Electronic implants: New fast transcutaneous non-invasive battery recharger and energy feeder

Apr. 9, 2013 ? Ant?nio Abreu, a Sustainable Energy Systems PhD Student under the MIT Portugal Program, currently developing research work at LNEG (Laborat?rio Nacional de Energia e Geologia I.P.) has developed a non-invasive battery recharger system for electronic implants that allows a longer life for the internal implantable devices in the human body such as, pacemakers, defibrillators, electric heart, delaying considerable the usual customary surgery intervention for replacement.

According to the world health organization, cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of deaths. On a last resource, patients with cardiovascular disease have to be aided through surgery and medical devices to help them perform the basic functions. Nevertheless medical devices, such as pacemaker that sends electrical impulses to the heart muscle to maintain a suitable heart rate and rhythm, need a source of energy and once the battery has run out they required a surgical procedure similar to the initial implantation to replace the device.

With the non-invasive battery recharger for electronic cardiac implants the need for a new surgical intervention is reduced, since it primes from being rechargeable, i.e. the patient will not need to be operated upon to change batteries every five to seven years, since these are rechargeable by irradiant electricity passing through the body. Ant?nio Abreu adds that "The non-invasive battery also allows for a customize energy consumption of the cardiac implants, therefore the consumption of energy can be regulated to adapted to its function and patients' pathology and activity. It guarantees the energetic supply of a communication channel between the exterior for diagnosis and/or implant reprogramming. In this case, there will be no demand of energy from the internal battery."

The principle of the operation is the use of a high efficient Transcutaneous Power System. However, these typical systems use electronic converters witch generate hazard electromagnetic interferences (EMI) that causes damage to the implants as to the patients. The present innovation takes into account the Energy Efficiency in electric transmission systems without ferromagnetic cores, regarding medical application. In practice it eliminates the Gibbs phenomena.

The invention optimizes the energy flow determined by the regime of exploration previewed at the innovative Predictor-Corrector Abacus conception.

The Predictor-Corrector Abacus is a representation in the complex plan of a situation where a specific load is supplied by an electrical energy to the Active Power P, and Reactive Power Q. What characterizes this Abacus is the circumstance of considering the effect of the reactance and the resistance of longitudinal transmission lines that is evident at the figure by the position of the angles of segments lines that proliferate in the first and second quadrants of the Argand's complex plan. The best position of the segments lines defines the maximum of power transference without electromagnetic interferences.

The Prototype, patented by Ant?nio Abreu in the USA and in Europe with the collaboration and support of the PRIME (Incentive Program for the Modernization of the Economy) program and approved by the European Commission, was initially designed for pacemakers application but currently, and according to the medical development, new improved technics were made to be suitable for high power (and high voltages too) devices, such defibrillators, electric heart, insulin pumps or other type of implantable prosthesis.

Moreover, the same principle that allows the supply of lower energy voltages can be applied to improve the high power electrical transmission and distribution systems (electrical grid) to reduce costs due the consumer electric consumption, according to the results obtained.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/electricity/~3/howWyuk3dac/130409131804.htm

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Cuba to turn over Florida couple who allegedly abducted children

Desmond Boylan / Reuters

Joshua Hakken and his wife Sharyn stand inside a building with their two children at the Marina Hemingway complex in Havana on Tuesday.

By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News

A couple accused of abducting their two young sons from their grandmother in Florida sailed with them to Cuba, which announced Tuesday that it will return the family to the United States.

Cuban authorities confirmed that?Joshua Hakken, 35, and Sharyn Hakken, 34, arrived in the island nation in their sailboat the Salty Paw on Sunday. They notified the U.S. the next day and decided on Tuesday morning to turn over the couple and the kids, a government statement said.

Security agents escorted the family from the marina later in the day, but it was not clear when the handover would take place.

The boys, 2 and 4, had been living with their grandmother in Tampa after their parents lost custody of them.?Police say Joshua Hakken entered the grandmother's house in the early morning of April 3, tied her up and took the children.?

After evading Amber alerts in Florida and Tennessee and Coast Guard boats searching the Gulf of Mexico, the Hakkens made their way to Cuba in the 25-foot blue-and-white sailboat, arriving in bad weather, authorities said.

Even though the U.S. does not have formal relations with Cuba, Havana officials communicated with the U.S. Interests Section and the State Department "to try to guarantee the integrity and well-being of those minors," the statement said.

