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Saturday, June 30, 2012
Romney ad uses Hillary Clinton criticism of Obama
NEW YORK (AP) ? Mitt Romney's campaign has launched a new attack ad against President Barack Obama that uses Hillary Rodham Clinton's words against the president.
The Romney ad is running in Ohio and several other battleground states. It's a response to a commercial run by the Obama campaign suggesting that the Republican presidential hopeful's longtime private equity firm has sent jobs overseas
The Romney ad calls the allegations false and says Obama used unfounded attacks on Clinton when the two vied for the Democratic nomination in 2008.
The ad includes a clip of Clinton saying "Shame on you, Barack Obama," after direct mail pieces his campaign sent out in Ohio suggested that she supported the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Clinton now serves as Obama's secretary of state.
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Friday, June 29, 2012
Reverse mortgages confuse elderly, report finds
By Herb Weisbaum, The ConsumerMan
More Americans are getting reverse mortgages ? and that's not a good thing, according the government's consumer finance watchdog.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in a report released Thursday that reverse mortgages are not being used as Congress intended. It also warned that the program could cost some seniors extra cash or even their homes.
Reverse mortgages sound fairly simple:?They allow?for homeowners 62 and older to borrow against the equity they?ve built up in their home without selling it. But the CFPB calls these loans ?inherently complicated products? that are not easy for the average consumer to understand.?
Based on its study of the marketplace, the CFPB concludes that people who consider taking out these loans are ?ill-equipped? to understand the costs and risks involved.?
?People are quite confused about reverse mortgages,? said Hubert Humphrey III, who heads the CFPB?s Office of Older Americans. ?People need to better understand reverse mortgages. What is the best way to use them? What are the risks and what are the costs associated with it???
It?s called a ?reverse? mortgage because rather than pay the lender, the lender pays you. You don?t have to pay back the loan as long as you live in the house, maintain it and pay the insurance and property taxes. The loan must be paid off in full if you move or when you die. That usually means selling the house.?
Here?s the part that sometimes gets missed: A reverse mortgage is still a loan ? with monthly interest charges, fees and other costs. The borrower does not make interest payments. They?are simply added to the loan balance.?
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Over time, the home equity decreases while the loan balance increases. If the value of that loan exceeds the value of the home, the borrower (or his/her estate) will not receive any money when the house is sold.?
Right now, only 2 to 3 percent of the eligible homeowners have a reverse mortgage. But the CFPB predicts these loans could become much more common in the coming decades as baby boomers retire.?
Since the 1990s, the proportion of borrowers in their 60s has more than doubled to 47 percent.
Congress directed the CFPB to study the reverse mortgage market as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial oversight law that also established the still-controversial watchdog agency. The study could eventually lead to new federal regulations for the reverse mortgage market.
Drastic changes in the marketplace
The CFPB report points out that the reverse mortgage market has changed dramatically in the last three years. These loans were designed as a way for seniors to get some cash out of their homes to meet retirement expenses. Today, the type of loans offered and the way they are structured are quite different.?
Before 2009, most reverse mortgages were adjustable-rate loans. The borrower could choose monthly payments for everyday expenses, a line of credit for major expenses (home repair or medical bills) or a combination of the two.?
Now the majority of these loans (70 percent) are fixed-rate, with a lump-sum payment.?
?You take out that loan and get all of the money instantly,? Humphrey said. ?And yet you have all of your life left to live and you may not have the resources you need when you really need it.??
Other troubling findings
- A large proportion of reverse mortgage borrowers (nearly 10 percent) are at risk of foreclosure because they are not paying taxes and insurance. The CFPB says the percentage is increasing.??
- Those taking out reverse mortgages are younger than in the past. About half the borrowers are under the age of 70. As the report notes, ?Taking out a reverse mortgage early in retirement, or even before reaching retirement, increases risks to consumers.? By tapping the home equity early, these homeowners could find themselves without the money needed to make a move in the future.?
- The study found that ?misleading advertising? remains a problem in the industry and ?increases risks to consumers.? The report says these ads contribute to people?s misconceptions about the loans which increases the likelihood of poor decision-making.?
- Many people who receive counseling when applying for a home equity loan do not understand the risks. The report says counselors need to do a better job and borrowers need to take the counseling sessions more seriously. The report also says counseling may not be sufficient to ?counter the effects of misleading advertising, aggressive sales tactics, or questionable business practices.
The study concludes that stronger regulation and supervision of reverse mortgage companies as well as enforcement of existing laws may also be necessary. It notes that existing disclosures are ?quite difficult? for people to understand. And it points out that there are no specific federal rules prohibiting deceptive advertising of reverse mortgages.?
