The question has been swirling ever since Francis laid his hands Sunday on the head of a young man after celebrating Mass in St. Peter's Square. The young man heaved deeply a half-dozen times, shook, and he then slumped in his wheelchair as Francis prayed over him.
The television station of the Italian bishops' conference said it had surveyed exorcists, who agreed there was "no doubt" that Francis either performed an exorcism or a prayer to free the man from the devil.
The Vatican was more cautious Tuesday. In a statement, it said Francis "didn't intend to perform any exorcism. But as he often does for the sick or suffering, he simply intended to pray for someone who was suffering who was presented to him."
Fueling the speculation is Francis' obsession with Satan, a frequent subject of his homilies, and an apparent surge in demand for exorcisms among the faithful despite the irreverent treatment the rite often receives from Hollywood.
Who can forget the green vomit and the spinning head of the possessed girl in the 1973 cult classic "The Exorcist?"
In his very first homily as pope on March 14, Francis warned cardinals gathered in the Sistine Chapel the day after he was elected that "he who doesn't pray to the Lord prays to the devil."
He has since mentioned the devil on a handful of occasions, most recently in a May 4 homily when in his morning Mass in the Vatican hotel chapel he spoke of the need for dialogue ? except with Satan.
"With the prince of this world you can't have dialogue: let this be clear!" he warned.
Experts said Francis' frequent invocation of the devil is a reflection both of his Jesuit spirituality, his Latin American roots ? and a reflection of a Catholic Church weakened by secularization.
"The devil's influence and presence in the world seems to fluctuate in quantity inversely proportionate to the presence of Christian faith," said the Rev. Robert Gahl, a theologian at Rome's Pontifical Holy Cross University. "So, one would expect an upswing in his malicious activity in the wake of de-Christianization and secularization" in the world and a surge in things like drug use, pornography and superstition.
In recent years, Rome's pontifical universities have hosted several courses for would-be exorcists on the rite, updated in 1998 and contained in a little red leather-bound booklet. The rite is relatively brief, consisting of blessings with holy water, prayers and an interrogation of the devil in which the exorcist demands to know the devil's name and when it will leave the possessed person.
Only a priest authorized by a bishop can perform an exorcism, and canon law specifies that the exorcist must be "endowed with piety, knowledge, prudence and integrity."
While belief in the devil is consistent with church teaching, the Holy See does urge prudence, particularly to ensure that the afflicted person isn't merely psychologically ill.
The Rev. Giulio Maspero, a Rome-based systematic theologian who has witnessed or participated in more than a dozen exorcisms, says he's certain that Francis' prayer on Sunday was either a full-fledged exorcism or a prayer to "liberate" the young man from a demonic possession. He noted that the placement of the pope's hands on the man's head was the "typical position" for an exorcist to use.
"When you witness something like that ? for me it was shocking ? I could feel the power of prayer," he said in a phone interview, speaking of his own experiences.
Maspero said it was particularly symbolic that Francis' purported exorcism occurred on Pentecost, an important feast day for the church when the faithful believe Jesus' apostles received the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
"The Holy Spirit is connected to the exorcism because ... it is the manifestation of how God is present among us and in our world," he said.
While the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, sought to tamper suggestions that what occurred was a full-fledged exorcism, he didn't deny it either, saying merely that Francis hadn't "intended" to perform one.
Italian newspapers noted that the late Pope John Paul II performed an exorcism in 1982 ? near the same spot where Francis prayed over the young disabled man on Sunday.
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Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield
Huntersville Mayor Jill Swain, right, meets with officials of Baosteel Group in China.
Huntersville Mayor Jill Swain didn?t bring back any promises of attracting manufacturers to her city during her 10-day trip to China. But she says she did come home with ideas for following up on ?opportunities that presented themselves.?
?This trip provided us the opportunity to bridge the communication gaps and to make the first steps toward developing meaningful relationships ? business and personal,? she says in a press release issued by the trip?s sponsor, SoZo Group.
?I am confident my community benefited not only from the exposure, but also from the opportunities that presented themselves,? Swain adds. ?Now it?s time to follow up.?
She was part of a group of mayors and county officials from the Southeast who visited seven Chinese cities and met with manufacturers in the fields of shipbuilding, 3D printing, aviation and others.
SoZo Group, a Hong Kong-based consulting group, is working to conduct a U.S.-China Manufacturing Symposium in the South in November. The idea of the session is to encourage Chinese manufacturers to open facilities in the United States.
Swain and others returned from the trip on Sunday.
Ken Elkins covers manufacturing, international business and economic development for the Charlotte Business Journal.
The latest update out of the currently unfolding announcement in Redmond: the next-generation Xbox will run three operating systems simultaneously. Complementing Windows 8 and RT on PCs and tablets, there'll be a third distinct version of Microsoft's operating system that has been pared down specifically for the new console. This will be the main system OS used to run apps such as Skype and other non-game titles downloaded from the Xbox storefront. At the same time, virtualization technology similar to Microsoft's Hyper-V will be used to allocate the bulk of system resources to a second, dedicated "Xbox OS" when the user loads up a game. This game OS will remain a fixed entity throughout the life of the console, so that game developers can be confident their games will run regardless of how much the Windows side of the machine gets updated. Finally, a third OS will work as a middle-man between the two, allowing the two sides of the console to talk to each other.Read on for more.
May 21, 2013 ? Early-life exposure to traffic-related air pollution was significantly associated with higher hyperactivity scores at age 7, according to new research from the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
The research is detailed in a study being published Tuesday, May 21, in Environmental Health Perspectives, a peer-reviewed open access journal published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), an institute within the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The research was conducted by faculty members from the UC College of Medicine's Department of Environmental Health in collaboration with Cincinnati Children's. Nicholas Newman, DO, director of the Pediatric Environmental Health and Lead Clinic at Cincinnati Children's, was the study's first author.
"There is increasing concern about the potential effects of traffic-related air pollution on the developing brain," Newman says. "This impact is not fully understood due to limited epidemiological studies.
"To our knowledge, this is the largest prospective cohort with the longest follow-up investigating early life exposure to traffic-related air pollution and neurobehavioral outcomes at school age." Scientists believe that early life exposures to a variety of toxic substances are important in the development of problems later in life.
