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A customer smiles after receiving a free Mega Millions Lottery ticket from the Hoosier Lottery's Mega Millions mascot at a store in Zionsville, Ind., Friday, March 30, 2012. The Mega Millions Lottery jackpot has reached a record $540 million.(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
A customer smiles after receiving a free Mega Millions Lottery ticket from the Hoosier Lottery's Mega Millions mascot at a store in Zionsville, Ind., Friday, March 30, 2012. The Mega Millions Lottery jackpot has reached a record $540 million.(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
City of Dallas code inspector Frank Forshee shows off his lMega Millions lottery tickets he bought during his lunch break at the Fuel City store Friday, March 30, 2012 in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
A Mega Millions lottery contestant uses his fortune cookie's lucky numbers to mark his entry for Friday's $500-million game at a corner newsstand in New York, Thursday, March 29, 2012. Forget setting up a charity or establishing a trust, the winner of the $500 million Mega Millions jackpot could save teachers' jobs or help pay for Medicaid-funded doctor appointments in their home state just by paying taxes. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
People stand in line as they prepare to buy lottery tickets for the Mega Million Jackpot, which is estimated at $540 million dollars Thursday March 29, 2012 at the Town and Country in McAllen, Texas. (AP Photo/The Monitor, Gabe Hernandez) MAGS OUT; TV OUT
Mega Millions Lottery tickets that were given away to the first 540 people are displayed by the Hoosier Lottery's Mega Millions mascot at a store in Zionsville, Ind., Friday, March 30, 2012. The Mega Millions Lottery jackpot has reached a record $540 million.(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) ? Lottery ticket lines swelled as the record Mega Millions jackpot grew to $640 million, thanks greatly to players who opened their wallets despite long odds of success. Officials estimated ticket-buyers will have spent more than $1.46 billion on the jackpot by the time Friday night's numbers are drawn.
A caf? worker in Arizona reported selling $2,600 worth of tickets to one buyer, while a retired soldier in Wisconsin doubled his regular weekly ticket spending to $55. But each would have to put down millions more to guarantee winning what could be the biggest single lotto payout in the world.
"I feel like a fool throwing that kind of money away," said Jesse Carter, who spent the $55 and donated the last two tickets he bought at a Milwaukee store Friday to a charity. "But it's a chance you take in life, with anything you do."
The jackpot, if taken as a $462 million lump sum and after federal tax withholding, works out to about $347 million. With the jackpot odds at 1 in 176 million, it would cost $176 million to buy up every combination. Under that scenario, the strategy would win $171 million less if your state also withholds taxes.
Laura Horsley, who does communications and marketing for a trade association, bought $20 worth of Quick Pick tickets at a downtown Washington, D.C., liquor store Friday. But Horsley, who said she won't buy a lottery ticket unless the jackpot tops $100 million, remained realistic.
"I don't actually think I'm going to win, and I don't believe in superstitions or numbers or anything like that," she said. "I just figured it's right around the corner. I'd be crazy not at least to give it a shot."
Thousands of players ? who converged on convenience stores in 42 states and Washington, D.C., where Mega Millions tickets are sold ? agreed.
Kelly Cripe, a spokeswoman for the Texas Lottery Commission, said that as of Tuesday, nationwide sales for the Mega Millions drawing totaled more than $839 million. Officials projected an additional $618.5 million in sales ahead of Friday's drawing, however, for a projected total sales figure of more than $1.46 billion.
"This is unprecedented," Cripe said Friday by e-mail.
Some Indiana players managed to get freebies, as Hoosier Lottery officials gave away one free Mega Millions ticket to each of the first 540 players at several outlets around the state Friday ? a plan announced before the jackpot grew by $100 million.
In Indianapolis, college student Chris Stewart said he showed up at the lottery's headquarters at 6:30 a.m. to be first in a line.
"I've never seen a jackpot like this before," said Stewart, who bought five additional tickets. "If I won ? I mean wow! I just don't know what I'd do. I'd really have to think what I could do with it."
The lines were out the door at Rosie's Den cafe in the rural northwestern Arizona community of White Hills, 72 miles southeast of Las Vegas and one of the closest points to Nevada ? which doesn't offer Mega Millions ? for buyers to get in the game.
Rosie's worker Christine Millim said it's been nonstop for four days.
"In one step I sold $2,600 worth so, that was one person," she said.
Mike Catalano, chairman of the mathematics department at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, S.D., concedes the math is clear: The more tickets you buy, the better chances you have of winning. Better long-shot chances, of course.
"You are about 50 times as likely to get struck by lightning as to win the lottery, based on the 90 people a year getting struck by lightning," Catalano said. "Of course, if you buy 50 tickets, you've equalized your chances of winning the jackpot with getting struck by lightning."
Based on other U.S. averages, you're about 8,000 times more likely to be murdered than to win the lottery, and about 20,000 times more likely to die in a car crash than hit the lucky numbers, Catalano said.
For David Kramer, a lawyer in Lincoln, Neb., buying his Mega Millions ticket wasn't about "the realistic opportunity to win."
"It's the fact that for three days, the daydreaming time about what I would do if I won is great entertainment and, frankly, a very nice release from a normal day," he said.