The boys had been placed in foster care after Joshua Hakken was arrested in a Louisiana hotel room in 2012 on charges including drug possession, according to police in Slidell, La. Sharyn and Joshua Hakken told officers that they planned to ?take a journey to the Armageddon? at the time of the arrest, Slidell police said.

The children were there when the parents were arrested, police said, and several weapons were taken from the room

Terri Durdaller, a spokeswoman at the Florida Department of Children and Families, told the Associated Press it's not clear where the children will be placed when they return to American soil.

"Louisiana is the ultimate decision maker on where these children will reside. It's likely they will be placed back in Florida with the grandmother," she said.

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Desmond Boylan / Reuters

"Salty," a boat believed to belong to Joshua and Sharyn Hakken, sits at the Marina Hemingway complex in Havana, Cuba, on Tuesday.

NBC News' Craig Giammona contributed to this report.

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This story was originally published on Tue Apr 9, 2013 9:44 AM EDT

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Ree Varcoe: Sharing Oxygen

If you're like me, you enjoy giving back and volunteering in your community. Your donation of either money or time might not be a grand gesture or something you're able to offer consistently, but you'd like to believe what you give actually counts for something. What constitutes that 'something' has been under question lately. Funding guru Dan Pallotta put forward a very eloquent argument in his recent TED Talk that charities and nonprofits should not be criticized for how they spend money and instead, conversation should center on their achievements. He is absolutely right in theory; however at the moment, the majority of people don't seem to want to see their donations reflected in charity overheads and employee salaries. In the U.S., and similarly in Australia and New Zealand (where I live), the media is calling foul those charities spending as much as 60 percent of donations they receive on expensive campaigns, telemarketers and black tie balls. The American Institute of Philanthropy boasts their own charity rating guide to advise whether they believe charities are spending enough on programs vs. their own fundraising and administration. There are also organizations which roundly criticize philanthropy in general, seeing charitable giving as wasteful and failing to change society. Now that we are hotwired to everyone else's opinions online, perception usually trumps reality. So what do those of us who work in this sector do to change others' opinions on charitable spending?

I'd hazard a guess that there are few charities in the world that do not absorb any part of donations made to fund their own administrative costs, though I'm counting my lucky stars that I work for one of them. Social Angels has the full sponsorship of a large non-profit organization behind us so every cent people choose to donate goes directly to charitable causes and programs. They even bear the cost of credit card fees for donations.

We're a young charity, but fortunate to have support like this, which will be helpful as we grow and try to complete causes without worrying we are disappointing our donors in any way. Our parent organization is also non-profit, working to help people living with daily challenges while they recover from mental illness. Our organizational leadership saw the need to reach further into communities and created Social Angels as a crowd funding website set up to help New Zealanders. As 'Head Angel,' I share stories of very simple things needed to make a real difference in the life of a person or a community. We promote a number of good causes and also other charities in New Zealand that struggle to find support. Our goal is to help as many people and organizations as possible who must, in turn, pledge to use the funds as promised. That makes us fully accountable and assures our donors that 100 percent of their money will go to fund a cause they choose.

Millions of other charities around the world only know the struggle of setting up a cause from scratch, trying to build a community and having to claw back some of the funds raised in order to sustain the charity itself. Within all of that, donors are expecting to see marked results. I liken the need for charities to fund themselves to what we are told in preparing for an emergency on an airplane: We know we must don our own oxygen masks before anything else because caring for our basic needs allows us to survive to care for others.

Regardless of what some charities spend on self-preservation, we sometimes only realize the value of their work when we are forced into a state of an unexpected and desperate need at the mercy of a natural disaster. Going about your everyday life, you might believe yourself safe and secure in matters of health and finance, but give a thought to how Mother Nature has been wreaking havoc around the world with both fierce intensity and growing frequency. In the first moments after a disaster has occurred, we are more likely to see charitable groups and a legion of volunteers assembling to help long before governments can begin to get organized and mobilized to take action. These charities play a critical role in assisting when other means of help fail. Think back to the rate of response by the government to Hurricane Katrina and the frustration for victims that ensued. Natural disasters can devastate a community, while also taking a huge toll on survivors' souls. The Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 killed over 200,000 people. Seven years later, people who managed to survive that incredibly traumatic event still had not found it easy to move on with their lives. Almost like survivors of war, once people have overcome tremendous odds and managed to live through a catastrophic event, they cannot afford to ignore a path to healing that usually requires professional intervention. And medical professionals believe the years that follow a disaster are when people need help most.

