MOSCOW (AP) ? The leaders of Russia and Japan have instructed their diplomats to intensify efforts to work out a peace treaty between the two nations.
Russia and Japan have yet to sign a formal peace treaty ending hostilities from World War II due to a dispute over four islands that were captured by Soviet forces at the end of the war. Nevertheless, they have pursued economic ties.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who met Monday in Moscow with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said both countries told their foreign ministries to "intensify contacts for devising a mutually acceptable way of settling the problem."
"President Putin and I confirmed our understanding that it's an abnormal situation when 67 years have gone by after the end of the war between Japan and Russia and no peace agreement has been concluded," Abe said at a news conference following the talks.
There was no elaboration on possible compromise areas and Putin acknowledged that increased efforts "doesn't mean that everything will be resolved tomorrow."
In 2011, Russia vowed to deploy military hardware to the islands.
With rival China also pursuing closer energy cooperation with Russia, Japan has more incentive than ever to put its historical roadblocks with Russia aside.
Russian and Japanese companies signed an array of documents on the sidelines of the visit. Putin said the Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom intends to participate in building an LNG terminal in Japan.
Russia's Far East is also keen to attract more Japanese investment in its energy sector and in the infrastructure construction it needs for closer trade ties with the rest of the Asia-Pacific region.
Since taking office in late December, Abe has sought to highlight Tokyo's interest in building closer ties with Southeast Asian nations to help drive economic growth and offset the fallout from tensions with Beijing over a territorial dispute in the East China Sea. He says "economic diplomacy" is a priority for reviving Japan's sluggish economy.
After Russia, Abe is due to visit Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey, where negotiations are underway for a major nuclear power technology deal, officials say.
KC-135 Stratotanker planes have been refueling fighter craft in-flight for more than 60 years. While such longevity is commendable, the US military?s fleet of mid-air refuellers is in desperate need of an update. And that?s where this new flying gas station comes in.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) ? Police say a man stabbed four people at a Catholic church in Albuquerque as a Sunday mass was nearing its end.
Police spokesman Robert Gibbs says a man in his 20s jumped over several pews at St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church around noon Sunday and walked up to the choir area where he began his attack.
The injuries to the four church-goers weren't life-threatening. All four were being treated at hospitals.
An off-duty police officer and others at the church subdued the attacker and held him down until police arrived.
Gibbs says the attacker is in custody but that police don't yet know his identity, the motive for the stabbings, whether he had any ties to the victims or whether he regularly attended the church.
The stabbings occurred as the choir had just begun its closing hymns.
Archbishop of Santa Fe Michael Sheehan released a statement saying he was saddened by the attack. "I pray for all who have been harmed, their families, the parishioners and that nothing like this will ever happen again," Sheehan said.
The church didn't immediately return calls seeking comment on Sunday afternoon.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin (POO'-tihn) have been discussing terrorism coordination in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings.
The White House says the two leaders spoke by phone Monday. A statement says Obama expressed his "appreciation" for Russia's close cooperation after the attack.
The suspected bombers are Russian natives who immigrated to the Boston area. Russian authorities told U.S. officials before the bombings they had concerns about the family, but only revealed details of wiretapped conversations since the attack.
A White House statement said the leaders discussed future cooperation on security, including the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia.
The White House also says Obama expressed condolences for a deadly hospital fire outside Moscow last week and that Obama stressed U.S. concerns over chemical weapons in Syria.
JERUSALEM (AP) ? Israel's prisons service says a fire has broken out at the facility where former President Moshe Katsav is serving time.
Spokesman Itsik Gorlov said the fire erupted at a factory at Maasiyahu prison in central Israel Sunday. He had no immediate details on its cause or whether there were any casualties. He said it had not spread to the wards where prisoners are held.
Katsav has been serving a seven-year sentence since 2011 after being convicted of rape and other charges. He has denied the accusations.
Israel on Sunday was battling a series of brushfires caused by the combination of hot, dry weather and the Lag Baomer holiday, in which revelers traditionally celebrate with bonfires.
Late-night television host and comedian Conan O'Brien tours the Brady Press Briefing room of the White House in Washington, Friday, April, 26, 2013. O'Brien visited the White House ahead of his schedule hosting of the annual White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Late-night television host and comedian Conan O'Brien tours the Brady Press Briefing room of the White House in Washington, Friday, April, 26, 2013. O'Brien visited the White House ahead of his schedule hosting of the annual White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Late-night television host and comedian Conan O'Brien gives a 'thumbs-up' as he tours the Brady Press Briefing room of the White House in Washington, Friday, April, 26, 2013. O'Brien visited the White House ahead of his schedule hosting of the annual White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Late-night television host and comedian Conan O'Brien tours the Brady Press Briefing room of the White House in Washington, Friday, April, 26, 2013. O'Brien visited the White House ahead of his schedule hosting of the annual White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The annual gathering not far from the White House brings together journalists, government officials, politicians and media personalities for what's usually an evening of light-hearted banter and celebrity gawking.
Presidents are made fun of and they poke at themselves, too.
But President Barack Obama's scheduled appearance Saturday night at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner was coming at a somber time, nearly two weeks after the deadly Boston Marathon bombing and 10 days after a devastating fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas.
In 1995, in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, President Bill Clinton dispensed with the traditional presidential humor to remember victims and praise journalists for their coverage of the explosion.
Coincidentally, this year's dinner entertainer, comedian and late-night TV talk-show host Conan O'Brien, also headlined that 1995 gala.
Obama spent the afternoon on the golf course at Andrews Air Force Base with former U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and two White House aides.
Six journalists, including Associated Press White House Correspondent Julie Pace, were to be awarded prizes for their coverage of the presidency and national issues.
The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza won the Aldo Beckman Award, which recognizes excellence in the coverage of the presidency.
Pace won the Merriman Smith Award for a print journalist for coverage on deadline.
ABC's Terry Moran was the winner of the broadcast Merriman Smith Award for deadline reporting.