Everett Eahmer, 80, of St. Paul, Minn., said he's been playing the lottery "since the beginning."
"If I win, the first thing I'm going to do is buy a (Tim) Tebow football shirt, and I'm going to do the Tebow pose," said Eahmer, who bought five tickets Thursday. "I'm with him in honoring a higher power."
Lottery officials are happy to have Friday's record Mega Millions jackpot fueling ticket sales, but even they caution against overspending.
"When people ask me, I just tell them that the odds of a lottery game make it a game of fate," said Chuck Strutt, executive director of the Urbandale, Iowa-based Multi-State Lottery Association that oversees the Mega Millions, Powerball and other lotteries. "Just buy a ticket, sit back and see if fate points a finger at you for that day."
____
Associated Press writers Carrie Antlfinger and Dinesh Ramde in Milwaukee; Rick Callahan and Carrie Schedler in Indianapolis; Mark Carlson in Phoenix; Jessica Gresko in Washington; Alexandra Tempus in St. Paul, Minn.; and Will Weissert in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.
There are a selection associated with strategies for more information on regarding perfecting a online site?s awareness. Using facebook marketing, like Facebook, has become a common way of sites attempting to increase his or her demographic and acquire their brand obvious by simply hundreds, if not thousands and thousands, of prospective customers which accessibility these types of social networking web sites daily.
As one example, Myspace enables any organization to generate a user profile or even that prospective customers discover by way of mass invite. An organization invites guy Facebook or myspace people to ?become the fan? with their site by way of a customized message that they see when logging upon their account. When Suzy becomes a enthusiast from the firm?s website, Suzy?s info is shared with her system regarding buddies who is able to observe her latest action whenever these people sign on. ?Suzy only became a enthusiast associated with Dude Blow?s Hoover Service?, by way of example. For many involving Suzy?s close friends, this really is sufficient in order to optimum their awareness, forcing those to investigate May well Blow?s Web page. This type of social websites creates a ?trickle-down? effect, allowing a web based of visibility fat loss networks associated with close friends participate in the overall game.
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When someone brings about a unique useful resource online they often times save that, like someone may well bookmark these kinds of webpages or this excellent website as being a beneficial resource with regard to information on . Frequently book marking is catalogued on websites online similar to hype.net as well as delete.icio.us. Also Myspace have equipment their members may also use in order to index his or her most favorite websites. The one thing to acquire a firm operator, needless to say, is usually to get as numerous clients book mark your website as you can. Each time a search engine spider crawls a web site and also finds one of the links using website, your website may surge in relevance. Many internet sites may possibly request his or her people to create the logo or even icon on his or her internet site which has one of the links in order to the website. This is regarded as mutual connecting, and it?s also one more part totally, however the principle is still the same. The goal of this all, the actual Facebook consideration, the particular Myspace Page, perhaps article writing and submission as well as discussion board blogposts, would be to supply a website all the exterior rankings as well as meaning as you possibly can. There are many web sites exactly like Twitter and Facebook having a much more primary way of helping online marketers and internet sites accomplish presence. These websites are excellent helpful firms to advertise their goods and solutions within the skilled and interesting tone.
Finally, there are several methods to increase a site?s presence inside sociable pipeline. You will find companies offered whoever major focus should be to help firms create as well as develop any social websites to apply to promote directly to their customer base. That they try and obtain consumers seen through each recognized medium, beginning Twitting balances, developing that will into on-line press announcments along with recurrent article submission creating a skilled and also educated strengthen in which undertakings to determine as well as entice an easy demographic of internet surfers for their customers? internet sites. Still, this is simply a single little part of the all round Search engine marketing deal, a practical incorporation of the enterprise to the sociable pipe that is certainly becoming a lot more vital for almost any business to have success on the internet.
This Saturday, today, the townhome community of Paloma Lakes in Coconut Creek is holding a festive Spring Block Party from 10am to 4pm. Residents and guests are encouraged to bring the whole family out for a day of fun and games with hamburgers and hot dogs, ice cold refreshments and plenty for the kids including face painting and a bounce house.? Paloma Lakes is one of Lennar?s most popular luxury townhome communities and, priced from just the low $200s, it?s a great value.? Each townhome features three bedrooms and a two-car garage. In addition to a cabana pool and picnic area, residents enjoy a wide variety of surrounding amenities and a prestigious Coconut Creek address.
?Palmoa Lakes offers residents a superb location in what is considered to be one of the area?s most desirable locations,? noted Carlos Gonzalez, president of Lennar Southeast Florida Division. ?That, combined with the exceptional value and the many surrounding amenities, has made this one of our most celebrated lifestyles. This block party is to help resident families indeed celebrate their new home and meet their new neighbors, while introducing the community to families still looking for a great home in a great location with incredible value.?
With regard to the location, Paloma Lakes is within walking distance to the Coconut Creek Town Center and The Promenade, with the latter featuring over a dozen restaurants, cafes and bistros plus 30 shops, boutiques, specialty stores and services including banking and a day spa. Paloma Lakes is also located near great schools for students of all ages.
