The researchers, who reported their findings in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, say previous studies have found that many sports competitors show signs of injury to the heart muscle and cardiac abnormalities after they exercise for long periods of time.

The new study was created to assess the degree to which running a marathon stresses the heart, and whether it might cause permanent damage.

As such, the researchers studied 20 amateur long-distance runners between the ages of 18 and 60, who were going to run in the Quebec City Marathon. The runners had no known cardiovascular disease and were not on any kind of drug treatment.

The researchers excluded any runners who had run a marathon in the 2 months before recruitment or during the study period.
Cardiac risk associated with running

Tested 6-8 weeks before the marathon and on the day of the race, the runners were also tested again within 48 hours of completing the marathon. This test included a second MRI and blood sampling.

The researchers say this timeframe ensured sufficient rehydration and a return to normal heart and blood pressure rates after the race. But importantly, it was short enough for them to observe any myocardial changes.

In half of the runners, researchers observed that the marathon prompted a decrease in left and right ventricular function. And when a lot of the heart was affected, there was swelling and reduced blood flow in the heart.

Dr. Eric Larose, of the Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec (IUCPQ) in Canada, says that the heart muscle changes they observed were more common in runners who had lower fitness levels and who trained less.

But they also observed that these changes were temporary.

Dr. Larose says:

Segmental function decrease is associated with poor prognosis in the presence of CAD (coronary artery disease) or cardiomyopathy. Segmental dysfunction also indicates a poor prognosis in adults without cardiovascular disease.

Although we don’t know whether such changes mean that recreational runners are at risk, the attendant edema, and reduced perfusion suggest transient injury

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Given the ubiquity of street photography, it can now be easier to trend-spot outside fashion shows than inside. Case in point: the big and bold retro skirts so many women were wearing at the shows last month. You almost expected Carmel Snow to pull up in a Cadillac Brougham. Zanita Morgan, a model turned blogger and photographer, was a latter-day Grace Kelly in a voluminous skirt and angora sweater; Eva Chen, the Lucky editor, was uptown chic in a brocade Tibi; and Eleanor Strauss, the style director of Shopbop, wore a shorter style with a fitted crop top and leather jacket. While the days are still mild, you can pull off a hint-of-skin top under a leather jacket or peacoat.

For winter, try a relaxed-fit pullover and a waist-cinching coat that hits a few inches above the hemline of the skirt. Or for a different play on proportions, match with a slim turtleneck and short boxy jacket. On your feet: tall boots or ladylike heels. And, unless you’re perversely proud of your undergarments, beware of those subway grates.
Under It All, the Poetry of Silk

True & Co., an e-commerce site founded in 2012 to make bra shopping a less fraught experience — there’s an online fit quiz and a home try-on service — has enlisted Nikki Dekker of the cultish lingerie line the Lake & Stars to design a private label collection. Called She Walks in Beauty (+ Light), Ms. Dekker’s collection (she’s also the site’s new creative director) is appealing in the way that Lake & Stars is, with undies that can be layered and worn as outerwear. They’re done in luxe silk and a soft color palette, with patterned straps, cutouts and contrast closures, all at accessible prices of $24 to $94. This plunging bodysuit, available in black or mint with black straps, at $94, is a sexy piece to layer under a sharp jacket. At trueandco.com.

Worthy of a Song Or at Least A Bit of Boasting

In its first season, Kara, a line of smart everyday handbags, was impressively picked up by Opening Ceremony, Harvey Nichols in London and Lane Crawford in Hong Kong. Designed by Sarah Law, who worked as an accessories designer at Gap, the line, including a pebble leather backpack that keeps selling out, is easy, cool and affordable. (The name is borrowed from one of her favorite activities, karaoke.) “I don’t really buy things that are over $1,000,” Ms. Law said of her moderate pricing. “I’ve maybe done it once in my life, and it was a really big deal.” Her new resort collection has backpacks and smaller stowaway bags in speckled cream calf-hair and mesh, but we are especially fond of this dry bag, which has an adjustable strap so it can also be carried as a bucket bag.

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• This is what we are doing.
• This is how we are going to do it.
• We can do it better if we get some money in.
• This thing is going to happen with or without you.
• Are you in or are you out?

They have a feeling of inevitability about them. This team knows their shit. They are going to do this. Someone will fund them. If we don’t fund them, we’ll lose the deal.

This means that the majority of the content of the pitch deck should be content that the startup already has. Not content they created to impress investors.I help a lot of people with their pitch decks. Many of them, once they get an investor meeting on the calendar, scramble to put together a story:

• What is our business model?
• Who is our competition?
• What is our go-to-market?

