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'It really is sort of everything,' producer Craig Wright tells MTV News.
By Ryan J. Downey
Craig Wright
Photo: MTV News
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1696469/underemployed-mtv-comedy-drama.jhtml
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ScienceDaily (Oct. 29, 2012) ? Using a new method for precisely controlling the deposition of carbon, researchers have demonstrated a technique for connecting multi-walled carbon nanotubes to the metallic pads of integrated circuits without the high interface resistance produced by traditional fabrication techniques.
Based on electron beam-induced deposition (EBID), the work is believed to be the first to connect multiple shells of a multi-walled carbon nanotube to metal terminals on a semiconducting substrate, which is relevant to integrated circuit fabrication. Using this three-dimensional fabrication technique, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology developed graphitic nanojoints on both ends of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes, which yielded a 10-fold decrease in resistivity in its connection to metal junctions.
The technique could facilitate the integration of carbon nanotubes as interconnects in next-generation integrated circuits that use both silicon and carbon components. The research was supported by the Semiconductor Research Corporation, and in its early stages, by the National Science Foundation. The work was reported online October 4, 2012, by the journal IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology.
"For the first time, we have established connections to multiple shells of carbon nanotubes with a technique that is amenable to integration with conventional integrated circuit microfabrication processes," said Andrei Fedorov, a professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. "Connecting to multiple shells allows us to dramatically reduce the resistance and move to the next level of device performance."
In developing the new technique, the researchers relied on modeling to guide their process parameters. To make it scalable for manufacturing, they also worked toward technologies for isolating and aligning individual carbon nanotubes between the metal terminals on a silicon substrate, and for examining the properties of the resulting structures. The researchers believe the technique could also be used to connect multi-layered graphene to metal contacts, though their published research has so far focused on carbon nanotubes.
The low-temperature EBID process takes place in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) system modified for material deposition. The SEM's vacuum chamber is altered to introduce precursors of the materials that researchers would like to deposit. The electron gun normally used for imaging of nanostructures is instead used to generate low energy secondary electrons when the high energy primary electrons impinge on the substrate at carefully chosen locations. When the secondary electrons interact with hydrocarbon precursor molecules introduced into the SEM chamber, carbon is deposited in desired locations.
Unique to the EBID process, the deposited carbon makes a strong, chemically-bonded connection to the ends of the carbon nanotubes, unlike the weakly-coupled physical interface made in traditional techniques based on metal evaporation. Prior to deposition, the ends of the nanotubes are opened using an etching process, so the deposited carbon grows into the open end of the nanotube to electronically connect multiple shells. Thermal annealing of the carbon after deposition converts it to a crystalline graphitic form that significantly improves electrical conductivity.
"Atom-by-atom, we can build the connection where the electron beam strikes right near the open end of the carbon nanotubes," Fedorov explained. "The highest rate of deposition occurs where the concentration of precursor is high and there are a lot of secondary electrons. This provides a nanoscale sculpturing tool with three-dimensional control for connecting the open ends of carbon nanotubes on any desired substrate."
Multi-walled carbon nanotubes offer the promise of higher information delivery throughput for certain interconnects used in electronic devices. Researchers have envisioned a future generation of hybrid devices based on traditional integrated circuits but using interconnects based on carbon nanotubes.
Until now, however, resistance at the connections between the carbon structures and conventional silicon electronics has been too high to make the devices practical.
"The big challenge in this field is to make a connection not just to a single shell of a carbon nanotube," said Fedorov. "If only the outer wall of a carbon nanotube is connected, you really don't gain much because most of the transmission channel is under-utilized or not utilized at all."
The technique developed by Fedorov and his collaborators produces record low resistivity at the connection between the carbon nanotube and the metal pad. The researchers have measured resistance as low as approximately 100 Ohms -- a factor of ten lower than the best that had been measured with other connection techniques.
"This technique gives us many new opportunities to go forward with integrating these carbon nanostructures into conventional devices," he said. "Because it is carbon, this interface has an advantage because its properties are similar to those of the carbon nanotubes to which they are providing a connection."
The researchers don't know exactly how many of the carbon nanotube shells are connected, but based on resistance measurements, they believe at least 10 of the approximately 30 conducting shells are contributing to electrical conduction.
However, handling carbon nanotubes poses a significant challenge to their use as interconnects. When formed through the electric arc technique, for example, carbon nanotubes are produced as a tangle of structures with varying lengths and properties, some with mechanical defects. Techniques have been developed to separate out single nanotubes, and to open their ends.
Fedorov and his collaborators -- current and former graduate students Songkil Kim, Dhaval Kulkarni, Konrad Rykaczewski and Mathias Henry, along with Georgia Tech professor Vladimir Tsukruk -- developed a method for aligning the multi-walled nanotubes across electronic contacts using focused electrical fields in combination with a substrate template created through electron beam lithography. The process has a significantly improved yield of properly aligned carbon nanotubes, with a potential for scalability over a large chip area.
Once the nanotubes are placed into their positions, the carbon is deposited using the EBID process, followed by graphitization. The phase transformation in the carbon interface is monitored using Raman spectroscopy to ensure that the material is transformed into its optimal nanocrystalline graphite state.
"Only by making advances in each of these areas can we achieve this technological advance, which is an enabling technology for nanoelectronics based on carbon materials," he said. "This is really a critical step for making many different kinds of devices using carbon nanotubes or graphene."
Before the new technique can be used on a large scale, researchers will have to improve their technique for aligning carbon nanotubes and develop EBID systems able to deposit connectors on multiple devices simultaneously. Advances in parallel electron beam systems may provide a way to mass-produce the connections, Fedorov said.
"A major amount of work remains to be done in this area, but we believe this is possible if industry becomes interested," he noted. "There are applications where integrating carbon nanotubes into circuits could be very attractive."
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/bg5KaQmezII/121030093616.htm
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TOKYO (AP) ? Toyota is shrugging off a sales plunge in China set off by a territorial dispute and says it is headed to a record year on the back of strong growth in the rest of Asia and the U.S.
