Northeast Johnson County showed very well in the pool this weekend.Bishop Miege’s swim and dive team took its first-ever 5-1A title Saturday. Wichita Heights finished second overall with 242 points to the Stags’ 261.The Miege swimmers started the weekend off on a tear, with eight swimmers breaking school records during the preliminary heats on Friday. On Saturday, Stags’ senior Jack Wirtz won individual titles in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle. He was also part of the 200-yard freestyle relay team that took first place.The victory marks the first swim team title for Stags’ coach Dennis Mueller. read more

Penn State junior linebacker Sean Lee was named defensive player of the week, as he led the NittanyLions to their third shutout in six games by stifling Florida International 59-0. In less than three-quarters of play, Lee racked up seven solo tackles, a forced fumble, a pass broken up, and two tackles for a loss, one of which was a sack.On special teams, Purdue senior Dorien Bryant returned two kickoffs for a career-high 151 yards. One of the returns was a 91-yard touchdown scamper. Gaining 197 all-purpose yards in the game, Bryant moved into third all-time for all-purpose yards at Purdue.Paterno returns in styleThings were back to normal in Happy Valley on Saturday, as 80-year-old Penn State coach Joe Paterno returned to the sidelines to watch his Nittany Lions roll to an impressive 59-0 rout of Florida International.Over 100,000 spectators packed Beaver Stadium to see Paterno take his trademark run out of the tunnel for the first time since breaking his leg on the sidelines last November.“I felt good about my ability. I got tired … But I’ll get stronger as I go along,” Paterno said in an AP report. “That felt good to be able to do that whole thing.”This week Penn State hosts perennial powerhouse Notre Dame, who surprisingly lost to Georgia Tech 33-3 on Saturday.Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis recently named highly recruited freshman Jimmy Clausen as starting quarterback for Saturday’s game against the Nittany Lions.“I think that kid (Clausen) is coming in here with a good football team,” Paterno said. “He’ll come in here and do well. The question is whether we are good enough.” Michigan squad refocusing after upset drops them from pollsThe Wolverines fell completely out of the top 25 this week after starting the season at No. 5. Luke MiddendorfSeptember 6, 2007Jump to CommentsShare on FacebookShare on TwitterShare via EmailPrintMichigan will do its best to rebound this week against Oregon one week after falling victim to what some consider the biggest upset in Division I-A history last Saturday. The Wolverines lost in a nail-biter to former Division I-AA opponent Appalachian State, 34-32.Michigan, who came into the season fifth-ranked in the nation, fell out of the top 25 on Tuesday. It was the biggest one-week drop by a team since The Associated Press expanded its poll to 25 teams in 1989.To add to Michigan’s misery, the loss to Appalachian State is the first time a ranked team in Division I-A has ever lost to a team from Division I-AA, now known as the Football Championship Subdivision.“The test of any team is how they handle disappointment,” said Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr.For Michigan, there is little time to sit and think about the past, as a talented Oregon team invades Ann Arbor to try and bring Michigan to 0-2.“You have to face the reality of the performance, the things you need to do to get better and the things you need to do to focus and get ready for this week,” Carr said.Players of the WeekOn Monday, the Big Ten named its players of the week. The four players named all were first-time award winners.On the offensive side of the ball, two players were named for co-player of the week: Michigan State senior running back Jehuu Caulcrick and Wisconsin senior quarterback Tyler Donovan.Caulcrick racked up 93 yards in the first half in the Spartans’ rout of UAB, helping Michigan State gain a 45-3 lead at the half. Caulcrick also had career bests in touchdowns (4) and for a longest touchdown run (42 yards).Donovan gained the weekly honor after starting only his third game under center, racking up career highs in completions (19), attempts (29) and touchdown passes (3). read more

The Guardian:Mental health research needs a boost. It is an area that receives nowhere near as much in public donations as research into cancer or heart disease does. The pharmaceutical industry shies away from it and some say it is a less attractive field for young bright scientists to move in to.Others argue that psychological treatments are perceived as less scientific. This leaves researchers struggling to compete in neuroscience for highly sought after government funding. Yet mental health comes top of a list of public interests for research.Read the whole story: The Guardian More of our Members in the Media > read more