Value comes in the form of more home for the money plus a variety of luxury features included at no extra charge. Buyers can choose from two distinctive floor plan designs. The Alexandra has two stories and includes three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms and more than 1,630 square feet of air-conditioned living space. The Briana offers more than 1,800 air-conditioned square feet of living space and features three bedrooms and three bathrooms.
Lennar was established in 1954 and is one of the nation?s leading homebuilders. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the Miami-based homebuilder has built over 800,000 homes in more than 50 cities coast to coast. Lennar is also well known for the ?Everything?s Included Home,? which has recently been enhanced to include many more features and enhanced energy efficiency and technology at no additional charge. Lennar?s preferred lender and title companies offers specialized programs and services exclusively to Lennar homebuyers.
Paloma Lakes is located at the corner of Lyons and Wiles Roads. For more information call 888-273-4583. Decorated models open daily 10am ? 6pm. For information on other Broward communities call 888-346-4819, for Miami-Dade communities call 877-205-1531 and for Palm Beach/Treasure Coast communities call 866-313-5805. You can also visit Lennar online at Lennar.com/FloridaDeals.? Realtor participation welcomed.
Scientists at the University of Guelph have found a way to successfully clone American elm trees that have survived repeated epidemics of their biggest killer ? Dutch elm disease.
The breakthrough, published today in the Canadian Journal of Forest Research, is the first known use of in vitro culture technology to clone buds of mature American elm trees.
"This research has the potential to bring back the beloved American elm population to North America," said Prof. Praveen Saxena, a plant scientist who worked on the project with Professor Alan Sullivan. Both are from Guelph's Department of Plant Agriculture.
"It may also serve as a model to help propagate and preserve thousands of other endangered plant species at risk of extinction across the globe."
Majestic American elms were among the most popular and recognizable trees in Ontario, lining boulevards and adorning city centres. But more than 95 per cent of the population in Eastern Canada and the United States has now been wiped out by Dutch elm disease.
The imported fungal infection interferes with water transport and stops nutrients from circulating in the tree. Only about one in 100,000 elms may be naturally resistant to the pathogen.
Looking for new techniques to clone and produce resistant trees through micropropagation, the Guelph researchers selected tissue samples from survivors in Ontario, including a century-old elm tree growing on the U of G campus.
"The trees that have survived initial and subsequent epidemics potentially represent an invaluable source of potential disease resistance for future plantings and breeding programs," Saxena said.
After growing genetic copies from the shoot tips and dormant buds, the researchers hope to select germplasm with the desired traits including disease-resistance which will further aid elm breeding and biotechnology programs around the world.
They also perfected a way to conserve germplasm over the long term. A germplasm repository now contains 17 accessions collected from mature elm trees that survived across Ontario.
"Our results demonstrate the usefulness of in vitro technologies for conserving and reintroducing endangered germplasm of economic, social and environment significance," Saxena said.
In vitro conservation technology is highly efficient and better than seed banks for conservation of many plant species, he added. Hundreds of genotypes with known phenotypes can be conserved in a safe small space and can easily be propagated.
The professors worked with Guelph postdoctoral researchers Mukund Shukla and Maxwell Jones; Chunzhao Liu, Professor, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing; and Susan Gosling of the Gosling Foundation.
"We want to conserve and propagate the American elm and many other rare and endangered Canadian native species so that we can start to replace what has been decimated along the way," said Gosling.
Saxena said the team hopes to reintroduce disease-resistant trees. "The need to conserve endangered plant species in provinces such as Ontario where urban sprawl continues is crucial and urgent."
###
University of Guelph: http://www.uoguelph.ca
Thanks to University of Guelph for this article.
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BEIRUT (AP) ? Syria's President Bashar Assad said Thursday he will spare no effort to make U.N. envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan a success, but demanded that armed opponents battling his regime commit to halting violence.
In brazen attacks, gunmen kidnapped a high-ranking military pilot outside the capital and assassinated two army colonels in the country's business hub, in what appeared to be part of a stepped-up campaign by the battered opposition against the symbols of Assad's power.
The violence Thursday underlined the Syrian government's predicament: Acceptance and implementation of the U.N. plan, which calls for a full cease-fire, risks spelling the end of an autocratic regime which has relied largely on brute force to stay in power over the past four decades.
Assad's condition of an express promise from the opposition to stop attacks could complicate Annan's attempts to bring an end to more than a year of violence that the U.N. says has killed more than 9,000 people.
The opposition has cautiously welcomed Annan's six-point plan, but it is also deeply skeptical Assad will carry it out, believing he has accepted it just to win time while his forces continue their bloody campaign to crush the uprising. Armed rebels are unlikely to stop fighting unless offensives by security forces halt. It is also difficult for rebel forces to uniformly stop fighting since there is no central command structure.
Last year, Assad agreed to an Arab-brokered peace plan similar to Annan's, pledging to work with observers who traveled to Syria on a mission to end the crackdown. But the regime failed to pull out its tanks from towns and cities, saying the country was under attack from the armed groups, and the bloodshed has escalated sharply since the League halted its observer mission on Jan. 28.
That failure tempered reaction to Assad's promises Thursday.
At an Arab League summit in the Iraqi capital, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby discussed the Syrian crisis and Annan's mission and they agreed "that it was imperative for president Assad to match his commitments with action," the U.N. spokesman's office said.
