Cousins Properties Incorporated ( CUZ ) sold five shopping centers, spanning about 486,000 square feet, for $79.5 million to a single buyer. With the sale completion of the properties, which were anchored by Publix, Cousins Properties successfully fulfilled its retail ownership divestiture goal.

This real estate investment trust (REIT) reaped net proceeds of around $34.5 million from this divestiture. As a matter of fact, the company owned the vended assets in two joint ventures with Watkins Retail Group.

We are encouraged with this transaction as it will provide dry powder to Cousins Properties to shape its business on a simpler platform by specifically targeting trophy assets and opportunistic investments.

Notably, Cousins Properties primarily focuses on investing in the properties that are primarily concentrated in high-growth Sun Belt markets. Accordingly, earlier this month, the company inked a joint venture deal with Hines - a Houston-based real estate investor - for constructing a trophy office tower named 'Victory Center' in the Uptown Dallas submarket of Texas (read more: Cousins-Hines Team Up to Build Victory Center in TX ). Moreover, subsequent to end of the third quarter, the company acquired a 1.5 million square foot Class-A office asset - Northpark Town Center - in Atlanta for $348 million. Such deals promise strong growth prospects.

In the previous month, Cousins Properties reported third-quarter 2014 results with FFO (funds from operations) of 20 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny and easily surpassing the year-ago figure of 9 cents. Robust revenue growth aided the 81.8% year-over-year rise in FFO per share (read more: Cousins Properties Q3 FFO and Revenues Beat )

Cousins Properties currently holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other better-ranked REITs are Duke Realty Corp. ( DRE ), EastGroup Properties Inc. ( EGP ) and Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. ( ARE ). All stocks have the same rank as Cousins Properties.

Note: FFO, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs, is obtained after adding depreciation and amortization and other non-cash expenses to net income.

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Cousins Vends 5 Properties, Fully Sheds Retail Ownership - Analyst Blog

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

20-Nov-2014

Contact: Tona Kunz tkunz@anl.gov 630-252-5560 DOE/Argonne National Laboratory @argonne

A new discovery about the atomic structure of uranium dioxide will help scientists select the best computational model to simulate severe nuclear reactor accidents.

Using the Advanced Photon Source (APS), a Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility, researchers from DOE's Argonne National Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory, along with Materials Development, Inc., Stony Brook University, and Carnegie Institution of Washington, found that the atomic structure of uranium dioxide (UO2) changes significantly when it melts.

UO2 is the primary fuel component in the majority of existing nuclear reactors, but little is known about the molten state because of its extremely high melting point. Until now, the extremely high temperature and chemical reactivity of the melt have hindered studies of molten UO2. This lack of fundamental information has made it difficult to evaluate issues associated with the interaction of molten UO2 with a reactor's zirconium cladding and steel containment vessel.

The research team found that when uranium dioxide melts, the number of oxygen atoms around uranium changes from eight-fold to a mixture of six- and seven-fold, which changes the way it interacts with other materials. Many existing models, however, do not account for this change in structure or the rapid oxygen dynamics that occur at high temperatures.

"Determining the behavior of UO2 under extreme conditions is essential to enhancing our understanding of reactor safety during severe accidents," said Mark Williamson of Argonne's Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division.

"Very few places in the world have the capability to safely measure the structure of molten UO2 at 3,000 degrees Celsius without introducing contamination from the container that holds the melt," added Chris Benmore of Argonne's X-ray Science Division.

Researchers studied the UO2 in the hot crystalline and molten states. In this experiment, researchers relied on the APS's high-energy synchrotron X-ray beam to study a bead of UO2 that was aerodynamically levitated on a stream of argon and heated with a laser beam.

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Discovery sheds light on nuclear reactor fuel behavior during a severe event

Carpet Python Sheds Skin
9 foot West Papuan Carpet Python. Music by the filmmaker is a live recording created with an electric guitar and a boomerang phrase sampler. http://WWW.chrisrenna.com.

