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PMC Bulk Download via FTP is Now Using New Naming Conventions

A large-scale update of the file names used for articles available via the PMC FTP service for bulk download was undertaken in early January 2017. The new file naming convention is PMCID-based (e.g., PMC4855680.tar.gz) rather than being built from article citation data (i.e., journal abbreviation_pub date_volume_issue_page). This update was made following user reports that the previous naming convention was resulting in missing contents in cases where citation data was duplicated across multiple articles. The new convention will ensure that file names are unique and that the corpus available via the FTP service is complete.




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PMC Tagging Guidance for Peer Review Documents Now Available

Peer review documents, including review reports and editor decision letters, are increasingly being published along with the articles they review. This practice is intended to make the publishing process more transparent. To support these efforts, PMC’s Tagging Guidelines have been updated to include the tagging of peer review documents. NLM encourages PMC-participating publishers, journals, and data providers to review this guidance. Please contact us at pubmedcentral@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov if you have any questions.




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Middle Age More Stressful Now Than in 1990s: Study

Title: Middle Age More Stressful Now Than in 1990s: Study
Category: Health News
Created: 5/7/2020 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 5/8/2020 12:00:00 AM




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Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Dental Hygienists Regarding Diabetes Risk Assessments and Screenings

Purpose: Untreated and poorly controlled diabetes causes increased levels of blood glucose associated with poor periodontal disease outcomes. Dental hygienists can play a significant role in screening patients for diabetes mellitus, leading to referral and early diagnosis. The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitudes, practices, and barriers faced by clinical dental hygienists regarding diabetes risk assessment and screenings.Methods: A mixed method design was used with a convenience sample of dental hygienists in clinical practice (n=316). A 32 item, electronic survey was validated at item-level, and participants were recruited through multiple dental hygiene Facebook groups. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. The survey also included two open-ended attitude questions that were interpreted using thematic analysis to pinpoint common patterns within the data.Results: Dental hygienists had high knowledge scores regarding diabetes and oral health, although many were unaware of their states' specific statutes and regulations for screening practices. Nearly all (95.9%), were likely to educate and refer patients (82%), although fewer than half (40.9%), were likely to perform chairside screening for diabetes. Emergent themes for barriers to screening were time, money, patient acceptance/willingness, lack of education, not having the proper tools, and states' rules and regulations.Conclusion: Despite high knowledge scores regarding diabetes and oral health, there is a gap in regards to dental hygienists' willingness to perform diabetes screenings in a clinical setting. Dental hygienists should be capable of integrating chairside diabetes screening practices into the process of care with proper training.




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Acknowledgment of Invited Editors




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Acknowledgment of Reviewers




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Minnesota association acknowledges states ancestral lands, residents

In a nod to the people who came before them — and those who still live among them — the Minnesota Public Health Association is acknowledging ancestral lands.




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The Time Is Now: Standardized Sedation Training for Pediatric Hospitalists




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Re: Primary Care Practices Implementation of Patient-Team Partnership: Findings from EvidenceNOW Southwest




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Acknowledgment of Ad Hoc Reviewers [Editorial]




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Rapid acquisition through fast mapping: stable memory over time and role of prior knowledge [RESEARCH]

In recent years, there have been intensive debates on whether healthy adults acquire new word knowledge through fast mapping (FM) by a different mechanism from explicit encoding (EE). In this study, we focused on this issue and investigated to what extent retention interval, prior knowledge (PK), and lure type modulated memory after FM and EE. Healthy young participants were asked to learn novel word-picture associations through both FM and EE. Half of the pictures were from familiar categories (i.e., high PK) and the other half were from unfamiliar categories (i.e., low PK). After 10 min and 1 wk, the participants were tested by forced-choice (FC) tasks, with lures from different categories (Experiment 1) or from the same categories of the target pictures (Experiment 2). Pseudowords were used to denote names of the novel pictures and baseline performance was controlled for each task. The results showed that in both Experiments 1 and 2, memory performance remained stable after FM, while it declined after EE from 10 min to 1 wk. Moreover, the effect of PK appeared at 10 min after FM while at 1 wk after EE in Experiment 2. PK enhanced memory of word-picture associations when the lures were from the same categories (Experiment 2), rather than from different categories (Experiment 1). These results were largely confirmed in Experiment 3 when encoding condition was manipulated as a between-subjects factor, while lure type as a within-subjects factor. The findings suggest that different from EE, FM facilitates rapid acquisition and consolidation of word-picture knowledge, and highlight that PK plays an important role in this process by enhancing access to detailed information.




