Northwestern hires Collins as coach

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) ? Northwestern hired longtime Duke assistant Chris Collins on Tuesday night to replace the fired Bill Carmody, hoping he can finally lead the Wildcats to the NCAA tournament and into the upper echelon of the Big Ten.

In many ways, Collins seems like a logical fit given his ties to the area, Northwestern' s academic similarities to Duke and his basketball pedigree. He is from suburban Northbrook, Ill., about 15 miles from the campus in Evanston, played for the Blue Devils and spent the past 13 years on Mike Krzyzewski's staff. He is the son of Doug Collins, the former Chicago Bulls head coach now with the Philadelphia 76ers.

"I'm so grateful ... for the opportunity to lead the men's basketball program at one of the premier universities in the world, to compete in the Big Ten Conference, and to do so in my hometown," Collins said in a statement released by the school. "Northwestern University is a special place that strives for excellence in every regard, and our program will be no different. I can't possibly thank Coach Krzyzewski and Duke University enough for preparing me for this day."

His task at Northwestern is to get to the NCAA tournament. That's something the Wildcats have never done, although they came close in recent years under Carmody. He was let go after 13 seasons.

Collins is a former Mr. Basketball in Illinois who became a star guard and team captain at Duke from 1993-96. He played overseas before starting a coaching career that included stints with the WNBA's Detroit Shock and with Tommy Amaker's staff at Seton Hall. Collins joined Krzyzewski's staff in 2000 and was promoted to associate head coach in 2008.

"He has a tremendous pedigree as a basketball coach and will be an outstanding leader for Chicago's Big Ten team, and mentor for our student-athletes," Jon Phillips, Northwestern's vice president for athletics and recreation, said in the university's statement. "After a thorough and comprehensive search process, there is no doubt he is a perfect fit for this institution and our men's basketball program."

Collins, who has never been a head coach, interviewed last year for the job at Illinois State ? his father's alma mater ? before withdrawing, saying it wasn't the right fit. The Redbirds ultimately hired Dan Muller from Vanderbilt's staff.

Now, Collins is taking over a program that raised the bar in recent years, but couldn't quite reach the NCAA tournament.

Carmody ranks among the most successful coaches at Northwestern with a 192-210 record, and the Wildcats were usually able to hang with more talented teams because of their Princeton offense even if they came up short.

The lack of an NCAA berth ultimately did him in. The switch comes after a particularly difficult season that was marked by season-ending injuries to key players Drew Crawford and Jared Swopshire along with guard JerShon Cobb's yearlong suspension for violating team rules. The Wildcats lost their final nine games to finish 13-19 and missed the postseason after four straight NIT appearances, an unprecedented run for the program.

Besides the tough academic standards at Northwestern, the Wildcats play in Welsh-Ryan Arena, by far the smallest in the Big Ten with a capacity of just over 8,100. It's something Carmody pointed out after the season-ending loss to Iowa in the Big Ten tournament.

Northwestern has unveiled plans for a complex that includes new lakefront facilities for the football team, a multipurpose indoor facility that seats 2,500, a diving well adjacent to the existing swimming pool and an outdoor practice field for varsity and club sports along with intramurals. New locker rooms, weight rooms, sports medicine facilities, meeting rooms and offices are also part of the plan, along with a new parking structure. There are no concrete plans to renovate the arena.

Collins, however, has managed to help recruit players to a school with an old arena and strict academic standards. Of course, Duke also has that great tradition, something Northwestern lacks.

Now, Collins will try to accomplish what Pat Fitzgerald has with the football team and build a competitive program despite the obstacles in place.

"They'll get a great coach. He's been a great coach here," Krzyzewski said before the hiring. "My guys are terrific, and he's been with me for over a decade and he's been terrific ? not good. He's got a great basketball mind, competitive personality, team guy, a great guy. But he's a great basketball guy, too. And anybody who would get one of my guys would be getting somebody pretty special."

Collins is the second Krzyzewski assistant in five years to earn his first head coaching job at a private, academically elite school in a major conference: Johnny Dawkins left the Duke staff to take the top job at Stanford in 2008.

___

AP Sports Writer Joedy McCreary in Durham, N.C., contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/northwestern-hires-collins-coach-030415231--spt.html

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Going, going, gone - dodo bone up for sale in London

LONDON (Reuters) - A rare four-inch fragment of a dodo bone will go on sale in Britain in April, around 300 years after the flightless bird and icon of obsolescence was hunted to extinction.

Auctioneers Christie's said on Wednesday it was hoping to raise as much as 15,000 pounds ($22,600) for the piece of a bird's femur.

The last sale of dodo remains the auction house could find took place in London in 1934 - and it was expecting considerable interest from a highly specialised band of collectors and enthusiasts.

