Socrative Gets $750K From True Ventures, NewSchools To Bring Realtime Student Response System To K-12 Education

TechCrunch has learned today that Socrative, an intelligent student response system aimed for K-12 classrooms, has quietly raised $750K in seed financing from True Ventures, NewSchools Ventures and a handful of angel investors in Boston -- where the startup is headquartered -- including Jean Hammond and Eileen Rudden. According to our sources, the startup closed the majority of its round in April, but has added a few investors since then and has mostly remained mum in regard to its financing and investors.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/S_dHCuMFouU/

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Official: Salad mix wasn't produced in Iowa, Neb.

In this image provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a photomicrograph of a fresh stool sample, which had been prepared using a 10% formalin solution, and stained with modified acid-fast stain, reveals the presence of four Cyclospora cayetanensis oocysts in the field of view. Iowa and Nebraska health officials said Tuesday, July 30, 2013, that a prepackaged salad mix is the source of a cyclospora outbreak that sickened more than 178 people in both states. Cyclospora is a rare parasite that causes a lengthy gastrointestinal illness. (AP Photo/Centerd for Disease Control and Prevention)

In this image provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a photomicrograph of a fresh stool sample, which had been prepared using a 10% formalin solution, and stained with modified acid-fast stain, reveals the presence of four Cyclospora cayetanensis oocysts in the field of view. Iowa and Nebraska health officials said Tuesday, July 30, 2013, that a prepackaged salad mix is the source of a cyclospora outbreak that sickened more than 178 people in both states. Cyclospora is a rare parasite that causes a lengthy gastrointestinal illness. (AP Photo/Centerd for Disease Control and Prevention)

Graphic identifies the states where cases of cyclospora infection have been reported to the CDC; 1c x 5 1/2 inches; 46.5 mm x 139 mm;

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) ? A food-safety inspector said Wednesday that most, if not all, of the prepackaged salad mix that sickened hundreds of people in Iowa and Nebraska wasn't grown in either state.

Iowa Food and Consumer Safety Bureau chief Steven Mandernach said at least 80 percent of the vegetables were grown and processed outside both states' jurisdictions. Mandernach said officials haven't confirmed the origins of 20 percent and may never know because victims can't always remember what they ate.

Officials have said the salad was infected with cyclospora, a rare parasite that causes a lengthy gastrointestinal illness. Outbreaks have been reported in 15 states, although it's not clear whether they're connected.

Iowa law allows public health officials to withhold the identities of any person or business affected by an outbreak. However, business names can be released to the public if the state epidemiologist or public health director determines that disclosing the information is needed to protect public safety.

Mandernach said there is no immediate threat, so his office is not required to release information about where the product came from. He said state officials believe the affected salad has already spoiled and is no longer in the supply chain.

Food-safety and consumer advocates say the agencies shouldn't withhold the information.

"It's not clear what the policy is, and at the very least they owe it to us to explain why they come down this way," said Sandra Eskin, director of the Pew Charitable Trusts' food safety project. "I think many people wonder if this is all because of possible litigation."

Bill Marler, a Seattle attorney who specializes in class-action food-safety lawsuits, said withholding the information can create general fears that damage the reputation of good actors in food production. Marler said consumers should be allowed to decide for themselves whether to shop and grocery stores or eat at restaurants where tainted produce was sold. Some states also are slow to interview infected people, he said, which reduces the chances that they remember where they ate.

"If you want the free market to work properly, then you need to let people have the information they need to make informed decisions," he said.

The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that it didn't have enough information to name a possible source of the outbreak. In the past, the agencies have at times declined to ever name a source of an outbreak, referring to "Restaurant A" or using vague terms.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-07-31-US-Stomach-Bug-Outbreak/id-bc2889f8cafe455c99de83a698430a62

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Obama reassures Dems on health care, immigration

President Barack Obama waves as he arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 31, 2013, to meet with the House Democratic Caucus. There's a new cadence to President Barack Obama's musings about Congress: Why can't House Republicans be more like their mates in the Senate? As Obama presses his economic agenda across the country, he's playing one chamber against the other, hoping Americans will hear his calls for compromise and conclude it's not his fault almost nothing is getting done in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Barack Obama waves as he arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 31, 2013, to meet with the House Democratic Caucus. There's a new cadence to President Barack Obama's musings about Congress: Why can't House Republicans be more like their mates in the Senate? As Obama presses his economic agenda across the country, he's playing one chamber against the other, hoping Americans will hear his calls for compromise and conclude it's not his fault almost nothing is getting done in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Barack Obama arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 31, 2013, to meet with the House Democratic Caucus. There's a new cadence to President Barack Obama's musings about Congress: Why can't House Republicans be more like their mates in the Senate? As Obama presses his economic agenda across the country, he's playing one chamber against the other, hoping Americans will hear his calls for compromise and conclude it's not his fault almost nothing is getting done in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Barack Obama waves as he arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 31, 2013, to meet with the House Democratic Caucus. There's a new cadence to President Barack Obama's musings about Congress: Why can't House Republicans be more like their mates in the Senate? As Obama presses his economic agenda across the country, he's playing one chamber against the other, hoping Americans will hear his calls for compromise and conclude it's not his fault almost nothing is getting done in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Md., left, answers a question as he walks to a meeting of the House Democratic Caucus and President Barack Obama on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 31, 2013. Obama?s trip to Capitol Hill, just days before Congress breaks Friday for a five-week summer recess, comes amid growing concerns among Democrats over the president?s stalled domestic agenda. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama sought Wednesday to reassure Democrats nervous about the impact of his health care law and the prospects for immigration legislation, telling them "You're on the right side of history."

In the first of two closed-door meetings on Capitol Hill, Obama focused on financial gains as the economy emerges from the worst downturn since the Depression. He was warned about nominating former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers as chairman of the Federal Reserve and faced questions about his health care law. Some lawmakers complained that three years after its passage, the law still baffles many Americans.

Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., told the president that tapping Summers to replace current Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke would be a mistake.

Obama defended Summers, saying he had been treated unfairly by the news media. The president insisted that he had not made a decision on his choice. Summers, a former Obama economic adviser, and Janet Yellen, the Fed's current vice chair, are among the leading candidates for the job.

