Britain's Prince Harry lent his considerable clout to the Warrior Games, a four-year-old international sports competition for wounded veterans. He hopes it could be as big as the Paralympics one day.
By Mark Sappenfield,?Staff writer / May 12, 2013
Britain's Prince Harry talks with members of the British Warrior Games team, who relaxed in a gymnasium before the opening of 2013 Warrior Games at the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., Saturday.
Brennan Linsley/AP
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There's nothing like a ginger-haired bad boy prince to bring a little buzz.
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The fourth Warrior Games opened in Colorado Saturday, and the appearance of Britain's Prince Harry made sure the paparazzi came along. The third in line to the British throne joked with Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin at the opening ceremonies, he charmed state officials at formal gatherings, and he even played an exhibition round of sitting volleyball with British troops ? with American Olympic champion Misty May-Treanor on the other side of the net.
Not a bad day's work for the house of Mountbatten-Windsor ? particularly as Queen Elizabeth pulls back from public events and leaves more of the royal duties to her son and grandsons. At least there were no pictures of the prince cavorting naked with women, as there were the last time he came to the US.
"It was probably a classic example of me probably being too much army, and not enough prince," he said of the incident in Las Vegas.
Saturday, Harry could be every bit army and prince ? and give Buckingham Palace no reason to flinch.
The event plays right to the prince's strengths. He's charming, and as a member of the British armed forces who has deployed to Afghanistan three times, he has a deep affection for the military and those who serve.
"I don't think yet we've seen the full potential of Harry. I think that's still to come but my goodness, he's doing a pretty good job at the moment," former press secretary to the queen, Dickie Arbiter, told the BBC.
Prince Harry already has grand visions for the Warrior Games. He said he wanted to bring them to Britain and make them an event every bit as popular as the Paralympic Games, which drew huge crowds in London last summer.
"I don't see how it wouldn't be possible to fill a stadium with 80,000 people, not to watch Olympics, not to watch Paralympics, but to watch wounded servicemen fight it out amongst each other ? not on a battlefield but in a stadium," he said, according to media reports.
The Paralympics, after all, began in much the same way, as wounded veterans returning to Britain after World War II were encouraged to take part in sport as a means of therapy and building self-esteem. Now that the Paralympics ? like the Olympics themselves ? have become an enormous international event, the original intent has been eclipsed somewhat. That created an opening for the establishment of the Warrior Games in 2010.
As a creation of the US paralympic movement, the Warrior Games started as an event only for the American armed forces, in which each service competed against the other. Last year was the first year that British troops were involved. This year, participants from Canada and Australia will also compete. In all, there are seven sports: archery, cycling, shooting, sitting-volleyball, swimming, track and field, and wheelchair basketball.
On Friday, Prince Harry visited Arlington National Cemetery and met wounded veterans at Walter Reed military medical center. He also joined Michelle Obama at a White House reception honoring America's military mothers.
The Races of the Realm The races of the Realm can be vastly different from each other. While these races are not the only races in the Realm, they are a few of the most known. If you ever want to create a race, or want to make a variation of the race, just message me and let me know. We will work something out :D
Humans- The dominant race of the Realm, Humans are a powerful, willful, and strong headed race. Must humans are from around 5-6 feet tall, weighing from around 160-250 pounds. Humans have the ability to do just about anything they put their mind to. They inhabit most of the land, and can live and survive in almost any climate. -Stats- Strength: 3/5 Intelligence:3/5 Speed:3/5 Fortitude:3/5 Magic: 3/5
Dragons- The eldest race of the Realm, they are the first born children of the gods. Unlike the Humans, most Dragons don't have an affinity for magic. Some don't even have the ability to use, or understand, magic. But those dragons with the ability to use magic are feared across the realm... After the battle with the Beast King, not many dragons remain. The rest of the known dragons are under the strict protection by the humans. Dragons have the magical ability to channel their inner anger and rage into a breath attack. The attack changes with the type of dragon. -Stats- Strength: 5/5 Intelligence:2/5 Speed:2-3/5 Fortitude:4/5 Magic: 2/5
