Conrad Murray Trial: Jury Ends First Day Of Deliberations Without Reaching Verdict

LOS ANGELES ? Jurors considering the case against Michael Jackson's doctor ended their first day of deliberations Friday without reaching a verdict or asking any questions indicating how far along they have gotten in their discussions.

The seven-man, five-woman panel was given highlighters and blank forms to request evidence after starting deliberations around 8:30 a.m.

They recessed around 4 p.m. and were set to resume discussions Monday.

The jury must reach a unanimous verdict to either convict or acquit Dr. Conrad Murray of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's June 2009 death.

Jackson died from a fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol; Murray has acknowledged giving Jackson propofol to help him sleep.

The jury is not sequestered and will deliberate during the court's regular hours. A verdict will be read the same day it is reached.

During closing arguments of the six-week trial, attorneys for the Houston-based cardiologist attacked prosecutors and their witnesses, saying they had over time developed stories and theories that placed the blame for Jackson's death squarely on Murray.

Prosecutors countered that Murray was an opportunistic and inept doctor who left Jackson's three children without a father. They said that Murray giving Jackson propofol as a sleep aid violated standards of care and amounted to a secret experiment in which the doctor kept no records.

Media were stationed Friday outside the courthouse and in the courtroom where the jury's decision will eventually be read.

Attorneys handling the case will receive a two-hour notice when a verdict is reached. Murray waived the need for his presence if the panel asks any questions, but he must be present when a verdict is announced.

Jurors heard from 49 witnesses and have more than 300 pieces of evidence to consider. They were given lengthy instructions by the judge about how to deliberate.

If Murray is convicted, he faces a sentence ranging from probation to four years behind bars, and he would lose his medical license. The sentence will be decided by Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor after receiving input from attorneys for both sides and probation officials, if necessary.

A recent change in California law means that Murray, 58, might serve any possible incarceration in a county jail rather than a state prison. A prison term could be shortened by overcrowding.

If acquitted, Murray could still be pursued by medical licensing authorities in the states of California, Nevada and Texas.

___

AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch contributed to this report.

___

McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/04/conrad-murray-trial-jury-first-day-deliberations_n_1077420.html

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Vintage leather football helmets often as protective as modern helmets in common, game-like hits

Vintage leather football helmets often as protective as modern helmets in common, game-like hits

Friday, November 4, 2011

Old-fashioned "leatherhead" football helmets from the early 1900s are often as effective as ? and sometimes better than ? modern football helmets at protecting against injuries during routine, game-like collisions, according to Cleveland Clinic researchers.

The study ? published online Nov. 4 by the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine ? compared head injury risks of two early 20th Century leatherhead helmets with 11 top-of?the-line 21st Century polycarbonate helmets.

In their biomechanics lab, Cleveland Clinic researchers conducted impact tests, crashing helmets together at severities on par with 95 percent of on-field collisions (75 g-forces or less) in collegiate and high school football games. For this study, researchers analyzed hits that are common in games and practices ? hits that taken separately may not seem perilous but when added together may lead to serious long-term injury.

For many of the impacts and angles studied in the lab, the researchers found that leather helmets offered similar, or even better, protection than modern helmets.

"The point of this study is not to advocate for a return to leather helmets but, rather, to test the notion that modern helmets must be more protective than older helmets simply because 'newer must be better,'" said lead researcher Adam Bartsch, Ph.D., Director of the Spine Research Lab in Cleveland Clinic's Center for Spine Health. "Unlike cars, in which seat belts, airbags and crumple zones make the choice between a 1920's Model T and modern mini-van a no-brainer, these results tell us that modern helmets have ample room to improve safety against many typical game-like hits."

Though head and neck injuries were greatly reduced after football helmet standards and rule changes were instituted in 1970's and 1980's, the incidence of concussions have continued to increase. In fact, concussions are the leading cause of brain damage in sports, particularly in football. Estimates suggest that up to 40 percent of football players experience a concussion each year, with more than half of these going unreported.