And so it is in the little country of New Zealand where I live. Just over two years ago, in February of 2011, a massive earthquake virtually destroyed the center of Christchurch. This small city of approximately 370,000 people has always been considered one of the most beautiful places in the country to live and raise a family. There had been a smaller quake the year before which took everyone by surprise, but the feeling was the worst was over... until February 22. After that day, its survivors became determined to remain strong and help rebuild their city, while dying a little more in their hearts as time marched on and conditions were slow to improve. Still today, post-traumatic stress is rampant. As thousands of aftershocks continue to ripple across the region, people are using portable toilets outside their homes - and some continue living in their condemned houses, with no other place to go. So many have lost loved ones, their homes, their jobs. Some schools have been permanently closed and many have compressed their calendars to share campuses from morning until night. And now, as winter approaches with its cold, wet darkness, people still don't have adequate housing. Men and women of all ages and their children continue to feel they have been left to fend for themselves.

There is a place doing all it can to care for the hearts and minds of people from Christchurch. It's called The Monastery. Set on the banks of New Zealand's Waikato River in the North Island, it is a place of healing and respite, offered solely for people who have been directly affected by the Christchurch earthquakes. Some of the guests have been working or volunteering on the front line for two years now; others are just regular folks who simply need a break from their daily struggles. These special guests arrive at an elegant 100-year-old villa to beautiful, welcoming rooms and views of a tranquil country setting. Throughout the week the chef prepares healthy organic meals, with most food grown on the property. Healing physical therapies and counseling sessions make the week-long visit especially valuable for guests.

Feedback from people of Christchurch who come to The Monastery is always positive. Most all have said their week-long visit will enable them to go back to their community with renewed vigor, as a result of this intervention. The best thing about this service is that it is offered at no cost to those who have been affected by the earthquakes.

There must be thousands of charities around the world addressing the needs of victims of disaster. One can only hope they gain support for their good work. In New Zealand, one seemingly small cause which gives desperately needed oxygen back to Christchurch's earthquake victims is vital to us. And it needs support for it to continue. If you'd like to know more about The Monastery and might want to help, knowing every dollar donated goes directly to fund this service, I'd be grateful if you would visit http://www.socialangels.org.nz/causes/view/people-of-christchurch-still-need-our-help.

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Follow Ree Varcoe on Twitter: www.twitter.com/socialangels

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ree-varcoe/sharing-oxygen_b_3018324.html

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IRL: Moshi's Digits gloves and the Nokia Lumia 620 on Telus

Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.

Spring may have sprung two weeks ago, but believe us, it's still winter somewhere. (Ed note: I'm typing this from underneath an NVIDIA Snuggie -- Dana.) In fact, Darren's had a reason to test out some touchscreen-friendly gloves, even in his southerly state of North Carolina. Up north, our own Jon Fingas has been playing with the Lumia 620 on Canada's Telus networks. No complaints from him about the 40-degree temps, though.

Filed under: Misc, Nokia

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/0meJy1seSOM/

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Ala. Legislature votes to pardon Scottsboro Boys

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) ? Opening a final chapter to one of the most important civil rights episodes in American history, Alabama lawmakers voted Thursday to allow posthumous pardons for the "Scottsboro Boys": nine black teens who were wrongly convicted of raping two white women more than 80 years ago.

The bill setting up a procedure to pardon the group must be signed by Gov. Robert Bentley to become law. He plans to study the legislation but has said he favors the pardons.

All but the youngest member of the group, whose ages ranged from 13 to 19, were imprisoned on death row after false accusations from the women and convictions by all-white juries. All were eventually freed without executions, although several suffered for many years in prison.

One, Haywood Paterson, escaped. While a fugitive, he helped publish a book about the case. Patterson was captured soon after, but the governor of Michigan refused his extradition to Alabama in 1950.

Over time, the case became a symbol of the tragedies wrought by racial injustice. It inspired popular songs, books and films. A Broadway musical was staged in 2010, the same year a museum dedicated to the case opened in Scottsboro.

The legal saga also set important legal precedents, including a Supreme Court decision that outlawed the practice of systematically excluding black people from juries.

The last of the men died in 1989.

The House approved the legislation Thursday morning in a 103-0 vote. The measure earlier passed the Senate 29-0.

"This is a great for Alabama. It was long overdue," said Democratic Rep. Laura Hall of Huntsville, who sponsored the bill in the House.

House Speaker Mike Hubbard, a Republican, said, "You can't change history, but you can take steps to right the wrongs of the past. The fact that this passed unanimously shows that today's 21st century Alabama is far removed from the one that caused such pain for so many so long ago."

