Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Lung cancer death rates among young and middle-aged white women climb in some states

Lung cancer death rates among young and middle-aged white women climb in some states [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 25-Jun-2012
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Contact: David Sampson
david.sampson@cancer.org
American Cancer Society

New analysis points to tobacco control efforts or lack thereof as likely cause

ATLANTA June 25, 2012A new study comparing lung cancer death rates among women by year of birth shows dramatic differences in trends between states, likely reflecting the success or failure of tobacco control efforts. The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, finds that while lung cancer death rates declined continuously by birth year for women born after the 1950s in California, rates in other states declined less quickly or even increased. In some southern states, lung cancer death rates among women born in the 1960s were approximately double those of women born in the 1930s.

Lung cancer death rates had been falling among young and middle-aged white women in the U.S., but then abruptly leveled off, reflecting an increase in smoking among girls in the 1960s and 1970s. To study whether this unfavorable trend varied across states, in view of large differences in tobacco control policies, researchers led by Ahmedin Jemal, PhD, analyzed lung cancer death rates from 1973 through 2007 by age among white women for 23 states for which there was adequate data, using the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) mortality database.

California has consistently led the U.S. in using public policies to reduce cigarette smoking. It was the first state to establish a comprehensive statewide tobacco control program through increased excise taxes (1988), and pioneered local government ordinances for smoke-free work places as early as the mid-1970s. In contrast, public policies against tobacco use have been weaker in many southern and Midwestern states, particularly among tobacco-growing states.

In California, age-specific lung cancer death rates by year of birth continued to decrease in all age groups younger than age 75 starting in the 1990s, with declines beginning earlier in younger age groups. In New York, the age-specific trends were generally similar to those in California except the decreases were much less steep. In Alabama, in contrast, rates continued to increase for those age 70 years or more, whereas rates for young and middle-aged women decreased for a short time, but are now increasing in the most recent time period, especially for women younger than age 50. In California, the lung cancer death rate for women born after 1950 is less than a third of that among those born in 1933, while in Alabama the death rate in women born after 1950 is more than double that of women born in 1933. Similar increasing rates in women born after 1950s were found in many southern states, including Tennessee, South Carolina, Louisiana, and Kentucky.

"The dramatic rise in lung cancer death rates in young and middle-aged white women in several Southern states points to a lack of effective policies or interventions, like excise taxes and comprehensive smoking bans, that deter initiation of smoking among teenagers and promote smoking cessation among adults," said Ahmedin Jemal, PhD, American Cancer Society vice president of surveillance research. "Our findings underscore the need for additional interventions to promote smoking cessation in these high-risk populations, which could lead to more favorable future mortality trends for lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases."

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Article: Increasing Lung Cancer Death Rates Among Young Women in Southern and Midwestern States; Jemal et al., J Clin Oncol 2012 Published online ahead of print June 25, 2012. DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2012.42.6098


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Lung cancer death rates among young and middle-aged white women climb in some states [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 25-Jun-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: David Sampson
david.sampson@cancer.org
American Cancer Society

New analysis points to tobacco control efforts or lack thereof as likely cause

ATLANTA June 25, 2012A new study comparing lung cancer death rates among women by year of birth shows dramatic differences in trends between states, likely reflecting the success or failure of tobacco control efforts. The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, finds that while lung cancer death rates declined continuously by birth year for women born after the 1950s in California, rates in other states declined less quickly or even increased. In some southern states, lung cancer death rates among women born in the 1960s were approximately double those of women born in the 1930s.

Lung cancer death rates had been falling among young and middle-aged white women in the U.S., but then abruptly leveled off, reflecting an increase in smoking among girls in the 1960s and 1970s. To study whether this unfavorable trend varied across states, in view of large differences in tobacco control policies, researchers led by Ahmedin Jemal, PhD, analyzed lung cancer death rates from 1973 through 2007 by age among white women for 23 states for which there was adequate data, using the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) mortality database.

California has consistently led the U.S. in using public policies to reduce cigarette smoking. It was the first state to establish a comprehensive statewide tobacco control program through increased excise taxes (1988), and pioneered local government ordinances for smoke-free work places as early as the mid-1970s. In contrast, public policies against tobacco use have been weaker in many southern and Midwestern states, particularly among tobacco-growing states.

