Northrop Grumman to build first new aircraft carrier class in 40 years

 

The Gerald R Ford class carriers will have a larger flight deck, improved weapons handling and a new A1B nuclear propulsion and electricity generation system

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September 17, 2008 The tenth and final nuclear-powered Nimitz-class supercarrier, George H. W. Bush, enters service in 2009, but the next-generation is on its way. The Gerald R. Ford CVN 78 is the first ship in the first new carrier class in over 40 years. Northrop Grumman has received a $5.1 billion, seven-year contract for construction of the CVN 78, which is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in 2015.

Northrop Grumman began advance construction of the Gerald R Ford in 2005, under a separate $2.7 billion contract. Roughly one third of the ship’s 1,200 structural units are currently under construction, with the keel scheduled to be laid in 2009. The Navy is expected to build 11 of the carriers, each worth approximately $8 billion, continuing construction into 2058.

The Gerald R Ford class carriers will have a larger flight deck, improved weapons handling, a smaller island, a new Electromagnetic Aircraft Launching System, an Advanced Arresting Gear, and a new A1B nuclear propulsion and electricity generation system. The technological advancements in the Ford design result in a 25% increase in sortie generation, a 25% reduction in necessary manpower, a threefold increase in electrical generating capacity, improved self defense capability, increased launch/recovery capability, increased ability to incorporate future upgrades, and increased operational availability.

By changing the layout of the flight deck, and pushing back the island, the carrier minimizes aircraft movements and decreases the workload for personnel. The centralized re-arming location, and the use of robots to move ordnance, also boosts efficiency and allows aircraft to re-arm in “minutes instead of hours.”

The Electromagnetic Aircraft Launching System (EMALS) has a higher level of control than the steam-powered catapults employed by Nimitz-class carriers. EMALS can launch heavier and lighter craft, making it compatible with UAVs. EMALS is more efficient, smaller lighter, more powerful, easier to control, and places less stress on airframes by gradually increasing the aircraft’s speed. UAV integration is also made possible by the Advanced Arresting Gear System, which uses electromagnetism, rather than hydraulics, to capture aircraft.

The inability of current aircraft carriers to effectively handle UAVs is a reminder of the need to plan for technological advancement. While the USS Enterprise, (the ship being replaced by the Ford), is still serving 50 years after it was laid down, it is increasingly unable to adapt to upgraded systems. With currently planned systems on the CVN 78 consuming only half of its generated power, the ship is well prepared to incorporate future energy-hungry systems such laser guns, dynamic armor, and new tracking devices.

 

Microsoft’s Band is a competitive, feature-packed fitness tracker

 

The Microsoft Band takes the same approach as the Samsung Gear Fit, blending fitness tracking and smartwatch functionality

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Microsoft’s new wearable, known as the Band, is a sensor-packed, understated wearable that provides both solid fitness tracking and limited smartwatch functionality. It might be a little late to the wearable tech party, but it looks to be a good option whether you’re a Windows Phone user or not.

In terms of aesthetics, the Microsoft Band looks similar to Samsung’s Gear Fit, with a 1.4-inch, 320 x 106 display and fairly low-key looks. The device is fitted with dual 100 mAh batteries that the company claims can be fully charged in less than an hour and a half. Once fully juiced, the band will reportedly run for 48 hours before it needs plugging in again.

The device packs a total of 10 sensors including built-in GPS. It’s capable of tracking steps, distance traveled, calories burned, as well as duration and quality of sleep, and users can set themselves daily step and calorie goals. One other interesting feature comes in the form of a UV monitor, which provides a quick read of the UV index, helping the user decide whether they need to apply sunscreen.

The product will work with a new cloud-based Microsoft Health service that uses the company’s Intelligence Engine to provide users with personalized fitness information and advice. The company has partnered with RunKeeper, Gold’s Gym and MyFitnessPal, allowing users to sync their accounts and access stats through their preferred service.

While we’ve seen recent fitness trackers take notable steps towards smartwatch functionality, the Band goes a little further than most. Microsoft’s wearable isn’t too picky about its owner’s choice of smartphone, connecting to Windows Phone 8.1 handsets, as well as those running iOS 7.1 and later, or Android 4.3/4.4. Once the Bluetooth connection is established, it will show email previews, calendar alerts, incoming calls, real-time weather and other notifications.

Users can view text messages on the device, replying with pre-set responses. Windows 8.1 users will also get access the company’s Cortana personal digital assistant right on their wrist, providing information on driving directions, stocks and more. There’s more good news if you’re a coffee-lover, with the device acting as a scannable Starbucks card.

All things considered, Microsoft’s new wearable appears to be pretty well equipped to deal with user’s fitness tracking needs, while providing some significant smartwatch functionality. It’s available in three sizes for US$200 online and in Microsoft stores starting today.

Source: Microsoft

 

HP is looking to blend physical and digital reality with Sprout AIO

 

HP's new all-in-one Sprout PC

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HP has revealed a new all-in-one computer named Sprout which pushes the everything-you-need-in-one-place envelope to both vertical and horizontal workspaces. Users are able to grab an icon or digital object on the computer's touchscreen display and drag it down to a projected second screen on a touch-enabled pad below for precision tweaking with fingers or a stylus. Overhead scanning technology can digitize physical objects too, which the user can manipulate and move between both display areas.

Sitting above Sprout's 23-inch LED backlit touchscreen HD display is a combined four camera sensor system (which includes Intel's RealSense 3D camera and a 14.6 MP camera), a DLP projector and LED desk lamp known as the Illuminator. This unit points down towards a 20-inch, 20-point capacitive touch mat that has the look of a rather large mouse pad and the HP Workspace platform brings the dual display 3D workspace to life, effectively giving users two touchscreens to work with.

The overhead scanning technology can create 3D-like images of objects placed on the mat, which then appear on the vertical display. These digital clones can be flicked down to the mat onto a work area thrown down from above by the projection unit. The scanned image can be cropped, resized, moved around and otherwise interfered with, text can be added using a virtual keyboard and then the whole shebang returned to the main screen for fine tuning, saving or sending on. Collaborative tools allow operators in multiple locations to simultaneously manipulate the same digital content.

