Thursday, November 7, 2013

'Tearless' onions could help in the fight against cardiovascular disease, weight gain

'Tearless' onions could help in the fight against cardiovascular disease, weight gain


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Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
202-872-6042
American Chemical Society





Onions, a key ingredient in recipes around the globe, come in a tearless version that scientists are now reporting could pack health benefits like its close relative, garlic, which is renowned for protecting against heart disease. They published their laboratory analysis, which suggests a similar heart-friendly role for the tearless onions, as well as a possible role in managing weight gain, in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.


Colin C. Eady and colleagues note that the onion has a unique chemistry that leads to its tear-inducing effects when cut. Its pungency has driven cooks to don goggles, clench wooden spoons in their mouths and try other usually futile techniques to prevent crying at the cutting board. An answer could arrive in the form of a new type of onion that makes less of the protein blamed for making eyes burn and tear up. Eady's team has developed such a version, which instead makes a sulfur compound similar to one found in cut garlic that may be the key to its cardiovascular benefits. Many people eat garlic cloves or take it as a nutritional supplement in pill form to reduce the clumping of platelets in the blood, which can lead to blood clots and clogged arteries. Garlic also has been shown to reduce weight gain. They wanted to know whether the new onion might also have similar positive effects on health.


The scientists found that in lab tests, extract from the tearless onion significantly reduced platelet clumping, compared to regular onions or even garlic. Other results showed that the new onion had about the same anti-inflammatory properties as the original. Also, preliminary testing in rats showed that the tearless onion could help control weight gain more so than regular onions or garlic.


###


The authors cite funding support from the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.


The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.


To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.


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'Tearless' onions could help in the fight against cardiovascular disease, weight gain


[ Back to EurekAlert! ]

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

6-Nov-2013



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]


Share Share

Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
202-872-6042
American Chemical Society





Onions, a key ingredient in recipes around the globe, come in a tearless version that scientists are now reporting could pack health benefits like its close relative, garlic, which is renowned for protecting against heart disease. They published their laboratory analysis, which suggests a similar heart-friendly role for the tearless onions, as well as a possible role in managing weight gain, in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.


Colin C. Eady and colleagues note that the onion has a unique chemistry that leads to its tear-inducing effects when cut. Its pungency has driven cooks to don goggles, clench wooden spoons in their mouths and try other usually futile techniques to prevent crying at the cutting board. An answer could arrive in the form of a new type of onion that makes less of the protein blamed for making eyes burn and tear up. Eady's team has developed such a version, which instead makes a sulfur compound similar to one found in cut garlic that may be the key to its cardiovascular benefits. Many people eat garlic cloves or take it as a nutritional supplement in pill form to reduce the clumping of platelets in the blood, which can lead to blood clots and clogged arteries. Garlic also has been shown to reduce weight gain. They wanted to know whether the new onion might also have similar positive effects on health.


The scientists found that in lab tests, extract from the tearless onion significantly reduced platelet clumping, compared to regular onions or even garlic. Other results showed that the new onion had about the same anti-inflammatory properties as the original. Also, preliminary testing in rats showed that the tearless onion could help control weight gain more so than regular onions or garlic.


###


The authors cite funding support from the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.


The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.


To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.


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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.




Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-11/acs-oc110613.php
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Prince William Honors the Fallen at Korean War Memorial Site

Paying homage to the British Armed Forces veterans from the Korean war, Prince William stopped by the a new memorial site in London on Tuesday (November 5).


The Duke of Cambridge honored the fallen with a moment of silence before the ground breaking.


As previously reported by GossipCenter, William and his wife Kate Middleton are turning their palace into a wonderland for their Winter Whites Gala on November 26th.


The event, which benefits homeless charity Centrepoint, will be headlined by Taylor Swift. Other performers include Jon Bon Jovi and James Blunt.