Newman and his colleagues collected data on traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) from the Cincinnati Childhood Allergy and Air Pollution Study (CCAAPS), a long-term epidemiological study examining the effects of traffic particulates on childhood respiratory health and allergy development. Funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, CCAAPS is led by Grace LeMasters, PhD, of the environmental health department. Study participants -- newborns in the Cincinnati metropolitan area from 2001 through 2003 -- were chosen based on family history and their residence being either near or far from a major highway or bus route.
Children were followed from infancy to age 7, when parents completed the Behavioral Assessment System for Children, 2nd Edition (BASC-2), assessing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and related symptoms including attention problems, aggression, conduct problems and atypical behavior. Of the 762 children initially enrolled in the study, 576 were included in the final analysis at 7 years of age.
Results showed that children who were exposed to the highest third amount of TRAP during the first year of life were more likely to have hyperactivity scores in the "at risk" range when they were 7 years old. The "at risk" range for hyperactivity in children means that they need to be monitored carefully because they are at risk for developing clinically important symptoms.
"Several biological mechanisms could explain the association between hyperactive behaviors and traffic-related air pollution," Newman says, including narrowed blood vessels in the body and toxicity in the brain's frontal cortex.
Newman notes that the higher air pollution exposure was associated with a significant increase in hyperactivity only among those children whose mothers had greater than a high school education. Mothers with higher education may expect higher achievement, he says, affecting the parental report of behavioral concerns.
"The observed association between traffic-related air pollution and hyperactivity may have far-reaching implications for public health," Newman says, noting that studies have shown that approximately 11 percent of the U.S. population lives within 100 meters of a four-lane highway and that 40 percent of children attend school within 400 meters of a major highway.
"Traffic-related air pollution is one of many factors associated with changes in neurodevelopment, but it is one that is potentially preventable."
LeMasters, Patrick Ryan, PhD, Linda Levin, PhD, David Bernstein, MD, Gurjit Khurana Hershey, MD, PhD, James Lockey, PhD, Manuel Villareal, MD, Tiina Reponen, PhD, Sergey Grinshpun, PhD, Heidi Sucharew, PhD, and Kim Dietrich, PhD, were co-authors of the study.
Funding was provided by NIEHS and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
People sit in the rain and listen as President Barack Obama delivers the President Barack Obama gestures as he delivers the Morehouse College 129th commencement speech at Morehouse College Sunday, May 19, 2013, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
People sit in the rain and listen as President Barack Obama delivers the President Barack Obama gestures as he delivers the Morehouse College 129th commencement speech at Morehouse College Sunday, May 19, 2013, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Rutgers University President Robert L. Barchi gestures to students in the rain at Rutgers University's football stadium in Piscataway, N.J., Sunday, May 19, 2013, during graduation ceremonies. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
The Dalai Lama receives an honorary degree at Tulane University's 179th commencement ceremony at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on Saturday, May 18, 2013. He also delivered the commencement address. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
University of Minnesota, Rochester chancellor Stephen Lehmkuhle, left, watches as the first-ever class of undergrads poses for a photo outside the Mayo Civic Center, Saturday, May 18, 2013, in Rochester, Minn., before the start of the graduation ceremony. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, David Joles) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES TV OUT.
Stephen Colbert delivers the 2013 Valedictory Address during the University of Virginia's 2013 Valedictory Exercises at John Paul Jones Arena, Saturday, May 18, 2013, in Charlottesville, Va. (AP Photo/The Daily Progress, Sabrina Schaeffer)
In a commencement address at Atlanta's historically black Morehouse College, President Obama said graduates should "find time to defend the powerless."
The president said his own success was due to "the special obligation I felt, as a black man like you, to help those who need it most, people who didn't have the opportunities that I had ? because there but for the grace of God, go I. I might have been in their shoes. I might have been in prison. I might have been unemployed."
In New Jersey, Rutgers University graduated the largest class in school history ? an estimated 14,302 students.
At New York's Hofstra University, students wore white ribbons at their graduation ceremony in honor of Andrea Rebello, one of their colleagues killed by a gunshot early Friday morning. A police officer accidentally killed 21-year-old Rebello as an armed intruder held her in a headlock.
Here are some images from college commencements across the nation:
BAGHDAD (AP) ? A string of attacks killed at least 16 people in Iraq on Saturday, while gunmen abducted eight policemen guarding a post on the country's main highway to Jordan and Syria, the latest in a wave of violence to grip the country.
The shootings and bombings follow three days of attacks that killed 130 people in both Shiite and Sunni areas in scenes reminiscent of retaliatory attacks between the two groups that pushed the country to the brink of civil war in 2006-2007. The spike in bloodshed in recent weeks has raised fears the country may be heading toward a new round of sectarian conflict.
Tensions have been worsening since Iraq's minority Sunnis began protesting what they say is mistreatment at the hands of the Shiite-led government, including random detentions and neglect. The mass demonstrations, which began in December, have largely been peaceful, but the number of attacks rose sharply after a deadly security crackdown on a Sunni protest camp in northern Iraq on April 23.
Majority Shiites control the levers of power in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq. Wishing to rebuild the nation rather than revert to open warfare, they have largely restrained their militias in the past five years or so as Sunni extremist groups such as al-Qaida have frequently targeted them with large-scale attacks. But the sharp jump in attacks on Sunni areas, including bombings on Friday that killed at least 76 people, has fueled concerns of renewed retaliatory killings.
In Saturday's deadliest attack, gunmen broke into the house of an anti-terrorism police captain in the southern suburbs of Baghdad, killing the officer and his family in their sleep. Police officials identified the dead as Cap. Adnan Ibrahim, his wife and two children, aged eight and 10.
The attackers fled the scene, and killed another policeman who tried to stop them at a nearby checkpoint.
Meanwhile in the western Sunni province of Anbar, gunmen kidnapped eight policemen who were guarding a post on the main highway linking Iraq to both Jordan and Syria, according to two police officials.
Earlier in the day, security forces and gunmen clashed in the area after police tried to arrest a Sunni tribal sheik suspected of being behind the killing of three army intelligence soldiers stopped by gunmen near a protest site in the city of Ramadi last month. Iraqi authorities had offered a bounty for the arrest or information leading to the arrest of the sheik, Khamis Abu Risha, and two other people they say were linked to the killings.
The fighting near Abu Risha's house north of Ramadi left three people wounded. No arrests were made. Later, gunmen deployed near the main entrance of Anbar Operations Command headquarters in Ramadi, 115 kilometers (70 miles) west of Baghdad.
