Wednesday, March 20, 2013

7 Galaxy S4 Features You Can Get On Your iPhone Today

In addition to its high-end hardware, Samsung's Galaxy S4 phone comes with a slew of proprietary apps that help improve your health, enhance your photography, control your TV and secure your business data. Though Samsung would certainly like iPhone users to switch platforms for these features, most of them are available in iOS via third-party apps. So before you run to the store to trade in your handset, check out this rundown of 7 Galaxy S4 features you can get on the iPhone today. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ogH8i_v07dY/7-galaxy-s4-features-you-can-get-on-your-iphone-today

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Blood levels of fat cell hormone may predict severity of migraines

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

In a small, preliminary study of regular migraine sufferers, scientists have found that measuring a fat-derived protein called adiponectin (ADP) before and after migraine treatment can accurately reveal which headache victims felt pain relief.

A report on the study of people experiencing two to 12 migraine headaches per month, led by researchers at Johns Hopkins, is published in the March issue of the journal Headache.

"This study takes the first steps in identifying a potential biomarker for migraine that predicts treatment response and, we hope, can one day be used as a target for developing new and better migraine therapies," says study leader B. Lee Peterlin, D.O., an associate professor of neurology and director of headache research at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She cautioned that larger, confirmatory studies are needed for that to happen.

Experts estimate that roughly 36 million Americans, or 12 percent of the population, suffer from debilitating migraine headaches that last four hours or longer. Migraines are defined as headaches with at least two of four special characteristics: unilateral or one-side-of-the-head occurrence; moderately to severely painful; aggravated by routine activity and of a pounding or throbbing nature. Sufferers generally also feel nauseated or are sensitive to light and sound. Women are three times as likely to get migraines as men.

Such complicated diagnostic criteria mean that diagnosis is tricky, a fact driving efforts, Peterlin says, to find better diagnostic tools.

For the study, Peterlin and her colleagues collected blood from 20 women who visited three headache clinics between December 2009 and January 2012 during an acute migraine attack. Blood was taken before treatment with either sumatriptan/naproxen sodium (a drug routinely given to people with migraines) or a placebo. The investigators re-drew blood at 30, 60 and 120 minutes after the study drug was given. Eleven women received the drug and nine got the placebo.

The researchers measured blood levels of ADP, a protein hormone secreted from fat tissue and known to modulate several of the pain pathways implicated in migraine. The hormone is also implicated in sugar metabolism, insulin regulation, immunity and inflammation, as well as obesity, which is a risk factor for migraines.

Peterlin and her colleagues looked at total adiponectin levels and two subtypes or fragments of total ADP in circulation in the blood: low molecular weight (LMW)-adiponectin and high molecular weight (HMW)-adiponectin. LMW is comprised of small fragments of ADP and it is known to have anti-inflammatory properties, while HMW is made up of larger fragments of ADP and is known to have pro-inflammatory properties. Inflammatory pathways in blood vessels in the head are at work in migraine headache.

The researchers found that in all 20 participants when levels of LMW increased, the severity of pain decreased. When the ratio of HMW to LMW molecules increased, the pain severity increased.

"The blood tests could predict response to treatment," Peterlin says.

At onset of pain -- even before study drug was given ? the researchers could identify who would be a responder to treatment and who would not, as there was a greater ratio of HMW to LMW in those who would be responders as compared to those who were not.

After study treatment changes in adiponectin were also seen. Interestingly, in those patients who reported less pain after receiving study drug to treat the migraine ? whether they got the active migraine medication or a placebo ?researchers were able to see a decrease in total levels of ADP in the blood.

Peterlin says the findings indicate it may be possible to develop a treatment that would reduce levels of ADP or parts of adiponectin such as HMW or LMW adiponectin. She says should ADP prove to be a biomarker for migraine, it could help physicians identify who has migraine and know who is likely to respond to which type of medication. It also may help doctors make better medication choices and try alternate drugs sooner.

