bloomberg helps lead. Glaze, however, said he believes that voters favoring gun restrictions have become more motivated since Newtown and other recent mass shootings.

Several moderate Democrats are holding back as they assess the political landscape. They're also waiting to see exactly what the Senate will consider.

Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, said Wednesday his state's voters tell him, "Don't take away our rights, our individual rights, our guns." Begich said he opposes a strict proposal requiring background checks for nearly all gun sales but will wait to see whether there is a bipartisan compromise he can support.

The problems faced by gun control supporters go beyond the challenge of winning over moderate Democrats. GOP opponents are sure to force Democrats to get 60 of the Senate's 100 votes to win, and there are only 53 Democrats plus two independents who generally support them.

Also targeted by Bloomberg's ads are 10 Republicans, including Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, home of ex-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was severely wounded in a mass shooting; the retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia; and moderate Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.

In another indicator of hurdles facing gun control forces, the Senate voted 50-49 last week to require 60 votes for any legislation narrowing gun rights. The proposal lost because 60 votes in favor were required, but six Democrats voted for the proposal, offered by conservative Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.

"It confirms there's no such thing as an easy gun vote," said Jim Kessler, a senior vice president of the centrist Democratic group Third Way.

Underscoring the uncertainty about moderate Democrats:

?Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., is "still holding conversations with Virginia stakeholders and sorting through issues on background checks" and proposals to ban assault weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines, spokesman Kevin Hall said.

?Pryor said of Bloomberg's ads: "I don't take gun advice from the mayor of New York City. I listen to Arkansans." Spokesman Michael Teague said Pryor opposes universal background checks but could favor expanding the requirement to gun show sales.

?Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., told the Greensboro News & Record she favors expanded background checks, but said her vote would depend on the measure's details. Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., answered, "Yes," when the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette asked whether he supports gun show background checks ? prompting Bloomberg's group to remove Donnelly's name from the ad they are running in Indiana.

The gun bill also increases penalties for illegal gun sales and slightly boosts aid for school safety.

More abrupt changes like an assault weapons ban generally get slight majorities in polls. Democratic leaders decided to omit it from the Senate bill because such a provision lacks enough votes.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-03-28-Gun%20Control-On%20the%20Fence/id-e3e8b5712d2c47669756bf2ab198086f

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Payday Cash Loan ? For Those Who Are Credit Challenged | Trade ...

Payday money loans began appearing on the World Wide Internet in the 1990s. They were touted as a way to get swift, effortless money with out having to worry about qualifying. This is especially handy for individuals who are credit challenged and have issues acquiring loans anyplace else. Almost everything to receive a payday cash loan on-line can be done on the web without having having to worry about paperw?

Require cash quick? Try a payday money loan. This just could be your answer to your short-term money issue.

Payday money loans began appearing on the Globe Wide Web in the 1990s. They have been touted as a way to get swift, straightforward cash with no obtaining to be concerned about qualifying. This is specifically handy for people who are credit challenged and have concerns getting loans anywhere else. Almost everything to acquire a payday money loan on the web can be carried out on-line with no obtaining to be concerned about paperwork to fax in or e-mail.

Payday money loans are a relatively new variety on loan. These loans are loans that are created speedily and easily but have to be repaid on the next payday. Depending on the size of the loan, this can be stretched out more than two consecutive paydays, at instances, possibly 3.

In order to apply for a payday money loan you have to do a little internet analysis in order to uncover an on the web payday loan internet site that you are comfortable with. When youve discovered an on-line cash payday lender that looks good, click on the application region of the internet site. The application process includes filling out a questionnaire with some really standard data on it. This is not true detailed information, just fundamental stuff about exactly where you live, make contact with data, and info about your job. You can now fill out the application at any computer simply because the application procedure is on the internet.

The needs for most on the internet payday loans are that you have an active checking or savings account and direct deposit. Direct deposit is a process that your employer follows in order to location your paychecks straight into your account. Due to the fact this is a convenient and secure approach of acquiring paid more individuals are performing it these days.

After your application has been approved the lender deposits the funds into your account and the cash is available for you to use right away. The lender will take the funds out of your bank account plus a small charge on your subsequent payday. The costs are set up as a part of the repayment of the loan.

There are a lot of situations that could contact for a person to want a payday cash loan. Don?t forget that this is made to be a short-term loan and ought to you want a larger loan with longer terms you will need to seek one of these, which you can also acquire on the web.

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Source: http://www.tradefinancebank.com/payday-cash-loan-for-those-who-are-credit-challenged/

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When Is It More Than Inspiration? Burner CEO Calls Out Hushed As An ?Obvious Clone?