By: Chromatophone Productions

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Carpet Python Sheds Skin - Video

Diem Brown stepped out on July 26, 2014 for an event in Water Mill City, New York. Neilson Barnard, Getty Images

The recent death of Diem Brown -- the spunky, tough-as-nails reality star and cancer advocate -- rocked the many who'd followed her long, public struggle with the disease. Brown, who was 32 and had beaten cancer twice, lost her battle when it returned a third time in the form of colon cancer and spread to her liver and lymph nodes.

Nearly 70,000 Americans aged 15 to 40 are diagnosed with cancer each year, according to the National Cancer Institute. These are critical formative years, when people are making important life choices: beginning careers, getting married and starting a family. And, because certain types of cancer and cancer treatments can cause infertility, getting sick sometimes means having to start immediately planning for an unimagined future.

Dr. Elizabeth Fino, who sees patients at the NYU Fertility Center, says young adults have to make hard choices very quickly. "Most of the cancers encountered in that age group are aggressive and need to be treated very quickly. So, in midst of having to make a lot of decisions regarding cancer, they also have to come to us and be proactive about preserving their fertility."

Fino says it can be overwhelming for young women to have to plan chemo and fertility treatments simultaneously. "With some types of aggressive breast cancers, young women also have to think about lining up a gestational carrier down the road," she says.

The overwhelming emotional, physical, social and spiritual impact of receiving a cancer diagnosis at this pivotal time in life can cause some people to want to give up. Others, like Diem Brown, choose to move through the traumatic journey by reaching out for support and getting active about finding solutions.

Some of these young people have become strong forces of cancer advocacy, using social media as a tool for raising awareness and education. Speaking out about their disease and treatment on social media, and building supportive communities is a way to make meaning out of a devastating diagnosis.

"Through blogging, writing, and social media, I've found my voice, and I've found small ways to make a difference. That's something you can do from a hospital room. It's empowering and liberating to realize that you're not just a cancer patient but you're so much more than that," leukemia survivor and New York Times wellness blogger Suleika Jaouad says.

Brown shared her cancer journey in real time with 200,000 Twitter followers, nearly 200,000 Instagram followers, and through her blog for People.com. One of her final tweets shows her will to live and her willingness to reach out for support.

When Brown died just three days later, the young adult cancer survivor community took a hard hit.

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Diem Brown's death sheds light on young adult cancer

A MAN who said his home had been invaded by more than 10,000 flies was told there was no evidence linking the infestation to nearby hen sheds.

The owners of Piercebridge Farm, on the edge of Piercebridge, near Darlington, had applied for retrospective planning permission for the three moveable hen sheds after a High Court ruling that such structures require consent.

Six people living in properties neighbouring the field where the free range hens are kept sent objections to Darlington Borough Council on the grounds that they caused an increase in the number of flies in their homes.

Farmer Harry Hodgson denied that his hens or sheds were responsible for the flies and pointed to independent testing and inspections by government and council experts that showed no fly larvae were present on the site.

However, Simon Still, who lives closest to the hen sheds, said investigation by experts he had engaged showed there could be no other source of the infestation.

Mr Still said his home became untenable during the summer months and that he had collected more than 10,000 flies within 52 days earlier this year.

Brian Whelan, environmental health officer for Darlington Borough Council, was asked to investigate the fly problem in Piercebridge and tested faeces from the hen sheds on three occasions.

He told a meeting of the councils planning committee: We did not see any fly activity in the buildings. We took samples and did not find any eggs in those samples.

We gave our findings to the complainants investigator and he looked at them and agreed with our findings.

What is not in dispute is that there is some sort of fly problem in Piercebridge but we have not got any evidence as to why. We will continue to investigate.

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Man who said home had been invaded by 10,000 flies told hen sheds on farm near Darlington are not to blame

Listen: Documentary highlights first responders dealing with PTSD

A documentary will soon be released that sheds light on the problem of PTSD among first responders. KTAR's Sandra Haros reports.

A new documentary will soon be released that sheds light on a problem that exists but until now has not received the attention it deserves. It's Post-traumatic stress disorder among first responders.

The documentary is called "Code 9-Officer Needs Assistance." It is being co-produced by the wife of a retired state trooper dealing with PTSD and highlights the "dark side of law enforcement."

