For example, if x86 chips were more competitive with ARM processors from a performance-per-watt perspective, then Microsoft wouldn't be as reliant on Metro-style apps for functionality. And if more developers were creating Metro-style apps, then consumers wouldn't have to go to the legacy desktop mode as much to get things done. (Until the company releases a Metro-style Office, Microsoft really can't wag its finger too much at third parties.)
Do you obsess over your appearance? Your brain might be wired abnormallyPublic release date: 29-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Mark Wheeler mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu 310-794-2265 University of California - Los Angeles
Body dysmorphic disorder is a disabling but often misunderstood psychiatric condition in which people perceive themselves to be disfigured and ugly, even though they look normal to others. New research at UCLA shows that these individuals have abnormalities in the underlying connections in their brains.
Dr. Jamie Feusner, the study's senior author and a UCLA associate professor of psychiatry, and his colleagues report that individuals with BDD have, in essence, global "bad wiring" in their brains that is, there are abnormal network-wiring patterns across the brain as a whole.
And in line with earlier UCLA research showing that people with BDD process visual information abnormally, the study discovered abnormal connections between regions of the brain involved in visual and emotional processing.
The findings, published in the May edition of the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, suggest that these patterns in the brain may relate to impaired information processing.
"We found a strong correlation between low efficiency of connections across the whole brain and the severity of BDD," Feusner said. "The less efficient patients' brain connections, the worse the symptoms, particularly for compulsive behaviors, such as checking mirrors."
People suffering from BDD tend to fixate on minute details, such as a single blemish on their face or body, rather than viewing themselves in their entirety. They become so distressed with their appearance that they often can't lead normal lives, are fearful of leaving their homes and occasionally even commit suicide. Patients frequently have to be hospitalized. BDD affects approximately 2 percent of the population and is more prevalent than schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Despite its prevalence and severity, scientists know relatively little about the neurobiology of BDD.
In the current study, Feusner and his colleagues performed brain scans of 14 adults diagnosed with BDD and 16 healthy controls. The goal of the study was to map the brain's connections to examine how the white-matter networks are organized. White matter is made up of nerve cells that carry impulses from one part of the brain to another.
To do this, they used a sensitive form of brain imaging called diffusion tensor imaging, or DTI. DTI is a variant of magnetic resonance imaging that can measure the structural integrity of the brain's white matter. From these scans, they were able to create whole brain "maps" of reconstructed white-matter tracks. Next, they used a form of advanced analysis called graph theory to characterize the patterns of connections throughout the brains of people with BDD and then compared them with those of healthy controls.
The researchers found people with BDD had a pattern of abnormally high network "clustering" across the entire brain. This suggests that these individuals may have imbalances in how they process "local" or detailed information. The researchers also discovered specific abnormal connections between areas involved in processing visual input and those involved in recognizing emotions.
"How their brain regions are connected in order to communicate about what they see and how they feel is disturbed," said Feusner, who also directs the Adult Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Program and the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Research Program at UCLA.
"Their brains seem to be fine-tuned to be very sensitive to process minute details, but this pattern may not allow their brains to be well-synchronized across regions with different functions," he said. "This could affect how they perceive their physical appearance and may also result in them getting caught up in the details of other thoughts and cognitive processes."
The study, Feusner noted, advances the understanding of BDD by providing evidence that the "hard wiring" of patients' brain networks is abnormal.
"These abnormal brain networks could relate to how they perceive, feel and behave," he said. "This is significant because it could possibly lead to us being able to identify early on if someone is predisposed to developing this problem."
###
Other authors on the study included Jesse A Brown, Liang Zhan and Sarit Hovav, all from UCLA, and Donatello Arienzo, Alex Leow and Johnson GadElkarim from the University of Illinois. The authors declare no conflict of interest.
The research was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (K23 MH079212 and R01MH093535).
The UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences is the home within the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA for faculty who are experts in the origins and treatment of disorders of complex human behavior. The department is part of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, a world-leading interdisciplinary research and education institute devoted to the understanding of complex human behavior and the causes and consequences of neuropsychiatric disorders.
For more news, visit the UCLA Newsroom and follow us on Twitter.
