Winner of the Relevant Evidence to Advance Care and Health Challenge announced

Public release date: 31-Jan-2012
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Contact: Kristin Rosengren
kristin.rosengren@academyhealth.org
202-689-9067
AcademyHealth

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- AcademyHealth today announced that an experimental application to track patients' care experiences in real time is the winner of the Relevant Evidence to Advance Care and Health (REACH) Developer Challenge. An international team of researchers including Deirdre McCaughey, Dominique LaRochelle, Aamer Ghaffer, Tejal Raichura, Shantanu Dholakia, Latoya Tatum, and Ashley Kimmel won first place with their project, Real-time Care Experience Feedback Using QR Codes.

The competition was part of the Health 2.0 Developer Challenge program and included a cash prize in addition to opportunities to work directly with AcademyHealth to further develop, vet and disseminate the winning product.

AcademyHealth, a nonprofit health policy and research organization, launched the REACH Challenge to foster collaboration between the research and developer communities, and to produce innovative applications that provide access to evidence-based information to support more meaningful engagement and real-time decision-making.

"The powerful combination of technology, social media, and data enable whole new ways of conceiving and conducting research," said AcademyHealth President and CEO, Dr. Lisa Simpson. "We launched the REACH Challenge to highlight the interdisciplinary nature of health services research, to encourage interactions between researchers and nontraditional partners, and to get people thinking about the many ways this kind of work might improve health and health care."

Submitted projects ranged from applications to help patients engage more fully in their care, to platforms that helped support caregivers and clinicians. The winning submission, Real-time Care Experience Feedback Using QR Codes, looked at ways that patients could provide feedback using their mobile phones at the point of care. Runners up included the Child & Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative's Well Visit Planner Mobile App, mobile data application to help parents plan and navigate their child's well visits, and Aggregated Self-Experiments, a platform that helps patients develop user-generated self-experiments and online information.

All three teams will receive travel support to AcademyHealth's 2012 Annual Research Meeting (ARM) in Orlando, Florida to showcase their submissions. In addition, the winning team will be awarded $5,000 plus travel support to attend a private meeting where they will have an opportunity to workshop their application with health policy thought leaders in conjunction with the AcademyHealth National Health Policy Conference (NHPC).

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More Information:

Winner: Real-time Care Experience Feedback Using QR Codes: http://mhealthcoach.com/RealTimeFeedbackLight.jpg; Deirdre McCaughey can be reached at dxm68@psu.edu

Runner Up: Well Visit Planner A demo of the Well Visit Planner online tool is available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQMtCoFcWlA. Please contact pcw@cahmi.org for more information.

Runner Up: Aggregated Personal Experiments, a C3N platform from MIT Media Lab, Lybba, and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, that helps patients develop user-generated self-experiments: http://www.personalexperiments.org/

More information about AcademyHealth's resources, initiatives and projects can be found at http://www.academyhealth.org. You can learn more about the Health 2.0 Developer Challenge at http://www.health2challenge.org.

About the Health 2.0 Developer Challenge: The Health 2.0 Developer Challenge was launched on June 2, 2010, with support from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The goal of these challenges is to bring the Health 2.0 Community together for rapid application development, both online and in physical code-a-thons. For more see http://www.health2challenge.org.

About Health 2.0: Health 2.0 -- The conference. The media network. The Innovation community. The Health 2.0 Conference is the leading showcase of cutting-edge technologies in health care, including Online Communities, Search and lightweight Tools for consumers to manage their health and connect to providers online. The Health 2.0 Developer Challenge is a series of prize competitions promoting health technology innovation. Health 2.0 also has its own media channels, Health 2.0 News and Health 2.0 TV; its own market intelligence service, Health 2.0 Advisors; and also sponsors the Health 2.0 Accelerator industry consortium. Health 2.0 was founded by Indu Subaiya & Matthew Holt in 2007 and is now a community of hundreds of organizations and thousands of innovators. For more information, see http://www.health2con.com.

About AcademyHealth: AcademyHealth is a leading national organization serving the fields of health services and policy research and the professionals who produce and use this important work. Together with its members, AcademyHealth offers programs and services that support the development and use of rigorous, relevant, and timely evidence to increase the quality, accessibility, and value of health care, to reduce disparities, and to improve health. A trusted broker of information, AcademyHealth brings stakeholders together to address the current and future needs of an evolving health system, inform health policy, and translate evidence into action. Website: http://www.academyhealth.org; Twitter: @academyhealth and @NHPC

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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.

Public release date: 31-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Kristin Rosengren
kristin.rosengren@academyhealth.org
202-689-9067
AcademyHealth

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- AcademyHealth today announced that an experimental application to track patients' care experiences in real time is the winner of the Relevant Evidence to Advance Care and Health (REACH) Developer Challenge. An international team of researchers including Deirdre McCaughey, Dominique LaRochelle, Aamer Ghaffer, Tejal Raichura, Shantanu Dholakia, Latoya Tatum, and Ashley Kimmel won first place with their project, Real-time Care Experience Feedback Using QR Codes.

The competition was part of the Health 2.0 Developer Challenge program and included a cash prize in addition to opportunities to work directly with AcademyHealth to further develop, vet and disseminate the winning product.

AcademyHealth, a nonprofit health policy and research organization, launched the REACH Challenge to foster collaboration between the research and developer communities, and to produce innovative applications that provide access to evidence-based information to support more meaningful engagement and real-time decision-making.

"The powerful combination of technology, social media, and data enable whole new ways of conceiving and conducting research," said AcademyHealth President and CEO, Dr. Lisa Simpson. "We launched the REACH Challenge to highlight the interdisciplinary nature of health services research, to encourage interactions between researchers and nontraditional partners, and to get people thinking about the many ways this kind of work might improve health and health care."

Submitted projects ranged from applications to help patients engage more fully in their care, to platforms that helped support caregivers and clinicians. The winning submission, Real-time Care Experience Feedback Using QR Codes, looked at ways that patients could provide feedback using their mobile phones at the point of care. Runners up included the Child & Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative's Well Visit Planner Mobile App, mobile data application to help parents plan and navigate their child's well visits, and Aggregated Self-Experiments, a platform that helps patients develop user-generated self-experiments and online information.

All three teams will receive travel support to AcademyHealth's 2012 Annual Research Meeting (ARM) in Orlando, Florida to showcase their submissions. In addition, the winning team will be awarded $5,000 plus travel support to attend a private meeting where they will have an opportunity to workshop their application with health policy thought leaders in conjunction with the AcademyHealth National Health Policy Conference (NHPC).

