INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? NFL senior vice president Adolpho Birch says the league and players association need to reach agreement soon on HGH testing.
The NFL and the union agreed in principle to HGH testing when a new 10-year labor agreement was reached in August 2011. But protocols must be approved by both sides and the players have questioned the science in the testing procedures, stalling implementation.
Speaking at the scouting combine Thursday, Birch says the NFL has full confidence in the test and "should have been a year into this by now." He calls the delays "a disservice to all of us."
On Tuesday, the union said in a conference call it favors HGH testing, but only with a strong appeal process. Otherwise, NFLPA spokesman George Atallah said, "it's just a nonstarter."
Feb. 21, 2013 ? Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a way to melt or "weld" specific portions of polymers by embedding aligned nanoparticles within the materials. Their technique, which melts fibers along a chosen direction within a material, may lead to stronger, more resilient nanofibers and materials.
Physicists Jason Bochinski and Laura Clarke, with materials scientist Joe Tracy, placed specifically aligned gold nanorods within a solid material. Gold nanorods absorb light at different wavelengths, depending upon the size and orientation of the nanorod, and then they convert that absorbed light directly into heat. In this case, the nanorods were designed to respond to light wavelengths of 520 nanometers (nm) in a horizontal alignment and 800 nm when vertically aligned. Human beings can see light at 520 nm (it looks green), while 808 nm is in the near infrared spectrum, invisible to our eyes.
When the different wavelengths of light were applied to the material, they melted the fibers along the chosen directions, while leaving surrounding fibers largely intact.
"Being able to heat materials spatially in this way gives us the ability to manipulate very specific portions of these materials, because nanorods localize heat -- that is, the heat they produce only affects the nanorod and its immediate surroundings," Tracy says.
According to Bochinski, the work also has implications for optimizing materials that have already been manufactured: "We can use heat at the nanoscale to change mechanical characteristics of objects postproduction without affecting their physical properties, which means more efficiency and less waste."
The researchers' findings appear in Particle & Particle Systems Characterization. The work was funded by grants from the National Science Foundation and Sigma Xi. Graduate students Wei-Chen Wu and Somsubhra Maity and former undergraduate student Krystian Kozek contributed to the work.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by North Carolina State University.
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Journal Reference:
Somsubhra Maity, Krystian A. Kozek, Wei-Chen Wu, Joseph B. Tracy, Jason R. Bochinski, Laura I. Clarke. Anisotropic Thermal Processing of Polymer Nanocomposites via the Photothermal Effect of Gold Nanorods. Particle & Particle Systems Characterization, 2013; DOI: 10.1002/ppsc.201200084
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Sean Lowe doesn't hold his emotional punches! Sean sat down with host Chris Harrison for "The Bachelor: Sean Tells All" special, in which he spoke honestly about feeling "duped" by polarizing contestant Tierra LiCausi, who is now engaged to another man. He also reveals who he wishes he would have kept in the competition instead of Tierra.
During the special, Sean also talked about his tense conversation with Desiree's brother Nate during Tuesday night's episode, admitting, "I wanted to punch him." But was Nate the reason Sean ended up sending fan-favorite Des home?
Read Ali Fedotowsky's take on last night's hometown dates!
Though tensions between Tierra and the rest of the ladies had been building all season, it came to a head in St. Croix, which lead to Sean asking her to leave before the rose ceremony after her emotional breakdown.
"When I watch it back, I'm like, 'Man I was such a fool,' because I really do feel like I was duped," Sean admits. "Oh man. My take is Tierra never should have come on the show. She's not suited for this show. She doesn't know how to handle herself in this environment. I hope that she's learned from this, but she's a woman who simply can't get along with her peers."
Sean maintains that he had no idea what was going on in the house with the controversial contestant and reveals, "Had I caught wind of everything the girl did earlier, I wouldn't have kept her. In hindsight, I wish I would have kept Jackie on the 2-on-1."
Find out last night's biggest TV moments
But Tierra wasn't the only villain this season as fans were shocked to see how aggressive Des' brother Nate was with Sean during her hometown date, saying he didn't think Sean really liked his sister and calling him "a playboy."
When asked by Chris if Des had told him about her brother, Sean says, "Des had told me that her brother had gotten into some trouble as a youth and he's kind of straightened himself out, but he's still a little wild at heart. She definitely didn't prepare me for what transpired. At first I even thought maybe he's joking, but after 30 seconds of him ranting, I started to realize he's not joking."
And the conversation with Nate brought out a side of Sean viewers had never seen before. "I really wanted to hit him. I really did, because I can't think of a bigger insult to hurl towards me because that's not who I am at all," Sean reveals. "Anyone who knows me knows I'm the furthest thing from a playboy. Attacking my character is the quickest way to get me heated, but I knew Des and her parents were sitting just inside the house. I didn't want to make this a bigger ordeal than it already was. So it took everything in me just to basically control my emotion."