Hollywood screenwriter and producer of the gala Danielle Alexandra explained the importance of the cause because she's seen young people's lives "transformed by the extraordinary work of Centrepoint and by Prince William's genuine and heartfelt dedication to the young people affected by homelessness."


Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/prince-william/prince-william-honors-fallen-korean-war-memorial-site-956316
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Sebelius takes GOP criticism over "Obamacare"

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, center, is greeted by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, right, as she is escorted by the committee's Chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013, prior to testifying before the committee's hearing on the difficulties plaguing the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The massive failure at healthcare.gov website is getting new criticism for lack of proper cybersecurity protections. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)







Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, center, is greeted by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, right, as she is escorted by the committee's Chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013, prior to testifying before the committee's hearing on the difficulties plaguing the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The massive failure at healthcare.gov website is getting new criticism for lack of proper cybersecurity protections. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)







Senate Finance Committee member Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas questions Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013, as she testified before the committee's hearing on the difficulties plaguing the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The massive failure at healthcare.gov website is getting new criticism for lack of proper cybersecurity protections. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)







Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013, before the Senate Finance Committee hearing on the difficulties plaguing the implementation of the Affordable Care Act,. The massive failure at healthcare.gov website is getting new criticism for lack of proper cybersecurity protections. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)







File-This April 17, 2013 file photo Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. questions Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius as she testifies on Capitol Hill before the committee's hearing on President Barack Obama's budget proposal for fiscal year 2014. After warning months ago that a “train wreck” was coming in implementing the nation’s new health care law, Baucus now says he thinks the rollout can get back on track after a bumbling beginning. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite,File)







Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013, before the Senate Finance Committee hearing on the difficulties plaguing the implementation of the Affordable Care Act,. The massive failure at healthcare.gov website is getting new criticism for lack of proper cybersecurity protections. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)







(AP) — Republicans blistered Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Wednesday over the nation's controversial health care law, bluntly challenging her honesty, pushing for her resignation and demanding unsuccessfully she concede that President Barack Obama deliberately misled the public about his signature domestic program.

"We're not in it to just give you a rough time. We're in it to try and hopefully get it right," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, at a hearing where Republicans — all of whom had voted against "Obamacare" — focused on the program's flawed sign-up website as well as costs, policy cancellations, security concerns and other issues.

During two hours in the Senate Finance Committee witness chair, Sebelius parried some thrusts and listened impassively to others. Treated more gently by Democrats than Republicans, she said at one point: "Clearly the opposition is still quite ferocious, and I'm just hoping that people understand what their options are, what their benefits could be and what their opportunities are."

She offered few if any concessions about a program she pointedly observed "passed both houses of Congress, was signed by the president and upheld by the Supreme Court."

Nor did she provide much in the way of new information about the launch of a website that she has conceded was deeply flawed. She disclosed that the so-called punch list for repairs had included "a couple of hundred functional fixes" at the time the administration launched its urgent rescue mission last month.

Even now, she said, "we're not where we need to be."

She added that the Web portal now is handling large volumes of material with fewer errors. However, as she testified, the website, www.healthcare.gov ., was running sluggishly, with some users encountering difficulty and others receiving error messages.

At a Dallas synagogue Wednesday, Obama assured volunteers that their efforts to sign people up for coverage would be well worth the trouble. "As challenging as this may seem sometimes, as frustrating as HealthCare.gov may be sometimes, we are going to get his done," Obama said.

Just before leaving Washington, Obama met with 16 Democratic senators facing re-election in 2014 to discuss the troubled website rollout. They pressed him to extend the March 31 enrollment deadline, but White House press secretary Jay Carney rejected the idea.

Republican criticism and questions have turned in recent days into other areas, some blending policy and politics.

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, one of Sebelius' most aggressive questioners, read aloud from a page of the White House website that says: "If you like your plan, you can keep it and you don't have to change a thing due to the health care law."

