Energy News

A Person of Interest

Label: World

John McAfee, a pioneer in computer security, is on the run in Belize, where he is a person of interest in his neighbor’s murder. On Nov. 8, three days before his neighbor was found dead, Mr. McAfee appeared at a ceremony at the San Pedro Police Station in Ambergris Caye, Belize.

Ericsson seeks U.S. import ban on Samsung products

Label: Technology

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Swedish telecoms gear maker Ericsson has filed a request with the U.S. International Trade Commission to ban U.S. imports of products made by South Korean group Samsung,

The request from Ericsson, which said on Monday the products infringe on its patents, came after it sued Samsung for patent infringement in a U.S. court last week.

“The request for an import ban is a part of the process. An import ban is not our goal. Our goal is that they (Samsung) sign license agreements on reasonable terms,” spokesman Fredrik Hallstan said.

Ericsson said last week it was suing Samsung after talks failed to reach agreement on terms that were fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) over patents.

Samsung said it would defend itself against the lawsuit, adding that Ericsson had asked for “prohibitively higher royalty rates to renew the same patent portfolio”.

(Reporting by Sven Nordenstam; Editing by Dan Lalor)

Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News

A-Rod needs hip surgery, will miss season's start

Label: Lifestyle

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Alex Rodriguez will start the season in what's become a familiar place: the disabled list.

The New York Yankees said Monday the third baseman will have surgery on his left hip, an injury that could sideline him until the All-Star break and may explain his spectacularly poor performance during the playoffs.

"It's a significant blow," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "But we've dealt with significant blows and, hopefully, we'll be able to deal with this one, as well."

A 14-time All-Star and baseball's priciest player at $275 million, Rodriguez has a torn labrum, bone impingement and a cyst. He will need four to six weeks of physical therapy to strengthen the hip before surgery, and the team anticipates he will be sidelined four to six months after the operation.

This will be Rodriguez's sixth trip to the disabled list in six seasons. A-Rod had right hip surgery on March 9, 2009, and returned that May 8.

"It is a more complicated surgery with a longer recovery time because there is a little bit more that needs to be done," Cashman said, citing the bone impingement. "I don't think it's age related. Butt at the same time, the older you are, the slower you're going to recover regardless. But the bottom line and the message I've been receiving is that this is a solvable issue."

Rodriguez, who turns 38 in July, complained to manager Joe Girardi of a problem with his right hip the night Raul Ibanez pinch hit for him — and hit a tying ninth-inning home run — against Baltimore during Game 3 of the AL division series in October. He went to New York-Presbyterian Hospital's emergency room and was checked out then.

"Up to this point, there was no complaints of any nature at all from his hip, or anything really," Cashman said. "At that point Joe went to Alex in the dugout and said, 'I'm going to pinch hit for you and we're going to pinch hit Ibanez,' and Alex said to Joe at that moment, 'OK,' he said, 'I've got to talk to you about something. I think my right hip needs to be looked at. I just don't feel like I'm firing on all cylinders.'"

Cashman said the test on the right hip "was clean" and the left hip was not examined.

"I can tell you if a patient shows up in the emergency room with a complaint, they're going to focus on where the complaint is, not something else," he said.

Rodriguez, owed $114 million by New York over the next five years, remained a shell of his former self on the field. He was benched in three of nine postseason games and pinch hit for in three others. He batted .120 (3 for 25) with no RBIs in the playoffs, including 0 for 18 with 12 strikeouts against right-handed pitchers.

A-Rod broke his left hand when he was hit by a pitch from Seattle's Felix Hernandez on July 24. He returned Sept. 3 and hit .195 with two homers and six RBIs over the final month of the regular season.

Cashman said Rodriguez's left hip injury was detected last month when he had an annual physical in Colorado with Dr. Marc Philippon, who operated on the right hip 3 1-2 years ago. Rodriguez got a second opinion from Dr. Bryan Kelly of New York's Hospital for Special Surgery, who will operate on A-Rod next month, and the injury was made public Monday by the New York Post.

Cashman said "they're not your typical injuries" but wouldn't speculate whether they are related to steroids use. Rodriguez admitted in 2009 that he used steroids while with the Texas Rangers from 2001-03.

