Monday, May 20, 2013

Childhood ADHD Linked to Obesity in Adulthood

Identification and treatment issues surrounding attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are challenging enough. Now research is shedding light on long-term outcomes for people with ADHD. A recent study in Pediatrics reports that men who had ADHD in childhood are twice as likely to be obese in middle age, even if they no longer exhibit symptoms of ADHD. ADHD is a mental disorder characterized by hyperactivity, impulsivity, inattention and inability to focus. It affects approximately 6.8 percent of U.S. children ages 3 to 17 in any given year, according to a recent report by the CDC. Medications used to treat ADHD, such as Ritalin (methylphenidate) or Adderall (dextroamphetamine and amphetamine), are stimulants that can suppress appetite, however, a couple recent retrospective studies have pointed to a possible increased risk for obesity among adults diagnosed with ADHD as children. The new 33-year prospective study started with 207 healthy middle-class white boys from New York City between 6 and 12 years old, who had been diagnosed with ADHD. When the cohort reached an average age of 18, another 178 healthy boys without ADHD were recruited for comparison. At the most recent follow-up when the participants were an average age of 41, a total of 222 men remained in the study. A troubling pattern emerged: A comparison of the men?s self-reported height and weight revealed that twice as many men with childhood ADHD were obese than those without childhood ADHD. The average body mass index (BMI) of the men with childhood ADHD was 30.1 and 41.4 percent were obese, whereas those without the condition as kids reported an average BMI of 27.6 and an obesity rate of 21.6 percent. The association held even after the researchers controlled for socioeconomic status, depression, anxiety and substance abuse disorders. The results have implications for parents currently raising kids with ADHD. ?Many parents are concerned that their children may not be gaining as much weight as they should because [ADHD] medications can decrease appetite in the short run, but these results would lead me to be much less worried about that now,? says corresponding author F. Xavier Castellanos of the Phyllis Green and Randolph Cowen Institute of Pediatric Neuroscience at NYU Langone Medical Center. ?It helps us to realize that over the long run, the potential risks of obesity, of overeating and of dysregulation, are a more prominent long-term concern.? The study is case-controlled, which means researchers identified participants (cases) with the condition and then matched them to a control population to compare outcomes and look for risk factor differences. Therefore, it cannot prove causation because it?s observational. Only a randomized, controlled trial could show that obesity is caused by ADHD, but it?s impossible to randomize participants to have ADHD, both because it?s unethical and because researchers do not know precisely what causes ADHD. Possible causes could include genetics, nutrition, environmental factors or brain injuries. These findings, however, are similar to results in other studies that have found links between ADHD and obesity. The previous studies, however, were retrospective (relying on participants? recall), did not focus exclusively on ADHD (included other conduct disorders) or compared only men with adult ADHD to men with remitted childhood ADHD, rather than to controls without ADHD. This prospective study is the most long-term and the first to focus exclusively on adult obesity rates in men with childhood ADHD compared to men without childhood ADHD. Its findings therefore contribute to the growing evidence base for an association between obesity and childhood ADHD.? An unclear mechanism A link between obesity and childhood ADHD could be explained by either a neurobiological or a psychological mechanism, the authors proposed. With the former, it is possible that something similar genetically underlies both ADHD and obesity; Castellanos and his colleagues note that dysfunction in the dopamine pathways of the brain have been found among both people who are obese and people with ADHD. As for the psychological mechanism, the impulsive behaviors and diminished inhibitions associated with ADHD ?may foster poor planning and difficulty in monitoring eating behaviors, leading to abnormal eating patterns and consequent obesity,? the team wrote. ?One of the aspects of ADHD is this tendency to focus on ?I want it now? and not waiting for something, not delaying gratification, so we think that may lead people to eat more than they physiologically might need,? Castellanos says. Eating just an extra 100 calories a day than the total burned can easily lead one to accumulate extra pounds. Appetite regulation is complex but usually balances out in healthy individuals?unless they eat when they?re not actually hungry. Some researchers are dubious about both the neurobiological and the psychological