The first major rewrite of immigration laws in a generation and legislation to keep the government running without interruption are paramount issues for Democrats. So is the president's contentious health care law, with uninsured people able to start shopping for a health plan on Oct. 1.

Provisions of the law that still confuse many Americans kick in on Jan. 1 although the administration announced earlier this month that it would delay a key requirement that employers with 50 or more workers offer affordable coverage, or face fines.

Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H., expressed concern about the health care law, mentioning that in her state there was not enough competition because only one company had entered into the health care exchange. Obama told Democrats that it was a problem in several states, but the administration was working to address the problem.

"He was reminding us as we all go back to our districts in August that we are on the right side of these issues and the right side of history in terms of providing health care to Americans and to ultimately finding comprehensive immigration reform is the right thing for the country to do at this time," said Shea-Porter.

"It was a real send-off to us, I think, as we went back to our districts that we are on the right side of history."

Said Rep. John Yarmouth, D-Ky.: "I just think he was trying to bolster the courage of the group."

Leaving the meeting, Obama said his message was about "jobs, middle class, growth."

"It's really about a focus on growing the middle class in this county after a trend of not just recession but really a couple decades of really all of Americans working really hard and not making economic progress for themselves or their kids ... Whatever we do that has to be obviously at the top of our minds," Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., told reporters.

House Democrats presented the president with a birthday cake; Obama turns 52 on Sunday. Later in the morning, the president huddled behind closed doors with Senate Democrats.

The sessions come just days before lawmakers leave the capital for a six-week recess and the prospect of facing constituents back home at town halls at a time when polls show Congress being held in low regard.

Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., said Democrats asked the president for his assistance in next year's midterm elections, traditionally a rough ride for the party controlling the White House.

As Obama presses his economic agenda across the country, he's playing one chamber against the other in Congress, hoping Americans will hear his calls for compromise and conclude it's not his fault that little is getting done in Washington.

Call it a congressional two-step: Praise Senate Republicans for modest displays of cooperation, then contrast them with House Republicans, whom Obama has started describing as stubborn saboteurs. It's a theme Obama has used repeatedly to bolster his argument that he's the one acting reasonably as he prepares for clashes this fall with Congress, whose relations with Obama have always been notoriously strained.

"A growing number of Republican senators are trying to get things done," Obama said Tuesday as he unveiled a new fiscal proposal in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Days earlier, Obama accused the House GOP of risking another financial crisis by issuing ultimatums over the debt ceiling and government funding.

"We've seen a group of Republicans in the House, in particular, who suggest they wouldn't vote to pay the very bills that Congress has already racked up," Obama said. "That's not an economic plan. That's just being a deadbeat."

Obama has reason to be cautiously optimistic about the Senate, which passed a far-reaching immigration overhaul Obama sorely sought with bipartisan support and struck a deal over Obama's nominees that has led to a flurry of confirmations after months of logjam. A number of prominent GOP senators have also criticized a Republican plan to threaten a government shutdown unless funding is cut off for Obama's health care law.

But even in the Senate, there's skepticism about Obama's intentions. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said Obama's contrasting tone about the House and Senate amounts to a divide-and-conquer strategy that calls into question the White House's outreach.

"These discussions have been going on for five years and no agreements have been reached yet," Sessions said. "It could be the president is playing the Senate like a fiddle."

On most issues ? including pressing tax and spending matters ? Senate and House Republicans are unified in their opposition. There was no telling Republicans apart Tuesday, for instance, as they panned a corporate tax cut and jobs spending package the White House had portrayed as a concession to Republicans ? who oppose using tax revenue to support more spending.

____

Associated Press writers Erica Werner and Henry C. Jackson contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-07-31-Obama-Congress/id-2aa5cd86ca9748abb3f56cba871b8af4

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How US, Russia can agree on missile defense

US and Russia relations are in a nosedive over Eric Snowden, Syria, and Iran. One way to reverse that is for Presidents Putin and Obama to agree on missile defense at a planned summit in September. US-Russian cooperation in space can serve as a model.

By Kevin Ryan, Simon Saradzhyan,?Op-ed contributors / July 29, 2013

President Obama meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, June 17. Op-ed contributors Kevin Ryan and Simon Saradzhyan write: 'It?s always darkest before the dawn. This could be the time for the two presidents to really lead. Cooperation in space exploration proves that the relationship does not have to remain at the bottom of the well. '

Evan Vucci/AP/file

Enlarge

Relations between the United States and Russia today remind one of the report from the well digger, ?We hit bottom and have started to dig.? Whether it?s over issues like leaker Eric Snowden or Syria and Iran, the US and Russia seem to end up on opposite sides of most major problems. But that trend could soon reverse ? at least regarding one contentious subject.

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On Aug. 9, American and Russian defense and foreign ministers are expected to meet with their US counterparts in Washington. They will try to find ?deliverables? for a summit between President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin in September. The two leaders would meet in advance of a G20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sept. 5-6.

According to Russia?s deputy defense minister, Anatoly Antonov, the August meeting will focus on missile defense, a thorny problem that has divided the two countries and scuttled new initiatives in arms control and security. The US maintains its proposed defense shield in Europe is only to protect against long-range Iranian missiles; Moscow objects, saying it could be used against Russia.?

In remarks at a NATO meeting July 24, Mr. Antonov may have signaled new Russian flexibility. He did not renew Russia?s long-standing demand for legally binding guarantees that US missile defenses won?t undermine Russia?s strategic nuclear forces. Instead, he called for a US-Russian document that would ensure that the Russian Defense Ministry's contributions to a cooperative project on missile defense would not be later used against Russia. ?We are simply bound to find solutions to the problems that are dividing us," Antonov said.

Over the years, US and Russian presidents have proposed various forms of cooperation in missile defense in order to build trust and improve security, but they have failed to find a way to implement their ideas. To strike a deal on missile defense, Obama and Putin should follow the example of their countries? cooperation in space as a model in carrying out that deal.

Space and rocket science were at the heart of US-Russian strategic competition during the 1950s and ?60s. No one then envisioned the two countries sharing a glass of Tang, much less sensitive space technologies.