Elves- One of the most magically inclined races to have ever lived. Elven mages are the most revered, and most powerful magic users in the realm. They are incredibility intelligent, and swift. Most elves are around 6-7 feet tall, and weigh around 150 pounds. Most elves live within the western forests, with their capital being Dal'Sla within the Evervast Greens. But some elves roam across the world as nomads, and traders. -Stats- Strength: 1/5 Intelligence:5/5 Speed:4/5 Fortitude:1/5 Magic: 3/5
Drakeborn- Born of both Dragon and Human blood, the Drakeborn are a powerful mixture of both races. Much like their mother race, humans, they quickly grasp the the art of the sword. And like their father race, dragons, they have the ability to tap into their inner rage to cast a powerful breath attack. But, unlike humans, they are unable to cast spells, and their breath power is a fraction of the power a true dragon's is. Like their parent races, most Drakeborn roam where they please, but a large group of them defends the Order of the Claw. Most Drakeborn are 6-7 feet tall, and anywhere from 150-300 pounds. -Stats- Strength: 4/5 Intelligence:2/5 Speed:2/5 Fortitude:3/5 Magic:1/5
Sylvari- Created from the soil from the earth, with their minds created from the souls of the Dream, the Sylvari are a young race of treefolk who serve as guardians of the forest. Being only 100 years old as a race, they are experts in the ways of crafting. Sylvari craftsmen and blacksmiths are some of the most revered in the world. Much like their sister race the Elves, who helped cultivate them into existence, they have a strong affinity towards magic. Most Sylvary weigh only 100-200 pounds, and rarely reach over 6 feet tall. -Stats- Strength: 1/5 Intelligence:4/5 Speed:2/5 Fortitude:1/5 Magic: 3/5
Skar- A race of ancient, powerful, crystalline people from far underneath the earth's crust. The anatomy of these creatures is unknown, but their bodies are covered form head to die in nearly unbreakable and unscratched crystals. But, these crystals prevent them from casting any sort of magic, and also make theme incredibly weak to it. Most Skar grow to be about 6 feet tall, but weigh almost 400 pounds. They live underneath the ground, in settlements across all the Realm. -Stats- Strength: 4/5 Intelligence:1-2/5 Speed:4/5 Fortitude:4/5 Magic:-1/5
Dees'y- Much like the Skar, the Dees'y are a race of creatures from deep underground. But unlike their brother race, they are a beautiful race of all female creatures. How do they repopulate...? You don't want to know... Like the Skar, their bodies grow strong crystals. But unlike the Skar, these crystals are magically charged and produce powerful electric charges. They also reflect magical energy, and can even amplify it back to its sender. They live with the Skar in settlements, and typically grow to be under 5 feet, and most weigh just under 200 pounds. -Stats- Strength: 1/5 Intelligence:4/5 Speed:2/5 Fortitude:2/5 Magic:5/5
Lomati Considered the smartest and -technologically wise- most advanced race. While short in size, only about 3-4 feet high and 100 pounds, they are the embodiment of genius. Lomati technology surpasses every other race in the Realm, with powerful weaponry and the ability to create powerful golems that operate on pure solar energy. While they are not warriors, nor mages, their power comes from their knowledge. -Stats- Strength: 1/5 Intelligence:6/5 Speed:2/5 Fortitude:1/5 Magic:3/5
(Reuters) - Mizuho Corporate Bank and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ are considering a roughly 100 billion yen ($1 billion) credit facility to help electronics manufacturer Sharp Corp meet an upcoming bond redemption, the Nikkei said.
The banks are close to creating a credit line to ensure that Sharp can meet redemption requests for roughly 200 billion yen in convertible bonds maturing in September, the Japanese daily said.
In addition, the lenders will give Sharp an extension on 360 billion yen in collateralized lending that matures in June. The new lending facility will bring the total credit extended to Sharp by the two banks to around 800 billion yen, the daily said.
Sharp, which supplies Apple Inc with screens for its iPhone and iPad, will post a bigger-than-forecast net loss for the year ended March 31, in part because low output at its factories forced it to write off excess capacity, two sources with knowledge of the result told Reuters on Wednesday.
Mizuho had already announced its intention to send high-ranking officials from group firms to Sharp to serve as directors or take similar posts. Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi has decided to follow suit and will send former executives well-versed in rehabilitation and investing, the Nikkei said.
($1 = 97.3450 Japanese yen)
(Reporting by Aditi Shrivastava in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)
President Obama's gun safety proposals will deal with access to firearms and ammunition, school safety, mental health awareness and treatment as well as how the federal government and states run background checks and on the types of gun sales subject to those checks. Major Garrett reports.
