Pets Of The Week: Pick Of The Litter ? CBS Detroit

This week?s roster of adoptable pets from the Michigan Humane Society includes a little guy who will undoubtedly steal your heart.

Athos the eight-week-old kitten is?2 pounds of pure love. Social and friendly, he?s hoping to move into his new forever home before Halloween.

See the pet of the week photo?gallery here.

Source: http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2011/10/27/pets-of-the-week-arent-they-sweet-2/

arizona diamondbacks arizona diamondbacks jorge posada alex rodriguez alicia witt alicia witt nobel peace prize

Python study may have implications for human heart health

Thursday, October 27, 2011

A surprising new University of Colorado Boulder study shows that huge amounts of fatty acids circulating in the bloodstreams of feeding pythons promote healthy heart growth, results that may have implications for treating human heart disease.

CU-Boulder Professor Leslie Leinwand and her research team found the amount of triglycerides -- the main constituent of natural fats and oils -- in the blood of Burmese pythons one day after eating increased by more than fifty-fold. Despite the massive amount of fatty acids in the python bloodstream there was no evidence of fat deposition in the heart, and the researchers also saw an increase in the activity of a key enzyme known to protect the heart from damage.

After identifying the chemical make-up of blood plasma in fed pythons, the CU-Boulder researchers injected fasting pythons with either "fed python" blood plasma or a reconstituted fatty acid mixture they developed to mimic such plasma. In both cases, the pythons showed increased heart growth and indicators of cardiac health. The team took the experiments a step further by injecting mice with either fed python plasma or the fatty acid mixture, with the same results.

"We found that a combination of fatty acids can induce beneficial heart growth in living organisms," said CU-Boulder postdoctoral researcher Cecilia Riquelme, first author on the Science paper. "Now we are trying to understand the molecular mechanisms behind the process in hopes that the results might lead to new therapies to improve heart disease conditions in humans."

The paper is being published in the Oct. 28 issue of the journal Science. In addition to Leinwand and Riquelme, the authors include CU postdoctoral researcher Brooke Harrison, CU graduate student Jason Magida, CU undergraduate Christopher Wall, Hiberna Corp. researcher Thomas Marr and University of Alabama Tuscaloosa Professor Stephen Secor.

Previous studies have shown that the hearts of Burmese pythons can grow in mass by 40 percent within 24 to 72 hours after a large meal, and that metabolism immediately after swallowing prey can shoot up by forty-fold. As big around as telephone poles, adult Burmese pythons can swallow prey as large as deer, have been known to reach a length of 27 feet and are able to fast for up to a year with few ill effects.

There are good and bad types of heart growth, said Leinwand, who is an expert in genetic heart diseases including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the leading cause of sudden death in young athletes. While cardiac diseases can cause human heart muscle to thicken and decrease the size of heart chambers and heart function because the organ is working harder to pump blood, heart enlargement from exercise is beneficial.

"Well-conditioned athletes like Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps and cyclist Lance Armstrong have huge hearts," said Leinwand, a professor in the molecular, cellular and developmental biology department and chief scientific officer of CU's Biofrontiers Institute. "But there are many people who are unable to exercise because of existing heart disease, so it would be nice to develop some kind of a treatment to promote the beneficial growth of heart cells."

Riquelme said once the CU team confirmed that something in the blood plasma of pythons was inducing positive cardiac growth, they began looking for the right "signal" by analyzing proteins, lipids, nucleic acids and peptides present in the fed plasma. The team used a technique known as gas chromatography to analyze both fasted and fed python plasma blood, eventually identifying a highly complex composition of circulating fatty acids with distinct patterns of abundance over the course of the digestive process.

In the mouse experiments led by Harrison, the animals were hooked up to "mini-pumps" that delivered low doses of the fatty acid mixture over a period of a week. Not only did the mouse hearts show significant growth in the major part of the heart that pumps blood, the heart muscle cell size increased, there was no increase in heart fibrosis -- which makes the heart muscle more stiff and can be a sign of disease -- and there were no alterations in the liver or in the skeletal muscles, he said.

