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FILE - In this Feb. 10, 2013 file photo, Chris Brown arrives at the 55th annual Grammy Awards, in Los Angeles. Brown was arrested early Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013 in Washington after a fight broke out near the W Hotel near the White House. District of Columbia Police spokesman Officer Paul Metcalf says 24-year-old Brown was arrested and charged with felony assault. Metcalf says 35-year-old Chris Hollosy also was arrested on felony assault charges after the incident. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

Singer Chris Brown mother, Joyce Hawkins, right, is escorted into a D.C. Courthouse in Washington, Monday, Oct. 28, 2013, for her son's arraignment on a felony assault charge. Brown is accused of punching a man in the face after the man said he tried to get into a photo with the singer outside a hotel, according to police, the latest legal trouble for the Grammy Award-winning artist. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

The W Hotel in Washington, Monday, Oct. 28, where singer Chris Brown was arrested, accused of punching a man in the face after the man said he tried to get into a photo with the singer outside the hotel, according to police, the latest legal trouble for the Grammy Award-winning artist. The singer is expected to appear in court Monday on a felony assault charge. Another man, Christopher Hollosy, 35, also was charged with felony assault in the altercation that started just before 4:30 a.m. Sunday, police say. It happened near the W Hotel, not far from the White House. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Singer Chris Brown is surrounded by bodyguards as he departs the H. Carl Moultriel courthouse Monday, Oct. 28, 2013, in Washington. A charge against the Grammy Award-winning R&B singer has been reduced to a misdemeanor and he was ordered released after his arrest Sunday following an altercation outside a Washington hotel. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Singer Chris Brownwaves to fans as he departs the H. Carl Moultriel courthouse Monday, Oct. 28, 2013, in Washington. A charge against the Grammy Award-winning R&B singer has been reduced to a misdemeanor and he was ordered released after his arrest Sunday following an altercation outside a Washington hotel. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chris Brown's misdemeanor assault charge in Washington, D.C., could further complicate the R&B singer's unsettled legal situation. Additional time behind bars remains a possibility for the singer — both in the District of Columbia and California — where Brown remains on probation for his 2009 beating of his on-again, off-again girlfriend Rihanna.

Brown emerged from a Washington court on Monday flashing a peace sign after spending more than a day in custody on a charge filed after a man accused the Grammy winner and his bodyguard of punching him and breaking his nose outside a local hotel.

Brown's arrest early Sunday comes at a crucial time for the singer, who is releasing an album this winter and is under a deadline to complete hundreds of hours of community service to satisfy his sentence for the Rihanna attack.

His day and a half in custody are the longest time the scandal-plagued singer has spent behind bars and the case represents the most serious accusations he's faced since his attack on Rihanna. Brown left the courthouse to cheers from supporters, some of whom clapped when a judge announced he would be released.

His time in custody was much longer than the few hours he spent at a Los Angeles jail after the Rihanna attack. In contrast to Brown's LA court appearances, which routinely happen in the afternoon when his case is the only one on calendar, Brown appeared in a crowded D.C. courtroom and had to wait until the end of the day for his case to be called and his release to be granted.

Brown is accused of punching a man who tried to get a picture with the singer and two other people near Washington's W Hotel early Sunday, according to the man's account in a police report. The report states Parker Isaac Adams, 20, said Brown told him, "I'm not down with that gay s---" and "I feel like boxing." The exact context of Brown's remarks was not immediately clear.

The man told police Brown punched him in the face, and a court filing states the man's nose was fractured. Another man stepped between them and also punched the man before grabbing Brown by the arm and leading him toward his tour bus, according to the report.

In an interview with police, Brown denied hitting the man and said he was on his tour bus when a member of his security team, Chris Hollosy, got into a fight with Adams.

"We understand that his security acted to protect Mr. Brown and Mr. Brown's property as he was authorized to do under District of Columbia law. We are confident that Mr. Brown will be exonerated of any wrongdoing," Brown's lawyer, Danny Onorato, said after Monday's hearing.