explanations. Lawrence Diller, a behavioral developmental pediatrician at the University of California, San Francisco, and author of Remembering Ritalin and Running on Ritalin, says he finds the idea of dysregulation in adulthood unlikely for adults who no longer have symptoms of ADHD. ?The finding is real?no question about it?but the explanations are poor,? says Diller. ?If the ADHD is remitted, then why should the impulsivity and poor judgment still be there?? Of the 111 men with childhood ADHD in this study, 87 no longer had ADHD symptoms (remitted) and 24 still had ADHD (persistent). Those with remitted ADHD had relatively higher obesity rates than the persistent-ADHD men, though the small number of men with persistent ADHD makes it difficult to draw any substantial conclusions about this difference. Diller suggested that the long-term impact of ADHD medication may play a part. ?We know that stimulants very much affect the satiety thermostat in people who take them,? he says. ?There is the question of whether or not the long-term suppression of appetite somehow affects the brain so that when you?re no longer taking the drugs, it takes more [food] to make you feel full.? Diller pointed to research showing that long-term use of ADHD stimulants can lead to an inch or two of lower-than-predicted height in adults, although the adults in this new study showed no significant differences in height. ?That doesn?t mean you shouldn?t take the medicine, but in weighing the pros and cons, it?s one more thing for parents to think about in treatment,? Diller says. ?The idea that impulsivity and poor judgment may play a role is possible, but I think my idea of adjusting the satiety thermostat long-term is just as plausible as theirs.? A different possible mechanism, proposed by Juan Salinas, a lecturer specializing in the neuropharmacology of learning and memory at the University of Texas at Austin, resembles the neurobiological hypothesis, given that ADHD involves a dysfunctional release of dopamine in the brain. ?From more basic research into the neurobiology of reward, it?s suggestive that maybe somehow these people who do not have ADHD anymore may have an alteration in the dopamine pathways, and maybe some of the eating may be a way to self-medicate to increase dopamine release,? Salinas says. ?It?s not so much impulse control, but it?s a self-medicating idea.? The implications of the study, then, Salinas says, are that parents need to train their children with ADHD early to eat healthily, exercise and practice a healthy lifestyle. Another line of thought, proposed by Stephen Hinshaw, a psychology professor specializing in ADHD at the University of California at Berkeley and at San Francisco, extends the poor impulse control hypothesis. ?It?s plausible that there are biological underpinnings of both ADHD and obesity,? he says, ?but the more parsimonious explanation from other research is that ADHD portends problems in self-regulation over time.? In other words, adults who once had ADHD might later be able to sit in a chair and refrain from fidgeting, but emotional and physical regulation issues could linger in the form of less-than-ideal eating habits. 'Devastating? long-term consequences Hinshaw?s own work with ADHD in girls and other research into long-term outcomes support this idea that the challenges of self-regulation may not fade when the outwardly clinical symptoms of hyperactivity do. His 10-year study of 140 girls with ADHD found much higher rates of self-cutting, self-burning and suicide attempts in this group than were found in a control group. Additionally, he says, recent research has found high levels of unemployment and underemployment and poorer work productivity among adults who had childhood ADHD than among those who did not. The men with childhood ADHD in the new study also had significantly lower socioeconomic status than those in the control group, even though the groups had been matched initially for parental socioeconomic status and geography. ?ADHD still gets ridiculed in the press?saying it?s a made-up disease or that we just don?t tolerate fidgety kids?but it has really devastating long-term consequences, and we have to take it seriously,? Hinshaw says. Rising rates of ADHD diagnoses could be related to both improved health care access for more children and possible misdiagnoses due to the inadequate time spent on assessments in pediatricians? offices. ?We need to insist upon a much higher level of diagnosis and evaluation so that we?re really sure that it?s ADHD and not maltreatment or family conflict or normal-range behavior,? Hinshaw says. For those who really suffer from ADHD, this study provides more evidence of the challenges those children will face in adulthood. ?ADHD has staying power,? he says, ?regardless of whether the symptoms on the surface improve or not.?? Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news.
? 2013 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/childhood-adhd-linked-obesity-adulthood-090000730.html

