Contrary to the breakup rumors that flooded the Internet earlier this month, Selena Gomez is perfectly happy with pop-star boyfriend Justin Bieber.
He's just one of a few topics the VMA nominee chatted about with Teen Vogue for a September cover story. Gomez also discussed her aspirations to take acting to a whole new level and her dreams to make music with another Justin.
Describing her relationship with Bieber as "really fun," Gomez told the mag she feels "lucky" to have the young singer by her side. "I'm 20. I don't take anything in my personal life too seriously," she says. "I have great friends and a solid group of people I love. I feel like everything else will come organically."
Unlike fellow Disney alum Miley Cyrus, the pint-size pop star isn't interested in walking down the aisle anytime soon, saying, "Marriage and all that other stuff I think will happen once I feel accomplished in every other aspect of my life."
But if there's one thing Gomez is pushing for it's her long-term goal to shake off her predictable good-girl reputation. One major step in making her Mickey Mouse days a distant memory is her girls-gone-wild adventure flick "Spring Breakers," which hits theaters in early 2013. She tells the magazine that after she read the script for the Harmony Korine-directed film, she took a plane to the director's home in Nashville to convince him that she would "work really hard."
And while she describes her role in 2011's "Monte Carlo" as "a good step for me at the time," Gomez said she would never want to do something like that again. "I don't necessarily feel accomplished. I want to create a whole different persona when it comes to acting," she explained.
Gomez is also planning to take her music to the next level too, and there's one star she's dying to hit the studio with. "I don't think he ever would — I don't even think he's doing music anymore — is Justin Timberlake," she said, gushing, "Just 'cause I love his music sooo much."
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
Syria crisis: Tremseh 'massacre' - Friday 13 July 2012
• More than 200 Syrians, mostly civilians, were massacred in Tremseh, near Hama, when it was bombarded by helicopter gunships and tanks and then stormed by militiamen who carried out execution-style killings, opposition activists said.
• The UN's monitoring mission in Syria confirmed the use of heavy weapons in Tremseh including tanks and helicopters, before the alleged massacre took place. General Robert Mood, the head of the mission, said military operations were continuing and his monitors had been prevented from entering Tremseh.
• International envoy Kofi Annan said the Syrian government's use of heavy weapons in Tremseh was a violation of its apparent commitment to his peace plan. He said he was "shocked and appalled" by reports from Tremseh. Annan is due to hold talks with Russia on Monday.
• The Syrian government blamed the killings on "terrorists". The state news agency accused elements of the media of spreading "lies and fabrications" as a way of prompting foreign intervention against Syria.
• The opposition Syrian National Council has repeated its call for the UN security council to pass a binding resolution against the Assad government in the wake of the killings. Britain's foreign secretary William Hague said diplomats in New York will continue to press for a Chapter VII resolution in the face of repeated objections from Russia.
• Firas Tlass, the businessman brother of defected general Manaf Tlass, still sees a role for Bashar al-Assad in Syria. In an interview with Asharq al-Awsat he said the most suitable solution for Syria would be for Assad to hand power to a joint council ... "which is what we might call a mixture of the Egyptian and Yemeni solutions".
• A Russian cargo ship carrying military helicopters and air-defence equipment for the Syria government, is on the move again after being forced to turn back last month when a British company revoked its insurance, the New York Times reports. The Alaed is heading south off Norway's northern coast.
5.05pm: Mousab al-Hamadee an opposition activist who lives 20km north of Tremseh has an account of the alleged massacre in the village based on the ordeal of his sister who fled Tremseh morning.
People from a neighbouring opposition village travelled to Tremseh to warn villages of a possible attack by shabiha militia from al-Safsafeyeh, a nearby Alawite village, he via Skype. They urged women and children to flee Tremseh, he said.
Today more than 70 people were buried, he claimed "The rest of the martyrs are still left in the fields, they couldn't reach them until now," he said.
Hamadee said:
A big number of the young men were killed in the field when they were trying to escape the army attack. Helicopters targeted them by heavy machine guns while they were driving their motorcycles - while they were fleeing the village.
Today the people of Tremseh opened a house that was burned by troops. They found two people who were burned alive. My sister told me that the only two doctors in the village were targeted by mortar shells. Both doctors were killed in their houses.
Hamadee claimed gunmen executed wounded people found in house. They then shot the man who was looking after the wounded in front of his family, he claimed. "After that they burnt his corpse in front of his wife," he said.
Hamadee claimed 150 armoured vehicles were used in the attack.
Shelling started at dawn and continued until the afternoon, but shelling "with clever mortars" of specific houses continued afterwards.
He said: "Between 3pm and 8pm troops and shabiha searched the houses of civilians, made arbitrary arrests, made field executions of some people inside the village."
The troops arrested Hamadee's brother-in-law, who is a lawyer. "They said 'you have a computer in your house, you must be an activist'.
Hamadee's sister said the shelling of the area was "very heavy".
Hamadee said:
She said many houses were levelled to the ground. She said one shell killed a father in a neighbouring house."
She said one soldier tried to assure her, he said 'we are not shabiha, we are soldiers from the Syrian army. But later came a new group which contained many members of the shabiha [including the group who arrested her husband].