Cleveland Clinic researchers note that helmet safety standards ? as measured by the Gadd Severity Index ? are based solely on the risk of severe skull fracture and catastrophic brain injury, not concussion risk. So, while modern helmets may prevent severe head injuries, this study found that they frequently did not provide superior protection in typical on-field impacts when compared to leather helmets.

"Today's safety standards are no longer state-of-the-art predictors of injury," said Edward Benzel, M.D., Chair of Cleveland Clinic's Department of Neurological Surgery. "Of course, preventing skull fractures is vitally important, but concussion prevention needs to be an integral part of the standards as well. Also, helmets need to protect against the cumulative effects of multiple lower impact blows that may not lead to a concussion immediately but may add up to cause severe long-term head, neck or brain injuries."

The findings suggest that helmet testing should focus on both low- and high-energy impacts, not solely on potentially catastrophic high-energy impacts. This is especially true of youth football helmets, which are currently scaled-down versions of adult helmets. The lack of adequate knowledge surrounding adult helmet protectivity at low-energy impacts, as well as the current absence of any youth-specific helmet testing standards, may have serious brain health implications for the 3 million youths participating in tackle football in the United States each year.

The leatherhead study is one of several projects Cleveland Clinic is undertaking to better detect and prevent brain injuries across a wide range of sports, including football, boxing, hockey and soccer. Teams of researchers are working to make safer youth football helmets (through a grant from NFL Charities); create an Intelligent Mouthguard that measures the number and severity of hits to the head among athletes; produce a blood test that can diagnose concussions; and develop an iPad app that uses the device's built-in gyroscope to quantitatively capture pre- and post-game measures of balance, memory and cognition. In Las Vegas, the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health has launched a landmark study with professional fighters that will help determine whether MRIs of the brain, along with other tests, can detect subtle changes in brain health that correlate with impaired thinking and functioning. The research teams draw from their experiences of caring for thousands of professional, amateur and youth athletes every year on the sidelines and in clinic.

###

Cleveland Clinic: http://www.clevelandclinic.org

Thanks to Cleveland Clinic for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/114965/Vintage_leather_football_helmets_often_as_protective_as_modern_helmets_in_common__game_like_hits

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Ohio's Congressional Redistricting Map, Primary Election Still in Limbo (ContributorNetwork)

Ohio may finally have a new congressional map if state lawmakers can come to agreement later this afternoon. House Bill 319 was passed in September but Democratic lawmakers feeling the new voting districts showed bias and favored Republican candidates appealed the bill's passage to Secretary of State John Husted. Although the bill was initially upheld due to state statutes relating to the attachment of fiscal appropriations, the issue was placed in front of the Ohio Supreme Court for review. The Ohioans for Fair Elections group persuaded the justices that the attached funds were routine election expenses and implementation of the map was halted.

National Impact of Ohio Congressional Redistricting Map

Due to the December filing deadline, lawmakers established two primary dates so Presidential candidates could circulate petitions and file to run in the swing state pending a lengthy battle over map design. Candidates would be unable to be placed upon an Ohio ballot in 2012 if they circulated petitions in jurisdictions which exist now but are eliminated by the final map design. The cost of holding a primary for state and local elections and another for Presidential, and United States Senator and House of Representatives could cost taxpayer millions of dollars.

Emergency Measures

Even though Republicans hold the majority in the Ohio House of Representatives, 66 Democratic voters are needed to pass the new redistricting map as an emergency. If the map is not passed with an emergency clause, Ohio's redistricting map would be subject to a repeal referendum. The Ohio Democratic Party and related liberal advocacy groups are poised to place the issue on the ballot, further delaying the state's primary election and causing President Obama and Republican Party candidates vying for a nomination nod to wait a far longer than normal to secure Ohio vote.

