BERLIN (AP) -- Federal prosecutors say they have charged three German-Iranian dual nationals and a German man with breaking export laws for allegedly supplying Iran with parts needed to build a nuclear reactor in violation of the country's trade embargo.
Prosecutors said in a statement Monday suspect Hamid Kh., 80, set up contact for Gholamali Ka., 70, and his son Kianzad Ka., 25, with German businessman Rudolf M., 78, whose Thuringia firm produced valves needed for a nuclear reactor's construction. Their last names were not released in accordance with German privacy laws.
The group is accused of supplying Iran with 92 German-made valves, and another 856 Indian-made valves, in 2010 and 2011.
They're accused of supplying the parts through front companies in other countries in deals worth millions of euros in total.
24 April 2013Last updated at 21:13 ETBy Rebecca MorelleScience reporter, BBC World Service
Isla Gladstone, a curator at the Bristol Museum, where the cat is now on display, told the BBC's Rebecca Morelle that the cat spent some time in captivity
A "big cat" was on the loose in the English countryside at the turn of the last century, scientists say.
They believe a Canadian lynx was prowling around the fields of the South West in 1903 before being shot after attacking two dogs in Devon.
Tests on the animal revealed it had probably spent some time in captivity before escaping or being set free.
The animal had been donated to Bristol Museum at the time of its death and kept in its stores for decades.
The scientists' findings are published in the journal Historical Biology.
Dr Ross Barnett, a molecular biologist from the University of Copenhagen and the University of Durham, said: "I've seen one of these cats in the wild.
"They are pretty impressive cats - they are a reasonable size, and they have lots of fluffy fur which makes them look even bigger. They have sharp claws, teeth and strong muscles."
Beast of Bodmin
From blurry photos of the Beast of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, to reports of a lion on the loose in Essex in 2012, the UK has a long tradition of spotting big cats.
Most of these claims are dismissed as misidentifications, hoaxes or even hallucinations, but not in this case.
In 1903, the unusual cat was donated to the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. The museum's records state that it had been shot after attacking and killing two dogs close to Newton Abbot in Devon.
Unsure of exactly what it was, the exotic beast was stuffed, its skeleton preserved, and then the remains were tucked away in the museum's stores.
More than a century later, the cat was unearthed by a scientist who thought the find might be significant.
An analysis of the skeleton and mounted skin revealed that the animal was a Canadian lynx, which is about the size of a dog and usually found in Canada and the northern states of the US.
The researchers found that the animal's teeth were badly decayed.
Dr Barnett said: "We think it had probably been in captivity at some point in its life.
"It had lost all of its incisors, which would have been a pretty debilitating injury for a wild cat, but not a problem for one in captivity.
"It also had massive amounts of plaque on its molars, which are indication of it not having a wild diet - something with lots of wet cat food, essentially ready-processed meat like steaks."
The researchers believe that the lynx had been in captivity for some time, but they were unable to find any records of the cat's owner.
"Was it someone's pet? Was it part of a small menagerie that was travelling through the area? There aren't really any zoos nearby where it could have escaped from," Dr Barnett said.
The team is also unsure how long the animal had been at large in Devon before it was killed.
Its decayed teeth would have limited its chances in the wild, but the lynx is an adaptable animal, and may have been able to survive by preying on small mammals.
Felicity the Puma
While many big cat sightings remain unverified, sometimes the rumours do turn out to be true, and the team believes that the Canadian lynx is the earliest recorded example of an exotic cat on the loose in the UK.
Another case relates to a live puma that was captured in Inverness-shire in 1980 and had been living in the wild for a long period of time. It was called Felicity, and placed in a zoo.
But Dr Barnett said that these cases were few and far between.
He said: "It's all very good saying you saw a lion in Essex or a tiger in Shropshire, or wherever. But it is very difficult to estimate size of a species from a distance - especially if you are unfamiliar with them.
"So I would argue for continued scepticism, unless you have a body or specimen you can analyse."
Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) tickets sold out in minutes, but if you're going to be in San Francisco the second week of June, there's an alternative event happening that you may be interested in. AltWWDC is scheduled to take place at the same time as WWDC, and only a block away from the Moscone Center, where WWDC is held. What's more, it's free.
WWDC is the brainchild of Rob Elkin and Judy Chen, who created the event in 2012 after WWDC tickets sold out in record time. This year they're joined by Josh Michaels and Kyle Kincaid, who created two other alternative events, Intersection and IndieDevLab.
AltWWDC runs from June 10 - 14, 2013 at the downtown campus of San Francisco State University. Talks, lunch and coworking space for developers will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis. You don't need a WWDC badge to attend. So far, confirmed speakers include Mike Lee, Victor Agreda, Jr., Brett Terpstra, Brent Simmons, Saul Mora, and Steve "Scotty" Scott. More announcements are expected, so be sure to visit the site for details.
Were you disappointed with how fast WWDC tickets sold out this year? Does AltWWDC interest you?
A proposal to tax sweetened soda in California has renewed debate over the state?s role in preventing obesity among its residents.
State Sen. Bill Monning (D-Carmel) has introduced legislation that would levy a 1-cent-per-ounce tax on sweetened beverages, including sodas, as part of an effort to fight obesity among young people.
The money paid by beverage distributors under SB 622 would go to a Children?s Health Promotion Fund to pay for a statewide childhood obesity prevention program. ?This bill will combat the obesity crisis and ensure that our children? and future generations of Californians? are not doomed to a shorter life expectancy and can instead live longer, healthier lives,? Monning said.
In addition to funding the program, Monning said the measure ?is intended to discourage excessive consumption of sweetened beverages by increasing the price of these products.??
For more on Monning?s bill, including what critics say, click here.
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NEW YORK (AP) ? The city can experiment with letting taxi seekers hail rides electronically, a judge said Tuesday in a ruling that could clear the way for riders to summon the city's signature yellow cabs with smartphone apps instead of raised arms.
While the cabs have been prohibited in the past from taking pre-arranged rides, testing an "e-hail" system is OK to see whether it leads to a dearth of cabs or other problems, Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Carol Huff wrote in dismissing a suit filed mainly by livery cab owners.
Huff also lifted an order that had temporarily blocked the program, but it wasn't immediately clear how soon virtual hailing might begin.
Taxi and Limousine Commissioner David Yassky saluted the decision as a victory that expands riders' options.