Hours later, Ramadi police said a bomb placed under stalls in a small stadium exploded, killing four people who were watching a local soccer match.
Shortly before sunset, a car bomb went off near a small market in in the town of Latifiyah south of Baghdad, killing three people and wounding 12.
Elsewhere, in the predominantly Shiite city of Basra in southern Iraq, gunmen shot and killed a Sunni cleric, Assad Nassir, as he was leaving his house, police said.
Two Iraqi soldiers were also killed and two others wounded when a roadside bomb struck a group of soldiers arriving to inspect the scene of a blast that took place earlier in the northern city of Mosul.
A security official said a roadside bomb hit a police patrol in the northern suburbs of Baghdad, killing one policeman and wounding two others.
Health officials confirmed the death tolls. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the media.
Air charters have become popular and today travelers are opting traveling in private jets to save time, be safe, make the best use of time, and also avoid the inconveniences caused by commercial flights. Commercial airlines may not be able to meet the travel needs for the busy executives and diplomatic travelers who are constrained in time when attending important meetings. An air charter service Washington D. C. Can help in every other arrangement of your travel to the destination your desire.
Missing your important business meeting, workshop, and exhibition event not only cost you money but you do not achieve your obligation as you wish. On demand charters are becoming fashionable for the business travel community. In addition, group travelers like wedding and sports groups can get convenient travel to their destinations.
With commercial flights, you have to report to the airport several hours prior to departure of the flight. This is time which you could use to do other things such as business and work related assignments. You may also use this time to stay with your family and share the passion, affections, and love they need before you embark on your journey.
Moreover, commercial flights require that you get to the airport to check in a couple of hours before the flight departure. However, with the private chartered flights, you may need only 30 minutes for your check in. This enables you save time, which you can spend with your family or do other things prior to your travel. The flexibility of chartered planes is another important aspect considered by travelers.
If you have to fly one flight and connect another, it means you also have to allocate enough time. If you are carrying a luggage, it may not be a comfortable experience. Moreover, with the chartered flights, you have customized and personalized services. The foods and drinks you get from commercial planes are designed for the entire flight passengers. There is certainly no variety but these aspects are well catered for in private jets.
Moreover, the aspect of loss of luggage and other personal items is witnessed more in commercial planes than in privately chartered planes. Because in private jets, you travel with people you know, the incidents of theft are reduced or avoided. Although travelers believe that commercial planes are cheaper for travel, this may be true.
However, there are aspects that need to be considered such as hotel rooms you occupy when you have to wait to catch your next flight. At times, there may be inconveniences caused when you have to connect a flight to your destination. Paying for hotel rooms adds to the overall cost of the trip. In addition, the time you wait in queues at the airport could also translate to lost money.
You can arrange your flight so that you leave and arrive a few hours just before the commencement of the meeting. In essence, an air charter service Washington D. C. Company can arrange tailored travel services that meet your time schedules. This way you can get rid of the time delays experienced in airport when you queue up for security checks or you are held up in traffic jams because you have to arrive early in the airport to check in on time.
Read more about Enjoy Same Day Site Visits And Business Meetings With Air Charter Service Washington D. C. Company visiting our website.
Retooling the traditional public library for a more technically savvy populace is no small feat, especially when library budgets across the U.S. have been gutted these past few years. That sad state of events has forced some libraries to take matters into their own hands. Consider the case of the Northlake Public Library in Northlake, Illinois -- it wants to give its communinity (and especially the town's children) access to a slew of new digital creation tools to help inspire the next generation of makers and artists, and it's decided to turn to Indiegogo in hopes of making it happen.
Between the 26th of April and 9th of May 2013 5,198 members of @Nifty answered a number of questions about udon, Japanese wheat-based noodles. Here are some of the highlights.
First, when asked how much they loved it, 2% said it was to die for, 32% loved it, 43% liked it, 18% had no particular preferences, just 4% didn?t really like it, a rounded 0% hated it, and no-one would die rather than eat it! I?m in the like category.
Next, regarding whether it was better hot or cold, 44% chose hot, 24% had no preference, 6% preferred it cold, 25% liked it hot in winter and cold in summer, and 1% disliked it either way.
Regarding when they liked to eat it, women had more preferences than me in almost every category; just under a half of both sexes chose at lunchtime, 27% anf 34% of women in cold weather, 24% of men and 35% when their didn?t want to spend time or effort eating anything else, and so on down. The two times that men prefered it more than women was any time (24% versus 22%) and after drinking, 7% versus 2%!
Now, an interesting question; there are two main variants of broth that udon is served with; Kanto dashi from the Tokyo region, and Kansai dashi from the Osaka area. Kansai dashi is an almost clear broth subtly flavoured with kombu seaweed, Kanto dashi is basically 90% soy sauce, or at least that?s how it tastes to me! The results of this question were split by the regions of Japan; 25% to 30% of those in East Japan prefered Kanto dashi, versus under 5% in the West. Tokai, which is the Nagoya area was in no-man?s land, with about 18% siding with Kanto. About 35% in East Japan liked both styles equally, whilst under 10% in the West did. Kyushu, however, had about 18% sitting on the fence. Interestingly, even in Kanto itself more prefered Kansai dashi (about 33%), and a few percent more in other eastern and northern areas were also so inclined. In Kansai, over 90% supported the home team, and about 80% in parts further west.
When asked what flavouring accents they liked, sliced green onions was tops with 90%, chili-based spices was second at about 66%, then bonita fish flakes at 28% or so. Yuzu, citrus peel, was just under 20% despite being my favourite.
For combat veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, 'fear circuitry' in the brain never restsPublic release date: 18-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lorinda Klein lorindaann.klein@nyumc.org 212-404-3533 NYU Langone Medical Center / New York University School of Medicine
New imaging study of combat veterans shows that brain regions linked to PTSD function abnormally even in the absence of external stress
NEW YORK, May 18, 2013. Chronic trauma can inflict lasting damage to brain regions associated with fear and anxiety. Previous imaging studies of people with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, have shown that these brain regions can over-or under-react in response to stressful tasks, such as recalling a traumatic event or reacting to a photo of a threatening face. Now, researchers at NYU School of Medicine have explored for the first time what happens in the brains of combat veterans with PTSD in the absence of external triggers.