Relive last week's biggest TV moments
Something viewers didn't see was that Nate "was the first person I spoke to that evening," Sean reveals, as a clip of the brother telling Sean he "seems like a nice dude" plays. "I chalk it up to him being a jack---," the Bach says of Nate's change of heart during the night.
But was Des' brother's behavior the reason Sean sent her home? "I think I would be lying to myself if I didn't say her brother influenced me a little bit; just picturing myself being in their family. I'm not sure I want this guy as my brother-in-law," Sean admits, "but there were other areas in my relationship with Des that were lacking."
Were you surprised by Sean's turnaround about Tierra or his take on Des' brother? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.
If you or someone connected to your network ? a family member or an employee, for instance ? visited one particular malware-ridden website in the last few months, you may be in a lot of trouble.
Facebook and Apple have both suffered at the hands of hackers, thanks to a zero-day vulnerability in Java that led to hackers infiltrating both of the companies' internal networks in recent weeks. While there was "no evidence" to suggest that company or user data had been stolen, the companies said in separate statements, it sent a shiver down the spine of many who had invested their trust in the companies to keep their data safe.
The root cause is reportedly one iPhone development website that became infected with malware, which was then able to dump its malicious payload on vulnerable machines. If those infected machines were then connected to a corporate network, that network would likely have been infected.
Other technology news sites have reported that the mobile development site "iPhoneDevSDK" is the source of both Apple and Facebook's internal network breaches, according to AllThingsD and The New York Times, which both confirmed the source of the malware.
It's absolutely vital that you do not visit this site in any way, shape, or form, as it may still contain active malware that could lead to infection.
Seriously. Do not visit this site. (Image: ZDNet)
According to AllThingsD, which spoke to Facebook sources under the condition of anonymity, a number of the company's employees visited the site more than a month ago. The site, laden with malware that was injected into the website's code, used an exploit in the Java web plugin to gain access to the employee laptops.
This "watering hole" technique attacks a centralized website with many visitors, and secretly attacks and infects vulnerable machines using an unpatched exploit. This is different from a targeted attack, such as emailing a malware-laden attachment to a certain user.
While Apple's laptops were clearly MacBook machines running the latest (if not pre-release) version of OS X, it most certainly would not be limited to these devices. PCs and devices running Windows would also be at risk if they were running a vulnerable version of Java.
Facebook confirmed that the internal network breach was a result of a zero-day exploit in the Java plugin, as did Apple in a statement on Tuesday. Law-enforcement agencies were informed in both cases.
Java developer Oracle patched the vulnerability in a February 1 security update.
Twitter suffered a similar hack earlier this month, but the microblogging company did not identify exactly what the root cause for the breach was. It was believed at the time that it was connected to Chinese hackers, which may have been associated with the country's government or military. It's now looking more likely that a Twitter employee visited the "root" infected website that led to the company's network being hacked.
Exactly who is behind this threat is unknown. Many are looking at the Chinese, who have been known to carry out cyberattacks on networks and infrastructure before. In 2010, Google pulled out of China altogether, after its networks were compromised by the Chinese government.
However, sources speaking to Bloomberg are pointing the finger in an entirely different direction. The publication reported that "at least 40 companies", including Apple, Facebook, and Twitter, were targeted by Eastern European hackers who were "trying to steal company secrets".
So, now what?
Here's the troubling thing: You may not have accessed the allegedly infected website, but have your employees? Do you run onsite iPhone application or service development? And can you be absolutely sure that your company, network, or individual computer has not been compromised in some way?
Of course not. Here's what you can do. (This list is far from exhaustive, but it's a start.)
1. Remove Java immediately
The chances are that you are running Java on your machine, or, at the very least, someone on your network is.
You can either disable Java or remove it completely, thus lowering the attack vector considerably. Java has been known to contain flaw after flaw, even after numerous updates, and is commonly used by hackers to gain access to computers, devices, and networks.
Oracle released yet another update to its Java plugin on Tuesday. Apple has also released a Java patch ? this can be downloaded here, if it hasn't already appeared in your software updates window ? that should patch any vulnerabilities currently being exploited in the wild.
Run updates on your system through the Java Control Panel item on Windows, or check System Preferences on OS X.
2. Check your logs, history, browsing records
While it may not be the easiest thing to do, you may need to trawl through your DNS logs and other browsing records to determine whether anyone on your network ? be it a single family member, or a thousand employees ? has visited this "root" infected website in the past two months.
If at any point that website appears ? again, do not visit this website: "iPhoneDevSDK" ? then there is a significant chance that certain machines, if not others on that network, may have been infected with malware.
3. Run a full, network-wide malware sweep
Even if nothing has shown up, run a full, network-wide malware sweep using an up-to-date network malware or antivirus solution. If you can set server-side IT policies to force users connecting to your network to run an antivirus scan before connecting (such as Network Access Protection on Windows machines, for instance), this may help mitigate the spread of such malware across your network.
