In a paper published last month in the SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics, Controlled Drug Delivery in Cancer Immunotherapy: Stability, Optimization, and Monte Carlo Analysis, authors Andrea Minelli, Francesco Topputo, and Franco Bernelli-Zazzera propose a differential equation model to describe tumorimmune interactions. We study the dynamics of the competition between the tumor and the immune system, Topputo explains.

The relationship between cancers and the immune system has been studied for many years, and immune therapy has been known to influence tumor regression. Clinically called immunotherapy, it involves using external factors to induce, enhance, or suppress a patients immune response for treatment of disease. In this study, the therapy consists of injecting a type of immune cells called dendritic cells, which generate tumor-specific immunity by presenting tumor-associated antigens.

In particular, cancer immunotherapy has the purpose of identifying and killing tumor cells, says Topputo. Our research considers a model that describes the interaction between the neoplasia [or tumor], the immune system, and drug administration. Such modeling and simulation can be used to assess the impact of drugs and therapies before clinical application.

Using ordinary differential equations, the authors model the progress of different cell populations in the tumor environment as a continuous process. Within the dynamical system presented by the tumor environment, they apply the theory of optimal controla mathematical optimization methodto design ad-hoc therapies and find an optimal treatment.

The end goal of the control policy is to minimize tumor cells while maximizing effectors, such as immune cells or immune-response chemicals. The aim is to minimize the tumor concentration while keeping the amount of administered drug below certain thresholds, to avoid toxicity, says Topputo. In common practice, one searches for effective therapies; in our approach, we look for efficiency and effectiveness.

Elaborating on a prior study where indirect methods used to solve the optimal control problem are not effective, the authors use direct methods that apply algorithms from aerospace engineering to solve the associated optimal control problem in this paper. Optimal protocols are analyzed, and the duration of optimal therapy is determined.

The robustness of the optimal therapies is then assessed. In addition, their applicability toward personalized medicine is discussed, where treatment is customized to each individual based on various factors such as genetic information, family history, social circumstances, environment and lifestyle.

We have shown that personalized therapy is robust even with uncertain patient conditions. This is relevant as the model coefficients are characterized by uncertainties, Topputo explains. Further studies would include designing optimal protocols by considering personalized constraints based on individual patient conditions, such as maximum amount of drug, therapy duration, and so on.

Other future directions would be the use of more diverse models and studying the effectiveness of treatment combinations. More detailed approaches like agent-based models that describe tumor-immune interactions and hybrid therapies that consist of combined chemotherapy-immunotherapy treatments should also be considered, says Topputo.

More information: Controlled Drug Delivery in Cancer Immunotherapy: Stability, Optimization, and Monte Carlo Analysis, Andrea Minelli, Francesco Topputo, and Franco Bernelli-Zazzera, SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics, 71, pp 2229-2245 (Online publish date: December 20, 2011)

Provided by Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (news : web)

Public release date: 22-Jan-2012

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Contact: Giuseppe Tettamanzi
g.tettamanzi@unsw.edu.au
61-040-542-1886
University of New South Wales

A new class of electron interactions in quantum systems

Physicists at the University of New South Wales have observed a new kind of interaction that can arise between electrons in a single-atom silicon transistor.

The findings, to be published this week in the journal Physical Review Letters, offer a more complete understanding of the mechanisms for electron transport in nanostructures at the atomic level.

We have been able to study some of the most complicated transport mechanisms that can arise up to the single atom level, says lead author Dr Giuseppe C. Tettamanzi, from the School of Physics at UNSW.

The results contained in this study open the door for new quantum electronic schemes inwhich it is the orbital nature of the electrons – and not their spin or their charge – that plays a major role, he says.

The study, in collaboration with scientists from the ICMM in Madrid and the Kavli Institute in The Netherlands, describes how a single electron bound to a dopant atom in a silicon matrix can interact with many electrons throughout the transistor.

In these geometries, electron-electron interactions can be dominated by something called the Kondo effect. Conventionally, this arises from the spin degree of freedom, which represents an angular momentum intrinsic to each electron and is always in the up or in the down state.

