The Federal Aviation Administration has changed their regulations regarding the use of electronics during takeoff and landing. The rule change will allow airlines to determine whether a flight will permit the use of electronic devices during all stages of the flight. Activities such as reading ebooks or watching video will be allowed, though there will be some restrictions on how devices are handled, according to an FAA press release
Electronic items, books and magazines, must be held or put in the seat back pocket during the actual takeoff and landing roll. Cell phones should be in airplane mode or with cellular service disabled – i.e., no signal bars displayed—and cannot be used for voice communications based on FCC regulations that prohibit any airborne calls using cell phones. If your air carrier provides Wi-Fi service during flight, you may use those services. You can also continue to use short-range Bluetooth accessories, like wireless keyboards.
Airlines hoping to implement these changes will need to prove to the FAA that their planes meet certain standards for protecting aircraft from electronic interference. Additionally, connecting to the internet is still prohibited under 10,000 feet. Additionally, the rule changes will not be implemented immediately, and their adoption will vary by airline as each company completes their safety inspections, and the current policies will remain in effect for now.
How do you feel about this rule change? Let us know below in the comments.
If you work in new media, there's a sure-fire way to know if you've made it: traditional media starts paying attention. Time Inc. is following in some, ahem, illustrious footsteps after announcing that it's bringing InStyle, People, Fortune and Time to Flipboard. The first two will be arriving on ...
Contact: Malene Bech Vester-Christensen mbxc@novonordisk.com 45-22-15-25-89 University of Copenhagen
About 3,000 people in Denmark suffer from one of the serious muscle-related diseases that come under the heading of muscular dystrophy. Some patients diagnosed with muscular dystrophy die shortly after birth, others become severely retarded and develop eye problems, while certain groups are confined to life in a wheelchair. Common to all muscular dystrophy sufferers is the difficulty of their muscle cells to attach themselves to each other and to the surrounding tissue. However, little is actually known about the root causes of the disease.
New basic research from University of Copenhagen now offers insight into previously unknown facts about muscular dystrophy that may improve future diagnosis and treatment of the disease. The findings have just been published in the scientific journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Science).
"Our new research findings may shed light on some of the cellular processes that take place in connection with, for example, muscular dystrophy. This is important information because it is crucial for us to gain as detailed an understanding as possible about the individual cell components. Although the journey from the current basic research to any potential treatment options or diagnostic tools is a long one, our discoveries give grounds for optimism," says postdoc Malene Bech Vester-Christensen who carried out the new experiments from her base at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, and has since taken up a research position at Novo Nordisk.
Sugar molecules central to our organism
The new method developed by researchers makes it easier to map the proteins that The protein previously associated with muscular dystrophy is a so-called glycoprotein a protein with chains of sugar molecules attached. The special kind of sugar attached to these glycoproteins is called mannose. A functional pathway for binding mannose to the proteins is key to the functioning of the human organism, and genetic defects in the process that attaches mannose to the proteins known as O-mannosylation can lead to diseases such as muscular dystrophy.
"To date, only one single protein has been identified and characterised where the mannose deficiency on the protein leads to muscular dystrophy, but our method enables us to faster identify many new proteins that have mannose attached and therefore potentially play a key role for the disease," says Adnan Halim, who is associated with the research project and a postdoc with the Danish National Research Foundation, Copenhagen Center for Glycomics.
Facts about muscular dystrophy
Muscular dystrophy is a collective term for a range of neuromuscular disorders. There are roughly 100 different known muscular dystrophy diagnoses, which manifest themselves as various functional impairments/disabilities. The individual diagnoses vary greatly, as does the manner in which they develop. Some people experience only a few symptoms, while others suffer extensive functional impairment. About 3,000 people in Denmark suffer from one of the muscle-related diseases classified as muscular dystrophy. Muscular dystrophy cannot be cured, but much can be done to relieve and treat the consequences of the diseases. Source: The Danish Muscular Dystrophy Foundation.
Facts about the research
The researchers used cells with a functional pathway to attach mannose to proteins, but then simplified the proteins' sugar chains by removing the gene responsible for lengthening the chains and making them more complex. The proteins carrying the 'sugar chain', which now consists solely of mannose, were then isolated, enabling the researchers to determine which proteins carried mannose and where the mannose was situated.
