Costa offers $14,460 per person for ruined cruise

In this undated photo released by the Italian Navy Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, the Costa Concordia cruise ship is seen grounded off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy. Italian authorities have identified the bodies of three German passengers as divers kept up the search for those still missing from the Costa Concordia cruise ship that rammed into a reef off Italy. Sixteen deaths have been confirmed so far in the disaster, but three of those bodies have yet to be identified. Another 16 people are still missing from the ship, which grounded Jan. 13, but officials have acknowledged that it would take a miracle to find any more survivors. Salvage experts worked Thursday so they could begin pumping tons of fuel off the ship starting Saturday to avert an environmental catastrophe. The stricken ship lies very close to a marine sanctuary. (AP Photo/Italian Navy)

In this undated photo released by the Italian Navy Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, the Costa Concordia cruise ship is seen grounded off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy. Italian authorities have identified the bodies of three German passengers as divers kept up the search for those still missing from the Costa Concordia cruise ship that rammed into a reef off Italy. Sixteen deaths have been confirmed so far in the disaster, but three of those bodies have yet to be identified. Another 16 people are still missing from the ship, which grounded Jan. 13, but officials have acknowledged that it would take a miracle to find any more survivors. Salvage experts worked Thursday so they could begin pumping tons of fuel off the ship starting Saturday to avert an environmental catastrophe. The stricken ship lies very close to a marine sanctuary. (AP Photo/Italian Navy)

Seagulls stand on a rock near the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. Italian authorities have identified the bodies of three German passengers as divers kept up the search for those still missing from the Costa Concordia cruise ship that rammed into a reef off Italy. Sixteen deaths have been confirmed so far in the disaster, but three of those bodies have yet to be identified. Another 16 people are still missing from the ship, which grounded Jan. 13, but officials have acknowledged that it would take a miracle to find any more survivors. Salvage experts worked Thursday so they could begin pumping tons of fuel off the ship starting Saturday to avert an environmental catastrophe. The stricken ship lies very close to a marine sanctuary. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

A view of the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. Italian authorities have identified the bodies of three German passengers as divers kept up the search for those still missing from the Costa Concordia cruise ship that rammed into a reef off Italy. Sixteen deaths have been confirmed so far in the disaster, but three of those bodies have yet to be identified. Another 16 people are still missing from the ship, which grounded Jan. 13, but officials have acknowledged that it would take a miracle to find any more survivors. Salvage experts worked Thursday so they could begin pumping tons of fuel off the ship starting Saturday to avert an environmental catastrophe. The stricken ship lies very close to a marine sanctuary. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

Italian firefighters, top, work on the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, as Italian Financial police scuba divers prepare to dive, bottom, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. Italian authorities have identified the bodies of three German passengers as divers kept up the search for those still missing from the Costa Concordia cruise ship that rammed into a reef off Italy. Sixteen deaths have been confirmed so far in the disaster, but three of those bodies have yet to be identified. Another 16 people are still missing from the ship, which grounded Jan. 13, but officials have acknowledged that it would take a miracle to find any more survivors. Salvage experts worked Thursday so they could begin pumping tons of fuel off the ship starting Saturday to avert an environmental catastrophe. The stricken ship lies very close to a marine sanctuary. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

Italian Navy scuba divers gestures as they return after assignment of the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. Italian authorities have identified the bodies of three German passengers as divers kept up the search for those still missing from the Costa Concordia cruise ship that rammed into a reef off Italy. Sixteen deaths have been confirmed so far in the disaster, but three of those bodies have yet to be identified. Another 16 people are still missing from the ship, which grounded Jan. 13, but officials have acknowledged that it would take a miracle to find any more survivors. Salvage experts worked Thursday so they could begin pumping tons of fuel off the ship starting Saturday to avert an environmental catastrophe. The stricken ship lies very close to a marine sanctuary. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

ROME (AP) ? Costa Crociere SpA is offering uninjured passengers euro11,000 ($14,460) apiece to compensate them for lost baggage and psychological trauma after its cruise ship ran aground and capsized off Tuscany when the captain deviated from his route.

