Though Apple likes to refer to the Apple TV as nothing more than a "hobby," the device continues to sell extremely well. To date, Apple has sold well over 13 million Apple TV units with about half of those sales occurring in 2013.
Today, Apple made the Apple TV just a tad more affordable, lowering the price on a refurbished model down to $75. Previously, a refurbished Apple TV would have cost you $85. With a fresh Apple TV running at $99, you can now get your hands on an Apple TV for 25% off.
The offer is only available via Apple's online store, so expect to pay full price if you saunter into a physical Apple retail location. You can, however, order online and have the device shipped to a nearby Apple retail store.
A series of explosions engulfed a propane plant in flames in Tavares, Florida, late Monday. This photo was taken at 11.36 p.m. from a location between 1-2 miles from the blast.
By M. Alex Johnson, Staff Writer, NBC News
A series of explosions engulfed a propane plant in flames in Tavares, Fla., late Monday, injuring at least seven people ? three of them critically ? and forcing evacuations for a half-mile around the scene, authorities said.
The explosions began as a fire spread through the Blue Rhino plant in Lake County,?near Orlando,?about 10:30 p.m. ET, Lake County sheriff's Lt. John Herrell told reporters early Tuesday. Seven people were taken to hospitals, two by helicopter, he said. All of them were in the plant when the fire started.
Watch live coverage on WESH-TV
Residents of the area told NBC station WESH of Orlando that flames from the explosions could be seen for several miles, but there were no reports of damage to the surrounding buildings. ?
WESH-TV
Flames from the Blue Rhino propane plant in Tavares, Fla., seen from the air Monday night.
"It sounds like bombs are going off," Norma Haygood, a nearby resident, told WESH.
No deaths were immediately reported, Herrell said. Three male victims were in critical condition, the Orlando Regional Medical Center, told NBC News.?
Two were airlifted, while a third was still being transported by ambulance at 3:00 a.m ET. ?
Authorities initially declared a one-mile evacuation zone around the plant, but they later scaled that back to a half-mile, effective until 6 a.m. ET.?
"We feel that there is no longer any danger" to the area around the plant, Herrell said.
Twenty-four or 26 people were scheduled to work the night shift at the 33,000-acre facility, according to plant managers, Herrell said. Authorities initially said 15 people were unaccounted for, but Herrell later said the company's management said that they had accounted for all of the people it knew were in the plant at the time of the initial explosion.
NBC News/Bing Maps
Some of them showed up at others location, according to Blue Rhino, Herrell said. He said he had no further information on where the others were.
The plant housed about 53,000 20-pound propane cylinders, Herrell said.
"They store the propane cylinders on different parts of the property, and as the fire spread, there were more and more explosions," he said.?
Explosions continued but were diminishing at 1 a.m. ET Tuesday, 2? hours after the first blasts were reported.
Don Ingram, former plant production supervisor at the plant, said his son felt one of the explosions in their home 6 miles away.
Ingram told WESH that the back area of the plant is "lined with propane tanks stacked four or five high on plastic pallets."
"I don't think you fight this fire," he said. "It's just too dangerous."
Blue Rhino is a subsidiary of Ferrellgas Partners, the second-largest distributor of propane in the U.S.
Azhar Fateh of NBC News contributed to this report.
This story was originally published on Tue Jul 30, 2013 3:24 AM EDT
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? A veteran marketing executive is the new president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The organization's board of governors elected Cheryl Boone Isaacs to the position Tuesday evening.
She is the first woman to hold the post in three decades and the first African-American president in the academy's history.
Boone Isaacs was elected to a one-year term but is eligible to serve four successive terms. She succeeds Hawk Koch, who served for one year but was ineligible for re-election.
Boone Isaacs previously served as first vice president of the film academy, which announced its new president via Twitter.
It looks like Twitter is now hiring out of its new Sunnyvale, Calif. office. The leasing of an 8,000 square foot office in downtown Sunnyvale was first reported in May ? apparently that should hold between 40 and 50 employees. Now Twitter has posted its first job listing for that location ? it's looking for a "software engineer, core runtime diagnostics." (Apparently the company wants someone "awesome, passionate, and nice," so, y'know, apply accordingly.)
Just when you thought it safe to declare polyester dead, Larry Laffer has slunk back onto the scene. The title character of the Leisure Suit Larry games, which popped into the public consciousness in 1987 and pulled out of it again after a couple of sloppy engagements during the last decade, isn't so much trying to score a new success as he is reestablish his old bona fides. Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded, in fact, is almost a scene-by-scene remake of the 1991 VGA remake of the series' inaugural chapter. This new version is the product of a successful Kickstarter project shepherded by Larry's creator, Al Lowe, now ensconced at Replay Games The final product, though polished for what it is, isn't an easy sell; you may never forget your first time, but this game won't give you anything new to remember.
Larry, Past and Present What distinguished the original (which was conceived as a graphical update to 1981's all-text Softporn Adventure) and its two immediate sequels were that they were more than simple-minded sex romps. Sure, Larry started as a 40-year-old virgin in 1970s clothing who vowed to become a man during one night in the gambling capital of Lost Wages. But they were really genre comedies in which sex just happened to feature prominently.