However, researchers also observed that similar interactions could arise through the orbital degree of freedom of the electron. This describes the wave-like function of an electron and can be used to help determine an electrons probable location around the atoms nucleus.

Importantly, by applying a strong magnetic field, the researchers were able to tune thiseffect to eliminate the spin-spin interactions while preserving the orbital-orbital interactions.

By tuning the effect in two different symmetries of the fundamental state of the system…we have observed a symmetry crossover identical to those seen in high-energy physics, says Tettamanzi.

In our case this crossover was observed simply by using a semiconductor device which is not too different from the transistor you use daily to send your emails.

Tettamanzi, who was recently awarded a prestigious ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award fellowship, will now investigate another transport mechanism that can arise in quantum dots and single atom transistors called quantised charge pumping.

The idea here is to create a current flowing through a nanostructure without applying a voltage between the leads, but by applying varying potentials at one or more gates of the transistor, in an apparent violation of Ohms law.

]]> http://www.getacampuslife.com/a-new-class-of-electron-interactions-in-quantum-systems.html/feed 0 http://www.getacampuslife.com/yuan-way-to-new-monetary-order.html http://www.getacampuslife.com/yuan-way-to-new-monetary-order.html#comments Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:41:30 +0000 admin http://www.getacampuslife.com/?p=466

CHINESE New Year has come and will soon go. The eurozone debt crisis is well past two years. Yet uncertainty persists. The World Banks January 2012 Global Economic Prospects reports:

World economy has entered a very difficult phase characterised by significant downside risks and fragility and as a result, forecasts have been significantly downgraded. However, even achieving these much weaker outturns is very uncertain Overall, global economic conditions are fragile.

This weeks IMF World Economic Outlook says more of the same: The global recovery is threatened by intensifying strains in the euro area and fragilities elsewhere. China, India, South Africa and Brazil have entered a slowing phase.

No country and no region can escape the consequences of a serious downturn. Nevertheless, growth in the East Asia and Pacific region (excluding Japan) is expected to slowdown to about 7.8% in 2012 (8.4% in 2011) and stabilise in 2013.

This reflects continuing strong domestic demand (evident in third quarter or 3Q 2011 GDP) while exports will slow to about 2% due to Europe heading towards recession and sluggish rich Organisation For Economic Coercion And Direction (OECD) demand.

The middle-income nations are, I think, in a good position to weather the global slowdown, with significant space available for fiscal relaxation, adequate room for interest rate easing, ample high reserves and rather strong underpinning for domestic demand to rise.

I see the modest easing in Chinas growth being counterbalanced by a pick-up in GDP gains in 2013 over the rest of the region. Outside China, growth has slackened sharply to 4.8% in 2011 (6.9% in 2010), but is expected to strengthen in 2012, reaching 5.8% in 2013.

China

GDP growth in China, which accounts for 80% of the region, had eased to about 9.1% in 2011 (10.4% in 2010) and is expected to slacken further to a still robust 8.2%-8.4% in 2012.

The World Bank projections point to growth moderating at 8.3% in 2013, in line with its longer-term potential GDP. Expansion is expected to emanate from domestic demand, with private spending and fixed capital outlays contributing most of the growth in 2012.

For China, the health of the global economy and high-income Europe in particular, represents the key risk at this time. Domestic risks include property overheating, local government indebtedness, and bloating bank balance sheets.

The 4Q 2011 growth of 8.9% annoy investors who are looking for indications either weak enough to justify further policy easing or strong enough to allay fears of a hard landing. Bear in mind the forecast growth for 2012 will be the weakest in a decade, and may cool further as exports slump.

The Chinese economy is buffeted by two very different forces: (i) slow global growth will hurt Chinese exports (especially to its largest trading partner, European Union) which rose by 7% in December, and exporters foresee more trouble ahead; however, (ii) analysts point to strong retail sales (up 18% in December) reflecting rising wages and domestic spending which represented about 52% of GDP in the first quarter, higher than in 2009-11.

China is counting on its massive effort to build low-income social housing to provide enough demand to keep the real-estate market from collapsing.

