BoE's Haldane: Need simpler bank rules that are harder to game

By Pedro Nicolaci da Costa

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bank regulators need to develop much simpler rules to make it harder for large financial firms to game the supervisory system, Bank of England official Andrew Haldane said on Tuesday.

"We need to do a radical pruning, simplifying of our regulatory apparatus (that) places much less emphasis on what are unreliable measures of risk," Haldane, the BoE's executive director for financial stability, told a conference sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

He said current international capital rules place undue burdens on small firms and may exacerbate, over time, the problem of banks that are seen as "too big to fail."

"Complex frameworks if anything are easier to arbitrage, easier to game," he said.

Haldane said that the world's major economies essentially allowed banks to regulate themselves in the run-up to the global financial crisis of 2007-09, with disastrous results.

"We have moved to a system where we essentially ask banks to grade their own exams," he said. "The self-regulatory regime that we've put in place has been gamed successively."

The Dodd-Frank Act, the U.S. financial reform law that Congress passed in response to the financial crisis, is some 2,300 pages long, and has been criticized for its complexity and opaqueness.

(Reporting by Pedro Nicolaci da Costa; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/boes-haldane-calls-simpler-bank-rules-harder-game-202227603--sector.html

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Zillow Revamps Its iOS App With New Homescreen & Improved Navigation, Adds Mortgage Marketplace To iPad App

The real estate market in the U.S. is quickly picking up pace again and last month, Zillow‘s mobile traffic hit a new record with 89 homes viewed per second (up from 75 homes the month before). Today, almost exactly four years after it first launched its Zillow for iPhone app, the service is relaunching its iOS apps with an updated homescreen and restructured navigation. On the iPad, Zillow has now also integrated its Mortgage Marketplace and financial calculators. As Zillow’s CEO Spencer Rascoff writes today, the company believes that this new “streamlined interface [...] significantly improves the Zillow app experience for home shoppers.” Specifically, he thinks the “enhanced design allows users to more easily access all the information Zillow has to offer and to customize their experience based on their goals.” The first thing Zillow’s users will likely notice is the new homescreen, which now finally separates searches for houses and rentals right from the get go. In earlier versions, Zillow would display rentals and houses that were for sale simultaneously until you filtered one of them out. Given that most people don’t look for rentals and a house to purchase at the same time, this always felt like an unnecessary step. Zillow has also recently put a lot of emphasis on its rental marketplace, so it’s just a logical step to highlight that in the navigation now. This new navigation structure also extends to the new homescreen, which now looks quite a bit more modern and, as Rascoff writes, “enables shoppers to access the breadth of Zillow?s inventory and personalized shopping tools with just one tap.” Both the new homescreen and navigation are available on the iPhone and iOS. Until now, however, only the iPhone version included an integration with Zillow’s Mortgage Marketplace for finding lenders and the service’s mortgage calculator. Now, the iPad version also features these tools.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/ep7CcKUdEK8/

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WHO talks with China on sending bird flu team

A worker cleans empty cages used for transporting chickens, to prevent an outbreak of H7N9 infections at a wholesale poultry market in Hong Kong Monday, April 8, 2013. The World Health Organization is talking with the Chinese government about sending international experts to China to help investigate a new bird flu strain that has sickened at least 21 people, killing six of them. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A worker cleans empty cages used for transporting chickens, to prevent an outbreak of H7N9 infections at a wholesale poultry market in Hong Kong Monday, April 8, 2013. The World Health Organization is talking with the Chinese government about sending international experts to China to help investigate a new bird flu strain that has sickened at least 21 people, killing six of them. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A photographer takes a photo of a joint press conference by Chinese health officials and World Health Organization representatives, from left, Deng Haihua, spokesman for China's Commission of Health and Family Planning, Feng Zhijian, head of the emergency office of China's Disease Control and Prevention Center or CDC, Liang Wannian head of a Chinese government office in charge of H7N9 bird flu prevention control, Michael O'Leary, head of the WHO's office in China, and Sirenda Vong, the WHO's Emerging Infectious Diseases expert, in Beijing, China, Monday, April 8, 2013. The World Health Organization is talking with the Chinese government about sending international experts to China to help investigate a new bird flu strain that has killed six. Most of the 21 people stricken so far got severely ill. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Liang Wannian, head of a Chinese government office in charge of H7N9 bird flu prevention control, left, and Michael O'Leary, head of the World Health Organization's office in China, attend a joint press conference in Beijing, China, Monday, April 8, 2013. The World Health Organization is talking with the Chinese government about sending international experts to China to help investigate a new bird flu strain that has killed six. Most of the 21 people stricken so far got severely ill. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Shu Yuelong, a virologist with China's Disease Control and Prevention Center or CDC, right, answers a question from a journalist during a joint press conference between Chinese health officials and World Health Organization representatives, in Beijing, China, Monday, April 8, 2013. The World Health Organization is talking with the Chinese government about sending international experts to China to help investigate a new bird flu strain that has killed six. Most of the 21 people stricken so far got severely ill. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Chinese health workers, wearing masks, walk past a group of security guards blocking a petitioner outside China's Health Ministry where a joint press conference between Chinese health officials and World Health Organization representatives was held in Beijing, China, Monday, April 8, 2013. The World Health Organization is talking with the Chinese government about sending international experts to China to help investigate a new bird flu strain that has killed six. Most of the 21 people stricken so far got severely ill. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

BEIJING (AP) ? The World Health Organization is talking with the Chinese government about sending international experts to China to help investigate a new bird flu strain that has sickened at least 24 people, killing seven of them.