The first (the "losing it" flick), the second, 1988's Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking for Love (in Several Wrong Places), a twisted spy thriller; and the third, subtitled Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals, which fused a midlife crisis tale with the novelty of switching player control to Larry's latest love interest about two-thirds of the way through, shared a stiff undercurrent of realism that anchored their absurd plots. Larry was more palatable as an impossibly pathetic loser if everyone around him was rigidly committed to factual existence (or at least a close approximation of one). The worlds might have been wacky, but they made sense on their own terms?and thus Larry could be believably at odds with it all.
Unfortunately, with Reloaded, Lowe has latched onto the look and feel of the much less satisfying entries that followed, which featured trailblazing video and sound, clunky no-typing interfaces, and a dedication to caricature in design and story that capture none of the originals' virulent charm. The result is something more rickety than raunchy.
Enter, Stage Lefty You begin, as you always have, outside Lefty's Bar, and proceed on your quest through the dingy city streets and questionable night spots in search of the women who can give you what you want. Locales are well chosen, but limited: there's a convenience store (with the expected Indian cashier), a nightclub, an all-night wedding chapel, and a glitzy hotel-casino, all of which will naturally become important at some point. You can (and, in fact, must) gamble at certain points, fraternize with various females with whom you can occupy a bed (and perhaps a?gasp?long-term relationship), and explore a bit to sample all of the lubricated grit this desert oasis of sin has to offer.
All this still works on the most basic levels, but things are a bit wartier on this go-round. Lost Wages looks self-consciously skeevy in its incarnation here, as though it's trying too hard to be gritty and run-down, and the effect is neither evocative nor amusing. The visuals are fine for what they are, though the people and animals who resemble paper cutouts fail to mesh stylistically with their surroundings, making the playing experience even more distancing.
Hand, Tongue, Zipper The interface, from which you select pictures representing the actions you want to perform (walking legs, a hand, your inventory, a tongue, and a zipper?the last two getting far less use than you may expect), remains a depressing simplification that inhibits exploration and creativity, and shepherds you more into a linear puzzle narrative than it does richer puzzle solving. It also sets up its share of ridiculous scenarios, such as when you discover a password you need to use later: Because you only interact with objects, you have to cut your body, write the password in blood on a piece of paper, and then show it to the person who needs to see it. In 1987 you just typed it in.
Kansas City, MO-KS (1888PressRelease) July 30, 2013 - Ryan Construction Systems, Inc. today announced the launch of www.RyanConstructionSystems.com as an informational portal with educational resources on things like what home improvements can actually save money, how to pick the right remodeling contractor, understanding the cost of a room addition, the financial benefits of regular roof maintenance, and many other helpful tips on interior and exterior property remodeling and repair for the Kansas City Metro Area and surrounding cities.
Development of other community minded features for www.RyanConstructionSystems.com are already underway, and new user awareness guides from expert contractors are already being added on smart room addition ideas for any budget, kitchen & bathroom remodeling 101, property value benefits from exterior living space projects, and many other helpful resources for all homeowners.
Daniel Ryan of Ryan Construction Systems, Inc. said, "Our goal is to educate the community on how to get the best results for all their property improvement projects at any budget. Our website's informative and professional article sections are there to help everybody--not just our Ryan Construction Systems customers. The depth of knowledge and resources at www.RyanConstructionSystems.com is 100% unbiased, concise, and free to all."
About Ryan Construction Systems, Inc. - Ryan Construction Systems has been a professional Kansas City roofing contractor since 1986. Located in beautiful downtown historic Parkville, Missouri, our team of professional Kansas City roofers and construction specialists put the "extra" in extraordinary. While roofing is the main service we are known for, we also offer all construction services as well as solar roofing solutions. From high quality roof replacements to complete home remodeling services, Ryan Construction Systems is the company you can rely on for all your home improvement needs. For more Information, please visit www.RyanConstructionSystems.com.
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
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Hey?Texas did something smart!1 By sending fake GPS data to a superyacht's navigation system, University of Texas students were able to override the actual GPS signals and send an $80 million ship veering off course without rousing any suspicions whatsoever.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]A novel and potentially testable theory of how life arose on Earth advanced over 25 years ago by Michael Russell, research scientist in planetary chemistry and astrobiology, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was further developed in a recent article.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? A White House official says President Barack Obama will meet Tuesday morning with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators involved in a new round of peace talks.
The meeting was to happen at the White House as a second day of talks overseen by the State Department was getting underway.
The Washington negotiations are the result of Secretary of State John Kerry's six months of furious shuttle diplomacy. A previous Obama administration effort to restart stalled talks collapsed quickly in 2010.
The official insisted on anonymity in order to confirm the meeting before it was formally announced.
Weapons maim the heads and faces of soldiers in cruel ways. Because of this, facial reconstruction is as old as the ancient Egyptians, who fashioned cosmetic noses that could be lashed on to the faces of wounded warriors.
Today, the problem persists, but modern medicine has an array of scanning equipment and digital processing tools that bring a high-tech edge to craniofacial prostheses. "We switched from doing things as artists to doing things as technicians," says Capt. Gerald Grant, the director of craniofacial imaging research for Naval Postgraduate Dental School. Grant heads an effort at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., to bring 3D imaging to cranial and facial prosthetics, helping to create implants that fit perfectly into a patient's face and restore his or her appearance to close to what it was.