###

Johns Hopkins Medicine: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org

Thanks to Johns Hopkins Medicine for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127357/Blood_levels_of_fat_cell_hormone_may_predict_severity_of_migraines

Panel: Thumbs down on anthrax vaccine test in kids

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Don't look for testing of the anthrax vaccine to begin in children any time soon.

Controversy arose last year as experts debated whether such studies should be done to learn how to treat children in case of a bioterror attack.

But a presidential commission says the government would have to take multiple steps ? including more safety research in young adults ? before it would be ethical to consider tests in children.

"The safety of our children is paramount, and we have to get this precisely right," said Dr. Amy Gutmann, who chairs the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, which released its report Tuesday.

More than a decade after the anthrax attacks, the government has a multibillion-dollar stockpile of drugs and vaccines to fight an array of threats. There's no information on whether those so-called countermeasures would work in children like they're expected to help their parents, or even what dose to use. Yet if a large attack were to occur, children undoubtedly would receive those untested products.

Worried about how to handle an emergency, a government advisory group recommended studying the anthrax vaccine in children if independent ethics experts agreed it could be done appropriately. The Obama administration put that question to the panel.

Tuesday's answer: Children don't gain any benefit from pre-attack research with the anthrax vaccine or other countermeasures. So the panel said such studies would be ethical only if they presented no more than minimal risk to participants ? like the risk from a routine medical check-up. Determining that would require, among other things, more testing in adults, the panel added. Something that proved safe in 18-year-olds, for example, might be a candidate to study next in 16- and 17-year-olds.

However, the government should plan now for how it would study children who receive those treatments in the event of an attack, the panel said.

The Health and Human Services Department, which requested the advice, said it would review the findings.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/panel-thumbs-down-anthrax-vaccine-test-kids-041115961--politics.html

National Security Insiders: Obama Can't Bring Israelis and Palestinians to Negotiating Table

President Obama is headed to the Holy Land this week, but 72 percent of National Journal's National Security Insiders are not optimistic he can bring Israelis and Palestinians to the negotiating table anytime soon.

"Sure, Obama can do that ... right after he parts the Red Sea," one Insider quipped.

Obama's sweeping remarks to the Muslim world in Cairo in 2009 promised to pursue peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians as a top priority. One year later, U.S.-brokered peace talks fell apart: Israel continued construction in the West Bank over Washington's objections as Palestinians refused to negotiate while settlements were being built.?

With Obama headed to Israel for the first time as U.S. president, Insiders were skeptical of the success of any renewed peace push. "President Obama demonstrated his inability to manage the complexities of this problem during his first term," one said. "After two years of effort, he and [former Sen. George Mitchell] succeeded only in pulling the parties farther apart rather than together."

Others blamed Obama less for the quagmire. "Since 1997, the Department of State has designated Hamas [which controls Gaza] as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Obama is unlikely to change this anytime soon, and so he cannot bring it to the negotiating table," one Insider said. "West Bank Palestinian leadership remains weak, and it cannot speak for those in Gaza. Thus, at present, meaningful negotiations involving leaders of all Palestinians are not possible."

Another added: "The independent variable is Israel. The Netanyahu government, even in formulation, has no interest in such talks and survives politically through fear."

With "almost no chance" of negotiations happening, one Insider said, "if the president has any political capital to spend on this issue, it will focus on Syria and/or Iran."

A 28 percent faction of Insiders were more confident that Obama could bring the two sides together?but no experts voiced any confidence that such meetings would yield a peace deal during Obama's term. "You've heard about bringing the horse to water? Getting them to the table won't make them drink," one Insider said.

"It's certainly possible the president could bring the two sides to the negotiating table, but the prospects for success are limited given each side's ideology and their historical unwillingness to compromise," another Insider added. "I'm not holding my breath."