Reporters Jim Morris, Chris Hamby and Ronnie Greene of the Center for Public Integrity won the Edgar A. Poe Award for coverage of issues of national significance.
One hack from our Disrupt NY Hackathon, called Kar Nanny, seeks to let users see where their kids are driving and get notifications if they're being unsafe. Or you can see where your spouse is. Or, if you own a car rental fleet, this will give you the opportunity to keep tabs on how renters are using your cars.
The Company that has Kept Consumers In-Step to the Music for 50 Years Affirms its Commitment to the Best Sound Experience
Wide Array of Choices Meets the Home Audio System Needs of Any Consumer; Still the Only AV Receiver with Built-in Wi-Fi?, Bluetooth? and AirPlay?
LOS ANGELES, April 25, 2013 ? At a special listening and audition event today, Sony Electronics introduced its 2013 Home Audio product lineup, highlighting the STR-DN1040 Audio/Video Receiver and the HT-CT660 Soundbar. Available in June, both products boast of Sony's legendary commitment to quality sound, and are packed with connectivity and accessibility features. Both the STR-DN1040 receiver, priced at $599, and the HT-CT660 soundbar, priced at $399, will be available at Sony Stores and http://store.sony.com, as well as retailers nationwide.
"Our rich audio legacy leads consumers to expect continued innovation and performance from Sony audio products," said Neal Manowitz, director of Sony Electronics' Home Audio group. "The newest AV receiver in our line has the simplest, most user-friendly interface, which when combined with a world first and only AVR feature set of built-in Wi-Fi, AirPlay and Bluetooth connectivity, raises the bar with respect to usability, and does so with knockout sound performance. Likewise, the new soundbar extends the Sony line and brings theater-like, high-definition sound to any room in the house, with Bluetooth ease and convenience."
A Receiver Built for Sound ? and More
The STR-DN1040 AV Receiver delivers premium home theater performance with 7.2 Channel 1155 Watts (165 W x 7) of power and ten HD inputs (8 HDMI in), and features a newly redesigned chassis, an increased power transformer as well as Sony-designed capacitors and audio-grade transistors. "Just like a musical instrument, this AV receiver is specially tuned to bring out the very best sonic performance," said Aaron Levine, product marketing manager of Sony Electronics' Home Audio group. "There is a sonic performance reason for every part, every material, and every assembly technique put into this receiver."
Even at low sound levels, features such as Sound Optimizer maintain the nuances of the complete sound field, perfect for watching effects-laden motion pictures. Sony's innovative High Definition Digital Cinema Sound? (HD DCS) adds auditory depth for dramatic cinematic sound that faithfully reproduces the movie theater experience. Spectacular sound is further produced through support of Dolby? TrueHD, Pro Logic IIz and dts? HD enhanced audio codecs1. For outstanding picture performance, video signals can be converted up to 4K Ultra HD HDMI?. Complementing the sound performance is ample connectivity for HD and 4K Ultra HD devices, supporting both new and legacy connectivity.
Sony offers consumers the only AV receivers with built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and AirPlay, and the STR-DN1040 receiver leads the way. Wi-Fi enables the STR-DN1040 receiver to easily access streaming media sources, and has integrated applications for Sony Entertainment Network's Music Unlimited, Pandora?, Slacker?, vTuner?, and more, as well as capabilities to seamlessly stream music from DLNA? enabled PCs. Moreover, with consumers more often accessing, storing, and playing music from mobile devices, the receiver also has built-in AirPlay and Bluetooth, allowing it to wirelessly receive the broadest amount of music from phones, tablets and computers. Users can also operate the receiver with the free Media Remote? app available for both iPhones? and Android? phones.
Also available in June is the STR-DN840 AV receiver, a 7.2 channel, 1050 Watt2 juggernaut with the same connectivity convenience of built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and AirPlay. With six HDMI inputs, 4K pass-through, Sound Optimizer and more, the STR-DN840 is aggressively priced at just $449.
A Soundbar to Bring Boom to Any Room
Designed to bring the TV experience back to life, the HT-CT660 Soundbar is a 330 Watt system producing exceptional audio marked by rich, natural sounds and incredible clarity. The 2-way, 4-driver mica reinforced speaker system delivers exceptional sound clarity with detailed highs and lows, with big sound and minimal distortion, all complemented by a wireless subwoofer that brings feeling back to the low end, along with an added convenience of being able to be placed anywhere in the room. The three HDMI inputs allow easy connection to up to three devices, such as gaming consoles, Blu-ray Disc players and cable or satellite boxes, while delivering superior high-definition picture and sound quality. Movies are presented as directors intended, with Dolby? TrueHD and dts? HD Master Audio modes the reproduce high definition sound for uncompromised quality.
Adding to the soundbar's arsenal, Sony's S-Force? PRO Front Surround 3D technology synchronizes sounds to match the motion and depth of images on screen so viewers enjoy a fully immersive, simulated 3D surround experience without the bother and clutter of surround sound speakers.
Connecting the HT-CT660 soundbar with mobile devices such as phones and tablets to stream music is as simple as one touch of any Near-Field Communication (NFC) or Bluetooth enabled device. And with Bluetooth standby mode, you can start streaming and enjoying music without having to turn on any additional components.
Home Theaters to Bring Cinema to the Home
Sony also unveiled its complete Home Theater lineup, including the BDV-N8100W and BDV-N7100W "home theaters in a box." Both products feature 1000W, 5.1 channel 3D Blu-ray Disc Full HD 1080p playback, with built-in Wi-Fi to stream Netflix, HuluPlus, Pandora, the Sony Entertainment Network and more3, and wireless rear surround sound speakers. Additionally, NFC or Bluetooth enabled devices connect seamlessly with one touch. The BDV-N8100W system also features 3-way, 47-inch floor standing speakers for exceptional sound clarity and definition, with the upper portion of the speaker separable and ideal for wall-mounting installations.
Priced at $699 and $599 respectfully, the BDV-N8100W and BDV-7100W home theaters in a box are available now at Sony stores and online at http://store.sony.com, as well as electronics retailers nationwide.