Doctors use a type of scan called cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) to capture 3D images of skulls and jaws. The CBCT scanner circles the patient's head and captures hundreds of images, which are processed into models and schematics of the patient. These models can produce built-to-order implants made of titanium or polymethyl methacrylate.
Surgeons and implantmakers examine the CT scans in an immersive environment before surgery, forming a plan for the operation, which reduces the patient's time on the table. The implants are made with guides that help during surgery, including features as simple as dotted lines on the material and as elaborate as metal edges that ensure a perfect fit.
Still, there is another big challenge for Grant's team: fine-turning the prosthesis so that the wounded soldier looks as close as possible to the way he or she did before the injury. "We use posttraumatic scans, so we know what they look like after they've been injured," Grant says. "A lot of times, if someone has an injury on the left side (of their face) we can mirror the right side, overlay it, and rebuild. When people have midfacial fractures, you can't really do that."
The solution: Scan the troops before they are wounded. Grant and his team want to figure out the logistics and methods that would be needed to make a scan of all incoming troops. The studies seem promising: In one recent test, newly recruited Marines were scanned with a CBCT head-capture machine. The process took only 12 seconds per soldier. Each branch of the military will have to decide whether to adopt the technique.
Grant and his team of military doctors are currently evaluating new software that can create better 3D visualization, including holographic images that float in front of the user's face, which doctors could examine and manipulate as if they were real objects. "A lot of this is emerging technology, and it's not geared to medicine but for engineering and entertainment," Grant says. "We have to adapt the software to see if it can do what we want it to do."
One of the vendors being evaluated by the military for holographic scans is zSpace, whose developers designed their system to work with most off-the-shelf computers, transforming "a PC into a virtual holographic computing system." PopMech got a hands-on demonstration of zSpace during a recent visit they made to the magazine's office in New York. They brought their own 3D-compatible screen and ran software that enabled editors to manipulate images floating in midair.
Sensors in the screen's corners determine the location of the tip of a stylus, which has its own accelerometer. Two cameras mounted long the top edge link up with sensors in the glasses to keep track of your face's orientation, which is important in creating seamless images, even when the user's head moves. Using the buttons on the stylus, users with no training were able to carve up sections of a human brain, removing parts to explore the organ's inner depths and zooming in with no loss of resolution. Another program displayed molecules, which we were able to manipulate and then examine, in simulated microcosmic flight, from various 3D perspectives.
Military doctors are only one interested customer of this emerging technology, once reserved for ship and aircraft engineers. It could be used to create high-fidelity holographic cadavers for med students or for the mapping of cities for the military and other U.S. government customers.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Computer science experts have designed a system to encrypt software so that it only allows someone to use a program as intended while preventing any deciphering of the code behind it. This is known in computer science as "software obfuscation," and it is the first time it has been accomplished.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Researchers have developed a new method of vaccine design -- Multiple Antigen Presentation System. It could speed new vaccine development for range of globally serious pathogens, infectious agents. Method permits rapid construction of new vaccines that bring together benefits of whole-cell and acellular or defined subunit vaccination and activate multiple arms of the immune system simultaneously against one or more pathogens, generating robust immune protection with lower risk of adverse effects.
Leon Washington is ready to do more than just return kicks and punts for the New England Patriots.
But if that?s all the free agent signee gets to do for his new team, he sounds ready to live with it.
?Ever since I was a rookie, I was always a team player,? Washington said Sunday, after the team?s first full-pads practice. ?That?s been my main focus. Knowing I could so many different things well -- running the ball, catching the ball, returning kicks, (I) even made tackles (on special teams) sometimes in my career.
?That?s the same approach I have here - coming in, helping the team out the best way I can.?
Washington, now 31, debuted with the New York Jets and played the last three seasons with Seattle. A 98-yard kick return for a touchdown last year gave him eight kick return TDs in his seven-year career, tying him with Josh Cribbs for the NFL record.
With Danny Woodhead leaving the Patriots for San Diego, there?s an opening for an all-purpose third-down back in New England. Shane Vereen will likely get most of that work and there?s a chance Washington won?t get much time.
?He?s played back there before but not a lot recently with the Seahawks,? Belichick said. ?We?ll put him in our system, teach him the things that he needs to learn at that position, evaluate him with the other players.?
Washington?s offensive plays indeed dwindled the last two years. Asked if that was disappointing, though, he said, ?No, not really.
?Obviously, I?m a competitor and want to be on the football field, want to be out there and help the team out as much as I can. But not really - we won a bunch of games when I was in Seattle, being a team player is the most important thing.?
He said he came to New England for the ?obvious? reasons.
?You watch this organization from afar, you see how well they do things here,? he said. ?It?s a winning organization. They believe in winning, they believe in competing.
?The most important thing that I love, that I?ve seen so far, is everybody is all about the team. Everybody is going to do whatever they do to help the team win. That?s impressive, watching it from afar. Everything when they guys come out and compete, hear them talking to the media, hear guys talking in the weight room, everything is all about the team.?
Belichick said the first day in pads is the start of the evaluation process of the bigger players on the team - the tacklers and blockers.
