Friday, March 29, 2013

The Daily Roundup for 03.28.2013

DNP The Daily RoundUp

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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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/28/the-daily-roundup-for-03-28-2013/

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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Met Office advice was 'not helpful'

The Met Office has admitted issuing advice to government that was "not helpful" during last year's remarkable switch in weather patterns.

Between March and April 2012, the UK experienced an extraordinary shift from high pressure and drought to low pressure and downpours.

But the Met Office said the forecast for average rainfall "slightly" favoured drier than average conditions.

The three-month forecast is said to be experimental.

It is sent to contingency planners but has been withheld from the public since the Met Office was pilloried for its "barbecue summer" forecast in 2009.

Last spring's forecast has been obtained by BBC News under Freedom of Information.

The Met Office three-monthly outlook at the end of March stated: "The forecast for average UK rainfall slightly favours drier than average conditions for April-May-June, and slightly favours April being the driest of the three months."

A soul-searching Met Office analysis later confessed: "Given that April was the wettest since detailed records began in 1910 and the April-May-June quarter was also the wettest, this advice was not helpful."

In a note to the government chief scientist, the Met Office chief scientist Julia Slingo explains the difficulty of constructing long-distance forecasts, given the UK's position at the far edge of dominant world weather systems.

She says last year's calculations were not actually wrong because they were probabilistic.

The Met Office forecast that the probability that April-May-June would fall into the driest of five categories was 20-25%, whilst the probability it would fall into the wettest was 10-15% (The average probability would be 20%).

The Met Office explained it this way: "The probabilistic forecast can be considered as somewhat like a form guide for a horse race.

"It provides an insight into which outcomes are most likely, although in some cases there is a broad spread of outcomes, analogous to a race in which there is no strong favourite. Just as any of the horses in the race could win the race, any of the outcomes could occur, but some are more likely than others."

It said: "The creation of the three-monthly outlook relies upon the fact that weather is influenced by the slow variation of ocean conditions (and other processes) which can be predicted months in advance.

"Whilst there is a very strong dependence of tropical weather on processes such as El Nino ,the UK's weather is dominated by the highly variable atmospheric circulation over the North Atlantic, making it much harder to what will happen weeks and months ahead."

In the case of last spring, Dr Slingo says the forecast may have been pushed awry by a little-understood climate phenomenon, the Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) - a pattern of thunderstorms that starts in the Indian Ocean. The Met Office calls it "one of the great unsolved challenges of tropical meteorology".

The irregular phenomenon is an envelope of thunderstorms starting in the Indian Ocean and moving into the Pacific. The MJO concentrates tropical rainfall within the envelope, with blue skies around it.

Nick Klingaman from Reading University says that, as it moves east, the MJO influences monsoon rainfall in Australia, India, Southeast Asia, South America and Africa.

These "bursts" and "breaks" in the monsoon cause floods and droughts that impact agriculture, river systems and infrastructure. The "long arm of the MJO" even extends into the middle latitudes.

"The thunderstorm activity generates waves in the atmosphere that move toward the poles," he told me. "The position of the MJO today has been shown to influence the position of the Pacific and Atlantic jet streams 10-15 days later."

He says the MJO can be an important predictor of the state of the North Atlantic Oscillation - which controls much of our weather in the UK - about 2-4 weeks in advance.

And that's how a thunderstorm off the coast of India might trigger a pattern of events which led to the weather switch last spring.

Some weather models can predict the MJO three weeks ahead, he said, but others struggle to predict it a week ahead.

Forecasts have greater skill when the MJO is already active. Reading University is working with the Met Office on improving MJO forecasting, he said.

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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21967190#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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EE's 4G LTE reaches 50-market milestone in the UK

LTE

UK's first 4G network says it now covers half the country's population

EE, currently the UK's sole provider of 4G LTE services, has announced that its 4G network is now live in a total of 50 towns and cities, five months after its launch. The operator says today's 4G light-ups mean its 4G network now covers half the UK population.

Today EE's LTE has been switched on in Bradford, Bingley, Doncaster, Dudley, Harpenden, Leicester, Lichfield, Loughborough, Luton, Reading, Shipley, St Albans and West Bromwich. EE says it's committed to bringing 4G to a further 30 towns and cities by the end of June.