Facts about mannose
For many years researchers believed that O-linked mannose on proteins was found only in yeast, but recent studies have showed that the mannose sugar molecule also binds to some of the proteins in human cells. Mannose plays a key role in the binding of muscle cells in tissue, and the lack of mannose on certain proteins can lead to muscular dystrophy. The variations in the degree of severity of the defects in the process known as O-mannosylation that attaches mannose to proteins and probably also which proteins carry mannose are key in determining how the disease manifests itself and its severity.
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New knowledge about serious muscle disease
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
31-Oct-2013
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Contact: Malene Bech Vester-Christensen mbxc@novonordisk.com 45-22-15-25-89 University of Copenhagen
About 3,000 people in Denmark suffer from one of the serious muscle-related diseases that come under the heading of muscular dystrophy. Some patients diagnosed with muscular dystrophy die shortly after birth, others become severely retarded and develop eye problems, while certain groups are confined to life in a wheelchair. Common to all muscular dystrophy sufferers is the difficulty of their muscle cells to attach themselves to each other and to the surrounding tissue. However, little is actually known about the root causes of the disease.
New basic research from University of Copenhagen now offers insight into previously unknown facts about muscular dystrophy that may improve future diagnosis and treatment of the disease. The findings have just been published in the scientific journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Science).
"Our new research findings may shed light on some of the cellular processes that take place in connection with, for example, muscular dystrophy. This is important information because it is crucial for us to gain as detailed an understanding as possible about the individual cell components. Although the journey from the current basic research to any potential treatment options or diagnostic tools is a long one, our discoveries give grounds for optimism," says postdoc Malene Bech Vester-Christensen who carried out the new experiments from her base at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, and has since taken up a research position at Novo Nordisk.
Sugar molecules central to our organism
The new method developed by researchers makes it easier to map the proteins that The protein previously associated with muscular dystrophy is a so-called glycoprotein a protein with chains of sugar molecules attached. The special kind of sugar attached to these glycoproteins is called mannose. A functional pathway for binding mannose to the proteins is key to the functioning of the human organism, and genetic defects in the process that attaches mannose to the proteins known as O-mannosylation can lead to diseases such as muscular dystrophy.
"To date, only one single protein has been identified and characterised where the mannose deficiency on the protein leads to muscular dystrophy, but our method enables us to faster identify many new proteins that have mannose attached and therefore potentially play a key role for the disease," says Adnan Halim, who is associated with the research project and a postdoc with the Danish National Research Foundation, Copenhagen Center for Glycomics.
Facts about muscular dystrophy
Muscular dystrophy is a collective term for a range of neuromuscular disorders. There are roughly 100 different known muscular dystrophy diagnoses, which manifest themselves as various functional impairments/disabilities. The individual diagnoses vary greatly, as does the manner in which they develop. Some people experience only a few symptoms, while others suffer extensive functional impairment. About 3,000 people in Denmark suffer from one of the muscle-related diseases classified as muscular dystrophy. Muscular dystrophy cannot be cured, but much can be done to relieve and treat the consequences of the diseases. Source: The Danish Muscular Dystrophy Foundation.
Facts about the research
The researchers used cells with a functional pathway to attach mannose to proteins, but then simplified the proteins' sugar chains by removing the gene responsible for lengthening the chains and making them more complex. The proteins carrying the 'sugar chain', which now consists solely of mannose, were then isolated, enabling the researchers to determine which proteins carried mannose and where the mannose was situated.
Facts about mannose
For many years researchers believed that O-linked mannose on proteins was found only in yeast, but recent studies have showed that the mannose sugar molecule also binds to some of the proteins in human cells. Mannose plays a key role in the binding of muscle cells in tissue, and the lack of mannose on certain proteins can lead to muscular dystrophy. The variations in the degree of severity of the defects in the process known as O-mannosylation that attaches mannose to proteins and probably also which proteins carry mannose are key in determining how the disease manifests itself and its severity.