SONY UNVEILS 2013 SHELF AUDIO SYSTEM PRODUCT LINE
Special Features Enhance Sound Quality from Any Source
Mini Systems Deliver Big Sound with Unprecedented Wireless Connectivity, Built in LED Lights Turn Any Room into a Nightclub
LOS ANGELES, April 25, 2013 ? At a special listening event today, Sony Electronics debuted new products from its 2013 Shelf System and Personal Audio lines. Available May 27, the products exemplify Sony's legendary commitment to music and sound, and are packed with easy to use connectivity and accessibility features.
"Music is the soundtrack of our lives, and for generations Sony has delivered innovative, fun devices for sharing music as a part of most every social occasion," said Andrew Sivori, vice president product marketing, Sony Electronics' Home Entertainment & Sound division. "Our newest audio products not only deliver explosive sound, but do so with easy connectivity and built-in lights ready to start the celebration at any time."
A Sound Machine You Not Only Hear, but See and Feel
The RDH-GTK37iP portable sound system is a 420 Watt mega-boombox party on-the-go, with connectivity features designed to get the party started with OneTouch. Simply touch Near-Field Communications (NFC) enabled mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets to the sound system to quickly and easily stream your favorite music. Devices without NFC capabilities can still connect easily through the system's built-in Bluetooth. Additionally, a front USB input connects MP3 players and flash drives, and an integrated docking system accommodates iPod and iPhone devices with ease.
Music is powered through a 2-way bass reflex speaker system with dual subwoofers, delivering 420 Watts total RMS power to ears in the room and beyond, and EQ and DJ effect controls let you customize the sound and take over as MC. But, the party doesn't stop just there, as the system speakers also incorporate multicolored LED/strobe lights to display illumination effects, turning any room into the hottest club. Priced at $349, the RDG-GTK37iP boombox will be available at Sony Stores and http://store.sony.com, as well as electronics retailers nationwide.
High Wattage Mini Systems Let the Neighbors Know the Block Party Has Started
Last year Sony brought more than a little shake, rattle and roll into its music lineup with the LBT-SH2000 high wattage mini system, a 2000 Watt powerhouse that gained king of the hill status in cities nationwide for its ability to deliver disruptive sound. Joining it in this year's lineup are the new LBT-GPX55 and LBT-GPX77 mini systems. Boasting 1600 and 1800 wall shaking Watts respectively, the LBT-GPX55 and LBT-DPXX77 mini systems both feature 3-way speaker systems and a single disc CD player, as well as dual front USB inputs for use with MP3 players and flash drives and also include Bluetooth audio streaming with simple NFC OneTouch pairing.
Both products feature EQ and DJ effects controls, letting consumers develop and customize their own signature sound, and the Sony Digital Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE) restores life to compressed MP3 files. Like the RDH-GTK37iP system, the LBT-GPX77 model has selectable multicolored LED illumination to pulse with the music.
Starting at $499 for the LBT-GPX55, both mini-systems are available at Sony stores and http://store.sony.com, and electronics retailers nationwide.
Mark Zuckerberg showed he's more than just a social butterfly earlier this month, forming the tech-focused political lobby group FWD.us alongside some other big names in the industry. Now, according to AllThingsD, a few more heavy-hitters have signed up to offer their expertise, including Microsoft's Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, Sean Parker and Intuit CEO Brad Smith. Not a bad crew to have on your side when technology issues are up for discussion, especially Ballmer -- he's notoriously good at getting his point across.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As he nears the end of a dozen years as director of the FBI, Robert Mueller finds himself defending the agency over its handling of two high-profile cases. It is a familiar spot for the low-key ex-Marine.
At the request of President Barack Obama, Mueller stayed on for two years beyond the job's 10-year term to help stabilize law enforcement's fight against domestic and international threats to U.S. security. Recent events - the bombing at the Boston Marathon and ricin-laced letters sent to Obama and a U.S. senator - have left Mueller dealing with suggestions that agency missteps may have added to the damage.
Mueller, 68, who is scheduled to leave office in early September, has endured many congressional attacks against his agency's performance. While he is not universally praised on Capitol Hill, he has won enough bipartisan support to be considered a success.
Tellingly, it was a target of the 2001 anthrax letters - Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont - who told Mueller at a 2008 hearing that he seriously doubted the findings of the FBI's long and complicated anthrax investigation. But three years later, Leahy as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman helped Mueller win a two-year extension of his term.
The FBI chief gets far milder treatment than some other prominent members of the 0bama administration, such as U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice. She came under heavy fire from Republicans for remarks she made after the September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. Mission in Benghazi in which four Americans were killed, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.
In Washington, where making enemies is easy, Mueller wins high scores from members of Congress for his competence, even as he guided a vast expansion of FBI powers since the hijacked plane attacks of September 11, 2001.
"I believe he is well liked, even though I find fault with a lot of his policies, or how he does things," Senator Charles Grassley, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said in an interview. "I think he's well intentioned ... it's kind of difficult for me to criticize him even when there is a screw-up," Grassley added.
This month, the FBI has faced fresh assaults over its failure to spot the potential danger from Tamerlan Tsarnaev, a suspect in the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings, after Russia asked the bureau to investigate him two years ago. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died in a police shootout and his brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, has been charged in the bombings that killed three people and injured more than 200.
Two senior Republican lawmakers complained Tamerlan Tsarnaev was yet another in a series of cases in which a person investigated by the agency had later taken part in attacks.
Soon after the Boston bombings, the FBI accused an Elvis impersonator of sending letters containing ricin to Obama and other officials, only to quickly drop the charges for a lack of evidence.
Mueller and his leadership team have briefed members of Congress about the cases, but further inquiries are likely.
"I think he is ready to go home. He has had 12 years," said Dutch Ruppersberger, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee. He praised Mueller, who was first nominated to the job by a Republican president, George W. Bush.
"He has had some major issues to confront, including 9/11, then Russian and China threats, cyber threats," he said.