?It feels great,? said veteran guard Logan Mankins, who spent much of his morning dealing with Vince Wilfork on the other side of the line. ?Pretty tired right now but it?s always nice to start playing real football - to see where you?re at where you need to go.?
Wilfork stripped Stevan Ridley of the ball in a goal-line situation, one of two fumbles by Ridley on the day. (Jerod Mayo snared the other one out of the air), which led to some extra running for the back.
Notes
Tim Tebow was a bit better on Day 3 - hardly perfect, but better -- connecting on a pair of long touchdown passes. . Tom Brady had a pass intercepted by Kyle Arrington. . Rookie wide receiver Aaron Dobson had another strong day and fellow rookie Josh Boyce made his first impression. . Actor Robert Duvall, who has visited the Whitey Bulger murder trial, was at camp chatting with New England owner Robert Kraft. Also spotted: former Pats Troy Brown and Christian Fouria. . Belichick said defensive end Armond Armstead is on the non-football illness list for something not related to previous heart problems. . Linebacker Dane Fletcher, who missed all last season with a knee injury, is on the field. ?I don?t think he?s had any physical limitations to what we?ve done,? Belichick said. . The quarterbacks have video cameras attached to their helmets, another evaluation tool. ?We?ll take a look at it and see what we get out of it,? Belichick said. . Former linebacker Tedy Bruschi and retiring broadcaster Gil Santos will enter the team?s Hall of Fame before Monday night?s practice.
Here?s World Freestyle champ Andrew Henderson doing his tricky-dicky thing all around London town like some kind of mad Dick Whittington using various flailing body parts to flamboyantly keep a football from touching the floor ? including a little spell on the Tube, strap-hanging and playing keep-ups while stopping at Rejection, Disappointment, Backstabbing Central and Shattered Dreams Parkway?
Impressive stuff. Pretty much pointless in terms of the actual game, but impressive none-the-less.
Source: www.digitalhome.ca --- Tuesday, July 30, 2013 http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/07...ement_by_2015/ Quote: Sony and Panasonic have announced a partnership to develop a new format of optical storage disc for data archiving to replace Blu-Ray, and plan to get a 300GB disc in the market by the end of 2015. Quote: While the two didn't say anything about commercial media players in the press release, the format would go some way to alleviate the data glut of proposed 4K resolution media which dazzled at CES this year. Both Panasonic and Sony demoed 56-inch OLED UHDTVs at the show, and Blu-Ray ain't going to cut it. ...
LinkedIn Corp. is beefing up its Influencers program to keep you online for more than just job hunting.
By VIncent Lara-Cinisomo, Web contributor
LinkedIn wants to be more than just the site you check for job postings.
It?s hoping you?ll want to not only hear from people like President Obama and Bill Gates, but comment and discuss what they write.
The company is expanding its ?Influencer? initiative, or the high-profile politicians and entrepreneurs who write blog posts on the networking site. Now users can ?like? and comment on posts from the more than 300 people in the Influencer network, Techcrunch reports, and search for specific Influencer posts. Users can also reply directly to messages left by others and ?tag? LinkedIn members in comments (Facebook made a similar move earlier this year).
Those changes, LinkedIn Corp. hopes, will increase networking and drive more traffic to its site. In its most recent quarterly earnings, the Mountain View company said it had 225 million users but showed slowing revenue growth, so stickiness would certainly help.
?We are also giving you the power to sort comments, to help you quickly find the content that interests you most,? LinkedIn?s Itamar Orgad said, according to TechCrunch.
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Former member of the Planning Commission, Bhalchandra Mungekar, has told Business Standard that while poverty being reduced between 2004-05 and 2011-12 was a fact, the minimum estimates used recently to define poverty appeared to be unrealistic and, therefore, questionable.
?Between 2004-05 and 2011-12, the rate of growth was on an average 8.5 per cent per annum.
"It must have benefited people at large. Second, the inclusive policies of the United Progressive Alliance government, particularly the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, had provided jobs to 400-450 people per annum at the wage rate ranging from Rs 130-160 per day.
"This had provided additional income to the poor. Third, due to relative scarcity of labour in rural areas due to MGNREGA, overall rural wage rates had increased, resulting in faster reduction of rural poverty, compared with urban poverty.
Between FY05 and FY12, rural poverty declined at 2.3 per cent per annum and urban at 1.69 per cent.
These rates of reduction were three times higher than rates at which poverty declined during FY94 and FY05,? said Mungekar.
On the poverty estimates issued by the Planning Commission, Mungekar, who is a Congress member in the Rajya Sabha, termed it a ?routine exercise?.
He said these estimates had been prepared on the basis of the Tendulkar Committee?s
recommendations.
?The committee had added expenditure on health and education in addition to per capita calorie expenditure.
"To estimate poverty for 2011-12 on the basis of National Sample Survey Office data, the Planning Commission took Rs 4,080 as monthly expenditure for a family of five in rural areas and Rs 5,000 in urban areas.
Taking into account the current rate of inflation, this minimum expenditure to define poverty appears to be unrealistic and, therefore, questionable.
But what the Commission has done is, it wanted to see the rate of reduction in poverty between 2004-05 and 2011-12.
On this basis, it found 137 million people crossed the poverty line during the seven-year period,? he added.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]A biologist has identified 33 new species of predatory ants in Central America and the Caribbean, and named about a third of the tiny but monstrous-looking insects after ancient Mayan lords and demons.
