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payUSAtax Now Accepts MasterCard Cards for Personal and Business IRS Federal Tax Payments

April 6, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

MasterCard cardholders can now pay their personal income taxes and business
taxes at a reduced convenience fee rate of 1.95%
PURCHASE, N.Y.–(Business Wire)–
Value Payment Systems, LLC and RBS WorldPay today announced that the companies`
payUSAtax tax payment service will now accept MasterCard cards for U.S. IRS
Federal tax payments. For the 2009 tax year, MasterCard cardholders can now
experience greater speed, convenience and security when paying their federal
taxes online at www.payUSAtax.com and 888-9-PAY-TAX (888-972-9829) at a reduced
convenience fee rate of only 1.95%.

“By accepting MasterCard cards, we`re proud to offer our customers a quick,
simple, convenient, and secure way to pay when filing their personal and
business U.S. Federal taxes,” said Scott Slusser, CMO, Value Payment Systems.
“By using a credit or debit card through our website or toll-free phone number,
tax filers can complete their Federal tax payment to the IRS in minutes and
avoid the cumbersome tasks of writing checks or making a trip to the post
office.”

Taxpayers who use their MasterCard credit or debit card when filing their
Federal taxes with payUSAtax can earn rewards, schedule automated payments, set
future payment e-mail reminders and deduct the convenience fee on their tax
return.

* Rewards – MasterCard cardholders who pay their taxes at www.payUSAtax.com or
via payUSAtax`s toll-free phone number may receive points or benefits from
reward programs connected with their credit or debit card. Taxpayers should
check with the financial institution that issued their MasterCard credit or
debit card for specific terms and conditions.
* Recurring Payments – To save time and avoid potential late fees, users of
www.payUSAtax.com can schedule automated payments and set future payment e-mail
reminders through the IRS installment agreement tax payment plan.
* Convenience Fee Deductibility – The IRS has determined convenience fees
incurred by qualifying individual taxpayers may be deductible. Taxpayers should
consult with their tax advisor to determine if they qualify.The IRS considers a
business tax payment convenience fee as a deductible expense.

“As the use of payment cards outpaces that of cash and checks, U.S. taxpayers
are increasingly taking advantage of the convenience and security that comes
with paying for their taxes with a MasterCard card, said Mathias Lilja, vice
president U.S. Commerce Development, MasterCard Worldwide. “We`re pleased to
work with payUSAtax to make paying tax debts faster and more efficient for both
personal and business taxpayers this tax season.”

Through the payUSAtax service, individual taxpayers can make secure tax payments
for the following federal tax types:

* Form 1040 Series (including Prior Year payments)
* Estimated Taxes (Form 1040ES)
* Installment Agreement Payment
* Form 4868 (Tax Extension)
* Trust Fund Recovery Penalty
* Form 1040X (Amended Tax Returns)
* Form 5329 – Additional Taxes on Qualified Plans and Other Tax-Favored Accounts
(Return for Individual Retirement Arrangement Taxes)

Businesses can make secure credit card and debit card payments for their taxes,
including:

* Form 940 Series – Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment Tax Return
* Form 941 Series – Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return
* Form 943 Series – Employer’s Annual Federal Tax Return for Agricultural
Employees
* Form 944 Series – Employer’s Annual Federal Tax Return
* Form 945 Series – Annual Return of Withheld Federal Income Tax
* Form 1065 – U.S. Return of Partnership Income
* Form 1041 – U.S. Income Tax Return for Estates and Trusts

payUSAtax was founded by RBS WorldPay in partnership with Value Payment Systems,
LLC to provide taxpayers with a low cost, convenient and secure federal tax
payment service. For more information and benefits of using your MasterCard
card, please visit www.payUSAtax.com.

About RBS WorldPay, Inc.

RBS WorldPay is a leading, single-source provider of electronic payment
processing services – including credit, debit, EBT, checks, gift cards,
e-commerce, customer loyalty cards, fleet cards,ATM processing and cash
management services. RBS WorldPay is the US-based payment processing division of
the Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc.For more information, please visit
www.RBSWorldPay.us.

About Value Payment Systems

Value Payment Systems provides electronic payment products and services to
various industries including government and property management. Value Payment
Systems` comprehensive e-payment services encompass a wide array of payment
channels including the Internet and touch tone phone systems.For more
information, visit www.valuepaymentsystems.com.

About MasterCard Worldwide

MasterCard Worldwide advances global commerce by providing a critical economic
link among financial institutions, businesses, cardholders and merchants
worldwide. As a franchisor, processor and advisor, MasterCard develops and
markets payment solutions, processes over 22 billion transactions each year, and
provides industry-leading analysis and consulting services to
financial-institution customers and merchants. Powered by the MasterCard
Worldwide Network and through its family of brands, including MasterCard,
Maestro and Cirrus, MasterCard serves consumers and businesses in more than 210
countries and territories. For more information go to www.mastercard.com. Follow
us on Twitter: @mastercardnews.

Value Payment Systems
J. Scott Slusser, 615-730-6367
sslusser@valuepaymentsystems.com
or
MasterCard Worldwide
Sarah Ely, 914-249-6714
sarah_ely@mastercard.com

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: encompass, payments, potential, Scott Slusser, taxpayers

Wilbur Ross backing Virgin Money in RBS branch bid

April 5, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross said on Sunday he is prepared to commit up to 500 million pounds ($760 million) to support Virgin Money in its bid to buy the branch network of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L).

