When you're the creator of an award-winning iPad sketchbook app, making your own stylus would be a logical move. Unsurprisingly, that's exactly what FiftyThree, the brains behind Microsoft's Courier project and developers of Paper, intend to do. The company's new "Pencil" capacitive stylus has just popped up at the FCC, outlining its plans to equip Paper users with a rubber-tipped low power Bluetooth accessory that can draw on a touchscreen "like a canvas." The documents detail two models: one crafted from wood and the other from aluminum alloy.
The FCC approval highlights FiftyThree's desire to further expand beyond Apple's App Store and venture into new markets. The company recently partnered with Moleskine to allow Paper users to create a $40 custom-printed 15-page "Book" of sketches and designs created within the app. The new products will directly compete with Wacom's bluetooth-enabled stylii, and of course with plain old fingers -- which will likely still be welcome in the Paper app, even after the Pencil comes to market.
Marrying a shady Miami nightclub investor and living a life of leisure seems like a good option if you can snatch it. Until the mob hits and the IRS investigations and the guys in monogrammed jackets carrying boxes of evidence out of your home, you can build a pretty nice tan. It worked pretty well for Sharon Stone in Casino. I don’t see why Joanna Krupa can’t pull it off too.
Scheimer co-founded Filmation Studios in 1962 with a $5,000 loan from his mother-in-law. The studio went on to produce the first animated series for DC Comics, including Superman, Batman, and Aquaman. It also produced The Archies, the Emmy-winning Star Trek: The Animated Series, and Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.
In the 1980s Scheimer and Filmation worked on He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. DreamWorks purchased Filmation's library in 2012.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by a daughter, Erika, and a son, Lane.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday named former Pentagon attorney Jeh Johnson to run the Department of Homeland Security, where the task of securing the nation's borders will give Johnson a central role in the president's immigration reform efforts.
Johnson, now a partner at the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, served as general counsel at the Pentagon during Obama's first term. There, he was involved in ending the military's ban on gays serving in the armed forces and in formulating the administration's policy for the use of unmanned drones to strike at enemy targets.
While at the Pentagon, Johnson also worked on counterterrorism, cyber security and disaster response, all of which will be issues he will have to address as head of Homeland Security.
"Jeh has a deep understanding of the threats and challenges facing the United States," Obama said in announcing Johnson's nomination at the White House.
Johnson must win confirmation in the Senate. In an indication of challenges ahead of him, Republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama said Johnson would have to address concerns over management of the sprawling agency and allegations that immigration officers are releasing violent criminals.
"Enforcement has collapsed, offericer morale has plummeted, and the integrity of the entire immigration legal system is in jeopardy," Sessions said in a statement.
A spokesman for Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, the top Republican on the Senate's Homeland Security committee, said on Thursday the next department chief would be expected to bring about reform. Coburn has raised concerns about wasteful spending at the department, including grants for domestic law enforcement agencies used to buy drones for surveillance.
Speaking at the White House, Johnson described how being in Manhattan on September 11, 2001, had motivated him to pursue work in public service.
"I wandered the streets in New York and wondered, and asked, what can I do," he said. "Since then I have tried to devote myself to answer that question."
The Department of Homeland Security was created in response to the 9/11 attacks.
Obama has identified immigration reform a leading priority of the remainder of his second term, and said that he would focus on the issue now that a bruising fight with Congress over reopening government and avoiding default is over.
Obama, who won re-election last year with overwhelming Hispanic backing, had hoped to make reforms easing the plight of the 11 million immigrants who are in the United States illegally.
The Senate passed an immigration overhaul in June, but House of Representatives Republicans are divided over the granting of legal status to those in the country illegally.
(Reporting By Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
The S&P has cut the annualized U.S. growth view closer to 2% from 3%, Bloomberg is reporting.
The ratings agency — which recognizes the Senate deal will be approved — says that the shutdown has taken $24 billion out of the economy and cut 0.6% off of yearly fourth quarter GDP growth.
"If people are afraid that the government policy brinkmanship will resurface again, and with it the risk of another shutdown or worse, they'll remain afraid to open up their checkbooks. That points to another Humbug holiday season," S&P wrote in a release.
They also said the impact of the debt ceiling is getting worse by the day for the U.S. economy.
Here's the full release:
NEW YORK (Standard & Poor's) Oct. 16, 2013--The U.S. government has been shut down for more than two weeks. Earlier today, Senate leadership crafted an agreement to end the shutdown and avert a debt default. However, the deal needs to be voted on by both chambers of Congress.
We believe that to date, the shutdown has shaved at least 0.6% off of annualized fourth-quarter 2013 GDP growth, or taken $24 billion out of the economy. However, the closer we get to breaching the debt ceiling, the higher we expect the economic impact to be.
In the summer of 2011, as we approached the last debt ceiling standoff, consumer confidence plummeted and hit a 31-year low in August when the debt ceiling issue came to a head. Given that this round of debt-ceiling negotiations is occurring after two-plus weeks of a government shutdown, the total impact on the economy will likely be even more severe.
