Abnormal number of neurons in brains of children with autism, preliminary study finds

ScienceDaily (Nov. 8, 2011) ? In a small, preliminary study that included 13 male children, those with autism had an average 67 percent more prefrontal brain neurons and larger than average brain weight, than children without autism, according to a study in the November 9 issue of JAMA.

Brain and head overgrowth in children with autism and neural dysfunction are evident at young ages in multiple brain regions, including the prefrontal cortex (PFC), that are involved in higher-order social, emotional, communication, and cognitive development. "Therefore, knowledge of the neural basis of overgrowth could point to early causal mechanisms in autism and elucidate the neural functional defects that engender autistic symptoms. In the first magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) report of early brain overgrowth in autism a decade ago, it was theorized that excess numbers of neurons could be an underlying cause, perhaps due to prenatal dysregulation of proliferation, apoptosis [cell death], or both. However, the neural basis of early overgrowth remains unknown and can only be known from direct quantitative studies of the young postmortem autistic brain," according to background information in the article.

Eric Courchesne, Ph.D., of the NIH-UCSD School of Medicine Autism Center of Excellence, La Jolla, Calif., and colleagues examined whether early brain overgrowth in children with autism involves excess neuron numbers in the PFC. The study included postmortem prefrontal tissue from 7 autistic and 6 control male children, ages 2 to 16 years, which was examined by expert anatomists who were blinded to diagnostic status. Number and size of neurons were quantified within the dorsolateral (DL-PFC) and mesial (M-PFC) subdivisions of the PFC. Cases were from the eastern and southeastern United States and died between 2000 and 2006.

The researchers found statistically significant differences in neuron counts in the PFC in the autistic children compared with controls. There were 79 percent more neurons in DL-PFC in the autistic cases compared with the control cases and 29 percent more in M-PFC. The average DL-PFC count in the autistic children was 1.57 billion neurons compared with an average of 0.88 billion neurons in control children. The average M-PFC count in the autistic group was 0.36 billion neurons compared with an average of 0.28 billion neurons in controls. "Together, these 2 subdivisions gave a total combined prefrontal neuron count that was 67 percent greater in the autistic children compared with controls," the authors write.

The researchers also found that the brain weight in the autistic sample deviated from normative average weight for age by 17.6 percent, while control brains deviated from age-based norms by 0.2 percent.

"Our sample of autistic children was not large enough to statistically examine brain-behavior relationships. Future studies with many more cases of autistic children might reveal important relationships between neuron counts and symptom severity or intellectual ability," the authors write.

"To our knowledge, this study is the first direct quantitative test and confirmation of the theory that a pathological overabundance of neurons in critical brain regions is present at a young age in autism. Because cortical neurons are generated in prenatal, not postnatal life, pathological overabundance of neurons indicates early developmental disturbances in molecular and genetic mechanisms that govern proliferation, cell cycle regulation, and apoptosis. Therefore, the finding has significance for understanding the etiological and neural development and functional origins of autism."

Editorial: Increased Neuron Number and Head Size in Autism

"The results of the study by Courchesne et al show that the relationship between increased neuron count, brain overgrowth, and increased brain weight in autism is complex," writes Janet E. Lainhart, M.D., of the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, and Nicholas Lange, Sc.D., of the Harvard University Schools of Medicine and Public Health, Boston, in an accompanying editorial.

"Prefrontal neuron number and brain weight were increased in the autism group but were not significantly correlated. Future studies of prefrontal neuron numbers are needed in children and adolescents with autism who do not have brain overgrowth and in nonautistic children with benign megalencephaly [an abnormally large brain] to determine if increased prefrontal neuron count in autism is associated with autism only, brain overgrowth only, or some combination of both. Neuroimaging studies suggest that other regions of the brain, including the temporal lobe, deserve further investigation by postmortem tissue analysis. Because neurons in all brain areas except the olfactory bulb and hippocampus are generated before birth, the present findings add significantly to mounting biological evidence that the developmental neuropathology of idiopathic autism begins before birth in some, possibly all, cases. The study by Courchesne et al also adds to frequently reported findings in neuroanatomical studies of autism, including increased variance and loss of typical relationships between measured components of the brain. Factors that normally organize the brain appear to be disrupted."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by JAMA and Archives Journals.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal References:

