While Thief 4 has never had anything approaching a release date, following the ripe success of Deus Ex 3, and its having been in development for over four years, it was tempting to think it might be coming nearer. Well, forget that, because a rumour in the latest Official Xbox Magazine ? and further validated by CVG ? suggests that they?re now aiming for it to be a next-next-gen console release. And that means it?d be Christmas 2013 at the very, very earliest.
Rumours have flown every whichway about the project, mostly because Square Enix and Eidos Montreal have been so damned silent about it. That tends to indicate a project that?s in trouble, as a rule ? one that keeps receiving do-overs, reaching certain milestones and not being considered good enough. Of course, there?s no evidence at all that that?s the case here. But things have been odd, with a completed trailer from December last year never getting released, and any footage that?s appeared from it having since vanished from the internet, entire blogs deleted. Kotaku also lists the many developers who have left the project in the last year or so, but bear in mind it?s not unusual for people to move on to a new project after three or four years. And they also spot that level designer, Fabien Morisson, pointed out on his LinkedIn that he?d designed the last level of the game.
Deciding to make the game for the next generation of consoles could mean only small or absolutely massive changes. If their engine is scalable, and just needed better tech to be better realised, then it?ll just be a case of getting to grips with the debug prototype consoles they?ll have by now, and porting it across. If they?re after new tech because the version they?ve made just can?t reach far enough, then it could mean a massive overhaul. Either way, it means a PC version of the game will inevitably get stuck waiting for Microsoft and Sony to release their next boxes, both rumoured to be for Christmas next year. Then you have to wonder if Square are going to be willing to risk being launch titles, going out to the most limited audience possible, or wait a few months for the consoles to be in enough homes. That would put the game somewhere into 2014.
Which is all to say, don?t hold your breath (while crouching in a dark corner) for the game.
We approached Square Enix for comment, but they had none.
Antipsychotic treatment has increased rapidly among young people in the United States, with much of the increase coming from prescriptions for disruptive behavior disorders such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Reuters reports.
In the Archives of General Psychiatry, the researchers report that antipsychotic drugs are prescribed during almost one in three visits children and teenagers make to psychiatrists in the United States, an increase from one in 11 in the 1990s.
Most of the antipsychotics are not prescribed for conditions approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In children and teenagers, antipsychotics are indicated for irritability associated with autistic disorder, tics and vocal utterances of Tourette syndrome and bipolar mania, and schizophrenia.
Researcher Dr. Mark Olfson, of Columbia University in New York, found that about 90 percent of antipsychotic prescriptions written during office visits between 2005 and 2009 were ?off label,? or prescribed for a condition that has not been approved by the FDA. The article notes the effectiveness of antipsychotic drugs for ADHD is uncertain. The drugs are associated with weight gain and diabetes.
?There is very little question as to whether these drugs are being prescribed in kids much more than they used to,? Olfson told Reuters. He added he hopes parents will ask doctors more questions about antipsychotics, and whether there are other treatment options, such as parent management training, to reduce aggressive and disruptive behavior in children.
Lady Gaga might have been dressed as a mermaid when she first met boyfriend Taylor Kinney on the set of her music video for "You and I." But now we're seeing some real magic between the two of them taking place in the water!
Risk of stroke from cardiac catheterizationsPublic release date: 6-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jim Ritter jritter@lumc.edu 708-216-2445 Loyola University Health System
MAYWOOD, Il. -- When a patient undergoes a cardiac catheterization procedure such as a balloon angioplasty, there's a slight risk of a stroke or other neurological complication.
While the risk is extremely small, neurologists nevertheless may expect to see catheterization-induced complications because so many procedures are performed, Loyola neurologists write in the journal MedLink Neurology.
Cardiac catheterizations include diagnostic angiograms, balloon angioplasties and stent placements. More than 1.4 million procedures are successfully performed each year. Cardiac catheterizations, like all medical treatments, carry some degree of risk. But because the risk is low, neurologists rarely see patients who experience neurological complications. The purpose of the MedLink article is to raise awareness of the risks and to list treatment options for when complications do occur.
The procedure involves inserting a catheter (thin tube) in the groin or arm and guiding it to the heart. In rare cases, debris can be knocked loose from blood vessel walls, travel to the brain and trigger a stroke or transient ischemic attack (mini stroke). Tiny bubbles released from the catheter also can trigger a stroke or transient ischemic attack. And bleeding in the groin or arm where the catheter is inserted can cause peripheral nerve damage.
However, the risk is slight. And with the use of more refined techniques and smaller and softer catheters, the risk is getting even smaller, said H. Steven Block, MD, first author of the review article.
"We want to be careful to not scare people who need a cardiac catheterization from getting this beneficial procedure," Block said.
Indeed, because the incidence is so low, it is difficult to perform randomized clinical trials to determine the best treatment for catheterization-induced neurologic complications, the authors write.
"Cardiac catheterization is a very safe procedure," Block added. "A lot of neurologists may encounter neurologic complications only once or twice during their careers. But we would like to raise awareness and knowledge, so they are better prepared when a case does happen."
Block is a mid-career neurology fellow at Loyola. Co-authors are Loyola neurologists Sarkis Morales-Vidal, MD; Alejandro Hornik, MD; and Jose Biller, MD. Biller is chair of Loyola's Department of Neurology.
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The article was edited by Steven R. Levine, MD, of the SUNY Health Science Center in Brooklyn. N.Y.
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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.
Risk of stroke from cardiac catheterizationsPublic release date: 6-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jim Ritter jritter@lumc.edu 708-216-2445 Loyola University Health System
MAYWOOD, Il. -- When a patient undergoes a cardiac catheterization procedure such as a balloon angioplasty, there's a slight risk of a stroke or other neurological complication.
