The phrase "previously on..." has become quite familiar to American TV audiences. Whether you're devoted to Battlestar Galactica, to Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad, you need to be able to catch up to a narrative when you've missed an installment or two. Novelists were there first, of course — the notion of a chain of novels focusing on the same characters goes back to Trollope and Proust – but it's less common to find a recap at the beginning of a book.
Luckily for readers, the publisher has tacked on just such a recap page at the beginning of the latest installment in Anne Rice's "Wolf Gift" series, so before you plunge into The Wolves of Midwinter you'll learn the history of San Francisco journalist Reuben Golding. Namely, that he's been bitten by a strange wild animal and undergone what Rice calls "the Chrism," or the sea-change that turns him into a werewolf. In this way he becomes a member of a near-eternal clan of similar folks known as the Morphenkinder.
That's one of the good things that come of Reuben's monstrous transformation. The Morphenkinder do very well in garnering interest on savings over a couple of hundred years or so. Reuben has been doing okay as a writer for a San Francisco daily newspaper, but as a long lived bitee he's going to acquire a lot of cash and property over the many years of his existence.
There are a few difficulties, as you may imagine. When the change comes over him — and even in volume two of the series he's still not completely certain of how to handle it — he grows long hair and fangs and claws, and suffers a big hankering for human flesh. But for all the hair, claws, and hunger, Rice's Man Wolf, as she calls him, has a lot of affinities with a comic book super-hero. He solves nasty situations — kidnappings, and other similar dire events — by changing into his wolf form to track down the perpetrators and devour them, right down to just about the last rib. If you're into running with the wolves and hearing about all the tasty human bits they chomp down, this can be a lot of fun.
This second volume opens a bit quietly, and seems almost bland compared to the rough justice of the first book. Reuben has moved to the fictional town of Nideck Point — where he was bitten — and dumped his mean-spirited former fiancee for a more understanding human woman who herself is toying with the idea of converting to wolf. He tries to smooth things over with his family, especially his poet father Phil and his brother Jim, a priest (to whom he has confessed his new state in the privileged exchange of confession).
Since it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas while all this is going on, the Morphenkinder cook up a mid-winter festival in rainy Nideck, long descriptions of which seemed so fussy that I was ready to pull the plug on the entire enterprise. Fortunately Reuben soon goes a-hunting, and in one wolfen caper actually gets the elders of the Morphenkinder to lope along with him so that together they make a midwinter feast of the flesh of a lot of terrified criminals.
As I recap all this from the second volume — trying not to spoil it for you, of course — I've tried to keep wolf puns to a minimum and stop short of making fun of the theology-lite discussions among the Morphenkinder, Reuben, and the band of forest folk (don't call them elves! They're quite sensitive) who roam the winter woods around Nideck. That's the fussy part.
But there's also a tussle among the Morphens over a plan for human sacrifice, some rough sex wolf-style, a lot of human meals to go and a neat plot turn at the end that increases Reuben's sense of family. The dialogue now and then seems a little stilted, but it becomes quite clear overall that from her Jesus novels to this new pagan series, Rice herself seems to have undergone quite a transformation.
My own hope of heaven (or not) aside, I'd much rather see her band of werewolves tuck into a gang of outlaws and devour them — right down to the last hair follicle — than read moon-struck passages about the way a Man God turns water into wine. I confess that I really enjoyed watching Rice create yet another world of strangeness and transformations along the lines of her greatest achievements, and I'm awfully glad I got in on the ground floor. But if I had to play catch-up I would.
Nokia has been a household name around the world ever since it burst on to the mobile scene and helped shape the industry as we know it today. Then, the company was steamrolled by Apple and Google. Nokia will soon begin to gradually disappear from the general public’s eye as its devices and services businesses are absorbed by Microsoft. There are still a bunch of near-complete products in the company’s pipeline though, and it seemingly plans to spill them all out on the tablet during the Nokia World conference later this month. Among them is a parting gift to the world. One device in particular that illustrates just how badly Nokia lost its way toward the end. What is it, exactly? A day-glo version of Microsoft’s $1 billion flop.