  1. E. Courchesne, P. R. Mouton, M. E. Calhoun, K. Semendeferi, C. Ahrens-Barbeau, M. J. Hallet, C. C. Barnes, K. Pierce. Neuron Number and Size in Prefrontal Cortex of Children With Autism. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2011; 306 (18): 2001 DOI: 10.1001/jama.2011.1638
  2. J. E. Lainhart, N. Lange. Increased Neuron Number and Head Size in Autism. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2011; 306 (18): 2031 DOI: 10.1001/jama.2011.1633

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111108200710.htm

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Nicaragua pres Ortega poised to win third term

A campaign poster of Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega is displayed on a light pole in front of a polling station during general elections in Managua, Nicaragua, Sunday Nov. 6, 2011. The one-time Sandinista revolutionary and and presidential candidate for the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front, FSLN, appears headed for a third term victory Sunday in an election that Ortega's critics say could be the prelude to a presidency for life. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

A campaign poster of Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega is displayed on a light pole in front of a polling station during general elections in Managua, Nicaragua, Sunday Nov. 6, 2011. The one-time Sandinista revolutionary and and presidential candidate for the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front, FSLN, appears headed for a third term victory Sunday in an election that Ortega's critics say could be the prelude to a presidency for life. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Presidential candidate for the Liberal Independent Party, PLI, Fabio Gadea, is flanked by his security team as he leaves a polling station after casting his vote in the general elections in Managua, Nicaragua, Sunday Nov. 6, 2011. Gadea is the main challenger to frontrunner Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua's president and presidential candidate for the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front, FSLN,. (AP Photo/Miguel Alvarez)

Voters search the electoral rolls for the location of their respective polling table during general elections in Managua, Nicaragua, Sunday Nov. 6, 2011. Nicaraguan president and one-time Sandinista revolutionary Daniel Ortega appears headed for a third term victory Sunday in an election that his critics say could be the prelude to a presidency for life. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

An election officer shows an unmarked ballot to a voter at a polling station during the general elections in Managua, Nicaragua, Sunday Nov. 6, 2011. Nicaraguan president and one-time Sandinista revolutionary Daniel Ortega appears headed for victory Sunday in an election that his critics say could be the prelude to a presidency for life. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

A dog naps in a school parking lot as a Nicaraguan Army soldier casts his vote at a makeshift polling station during general elections in Managua, Nicaragua, Sunday Nov. 6, 2011. Nicaraguan president and one-time Sandinista revolutionary Daniel Ortega appears headed for a third term victory in an election that his critics say could be the prelude to a presidency for life. (AP Photo/Miguel Alvarez)

(AP) ? Nicaraguans were expected to return one-time Sandinista revolutionary Daniel Ortega to the presidency in Sunday's election but voting was marred by reports that observers and voters were blocked from participating.

Polls closed at 6 p.m. local time (12 a.m. GMT) with international election observers reporting problems with access to voting stations and with one national group of election observers, Let's Have Democracy, reporting complaints of people being intimidated or blocked from voting in 14 percent of the stations.

The head of the Organization of American States observer mission, Dante Caputo, said its observers have been denied access to 10 polling stations, which would account for 20 percent of the statistical material they had planned to collect for their analysis.

"They have prevented our people from being there at the precise moment they should have been there and that is not remediable and will affect our ability to do our jobs," Caputo said. "We are navigating without radar."

The head of the European Union said some of its teams also had problems but that they eventually were resolved and they were allowed access, according Luis Yanis, head of the mission.

Ortega went into the election with nearly 50 percent support and an 18-point lead over his nearest challenger, opposition radio station owner Fabio Gadea of the Liberal Independent Party, by 18 points. Conservative Arnoldo Aleman, a former president and perennial candidate, was a distant third.

Since returning to power in 2007, the 65-year-old Ortega has boosted his popularity in Central America's poorest country with a combination of pork-barrel populism and support for the free-market economy he once opposed.

He seeks a third term ? his second consecutive one ? after the Sandinista majority on the Supreme Court overruled the term limits set by the Nicaraguan constitution.

