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Sunday, 6 January 2013

BodyMedia's CORE 2 armband tracks your health, or lack thereof

BodyMedia's line of armbands has been helping folks monitor their health for years, and today the company has announced a new, smaller and more fashionable member of the family. Called the CORE 2, it packs a three-axis accelerometer, plus temperature, heat flux and galvanic skin response sensors to measure all kinds of biometric data. Those internals gather over 5,000 bits of data every minute to track how hard you exercise and how many calories you burn when doing so. It doesn't take nights off either, as the band also tracks sleeping patterns to give wearers a full 24/7/365 picture of their health.

Using Bluetooth 4.0, those biometrics get passed on to BodyMedia's existing mobile apps and web portal to track your fitness over time, create custom workouts and recommend dietary adjustments to help your body be the best it can be. What really sets the CORE 2 apart from other fitness bands is that it has interchangeable faceplates, straps and cuffs, so folks can tailor the bracelet's appearance to match their outfit. Unfortunately, the CORE 2 isn't yet ready for sale just yet, so we don't know when it'll be available or how much it'll cost. However, fitness fashionistas stay tuned -- we'll be seeing it in person here at CES, so there'll be more pictures coming your way this week.

Continue reading BodyMedia's CORE 2 armband tracks your health, or lack thereof

Filed under: Wearables

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/06/bodymedia-core-2-fitness-armband/

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Saturday, 5 January 2013

George Lucas engaged to longtime girlfriend

Danny Moloshok / REUTERS

Mellody Hobson and George Lucas.

By Eric Kelsey, Reuters

"Star Wars" creator George Lucas will marry his longtime girlfriend Mellody Hobson, the director's production company Lucasfilm Ltd said on Thursday.

Lucas, 68, and Hobson, the president of Chicago investment firm Ariel Investments LLC, have been together for the past six years. It will be Lucas' second marriage. He was married to Oscar-winning film editor Marcia Lucas from 1969 to 1983.

No date or location for the wedding has been made public.

Hobson, 43, serves on the board of directors for Hollywood studio Dreamworks Animation SKG Inc, cosmetics company Estee Lauder Companies Inc, coffeehouse chain Starbucks Corp and Internet coupon company Groupon Inc.

Lucas, who rose to fame directing the 1971 science-fiction film "THX 1138," launched "Star Wars" in 1977 developed it into one of the highest-grossing film franchises of all time.

Lucas sold Lucasfilm and the "Star Wars" franchise to the Walt Disney Co in November for $4.05 billion.?

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Utah school recasts musical with sexy Elvis songs

FILE - Elvis Presley, left, appears in a scene from the movie, "Kid Galahad," in this undated file photo. A parent in a Salt Lake City suburb, who was upset about Elvis Presley songs in a high-school drama, prompted educators to cancel the production, deeming it too sexually suggestive. Presley's song lyrics and a scene suggesting cross-dressing were deemed offensive by West Jordan, Utah, school administrators. (AP Photo, file)

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ? A parent who was "All Shook Up" about Elvis Presley songs in a high-school drama prompted educators to cancel the musical, deeming it too sexual. But the decision was reversed Thursday by administrators at the high school south of Salt Lake City.

The administrators at Herriman High School received permission from the copyright owners of "All Shook Up" to edit some of Presley's songs and make scene changes in the American jukebox musical that borrows from William Shakespeare.

"The show will go on," said Sandy Riesgraf, a spokeswoman for the Jordan School District. "Our biggest concern early on, we wanted to make some changes to keep the play within community values. It's a win-win for all of us."

Presley warbles about a sweetheart whose "lips are like a volcano that's hot" in his song from 1957. "I'm proud to say she's my buttercup. I'm in love. I'm all shook up."

His song lyrics together with a scene suggesting cross-dressing were deemed offensive by a person the school is refusing to identify.

Some think school administrators folded too easily at the start.

"I'm at a loss," Jill Fishback, whose daughter worked on the production, told The Salt Lake Tribune. "They're singing Elvis songs. A girl dresses up as a boy and kisses a boy. ... It's not promoting homosexuality. It was supposed to be a farce."