Sometimes it's hard to pinpoint what's a clone, what's iterative and what's just inspiration. This is but one example. Greg Cohn, the?CEO of?Burner, an iPhone application offering disposable phone numbers that raised?seed funding from 500 Startups and other angels this fall,?is calling out a competitor's app as a clone. The app in question is?Hushed, which first debuted on Android before arriving in the App Store this past week. Hushed offers a similar feature set and pricing model to Burner, but Cohn thinks some things were just a little?too?familiar.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/k520flMgvUk/

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Polaris Office 4.0 (for Android)

Most office apps for Android make working on a phone (barely) tolerable, but Polaris Office 4.0 for Android turns it into a downright pleasant experience. Having already made great inroads on iOS, where it earned our Editors' Choice award, Polaris Office 4.0 brings a solid and beautifully designed experience to Android. While it lacks some key editing and sharing features, a smart user interface ?helps balance out those shortcomings.

Using Polaris Office
Polaris Office's quality experience begins as soon as you launch the app. Previews of recent documents are displayed in an array that moves toward you as you scroll through them. Submenus for the file browser, favorite documents, and so on are also clearly displayed and easy to understand.

Unlike many Android apps, Polaris Office also comes with fairly comprehensive documentation to guide new users. The app currently supports DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PPT, PPTX, and good ol' TXT documents. It can also read and export PDFs.

While you'll mostly access your files through Polaris Office's dramatic over-your-head scrolling listof recent documents, the app lets you browse all your phone's files by content type. This puts all the documents you might need on a single screen, and you can easily add essential documents to your favorite list for fast access later.

The Pleasures of Polished Design
Polaris Office is a pleasure to use in part because it has big menus that are easy to read and navigate on a small mobile device. When changing the style of text, a tabbed screen makes it easy to find the option you need. Some menus, like point size, have dial-like sliders to quickly make changes. The app also makes full use of touch controls, allowing for swiping between pages and pinch-zoom.

Many of these menus are the same, or similar, when working with different document types, making for a consistent experience across the app. When I went to change the color of cells in a spreadsheet, I saw the same interface that I used for changing paragraph options for text documents.

This is a welcome change from OfficeSuite Pro (3 stars), which uses a small toolbar ribbon for some options and nested menus for others. Polaris Office is much more straightforward and does a good job of staying out of your way so you can focus on work.

I was particularly impressed with how easy it was to create PowerPoint presentations in Polaris Office. Slide elements can be edited simply by double tapping them, and slide notes?to aid a presenter?were a cinch to find and clearly linked to specific slides. The app also includes a presentation mode (see the slide show) for you to run a PowerPoint show from your phone. Unfortunately, you'll have to provide your own means of projecting the presentation.

Unique Features
One interesting feature of Polaris Office is that any document or highlighted text can be read back in text-to-speech (TTS, in the app's menu), potentially making it more accessible to users with disabilities.

The app includes a large array of spreadsheet functions in the Fx menu. Once you've selected your function, you can tap a cell to add it to the equation, and a ribbon of operators makes it easy to complete your mathematic construction. While in presentation mode, you can also use a faux-laser pointer and draw directly on the presentation.

Polaris Office also includes a robust find-and-replace feature, and the app can read (but not add) comments on a document. These are welcome additions for any editor, but both could use more work. Comments, for instance, can only be seen in "memo" view, and the "replace" function is not immediately obvious when selected.

What's Missing
Polaris Office is a well-made app, but it's clearly designed with document creation and not editing in mind. This strikes me as odd because it seems more likely that you'd be working on an existing document from your phone, rather than making one from scratch.

While Polaris Office can show comments already on a document, you cannot create new ones. Nor does it include a track changes features?Apple's Pages is one of a few mobile apps that boasts this feature.

What's more, Polaris Office on Android lags behind its own iOS versions in terms of cloud support. The version in Google Play supports syncing only with Dropbox and via a downloadable plugin, but the iOS versions of the app play nice with most of the other major cloud services.

Strangely, while the iOS version of the app included an iPad version for no extra charge, I could not install the Android version on a Nexus 7 or Samsung Galaxy Note II.

A Solid Office App
Polaris Office 4.0 has a high-gloss finish rarely seen in the Android app store and a well-designed interface that makes creating and managing documents on your phone astonishingly easy. Now that it has a foot in the door of Google Play, Infraware will hopefully see fit to expand the app's already able list of capabilities, as Polaris Office is a strong contender against other Android office apps.

It's quite a capable app, but I am reserving an Editors' Choice award until after I've had a chance to look at its competitor, OfficeSuite Pro 7.

