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NAIROBI, Kenya NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) ? In a siege that lasted nearly two weeks, forces of Somalia's semiautonomous Puntland region raided a hijacked ship Sunday and safely rescued 22 hostages who had been held captive for nearly three years, authorities said.
The Puntland government said their forces captured the Panama-flagged MV Iceberg 1, which was docked near the Gara'ad coastal village in Mudung region.
"After two years and nine months in captivity, the hostages have suffered signs of physical torture and illness. The hostages are now receiving nutrition and medical care," a statement said.
Hassan Abdi, a pirate commander, who was in touch with the ship's hijackers, said eight pirates on board the vessel were able to escape as Puntland soldiers closed in.
"None of us has been harmed," Abdi said. Puntland authorities said they had laid siege to the MV Iceberg 1 on Dec. 10.
The rescued crew members include eight Yemenis, five Indians, two Pakistanis, four Ghanaians, two Sudanese and a Filipino, Puntland Ports and Anti-piracy minister Saeed Mohamed Rage told The Associated Press. The ship was hijacked March 29, 2010.
Alan Cole, the head of the U.N.'s anti-piracy program, said the MV Iceberg 1 is one of the longest held by Somali pirates.
Close to 120 seafarers are still held by Somali pirates, though that number is considerably down from the height of the piracy crisis two years ago, when more than 600 hostages were held at once.
Hijackings by Somali pirates have significantly decreased in the last couple of years, because many ships now carry armed guards and there is an international naval armada that carries out onshore raids. In 2010, pirates seized 47 vessels. So far this year, they've taken five, a decrease that could signify that the scourge is ending, though experts say it is too early to declare victory.
The overwhelming majority of hostages have been sailors on merchant ships, though European families have also been kidnapped from their yachts while traveling in the dangerous Indian Ocean coastal waters. Four Americans were killed in February 2011 when the pirates who boarded their ship apparently became trigger-happy because of nearby U.S. warships.
For the pirates, the risks of being arrested, killed or lost at sea are overshadowed by the potential for huge payouts. Ransoms for large ships in recent years have averaged close to $5 million. The largest reported ransom was $11 million for the Greek oil tanker MV Irene SL last year.
The ransoms are often air-dropped down to hijacked ships. Somalia has been mired in conflict since President Siad Barre was overthrown by warlords in 1991 who then turned on each other.
CHICAGO (AP) -?If the wireless Internet connection during your holiday flight seems more reliable than it used to, you could have the humble potato to thank.?
While major airlines offer in-flight Wi-Fi on many flights, the signal strength can be spotty. Airlines and aircraft makers have been striving to improve this with the growing use of wireless devices and the number of people who don't want to be disconnected, even 35,000 feet up.?
"That's where potatoes come into the picture," Boeing spokesman Adam Tischler said.?Engineers at Chicago-based Boeing Co. used sacks of potatoes as stand-ins for passengers as they worked to eliminate weak spots in in-flight wireless signals. They needed full planes to get accurate results during signal testing, but they couldn't ask people to sit motionless for days while data was gathered.?
It turns out that potatoes ? because of their water content and chemistry ? absorb and reflect radio wave signals much the same way as the human body does, making them suitable substitutes for airline passengers.?
"It's a testament to the ingenuity of these engineers. They didn't go in with potatoes as the plan," Tischler said.?
Recapping the serendipitous path that led to better onboard wireless, Tischler said a member of the research team stumbled across an article in the Journal of Food Science describing research in which 15 vegetables and fruits were evaluated for their dielectric properties, or the way they transmit electric force without conduction.?
Its conclusions led the Boeing researchers to wonder if potatoes might serve just as well as humans during their own signal testing. Despite some skepticism, they ended up buying 20,000 pounds of them.?
Video and photos of the work, which started in 2006, show a decommissioned airplane loaded with row upon row of potato sacks that look like large, lumpy passengers. The sacks sit eerily still in the seats as the engineers collect data on the strength of wireless signals in various spots.?
The Boeing engineers added some complicated statistical analysis and the result was a proprietary system for fine tuning Internet signals so they would be strong and reliable wherever a laptop was used on a plane.?
Boeing says the system also ensures Wi-Fi signals won't interfere with the plane's sensitive navigation and communications equipment.?
