It's Here: First Local Chikungunya Cases in Florida

Chikungunya has been reported in a Florida man and woman who had not recently traveled, health officials said Thursday — the first indication that the painful virus has taken up residence in the United States.
NBCNews.com, Maggie Fox, July 17th, 2014
Health experts had said it was only a matter of time before the virus, carried by mosquitoes, made its way to the U.S. It’s been spreading rapidly in the Caribbean and Central America. It's infected 350,000 and killed 21.
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There have been other U.S. cases but all have been among people who had recently traveled to affected regions.

“Seven months after the mosquito-borne virus chikungunya was recognized in the Western Hemisphere, the first locally acquired case of the disease has surfaced in the continental United States,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement. "The first locally acquired case of the disease has surfaced in the continental United States.” Florida health officials later said there were two cases: a 41-year-old woman in Miami-Dade County and a 50-year-old man in Palm Beach County. “Since 2006, the United States has averaged 28 imported cases of chikungunya (chik-un-GUHN-ya) per year in travelers returning from countries where the virus is common. To date this year, 243 travel-associated cases have been reported in 31 states and two territories,” CDC said. “However, the newly reported case represents the first time that mosquitoes in the continental United States are thought to have spread the virus to a non-traveler. This year, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands reported 121 and two cases of locally acquired chikungunya respectively.” Chikungunya is not usually deadly, but it can cause a very bad headache, joint pain, rash and fever. Its name in the Makonde language, spoken in Tanzania and Mozambique in Africa, means “that which bends up,” because patients are often contorted with pain. They can spend weeks in bed, racked with pain. The virus only arrived in the Western Hemisphere in December, on St. Martin. The Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes that spread chikungunya are found across the southern United States and as far north as New York. A. albopictus is commonly known as the Asian tiger mosquito and itself only came to the United States in recent decades. So what’s the difference between a traveler carrying it and a locally transmitted case? The virus grows in human blood and when a mosquito bites an infected person, it can spread it to others. So an infected person can carry the virus to new places and it spreads that way. Officials have been cautioning that the virus could become established in the U.S. , much as West Nile virus did starting in 1999. There's no vaccine against chikungunya and the only treatment is rest and pain relief. “The arrival of chikungunya virus, first in the tropical Americas and now in the United States, underscores the risks posed by this and other exotic pathogens,” said Roger Nasci, who heads CDC’s Arboviral Diseases Branch.

Read Additional News Stories on Chikungunya in Florida Huffington Post: Florida Man Is First Case Of Chikungunya Virus Acquired In The U.S. ~ Debilitating case of mosquito-borne chikungunya reported in U.S. CNN. ~ CDC: First Chikungunya case acquired in the United States reported in Florida ~ Tips to avoid mosquito-borne virus chikungunya. Palm Beach Daily News ~ Florida healthcare officials give tips on how to avoid mosquitoes carrying chikungunya. Miami Herald. ~ First chikungunya cases acquired in the U.S. reported. USA Today. Videos from CNN

“This emphasizes the importance of CDC’s health security initiatives designed to maintain effective surveillance networks, diagnostic laboratories and mosquito control programs both in the United States and around the world.” CDC and the Florida Department of Health said they are looking for other locally acquired cases. "More chikungunya-infected travelers coming into the United States increases the likelihood that local chikungunya transmission will occur." “It is not known what course chikungunya will take now in the United States. CDC officials believe chikungunya will behave like dengue virus in the United States, where imported cases have resulted in sporadic local transmission but have not caused widespread outbreaks,” CDC said. Dengue has been seen in Florida and South Texas. “None of the more than 200 imported chikungunya cases between 2006 and 2013 have triggered a local outbreak. However, more chikungunya-infected travelers coming into the United States increases the likelihood that local chikungunya transmission will occur." The good news is people are immune after one infection. And a recent study suggests the United States has a bit of time on its side. The strain of chikungunya circulating in the Caribbean is the Asian strain, and it’s only adapted to be carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, says Scott Weaver of the University of Texas Medical Branch, who’s been studying the virus for years. And so far, that mosquito can only be found in the far southern U.S.

Read Russia, from Read Russia Inc.

Read Russia, founded in 2012, is a new initiative - based in Moscow, New York, and London - established to celebrate Russian literature and Russian book culture.  Through innovative programs, projects, and events supporting the English-language translation and publication of Russian works, Read Russia provides international audiences with fresh opportunities to engage - in person, on screen, and online - with Russia's literary leaders and heritage.