A view of the Carlton hotel, in Cannes, southern France, the scene of a daylight raid, Sunday, July 28, 2013. A staggering 40 million euro ($53 million) worth of jewels and diamonds were stolen Sunday from the Carlton Intercontinental Hotel in Cannes, in one of Europe's biggest jewelry heists recent years, police said. French Riviera hotel was hosting a temporary jewelry exhibit over the summer of the prestigious Leviev diamond house, which is owned by Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
A view of the Carlton hotel, in Cannes, southern France, the scene of a daylight raid, Sunday, July 28, 2013. A staggering 40 million euro ($53 million) worth of jewels and diamonds were stolen Sunday from the Carlton Intercontinental Hotel in Cannes, in one of Europe's biggest jewelry heists recent years, police said. French Riviera hotel was hosting a temporary jewelry exhibit over the summer of the prestigious Leviev diamond house, which is owned by Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)
Rescuers stands in the wreckage of a bus which crashed off a highway near Avellino, southern Italy, Monday, July 29, 2013. Rescuers wielding electric saws cut through the twisted wreckage of an Italian tour bus for survivors of a crash in southern Italy that killed at least 37 people after it crashed into traffic and plunged into a ravine on Sunday night. Reports said as many as 49 people, mostly Italians, had been aboard the bus when it ripped through a guardrail, then plunged some 30 meters (100 feet) off a viaduct near a wooded area. (AP Photo/Salvatore Laporta)
FILE - Anastasia, a young farm pig, walks around her yard after being vaccinated and micro-chipped at the Happy Trails Farm Animal Sanctuary in Ravenna, Ohio on Monday, April 23, 2007. Anastasia is one of 10 rescued farm and potbelly pigs receiving medical preparation for their trip from the Ravenna sanctuary to their new home at the Humane Farming Association in Elk Creek, Calif. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:
1. MIDEAST NEGOTIATORS HEAD TO US
Israeli and Palestinian officials will meet in Washington today after Israel approved the release of 104 Palestinian prisoners.
2. ITALY TOUR BUS CRASH KILLS 38
Police said the bus filled with Italian pilgrims smashed into several cars in heavy traffic and plunged into a ravine.
3. CHARGES OF SPYING ON JOURNALIST DENIED
New Zealand officials denied a report that said U.S. surveillance agencies joined in tracking phone records of a McClatchy freelancer working in Afghanistan.
4. DRIVER CHARGED IN SPAIN TRAIN CRASH
Francisco Jose Garzon Arno, charged with 79 counts of homicide, has said the brakes didn't work when he tried to slow the speeding train before a curve.
5. DOZENS KILLED IN BAGHAD BOMBINGS
A wave of car bombs in and around Baghdad killed at least 47 during morning rush hour in the latest coordinated insurgent attack.
6. WHITEY BULGER DEFENSE BEGINS
But lawyers haven't said whether the 83-year-old charged with 19 killings and racketeering in Boston will take the stand himself.
7. HUGE HEIST ON THE RIVIERA
A haul of $53 million worth of diamonds and other jewels were stolen from a Cannes hotel featured in the Hitchcock film "To Catch a Thief."
8. FLOSSIE HEADS TO BIG ISLAND
The weakened tropical storm is still expected to bring 18-foot-high waves, flooding and high winds to Hawaii.
9. THE INTELLIGENCE OF FARM ANIMALS
Rights advocates say that pigs, chickens and cows may be as smart and sociable as dogs, hoping to boost the ranks of vegetarians in the U.S.
10. WHAT PENN STATE KNEW ABOUT ABUSE SCANDAL
The university's former president, vice president and athletic director appear today at a preliminary hearing on charges they tried to cover up charges against Jerry Sandusky.
It used to be that when a child received a cancer diagnosis, the focus was primarily an immediate one: To cure the child.
But over the last two decades, researchers have found that the cancer treatments that are so effective in saving children's lives often cause long-term chronic health conditions that don't plateau at a certain age, but rise as patients get older.
Take Hodgkin lymphoma, for example. It has a 90 percent cure rate in children, but chemotherapy and chest radiation directed at a tumor site in the neck and chest areas might weaken heart muscles or make the child more vulnerable to breast cancer years later.
According to research published in June by the Journal of the American Medical Association, 95 percent of children who survive cancer go on to develop a chronic health problem by the time they are 45 years old. There are currently more than 350,000 pediatric cancer survivors in the United States.
Karen Kinahan is a pediatric oncology nurse who started and coordinates a clinic and research and education program for adult survivors of childhood cancer at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. The program began in 2001 and is called the STAR program ? Survivors Taking Action & Responsibility.
"The cure rate for most childhood cancers is 80 percent, and that's pretty good," she said. "But it's not good for someone to be cured of cancer only to have other lasting problems."
STAR is a unique model in that 65 percent of its patients come from the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital and transfer into the program when they're about 20 to 25 years old and at least five years post-diagnosis. The average age of patients is 32.
Kinahan said the purpose of STAR is not "disease surveillance," but to look out for late effects. (She led a fascinating study that showed even the physical scars left behind after treatments may take a lasting emotional toll.)