But gradually, with permission and guidance from the top, the countries began opening up cooperation in space. When the Cold War ended and defense budgets on both sides declined, the realm of space exploration transformed from one of confrontation into one of cooperation. The reason was primarily economic. Russia and the US found that together they could afford to do what they could not do separately.

The political and technical realities of today preclude a fully joint US-Russian missile defense system. ?Nevertheless, even a modest level of cooperation could provide better and cheaper overall defense for both sides. The way in which the US and Russia changed their space competition into cooperation can serve as a model for changing the relationship in missile defense. Here are five steps the governments can borrow from space cooperation:

Set common goals. The US and Russia could not have achieved cooperation in space, if they had not agreed on common goals, such as building the International Space Station. Moscow and Washington should focus on a common goal of protecting against ballistic missile threats.

Synchronize bureaucracies. In 1992, Moscow created the Russian Space Agency, providing NASA a direct counterpart, greatly facilitating cooperation. Russia should do the same for the US Missile Defense Agency.

Establish legal frameworks. Beginning in 1992, legal agreements allowed for the first launch of a US satellite on a Russian rocket and docking of US shuttles at Russia?s space station. Similar agreements are needed to enable businesses from both sides to risk money in missile defense cooperation.

Ease technology-sharing restrictions. The US and Russia could benefit from technology sharing in missile defense if both governments would open the door for industry to pursue cooperation. This has already been done in space for some of the same companies that do missile defense.

Explore cost-cutting synergies. Hi-tech US and Russian businesses found ways to collaborate when freed to do so by their governments. They successfully cut costs while protecting national and industrial secrets. They can do the same in missile defense.

It?s always darkest before the dawn. This could be the time for the two presidents to really lead. Cooperation in space exploration proves that the relationship does not have to remain at the bottom of the well.?

Gen. Kevin Ryan is director of defense and intelligence projects at Harvard Kennedy School?s Belfer Center and former chief of staff for the Army?s Space and Missile Defense Command. Simon Saradzhyan is a research fellow at the Belfer Center and former Moscow correspondent for Space News.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/r3VuOVCyNmM/How-US-Russia-can-agree-on-missile-defense

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How to learn successfully even under stress

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Whenever we have to acquire new knowledge under stress, the brain deploys unconscious rather than conscious learning processes. Neuroscientists have discovered that this switch from conscious to unconscious learning systems is triggered by the intact function of mineralocorticoid receptors. These receptors are activated by hormones released in response to stress by the adrenal cortex.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/MyGvyeF0RpU/130730101740.htm

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Fortinet revenue rises on higher demand for security software

(Reuters) - Fortinet Inc reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue, helped mainly by increased demand for its network security software from large U.S. enterprises.

The company, a maker of firewalls, antivirus software and tools to speed up data across networks, said second-quarter net income fell to $9 million, or 5 cents per share, from $14 million, or 8 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, it earned 10 cents per share, meeting analysts' estimates, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose 14 percent to $147.4 million, above analysts' expectation of $142.7 million.

(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bangalore; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fortinet-revenue-rises-higher-demand-security-software-203355642.html

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Chimps in Uganda: A Visit with Jane Goodall

Dr. Jane Goodall addresses guests during her visit to Uganda. Photo: Maureen McCarthy.

Dr. Jane Goodall recently paid a brief visit to Uganda. As a primatologist and advocate for animals and the environment, Dr. Goodall travels the world about 300 days a year to educate and inspire people of all ages. Her visit here was one of numerous stops in a tour to various African countries. Jack and I were fortunate to be invited to a small event at the Jane Goodall Institute office here in Uganda.

Jane gave a short talk before mingling and chatting with guests. In it, she discussed the many changes in science and society that have altered the course of chimpanzee research and life here in Africa. Technology, she explained, has both simplified field research and opened new possibilities to answer a myriad of novel questions. In addition, as deforestation accelerates, new issues arise regarding how to protect chimpanzees and so many other species that depend on forests for their survival. As always, Jane advocated an optimistic attitude toward the future, citing the reasons she remains hopeful in the face of environmental destruction that sometimes seems overwhelmingly bleak.

For us, this message of hope was a welcome reminder. It is one that I carry with me as we trip over felled tree branches and listen to the buzz of chainsaws on an almost daily basis. I also remind myself of the example she sets that good science and conservation need not be mutually exclusive endeavors. I admire and respect my colleagues who share this attitude and work toward conservation while still conducting groundbreaking work.

Jane and Maureen. Photo: Jack Lester.

After our chat with her, Jack and I were brimming with the kind of enthusiasm that few people but Jane can inspire. We only regretted that my field assistant Nick was unable to attend. Jane even discussed the plight of people just like him: youth who understandably feel cynical about the world around them, largely because of the environmental damage caused by previous generations. Jack and I have tried to encourage him that he can achieve positive change despite how dismal things may seem. As part of this effort, we introduced him to Jane?s scientific work and advocacy.

Months ago, I found a copy of one of her books in a Kampala bookstore and gave it to him as a birthday gift to help satisfy his growing curiosity about our study animals which, he observed, seem remarkably like him. (Watching simple acts like the similar strategy chimpanzees and humans use to eat a stalk of sugar cane have provided some of his biggest ?ah ha? moments!)

Nick. Photo: Jack Lester.

I borrowed Nick?s book copy and brought it along with us to the meeting. I told Jane about Nick?s brightness and enthusiasm as well as his occasional sense of deep pessimism. She responded by writing him a personal message in the book, a reminder that he should never give up and that he can indeed make a difference. Jane has written this message for thousands of people in thousands of books around the world, but these particular words were meant just for Nick.

When he read the message, he smiled a knowing smile that she wrote these words just for him, that she was aware of his struggles to stay positive. I hope he keeps it and uses it as a reminder of the impact he can make. He?ll need a good reminder now and then as he moves forward in a career of science and conservation. Indeed, it is a reminder we can all use.

Thanks to Dr. Jane Goodall, Dr. Panta Kasoma, and the staff of the Jane Goodall Institute for a memorable and inspiring day.