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Math Trek: One of the most abstract fields in math finds application in the 'real' world

By Julie Rehmeyer

Web edition: May 20, 2013

Every pure mathematician has experienced that awkward moment when asked, ?So what?s your research good for?? There are standard responses: a proud ?Nothing!?; an explanation that mathematical research is an art form like, say, Olympic gymnastics (with a much smaller audience); or a stammered response that so much of pure math has ended up finding application that maybe, perhaps, someday, it will turn out to be useful.

That last possibility is now proving itself to be dramatically true in the case of category theory, perhaps the most abstract area in all of mathematics. Where math is an abstraction of the real world, category theory is an abstraction of mathematics: It describes the architectural structure of any mathematical field, independent of the specific kind of mathematical object being considered. Yet somehow, what is in a sense the purest of all pure math is now being used to describe areas throughout the sciences and beyond, in computer science, quantum physics, biology, music, linguistics and philosophy.

Samuel Eilenberg of Columbia University and Saunders Mac Lane of the University of Chicago developed category theory in the 1940s to build a bridge between abstract algebra (the generalization of high school algebra) and topology (the qualitative study of shapes, including those in very high dimensions). Very similar arguments repeatedly cropped up in the two fields in different contexts, so the mathematicians reasoned that some deeper structure must unite these situations.

They created an organizing framework that any field of mathematics could be put in. A ?category? is a collection of mathematical objects together with arrows connecting them. So, for example, the natural numbers are the objects of a category, and one particular arrow in that category would connect each number to its double. Eilenberg and Mac Lane could then analyze maps between entire categories, and maps between those maps. This allowed the connections between different fields of mathematics to be formulated precisely.

Mathematicians sardonically dubbed the field ?abstract nonsense.? Its extreme level of abstraction drains all the content out of the theory, since the objects can represent nearly anything. Draining the content, many expected, would also drain its power: What can anyone possibly say that will apply to essentially all mathematical objects?

Surprisingly, a lot. The recurrent arguments that had spurred the theory were ones that applied to all categories. Eilenberg and Mac Lane?s framework revealed an entire world of theorems that could be applied throughout mathematics.

Logicians started using category theory, viewing a deduction of one theorem from another as an arrow connecting the two. Then computer scientists carried category theory further still, viewing programs as maps connecting input of one category to output of another. A program that multiplies two numbers, for example, would go from the category of pairs of numbers (the numbers being multiplied) to the category of numbers (their product).

These connections turned out to be extraordinarily deep ? indeed, the theory of programming languages and the field of logic can be seen as essentially identical to category theory. Computer scientist Robert Harper of Carnegie Mellon University jokingly calls this ?computational trinitarianism,? imitating the Christian notion that God is a trinity of Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

?The central dogma of computational trinitarianism,? he wrote on his blog, ?holds that Logic, Languages, and Categories are but three manifestations of one divine notion of computation.? There is no preferred route to enlightenment: each aspect provides insights that comprise the experience of computation in our lives. Computational trinitarianism entails that any concept arising in one aspect should have meaning from the perspective of the other two.? Porting ideas between the fields has led to profound insights for all three.

Category theory?s spread has continued. Many results in quantum information theory turn out to follow directly from category theory. Category theory?s hierarchical structure has made it useful for modeling complex biological systems. Category theoretic models of language have outperformed conventional ones in distinguishing, for example, the meaning of ?saw? in sentences like ?I saw a man with a saw.? It?s even proving valuable in developing rigorous models of music theory.

David Spivak of MIT has perhaps the boldest vision for category theory?s potential. In a paper posted February 27 on arXiv.org, he argues that all scientific thought can be expressed in a structured way using category theory. Both ideas and the data supporting them can be encoded in the universal language of category theory, allowing scientists to present a database with their full work. Spivak even imagines a Facebook-like interface with people?s full thoughts and experiences presented in a category theoretic database that would connect people whose databases overlap.

?If people adopt the level of rigor of category theory,? he says, ?it will provide a precise language for science as a whole, and it will help individual scientists to clarify their thinking. My ultimate dream is that communication problems would only happen because someone is trying to lie.??

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/350567/title/One_of_the_most_abstract_fields_in_math_finds_application_in_the_real_world

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Sunday, May 19, 2013

Vegan sloppy Joes and roasted potato and tomato salad

Make a tasty, veggie-friendly dinner with mushroom vegan sloppy Joes, and a roasted potato and tomato salad with crispy capers and dill.?

By France Morissette and Joshua Sprague,?Beyond the Peel / May 19, 2013

Use juicy mushrooms, onions, and garlic as a sloppy Joe substitute. Serve them up on a bun or a lettuce wrap, and top with your favorite veggies.

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I?m craving a juicy beef burger! Correction. A juicy beef burger with fries.?You gotta love those ?comes out of nowhere food cravings.??I mean really, I never crave a burger. Never.

Skip to next paragraph France Morissette and Joshua Sprague

Beyond The Peel

Cookbook author, France Morissette, and her husband Joshua Sprague believe that healthy food should be uncompromising when it comes to flavor. They creatively explore the world of natural, whole foods, leaving no stone unturned in their quest to create mouth watering, flavor packed, whole food meals. Through stories, photos, recipes and their online show Beyond The Peel TV, they're on a mission to help you eat healthy and enjoy every last bite in the process.

