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Stem cell therapies for multiple sclerosis, other myelin disorders ...
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AP-GfK poll: Romney edging out Obama on economy
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney sits and talks to a customer as he makes an unscheduled stop at First Watch cafe in Cincinnati, Ohio, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney sits and talks to a customer as he makes an unscheduled stop at First Watch cafe in Cincinnati, Ohio, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Obama gestures while speaking at a campaign event at Ybor Centennial Park in Tampa, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. The president is on the second day of his 48 hour, 8 state campaign blitz. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks as he campaigns in Reno, Nev., on Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Cathleen Allison)
A silhouetted President Barack Obama gestures as he speaks during a morning campaign event at Ybor City Museum State Park, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012, in Tampa, Fla. The president is on the second day of his 48 hour, 8 state campaign blitz. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Chart shows the results of a AP-GfK voters poll
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Americans are growing increasingly optimistic about the future of the U.S. economy, and likely voters trust Republican Mitt Romney slightly more than President Barack Obama to do a better job of managing it, an Associated Press-GfK poll shows.
On the cusp of an election offering stark choices on how best to handle the economy, 60 percent of Americans still describe the current economic situation as poor, but almost as many think things will get better in the coming year. More voters expect the number of unemployed to go down, too. Forty-two percent anticipate improvement in the jobs picture, up 10 percentage points from a month ago.
For all of the shifting dynamics in economic expectations and voters' growing comfort with Romney, though, the presidential race is still a virtual dead heat, with Romney favored by 47 percent of likely voters and Obama by 45 percent, a result within the poll's margin of sampling error.
And what matters most in the election endgame is Romney's standing in the handful of states whose electoral votes still are up for grabs. And polls in a number of those battleground states still appear to favor Obama.
After a commanding first debate performance and a generally good month, Romney has gained ground with Americans on a number of important fronts, including his overall favorability rating and voters' impressions of his ability to understand their problems. He's also sharply narrowed the gender gap, with women now split evenly between the two candidates and Romney holding a slight edge among men.
At the same time, expectations that Obama will be re-elected have slipped: Half of voters now expect the president to win a second term, down from 55 percent a month earlier.
Seventeen percent of likely voters in the survey reported they've already cast ballots, a sharp reminder to the candidates that they have little time left to sway voters.
Among those yet to vote, the economy is a recurring theme as they explain their decisions:
Monica Jensen, a 55-year-old independent from Mobile, Ala., says she voted for Obama in 2008 but will shift her vote to Romney this time, largely because of the economy.
"I'm ready for a change," she said. "I want to see the economy go in a different direction."
Ginny Lewis, a Democrat and 72-year-old retired district attorney from Princeton, Ky., says she'll vote for Romney because "I'm tired of the Republicans blaming all the debt on Democrats, so let them take over and see what they do."
Not that she's optimistic about how that will turn out, though. "I think things will get worse before they get better," she said.
Lindsey Hornbaker, a 25-year-old graduate student and nanny, hasn't been swayed by Romney's charm offensive.
Hornbaker, interviewed Wednesday in Davenport, Iowa, where she was attending an Obama rally, said Romney can tweak his tone but not what she sees as a record focused far more on top income earners and out of touch with most working families.
"I heard him go out of his way to sound so moderate during the debate," she said. "And I thought: 'Who is this? Where did this come from?' He may sound like he's focused on the middle class. But where's the record?"
As the election nears, Romney has been playing down social issues and trying to project a more moderate stance on matters such as abortion in an effort to court female voters. The AP-GfK poll, taken Friday through Tuesday, shows Romney pulling even with Obama among women at 47-47 after lagging by 16 points among women a month earlier.
But now his campaign is grappling with the fallout from a comment by a Romney-endorsed Senate candidate in Indiana, who said that when a woman becomes pregnant during a rape "that's something God intended."
Romney quickly distanced himself from the remark by Republican Richard Mourdock.
But Obama was happy to keep the matter current, telling a crowd in Florida on Thursday: "As we saw again this week, I don't think any politician in Washington, most of whom are male, should be making health care decisions for women," Obama said. "Women can make those decisions themselves."
A renewed focus on social issues would be an unwelcome development for Romney: Among female likely voters, 55 percent say Obama would make the right decisions on women's issues, compared with 41 percent who think Romney would.
Romney's pitch to women has been focused squarely on the economy, making the case that what women want most is to ensure their families and their country are on a solid financial footing. The poll shows that message appears to be taking root.
A month ago, women favored Obama over Romney on the economy 56 percent to 40 percent. Now, the split has shifted to 49 percent for Romney and 45 percent for Obama.
Similarly, Obama's lead among women as the candidate who better understands the people's problems has narrowed considerably, from a 58-36 Obama advantage last month to a 50-43 Obama edge now.
Obama, meanwhile, has been working to shore up his support among men, who tend to be more Republican than women. In the 2008 election, men broke 49 percent for Obama to 48 percent for John McCain, even though Obama got 53 percent of the vote overall. The president's job approval ratings among men have tended to fall below his ratings among women throughout his first term.
A month ago, Romney's advantage among men was 13 percentage points. Now, it's down to 5 points, with most of the shift toward Obama coming among unmarried men.
Obama's election chances hinge on turning out voters like Jon Gerton, a disabled construction worker from Jonesboro, Ark. Gerton's a staunch Obama supporter ? but he didn't vote in 2008.
"It takes longer than four years to get things to the point where things are going better," Gerton said. "Four years, it's not very long."
There has been a gender gap in every presidential election since 1980. In 2008, women were 7 percentage points more likely than men to vote for Obama.
Count Chrysta Walker, of Cedar Lake, Ind., among the voters who are sticking with Obama because they think he's got the right solutions for the fragile economy.
"He's got the middle class at heart," says the 58-year-old Walker. On the economy, she says, Obama "did as well as could be expected because he didn't get a lot of cooperation."
David Bierwirth, who owns an autograph sales business in Las Vegas, turned out at a Romney rally in Henderson this week to show his support for the GOP nominee. To Bierwirth, his vote for Romney is all about the economy.
"I want people back to work," he says, "because then they will buy my products."
The Associated Press-GfK poll was conducted Oct. 19-23 by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with 1,186 adults nationwide, including 839 likely voters. Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points; for likely voters it is 4.2 points.
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Online:
http://www.ap-gfkpoll.com
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AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius and Stacy A. Anderson in Washington, Thomas Beaumont in Davenport, Iowa, and Ken Ritter in Henderson, Nev., contributed to this report.
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Sean Combs in car crash, declines hospital
Danny Moloshok / Reuters
By Rolling Stone
Sean "Diddy" Combs was shaken up in a car crash in front of the Beverly Hills Hotel Wednesday, though hip-hop mogul was not taken to the hospital, The Associated Press reports.
Diddy, Missy Elliott, Rihanna and more Rreact to Chris Lighty's death
According to Beverly Hills police Lt. Lincoln Hoshino, Combs was a passenger in a Cadillac Escalade riding down Sunset Boulevard when a Lexus sedan turned left in front of the vehicle, causing the collision.?