###

More Information:

Winner: Real-time Care Experience Feedback Using QR Codes: http://mhealthcoach.com/RealTimeFeedbackLight.jpg; Deirdre McCaughey can be reached at dxm68@psu.edu

Runner Up: Well Visit Planner A demo of the Well Visit Planner online tool is available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQMtCoFcWlA. Please contact pcw@cahmi.org for more information.

Runner Up: Aggregated Personal Experiments, a C3N platform from MIT Media Lab, Lybba, and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, that helps patients develop user-generated self-experiments: http://www.personalexperiments.org/

More information about AcademyHealth's resources, initiatives and projects can be found at http://www.academyhealth.org. You can learn more about the Health 2.0 Developer Challenge at http://www.health2challenge.org.

About the Health 2.0 Developer Challenge: The Health 2.0 Developer Challenge was launched on June 2, 2010, with support from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The goal of these challenges is to bring the Health 2.0 Community together for rapid application development, both online and in physical code-a-thons. For more see http://www.health2challenge.org.

About Health 2.0: Health 2.0 -- The conference. The media network. The Innovation community. The Health 2.0 Conference is the leading showcase of cutting-edge technologies in health care, including Online Communities, Search and lightweight Tools for consumers to manage their health and connect to providers online. The Health 2.0 Developer Challenge is a series of prize competitions promoting health technology innovation. Health 2.0 also has its own media channels, Health 2.0 News and Health 2.0 TV; its own market intelligence service, Health 2.0 Advisors; and also sponsors the Health 2.0 Accelerator industry consortium. Health 2.0 was founded by Indu Subaiya & Matthew Holt in 2007 and is now a community of hundreds of organizations and thousands of innovators. For more information, see http://www.health2con.com.

About AcademyHealth: AcademyHealth is a leading national organization serving the fields of health services and policy research and the professionals who produce and use this important work. Together with its members, AcademyHealth offers programs and services that support the development and use of rigorous, relevant, and timely evidence to increase the quality, accessibility, and value of health care, to reduce disparities, and to improve health. A trusted broker of information, AcademyHealth brings stakeholders together to address the current and future needs of an evolving health system, inform health policy, and translate evidence into action. Website: http://www.academyhealth.org; Twitter: @academyhealth and @NHPC

---

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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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/a-wot013112.php

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Rose Byrne SAG Awards 2012 Jumpsuit: Do Or Don't? (PHOTOS, POLL)

Lace jumpsuits, as we have seen, are a tricky thing. They can be a gorgeous, bold, feminine fashion statement... or they can be an unflattering train wreck. (Camo jumpsuits, on the other hand? Never OK.)

So we were taken aback when Rose Byrne braved the SAG Awards red carpet in a white lace version. From Elie Saab's Fall 2009 couture collection, the onesie featured little cap sleeves, a plunging neckline and wide-legged pants.

Covered from top to bottom with sequins and crystal embellishments, the Elie Saab suit was a bold choice but fulfilled every red carpet requirement: it was eye-catching, glamorous, flattering, glittery and sexy.

Rose, who we adored in "Bridesmaids" and have been missing ever since, paired the jumpsuit with a sleek bob, which hairdresser Harry Josh described as "'70s inspired Michelle Pfeiffer from Scarface meets Anna Wintour's bob." We'll take it.

From head-to-toe, Rose looked chic. But is a grown-up in one-piece garment ever OK -- and for the red carpet, no less?

Quick Poll

Rose Byrne's red carpet jumpsuit:

Share your vote on Facebook so your friends can take this poll

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/29/rose-byrne-sag-awards-2012-jumpsuit_n_1240741.html

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97% The Artist

I'm just not impressed with the talent this Oscar season. Perhaps I went in with too high of expectations. Perhaps I'm just heartless. Perhaps The Artist is just too similar to Singin' In the Rain: the male lead who is a spitting image of Gene Kelly, the bitchy co-star, the plucky ingenue, the new wave of talkies ousting silents, the idea to make a musical. If they were attempting homage, then there should have been some mention of real silent films of the era or even a wink at the audience when they DO borrow from the classics.The actors are amazing and have such expressive faces. The comment about Jean Dujardin looking just like Gene Kelly isn't necessarily a bad thing; he has the grace and charisma to pull off a great biopic methinks. B? (C)r? (C)nice Bejo is gorgeous and feisty. She doesn't just blow a kiss. She smacks you in the face with a kiss! "The name's Miller! Peppy Miller!"Now, my strong bias towards Singin' In the Rain isn't the main gripe I have with the film. The Artist doesn't FEEL like a "silent film," in terms of genre. It's a black and white film without sound or spoken dialogue. There aren't enough title cards to push the narrative along. George's meltdown occurs without proper set-up. The scene in which he finds all his auctioned-off memorabilia in Peppy's house is so ominously scored and so heavily littered with zooms and high/low angles, and I don't understand why. Is George and/or the audience supposed to think, "Peppy is a stalker!" or "Aww Peppy saved all his stuff" The harsh music and editing made me think the former, but neither reaction seems right. There's no reversal in him that hints at the latter; he just plows on with self-loathing. If all that cinematic sound and fury is to imply that the love of a good woman makes him feel worse about himself, title cards would have helped.Afterwards during George's exchange with the policeman (played by Marshall's dad from HIMYM! Marvin Eriksen RIP), there are, once again, no title cards that clue us in to what the policeman could have said to cement George's desire to commit suicide. Why now? A contemporary audience is expected to fill in the blanks; we've grown good at such cerebral exercises with modern movies that don't give everything away, but if The Artist is meant to be an earnest silent film and not just a clever gimmick, it doesn't fully succeed. Similar to how purist Shakespearean actors act the text, not the subtext, silent films are about content, not context. They didn't have the technology to speak, so they had title cards. It was about need, not novelty. Now, I concede that I enjoy many subtextual interpretations of Shakespeare, but for a silent film ABOUT silent film, The Artist misses the point. As a "neo-silent film," if you will, The Artist actually uses sound very well (in the dream sequence), but it doesn't use text or content very well, which makes me wonder why/how it was nominated for Best Original Screenplay too. So I guess my final review is that it's a good modern film. It's just not a very good silent film.

January 28, 2012

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_artist/

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Syrian troops storm areas near capital of Damascus (AP)

BEIRUT ? In dozens of tanks and armored vehicles, Syrian troops stormed rebellious areas near the capital Sunday, shelling neighborhoods that have fallen under the control of army dissidents and clashing with fighters. At least 62 people were killed in violence nationwide, activists and residents said.