"It is so rare for anyone to part with these prized items," said James Hyslop, head of Travel, Science and Natural History at Christie's auction house in South Kensington, London.

"From its appearance in "Alice in Wonderland" to the expression 'dead as dodo', the bird has cemented its place in our cultural heritage," he added.

The Western world first heard of dodos in 1598 when Dutch sailors reported seeing them on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.

Less than 100 years later, the birds had disappeared. Most experts say they were probably hunted down by successive waves of hungry sailors, and the pigs and other large animals they brought on to the island.

No complete specimens have survived - and scientists have been pouring over fragments of remains for years to try and reconstruct what the dodo might have looked like.

The famous image of a squat, comic, short-necked bird, immortalised in John Tenniel's illustrations for "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", is widely thought to be wrong.

Christie's did not say whether the thigh bone, part of an unnamed private English collection, would provide any fresh clues.

The auction house said its bone was almost certainly excavated in 1865 at Mare aux Songes in Mauritius during a dig by natural history enthusiast George Clark.

The bone is one of 260 lots in a Travel, Science and Natural History sale held by Christie's in London on April 24. The items are open to public viewing from April 20.

Other items on the block include a fossilised egg from Madagascar's equally extinct elephant bird, more than 100 times the average size of a chicken egg, as well as scientific instruments, maps and globes.

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/going-going-gone-dodo-bone-sale-london-171659592.html

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Hon Hai shows record profits, keeps making money from making iPhones

Hon Hai Precision, also known as Foxconn Technology, has reported its earnings for the year and notched a net income of $3.2 billion according to the Financial Times. Most familiar as the manufacturing muscle behind Apple's iPhones, iPads and the like, the Taiwan-based manufacturer beat analyst predictions on high margins for those products. Its subsidiary, Foxconn International Holdings, is the world's largest cellphone maker and produces devices for companies including Nokia and Motorola, but suffered a net loss of $316.4 million. As a result, some are concerned about Foxconn's heavy reliance on Apple as a customer going forward.Still, the company is reportedly continuing a plan to increase vertical integration, by manufacturing the parts for devices and not just putting them together -- we'll see if anyone notices changes in the final product anytime soon.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple

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Source: FT, BBC, Bloomberg

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/26/hon-hai-profits/

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Golf: OSU men finish third, OU seventh in Georgia

The event was scheduled for 54 holes, but was shortened to 36 after delays both Saturday and Sunday at the par-72, 7,073-yard layout.

OSU began play Sunday tied with Kennesaw State, 13 shots off the pace of Alabama. The Cowboys closed with an even-par 288 to come in with a 1-over 577.

OSU freshman Jordan Niebrugge opened with a 72, then shot a 3-under 69 during his second round to finish tied for fifth at 141.

The 33rd-ranked University of Oklahoma men's team placed seventh at the event. The Sooners recorded a two-round 591. They carded a 295 in Saturday's first round and followed with a 296 in round two.

Competing as an individual, OU sophomore Michael Gellerman placed ninth, his best showing of the season. Gellerman scored a two-round 142 and finished five strokes off the lead.

Alabama cruised to a 16-shot victory, finishing at 16-under 560.

Source: http://www.tulsaworld.com/site/articlepath.aspx?articleid=20130325_29_B2_hGolfh620133&rss_lnk=93

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Novel way plants pass traits to next generation: Inheritance behavior in corn breaks accepted rules of genetics

Mar. 26, 2013 ? New research explains how certain traits can pass down from one generation to the next -- at least in plants -- without following the accepted rules of genetics.

Scientists have shown that an enzyme in corn responsible for reading information from DNA can prompt unexpected changes in gene activity -- an example of epigenetics.

Epigenetics refers to modifications in the genome that don't directly affect DNA sequences. Though some evidence has suggested that epigenetic changes can bypass DNA's influence to carry on from one generation to the next, this is the first study to show that this epigenetic heritability can be subject to selective breeding.

Researchers bred 10 generations of corn and found that one particular gene's activity persisted from one generation to the next whether the enzyme was functioning or not -- meaning typical genetic behavior was not required for the gene's trait to come through.

And that, the scientists determined, was because the enzyme targets a tiny piece of DNA -- previously thought of as "junk DNA" -- that had jumped from one area of the genome to another, giving that little fragment power to unexpectedly turn on the gene.

The gene in question affects pigmentation in the corn plant. As a result of these experiments, the researchers were able to change yellow kernel corn to a blue kernel variety by compromising the activity of the enzyme in each male parent.

"This is the first example where somebody has been able to take an epigenetic source of variation and, through selective breeding, move it from an inactive state to an active state," said Jay Hollick, associate professor of molecular genetics at The Ohio State University and lead author of the study. "The gene changes its expression in an epigenetic fashion and it doesn't follow standard inheritance behaviors. Those two factors alone have pretty profound implications not only for breeding but also for evolution."