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is asking for public commentsbefore deciding what, if anything, needs to be done. CFPB is accepting reverse mortgage complaintsonline or through the mail.?
This week, Consumers Union (the advocacy arm of Consumer Reports) called for stricter federal oversight of the reverse mortgage market.?
Want more information? The CFPB has questions and answers about reverse mortgages on its ASK CFPB database. There?s also a fact sheet and consumer guide with key facts on these loans.?
?There may be situations where a reverse mortgage is the appropriate route to take,? Hubert Humphrey III said, ?but there are many things that need to be considered before you get to that stage.?
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
More money and business news:
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Photosynthesis re-wired
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Harnessing the power of the sun has inspired scientists and engineers to look for ways to turn sunlight into clean energy to heat houses, fuel factories and power devices. While a majority of this research focuses on energy production, some researchers are looking at the potential uses of these novel solar technologies in other areas.
Boston College Assistant Professor of Chemistry Dunwei Wang's work with silicon nanowires and his related construct, Nanonets, has shown these stable, tiny wire-like structures can be used in processes ranging from energy collection to hydrogen-generating water-splitting.
Teaming up with fellow Boston College Assistant Professor of Chemistry Kian L. Tan, the researchers have taken aim at a role for nanowires in photosynthesis.
Their work has produced a process that closely resembles photosynthesis, employing silicon nanowires to collect light energy to power reactions capable of synthesizing the basic compounds of two popular pain-killing, anti-inflammatory drugs, they report in the current edition of Angewandte Chemie, the journal of the German Chemical Society.
The reaction sequence offers an approach that differs from earlier attempts to sequester carbon dioxide with sunlight and solves the vexing problem of carbon's low selectivity, which so far has limited earlier methods to the production of fuels. Tan and Wang report their process offers the selectivity required to produce complex organic intermediaries capable of developing pharmaceuticals and high-value chemicals.
The process succeeds in taming stubborn carbon, which structurally resists most efforts to harness it for a single chemical product. Typically, refined forms of carbon molecules must first be produced to produce the necessary results.
"If we can start to use carbon dioxide and light to power reactions in organic chemistry, there's a huge benefit to that. It allows you to bypass the middle man of fossil fuels by using light to drive the chemical reaction," said Tan. "The key is the interaction of two fields ? materials and synthetic chemistry. Separately, these fields may not have accomplished this on their own. But together, we combined our knowledge to make it work."
During photosynthesis, plants capture sunlight and use this solar energy and carbon dioxide to fuel chemical reactions.
Tan and Wang used silicon nanowires as a photocathode, exploiting the wire's efficient means of converting solar energy to electrical energy. Electrons released from the atoms in the nanowires are then transferred to organic molecules to trigger chemical reactions.
In this case, the researchers used aromatic ketones, which when struck by electrons become active and attack and bind carbon dioxide. Further steps produced an acid that allowed the team to create the precursors to ibuprofen and naproxen with high selectivity and high yield, the team reports.
Tan and Wang were joined in the research by Research Assistant Guangbi Yuan, PhD '12, graduate student Rui Liu, doctoral student Candice L. Joe, and former doctoral student Thomas E. Lightburn, PhD '11.
Tan said it is no accident that the process so closely resembles natural photosynthesis, as chemists are constantly drawing inspiration from nature in their work.
"Researchers in my field are always drawing inspiration from nature," said Tan. "You take the basic lessons and you try to do it in an artificial way. In this work, we're trying to learn lessons from nature, although we can't copy nature directly."
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Boston College: http://www.bc.edu
Thanks to Boston College for this article.
This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.
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Parkinson's Disease Gene Identified - Disabled World
? Disability Information ? Types of Disability ? Mobility Impairments ? ? Parkinson's Disease
Information provided by University of British Columbia - Published: 2012-06-27
Parkinson's disease gene identified with help of Mennonite family: UBC-VCH research.
An international team led by human genetic researchers at the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health has identified the latest gene associated with typical late-onset Lewy body Parkinson's disease (PD), with the help of a Canadian Mennonite family of Dutch-German-Russian ancestry.
Twelve of the 57 members of the Saskatchewan family who participated in the study had previously been diagnosed with PD.
UBC Medical Genetics Prof. Matthew Farrer, who led the research, notes that unequivocal confirmation of the gene's linkage with PD required DNA samples from thousands of patients with PD and healthy individuals. He refers to the new discovery as the "missing link," as it helps to unify past genetic discoveries in PD.