We have already seen photos of Nokia’s upcoming Windows RT tablet leak in fluorescent red, and now formerly anonymous Twitter leaker @evleaks has published a render of the device in Nokia’s famously vibrant cyan color. The tablet, which has apparently been named Lumia 2520, will reportedly start at around $500 when it launches this fall. Just like the Surface. It will also reportedly feature the Windows RT operating system every other vendor in the world has already bailed on, and a detachable keyboard cover. Just like the Surface.
Nokia has made numerous landmark mobile devices over the years. This is not one of them. For the sake of the thousands of Nokia workers who poured their heart and soul into the company’s wares, we sincerely hope its hardware business is remembered for those great achievements and not for the Lumia 2520.
Here’s the leaked picture:
More from BGR: Nexus 5 and Android 4.4 will reportedly launch next week
This article was originally published on BGR.com
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Paris (AFP) - A French-Algerian man suspected of Al-Qaeda ties and deported from Pakistan this week has been charged with terror offences, French judicial officials said on Saturday.
Intelligence officials believe Naamen Meziche was once connected to Al-Qaeda's so-called "Hamburg cell", which planned the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
Deported on Tuesday, he was charged and remanded in custody in Paris on Friday for criminal conspiracy in relation with a terrorist enterprise, with a view to carrying out criminal acts, the source said.
Meziche had been in Pakistani custody since being arrested in May 2012 in the southwest of the country along with three other suspected French jihadis, who were sent back to France in April and charged on the same count.
Born in Paris in 1970, Meziche left France in the early 1990s for Afghanistan, then Germany where he is alleged to have come into close contact with the "Hamburg Cell".
He has been known to intelligence officials for more than a decade, though he has no criminal record in Europe.
French law gives authorities broad powers to detain and prosecute a suspect for intending to carry out terrorist acts or contacting organisations suspected of terrorism.
Though Meziche is suspected of being a long-time Al-Qaeda member, no proof has yet emerged of his involvement in any specific act of terror, and security officials are divided about how big a player he is.
One French anti-terror officer told AFP this week Meziche was "a big fish -- right in the... heart of Al-Qaeda".
But another source close to the case said it was "hard to say if he is an active player or a bit of a has-been".
"Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy" (Alfred A. Knopf), by Helen Fielding
Time has dulled Bridget Jones.
It has also left her neither wiser, more relaxed nor comfortable with the person she's become and the people she counts as her friends.
That's both good and bad because in Helen Fielding's "Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy," the British heroine — whose sense of self was so strong and so entertaining in the first two novels that it created an archetype of self-determination belaboring amusing bouts of self-confidence — is lost amid social media, parental responsibility and trying to impress the moms at school.
So how, now, is Bridget Jones at 51? Content in marriage to Mark Darcy? Happily ensconced in having quit smoking, raising two children and avoiding the trap of being a smug married woman?
In a word, no. Darcy is dead and Bridget is a single mother to their two children, dating a man whose age is around half her own while her best mates find themselves vacillating between adult responsibility and living their lives as the unfettered and unbound twenty- and thirty-somethings they used to be.
It's been nearly 20 years since "Bridget Jones's Diary" was published in 1996, vaulting Fielding from freelance reporter to one of Britain's best-known and most popular writers. The 1999 sequel, "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason," continued Bridget's bold, if not brassy, tales.
But it seems that fear of being a 51-year-old single parent raising two young children in the age of social media is too much for her.
Fielding strives throughout the book to add relevance to her character's life and all of its foibles, mishaps and happy accidents. It's just not enough, though not for lack of trying. Perhaps that's an echo of the time that Bridget and her readers live in, with the short bursts of information, a focus on the quick and a general intolerance for taking time to do things.
With just two days left in the race and his lead in the polls shrinking, New Jersey Senate hopeful Cory Booker released a short campaign ad featuring a high-profile supporter: President Barack Obama.
"On Wednesday, voters in New Jersey have the opportunity to vote for a leader with uncommon character, Cory Booker," President Obama says in the one-minute ad endorsing the Newark mayor for U.S. Senate. "New Jersey also has an opportunity to send a message to the entire country about what kind of leadership we expect from our representatives in Congress. We're better than the shutdown politics we've seen in Washington."