New Map Demographics

The newest version of the map which will be placed in front of lawmakers today maintains a 12 to 4 Republican to Democratic ratio opposed by liberal lawmakers in September. Changes in congressional voting districts included combining urban areas in Columbus, Dayton, Toledo and Cincinnati together in an effort to increase the number of black voters in a Democratic leaning area. Republicans have been in discussion with the Ohio Black Caucus to find middle ground and secure more Democratic votes on the proposed map. The new design maintains the Democratic district centering around Franklin County in the Columbus area. Both the original and new version of the political redistricting map combines the areas House of Representatives members Marcy Kaptur and Dennis Kucinich currently represent. If the latest version is approved, the pair of lawmakers would face each other next year in an area analysts feel leans in Kaptur's favor.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111103/us_ac/10357015_ohios_congressional_redistricting_map_primary_election_still_in_limbo

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G-20 leaders fail to agree on how to boost IMF

U.S President Barack Obama arrives for Friday's first working session at the G20 summit in Cannes, Friday, Nov. 4, 2011. European leaders had meant to use the summit of the Group of 20 leading economies in Cannes, France to get foreign powers like China to help with the debt crisis that has rocked the eurozone for the past two years and threatens to push the world economy into a second recession. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)

U.S President Barack Obama arrives for Friday's first working session at the G20 summit in Cannes, Friday, Nov. 4, 2011. European leaders had meant to use the summit of the Group of 20 leading economies in Cannes, France to get foreign powers like China to help with the debt crisis that has rocked the eurozone for the past two years and threatens to push the world economy into a second recession. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, with Foreign Minister Alain Juppe arrives for Friday's first working session at the G20 summit in Cannes, Friday, Nov. 4, 2011. European leaders had meant to use the summit of the Group of 20 leading economies in Cannes, France to get foreign powers like China to help with the debt crisis that has rocked the eurozone for the past two years and threatens to push the world economy into a second recession. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)

Delegates arrive for Friday's first working session at the G20 summit in Cannes, Friday, Nov. 4, 2011. European leaders had meant to use the summit of the Group of 20 leading economies in Cannes, France to get foreign powers like China to help with the debt crisis that has rocked the eurozone for the past two years and threatens to push the world economy into a second recession. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)

U.S. President Barack Obama talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a working session at the G20 Summit in Cannes, France Friday, Nov. 4, 2011. _Leaders from within troubled Europe and far beyond are working Friday on ways the International Monetary Fund could do more to calm Europe's debt crisis. Political chaos in Greece has hamstrung the leaders of the Group of 20 leading rich and developing economies, meeting on the French Riviera for their last day of a summit Friday. Italy's dance with financial disaster and doubts about its commitment to reforms only exacerbated the concern. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

U.S. President Barack Obama, 2nd right, talks with, from left to right: Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne; British Prime Minister David Cameron; and Canada Prime Minister Stephen Harper, during a working session at the G20 Summit in Cannes, France, Friday, Nov. 4, 2011. Leaders from within the troubled Europe other nations are working Friday in Cannes, on ways the International Monetary Fund could do more to calm Europe's debt crisis. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

CANNES, France (AP) ? Leaders of the world's 20 most powerful economies failed to agree on how to increase the firepower of the International Monetary Fund, so that it can help stem the European debt crisis, though they acknowledged its resources should be boosted.

The leaders struggled to reach concrete resolutions at their summit in the French resort of Cannes that has focused on Greece's political turmoil and worries about Italy that are threatening the world economy.

"It's important that the IMF sees its resources reinforced," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters.

He said that Italy had also asked the IMF for help monitoring its budgetary and structural reforms. Doubts have grown over whether Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will have the political strength to implement promised reform measures meant to revive the country's lackluster economy and bring down its massive debt.

Leaders of the world's biggest economies were focusing on strengthening the IMF as they scrambled for ways to help Europe contain its raging debt crisis without worsening their own money troubles. European and non-European countries disagree about how to better use the IMF ? the institution that was set up as the lender of last resort for struggling governments after World War II ? to help.