Deals

Ross said he has also invested $100 million ($152 million) in Virgin Money, after finishing negotiations over the weekend. That would give him a 21 percent stake in Virgin Money, a source familiar with the situation said. Ross teamed up with Virgin in 2007 when it attempted to buy lender Northern Rock and said he had been following its progress since.

Virgin Money is the consumer credit arm of entrepreneur Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and has frequently been named as a potential suitor for a slice of the billions of pounds in British banking assets set to be sold over the coming months and years.

“The UK banking system is clearly going to go through a big overhaul,” Ross told Reuters by telephone. “There will equally clearly be some new winners and some new losers.

“We think that, given the management team and the reputation that Virgin Money has built up, they are ideally positioned to be one of the big winners,” he said.

Ross said his support was intended to help “if they’re fortunate enough” to win the RBS branch network bidding. The support could also be for another institution if Virgin Money doesn’t win the bidding, although Ross said the RBS branch network is the current focus and “the only one on offer right now.”

“We’re working with them on the due diligence and we’re working with them on the bid preparation, so it’s not just a blank check,” he said.

Ross declined to say what the price of the total bid was. Britain’s Sunday Times and Sunday Telegraph put the expected bid price at 2 billion pounds sterling ($3 billion).

Ross confirmed that the deadline for bids for the branches is Tuesday. Virgin Money is expected to submit what is known as an “expression of interest” for the RBS branches, on Tuesday, the source familiar with the situation said.

RBS, bailed out by UK taxpayers at the height of the financial crisis, was ordered by EU antitrust regulators to sell a string of assets, including more than 300 branches and its insurance arm, to compensate for billions received in state aid.

Other potential bidders for the branches include Spanish bank Santander (SAN.MC) and National Australia Bank (NAB.AX), sources familiar with the situation have told Reuters.

Ross added that Northern Rock could potentially be an opportunity if Virgin doesn’t win the RBS branch network bidding and if that asset goes on the market.

Northern Rock was the first major British casualty of the credit crunch in September 2007 and was taken into public ownership after attempts to sell it fell through. Ross said earlier this year he was “quite possibly” interested in teaming up with Virgin Money to bid for Northern Rock.

Ross’ intention to back Virgin Money’s bid was earlier reported by the Sunday Telegraph and his investment in Virgin Money itself was reported by the Sunday Times.

Virgin Money declined comment.

(Additional reporting by Rosalba O’Brien in London; Editing by Leslie Adler and Lincoln Feast)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: potential, santander, taxpayers, Telegraph, Virgin Money

Himachal Pradesh Govt. moves to produce IT friendly business landscape

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Sep.18 (ANI): Recognizing the enormous potential of Information Technology in acting as a catalyst for the Tier – II growth of Suburban India, The Government of Himachal Pradesh (GoHP) is moving to produce an IT friendly business landscape.

To close the technological gap and nab the marquee, various initiatives are being put in place by the GoHP. Tax Breaks, Exemption from various duties and levies and imports are certain defined benefits for the industry to set base at Himachal Pradesh.

The IT Park cum Township falls will come up in Solan District of Solan, about 20 kilometres from Shimla.

The total area of the project is 64.73 acres. The site is located at a distance of four kilometers from Kiarighat. Kiarighat is on Chandigarh – Shimla highway (NH-22) on midway between Solan and Shimla at an approximately equal distance of 23 kilometres.

Conceptualized as an Integrated Development – offering both residential and commercial options, the project’s developmental contours will include built-up IT space of 1.1 million square feet. Built to suit plots for IT in 9.5 acres of land, a township for of 1.31 million square feet, a project cost of 408 crore rupees.

Commercially structured on the Public Private Partnership format. The developer shall be responsible for designing,financing, constructing, operating, maintaining and development of the IT Park cum Township at Waknaghat.

The implementing agency will be the Department of Information Technology, Government of Himachal Pradesh.

To promote the project and the township, an investor Meet will be held in Delhi on September 23. A visit to the site will be organised on September 30, while a pre-bid meeting will be held on October 3, 2009.

The last date for submission of proposal is October 26. (ANI)

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Catalyst simulations for fuel cells may make clean cars a reality

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep 18 (ANI): University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers are working towards developing better catalyst for fuel cells in a bid to make clean cars a reality.

If successful, the researchers could make a car that runs on hydrogen from solar power, and produces water instead of carbon emissions.

Materials science and engineering assistant professor Dane Morgan and Ph.D. student Edward (Ted) Holby have developed a computational model that could optimise an important component of fuel cells, making it possible for the technology to have a more widespread use.

The researchers investigated how particle size is related to the overall stability of a material, and showed with their model that increasing the particle size of a fuel cell catalyst decreases degradation and therefore increases the useful lifetime of a fuel cell.

Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that facilitate a reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, producing electrical power and forming water.

In the type of fuel cells Morgan is researching, called proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), hydrogen is split into a proton and electron at one side of the fuel cell (the anode).