Previously in this series:

Chimps in Uganda: Two weeks and counting?.
Chimps in Uganda: ?These are a few of my favorite things?
Chimps in Uganda: Home Sweet Home
Chimps in Uganda: Bustling Kampala and Unwanted Houseguests
Chimps in Uganda: Reading the Clues
Chimps in Uganda: Lessons from Washoe
Chimps in Uganda: Travels In and Out of the Forest
Chimps in Uganda: Surprise Encounter
Chimps in Uganda: Rising Conflict
Chimps in Uganda: Conservation Conversation
Chimps in Uganda: Meet the Gents
Chimps in Uganda: Uganda?s Other Great Apes
Chimps in Uganda: Resilience
Chimps in Uganda: Hunting for Answers
Earthquake on Chimp Mountain

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/~r/sciam/basic-science/~3/rmC4MHiaRxM/post.cfm

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Synta Pharma shares soar after co says to expand breast cancer study

(Reuters) - Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp shares soared as much as 47 percent in heavy trading after the company said preliminary results from a mid-stage study of its drug ganetespib in breast cancer patients supported an expansion of the study.

According to the design of the trial, it would advance to the second stage of enrollment if at least one patient achieved objective tumor response, a measure of reduction in tumor size.

The study, codenamed ENCHANT-1, showed that four patients achieved an objective tumor response.

"We believe these data are important in driving both the potential in multiple tumor types as well as partnering potential," Roth Capital analyst Joseph Pantginis wrote in a client note.

The company said it would continue to enroll up to 33 patients in each of the two patient groups being tested in the study.

The trial will now evaluate a combination of ganetespib and a widely used cancer drug called paclitaxel.

Ganetespib blocks a protein which assists other proteins involved in tumor development and progression in many solid cancers and blood cancers.

The company is also testing the drug in combination with another cancer drug in a late-stage trial for lung cancer. The drug is also being tested in patients with colorectal and blood cancers.

Synta shares were up 35 percent at $6.86 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq. The stock touched a high of $7.45 earlier.

More than 14 million shares changed hands by 1310 ET, eight times the stock's 10-day average trading volume.

(Reporting By Vrinda Manocha in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/synta-pharma-shares-soar-co-says-expand-breast-172054912.html

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Malaria Mosquitoes Gain Ground as Search for New Defenses Intensifies

Companies and public health agencies are trying to develop low-toxic and inexpensive?yet powerful and long-lasting?new insecticides

By Cheryl Katz and Environmental Health News

Because of a lack of research, no new chemicals for killing malaria-infected mosquitoes have emerged in more than 40 years. Image: Flickr/Muhammad Mahdi Karim

• 

  Showcasing more than fifty of the most provocative, original, and significant online essays from 2011, The Best Science Writing Online 2012 will change the way...

  Read More??

KARATU, Tanzania ? Dr. Frank Artress is loath to get into an arms race with mosquitoes. ?You hate to drag out all the heavy poisons,? he says, standing in front of the medical clinic he and his wife built in this rural town. But to fend off the voracious insects and their payload of malaria parasites, he knows there are few other choices.

Artress, a physician from California, frowns as he looks out over the tiny earthen houses straggled across the flank of the Ngorongoro Crater. Their screenless windows and doors, open to damp forest and red, puddle-pocked fields, are bullseyes for mosquitoes. Like many communities in sub-Saharan Africa, Karatu is reliant on house nets laced with insecticides called pyrethroids to keep malaria at bay.

But a decade of blanketing Africa with pyrethroids has fueled resistance to this front-line chemical weapon. Now pyrethroid-immune mosquitoes are spreading quickly throughout the continent.

?At some level, to really control the mosquitoes,? Artress says, ?they?re going to have to do more.?

What that ?more? is, however, is uncertain. Because of a lack of research, no new chemicals for killing malaria-infected mosquitoes have emerged in more than 40 years.

Now pesticide companies and public health agencies are trying to develop low-toxic and inexpensive ? yet powerful and long-lasting ? new insecticides. Other researchers are working on novel approaches such as genetically modifying mosquitoes so they can?t harbor parasites.

It's likely to be years before new tools are widely available. In the meantime, health officials say, pyrethroid failure could trigger a malaria resurgence that kills hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.

To fill the void, some are turning to ?green? methods, such as botanical oils or other plants that keep mosquitoes away. Others are practicing mosquito birth control by draining ditches where they breed and stocking ponds with larvae-eating fish or larvae-killing bacteria.

However, for a growing number of communities battling malaria, the controversial pesticide DDT, banned in most of the world, may become a more frequent weapon of choice.

A disease of poverty, environment and race
The need for new safe and sustainable malaria-fighting tools is resounding throughout the world?s neediest regions, where the disease sickens an estimated 219 million people and threatens more than 3 billion.

Mosquitoes that are invulnerable to one or more approved indoor insecticides are already active in two-thirds of malaria-ridden countries, according to the World Health Organization. And that figure is probably a ?gross underestimate,? said Abraham Mnzava, coordinator of malaria vector control for the World Health Organization?s Global Malaria Programme.

Sub-Saharan Africa and India are hit hardest, but resistant mosquitoes have turned up as far away as Bolivia, Turkey and China. The problem is compounded by the recent emergence of malaria parasites that are immune to the leading medication, artemisinin.

Roughly half the world is at risk for malaria exposure.
Map: US Centers for Disease Control

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/~r/sciam/basic-science/~3/XFiUyJ9aado/article.cfm

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Tokyoflash releases Kisai Neutron, makes Cylons proud (video)

Like most tech-savvy humans, we're big fans of Tokyoflash watches here at Engadget -- after all, what's not to like about eccentric design and blinkenlights? Now Cylons everywhere can proudly get in on the fun thanks to the company's latest timepiece, the Kisai Neutron. This futuristic-looking LED watch is available for $139 during the next 48 hours and features an integrated motion sensor. It can be set to display the time (or date) by pulsing in and out or waving up and down. The light show is activated by flicking your wrist or pressing a button -- there's even a bonus "always on" mode. Color options include black, gold and gunmetal for the stainless steel and plastic case, plus red, white and blue for the LEDs. A USB-rechargeable battery completes the package. Enjoy the gallery below, then hit the break for a video of the new timepiece in action.