STAR provides support that can range from psychological counseling to medical treatment to preventive care such as cancer screenings, bone density scans, hormone tests, EKG and echocardiograms and mammograms.
There are similar programs at other area hospitals including Advocate Children's Hospital, the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System, the University of Chicago Medicine Childhood Cancer Survivor Center and the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital.
"If our patients need to, they can see an oncologist," Kinahan said. "But one of the bonuses of our program is that we have a lot of the same specialists working with us who are familiar with patients' cardiac issues or their problems with their (gastrointestinal) or endocrine systems."
Kinahan said she got the idea for STAR in the 1990s while working at what was then Children's Memorial Hospital. In 1997, she met Dr. Kevin Oeffinger, a primary care physician who was one of the first physicians in the country to recognize and study the chronic health conditions in adult survivors of childhood cancer.
"We had a lot of adults coming back to Children's Memorial for many of the specialty services cancer patients need," she said. "We figured out that we needed to follow them beyond age 18."
Kinahan said it's important to note that each patient's history and late effects are different and based on the cancer therapy he or she received.
For example, STAR patient Kelly Cotter, 37, was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia when she was 11 and had a bone marrow transplant at age 12.
Every year, she has a bone density scan, EKG and echocardiogram to check her heart, a mammogram and a breast MRI. She's also tested for skin cancer and potential problems with her vision.
She recalls her pediatric oncologists warning her and her parents that she might not ever be able to conceive children.
"But that was it," Cotter said. "I had wonderful doctors, and if they had known, they would have said something. My experience is that childhood cancer doesn't end when the treatment ends."
Mark Passis, 44, another STAR patient, was diagnosed with bone cancer of the leg at age 15. He said his doctors didn't tell him or his family about the possibility of other health problems down the road.
"Frankly that would have been beside the point," Passis said. "The focus was on short-term survival, especially with such an aggressive cancer."
He said he's lucky in that he hasn't had many health challenges.
"With cancer, you're always trying to get to that five-year mark and you want to feel like you're done and you have this immunity shield," Passis said. "But that's not true of the cancer itself or the other problems that might come later."
Kinahan said that because there are many people, including some physicians, who aren't well versed in the lasting effects of childhood cancer treatments, STAR has created a series of educational videos with patients and Northwestern staff members.
It's called "Get Empowered: Life, Living & Follow-Up Care After Childhood Cancer." You can find it at cancer.northwestern.edu/empowered.
Another good resource for survivor information is the Children's Oncology Group's survivorshipguidelines.org.
"We're working so hard to improve the lives of these patients," Kinahan said. "Over the years, even cancer treatment has become less aggressive in some cases to decrease the late effects."
HAMILTON, BERMUDA--(Marketwired - Jul 29, 2013) - Teekay Offshore Partners L.P.(Teekay Offshoreor the Partnership) (TOO) plans to release its financial results for the second quarter of 2013 before market open on Thursday, August 8, 2013.
The Partnership also plans to host a conference call on Friday, August 9, 2013 at noon (ET) to discuss the results for the second quarter of 2013. All unitholders and interested parties are invited to listen to the live conference call by choosing from the following options:
By dialing 1-866-322-8032 or 416-640-3406, if outside North America, and quoting conference ID code 2823263.
By accessing the webcast, which will be available on Teekay Offshore's website at www.teekayoffshore.com (the archive will remain on the website for a period of 30 days).
A supporting Second Quarter 2013 Earnings Presentation will also be available at www.teekayoffshore.com in advance of the conference call start time.
The conference call will be recorded and available until Friday, August 16, 2013. This recording can be accessed following the live call by dialing 1-888-203-1112 or 647-436-0148, if outside North America, and entering access code 2823263.
About Teekay Offshore Partners L.P.
Teekay Offshore Partners L.P. is an international provider of marine transportation, oil production and storage services to the offshore oil industry focusing on the fast-growing, deepwater offshore oil regions of the North Sea and Brazil. Teekay Offshore is structured as a publicly-traded master limited partnership and owns interests in 35 shuttle tankers (including four chartered-in vessels and two committed newbuildings), five floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) units, seven floating storage and offtake (FSO) units (including two committed FSO conversions) and five conventional oil tankers. The majority of Teekay Offshore's fleet is employed on long-term, stable contracts. In addition, Teekay Offshore has rights to participate in certain other FPSO and shuttle tanker opportunities provided by Teekay Corporation (TK) and Sevan Marine ASA (Oslo Bors:SEVAN).
Teekay Offshore's common units trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "TOO".
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GENEVA (AP) ? At least 44 people were injured, four of them seriously, in a head-on collision of two trains in western Switzerland late Monday, Swiss television reported, citing police.
Public TV station SRF quoted Vaud canton (state) police spokesman Pierre-Olivier Gaudard as saying that one person had yet to be recovered from the wreckage.
News website 20min.ch quoted Patricia Claivaz of the Swiss rail companyCFF as saying the trapped man, a driver of one of the trains, had been located. It was unclear if he was alive.
Neither the police nor the rail company could immediately be reached for comment.
The crash happened near the station of Granges-pres-Marnand shortly before 7 p.m. (1700 GMT) on a regional line about 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of the capital, Bern.
Photographs from the site showed the two regional trains locked together, partly lifted off the tracks by the force of the collision.