Their results, published in Neuroscience Letters, and presented today at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatry Association in San Francisco, show that the effects of trauma persist in certain brain regions even when combat veterans are not engaged in cognitive or emotional tasks, and face no immediate external threats. The findings shed light on which areas of the brain provoke traumatic symptoms and represent a critical step toward better diagnostics and treatments for PTSD.
A chronic condition that develops after trauma, PTSD can plague victims with disturbing memories, flashbacks, nightmares and emotional instability. Among the 1.7 million men and women who have served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an estimated 20% have PTSD. Research shows that suicide risk is higher in veterans with PTSD. Tragically, more soldiers committed suicide in 2012 than the number of soldiers who were killed in combat in Afghanistan that year.
"It is critical to have an objective test to confirm PTSD diagnosis as self reports can be unreliable," says co-author Charles Marmar, MD, the Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Psychiatry and chair of NYU Langone's Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Marmar, a nationally recognized expert on trauma and stress among veterans, heads The Steven and Alexandra Cohen Veterans Center for the Study of Post-Traumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injury at NYU Langone Medical Center.
The study, led by Xiaodan Yan, a research fellow at NYU School of Medicine, examined "spontaneous" or "resting" brain activity in 104 veterans of combat from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars using functional MRI, which measures blood-oxygen levels in the brain. The researchers found that spontaneous brain activity in the amygdala, a key structure in the brain's "fear circuitry" that processes fearful and anxious emotions, was significantly higher in the 52 combat veterans with PTSD than in the 52 combat veterans without PTSD. The PTSD group also showed elevated brain activity in the anterior insula, a brain region that regulates sensitivity to pain and negative emotions.
Moreover, the PTSD group had lower activity in the precuneus, a structure tucked between the brain's two hemispheres that helps integrate information from the past and future, especially when the mind is wandering or disengaged from active thought. Decreased activity in the precuneus correlates with more severe "re-experiencing" symptomsthat is, when victims re-experience trauma over and over again through flashbacks, nightmares and frightening thoughts.
Key scientific contributors include researchers at NYU School of Medicine, the University of California at San Francisco, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, and the Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases at the VA Medical Center in San Francisco.
###
This study was supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense (#W81XWH-09-2-0044)
About NYU Langone Medical Center
NYU Langone Medical Center, a world-class, patient-centered, integrated, academic medical center, is one on the nation's premier centers for excellence in clinical care, biomedical research and medical education. Located in the heart of Manhattan, NYU Langone is composed of four hospitals Tisch Hospital, its flagship acute care facility; the Hospital for Joint Diseases, one of only five hospitals in the nation dedicated to orthopaedics and rheumatology; Hassenfeld Pediatric Center, a comprehensive pediatric hospital supporting a full array of children's health services; and Rusk Rehabilitation, ranked the best rehabilitation program in New York and one of the top ten in the country since 1989, when U.S. News & World Report introduced its annual "Best Hospitals" rankings plus NYU School of Medicine, which since 1841 has trained thousands of physicians and scientists who have helped to shape the course of medical history. The medical center's tri-fold mission to serve, teach and discover is achieved 365 days a year through the seamless integration of a culture devoted to excellence in patient care, education and research. For more information, go to http://www.NYULMC.org.
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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.
For combat veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, 'fear circuitry' in the brain never restsPublic release date: 18-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lorinda Klein lorindaann.klein@nyumc.org 212-404-3533 NYU Langone Medical Center / New York University School of Medicine
New imaging study of combat veterans shows that brain regions linked to PTSD function abnormally even in the absence of external stress
NEW YORK, May 18, 2013. Chronic trauma can inflict lasting damage to brain regions associated with fear and anxiety. Previous imaging studies of people with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, have shown that these brain regions can over-or under-react in response to stressful tasks, such as recalling a traumatic event or reacting to a photo of a threatening face. Now, researchers at NYU School of Medicine have explored for the first time what happens in the brains of combat veterans with PTSD in the absence of external triggers.
Their results, published in Neuroscience Letters, and presented today at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatry Association in San Francisco, show that the effects of trauma persist in certain brain regions even when combat veterans are not engaged in cognitive or emotional tasks, and face no immediate external threats. The findings shed light on which areas of the brain provoke traumatic symptoms and represent a critical step toward better diagnostics and treatments for PTSD.
A chronic condition that develops after trauma, PTSD can plague victims with disturbing memories, flashbacks, nightmares and emotional instability. Among the 1.7 million men and women who have served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an estimated 20% have PTSD. Research shows that suicide risk is higher in veterans with PTSD. Tragically, more soldiers committed suicide in 2012 than the number of soldiers who were killed in combat in Afghanistan that year.
"It is critical to have an objective test to confirm PTSD diagnosis as self reports can be unreliable," says co-author Charles Marmar, MD, the Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Psychiatry and chair of NYU Langone's Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Marmar, a nationally recognized expert on trauma and stress among veterans, heads The Steven and Alexandra Cohen Veterans Center for the Study of Post-Traumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injury at NYU Langone Medical Center.
The study, led by Xiaodan Yan, a research fellow at NYU School of Medicine, examined "spontaneous" or "resting" brain activity in 104 veterans of combat from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars using functional MRI, which measures blood-oxygen levels in the brain. The researchers found that spontaneous brain activity in the amygdala, a key structure in the brain's "fear circuitry" that processes fearful and anxious emotions, was significantly higher in the 52 combat veterans with PTSD than in the 52 combat veterans without PTSD. The PTSD group also showed elevated brain activity in the anterior insula, a brain region that regulates sensitivity to pain and negative emotions.
Moreover, the PTSD group had lower activity in the precuneus, a structure tucked between the brain's two hemispheres that helps integrate information from the past and future, especially when the mind is wandering or disengaged from active thought. Decreased activity in the precuneus correlates with more severe "re-experiencing" symptomsthat is, when victims re-experience trauma over and over again through flashbacks, nightmares and frightening thoughts.
Key scientific contributors include researchers at NYU School of Medicine, the University of California at San Francisco, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, and the Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases at the VA Medical Center in San Francisco.