Today helicopters passed over Tremseh, but they didn't shell it, Hamadee said.
He claimed Tremseh did not have a strong presence of rebel troops, but it did include troops who had defected.
Rural areas around Hama are largely liberated, he said, but the government forces control the checkpoints.
These checkpoints are very fortified. The regime can at any time bring reinforcements to these checkpoints and can move its vehicles in order to attack any village.
The Free Syrian Amry can't defend the villages because it only has light weapons. "That's why we see such horrible massacres," he said.
Asked about his sister, Hamadee said:
In the beginning she was very scared. We saw fear in her eyes. And we saw horror and fear in the eyes of her child. Right now she is OK.
5.00pm: The Syrian government news agency has a little more detail about the car bomb in Damascus earlier today (see 1.59pm). It says the vehicle, a Mercedes, was parked at the roadside and the bomb was detonated remotely.
3.44pm: France will soon start supplying communications equipment to the Syrian opposition, Reuters reports citing a foreign ministry spokesman.
Paris has previously said it would consider the measure so that activists could organise better, avoid attacks and keep a record of events for the outside world.
"Regarding communications material we are going to start rolling it out," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero told reporters. "We are working on that."
Western powers are reluctant to provide arms to rebels whose ranks include anti-western Islamists, but the United States has said it is already providing communications equipment.
3.39pm: Four news flashes from Reuters in quick succession relating to Tremseh:
• Tremseh attack "assessed as an extension of a Syrian Arab Air Force operation – UN mission report
• UN observers prevented from entering Tremseh, attempts to contact local military commander unsuccessful
• Syrian Arab Air Forces "continue to target populated urban areas north of Hama city [on] a large scale"
• UN Syria mission observed "ongoing military operation" around Tremseh, over 100 explosions heard – mission
3.08pm: Sami al-Hamwi (@HamaEcho) tweets that he has posted a list naming 103 people killed in Tremseh. He has also posted several other tweets about the casualties:
2.38pm: A leading member of the Syrian opposition claims the timing of the Tremseh massacre was aimed at boosting morale of Assad's armed supporters and scuppering attempts to find a political solution.
Khalid Saleh, executive member of the Syrian National Council, insisted the reported atrocities were well documented.
Asked why alleged massacres often coincide with UN security council meetings, he said:
From the Assad regime's perspective it is very clear that any political or international solution at this point will mean the end of the Assad regime. I think the Assad regime, in committing all these massacres, is really talking to [its] shabiha, to his forces on the ground. I think these massacres unfortunately increase the morale of the Assad gangs. It is the same thing when they shot down the Turkish airplane.
Assad doesn't really care about the international community. What he is focused on is winning the battle on the ground, so he is doing all he can to raise the morale of his troops. Unfortunately it is a sad reality that committing massacres like these will increase the morale of the gangs ...
The Syrian regime has made it very clear that they are killing any chance for a peaceful transition.
The Tremseh massacre is well documented and not being exaggerated by activists, Saleh insisted. He pointed out that the initial deathtoll came down from 250 to 200 because of a desire to record the casualties accurately.
We would love for the international media to come and see the horrible massacres that are taking place. At this point in time the Syrian revolution is the most well document revolution - about 1.5 million videos - that have tracked every victim, his name, his family, where he lived. So it is difficult to say these are exaggerated.
Saleh was part of a SNC delegation that met Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, and his team in Moscow this Wednesday.
He said Russia's support for Assad was inconsistent and showing signs of wavering.
The Russians are still talking about a dialogue with the Assad regime, this is not something that the forces on the ground, or Syrian National Council, are willing to accept.
Although the Russians say they are not holding firmly to Assad, in one sentence, in the next sentence, they are asking us still to have a dialogue with him. They are giving us two different positions within 60 seconds.
Asked if the SNC left Moscow empty handed, he said:
We made some progress ... it was semi-promising that the Russians are saying they are not holding firm to Assad and they are not insisting on him remaining in power.
Some parts of the Russian delegation were more understanding than other parts. They understand that there is a very heavy price for their delay. They understand that their delaying tactics are really supporting the Assad [regime] and the killing of civilians.
The Tremseh massacre will put more pressure on Russia and China at the security council, but it is unlikely to shift their positions, Saleh said.
If the security council "fails to meet its legal and moral obligations" there will be more bloodshed in Syria, he said. But the revolution will go on with or without outside help, he claimed. He added: "At this point we don't believe that the Annan mission has any chance of succeeding."
1.59pm: There are reports that a car bomb has exploded in the Mezze district of Damascus, near the Iranian embassy.
No deaths have been reported, though Maya Naser of the Syria Politics blog tweets that three people were injured, one of them seriously.
• The UN's monitoring mission in Syria confirmed the use of heavy weapons in Tremseh including tanks and helicopters, before the alleged massacre took place. General Robert Mood, the head of the mission, said military operations were continuing and his monitors had been prevented from entering Tremseh.
• International envoy Kofi Annan said the Syrian government's use of heavy weapons in Tremseh was a violation of its apparent commitment to his peace plan. He said he was "shocked and appalled" by reports from Tremseh. Annan is due to hold talks with Russia on Monday.
