HOUSTON ? Gov. Rick Perry is diverting from the GOP presidential trail for a home state appearance as the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center announces a new facility in Houston. Perry on Monday was joining officials from the medical school, which is part of Houston?s famed Texas Medical Center, to unveil the new Institute for Applied Cancer Science.
It?s to be directed by Dr. Giulio Draetta, who?s been chief research business development officer and deputy director at the Harvard University-based Belfer Institute for Applied Cancer Science. The Belfer Institute?s director, Dr. Ronald DePinho, in September took over as president at MD Anderson.
DePinho?s wife, Dr. Linda Chin, who was scientific director at Belfer before joining the MD Anderson faculty, will assume a similar post at the new Houston center.
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Occupy Wall Street protesters who defied a deadline to remove their weeks-old encampment on the Los Angeles City Hall lawn stood their ground Tuesday as they faced uncertainty over when or if police would push them out of the park ? and if an eviction could happen without the kind of violence that has engulfed the removal of protest sites in other cities.
Protesters in the nation's second largest city have turned to the federal courts to keep officers away after disobeying a city-imposed 12:01 a.m. deadline Monday to take down their camp. They argue that the City Council passed a resolution in support of the movement and that the city's mayor and police did not have the authority to evict them. Continue reading.
See more pictures of the Occupy movement on PhotoBlog.
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? A man convicted of getting a free ride from New York to Los Angeles using an expired boarding pass with someone else's name on it will be freed from federal prison having already spent five months behind bars.
Olajide Oluwaseun Noibi, 24, was sentenced Monday in a Los Angeles federal courtroom to time served after he pleaded guilty in August to a stowaway charge that carried a maximum five-year prison term. U.S. District Judge Manuel Real ordered Noibi, who has dual citizenship in the U.S. and Nigeria, to serve one year of supervised release and pay more than $950 in restitution to Virgin America.
"I am not just sorry for putting other flights in U.S. airspace on the 24th of June at risk but I'm deeply sorry for any heartache I might have caused," Noibi wrote in a letter for the sentencing. Noibi, dressed in a white prison jumpsuit with his head hanging and his eyes closed, did not speak at the sentencing. In the letter, he called his actions "reprehensible, disgraceful and downright absurd."
Authorities said Noibi's actions had nothing to do with terrorism ? he just wanted a free flight. But the incident raised questions about the effectiveness of airport security procedures.
Noibi wanted to travel to Atlanta, where he has relatives, and found a boarding pass for a Los Angeles-bound flight on the ground at John F. Kennedy International Airport. He told FBI agents he hoped to find a Delta flight headed for Atlanta if he got past security, according to court documents.
Noibi said he showed the boarding pass to an airport hostess who didn't stop him before he got to the security checkpoint. There, he told a female screener he lost his identification and showed her his student identification card and a police report that said his U.S. passport had been stolen. She called over a supervisor and he eventually was allowed to go to his gate, according to an FBI affidavit.
He made it on the plane, and the flight crew didn't realize until midflight that an extra passenger was onboard in a premium seat that was supposed to be empty.
FBI agents interviewed Noibi when he got off the plane, but he wasn't arrested.
After spending several days in Los Angeles, Noibi tried to get on a Delta flight back to New York, again using an expired boarding pass bearing someone else's name.
He was arrested June 29 at Los Angeles International Airport.
Noibi told federal investigators he was able to go through security screening in Los Angeles by presenting the same documents. It wasn't until he got to the gate for a Delta flight bound for Atlanta that an agent who scanned the expired boarding pass refused his entry on the plane.
Deputy federal public defender Carl Gunn said Noibi acted foolishly and his decision to get on a plane was a "spontaneous act." Gunn said his client had been drifting after leaving the University of Michigan and was at times homeless.
"Frustration and depression over this status is part of what led him to commit the offense in this case," Gunn wrote in court documents.
