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Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Gay Couples Tie Knot In New Jersey As Christie Backs Down
[unable to retrieve full-text content]New Jersey became the 14th state to allow same-sex marriage Monday when gay couples began marrying just after midnight. A state judge forced the state to recognize same-sex marriages. Initially, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie appealed that ruling. But he dropped that appeal Monday, saying the New Jersey Supreme Court had already made clear how it would rule.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NprProgramsATC/~3/qUapGdYEuLg/story.php
Tags: britney spears obamacare US News college rankings usher Flossie
Tags: britney spears obamacare US News college rankings usher Flossie
Apple's Double iPad Party: Everything You May Have Missed
Today was a banner day for new Apple goodness. We got a thinner, lighter, iPad—the iPad Air—as well as a new retina display iPad mini, new Haswell chip-packed MacBook Pros, and a deeper look at the new Mac Pros. Do you feel like you need a cheat sheet to keep track? We've got just the thing:
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Tuesday, October 22, 2013
The Simple but Amazing Scheme Behind Google’s Wi-Fi Balloons
Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma
Obama Gets Firsthand Look at a Tornado Damage
Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long. Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long.
Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long. Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma. Very long title. Long long long.
Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/video/video/2013/10/the_simple_but_amazing_scheme_behind_google_s_wi_fi_balloons.html
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In Cost-Cutting Move, NOAA To Stop Printing Nautical Charts
This undated photo made available by NOAA shows a computer displaying an electronic nautical chart aboard a ship.
AP
This undated photo made available by NOAA shows a computer displaying an electronic nautical chart aboard a ship.
AP
NOAA, the federal agency charged with surveying the nation's navigable waters to help keep mariners off the rocks and out of the shallows, will cease printing paper charts after mid-April.
Partly as a cost-saving measure, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Coast Survey will offer charts only via on-demand printing, as PDFs or electronic charts.
In a statement, NOAA says:
"Since 1862, those lithographic nautical charts—available in marine shops and other stores—have been printed by the U.S. government and sold to the public by commercial vendors. The decision to stop production is based on several factors: the declining demand for lithographic charts, the increasing use of digital and electronic charts, and federal budget realities."
"With the end of traditional paper charts, our primary concern continues to be making sure that boaters, fishing vessels, and commercial mariners have access to the most accurate, up-to-date nautical chart in a format that works well for them," Ocean Survey chief Capt. Shep Smith says. "Fortunately, advancements in computing and mobile technologies give us many more options than was possible years ago."
In recent years, electronic charts accessed on tablet computers and GPS chartplotters have become a popular option for pleasure boats and larger vessels, but many people still insist on using paper charts, at least as a backup, says Bill Griffin, general manager of Fawcett Boat Supply in Annapolis, Maryland.
"Any prudent mariner is going to have paper charts," he says. "I don't see paper going away anytime soon."
All of the charts that Fawcett sells are on-demand and the store sells "hundreds" each year, Griffin tells NPR.
"We used to stock lots of paper charts, but we couldn't keep everything," he says. "With on-demand printing, we can get any chart for U.S. waters at the drop of a hat — and the beauty is it's always updated."
"NOAA sells about 60,000 of the old lithographic 4-by-3 foot maps each year, for about $20 apiece, the same price it costs to print them.
The trouble is that NOAA doesn't print them, but the Federal Aviation Administration does. And they don't want to anymore to save some money, Smith said. The FAA took over federal chart-making in 1999 and on Oct. 15 told NOAA it was going to stop the presses, according to the ocean agency.
Capt. Shep Smith says it costs NOAA about $100 million a year to survey and chart the nation's waters and it will still spend the same money, but provide the information in the less traditional way."
NOAA says it will officially stop supplying printed charts on April 13.