With their own finances already stretched from bailing out Greece, Ireland and Portugal ? and traditional allies like the United States wrestling with their own problems ? eurozone countries are looking to the IMF to use its resources and rescue experience to help prevent the debt crisis from spreading to large economies like Italy and Spain.

But within the IMF, the powers have shifted.

Until two years ago, the IMF ? dominated by the traditional powers in Europe and the U.S. ? mostly applied the painful adjustment programs that are attached to its financial lifelines to poor and emerging economies in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

Now, it's growing powers like China, Brazil and South Africa that have to decide whether helping Europe is a worthy investment.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-11-04-EU-G20-Summit/id-c06ed8b5f1e84b1ab89e41589d7484ed

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11/11/11: Anthropologist debunks doomsday myths

Friday, November 4, 2011

University of Kansas anthropologist and Maya scholar John Hoopes and his students are watching predicted doomsday dates such as 11/11/11 and Dec. 21, 2012, with considerable skepticism.

Hoopes is regarded as one of the major go-to guys to separate fact from fiction about the Maya calendar and a prediction that the world would end Dec. 21, 2012.

He has written scholarly articles debunking the 2012 myth, including a chapter in "2012: Decoding the Counterculture Apocalypse," edited by Joseph Gelfer and scheduled for release this month by Equinox Publishing. In addition, Hoopes contributes to Wikipedia as a 2012 skeptic and is featured in at least three documentaries on the topic ("Apocalypse 2012" airing on CNBC, and two more scheduled for release next year). In his fall course on Archaeological Myths and Realities ? An Introduction to Critical Thinking, the 2012 myth works as a dynamic teaching tool.

This fall, Hoopes and his students have watched two predicted cataclysmic dates ? Oct. 21 and 28 ? come and go with little fanfare. Oct. 21 was a date selected by California evangelist Harold Camping after his original May 21, 2011, prediction passed without calamity. Swedish pharmacologist, self-help advocate and self-taught Maya cosmologist Carl Johan Calleman was among those predicting that Oct. 28 would usher in a worldwide unified consciousness.

The next big date to consider is 11/11/11, when many in the New Age movement plan celebrations to receive emerging energies in preparation for a transformation of consciousness on Dec. 21, 2012.

Whether these dates mark a time for transformation of consciousness or a catastrophic end, they are part of a 2012 eschatological myth that originated with Christopher Columbus and Franciscan missionaries, not the ancient Maya calendar, Hoopes emphasizes.

In a paper presented in January at the Oxford IX International Symposium on Archaeoastronomy in Lima, Peru, Hoopes tracks the 2012 Maya myth origins through various revivals into the 21st century. The myth is rooted in an early 16th-century European combination of astrological and biblical prophecies to explain the new millennium. Columbus believed that his discovery of the world's "most remote land" would lead to Spain's re-conquest of Jerusalem and fulfill world-end events described in the Book of Revelations.

To validate his convictions, Columbus wrote his own Book of Prophecies that included an account of his interview with a "Maia" leader in 1502. The reference inspired early speculation by explorers and missionaries, indirectly influencing crackpots as well as scholars to link ancient Maya ? before any contact with Europeans ? with the astrological and religious beliefs popular in Europe in the 1500s.

Misinterpretations and distortions flowed with each revival of interest in Maya culture. In the 1960s, the myth re-flowered as the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, enjoyed a resurgence in Y2K and thrives today. Hoopes adds that the Occupy Wall Street movement clearly reflects a nostalgia for the progressive culture of the 1960s.

More than 1,000 books have been published on the 2012 myth, not to mention a plethora of Web sites on the topic. Hoopes expects the hype won't hit its peak until well into 2012. Fear and fantasy both sell well, especially in uncertain times, he notes.

