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Sunday, June 30, 2013

June 29, 2013 ? Immune systems of endangered Galapagos sea lions are in overdrive because of harmful activity by people, reveal scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).

The study shows that Galapagos sea lions (Zalophus wollebaeki) are more prone to starvation because of exposure to human influences like pets and pollution. These can impair the level of their immunity, making them less able to hunt and more likely to go hungry when food is scarce.

This research is published June 28 in the journal PLOS ONE.

Conservationists spent more than eighteen months on the Islands of San Cristobal, which is inhabited by humans, and Santa Fe, where there are no humans, dogs, cats, mice or rats. They tagged 60 Galapagos sea lions from each island and monitored their behaviour and physiology.

ZSL's Institute of Zoology Director, Professor Tim Blackburn says: "We are increasingly aware of the threats of infectious diseases to wildlife around the world, from amphibians in the tropics to the birds in British gardens. It is worrying that we are now potentially seeing such threats to sea lions in the supposedly pristine wilderness of the Galapagos Islands."

ZSL's Dr. Paddy Brock, author on the paper, says: "A tell-tale sign of an unhealthy sea lion is a thinner than normal layer of blubber, which is what we saw in the sea lions on San Cristobal. This was all the more notable as we didn't notice these patterns in sea lions on Santa Fe, where they live without the presence of people or pets.

""The immune systems of San Cristobel sea lions were more active, perhaps indicating a threat of infectious disease, which could mean human activity is increasing the chance of potentially dangerous diseases emerging in the Galapagos sea lion," Dr Brock added.

Despite laws designed to protect the unique wildlife found on the Galapagos, pets are regularly imported to the islands, which increases the risk of new diseases arriving and spreading to local species. In addition, dumping of sewage into the bay on San Cristobal where the sea lions live may be increasing their exposure to germs and bacteria associated with humans.

ZSL, together with collaborators, will continue to address the threats faced by the Galapagos sea lion by carrying out further research into the methods driving the described patterns, such as the role that genetics plays in shaping them.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/UgP0hAd2l9E/130629164735.htm

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2 WA refineries ready for N. Dakota oil

More Washington oil refineries are preparing to accept crude oil shipments from North Dakota.

Published: June 29, 2013 at 2:08 p.m. PDT Updated: June 29, 2013 at 2:08 p.m. PDT

BELLINGHAM, Wash. ? More Washington oil refineries are preparing to accept crude oil shipments from North Dakota.

The Bellingham Herald reported that BP?s refinery at Cherry Point and the Phillips 66 refinery in Ferndale, both in the northwestern corner of the state, want to diversify their supply, with oil production in Alaska falling from historic levels.

The Tesoro refinery in Anacortes is already taking delivery of crude from North Dakota?s fracking boom, and the Shell refinery in Anacortes has announced plans to do so.

The BP refinery is building an almost 2-mile-long rail loop to handle the shipments, and Phillips 66 is planning its own rail terminal.

Phillips reported to Whatcom County that it expects to handle one oil train every two days, on average.

Source: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/06/29/2659002/2-wa-refineries-ready-for-n-dakota.html?storylink=rss

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WEATHER: Toppled the record highs once again in Central Texas, this time at Mab...

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Source: http://www.facebook.com/ynnaustin/posts/593726674005867

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Saturday, June 29, 2013

Divorce early in childhood affects parental relationships in adulthood

June 29, 2013 ? Divorce has a bigger impact on child-parent relationships if it occurs in the first few years of the child's life, according to new research. Those who experience parental divorce early in their childhood tend to have more insecure relationships with their parents as adults than those who experience divorce later, researchers say.

"By studying variation in parental divorce, we are hoping to learn more about how early experiences predict the quality of people's close relationships later in life," says R. Chris Fraley of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Psychologists are especially interested in childhood experiences, as their impact can extend into adulthood, but studying such early experiences is challenging, as people's memories of particular events vary widely. Parental divorce is a good event to study, he says, as people can accurately report if and when their parents divorced, even if they do not have perfect recollection of the details.

In two studies published today in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Fraley and graduate student Marie Heffernan examined the timing and effects of divorce on both parental and romantic relationships, as well as differences in how divorce affects relationships with mothers versus fathers. In the first study, they analyzed data from 7,735 people who participated in a survey about personality and close relationships through yourpersonality.net. More than one-third of the survey participants' parents divorced and the average age of divorce was about 9 years old.

The researchers found that individuals from divorced families were less likely to view their current relationships with their parents as secure. And people who experienced parental divorce between birth and 3 to 5 years of age were more insecure in their current relationships with their parents compared to those whose parents divorced later in childhood.

"A person who has a secure relationship with a parent is more likely than someone who is insecure to feel that they can trust the parent," Fraley says. "Such a person is more comfortable depending on the parent and is confident that the parent will be psychologically available when needed."

Although there was a tendency for people to experience more anxiety about romantic relationships if they were from divorced families, the link between parental divorce and insecurity in romantic relationships was relatively weak. This finding was important, the researchers say, as it shows that divorce does not have a blanket effect on all close relationships in adulthood but rather is selective -- affecting some relationships more than others. They also found that parental divorce tends to predict greater insecurity in people's relationships with their fathers than with their mothers.

To help explain why divorce influences maternal relationships more than paternal ones, and to replicate the first study's findings, Fraley and Heffernan repeated their analysis with a new set of 7,500 survey participants. Unlike in the first study, however, they asked the participants to indicate which of their parents had been awarded primary custody following their divorce. The researchers speculated that paternal relationships were more insecure following divorce because mothers are more likely than fathers to be awarded custody.

The majority of participants -- 74 percent -- indicated that they had lived with their mothers following divorce or separation, while 11 percent indicated living with their fathers; the remainder lived with grandparents or other caretakers. The researchers found that people were more likely to have an insecure relationship with their father if they lived with their mother and, conversely, were less likely to have an insecure relationship with their father if they lived with him. The results were similar with respect to mothers.

While it is premature to speculate on the implications of this work for decision-making regarding child custody, the work is valuable as it suggests that "something as basic as the amount of time that one spends with a parent or one's living arrangements" can shape the quality of child-parent relationships, write Fraley and Heffernan.

"People's relationships with their parents and romantic partners play important roles in their lives," Fraley says. "This research brings us one step closer to understanding why it is that some people have relatively secure relationships with close others whereas others have more difficulty opening up to and depending on important people in their lives."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/yQxmCO4tAxw/130629164737.htm

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Facebook Announces New Review Policy To Prevent Ads From Running On Controversial Pages And Groups

Facebook just announced a new review policy for Pages and Groups, a policy aimed at reducing cases where ads run alongside content that the advertiser or their customers might find objectionable. Earlier today, a BBC report stated that Marks and Spencer and BSkyB had pulled "all or part of their spending" on Facebook after a BSkyB ad (which was "promoting an M&S voucher") was shown alongside a Facebook Page that was titled "cute and gay boys" and included photos of teenage boys. The story said Facebook was going to make an announcement to address these types of concerns later today.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/BCQG_UlPC8k/

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Facebook Launches First Branded Stickers, Previewing A Potential Sponsorship Biz

One day, brands might pay Facebook to become downloadable sticker packs. Facebook just launched its first branded sticker pack for messaging -- a collection based on the new Universal film Despicable Me 2. While the studio didn't have to pay to have them appear in the sticker store, and they're free for users, Facebook might eventually be able to charge brands for the viral exposure.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/eP1sPrB-GQY/

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