Earlier this month, 79 people were killed in a high-speed derailment in Spain.
Like water for batteriesPublic release date: 29-Jul-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: B. Rose Huber rhuber@pitt.edu 412-624-4356 University of Pittsburgh
Pitt team finds water 'likeability' plays a role in battery-charged objects
PITTSBURGHObjects made from graphitesuch as lithium-ion batteriesare "hydrophobic," meaning that they "dislike" water. For decades this lack of likeability has presented significant challenges in terms of building more durable technological devices made with graphiteuntil now.
It appears that past samples of graphite were likely contaminated by air, causing the samples to appear hydrophobic, according to a University of Pittsburgh study. The Pitt team has demonstratedfor the first timethese materials are actually intrinsically attracted to water or "hydrophilic." The findings, published in Nature Materials, have particular implications for lithium-ion batteries and super capacitors, as both battery types are built from these materials.
"This work could change the fundamental understanding of the surface properties of these materials," said Lei Li, co-lead author of the paper and an assistant professor within Pitt's Swanson School of Engineering. "These findings hold implications for producing stronger, more durable batteries. And, hopefully, it will also be important to the fabrication of devices in various nanotechnology areas."
It was former undergraduate engineering student Rebecca McGinley (ENG '12) who noticed the inconsistent results regarding the surface's "wetting behavior" or its reaction to water, pushing the team to further investigate the strange phenomena. They found that, when graphite and graphene are exposed to air, a thin layer of hydrocarbon (a compound made entirely of hydrogen and carbon) quickly contaminated the surface. Using infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the team was able to "see" this hydrocarbon layer, noting its hydrophobic nature. However, when the team used heat to remove this contaminant layer, the surface became hydrophilic.
"Plastic and other types of materials emit hydrocarbon into the air," said Haitao Liu, co-lead author of the paper and an assistant professor in Pitt's Department of Chemistry within the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. "And this hasn't been a factor in past sample experiments. In the past, the research community believed that graphite didn't 'like' water, possibly because their samples were always contaminated; the contamination happens typically within 10 minutes."
Liu and Li say this wettability could have an impact on how much energy can be stored within such devices that use lithium-ion batteries or super capacitors. The team will now conduct follow-up studies to understand the origins of their observations and study how controlling this wettability may impact some of the applications of graphite (e.g. lubrication and energy storage).
In addition to McGinley, other collaborators from Li's engineering laboratory include Patrick Ireland (ENG '12), Andrew Kozbial (ENG '13), Yongjin Wang (ENG '13), and current undergraduate student Brittni Morganstein. From Liu's chemistry laboratory, graduate students Zhiting Li (A&S '13) and Feng Zhou (A&S '13) were involved as well as Ganesh Shenoy (A&S '13) and undergraduate chemistry student Alyssa Kunkle. Likewise, Pitt postdoctoral researcher in chemistry Sumedh Surwade assisted.
The paper, "Effect of airborne contaminants on the wettability of supported graphene and graphite," first appeared online July 21. This work was supported by Taiho Kogyo Tribology Research Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Office of Naval Research, Pitt's Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation, Pitt's Central Research Development Fund, and the National Science Foundation.
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7/29/13/mab/jaf
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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.
Like water for batteriesPublic release date: 29-Jul-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: B. Rose Huber rhuber@pitt.edu 412-624-4356 University of Pittsburgh
Pitt team finds water 'likeability' plays a role in battery-charged objects
PITTSBURGHObjects made from graphitesuch as lithium-ion batteriesare "hydrophobic," meaning that they "dislike" water. For decades this lack of likeability has presented significant challenges in terms of building more durable technological devices made with graphiteuntil now.
It appears that past samples of graphite were likely contaminated by air, causing the samples to appear hydrophobic, according to a University of Pittsburgh study. The Pitt team has demonstratedfor the first timethese materials are actually intrinsically attracted to water or "hydrophilic." The findings, published in Nature Materials, have particular implications for lithium-ion batteries and super capacitors, as both battery types are built from these materials.
"This work could change the fundamental understanding of the surface properties of these materials," said Lei Li, co-lead author of the paper and an assistant professor within Pitt's Swanson School of Engineering. "These findings hold implications for producing stronger, more durable batteries. And, hopefully, it will also be important to the fabrication of devices in various nanotechnology areas."
It was former undergraduate engineering student Rebecca McGinley (ENG '12) who noticed the inconsistent results regarding the surface's "wetting behavior" or its reaction to water, pushing the team to further investigate the strange phenomena. They found that, when graphite and graphene are exposed to air, a thin layer of hydrocarbon (a compound made entirely of hydrogen and carbon) quickly contaminated the surface. Using infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the team was able to "see" this hydrocarbon layer, noting its hydrophobic nature. However, when the team used heat to remove this contaminant layer, the surface became hydrophilic.
"Plastic and other types of materials emit hydrocarbon into the air," said Haitao Liu, co-lead author of the paper and an assistant professor in Pitt's Department of Chemistry within the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. "And this hasn't been a factor in past sample experiments. In the past, the research community believed that graphite didn't 'like' water, possibly because their samples were always contaminated; the contamination happens typically within 10 minutes."