It is unclear whether China can accelerate this program to build 36 million subsidised housing by 2015enough to house all of Germanys households. But financial markets are anticipating worse news ahead. After all, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 21% in 2011. As the adage goes, stock analysts did forecast 10 of the past 3 recessions!

The yuan

Appreciation of the yuan (renmimbiRMB) against the US dollar in 2012 is expected to slow to about 3%, from +4.7% in 2011. The yuan closed at 6.3190 at end 2011, up about 8% compared with June 10 (when China effectively ended its 2-year long peg to the US dollar and has gained 30% since mid-2005 when it was last revalued.

The slowdown reflects growing demand for the US dollar amid uncertainty, lower growth, diminishing trade surplus, and growing US military presence in Asia, according to Chinas Centre for Forecasting Science (of the Chinese Academy of Sciences) which reports directly to the State Council, Chinas Cabinet.

Much of it will be in the latter year as China is likely to keep the yuan relatively stable in the first half to allow time to assess the impact of goings-on in the euro-zone. Dollars are pumped in via state banks, providing markets with a clear signal it will not allow the yuan to depreciate, while not in a hurry to let it appreciate either. The yuan has since moved sideways.

Off-shore yuan

To make the yuan a true reserve currency, China begun to liberalise currency controls and encourage an offshore yuan market in Hong Kong, creating an outlet for moving the currency across borders. However, foreign investors in China have been slow in using the yuan.

In practice, it is still difficult to buy sell yuan because of paperwork bureaucracy. It is still easier to settle in US dollar as it is the universal practice. Its convenience outweighs the potential costs of any unfavourable move in the US dollar-yuan rate. Nonetheless, China is encouraging more businesses to use the yuan and more US banks to step-up their yuan-settlement business.

This market will grow as China diligently moves to internationalise its currency. Encouraged by the authorities, a vibrant offshore yuan market has blossomed in Hong Kong. Beijing still controls the currency and how the yuan bought in Hong Kong can be brought back to China.

Yuan deposits in Hong Kong rose more than 4 times to 622.2b yuan (nearly US$100bil) at end September 2011 from a year earlier according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and now account for 10.4% of bank deposits.

Growth in offshore yuan stalled in late 2011 as China slowed its currency appreciation against the dollar. Given Beijings gradualist approach to reform, the market will soon revive.

An audience poll at the recent 2012 Asian Financial Forum in London indicated 63% believes full yuan convertibility is more than 5-years away.

The very fact that London wants to be a yuan-trading centre now says a lot. Only 10% of Chinas international trade is settled in yuan, rising to 15% in 2012. Its still a small market in the global context.

The yuan is used for just 0.29% of all global payments in November 2011 according to financial messaging network Swift. By comparison, the euros share is about 40%.

Dim-sum bonds

A booming business in dim-sum bonds (offshore yuan denominated bonds) followed, with companies including Caterpillar and McDonalds issuing such bonds. In September 2011, a spurt of capital flight towards safe haven assets in the US tied to the worsening debt crisis in Europe caused currencies of emerging nations to depreciate against the US dollar.

In East Asia, modest declines were recorded compared with South Africa (the rand fell 22%) and Brazil (the real dropped 18%). Only the Indonesia rupiah (down 5.8%) and the Malaysia ringgit (fell 5.4%) come under some pressure.

This event slowed the appreciation of the yuan and with it, trading in dim-sum bonds eased as investors were no longer in a hurry to invest. Over the medium-term, most analysts expect this yuan market to grow in the face of its massive US$3.18 trillion in reserves, as China moves to build its international status.

When dim-sum bonds started to hit the market in 2010, investors were enthusiastic, bidding up prices and driving down yields. But in the second half of 2011, the average price of investment grade dim-sum bonds fell 3.3%, amid a broad flight towards quality spooked by euro-zone turmoil and Chinese accounting scandals.

Bankers hope new entrants (private banks, commercial banks, mutual funds life insurers) will give the market more stability this year. They would add depth breath to the market, which tripled to 185b yuan (US$30bil) in dim-sum bonds issued in 2011. Expectations are for such bond issuance to reach 240 billion yuan this year, as new issuers (including more foreign companies) join early adopters such as government entities state run banks.