Noibi has since met with federal authorities and discussed how he was able to get through airport security screening.
"The silver lining to the cloud of Mr. Noibi's offense is that it will hopefully help the government tighten security procedures by revealing potential weaknesses in its present procedures," Gunn wrote in court documents.
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. ? New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez is forced to research and clarify her late grandfather's immigration status. Marco Rubio, Florida's GOP Senator, is accused of embellishing his family's immigrant story. A Republican congressional candidate in California puts on his website that he is the great-grandson of an illegal immigrant.
As more Latino Republicans seek and win elected office, their families' backgrounds are becoming subject to increased scrutiny from some Latino activists, a reaction experts say is a result of Latino Republicans' conservative views on immigration. It's a new phenomenon that experts say Latino Democrats rarely faced, and could be a recurring feature in elections as the Republican Party seeks to recruit more Latino candidates.
"It's a trend and we are seeing more of it," said Alfonso Aguilar, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles.
For years, most Latino elected officials were largely Democrats, except in Florida, where Cuban Americans tended to vote Republican. But recently, a new generation of Latino Republicans has won seats in Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, California and even Idaho. Those politicians have come under fire from some Latino activists for pushing for laws targeting illegal immigrants and for opposing efforts for comprehensive immigration reform ? views that are in line with most Republicans.
And the immigrant advocates are pointing to the GOP Latino elected leaders' own family histories in an effort to paint them as hypocrites. Ignacio Garcia, a history professor at Brigham Young University, said it comes from a long tradition by liberal activists of portraying Latino Republicans as "vendidos," or sellouts, since the majority of Latino voters tend to vote Democratic.
For example, Martinez tried twice in the New Mexico state legislature to overturn a state law that allows illegal immigrants to obtain state drivers' licenses. Then earlier this year, various media outlets reported that a grandfather of Martinez may have been an illegal immigrant. The reports sparked immigrant advocates to protests outside the state Capitol with poster-size photos of Martinez on drivers' licenses.
Martinez, a Republican and the nation's only Latina governor, ordered her political organization to research her family's background and found documents that suggested that her grandfather legally entered the country and had various work permits.
The episode drew criticism, even from those who opposed Martinez' efforts on state driver's licenses. "This has nothing to do with her views and how she governs," said Michael A. Olivas, an immigration law professor at the University of Houston who also is aiding in a lawsuit against a Martinez's administration probe over the license fight. "I don't think it's fair for people to dig around in her family's past."
In Florida, Rubio's official Senate website until recently described his parents as having fled Cuba following Fidel Castro's takeover. But media organizations reported last month that Rubio's parents and his maternal grandfather emigrated for economic reasons more than two years before the Cuban Revolution.
Somos Republicans, a group dedicated to increasing Latino Republican voting numbers, immediately attacked Rubio over the discrepancy and for holding harsh views on immigration. "We believe it is time to find out the complete history of his parents' immigration history," the group said in a statement. "It is also time for Rubio to be a leader and help Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) fix the broken immigration system."
Patricia Montes, executive director of Centro Presente, an immigrant advocacy group in Somerville, Mass., said voters need to know a politician's family background for clues on how they will respond to people with similar stories. "It's very important to voters," said Montes.
Montes said most Latino and immigrant voters don't simply view Latino Republicans as "vendidos" but rather as politican leaders who don't share their views. "I don't care if someone is Latina or not," said Montes. "I care if they believe in the same things I do, and if their policies will affect the immigrant community."
Garcia said the current tension also is a result of a new breed of Latino Republicans finally winning high profile seats after years of being largely ignored or dismissed. Garcia said there have always been Hispanic Republicans, through their numbers have been typically small and they have often faced heat from the largely Democratic Latino population.
In New Mexico, for example, the colorful lawman and lawyer Elfego Baca helped establish the Republican Party just after New Mexico became a state in 1912 and actively tried recruit the state's mutigenerational Latino population to join the party. Baca won a number of local offices, including district attorney, but lost bids for Congress and various statewide offices.
