Apple today showed off new iPad and iPad Mini models. In the month before the iPhone 5c and 5s were announced, there were constant rumors about what they would sport. On the whole, the rumor mill was very accurate, no doubt thanks to a little help from Apple to keep the iPhone top of mind. By contrast, there were few rumors circulating about the new iPads.
Did that mean Apple has shocks in store -- or there's not much to say about them? It was more of the latter. As expected, the new iPad -- named the iPad Air -- uses Apple's 64-bit A7 processor and M7 motion coprocessor (both introduced in the iPhone 5s), but not the Touch ID fingerprint scanner. The big deal is that it is 20 percent thinner and much lighter, weighing 1.0 pound versus 1.4 pounds. The cheaper iPad Mini gains the Retina display and A7 processor, though it doesn't run as fast. They begin shipping in November at the same prices and configurations as the previous models.
Apple updated its iPad covers, but did not add built-in keyboard, à la Microsoft's Type Cover for its Surface Pro, as some rumors suggested. Apple also announced the significant updates promised earlier this year to the iWork suite for both iOS and OS X.
But for most people, new iPads are what's hot. A 64-bit iPad, coupled with the 64-bit iOS 7 and apps designed for 64-bit processing (there are now extremely few), could be a powerful alternative to a lightweight laptop. It could even run complex or compute-intensive apps such as Adobe Photoshop that today need more horsepower than what a tablet delivers.
I know many people who carry only an iPad while traveling, and at the Interop networking conference a few weeks ago, I met several CIOs who expected to have sizable tablet-only user communities in a few years, particularly for sales forces and field forces. The group could even extend to desk workers who require little beyond email, the Web, and core office productivity capabilities that you can already get on an iPad and and that Google, Microsoft, and Apple are all working to deliver via the Web.
You don't have to keep hanging on, Verizon subscribers: that critical Moto X camera fix is rolling out now. Though we've yet to see it on our own handset, Phandroid is reporting that Motorola's over-the-air update has finally passed Verizon's rigorous testing and should be hitting all handsets soon. ...
Parisians and tourists sit at a cafe along the Seine River. The mayor of Paris recently close down a major highway along the river to open it up for pedestrians. Some drivers however aren't pleased with the traffic diversion.
Christophe Morin /Landov
In a daring gamble, the mayor of Paris recently shut off a major vehicle thoroughfare through the city, the highway along the Seine River.
The move is part of his plan to reduce traffic in the city. Parisians and tourists were delighted by the new space this summer, but many wonder if it'll be such a hot idea during the cold winter months.
Away from the busy street, next to the Pont Alexandre III Bridge that spans the Seine River, a new recreation and leisure area called Les Berges, or the banks, is set up for pedestrians. The area was once filled with cars speeding by, but now it's a place to take a stroll, ride a bike or just sit and hang out.
And hanging out is exactly what people are doing down on the berges on a recent Indian summer day. The noise of the traffic on the streets above is now replaced with other sounds, like a speedboat cutting through the waters.
There are new sights as well, like close-up views of the ornate sculpture on the sides of the bridges. Children frolic on a new playground, where a wall has been fitted with ropes and footholds for rock climbing.
Further on there's shuffleboard and chess, and wooden decks covered with plants and lounge chairs. There's even a couple of shipping containers with glass fronts that have been comfily furnished. You can rent a few hours in them to lounge around with your friends, undisturbed. Xavier Janc is head of the Berges project at Paris City Hall. He says it's designed to give Parisians what they want: nature, culture and sport.
"But most of all we wanted to get rid of this urban highway that marred the historic heart of the city," Janc says. "We wanted to give the river back to people who love Paris."
Everyone seems happy to be here, like Brigitte Loir, who was visiting the berges for the first time. She thinks the project is a very good idea.
"I'm very happy because since a few years, there are less and less cars in Paris, and it's beautiful," Loir says.
Though kicked back in a chaise lounge chair, sipping a drink at one of the new riverbank cafes, medical student Daniel Secnasie says he is less excited about the project.