"It doesn't matter what I wonder," Cashman said.

With Derek Jeter, who turns 39 in June, coming off surgery to repair a broken ankle, the left side of the Yankees' infield could be even more of a defensive problem.

Jeter expects to be ready for opening day. Eric Chavez, who filled in for Rodriguez for parts of the last two seasons, is a free agent and Cashman said there are few options on the market.

Rodriguez had a strained quadriceps in 2008, the hip surgery in 2009, a strained calf in 2010, knee surgery in 2011 and the broken hand this year. While he is fifth on the career list with 647 home runs, he had just 34 the last two seasons.

"When he's healthy — obviously at one point he was spectacular," Cashman said. "One player doesn't make a team, and so we have a full roster of guys plus our farm system behind that that's going to have to fill in. We've done it before."

NOTES: Toronto claimed C Eli Whiteside off waivers from the Yankees, who claimed him from San Francisco last month.

Well: A Royal Spotlight on a Rare Condition

Label: Health

News that the Duchess of Cambridge, the former Kate Middleton, is pregnant spurred headlines and excitement around the world on Monday, but the exuberance was tempered by word that the mother-to-be has been hospitalized with a rare form of severe morning sickness.

Most people have never heard of the condition, called hyperemesis gravidarum or H.G., now getting worldwide attention. To learn more, we spoke with Dr. Marlena Fejzo, an obstetrics researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Fejzo twice experienced H.G. during her own pregnancies and is an adviser and board member for the Hyperemesis Education and Research Foundation. We talked about the risks of H.G., why it happens and whether its occurrence can predict the sex of the baby.

What is hyperemesis gravidarum?

It’s severe, debilitating nausea and vomiting in pregnancy that generally leads to more than 5 percent weight loss and requires fluid treatment. Sometimes, in more extreme cases, it requires nutritional supplements.

Are there treatments?

Doctors try to give IV and anti-nausea medication at first. About 20 percent of the women who contact the Hyperemesis Education and Research Foundation require tube feeding. It’s very serious. They have to have a tube inserted above their heart. Blood tests have to be done every day, or every other day, and the bag of nutrients has to be monitored to make sure it’s personalized for the woman’s needs. But I don’t think Kate Middleton (based on news reports) has it that bad. She’s just gone in for the IV fluids.

How common is H.G.?

It probably depends on how you define it. It’s generally defined in populations as 0.2 percent. A study from Shanghai, China, said that 10 percent of women get it or are hospitalized for it. Obviously anyone can get it, even a duchess.

What are the main symptoms and how is it different from regular morning sickness?

The main signs are rapid weight loss and rapid dehydration, the inability to tolerate fluids, feeling lightheaded and weak, and persistent nausea and vomiting. It just doesn’t go away.

Are there risks or complications associated with H.G.?

It used to be a major cause of death in women until the 1950s when they introduced IV fluids. There is a serious complication called Wernicke encephalopathy. It’s a serious neurological disorder that happens when you are not able to get enough thiamine (vitamin B-1), a vitamin that is needed for proper brain functioning. When it’s depleted you can get this serious neurological problem.

Wernicke encephalopathy is rare, but it would be preventable with a thiamine shot. If women come in with H.G., they shouldn’t just be treated with fluids, they need to have that thiamine shot. This complication typically leads to fetal death, and it’s serious for the mother too.

Are there long-term risks to the baby or the mother from H.G.?

There is very little research on H.G. One paper that looked at extreme nausea and vomiting found that children had more attention problems and difficulty in task persistence at ages 5 and 12. We found an increased risk of preterm labor and preterm birth due to H.G.

We need to do more studies, and we are following up on these women. We’re running a huge study to identify the genes and risk factors involved. About 30 percent of women had a mother who had it, and 20 percent had a sister who had it. We’re looking for the genes, and hopefully from that we can find the cause. Now it’s treated with medications that are developed to treat the symptoms but not to treat the cause.

Two major studies just came out the past couple years that showed an increased risk of preterm birth in H.G. But the majority of babies are fine.