"The market will ultimately decide which apps rise or fall, and we have an obligation to give the riding public that choice," he said in a statement.
A lawyer for the livery cab owners, Randy Mastro, said they were considering an appeal.
"This decision is so fundamentally wrong in so many respects," Mastro said by phone, declining to elaborate.
The Taxi and Limousine Commission agreed in December to test the idea for a year, saying the city couldn't ignore evolving taxi technology. E-hail systems are in use in some other cities, and at least a dozen companies said they were ready to provide the service in New York. Each would have to get city approval, and it will likely take at least several weeks for them to assess their readiness in the wake of the court ruling.
Using an app, a potential passenger requests a ride, all participating cabbies within a certain distance get the inquiry, and the driver who responds first gets the fare.
Car-service owners said the idea unfairly blurred a legal line between yellow and livery cabs, which are barred from picking up passengers on streets and so depend on prearranged rides.
The livery cab owners ? and a senior citizen who doesn't own a smartphone ? also envision in the suit that e-hailing will leave people standing on street corners while cabbies zip by to pick up app-arranged fares, potentially reviving concerns about discrimination against passengers based on their race, whereabouts or destination. Those concerns led years ago to measures that barred from taking fares via radio dispatch and from refusing any passenger without "justifiable grounds."
The judge, however, said the e-hail plan might actually combat any discrimination, since drivers wouldn't be able to see their fares when accepting them. She didn't address whether cabbies might shun some neighborhoods to take e-hail requests elsewhere but noted the test program could examine discrimination.
She suggested the electronic system could help, rather than harm, older people by "reducing time spent standing or walking" to find a cab.
Huff also rejected other claims, including an argument that the program was too broad to qualify as a test.
The city's chief lawyer, Michael Cardozo, said the ruling confirms the city's position that the program is entirely proper.
Meanwhile, the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals, was poised to hear arguments Wednesday over a nearly opposite initiative: A plan to let livery cabs pick up passengers on streets in upper Manhattan and the city's four other boroughs.
In that case, yellow cab owners sued. They said the plan would hurt their business; Mayor Michael Bloomberg has countered that it would make travel safer, easier and cheaper for millions of people.
The outcome could have an impact on the city's roughly $70 billion budget, as the disputed measure is coupled with a proposal to sell 2,000 new yellow-cab permits, or medallions. Officials have estimated the sales could make the city more than $1.4 billion over several years.
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Follow Jennifer Peltz at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, welcomes U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel at his office in Jerusalem, on Tuesday, April 23, 2013. Hagel said the U.S. and Israel need to ensure that their alliance is "closer than ever," as Mideast security challenges grow more complicated. (AP Photo/Jim Watson, Pool)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, welcomes U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel at his office in Jerusalem, on Tuesday, April 23, 2013. Hagel said the U.S. and Israel need to ensure that their alliance is "closer than ever," as Mideast security challenges grow more complicated. (AP Photo/Jim Watson, Pool)
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) ? A senior Israeli military intelligence official said on Tuesday that Syrian President Bashar Assad used chemical weapons last month in his battle against insurgent groups. It was the first time that Israel has accused the embattled Syrian leader of using his stockpile of nonconventional weapons.
Israel's assessment, based on visual evidence of alleged attacks, could raise pressure on the U.S. and other Western countries to intervene in the Syrian conflict. Britain and France recently announced that they had evidence that Assad's government had used chemical weapons. Although the U.S. says it has not been able to verify these claims, President Barack Obama has warned that the introduction of chemical weapons by Assad would be a "game changer."
Brig. Gen. Itai Brun, the head of research and analysis in Israeli military intelligence, told a security conference in Tel Aviv that Assad has used chemical weapons multiple times. Among the incidents were attacks documented by the French and British near Damascus last month. He cited images of people hurt in the alleged attacks, but gave no indication that he had other evidence, such as soil samples, typically used to verify chemical weapons use.
"To the best of our professional understanding, the regime used lethal chemical weapons against the militants in a series of incidents over the past months, including the relatively famous incident of March 19," Brun said. "Shrunken pupils, foaming at the mouth and other signs indicate, in our view, that lethal chemical weapons were used."
He said sarin, a lethal nerve agent, was probably used. He also said the Syrian regime was using less lethal chemical weapons, and that Russia has continued to arm the Syrian military with weapons such as advanced SA-17 air defense missiles.
"The fact that chemical weapons were used without an appropriate response is a very disturbing development because it could signal that such a thing is legitimate," he said. "I think we need to be very worried that chemical weapons will reach elements that are less responsible."
Reacting to Brun's comments, Pentagon spokesman George Little said the U.S. "continues to assess reports of chemical weapons use in Syria."
"The use of such weapons would be entirely unacceptable," he added." ''We reiterate in the strongest possible terms the obligations of the Syrian regime to safeguard its chemical weapons stockpiles, and not to use or transfer such weapons to terrorist groups like Hezbollah."
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said such claims had "to be studied carefully." He said previous chemical weapons allegations led to politicized inquiries. Lavrov was speaking through a translator in response to a question asked at a NATO news conference in Brussels. Russia has been weary of foreign intervention in Syria and maintains support for the Assad regime.
Israel, which borders southwestern Syria, has been warily watching the Syrian civil war since the fighting erupted there in March 2011. Although Assad is a bitter enemy, Israel has been careful not to take sides, partly because the Assad family has kept the border with Israel quiet for the past 40 years and partly because of fears of what would happen if he is toppled.
Israeli officials are especially concerned that Assad's stockpile of chemical weapons and other advanced arms could reach the hands of Assad's ally, the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, or Islamic extremist groups trying to oust him. The concern is that if Assad is overthrown, any of these groups could turn his sophisticated arsenal against Israel. Hezbollah battled Israel to a monthlong stalemate in 2006.
At a meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Monday, Israel's defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, laid out a number of "clear red lines" to Syria that could trigger an Israeli response. Among them were transferring sophisticated weapons to Hezbollah and other "rogue elements" in Syria, cross-border attacks into Israel or "rogue elements" getting hold of Syrian chemical weapons.
The Israeli military has fired at targets inside Syria on several occasions in response to gunfire or mortar shells landing in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israel has all but admitted that it carried out an airstrike in Syria in January that destroyed a shipment of anti-aircraft missiles believed to be headed to Hezbollah.