Costa, a unit of the world's biggest cruise operator, the Miami-based Carnival Corp., also said it would reimburse passengers the full costs of their cruise, travel expenses and any medical expenses sustained after the grounding.

The agreement was announced Friday after negotiations between Costa representatives and Italian consumer groups who say they represent 3,206 cruise ship passengers from 61 countries who suffered no physical harm when the Costa Concordia hit a reef on Jan. 13.

The deal does not apply to the hundreds of crew on the ship, the roughly 100 cases of people injured or the families who lost loved ones.

Passengers are free to pursue legal action on their own if they aren't satisfied with the deal.

Some consumer groups have already signed on as injured parties in the criminal case against the Concordia's captain, Francesco Schettino, who is accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship before all passengers were evacuated. He is under house arrest.

In addition, Codacons, one of Italy's best known consumer groups, has engaged two U.S. law firms to launch a class-action lawsuit against Costa and Carnival in Miami, claiming that it expects to get anywhere from euro125,000 ($164,000) to euro1 million ($1.3 million) per passenger.

But Roberto Corbella, who represented Costa in the negotiations, said the deal offered Friday provides passengers with quick, "generous," and certain restitution that consumer groups estimate could amount to some euro14,000 per passenger including the reimbursements.

"The big advantage that they have is an immediate response, no legal expenses, and they can put this whole thing behind them," he told The Associated Press.

Angry passenger Herbert Greszuk, a 62-year-old German who left behind everything he had with him, including his tuxedo, camera, jewelry, and even his dentures, told the AP before the compensation was announced that it was an issue of accountability.

"Something like this must not be allowed to happen again. So many people died; it's simply inexcusable," he said.

The Concordia gashed its hull on reefs off the island of Giglio after Schettino made an unauthorized deviation from its approved route to bring it closer to Giglio. Some 4,200 passengers and crew were hastily evacuated after the Concordia ran aground and capsized a few kilometers away near the port of Giglio.

Sixteen bodies have been recovered and another 16 remain unaccounted for and presumed dead. Search efforts for them resumed Friday as salvage crews prepared to begin extracting some 500,000 tons of heavy fuel oil before it leaks.

Italy's civil protection office on Friday released a list of some of the other possibly toxic substances aboard the cruise liner amid concerns of possible environmental pollution. They include 50 liters of insecticide and 41 cubic meters of lubricants, among other things.

But so far, even though there has been some film detected in the waters around the ship, tests on the waters indicate nothing outside the norm, according to Tuscany's regional environment agency.

"Toxic tests have all resulted negative," the agency said. "For now, there are no significant signs of sea water pollution."

The crystal clear seas around Giglio are a haven for scuba divers and form part of a marine sanctuary for dolphins, porpoises and whales.

Passengers have said the evacuation was chaotic, with crew members unprepared to deal with an emergency and constantly downplaying the seriousness of the situation. Coast guard data shows the captain only sounded the evacuation alarm an hour after the initial collision, well after the Concordia had listed to the point that many lifeboats couldn't be lowered.

Schettino has admitted he had taken the ship on "touristic navigation" near Giglio but has said the rocks he hit weren't charted on his nautical maps.

Codacons has called for a criminal investigation into the not-infrequent practice of "tourist navigation" ? steering huge cruise ships close to shore in a publicity stunt to give passengers a view of the sites.

The chief executive of Costa, Pier Luigi Foschi, told an Italian parliamentary committee this week that "tourist navigation" wasn't illegal, and was a "cruise product" increasingly sought out by passengers and offered by cruise lines to try to stay competitive.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-27-EU-Italy-Cruise-Aground/id-000bdbe5538e45a482477603fe260742

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OMG! Alaska Airlines discontinues controversial prayer cards

A collection of Alaska Airlines prayer cards, which will be discontinued on Feb. 1, 2012.