His opponents fear that if he wins more than 50 percent of the vote, it will allow him to change the constitution to run in perpetuity.

"I'm going to win the presidency," Gadea said as he voted in a school in southern Managua, adding that he had been informed of many voting irregularities.

Claims of widespread fraud in the 2008 municipal elections led Washington to cancel $62 million in development aid.

Nicaragua's 2006 election drew more than 18,000 observers. This time election observation is much more difficult and local observers were denied credentials. The OAS and the European Union negotiated access to Sunday's vote, but the Georgia-based Carter Center decided not to observe because of the restrictions.

Ortega led the Sandinista movement that overthrew dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979, and withstood a concerted effort by the U.S. government, which viewed him as a Soviet-backed threat, to oust him through a rebel force called the Contras.

The fiery, mustachioed leftist ruled through a junta, then was elected in 1984 but was defeated after one term in 1990. After two more failed runs, he softened his rhetoric, took a free-market stance, and regained the presidency in the 2006 election.

To his supporters, he is just plain Daniel, while opponents say that in his new incarnation, he has espoused "Orteguismo," a politics of personality based on Christianity, socialism and free enterprise.

In his most recent term, Ortega has built wide support among the youth and the poor in a country of 5.8 million people, more than 40 percent of whom live on less than $2 a day.

He also has maintained ties to the U.S. even as he has grown closer to Venezuelan socialist President Hugo Chavez, signed the Central American Free Trade Agreement and cultivated Nicaragua's large business sector. Per capita income, one of the lowest in Latin America, has grown steadily since 2006, according to the World Bank, which has praised Ortega's macroeconomic policies as "broadly favorable."

Still, he has been helped immensely by Chavez, who according to estimates has provided at least $500 million a year in discounted oil and outright donations.

If the left seemed to be rolling in Nicaragua on Sunday, relatively conservative candidates were dominating elections in nearby Guatemala, which suffered an even bloodier civil war from 1960 to 1996.

Polls showed Otto Perez Molina, 61, a retired general and former military intelligence director at least 10 points ahead of Manuel Baldizon, a 41-year-old tycoon turned political populist.

More than half of Guatemala's 14 million people live in poverty and it has one of the highest murder rates in the world, a product of gang and cartel violence, along with the legacy of its civil war.

Perez would be the first former military leader elected president in Guatemala since the end of military rule 25 years ago. His campaigning focused on fighting the street gangs and cartels.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-11-06-LT-Nicaragua-Election/id-f910b520dabf4b02bbcd8968d3d1655b

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Ex-heavyweight champ Frazier still fighting cancer

FILE - In this March 7, 2011, file photo, former heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier is introduced to the crowd at a New York Knicks NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz at Madison Square Garden, in New York. Frazier is seriously ill with liver cancer. His personal and business manager says Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011, the 67-year-old boxer was diagnosed four or five weeks ago and is under hospice care. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, File)

FILE - In this March 7, 2011, file photo, former heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier is introduced to the crowd at a New York Knicks NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz at Madison Square Garden, in New York. Frazier is seriously ill with liver cancer. His personal and business manager says Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011, the 67-year-old boxer was diagnosed four or five weeks ago and is under hospice care. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, File)

Foto de archivo del 8 de marzo de 1971 del boxeador Joe Frazier, izquierda, golpeando a Muhammad Al? en el 15to asalto de su primera pelea en el Madison Square Garden en Nueva York. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 28, 1974, file photo, Muhammad Ali, left, and Joe Frazier fight in a 12-round non-title fight at Madison Square Garden in New York. Former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier is seriously ill with liver cancer. His personal and business manager says Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011, the 67-year-old boxer was diagnosed four or five weeks ago and is under hospice care. (AP Photo, File)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) ? Former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier is battling the liver cancer that has put him under hospice care.

The 67-year-old boxer sleeps for most the day but is coherent when awake, his personal and business manager said. Leslie Wolff, who has been the fighter's manager for seven years, said Frazier has been flooded with get-well messages from former boxers and fans. Wolff tells The Associated Press some fans have offered to donate a liver.