"We proved it. When they crossed these red lines, we operated, we acted," Yaalon said.
Britain and France informed U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last month that they have reliable evidence Assad's forces used chemical weapons that caused injuries and deaths. They cited soil samples and interviews with witnesses and opposition figures.
The two countries asked the U.N. chief to investigate allegations of chemical weapons use in two locations near Damascus on March 19, as well as in the city of Homs on Dec. 23. Ban appointed an investigative team, but the Syrian government has largely blocked its effort. Syria, meanwhile, has accused rebels of using chemical weapons.
During a trip to Israel last month, Obama warned that the use of chemical weapons would be a "game changer." He said if confirmed, "the international community has to act on that additional information," but did not detail what the next steps would be.
Amos Yadlin, a retired chief of Israeli military intelligence who heads the Institute for National Security Studies that hosted Tuesday's conference, urged the U.S. to intervene. He said the red line in Syria had been crossed and that the U.S. should act.
Not doing so would "strengthen the opinion of those, particularly in Israel, who are suspicious of America's commitment when red lines are crossed," he said. He suggested the U.S. impose a no-fly zone over Syria or even initiate a bombing campaign similar to the one conducted against the regime of late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
"So far they haven't applied any leverage to Bashar, and this has allowed him to do what Gadhafi could never do," Yadlin told The Associated Press.
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Associated Press writers Peter James Spielmann at the United Nations, Robert Burns in Amman, Jordan, Don Melvin in Brussels, and Kimberly Dozier in Washington contributed.
Apr. 23, 2013 ? Researchers from the University of T?bingen have been able to show for the first time how microorganisms contributed to the formation of the world's biggest iron ore deposits. The biggest known deposits -- in South Africa and Australia -- are geological formations billions of years old. They are mainly composed of iron oxides -- minerals we know from the rusting process. These iron ores not only make up most of the world demand for iron -- the formations also help us to better understand the evolution of the atmosphere and climate, and provide important information on the activity of microorganisms in the early history of life on Earth.
The extent to which microbes in the Earth's ancient oceans contributed to the formation of iron deposits was previously unknown. Now an international team of researchers from the US, Canada and Germany has published new findings in the journal Nature Communications. Led by University of T?bingen geomicrobiologist Professor Andreas Kappler of the Center for Applied Geoscience, they found evidence of which microbes contributed to the formation of the iron ores, and were able to show how different metabolic processes can be distinguished in the rock formations today.
The iron in the Earth's ancient oceans was spat out of hot springs on the seafloor as dissolved, reduced ferrous [Fe(II)] iron. But most of today's iron ore is oxidized, ferric [Fe(III)] iron in the form of "rust minerals" -- indicating that the Fe(II) was oxidized as it was deposited. The classic model for the formation of iron deposits suggested that the Fe(II) from the Earth's core was oxidized by the oxygen produced by cyanobacteria (blue-green algae). This process can happen either chemically (as in the formation of rust) or by the action of microaerophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria.
But scientists are still debating at what point the Earth's atmosphere contained enough oxygen (produced by cyanobacteria) to allow the formation of big iron deposits. The oldest known iron ores were deposited in the Precambrian period and are up to four billion years old (the Earth itself is estimated to be about 4.6 billion years old). At this very early stage in geological history, there was little or no oxygen in the atmosphere. So the very oldest banded iron formations cannot be the result of O2-dependent oxidation.
In 1993, bacteria were discovered which do not need oxygen but can oxidize Fe(II) by using energy from light (anoxygenic phototrophic iron-oxidizing bacteria). Studies by Professor Kappler's team in 2005 and 2010 showed that these bacteria transform dissolved ferric iron into iron oxide (rust) -- like the material in the early iron ores. Now, the geomicrobiologists from T?bingen have been able to demonstrate that, by examining the identity and structural properties of the iron minerals, it is possible to tell that the minerals were deposited by iron-oxidizing microbes and not by oxygen made available by the action of cyanobacteria. To do this, the researchers placed different amounts of organic material together with iron minerals into gold capsules and increased the pressure and temperature to simulate the transformation of the minerals over geological time. They ended up with structures of iron carbonate minerals (siderite, FeCO3), just as they occur in geological iron formations. In particular, they were able to distinguish iron carbonate structures which had been formed in the presence of a rather small amount of organic compounds (microbial biomass) from those formed in the presence of a larger amount.
This research not only provides the first clear evidence that microorganisms were directly involved in the deposition of Earth's oldest iron formations; it also indicates that large populations of oxygen-producing cyanobacteria were at work in the shallow areas of the ancient oceans, while deeper water still reached by the light (the photic zone) tended to be populated by anoxyenic or micro-aerophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria which formed the iron deposits.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Universitaet T?bingen.
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Journal Reference:
Inga K?hler, Kurt O Konhauser, Dominic Papineau, Andrey Bekker, Andreas Kappler. Biological carbon precursor to diagenetic siderite with spherical structures in iron formations. Nature Communications, 2013; 4: 1741 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2770
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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
It's not often that a guest post on TechCrunch turns into a startup Earlier this year, Googler Aditya Mahesh published a guest post on TechCrunch, which addressed what skills business students should take the time to learn before they start working in tech. As he writes, he wishes he had learned certain skills before entering the workforce at Google, such as Excel, basic HTML/CSS, web analytics, Photoshop, iMovie and other skills that he believes make you more valuable as a non-technical employee, even if you don't have a CS degree.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Insurgents killed six police officers at a checkpoint and a suicide bomber killed three civilians at a shopping bazaar in separate attacks Sunday in eastern Afghanistan, while an independent security group warned 2013 is on track to be one of the most violent years of the war.
April already has been the deadliest month this year for security forces and Afghan and foreign civilians as the U.S. and other countries prepare to end their combat mission by the end of next year. According to an Associated Press tally, 222 people have been killed in violence around the nation this month, including Sunday's nine fatalities.
The Taliban ambushed the checkpoint in the Dayak district of Ghazni province, killing six police officers, wounding one and leaving one missing, said Col. Mohammad Hussain, deputy provincial police chief. The checkpoint was manned by Afghan local police, forces recruited at the village level that are nominally under the control of the Afghan Interior Ministry.
On Friday, Taliban insurgents attacked a local police checkpoint in Andar, a district of Ghazni province neighboring Dayak. They killed 13 officers, according to Sidiq Sidiqi, the Interior Ministry spokesman.