This offshore bond market has developed well over the past year. Investor diversification in both types geographics is still evolving, which is key to the healthy growth of the market. Equally important, investors look to the continuing appreciation of the yuan.

In addition, its average yield has risen to 3.8% (from 2.35% since mid 2011) and most now trade at higher yields than comparable US dollar bonds.

This rise in yields reflects expectation for (i) slower yuan appreciation; (ii) increase in supply; and (iii) investors desire for a higher liquidity premium during market downturns. Overall, the dim-sum market is turning into a buyers market.

Bilateral arrangements

China is forging ahead in laying the groundwork to internationalise the yuan via bilateral arrangements with foreign companies, nations financial centers, particularly Hong Kong (mainly because it can fully control the terms of the market). More mainland-based financial institutions will be able to issue yuan denominated bonds in Hong Kong.

This is part of a broader effort, first started in July 2009 when it encouraged enterprises in Shanghai Guangzhou province to use the yuan when settling trade with Hong Kong, Macau and some foreign companies (see my column China: RMB Flexibility Not Enough of July 3, 2010).

The post-Xmas direct yuan-yen trade deal forms part of a wide-ranging currency arrangement between China Japan to give the use of the yuan a big boost. After all, China is Japans largest trading partner with 26.5 trillion yen in 2-way transactions last year. Encouraging direct settlement in bypassing the US dollar would reduce currency risks and trading costs. Also, Japan will buy up to US$10bil in yuan bonds for its reserves even though it represents no more than 1% of Japans US$1.3 trillion reserves. And, it is now easier for companies to convert Chinese and Japanese funds directly into each other without an intermediate conversion to US dollar. About 60% of China-Japan trade is settled in US dollar, a well-established practice.

The package allows Japan backed institutions to sell yuan bonds in the mainland (instead of Hong Kong) helping to open Chinas capital market.

In recent weeks, China has taken new steps to promote the use of yuan overseas, including allowing foreign firms to invest yuan accumulated overseas in mainland China; widening the Peoples Bank of China (its central bank) network of currency swaps with other central banks to enable their banks to supply yuan to their customers, including with Thailand, South Korea and New Zealand totalling 1.2 trillion yuan.

It already has completed arrangements with the big Asean counterparts. Berry Eichengreen (University of California at Berkeley) observed: Japan appears to be acknowledging implicitly that there will be a single dominant Asian currency in the future and it wont be the yen.

But Harvards Jeffrey Frankel is more down to earth: This hastens a multicurrency world, but this is just one of 100 steps along the way.

China still has a way to go in: (i) getting the yuan fully convertible (ii) reducing exchange rate interventions (iii) liberalising interest rates, and (iv) reforming the banking system. In all, so the yuan can really trade freely.

What to do?

The China-Japan deal points the way, nudging the yuan towards the inevitable becoming a reserve currency alongside now discredited US dollar and the euro. This is to be welcomed by all.

China must realise a fully internationalised yuan should be free to float (and to appreciate) part of its overall reform. Over the longer term, though, avoiding huge imbalances is good for everyone, not least China. While it is understandable for its Prime Minister to label China today as unstable, unbalanced, uncoordinated and ultimately unsustainable, opportunities to take advantage of new openings dont come often.

Alexander Gerschenkron, my professor at Harvard (in my view, the best economic historian of his time) points to economies like China as having advantages in backwardness, including Chinas ability to weather shocks: high reserves, robust fiscal situation and comfortable external position.

Shakespeares Hamlet sums it up best: If it be not now, yet it will come – the readiness is all. A grown-up yuan is good for Chinas welfare.

It also means a more stable world economy which benefits the United States. For China, there will never be enough cushion. Politicians need to seize the moment and act boldly.

#9679; Former banker, Dr Lin is a Harvard educated economist and a British Chartered Scientist who now spends time writing, teaching promoting the public interest. Feedback is most welcome; email: starbizweek@thestar.com.my

The companys investments in its Android mobile software and fledgling Facebook-like Google+ social network represent some of the companys key growth opportunities going forward. But Wall Street is still trying to understand the near-term impact on Googles business.

