When a healthy rat smells a cat, it flees. But rats infected with the Toxoplasma brain parasite actually follow cat odors, often presumably to their doom, red in tooth and claw. Now researchers have found out exactly what’s going on in the rat’s infected brain—it’s in love. The study is in the journal Public Library of Science ONE. [Patrick K. House, Ajai Vyas and Robert Sapolsky, "Predator Cat Odors Activate Sexual Arousal Pathways in Brains of Toxoplasma gondii Infected Rats"]

That Toxo-infected rats approach cats has long been a well-known example of a parasite manipulating the behavior of its mammalian host. The protozoan needs to be in a cat’s intestine to reproduce. It...has to find its way into another cat to continue its fabulously glamorous lifestyle. Rats that touch [cat] poop and then get eaten by a cat can complete the circuit.

The new research reveals that when a Toxo-infected rat smells cat urine, it has increased activity in brain regions [mapped to] sexual attraction.

Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,
A medley of extemporanea;
And love is a thing that can never go wrong;
And I am Marie of Romania.

—Dorothy Parker

Projectors require some thought. Where will you put it? Will you maximize the image quality by buying a screen, or just shine it on a wall? Are you prepared for the necessity of replacing the bulb after 4,000 hours of use — for about $250?

[Y]ou may not need a projector if your goal is simply to enjoy your movies and photos on a big screen. You can buy various Apple cables that connect to a regular TV. If you have the newest iPhone or iPad and an Apple TV, in fact, you can even connect it to your HDTV wirelessly. Thanks to a built-in feature called AirPlay, you can keep the thing in your hand as you watch your movies on the TV you already own.

If you do decide to go with a projector, though, the Epson Megaplex is a pleasure. It’s portable, versatile and simple to use (the on-screen menus mimic an iPod’s — Videos, Photos, Music, Rented Movies). “Megaplex” may be too grand a name for a room-size theater, but this Epson is about as well done a Miniplex as a $650 projector can be.

* Select all the cells in your list.
* From the menu, select Format > Conditional Format
* In the Conditional Format dialog, change the first dropdown from "Cell Value Is" to "Formula Is".
* Enter this formula in the Formula box:
=MOD(ROW(),2)=0
* Click the Format... button
* In the Format Cells dialog, Click the Patterns tab
* Choose a light green (or light blue or light yellow) pattern. Click OK.
* Click OK to close the Conditional Formatting dialog

Conditional Formatting Result

The result will be a greenbar effect with every other row highlighted. It is created by conditional formatting. You are free to re-sort the data, delete rows or even insert rows in the middle of the data. The greenbar formatting effect will persist.

Currently the browsers that are supported in OS X 10.5 are Opera, Chrome, and Firefox. Apple's latest Safari browser requires Snow Leopard or later.

A week ago, when I had finished
Writing the chapter you’ve just read
And with avidity undiminished
Was charting out the course ahead,
An editor—at a plush party
(Well-wined, -provisioned, speechy, hearty)
Hosted by (long live!) Thomas Cook
Where my Tibetan travel book
Was honored—seized my arm: “Dear fellow,
What’s your next work?” “A novel...”
“Great!
We hope that you, dear Mr. Seth—”
“. . . In verse,” I added. He turned yellow.
“How marvelously quaint,” he said,
And subsequently cut me dead.

You need to map private TCP port 548 to some random public TCP port number. Any port will do as long as it's not port 548. Try port 1234. Then you'll need to specify port 1234 when you connect to your Mac mini.

1999-2007:
Researchers had known opioids were involved in pain tolerance, but these studies were amongst the first to show they can be involved in the brain’s placebo response to pain.

2011:
* By binding to CB1, rimonabant must have blocked the action of the brain’s own cannabinoids, which the brain apparently is able to produce in order to effectively combat pain in this instance.

* The study is the first to prove that the placebo response to pain involves the cannabinoid system, specifically CB1, the receptor to which the brain’s own natural cannabinoids bind. It’s also the receptor bound to by THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.
* This study tested 82 people, large enough for meaningful results but not especially large or diverse, considering the wide variety of responses seen in placebos. Future studies are needed to fully understand the effect, which involves more neurotransmitters than just opioids and cannabinoids.

The genius of Steve Jobs, Jef Raskin, and the rest of the Mac team was recognizing a huge untapped market for home computing among artists, musicians, writers, and other creative weirdos who might never have cared enough to master the arcane complexities of a command-line UI or blow a fortune on hulking digital workstations.