• The Syrian government blamed the killings on "terrorists". The state news agency accused elements of the media of spreading "lies and fabrications" as a way of prompting foreign intervention against Syria.
• The opposition Syrian National Council has repeated its call for the UN security council to pass a binding resolution against the Assad government in the wake of the killings. Britain's foreign secretary William Hague said diplomats in New York will continue to press for a Chapter VII resolution in the face of repeated objections from Russia.
• Firas Tlass, the businessman brother of defected general Manaf Tlass, still sees a role for Bashar al-Assad in Syria. In an interview with Asharq al-Awsat he said the most suitable solution for Syria would be for Assad to hand power to a joint council ... "which is what we might call a mixture of the Egyptian and Yemeni solutions".
• A Russian cargo ship carrying military helicopters and air-defence equipment for the Syria government, is on the move again after being forced to turn back last month when a British company revoked its insurance, the New York Times reports. The Alaed is heading south off Norway's northern coast.
5.05pm: Mousab al-Hamadee an opposition activist who lives 20km north of Tremseh has an account of the alleged massacre in the village based on the ordeal of his sister who fled Tremseh morning.
People from a neighbouring opposition village travelled to Tremseh to warn villages of a possible attack by shabiha militia from al-Safsafeyeh, a nearby Alawite village, he via Skype. They urged women and children to flee Tremseh, he said.
Today more than 70 people were buried, he claimed "The rest of the martyrs are still left in the fields, they couldn't reach them until now," he said.
Hamadee said:
A big number of the young men were killed in the field when they were trying to escape the army attack. Helicopters targeted them by heavy machine guns while they were driving their motorcycles - while they were fleeing the village.
Today the people of Tremseh opened a house that was burned by troops. They found two people who were burned alive. My sister told me that the only two doctors in the village were targeted by mortar shells. Both doctors were killed in their houses.
Hamadee claimed gunmen executed wounded people found in house. They then shot the man who was looking after the wounded in front of his family, he claimed. "After that they burnt his corpse in front of his wife," he said.
Hamadee claimed 150 armoured vehicles were used in the attack.
Shelling started at dawn and continued until the afternoon, but shelling "with clever mortars" of specific houses continued afterwards.
He said: "Between 3pm and 8pm troops and shabiha searched the houses of civilians, made arbitrary arrests, made field executions of some people inside the village."
The troops arrested Hamadee's brother-in-law, who is a lawyer. "They said 'you have a computer in your house, you must be an activist'.
Hamadee's sister said the shelling of the area was "very heavy".
Hamadee said:
She said many houses were levelled to the ground. She said one shell killed a father in a neighbouring house."
She said one soldier tried to assure her, he said 'we are not shabiha, we are soldiers from the Syrian army. But later came a new group which contained many members of the shabiha [including the group who arrested her husband].
Today helicopters passed over Tremseh, but they didn't shell it, Hamadee said.
He claimed Tremseh did not have a strong presence of rebel troops, but it did include troops who had defected.
Rural areas around Hama are largely liberated, he said, but the government forces control the checkpoints.
These checkpoints are very fortified. The regime can at any time bring reinforcements to these checkpoints and can move its vehicles in order to attack any village.
The Free Syrian Amry can't defend the villages because it only has light weapons. "That's why we see such horrible massacres," he said.
Asked about his sister, Hamadee said:
In the beginning she was very scared. We saw fear in her eyes. And we saw horror and fear in the eyes of her child. Right now she is OK.
5.00pm: The Syrian government news agency has a little more detail about the car bomb in Damascus earlier today (see 1.59pm). It says the vehicle, a Mercedes, was parked at the roadside and the bomb was detonated remotely.
3.44pm: France will soon start supplying communications equipment to the Syrian opposition, Reuters reports citing a foreign ministry spokesman.
Paris has previously said it would consider the measure so that activists could organise better, avoid attacks and keep a record of events for the outside world.
"Regarding communications material we are going to start rolling it out," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero told reporters. "We are working on that."
Western powers are reluctant to provide arms to rebels whose ranks include anti-western Islamists, but the United States has said it is already providing communications equipment.
3.39pm: Four news flashes from Reuters in quick succession relating to Tremseh:
• Tremseh attack "assessed as an extension of a Syrian Arab Air Force operation – UN mission report
• UN observers prevented from entering Tremseh, attempts to contact local military commander unsuccessful
• Syrian Arab Air Forces "continue to target populated urban areas north of Hama city [on] a large scale"
• UN Syria mission observed "ongoing military operation" around Tremseh, over 100 explosions heard – mission
3.08pm: Sami al-Hamwi (@HamaEcho) tweets that he has posted a list naming 103 people killed in Tremseh. He has also posted several other tweets about the casualties:
2.38pm: A leading member of the Syrian opposition claims the timing of the Tremseh massacre was aimed at boosting morale of Assad's armed supporters and scuppering attempts to find a political solution.
Khalid Saleh, executive member of the Syrian National Council, insisted the reported atrocities were well documented.