On Friday, Googles shares fell more than 8 percent. Google missed both its revenue and earnings targets after cost-per-click (CPC) — or money that marketers pay Google when Websurfers click on its search ads — decreased for the first time in two years despite record US online commerce during the holiday season. Several brokerages cut their price targets on the stock.

Google+ — the companys recently-launched social network — has 90 million users now, up from 40 million three months ago. Android is now the worlds most-used mobile software platform, ahead of Apple Incs iOS, providing an important avenue for consumers to reach Googles various Web services and increasing the total number of people who view its ads.

In the short run, however, the rates for mobile advertising appear to be cheaper than on the companys mainstay desktop search engine.

We could be seeing a little bit of an effect of more of a proportion of their searches becoming mobile, said Ryan Jacob chairman and chief investment officer of Jacob Funds, which owns Google shares. They are just not getting the same kind of pricing on the mobile side as they do on the desktop, he said.

Googles heavy investments in mobile and social network initiatives — to stave off competition from rivals Apple and Facebook — and its planned $12.5 billion acquisition of smartphone maker Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc have raised investors concerns.

Larry Page, who took over as chief executive officer in April, said in July that the company was moving to put more wood behind fewer arrows.

Googles stubborn refusal to offer forecasts on its financials — a perennial point of contention with its vast investor community — makes it difficult to delve deeper into margin impact.

But Jacob echoed arguments by other analysts that aggressive investment is needed to pursue top-line growth and that the final-quarter CPC slide was a blip.

Several analysts pointed to longer-term growth trends in social networking and mobile usage that should boost advertising volumes for Google and offset any margin erosion.

The areas where were seeing the most growth, Google has a really. really good strategic position. So even though there may be some changes in terms of pricing fluctuations, theyll probably make it up in volume, Jacob said.

Strategically, theyre at a very interesting spot, whether you look at the desktop space, or the mobile space.

SWEET SPOT?

Google shares were down 9 percent at $582.00 in heavy afternoon trade on Friday on the Nasdaq. They had touched a low of $581.83. It was the stocks biggest percentage fall in 9 months.

Google executives blamed the decline in search ad rates on forex fluctuations and ad format changes, but analysts wondered whether mobile advertising — which has lower rates — played a more important role than the company admitted.

The fall in cost-per-click had led to a barrage of questions from analysts during the post-earnings conference call on Thursday.

The market needs to shift expectations to paid-click growth — primarily in plain-vanilla display or banner advertising — and lower its estimates for CPC, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note.

STREET REACTION

Several Wall Street analysts called the Google sell-off an overreaction; Barclays said it presents a buying opportunity.

Dont judge a book by its cover, Goldman Sachs titled its research note on Google.

The companys core results were solid, as paid click growth accelerated by more than a third, margins improved, and display and mobile businesses performed well, analysts said.

The acceleration in paid clicks suggests that underlying demand for Google ads is quite healthy across devices, JPMorgan said, adding that Google is best-positioned for the shift to new media.

Goldman Sachs analysts said: We expect the growth in mobile to be 146 percent in 2012 and represent 15 percent of gross sales as we exit fourth quarter of 2012.

The company still has strong earnings power that will reappear during 2012, Canaccord Genuity said, reiterating its buy rating.

Barclays, Baird, Jefferies and JPMorgan also maintained their top ratings on the stock.

(Reporting By Aditi Sharma in Bangalore, editing by Edwin Chan and Gerald E. McCormick)

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• Daiwa Posts Quarterly Loss, Cuts 200 Jobs as Trading Falls
• Hong Kong Plans $10 Billion Boost to Economy as Growth Cools
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• China Said to Let Biggest Banks Boost Lending by 5% This Quarter

By Shamim Adam and Karl Lester M. Yap

(Updates with comments from Malaysia central bank governor in 12th paragraph.)

Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) — U.S. monetary stimulus, blamed in 2010 for spurring speculative capital flows to emerging markets, may find less opposition this time round in Asia as the region’s focus shifts to supporting economic growth.

Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke laid the groundwork for a third round of quantitative easing through asset purchases, a so-called QE3, saying two days ago the Fed is prepared for further “accommodation.” Officials from China to South Korea were among those who criticized QE2, when they were raising interest rates in part to stem property and stock price surges.