"From a safety standpoint, you want to know what the peak signals are, what's the strongest signal one of our communications and navigation systems might see from a laptop or 150 laptops or 350 laptops," Boeing engineer Dennis Lewis explains in a video.?
In a nod to the humor in using a tuber to solve a high-tech problem, researchers dubbed the project Synthetic Personnel Using Dialectic Substitution, or SPUDS.?
The company says better Wi-Fi signals can be found already on three Boeing aircraft models flown by major airlines: 777, 747-8 and the 787 Dreamliner.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
OpGen announces sequence assembly and finishing of first reference genome of domestic goatPublic release date: 23-Dec-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dan Budwick dan@purecommunicationsinc.com 973-271-6085 Pure Communications Inc.
Whole genome mapping technology plays integral role in international study
Gaithersburg, Md.December 23, 2012 OpGen, Inc. today announced its ARGUS Whole Genome Mapping System technology was used in combination with next-generation sequencing (NGS) to produce the first, high-quality reference genome of the domestic goat. The study, which was led by BGI-Shenzhen and Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences was published online today in Nature Biotechnology. The paper, titled Sequencing and automated whole-genome optical mapping of the genome of a domestic goat (Capra hircus), demonstrates the value, efficiency and cost effectiveness of OpGen's Whole Genome Mapping in de novo assemblies of large, complex genomes.
"This independent technology provides not only the validation of the genome sequencing, but also provides the large-scale chromosome structure information that cannot be detected by sequencing," said Xun Xu, Deputy Director, BGI-Shenzhen. "The experience in these genome assembly projects shows that the physical whole genome map should be the standard for any reference genome to be assembled in the future."
Goats are an important economic resource in many developing countries around the globe, including China and India. However, despite their agricultural and biological importance, breeding and genetic studies of goats have been hindered by the lack of a high-quality reference genome sequence. The goat genome is the first high-quality reference genome for small ruminate animals and may help to advance the understanding of distinct ruminant genomic features from non-ruminant species.
Although generating draft assemblies from NGS is relatively easy, finishing a sequence to the chromosome level is still difficult and costly. The findings show that a single NGS platform, when combined with Whole Genome Mapping, can produce a finished assembly much faster and less expensively than other currently available mapping strategies such as bacterial artificial chromosome (BACs) or fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). This approach sets the gold standard in large genome de novo assembly, eliminating the need for genetic maps which can be very time consuming.
"By incorporating Whole Genome Mapping, we were able to overcome the limitations of NGS' short read scaffolds to produce long super-scaffolds and finish the assembly to the near chromosome level," said Wen Wang, Deputy Director, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and an author of the paper. "We could not have completed the project without OpGen's technology."
In the study, OpGen's ARGUS system produced 100,000 single molecule restriction maps in three hours. This resulted in 30 times the physical coverage of the goat genome. The company's Genome Builder software generated long super-scaffolds by combining single molecule map data with sequence scaffolds generated by NGS and subsequent assembly. Specifically, the metric of assembly (N50) was improved eightfold by combining Whole Genome Mapping with NGS over NGS alone.
"While we continue to demonstrate the value of Whole Genome Mapping for assembly, quality control and validation of microbial genomes, we are pleased to expand its applications as a critical, complementary technology enabling investigators to provide complete and accurate long-range genomic information in complex, de novo projects," said Richard Moore, M.D., Ph.D., chief scientific officer of OpGen and an author of the paper. "This paper is the first of many we expect to be published over the next year which will validate OpGen's Whole Genome Mapping technology as a solution for the de novo assembly of the spectrum of genomes from microbes to mammals."
###
About ARGUS Whole Genome Mapping System
OpGen's ARGUS Whole Genome Mapping System is the only commercially available technology that can provide a high-resolution, complete visual map of a whole genome and individual chromosomes. The company's unique single molecule analysis technology provides a whole genome view that complements genome assembly and enables scientists to identify highly repetitive regions, tandem repeats and translocations that are very difficult to identify and clarify with sequencing alone. Sequencing projects can now be finished and validated with less investment in time, cost and computational effort.
About OpGen, Inc.