By Harriet Baskas, msnbc.com contributor

In a memo sent to its frequent fliers Wednesday, Alaska Airlines announced that the prayer cards it has been providing to passengers on meal trays for the past 30 years will be discontinued as of Feb. 1.

?A former marketing executive borrowed the idea from another airline and introduced the cards to our passengers in the late 1970s to differentiate our service,? the memo written by the company's chairman and president explained.

But airline spokesperson Bobbie Egan told msnbc.com that over the years the airline has received letters and e-mails from customers for and against the card. Last fall the company decided to stop distributing the cards because, Egan said, ?We believe it's the right thing to do in order to respect the diverse religious beliefs and cultural attitudes of all our customers and employees.?

Meal tray service in the coach class ended six years ago, so the prayer cards have been provided only to passengers in the first class cabin. MVP Gold flier Roz Schatman gets the cards on her meal tray quite often. ?In the spirit of diversity, I find them offensive,? she said.

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Would you be offended by a prayer card?

The Alaska Airline statement said that while some passengers enjoyed the cards, reactions like Schatman?s were not unusual.

??[W]e've heard from many of you who believe religion is inappropriate on an airplane, and some are offended when we hand out the cards. Religious beliefs are deeply personal and sharing them with others is an individual choice.?

?It always seemed odd to me,? said George Hobica of the consumer travel website Airfarewatchdog.com. ?Flying on a wing and prayer? I don?t think those two go together.?

More stories:

Find more by Harriet Baskas on StuckatTheAirport.com and follow her on Twitter.

Source: http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/25/10236415-omg-alaska-airlines-discontinues-controversial-prayer-cards

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Discovery identifies potential target for anti-craving medications

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Scientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have identified a potential target for the development of anti-craving medications for people with addictions to stimulants such as methamphetamine.

The discovery centres on a brain receptor related to the chemical dopamine, which has a complex role in addictive behaviours.

Using brain scans and a novel chemical probe developed in CAMH's Research Imaging Centre, CAMH scientists found that the probe had high levels of binding to the dopamine D3 receptor in some people with methamphetamine addiction, compared with those who had no addiction. Higher levels of D3 were also linked to participants' reported motivation to take drugs.

"This is the first time, to our knowledge, that anyone has shown that D3 receptor levels are high in people with an active addiction to methamphetamine," says Dr. Isabelle Boileau, a scientist in the Research Imaging Centre, part of the new Campbell Family Research Institute at CAMH. Boileau led the study that appears in the January 25, 2012 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

Using positron emission tomography (PET), Boileau's team looked at D3 levels in 16 people who were dependent on methamphetamine. Participants abstained from methamphetamine use for 14 days prior to brain scans. Their results were compared with scans from 16 participants with no addiction. On a separate day after scanning, participants were given a low dose of amphetamine, and they had to report how much they wanted to use drugs.

D3 receptors appear to have a role in craving, but it is not fully established how they are related to drug-related behaviours. The new chemical probe developed at CAMH, called 11C-(+)-PHNO, binds to dopamine D3 receptors. This probe allows researchers to study D3 in people for the first time, using PET scans, in order to answer questions about its role in stimulant addiction.

Understanding the role of brain receptors in addiction has enabled researchers to develop treatment medications, such as nicotine replacement therapy for smoking. So far, therapeutic strategies for stimulant addiction have focused on increasing activity with D2 receptors, where binding levels have been low.

"We can now suggest that any therapeutic approach aimed at increasing activity with D2 receptors should consider being selective at targeting D2, and not increasing D3 levels," says Boileau. "Our finding also supports the idea that D3 should be considered another target for anti-craving medications."

Boileau is also looking at the role of D3 in different types of addictions, including cocaine and gambling.

Building on CAMH?s record of innovation and discovery, the Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute will be accelerating discoveries in the areas of mood disorders, addictions, schizophrenia and cognitive impairment.