This time, exports are slowing and Asian currencies have fallen, with the International Monetary Fund predicting growth in developing Asia at 7.3 percent this year, compared with 9.5 percent in 2010. The difference means there may be less need for measures to limit capital inflows, after nations from Thailand to Indonesia took such steps last time.

“We’ve gone from a situation where Asian economies were doing well and we were dealing with too much money to one where growth is slowing and inflows are becoming more balanced,” said Sanjay Mathur, Singapore-based head of research and strategy for non-Japan Asia at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc. “The voices against quantitative easing from Asia won’t be so loud and it won’t draw as much resistance this time around.”

Currency Slump

Europe’s debt crisis, and the concern that Greece will enter a disorderly default, tempered investors’ appetite for emerging-market assets in 2011. During the week of Sept. 19, Asian currencies tumbled the most since the region’s financial crisis in 1998, prompting nations to deploy some of their currency reserves in defense.

The Indian rupee has declined about 11 percent in the past six months, followed by a 6.5 percent drop in the South Korean won and a 5.5 percent depreciation in the Indonesian rupiah. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index of stocks slumped about 17 percent last year, halting a two-year rally in equities.

A slowdown in Asia may be spreading with economists predicting Taiwan will report weaker growth when it releases gross domestic product figures on Jan. 31. Taiwan’s GDP increased 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter, the slowest pace in more than two years, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey.

Korea Slowdown

South Korea’s economy grew the least in two years last quarter as exports sank 1.5 percent from the previous three- month period, the central bank said yesterday.

The Philippines may say its economy expanded 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier after growing 3.2 percent in the previous three months, another survey showed ahead of figures due Jan. 30. The Philippine economy probably grew 3.7 percent in 2011, less than half the 7.3 percent pace reported in 2010, according to a separate survey.

“If there is a QE3 in the near term, we think it would be less problematic for Asian policy makers this time around,” said Paul Gruenwald, chief Asia economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Singapore. “Inflation pressures are falling and the policy bias is clearly to cut rates. So a bit of additional stimulus from the Fed would be helpful.”

Malaysia’s central bank may give clues about its readiness to lower borrowing costs next week, when it’s likely to keep its benchmark rate unchanged for a fourth straight meeting, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

Balancing Risks

“The current rates continue to be accommodative,” Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz told reporters today. “We will make an assessment of the degree of accommodation that is important for our economy to sustain growth and employment. We have to balance the risk to growth with the risk to inflation.”

The Fed bought $1.7 trillion worth of Treasury and mortgage debt between December 2008 and March 2010. As the Fed announced its next round of purchases in November 2010, China’s Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said the U.S. “owes us some explanation on their decision.” Chinese central bank adviser Xia Bin called it “uncontrolled” money printing and then- Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan cited the U.S. pursuing a “weak-dollar policy.”

Asia’s foreign reserves grew “significantly faster than any time in history” between April 2009 and September 2010 as the region attracted about $2 billion of capital inflows daily, according to DBS Group Holdings. About $600 billion in foreign capital flowed into Asia in the year through June 2010, Singapore’s central bank said.

Monitoring Flows

Any signs of resurgent capital inflows may still spark criticism from Asian officials, said Tim Condon, chief Asia economist at ING Financial Markets.

“If there were to be QE, and by that I mean a significant easing of U.S. monetary policy, there would be a significant depreciation of the U.S. dollar and Asian currencies would be on the other side of that trade,” Singapore-based Condon said. “Central banks may initially be less hostile but they will be receiving the flows and in some cases they would react the same way” as they did during QE2, he said.

The South Korean won and Malaysian ringgit may be among the biggest beneficiaries of another round of Fed quantitative easing, Mathur of RBS said. He also recommends the dollar debt of the Philippines and Indonesia.

Shift in Tone

So far, the tone from policy makers has been different.

“The Fed move affirms some policy certainty from that part of the world, which is important for anchoring global investor action and which could translate to providing emerging market economies, including the Philippines some policy breather to concentrate on improving domestic demand,” Philippine Governor Amando Tetangco said yesterday. “To the extent that the Fed action sustains the positive growth outlook in the U.S., this should also be positive for our own trade prospects.”