Gallery: Tokyoflash Kisai Neutron

Filed under: Wearables

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Dell's potential savior, a $100 Android computer the size of a USB stick, now sh...

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Former NAACP president's daughter shot

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - The former Fort Wayne-Allen County NAACP president said her daughter was shot at a Fort Wayne night club early Sunday morning. She's heard from people leaving the club that police shot her, but police are denying officers ever shooting their guns.

According to the police report, it took place at the Belvedere Lounge off West Jefferson Boulevard. Off duty police officers were working security. At closing time, police were trying to escort everyone out of the club. Then, everyone was outside in the parking lot.

"The officer who was outside reported hearing a gunshot," said Fort Wayne Police Chief Rusty York. "In fact, in his report, advised he took cover."

Nellems received a call her daughter was shot.

"Once I got the call and once I realized, yes, my daughter has been shot, my first reaction as a mother is, I got to get to her to make sure she's ok," said Nellems.

Nellems said she heard from people at the club that police shot her daughter. She believes police weren't trying to shoot anyone, but instead used a gun to try to scare the large crowd in the parking lot into leaving.

"Do I believe that the Fort Wayne police officer just targeted my daughter and shot my daughter, no," said Nellems.

Chief York said if there's ever a police action shooting, numerous of units and personnel, including duty chiefs, chiefs, homicide on-call unit, internal affairs unit, and the prosecutor's office, within the Fort Wayne Police Department would have been called to the scene.

Nellems' daughter remains in serious condition. She'll be having surgery Tuesday.

Source: http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/local/former-fort-wayne-allen-county-naacp-presidents-daughter-was-shot-at-night-club

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School supplies collected for tornado victims

Children affected by the tornado in Carney will get some help just in time for school.

The Harmony Christian Church in Choctaw has been collecting school supplies over the past few weeks.

The congregation has assisted in recovery efforts in Carney and felt there was a real need for the supplies.

The school supplies will be dropped off later this week in time for any student who attends Carney's public schools.

Source: http://www.koco.com/news/oklahomanews/around-oklahoma/school-supplies-collected-for-tornado-victims/-/12530084/21211176/-/g146pt/-/index.html?absolute=true

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Pope?s Trip to Brazil Seen as ?Strong Start? in Revitalizing Church

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

Source: www.nytimes.com --- Sunday, July 28, 2013
A visit to the nation with more Catholics than any other shows how the Vatican aims to stem the loss of worshipers. ? ? ? ? ...

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/29/world/americas/vibrant-display-at-popes-last-mass-in-brazil.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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The Secret Deals That Make YouTube Buffer - Gizmodo

If you ever find yourself having to wait for YouTube to buffer video?but ads, they load just fine?then don't worry, you're not alone. In fact, it's likely you're on the receiving end of a corporate deal which limits how much you can enjoy online video.

Ars Technica has a wonderful feature about how the world's biggest Internet providers and video services enter into negotiations about how much networks should pay to connect to others. More importantly, the article discusses what happens when those talks go sour:

These business decisions involve "peering" agreements that Internet companies make to pass traffic from one to another and negotiations over caching services that store videos closer to people's homes so they can load faster in your browser. When Internet providers refuse to upgrade peering connections, traffic gets congested. When ISPs refuse to use the caching services offered by the likes of Google and Netflix, video has to travel farther across the Internet to get to its final destination?your living room.

It all comes down to every party being greedy?hardly shocking?and hazy rules surrounding the technicalities of peering:

The core of the Internet, the closest thing it has to a "backbone," is a dozen or so networks consisting of data centers throughout the world. These networks, operated by private businesses, are called "Tier 1" because they can reach every part of the Internet simply by peering with one another... Tier 1 networks don't need to buy "transit"?an arrangement where one company pays another to accept its traffic and distribute it to all networks connected to the Internet. Smaller networks do...

All in, the conflicts that brings are many, varied?and enough to screw the users. You should definitely read the Ars article, which spells all this out in great detail. But there is, perhaps, some good news:

Traditionally, traffic loads have been thought to be "in balance" if each peer sends about as much traffic to the other peer as it receives... But the direction in which traffic flows has no impact on how much it costs to carry it. Because video streaming traffic dominates the Web, so-called "eyeball" networks (ISPs who deliver traffic over the last mile) can never be in balance with the networks that deliver video under the old measurement. Instead, [there's a move] to measure via "bit miles," the distance traffic is carried and the number of bits carried, regardless of which direction the traffic flows.

Of course, whether that'll catch on remains anyone's guess?because it's not necessarily something that works in the favor of the big players. Sadly, you may have to watch that spinning circle a while longer. [Ars Technica]

Image by Rego - d4u.hu under Creative Commons license

Source: http://gizmodo.com/the-secret-deals-that-mean-you-have-to-wait-for-youtube-947766871

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The taller a postmenopausal woman, the greater risk of cancer

For every 4 inches of height, 13 percent increase in cancer risk.
Over 40 thousand people line the streets of St. Louis walking in the Koman Race for the Cure on June 15, 2013. UPI/Bill Greenblatt?

License photo

NEW YORK, July 28 (UPI) -- The taller a postmenopausal woman, the greater her risk for developing cancers of the breast, colon, kidney, ovary, rectum and thyroid, U.S. researchers say.

Geoffrey Kabat, senior epidemiologist in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in New York, said the study involved 20,928 postmenopausal women, identified from a larger group of 144,701 women recruited to the Women's Health Initiative.

"We were surprised at the number of cancer sites that were positively associated with height. In this data set, more cancers are associated with height than were associated with body mass index," Kabat said in a statement.

"Ultimately, cancer is a result of processes having to do with growth, so it makes sense that hormones or other growth factors that influence height may also influence cancer risk."

Some genetic variations associated with height are also linked to cancer risk, and more studies are needed to better understand how these height-related genetic variations predispose some men and women to cancer, Kabat said.

The study found for every 10-centimeter -- 3.94 inches -- increase in height, there was a 13 percent increase in risk of developing any cancer. Among specific cancers, there was a 13 percent to 17 percent increase in the risk of getting melanoma and cancers of the breast, ovary, endometrium, and colon, while there was a 23 percent to 29 percent increase in the risk of developing cancers of the kidney, rectum, thyroid and blood.