In Texas, civil rights activist Felix Tijerina, a Mexican-American Houston restaurateur and former national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens in the 1950s, remained committed to Republican Party despite a backlash from fellow activists who disagreed with his laissez faire, pro-business views. One Texas civil rights leader, John J. Herrera, called Tijerina "a white man's Mexican" for his support of Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower for president over Democrat Adlai Stevenson.
"The difference now is that these new Latino Republicans, like Martinez and Rubio, are better prepared and are being groomed as national figures," said Garcia. "Meanwhile, the Democrats are falling behind. They have no equivalent and they aren't giving Latinos the same opportunity."
Garcia said there's also a new factor ? the millions of new independent Latino evangelicals who could be potential GOP voters. This population is new and unpredictable, he said.
Still, some Latino Republicans want to use the new attention around them in the party to change what they say is damaging rhetoric around immigration. Tony Carlos, who is seeking the GOP nomination for California's 3rd Congressional District, is running on a platform to push comprehensive immigration reform and believes if other Republicans follow, more Latinos will vote with the GOP.
On his campaign website Carlos says his great-grandfather came to Arizona from Mexico "without papers." Carlos said it's all about showing that his family is part of an ongoing American story and that political leaders need to honestly attack today's problems.
"I'm putting my family history out there. And once Latino voters hear that I support immigration reform, I find that they are open to other issues that appeal to conservatives," said Carlos. "My argument is that they are just as conservative. They are just in the wrong party."
The shadows in a city reveal its energy flowPublic release date: 28-Nov-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: SINC info@agenciasinc.es 34-914-251-820 FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology
Researchers at the Technical University of Madrid (UPM, Spain) have created "shadow models" and a type of software that calculates the amount of solar radiation that reaches streets and buildings in high resolution. According to the results published in the Research Journal of Chemistry and Environment, they could help to optimise the energy consumption of cities.
"Solar radiation that falls on a certain point in the city varies depending on the time of day, the weather conditions, the pollution level and other variables," explains Roberto San Jos, lecturer at the Technical University of Madrid (UPM). He adds, "what we have done is calculate radiation using supercomputers that simulate the vast amount of data involved in the entire atmospheric process."
The method involves throwing up to 100,000 rays of light for just a few seconds from any position and verifying the point of collision upon reaching obstacles. Calculations are so complex that they have required the powerful machines of the Supercomputing and Visualization Center of Madrid (CEsViMa-UPM) and the Mare Nostrum supercomputer at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center to work for 72 hours in order to achieve just 6 seconds of light and shadow evolution for an area of Madrid, Spain.
In order to carry out the study, which was published in the Research Journal of Chemistry and Environment, global meteorological data provided by the USA's National Center for Atmospheric Research has been taken. Information applying to Europe and Spain was taken from this data before homing in on a more local level. The starting point of the whole process lies in an open source of geophysical research called EULAG.
The researchers have conceived two mathematical "shadow" models in which the first supplies data to the second. One shows highly detailed, 3D images of the behaviour of radiation while the other reveals the exchange of energy that occurs in a selected area. Urban morphology plays a crucial role in the energy balance.
San Jos explains that "depending on urban layout, at a certain time of day there will be rays of light that collide with the tarmac, the pavement and other buildings. They are then successively reflected until they create different degrees of shadow on the surface."
The team has set up their two models in an IT tool named SHAMO (SHAdow MOdel), a software that allows for shadows and solar radiation in any city to be quantified. In particular, cubic areas with a base of 1 km x 1 km and a height of 400 m are analysed with a resolution of 4 m.
The energy optimisation of a city
San Jos states that "the results can serve as a tool for sustainability and energy optimisation in cities from both an architectural (a shaded building requires more internal heating that a building in the sun) and urban planning point of view. In this sense, results can be used in the search for harmony between human and natural energy consumption."