Asked why alleged massacres often coincide with UN security council meetings, he said:
From the Assad regime's perspective it is very clear that any political or international solution at this point will mean the end of the Assad regime. I think the Assad regime, in committing all these massacres, is really talking to [its] shabiha, to his forces on the ground. I think these massacres unfortunately increase the morale of the Assad gangs. It is the same thing when they shot down the Turkish airplane.
Assad doesn't really care about the international community. What he is focused on is winning the battle on the ground, so he is doing all he can to raise the morale of his troops. Unfortunately it is a sad reality that committing massacres like these will increase the morale of the gangs ...
The Syrian regime has made it very clear that they are killing any chance for a peaceful transition.
The Tremseh massacre is well documented and not being exaggerated by activists, Saleh insisted. He pointed out that the initial deathtoll came down from 250 to 200 because of a desire to record the casualties accurately.
We would love for the international media to come and see the horrible massacres that are taking place. At this point in time the Syrian revolution is the most well document revolution - about 1.5 million videos - that have tracked every victim, his name, his family, where he lived. So it is difficult to say these are exaggerated.
Saleh was part of a SNC delegation that met Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, and his team in Moscow this Wednesday.
He said Russia's support for Assad was inconsistent and showing signs of wavering.
The Russians are still talking about a dialogue with the Assad regime, this is not something that the forces on the ground, or Syrian National Council, are willing to accept.
Although the Russians say they are not holding firmly to Assad, in one sentence, in the next sentence, they are asking us still to have a dialogue with him. They are giving us two different positions within 60 seconds.
Asked if the SNC left Moscow empty handed, he said:
We made some progress ... it was semi-promising that the Russians are saying they are not holding firm to Assad and they are not insisting on him remaining in power.
Some parts of the Russian delegation were more understanding than other parts. They understand that there is a very heavy price for their delay. They understand that their delaying tactics are really supporting the Assad [regime] and the killing of civilians.
The Tremseh massacre will put more pressure on Russia and China at the security council, but it is unlikely to shift their positions, Saleh said.
If the security council "fails to meet its legal and moral obligations" there will be more bloodshed in Syria, he said. But the revolution will go on with or without outside help, he claimed. He added: "At this point we don't believe that the Annan mission has any chance of succeeding."
1.59pm: There are reports that a car bomb has exploded in the Mezze district of Damascus, near the Iranian embassy.
No deaths have been reported, though Maya Naser of the Syria Politics blog tweets that three people were injured, one of them seriously.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Report: Brees 'Optimistic' About Reaching Deal
Quarterback Drew Brees said he's "optimistic" a deal can be reached with the Saints before Monday's deadline for players given franchise tags to sign multi-year contracts.
"I'm an eternal optimist, so I'm still very confident a deal will get done by Monday," Brees said at the ESPY Awards on Wednesday night, per the Times-Picayune.
"I think I've been around this league long enough to understand how this works at times. In a lot of cases, it does go down to the wire, and you need a stopping point in order to bring everyone together and make sure it can get done. That stopping point is Monday, so let's hope we get something done by then."
Brees plans to sit out training camp if a multi-year deal isn't reached, and the sides are believed to be about $10 million apart in guaranteed money, according to the paper.
Brees was given the Saints' exclusive rights free agent tender in March, kicking off more than three months of sometimes tense talks.
Brees faces the July 16 deadline -- the date for all franchise players to sign extensions or play the 2012 season under the franchise marker -- with the alternative being a one-year salary of $16.371 million, the franchise tender for his position.
Brees, as argued by the NFLPA in June, won a grievance the determined he will be owed a 44 percent raise up to $23.785 million if he's again named the Saints' franchise player in 2013.
While Brees is a three-time franchise player, only two of the instances came with the Saints. The other, in 2005, was his final season with the Chargers. Brees would have been owed a 20 -percent raise up to about $19.595 million had he lost the grievance.
Brees is coming off of a record-setting season in which he broke Dan Marino's record for passing yards with 5,476 and completed 71.2 percent of his passes, breaking his own record (70.6 in 2009). Brees and the Saints set a record for total offense, gaining 7,474 to beat the 2000 St. Louis Rams' mark of 7.075.
The Saints are thin at the quarterback position. Backup Chase Daniel (hairline fracture in his right thumb) was injured in practice on June 13 and might not be full strength at the start of training camp.
If Brees doesn't report, that could leave the Saints' first-team offense under the direction of Sean Canfield or veteran backup Luke McCown, who signed in June.
"I'm an eternal optimist, so I'm still very confident a deal will get done by Monday," Brees said at the ESPY Awards on Wednesday night, per the Times-Picayune.
"I think I've been around this league long enough to understand how this works at times. In a lot of cases, it does go down to the wire, and you need a stopping point in order to bring everyone together and make sure it can get done. That stopping point is Monday, so let's hope we get something done by then."
Brees plans to sit out training camp if a multi-year deal isn't reached, and the sides are believed to be about $10 million apart in guaranteed money, according to the paper.
Brees was given the Saints' exclusive rights free agent tender in March, kicking off more than three months of sometimes tense talks.
