LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - The upcoming Academy Awards show is the 85th, a significant anniversary that in past years might have brought a reunion of past winners, special film clips or some sort of recognition on the Oscar show.
But this year, the number 85 has been quietly retired, and so has the phrase "Academy Awards."
Both disappeared from official AMPAS materials about three weeks ago. "We're rebranding it," Oscar show co-producer Neil Meron told TheWrap on Monday. "We're not calling it 'the 85th annual Academy Awards,' which keeps it mired somewhat in a musty way. It's called 'The Oscars.'"
During TheWrap's interview with Meron and his partner Craig Zadan, Meron said they were under the impression that the new approach would continue in the future.
Academy spokeswoman Teni Melidonian confirmed that the change has happened for the upcoming show, but described it as the kind of typical adjustment in the ad campaign and overall message that takes place every year in consultation with the show's producers and the network, ABC.
"It is right for this show, but we could easily go back to using 'Academy Awards' next year," she said.
The majority of the show's posters and advertising materials focus on host Seth MacFarlane and the phrase "The Oscars," with no mention of how long the Academy has been hosting this shindig and no use of the phrase "Academy Awards."
And Academy press releases dealing with the upcoming show, which used to routinely mention the number, stopped doing so around the beginning of February. The last such AMPAS release appears to have come on January 29; since then, every release has found ways to avoid the phrase "85th Academy Awards."
When initial voting began, for example, the Academy's December 14 release began, "Nominations voting for the 85th Academy Awards will open at 8 a.m. PT, Monday, December 17 ? "
But when final voting began seven weeks later, its release said this: "Final voting for the Oscars will officially open on Friday, February 8th at 8 a.m. ? "
The phrase "The 85th Academy Awards," which used to begin the last paragraph of most Oscar-related press releases from the Academy, has been replaced with "Oscars for outstanding film achievements of 2012."
It's hard to say that the Academy is completely turning its back on its history, given that this year's show includes a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the James Bond movies and a tribute to movie musicals of the past decade. But it is consciously (if quietly) looking not to use a big round number when trying to woo viewers closer to the age of Quvenzhane Wallis (9) than Emmanuelle Riva (85), and trying to get less formal by making the show's nickname its official name.
"It'll be like the Grammys," said Meron. "The Grammys don't get a number, and neither will the Oscars."
He's not exactly right: The top of the Recording Academy's Grammy page (right) is headed, "The 55th Grammys," and the number appears in the first sentence of most NARAS press releases.
The Oscar.com page, on the other hand, just says "The Oscars."
It's not just amyloid: White matter hyperintensities and Alzheimer's diseasePublic release date: 19-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Karin Eskenazi ket2116@columbia.edu 212-342-0508 Columbia University Medical Center
New York, NY (February 19, 2013) New findings by Columbia researchers suggest that along with amyloid deposits, white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) may be a second necessary factor for the development of Alzheimer's disease.
Most current approaches to Alzheimer's disease focus on the accumulation of amyloid plaque in the brain. The researchers at the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, led by Adam M. Brickman, PhD, assistant professor of neuropsychology, examined the additional contribution of small-vessel cerebrovascular disease, which they visualized as white matter hyperintensities (WMHs).
The study included 20 subjects with clinically defined Alzheimer's disease, 59 subjects with mild cognitive impairment, and 21 normal control subjects. Using data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative public database, the researchers found that amyloid and WHMs were equally associated with an Alzheimer's diagnosis. Amyloid and WMHs were also equally predictive of which subjects with mildcognitive impairment would go on to develop Alzheimer's. Among those with significant amyloid, WMHs were more prevalent in those with Alzheimer's than in normal control subjects.
Because the risk factors for WMHswhich are mainly vascularcan be controlled, the findings suggest potential ways to prevent the development of Alzheimer's in those with amyloid deposits.
"White Matter Hyperintensities and Cerebral Amyloidosis" was published online today in JAMA Neurology.