"Yeah, it's a good idea for two months a year, he says, but the rest of the time, when it's cold and deserted, it's just forcing more traffic onto the streets above," Secnasie says.
That's exactly the problem, says Jerome Dubus, with the French business organization Medef. The pleasant pedestrian walk has made it much harder to get through the city in a car, he says.
"It's very difficult now to have economic growth in Paris because of traffic," Dubus says. "It's more expensive for all people now, because we made more time, and time is money."
Dubus says the berges project will hurt delivery businesses and small services like plumbers and electricians, and will increase overall congestion. The mile-and-a-half stretch of highway that's been closed off carried about 2,000 cars an hour during peak times. Dubus says now those cars will be forced up into the tiny streets of the left bank. He believes the mayor will have to cancel the project when he sees the results of a study his organization is carrying out with the Paris chamber of commerce.
Back at city hall, Janc says reversibility is one of the main pillars of the project, but he doesn't think it will be necessary. He says the traffic problems haven't been nearly as bad as anticipated.
Janc also says they have a few surprises up their sleeve for this winter to attract people to the river. Those cozy shipping containers, they'll be heated for anyone who wants to hang out on the Seine, in the rain, in the middle of January.
After a couple of high-profilereports about how the plastic iPhone isn't faring too well in the laser-cut shadow of the iPhone 5s, here's a bit of evidence to the contrary. It comes courtesy of stat collectors at an app marketing platform called Localytics, who claim they've spotted a distinct upwards trend in the number of Americans using a 5c relative to a 5s. Whereas usage of the flagship metal iPhone was 3.4x higher during the launch weekend, this ratio has drifted down to 1.9x one month later, suggesting that a secondary wave of not-so-early adopters is happy to give the cheaper model a bit more consideration. Of course, these ratios don't tell us anything about absolute sales figures for either handset -- we'll have to wait on first-hand info from carriers or from Apple itself (perhaps as part of today's event) before we know those.
It was the beginning of a very very good night for Kanye West! Shortly before he proposed to Kim Kardashian in San Francisco, the rapper, 36, was hundreds of miles south in Hollywood to present the first trophy of the night at the Hollywood Film Awards. With guests like Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock,Jake Gyllenhaal, Matthew McConaughey and many others looking on, West was unusually cool, calm and serene presenting the Breakout Director Award to 12 Years a Slave helmer Steve McQueen.
After quickly noting to the crowd that he planned to head back to San Francisco immediately after the show, the "Black Skinhead" emcee (in a black blazer and white shirt) tamely gushed about his love and respect for McQueen, whose film is one of the most acclaimed buzzed -bout of the season.
Afterwards, West boarded a private jet and quickly headed to AT&T Park in San Francisco, where Kim was with family and friends (including sisters Kourtney and Khloe); he projected "PLEEESE MARRY MEEE!!!" on the stadium screen. A surprised and overjoyed Kardashian, celebrating her 33rd birthday that day, quickly said yes.
Results from a study led by researchers at Nationwide Children's Hospital found more than three-fourths of breast milk samples purchased over the Internet contained bacteria that can cause illness, and frequently exhibited signs of poor collection, storage or shipping practices.
The study, published online today and in the November issue of Pediatrics, is the first to examine the safety of selling breast milk to others over the Internet, a trend that has become more frequent in the past several years. It is unknown exactly how common purchasing breast milk online is, but an earlier study cited 13,000 postings were placed on U.S. milk sharing websites in 2011.
The research team from the Center for Biobehavioral Health at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital purchased breast milk listed for sale on public websites and then analyzed it in the lab. The research was completed in collaboration with Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and The Ohio State University.
"We were surprised so many samples had such high bacterial counts and even fecal contamination in the milk, most likely from poor hand hygiene. We were also surprised a few samples contained salmonella," said Sarah A. Keim, PhD, principal investigator in the Center for Biobehavioral Health. "Other harmful bacteria may have come from the use of either unclean containers or unsanitary breast milk pump parts."