While we believe the Senate deal will be passed and the debt ceiling will be raised, the impact of a default by the U.S. government on its debts would be devastating for markets and the economy and worse than the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.
Should a default occur, the resulting sudden, unplanned contraction of current spending could see government spending cut by about 4% of annualized GDP. That would put the economy in a recession and wipeout much of the economic progress made by the recovery from the Great Recession.
As we've said, we expect the Senate deal to be approved. However, the current chatter coming out of Washington suggests that any continuing resolution will be a temporary one, with an early 2014 timeframe for the next set of Washington deadlines. The short turnaround for politicians to negotiate some sort of lasting deal will likely weigh on consumer confidence, especially among government workers that were furloughed. If people are afraid that the government policy brinkmanship will resurface again, and with it the risk of another shutdown or worse, they'll remain afraid to open up their checkbooks. That points to another Humbug holiday season.
The bottom line is the government shutdown has hurt the U.S. economy. In September, we expected 3% annualized growth in the fourth quarter because we thought politicians would have learned from 2011 and taken steps to avoid things like a government shutdown and the possibility of a sovereign default. Since our forecast didn't hold, we now have to lower our fourth-quarter growth estimate to closer to 2%.
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, part of McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI), is the world's leading provider of independent credit risk research and benchmarks. We publish more than a million credit ratings on debt issued by sovereign, municipal, corporate and financial sector entities. With over 1,400 credit analysts in 23 countries, and more than 150 years' experience of assessing credit risk, we offer a unique combination of global coverage and local insight. Our research and opinions about relative credit risk provide market participants with information and independent benchmarks that help to support the growth of transparent, liquid debt markets worldwide.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement says authorities have captured the two prisoners who were released by phony documents.
Commissioner Gerald Bailey said Saturday night that Joseph Jenkins and Charles Walker were taken into custody together at a motel in Panama City Beach. Authorities say they were taken into custody about 6:40 p.m. at the Coconut Grove Motor Inn without incident.
The men were mistakenly released within the last month.
Bailey did not immediately release any other details.
ABC is expressing confidence in its Tuesday-evening comedy lineup.
The network has picked up three additional scripts for freshman comedies The Goldbergs and Trophy Wife, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
The comedies air as part of ABC's all-new Tuesday lineup, which starts with Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
The Goldbergs, a 1980s-set, semi-autobiographical comedy from Adam F. Goldberg, had the benefit of a monster bow from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and topped its Sept. 24 competition at 9 p.m. with a 3.2 rating among adults 18-49, ranking as ABC's best comedy launch in more than a year.
Family comedy Trophy Wife, meanwhile, drew a 2.3 rating among adults 18-49 in its Tuesday spot at 9:30 p.m.
Both series have slipped in subsequent weeks as S.H.I.E.L.D. has softened in recent weeks.
The ABC comedies join Fox's Dads and Brooklyn Nine-Nine as well as The CW's Reign, Tomorrow People and The Originals as having received additional scripts this season. S.H.I.E.L.D., meanwhile, ranks as the only ABC show that was given a full-season order. Fellow freshman drama Lucky 7 was the season's first cancellation, getting the ax after two episodes on Tuesdays at 10 p.m.
A photograph taken last month of the south concourse of L.A. International Airport's Tom Bradley International Terminal.
Reed Saxon/AP
A photograph taken last month of the south concourse of L.A. International Airport's Tom Bradley International Terminal.
Reed Saxon/AP
Authorities in Los Angeles were investigating a dry ice bomb that went off at the city's international airport late Monday, causing no damage or injuries. The explosion of the relatively harmless device was the second in as many days.
Monday night's incident occurred outside the airport's Tom Bradley Terminal.
There were no reports of any injuries, authorities said and The Associated Press reports that there's no immediate word where either bomb was located.
Two other devices also were found at the airport but they did not explode, Detective Gus Villanueva said, according to the AP.
NBC Los Angeles describes dry ice bombs as "relatively harmless and simple" consisting of a plastic bottle and dry ice. The device on Monday went off about 8:30 p.m. PST.
"On Sunday night, a dry ice bomb exploded about 7 p.m. in a restroom at Terminal 2, which is home to several international and domestic airlines.
Officials said an airport employee heard an explosion in a men's room and went to investigate. He discovered a 20-ounce plastic bottle that had contained the dry ice. The blast did no damage, and no injuries were reported.
That area is also off limits to the public, police officials said.
On Monday night, detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department's Criminal Conspiracy Section were investigating how the bombs were placed in security areas.
'Apparently there is no nexus to terrorism right now,' LAPD Det. Gus Villanueva told The Times.
The FBI was assisting the LAPD in the investigation."
BANGKOK (AP) — An acceleration in China's economic growth boosted Asian stock markets Friday after a short-term deal to raise the U.S. borrowing limit pushed Washington's budget battle into the background.
China's economic growth rebounded in the latest quarter to 7.8 percent from a two-decade low of 7.5 percent in the second quarter, helped by government stimulus measures.