Arab leaders at the summit issued a resolution calling on Assad's regime to "immediately implement" Annan's proposals. The plan calls for Damascus to immediately stop troop movements and use of heavy weapons in populated areas and to commit to a daily two-hour halt in fighting to allow humanitarian access and medical evacuations. It also calls for a full cease-fire to be supervised by the U.N. so that all parties can discuss a political solution.
In comments carried on Syria's state news agency, Assad said "Syria will spare no effort to make (Annan's) mission a success and hopes it would return security and stability to the country."
But he added that the U.N. envoy must "deal with the elements of the crisis in a comprehensive way" and get a commitment from armed groups to cease their "terrorist acts" against the government.
"To make Annan's mission a success, he should focus on drying up the sources that support terrorism against Syria," Assad added.
Throughout the crisis, Assad's regime has held that it faces not a popular uprising against his rule but a campaign of violence by terrorists.
The presence of the tanks along with security forces and snipers shooting to disperse protests has largely succeeding in preventing demonstrators from recreating the fervor of Egypt's Tahrir Square, where demonstrators occupied a central square and stayed there.
It is not clear how Assad can abide by Annan's plan without risking a similar situation or losing control over cities recently recovered from rebel control by the military.
Syria's uprising began a year ago with peaceful anti-Assad protests, which were met with a fierce crackdown by security forces. Since then, army defectors and protesters have taken up arms, initially to protect protesters. But as the bloodshed has risen, they have turned to seizing pro-opposition neighborhoods, towns and areas and launching attacks on government forces, usually raids on checkpoints or army convoys.
The new attacks Thursday were particularly bold.
In Aleppo, Syria's largest city, gunmen fatally shot two army colonels in the downtown Bab al-Hadid traffic circle in broad daylight. The state news agency SANA said the four attackers belonged to an "armed terrorist group." The officers, identified as Abdel-Karim al-Rai and Fuad Shaban, were on their way to work.
In eastern Ghouta, a suburb a few kilometers (miles) from Damascus, gunmen kidnapped pilot Mohammad Omar al-Dirbas, a brigadier, while on his way to work, SANA said. The agency did not say where the three worked or what their positions were.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Also Thursday, rebels ambushed an army truck and killed two soldiers in the central province of Hama, activists said. Fresh clashes also broke out between government troops and army defectors in the north and south.
Assad, in his comments Thursday, accused regional countries of funding and arming "terrorists" in Syria and cited the assassinations as proof that they did not want a peaceful settlement to the crisis.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least five civilians were killed in army raids on rebellious villages in Idlib province along Syria's northern border with Turkey. The activist group also reported clashes in the southern town of Dael.
"The security situation is very hard, with snipers on the roofs," said Adel al-Omari by telephone from the town. "It is very dangerous here, and you can't leave your house. Anyone who moves is targeted."
The Observatory said security forces killed at least 16 civilians across Syria on Thursday, while another group, the Local Coordination Committees, put the day's death toll at 31, including a child and two women.
Activist claims could not be independently verified. The Syrian government rarely comments on clashes and has barred most news media from working in the country.
Also Thursday, Britain said it was allocating 500,000 pounds (US$795,000) to supply non-lethal aid to Syria's opposition, pledging assistance to groups inside the country for the first time ahead of international talks this weekend on how best to support the nation's rebels.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said the offer of new funds includes an "agreement in principle" to provide support to opposition members inside Syria. Until now, Britain has supplied assistance to exiles in the West and opponents of Assad's regime in Syria's neighboring countries, amid concern over the practicalities of delivering items into Syria and fears that equipment could end up in the hands of extremists.
___
Associated Press writer Hamza Hendawi in Baghdad contributed to this report.
Interim Worship Pastor Marty Rhyne performs during the men?s rally at Denver Baptist Church Saturday, March 24. (Sarah Grano/DW photo)
DENVER ? Denver Baptist Church members want to teach men to be more courageous fathers.
The church held a men?s rally Friday and Saturday, March 23 and 24, to promote faith, fatherhood and leadership.
?It?s not only about being leaders in the church, but being leaders in the community,? said Steve Waters, associate pastor of education and discipleship. ?It starts in your family and then your church and then goes beyond that.?
The event kicked off Friday night, March 23, with a? barbecue dinner and a showing of the movie ?Courageous,? which focuses on the importance of fatherhood.
?It hit the guys between the eyes,? Waters said of the movie. ?We think we?re being okay dads, but being okay isn?t good enough.?
On Saturday, the rally?s more than 60 participants shared breakfast, worshipped through song and attended sessions with pastors.
?It?s a vision thing for our church,? youth pastor Josh Benfiled said. ?Our pastor is teaching us to have a three-fold vision ? men, marriages and mission.?
Attendants received Those attending were given handouts with statistics from the National Center for Fathering including ?24.8 million children (33 percent) live apart from their biological fathers.? Waters believes the way society views fatherhood have changed.
?It?s not as valued as it used to be,? he said. ?It?s getting worse and worse.?
He and other organizers of the rally plan to work to change that.
?You?re number one when it comes to taking responsibility for your child or children,? he said.
Benfield agreed.