Chugging away behind the impressive-looking blended reality user interface is a high end all-in-one Windows 8.1 PC powered by a 4th gen Intel Core i7-4790S processor with integrated HD4600 graphics and Nvidia GeForce DT 745A GPU (with 2 GB of dedicated video memory). 8 GB of 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM can be expanded to 16 GB, and there's 1 TB of SSD/HDD hybrid storage built in. The AIO also features integrated speakers with DTS Sound+, two digital microphones and a 720p webcam out front.

Connectivity comes in the shape of 802.11a/b/g/n/ac dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, Gigabit Ethernet, two USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 ports (including one that's capable of charging mobile devices), HDMI and a mini PCIe expansion slot.

The company has also launched an application store to support the new immersive computing platform called the Sprout Marketplace, which currently includes uniquely-designed Windows-based apps such as the Martha Stewart CraftStudio, DreamWorks Animation Story Producer, Crayola's Draw & Sing and GestureWorks Gameplay as well as HP's own Create, Collaborate and Capture software.

The HP Spout is set for release on November 9, but is up for pre-order now for US$1,900.

You can see potential applications for the technology in the video below, including scanning a real world building block and adding the digitized version to a child's photo, creating a try before you buy remote sales experience by adding virtual trinkets to the image of a customer and making the most of extra screen real estate to produce popping presentations.

Source: HP

 

In autoimmune diseases affecting millions, researchers pinpoint genetic risks, cellular culprits

 

A team of scientists from UC San Francisco, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and Yale School of Medicine developed a new mathematical tool to more deeply probe existing DNA databases. In so doing they discovered how certain DNA variations, when inherited, are likely to contribute to disease.

By applying their method to analyzing data from previous studies of 21 different autoimmune diseases, the research team has deepened scientific understanding of the genetic underpinnings of a wide range of these disorders. They also found the specific immune cells most responsible for the diseases. Their study is published online on October 29, 2014 in Nature.

The researchers examined a wealth of data from 39 large-scale studies called genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Teams of scientists in recent years have conducted GWAS -- typically enlisting thousands of study participants -- to identify large blocks of DNA within the human genome within which genetic variants are implicated as risk factors for common diseases. But examination of GWAS data to date has seldom pointed to altered proteins, as surprisingly few protein-encoding gene variants within these broad swaths of DNA have been associated with the diseases under investigation.

Instead, the genetic risks identified through GWAS more often appear to be associated with DNA variations that do not reside within genes. The nature of this risk has defied understanding until now, fueling a perception that few medical benefits have thus far emerged from large-scale studies of human genetic variation being conducted in the wake of the initial Human Genome Project.

In the new study the researchers found that the presence of specific genetic variants in different autoimmune diseases can alter patterns of activity of genes in particular ways that affect functions of the immune system. This was true despite the fact that the genetic variants are not within genes.

To make their discoveries, the researchers developed software and used next-generation sequencing techniques to probe "epigenetic" characteristics of specialized immune cells, in which gene activity is affected without changes to the DNA sequence itself within the affected genes.

The team discovered that a majority of key DNA changes associated with autoimmune diseases occur in functional bits of DNA known as "enhancers."

Although DNA exists within cells as long, stringy molecules, DNA can bend back upon itself with the support of the chromosome's structural proteins, so that one piece of DNA may interact with another. Enhancers fold in this way to bind to DNA switches that turn genes on. In general the enhancers identified in the Nature study as playing a role in autoimmune disease were DNA sequences that did not match DNA-sequence motifs previously thought to be essential to enhancers, and had not previously been seen as having any functional role.

"Once again, research is revealing new meaning in the world of DNA once thought of as junk -- short, seemingly random DNA sequences that in fact serve meaningful roles in human physiology," said Alex Marson, MD, PhD, UCSF Sandler Faculty Fellow and the corresponding author for the study.

By painstakingly mapping enhancers in specialized immune cells, and by tracking down patterns of altered gene activation that resulted from the presence of variants found in GWAS studies, the researchers identified patterns of activity within the genome and cell types associated with the autoimmune diseases. Many autoimmune diseases were associated with immune cells known as T helpers. The authors suggest that genetic variation may be tuning the response of these key immune cells to stimuli within their surroundings to increase the risk of autoimmunity.

Marson initiated the scientific collaboration while he was an MD/PhD student at Harvard and MIT and a medical resident at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, joining together with the senior scientists for the study: Bradley Bernstein, MD, PhD, associate member of Broad Institute and professor of pathology at Harvard, and David A. Hafler, MD, professor of neurology and immunobiology, and chair of the Department of Neurology at Yale. Marson and Kyle Kai-How Farh, MD, PhD, a clinical geneticist and postdoctoral fellow with the Broad Institute, are co-first authors of the Nature article.

Among other revelations, the new study strongly links the cause of MS to the immune system, not to genetic variants associated with the nervous system. According to Hafler, the results provide definitive evidence that MS is an autoimmune disease, and that the immune system plays the primary role. "This is highly consistent with the new multiple sclerosis treatments that work on the immune system, suggesting that we finally have a good handle as to the underlying causes of MS," Hafler said.

The new ability to associate specific genetic variants on one hand with cell circuits that control gene activity and alter the physiology of specific immune cell types on the other will enable medical researchers to more precisely target therapeutic interventions in autoimmune diseases in order to dampen aberrantly fired-up immune responses, according to Marson.

In his UCSF lab, Marson intends to probe more deeply how these newly identified DNA variants in enhancers affect cells, and how their disease-causing effects might be mitigated by DNA manipulations carried out using gene-editing technologies known as CRISPR.

The National Institutes of Health and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society provided major funding for the study.

Clean smell doesn't always mean clean air

 

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Some of the same chemical reactions that occur in the atmosphere as a result of smog and ozone are actually taking place in your house while you are cleaning. A researcher in Drexel's College of Engineering is taking a closer look at these reactions, which involve an organic compound -called limonene- that provides the pleasant smell of cleaning products and air fresheners. His research will help to determine what byproducts these sweet-smelling compounds are adding to the air while we are using them to remove germs and odors.