Diddy to launch new cable music network
While Hoshino says Combs was complaining of pain, he decided to seek his own medical treatment rather than be taken to a hospital. Pictures from TMZ show the totaled front of the car and Combs lying on the grass following the crash.
There's been no word from Combs or his camp about the incident or the extent to which he was injured.
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Secrets of a Paleoart Rockstar: Julius Csotonyi
A digital painting of the Gondwana giant sauropod, Futalognkosaurus (2007) ? Julius Csotonyi.
One of the most popular fields of science with children and adults alike is paleontology. And there?s a very good reason for this. Since the first fossil was recognized and found, it inspired imaginations to envision what the animal was like when it was alive. From the myths of giant cyclops to sinewy dragons, fossils have shaped much of our collective fable and imaginations.
Here on Symbiartic, I?ve advocated for other sciences to begin to embrace artistic licence to blossom in the fuzzy areas of their disciplines. And there?s a lot that the sciences can learn from the modern world of paleontology illustration. Want to draw people in, inspire them, have children compelled to ask questions? ?Time to learn from a modern paleoart rockstar: Julius Csotonyi.
Biologist and Paleoartist Julius Csotonyi.
I sat down over coffee with Julius and his wife, researcher Alexandra Lefort while they were visiting Toronto for the opening of the innovative Royal Ontario Museum show, Ultimate Dinosaurs ? Giants of Gondwana. We?ve exchanged emails and I?m proud to present this interview to our Scientific American readers just a couple of short days after Julius has won the prestigious 2D paleoart Lanzendorf Prize for the second time!
~Glendon Mellow
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Just days ago, you won the Lanzendorf Prize for 2-Dimensional Paleoart by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. My congratulations! ?You?re one of only a very few who have ever won this award more than once. How does it feel?
Thank you! It?s an enormous honour to be presented with this award, and?I am stoked! Because a central aim of my work is to achieve scientifically accurate reconstruction of prehistoric environments and organisms, this kind of recognition from members of such a scientifically rigorous paleontological society is the greatest compliment that I can hope to receive. The?image that?garnered the award depicts a humid forested upland scene in the early Permian and focuses on a trio of pelycosaurs, including?Edaphosaurus. It?s one of the pieces that I was commissioned by Gondwana Studios to illustrate for a travelling?exhibit on the bizarre life forms of the Permian period, entitled Permian Monsters: Life Before the Dinosaurs. Having received the award in 2010 for my work on a mummified?Brachylophosaurus for the Houston Museum of Natural Science , the award this year came as an especially?big and pleasant surprise to me.
The 2012 Lanzendorf-winning image, ? Julius Csotonyi.
It?s well-deserved, and underscores how you?ve quickly established yourself as a solid, go-to paleoart rockstar for museums ? what?s that transition like for a biologist who?s studied everything from trampled moss to hydrothermal vents?
Well, that?s certainly the first time I?ve been referred to by that colorful descriptor ? thank you for the compliment, but it certainly feels over-the-top to me! Actually the transition from biologist to paleoartist was a gradual one, and I was fortunate enough to be able to make the baby steps from one profession to the other during the completion of my PhD in microbiology. Although the juggling of such different disciplines led to many sleepless nights, it allowed me to explore a new career without having to go too far out on a limb in terms of financial security during the process.
Both scientific research and mural illustration entail hard work, although the kinds of pressures that one experiences in each type of work are very different (and I wouldn?t even dare generalize about the nature of pressures and responsibilities held by scientists in different fields). Illustration commissions have keep me up nearly all night for months at a time, often working more than 15 hours a day, but I still feel that overall, scientific research is at least as demanding and is certainly a more strategically complicated kind of work. In my experience, once the initial design elements and issues of the scientific accuracy of an image have been squared away, the production of the image usually proceeds rather smoothly.
However, what finally convinced me to step from scientific research into a field of scientific illustration was not the level of complexity of the work, but rather the temporal distribution of a feeling of satisfaction. Truth be told, little compares with the excitement of making a major discovery in the course of a scientific investigation ? I?ve experienced it several times and it?s pure exultation. This is probably best appreciated by other researchers, but I?ll never forget the adrenaline rush I experienced upon determining experimentally that a strain of purple nonsulfur bacteria that I isolated from a hypersaline spring was the first known organism to be able to perform both aerobic and anaerobic anoxygenic photosynthesis. However, something of this magnitude is a relatively rare thing. Completing a challenging set of experiments and then publishing the results is a long process. Although it is highly rewarding in the end, pumping one?s brain full of ?accomplishment endorphins?, it?s a long-term type of reward, and the lab work itself, between discoveries, is often felt a little tedious to me. By contrast, I have always found that the act of painting itself ? not simply the completion of a mural project, but actually applying pigment to a surface ? was relaxing and therapeutic. Even during the grey-hair-generating last week before a deadline, the activity of creating the artwork fills me with enjoyment. To me, this was a large, bright sign of where my career path ought to lie. I will always be a scientist at heart, and I continue to keep a foot in that camp by writing scientific papers on my recent research, as well as maintaining a science blog, Evolutionary Routes, but I have found that paleoart currently provides a more consistent enjoyment.
Describe a little of how you create an image.
Let me answer this question by using a piece that I created for this interview, featuring?Sinocalliopteryx, its?Sinornithosaurus?meal and a breeding pair of?Confuciusornis. I begin by consulting scientific literature on the subject. What inspired this image was the recently published discovery of the feathered dinosaurian gut contents (Sinornithosaurus?and?Confuciusornis) of two marvelously preserved skeletons of?Sinocalliopteryx?(Xing?et al. 2012;?PLoS ONE?7(8): e44012). This find elucidates some of the ecological interactions of a prehistoric ecosystem, which is especially exciting because it helps scientists to fill in our knowledge of not only the appearance but also the behaviour of long-gone creatures. In this case, it helps us to draw lines of trophic interaction between several members of an extinct food web. This initial stage of image preparation is where open access journal articles are so very much appreciated!
A sequence of images showing the completion of a digital painting that features Sinocalliopteryx (center), Sinornithosaurus (bottom) and Confuciusornis (top). All ? Julius Csotonyi.
Sinocalliopteryx progress . ? Julius Csotonyi.
I then plan the composition and intended atmosphere of the image. In my opinion, scientific accuracy is the most important quality of paleoart, since it is a genre of art that has specifically grown to fill the niche of providing visual support to a field of scientific investigation. However, my personal objective is to create visually compelling windows on extinct ecosystems that we can never photograph directly, and a really successful illustration of this type benefits from composition that draws the viewer into the image, and from an engaging atmosphere that helps the viewer to suspend disbelief. In this illustration, I wished to depict all three species, but I did not want to capture a moment during the hunt itself. A complaint about paleoart that I sometimes encounter is that we see too much of the toothy moment just before a predatory strike. I was after a more serene scene in this case.
Sinocalliopteryx progress . ? Julius Csotonyi.
Sinocalliopteryx progress, more lighting and mood to help illustrate the feathers. ? Julius Csotonyi.
