Monday, October 29, 2012

10 Mind-blowing Benefits Of All Natural Sun Protection at Health ...

Sunscreen often Necessary to understand more about Protect Yourself both to and from going to be the Sun

It is always the truth that a lot of the commercially can be bought sunscreens are chock ? full having to do with dangerous chemicals that interfere allowing you to have all of our bodies? natural a gathering having to do with vitamin D. However,all your family members can purchase they all are natural sun?s rays health and safety that has been specially formulated leaving organic ingredients to understand more about help safeguard all your family and your much loved ones back and forth from going to be the dangerous side effects of sunshine exposure.

When all your family members continue to use a multi function sunscreen that?s non-chemical as well as in nature containing 100% all of them are natural ingredients you?re able to understand more about reduce your skin cancer risk if you don?t have making use of their chemicals.

Why Chemically Created Sunscreens ?re So Dangerous

Chemicals that are was able to find as well as in a few of these sunscreens may cause durable health to sum up and increase your risk of contracting certain diseases. OMC is the fact some form of having to do with going to be the main chemicals that are which you can use and sunscreen that can be the case dangerous. This chemical may be the basically called for additional details on kill hamsters body cells And because it?s described include them as toxic for those times when it?s unveiled for more information on sunlight,why is this a resource box a multi function component having to do with 90% having to do with all are going to be the commercially produced sunscreens available today? Studies have shown that the dangerous chemicals,plus commercially are created sunscreens,are absorbed using our skin and next circulate during our bodies.

Our Coral Reef

Because having to do with chemicals that are claims was able to find plus in commercial sunscreens,our coral coral reefs are dying. These ingredients are:

1. Cinnamate
2. Paraben
3. Camphor derivative
4. Benzophenone

It has to be that concern that a few of these four chemicals are accountable as well as awakening dormant viruses that ?re plus in a multi function among the most common algae living and then in all of our coral reef Only small amounts having to do with a few of these chemicals can create an underwater viral pestilence The infected algae begin to expire This algae tends to be that essential too going to be the health of all of our coral,since they will be its fda homemade solar power system contributing to explore its beautifully vibrant color. When the coral tends to never ever have a few of these algae,element turns white (bleaches) and dies. These viruses replicate, spreading during going to be the coral communities around them.

The Ten Benefits concerning Organic Sun Protection

You are usually amazed when all your family realize each of them is going to be the benefits been given for those times when all your family have used an all-natural sunscreen. Natural sunscreens will:

1. Keep your skin healthy because relating to the nourishment they contain.
2. Protect your cells based on repairing free-radical damage that may with all the allowing an individual exposure to the sun.
3. Lessen the appearance concerning skin damage caused judging by going to be the sun?s radiation.
4. Resist water.
5. Eliminate allergic skin reactions because they ?re hypoallergenic.
6. Not have any parabens, chemical fragrances or at best nanoparticles.
7. Doesn?t contain chemicals that not only can they damage coral.
8. Not absorb going to be the UVA & UVB rays but exemplify and scatter them away back and forth from your do you feel.
9. Provide your family leaving an all in one physical barrier back and forth from going to be the sun shine,if you don?t have clogging and irritating your pores.
10. Naturally moisturize your skin.

These are going to be the distinctive reasons you are going to want it helps to have all of them are natural sun protection By using organic sun?s rays protection,your family not only can they also be the case helping for more information about maintain all of our planet?s fragile underwater ecosystem.

Source: http://www.storesale-usa.com/10-mind-blowing-benefits-of-all-natural-sun-protection.html

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Friday, October 26, 2012

BPO.biz : BPO Blog, BPO News, BPO Updates, Business Process ...

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The country?s fifth-ranked business process outsourcing (BPO) provider, Firstsource SolutionsBSE 7.63 %, will get a new owner in the Sanjiv Goenka-promoted CESC LtdBSE -3.02 % in a transaction that values the company close to Rs 800 crore. The transaction will help Firstsource to raise part of the funds required to repay bondholders through a preferential allotment of shares and also allow its existing investors to dilute their holdings through a partial sale of their stake.

CESC will acquire 34.5% in the company through the preferential allotment and a further 15% from Firstsource?s existing investors ? ICICI BankBSE 0.64 %, private equity firm Temasek, and Fidelity. The preferential allotment at Rs 12.10 per share is at discount to today?s closing price on the BSE. Firstsource shares zoomed 7.6% to close at Rs 14.24 on BSE on Thursday. The shares have gone up over 50% in the last one month. CESC will also make an open offer as per Sebi norms for 26% of the public shareholding. The open offer price will be as per the Sebi formula of sixth-month average share price or the two-week average, whichever is higher.

?Given the current limitations of growth opportunities in the power sector we have been looking at entering the BPO space for a while. Firstsource presents a very good opportunity in high growth BPO verticals and has a very strong management team,? said Sanjiv Goenka, chairman of RP-Sanjiv Goenka (RP-SG) Group. The RP-SG Group will become the single largest shareholder in the company after the transaction and its stake could go up to around 75% depending on the success of the open offer.

Firstsource MD and CEO Rajesh Subramaniam, who was brought back into the company last year, said the new ownership would allow the company to further accelerate growth in its business segments. ?This is an important step in bolstering various stakeholders confidence in the company,? he said.

The stakeholding of the existing investors, each of who hold approximately 18% in the company, will come down to about 7% each. All of them will sell around 5% of their holdings in the expanded equity to CESC. ICICI Securities was the advisor to CESC in the transaction.