"A breakthrough like this would not be possible without the involvement and support of the Saskatchewan Mennonite family who gave up considerable time, contributed clinical information, donated blood samples, participated in PET imaging studies and, on more than one occasion following the death of an individual, donated brain samples," says Farrer, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Neurogenetics and Translational Neuroscience and the Dr. Donald Rix BC Leadership Chair in Genetic Medicine.
 Prof. Matthew Farrer has identified a new gene mutation linked to Parkinson's disease thanks to the help of a Saskatchewan Mennonite family. (Photo: Martin Dee) |
The mutation, in a gene called DNAJC13, was discovered using massively parallel DNA sequencing. Conclusive evidence came from the identification of the gene mutation in several other families across many Canadian provinces, including British Columbia.
"This discovery is not only significant for researchers, but also for those families carrying this genetic mutation and afflicted with this disease in that it offers hope that something good might yet result from their suffering," says Bruce Guenther, President of the Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary Canada, a community leader and spokesperson for the family that participated in the study.
"The family involved is very grateful for the research team's respectful, collaborative and sensitive approach, and we hope that this enables the discovery of more effective treatments, and hopefully eventually a cure."
The discovery resulted from a longstanding collaboration with neurology colleagues, Ali and Alex Rajput at the University of Saskatchewan and Silke Cresswell and Jon Stoessl at UBC. The research team also includes scientists from McGill University, the Mayo Clinic in Florida, and St. Olav's Hospital in Norway.
Farrer shared the discovery last week with the medical community as part of his keynote speech in Dublin today at the 16th International Congress of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders (Plenary Session V: Is it time to change how we define Parkinson's disease?) Details of the study was presented at the conference and is being submitted for publication.
"The identification of DNAJC13 will certainly be of interest to people around the world who trace their family history to the nineteenth-century Mennonite colonies in Russia, and who have family members suffering from Parkinson's disease," Guenther adds.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common chronic neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer's.
- According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, Parkinson's disease affects more than one million people in North America and more than four million people worldwide. The late-onset form is the most common type of PD. The risk of developing late-onset PD increases with age but most patients begin showing symptoms in their late 60s and early 70s.
- Once considered a sporadic disease, latest studies have shown genetic components of PD that provide the foundation for neuroscience research and potential treatment targets.
- Approximately 15 per cent of people with PD have a family history of the disorder. There is a higher rate of PD in families where two or more members are affected, possibly due to a shared genetic susceptibility among blood relatives.
UBC Prof. Matthew Farrer is an internationally renowned expert in the genetic aspects of PD and related dementia. He and his team have helped identified many genes involved in PD by analyzing DNA from families throughout the world.
Farrer and his research team are based at the Department of Medical Genetics at UBC's Faculty of Medicine, and at the Brain Research Centre at UBC and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute. He has had an adjunct Faculty in Medicine (Neurology) at the University of Saskatchewan since 2003.
- Parkinson's Disease - (PD) belongs to a group of conditions called motor system disorders, which are the result of the loss of dopamine-producing brain cells. The four primary symptoms of PD are tremor, or trembling in hands, arms, legs, jaw, and face; rigidity, or stiffness of the limbs and trunk; bradykinesia, or slowness of movement; and postural instability, or impaired balance and coordination. At present, there is no cure for PD, but a variety of medications provide dramatic relief from the symptoms. PD is both chronic, meaning it persists over a long period of time, and progressive, meaning its symptoms grow worse over time. The progression of Parkinson's disease and the degree of impairment vary from individual to individual.
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Thursday, June 28, 2012
Nokia Lumia 800 and 710 get Windows Phone 7.5 update, finally get to Tango (updated)
We'd heard that the Lumia 800 and 710 were to get Windows Phone 7.5 a software update bringing fresh features sometime soon, but the time has officially arrived for these two to Tango. Today Nokia announced that the fresh code has already started rolling out, bringing hotspot and flip-to-silence functionality to the handsets. Plus, once you've updated via your Zune desktop software, access to the nifty Camera Extras software -- already promised to Lumia 900 owners -- is but a download away. As a refresher, those Extras allow Lumias to take Scalado-powered Smart Group Shots, provide a better burst mode for action pics, plus add a self-timer and panorama mode as well. Want to see the new camera features in action before taking the plunge? Check out the video after the break.
Update: As our astute commenters have pointed out, the Lumias both have Mango onboard, so this bit of software is but an update to Windows Phone 7.5 that brings additional features.
