Apple has posted iBooks Update 1.0.1 for Mac users who are using OS X 10.9 Mavericks. The update is available through Software Update.
The update sports typically terse Apple release notes:
This version of iBooks includes bug fixes and improvements to performance and stability.
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Photo by Brian Snyder/Reuters
NFL players are different than the rest of us. They are bigger, faster, and stronger. They get paid to damage each other, damage that gets inflicted in front of an audience of millions. They’re always at risk of losing their jobs—if it doesn’t happen on account of dropping a ball or missing a tackle, it will come when those hits take their inevitable toll. Those of us who work in an office, and who collaborate with people who aren’t trying to rupture other men’s spleens, don’t know what it’s like to inhabit a pro football locker room. According to several members of the Miami Dolphins, that means we’re in no position to judge what goes on inside of one.
Over the last few days, Dolphins players have fought back against the allegation that offensive lineman Jonathan Martin was bullied, and that his teammate Richie Incognito was the leader of the brawny cabal that drove Martin to leave the team. They’ve been making two different arguments. The first is that the NFL’s social code is the product of pro football’s unceasing intensity. “I don't want to call it hazing,” said defensive end Cameron Wake. “I mean, that's—rite of passage—in this league. It's a group of elite men. It's a fraternity, it's a brotherhood. It's a lot of things. And there's a membership. You have to pay your dues to get certain privileges.” The second is that there’s a right way to deal with problems in that culture, and that Jonathan Martin’s preferred approach was very, very wrong. “I think if you have a problem with somebody—a legitimate problem with somebody—you should say, ‘I have a problem with this,’ and stand up and be a man,” said offensive lineman Tyson Clabo.
These Dolphins are half right. The life of a pro football player is almost unbearably stressful both on and off the field, and we shouldn’t expect the game that invented the horse-collar tackle to abide by white-collar norms. But what they don’t seem to understand is that today’s NFL culture is not some immutable law of the gridiron. The traditions and hierarchies that flourish in the Miami locker room, and no doubt across the league, haven’t been passed down from player to player because this is the way a football team has to operate. They’ve been passed down because players and coaches have long believed it’s the way teams should operate. And that can change, if only those players and coaches wanted it to.
Instead of thinking through the rules and rituals by which football teams operate, Martin and Incognito’s current and former teammates have been trying to justify them. In an essay for the MMQB, ex-Miami lineman Lydon Murtha wrote that Martin “came off as standoffish and shy to the rest of the offensive linemen” and “did something I’d never seen before by balking at the idea of paying for a rookie dinner.” Murtha, who says he paid $9,600 for a dinner his rookie season, can’t understand why Martin didn’t fall in line. His argument here—everyone else was doing it, so he should have too—is a remarkably blinkered one. Martin, by contrast, seems to have been an independent enough thinker to raise the more pertinent question: In what universe do “grown-ass men,” in Murtha’s parlance, convince themselves that it’s totally rational for rookies to drop $10,000 to fill veteran players’ bellies with booze and steak?
Murtha went on to say that “Incognito took [Martin] under his wing,” and that part of that mentorship included “giv[ing] him a lot of crap” if the young lineman wasn’t playing well in practice. Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill said that Incognito gave Martin “a hard time. He messed with him. But he was the first one there to have his back in any situation." Murtha noted that the “crap he would give Martin was no more than he gave anyone else, including me. Other players said the same things Incognito said to Martin, so you’d need to suspend the whole team if you suspend Incognito.”
This is the definition of narrow-mindedness: When their team fractured, the Dolphins sided with the mold rather than the player who broke it. It’s this kind of thinking that breeds athletes who mistake machismo for toughness and hectoring for leadership. By the logic of the NFL, if someone has a problem with the way players talk to and treat each other, then they’re the ones with the problem.
What recourse did Jonathan Martin have? According to Pro Football Talk, Miami general manager Jeff Ireland allegedly told the lineman’s agent that he should resolve his issues by punching Incognito. If Ireland indeed suggested fisticuffs as the best possible remedy, you can understand why Martin felt his only choice was to walk away. By questioning the logic by which football teams work, and by leaving the team when it didn’t work for him, Martin was a leader. The Dolphins, though, are outraged that he wasn’t a follower—they want him to be just like them. Incognito, a member of Miami’s so-called “leadership council,” guided his teammate by sending him voice mails and texts full of threats and racial slurs. Dolphins receiver Brian Hartline said on Wednesday that Martin was “laughing about this voice mail at one point and time.”
For Hartline, Martin’s laughter makes a louder noise than a player calling a teammate a “half n----- piece of s---” and saying, “F--- you, you're still a rookie. I'll kill you.” When you play for the Dolphins, I guess, this is the kind of language that’s expected to draw chuckles. And if you stop laughing, then you’re just not man enough to play a game for a living.