?We teach our men to make a difference (in) our homes, to make a difference with our wives and kids,? he said.
The men were encouraged to spend time with their children, show affection, pray together and discipline with a gentle spirit.
During the rally, the roles of fathers in the Bible were examined, including the role of God as a father and the importance of father-led families.
?We?re focusing on the Bible, and we?re going to touch on other things,? Waters said.
Being a leader within the family was only the beginning of the rally?s message to men. They were encouraged to participate in Bible study and become leaders within church and beyond that, in the community and the world.
?We?re trying to lead men to the international field to spread the news of Jesus,? Benfield said.
The goal is to positively affect as many people as possible.
?We want to make a difference,? Benfield said. ?I don?t want to just hang around. I want my life to count.?
Organizers hope the rally results in larger numbers of men participating in Bible study, missions and other events including Operation In As Much.
Operation In As Much, which takes place April 28, will have volunteers working to help organizations such as East Lincoln Christian Ministry and East Lincoln Pregnancy Care Center.
For more information, visit www.denverbaptist.org or call 704-483-3030.
I was once an aspiring filmmaker just like you. My parents paid thousands of dollars to send me to film school. About halfway through, I came to a realization?
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Desk top PC?s is more then one in a home. The computer savvy has made every one to reach through this technology. The desktop PC provide with various avenues which are relevant to your children and yourself. You can handle and place them wherever you need them. However, it is you to decide what type of desktop you need for several places in your house. For everyone the desktop PC provides entertainment ant knowledge based information that is required for you to understand and operate accordingly. You can view photo and can interact with people who are thousand miles away. In fact you can browse for music and film which are attractive in a PC then otherwise. The system provides you to improvise on the screen view and enjoy your improvised PC. The other use of PC is for business purpose that helps you in keeping your vital records and provides you to act on a sensible method.
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This entry was posted on Thursday, March 29th, 2012 at 11:00 pm and is filed under Treatment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
Friendly reminder here, folks. As expected, AT&T has opened the pre-order floodgates for the Nokia Lumia 900 today ahead of its April 8th release in the US. Interested parties can secure their reservation for the Window Phone 7.5-loaded device at either AT&T's retail or online stores. While you'll be able to snag one in either matter black or cyan blue, we'd be remiss not to point out that the white version (slated for an April 22nd release) isn't yet on offer. If you'll recall, parting with $100, along with agreeing to a two-year contract is all it'll cost ya' to get in on the action. Be sure to let us know if you plan on reaching for the "light" in the comments.
Update: Wowza, if $100 wasn't already easy on the wallet, Walmart is offering the device up for only $50 with a two-year agreement -- online only, though. You'll find more info at the source link below.
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Your skin care program needs to work right for you skin to look great so make sure it?s geared toward your skin type. If your skin tends to be oily you?ll want to avoid products for dry skin so your skin doesn?t become confused. Also get to know and understand your skin type because if you do then you will know exactly what it needs throughout the year. There are many more skin care tips for all skin types including yours, so continue with the article to learn more.
Water temperature matters, so be careful when showering or washing your face. You may not know that dermatologists recommend water no warmer than lukewarm for facial cleansing. Removing all of the oil from your skin will only dry it out which is the effect hot water will have. Cold is just as bad since it shocks your skin causing the capillaries to burst. Whether you suffer from oily or dry skin, make sure you develop the habit of exfoliating at least once every week. Lots of dead cells can build up on your skin and your skin needs your help to get rid of the buildup.
Exfoliation can be done using homemade remedies or bottled products that you can buy in the store. Natural products can work just as well as store bought products.
Some women like using what are called microdermabrasion kits, and some of the feedback has been very good. Properly and regularly exfoliated skin often looks smoother, healthier and more radiant than non exfoliated skin.
Don?t use tap water if you can help is since this usually consists of chlorine, fluoride and other harsh chemicals. You really should not use tap water on your face at all. Use a filtered water instead. Avoiding tap waters chlorine base will help keep your skin from drying out or irritating. Avoid products that contain alcohol or other harsh chemicals. Good skin care is imperative no matter what kind of skin you have because all skin is susceptible to damage. Qualified beauticians can help you figure out your skin type if you do not already know what it is. She will be able to assist you in developing your skin care routine but be on the lookout for marketing and up-selling you things that you do not actually need. Once you?ve gotten a routine, you?ll probably need to test out a few different individual products to figure out which ones are the best for you and your skin. The best product to test with is the Meaningful beauty product.
Meaningful beauty product was advice by Ramon King to use if ever you have any problems about your skin. For more info: Visit this site. http://www.the-anti-aging-report.com/reviews/wrinkle-cream-reviews.php http://smootherface.net/hydroxatone/
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Giant piezoelectricity from ZnO materials, comparable with perovskite, was achievedPublic release date: 29-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Pan Feng panf@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn Science in China Press
In recent years, with the growing concerns over environmental protection and human health, environment-friendly materials have received increasing attention, and for decades researchers have been fiercely studying lead-free piezoelectric materials with high piezoelectric properties. After more than 7-years of innovative research, Professor PAN Feng and his group from Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, presented a new type of environment-friendly piezoelectric material with giant piezoresponse and simple structure, small-ion-doped ZnO. They also provided a general rule describing the impact of doping on the piezoresponse of ZnO films. Specifically, if doped ions substitute at Zn2+ sites, doping ZnO with small/big ions can enhance/reduce the piezoresponse. This rule is a useful guide in fabricating enhanced piezoresponse in wurtzite materials and offers a new paradigm to seek environment-friendly piezoelectric materials with high piezoelectric properties. Their work, titled "Giant piezoresponse and promising application of environmental friendly small-ion-doped ZnO", was published in SCIENCE CHINA Technological Sciences.2012, Vol 55(2).