Pinterest A study of risk communication as it relates to altruistic behavior has found that portraying an event as a distant risk, despite highlighting its importance and potential progression, fails to prompt altruistic behavior intention among the U.S. public.Results of the study by Janet Yang, a University at Buffalo expert on the communication of risk information related to science, health and environmental issues, suggest that holding a collective, communitarian belief system contributed to altruistic behavior, while those who hold more individualistic values are less likely to be altruistic regardless of how much risk is triggered.Yang’s study, recently published in the journal Risk Analysis, manipulated risk perception to determine what factors might influence altruistic behavior, which she measured as support for family and friends if they were to go to West Africa as Ebola responders. Share on Twitter LinkedIn Share The Ebola outbreak in West Africa gained substantial media momentum during the final three months of 2014. In October, a Liberian man visiting family in Texas became the first diagnosed Ebola patient in the U.S. to die from the disease. Public health officials announced three other confirmed cases later that month. Around the same time, President Barack Obama spoke of the unlikelihood of an Ebola epidemic in the U.S., a powerful reassurance echoed by the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The messages calmed domestic fears, but they also translated into minimal assistance from the U.S. public to the affected region, at least compared to American responses to other recent crises or disasters, such as the Haitian earthquake, according to Yang, associate professor of communication in the UB College of Arts and Sciences.“It was a great opportunity to study a risk communication issue,” she says.Yang says statistics at the time confirmed the issue’s importance to the American public, but she wanted to examine the variance between what’s important to a news consumer and what’s personally relevant in terms of that same person being affected, or the country being affected.The National Science Foundation, recognizing the opportunity to gain groundbreaking insight on risk communication in a public health crisis, funded the study with a special grant for Rapid Response Research, a mechanism for quickly studying urgent issues.In a nationally representative sample involving more than 1,000 adults, Yang assigned two experimental conditions to the subjects: a high-risk article about Ebola modeled after one that appeared in a major newspaper that mentioned two confirmed cases in the U.S., and a low-risk version with the detail about the domestic cases omitted.The content in both conditions was equally dire, mentioning Ebola cases possibly climbing into the millions.“Even that subtle change triggered different levels of risk perception,” Yang says.“When we manipulate risk perception, we see that two factors influence altruistic behaviors across the two conditions,” she says. “One is issue salience or the perceived importance of the Ebola outbreak. The other is how deeply the message is processed.”In the high-risk condition, the perceived importance of the issue was much more effective in getting people to feel more altruistic, but there is no such correlation in the low-risk condition.  Meantime, those who reflected deeply on the message reported much more altruistic behavior intention, something not present in the low-risk condition, says Yang.Emotions also played a significant role. Yang measured anger, empathy, fear, panic and sadness. Participants reported sadness and anger most often, but the two had significant yet opposite effects.“Those who reported sadness were much more like to support family and friends responding to the crisis,” says Yang.  “Sadness might make participants feel more sympathetic toward the victims.”Anger, however, she says, was often antagonistic, directed at international health organizations. Participants also reported significant levels of fear, but that didn’t engender altruistic intention since the emotion is often managed by avoiding the issue, according to Yang. Share on Facebook Email read more

Scene from a past food drive. Courtesy photoCOMMUNITY News:Local Scouts-BSA are prepared to help the Atomic City Letter Carriers and LA Cares to collect, sort and store donations of food and supplies during the joint Letter Carriers-BSA Food Drive Saturday, Nov. 23. All that is needed is the community’s help.Surprisingly, even in Los Alamos, which is prosperous community, there are dozens of families, many with young children or elderly, who are food insecure (having limited or uncertain access to food, reduced food intake, and disrupted eating patterns) and need assistance. One in six Americans struggle to get enough healthy food to eat.What can the community do to help?While stocking up for the Thanksgiving holiday, buy some extra canned goods and supplies. Then on the morning of Nov. 23, fill a grocery bag (double it for strength) or a box with non-perishable food and other necessities and place it near your mailbox for your Letter Carrier, a Scout, or an adult BSA volunteer to pick it up. Donations will be carefully sorted, stored and distributed by LA Cares over the next six months.Additionally, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 23, Cub Scouts will be stationed at Smith’s Market Place in Los Alamos and Smith’s Food and Drug Center in White Rock to accept donations.Out of town during the food drive?Leave non-perishable food and supply donations year-round at the Aquatic Center during regular business hours.Need suggestions on what to donate?Non-perishable foods and supplies: 100 percent apple and grape juice in ½ gal plastic bottles, healthy-low-sugar cereals (e.g. oatmeal), canned fruits and vegetables (all kinds), tomato sauce/paste and pasta sauce, canned meats/fish (other than tuna), canned meals (e.g. chili, beef stew, Chef Boy R Dee), spaghetti/pasta noodles, tuna and chicken helpers, hearty-style soups, other soups (tomato, chicken noodle), baking supplies, cooking oil, sugar, salad dressings, mayonnaise, crackers & nuts, Ensure or Boost drinks, toilet paper, laundry detergent, dishwashing soap, personal and feminine care products.For kids: juice boxes, granola bars, fruit and pudding cups. Please note that canned tuna, mac & cheese, flour, peanut butter, dried or canned beans and rice are NOT needed at this time.With all donations, please do not give anything in a glass container. read more