Brees faces the July 16 deadline -- the date for all franchise players to sign extensions or play the 2012 season under the franchise marker -- with the alternative being a one-year salary of $16.371 million, the franchise tender for his position.
Brees, as argued by the NFLPA in June, won a grievance the determined he will be owed a 44 percent raise up to $23.785 million if he's again named the Saints' franchise player in 2013.
While Brees is a three-time franchise player, only two of the instances came with the Saints. The other, in 2005, was his final season with the Chargers. Brees would have been owed a 20 -percent raise up to about $19.595 million had he lost the grievance.
Brees is coming off of a record-setting season in which he broke Dan Marino's record for passing yards with 5,476 and completed 71.2 percent of his passes, breaking his own record (70.6 in 2009). Brees and the Saints set a record for total offense, gaining 7,474 to beat the 2000 St. Louis Rams' mark of 7.075.
The Saints are thin at the quarterback position. Backup Chase Daniel (hairline fracture in his right thumb) was injured in practice on June 13 and might not be full strength at the start of training camp.
If Brees doesn't report, that could leave the Saints' first-team offense under the direction of Sean Canfield or veteran backup Luke McCown, who signed in June.
FDA approves new home-use HIV test
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter HIV test Tuesday, allowing people to test themselves in private at home and get preliminary results in less than 30 minutes.
"Knowing your status is an important factor in the effort to prevent the spread of HIV," Dr. Karen Midthun, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. "The availability of a home-use HIV test kit provides another option for individuals to get tested so that they can seek medical care, if appropriate."
The test, manufactured by OraSure, already had been approved for medical clinics. The new at-home test, called OraQuick, will be sold in supermarkets and pharmacies beginning in October.
Tests for the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS, have become increasingly simpler and quicker to use since their introduction in the 1980s. In 2002, the FDA approved the first on-the-spot tests for clinics. In 2005, the FDA began exploring the possibility of approving a home test.
The FDA emphasized that any results from a self-administered test, which works by detecting antibodies in a swab from the gums, should not be considered final. In trials, the test failed to detect HIV in 1 in every 12 patients known to be infected, and returned false positives in 1 in 5,000 cases. Anyone receiving a positive result should follow up with a medical provider, the agency said.
In May, an FDA advisory panel unanimously recommended that the test be approved, saying the benefits outweighed the risks. One concern has been that people who learn that they are infected may not have immediate access to counseling or support.
The agency said it hoped the new tests would reach people who were not getting tested, which, in turn, could lead to early treatment and reduce the transmission rate of the virus.
Previously, the FDA approved an HIV home test, but the samples had to be sent to a laboratory for analysis.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that of the 1.2 million people in the U.S. with HIV, 1 in 5 is not aware of the infection. And it says that a disproportionate number of the 50,000 new cases of HIV each year is linked to people who have not been tested.
OraSure has not said how much the test will cost, only that it will be more than the $18 cost for the professional kit.
Kevin Frost, chief executive of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome research group amfAR, said although he thought home testing was a good idea, a high price tag could put it beyond the reach of those who needed it most.
"If the people who go out and pay for this test end up being sorority girls who had a one-night stand and worry if they're infected, that's not going to be a net positive," he said.
Doug Michels, president of OraSure, acknowledged that pricing was a "fine balance," but said his company's product was not designed to replace other options.
Chip Lewis, a spokesman for Whitman-Walker Health, which provides AIDS care in Washington, said at-home testing could reach some people who didn't want to go to a clinic. But removing medical professionals from the process could cause problems, he said.
"It's not like a home pregnancy test," he said. "You need really a lot of information about how to read the test, how to use the test properly."
Michels said OraSure's research showed that the vast majority of people receiving a positive result said they would seek medical advice. The FDA also required OraSure to run a call center to support users of the test. Michels said trained counselors would answer the calls.
"Knowing your status is an important factor in the effort to prevent the spread of HIV," Dr. Karen Midthun, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. "The availability of a home-use HIV test kit provides another option for individuals to get tested so that they can seek medical care, if appropriate."
The test, manufactured by OraSure, already had been approved for medical clinics. The new at-home test, called OraQuick, will be sold in supermarkets and pharmacies beginning in October.
Tests for the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS, have become increasingly simpler and quicker to use since their introduction in the 1980s. In 2002, the FDA approved the first on-the-spot tests for clinics. In 2005, the FDA began exploring the possibility of approving a home test.
The FDA emphasized that any results from a self-administered test, which works by detecting antibodies in a swab from the gums, should not be considered final. In trials, the test failed to detect HIV in 1 in every 12 patients known to be infected, and returned false positives in 1 in 5,000 cases. Anyone receiving a positive result should follow up with a medical provider, the agency said.
In May, an FDA advisory panel unanimously recommended that the test be approved, saying the benefits outweighed the risks. One concern has been that people who learn that they are infected may not have immediate access to counseling or support.
The agency said it hoped the new tests would reach people who were not getting tested, which, in turn, could lead to early treatment and reduce the transmission rate of the virus.
Previously, the FDA approved an HIV home test, but the samples had to be sent to a laboratory for analysis.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that of the 1.2 million people in the U.S. with HIV, 1 in 5 is not aware of the infection. And it says that a disproportionate number of the 50,000 new cases of HIV each year is linked to people who have not been tested.