That distance is still being measured.

Benjamin Todd Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP, applauded the correction of "an historic miscarriage of justice." But he noted that Alabama is involved in a Supreme Court case over the Voting Rights Act and has passed laws that critics say are discriminatory against immigrants in the country illegally.

"Like so many communities that have had tried to move beyond their ugliest chapters, Alabama has learned you can only move forward if you are honest about your past," Jealous said. "It's heartening that this was a unanimous vote."

"Unfortunately," he continued, "Alabama still needs to confront its present."

Susan Glisson, executive director of the Institute for Racial Reconciliation at the University of Mississippi, also was gladdened by the measure. "It is an opportunity for us to understand that period, especially the ways in which blacks were deemed inferior and therefore not worthy of equal treatment before the law," she said.

But she found it ironic that it happened while Alabama is challenging its requirements under the Voting Rights Act, and said that the amount of time it took to pass may lead some to consider it an "empty gesture."

"For those of us who care about where our country's headed, I would hope we would take the opportunity to ask difficult questions about what reconciliation really means and also to understand the critical role that education and justice plays in its accomplishment," Glisson said.

The nine teens were accused of raping two white women on a freight train in Alabama in 1931. At this time during the Great Depression, many people would sneak aboard for free rides between cities. There had been a fight between whites and blacks on the train, and the two women made the false rape accusations in hopes of avoiding arrest.

The defendants were convicted in trials where, as was typical in such Deep South cases then, guilty verdicts were never in doubt. The Communist Party seized on the case as an opportunity to make inroads among black people and liberals. It got one of its lawyers named as defense counsel, and also secured the services of famed defense attorney Samuel Liebowitz. There were years of appeals ? some successful, as one of the women recanted and said their claim was a lie.

Supreme Court rulings related to the case guaranteed the right to effective counsel and barred the practice of keeping blacks off juror rolls.

The Senate sponsor of the legislation, Republican Sen. Arthur Orr of Decatur, credited Sheila Washington, founder of the Scottsboro Boys Museum, for pursuing the legislation after the governor and parole board said they didn't have the legal authority to issue pardons to the deceased.

Washington said the pardons would finally shine a light on "this dark injustice."

If the bill is signed into law, a petition would need to be filed for each of the men for each of them to be pardoned, said Eddie Cook, executive director of the state parole board. The parole board will then decide whether to grant the pardon. Previously, there had not been a procedure for pardoning someone who is dead.

Orr said it was unfortunate that the pardons are coming after all the Scottsboro Boys have died, but the legislation does let the state write a "better final chapter."

"Their lives were ruined by the convictions," he said. "By doing this, it sends a very positive message nationally and internationally that this is a different state than we were many years ago."

___

Johnson reported from Montgomery. Washington covers race and ethnicity for The Associated Press. He is reachable at www.twitter.com/jessewashington.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ala-legislature-votes-pardon-scottsboro-boys-160219720.html

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IU & Regenstrief conducting nation's first randomized controlled dementia screening trial

Public release date: 4-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Cindy Fox Aisen
caisen@iupui.edu
317-843-2276
Indiana University

INDIANAPOLIS -- Researchers from the Indiana University Center for Aging Research and the Regenstrief Institute are conducting the nation's first randomized controlled dementia screening trial to weigh the benefits and risks of routine screening for dementia. The results of the five-year trial will help policy-makers, individuals and families weigh the pros and cons of routine screening of adults age 65 and older.

The Indiana University Dementia Screening Trial: The IU Choice Study is enrolling 4,000 participants randomized into usual care or screening. Those who receive usual care will not be screened for dementia on a routine basis. Patients randomized to the screening track will receive dementia screening, and those whose screening results are positive for cognitive impairment will participate in the Healthy Aging Brain Care collaborative dementia care program. Patients from both study arms will be followed for at least 12 months.

"A fundamental tenet of any screening program is that it should reduce individual and societal burdens," said Regenstrief Institute investigator Malaz Boustani, M.D., MPH, the study's principal investigator. He is the associate director of the IU Center for Aging Research and an associate professor of medicine at the IU School of Medicine. He sees patients at the Wishard Healthy Aging Brain Center and is also an IU Health physician. "Until we have data we can't make the right decision on whether or not physicians should conduct routine dementia screening of individuals who have no symptoms of memory problems. IU Choice is the first step in the direction of acquiring that critical data."