Source: http://www.bpo.biz/bpo-news-blog/2012/10/25/with-firstsource-acquisition-sanjiv-goenka-buys-into-bpo/

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Scientists step up hunt for bacterial genes tied to lyme disease

ScienceDaily (Oct. 25, 2012) ? Investigators at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have accelerated the search for the bacterial genes that make the Lyme disease bacterium so invasive and persistent. The discovery could advance the diagnosis and treatment of this disease, which affects an estimated 30,000 Americans each year.

The researchers have developed a new technique that allowed them to test 15 times more bacterial genes than had been evaluated in the previous 30 years to ascertain their roles in infection. Findings appeared Oct. 25 in the online journal PLOS ONE.

Scientists hope to use this information to unravel the mystery of how the spiral-shaped bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi causes Lyme disease. Ticks carry the bacterium and transfer it to animals and humans when the tiny spider-like creatures bite. The Lyme disease microorganism was discovered in 1981.

"We believe that this will be one of the most significant publications in Lyme disease in the next several years. This global approach will help 'move the field forward' and also serve as a model for other pathogens with similar properties," said Steven Norris, Ph.D., the study's senior author and the vice chair for research in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the UTHealth Medical School.

The bacterium can invade almost any tissue in humans or animals and trigger an infection that lasts from months to years. Its symptoms include a reddish rash that often resembles a bull's eye and flu-like symptoms. The disease can lead to nervous system problems, joint inflammation and heart abnormalities. Most instances of Lyme disease can be treated with antibiotics.

"Our long-term goals are to screen, identify and characterize the virulence determinants of the Lyme disease bacterium and thereby dissect the mechanism of pathogenesis in mammals and ticks," said Tao Lin, D,V.M., the study's lead author and assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the UTHealth Medical School. "With this information, we will have a clearer picture about the virulence determinants and virulence factors for this fascinating microorganism and the mechanism of pathogenesis behind this unique, invasive, persistent pathogen."

Norris, the Robert Greer Professor of Biomedical Sciences at UTHealth, and Lin are running tests on the 1,739 genes in the bacterium to see which genes impact the microorganism's ability to spread disease.

To do this, they mutated the bacterial genes and gauged the impact in a mouse infection model. Overall, 4,479 mutated bacteria were isolated and characterized. Whereas it took researchers about three decades to knock out less than 40 bacterial genes, Norris and Lin knocked out 790 genes in a comparatively short period of time; some genes were "hit" multiple times. A newly developed screening technique, which involves signature-tagged mutagenesis and Luminex?-based high-throughput screening technologies, can also be used to identify infection-related genes in other bacteria.

"This kind of study enables us to better understand the disease pathogenesis at the basic level," said Charles Ericsson, M.D., head of clinical infectious diseases at the UTHealth Medical School. "In time, such understanding of virulence properties might enable us to develop vaccine candidates, better diagnostic tools and perhaps even targeted drug intervention."

Norris and Lin are on the faculty of The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston.

Previously, Norris helped develop a method based on one of the bacterium's proteins, called VlsE, for diagnosing Lyme disease. The test, which is now used worldwide, involves detection of VlsE-specific antibodies, which are often found in people and animals infected with Lyme disease.

Also participating in the study from UTHealth were Lihui Gao, D.V.M., Chuhua Zhang, Evelyn Odeh and Loic Coutte, Ph.D. Mary B. Jacobs and Mario Philipp, Ph.D., of the Tulane University Health Sciences Center collaborated on the study as did George Chaconas, Ph.D., of The University of Calgary in Canada. Mutated strains produced through this study are being made available to the scientific community through BEI Resources.

The study is titled "Analysis of an ordered comprehensive STM mutant library in infectious Borrelia burgdorferi: insights into the genes required for mouse infectivity." The project described was supported by Award Number R01AI059048 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Tao Lin, Lihui Gao, Chuhua Zhang, Evelyn Odeh, Mary B. Jacobs, Lo?c Coutte, George Chaconas, Mario T. Philipp, Steven J. Norris. Analysis of an Ordered, Comprehensive STM Mutant Library in Infectious Borrelia burgdorferi: Insights into the Genes Required for Mouse Infectivity. PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (10): e47532 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0047532

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/ksfJAjc6Xrk/121025174140.htm

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New genes for adult BMI levels: Versatile gene discovery chip used to detect gene variants involved in biology of obesity

ScienceDaily (Oct. 25, 2012) ? A large international study has identified three new gene variants associated with body mass index (BMI) levels in adults. The scientific consortium, numbering approximately 200 researchers, performed a meta-analysis of 46 studies, covering gene data from nearly 109,000 adults, spanning four ethnic groups.

In discovering intriguing links to lipid-related diseases, type 2 diabetes and other disorders, the IBC 50K SNP Array BMI Consortium's study may provide fundamental insights into the biology of adult obesity. Scientists from the Center for Applied Genomics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia led the study, using the CardioChip, a gene array containing probes for some 50,000 genetic variants across 2,100 genes relevant to cardiovascular and metabolic functions.

The study appeared online Sept. 21 in Human Molecular Genetics.

"BMI is a widely used measure of obesity, which affects one third of U.S. adults, and approximately half a billion people worldwide," said first author Yiran Guo, Ph.D., of Children's Hospital, who led the meta-analysis. "Previous studies have shown that genetics plays an important role in obesity, and this study expands our knowledge of BMI genetics."

The researchers first analyzed a dataset of approximately 51,000 individuals of European ancestry (EA) to discover initial gene signals, and then performed replication studies in another 27,000 EA subjects, as well as 14,500 additional EA individuals. Further analyses of data from approximately 12,300 African Americans, 2,600 Hispanics and 1,100 East Asians strengthened the team's findings.