In California, age-specific lung cancer death rates by year of birth continued to decrease in all age groups younger than age 75 starting in the 1990s, with declines beginning earlier in younger age groups. In New York, the age-specific trends were generally similar to those in California except the decreases were much less steep. In Alabama, in contrast, rates continued to increase for those age 70 years or more, whereas rates for young and middle-aged women decreased for a short time, but are now increasing in the most recent time period, especially for women younger than age 50. In California, the lung cancer death rate for women born after 1950 is less than a third of that among those born in 1933, while in Alabama the death rate in women born after 1950 is more than double that of women born in 1933. Similar increasing rates in women born after 1950s were found in many southern states, including Tennessee, South Carolina, Louisiana, and Kentucky.

"The dramatic rise in lung cancer death rates in young and middle-aged white women in several Southern states points to a lack of effective policies or interventions, like excise taxes and comprehensive smoking bans, that deter initiation of smoking among teenagers and promote smoking cessation among adults," said Ahmedin Jemal, PhD, American Cancer Society vice president of surveillance research. "Our findings underscore the need for additional interventions to promote smoking cessation in these high-risk populations, which could lead to more favorable future mortality trends for lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases."

###

Article: Increasing Lung Cancer Death Rates Among Young Women in Southern and Midwestern States; Jemal et al., J Clin Oncol 2012 Published online ahead of print June 25, 2012. DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2012.42.6098


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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.


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Mercury mineral evolution tied to Supercontinent assembly over last 3 billion years

ScienceDaily (June 25, 2012) ? Mineral evolution posits that Earth's near-surface mineral diversity gradually increased through an array of chemical and biological processes. A dozen different species in interstellar dust particles that formed the solar system have evolved to more than 4500 species today. Previous work from Carnegie's Bob Hazen demonstrated that up to two thirds of the known types of minerals on Earth can be directly or indirectly linked to biological activity. Now Hazen has turned his focus specifically on minerals containing the element mercury and their evolution on our planet as a result of geological and biological activity.

His work, published in American Mineralogist, demonstrates that the creation of most minerals containing mercury is fundamentally linked to several episodes of supercontinent assembly over the last 3 billion years.

Mineral evolution is an approach to understanding Earth's changing near-surface geochemistry. All chemical elements were present from the start of our Solar System, but at first they formed comparatively few minerals -- perhaps no more than 500 different species in the first billion years. As time passed on the planet, novel combinations of elements led to new minerals. Although as much as 50% of the mercury that contributed to Earth's accretion was lost to volatile chemical processing, 4.5 billion years of mineral evolution has led to at least 90 different mercury-containing minerals now found on Earth.

Hazen and his team examined the first-documented appearances of these 90 different mercury-containing minerals on Earth. They were able to correlate much of this new mineral creation with episodes of supercontinent formation -- periods when most of Earth's dry land converged into single landmasses. They found that of the 60 mercury-containing minerals that first appeared on Earth between 2.8 billion and 65 million years ago, 50 were created during three periods of supercontinent assembly. Their analysis suggests that the evolution of new mercury-containing minerals followed periods of continental collision and mineralization associated with mountain formation.

By contrast, far fewer types of mercury-containing minerals formed during periods when these supercontinents were stable, or when they were breaking apart. And in one striking exception to this trend, the billion-year-long interval that included the assembly of the Rodinian supercontinent (approximately 1.8 to 0.8 billion years ago) saw no mercury mineralization anywhere on Earth. Hazen and his colleagues speculate that this hiatus could have been due to a sulfide-rich ocean, which quickly reacted with any available mercury and thus prevented mercury from interacting chemically with other elements.

The role of biology is also critical in understanding the mineral evolution of mercury. Although mercury is rarely directly involved in biological processes -- except in some rare bacteria -- its interactions with oxygen came about entirely due to the appearance of the photosynthetic process, which plants and certain bacteria use to convert sunlight into chemical energy. Mercury also has a strong affinity for carbon-based compounds that come from biological material, such as coal, shale, petroleum, and natural gas products.

"Our work shows that in the case of mercury, evolution seems to have been driven by hydrothermal activity associated with continents colliding and forming mountain ranges, as well as by the drastic increase in oxygen caused by the rise of life on Earth," Hazen said. "Future work will have to correlate specific mineral occurrences to specific tectonic events."

Future work will also focus on the minerals of other elements to see how they differ and correlate with mercury's mineral evolution, and to new strategies for locating as yet undiscovered deposits of critical resources. "It's important to keep honing in on the ways that minerals have evolved on our planet from their simple elemental origins to the vast array in existence today," Hazen said.