In 2003, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force reviewed existing evidence regarding dementia screening in primary care and reported it could not determine whether the benefits outweighed the harms.

According to Dr. Boustani, who was a lead author of the U.S. Preventive Services report, this lack of evidence persists a decade later. Yet since 2011, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has reimbursed physicians for an annual wellness visit that includes detection of cognitive impairment, he said.

"We need to know whether routine screening serves patients, families and society," said Dr. Boustani, who is a geriatrician and health services researcher. "Will routine dementia screening ensure better care and better health at a lower cost, or will it be a burden to the health care system with little benefit to older adults? Is early recognition of cognitive decline helpful? Should we wait until dementia becomes symptomatic, or should primary care doctors screen everyone?"

"We don't know enough to tell doctors to screen all their older patients for dementia. There is just not enough data to make the right decision on routine dementia screening. All these questions require answers before recommendations can be made."

Dr. Boustani and colleagues previously conducted a study on the stigma associated with dementia screening. Almost 90 percent of the 554 people in the study, who ranged in age from 65 to 96, indicated willingness by undergoing actual screening.

Routine screenings for conditions such as colon cancer have improved patient health and reduced societal burdens of diseases. However, screening may cause side effects, excessive costs and controversy, as in the case of prostate cancer screening.

###

The IU Choice Trial is an academic-community partnership served by health information technology. Patients of 10 Eskenazi Medical Group, Wishard Health Services and IU Health primary care clinics are eligible to participate in the ground-breaking trial. The study is supported by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health through award number R01AG040220.

Co-investigators of the study are Regenstrief Institute investigators Greg Sachs, M.D., Christopher Callahan, M.D., and Paul Dexter, M.D. Dr. Sachs is an IU Center for Aging Research scientist and director of the Division of General Internal Medicine & Geriatrics at the IU School of Medicine. Dr. Callahan is founding director of the IU Center for Aging Research and Cornelius and Yvonne Pettinga Professor in Aging Research at the IU School of Medicine. Dr. Dexter is associate professor of clinical medicine at the IU School of Medicine and chief medical information officer for Wishard Health Services. Drs. Sachs and Callahan as well as Dr. Boustani see patients at the Healthy Aging Brain Center at Wishard. Amie Frame, MPH of the Regenstrief Institute is the study research manager.

---

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 4-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Cindy Fox Aisen
caisen@iupui.edu
317-843-2276
Indiana University

INDIANAPOLIS -- Researchers from the Indiana University Center for Aging Research and the Regenstrief Institute are conducting the nation's first randomized controlled dementia screening trial to weigh the benefits and risks of routine screening for dementia. The results of the five-year trial will help policy-makers, individuals and families weigh the pros and cons of routine screening of adults age 65 and older.

The Indiana University Dementia Screening Trial: The IU Choice Study is enrolling 4,000 participants randomized into usual care or screening. Those who receive usual care will not be screened for dementia on a routine basis. Patients randomized to the screening track will receive dementia screening, and those whose screening results are positive for cognitive impairment will participate in the Healthy Aging Brain Care collaborative dementia care program. Patients from both study arms will be followed for at least 12 months.

"A fundamental tenet of any screening program is that it should reduce individual and societal burdens," said Regenstrief Institute investigator Malaz Boustani, M.D., MPH, the study's principal investigator. He is the associate director of the IU Center for Aging Research and an associate professor of medicine at the IU School of Medicine. He sees patients at the Wishard Healthy Aging Brain Center and is also an IU Health physician. "Until we have data we can't make the right decision on whether or not physicians should conduct routine dementia screening of individuals who have no symptoms of memory problems. IU Choice is the first step in the direction of acquiring that critical data."

In 2003, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force reviewed existing evidence regarding dementia screening in primary care and reported it could not determine whether the benefits outweighed the harms.

According to Dr. Boustani, who was a lead author of the U.S. Preventive Services report, this lack of evidence persists a decade later. Yet since 2011, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has reimbursed physicians for an annual wellness visit that includes detection of cognitive impairment, he said.

"We need to know whether routine screening serves patients, families and society," said Dr. Boustani, who is a geriatrician and health services researcher. "Will routine dementia screening ensure better care and better health at a lower cost, or will it be a burden to the health care system with little benefit to older adults? Is early recognition of cognitive decline helpful? Should we wait until dementia becomes symptomatic, or should primary care doctors screen everyone?"