A 64-year-old retired man in Shanghai became the latest victim of the H7N9 bird flu virus that had previously not been known to infect humans, the city government said Monday.

The Shanghai government said the man died Sunday night, a week after first experiencing chills. He sought medical treatment last Wednesday for pneumonia-like conditions. By Sunday morning, his condition worsened, he was out of breath and was admitted to a ward for in-patient treatment. He died hours later.

Michael O'Leary, head of WHO's office in China, told reporters in Beijing on Monday that the international health organization had confidence in China's efforts to track and control the outbreak of H7N9 infections, but that growing interest in the virus globally has prompted WHO to consider sending a team.

The cases are of "great interest not only in the scientific community but in the world at large," O'Leary said at a joint press conference with China's national health agency. "WHO's responsibility in part is to make sure that we serve as liaison and linkage between China and the rest of the world."

The team would likely include epidemiological, laboratory and communications experts, but the matter was still being discussed by the two sides and it remained unclear if and when such a group would arrive, O'Leary said.

Aside from the latest fatality in Shanghai, China reported two more cases of human infection of the H7N9 bird flu virus on Monday, raising the total number of cases to 24 ? all in the eastern part of the country. Most of the patients have become severely ill, and seven of them have died, however milder infections may be going undetected.

There could be additional infections, both among animals and humans, in other regions and authorities have stepped up measures to monitor cases of pneumonia with unexplained causes, said Liang Wannian, director of the Chinese health agency's H7N9 flu prevention and control office.

Liang said Chinese experts also were in the early stages of researching a possible vaccine for the virus, though it might not be needed if the virus remains only sporadically reported and if it does not spread easily among people.

The H7N9 strain previously was known only to infect birds, and officials say they do not know why the virus is infecting humans now. The virus has been detected in live poultry in several food markets where human cases have been found, leading officials to think people are most likely contracting the virus through direct contact with infected fowl.

Authorities have halted live poultry trade in cities where cases have been reported, and slaughtered fowl in markets where the virus has been detected.

Further investigations are underway and, for now, there's no evidence the virus is spreading easily between people. However, scientists are watching closely to see if the flu poses a substantial risk to public health or could potentially spark a global pandemic.

In 2003, China allowed WHO to send a five-member team to help investigate an outbreak of the fatal flu-like illness, SARS, after its own experts could not trace the source of the disease.

China's response at the time was slow. The government stayed silent for months after the first cases of an unidentified disease were reported, a cover-up that contributed to the spread of the virus to many parts of China and to two dozen other countries, killing hundreds of people.

International observers say that over the past decade, China's public health agencies have become increasingly forthcoming with information.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2013-04-08-China-Bird%20Flu/id-68b8d566902746fc8e0699adba5a9e58

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Google Fiber is officially coming to Austin, Texas

Hear that? It's Austin, being weird enough to add yet another reason to live within its city limits. As rumored, Google Fiber will be rolling down to one of Texas' most esteemed towns in the near future, joining the Kansas City, Kansas and Missouri metro as the only locales (so far) in the US of A offering the outfit's Fiber-based TV, phone and 1Gbps broadband services. Mum's the word on an exact rollout, but we'll update this post as we learn more.

Filed under: Internet, Google

Comments

Source: Gig.U

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/08/google-fiber-is-officially-coming-to-austin-texas/

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Stephen Colbert forces Bill Clinton to join Twitter

"I like small penises," said no women interviewed for an actually scientific study released Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, or PNAS. Yes, PNAS is a funny sounding acronym, and, yes, PNAS has found that size does matter ? and that women prefer "showers" to "growers."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stephen-colbert-forced-bill-clinton-join-twitter-125028354.html

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New mechanism for cell membrane fission proposed

Apr. 8, 2013 ? A study led by the Membrane Nanomechanics group of the Biophysics Unit of the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country has made it possible to characterise the functioning of a protein responsible for cell membrane splitting. The results of the study, published in the journal Science, make it possible to see the basic mechanisms of cell life from a fresh perspective, like the fusion and splitting of cell membranes. What is more, the methodology developed will allow various neuromuscular disorders to be diagnosed.

Cells have a series of specialised proteins so that their membranes can join together (fuse) or separate (split) without losing their protective role against the external medium. One of these specialised proteins is the protein dynamin responsible for the constriction and fission of the necks of endocytic vesicles. Two of the main characteristics of dynamin are its assembly capacity on membranes with high curvature (the necks of the vesicles) and its GTP activity, in other words, the capacity to use the energy stored inside the GTP molecules. GTP, which stands for guanosine triphosphate, is a chemical compound that plays a crucial role in cell metabolism.