The study appears online in the journal The Plant Cell.

Plant breeders tend to expect to generate desired traits according to what is known as Mendelian principles of inheritance: Offspring receive one copy of genes from each parental plant, and the characteristics of the alleles, or alternative forms of genes, help predict which traits will show up in the next plant generation.

However, epigenetic variations that change the predictability of gene behavior have complicated those expectations.

"The breeding community searches for novel traits that will have commercial interest and they really don't care what the basis is as long as they can capture it and breed it. Epigenetic heritability throws a kink in the expectations, but our findings also provide an opportunity -- if they recognize the variation they're looking for is the result of epigenetics, they could use that to their advantage," said Hollick, also an investigator in Ohio State's centers for RNA Biology and Applied Plant Sciences.

"Just by knowing that this allele behaves in this epigenetic fashion, I can breed plants that either have full coloration or no coloration or anything in between, because I am manipulating epigenetic variation and not genetic variation. And color, of course, is only one trait that could be affected."

With a longtime specialization in the molecular basis for unexpected gene activity in plants, Hollick had zeroed in on an enzyme called RNA polymerase IV (Pol IV). Multiple types of RNA polymerases are responsible for setting gene expression in motion in all cells, and Pol IV is an enigmatic RNA polymerase that is known in plants to produce small RNA molecules.

Pol IV has puzzled scientists because despite its strong conservation in all plants, it appears to have no discernible impact on the development of Arabidopsis, a common model organism in plant biology. For example, when it is deleted from these plants, they show no signs of distress.

In corn, however, Hollick's lab had discovered previously that the absence of Pol IV creates clear problems in the plants, such as growing seeds in the tassel.

Hollick and colleagues observed that plants deficient in Pol IV also showed pigmentation in kernels of ears expected not to make any color at all -- meaning they were expected to be yellow.

"Since we knew the misplaced tassel-seed trait was due to misexpression of a gene, we hypothesized that this pigment trait might be due to a pigment regulator being expressed in a tissue where it normally is never expressed. Molecular analysis showed that that was in fact the case," Hollick said.

The researchers selected dark kernels and light kernels from multiple generations of plants and crossed the plants derived form these different kernel classes to create additional new generations of corn.

"We found that the ears developed from those plants had even more darkly colored kernels and fewer lightly colored kernels. We could segregate the extreme types and cross them together and get this continued intensification of the pigmentation over many generations," he said. "We generated more progeny that had increasing amounts of pigment. This is taking a gene that is genetically null, that doesn't have any function in this part of the plant, and turning it from a complete null to a completely dominant form that produces full coloration.

"Essentially we were breeding a novel trait, but not by selecting for any particular gene. We were just continually altering the epigenetic status of one of the two parental genomes every time."

This led the scientists to question why the affected alleles of the pigmentation gene would behave in this way. An investigation of the affected alleles revealed the nearby presence of a transposon, or transposable element: a tiny piece of DNA that has leapt from one area of the genome to another.

Because the sequence of some small RNA fragments that come from Pol IV's activity are identical to the sequence of these transposons, the finding made sense to the scientists.

"Now that we know that Pol IV is involved in regulating transposons, it's not surprising that genes that are near transposons are now regulated by Pol IV," Hollick said.

This work was supported by the National Research Initiative of the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service and the National Science Foundation.

Hollick conducted this work at the University of California, Berkeley, before he joined Ohio State's faculty. Co-authors are former Berkeley colleagues Karl Erhard Jr., Susan Parkinson, Stephen Gross, Joy-El Barbour and Jana Lim.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Ohio State University.

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Journal Reference:

1. K. F. Erhard, S. E. Parkinson, S. M. Gross, J.-E. R. Barbour, J. P. Lim, J. B. Hollick. Maize RNA Polymerase IV Defines trans-Generational Epigenetic Variation. The Plant Cell, 2013; DOI: 10.1105/tpc.112.107680

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/top_news/top_environment/~3/bzvdDxaq0K8/130326112003.htm

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Build Your Own Bodyweight Home Gym with Cheap PVC Pipe

If you're not looking to dump $1,000 on a home gym system, The Art of Manliness shows off how to build your own bodyweight gym for about $150 using nothing but PVC pipe, some rope, and a little grit.

We've mentioned plenty of gymless workouts before, but if you're looking to step up your game a little this system adds a ton of new exercise options. It's a 24 step process, but since you're just piecing together PVC it's simple enough that anyone can do it. When the gym is complete, you have a powerful little system where you can do handstands, chin ups, dips, and plenty more. The PVC home gym isn't pretty, but most exercise equipment isn't, and this saves you a bunch of money. PVC doesn't seem like it'd be strong enough for a lot of people, but author Todd Kuslikis adds this note in the comments of the post:

To answer the big question about weight restriction, in short, I don't know. I'm 180 lbs and this one holds me up perfectly. Yes, there is a little give to it but after 2-3 months it still works perfectly. You can always use wider PVC or ABS (??? ? I'll have to research this one) for more reinforcement. Also, feel free to put a wooden dowel rod in the pipes. I think I forgot to mention that in the article but I did that in the main cross beam (the one with the ropes attached in it.) Seems like it helps prevent the give.