The widescale offensive near the capital suggested the regime is worried that military defectors could close in on Damascus, which has remained relatively quiet while most other Syrian cities descended into chaos after the uprising began in March.

The rising bloodshed added urgency to Arab and Western diplomatic efforts to end the 10-month conflict.

The violence has gradually approached the capital. In the past two weeks, army dissidents have become more visible, seizing several suburbs on the eastern edge of Damascus and setting up checkpoints where masked men wearing military attire and wielding assault rifles stop motorists and protect anti-regime protests.

Their presence so close to the capital is astonishing in tightly controlled Syria and suggests the Assad regime may either be losing control or setting up a trap for the fighters before going on the offensive.

Residents of Damascus reported hearing clashes in the nearby suburbs, particularly at night, shattering the city's calm.

"The current battles taking place in and around Damascus may not yet lead to the unraveling of the regime, but the illusion of normalcy that the Assads have sought hard to maintain in the capital since the beginning of the revolution has surely unraveled," said Ammar Abdulhamid, a U.S.-based Syrian dissident.

"Once illusions unravel, reality soon follows," he wrote in his blog Sunday.

Soldiers riding some 50 tanks and dozens of armored vehicles stormed a belt of suburbs and villages on the eastern outskirts of Damascus known as al-Ghouta Sunday, a predominantly Sunni Muslim agricultural area where large anti-regime protests have been held.

Some of the fighting on Sunday was less than three miles (four kilometers) from Damascus, in Ein Tarma, making it the closest yet to the capital.

"There are heavy clashes going on in all of the Damascus suburbs," said Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, who relies on a network of activists on the ground. "Troops were able to enter some areas but are still facing stiff resistance in others."

The fighting using mortars and machine guns sent entire families fleeing, some of them on foot carrying bags of belongings, to the capital.

"The shelling and bullets have not stopped since yesterday," said a man who left his home in Ein Tarma with his family Sunday. "It's terrifying, there's no electricity or water, it's a real war," he said by telephone on condition of anonymity, for fear of reprisals.

The uprising against Assad, which began with largely peaceful demonstrations, has grown increasingly militarized recently as more frustrated protesters and army defectors have taken up arms.

In a bid to stamp out resistance in the capital's outskirts, the military has responded with a withering assault on a string of suburbs, leading to a spike in violence that has killed at least 150 people since Thursday.

The United Nations says at least 5,400 people have been killed in the 10 months of violence.

The U.N. is holding talks on a new resolution on Syria and next week will discuss an Arab League peace plan aimed at ending the crisis. But the initiatives face two major obstacles: Damascus' rejection of an Arab plan that it says impinges on its sovereignty, and Russia's willingness to use its U.N. Security Council veto to protect Syria from sanctions.

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby told reporters Sunday in Egypt that contacts were under way with China and Russia.

"I hope that their stand will be adjusted in line with the final drafting of the draft resolution," he told reporters before leaving for New York with Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim.

The two will seek U.N. support for the latest Arab plan to end Syria's crisis. The plan calls for a two-month transition to a unity government, with Assad giving his vice president full powers to work with the proposed government.

Because of the escalating violence, the Arab League on Saturday halted the work of its observer mission in Syria at least until the League's council can meet. Arab foreign ministers were to meet Sunday in Cairo to discuss the Syrian crisis in light of the suspension of the observers' work and Damascus' refusal to agree to the transition timetable, the League said.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said he was "concerned" about the League's decision to suspend its monitoring mission and called on Assad to "immediately stop the bloodshed." He spoke Sunday at an African Union summit in Addis Ababa.

While the international community scrambles to find a resolution to the crisis, the violence on the ground in Syria has continued unabated.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 27 civilians were killed Sunday in Syria, most of them in fighting in the Damascus suburbs and in the central city of Homs, a hotbed of anti-regime protests. Twenty-six soldiers and nine defectors were also killed, it said. The soldiers were killed in ambushes that targeted military vehicles near the capital and in the northern province of Idlib.

The Local Coordination Committees' activist network said 50 people were killed Sunday, including 13 who were killed in the suburbs of the capital and two defectors. That count excluded soldiers killed Sunday.

The differing counts could not be reconciled, and the reports could not be independently confirmed. Syrian authorities keep tight control on the media and have banned many foreign journalists from entering the country.

Syria's state-run news agency said "terrorists" detonated a roadside bomb by remote control near a bus carrying soldiers in the Damascus suburb of Sahnaya, killing six soldiers and wounding six others. Among those killed in the attack some 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of the capital were two first lieutenants, SANA said.

In Irbil, a Kurdish city in northern Iraq, about 200 members of Syria's Kurdish parties were holding two days of meetings to explore ways of supporting efforts to topple Assad.

Abdul-Baqi Youssef, a member of the Syrian Kurdish Union Party, said representatives of 11 Kurdish parties formed the Syrian Kurdish National Council that will coordinate anti-government activities with Syria's opposition.

Kurds make up 15 percent of Syria's 23 million people and have long complained of discrimination.

___

Associated Press writers Maamoun Youssef in Cairo; Yahya Barzanji in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq; and Luc van Kemenade in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria

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Notion in Motion: Wireless Sensors Monitor Brain Waves on the Fly

"TIP OF THE ICEBERG": NeuroSky, Inc.'s brain-computer interface shown here just scratches the surface of what is possible thanks to advances in mobile electroencephalographic brain-wave detection technology, says University of California, San Diego's Scott Makeig. Image: Courtesy of Neurosky, Inc.

A fighter pilot heads back to base after a long mission, feeling spent. A warning light flashes on the control panel. Has she noticed? If so, is she focused enough to fix the problem?

Thanks to current advances in electroencephalographic (EEG) brain-wave detection technology, military commanders may not have to guess the answers to these questions much longer. They could soon be monitoring her mental state via helmet sensors, looking for signs she is concentrating on her flying and reacting to the warning light.

This is possible because of two key advances made EEG technology wireless and mobile, says Scott Makeig, director of the University of California, San Diego's Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience (SCCN) in La Jolla, Calif. EEG used to require users to sit motionless, weighted down by heavy wires. Movement interfered with the signals, so that even an eyebrow twitch could garble the brain impulses.

Modern technology lightened the load and wirelessly linked the sensors and the computers that collect the data. In addition, Makeig and others developed better algorithms?in particular, independent component analysis. By reading signals from several electrodes, they can infer where, within the skull, a particular impulse originated. This is akin to listening to a single speaker's voice in a crowded room. In so doing, they are also able to filter out movements?not just eyebrow twitches, but also the muscle flexing needed to walk, talk or fly a plane.

