Canon outs VIXIA HF G30 camcorder with premium optics, XA20 and XA25 for pros

While the image of the amateur camcorder user still revolves around a parent recording baby's first steps, Canon knows that at least some of us want high-quality footage without venturing too far into pro camera territory. Witness its new VIXIA HF G30, which rolls in image quality and control that are still rare outside of big shoulder-mounted cams. It includes a larger CMOS sensor than its ancestors, a new DIGIC DV 4 processor and an equally fresh 20X (26.8-536mm equivalent), f/1.8 lens; together, they should cut back on visual artifacts, improve stabilization and produce a gentler depth of field effect. Canon is also expanding its WiFi support to include DSLR-like remote control of the camcorder through the web browsers of most modern devices. The upgrade rounds out with a handful of firsts specific to the G series, such as dual recording in AVCHD and MP4 as well as a 3.5-inch, OLED touchscreen. Be prepared to sacrifice some time and money for the upgrade in home video quality, though -- Canon doesn't ship the HF G30 until June, when it will cost a not-quite-pro-level $1,700.

If you really do make a living from moving pictures, Canon also has a pair of compact pro models that share the same underlying technology. Both the XA20 and XA25 (pictured after the break) carry the same 20X lens, DIGIC DV 4 processing, WiFi and OLED display as their home-oriented cousin, but throw in pro-level expansion such as XLR microphone inputs and holders, independent audio level adjustment and (on the XA25) SDI connectors. The two will ship later in June and should carry premiums that lift their official prices up to $2,699 and $3,199, although we're seeing them on Canon's site for $500 less -- we've reached out and will let you know how much they cost in practice.

Filed under: Cameras, Canon

Comments

Source: Canon (1), (2), (3)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Wc6-VtZ8ew0/

breaking dawn part 2 trailer mississippi state chris carpenter chris carpenter dick cheney hcg drops reason rally

Party intransigence dims hopes for "grand bargain"

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The partisan cease-fire that kept the government running this spring gave birth to hopeful talk of a much larger "grand bargain" that would reduce the federal deficit for years.

But such optimism seems to ignore how far apart the two parties remain on key issues.

The mutual obstinance disappoints those who felt top Republicans and Democrats were close to a major accord on spending cuts and tax increases in December.

GOP leaders now say further tax increases are off the table.

And Democrats say President Barack Obama cannot push to trim Medicare and Social Security without the higher taxes on the wealthy that he campaigned for.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-04-Grand%20Bargain%20Impediments/id-a3d757b4b39840c0a2aacfda720cb75b

brady quinn bloom box obama sweet home chicago accenture match play george washington carver king cake fun.

Top 100 Spring Allergy Cities - Health and Fitness News

Health & Fitness News. Quantcast. Top 100 Spring Allergy Cities; Jackson, Miss. Takes First Place. UIG via Getty Images(NEW YORK) ? As spring arrives, flowers bloom and airborne pollen molecules bring allergy sufferers misery. To kick off the spring ?

Best Prices on all YOUR Health and Fitness Requirements! CLICK HERE

Source: http://www.16g.org/top-100-spring-allergy-cities-jackson-miss-takes-first-place/

Grammys 2013 2013 Grammy Winners abraham lincoln Chris Dorner 1800 Flowers walking dead The Pope

Autism linked to increased genetic change in regions of genome instability

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Children with autism have increased levels of genetic change in regions of the genome prone to DNA rearrangements, so called "hotspots," according to a research discovery to be published in the print edition of the journal Human Molecular Genetics. The research indicates that these genetic changes come in the form of an excess of duplicated DNA segments in hotspot regions and may affect the chances that a child will develop autism -- a behavioral disorder that affects about 1 of every 88 children in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Earlier work had identified, in children with autism, a greater frequency of rare DNA deletions or duplications, known as DNA copy number changes. These rare and harmful events are found in approximately 5 to 10 percent of cases, raising the question as to what other genetic changes might contribute to the disorders known as autism spectrum disorders.