Piezoelectric materials are key materials for the fabrication of various transducers, pressure sensors and actuators, piezoelectric oscillator and actuators, transformer, surface acoustic wave (SAW) and bulk acoustic wave (BAW) devices, which are widely used in the fields of information, energy, machinery, electronics, national defense, among others. Because of their excellent piezoelectric property, lead (Pb)-based piezoelectric materials is one of the most widely exploited and extensively used piezoelectric materials. However, Pb is highly toxic and its toxicity can be further enhanced due to its easy volatilization during processing. Thus, processing and use of Pb-based piezoelectric materials can contaminate environments and damage human health, thereby limiting their applications. With the rise in environmental awareness, lead-free piezoelectric materials have received greater attention, the prevailing trend being that environment-friendly lead-free piezoelectric materials will replace Pb-based piezoelectric materials.
As a piezoelectric material, ZnO has various advantages. Firstly, it has the strongest piezoelectric response among the tetrahedrally-bonded semiconductors. Secondly, it is structurally simple and easy to fabricate. Moreover, ZnO films are compatible with semiconductor processes, and therefore has been widely used as sensors and actuators in micro-electromechanical systems and as SAW and BAW devices in the field of communications. However, performance improvements in piezoelectric devices demand significant piezoelectric behavior and stronger piezoresponse; in that regard d33 is the important parameter for evaluating piezoelectric property in ZnO. For bulk ZnO, and for an oriented ZnO film, the piezoresponses are ~9.9 pC/N and ~12.4 pC/N, respectively, which are approximately one or two orders of magnitude lower compared with Pb-based piezoelectric materials. Many researchers have focused on pure ZnO ?lms and attempted to improve its properties by optimizing the preparation conditions; the results though were ineffective.
Doping is a good method to improve the piezoelectric properties of Pb-based piezoelectric materials, and there are many successful examples of improvements in the properties of ZnO films by doping. Doping with Al and Ga can improve the quality and conductivity of ZnO films. Co-doping can induce room-temperature ferromagnetism in Co-doped ZnO films. For this reason, transition-metal doping of ZnO films has been investigated and piezoresponses quantified. It is found that Zn0.975V0.025O and Zn0.94Cr0.06O ?lms possess maximum d33 values of ~170 and ~120 pC/N, respectively, which are about one order of magnitude larger than for pure ZnO ?lms, but quite comparable with those of perovskite piezoelectrics. As shown in Figure 1, the displacement-applied voltage (D-V) curve of Zn0.975V0.025O is typically a butterfly-like loop. The corresponding piezoresponse hysteresis loop is switchable. From a macroscopic point of view, the giant piezoresponse in ZnO ?lms is considered to be the emergence of switchable spontaneous polarization as well as to a relatively high permittivity. In contrast, 2 at.% Cu-doped ZnO ?lms have a d33 of ~13.6 pC/N, and Fe- and Co-doped ZnO ?lms with the same doping concentration have d33 values of ~6pC/N and ~11 pC/N, both smaller than for pure ZnO films (~12) pC/N. Through analyzing and calculating the X-ray absorption spectroscopy spectrum of the dopant, it was found that V5+ (radii of 0.59 ), Cr3+ (radii of 0.63 ), Cu2+ (radii of 0.72 ), Fe2+ (radii of 0.76 ), and Co2+ (radii of 0.79 ) substitute for Zn2+ (radii of 0.74 ) in Zn0.975V0.025O, Zn0.94Cr0.06O ?lms Zn0.98Cu0.02O, Zn0.98Fe0.02O, and Zn0.98Co0.02O respectively. From a microscopic point of view, the piezoresponse in ZnO is mainly governed by the ease of noncollinear bonds along the polar c axis toward the direction of the applied ?eld. Small-ion substitution, i.e. V5+ (0.59), Cr3+ (0.63 ), and Cu2+ (0.72 ), for Zn2+(0.74 ) make the V-O1, Cr-O1, and Cu-O1 bonds rotate easier in the direction of the applied ?eld and enhance the corresponding electromechanical responses. For 2 at. % Fe- and Co-doped ZnO ?lms, the bigger ionic size in the Zn2+ site makes the rotation of the Fe-O1 and Co-O1 bonds dif?cult, thus decreasing the piezoresponse.
In ZnO:Mn films where Mn2+ (0.80) with a big radius gets substituted at the Zn2+ sites, the piezoresponse is only 8.2 pC/N, which is smaller for pure ZnO films. Substitution of Mn3+/Mn4+ (0.66/0.60), with small radius and greater positive charge, at Zn2+ site, yields an enhanced piezoresponse of up to 86 pC/N. Through investigating the relationship between Mn ionic size and the piezoresponse values, the ionic size and the chemical state of the dopant have been confirmed as the key factors in the piezoresponse of doped-ZnO films.