Hazen's co-authors are Joshua Golden, Robert Downs, and Grethe Hystad of the University of Arizona; Edward Grew of the University of Maine; and David Azzolini and Dimitri Sverjensky of Johns Hopkins University.

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Monday, June 25, 2012

Robotics and Computers: Curing Paralysis ? Urban Times

With the help of a robotic arm, a paralyzed woman took a sip of coffee unaided for the first time in 15 years.

The British Broadcasting Corporation reports?that two paralyzed patients in the United States have successfully managed to control a robotic arm using only their thoughts. This remarkable scientific achievement is the result of a collaboration between Brown University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and the Department of Veteran Affairs.

58-year-old Cathy Hutchinson is shown in a video controlling a robotic arm and taking a drink from a flask of coffee. For years, Hutchinson had been paralyzed from the neck down, relying on the aid of others to perform simple, daily chores.

What is the secret behind this latest miracle? A tiny sensor chip implanted in the brain. The sensor is linked to a computer, allowing the brain to send signals to control the robotic arm. Theoretically, the arm would allow patients to perform basic daily chores that would otherwise require the assistance of a healthy, mobile assistant.

Credit: Un ragazzo chiamato Bi via Flickr

The new ability to control a robot with the mind is certainly wonderful news for patients suffering from paralysis. Unfortunately, while many new devices are constantly being invented to help people with disabilities function independently, there are still many patients who are solely reliant on others for assistance. The burden of relying on a caregiver, not to mention the strain caregivers must endure, make it difficult for the families of patients to live ordinary lives. ?In many cases where patients are entirely dependent on others, the mind is still completely functional. Mind-controlled robotic technology could drastically improve the quality of life for these patients and their caregivers.

While new technology such as mind-controlled robots are certainly a step in the right direction, these robots cannot yet grant complete independence to those who are paralyzed. Professor Leigh Hochberg, speaking to the BBC about the long-term goals of the robot project, said the team aims to reconnect the brains of paralyzed patients to their limbs. Effectively, the team aims to remove the robotic middle-man and completely ?fix? paralysis. The same technology would also allow amputees to control prosthetic limbs using the neural interface, restoring mobility.

Credit: Frankenstoen via Flickr

Replacing lost limbs with robotic prosthetics certainly sounds a lot like something from a science fiction novel. Professor Hochberg admits that the team?s long term goals are ?distant ambitions?, but they remain optimistic. It?s difficult to say when the new technology will be ready for widespread use, however.

While scientists continue their research, it may be time for society to consider the implications of these new discoveries. How could we adapt to robotic limbs? What sort of patients would be best suited to using the technology? Perhaps more pressingly, how could we reduce the costs of producing the technology so that it can become widespread medical equipment? If we have finally found a way to return freedom to paralyzed patients, then we must work diligently to ensure that we remove all the other barriers to the technology in the future.

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Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Microsoft's 'Surface' tablet aims for productivity

OMMERCIAL IMAGE - In this photograph taken by AP Images for Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft Chief Executive Officer, reveals Surface, a new family of PCs, for Windows, Monday, June 18, 2012, in Los Angeles. (Rene Macura/AP Images for Mircrosoft)

OMMERCIAL IMAGE - In this photograph taken by AP Images for Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft Chief Executive Officer, reveals Surface, a new family of PCs, for Windows, Monday, June 18, 2012, in Los Angeles. (Rene Macura/AP Images for Mircrosoft)

Microsoft Corp.'s Surface tablet computers, aiming to compete with Apple's iPad, are displayed at Hollywood's Milk Studios in Los Angeles Monday, June 18, 2012. The 9.3-millimeter thick tablet comes with a kickstand to hold it upright and keyboard that is part of the device's cover. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

FILE- In this Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, file photo, attendees at the National Retail Federation visit a Microsoft display in New York. Microsoft Corp. said Monday, June 18, 2012, it will make a "major" announcement after the market closes on Monday. Speculation has ranged from an unveiling of a new tablet computer that uses low-power chips to a new system that will use an upcoming version of Windows to (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer unveils the Surface, a tablet computer aiming compete with Apple's iPad at Hollywood's Milk Studios in Los Angeles Monday, June 18, 2012. The 9.3-millimeter thick tablet comes with a kickstand to hold it upright and keyboard that is part of the device's cover. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Panos Panay, the general manager of the Microsoft Surface holds "Surface," a new tablet computer shown with optional covers options at Hollywood's Milk Studios in Los Angeles Monday, June 18, 2012. The 9.3 millimeter thick tablet comes with a kickstand to hold it upright and keyboard that is part of the device's cover. It weighs under 1.5 pounds. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

(AP) ? Microsoft unveiled a new tablet computer, Surface, that attempts to take advantage of one of the few criticisms of Apple's iPad ? that it is better for consuming content than creating it.