Brown, 24, had a squeaky clean image before his attack on Rihanna on the eve of the 2009 Grammys, but since then has had several flare-ups that have been reported to authorities and noted by Los Angeles prosecutors. Brown broke a window after a 2011 "Good Morning America" interview in New York and was accused of snatching a woman's cell phone in Miami after she tried to snap pictures of the singer. He was also slightly injured in a New York nightclub brawl and earlier this year, was accused of being involved in a fistfight with Frank Ocean's entourage over a parking spot at a West Hollywood recording studio.

He was not charged in any of the incidents, but they have kept his public image tarnished, even as legions of fans continue to support him. Many of Brown's more than 13 million Twitter followers continue to come to the singer's defense and attack his critics on the site.

The release of singer's latest album, "X," was delayed earlier this year and is due to be released in the coming months. Brown's career since the Rihanna attack has been a mixed bag: his 2009 album "Graffiti" bombed but he found success with the back-to-back pop hits "Yeah 3x" and "Deuces," which was — one of 2010's top R&B songs.

He also earned his first Grammy win for his album "F. A. M. E." and received several nominations for his follow-up "Fortune." The album featured 2011's most popular rap song, "Look At Me Now."

While jail time would put a dent in his career, others — from the ultra-successful Lil Wayne to T.I. — have made it to the top of the charts after prison stints.

Brown faces an August 2014 deadline to complete 1,000 hours of graffiti cleanup or other community labor. The additional service was added earlier this year after prosecutors accused Brown of failing to properly complete his service in his home state of Virginia.

In addition to penalties Brown would face if convicted in the Washington case, he also faces the possibility of up to four years in prison if a Los Angeles judge determines he violated his probation for the Rihanna attack.

Probation officials would need to investigate the new arrest for it to become an issue in California, which could happen before Brown's next probation progress hearing on Nov. 20.

Judges typically wait to see if a person on probation is convicted in a new case before imposing new punishments, said Los Angeles defense attorney Steve Cron, however Brown's notoriety may prompt earlier scrutiny.

LA prosecutors cited the "Good Morning America" and Miami cell-phone snatching incident in court filings earlier this year seeking modifications to Brown's probation. The office had no comment on the Washington arrest.

Cron said while Brown's fate depends on the facts in the Washington case, the singer's history might lead to some more time behind bars. "If the guy got hurt at all, I think he's looking at some jail time," he said.

___

McCartney reported from Los Angeles. Entertainment Writer Mesfin Fekadu and Writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report. Follow Jessica Gresko at http://twitter.com/jessicagresko and McCartney at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-10-28-Chris%20Brown%20Arrest/id-3069c5018684410dbec3be865296fc84
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Google’s been quiet on the Glass front for some time, but the company broke silence Monday to discuss two huge changes to the current Glass Explorer program. First, we’ll see a new iteration of Glass hardware soon, and second, there’s a decent chance you’ll get access to one even if you’re not a tech glitterati or cynical journalist.

It’s not open season on Google Glass yet—you still need an invitation to buy one. However, Google plans to broaden its user base significantly and allow each Glass owner to invite up to three friends in the next few weeks. “We’re counting on you to get Glass to the people you think will make great Explorers,” says Google’s announcement page. “They’ll be able to buy Glass online and can have it shipped to their home, office, treehouse or igloo.”

Hardware update

All those newly-christened Explorers will receive an improved version of the Glass hardware—the first new iteration since the Explorer program went public back in February. No price was announced.

So far, all improvements to Glass have come on the software side—for instance, a web browser was added back in July—but Google says, “This hardware update will allow your Glass to work with future lines of shades and prescription frames, and we’ll also include a mono earbud.”

Early adopters who paid the $1,500 for Glass earlier this year won’t be left out, though. “We want to say ‘thank you’ for all the amazing feedback we’ve been getting, so later this year, all Explorers will have a one-time option to swap out their existing Glass for a new one,” says Google.

Anyone who purchased Glass before today is eligible for the swap, though you’ll only have 60 days to register to do so. Google says it will notify Explorers in November with more details. You can also keep your old device if you want, though I’d be hard-pressed to think of a reason why beyond archival purposes.

This news comes hot on the heels of reports about Google’s mystery barge in the San Francisco Bay, started by CNET last week. The current hypothesis holds that the barge is actually a gigantic, floating Google Glass store that the company plans to float from city to city.