"All Shook Up" brings a modern twist to Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," which portrays a female castaway who dresses as a boy to evade detection in ancient southern Europe, said Martine Green-Rogers, a theater fellow at the University of Utah.

"There's a misunderstanding about the plot of the play," Green-Rogers said. "It happens a lot in theater. Artists push boundaries."

The female castaway dresses as a boy as cover to wander about, but reveals herself as she falls in love with a young man. "By that time, the genders have been righted," Green-Rogers said. "The audience knows it's not a homosexual relationship."

Nonetheless, Herriman High School, about 20 miles from Salt Lake City, will make some scene changes to the musical version of the Shakespeare play that Riesgraf couldn't immediately specify on Thursday.

"We weren't asking for a lot. It will not change the intent of the play. They gave us their blessing," she said of the musical's producers.

The reversal came a day after administrators said they were scrubbing "All Shook Up." The production is back on for a run in February and March.

It wasn't the first time some Utah parents balked at a school drama. In August, the family values group Eagle Forum got Jordan School District administrators to cancel "Dead Man Walking," a play about a Catholic nun who counsels a death-row inmate in Louisiana.

"Dead Man Walking" was scratched even though much of its profanity had been removed from the script. The backlash prompted policy changes that allowed administrators to swiftly suspend "All Shook Up" before the reversal.

Jordan officials gave parents a greater role over student plays. They required actors to secure a parent's permission and drama teachers to seek clearance for plays not on an approved list. But district officials said they failed to give "All Shook Up" careful scrutiny.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-01-03-Elvis%20Musical-Sexual%20Content/id-d30da8c0efb240d28ba3bb9e2aae81f9

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FT Admin - Purchasing Director - HigherEdJobs

Responsible for the procurement of goods and services in support of the College, including service contracts, capital equipment, maintenance
and repair funds, construction and renovation, and technology replacement. Advises on long-range acquisition strategies and aligns with
organization's strategic plan. Prepares bid documents and specifications for acquisitions of a technical or complex nature. Conducts
supplier negotiation meetings and requests best and final offers. Conducts public bid openings and confers award of contracts and purchase
orders. Responsible for administration of LCC Purchasing Card program. Provides customer training in purchasing processes, policies, and
procedures. Implements process improvements. Ensures compliance with all local, state, and federal purchasing regulations. Reports to the
Chief Financial Officer.

Essential Duties:
Provides leadership to divisions in all procurement activities through planning, bidding, evaluation, selection, award, and administration in accordance with all local, state, and federal requirements.
Monitors and reports on purchasing and vendor performance through various purchasing reports and customer surveys. Provides reports to Audit Committee and Board of Trustees on specified procurement activities. Ensures continuous process improvement through implementation of best practices.
Ensures that Purchasing procedures and processes are current and that all purchasing staff are trained. Ensures compliance with all Purchasing policies and procedures college-wide.

Core Competencies:
Comprehensive knowledge of public purchasing procedures, types, and methods, including formal advertising, negotiation, fixed-price, and use of special contract clauses.
Purchasing principles, policies, procedures, laws, and regulations.
Market conditions and capable of performing a specific contract, including those where a limited number of sources are available, sufficient to identify potential vendors and to evaluate bids or proposals for responsiveness.
Negotiation techniques and skill in devising negotiation strategies to deal with vendors in resolving such problems as reducing costs, adjusting delivery schedules, and negotiating in sole source environments.
Analysis of alternatives, adaptation, or modification of procedures, or resolution of incomplete or conflicting information. Preparing various documents for review and approval, justifications involving sole source or source selection, or similar analyses.
Communicates and interacts with external groups and or vendor to conduct pre-bid, and/or pre-award conferences, obtain information necessary for evaluations, conduct interviews, negotiate contracts and modifications, and resolve numerous problems arising during contract administration. Contacts with internal groups are to advise on developing specifications and evaluation criteria for contractual actions, to evaluate proposals, and to prepare pre-negotiation positions. The employee must be skillful in dealing with personnel with highly divergent points of view and must be persuasive in the pre-award and/or post-award phases of the contract cycle.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Bachelor degree or higher required that includes or is supplemented by at least 24 semester hours in any combination of the following fields: accounting, business, contracts, construction management, economics, finance, industrial management, law, purchasing, or supply chain management.