###
The other authors are Frank A. Provenzano, MS (CUMC and Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences); Jordan Muraskin, MS (CUMC and Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences); Guiseppe Tosto, MD (CUMC); Atul Narkhede, MS (CUMC); Ben T. Wasserman, AB (CUMC); Erica Y Griffith, BS (CUMC); Vanessa A. Guzman, BA (CUMC); Irene B. Meier, MSc (CUMC); and Molly E. Zimmerman, PhD (Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY, NY).
The research was supported by NIH (U01 AG024904, P30 AG010129, K01 AG030514, AG029949, and AG034189).
The authors report no financial or other conflict of interest.
The Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain at Columbia University Medical Center is a multidisciplinary group that has forged links between researchers and clinicians to uncover the causes of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other age-related brain diseases and discover ways to prevent and cure these diseases. It has partnered with the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center at Columbia University Medical Center, which was established by an endowment in 1977 to focus on diseases of the nervous system, and with the Departments of Pathology & Cell Biology and of Neurology to allow the seamless integration of genetic analysis, molecular and cellular studies and clinical investigation to explore all phases of diseases of the nervous system. For more information visit The Taub Institute at http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/dept/taub/.
Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, pre-clinical, and clinical research; medical and health sciences education; and patient care. The medical center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, public health professionals, dentists, and nurses at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. Established in 1767, Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons was the first institution in the country to grant the MD degree and is among the most selective medical schools in the country. Columbia University Medical Center is home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York City and State and one of the largest in the United States. Its physicians treat patients at multiple locations throughout the tri-state area, including the NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia campus in Washington Heights, the new ColumbiaDoctors Midtown location at 51 W. 51st St. in Manhattan, and the new ColumbiaDoctors Riverdale practice. For more information, visit www.cumc.columbia.edu or columbiadoctors.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.
It's not just amyloid: White matter hyperintensities and Alzheimer's diseasePublic release date: 19-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Karin Eskenazi ket2116@columbia.edu 212-342-0508 Columbia University Medical Center
New York, NY (February 19, 2013) New findings by Columbia researchers suggest that along with amyloid deposits, white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) may be a second necessary factor for the development of Alzheimer's disease.
Most current approaches to Alzheimer's disease focus on the accumulation of amyloid plaque in the brain. The researchers at the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, led by Adam M. Brickman, PhD, assistant professor of neuropsychology, examined the additional contribution of small-vessel cerebrovascular disease, which they visualized as white matter hyperintensities (WMHs).
The study included 20 subjects with clinically defined Alzheimer's disease, 59 subjects with mild cognitive impairment, and 21 normal control subjects. Using data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative public database, the researchers found that amyloid and WHMs were equally associated with an Alzheimer's diagnosis. Amyloid and WMHs were also equally predictive of which subjects with mildcognitive impairment would go on to develop Alzheimer's. Among those with significant amyloid, WMHs were more prevalent in those with Alzheimer's than in normal control subjects.
Because the risk factors for WMHswhich are mainly vascularcan be controlled, the findings suggest potential ways to prevent the development of Alzheimer's in those with amyloid deposits.
"White Matter Hyperintensities and Cerebral Amyloidosis" was published online today in JAMA Neurology.
###
The other authors are Frank A. Provenzano, MS (CUMC and Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences); Jordan Muraskin, MS (CUMC and Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences); Guiseppe Tosto, MD (CUMC); Atul Narkhede, MS (CUMC); Ben T. Wasserman, AB (CUMC); Erica Y Griffith, BS (CUMC); Vanessa A. Guzman, BA (CUMC); Irene B. Meier, MSc (CUMC); and Molly E. Zimmerman, PhD (Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY, NY).
The research was supported by NIH (U01 AG024904, P30 AG010129, K01 AG030514, AG029949, and AG034189).
The authors report no financial or other conflict of interest.
The Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain at Columbia University Medical Center is a multidisciplinary group that has forged links between researchers and clinicians to uncover the causes of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other age-related brain diseases and discover ways to prevent and cure these diseases. It has partnered with the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center at Columbia University Medical Center, which was established by an endowment in 1977 to focus on diseases of the nervous system, and with the Departments of Pathology & Cell Biology and of Neurology to allow the seamless integration of genetic analysis, molecular and cellular studies and clinical investigation to explore all phases of diseases of the nervous system. For more information visit The Taub Institute at http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/dept/taub/.
Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, pre-clinical, and clinical research; medical and health sciences education; and patient care. The medical center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, public health professionals, dentists, and nurses at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. Established in 1767, Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons was the first institution in the country to grant the MD degree and is among the most selective medical schools in the country. Columbia University Medical Center is home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York City and State and one of the largest in the United States. Its physicians treat patients at multiple locations throughout the tri-state area, including the NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia campus in Washington Heights, the new ColumbiaDoctors Midtown location at 51 W. 51st St. in Manhattan, and the new ColumbiaDoctors Riverdale practice. For more information, visit www.cumc.columbia.edu or columbiadoctors.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.
Feb. 19, 2013 ? The risk posed by global warming and rising ocean temperatures to the future health of the world's marine ecosystem has been highlighted by scientists studying fossil records.
Researchers at Plymouth University believe that findings from fieldwork along the North Yorkshire coast reveal strong parallels between the Early Jurassic era of 180 million years ago and current climate predictions over the next century.
Through geology and palaeontology, they've shown how higher temperatures and lower oxygen levels caused drastic changes to marine communities, and that while the Jurassic seas eventually recovered from the effects of global warming, the marine ecosystems that returned were noticeably different from before.
The results of the Natural Environment Research Council-funded project are revealed for the first time in this month's PLOS ONE scientific journal.
Professor Richard Twitchett, from the University's School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, and a member of its Marine Institute, said: "Our study of fossil marine ecosystems shows that if global warming is severe enough and lasts long enough it may cause the extinction of marine life, which irreversibly changes the composition of marine ecosystems."
Professor Twitchett, with Plymouth colleagues Dr Silvia Danise and Dr Marie-Emilie Clemence, undertook fieldwork between Whitby and Staithes, studying the different sedimentary rocks and the marine fossils they contained. This provided information about the environmental conditions on the sea floor at the time the rocks were laid down.
The researchers, working with Dr Crispin Little from the University of Leeds, were then able to correlate the ecological data with published data on changes in temperature, sea level and oxygen concentrations.
Dr Danise said: "Back in the laboratory, we broke down the samples and identified all of the fossils, recording their relative abundance much like a marine biologist would do when sampling a modern environment. Then we ran the ecological analyses to determine how the marine seafloor community changed through time."
The team found a 'dead zone' recorded in the rock, which showed virtually no signs of life and contained no fossils. This was followed by evidence of a return to life, but with new species recorded.
Professor Twitchett added: "The results show in unprecedented detail how the fossil Jurassic communities changed dramatically in response to a rise in sea level and temperature and a decline in oxygen levels.
"Patterns of change suffered by these Jurassic ecosystems closely mirror the changes that happen when modern marine communities are exposed to declining levels of oxygen. Similar ecological stages can be recognised in the fossil and modern communities despite differences in the species present and the scale of the studies."
The NERC project - 'The evolution of modern marine ecosystems: environmental controls on their structure and function' - runs until March 2015, and is one of four funded under their Coevolution of Life and the Planet research programme.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Plymouth.
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Journal Reference:
Silvia Danise, Richard J. Twitchett, Crispin T. S. Little, Marie-Emilie Cl?mence. The Impact of Global Warming and Anoxia on Marine Benthic Community Dynamics: an Example from the Toarcian (Early Jurassic). PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (2): e56255 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0056255
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Fisker Automotive Inc. has what it is calling ?detailed proposals? from several investment partners that could save the maker of expensive hybrid sports cars.
The Anaheim company behind the $110,000 Karma plug-in hybrid sports car has previously said it needs about $500 million to launch a second, less expensive model, which would be made at a factory in Wilmington, Del.