EEG's most public face may be two Star Wars?inspired toys, Mattel's Mindflex and Uncle Milton's Force Trainer. Introduced in 2009, they let wannabe Jedi knights practice telekinesis while wearing an EEG headset. But these toys are just the "tip of the iceberg," says Makeig, whose work includes mental concentration monitoring. "Did you push the red button and then say, 'Oops!' to yourself? It would be useful in many situations?including military?for the system to be aware of that."

That kind of "mental gas gauge" is just one of many projects Makeig is running at the SCCN, which is part of U.C. San Diego's Institute for Neural Computation (INC). He also combines mobile EEG with motion-capture technology, suiting volunteers in EEG caps and LED-speckled spandex suits so he can follow their movements with cameras in a converted basement classroom. For the first time, researchers like Makeig can examine the thoughts that lead to movement, in both healthy people and participants with conditions such as autism. Makeig calls the system Mobile Brain/Body Imaging, or MoBI. It allows him to study actions "at the speed of thought itself," he says.

EEG does not directly read thoughts. Instead, it picks up on the electrical fields generated by nerves, which communicate via electricity. The EEG sensors?from the one on the Star Wars games to the 256 in Makeig's MoBI?are like microphones listening to those microvolt-strength neural signals, says Tansy Brook, head of communications for NeuroSky Brain?Computer Interface Technology in San Jose, Calif., makers of the chip in the Star Wars toys and many other research, educational and entertainment products.

For one project, Makeig is collaborating with neuroscientists Marissa Westerfield and Jean Thompson, U.C. San Diego researchers studying movement behavior in teenagers with autism. They put the teens, wearing the EEG sensors and LEDs, in Makeig's special classroom. Then, they project a spaceship on the walls. The kids have to chase the spaceship as it darts from one point to another. Although the results are not yet in, Westerfield suspects that people with autism, compared with those who are non-autistic, will take longer to process where the spaceship has gone and readjust their movements toward it. "If we had a better idea of the underlying deficits?then we could possibly design better interventions," such as targeted physical therapy for the movement problems autistic people have, Westerfield says.

Neuroscientists and psychologists have been using EEG to eavesdrop on brain waves since 1926, and doctors employ it to study sleep patterns and observe epileptic seizures. During most of that time, subjects had to sit in an electrically shielded booth, "like a big refrigerator," says John Foxe, a neuroscientist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. He calls Makeig's MoBI "technical wizardry" that will enable scientists "to watch the brain and how it works in much more realistic settings."

Wireless EEG has already had an impact on gaming. San Francisco?based Emotiv has since 2009 sold its EPOC EEG headset, which uses electrical signals to determine a player's emotional state?excitement, frustration and boredom each create a different pattern. Gamers using Emotiv's technology can also create mental "spells" to lift or push virtual objects, says Geoff Mackellar, CEO of Emotiv?s research unit based in Sydney, Australia. The EPOC is also regularly used in research labs and may have medical applications in the future, Mackellar adds.

Wireless EEG technology provides signals as clear as the wired version, Makeig says, and at about 3.5 kilograms his machinery is "luggable." (Emotiv's and NeuroSky's headsets, which use fewer electrodes, are lighter.) "Of course, we're not starting with ballet dancers doing The Rite of Spring," he admits, but the team has succeeded with joggers on a treadmill. One challenge they would still like to overcome is to remove the sticky, conductive gel that goes under each electrode. It can certainly be done?Emotiv's electrodes use only saltwater and NeuroSky's are dry.

Tzyy-Ping Jung, associate director of the SCCN, predicts the group will make a dry, 64-electrode system within a couple of years. He and Makeig envision the headset will help paralyzed people interact with the world, warn migraine sufferers of an impending headache, and adjust computerized learning to match a student's personal pace, among other potential applications.

"It's certainly something that everyone can have at home," Emotiv's Mackellar says.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=46b980cacd41ebbe500b0e14d33faa59

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Multiple births lead to weight gain, other problems for mouse moms and offspring

ScienceDaily (Jan. 26, 2012) ? Women have long bemoaned the fact that as they have more children, their weight gain from pregnancy becomes more difficult to lose. A new study using a mouse model that mimics the human effects of multiparity (giving birth more than once) has found that mouse moms who gave birth four times accrued significantly more fat compared to primiparous females (those giving birth once) of similar age. The study also found significantly more inflammation in the livers of multiparous animals. Multiparity's effect also extended to the male offspring, who showed significant weight gain during adulthood.

Their primiparous counterparts did not, despite similar levels of food consumption. The findings are contained in a study entitled "Multiparity Leads to Obesity and Inflammation in Mothers and Obesity in Male Offspring," and appear in the American Journal of Physiology -- Endocrinology and Metabolism, published by the American Physiological Society.

Methodology

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati designed the study in two parts. In the first part, they established the mouse model that mimics multiparity-induced obesity in humans. In the second part, they examined male offspring of the multiparous females.

The researchers compared one group of mice that gave birth four times with a second group of mice that gave birth only once, some of these at the same age that the first group had its fourth litter and some at a younger age.

The researchers weighed these animals and assessed the size of their fat deposits. They also performed glucose tolerance tests in all the mice and measured biochemical markers of inflammation. Additionally, the researchers performed similar tests in the male offspring of primiparous and multiparous mice, and measured weight, fat deposits, and glucose tolerance. They also measured the expression levels of various genes involved in storing versus using fat.

Results

The first part of the study showed that giving birth multiple times was a significant contributor to obesity regardless of age, with mice who gave birth multiple times being up to 45 percent heavier than those who had a single litter at the same age that the first animals had their fourth. The multiparous animals had fat deposits several times larger than those in typically-mated primiparous mice, as well as significantly larger glucose spikes after meals, a warning sign for diabetes. Multiparous moms also showed elevated markers for inflammation in numerous body tissues, a condition linked to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and a variety of other diseases, as compared to the primiparous mice as well as age-matched females fed a high fat diet.

The second part of the study revealed that male offspring of multiparous mice weighed as much as 40 percent more than the male offspring of primiparous mice, despite eating no more food. Interestingly, the differences became apparent when the offspring were older, suggesting that excess energy was stored as fat only after growth rate slowed down. When the researchers examined genes responsible for storing versus using fat, the offspring of multiparous animals appeared to use less fat compared to those of the primiparous animals.

Importance, Implications of the Findings

These findings confirm that in mice, as in humans, giving birth multiple times, regardless of age, can lead to significant weight gain, and inflammation. The results also support the theory that multiple pregnancies induce metabolic stresses on females that have heritable consequences and may be part of an obesity cycle between mothers and offspring.