If after you have applied for the position, you have further questions; please contact Angie Butterwick at 517-483-1887 or butterwa@lcc.edu.
For a full job description for this position, please visit http://www.lcc.edu/hr/AdministrativePositions/

Responsible for full-time faculty work load per the Faculty Association Agreement; curriculum and course development, advising students, orienting and mentoring faculty colleagues, and meeting office hours. Regular participation on department and divisional teams and on college-wide committees. Work effectively with other faculty and staff in a rapidly changing
environment. Support and contribute to diversity initiatives.

Source: http://www.higheredjobs.com/details.cfm?JobCode=175707099

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Friday, 4 January 2013

Waste removal in worms reveals new mechanism to regulate calcium signaling

Jan. 4, 2013 ? Calcium is so much more than the mineral that makes our bones and teeth strong: It is a ubiquitous signaling molecule that provides crucial information inside of and between cells. Calcium is used to help our hearts beat regularly, our guts to function appropriately and even for fertilization to occur. It is also needed to help muscles and blood vessels contract, to secrete hormones and enzymes and to send messages throughout the nervous system.

In a study published in Current Biology, scientists from the University of Rochester Medical Center, Marquette University and Oberlin College discovered a new way in which calcium signaling may be controlled. Study authors say their findings define a mechanism for regulating calcium signaling that has never been recognized before and should be of great help to the thousands of scientists who study the extremely important role of calcium signaling in health and disease.

"It is hard to find a biological process that is not influenced by calcium signaling," said Keith Nehrke, Ph.D., study author and associate professor of Nephrology and Pharmacology & Physiology at the Medical Center. "In many cases, calcium signaling is absolutely central. The rise and fall of calcium is the molecular clock that times the execution of important processes like the regular and coordinated beating of our hearts."

Nehrke, along with lead study authors Allison L. Abbott, Ph.D., and Benedict J. Kemp, Ph.D., of Marquette University, made the finding while studying an unglamorous, yet scientifically ideal subject matter -- worm poop.

Worms produce their own body weight in embryos every day, which requires immense caloric intake. However, as in all other animals, food is transformed into waste, which must be expelled from the body. As a result of their rapid nutrient intake, worms defecate a lot and fast -- every 50 seconds. The fidelity of this biological rhythm is critical for good health and relies on a specific sequence of events: One can imagine what might happen if the bowels were to contract without a valve opening to let out the waste.

The rhythmic process is jumpstarted by a spike of calcium in cells in the end of the intestine. The initial spike triggers a wave of calcium through the remainder of the intestine, stimulating muscle contractions and forcing waste out of the worm's body. The team wondered what ensures that the wave always starts in the right place -- the end of the intestine -- as opposed to the middle or front.

"It's like dominos lined up in a row," said Erik Allman, Ph.D., a study author and graduate student in Nehrke's lab at the Medical Center. "We wanted to find out what provides the 'push' that topples that first domino and starts the sequence."

The team's analysis revealed that a molecule called a microRNA is required for the entire waste removal process to run smoothly. microRNA-786 is present in the two most posterior intestinal cells of worms and tags these cells as the pacemakers or leaders. These pacemakers dictate when and where the primary calcium spike occurs, activating the movement of waste through the worm's body. When the team removed microRNA-786 from worms the process went awry; the calcium wave started in the wrong place and the waste cycle was irregular and longer than normal.

"As a developmental biologist, I am interested in how cells become different from one another," said Abbott. "This microRNA acts to make the posterior cells different from their neighbors by changing the calcium signaling activity. This difference allows these cells to function as the pacemaker."