"It was remarkable that the fatty acids identified in the plasma-fed pythons could actually stimulate healthy heart growth in mice," said Harrison. The team also tested the fed python plasma and the fatty acid mixture on cultured rat heart cells, with the same positive results, Harrison said.

The CU-led team also identified the activation of signaling pathways in the cells of fed python plasma, which serve as traffic lights of sorts, said Leinwand. "We are trying to understand how to make those signals tell individual heart cells whether they are going down a road that has pathological consequences, like disease, or beneficial consequences, like exercise," she said.

The prey of Burmese pythons can be up to 100 percent of the constricting snake's body mass, said Leinwand, who holds a Marsico Endowed Chair of Excellence at CU-Boulder. "When a python eats, something extraordinary happens. Its metabolism increases by more than forty-fold and the size of its organs increase significantly in mass by building new tissue, which is broken back down during the digestion process."

The three key fatty acids in the fed python plasma turned out to be myristic acid, palmitic acid and palmitoleic acid. The enzyme that showed increased activity in the python hearts during feeding episodes, known as superoxide dismutase, is a well-known "cardio-protective" enzyme in many organisms, including humans, said Leinwand.

The new Science study grew out of a project Leinwand began in 2006 when she was named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor and awarded a four-year, $1 million undergraduate education grant from the Chevy Chase, Md.-based institute. As part of the award Leinwand initiated the Python Project, an undergraduate laboratory research program designed to focus on the heart biology of constricting snakes like pythons thought to have relevance to human disease.

Undergraduates contributed substantially to the underpinnings of the new python study both by their genetic studies and by caring for the lab pythons, said Leinwand. While scientists know a great deal about the genomes of standard lab animal models like fruit flies, worms and mice, relatively little was known about pythons. "We have had to do a lot of difficult groundwork using molecular genetics tools in order to undertake this research," said Leinwand.

CU-Boulder already had a laboratory snake facility in place, which contributed to the success of the project, she said.

"The fact that the python study involved faculty, postdoctoral researchers, a graduate student and an undergraduate, Christopher Wall, shows the project was a team effort," said Leinwand. "Chris is a good example of how the University of Colorado provides an incredible educational research environment for undergraduates." Wall is now a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego.

###

University of Colorado at Boulder: http://www.colorado.edu/news

Thanks to University of Colorado at Boulder for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 44 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/114699/Python_study_may_have_implications_for_human_heart_health

ellen acl doc martin doc martin ohio state university ohio state university hennessy

Here Come ARM-Based Servers (NewsFactor)

ARM chips are making a big leap from mobile devices to servers. Hewlett-Packard is collaborating with a start-up company to develop servers using the processors from U.K.-based ARM Holdings, according to news reports.

The start-up partner is Calxeda, an Austin, Texas-based company partly owned by ARM Holdings. The effort is targeting companies that are looking to lower energy consumption and physical space requirements when they build large data centers. Calxeda is also reportedly in discussion with other server manufacturers, according to reports by Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal.

Nvidia, Marvell, Dell

Calxeda's business goal is the creation of a "silicon and software server platform based on the same energy-efficient ARM processor architecture that powers cellular handsets today," according to its Web site. The company envisions replacing a dozen Web server racks with a single rack and saving 70 percent in direct power consumption.

Other companies, including Nvidia and Marvell Technologies, have also indicated that they plan to develop ARM-based processors for servers. Dell has reportedly been researching the possibility. A new ARM chip announced last year, the Cortex-A15, offers greater memory and virtualization support, both of which appeal to server makers.

The transition of ARM from the mobile world to the data center world could indicate a major turning point in Intel's position in the computer ecosystem. Currently, Intel-based processors are used in about 90 percent of all servers, and the company has about 80 percent of the overall processor market worldwide.

Intel has made a priority of trying to get a better foothold in the world of smartphones and tablets, where ARM chips dominate. But it's going to be a challenge. A recent report from research firm DisplaySearch, for instance, projects about 50 million more tablets sold in 2017 than now, but only about 5 percent will have Intel chips.

Atom-Based Servers

ARM licenses its design to chip makers such as Texas Instruments, Samsung, Qualcomm, and Nvidia, for processors intended for mobile devices.