The new research shows that children with autism have -- in addition to these rare events -- an excess of duplicated DNA including more common variants not exclusively found in children with autism, but are found at elevated levels compared to typically developing children. The research collaboration includes groups led at Penn State by Scott Selleck; at the University of California Davis/MIND Institute by Isaac Pessah, Irva Hertz-Picciotto, Flora Tassone, and Robin Hansen; and at the University of Washington by Evan Eichler.

The investigators also found that the balance of DNA duplications and deletions in children with autism was different from that found in more severe developmental disorders, such as intellectual disability or multiple congenital anomalies, where the levels of both deletions and duplications are increased compared to controls, and are even higher than in children with autism.

They also found that children who had more difficulty with daily living skills also had the greatest level of copy number change throughout their genome. "These measures of adaptive behavior provide an indication of the severity of the impairment in the children with autism. These behaviors were significantly correlated with the amount of DNA copy number change," Selleck said, emphasizing that the research revealed "clear and graded effects of the genetic change."

"These results beg the question as to the origin of this genetic change," Selleck said. "The increased levels of both rare and common variants suggests the possibility that these individuals are predisposed to genetic alteration."

A vigorous debate is ongoing in the research community about the degree of genetic versus environmental contributions to autism. Selleck said the finding of an overall increase in genetic change in children with autism heightens the need to search for the basis of this variation. "We know that environmental factors can affect the stability of the genome, but we don't know if the DNA copy number change we detect in these children is a result of environmental exposures, nutrition, medical factors, lifestyle, genetic susceptibility, or combinations of many elements together," Selleck said. "The elevated levels of common variants is telling us something. It suggests that pure selection of randomly generated variants may not be the whole story."

The Penn State team includes Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Associate Professor Marylyn Ritchie and Assistant Professor Santhosh Girirajan. "The relationship between the level of copy number change and the degree of neurodevelopmental disability is something we have noted previously for large, rare variants" says Girirajan, "but this work extends those observations to common copy number variants, suggesting the level of copy number change in children with autism is larger than we had appreciated." Girirajan, the first author of the study, coordinated the effort between the Penn State and University of Washington researchers.

The research collaboration began with studies supported by the Minnesota Medical Foundation and the Martin Lenz Harrison Endowed Chair in Pediatrics when Selleck was Director of the Autism Initiative at the University of Minnesota. When Selleck arrived at Penn State in 2009, he began a new phase of the analysis with replication studies of early findings conducted with the help and expertise of Evan Eichler and colleagues at the University of Washington using the clinical data and DNA collected by Isaac Pessah, Irva Hertz-Picciotto, Flora Tassone, and Robin Hansen at the University of California Davis/MIND Institute group, which directs a large population-based case-control study of autism called CHARGE (Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and Environment). In this multiyear study, clinical history, environmental, nutritional, family, and medical data are collected from the families of children with autism and other developmental disorders, as well as from randomly selected control children from the general population. The research took advantage of the CHARGE study, supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the Environmental Protection Agency.

"The CHARGE study is a true population-based case-control cohort for the study of autism, the only one of its kind that I am aware of" says Selleck, and allows for comparisons between the children with autism and controls matched for geographical location and time of birth. The research team plans to continue its collaboration to further characterize the more common genetic variants found to be associated with autism and to explore the relationship between genome variation and environmental exposures.

###

Penn State: http://live.psu.edu

Thanks to Penn State for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 54 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127571/Autism_linked_to_increased_genetic_change_in_regions_of_genome_instability

ncaa bracket 2012 kyle orton kyle orton 2012 ncaa bracket john carlson greg smith catamount

Alzheimer's plaque components fight inflammation

In mice, bits of proteins can treat condition resembling multiple sclerosis

By Nathan Seppa

Web edition: April 3, 2013

Tiny components of amyloid plaques, the notorious protein clumps found littering the brains of people with Alzheimer?s disease, might fight inflammation. Researchers report that several of these sticky protein fragments, or peptides, glom onto inflammatory compounds and reverse paralysis in mice that have a condition similar to multiple sclerosis. A fragment of tau protein, which shows up in other brain deposits in Alzheimer?s patients, has a similar effect.