So far, there's been mixed reaction to the move, at least from mariners who tweet:
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New program makes prostate cancer treatment decisions easier
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 22-Oct-2013
[
]
ShareContact: Edyta Zielinska
edyta.zielinska@jefferson.edu
215-955-5291
Thomas Jefferson University
When the pros and cons of prostate cancer treatment are spelled out using an online interactive program developed by Thomas Jefferson University researchers, more patients choose active surveillance over therapy, according to research being presented Wednesday (October 23rd) at the Society for Medical Decision Making annual meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
A recent clinical study showed that mortality rates for early stage prostate cancer were the same for men who choose active surveillance such as periodic PSA testing and biopsy, versus those who chose to treat their disease immediately with radiation or surgery (N Engl J Med, 367:203, 2012). The research suggested that in cases of low-risk prostate cancer, aggressive treatment may not offer a long term survival benefit, and yet is associated with a number of side effects such as urinary incontinence and sexual problems. However, the vast majority of men diagnosed with low-risk cancer undergo aggressive treatment rather than active surveillance.
To ensure that patients make their treatment decisions based on the most current medical evidence and their own values and preferences, a research team at Thomas Jefferson University led by Ronald E. Myers, Ph.D., developed an online program called the Decision Counseling Program (DCP) to help patients clarify their treatment preference and discuss their options with the clinical team. This online program is unique to Jefferson.
First, patients are shown a printed summary of answers to frequently asked questions by treatment type. Some of the questions include: "What treatment option is best for long term survival?" and "What are the side effects." With the help of a nurse, the patient then identifies the top 3 reasons the patient may or may not want to initiate active surveillance (pros and cons). The patient then ranks those reasons by importance. The nurse enters the reasons and rankings into the online program and generates a 1-page summary report that helps patients visualize their preference to active surveillance versus aggressive treatment. A copy of the report is given to the patient and the clinical team. The report is used as a point of discussion during the patient's clinical visit with an urologist and radiologist.
The research team tested the program with 23 low-risk prostate cancer patients. After participating in the Decision Counseling Program and speaking with the clinical team, 83 percent of the patients decided on active surveillance, rather than aggressive treatment. In addition, says Dr. Myers, "patients were more knowledgeable, and reported feeling more informed, more supported and less conflicted in their decision after going through the program. They understood their options better, and felt like they were making a treatment decision that was right for them."
###
Authors are available for interview on site at the conference or by phone.
For more information, contact:
Edyta Zielinska
(
215)955-5291
edyta.zielinska@jefferson.edu.
Thomas Jefferson University (TJU), the largest freestanding academic medical center in Philadelphia, is nationally renowned for medical and health sciences education and innovative research. Founded in 1824, TJU includes Jefferson Medical College (JMC), one of the largest private medical schools in the country and ranked among the nation's best medical schools by U.S. News & World Report, and the Jefferson Schools of Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions, Population Health and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Jefferson University Physicians is TJU's multi-specialty physician practice consisting of the full-time faculty of JMC. Thomas Jefferson University partners with its clinical affiliate, Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals.
Published 10-21-2013
[
Share]
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 22-Oct-2013
[
]
ShareContact: Edyta Zielinska
edyta.zielinska@jefferson.edu
215-955-5291
Thomas Jefferson University
When the pros and cons of prostate cancer treatment are spelled out using an online interactive program developed by Thomas Jefferson University researchers, more patients choose active surveillance over therapy, according to research being presented Wednesday (October 23rd) at the Society for Medical Decision Making annual meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
A recent clinical study showed that mortality rates for early stage prostate cancer were the same for men who choose active surveillance such as periodic PSA testing and biopsy, versus those who chose to treat their disease immediately with radiation or surgery (N Engl J Med, 367:203, 2012). The research suggested that in cases of low-risk prostate cancer, aggressive treatment may not offer a long term survival benefit, and yet is associated with a number of side effects such as urinary incontinence and sexual problems. However, the vast majority of men diagnosed with low-risk cancer undergo aggressive treatment rather than active surveillance.
To ensure that patients make their treatment decisions based on the most current medical evidence and their own values and preferences, a research team at Thomas Jefferson University led by Ronald E. Myers, Ph.D., developed an online program called the Decision Counseling Program (DCP) to help patients clarify their treatment preference and discuss their options with the clinical team. This online program is unique to Jefferson.