Vulnerable machines are those running unpatched versions of Java, particularly those not running the latest version ? Java 7 (Update 15) and Java 6 (Update 41) ? and the malware can infect both Mac and Windows machines.
4. Take future precautions: Virtualize and isolate risky software
Many companies rely on Java ? even if many websites do not use the plugin anymore ? thus, removing it may not be an option. Patching the software to the latest version is the best you're going to get, at least for now, but adding an extra layer between the Java plugin and the host machine can mitigate any network-wide malware attacks.
Java is the zero-day king, and more and more flaws will likely be found with the software. By using a virtual machine that's not connected to the host or the host's network (but still connected to the internet), Java-based web applications and Java-enabled websites can be run in an isolated and sandboxed environment, away from company files and other machines.
Updating the software may not have prevented the attack on Facebook, Apple, and others, but keeping it sandboxed may have lessened the risk of any data being stolen.
Staring on February 28, 2013, both the Wi-Fi and 3G models of Sony's PS Vita handheld will carry the retail price of 19,980 yen ($215). The price has been lowered from 24,980 yen ($269), according to a press release sent over by Sony today.
"Now one thing clear for us that in terms of profitability, we have to do a better job in promoting the PlayStation Vita mobile product," Sony EVP and CFO Masaru Kato said. "How do we do that? Well, gaming business software is the name of the game. So as a fundamental measure, we are putting all - a lot of resources, not just first party, but also asking third parties to put out more attractive software."
Kato added: "The other thing, well, marketing, pricing of the product, et cetera, I cannot talk about pricing of this platform, but those are the things that we are looking into to improve our profitability in the mobile handheld gaming business."
That's very nice, Sony. Very nice, indeed. Now then, how about you spill the beans on the PS4 (btw, they're holding a press conference in NYC next week, so hopefully more will be revealed about the new PS console after that).
Feb. 18, 2013 ? International marine scientists have warned it will be vital to protect key marine turtle nesting grounds and areas that may be suitable for turtle nesting in the future to ensure that the marine reptiles have a better chance of withstanding climate change.
A new study reveals that some turtle populations in the West Indian Ocean, Northeast Indian Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, East Atlantic Ocean and the East Pacific Ocean are among the least likely to recover from the impacts of climate change.
"To give marine turtles a better chance of coping with climate change, we have to protect their nesting sites and to address threats such as bycatch and coastal development," says Dr Mariana Fuentes from the ARC Centres of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS) and James Cook University.
"We have seen sea turtle populations decline dramatically in recent decades, and it is likely to get worse due to climate change, as they're particularly vulnerable to it.
"Climate change can affect their nesting beaches through sea level rise, stronger cyclones and storms; high temperatures can cause their eggs to die before they hatch, or produce an unnatural sex ratio and adversely affect their food sources."
"At present there are three ways we can tackle climate-related threats," Dr Fuentes says. "We can reduce global greenhouse emissions, actively manage for direct impacts from climate change by manipulating the nesting thermal environment with shade, for example, and build the turtles' resilience, that is, their ability to recover from the negative impacts.
"Reducing emissions is perhaps the biggest challenge, but even if we were able to cut greenhouse emissions immediately, it will not stop the already apparent and unavoidable impacts of climate change on turtles."
"Also, we don't know the risks of implementing actions, such as relocating, manipulating or managing turtle populations, or how effective these strategies are," she says. "So until we understand more about the risks and effects of active strategies, we should focus on increasing the turtles' resilience.
"This means that we must better understand what factors influence their ability to recover from the negative effects of climate change."
Together with sea turtle specialists from around the world, the CoECRS researchers identified that nesting ground vulnerability and non-climate threats, including coastal development and fishery bycatch, as the greatest influences on resilience of marine turtles to climate change.
The researchers also pinpointed the world's 13 turtle regional management units -- large scale conservation areas -- that are the least resilient to climate change. These are distributed across three major ocean basins and are important breeding grounds for six of the world's seven species of sea turtle -- flatbacks, loggerheads, green turtles, leatherbacks, hawksbills, olive ridleys and Kemp's ridleys.
"Eleven of the least resilient conservation areas that we identified are the ones most likely to lose their turtle rookeries," Dr Fuentes says. "This highlights the particular importance of protecting key regional nesting beaches and to legally protect areas that may be suitable for turtle nesting in the future.
"Turtles have existed for millions of years and were here long before humans. It would be a complete tragedy if they were to become extinct as a result of our actions and our lack of care."
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Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by ARC Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Studies.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Mariana M. P. B. Fuentes, David A. Pike, Andrew Dimatteo, Bryan P. Wallace. Resilience of marine turtle regional management units to climate change. Global Change Biology, 2013; DOI: 10.1111/gcb.12138
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