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The unknown planktonic foraminiferal pioneer Henry A. Buckley and his collection at The Natural History Museum, London

The Henry Buckley Collection of Planktonic Foraminifera at the Natural History Museum in London (NHMUK) consists of 1665 single-taxon slides housing 23 897 individuals from 203 sites in all the major ocean basins, as well as a vast research library of Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) photomicrographs. Buckley picked the material from the NHMUK Ocean-Bottom Deposit Collection and also from fresh tow samples. However, his collection remains largely unused as he was discouraged by his managers in the Mineralogy Department from working on or publicizing the collection. Nevertheless, Buckley published pioneering papers on isotopic interpretation of oceanographic and climatic change and was one of the first workers to investigate foraminiferal wall structure using the SEM technique. Details of the collection and images of each slide are available via the NHMUK Data Portal (http://dx.doi.org/10.5519/0035055). The Buckley Collection and its associated Ocean-Bottom Deposit Collection have great potential for taxon-specific studies as well as geochemical work, and both collections are available on request.




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Novel Endochin-Like Quinolones Exhibit Potent In Vitro Activity against Plasmodium knowlesi but Do Not Synergize with Proguanil [Susceptibility]

Quinolones, such as the antimalarial atovaquone, are inhibitors of the malarial mitochondrial cytochrome bc1 complex, a target critical to the survival of both liver- and blood-stage parasites, making these drugs useful as both prophylaxis and treatment. Recently, several derivatives of endochin have been optimized to produce novel quinolones that are active in vitro and in animal models. While these quinolones exhibit potent ex vivo activity against Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax, their activity against the zoonotic agent Plasmodium knowlesi is unknown. We screened several of these novel endochin-like quinolones (ELQs) for their activity against P. knowlesi in vitro and compared this with their activity against P. falciparum tested under identical conditions. We demonstrated that ELQs are potent against P. knowlesi (50% effective concentration, <117 nM) and equally effective against P. falciparum. We then screened selected quinolones and partner drugs using a longer exposure (2.5 life cycles) and found that proguanil is 10-fold less potent against P. knowlesi than P. falciparum, while the quinolones demonstrate similar potency. Finally, we used isobologram analysis to compare combinations of the ELQs with either proguanil or atovaquone. We show that all quinolone combinations with proguanil are synergistic against P. falciparum. However, against P. knowlesi, no evidence of synergy between proguanil and the quinolones was found. Importantly, the combination of the novel quinolone ELQ-300 with atovaquone was synergistic against both species. Our data identify potentially important species differences in proguanil susceptibility and in the interaction of proguanil with quinolones and support the ongoing development of novel quinolones as potent antimalarials that target multiple species.




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A Previously Unknown Dendritic Cell Type Reduces Antitumor Response [Immunology]

A cluster of dendritic cells (termed mregDCs), observed in humans and mice, restricted antitumor immunity.




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Good to Know: Kidney Disease: Signs and Treatment




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Screen to Save: Results from NCI's Colorectal Cancer Outreach and Screening Initiative to Promote Awareness and Knowledge of Colorectal Cancer in Racial/Ethnic and Rural Populations

Background:

The Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities (CRCHD), NCI, implemented Screen to Save, NCI's Colorectal Cancer Outreach and Screening Initiative to promote awareness and knowledge of colorectal cancer in racial/ethnic and rural populations.

Methods:

The initiative was implemented through CRCHD's National Outreach Network (NON). NON is a national network of Community Health Educators (CHE), aligned with NCI-designated Cancer Centers across the nation. In phases I and II, the CHEs focused on the dissemination of cancer-related information and implementation of evidence-based educational outreach.

Results:

In total, 3,183 pre/post surveys were obtained from male and female participants, ages 50 to 74 years, during the 347 educational events held in phase I. Results demonstrated all racial/ethnic groups had an increase in colorectal cancer–related knowledge, and each group strongly agreed that the educational event increased the likelihood that they would engage in colorectal cancer–related healthful behaviors (e.g., obtain colorectal cancer screening and increase physical activity). For phase II, Connections to Care, event participants were linked to screening. Eighty-two percent of the participants who obtained colorectal cancer screening during the 3-month follow-up period obtained their screening results.

Conclusions:

These results suggest that culturally tailored, standardized educational messaging and data collection tools are key change agents that can serve to inform the effectiveness of educational outreach to advance awareness and knowledge of colorectal cancer.