Founded in Moscow, New York, and London in 2012 to promote Russian literature, Read Russia is sponsored by the Russian Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communication (Moscow) and the Yeltsin Center (Ekaterinburg), with support from the Renova Group of Companies (Moscow), Academia Rossica (London), CEC ArtsLink (New York and St. Petersburg, Russia), the Trust for Mutual Understanding (New York), Little Star Journal, and the World Policy Institute. Notable members of its current advisory board include James Billington (Library of Congress), Marina Kameneva (Russian Association of Booksellers), and Edward Kasinec (Harriman Institute, Columbia Univ.), as well as independent authors, filmmakers, and publishers. Present projects include The Russian Library (a projected 125-volume set of Russian literature); Russia's Open Book: Writing in the Age of Putin (a documentary broadcast by PBS beginning in December 2013); and Read.Russia!: An Anthology of New Voices (2012).

The site also features information about Russian author tours in the US, and the organization's participation in the London Book Fair and Book Expo America. In addition to the annual Read Russia English-Language Prize, awarded in New York, Read Russia sponsors the Read Russia Prize (awarded by Moscow's Institute of Translation), which is the largest prize available to a translator and publisher of a Russian work into a worldwide language. 

 This evolving website currently features online resources on Russian literature, an online journal and newsletter, a directory of publishers, and information on featured new writers. Over time it should continue to develop into a unique, curated source of images, documents, audio files, and scholarly commentary for research, teaching, and learning.

Recommended in July issue of ALA's Choice. www.dx.doi.org/10.5860/CHOICE.51-5918                                  

The AT&T Tech Channel is your source for originally-produced videos about the past, present and future of the world of technology.

The AT&T Tech Channel is your source for originally-produced videos about the past, present and future of the world of technology. From the depths of tech history to the latest in Cyber Security, you'll find something to feed your inner geek at the AT&T Tech Channel. "The AT&T Tech Channel is a visually appealing website with videos on the "past, present and future of the world of technology." The site contains 11 sections divided into the following categories: Deep Thinkers (author series), Innovation (new developments in AT&T labs), History (historical archive footage/films), Security (three sections), Tech Presentations (conferences), Biography (interview show with technology experts), and Classic (three sections). ThreatTraq, updated weekly, is particularly valuable for information on privacy issues, gaming, malware, e-mail forgery, and other security news. The Cyber Challenge videos are up to five minutes long, and each has an online game that could be used in staff development sessions or the classroom.
The majority of videos include text with discussion topics, speaker information, and for historical videos, background information on the significance of the discovery or subject. Users can share videos through Twitter, Facebook, or e-mail, or embed them into their own sites. The videos load quickly and are of variable lengths. Some channels have not been updated for two to three years, but are still valuable. Users can conduct simple keyword searching via a search box at the top of each page or filter videos by popularity or topic. The site has no advertising and is free to use. AT&T Tech Channel is useful for history, technology, and science curricula; the material presented can provide discussion points in face-to-face or online classes. Summing Up: Recommended. Students of all levels, researchers/faculty, and general readers. --M. S. McCullough, Monroe Community College"Copyright 2014 American Library Association, August issue of ALA's Choice - www.dx.doi.org/10.5860/CHOICE.51-6711

PC Classes Online: how to better use your Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad, and tools on the web

WHAT IS PC CLASSES ONLINE? PC Classes Online is a new way that you or anyone can learn how to better use your Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad, and tools on the web right from the comfort of your own home. We are a 100% free public service and currently have members in over 160 countries. Our members can attend our classes live or view past classes in our ever-growing video library. PC Classes Online was originally designed for baby boomers, but has become a service that anyone can learn from. Signing up is easy. Just click the “join now” button below and answer a few simple questions. Unlike other websites, we don’t use complicated usernames and passwords. Instead, we will send you one, easy to remember password every month to your e-mail inbox. This one password gains you access to where you can access all members only pages. Start learning today and join PC Classes Online!

QFinance: The Ultimate Finance Resource

QFINANCE is a unique collaboration of more than 300 of the world’s leading practitioners and visionaries in finance and financial management, providing an unparalleled range of cross-referenced resources, which are sure to satisfy the hungriest of minds.

QFINANCE is a one-stop guide for finance professionals including CFOs, finance managers, and trainee accountants, as well as academics and students. It covers key aspects of finance including risk and cash-flow management, operations, macro issues, regulation, auditing, and raising capital. QFINANCE.com provides free access worldwide to the huge breadth and depth of financial content, with compelling updates and functionality.

