Thursday, February 26, 2009
(CNN) -- Federal authorities raided the office of a University of Florida professor on Wednesday who, along with his wife, is suspected of defrauding NASA.
The FBI searched the school's Innovative Nuclear Space Power and Propulsion Institute, founded by Samim Anghaie, and his office on campus, said university spokesman Steve Orlando. Anghaie is a professor of radiological engineering.
FBI spokesman Jeff Westcott would only confirm the searches on campus, referring all questions to the U.S. attorney's office. Calls to the U.S. attorney's office were not returned Wednesday.
According to an affidavit filed February 19, investigators from the FBI and NASA said that since 1999, the government has awarded 13 contracts to the couple's company, New Era Technology Inc. (NETECH), and deposited $3.4 million into the company's corporate account. Investigators allege they diverted much of the money from the corporate account into personal accounts to buy cars and property.
According to NETECH's Web site, the company was established in 1988 as a research and development firm to perform "high-tech, cutting edge research." It boasts "a highly skilled staff of research scientists, engineers, and physicists" and lists NASA, the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy among its employers.
Anghaie's wife, Sousan, is president of NETECH, which is listed under the couple's residential address in Gainesville, according to court documents. The couple have two sons; Hamid, 28, and Ali, 31.
Since 2001, Hamid Anghaie, who lives in Tampa, has been director and vice president of the company. Before Hamid took over, his father had the post, according to court documents.
Ali Anghaie, who lives in Manchester, Connecticut, works for an aerospace firm, Pratt & Whitney, also listed among NETECH's employers.
Calls to the home of Samim and Sousan Anghaie were not immediately returned Wednesday.
Authorities said the Anghaies took advantage of two federal grant programs set up to stimulate technological innovation in the private sector and strengthen the role of small businesses.
Under the NETECH name, they "submitted multiple fraudulent certified contract proposals to NASA, in order to receive the maximum funding for proposed research contracts," according to court documents.
The couple allegedly submitted fraudulent invoices to reimburse payments to "alleged employees," which ultimately resulted in the government overpaying the company, the documents say.
The money was allegedly diverted to personal accounts through the intentional overpayment of employees, including Samim Anghaie, or the payments made to "illegitimate" employees, including the two sons, according to the documents.
Samim Anghaie, who has worked for the University of Florida for nearly 30 years, has been placed on administrative leave with pay, Orlando said.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Aug 2004
Has anyone had a deep cleaning done at the dentist? My understanding is you go in for two separate appointments that last 2 hrs each where they really dig deep and clean around the gum base. My dentist is recommending it but to be honest, I'm not looking forward to going through this at all. My questions are: has anyone done this and were the results positive enough to make it worthwhile? Has anyone instead pursued another option and been successful in reducing the amount of plaque build up around the gum line? How painful was this or was it no big deal? I'm wondering if going in for 3 month cleanings for a year is an alternative. Any suggestions or experiences would be welcome. Wimpy dental patient
I had deep cleaning done early this year. It was two appointments about 45min each. The dentist numbed the area, cleaning one side of the mouth each time. It wasn't a pleasant process but very effective. Judy
Don't hesitate! Despite good intentions, I never end up going for cleanings often enough and I'm poor at regularly flossing, so I consider this procedure a life-saver, as I'm prone to heavy plaque build-up and gingivitus. I've had a deep-cleaning procedure done twice in the last few years, the first time by an oral surgeon and just recently by my new dentist. Both times it was not very uncomfortable or painful at all -- really not a big deal -- and the results in dental/gum health are well worth it! Do yourself a big favor ! and just do it. One who knows
I asked about this about a year ago, and thanks to the advice I got from people on this list, I went ahead and did it. My pockets went from mostly 6's and 5's to mostly 2's and 3's, and my dentist was very happy with the results (and so was I!). I was very nervous about doing it, but it's really not a big deal-- they will use the local anesthetic and it is uncomfortable to have half your mouth numb for a few hours after the cleaning, but that's the only drawback. I am now doing cleaning every 3 months to maintain things. I don't think that just doing more frequent cleanings will accomplish the same thing--they need to really get in deep to remove the plaque and make a nice surface for the gums to heal back onto. signed: happy teeth