The software maker said Monday that its device will attach to a removable rubberized keyboard that also acts like a book cover. CEO Steve Ballmer said Surface will be an entertainment device "without compromising the productivity that PCs are uniquely known for."

Microsoft Corp.'s broadside against the iPad is a dramatic step to ensure that its Windows software plays a major role in the increasingly important mobile computing market.

"They are saying it's a different world now and are trying to put the sexy back into the Microsoft brand," said Gartner Inc. analyst Carolina Milanesi.

Microsoft is linking the Surface's debut with the release of its much-anticipated Windows 8 operating system, which has been designed with tablets in mind. The company hasn't specified when Windows 8 will hit the market, but most analysts expect the software to come out in September or October.

One version of the Surface, which won't go on sale until sometime in the fall, is 9.3 millimeters thick and works on the Windows RT operating system which was made for tablets that run on low-power chips designed by British chipmaker ARM Holdings PLC.

It comes with a 0.7-millimeter thick kickstand to hold it upright and a 3-millimeter-thick touch keyboard cover that snaps on using magnets. The device weighs under 1.5 pounds.

The size is similar to the latest iPad, which is 9.4 millimeters thick and weighs 1.3 pounds.

Surface has a screen that measures 10.6 inches diagonally, compared to 9.7 inches for the iPad, but it comes in the 16:9 aspect ratio, which is suited to watching video in the widescreen format. The iPad's screen size ratio is 4:3.

Microsoft said the Surface's price tag will be similar to the iPad, which sells for $499 to $829, depending on the model.

A slightly thicker version ? still less than 14 millimeters thick and under 2 pounds ? will work on Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 Pro operating system and cost as much as an Ultrabook, the company said. The pro version comes with a stylus that allows users to make handwritten notes on documents such as PDF files. It will be released about three months later.

The touch keyboard resembles the lightweight "Smart Cover" that Apple Inc. sells for $38, but comes with a full QWERTY keyboard. It is rigidly flat instead of foldable. A slightly thicker keyboard with depressable keys will also be available.

Although the Surface looks like an elegant device, Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps criticized Microsoft for not using attention focused on Monday's announcement to highlight some of the reasons that it might be a better option than the iPad. For instance, she thinks Microsoft could have shown how its video calling service, Skype, will work on Surface or how people might be able to use its motion-control sensor, Kinect, on the tablet.

"I am excited about this product, but it felt like Microsoft was pulling punches with this announcement," Epps said. "Hardware is only part of the dynamic. They need to explain how Microsoft manufacturing this device will change people's experience with a tablet."

Microsoft also may be limiting the Surface's impact by limiting the initial sales to its own stores and online channels.

The foray into hardware is unusual for Microsoft, which relies on manufacturers like Hewlett-Packard and Dell, and could cause friction. Ballmer said the company, at times, needs to push hardware makers "in ways even that the makers of the hardware had yet to envision."

He said the tablet was as essential to the upcoming Windows 8 operating system as the mouse was for the first version of Windows.

"Much like Windows 1.0 needed the mouse to complete the experience, we wanted to give Windows 8 its own companion hardware innovation," he said.

The more hands-on approach may upset some manufacturers.

Nomura analyst Rick Sherlund said Microsoft will have to assure longtime manufacturing partners that it is competing fairly with them.

"Microsoft will need to assure them it's a level playing field," he said. "I think this sets a high bar for their partners."

Microsoft has been making software for tablets since 2002, when it shipped the Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. Many big PC makers produced tablets that ran the software, but they were never big sellers. The tablets were based on PC technology, and were heavy, with short battery lives.

Microsoft didn't say how long the Surface would last on battery power.

It won't be the first time Microsoft has ventured into hardware. And the Surface won't be its first computer, in the broad sense. The successful Xbox game console is essentially a PC designed to connect to a TV and play video games.

Microsoft has also made its own music player, the Zune, and a line of phones, the Kin. In both cases, it produced these products after hardware partners had failed to produce competitive products with Microsoft's software.

Both products were failures. The Zune gained favorable reviews when it launched in 2006, but still couldn't hold its own against the iPod, and was discontinued last year. The Kin phones were panned and pulled from shelves within two months of their launch in 2010.