First, patients are shown a printed summary of answers to frequently asked questions by treatment type. Some of the questions include: "What treatment option is best for long term survival?" and "What are the side effects." With the help of a nurse, the patient then identifies the top 3 reasons the patient may or may not want to initiate active surveillance (pros and cons). The patient then ranks those reasons by importance. The nurse enters the reasons and rankings into the online program and generates a 1-page summary report that helps patients visualize their preference to active surveillance versus aggressive treatment. A copy of the report is given to the patient and the clinical team. The report is used as a point of discussion during the patient's clinical visit with an urologist and radiologist.
The research team tested the program with 23 low-risk prostate cancer patients. After participating in the Decision Counseling Program and speaking with the clinical team, 83 percent of the patients decided on active surveillance, rather than aggressive treatment. In addition, says Dr. Myers, "patients were more knowledgeable, and reported feeling more informed, more supported and less conflicted in their decision after going through the program. They understood their options better, and felt like they were making a treatment decision that was right for them."
###
Authors are available for interview on site at the conference or by phone.
For more information, contact:
Edyta Zielinska
(
215)955-5291
edyta.zielinska@jefferson.edu.
Thomas Jefferson University (TJU), the largest freestanding academic medical center in Philadelphia, is nationally renowned for medical and health sciences education and innovative research. Founded in 1824, TJU includes Jefferson Medical College (JMC), one of the largest private medical schools in the country and ranked among the nation's best medical schools by U.S. News & World Report, and the Jefferson Schools of Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions, Population Health and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Jefferson University Physicians is TJU's multi-specialty physician practice consisting of the full-time faculty of JMC. Thomas Jefferson University partners with its clinical affiliate, Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals.
Published 10-21-2013
[
Share]
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/tju-npm102213.php
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Time is ripe for fire detection satellite, say UC Berkeley scientists
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 21-Oct-2013
[
]
ShareContact: Robert Sanders
rlsanders@berkeley.edu
510-643-6998
University of California - Berkeley
Improved and cheaper sensors, faster analysis software make satellite feasible
As firefighters emerge from another record wildfire season in the Western United States, University of California, Berkeley, scientists say it's time to give them a 21st century tool: a fire-spotting satellite.
Such a satellite could view the Western states almost continuously, snapping pictures of the ground every few seconds in search of hot spots that could be newly ignited wildfires. Firefighting resources could then be directed to these spots in hopes of preventing the fires from growing out of control and threatening lives and property.
The UC Berkeley scientists have designed such a satellite using state-of-the-art sensors, written analysis software to minimize false alarms, and even given it a name the Fire Urgency Estimator in Geosynchronous Orbit (FUEGO). They're hopeful it can be built for several hundred million dollars, either by government or private entities.
"If we had information on the location of fires when they were smaller, then we could take appropriate actions quicker and more easily, including preparing for evacuation," said fire expert Scott Stephens, a UC Berkeley associate professor of environmental science, policy and management. "Wildfires would be smaller in scale if you could detect them before they got too big, like less than an acre."
Stephens, physicist Carl Pennypacker, remote sensing expert Maggi Kelly and their colleagues describe the satellite in an article published online Oct. 17 by the journal Remote Sensing.
"With a satellite like this, we will have a good chance of seeing something from orbit before it becomes an Oakland fire," said Pennypacker, a research associate at UC Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory and scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, referring to the devastating 1991 fire that destroyed more than 3,000 homes in Berkeley and Oakland. "It could pay for itself in one firefighting season."
With global warming, Stephens said, wildfires are expected to become more frequent and more extensive. This year alone, California's firefighting arm, CAL FIRE, has responded to over 6,000 wildfires, 1,600 more than average, according to tweets by the department's information officer Daniel Berlant. Wildfire-prone areas stretching from Spain to Russia could also benefit from their own dedicated satellites.
Updating an outmoded system
Fire detection today is much like it was 200 years ago, Stephens said, relying primarily on spotters in fire towers or on the ground and on reports from members of the public. This information is augmented by aerial reconnaissance and lightning detectors that steer firefighters to ground strikes, which are one of the most common wildfire sparks.