Toyota Motor Corp. Executive Vice President Yukitoshi Funo acknowledged Monday that achieving the company's target of 9.76 million vehicle sales this year will be harder because of the problems in China. Violent protests and a call to boycott Japanese goods erupted after Tokyo nationalized tiny islands that are controlled by Japan but claimed by Beijing.
Toyota's sales in China the last couple of months have fallen to about half of what they were a year earlier. Initially, Toyota had expected to sell 1 million vehicles in China this year. Achieving that is now unlikely.
But Funo, who oversees Toyota's Asian operations, expressed confidence overall global vehicle sales will hit a record, surpassing the record 9.37 million vehicles sold in 2007, because growth in other parts of the world will offset the losses in China.
"Toyota's operation is well-balanced" because the company has made a point of spreading risks by building up its brand and sales in many markets, not only China, Funo said. He said Toyota makes long-term plans in various markets, and remains committed to China.
His optimism underlines Toyota's return to the position of world's top automaker this year by vehicle sales, beating General Motors Co.
Toyota has widened its lead over the U.S. automaker, selling 7.4 million vehicles globally in the first nine months of this year, some 450,000 more than GM. Toyota's sales rose 28 percent in that period, while GM's rose 2.5 percent to 6.95 million vehicles.
China comprises a significant 10 percent of Toyota's global vehicle sales, but sales are doing well in the rest of Asia such as in Indonesia, India and Thailand.
When such gains are combined, they are significant, Funo told The Associated Press at a Toyota office in Tokyo.
Toyota sells about 320,000 vehicles a year in Indonesia and about 400,000 in Thailand, according to the company.
"It will be record sales for Toyota despite China," Funo said.
Toyota, which makes the Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury models, has struggled in recent years amid a sluggish global economy and a series of massive safety recalls, mainly in the U.S.
The earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan last year disrupted production, hurting Toyota just as it was starting to recover from its recall fiasco. The floods late last year in Thailand, where it has factories, added to Toyota's problems.
____
Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter: www.twitter.com/yurikageyama
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-toyota-headed-record-global-sales-073405103--finance.html
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - The stock market was closed for a second straight day on Tuesday as cash equity trading was canceled in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
Tuesday's shutdown was the first time weather had resulted in a two-day market shutdown since the Great Blizzard of 1888. Exchanges expect to reopen on Wednesday.
NYSE Euronext
Index futures stopped trading electronically at 9:15 a.m. on Tuesday (1315 GMT) and ended the session largely flat. S&P index futures ended 0.2 percent higher.
Futures will reopen at 7 p.m. ET (2300 GMT) for the overnight session during European and Asian hours, closing again at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Sandy, a mammoth storm, slammed into a large swathe of the densely populated U.S. eastern seaboard on Monday, forcing hundreds of thousands to seek higher ground, halting public transport and closing schools, businesses, financial markets and government departments. At least 18 people died and more than eight million homes and businesses were without power.
Investors expect heightened volatility when markets do reopen as the two-day closure creates pent-up demand.
Certain sectors are seen as especially tied to the fallout from the storm, which caused major flooding from storm surge during high tides, along with extensive damage from high winds and lashing rain. Disaster-modeling company Eqecat estimates Sandy caused between $10 billion and $20 billion in total economic damages, with $5 billion to $10 billion in insured losses.
Construction sectors as well as retailers such as Home Depot
"With winds 75 miles per hour along with flooding in the most populated area of the country, you could have an unparalleled loss picture for insurance companies," said Joe Heider, a Cleveland based wealth manager at Rehmann.
Compounding the issue, Sandy arrived in the middle of the corporate earnings season. While some companies, including Pfizer Inc
With their results out but investors unable to trade on them, those stocks may see particular interest on Wednesday.
(Editing by James Dalgleish)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-index-futures-edge-lower-cash-indexes-shut-101010601--finance.html
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ScienceDaily (Oct. 30, 2012) ? A single junk food meal -- composed mainly of saturated fat -- is detrimental to the health of the arteries, while no damage occurs after consuming a Mediterranean meal rich in good fats such as mono-and polyunsaturated fatty acids, according to researchers at the University of Montreal-affiliated ?PIC Center of the Montreal Heart Institute. The Mediterranean meal may even have a positive effect on the arteries.
The findings are being presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress, which runs in Toronto until Wednesday, by the head of the study, Dr. Anil Nigam, Director of Research at the Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation Centre (?PIC) and associate professor at the university's Faculty of Medicine.
Bad fat vs. good fat
Dr. Nigam undertook the study to compare the effects of junk food and typical Mediterranean meal on the vascular endothelium: the inner lining of the blood vessels. By measuring endothelial function, it is possible to determine how easily the arteries will dilate after a temporary, five-minute occlusion, following the consumption of the two types of meals. This is a very interesting analysis for researchers to perform as endothelial function is closely linked to the long-term risk of developing coronary artery disease.
The study also revealed that participants with higher blood triglyceride levels seemed to benefit more from the healthy meals. Their arteries responded better to the Mediterranean meal compared to people with low triglyceride levels. "We believe that a Mediterranean-type diet may be particularly beneficial for individuals with high triglyceride levels, such as patients with metabolic syndrome, precisely because it could help keep arteries healthy," Dr. Nigam said.
Mediterranean meal vs. junk food meal
The results were established in 28 non-smoking men, who ate the Mediterranean-type meal first and then the junk food-type meal one week later. Before beginning, the men underwent an ultrasound of the antecubital artery at the elbow crease after fasting for 12-hours to assess their baseline endothelial function. The researchers then tested the effects of each meal. The first was composed of salmon, almonds, and vegetables cooked in olive oil, of which 51% of total calories came from fat (mostly monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fats.) The second meal consisted of a sandwich made of a sausage, an egg, and a slice of cheese, and three hash browns, for a total of 58% of total calories from fat: extremely rich in saturated fatty acids and containing no omega-3s. At two hours and four hours after each meal, participants underwent further ultrasounds to assess how the food had impacted their endothelial function.
Dr. Nigam and his team found that after eating the junk food meal, the arteries of the study participants dilated 24% less than they did when in the fasting state. In contrast, the arteries were found to dilate normally and maintain good blood flow after the Mediterranean-type meal.