The Xbox, on the other hand, didn't tread on the toes of any Microsoft partners. Launched in 2001, it has made Microsoft a major player in console gaming, alongside Sony and Nintendo. But it was a money-loser for many years, and while it's been profitable more recently, it's only marginally so, especially when compared to Microsoft's lucrative software business.

___

AP Technology Writers Michael Liedtke in San Francisco and Peter Svensson in New York contributed to this report.

Associated Press

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Monday, June 18, 2012

Why Do Men Have Affairs and Why Most Advice Is Wrong ? Where I ...

I?ve read a lot of relationship advice about why married men have affairs. Some will tell you that men will cheat because they are hard-wired to do so and that they have no control or responsibility over what choices they make. Others will tell you that all men will only cheat because of a specific set of reasons like: because he can,jordan shoes, it?s thrilling,louboutin pas cher, he?s having a midlife crisis,christian louboutin, or any number of other things.

From there it is a slippery slope from infatuation to flirting,jordan outlet, emotional affairs, and a physical affair.

But I will tell you what usually lies at the bottom of all of these external causes of an affair. It is unmet emotional needs.

But as soon as the new secretary at the office starts to give him that respect that he feels is lacking in his personal life,jordan, he can?t help but feel a little bit infatuated by her. He may not even have the intention of cheating,abercrombie and fitch, but he?ll just feel drawn to her for some unknown reason.

I don?t really like this kind of advice. Not only is it offensive because it ignores human free will and assumes that all men will behave the same way in any given circumstance, but it also lumps men together into one category.

It is incredibly ineffective to try to label the causes of affairs with some simple list of 4 reasons (or whatever).

When a man feels that he isn?t getting all of his emotional needs met in a relationship,christian louboutin uk, he may start to experience things like a midlife crisis or a desire to connect with other women. Let?s face it,abercrombie, men who are happy with their lives and their relationships don?t cheat.

You see,abercrombie france, if a man has a deep emotional need that is left unmet, he will be drawn to anyone and anything that may offer to meet that need.

Have an honest talk with your husband and ask him how he feels about your relationship. If the two of you have been avoiding topics like this in the past,abercrombie, you may have to dig deeper before he really opens up. Be patient as well,louboutin, since he may not know himself exactly what may be lacking in his life.

So an affair really starts because of a problem in the relationship. If you focus on improving communication and developing honesty with what is working and what isn?t working you can stop an affair before it even starts or learn what caused one in the first place.

You and I both know that all men aren?t the same. There are shy men and outgoing men. There are charming men and brash men. Men are human beings, just the same as you and I. They have their own unique motivations based on who they are and the experiences that they have been through.

For example,air jordan, let?s say a guy has an unmet need to feel respected and let?s say that he isn?t getting that from his wife. He may not even know that he has this need inside of him. It could all be unconscious.

All of this because of a simple unmet emotional need.

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Rodney King, whose beating led to LA riots, dies

FILE - This April 13, 2012 file photo shows Rodney King posing for a portrait in Los Angeles. King, the black motorist whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police officers was the touchstone for one of the most destructive race riots in the nation's history, has died, his publicist said Sunday, June 17, 2012. He was 47. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, file)

FILE - This April 13, 2012 file photo shows Rodney King posing for a portrait in Los Angeles. King, the black motorist whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police officers was the touchstone for one of the most destructive race riots in the nation's history, has died, his publicist said Sunday, June 17, 2012. He was 47. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, file)

FILE - This March 31, 1991 image made from video shot by George Holliday shows police officers beating a man, later identified as Rodney King. King, the black motorist whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police officers was the touchstone for one of the most destructive race riots in the nation's history, has died, his publicist said Sunday, June 17, 2012. He was 47. (AP Photo/Courtesy of KTLA Los Angeles, George Holliday)

FILE - This file photo of Rodney King was taken three days after his videotaped beating in Los Angeles on March 6, 1991. King, the black motorist whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police officers was the touchstone for one of the most destructive race riots in the nation's history, has died, his publicist said Sunday, June 17, 2012. He was 47. (AP Photo/Pool, File)

FILE - This July 20, 1993 file photo shows Rodney King speaking during an appearance on KFI-AM radio's "Bill Handel and Mark Whitlock" show in Los Angeles. King, the black motorist whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police officers was the touchstone for one of the most destructive race riots in the nation's history, has died, his publicist said Sunday, June 17, 2012. He was 47. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, file)

FILE - This July 16, 1992 file photo shows Rodney King being escorted from jail in Santa Ana, Calif. after he was arrested for investigation of drunken driving. King, whose videotaped beating by police in 1991 led to LA race riots, has died at 47. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, file)

(AP) ? Just a few months ago, Rodney King was once again the center of attention as the world checked back in on the man whose videotaped beating by police sparked one of the nation's worst race riots.