The challenge of designing a personal computer that “the rest of us” would not only buy, but fall crazy in love with, however, required input from the kind of people who might some day be convinced to try using a Mac. Fittingly, one of the team’s most auspicious early hires was a young artist herself: Susan Kare.

Few of us would want to live in a society without rules that keep our air and water clean; that give consumers the confidence to [invest in financial markets or to buy groceries. When new standards are proposed, opponents often claim an assault on business and free enterprise. Drug companies argued the bill creating the FDA would "destroy the sale of patent remedies." Automakers predicted a seatbelt mandate would destroy the] industry....The President of the American Bar Association denounced child labor laws as "a communistic effort to nationalize children"....

Companies adapt and standards often spark competition and innovation...[Steve Chu, my Secretary of Energy, reminded me how the government set modest, gradual energy efficiency targets a couple decades ago. Companies competed to hit these markers, and] hit them every time, and then exceeded them. [A] typical fridge now costs half as much and uses a quarter of the energy...It saves families and businesses billions of dollars.

[Revised] recommendations are based on a review of almost 1,000 studies and testimony from scientists and others....

[Some experts believe vitamin D can fight a range of diseases and have called for daily levels] of up to 2,000 IU....

[The committee reviewed hundreds of reports on potential benefits: "We have intriguing other areas to research...current data are insufficient for] defining an appropriate intake. Bone health is the primary outcome."

[For calcium, the committee recommends 0.7g daily for children 1-3, and 1g from 4-8. Children and teens 9-18 need no more than 1.3g. For most adults 19-50 and for men up to 71, 1g daily suffices. For women over 50 and men and women over 70, 1.2g a day is enough]....

For vitamin D, the uppermost levels are 2,500 IUs per day for children aged [1-3; 3,000 IUs daily for children 4-8; and 4,000 IUs] for everyone else.

For calcium, [outer ranges are 2.5g per day ages 1-8; 3g daily age 9-18; 2.5g 19-50; and 2g per day for all others....

Your health care provider can check your vitamin D blood level with a simple blood test.

Part of the confusion about whether or not you are getting enough vitamin D may be the definition of the acceptable blood level of vitamin D, clinically measured as 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D].

Using vitamin D blood levels is the best estimate of adequacy that accounts for dietary intake and sunshine, yet experts differ on what that level should be.

"A 25(OH)D blood level of at least 20 nanograms/ml was used by the IOM committee to set the recommendations for vitamin D because this level showed adequacy for a wide variety of bone health indicators" says Brannon.

The Endocrine Society Practice Guidelines, as well as many laboratories and experts (including Baetti), recommend a minimum vitamin D blood level of 30 nanograms/ml as an acceptable level.

[Momentum is developing toward consensus on an optimal range of 50-80 nanograms/ml.—DMM]

"I am delighted the upper limit for vitamin D has been doubled to 4,000 IUs per day, although this is a conservative level, considering the body of scientific evidence indicating it should be 10,000 IU," [Dr. Robert Heaney of Creighton] tells WebMD. "However, few people need more than 4,000 IUs, which will meet the needs of most healthy people, give physicians confidence to recommend supplementation, and allow research at higher vitamin D levels."

In July 2011, the Endocrine Society Practice Guidelines published recommendations for the evaluation, treatment, and prevention of vitamin D recommending an upper limit of 10,000 IU/day.

"There is a potential to cause harm if you overdose on supplements above 4,000 IU/day but there is no fear of overdosing from the sun because your skin acts like a regulatory system, only allowing production of the amount of vitamin D you need," Brannon says.

The recommendations for adults up to age 69 rose to 600 IU/day, and to 800 IU/day for adults starting at age 70. Older adults need more vitamin D because as they age, their skin does not produce vitamin D efficiently, they spend less time outdoors, and they tend to not get enough vitamin D.

The committee did not consider the emerging research on any other conditions. Patsy Brannon, PhD, RD, a Cornell University professor of nutritional sciences and a member of the IOM committee, spoke about that at the American Dietetic Association's 2011 annual meeting in San Diego. "The committee of 14 scientists reviewed more than 1,000 publications and determined that the evidence was inconsistent and inconclusive to include any other health benefits in the new recommendations," Brannon said. "The committee is not dismissing the role of vitamin D in other areas, we need more clinical trials, consistent evidence, and evidence that supports causality."

Ojalá que llueva café en el campo
que caiga un aguacero de yuca y té
del cielo una jarina de queso blanco
y al sur una montaña de berro y miel
oh, oh, oh-oh-oh, ojalá que llueva café

Ojalá que llueva café en el campo
peinar un alto cerro (d)e trigo y mapuey
bajar por la colina de arroz graneado
y continuar el arado con tu querer
oh, oh, oh-oh-oh...