The improvement allays fears of a deeper slowdown that could crimp world growth. But analysts have warned the rebound might not last because growth depends on government spending while global demand is weak.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.6 percent at 23,243.46 and China's Shanghai Composite Index added 0.4 percent to 2,198.03. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7 percent to 5,317.80.
Japan's Nikkei 225 bucked the trend, dropping 0.2 percent to 13,559.16. Markets in India and Southeast Asia rose.
Concerns the U.S. government would default on Treasurys have receded after lawmakers reached an eleventh hour deal late Wednesday evening to raise the $16.7 trillion debt limit. But investor relief has been checked by concerns over the cost of Washington's drawn-out political battle and the likelihood of another high stakes standoff early next year when the short-term increase to the debt ceiling runs out.
The political dysfunction reflected by the budget crisis has baffled and frustrated investors, said Michael Every, Rabobank's head of Asia Pacific financial markets research in Hong Kong.
While the United States retains its central role in the global economy and global financial markets and remains the world's biggest capital market, "it's certainly doing everything it can to abuse that position," he said.
In energy markets, benchmark crude for November delivery was up 10 cents at $100.77 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract dropped $1.62 to $100.67 on Thursday.
The euro fell to $1.3663 from $1.3670 late Thursday. The dollar fell slightly, to 97.98 yen from 98 yen.
Seriously, how big is this parking lot? You've been walking for a good five minutes and your company's office building is still just a speck on the horizon. But with this self-propelled pintail, that hike through the car park will sail right by.
TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010, AT 6:19 PM Tornado Kills at Least Five in Oklahoma
FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2011, AT 3:07 PM Obama Gets Firsthand Look at a Tornado Damage
TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010, AT 6:19 PM 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.
TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010, AT 6:19 PM 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.
Who wears short shorts? She wears short shorts! Kim Kardashian continued to show off her svelter-every-day post-baby body on Thursday, Oct. 17 -- one day after flaunting her famous booty (and plenty of cleavage) in a revealing bathing suit selfie on Instagram, and four months after giving birth to daughter North West.
Stepping out for lunch in sunny L.A., the 32-year-old Keeping Up With the Kardashians star revealed her toned, tanned legs in a pair of super-short jean shorts, which she paired with tan strappy heels. A clingy, cream-colored henley and lightweight cardigan completed the breezy look.
The new mom seems to be feeling increasingly confident about her post-pregnancy figure -- and with good reason! She's worked hard to get her body back; in addition to hitting the gym, Kanye West's love has been sticking to a strict diet.
"Kim eliminated carbs completely," a source told Us Weekly of the star earlier this month. "She's working out here and there, but it's mainly about the food, Atkins-style."
Noted a rep for Atkins: "She is eating lots of lean proteins, healthy fats like nuts and avocado, carbs, fruits, veggies, and cheese. She wanted to be a healthy, nursing mom and not toxify her milk with her diet or lose weight too quickly. She's been doing Atkins since her doctor approved it at the end of June."
It hasn't been easy, but the currently blonde bombshell is very motivated. "Kim's determined to stick to the plan," the first source said. "She finally feels good again."
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve is better prepared for a possible U.S. government default now than the last debt-ceiling scare in 2011, a top central banker said on Tuesday.
"I'm more confident that we, my colleagues and I, are better prepared than we were in 2011," Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher told Reuters, citing an "informational feeling."
Fisher added he expects U.S. economic data to be "sloppy" for a couple more months due to the partial government shutdown.
(Reporting by Jonathan Spicer, Ann Saphir and Pedro da Costa; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
Starlito (left) and Don Trip, whose mixtape Step Brothers 2 comes out Oct. 15.
Courtesy of the artist
Starlito (left) and Don Trip, whose mixtape Step Brothers 2 comes out Oct. 15.
Courtesy of the artist
Starlito and Don Trip hail from Tennessee, the former from Nashville and the latter from Memphis. Two years ago, they teamed up to make a mixtape called Step Brothers, named in honor of the Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly movie. The acclaim for it, from critics and laypeople alike, opened a door wide enough for both rappers, who had been quietly respected as solo artists but languishing in record-label limbo — until 2010, Starlito had performed as All $tar, the name under which he made "Grey Goose," while Don Trip's "Letter to My Son" got him signed but not much else. Their song "Pray for Me," in particular, is warm and bone-chilling at the same time — thoughtful trap. Starlito has called the tape, which they made quickly with not many expectations, a "perfect accident."
On their followup — Step Brothers 2 (out Oct. 15), which they've made with more consideration — Starlito raps like his eyes are at half mast, or he's lying down, which makes his quick wit land even harder. Don Trip is sharper, but he reflexively wrings extra playing time out of his vowels and multiplies his syllables. His delivery is athletic, whichever of the several tones at his disposal he's decided to use. In "Ninja Focus," he says, "I go harder than a tortoise shell, my name ring like a doorbell, my wrist chilly like Hormel." While Starlito has a penchant for singing along with the vocal samples, Don Trip plays the straight man. But not that straight — he's the one who paraphrases Ghostface (though it's serious Ghostface) in "Where Do We Go."