###
This study was supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense (#W81XWH-09-2-0044)
About NYU Langone Medical Center
NYU Langone Medical Center, a world-class, patient-centered, integrated, academic medical center, is one on the nation's premier centers for excellence in clinical care, biomedical research and medical education. Located in the heart of Manhattan, NYU Langone is composed of four hospitals Tisch Hospital, its flagship acute care facility; the Hospital for Joint Diseases, one of only five hospitals in the nation dedicated to orthopaedics and rheumatology; Hassenfeld Pediatric Center, a comprehensive pediatric hospital supporting a full array of children's health services; and Rusk Rehabilitation, ranked the best rehabilitation program in New York and one of the top ten in the country since 1989, when U.S. News & World Report introduced its annual "Best Hospitals" rankings plus NYU School of Medicine, which since 1841 has trained thousands of physicians and scientists who have helped to shape the course of medical history. The medical center's tri-fold mission to serve, teach and discover is achieved 365 days a year through the seamless integration of a culture devoted to excellence in patient care, education and research. For more information, go to http://www.NYULMC.org.
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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.
So you want to build the Enterprise. Don't we all! Well good news: according to some quick, messy, napkin math, it's possible. Kind of. The bad news? It's going to be stupid expensive. But not unfathomably so! Start scrounging up your space-pennies.
One little constraint
Since we can't predict the future, or even come close to gauging the cost of development for revolutionary new inventions or substances like warp and impulse drives, shields, and teleporters, we're going to stick to what we know. It might not make us a real Enterprise, but it's about as close as you're going to get.
So where do we start?
First we have to pick our Enterprise. Obviously, with Star Trek: Into Darkness coming out, we're going to go with the one from that universe. According to some stats we got back when the original Star Trek reboot came out a few years ago, we know the new Enterprise?or as the Star Trek wiki calls it: USS Enterprise (Alternate Reality)?is 725.35 meters, 2379.76 feet, or roughly half a mile long. So, huge. And while the exact measurements vary, other sources give us a height of 625 feet, and a saucer diameter of 1,000 feet. She's a big girl.
Photo: Paramount
Raw materials
The closest thing we have to compare this to in the real world is probably a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. The new Gerald R. Ford-class suckers will be bigger and more expensive, but we haven't finished one of those yet, so we'll stick with a Nimitz-class, specifically the George H.W. Bush, the most recent?and last?of the Nimitz breed.
Photo by: Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nicholas Hall/US Navy
At 1,092 feet long, the GHWB comes in at just under half the length of the Enterprise. And with a 252 foot wide flight deck, it's a fair bit thinner. But there's a lot of empty space in the Enterprise, whereas aircraft carriers are more like solid chunks. Getting really specific with a starship's actual volume would involve some annoyingly real math and measurements we don't have, but we can safely assume it would take about two GHWBs-worth of material to build a suitably sized, Enterprise-shaped brute when you stretch it all out. Make it air-tight and we'll call it a spaceship.
Unlike the Nimitz-class cruisers before it, which cost about $4.5 billion, the GWHB cost more like $6.2 billion thanks to modern day perks, and we need two. And we're just getting warmed up.
Running Total: $12,400,000,000
Some assembly required
Photo: Paramount
According to the first JJ Abrams Star Trek film, the specific Enterprise we're talking about here was built in Iowa. We'll assume it's getting the ISS treatment: Build it on Earth as a series of trivially sized modules that get assembled in orbit.
This is where the real cost comes in. If we go by the numbers from SpaceX, the Falcon Heavy can transport stuff to space for the low, low price of about $1,000 per pound. A GHWB worth of stuff weighs about 114,000 short tons. So a pair of them are 228,000 short tons, or 456 million pounds. Multiply that by $1,000 dollars per pound and... Yeah. We're talking $456 billion just to get this into orbit, or $468.4 billion for an Enterprise-shaped space station, total. And that's not including labor.
That's a lot of scary zeros, but really it's not too too bad. This year, the United States defense total budget expenditure was $3.803 trillion. So it's not like we don't have the cash.
Construction cost (ex-labor): $456,000,000,000
Running Total: $468,400,000,000
Tea, Earl Grey, hot
Now that we've got our big, hulking shell assembled, it's about time that we start filling it up with some awesome tech. One of the (many) iconic technologies in the Star Trek universe is the ubiquitous replicator, making pesky things like staying fed a piece of cake. Sometimes literally. We don't have anything close to the kind of build-anything-from-anything replicators from the series, but we do have something called the Replicator. The Replicator 2, as a matter of fact. Even better.
While MakerBot's Replicator 2 is stellar 3D-printing tech here on Earth, the thought of outfitting our enormous, enormously badass Enterprise with just one seems ludicrously cheap and lame. That being the case, let's set it up with a suite of 50 and just pretend we've got five that are 10 times the size. One MakerBot Replicator 2 retails for a scant $2,200, so we're talking an acquisition cost of (a still scant) $110,000. We need stuff to print with too, though. Let's say 45 kilograms (100 pounds) of plastic, assorted colors. MakerBot plastic is $48 to the kilo, so that's $112,160 in printers and ink.
The shipping weight of each Replicator 2 is 37 pounds, or 1850 pounds total, plus our 100 pounds of plastic which brings us to 1950 pounds. Launch that into space ($195,000) and now we're talking.
We looked into estimating the cost of something like one of Organovo's crazy Bio-Printers, but they couldn't help us out with any kind of number regarding price or weight, so we had to leave it out.
Total Replicator Cost: $307,160
Running Total: $468,400,307,160
Hit the (Holo)deck
Microsoft has a promising little at-home holodeck on the way with its IllumiRoom tech, but while that'd be great in your living room, we can probably spring for something a little fancier on our Enterprise. How about the CAVE 2, complete with 320 degree, panoramic 3D LCD display?
This isn't exactly a retail product, so we'll have to piece together the cost (and weight) in broad strokes. The awesome curved, 3D TV we saw at CES has recently been priced at around $14,000 and we'll need 72 for a total of $1,008,000 in TVs. We also need 36 "high performance PCs," that are maybe $3,000 a piece? And also a setup of 10 motion tracking cameras that we'll just say costs about $10,000. We wind up at $1,126,000 for procurement.
After a little black magic involving shipping weights and wild estimation, we can guess that this rig weighs somewhere around 5,378 pounds. As for software development, well, you're you're going to have to program you own games. Sorry.
Holodeck cost: $6,504,000
Running Total: $468,406,811,160
Fire photon torpedoes!