They anticipate these questions coming from the VCs, so they scramble to put together compelling answers.You don’t need answers to these question to impress VCs. You need the answers because you need the answers.

If you are throwing together answers to these questions purely to placate an investor, that means you don’t know the answers. It also means that you think the kind of annoying questions VCs ask, like “what is your sales model?” and “what is your lead generation strategy?” are just annoying investor speak and are not 90% of how you should be spending your time anyway.

A VC will not ask you a single question that you shouldn’t have come up with on your own, and if you don’t already have solid answers to them, you aren’t ready to raise money.

VCs can sniff out the difference between entrepreneurs who are asking permission to start their business vs. ones who know their shit and will do it with or without them.

Treat VC as a means to an end, not as the people you need to ask permission to before you can start your business. Investors respond to that and are likely to jump on board.

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Xbox One’s “Game DVR” service, which lets you capture gameplay and share it over Xbox Live, is also demonstrated in the video. Switching to TV appears to be near-instant, with apps like Internet Explorer also snapping into place speedily. It all looks impressive if it works this quickly and smoothly in reality, but it’s not clear if this is just a marketing video that speeds up scenarios. Microsoft hasn’t placed the usual warning on its video. Previously, the software maker has demonstrated its Xbox One friends app, with Twitter-like followers and feeds, and previewed its dashboard behind closed doors. As the company moves toward the November 22nd release date, we expect to see a lot more about apps, TV integration, and game switching. For now, this video offers up the latest glimpse at how the Xbox One will operate.

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Forget the questionable egg mayo and Coronation chicken triangles you’ll find festering away in your local shop, because all over the country increasingly outrageous offerings are being peddled: pork banh mi from Vietnam, lobster rolls, giant Reubens and meatball subs. And they’ve got bigger; half the time you’ll find a knife and fork is required to actually tackle them. Usually thought of as being a cheap, deskbound snack, this new generation of sandwiches is often served up in high-end joints (and often with prices to match). Nor are these creations destined solely for lunch; people are gorging on them for dinner, too.

So why has the sandwich gone all decadent (not to mention international)? Helen Graves, author of the new book 101 Sandwiches: A Collection of the Finest Sandwiches from Around the World, suggests that this sandwich renaissance is in part down to recent food trends.

“I think US television programmes such as Man v. Food really introduced the public to these giant creations. People were saying, ‘Oh, Americans really do sandwiches differently’. That sort of food then became very popular and fashionable. There was a lot of so-called ‘dude food’ about, restaurants such as MEATLiquor. The street-food trend made a big difference, too: you can hold on to sandwiches and they’re easy to eat while standing.”

The rise of street food certainly should be held accountable: the popular food trucks that do well go on to become proper restaurants. Then, before you know it, everyone is eating variations of sandwiches while dining out. There is also the sheer array of sandwiches from around the globe, introducing the hungry to all types of exotic fillings and breads.

Chefs are keen to experiment, too. Recent eye-popping creations include the ramen noodle burger and the mac-and-cheese burger (in this carb wonder, the noodles and macaroni are transformed into the bun). And, yes, burgers are counted as sandwiches. “Really I would say that anything enclosed in bread is a sandwich,” says Graves. “But I am quite flexible. I would argue that a burrito is a sandwich, and I have included a recipe for one in the book. A hot dog is, too. A calzone, however, is not. But I don’t mind letting certain things in. For instance, I put in a recipe for an open sandwich because in Scandinavia they are a classic. We shouldn’t be too uptight about what qualifies as a sandwich.”

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The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property prices in 20 cities increased 12.8 percent from August 2012, more than forecast, after a 12.3 percent gain in the year ended in July, a report from the group showed today in New York. The median projection of 28 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 12.5 percent advance.

Tight inventories have boosted prices as buyers compete for a limited number of properties for sale. While housing continues to be a source of strength for the economy, higher mortgage rates and limited improvement in the labor market and wages risk slowing the pace of progress.

“There’s still decent enough demand with little supply so home prices continue to perform,” Kevin Cummins, an economist at UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut, said before the report. “It’s unclear how much rising mortgage rates in the last few months slow housing sales in the near future.”