I also wished to call attention to the filamentous integumentary structures of?Sinocalliopteryx?and the pennate feathers of the two other taxa. To accomplish this, I established a scene backlit by the morning sun, allowing the golden light to illuminate the rim of ?protofeathers? around the body of the compsognathid and to be transmitted through the flight feathers of the other species. The lakeshore setting was chosen to contribute interesting reflective light from the water surface, light-scattering mist, and to make the point that the wonderfully preserved Yixian Formation organisms were closely associated with the lacustrine habitat responsible for the exceptional preservation condition of their remains.
Sinocalliopteryx progress. ? Julius Csotonyi.
Sinocalliopteryx progress suggesting the lake-plains habitat. ? Julius Csotonyi.
Based on photos of the fossil, I then sketched the?Sinocalliopteryx?skeleton in the intended posture ? head raised from its prey at the sound of the pair of?Confuciusornis?taking flight. The next phase is the application of soft tissues and surface textures. The technique depends on the type of image that I am creating, whether it is to be photorealistic ? incorporating photographic material ? or a deliberate intent to achieve the look of a particular medium, such as oils or watercolors. I began scientific illustration using non-digital media such as watercolors, acrylics, pastels, pen and pencil, and I still enjoy those media a lot. However, in the interests of revisability and speed, I currently work almost exclusively digitally, customizing virtual brush characteristics to approximate the appearance of a range of non-digital media. The result is certainly an approximation of the real thing, but the sophistication of modern art software allows an arguably very close approach to the targeted effect. And because the actual application of colors and lines requires precisely the same skills as for real paints and pencils, the amount of effort that goes into a digital painting is essentially the same as that which goes into a piece completed using non-digital techniques.
Sinocalliopteryx progress, now including Sinornithosaurus (bottom) and Confuciusornis (top). ? Julius Csotonyi.
Sinocalliopteryx, detail. ? Julius Csotonyi.
Confuciusornis, detail. ? Julius Csotonyi.
In this case, I parameterized a brush to achieve an oil-like appearance, and completed the painting in a more traditional style, without photographic compositing. Examples of my work of this digital painting technique include the murals on the walls of the new Dinosaur Hall at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, the Alberta Unearthed exhibit at the Royal Tyrrell Museum and the?Pachyrhinosaurus?collector quarter coin that I designed and illustrated for the Royal Canadian Mint earlier this year. The coin made quite a splash, owing to the glow-in-the-dark nature of the skeletal overlay on the animal.
The photomanipulation technique is somewhat more complicated than digital painting, and usually results in many more graphic layers, as I assemble the image from dozens of photos. Examples of the results of this photomanipulative technique are the murals for the recently opened Hall of Paleontology at the Houston Museum of Natural Science (May, 2012), the restoration of a mummified?Brachylophosaurus?for a 2008 exhibit at the HMNS, which won the 2010 Lanzendorf Prize for Two-Dimensional Art?and the Royal Ontario Museum?s exhibit entitled Ultimate Dinosaurs: Giants from Gondwana (June, 2012).
In an exception to my digital technique, I recently participated in a live-illustration event at the Pipestone Creek Dinosaur Initiative?s ?Dino Country Ball 2012? this past July in Grande Prairie, Alberta. I used dry pastels to draw a hatchling tyrannosaur during the dinner course of two hours. The image was donated to the fundraiser auction for the upcoming Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum. The live and highly time-limited nature of the event introduced a lot of pressure to get the image right the first time, so I practiced drawing the form of the animal in a series of preliminary rough sketches before proceeding with the final draft on pastel paper.
The magical, finished paleoart illustration. Thank you so much for creating this illustration for Symbiartic, Julius! ~ ? Julius Csotonyi.
The versatility of your techniques is amazing, Julius. Awesome that you keep experimenting instead of relying on one method.
When we met, you mentioned your massive collection of landscape photo references ? has it become an obsession?
Very nearly so. It is especially challenging to maintain the scientific accuracy of the photorealistic class of images that I produce, because I need to make creative use of the contents of my existing photographs instead of painting from scratch. I can?t just use background photographs containing anachronistic plants (e.g. grassy fields in a Jurassic scene). Therefore, I need to photograph a wide range of natural environments, requiring me to visit many different biomes. Over the course of the last six years, I have taken about 200,000 photographs of landscapes, animals, plants, skies, etc. for this purpose. National Park signs instruct us to ?take nothing but photos; leave nothing but footprints?, but the rate at which I siphon photons out of these delicate environments through my camera lens should probably be considered a felony too. I am very fortunate to have a wife who has the patience to put up with my obsessive ?visual harvesting?. In fact, she is a much more skilled photographer than am I.?How photo-realistic is okay?
My goal is to depict prehistoric scenes that suspend viewers? disbelief to the greatest extent possible. I feel that I achieve this objective most successfully with photographic composite images, so I don?t think that there?s a point at which the image can be ?too photo-realistic?. Having said that, simply incorporating some photographic background material into a scene does not automatically make it more realistic. A successful image owes less to the proportional amount of photographic material that it contains than to the care with which the elements are merged and matched.
A post-mortem restoration of a Brachylophosaurus that would become exquisitely mummified. Commissioned for the HMNS exhibit "Dinomummy CSI: Cretaceous Science Investigation" (2008). This piece won the 2010 Lanzendorf Paleoart Prize for Two-Dimensional Art. ? Julius Csotonyi.
I do worry that creating images solely by photographic compositing would sap me of my skill as a traditional artist using non-digital media. Working with photographic layers requires a very different skill set than applying pigment with a brush or pastel stick. Therefore, I make a point of practicing with a brush (digital or traditional, so long as the technique of applying strokes is similar) in between projects that require a more genuinely photographic quality. I also think that non-photographic paintings achieve a kind of visual appeal that photographic work will never attain, no matter how perfectly realistic it looks. Every artist has a unique style of painting, like a signature, and it?s that personal touch of style that many people are drawn to in art. Successful photographic compositing requires a formidable amount of work, but I think that it is easier for people to comprehend and appreciate the amount of work that goes into a traditionally painted piece. Even in this age of computer facilitated rendering of two- and three-dimensional representations, I doubt that traditional paintings will ever lose their appeal.
Do you worry about losing your paleo street-cred if you make the dinosaurs too colourful?
Absolutely?with some conditions. I love using brilliant color, but my academic training in ecology has taught me to temper this artistic urge with knowledge of the ways in which animals use color to communicate. Prehistoric ecosystems may have had radically different looking animals and plants than many of their modern counterparts, but there is no reason to suspect that ecological principles applied in substantially different ways than in modern ecosystems. Within the constraints of the color processing ability of prehistoric fauna, this reasoning should apply equally well to the role of color in interspecific and intraspecific communication.
The color patterns and palettes of species are driven by selection pressures to avoid predators or effectively sneak up on prey. This frequently results in cryptic coloration. For example, vertical stripes break up a long animal?s outline against forest or grassland, optimally in colors that approximate those of the background vegetation and substratum. Countershading helps hide aquatic animals from predators (or prey) both above and below them; countershading also minimizes the visibility of land animals by cancelling out shadows. It is also important to realize that natural selection works to tighten energy budgets. Animals tend not to expend unnecessary energy. Because pigments are biochemically expensive, their production is tightly regulated in nutrient-stressed environments. (Just look at how pale are most cave-dwelling animals.) Therefore, if an animal possesses defenses against predation (such as large size or formidable weaponry) that preclude the need to employ cryptic coloration, it is often rather drably colored. Consider some of the largest African mammals as examples.