A floating, movable barge-store may sound like pure Jules Verne, but this is the company that wants to provide wireless Internet to remote areas by balloon. Regardless, it looks like Glass is on the way—whether you’re excited about it or not.

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A potential new class of fast-acting antidepressant

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

29-Oct-2013

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Contact: Kevin Jiang
kevin.jiang@uchospitals.edu
773-795-5227
University of Chicago Medical Center

More than 1 in 10 Americans take antidepressants, but these medications can take weeksand for some patients, monthsbefore they begin to alleviate symptoms. Now, scientists from the University of Chicago have discovered that selectively blocking a serotonin receptor subtype induces fast-acting antidepressant effects in mice, indicating a potential new class of therapeutics for depression. The work was published Oct. 29 in Molecular Psychiatry.

"One of the biggest problems in the treatment of depression today is a delay in onset of therapeutic effects. There has been a great need to discover faster-acting drugs," said Stephanie Dulawa, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at the University of Chicago and senior author of the study.

Delayed onset of antidepressant therapeutics can significantly impact patients, especially those with major depressive disorder, who often spend months switching between ineffective medications. Currently, only two drugsketamine and scopolamineexhibit rapid onset. Due to severe side effects, however, neither is suitable for human use.

In seeking a new class of fast-acting therapeutics, Dulawa and her team tested biological pathways that had previously been shown to generate antidepressant effects but had never been studied for rate of onset. They looked at different subtypes of serotonin receptors, proteins that are binding partners for serotonin, a neurotransmitter that has been shown to regulate mood, memory and appetite.

Of these subtypes, serotonin 2C receptors stood out. Selectively blocking these receptors in mice significantly reduced depression-like behaviors in only five days, compared to a minimum of two weeks for a control antidepressant medication.

"We observed fast-acting therapeutic effects in multiple behavioral tasks after we administered compounds that selectively block serotonin 2C receptors," said Mark Opal, a graduate student at the University of Chicago and lead author of the paper. "We began our measurements at five days, but we think there's a possibility it could be effective even sooner than that."

Serotonin 2C receptors normally inhibit the release of dopamine, another neurotransmitter commonly associated with mood, from certain neurons. When 2C is blocked, the researchers believe, more dopamine is released into regions of the brain such as the prefrontal cortex. The team also observed the induction of biomarkers that indicate antidepressant action.

This is the first new biological mechanism that has shown the ability to rapidly alleviate symptoms of depression since ketamine and scopolamine, and it potentially represents a much safer alternative. Some current antidepressants on the market already affect serotonin 2C receptors, although not selectively, and Dulawa believes the safety profile is favorable for human use. The team is now investigating compounds suitable for clinical trials.

"One of the primary advantages to our discovery is that this is much more of an innocuous target than others that have been identified," Dulawa said.

###

The paper, "Serotonin 2C receptor antagonists induce fast-onset antidepressant effects," was supported by the National Institutes of Mental Health, the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, and The Geraldi Norton Foundation. Additional authors include Stephanie Klenotich, Mnica Morais, Joao Bessa, James Winkle, Demetri Doukas, Leslie Kay, and Nuno Sousa.

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A potential new class of fast-acting antidepressant

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

29-Oct-2013

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Contact: Kevin Jiang
kevin.jiang@uchospitals.edu
773-795-5227
University of Chicago Medical Center

More than 1 in 10 Americans take antidepressants, but these medications can take weeksand for some patients, monthsbefore they begin to alleviate symptoms. Now, scientists from the University of Chicago have discovered that selectively blocking a serotonin receptor subtype induces fast-acting antidepressant effects in mice, indicating a potential new class of therapeutics for depression. The work was published Oct. 29 in Molecular Psychiatry.

"One of the biggest problems in the treatment of depression today is a delay in onset of therapeutic effects. There has been a great need to discover faster-acting drugs," said Stephanie Dulawa, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at the University of Chicago and senior author of the study.

Delayed onset of antidepressant therapeutics can significantly impact patients, especially those with major depressive disorder, who often spend months switching between ineffective medications. Currently, only two drugsketamine and scopolamineexhibit rapid onset. Due to severe side effects, however, neither is suitable for human use.