Some lawmakers say that despite the Boston blasts, the FBI thwarted other plots in recent years, including one to bomb New York's subway system. They also note that there was an arrest within days of the Boston bombing.
"I thought they (the FBI) did fabulous in getting to the bottom of the Boston bombing, but as great as that was, it was embarrassing to bring in a guy who had nothing to do with the ricin mailings," said Representative Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican who serves on the Judiciary Committee, which has oversight of the FBI.
Mueller's office did not comment, although Mueller has praised the work of the FBI and other law enforcement agencies for the arrest of the Boston bombing suspect.
LOW PROFILE?
Some think Mueller's secret to success has been keeping a low profile in a town where many people are constantly angling to get attention. Mueller, while doing a lot of closed-door briefings for leaders, does not talk much to the media.
"I think he has been successful because he hasn't been a press hog," Grassley said.
Mueller, a former Justice Department official, was nominated for the top FBI job in 2001 and took office days before the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
When Obama asked Mueller to stay on, some Senate Republicans initially balked. One, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, came around after Mueller met with him to discuss the bureau's handling of a Kentucky case.
Mueller fielded heavy criticism from his earliest days in office.
After the 9/11 attacks, politicians from both parties questioned how the FBI had missed several warning signs of the hijackings, such as a memo from a Phoenix agent about Middle Eastern men taking flight lessons.
The anthrax case led to criticism because the bureau focused for so long on the wrong man, a mistake that ultimately cost the government millions of dollars in settling a lawsuit.
The FBI finally concluded that Army scientist Bruce Ivans was responsible for the anthrax attacks, but he killed himself before charges were brought.
In 2008, Leahy, then the Democratic chairman of the Judiciary Committee, told Mueller he did not believe the FBI finding that Ivans was solely responsible. Leahy said he thought others had to be involved.
Mueller reorganized the FBI to expand its analytical capability and improve its intelligence collection. He also beefed up its bioterrorism capabilities.
He has been praised for resisting some parts of the expansion of domestic surveillance under Bush.
Grassley said Mueller had not always been as responsive as possible to the senator's letters or "as protective of whistleblowers as he should be."
But he said there should not be another extension as director for Mueller, no matter how well liked he may be.
The purpose of the law limiting the director's term "is to make sure we don't get into this J. Edgar Hoover syndrome, that one guy is so indispensable," Grassley said, referring to the former FBI director of almost four decades. "We don't want to get caught in that syndrome again."
(Reporting By Susan Cornwell; Editing by Marilyn W. Thompson and Peter Cooney)
Tickets for Apple's annual Worldwide Developer's Conference went on sale today at 10 AM Pacific, 1 PM Eastern, and as expected, sold out in record time, at just under 2 minutes. Tickets for the developer-focused event at San Francisco's Moscone West, which features presentations and one-on-one time with Apple's own in-house engineers, sold out in just two hours in 2012, in under 12 hours in 2011, and in eight days in 2010.
The rediscovery of a mystery animal in a museum's underground storeroom proves that a non-native 'big cat' prowled the British countryside at the turn of the last century.
The animal's skeleton and mounted skin was analysed by a multi-disciplinary team of Durham University scientists and fellow researchers at Bristol, Southampton and Aberystwyth universities and found to be a Canadian lynx ? a carnivorous predator more than twice the size of a domestic cat.
The research, published today in the academic journalHistorical Biology, establishes the animal as the earliest example of an "alien big cat" at large in the British countryside.
The research team say this provides further evidence for debunking a popular hypothesis that wild cats entered the British countryside following the introduction of the 1976 Wild Animals Act. The Act was introduced to deal with an increasing fashion for exotic ? and potentially dangerous ? pets.
The academics believe such feral "British big cats" as they are known, may have lived in the wild much earlier, through escapes and even deliberate release. There is no evidence that such animals have been able to breed in the wild.
The study of the Canadian lynx, rediscovered by research team member Max Blake among hundreds of thousands of specimens at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, details records unearthed at the museum which showed the animal had originally been mislabelled by Edwardian curators in 1903 as a Eurasian lynx ? a close relative of the Canadian lynx.
The records also showed that the lynx was shot by a landowner in the Devon countryside in the early 1900s, after it killed two dogs.
"This Edwardian feral lynx provides concrete evidence that although rare, exotic felids have occasionally been part of British fauna for more than a century," said lead researcher, Dr Ross Barnett, of Durham University's Department of Archaeology.
"The animal remains are significant in representing the first historic big cat from Britain."
Co-author Dr Darren Naish, from the University of Southampton, added: "There have been enough sightings of exotic big cats which substantially pre-date 1976 to cast doubt on the idea that one piece of legislation made in 1976 explains all releases of these animals in the UK.
"It seems more likely that escapes and releases have occurred throughout history, and that this continual presence of aliens explains the 'British big cat' phenomenon."
The researchers point out in their paper that Eurasian lynxes existed in the wild in Britain many hundreds of years ago, but had almost certainly become extinct by the 7th century. Laboratory analysis of the Bristol specimen's bones and teeth established it had been kept in captivity long enough to develop severe tooth loss and plaque before it either escaped or was deliberately released into the wild. Ancient DNA analysis of hair from the lynx proved inconclusive, possibly due to chemicals applied to the pelt during taxidermy.
Julie Finch, head of Bristol's Museums, Galleries & Archives, said: "Bristol Museum, Galleries and Archives were pleased to be a part of this ground-breaking research, which not only highlights the importance of our science collections, it establishes the pedigree of our 100-year old Lynx and adds to our knowledge and understanding of 'big cats' in the UK.
"Our museum collections are extensive and caring for them requires the considerable skills of our collections officers. We have an amazing collection of taxidermy animals on display and we welcome museum visitors to come along, to take a closer look and discover more about the natural world."
Dr Greger Larson, a member of the research team from Durham University and an expert in the migration of animals, said: "Every few years there is another claim that big cats are living wild in Britain, but none of these claims have been substantiated. It seems that big cats are to England what the Loch Ness Monster is to Scotland.