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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.
Do you obsess over your appearance? Your brain might be wired abnormallyPublic release date: 29-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Mark Wheeler mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu 310-794-2265 University of California - Los Angeles
Body dysmorphic disorder is a disabling but often misunderstood psychiatric condition in which people perceive themselves to be disfigured and ugly, even though they look normal to others. New research at UCLA shows that these individuals have abnormalities in the underlying connections in their brains.
Dr. Jamie Feusner, the study's senior author and a UCLA associate professor of psychiatry, and his colleagues report that individuals with BDD have, in essence, global "bad wiring" in their brains that is, there are abnormal network-wiring patterns across the brain as a whole.
And in line with earlier UCLA research showing that people with BDD process visual information abnormally, the study discovered abnormal connections between regions of the brain involved in visual and emotional processing.
The findings, published in the May edition of the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, suggest that these patterns in the brain may relate to impaired information processing.
"We found a strong correlation between low efficiency of connections across the whole brain and the severity of BDD," Feusner said. "The less efficient patients' brain connections, the worse the symptoms, particularly for compulsive behaviors, such as checking mirrors."
People suffering from BDD tend to fixate on minute details, such as a single blemish on their face or body, rather than viewing themselves in their entirety. They become so distressed with their appearance that they often can't lead normal lives, are fearful of leaving their homes and occasionally even commit suicide. Patients frequently have to be hospitalized. BDD affects approximately 2 percent of the population and is more prevalent than schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Despite its prevalence and severity, scientists know relatively little about the neurobiology of BDD.
In the current study, Feusner and his colleagues performed brain scans of 14 adults diagnosed with BDD and 16 healthy controls. The goal of the study was to map the brain's connections to examine how the white-matter networks are organized. White matter is made up of nerve cells that carry impulses from one part of the brain to another.
To do this, they used a sensitive form of brain imaging called diffusion tensor imaging, or DTI. DTI is a variant of magnetic resonance imaging that can measure the structural integrity of the brain's white matter. From these scans, they were able to create whole brain "maps" of reconstructed white-matter tracks. Next, they used a form of advanced analysis called graph theory to characterize the patterns of connections throughout the brains of people with BDD and then compared them with those of healthy controls.
The researchers found people with BDD had a pattern of abnormally high network "clustering" across the entire brain. This suggests that these individuals may have imbalances in how they process "local" or detailed information. The researchers also discovered specific abnormal connections between areas involved in processing visual input and those involved in recognizing emotions.
"How their brain regions are connected in order to communicate about what they see and how they feel is disturbed," said Feusner, who also directs the Adult Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Program and the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Research Program at UCLA.
"Their brains seem to be fine-tuned to be very sensitive to process minute details, but this pattern may not allow their brains to be well-synchronized across regions with different functions," he said. "This could affect how they perceive their physical appearance and may also result in them getting caught up in the details of other thoughts and cognitive processes."
The study, Feusner noted, advances the understanding of BDD by providing evidence that the "hard wiring" of patients' brain networks is abnormal.
"These abnormal brain networks could relate to how they perceive, feel and behave," he said. "This is significant because it could possibly lead to us being able to identify early on if someone is predisposed to developing this problem."
###
Other authors on the study included Jesse A Brown, Liang Zhan and Sarit Hovav, all from UCLA, and Donatello Arienzo, Alex Leow and Johnson GadElkarim from the University of Illinois. The authors declare no conflict of interest.
The research was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (K23 MH079212 and R01MH093535).
The UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences is the home within the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA for faculty who are experts in the origins and treatment of disorders of complex human behavior. The department is part of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, a world-leading interdisciplinary research and education institute devoted to the understanding of complex human behavior and the causes and consequences of neuropsychiatric disorders.
For more news, visit the UCLA Newsroom and follow us on Twitter.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Styled like the Galaxy Note 8.0, the Galaxy Tab 3 has more than a whiff of the mid-range about it
Samsung has pulled the wraps off their latest addition to the Galaxy Tab range with this, the new Galaxy Tab 3. This particular tablet is the 7-inch version, which will launch in a WiFi only flavor at the beginning of May. A 3G-enabled sibling will then follow in June.