In seeking a new class of fast-acting therapeutics, Dulawa and her team tested biological pathways that had previously been shown to generate antidepressant effects but had never been studied for rate of onset. They looked at different subtypes of serotonin receptors, proteins that are binding partners for serotonin, a neurotransmitter that has been shown to regulate mood, memory and appetite.

Of these subtypes, serotonin 2C receptors stood out. Selectively blocking these receptors in mice significantly reduced depression-like behaviors in only five days, compared to a minimum of two weeks for a control antidepressant medication.

"We observed fast-acting therapeutic effects in multiple behavioral tasks after we administered compounds that selectively block serotonin 2C receptors," said Mark Opal, a graduate student at the University of Chicago and lead author of the paper. "We began our measurements at five days, but we think there's a possibility it could be effective even sooner than that."

Serotonin 2C receptors normally inhibit the release of dopamine, another neurotransmitter commonly associated with mood, from certain neurons. When 2C is blocked, the researchers believe, more dopamine is released into regions of the brain such as the prefrontal cortex. The team also observed the induction of biomarkers that indicate antidepressant action.

This is the first new biological mechanism that has shown the ability to rapidly alleviate symptoms of depression since ketamine and scopolamine, and it potentially represents a much safer alternative. Some current antidepressants on the market already affect serotonin 2C receptors, although not selectively, and Dulawa believes the safety profile is favorable for human use. The team is now investigating compounds suitable for clinical trials.

"One of the primary advantages to our discovery is that this is much more of an innocuous target than others that have been identified," Dulawa said.

###

The paper, "Serotonin 2C receptor antagonists induce fast-onset antidepressant effects," was supported by the National Institutes of Mental Health, the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, and The Geraldi Norton Foundation. Additional authors include Stephanie Klenotich, Mnica Morais, Joao Bessa, James Winkle, Demetri Doukas, Leslie Kay, and Nuno Sousa.

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/uocm-apn102313.php
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Nurturing may protect kids from brain changes linked to poverty

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

28-Oct-2013

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Contact: Jim Dryden
jdryden@wustl.edu
314-286-0110
Washington University School of Medicine

Growing up in poverty can have long-lasting, negative consequences for a child. But for poor children raised by parents who lack nurturing skills, the effects may be particularly worrisome, according to a new study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Among children living in poverty, the researchers identified changes in the brain that can lead to lifelong problems like depression, learning difficulties and limitations in the ability to cope with stress. The study showed that the extent of those changes was influenced strongly by whether parents were nurturing.

The good news, according to the researchers, is that a nurturing home life may offset some of the negative changes in brain anatomy among poor children. And the findings suggest that teaching nurturing skills to parents particularly those living in poverty may provide a lifetime benefit for their children.

The study is published online Oct. 28 and will appear in the November issue of JAMA Pediatrics.

Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the researchers found that poor children with parents who were not very nurturing were likely to have less gray and white matter in the brain. Gray matter is closely linked to intelligence, while white matter often is linked to the brain's ability to transmit signals between various cells and structures.

The MRI scans also revealed that two key brain structures were smaller in children who were living in poverty: the amygdala, a key structure in emotional health, and the hippocampus, an area of the brain that is critical to learning and memory.

"We've known for many years from behavioral studies that exposure to poverty is one of the most powerful predictors of poor developmental outcomes for children," said principal investigator Joan L. Luby, MD, a Washington University child psychiatrist at St. Louis Children's Hospital. "A growing number of neuroscience and brain-imaging studies recently have shown that poverty also has a negative effect on brain development.

"What's new is that our research shows the effects of poverty on the developing brain, particularly in the hippocampus, are strongly influenced by parenting and life stresses that the children experience."

Luby, a professor of psychiatry and director of the university's Early Emotional Development Program, is in the midst of a long-term study of childhood depression. As part of the Preschool Depression Study, she has been following 305 healthy and depressed kids since they were in preschool. As the children have grown, they also have received MRI scans that track brain development.

"We actually stumbled upon this finding," she said. "Initially, we thought we would have to control for the effects of poverty, but as we attempted to control for it, we realized that poverty was really driving some of the outcomes of interest, and that caused us to change our focus to poverty, which was not the initial aim of this study."