"Even today, most fires are detected, in some way or another, by people," he said. "Even the Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park this past summer was detected by someone who saw a smoke column."
But satellite technology, remote sensing and computing have advanced to the stage where it's now possible to orbit a geostationary satellite that can reliably distinguish small, but spreading, wildfires with few false alarms. Pennypacker estimates that the satellite, which could be built and operated by the federal government, like the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES); as a partnership between government and the private sector, like the Landsat satellite program; or by a private company alone, would cost several hundred million dollars a fraction of the nation's $2.5 billion yearly firefighting budget.
The idea of a fire detection satellite has been floated before, but until recently, detectors have been prohibitively expensive, and the difficulty of discriminating a small burning area from other bright hotspots, such as sunlight glinting off a mirror or windshield, made the likelihood of false alarms high. Today, computers are faster, detectors cheaper and more sensitive, and analysis software far more advanced, making false alarms much less likely, according to researchers.
"Simply put, we believe we have shown that this kind of rapid, sensitive fire detection of areas bigger than 10 feet on a side is probably feasible from space, and we have evidence that the false alarm rate will not be crazy," said Pennypacker, who has designed sensitive satellite-borne detectors for 40 years. "Our work requires further testing, which we are eager to do."
The approach is similar to what Pennypacker and colleague Saul Perlmutter used 20 years ago to search for exploding stars to study the expansion of the universe. In that case, they created an automated system to compare consecutive images of the night sky to look for new points of light that could be supernovas. Perlmutter, UC Berkeley professor of physics, shared the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics for this work, which proved that the expansion of the universe is accelerating.
How it works
"In concept, this is a simple system: a telephoto camera, an infrared filter and a recording device. We are just looking for something bright compared to the surroundings or changing over time," Kelly said. "Then, we do these rapid calculations to determine if one image is different from the next."
Pennypacker and graduate student Marek K. Jakubowski developed a computer analysis technique, or algorithm, to detect these differences in space and time and to distinguish them from bright lights that might look like fires. This involves several billion calculations per second on images taken every few seconds, covering the entire West every few minutes. The new paper reports on tests of this algorithm using existing imagery from real fires, but the team hopes to get funding to test the system on a fire that is starting, such as a prescribed burn.
"The point is, satellites like Landsat and GOES provide great information after a fire starts; they can focus and monitor a fire by looking at smoke plumes, fire spread, hot spots at the edges, etc.," Kelly said. "FUEGO is designed for early detection of smaller fires. Right now, we lose a lot of time because fires are already big by the time we see them."
###
The FUEGO design, for which UC Berkeley has filed a patent, was developed with funds from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research.
Other authors of the paper are Michael Lampton, a research physicist at the Space Sciences Laboratory; Robert Tripp, UC Berkeley professor emeritus of physics; and Christopher Schmidt of the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Pennypacker, Lampton and Tripp are also members of the Physics Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
[
Share]
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 21-Oct-2013
[
]
ShareContact: Robert Sanders
rlsanders@berkeley.edu
510-643-6998
University of California - Berkeley
Improved and cheaper sensors, faster analysis software make satellite feasible
As firefighters emerge from another record wildfire season in the Western United States, University of California, Berkeley, scientists say it's time to give them a 21st century tool: a fire-spotting satellite.
Such a satellite could view the Western states almost continuously, snapping pictures of the ground every few seconds in search of hot spots that could be newly ignited wildfires. Firefighting resources could then be directed to these spots in hopes of preventing the fires from growing out of control and threatening lives and property.
The UC Berkeley scientists have designed such a satellite using state-of-the-art sensors, written analysis software to minimize false alarms, and even given it a name the Fire Urgency Estimator in Geosynchronous Orbit (FUEGO). They're hopeful it can be built for several hundred million dollars, either by government or private entities.
"If we had information on the location of fires when they were smaller, then we could take appropriate actions quicker and more easily, including preparing for evacuation," said fire expert Scott Stephens, a UC Berkeley associate professor of environmental science, policy and management. "Wildfires would be smaller in scale if you could detect them before they got too big, like less than an acre."