The songs on Step Brothers 2 are littered with regret — in "28th Song," Starlito's sleeping with his girlfriend's sister and he's not proud of it. They both say they've sold drugs before, but that that doesn't mean you should. This isn't a new emotion for either writer. Five years ago, Starlito told The New York Times that his first single wasn't the launching pad he'd hoped it would be, for a couple of reasons: "I was having a hard time, for a second, being so closely associated with alcohol." Now, in "Bunk Beds," he says, "I've got more fake friends than songs with radio spins, and I'm not concerned with either until they try to play me again." And then there's the ladies. In "Open Your Eyes," laced with smooth saxophone, Starlito bemoans the state of his love life. "My girlfriend my Glock 9," he says. "Looking for a pretty woman with the wisdom of my grandmother."
The production is purple, almost lurid, with swelling synths, morbidly obese bass lines, scarily impersonal 808s. It's not exactly pretty — though "Leash on Life" cleans up nice — but its drama is Godfather levels of riveting. If you're not listening with every ounce of woofer available to you, then you're listening wrong. Step Brothers 2 is a Southern Gothic novel with many authors: Starlito and Don Trip certainly, but also Kevin Gates and Drumma Boy, also from Memphis; Burn One, from Atlanta; and Young Chop, from Chicago. "4x4 Relay," produced by Chizzy and Sarah J, doesn't sound like the rest of them, though — it's triumphant, the kind of song you make so you can become part of people's celebrations, and not just their ruminative commutes and daily grind. It's the kind of song you make once you've arrived.
Salute, the sophomore album from rising U.K. girl group Little Mix, will arrive in U.S. stores next February, Billboard exclusively confirms.
The follow-up to the foursome's debut album, DNA, will be released stateside on Feb. 4, 2014 through Columbia Records. Last week, Little Mix confirmed that Salute would be reaching U.K. fans on Nov. 11, following the Nov. 3 digital release of rhythmic new single "Move." Similarly, DNA was issued late in 2012, months before arriving stateside last May.
After winning the U.K. version of The X Factor in 2011, Little Mix guided DNA -- which included the singles "Wings" and "How Ya Doin'" -- to a No. 4 debut on the Billboard 200 chart upon its release. That debut marked the highest start ever for a U.K. female group's first album on the Billboard 200 chart, besting the Spice Girls' previously held record of a No. 6 debut for Spice in 1997. To date, DNA has sold 112,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Days after Salute's Feb. 4 U.S. release date, Little Mix will kick off a North American tour in support of Demi Lovato. The Neon Lights trek begins on Feb. 9 in Vancouver, and will run through late March.
"We are so excited to release our second album, Salute, in the U.S. on February 4, right before we kick off our very first U.S. tour with Demi Lovato," says the group's Jesy Nelson, who records alongside Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall. "We’ve worked extremely hard writing this album over the past couple of months, and cannot wait to perform for all of you Mixers!"
Check out the track list to Little Mix's Salute album:
1. Salute 2. Move 3. Little Me 4. Nothing Feels Like You 5. Towers 6. Competition 7. These Four Walls 8. About The Boy 9. Boy 10. Good Enough 11. Mr. Loverboy 12. A Different Beat
How subtle movements and facial features could predict your demise
Public release date: 17-Oct-2013 [
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Contact: B. Rose Huber brhuber@princeton.edu 412-328-6008 Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
Princeton study shows that health assessments made by medically untrained interviewers can predict mortality of individuals better than those made by physicians or the individuals themselves
PRINCETON, NJFeatures like the wrinkles on your forehead and the way you move may reflect your overall health and risk of dying, according to recent health research. But do physicians consider such details when assessing patients' overall health and functioning?
In a survey of approximately 1,200 Taiwanese participants, Princeton University researchers found that interviewers who were not health professionals but were trained to administer the survey provided health assessments that were related to a survey participant's risk of dying, in part because they were attuned to facial expressions, responsiveness and overall agility.
The researchers report in the journal Epidemiology that these assessments were even more accurate predictors of dying than assessments made by physicians or even the individuals themselves. The findings show that survey interviewers, who typically spend a fair amount of time observing participants, can glean important information regarding participants' health through thorough observations.
"Your face and body reveal a lot about your life. We speculate that a lot of information about a person's health is reflected in their face, movements, speech and functioning, as well as in the information explicitly collected during interviews," said Noreen Goldman, Hughes-Rogers Professor of Demography and Public Affairs in the Woodrow Wilson School.
Together with lead author of the paper and Princeton Ph.D. candidate Megan Todd, Goldman analyzed data collected by the Social Environment and Biomarkers of Aging Study (SEBAS). This study was designed by Goldman and co-investigator Maxine Weinstein at Georgetown University to evaluate the linkages among the social environment, stress and health. Beginning in 2000, SEBAS conducted extensive home interviews, collected biological specimens and administered medical examinations with middle-aged and older adults in Taiwan. Goldman and Todd used the 2006 wave of this study, which included both interviewer and physician assessments, for their analysis. They also included death registration data through 2011 to ascertain the survival status of those interviewed.