"There is evidence that there are certain people that fight much harder than other people, and in doing so, they last longer," Wolff said Monday. "They have the heart of a champion. Joe ain't no quitter. Even in this struggle, he's showing people you don't give up."

Frazier was diagnosed last month with the disease. His manager said the boxer had been in out and out of the hospital since early October and has been receiving hospice treatment the last week.

The documentary "Joe Frazier: When the Smoke Clears" will be screened Tuesday night at the DocNYC festival in New York.

"No matter what happens, we must make sure his legacy stays alive," Wolff said.

Wolff said doctors have not yet told Frazier how long he has to live. Wolff, who dismissed false reports all weekend that Frazier had died, denied a story that said he wanted to send Frazier to Russia for treatment. Wolff said he contacted doctors there only for ideas on other possible treatments.

"We just want to see what's out there to see what can be done here," he said.

Frazier was the first man to beat Muhammad Ali, knocking him down and taking a decision in the so-called Fight of the Century in 1971. He would go on to lose two more fights to Ali, including the epic "Thrilla in Manila" bout.

Frazier won the heavyweight title in 1970 by stopping Jimmy Ellis in the fifth round of their fight at Madison Square Garden. He defended it successfully four times before George Foreman knocked him down six times in the first two rounds to take the title from him in 1973. Frazier would never be heavyweight champion again.

Frazier has not allowed anyone to see him except immediate family and associates.

"He's in no shape to have any visitors, nor does he want any," Wolff said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-11-07-Frazier-Cancer/id-3d7d6b45e6384ab4ae806b7380d2188a

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Lasers aimed at 6 planes landing in NYC

MEREDITH VIEIRA, co-host: We are back now at 7:43 with new concerns over the serious risk of blindness posed by high-powered laser pointers. Pilots are reporting thousands of cases of being tagged and doctors say they are treating kids who have suffered partial blindness after playing with the devices. NBC 's Tom Costello is at Reagan National Airport with more for us. Tom , good morning.

TOM COSTELLO reporting: Hi , Meredith , good morning. We're talking about these types of laser pointers. You can buy them at the store, really powerful versions online. They're used for meetings, they're used for star-gazing, but what looks harmless can, in fact, be quite dangerous. It was in the skies over Los Angeles that this green laser locked onto a Southwest 737 preparing to land at LAX . Soon, a TV and police helicopter were also hit, piercing the cockpit and posing a blinding risk to pilots. When police zeroed in on the address, the suspect was a 14-year-old. He'd been playing with this small hand-held laser pointer . Police pilot Steve Robertson says he's hit by lasers at least once a week. Fifteen years ago, it nearly proved disastrous.

Mr. STEVE ROBERTSON (Glendale, California Police Department): It was instant pain and burning and I was blinded instantly for, oh, it was a good 15 to 20 seconds. But the most memorable part was the pain. I mean, it felt like getting hit in the face with a baseball bat.

COSTELLO: Without his co-pilot, Robertson says he would've crashed. These FAA photos of a cockpit being lit up by a laser show why there's so much concern. In 2010 , pilots reported more than 2800 laser hits, double from the year before. And almost always during the critical moments of take-off and landing. LAX reported the most laser events with 102, followed by Chicago , Phoenix , San Jose , and Las Vegas . FAA Chief Randy Babbitt :

Mr. RANDY BABBITT: These aren't toys. They're -- this is serious when you distract an airplane. Whether it's a commercial aircraft with passengers, a police helicopter , all of these are dangerous, you know, and distracting.

COSTELLO: Because the concentrated light can be brighter than the sun, the FDA regulates laser points to no more than five milliwatts. But far more powerful and dangerous green lasers are sold over the Internet .

Dr. ROBERT JOSEPHBERG (Westchester Medical Center): Let me take your glasses off. I'm going to put a drop in your eye.

COSTELLO: Robert Josephberg is treating a teenager who suffered a temporary blindness after a friend pointed a 50 milliwatt laser straight in his eyes.

Dr. JOSEPHBERG: It's a thermal burn and basically a laser is radiation. And it's so collimated and fine-tuned, it's a pinpoint of light that basically goes right into the eye.