"These results will positively alter how we eat on a daily basis. Poor endothelial function is one of the most significant precursors of atherosclerosis. It is now something to think about at every meal," Dr. Nigam said.
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/XG-An2GzqNA/121030062007.htm
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By Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, NBC News
It?s a week of nostalgia in entertainment. ?Wreck-It Ralph? is a glorious homage to the golden age of video games, while ?All in the Family? reminds us that we could sure learn a lot from an unabashed bigot ? if that bigot is Archie Bunker, that is. And in ?Flight,? Denzel Washington plays a heroic pilot who is all too human. Here are our three entertainment picks for the week ahead.
TUESDAY: ?All in the Family? on DVD
Edith! Stifle yerself! Meathead! Little Goil! If Archie Bunker?s famous lines are familiar to you, you?ll want to know that the entire series of ?All in the Family? comes out on DVD this week. That?s 28 discs, 213 episodes, and plenty of pig-headed Archieness. The set includes a 40-page book and plenty of extras. Gee our old La Salle ran great ? those were the days. (Out on DVD Oct. 30.)
FRIDAY: ?Wreck-It Ralph'
Disney looks to have done it again. ?Wreck-It Ralph? features the voice of John C. Reilly as a bad guy in a ?Donkey Kong?-like video game who longs to be a good guy. He manages to ditch his own?role and go wandering through other video games, meeting characters voiced by Sarah Silverman and Jane Lynch along the way. Whether you?re a kid who?s only played Angry Birds or a child of the ?80s who loves seeing the Pac-Man ghost in Ralph?s bad-guy support group, you?ll want to level up for this one. (Opens Nov. 2.)
FRIDAY: ?Flight?
In ?Flight,? Denzel Washington plays a heroic pilot in the style of Chesley Sullenberger, who lands a damaged airplane and saves the passengers and crew. But when it?s discovered he has alcohol in his system, the way he?s viewed by the world suddenly changes radically. Early reviews are positive, with TIME Magazine?s critic writing?that the film boasts a ?character sharpness and an openness to ambiguity that are rare in movies from big studios and commercially savvy directors.? (Opens Nov. 2.)
?
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Perhaps the worst part of the Affordable Care Act, aside from the communism and socialism, is that it fooled some folks into thinking that government had actually fixed what ails America.
It's clear now that it didn't. In fact, it's clear the law didn't actually accomplish what it intended to accomplish, namely spreading coverage and driving costs down. Instead, it managed only one of those and not very well.
As a bonus, the one it sort of accomplished -- spreading coverage by turning insurance companies into willing agents of public policy -- is also the one that will accelerate the descent of the federal budget into chaos and deficit.
We could privatize Social Security and convert Medicare into a Ponzi scheme tomorrow, and it wouldn't prevent the reckoning we're due thanks to rising medical costs.
By the end of the next president's term, America will spend about 20 percent of its gross domestic product on health care -- one-fifth of the U.S. economy devoted to the upkeep of Americans. That reflects the relative importance of medicine in modern life, not to mention that aging and declining Boomers have ensured that health care has supplanted education in the pantheon of public goods.
In any case, we're getting lousy value. America spends more than any other developed nation, and our results are -- at best -- middling in infant mortality, life expectancy, cancer fatalities and deaths from heart disease.
The U.S. has the greatest health facilities in the world, but most of us will spend our lives and deaths without ever seeing them. Most will be born in local hospitals and die -- expensively, painfully, alone -- in similar facilities.
We will go to doctors who provide adequate care in fragmentary visits driven by illness and insult. They will not know who we are because they can't. They don't have time.
Doctors and hospitals account for 51 percent of total health care spending in America. The rest is divided among pharmaceuticals, insurance, nursing home care. All totaling more than $2.3 trillion a year in 2010, according to the Kaiser Foundation.
With the Affordable Care Act, that number will grow faster than inflation over the next decade. Without it, the number will grow at about the same pace, and more people will die because they don't have insurance.
Those are the extremes, sadly, of the presidential race. President Barack Obama clings to health care reform not because he thinks it's a good law -- nobody does -- but because it is an accomplishment.
Mitt Romney promises to repeal Obamacare not because he thinks it's a bad law (something indistinguishable was his most significant accomplishment as governor of Massachusetts) but because it's unpopular.
What neither man promises -- because it's laughable on its face -- is that either approach can fix the health care problem. In fact, both men have traded an argument over a law for the argument over the problem.
Obama's solution is to stick with reform, with all its cowardices about cost control and all its inadequacies in extending coverage.
He'll stick with it despite the fact that it's a giveaway to the insurance industry massive by comparison even with President George W. Bush's gift to drug companies.
He'll stick with it despite the fact that Obamacare doesn't affect the cost trajectory of medicine in America, at least not noticeably.
Romney's solution is to repeal the law on Day One of his term, essentially returning the nation to the state of medicine before health care reform. That means at least 40 million Americans without coverage, a scandal in the civilized world.
Repealing the law also means kids tossed off their parents' policies, illness and preexisting conditions as an excuse to deny coverage, and rapacious insurance companies again allowed to make whatever profits the market allows.
Romney has said over and over that he'll keep those popular protections. But the only way to do so while abandoning the rest of the Affordable Care Act is by making health care even more expensive than it is now.
That leaves us with awful choices on the most important issue of our time, 10 days before the election: A president who clings to an overly complicated law so incoherent that it doesn't do what it's supposed to. And his opponent, who promises only to take a bad situation and make it worse.
Obamacare needs to be repaired or replaced, but not with nothing. Our rabies-mad politics make that an especially difficult task. Especially since fixing the faults of the American medical system -- cost and coverage -- requires a radical re-examination of how health care is delivered. Anything less amounts to malpractice.
Donald Luzzatto is The Virginian-Pilot's editorial page editor. Email: donald.luzzatto@pilotonline.com. ___
(c)2012 The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.)