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But you know how cravings go? They rarely go away unless you give in. At least a little.

I guess I could have gone with a?veggie?burger, but in my experience, there?s nothing ?juicy? about a veggie patty. Sure they?re delicious but never juicy. Maybe moist at best. I could have driven into town. It?s a 2-1/2-hour round trip drive. And to be honest, I might have if the craving had been strong enough. The good news is I had a moment of sanity. I decided to stay put and deal with it in a more healthy way.?

I decided to go with mushroom vegan sloppy Joes. Nowhere near a burger, I know, but I thought I?d give it a try. After all, there?s not ground meat of any kind anywhere near me, while I'm camped out in this fire tower cottage.?I don?t know if you?ve tried this before but it was delicious.?Like,?really good.

So good in fact, I kind of surprised myself. Sure I thought a meatless sloppy Joes would be OK. I mean, after all, all the ingredients going in were good on their own. I wasn?t doubting that it would be tasty, but I wasn?t prepared for mouth watering, juicy goodness wrapped up in a bun!

I had this for three meals straight and was feeling a little disappointed when it was all gone. I would have made more if I had more mushrooms. Crisis has be averted. Burger craving satiated, at least for now. I know you were all worried about me, but we can all sleep well tonight. Phew.

This vegan/vegetarian sloppy Joes recipe is perfect if you?re a mushroom lover, but I think my hubby would even have enjoyed this, and he is not exactly a mushroom-loving freak like me. Even if you?re not a mushroom fanatic, I think you could probably do this same recipe with eggplant or shredded zucchini. If you don?t do grains of any kind, consider putting this mushroom heaven in lettuce wraps.

Mushroom sloppy Joes (vegan)
Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, minced

6 cups sliced mushrooms

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon grainy mustard

1 tablespoon Soya Sauce

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/4 cup of water

Salt and pepper, to taste

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/UW-ClssyY_s/Vegan-sloppy-Joes-and-roasted-potato-and-tomato-salad

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Obama's Morehouse visit shines spotlight on HBCUs

ATLANTA (AP) ? When President Barack Obama addresses graduates at Morehouse College on Sunday, he'll also be speaking to the broader community of historically black colleges and universities ? a proud corner of higher education that has struggled more than most during the last few years of economic distress.

The so-called HBCUs educate a hugely disproportionate share of low-income students, and both students and schools have been hit hard by a double punch. First, unemployment for blacks remains nearly double that of whites, making it harder for many students to keep up with tuition. Secondly, tougher credit standards have made it harder to secure a federal PLUS loan used by about one-third of HBCU students.

The result shows graduation rates have worsened at HBCUs, which were already facing scrutiny under a national push to improve outcomes in higher education, according to U.S. Education Department data analyzed by The Associated Press.

The AP found graduation rates declined at 57 of the 80 four-year HBCUs that have complete data between 2006 and 2011. While total HBCU enrollment increased about 3 percent overall, the aggregate graduation rate for HBCU students fell from 37.7 percent in 2006 to 33.7 percent in 2011, the AP found.

That means of the 47,139 students who entered HBCUs six years before, just 15,885 had completed their degree by 2011, though the figures do not include transfers or part-time students.

"Particularly after this recession, I'm looking at an African-American unemployment rate of 16 percent, that's touching my students," said Walter Kimbrough, president of Dillard University in New Orleans, who has been critical in the past of some HBCUs. He believes recent criticism of their low graduation rates is unfair.

"They all know somebody who's lost their job, and if it's somebody who's helping them pay for their schooling, we may not see them next semester," he said.

Morehouse's 2011 graduation rate, however, was 55 percent, among the very highest of HBCUs.

The HBCU rates compare to a national average of about 58 percent, and 39 percent for blacks at all four-year institutions. However, while the most selective colleges have much higher graduation rates, their enrollments are also heavily tilted toward high-income students. One recent study found two-thirds of students at the 193 most selective colleges came from the top 25 percent of income, and just 15 percent from the bottom half.

At HBCUs, by contrast, about two-thirds of students receive Pell Grants, which are almost always awarded to families earning less than $40,000. Such students are not only more likely to need to start college with remedial work ? which makes for a longer path to graduation ? but they are much more vulnerable to financial problems that could drive them from school.

Only 83 institutions nationwide have as many at 60 percent of their students receiving Pell Grants, Kimbrough said. Fifty of them are HBCUs.

"It's simple economics," Kimbrough said. "If you get rid of poor kids, your graduation rates can go up."