The release of the ad comes two days after former Alaskan governor and tea party favorite Sarah Palin appeared at a rally in New Jersey to stump for Steve Lonegan, Booker's opponent in Wednesday's special election to fill the seat vacated by Sen. Frank Lautenberg's death in June.
A poll released last week by Quinnipiac University showed Booker's lead over Lonegan — which was 28 points in August — had been cut to 12 points. And according to a poll released Monday by Monmouth University, Booker's lead is down to 10.
Booker, Obama says, "has spent his entire life bringing people with different perspectives together, regardless of party, to take on tough challenges. Take it from me: Now more than ever before, that's the kind of leader we need in the Senate."
The Newark mayor was one of Obama's earliest supporters. But during the 2012 presidential election, Booker slammed an Obama campaign ad criticizing Mitt Romney's record as the head of Bain Capital and called for an end to "nauseating" attacks from both sides.
"I have to just say from a very personal level, I'm not about to sit here and indict private equity," Booker said. "To me, it's just we're getting to a ridiculous point in America. Especially that I know I live in a state where pension funds, unions, and other people invest in companies like Bain Capital. If you look at the totality of Bain Capital's record, they've done a lot to support businesses, to grow businesses."
Booker was forced to clarify his comments.
"I will fight hard for Obama to win," Booker wrote. "But just as his '08 campaign did, I believe we must elevate [and] not denigrate. This is the Obama I know."
Heart attack patients return to work later and retire earlier if treatment is delayed
Public release date: 12-Oct-2013 [
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Contact: Press Office press@escardio.org 33-049-294-7756 European Society of Cardiology
This news release is available in Spanish.
Madrid, Spain 12 October 2013: System delay in treating patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) postpones their return to work and increases early retirement, according to research presented at the Acute Cardiac Care Congress 2013 by Kristina Laut, PhD student from Aarhus, Denmark.
The Acute Cardiac Care Congress 2013 is the annual meeting of the Acute Cardiovascular Care Association (ACCA) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and is held 12-14 October in Madrid, Spain.
Ms Laut said: "System delay, which is time from emergency medical service call to reperfusion with primary angioplasty, has been associated with increased mortality and heart failure after STEMI. The 2012 ESC STEMI guidelines1 highlight system delay as a performance measure of quality of care."
She added: "Approximately 45% of patients admitted with STEMI are of working age but until now it was not known whether system delay impacts on timing of return to work and retirement. We decided to investigate this association because of the heavy burden to society with loss of production."
The study investigated whether system delay was associated with the duration of absence from work or time to retirement in STEMI patients treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI).
This population-based cohort study included 4,061 patients under 67 years of age admitted with STEMI between 1 January 1999 and 1 December 2011 and treated with PPCI. The Danish National Register on Public Transfer Payments provided data on work outcomes. Only patients who were full- or part-time employed three weeks before their STEMI admission were included. Cut-off points of 4 and 8 years were used to ensure there were 10% of patients remaining for each of the analyses.
After 4 years of follow up, 91% of the study population had returned to work. After 8 years of follow up, 29% had retired. After adjusting for confounding factors, system delay greater than 120 minutes was associated with postponed return to work (Sub Hazard Ratio=0.86; 95% Confidence Interval [CI]=0.81-0.92) and earlier retirement from work (Hazard Ratio=1.21; 95% CI=1.08-1.36).
Ms Laut said: "We found that a large proportion of STEMI patients did return to the labour market within 4 years but 14% came back to work later because of a prolonged system delay. We also discovered that after 8 years, people with a long system delay had a 21% increase in retirement rate."
She added: "The association between increased system delay and reduced work resumption and earlier retirement exists but we need more studies to find out why. System delay may directly impact on return to work by causing a reduction in the ventricular function of the heart or there may be other factors involved."
There were no differences between men and women in the effect of system delay, but the researchers found that men returned to work later than women. Ms Laut said: "We don't know the reason but it could be because we had a very small proportion of women in the study, and men may have more physically demanding work. Future studies are needed to examine the impact of job demands on return to work."