I just had a deep cleaning on three quadrants. If you are told you need it, it's because they need to get beneath the gums where you cannot reach with dental floss or toothbrush and where your regular hygienist usually doesn't go when you get your teeth cleaned biannually. It didn't hurt for me. In fact, I felt like my gums were getting massaged, and I liked that feeling. If your gums/teeth are more sensitive than mine, you can get anesthetic applied. It may take a little longer and cost a little more (may not be covered by insurance.) I would definitely recommend doing it to guard against further decay and gum disease. If you don't do it, you take the risk of bacteria continuing to build, possible inflammation and tenderness, and then your body's immune system reacting to the presence of bacteria. I have also had periodontal surgery, and you don't want to go there! My periodontist is Dr. Gauss at Rockridge Dental. She is very! smart and very good. anonymous
I'm a wimp like yourself and was pretty anxious when given the same recommendation (partly my fault, though, for not sufficiently flossing). I was numbed up, and after getting over the shots, didn't feel anything but the pressure from the cleaning. My gums/mouth definitely felt better/cleaner, and outside of the quick pricks from the shots, completely painless. It might have helped that my dentist's office offers headsets that allow patients to watch movies while having work done. Honestly, I truly dread my annual visit, and these additional trips weren't that bad. If anything, it made me better at flossing! Good luck!
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Tomatoes are the most popular vegetable for home gardeners. No other vegetable comes close to it's popularity. And, it is no wonder, as there is nothing better than a ripe tomato straight out of the garden. Better still, eat one while you are still in your garden. Many tomatoes never makes it past the garden fence.
Growing tomato plants is easy. They produce an abundance of fruit. The best tomato, is one that ripens on the vine. With a wide range of varieties to choose from, there is a tomato plant that's just right for every home gardener.
Cherry Tomato-A favorite of kids and adults. These bite-sized tomatoes are easy to grow, ripen early, and are a perfect snack right in the garden. Leave a bowl of cherry tomatoes on your kitchen counter, and they disappear in a hurry. They are used in a variety of ways, including salads, vegetable trays with dip, and shish-ka-bob. After the gardening season, Cherry Tomatoes all but disappear from the marketplace, with those that remain commanding a high price.
On planting day, pour liberal amounts of water with a soluble liquid fertilizer on them. Plant them in the garden carefully. To minimize transplant shock, avoid disturbing the roots. Normal spacing is 24 " apart, in rows 30" to 36" apart.
Fertilize on a regular basis. Early applications should be high in nitrogen. As blossoming occurs, switch to fertilizers which are higher in Phosphorus and Potassium. Too much Nitrogen fertilizer results in lots of lush green leaves, and little fruit. A fertilizer specifically formulated for tomatoes, will help to maximize your crop.Tip: Even if you have a garden out back, we recommend finding a place along the back of the house for just one tomato plant. This one plant will be the last to succumb to frost in the fall. The warmth of the house, and a light plastic sheet or cloth tossed over it at night, will allow you to harvest fresh tomatoes after the first frost, right when prices are rising in the grocery store.
To maximize your crop, and minimize disease and insect damage, stake or cage tomatoes. They will reward you with more tomatoes. And, they will be cleaner, as they will not be sitting on the soil.
Days to Maturity:
Varying types require from 55 days to 85 days (Beefsteaks). The race is always on in my neighborhood to get the first ripe tomato of the season. Most of us also grow and await the beefsteaks. One slice from these delicious beauties more than fills a sandwich.
Cold and hot spells will affect fruit development and growth. Fruit set will not occur below 55 degrees or above 90 degrees Farenheit.
Monday, September 03, 2007
Salgado told police the van's wheels began to wobble shortly after it entered the expressway from Illinois Highway 83, and when she tried the brakes, they failed. The van veered from the center lane across the inside lane and careened off the guardrail. The van skidded sideways before flipping onto its side, police said.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Many of the early regional, national, and community Grid initiatives were built around the open Globus Toolkit. These were mainly the result of the growing world-wide community of Globus developers and users, the funding from U.S. government and industry to further develop the technology, and the leadership and evangelization of the Globus team. After four major releases today, Globus technology seems to be mature enough to be deployed by the "early majority" in research organizations and enterprises.