End-of-the-world and transformative beliefs are found in many ancient cultures but have been a fundamental part of modern times since 1499, Hoopes point out. They are also fundamentally American, he adds.

"The United States has always embraced religious freedom. Peculiar religious sects, including occult beliefs, have always been part of America," he says.

Astrology, Ouija boards, s?ances, channeling, spiritualists, extraterrestrial life and a host of pseudosciences all have had acceptance in parts of America, he adds. Mary Todd Lincoln used s?ances to contact her son. Nancy Reagan consulted astrologists.

Wishful or magical thinking help perpetuate myths and beliefs that have no basis in science. Hoopes uses the 2012 myth and others to teach students to think critically and learn to distinguish science and myth.

"If a narrative has a moral message, then it probably is not a scientific story. Stories based in science ideally should be objective, not subjective," Hoopes says.

The persistence of the 2012 myth may reflect a fear of mortality that has nagged ancient and modern civilizations.

"It's much easier to discuss mortality when we're all in the same boat," Hoopes said. "Creating a concerned community allays people's fears and allows us to project individual morality onto the world."

Hoopes' interest in the 2012 phenomenon began as an academic hobby and has evolved into an anthropological study of contemporary American culture. At the very least, he says, the 2012 phenomenon "has made a huge audience aware of Maya calendrics and the winter solstice."

###

University of Kansas: http://www.news.ku.edu

Thanks to University of Kansas for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/114941/__________Anthropologist_debunks_doomsday_myths

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Same authors created Duqu, Stuxnet malware?

Security experts have dug deeper into the Duqu Trojan and discovered a scary shared characteristic between the newly discovered piece of malware and last year's infamous Stuxnet worm, supporting the theory that the same authors are behind both.

The Hungarian security firm CrySyS, which discovered Duqu in October, found that it hides in a Microsoft Word document and contains something astonishing: a zero-day exploit of a vulnerability in the Windows kernel, the very heart of the operating system.

Zero-day exploits are the Holy Grail for hackers. Unknown flaws in software are few and far between, and when one is found, cybercriminals exploit it as much as possible during the brief precious window before the software maker patches it. The fact that Duqu contains one zero-day, and Stuxnet four, yet both programs steal nothing, indicates that their makers are both highly skilled, motivated by something other than money and willing to squander knowledge that could be worth millions to secure their objectives.

Chester Wisniewski, senior security adviser for the security firm Sophos, wrote that Windows zero-day flaws are uncommon in traditional malware. He noted that a recent Microsoft report found no zero-day exploits in any of the malware infections cleaned by the Malicious Software Removal Tool.

Stuxnet was designed to sabotage nuclear facilities in Iran, but also infected systems in India and Indonesia. Duqu infections have been confirmed in Iran as well as in Sudan, India, Vietnam, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Ukraine, the security firm Symantec reported.

Duqu shares much of its code with Stuxnet. Two major digital security firms are divided about Duqu's intentions; Symantec says it is designed to steal data from industrial control systems, such as those running power plants and oil refineries, while McAfee argues it's meant to steal authentication certificates that websites use to verify their identities.

Regarding the zero-day exploit that Duqu uses, Alex Gostev, chief malware analyst for the security firm Kaspersky Lab, wrote that his team "discovered a similar vulnerability a year ago when analyzing the Stuxnet worm."

Microsoft has released a statement saying that it is working on a patch to the newly discovered Windows kernel flaw.

Gostev wrote that Duqu's method of attack, via a targeted email with an attached Microsoft Word document, "proves our theory that the Duqu attacks are directed against a very small number of victims and in each case, they can employ unique sets of files."

"To infect other computers in the network," Gostev added, "Duqu seems to be using scheduled jobs, a technique that we?ve also seen in Stuxnet and is a preferred choice of APTs [advanced persistent threats]. These, together with other previously known details, reinforce the theory that Stuxnet and Duqu were created by the same people."