So whether you need authoritative views, in-depth analysis, or a quick refresher to do your daily tasks more effectively, QFINANCE will suit your needs.
Recommended July 2014 issues of ALA's Choice.

Wolfram Alpha: Making the world’s knowledge computable

"Wolfram|Alpha is more than a search engine. It gives you access to the world's facts and data and calculates answers across a range of topics, including science, nutrition, history, geography, engineering, mathematics, linguistics, sports, finance, music, and much more."

Wolfram|Alpha introduces a fundamentally new way to get knowledge and answers — not by searching the web, but by doing dynamic computations based on a vast collection of built-in data, algorithms, and methods.

Is Wolfram|Alpha a search engine?

No. It's a computational knowledge engine: it generates output by doing computations from its own internal knowledge base, instead of searching the web and returning links.

Is Wolfram|Alpha free to use?

Yes, it's free for personal noncommercial use as described in its Terms of Use. Access to enhanced features and ad-free site use is available through a subscription to Wolfram|Alpha Pro.

Who is Wolfram|Alpha for?

Everyone! Its goal is to bring expert-level knowledge to everybody.

Where can I see a demo of Wolfram|Alpha?

Watch Stephen Wolfram's screencast, browse the Examples, or take a tour of Wolfram|Alpha.

How can I find the latest information about Wolfram|Alpha?

Follow us on both Twitter and Facebook, or check out the Wolfram|Alpha Blog for the latest developments.

How often is Wolfram|Alpha updated?

Wolfram|Alpha's data is continually being updated, often in real time. Its code base is always being developed, and new versions are rolled out frequently. You can apply to test new versions before they are publicly available.

When will Wolfram|Alpha be finished?

Never. There'll always be knowledge to be added and updated, and new capabilities to be introduced. The Wolfram Mathematica system (on which Wolfram|Alpha is built) has been in continual development since 1988.
more . . . . 

Songs of America, from the Library of Congress.

See and Hear American History Through Song !

From the beloved Library of Congress comes another fabulous collection, Songs of America. The collection consists of thousands of digitized sheet music, 3.400+ audio recordings, along with videos, photographs, manuscripts and other format. Scans of pages are clear and  load quickly.

Listen to the changes in the “Star Spangled Banner” as played by different bands in different eras. Look at the ways in which sheet music cover art documents historical themes.

Read essays discussing the histories of musical styles. Watch videos pairing sound recording with period illustrations. All this and more awaits you as the Library of Congress celebrates The Songs of America.

The Songs of America presentation allows you to explore American history as documented in the work of some of our country's greatest composers, poets, scholars, and performers.

From popular and traditional songs, to poetic art songs and sacred music, the relationship of song to historical events from the nation's founding to the present is highlighted through more than 80,000 online items.

The user can listen to digitized recordings, watch performances of artists interpreting and commenting on American song, and view sheet music, manuscripts, and historic copyright submissions online.

The site also includes biographies, essays and curated content, interactive maps, a timeline and teaching resources offering context and expert analysis to the source material.

July 4th - Independence Day USA

Bet You Didn't Know: Independence Day! Did you know New York City has the biggest fireworks display in the United States and that three U.S. presidents died on July 4? Variously known as the Fourth of July and Independence Day , July 4th has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1941, but the tradition of Independence Day celebrations goes back to the 18th century and the American Revolution (1775-83).

In June 1776, representatives of the 13 colonies then fighting in the revolutionary struggle weighed a resolution that would declare their independence from Great Britain. On July 2nd, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, and two days later its delegates adopted the Declaration of Independence, a historic document drafted by Thomas Jefferson. From 1776 until the present day, July 4th has been celebrated as the birth of American independence, with typical festivities ranging from fireworks, parades and concerts to more casual family gatherings and barbecues. History Channel.com

This American Holiday page from USA.gov has links to a plethora of facts related to celebrating the Fourth ! "On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress, starting the 13 colonies on the road to freedom as a sovereign nation. As always, this most American of holidays will be marked by parades, fireworks and backyard barbecues across the country." Independence Day. Link to information about hotdogs, fireworks, flags, historical documents, demographics, & more fun facts !

From PBS, Fireworks the companion Web site to the Nova program originally broadcast on January 29, 2002. This explosive NOVA presents the colorful history of pyrotechnics and reveals how hi-tech firing systems are transforming public displays into a dazzling, split-second science.