?More Android App Reviews:
??? Polaris Office 4.0 (for Android)
??? SwiftKey Tablet Keyboard (for Android)
??? doubleTwist (for Android)
??? SwiftKey Keyboard (for Android)
??? Small Call (for Android)
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/3DLzXPEbh34/0,2817,2416566,00.asp

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Dying Woman Uses Her Thumb To Write Book - Business Insider

A mother of three dying of motor neurone disease has written an 89,000 word book on her iPhone, using the only part of her body below the neck that she can still move ? her right thumb.

For more than 20 years, Susan Spencer-Wendel's job was about telling other people's stories, recounting tales of tragedy and perseverance and winning awards with her writings about justice and injustice.

Juggling a career as a newspaper reporter with the demands that go with being a married mother of three, she felt lucky and happy, never considering that her expectations of watching her children grow up, graduate and wed, or her dreams of grandchildren and retirement, would be anything but plain sailing.

But in the summer of 2009, her ordinary life turned extraordinary when she suddenly noticed that her left hand was withered. The subsequent diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or motor neurone disease, delivered in 2011 after the symptoms had begun to creep through the rest of her body, brought with it a death sentence.

It left her with one more story to write. Because while the neurological disease would go on to paralyse her muscles, robbing her of her mobility and reducing her speech to a heavy slur, the year or so she had left would be about "living with joy, and dying with joy and laughing a helluva lot in the process", she resolved.

Her refusal to face death with fear was made all the more remarkable by the manner in which she committed her memoirs to the record. Determined not to be beaten by her crippled body, but to leave behind an inspirational message about the things in life that matter most, and the art of letting go, Mrs Spencer-Wendel, 46, patiently tapped out all 89,000 words on her iPhone, using the only part of her body below the neck that she can still move ? her right thumb.

"You want to keep doing the things you can do for as long as possible. You realise, 'Hey, I can't jump, I can't do up my own shorts or pants, I can't walk, I can't do this or that.' You don't want to give up until you absolutely have to," she said, sitting beneath the shade of a thatched canopy in the garden of her home in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Her book, Until I Say Good-Bye, to be published on both sides of the Atlantic this week, was purchased by HarperCollins in the US for a sum in the region of $2 million. It will be translated into more than 20 languages, distributed on four continents and is forecast to become a bestseller. Universal Pictures have bought the movie rights for a further $2 million.

"People have been sharing their stories with me forever," she says. "Now I'm sharing mine. I want it to be a force for good."

The book chronicles what she calls her "final, wonderful year". She journeyed to the sub-Arctic in search of the Aurora Borealis, viewed America's last space shuttle launch, and reunited with her birth mother in California more than four decades after she was given up for adoption.

She tracked down relatives in Cyprus of the late biological father she'd never known, swam with dolphins and took her teenage daughter to try on wedding dresses at New York's finest bridal shop, knowing that she will not live to see her choose a husband and marry for real.

"'Bucket List' is too silly a term. My philosophy is 'Do what you delight in ? and do it no matter what' ? so I did," she told The Sunday Telegraph in an exclusive pre-publication interview. "You can't fight nature. Don't fret about what you can't control - it can't be undone. Death will be a blessing, I believe that every day, but I haven't let that get in my way. There's death, but first there's life."

Like most of her muscles, she is fast losing control of her tongue and throat, making speech difficult ? both for her to deliver and for others to understand ? and causing her periodically to start choking. She is reliant on her husband, John, 48, to move her around, lowering her into her wheelchair or standing her out of it, to dress her, wash and groom her. She can no longer even lift her arms to hug her children, Marina, 15, Aubrey, 11 and Wesley, nine, for whom she intends the book as a celebration of her life and the memories they made together.

ALS causes nerve cells to waste away and die, meaning that messages are no longer carried from the brain to the body's muscles. By June last year, Mrs Spencer-Wendel's hands were so deformed and near-useless that it was too much for her to even move them back and forth across her iPad keyboard.

Knowing that she only had a short window of opportunity left before she lost all movement completely, she embarked on her book project using the "Notes" section of her mobile telephone, clutching it in her twisted and gnarled left hand. "I would type each letter with my right thumb ? tap! tap! ? the only digit I could control," she explains in the book.

When people came to visit, she would ask them to read aloud what she had crafted on the screen. "I could not hug them. I did not go out for meals with them or to the beach. I could not walk the yard or have a conversation for more than a few minutes? These were my conversations," she notes.

"I was speaking to my family and friends with my written words and I was reliving the moments. Meeting John. My children's births. The peace I embraced inside? Writing this book was not work. Like each journey I took during the year, it brought me joy. It kept me alive."