The following is the result of a recent study that evaluated and compared six major Grid projects around the world, to help the community to better understand, build, manage and operate grids, based on the experience of the early adopters.
During the last 12 months, we have analyzed the UK e-Science Program, the U.S. TeraGrid, Naregi in Japan, ChinaGrid, the European EGEE and the German D-Grid initiative. Our research, so far, is based on information from project Web sites, slide presentations, and from interviews with major representatives from these Grid initiatives. As an example, one of the earliest projects, with the highest funding volume and therefore one of the most important ones, is the UK e-Science Initiative. Major e-Science projects have been studied and key representatives interviewed from six e-Science Centers in the UK. The major focus of our research and of the interviews was on applications and strategic direction, government and industry funding, national and international cooperation, and strengths and weaknesses of the Grid projects.
As a result, we have compiled the following list of lessons learned and recommendations which may help others to successfully plan, implement, operate and fund similar Grid projects in the near future:
- Focus on understanding your user community and their needs. Invest in a strong communications and participations channel for leaders of that group to engage.
- Learn and keep up with what your peers have done/are doing. There is much useful experience to learn from partners.
- Instrument your services so that you collect good data about who is using which services and how. Analyze this data and learn from watching what's really going on, in addition to what users report.
- Plan for an incremental approach and lots of time talking out issues and plans. Social effects dominate in non-trivial grids.
- In any Grid project, during development as well a during operation, the core Grid infrastructure should be modified/improved only in large time cycles because all the Grid applications strongly depend on this infrastructure.
- Continuity, especially for the infrastructure part of Grid projects, is extremely important. Therefore, additional funding should be available also after the official duration of the project, to guarantee service and support and continuous improvement and adjustment to new developments.
- Close collaboration between the Grid infrastructure developers and the application developers and users is mandatory for the applications to seamlessly utilize the core Grid services of the infrastructure and to avoid application silos.
- New application grids (community grids) should utilize the components of the 'generic' Grid infrastructure to avoid re-inventing wheels and building silos.
- The infrastructure building block should be user-friendly to enable new (application) communities an easy adoption path. In addition, the infrastructure group should offer service and support for installation and operation.
- Centers of Excellence should specialize on specific services, e.g., integration of new communities, Grid operation, training, utility service, etc.
- We recommend implementing utility computing only in small steps, starting by making moderate enhancements to existing service models, and then testing utility models first as pilots. Very often, today's existing government funding models are counter-productive when establishing new and efficient forms of utility services.
- After a generic Grid infrastructure has been build, other projects should focus on an application or a specific service, to avoid complexity and re-inventing wheels.
- Reuse of software components from open-source and standards initiatives is highly recommended, especially in the infrastructure and application middleware layer. This leverages the power of the whole community.
- For interoperability reasons, focusing on software engineering methods is important, especially for the implementation of protocols and the development of standard interfaces.
- In case of more complex projects, e.g. consisting of an integration and several application or community projects, a strong management board should steer coordination and collaboration among the projects and the working groups. The management board (Steering Committee) should consist of leaders of the different projects.
- Participation of industry in this early phase has to be industry-driven. A blunt push from the outside, even with government funding, doesn't seem to be promising. Success will come only from natural needs e.g., through existing collaborations with research and industry, as a first step.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Icy Streets Follow Downtown Water Main Break
CHICAGO - Traffic was moving again Tuesday morning after a downtown water main break overnight. Water was freezing on the streets surrounding the break early Tuesday, creating dangerous driving and pedestrian conditions in the area, police said.
The water main break was reported about 2 a.m. at 100 W. Ohio St., according to police news affairs Officer Amina Greer.
Eastbound traffic remained slowed at Ohio and LaSalle streets and southbound traffic crawled on Clark Street, according to NBC5's Kim Vatis.
She said the Department of Streets and Sanitation was at the scene through much of the night.
The affected streets were salted overnight, allowing the streets to be reopened after closures following the initial break.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
This facility .... Also, database annotations cannot help with modifications. ...
In any case, the bulk of database entries are translated from nucleic acid sequences.
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I have nothing in common with Jane.
Mascot, in common with most other search engines, requires the users to provide an error window on the measured mass values.