The second attack on Sunday hit Paktika province, which borders Ghazni. A suicide bomber detonated his explosives in a shopping bazaar around midday, killing three people and wounding five civilians and two police officers, said Mokhlis Afghan, the spokesman for the provincial governor. Among the dead was Asanullah Sadat, who stepped down as the district's governor two years ago.
Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for Taliban, claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing. In an email to reporters, he said the Taliban used the bomber to target Sadat because of his close relations with the Afghan government and the U.S.
Hostilities have surged in Afghanistan as the spring fighting season begins. This year's is being closely watched because Afghan forces must operate with less support from the international military coalition. With foreign forces due to hand over combat responsibilities to the local forces next year, the current fighting is a test of their ability to take on the country's insurgency.
Reflecting the rise in bloodshed, the Afghanistan NGO Safety Office said Sunday there were 2,331 insurgent-initiated attacks in the first quarter of this year, a 47 percent increase over the same January-March period last year. "We assess that the current re-escalation trend will be preserved throughout the entire season and that 2013 is set to become the second most violent year after 2011," which suffered 2,755 such attacks in the first three months of the year, the report said.
The U.S.-led NATO coalition has stopped releasing statistics on insurgent attacks in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan's Defense Ministry said the Afghan army carried out 2,209 military operations during a month-long period ending Sunday. During that time, 467 insurgents and 107 soldiers were killed, and 362 militants were arrested, the ministry said in a report issued Sunday.
The rise of violence that his organization reported in early 2013 should raise serious concern, especially since a negotiated solution with Taliban "is far from the horizon" and questions remain about whether Afghan forces can fill the gap being left by the reduction in U.S.-led international forces, said Tomas Muzik, the director of the Afghanistan NGO Safety Office.
The Taliban broke off formal talks with the Americans last year and have steadfastly rejected negotiations with the Afghan government, which they view as a puppet of foreign powers.
Afghanistan has about 100,000 international troops, including 66,000 from the United States. The U.S. force is to drop to about 32,000 by February 2014, making the No. 1 priority for the American military to do all it can to boost the strength and confidence of Afghan forces.
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Associated Press writer Rahim Faiez contributed to this report.
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Online: The ANSO report: www.ngosafety.org
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Follow Thomas Wagner on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/tjpwagner .
Improved bowel health, increased satiety and enhanced calcium absorption add to mounting evidence for the health benefits of certain added fibers in the diet
Chicago (April 22, 2013) The health benefits of fibre are relatively well known yet average fibre intake around the world continues to be inadequate (1,2). Many diets continue to lack recommended servings of foods naturally high in fibre like fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes and whole grains resulting in low fibre intake (3). Three new studies contribute to the growing body of evidence for the health benefits of added fibres in the diet. These types of fibre can be added to a wide range of foods and contribute similar health benefits as "intact" fibres, providing a viable option to help people increase their fibre intake to achieve daily recommendations (3). Each of the studies was supported by Tate & Lyle, a global leader in health and wellness innovation and provider of specialty food ingredients.
Improved Bowel Health
Recently published in the Journal of Nutrition, Timm et al. reported that 36 healthy adults consuming 20 grams of added fibre, either STA-LITE Polydextrose or PROMITOR Soluble Corn Fibre* per day, in addition to their usual lower fibre diet, which was approximately 13-14 g/day compared to the recommended 25 g/day for women and 38 g/day for men (3), experienced improved laxation with minimal gastrointestinal tolerance issues4. These results indicate that both types of fibre tested in this study are well tolerated and can be successfully added to the diet to help meet dietary recommendations.
"Since people aren't meeting their fibre goals with the foods they currently eat, adding fibres to foods is a realistic and simple way to address this global public health concern," said Joanne Slavin, PhD, RD of the University of Minnesota, an expert in fibre research and lead investigator of this study.
Maintained Satiety after a Meal
Another study which was presented this week at the American Society for Nutrition Experimental Biology conference in Boston, using a double blind, randomized cross-over design found that an emerging fibre, soluble fibre dextrin (SFD) from Tate & Lyle, may help promote satiety, or the feeling of fullness, from 3 to 8.5 hours after consumption (5). Tate & Lyle's soluble fibre dextrin is a resistant dextrin that can be isolated from tapioca or corn.
Researchers from Iowa State University provided 41 healthy adults with lunch including a test beverage containing 10 or 20 g of fibre from tapioca SFD versus a maltodextrin control beverage followed by a snack two and a half hours later. The study participants reported feeling fuller, less feeling of hunger and less desire to eat compared to the control beverage from 3 to 8.5 hours after consumption of the beverage that contained 20 g of fibre as SFD, while the SFD had no impact on appetite or overall food intake during the first 2.5 hours post consumption. These results indicate that the SFD may be slowly digested leading to delayed effects on appetite. "This newly developed soluble fibre dextrin can increase fibre intake, helping consumers meet fibre recommendations, while simultaneously controlling their appetite which may lead to reduced energy intake," stated James Hollis, PhD, a lead researcher on the study.
Increased Calcium Absorption
A third study (6), also presented at the American Society for Nutrition Experimental Biology conference in Boston, assessed the effect of PROMITOR Soluble Corn Fibre* (SCF) on fecal microbiota (bacterial environment of the gut) in relation to calcium absorption in 24 racially diverse, male and female adolescentsa population in need of adequate calcium intake for bone growth and development. Researchers from Purdue University found that when the adolescents consumed 12 g/day of SCF versus a control, they experienced a 12% increase in calcium absorption. This increase in calcium absorption was correlated with significant increases in specific strains of beneficial bacteria, namely Bacteroides, Alistipes, Butyricicoccus, Oscillibacter, and Dialister in the gut suggesting that SCF may increase calcium absorption through changes in gut microbiota (6).
"Emerging research on soluble corn fibre indicates that added fibres provide health benefits such as increased calcium absorption via their effect on beneficial bacteria" said Connie Weaver, PhD, a lead researcher on this study. This is the first study to show that increases in these specific bacteria were significantly correlated with the observed increase in calcium absorption.
Meeting Fibre Intake Recommendations
Most fibre recommendations for adults call for intakes ranging from 25-38 g/day depending on country specific worldwide guidelines (3). While individuals should increase their consumption of dietary fibre from sources such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes and whole grains, fibres added to foods, like PROMITOR Soluble Corn Fibre*, STA-LITE Polydextrose, and soluble fibre dextrin, can help close the gap between recommended and actual intakes of fibre while providing additional health benefits such as increased calcium absorption, improved gut health, and increased satiety.