When it was complete, she was thrilled by the accomplishment ? "I felt as if I'd pulled myself up a mountain with nine fingers tied behind my back."

Sitting in her patio chair, her dog Gracie napping at her feet and the breeze ruffling the tropical vegetation around her, she is a picture of serenity. But she admits to the occasional low moment, and to tears when the manuscript was complete.

"It was panic, it was 'What do I do now?'" she explained. "The book was a blessing. It was a counter-balance to how bad the diagnosis was, a balancing out of fortunes, good and bad."

Her husband, John, added: "A book is what happens when you take a woman who can't sit still and make her sit still. ALS hasn't done anything to her mind."

The book, they both say, was a "terrible trade-off" ? Mrs Spencer-Wendel is losing her life but leaving behind financial stability for her husband and children, "the best possible outcome of the worst possible scenario" as she calls it.

Yet they have also rejoiced in the realisation that the book will bring greater attention to ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease after an American baseball star whose emotional withdrawal from the sport in 1939 pitched the illness into the public conscience.

"I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth. I might have been given a bad break, but I've also got a lot to live for," Gehrig told the crowd at his final match, after ALS ended his 17-year career.

Mrs Spencer-Wendel took his lesson and paid it forward. "We don't go around as a family, all 'Woe is me.' I don't fret about the small things. I have to let things not drive me nuts, otherwise everything would drive me nuts. The message is 'Quit complaining. Accept. Live with joy."

Until I Say Good-Bye is published by Two Roads on March 14, ?16.99, also in ebook

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/dying-woman-uses-her-thumb-to-write-book-2013-3

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Studies tie stress from storms, war to heart risks

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Stress does bad things to the heart. New studies have found higher rates of cardiac problems in veterans with PTSD, New Orleans residents six years after Hurricane Katrina and Greeks struggling through that country's financial turmoil.

Disasters and prolonged stress can raise "fight or flight" hormones that affect blood pressure, blood sugar and other things in ways that make heart trouble more likely, doctors say. They also provoke anger and helplessness and spur heart-harming behaviors like eating or drinking too much.

"We're starting to connect emotions with cardiovascular risk markers" and the new research adds evidence of a link, said Dr. Nieca Goldberg, a cardiologist at NYU Langone Medical Center and an American Heart Association spokeswoman.

She had no role in the studies, which were discussed Sunday at an American College of Cardiology conference in San Francisco.

The largest, involving 207,954 veterans in California and Nevada ages 46 to 74, compared those with PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, to those without it. They were free of major heart disease and diabetes when researchers checked their Veterans Administration medical records from 2009 and 2010.

Checked again about two years later, 35 percent of those with PTSD but only 19 percent of those without it had developed insulin resistance, which can lead to diabetes and hardening of the arteries.

Doctors also saw higher rates of metabolic syndrome ? a collection of heart disease risk factors that include high body fat, cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar levels. About 53 percent of veterans with PTSD but only 37 percent of those without it had several of these symptoms.

The numbers are estimates and are not as important as the trend ? more heart risk with more stress, said one study leader, Dr. Ramin Ebrahimi, a cardiologist at the Greater Los Angeles VA Medical Center and a professor at UCLA. It shows that PTSD can cause physical symptoms, not just the mental ones commonly associated with it.

"Twenty or 30 years ago PTSD was a term reserved for combat veterans. We have come to realize now that PTSD is actually a much more common disorder and it can happen in veterans who did not undergo combat but had a very traumatic experience" such as losing a friend, he said.

That goes for others who suffer trauma such as being raped, robbed at gunpoint or in a serious accident, he said. Nearly 8 million Americans have PTSD, the National Institute of Mental Health estimates.

They include survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Tulane Medical Center doctors led a study of their hospital's patients that suggests heart attack incidence is three times higher in New Orleans than it was in the two years before the 2005 storm.

Heart attacks made up 2.4 percent of admissions in the six years after the storm compared to just .7 percent before it. The post-storm patients were more likely to be unemployed or uninsured, to smoke, and to have depression, anxiety or high cholesterol, resarchers found. A third study found that heart attacks rose sharply in the Messinia area of southwestern Greece since January 2008, the start of that country's financial crisis. Researchers compared medical records of more than 22,000 patients admitted to the General Hospital of Kalamata ? the only hospital with a cardiology department in the region.

There were 1,084 heart attacks in the four years after the crisis began compared to 841 in the four years before it, even though the population and its demographics remained the same.

Heart attack incidence rose 40 percent among women, who have higher unemployment rates than men and tend to be more responsible for child care ? a double burden of stress, said the lead researcher, Dr. Emmanouil Makaris.