The authors suggest that finding effective ways to help women lose weight between pregnancies will assist in maintaining their health and that of their children, though additional interventions will likely be required as multiple pregnancies appear to have an adverse effect on women that is independent of her fat mass. "The current studies are important in supporting a healthier, less obese population in that we have defined specific metabolic pathways that are likely involved in the programming of obesity and can be targeted in either the mother or her offspring," the authors say.

The study was conducted by Sandra R. Rebholz, Thomas Jones, Katie T. Burke, Anja Jaeschke, Patrick Tso, David A. D'Alessio, and Laura A. Woollett, all of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Physiological Society (APS), via Newswise.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. S. L. Rebholz, T. Jones, K. T. Burke, A. Jaeschke, P. Tso, D. A. D'Alessio, L. A. Woollett. Multiparity leads to obesity and inflammation in mothers and obesity in male offspring. AJP: Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2011; DOI: 10.1152/ajpendo.00487.2011

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120126223605.htm

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Avastin May Help Colorectal Cancer Patients Live Longer, Study ...

* Avastin extends survival as second round treatment- study
* Boost after previous setbacks
ZURICH, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Patients with advanced colorectal cancer who received Roche's Avastin live longer when they also receive the drug as part of their second round of treatment, the Swiss drugmaker said on Thursday, citing a late-stage study.
Patients with metastatic colorectal cancer first treated with Avastin and standard chemotherapy before being given Avastin with a different chemotherapy after their disease had progressed lived significantly longer than those given only chemotherapy in the second-line setting, Roche said.
The news is likely to boost sentiment around the drug, which recently suffered a major setback when U.S. authorities decided to revoke their backing of its use in breast cancer.
Roche will submit the results of the ML 18147 study at an upcoming medical meeting.
In Europe, Avastin is currently approved in colorectal, lung, renal, breast cancer and it has just won approval in ovarian cancer. (Reporting by Katie Reid; Editing by Hans-Juergen Peters)

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/26/avastin-colorectal-cancer_n_1232969.html

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World stocks gain on Fed's low rate pledge (AP)

BANGKOK ? World stock markets were mostly higher Thursday after the U.S. central bank pledged to keep interest rates low until late 2014 to nurture the country's stubbornly slow economic recovery.

Benchmark oil hovered below $100 per barrel while the dollar fell against the euro and the yen.

European shares were higher in early trading. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.3 percent to 5,741.56. Germany's DAX was 0.4 percent higher at 6,451.53 and France's CAC-40 added 0.5 percent to 3,335.07. But ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street, Dow Jones industrial futures fell 0.1 percent to 12,672 and S&P 500 futures shed 0.2 percent to 1,317.90.

Gains were muted in Asia. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.3 percent to 1,957.18.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 1.6 percent to 20,439.14 on its first trading day since the Chinese New Year holiday. Benchmarks in Thailand, Singapore and New Zealand also rose.

Japan's Nikkei was 0.4 percent lower at 8,849.47 as a weakening dollar pressured the country's exporters. Benchmarks in Malaysia and the Philippines also fell.

Markets in Taiwan and mainland Chinese remained closed for the Chinese New Year. Markets in India and Australia were closed for public holidays.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee said it was unlikely to raise interest rates before late 2014. It had previously said it expected to keep rates low into the middle of 2013.

The Fed cut rates to near zero in December 2008, during the financial crisis, and has held them there ever since. The announcement was a sign that the Fed expects the economy, which is improving, to need significant help for three more years.

Analysts said some stock buyers rejoiced that the Fed was leaning toward promoting economic growth.

"With the FOMC sending out a strong signal that monetary policy is likely to remain accommodative for even longer than previously expected, risk assets are in a very good position," Stan Shamu of IG Markets in Melbourne said in an email.

Energy shares got a boost after crude briefly topped $100 per barrel on Wednesday. South Korea's oil refiner S-Oil Corp. rose 3 percent, while China National Offshore Oil Corp., known as CNOOC, rose 2.2 percent in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong-listed Zijin Mining Group, China's largest gold miner, jumped 5.6 percent amid rising prices in the precious metal.

But Japanese export shares didn't fare so well. Low interest rates in the U.S. would likely weigh on the dollar, giving the tenaciously strong yen another unwelcome boost.

Yamaha Motor Corp. sank 2.3 percent, while Sony Corp. lost 1.4 percent. Toshiba Corp. was 1.2 percent down.

Lee Kok Joo, head of research at Phillip Securities in Singapore, said the Fed announcement would likely have only a short-term effect on equities.

"Beyond that, you still need to look at the macro picture," he said, referring in particular to the sovereign debt crisis in Europe. "Things are still pretty uncertain in the European region."

Greece, which faces an important bond repayment deadline in March, is struggling to reach a deal with creditors to prevent a chaotic default on its massive debts. A default could trigger a financial crisis in Europe and beyond.

Private sector investors that hold a large part of Greece's debt are being asked to swap their existing bonds with new ones of a reduced value, longer maturity and lower interest rate. Greece needs the deal if it is to avoid default this spring.

Benchmark crude for March delivery was up 37 cents to $99.77 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose by 45 cents to finish at $99.40 per barrel in New York on Wednesday. At one point it was as high as $100.40.

The prospect of low interest rates dragged on the dollar, since it reduces the returns that investors get from holding assets denominated in that currency. The euro rose to $1.3110 from $1.3084 late Wednesday in New York. The dollar fell to 77.57 yen from 77.81 yen.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_bi_ge/world_markets

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CIA to pull officer from NYPD after internal probe (AP)

WASHINGTON ? A CIA operative's unusual assignment inside the New York Police Department is being cut short after an internal investigation that criticized how the agency established its unprecedented collaboration with city police, The Associated Press has learned.

In its investigation, the CIA's inspector general faulted the agency for sending an officer to New York after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and leaving him there too long with haphazard oversight, according to officials who have read or been briefed on the inquiry. They spoke only on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the investigation. The CIA said last month that the inspector general cleared the agency of any wrongdoing.

The inspector general opened its investigation after a series of AP articles that revealed how the NYPD, working in close collaboration with the CIA, set up spying operations that put Muslim communities under scrutiny. Plainclothes officers known as "rakers" eavesdropped in businesses, and Muslims not suspected of any wrongdoing were put in intelligence databases.