OpGen, Inc. is a leading innovator in providing rapid, accurate genomic and DNA analysis systems and services. The company's ARGUS Whole Genome Mapping System, GenomeBuilder and MapIt Services provide high-resolution, whole genome maps for sequence assembly and finishing, strain typing and comparative genomics in the life sciences market. OpGen's powerful technology dramatically improves the quality of data and time-to- results by providing sequence information from single DNA molecules more rapidly and less expensively than previously possible. The company is dedicated to positively influencing individual healthcare outcomes, advancing scientific research and enhancing public health by delivering precise, actionable information and results to customers in the life science and healthcare communities. OpGen's customers include leading genomic research centers, biodefense organizations, academic institutions, clinical research organizations and biotechnology companies. For more information, visit www.opgen.com.
OpGen Contacts:
Michael Farmer
Director, Marketing
(240) 813-1284 office
mfarmer@opgen.com
Dan Budwick (Media)
Pure Communications, Inc.
(973) 271-6085
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
OpGen announces sequence assembly and finishing of first reference genome of domestic goatPublic release date: 23-Dec-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dan Budwick dan@purecommunicationsinc.com 973-271-6085 Pure Communications Inc.
Whole genome mapping technology plays integral role in international study
Gaithersburg, Md.December 23, 2012 OpGen, Inc. today announced its ARGUS Whole Genome Mapping System technology was used in combination with next-generation sequencing (NGS) to produce the first, high-quality reference genome of the domestic goat. The study, which was led by BGI-Shenzhen and Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences was published online today in Nature Biotechnology. The paper, titled Sequencing and automated whole-genome optical mapping of the genome of a domestic goat (Capra hircus), demonstrates the value, efficiency and cost effectiveness of OpGen's Whole Genome Mapping in de novo assemblies of large, complex genomes.
"This independent technology provides not only the validation of the genome sequencing, but also provides the large-scale chromosome structure information that cannot be detected by sequencing," said Xun Xu, Deputy Director, BGI-Shenzhen. "The experience in these genome assembly projects shows that the physical whole genome map should be the standard for any reference genome to be assembled in the future."
Goats are an important economic resource in many developing countries around the globe, including China and India. However, despite their agricultural and biological importance, breeding and genetic studies of goats have been hindered by the lack of a high-quality reference genome sequence. The goat genome is the first high-quality reference genome for small ruminate animals and may help to advance the understanding of distinct ruminant genomic features from non-ruminant species.
Although generating draft assemblies from NGS is relatively easy, finishing a sequence to the chromosome level is still difficult and costly. The findings show that a single NGS platform, when combined with Whole Genome Mapping, can produce a finished assembly much faster and less expensively than other currently available mapping strategies such as bacterial artificial chromosome (BACs) or fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). This approach sets the gold standard in large genome de novo assembly, eliminating the need for genetic maps which can be very time consuming.
"By incorporating Whole Genome Mapping, we were able to overcome the limitations of NGS' short read scaffolds to produce long super-scaffolds and finish the assembly to the near chromosome level," said Wen Wang, Deputy Director, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and an author of the paper. "We could not have completed the project without OpGen's technology."
In the study, OpGen's ARGUS system produced 100,000 single molecule restriction maps in three hours. This resulted in 30 times the physical coverage of the goat genome. The company's Genome Builder software generated long super-scaffolds by combining single molecule map data with sequence scaffolds generated by NGS and subsequent assembly. Specifically, the metric of assembly (N50) was improved eightfold by combining Whole Genome Mapping with NGS over NGS alone.
"While we continue to demonstrate the value of Whole Genome Mapping for assembly, quality control and validation of microbial genomes, we are pleased to expand its applications as a critical, complementary technology enabling investigators to provide complete and accurate long-range genomic information in complex, de novo projects," said Richard Moore, M.D., Ph.D., chief scientific officer of OpGen and an author of the paper. "This paper is the first of many we expect to be published over the next year which will validate OpGen's Whole Genome Mapping technology as a solution for the de novo assembly of the spectrum of genomes from microbes to mammals."
###
About ARGUS Whole Genome Mapping System
OpGen's ARGUS Whole Genome Mapping System is the only commercially available technology that can provide a high-resolution, complete visual map of a whole genome and individual chromosomes. The company's unique single molecule analysis technology provides a whole genome view that complements genome assembly and enables scientists to identify highly repetitive regions, tandem repeats and translocations that are very difficult to identify and clarify with sequencing alone. Sequencing projects can now be finished and validated with less investment in time, cost and computational effort.