Childhood trauma leaves its mark on the brainPublic release date: 15-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Anne-Muriel Brouet anne-muriel.brouet@epfl.ch Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne
EPFL scientists find evidence that psychological wounds inflicted when young leave lasting biological tracesand a predisposition toward violence later in life
It is well known that violent adults often have a history of childhood psychological trauma. Some of these individuals exhibit very real, physical alterations in a part of the brain called the orbitofrontal cortex. Yet a direct link between such early trauma and neurological changes has been difficult to find, until now.
Publishing in the January 15 edition of Translational Psychiatry, EPFL Professor Carmen Sandi and team demonstrate for the first time a correlation between psychological trauma in pre-adolescent rats and neurological changes similar to those found in violent humans.
"This research shows that people exposed to trauma in childhood don't only suffer psychologically, but their brain also gets altered," explains Sandi, Head of EPFL's Laboratory of Behavioral Genetics, Director of the Brain Mind Institute, and a member of the National Centers for Competence in Research SYNAPSY. "This adds an additional dimension to the consequences of abuse, and obviously has scientific, therapeutic and social implications."
The researchers were able to unravel the biological foundations of violence using a cohort of male rats exposed to psychologically stressful situations when young. After observing that these experiences led to aggressive behavior when the rats reached adulthood, they examined what was happening in the animals' brains to see if the traumatic period had left a lasting mark.
"In a challenging social situation, the orbitofrontal cortex of a healthy individual is activated in order to inhibit aggressive impulses and to maintain normal interactions," explains Sandi. "But in the rats we studied, we noticed that there was very little activation of the orbitofrontal cortex. This, in turn, reduces their ability to moderate their negative impulses. This reduced activation is accompanied by the overactivation of the amygdala, a region of the brain that's involved in emotional reactions." Other researchers who have studied the brains of violent human individuals have observed the same deficit in orbitofrontal activation and the same corresponding reduced inhibition of aggressive impulses. "It's remarkable; we didn't expect to find this level of similarity," says Sandi.
The scientists also measured changes in the expression of certain genes in the brain. They focused on genes known to be involved in aggressive behavior for which there are polymorphisms (genetic variants) that predispose carriers to an aggressive attitude, and they looked at whether the psychological stress experienced by the rats caused a modification in the expression of these genes. "We found that the level of MAOA gene expression increased in the prefrontal cortex," says Sandi. This alteration was linked to an epigenetic change; in other words, the traumatic experience ended up causing a long-term modification of this gene's expression.
Finally, the researchers tested the efficacy of an MAOA gene inhibitor, in this case an anti-depressant, to see if it could reverse the rise in aggression induced by juvenile stress, which it did. Going forward, the team will explore treatments for reversing physical changes in the brain, and above all, attempt to shed light on whether some people are more vulnerable to being effected by trauma based on their genetic makeup.
"This research could also reveal the possible ability of antidepressantsan ability that's increasingly being suspectedto renew cerebral plasticity," says Sandi.
###
More Info
The NCCR "SYNAPSY Synaptic Bases of Mental Diseases" aims to discover the neurobiological mechanisms of mental and cognitive disorders, since one of the major challenges in psychiatry is to achieve a better understanding of how these illnesses originate. It focuses on the interface between preclinical research and clinical development, combining neuroscience with psychiatry. It is hosted at EPFL and funded by the Swiss national science foundation.
Researcher Contact
Carmen Sandi, EPFL researcher, +41 693 95 35 or carmen.sandi@epfl.ch
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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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.
Childhood trauma leaves its mark on the brainPublic release date: 15-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Anne-Muriel Brouet anne-muriel.brouet@epfl.ch Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne
EPFL scientists find evidence that psychological wounds inflicted when young leave lasting biological tracesand a predisposition toward violence later in life
It is well known that violent adults often have a history of childhood psychological trauma. Some of these individuals exhibit very real, physical alterations in a part of the brain called the orbitofrontal cortex. Yet a direct link between such early trauma and neurological changes has been difficult to find, until now.
Publishing in the January 15 edition of Translational Psychiatry, EPFL Professor Carmen Sandi and team demonstrate for the first time a correlation between psychological trauma in pre-adolescent rats and neurological changes similar to those found in violent humans.
"This research shows that people exposed to trauma in childhood don't only suffer psychologically, but their brain also gets altered," explains Sandi, Head of EPFL's Laboratory of Behavioral Genetics, Director of the Brain Mind Institute, and a member of the National Centers for Competence in Research SYNAPSY. "This adds an additional dimension to the consequences of abuse, and obviously has scientific, therapeutic and social implications."