In ZnO:Fe films, Fe2+ (0.76 ), with a big radius, also gets substituted at Zn2+ sites, the piezoresponse is only 7 pC/N. After annealing in O2, Fe2+ is oxidized to Fe3+ (0.64 ) and the piezoresponse improved to 120 pC/N. The modified ZnO films with high piezoresponses can be used as promising environment-friendly piezoelectric materials. The substitution rule has provided a new way in seeking lead-free piezoelectric materials. Pure ZnO and V-doped ZnO films were used to fabricate SAW devices. Compared with devices based on pure ZnO films, the devices based on ZnO:V films with giant piezoresponses have smaller insertion losses and higher electromechanical coupling coef?cients.
By enhancing the piezoresponse of ZnO and made comparable to that of Pb-based piezoelectric materials, the performances of available ZnO-based SAW devices were improved significantly. Additionally, the enhanced piezoelectricity can widely extend the applications range of ZnO. Because ZnO not only possesses high piezoelectric response, but also is an abundant raw material that is environment-friendly, it competes and stands to replace Pb-based piezoelectric materials as the promising piezoelectric materials.
###
This work was completed by many researchers from different institutes and universities. This work was supported by the National Hi-tech (R&D) Program of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the National Basic Research Program of China.
See the article: Pan F, Luo J T, Yang Y C, et al. Giant piezoresponse and promising application of environmental friendly small-ion-doped ZnO. SCI CHINA Tech Sci, 2012, 55(2):1.
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Giant piezoelectricity from ZnO materials, comparable with perovskite, was achievedPublic release date: 29-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Pan Feng panf@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn Science in China Press
In recent years, with the growing concerns over environmental protection and human health, environment-friendly materials have received increasing attention, and for decades researchers have been fiercely studying lead-free piezoelectric materials with high piezoelectric properties. After more than 7-years of innovative research, Professor PAN Feng and his group from Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, presented a new type of environment-friendly piezoelectric material with giant piezoresponse and simple structure, small-ion-doped ZnO. They also provided a general rule describing the impact of doping on the piezoresponse of ZnO films. Specifically, if doped ions substitute at Zn2+ sites, doping ZnO with small/big ions can enhance/reduce the piezoresponse. This rule is a useful guide in fabricating enhanced piezoresponse in wurtzite materials and offers a new paradigm to seek environment-friendly piezoelectric materials with high piezoelectric properties. Their work, titled "Giant piezoresponse and promising application of environmental friendly small-ion-doped ZnO", was published in SCIENCE CHINA Technological Sciences.2012, Vol 55(2).
Piezoelectric materials are key materials for the fabrication of various transducers, pressure sensors and actuators, piezoelectric oscillator and actuators, transformer, surface acoustic wave (SAW) and bulk acoustic wave (BAW) devices, which are widely used in the fields of information, energy, machinery, electronics, national defense, among others. Because of their excellent piezoelectric property, lead (Pb)-based piezoelectric materials is one of the most widely exploited and extensively used piezoelectric materials. However, Pb is highly toxic and its toxicity can be further enhanced due to its easy volatilization during processing. Thus, processing and use of Pb-based piezoelectric materials can contaminate environments and damage human health, thereby limiting their applications. With the rise in environmental awareness, lead-free piezoelectric materials have received greater attention, the prevailing trend being that environment-friendly lead-free piezoelectric materials will replace Pb-based piezoelectric materials.
As a piezoelectric material, ZnO has various advantages. Firstly, it has the strongest piezoelectric response among the tetrahedrally-bonded semiconductors. Secondly, it is structurally simple and easy to fabricate. Moreover, ZnO films are compatible with semiconductor processes, and therefore has been widely used as sensors and actuators in micro-electromechanical systems and as SAW and BAW devices in the field of communications. However, performance improvements in piezoelectric devices demand significant piezoelectric behavior and stronger piezoresponse; in that regard d33 is the important parameter for evaluating piezoelectric property in ZnO. For bulk ZnO, and for an oriented ZnO film, the piezoresponses are ~9.9 pC/N and ~12.4 pC/N, respectively, which are approximately one or two orders of magnitude lower compared with Pb-based piezoelectric materials. Many researchers have focused on pure ZnO ?lms and attempted to improve its properties by optimizing the preparation conditions; the results though were ineffective.
