It had to happen, people: The Lego Movie is coming with its own set of never-before-seen minifigs. It includes William Shakespeare and Abraham Lincoln, which are two of my favorite minifigs in history already. These, like the rest of these minifig series, will become collector items.
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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 1-Nov-2013
ShareContact: Rachel Steigerwald
media@gastro.org
301-272-1603
American Gastroenterological Association
Despite current beliefs, sugar intake is not directly associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. Rather, high-calorie diets promote the progression of this serious form of liver disease.
Researchers conducted a double-blind study of healthy, but centrally overweight men to compare the effects of high intakes of two types of sugar, glucose and fructose, in two conditions weight-maintaining (moderate-calorie diet) and weight-gaining (high-calorie diet). In the weight-maintaining period, men on neither diet developed any significant changes to the liver. However, in the weight-gaining period, both diets produced equivalent features of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, including steatosis (fatty liver) and elevated serum transaminase and triglycerides. These findings indicate that fructose and glucose have comparable effects on one's liver, and calorie intake is the factor responsible for the progression of liver disease.
"Based on the results of our study, recommending a low-fructose or low-glycemic diet to prevent nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is unjustified," said Professor Ian A. Macdonald, study author and faculty of medicine and health sciences, University of Nottingham, UK. "The best advice to give a patient is to maintain a healthy lifestyle with diet and exercise. Our study serves as a warning that even short changes in lifestyle can have profound impacts on your liver."
During the period of increased calorie intake, all study participants experienced significant increases in body weight, waist circumference and total body fat, as expected. Interestingly, satiety was unaltered in spite of weight gain during the high-calorie diet; this reinforces the notion of "hidden calories" in drinks since participants consumed a portion of their calories in liquid form.
Fructose is a simple sugar commonly found in fruits and vegetables. Glucose, also known as grape or blood sugar, is present in all major carbohydrates, such as starch and table sugar.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, the most prevalent liver problem in the U.S. and most Western countries, is the buildup of extra fat in liver cells that is not caused by alcohol. For more on how a low-calorie diet is the best prescription for this form of liver disease, read the article "NAFLD Treatment: Is there More to Talk About Other than Diet and Exercise?" from the October/November issue of AGA Perspectives, the AGA Institute's most prominent non-scientific publication.
###
About the AGA Institute
The American Gastroenterological Association is the trusted voice of the GI community. Founded in 1897, the AGA has grown to include 17,000 members from around the globe who are involved in all aspects of the science, practice and advancement of gastroenterology. The AGA Institute administers the practice, research and educational programs of the organization. http://www.gastro.org.
About Gastroenterology
Gastroenterology, the official journal of the AGA Institute, is the most prominent scientific journal in the specialty and is in the top 1 percent of indexed medical journals internationally. The journal publishes clinical and basic science studies of all aspects of the digestive system, including the liver and pancreas, as well as nutrition. The journal is abstracted and indexed in Biological Abstracts, Current Awareness in Biological Sciences, Chemical Abstracts, Current Contents, Excerpta Medica, Index Medicus, Nutrition Abstracts and Science Citation Index. For more information, visit http://www.gastrojournal.org.
Like AGA and Gastroenterology on Facebook.
Join AGA on LinkedIn.
Follow us on Twitter @AmerGastroAssn.
Check out our videos on YouTube.
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 1-Nov-2013
ShareContact: Rachel Steigerwald
media@gastro.org
301-272-1603
American Gastroenterological Association
Despite current beliefs, sugar intake is not directly associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. Rather, high-calorie diets promote the progression of this serious form of liver disease.
Researchers conducted a double-blind study of healthy, but centrally overweight men to compare the effects of high intakes of two types of sugar, glucose and fructose, in two conditions weight-maintaining (moderate-calorie diet) and weight-gaining (high-calorie diet). In the weight-maintaining period, men on neither diet developed any significant changes to the liver. However, in the weight-gaining period, both diets produced equivalent features of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, including steatosis (fatty liver) and elevated serum transaminase and triglycerides. These findings indicate that fructose and glucose have comparable effects on one's liver, and calorie intake is the factor responsible for the progression of liver disease.
"Based on the results of our study, recommending a low-fructose or low-glycemic diet to prevent nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is unjustified," said Professor Ian A. Macdonald, study author and faculty of medicine and health sciences, University of Nottingham, UK. "The best advice to give a patient is to maintain a healthy lifestyle with diet and exercise. Our study serves as a warning that even short changes in lifestyle can have profound impacts on your liver."
During the period of increased calorie intake, all study participants experienced significant increases in body weight, waist circumference and total body fat, as expected. Interestingly, satiety was unaltered in spite of weight gain during the high-calorie diet; this reinforces the notion of "hidden calories" in drinks since participants consumed a portion of their calories in liquid form.