A before-and-after image showing the alterations (top) Csotonyi made to the original image (bottom) following research on plumage coloration of Anchiornis (2009). ? Julius Csotonyi.
However, we must keep in mind that there are exceptions to such generalizations. Courtship displays involve perhaps the most gaudy use of color. Sexual selection has rendered many birds and small reptiles seemingly counterintuitively too colorful in the context of hiding from their enemies. It all comes down to a cost/benefit analysis tabulated at the level of reproductive success: if the cost of employing brilliant color (i.e. the risk of being spotted and eaten) is outweighed by the number or quality of mates that a colorful individual can secure (which translates into the number of offspring it can successfully bring to sexual maturity), then natural selection will favour brighter coloration. The lesson here is that it is OK to depict colorful dinosaurs so long as one can propose a plausible role for the colors chosen, within the bounds set by what scientific investigation of their relevant environments has revealed. There are some pretty whacky examples of color in the animal kingdom. I recall staring in bafflement through aquarium glass at a big fish with pink polka-dotted blue lips and thinking that this living creature looked so ridiculous that I should henceforth be very careful indeed when doling out judgement on the color choices that paleoartists make for dinosaurs.
In any case, squabbles over the colors that dinosaurs sported in life is slowly being relegated to the past. At least in the case of feathered dinosaurs preserved well enough for scientists to study the microscopic structure of their feathers, several teams of paleontologists have demonstrated that some of the feather color (the component governed by the pigment melanin) can be inferred from the shape and distribution of pigment-bearing melanosomes. As a result of this ingenious research, it is now apparent that?Microraptor?was irridescent black (Li?et al., 2012;?Science?335:1215),?Sinosauropteryx?had a cinnamon-and-white striped tail (Zhang?et al., 2010;?Nature?463:1075),?Anchiornis?was grey with black-and-white barred wings, a russet crest and russet cheek spots (Li?et al., 2010;Science?327:1369) (prompting me to recolor my originally red-feathered illustration), and?Confuciusornis?had a dark body with lighter wings (Wogelius?et al., 2011;?Science?333:1622) (which I needed to take into consideration in the?Sinocalliopteryx?illustration that I completed for this interview). Slowly but surely, those pesky paleontologists are taking away our artistic license in assigning colors to dinosaurs.
You recently completed some work for a massive exhibit called Ultimate Dinosaurs here in Toronto at the Royal Ontario Museum. Tell us about that.
Ultimate Dinosaurs: Giants from Gondwana (June 2012 ? March 2013) is a very ambitious exhibition of the evolution of some of the bizarre dinosaurs from the southern hemisphere. I was commissioned to create 17 dinosaur vignette illustrations for information panels and five giant murals showing dinosaurs in their ecosystems, all created under close supervision by distinguished ROM paleontologists and curators.
The exhibit is a mile marker for me in that the murals I created for it are displayed at the largest size of any that I had yet completed. The largest one is 5 m (15 feet) tall and 50 m (150 feet) long. The dinosaurs in these murals end up being life sized (or sometimes slightly larger than life). This display size really helps to convey the immensity of some of these creatures. When you walk through one section of hall, you are flanked by a full sized?Giganotosaurus?in its semiarid Cretaceous Gondwana environment on the left and an equally imposing?Tyrannosaurus?in the humid Hell Creek environment on the right. This is a favourite part of the exhibit because you feel like you are completely immersed in a reconstruction of the prehistoric past. The discontinuity between the two sides is intended, to juxtapose the environments: the murals, skeletons and interactive motion-sensing animated viewers are arranged to allow people to compare point-by-point how the two ecosystems resembled and differed from each other in terms of the plant community and animals that filled certain niches. The interactive viewers are a nice touch; animated graphics take the mural content and, with the talented work of Vlad Konstantinov, Andrey Atuchin and Meld Media, transform it into a 3-D rendering whose elements express a range of behavioural responses to viewers standing at different distances from the display.
The production of Ultimate Dinosaurs was my biggest undertaking yet, not only because of the enormous size of the images but also because the exhibit team was especially populous, requiring advertising, exhibit design, scientific curatorial and administrative department members to accommodate each other?s schedules to make the exhibit come together under a hair-singingly tight deadline. Everybody did a spectacular job under enormous pressure, making it a pleasure to work with them. Having visited the fully installed exhibit I am extremely pleased with how it looks.
Permian scene in a Texas floodplain, featuring a feeding frenzy of pelycosaurs and other early tetrapods. Commissioned for the HMNS Hall of Paleontology (2012). ? Julius Csotonyi.
Do you find the role for the illustrator in modern museums is changing? ?I notice less dioramas in the displays and more interactivity.
Indeed, even the manner of diorama or mural illustration is changing. We now have much more digital image creation rather than painting directly onto walls, because it is easier to install, can be more readily repaired and can be commissioned remotely. But of course, it doesn?t stop there. The interactive viewers that I mentioned above for the Royal Ontario Museum exhibit on southern dinosaurs are a great example of the direction in which museums are increasingly moving. People nowadays are immersed in novel interactive technologies in their daily lives (e-book readers, data phones, GPS units), and museum exhibits are having to compete with such devices to maintain the attention of an ever more technologically engaged audience.
I think there will always be an appreciation for paintings as backdrops, and not all museums can even afford digital technologies to the extent that some utilize it, such as the Manitoba Museum, with its beautiful Ordovician display, Ancient Seas . However, I am equipping and training myself to become proficient in 3-D rendering and animation techniques in order to keep up with the exciting developments in exhibit technology.
As the cost of display technology descends to affordability for more museums, I think that we?ll soon be met with some qualitatively different and jaw-dropping museum visit experiences. I look forward to the day when three-dimensionally rendered or even holographic dinosaurs will leap out at us from holographic forests on an interactive educational stroll through a Jurassic forest, or when we can walk into a virtual petting zoo of the Cambrian and use force feedback gloves to handle the holographic Burgess Shale fauna at whatever magnification we desire.
Triassic scene, featuring the dicynodont Placerias being ambushed by the giant phytosaur Smilosuchus. Commissioned for the HMNS Hall of Paleontology (2012). ? Julius Csotonyi.
A lot of natural history and scientific illustrators shy away from controversy. At times to me it seems almost obsessive, in an attempt not to burn any possible bridges for work. But I notice on your Facebook page, you?re pretty?comfortable sharing atheist content. How do you feel about getting work in a world of social media, where everything about a person can be checked?
I have no problem with people seeing me for who who I am, and I don?t feel that I am burning any reasonable bridges in the process. First and foremost, I am a scientist at heart. My agnostic atheistic position on religious belief is incidental, and simply arises from my intention of placing confidence in ideas to an extent that is proportional to the quantity and quality of evidence that is presented in their favour. I base my world view on what can be demonstrated by investigating our universe by objective and repeatable means. I see no positive evidence for a creator, no way to test for the presence of one (therefore placing it outside the purvue of science, except in cases where specific claims of the supernatural are demonstrably refuted by observations of the natural world), and I cannot accept that one exists until and unless careful investigation demonstrates the need to include such an agent in scientific models.