COSTELLO: Back in LA , Sergeant Robertson has regained his sight, but he was hit by a laser again just last week.

Mr. ROBERTSON: It's not a video game. You can't push the reset button. You can't put another quarter in. This is people's lives that it's affecting and could ultimately impact with a crash.

COSTELLO: Pointing a laser at a flight crew can bring you both state and federal charges and prison time. And the FDA has warned about the dangers of pointing lasers at eyes, especially the very powerful illegal lasers sold on

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45196427/ns/travel-news/

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Ford to upgrade glitch-prone Touch system

Ford Motor Co., stung by falling quality ratings because of its glitch-prone MyFord Touch system, is planning a major upgrade that it hopes will fix the problems ? and repair its own reputation.

Early next year, Ford is sending flash drives with a software upgrade to approximately 250,000 U.S. customers with MyFord Touch and MyLincoln Touch, the equivalent system in Ford's luxury Lincoln brand. Owners can do the upgrade themselves in about 45 minutes, or dealers will do it for free. Ford is still deciding how it will offer the upgrade to 200,000 buyers outside of the U.S.

Ford knows of no other car company that has given owners the option of upgrading their own software on this scale. The unprecedented step underscores the urgency of the problem for Ford, which last month fell from 10th place to 20th place in Consumer Reports' annual reliability rankings largely because of MyFord Touch. Ford also plummeted in a J.D. Power quality survey earlier this year.

MyFord Touch, which debuted last year on the Ford Edge, replaces traditional dashboard knobs and buttons with a touch screen. Drivers control climate, navigation, entertainment, phone calls and other functions using touch or voice commands. It's a $750 option on lower trim levels, but comes standard on higher-end ones. Ford quickly rolled out the system on the Ford Explorer, Ford Focus and other models.

Dealer phone lines and Internet chat rooms were soon buzzing with complaints. The system shut down without warning and took too long to reboot. It didn't understand voice commands and didn't always respond to owners' touch. Some owners found the information-packed screens overwhelming.

Ford had dealers perform four software updates and paid dealers to hold owner clinics. But it soon realized it had to do more. The latest upgrade makes significant changes. Screens are now simpler and cleaner, with larger text and shading to outline buttons. Voice recognition is improved. Ford says the new system responds to touch commands more quickly and is less likely to shut down.

New models due out next year, including the redesigned Ford Escape and Ford Taurus, will automatically get the upgraded system.

Ford won't say how much it's spending on the upgrade.

Ford is unapologetic about the system, saying MyFord Touch is an advanced technology that's drawing new customers to the brand. Sales of the new Ford Explorer have more than doubled so far this year, for example. But the company also learned quickly that buyers aren't as forgiving with glitches in their cars as they are with their phones or computers.

"People's expectation of what's in the car is totally different than what they brought home from Best Buy," Gary Jablonski, Ford's manager of Sync platform development, told The Associated Press in a recent interview. Sync, a four-year-old voice command system that Ford designed with Microsoft Corp., serves as the platform for the more advanced MyFord Touch.

Forrest Brown, a Ford dealer in Dyersville, Iowa, got a barrage of complaints last winter when customers were unable to defrost their windshields or turn up the heat because their screens were going blank. But the problems have become less frequent as Ford updates the software. Brown has also started inviting customers back to the dealership so he can answer questions about the system.

"We've come to the realization that this type of technology is going to be in almost all vehicles in the future, so you might as well get used to it and understand it and make your customers aware of it," Brown said.

Jablonski insists MyFord Touch was thoroughly tested and not brought to the market too soon, as some critics contend. The problem, he said, is that not everything is testable. The system syncs up to more than 70 different kinds of mobile phones, for example, which are constantly getting updates of their own. Customers may blame the car for something that is really the fault of the phone.

But Ford realizes it may have gone further than its customers wanted to go. The company is planning to bring back volume and tuning knobs, for example, because it found people didn't like using a touch screen for those functions.

Jeremy Anwyl, the chief executive of auto information site Edmunds.com, once watched a MyFord Touch screen freeze up during a Ford demonstration. Still, he gives Ford credit for taking a chance on new technology, even at the expense of its quality scores. Vehicle quality is getting so good that customers are increasingly basing their buying decisions on high-tech options, he said.