In the new study, Luby's team looked at scans from 145 children enrolled in the depression study. Some were depressed, others healthy, and others had been diagnosed with different psychiatric disorders such as ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder). As she studied these children, Luby said it became clear that poverty and stressful life events, which often go hand in hand, were affecting brain development.

The researchers measured poverty using what's called an income-to-needs ratio, which takes a family's size and annual income into account. The current federal poverty level is $23,550 for a family of four.

Although the investigators found that poverty had a powerful impact on gray matter, white matter, hippocampal and amygdala volumes, they found that the main driver of changes among poor children in the volume of the hippocampus was not lack of money but the extent to which poor parents nurture their children. The hippocampus is a key brain region of interest in studying the risk for impairments.

Luby's team rated nurturing using observations made by the researchers who were unaware of characteristics such as income level or whether a child had a psychiatric diagnosis when the children came to the clinic for an appointment. And on one of the clinic visits, the researchers rated parental nurturing using a test of the child's impatience and of a parent's patience with that child.

While waiting to see a health professional, a child was given a gift-wrapped package, and that child's parent or caregiver was given paperwork to fill out. The child, meanwhile, was told that s/he could not open the package until the caregiver completed the paperwork, a task that researchers estimated would take about 10 minutes.

Luby's team found that parents living in poverty appeared more stressed and less able to nurture their children during that exercise. In cases where poor parents were rated as good nurturers, the children were less likely to exhibit the same anatomical changes in the brain as poor children with less nurturing parents.

"Parents can be less emotionally responsive for a whole host of reasons," Luby said. "They may work two jobs or regularly find themselves trying to scrounge together money for food. Perhaps they live in an unsafe environment. They may be facing many stresses, and some don't have the capacity to invest in supportive parenting as much as parents who don't have to live in the midst of those adverse circumstances."

The researchers also found that poorer children were more likely to experience stressful life events, which can influence brain development. Anything from moving to a new house to changing schools to having parents who fight regularly to the death of a loved one is considered a stressful life event.

Luby believes this study could provide policymakers with at least a partial answer to the question of what it is about poverty that can be so detrimental to a child's long-term developmental outcome. Because it appears that a nurturing parent or caregiver may prevent some of the changes in brain anatomy that this study identified, Luby said it is vital that society invest in public health prevention programs that target parental nurturing skills. She suggested that a key next step would be to determine if there are sensitive developmental periods when interventions with parents might have the most powerful impact.

"Children who experience positive caregiver support don't necessarily experience the developmental, cognitive and emotional problems that can affect children who don't receive as much nurturing, and that is tremendously important," Luby said. "This study gives us a feasible, tangible target with the suggestion that early interventions that focus on parenting may provide a tremendous payoff."

###

Funding for this research comes from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

NIH grant numbers 2R01 MH064769-06A1, PA-07-070 NIMH R01 and 5K01 MH090515-04.

Luby J, Belden A, Botteron K, Marrus N, Harms MP, Babb C, Nishino T, Barch D. The effects of poverty on childhood brain development: The mediating effect of caregiving and stressful life events. JAMA Pediatrics vol. 167 (11), November 2013, published online Oct. 28, 2013.
http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/journal.aspx

Washington University School of Medicine's 2,100 employed and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked sixth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.

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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.

Nurturing may protect kids from brain changes linked to poverty

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

28-Oct-2013

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]

Share
Contact: Jim Dryden
jdryden@wustl.edu
314-286-0110
Washington University School of Medicine

Growing up in poverty can have long-lasting, negative consequences for a child. But for poor children raised by parents who lack nurturing skills, the effects may be particularly worrisome, according to a new study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Among children living in poverty, the researchers identified changes in the brain that can lead to lifelong problems like depression, learning difficulties and limitations in the ability to cope with stress. The study showed that the extent of those changes was influenced strongly by whether parents were nurturing.

The good news, according to the researchers, is that a nurturing home life may offset some of the negative changes in brain anatomy among poor children. And the findings suggest that teaching nurturing skills to parents particularly those living in poverty may provide a lifetime benefit for their children.

The study is published online Oct. 28 and will appear in the November issue of JAMA Pediatrics.

Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the researchers found that poor children with parents who were not very nurturing were likely to have less gray and white matter in the brain. Gray matter is closely linked to intelligence, while white matter often is linked to the brain's ability to transmit signals between various cells and structures.