"We don't know enough to tell doctors to screen all their older patients for dementia. There is just not enough data to make the right decision on routine dementia screening. All these questions require answers before recommendations can be made."

Dr. Boustani and colleagues previously conducted a study on the stigma associated with dementia screening. Almost 90 percent of the 554 people in the study, who ranged in age from 65 to 96, indicated willingness by undergoing actual screening.

Routine screenings for conditions such as colon cancer have improved patient health and reduced societal burdens of diseases. However, screening may cause side effects, excessive costs and controversy, as in the case of prostate cancer screening.

###

The IU Choice Trial is an academic-community partnership served by health information technology. Patients of 10 Eskenazi Medical Group, Wishard Health Services and IU Health primary care clinics are eligible to participate in the ground-breaking trial. The study is supported by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health through award number R01AG040220.

Co-investigators of the study are Regenstrief Institute investigators Greg Sachs, M.D., Christopher Callahan, M.D., and Paul Dexter, M.D. Dr. Sachs is an IU Center for Aging Research scientist and director of the Division of General Internal Medicine & Geriatrics at the IU School of Medicine. Dr. Callahan is founding director of the IU Center for Aging Research and Cornelius and Yvonne Pettinga Professor in Aging Research at the IU School of Medicine. Dr. Dexter is associate professor of clinical medicine at the IU School of Medicine and chief medical information officer for Wishard Health Services. Drs. Sachs and Callahan as well as Dr. Boustani see patients at the Healthy Aging Brain Center at Wishard. Amie Frame, MPH of the Regenstrief Institute is the study research manager.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/iu-ir040413.php

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Ex-Goldman trader Taylor pleads guilty to wire fraud

By Lauren Tara LaCapra and Nate Raymond

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ex-Goldman Sachs Group Inc trader Matthew M. Taylor pleaded guilty on Wednesday to defrauding the Wall Street bank with an unauthorized $8.3 billion futures trade in 2007, saying he exceeded internal risk limits and lied to supervisors to cover up his activities.

Taylor, 34, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in federal court in lower Manhattan on Wednesday morning, after voluntarily turning himself into federal authorities earlier in the day.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate pleaded guilty about four months after the Commodities Futures Trading Commission filed a civil complaint against him. The CFTC accused Taylor of fabricating trades to conceal a huge, unauthorized position in e-mini Standard & Poor's futures contracts, which bet on the direction of the S&P 500 index.

Taylor on Wednesday told U.S. District Judge William Pauley that his trading position at Goldman exceeded risk guidelines set by his supervisors "on the order of 10 times." He also admitted to making false statements to Goldman personnel who questioned him about the position, which led to a $118 million loss for Goldman Sachs.

"I am truly sorry," Taylor said.

'FAR EXCEEDED' RISK LIMITS

Taylor, who joined Goldman in 2005, worked in a 10-person group called the Capital Structure Franchise Trading (CSFT), and was responsible for equity derivatives trades.

After his trading profits plunged in late 2007, his supervisors told Taylor his bonus was going to be cut and instructed him to reduce risk-taking, the charging documents said.

Instead, he "amassed a position that far exceeded all trading and risk limits set by Goldman Sachs, not only for individual traders ... but for the entire CSFT desk," according to charging documents.

Taylor attempted to hide his actions by putting false information into a manual entry system, according to charging documents filed in his case. When supervisors and other employees confronted him about discrepancies compared with his actual positions, Taylor repeatedly lied, the document said.

In court, Taylor said he covertly built the position in an effort to restore his reputation and increase his bonus. He earned a $150,000 salary and expected a bonus of $1.6 million, according to court documents.

Taylor was fired from Goldman in December 2007, shortly after the incident, according to brokerage industry records. He then took a job at Morgan Stanley, where he had first worked after graduating from MIT, but left that firm again last summer.

Prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of 33 months to 41 months and a fine of $7,500 to $75,000.

During the hearing, Pauley questioned how the government came up with its proposed sentence, given the size of Goldman's loss. Steve Lee, a prosecutor, said it was based on Taylor's compensation.

Pauley stressed the "court may not be bound by that calculation" come sentencing, adding that he was "puzzled" by the deal.

"He cooked Goldman's books, and that's not sophisticated?" Pauley asked.

A person familiar with Goldman's equities trading business said Taylor's trading position was significant - representing roughly 20 percent of e-mini trading volume the day it was established. The market moved against Taylor's position, leading to the loss, said the person, who declined to be named.