Hartline explained his thinking on Martin and Incognito this way: “The people who can hurt you the most in this world are the people closest to you. When you mistake one for the other, that's when you find problems.” What’s terrifying is that Hartline was referring to Martin as the one who caused the hurt here.
At this point, we haven’t heard from nearly every member of the Dolphins team. It’s possible that there’s a silent majority—or at least a silent handful—who don’t see Martin as a betrayer, and are willing to think about what his departure means about what’s right and what’s wrong in an NFL locker room. I’ve never played in a pro football game. But I feel very comfortable saying that no amount of stress, and no amount of testosterone, can justify a system in which colleagues belittle each other in the crudest possible terms and are expected to work things out with a punch to the face. Rather than face up to a culture that breeds this kind of inhumanity, too many of the Miami Dolphins are blaming the victim. They should be blaming themselves.
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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 7-Nov-2013
ShareContact: Kevin Punsky
punsky.kevin@mayo.edu
904-953-2299
Mayo Clinic
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Use of a minimally invasive endoscopic procedure to remove superficial, early stage esophageal cancer is as effective as surgery that takes out and rebuilds the esophagus, according to a study by researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida. The research, published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, examined national outcomes from endoscopic treatment compared to esophagectomy, surgical removal of the esophagus.
It found that endoscopic therapy offered long-term survival rates similar to those for esophagectomy, says lead author, Michael B. Wallace, M.D., a gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic in Florida.
"Endoscopic resection in the esophagus is similar to how we remove polyps in the colon, although it is much more technically complex. Esophagectomy is a major surgical procedure that cuts out the entire esophagus, and pulls the stomach into the neck to create a new food tube," Dr. Wallace says.
"Our study on national outcomes, as well as our own experience with the procedure at Mayo Clinic in Florida, suggests that both offer the similar changes for cure and long-term survival," he says. "Patients now have the option to preserve their esophagus when only early stage cancer is present."
The research looked at national outcomes from the two procedures in patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma, the most common type of esophageal cancer in the United States. The research team examined data from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database.
They identified 1,619 patients with superficial, early stage esophageal adenocarcinoma who had endoscopic therapy (19 percent) or surgery (81 percent) from 1998 through 2009. Many of these patients were treated for cancers that arose from Barrett's esophagus, a condition in which the cells in the lower part of the esophagus morph into a precancerous state.
The researchers collected survival data through the end of 2009, and found that endoscopy therapy increased progressively from 3 percent in 1998 to 29 percent in 2009 and was more often used in older patients. After adjusting for patient and tumor factors, the researchers concluded that patients treated by endoscopy had similar overall survival times compared to surgery.
"Endoscopy therapy for early stage esophageal cancer is becoming an acceptable method for all patients with very early esophageal cancer," Dr. Wallace says. He adds that because of its complexity the procedure is generally offered at centers of endoscopic excellence, such as Mayo Clinic in Florida, that have extensive experience in a multidisciplinary approach to endoscopic therapy.
###
Co-authors included Mayo Clinic gastroenterologists Saowanee Ngamruengphong, M.D., and Herbert Wolfsen, M.D.
The study was funded by the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.
About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit http://www.mayoclinic.com and http://www.mayoclinic.org/news.
Journalists can become a member of the Mayo Clinic News Network for the latest health, science and research news and access to video, audio, text and graphic elements that can be downloaded or embedded.
VIDEO ALERT: Video resources including an interview
with Dr. Wallace describing the study can be found on the Mayo Clinic News Network.
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 7-Nov-2013
ShareContact: Kevin Punsky
punsky.kevin@mayo.edu
904-953-2299
Mayo Clinic
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Use of a minimally invasive endoscopic procedure to remove superficial, early stage esophageal cancer is as effective as surgery that takes out and rebuilds the esophagus, according to a study by researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida. The research, published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, examined national outcomes from endoscopic treatment compared to esophagectomy, surgical removal of the esophagus.
It found that endoscopic therapy offered long-term survival rates similar to those for esophagectomy, says lead author, Michael B. Wallace, M.D., a gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic in Florida.
"Endoscopic resection in the esophagus is similar to how we remove polyps in the colon, although it is much more technically complex. Esophagectomy is a major surgical procedure that cuts out the entire esophagus, and pulls the stomach into the neck to create a new food tube," Dr. Wallace says.
"Our study on national outcomes, as well as our own experience with the procedure at Mayo Clinic in Florida, suggests that both offer the similar changes for cure and long-term survival," he says. "Patients now have the option to preserve their esophagus when only early stage cancer is present."