However, I have no malice for people who can compartmentalize their theistic belief system separately from what scientific investigation reveals about our universe. I have great relationships with theistic people, and I even greatly enjoy pleasant and civil discussions with them about their beliefs. What matters to me is honest science, unbiased by untestable tenets of theistic belief. I have met some brilliant scientists who believe in a deity for personal reasons but who perform top-notch investigation in the physical sciences or evolutionary biology, and I admire their demonstration of objectivity in their work.
The one thing to which I strongly object is the creationist movement, especially young earth creationism, regardless of the religious belief system that promotes it. My vociferous opposition to it is not simply because there is no reliable evidence for a young earth or against the theory of evolution, nor only because there is ample evidence against creationist claims. Rather, it is because this movement starts from the presupposition of the correctness of a religious belief and allows this theistic bias to strongly govern the presentation of observations of our universe while purporting to be objective. Thus, it is anti-scientific at its core, and that does not sit well with my responsibility to the current and next generation of fellow earthlings to convey as objectively accurate an understanding of the natural world as is possible. This holds true for my research, my scientific writing and my scientific illustration, including paleoart.
Naturally, therefore, I necessarily burn precisely one bridge for illustration work: image production for projects that promote creationism. I do not regret the potential small loss of work that this incurs, because I see such collaboration as a strong conflict of interest at the level of the integrity of science.
What?s your dream project?
Oh, so many possibilities! Well, since you have not limited me, I will list a couple. It is always rewarding to work with museum teams to create large-scale graphics, but something that I have not yet done is to work extensively with a film production company on a motion picture about prehistoric life, either in the form of a science fiction movie or a documentary. I can be terrible to watch movies with, because I pick them to death on their points of scientific inaccuracy. I would love to contribute artistically to an accurate portrayal of prehistoric life in a motion piture production.
A second project that would excite my interest in both paleoart and science is the preparation of a book (and/or museum exhibit) that chronicles the evolution of life on earth ? not only dinosaurs, but the entire gamut of life. I have illustrated not only dinosaurs, but also prehistoric and extant mammals, invertebrates, aquatic vertebrates, hominins and more, but rarely all for the same project. Probably the closest I?ve come to this objective is the HMNS Hall of Paleontology in Houston, but those murals only touched on a few thin slices of natural history.
Miocene China scene, with the horse Hipparion, the hornless but tusked rhinoceros Chilotherium and the mastodon Mammut. Commissioned for the HMNS Hall of Paleontology (2012). ? Julius Csotonyi.
This dream project would involve not only a relatively exhaustive photorealistic guide to the prehistoric denizens of our planet, but also a conceptual explanation of the evolutionary, biogeochemical, ecological and geological processes that have shaped life on earth, from the emergence of life to our present day. An exciting direction for such a project would be a richly and accurately illustrated children?s book on evolution, because this field of science is woefully misunderstood today by the general public. Let?s face it, if children can pronounce?Micropachycephalosaurus?with perfect annunciation at the drop of a hat at the age of six, then I think they?re ready for an illustration-rich introduction to more science than the amount to which they are often exposed at this age.
What?s your favourite colour?
This one?s easy: a deep, rich metallic red. I really don?t know why it is, and I have no clue what?s with that metallic requirement. Maybe I?m a vampire; the hypothesis is certainly consistent with my waking schedule during deadline crunch weeks.
The earliest and smallest ceratopsians known from North America, Unescoceratops (top) and Gryphoceratops (bottom), commissioned to publicize their discovery (2012). ? Julius Csotonyi.
Thank you Julius for sharing with Symbiartic!
- -
Find more about Julius Csotonyi and his paleoart at the following links:
Gallery Portfolio
Evolutionary Routes ? Blog
List of Selected Publications
Wikipedia Entry
Shop for Prints
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=23d57604735d891a474b6355f13de046
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How to get Picture Perfect Skin in Time for the ... - Hive Health Media
The holiday season is just around the corner and things will begin picking up and getting crazy before you know it; parties, get-togethers, office functions, and family dinners with relatives you haven?t seen in years.? You can get younger looking skin with a beautiful glow just in time for your upcoming photo opps.
1.? Omega-3 Supplements
This is a simple addition to your daily routine and can help your skin look healthier.? Omega 3s found in fish oil and flax-seed oil keep your cell membranes strong and supple.? They are an essential fatty acid, meaning that they are vital for cellular health but your body doesn?t produce them.? Start taking them now and be consistent so your skin will begin to look more beautiful by the holidays.
2.? Eat Plenty of Antioxidants
Antioxidant rich sources including dark fruits and vegetables, nuts, beans, and grains load your body with antioxidants which scavenge destructive free radicals.? Free radicals are unstable molecules that steal from healthy cells in hopes of becoming stabile.? It?s a vicious cycle as one destroys another.? Antioxidants protect your cells from the path of destruction from free radicals and promote healthier and more vibrant skin.
3.? Exfoliate
Exfoliating your skin 2-3 times a week will give you immediate as well as long term gains.? This process polishes your skin, increases cellular turnover, boosts circulation, and helps your other products work more effectively.? Using an effective scrub, peel, mask, or home microdermabrasion system will greatly enhance your complexion.
4.? LED Light Therapy
LED red light therapy is an extremely powerful technology that can be used in your own home to stimulate collagen production, increase cellular energy, repair, renew, regenerate, and rejuvenate your cells.? The DPL Therapy System, the dpl Nuve Beauty System, and the Caribbean Sun Skin Rejuvenation Light are top of the line, professional grade units that make it easy to get these treatments at home.
5.? Anti-Aging Skin Care Products
I am a big proponent of natural skin care that doesn?t contain any toxic or potentially dangerous ingredients.? You can find some amazing natural products that contain anti-aging ingredients such as rosehip seed oil, argan oil, seabuckthorn berry oil, peptides, and/or vitamin C.? Using?the top?anti-aging products can take 30-60 days before you will see visible results so once again consistency is crucial for results.
6.? Sunscreen
Okay, so sunscreen won?t actually de-age your skin but it is vital for protection and prevention.? You take the time and spend money on getting your skin to look its best.? Those efforts are fruitless if you don?t protect your skin from future sun damage.
So, as the holidays sneak up, start your plan of action now to repair and rejuvenate your complexion so that by the time your first holiday photo opp presents itself you are ready with picture perfect skin.? These are all things you can do in your own home making it convenient and accessible to improve your skin.? Just remember that in order to get results you must be consistent and persistent.
Related posts:
- 10 Simple Steps for More Radiant Skin
- Unconventional Skin Care Solutions That Work
- Stress Can Affect the Health of Your Skin
- Anti-Aging Skin Care Tips
- Get Glowing Skin with Supplements
Source: http://www.hivehealthmedia.com/how-to-get-picture-perfect-skin-in-time-for-the-holidays/
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বুধবার, ২৪ অক্টোবর, ২০১২
The Importance of Mobility for Achieving the Promise of Unified ...