Intel's Data Center Group has seen growth in the last year that was nearly 15 percent more than the company's PC unit, and the server processor market is expected to reach about $9 billion in 2011. Interestingly, H-P is Intel's biggest customer in the Data Center Group.

ARM executives have noted that one of the major issues for data centers is power consumption and management, and that they expect their chips to first reside in servers that support Web-based transactions, then move into more complex and powerful environments.

But ARM chips, while more energy efficient than x86 chips from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, are also less powerful. Also, most software in data centers is written for x86. Meanwhile, Intel has aggressively been attempting to reduce the power requirements for all of its processors.

Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT, said Intel has been pursuing partnerships with companies to build servers based on its power-efficient Atom chips, which have been primarily targeted at mobile devices. He noted that "any x86 app will run on Atom natively," a capability not shared by ARM chips.

If you "put aside the server architecture," King said, the coming of ARM-based servers might be more appropriately compared to the Atom-based ones.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enterprise/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20111027/bs_nf/80775

walking dead season 2 walking dead season 2 saving private ryan nfl scores nfl scores world series tickets world series tickets

NCAA approves major scholarship changes at meeting (AP)

INDIANAPOLIS ? The NCAA is giving college sports a whole new look.

On Thursday, the Division I Board of Directors approved a package of sweeping reforms that gives conferences the option of adding more money to scholarship offers, schools the opportunity to award scholarships for multiple years, imposes tougher academic standards on recruits and changes the summer basketball recruiting model.

It was one of the busiest board meetings in history, and it was all by design.

Just 2 1/2 months after NCAA President Mark Emmert told school leaders that they could not wait to clean up college sports, university presidents passed four landmark measures.

Conferences will now vote on whether to add $2,000 in spending money to scholarship offers. Previously, scholarships covered the costs of tuition, room and board, books and fees. But Emmert came out earlier this week in favor of increasing the allowable money, which the NCAA calls full cost-of-attendance.

BCS leagues are expected to quickly approve the changes, but it's unclear how many other conferences can afford it. All additional funding in men's sports would have to be matched equally in women's sports because of Title IX rules.

Individual schools also will have the option of awarding scholarships on a multiple-year basis or keeping the current model, which is done year-by-year. Critics contend the move is long overdue.

"The coach can cancel those (annual scholarships) for any reason, and the reason usually is they find a prettier girl to bring to the dance," said Ohio University professor David Ridpath, past president of The Drake Group, an NCAA watchdog. "If you're Frank Beamer or Nick Saban, they make a lot of money and they should be able to coach that kid up. I will tell you this from personal experience, it happens all the time. The way it's set up, the kids have no recourse. You just have to notify them by July 30th every year."

The board also decided to phase in the new Academic Progress Rate cutline over four years. In August, presidents approved increasing the cutline from the current 900 to 930. Schools that fail to meet the benchmark will be ineligible for postseason play.

On Thursday, the board approved a measure to use 900 starting in 2012-13. The cutline will increase to 930 in the fourth year. It also adopted a measure to include the rule in bowl licensing agreements, meaning it would apply to the 120-member Football Bowl Subdivision -- the only sport the NCAA for which does not sanction a postseason tourney.

In addition, the board agreed to increase eligibility requirements for incoming freshmen and junior college transfers. Both groups needed a 2.0 GPA to be eligible. Now, high school grads will need to maintain a 2.3 GPA in the 16 core courses and take 10 of those core classes before their senior year. Junior college players will have to maintain a 2.5 GPA and the NCAA will limit the number of physical education credits that will count toward eligibility.

The board also adopted a new summer basketball recruiting model.

Under the new measure, coaches would get four evaluation days in April and 12 in July. Previously, April was a dead period and coaches had 20 evaluation days in July. Coaches also will be permitted more contact with their own players during the summer and will benefit by the elimination of a text messaging ban.

Jim Haney, executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, said coaches support the changes.