The researchers also examined differences between patients who were married or unmarried. In contrast to the overall findings, unmarried patients had a shorter system delay but a greater probability of retirement. Ms Laut said: "Most unmarried people live in big cities and are close to the biggest catheterisation labs which could lead to shorter system delays. Their increased risk of retirement may be because they are more socially vulnerable or don't have the encouragement and support to stay at work."
She added: "Our results show that system delay is an important performance measure in treating patients with STEMI. A lot can be done within healthcare systems to make sure STEMI patients get quick access to PPCI, such as optimising pre-hospital diagnosis. Patients also need to react quickly to their symptoms and call an ambulance."
Ms Laut concluded: "There is a heavy economic burden for society if patients don't return to work after a heart attack. Investing in healthcare infrastructure and systems is value for money compared to the cost of people losing their ability to work."
###
Authors:
ESC Press Office
press@escardio.org
Office: +33(0)4 92 94 77 56 or 86 27
Cellphone: +33(0)6 22 41 84 92
Reference:
1ESC Guidelines for the management of acute myocardial infarction in patients presenting with ST-segment elevation. European Heart Journal. 2012;33:25692619.
Notes to editor
About the European Society of Cardiology (ESC)
The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) represents more than 80,000 cardiology professionals across Europe and the Mediterranean. Its mission is to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease in Europe.
About the Acute Cardiovascular Care Association (ACCA)
The Acute Cardiovascular Care Association (ACCA) is a registered branch of the ESC, representing over 4,000 health professionals. ACCA aims at improving the quality of care and outcomes of patients with acute cardiovascular diseases through state of the art education and training on the best strategies of treatment and by influencing and advising healthcare professionals, scientists, decision-makers, policy-makers, the media, and allied societies in acute cardiovascular care.
Information for journalists attending Acute Cardiac Care 2013
The Acute Cardiac Care Congress 2013 takes place 12-14 October in Madrid, Spain, at the Hotel Auditorium. The full scientific programme is available here
http://spo.escardio.org/default.aspx?eevtid=64
Press registration is conducted via My ESC (Individual Registration / Press).
Free registration applies to press representatives upon receipt of valid credentials and a fully completed embargo form (to be sent to press@escardio.org)
Credential: either your ID press card or letter of assignment with proof of 3 published articles
The ESC Press Office will check your credential and confirm your press accreditation by email
Press registration is not available to Industry or its Public Relations representatives, event management, marketing or communications representatives
The decision of the ESC Press Office is final regarding all press registration requests.
The ESC Press Office will verify the documents and confirm by email that your Press Accreditation is valid
Online Press Registration is open until 3 October 2013. After this date, please register on site
[
| 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.
Heart attack patients return to work later and retire earlier if treatment is delayed
Public release date: 12-Oct-2013 [
| E-mail
| Share
]
Contact: Press Office press@escardio.org 33-049-294-7756 European Society of Cardiology
This news release is available in Spanish.
Madrid, Spain 12 October 2013: System delay in treating patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) postpones their return to work and increases early retirement, according to research presented at the Acute Cardiac Care Congress 2013 by Kristina Laut, PhD student from Aarhus, Denmark.
The Acute Cardiac Care Congress 2013 is the annual meeting of the Acute Cardiovascular Care Association (ACCA) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and is held 12-14 October in Madrid, Spain.
Ms Laut said: "System delay, which is time from emergency medical service call to reperfusion with primary angioplasty, has been associated with increased mortality and heart failure after STEMI. The 2012 ESC STEMI guidelines1 highlight system delay as a performance measure of quality of care."
She added: "Approximately 45% of patients admitted with STEMI are of working age but until now it was not known whether system delay impacts on timing of return to work and retirement. We decided to investigate this association because of the heavy burden to society with loss of production."
The study investigated whether system delay was associated with the duration of absence from work or time to retirement in STEMI patients treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI).
This population-based cohort study included 4,061 patients under 67 years of age admitted with STEMI between 1 January 1999 and 1 December 2011 and treated with PPCI. The Danish National Register on Public Transfer Payments provided data on work outcomes. Only patients who were full- or part-time employed three weeks before their STEMI admission were included. Cut-off points of 4 and 8 years were used to ensure there were 10% of patients remaining for each of the analyses.