Those "people" who created Stuxnet ? and possibly Duqu ? are unknown, but evidence hints at the involvement of the U.S. and Israel. Some experts in the security community believe the two nations developed Stuxnet as an alternative to a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45136542/ns/technology_and_science-security/

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Police: Bieber sexual tryst may be investigated

Police could investigate an alleged sexual tryst between Justin Bieber and a San Diego woman last October at Staples Center because the singer was 16 at the time, authorities said Thursday.

Los Angeles police Cmdr. Andrew Smith told The Associated Press that no report has been taken about the incident. However, his department could file a report after various media outlets reported Mariah Yeater filed a paternity suit earlier this week against the teen heartthrob in San Diego Superior Court.

"If it's brought to our attention, of course we'll look into it," Smith said.

Fallon channels Bieber for '(It's Not My) Baby'

Yeater had just turned 19 when she says she and Bieber, then 16, had a brief sexual encounter after one of the singer's concerts. She said she gave birth to a boy in July and believes Bieber is the father because there were no other possible men she had sex with at that time.

She is asking a judge for child support and a paternity test. A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 15.

Bieber's camp has denied he is the child's father.

California law states anyone who has unlawful sex with a minor and is not more than three years older is guilty of a misdemeanor, which carries up to a one-year jail sentence.

"The issue of statutory rape even if she's guilty, hypothetically, that has no bearing on the duties to provide child support," said one of Yeater's lawyers Matthew Pare. "It's a totally separate issue."

Pare said he and his client have not been contacted by authorities nor anyone representing Bieber. He said Yeater is a stay-at-home mother who is looking for adequate child support if a paternity test determines Bieber is the father.

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"The most important thing for our client is letting her baby know who his father is," Pare said.

Yeater has not received any money from media outlets about her allegations, despite receiving public assistance, Pare added.

Bieber, 17, has been dating 19-year-old actress-singer Selena Gomez. Rumors about the couple's relationship began about December 2010, two months after the alleged incident with Yeater.

Emails sent to Bieber's and Gomez's representatives seeking comment were not immediately returned Thursday.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45157124/ns/today-entertainment/

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Rural mothers-to-be in China lack syphilis testing (AP)

BEIJING ? Nearly half of pregnant women do not get tested for syphilis in poor areas of southern China where the sexually transmitted disease has seen a resurgence, researchers said Wednesday.

A study published in a World Health Organization journal found that more than 40 percent of about 125,000 mothers-to-be in Guangdong province were not tested for syphilis in 2008, mostly due to a lack of health facilities in rural areas.

"At the moment, the lack of screening is also related to the mothers' lack of awareness about the need to go and get tested, or that the screening service exists," said Chen Xiangsheng, deputy director of China's National Center for Sexually Transmitted Disease Control in Nanjing.

"If a mother has been infected with syphilis, it can be found through the screening at an early stage and treated to prevent the baby from being infected too," said Chen, who is one of the study's researchers, in an interview.

Syphilis is a bacterial infection that is easy to cure but can ravage the mind and kill if untreated. Pregnant women with syphilis can miscarry or the babies can be stillborn or have congenital defects such as blindness and brain damage.

It was virtually eradicated in China before resurfacing in the 1980s, and cases are now growing by 30 percent a year. Prostitutes along with gay and bisexual men, many of whom are married, are driving the epidemic.

In China's poor rural areas, syphilis screening rates range. As few as one-tenth of pregnant women were tested at community health stations, which are sometimes the only facilities that provide prenatal care in very poor areas, the study said.

The study's findings point to the need to expand the use of 15-minute rapid syphilis tests that do not require laboratories or equipment, just blood from a finger prick, said Professor Rosanna Peeling, an expert in diagnostic tests at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

In that way, women who test positive can be treated on the same day, said Peeling, also one of the study's authors, who previously worked for the WHO. "If you are in a rural situation and you have to walk ten miles to a clinic, you're not going to come back (for treatment), especially if you don't feel bad and you have no symptoms," she said.