CAMH?s Research Imaging Centre is the first of its kind in Canada where positron emission tomography (PET), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and imaging-genetics are dedicated to the study of mental illness and addictions.

This new discovery is an example of the innovative brain science at CAMH's new Research Imaging Centre, the first of its kind in Canada where positron emission tomography (PET), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and genetic imaging are dedicated to the study of mental illness and addictions.

###

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health: http://www.camh.net

Thanks to Centre for Addiction and Mental Health for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/117047/Discovery_identifies_potential_target_for_anti_craving_medications_

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Video: First Read Minute

NBC's Domenico Montanaro discusses the highlights from the State of the Union and previews the newest Florida GOP Primary poll.

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/46132604/

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Black adorned feathers of winged dinosaurs

The raven-size creature long thought of as the earliest bird, Archaeopteryx, may have been adorned with black feathers, researchers have found.

The structures that held the black pigment may have strengthened wing feathers, perhaps helping Archaeopteryx fly, scientists added.

Archaeopteryx lived about 150 million years ago in what is now Bavaria in Germany. First unearthed 150 years ago, the fossil of this carnivore, with its blend of avian and reptilian features, seemed an iconic evolutionary link between dinosaurs and birds.

One recent study has called into question whether Archaeopteryx was a true bird or just one of many birdlike dinosaurs. To learn more about whether birds and birdlike dinosaurs might have evolved flight, and if so, why, researchers often turn to the animals' feathers. Illustrations of the creature are often colorful, but such depictions of its plumage until now had little else but artistic license to draw on.

"Being able to reconstruct the colors of feathers can help us gain more knowledge about the organisms and more responsibly reconstruct what they looked like," researcher Ryan Carney, an evolutionary biologist at Brown University, told LiveScience.

Black feathers
An international team of scientists now finds that a well-preserved feather on Archaeopteryx's wing was black. The color-generating structures within the creature's feather, known as melanosomes, "would have given the feathers additional structural support," Carney said. "This would have been advantageous during this early evolutionary stage of dinosaur flight."

The Archaeopteryx feather was discovered in a limestone deposit in Germany in 1861. After two unsuccessful attempts to pinpoint any melanosomes within the feather, the investigators tried a more powerful type of scanning electron microscope.

"The third time was the charm, and we finally found the keys to unlocking the feather's original color, hidden in the rock for the past 150 million years," Carney said.

The group located patches of hundreds of melanosomes encased within the fossil. The sausage-shape melanosomes were about 1 millionth of a meter long and 250 billionths of a meter wide ? that is, about one-hundredth the diameter of a human hair in length and less than a wavelength of visible light in width. To determine the color of these melanosomes, researchers compared the fossilized structures with those found in 87 species of living birds that represented four classes of feathers ? black, gray, brown and ones found in penguins, which have unusually large melanosomes compared with other birds.

"What we found was that the feather was predicted to be black with 95 percent certainty," Carney said.

Did Archaeopteryx fly?
To better pin down the structure of the feather, they analyzed its barbules ? tiny, riblike appendages that overlap and interlock like zippers to give a feather rigidity and strength. The barbules and the way melanosomes are lined up within them are identical to those found in modern birds, Carney said.

This analysis revealed the feather is a covert, one that covers the primary wing feathers that birds use in flight. Its feather structure is identical to that of living birds, suggesting "that completely modern bird feathers evolved as early as 150 million years ago," Carney said.

Color may serve many functions in modern birds, and it remains unclear what use or uses this pigment had in Archaeopteryx. Black feathers may have helped the creature absorb sunlight for heat, acted as camouflage, served in courtship displays or assisted with flight.

"We can't say it's proof that Archaeopteryx was a flier, but what we can say is that in modern bird feathers, these melanosomes provide additional strength and resistance to abrasion from flight, which is why wing feathers and their tips are the most likely areas to be pigmented," Carney said. "With Archaeopteryx, as with birds today, the melanosomes we found would have provided similar structural advantages, regardless of whether the pigmentation initially evolved for another purpose."