The styling follows on very much from the larger, Galaxy Note 8.0, continuing Samsung's new theme of adding their traditional three button setup to their tablet devices. Software wise we're looking at Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with the usual Touchwiz overlay, but on the hardware front things are distinctly mid-range.
Powering the Galaxy Tab 3 is a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM, on top of 8GB or 16GB of on board storage. This being Samsung though, storage is expandable by way of microSD card. The display is somewhat disappointing, with the Tab 3 sporting a resolution of just 1024x600. The cameras too are on the low end of things, with a 3MP rear shooter accompanied by a 1.3MP front facer.
All this adds up to what should be a keenly priced tablet. Its predecessor has been retailing at Nexus 7 money for some time now. But, without a glaring jump in either hardware or software, it's difficult to think of a compelling reason to take the new Galaxy Tab 3 over the year old Nexus 7. Samsung brand power might come into play a little with this one. No pricing has been announced at this time and for the full press release, be sure to click on past the break.
PRAGUE (AP) ? A powerful explosion has damaged a building in the center of the Czech capital, Prague, injuring up to 40 people. Authorities say they believe some people are buried in the rubble.
Police spokesman Tomas Hulan says it is not certain what caused the blast in Divadelni Street, but it was likely a natural gas explosion
The street was covered with rubble and has been sealed off by police who have also evacuated people from nearby buildings and closed a wide area around the explosion site.
Zdenek Schwarz, head of the rescue service in Prague, says up to 40 people have been injured.
Windows in buildings located hundreds of meters from the blast were shattered, including some in the nearby National Theater.
Chicago Bulls shooting guard Kirk Hinrich (12) shoots between Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez (11) and Deron Williams (8) during the second half of Game 3 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series, Thursday, April 25, 2013, in Chicago. The Bulls won 79-76. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Chicago Bulls shooting guard Kirk Hinrich (12) shoots between Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez (11) and Deron Williams (8) during the second half of Game 3 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series, Thursday, April 25, 2013, in Chicago. The Bulls won 79-76. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah acknowledges the play of teammates during the second half of Game 3 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets, Thursday, April 25, 2013, in Chicago. The Bulls won 79-76. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Brooklyn Nets point guard Deron Williams, right, talks to interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo during the second half of Game 3 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series against the Chicago Bulls, Thursday, April 25, 2013, in Chicago. The Bulls won 79-76. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Brooklyn Nets guard Deron Williams, right, pressure Chicago Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich during the first half of Game 3 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series, Thursday, April 25, 2013, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Chicago Bulls power forward Carlos Boozer complains to a referee about a call against him during the first half of Game 3 of their first-round NBA basketball playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets, Thursday, April 25, 2013, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
CHICAGO (AP) ? Every play near the basket looked like a traffic accident. There were long scoreless stretches. Shooting from outside was a dicey proposition.
It was ugly for everyone but the Chicago Bulls. This was their type of game.
Carlos Boozer had 22 points and 16 rebounds, Luol Deng added 21 points and 10 boards, and the Bulls held off the Brooklyn Nets 79-76 in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series Thursday night.
"We did what we had to do to win the game," Boozer said. "In the playoffs you have to win different ways. Nothing is perfect."
Chicago had no field goals and two foul shots over the final 5:46 of its second straight win in the series. It will try for a 3-1 lead when the banged-up teams return to the court Saturday afternoon in a quick turnaround.
Brooklyn shot 35 percent for the second straight game. Brook Lopez had 22 points, nine rebounds and seven blocked shots, and Deron Williams finished with 18 points on 5-for-14 shooting.
"When we get the ball swung to the weak side and we get some movement, we're fine," Williams said. "But when we just let them keep us on one side, we're struggling. We're struggling to shoot the ball, score the ball, and we're playing right into what they want to do."
Deng led the way as Chicago grabbed control in the third quarter for the second consecutive game. The All-Star forward scored 12 points in the first 4 minutes of the period, seemingly scoring at will against Gerald Wallace as the Bulls turned a seven-point halftime advantage into a 16-point lead.