Before people depended on the Internet and various forms of mobile messaging, communication was rather simple. If you wanted to communicate with someone immediately, you either called or sent a fax, and in many cases, you might have done both in one sitting.
Today, businesses deal with a multitude of communication methods, including email, instant messaging, VoIP, video conferencing, text messaging, and even social media. As a result, many businesses may find themselves in need of unified communications (UC) systems that can integrate all of these communication methods. Moreover, the ability to access unified communications using mobile devices should now be a top priority for businesses and the companies that provide UC services.
The Need to Unify and Go Mobile
The demand for unified communications is rapidly increasing, with the market expected to grow 17 percent annually. The UC market grew to $12.23 billion in 2011 alone, and more companies are realizing the financial benefits of a UC and collaboration system that is more sophisticated and efficient than standalone communications tools.
A unified communication system combines multiple communication technologies into one package. There is no standard set of communication tools that must be included in UC, and the list of common communication methods in UC packages will likely change as communication evolves. Currently, tools like video conferencing and online collaboration are considered necessities.
While the communication methods continue to evolve, so too do the devices that people use to communicate. While the PC once dominated the business market, other devices have now grown firm roots. With more mobile-friendly laptops (or ultrabooks), smartphones, and tablets quickly becoming ubiquitous, it is of paramount importance that businesses accommodate the mobile needs of their employees.
The idea of a business employee working from 9 am to 5 pm at a desk in a cubicle has gradually started to fade. Many workers now do their work on the go: on trains, on planes, at home, in hotels, at conferences, and anywhere else they happen to be. Smartphones and other mobile devices have made this much easier. By 2015, one report indicates thats 1.3 billion professionals will spend a greater amount of time working outside of the office. It will have risen from 1.0 billion in 2010.
All of these mobile professionals need the ability to effectively communicate and access the communication systems that their companies use. Therefore, unified communications must address mobile concerns and be accessible across a wide scope of mobile devices and platforms.
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
Like the company car, many employees had become accustomed to using company-issued desktops and laptops. Many even used company mobile phones. Over time, however, the trend has shifted, and employees are now bringing their own mobile devices and using them for work. Now, less than a third of mobile professionals use company-issued mobile phones and laptops. In many cases, this has actually become company policy.
Allowing employees to participate in a ?bring your own device? (BYOD) program saves companies the cost of having to supply and support mobile devices. The only notable disadvantage to BYOD is that it may present a security risk. Companies that want to allow employees to bring their own smartphones, tablets, and even laptops should have policies in place to keep their data secure. That may involve requiring every employee to install company security software on their devices.
Overall, the benefits of BYOD largely outweigh the risks, as it lowers the cost of mobility for businesses and also encourages creativity and innovation, as employees can use the devices they are comfortable with and have access to business communications at all times. According to a Trend Micro survey, only 12 percent of companies have ended BYOD programs due to security breaches, which suggests that security may be a concern but is not a serious issue when dealt with preemptively.
Mobilizing Unified Communications
The evidence has established that unified communications is a necessity for business and that many employees need to access work communication tools and applications using mobile devices. The challenge then is to provide professionals with mobile access to UC.
In order to effectively deliver UC systems to all employees, businesses need solutions that work across a wide spectrum of devices and platforms. It is no longer enough for a company to purchase collaboration software that only works on Windows PCs and company-owned Blackberrys. Its UC technology must now perform equally well on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, iOS, Android, and any other platform that happens to emerge and gain a user base.
UC providers like Cisco believe the way to tackle this issue is to migrate companies to cloud-based UC applications, while also maintaining some hybrid (cloud+on-premises) technology until the migration is complete. Cisco currently offers its Hosted Collaboration Solution (HCS) via the cloud. Others like Polycom and T-Systems also offer technology that is designed to work across multiple platforms and using a variety of communication methods.
One method of actual deployment involves creating mobile apps for each platform. This may provide the most ideal functionality, but it requires dependence on the UC vendor to keep the software updated and secure. An alternative is to deploy a web application that makes use of modern web technology (HTML5) to provide native app-like functionality.
Truly Unified Communications
Unified communications can only work if they are available and usable to everyone who needs them. That means cross-platform support and Internet-based (possibly cloud) access are critical. Furthermore, for unified communications to be effective, companies must look for solutions that truly address all of their communication needs, without sacrificing mission-critical components for the sake of attractive, yet superfluous features. As BYOD continues to gain momentum, mobility in unified communications will be more than just a bonus feature. It will become a necessity.
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মঙ্গলবার, ২৩ অক্টোবর, ২০১২
GOP's big majorities in Ariz. Legislature at risk
Arizona Republicans hold two-thirds of the seats in both chambers of the Legislature after padding their majorities in 2010 as the party's wave swept across the nation. But those "supermajorities" that allowed them to vigorously pursue conservative courses on gun rights and other social issues appear to be on the line Nov. 6.
Republicans outnumber Democrats statewide and hold leads in most legislative districts, but this is the first general election using the map of new districts drawn after the 2010 census.
Redistricting left many Republicans unhappy, complaining that the state redistricting commission favored Democrats and stressed creation of competitive districts ? ones winnable by either major party ? at the expense of other redistricting goals.
The redistricting changes, the growing percentage of registered independents and the higher turnout in a presidential election are creating expectations that more districts are in play and that the Republicans' 2010 gains were a high tide that will recede in November.
"We're going to see a shift. They will no longer have a supermajority," said Mike Gardner, a Republican lobbyist and former legislator. "It will have a major impact on the types of policies that this Legislature will pass."
In Arizona, a party must hold two-thirds of the seats in a chamber to have a supermajority. That's the threshold required for veto overrides, but more routinely it enables a chamber's majority to take an aggressive policy course even if a few of its own members balk.
In recent years, Republicans in the state Legislature used that power to pursue conservative legislation on social issues ranging from gun rights to school choice while championing a small-government philosophy on regulatory matters and social services and pushing for tax cuts for business.
Except when Democrat Janet Napolitano was governor, Democratic lawmakers have had little say on contentious issues? usually finding themselves on the winning side only when their positions lined up with those of moderate Republicans.
Governors from both parties have used their veto stamps and other powers to sometimes hold lawmakers in check, particularly during the six years before Napolitano departed in 2009 to become U.S. Homeland Security secretary. However, current Gov. Jan Brewer more often than not finds herself in ideological sync with her fellow Republicans.
While the GOP's 40-seat majority in the 60-member House is expected to shrink a bit, most attention is focused on the 30-member Senate. Republicans picked up four additional Senate seats in 2010 and now hold 21 seats, a record high.
But even if Republicans retain control of the Senate, the loss of four or five seats would give disproportionate clout to GOP moderates, said Sen. Steve Gallardo, a Phoenix Democrat.
"They definitely have to stick together to get anything out of the state Senate. If one or two decides to flee from the bloc on critical bills, that changes the whole ballgame," Gallardo said. "The day of this tea party agenda is over."
Republicans' talking points in this year's legislative races include boasting of the state's return to fiscal stability and efforts to stimulate the economy.