Visit The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.) at pilotonline.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Copyright 2012 MedCity News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.the situation tim tebow jets katy perry part of me video photoshop cs6 beta cate blanchett nfl news tebow
Here a step, there a step, everywhere a step step.?You may have noticed that today, steps matter.So, how many steps have you taken today:
If you haven't caught on, the latest data tells us adults need at least 10,000 steps a day to remain healthy and steps they are a taking. ?From walking the stairs, to parking further away to taking a few laps around the block while reading the latest research paper.
Pedometers are on the rise and considering that they're built into many of the mobile devices teachers and students own and love, it's no surprise that this healthy and affordable trend has taken off.
So, how are our students doing?
Ummm...
Uh...
Well, no one cares about our child obesity. Life/death-Peh! ?We measure student achievement not by how healthy young people are, but on how well they've mastered the finger exercise of drill, kill and bubblefill on standardized tests.
Interestingly, if we allowed children to get up and move as nature intended we'd find that activity, movement and play is not only crucial for boosting brain power, it also is a great way to alleviate ADD/ADHD symptoms.
Parents, teachers, and young people would agree that health and movement is important. Let's refocus?priorities?from memorization and regurgitation to ensuring our students reach their optimal daily movement of??about 12,000 steps a day?for young people. Let's restore a move to the endangered practice of free time or recess and let our children get out and do, run, play.
Let's close down schools who keep our students sedentary and don't respect their personal fitness.
If you are an educator who is concerned about the health of yourself, your colleagues, and your students, start a knowledge movement. ?Track steps. Chart steps. ?Take a step in the right direction so that adults and young people can beat this obesity epidemic and move toward the road to a healthy life.
______________________________
You can find even more ideas for using mobile devices in the classroom by reading?Teaching Generation Text: Using Cell Phones to Enhance Learning.?
Source: http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2012/10/mobile-devices-can-help-us-take.html
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We often talk at length about the various ways to nourish our bodies. From working out and eating healthy, to beauty regimens and doctor visits, it?s clear our body?s health is a top priority.
But what about our soul?s health? We get so busy trying to take care of the physical that we forget to nourish that unseen part of ourselves that drives us every day.
Here are three ways to nourish your soul and make sure that your mind, body and spirit are working as one.
Source: http://frugivoremag.com/2012/10/food-for-the-soul-three-ways-to-nourish-your-soul/
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Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign appearance at the Lynchburg City Armory, Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012, in Lynchburg, Va. Biden said Republicans Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are fleeing from their record to appear more moderate than they and went on to say the GOP ticket has backtracked on issues, ranging from a GOP budget he says would slash Medicare to a planned U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014. (AP Photo/News & Daily Advance, Sam O'Keefe)
Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign appearance at the Lynchburg City Armory, Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012, in Lynchburg, Va. Biden said Republicans Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are fleeing from their record to appear more moderate than they and went on to say the GOP ticket has backtracked on issues, ranging from a GOP budget he says would slash Medicare to a planned U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014. (AP Photo/News & Daily Advance, Sam O'Keefe)
Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign appearance at the Lynchburg City Armory, Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012, in Lynchburg, Va. Biden said Republicans Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are fleeing from their record to appear more moderate than they and went on to say the GOP ticket has backtracked on issues, ranging from a GOP budget he says would slash Medicare to a planned U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014. (AP Photo/News & Daily Advance, Sam O'Keefe)
LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) ? Vice President Joe Biden says Republicans Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are fleeing from their record to appear more moderate than they are.
Biden says the GOP ticket has backtracked on issues, ranging from a GOP budget he says would slash Medicare to a planned U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014.
Biden said Romney and Ryan "are counting on the American people to have an overwhelming case of amnesia."
President Barack Obama has ridiculed Romney's apparent flip-flops as "Romnesia," which a boisterous crowd of 1,500 repeated.
Biden began his speech by praising Senate candidate and former Virginia governor Tim Kaine, then adding "I'm a big Tom Kaine fan."
Kaine responded through his Twitter account: "Thanks to the VPOTUS for the shout out today. I love Jay Biden!"
Romney spokesman Ryan Williams says Biden forgot Kaine's name "and he wants voters to forget about President Obama's failed economic policies."
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BANGKOK (AP) ? Asian stock markets fell Friday after the latest data on U.S. housing dimmed hopes of improvement in an industry that is crucial to recovery in the world's No. 1 economy.
The National Association of Realtors' index of sales agreements showed Thursday that the number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes rose only slightly in September from August. That suggests sales may level off in the coming months after solid gains in the past year.
The figures were a letdown for investors whose hopes had been bolstered by data Wednesday that showed new home sales rose last month to the highest annual pace in the past two and a half years.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.9 percent to 8,973.97. South Korea's Kospi slid 1.5 percent to 1,896.70. Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.9 percent to 21,620.87. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.7 percent to 4,478.60.
A mixed batch of U.S. corporate earnings did little to kindle interest in risky assets. Infant formula maker Mead Johnson Nutrition reported revenue well below what analysts expected. Profits at United Airlines slid with fewer people flying. But consumer products company Procter & Gamble posted earnings that beat analysts' estimates.
Investors preferred to book profits on recent gains while waiting for additional data to confirm recent signs that China's manufacturing slowdown may be close to bottoming out.
"The Hong Kong market is at a relatively high level. We need more data to confirm what is our next move, so now it's time for profit-taking," said Linus Yip, strategist at First Shanghai Securities in Hong Kong.
Among individual stocks, Kia Motors Corp. tumbled 5.8 percent after the company reported a third-quarter net profit that was below expectations. The company, South Korea's second-largest carmaker, was hobbled by a labor strike over the summer and weak domestic sales.
Samsung Electronics fell 2 percent, even though the company posted a record third quarter profit as concerns over long-term growth weighed stocks down.
But Hong Kong-listed Bank of China rose 1 percent after announcing its quarterly profit rose 17 percent despite an economic slowdown.
On Wall Street on Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.2 percent to 13,103.68. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 0.3 percent to 1,412.97. The Nasdaq composite index rose 0.2 percent to 2,986.12.
Benchmark oil for December delivery was down 57 cents to $85.48 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 32 cents to finish at $86.05 in New York on Thursday, its first rise in four days.