The proton moves through the device while the electron is forced to travel in an external circuit, where it can perform useful work, while at the other side of the fuel cell (the cathode), the protons, electrons and oxygen combine to form water, which is the only waste product.

One of the many hurdles to producing efficient fuel cells for widespread use is the catalyst added to aid the reaction between protons, electrons and oxygen at the cathode.

Current fuel cells use platinum and platinum alloys as a catalyst. While platinum can withstand the corrosive fuel cell environment, it is expensive and not very abundant.

Thus, to maximize platinum use, researchers use catalysts made with platinum particles as small as two nanometers, which are approximately 10 atoms across.

These tiny structures have a large surface area on which the fuel cell reaction occurs.

However, platinum catalysts this small degrade very quickly, which means that the fuel cell doesn’t last long.

The researchers have found a possible solution to the rapid degradation problem-when it comes to catalyst particle size, sometimes smaller isn’t better.

In their modelling work, they showed that if the particle size of a platinum catalyst is increased to four or five nanometers, which is approximately 20 atoms across, the level of degradation significantly decreases.

This means the catalyst and the fuel cell as a whole can continue to function for much longer than if the particle size was only two or three nanometers.

“Fuel cells are just one of many energy technologies – solar, battery, etc. – with enormous potential to reduce our dependence on oil and our carbon emissions. Computer simulation offers a powerful tool to understand and develop new materials at the heart of these energy technologies,” said Morgan. (ANI)

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India to build more highways than any other country in the world: Kamal Nath

September 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Zurich (Switzerland), Sep 17(ANI): Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Kamal Nath on Thursday said that in the next two years India will build more highways than any other country in the world.

Inaugurating “Building India: Road Infrastructure Summit” at Zurich, he also invited European investors to invest in the road and highways sector in India, and said that India as a nation is determined to build a comprehensive high quality infrastructure.

Nath also said that the next decade would belong to infrastructure sector, as the last decade had been the decade of IT.

Stressing on the strong fundamentals of the Indian Economy, he said India is a safe destination for investment even in the times of recession and showcased the opportunities and potential of the Indian road sector to investors from across Europe.

Addressing a strong gathering of investors, developers and financial institutions, Nath said that the Government is back with enhanced mandate and building infrastructure is one of its important focus.

Elaborating on the new vision on road sector, he said that Government is committed to increase the pace of highway development to 20 kms per day, which would unleash huge business and investment opportunities, amounting to 70 billion dollars over the next 3-4 years.

In addition, it would also lead to an inclusive growth and provide connectivity to all stakeholders in socio-economic development.

Inviting investors to be a partner in building road infrastructure in the country, the minister said that out of total investment required, 40 billion dollars are expected to come from private sector. (ANI)

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Steven Spielberg, Robert Redford to go head to head with Lincoln biopics

September 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 16 (ANI): Steven Spielberg will continue work on his new movie based on the life of Abraham Lincoln, even as Robert Redford is making another biopic on the former American President.

Spielberg insists his film will be quite different from Redford’s version.

It is reported that Spielberg’s film tilled Lincoln will have the American Civil War as its plot, while Redford’s The Conspirator will deal with the events leading up to the former President’s assassination in 1865.

Contactmusic quoted Spielberg as telling Daily Variety: “We are very happy that Redford will be doing this Lincoln movie.

“It is completely different from what our DreamWorks Lincoln movie will be, and we believe that it will add to the commercial potential of our film. Lincoln as a subject is inexhaustible.”

The Jaw’s director had announced Lincoln earlier this year but the project has been delayed due to funding problems and changes in script. (ANI)

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Twitter could help track swine flu spread

September 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, September 16 (ANI): People’s updates on popular social networking websites such as Twitter about having coughs and colds could help health officials track early warning signs about flu outbreaks.

The Health Protection Agency annual conference at Warwick University, UK, heard that such websites could indicate an outbreak of flu earlier than conventional disease surveillance methods based on doctor visits.

Combing for messages or “tweets” such as ‘I have flu’ or ‘I’ve got swine flu’ may help provide valuable insight into the spread of infectious diseases, research showed.

Ed de Quincey, a computer scientist at City University London conducted the research and developed the system with his team at the City eHealth Research Centre.

“As UK public health agencies and the NHS are preparing for the approaching flu season amid the H1N1 pandemic, new forms of social interaction via web sites such as Twitter and Facebook can expand the sources used in monitoring such outbreaks,” the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

“The flu pandemic was the perfect opportunity to test this idea and we found that at least 4,000 people reported flu symptoms via Twitter since May 2009.

“We are currently analysing over a million ‘tweets’ that we have collected and exploring the potential of incorporating data from other social networking websites. We hope in the future to expand this approach to investigate other health issues such as drug and substance abuse,” he added. (ANI)

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Jupiter made comet its temporary moon for 12 years in mid-20th century

September 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 14 (ANI): An international team of astronomers has discovered that Jupiter had captured the comet 147P/Kushida-Muramatsu as its temporary moon in the mid-20th century, in an irregular orbit for about twelve years.

There are only a handful of known comets where this phenomenon of temporary satellite capture has occurred and the capture duration in the case of Kushida-Muramatsu, which orbited Jupiter between 1949 and 1961, is the third longest.