Doping is a good method to improve the piezoelectric properties of Pb-based piezoelectric materials, and there are many successful examples of improvements in the properties of ZnO films by doping. Doping with Al and Ga can improve the quality and conductivity of ZnO films. Co-doping can induce room-temperature ferromagnetism in Co-doped ZnO films. For this reason, transition-metal doping of ZnO films has been investigated and piezoresponses quantified. It is found that Zn0.975V0.025O and Zn0.94Cr0.06O ?lms possess maximum d33 values of ~170 and ~120 pC/N, respectively, which are about one order of magnitude larger than for pure ZnO ?lms, but quite comparable with those of perovskite piezoelectrics. As shown in Figure 1, the displacement-applied voltage (D-V) curve of Zn0.975V0.025O is typically a butterfly-like loop. The corresponding piezoresponse hysteresis loop is switchable. From a macroscopic point of view, the giant piezoresponse in ZnO ?lms is considered to be the emergence of switchable spontaneous polarization as well as to a relatively high permittivity. In contrast, 2 at.% Cu-doped ZnO ?lms have a d33 of ~13.6 pC/N, and Fe- and Co-doped ZnO ?lms with the same doping concentration have d33 values of ~6pC/N and ~11 pC/N, both smaller than for pure ZnO films (~12) pC/N. Through analyzing and calculating the X-ray absorption spectroscopy spectrum of the dopant, it was found that V5+ (radii of 0.59 ), Cr3+ (radii of 0.63 ), Cu2+ (radii of 0.72 ), Fe2+ (radii of 0.76 ), and Co2+ (radii of 0.79 ) substitute for Zn2+ (radii of 0.74 ) in Zn0.975V0.025O, Zn0.94Cr0.06O ?lms Zn0.98Cu0.02O, Zn0.98Fe0.02O, and Zn0.98Co0.02O respectively. From a microscopic point of view, the piezoresponse in ZnO is mainly governed by the ease of noncollinear bonds along the polar c axis toward the direction of the applied ?eld. Small-ion substitution, i.e. V5+ (0.59), Cr3+ (0.63 ), and Cu2+ (0.72 ), for Zn2+(0.74 ) make the V-O1, Cr-O1, and Cu-O1 bonds rotate easier in the direction of the applied ?eld and enhance the corresponding electromechanical responses. For 2 at. % Fe- and Co-doped ZnO ?lms, the bigger ionic size in the Zn2+ site makes the rotation of the Fe-O1 and Co-O1 bonds dif?cult, thus decreasing the piezoresponse.
In ZnO:Mn films where Mn2+ (0.80) with a big radius gets substituted at the Zn2+ sites, the piezoresponse is only 8.2 pC/N, which is smaller for pure ZnO films. Substitution of Mn3+/Mn4+ (0.66/0.60), with small radius and greater positive charge, at Zn2+ site, yields an enhanced piezoresponse of up to 86 pC/N. Through investigating the relationship between Mn ionic size and the piezoresponse values, the ionic size and the chemical state of the dopant have been confirmed as the key factors in the piezoresponse of doped-ZnO films.
In ZnO:Fe films, Fe2+ (0.76 ), with a big radius, also gets substituted at Zn2+ sites, the piezoresponse is only 7 pC/N. After annealing in O2, Fe2+ is oxidized to Fe3+ (0.64 ) and the piezoresponse improved to 120 pC/N. The modified ZnO films with high piezoresponses can be used as promising environment-friendly piezoelectric materials. The substitution rule has provided a new way in seeking lead-free piezoelectric materials. Pure ZnO and V-doped ZnO films were used to fabricate SAW devices. Compared with devices based on pure ZnO films, the devices based on ZnO:V films with giant piezoresponses have smaller insertion losses and higher electromechanical coupling coef?cients.
By enhancing the piezoresponse of ZnO and made comparable to that of Pb-based piezoelectric materials, the performances of available ZnO-based SAW devices were improved significantly. Additionally, the enhanced piezoelectricity can widely extend the applications range of ZnO. Because ZnO not only possesses high piezoelectric response, but also is an abundant raw material that is environment-friendly, it competes and stands to replace Pb-based piezoelectric materials as the promising piezoelectric materials.
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This work was completed by many researchers from different institutes and universities. This work was supported by the National Hi-tech (R&D) Program of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the National Basic Research Program of China.
See the article: Pan F, Luo J T, Yang Y C, et al. Giant piezoresponse and promising application of environmental friendly small-ion-doped ZnO. SCI CHINA Tech Sci, 2012, 55(2):1.
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Bankruptcy and taxes can go together in a couple of different ways.
For people in search of debt relief, bankruptcy can potentially allow the discharge of income tax debt. This could include stopping an IRS tax levy.
There's another way as well. New research shows that many Americans who are short of cash are using their tax rebates to pay for a bankruptcy filing.
Jialan Wang, a business finance professor at Washington University in St. Louis, collaborated with colleagues at two other schools on the research. The focus was on the connection between tax rebates and bankruptcy filings. The study examined two different years: 2001 and 2008.
Those years were chosen because they were years in which many people received rebates.
In 2001, bankruptcy filings increased by two percent after rebate checks were issued. In 2008, the increase was even greater: seven percent.
As Prof. Wang pointed out in her published paper, the 2005 overhaul of federal bankruptcy law significantly increased the cost of filing for bankruptcy. Legal and administrative rose substantially. The amended law also imposed a new requirement of credit counseling, which the bankruptcy filer had to pay for.
The number of bankruptcy filings in the first few years after the new law took effect dropped. But then, especially during after the Great Recession, they rose again. The number of filings every year now is approaching levels of before 2005.
Numbers are likely to remain high, Prof. Wang believes, as long as so many Americans are dealing with large amounts of personal debt.
Source: "What thousands of Americans are doing with their tax rebates: filing for bankruptcy," Neil Schoenherr, Washington University in St. Louis, 3-27-12
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