The CIA officer cited by the inspector general for operating without sufficient supervision, Lawrence Sanchez, was the architect of spying programs that helped make the NYPD one of the nation's most aggressive domestic intelligence agencies. The programs have drawn criticism from Muslims as well as New York and Washington lawmakers. Muslim activists organized a news conference Thursday to urge Police Commissioner Ray Kelly to resign.

Sanchez, a CIA veteran who spent 15 years overseas in the former Soviet Union, South Asia and the Middle East, was sent to New York to help with information sharing following the 9/11 attacks. While on the CIA payroll from 2002 to 2004, he also helped create and direct police intelligence programs. He then formally joined the NYPD while on a leave of absence from the CIA.

The loosely defined assignment strained relations with the FBI and two consecutive CIA station chiefs in New York who complained that Sanchez's presence undermined their authority. U.S. officials have acknowledged that the rules were murky but they attributed that to the desperate push for better intelligence after the attacks.

Sanchez left the NYPD in 2010. Then, last July, the CIA sent one of its most senior clandestine operatives to work out of the NYPD. That's the officer who now is leaving. While the internal investigation found problems with the oversight of Sanchez's assignment, officials said the rules of the current arrangement were more clearly defined.

Even now, however, confusion remains.

Police Commissioner Kelly said the new officer was working at the NYPD to help share foreign intelligence. Federal officials, however, said he was there on a management sabbatical and was not sharing intelligence.

Kelly and the federal government also are at odds explaining the legal basis for a relationship between a local police department and the CIA, which is not allowed to spy domestically.

This fall, Kelly told the city council that the collaboration was authorized under a presidential order. But under those rules, the assignment would have had to have been approved by the CIA's top lawyer. The AP reported last week there was no such approval.

A CIA spokeswoman, Jennifer Youngblood, said Sanchez was sent to New York at the direction of then-CIA Director George Tenet, who had the authority to move his officers around the world to make sure intelligence was being shared. That arrangement did not require the lawyer's approval, she said.

"Context matters here," Youngblood said. "The CIA stepped up cooperation with law enforcement on counterterrorism after 9/11. It's hard to imagine that anyone is suggesting this was inappropriate or unexpected."

The current officer, whose name remains classified, operates under a more formal arrangement, specified in writing that he works directly for the NYPD. Nevertheless, some U.S. lawmakers have expressed concerns about the assignment, and the federal government's most senior intelligence official, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, has acknowledged the arrangement looks bad and has said it would be addressed.

The CIA officer is working as a special assistant to David Cohen, the NYPD's top intelligence officer. Cohen did not respond to an email Thursday requesting comment.

It's unclear exactly when the CIA officer will leave the police department and what his next job will be. A former station chief in Pakistan and Jordan, he is one of the CIA's most experienced spies.

Kelly, the police commissioner, has defended his department and its Demographics Unit, which monitored conversations in cafes and wrote reports on Muslim businesses. Kelly has said his officers only follow leads. But internal police documents obtained by the AP show that even the most generic lead was used to justify surveillance of entire neighborhoods. Officials involved in the effort also told the AP that the Demographics Unit actually avoided locations where criminal investigations were under way for fear of disrupting them.

Relations between the NYPD and the Muslim community were further strained this week when police acknowledged that it showed nearly 1,500 officers a training video featuring Kelly. The video portrayed Muslims wanting to "infiltrate and dominate" the United States. Kelly apologized but only after police spokesman Paul Browne falsely claimed that the segment showing Kelly had been lifted from a previous interview. Browne later acknowledged that Kelly sat for an exclusive interview with the filmmakers and that Browne himself suggested it.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_go_ot/us_nypd_intelligence

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Israel seeks to turn gas to gold (AP)

JERUSALEM ? Israel is putting together a plan for a national investment fund that would put to work an anticipated natural gas bonanza to fuel both an export-geared economy and provide a nest egg of $10 billion in under a decade for future generations.

The proposed Israeli sovereign wealth fund is still in the planning phase, but officials have said some of the revenues would be invested in critical areas such as education and health.

Also being discussed are using some of the proceeds to endow a new set of export-oriented, technology-based industries that would build on what has traditionally been the country's greatest resource: human capital.

The fund would mark the beginning of a strategic development for the Jewish state in an oil-rich region where it has few friends and has had to rely on its own industry and outside aid for economic growth. It would also make it the latest member of a club whose members have typically been energy exporting titans such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Norway.

Israel would become "a role model of a developing economy that moved into developed economy status," said Glenn Yago, senior director at the Milken Institute economic think tank. The institute was enlisted by the Israeli government to map out alternative structure for such a fund, drawing on the experiences of other nations with similar investment vehicles.

The driving force behind the fund was the 2009 discovery of two large offshore natural gas fields with estimated reserves of 25 trillion cubic meters of gas. The fields were a boon for resource-poor Israel. The late Prime Minister Golda Meir famously lamented that Moses had picked as the Jewish homeland "the one spot in the Middle East that has no oil."

A consortium headed by U.S.-based Noble Energy Inc. has said it will begin extracting gas from the deepwater fields in about a year, with the production expected to far exceed Israel's domestic gas needs.

Even before the first gas has been extracted, Israeli officials are working on what to do with the proceeds from its sale. Officials estimated that gas receipts will bring in between $2 billion to $3 billion per year.

Based on Bank of Israel and Finance Ministry assessments, the fund could be managing $10 billion by 2021, with revenues starting to accumulate by 2015, said Yago.

Recommendations for the fund's possible structure were recently submitted to the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but no decision has yet been taken on who will manage the fund and where the investments will go, officials said.

Once a proposal had been finalized, it would need parliamentary approval. A Finance Ministry official noted it would likely take until the end of the decade for the fund to start building a critical mass. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because no formal decisions had yet been taken.

"We are looking at sharing this wealth with future generations and at the same time creating a safety cushion," Eugene Kandel, the head of Israel's national economic council, told reporters last year.

In comparison to its regional neighbors, Israel's sovereign wealth fund would be minuscule. Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, has reserves of over $500 billion while even civil war-scarred Libya has an investment fund and reserves estimated at anywhere from $70 billion to $110 billion.

Given those kinds of limitations, Israel appears to be setting modest goals for the fund.

To avoid typical pitfalls like inflation that face countries when large amounts of cash are injected into their economies, the Israeli fund would likely invest most of its revenues abroad. The returns from those investments ? not the principal ? would then be channeled into the local economy for purposes like education.

It would also further stimulate an economy that was able to weather the worst of the global financial crisis in 2009, but must also grow much more rapidly if it is to narrow income gaps that helped to stoke mass protests across the country last summer.