EE claims its 4G network currently offers average download speeds of 16Mbps and peak speeds of 50Mbps. That average speed sounds about right, but the 50Mbps claim is nowhere near what we've seen from EE's network in real-world use. If you've been using EE's 4G network in recent months, let us know how you're getting on down in the comments.

We've got the full list of all towns and cities with EE 4G service after the break.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/6YqVuGsf7XE/story01.htm

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Crumpler's Vegetable from Within the Mountain Laptop Backpack

  • Pros

    Exquisitely well made. Includes drawstring pouch and padded headphones case. Supremely comfortable to wear. Inspiring design. Spacious. Vented rear padding. Water resistant.

  • Cons Pricey. Only available in one color.
  • Bottom Line

    Crumpler's royal laptop knapsack, called Vegetable From Within the Mountain, lives up to the company's first-rate reputation. Though expensive, this minimalistic bag for 13-inch laptops strikes the perfect balance of form and function for the understated tech-savvy crowd.

By Jill Duffy

Crumpler has quickly become one bag-making company whose work I truly admire. Every bag is designed exquisitely in both form and function for a particular type of consumer. Its bags aren't cheap, but that's practically the only negative thing I have to say about them. One of its newer styles, called Vegetable From Within the Mountain ($145 direct), lives up to Crumpler's reputation and may be my favorite new release from the company this year. From afar, this blue knapsack looks decidedly too simplistic, but up close, it strikes the perfect balance of style and curiosity for the intentionally understated tech-savvy individual with a 13-inch laptop. ?

The Vegetable's inspiring design starts with lightweight yet rugged material in solid colors: a deep royal blue outside, which contrasts with an energetic turquoise inside. A single pink dot on one external zipper perks up the otherwise solemn look. And thicker black fabric from the back of the bag wraps underneath the bottom to better protect the Vegetable when you set it on the ground.

Three bonuses come included: a turquoise drawstring pouch (intended for gym shoes, although infinitely functional for other bag organization tricks), a spring-loaded pink key clasp with a rubber water bottle holder, and a black-and-pink-accented padded headphone case. All told, the bag measures 17.7 by 13.4 by 9.4 inches (HWD) and weighs a scant 1.57 pounds when empty. What's more, the Vegetable expands handily to 915 cubic inches. What couldn't you fit in that space?

The Vegetable suits minimalists to a tee. The interior has a padded laptop section for 13-inch notebooks or tablets, with a wide Velcro closure, and on the front of that is a half-sized zippered pouch where you can tuck away various charging cords and cables. One more pouch adorns the outside of the bag skirted off to the side (it's the one with the fleck-of-pink zipper toggle). And that's it for pockets, pouches, and enclosures?enough for everything you need, and nothing wasted.

Wearing the two-shoulder-strapped Vegetable around town on foot and bicycle, it felt extremely comfortable on my back. The fabric feels rugged. The bag added no perceptible weight to my load. The shoulder straps adjusted to easily fit my gangly arms and narrow shoulders.

As I mentioned, I've fallen in love with the Crumpler line, and price would be the only thing to hold me back from gushing any further about this bag. After all, $145 is no small chunk of change, so you've got to really love the look of this bag before committing to it. The attention to detail couldn't be more thorough, though. Even main zipper is protected by a hood of fabric that folds back so it never gets caught. All that earns the Vegetable From Within the Mountain our Editors' Choice. A slightly lower priced Crumpler model that I also love, and which also earned our Editors' Choice, is the Crumpler Arnold Heist Tablet Bag ($105, 4.5 stars). Another alternative that we loved and which holds up to 15-inch notebooks is the hundred-dollar Booq Mamba Daypack (4.5 stars, Editors' Choice)?. And if the mountainous blue of the Vegetable doesn't strike your hardcore note, or you have a massive laptop, try the edgy Chrome Citadel Laptop Bag ($190, 4 stars), designed to withstand the turmoil of urban bicycling with any size notebook inside.

Jill Duffy By Jill Duffy Analyst, Software

Jill Duffy is an analyst in the software, Internet, and networking team, specializing in productivity software, iOS, and apps and gadgets for health and fitness. She writes the weekly Get Organized column, with tips on...