The research looked at national outcomes from the two procedures in patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma, the most common type of esophageal cancer in the United States. The research team examined data from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database.
They identified 1,619 patients with superficial, early stage esophageal adenocarcinoma who had endoscopic therapy (19 percent) or surgery (81 percent) from 1998 through 2009. Many of these patients were treated for cancers that arose from Barrett's esophagus, a condition in which the cells in the lower part of the esophagus morph into a precancerous state.
The researchers collected survival data through the end of 2009, and found that endoscopy therapy increased progressively from 3 percent in 1998 to 29 percent in 2009 and was more often used in older patients. After adjusting for patient and tumor factors, the researchers concluded that patients treated by endoscopy had similar overall survival times compared to surgery.
"Endoscopy therapy for early stage esophageal cancer is becoming an acceptable method for all patients with very early esophageal cancer," Dr. Wallace says. He adds that because of its complexity the procedure is generally offered at centers of endoscopic excellence, such as Mayo Clinic in Florida, that have extensive experience in a multidisciplinary approach to endoscopic therapy.
###
Co-authors included Mayo Clinic gastroenterologists Saowanee Ngamruengphong, M.D., and Herbert Wolfsen, M.D.
The study was funded by the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.
About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit http://www.mayoclinic.com and http://www.mayoclinic.org/news.
Journalists can become a member of the Mayo Clinic News Network for the latest health, science and research news and access to video, audio, text and graphic elements that can be downloaded or embedded.
VIDEO ALERT: Video resources including an interview
with Dr. Wallace describing the study can be found on the Mayo Clinic News Network.
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Sharon Osbourne has no desire to take a moment and enjoy The View. In fact, she has some pretty harsh words for her ABC chat-show rivals.
Source: http://www.ivillage.com/sharon-osbourne-curses-out-ladies-view/1-a-552461?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Asharon-osbourne-curses-out-ladies-view-552461GIFs are the twitchy, loopy language of the modern memorific web. Once you’ve come upon a GIF that expresses the real deep-down you—be it via a Michael Scott moment, a clip from Step Brothers, or a totes adorbes kitteh—you’ll want to share it with others!
But sometimes those little pieces of bitmapped magic need just a wee tweaking before they’re ready for primetime in an email or on Tumblr.
There are a number of programs and apps that will allow you to create your own giffy goodness, but if you just need a quick easy fix for a pre-existing gif, EZgif.com is a free one-stop shop.
EZgif’s easy web suite of editing tools.The site offers a straightforward GIF tool belt, which allows you to crop, resize, optimize, and otherwise “fix” a GIF—all without the need to purchase any software or have any graphics training.
You can choose which tool you want to use by clicking on any of the tabs at the top of the site’s page. You can then upload the file from your computer or directly from an existing URL.
For example, here’s a familiar friend captured in looping animated form, which I found on one of the many online repositories.
One caveat: When using the cropping function, it’s annoyingly unclear how to proceed once you’ve uploaded a file, but trust us, it gets more intuitive from there.
First, you hit the “set” button. You’ll then be presented with a small box in the corner of the image. Click and drag that to reveal a scalable, moveable box that you will use to mark your crop’s perimeter.
Once you find the perfect crop, hit the “Crop it!” button. EZgif will process it and you’ll be good to go. This process can take a few minutes—it depends on the size of your GIF. You will then have the option to manipulate the image further by clicking any of the options at the bottom of the screen, or downloading it by hitting the green “save” button.
The new, improved (or, at least, cropped) gif.Below your scaling window, you’ll notice the pull-down menu with two options: Gifsicle and ImageMagick. Every EZgif function has various “engines” it utilizes as it processes the GIF. Due to the vagaries of gifdom, one engine will—on occasion—mangle your GIF. If that happens, simply begin again and try another option in the pull-down menu.
The “GIF Resize” option allows you to—wait for it—resize your GIF. Simply hit your new size based on number of pixels. If you leave either the width or height blank, the GIF will be scaled. Hit “Resize it!” and it will process the new gif below.
You get the point of how it works.
The “GIF Optimizer” option will allow you to shave down some of the data size of your gif by utilizing pre-calibrated optimization methods. The “GIF Effects” option gives you access to a few pre-selected effects like a sepia tone, black and white, or making the gif run in reverse.
Or you can create types of wholly unnecessary combination of filters as shown below:
Probably too many.Finally, the “GIF Split” option will separate the gif into all its component slides and allow you to re-order them as you see fit. But that’s probably a more-advanced option than you want to take on if your only goal is a small change.
Now go out there and make the web a more seizure-inducing place.