Secondary organic aerosols (SOAs) are microscopic particles created when ozone reacts with volatile organic gases such as limonene -the chemical name for the smell of oranges- or its cousin α-pinene, which is part of the smell of pine trees. Outdoors, this reaction happens all the time. It drives the formation of much of the atmospheric organic aerosol present in our environment. And in, population-dense urban areas -where enough suspended particles can be amassed- it contributes to the formation of the visible haze called smog.

While a large amount of aerosols that exist in the Earth's atmosphere are naturally occurring -- created by processes such as mechanical suspension by wind or sea spray -- much is produced as a result of industrialization. And while researchers are still striving to fully understand the health and environmental impact of increased levels of secondary organic aerosols in the atmosphere, studies have linked exposure to outdoor aerosols generally to morbidity and mortality outcomes.

Few researchers, however, have considered the formation of SOAs in our indoor environments. Michael Waring, PhD, an assistant professor in Drexel University's College of Engineering, is taking the deepest look yet at the formation and behavior of these particles indoors.

"SOAs can come from ozone reactions with numerous sources, especially with compounds called terpenes that produce the scents we associate with cleaners, pine, lavender, and oranges," Waring said. "Limonene is the terpene that makes an orange's smell. It's a very popular scent for cleaning products, so we're taking a closer look at how it reacts indoors -where people are using it in high concentrations."

The first step toward understanding the health implications is finding how many of these microscopic SOA particles are created when household cleaning products and air fresheners react with ozone indoors. In research recently published in Environmental Science & Technology, Waring describes the role of limonene, the organic compound that gives cleaners and air fresheners an orange scent and acts as a solvent, in the formation of secondary organic aerosols.

For the research, Waring and his team used an air testing chamber that they specifically designed to study the reactive behavior of air in an indoor environment. With it, they were able to simulate limonene being added to the environment in pulses -- the way it would be introduced indoors when spraying a limonene-containing cleaning product. They are also able to control the amount of ozone in the chamber -- an aspect of indoor environments that can vary with outdoor ozone concentrations and the opening of windows and doors or the use of a few certain household appliances.

By adjusting elements of the test, such as the air exchange rate, which is the number of times per hour indoor air is replaced by outdoor air, as well as the concentrations of terpene and ozone in the chamber, the group was able to ascertain how those variables each affected the formation of secondary organic aerosols.

This process is unique to Waring's research. Other labs have undertaken this sort of examination, but almost always using a constant flow of terpene and ozone into the environment. But by pulsing limonene into the chamber operated at different air exchange rates, the Drexel researchers are more closely recreating actual usage scenarios in hopes of generating more representative results.

"We found that one of the biggest factors contributing to SOA formation by limonene ozonolysis was the air exchange rate," Waring said. "This is because certain chemical reactions that form SOAs take longer than others. If the air is exchanged before these reactions can take place then the SOA production is weaker indoors."

With 18 different scenarios tested, the team calculated a range of peak formation of secondary organic aerosols when typical concentrations of limonene were introduced to ozone-rich environments with a range of air exchange rates. The resulting mass concentration of secondary organic aerosols was roughly between five and 100 μg/m³.

"For reference, the EPA's National Ambient Air Quality Standard for fine aerosol is an annual average of 12 μg/m³. Our findings show a significant enough range of SOA formation to warrant more in depth public health studies," Waring said. "This research is particularly necessary in order to understand health impacts on people who use significant amounts of cleaning products such as housecleaners or custodians. The goal of our work is to help that process by providing accurate numbers for researchers to use in risk calculation models. It is the most robust work of its kind thus far and has generated quite a bit of useful data."

While the next step in this line of research would be to examine the health impacts of indoor SOA, a few ways to reduce indoor aerosols would be to use unscented cleaners and open windows while cleaning. Even though open windows bring in more ozone from outside, the reduction in the indoor limonene concentration and SOA formation strength more than make up for it, as less secondary organic aerosol is formed inside.

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Drexel University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Somayeh Youssefi, Michael S. Waring. Transient Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation from Limonene Ozonolysis in Indoor Environments: Impacts of Air Exchange Rates and Initial Concentration Ratios. Environmental Science & Technology, 2014; 48 (14): 7899 DOI: 10.1021/es5009906

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Scientists generate first human stomach tissue in lab with stem cells

 

October 29, 2014

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Scientists used pluripotent stem cells to generate functional, three-dimensional human stomach tissue in a laboratory -- creating an unprecedented tool for researching the development and diseases of an organ central to several public health crises, ranging from cancer to diabetes. Scientists used human pluripotent stem cells -- which can become any cell type in the body -- to grow a miniature version of the stomach.

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Jim Wells, PhD, Divisions of Developmental Biology and Endocrinology at Cincinnati Children’s, explains how the first-time molecular generation of 3D human gastric organoids (hGOs) presents new opportunities for drug discovery, modeling early stages of stomach cancer, studying the underpinnings of obesity related diabetes, and potential tissue regeneration for therapy.

Scientists used pluripotent stem cells to generate functional, three-dimensional human stomach tissue in a laboratory -- creating an unprecedented tool for researching the development and diseases of an organ central to several public health crises, ranging from cancer to diabetes.

Scientists at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center report Oct. 29 in Nature they used human pluripotent stem cells -- which can become any cell type in the body -- to grow a miniature version of the stomach. In collaboration with researchers at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, they used laboratory generated mini-stomachs (called gastric organoids) to study infection by H. pylori bacteria, a major cause of peptic ulcer disease and stomach cancer.

This first-time molecular generation of 3D human gastric organoids (hGOs) presents new opportunities for drug discovery, modeling early stages of stomach cancer and studying some of the underpinnings of obesity related diabetes, according to Jim Wells, PhD, principal investigator and a scientist in the divisions of Developmental Biology and Endocrinology at Cincinnati Children's.

It also is the first time researchers have produced 3D human embryonic foregut -- a promising starting point for generating other foregut organ tissues like the lungs and pancreas, he said.

"Until this study, no one had generated gastric cells from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs)," Wells said. "In addition, we discovered how to promote formation of three-dimensional gastric tissue with complex architecture and cellular composition."