Separately, 91 percent of Insiders said the U.S. will not find a way to prevent China and other agents from hacking American companies while Obama is in office. National Security Adviser Tom Donilon last week called for China to cease hacking and engage in a dialogue on cybersecurity standards. "So long as the U.S. is engaged in offensive cyberoperations (and it is big time), there is no incentive for the Chinese or anybody else to come to the table," one Insider said. Another said the U.S. lost the "moral high ground" when it joined with Israel to launch the Stuxnet worm to cripple Iran's nuclear facilities. "Thus it has little grounds to complain about China's cyberpilfering."

The hacking of U.S. public and private entities will continue to occur regardless of who is president?and no matter what technical safeguards are built in an effort to thwart hackers, one Insider said. "The effects of hacking can, however, be reduced if companies invest in the latest data-encryption technologies and the U.S. develops a deterrent strategy in cyberspace. The U.S. must also pass legislation mandating minimum evolving cybersecurity standards, an unlikely prospect given the current status of such legislation."

This is a problem that cries out for action by Congress, another Insider said. "The problem is not President Obama, but rather the reluctance of everyone involved?in government and in the targeted companies?to acknowledge what is happening."

1. Can President Obama bring Israelis and the Palestinians to the negotiating table?

(55 votes)

No

"Bringing two parties to the negotiating table requires a willingness on the part of both parties to sit down together. While both sides believe they have fulfilled their self-defined obligations to sit down together, neither has defined them so that a common interest has emerged that is attractive enough for a discussion to begin. Obama's challenge is to help them find that common interest."

"The Obama administration does not have the clout or carry the carrot or stick of previous administrations to broker a credible peace [in] the Middle East."

"Neither side is ready for genuine compromise. Neither side accepts the legitimacy of the other."

"With a full plate already, there is no need for an execise in futility."

"None of the essential groundwork has been done."

"Not for serious, fruitful discussions."

"He is lacking in skills and in domestic political courage."

"The domestic Israel lobby has Obama's hands tied so tightly that he can't pressure the Israelis or play the role of honest broker."

"We can't want peace more than they do. Given the impasse over Israeli settlements, an agreement in the near future is unlikely."

"This is a serious question: Given all of the foreign policy challenges with direct U.S. equities, why should he try?"

"Only if they get to bring their guns to the table. Bibi will never cede to Obama unless it suddenly becomes to his advantage."

"Wanna buy a bridge? It's possible he'll get them to the table, but hugely unlikely anything fruitful can happen there. Obama, like any U.S. president, has no room to maneuver on this issue because of U.S. domestic politics and the power of the Israel lobby. We should stop pretending to be a referee in this game, at least while we're still wearing a uniform of one of the teams."

Yes

"To the table, yes. To any kind of a lasting peace, no."

"Sure, they'll come, just as parties to Middle East peace processes always show up. Results will undoubtedly be the same too."

"You've heard about bringing the horse to water? Getting them to the table won't make them drink."

"It's certainly possible the president could bring the two sides to the negotiating table, but the prospects for success are limited given each side's ideology and their historical unwillingness to compromise. I'm not holding my breath."

2. Will the U.S. find a way to prevent China and other agents from hacking American companies while Obama is in office?

(55 votes)

No

"We have neglected this growing threat and not invested in real cybersecurity; we're so far behind the curve to respond effectively."

"Increased Western condemnation may deter some hacking, but cyber is an ideal asymmetric tool for China to gain strategic and economic advantage. Since China holds a billion dollars in U.S. Treasury bonds, the U.S. cannot take drastic action. There is an intermediate option, akin to the Magnitsky Act. The U.S. could deny visas and use of the U.S. banking system to Chinese officials deemed to be involved in state-sponsored hacking. This leverage will be modest, but the fact of sanctions would embarrass the Chinese."

"This is really not simple hacking; it's state-sponsored commercial espionage. U.S. policy toward China is too complicated and still-evolving to support any direct confrontation over this or many other issues."

"This isn't a problem unique to the Obama administration. Cyberwarfare is going to become increasingly more pervasive, with the United States always playing catch-up in this asymmetric warfare game."

"Until we have created the legal and doctrinal framework to attribute and respond, this will be a pick-up game. There are no consequences associated with their actions, and we continue to play a virtual cat and mouse game."