More feathers will need to be tested across Archaeopteryx to see how the animal was colored overall, researchers said. Unfortunately, this is the only Archaeopteryx feather discovered with the kind of residues one can test for color.

1. More science news from msnbc.com

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Still, this one feather is enough to leave an indelible mark on Carney. "I got a tattoo of the feather on the 150th anniversary that Archaeopteryx's scientific name was published," he said.

The scientists detailed their findings online Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications. Their work was funded by the National Geographic Society and the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.

? 2012 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46116945/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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Summary Box: Siemens quarterly net down 17 percent (AP)

LOSING STEAM: Industrial equipment maker Siemens AG said Tuesday that net profit fell 17 percent to euro1.46 billion ($1.89 billion) in the final quarter of 2011 due to delays in major wind-power and rail projects.

EUROPE DEBT IMPACT: CEO Peter Loescher said the result showed that troubles In financial markets from Europe's debt crisis "have left their mark on the real economy" through weaker demand.

WORLD VIEW: Siemens fortunes are a clue to demand in the global economy, since the company is active far beyond its German home ? in the U.S., Asia and the developing world.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/environment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_germany_earns_siemens_summary_box

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Newt blows GOP race wide open (Politico)

COLUMBIA, S.C. ? Less than two weeks ago, Mitt Romney seemed all but certain to become the Republican presidential nominee.

But after being thoroughly routed Saturday by Newt Gingrich in a primary Romney seemed likely to win just days earlier, the GOP frontrunner appears weaker than ever and the race seems likely to last at least until the spring.

Continue Reading

Newt claims victory in S.C.

Winners and losers in 60 seconds

South Carolina historically brings clarity to Republican primary campaigns. This year, the Palmetto State has delivered drama, confusion and sparked a sense of growing concern for party elders.

With three separate candidates taking the first three states, none of the contenders has a convincing hold on the campaign. A contest that appeared increasingly clear following New Hampshire is now scrambled to the point that a protracted delegate battle is a real possibility.

Newt Gingrich heads into Florida emboldened by two assets that will test Romney?s organization and money there: the momentum from a double-digit victory and a conservative base that appears to be coalescing.

But the results here revealed Romney?s weakness as much as they hinted at Gingrich?s potential.

The establishment favorite didn?t just lose South Carolina ? he got thrashed. Less than a week after he was leading in the polls here, Romney found himself taking a twelve-point beating and dropping all but three counties of the state?s 46 counties.

Romney?s thumping defeat ? and his verbal miscues in the days before the election ? has many Republicans worried that he?s a more brittle candidate than they thought. As in the past, he had difficulty connecting with the party base and was walloped by Gingrich among conservatives and voters supportive of the Tea Party. It?s the former speaker who is captivating party activists looking for somebody to channel their burn-it-down anger toward President Obama and elites.

?I think a lot of folks saw some fight from Newt Gingrich, really going on offense, and I think our nominee needs to understand that America is really concerned about the direction of our country,? Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said in an interview. ?They know there are powerful forces in Washington and the media pushing us in the wrong direction. They want to make sure that the Republican nominee has got the courage and, you know, fire in his gut to go after that. And I think they saw a little bit of that in Newt.?

But the statement made in South Carolina wasn?t entirely about Gingrich?s attributes. He also served as a vessel for rank-and-file voters to send a message.

?The Republican primary electorate does not intend to do what the Republican establishment tells them,? said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a longtime strategist, comparing voters here to the independent-minded class of House GOP freshman.

It was impossible not to see the results as an indictment of Romney, though. The pulses of conservative activists just don?t go racing for the frontrunner ? and he?s paying a price for his inability to capture his party?s spirit.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories0112_71778_html/44262338/SIG=11mjvoaiq/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71778.html

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