"The results from these new studies add to the growing body of research that supports the addition of fibres to foods that consumers are already eating, which easily allows for increased fibre intakes and provides added health benefits," said Priscilla Samuel, PhD, Director of Global Nutrition for Tate & Lyle. "Tate & Lyle is committed to investment in innovation and research to ensure that our ingredients, which can be incorporated into great tasting foods, can also help consumers meet their nutrition, health and wellness needs every day."
*PROMITOR Soluble Gluco Fibre in Europe
###
About Tate & Lyle:
Tate & Lyle is a global provider of ingredients and solutions to the food, beverage and other industries, operating from over 30 production facilities around the world.
Tate & Lyle operates through two global business units, Speciality Food Ingredients and Bulk Ingredients, supported by Innovation and Commercial Development. The Group's strategy is to become the leading global provider of Speciality Food Ingredients through a disciplined focus on growth, and by driving the Bulk Ingredients business for sustained cash generation to fuel this growth.
Speciality Food Ingredients include starch-based speciality ingredients (corn-based speciality starches, sweeteners and fibres), no calorie sweeteners (including SPLENDA Sucralose) and Food Systems which provides blended ingredient solutions. Bulk Ingredients include corn-based bulk sweeteners, industrial starches and fermentation products (primarily acidulants). The co-products from both divisions are primarily sold as animal feed.
Tate & Lyle is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol TATE.L. American Depositary Receipts trade under TATYY. In the year to 31 March 2012, Tate & Lyle sales totalled 3.1 billion. http://www.tateandlyle.com. SPLENDA is a trademark of McNeil Nutritionals, LLC.
References:
U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010. http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/dgas2010-dgacreport.htm
Spiller GA (ed.) CRC Handbook of Dietary Fiber in Human Nutrition, 3rd Edition. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, Fla. 2001.
Gray J. Dietary Fibre. Definition, Analysis, Physiology and Health. ILSI Europe Dietary Fibre Concise Monograph Series. 2006. http://www.ilsi.org.ar/index.php?com=descarga&que=publicaciones&id=80
Timm DA, Thomas W, Boileau TW, Williamson-Hughes PS, Slavin JL. Polydextrose and Soluble Corn Fiber Increase Five-Day Fecal Wet Weight in Healthy Men and Women. J Nutr. 143:473-478;2013.
Hutchinson C, Hsu WH, Hollis JH. Effect of soluble fiber dextrin on postprandial appetite and subsequent food intake in healthy adults. Presented at Experimental Biology. Boston, MA. April 20-24, 2013.
Whisner CM, Nakatsu CH, Martin BR, McCabe LD, McCabe GP, Weaver CM. Soluble corn fiber modulates calcium absorption by altering colonic microbiota.. Poster at Experimental Biology. Boston, MA. April 20-24, 2013.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
3 new studies reveal added fiber's impact on various health indicesPublic release date: 22-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Improved bowel health, increased satiety and enhanced calcium absorption add to mounting evidence for the health benefits of certain added fibers in the diet
Chicago (April 22, 2013) The health benefits of fibre are relatively well known yet average fibre intake around the world continues to be inadequate (1,2). Many diets continue to lack recommended servings of foods naturally high in fibre like fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes and whole grains resulting in low fibre intake (3). Three new studies contribute to the growing body of evidence for the health benefits of added fibres in the diet. These types of fibre can be added to a wide range of foods and contribute similar health benefits as "intact" fibres, providing a viable option to help people increase their fibre intake to achieve daily recommendations (3). Each of the studies was supported by Tate & Lyle, a global leader in health and wellness innovation and provider of specialty food ingredients.
Improved Bowel Health
Recently published in the Journal of Nutrition, Timm et al. reported that 36 healthy adults consuming 20 grams of added fibre, either STA-LITE Polydextrose or PROMITOR Soluble Corn Fibre* per day, in addition to their usual lower fibre diet, which was approximately 13-14 g/day compared to the recommended 25 g/day for women and 38 g/day for men (3), experienced improved laxation with minimal gastrointestinal tolerance issues4. These results indicate that both types of fibre tested in this study are well tolerated and can be successfully added to the diet to help meet dietary recommendations.
"Since people aren't meeting their fibre goals with the foods they currently eat, adding fibres to foods is a realistic and simple way to address this global public health concern," said Joanne Slavin, PhD, RD of the University of Minnesota, an expert in fibre research and lead investigator of this study.
Maintained Satiety after a Meal
Another study which was presented this week at the American Society for Nutrition Experimental Biology conference in Boston, using a double blind, randomized cross-over design found that an emerging fibre, soluble fibre dextrin (SFD) from Tate & Lyle, may help promote satiety, or the feeling of fullness, from 3 to 8.5 hours after consumption (5). Tate & Lyle's soluble fibre dextrin is a resistant dextrin that can be isolated from tapioca or corn.
Researchers from Iowa State University provided 41 healthy adults with lunch including a test beverage containing 10 or 20 g of fibre from tapioca SFD versus a maltodextrin control beverage followed by a snack two and a half hours later. The study participants reported feeling fuller, less feeling of hunger and less desire to eat compared to the control beverage from 3 to 8.5 hours after consumption of the beverage that contained 20 g of fibre as SFD, while the SFD had no impact on appetite or overall food intake during the first 2.5 hours post consumption. These results indicate that the SFD may be slowly digested leading to delayed effects on appetite. "This newly developed soluble fibre dextrin can increase fibre intake, helping consumers meet fibre recommendations, while simultaneously controlling their appetite which may lead to reduced energy intake," stated James Hollis, PhD, a lead researcher on the study.
Increased Calcium Absorption
A third study (6), also presented at the American Society for Nutrition Experimental Biology conference in Boston, assessed the effect of PROMITOR Soluble Corn Fibre* (SCF) on fecal microbiota (bacterial environment of the gut) in relation to calcium absorption in 24 racially diverse, male and female adolescentsa population in need of adequate calcium intake for bone growth and development. Researchers from Purdue University found that when the adolescents consumed 12 g/day of SCF versus a control, they experienced a 12% increase in calcium absorption. This increase in calcium absorption was correlated with significant increases in specific strains of beneficial bacteria, namely Bacteroides, Alistipes, Butyricicoccus, Oscillibacter, and Dialister in the gut suggesting that SCF may increase calcium absorption through changes in gut microbiota (6).