Fatal Hit & RunAs The Independent went to press Monday, Southampton Town Police were still looking for the culprit in the hit and run that claimed the life of a Pennsylvania man during the predawn hours last Thursday. At approximately 2:30 AM, police responded to reports of a subject lying in the roadway on County Road 39.Patrol units responded and found a deceased male in the roadway. The Southampton Town Detective Division responded and initiated the investigation into the cause of the accident. The victim, Joseph Lynn McAlla, 63, from Clifford, Pennsylvania, was making a delivery to Southampton Masonry. McAlla apparently exited his vehicle, when he was struck and killed by a vehicle; the driver left the scene in said vehicle. Detectives are continuing their investigation into the accident. Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Southampton Town Police Detective Division at 631-702-2230.CR 39 was closed in both directions for about six-and-a-half hours for the investigation.Mass Casualty DrillExpect road closures in Riverhead Saturday between 7 AM and 12:30 PM. Middle Road and Roanoke Avenue southbound to the traffic circle will be impacted by a mass casualty drill involving myriad agencies.Called Operation Black Swan 2018, the full-scale mass casualty exercise will test the public safety response to a simulated mass casualty at Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead. There will be numerous “victim actors,” who will be triaged and transported to area hospitals as part of this exercise. Share read more

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J. Lauritzen has concluded an agreement to sell its fleet of ten wholly-owned product tankers to Hafnia Tankers.It is the intention that all vessels will be delivered to the new owner before the end of February 2014.Hafnia Tankers is the company specialized in the segments ranging from 35,000 to 110,000 dwt, by pooling and commercial management.World Maritime News Staff, October 22, 2013; Image: J. Lauritzen

For 150 million people living in coastal areas around the world, rising sea level will become a genuine threat according to a new international study which found convincing evidence the sea level has been rising over the past 200 years – and continues to rise.Warming of the ocean and the melting of the glaciers and ice sheets are the cause of the sea level rise, said Dr Svetlana Jevrejeva from the UK’s National Oceanography Centre (NOC), who co-authored the scientific research paper.“There is a huge inertia in the climate system, so even if we stop the warming of our planet now – if we stop emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere today – the global sea level will continue to rise for the next few hundred years.“We are facing a colossal challenge – to deal with carbon emissions as soon as possible,” said Dr Jevrejeva.With about 150 million people living within one metre of high tide globally, sea level rise is one of the most damaging aspects of a warming climate. The vulnerability of extensively populated coastal areas, the threats to infrastructure, and population migration are major concerns for society, Dr Jevrejeva said.“Fifteen of the world’s 20 megacities, with populations of more than 10 million, are sensitive to sea level rise and increased coastal storm surges.“Soon we will have to make very hard decisions in the UK and globally: which coastal area is going to be protected and which could be abandoned? It means that as a civilization we are not able to protect some of our cultural heritage, unique beaches and cliffs.”The scientific paper called ‘Trends and acceleration in global and regional sea levels since 1807’ has been published in the Global and Planetary Change journal. Co-authors with Dr Jevrejeva are JC Moore from the Beijing Normal University in China, A Grinsted from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, AP Matthews from NOC and G Spada from the Dipartimento di Scienze di Base e Fondamenti, Università degli Studi “Carlo Bo” in Urbino, Italy.The study looked at global sea level reconstruction based on 1,277 tide gauge records dating from 1807 to 2010. Tide gauge observations suggest that sea level rose by 6 cm during the nineteenth century, 19 cm during the twentieth century, and the sea level has continued to rise this century.Sea level is the integrated response of the climate system to changes in the atmosphere, cryosphere and ocean. It could be considered as an indicator of the health of our planet. Over the past 2000 years, sea level was almost stable but since the 1800s it has started to rise.The ocean has stored over 90 percent of the energy in the climate system, resulting in ocean thermal expansion and hence sea level rise. In addition, the warming ocean is playing an important role in supplying the heat to the Polar Regions, contributing to the ice loss from ice sheets.To understand the past sea level rise the researchers used the historical tide gauge records collected by the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL), which were key assets. Established in 1933, the PSMSL has been responsible for the collection, publication, analysis and interpretation of sea level data from the global network of tide gauges. It is based in Liverpool at the National Oceanography Centre.Dr Jevrejeva said: “Credit goes to all tide gauge operators, local authorities, national data centres and individuals for making these data available for the PSMSL. Scientists, including myself, working for PSMSL take care of these data and make them available for the wider scientific community. PSMSL data have been employed intensively in studies such as those of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).”Dr Jevrejeva is currently working on future sea level projections in coastal areas globally for the EU project RISES-AM. In that project, the team is providing estimates of sea level rise by 2100 for the high-end scenarios, which is where the temperature rises more than 2⁰ Celsius.[mappress]NOC, May 14, 2014 read more

The car was transported in a crate that had been specially designed for the journey, containing the vehicle, equipment and spare parts to support its participation in the event, which starts in Darwin and spans 3,000 km to the city of Adelaide.The cargo was accompanied by Martijn Broers, branch manager, and Nathanja Stevens, public relations representative for CargoMasters – the forwarder arranging the logistics on behalf of the Nuon Solar Team.   www.airbridgecargo.comwww.cargomasters.nl read more