The survey used in the study included detailed questions regarding participants' health conditions and social environment. Participants' physical functioning was evaluated through tasks that determined, for example, their walking speed and grip strength. Health assessments were elicited from participants, interviewers and physicians on identical five-point scales by asking "Regarding your/the respondent's current state of health, do you feel it is excellent (5), good (4), average (3), not so good (2) or poor (1)?"
Participants answered this question near the beginning of the interview, before other health questions were asked. Interviewers assessed the participants' health at the end of the survey, after administering the questionnaire and evaluating participants' performance on a set of tasks, such as walking a short distance and getting up and down from a chair. And physicians who were hired by the study and were not the participants' primary care physicians provided their assessments after physical exams and reviews of the participants' medical histories. (Study investigators did not provide special guidance about how to rate overall health to any group.)
In order to understand the many variables that go into predicting mortality, Goldman and Todd factored into their statistical models such socio-demographic variables as sex, place of residence, education, marital status, and participation in social activities. They also considered chronic conditions, psychological wellbeing (such as depressive symptoms) and physical functioning to account for a fuller picture of health.
"Mortality is easy to measure because we have death records indicating when a person has died," Goldman said. "Overall health, on the other hand, is very complicated to measure but obviously very important for addressing health policy issues."
Two unexpected results emerged from Goldman and Todd's analysis. The first: physicians' ratings proved to be weak predictors of survival. "The physicians performed a medical exam equivalent to an annual physical exam, plus an abdominal ultrasound; they have specialized knowledge regarding health conditions," Goldman explained. "Given access to such information, we anticipated stronger, more accurate predictions of death," she said. "These results call into question previous studies' assumptions that physicians' 'objective health' ratings are superior to 'subjective' ratings provided by the survey participants themselves."
In a second surprising finding, the team found that interviewers' ratings were considerably more powerful for predicting mortality than self-ratings. This is likely, Goldman said, because interviewers considered respondents' movements, appearance and responsiveness in addition to the detailed health information gathered during the interviews. Also, Goldman posits, interviewer ratings are probably less affected by bias than self-reports.
"The 'self-rated health' question is religiously used by health researchers and social scientists, and, although it has been shown to predict mortality, it suffers from many biases. People use it because it's easy and simple," Goldman continued. "But the problem with self-rated health is that we have no idea what reference group the respondent is using when evaluating his or her own health. Different ethnic and racial groups respond differently as do varying socioeconomic groups. We need other simple ways to rate individual health instead of relying so heavily on self-rated health."
One way, Goldman suggests, is by including interviewer ratings in surveys along with self-ratings: "This is a straightforward and cost-free addition to a questionnaire that is likely to improve our measurement of health in any population," Goldman said.
###
The paper, "Do Interviewer and Physician Health Ratings Predict Mortality? A Comparison with Self-Rated Health," first appeared online in Epidemology in August 2013. The article also will be featured in the November print edition. The researchers thank colleagues at Princeton's Office of Population Research, Georgetown University and the Bureau of Health Promotion in the Taiwan Department of Health.
For more information on the Office of Population Research, click here.
Founded in 1930, the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University is a major international center of advanced training and research in public affairs. The Woodrow Wilson School is an institution with the energy and strength to tackle the most serious issues of the present day, and the vision and experience to prepare the leaders who will shape the public policies of the future.
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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.
How subtle movements and facial features could predict your demise
Public release date: 17-Oct-2013 [
| E-mail
| Share
]
Contact: B. Rose Huber brhuber@princeton.edu 412-328-6008 Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
Princeton study shows that health assessments made by medically untrained interviewers can predict mortality of individuals better than those made by physicians or the individuals themselves
PRINCETON, NJFeatures like the wrinkles on your forehead and the way you move may reflect your overall health and risk of dying, according to recent health research. But do physicians consider such details when assessing patients' overall health and functioning?
In a survey of approximately 1,200 Taiwanese participants, Princeton University researchers found that interviewers who were not health professionals but were trained to administer the survey provided health assessments that were related to a survey participant's risk of dying, in part because they were attuned to facial expressions, responsiveness and overall agility.
The researchers report in the journal Epidemiology that these assessments were even more accurate predictors of dying than assessments made by physicians or even the individuals themselves. The findings show that survey interviewers, who typically spend a fair amount of time observing participants, can glean important information regarding participants' health through thorough observations.
"Your face and body reveal a lot about your life. We speculate that a lot of information about a person's health is reflected in their face, movements, speech and functioning, as well as in the information explicitly collected during interviews," said Noreen Goldman, Hughes-Rogers Professor of Demography and Public Affairs in the Woodrow Wilson School.