The researchers uncovered three novel signals, from the genes TOMM40-APOE-APOC1, SREBF2 and NTRK2) that were significantly associated with BMI in adults. All had previously been linked to other important disorders. The APOE locus is well known to be involved in blood lipid regulation and circulation, and plays an important role in Alzheimer's disease. The SREBF2 gene is in the same family as SREBF1, linked to type 2 diabetes in another CardioChip study. Finally, NTRK2 codes for a receptor of the BDNF protein, which is known to be related to BMI and is associated with the eating disorder anorexia.

Anorexia is a special interest of Guo, who holds a Davis Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship in Eating Disorders. Guo added that the large dataset from the previous studies allowed the researchers "to enhance our understanding of BMI genetics, as well as the interplay between genetic variants and metabolic disorders such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and lipid-related conditions."

Guo also noted that the team was able to test for conditional associations within genes -- independent signals from within the same gene locus. In particular, the researchers discovered that two genes, BDNF and MC4R, each harbor two independent signals for BMI. Both genes were among eight genes previously associated with BMI that the current study was able to replicate, including FTO, SH2B1 and COL4A3BP-HMGCR.

Guo concluded that "while the individual effects of each gene may be small, they may provide fundamental clues to the biology of adult obesity." He added that further studies will investigate gene-gene interactions for the same trait.

The Center for Applied Genomics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was the analysis coordinating site of this study. Three of the Center's scientists were senior investigators of the study: Struan F. A. Grant, Ph.D.; Brendan J. Keating, Ph.D.; and Hakon Hakonarson, M.D., Ph.D. All are on the faculty of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, supported this study.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, via Newswise.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Guo et al. Gene-centric meta-analyses of 108 912 individuals confirm known body mass index loci and reveal three novel signals. Human Molecular Genetics, 2012; DOI: 10.1093/hmg/dds396

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/LwEQiUc2aMo/121025161753.htm

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Stem cell therapies for multiple sclerosis, other myelin disorders ...

Stem cell therapies for multiple sclerosis, other myelin disorders expected soon | Human Health and Science October 26, 2012 5:58 am You are here:Home Basic Sciences Biology Stem cell therapies for multiple sclerosis, other myelin disorders expected soon

Source: http://www.humanhealthandscience.com/stem-cell-therapies-for-multiple-sclerosis-other-myelin-disorders-expected-soon/news

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

New Home Sales Continue Improvement ? Eye on Housing

September new home sales increased 5.7% to an annual rate of 389,000, the highest level since the home buyer tax credit expired in early 2010. The three-month moving average of new home sales has increased steadily for over a year as more housing markets begin to see rising home prices and improving consumer sentiment.
The months? supply of new homes for sale fell to a seven year low of 4.5 months as the pace of sales picked up but the inventory advanced by only 2.000. The number of completed homes for sale ready for immediate move-in remains at a record low of 38,000 as builders remain cautious about building ahead of the market and as credit access remains tight.
Median home price increased 11.7% from September 2011. The price increase is primarily a result of larger, move-up homes being sold rather than an increase in home prices. Move-up buyers with equity and the ability to pass rigid credit checks are a larger share of the market and tend to buy more expensive homes. Some building material prices costs have increased in the past six months but home building remains very competitive with the existing home market so the price increases are more likely a sign of different homes sold than similar homes costing more.
There was a strong regional variation in home sales with the largest region, the South, advancing 16.8% while the second smallest, the Midwest, fell 37.3%. The Northeast and West advanced 16.7% and 3.9% respectively. Monthly regional data do fluctuate significantly and quarterly averages may be a better gauge of regional activity. On a quarterly basis, the Northeast was up 18.5%, the Midwest was down 8.2% returning to levels last seen in early 2012, the South was up 4.9% and the West was up 4% from the second quarter to the third quarter.

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Source: http://eyeonhousing.wordpress.com/2012/10/24/new-home-sales-continue-improvement/

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ANCA Healthy Living 10/24 by Autistic People | Blog Talk Radio

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    We have Grammy award winning record producer Mr bangladesh for a special 2 hour special promoting his new artist and music career

  • Marx & Julie chat with British filmmaker Chris Stone, the writer & director of the Victorian vampire web series turned feature film called Blood and Bone China. As if that wasn't enough, we also speak to our featured indie music artist of the week, Birthrite.

  • Native American Movement founder Russell Means was laid to rest yesterday at his home on Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota. He is remembered with comments, stories, and prayers.

  • Lori Saitz is a nationally recognized expert in using gratitude to boost client retention and increase referral business. She is the founder of Zen Rabbit, which is a concierge type company specializing in helping business professionals ?multiply profits

  • Gus Speth, author of AMERICA THE POSSIBLE,shares his vision of comprehensive and deep change rooted in a political economy that sustains people, communities and nature. Long time Washington insider, he now is part of the protest movement.

  • One of Radio One?s top DJs, DJ Kayotik will be on with us to talk about career, current mixtape KAYOTIK KHRONIKLES VOL. 1, and youth organization.

  • Queen Afua, has been an expert in Wholisitc Health, a lecturer/author for 40 years. She'll discuss the 21 Detoxification Process & the work she's doing in Detroit for the next year. Kilindi Iyi, world renowned lecturer and Master of The African Martial Art

  • Mothyna James-Brightful-Global freedoms and empowerment campaign for domestic violence awareness-Heal a Woman to Heal a Nation. Dawn-Marie Hanrahan is a #1 Bestselling Author, TranSpirational Speaker and Spiritual Leader, who travels the world educating others

  • Health & Fitness is on tap when International Fitness Model Charles Flanagan and IFBB Pro Fitness competitor Donna Jones from Australia tackle everything from nutrition & exercise to the psychology of living well, Speaking to callers LIVE

  • Stacey Monroe welcomes Rico and J-Rod from the group Recognition to E! GEMZ! Radio to speak about their music career and life. How did they two become Recognition? What did they both give up in order to pursue there music career? Tune in to see what they have

  • Big Blend Radio talks with outdoorsman and naturalist Jay Erskine Leutze about his acclaimed book STAND UP THAT MOUNTAIN: The Battle to Save One Small Community in the Wilderness Along the Appalachian Trail.