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Wednesday, March 13, 2013

High-resolution endoscope as thin as a human hair

Mar. 12, 2013 ? Engineers at Stanford have developed a prototype single-fiber endoscope that improves the resolution of these much-sought-after instruments fourfold over existing designs. The advance could lead to an era of needle-thin, minimally invasive endoscopes able to view features out of reach of today's instruments.

Engineers at Stanford have demonstrated a high-resolution endoscope that is as thin as a human hair with a resolution four times better than previous devices of similar design. The so-called micro-endoscope is a significant step forward in high-resolution, minimally invasive bio-imaging with potential applications in research and clinical practice. Micro-endoscopy could enable new methods in diverse fields ranging from study of the brain to early cancer detection.

The new endoscope was developed by a team under the direction of Joseph Kahn, professor of electrical engineering at the Stanford School of Engineering. The results were published recently in the journal Optics Express and showcased in the Optical Society of America's Spotlight on Optics.

Their prototype can resolve objects about 2.5 microns in size, and a resolution of 0.3 microns is easily within reach. A micron is one thousandth of a millimeter. By comparison, today's high-resolution endoscopes can resolve objects only to about 10 microns. The naked eye can see objects down to about 125 microns.

Light paths

Kahn is best known for his work in fiber-optic communications -- the ultra-fast data pipes essential to the Internet and large-scale data centers. His work on endoscopy began two years ago when he and a fellow Stanford electrical engineer, Olav Solgaard, were discussing biophotonics -- a field of light-based technologies used in studying biological systems.

"Olav wanted to know if it would it be possible to send light through a single, hair-thin fiber, form a bright spot inside the body, and scan it to record images of living tissue," said Kahn.

The opportunity and the challenge, Kahn and Solgaard knew, rested in multimode fibers in which light travels via many different paths, known in optics as modes; hence the name, multimode fiber. Light is very good at conveying complex information through such fibers -- whether computer data or images -- but it gets scrambled potentially beyond recognition along the way.

Kahn devised a way to undo the scrambling of information by using a miniature liquid crystal display called a spatial light modulator. To make this possible, Kahn and his graduate student, Reza Nasiri Mahalati, developed an adaptive algorithm -- a specialized computer program -- by which the spatial light modulator learned how to unscramble the light. Several years before, Kahn had set world records for transmission speeds using a similar trick to unscramble computer data transmitted through multimode fibers.

Research on the micro-endoscope took an unexpected and fortunate turn when Nasiri Mahalati mentioned seminal work in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) done by John Pauly, another Stanford electrical engineer. Pauly had used random sampling to dramatically speed up image recording in MRIs.

"Nasiri Mahalati said, 'Why not use random patterns of light to speed up imaging through multimode fiber?' and that was it. We were on our way," recalls Kahn. "The record-setting micro-endoscope was born."

Confronting the Laws of Physics

In Kahn's micro-endoscope, the spatial light modulator projects random light patterns through the fiber into the body to illuminate the object under observation. The light reflecting off the object returns through the fiber to a computer. The computer, in turn, measures the reflected power of the light and uses algorithms developed by Nasiri Mahalati and fellow graduate student Ruo Yu Gu to reconstruct an image.

Kahn and his students were stunned to discover their endoscope could resolve four times as many image features as the number of modes in the fiber.

"Previous single-fiber endoscopes were limited in resolution to the number of modes in the fiber," said Kahn, "So this is a fourfold improvement."

The result, however, raised a scientific conundrum for the team.

"This meant that, somehow, we were capturing more information than the laws of physics told us could pass through the fiber," said Kahn. "It seemed impossible."

The team wrestled with the paradox for several weeks before they came up with an explanation. The random intensity patterns mix the modes that can propagate through the fiber, increasing the number of modes fourfold and producing four times as much detail in the image.

"Previous research had overlooked the mixing. The unconventional algorithm we used for image reconstruction was the key to revealing the hidden image detail," said Kahn.

The ultimate endoscope

Kahn and team have created a working prototype. The main limiting factor at this point is that the fiber must remain rigid. Bending a multimode fiber scrambles the image beyond recognition. Instead, the fiber is placed in a thin needle to hold it rigid for insertion.