But really that's only half the battle. Or really it's none of the battle; this thing can't shoot yet. The GHWB already had some armaments that are theoretically on our Enterprise now, but they are pansy Earth-weapons. We need photon torpedos and phaser arrays.
When it comes to photon torpedos?well, we don't have photon torpedos. But tactical nukes seem pretty close, preferably in missile form. The UGM-133 Trident II is a modern-day ballistic missile that can rock a nuclear warhead. And, it can be launched from a submarine which means it's pretty much a torpedo, right? Kinda? Sorta? Regardless, it seems like it could be strapped to?and fired from?a spaceship just fine.
Photo: Department of Defense
It's pretty unclear how many photon torpedoes the Enterprise?specifically the reboot Enterprise?has, but we know the USS Voyagerwas designed specifically for scientific missions and had 38, so that seems like a fair bare minimum. Each Trident II costs $30.9 million to make, and weighs 129,000 pounds. So that means the cost of buying one "photon torpedo" and getting it into space is $159,900,000. The whole kit of 38 will cost us $6,076,200,000.
The Navy's LaWS system cost $40 million to develop and build, so we'll peg the sticker price at maybe $15 million per unit, for a total cost of $90 million for all six. The Navy's been tight-lipped about how much they weigh though, so we'll have to pull something really iffy out of the air and say each is about as heavy as a radar-guided Phalanx machine-gun bank just because that looks kind of similar-ish. So that's 13,600 pounds each, or 81,600 pounds of gear (total) to blast into space.
Phaser Bank Cost: $171,600,000
Running Total: $474,654,611,160
Man Up
And what good is any of this if the ship is a ghost town? While it's technically not a cost of building the Enterprise per se, we'd be remiss if we didn't at least briefly consider the cost of manning this beast. Who knows exactly how many people man the Enterprise, including all the (hundreds of?) low-level nobodies, so we'll just set it up with a skeleton command crew.
Photo: Paramount
Going by a list of notable crew members, we can figure we need?at minimum?11 people on this thing. Luckily for us, a recent agreement between NASA and Russia pinpoints the cost of flight-training a 'naut and shooting him/her into the great void at $70.7 million. So assuming our cadets already know how to do their jobs, and only need a little space-training, that gives us a transportation cost of $777,700,000
Of course, you also have to pay these guys and keep them alive. Recent estimates put the cost of keeping a soldier in Iraq for a year at between $850,000 and $1.4 million, so let's go with the higher end of that spectrum since we're talking exclusively about officiers and they are also going to space. That nets us a $15,400,000 additional personnel cost.
Lastly, they've got to be fed and watered and whatnot. In 2008, NASA awarded a roughly $3.5 billion dollar contract to SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp to perform that very same job of ferrying cargo, except to the ISS. That seems like a perfect estimate so let's just steal that wholesale as our supply cost.
Personnel and supply cost: $4,293,100,000
Running Total: $478,947,711,160
To boldly go...nowhere
Now that our Enterprise can defend itself, the only think left is to make it move. Unfortunately, that's pretty impossible under even the vaguest realism constraint. Warp drives, while they are being researched, aren't close to existing. And impulse drives?essentially fusion rockets?aren't much closer; we almost had a fission rocket once, but it got mothballed.
More recently, there's also been discussion of an impulse drive that could actually run on something stunningly like dilithium crystals: deuterium (a stable isotope of hydrogen) and Li6 (a stable isotope of lithium). This engine doesn't exist yet though. And it'd likely require some very delicate orbital-construction that we can't really hack yet.
That being said, we're going to have to call it quits here, with our weaponized, Enterprise-shaped space-station, which is pretty damn cool in its own right.
Grand Total: $478,947,711,160
(Or: 12.59 percent of 2013 US Defense expenditure total budget)
Soccer fans in America often have a chip on their shoulder about football.? And for good reason.? Football is the dominant sport in the country, soccer isn?t.
Then again, soccer is boring.? Football isn?t.
It creates potential friction where an NFL team also owns a professional soccer team.? In New England, the Krafts are getting the brunt of some of that friction via fans of the soccer team the Krafts own.
Julian Cardillo of the Boston Globe (via SportsBusiness Daily) writes that ?[i]t appears to many that the Revolution are the Kraft family?s second priority, rather than an equal investment, to the New England Patriots.?
If it appears that way, that appearance would be accurate.? The Patriots have become one of the elite franchises in the NFL, the premier professional sports league in the United States.? The Revolution are an also-ran, at best, in a league that is an also-ran, at best.
Revolution Brian Bilello seems to think that the griping comes from soccer?s anti-football bias.
?I think both the Kraft family and the Hunt family, because they have NFL sides as well, I think there?s a weird perception,? Bilello told Cardillo.? ?Both families have been involved with the sport since the very beginning.? The fact that they?re involved in the NFL, that hurts them.?
Still, a Sports Illustrated poll of anonymous players pegged the Krafts as the worst owners in the MLS, and players like Thierry Henry and David Beckham have balked at playing on the FieldTurf at Gillette Stadium.
?There?s a lot of great things about having the Krafts as owners,? Bilello said.? ?They?ve supported this league.? They do things behind the scenes not just for the Revolution, but for the sport of soccer in this country.?
None of that matters to the average soccer fan, who can?t understand why Americans haven?t embraced the sport the way the rest of the world has.
Meanwhile, we can?t understand why the rest of the world hasn?t embraced football the way Americans have.
97% of consumers search for local businesses online
A search engine is the link between you and your potential customers. Understanding how to work with, keep up with, and benefit from search engines is a full time profession. There are several search engines, but none harness the power of search like Google. In the chart below, you can see that Google owns a majority share of the search engine activity.
This volume of search by consumers looking for local solutions is the largest impact online marketing has on the automotive industry. From General repair to Collision, Glass or other services, Google can deliver more local search than any other platform.
How Google Works
When you sit down at your computer and do a Google search, you?re almost instantly presented with a list of results from all over the web. How does Google find web pages matching your query, and determine the order of search results?
Google runs on a distributed network of thousands of low-cost computers and can therefore carry out fast parallel processing. Parallel processing is a method of computation in which many calculations can be performed simultaneously; significantly speeding up data processing. Google has three distinct parts:
Googlebot, a web crawler that finds and fetches web pages.
The indexer that sorts every word on every page and stores the resulting index of words in a huge database.
The query processor, which compares your search query to the index and recommends the documents that it considers most relevant.