"What is really exciting here is that this particular microRNA appears to exert a subtle effect," added Nehrke. "Since calcium signaling is so ubiquitous, it is important to realize that fine tuning its output may be what helps to discriminate between its many biological functions. The next step is to find out if this specific microRNA has a similar effect on calcium signaling processes in people as it does in worms."

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. Megan Mohnen from Marquette and Lois Immerman and Maureen Peters from Oberlin College also contributed to the research.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Rochester Medical Center.

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

Journal Reference:

Benedict?J. Kemp, Erik Allman, Lois Immerman, Megan Mohnen, Maureen?A. Peters, Keith Nehrke, Allison?L. Abbott. miR-786 Regulation of a Fatty-Acid Elongase Contributes to Rhythmic Calcium-Wave Initiation in C.?elegans. Current Biology, 2012; 22 (23): 2213 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.09.047

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/nh1KIO_gm18/130104143611.htm

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Texas A&M renews Oklahoma rivalry in Cotton Bowl

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) ? Spencer Nealy and some of his Texas A&M teammates were discussing potential bowl games even before their first SEC season began.

"We were like, how funny would it be if we made the Cotton Bowl," Nealy said. "We were looking at SEC vs. Big 12 teams. That's what we thought about, that situation."

Well, Texas A&M's season of firsts ? coach Kevin Sumlin's first year, quarterback Johnny Manziel becoming the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy and the SEC debut ? will end with the 10th-ranked Aggies (10-2) playing a familiar Big 12 foe.

In the only bowl matching the SEC against the Big 12, Texas A&M takes on 12th-ranked Oklahoma (10-2) in the Cotton Bowl on Friday night. Both teams have five-game winning streaks.

"It's a little more than a game," Nealy said. "It's almost like we had a great season but we have to win this one."

In their 16 Big 12 seasons, the only time the Aggies won more than nine games was when they were 11-3 their 1998 conference title season. They left the league with a winning record (7-6) last season only after a bowl win over Northwestern.

Once in the SEC, which has six national titles in a row, Texas A&M lost its opener 20-17 to Florida. The other loss was 24-19 to LSU before the current winning streak that includes the Aggies' first-ever road win against a No. 1 team ? at SEC champion Alabama, which plays in the BCS title game Monday night.

"The first thing we did was we didn't talk about it very much what happened in the past. It seemed to be what everyone wanted to talk about externally, but internally we just didn't," Sumlin said. "Any time you have to get over a hump or clear a hurdle, you have got to win a game in a certain fashion."

Sumlin pointed to a 30-27 win at Ole Miss the first Saturday in October, when the Aggies overcame six turnovers and were down 10 points with 6 1/2 minutes left. They lost to LSU two weeks later, but haven't lost since.

The Sooners seemed certain of a Bowl Championship Series game after clinching a share of their eighth Big 12 title, even though Kansas State had a tiebreaker giving the Wildcats the league's automatic BCS slot. But Mid-American champion Northern Illinois then qualified as a BCS buster.

"For sure, yes, we were disappointed. I was pretty upset about it," Sooners senior quarterback Landry Jones said. "But fortunate enough for us, we got put into this game, which you can rank them right up with those BCS games. ... It's a really good matchup, so when I heard that we were going to be in the Cotton Bowl, it kind of eased over the disappointment."

Texas A&M and Oklahoma have both averaged more than 40 points and 500 yards of offense per game. The only losses by both were to current Top 10 teams.

It is only the second Cotton Bowl appearance for the Sooners, but will be the 17th consecutive season they will play Texas A&M.

Since Bob Stoops became Oklahoma's coach in 1999, the Sooners have won 11 of the 13 meetings. Jones threw five TD passes as a freshman in a 65-10 win in 2009, though the Aggies won the next year before the Sooners won the final Big 12 meeting between the two last season.

"This is another opportunity to put a stamp on that. We figured last year would be the last time we'd play them for a while," Sooners defensive tackle Jamarkus McFarland said. "It does mean something."