Individuals posted classified ads on websites describing the breast milk they wanted to sell or why they were seeking breast milk. Researchers responded to ads from sellers who did not ask about the infant receiving milk and who did not require a phone call before a transaction was made.
Researchers analyzed 101 samples bought online and compared the findings to 20 samples obtained from a milk bank. In the U.S., twelve non-profit milk banks follow the Human Milk Banking Association of North America guidelines and provide pasteurized milk from carefully screened donors to fragile and sick infants. Because the milk banks pasteurize their milk, harmful bacteria are killed before the milk reaches an infant, unlike milk purchased online. Even before pasteurization, the milk bank samples were less likely to contain several types of bacteria and had lower bacterial growth in many instances.
Shipping practices also played a role in the levels of bacteria in the milk purchased online. The longer the shipping time, the more contaminated the milk. Nineteen percent of sellers did not include dry ice or another cooling method, and the temperature of the milk was outside of recommended range for storage. Researchers found particularly high levels of one or more types of bacteria in 17 percent of the samples.
Information provided by sellers in their classified ads online, such as "I eat an organic diet" or "great quality" had no direct implication on the safety of the breast milk. However, sellers often did not include information about the use of hygienic milk handling or storage practices, screening for diseases transmissible by milk, or limiting or abstaining from legal or illegal drugs.
"Major milk-sharing websites post a lot of guidance about milk collection, storage, shipping and provider screening. However, results from this study showed sellers do not often follow this advice because hygiene and shipping practices were often compromised," said Dr. Keim, also a faculty member at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. "Based on our research, it is not safe to buy breast milk online, and the Food and Drug Administration recommends against sharing milk obtained in that way. Recipients are not able to determine for sure if the milk has been tampered with, or contains harmful drugs or pharmaceuticals, or if the information the provider supplied about their health was truthful."
According to Dr. Keim, it is difficult to know if a particular infant would be sickened by consuming any given bottle of milk, but the types of bacteria found in the online samples contained bacteria that could cause illnesses known to be linked to contaminated breast milk.
Milk banks are a safer alternative for breast milk for sick babies if the mother cannot provide milk because donors receive proper instructions and the milk is pasteurized, limiting the risk of bacterial illness, said Dr. Keim. Human breast milk can help strengthen the immune system and has been shown to protect against severe illnesses like necrotizing enterocolitis, a potentially deadly condition affecting thousands of infants each year.
Dr. Keim said women who have extra milk should consider donating it to a milk bank where the milk can be handled properly and they will ensure it goes to a baby who badly needs it, rather than selling it. Milk sold online and contaminated with bacteria that causes illness can be particularly harmful for premature infants or those with weakened immune systems, who are already particularly susceptible to infection.
"Our research results may not apply to situations where milk is shared among friends or relatives or donated rather than soldthe potential risks of those situations are less well understood," said Dr. Keim. Moms pumping for their own child should sanitize the parts of the breast pump that come into contact with the milk, use clean containers and wash their hands before pumping and handling milk. Also, keep milk cold and feed it to the baby soon.
"Our goal is to identify infant feeding practices that optimize child and maternal health. In addition to lactation consultants who are available at hospitals and clinics, there are community-based lactation consultants and peer-support organizations where women can help each other," said Dr. Keim. "We will continue to study breastfeeding in the context of contemporary society since where and how infants are fed is rapidly changing."
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Study shows buying breast milk online is likely to cause illness in infants
Results from a study led by researchers at Nationwide Children's Hospital found more than three-fourths of breast milk samples purchased over the Internet contained bacteria that can cause illness, and frequently exhibited signs of poor collection, storage or shipping practices.
The study, published online today and in the November issue of Pediatrics, is the first to examine the safety of selling breast milk to others over the Internet, a trend that has become more frequent in the past several years. It is unknown exactly how common purchasing breast milk online is, but an earlier study cited 13,000 postings were placed on U.S. milk sharing websites in 2011.
The research team from the Center for Biobehavioral Health at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital purchased breast milk listed for sale on public websites and then analyzed it in the lab. The research was completed in collaboration with Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and The Ohio State University.