Together with lead author of the paper and Princeton Ph.D. candidate Megan Todd, Goldman analyzed data collected by the Social Environment and Biomarkers of Aging Study (SEBAS). This study was designed by Goldman and co-investigator Maxine Weinstein at Georgetown University to evaluate the linkages among the social environment, stress and health. Beginning in 2000, SEBAS conducted extensive home interviews, collected biological specimens and administered medical examinations with middle-aged and older adults in Taiwan. Goldman and Todd used the 2006 wave of this study, which included both interviewer and physician assessments, for their analysis. They also included death registration data through 2011 to ascertain the survival status of those interviewed.
The survey used in the study included detailed questions regarding participants' health conditions and social environment. Participants' physical functioning was evaluated through tasks that determined, for example, their walking speed and grip strength. Health assessments were elicited from participants, interviewers and physicians on identical five-point scales by asking "Regarding your/the respondent's current state of health, do you feel it is excellent (5), good (4), average (3), not so good (2) or poor (1)?"
Participants answered this question near the beginning of the interview, before other health questions were asked. Interviewers assessed the participants' health at the end of the survey, after administering the questionnaire and evaluating participants' performance on a set of tasks, such as walking a short distance and getting up and down from a chair. And physicians who were hired by the study and were not the participants' primary care physicians provided their assessments after physical exams and reviews of the participants' medical histories. (Study investigators did not provide special guidance about how to rate overall health to any group.)
In order to understand the many variables that go into predicting mortality, Goldman and Todd factored into their statistical models such socio-demographic variables as sex, place of residence, education, marital status, and participation in social activities. They also considered chronic conditions, psychological wellbeing (such as depressive symptoms) and physical functioning to account for a fuller picture of health.
"Mortality is easy to measure because we have death records indicating when a person has died," Goldman said. "Overall health, on the other hand, is very complicated to measure but obviously very important for addressing health policy issues."
Two unexpected results emerged from Goldman and Todd's analysis. The first: physicians' ratings proved to be weak predictors of survival. "The physicians performed a medical exam equivalent to an annual physical exam, plus an abdominal ultrasound; they have specialized knowledge regarding health conditions," Goldman explained. "Given access to such information, we anticipated stronger, more accurate predictions of death," she said. "These results call into question previous studies' assumptions that physicians' 'objective health' ratings are superior to 'subjective' ratings provided by the survey participants themselves."
In a second surprising finding, the team found that interviewers' ratings were considerably more powerful for predicting mortality than self-ratings. This is likely, Goldman said, because interviewers considered respondents' movements, appearance and responsiveness in addition to the detailed health information gathered during the interviews. Also, Goldman posits, interviewer ratings are probably less affected by bias than self-reports.
"The 'self-rated health' question is religiously used by health researchers and social scientists, and, although it has been shown to predict mortality, it suffers from many biases. People use it because it's easy and simple," Goldman continued. "But the problem with self-rated health is that we have no idea what reference group the respondent is using when evaluating his or her own health. Different ethnic and racial groups respond differently as do varying socioeconomic groups. We need other simple ways to rate individual health instead of relying so heavily on self-rated health."
One way, Goldman suggests, is by including interviewer ratings in surveys along with self-ratings: "This is a straightforward and cost-free addition to a questionnaire that is likely to improve our measurement of health in any population," Goldman said.
###
The paper, "Do Interviewer and Physician Health Ratings Predict Mortality? A Comparison with Self-Rated Health," first appeared online in Epidemology in August 2013. The article also will be featured in the November print edition. The researchers thank colleagues at Princeton's Office of Population Research, Georgetown University and the Bureau of Health Promotion in the Taiwan Department of Health.
For more information on the Office of Population Research, click here.
Founded in 1930, the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University is a major international center of advanced training and research in public affairs. The Woodrow Wilson School is an institution with the energy and strength to tackle the most serious issues of the present day, and the vision and experience to prepare the leaders who will shape the public policies of the future.
[
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| Share
]
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"We've taken our characters, Peter and Neal (Matt Bomer), and did a bit of a role reversal, where we open with Peter in an orange jumpsuit and Neal's in the suit and tie," star Tim DeKay tells The Hollywood Reporter of the premiere. "This is when some of the big issues start to get addressed."
With Neal doing anything and everything he possibly can to get Peter out of jail for taking the fall for his father's crime (the murder of a high-powered senator), Neal's criminal history factors into how he solves the problem. "How Peter gets out of prison catapults us into the rest of the season," DeKay hints.
In a chat with THR, the veteran actor previews the new season, including Neal's new handler, Peter's new position and much more.
How does Neal's presumably unethical approach in getting Peter out of jail complicate matters?
It's certainly going to be a spoiler. What I can say is this, no matter what Neal does, Peter will eventually find out about it. So if Neal makes a deal with the devil to get Peter out of jail, eventually Peter will find out about that deal. The two with them are faced with what to do with that once the information is out.
What was it like having Peter in an orange jumpsuit?
On a personal note, I was happy to wear that orange jumpsuit because it meant that I didn't have to button up my shirt and wear the 20th tie for the day so I welcomed it. As Peter says, "The irony of this is not lost on me." It's really interesting to see Peter on that side and Neal on the other. I wish we had more time and story-wise I would've liked to have continued to examine that for Peter being behind bars but you can't solve too many crimes or have too many brainstorming sessions during visitation. (Laughs.)