"I'd rather have MyFord Touch and Sync and take the heat from than not have it at all," he said.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45184050/ns/business-autos/

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Democrats rally support against Republican bid to overturn FCC net neutrality rules (Daily Caller)

Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry sent a letter Friday to colleagues in the Senate rallying support against the Republican-sponsored Resolution of Disapproval to overturn the FCC?s net neutrality regulations.

?The Senate will consider a Congressional Review Act proposal to overturn the Open Internet protections that the Federal Communications Commission put into place last year,? wrote Kerry.

The FCC passed the rules in a party-line vote in December 2010 to regulate Internet Service Providers. If the vote is not passed in the Senate to overturn the rules, they are set to take effect on November 20.

Kerry urged colleagues to vote against the legislation, claiming that ?if the effort is successful, it will stifle innovation and discourage investment in the next potential Google or Amazon.?

?It will set the precedent that this Congress is prepared to deny independent regulators their ability to execute the law,? said Kerry. ?That would put at risk health and safety rules, environmental protections, workers rights and every other public protection that our agencies enforce that some in Congress do not like.?

Advocacy groups in favor of the FCC?s rules also rallied supporters to oppose the upcoming vote.

Public Knowledge spokesman Art Brodsky sent an email to supporters the same day, stating that it outlined ?the very good reasons why they shouldn?t support the resolution coming to the floor next week to nullify the FCC?s Open Internet rules.?

Progressive activist group Demand Progress ? also a supporter of Fight for the Future?s FreeBieber.org project ? warned its listserv members that the vote was to come on Tuesday and that they should call their senator to block it.

?The Senate is voting to kill Net Neutrality on TUESDAY ? it?s a power grab by big Telecom so they can control what information you?re able to access online,? said the email.

When asked to confirm the Tuesday speculation, however, a GOP Senate spokesman told TheDC that they could not confirm the day the vote is set to happen next week.

On Thursday Josh Levy of Free Press? ?Save the Internet Coalition? blogged, ?Next week the Senate is expected to vote on a measure that could kill the Internet as we know it.?

Texas Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said at a press conference Thursday, ?Forcing broadband companies to say, ?Mother may I?? to the federal government is going to delay the implementation of the new products and services getting to the market; it?s going to increase costs to consumers.?

Hutchison remarked at The Heritage Foundation Tuesday that the vote to overturn the FCC rules is a ?jobs? bill and an international competition issue.

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Democrats rally support against Republican bid to overturn FCC net neutrality rules

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/democrats/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/dailycaller/20111104/pl_dailycaller/democratsrallysupportagainstrepublicanbidtooverturnfccnetneutralityrules

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Groupon shares surge but concerns linger (Reuters)

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) ? Shares of Groupon Inc surged as much as 56 percent on Friday, a solid debut aided by a small number of shares sold, yet still fell short of the first-day performances of recent Internet IPOs.

Groupon's stock closed up 31 percent but the first day pop paled in comparison to LinkedIn, the professional social network that went public in May, whose shares doubled in their debut. Real estate website Zillow also nearly doubled in its debut in July.

Groupon sells Internet coupons for everything from spa treatments to nose jobs and is one of this year's most closely watched IPOs. It has won plaudits for its phenomenal growth, but its ability to sustain that expansion in the face of intense competition from the likes of Google Inc has been questioned.

Still, a strong first few trading days could help other private Web companies -- such as Angie's List, social gaming firm Zynga and even Facebook -- pursue their own IPOs.

Groupon's offering, the largest by a U.S. Internet company since Google's in 2004, is the first major IPO since the market descended into a slump in August. There remains a huge backlog of companies that filed to go public earlier this year, then put their plans on hold.

"They wanted to have a decent pop on the stock so they didn't take that much public," said David Berman, a consumer technology and retail specialist at hedge fund firm Durban Capital. "They created demand by limiting supply, and they got the pop."

After a grueling year of preparing for the IPO, Chief Executive Andrew Mason -- now worth $1.2 billion with ownership of over 46 million shares -- and Chairman Eric Lefkofsky rang the opening bell on the Nasdaq, then hugged in Times Square.