The study was published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Source: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2013/07/28/The-taller-a-postmenopausal-woman-the-greater-risk-of-cancer/UPI-21321374990950/

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KEN News Kentucky.com - John Clay: Power conferences positioned to bring swift change to NCAA

From Kentucky.com (Lexington Herald-Leader)July 27th, 2013 03:16 PM

NCAA President Mark Emmert suggested last week that it's time to recognize that the big-budget athletic powers and the smaller-budget schools can no longer be given equal billing.Click to Continue »

...READ MORE HERE...

Source: http://www.tidefans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=200320&goto=newpost

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Washington and big box retailers in high stakes showdown

Retail

Martha C. White NBC News contributor

19 hours ago

J. Scott Applewhite / AP file

Mayor Vincent Gray of Washington, D.C.

Wal-Mart has a reputation to protect: Its legendary, bare-knuckled labor tactics.

That's why the world?s largest retailer has threatened to scrap at least three of six stores planned for the nation?s capital if the city signs into law a bill requiring big-box stores to pay workers at least $12.50 an hour. Six other retailers have jumped on board, sending a letter to D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray that warned, ?Any future plans for retail expansion in the city must be revisited.?

It?s a showdown labor experts predict will be repeated in other cities, as cash-strapped municipalities try to pare back public assistance for the working poor and large retailers look to America?s cities for future growth.

Proponents of the wage bill, formally called the Large Retailer Accountability Act, call Wal-Mart a bully.

?They are known to be quite resolute, willing to take local losses in order to maintain a reputation,? said Gary Burtless, labor economist at the Brookings Institution. ?It would be a huge blow to that negotiating stance if they ceded to demands from the District of Columbia.?

Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research agreed: ?If they?re seen to just be making idle threats after they?ve built up such a reputation, that would be a huge cost to them.?

Robin Sherk, Kantar Retail?s director of Retail Insights, offered an alternative for Wal-Mart -- that it offer grocery delivery service operating out of a suburban base, or downsize its planned Supercenters so its store footprints fall below the 75,000-square-foot threshold stipulated by the bill. Walmart Neighborhood Markets average about 38,000 square feet.

?Wal-Mart definitely views the urban environment as a growth area,? Sherk said. ?I don?t think they?ll give up on D.C. ... They?ll evaluate other options.?

Retail and labor experts agree that the chain will walk away, taking a loss if necessary, on some or all of its planned stores if the wage bill prevails.

This prospect strikes fear in the heart of local developers, who were counting on Wal-Mart?s draw as an anchor tenant to attract other stores and financing.

Developer Gary Rappaport told the Washington Post, ?If there?s not a Wal-Mart at Skyland (Town Center), then Skyland is not able to go forward at this time.?

Wal-Mart said that in addition to abandoning the three projects still in the planning stage, it ?will start to review the financial and legal implications on the three stores already under construction.?

Typically, a store would be locked into a lease agreement once lenders come on board and construction begins. Getting out of that could be expensive for Wal-Mart at this stage ? two of the stores were scheduled to open this fall ? but developers could be left holding the bag if they were so eager to get Wal-Mart on board that they wrote an option to terminate into their contracts.

?When you?re trying to attract a retailer like Wal-Mart, you do a lot of unconventional things,? Maloney said. ?You will need to stretch a bit.?

City administrators have been trying to get Skyland off the ground for more than two decades now, and the prospect of another setback frustrates Victor Hoskins, deputy mayor for planning and economic development. Washington, D.C. has invested between $25 million and $30 million in the project.

Hoskins said other big-box chains were considering abandoning D.C. for the suburbs if the mayor signs the bill. ?We?ve heard from a couple of large format retailers," he said. "They?re concerned.?

Hoskins argued that the jobs and sales tax revenue big-box retailers would bring are something the city can?t afford to lose, but supporters of the wage bill charge that big-box stores like Wal-Mart inflict hidden costs on taxpayers and municipalities.

?We want to make sure we don?t allow large retailers to come in and pay poverty wages ? which basically is going to compel this government to pick up all the social costs,? said Vincent Orange, Washington, D.C. council member at large. ?I know that the wage Wal-Mart wants to pay will continue to have D.C. residents seeking public assistance in a number of ways.?

Wal-Mart says its average non-supervisory worker pay is nearly $12 an hour, but since that doesn?t include part-time or temp workers, critics call the number inflated. In 2011, research company IBISWorld estimated that Walmart sales associates earned an average of $8.81 an hour, and department managers earned an average of $11.22 an hour.

Orange pointed to a report issued in May by the Democratic staff of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, which said every Wal-Mart Supercenter ?may cost taxpayers about one million dollars in higher usage of public-assistance programs? by workers and their families.

Burtless, the Brookings labor economist, concurred: ?As a nation, we?ve expanded programs that provide income supplements to low-wage workers ... It does work to the benefit of Wal-Mart as well as other low-wage companies in the U.S.?

Despite retailers? protestations, experts predict that the pull of the market will eventually be too much to resist.

?For [Wal-Mart] to continue to grow in America, it needs to grow in urban areas,? including Northeastern and Midwestern cities with strong pro-union roots, said Paul Osterman, professor of human resources and management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ?That?s why these fights are so bitter.?

More business news:

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A Plastic iPhone Called The 5C May Really Be On Its Way

This image from Chinese blog WeiPhone looks like a bunch of Apple packaging in a bin. But folks it's so much more! Oh, no, actually that's exactly what it is. No one has been able to legitimize the photo yet, and it could just show some knockoff packaging, but the nomenclature makes sense at least. If the aluminum body upgrade that seems probable for September/October is called the 5S, a cheaper plastic model (also heavily rumored) could be called the 5C where C stands for "color". . . or something.

Read more...

Source: http://gizmodo.com/a-plastic-iphone-called-the-5c-may-really-be-on-its-way-943206014

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Senator targets military law over sexual assault

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who helped force the military to allow gays in its ranks, is determined to upend laws governing how the armed services handle an epidemic of sexual assaults.

The tenacious 46-year-old just may prevail.