Will the trust issues be even more significant this season?
The trust issues for Neal and Peter are even bigger this year and what eventually happens is that these two need to have a face to face and have a cathartic scene with where they stand with each other. We've never seen these guys talk about how they feel about each other or talk about their relationship but this season that comes out.
Peter may also be working his way to Washington, D.C.
Peter takes on the new role of ASAC, which is the assistant special agent in charge [of White Collar division]. He has to give Neal a new handler. Certainly Peter has mixed emotions about that because no matter how much they trust or distrust each other, these two guys have a great time solving cases. They both love the chase and they're good friends. It becomes very complicated. Peter realizes that his career could go a certain way and that doesn't include Neal. Peter has to decide how he wants to play that out.
Is that an internal dilemma for Peter with how far he wants to go for his career trajectory?
That becomes an internal dilemma and it becomes a dilemma for Elizabeth and Peter as well because it means big changes for the Burkes. It means maybe a new place to live. But once Peter realizes what that means to his life, what he likes about his job now, it gives him a lot of conflict.
How does Neal adjust to having a new handler? How differently does FBI Agent David Siegel (Warren Kole) operate than Peter?
Neal adjusts fairly well to the new handler because he has a rather large agenda on his plate that he has to take care with his deal with the devil. Neal also, at first, doesn't like having a new handler. He wishes things were back to Peter and Neal. I think there's a resentment Neal has towards Peter, to a certain degree, because he broke up the partnership for a certain time. All of this, you have to remember, this partnership between Peter and Neal is key. It's critical and the crux of the show. We won't ever stray too far from that.
What was it like having Mark Sheppard, who was last seen in the pilot that aired in 2009, back in the fray as Curtis Hagen?
It was a joy to have him back. It allowed Matt and I a chance to realize how far we've come from the pilot. It was lovely to have him back and he certainly knows the essence of the show and was able to capture that in a wonderfully villainous way.
Which character changes the most or faces the most challenges this season?
I can only speak for Peter but I believe Peter is faced with the most difficult challenge he's ever had this season. Circumstances put him in quite a quandary and many of his moral and ethical points of view are put into question. More so than previous seasons.
Can you talk about the episode that you directed?
I directed the penultimate episode. As you know Marsha Thomason was away having a baby. The writers said that Diana's pregnant as well, so the episode I directed was the one where Diana came back. We were able to have scenes with the baby. On the day we had the baby, we had two sets of twins -- we were covering our bases -- and I have to say all four babies were fantastic. (Laughs.) Marsha has the golden touch with babies.
White Collar premieres Oct. 17 at 9 p.m. on USA Network.
This post originally appeared in Inside Higher Ed.
A majority of Americans believe online instruction is at least as good as classroom-based courses in terms of providing good value, a format most students can succeed in, and instruction tailored to each individual. But they question the rigor of testing and grading, and whether employers will view such degrees positively, a new survey by Gallup shows.
In a survey this month of more than 1,000 adults aged 18 and older, Gallup asked a series of questions about use and perceptions of fully online courses. (While Inside Higher Ed works with Gallup on other surveys, this publication played no role in this survey.)
Five percent of those surveyed said they were currently taking an online course (the survey did not differentiate between whether it was for formal education or training, or for personal edification), with 18- to 29-year-olds, at 8 percent, likelier than their older peers to say so.
Asked to rate online vs. face-to-face courses on seven factors, touching on the courses' reach and quality, most respondents rated online courses as worse than traditional courses on five, as seen in the table below. In this particular question, the survey defined online education as "classes conducted entirely or partially over the Internet," and did not differentiate between courses taken for credit, personal enrichment, or professional development.
But on all but one of the factors—"providing a degree that will be viewed positively by employers"—a majority of respondents rated online courses as the same or better.
Still, when asked to rate the "quality of education" provided by four-year colleges and universities, community colleges, and "Internet-based college programs, in which the courses are conducted entirely online," the latter category fared by far the worst, as seen in the table below. Unlike the earlier question, though, that one focused only on fully digital courses, which is not how most online education is frequently offered—in many cases by those very same traditional colleges and universities, and blended with traditional ground-based instruction.
Irene Adams cooks supper for husband, Luke, and two-year-old son Cole at her home in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She used to serve lots of green beans, but switched to edamame after tasting it at a local restaurant.
"[Cole] used to split his green beans and take out the little seeds inside," Adams says. "So I told Luke we should try edamame, because it's bigger seeds and has more flavor, so that's why we decided to try it and he loves it."
Cole squeezes the bright green buttery beans out of the pod and pops them into his mouth. Edamame, it turns out, is a healthy finger food, high in fiber and protein.
China produces most of the world's edamame, handpicking and processing it there. Now lots of locally-grown edamame are being packed in the town of Mulberry, Ark. Fresh-picked pods jiggle across a massive high-speed conveyor for automated sorting, washing, blanching and flash freezing.