The researcher exemplifies this: "The heating is often turned on during the day and turned off at the night but in some cases could be the other way around. For instance, sometimes the amount of solar radiation that reaches a building is enough to keep in the warmth that has accumulated from the heating being on during the night."
This study forms part of the European BRIDGE Project on urban metabolism, a concept that perceives the city as a living organism in search for a sustainable energy balance. The department of urban planning at Madrid City Council has already expressed their interest in the tool.
###
References:
R. San Jose, J. L. Prez, R.M. Gnzalez. "Sensitivity analysis of two different shadow models implemented into EULAG CFD model: Madrid experiment". Research Journal of Chemistry and Environment 15(2): 319-325, 2011.
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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.
The shadows in a city reveal its energy flowPublic release date: 28-Nov-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: SINC info@agenciasinc.es 34-914-251-820 FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology
Researchers at the Technical University of Madrid (UPM, Spain) have created "shadow models" and a type of software that calculates the amount of solar radiation that reaches streets and buildings in high resolution. According to the results published in the Research Journal of Chemistry and Environment, they could help to optimise the energy consumption of cities.
"Solar radiation that falls on a certain point in the city varies depending on the time of day, the weather conditions, the pollution level and other variables," explains Roberto San Jos, lecturer at the Technical University of Madrid (UPM). He adds, "what we have done is calculate radiation using supercomputers that simulate the vast amount of data involved in the entire atmospheric process."
The method involves throwing up to 100,000 rays of light for just a few seconds from any position and verifying the point of collision upon reaching obstacles. Calculations are so complex that they have required the powerful machines of the Supercomputing and Visualization Center of Madrid (CEsViMa-UPM) and the Mare Nostrum supercomputer at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center to work for 72 hours in order to achieve just 6 seconds of light and shadow evolution for an area of Madrid, Spain.
In order to carry out the study, which was published in the Research Journal of Chemistry and Environment, global meteorological data provided by the USA's National Center for Atmospheric Research has been taken. Information applying to Europe and Spain was taken from this data before homing in on a more local level. The starting point of the whole process lies in an open source of geophysical research called EULAG.
The researchers have conceived two mathematical "shadow" models in which the first supplies data to the second. One shows highly detailed, 3D images of the behaviour of radiation while the other reveals the exchange of energy that occurs in a selected area. Urban morphology plays a crucial role in the energy balance.
San Jos explains that "depending on urban layout, at a certain time of day there will be rays of light that collide with the tarmac, the pavement and other buildings. They are then successively reflected until they create different degrees of shadow on the surface."
The team has set up their two models in an IT tool named SHAMO (SHAdow MOdel), a software that allows for shadows and solar radiation in any city to be quantified. In particular, cubic areas with a base of 1 km x 1 km and a height of 400 m are analysed with a resolution of 4 m.
The energy optimisation of a city
San Jos states that "the results can serve as a tool for sustainability and energy optimisation in cities from both an architectural (a shaded building requires more internal heating that a building in the sun) and urban planning point of view. In this sense, results can be used in the search for harmony between human and natural energy consumption."
The researcher exemplifies this: "The heating is often turned on during the day and turned off at the night but in some cases could be the other way around. For instance, sometimes the amount of solar radiation that reaches a building is enough to keep in the warmth that has accumulated from the heating being on during the night."
This study forms part of the European BRIDGE Project on urban metabolism, a concept that perceives the city as a living organism in search for a sustainable energy balance. The department of urban planning at Madrid City Council has already expressed their interest in the tool.
###
References:
R. San Jose, J. L. Prez, R.M. Gnzalez. "Sensitivity analysis of two different shadow models implemented into EULAG CFD model: Madrid experiment". Research Journal of Chemistry and Environment 15(2): 319-325, 2011.
[ | 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.
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Public release date: 28-Nov-2011
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