Live from Expand: Toyota's Sheldon Brown (video)

We'll be joined on stage by Toyota's executive program manager, product development Sheldon Brown to discuss the car's company's presence in the hybrid market, and the RAV4 EV, which furthers its focus on electric vehicles.

March 17, 2013 12:00 PM EST

For a full list of Expand sessions, be sure to check out our event hub.

Filed under: Transportation

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Wolverton: New Roku, TV Play streaming video players a hit and a ...

For watching Internet video on your TV, I'm a big fan of streaming video players.

These typically are inexpensive, hockey-puck sized boxes that plug into your TV and offer access to dozens of Internet channels and sometimes allow you to watch videos streamed from your computer or smartphone.

In recent weeks, two new streaming video players hit the market, one from Roku and another from Western Digital. I like the former, but am not so hot about the latter.

Roku's newest box is the Roku 3, which replaces the Roku 2 XS at the top end of its product line. For the same $100 price, it represents a nice upgrade.

The biggest difference between the two generations is a seemingly minor one: The

This product image provided by Roku shows the Roku 3. Roku is plugging headphones and several other new features into its latest set-top box for streaming Internet video to TVs, a move that amplifies its effort to upstage Apple s better-selling player. (AP Photo/Roku) ( Uncredited )

remote control that ships with the Roku 3 includes a headphone port and headphones, which let you watch TV without the sound track disturbing those who don't want to hear it.

It's a cool upgrade, and one that users with small houses or young kids will appreciate. I often find myself wanting to watch TV right after my kids have gone to bed, but worrying I'll disturb them by turning it on. With the Roku 3, that's no longer a concern.

The only other big difference between the two generations is that the Roku 3 has a dual-core processor that helps make it speedier and load apps more quickly.

The Roku 3 also ships with a newly designed interface that the company will roll out to older boxes next month. It arrays users' channels

across three columns instead of arranging them all on a single horizontal line, making it easier to scroll through channels. To the left of the channel list, users will find a new navigation area that includes a link to Roku's universal search. That feature allows users to search across some of the device's top channels, including Netflix (NFLX), Hulu and Amazon, for particular movies, actors and directors. It's a great feature that now is more prominent and quicker to find and use.

Although they aren't new, there are other things to like about the Roku 3. It offers the broadest selection of Internet channels around, about 750 at last count. It still lacks YouTube, which is available on most other digital set-top boxes, and iTunes, which is only available on Apple (AAPL) TV, but those are about the only notable absences you'll find among streaming video and audio services.

And users can play games on the Roku 3, including some by using its motion sensing remote control. The selection is fairly limited, but it does include "Angry Birds Space" and "Jeopardy."

If you've already got a Roku 2 box, there's no need to throw it out for a Roku 3. But if you are in the market for a streaming video device, the Roku 3 is one of the best around.

I wasn't as impressed with Western Digital's newest digital player, the WD TV Play.

Western Digital has tried to carve out a spot for itself in the digital living room with devices that are supposed to help users enjoy their personal content on their big-screen TVs. Last year, the company introduced the WD TV Live, which added the ability to stream video from a collection of Internet channels.

Its $80 Play, introduced last month, is even more focused on streaming video, with an interface built around video and audio apps.

The Play includes a decent range of the most popular Internet content services, including Netflix, Hulu and YouTube. And it includes a cool feature borrowed from some smartphones and tablets: Some of its apps will display updated information without requiring you to actually launch them. So, for example, the icon for the AccuWeather app displays the current temperature and the Tweet app displays the latest Twitter posts from people you follow.

But compared with Roku's devices or Apple TV, the Play comes up short in numerous ways. It only offers 33 channels and is missing lots of notable ones. It has no channels for professional sports programming and no Amazon app. And you're stuck with whatever channels are preinstalled; Western Digital doesn't have an app or channel store.

I found that streaming content from your PC or network to the Play was more difficult than on the Roku 3, forcing you to navigate an ugly folder-based interface to find the content you want.

The Play also lacks a universal search feature, and its smartphone app is disappointing. You can't use it to beam pictures or music to your TV, and with some Play channels, you can't use the smartphone's virtual keyboard to type user names and passwords, forcing you to hunt and peck with the remote.

So I'd pass on the Play. For watching Internet video, you have much better choices, starting with the Roku 3.

Contact Troy Wolverton at 408-840-4285 or twolverton@mercurynews.com. Follow him at www.mercurynews.com/troy-wolverton or Twitter.com/troywolv.