"Emerging research on soluble corn fibre indicates that added fibres provide health benefits such as increased calcium absorption via their effect on beneficial bacteria" said Connie Weaver, PhD, a lead researcher on this study. This is the first study to show that increases in these specific bacteria were significantly correlated with the observed increase in calcium absorption.
Meeting Fibre Intake Recommendations
Most fibre recommendations for adults call for intakes ranging from 25-38 g/day depending on country specific worldwide guidelines (3). While individuals should increase their consumption of dietary fibre from sources such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes and whole grains, fibres added to foods, like PROMITOR Soluble Corn Fibre*, STA-LITE Polydextrose, and soluble fibre dextrin, can help close the gap between recommended and actual intakes of fibre while providing additional health benefits such as increased calcium absorption, improved gut health, and increased satiety.
"The results from these new studies add to the growing body of research that supports the addition of fibres to foods that consumers are already eating, which easily allows for increased fibre intakes and provides added health benefits," said Priscilla Samuel, PhD, Director of Global Nutrition for Tate & Lyle. "Tate & Lyle is committed to investment in innovation and research to ensure that our ingredients, which can be incorporated into great tasting foods, can also help consumers meet their nutrition, health and wellness needs every day."
*PROMITOR Soluble Gluco Fibre in Europe
###
About Tate & Lyle:
Tate & Lyle is a global provider of ingredients and solutions to the food, beverage and other industries, operating from over 30 production facilities around the world.
Tate & Lyle operates through two global business units, Speciality Food Ingredients and Bulk Ingredients, supported by Innovation and Commercial Development. The Group's strategy is to become the leading global provider of Speciality Food Ingredients through a disciplined focus on growth, and by driving the Bulk Ingredients business for sustained cash generation to fuel this growth.
Speciality Food Ingredients include starch-based speciality ingredients (corn-based speciality starches, sweeteners and fibres), no calorie sweeteners (including SPLENDA Sucralose) and Food Systems which provides blended ingredient solutions. Bulk Ingredients include corn-based bulk sweeteners, industrial starches and fermentation products (primarily acidulants). The co-products from both divisions are primarily sold as animal feed.
Tate & Lyle is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol TATE.L. American Depositary Receipts trade under TATYY. In the year to 31 March 2012, Tate & Lyle sales totalled 3.1 billion. http://www.tateandlyle.com. SPLENDA is a trademark of McNeil Nutritionals, LLC.
References:
U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010. http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/dgas2010-dgacreport.htm
Spiller GA (ed.) CRC Handbook of Dietary Fiber in Human Nutrition, 3rd Edition. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, Fla. 2001.
Gray J. Dietary Fibre. Definition, Analysis, Physiology and Health. ILSI Europe Dietary Fibre Concise Monograph Series. 2006. http://www.ilsi.org.ar/index.php?com=descarga&que=publicaciones&id=80
Timm DA, Thomas W, Boileau TW, Williamson-Hughes PS, Slavin JL. Polydextrose and Soluble Corn Fiber Increase Five-Day Fecal Wet Weight in Healthy Men and Women. J Nutr. 143:473-478;2013.
Hutchinson C, Hsu WH, Hollis JH. Effect of soluble fiber dextrin on postprandial appetite and subsequent food intake in healthy adults. Presented at Experimental Biology. Boston, MA. April 20-24, 2013.
Whisner CM, Nakatsu CH, Martin BR, McCabe LD, McCabe GP, Weaver CM. Soluble corn fiber modulates calcium absorption by altering colonic microbiota.. Poster at Experimental Biology. Boston, MA. April 20-24, 2013.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Don't want to be too blunt (and if I am wrong, apologies - disregard), but maybe you were looking forward to having a romantic affair with her and it didn't pan out, which is why you are feeling torn? If that is true, you will find it pretty difficult to be the kind of objective friend who can flat honest point out the negatives in her behavior. And chances are she will sense your true feelings and play you - no, own you is a better term - as a fan club member who's rationalized role is informal psychological counselor. Sounds like an HPD's idea of a freakin gold mine - but unless you are Chuck Norris it will mess your head up.
On the other hand, if you don't have those feelings for her, you can be that friend you describe and provide true objective support, i.e., pointing out the positives and negatives.
No one wants their friends to start psycho-analysing them but on the other hand if no one ever tells her then how is she going to sort it out.
Boundaries...then don't go there, unless she sincerely asks you for advice.
She asked me why that was and I bit my tongue
This is always the first test of any kind of relationship with an HPD (or anyone else) - if she will tolerate you pointing out the negatives. We all have negatives. Just don't get too emotionally invested in 'saving' her, because she can backslide and become focused on your attention - ironically you will only obstruct her chances for progress. Unfortunately, although not an impossibility, the stats for HPD awareness and recovery apparently aren't too good. It takes a lot of commitment and dedicated hard work (not to mention mental health insurance) on their part, and many HPDs, probably 75% or more, just prefer to keep bubbling along, although some of those naturally grow out of it.
Always remember this: if you screw your own head up, you are of little to no use to anyone you wish to help.
We rarely talk now as I don't want to be a fan of anyone. Life's too short.
WARSAW, Poland (AP) ? As his train rolled across Germany in 1939, passing through small towns where swastikas fluttered from flagpoles, Tad Taube cowered in fear each time Nazi police entered his compartment and barked orders for his documents ? papers that plainly identified him as an 8-year-old Jewish boy from Poland.
But the full terror of the war was still a few months off, and Taube got safely through Germany to France, and then by ship to the United States, making a narrow escape from the Holocaust and a passage into a bright American future of Hollywood, football, entrepreneurial success and philanthropy.
Now the 82-year-old Taube (pronounced TOH-bee), who lives in California, is back in Poland, the land of his birth, to celebrate the partial opening of a new Polish Jewish history museum for which he has spent years raising funds.
The Museum of the History of Polish Jews opened its doors to the public for the first time Saturday, a milestone that comes with Taube's help. He runs two philanthropies which together have committed about $16 million for the museum, the largest private donation to the project.