Fructose is a simple sugar commonly found in fruits and vegetables. Glucose, also known as grape or blood sugar, is present in all major carbohydrates, such as starch and table sugar.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, the most prevalent liver problem in the U.S. and most Western countries, is the buildup of extra fat in liver cells that is not caused by alcohol. For more on how a low-calorie diet is the best prescription for this form of liver disease, read the article "NAFLD Treatment: Is there More to Talk About Other than Diet and Exercise?" from the October/November issue of AGA Perspectives, the AGA Institute's most prominent non-scientific publication.
###
About the AGA Institute
The American Gastroenterological Association is the trusted voice of the GI community. Founded in 1897, the AGA has grown to include 17,000 members from around the globe who are involved in all aspects of the science, practice and advancement of gastroenterology. The AGA Institute administers the practice, research and educational programs of the organization. http://www.gastro.org.
About Gastroenterology
Gastroenterology, the official journal of the AGA Institute, is the most prominent scientific journal in the specialty and is in the top 1 percent of indexed medical journals internationally. The journal publishes clinical and basic science studies of all aspects of the digestive system, including the liver and pancreas, as well as nutrition. The journal is abstracted and indexed in Biological Abstracts, Current Awareness in Biological Sciences, Chemical Abstracts, Current Contents, Excerpta Medica, Index Medicus, Nutrition Abstracts and Science Citation Index. For more information, visit http://www.gastrojournal.org.
Like AGA and Gastroenterology on Facebook.
Join AGA on LinkedIn.
Follow us on Twitter @AmerGastroAssn.
Check out our videos on YouTube.
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — After two years of review, Montana and federal officials notified Exxon Mobil Corp. on Thursday that they intend to seek damages for injuries to birds, fish and other natural resources from a major crude oil spill into the Yellowstone River.
The Texas company's 12-inch Silvertip pipeline broke near Laurel during flooding in July 2011, releasing 63,000 gallons of oil that washed up along an 85-mile stretch of the scenic river.
The move puts Exxon on notice that Montana and the Department of Interior expect the company to make up for harm done to wildlife and their habitat. The company also is being asked to pay for long-term environmental studies and for lost opportunities for fishing and recreation during and since the cleanup.
Separate fines totaling $3.4 million for safety and water pollution violations already have been resolved or are pending before state and federal agencies.
Exxon has told regulators it spent $135 million on the cleanup and related repair work intended to prevent a repeat of the spill, which came on a line installed just a few feet beneath the riverbed.
State officials said some of the damage is ongoing and will take years to fully understand and quantify.
That includes harm done to the river and its banks during the cleanup itself, when Exxon brought in 1,000 workers who removed hundreds of oil-stained wood piles along the river.
"You picked up the oil, but you picked up the stuff that makes the habitat work, as well," said Bob Gibson, a spokesman for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. "We know there's damage out there that has not been mitigated, cleaned up or compensated for. We need to decide what further can be done."
Representatives of Exxon said they were preparing a response to Thursday's notice.
The break spurred Congress to demand a Department of Transportation review of oil and other hazardous liquid pipelines that cross beneath major rivers and other waterways across the U.S. The agency last year said there were more than 2,800 such locations.
The Transportation Department recently revised its estimate to 18,136 hazardous pipeline crossings, including 5,110 locations where the body of water has a width of 100 feet or greater.
Federal officials have said they will return to Congress in early 2014 with a determination on whether rules such as a 4-foot depth requirement for pipeline crossings are sufficient.
The Yellowstone spill also prompted oil companies including Exxon to rebury pipelines at other water crossings where the lines were considered at risk of failure due to erosion. In the case of Silvertip, the company installed new sections of line dozens of feet beneath the surface at the Laurel site and two other crossings.
Negotiations with Exxon are ongoing but no agreement has been reached, said Robert Collins, the state's lead attorney in the case.
If the company resists paying for the upcoming studies or for compensation, Collins said the state and federal government could take legal action. It's uncertain how long it will take to gauge the extent of damages. For other spills the process has taken many years.
"We're anticipating we could go to court, but we want to give (negotiations) a try before we take that step because that would string things out even further," Collins said.
Globe-trotting laptop workaholics and electronic media junkies will soon no longer fidget helplessly during the beginning and ending of their flights: The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has lifted the ban on use of personal electronics during the take-off and landing of airplanes, provided that the electronic devices are used in airplane mode.
Over the next few months, each airline will enact their own policies that will permit their passengers to use their own devices through an entire flight.
[ For a quick, smart take on the news you'll be talking about, check out InfoWorld TechBrief -- subscribe today. | Read Bill Snyder's Tech's Bottom Line blog for what the key business trends mean to you. ]
Airplane passengers, in most cases, will be able to read electronic books and magazines, watch videos, play video games, listen to music and work on their computers throughout an entire flight.
Their devices must be in airplane mode, however, which will not allow them to be used voice communications or data transmission through mobile networks. The devices can, however, connect with an airplane's Wi-Fi service, if one is offered. Short-range, device-to-device communication, through Bluetooth for instance, is also permissible.
This change in policy has been long called for, at least by voracious users of electronic devices, who saw the ban as unnecessary.
Currently, airline passengers in the U.S. are required power down their smartphones, tablets, laptops and electronic readers when the airplane is taking off or landing.