###
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
CAIRO (Reuters) - Supporters of Egypt's ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi called on Thursday for daily protests in the four days before his trial on November 4, raising the danger of more violence in a crisis that has already cost hundreds of lives.
Mursi, who was ousted by the army on July 3 after mass demonstrations against his rule, is due to appear in court on Monday along with 14 other senior Muslim Brotherhood figures on charges of inciting violence.
The trial could further inflame tensions between the Brotherhood and the army-backed interim government as it struggles to restore stability in the most populous Arab state.
"The Alliance calls on all proud, free Egyptians to gather in the squares in protest against these trials... starting on Friday," the Brotherhood and its allies said in a statement.
It urged crowds to move on Monday to a police institute near Cairo's Tora prison, where the trial is expected to take place.
The charges relate to the deaths of about a dozen people in clashes outside the presidential palace in December after Mursi enraged his opponents with a decree expanding his powers.
Mursi has been held in a secret location in the four months since his overthrow. In that time Islamist militants have staged almost daily attacks in the Sinai Peninsula. Supporters and opponents of the Brotherhood have often clashed in the streets.
Backers of Mursi, Egypt's first freely elected president, say his removal was a coup, reversing the gains of the popular uprising which toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
The army says it was responding to the will of the people.
Security officials accuse Brotherhood leaders of inciting violence and terrorism. Hundreds of the Brotherhood's members have been killed and many of its leaders have been jailed in one of the toughest security crackdowns in the movement's history.
A court order has banned the Brotherhood, Egypt's oldest and best organized Islamist movement, and seized its funds.
The Brotherhood denies any links with violent activity.
(Reporting by Asma Alsharif; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and Alistair Lyon)
MOSCOW (AP) — Anatoly Kucherena, a lawyer for former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden, says his client has found a technical support job at a Russian website.
Kucherena told the RIA Novosti news agency Thursday that Snowden starts his new job on Friday. Kucherena declined to name the company that has hired Snowden but says it's a major Russian website.
Snowden was granted asylum in Russia in August after being stuck at a Moscow airport for more than a month after flying there from Hong Kong. His whereabouts in Russia remain secret.
The 30-year-old faces espionage charges in the U.S for uncovering a mass surveillance scheme at the National Security Agency.
Kucherena was unavailable for comment when contacted by the AP.
Sex determiner gene of honey bee more complicated that previously assumed
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
31-Oct-2013
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Contact: Dr. Martin Hasselmann martin.hasselmann@uni-koeln.de 49-022-147-01586 University of Cologne
Cologne biologist recognizes huge significance of finding for bee keeping
Bee colonies consist of a queen bee, lots of female worker bees and some male drones. The gene that determines the sex of the bees is much more complex than has been assumed up until now and has developed over the course of evolution at a very high rate. This is the finding of an international team of scientists under the direction of Dr. Martin Hasselmann of the Institute for Genetics of the University of Cologne. The study has been published in the renowned Oxford journal Molecular Biology and Evolution.
Male honey bees (Apis mellifera) hatch from fertilized eggs and females from fertilized ones. In these fertilized eggs, the condition of the complementary sex determiner (csd) gene is of crucial significance for the creation of female workers. The queen bee, who, in the course of their mating flight, mate with different drones multiple times, passes on to fertilized eggs a random combinations of two csd copies, so-called alleles. If these alleles are different enough, they develop into a female. If the csd gene, in contrast, is present in the fertilized eggs in two identical versions, diploid drones develop. These are, however, eaten by worker bees after they hatch.
Up until now, it was assumed that there were up to 20 csd alleles. In the dataset, which the research team under the direction of Hasselmann collected from all over the world and examined, there were, however, 53 csd alleles found in localities (in Kenya), and worldwide at least csd 87 alleles. Using an evolutionary model, the scientists extrapolated 116 145 csd alleles. New csd alleles were created in a relatively quick period for evolution: ca. every 400,000 years. A region inside the csd gene in particular represents a hot-spot with a high evolutionary rate that, together with certain amino acid mutations, decisively contributes to the formation of new csd alleles in the flanking regions.