It was hitherto thought that the dynamin used the GTP energy to produce a very strong constriction of the neck of the vesicle and thus bring about its fission. Nevertheless, the study led by the Ikerbasque lecturer, Vadim Frolov, has enabled the fission action by the dynamin to be characterised for the first time on nanometric scales and with great time resolution. "We have managed to characterise the minimal functional unit of the dynamin," says the researcher. This study has made it possible to separate the membrane splitting process by the dynamin into two stages: the first, a purely mechanical one in which the constriction of the vesicle neck takes place, and the second, in which the dynamin "functions like a catalytic centre by inserting some of its domains into the membrane," explains Frolov. "The GTP hydrolysis increases the internal flexibility of the dynamin molecule, thus allowing the optimum shape of the protein to be found on the membrane so that it splits. This optimization constitutes the essence of "geometric catalysis," a new way of seeing the activity of the proteins while the membrane is being remodelled," he adds.

Protein involved in neurodegenerative diseases

According to Frolov, this study has marked "the start of a new line of research in the Membrane Nanomechanics group." In fact, this project, which has had a two-year duration, has led to "the specification and development of the method necessary to be able to characterise the action of dynamin with great space-time precision." It is a combination of fluorescence microscopy measurements and electrophysiological ones. "Now we are in a position to measure the passing of the ions along the inside of a lipid nanotube while we observe it by means of fluorescence microscopy. The result can be translated into a technique that allows very fast processes on very small scales to be characterised," says Frolov.

"This technique will enable us to study why small mutations in the dynamin lead to various human diseases, like neuromuscular diseases," adds Frolov.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Basque Research, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. A. V. Shnyrova, P. V. Bashkirov, S. A. Akimov, T. J. Pucadyil, J. Zimmerberg, S. L. Schmid, V. A. Frolov. Geometric Catalysis of Membrane Fission Driven by Flexible Dynamin Rings. Science, 2013; 339 (6126): 1433 DOI: 10.1126/science.1233920

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/le57uk-FfZ0/130408085041.htm

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Molecule in meat may increase heart disease risk

Gut bacteria transform compound into artery hardener

By Meghan Rosen

Web edition: April 8, 2013

Drop that hamburger, put down the can of Monster Energy and back away from the body building pills.

A nutrient found in red meat and added to energy drinks and supplements may crank up people?s risk of heart disease, a new study suggests. Bacteria in the gut digest the nutrient, L-carnitine, and help turn it into an artery-hardening chemical ? particularly in meat eaters, researchers report April 7 in Nature Medicine.

The intestinal microbes of vegetarians and vegans didn?t make much of the chemical, even when researchers fed them an 8-ounce sirloin steak.

?I always thought that what I ate mattered, but I never realized that my gut bacteria might matter more,? says biochemist Harry Ischiropoulos of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, who was not involved with the study.

What?s more, high blood levels of the bacterial by-product of L-carnitine, called trimethylamine N-oxide or TMAO, were an ?astoundingly good? warning sign of impending heart attack, stroke and death, says study coauthor Stanley Hazen of Cleveland Clinic. A test for TMAO, which will become commercially available this year, could give physicians a new tool for gauging heart disease risk.

Scientists have long known that eating red meat jacks up a person?s chances of developing heart disease, but reliable biomarkers ? blood-borne indicators of disease or health ? have been hard to find. One way physicians gauge risk is with blood tests for cholesterol, a greasy molecule in meat and other foods, which gums up arteries. But tests for cholesterol and other molecules don?t wholly explain meat?s link to heart disease, Hazen says. ?Cholesterol, saturated fat and salt only account for a tiny little piece of the risk.?

Gut bacteria might account for a bit more. Hazen?s team first linked intestinal microbes to heart disease in 2011, when they spotted TMAO in blood collected from people who later suffered heart attacks, had strokes or died (SN Online: 4/7/11).

For the new study, Hazen zeroed in on L-carnitine because the nutrient is structurally similar to a compound that gut microbes can convert to TMAO.

Volunteers ? a mix of omnivores, vegetarians and vegans ? ate steak and L-carnitine capsules, and then researchers measured TMAO levels in the blood. Only meat eaters could make TMAO from L-carnitine, Hazen?s team found, and they needed their gut bacteria to do it. TMAO production shut down when researchers wiped out volunteers? intestinal microbes with antibiotics.

L-carnitine passed right through the guts of long-term vegans and vegetarians, leaving their blood practically TMAO-free. When researchers examined volunteers? stool, they found different groups of bacteria in people who did and didn?t eat meat.

Hazen?s group also found that blood levels of TMAO and L-carnitine could predict heart disease risk, which they learned by collecting blood samples from 2,595 patients and tracking their health for three years.

The findings are new and exciting but need to be confirmed, says cardiovascular researcher Ishwarlal Jialal of the University of California, Davis Medical Center. Molecules proposed as biomarkers for heart disease often look promising in initial studies but fizzle out clinically. ?We?ve been down this road so many times before.?

But one message is clear, Jialel says: ?L-carnitine is not good for you. It?s not good as a supplement and it?s not good in red meat. That?s one thing you can take to the bank.?

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/349480/title/Molecule_in_meat_may_increase_heart_disease_risk_

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