Since people started bringing personal electronic communication devices on flights, the FAA assumed a cautious stance of limiting their use, fearing the devices would interfere with the airplane's radio frequency communications.
The FAA's Personal Electronic Device Aviation Rulemaking Committee concluded in a report earlier this year that most commercial airplanes can tolerate radio interference signals from portable devices. For the new ruling, the FAA also took feedback from airlines, aviation manufacturers, passengers, pilots, flight attendants and the mobile technology industry.
Mobile phone communications falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, which the FAA has urged to review its rules on in-flight use. Unlike other mobile electronic operations, cell phones send out relatively powerful signals that could interfere with in-flight radio communications.
Even devices that do not transmit signals can hamper a plane's communications, navigation, flight control and electronic equipment because they may emit radio energy at the same frequencies as the plane's equipment.
The airlines should determine how much radio interference their own communications systems can withstand. The airlines must then set their own conditions for usage and get FAA approval for these conditions.
The current FAA policy will remain in effect on an airline-by-airline basis until the FAA gives each airline approval to switch to the new policy.
Even after the new policy is adopted, an airline may also need to have their passengers shut down their devices during periods of low visibility to ensure adequate communications in such adverse conditions. The FAA expects that such conditions would apply to about one percent of all flights.
Joab Jackson covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Joab on Twitter at @Joab_Jackson. Joab's e-mail address is Joab_Jackson@idg.com
Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Biden at a White House event in October 2011. A new book says President Obama's aides were then studying whether to replace Biden with the former first lady on the 2012 ticket.
Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Biden at a White House event in October 2011. A new book says President Obama's aides were then studying whether to replace Biden with the former first lady on the 2012 ticket.
"President Obama's top aides secretly considered replacing Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. with Hillary Rodham Clinton on the 2012 ticket, undertaking extensive focus-group sessions and polling in late 2011 when Mr. Obama's re-election outlook appeared uncertain," The New York Times reports.
The Times gets that news from an advance copy of Double Down: Game Change 2012, a book due next week from political journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann. The newspaper says it obtained a copy "from people in the publishing industry."
Rumblings about a possible Clinton-for-Biden veep switch were heard in late 2011. As It's All Politics wrote that year, Bob Woodward of The Washington Post had been saying "it's on the table."
Obviously, it never happened. According to the Times, Halperin and Heilemann report Obama's aides "concluded that despite Mrs. Clinton's popularity, the move would not offer a significant enough political boost to Mr. Obama to justify such a radical move." Clinton was Obama's secretary of state through the president's first term. The former first lady and Biden are now among those who may make bids for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.
William Daley, who was White House chief of staff in 2011, tells the Times that it was simply "due diligence" to study a possible switch.
The Wall Street Journal, which says it also has seen a copy of the book, adds that Daley said in an interview that "he didn't know if Mr. Obama weighed in on the matter and [that he] never discussed it with the president."
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has launched its first submarine for tourists in the Persian Gulf waters, an all-Iranian-made undersea vehicle.
State TV says the sub has been dubbed Morvarid, or Pearl in Farsi, and has the capacity to carry four people per voyage. It says the vessel is four meters (13 feet) long and three meters (9.8 feet) in both width and height.
Friday's report says the submarine will serve tourists in Kish Island, Iran's prime tourist spot in the Gulf.
Morvarid has been entirely designed and manufactured by Iranian experts. The TV also says it has a speed of up to 12 knots, has a diesel generator but can be electrically-powered for up to six to 10 hours.
Iran's Navy has several Russian-made and smaller Iranian-built submarines in service.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-launches-first-submarine-tourists-095826226.htmlDOUGLASS, Kan. (AP) — Ten Kansas children and a school bus driver were pulled to safety from a fast-moving creek Thursday after the bus toppled into the water and landed half-submerged on its side.
The children, ages 13 and younger, clambered through a roof hatch to await rescue as the 60-year-old driver called 911 to report the accident in rural Butler County, Sheriff Kelly Herzet said.
Investigators were looking into how the accident happened, but County 911 director Chris Davis said the bus apparently went off a bridge that Douglass School District officials described as a low-water crossing.
Emergency personnel decided against using boats because of the swift current, instead reaching the bus on lines and putting the children and the driver in life jackets before pulling them to dry ground.
The accident happened around 4 p.m. outside Douglass, a town of about 1,700 residents southeast of Wichita.
The driver was taken to a hospital to be checked for hypothermia and one child was seen being placed in an ambulance, but the sheriff said all of the children were eventually turned over to their parents.
Logan Parker, a 12-year-old sixth-grader, said the bus "hit a couple of bumps and then we fell into the water."
"The driver was shaking and a lot of people were screaming and crying," said Logan, who was still wet more than two hours after the accident.
Some sections of roads in the area were still covered by water from recent heavy rain, and Herzet said the bus had driven into a submerged stretch of the road.
"The lesson here is not to drive through water," he said.
Herzet credited the older children with helping get the younger ones out of the bus to await rescue.