As of August, average home prices in the U.S. were back to their mid-2004 levels, and the 20-city index was up 22.7 percent from its March 2012 low

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The difference in approach is apparent straight from the title itself. A streamlined, introspective take on the emotional perils of immortality, it’s a superhero film that’s not afraid to see itself as more of a noir-infused character piece than an action set-piece generator. It’s a welcome approach, and the film sings at first as it’s able to deliver on both fronts — but The Wolverine is ultimately unable to balance the two elements, collapsing upon itself in a heap of comic-book absurdity.

The story starts some time after the ending of The Last Stand. Wolverine — “Logan,” when he’s not in a fighting mood — has gone off the grid, haunted by the death of Famke Janssen’s Jean Grey and committed to leaving violence behind. He’s shaggy and unkempt; Jean Valjean with adamantium claws, and when the brutality of some local hunters raises his hackles a mysterious woman named Yukio (Rila Fukushima) steps in. It turns out she works for Yashida, a wealthy Japanese tech mogul whom Logan saved from atomic annihilation back in World War II. The elderly man is dying, and wants to bring Logan to Japan to say his final goodbyes.

After arriving in Japan, Logan learns that Yashida actually has a proposition: let me take your healing abilities for myself, he says, and you’ll have the chance to live a normal life. Logan declines, but when the Yakuza try to kidnap Yashida’s granddaughter Mariko (Tao Okamoto) during the mogul’s funeral, Logan steps in to rescue her. They’re soon on the run, with one very important wrinkle: Logan’s regenerative abilities appear to have stopped working.
The setup may sound complicated, but it plays effortlessly on the screen. That’s in large part to director James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma, Walk the Line), who brings a steady hand and a grounded sense of reality to the film. The movie takes its time — the pre-adventure sequence with Logan is particularly patient — and never feels the need to rush things along just for the sake of quick-fix spectacle. Mangold mixes influences from noir, westerns, and martial arts films in a kind of genre alchemy, framing the wandering Wolverine as a ronin — a samurai without a master or purpose.

That’s not say the film doesn’t deliver on the action front. By and large, the fight sequences are choreographed spectacularly — real people performing real stunts, relying on fierce swordplay and the kind of skilled hand-to-hand combat that feels abandoned all too often in the name of wire-fu and fantastic effects. Things get bumpy when the action opens up — a fight atop a bullet train begins to stretch credulity — but even then the results are tremendously entertaining.

Jackman, as always, is the bright and shining constant. It’s the same experience as watching Robert Downey Jr. in the Iron Man series; it’s impossible to not enjoy watching him play this role. He gets every snarky comment and jab just right, all the while delivering on the ferocity and fierce physicality the role requires.

Unfortunately, a single actor can only do so much, and a large part of the story relies on Logan’s inevitable attraction to Mariko. While Okamoto delivers an engaging performance unto herself, there’s almost no chemistry between her and Jackman, and whenever the movie leans on that relationship things grind to a halt. It’s even worse when contrasted with Logan’s chemistry with Jean Grey in the movie’s brief dream sequences; when you’re in the audience rooting for the lead character to not get over his feelings of guilt, you have a problem.

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“This is a major source of concern,” said Stefano Scarpetta, the director for employment, labor and social affairs at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, whose members are 34 mostly developed countries. “For people who have been out for a long time, it becomes very difficult to get back into jobs. People lose motivation. They lose employment skills.”

In the United States, as can be seen in the accompanying charts, the percentage of the labor force that has been out of work for more than a year — and is still seeking employment — is down to 1.9 percent from a peak of 3 percent reached in 2010. But that proportion is still higher than at any time before 2009. (The data goes back to 1948.)

More than a quarter of the unemployed workers in the United States say they have been out of work for at least a year, and that does not count those who have given up looking, since they are no longer counted as unemployed. That is down from nearly a third at the peak of the recession, but far higher than it had ever been before the recession that began in 2007.

The United States figures on long-term unemployment, while bad by precrisis levels, are actually better than in many other countries. For the euro zone countries, nearly half of those who were unemployed in the second quarter of this year had been out of work for at least a year. In Greece, the figure was 65 percent. Even in prosperous Germany, the figure was 45 percent. In Britain, it was 37 percent.

For 32 O.E.C.D. countries — data for Chile and South Korea was not available — the overall figure was 36 percent.

Of the countries shown in the charts, only Canada, Australia, Turkey and Norway have a lower proportion of unemployed people who have been out of work for a year or more.

Mr. Scarpetta, whose organization prepared the figures, said governments needed to concentrate their efforts. “Acting quickly is important,” he said. “If you have a large pool of long-term unemployed, you should focus on them.”