The phenomenon was detected by an international team led by Dr. Katsuhito Ohtsuka that modeled the trajectories of 18 “quasi-Hilda comets”, objects with the potential to go through a temporary satellite capture by Jupiter that results in them either leaving or joining the “Hilda” group of objects in the asteroid belt.

Most of the cases of temporary capture were flybys, where the comets did not complete a full orbit.

However, Dr. Ohtsuka’s team used recent observations tracking Kushida-Muramatsu over nine years to calculate hundreds of possible orbital paths for the comet over the previous century.

In all scenarios, Kushida-Muramatsu completed two full revolutions of Jupiter, making it only the fifth captured orbiter to be identified.

According to Dr. David Asher, “Our results demonstrate some of the routes taken by cometary bodies through interplanetary space that can allow them either to enter or to escape situations where they are in orbit around the planet Jupiter.”

Asteroids and comets can sometimes be distorted or fragmented by tidal effects induced by the gravitational field of a capturing planet, or may even impact with the planet.

The most famous victim of both these effects was comet D/1993 F2 (Shoemaker-Levy 9), which was torn apart on passing close to Jupiter and whose fragments then collided with that planet in 1994.

Previous computational studies have shown that Shoemaker-Levy 9 may well have been a quasi-Hilda comet before its capture by Jupiter.

“Fortunately for us Jupiter, as the most massive planet with the greatest gravity, sucks objects towards it more readily than other planets and we expect to observe large impacts there more often than on Earth,” said Dr. Asher.

“Comet Kushida-Muramatsu has escaped from the giant planet and will avoid the fate of Shoemaker-Levy 9 for the foreseeable future”, he added. (ANI)

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Biocon limited, Amylin pharmaceuticals enter global development agreement

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Bangalore/ California Sep 11(ANI/Business Wire India): Biocon, Limited (NSE: BIOCON) and Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMLN) announced today that they have entered into an exclusive agreement to jointly develop, commercialize and manufacture a novel peptide therapeutic for the potential treatment of diabetes.

Amylin and Biocon will collaborate to develop the therapeutic potential of the compound and share development costs. Research will center on Amylin’s “phybrid” technology. A phybrid is a peptide hybrid molecule that combines the pharmacological effects of two peptide hormones into a single molecular entity.

Under the terms of the Development and Commercialization Agreement, Amylin will provide expertise in peptide hormone development, particularly in the area of phybrid technology, as well as metabolic disease therapeutics. Biocon will utilize its expertise in recombinant microbial expression to manufacture the compound and also leverage its experience in pre-clinical and clinical development of diabetes products.

“This agreement fully leverages the synergistic capabilities of the two companies,” said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director, Biocon, Ltd. “Amylin’s knowledge of peptide therapeutics and their leadership in the diabetes market, paired with Biocon’s capabilities in process development, manufacturing and clinical development, provides this global program with the potential to effectively bring a novel therapy to patients living with diabetes.”

“This program could unleash the potential of cutting-edge peptide science to transform the lives of patients with diabetes,” said Daniel M. Bradbury, President and Chief Executive Officer, Amylin Pharmaceuticals. “We are pleased to work with Biocon, a biologics innovator and world-class manufacturing expert, and look forward to collaborating with them on this exciting program.”

Amylin Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company committed to improving lives through the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative medicines. (ANI)

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Killer whales have to raise their voices to be heard over ship noise

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 11 (ANI): A new research has determined that killer whales have to raise their voices to be heard over ship noise, and the effort may be wearing the whales out as they try to find food amid dwindling numbers of salmon.

According to a report in National Geographic News, scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) carried out the research.

The research indicates that the killer whales of Puget Sound, a complex of inland marine waterways in the northwestern part of Washington, US, make more calls and clicks while foraging than while traveling, suggesting that such mealtime conservations are key to coordinating hunts.

“(The killer whales’) call exchange is incredibly important, and vessel noises have the potential to mask these calls,” said research leader Marla Holt of Seattle’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center, which is run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Holt and colleagues’ previous research had shown that some killer whales make louder calls to be heard over vessel rumblings-just as people raise their voices to talk over the din of a cocktail party.

Now, the researchers think the cacophony could be causing the region’s killer whales to use up more energy during hunts, even as their preferred prey, chinook salmon, are on the decline.

In Puget Sound, a small group of killer whales known as the Southern Residents has been found to be particularly well-suited to eating salmon-even down to the whales’ tooth size.

These animals don’t eat seals or other mammals, as do the transient killer whales that migrate through the sound.

In the mid- to late 1990s, the Southern Resident population mysteriously shrank by nearly 20 percent, from 97 to 88 animals. Today, there are 85 individuals.

In 2005, the federal government listed the population as endangered under the US Endangered Species Act.

No one knows for sure, but the cause was likely a combination of fewer salmon, exposure to toxic contaminants, and vessel noise, according to Lynne Barre of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service Northwest Regional Office.

Holt’s work adds to existing data that have already prompted NOAA to propose a new killer whale protection law that would make all boats keep at least 600 feet (200 yards) away from the animals around Washington State.

The existing law allows boats to approach as close as 300 feet (100 yards), and some research has shown this influences the whales’ behavior.