  • Teen Hosts McMillen, Janae, Jackie, Jessica, and Salwa discuss common sex myths. Our guests, Crystal Collette and Caitlin Mcardle from Planned Parenthood, are here to give us the facts.

  • This week on the BIG show, host Tim Gordon will talk with writer/director Matthew Cherry about his upcoming drama, The Last Fall. The semi-autobiographical tale tell the story of an NFL journeyman who struggles to deal with life's after the game.

  • Super Role Model, Valerie Jeannis, heralded as ?the Catalyst?, joins the Feminine Soul Radio show and talks about her new book I Am Beautiful: Changing the Way You See Yourself. Valerie will inspire you to say yes to your life and take action on your dreams.

  • In the dark, driving tasks like looking at other vehicles ahead and reading road signs are more difficult for some drivers. With the end of daylight savings only eight days away, tune into Healthy Vision? with Dr. Val Jones to learn how to take better care of your eyes ? and your car ? to improve your nighttime driving.

  • Legendary singer, Tony Bennett kicks off our new Storytellers series with a special live interview. Join hosts Eric Olsen (@amhaunted) of America?s Most Haunted and Chitra Agrawal, BlogTalkRadio?s own Director of Marketing, for the premiere.

  • The Phantom Zone Radio Show welcomes actor, screenwriter, and film editor, Camden Toy. He is best known as a character actor in the series, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and it's spinoff series, Angel.

  • Join Weigh In Sports as they talk to the CEO of BCS.net Magazine Robin Bayless as they go over the new BCS standings, the founding of the magazine in such a competitive market, the writers and much more.

  • Source: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/autistic-people-/2012/10/25/anca-healthy-living

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    Study Reveals Android Apps Leak Personal Data [VIDEO]

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    Wednesday, October 24, 2012

    Joint Research by India and Australia on Malaria Vaccine Welcomed by Gillard


    After meeting the scientists, Gillard said, 'I was able to see how scientific communities are working together to fight the scourge of malaria.'

    The joint research project is one of 90 supported by the governments of Australia and India to date through the two countries' flagship fund for collaboration in science, the Australia India Strategic Research Fund.

    Gillard met scientists working at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) in the national capital, led by Chetan Chitnis.

    A team of Indian scientists from ICGEB is working with counterparts at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne to improve understanding about immune responses to the malaria parasite.

    The research by scientists of both countries suggests new possibilities of vaccines for malaria, a mosquito-borne disease, that look more promising than others currently being considered for development or in clinical trials.

    'A commitment to education, research and innovation should be at the heart of our economic and social ties - indeed our Australia India Strategic Research Fund is another important example of this,' Gillard said.

    The Australia-India Strategic Research Fund is co-funded and co-administered by the two governments.

    'With a $64 million commitment from the Australian government to support the participation of Australian researchers in joint activities, it is Australia's largest bilateral programme for collaboration in science with any country. Meanwhile, India's Ministry of Science and Technology meets the Indian teams' costs, making this one of India's largest sources of support for international collaboration,' a statement said.

    Till date, the programme has brought together more than 90 top universities and research institutions on both sides and hundreds of individual researchers.

    Appreciating the efforts, Gillard also welcomed the announcement by the Australian Academy of Science of the recipients of the Australia-India Fellowship Fund, which supports residential stays in India of up to 12 months for Australian early-career researchers and shorter visits for more senior scientists.

    'The scheme is supported by the Australian government through the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund. Indian recipients of fellowships, to be announced soon, will visit Australia under a reciprocal scheme funded by the government of India,' the statement added.

    Source-IANS

    Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LatestGeneralNews/~3/sdXnQvv1Yuk/joint-researcher-by-india-and-australia-on-malaria-vaccine-welcomed-by-gillard-108924-1.htm

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    Coach first-quarter sales rise on gains in North America, China

    Tue Oct 23, 2012 9:07am EDT

    (Reuters) - Upscale leather-goods maker Coach Inc (COH.N) reported higher quarterly sales on Tuesday as its own stores in North America showed increased business and there were large gains in China, marking a return to form in two markets that had shown signs of slowing earlier this year.

    Coach's shares rose 5.2 percent to $57 in premarket trading.

    Sales at its stores in North America - still the company's biggest market by far - rose 11 percent during the quarter. In China, which is a small but fast-growing market for Coach, sales at stores open a year rose by a double digit percentage. Coach has said it expects China to account for 10 percent of sales within a few years.

    In recent months Western luxury brands such as Tiffany & Co (TIF.N) and Burberry Group PLC (BRBY.L) warned about slowing growth in China, a nation many so-called "affordable luxury" companies were banking on to fuel expansion.

    But in an interview, Coach Chief Executive Lew Frankfort said Chinese shoppers' appetite for affordable prices worked in his company's favor.

    "Our price points are extremely compelling relative to the European luxury brands," he told Reuters.

    Lazard Capital Markets analyst Jennifer Davis said in a note that sales in China were "better than feared."

    In North America, Coach's results were an improvement over the two preceding quarters, when gains were anemic. This time, comparable sales came in above Coach's own forecasts from three months ago, when the company warned investors that shoppers wanted bargains to be compelled to buy.

    Coach has also faced competition in its home market from fast-growing brands including Michael Kors (KORS.N) and Fifth & Pacific Cos Inc's (FNP.N) kate spade, raising Wall Street concerns about how sustainable Coach's strength would be.