Liu and Li say this wettability could have an impact on how much energy can be stored within such devices that use lithium-ion batteries or super capacitors. The team will now conduct follow-up studies to understand the origins of their observations and study how controlling this wettability may impact some of the applications of graphite (e.g. lubrication and energy storage).
In addition to McGinley, other collaborators from Li's engineering laboratory include Patrick Ireland (ENG '12), Andrew Kozbial (ENG '13), Yongjin Wang (ENG '13), and current undergraduate student Brittni Morganstein. From Liu's chemistry laboratory, graduate students Zhiting Li (A&S '13) and Feng Zhou (A&S '13) were involved as well as Ganesh Shenoy (A&S '13) and undergraduate chemistry student Alyssa Kunkle. Likewise, Pitt postdoctoral researcher in chemistry Sumedh Surwade assisted.
The paper, "Effect of airborne contaminants on the wettability of supported graphene and graphite," first appeared online July 21. This work was supported by Taiho Kogyo Tribology Research Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Office of Naval Research, Pitt's Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation, Pitt's Central Research Development Fund, and the National Science Foundation.
###
7/29/13/mab/jaf
[ | 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.
Tracy Anderson and her husband Matt Mogol are calling time on their marriage after only two years. The 38-year-old celebrity trainer, who actress Gwyneth Paltrow credits for giving her her toned body, confirmed the separation. Tracy Anderson’s spokesperson confirmed that Tracy and Matt Hogol, who tied the knot in 2011, decided to part ways. They ...
To restore sanity to the educational sector and teach youths to emulate reputable role models who have served the nation credibly, Shalom Vineyard Initiative, a non-governmental organisation, initiated ?Youth & Passion?, a programme designed to sensitize and educate young people from across the country. Here, the Executive Director of Shalom Vineyard Initiative, Ms.Judith Eyegho, cum Chairperson/Producer, Youth & Passion, speaks about the programme. Hear her:
About the programme Youth & Passion is designed to mould the lives of young people, so as to make them better future leaders who will be focus and dynamic in carrying out leadership roles. We are concerned about shaping youths who will stand firm to defend the integrity of this nation, youths who will say ?No? to drug abuse and illicit trafficking of any substances, youths who will say ?No? to any form of crime and immorality, youths who will emulate good character and participate in sustainable development projects in the land.
Judith Eyegho
Societal decay It?s sad that our society is in a state of decay while anti-social behaviours amongst the youths seem on the increase. Anti-socials such as cultism, violence, drug abuse and trafficking, are becoming global problems. The rapid spread of youth involvement in drug trafficking and the use of hard drugs in Nigeria too, is overwhelming. Today, a wide variety of drugs are commonly abused all over the world. Hard drugs such as cocaine, heroine, cannabis and opium, of which youths are more vulnerable, have also spread their roots to our children who sometimes practice cigarette smoking through the wrapping of paper.
?Youth & Passion? is therfore? very much concerned about creating awareness on drug abuse and other social vices common amongst young people.?Hence, the programme is targeted at students and pupils to enlighten them on the dangers inherent in drug abuse, drug trafficking and other vices. To successfully achieve this, in all of our programmes, we invite guest? speakers from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency- NDLEA, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control- NAFDAC, educationist and social workers to address? students on topical issues.
Lack of proper education The issues of drug abuse/addictions, drug trafficking and other form of vices, their? effects on the individual and the society, cannot be over emphasized. From indications, they could be? traced to the lack of proper education on their effects. Research shows that youths are more prone to crime because they are usually being used either as political thugs, higher assassins, for armed robbery, violence, and various crimes? under the influence of drugs. Sadly, most youths are either ignorant or lack vital information about the dangers of the substances they are being introduced to by their peers. The side effect of these substances therefore make them indulge in heinous crimes.
Dangers of hard drugs Drug trafficking could hamper the development of any Nation. In most cases, it has led to the death of the trafficker when swallowed or provoked sanctions on a nation. It was actually because of this critical analysis and research that we started our quarterly programme six years ago in collaboration with the Silverbird Cinemas where the recording takes place, to sensitize young people. For the first quarter this time, the programme will comprise different schools from across Lagos State, and it is expected to feature guests from all works of life. It will also produce two episodes which will be aired.
Importance The programme is targeted at young people in the society, ranging from age six to thirty-five years of age, and parents. Government indirectly benefits from it in both ways, as it helps to enlighten the citizenry on the dangers and effects of drug abuse/trafficking and how they could hamper national development.
Background I?m a graduate of Sociology from the University of Abuja, currently running a Master programme in Public and International Affairs-MPIA at the University of Lagos, Akoka.
Passion I?m passionate about good governance. I?m therefore a social crusader and an advocate for youth empowerment, with focus on leadership management and entrepreneurial skills for self-development.
It looks like Twitter is now hiring out of its new Sunnyvale, Calif. office. The leasing of an 8,000 square foot office in downtown Sunnyvale was 
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Public release date: 29-Jul-2013
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Tracy Anderson and her husband Matt Mogol are calling time on their marriage after only two years. The 38-year-old celebrity trainer, who actress Gwyneth Paltrow credits for giving her her toned body, confirmed the separation. Tracy Anderson’s spokesperson confirmed that Tracy and Matt Hogol, who tied the knot in 2011, decided to part ways. They ...