"She has spunk. She is not afraid," says former New York Gov. David Paterson, who stunned the political world in January 2009 when he appointed the little-known, two-term congresswoman to replace Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton when she was tapped by President Barack Obama to be secretary of state.

In a headline-grabbing turn of events, a child of Camelot, Caroline Kennedy, bowed out of contention. The Democratic governor settled on a child of tough Albany, N.Y., politics, and Gillibrand entered the Senate as its youngest member.

Four years later, she is locked in a ferocious fight with some of the Senate's more authoritative voices on the military.

Earlier this year, outrage over high-profile cases of sexual assault in the military and increasing numbers of service men and women fearful about reporting the crimes forced Congress to press for significant changes in military law and how the services deal with the victims.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, the six-term Michigan Democrat who is retiring next year, proposed far-reaching policy changes, with the support of the Pentagon's top brass.

But Gillibrand, chairwoman of the Armed Services personnel subcommittee, countered that the approach was wrong.

She is slowly and steadily building support for a proposal to strip commanders of their authority to prosecute cases of sexual assault, instead handing responsibility to seasoned military lawyers. She now has 44 backers, including Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., who signed on last week, as well as conservative Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

She's relentless in trying to attract support for the bill. Gillibrand telephoned Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on a Saturday. He hasn't taken a stand on either measure yet; nor has Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

As starting pitcher on the congressional women's softball team, Gillibrand used early morning practices to lobby her teammates.

The competing measures are set for a late summer showdown that already has deeply divided the Senate, pitting some of the newer Republicans and Democrats less deferential to the Pentagon's demands against Senate experts on defense. The fight crosses gender and party affiliations and in the last few weeks has touched off a furious competition, even by Capitol Hill standards, with dueling news conferences, testimonials from retired military and statements from former prosecutors-turned-senators.

The high-profile issue has helped add Gillibrand's name to chatter about 2016 presidential candidates, a notion she says she finds flattering. But in an interview, she says emphatically, "I hope I get to see Hillary Clinton sworn in as our next president, and I intend to help her get elected."

Earlier this year, lawmakers were furious after learning that a senior Air Force official had overturned the conviction of a lieutenant colonel after a jury found him guilty of aggravated sexual assault, and there was no further recourse, not even by top leaders at the Pentagon.

Other episodes at the U.S. Naval Academy and West Point, combined with a Pentagon report on a survey estimating that as many as 26,000 military members may have been sexually assaulted last year, spurred lawmakers to act. The survey said thousands of victims were still unwilling to come forward despite new oversight and assistance programs aimed at curbing the crimes.

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/29/3528572/senator-targets-military-law-over.html

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Woman wins $18.6 million for two-year battle over credit report

credit-and-debt

The Associated Press Staff

11 hours ago

PORTLAND, Ore. -- A federal jury in Oregon has awarded $18.6 million to a woman who spent two years unsuccessfully trying to get Equifax Information Services to fix major mistakes on her credit report.

Julie Miller of Marion County was awarded $18.4 million in punitive damages and $180,000 in compensatory damages, though Friday's award against one of the nation's major credit bureaus is likely to be appealed, The Oregonian reported.

The jury was told she contacted Equifax eight times between 2009 and 2011 in an effort to correct inaccuracies, including erroneous accounts and collection attempts, as well as a wrong Social Security number and birthday. Her lawsuit alleged the Atlanta-based company failed to correct the mistakes.

"There was damage to her reputation, a breach of her privacy and the lost opportunity to seek credit," said Justin Baxter, a Portland attorney who worked on the case with his father and law partner, Michael Baxter. "She has a brother who is disabled and who can't get credit on his own, and she wasn't able to help him."

Tim Klein, an Equifax spokesman, declined to comment on specifics of the case, saying he didn't have any details about the decision from the Oregon Federal District Court.

Miller discovered the problem when she was denied credit by a bank in early December 2009. She alerted Equifax and filled out multiple forms faxed by the credit agency seeking updated information. She had found similar mistakes in her reports with other credit bureaus, Baxter said, but those companies corrected their errors.

A Federal Trade Commission study earlier this year of 1,001 consumers who reviewed 2,968 of their credit reports found 21 percent contained errors. The survey found that 5 percent of the errors represented issues that would lead consumers to be denied credit.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663286/s/2f3d72f9/sc/8/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Cwoman0Ewins0E180E60Emillion0Etwo0Eyear0Ebattle0Eover0Ecredit0E6C10A772195/story01.htm

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Russian Vehicle Delivers Spacesuit Repair Kit To ISS

[unable to retrieve full-text content]A Russian spacecraft has successfully delivered new supplies to the ISS. Crucially, its payload is meant to prevent a repeat of the aborted spacewalk of earlier this month. Says the article:: "The cargo ship is loaded with nearly 3 tons (2.7 tonnes) of food, fuel, hardware and science experiment equipment for the six-person crew of the station's Expedition 36 mission. Among its cargo is a set of tools intended to help the astronauts investigate and patch up the spacesuit that malfunctioned during a July 16 spacewalk outside the orbiting laboratory."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/ptQCNioydyU/story01.htm

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Russian web search firm Yandex's co-founder dies

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The co-founder and chief technology officer of Russia's market-leading internet search engine company Yandex has died after treatment for cancer, the Nasdaq-listed company said on Sunday.

Ilya Segalovich, aged 48, founded Yandex in 1997 with Arkady Volozh, the company's chief executive officer.

He passed away on Saturday after falling into a coma and being taken off of life support by doctors, Volozh said in a statement on the company's blog.

The duo coined the name "Yandex" - with "Ya" standing for the Russian equivalent to English pronoun "I" and the full name originally stood for "Yet Another iNDEX" but today is synonymous with internet search in Russian-speaking countries.

Yandex raised $1.4 billion in an oversubscribed initial public offering in New York in 2011 and it currently has a market value of $10 billion.

The company had a 61.7 percent share of the Russian search market in the second quarter, ahead of Google and Russian rival Mail.Ru Group, it said on Thursday.