When tested on blood taken from three MS patients, the tau peptide weeded out some inflammatory culprits there, too, researchers report in the April 3 Science Translational Medicine.

?This is a seriously good study. It opens up more questions than it answers,? says Jian-Guo Geng, a cell biologist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor who wasn?t part of the research team. ?But I don?t think we?re anywhere close to using these peptides for treatments.?

Amyloid is a broad term for clusters of protein in the brain, including those arising with the aid of misfolded versions of tau or another protein implicated in brain disease called a prion. Viewing amyloid-forming peptides as good guys runs against the scientific thinking, since amyloid plaques are a hallmark of Alzheimer?s disease. But study coauthor Lawrence Steinman, a neurologist at Stanford University, points out that the actual role of amyloid plaques in the disease is unclear. He suggests the tiny peptides holding the plaques together might have an alternative, useful role in the body.

Last year, Steinman and his team showed that injecting mice with amyloid improves symptoms in animals with the MS-like condition (SN: 9/22/2012, p. 14). Separately, Geng reported in 2012 that mice genetically engineered to make extra amyloid could fend off the MS-like disease, and that knocking out the amyloid-making capacity worsened symptoms in animals.

The new study goes a step further toward working out how amyloid fights disease in mice. In MS, inflammation is the enemy, damaging the fatty coatings on nerve sheaths in the central nervous system. A breakdown of that nerve insulation results in disordered nerve signaling and symptoms that can include weakness, loss of motor control, vision problems, loss of sensation and other problems.

Steinman and his colleagues identified several peptides, each only six amino acids in length, that seem to knock down inflammation when they twist to form sticky structures called fibrils. Steinman likens the peptide fibrils to sponges, because of their ability to bind to and contain compounds that trigger inflammation.

The researchers injected various peptides that can form amyloid in mice that had become disabled by the MS-like condition. Several of the peptides ? including fragments of heat shock proteins, tau protein and prion protein ? reversed the animals? paralysis during treatment. The effect later faded.

Blood samples from treated mice showed that heat shock and tau peptide fibrils had reduced levels of several proteins that cause inflammation, including interleukins 2 and 6. Compared with animals that received no fibril treatment, the animals? brain tissue had less inflammation.

When the scientists cultured human blood from MS patients with the tau fibril, the sticky peptide bound to dozens of compounds, including many molecules involved with inflammation.

The misfolded versions of tau, prions and amyloid protein can all form deposits in the brain, and it is the stickiness of fibrils that enables sheets of proteins to aggregate into these deposits, Steinman says. Those deposits have earned fibrils a nasty reputation.

?We have to keep an open mind,? he says. ?Most molecules are nuanced in function. In certain circumstances, they can cause harm or benefit.?

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/349357/title/Alzheimers_plaque_components_fight_inflammation

K Michelle roger clemens multiple sclerosis falling skies rodney king Webb Simpson Fathers Day Quotes

Shy balls cause televised Lotto cock-up - The Local

German broadcaster ZDF gave Lotto ticket holders a moment of false hope on Wednesday evening, after a glitch with the ball machine meant presenters read out the wrong numbers.

At 6:50pm, 2.33 million people turned on their TVs to see if they'd won this week's lottery jackpot. But what presenters in the ZDF studio had not noticed was that that two balls, 46 and 47, failed to roll into the see-through Lotto drum.

This meant that the first set of numbers - 3,8,11,26,32,40 and 9 - were void. The actual winning figures were 16,21,23,29,31,38 and 24.

Shortly after, Dirk Martin, head number caller from the Lotto operator confirmed that Wednesday's results were void due to a ?A technical fault that has never happened before.?