Fisker ran into a cash crunch after the federal government froze a Department of Energy loan to the company and its battery maker went bankrupt.
?We can only confirm that the company has received detailed proposals from multiple parties in different continents,"?the company said in a statement, "which are now being evaluated by the Company and its advisors.?
A deal could be reached in March.
Previously reported potential partners include Geely Auto, the Chinese company that owns Volvo, and Wanxiang Group, another Chinese company, which recently purchased battery maker A123 Systems out of bankruptcy. A123 builds the lithium-ion battery that goes into Fisker?s cars.
Fisker also is in talks with Wanxiang to start purchasing batteries again. But for now, production of the Karma, which is built in Finland, has been halted until the automaker secures a battery supply. The company had built up an inventory of cars prior to A123?s bankruptcy and there are cars still for sale at dealerships in the U.S. and Europe.
The automaker is looking for funds to restart work on the Atlantic, a $55,000, four-door rechargeable sports sedan that Fisker sees as a higher-volume model that would have a broader market.
Work on the Atlantic came to a halt last year when the federal government suspended a $529-million loan after delays in the introduction of the Karma. Fisker had drawn down about $192 million of the loan.
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It's nothing we didn't see coming toward the end of last year, but T-Mobile's finally ready to make its GoSmart Mobile prepaid service officially official. As outlined during its trials, the service is offering up plans starting at $30 a month for unlimited talk and text. An extra $5 a month'll get you unlimited talk, text and web, and if you jump up to a full $45 a month, you can add 3G to the list. T-Mob's promising a service free of hidden fees and caps, or as the company puts it "No DUM caps. No DUM overages " -- you know, "FreeDUM in wireless," as it were. The GoSmart Mobile SIM kit will run you $8. More info can be found in the press release after the break.
Show full PR text
GoSmart Mobile Launches Nationwide No-Contract Wireless Service for Budget-Conscious Consumers
It is time for FreeDUM in wireless.
GoSmart Mobile today announced the nationwide launch of its no annual contract wireless service for budget-conscious consumers, ending the era of DUM[TM] hidden fees, roaming charges and overly complicated annual contracts. GoSmart, a new brand from T-Mobile USA, offers affordable, no annual contract plans on a reliable nationwide network starting at just $30 per month.
With GoSmart, wireless customers get what they need - great savings and flexibility without the hassle. For example, customers have the choice of purchasing an inexpensive SIM kit to use in their own compatible mobile phone or they can buy a low-priced GoSmart phone. In addition, all GoSmart services are offered without limits. No DUM caps. No DUM overages. Just a very affordable service for calling, texting and Web surfing.
GoSmart is available online at www.GoSmartMobile.com and at thousands of dealer stores across the nation.
"You don't need food bigger than your face, and you don't need mobile phone plans that charge you more than you can afford for services you don't want or need," said Doug Chartier, senior vice president of marketing for GoSmart. "GoSmart is one of the simplest, most budget-friendly options in wireless, with unlimited plans on a reliable nationwide network starting at $30 per month." GoSmart's launch comes as the no annual contract market continues to grow at a steady pace, fueled by cost-conscious consumers looking to reduce what they spend each year for wireless service. The number of no annual contract customers in the United States is expected to reach 80 million by the end of 2013 and grow an average of 7.4 percent per year until 2016, according to a report from market research firm IDC.[i]
"The influx of data services, coupled with the traditional flexibility and value of no contract plans, has considerably increased consumer interest in the no annual contract wireless market" said John Weber, Associate Research Analyst at IDC. "Customers often look for unlimited service plans on a robust network, while simultaneously limiting monthly wireless expenses. GoSmart represents a viable option for consumers to consider."