(Reporting by Maria Kiselyova; Writing by Alissa de Carbonnel. Editing by Jane Merriman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russian-search-firm-yandexs-co-founder-dies-101845074.html

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Saturday Diary / Small worlds: getting a haircut, watching some football

While visiting Dallas recently on our annual trip to see most of our relatives, I had to get a haircut. There had been no time for one before we left, and my only niece was getting married while we there. I was going to be an usher in that wedding, so I wanted to look good. That's not easy for me, but a haircut likely would help.

I randomly chose a place not far from my mother's apartment. There were several others just as close, but I made my choice and, at about 3:15 on a Monday afternoon, I walked in. The woman running the place said there would be a short wait. As I started to turn around to find an empty chair, another woman tapped me on the shoulder from behind and asked if I were David Fink. I wasn't going to lie about it, so I said "yes." I recognized her instantly as a daughter of my best friend and colleague nearly 40 years ago when I worked for a long-gone newspaper in Dallas.

He died last fall, and I had sent condolences, but I had not talked to or seen either of his daughters in a long time. But there was one of them with one of her twins in tow. They were doing some errands, the boy needed a haircut and, at exactly the same time as I arrived at a randomly selected barber shop roughly 1,200 miles from home, so did they. Small world, indeed.

But it gets better and smaller ...

?

Everett Cook arrived at the Post-Gazette in early June and is spending most of his summer in our sports department, where I edit many of his stories. He attends the University of Michigan and is one of many interns who have washed ashore here in the past two months. It's an annual rite of summer, and I do not mind it. In fact, many of them invigorate the newsroom, and some reinforce the notion that the future of our business will be in good hands. I am no authority on the subject, but I supervised the intern program here for more than 20 years.

Incidentally, by my unsolicited reckoning, Mr. Cook has a fine future in our business.

But, as things turned out, I knew of Mr. Cook before he arrived, sort of. If you are befuddled, consider how I felt when I figured it out.

Everett Cook is big. Stands about 6 foot 4 and likely weighs 245 pounds or so. Not the kind of young man who is easily forgotten. In most cases, he makes a big first impression, pun intended.

Our paths, however, first crossed in December 2009 on a chilly Friday night that followed a chilly and wet day in San Jose, Calif., and, of course, I was unaware of it. And so was he.

I was visiting my son, who, at the time, worked for the National Hockey League team there, the Sharks. I visited him at least once a year, and we always had wanted to see a high school football game out there to compare the feel of the game, the crowds, the players' talent, etc,, to high school football here in Western Pennsylvania. Some of his friends highly recommended a playoff game between Bellarmine Prep and St. Francis that was destined to draw a standing-room-only crowd of at least 11,000. So, off we went.

We knew little about either team but were funneled to a standing-room section behind a railing adjacent to the Bellarmine side. So, we adopted Bellarmine as our team. Go Bells! In a bizarre touch, the football-savvy and friendly man next to us turned out to be a North Allegheny High School graduate with many remaining links to the Pittsburgh area. But I digress.

The caliber of players and play was high, the game thrilling. The Bells rallied late for a win, then preserved it even later with an interception near their end zone. We have remained fans of the Bells, and each week of the high school football season I check the Internet for Bellarmine scores. The Bells rarely disappoint me.

?

About a week ago, a colleague casually mentioned that Everett Cook was from California. He was not sure where in California, but he thought it might be San Jose. Since I had been there a few times and my son had worked there, that intrigued me and some bells went off. But Mr. Cook was out of town on assignment, so I turned to my crack research team (uh ... that's me) and did some fast investigation.

Less than 24 hours later, I confirmed, with Mr. Cook's kind assistance, that he was from San Jose and, yes, No. 76 on our program that night nearly four years ago was -- injured shoulder and all -- starting nose tackle Everett Cook, listed then at 6-4, 265. He could not believe the chain of events that stretched from San Jose to Ann Arbor, Mich., to the corner of Commonwealth and the Boulevard of the Allies any more than I could.

Talk about it being a small world ...

Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/perspectives/saturday-diary-small-worlds-getting-a-haircut-watching-some-football-697086

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Bride, best man missing in boat crash on Hudson River; one body found

Katherine Craeg / NBC New York

By Tracy Jarrett, Writer, NBC News

One body has been found in the water after a bride-to-be and a best man went missing when a boat crashed into a barge on the Hudson River on Friday night, officials said.

Four other people remained in the hospital Saturday while investigators continued their search, NBC New York reported.

A woman's body was discovered adrift and without a life jacket not far south of the bridge, Rockland County Undersheriff Robert Van Cura said as a press conference on Saturday.?Police will continue searching for a missing male body.

The Coast Guard said six people?were on a 21-foot Stingray near Piermont, N.Y., when it hit the barge at around 10:40 p.m. local time on Friday evening in the vicinity of the Tappan Zee Bridge.

The accident happened shortly after the boat left Piermont for a short trip across the river to Tarrytown, Rockland County Sheriff's Department Chief William Barbera said at a news conference on Saturday morning, according to the Associated Press.

---

"While the Rockland County Sheriff, N.Y. State Police and U.S. Coast Guard continue to investigate this tragic incident, the New York State Thruway Authority is conducting its own review of safety procedures on the Hudson River as part of the New NY Bridge Project,? said Brian Conybeare, special advisor to the governor, in a statement.

The woman, identified by family members as Lindsey Stewart, 30, was to get married on Aug. 10, and the man, identified as Mark Lennon, was supposed to be the best man in the wedding, relatives told NBC New York.

?Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families during this difficult time," Conybeare added.

Groom-to-be?Brian Bond, 36, is among the four injured passengers, who were described as suffering severe injuries, including head trauma and broken bones. Bond is in ?fair? condition at Westchester Medical Center, according to spokesman David Billing.?

Some of those?injured are awake and providing information to investigators. Bond, however, is currently unable to speak due to his injuries, Walter Kosik, the bride?s stepfather told NBC New York.

Police said that while it would have been dark in the area at the time of the crash, the barge was lit up.

"At this point, Tappan Zee Constructors, LLC, has reported to the Thruway Authority that all Coast Guard lighting requirements were met and that the barges were properly lit Friday night. All lighting was checked Saturday morning and is fully operational at all barge locations associated with the project,? Conybeare said in the statement.

Related:

This story was originally published on Sat Jul 27, 2013 3:53 PM EDT

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