The struggles of students have translated into trouble for HBCUs themselves. About 40 percent have seen enrollment declines, and 20 schools saw enrollment fall more than 10 percent between 2006 and 2011, according to AP's analysis.

Financial struggles pushed Morehouse student Remy Sylvan to tap into his entrepreneurial side to finance part of his education. As the economy worsened, business suffered at his family's restaurant in Seattle, and his parents were unable to pay as much of his tuition as before, he said.

So Sylvan, who is set to graduate with a marketing degree, began doing independent software technician and coding work to make ends meet.

"It hurt the family at first because of the economic struggle, but it helped because it actually gave me the spirit to do something myself," Sylvan said. "You just got to find other intuitive ways to make ends meet. And I think that's what America overall is going through right now."

Marybeth Gasman, a leading historian of HBCUs at the University of Pennsylvania, said HBCUs typically have small endowments so they can't offer students the aid they need during tough times.

"It's been difficult but I do think that HBCUs tend to be fairly resilient," she said. "They tend to be creative about how to do things they know how to do on a small budget."

Gasman said retention rates are rising for all students, including non-traditional ones.

"You can't hold them to the same standard to institutions that are not willing to take any of those risks," she said. "There are lots of things to be optimistic about. If you look at individual HBCUs, there are a lot of people doing really good things."

Obama spoke to graduates of historically black Hampton University in 2010. One of Obama's connections to Morehouse is its current president, John Silvanus Wilson, who previously served under the president as executive director of a program designed to help HBCUs. Wilson, himself a Morehouse graduate, took the helm at the school earlier this year.

Kimbrough said funding increases in Obama's first-term had been helpful, but the most important thing was heading off cuts to the Pell Grant program. Funding rose substantially in Obama's first term but has been flat recently.

"We'd just like to see a little more forcefulness to make sure our students are protected," he said.

___

Pope is AP's education writer based in Ann Arbor, Mich. Associated Press writer Phillip Lucas in Atlanta contributed to this report.

___

Follow Pope at http://www.twitter.com/JustinPopeAP

Follow Cassidy at http://twitter.com/AP_Christina

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obamas-morehouse-visit-shines-spotlight-hbcus-190457588.html

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Madden 25 Anniversary Edition includes NFL Sunday Ticket, exclusive to Amazon

DNP  Madden 25 Anniversary Edition bundles NFL Sunday Ticket, up for preorder exclusively at Amazon

Virtual football enthusiasts excited for Madden 25 (it's technically Madden 2014 marking 25 years of the franchise) may want to head over to Amazon if they're serious about watching actual NFL games. The online retailer has an exclusive Anniversary Edition of the game up for pre-order, which comes bundled with a 17-week pass for both Madden Ultimate Team cards and NFL Sunday Ticket for computer and mobile. On top of getting all the 2013 regular season's out-of-market matches, DirecTV subscribers can snag a $10-a-month discount on the TV version (normally $225) for one year with a pro bono MAX upgrade. Joystiq notes that only 100,000 copies are up for grabs, split evenly between the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions. All it takes to get in on the action starting August 27th is $100 -- $40 more than the standard edition, which can net you up to $400 in total savings on the services. Hit up the source link if you're ready to secure your copy.

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The Hidden Trap That is Killing The African Internet Entrepreneurs ...

TrapLow bandwidth and expensive access limit a lot what you can do with Internet in Africa. Therefore, if you want to build a successful web solution for African audience it should be lightweight using mostly text and a little bit of? images. It?s advised to avoid using voice or video.

Unfortunately, even if you are successful building this kind of lightweight website you?ll fail, because there is a hidden trap.

A text based Internet like in the western or eastern world would work very well, because of 99% literacy rate. People can read and write. In Africa, there is no such thing. In many countries the illiterates made the majority of the population. They don?t know how write and read. A text based website is of no use for them.

There is an additional group of people who are literate or semi-literate but don?t like to write or read. Like Steve Jobs said it ?People don?t read anymore?, and when it comes to Africa the situation is even worse. My estimate is that these 2 groups of illiterates and people who don?t read would amount to 70% of Africa population.

That?s the trap. To reach a profitable audience in Africa you need to use voice and video. Voice and video are the only certain ways to reach people in Africa. But, because of low bandwidth and expensive Internet access, you can?t use them. On the other hand if you build a text based solution, your audience is very limited (to city hipsters, African diaspora).

There is no audience for online business in Africa. The very people who will make you millionaire are not online.