Rigid endoscopes -- those used frequently for surgeries -- are common, but they often use relatively thick, rod-shaped lenses to yield good images. Flexible endoscopes on the other hand -- the kind used in colonoscopies and ureteroscopies -- usually employ bundles of tens of thousands of individual fibers, each conveying a single pixel of the image. Both types of endoscopes are bulky and have limited resolution.

A single fiber endoscope such as Kahn's would be the ultimate minimally invasive imaging system, and has been the focus of intense research in optical engineering over the past few years.

Kahn is not the first to develop a single-fiber endoscope, but in boosting the resolution it is possible now to conceive of a fiber endoscope about two-tenths of a millimeter in diameter -- just thicker than a human hair -- that can resolve about 80,000 pixels at a resolution of about three-tenths of a micron. Today's best flexible fiber endoscopes, by comparison, are about half-a-millimeter in diameter and can resolve roughly 10,000 pixels with a resolution of about three microns.

The future

A rigid single-fiber micro-endoscope could enable myriad new procedures for microscopic imaging inside living organisms. These range from analyzing neuronal cellular biology in brain tissue to studying muscle physiology and disease to the early detection of various forms of cancer.

Looking ahead, Kahn is excited about the potential of working with biomedical researchers to pioneer these applications, but being a physicist and an engineer at heart, he is most enthralled by the technical challenges of creating a flexible single-fiber endoscope.

"No one knows if a flexible single-fiber endoscope is even possible, but we're going to try," said Kahn.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Stanford School of Engineering. The original article was written by Andrew Myers.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Reza Nasiri, Mahalati, Ruo Yu Gu and Joseph M. Kahn. Resolution Limits for Imaging throught Multi-mode Fiber. Optics Express, 2013

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/SAX5GgtRRCA/130313100436.htm

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Eva Longoria is busy post-'Desperate Housewives'

In this Thursday, March 7, 2013 photo, chosen as the face of the new SHEBA global campaign "Follow Your Passion," actress and executive producer Eva Longoria poses for a portrait, in New York. Besides showbiz, Longoria's passions include philanthropy and politics. She's committed to encouraging Latin women to further their education and start entrepreneur programs; and also founded Eva's Heroes which is dedicated to children with special needs. (Photo by Dan Hallman/Invision/AP)

In this Thursday, March 7, 2013 photo, chosen as the face of the new SHEBA global campaign "Follow Your Passion," actress and executive producer Eva Longoria poses for a portrait, in New York. Besides showbiz, Longoria's passions include philanthropy and politics. She's committed to encouraging Latin women to further their education and start entrepreneur programs; and also founded Eva's Heroes which is dedicated to children with special needs. (Photo by Dan Hallman/Invision/AP)

In this Thursday, March 7, 2013 photo, chosen as the face of the new SHEBA global campaign "Follow Your Passion," actress and executive producer Eva Longoria poses for a portrait, in New York. She's busy behind-the-camera too as an Executive Producer on two upcoming television shows. The first, a reality dating show called ?Ready for Love,? premieres later this month on NBC. She is also Executive Producer of "Devious Maids," alongside ?Desperate Housewives? creator Mark Cherry. (Photo by Dan Hallman/Invision/AP)

In this Thursday, March 7, 2013 photo, chosen as the face of the new SHEBA global campaign "Follow Your Passion," actress and executive producer Eva Longoria poses for a portrait, in New York. The actress, who just wrapped a movie called ?Frontera? alongside Ed Harris and Michael Pena, is also busy behind-the-camera too as an Executive Producer on two upcoming television shows. (Photo by Dan Hallman/Invision/AP)

(AP) ? Eva Longoria hasn't slowed down since "Desperate Housewives" signed off after eight seasons last year. In fact, the actress says the word "lazy" isn't in her vocabulary.

"There are days when I relax but it won't be a full day. It usually means I'm gonna clean out my closet. That's relaxing for me. Or I'm gonna cook a full meal for my family and friends," Longoria, who will be 38 on Friday, said in a recent interview.

Longoria said she has no problem juggling various projects.

"I always say there's more time in the day than you think. You waste a lot of time that you don't realize," she said. "When I was on 'Desperate Housewives,' I learned two languages. I went back to school for my master's degree, I was married (to San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker) and flying back and forth (between Los Angeles and Texas). You have time."