The MRI scans also revealed that two key brain structures were smaller in children who were living in poverty: the amygdala, a key structure in emotional health, and the hippocampus, an area of the brain that is critical to learning and memory.

"We've known for many years from behavioral studies that exposure to poverty is one of the most powerful predictors of poor developmental outcomes for children," said principal investigator Joan L. Luby, MD, a Washington University child psychiatrist at St. Louis Children's Hospital. "A growing number of neuroscience and brain-imaging studies recently have shown that poverty also has a negative effect on brain development.

"What's new is that our research shows the effects of poverty on the developing brain, particularly in the hippocampus, are strongly influenced by parenting and life stresses that the children experience."

Luby, a professor of psychiatry and director of the university's Early Emotional Development Program, is in the midst of a long-term study of childhood depression. As part of the Preschool Depression Study, she has been following 305 healthy and depressed kids since they were in preschool. As the children have grown, they also have received MRI scans that track brain development.

"We actually stumbled upon this finding," she said. "Initially, we thought we would have to control for the effects of poverty, but as we attempted to control for it, we realized that poverty was really driving some of the outcomes of interest, and that caused us to change our focus to poverty, which was not the initial aim of this study."

In the new study, Luby's team looked at scans from 145 children enrolled in the depression study. Some were depressed, others healthy, and others had been diagnosed with different psychiatric disorders such as ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder). As she studied these children, Luby said it became clear that poverty and stressful life events, which often go hand in hand, were affecting brain development.

The researchers measured poverty using what's called an income-to-needs ratio, which takes a family's size and annual income into account. The current federal poverty level is $23,550 for a family of four.

Although the investigators found that poverty had a powerful impact on gray matter, white matter, hippocampal and amygdala volumes, they found that the main driver of changes among poor children in the volume of the hippocampus was not lack of money but the extent to which poor parents nurture their children. The hippocampus is a key brain region of interest in studying the risk for impairments.

Luby's team rated nurturing using observations made by the researchers who were unaware of characteristics such as income level or whether a child had a psychiatric diagnosis when the children came to the clinic for an appointment. And on one of the clinic visits, the researchers rated parental nurturing using a test of the child's impatience and of a parent's patience with that child.

While waiting to see a health professional, a child was given a gift-wrapped package, and that child's parent or caregiver was given paperwork to fill out. The child, meanwhile, was told that s/he could not open the package until the caregiver completed the paperwork, a task that researchers estimated would take about 10 minutes.

Luby's team found that parents living in poverty appeared more stressed and less able to nurture their children during that exercise. In cases where poor parents were rated as good nurturers, the children were less likely to exhibit the same anatomical changes in the brain as poor children with less nurturing parents.

"Parents can be less emotionally responsive for a whole host of reasons," Luby said. "They may work two jobs or regularly find themselves trying to scrounge together money for food. Perhaps they live in an unsafe environment. They may be facing many stresses, and some don't have the capacity to invest in supportive parenting as much as parents who don't have to live in the midst of those adverse circumstances."

The researchers also found that poorer children were more likely to experience stressful life events, which can influence brain development. Anything from moving to a new house to changing schools to having parents who fight regularly to the death of a loved one is considered a stressful life event.

Luby believes this study could provide policymakers with at least a partial answer to the question of what it is about poverty that can be so detrimental to a child's long-term developmental outcome. Because it appears that a nurturing parent or caregiver may prevent some of the changes in brain anatomy that this study identified, Luby said it is vital that society invest in public health prevention programs that target parental nurturing skills. She suggested that a key next step would be to determine if there are sensitive developmental periods when interventions with parents might have the most powerful impact.

"Children who experience positive caregiver support don't necessarily experience the developmental, cognitive and emotional problems that can affect children who don't receive as much nurturing, and that is tremendously important," Luby said. "This study gives us a feasible, tangible target with the suggestion that early interventions that focus on parenting may provide a tremendous payoff."

###

Funding for this research comes from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

NIH grant numbers 2R01 MH064769-06A1, PA-07-070 NIMH R01 and 5K01 MH090515-04.