"This is a long-term problem; there are no quick or easy solutions."

"Some minor protocol may be arrived at, but the hacking monster will remain far from tamed."

"But a firm reaction that makes this a public debate puts the issue front and center, and that's the correct first step in an effort that will take decades to address."

"It will take a long time, and more than rhetoric is required. There have to be consequences for Chinese actions."

"The Chinese state respects focused intent and follow-through. Under this?or perhaps any?president, we will hesitate to put the blade in."

"China should stop hacking as soon as the U.S. stops. I'm not holding my breath."

"The cybersecurity of our nation's private companies will never be achieved through solely a federal government effort. The federal government can create the public-private partnerships to develop better protected practices and do a much better job of sharing threat data, but at the end of the day, the security of a network is the responsibility of the owner, just as putting alarms and security procedures at a factory is the responsibility of the factory owner. Also, while state-sponsored cyberespionage is always going to occur, the average corporation has a far better chance of being impacted by a cybercriminal or a cyberhooligan than a cyberspy. Focusing on China and other state sponsors may be good from a talking-points angle, but the reality is they are really just one part of this enormously complicated challenge."

"Short of sanctions against the Chinese government?which are almost unthinkable?publicizing its hacking will just drive it to find more surreptitious methods."

"You might as well try to sweep back the ocean with a broom."

"China's technological advances are based on IP banditry, not indigenous innovation. They will throttle back until the administration gets distracted and then be right back at it."

"This will remain a very sticky issue, as China has no real incentive to stop doing it. Nasty memos and foot stomping on our part are insufficient. Frankly, we need to attack them and cause sufficient pain [to get them] to back off."

"It also won't find a way to prevent crime, poverty, or hopelessness."

"China's new leadership has very little incentive to make that kind of agreement."

National Journal?s?National Security Insiders Poll?is a periodic survey of defense and foreign policy experts. They include:

Gordon Adams, Charles Allen, Thad Allen, James Bamford, David Barno, Milt Bearden, Peter Bergen, Samuel ?Sandy? Berger, David Berteau, Stephen Biddle, Nancy Birdsall, Marion Blakey, Kit Bond, Stuart Bowen, Paula Broadwell, Mike Breen, Steven Bucci, Nicholas Burns, Dan Byman, James Jay Carafano, Phillip Carter, Wendy Chamberlin, Michael Chertoff, Frank Cilluffo, James Clad, Richard Clarke, Steve Clemons, Joseph Collins, William Courtney, Lorne Craner, Roger Cressey, Gregory Dahlberg, Robert Danin, Richard Danzig, Mackenzie Eaglen, Paul Eaton, Andrew Exum, William Fallon, Eric Farnsworth, Jacques Gansler, Stephen Ganyard, Daniel Goure, Mike Green, Mark Gunzinger, Jim Harper, Michael Hayden, Michael Herson, Pete Hoekstra, Bruce Hoffman, Paul Hughes, Colin Kahl, Donald Kerrick, Rachel Kleinfeld, Lawrence Korb, David Kramer, Andrew Krepinevich, Charlie Kupchan, W. Patrick Lang, Cedric Leighton, James Lindsay, Justin Logan, Trent Lott, Peter Mansoor, Ronald Marks, Brian McCaffrey, Steven Metz, Franklin Miller, Philip Mudd, John Nagl, Shuja Nawaz, Kevin Nealer, Michael Oates, Thomas Pickering, Paul Pillar, Stephen Rademaker, Marc Raimondi, Celina Realuyo, Bruce Riedel, Barry Rhoads, Marc Rotenberg, Kori Schake, Mark Schneider, John Scofield, Tammy Schultz, Stephen Sestanovich, Sarah Sewall, Matthew Sherman, Jennifer Sims, Constanze Stelzenm?ller, Frances Townsend, Mick Trainor, Suzanne Spaulding, Ted Stroup, Tamara Wittes, Dov Zakheim, and Juan Zarate.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/national-security-insiders-obama-cant-bring-israelis-palestinians-214711433--politics.html

SEC seeking answers after getting only 3 NCAA bids

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) ? Frustrated Southeastern Conference coaches think their league is treated more like a mid-major rather than a BCS conference.