In currencies, the euro fell to $1.2934 from $1.2949. The dollar fell to 80.07 yen from 80.29 yen.
___
Follow Pamela Sampson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pamelasampson
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asia-stocks-fall-weaker-us-housing-data-032848441--finance.html
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We began hearing grumblings of delayed Surface deliveries in the very early hours of this morning, and it seems it's not an unlucky few that are suffering, but an unlucky many. There were reports of delays to shipments in the
[Thanks to Daniel and all others who sent this in]
Filed under: Tablets, Microsoft
Surface pre-order deliveries delayed in the UK and Canada, Microsoft offers coupon for the inconvenience originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Oct 2012 13:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/G1x025FN9y0/
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Any injury to the head is considered as a serious matter and the person is kept under observation for the first 24 hours to see if he or she develops any signs and symptoms of any condition that might result in complications. Aphasia In Children and in adults is also a result of damage, injury to the head, or could be due to some brain disease, infection, dementia, or tumor etc.
It is a language disorder and it reduces the ability to read, write, speak, understand, or use words to communicate effectively. In some cases aphasia in children also results in complete lack of the above mentioned communication skills. Let us learn more about this condition in general and its symptoms in children and adults.
What Is It?
Aphasia is a language disorder that adversely affects an individual?s ability to communicate his feelings, ideas, or thoughts either verbally or in written form. Any person with this condition finds it very difficult to understand what is being said, finds it hard to spell, write, or speak, and express his or her needs.
This condition results when that part of the brain is damaged or negatively affected which controls and manages the language and communication abilities.
What Are The Causes Of This Condition?
A few of the reasons that could lead to this problem are:
Symptoms:
The signs of this condition are:
Types Of Aphasia:
This disorder can be divided into the following types:
Treatment Options:
Depending upon the cause different treatments are designed for each patient to aid in reducing the severity of the symptoms and correct the problem to a major extent. Neuropsychologists, physicians, speech language therapists, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists are a few of the specialists that can help a child or an adult with this problem.
These are some of the types, symptoms, causes, and treatment options available for aphasia in children and adults. If you notice some of the signs in any child or an adult it is better to consult a psychologist for further diagnosis and eventual treatment.
Source: http://speechtherapy.ygoy.com/2012/10/26/what-is-aphasia-in-children-an-overview/
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Map shows path of Hurricane Sandy
Map shows path of Hurricane Sandy
This NOAA satellite image taken Thursday, October 25, 2012 at 10:45 AM EDT shows Hurricane Sandy over the Bahamas with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph and moving toward the north. Farther north, a cold front moves into the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley with showers and thunderstorms. (AP PHOTO/WEATHER UNDERGROUND)
A woman cries out in front of her flooded house caused by heavy rains from Hurricane Sandy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. Hurricane Sandy rumbled across mountainous eastern Cuba and headed toward the Bahamas on Thursday as a Category 2 storm, bringing heavy rains and blistering winds. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)
A fallen tree and toppled light poles block a road in Kingston, Jamaica, after the passing of Hurricane Sandy, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. Sandy, which made landfall Wednesday afternoon near Kingston, crossed over Jamaica killing an elderly man when a boulder crashed into his clapboard house, police said. (AP Photo/Collin Reid)
Residents wade through a flooded street caused by heavy rains from Hurricane Sandy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. Hurricane Sandy rumbled across mountainous eastern Cuba and headed toward the Bahamas on Thursday as a Category 2 storm, bringing heavy rains and blistering winds. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The pre-Halloween hybrid weather monster that federal forecasters call "Frankenstorm" is looking more ominous by the hour for the East Coast, and utilities and local governments are getting ready.
Meteorologists expect a natural horror show of high wind, heavy rain, extreme tides and maybe snow to the west beginning early Sunday, peaking with the arrival of Hurricane Sandy on Tuesday and lingering past Halloween on Wednesday.
With a rare mix of three big merging weather systems over a densely populated region, experts predict at least $1 billion in damage.
The stage is set as Hurricane Sandy, having blown through Haiti and Cuba, continues to barrel north. A wintry storm is chugging across the country from the west. And frigid air is streaming south from Canada.
And if they meet Tuesday morning around New York or New Jersey, as forecasters predict, they could create a big, wet mess that settles over the nation's most heavily populated corridor and reaches as far west as Ohio.
Utilities are lining up out-of-state work crews and canceling employees' days off to deal with expected power outages. From county disaster chiefs to the federal government, emergency officials are warning the public to be prepared. And President Barack Obama was briefed aboard Air Force One.
"It's looking like a very serious storm that could be historic," said Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the forecasting service Weather Underground. "Mother Nature is not saying, 'Trick or treat.' It's just going to give tricks."
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecaster Jim Cisco, who coined the nickname Frankenstorm, said: "We don't have many modern precedents for what the models are suggesting."
Government forecasters said there is a 90 percent chance ? up from 60 percent two days earlier ? that the East will get pounded.
Coastal areas from Florida to Maine will feel some effects, but the storm is expected to vent the worst of its fury on New Jersey and the New York City area, which could see around 5 inches of rain and gale-force winds close to 40 mph. Eastern Ohio, southwestern Pennsylvania and western Virginia could get snow.
And the storm will take its time leaving. The weather may not start clearing in the mid-Atlantic until the day after Halloween and Nov. 2 in the upper Northeast, Cisco said.
"It's almost a weeklong, five-day, six-day event," he said from a NOAA forecast center in College Park, Md. "It's going to be a widespread, serious storm."
It is likely to hit during a full moon, when tides are near their highest, increasing the risk of coastal flooding. And because many trees still have their leaves, they are more likely to topple in the event of wind and snow, meaning there could be widespread power outages lasting to Election Day.
Eastern states that saw outages that lasted for days after last year's freak Halloween snowstorm and Hurricane Irene in late August 2011 are already pressuring power companies to be more ready this time.
Asked if he expected utilities to be more prepared, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick responded: "They'd better be."
Jersey Central Power & Light, which was criticized for its response to Irene, notified employees to be ready for extended shifts. In Pennsylvania, PPL Corp. spokesman Michael Wood said, "We're in a much better place this year."