Ojalá el otoño en vez de hojas secas
vista mi cosecha de pitisalé
sembrar una llanura de batata y fresas
ojalá que llueva café.

Pa(ra) que en el conuco
no se sufra tanto, ay ombe
Ojalá que llueva café en el campo
Pa que en Villa Vasquez oigan este canto....

pa que en Los Montones oigan este canto....

Pa que todos los niños canten en el campo
Ojalá que llueva café en el campo
pa que en La Romana oigan este canto
ojalá que llueva café en el campo
ay, ojalá que llueva,
ojalá que llueva, ay ombe
ojalá que llueva café en el campo
ojalá que llueva café.

Though the study did not include alcoholic energy drinks[, 44% of hospitalizations] were related to using alcohol or other drugs with] energy drinks....

[T]he majority of cases did not involve alcohol, meaning the energy drinks can be dangerous by themselves.

Cecile Marczinski [of Northern Kentucky University] told WebMD that there may actually be more caffeine in energy drinks than is being reported.

'Marczinski said she recently learned that manufacturers don't have to report the total caffeine that's in the drinks. They only have to list what they add. There may be much more caffeine that comes from stimulant herbs like guarana.

'"The caffeine in these drinks could be vastly underestimated," she tells WebMD.'

In addition to the potentially dangerous combination with alcohol, researchers noted a number of reasons for energy drink related hospitalization, including arrhythmias, hypertension, dehydration and other serious medical conditions.

software only, subscription or purchase

Tryptophan can trigger the production of serotonin and sweet dreams if it is taken alone on an empty stomach. In fact, tryptophan supplements were a popular sleep aid in the 1980s. Then the FDA banned their sale in 1991 after a massive outbreak of an autoimmune disease called eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome.

Tens of thousands of people were sickened with flu-like symptoms and 37 died—likely not the kind of sleep anyone had in mind. Most of the cases were traced back to contamination at the supplement manufacturer's plant, but scientists still find a connection between high-doses of tryptophan and eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome.

There remains ongoing debate on whether tryptophan really causes eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome, with some arguing that the pharmaceutical industry pressured the FDA to ban this natural supplement, which acts on serotonin in a way similar to how Prozac and many anti-depressant drugs work.

worth revisiting if breakthrough solution fails

For no apparent reason, several of my drives and or partitions have become locked. They have a small padlock icon attached to them.

When I "Get Info" to change the permissions, all the permissions are set to "Custom" and I cannot change it.

[BREAKTHROUGH SOLUTION:]

Feb 8, 2010 10:52 PM (in response to CMathis)
run the following terminal commands (copy and paste, please)

sudo chflags 0 /volumes/*

sudo chmod a+rx /volumes/*

you'll have to enter your admin password (which you won't see). that's normal. this should unlock your drives.

yes there is a flag so in Temrinal copy this comand

sudo chflags nouchg /Volumes/External

You will asked for your admin password type and press enter problem should be fixed.
Post back ls -alO /Volumes afterwards

In Leopard (and Tiger), the special UID is 99 and the special GID is 99—the unknown user and unknown group, respectively.

To see the UID and GID assigned to any item, [in Terminal] use the n option of ls. For example: ls – ln somefile, or ls –lnd somefolder. However, remember that if ignore ownership is on, the operating system will lie and report the UID and GID of your account.

To see the actual UID and GID assigned to an item on a volume with ignore ownership on, use the sudo command to execute the same ls command as root: sudo ls –ln somefile....

Here are some examples of situations wherein you might wish to ignore ownership:

* On volumes shared by different users on the same Mac, or by different users on different Macs. In these situations, turning on ignore ownership will help you avoid permissions problems.
* To share an iPhoto library with multiple users...

As a general rule, you needn’t ignore ownership on a volume.

If you try to repair a disk that cannot be unmounted, the repair will appear to start, but then stop as Disk Utility displays this message: "Repairing disk failed with error. Could not unmount disk."

If you look in the Console (/Applications/Utilities/), you will see an entry like this:

Verify and Repair disk “Storage”
The disk “Storage” could not be unmounted
Could not unmount disk for verification
Repairing disk failed with error. Could not unmount disk
In some rare situations, your computer might not respond for several seconds.

If you cannot determine which files are open on the disk that you want to verify or repair, restart your computer and then mount the disk again, or start up from your Mac OS X Install DVD or CD to repair.