Her passions also include philanthropy and politics. She's committed to encouraging Latin women to further their education and start entrepreneurial programs. She also founded Eva's Heroes, dedicated to teens and young adults with special needs.

She just wrapped up filming on "Frontera," alongside Ed Harris and Michael Pena, and has endorsement deals with L'Oreal, Frito-Lay and Sheba.

Longoria is also an executive producer on two upcoming TV shows.

On "Ready for Love," a reality dating show that will air on NBC, three matchmakers help three men find love.

Longoria says she handpicked each of the three eligible guys.

They're "not only handsome and successful, but generous, kind and sweet human beings. ... They'll forever be friends in my life," she said.

She's also one of the executive producers of "Devious Maids," alongside "Desperate Housewives" creator Mark Cherry. Based on a Mexican series, it follows four maids who work in Beverly Hills but dream of their own success. The show will air on Lifetime.

While she's enjoying TV production, Longoria said, "I love the medium of television. I'll definitely be back. I'll definitely come back one day."

___

Online:

http://sheba.com/feedyourpassion

http://www.evasheroes.org/

http://www.nbc.com/ready-for-love/

___

Alicia Rancilio covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow her online at http://www.twitter.com/aliciar

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-03-13-US-People-Eva-Longoria/id-c3b3fb04223a43a3aca0109910ff1db8

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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Rush scientists identify buphenyl as a possible drug for Alzheimer's disease

Monday, March 11, 2013

Buphenyl, an FDA-approved medication for hyperammonemia, may protect memory and prevent the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

Hyperammonemia is a life-threatening condition that can affect patients at any age. It is caused by abnormal, high levels of ammonia in the blood.

Studies in mice with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have shown that sodium phenylbutyrate, known as Buphenyl, successfully increases factors for neuronal growth and protects learning and memory, according to neurological researchers at the Rush University Medical Center.

Results from the National Institutes of Health funded study, recently were published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

"Understanding how the disease works is important to developing effective drugs that protect the brain and stop the progression of Alzheimer's disease," said Kalipada Pahan, PhD, the Floyd A. Davis professor of neurology at Rush and lead investigator of this study.

A family of proteins known as neurotrophic factors help in survival and function of neurons. Past research indicates that these proteins are drastically decreased in the brain of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD).

"Neurotrophic factor proteins could be increased in the brain by direct injection or gene delivery," said Pahan. "However, using an oral medication to increase the level of these protein may be the best clinical option and a cost effective way to increase the level of these proteins directly in the brain."

"Our study found that after oral feeding, Buphenyl enters into the brain, increases these beneficial proteins in the brain, protects neurons, and improves memory and learning in mice with AD-like pathology," said Pahan.

In the brain of a patient with AD, two abnormal structures called plaques and tangles are prime suspects in damaging and killing nerve cells. While neurons die, other brain cells like astroglia do not die.

The study findings indicate that Buphenyl increases neurotrophic factors from astroglia. Buphenyl stimulates memory-related protein CREB (cyclic AMP response element-binding protein) using another protein known as Protein Kinase C (PKC) and increases neurotrophic factors in the brain.

"Now we need to translate this finding to the clinic and test Buphenyl in Alzheimer's disease patients," said Pahan. "If these results are replicated in Alzheimer's disease patients, it would open up a promising avenue of treatment of this devastating neurodegenerative disease."

###

Rush University Medical Center: http://www.rush.edu

Thanks to Rush University Medical Center for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127233/Rush_scientists_identify_buphenyl_as_a_possible_drug_for_Alzheimer_s_disease

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The Facebook Gaming Ecosystem: A Cross-Sectional Study Of The Top-Rated Apps

facebook games logoEditor's note:?Hassan Baig is?an entrepreneur who runs White Rabbit Studios, a South Asian gaming startup he founded four years ago in Pakistan. Services like AppData have been providing individual stats for a long time, but snapshot-like analyses of top-rated games on Facebook's App Center have not yet been done. Such a study could be useful for game developers or strategic investors who have a stake in Facebook games and want a macro picture of where the ecosystem stands at the moment.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/R76F5Ogd53k/

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