Though the museum, which celebrates the 1,000-year Jewish presence in Poland, does not yet have its permanent exhibition ready, officials were determined to at least have a small opening to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising, which was marked Friday in a state ceremony.
From now until sometime next year, when the core exhibition should be finished, the museum will host temporary exhibitions, films, lectures and other cultural events. This weekend, the museum is holding an open house, giving the public the first chance to explore a striking architectural creation that has been talked about for years. It is boxlike and glass on the outside, but inside the visitor enters a soaring foyer that looks like a deep curved canyon. With sand-colored walls, it symbolizes the parting of the Red Sea. A striking reconstruction of a painted wooden synagogue is already in place, though it wasn't on view Saturday.
Taube expressed satisfaction at seeing the museum reach this stage after nearly 20 years of planning, explaining that it is part of his longer-term mission to ensure that Polish Jewish history is not forgotten.
"I am in awe," Taube told The Associated Press in an interview from the museum. "As I go through and walk around all the nooks and crannies of this place and its unbelievable open spaces, these huge expanses of glass and these walls that are like a sculpture, and then seeing the wooden synagogue, it is a very remarkable experience."
Regular visitors were also enchanted, with thousands showing up Saturday to tour it. One, Jagoda Stypulkowska, a 78-year-old Pole who lived just outside the Warsaw ghetto during World War II and whose earliest memories include seeing Jewish children sneak out to find food, welcomed the arrival of the museum. While she finds the architecture is "modern and beautiful," she mainly welcomes the role it will play in educating Poles about Jewish history.
"This was really needed and I am hugely impressed," she said.
Over the decades, Taube has grown concerned that the Holocaust, as important as it was, was crowding out knowledge of the previous centuries of Jewish learning and culture. That Jewish world was for many centuries centered in the Polish lands, where it grew to be the world's largest Jewish community for a time, numbering 3.3 million on the eve of the Holocaust.
"I became very concerned that the Holocaust became more or less the beginning and end of Jewish history," he said. "I felt that being victims was too much a part of Jewish life."
So he began trying to promote historical remembrance of Jewish life in Poland, a cradle of "culture, history, language, art, theater and music fundamental to Western culture."
Among his broader philanthropic mission, Taube made the Warsaw museum a priority. He is president of the Koret Foundation and chairman of the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture, California-based groups which contributed heavily toward developing the $40 million permanent exhibition.
There are other major donors and fundraisers, including a Polish-born Holocaust survivor, Sigmund Rolat. A Polish tycoon, Jan Kulczyk, who isn't Jewish, gave 20 million Polish zlotys (about $6 million).
The museum is a public-private partnership, something new in Eastern Europe. The land the museum sits on, in the heart of the former Warsaw ghetto, was given by the city of Warsaw, with the building's construction primarily paid for by the national government. The private funds are earmarked for the development of the core exhibition.
Taube's engagement in Poland, which goes back to the fall of communism 23 years ago, is also shaped by happy memories of his early years in his native land. He remembers experiencing very little discrimination and in fact his family flourished thanks to the business acumen of his father, an exporter of ham and bacon.
His father's business activities and a big dose of wisdom saved the immediate family from death in the Holocaust, sparing it the fate that befell other relatives.
Young Taube's parents were on a business trip in New York in 1939 when they became alarmed by the news coming out of Europe. By then Germany had taken the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia and annexed Austria. Reports in the U.S. made the situation seem much more dramatic than how it appeared from Poland, Taube said. So his parents arranged for a family friend to make the journey out with him.
Taube doesn't remember the exact date, but it was certainly only a few months before Germany invaded Poland on Sept. 1, 1939, setting off the war.
The family settled in Los Angeles, where Taube's father went into the fur business and young Taube had a brief Hollywood career playing Polish and German children. He went on to graduate from Stanford, serve in the Air Force, and to rise in business in the semi-conductor industry and real estate. For a time in the 1980s he was also involved in professional football as a co-founder of the United States Football League and president of a San Francisco Bay area football franchise, the Oakland Invaders.
Today, he is primarily focused on his philanthropic work, which has brought him to Poland occasionally as the museum has come to life. He is savoring the role it will play in keeping alive the memory of Polish Jewish life.
"I felt that story had to be told, and it wasn't being told," he said. "This museum tells that story."
LUSHAN, China (AP) ? Luo Shiqiang sat near chunks of concrete, bricks and a ripped orange sofa and told how his grandfather was just returning from feeding chickens when their house collapsed and crushed him to death in this weekend's powerful earthquake in southwestern China.
"We lost everything in such a short time," the 20-year-old college student said Sunday. He said his cousin also was injured in the collapse, but that other members of his family were spared because they were out working in the fields of hard-hit Longmen village in Lushan county.
Saturday's earthquake in Sichuan province killed at least 186 people, injured more than 11,000 and left nearly two dozen missing, mostly in the rural communities around Ya'an city, along the same fault line where a devastating quake to the north killed more than 90,000 people in Sichuan and neighboring areas five years ago in one of China's worst natural disasters.
The Lushan and Baoxing counties hardest-hit on Saturday had escaped the worst of the damage in the 2008 quake, and residents there said they benefited little from the region's rebuilding after the disaster, with no special reinforcements made or new evacuation procedures introduced in their remote communities.
Luo said he wished more had been done to make his community's buildings quake-resistant. "Maybe the country's leaders really wanted to help us, but when it comes to the lower levels the officials don't carry it out," he said.
Relief teams flew in helicopters and dynamited through landslides Sunday to reach some of the most isolated communities, where rescuers in orange overalls led sniffer dogs through piles of brick, concrete and wood debris to search for survivors.
Many residents complained that although emergency teams were quick to carry away bodies and search for survivors, they had so far done little to distribute aid. "No water, no shelter," read a hand-written sign held up by children on a roadside in Longmen.
"I was working in the field when I heard the explosions of the earthquake, and I turned around and saw my house simply flatten in front of me," said Fu Qiuyue, a 70-year-old rapeseed farmer in Longmen.
Fu sat with her husband, Ren Dehua, in a makeshift shelter of logs and a plastic sheet on a patch of grass near where a helicopter had parked to reach their community of terraced grain and vegetable fields. She said the collapse of the house had crushed eight pigs to death. "It was the scariest sound I have ever heard," she said.