July 4, 1776 - An Unseasonably Mild Day in Philadelphia . . . Thomas Jefferson, one of the country`s founding fathers and its third president, kept an extensive weather journal throughout his life. In his journal entry for July 4, 1776, he observed a 68 degree temperature at 6 a.m., 72 degree reading at 9 a.m. and a 76 degree reading at 1 p.m. read more at Weatherbug's Weather News.

Join us on July 4 at Tom Brown Park for Celebrate America, Tallahassee's annual Independence Day celebration. Filled with food vendors, arts/crafts, exhibitors and more, this is sure to be a great event for the whole family! City of Tallahassee, Florida's Capitol City.

Fourth of July Celebration July 4th - July 6th Suwannee Music Park - 3076 95th Drive, Live Oak, Florida 32060. A Holiday Celebration organized by Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park. We will have fine art, fine craft and crafts exhibitors, and no food booths. There will be 1 stage with Regional and Local talent and the following music, Rock, Folk, Country, Jazz, Bluegrass, R & B, Alternative and Variety. This event will also include: kids' games, hiking, canoeing, horseback riding. 

Preschoolers Outsmart College Students In Figuring Out Gadgets

Ever wonder why children can so easily figure out how to work the TV remote? Or why they "totally get" apps on your smartphone faster than you? It turns out that young children may be more open-minded than adults when it comes to solving problems.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have found that 4- and 5-year-olds are smarter than college students when it comes to figuring out how toys and gadgets work.

Psychologist Alison Gopnik led the study along with her colleague Christopher Lucas from the University of Edinburgh. They wanted to find out what goes on in children's brains that allows them to learn so much so quickly.

So they recruited over 100 preschoolers — 4- and 5-year-old boys and girls — and brought them into the lab. The kids had to figure out how to turn on a music box that could be activated by placing clay shapes either individually or in combination on top of the box. After being shown a whole series of different shapes and combinations, the children were asked if they could make the machine turn on.

"We were trying to see if very young children could figure out cause and effect," says Gopnik. "What will the children do in that crucial question about making the machine go?"
 
The scientists also tested 170 college students. "What we discovered, to our surprise, was not only were 4-year-olds amazingly good at doing this, but they were actually better at it than grown-ups were," Gopnik says.

So why are little kids who can't even tie their shoes better at figuring out the gadget than adults? After all, conventional wisdom contends that young children really don't understand abstract things like cause and effect until pretty late in their development.

Gopnik thinks it's because children approach solving the problem differently than adults.

Children try a variety of novel ideas and unusual strategies to get the gadget to go. For example, Gopnik says, "If the child sees that a square block and a round block independently turn the music on, then they'll take a square and take a circle and put them both on the machine together to make it go, even though they never actually saw the experimenters do that."

This is flexible, fluid thinking — children exploring an unlikely hypothesis. Exploratory learning comes naturally to young children, says Gopnik. Adults, on the other hand, jump on the first, most obvious solution and doggedly stick to it, even if it's not working. That's inflexible, narrow thinking. "We think the moral of the study is that maybe children are better at solving problems when the solution is an unexpected one," says Gopnik.

And that flexibility may disappear earlier than we think. Gopnik's lab has also compared toddlers and kindergartners in doing these tests of abstract thinking, and found that the diaper set are actually better at focusing on the relationship between the objects, rather than on the things.
Npr: Shots: Heath News, June 30 2014, by Michelle Trudeau. Listen to the story.

10 Myths About Video Games

TCC offers classes for computer game design !
selections from 10 Myths About Video Games below:
"Since the early days of video games, young gamers have whispered secrets on the schoolyard and spent long hours trying to make the most outrageous gaming myths come true. Some kids heard their best friend's cousin found Mew under a truck in "Pokemon"; others were utterly convinced there was a secret way to find the Triforce in "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time." Before gamers banded together on the Internet and used their collective knowledge -- and the ability to hack into games and parse their code -- to rule out the impossible, any schoolyard whisper could turn out to be the truth."

"The video game world is so insular that you'd have to be a dedicated gamer to even hear certain rumors and myths -- the one surrounding a code that revives Aeris in the game "Final Fantasy 7" is a good example. Other rumors are more scandalous, like the one about a cheat code that allows players of "Tomb Raider" to defrock Lara Croft."

"But gaming myths extend beyond secret characters and gamer gossip. There are myths about gaming, too -- like the idea that gaming directly causes violence or that only boys play video games."

"Because these ideas are funny, intriguing or just plain misguided -- and because we like debunking myths -- we now present 10 of the most common myths about video games."

find the complete story here !