"Oh yes, I think the feedback from our coaches has been very positive," he said. "I do see some challenges to evaluate in April, and it does reduce what can be done in July."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111027/ap_on_re_us/ncaa_board_meeting

boxer rebellion boxer rebellion bettie page harry caray northern lights maksim chmerkovskiy aurora borealis

Insect Cuisine Is All The Buzz

Pan-fried scorpions prepared by Bay Area entomophagist Daniella Martin may be less menacing when coupled with endive. Enlarge Joseph Schell/SF Weekly

Pan-fried scorpions prepared by Bay Area entomophagist Daniella Martin may be less menacing when coupled with endive.

Joseph Schell/SF Weekly

Pan-fried scorpions prepared by Bay Area entomophagist Daniella Martin may be less menacing when coupled with endive.

Kudos to the SF Weekly for their fascinating in-depth cover story last week on bug eating. The City by the Bay has become a "hotbed of insect cuisine," David Gordon, an entomophagist (bug eater) and author of The Eat-A-Bug Cookbook, tells the alternative weekly.

But could it be that daring Bay Area foodies have run out of provocative ingredients for their elaborate meals? Or is this a legit movement with six legs? Reporter Peter Jamieson makes a fairly compelling case for the latter, interviewing many of the key players in the bug eating world, including the owner of a bug-focused food truck called Don Bugito, bug bloggers, bug cookbook authors and others.

?

Their arguments for why you should eat bugs consist of the following:

  • They're a great source of protein
  • They taste pretty good. Exhibit A: Fried wax moth larvae served inside a taco or canape. Exhibit B: Bee larvae, which taste like "nutty, mushroomy raisins."
  • They're not that different, biologically speaking, than shellfish
  • They could be the most "ecologically sound food there is," at least compared with the impact that livestock production has on land, water, air and human health.
  • They're nature's most efficient feed converters. For example, 10 pounds of plant matter feeds about seven or eight pounds of crickets, compared with 2 pounds of beef from 10 pounds of feed.

Besides the general cultural taboo against bugs, much less eating them, there are a few other obstacles for the entomophagists. Ready-made bugs for eating are actually pretty expensive, compared with meat. And there aren't a lot of people raising or distributing them, either.

Still, the advocates make some interesting points. "I like to point out that lobsters and crabs eat trash and feces and dead animals, and grasshoppers eat salad," David Gracer, a naturalist and entomophagist, tells the SF Weekly.

And cutting-edge San Francisco culinarians aren't the only ones pushing bugs for dinner.

Last year the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said it may promote insect consumption over meat consumption as a way to improve nutrition and limit global warming. It helps that people around the world are already chomping on a lot of arthropods: 527 different insects are eaten across 36 countries in Africa, 29 countries in Asia and 23 countries in the Americas, says the FAO. Crickets, or chapulines, are a tasty snack in Mexico, for example, while locusts are caught and eaten in African countries like Sudan.

The U.N.'s interest in insect consumption as a way to tackle greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture was inspired by the work of Arnold van Huis, a tropical entomologist at Wageningen University in Belgium. He wrote in a paper published last year in the journal PLoS One that locusts, crickets and meal worms ? all edible and nutritious ? emit 10 times less methane and 300 times less nitrous oxide than livestock.

Still, it's hard to imagine that if given the choice, most Africans or Latin Americans would willingly choose bee larvae over bacon. That is, unless they're offered a bacon-flavored beetle.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/10/24/141661332/bugs-bugs-everywhere-even-on-your-dinner-plate?ft=1&f=1007

nfl steve smith weather san antonio weather san antonio dream act roger williams roger williams

Kristen Stewart Hates on Jocks, Laughs at Robert Pattinson


We are very sorry, athletic men hoping to win over Kristen Stewart. You stand no chance.

In the latest issue of Glamour UK, the Twilight Saga star is asked if she prefers American jocks or British lads and replies: "Well, I'm kind of repulsed by jocks from anywhere, so I have to go with the lads."

Ouch. Guess that confirms she isn't on Team Jacob.

Kristen Stewart Glamour UK Cover

Stewart added that there's something "a little vain" about working out everyday, really sticking it to Taylor Lautner (just kidding, he did so for a movie role, and she also labels him one of the "greatest guys), while laughing over her boyfriend.

What's it like to be dating the Sexiest Man Alive? It's a riot!