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Thursday said the city was striking a tone of calm preparedness.
"What we are doing is we are taking the kind of precautions you should expect us to do, and I don't think anyone should panic," Bloomberg said. The city has opened an emergency situation room and activated its coastal storm plan.
Some have compared the tempest to the so-called Perfect Storm that struck off the coast of New England in 1991, but that one hit a less populated area. Nor is this one like last year's Halloween storm, which was merely an early snowfall.
"The Perfect Storm only did $200 million of damage and I'm thinking a billion" this time, Masters said. "Yeah, it will be worse."
As it made its way across the Caribbean, Sandy was blamed for at least 20 deaths. The 18th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season hit the Bahamas after cutting across Cuba, where it tore roofs off homes and damaged fragile coffee and tomato crops.
Norje Pupo, a 66-year-old retiree in Holguin, was helping his son clean up early Thursday after an enormous tree toppled in his garden.
"The hurricane really hit us hard," he said. "As you can see, we were very affected. The houses are not poorly made here, but some may have been damaged."
___
Associated Press writers Tony Winton in Miami, Fernando Gonzalez in Cuba, Ken Thomas on Air Force One, Michael Rubinkam in Harrisburg, Pa., and Karen Matthews in New York contributed to this report.
___
Seth Borenstein can be followed at http://twitter.com/borenbears
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ScienceDaily (Oct. 26, 2012) ? While powerful magnetic stimulation of the frontal lobe of the brain can alleviate symptoms of depression, those receiving the treatment did not report effects on sleep or arousal commonly seen with antidepressant medications, researchers say.
"People's sleep gets better as their depression improves, but the treatment doesn't itself cause sedation or insomnia." said Dr. Peter B. Rosenquist, Vice Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Health Sciences University.
The finding resulted from a secondary analysis of a study of 301 patients at 23 sites comparing the anti-depressive effects of the Neuronetics Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Therapy System to sham (placebo) treatment in patients resistant to antidepressant medications. TMS sessions were given for 40 minutes, five days a week for six weeks. Initial findings, published in the journal Biological Psychiatry in 2007, were the primary evidence in the Food and Drug Administration's approval of TMS for depression. The secondary review reaffirmed TMS's effectiveness in depression but revealed no differences in rates of insomnia or sleepiness among those who got actual and sham (placebo) therapy. Patients in the treatment group were also no more likely to request medication for insomnia or anxiety.
"It's important for us to understand the full range of the effects of any treatment we give," said Rosenquist, corresponding author of the study in the journal Psychiatric Research. The new findings will assuage worries of sleep-related side effects and remind physicians to remain alert to residual insomnia in depressed patients they are treating with TMS, the researchers report.
Sleep problems are a common side effect of major antidepressants: some drugs sedate patients while others stimulate them and increase insomnia. Insomnia occurs in 50-90 percent of patients with major depressive disorder. Other depressed patients complain they sleep too much. The good news is that TMS does not contribute to insomnia or oversleeping.
"One of the many bad things about depression is that often patients cannot sleep. We think it's a significant symptom," Rosenquist said. "If patients can't sleep, it really adds to their distress, and even increases the likelihood of suicide. We need antidepressant treatments that patients can tolerate so that they will stay with the treatment, which takes weeks to fully achieve. Our study adds to the evidence showing that TMS has remarkably few side effects." Patients often seek TMS as an option or adjunct to medication to avoid medication side effects.
"Mood disorders are associated with widespread structural and functional changes in the human brain, which can be reversed with successful treatment," Rosenquist said. "Clinical researchers are working to find the optimal way to restore normal brain function."
TMS targets the prefrontal cortex of the brain, involved in mood regulation as well as other higher-order functions like planning, evaluating and decision-making. In this procedure, patients sit in a recliner and receive brief pulses of a MRI strength magnet held against the front of the head. The magnetic energy of TMS causes the brain cells closest to the surface of the brain to increase their activity which in turn influences the activity of the brain as a whole.
Major Depressive Disorder affects approximately 14.8 million, or about 6.7 percent of American adults in a given year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. It's the leading cause of disability in ages 15 to 44. Despite the numbers, Rosenquist concedes that it's not clear what causes depression or exactly how antidepressants and other therapies, such as TMS, work. "It's an important puzzle and the work continues. We are excited to be a part of this effort at Georgia Health Sciences University."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Georgia Health Sciences University. The original article was written by Toni Baker.
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While it is true that High-Functioning Autism is not something a child simply "grows out of," there are many treatments that can help kids learn new skills and overcome a wide variety of developmental challenges. From free government services to in-home behavioral therapy and school-based programs, assistance is available to meet your youngster's special needs. With the right treatment plan, and a lot of love and support, your youngster can learn, grow, and thrive.
Here is a comprehensive list of things to consider:
1. Accept your youngster, quirks and all. Rather than focusing on how your HFA youngster is different from other kids and what he or she is ?missing,? practice acceptance. Enjoy your kid?s special quirks, celebrate small successes, and stop comparing your youngster to others. Feeling unconditionally loved and accepted will help your youngster more than anything else.
2. Be consistent. Kids with High-Functioning Autism have a hard time adapting what they?ve learned in one setting (e.g., a therapist?s office or school) to other settings, including the home. Creating consistency in your youngster?s environment is the best way to reinforce learning. Find out what your youngster?s therapists are doing and continue their techniques at home. Explore the possibility of having therapy take place in more than one place in order to encourage your youngster to transfer what he or she has learned from one environment to another. It?s also important to be consistent in the way you interact with your youngster and deal with challenging behaviors.
3. Become an expert on your youngster. Figure out what triggers your kid?s ?bad? or disruptive behaviors and what elicits a positive response. What does your HFA youngster find stressful? Calming? Uncomfortable? Enjoyable? If you understand what affects your youngster, you?ll be better at troubleshooting problems and preventing situations that cause difficulties.