Since the research was conducted in 2008, several provincial and national programs to improve testing have been put in place, the study said.

___

Follow Gillian Wong on Twitter at http://twitter.com/gillianwong

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sexualhealth/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111102/ap_on_he_me/as_china_syphilis

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Police investigate Texas judge over video beating (AP)

PORTLAND, Texas ? Police launched an investigation Wednesday into a Texas family law judge whose daughter posted a YouTube video of him savagely beating her with a belt during a tirade several years ago when she was a teenager.

The nearly 8-minute video, which had been viewed more than 600,000 times since it was uploaded last week, shows Aransas County Court-at-Law Judge William Adams lashing his then-16-year-old daughter in the legs more than a dozen times and growing increasingly irate while she screams and refuses to turn over on a bed to be beaten.

"Lay down or I'll spank you in your (expletive) face," Adams screams. His daughter, Hillary, wails and pleads for him to stop.

Tim Jayroe, the police chief in William Adams' hometown of Rockport, a Gulf Coast community about 200 miles south of Houston, said Wednesday that he's asked the Texas Rangers to assist in investigating whether the video shows anything criminal happened. He said his department began investigating after receiving phone calls from several concerned people who watched the secretly recorded 2004 video.

No one answered the door at William Adams' home in Rockport on Wednesday, and repeated calls to his office rang unanswered. However, the 51-year-old judge told Corpus Christi television station KZTV on Wednesday that the video "looks worse than it is," and that he doesn't expect to be disciplined or punished because of it.

"In my mind, I haven't done anything wrong other than discipline my child after she was caught stealing," Adams said. "And I did lose my temper, but I've since apologized."

Reached at her mother's home in Portland, Texas, Hillary Adams told The Associated Press that her father became irate after she was caught illegally downloading media files she hadn't paid for. She said she feels some regret over posting the video because she said she doesn't want to see her father punished, but that she hopes it will spur him to seek help.

"He's supposed to be a judge who exercises fit judgment," she said.

Aransas County Sheriff Bill Mills said that since the video was posted, William Adams has received threatening phone calls and faxes at the courthouse.

"People are upset, understandably upset. But emotions can't really run this thing," Mills said.

On Wednesday, a neighbor said she saw Adams packing up to leave with bags, a briefcase, clothes and rifles, which his girlfriend carried to the truck.

"He looked like he was here for a purpose," said Stephanie Perry, who lives across the street.

A secretary for the William Adams' attorney, William Dudley, said Wednesday that Dudley was unavailable to comment.

In the video, Adams is apparently unaware the camera is on when he enters the room, turns off the light and tries forcing his daughter onto the bed to be beaten.

"Go get the belt. The big one. I'm going to spank her now," Adams is heard saying in the clip's opening seconds.

A few minutes into the video, a woman appears and barks at the girl to "turn over like a 16-year-old and take it! Like a grown woman!" For about a minute, the ordeal appears to have ended after both adults leave the room and shut the door. But the judge then storms back into the room and the beating resumes.

Hillary Adams said she set up the camera because she knew "something was about to happen." Toward the end of the video, her father shouts that he plans to beat the girl "into submission" and rants about having a computer in the house and the problems it causes. The video ends with the adult woman telling her to leave the room and sleep on the sofa.

Elected in 2001, Adams draws an annual salary of $138,055 as Aransas County's top judge. He dealt with at least 349 family law cases in the past year, nearly 50 of which involved state caseworkers seeking to determine whether parents were fit to raise their children.

Texas' Department of Family and Protective Services is aware of the video and "will take the appropriate steps in this matter," agency spokesman Patrick Crimmins said in an email. He said the agency would have no further comment.

Steve Fischer, a longtime attorney in Rockport, called Adams fair and a "better than average" judge. He said Adams sometimes shows anger, but not in a way that would be considered unusual.