Turning to Sebelius, he said, "Well, we know that lying to Congress is a crime, but unfortunately lying to the American people is not. I'd just like to ask you a simple true-or-false question. Is that statement on the White House website true or is it false?" Sebelius said, "Sir, I think the statement is that. ..." before Cornyn cut her off.

"Is it true or is it false, Madame Secretary?" he asked.

She said "a vast majority" of people who are insured through their jobs would keep their plans and "a majority" of the 11 million in the individual market will keep plans with stronger coverage while "others will have to choose if they have to choose if they have a brand new plan and not a grandfathered — have to choose of a plan that they no longer get medically underwritten. ..."

Cornyn responded, "I will just ask that the record ... note that you have refused to answer my question whether it's true or false."

At the heart of his questioning was the recent flood of millions of cancellation notices that insurance companies have sent to individual policyholders, despite assurances dating to 2009 by the president that people would be able to keep their coverage if they liked it.

Several other Republicans also referred to the cancellations when their turn came to question Sebelius.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., asked if it violated Obama's promise that so many plans were canceled for falling short of the law's coverage requirements. Avoiding a direct response, Sebelius said, "For the vast majority of people who get employer-based health care, are in a public plan, are in the VA plan, are in Medicare, are part of the insurance market, their plans are very much in place. There is change coming in the individual marketplace with consumer protections that many people have never" had.

As senior Republican on the panel, Hatch led off. "While I'm glad that you are accepting responsibility for this disastrous rollout, I would have preferred that you and the rest of the administration were honest with us to begin with," he said.

Rather than ask Sebelius questions, Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas — the secretary is a former governor of the state — used his allotted time to raise numerous complaints about the law and her performance as the administration official in charge.

Roberts, who faces a tea party challenger in a bid for re-election next year, noted delays in parts of the law and said website woes have caused public uncertainty and fear.

"Your main goal should have been to protect Americans, to lessen their risk and to ensure their safety. But in your zeal to implement this law, not warnings, not advice, not counsel would deter you from implementing the exchanges," he said. "You have said America should hold you for — accountable, which is why today, Madam Secretary, I repeat my request for you to resign."

Sebelius did not respond.

Applicants' ID security was another focus. Republicans said the administration put in jeopardy the personal information of Americans by taking the website live before security testing was fully completed.

"So not only can millions of Americans not log in to the website successfully, but those who have actually succeeded could now find themselves at the mercy of identity thieves across the globe," said Hatch.

Sebelius said security issues were taken very seriously and "no one suggested that the risks outweighed the importance of moving forward" with the Oct. 1 launch date for the new insurance markets.

No major breaches have been reported, although in one publicized case the personal information of a South Carolina man was delivered to a website user who lives in North Carolina.

Broader security concerns have arisen because the part of the website that consumers interact with directly was not fully tested.

Federal law requires all government computer systems to have a security certification before going live. Yet on Sept. 27, Marilyn Tavenner, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, agreed to a temporary permit that said, "Aspects of the system that were not tested due to the ongoing development exposed a level of uncertainty that can be deemed as a high risk."

Separately, officials said the chief information security officer at the agency, Tony Trenkle, who was involved in the decision to issue the certificate, is resigning to take a job in the private sector. CMS spokeswoman Julie Bataille sidestepped questions about the reasons for the departure.

___

Associated Press writers Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Laurie Kellman contributed to this report.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2013-11-06-Health%20Overhaul-Problems/id-3aaf023992574dba8c4ea1aaeaa01e3d
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Startup's cloud service beats NSA-style snooping


Messaging luminary David Gurle has launched Perzo, a new free-to-use cloud communications and collaboration system he believes will appeal to consumers and business users looking to beat surveillance with high levels of security and confidentiality.


Gurle's career has been defined by his work on messaging systems including for Thompson Reuters and as the founder of Microsoft's Real Time Communications division that worked on Windows Messenger and Exchange IM. He eventually served as Skype's VP and general manager.