4. Caring for a youngster with High-Functioning Autism can demand a lot of energy and time. There may be days when you feel overwhelmed, stressed, or discouraged. Parenting isn?t ever easy, and raising a youngster with HFA is even more challenging. It?s essential that you take care of yourself in order to be the best mother or father you can be. Don?t try to do everything on your own. You don?t have to! There are many places that families of HFA children can turn to for advice, a helping hand, advocacy, and support.
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5. Create a home safety zone. Carve out a private space in your home where your youngster can relax, feel secure, and be safe. This will involve organizing and setting boundaries in ways he can understand. Visual cues can be helpful (e.g., colored tape marking areas that are off limits, labeling items in the house with pictures). You may also need to safety proof the house, particularly if he is prone to tantrums or other self-injurious behaviors.
6. Don?t give up. It?s impossible to predict the course of High-Functioning Autism. Don?t jump to conclusions about what life is going to be like for your youngster. Like everyone else, people with High-Functioning Autism have an entire lifetime to grow and develop their abilities.
7. Don?t wait for a diagnosis. As the mother or father of a youngster with High-Functioning Autism or Asperger?s Syndrome, the best thing you can do is to start treatment right away. Seek help as soon as you suspect something?s wrong. Don't wait to see if your youngster will catch up later or outgrow the problem. Don't even wait for an official diagnosis. The earlier kids with HFA get help, the greater their chance of treatment success. Early intervention is the most effective way to speed up your youngster's development and reduce the symptoms of HFA.
8. Every mother or father needs a break now and again. And for moms and dads coping with the added stress of High-Functioning Autism, this is especially true. In respite care, another caregiver takes over temporarily, giving you a break for a few hours, days, or even weeks.
9. Figure out the need behind the temper tantrum. It?s only natural to feel upset when you are misunderstood or ignored, and it?s no different for kids with High-Functioning Autism. When kids with High-Functioning Autism act out, it?s often because you?re not picking up on their nonverbal cues. Throwing a tantrum is their way communicating their frustration and getting your attention.
10. If stress, anxiety, or depression is getting to you, you may want to see a therapist of your own. Therapy is a safe place where you can talk honestly about everything you?re feeling?the good, the bad, and the ugly. Marriage or family therapy can also help you work out problems that the challenges of life with an HFA youngster are causing in your spousal relationship or with other family members.
11. HFA infants and toddlers through the age of two can receive assistance through the Early Intervention program. In order to qualify, your youngster must first undergo a free evaluation. If the assessment reveals a developmental problem, you will work with early intervention treatment providers to develop an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP). An IFSP describes your youngster?s needs and the specific services he or she will receive. For High-Functioning Autism, an IFSP would include a variety of behavior, physical, speech, and play therapies. It would focus on preparing HFA children for the eventual transition to school. Early intervention services are typically conducted in the home or at a childcare center. To locate local early intervention services for your youngster, ask your doctor for a referral.
12. Joining a support group is a great way to meet other families dealing with the same challenges you are. Moms and dads can share information, get advice, and lean on each other for emotional support. Just being around others in the same boat and sharing their experience can go a long way toward reducing the isolation many moms and dads feel after receiving the youngster?s diagnosis.
13. Keep in mind that no matter what treatment plan is chosen, your involvement is vital to success. You can help your youngster get the most out of treatment by working hand-in-hand with the treatment team and following through with the therapy at home.
14. HFA kids over the age of three may receive assistance through school-based programs. As with early intervention, special education services are tailored to your youngster?s individual needs. Kids with HFA are often placed with other developmentally-delayed children in small groups where they can receive more individual attention and specialized instruction. However, depending on their abilities, they may also spend at least part of the school day in a regular classroom. The goal is to place children in the least restrictive environment possible where they are still able to learn. If you?d like to pursue special education services, your local school system will first need to evaluate your youngster. Based on this assessment, an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) will be created. An IEP outlines the educational goals for your youngster for the school year. Additionally, it describes the special services or aids the school will provide your youngster in order to meet those goals.
15. Learn about High-Functioning Autism. The more you know about HFA, the better equipped you?ll be to make informed decisions for your youngster. Educate yourself about the treatment options, ask questions, and participate in all treatment decisions.
16. Look for nonverbal cues. If you are observant and aware, you can learn to pick up on the nonverbal cues that kids with High-Functioning Autism use to communicate. Pay attention to the kinds of sounds they make, their facial expressions, and the gestures they use when they?re tired, hungry, or want something.
17. Make time for fun. A youngster coping with High-Functioning Autism is still a kid. For kids and their moms and dads, there needs to be more to life than therapy. Schedule playtime when your youngster is most alert and awake. Figure out ways to have fun together by thinking about the things that make her smile, laugh, and come out of her shell. Your youngster is likely to enjoy these activities most if they don?t seem therapeutic or educational. There are tremendous benefits that result from your enjoyment of your youngster?s company and from her enjoyment of spending un-pressured time with you.? Play is an essential part of learning and shouldn?t feel like work.
18. Pay attention to your youngster?s sensory sensitivities. Many kids with High-Functioning Autism are hypersensitive to light, sound, touch, taste, and smell. Other kids are ?under-sensitive? to sensory stimuli. Figure out what sights, sounds, smells, movements, and tactile sensations trigger your kid?s ?bad? or disruptive behaviors and what elicits a positive response. What does your HFA youngster find stressful? Calming? Uncomfortable? Enjoyable? If you understand what affects your youngster, you?ll be better at trouble-shooting problems, preventing situations that cause difficulties, and creating successful experiences.
19. Reward good behavior. Positive reinforcement can go a long way with kids with High-Functioning Autism, so make an effort to ?catch them doing something good.? Praise them when they act appropriately or learn a new skill, being very specific about what behavior they?re being praised for. Also look for other ways to reward them for good behavior (e.g., giving them a sticker, letting them play with a favorite toy, etc.).
20. Stick to a schedule. Kids with High-Functioning Autism tend to do best when they have a highly-structured schedule or routine. This goes back to the consistency they both need and crave. Set up a schedule for your youngster, with regular times for meals, therapy, school, and bedtime. Try to keep disruptions to this routine to a minimum. If there is an unavoidable schedule change, prepare him for it in advance.