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 7-Nov-2013
ShareContact: Eileen Leahy
jdsmedia@elsevier.com
732-238-3628
Elsevier Health Sciences
Philadelphia, PA, November 7, 2013 New research from a team of researchers in Taiwan indicates that a peptide fragment derived from cow's milk, known as lactoferricin B25 (LFcinB25), exhibited potent anticancer capability against human stomach cancer cell cultures. The findings, published in the Journal of Dairy Science, provide support for future use of LFcinB25 as a potential therapeutic agent for gastric cancer.
"Gastric cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide, especially in Asian countries," says Wei-Jung Chen, PhD, of the Department of Biotechnology and Animal Science of National Ilan University, Taiwan Republic of China. "In general, the main curative therapies for gastric cancer are surgery and chemotherapy, which are generally only successful if the cancer is diagnosed at an early stage. Novel treatment strategies to improve prognosis are urgently needed."
Investigators evaluated the effects of three peptide fragments derived from lactoferricin B, a peptide in milk that has antimicrobial properties. Only one of the fragments, LFcinB25 reduced the survival of human AGS (Gastric Adenocarcinoma) cells in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner.
Under a microscope the investigators could see that after an hour of exposure to the gastric cancer cells, LFcinB25 migrated to the cell membrane of the AGS cells, and within 24 hours the cancer cells had shrunken in size and lost their ability to adhere to surfaces. In the early stages of exposure, LFcinB25 reduced cell viability through both apoptosis (programmed cell death) and autophagy (degradation and recycling of obsolete or damaged cell parts). At later stages, apoptosis appeared to dominate, possibly through caspase-dependent mechanisms, and autophagy waned.
"This is the first report describing interplay between apoptosis and autophagy in LFcinB-induced cell death of cancer cells," says Dr. Chen.
The research also suggested a target, Beclin-1, which may enhance LFcinB25's cytotoxic action. Beclin-1 is a protein in humans that plays a central role in autophagy, tumor growth, and degeneration of neurons. In this study, the investigators found that cleaved beclin-1 increased in a time-dependent manner after LFcinB25-exposure, suggesting to the authors a new approach in drug development that may boost the anticancer effects of LFcinB25.
"Optimization of LFcinB using various strategies to enhance further selectivity is expected to yield novel anticancer drugs with chemotherapeutic potential for the treatment of gastric cancer," concludes Dr. Chen.
###
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 7-Nov-2013
ShareContact: Eileen Leahy
jdsmedia@elsevier.com
732-238-3628
Elsevier Health Sciences
Philadelphia, PA, November 7, 2013 New research from a team of researchers in Taiwan indicates that a peptide fragment derived from cow's milk, known as lactoferricin B25 (LFcinB25), exhibited potent anticancer capability against human stomach cancer cell cultures. The findings, published in the Journal of Dairy Science, provide support for future use of LFcinB25 as a potential therapeutic agent for gastric cancer.
"Gastric cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide, especially in Asian countries," says Wei-Jung Chen, PhD, of the Department of Biotechnology and Animal Science of National Ilan University, Taiwan Republic of China. "In general, the main curative therapies for gastric cancer are surgery and chemotherapy, which are generally only successful if the cancer is diagnosed at an early stage. Novel treatment strategies to improve prognosis are urgently needed."
Investigators evaluated the effects of three peptide fragments derived from lactoferricin B, a peptide in milk that has antimicrobial properties. Only one of the fragments, LFcinB25 reduced the survival of human AGS (Gastric Adenocarcinoma) cells in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner.
Under a microscope the investigators could see that after an hour of exposure to the gastric cancer cells, LFcinB25 migrated to the cell membrane of the AGS cells, and within 24 hours the cancer cells had shrunken in size and lost their ability to adhere to surfaces. In the early stages of exposure, LFcinB25 reduced cell viability through both apoptosis (programmed cell death) and autophagy (degradation and recycling of obsolete or damaged cell parts). At later stages, apoptosis appeared to dominate, possibly through caspase-dependent mechanisms, and autophagy waned.
"This is the first report describing interplay between apoptosis and autophagy in LFcinB-induced cell death of cancer cells," says Dr. Chen.
The research also suggested a target, Beclin-1, which may enhance LFcinB25's cytotoxic action. Beclin-1 is a protein in humans that plays a central role in autophagy, tumor growth, and degeneration of neurons. In this study, the investigators found that cleaved beclin-1 increased in a time-dependent manner after LFcinB25-exposure, suggesting to the authors a new approach in drug development that may boost the anticancer effects of LFcinB25.
"Optimization of LFcinB using various strategies to enhance further selectivity is expected to yield novel anticancer drugs with chemotherapeutic potential for the treatment of gastric cancer," concludes Dr. Chen.
###
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
We cast Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, and even Ghost Rider and Punisher.
By Alex Zalben
Ben Affleck as "Daredevil"
Photo: 20th Century Fox