"The first time Rob was named sexiest man in the world it was the biggest joke in the world," says Kristen, who has clearly seen many sides to her co-star: goofy, whining, generous, naked.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/10/kristen-stewart-hates-on-jocks-laughs-at-robert-pattinson/

iceland reggie bush jordin sparks kid rock new zealand clay matthews windows live

Orion mock-up completes test water landing (AP)

HAMPTON, Va. ? An 18,000-pound mock-up of the Orion spacecraft that will eventually send astronauts into deep space completed a test water landing on Thursday, simulating what would happen if it fell into the Pacific Ocean with moderate seas.

The four-man ship will eventually be attached to a large rocket to escape Earth's orbit, although it doesn't yet have a destination. NASA has said it could service the space station in low Earth orbit or take four astronauts on more distant missions of up to 21 days.

During the test, the capsule approached the hydro impact basin ? which looked like a large swimming pool ? at a speed of 22 mph, creating a large splash and stopping in a net without rolling over.

"This is exactly what we wanted to see," said Lynn Bowman from Langley.

The strictly controlled trial is one in a series that began this summer that researchers are conducting to ensure the spacecraft doesn't fall apart upon impact. The next test is Nov. 8.

"We want to make sure the spacecraft stays intact when it does hit, and of course at the same time, you want to keep the astronauts safe," said Bowman, who is NASA Langley Research Center's Orion SPLASH project manager.

The capsule lacked the seats and internal instruments that the real spacecraft will have, but other more detailed mock-ups that are undergoing testing in Colorado will later be tried at Langley.

Among other things, scientists were testing what would happen if only two of the capsule's three parachutes were working. Researchers controlled the speed, angle of approach and the capsule's angle to simulate the conditions they wanted as it landed in a basin that is 115 feet long and 90 feet wide.

The Orion capsule was a cornerstone of former President George W. Bush's plan to return astronauts to the moon. NASA gave Lockheed Martin of Bethesda, Md., a $7.5 billion contract in 2006 to build it.

Lockheed Martin officials have said Orion could explore the far side of the moon, land humans on asteroids or take them to one of the moons of Mars, where they could control robotic instruments on the surface.

"The ultimate destination is still getting to Mars, but we're a ways off from that," said Dave Bowles, director of exploration and space operations at Langley. "There are some very technical challenges going on that duration type of a mission."

__

Online: NASA Langley Research Center http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/mpcv/mpcv-phase1-test1.html

Brock Vergakis can be reached at www.twitter.com/BrockVergakis

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111027/ap_on_sc/us_orion_test

osama bin laden dead picture sept 11 never forget flight 93 shot down remembering 9/11 nfl schedule pentagon

Buy a civilization starter kit, prepare for the apocalypse now (Yahoo! News)

If you're worried that the?zombie apocalypse is nigh, never fear! On?Kickstarter, a site well known for getting?wild ideas off the ground with crowdsourced funding, you can actually invest in your end of the world plan now ? before things go south. A collective called?Open Source Ecology is drumming up funds on the site for what they call Global Village Construction Sets, and while they might not be zombie-proof per se, they do aim to provide the tools you'd need to start a modern civilization from scratch.

So what comes in the kit? You'll get all the info you'll need to build a number of handy tools through?what the organization calls "microscale fabrication." That includes blueprints for making a?tractor, a brick press, a pulverizer, a power unit and more ? and the instructions for?operating the 50 some odd industrial machines you'll make.

The project's somewhat radical goal is to provide "access to powerful tools that anyone can use to transform their built environment." The idea is that with all of the documentation in the included "resource library", you could theoretically get your own society off the ground. That is if the Kickstarter campaign reaches its $40,000 goal by November 19 ? and you know, assuming the human race hangs on for long enough. The more you pledge, the more advance training you'll get, so keep that in mind if you're opening your wallet.

Of course, you could just use the kits to make your own sustainable non-post-apocalyptic miniature DIY community, if you don't feel like waiting for the world to end.