___

Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-10-US-MED-Stress-Heart-Troubles/id-6d15ca000ba341959a551aa0960d735c

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John Bruhns: Iraq 10 Years Later: Participating in My Generation's Most Controversial War

Many of those who served in Iraq have moved on and started their lives anew. I am among that cohort. Despite my new beginning, I'm left with memories of that war. Those memories remind me of how lucky I am to live in America.

My land is secure, and no foreign armies will invade any time soon. Foreign militaries will not be imposing curfews, home searches at gunpoint, or martial law.

As an infantryman in Iraq from 2003-2004, I was part of a military force that denied the Iraqi people these same luxuries. It was not as if the troops invaded with the mindset of taking away personal freedoms from Iraqis. However, large-scale military operations in foreign lands are very imperfect.

Once the invasion commenced, all parties involved lacked the option to choose their own perfect situation.

The initial mission primarily involved "search and destroy" tactics. Here and there, "clear and hold" measures were conducted to prevent the enemy from re-emerging. The hardest part was not knowing who the enemy was.

During my time in Iraq, the term "guerrilla warfare" became an understatement. Hit-and-run ambushes were prevalent and the attackers would often disappear into the night. The enemy didn't wear a uniform. They presented no identifiable characteristics that we could use to single them out as insurgents or members of Al-Qaeda. They just looked the like people who lived there.

After enduring countless attacks from an unidentifiable enemy, my perception was that I was mainly fighting the Iraqi people -- not those responsible for 9/11.

It can be quite burdensome for American soldiers or Marines who served in Iraq to realize that they may have only fought those they were told they liberated. This is a tough pill to swallow. Especially for those troops who enlisted for the sole purpose of responding to the 9/11 attacks.

After 10 years, we need to have a sobering moment of clarity and accept the evidence-based fact that the Iraq war was unrelated to the 9/11 attacks. If we are ever going to learn to avoid similar global misadventures, the bags must be removed from our heads once and for all.

We can do so without being unpatriotic. We can do so without being labeled "anti-troop." This is an undeniable reality.

I'm proud of my military service and even prouder of the men I served with. I can have that pride while disagreeing with the mission in Iraq.

Despite my personal views toward the mission, I drove on anyway.

IEDs detonated frequently in my unit's sector. Mortar and RPG attacks were just as bad. This activity sparked a reaction from the brass. This was not something that my military leaders had asked for, but they had a responsibility to find whomever was causing the lethal mayhem.

Something had to be done to stop the madness.

We began to seek out whomever was responsible for the attacks in our area of operation. This meant going house-to-house looking for weapons, anti-American propaganda, or any evidence that would lead us to the insurgency. We often came up empty-handed. This led to the creation of a baseline troops could use to identify a terrorist or an insurgent.

There was a simple rule: Only one AK-47 per household.

Many Iraqis possessed more than one AK-47 prior to the U.S. invasion. If Saddam Hussein imposed a limitation on the number of AK-47s allowed per household in Iraq before the American military had arrived, it was unbeknownst to me.

Iraqi men who had more than one AK-47 in their home automatically became suspects. Erring on the side of caution, these men were categorized as potential terrorists or members of the insurgency.

Using this criterion, there was a spike in the arrest rate of Iraqis who were considered possible opponents of the United States, despite a lack of hard evidence.

For me to understand this unprovoked war, it was necessary for me to put myself in the shoes of the Iraqis. If I were an Iraqi during that period, I probably would have wanted some self-protective weaponry to defend my home and family, given the surrounding chaos.

In America, we pride ourselves on the Second Amendment. I too am a supporter of gun rights. This support leaves me with considerable regret that many Iraqi men were snatched up at night and taken away from their crying wives and children, only because they owned more than one weapon.

This may have been a necessary tactic at a time when options were limited, but it was ineffective in winning the hearts and minds of the people. Instead, it caused a retaliatory backlash from the Iraqi people who perpetuated the fighting.

Some will argue that taking weapons away from the Iraqis was necessary to protect American troops.

However, our policymakers told the troops they were liberating the Iraqis. They said that the Iraqis would welcome American forces with open arms. If that was true, why was there a need to disarm gracious and welcoming Iraqis whom we were supposedly liberating? If the overall majority of Iraqis were truly that receptive to the U.S. military's presence in their country, American troops would not have been in danger from ordinary Iraqi gun owners.

Gun-rights advocates have expressed strong sentiments that our Second Amendment rights need to be protected here in America. Why should we deny a country we were supposedly liberating these very rights?

Invading a sovereign nation and removing the same freedoms that we enjoy in our own country amount to a conquering that is very different from liberation.