Bake the squash, drizzled with a bit of olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, for 20-25 minutes, or until golden.

Pulse-process half the basil, all the bread, the broccoli and a lug of olive oil until you've got a fine crumb, a bit damp. Transfer to a small bowl...

In another bowl, combine the creme fraiche and grated cheeses.

Pulse-process the cherry tomatoes with the remaining basil a couple times to break things up; add to the crème-cheese mix; stir well.

Boil the pasta till ever so slightly undercooked. Drain, reserving a big cup of the hot pasta water for later use. Return the hot pasta to the pan and add the cheese mixture and the squash and give it a good stir. Add pasta water to thin the sauce to the consistency of cream. It can be a bit runny as the pasta will soak it up in the oven.

Transfer everything to a large baking dish or casserole. Sprinkle the green breadcrumbs evenly across the top and bake for 20 -25 minutes or until the topping is crunchy.

There is no certain way of knowing how many Vietnam veterans have died through suicide, motor vehicle "accidents," or illnesses. The available evidence, both anecdotal and scientific, however, suggests elevated mortality rates from suicides, motor vehicle accidents, and certain cancers for Vietnam veterans. In some cases the data suggests mortality rates are "significantly elevated."

I am only too happy to emphatically defend split infinitives against the accusation that they are offensive in any language except Latin. I believe perfectly marvelous sentences can end with prepositions or begin with "and."

I make up words, I write in fragments...I make noises in the middle of my own writing (like "AAAAARGH!"), and I often like the rhythms of sentences more than their technicalities. Run-on sentences amuse me. I frequently give the impression that the American Parentheticals Council has me on retainer....I write "email" without a hyphen, I am a big fan of the word "crazypants," and [I plan to master who/whom] only on my deathbed, as my ironic dying gift to absolutely no one, since there will be no one left to hear me.

[Yet even a distant threat to the Oxford comma (or "serial comma") turns me instantly into a referee, blowing my whistle and signaling—perhaps by hands clasped to my head as if in pain—]that the loss of the serial comma would sadden me beyond words.

The oldest known painting kits, used 100,000 years ago in the stone age, have been unearthed in a cave in South Africa.

Two sets of implements for preparing red and yellow ochres to decorate animal skins, body parts or perhaps cave walls were excavated...

The stone and bone tools for crushing, mixing and applying the pigments were uncovered alongside the shells of giant sea snails that had been used as [mixing pots]....

Other bones, including the shoulder blade of a seal, were among the ingredients for making the pigments. The bones were probably heated in a fire and the marrow fat used as a binder for the paint....

The remarkable discovery, reported in the journal Science, throws light on the capabilities and rituals of Homo sapiens who occupied the cave from at least 140,000 years ago....

"This is the first known instance for deliberate planning, production and curation of a compound," [and] the first known use of containers. "It's early chemistry...."

[Need as a main verb agrees with its subject, takes to before the following verb, and takes do in questions, negations, and some] other constructions: He needs to go. Does he need to go so soon? He doesn't need to go. [Need as an auxiliary does not agree with its subject, does not take to before the following verb, and does not take] do: He needn't go. Need he go so soon? [Auxiliary need is] used primarily in present-tense questions, negations, and conditional clauses. Unlike can and may, auxiliary need has no form for the past tense like could and might.
[Need used as the main verb can be followed by a present participle—The car needs washing—or by to be plus a past participle: The car needs to be washed. In parts of the US], especially western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, many speakers omit to be and use just the past participle[: The car needs washed. This usage is slightly more common in the British Isles, particularly] in Scotland.

[>14 000 adolescents enrolled in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) were followed up into adulthood. W]e assess and contrast the trend in health indicators among racial/ethnic groups....

Diet, inactivity, obesity, health care access, substance use, and reproductive health worsened with age. Perceived health, mental health, and exposure to violence improved with age. On most health indicators, white and Asian subjects were at lowest and Native American subjects at highest risk. Although white subjects had more favorable health in adolescence, they experienced greatest declines by young adulthood. No single race/ethnic group consistently leads or falters in health across all indicators.

[For 15 of 20 indicators, health risk increased and access to health care decreased from the teen to] adult years for most US race/ethnic groups. [Relative rankings and patterns of change vary by sex and race/ethnicity, and] over time.

"Perfect editing." "Such a gifted writer, what he puts in place is what most people wished they knew how to say." "Flawless grammar, sentence structure and syntax."

2012/04 bit.ly/MichaelMassing

Krogstad. The law cares nothing about motives.

Nora. Then it must be a very foolish law.