“A lot of people would argue, Why focus on these vessel regulations?” Holt said. “But it’s one thing we can do immediately,” he added. (ANI)

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Scientists using laser light to generate underwater sound

September 6, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 6 (ANI): The United States Naval Research Laboratory is working on a new technology that uses flashes of laser light to remotely create underwater sound.

Researchers behind the project say that the new technology has the potential to expand and improve both Naval and commercial underwater acoustic applications, including undersea communications, navigation, and acoustic imaging.

Dr. Ted Jones, a physicist in the Plasma Physics Division, is leading a team of researchers from the Plasma Physics, Acoustics, and Marine Geosciences Divisions in developing this acoustic source.

The researchers used a 532 nm laser pulse for their study at the Salt Water Tank Facility.

They also used air bubblers and controlled water and air temperatures to create ocean-like conditions in the laboratory.

The research team could efficiently convert light into sound by concentrating the light sufficiently to ionize a small amount of water, which then absorbed laser energy and superheats.

They said that the result was a small explosion of steam that could generate a 220 decibel pulse of sound.

Given that the driving laser pulse has the ability to travel through both air and water, the researchers say that a compact laser on either an underwater or airborne platform can be used for remote acoustic generation.

They believe that their method would be a significant addition to traditional direct backscattering acoustic data. (ANI)

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Oregano, garlic essential oils can be effective barriers against E. coli

September 6, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 6 (ANI): Essential oils from common spices like oregano, allspice and garlic can act as a natural barrier against bacteria like E-Coli, Salmonella and Listeria, according to a new US government study.

Oregano oil has been found to be the most effective antimicrobial, followed by allspice and garlic.

Researchers at Processed Foods Research and Produce Safety and Microbiology units of Western Regional Research Centre from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) investigated the effectiveness of the oils by incorporating them in thin, tomato-based antimicrobial coatings known as edible films.

In addition to its flavour properties, tomatoes are reported to possess numerous beneficial nutritional and bioactive components that may benefit human health.

Edible tomato films containing antimicrobials may protect food against contamination by pathogenic microorganisms.

The findings revealed that oregano oil consistently inhibited the growth of all three bacteria.

Although garlic oil was not effective against E. coli or Salmonella, but was effective against Listeria.

Vapour tests of oregano and allspice oils indicated that these two oils diffuse more efficiently through the air than through direct contact with the bacteria.

Listeria was less resistant to EO vapors while E. coli was more resistant.

“The results show that apple-based films with allspice, cinnamon or clove bud oils were effective against the three bacteria. The essential oils have the potential to provide multiple benefits to consumers,” said lead researcher R. J. Avena-Bustillos.

The study appears in Journal of Food Science. (ANI)

Filed Under: Health News Tagged With: addition, Agriculture, air, allspice, ANI, Antimicrobial, Avena, barrier, Bioactive Components, Bud, Bustillos, centre, Cinnamon, clove, Clove Bud, contact, contamination, department of agriculture, diffuse, e coli, Edible, Edible Films, effectiveness, essential, Essential Oils, flavour, food, foods, Garlic Oil, Government, Government study, growth, Health, journal, journal of food science, Listeria, microbiology, natural barrier, oil, oregano, Pathogenic Microorganisms, potential, processed, Processed Foods, R. J. Avena-, regional, Regional Research, Research, researcher, safety, Salmonella, Science, Sept, study, tomato, u s department, U.S. Department, US, USDA, Vapors, vapour, Washington, western

Engineers design buildings that can stand plumb after violent quakes

September 3, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 3 (ANI): A team of engineers from the Stanford University has designed a new earthquake-resistant structural system for buildings, which will not only help a multi-story building hold itself together during a violent quake, but also return it to standing up straight on its foundation afterward, true and plumb, with damage confined to a few easily replaceable parts.

Professor Greg Deierlein, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, used the world’s largest shake table to test a new structural design that lets buildings rock during earthquakes, then pull themselves into plumb when the shaking stops, confining damage to replaceable steel “fuses.”

During testing on a massive shake table, the system survived simulated earthquakes in excess of magnitude 7, bigger than either the 1994 Northridge earthquake or the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in California.

“This new structural system has the potential to make buildings far more damage resistant and easier to repair, so people could reoccupy buildings a lot faster after a major earthquake than they can now,” said Greg Deierlein, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford, who led the team that designed the new system.

The system dissipates energy through the movement of steel frames that are situated around the building’s core or along exterior walls.

The frames can be part of a building’s initial design or could be incorporated into an existing building undergoing seismic retrofitting.

They are economically feasible to build, as all the materials employed are commonly used in construction today and all the parts can be made using existing fabrication methods.

“What is unique about these frames is that, unlike conventional systems, they actually rock off their foundation under large earthquakes,” Deierlein said.

The rocking frames are steel braced-frames, the columns of which are free to rock up and down within steel “shoes” secured at their base.

To control the rocking and return the frame to vertical when the shaking stops, steel tendons run down the center of the frame from top to bottom.

These tendons are made of high-strength steel cable strands twisted together and designed to remain elastic during shaking.

When shaking is over, they rebound to their normal length, pulling the building back into proper alignment.