A spokesman from the Lotto Rhineland-Pfalz company added that the incident ?had turned everything upside down? and that action was underway to make sure it did not happen on Saturday.

Presenter Heike Maurer then said she had taken a good look inside the drum and that the way the light fell on it meant that it was impossible to spot the two hidden balls.

The last time the Lotto went wrong was in 2002, when the drum stopped during the ball-reading and new one had to be brought out.

DPA/The Local/jcw

Source: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20130404-48925.html

dominos Perez Hilton Michelle Obama Oscars Wissam Al Mana seth macfarlane oscar winners anne hathaway

Since fierce clash, Egypt's crisis takes new turn

CAIRO (AP) ? It has come to be known as the "Battle of the Mountain": a ferocious fight between members of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and their opponents near the group's Cairo headquarters. In a country that has already seen crisis after crisis, it could mark a dangerous turning point in the political turmoil.

The aftermath of the fighting is raising worries that the confrontation between Islamists,, who dominate power in the country, and their opponents is moving out of anyone's control.

The riot on March 22 revealed a new readiness of some in the anti-Brotherhood opposition to turn to violence, insisting they have no choice but to fight back against a group they accuse of using violence against them for months. The fight featured an unusual vengefulness. Young protesters were seen at one point pelting a Brotherhood member with firebombs and setting him aflame. Others chased anyone with a conservative Muslim beard, while Islamists set up checkpoints searching for protesters. Each side dragged opponents into mosques and beat them.

Since the fight, Islamists enraged by what they saw as aggression against their headquarters have for the past week hiked up calls for wider action against opponents ? and the media in particular ? accusing them of trying to overthrow Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

Those calls may explain moves by the country's top prosecutor the past week: the questioning of a popular television comedian, Bassem Youssef, whose Jon Stewart-style satires of Morsi drive Islamists into knots of anger, the summoning of several other media personalities and the issuing of arrest warrants against five opposition activists on accusations of fomenting violence.

Opposition activists warn the moves are the opening of a campaign of intimidation to silence Morsi's critics. The presidency says the prosecutor is just enforcing the law and that Morsi's office has nothing to do with the moves. Morsi's supporters say they are showing restraint against extreme provocation.

But rhetoric within the Brotherhood has increased in fervor. This week, Brotherhood head Mohammed Badie accused "some politicians" of "trying to generate something like a civil war in the community," in an apparent reference to opposition leaders.

"After all that blood and all the criminality in the street, there must be decisiveness," Gamal Heshmat, a lawmaker with the Brotherhood's political party, said of the recent arrest warrants. "This is a public demand. Now people must prove their innocence."

For opponents of Morsi, the battle was a sign that anger at the Brotherhood is spreading beyond its circles to the broader public, nine months into the administration of Brotherhood veteran Morsi.

Ziad el-Oleimi, a former lawmaker and revolutionary activist who lives in the neighborhood where the clashes took place, said local residents were behind the worst beatings of Brotherhood members, rather than the protesters who led the day's march on the group's headquarters.

Previous Brotherhood aggression "is starting to provoke people," said el-Oleimi, who was a leading figure in the 2011 protests that toppled Morsi's predecessor, Hosni Mubarak. "This time was a game changer. They had anticipated they would beat up the protesters, the opposition, and teach them a lesson. This is not what happened." Locals had already filed appeals to local authorities demanding that the Brotherhood office be removed from their neighborhood.

The fury growing for months was on display in the March 22 clashes in Moqattam, a district located on a rocky plateau overlooking Cairo, where the Brotherhood's headquarters is located.

Both sides came ready for a fight. Opponents had called for a march on the Brotherhood headquarters to "restore dignity" after an incident a week earlier, when Brotherhood members beat up activists who were spray-painting graffiti outside the building, as well as journalists filming the incident, slapping one woman to the ground.

The Brotherhood brought in several thousand supporters, vowing to defend the building, referring to it as "our home."