Once it became apparent that Saddam did not have weapons of mass destruction, policymakers needed to justify the conflict. The only way to do so was to manufacture links between Iraq, the 9/11 attacks and al-Qaeda. It was a feeble-minded attempt to remove attention from the WMD situation and refocus the mission on al-Qaeda.

With 20/20 hindsight, it is rational to assume that we did fight members of al-Qaeda. However, it is more likely than not that we both fought on a neutral territory. We may have become magnets for each other in a vacuum.

Over the years, there was never a lack of jargon spewed by those who never served, as they spouted typical clich?s such as "war is war, and we must fight them over there instead of here." That is especially convenient for nonparticipants.

Those who have endured firsthand the cavalier rhetoric of spectators know that there are tremendous costs to going to war.

Going forward, we can only hope that those who have the authority to send young Americans to war do so as an absolute last resort and with the fullest due diligence. Young Americans should not be left with lifelong physical or emotional scars from an unprovoked war that they were told was necessary to sustain the American way.

I would like to think that by now we have come to grips with the reality that "Operation Iraqi Freedom" should have been avoided. It did not contribute to America's national security and it divided our nation. In addition, we likely will never be able quantify the damaging effects the war had on the nation of Iraq.

?

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sgt-john-bruhns/iraq-war_b_2845825.html

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Whoa there! Quick switch to 'barefoot' shoes can be bad to the bone

Mar. 5, 2013 ? or the growing number of runners who are considering trying "barefoot" five-finger running shoes, researchers at BYU have a message for you: Take it slow!

A new study from a team of exercise science professors found that runners who transition too quickly to minimalist shoes suffer an increased risk of injury to bones in the foot, including possible stress fractures.

With minimalist shoes now making up 15 percent of the $6.5 billion running shoe market, the findings are nothing to run from.

"Transitioning to minimalist shoes is definitely stressful to the bones," said Sarah Ridge, study lead author and assistant professor of exercise science at BYU. "You have to be careful in how you transition and most people don't think about that; they just want to put the shoes on and go."

The research, appearing online ahead of print in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, studied 36 experienced runners over a 10-week period.

Each runner first underwent MRIs on their feet prior to the study period. Half of the runners were then asked to gradually transition into five-finger minimalist shoes while the other half continued to run in traditional running shoes.

Subjects in the experimental group followed an industry suggested protocol. They did one short (1-2 mile) run in the minimalist shoes the first week, and added an additional short run each week so that they ran at least 3 miles in the new shoes by week three. They were then told to add mileage in the minimal shoes as they felt comfortable, with the goal of replacing one short run per week in traditional shoes with the new shoes.

At the end of the 10-week period, MRIs were again conducted. The MRIs revealed that those who had transitioned to the minimalist shoes suffered greater increases in bone marrow edema (inflammation causing excessive fluid in the bone) and more stress injuries than those in traditional shoes.

"Whenever a bone is impacted by running (or some other repetitive action), it goes through a normal remodeling process to get stronger," Ridge said. "Injury occurs when the impact is coming too quickly or too powerfully, and the bone doesn't have a chance to properly remodel before impact reoccurs."

Interestingly, the study found the majority of those who suffered stress injuries were women.

Ridge and her coauthors, which include BYU exercise science faculty Wayne Johnson, Ulrike Mitchell and Iain Hunter, said the study does not mean minimalist shoes are bad.

Rather, to minimize the risk of injuries, runners should transition over a longer duration than 10 weeks and at a lower intensity (miles per week).

"People need to remember they've grown up their whole life wearing a certain type of running shoes and they need to give their muscles and bones time to make the change," Johnson said. "If you want to wear minimalist shoes, make sure you transition slowly."

This is the first of many studies looking at minimalist running shoes, the authors said. Over the next several months they plan to publish enough research to begin to establish clear recommendations for anyone considering making the switch.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Brigham Young University.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Sarah T. Ridge, A.Wayne Johnson, Ulrike H. Mitchell, Iain Hunter, Eric Robinson, Brent S. E. Rich, Stephen Douglas Brown. Foot Bone Marrow Edema after 10-week Transition to Minimalist Running Shoes. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2013; : 1 DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e3182874769

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/uA8UcgJpWY0/130307092523.htm

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Nanoparticles loaded with bee venom kill HIV

Mar. 7, 2013 ? Nanoparticles carrying a toxin found in bee venom can destroy human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) while leaving surrounding cells unharmed, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown. The finding is an important step toward developing a vaginal gel that may prevent the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

"Our hope is that in places where HIV is running rampant, people could use this gel as a preventive measure to stop the initial infection," says Joshua L. Hood, MD, PhD, a research instructor in medicine.