Does the onset of H.G. predict whether a woman is carrying a boy or girl?

It occurs for both male and female fetuses, but is more common in women carrying female fetuses.

Is a woman at risk for it in a second pregnancy if she gets it in the first?

Yes, the recurrence risk is upwards of 80 percent. There is a study that says it’s more common in first pregnancies, but I think a lot of women don’t have a second pregnancy after having it. It’s bad enough that women decide not to have another baby, or to adopt or find another way.

Why is raising awareness so important given that this is a temporary condition?

It’s not necessarily a temporary condition. There are long-term effects to the fetus possibly, and there are long-term effects to the women. We also have an article on post-traumatic stress following pregnancies. When you’re suffering day after day at a time when you know nutrition is so important for your baby, its very traumatic for women. Even the medicines that help, they don’t cure it.

Also, there are a lot of misconceptions about it. A lot of women are treated really badly. They’re treated like they’re faking it or that they just don’t want their child. We have a lot of women who have lost pregnancy after pregnancy, or who had abortions because they just couldn’t tolerate it. There needs to be more awareness. There needs to be funding for research so women won’t be treated like this is all in their head, and the fact that the duchess has it is going to help.

What was your own experience with H.G.?

That’s why I’m so motivated. I had H.G. in two pregnancies. In my first pregnancy, I had a healthy baby boy. In the second case I lost the baby at 15 weeks. I don’t have it in my family, but I wanted to see if it was genetic since I’m a geneticist. We started on a genetic and epigenetic study we’re doing now. We’re going to find the cause, we’re getting there, but it’s really good to have awareness like this, although I feel terrible for the duchess.

Sasol Plans First Gas-to-Liquids Plant in U.S.

Label: Business

WESTLAKE, La. — In an ambitious bet that the glut of cheap natural gas in the United States will last for many years, a South African energy company announced on Monday that it would build America’s first commercial plant to convert natural gas to diesel and other liquid fuels.

The company, Sasol, which is based in Johannesburg, has been a pioneer in a technology that has tantalized energy scientists for decades over its potential to produce liquid fuels without using oil, which has historically cost far more than natural gas.

Having already built smaller plants in South Africa and Qatar, Sasol has designed its new Louisiana plant to produce 96,000 barrels of fuel a day using its “gas to liquids,” or G.T.L., technology. It will be the second-largest plant of its kind in the world, after Royal Dutch Shell’s Pearl plant in Qatar, and will cost $11 billion to $14 billion to build.

“By incorporating G.T.L. technology in the U.S.A.’s energy mix, states such as Louisiana will be able to advance the country’s energy independence through a diversification of supply,” said David Constable, Sasol’s chief executive, at a news conference here Monday near the project’s planned location.

The facility will include a gas processing plant, a chemical plant and a refinery. All are required to perform the alchemy of converting natural gas into diesel, jet fuel and other chemical products.

What makes this southwestern corner of Louisiana attractive to Sasol is its proximity to bountiful shale gas fields just north of here and west in Texas. A boom in shale drilling has reduced the price of natural gas in the United States in the last four years by more than two-thirds, encouraging many energy and chemical companies to build and expand manufacturing plants around the Gulf of Mexico to produce a variety of petrochemicals.

Sasol estimated that the plant would create at least 1,200 permanent jobs and 7,000 construction jobs. Production is scheduled to begin in 2018.

The state encouraged the project with more than $2 billion worth of tax credits and other incentives.

The company said it would put off previously announced plans to build a separate gas-to-liquids plant in Canada, giving priority to the Louisiana effort.

The track record for the technology, conceived by German scientists in the 1920s, is not encouraging, mainly because of a history of construction cost overruns.

Shell’s Pearl plant in Qatar, built with Qatar Petroleum for $19 billion, was over budget by a factor of three and has had stubborn maintenance concerns. Many other oil companies have looked at the process and declined to make the huge investments necessary.

Only a handful of gas-to-liquid plants operate commercially in Malaysia, South Africa and Qatar, and they collectively produce a bit more than 200,000 barrels of fuels and lubricants a day — the equivalent of less than 1 percent of global diesel demand.