"I had a few good minutes," Deng said. "I felt like I could have shot the ball a lot better. I don't know how many minutes, seven or so of great minutes. They could have sent me home after that."
Deng connected on four long jumpers before he drove inside for a three-point play off a foul on Wallace. A free throw by Boozer made it 54-38 with 7:36 remaining.
Brooklyn made one last charge when Lopez had eight points in a 10-2 spurt that trimmed Chicago's lead to 77-74 with 14.4 seconds left. But Nate Robinson and Joakim Noah each hit a free throw and former Bulls guard C.J. Watson missed an open 3 at the buzzer.
"I was surprised I was open and I just tried to get it off before the clock went out and just missed it," he said.
Joe Johnson got a cortisone shot for his ailing left foot and finished 15 points for Brooklyn, while Noah's foul shot was his only point of the game while dealing with his own painful right foot injury. Noah also had eight rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
"I felt pretty good the whole game, other than probably about the last two to three minutes. It had kind of tightened up," Johnson said. "But other than that, I felt all right."
The Nets cruised to an easy victory in the playoff opener and flopped in Game 2, when they managed only 11 points in the third period of a 90-82 loss on Monday night that handed home-court advantage to the Bulls. There was no word on Johnson until the starting lineups came out right before Game 3, but coach P.J. Carlesimo was more focused on Brooklyn playing with more aggression and getting off to a fast start than whether the guard was going to be able to play.
That emphasis worked at the beginning, but it quickly fell apart when the Nets went cold again on offense and the Bulls started to find their rhythm on both ends of the court.
"They came out and jumped on us pretty good," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "So we had to dig out of that hole. Once we did that, I thought for the most part in the second and third quarters we played well."
Williams had eight quick points, matching his total from all of Game 2 and helping Brooklyn to a 17-5 lead with 6:25 left in the first quarter. The Nets then went scoreless for the next 6? minutes and missed 25 of 26 shots overall while Chicago moved in front.
Hinrich made a layup, Marco Belinelli hit two foul shots and Boozer made a jumper to close out a 28-4 blitz that made it 33-21 with 5 minutes left in the half. But the biggest highlight was a pick and roll with Robinson and Taj Gibson, who finished it off with a poster-worthy dunk over Kris Humphries.
"It's been very difficult for us to finish, we have been struggling inside and we can't win if you're not making shots in the paint," Nets coach P.J. Carlesimo said.
NOTES: Brooklyn went 5 for 21 from 3-point range and is 15 for 56 from beyond the arc for the series. ... The Bulls handed out red flashlight key chains as part of their "See Red" playoff campaign, and the lights dotted the stands when Chicago's starting lineup was announced. ... The Nets haven't won a road playoff game since a 96-91 victory at Toronto on April 21, 2007. ... Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, who helped the Bulls win six NBA championships in the 1990s, received a huge ovation when he was shown on the videoboard in the first half.
___
Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday that the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad has probably used chemical weapons on a small scale in the country's civil war, but insisted that President Barack Obama needed definitive proof before he would take action.
The disclosure created a quandary for Obama, who has set the use of chemical weapons as a "red line" that Assad must not cross, and triggered calls from some hawkish Washington lawmakers for a U.S. military response, which the president has resisted.
In a shift from a White House assessment just days earlier, U.S. officials said the intelligence community believed with "varying degrees of confidence" that the chemical nerve agent sarin was used by Assad's forces against rebel fighters. However, it noted that "the chain of custody is not clear."
While Obama has declared that the deployment of chemical weapons would be a game-changer and has threatened unspecified consequences if it happened, his administration will move carefully - mindful of the lessons of the start of the Iraq war more than a decade ago.
Then, President George W. Bush's administration used inaccurate U.S. intelligence to justify the invasion of Iraq in pursuit of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons that turned out not to exist.
On top of that, polls show most Americans, weary and disillusioned by the wars just ended in Iraq and now winding down in Afghanistan, have little appetite for another U.S. military engagement in the Muslim world.
"Given the stakes involved and what we have learned from our own recent experiences, intelligence assessments alone are not sufficient - only credible and corroborated facts that provide us with some degree of certainty will guide our decision-making," Miguel Rodriguez, White House director of the office of legislative affairs, said in a letter to lawmakers.