    Companywide, revenue in the first quarter, which ended September 29, rose 10.6 percent to $1.16 billion, in line with Wall Street analysts' projections, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

    Frankfort noted in a statement that the launch of its Legacy handbag collection, a line that harkens to classic styles from the 71-year-old company, had been successful.

    Net income in the quarter was $221.4 million, or 77 cents per share, compared with $215 million, or 73 cents, a year earlier. That was a penny above Wall Street estimates. Profit was dented by the company's efforts to buy its local distributors in Malaysia and Korea.

    (Reporting by Phil Wahba in New York; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)

    Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/globalmarketsNews/~3/frAr9XG_nJw/us-coach-results-idUSBRE89M0NL20121023

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    Open access: Delivering on its potential

    Open access: Delivering on its potential [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 23-Oct-2012
    [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

    Contact: Bryan Ghosh
    bghosh@plos.org
    44-122-344-2837
    Public Library of Science

    This week, October 22-28, marks Open Access Week, a global event that brings various parties together to discuss, publicize and advocate for open access. On October 23, leading open access journal PLOS Biology publishes an editorial that aims to direct this year's discussion towards the need to focus on the reusability of, and not just access to, the research literature.

    With the incredible rise in the number of open access research papers available online, it is now time to focus on ensuring that we can make the most out of that access, argues Cameron Neylon, Advocacy Director at PLOS and author of the editorial.

    "If we are to exploit the potential that open access provides," writes Neylon, "we must look beyond just making research findings accessible to ensuring that they are legally and technically available for re-use." Many journals that currently claim to publish 'open access' research actually withhold rights such as re-use, particularly commercial re-use, under the terms of their licence. This, says Neylon, is at odds with the idea of open access, and must be addressed if we are to make full use of open research. "Mere access is not enough to deliver on the promise of a truly network-enabled research communication system," he says.

    The scientific community is at a point where more research is accessible than ever before, and this is only going to continue growing as funders, policy-makers and institutions across the world are enacting their own open access initiatives. Being able to build upon this research, to gather data, and to refine results is key to scientific progress, and is the only way to ensure that science can advance at the speed of which it is now capable thanks to the growth of the Internet, the editorial explains.

    There have already been many examples of how research can progress when resources and information are fully shareable and useable thanks to worldwide networks, and there can be countless more if a system is built that enables scientists to fully and easily build on each other's work, argues Neylon. As he explains, "Making things accessible is a necessary step to make this happen, but it is not sufficient."

    ###

    Competing interests: The author is an employee of PLOS whose salary is supported by PLOS income derived from the publication of open-access papers.

    Citation: Neylon C (2012) More Than Just Access: Delivering on a Network-Enabled Literature. PLoS Biol 10(10): e1001417. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001417

    CONTACT:

    Dr Cameron Neylon
    Advocacy Director, PLOS
    Carlyle House
    Carlyle Road
    Cambridge, CB4 3DN
    United Kingdom
    cneylon@plos.org


    [ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

    ?


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


    Open access: Delivering on its potential [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 23-Oct-2012
    [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

    Contact: Bryan Ghosh
    bghosh@plos.org
    44-122-344-2837
    Public Library of Science

    This week, October 22-28, marks Open Access Week, a global event that brings various parties together to discuss, publicize and advocate for open access. On October 23, leading open access journal PLOS Biology publishes an editorial that aims to direct this year's discussion towards the need to focus on the reusability of, and not just access to, the research literature.

    With the incredible rise in the number of open access research papers available online, it is now time to focus on ensuring that we can make the most out of that access, argues Cameron Neylon, Advocacy Director at PLOS and author of the editorial.

    "If we are to exploit the potential that open access provides," writes Neylon, "we must look beyond just making research findings accessible to ensuring that they are legally and technically available for re-use." Many journals that currently claim to publish 'open access' research actually withhold rights such as re-use, particularly commercial re-use, under the terms of their licence. This, says Neylon, is at odds with the idea of open access, and must be addressed if we are to make full use of open research. "Mere access is not enough to deliver on the promise of a truly network-enabled research communication system," he says.

    The scientific community is at a point where more research is accessible than ever before, and this is only going to continue growing as funders, policy-makers and institutions across the world are enacting their own open access initiatives. Being able to build upon this research, to gather data, and to refine results is key to scientific progress, and is the only way to ensure that science can advance at the speed of which it is now capable thanks to the growth of the Internet, the editorial explains.

    There have already been many examples of how research can progress when resources and information are fully shareable and useable thanks to worldwide networks, and there can be countless more if a system is built that enables scientists to fully and easily build on each other's work, argues Neylon. As he explains, "Making things accessible is a necessary step to make this happen, but it is not sufficient."

    ###

    Competing interests: The author is an employee of PLOS whose salary is supported by PLOS income derived from the publication of open-access papers.

    Citation: Neylon C (2012) More Than Just Access: Delivering on a Network-Enabled Literature. PLoS Biol 10(10): e1001417. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001417

    CONTACT:

    Dr Cameron Neylon
    Advocacy Director, PLOS
    Carlyle House
    Carlyle Road
    Cambridge, CB4 3DN
    United Kingdom
    cneylon@plos.org


    [ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

    ?


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


    Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-10/plos-oad101712.php

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    Woman Sacked From Auckland Office Supplier Wins... | Stuff.co.nz

    A woman who was sacked by an Auckland office equipment supplier without any notice or explanation, after just a month on the job, has been awarded more than $8000 in compensation.

    Melinda van Meygaarden started work at Intagr8 on March 5 and was summarily dismissed on April 13, according to an Employment Relations Authority determination.