The coaches said Monday the perception all year has been that the SEC was having a down year. The NCAA tournament selection committee apparently felt it was reality.

Florida, Missouri and Mississippi earned the SEC's only three NCAA berths, the fewest of any of the six major conferences. The SEC also ranked below the Atlantic 10 and Mountain West, which earned five bids each.

The SEC also sent only three teams to the tournament in 2009. Before then, the SEC hadn't received as few as three bids since 1990.

One of the "things that hurt us was the impression the league's down," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. "Everyone seems to say it. That's why I tell the coaches we've got to brag about each other. We've got to set that straight."

The three berths continue the SEC's downward trend.

The SEC sent at least five teams to the tournament every year from 1997-2008, but it's received as many as five NCAA invitations just once (2011) in the five years since.

Kentucky, the defending national champion, tied for second place in the SEC with Alabama and Mississippi. Kentucky and Alabama still ended up in the NIT. Mississippi only got a No. 12 seed in the NCAA field after winning the SEC tournament.

Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin predicted two weeks ago that the SEC would earn six bids.

Martin said the SEC's three bids were an "embarrassment" after the brackets were revealed, and he didn't back down from those comments Monday. He said Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama are "NCAA tournament teams" that landed in the NIT.

"It's almost like a mid-major mentality in this league, when you've got your second-place team that doesn't get in the NCAA tournament," Martin said. "This is a BCS league. It's one of the best leagues in America. That shouldn't happen."

The SEC's non-conference performance indicates it actually wasn't one of the best leagues in the nation this season.

SEC schools went a combined 15-33 against the other five major conferences and had losing records against each of them: 3-6 against the Atlantic Coast Conference, 2-5 against the Big 12, 4-13 against the Big East, 2-4 against the Big Ten, 4-5 against the Pac-12.

Some of the reasons for the SEC's struggles were obvious.

More players were taken in the NBA draft from SEC schools than any other conference last year. Tennessee forward Jeronne Maymon, one of only two returning all-SEC players from last season, missed the entire year with a knee injury. Kentucky center Nerlens Noel was challenging for SEC player of the year honors before tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last month. LSU, Mississippi State and South Carolina had new coaches.

"When you have coaching changes, when you have player turnover, when you have departures of really good players, it's going to take some time," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "The unfortunate part with all those transitions going on is you really pay the price in November. ... What happens is your league gets labeled in November and December."

Donovan believes the league got better as the season wore on, but it couldn't prove that because its members were facing one another instead of playing teams from other conferences.

But it's tough for SEC teams to schedule non-conference foes later in the year, particularly now that it has adopted an 18-game league schedule. If SEC teams don't schedule quality non-conference foes later in the season, they must deliver better results against better teams early in the year.

Five of the SEC's 14 teams ranked lower than 230th in non-conference strength of schedule. Not only did the SEC schedule weak teams, it occasionally lost to them. Mississippi State fell to Alabama A&M, a Southwestern Athletic Conference team that finished 11-20. Vanderbilt lost to Marist, a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference program that went 10-21.

The importance of non-conference performance was apparent from the fact that Missouri earned a bid despite getting the No. 6 seed in the SEC tournament. Missouri beat NCAA tournament participants Illinois and VCU at neutral sites early in the season.

"What happens with mid-major teams is they schedule aggressively because they know the best-case scenario to get into the NCAA tournament is you've got to go play teams," Martin said. "So maybe we need to schedule like mid-major teams."

SEC coaches realize they must do something to stop the conference's declining total of NCAA bids. Their futures could depend on it.