At the bottom of the frame sit steel “fuses” designed keep the rest of the building from sustaining damage.

“The idea of this structural system is that we concentrate the damage in replaceable fuses,” Deierlein said.

The fuses are built to flex and dissipate the shaking energy induced by the earthquake, thereby confining the damage. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: alignment, ANI, base, bottom, building, cable, California, center, civil, construction, Conventional Systems, core, damage, design, Design Buildings, earthquake, Earthquake In California, earthquakes, energy, engineering, Engineering Stanford University, Engineers Design, environmental, excess, exterior, Exterior Walls, fabrication, Fabrication Methods, Foundation, frame, Fuses, Greg Deierlein, hold, idea, Initial Design, length, Loma, Loma Prieta Earthquake, lot, magnitude, movement, Northridge, Northridge Earthquake, part, plumb, potential, Prieta, professor, Professor Greg Deierlein, professor greg, quake, quakes, Rebound, reoccupy, rest, retrofitting, rock, Seismic Retrofitting, September, shake, Shake Table, standing, stanford, Steel, Steel Frames, Steel Shoes, Structural Design, system, table, team, testing, today, University, Washington, world

Here’s how exposure to diesel fumes causes cancer

September 3, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 3 (ANI): American scientists have for the first time shown how exposure to diesel fumes causes cancer.

Qinghua Sun, an assistant professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Ohio State University, says that diesel exhaust has the ability to induce the growth of new blood vessels that serve as a food supply for solid tumours.

The researchers found that in both healthy and diseased animals.

According to them, more new blood vessels sprouted in mice exposed to diesel exhaust than did in mice exposed to clean, filtered air.

They say that this finding indicates that previous illness is not required to make humans susceptible to the damaging effects of the diesel exhaust.

The researchers say that inhaled diesel particles are very tiny in size, which is why they can penetrate the human circulatory system, organs, and tissues.

This suggests that diesel fumes can cause damage just about anywhere in the body, they add.

Diesel exhaust exposure levels in the study were designed to mimic the exposure people might experience while living in urban areas and commuting in heavy traffic.

The levels were lower than or similar to those typically experienced by workers who use diesel-powered equipment, who tend to work in mines, on bridges and tunnels, along railroads, at loading docks, on farms and in vehicle maintenance garages, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

“The message from our study is that exposure to diesel exhaust for just a short time period of two months could give even normal tissue the potential to develop a tumour,” said Qinghua Sun, senior author of the study.

“We need to raise public awareness so people give more thought to how they drive and how they live so they can pursue ways to protect themselves and improve their health. And we still have a lot of work to do to improve diesel engines so they generate fewer particles and exhaust that can be released into the ambient air,” Sun added.

A research article on the study, supported by Health Effects Institute awards and grants from the National Institutes of Health, has been published in the online edition of the journal Toxicology Letters. (ANI)

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Climate change mitigation strategies ignore carbon cycling processes of inland waters

September 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 2 (ANI): In a new report, scientists have determined that climate change mitigation strategies ignore carbon cycling processes of inland waters.

Scientists from the University of Vienna, Uppsala University in Sweden, University of Antwerp, and the US based Stroud Water Research Center, authored the report, which is published in the September issue of Nature Geoscience.

They argue that current international strategies to mitigate manmade carbon emissions and address climate change have overlooked a critical player – inland waters.

Streams, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and wetlands play an important role in the carbon cycle that is unaccounted for in conventional carbon cycling models.

According to Dr. Tom J. Battin of the department of Freshwater Ecology at the University of Vienna and lead author of the report, “While inland waters represent only 1 percent of the Earth’s surface, their contribution to the carbon cycle is disproportionately large, underestimated, and not recognized within the models on which the Kyoto protocol was based.”

The team of scientists points out that all current global carbon models consider inland waters static conduits that transfer carbon from the continents to the oceans.

In reality, inland waters are dynamic ecosystems with the potential to alter the fates of terrestrial carbon delivered to them including: burial in sediments leading to long-term storage or sequestration; and metabolism in rivers and subsequent outgassing of respired carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

“Twenty percent of the continental carbon sequestration actually occurs as burial in inland water sediments,” said Dr. Lars Tranvik, Professor of Limnology at Uppsala University in Sweden.

“River outgassing of respired carbon, contributes carbon to the atmosphere in an amount equivalent to 13 percent of annual fossil fuel burning,” said Dr. Anthony K. Aufdenkampe, a scientist at the Stroud Water Research Center.

Because the amount of atmospheric carbon is well known and conservation of matter requires a balanced global carbon budget, this previously unaccounted for source of carbon to the atmosphere implies the existence of an additional continental carbon sink such as higher rates of biomass accrual in forests.

“A larger accumulation of carbon in forest ecosystems that could offset the outgassing from rivers would be more consistent with current independently-derived estimates of carbon sequestration on the continents,” said Dr. Sebastian Luyssaert of the department of Biology at University of Antwerp in Belgium. (ANI)

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Modalities of BrahMos-II project to be finalized soon

September 1, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Tiruchirapalli, Sep. 1 (ANI): The modalities for developing hypersonic missile BrahMos-II by the Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace are in the final phase of finalization.