About OpGen, Inc.
OpGen, Inc. is a leading innovator in providing rapid, accurate genomic and DNA analysis systems and services. The company's ARGUS Whole Genome Mapping System, GenomeBuilder and MapIt Services provide high-resolution, whole genome maps for sequence assembly and finishing, strain typing and comparative genomics in the life sciences market. OpGen's powerful technology dramatically improves the quality of data and time-to- results by providing sequence information from single DNA molecules more rapidly and less expensively than previously possible. The company is dedicated to positively influencing individual healthcare outcomes, advancing scientific research and enhancing public health by delivering precise, actionable information and results to customers in the life science and healthcare communities. OpGen's customers include leading genomic research centers, biodefense organizations, academic institutions, clinical research organizations and biotechnology companies. For more information, visit www.opgen.com.
OpGen Contacts:
Michael Farmer
Director, Marketing
(240) 813-1284 office
mfarmer@opgen.com
Dan Budwick (Media)
Pure Communications, Inc.
(973) 271-6085
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
When we think of social media and business, the first few things to come to mind are Facebook and Twitter. Yet, there is one mobile app that tends to get overlooked by businesses: Foursquare. True, it doesn?t have the same numbers that the likes of Facebook and Twitter can boast, but what it does have is a dedicated audience which has made over three billion check-ins.
Regardless of whether you?re a retailer or not, any business can use Foursquare and getting yourself set up is easy. The only thing it needs is you to get involved.
Why Foursquare?
While it has a web presence, Foursquare has been growing quite steadily over the last few years, and offers some unique opportunities for businesses and brands. With over 25 million users globally and 31% of mobile users active on social networks using Foursquare, it has an engaged community and a passionate user base.
Foursquare?s main strength comes from its users, the power of personal recommendation and sharing on different social media sites. By seeing where their friends are going and the places they regularly frequent, they would be more likely to visit if the recommendation is positive. Foursquare doesn?t get the same attention as Facebook or Twitter, but this presents you with a better opportunity to develop customer loyalty through deals. While Facebook has released its new ?nearby? function for its app, Foursquare is still the king of check-in and location.
With over 40 million venues and one million businesses to check-in to, there?s a lot of potential to make Foursquare work for you.
Getting started
The first thing a business should do is to claim a location as your own, and inform Foursquare that you are the official owner of this particular space. By claiming this space, it will ensure that your business will appear on the map. There are two ways you can add your business onto Foursquare: The first is to visit Foursquare?s website and access its search engine. Type in the name of your business and if it appears, clicking the ?Claim here? link will allow you to claim ownership.
Alternatively, you can do this through the app as well, if the location doesn?t have an owner, or you can ring or mail Foursquare to verify your location.
If you can?t find your business on Foursquare search, you will need to add it manually. After signing in, head to the ?Add venue? section. Here you will be able to add the name, address, location, contact details and category your business falls under. It?s recommended that you provide as much information as possible so that people can easily find it when they?re in the area.
Create a Foursquare page
Alongside a mobile presence, Foursquare also allows you to create a web presence which allows you to manage all your locations in one place. Users can choose to follow pages, which will mean their updates will appear in the ?Friends? section. This is handier for those businesses with multiple locations who want to inform users of deals in multiple locations.
Each web page allows for a banner, sized 860 x 130, to be placed at the top of your page. Alongside your profile photo, you can place links to your website and other social media profiles underneath your description.
As well as showing all the different places your business is located, a page administrator can leave tips at your locations and other places too. This gives you the ability to leave messages for your followers informing them of check-in specials, deals, coupons and announcements relating to your business. These updates can be filtered so that they are only shared with specific locations or with the entirety of your company. This allows you to create local updates, and make them more relevant to specific followers.
All updates can have images added onto them (which is encouraged) as well as be cross posted to Facebook and Twitter to ensure maximum exposure. These updates will appear on each follower?s news feed, but can only be accessed through desktop. As of yet, there is no way to post updates via the app.
One thing to note its that not all Foursquare pages have physical locations, meaning products or people can communicate with followers without claiming a place.
Offering specials
One of the main pulls of Foursquare is the offering of deals and specials, giving users a reason to visit your business and can help you get new customers and followers. The type of offer you want to make available depends on the type of company you run, but the most popular ones would be offering the mayor of your location a discount, rewarding people for their first check-in, an offer when you check-in with friends, and an offer if you check-in to the same location numerous times. You can offer more than one special at a time, which allows you to reward both new and regular customers.