The researchers were able to unravel the biological foundations of violence using a cohort of male rats exposed to psychologically stressful situations when young. After observing that these experiences led to aggressive behavior when the rats reached adulthood, they examined what was happening in the animals' brains to see if the traumatic period had left a lasting mark.
"In a challenging social situation, the orbitofrontal cortex of a healthy individual is activated in order to inhibit aggressive impulses and to maintain normal interactions," explains Sandi. "But in the rats we studied, we noticed that there was very little activation of the orbitofrontal cortex. This, in turn, reduces their ability to moderate their negative impulses. This reduced activation is accompanied by the overactivation of the amygdala, a region of the brain that's involved in emotional reactions." Other researchers who have studied the brains of violent human individuals have observed the same deficit in orbitofrontal activation and the same corresponding reduced inhibition of aggressive impulses. "It's remarkable; we didn't expect to find this level of similarity," says Sandi.
The scientists also measured changes in the expression of certain genes in the brain. They focused on genes known to be involved in aggressive behavior for which there are polymorphisms (genetic variants) that predispose carriers to an aggressive attitude, and they looked at whether the psychological stress experienced by the rats caused a modification in the expression of these genes. "We found that the level of MAOA gene expression increased in the prefrontal cortex," says Sandi. This alteration was linked to an epigenetic change; in other words, the traumatic experience ended up causing a long-term modification of this gene's expression.
Finally, the researchers tested the efficacy of an MAOA gene inhibitor, in this case an anti-depressant, to see if it could reverse the rise in aggression induced by juvenile stress, which it did. Going forward, the team will explore treatments for reversing physical changes in the brain, and above all, attempt to shed light on whether some people are more vulnerable to being effected by trauma based on their genetic makeup.
"This research could also reveal the possible ability of antidepressantsan ability that's increasingly being suspectedto renew cerebral plasticity," says Sandi.
###
More Info
The NCCR "SYNAPSY Synaptic Bases of Mental Diseases" aims to discover the neurobiological mechanisms of mental and cognitive disorders, since one of the major challenges in psychiatry is to achieve a better understanding of how these illnesses originate. It focuses on the interface between preclinical research and clinical development, combining neuroscience with psychiatry. It is hosted at EPFL and funded by the Swiss national science foundation.
Researcher Contact
Carmen Sandi, EPFL researcher, +41 693 95 35 or carmen.sandi@epfl.ch
[ | 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.
Amiigo, a fitness tracker bracelet, shoe clip plus app that can tell what type of exercise you're doing thanks to its combination of hardware sensors and gesture-based software algorithms, has kicked off its crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. Amiigo had originally planned to start the campaign back in October but delayed the launch to raise a VC funding round and develop the tech further.
Writing an essay when you are applying to a college is a single of the most stressful, but important items with your application. Numerous colleges demand an essay with your application, or they will not even appear at. Top colleges and Ivy League universities require two and 3 essays with your application. There are colleges nevertheless that only perform off of your high school transcript and SAT scores.
If you are applying to attend colleges, then you can bet on a minimum of six of those will need an application. When you sit down to write the application it is extremely easy to go blank and not write something. Several students turn out to be really nervous and anxious at this point. You do not know what to say or what they want to hear. You do not want to write anything that will hurt your probabilities of acquiring admitted, especially if it is your top choice college.
Numerous colleges will assign a topic for the essay that they want you to write about. Some colleges will even provide you a list of topics for you to pick from. Some colleges will just give you a general suggestion to write about. Final, but not least, there are colleges that just need you to turn in an essay. They want to see what you, the student, can be inventive and come up with to write about.
If you are stuck and have to pick some thing to write about, then choose some thing that was a meaningful lesson learned in your life. You might remember your kindergarten teacher helping you find out how to do simple addition difficulties. You could keep in mind your very first grade teacher helping you learn how to study. You might remember a time when you volunteered at a hospital a lot more lately that you place a smile on an elderly person?s face. There are several various items you can write about, just make sure it is something you are passionate about and not just some boring, dull subject.
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Public release date: 15-Jan-2013
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Amiigo, a fitness tracker bracelet, shoe clip plus app that can tell what type of exercise you're doing thanks to its combination of hardware sensors and gesture-based software algorithms, has kicked off its crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. Amiigo had originally planned to start the campaign back in October but delayed the launch to raise a VC funding round and develop the tech further.
t to say or what they want to hear. You do not want to write anything that will hurt your probabilities of acquiring admitted, especially if it is your top choice college.