The series includes a 77-0 Oklahoma victory in 2003 that is the most lopsided loss in Aggies history. That came a year after Texas A&M upset the top-ranked Sooners when Sumlin was the Aggies' offensive coordinator, though he spent the next five years as a Stoops assistant.

Jones will make his 50th career start where he played his first Oklahoma game, in the 2009 season opener at Cowboys Stadium when he took over after halftime for injured Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford. Jones has since won 39 games, including three bowls and two Big 12 titles, while throwing for a Big 12-record 16,368 yards with 122 TDs.

In his career finale, he'll go against the 20-year-old redshirt freshman known as Johnny Football.

Manziel set the SEC record with 4,600 total yards, becoming only the fifth player ever with 3,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing in the same season. He accounted for 43 touchdowns, though the Aggies might not have realized what they really had in the youngster.

"Well, based on the fact we didn't name him the starting quarterback until two weeks before the first game, I don't think in the spring we had any idea," Sumlin said. "He is obviously very talented, but there were a lot of things he needed to work on from a ball security standpoint. ... You never really know, especially with a freshman with so many moving parts going into a game."

When Manziel was asked how he'd try to stop himself, he pondered the question briefly.

"As far as if I'm a defensive coordinator, I wouldn't know what to do," he said.

The SEC has won the last four Cotton Bowls, all against the Big 12. That includes Texas A&M losing to LSU two years ago.

Now Oklahoma gets a chance to defend the honor of the Big 12 against the team that left for another league.

"We want to win regardless of who it is and what the circumstances are," Sooners defensive end R.J. Washington said. "It just adds a little something to it, a little cherry on top."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/texas-m-renews-oklahoma-rivalry-cotton-bowl-230838031--spt.html

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Structural studies of a toxin from Bacillus cereus that causes diarrhea

Jan. 4, 2013 ? Food poisoning caused by Bacillus cereus can lead to diarrhea which is probably caused by a 3-component toxin which is produced by this bacteria strain and which perforates and kills cells. New doctoral research has revealed one of the protein structures of this toxin and has led to a better understanding of the mechanisms behind multi-component, pore-forming toxins. These findings can enhance food safety.

Bacteria produce toxins in order to defend themselves and to gain nourishment. Pore-forming toxins make up about a third of all bacterial toxins. These toxins kill cells by making holes in the cell walls, so causing leakages and swelling which in turn leads to the disintegration of the cells. The most common pore-forming toxins consist of one protein and in some special cases, of two proteins.

Toxins which consist of three proteins (3-component) are extremely rare. The bacterium Bacillus cereus produces two such 3-component toxins. One of them is non-hemolytic enterotoxin, also known as Nhe. It is believed that this toxin is the major food poisoning toxin produced by B. cereus. It is found in all B. cereus strains that cause food poisoning and in nearly all other B. cereus strains. The three proteins in the Nhe toxin are called NheA, NheB and NheC.

In the course of her doctoral research, Danh Phung discovered the crystalline structure of one of the proteins in the Nhe toxin: NheA. This protein is the least studied of this toxin complex, but its presence is essential in order to achieve full cellular toxicity and pore formation. Phung's study is also the first to show that the Nhe proteins form structures resembling pores.

The way the Nhe toxin works is not fully understood. Phung showed that NheB, which is believed to be the most important protein in this toxin complex, forms pore-like structures of itself and produces large amounts of molecules by means of an artificial cell membrane, for example a lipid. These findings indicate that the NheB protein undergoes structural changes before the pore-forming process, which involves the other Nhe-proteins, begins.

Danh Phung carried out her doctoral research at the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science in collaboration with the Sir Hans Krebs Institute at the University of Sheffield in the UK.

M.Sc. Danh Phung defended her doctoral research on 18^th December 2012 at the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science (NVH) with a thesis entitled "Structure and mode of action on the Nhe enterotoxin from Bacillus cereus."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Norwegian School of Veterinary Science.

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

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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/most_popular/~3/rDgRGrOL1AU/130104083105.htm

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