Meanwhile, Democrats point to budget cuts in education funding and accuse Republicans of waging "extremist" policies against women on contraception and abortion.
"The Democrats' goal in this election is to make the Republican Party look as extreme as possible because that tends to turn off registered independents," said Chris Herstam, a political analyst and former Republican legislator.
Republicans have controlled both chambers of the Legislature since the early 1990s, except for a 15-15 split in the Senate in the 2001-2002 session.
To produce another Senate split like that, Democrats would have to overcome sizable GOP registration margins in several districts and sweep virtually all the races considered up for grabs.
"That's what is going to tilt the Legislature ? those competitive seats," Gallardo said.
As in 2010, national politics could again have an impact on legislative races, said Kristin Borns, a former Arizona State University policy analyst and registered independent who worked in Napolitano's administration.
Some candidates "are hooking onto the presidential election and some of our congressional races," while the higher voter turnout for a presidential election also is a factor, Borns said. "It's a national election year."
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49511293/ns/local_news-phoenix_az/
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Tamera Mowry-Housley?s Blog: The Waiting Game
"I am down to the wire. I seriously feel like I have been pregnant forever. Almost 10 months to be exact! Thirty-nine weeks in and no baby yet," the actress writes.
Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/rKouf8E8dX0/
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Shoot Out Boulder: 24 Hours Of Frenetic Filmmaking
They were hard to miss as they hurried around Boulder on Friday evening and Saturday, sporting various costumes, carrying props and camera equipment.
The 19 film crews seemingly popped up out of nowhere Friday, then disappeared just as quickly a day later. The frenetic filmmakers were this year's entrants in the Shoot Out 24-Hour Filmmaking Festival, an event in its ninth year in Boulder.
The challenge is cinematic creativity, on deadline. Participants are challenged to create a seven-minute film using only linear editing and incorporating at least five elements from a list of 11 distributed to teams at the beginning of the event -- all in the time it takes the Earth to rotate once.
Judges on Saturday night selected the top 10 films, which will be screened at noon Sunday at a public event at eTown Hall.
"As a filmmaker, I thought it was something that would be fun to do, and it just took off," said Shoot Out Executive Director Michael Conti, who founded the event in 2004. "I'm always excited to see what's going to be on the screen."
Conti said Boulder is perfect for the event because of its size and creative culture. The competition is sponsored in part by the Boulder International Film Festival and the Peppercorn, a Pearl Street Mall retailer.
This year, Boulder's Danny Ferry participated in his fourth Shoot Out, and it was his second with a core group of friends he has known since his days as a Boulder High School student. The cast and crew included Joshua Marable, Tim Brazzell, Ryan Curtin, Katrina Miller, Laura Baukol and Katie French.
Ferry and fellow schoolteacher/filmmaker Sia Urroz co-produced the team's entry this year, titled "The Color Kite Fantastic." The film is a story about a rock star coming to grips with his own recent death, according to the filmmakers.
Urroz said they left their pre-written script fairly loose so that items from the official competition document, "the brief," could be included.
The brief lists specifics -- such as a pair of men's briefs, a briefcase, a vinyl record, the Tom's Tavern sign and a mandatory phrase, "We are here to help each other through this thing, whatever it is" -- some of which must appear in every film entry, according to competition rules. At least one element must pop up in the first 30 seconds of any entry.
The brief is only handed out to teams when the 24-hour clock starts, preventing pre-shooting, organizers say.
Ferry admitted his team had extra motivation after being disqualified last year for a film that came in at eight minutes long, violating the competition rules.
"We were embittered last year, but we broke the rules," Ferry said. "This is kind of a redemption piece."
"The Color Kite Fantastic" features some psychedelic '60s-era costumes and many sets, which required the team to start at 7 a.m. Saturday, after staying up until 1 a.m. working on ideas the night before. The team members started their second day of filming by taking in the sunrise from atop the parking garage at 1500 Pearl St. A shot of the Flatirons from that location was one of the sets listed in the brief.
Because the films must be shown as they are shot and cannot be digitally edited, the team members painstakingly went through each scene over the 24-hour filmmaking process, making sure they had the perfect take before moving to the next shot. Between 7 a.m. and noon Saturday, the team shot at four different locations, twice stopping at Eben G. Fine Park for separate scenes.
AshleyClaire Albiniak-Masters is producing this year's Shoot Out after four years of participating as a filmmaker and doing some preliminary judging. She said her new job has been just as sleepless as making a movie.
She lauded the efforts of the many volunteers organizing and judging this year's event, and she is hoping for a packed house for Sunday's screening.
"There is very much a level of excitement and adrenaline that is happening (at the screening)," she said. "It generates a big energy in the space."
Shoot Out filmmaker Anton Pinkerton, 14, said he is happy to be competing against adult filmmakers because it gives him a better idea of where his skill level is by comparison. The Superior resident and Denver School of the Arts student partnered with his friend Sam Schrag, 14, of Louisville, on their second Shoot Out film, titled "Pizza."
Shot almost entirely on the Pearl Street Mall, "Pizza" chronicles the theft of a slice of pizza and the quest to get it back, Anton said.
He said he enjoys the community atmosphere of the Shoot Out, with the filmmakers coming together to share their passion.
"It's just the experience of making movies and being surrounded by people that make movies," he said.
If you go
What: The Shoot Out 24 Hour Filmmaking Festival Top 10 screening
When: Noon Sunday
Where: eTown Hall, 1535 Spruce St.
Tickets: $15, subject to availability
More info: theshootoutboulder.com ___
(c)2012 the Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.)
Visit the Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.) at www.dailycamera.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Earlier on HuffPost:
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/21/shoot-out-boulder-24-hou_n_1996456.html
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সোমবার, ২২ অক্টোবর, ২০১২
Rixty, The Cash-Based Payment Platform For Games, Takes Majority Investment From Friendster Owner MOL
Some consolidation afoot in the world on online payments coming at you, with a little blast from our social networking past. Rixty, a cash-based payment platform for games, virtual goods and other digital content, today received a majority-stake investment from MOL AccessPortal, the e-payment subsidiary of MOL Global, the company that bought social network Friendster in 2009 and then converted it into an online gaming site, selling Friendster's social media patents to Facebook in the process.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/mn7COhKYCWw/
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Probiotics are secret weapon for fighting symptoms of the common cold in college students, study suggests
ScienceDaily (Oct. 22, 2012) ? College students are notoriously sleep-deprived, live in close quarters and lead stress-filled lives, making them especially susceptible for contracting colds and upper-respiratory infections. For these reasons, a team lead by researchers at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Health Related Professions (UMDNJ-SHRP) selected this population to study the effects of probiotic supplementation on health-related quality of life (HRQL) during the common cold.
The study, led by Registered Dietitian Tracey J. Smith, an adjunct professor at UMDNJ-SHRP, randomized 198 college students aged 18 to 25 and living on-campus in residence halls at Framingham State University in Massachusetts. Groups received either a placebo (97 students) or a powder blend containing Chr. Hansen's probiotic strains BB-12? and LGG? (101 students) for 12 weeks. Each day, students completed a survey to assess the effect of the probiotic supplementation.