A Texas-based Asian foods importer chose Arkansas to build its company, called American Vegetable Soybean and Edamame Inc., here. Raymond Chung, the chief financial officer, says one reason is because plenty of local farmers are willing to grow the non-genetically modified vegetable soybeans.
"The bulk of soybeans in the U.S. are [genetically-modified] and grown for industrial purposes, but edamame is a special variety," he says.
Arkansas ranks tenth nationally for conventional soybeans and is the first to develop an edamame variety licensed for commercial production.
Linda Funk expects more states to follow Arkansas' lead. She's with the Iowa-based trade group Soyfoods Council.
"Most people when I tell them about edamame and say it's really a soybean, they are shocked," she says. "They just feel like it's a vegetable ... it's a more familiar food to them than maybe tofu or soymilk."
Like tofu, edamame is widely available in many major supermarket chains supplied by smaller producers in California, Minnesota and Ohio. The Soyfoods Association of North America says frozen edamame sales grew 4.3 percent from 2010 to 2011.
Arkansas processor Chung intends to be the top link in the chain. Since his factory opened last summer production has doubled. He now supplies Costco, Whole Foods and Sam's Clubs. "We are turning Arkansas into the edamame capital of the U.S. and eventually the capital of the world," he says.
And if Chung can get Cole Adams and millions of other kids to eat their vegetables? The town of Mulberry may have to change its name to edamame.
New York City Council speaker and then-mayoral candidate Christine Quinn speaks at a fast-food workers' protest outside a McDonald's in New York in August. A nationwide movement is calling for raising the minimum hourly wage for fast-food workers to $15.
Richard Drew/AP
New York City Council speaker and then-mayoral candidate Christine Quinn speaks at a fast-food workers' protest outside a McDonald's in New York in August. A nationwide movement is calling for raising the minimum hourly wage for fast-food workers to $15.
Richard Drew/AP
If you hit the drive-through, chances are that the cashier who rings you up or the cook who prepared your food relies on public assistance to make ends meet.
A new analysis finds that 52 percent of fast-food workers are enrolled in, or have their families enrolled in, one or more public assistance programs such as SNAP (food stamps) Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
That's right: With a median wage of $8.69 per hour for front-line fast-food jobs — cooks, cashiers and crew — workers are taking home a paycheck, but it's not enough to cover the basics, according to the authors of "Fast Food, Poverty Wages."
"The taxpayer costs we discovered were staggering," says co-author Ken Jacobs of the Center for Labor Research and Education at the University of California, Berkeley.
"The combination of low wages, meager benefits and often part-time hours means that many of the families of fast-food workers have to rely on taxpayer-funded safety net programs to make ends meet," Jacobs told me by phone.
The report finds that the fast-food industry's low wages, combined with part-time hours and lack of health care benefits, creates demand for public assistance including $3.9 billion per year in Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) benefits. Add on another billion for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamp assistance. Earned Income Tax Credit payments (a subsidy to low-wage workers) amount to about $1.95 billion per year.
Contrary to the assumption that the typical fast-food worker is a teenager living with his or her parents, the report finds that the vast majority of front-line fast-food workers are adults who are supporting themselves — "and 68 percent are the main wage earners in their families," Marc Doussard of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a co-author of the paper, says in a press release about the study.
He says about a quarter of those working these jobs in fast-food restaurants are parents supporting children at home.
The report was funded by Fast Food Forward, a group campaigning for higher wages.
The analysis comes as a campaign for $15 per hour wages has garnered significant attention around the country. Over the past year, workers in cities nationwide have temporarily walked off their jobs to protest low wages.
But some more conservative-leaning economists say raising wages would do nothing to curtail the taxpayer spending on public assistance programs.
"I don't think raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would solve that problem," Michael Strain, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, told me during a phone interview. He describes himself as a center-right economist.
Strain says raising wages to that level would have unintended consequences: Namely, fast-food companies would slow down their hiring. And this would lead to more workers looking for jobs — and potentially needing to rely on more public assistance.
Strain says the $7 billion taxpayer bill is not necessarily problematic.
"I think the system seems to be working the way it is — not that it's working perfectly," he says, adding, "In general, the government is making sure these people's basic needs are met, which is an appropriate role of government."
At the same time, Strain argues, fast-food businesses are paying their workers wages that they judge to be equal to the value these workers are adding to the production process.
"If we were to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, I think most economists, including me, would argue that that would result in a lot fewer workers," since fast-food companies would slow down on hiring.
Ken Jacobs disagrees.
"I think there's very good evidence on what's happened when wages have been improved for low-wage and fast-food workers," Jacobs says.
He points to a fast-food company, In-N-Out Burger, as an example of an employer that pays higher-than-average wages, yet is still profitable.
And, Jacobs says, some municipalities are raising minimum wages, such as San Jose, Calif., where the minimum wage is set to increase to $10.15 per hour in January of 2014. And there are proposals in states including Maryland to phase in hourly minimum wage hikes as well.
Jacobs argues that it's possible that employers may see a small decline in profits, but when wages are raised, "you do find a significant decline in turnover [of workers], which is cost-saving for employers."
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