Kickstarter via?Dvice

This article originally appeared on Tecca

More from Tecca:

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_technews/20111027/tc_yblog_technews/buy-a-civilization-starter-kit-prepare-for-the-apocalypse-now

911 9/11 ground zero world trade center university of michigan university of michigan nadal murray

Court OKs genocide lawsuit against mining company (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO ? A federal appeals court has ruled that a London-based mining company can be sued in the United States on allegations it aided the government of Papua New Guinea in genocide and war crimes.

The lawsuit was filed by residents of the island of Bougainville, who accuse Rio Tinto LLC of aiding Papua New Guinea. The decade-long civil war began after islanders sabotaged a gold and copper mine they claimed was fouling the environment.

They sued Rio Tinto in 2002 in federal court in Los Angeles under an obscure U.S. law called the Alien Tort Statute of 1789. It allows foreign nationals to sue over conduct that allegedly violates international law or treaties.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling Tuesday reverses a lower court decision to toss the lawsuit.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111025/ap_on_re_us/us_papua_new_guinea_rio_tinto

belgian malinois honey badger girl fight wake forest wake forest jacoby brissett danielle staub

Pan-Asian girl band looks to Snoop Dogg for help (Reuters)

SINGAPORE (Reuters) ? The pan-Asian "girl band" Blush has been around for only 11 months but already has a track record more established groups might envy -- a single that hit number-three on the U.S. dance music charts and rapper Snoop Dogg in one of their songs.

This week, the English-singing group, whose members hail from Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Korea and India, will open for the Black Eyed Peas at their Manila concert. They appeared at a Justin Bieber concert in Hong Kong earlier this year.

"The goal for Blush is to become really the first Asian singers to make it big in the West," said John Niermann, a former president of Walt Disney Co's Asia-Pacific unit, who brought the band together last year after a broad talent search.

"The idea started several years ago when I was curious why an Asian singer had not really made it to the top of the charts in America," he told Reuters in Singapore.

The group is made up of Japan's Natsuko Danjo, Victoria Chan from Hong Kong, Korea's Ji Hae Lee, Alisha Budhrani from India and Angeli Flores from the Philippines.

Ranging in age from 19 to 28, most of the stylishly-slender group members sang and danced from childhood, dreaming of stardom, according to the group's website. But the 26-year-old Lee only began singing seriously after graduating from Korea's Hoseo University -- with a degree in law.

"Manufactured" pop groups have been around for over 20 years. But Blush is the first to be made up entirely of singers from across Asia who perform in English, in an attempt to broaden their global appeal. Blush is also unusual among Asian performers in the sense that it hopes to make it big in the United States before becoming popular in its home region.

To help the Hong Kong-based group gain a following, Niermann hired songwriters and producers who worked on tracks by artistes such as Bon Jovi and the Spice Girls.

Their first single, "Undivided," which featured American rapper Snoop Dogg in both song and video, made it to number three on the Billboard Dance Club chart.

CONCERTS, MERCHANDISE, SPONSORSHIPS

Niermann has also tried to popularize Blush through music videos and TV appearances as well as toys and computer games, tapping contacts made during his time at Disney and Electronic Arts Inc, another former employer.

"These days you monetize through live appearances like concerts, merchandise, sponsorships and endorsements. These are the key areas," he said.

Fans at recent Singapore events praised the group for their friendliness and style.

"Lots of energy and great vocals," said Andrew Teo, the event manager at The Butter Factory, a Singapore dance club where the group performed.

The group, though, spends much of its time in North America, targeting cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and Vancouver where there are large ethnic Asian communities in hopes of building the fan base essential for success.

"Blush are wholesome enough to work with Disney yet at the same time are edgy enough to draw a crowd that might prefer to listen to Snoop Dogg or Black Eyed Peas," Niermann said.

But the group may find broad success hard, experts said.

"The difficulty about breaking into Western markets is the mindset ... Westerners do not bother about singers outside their country because they do not identify with them," said Dean Augustine, head of artistes and repertoire at Sense Music, a Japanese-Singaporean management and production house.

"When an artiste has a following, fans will comment on YouTube and this gives the media something to write about."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/japan/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111025/en_nm/us_japan_blush

when is daylight savings time 2011 when is daylight savings time 2011 renaissance festival melanie iglesias catherine tate clemson theo epstein