The study appears in the current issue of Antiviral Therapy.

Bee venom contains a potent toxin called melittin that can poke holes in the protective envelope that surrounds HIV, and other viruses. Large amounts of free melittin can cause a lot of damage. Indeed, in addition to anti-viral therapy, the paper's senior author, Samuel A. Wickline, MD, the J. Russell Hornsby Professor of Biomedical Sciences, has shown melittin-loaded nanoparticles to be effective in killing tumor cells.

The new study shows that melittin loaded onto these nanoparticles does not harm normal cells. That's because Hood added protective bumpers to the nanoparticle surface. When the nanoparticles come into contact with normal cells, which are much larger in size, the particles simply bounce off. HIV, on the other hand, is even smaller than the nanoparticle, so HIV fits between the bumpers and makes contact with the surface of the nanoparticle, where the bee toxin awaits.

"Melittin on the nanoparticles fuses with the viral envelope," Hood says. "The melittin forms little pore-like attack complexes and ruptures the envelope, stripping it off the virus."

According to Hood, an advantage of this approach is that the nanoparticle attacks an essential part of the virus' structure. In contrast, most anti-HIV drugs inhibit the virus's ability to replicate. But this anti-replication strategy does nothing to stop initial infection, and some strains of the virus have found ways around these drugs and reproduce anyway.

"We are attacking an inherent physical property of HIV," Hood says. "Theoretically, there isn't any way for the virus to adapt to that. The virus has to have a protective coat, a double-layered membrane that covers the virus."

Beyond prevention in the form of a vaginal gel, Hood also sees potential for using nanoparticles with melittin as therapy for existing HIV infections, especially those that are drug-resistant. The nanoparticles could be injected intravenously and, in theory, would be able to clear HIV from the blood stream.

"The basic particle that we are using in these experiments was developed many years ago as an artificial blood product," Hood says. "It didn't work very well for delivering oxygen, but it circulates safely in the body and gives us a nice platform that we can adapt to fight different kinds of infections."

Since melittin attacks double-layered membranes indiscriminately, this concept is not limited to HIV. Many viruses, including hepatitis B and C, rely on the same kind of protective envelope and would be vulnerable to melittin-loaded nanoparticles.

While this particular paper does not address contraception, Hood says the gel easily could be adapted to target sperm as well as HIV. But in some cases people may only want the HIV protection.

"We also are looking at this for couples where only one of the partners has HIV, and they want to have a baby," Hood says. "These particles by themselves are actually very safe for sperm, for the same reason they are safe for vaginal cells."

While this work was done in cells in a laboratory environment, Hood and his colleagues say the nanoparticles are easy to manufacture in large enough quantities to supply them for future clinical trials.

This work was supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenges Explorations grant number OPP1024642 'Fusogenic nanoparticles for combined anti-HIV/contraception.'

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The original article was written by Julia Evangelou Strait.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Joshua L Hood, Andrew P Jallouk, Nancy Campbell, Lee Ratner, Samuel A Wickline. Cytolytic nanoparticles attenuate HIV-1 infectivity. Antiviral Therapy, 2012; 18 (1): 95 DOI: 10.3851/IMP2346

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/viBTrNLNcoU/130307160325.htm

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Solavei starts carrying nano-SIMs for iPhone 5 nomads

Those who want to use an unlocked iPhone 5 in the US beyond AT&T have had relatively few places to go for an exodus, T-Mobile and Straight Talk usually being the two carriers on the short list. It's time to add a third: Solavei is now carrying nano-SIMs for its T-Mobile-based virtual network. There's not much mystery to what's involved after that, since you're still getting the singular, all-unlimited $49 plan and no guarantee of 3G when even T-Mobile's own spectrum refarming is still young. If you can live with those potential caveats for the sake of network and contract independence, Solavei is waiting.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/06/solavei-starts-carrying-nano-sims-for-iphone-5-nomads/

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Arrest Warrants Issued for Bnei Yeshivos Who - Yeshiva World News

Arrest Warrants Issued for Bnei Yeshivos Who Failed to Report for Draft

(Wednesday, March 6th, 2013)

According to a report in the Wednesday edition of HaPeles, hundreds of arrest warrants were issued against bnei yeshivos who failed to report after receiving draft notices.

The letters sent to their homes inform them that due to their failure to report to regional induction centers to complete the draft process, the decision has been made to issue a warrant for their arrest by Israel Police. They are informed that as a result of the impending arrest warrant, they are also barred from leaving the country.