    The company said it had dismissed her under the 90-day trial period clause in her employment agreement, but Ms van Meygaarden said - and the authority accepted - she had never been provided with such an agreement.

    The company was unable to produce a copy of the agreement, and claimed Ms van Meygaarden must have removed it from the office when she was dismissed. She strongly denied that suggestion, and the authority agreed she had not been provided with a written employment agreement.

    Authority member Rachel Larmer also questioned the evidence given by the company, saying its human resources manager, Helen Taylor, and its general manager, Stephen Mascarenhas, had assured her they had prepared their own witness statements, and denied they had copied and pasted evidence.

    "I find that denial hard to accept," Ms Larmer said, pointing out that several paragraphs of their evidence were identical, including getting a date wrong.

    Ms Larmer said the company claimed it had performance concerns over Ms van Meygaarden, but offered no documentation to back that up.

    In dismissing Ms van Meygaarden, Intagr8 "failed to follow even the most basic procedural fairness and natural justice requirements".

    The authority said Ms van Meygaarden had given "compelling evidence of the humiliation, loss of dignity and injury to feelings that she suffered as a result of her harsh and unjustified dismissal".

    - ? Fairfax NZ News

    Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/7848488/Sacked-woman-wins-case-and-8000

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    Tuesday, October 23, 2012

    Texas school finance trial begins in Austin | Trail Blazers Blog

    Hundreds of Texas school districts began making their case for increased funding at the start of the long-awaited trial on the state?s school finance system Monday. Attorneys for the four main plaintiff groups made their opening statements before state District Judge John Dietz, who is scheduled to listen to at least six weeks of testimony before he issues a ruling in the case early next year. Dietz has said he hopes to have his decision out so it can be reviewed by the Legislature in its 2013 session, although most experts predict the case will be appealed by the losing party to the Texas Supreme Court.

    The opening arguments focused on the unprecedented funding cuts for schools imposed by the Legislature last year to help balance the state budget. At the same time the state was slashing funding for the public schools, the Legislature also installed a new student testing program ? the STAAR ? that is far more difficult than what it replaced, the TAKS. ?The bar has been raised, yet the hands of school administrators have been tied behind their backs,? said Austin lawyer Rick Gray, who is representing more than 400 low and medium-wealth school districts who sued the state. ?Rich districts can?t get the job done any more than the poor districts I represent,? he said.

    Houston lawyer David Thompson, who is representing Dallas, Fort Worth and dozens of other urban and suburban districts, said the state has cut funding about $500 per student at a time when 60 percent of the state enrollment is considered economically disadvantaged and more expensive to educate. Thompson noted that two of three low-income students failed one or more of the new high school end-of-course tests and 90 percent of those students were found to be off track on the path to graduation. He argued that it is unconstitutional for the Legislature to set new goals and then fail to provide the funds to achieve those goals. ?Our broken funding system simply does not meet the high expectations and clear duties of the Texas Constitution,? he said.

    This entry was posted in Issues, Legislature 2013 by Terrence Stutz/Reporter. Bookmark the permalink.

    Source: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2012/10/texas-school-finance-trial-begins-in-austin.html/

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    Egg Freezing Enters Clinical Mainstream

    egg, in vitro fertilization, egg donation, fertility Image: RWJMS IVF Laboratory / Wikimedia Commons

    From Nature magazine

    Egg freezing is no longer an experimental procedure, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), which on 22 October issued new guidelines on the controversial practice. The change in policy is expected to accelerate the growth of clinics that offer egg freezing to women who face fertility-damaging treatment for cancer or other conditions, and to women wishing to delay having a baby ? although the society stopped short of endorsing the procedure for that purpose.

    More than 900 babies have been born using the technique, which the ASRM called ?experimental? in 2008. With that designation, the society approved of the use of egg freezing only in clinical trials overseen by an institution review board (IRB). Despite the ASRM policy, clinics have increasingly been offering the technique outside of this framework as a clinical service for a fee. Now the society is effectively giving such clinics a green light, a development that is likely to encourage consumer groups advocating for insurance providers to cover the procedure.

    ?This will open up the procedure for many, many people,? says Samantha Pfeifer, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, who headed the committee charged with making the recommendation. She adds, ?There are enough preliminary data to say that this technique is safe.?

    The committee removed the ?experimental? label after analyzing more than 100 studies assessing the health of eggs after the procedure and the outcome of births. The committee concluded that there have been no reported increases in chromosome abnormalities or birth defects among children born using oocyte cryopreservation, the technical term for the procedure.

    But the committee also noted that the data so far are incomplete ? only four randomized clinical trials have been conducted using the technique. And while those studies suggest that the technique results in successful pregnancy in young women at the same rate as assisted reproduction with ?fresh? oocytes, observational studies suggest the success rate is lower. Because the technique of freezing the large and fragile cells is relatively new, nothing is known about long-term effects on offspring that result from the method. Some studies suggest that babies born using assisted reproductive technologies are at an increased risk for certain rare disorders ? the neurological condition Angelman syndrome, for example ? that result from changes in the chemical modifications to DNA known as ?epigenetic marks?.

    The safety and success rates of the procedure have been the focus of heated debates among reproductive biologists. At the ASRM annual meeting in San Diego this week, for instance, Pfeifer will be facing off against Nicole Noyes, head of a clinic affiliated with New York University that offers the procedure. The topic will be whether younger women should consider freezing their eggs for the future, says Pfeifer.

    Despite the need for more research, the new guidelines will help clinicians counsel patients about the technique?s safety and potential to result in a pregnancy, says Theresa Woodruff, chief of the Division of Fertility Preservation at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, ?It?s a good, measured step,? she says. The society announced its new policy on 19 October and published its new report yesterday in the journal Fertility and Sterility.