"By applying a robust scientific methodology, this study conclusively demonstrates that at least one big cat did roam Britain as early as the Edwardian era, and suggests that additional claims need to be subjected to this level of scrutiny."
The lynx is now on public display at the museum.
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Durham University: http://www.dur.ac.uk
Thanks to Durham University for this article.
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Apr. 25, 2013 ? Belief in God may significantly improve the outcome of those receiving short-term treatment for psychiatric illness, according to a recent study conducted by McLean Hospital investigators.
In the study, published in the current issue of Journal of Affective Disorders, David H. Rosmarin, PhD, McLean Hospital clinician and instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, examined individuals at the Behavioral Health Partial Hospital program at McLean in an effort to investigate the relationship between patients' level of belief in God, expectations for treatment and actual treatment outcomes.
"Our work suggests that people with a moderate to high level of belief in a higher power do significantly better in short-term psychiatric treatment than those without, regardless of their religious affiliation. Belief was associated with not only improved psychological wellbeing, but decreases in depression and intention to self-harm," explained Rosmarin.
The study looked at 159 patients, recruited over a one-year period. Each participant was asked to gauge their belief in God as well as their expectations for treatment outcome and emotion regulation, each on a five-point scale. Levels of depression, wellbeing, and self-harm were assessed at the beginning and end of their treatment program.
Of the patients sampled, more than 30 percent claimed no specific religious affiliation yet still saw the same benefits in treatment if their belief in a higher power was rated as moderately or very high. Patients with "no" or only "slight" belief in God were twice as likely not to respond to treatment than patients with higher levels of belief.
The study concludes: ." .. belief in God is associated with improved treatment outcomes in psychiatric care. More centrally, our results suggest that belief in the credibility of psychiatric treatment and increased expectations to gain from treatment might be mechanisms by which belief in God can impact treatment outcomes."
Rosmarin commented, "Given the prevalence of religious belief in the United States -- over 90% of the population -- these findings are important in that they highlight the clinical implications of spiritual life. I hope that this work will lead to larger studies and increased funding in order to help as many people as possible."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by McLean Hospital.
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Journal Reference:
David H. Rosmarin, Joseph S. Bigda-Peyton, Sarah J. Kertz, Nasya Smith, Scott L. Rauch, Thr?stur Bj?rgvinsson. A test of faith in God and treatment: The relationship of belief in God to psychiatric treatment outcomes. Journal of Affective Disorders, 2013; 146 (3): 441 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2012.08.030
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.
Delays in diagnosis worsen outlook for minority, uninsured pediatric retinoblastoma patientsPublic release date: 24-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Irene Sege irene.sege@childrens.harvard.edu 617-919-7379 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
MIAMI When the eye cancer retinoblastoma is diagnosed in racial and ethnic minority children whose families don't have private health insurance, it often takes a more invasive, potentially life-threatening course than in other children, probably because of delays in diagnosis, Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center (DF/CHCC) researchers will report at the 26th annual meeting of the American Society of Pediatric Hematology Oncology being held in Miami, April 24-27.
By analyzing data and tumor samples from 203 children across the United States who had been treated for retinoblastoma, the investigators found that the disease was more invasive at diagnosis in patients who were non-white, Hispanic, uninsured, or covered by Medicaid. Researchers now need to explore why the disease tends to be diagnosed later in such children and how those delays can be eliminated, said the study authors.
Retinoblastomas are tumors that develop during childhood in the light-sensitive retina at the back of the eye. There are about 350 new cases diagnosed each year in the United States. Treatment may require surgical removal of the affected eye and, if the disease is likely to spread, follow-up chemotherapy.
"The longer that retinoblastomas grow before they're diagnosed and treated, the more invasive they become," said the study's lead author, Adam Green, MD, of DF/CHCC. "In this study, we used tumor invasiveness as an indicator of delays in disease diagnosis."
Data and tumor tissue used in the study came from pediatric retinoblastoma patients participating in a clinical trial run by the Children's Oncology Group, a consortium of more than 8,000 childhood cancer experts on three continents. All the patients had the diseased eye surgically removed, and those whose disease was deemed likely to spread received chemotherapy.
Investigators collected data on patients' insurance status, race, and ethnicity. The tumor tissue samples were examined by pathologists for signs that the tumors would metastasize.
"We correlated the demographic data with the results of the pathology exams to see if children with retinoblastoma who were non-white, Hispanic, or who did not have private health insurance were more likely to have disease invasiveness at diagnosis requiring chemotherapy in addition to surgery, a stage of disease that may carry a lower survival rate," Green said. "The answer was yes."
Of the factors most associated with invasive disease, Hispanic ethnicity had the greatest impact on risk, researchers found, raising the possibility that not speaking English as one's primary language poses a particular barrier to timely diagnosis and treatment.
"We now need to find out where in the diagnostic process the delays are occurring," said the senior author of the study, Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, MD, of DF/CHCC. "Is it because patients' families aren't familiar with the warning signs of the disease, because they have trouble getting to a primary care doctor or ophthalmologist for an exam, or some other factor? We hope to explore those questions in future studies."
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Co-authors of the study include Bryan Langholz, PhD, of the University of Southern California; Murali Chintagumpala, MD, of Texas Children's Cancer Center; Patricia Chevez-Barrios, MD, of Methodist Hospital Research Institute; Daniel Albert, MD, MS, of the University of Wisconsin; and Ralph Eagle, MD, of the Wills Eye Institute in Philadelphia.
This research was funded by the National Cancer Institute (grants U10 CA98543 and T32 CA136432).
Written by Rob Levy, Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center
Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center
Since 1947, Boston Children's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have provided comprehensive care for children and adolescents with cancer through Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center. The two Harvard Medical School affiliates share a clinical staff that delivers inpatient care at Boston Children's and outpatient therapies at Dana-Farber's Jimmy Fund Clinic. The Boston Children's inpatient pediatric cancer service has 33 beds, including 13 designated for stem cell transplant patients.