What: Roku 3 streaming media player
Likes: Inexpensive; offers access to hundreds of Internet channels; new headphone port on remote control allows users to watch movies without disturbing family members; faster than previous models; new interface easier to use.
Dislikes: Lacks YouTube channel or ability to play protected iTunes content; game offerings paltry.
Price: $100
Web: www.roku.com

What: Western Digital WD TV Play
Likes: Inexpensive; offers access to many top Internet channels; new, streamlined interface; "live" app icons show updated information.
Dislikes: No app store; relatively few Internet channels included; lacks professional sports content and an Amazon channel; smartphone app can't beam music or pictures to TV; clunky interface for streaming video from PC.
Price: $70
Web: www.wdc.com

Source: http://www.contracostatimes.com/business/ci_22792238/wolverton-hit-and-miss-among-new-streaming-video?source=rss

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Transistor in the fly antenna: Insect odorant receptors regulate their own sensitivity

Mar. 18, 2013 ? Highly developed antennae containing different types of olfactory receptors allow insects to use minute amounts of odors for orientation towards resources like food, oviposition sites or mates. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, have now used mutant flies and for the first time provided experimental proof that the extremely sensitive olfactory system of fruit flies ? they are able to detect a few thousand odor molecules per milliliter of air, whereas humans need hundreds of millions ? is based on self-regulation of odorant receptors.

Even fewer molecules below the response threshold are sufficient to amplify the sensitivity of the receptors, and binding of molecules shortly afterwards triggers the opening of an ion channel that controls the fly's reaction and flight behavior. This means that a below threshold odor stimulation increases the sensitivity of the receptor, and if a second odor pulse arrives within a certain time span, a neural response will be elicited.

Results of the research are published in the online journal PLOS ONE.

A sensitive sense of smell is vital

It is amazing how many fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) find their way to a rotting apple. It is known that insects are able to detect the slightest concentrations of odor molecules, especially pheromones, but also "food signals."

Dieter Wicher, Shannon Olsson, Bill Hansson and their colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology were looking for answers to the question why insects can trace odor molecules so easily and at such low concentrations in comparison to other animals. They focused their attention on odorant receptor proteins in the antenna, the insects' nose. These insect proteins are pretty young from an evolutionary perspective and their molecular constituents may be the basis for the insects' highly sensitive sense of smell.

Receptor system Or22a-Orco

Insect odorant receptors form a receptor system that consists of the actual receptor protein and an ion channel. After binding of an odor molecule, receptor protein and ion channel trigger the neural electrical response. This mechanism was recently described in the receptor system Or22a-Orco (Wicher et al., Nature 452, 2008); Sato et al., Nature 452, 2008). Apart from functioning as so-called ionotropic receptors, which enable ion flow through membranes after binding of odor molecules, odorant receptors also elicit intracellular signals. These stimulate the formation of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cyclic AMP or cAMP), which activates an ion flow through the co-receptor Orco. The role and relevance of this weak and slow electrical current, however, was until now unclear.

Drosophila mutant Orco mut

Merid N. Getahun, a PhD student from Ethiopia, and his colleagues have conducted numerous experiments on Drosophila olfactory neurons. They injected tiny amounts of compounds that stimulate, inhibit or imitate cAMP formation directly into the sensory hairs housing olfactory sensory neurons on the fly antenna. The researchers tested the flies' responses to ethyl butyrate, which has a fruity odor similar to pineapple, and measured activity in the sensory neurons by using glass microelectrodes. As a control, they used genetically modified fruit flies where the co-receptor Orco had been inactivated. "The fact that these mutants are no more able to respond to cAMP or the inhibition/activation of the involved key enzymes, such as protein kinase C and phospholipase C, shows that the highly sensitive olfactory system in insects is regulated intracellularly by their own odorant receptors," says Dieter Wicher, the leader of the research group. The combination of odorant receptor and co-receptor Orco can be compared to a transistor, Wicher continues: A weak basic current is sufficient to release the main electric current that activates the neuron. The process can also be seen as a short-term memory situated in the insect nose. A very weak stimulus does not elicit a response when it first occurs, but if it reoccurs within a certain time span it will release the electrical response according to the principle "one time is no time, but two is a bunch." [JWK/AO]

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Merid N. Getahun, Shannon B. Olsson, Sofia Lavista-Llanos, Bill S. Hansson, Dieter Wicher. Insect Odorant Response Sensitivity Is Tuned by Metabotropically Autoregulated Olfactory Receptors. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (3): e58889 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058889

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.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/v7OmrLYkyp0/130318132635.htm

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White blood cells found to play key role in controlling red blood cell levels

Mar. 17, 2013 ? Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have found that macrophages -- white blood cells that play a key role in the immune response -- also help to both produce and eliminate the body's red blood cells (RBCs). The findings could lead to novel therapies for diseases or conditions in which the red blood cell production is thrown out of balance.

The study, conducted in mice, is published today in the online edition of the journal Nature Medicine.