Nokia Lumia 800 and 710 get Windows Phone 7.5 update, finally get to Tango (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 18:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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TD Bank Financial Group Doing Business With Customer Service ...
Home ? TD Bank Financial Group Hiring Customer Service Representativ ? In Wingham ON Job Title : Customer Service Representativ ...
Company : TD Bank Financial Group
City : Wingham
State : Ontario
Country : CA
Location : Wingham, ON
Date : 2012-06-26 18:34:06
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TD Bank Financial Group provided job description and job requirement for positions as Customer Service Representativ ... located in Wingham, ON and publised 2012-06-26 18:34:06.
Company : TD Bank Financial Group
City : Wingham
State : Ontario
Country : CA
Location : Wingham, ON
Date : 2012-06-26 18:34:06
Status Active
TD Bank Financial Group provided job description and job requirement for positions as Customer Service Representativ ... located in Wingham, ON and publised 2012-06-26 18:34:06.
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Wednesday, June 27, 2012
PFT: NFL insists bounty evidence 'overwhelming'
APThe Bills announced that individual game tickets will be available online on July 9.
Miami needs to take things slowly with the development of QB Ryan Tannehill.
If there?s a spot for a fullback on the Patriots? roster, Spencer Larsen appears to have the inside track.
Said Jets QB Tim Tebow of getting cheers from kids at a football camp, ?It?s very humbling. I just take my role and my platform as a professional athlete very seriously.?
The Ravens are promoting a soccer game at their home stadium.
Former Bengals DE Pollack has become a college football announcer even though, he says, as a player, ?I didn?t care for broadcasters, to be honest. When you?re playing, it?s almost like you?re vs. the media. Coaches always say you should just give vanilla answers.?
The Browns will have an Ohio University Day this season. (And unlike the Dolphins? University of Florida Day last season, they?re not doing it to cash in on the popularity of an opposing player.)
The Steelers expect more than 100,000 fans to attend this year?s training camp.
Texans backup QB Case Keenum thinks questions about his height are silly.
Colts DT Josh Chapman says his recovery from knee surgery is right on schedule.
Jaguars players, coaches and staff members have volunteered to build a house for a Jacksonville family.
Says Titans TE Jared Cook of teammate Craig Stevens, ?Craig?s a beast of a blocker. He?s good at keeping his balance and staying low, and he has good leg drive and upper-body strength to finish a guy. He?s really good at finishing a play and staying on his feet, so that?s what I?ve learned from him.?
The Broncos? website offers some facts and figures about the season opener.
Former Chiefs S Jon McGraw still hasn?t caught on with another team in free agency.
The Raiders hope a change in the team?s culture can result in a better defense.
The Chargers hope they have more speed on offense.
Cowboys G David Arkin says he wasn?t strong enough last season, and he?s getting in the weight room to change that.
Asked about Giants owner John Mara talking about eliminating kickoffs, Giants K Lawrence Tynes said, ?Well, obviously, I don?t like it. But I don?t think it?ll ever happen.?
Here?s the Eagles? full training camp schedule.
The man arrested for extorting Redskins QB Robert Griffin III once appeared on Judge Judy, suing a woman for veterinary bills he claimed he incurred when he took in her dog. (Judge Judy ruled against him.)
Bears Chairman George McCaskey says his team wasn?t ?properly prepared? for injuries last season.
The Lions will owe some money to the league office if any more players are suspended this year.
Said Packers WR Donald Driver, ?We?ve got to continue to improve. Going 15-1 is nice, but to lose in the playoffs was very tough. It sits in your stomach for a long time. Our goal right now is to make sure that we bounce back and we get to the postseason. If you get to the postseason, it starts all over again. If we get back to the Super Bowl, that would be great. It took 13 years to win my first one, I don?t want it to take another 13 years before I win another one.?
The attitude toward Vikings WR Percy Harvin in Minnesota is that he has baggage, but not enough baggage to send him packing.
Falcons TE Michael Palmer is trying to export American football to Serbia.
Panthers LB Thomas Davis is trying to make history by becoming the first player to return to the field after three ACL tears.
The Saints still haven?t said who will coach the team while interim head coach Joe Vitt is suspended in Weeks 1-6.
Eric LeGrand, the paralyzed former Rutgers player who?s now with the Buccaneers, will write two books (one for adults and one for children) about his life.
The widow of former Cardinal Pat Tillman has published a letter he wrote her, to be read in the event of his death.
Do the Rams have a chance of going worst-to-first in the NFC West?
Issues continue to arise over the funding of the 49ers? new stadium.