Boston Children's is also the site of DF/CHCC inpatient clinical translational research in pediatric malignancies and has long supported the operation of an effective and productive stem cell transplant service. It has a long history of investment in and support of both clinical and basic cancer research, with more than $7.3 million in National Cancer Institute research support and 47,000 square feet of space devoted to cancer research. It is a recognized center of excellence in angiogenesis, cellular/molecular immunology, cancer genetics, and molecular signaling research.
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Delays in diagnosis worsen outlook for minority, uninsured pediatric retinoblastoma patientsPublic release date: 24-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Irene Sege irene.sege@childrens.harvard.edu 617-919-7379 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
MIAMI When the eye cancer retinoblastoma is diagnosed in racial and ethnic minority children whose families don't have private health insurance, it often takes a more invasive, potentially life-threatening course than in other children, probably because of delays in diagnosis, Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center (DF/CHCC) researchers will report at the 26th annual meeting of the American Society of Pediatric Hematology Oncology being held in Miami, April 24-27.
By analyzing data and tumor samples from 203 children across the United States who had been treated for retinoblastoma, the investigators found that the disease was more invasive at diagnosis in patients who were non-white, Hispanic, uninsured, or covered by Medicaid. Researchers now need to explore why the disease tends to be diagnosed later in such children and how those delays can be eliminated, said the study authors.
Retinoblastomas are tumors that develop during childhood in the light-sensitive retina at the back of the eye. There are about 350 new cases diagnosed each year in the United States. Treatment may require surgical removal of the affected eye and, if the disease is likely to spread, follow-up chemotherapy.
"The longer that retinoblastomas grow before they're diagnosed and treated, the more invasive they become," said the study's lead author, Adam Green, MD, of DF/CHCC. "In this study, we used tumor invasiveness as an indicator of delays in disease diagnosis."
Data and tumor tissue used in the study came from pediatric retinoblastoma patients participating in a clinical trial run by the Children's Oncology Group, a consortium of more than 8,000 childhood cancer experts on three continents. All the patients had the diseased eye surgically removed, and those whose disease was deemed likely to spread received chemotherapy.
Investigators collected data on patients' insurance status, race, and ethnicity. The tumor tissue samples were examined by pathologists for signs that the tumors would metastasize.
"We correlated the demographic data with the results of the pathology exams to see if children with retinoblastoma who were non-white, Hispanic, or who did not have private health insurance were more likely to have disease invasiveness at diagnosis requiring chemotherapy in addition to surgery, a stage of disease that may carry a lower survival rate," Green said. "The answer was yes."
Of the factors most associated with invasive disease, Hispanic ethnicity had the greatest impact on risk, researchers found, raising the possibility that not speaking English as one's primary language poses a particular barrier to timely diagnosis and treatment.
"We now need to find out where in the diagnostic process the delays are occurring," said the senior author of the study, Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, MD, of DF/CHCC. "Is it because patients' families aren't familiar with the warning signs of the disease, because they have trouble getting to a primary care doctor or ophthalmologist for an exam, or some other factor? We hope to explore those questions in future studies."
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Co-authors of the study include Bryan Langholz, PhD, of the University of Southern California; Murali Chintagumpala, MD, of Texas Children's Cancer Center; Patricia Chevez-Barrios, MD, of Methodist Hospital Research Institute; Daniel Albert, MD, MS, of the University of Wisconsin; and Ralph Eagle, MD, of the Wills Eye Institute in Philadelphia.
This research was funded by the National Cancer Institute (grants U10 CA98543 and T32 CA136432).
Written by Rob Levy, Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center
Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center
Since 1947, Boston Children's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have provided comprehensive care for children and adolescents with cancer through Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center. The two Harvard Medical School affiliates share a clinical staff that delivers inpatient care at Boston Children's and outpatient therapies at Dana-Farber's Jimmy Fund Clinic. The Boston Children's inpatient pediatric cancer service has 33 beds, including 13 designated for stem cell transplant patients.
Boston Children's is also the site of DF/CHCC inpatient clinical translational research in pediatric malignancies and has long supported the operation of an effective and productive stem cell transplant service. It has a long history of investment in and support of both clinical and basic cancer research, with more than $7.3 million in National Cancer Institute research support and 47,000 square feet of space devoted to cancer research. It is a recognized center of excellence in angiogenesis, cellular/molecular immunology, cancer genetics, and molecular signaling research.
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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.
Former “Little House on the Prairie” star Melissa Gilbert married actor-director Timothy Busfield at San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito, California, on Wednesday, she confirmed on Twitter Thursday. The 48-year-old bride wore a strapless red tiered dress for her special day, while her “Thirtysomething” star groom went with a traditional black suit. Gilbert and Busfield, who ...
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? About 20,000 students in California who need to learn English aren't getting adequate language instruction, according to a lawsuit against the state and education workers filed Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Under state and federal law, schools are required to teach non-English speakers the language, but by its own records, the state isn't offering English instruction to nearly 20,000 students. The suit alleges that lack of instruction has meant some children had to be held back a grade or live with low proficiency scores because of a language barrier.
The ACLU brought the issue to the attention of the state with a letter in January, and officials say they're working to ensure compliance at the local level.
Attorney Mark Rosenbaum said in Wednesday's filing that English learners fall behind without proper language lessons, even as school districts collect federal funds for providing such education.
"These kids are not getting the differentiated learning they're supposed to be getting," Rosenbaum said.
Chief Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction Richard Zeiger said in a statement that the state is determined to provide English learners appropriate instruction and encouraged parents to bring problems to the state's attention.
"The Department will continue to work with local agencies to ensure compliance with districts' obligations to provide services to English learners," Zeiger said.
Zeiger also noted that a recent appellate court decision found that the department was meeting its legal obligations related to on-site monitoring of English learners.
The ACLU's lawsuit describes the educational struggles of three families with Spanish-speaking children attending Compton Unified School District and a San Diego 18-year-old in the Grossmont Union High School District.