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The newly launched beta version of Perzo chimes with this background in some respects, developing the idea that Internet users still use too many different types of communications products which also sub-divide unnecessarily into those designed for work and private interaction.


Perzo puts all of these interactions in one Web-based space, letting users to switch easily between different mediums (so far email, IM, SMS, exchanging file attachments) and work and personal identities without getting them entangled in ways that risk confidentiality.


Because Perzo users work within a cloud-based system, emails, IMs and emailed attachments never leave the firm's data center, which in principle offers greater security. It's a security and anti-surveillance theme Gurle is very keen to emphasize.


"While our degree of connectivity has grown massively, our acceptance to use these open channels to communicate and share what is critical or personal has significantly dwindled. We are suspicious about who's got access to our data and confused about who to say what to, and on which application and device," he said.


"Using so many tools is causing people spread their emotional and intellectual properties across multiple databases. This needlessly fragments the very information that defines our relationships -- and we forget the value of what we've collected. Perzo aims to bring this consciousness together in one, secure, private place."


Security features aimed specifically at business users include message tracking, messages that self-destruct or can only be read (i.e. not forwarded), all backed up by 2048-bit encryption security that hides access not only to government agencies but to Perzo itself.


Being browser based, there are some inevitable trade-offs such as a slight lag when moving between messages that would not occur on a PC-based client such as Outlook. The interface is also in an early stage and needs a lot of work to become more intuitive. A mobile client for iOS is available from launch with one for Android promised within weeks.


Given that the service will be offered for free -- Gurle makes the point that equivalent integrated communications systems usually charge -- how will Perzo make money? Gurle believes that additional services accessed through Perzo's integration with Google Maps (for instance booking a restaurant) will be enough to pay the bills.


That sets off some alarm bells; isn't Perzo exactly the sort of unified communications platform that Google, Yahoo, Apple and Microsoft are trying to build for themselves? On the other hand, Gurle might point out, we now know that services built by any of these vendors can never be as free of surveillance as Perzo, built from day one to counter snooping.


There's little doubt that today's communications systems are getting more complex and less secure, partly because many of them were designed years or even decades ago but also because people now use them more intensively. Perzo could be a step in the direction of reinventing them for the early 21st century or another interesting cul de sac; time will tell.


Source: http://images.infoworld.com/d/security/startups-cloud-service-beats-nsa-style-snooping-230327?source=rss_applications
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Roger Waters returns to benefit for wounded


NEW YORK (AP) — Their faces are young and strong, but their bodies sit in wheelchairs or stand on artificial limbs.

They laugh and smile as Roger Waters holds court in a rehearsal hall. The wounded servicemen are waiting to rehearse their set with the former Pink Floyd frontman ahead of Wednesday's "Stand Up for Heroes," the annual fundraising benefit that supports wounded veterans through the Bob Woodruff Foundation.

They are excited for the chance to perform with the rock great, but these young men are not the only ones with admiration in their eyes.

"I feel a great sense of empathy for the people that live on the sharp end of conflicts and the ones that actually get injured," the 70-year-old Waters said at Monday's rehearsal. "I get so much more out of it than I put into it."

Throughout his long career, Waters has written music about victims of conflict, with both "The Wall" and "The Final Cut" having a direct connection to war (he lost his father in World War II and his grandfather in the first World War).

Last year, he played a touching version of his seminal "Wish You Were Here" while accompanied by 14 wounded soldiers he met at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Waters wants to do his part to help returning veterans wounded in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts because he feels that all too often, they fall through the cracks.

"I'm not a U.S. citizen, but I pay taxes here, and I wish a far greater percent of my tax dollars went to look after these guys," Waters said.

He joins Bruce Springsteen (who's performed at every one of the benefits), "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart, Bill Cosby, Jerry Seinfeld and other guests.

The Bob Woodruff Foundation was started by the 52-year old ABC journalist after he was seriously injured by an improvised explosive device while covering the war in Iraq in 2006. The foundation helps returning veterans and their families reintegrate with society.