The vitality of a bee population depends on, amongst other things, the genetic diversity of sex determining alleles. These new findings are therefore very important for apiculture for minimizing the danger of inbreeding and thereby the production of diploid drones.
###
PD Dr. Martin Hasselmann has been the director of the research group "Population Genetics of Social Insects" at the University of Cologne as a DFG Heisenberg stipendiary since May 2012. His research foci include the social insects honey bees, bumble bees and stingless bees, the unique biology of which can be used as models to decipher the genetic fundaments of environmental interaction and evolutionary innovation.
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Sex determiner gene of honey bee more complicated that previously assumed
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
31-Oct-2013
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Contact: Dr. Martin Hasselmann martin.hasselmann@uni-koeln.de 49-022-147-01586 University of Cologne
Cologne biologist recognizes huge significance of finding for bee keeping
Bee colonies consist of a queen bee, lots of female worker bees and some male drones. The gene that determines the sex of the bees is much more complex than has been assumed up until now and has developed over the course of evolution at a very high rate. This is the finding of an international team of scientists under the direction of Dr. Martin Hasselmann of the Institute for Genetics of the University of Cologne. The study has been published in the renowned Oxford journal Molecular Biology and Evolution.
Male honey bees (Apis mellifera) hatch from fertilized eggs and females from fertilized ones. In these fertilized eggs, the condition of the complementary sex determiner (csd) gene is of crucial significance for the creation of female workers. The queen bee, who, in the course of their mating flight, mate with different drones multiple times, passes on to fertilized eggs a random combinations of two csd copies, so-called alleles. If these alleles are different enough, they develop into a female. If the csd gene, in contrast, is present in the fertilized eggs in two identical versions, diploid drones develop. These are, however, eaten by worker bees after they hatch.
Up until now, it was assumed that there were up to 20 csd alleles. In the dataset, which the research team under the direction of Hasselmann collected from all over the world and examined, there were, however, 53 csd alleles found in localities (in Kenya), and worldwide at least csd 87 alleles. Using an evolutionary model, the scientists extrapolated 116 145 csd alleles. New csd alleles were created in a relatively quick period for evolution: ca. every 400,000 years. A region inside the csd gene in particular represents a hot-spot with a high evolutionary rate that, together with certain amino acid mutations, decisively contributes to the formation of new csd alleles in the flanking regions.
The vitality of a bee population depends on, amongst other things, the genetic diversity of sex determining alleles. These new findings are therefore very important for apiculture for minimizing the danger of inbreeding and thereby the production of diploid drones.
###
PD Dr. Martin Hasselmann has been the director of the research group "Population Genetics of Social Insects" at the University of Cologne as a DFG Heisenberg stipendiary since May 2012. His research foci include the social insects honey bees, bumble bees and stingless bees, the unique biology of which can be used as models to decipher the genetic fundaments of environmental interaction and evolutionary innovation.
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Share
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
With his upcoming flick "A Perfect Man" slated to hit theaters November 1st, Liev Schreiber scored the cover spot of Cigar Aficionado magazine's November/December 2013 issue.
During his Q&A session, the "Defiance" actor chatted about his relationship with Naomi Watts and his career.
Check out a few highlights from Mr. Schreiber's interview below. For more, be sure to visit Cigar Aficionado!
On Naomi:
"To me, we're married, though I guess that, legally, we're a domestic partnership. I'm just happy we're a great couple."
On not being considered as a "movie star":
"I'm flattered but that seems like a bit of a stretch. When I hear that term, I think about people like Johnny Depp or Angelina Jolie. Actually, I think of people like Gary Cooper, Bette David, Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant. I mean, I act, I'm a parent, I'm an entrepreneur. I don't know if you have anyone anymore who is exclusively a movie star."
On going into TV acting:
"I was not interested in television. And I was less interested in a TV show that was shot in L.A., because I'm a New Yorker. It was a really good script; there was no way around that."
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/6Zxd5rtvme8/story01.htm
If you work in new media, there's a sure-fire way to know if you've made it: traditional media starts paying attention. Time Inc. is following in some, ahem, illustrious footsteps after announcing that it's bringing InStyle, People, Fortune and Time to Flipboard. The first two will be arriving on ...
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