Nevertheless, Shell is considering building its own G.T.L. plant on the Gulf Coast. Sasol and the Malaysian oil company Petronas are building a plant in Uzbekistan, and Sasol is joining Chevron to build one in Nigeria. Rosneft is planning a pilot project in Russia.

Profits have been elusive for the technology. To make it work financially, natural gas prices must remain low and prices for oil, diesel and jet fuel must remain high for a prolonged period.

Natural gas and diesel prices have historically been very unpredictable, and if enough companies build gas-to-liquids plants or find other uses for natural gas, demand will rise, putting upward pressure on prices.

In the United States, various companies have plans to build natural gas export terminals and promote more use of compressed natural gas for vehicles, as is done in many countries like Pakistan, Iran and Argentina.

“If you didn’t have cost overruns, and if you didn’t have maintenance unscheduled downtime — if everything worked perfectly — then G.T.L. plants look pretty good on paper,” said Don Hertzmark, an international energy consultant who has worked on gas-to-liquids and other natural gas projects for 30 years. “These plants are only economic with very low gas prices.”

Mr. Hertzmark said that, with modest construction cost overruns, companies could make a decent profit on a gas-to-liquids plant. He said that at today’s price for natural gas in the United States, about $3.60 per thousand cubic feet, a company would need a retail price for diesel fuel of more than $4 a gallon — near the average price today — to make the process profitable.

At the news conference on Monday, Gov. Bobby Jindal said the Sasol project, which also includes a separate $5 billion ethane cracker to produce plastics and solvents, would be the largest manufacturing project in the history of Louisiana and one of the largest ever in the United States. “The global financial markets will be watching,” he said.

Egyptian Court Postpones Ruling on Constitutional Assembly

Label: World

Wissam Nassar

Egyptian police officers stood guard outside Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court on Sunday, while supporters of President Mohamed Morsi protested near the entrance of the building.

CAIRO — Egypt’s highest court on Sunday postponed its much-awaited ruling on the legitimacy of the legislative assembly that drafted a new charter last week, accusing a crowd of Islamists of blocking judges from entering their building on what it called “a dark black day in the history of the Egyptian judiciary.”

Although hundreds of security officers were on hand to ensure that judges of the Supreme Constitutional Court could get into the court, and civilians came and went without any problems, the accusations intensified a standoff between the judges appointed under former President Hosni Mubarak and Egypt’s new Islamist leaders that has thrown the political transition into a new crisis 22 months after Mr. Mubarak’s ouster.

Upon approaching the court on Sunday morning, the judges said in a statement that they saw crowds “closing the entrances of the roads to the gates, climbing the fences, chanting slogans denouncing its judges and inciting the people against them.”

The judges were prevented from entering “because of the threat of harm and danger to their safety,” the statement said, calling it “an abhorrent scene of shame and disgrace.”

As a result, the judges announced that they were “suspending the court’s sessions” until they could resume their work without “psychological and physical pressures.”

Anticipation of the court’s decision on the new constitution had set off the latest political crisis. Fear that the court would dissolve the assembly and undo months of work led President Mohamed Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood’s political party, to announce 10 days ago that his edicts were not be subject to judicial review until the completion of the constitution.

Despite Mr. Morsi’s attempt, the same anticipation of dissolution drove the Islamist-dominated assembly to rush out a hurried constitution before the court could act and against the objections of Egypt’s secular parties and the Coptic Christian Church. Judges appointed by Mr. Mubarak have previously dissolved the elected Parliament and the first constitutional assembly.

The sudden effort by the president and his Islamist allies to push through a constitution over any objections from their secular factions or the courts has unified the opposition, prompted hundreds of thousands of protesters to take to the streets and set off a wave of attacks on a dozen offices of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party. A judicial trade association has urged judges across the country to go on strike, and some of the highest courts have joined it.

Over the weekend, Mr. Morsi continued to push his plans for the new constitution, setting a national referendum on it for Dec. 15.

“I pray to God and hope that it will be a new day of democracy in Egypt,” he said in a nationally televised speech, calling for a “national dialogue.”