For perspective, the $8.3 billion position Taylor took in the e-mini futures market was twice the size of the $4.1 billion trade the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission highlighted in a report on the causes of the May 6, 2010, "flash crash" in which a series of e-mini trades caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average to plunge 700 points in a matter of minutes.

Taylor said he knew his actions were wrong and illegal but established the trade anyway to augment his reputation and increase his compensation.

Taylor's bail includes a $750,000 bond with two co-signers. His sentencing hearing is set for July 26.

CFTC LAWSUIT

Taylor's activities first came to public light in November when the CFTC sued him.

In dismissing Taylor, Goldman noted he was fired for taking an "inappropriately large proprietary futures positions in a firm trading account," according to a filing with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

But three months later, Taylor was hired by Morgan Stanley as an equity derivatives trader.

Taylor, whose criminal sentencing is set for July 26, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.

Goldman paid $1.5 million last year to settle charges with the CFTC that it had failed to appropriately supervise Taylor.

The bank has since put in place procedures to catch wayward trading activity more quickly.

"We are very disappointed by Mr. Taylor's unauthorized conduct and betrayal of the firm's trust in him," the bank said in a statement on Wednesday.

A spokesman for Morgan Stanley declined to comment on Taylor's guilty plea.

Last year, a Morgan Stanley spokesman said he left the firm unrelated to the charges against him.

Taylor's lawyer, Thomas Rotko, said his client accepted responsibility for his actions, which he called "an aberration."

"He looks forward to the opportunity to put this behind him and resume what has otherwise been a productive and exemplary life," Rotko said.

The case is United States v. Taylor, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 13-cr-251.

(Reporting by Lauren Tara LaCapra and Nate Raymond; additional reporting by Emily Flitter; Editing by Matthew Goldstein, Gunna Dickson and Maureen Bavdek)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ex-goldman-trader-taylor-turning-himself-authorities-sources-123115525--sector.html

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Aereo CEO Explains How Recent Court Win Further Validates Partnership Opportunities

Aereo has been making waves of late, winning an important court decision yesterday in its massive legal battle with network broadcasters over the legality of Aereo’s live streaming/DVR system that brings HD video content to any of your devices for a pay-as-you-go option or monthly subscription cost. Plus, rumors have been swirling lately that Aereo may be in talks with major ISPs and TV providers like Dish, DirecTV, and AT&T. Many have said that Aereo’s legal issues with a large group of major network broadcasters like Fox, NBC, etc. have become a liability working against Aereo in these acquisition/partnership talks. However, in an interview with TechCrunch, CEO and founder Chet Kanojia explained that this latest win is actually further validating Aereo’s stability as a disruptor in the industry. In fact, he believes that this latest move by the court will be beneficial. Though he wouldn’t name any companies specifically, Kanojia did mention that Aereo is talking to “a lot” of companies who are all “very interested” in working with Aereo. In the end, “it’ll all come back down to what brings the most benefit to the consumer,” said Kanojia. “We’re not going to partner with someone for the sake of partnering with them.” And has this latest legal win swayed companies in the Aereo direction? Well, Kanojia didn’t confirm anything specifically but he did say that conversations are happening constantly. In terms of the legal battle, Kanojia doesn’t seem the slightest bit worried. “It’s a financial drain and an intellectual drain,” he admits, but it’s also the nature of the industry. Kanojia mentioned that, if you look at the history of the TV industry, any real change or innovation was predicated on the backs of dozens of case filings with the courts. It’s a stubborn industry, but those are often the most ripe for change. “So the fact that you’re being attacked by big players in the industry is actually a good sign, right?” I asked Kanojia. And while he wouldn’t actually call his company’s legal stresses a positive thing, he definitely believes that the court case (and especially the latest rulings) are beneficial in validating Aereo’s place in the market.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/dPy4HRF3UNM/

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Jason Gray- Nothing Is Wasted (Official Music Video) - Crosswalk.com

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Source: http://www.crosswalk.com/culture/music/jason-gray-nothing-is-wasted-official-music-video.html

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Palestinian PM hospitalized with abdominal pain

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) ? A government spokesman says Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has been hospitalized with an abdominal infection.

Jamal Zakout says the 61-year-old Fayyad felt pain in his abdomen Monday while at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Zakout says Fayyad went to Ramallah Hospital for tests and was admitted, but it was unclear whether he would spend the night.

A source close to Fayyad, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to discuss the medical diagnosis, says the prime minister had an infected pancreas.

Fayyad suffered a heart attack two years ago while visiting family in the United States.