PTSD among first responders is a big problem, and experts in the film say up to nearly 20 percent of officers across the country suffer from PTSD, with many families suffering in silence and not understanding the changes they see in their loved ones.

Medically retired Mesa Police Officer Nathan Schlitz was interviewed for the documentary. After two shooting incidents, one resulting in the death of a 15-year-old girl, he was diagnosed with PTSD. Today, he offers peer support to other officers.

"The public usually associates post-traumatic stress with military veterans. This documentary really demonstrates how first responders can be affected by the critical incidents they have to deal with," said Schlitz. "It raises awareness about the problem of PTSD and other disorders that can occur with law enforcement and any first responder."

The powerful documentary shares the gut wrenching stories of the anguish associated with stress injuries inflicted upon first responders and their families. Experts in the documentary say for every one person who commits suicide, there are 1,000 officers suffering in silence.

On Nov. 18, Phoenix Police Officer Craig Tiger was laid to rest after taking his own life. He had been diagnosed previously with PTSD.

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Documentary highlights first responders dealing with PTSD

Grand Haven High School Athletic Director Scott Robertson confirmed today that interim head football coach Jason Duram has been permanently hired as the programs varsity head coach.

"Jason did a great job leading the varsity team during this interim basis," Robertson said. "His passion for student-athletes and commitment to developing a successful football program was key in our decision."

Duram, a GHHS social studies teacher, has been on the varsity coaching staff since 2003, last serving as defensive coordinator before taking over as the interim head coach this past season.

"I am excited to begin a new chapter in the Grand Haven football program," said Duram, whose Buccaneers finished 3-6 this past fall. "We have assembled an excellent coaching staff, and look forward to developing the necessary belief, unity and character within our program to achieve success both on and off the field.

"We are fortunate to have such a supportive administration, school staff, student body and community. Together we will make this program successful."

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Jason Duram sheds interim tag

15 hours ago by David Lambert And Michael Westaway, The Conversation Ancient DNA can tell you a lot more than skull shape about the origins of the first Europeans. Credit: Flickr/Sebastian Dooris , CC BY

Much of the evidence of where the first Europeans came from was originally derived from comparisons of skulls but our work looking at ancient DNA is revealing new insight, with results published this month in Science.

Before we go any further, we need to look at what the skulls were telling us. Over a number of decades from the 1970s the US physical anthropologist William Howells recorded tens of thousands of human skulls held in museum collections across the world.

The patterns identified by Howells established that there were distinct correlations between geography and human biology, which provided insights into our understanding of the population history of the world.

In 1989 Howells included a number of fossil human skulls in this comparison to see if they could shed insights into the understanding of modern human dispersals.

Are the first Australians and Europeans related?

One of the patterns to emerge was that many of the earliest European modern human skulls from the last Ice Age, commonly referred to as the Cro-Magnon people, sat statistically very close to Aboriginal Australians and Papua New Guineans.

Did this reflect a close common origin between the first Europeans and the first Australians? Our research, led by Eske Willerslev from the University of Copenhagen, reveals the answer to this is "not really".

The genome recovered from an ancient skeleton, from a site known as Kostenki 14, has revealed an important story about the human history of Europe.

The remains there, found in 1954 at Kostenki, in south western Russia, were from a short, dark-skinned man who lived between 38,700 to 36,200 years ago.

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Ancient DNA sheds light on the origin of Europeans

Delays as lorry sheds bricks over road

Delays as lorry shed bricks over road

Delays as lorry shed bricks over road

First published in News Last updated by Maxwell Kusi-Obodum, Senior reporter

MOTORISTS sufferedsevere delays on a Hampshire main road after a lorry shed its load.

The truck blocked Dimmicks Corner in Locks Heath after spilling a consignment of bricks it was carrying onto the carriageway.

The incident, which took place next to the mini roundabout, causedtraffic to build up in the surrounding area.

The truck tipped over and crashed to the groundat 10.20am as it turned the corner.

Passers-by rushed to help the driver out of his cab.

The man in his 40s is believed to be unharmed.

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Delays as lorry sheds bricks over road

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Lean-to Sheds: San Diego Wood Lean-to Storage Sheds & Shed ...