It is explained that the letter they are reading represents a final opportunity to report to an induction center to complete the process, and failure to do so places them in a category of eligibility for immediate draft despite failing to complete the induction process.

(YWN ? Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

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How do fleas hurt my pets? | Princeton Veterinary Hospital

It may still feel like it?s winter around here, but flea and tick season is right around the corner! It?s never too soon to think about how to protect your furry family members from these biting pests.

How does my pet get fleas?

Dogs and cats pick up fleas from their environment. When animals that have fleas walk through your yard (other dogs and cats, raccoons, possums, even those cute fluffy squirrels), they drop fleas and flea eggs onto the ground. The flea eggs hatch into a larvae (sort of like a teeny worm). The larvae matures into a pupae (a teenage flea), and the pupae finally matures into the adult flea. The next time your dog or cat goes outside, the adult fleas can find your pet, jump on, and have a quick snack.

If your pet has fleas, he will also drop eggs onto the floor in your house. These eggs will go through the same life cycle inside, and the adults will re-infect your pet.

Life cycle of fleas

(Image from Diagnostic Imaging Atlas, a part of ePetHealth.)

Even indoor-only cats can get fleas. You can bring fleas into the house on your socks or pants. If any critters (like mice) get into your house, they can also bring fleas with them.

How can I tell if my pet has fleas?

While it might seem like the best way to tell if your pet has fleas is to see one of the crawly critters, that?s not always as easy as you might think. Cats are especially good groomers, and will do a very good job of eating the adult fleas before you can find them. Fleas are also good at hiding. The best place to look for fleas is often on your pet?s belly. Gently roll them on their backs and part the hair on their belly so you can see the skin. You might be able to see little black specks (fleas) running around.

Adult flea. (Image from Diagnostic Imaging Atlas, a part of ePetHealth.)

Just because you don?t see fleas doesn?t mean you?re in the clear. The best way to tell if your pet has fleas is to look for ?flea dirt.? This is actually flea poop that is left on your pet?s skin and in their coat. Again, because cats are such good groomers, it might be hard to find this evidence on a cat. Brush your pet, or part the fur to look close to the skin. Flea dirt will look like black dandruff that is on the skin or caught in the hair. If you put a drop of water on the black ?dandruff?, it will dissolve and turn the water red. That?s flea dirt, and it means your pet has fleas.

Flea dirt in loose pet hair. (Image from Diagnostic Imaging Atlas, a part of ePetHealth.)

How do fleas hurt my pet?

There are a few ways that fleas can hurt your pets.

1. Flea bites can be painful, and very itchy. While this might be a minor annoyance to most pets, it can drive some pets crazy with itching.
2. Some pets develop an allergy to fleas, and will get flea bite dermatitis. This is an allergic reaction in your pet?s skin to the flea saliva. It is common to see flea bite dermatitis on the head, face, and neck, or at the base of the tail. Pets with flea bite dermatitis will be very itchy, may lose hair on the affected areas (from all the licking and scratching), and may have red skin or raised nodules and scabs on the itchy areas. Not all animals will become allergic to fleas, but some animals may be so sensitive that they start showing signs of this allergic reaction with the first flea bite.
3. When fleas bite your pet, they take a little drink of it?s blood (just like when mosquitos bite you). While a few snacks here and there are not a big deal (except for the ?ick? factor), a severe flea infestation on an animal can result in a very large amount of blood loss and anemia. In anemia, your pet is losing blood (to the fleas) faster than he can make new blood. This can be life-threatening if not quickly treated by a veterinarian. This is more common in cats, but can also occur in puppies and small dogs.
4. All fleas carry tapeworms. When your pet is grooming and eats the adult fleas (remember how good cats are at this?) they also eat the tapeworms. The tapeworms love to live in your pets? intestines and can cause problems with nutrient absorption. Over time, the tapeworms shed eggs that you might notice as small grains of rice in your pet?s stool or on their fur around their backside. While most of the heartworm prevention medications do treat many kinds of intestinal parasites, they do not treat tapeworms. Tapeworms are easy to treat with a different medication from your veterinarian.

Stay tuned this month ? we?re talking all about fleas and ticks. Next we?ll talk about how fleas can hurt your family, and then how you can help keep your pets from getting fleas.

Do you think your pet has fleas? Call us or come in to have an examination.

ePetHealth?is a free service we offer to our clients. Through this service, you can access your pet?s medical records online, view educational articles and videos, sign up for email reminders, and more! Check out?this article?to learn more about what ePetHealth can do for you. It?s easy to sign up ? all you need to do is?call?or?email?us to add your email address to your records.

Source: http://princetonvet.net/2013/03/how-do-fleas-hurt-my-pet/

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