But his recent tone and actions reminded critics of the autocratic ways of his predecessor, and have aroused a new debate here about his commitment to democracy and pluralism at a time when he and his Islamist allies dominate political life.

Mr. Morsi’s advisers call the tactics a regrettable but necessary response to genuine threats to the political transition from what they call the deep state — the vestiges of the autocracy of former President Mubarak, especially in the news media and the judiciary.

But his critics say they hear a familiar paranoia in Mr. Morsi’s new tone that reminds them of talk of the “hidden hands” and foreign plots that Mr. Mubarak once used to justify his authoritarianism.

“I have sent warnings to many people who know who they are, who may be committing crimes against the homeland,” Mr. Morsi declared in an interview with state television on Thursday night, referring repeatedly to secret information about a “conspiracy” and “real and imminent threats” that he would not disclose. “If anybody tries to derail the transition, I will not allow them.”

Mayy El Sheikh contributed reporting.

Angry Birds Star Wars updated with 20 additional levels, Princess Leia cameo

Label: Technology

Rovio on Thursday updated its immensely popular Angry Birds Star Wars game to include 20 additional levels. The latest game in the bird-slinging franchise was released earlier this month and was an instant hit, topping the iTunes App Store in less than three hours. In the most recent update, gamers must help the birds escape from the AT-ATs and Pigtroopers on the remote ice world of Hoth. Luckily, the rebel birds have a secret weapon — Princess Leia.

“It is a dark time for the Rebellion,” Rovio wrote on its website. ”Evading the dreaded Imperial Starfleet, a group of freedom fighters has established a new secret base on the remote ice world of Hoth. Unfortunately the evil Lord Vader discovers their hideout, and the desperate Rebel birds must escape the AT-ATs and Pigtroopers hot on their trail. But the Rebels have an ace up their sleeve with the debut of PRINCESS LEIA and her attractive new power!”

Angry Birds Star Wars is available for Android, iOS, Macs and PCs. The Hoth trailer follows below.

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Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Chiefs beat Panthers at somber Arrowhead Stadium

Label: Lifestyle

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Against the backdrop of an unthinkable tragedy, the Kansas City Chiefs gave themselves a reason to be proud Sunday — and perhaps the impetus to let the healing begin.

Brady Quinn threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns and Jamaal Charles ran for 127 yards in the Chiefs' 27-21 victory over the Carolina Panthers. The win snapped an eight-game losing streak during one of the most difficult seasons the franchise has ever experienced.

The game was played one day after Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher shot his girlfriend multiple times at a residence near Arrowhead Stadium, then drove to the team's practice facility and turned the gun on himself as general manager Scott Pioli and coach Romeo Crennel looked on.

Pioli walked through the press box before the game and said he was doing "OK," though he didn't stop to talk. Crennel was on the sideline coaching his team to an uplifting victory.

"As far as playing the game, I thought that was the best for us to do, because that's what we do," Crennel said, tears forming in the corner of his eyes. "We're football players and football coaches and that's what we do, we play on Sunday."

Cam Newton threw for 232 yards and three touchdowns for the Panthers (3-9), who were informed the game would be played as scheduled while they were heading to Kansas City on Saturday.

DeAngelo Williams added 67 yards rushing for the Panthers, carrying the load with Jonathan Stewart out with an injury. Steve Smith, Greg Olsen and Louis Murphy caught their TD passes.

"You definitely feel for them. What they are going through is tragic," Olsen said. "But we have a job to do. Our job is to come here and prepare to win. They wouldn't expect any less."

Peyton Hillis had a touchdown run for Kansas City (2-10), while Tony Moeaki and Jon Baldwin had touchdown catches. Ryan Succop hit a pair of field goals, including a 52-yarder with 4:54 left that forced the Panthers try for a touchdown to steal the win.

Instead, the Panthers went three-and-out, and the Chiefs were able to run the clock down to 31 seconds before giving back the ball. Newton completed two quick passes to reach the Carolina 38, but his final heave as time expired was caught by Smith short of the end zone.

Panthers coach Ron Rivera greeted Crennel at midfield and gave him a hug.