This is important because differences between species in the embryonic development and architecture of the adult stomach make mouse models less than optimal for studying human stomach development and disease, Wells added.

Researchers can use human gastric organoids as a new discovery tool to help unlock other secrets of the stomach, such as identifying biochemical processes in the gut that allow gastric-bypass patients to become diabetes-free soon after surgery before losing significant weight. Obesity fueled diabetes and metabolic syndrome are an exploding public health epidemic. Until now, a major challenge to addressing these and other medical conditions involving the stomach has been a relative lack of reliable laboratory modeling systems to accurately simulate human biology, Wells explained.

The key to growing human gastric organoids was to identify the steps involved in normal stomach formation during embryonic development. By manipulating these normal processes in a petri dish, the scientists were able to coax pluripotent stem cells toward becoming stomach. Over the course of a month, these steps resulted in the formation of 3D human gastric organoids that were about 3mm (1/10th of an inch) in diameter. Wells and his colleagues also used this approach to identify what drives normal stomach formation in humans with the goal of understanding what goes wrong when the stomach does not form correctly.

Along with study first author Kyle McCracken, an MD/PhD graduate student working in Wells' laboratory, and Yana Zavros, PhD, a researcher at UC's Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, the authors report they were impressed by how rapidly H. pylori bacteria infected stomach epithelial tissues.

Within 24 hours, the bacteria had triggered biochemical changes to the organ, according to McCracken. The human gastric organoids faithfully mimicked the early stages of gastric disease caused by the bacteria, including the activation of a cancer gene called c-Met and the rapid spread of infection in epithelial tissues.

Another significant part of the team's challenge has been the relative lack of previous research literature on how the human stomach develops, the authors said. Wells said the scientists had to use a combination of published work, as well as studies from his own lab, to answer a number of basic developmental questions about how the stomach forms. Over the course of two years, this approach of experimenting with different factors to drive the formation of the stomach eventually resulted in the formation of 3D human gastric tissues in the petri dish.

Wells emphasized importance of basic research for the eventual success of this project, adding, "This milestone would not have been possible if it hadn't been for previous studies from many other basic researchers on understanding embryonic organ development."

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwSe8xBAKpA

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Kyle W. McCracken, Emily M. Catá, Calyn M. Crawford, Katie L. Sinagoga, Michael Schumacher, Briana E. Rockich, Yu-Hwai Tsai, Christopher N. Mayhew, Jason R. Spence, Yana Zavros, James M. Wells. Modelling human development and disease in pluripotent stem-cell-derived gastric organoids. Nature, 2014; DOI: 10.1038/nature13863

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Low carb, high fat diets may reduce seizures in tough-to-treat epilepsy

 

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Diets high in fat and low in carbohydrates, such as the ketogenic or modified Atkins diet, may reduce seizures in adults with tough-to-treat epilepsy, according to a review of the research published in the October 29, 2014, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Epilepsy is a nervous system disorder in which the nerve cells in the brain work abnormally, causing seizures. About 50 million people have epilepsy worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

"We need new treatments for the 35 percent of people with epilepsy whose seizures are not stopped by medications," said study author Pavel Klein, M.B.,B. Chir., of the Mid-Atlantic Epilepsy and Sleep Center in Bethesda, Md., and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. "The ketogenic diet is often used in children, but little research has been done on how effective it is in adults."

The ketogenic and modified Atkins diets include items such as bacon, eggs, heavy cream, butter, leafy green vegetables and fish. The ketogenic diet consists of a ratio of fat to protein/carbohydrates of three or four to one by weight. The modified Atkins diet has a one-to-one fat to carbohydrate/protein ratio by weight.

Scientists reviewed five studies on the ketogenic diet with a total of 47 people included in the analysis and five studies on the modified Atkins diet with 85 people included.

Researchers found that across all studies, 32 percent of people treated with the ketogenic diet and 29 percent of those treated with the modified Atkins diet experienced a 50 percent or better reduction in their seizures. Nine percent in the ketogenic treatment group and 5 percent in the modified Atkins group had a greater than 90 percent reduction in seizures.

The positive results occurred quickly with both diets, within days to weeks. The effect persisted long-term, but, unlike in children, the results did not continue after participants stopped following the diet. Side effects of both diets were similar and not serious, with weight loss the most common side effect.

Fifty-one percent of the ketogenic diet group and 42 percent of the modified Atkins group stopped the diet before the study was completed.

"Unfortunately, long-term use of these diets is low because they are so limited and complicated. Most people eventually stop the diet because of the culinary and social restrictions," said Klein. "However, these studies show the diets are moderately to very effective as another option for people with epilepsy."

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by American Academy of Neurology (AAN). Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Pavel Klein, Ivana Tyrlikova, and Gregory C. Mathews. Dietary treatment in adults with refractory epilepsy: A review. Neurology, October 2014 DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000001004

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The science of charismatic voices: How one man was viewed as authoritarian, then benevolent

 

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When a right-wing Italian politician named Umberto Bossi suffered a severe stroke in 2004, his speech became permanently impaired. Strangely, this change impacted Bossi's perception among his party's followers -- from appearing authoritarian to benevolent.

Now researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles think they know why. Probing the vocal presence of charisma across cultural divides, the scientists found speakers with a wide range of frequency variation in their voices were more likely to be perceived as dominant. They also found that speakers with a low fundamental rate of vocal fold vibration, called fundamental frequency or F0, are perceived as more dominant than speakers with a high fundamental frequency.

Charismatic voices are made up of two fundamental components, said Rosario Signorello: one biological and one based on language and culture. Signorello is a postdoctoral scholar at UCLA's Bureau of Glottal Affairs who will be speaking on Thursday about his current research at the 168th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), which will be held October 27-31, 2014, at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown Hotel.

The biological component of charismatic voice is innate, Signorello said, and consists of a speaker's manipulation of changes in fundamental frequency to be recognized as a group leader. By using a process of speech synthesis called 'delexicalization,' it is possible to remove the subjective influence of a speech's content, allowing a researcher to study the biological component in a controlled fashion.