One senior U.S. defense official told reporters: "We have seen very bad movies before," where intelligence was perceived to have driven policy decisions that later, in the cold light of day, were proven wrong.
The term "varying degrees of confidence" used to describe the assessment of possible chemical weapons use in Syria usually suggests debate within the U.S. intelligence community about the conclusion, the defense official noted.
The White House said the evaluation that Syria probably used chemical weapons was based in part on physiological samples, but a U.S. official declined to say what kind of evidence it had, like soil samples or blood or hair from victims.
The scale of the use of sarin appeared limited, with one U.S. intelligence official noting that nobody was "seeing any mass casualties" from the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria.
The United States has resisted being dragged militarily into Syria's conflict and is providing only non-lethal aid to rebels trying to overthrow Assad. Washington is worried that weapons supplied to the rebels could end up the hands of al Qaeda-linked fighters.
However, acknowledgement of the U.S. intelligence assessment appeared to move the United States closer to some sort of action in Syria, military or otherwise.
A White House official told reporters "all options are on the table in terms of our response" and said the United States, which has been criticized for not doing enough to halt the bloodshed, would consult with its allies.
The official said the U.S. military was preparing for a range of "different contingencies" but declined to give specifics. Options available to Obama could include everything from air strikes to commando raids to setting up a Libya-style "no-fly" zone, either unilaterally or in cooperation with allies.
SURPRISE ANNOUNCEMENT
Still, Washington appeared intent on deflecting pressure for swift action by stressing the need for a comprehensive United Nations investigation on the ground in Syria - something Assad has blocked from going forward.
Syria's deputy foreign minister, Faisal Mekdad, in an interview with Reuters, dismissed Western and Israeli claims that government forces had used chemical weapons and said it was a "big lie" that Syria was preventing the U.N. probe.
Assad has clung to power despite repeated U.S. calls for him to step down. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the revolt against his family's decades-long autocratic rule. A military stalemate has set in but Assad has still been able to rely on support from Russia and Iran.
"The reality is that as a country we can't declare red lines and then do nothing when they are crossed. Eventually we have to do something," said Ariel Ratner, a former Middle East adviser in the State Department and now a fellow at the Truman National Security Project.
The Obama administration's sudden disclosure caught many off guard. It came just two days after Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and other U.S. officials appeared to play down an Israeli assessment that there had been repeated use of chemical weapons in Syria.
France and Britain have also concluded that evidence suggests chemical arms have been used in Syria's conflict.
"The intelligence community has been assessing information for some time on this issue and the decision to reach this conclusion was made within the past 24 hours," Hagel said.
The White House said it wanted to provide a "prompt response" to an April 24 query from lawmakers about whether Syria had used chemical weapons. The legislators' letter to Obama cited the assessments by Israel, France and Britain.
Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, one of the leading advocates of deeper U.S. involvement in the Syrian conflict, said the intelligence assessment demanded a response.
"The president of the United States said that if Bashar Assad used chemical weapons, it would be a game changer, that it would cross a red line," he said. "I think it's pretty obvious that red line has been crossed."
Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, voiced concern that the public acknowledgement of the U.S. intelligence assessment could embolden Assad and may prompt him to calculate "he has nothing more to lose."
"Syria has the ability to kill tens of thousands with its chemical weapons. The world must come together to prevent this by unified action," she said.
In Brussels, the NATO alliance was "concerned by reports of the possible use of chemical weapons," an official said.
"As NATO has said in the past, any use of these weapons would be completely unacceptable and a clear breach of international law, and if any side uses these weapons we would expect a reaction from the international community," the official said.
Patriot missile interceptors that NATO has sent to Turkey, a member of the alliance which borders Syria, would "help ensure the protection of Turkey against any missile attack, whether the missiles carry chemical weapons or not," the official added.