The quake ? measured by China's earthquake administration at magnitude 7.0 and by the U.S. Geological Survey at 6.6 ? struck shortly after 8 a.m. on Saturday. Tens of thousands of people moved into tents or cars, unable to return home or too afraid to go back as aftershocks continued to jolt the region.
The quake killed at least 186 people, left 21 missing and injured 11,393, the official Xinhua News Agency quoted the provincial emergency command center as saying.
As in most natural disasters, the government mobilized thousands of soldiers and others, sending excavators and other heavy machinery as well as tents, blankets and other emergency supplies. Two soldiers died after their vehicle slid off a road and rolled down a cliff, state media reported.
The Chinese Red Cross said it had deployed relief teams with supplies of food, water, medicine and rescue equipment to the disaster areas.
Lushan, where the quake struck, lies where the fertile Sichuan plain meets foothills that eventually rise to the Tibetan plateau and sits atop the Longmenshan fault, where the 2008 quake struck.
The seat of Lushan county has been turned into a large refugee camp, with tents set up on open spaces, and volunteers doling out noodles and boxed meals to survivors from stalls and the backs of vans.
A large van with a convertible side served as a mobile bank with an ATM, military medical trucks provided X-rays for people with minor injuries, and military doctors administered basic first aid, applying iodine solution to cuts and examining bruises.
Patients with minor ailments were lying in tents in the yard of the local hospital, which was wrecked by the quake, with the most severely injured patients sent to the provincial capital. With a limited water supply and buildings inaccessible, sanitation is a problem for the survivors.
One of the patients receiving care in the hospital's yard was the son of odd-job laborer Zhou Lin, 22. The baby boy was born a day before the quake struck. Zhou said he was relieved that his newborn son and wife were safe and healthy but was worried about his 60-year-old father and other relatives who have been unreachable in Baoxing.
"I can't get through on the phone, so I don't know what's going on there and they don't know if we are all right," he said.
Every so often, an aftershock struck, shaking windows of buildings and sending murmurs through the crowds.
YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) ? A French family with four young children kidnapped at gunpoint by Islamic extremists in northern Cameroon was freed after two months of captivity in what the father described as especially harsh conditions following the group's return Friday to safety in the Cameroonian capital.
Cameroonian television showed the family of seven ? four children, their parents and their uncle ? stepping off an airplane, a man who had grown a thick beard carrying the smallest child. All appeared thin, but walked steadily.
Officials from France and Cameroon offered no details on how the family was freed overnight, and it was not clear whether there were concessions to the kidnappers.
Tanguy Moulin-Fournier, an expatriate employee for a French company and father of the family, said in a brief radio interview that the group learned their release was imminent just a few hours beforehand and that their return to safety went well.
Speaking hours later at the ambassador's residence of the French Embassy in Yaounde, Cameroon's capital, he said the group has to "digest" their freedom before responding to questions while still "in the grip of emotions."
"It was very difficult," Moulin-Fournier, now sporting a thick beard, said. "It's the end of the dry season. The heat is terrible. Water was a problem. It was difficult to hold out."
The children, who the French media reported were aged 5 to 12, fared better, he said.
"Children have something in them so that they manage to hold up," he said. "Life in them flows stronger."
The seven ex-hostages were freed "in a zone between Nigeria and Cameroon," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said.
"It's a day of happiness, extraordinary happiness, for all French people to know that the Moulin-Fournier family is finally free, safe and sound," he said late Friday in a ceremony held in the Cameroonian capital before he was due to escort the family back to France.
"All hostage-takings are strongly felt in France, but this one was perhaps felt more because it concerned a big family with little kids."
French President Francois Hollande said authorities made contact with the kidnappers through intermediaries, and negotiations intensified in recent days. He reiterated France's official policy against ransom payments.
"We use all our contacts, but remain firm on our principles," Hollande said. "We are not changing the principle that France does not pay ransoms."
France has come under criticism over what diplomats and analysts say is an unofficial policy of indirectly paying ransoms through middlemen over the years. Vicki Huddleston, a former U.S. ambassador to Mali, alleged that France paid a $17 million ransom to free hostages seized from a French mining site ? cash she said ultimately funded the al-Qaida-linked militants in Mali. French officials deny paying any ransoms.
Fabius, like Hollande, stressed the need for discretion in working to free hostages. The minister thanked Cameroonian President Paul Biya and the Nigerian head of state.
"The Cameroonian people and I are filled with great relief and great joy to see you free," Biya told the three freed adults who attended a ceremony in the capital late Friday.
The Feb. 19 kidnapping in northern Cameroon near the Nigerian border came as thousands of French troops were deeply involved in a military intervention against Islamic extremists in the west African country of Mali. The French statement recalled that eight other French citizens are still being held hostage in the Sahel region of Africa.
Moulin-Fournier is an employee of the French gas group GDF Suez and worked in Yaounde.
"We were not involved in any negotiations but we knew that French authorities were very active," Gerard Mastrallet, the head of GDF, said in an interview with RTL radio.
Last month, a video surfaced showing a man who appeared to be Moulin-Fournier. The man said his family was in the custody of the Islamic radical sect known as Boko Haram which wants all its members freed, especially women and children held in Nigerian and Cameroonian custody.
Boko Haram has been waging a campaign of bombings and shootings across Nigeria's north. They are held responsible for more than 790 deaths last year, and dozens more since the beginning of this year.
Moulin-Fournier had said his family was not doing well in captivity.
"We lose force (strength) every day and start to be sick; we will not stay very long like this," he said in the recording.
Neither Nigeria nor Cameroon reported any Boko Haram members were freed.
Brig. Gen. Chris Olukolade, a Nigerian defense ministry spokesman, told The Associated Press on Friday that the release followed a "meticulous collaboration between the Nigerian security forces and French counterparts, as well as others." However, he declined to offer any other information.
"I can only inform you that we collaborated," he said.
Nigerian presidential spokesman Reuben Abati and a spokeswoman for Nigeria's domestic spy agency also declined to comment. However, it appeared Nigerian authorities were caught off-guard by the announcement.
___
Lori Hinnant reported from Paris. Associated Press writers Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Jon Gambrell in Lagos, Nigeria, contributed to this report.
Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) tickets sold out in minutes, but if you're going to be in San Francisco the second week of June, there's an alternative event happening that you may be interested in. 
It's not often that a guest post on TechCrunch turns into a startup Earlier this year, Googler Aditya Mahesh ![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 22-Apr-2013
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it will mess 