Since 2007, Fayyad has been prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, the self-rule government that administers parts of the West Bank.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/palestinian-pm-hospitalized-abdominal-pain-185819000.html

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Curry's big night sends Duke past Spartans 71-61

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? Mike Krzyzewski already holds the NCAA record for most wins by a coach.

Thanks to Seth Curry's big scoring night, Krzyzewski could finish the weekend by tying one of John Wooden's records.

Curry scored 29 points, tied the school record for most 3-pointers in an NCAA tournament game and led the Duke Blue Devils past Michigan State 71-61, putting Krzyzewski within one win of his 12th Final Four appearance. All Duke has to do is beat top-seeded Louisville in the NCAA tournament's Midwest Regional final ? something it already has done.

"We were fortunate to win that game. They've been playing the best basketball in the country," Krzyzewski said, referring to Duke's 76-71 victory Nov. 24. "I love their two guards. I think they're great kids and they're dynamic. But they're deep. They're a deep team. We can't turn the ball over against them."

Duke (30-5) can create its own set of problems as the Spartans found out Friday night.

Curry knocked down six of his first seven 3s before missing his final two to tie a school record that had been attained six other times, most recently by Jason Williams on March 22, 2001, against UCLA. He had plenty of help, too. Rasheed Sulaimon scored 16 points, making 12 of 14 from the free-throw line, also tying a school record for free throws made in a tourney game. Mason Plumlee added 14 points and seven rebounds in the return to his home state.

And if Krzyzewski earns career win No. 958 on Sunday against top-seeded Louisville, he will break a second-place tie with North Carolina's Dean Smith and move into a tie with Wooden for most Final Four appearances by a head coach in NCAA history.

Krzyzewski isn't the only one chasing a milestone.

A win would also move Louisville coach Rick Pitino into a tie for fourth all-time with Roy Williams and he is trying to get the Cardinals back to the Final Four for the second straight year.

Clearly, Louisville (32-5) has a few advantages. The game in Indianapolis will be played about 100 miles from campus and another heavily-partisan Cardinals crowd is expected at Lucas Oil Stadium.

But Louisville will face a team that was ranked No. 1 earlier this season and in the same venue it lost as the top seeded team in the Midwest Region just four years ago to Michigan State. Plus, they'll be facing a Duke team that is clicking on all cylinders.

"If a team's game plan is to just to be tough or physical with us, that's not going to win," Plumlee said.

The Spartans (27-9) learned that lesson the hard way.

They focused, as usual, on dominating the middle.

Instead, Curry's 3-point barrage loosened things up, and forced Michigan State to play catch-up most of the second half.

His sixth 3 of the night broke a 38-38 tie early in the second half, sending Duke on a 9-0 run. The Blue Devils never trailed again.

"Honestly, I was just trying to help my shot. I got a few to go early," Curry said. "I feel like every time I take a shot, it's going to go down and nothing felt different tonight."

The Spartans were led by Keith Appling, who scored 16 points despite playing with a brace over his injured right shoulder. Adreian Payne added 14 points and 10 rebounds, but it wasn't nearly enough against Curry & Co.

Coach Tom Izzo was hoping that his only son's prediction, that Duke would beat Michigan State in the regional semis, would be wrong. Instead, the younger Izzo got it right.

"They're a good team, they played well, Curry hurt us, no question about it," Izzo said. "We didn't quit, we hung in there. I thought we played poorly for us, but the better team won tonight."

The game was billed as an entertaining contest between two of college basketball's most successful coaches ? and it lived up to the hype.

The first half was played to a near draw with four ties and eight lead changes.

Michigan State grabbed an 18-17 lead on Derrick Nix's tip-in with 9:52 left in the first half, but Curry then scored nine points in an 11-2 run for the Blue Devils. He was fouled by Travis Trice while attempting a 3-pointer and made all three free throws to make it 28-20 with 4:59 remaining.

Back came the Spartans, who clamped down on defense and closed to 32-31 at halftime.

But Curry's early second-half scoring spree was all the Blue Devils needed. Michigan State pulled within seven with 1:32 to go, but couldn't get any closer after trailing by as much as 13 in the second half.

"We knew we would have to play at that level. They're a little more athletic than we are," Krzyzewski said. "We had to try to match that and tonight we were able to do that. I'm glad it's not a seven-game series because I'm not sure we'd be able to continue to do it. But tonight we were able to do it."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/currys-big-night-sends-duke-past-spartans-71-073643245--spt.html

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