Stephens, physicist Carl Pennypacker, remote sensing expert Maggi Kelly and their colleagues describe the satellite in an article published online Oct. 17 by the journal Remote Sensing.
"With a satellite like this, we will have a good chance of seeing something from orbit before it becomes an Oakland fire," said Pennypacker, a research associate at UC Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory and scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, referring to the devastating 1991 fire that destroyed more than 3,000 homes in Berkeley and Oakland. "It could pay for itself in one firefighting season."
With global warming, Stephens said, wildfires are expected to become more frequent and more extensive. This year alone, California's firefighting arm, CAL FIRE, has responded to over 6,000 wildfires, 1,600 more than average, according to tweets by the department's information officer Daniel Berlant. Wildfire-prone areas stretching from Spain to Russia could also benefit from their own dedicated satellites.
Updating an outmoded system
Fire detection today is much like it was 200 years ago, Stephens said, relying primarily on spotters in fire towers or on the ground and on reports from members of the public. This information is augmented by aerial reconnaissance and lightning detectors that steer firefighters to ground strikes, which are one of the most common wildfire sparks.
"Even today, most fires are detected, in some way or another, by people," he said. "Even the Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park this past summer was detected by someone who saw a smoke column."
But satellite technology, remote sensing and computing have advanced to the stage where it's now possible to orbit a geostationary satellite that can reliably distinguish small, but spreading, wildfires with few false alarms. Pennypacker estimates that the satellite, which could be built and operated by the federal government, like the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES); as a partnership between government and the private sector, like the Landsat satellite program; or by a private company alone, would cost several hundred million dollars a fraction of the nation's $2.5 billion yearly firefighting budget.
The idea of a fire detection satellite has been floated before, but until recently, detectors have been prohibitively expensive, and the difficulty of discriminating a small burning area from other bright hotspots, such as sunlight glinting off a mirror or windshield, made the likelihood of false alarms high. Today, computers are faster, detectors cheaper and more sensitive, and analysis software far more advanced, making false alarms much less likely, according to researchers.
"Simply put, we believe we have shown that this kind of rapid, sensitive fire detection of areas bigger than 10 feet on a side is probably feasible from space, and we have evidence that the false alarm rate will not be crazy," said Pennypacker, who has designed sensitive satellite-borne detectors for 40 years. "Our work requires further testing, which we are eager to do."
The approach is similar to what Pennypacker and colleague Saul Perlmutter used 20 years ago to search for exploding stars to study the expansion of the universe. In that case, they created an automated system to compare consecutive images of the night sky to look for new points of light that could be supernovas. Perlmutter, UC Berkeley professor of physics, shared the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics for this work, which proved that the expansion of the universe is accelerating.
How it works
"In concept, this is a simple system: a telephoto camera, an infrared filter and a recording device. We are just looking for something bright compared to the surroundings or changing over time," Kelly said. "Then, we do these rapid calculations to determine if one image is different from the next."
Pennypacker and graduate student Marek K. Jakubowski developed a computer analysis technique, or algorithm, to detect these differences in space and time and to distinguish them from bright lights that might look like fires. This involves several billion calculations per second on images taken every few seconds, covering the entire West every few minutes. The new paper reports on tests of this algorithm using existing imagery from real fires, but the team hopes to get funding to test the system on a fire that is starting, such as a prescribed burn.
"The point is, satellites like Landsat and GOES provide great information after a fire starts; they can focus and monitor a fire by looking at smoke plumes, fire spread, hot spots at the edges, etc.," Kelly said. "FUEGO is designed for early detection of smaller fires. Right now, we lose a lot of time because fires are already big by the time we see them."
###
The FUEGO design, for which UC Berkeley has filed a patent, was developed with funds from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research.
Other authors of the paper are Michael Lampton, a research physicist at the Space Sciences Laboratory; Robert Tripp, UC Berkeley professor emeritus of physics; and Christopher Schmidt of the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Pennypacker, Lampton and Tripp are also members of the Physics Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
[
Share]
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/uoc--tir102113.php
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