Googlebot
Crawling is the process by which Googlebot discovers new and updated pages to be added to the Google index. Google uses a massive group of computers to fetch (or ?crawl?) billions of pages on the web. The program that does the fetching is called Googlebot (also known as a robot, bot, or spider). Googlebot uses an algorithmic process: computer programs determine which sites to crawl, how often, and how many pages to fetch from each site. Google?s crawl process begins with a list of web page URLs, generated from previous crawl processes, and augmented with Sitemap data provided by webmasters. As Googlebot visits each of these websites, it detects links on each page and adds them to its list of pages to crawl. New sites, changes to existing sites, and dead links are noted and used to update the Google index.
NOTE:
There is no paid service Google offers to be indexed or be crawled!
The 4 main types of Googlebot:
1. GoogleBot This is the bot used by Google to scour the web to identify new pages. It has two different versions.
Deep bot Tries to follow every link and downloads as many pages as possible. It tries to read minute details of a site including the internal structure.
Fresh bot Crawls the web in search of fresh content. The Fresh bot crawls the already indexed pages in search of newly updated content. This way, Google tries to give fresh and updated information in the search results.
2. Media Bot If you are wondering how Google places different relevant ads on websites while you? re searching, there is a bot just for that! Media bot analyzes AdSense pages and decides which ads to be placed on different pages. Ads can still show qn websites even if media bot has not crawled and indexed a website. When that happens, Google will choose ads based on the overall marketing message of the website.
3.Image Bot Image bot does just what you might think: crawl and index pictures. Google?s image bot ranks pictures based on their file name, alt text, and page title. The more pictures you use, the more opportunity to tweak your website?s optimization.
4. Ads Bot The ads bot is the Google Adword gatekeeper. It crawls and analyzes your marketing landing pages and determines quality score that will be assigned to your ads. Sometimes, Google positions high quality websites first, even when others are willing to pay more. This is Google?s Ads Bot doing its job to keep higher quality websites where people can find them.
Indexing
Googlebot processes each of the pages it crawls in order to compile a massive index of all the words it sees and their location on each page. In addition, Google processes information included in key content tags and attributes, such as Title tags and ALT attributes. Googlebot can process many, but not all, content types. For example, Google cannot process the content of some rich media or video files, or dynamic pages.
Serving results
When a user enters a query, Google?s machines search the index for matching pages and return the results most relevant to the user. Relevancy is determined by over 200 factors, one of which is the page rank and quality score fora given page. In order for your site to rank well in search results pages, it?s important to make sure that Google can crawl and index your site correctly. Google?s ?did you mean? and Google?s auto-complete features are designed to help users save time by displaying related terms, common misspellings, and popular queries. Like Google?s search results, the keywords used by these features are automatically generated by our web crawlers and search algorithms. Google displays these predictions only when they think they might save the user time. If a site ranks well for a keyword, it?s because Google has algorithmically determined that its content is more relevant to the user?s query.
Making a Searchable Website
Fast loading web site designs
The number one design rule for a marketing website don?t make the potential customer wait to see the page! The same rule applies for the Googlebot. Google will review the load time of your website and your performance will be weighed to be determined if your website has the best user experience. You might design a web site that looks fantastic, but if it takes more than a few seconds to load, you may rank lower than you?d like.
Clear navigation
Google can see the structure of your website from the same perspective a user can. If Google can?t easily find a usable link to a page, that page will likely not be indexed. The navigation structure needs to be setup so all the critical pages can be accessed with one click from anywhere on the website.
Browser compatibility
The Googlebot Make sure your site is browser compatible. Your web site should look good in Mozilla as well as in Internet Explorer. Websites also look different in different versions of browsers. Internet Explorer 8 will be very different than. Internet Explorer 6.
Mobile Browsers- There are over 30 mobile-based browser applications, including the iPhone and Smartphone. Developing websites for mobile phone compatibility is also choice when building a new website.
Optimize images and use with purpose
Simple and neat is good. Powerful and eye catching is better. Graphics can play a large part in drawing the customer in, but the images need to be optimized, well placed, and have a marketing message.
Broken links
Nothing frustrates users more than clicking a link to get information and getting a broken link. Make sure all the links on your website are working correctly and are pointing to the right pages.
Remember these rules to follow for a good foundation starter in your business internet marketing strategies, if you feel you still need help MDH Motors offers automotive related website development and internet marketing strategies. Now wouldn?t you rather have someone with thirteen years experience in the automotive repair industry, as a technician and service manager to help you. Well thats what you will get. Martin Hand is a experienced web developer with a background in the automotive repair industry. Contact Us for more information.
COMING SOON?.. Automotive Internet Marketing | Search Engine Optimization
About Martin Hand
ASE Certified L1 Advanced Mastertech. Martin Hand has 13 years experience in Asian and European Import Auto Repair. Specializing in electrical diagnosis, engine performance, AT/MT transmission repair/rebuild. Martin is also pursuing a degree in Computers Science & Web Programming at Portland Community College. Experienced with ActionScript 3.0, HTML 5, CSS3, PHP/MySQL, JavaScript & WordPress theme design and plug-in development.
Total lush mouth are becoming ever more popular, thanks to The show biz industry movie stars. Your Angelina Jolie look is in, plus more women are searhing for lip development. Collagen offers, for the greatest time, taken claim since the leading realtor used for lip enhancement. Even so, results are non permanent, and so long lasting lip augmentation have been developed.
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The implant consists of material designed specifically for your safe and effective development of soft muscle, such as lip area. One example of this would be the restylane injections. The product also comes in different sizes as well as shapes to fit each patient?s certain needs, in addition to desires, in a very perfectly sterile package made for only one solitary use. The particular surgical strategy is performed in the sterile fashion. Like a lot of cosmetic surgical procedures nowadays, top augmentation is completed by using really precise ways to increase the successful appearance with the insert, and also minimize recovery time. This combination is the best for anyone considering cosmetic surgery.
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There are literally hundreds of improvements for different top shapes, dimensions, and width. Since every person has a different mouth area, and a distinct desired search, there have to be just as many choices to meet each of the demands. The best way to figure out which implant is right for you is to meet with the physician, describe just what look you?re seeking (be as specific as is possible, every detail are only able to help the selection process), then see precisely what he/she suggests. Not like collagen, these kind of implants are generally permanent, but when you have the surgical procedure and for a number of reason are usually unsatisfied along with how it seems, lip augmentations are generally simple enough to remove without threat of problems. For any concern with scarring: remember that the cuts are made no more than possible inside the lips, therefore there may be very tiny marks, these are on your own lips, which can make them even more undetectable.
