Saturday, January 26, 2013

Old Technology Modernizes a Camera Sensor - NYTimes.com

Fuji has reached back into film history to tweak a digital light sensor technology that appears in the new $600 Fuji X20 consumer camera.

A camera?s light sensors are made of an array of tinier photo sensors usually set to detect red, green or blue light. Those smaller sensors are most often laid out in an orderly grid pattern called a Bayer array.

That causes a problem. When the orderly array of sensors takes a picture of some equally orderly patterns, say, a houndstooth jacket, or close parallel lines, an irregular wavy shadow or rainbow seems to appear over the image. That is called a moir? pattern.

There are a lot of ways to avoid the moir? pattern, but they degrade picture quality, often by making it a little fuzzy. In digital cameras, that is often accomplished with an optical low pass filter, a translucent filter which restricts light.

Old fashioned analog photographs didn?t get a moire pattern because the crystals in film and photo paper aren?t even in size and placement. That randomness breaks up the moire effect.

So Fuji built a new sensor employing what it knew from the film business. Instead of using the Bayer array, it created a pattern called the X-Trans sensor which lays out the red green and blue photo sensors in a way that simulates the randomness of analog film.

That allows Fuji to remove the low pass filter, which ? according to Fuji ? means higher resolution and less graininess than on photos taken with the the X10, the cameras new X20 replaces.

The X-Trans array sensor had appeared on last year?s X-Pro 1, which lists for $1,400 for the body alone. It is also on this year?s X100S, which lists for $1,300.

There is a trade off though. Photo editing products like Photoshop are made to work on shots taken using Bayer arrays. So you either must shoot JPEG images (not RAW) or add a step to processing, using Fuji software to translate your RAW image for use in Photoshop, Lightroom, or the like.

The X20 does claim other virtues. For one, Fuji says it has the fastest auto focus in its class (we are talking winner by tenths of a second here). Another feature should appeal to people who don?t like digging through menus for camera functions. The user of an X20 accesses a lot of features through knobs and dials mounted on the X20?s rangefinder-style body rather than using screen menus.

Source: http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/24/old-technology-modernizes-a-camera-sensor/

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Friday, January 25, 2013

Soccer Player Overreacts A Little ? VIDEO - Sports Radio ESPN 1420

Gamesmanship has always been a part of sports, but this is probably going a little too far.

Check out this soccer player who acts like he just got after after being touched on the ear by an opposing player.

To his credit, he didn?t hesitate, not one second. As soon as his ear got touched, he began to act like it got ripped right off of his head. It?s almost like he had been practicing. You know, you feel a hard breeze, and you act like Skandor Akbar hit you in the face with a fireball.

Then again, this is probably over the top, even for wrestling. It?s one thing to ?sell? a move, but another to do this.

Source: http://espn1420.com/soccer-player-overreacts-a-little-video/

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Lindsey Vonn, Tiger Woods Dating Rumors Persist After Non-Denial

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/01/lindsey-vonn-tiger-woods-dating-rumors-persist-after-non-denial/

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Jet fuel, plastics exposures cause disease in later generations; Reproductive diseases, obesity

Jan. 24, 2013 ? Washington State University researchers have lengthened their list of environmental toxicants that can negatively affect as many as three generations of an exposed animal's offspring.

Writing in the online journal PLOS ONE, scientists led by molecular biologist Michael Skinner document reproductive disease and obesity in the descendants of rats exposed to the plasticizer bisephenol-A, or BPA, as well DEHP and DBP, plastic compounds known as phthalates.

In a separate article in the journal Reproductive Toxicology, they report the first observation of cross-generation disease from a widely used hydrocarbon mixture the military refers to as JP8.

Both studies are the first of their kind to see obesity stemming from the process of "epigenetic transgenerational inheritance." While the animals are inheriting traits conveyed by their parents' DNA sequences, they are also having epigenetic inheritance with some genes turned on and off. Skinner's lab in the past year has documented these epigenetic effects from a host of environmental toxicants, including plastics, pesticides, fungicide, dioxin and hydrocarbons.

The recent PLOS ONE study found "significant increases" in disease and abnormalities in the first and third generations of both male and female descendants of animals exposed to plastics. The first generation, whose mother had been directly exposed during gestation, had increased kidney and prostate diseases. The third generation had pubertal abnormalities, testis disease, ovarian disease and obesity.

The study also identified nearly 200 epigenetic molecular markers for exposure and transgenerational disease. The markers could lead to the development of a diagnostic tool and new therapies.

The Reproductive Toxicology study exposed female rats to the hydrocarbon mixture as their fetuses' gonads were developing. The first generation of offspring had increased kidney and prostate abnormalities and ovarian disease. The third generation had increased losses of primordial follicles, the precursors to eggs, polycystic ovarian disease and obesity.

The study, said Skinner, "provides additional support for the possibility that environmental toxicants can promote the epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of disease."

"Your great-grandmothers exposures during pregnancy may cause disease in you, while you had no exposure," he said. "This is a non-genetic form of inheritance not involving DNA sequence, but environmental impacts on DNA chemical modifications. This is the first set of studies to show the epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of disease such as obesity, which suggests ancestral exposures may be a component of the disease development."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Washington State University. The original article was written by Eric Sorensen.