Impact:

Future initiatives should focus on large-scale national efforts to elucidate effective models of connections to care, related to colorectal cancer screening, follow-up, and treatments that are modifiable to meet community needs.




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E. coli DNA Polymerase I and the Klenow Fragment

Escherichia coli DNA Pol I can carry out three enzymatic reactions: It possesses 5' -> 3' DNA polymerase activity and 3' -> 5' and 5' -> 3' exonuclease activity. Pol I can be cleaved by mild treatment with subtilisin into two fragments; the larger fragment is known as the Klenow fragment. The Klenow fragment retains the polymerizing activity and the 3' -> 5' exonuclease of the holo-enzyme but lacks its powerful 5' -> 3' exonuclease activity. These enzymes and their applications in molecular cloning are introduced here.




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Labeling 3' Termini of Double-Stranded DNA Using the Klenow Fragment of E. coli DNA Polymerase I

The Klenow fragment, which retains the template-dependent deoxynucleotide polymerizing activity and the 3' -> 5' exonuclease of the holo-enzyme but lacks its powerful 5' -> 3' exonuclease activity, is used to fill recessed 3' termini of dsDNA. In this protocol, fragments suitable as templates for the end-filling reaction are produced by digestion of DNA with an appropriate restriction enzyme. The Klenow enzyme is then used to catalyze the attachment of dNTPs to the recessed 3'-hydroxyl groups.




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Novel Coronavirus: What Neuroradiologists as Citizens of the World Need to Know [EDITORIALS]




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Luxury condo at Garden City, basic furniture, now available

If you are looking for a quiet, convenient living environment that is close to Hanoi center, this condominium is your best choice. The condo has southwest-facing door and north-facing window, comprising a living room, a kitchen, two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a private yard, cr...




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Call now! Saigon eco-villas only from 1000-1200$/m2 - Tel. (+84) 968020129 (zalo, viber)

The project with million-dollar canal model and the Marina for all Village apartments - First appeared in Saigon. Call (+84) 968020129 (zalo, viber) Security Villa - The surrounding neighbourhoods are classy like you!- Location: P. Long Phuoc. District 9, TP. HCM. (25 minutes fro...




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Phòng đầy đủ tiện nghi sát bên Nowzone Quận 1

Vị trí: - Nhà tọa lạc tại vị trí đẹp Nguyễn Đình Chiểu (2 chiều) - Quận 3, thông ra ngay Nguyễn Thiện Thuật, Điện Biên Phủ, Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai..., gần vòng xoay Cộng Hòa, thuận tiện qua các quận trung tâm: Chỉ vài bước là trung tâm quận 1, chỉ mất 5 phút lái xe là đến Phố tây Bùi Viện, 5 - 10 phút để di chuyển qua quận 4, 5, 8, 10. - Gần các trung tâm thương mại lớn như Now...




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TTC LAND JAMONA HEIGHT'S SMARTEL SALE NOW CENTER Q7 PRICE ONLY 1.3 BILLION VND

Area: Apartment for sale in Jamona Heights - District 7 - Ho Chi MinhPrice: 1.3 billion Area: 30mDescriptive InformationSmart investment opportunities- Buy 1 get 2 with TTC Land's Smartel Jamona Heights.- While doing company offices - just living.- Diverse area of 30m2 - 79m2.- O...




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How to know you’re ready to become a home owner?

Most of us will stop renting and become a homeowner one day. But how do you know when it’s a good time to buy your own home? These are four signs that you’re ready to stop renting and become a home owner.




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SMARTEL NOW CENTER DISTRICT 7 ONLY 1.3 BILLION, OCB SUPPORT 50% LOAN, PAY 18 MONTHS (EXPIRED NEWS)

Area: Apartment for sale in Jamona Heights - District 7 - Ho Chi MinhPrice: 1.3 billion Area: 30mDescriptive InformationSmart investment opportunities- Buy 1 get 2 with TTC Land's Smartel Jamona Heights.- While doing company offices - just living.- Diverse area of 30m2 - 79m2.- O...




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TTC LAND JAMONA HEIGHT'S SMARTEL SALE NOW CENTER Q7 PRICE ONLY 1.3 BILLION VND

Recently, TTC Land has officially launched the first service office line at Jamona Heights apartment in District 7, office apartments designed according to Korean standards designed by GanSam Corporation (Korean). , with a prime location in the heart of South Saigon.Hotline: 0398...