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An obvious question arises: is there any change in sensation? The answer is indeed, but only ahead of time during the time to recover. It is not strange for a individual to really feel some numbness, maybe slight tingling, but over time your current lips can return to typical. And no, the implant is not detectable any time kissing. In case you press your fingers very trying to your lip area you might glance at the implant, may well being the main element word.
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Complications are uncommon for this process, though they do exist. Your current specialist will be able to give you the entire list. In the event the Angelina Jolie seem is the one particular you?re looking for, and you?re tired of duplicate treatments, this could very well be the remedy you?re looking for.
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Tags: lip augmentation, restylane injections
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By Kailee Bradstreet Wed, May 15 2013 6:57 pm | Comments
Proof Eyewear is looking for a candidate for its VP of Sales position who has industry?experience and will be an asset to build the brand?through expanding its retail networks. Read on for more information, and to apply, please visit the TransWorld Job Board.
Being a young?company there is a lot of potential to grow within the?brand. The brand culture encourages team members to?collaborate and work together on brand and product?development. This is an in-house position. Bonuses are?offered upon reaching goals.
?Proof got its start in a garage in Eagle, Idaho in 2010.?The founders, 3 brothers, pride themselves on providing?original products that are handcrafted from Eco-friendly?materials such as sustainable wood, re-purposed skate?decks, and plant based acetate. Proof Eyewear continues?to innovate providing a wide variety of products that?aren?t just environmentally friendly, but unique and?original.
Proof-Crafted from the Ground Up.
www.iwantproof.com
contact Taylor at:?taylor@iwantproof.com
?
Job Requirements
The VP of Sales will be directly responsible for the company?s revenue?Manage key customer relationships and participate in closing strategic opportunities
Oversee the fullfillment team and work with them to create effecient systems?Develop plans and strategies for developing new business and achieving the company?s sales goals
Grow and manage the sales teams, operations and resources to deliver profitable growth
Define and oversee programs that motivate the sales team to achieve their sales targets
Define and coordinate sales training programs that enable staff to achieve their potential and support company sales objectives
Grow and manage international distributors in key countries
Exceed customer expectations and contribute to a high level of customer satisfaction
Provide detailed and accurate sales forecasting
Work closely with the marketing function to establish successful channel and partner programs
Take part in trade shows meetings with customers and partners to develop key relationships
ROME (AP) ? Back pain forced Andy Murray to retire midway through his second-round match at the Italian Open on Wednesday. He may have to sit out the French Open, too.
Rafael Nadal began his bid for a seventh Rome title by cruising past local hope Fognini of Italy 6-1, 6-3 in just 61 minutes, and two-time defending champion Maria Sharapova eased past Spanish qualifier Garbine Muguruza 6-2, 6-2.
Meanwhile, rising Polish player Jerzy Janowicz upset eighth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 7-6 (5) then celebrated by ripping his shirt apart, showing off his muscular physique.
Murray, who was celebrating his 26th birthday, walked off the court after winning the second set against Spanish opponent Marcel Granollers.
"I have an issue with my lower back," Murray said. "It's been an issue for a while."
Murray took a long injury break early in the second set, getting his left thigh and lower back massaged.
Granollers won the first set 6-3 and Murray won the second 7-6 (5).
This tournament is a key clay-court warm-up for Roland Garros, the year's second Grand Slam, which starts on May 26.
"I would be very surprised if I was playing in Paris," Murray said. "I need to make a plan as to what I do. I'll chat with the guys tonight and make a plan for the next few days then make a decision on Paris after the next five days.
Murray called for the trainer while trailing 2-1 in the second set. He then lost the next two games to trail 4-1 before battling back to force a tiebreaker.
"I want to make sure it goes away," Murray added. "It's been a problem since the end of 2011 but it got bad during last year's clay season."
Nadal will next face Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis, who reached the semifinals in 2010.
Gulbis routed Viktor Troicki of Serbia 6-1, 6-1. Early in the second set during an argument over a line call with the chair umpire, Troicki dragged a cameraman out onto the court to shoot the ball mark.
Sharapova now meets 16th-seeded Sloane Stephens of the United States, who rallied past Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Stephens reached the Australian Open semifinals in January with a win over Serena Williams.
"She's been climbing up against the rankings," Sharapova said. "I haven't played against her in a while. I'm excited about that matchup."
Earlier, the 24th-ranked Janowicz improved his record against top-10 opponents to 3-5, having closed last year by reaching the Paris Masters final as a qualifier, beating Murray and Janko Tipsarevic along the way. The 22-year-old Janowicz is one of only five players under the age of 24 in the top 40.
After beating Tsonga with a forehand passing shot up the line on match point, Janowicz tore his shirt into pieces and tossed it to the crowd.
"I was really happy, especially because I didn't get off to a good start to the season and I was sick," said Janowicz, who has been bothered by ear, nose and throat infections. "Now I'm healthy."
Last week's Madrid Open runner-up Stanislas Wawrinka withdrew before his match against Alexander Dolgopolov with a right leg injury. Dolgopolov will next face top-ranked Novak Djokovic.
In a rough day for seeded players, Jeremy Chardy of France upset No. 16 Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-4, 6-1.
In the women's tournament, last year's runner-up Li Na beat fellow Chinese player Zheng Jie 6-3, 6-1; seventh-seeded Sara Errani battled past Christina McHale of the United States 7-5, 5-7, 6-2; and 12th-seeded Maria Kirilenko eliminated Varvara Lepchenko of the United States 6-3, 6-1.
Also, 13th-seeded Roberta Vinci beat wild card and fellow Italian Nastassja Burnett 6-1, 6-4; 14th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova rallied past Melanie Oudin of the United States 5-7, 6-1, 6-3; and two-time champion Jelena Jankovic routed fellow Serb Bojana Jovanovski 6-2, 6-0.
Retooling the traditional public library for a more technically savvy populace is no small feat, especially when library budgets across the U.S. have been gutted these past few years. That sad state of events has forced some libraries to take matters into their own hands. Consider the case of the 
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Public release date: 18-May-2013
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