Luby J, Belden A, Botteron K, Marrus N, Harms MP, Babb C, Nishino T, Barch D. The effects of poverty on childhood brain development: The mediating effect of caregiving and stressful life events. JAMA Pediatrics vol. 167 (11), November 2013, published online Oct. 28, 2013.
http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/journal.aspx

Washington University School of Medicine's 2,100 employed and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked sixth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/wuso-nmp102413.php
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There's been a lot of debate about both the recent Apple iPad & Mac event, and the nature of the iPad compared to competing products like Microsoft's Surface. I've joined in on both fronts. Ben Thompson, however, has neatly tied both up together and topped them with a bow. Stratechery:

If your worldview of productivity is limited to what can be done on a PC – documents, spreadsheets, presentations, coding – then of course you will produce a product that is like a PC, but worse for having tablet features. Of course you’ll produce a Surface.

If, though, your worldview of productivity is defined not by the PC, but rather by people – by the liberal arts – then you will produce a product that is nothing like a PC, but rather an intimate, responsive object that invites people in, and transforms itself into whatever you need it to be.

You’ll produce an iPad.

It's the "why" of the iPad, and something Thompson felt Apple completely failed to address at last week's event. Instead of Phil Schiller on stage dolling out specs, the iPad needs Phil Schiller or Tim Cook in a chair projecting experience. Because, like the video up top extols, technology alone is not enough.

Read the whole post.

Source: Stratechery

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/63I4YWfg-Pg/story01.htm
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By Alistair Scrutton and Aija Krutaine

VALKA, Latvia (Reuters) - From his office near Latvia's border, Valka deputy major Viesturs Zarins can see the future. It's down the road, right at the supermarket and past the derelict house.

Across a disused border post lies Estonia, a euro currency nation that Latvia will next year emulate. From a quirk of history this town is split between the two countries, where some street vendors deal in euros and others in Latvian lats.

Latvia's adoption of the euro on January 1 may encourage investment and lower borrowing costs. The country's entry into Europe's single currency is also symbolic. It heralds another step by a former Soviet republic, still heavily dependent on Russia for energy, into the West.

But two months from Latvia's euro entry, locals like Zarins are unimpressed. Officials on both sides of the border are more concerned about uniting separate water, lighting and sewerage systems. There are few shops, some so bare and non-descript they appear to be stuck in a Soviet-era time warp.

Loyal to the Latvian maiden of their notes and coins, Latvians suspect the euro will raise prices - as they did up the road in Estonia. They fear the problems Latvia faces are intractable.

"I'm not that optimistic," said Zarins, referring to a local unemployment rate of around 12 percent. "The main issue is unemployment. I don't see that the euro will solve this issue."

On the ground, touted benefits of the single currency fall on deaf ears. Unemployment on both sides of Valka is roughly the same. Estonia attracts more Latvians, but mainly because their side of the town is larger, has a better hospital and holds more rock concerts.

"It's our own currency, different from other countries, more beautiful," Laura Cera, a 23-year-old mother of two, said on the edge of a windswept housing estate. "Jobs? I don't think it will change."

Prices in the few shops are already being printed in euros. Because of the exchange rate, the euro figure is higher, reinforcing fears of inflation.

Problems of unemployment and emigration remain. Polls show voters of what will be one of the euro zone's poorest members still oppose membership. The potential destabilizing influence of Russia has surfaced - Moscow has stepped up trade and diplomatic pressure on the Baltics.

The European Union is generally happy Latvia is joining the currency bloc, bringing another voice in favor of fiscal prudence. But some say the euro zone is bringing in a problem child - a playground for Russian oligarchs and where foreign money, much of it Russian, accounts for half of bank deposits.

"Certainly there will be some quick gains," said Martins Kazaks, chief economist for Swedbank in Latvia. "But there are some risks. We should not fall asleep while driving."

"What happens with the education system, regional development or the business environment? What happens with infrastructure ... labor markets?"

AN INSURANCE POLICY

With Russia assertive on the border, the government is keen to emphasize the gains of tying itself close to the West. The government is mainly Latvian-speaking, while the opposition is mostly supported by a large Russian-speaking minority.

The split is reflected in attitudes towards the euro. Some ethnic Latvians say Russian-speaking communities are hostile to the euro because of a reliance on Russian media for the news.