He pointed to the rising number of people under the age of 25 who are not in employment, education or training — called Neets by the O.E.C.D. In the United States, in the final quarter of last year, 15 percent of youths were in that group, up from 12 percent in the same period of 2007. In Italy, the figure was 21.4 percent, but it was just 7.6 percent in Germany.

By contrast, the short-term unemployment rate — the proportion of the work force that has been out of work for four weeks or less — is now 1.7 percent in the United States. That is only a little above the record low of 1.5 percent set in 2007, and lower than any such monthly rate reached between 1953 and 2004.

There are now more people who have been out of work for a year than there are who have been out of work for four weeks or less. Until 2009, that had not happened since World War II. At the worst point after the 2001 recession, more than 30 percent of the unemployed had been out of work for less than a month, at least twice the number who had been out of work for a year.

In the United States, and many other countries, there is now what amounts to a two-tier employment system. For most people, unemployment is likely to be brief, if it happens at all. But for a significant number of people, unemployment is anything but a temporary problem.

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Shot by photographer Steven Meisel under the hair-raising light of a cold and ominous casting studio, Prada’s Fall 2013 campaign serves as the perfect setting to showcase the film noir glamour of the fall collection. The campaign’s short film stars 9 models, who play the roles of hopeful actresses, preparing for auditions and reciting lines. The dark and desolate theme mirrored that of Prada’s Fall 2013 fashion week show in which models walked down a shadow-clad runway. Miuccia Prada, the designer behind the label, was quoted post-show by style.com saying “through cloth, you can really make movies,” reinforcing the theme of the campaign.

The short film stands out our radar for both it’s seriously dramatic tone and because of an appearance by 19-year-old model Malaika Firth, the first black model cast by the brand in almost two decades. Firth holds her own alongside top models Christy Turlington and Freja Beha which is a feat to say the least. The 9 model-strong cast is reminiscent of the label’s much lighter Spring 2013 advertising campaign, also shot by Meisel, in which 10 models embodied the delicate, frilly characteristics of flowers featured on garments in the Spring 2013 collection.

An equally dazzling cast of models is found in Miu Miu’s Fall 2013 campaign, which shows off the collection’s vivid colours and bold patterns against the moody backdrop of a seaside pier at twilight. Directed by Inez & Vinoodh, the campaign features a roster of It girls including Georgia May Jagger, Adriana Lima and Lindsey Wixson. Set to the The Meters’ “Hand Clapping Song,” the gaggle of free-spirited models dance against a vanishing horizon in the campaign’s short film. A dreary sea-side promenade has never looked so chic.

The curious settings for both campaigns are intriguing, to say the least. From Miu Miu’s polka-dot hankerchiefs and striped stockings, to Prada’s vibrant checkered coats and handbags, both ads encourage pops of colour for fall.

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In one sense, it works—Mylo Xyloto finds the band at their most strident and celebratory—but every detail of the album is so sanded down it feels as though the melodies were put through rigorous focus-group testing in advance of the final mix. All the artistic progress made on their last album, the quirky and even adventurous Viva la Vida, has been undone, thanks to an overdose of weeping electronic strings, a pointless Rihanna cameo (on the forgettable “Princess of China”) and a festival-pleasing “ohh-ohh” hook that’s shoehorned onto the end of every boisterous chorus. Unfortunately, these lovingly crafted earworms won’t stand the test of time. There’s a reason Coldplay’s back-end ballads are the ones that still sound fresh after so many years—they’re the ones that emerged most organically from Martin’s eternally bleeding heart.

And sadly, heart is precisely what Mylo Xyloto lacks.

Playlist Picks: “Up With the Birds,” “Charlie Brown,” “Hurts Like Heaven”

The moody, piano-led ballad, which reaches Coldplay’s signature orchestral-rock aplomb by its midway point, was not only the first song the group had ever written specifically for a movie but its first new song since the release of 2011′s Mylo Xyloto. “Atlas” made it to the No. 1 position on 43 countries’ respective iTunes chart. In the U.S., it made it to No. 69 on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked in the Top 20 of Billboard‘s Rock Songs and Alternative Songs charts.

Martin is reportedly a fan of the Hunger Games series of books and based the song on the drama within the movie. “We are thrilled with how well they have connected to the themes and ideas within the film,” the movie’s director, Francis Lawrence, commented in September. “Their unwavering passion and excitement for the project elevated the collaboration even further.”

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire soundtrack, which features new tracks from Christina Aguilera, Sia and Lorde, among others, comes out November 19th. The movie hits theaters November 22nd.

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