BrahMos Aerospace CEO and managing director A Sivathanu Pillai told reporters here on Tuesday that a final shape of the project, aimed at developing the aerial version of BrahMos missile that could traverse at speeds between Mach 5 to Mach 7, would emerge shortly.

The design team had already been lined up and discussions would be held shortly between the joint venture partners on investments, sharing of technical responsibilities, administration and sharing of manufacturing facility infrastructure, he added.

Supersonic cruise missile BrahMos, which has a capability of carrying 300 kilograms conventional warheads at a speed of around 2.8 Mach, has already been inducted by the Army and the Navy.

Work related to the design and development of this version had been fruitful and the advanced missile, which weighs 0.5 tonne less than that of the three-tonne land version BrahMos, was ready and the company awaited the modified SUKOI-30 MKI aircraft that would carry the weapon.

Pillai said he was hopeful that the target for induction of the air version set for 2012 would be achieved.

After being fitted on an aircraft, BrahMos will be the only cruise missile with the capability of being launched from land, sea and air, he said.

To a query on export potential of BrahMos missile, Pillai said a number countries evinced keen interest in it, but the priority was to meet the high domestic requirement.

For meeting the demand, the company was in the process of upgrading the production infrastructure at multiple locations besides enhancing component suppliers by including new large and medium sized industries.

On BrahMos Aeropsace’s Thiruvananthapuram facility, Pillai said seven acres of land in possession of Indian Air force adjacent to the main campus was expected to be handed over to BrahMos Aerospace shortly. (ANI)

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Pakistan modified ‘defensive’ American missiles to pose threat to India: NYT

August 30, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Aug.30 (ANI): Top US administration and Congressional officials have accused Pakistan of illegally modifying American-made missiles to expand its capability to strike land targets, a potential threat to India.

Officials alleged that Islamabad has customized conventional Harpoon antiship missiles, which were provided to it by the Reagan administration as a defensive weapon in the cold war era.

“There’s a concerted effort to get these guys to slow down.Their energies are misdirected,” said one senior administration official.

The accusations come at a time when the Obama administration is pushing the Congress to approve 7.5 billion dollars in aid to Pakistan over the next five years.

It is also worth mentioning here that Washington, time and again, has asked Islamabad to focus more fighting the Taliban rather than expanding its nuclear and conventional forces against India.

According the New York Times, US officials made these accusations in ‘unpublicized’ diplomatic protest to Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and other top Pakistani officials in June.

The United States has also accused Pakistan of modifying American-made P-3C aircraft for land-attack missions.

“The focus of our concern is that this is a potential unauthorized modification of a maritime antiship defensive capability to an offensive land-attack missile. The potential for proliferation and end-use violations are things we watch very closely,” said another official on conditions of anonymity, adding, “When we have concerns, we act aggressively.”

However, Pakistan has denied the charge, saying it developed the missile itself.

A senior Pakistan said that the missile was developed by Pakistan, just as it had modified North Korean designs to build a range of land-based missiles that could strike India. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: administration official, administration., aid, aircraft, ANI, anonymity, antiship, Antiship Missiles, Aug, capability, charge, concern, concerted effort, Congress, congressional, Congressional Officials, conventional forces, Defensive Capability, defensive weapon, Diplomatic Protest, effort, era, focus, gilani, Harpoon, India, Islamabad, June, land, Land Targets, maritime, minister, Misdirected, missile, modification, New, New York Times, next five years, north, NYT, Obama, official, Pakistan, Pakistani officials, potential, prime, proliferation, protest, range, raza, Reagan, reagan administration, senior administration, Taliban, threat, time, times, top, Unauthorized Modification, United States, US, war, Washington, Washington time, weapon, york, Yusuf

Exotic vegetable cultivation picks up in Jammu and Kashmir

August 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Gopalpura (Jammu and Kashmir), Aug 29(ANI): Vegetable farmers in Jammu and Kashmir have opted for cultivation of exotic vegetables, as it has turned out to be more beneficial to them than growing the indigenously grown varieties.

Mohammed Shafi, a farmer and a seed dealer from capital Srinagar has been experimenting with the cultivation of exotic vegetable varieties bringing most of the seeds from European Union nations.

Shafi has been growing varieties like red cabbage, savoy type cabbage, green rocket, Broccoli, B Sprouts, red fire lettuce and a host of others.

He also claims that the medicinal values of these vegetables are very high and are used in curing different kinds of ailments like the stomach ulcer.

“It has good medicinal values. I read in an American journal about the medicinal value of Broccoli which helps to cure a big disease like stomach ulcers. It has food value and medicinal value hence people are now slowly getting aware of its benefits,” said Shafi.

Meanwhile, Bashir Ahmed Dar, Director of Agriculture department of Jammu and Kashmir, believes that the farmers in the state are steadily getting aware of the potential in cultivating these varieties.

Dar also said that the clientele of these vegetables is the upper middle class due to which the prices are high.

“They are very good vegetables hence we thought of introducing it here. We have broccoli, lettuce, Chinese cabbage and gradually people are consuming it. However, its consumption is among the people from the high society. There is a demand of these vegetables in hotels and also from the tourists coming here,” Dar said.