In each case, schools identified the students as English learners but were later taken out of English language classes and saw their grades drop dramatically in courses where they struggled to understand instruction, the suit alleged.
One mother had both of her children, an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old, held back a year immediately after they stopped being provided language instruction, the suit alleged.
Rosenbaum said parents often didn't know their children had been taken out of language classes, and in one case, a mother was told to bring her own translator to school meetings to get an explanation.
In response to the January letter, school officials acknowledged the problem while adding more than 98 percent of the state's 1.4 million English learners are receiving services.
The suit seeks a court order for schools to provide courses to English learners who need them, attorney's fees for filing the suit and unspecified further equitable relief the court finds appropriate.
Mallygate is nearing an end, it seems! Justin Bieber is allowing his pet Capuchin monkey Mally to go to a new home, per the Munich animal shelter that has housed Mally since his confiscation in March.
Roberto Mioni Coltro, a spokesperson for Munich Tierschutzverein, tells E! News: "Justin Bieber's management contacted us and they will give up Mally."
PHOTOS: See the cutest pics of Justin Bieber's pet monkey Mally!
"They are asking us for a good home for Mally," Coltro tells E! News exclusively, adding that the authorities still need an official document from Justin's manager rather than just an email.
The ultimate decision about Mally's future home, however, is up to the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation rather than the shelter. Coltro explained, "We only can make a recommendation and we don't want to send Mally in the zoo, because?the zoos will only [publicize] Mally... We (Tierschutzverein) want Mally in a rescue center or some organization for primates."
Nevertheless, Coltro assures us, the baby monkey will not have to part with his constant stuffed animal companion: "Mally will take the 'stuffed cat' with him!"
NEWS: PETA and German shelter give update on Mally's care
Bieber first ran into trouble when he arrived via private plane at the Franz Josef Strauss Airport in Munich airport on March 28 for a concert and was confronted about the monkey in customs. Mally was taken into custody after the "Boyfriend" singer was unable to provide necessary paperwork for the pet and was subsequently detained by German officials.
Bieber was reportedly charged a fine and the cost of the quarantine as a result of the incident.
Apr. 24, 2013 ? Prisoners who are psychopaths lack the basic neurophysiological "hardwiring" that enables them to care for others, according to a new study by neuroscientists at the University of Chicago and the University of New Mexico.
"A marked lack of empathy is a hallmark characteristic of individuals with psychopathy," said the lead author of the study, Jean Decety, the Irving B. Harris Professor in Psychology and Psychiatry at UChicago. Psychopathy affects approximately 1 percent of the United States general population and 20 percent to 30 percent of the male and female U.S. prison population. Relative to non-psychopathic criminals, psychopaths are responsible for a disproportionate amount of repetitive crime and violence in society.
"This is the first time that neural processes associated with empathic processing have been directly examined in individuals with psychopathy, especially in response to the perception of other people in pain or distress," he added.
The results of the study, which could help clinical psychologists design better treatment programs for psychopaths, are published in the article, "Brain Responses to Empathy-Eliciting Scenarios Involving Pain in Incarcerated Individuals with Psychopathy," which appears online April 24 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
Joining Decety in the study were Laurie Skelly, a graduate student at UChicago; and Kent Kiehl, professor of psychology at the University of New Mexico.
For the study, the research team tested 80 prisoners between ages 18 and 50 at a correctional facility. The men volunteered for the test and were tested for levels of psychopathy using standard measures.
They were then studied with functional MRI technology, to determine their responses to a series of scenarios depicting people being intentionally hurt. They were also tested on their responses to seeing short videos of facial expressions showing pain.
The participants in the high psychopathy group exhibited significantly less activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, lateral orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala and periaqueductal gray parts of the brain, but more activity in the striatum and the insula when compared to control participants, the study found.
The high response in the insula in psychopaths was an unexpected finding, as this region is critically involved in emotion and somatic resonance. Conversely, the diminished response in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and amygdala is consistent with the affective neuroscience literature on psychopathy. This latter region is important for monitoring ongoing behavior, estimating consequences and incorporating emotional learning into moral decision-making, and plays a fundamental role in empathic concern and valuing the well-being of others.
"The neural response to distress of others such as pain is thought to reflect an aversive response in the observer that may act as a trigger to inhibit aggression or prompt motivation to help," the authors write in the paper.
"Hence, examining the neural response of individuals with psychopathy as they view others being harmed or expressing pain is an effective probe into the neural processes underlying affective and empathy deficits in psychopathy," the authors wrote.
The study with prisoners was supported with a $1.6 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Chicago, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Jean Decety, Laurie R. Skelly, Kent A. Kiehl. Brain Response to Empathy-Eliciting Scenarios Involving Pain in Incarcerated Individuals With Psychopathy. JAMA Psychiatry, 2013 DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2013.27
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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.
Apr. 23, 2013 ? The overuse of nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture can wreak havoc on waterways, health and the environment.
An international team of scientists aims to lessen the reliance on these fertilizers by helping beans and similar plants boost their nitrogen production, even in areas with traditionally poor soil quality.
Researchers from the Center of Plant Genomics and Biotechnology at the Technical University of Madrid (UPM) and the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory report as an advance article April 5 for the Metallomics journal of The Royal Society of Chemistry on how to use X-ray analysis to map a path to increasing the amount of nitrogen that legumes deposit into the soil.
Cultivation of legumes, the plant family that includes peas, beans, alfalfa, soybeans, and peanuts, is one of the main ways farmers add natural nitrogen to agricultural fields. Rotating bean and corn crops to take advantage of the nitrogen beans deposit in the soil has long been a global farming tradition. Legumes use iron in the soil to carry out a complex chemical process called nitrogen fixation, which collects atmospheric nitrogen and converts it into organic forms that help the plant grow. When the plant dies, the excess nitrogen is released back into to the soil to help the next crop.
But often legumes are grown in areas with iron-depleted soil, which limits their nitrogen fixation. That's where research can lend a hand. The Argonne-UPM team has created the world's first model for how iron is transported in the plant's root nodule to trigger nitrogen fixation. This is the first step in modifying the plants to maximize iron use.