You can dig through the comments over on Art of Manliness for a few other ideas for alternate, stronger materials like wider PVC or threaded pipe as well. When you're finished with the build, The Art of Manliness also highlights a full workout routine you can do on your new gym, and the video above guides you through a number of the various exercises.

How to Build the Ultimate Bodyweight Gym (Using Only PVC Pipe) | The Art of Manliness

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/WWvjAmyqSCY/build-your-own-bodyweight-home-gym-with-cheap-pvc-pipe

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?The Korean Zombie? asks Georges St-Pierre to stop wearing ?Rising Sun? symbol at fights

UFC featherweight Chan Sung Jung has a fight with Ricardo Lamas coming up in July. The fight will likely have title implications, and will give "The Korean Zombie" a chance to prove he belongs at the top of the UFC's 145-lb. class. But the upcoming fight didn't keep Jung from speaking up to one of the UFC's biggest stars.

Jung posted a letter on his Facebook page to UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre about the Rising Sun symbol GSP wore to his fight with Nick Diaz.

Dear Mr. Georges St. Pierre
Hi, My name is Chan Sung Jung from South Korea. As one of many Koreans who like you as an incredible athlete, I feel like I should tell you that many Korean fans, including myself, were shocked to see you in your gi designed after the Japanese 'Rising Sun Flag'. For Asians, this flag is a symbol of war crimes, much like the German Hakenkreuzflagge. Did you know that? I hope not.

Just like Nazis, the Japanese also committed atrocities under the name of 'Militarism'. You can easily learn what they've done by googling (please do), although it's only the tiny tip of an enormous iceberg.

Furthermore, the Japanese Government never gave a sincere apology, and still to this day, so many victims are dying in pain, heartbroken, without being compensated. But many westerners like to wear clothes designed after the symbol under which so many war crimes and so much tragedy happened, which is ridiculous.

I know most of them are not militarists. I know most of them do not approve unjustified invasion, torture, massacre, etc. They're just ignorant. It's such a shame that many westerners are not aware of this tragic fact. Wearing Rising Sun outfits is as bad as wearing clothes with the Nazi mark on it, if not worse.

Since you're influenced by Japanese Martial Arts, your wearing a headband designed after Japanese flag is understandable. But again, that huge 'Rising Sun' on your Gi means something else.

Many people say GSP is the best Welterweight fighter throughout history, to which I totally agree. This means you have a great influence on every single fan of yours all around the world. And I do believe your wearing 'the symbol of War Crime' is a very bad example for them, not to mention for yourself.

So, what do you reckon? Do you want to wear the same Gi next time as well?

The Rising Sun flag was used by the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II, and it was banned by the United Nations in 1945. Jung is not the only person to have an issue with seeing it used by an athlete. During the 2012 Olympics, Japanese gymnasts wore a leotard that was inspired by the Rising Sun, and some South Koreans were not happy about it.

When one-time MMA sponsor Hoelzer Reich used Nazi imagery on the gear UFC and WEC fighters wore into the cage, the promotions banned their items from the cage. Jung has the courage to speak up to a fighter he admittedly admires. GSP and the UFC owe him a response.

UPDATE: Both GSP and Hayabusa, the company who made GSP's gi, have apologized. GSP posted a statement from Hayabusa:

Since Georges St-Pierre wore our walkout gi at UFC 158 we have received attention surrounding the negative connotation of the rising sun graphic used. The last thing we want is to offend or alienate anyone with the choice of design on our products.

We at Hayabusa have the utmost respect for culture and history and appreciate all of our customers worldwide. As such, we accept full responsibility for this design and are taking all complaints and comments very seriously.

The gi worn by GSP will not be brought to market. In addition, we will be very conscious of this specific design element when developing future communication materials and products.

Please accept our sincerest apology for any offence this has caused. If you have any questions or comments regarding this matter, please feel free to discuss it with us at customerservice@hayabusafightwear.com. One of our representatives will be happy to assist you.

And GSP added:

I'd like to also personally apologize to anyone who was offended by this. I am very sorry, that was never my intention.

Both GSP and Hayabusa acted quickly to apologize. Though it would have been better if the symbol was never used, Jung used the moment to educate others on the issues with the symbol. For that, he should be commended.

Thanks, Bloody Elbow.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/korean-zombie-asks-georges-st-pierre-stop-wearing-164004367--mma.html

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