The mayhem erupted the minute the two sides faced off, and each accuses the other of throwing the first stone. The heaviest fighting was in a square several kilometers (miles) away from the Brotherhood headquarters, which was guarded by lines of police. Rains of stones and gunshots were exchanged, while "popular committees" formed by residents to protect their neighborhood joined in, swinging poles and machetes.

All day and into the night, the two sides battered each other with everything from knives and iron bars to homemade pistols, leaving 200 injured.

Bearded Brotherhood members dragged dozens of activists into the Bilal bin Ramah Mosque, where they beat them and flogged them with whips, several of those who were held told The Associated Press.

Christian activist Amir Ayad recalled how, while he was being beaten, he'd hear Brotherhood supporters coming into the mosque greeted by their comrades who told them, "Go warm up on that Christian dog inside." Ayad ? who was left with a fractured skull and broken ribs ? said Brotherhood members forced him to pose for photograph, wielding a knife they pushed into his hands to use as evidence that he was thug.

Opponents, meanwhile, snatched a number of Brotherhood members and took them into the Al-Hamad Mosque. A reporter for the Brotherhood's party newspaper, Mustafa el-Khatib, told the AP he was seized and carried by his arms and legs into the mosque and beaten.

"You sheep, we'll show you," his tormentors shouted, using a term many protesters use against Islamists they see as blindly following their leaders, el-Khatib told the AP. He had deep cuts in his head and bruises all over his body.

Many in the anti-Morsi camp said they were bringing their protests to the real power in the country ? the Brotherhood. The 85-year-old fundamentalist group forms the backbone of Morsi's leadership, though the presidency and the group both deny the Brotherhood has any role in his decisions.

"We came to say that Morsi is not a president. It is Badie and (Khairat) el-Shater," said Fatma Khalifa, a 30-year-old protester, referring to the Brotherhood's top two figures. "Morsi is just an envoy."

They were also fired with anger over previous Islamist violence against them. In December, Morsi backers attacked a sit-in protest outside the presidential palace in Cairo, leading to hours of clashes between the two sides that left 10 dead. During that fighting, Islamists set up an impromptu detention center, seizing and beating protesters.

Morsi supporters have attacked other, smaller protests, including one in October when they stormed a stage set up by protesters in Tahrir Square downtown, smashing loudspeakers, because of slogans they saw as insulting the president. The result again was clashes that left 100 injured. January and February saw heavy fighting between police and protesters around the country that killed dozens, and opponents blame Morsi, saying he pushed police to put down the protests.

Brotherhood members, in turn, point to arson attacks on several of their party offices around the country over the past months and say waves of protests have undermined their governing of the nation. They have progressively become more direct in blaming opposition politicians ? moving from urging them to denounce the violence to accusing some of using unrest to topple the elected president.

In a finger-wagging speech after the Moqattam battle, Morsi warned opponents he would take measures to "protect this nation." He also accused the media of inciting violence, and the Brotherhood echoed that with a statement accusing "hostile" media of "fabricating lies against" the group.

Mourad Ali, a media adviser for the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, acknowledged the rising anger among Morsi's supporters. "I know young Islamists are charged up, and anger at the crimes in Moqattam has reached the top," he wrote on his Facebook page. He called for the "revenge (to) be legal and creative," urging members to collect evidence against those behind the violence.

Among Morsi opponents, there is a fear of a campaign against them, but also a sense that they showed they can fight back.

Wael Abdel-Fattah, a cultural columnist at Al-Tahrir newspaper and a sharp critic of the Islamists, said Moqattam shattered the myth of an "invincible" Brotherhood and showed no one has a monopoly on force.

"The violence started when the means for political protesting were shut," he said. He spoke of "a new kind of balance in violence," adding, "This balance can either create a new political awareness or push toward more violence, where everyone knows they will pay the price."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/since-fierce-clash-egypts-crisis-takes-turn-200205731.html

st louis blues rueben randle mike trout ryan broyles jerel worthy alshon jeffery bulls