"The long-term goal is to help sustainable agriculture practices and further diminish the environmental damage from overuse of nitrogen fertilizers," said Manuel Gonzalez-Guerrero, lead author of the paper from UPM. "This can be done by maximizing the delivery of essential metal oligonutrients to nitrogen-fixing rhizobia."
The research team, which included Lydia Finney and Stefan Vogt from the APS, used high-energy X-rays from the 8-BM and 2-ID-E beamlines of the APS to track the distribution of minute iron amounts in the different developmental regions of rhizobia-containing roots. This is the first high-energy X-ray analysis of plant-microbe interactions.
X-rays, such as those from the APS, provided a high sensitivity to elements and a high spatial resolution not attainable by other means. Full details can be found in the paper Iron distribution through the developmental stages of Medicago truncatula nodules.
In future studies at the APS, Gonzalez-Guerrero hopes to identify and characterize the key biological proteins responsible for iron transportation. That would give researchers targets to manipulate and screen for new legume varieties with increased nitrogen-fixation capabilities and higher nutritional value.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by DOE/Argonne National Laboratory. The original article was written by Tona Kunz.
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Journal Reference:
Benjam?n Rodr?guez-Haas, Lydia Finney, Stefan Vogt, Pablo Gonz?lez-Melendi, Juan Imperial, Manuel Gonzalez-Guerrero. Iron distribution through the developmental stages of Medicago truncatula nodules. Metallomics, 2013; DOI: 10.1039/C3MT00060E
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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Drug developers may have a new tool to search for more effective medications and new materials.
It's a computer algorithm that can model and catalogue the entire set of lightweight, carbon-containing molecules that chemists could feasibly create in a lab.
The small-molecule universe has more than 10^60 (that's 1 with 60 zeroes after it) chemical structures. Duke chemist David Beratan said that many of the world's problems have molecular solutions in this chemical space, whether it's a cure for disease or a new material to capture sunlight.
But, he said, "The small-molecule universe is astronomical in size. When we search it for new molecular solutions, we are lost. We don't know which way to look."
To give synthetic chemists better directions in their molecular search, Beratan and his colleagues -- Duke chemist Weitao Yang, postdoctoral associates Aaron Virshup and Julia Contreras-Garcia, and University of Pittsburgh chemist Peter Wipf -- designed a new computer algorithm to map the small-molecule universe.
The map, developed with a National Institutes of Health P50 Center grant, tells scientists where the unexplored regions of the chemical space are and how to build structures to get there. A paper describing the algorithm and map appeared online in April in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
The map helps chemists because they do not yet have the tools, time or money to synthesize all 10^60 compounds in the small-molecule universe. Synthetic chemists can only make a few hundred or a few thousand molecules at a time, so they have to carefully choose which compounds to build, Beratan said.
The scientists already have a digital library describing about a billion molecules found in the small-molecule universe, and they have synthesized about 100 million compounds over the course of human history, Beratan said. But these molecules are similar in structure and come from the same regions of the small-molecule universe.
It's the unexplored regions that could hold molecular solutions to some of the world's most vexing challenges, Beratan said.
To add diversity and explore new regions to the chemical space, Aaron Virshup developed a computer algorithm that built a virtual library of 9 million molecules with compounds representing every region of the small-molecule universe.
"The idea was to start with a simple molecule and make random changes, so you add a carbon, change a double bond to a single bond, add a nitrogen. By doing that over and over again, you can get to any molecule you can think of," Virshup said.
He programed the new algorithm to make small, random chemical changes to the structure of benzene and then to catalogue the new molecules it created based on where they fit into the map of the small-molecule universe. The challenge, Virshup said, came in identifying which new chemical compounds chemists could actually create in a lab.
Virshup sent his early drafts of the algorithm's newly constructed molecules to synthetic chemists who scribbled on them in red ink to show whether they were synthetically unstable or unrealistic. He then turned the criticisms into rules the algorithm had to follow so it would not make those types of compounds again.
"The rules kept us from getting lost in the chemical space," he said.
After ten iterations, the algorithm finally produced 9 million synthesizable molecules representing every region of the small-molecule universe, and it produced a map showing the regions of the chemical space where scientists have not yet synthesized any compounds.
"With the map, we can tell chemists, if you can synthesize a new molecule in this region of space, you have made a new type of compound," Virshup said. "It's an intellectual property issue. If you're in the blank spaces on our small molecule map, you're guaranteed to make something that isn't patented yet," he said.
The team has made the source code for the algorithm available online. The researchers said they hope scientists will use it to immediately start mining the unexplored regions of the small molecule universe for new chemical compounds.
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Duke University: http://www.duke.edu
Thanks to Duke University for this article.
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One hack from our Disrupt NY Hackathon, called Kar Nanny, seeks to let users see where their kids are driving and get notifications if they're being unsafe. Or you can see where your spouse is. Or, if you own a car rental fleet, this will give you the opportunity to keep tabs on how renters are using your cars.
Tickets for Apple's annual Worldwide Developer's Conference went on sale today at 10 AM Pacific, 1 PM Eastern, and as expected, sold out in record time, at just under 2 minutes. Tickets for the developer-focused event at San Francisco's Moscone West, which features presentations and one-on-one time with Apple's own in-house engineers, sold out in just two hours in 2012, in under 12 hours in 2011, and in eight days in 2010.![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tgOeAd5HxIUx534sMMutF0HB-G4j5z0rc5T4CAdCAq95e8dbvTyvhQCHIX-tZCcMZQ74KAQCUkKELuvnEq-HIaitcs80U50GhBhjIrSvg=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 24-Apr-2013
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Former “Little House on the Prairie” star Melissa Gilbert married actor-director Timothy Busfield at San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito, California, on Wednesday, she confirmed on Twitter Thursday. The 48-year-old bride wore a strapless red tiered dress for her special day, while her “Thirtysomething” star groom went with a traditional black suit. Gilbert and Busfield, who ...