"I never imagined any of this when I woke up out of that coma," Woodruff said. "You wake up in the hospital happy to be alive, but then realize we're not the same anymore."

He added: "I wanted to create a way to help these guys because this was a new kind of war."

Not long after, he was approached by Caroline Hirsch, who made the "Stand Up for Heroes" benefit a part of her yearly New York Comedy Festival.

She said she was proud to do it.

"These soldiers will be coming back and need to be taken care of for the rest of their lives; we cannot forget what they have done for us," Hirsch said.

The event will stream live at 8:30 p.m. EST at http://google.com/+Stand4Heroes and at http://bobwoodrufffoundation.org/youtube .

___

Follow John Carucci at http://www.twitter.com/jacarucci

___

Online:

http://www.nycomedyfestival.com/comedian/stand-up-for-heroes/

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/roger-waters-returns-benefit-wounded-141216746.html
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Google walks away from Microsoft's IE9


As expected, Google today declared that it has ended support for Microsoft's IE9 (Internet Explorer 9) browser for its own Google Apps.


"Each time a new version of [a supported browser] is released, we begin supporting the update and stop supporting the third-oldest version," Google said in a post to the Google Apps blog.


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Google regularly warns customers when it has dropped a version of IE from the support list, so today's announcement was not out of the blue. In September 2012, Google said the same of IE8, and in 2011, of IE7, as Microsoft readied new versions.


Microsoft launched IE11 last month for Windows 8.1 as part of that free update to Windows 8. While it has yet to ship IE11 for Windows 7, it will likely do so this month, based on the release three weeks ago of a blocking toolkit for the browser.


"Google's test plans have been adjusted to now stop all testing and engineering work related to Internet Explorer 9," the company said today.


As is its practice, Google will also begin warning users of Gmail and other services that it has dropped IE9 through messages urging them to upgrade.


Google's policy is to support only the current version of a browser, and its immediate predecessor. Its ditch-IE9 move was the first by a major online service provider.


Older, unsupported browsers can still be used to connect to Google Apps and other of its services, but some features may be off-limits or limited, and at some point the apps may stop working entirely in IE9.


On a support page dedicated to its browser support policy, for example, Google noted that its Calendar app displays in read-only mode under IE8. In the same document, Google encouraged users that rely on older versions of IE to "consider a dual browser strategy."


The end-of-support plan for Google Apps will not disrupt access to Google's search site via older browsers, including IE9.


Google does not have a corresponding policy for operating systems. In fact, Google recently poked at Microsoft when it said it would continue to support Windows XP with its own Chrome browser for at least a year after Microsoft stops patching IE8 on the aged OS this coming April.


Microsoft launched IE9 in March 2011. The browser runs on Windows Vista and Windows 7. Microsoft will continue to support IE9 on those platforms until 2017 and 2020, respectively.


Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer, on Google+, or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed. His e-mail address is gkeizer@computerworld.com. See more articles by Gregg Keizer.


Read more about web apps in Computerworld's Web Apps Topic Center.


Source: http://www.infoworld.com/t/web-browsers/google-walks-away-microsofts-ie9-230351
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Sheryl Crow: Big Hair Beauty at the CMA Awards

She always knows how to make an entrance, and earlier tonight (November 6) Sheryl Crow had everyone’s full attention as she arrived at the 2013 CMA Awards.


It seems the hours of primping definitely paid off as the “Soak Up the Sun” star charmed the fans and shutterbugs with her gorgeous getup ahead of the big Bridgestone Arena event.


There's plenty to look forward to as the CMA Awards get underway, with Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood serving as hosts as well as performers.


Other notable acts slated to take the stage are Jason Aldean, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, Taylor Swift, Luke Bryan, Jason Mraz, Florida Georgia Line, and Keith Urban.


Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/sheryl-crow/sheryl-crow-big-hair-beauty-cma-awards-1093007
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