After 4 years of follow up, 91% of the study population had returned to work. After 8 years of follow up, 29% had retired. After adjusting for confounding factors, system delay greater than 120 minutes was associated with postponed return to work (Sub Hazard Ratio=0.86; 95% Confidence Interval [CI]=0.81-0.92) and earlier retirement from work (Hazard Ratio=1.21; 95% CI=1.08-1.36).
Ms Laut said: "We found that a large proportion of STEMI patients did return to the labour market within 4 years but 14% came back to work later because of a prolonged system delay. We also discovered that after 8 years, people with a long system delay had a 21% increase in retirement rate."
She added: "The association between increased system delay and reduced work resumption and earlier retirement exists but we need more studies to find out why. System delay may directly impact on return to work by causing a reduction in the ventricular function of the heart or there may be other factors involved."
There were no differences between men and women in the effect of system delay, but the researchers found that men returned to work later than women. Ms Laut said: "We don't know the reason but it could be because we had a very small proportion of women in the study, and men may have more physically demanding work. Future studies are needed to examine the impact of job demands on return to work."
The researchers also examined differences between patients who were married or unmarried. In contrast to the overall findings, unmarried patients had a shorter system delay but a greater probability of retirement. Ms Laut said: "Most unmarried people live in big cities and are close to the biggest catheterisation labs which could lead to shorter system delays. Their increased risk of retirement may be because they are more socially vulnerable or don't have the encouragement and support to stay at work."
She added: "Our results show that system delay is an important performance measure in treating patients with STEMI. A lot can be done within healthcare systems to make sure STEMI patients get quick access to PPCI, such as optimising pre-hospital diagnosis. Patients also need to react quickly to their symptoms and call an ambulance."
Ms Laut concluded: "There is a heavy economic burden for society if patients don't return to work after a heart attack. Investing in healthcare infrastructure and systems is value for money compared to the cost of people losing their ability to work."
###
Authors:
ESC Press Office
press@escardio.org
Office: +33(0)4 92 94 77 56 or 86 27
Cellphone: +33(0)6 22 41 84 92
Reference:
1ESC Guidelines for the management of acute myocardial infarction in patients presenting with ST-segment elevation. European Heart Journal. 2012;33:25692619.
Notes to editor
About the European Society of Cardiology (ESC)
The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) represents more than 80,000 cardiology professionals across Europe and the Mediterranean. Its mission is to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease in Europe.
About the Acute Cardiovascular Care Association (ACCA)
The Acute Cardiovascular Care Association (ACCA) is a registered branch of the ESC, representing over 4,000 health professionals. ACCA aims at improving the quality of care and outcomes of patients with acute cardiovascular diseases through state of the art education and training on the best strategies of treatment and by influencing and advising healthcare professionals, scientists, decision-makers, policy-makers, the media, and allied societies in acute cardiovascular care.
Information for journalists attending Acute Cardiac Care 2013
The Acute Cardiac Care Congress 2013 takes place 12-14 October in Madrid, Spain, at the Hotel Auditorium. The full scientific programme is available here
http://spo.escardio.org/default.aspx?eevtid=64
Press registration is conducted via My ESC (Individual Registration / Press).
Free registration applies to press representatives upon receipt of valid credentials and a fully completed embargo form (to be sent to press@escardio.org)
Credential: either your ID press card or letter of assignment with proof of 3 published articles
The ESC Press Office will check your credential and confirm your press accreditation by email
Press registration is not available to Industry or its Public Relations representatives, event management, marketing or communications representatives
The decision of the ESC Press Office is final regarding all press registration requests.
The ESC Press Office will verify the documents and confirm by email that your Press Accreditation is valid
Online Press Registration is open until 3 October 2013. After this date, please register on site
[
| 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.
Moffat County Fair: Cowboy Church ? Moffat County Fairgrounds, 8:30 a.m. Join in worship with Fred Ellis. FREE. Covered Picnic Area at the fairgrounds. 970-824-9180.
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