"They played an inspired football game," Rivera said. "They did some really good things, and we have to give them credit, because they suffered through a very difficult time."

Chiefs players gathered in the tunnel leading to the field for a brief prayer before their pregame stretching. A few fans in the half-empty stadium held up signs referencing the shootings, and there was a moment of silence to remember all victims of domestic violence.

Kansas City police have not released a motive for the shootings, which claimed the life of Belcher and 22-year-old Kasandra M. Perkins, and left a 3-month-old girl, Zoey, an orphan.

Belcher's locker was left with his jersey hanging on a hook.

"It's been an incredibly difficult 24 hours for our family and our entire organization," Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt told The Associated Press on the field before the game. "We have so many guys on our team and our coaching staff who are really, really hurting."

The emotions were raw even after the kickoff.

Kansas City took the opening possession and marched 74 yards in just six plays, including a 21-yard pass to Dwayne Bowe and a 34-yarder to Baldwin that got the Chiefs to the 2.

Hillis powered in to score the first touchdown for Kansas City on the opening possession of a game since Dec. 26, 2010. It was also the first touchdown drive engineered by Quinn since December 2009, when he helped the Browns beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.

Hillis ran to the sideline after scoring his first touchdown of the season and handed the ball to Crennel, then gave the affable head coach a big bear hug.

The Panthers answered with a long touchdown drive. The big play came when safety Abe Elam watched Olsen haul in a 47-yard pass from Newton for the tying touchdown.

The Chiefs had tacked on a field goal when the Panthers struck again, this time after Newton completed three passes to convert third downs, the last of them finding Smith in the end zone.

But Kansas City finished off the half with one of its best drives of the year, an 80-yard march that took up the final 7:25. Hillis was stuffed at the line on third-and-goal, and Crennel allowed the clock to hit 2 seconds before calling timeout. On the final play of the half, Quinn saw Moeaki open in the back of the end zone and delivered a soft toss for a 17-14 lead.

Breathing room came late in the third quarter when the Chiefs used 17 plays to go 87 yards on a drive that lasted another 10 minutes. Quinn finished it with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Baldwin.

Carolina mounted a comeback with the opening drive of the fourth quarter, with Newton hitting Murphy on a quick slant route from the 8 to get the Panther within a field goal.

The Chiefs added their own field goal, and then labored through the final minutes before pouring on the field, hugging each other and then kneeling in prayer around the midfield logo.

"In moments, tragedies like this, they can define you or redefine you," Quinn said, "and I think this team took an event and allowed it to redefine us. We were battling through a lot of emotions, a lot of difficulty on the field, and guys stepped up and played a heck of a game."

___

Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Unboxed: Stand-Up Desks Gaining Favor in the Workplace

Label: Health

THE health studies that conclude that people should sit less, and get up and move around more, have always struck me as fitting into the “well, duh” category.

But a closer look at the accumulating research on sitting reveals something more intriguing, and disturbing: the health hazards of sitting for long stretches are significant even for people who are quite active when they’re not sitting down. That point was reiterated recently in two studies, published in The British Journal of Sports Medicine and in Diabetologia, a journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.

Suppose you stick to a five-times-a-week gym regimen, as I do, and have put in a lifetime of hard cardio exercise, and have a resting heart rate that’s a significant fraction below the norm. That doesn’t inoculate you, apparently, from the perils of sitting.

The research comes more from observing the health results of people’s behavior than from discovering the biological and genetic triggers that may be associated with extended sitting. Still, scientists have determined that after an hour or more of sitting, the production of enzymes that burn fat in the body declines by as much as 90 percent. Extended sitting, they add, slows the body’s metabolism of glucose and lowers the levels of good (HDL) cholesterol in the blood. Those are risk factors toward developing heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.

“The science is still evolving, but we believe that sitting is harmful in itself,” says Dr. Toni Yancey, a professor of health services at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Yet many of us still spend long hours each day sitting in front of a computer.

The good news is that when creative capitalism is working as it should, problems open the door to opportunity. New knowledge spreads, attitudes shift, consumer demand emerges and companies and entrepreneurs develop new products. That process is under way, addressing what might be called the sitting crisis. The results have been workstations that allow modern information workers to stand, even walk, while toiling at a keyboard.