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7 Things You Should Know Before Signing a Lease

Sure, you're just renting the place for a year, or even just a month. But before you sign on the dotted line, make sure you know what you're signing up for.




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9 negative impacts of land fever investors should know

The upsurge of land price leads to a real estate bubble, pushing up production costs, creating a virtual tendency and gradually increasing bad debt.





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Justin Trudeau should lift Canada's economic sanctions now

Ken Stone

On March 23, UN Secretary-General António Guterres appealed to G20 leaders: "I am encouraging the waiving of (economic) sanctions imposed on countries to ensure access to food, essential health supplies, and COVID-19 medical support. This is the time for solidarity not exclusion ... Let us remember that we are only as strong as the weakest health system in our interconnected world." At the same time, AP News reported, ambassadors of eight countries currently affected by economic sanctions -- namely, Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, Syria, Nicaragua, China, Russia and North Korea -- petitioned the secretary-general for "the immediate and complete lifting of those measures to enable nations to respond to the coronavirus pandemic." 

Regrettably, so far the wealthy and powerful countries of the world haven't heeded the secretary-general's call to loosen the screws on the weaker and poorer ones. They also ignored a similar appeal by Pope Francis in his Easter address. On the contrary, President Trump actually weaponized the pandemic by instituting further sanctions on both Iran and Venezuela, countries already targeted for regime change. 

In Canada, however, two peace groups, the Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War and le Mouvement Québécois pour la paix, sent an open letter signed by 100 prominent Canadians to Trudeau asking him to lift all of Canada's economic sanctions now. 

Unknown to most Canadians, Trudeau's government maintains economic sanctions regimes against 20 countries of the world, including nine African countries. In fact, under the Harper government in Ottawa in June 2013, Canada co-ordinated economic sanctions for the U.S.-led coalition of countries participating in the regime change operation against Syria. Similarly, under the Trudeau government, Canada helped lead the Lima Group in organizing multilateral sanctions against Venezuela. 

Canada typically applies five types of sanctions: arms embargoes, asset freezes, import-export restrictions, financial prohibitions and technical assistance prohibitions. Not all sanctioned countries feel the full weight of all five. However, some countries do: Iran, Syria, North Korea and Libya. 

The effect on the targeted country is crippling. The first result is usually a drastic decline in its currency's value, which translates into ordinary people being unable to put food on the table for their children. Then follow other crises for working people: unemployment due to closing markets for the country's exports and the inability to get spare parts; inability to receive payments from relatives abroad because the international banking system excludes the targeted country; the closing down of whole industries, such as tourism, because access to credit cards or even air access to national airports, as in the case of Syria, is turned off by the sanctioners.

Supporters will point out that sanction regimes generally exclude food and medical supplies. However, international trade requires financing through banks which are subject to penalties in the U.S., for example for trading with Iran, even though the participating bank may be domiciled in a country that has lifted its sanctions on Iran. This practice by the U.S. is called extraterritoriality.

Some have likened economic sanctions to acts of war and compared them to sieges of medieval towns in which the besiegers hope to make life so difficult for the besieged that they rise up against their feudal lords and open the gates. The comparison isn't far off since the brunt of sanctions aren't felt so much by the targeted countries' ruling elites but rather their civilian populations. A monstrous example was the decade of UN sanctions against Iraq between the First and Second Gulf Wars. Between 1992 and 2000, 500,000 Iraqi children perished from lack of food and medicines. But Madeleine Albright, former U.S. secretary of state in the Clinton administration, famously quipped that it was "worth it."  It was worth it to Albright because sanctions were part of U.S. foreign policy to soften up Iraq in preparation for the Anglo-American invasion and occupation of 2003 which continues today.

Notably, coercive economic measures are not levelled against U.S. client states, no matter the enormity of their crimes. Israel, which turned Gaza into the world’s largest open air prison and is annexing the West Bank, and Saudi Arabia, which wages a bloody war on Yemen and murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, don't worry about sanctions.

Under international law, economic sanctions are acts of war. That's why the UN charter restricts the power to level sanctions exclusively to the UN Security Council. That also explains why Canada's unilateral sanctions against 19 countries are illegal. Only in the case of North Korea are Canada's regime of a full spectrum of coercive measures explicable under international law.

While Trudeau tries to play the competent caring leader in his daily COVID-19 press conferences, he cannot ignore the damage he is doing to the efforts to fight the novel coronavirus in 20 of the world's poorest countries, and indeed to the global effort.