"At the rate we're going, if we don't get it corrected, in some way, shape or form, you're looking at three different new (coaches) every year" in the conference," Martin said. "Something has to give."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sec-seeking-answers-getting-only-3-ncaa-bids-080712652--spt.html

ncaa bracket

Piikki Organizes and Uploads Your Receipts From Your Phone

Piikki Organizes and Uploads Receipts From Your Phone iOS: Receipts are ridiculously easy to lose, so I always try to snap a picture of important ones with my phone. From now on, I'll be taking those pictures with Piikki.

There are plenty of apps and methods to store receipts on your smartphone, but I have yet to encounter a faster option than Piikki. When you want to store a receipt, Piikki's built-in camera can automatically detect its edges and crop out the background, keeping the file size to a minimum. Once you've taken your photo, the app will automatically store a geotag with your receipt so you can remember where it came from, and you can also key in the amount to keep track of expenses.

My favorite feature of Piikki, though, is one-click uploading to Evernote, Google Drive, or Dropbox. The receipt will still be stored within the app with all its accompanying metadata, but you'll know it's also safely backed up to your cloud services of choice. Piikki is a universal app available for $1.99 in the App Store.

Piikki: Receipt Scanner & Expense Reports ($1.99) | App Store

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/9Ir4eygL0BY/piikki-organizes-and-uploads-your-receipts

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Monday, March 18, 2013

How to Make Small Business Consulting Profitable

For a beginning, let?s ask ourselves the question: Is small business consulting profitable? The answer would be a resounding ?Yes,? from all corners of the world. So, why are you unable to make it work, and in the process help small businesses with your unique experience and approaches?

You are a business consultant, not the direct worker

The most common mix-up faced by small business consultants is that rather than remaining as business advisors, they end up as direct service providers. They end up handling the major workload of the business process where they were expected only to provide advice, and the client ends up with a steep bill. In place of mutual satisfaction, you now have mutual dissatisfaction. The results are unwelcome on both sides ? but they happen all too often, where in small business consulting, the consultant fails to maintain the position of a consultant.

There are three possible outcomes in such situations ? the client pays up and remains upset with you, the client doesn?t pay your bills and you are upset with the client, or both parties reach an unhappy compromise.

After a few such mix-ups, you become convinced that there is no profitability in small business consulting. But you know, that?s not true. The reality is your approach needs to be transparent and needs to change case by case.

In certain cases, time-schedule, lack of resources on part of the client, or other exigencies may call for you to provide most of the work as a direct service provider. But in such cases, the client needs to understand from the very beginning that the instant situation needs a service provider with your experience, more than it needs small business consulting.

The client needs to have a clear idea of the bills that may be chalked up if you were providing direct service, or the client is free to hire another direct service provider, to save the day. Even providing that little advice is sufficient for you to bill as a consultant, because the client was unable to recognize the situation. What you are doing is small business consulting, and not creating a fallible situation.

Why small business consulting mix-ups happen with such regularity

The oldest and most traditional businesses in providing small business consulting have traditionally modeled themselves as consultant-cum-service providers, take for example, law firms, or Accountant firms. Each of these sectors are used to small business clients coming to them at the last moment or when the situation is precarious for them, and according to the laws of maximizing business opportunities, they have set up systems to provide service alternatives ready at hand. In fact, in many such traditional firms, service delivery starts first, and then it turns to consulting.

However, in the era of information technology, the number of alternatives available even to small businesses are hundred times more than the time when CPAs or law firms began establishing their business models. Consequently, with the availability of greater choice of service providers, and ability to compare between alternatives, the chances of client dissatisfaction multiply. This is why, in today?s small business consulting, it is sufficient to point out the necessity of direct service delivery to a client, without embroiling yourself, or pushing your own agenda of direct service.

In a globalized service providing market, you can never outbid the ?I?m cheaper than you can ever be? brigade, and don?t even think of that. To make small business consulting profitable, stick to your guns and be a consultant primarily, and act as direct service provider only when the client asks you, and only when you can afford to do so at the client?s rates.

Source: http://small-business.ezinemark.com/how-to-make-small-business-consulting-profitable-7d386a21567e.html

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