Moscow appears frustrated at its lost influence and is using remaining leverage to pressure them to stay close. Russia suspended dairy products imports from Lithuania this month, weeks before it hosts an EU summit. Russia and Belarus held one of their largest military exercises near Latvia this year.

"This (euro entry) is certainly another insurance policy for some of the risks that we sometimes see when it comes to sometimes very changing relations with Russia," said Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics.

This year, NATO has scrambled jets 37 times to check on Russian jets approaching Latvia's border. That compares to once in 2004 when NATO first began patrolling here.

"It is important that countries like Latvia and Estonia, given their geopolitical situations, are in the eurozone," said Defence Minister Artis Pabriks.

Latvia is viewed by many EU policymakers as a poster child of austerity, an example of what southern Europe could achieve. Latvia's government has signaled it will side with northern Europe over economic policy.

Refusing to devalue its currency after the 2008 global financial crisis, Latvia pursued a policy of spending cuts coupled with redundancies and wage cuts that wiped out a fifth of its GDP.

Its public debt is now around 41 percent of GDP, below the EU ceiling of 60 percent, and its currency was pegged to the euro in 2005 after it joined the EU. Latvia is now the EU's fastest growing economy, expanding by 5.5 percent in 2012.

"We certainly want to work and closely cooperate in the Nordic-Baltic-Polish-German kind of league," Rinkevics said. "I want to see that this group of countries is really leading Europe with sounder policies."

But on the ground there are concerns European enthusiasm belies problems for an economy that has been bleeding workers to its richer neighbors. The population has fallen from a peak of 2.67 million in 1989 to 2 million in 2012.

There are also concerns, echoed in Estonia, that a poor country may find itself contributing to future euro zone bailouts. "(This is) one of the things being debated and seen as a negative consequence," said Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis.

DOUBTS

Skepticism is felt a short drive outside Riga, where an historic center is quickly replaced by drab Soviet-era buildings. On one such complex lies Olainfarm, Latvia's second largest drug manufacturer.

Board member Salvis Lapins hopes the company will benefit from lower foreign exchange costs. But he fears a rise in inflation - seen in Estonia. The last currency switch, from a Soviet rouble to the Latvian rouble and then to the lat - saw inflation explode and eat into savings. The memory lingers.

"Whatever the government says, there will be price rises," Lapins said. "This will inevitably lead to salary pressures."

A labor shortage is complicating life for the firm, which had sales of around 70 million euros last year and employs over 1,000 workers. Half of senior research positions have come from abroad - mainly Russia and Belarus. There are difficulties in finding mid-level staff like equipment operators.

"Ten years ago they were talking about some huge Coca Cola factory for the whole of Eastern Europe. That is simply not possible," Lapins said. "If you need to hire a thousand people you don't have those people. I don't see any big company developing in Latvia in the next 50 years."

But growth in companies like Olainfarm will be essential for the wider economy. OECD senior economist Andreas Woergoetter says Latvia will need to grow 4-5 percent annually to avoid more emigration.

"They live in a rich neighborhood. They don't have a lot of time for income convergence. Major reforms will be necessary to achieve growth rates of that magnitude," said Woergoetter.

One of Latvia's hardest tasks will be to ensure growth does not produce bubbles. House prices in Riga are rising, boosted by a policy that has allowed mostly wealthy Russians to gain residency - and access to the Schengen area of unimpeded travel across Europe - by investing around 140,000 euros in property.

(Added reporting by David Mardiste in Estonia; Editing by Janet McBride)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/insight-russia-labor-shortages-latvia-faces-stern-tests-063528708--business.html
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Verizon HTC One

Verizon stalls with the finish line in sight

HTC America VP Jason Mackenzie has taken to Twitter this evening to break the bad news about the HTC One 4.3 update on Big Red:

@htc One Vz customers: we need more time to spin new SW & re-test 4.3 update. Approx a month. Appreciate your patience as we work to deliver
— Jason Mackenzie (@JasonMacHTC) October 29, 2013

It's disappointing, but are we really surprised to see Verizon delay yet another software update? Fill the comments with all your good thoughts.

Source: @JasonMacHTC

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/qDMk7offvqY/story01.htm
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Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Chris Brown released after assault charge reduced

Google Glass receives a hardware refresh; this time, you might get your hands on one