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


Journal References:

  1. Mohan Manikkam, Rebecca Tracey, Carlos Guerrero-Bosagna, Michael K. Skinner. Plastics Derived Endocrine Disruptors (BPA, DEHP and DBP) Induce Epigenetic Transgenerational Inheritance of Obesity, Reproductive Disease and Sperm Epimutations. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (1): e55387 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0055387
  2. Carlos Guerrero-Bosagna, Trevor R. Covert, Md. M. Haque, Matthew Settles, Eric E. Nilsson, Matthew D. Anway, Michael K. Skinner. Epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of vinclozolin induced mouse adult onset disease and associated sperm epigenome biomarkers. Reproductive Toxicology, 2012; 34 (4): 694 DOI: 10.1016/j.reprotox.2012.09.005

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/top_news/top_health/~3/nhS_5chaCz8/130124183630.htm

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College Students With Learning Disabilities ? Adopt Two New Study ...

It is common among high school students to cross the college threshold with poor study habits. For students with understanding disabilities, nonetheless, this deficit, along with college?s distinctive challenges, can swiftly set them on a downward spiral. Freshmen soon discover that provided the higher quantity of reading in college, high school habits no longer suffice. A alter in habits is required if students wish to succeed on the college level. Below, discover two useful techniques that are simple to implement yet yield substantial outcomes. When these habits become second-nature, students can steadily add new methods to their repertoire, till they are satisfied with their exam results.

Strategy 1: Assessment lecture notes inside 24 hours

There are a number of factors reviewing notes following a lecture is an effective habit:

A. While the lecture is fresh in your mind, it is probably you will be capable to fill in details and examples you did not have time to write down during the lecture. Moreover, you can mark components of the lecture that had been unclear, so you can consult the instructor just before you are hopelessly confused.

B. Immediate review begins to get material into your long-term memory. This does not occur when a longer period of time has elapsed. If a student has not reviewed notes inside 24 hours, and it?s time to study for an exam, the material seems unfamiliar and will take much longer to find out. A great way to evaluation is typing your notes Cornell style (two-column note taking) later that day. This allows you to organize your notes, make them neater, and assessment all in a single sitting.

C. When it comes time for an exam, you will spend much less time studying. Just from reviewing inside 24 hours, you will have retained much what you learned.

Technique two: Use mnemonics

Have you ever had to memorize a process consisting of a lengthy list of methods? Or, for example, maybe you have to find out the elements that place teens at danger for entering the criminal justice system. Anytime you have a list to remember, mnemonics make the procedure much simpler.

Very first, choose whether or not you can modify the order of the listed items. If the items are not portion of a process or ordered in any specific way, you can re-arrange them. Assuming you can change the order, arrange them so the very first letters of the essential products in the list spell a word or represent the initial letters of words in a sentence.

Right here is an example. Anyone who takes music lessons learns that ?FACE? represents the notes in the spaces of the treble clef, and ?EGBDF? stands for ?every great boy does fine?, or the notes on the lines of the clef. With out these mnemonics, or word tricks, it would take significantly longer to bear in mind the position of the notes. As soon as we can chunk unrelated pieces of information into some thing straightforward to remember, memorization is no longer a tedious chore.

Given the quantity of info college students need to bear in mind, it tends to make sense to use mnemonics. If you are new to this technique, expect that it might take some time to feel of a word or sentence. Like anything else, the more you do it, the much better you are going to get. It also assists to believe of words or sentences that are personal and ?off-color?. These are the ones students locate most memorable!

Source: http://www.bnr.co/reference-and-education/college-university/college-students-with-learning-disabilities-adopt-two-new-study-habits/

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U.S. mental health experts urge focus on childhood screening

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. mental health system has huge gaps that prevent many children with psychological problems from receiving effective treatment that could prevent tragic consequences later in life, experts told U.S. lawmakers on Thursday.

Just over a month after the shooting rampage in Newtown, Connecticut, mental health experts said psychological disorders usually emerge before people enter high school but that only one-quarter of children with problems see trained professionals and often the care is not enough.

"We see the results of insufficient mental healthcare in school failure and suicide. How do we do better?" Michael Hogan, head of the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, said in written testimony to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

"While the gaps in children's mental healthcare are huge, there is also reason for hope," he added. "In part, this is because we know more about what works, and what doesn't."

Hogan, a former New York mental health commissioner, was scheduled to appear with two other experts Thursday at the Senate committee's first hearing on mental health issues since the presidency of Republican George W. Bush, who set up the commission Hogan now chairs.

The hearing was scheduled in response to the shootings at Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary School where Adam Lanza, a young man described as having mental issues, gunned down 26 people including 20 young children with an AR-15-type assault rifle on December 14.

The tragedy and other mass shootings in recent years have ignited a debate about gun control and mental health, including a push by President Barack Obama for stronger gun controls and better mental health training for schools and communities.

Robert Vero, chief executive of a network of Tennessee clinics called Cornerstone, said mental health professionals who work with children also lack access to parents and other relatives whose problems may contribute to a child's troubles, sometimes due to inadequate insurance coverage.

"We need to be able to teach parenting skills if we want the child's behavior to change," said Vero. "We need to be able to address the parent's depression or addiction."

The experts credited Obama's healthcare reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, with making a step forward by requiring insurers including Medicaid to provide coverage for mental health issues.

But they said the American social safety net still fails to provide adequate access for the poor and elderly, noting that state mental health funding declined $4 billion from 2009 to 2012 as a result of budget constraints posed by recession and the weak economic recovery.

(Editing by Jilian Mincer and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-mental-health-experts-urge-focus-childhood-screening-150113461.html

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Military News | savannahnow.com

Air Force Airman Andrew C. Hall

Air Force Airman Andrew C. Hall graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas.

The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.

Airmen who complete basic training earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force.

Hall is the son of Wendy Hall of Goshen Road, Rincon, and grandson of Phil Duryea of Limpkin Lane, Pensacola, Fla.

He is a 2012 graduate of South Effingham High School.

Source: http://savannahnow.com/effingham-now/2013-01-24/military-news

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