"You get rid of the words and try to keep the acoustic parameters," Signorello said. "You keep the F0 frequency, the intensity and the duration, with no alteration to the other spectral and acoustic parameters." The F0, or fundamental frequency, is the rate of vocal fold vibration as measured in Hertz. These parameters can then be individually modified to gauge, which has the largest impact on a listener's willingness to agree with a speaker or charismatic leader.

Signorello became interested in the role of voice quality in charismatic speech while working on his thesis. To better understand the impact of vocal frequencies on charismatic perception, he turned his eyes on the case of Umberto Bossi.

"I collected speeches of him before and after the stroke," Signorello said, "and I discovered that before the accident, he was perceived as an authoritarian leader, because his voice was characterized by low average of fundamental frequency, normal modulation of the pitch contour, a wide pitch range, a lot of perturbation in voice and a lot of creakiness and harshness." Signorello believes that the stroke caused a hemiparesis, or asymmetrical muscle weakness, of Bossi's vocal fold -- thus impacting his speech capabilities.

"The stroke caused him to have a very flat pitch contour, so even if he had the harshness, even if he had the creakiness -- his pitch contour was very flat." Pitch contour is the entire range of modulation of the fundamental frequency during a given window. "I submitted his voice to the listeners and he was perceived as a benevolent and competent leader, which is very different from the authoritarian perception. In that case, the pitch contour played a very important role."

Signorello's current research involves a cross-cultural comparison of charismatic voice perception in Italian, French and Portuguese politicians -- Luigi de Magistris, François Hollande and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, respectively. By analyzing speeches from these politicians through delexicalization and native-speaker assessment, Signorello asserts that a listener's perception of a speaker as dominant and threatening can be attributed to their use of an average low F0 voice and wide pitch range. Conversely, their use of an average higher F0 and narrow pitch range conveys sincere and reassuring leadership. While these perceptions have been exhibited as existing cross-culturally, however, a listener's preference for a leadership type remains also dictated by specific cultural norms.

"The Italians seem to need a low pitched voice, and the French a high pitched one, because of cultural reasons," Signorello said. "The Italians seem to want a more dominant leader, and the French a more competent leader."

Future research for Signorello and his colleagues involves studying the voice of leadership in non-human primates.

"What we want to do is understand how the use of the F0 helps the nonhuman primate individuals to emerge and be recognized by the group and understand how these individuals use their voice behavior to create different patterns and convey leadership," Signorello said.

"The hypothesis is that the biological function of charismatic voice is also cross-species."

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Acoustical Society of America (ASA). Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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A Turma da Maré Mansa

 

No início dos anos 80 eu me diverti muito com um programa de rádio, transmitido pela Rádio Tupi do Rio de Janeiro chamado “A turma da maré mansa”. O pequeno texto acima refere-se ao diálogo entre o “Seu Concordino”, que como o nome indica, concordava com tudo.

Estava ele conversando com sua amiga, a madame Júlia, sobre um fotógrafo novo na cidade, o “Seu Gumercindo”. E o diálogo acima representa a parte final.  Cada vez que sua interlocutora falava bem ou mal do fotógrafo, ele concordava, como em todas as suas conversas.  Os personagens do programa eram vários, e o Brasil inteiro se divertia muito com a “Turma da Maré Mansa”…

José S de Melo

Depende do contexto…

 

“Matar o tempo” tem um sentido duplo. O mais usado é no sentido de fazer alguma coisa prazeirosa, porém sem objetivo definido, e “matar o tempo” tem uma conotação um tanto negativa, o de fazer algo sem sentido,   e sendo assim não vale para a citação de Henfil acima. O outro sentido que se encaixa no texto é o de não fazer nada, ou de fazer algo inútil, simplesmente deixar o tempo passar…. É bem o contrário do título do livro que um cidadão estadunidense escreveu assim que descobriu que tinha um câncer incurável, (pelo menos na época), e resolveu aproveitar os seus últimos seis meses de vida brincando com seus netos e escrevendo esse livro. O título do livro “Make your today count”. (Faça valer o seu dia)…. Então podemos dizer, não mate o tempo, em vez disso dê-lhe sentido, aproveite-o da melhor maneira possível.  O autor da citação acima foi Henfil, um cartunista famoso, já falecido.

José S de Melo

É mentira, Terta?

 

O “É mentira,Terta?” era uma frase dita pelo Coronel Pantaleão, protagonizado pelo insuperável Chico Anísio pela Televisão, no seu programa humorístico “Chico City” nos anos 70 e talvez início dos anos 80. Ele contava uma história absurda, e sua mulher, Terta, ouvia atentamente e no final ele perguntava a ela : “É mentira, Terta?”…E ela não iria contradizer o austero Coronel Pantaleão, e concordava prontamente… “Verdadeeeeeeee….”  (Terta é um diminutivo para o nome “Tertuliana”)

O texto que inseri no trabalho que fiz com o Draw Plus da Serif, é uma brincadeira para dar um sentido de que podemos dizer alguma coisa verdadeira, incontestável. Evidentemente, a cada décimo de segundo alguém no mundo estará fazendo alguma coisa, ou até podemos dizer, tudo que se possa imaginar pode estar acontecendo a cada momento.

Névo watch combines stylish looks with fitness functionality

 

The Névo watch is a fashion-first fitness tracker with stylish looks and vibration alerts

Image Gallery (4 images)

While recent wearable releases like the Moto 360 and LG G Watch R have successfully blurred the line between smartwatch and fashion accessory, they’re still more tech product than jewelery piece. At first glance, the Névo looks like a straightforward analogue watch, but it’s actually packing some reasonable fitness tracking tech under the hood.

The French designed product is a collaboration between iMaze and EMIE, and features a Swiss movement, stylish looks and a 3 ATM water and shock resistant stainless steel construction. It’s capable of tracking the wearer’s steps, distance traveled, sleep quality and duration, and calories burned – considering its looks-first mentality, that’s not bad going. However, unlike some smartwatches such as the Moto 360, there’s no heart rate monitor included here.