    There were not enough data for the committee to recommend the procedure for women nearing the end of their reproductive years who wish to preserve their eggs for future use, says Pfeifer. And the data so far suggest that the success rates of the procedure decline with maternal age. Nonetheless, the use of egg freezing for delaying reproduction is a potentially huge growth area ? many clinics are already offering these services.

    Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=f9b0586ac664e71a41cee3b2b16f2261

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    Monday, October 22, 2012

    Debate to Lay Out Tonal Differences, Some Policy Ones (WSJ)

    Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

    Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/257248439?client_source=feed&format=rss

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    The financial transaction tax faithful march on | Brussels blog

    Notes from the EU

    About this blog Blog guide
    Welcome. If you have yet to register on FT.com you will be asked to do so before you begin to read FT blogs. However, our posts remain free.

    This blog covers everything from the European Union's foreign and economic policies to the fortunes of its political leaders - as well as the more light-hearted aspects of life in Europe.

    To comment, please register for free with FT.com and read our policy on submitting comments.

    All posts are published in UK time.

    Contact the Brussels blog team: Peter Spiegel, Joshua Chaffin, Alex Barker and Stanley Pignal.

    See the full list of FT blogs.

    Source: http://blogs.ft.com/brusselsblog/2012/10/the-financial-transaction-tax-faithful-march-on/

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    Soldiers' arrest marks shift in Guatemala

    In this Oct. 11, 2012 photo, detained soldiers waits to testify at their court hearing related to the killing of Indian protesters in Guatemala City. Nine soldiers were arrested in connection with the Oct. 4, 2012 killings of Indians from the town of Totonicapan who were protesting high electricity prices on the highway. Experts said the recent actions mark a dramatic shift in a country once known for its reluctance to punish its military. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

    In this Oct. 11, 2012 photo, detained soldiers waits to testify at their court hearing related to the killing of Indian protesters in Guatemala City. Nine soldiers were arrested in connection with the Oct. 4, 2012 killings of Indians from the town of Totonicapan who were protesting high electricity prices on the highway. Experts said the recent actions mark a dramatic shift in a country once known for its reluctance to punish its military. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

    In this Oct. 5, 2012 photo, relatives mourn over the body of slain protester Francisco Ordonez during a funeral service in Totonicapan, Guatemala. Experts said the arrest of soldiers in connection with the Oct. 4 killing of Indians protesting high electricity prices mark a dramatic shift in a country once known for its reluctance to punish its military. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

    In this Oct. 5, 2012 photo, blood stains remain on the highway where protestors from the town of Totonicapan and soldiers clashed a day earlier on the outskirts of Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan, near Totonicapan, Guatemala. Experts said the arrest of soldiers in connection with the Oct. 4 killing of Indians protesting high electricity prices mark a dramatic shift in a country once known for its reluctance to punish its military. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

    In this Oct. 5, 2012 photo, the shell of a a torched army truck sits at the scene where protestors from Totonicapan and soldiers clashed a day earlier on the outskirts of Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan, near Totonicapan, Guatemala. Experts said the arrest of soldiers in connection with the Oct. 4 killing of Indians protesting high electricity prices mark a dramatic shift in a country once known for its reluctance to punish its military. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

    In this Oct. 11, 2012 photo, Guatemala's Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz arrives for a press conference to address the deadly clashes between soldiers and Indian demonstrators from Totonicapan, in Guatemala City. Experts said the arrest of soldiers in connection with the Oct. 4 killing of Indians protesting high electricity prices mark a dramatic shift in a country once known for its reluctance to punish its military. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

    (AP) ? GUATEMALA CITY (AP) ? Chanting and waving signs in protest of high electricity prices, thousands of unarmed indigenous demonstrators blockaded a highway in western Guatemala, forcing a standoff with police. Two truckloads of soldiers arrived and gunfire erupted, killing eight protesters and wounding 34.

    What happened next after the Oct. 4 incident was virtually unprecedented in a country scarred by decades of civil war as well as violence against its indigenous majority and years of impunity for its powerful military. Authorities actually investigated the violence, and the alleged perpetrators were arrested.

    The country's attorney general, a former human rights activist known for her bold pursuit of criminals, dispatched at least 175 prosecutors and investigators to the scene, and many of them collected shells, blood samples and DNA evidence. Others travelled to two nearby hospitals to interview wounded demonstrators and witnesses.

    Within a week, prosecutors had detained eight army privates and a colonel on criminal charges. Two privates and the colonel could each face a maximum penalty of 500 years in prison for extrajudicial assassination while six privates could face up to 320 years each for attempted murder with intent. An accompanying report said soldiers had ignored police instructions to stay away from the protest.

    The soldiers involved were not recipients of any U.S. aid or training in a Central American country in which the United States has spent $85 million fighting drug traffickers since the civil war ended in 1996.

    President Otto Perez Molina pushed to end an earlier U.S. ban on military aid that was imposed during the conflict over concerns about human rights abuses. To fight the drug trafficking problem, Perez has since approved the creation of two new military bases and the upgrading of a third to add as many as 2,500 soldiers. He's also signed a treaty allowing a team of 200 U.S. Marines to patrol Guatemala's western coast to catch drug shipments.

    Perez, a former army general who's been investigated for human rights abuses during the country's civil war, lent his support to the investigation into the shooting of protesters earlier this month, saying he would accept the attorney general's actions. He also pledged never to use troops again to quell the protests, blockades and land takeovers frequently employed by Guatemala's mostly poor majority to denounce government policy.

    Outside observers said the prosecution, after a series of government attempts to exculpate the soldiers, is largely attributable to the political power of Claudia Paz y Paz, 46, an aggressive attorney general who enjoys support from the U.S. and other countries that provide essential aid to Guatemala. That's given her the clout to face down the president and the military and ward off obvious attempt to thwart or quash her prosecution.