(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick, Roberta Rampton, Patricia Zengerle and Tabassum Zakaria. Writing by Phil Stewart and Matt Spetalnick. Editing by Alistair Bell and Christopher Wilson)
The HTC Deluxe shows up again, this time in Wisconsin
Cellcom, the regional carrier from Wisconsin, has unveiled their next marquee device -- the HTC Deluxe. It's basically the HTC Droid DNA repackaged for the small network, which means it's a pretty damn good piece of equipment. If you need a refresher, that means it has a quad-core Snapdragon Pro CPU, a 5-inch 1080p display, 2GB of RAM, and an LTE radio to keep the data flowing.
No word on when it will arrive, just that it's coming "soon" for $199 with a new contract or $570 if you buy it outright. If you're a Cellcom subscriber, this is definitely worth a second look. See the source link for more details.
WACO, Texas (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, standing before a line of flag-draped coffins, consoled family and friends on Thursday at a memorial service for firefighters killed in a massive explosion last week at a Texas fertilizer plant.
The deaths of 14 people, nearly all of them emergency responders, ripped a hole in the heart of the town of West, where farming is a way of life and where many people volunteer for the fire department in their spare time.
"To the families, the neighbors grappling with unbearable loss, we are here to say you are not alone. You are not forgotten. We may not all live here in Texas, but we're neighbors, too," Obama told more than 9,000 mourners who packed a basketball arena at Baylor University in Waco.
The April 17 explosion at the West Fertilizer Co plant obliterated a residential section of West, about 20 miles north of Waco.
Investigators have not determined the cause of the blast, which also injured some 200 people.
A video testimonial for each victim were read by a relative or friend and broadcast on a large screen behind the podium.
In one video, Carmen Bridges, wife of Morris Wayne Bridges Jr., 40, fought back tears as she told of the last time she had seen her husband. As he rushed out the door to respond to the fire in West, he stopped to hug his 2-year-old son.
"'Daddy loves you and he'll be right back,'" Bridges recalled her husband telling the boy. "And he didn't come back."
As the name of each victim was read aloud, a bell rang, echoing through the vast arena, where a dozen coffins - most covered with U.S. flags, and a couple covered with Texas flags - were lined up in front of the stage.
Obama and his wife, Michelle, both wiped tears from their eyes as bagpipers played "Amazing Grace" and the song filled the arena.
The April 15 Boston Marathon bombings and the search for the suspects last week often overshadowed the Texas tragedy in the national news media.
But Obama sought to assure Texans they were in his thoughts. He vowed that federal and state authorities would help to rebuild the town of 2,800 residents.
"Know this, for the eyes of the world may have been fixed on places far away, our hearts have also been here through times of tribulation," Obama said.
'ULTIMATE SACRIFICE'
Before the ceremony, red and white lights twinkled along Baylor's University Parks Drive as fire trucks and ambulances from across Texas approached. Along the road, people took pictures, but many watched in silence.
Bagpipe players and a color guard led a procession of members of fire departments that lost personnel in the blast. West emergency medical technicians cried as they walked hand in hand with members of the emergency medical technicians from nearby Abbott, Texas.
"Coming to memorials, when you're part of this brotherhood, one of the biggest brotherhoods in the world created for the purpose of protecting others, that's just what you do," said Tito Rodriguez, an assistant fire chief with the Clute Fire Department near Houston.
James Bruno waited until he parked to don the freshly ironed blue Irving, Texas, fire department shirt for the service. Walking with his wife, he said he felt a certain kinship with those who lost their lives in the explosion.
"They made the ultimate sacrifice trying to help everyone in their own town out," he said.
The town had 33 volunteer firefighters. Five were killed, as were four paramedics from nearby towns who rushed to the scene. Among the others killed was an off-duty Dallas firefighter who lived in West and a local welder who went to the plant to help.
Obama praised the courage of people "who so love their neighbors as themselves that they are willing to lay down their lives for each other.
"America needs towns like West. That's what makes this country great, it's towns like West," he said.
Other speakers included Texas Governor Rick Perry and Baylor University President Kenneth Starr, best known for his investigation of the sex scandal involving then-President Bill Clinton and White House intern Monica Lewinsky during the 1990s.
"These are volunteers, ordinary individuals blessed with extraordinary courage," Perry said of the fallen first responders.
(Additional reporting by Laura Heinauer. Editing by David Lindsey, Corrie MacLaggan and Peter Cooney)
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