21. Under the U.S. federal law known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), kids with disabilities?including those with HFA?are eligible for a range of free or low-cost services. Under this provision, kids in need and their families may receive:
Kids under the age of 10 do not need a diagnosis to receive free services under IDEA. If they are experiencing a developmental delay, including delays in communication or social development, they are automatically eligible for early intervention and special education services.
22. With so many different treatments available, it can be tough to figure out which approach is right for your youngster. Making things even more complicated, you may hear different or even conflicting recommendations from other moms and dads ? and even doctors. When putting together a treatment plan for your youngster, keep in mind that there is no single treatment that will work for everyone. Each child with High-Functioning Autism is unique, with different strengths and weaknesses.
23. Your youngster?s treatment should be tailored according to his or her individual needs. You know your youngster best, so it?s up to you to make sure those needs are being met. You can do that by asking yourself the following questions:
24. Know that a good treatment plan will:
25. Know your youngster?s rights. As the mother or father of an HFA youngster, you have a legal right to:
Source: http://www.myaspergerschild.com/2012/10/assisting-children-with-high.html
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Map shows path of Hurricane Sandy
Map shows path of Hurricane Sandy
This NOAA satellite image taken Thursday, October 25, 2012 at 10:45 AM EDT shows Hurricane Sandy over the Bahamas with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph and moving toward the north. Farther north, a cold front moves into the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley with showers and thunderstorms. (AP PHOTO/WEATHER UNDERGROUND)
A woman cries out in front of her flooded house caused by heavy rains from Hurricane Sandy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. Hurricane Sandy rumbled across mountainous eastern Cuba and headed toward the Bahamas on Thursday as a Category 2 storm, bringing heavy rains and blistering winds. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)
A fallen tree and toppled light poles block a road in Kingston, Jamaica, after the passing of Hurricane Sandy, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. Sandy, which made landfall Wednesday afternoon near Kingston, crossed over Jamaica killing an elderly man when a boulder crashed into his clapboard house, police said. (AP Photo/Collin Reid)
Residents wade through a flooded street caused by heavy rains from Hurricane Sandy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. Hurricane Sandy rumbled across mountainous eastern Cuba and headed toward the Bahamas on Thursday as a Category 2 storm, bringing heavy rains and blistering winds. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? All the spare parts appear to be coming together to create what forecasters are calling "Frankenstorm," a monster combination of high wind, heavy rain, extreme tides and maybe snow that could cause havoc along the East Coast just before Halloween next week.
Hurricane Sandy, having blown through Haiti and Cuba on Thursday, continues to barrel north. A wintry storm is chugging across from the West. And frigid air is streaming south from Canada.
And if they meet Tuesday morning around New York or New Jersey, as forecasters predict, they could create a big wet mess that settles over the nation's most heavily populated corridor and reaches as far inland as Ohio.
With experts expecting at least $1 billion in damage, the people who will have to clean it up aren't waiting.
Utilities are lining up out-of-state work crews and canceling employees' days off to deal with the power outages. From county disaster chiefs to the federal government, emergency officials are warning the public to be prepared. And President Barack Obama was briefed aboard Air Force One.
"It's looking like a very serious storm that could be historic," said Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the forecasting service Weather Underground. "Mother Nature is not saying 'trick-or-treat.' It's just going to give tricks."
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecaster Jim Cisco, who coined the nickname Frankenstorm, said: "We don't have many modern precedents for what the models are suggesting."
Government forecasters said there is a 90 percent chance ? up from 60 percent two days earlier ? that the East will get pounded starting Sunday and stretching past Halloween on Wednesday. Things are expected to get messier once Sandy, a very late hurricane in what has been a remarkably quiet season, comes ashore, probably in New Jersey.
Coastal areas from Florida to Maine will feel some effects, but the storm is expected to vent the worst of its fury on New Jersey and the New York City area, which could see around 5 inches of rain and gale-force winds close to 40 mph. Eastern Ohio, southwestern Pennsylvania, western Virginia and the Shenandoah Mountains could get snow.
And the storm will take its time leaving. The weather may not start clearing in the mid-Atlantic until the day after Halloween and Nov. 2 in the upper Northeast, Cisco said.
"It's almost a weeklong, five-day, six-day event," he said from a NOAA forecast center in College Park, Md. "It's going to be a widespread, serious storm."
It is likely to hit during a full moon, when tides are near their highest, increasing the risk of coastal flooding. And because many trees still have their leaves, they are more likely to topple in the event of wind and snow, meaning there could be widespread power outages lasting to Election Day.
Eastern states that saw blackouts that lasted for days after last year's freak Halloween snowstorm and Hurricane Irene in late August 2011 are already pressuring power companies to be more ready this time.
Asked if he expected utilities to be more prepared, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick responded: "They'd better be."
Jersey Central Power & Light, which was criticized for its response to Irene, notified employees to be ready for extended shifts. In Pennsylvania, PPL Corp. spokesman Michael Wood said, "We're in a much better place this year."
Some have compared the tempest to the so-called Perfect Storm that struck off the coast of New England in 1991, but that one didn't hit as populated an area. Nor is this one like last year's Halloween storm, which was merely an early snowfall.
"The Perfect Storm only did $200 million of damage and I'm thinking a billion," Masters said. "Yeah, it will be worse."
As it made its way across the Caribbean, Sandy was blamed for at least four deaths in Haiti and Jamaica. The 18th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season hit the Bahamas after cutting across Cuba, where it tore roofs off homes and damaged fragile coffee and tomato crops.
Norje Pupo, a 66-year-old retiree in Holguin, was helping his son clean up early Thursday after an enormous tree toppled in his garden.
"The hurricane really hit us hard," he said. "As you can see, we were very affected. The houses are not poorly made here, but some may have been damaged."
___
Associated Press writers Tony Winton in Miami, Fernando Gonzalez in Cuba, Ken Thomas on Air Force One, and Michael Rubinkam in Harrisburg, Pa., contributed to this report.
___
Online:
NOAA's Hydrometeorological Prediction Center: http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/index.shtml
National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov
___
Seth Borenstein can be followed at http://twitter.com/borenbears
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