    Within 24 hours of the shooting outside the town of Totonicapan, Paz had deployed prosecutors from five offices spanning three different states, crime scene specialists and investigators. The overwhelming majority of the teams had received international training funded by the Spanish and Canadian governments, said Jose Arturo Aguilar, the attorney general's secretary of strategic and private affairs.

    "The role of the public ministry is to consolidate justice as a fundamental mechanism for strengthening our democracy," Paz told The Associated Press.

    A spokesman for Perez said his acceptance of the prosecutor's actions showed his commitment to reforming a country marred by corruption and impunity.

    "The president's reaction ratifies his promise of strengthening the rule of law that will fortify Guatemala's democracy," spokesman Francisco Cuevas said.

    Guatemala has widespread institutional corruption, "including unlawful killings, drug trafficking, and extortion; and widespread societal violence, including violence against women and numerous killings, many related to drug trafficking," according to a recent State Department report.

    Experts said the president's recent actions mark a dramatic shift in a country once known for its reluctance to punish its military. In fact, the prosecutions are the first of troops accused of illegally suppressing protests since the end of Guatemala's civil war in 1996.

    "It is an important departure from Guatemala's long history of impunity for similar crimes," said Kelsey Alford-Jones, director of the Washington-based nonprofit group Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA. "Justice in this case, along with the demilitarization of citizen security, will be a significant step toward ensuring non-violent resolution of social conflict in the future."

    Protester representatives called the prosecution a step forward but told local media that they still wanted to see the interior minister and defense minister resign.

    Since assuming leadership of the public ministry in 2010, Paz has vigorously pursued military officials and other suspects, putting four civil war-era generals on the stand for crimes against humanity and genocide charges after their cases stalled for decades. She's also pushed for international training of prosecutors to carry out science-based prosecutions.

    "We're now seeing the successes of the public ministry. It is an institution that is acting with autonomy," said Marlies Statters, director of Impunity Watch, an international watchdog organization that monitors whether governments comply with legal obligations to crime victims.

    The real test for Paz and her prosecutors will be parlaying the arrests into just trials, said Anita Isaacs, a longtime Guatemala scholar and a professor of political science at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. She pointed out that the public ministry belongs to a judicial system still considered highly inefficient and, in many ways, corrupt.

    Paz, for one, appears to be taking that charge seriously. Her aggressive prosecutions and reputation for staying above corruption have won her the backing of the U.S. government, which provides millions in aid to Guatemala and has some 200 marines in the country on anti-drug missions. Paz is the only senior Guatemalan official to have met with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

    Diplomatic insiders say the U.S. has made no secret of its insistence that Perez keep Paz, support the CICIG and reform the country's weak national justice system.

    "Claudia Paz is backed by the international community because of her efficiency and professionalism. That's something President Otto Perez Molina recognizes and respects, too," said Rene Mauricio Valdes, resident coordinator of the United Nations in Guatemala.

    Military action against civilians is a highly sensitive topic in a country scarred by a 36-year war between right-wing paramilitary groups and Marxist guerrillas that led to the deaths of some 200,000 people ?most of them Mayan Indians. Many were raped, tortured and executed in mass killings.

    Meanwhile, conservative voices, mostly from Guatemala's business elite, warned against comparing the protester shooting outside the town of Totonicapan to the civil war.

    "We must be calm and be mindful not to use this event to rehash the past," said Andres Castillo, president of the Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial, and Financial Businesses. His office filed an official complaint with the public ministry that the indigenous groups were violating members' right of movement by blockading the highway.

    Guatemala has also long been under international pressure to bring those responsible for war crimes to justice. A 2006 treaty-level agreement with the United Nations created the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, known by its Spanish acronym CICIG. The independent body has 50 international prosecutors, police officers and attorneys charged with investigating a limited number of sensitive cases.

    CICIG has successfully prosecuted several high-profile cases but its longer-term mission is strengthening the attorney general's office and other state institutions before the commission leaves Guatemala, expected after 2015. It's overseen the hiring of hundreds of prosecutors, many assigned to new investigative units, and helped train them to use forensic evidence in trials.

    According to a public ministry report, the ballistic evidence shows soldiers opened fire at the protesters, contradicting initial claims by the president and other government ministers that the soldiers were unarmed and later claims that they were armed but fired only into the air.

    The president told reporters last week that armed security guards had driven the soldiers to the protest and one of the guards apparently was the first to start shooting. Then an unspecified number of soldiers fired to protect themselves from what they considered a threatening crowd, Perez said. Paz said all soldiers who fired their weapons were arrested.

    Ricardo Guzman, deputy undersecretary general for the attorney general's office, said Guatemala's defense ministry cooperated fully with the investigation, providing the roster of every soldier present at the scene. Guzman said all of the soldiers' weapons were surrendered to his office for investigation and investigators had matched the bullet fragments from each body to specific soldiers' weapons.

    "What happened at Totonicapan was a terrible tragedy. But with this investigation we watched an independent public ministry at work," said Michael Frulhling, Swedish ambassador to Guatemala. Since CICIG's creation, Sweden has donated over $13 million to the commission.

    Alberto Brunori, a representative of the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Guatemala, said the public ministry's findings match those of his office. He said such results would have been unthinkable only a few years ago.

    "Paz y Paz's investigation proves two things: CICIG's ability to provide technical training and the level of professionalism the public ministry is acquiring," Brunori said.

    ___

    Romina Ruiz-Goiriena on Twitter: http://twitter.com/romireportsAP

    Associated Press

    Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-10-21-Guatemala-Protest%20Investigation/id-44811790d7b84d1a9db88902a539758a

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