OraSure has not said how much the test will cost, only that it will be more than the $18 cost for the professional kit.
Kevin Frost, chief executive of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome research group amfAR, said although he thought home testing was a good idea, a high price tag could put it beyond the reach of those who needed it most.
"If the people who go out and pay for this test end up being sorority girls who had a one-night stand and worry if they're infected, that's not going to be a net positive," he said.
Doug Michels, president of OraSure, acknowledged that pricing was a "fine balance," but said his company's product was not designed to replace other options.
Chip Lewis, a spokesman for Whitman-Walker Health, which provides AIDS care in Washington, said at-home testing could reach some people who didn't want to go to a clinic. But removing medical professionals from the process could cause problems, he said.
"It's not like a home pregnancy test," he said. "You need really a lot of information about how to read the test, how to use the test properly."
Michels said OraSure's research showed that the vast majority of people receiving a positive result said they would seek medical advice. The FDA also required OraSure to run a call center to support users of the test. Michels said trained counselors would answer the calls.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Lenovo IdeaPad U310
The ultrabook revolution of 2011 has become a deluge in 2012, which means one thing: lower prices. If you were hunting for a reasonably thin Windows laptop with good battery life at a reasonable cost, you couldn't have picked a better time. The Lenovo IdeaPad U310 is a perfect example: it's an update of sorts to the IdeaPad U300s, one of the first Windows ultrabooks we reviewed last fall that carried a MacBook Air-like $1,195 price tag. This time, the cost is a mere $799 -- but, with some compromises made along the way.
The IdeaPad U310 is a different machine: it's got a significantly heavier and thicker chassis and a standard magnetic platter-type mechanical hard drive instead of a solid-state drive (SSD). However, its internal specs are very good, with a third-gen 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U processor, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, and all the ports you'd need (Ethernet, USB 3.0, SD card reader, HDMI). It's still an ultrabook by definition, but not quite as sleek a product.
It's a pretty similar package to what the identically priced Sony Vaio T offers, although the Vaio T is lighter and has a better battery life. It's also similar to what the new Dell Inspiron 14z offers, although the Inspiron 14z also has dedicated AMD graphics.
So, where does that leave the IdeaPad U310? It's not a bad deal for what's under the hood, but the U310 doesn't feel as surprising as last year's U300s. Nor is it. It's really the smaller cousin of the IdeaPad U400: a MacBook-like Lenovo laptop with a good keyboard, a solid set of features, and a pleasing design that could make an excellent back-to-school computer. Students should look into the IdeaPad U310, especially if it's on sale. You might want to comparison-shop the growing landscape of affordable ultrabook-alikes at the time of purchase and see if you can do better, but the bottom line is this: be happy. Ultrabooks have larger hard drives (without SSD), and are cheaper than ever. That's a good thing.
At 0.7 inch thick and 3.68 pounds, the IdeaPad U310 is thin and light, but not quite as thin and light as other 13-inch ultrabooks. It's somewhere between "normal" 13-inch laptop and ultrabook, and feels more like the former. It's heavier than the Sony Vaio T ultrabook, and lighter than the new Dell Inspiron 14z.
Unlike the sleek, black IdeaPad U300s, the U310 is both whitish and candy-colored. Its larger cousin that it looks the most like is the IdeaPad U400, a machine that was closer in size and function to a 13-inch MacBook Pro. The U310 is more backpack- and small-bag-friendly, but also ditches the slot-loading DVD drive in the process.
You'd better get used to hearing, "Hey, you've got a new white MacBook!" because you're going to hear it a lot at coffee shops. The IdeaPad U310 is MacBook-like, and there's no way around it. Sure, the outer wraparound Aqua Blue aluminum on the lid and underside (also available in Graphite Gray and Cherry Blossom Pink) is distinctive, but open the lid and the white surfaces, black raised keyboard, and large touch pad -- even the bezel around the screen and keyboard -- practically scream "MacBookalike." The anodized, colored-aluminum exterior sandwiches the slightly off-white plastic interior when closed, giving the laptop a two-tone look and a booklike profile.
It's a comfortable laptop to use, too: the palm rest is spacious, the multitouch clickpad gigantic, and the keyboard nearly as excellent as most Lenovo keyboards.
Why nearly? Because the keyboard's not backlit, and the keys themselves have an ever-so-slightly lower-quality feel compared with the high bar of ThinkPads. It's still good, but I found keys not registering every once in a blue moon, and the column of keys on the right side makes the Backspace key very hard to locate by touch. To make matters worse, the keyboard exhibited some flex on our review model. At least the function keys are reversed (the media-control buttons for volume and screen brightness work without the Fn key held down).
The very large touch pad is the same size as that on a MacBook, but not as good. Pinch-to-zoom and two-finger scrolling are less instantly responsive and more prone to jumpiness. Chalk that up less to Lenovo than to Windows 7.