Although there have been previous studies on the effect of probiotics on the duration of colds and severity of symptoms, this is the first study to investigate the effect of probiotic strains on HRQL during upper-respiratory infections, taking into account duration, symptom severity and functional impairment -- all important factors of HRQL. "HRQL is subjectively assessed by the patient and most simply defined as 'the component of overall quality of life that is determined primarily by the person's health and that can be influenced by clinical interventions,'" Smith says.
An article detailing the results of the study was published in the October 2012 issue of the British Journal of Nutrition. "We know that certain probiotic strains support immune health and may improve health-related quality of life during upper-respiratory infections," says Smith. "This double-blind study assessed how probiotic supplementation affects the duration and severity of symptoms, and the impact of symptoms on the daily life of infected students."
The study found that while all students caught colds at roughly the same rate, the students who took the probiotic supplementation experienced: ? A duration of colds that was two days shorter (four days vs. six days) ? Symptoms that were 34% less severe and ? A higher quality of life that resulted in fewer missed school days (15 vs. 34 missed by students taking the placebo).
What makes probiotics so effective in treating symptoms of upper-respiratory infections? "Cold symptoms like a stuffy nose and sore throat are the body's inflammatory response toward a virus, not a direct action of the virus itself," explains Smith. "Probiotic microorganisms may soften your immune system's reaction by reducing your body's inflammatory response."
The Take-Away for the Public: "If cost is not an issue, then otherwise healthy persons who are especially stressed, sleep-deprived or living in close quarters [such as a college dormitory] could supplement daily during cold season with both LGG and BB12 to improve their quality of life if/when they do get a cold," says Smith. However she cautions that not all probiotics are created equal. "The study supports the combination of LGG and BB12 -- two very specific strains of probiotics. These two strains also are in a number of supplement-type products that are available over the counter," she says, "but consumers need to read the label to be sure that the product contains Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG [LGG] and Bifidobacterium animalis lactis BB12 [BB12]. There also are some yogurts that contain LGG and/or BB12 but check the labels, since companies change the probiotics strains often."
"People should also recognize that probiotics are not for everyone," Smith continues. "Those considering probiotic supplementation should consult with their physician first."
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Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), via Newswise.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Tracey J. Smith, Diane Rigassio-Radler, Robert Denmark, Timothy Haley, Riva Touger-Decker. Effect of Lactobacillus rhamnosus LGG? and Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis BB-12? on health-related quality of life in college students affected by upper respiratory infections. British Journal of Nutrition, 2012; : 1 DOI: 10.1017/S0007114512004138
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://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/fdSIcn5vQGc/121022162335.htm
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Sports Stars And Endorsements | nike kobe shoes - avpeced's ...
Sports Stars And Endorsements
There are many different types of sport out there. Some activities that are classified as sports, would best be described as recreation, such as billiards, skateboarding, surfing and playing broomball. Yup, you read right, broomball. Grownups on an ice rink, playing hockey with brooms and a ball. All in the name of sports. Some do it for recreational purposes,Nike Dunk Mid, others compete in it and that is where you get the professionals.
The sports stars generate an income out of their endorsement deals, and they endorse a while variety of products, not just sports equipment. Some sports stars actually get paid more for their endorsements than they earn from their sport.
Tony Hawk is a famous skate boarder. He invented more than eighty skate board tricks and competed in 103 contests, more or less, winning seventy-three and placing second in nineteen. He quit competing in 1999 after landing the first-ever ?900?hich is two-and-a-half mid-air spins on the board. He endorsed quite a few skateboarding products, including: Activision, Quiksilver, Birdhouse, Hawk Clothing Co., Swatch, Adio Shoes, Fury Skateboard Trucks, Arnette Sunglasses, Jones Soda, TechDeck miniature skateboard toys, Club Med, Bagel Bites, TSG Helmets, Hot Wheels miniature cars, and EXPN.
The famous Williams sisters,Air Jordan Comfort Max 11, Venus and Serena, both signed endorsement contracts with sports shoe companies. Venus with Reebok and Serena with Nike.
David Beckham is famous as a soccer player, and he not only has endorsement deals with sports clothing companies, but also with Gillette, Adidas, Vodafone and Pepsi. That however wasn enough for our Mr. Beckham, he had to go and develop his own fragrances brand.
Who doesn know who Michael Jordan is? For those who are really ignorant or have had their heads in the sand like an ostrich the last couple of decades, Michael Jordan is a well known professional basketball player from the USA. One of his well known endorsements, is for Nike Air sports shoes. His other endorsements include: Wheaties cereal, Ballpark Franks,Gatorade,Hanes underwear, Rayovac batteries and Bijan fragrances.
Why do sports stars endorse certain products? Accepted insight affirms that getting a celebrity endorsement is a tried-and-tested way to maximize advertising success. A sports star should really show their confidence in a product which they endorse. Is that what is happening? Or sometimes it is the other way around.
After Tiger Wood sex scandal, several of his endorsing companies cancelled on him. Before that, he endorsed huge names like Tag Heyer, AT&T, Gillette, Accenture, Nike and others. It was a tough time for Woods, and the income he lost from the cancellation of some these companies hit him bad. If you live in the public eye, you should be prepared to be under constant scrutiny by fans and enemies alike. Some would say that he was a fool to have been found out, but fact of the matter is, the damage is done.
Whatever product a sports star endorses, they should have total confidence in it and keep on advertising it for as long as their contract is binding.
Source: http://tribphaconspalb.railblogs.com/2012/10/19/sports-stars-and-endorsements-2/
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Source: http://avpeced.posterous.com/sports-stars-and-endorsements-nike-kobe-shoes
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সোমবার, ১৫ অক্টোবর, ২০১২
Some States Not Sending Absentee Ballots to Military
This is just wrong. The crappy thing about it is these military personnel will be denied their right to vote, and something could have been done about it. Officials in these states willfully ignored the law, and should be prosecuted.
Jurisdictions in Vermont, Michigan, Mississippi and Wisconsin have failed to mail absentee ballots to military members by the Sept. 22, 2012, deadline established by the MOVE Act. That was 45 days before the November 6 elections, which was what was required.?Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee; Rep. Daniel E. Lungren, R-Calif., chairman of the House Administration Committee; and Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to the Defense and Justice departments reading:
?We are concerned that, absent prompt and effective remedial action, some men and women in uniform will be deprived of the 45-day window to vote guaranteed by the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act. While implementation and enforcement of the MOVE Act appear on course as an improvement over the poor performance we saw in the 2010 elections, we are concerned about the currently reported shortcomings. If any element of local, state or federal government does not abide by the MOVE Act, the result should not ever be the disenfranchisement of any member of the armed services.?
The congressmen stated that the jurisdictions responsible should extend the deadline for accepting military and overseas ballots by the same number of days as the ballots were mailed late. The congressmen also asked Defense Department officials whether they have established installation voting assistance offices where they are required. It is the service branches? responsibility to establish these offices.It is unconscionable for these states to fail to give military members their due. Is it any coincidence that it is only Republicans who seek to rectify the situation?
via Some States Not Sending Absentee Ballots to Military.
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