"Our findings offer intriguing new insights into how the body maintains a healthy balance of red blood cells," said study leader Paul Frenette, M.D., professor of medicine and of cell biology and director of the Ruth L. and David S. Gottesman Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Research at Einstein. "We've shown that macrophages in the bone marrow and the spleen nurture the production of new red blood cells at the same time that they clear aging red blood cells from the circulation. This understanding may ultimately help us to devise new therapies for conditions that lead to abnormal RBC counts, such as hemolytic anemia, polycythemia vera, and acute blood loss, plus aid recovery from chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation." Einstein has filed a joint patent application with Mount Sinai related to this research, which is currently available for licensing and further commercialization.

Previous studies, all done in the laboratory, had suggested that macrophages in the bone marrow act as nurse cells for erythroblasts, which are RBC precursors. But just how these "erythroblastic islands" (macrophages surrounded by erythroblasts) function in living animals was unclear.

A few years ago, Andrew Chow, a Mount Sinai M.D./Ph.D. student in the laboratories of Drs. Frenette, and Miriam Merad, M.D., Ph.D., professor of oncological sciences and immunology at Mount Sinai found that bone marrow macrophages express a cell surface molecule called sialoadhesin, or CD169 -- a target that could be used for selectively eliminating macrophages from bone marrow. Doing so would help pinpoint the role of macrophages in erythroblastic islands in vivo.

That's what Drs. Frenette and Merad did in the current study involving mice. They found that selectively eliminating CD169-positive macrophages in mice reduces the number of bone marrow erythroblasts -- evidence that these macrophages are indeed vital for the survival of erythroblasts, which develop into RBCs.

"What was surprising is that we couldn't see any significant anemia afterward," said Dr. Frenette. The researchers then analyzed the lifespan of the red blood cells and found that they were circulating for a longer time than usual.

"After we depleted the macrophages in the bone marrow, we discovered that we had also depleted CD169-positive macrophages present in the spleen and liver. It turns out that the macrophages in these two organs are quite important in removing old red blood cells from the peripheral circulation. Taken together, the findings show that these macrophages have a dual role, both producing and clearing red blood cells," he said.

The researchers also examined the role of macrophages in polycythemia vera, a genetic disease in which the bone marrow produces too many RBCs, typically leading to breathing difficulties, dizziness, excessive blood clotting and other symptoms. Using a mouse model of polycythemia vera, they found that depleting CD169-positive macrophages in bone marrow normalizes the RBC count. "This points to a new way to control polycythemia vera," said Dr. Frenette. "Right now, the standard of care is phlebotomy [periodic blood removal], which is cumbersome."

The title of the paper is "CD169+ macrophages provide a niche promoting erythropoiesis under homeostasis and stress." The first author of the paper is Dr. Andrew Chow. Other co-authors of the study include Matthew Huggins, Daniel Lucas, Ph.D., Jalal Ahmed, B.S., Sandra Pinho, Ph.D., Yuya Kunisaki, M.D., Ph.D., and Aviv Bergman, Ph.D., of Einstein, and Daigo Hashimoto, M.D., Ph.D., Clara Noizat and Marylene Leboeuf of Mount Sinai, New York, NY. The study was done in collaboration with Nico van Rooijen at Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Masato Tanaka at RIKEN Research Center for Allergy and Immunology, Yokohama, Japan, and Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Tokyo, Japan; and Zhizhuang Joe Zhao, Ph.D., at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK.

The study was supported by grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01 HL097700, R01HL069438, and R01HL116340); the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK056638); and the National Cancer Institute (R01CA112100), all part of the National Institutes of Health.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Andrew Chow et al. CD169 macrophages provide a niche promoting erythropoiesis under homeostasis and stress. Nature Medicine, 2013

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/BJ0M8zNFbcI/130317154727.htm

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Prince delivers funk-filled finale at SXSW

FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2010 file photo, musician Prince holds a news conference at The Apollo Theater announcing his "Welcome 2 America" tour in New York. Prince turns off the lights at South by Southwest on Saturday night, Match 16, 2013, with an unexpected and intimate showcase that ranks among the biggest surprises in years at the star-studded music festival and conference. (AP Photo/Peter Kramer, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2010 file photo, musician Prince holds a news conference at The Apollo Theater announcing his "Welcome 2 America" tour in New York. Prince turns off the lights at South by Southwest on Saturday night, Match 16, 2013, with an unexpected and intimate showcase that ranks among the biggest surprises in years at the star-studded music festival and conference. (AP Photo/Peter Kramer, File)

This Fall 2012 publicity photo provided by Rogers and Cowan shows musician Prince performing in concert in Chicago. Prince turns off the lights at South by Southwest on Saturday, March 16, 2013, with an unexpected and intimate showcase that ranks among the biggest surprises in years at the star-studded music festival and conference. (AP Photo/Rogers and Cowan)

This Fall 2012 photo provided by Rogers and Cowan shows musician Prince performing at a concert in Chicago. Prince turns off the lights at South by Southwest on Saturday, March 16, 2013, with an unexpected and intimate showcase that ranks among the biggest surprises in years at the star-studded music festival and conference. (AP Photo/Rogers and Cowan)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ? How else would Prince shut down the South by Southwest Music Festival that is basically a weeklong showcase of rock n' roll?