While the risk is extremely small, neurologists nevertheless may expect to see catheterization-induced complications because so many procedures are performed, Loyola neurologists write in the journal MedLink Neurology.
Cardiac catheterizations include diagnostic angiograms, balloon angioplasties and stent placements. More than 1.4 million procedures are successfully performed each year. Cardiac catheterizations, like all medical treatments, carry some degree of risk. But because the risk is low, neurologists rarely see patients who experience neurological complications. The purpose of the MedLink article is to raise awareness of the risks and to list treatment options for when complications do occur.
The procedure involves inserting a catheter (thin tube) in the groin or arm and guiding it to the heart. In rare cases, debris can be knocked loose from blood vessel walls, travel to the brain and trigger a stroke or transient ischemic attack (mini stroke). Tiny bubbles released from the catheter also can trigger a stroke or transient ischemic attack. And bleeding in the groin or arm where the catheter is inserted can cause peripheral nerve damage.
However, the risk is slight. And with the use of more refined techniques and smaller and softer catheters, the risk is getting even smaller, said H. Steven Block, MD, first author of the review article.
"We want to be careful to not scare people who need a cardiac catheterization from getting this beneficial procedure," Block said.
Indeed, because the incidence is so low, it is difficult to perform randomized clinical trials to determine the best treatment for catheterization-induced neurologic complications, the authors write.
"Cardiac catheterization is a very safe procedure," Block added. "A lot of neurologists may encounter neurologic complications only once or twice during their careers. But we would like to raise awareness and knowledge, so they are better prepared when a case does happen."
Block is a mid-career neurology fellow at Loyola. Co-authors are Loyola neurologists Sarkis Morales-Vidal, MD; Alejandro Hornik, MD; and Jose Biller, MD. Biller is chair of Loyola's Department of Neurology.
###
The article was edited by Steven R. Levine, MD, of the SUNY Health Science Center in Brooklyn. N.Y.
[ | 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.
On July 1, Mexicans cast their ballots for president, Congress, and state governors. This marks the third presidential election since the nation's entire electoral system was reformed beginning in 1990, and as in the two earlier elections, the outcomes have been accepted. News reports described the electoral process having taken place with limited problems for voters.
Mexico?s next president will be Enrique Pena Nieto, candidate of the Institutional Revolution Party, known as PRI, who has officially won with 38 percent of the vote. The runner-up this time as well as in 2006 was Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of? the Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, with 32 percent while National Action Party candidate Josefina Vazquez Mota placed third with 25 percent. These results closely aligned with final official preelection polling announced June 27.
In 2006, Mexico's presidential election ended in a virtual tie, and it took two months to determine the outcome. Despite cries of fraud from the Left, the outcome gave National Action Party candidate Felipe Calderon a 243,934 vote margin of victory. Protests similar to Occupy Wall Street took place throughout the country, but once the Federal Electoral Commission declared Calderon the winner, the verdict was respected and accepted by all but a few Mexicans. If one wants credible, simple, and sensible elections, one need only look to Mexico as a shining example.
Bear in mind, that for 75 years, Mexico had one of the most corrupt and fraudulent electoral systems among so-called democratic governments. All this changed in the early 1990s when Mexico established a nongovernment organization, the Federal Electoral Institute, a totally nonpartisan institution respected by all legitimate parties. Today, its system is a model to emerging democracies such as Haiti and Iraq. The practice of Iraqis dipping their thumbs in blue ink upon voting was adopted from the Mexican system. After voting, Mexicans dip their thumbs in purple ink.
Compared with the Mexican electoral system, the American system is woefully inefficient and open to fraud. Our current system is actually a composite of 50 systems that vary from state to state. Some require photo identification, others do not. Some allow for no-fault absentee voting. Others do not. Some allow for early voting or Internet voting. Currently, 16 states have enacted a photo-ID mandate. Fifteen states, including Ohio, require voters to show some form of personal identification such as a utility bill or a bank statement.
Mexicans are very scrupulous about documentation for official purposes, so one must present required documents to register to vote. There's no such thing as ?motor-voter registration? as is done here; a new Mexican voter has to take a birth certificate and proof of residency to an IFE office to register.
Once the application is complete, the newly registered voter is photographed and fingerprinted. With this, an official voter ID card is created containing picture, thumbprint, and voter encrypted data. Registration must be renewed every 12 years. It takes about two weeks for the card to be created, at which time the voter must return to the office personally sign for, and collect it. It is not mailed. The Federal Electoral Voting Card cannot be tampered with or altered and is the gold standard for identification purposes.
To allow for the greatest possible access to voting, Election Day is always on Sunday in Mexico. Everyone votes on the same day, no exceptions. Absentee voting? It doesn't exis, because of the high potential for fraud. ?There are no provisional ballots and no possibility of ?hanging chads.? Polls open and close at the same time in all parts of the country. Beginning in 2006, voting was extended to voters outside of Mexico, particularly to accommodate the millions of registered voters in the U.S. The poor and disadvantaged are especially encouraged to register and vote.
Nearly 80 million Mexicans were eligible to vote in the July 1 election, and an estimated 62 percent actually voted, more than the norm in American presidential elections. Americans can only hope that our presidential election in November will be as noncontroversial as Mexico?s and that the outcome will be respected. The Mexican system is not perfect and has various shortcomings which can and should be addressed.
The Mexican electoral system versus the American electoral system: Which is the banana republic?
David Arredondo is the vice chairman of the Lorain County, Ohio, Republican Party. From 1973 to 1975 he was a Mexican Government Fellow and did postgraduate studies at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City.
Opinions and other statements expressed by Perspectives contributors are theirs alone, not of National Journal's. Content created by third-party contributors is their sole responsibility and its accuracy is not endorsed or guaranteed.
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Public release date: 6-Aug-2012
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