Dozens of people involved in the IPO -- including bankers, investors, current and former employees -- painted a picture of the excruciating path the three-year-old Web phenom took to become the first daily deals site to go public in the United States.

"We continue to be concerned about Groupon's model, especially given the low barrier for entry into this space," said Michael Yoshikami, head of money-management firm YCMNET Investment Committee. "But it's a familiar name and investors tend to gravitate to familiar names at first."

The shares rose as high as $31.14, or 56 percent above the IPO price, at one point pushing the market value of the company to $19.9 billion. They closed at $26.11, 31 percent above their $20 IPO price and granting Groupon a value of $16.7 billion.

CRACKLE AND POP

Groupon put up the third-highest trading volume on the Nasdaq Friday, with nearly 50 million shares changing hands.

A spokeswoman for Deutsche Boerse AG's International Securities Exchange said it expects to list options on Groupon on November 14, with other major exchanges expected to follow suit. Options can be used to bet on the direction of stocks, or to hedge stock positions.

Groupon was founded in October 2008 and has never been profitable. In the nine months ended September 30, it posted a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $308.1 million on revenue of $1.1 billion.

Employees at company headquarters in Chicago donned lime green T-shirts emblazoned with the company's ticker symbol "GRPN" printed in old, ticker-tape-style lettering.

Some analysts and investors warn that Groupon's early surge could be a short-term phenomenon and its shares could reverse course and trade down like those of Internet radio station Pandora Media Inc.

There are still lingering questions about Groupon's business model and about competition from better-funded rivals such as Amazon.com Inc and Google.

Groupon has lost two chief operating officers in the past year and had to adjust its accounting twice under regulatory pressure.

Still, a small float helped drum up demand.

On Thursday, Groupon upsized its IPO and sold 35 million shares for $20 each. But that stake amounts to only about 5 percent of the company. Underwriters on the IPO were led by Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse.

The $700 million raised was on the larger side for a U.S. IPO, but the 5.5 percent represented the second-smallest share float in the United States in the past decade, according to capital markets data provider Ipreo.

"There's a lot of excitement around the shares. But we should put this in context. The company sold 35 million shares and almost 29 million traded in less than an hour," Morningstar analyst Rick Summer said. That suggested heavy "flipping", or investors selling stock they got in the IPO.

"We don't think they can have 50 percent growth and make money at the same time," Summer said. "They have to pay to launch new categories, get new merchants and new customers. They have to spend to grow."

(Reporting by Clare Baldwin, Brendan McDermid, Rodrigo Campos, Edward Krudy and Phil Wahba in New York, Alistair Barr in San Francisco and James Kelleher and Doris Frankel in Chicago; editing by Derek Caney, Gerald E. McCormick, Steve Orlofsky, Andre Grenon and Bernard Orr)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111105/wr_nm/us_groupon_finalpricing

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Accused Nigeria comic to get last laugh on drug cops (Reuters)

LAGOS (Reuters) ? A Nigerian comedian arrested on suspicion of smuggling drugs in his stomach will be released on bail on Friday after drug enforcement agents failed to find anything inside him following an exhaustive search of his excretions, his lawyer told Reuters.

A renowned joker in his Nollywood performances, Babatunde Omidina has become the butt of jokes himself. The Nigerian media has found it hard to suppress the sniggers while covering his every visit to the lavatory -- none of which yielded any drugs.

Omidina, 53, popularly known as "Baba Suwe," was arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency while trying to board a Paris-bound flight from Lagos airport on October 12. An airport scanner allegedly showed bags of white powder in his stomach.

Three weeks and some 18 bowel movements later, agents have found no cocaine -- only a kind of local porridge.

"We ... return to court on Friday ... We have perfected the bail bond and if nothing incriminating is found on him, he will be going home a free man," the comic's lawyer Bamidele Aturu told Reuters by telephone.

Like many countries in West Africa, Nigeria is a major transit point for Latin American cocaine going into Europe.

(Reporting by Oludare Mayowa; Writing by Tim Cocks)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111103/lf_nm_life/us_nigeria_comic_drugs

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