Many African Internet entrepreneurs discover this sad truth only after spending lots of money and time building their online solutions.

There are numerous possible solutions to that trap, and it?s possible to work around them. Additionally, we have to keep in mind that even a widespread, free, and unlimited access to Internet is not a solution, because it won?t solve the illiteracy.

There is big market for literacy neutral platforms where people can communicate with each other using online images, icons, illustrations and voices, contrary to text-based social networks like Facebook or Twitter.

Entrepreneurs who will take on this challenge and execute it well will be rewarded with a highly scalable profitable business. As an example, my grandfather would listen to a voice commercial, and call me to go to the market to check out the product. It won?t happen with a text ad or a display copy!

European culture is based on the written word, while African culture is more oral and visual. African entrepreneurs who will avoid importing blindly European model to Africa, but leverage their unique knowledge of the African market will be rewarded with much more profitable business. Investing in voice and image enabled search are one of the several ways to go.

?

Source: http://www.siliconafrica.com/the-trap-that-kill-african-internet-entrepreneurs/

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Colorado sheriffs sue over new gun restrictions

DENVER (AP) ? Colorado sheriffs upset with gun restrictions adopted in the aftermath of last year's mass shootings filed a federal lawsuit Friday, challenging the regulations as unconstitutional.

The lawsuit involves sheriffs from 54 of Colorado's 64 counties, most representing rural, gun-friendly areas of the state.

The sheriffs say the new state laws violate Second Amendment protections that guarantee the right to keep and bear arms. Opponents are criticizing the lawsuit as political maneuvering.

The filing targets Colorado laws that limit the size of ammunition magazines and expand background checks. The regulations passed the Legislature this spring and are set to take effect July 1.

It isn't yet clear whether the sheriffs' challenge will delay or jeopardize the laws. The filing, however, guarantees the renewal of a fierce debate over gun control.

Colorado lawmakers passed the restrictions in reaction to the shooting rampage at a suburban Denver movie theater last summer, where 12 people were killed and dozens more were wounded, and the massacre at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.

The gun control debate was one of the most emotionally charged of the legislative session, with lengthy debates and national attention. President Barack Obama added to the attention on the Colorado Statehouse, as his administration unsuccessfully pushed Congress to enact similar gun controls.

Sheriffs' attorneys are considering whether to ask the court for a preliminary injunction, which would block the Colorado laws while the lawsuit moves forward.

The law enforcement community is divided on the issue. In contrast to the sheriffs, the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police, which includes urban departments, supports the laws. The chiefs said the measures were "common-sense approaches" to protect the public "while not taking guns from law-abiding citizens in any way."

Unlike sheriffs, police chiefs are not elected.

Democrats maintain the public is on their side, and say legislators carefully crafted the proposals that were signed.

"These laws were not constructed haphazardly," said Democratic Sen. Mary Hodge, the sponsor of the magazine limit. "They were constructed to protect us from massacres like the ones we suffered in Aurora and Newtown."

Relatives of victims of the Colorado shooting criticized the sheriffs for filing the lawsuit and accused them of playing politics.

"As a parent who lost my son Alex at the Aurora theater shooting, I ask these people to put themselves in my place," Tom Sullivan said in a statement. "I do not understand why these politicians are picking guns over people."

Weld County Sheriff John Cooke said he and his colleagues were "not the ones playing politics with this."

"We believe that the Legislature were the ones who were playing politics," he said.

Gun control opponents say the language in the regulations is unclear and doesn't provide safeguards to prevent people from inadvertently breaking the laws.

Ammunition magazines, for example, are easily converted to larger sizes, which the bill bans. Gun rights advocates also say the law expanding background checks doesn't provide enough exemptions for temporary transfers and that people conducting private transactions will have a difficult time getting appropriate checks.

Lawmakers allowed several exemptions in the background check legislation, including transfers between immediate family members, shooting events and temporary transfers of up to 72 hours.

State officials, including Attorney General John Suthers, have worked to defend the intent of the laws. Suthers, a Republican responsible for defending the law against the legal challenge, issued a statement Friday giving guidance to law enforcement on how the magazine limit should be enforced.

He said magazine features "must be judged objectively" and that magazines that hold 15 rounds or fewer can't be defined as "large capacity" simply because it can be modified to include more.

The state has 30 days to respond to the lawsuit.

___

Find Ivan Moreno on Twitter: http://twitter.com/IvanJourno

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/colorado-sheriffs-sue-over-gun-restrictions-224948873.html

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