"We were surprised so many samples had such high bacterial counts and even fecal contamination in the milk, most likely from poor hand hygiene. We were also surprised a few samples contained salmonella," said Sarah A. Keim, PhD, principal investigator in the Center for Biobehavioral Health. "Other harmful bacteria may have come from the use of either unclean containers or unsanitary breast milk pump parts."
Individuals posted classified ads on websites describing the breast milk they wanted to sell or why they were seeking breast milk. Researchers responded to ads from sellers who did not ask about the infant receiving milk and who did not require a phone call before a transaction was made.
Researchers analyzed 101 samples bought online and compared the findings to 20 samples obtained from a milk bank. In the U.S., twelve non-profit milk banks follow the Human Milk Banking Association of North America guidelines and provide pasteurized milk from carefully screened donors to fragile and sick infants. Because the milk banks pasteurize their milk, harmful bacteria are killed before the milk reaches an infant, unlike milk purchased online. Even before pasteurization, the milk bank samples were less likely to contain several types of bacteria and had lower bacterial growth in many instances.
Shipping practices also played a role in the levels of bacteria in the milk purchased online. The longer the shipping time, the more contaminated the milk. Nineteen percent of sellers did not include dry ice or another cooling method, and the temperature of the milk was outside of recommended range for storage. Researchers found particularly high levels of one or more types of bacteria in 17 percent of the samples.
Information provided by sellers in their classified ads online, such as "I eat an organic diet" or "great quality" had no direct implication on the safety of the breast milk. However, sellers often did not include information about the use of hygienic milk handling or storage practices, screening for diseases transmissible by milk, or limiting or abstaining from legal or illegal drugs.
"Major milk-sharing websites post a lot of guidance about milk collection, storage, shipping and provider screening. However, results from this study showed sellers do not often follow this advice because hygiene and shipping practices were often compromised," said Dr. Keim, also a faculty member at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. "Based on our research, it is not safe to buy breast milk online, and the Food and Drug Administration recommends against sharing milk obtained in that way. Recipients are not able to determine for sure if the milk has been tampered with, or contains harmful drugs or pharmaceuticals, or if the information the provider supplied about their health was truthful."
According to Dr. Keim, it is difficult to know if a particular infant would be sickened by consuming any given bottle of milk, but the types of bacteria found in the online samples contained bacteria that could cause illnesses known to be linked to contaminated breast milk.
Milk banks are a safer alternative for breast milk for sick babies if the mother cannot provide milk because donors receive proper instructions and the milk is pasteurized, limiting the risk of bacterial illness, said Dr. Keim. Human breast milk can help strengthen the immune system and has been shown to protect against severe illnesses like necrotizing enterocolitis, a potentially deadly condition affecting thousands of infants each year.
Dr. Keim said women who have extra milk should consider donating it to a milk bank where the milk can be handled properly and they will ensure it goes to a baby who badly needs it, rather than selling it. Milk sold online and contaminated with bacteria that causes illness can be particularly harmful for premature infants or those with weakened immune systems, who are already particularly susceptible to infection.
"Our research results may not apply to situations where milk is shared among friends or relatives or donated rather than soldthe potential risks of those situations are less well understood," said Dr. Keim. Moms pumping for their own child should sanitize the parts of the breast pump that come into contact with the milk, use clean containers and wash their hands before pumping and handling milk. Also, keep milk cold and feed it to the baby soon.
"Our goal is to identify infant feeding practices that optimize child and maternal health. In addition to lactation consultants who are available at hospitals and clinics, there are community-based lactation consultants and peer-support organizations where women can help each other," said Dr. Keim. "We will continue to study breastfeeding in the context of contemporary society since where and how infants are fed is rapidly changing."
###
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| E-mail
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.
You don't have to keep hanging on, Verizon subscribers: that critical Moto X camera fix is rolling out now. Though we've yet to see it on our own handset, Phandroid is reporting that Motorola's over-the-air update has finally passed Verizon's rigorous testing and should be hitting all handsets soon. ...
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