The Névo adopts a similar idea to the Withings Activité announced earlier this year, which uses a small secondary dial to display the user’s progress towards fitness goals. Unlike that product, the Névo uses a ring of eleven embedded bright white LEDs around the watch face to display the information, rather than a physical dial.

The watch connects to iOS and Android smartphones via a Bluetooth Low Energy connection, and uses a standard watch battery. According to the company, users can expect a full six months of battery life before having to swap in a new battery.

While the product’s limited technology places it firmly in the fitness tracker category, it does pack one feature we’ve become used to with smartwatches. The wearable won’t display notifications like full blown smartwatches would, but it will vibrate when one is received. So you’ll still have to take your phone out of your pocket to view the alert, but you’ll be less likely to miss messages because of your handset’s weedy vibration motor.

The Névo activity tracking app is set to be compatible with both Apple HealthKit and Google Fit, and the watch will ship with both leather and silicone bands. If you’re interested in the fashion-first wearable, then you’ll have to wait a little while to get your hands on it, with the product set to land in early 2015 for US$200. It will be available for pre-order in mid-December.

Source: Névo

 

Ford ruggedizes its Troller 4x4 for the Sao Paulo Motor Show

 

Troller T4 off-road edition

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Following up on the 2012 Troller TR-X concept, Ford has designed a pair of custom Troller T4 off-road special editions. The specialized versions of its Jeep-like, Brazil-market 4x4 are built to go deeper and include a variety of upgrades, such as snorkels and winches. They are appearing alongside other production and special edition T4 models at this week's São Paulo Motor Show.

Back in June, we looked at the all-new Troller T4, a utility vehicle with strong resemblance to off-road legends like Willys jeeps and Toyota Land/FJ Cruisers. While an intriguing, little 4x4, the production T4 does lack some of the rough-and-ready off-road style of the TR-X concept that previewed it.

The new T4 off-road special edition brings that style back. The show car gets a two-toned, bronzed-over look that's as earthy as its tires. It also brings back the passenger-side snorkel seen on the TR-X, gets a set of BFGoodrich Mud Terrain tires and packs a Warn winch up front. Its suspension has been upgraded for trail use, as have the bumpers.

Ford's press materials don't mention any engine tuning, so the T4 special edition must rely on the same 200-hp 3.2-liter turbo diesel engine as the production model. That engine offers up to 347 lb-ft (470 Nm) of torque.

Next to the T4 special edition, Ford is also showing the T4-based Off-Road Rescue concept. That version appears even more closely related to the TR-X concept, perhaps even that very same concept dressed in orange. Designed with emergency rescue in mind, the model includes blue exterior accents, LED lighting, 17-in wheels with Mud Terrain tires, and a rescue canoe working like the cherry on top.

Take a closer look at these two T4 special editions, along with the other T4s of São Paulo, in the photo gallery. Since a utility vehicle just doesn't have the same appeal when sparkling and pristine, we've also mixed in a few photos of Copa rally Trollers disrupting sand, dirt and water.

Source: Troller/Ford

 

iPad mini 3

 

The newest iPad mini is the smallest iPad update yet – to the degree that isn't really a new device. But is it still worth a look? Join Gizmag, as we review Apple's "new" iPad mini 3.

Want the Cliff's Notes version of our iPad mini 3 review? Okay: it's an iPad mini 2 (formerly "iPad mini with Retina Display"), only with a Touch ID fingerprint sensor. Oh, and there's now a gold color option. The end.

That isn't an exaggeration either. Same screen, processor, RAM, battery and cameras – all in the same body. Apart from Touch ID and gold, the iPad mini 3 is quite literally an iPad mini 2.

It's too bad – because, for many of us, the iPad mini is the perfect size. Last year the Air and Mini were nearly identical ... one awesome tablet, two sizes to choose from. But this year the Air is sitting in the driver's seat, with the Mini passed out in the back.

I'm not sure why Apple blew off the iPad mini this year, but it could have to do with phablets. With big-screened phones (including one from Apple) eating into tablet sales, maybe the company sees the larger iPad Air as the one more likely to survive the threat?

... or it could be the real iPad mini 3 simply wasn't ready for 2014. Apple still needed something to sell as "new" for the holidays, so an iPad mini 2 with Touch ID is what we got.

Whatever the reason, this is a surprising change. Last year it looked like Air and Mini were going to be equals from then on. But this year there's no question which iPad is better.

Disappointment aside, the iPad mini 3 is still a great little tablet. It still has the Mini's winning combination of portability and screen size, along with the same sharp Retina Display (though its color range still isn't the best). It runs iOS 8, performs well and has long battery life. Most importantly, it has the App Store's leading tablet app selection.

Take all of that, add Touch ID and you still have one of the best mini-tablets you can buy – maybe even the best.

So why not run out and buy the iPad mini 3? Well, the problem is Apple (and tech companies in general) have trained us to expect significant upgrades every year. We want to hand over the same wad of money and get back something better than we got last year. The iPad mini 3 only barely does that.

As it stands now, Apple is saying Touch ID is worth US$100. That's because the otherwise identical iPad mini 2 is hanging around for another year at $300, while the iPad mini 3 starts at $400.

Touch ID is the best fingerprint sensor around. It's an easy way to secure your tablet, and iOS 8 even lets you use it with third-party apps. The marriage of Touch ID and password manager apps, like 1Password and LastPass, is about as good as it gets.

But $100 for Touch ID – and nothing else – just seems too steep. For most people, I wouldn't recommend paying $400 (or more) for the iPad mini 3.

... but there's a bright side here. The iPad mini 3 isn't a great deal, but the iPad mini 2 is. $300 for a high-end tablet with the same sharp screen, long battery life and app selection? That's more like it.

Just 13 months ago, $330 got you an iPad mini 1 with an ancient processor and dated (even at the time) display. Now, for $30 less than that, you get a tablet that's not just better – it's much better.

The iPad mini 2 might be the best iPad value yet.

The iPad mini 3 is Apple's second-best tablet, but unless you see Touch ID as a $100 feature (or really, really like gold), we recommend passing on it. Your money will go farther on either the cheaper iPad mini 2 or the bigger and better iPad Air 2.