Some senior Israeli officials have proposed using some of the money to develop new industries rich in intellectual property, like life sciences, water and alternative energy.

That sector has helped boost the broader economy, which has seen per capita GDP nearly triple over the past 20 years to roughly $30,000 ? near the European Union's average.

Milken's Yago estimates economic growth would have to double its projected 2012 rate of 2.8 percent to bridge income divides that have strained Israel's social fabric.

"You can only do that if you increase the level of growth by increasing the level of exports," not only in existing industries but new, knowledge-based ones, he said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_bi_ge/ml_israel_gas_bonanza

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Merkel: Only a unified Europe can remain powerful

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, delivers the opening address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. The overarching theme of the Meeting, which will take place from Jan. 25 to 29, is "The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models". (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, delivers the opening address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. The overarching theme of the Meeting, which will take place from Jan. 25 to 29, is "The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models". (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

German chancellor Angela Merkel attends the 42nd annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. The overarching theme of the Meeting, which will take place from Jan. 25 to 29, is "The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models". (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, delivers the opening address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. The overarching theme of the Meeting, which will take place from Jan. 25 to 29, is "The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models". (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

BNP Paribas Chief Executive Baudouin Prot speaks during a panel session on the first day of the 42nd annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. The overarching theme of the meeting, which will take place from Jan. 25 to 29, is "The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models". (AP Photo/Keystone, Laurent Gillieron)

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) ? German Chancellor Angela Merkel insisted Wednesday that Europe will remain an economic power only if it deepens the integration that has caused it so many problems. Without that, she warned the global elite gathered in a Swiss ski resort, Europe will remain little more than a pleasant vacation destination.

The tone of Merkel's keynote address was not dramatically different from her measured norm, but it was positive enough to feed an emerging feeling among European power brokers that Germany ? and hence Europe ? is finally becoming convinced that it needs to do whatever it takes to save the euro from collapse.

"The message is that we are ready for more commitment. We are no longer making excuses," Merkel said. If Europe doesn't integrate further, she said, "we will remain an interesting holiday destination for a long time, but we won't be able to produce prosperity for the people in Europe anymore."

Merkel pledged to do what is necessary to protect the euro from collapse, and said greater European unity is needed to spark job creation and growth. However, she poured cold water on calls for Europe to ratchet up the financial firepower of its safety net for failing economies.

Germany is at the center of any rescue plan because it has the deepest pockets in Europe. And Europe is at the center of the global outlook because many fear a collapse of the euro could drag large parts of the world back into recession.

For months, Germany has argued that indebted countries much cut their budgets to the bone, and that their people must become poorer, in exchange for help in reducing their debt loads. But many say that will do little good if that very austerity causes growth to evaporate, making countries unable to pay back the debt that remains.

George Soros, the philanthropist and former financier, called Germany a task master imposing a strict anti-inflationary viewpoint on the rest of the continent. He said weaker eurozone countries have been "relegated to the status of third world countries" having to pay back debts in a foreign currency.

"The problem is that the austerity that Germany wants will push Europe into a deflationary death spiral. ... The economy will contract and tax revenues will fall. So the debt burden ... will actually rise, requiring further budget cuts and setting in motion a vicious cycle."

Merkel's government has been unwilling to back two proposals voiced as potential solutions to the 2-year-old debt crisis: "eurobonds" backed jointly by all eurozone countries, and stimulus that essentially involves getting the European Central Bank to print more money.

In the past month, business leaders and academics say they have become increasingly confident that Germany ? once its back is against the wall ? will go along with measures to boost growth, and possibly save Europe from deeper crisis.

"We are starting to see signs of a shift in sentiment towards Europe," said Baudouin Prot, CEO of French bank BNP Paribas.

He said the catalyst for the newfound optimism was a round of reasonably priced long-term loans to European banks by the European Central Bank, which caused spiking interest rates for European bonds ? a key indicator of confidence in their ability to pay back the money ? to drop.

"We are on the right track, but we need to keep moving forward. We need each country to implement financial discipline," Prot said. "But it's not just about debt reduction. Europe also needs a growth strategy, a series of initiatives to open up the market, support innovation and competitiveness."

He said all 17 countries that use the euro must improve their finances, and that Europe as a whole needs to act better as a whole. He also cautioned against overregulation of banks.

Soros had a gloomier outlook but said he too sees Germany coming around to the idea that austerity is not enough, and that too much of it will just end up making matters worse.

"The argument is really very strong and I believe that it has to eventually sink in," he said.

Soros and others stressed that tough decisions need to be taken and that Europe is far from out of the water. What is changing is that leaders increasingly believe that Europe ? its back against the wall ? is finally acting. In December, the leaders of the 17 countries that use the euro agreed they need new rules that they're now working out, calming markets.

Gerard Lyons, global chief economist at Standard Chartered, said rescue efforts have been misguided.

"Europe is focusing on the wrong problem," he said. "Clearly debt has to be brought down. But Europe suffers from a lack of growth, not a high level of debt. ... Basically you need to address a debt problem by focusing on growth."

Oxford University professor Timothy Garton Ash said there's still a good chance Greece will default on its debt. What matters, he said, is how Europe responds: If it builds an effective firewall to prevent the crisis from spreading to other countries, that would go a long way to calming the fears that have caused so much turmoil.

"I do think there really is a shift in sentiment and perceptions," Garton Ash said. "The market sees that Germany is really willing to do what it takes."

The fear that gripped markets in the second half of 2011 was largely due to concerns that Italy ? the eurozone's third economy ? would default on its debt, and that it would be too big for Europe to bail out. A default by Italy would send massive shock waves round the global economy as well as potentially wiping out large chunks of Europe's banking system.

Amid the discussion of Europe's debt woes came a sense that Western-style capitalism, as practiced for decades, is moving into a new phase. A four-year economic crisis is putting pressure on politicians to build a new model.

David Rubenstein, managing director of asset management firm Carlyle Group, said leaders must work fast to overcome the crisis or see other models of capitalism, such as the form practiced in China, win the day.

"We've got to work through these problems. If we don't do that in three or four years ... the game will be over for the type of capitalism that many of us have lived through and thought was the best type," he said.

China has reaped the rewards of its transition to a more market economy and is now the world's second-largest economy. Unlike the capitalist systems in the U.S. and Europe, China's market transformation has been heavily guided by a state apparatus that continues to balk at widespread democratic reforms. Latin America, too, has seen success in the development of "state capitalism" in certain industries.

"You combine elements of private enterprise with public responsibility," said Colombia's mining and energy minister, Mauricio Cardenas.