Dr. Yancey goes further. She has a treadmill desk in the office and works on her recumbent bike at home.

If there is a movement toward ergonomic diversity and upright work in the information age, it will also be a return to the past. Today, the diligent worker tends to be defined as a person who puts in long hours crouched in front of a screen. But in the 19th and early 20th centuries, office workers, like clerks, accountants and managers, mostly stood. Sitting was slacking. And if you stand at work today, you join a distinguished lineage — Leonardo da Vinci, Ben Franklin, Winston Churchill, Vladimir Nabokov and, according to a recent profile in The New York Times, Philip Roth.

DR. JAMES A. LEVINE of the Mayo Clinic is a leading researcher in the field of inactivity studies. When he began his research 15 years ago, he says, it was seen as a novelty.

“But it’s totally mainstream now,” he says. “There’s been an explosion of research in this area, because the health care cost implications are so enormous.”

Steelcase, the big maker of office furniture, has seen a similar trend in the emerging marketplace for adjustable workstations, which allow workers to sit or stand during the day, and for workstations with a treadmill underneath for walking. (Its treadmill model was inspired by Dr. Levine, who built his own and shared his research with Steelcase.)

The company offered its first models of height-adjustable desks in 2004. In the last five years, sales of its lines of adjustable desks and the treadmill desk have surged fivefold, to more than $40 million. Its models for stand-up work range from about $1,600 to more than $4,000 for a desk that includes an actual treadmill. Corporate customers include Chevron, Intel, Allstate, Boeing, Apple and Google.

“It started out very small, but it’s not a niche market anymore,” says Allan Smith, vice president for product marketing at Steelcase.

The Steelcase offerings are the Mercedes-Benzes and Cadillacs of upright workstations, but there are plenty of Chevys as well, especially from small, entrepreneurial companies.

In 2009, Daniel Sharkey was laid off as a plant manager of a tool-and-die factory, after nearly 30 years with the company. A garage tinkerer, Mr. Sharkey had designed his own adjustable desk for standing. On a whim, he called it the kangaroo desk, because “it holds things, and goes up and down.” He says that when he lost his job, his wife, Kathy, told him, “People think that kangaroo thing is pretty neat.”

Today, Mr. Sharkey’s company, Ergo Desktop, employs 16 people at its 8,000-square-foot assembly factory in Celina, Ohio. Sales of its several models, priced from $260 to $600, have quadrupled in the last year, and it now ships tens of thousands of workstations a year.

Steve Bordley of Scottsdale, Ariz., also designed a solution for himself that became a full-time business. After a leg injury left him unable to run, he gained weight. So he fixed up a desktop that could be mounted on a treadmill he already owned. He walked slowly on the treadmill while making phone calls and working on a computer. In six weeks, Mr. Bordley says, he lost 25 pounds and his nagging back pain vanished.

He quit the commercial real estate business and founded TrekDesk in 2007. He began shipping his desk the next year. (The treadmill must be supplied by the user.) Sales have grown tenfold from 2008, with several thousand of the desks, priced at $479, now sold annually.

“It’s gone from being treated as a laughingstock to a product that many people find genuinely interesting,” Mr. Bordley says.

There is also a growing collection of do-it-yourself solutions for stand-up work. Many are posted on Web sites like howtogeek.com, and freely shared like recipes. For example, Colin Nederkoorn, chief executive of an e-mail marketing start-up, Customer.io, has posted one such design on his blog. Such setups can cost as little as $30 or even less, if cobbled together with available materials.

UPRIGHT workstations were hailed recently by no less a trend spotter of modern work habits and gadgetry than Wired magazine. In its October issue, it chose “Get a Standing Desk” as one of its “18 Data-Driven Ways to Be Happier, Healthier and Even a Little Smarter.”

The magazine has kept tabs on the evolving standing-desk research and marketplace, and several staff members have become converts themselves in the last few months.

“And we’re all universally happy about it,” Thomas Goetz, Wired’s executive editor, wrote in an e-mail — sent from his new standing desk.