The iPad mini 3 is available now, starting at $400 for a 16 GB Wi-Fi only model.

Product page: Apple

 

U-Boat Worx gets sporty with compact HP Sport Sub 2

 

The HP Sport Sub 2 with standard fit out is good for 3 knots on the surface, or 2 knots under the waves

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Dutch firm U-Boat Worx describes the latest addition to its line of submersibles as a "subsea-Ferrari". Like many Ferraris, the company's new HP Sport Sub 2 seats two and comes in eye-catching red, but unlike most Ferraris, it can carry a pilot and passenger to a depth of 100 m (330 ft) beneath the waves for periods of up to six hours.

Designed to fit into the tender garage of superyachts 30 m (98 ft) and greater, or towed easily behind the Bentley, the HP Sport Sub 2 displaces the Super Yacht Sub 3 as the most compact U-Boat Worx model. Featuring a new acrylic-steel pressure hull design, the craft measures 285 cm (9.3 ft) long and 235 cm (7.7 ft) wide, giving it the same length and width dimensions as the Super Yacht Sub 3. However, it isn't as high, measuring 136 cm (4.5 ft) to the Super Yacht Sub 3's 174 cm (5.7 ft) and providing a more streamlined shape.

Despite the reduced height, U-Boat Worx has positioned the access hatch high above the waterline to overcome the difficulties faced by conventional sports submersible when embarking and disembarking in the water. The company says the elevated freeboard and stability of the vehicle means there is no need for "man-rated" cranes to get people in and out. And with a weight of 2,200-kg (4,850-lb), the craft is light enough to allow existing cranes to be used for launch and recovery.

With 2 x 2.7 kW brushless electric thrusters providing horizontal propulsion and 4 x 2.7 kW thrusters providing vectored vertical propulsion, the personal sports submersible can reach speeds of 3 knots (3.5 mph, 5.6 km/h) on the surface and 2 knots (2.3 mph, 3.7 km/h) when submerged. However, upgrading the horizontal thrusters to 2 x 5.5 kW units will increase speeds to 5 knots (5.7 mph, 9.3 km/h) on the surface and 3 knots below the waves.

Total power capacity for the sub is 21.6 kWh, provided by lithium-ion batteries that take around four hours to recharge. An emergency battery is also on board that will provide power to critical systems for up to 96 hours. Control is via the dual-joystick, gamepad-style Manta fly-by-wire controller found in previous U-Boat Worx models, which can be passed to the passenger if they want to take control for a bit.

"The design is attractive, but above all, safe and functional,” says U-Boat Worx founder and Chairman, Bert Houtman. “We’ve adopted a very different look compared to traditional submersibles, but without compromising safety and ease of use - the ability to easily board the craft at the surface, for example."

As you might expect, the HP Sport Sub 2 isn’t cheap, setting your offshore account back US$1.35 million. That price includes a battery charger, training course and a DNV-GL certification. Production models are scheduled for delivery to select superyacht owners for the third quarter of 2015.

Source: U-Boat Worx

 

She’s fantastic, Elle est magnifique….

 

A artista australiana CJ Hendry desenha com técnica impressionante e muita paciência ilustrações de objetos tão reais que parecem saltar aos olhos.

De forma que parecem fotografias em p&b granuladas, os desenhos criados por Hendry são feitos meticulosamente com pontilhados de canetas nanquim.

Destacando a textura e o sombreado dos objetos representados, Hendry tende a desenhar produtos de luxo como o perfume Chanel nº5 ou acessórios de marca, com exceção de ilustrações de série de ossos.

 

Apart from her awesome drawings she’s very beautiful too.

J Sidenei ( um apaixonado por belas mulheres…sou, mas quem não é?)

Heading a soccer ball may affect cognitive performance

 

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Sports-related head injuries are a growing concern, and new research suggests that even less forceful actions like 'heading' a soccer ball may cause changes in performance on certain cognitive tasks.

Sports-related head injuries are a growing concern, and new research suggests that even less forceful actions like 'heading' a soccer ball may cause changes in performance on certain cognitive tasks, according to a paper published February 27 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Anne Sereno and colleagues from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

The researchers tested the effects of non-injurious head-to-ball impacts on cognitive function using a tablet-based app. They found that high school female soccer players were significantly slower than non-players on a task that required pointing away from a target on the screen, but showed no difference in performance when pointing to the on-screen visual target.

According to the study, tasks that involve pointing away from a target require specific voluntary responses, whereas moving toward a target is a more reflexive response. Based on their observations, the authors conclude that sub-concussive blows to the head may cause changes specifically linked to certain cognitive functions.

The authors say that the app used in their research may be a quick and effective way to screen for and track cognitive changes in athletes. They add that a tablet-based application for such quick screens may also have broader applications in the clinic or the field.

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Public Library of Science. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Marsha R. Zhang, Stuart D. Red, Angela H. Lin, Saumil S. Patel, Anne B. Sereno. Evidence of Cognitive Dysfunction after Soccer Playing with Ball Heading Using a Novel Tablet-Based Approach. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (2): e57364 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057364

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Could action video games help people with dyslexia learn to read?

 

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In addition to their trouble with reading, people with dyslexia also have greater difficulty than typical readers do when it comes to managing competing sensory cues, according to a study reported February 13 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. The findings suggest that action video games might improve literacy skills in those with dyslexia, which represent five to ten percent of the population.

"Imagine you are having a conversation with someone when suddenly you hear your name uttered behind you," says Vanessa Harrar of the University of Oxford. "Your attention shifts from the person you are talking to -- the visual -- to the sound behind you. This is an example of a cross-sensory shift of attention. We found that shifting attention from visual to auditory stimuli is particularly difficult for people who have dyslexia compared to good readers."

In fact, researchers already knew that people with dyslexia had some challenges with auditory processing in addition to their visual impairments. New evidence had also begun to link multisensory integration and dyslexia to the same parts of the brain. That evidence, together with Harrar's own personal challenges with reading and writing, prompted her and her colleagues to conduct one of the first investigations of how people with dyslexia process multisensory stimuli.