Different specials work for different businesses so you should test out different specials and see what works for your business. If you?re unsure, it?s worth testing out two different offers against each other to see which one gets the most ROI. Through this and promotion via local updates and other social media channels, you can get the word out there.
Adding tips & lists
Another factor that contributes to Foursquare?s success is the inclusion of tips for a specific locale. Tips allow users to find out more about a location, whether they recommend it and what other useful information they should keep in mind when they?re there. With 30 million insider tips available on the app, it?s a feature that users have taken to heart.
Tips aren?t just limited to just users, businesses can write up their own versions to ensure that users know everything they have to offer as well as give the company some personality.
What you should aim for is to become an authority on your area by providing tips about other locations close by. If you?re a cafe, you could recommend the park nearby as a great place to enjoy your latte. If you?re a sporting venue, you can inform followers where the dedicate fans like to visit first before they go to a game. Think about what your company has to offer and tie it into the places around you. Doing this will make your business more accessible to new and regular customers and hopefully allow other businesses to leave tips about you too.
When you have a collection of tips, the next step you should take is to turn them into curated lists for your fans to follow and contribute to. Lists are usually focused on specific locations or topics and can be very useful when you?re trying to build awareness of your business.
A popular list will give it more exposure without requiring users to follow you so look at tips from other businesses and start putting together different lists. Usually, it?s best to focus on your area, especially if you?re based in a large city, but there?s nothing to say that you can?t create a citywide list which would come in handy for tourists and visitors.
Foursquare badges
One of the most popular features of Foursquare is the ability to earn badges when they check-in at various locations. Foursquare incorporates its own built-in badges such as the adventurer badge and the mayor badge, but businesses and brands can also apply to have their own custom badges included.
However, demand is very high for custom badges, and Foursquare is very selective in the kind of badges it approves. Also, Foursquare?s minimum badge commitment is three months at $25,000 per month, making it a costly venture.
Once you?ve got your idea and plan in place for your custom badge, the next step is pitching the idea to Foursquare. All applications must be submitted through Foursquare?s business page, where you will be asked to complete on online form.
To submit a custom badge application to Foursquare, go to the Foursquare Partner Badge Inquiry page and select ?Partner Badge? under ?badge type.? Enter your first and last name in the appropriate box, then enter your business email address underneath.
Outline your idea for the badge campaign in the space provided. To get the attention of the approval team, your idea must be solid, easy to communicate, and in line with the key elements Foursquare is looking for in a custom badge.
Type the name of the badge in the box below the idea for the badge. Keep it short and straightforward, explaining why you think the badge will encourage positive behaviours and activities. Foursquare is more likely to approve badges that provide opportunities nationwide and that are clear about what users must do in order to achieve the badge. Check the box next to the type of business you represent, then click ?Submit.?
This article is published in association with SimplyZesty, a digital marketing agency.
(Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday blocked a new Missouri law that requires health insurers to offer plans that exclude contraception coverage if employers or individuals object to birth control on moral or religious grounds.
U.S. District Judge Audrey Fleissig granted a temporary restraining order preventing the enforcement of the law, writing that it appears to conflict with the new federal health care law.
Republican lawmakers in Missouri drafted the law in response to President Barack Obama's policy of requiring insurers to cover birth control for free as part of the new federal health care law, even if they work for a church or other employer that has a moral objection.
State lawmakers in September overrode a veto by Democratic Governor Jay Nixon to enact the law.
The Missouri Insurance Coalition, a nonprofit whose members include health insurers that do business in the state, asked the judge to block the state law, arguing that it conflicts with federal law and is therefore invalid.
Fleissig wrote that the coalition is likely to succeed on that claim "given what appears to be an irreconcilable conflict" between the federal and state laws.
At a hearing, the judge wrote, the Missouri Department of Insurance "could offer no response to how there would not be a direct conflict" between the federal and state laws if an insurer offered a health insurance plan "that acquiesced to an employer's decision not to offer contraceptive coverage."
She is expected to schedule a hearing on a preliminary injunction.
(Reporting By Corrie MacLaggan; editing by Todd Eastham)
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Public release date: 23-Dec-2012
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