By contrast, Philippine officials had said that QE2 would add to global liquidity and that they were prepared to address capital inflows through a “menu” of measures.

Bank of Thailand Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul said yesterday the Fed’s decision to keep low rates until 2014 is “necessary to facilitate the economic recovery.”

–With assistance from Michael Munoz in Hong Kong, Ailing Tan in Singapore, Chinmei Sung in Taipei and Chong Pooi Koon in Kuala Lumpur. Editors: Chris Anstey, Sunil Jagtiani

To contact the reporters on this story: Shamim Adam in Singapore at sadam2@bloomberg.net; Karl Lester M. Yap in Manila at kyap5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net

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READER DISCUSSION

Your online reputation is shaped by your interactions in the online world and spans the disparate and varied data about you, whether created and posted by you or others, Microsoft Chief Privacy Officer Brendon Lynch said in a news release. This information can have a lasting presence online, and can affect your life in many ways — from maintaining friendships to helping you keep or land a new job.

Microsofts survey of 5,000 adults found:

• 91 percent have done something to manage their overall online profile at some point;
• 67 percent feel in control of their online reputation;
• 56 percent dont actively think about the long-term consequences of their online activities;
• 37 percent rarely or never search to see what information is available about them online;
• 17 percent have inadvertently shared information online that was intended to remain private, most commonly details about their personal lives (56 percent of those affected) and personal photos (38 percent);
• 49 percent do not use privacy settings on social networking sites;
• 14 percent have been negatively impacted by the online activities of others;
• Reported consequences include being fired from a job (21 percent of affected people), refused health care (16 percent), turned down for a job (16 percent), being turned down for a mortgage (15 percent) and not getting into the college they wanted (14 percent).

So what should you do?

• Search all variations of your name online from time to time to see whats out there;
• Consider separating professional and personal profiles, using different email addresses, screen names, blogs and websites (and dont link the two);
• Pay attention to privacy settings;
• Think before posting particularly personal information, photos and videos;
• Pay attention to who has access to what youre sharing;
• Dont do anything online that you dont want people to be able to see years and decades from now.

Read more Microsoft and tech news. Visit seattlepi.coms home page for more Seattle news.

Many of us have accused our kids of faking stomachaches to get out of going to school. Well, if we take the results of a new study seriously, we may realize that their aches and pains may in fact be caused by stressful friendships and social interactions.

A new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA and done at UCLA found that negative social interaction are linked to increased inflammation. And they are not yet talking about emotional inflammation but instead about physical inflammation that can lead to all kinds of physical symptoms. Although, this study focused on the reactions of young adults, there is no reason to believe that this wouldnt be the case with the younger generation.

We, as adults, know that stomachaches, chest pains, and even colds and headaches can follow a string of stressful social interactions. So, why on earth wouldnt this be the case with children and teens? For the love of God, I have been waiting for this study for decades. I can remember being curled up like a pretzel with writhing stomach pain in 7th grade when Lisa K. decided that I was an undesirable and that none of the girls in my English class should be allowed to talk to me. Her complaint was that I didnt show enough emotion. No one has ever accused me of that in my adult life.

When my teenage daughter complained about feeling pain and not wanting to go to school I was notorious for always doing a brief psychological check-in. Amanda-Darling, I would say — Is anything bothering you at school? To which she would invariably say — Mom — please stop being a psychologist. But now, I feel validated. Yes, probably she was ill when she stayed home from school-ill because of a virus or some other infectious illness but my heart and brain were in the right place when I did my psychological assessment.

Even as an adult, I choose to spend time with friends who make me feel good. Constant headaches from speaking to one friend or chest pains after speaking to a critical and downer friend and they are crossed off my list of go-to people. Friendships, I have always thought, should be a source of joy, understanding, and attunement. So, the next time your child-teen or tween wants to avoid school or a party for an unclear reason you should feel good about swooping right in and asking more questions — gently, indirectly, and unemotionally.

Good Luck!