King had left Los Angeles behind, moving an hour east to a home where neighbors would often hear him splashing in the pool late at night.

The scars from the more than 50 baton blows ? those both inside and out? remained, but King struck an upbeat note on his life.

"America's been good to me after I paid the price and stayed alive through it all," he told The Associated Press. "This part of my life is the easy part now."

But King was found around 5:30 a.m. Sunday at the bottom of the swimming pool at his Rialto, Calif. Home.

His death at age 47 is being treated as an apparent drowning and there are no signs of foul play, but Capt. Randy De Anda said autopsy results would be needed to determine whether drugs or alcohol were a factor.

The autopsy is set for Monday.

De Anda said King was only in the water three to four minutes between the time his fiancee called 911 and when officers arrived and pulled him from the water. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:11 a.m.

It was a grim end for King, who became a symbol for police brutality but struggled with addiction and repeated arrests. Long after the $3.8 million he'd been awarded in a civil case was spent on record label and other failed ventures, King would periodically resurface, appearing on "Celebrity Rehab" or sparring in the occasional boxing match. He spent the last months of his life promoting a memoir he titled "The Riot Within: From Rebellion to Redemption."

Sandra Gardea, King's next-door neighbor said that around 3 a.m., she heard music and someone "really crying, like really deep emotions. ... Like tired or sad, you know?"

"I then heard someone say, 'OK, Please stop. Go inside the house.' ... We heard quiet for a few minutes Then after that we heard a splash in the back."

King was 25 years old and on parole for a robbery conviction when he led police on a high-speed chase in March 1991 that ended on a darkened Los Angeles street. He was finally stopped by four Los Angeles police officers who struck him more than 50 times with their batons, kicked him and shot him with stun guns. He was left with 11 skull fractures, a broken eye socket and facial nerve damage.

The violence was captured on videotape by a nearby resident, who turned it over to a TV station. It was played over and over for the following year, inflaming racial tensions across the country.

The images ? preserved on an infamous grainy video ? of the black driver curled up on the ground while four white officers clubbed him ? became a national symbol of police brutality in 1991. More than a year later, when the officers' acquittals touched off one of the most destructive race riots in history, his scarred face and soft-spoken question ? "Can we all get along?" ? spurred the nation to confront its difficult racial history.

It seemed that the videotape would be the key evidence to a guilty verdict against the officers, whose felony assault trial was moved to the predominantly white suburb of Simi Valley, Calif. Instead, on April 29, 1992, a jury with no black members acquitted three of the officers on state charges in the beating; a mistrial was declared for a fourth.

Rioting began immediately, starting in Los Angeles. It lasted for three days, killing 55 people, injuring more than 2,000 and setting swaths of Los Angeles aflame, causing $1 billion in damage. Police, seemingly caught off-guard, were quickly outnumbered by rioters and retreated. As the uprising spread to the city's Koreatown area, shop owners armed themselves and engaged in running gun battles with looters.

"Through all that he had gone through with his beating and his personal demons he was never one to not call for reconciliation and for people to overcome and forgive," Rev. Al Sharpton said Sunday. "History will record that it was Rodney King's beating and his actions that made America deal with the excessive misconduct of law enforcement."

The Los Angeles Police Department, after the King beating and other scandals, has instituted new policies including community policing that have resulted in crime drops, but continued complaints about racial profiling. Many of the hardest-hit areas in South LA, like King, have struggled. In the area around the Florence and Normandie intersection that was one of the riot's flash points, high school dropout rates are higher than in the rest of the city and incomes remain dramatically lower than in other sections of Los Angeles.

In his autobiography, King described his uneasy feelings about the events of his life.

"For many years I felt that I had been involuntarily burdened as the victim and resultant universal symbol of police brutality," King wrote. "I wanted no part of it, just wanted to stay home, drink and watch TV. ...The fact that this footage was sent out to be viewed by the entire world certainly didn't help my recovery."

"We may be scarred," he wrote, "and we may not be able to forget, but we can keep going, one step at a time, until we get to a better place."

___

Dillon reported from Rialto and Linda Deutsch, Chris Weber and John Antczak in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Associated Press

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Israel launches African migrant deportation drive

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