By throwing a totally different kind party: a grooving, brass band-backed funkfest that stretched to 3 a.m. and outlasted many fans lucky to get inside in the first place.

As Justin Timberlake and the Smashing Pumpkins headlined other SXSW wrap-ups nearby, Prince prevailed as the toughest ticket Saturday night by performing for only 300 people in his first appearance at the annual music smorgasboard that featured 2,200 bands and artists this year.

Prince towered over them all ? but his concert at the tiny La Zona Rosa club that sits on the fringe of the SXSW mayhem was no grandiose spectacle. He performed on a spartan stage behind a giant video board, and contentedly played bandleader instead of superstar for this funk-filled SXSW finale.

"They called our people and said they wanted some funk in Austin," said Prince, before belting out the last bars of a gentle rendition of "Purple Rain."

A 12-piece brass band joined the latest incarnation of Prince's New Power Generation for a run of hits like "1999" and "Cool" that jammed a groove twist. The show began with the band making a Mardi Gras-style march onto the stage, which was quickly drowned out by shrieks upon the sight of Prince emerging in a magneta, high-collared shirt and snug black blazer.

Few fans, however, came away with photographed keepsakes. Prince is notoriously rigid about controlling his music and image, and organizers warned the crowd three times before the show that taking pictures was forbidden. Fans who flaunted the rule were scolded by security or told to scram.

Even simply using a cell phone was banned? a biting irony, given that the concert was thrown by Samsung Galaxy and promoters worked the crowd beforehand offering customers fresh phone batteries or device test-drives.

Prince never played guitar during the set. Nor did he perform his new single "Screwdriver" that debuted earlier this year, opting instead for funk covers: Curtis Mayfield's "We're a Winner" and Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop Until You Get Enough" among them as the night dragged on and weary fans made their way to the exits early.

"Don't make me hurt you. You know how many hits I got?" Prince said during the first of several pseudo-set closers, before launching into yet another encore.

Green Day, Dave Grohl, Vampire Weekend, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks also starred at SXSW this week.

____

Follow Paul J. Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pauljweber

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-17-Music-SXSW-Prince/id-dd3f3279837246fa94eacbb8ef723c52

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Red tide is killing manatees at record pace in Fla.

Florida state officials are finding as many as ten dead manatees a day, which experts say is nothing short of a catastrophe, killed by a deadly algae known as the red tide that has infested their winter migration waters. NBC's Mark Potter reports.

By Mark Potter and Erin McClam

An outbreak of paralyzing algae known as red tide is killing manatees by the dozens in Florida.

Florida wildlife officials report that 149 of the gentle giants have been killed by red tide this year in just two and a half months, making it almost certain that the state will pass the record of 151, set in 1996.

The bloom of algae this year covers a 70-mile stretch of the west coast of Florida, roughly from Sarasota to Fort Myers. That makes it particularly dangerous for the blimp-shaped, endangered?mammals because they congregate in the warm water there for winter.

The algae contain a toxin that can stop the breathing of manatees when they eat it, and particles seep into sea grass, which manatees also eat. So the killing will probably continue for two months after the red tide dissipates.

?They?re basically paralyzed, and they?re comatose,? Virginia Edmonds, animal care manager of Florida mammals for the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, told the Tampa Bay Times. ?They could drown in 2 inches of water.?

Eleven manatees, often called sea cows, have been rescued and taken to the zoo for treatment this year. Workers there take three-hour shifts standing in a water tank and holding a manatee?s head out of the water so it can breathe until it recovers and can breathe on its own.

?We just keep taking them in,? Edmonds told the newspaper. ?We want to save as many as we can.?

The algae develop naturally, and when water temperature, salt content and nutrients are just right, they can bloom in an outbreak that turns the water reddish-brown. Red tide develops all over the world, including off California and throughout the Gulf of Mexico.

Scientists say some studies have linked red tide to global warming because algae thrive in warmer water.

Adult manatees average about 10 feet long and glide through the water, steering with their flippers, at about 5 mph. They have to come to the surface every few minutes to breathe.

Florida has an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 manatees. The most common cause of death is not red tide but collisions with boats, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Watercraft killed almost 800 manatees from 1995 to 2005.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/11/17268832-paralyzing-algae-is-killing-manatees-at-record-pace-in-florida?lite

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