The audiovisual experience on the IdeaPad U310 is similarly adequate but not outstanding. A glossy 13.3-inch screen has an utterly normal 1,366x768-pixel resolution, but is prone to screen glare. The screen isn't all that bright at its highest setting, and off-axis viewing angles are poor. It's fine for a budget computer. The stereo speakers are louder than you'd expect from an ultrabook, but sounded hollow and flat when playing back music or movie trailers.
On the other hand, the included 720p Webcam looked sharp via the preinstalled Cybervision YouCam software.
The IdeaPad U310 is a different machine: it's got a significantly heavier and thicker chassis and a standard magnetic platter-type mechanical hard drive instead of a solid-state drive (SSD). However, its internal specs are very good, with a third-gen 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U processor, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, and all the ports you'd need (Ethernet, USB 3.0, SD card reader, HDMI). It's still an ultrabook by definition, but not quite as sleek a product.
It's a pretty similar package to what the identically priced Sony Vaio T offers, although the Vaio T is lighter and has a better battery life. It's also similar to what the new Dell Inspiron 14z offers, although the Inspiron 14z also has dedicated AMD graphics.
So, where does that leave the IdeaPad U310? It's not a bad deal for what's under the hood, but the U310 doesn't feel as surprising as last year's U300s. Nor is it. It's really the smaller cousin of the IdeaPad U400: a MacBook-like Lenovo laptop with a good keyboard, a solid set of features, and a pleasing design that could make an excellent back-to-school computer. Students should look into the IdeaPad U310, especially if it's on sale. You might want to comparison-shop the growing landscape of affordable ultrabook-alikes at the time of purchase and see if you can do better, but the bottom line is this: be happy. Ultrabooks have larger hard drives (without SSD), and are cheaper than ever. That's a good thing.
At 0.7 inch thick and 3.68 pounds, the IdeaPad U310 is thin and light, but not quite as thin and light as other 13-inch ultrabooks. It's somewhere between "normal" 13-inch laptop and ultrabook, and feels more like the former. It's heavier than the Sony Vaio T ultrabook, and lighter than the new Dell Inspiron 14z.
Unlike the sleek, black IdeaPad U300s, the U310 is both whitish and candy-colored. Its larger cousin that it looks the most like is the IdeaPad U400, a machine that was closer in size and function to a 13-inch MacBook Pro. The U310 is more backpack- and small-bag-friendly, but also ditches the slot-loading DVD drive in the process.
You'd better get used to hearing, "Hey, you've got a new white MacBook!" because you're going to hear it a lot at coffee shops. The IdeaPad U310 is MacBook-like, and there's no way around it. Sure, the outer wraparound Aqua Blue aluminum on the lid and underside (also available in Graphite Gray and Cherry Blossom Pink) is distinctive, but open the lid and the white surfaces, black raised keyboard, and large touch pad -- even the bezel around the screen and keyboard -- practically scream "MacBookalike." The anodized, colored-aluminum exterior sandwiches the slightly off-white plastic interior when closed, giving the laptop a two-tone look and a booklike profile.
It's a comfortable laptop to use, too: the palm rest is spacious, the multitouch clickpad gigantic, and the keyboard nearly as excellent as most Lenovo keyboards.
Why nearly? Because the keyboard's not backlit, and the keys themselves have an ever-so-slightly lower-quality feel compared with the high bar of ThinkPads. It's still good, but I found keys not registering every once in a blue moon, and the column of keys on the right side makes the Backspace key very hard to locate by touch. To make matters worse, the keyboard exhibited some flex on our review model. At least the function keys are reversed (the media-control buttons for volume and screen brightness work without the Fn key held down).
The very large touch pad is the same size as that on a MacBook, but not as good. Pinch-to-zoom and two-finger scrolling are less instantly responsive and more prone to jumpiness. Chalk that up less to Lenovo than to Windows 7.
The audiovisual experience on the IdeaPad U310 is similarly adequate but not outstanding. A glossy 13.3-inch screen has an utterly normal 1,366x768-pixel resolution, but is prone to screen glare. The screen isn't all that bright at its highest setting, and off-axis viewing angles are poor. It's fine for a budget computer. The stereo speakers are louder than you'd expect from an ultrabook, but sounded hollow and flat when playing back music or movie trailers.
On the other hand, the included 720p Webcam looked sharp via the preinstalled Cybervision YouCam software.
Examining Virus Bacterium Associations
Virus-bacterium associations were examined in the natural environment of a termite's
hindgut. Three general scenarios were seen. In the first (1) there was a one-to-one
association: one type of virus matched one type of bacterium host. In the second (2) the
host bacterium was associated with a diverse group of viruses, indicating perhaps a more
ancient infection or a more susceptible host. In the third case (3) very similar viruses
were seen infecting several different types of bacterial hosts. This study tested methods
of examining virus-bacterium interactions in nature, rather than in vitro--from a culture.
It opens a new door to understanding the diverse and highly populated world of viruses and
bacteria that we know so little about. To learn more, see NSF press release "When Viruses
Infect Bacteria." Credit: Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation
hindgut. Three general scenarios were seen. In the first (1) there was a one-to-one
association: one type of virus matched one type of bacterium host. In the second (2) the
host bacterium was associated with a diverse group of viruses, indicating perhaps a more
ancient infection or a more susceptible host. In the third case (3) very similar viruses
were seen infecting several different types of bacterial hosts. This study tested methods
of examining virus-bacterium interactions in nature, rather than in vitro--from a culture.