The scandal currently hitting the meat-supply industry and the proposed draft National Curriculum released last week appear very far apart and unrelated events. However, unregulated and unscrupulous individuals narrowly defining their ?product? as they become more and more obsessed with measuring and increasing their short-term profit margins and chase ?targets? is a pattern we have seen across industry, business and public services. Short-term and narrowly defined targets can lead to a reduction in the quality of the ?product? as more costly ingredients are replaced by cheaper and easily sourced substitutes. So are we being peddled a horse-burger-of-a curriculum in which a narrow conception of knowledge may be more easily packaged and measured, but will ultimately lead to an educational feast of poor nutritional value?
Following the tweets and various blogs of teachers, academics and subject associations, a common thread is concern over the narrow and reductionist view of knowledge that appears to run throughout the proposed draft curriculum. Gove seems to have taken E D Hirsch literally in creating a knowledge-rich curriculum but could his interpretation of Hirsch lead to an understanding-light generation of school-leavers lacking in the capability to use and apply their knowledge? Indeed it is the using and applying element of many of the subjects that appears to have been reduced to make room for more factual content. Chris Husbands, for example, on the London Institute of Education?s blog highlights how the history programme of study at KS2 ?emphasises story at the expense of historical inquiry?. Husbands claims Hirsch?s model is ?incurious? about the relationship between knowledge and understanding.
Hirsch?s arguments appear particularly attractive to those needing to justify a deficit model of education. But not even Hirsch?s Core Knowledge curriculum is completely divorced from understanding, being designed to act as a tool to ?construct further knowledge, develop cultural literacy and deepen critical thinking.? There seems to be a myth afoot that the cause of under achievement by some in our education system is an approach to curriculum that is anti-knowledge and content light. As an ex primary school teacher of sixteen years and an academic working closely with teachers for the last ten, I do not recognise this. Indeed I still remember as a mathematics co-ordinator, entering data into a spreadsheet every year of how each child had performed in each area of mathematics in their summative assessments so that we could critically evaluate our mathematics teaching throughout the whole school. There was nothing anti-knowledge or content-light about this exercise. Every content area of mathematics was subjected to rigorous analysis in order to identify areas for pedagogical development.
Indeed, if Hirsch?s core knowledge curriculum is designed to promote cultural literacy and critical thinking then a narrow view of knowledge alone is not enough. Early in my career I spent some time working as a VSO volunteer in Nepal on a primary education project. I would often be taken aside by proud teachers wanting to impress me with their children?s mathematical abilities as I toured various village schools. I watched children as young as seven ?perform? complex mathematical processes such as long division and multiplication, which they had learnt through endless repetition and mimicking. However, when the children were given a problem to solve that was grounded in the kinds of mathematical knowledge they might need to apply in the local market they often struggled. Mathematical processes were often taught as abstract and isolated routines and not as part of a wider repertoire of mental and written calculation methods to be applied according to their aptness and efficacy in different cultural contexts.
Knowledge and understanding are a symbiotic whole in education and I was pleased to see a renewed emphasis on computer programming in the draft curriculum. However it is concerning that all reference to digital literacy has been removed from the consultation document developed by the Royal Society for Engineering and the British Computer Society. For a detailed analysis of this see Peter Twining?s blog entry ?Digital literacy does not compute? . Gove obviously decided he knew better, gravitating towards a conception of the subject based around a body of core knowledge in computer science, abstracted from the understanding needed to use and apply it effectively. I was recently reminded of the limitations of such a narrow view of computing by a friend who has her own successful games and software company. When I asked her if she was looking forward to a new generation of computer programmers coming through the education system she lamented that finding programmers was not the problem. Finding programmers who had the vision and creativity to design and build digital games and artefacts that people wanted or needed to use was the issue. To address this she tended to look for employees with a background in art and design first and programming second.
Knowledge is indeed core to education but without the understanding that is developed through using and applying knowledge, it becomes ossified in our memory rather than rendered as a tool for further thinking, understanding and creativity. In neglecting understanding we move further down the road towards valuing what is easy to assess rather than assessing what is of real value in education?
This map, put together by China File, plots all of the publicly available suppliers who fuel Apple's production lines. While the majority are found in Asia, it's interesting to see that the rest of world represents, too. More »
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Public release date: 19-Feb-2013
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