At the economic forum, there were numerous references to the need to innovate, the need to consult with employees and the realization that power in the world is shifting from the west to the east. While the traditional industrial economies of the United States and Europe have limped through the last few years, often from one crisis to another, many economies in Asia and Latin America have been booming.

Outside the conference center, activists are camped in igloos to protest years of crisis in which hundreds of millions have lost their jobs even as top executives still reap huge pay packets. On Wednesday they sent aloft big red weather balloons carrying a protest banner reading "Hey WEF, Where are the other 6.9999 billion leaders?"

___

Pan Pylas and Edith M. Lederer contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-25-Davos%20Forum/id-4ac8ff904fde4462aa776ab7e86a0fff

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New tool enhances view of muscles

ScienceDaily (Jan. 23, 2012) ? Simon Fraser University associate professor James Wakeling is adding to the arsenal of increasingly sophisticated medical imaging tools with a new signal-processing method for viewing muscle activation details that have never been seen before.

Fascinated with the mechanics of muscle movement in people and animals, Wakeling has developed a novel method using ultrasound imaging, 3-D motion-capture technology and proprietary data-processing software to scan and capture 3-D maps of the muscle structure -- in just 90 seconds.

It's a medical-imaging breakthrough because previous methods took 15 minutes to do the job -- far too long to ask people to hold a muscle contraction.

The key to the breakthrough is the way the software processes the data, says Wakeling, who teaches in SFU's department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology. He developed the software with graduate student Manku Rana.

"Now, we can get people to do muscle contractions and we can actually see how the internal structure of the muscle changes," he says.

Wakeling's goal is to improve the muscle models used in musculoskeletal simulation software that predicts how people move and the forces on their joints.

Current packages are missing important information about muscle contraction, such as how the muscle shape changes, how it bulges, or how the internal muscle fibres become more curved -- all details that Wakeling's technology can capture.

Wakeling hopes his research will ultimately lead to new software programs for predicting the outcome of orthopaedic surgeries such as tendon-transfers for treating conditions like cerebral palsy in children.

"We're poised to start making new observations and insights," he says, "and to do new experiments that haven't been possible before."

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Priceline killing off William Shatner character

By Rob Lovitt, msnbc.com contributor

Must? find? new? ad campaign.

Alas, for fans of the vocal stylings of William Shatner, that?s the news from Priceline.com, which has decided to kill off Shatner?s Priceline Negotiator character. On Monday, the company will begin airing ads showing the erstwhile Captain Kirk shooing passengers off a bus moments before it tumbles off a bridge and explodes in flames.

Mr. Negotiator was five years old and is survived by a company adapting to a changing market and seeking to highlight its other, non-bidding-based business.

This is not the first time a Shatner character has died in the line of duty, of course, as Captain Kirk met his own demise in the 1994 movie ?Star Trek: Generations.?

?Our ad agency said that if we really wanted a spot that would grab people?s attention, we needed to do something over-the-top,? said spokesman Brian Ek. ?They recommended killing off The Negotiator, which is a character William Shatner has played in our commercials since 2007.?

Shatner, Ek added, has been Priceline?s celebrity spokesman for 14 years and is still under contract with the company.

The Negotiator, however, has apparently struck his final deal as the company seeks to emphasize other lines of business than the Name Your Own Price bidding-oriented booking option that Shatner promoted.

Although less well-known to consumers, the company also operates a non-bidding, published-price service for 200,000 hotels in 140 countries, a business, said Ek, that has tripled in size over the last three years. ?We decided to focus our 2012 campaign on that part of the business,? he told msnbc.com.

The move also reflects the shifting nature of the online hotel business, said Norm Rose, president of Travel Tech Consulting Inc., as hotels and third-party sellers of their inventory jockey for the hearts, minds and wallets of consumers.

?There are always these battle lines being drawn between suppliers and the OTAs (online travel agencies),? he said. ?It?s a real love/hate relationship.?

For Priceline, he noted, killing off The Negotiator is essentially an effort to better align its messaging with its business model: ?They want to get into the minds of consumers that they?re an OTA rather than an opaque, distressed-inventory site like Hotwire.?

And Shatner-as-The-Negotiator got thrown under the bus, so to speak, although not before handing off his cell phone to a woman and intoning in that inimitable style: ?Save yourself ? some money.?

Meanwhile, said Ek, the company expects to run some follow-on ads interviewing the people saved before the crash, as well as spots during the Super Bowl pre-game show.

The Negotiator, however, appears to be destined for his own final frontier.

More on Overhead Bin

Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.

Source: http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/23/10201844-priceline-killing-off-william-shatner-character

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This week in The Slacktiverse, January 21/22 2012 (slacktivist)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/189616016?client_source=feed&format=rss

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UFC on FX 1?s Three Stars: Jim Miller, Jorge Rivera and Nick Denis

The UFC's first event on FX may as well have been nickname, "Guys who need to win the get their career back on track." However, that's a bit wordy. Instead, fighters like Pat Barry and Jim Miller, who were in need of a win got back on their feet. Here are Cagewriter's Three Stars. Tell us yours in the comments or on Facebook.

No. 1 star -- Jim Miller: After losing the Ben Henderson in August, Miller needed a win to remain among the stacked lightweight division's best. He easily picked it up, choking out Melvin Guillard in just two minutes. It won him an extra $45,000 for Submission of the Night.

No. 2 star -- Jorge Rivera: Every fighter wants to leave the game on his own terms. Rivera was one of the lucky few who got to do that, winning by TKO in the second round over Eric Schaefer hours after announcing his retirement. He finished his 11-year career with 20 wins, nine losses, and a cadre of fans who admired Rivera's never say die attitude in the cage.

No. 3 star -- Nick Denis: Thankfully, the UFC replayed Denis' ballet of elbow violence after the main card, allowing fans without Fuel or Fox Deportes (a viable option for fans without Fuel) to see Denis knock out Joseph Sandoval with short elbows in just 22 seconds in the winner's UFC debut. "The Ninja of Love" walked away with an extra $45,000 for Knockout of the Night.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-fx-1-three-stars-jim-miller-jorge-140205469.html

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This Guy Didn't Know He Shot Himself in the Head with a Nail Gun [Wtf]

Dante Autullo is a tough guy. He's also, according to his wife, a very accident prone guy. So when he accidentally hit his head with a nail gun and only saw a scratch, he didn't think anything of it... EVEN THOUGH HE HAD A FREAKING NAIL LODGED IN HIS BRAIN. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/_jhjF14QHmw/this-guy-didnt-know-he-shot-himself-in-the-head-with-a-nail-gun

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