It opens a new door to understanding the diverse and highly populated world of viruses and
bacteria that we know so little about. To learn more, see NSF press release "When Viruses
Infect Bacteria." Credit: Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Charu goes to Paris, Monapali stick to tradition
The girls in question were designer Charu Parashar's protagonists on Day 4 of Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2012 who sought to bring out the "vintage, breezy nature of the eternal city of Paris" with her latest range.
Theme: Says Charu about her inspiration, "My collection is about a woman with a story to tell; someone who evokes poetic and sensual moods in the perfect Parisian settings."
Collection and detailing: The entire range was created on a black base with floral applique work on the hem and sleeves, or around the waist. It was an interesting display of floral print silk dresses worn with black leggings, kaftans and coats with floral patchwork, black capes with floral designs on the inside, asymmetrical flowy dresses and A-line skirt with warm woollen floral printed jacket. The collection introduced old metallic sequin shrugs with print detailing as the flavour of the season.
Fabrics: Flowy chiffons, woollen, tulle (net), satin and silks gave the collection a timeless feel while adding a modernist touch.
Colours: Charu who is otherwise known for her use of colours made an exception this time by limiting herself to monotones and somewhat making up for it with bright applique and motifs in floral prints. There were black with applique of coloured print, blood red, burnt oranges with accents of reds, golden and yellow among others.
Accessories: In keeping with the traditional Parisian style of dressing, accessories such as hats with floral appliques, scarves and satin sashes with floral applique for head gear were used.
Monapali
Sharing the same slot with Charu Parashar were designer duo Mona Lamba and Pali Sachdeva who suddenly brought an explosion of colours to the ramp with a touch of the sombre by using verses from Dr Harivansh Rai Bachchan's Madhushala in Amitabh Bachchan's baritone voice as the background score.
Theme and collection: Titled 'Phirkee', the circle of life, the designers attempted to bring out "freedom, free-flow of thoughts and a life full of colours". It was a delightful canvas of lace, crochet, tape, applique, latticework and thread work fused into graphic patterns and prints to blend into an easy draped silhouette in soft sensual fabrics such as chiffon and satin. The most noticeable of them all were the tie up dress in satin with a detachable embroidered neckpiece, and the lattice edged oversized shrug with an asymmetrical embroidered detachable neckpiece set off with wide leg pants.
Trends to watch out for: The colourfully appliqued boot-cum-socks and the embroidered neckpieces which have been created as an extension of the outfit lend a light heartedness to the overall collection.
Fabric: Chiffon and satin have been used with lycra and constructed net fabric.
Colours: It was a vibrant palette all the way from red, pink, magenta and turquoise with highlights in shades of wine, blue, brown and purple.
Theme: Says Charu about her inspiration, "My collection is about a woman with a story to tell; someone who evokes poetic and sensual moods in the perfect Parisian settings."
Collection and detailing: The entire range was created on a black base with floral applique work on the hem and sleeves, or around the waist. It was an interesting display of floral print silk dresses worn with black leggings, kaftans and coats with floral patchwork, black capes with floral designs on the inside, asymmetrical flowy dresses and A-line skirt with warm woollen floral printed jacket. The collection introduced old metallic sequin shrugs with print detailing as the flavour of the season.
Fabrics: Flowy chiffons, woollen, tulle (net), satin and silks gave the collection a timeless feel while adding a modernist touch.
Colours: Charu who is otherwise known for her use of colours made an exception this time by limiting herself to monotones and somewhat making up for it with bright applique and motifs in floral prints. There were black with applique of coloured print, blood red, burnt oranges with accents of reds, golden and yellow among others.
Accessories: In keeping with the traditional Parisian style of dressing, accessories such as hats with floral appliques, scarves and satin sashes with floral applique for head gear were used.
Monapali
Sharing the same slot with Charu Parashar were designer duo Mona Lamba and Pali Sachdeva who suddenly brought an explosion of colours to the ramp with a touch of the sombre by using verses from Dr Harivansh Rai Bachchan's Madhushala in Amitabh Bachchan's baritone voice as the background score.
Theme and collection: Titled 'Phirkee', the circle of life, the designers attempted to bring out "freedom, free-flow of thoughts and a life full of colours". It was a delightful canvas of lace, crochet, tape, applique, latticework and thread work fused into graphic patterns and prints to blend into an easy draped silhouette in soft sensual fabrics such as chiffon and satin. The most noticeable of them all were the tie up dress in satin with a detachable embroidered neckpiece, and the lattice edged oversized shrug with an asymmetrical embroidered detachable neckpiece set off with wide leg pants.
Trends to watch out for: The colourfully appliqued boot-cum-socks and the embroidered neckpieces which have been created as an extension of the outfit lend a light heartedness to the overall collection.
Fabric: Chiffon and satin have been used with lycra and constructed net fabric.
Colours: It was a vibrant palette all the way from red, pink, magenta and turquoise with highlights in shades of wine, blue, brown and purple.
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