Children's advocates roundly condemned the beating as abuse. However, investigators may decide that the judge's actions, while shocking to many, weren't criminal.

The lines between what's deemed child abuse and what's considered an acceptable level of discipline differ in various parts of the country and among various social groups, though the use of objects such as belts and sticks is usually seen as beyond any normal physical punishment, said David Finkelhor, a University of New Hampshire sociology professor who heads the school's Crimes against Children Research Center.

Jim Hopper, a clinical instructor in psychology at Harvard Medical School and a child abuse expert, said there is no doubt that the judge's actions crossed the line.

"This is an act of brutal violence," Hopper said.

"To beat someone into submission is not discipline. To beat a child into submission makes it harder for that child to take in rules and the values that the parent believes they are imposing on the child."

Hillary Adams' parents divorced in 2007 after 22 years of marriage, according to court records. The divorce petition states that "the marriage has become insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities," but a counter-petition filed by Adams' ex-wife states that the divorce was filed under grounds of "mental cruelty."

Court records show that the couple had another daughter who was 6 at the time.

___

Heidgerd reported from Dallas. Associated Press Writers Danny Robbins and Linda Stewart Ball in Dallas and Paul J. Weber in San Antonio contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111102/ap_on_re_us/us_videotaped_beating_texas

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92% Senna

All Critics (111) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (103) | Rotten (9) | DVD (1)

"Senna" makes a fascinating subject in a pretty entertaining film about a sport that isn't followed that closely by most Americans. But our very ignorance of that subject helps the film and adds to its impact. We don't know this story by heart.

A psychologically intriguing if at times too hagiographic portrait of a man who often held pole position in his profession and felt nearer to God because of it.

There's not an ounce of fat or a wasted shot throughout.

You don't have to know anything about car racing at all. Instead, you simply have to like a great story, one that has all the elements: drama, inspiration, competition, victory, defeat, betrayal and, looming above it all, tragedy.

It's stripped of narration, talking heads, and anything else that might threaten to slow it down.

Even if you can't tell Formula One from Grecian Formula, Senna is pretty exciting stuff.

A model of documentary storytelling efficiency.

Though the film seemingly had a good ambassador for the sport, astounding racing footage and was well-presented, the subject matter never fully engaged me.

You don't have to be a Formula 1 nut to enjoy this enthralling documentary ... Asif Kapadia's film Senna is so skillfully put together that its portrayal of a complex, charismatic and fascinating figure will grip even those with no interest in the sport.

"Senna" is a streamlined piece of filmmaking, completely immersing the viewer in Senna's world and never losing momentum as it moves from one breakneck race to another.

It's impossible not to be impressed by how director Asif Kapadia and writer Manish Pandey have managed to craft a biographical film completely out of archive footage.

Uses an astonishing wealth of racing and interview footage - including film shot by in-car cameras during races - to chart in a compelling way the dramatic rise and heart-rending end of the Brazilian legend.

The film is a snapshot in time of an imperfect, interrupted life more than a gateway drug to racing enthusiasm.

There's no doubt Senna was a great driver, but this competently executed highlights reel doesn't tell us much beyond that.

...an entertaining, absorbing and inspiring documentary celebrating a champion's talent.

Ayrton Senna was a phenomenon, and as such, he was filmed, interviewed, and photographed repeatedly throughout his career, images now assembled as the documentary Senna.

Even those with no interest in Formula One - and I count myself amongst such people - will be captivated by this phenomenal motion picture.

"Senna" is simply the greatest sports film I have ever seen.

Kapadia fosters a distinct 'you are there' feeling for the races by composing his visual storytelling entirely of vintage footage, mostly derived from the Formula One archives.

Exhilarating in the extreme.

Undeniably gripping stuff.

I simply didn't care about it, and unless you already know who Senna is and are curious to know more, I doubt if you will, either.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/senna/

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