Ken Stone is a longtime peace, social justice, labour, anti-racist and environmental activist-resident in Hamilton, Ontario. He is treasurer of the Hamilton Coalition To Stop The War and executive member of the Syria Solidarity Movement.

Image: CanadianPM/Video Screenshot/Twitter




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PlayStation Now Adds Rainbow Six Siege, The Evil Within II And Get Even

Sony Interactive Entertainment announced Rainbow Six SiegeThe Evil Within 2 and Get Even are now available for PlayStation Now subscribers. 

Rainbow Six Siege will only be available to download and stream until Monday, November 2. Downloads for the game are limited to the PlayStation 4 only. 

PlayStation Now features over 800 games on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2 available to stream and play on the PlayStation 4 and Windows PC. PS4 subscribers can download and install over 300 games to play locally. 

Here is an overview of the three games:

Rainbow Six Siege

It’s the perfect time to try out the deeply tactical, always tense multiplayer shooter that has become an esports phenomenon in the years since its 2015 debut. Strained matches are built around two competing teams of players using a variety of weapons, gadgets and sound strategies to triumph over the other. While you’ll need to adapt to its uncompromising gameplay, it only makes every well-earned victory all the sweeter. Please note: this is the base edition.

The Evil Within 2

Genre aficionados will have plenty to savour with this horror sequel as you enter the alternate reality town of Union in search of your long thought dead daughter. Sickeningly brilliant creature designs and jump scares await as you explore the town’s expansive areas filled with dangers and secrets. But armed as you are with an arsenal of monster-shredding weaponry, as well as having the option to keep things low-key with a more stealthy approach, you’re ready to take on every abomination that stands between you and your family reunion.

Get Even

Puzzler, shooter, psychological thriller. Developer The Farm 51’s mashup of genres makes for an intriguing first-person adventure. Finding yourself trapped inside an insane asylum with a virtual reality device surgically grafted to your head, you’re forced to track down and ‘enter’ memories to gradually unravel the mystery behind your incarceration. As gripping as any murder mystery and with events shaped by your decisions, Get Even is a must play for those who love stories with plenty of twists.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/443391/playstation-now-adds-rainbow-six-siege-the-evil-within-ii-and-get-even/




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Forza Street Now Available for iOS and Android

Microsoft and Turn 10 Studios announced Forza Street is now available worldwide for free on iOS and Android.

View the launch trailer below:

Here is an overview of the game:

This all-new Forza experience lets you jump into the game for quick, under-a-minute races where you compete to unlock new cars and upgrade parts to grow your car collection. We are excited for iOS and Android players to jump into this free to play mobile experience designed to be played anytime, anywhere, and excite anyone who loves cars.

Forza Street was also designed to be an evolving experience. The game is based in a street racing world with interesting characters, mystery, and  intrigue,  explored through a narrative driven campaign, weekly Spotlight Events, and limited time Themed Events, all of which provide players an opportunity to expand their car collections. For players looking for an additional challenge, weekly Rivals events let them take their collections against other players in the community in leaderboard based asynchronous challenges.

As a special gift to everyone who plays Forza Street between today and June 5 2020, players will receive a 2017 Ford GT and added in-game credits and gold to help you unlock new cars and grow your car collection! Don’t miss out on this chance to get this rare supercar added to your garage.

For gamers joining the fun via the Samsung Galaxy Store, we have two more gifts for you: anyone who downloads through the Galaxy Store on their Samsung devices will receive the 2015 Ford Mustang GT with a custom Galaxy themed paint. If players have the latest Galaxy S20 devices, they will also receive the 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 with a Custom Galaxy, and in-game credits and gold.

Want to play Forza Street across multiple device? We got you covered – Forza Street supports Xbox Live. When you sign in with Xbox Live, players will be able to unlock Xbox Achievements and transfer game progress across your Windows, iOS, and Android devices.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/443397/forza-street-now-available-for-ios-and-android/




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Shounen-y punch 'em up Indivisible now has a DLC with 40 new challenges

If you didn’t feel challenged enough by Indivisible‘s main platforming and punching campaign, here’s some good news for ya. Lab Zero have released a new DLC for their turn-ish-based RPG today that promises the “forty specially crafted levels await to test your platforming and combat skills.” The Razmi’s Challenges DLC is available now, so you […]




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A lazy fix 20 years ago means the Y2K bug is taking down computers now

The millennium bug is back with a vengeance, after programmers in the 1990s simply pushed the problem back by 20 years




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Twitter was once a fun place – now it is heading towards destruction

Twitter used to be full of cat memes and had a culture of sharing. Now, I pay a company to make sure my presence on the site is extremely limited, writes Annalee Newitz




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We still don't know how effective the NHS contact-tracing app will be

The UK government will begin trials of its coronavirus contact-tracing app this week, but what impact it will have on slowing the spread of covid-19 is unclear




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Zoom Backgrounds Now Include a Selection From TfL - That's Not a Reference to Star Wars

TfL as in Transport for London. Greeeeeaaat.