Participants in the study were asked to push a button as quickly as possible when they heard a sound, saw a dim flash, or experienced both together. The speed with which they pressed the buttons was recorded and analyzed. While everyone was fastest when the same type of stimuli repeated itself, the data showed that people with dyslexia were particularly slow at pressing the button when a sound-only trial followed a visual-only trial. In other words, they showed "sluggish attention shifting," particularly when asked to shift their attention from a flash of light to a sound.

While the researchers say further study is needed, they suggest based on the findings that dyslexia training programs should take this asymmetry into account.

"We think that people with dyslexia might learn associations between letters and their sounds faster if they first hear the sound and then see the corresponding letter or word," Harrar says. Of course, traditional approaches to reading, in which letters are first seen and then heard, do just the opposite.

Harrar's team goes on to propose a unique, nonverbal approach to improve reading and writing with action video games. "We propose that training people with dyslexia to shift attention quickly from visual to auditory stimuli and back -- such as with a video game, where attention is constantly shifting focus -- might also improve literacy. Action video games have been shown to improve multitasking skills and might also be beneficial in improving the speed with which people with dyslexia shift attention from one task, or sense, to another."

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Cell Press. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Vanessa Harrar, Jonathan Tammam, Alexis Pérez-Bellido, Anna Pitt, John Stein, Charles Spence. Multisensory Integration and Attention in Developmental Dyslexia. Current Biology, 2014; DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.01.029

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People with MS-related memory and attention problems have signs of extensive brain damage

 

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People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who have cognitive problems, or problems with memory, attention, and concentration, have more damage to areas of the brain involved in cognitive processes than people with MS who do not have cognitive problems, according to a study published in the March 6, 2013, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The study used a type of MRI brain scan called diffusion tensor imaging along with regular MRI scans to compare brain measurements in 20 people with MS who had related cognitive problems, 35 people with MS who did not have cognitive problems and 30 healthy participants.

The diffusion tensor images showed that, compared to the healthy control participants, 49 percent of the investigated brain white matter had impaired integrity in those with MS and no cognitive problems, while impaired integrity was evident in 76 percent of the investigated white matter of those with MS and related cognitive problems. In the people with MS-related cognitive problems, the extra white matter dysfunction was particularly seen in areas important for cognitive skills, such as the thalamus.

"This state-of-the-art imaging technology confirms that cognitive symptoms in MS have a biological basis," said study author Hanneke E. Hulst, MSc, of VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. "The consequence of this discovery is that imaging can now be used to capture a wider spectrum of changes in the brains of people with MS, and will therefore help determine more accurately whether new treatments are helping with all aspects of the disease."

Cognitive problems are common in MS, affecting up to 65 percent of people with the disease.

The study was supported by the Dutch MS Research Foundation.

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by American Academy of Neurology (AAN). Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Cognition

 

The term cognition is used in several loosely related ways to refer to a faculty for the human-like processing of information, applying knowledge and changing preferences.

Cognition or cognitive processes can be natural and artificial, conscious and not conscious; therefore, they are analyzed from different perspectives and in different contexts, in anesthesia, neurology, psychology, philosophy, systemics and computer science.

The concept of cognition is closely related to such abstract concepts as mind, reasoning, perception, intelligence, learning, and many others that describe numerous capabilities of human mind and expected properties of artificial or synthetic intelligence.

Cognition is an abstract property of advanced living organisms; therefore, it is studied as a direct property of a brain or of an abstract mind on subsymbolic and symbolic levels.

In psychology and in artificial intelligence, it is used to refer to the mental functions, mental processes and states of intelligent entities (humans, human organizations, highly autonomous robots), with a particular focus toward the study of such mental processes as comprehension, inferencing, decision-making, planning and learning (see also cognitive science and cognitivism).

Recently, advanced cognitive researchers have been especially focused on the capacities of abstraction, generalization, concretization/specialization and meta-reasoning which descriptions involve such concepts as beliefs, knowledge, desires, preferences and intentions of intelligent individuals/objects/agents/systems.

The term "cognition" is also used in a wider sense to mean the act of knowing or knowledge, and may be interpreted in a social or cultural sense to describe the emergent development of knowledge and concepts within a group that culminate in both thought and action.

Neuropsychology

 

Neuropsychology is a branch of psychology and neurology that aims to understand how the structure and function of the brain relate to specific psychological processes.

It is scientific in its approach and shares an information processing view of the mind with cognitive psychology and cognitive science.

It is one of the more eclectic of the psychological disciplines, overlapping at times with areas such as neuroscience, philosophy (particularly philosophy of mind), neurology, psychiatry and computer science (particularly by making use of artificial neural networks).

Evolutionary psychology

 

Evolutionary psychology is a theoretical approach to psychology that attempts to explain useful mental and psychological traits—such as memory, perception, or language—as adaptations, i.e., as the functional products of natural selection.

The purpose of this approach is to bring the functional way of thinking about biological mechanisms such as the immune system into the field of psychology, and to approach psychological mechanisms in a similar way.

In short, evolutionary psychology is focused on how evolution has shaped the mind and behavior.

Though applicable to any organism with a nervous system, most research in evolutionary psychology focuses on humans.

Evolutionary Psychology proposes that the human brain comprises many functional mechanisms, called psychological adaptations or evolved cognitive mechanisms designed by the process of natural selection.

Examples include language acquisition modules, incest avoidance mechanisms, cheater detection mechanisms, intelligence and sex-specific mating preferences, foraging mechanisms, alliance-tracking mechanisms, agent detection mechanisms, and so on.

Evolutionary psychology has roots in cognitive psychology and evolutionary biology.

It also draws on behavioral ecology, artificial intelligence, genetics, ethology, anthropology, archaeology, biology, and zoology.

Evolutionary psychology is closely linked to sociobiology, but there are key differences between them including the emphasis on domain-specific rather than domain-general mechanisms, the relevance of measures of current fitness, the importance of mismatch theory, and psychology rather than behaviour.

Many evolutionary psychologists, however, argue that the mind consists of both domain-specific and domain-general mechanisms, especially evolutionary developmental psychologists.

Most sociobiological research is now conducted in the field of behavioral ecology.