The Baltimore-based company hired Morgan Stanley,
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Barclays Plc to manage the IPO,
according to a regulatory filing yesterday. Millennial didn’t
specify the number or price of shares it will offer in the
filing. The size is a placeholder amount used to estimate
registration fees and may change.

The IPO may value the company at $700 million to $1
billion, a person with knowledge of the matter said in May.
Millennial makes money by helping advertisers reach devices such
as smartphones. It’s increasing its market share even as it vies
with technology giants Google Inc. (GOOG) and Apple Inc., having carved
out a niche by serving ads to different manufacturers’ phones
and offering an alternative to larger ad networks.

“That’s a momentous step for Millennial,” said Karsten Weide, program vice president at research firm IDC. “It will
give them the money to compete on a more equal footing with
Google, and potentially expand internationally. It’ll allow
Millennial Media to expand its market share and it would
probably be at the expense of Apple.”

Gaining Ground

Millennial gained ground last year in the US mobile-
advertising industry, according to Framingham, Massachusetts-
based IDC. The firm projected that Millennial would end 2011
with 17 percent of the market, compared with 15 percent a year
earlier. Google’s share was projected to reach 24 percent,
compared with 19 percent in 2010, keeping it in first place.
Apple, meanwhile, was projected to slip to third place with 15
percent of the market, compared with 19 percent in 2010.

For the nine months through Sept. 30, Millennial’s revenue
more than doubled to $69.1 million from $29.1 million. The net
loss in the period narrowed to $417,000 from $5.4 million,
according to the filing.

Millennial’s backers include Charles River Ventures,
Columbia Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners and New Enterprise
Associates Inc. On May 12, the company announced that BroadSoft
Inc. Chief Financial Officer Jim Tholen had joined its board. He
helped guide BroadSoft to an IPO in 2010.

Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes,
including international expansion and product development,
according to the filing.

Apple recently hired Adobe Systems Inc. executive Todd Teresi to lead its iAd mobile-advertising business, according to
people with knowledge of matter. The iAd business, introduced in
2010, is Apple’s attempt to parlay its leadership in consumer
electronics into mobile-advertising revenue.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Olga Kharif in Portland, Oregon, at
okharif@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Tom Giles at tgiles@bloomberg.net

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  ]]> http://www.getacampuslife.com/mobile-advertising-company-millennial-media-files-for-75-million-ipo.html/feed 0 http://www.getacampuslife.com/spokane-police-may-wear-body-cameras.html http://www.getacampuslife.com/spokane-police-may-wear-body-cameras.html#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:46:47 +0000 admin http://www.getacampuslife.com/?p=454 Spokane police may wear body cameras

  Among the reforms the Spokane City Council is considering for the police department is one that would put body cameras on officers to record their interactions with the public.

  The Associated Press

  ]]> http://www.getacampuslife.com/spokane-police-may-wear-body-cameras.html/feed 0 http://www.getacampuslife.com/gsma-awards-nominees-confirmed.html http://www.getacampuslife.com/gsma-awards-nominees-confirmed.html#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:58:04 +0000 admin http://www.getacampuslife.com/?p=452 WhatsApp, Evernote and Flipboard among those nominated for Best Overall App prize.

  The 17th annual Global Mobile Awards will be presented on Tuesday, February 28th at Mobile World Congress in an afternoon ceremony hosted by comedian and songwriter Tim Minchin.

  In total, 158 nominees have been shortlisted for this years ceremony, which comprises 30 categories.

  Among those of particular interest to the ME reader will be: Best Mobile App for Consumers; Best Overall Mobile App; Most Innovative Mobile App; Innovation in Mobile Advertising; Best Consumer Mobile Service; Best Mobile Product or Service for Women in Emerging Markets; Best Mobile Innovation for Publishing; Best Smartphone; Best Mobile Tablet .

  You can see the list of all nominees here.

  Reflecting the intensity of competition and innovation across the mobile ecosystem, we saw a record 600 entries and an exceptionally high-quality field of contenders vying for this years Global Mobile Awards, said Michael OHara, CMO at the GSMA.

  Article continues below

  ]]> http://www.getacampuslife.com/gsma-awards-nominees-confirmed.html/feed 0