It is believed that Jammu and Kashmir can be a vast market for such vegetables as the valley has a seasonal edge over other states

These vegetables have an advantage of withstanding temperature fluctuations during the spring in Kashmir. They mature in lesser number of days than the open pollinated types. By Parvez Bhatt(ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: advantage, Agriculture, Agriculture Department, Ahmed Dar, ANI, Aug, B, bashir, bhatt, broccoli, cabbage, capital, Chinese Cabbage, class, consuming, consumption, cultivation, Dar, dealer, demand, department, director, disease, edge, European, exotic, Exotic Vegetable, farmer, fire, food, Food Value, Gopalpura, host, jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, journal, Kashmir, lettuce, market, Medicinal, medicinal values, Mohammed Shafi, number, Parvez, potential, red cabbage, Red Fire, rocket, savoy, seed, Seed Dealer, society, spring, sprouts, srinagar, state, stomach, Stomach Ulcer, Stomach Ulcers, temperature, temperature fluctuations, type, ulcer, union, upper middle class, valley, value, vegetable, Vegetable Cultivation, Vegetable Farmers, Vegetable Varieties

New computer program studies handwriting to detect liars

August 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Aug 29 (ANI): While experts have long been trying to use handwriting as a tool in forensic labs or their personality traits, researchers have now developed a computerized tool that can measure handwriting characteristics more effectively, making it greatly useful in lie detection.

Headed by Gil Luria and Sara Rosenblum at the University of Haifa, the researchers utilised a computerized tablet that measured the physical properties of the subject’s handwriting, which are difficult to consciously control (for example: the duration of time that the pen is on paper versus in the air, the length height and width of each writing stroke, the pressure implemented on the writing surface).

And they have found that these handwriting characteristics differ when an individual is in the process of writing deceptive sentences as opposed to truthful sentences.

The handwriting tool has the potential to replace, or work in tandem, with popular, verbal-based lie detection technology such as the polygraph to ensure greater accuracy and objectivity in law enforcement deception detection.

Besides, polygraphs are often intrusive to the subject and sometimes inconclusive.

Thus, the handwriting tool provides ease and increased accuracy over common, verbal-based methods.

The study appears in an upcoming issue of Applied Cognitive Psychology. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: accuracy, air, ANI, applied, applied cognitive psychology, Aug, cognitive, Computer, computer program, deception, Deception Detection, detection, Detection Technology, duration, enforcement, example, Forensic Labs, Gil, Gil Luria, haifa, handwriting, height, individual, issue, law, law-enforcement, length, Liars, lie, Lie Detection, Luria, New, New Computer, objectivity, Objectivity In Law, paper, pen, personality, personality traits, polygraph, potential, pressure, process, program, psychology, Rosenblum, Sara Rosenblum, sentences, stroke, study, subject, surface, tablet, tandem, Technology, time, tool, University, Washington, width, work

‘Laughing gas’ leaves ozone layer in splits

August 28, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, August 28 (ANI): A new study has determined that nitrous dioxide, popularly known as ‘laughing gas’, has now become the largest ozone-depleting substance emitted through human activities, and is expected to remain the largest throughout the 21st century.

The study was authored by A.R. Ravishankara, J.S. Daniel and Robert W. Portmann of the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) chemical sciences division.

For the first time, this study has evaluated nitrous oxide emissions from human activities in terms of their potential impact on Earth’s ozone layer.

As chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which have been phased out by international agreement, ebb in the atmosphere, nitrous oxide will remain a significant ozone-destroyer, the study found.

Today, nitrous oxide emissions from human activities are more than twice as high as the next leading ozone-depleting gas.

Nitrous oxide is emitted from natural sources and as a byproduct of agricultural fertilization and other industrial processes.

Calculating the effect on the ozone layer now and in the future, NOAA researchers found that emissions of nitrous oxide from human activities erode the ozone layer and will continue to do so for many decades.

ESRL tracks the thickness of the ozone layer, as well as the burden of ozone-depleting compounds in the atmosphere. It maintains a large portion of the world air sampling and measurement network.

NOAA scientists also conduct fundamental studies of the atmosphere and atmospheric processes to improve understanding of ozone depletion and of the potential for recovery the ozone layer.

“The dramatic reduction in CFCs over the last 20 years is an environmental success story. But manmade nitrous oxide is now the elephant in the room among ozone-depleting substances,” said Ravishankara, lead author of the study and director of the ESRL Chemical Sciences Division in Boulder, Colorado.

The ozone layer serves to shield plants, animals and people from excessive ultraviolet light from the sun.

Thinning of the ozone layer allows more ultraviolet light to reach the Earth’s surface where it can damage crops and aquatic life and harm human health.

Though the role of nitrous oxide in ozone depletion has been known for several decades, the new study is the first to explicitly calculate that role using the same measures that have been applied to CFCs, halons and other chlorine- and bromine-containing ozone-depleting substances.

According to scientists, nitrous oxide is also a greenhouse gas, so reducing its emission from manmade sources would be good for both the ozone layer and climate. (ANI)

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Climate change mitigation strategies ignore carbon cycling processes of inland waters

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Exotic vegetable cultivation picks up in Jammu and Kashmir

New computer program studies handwriting to detect liars

‘Laughing gas’ leaves ozone layer in splits

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