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BA Owner Thinks Heathrow's Third Runway is "Impossible" Now

It does make several enormous assumptions about the future that now seem perilously flaky.




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Lyft, Like Uber, Will Also Now Require Drivers and Passengers Wear Face Coverings

Up until now mask-wearing had only been an unenforced suggestion by the company.




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Despite Record Streaming Subscriptions, Disney Is Tiptoeing Around the Cinema Drama – For Now

As a very ugly standoff develops between legacy cinemas and legacy studios, Disney appears to be playing its cards close to its chest.




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The Justice Department Is Now as Corrupt as the President

Mark Wilson/Getty

Just after the prosecutor assigned to the case resigned on Thursday, the Department of Justice announced that it dropped the charges against Michael Flynn, the former national security advisor who’d already pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia

President Trump forecast this before it happened. Last week, he insisted that Flynn had been exonerated.  Apparently referring to his pardon power, Trump suggested that if the court did not do something he would use “a different kind of power.”

And now it’s happened. While the president has the broad power to pardon, he should not control individual prosecutorial decisions, especially those concerning a political ally. It is extremely unusual for the government to dismiss charges after a guilty plea. This is a sign that the historic independence of the Justice Department has been compromised. 

Read more at The Daily Beast.




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This Coronavirus ‘Alarmist’ Looks Pretty Good Right Now

Photo by Bergmann Zwerdlin. Courtesy Eric Feigl-Ding

“HOLY MOTHER OF GOD.” 

That’s how epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding began a since-deleted 14-tweet thread on Jan. 25 warning about the “thermonuclear pandemic level bad” infectiousness of the coronavirus that broke out in Wuhan, China.

The first confirmed U.S. case had been announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) days earlier outside Seattle. But the disease was not widely understood to be a potentially nightmarish pandemic. Many infectious disease experts had been ignored despite warning for years that the U.S. was not prepared for a seemingly inevitable health crisis. Feigl-Ding, a visiting scientist at Harvard’s Department of Nutrition, wanted to help ensure their message was heard.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here




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Google Pixel 4a: Everything We Know So Far

Last year the release of Google's Pixel 3a heralded a shift in the mid-range phone market. Coming in at $649 and packing some flagship specs, it changed what people should expect from a a phone at that price. Other brands followed suit, including Apple with its recently released iPhone SE. Suffice to say, the arrival of Googles new budget device, the Pixel 4a, is cause for some excitedment. Here's what we know about it so far. More »
    




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There Are Official Star Wars Zoom Backgrounds Now

The best thing about Zoom is the ability to set a virtual background. It's almost enough to make you forget about all those passwords that were stolen. From faking being paying attention in a meeting to setting a background to an island paradise, people are enjoying making work meetings a little bit more fun. Disney and Lucasfilm have clearly taken notice, because a stack of official Star Wars Zoom backgrounds just got released for free. More »
    




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Tiny meteorite found in Antarctica came from an unknown asteroid

A tiny meteorite found in Antarctica doesn’t match any asteroid or comet we know of. Instead, it must have come from a mystery parent body that’s full of water




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We know the best spots to look for alien life – can we get to them?

Extraterrestrial oceans are an obvious place to search for alien life, but getting there and having a look won't be easy, says NASA's Kevin Hand in his book Alien Oceans




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You can 'see' the closest known black hole to Earth with the naked eye

Astronomers found a star that appeared to be orbiting nothing at all – but it’s actually the closest black hole ever at just 1000 light years away




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6 Things to Know About the Biggest Chip Ever Built

Startup Cerebras has built a wafer-size chip for AI, but it isn’t the only one possible




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Video Friday: AlienGo Quadruped Robot Can Now Do Backflips

Your weekly selection of awesome robot videos




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Quadruped Robots Can Climb Ladders Now

This robot dog can scale ladders that a real dog would struggle with