Seahawks rookie Bruce Irvin predicts he?ll have double-digit sacks.
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Game of Thrones Author Draws SRO Crowd | American Libraries ...
Whether ALA attendees knew George R. R. Martin from his ongoing book series A Song of Ice and Fire or the hit HBO series Game of Thrones (namesake of book one), a standing-room-only horde of excited fans were on hand Saturday at ?Traveling the Spectrum: From Interstellar Adventures to Epic Fantasy, the Influence of Science Fiction and Fantasy on the World Today? to hear him speak about these genres. The program, which also featured Blake Charlton and Lois McMaster Bujold, was sponsored by the Library and Information Technology Association.
Charlton, author of the acclaimed novels Spellwright and Spellbound, kicked off the session with an entertaining and funny PowerPoint presentation detailing the personal experiences of his childhood that influenced his writing. Charlton said he grew up dyslexic and didn?t learn to read until he was 13 or 14 years old. As a result, he was in special education classes and had to ride the ?short bus,? he said, referring to the smaller school buses generally used to transport children enrolled in special education. Charlton said he always kept a list of the many cruel things other kids said to him, some of which he good-humoredly shared with the audience. (For example, ?Your wheel is spinning but your hamster is dead.?)
He said he has learned to ?respect [his] enemies in this life,? and gravitated toward fantasy because it is a ?literature of exceptional ability, possibility, and disability.? He eventually went on to graduate from Yale and later pursued medicine at Stanford.
Bujold spoke next, asking what the world would look like if there were no works of speculative fiction. She noted that the genre is not slowing down but is, in fact, speeding up. And despite the advent of ebooks, she said, many people read physical books in places where they are sometimes most necessary, such as hospices. ?Fiction gives our minds and souls another place to be,? Bujold said.
Martin spoke last, recounting how the effects of growing up in a federal housing project and having no money influenced his life. For example, the housing projects didn?t allow people to have cats or dogs, so Martin kept pet turtles in bowls with toy castles and eventually began writing stories about them.
But what changed Martin?s life, he said, was reading Robert A. Heinlein?s Have Space Suit?Will Travel, which led him to decide that ?I like this ?reading books? thing.? Space Suit was a gift and would be the only hardcover he would own for another 15 years because he couldn?t afford to buy many books.
Martin said that the ?other thing that saved me was the Fifth Street Library? in his hometown of Bayonne, New Jersey. He said the annoying thing about the library ?is that they made me give the books back.?
With the introduction of books and the library, he said, ?Suddenly I was going places.? All of those places, he said in conclusion, are ones that he remembers vividly. ?We are the sum of our experiences. They are experiences we?ve incorporated and made part of ourselves. I remember the books.?
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How SEO Helps Small Business - One Way Links Building
Finding affordable SEO services for your small business is paramount to achieving success in this modern world. Just about everything and everyone is on the internet so keeping up with that game is the only way to get a shot at making the big time. If you are truly committed to promoting and expanding your business endeavor, find a company that will work with you closely to develop exactly the kind of online marketing presence you want and need.
It is no new thing for businesspeople to go to marketing experts to help them with promotion. In fact, it?s been a practice for at least the past two hundred years. Of course, in the past one hundred years it has exploded as a field. An SEO company is a specialized kind of marketing professional that can create the best ad strategy for your business on this brand new medium, the internet.
Many small business owners feel that if they can do the work themselves, they should. Unfortunately, most of these people don?t have the skills or knowledge to successfully carry out an effective online marketing campaign or strategy. Just because everyone and their brother is now able to through together a website doesn?t mean that option is best from a business standpoint.
Often, that financial investment in a marketing expert is what it takes to push a business into the spotlight. If you delegate the marketing jobs of your business career to another professional, you can focus your own efforts on the actual business. Many small business owners take on too much responsibility or work themselves and it makes them unable to guide the business from a big picture standpoint.
The ways an SEO company can guide your online presence and promotion are many. Lots of small business owners find that social networking sites are key to getting the word out. SEO companies can help you establish a solid and engaging online presence on all those social websites like Facebook, Linked In, Four Square and more.
SEO in particular is a skill that helps internet users searching the web with a search engine find your business website rather than someone else?s. This promotion strategy is all about finding the most relevant keywords for your business that are also popular search terms.
By harnessing the power of search engines, search engine optimization companies help you bring in a wider audience than ever before. Online browsers go to search engines to get their questions answered and to find the resources they seek. If your website and online presence pops up as the leading result when customers search your field, you can imagine the amount of traffic you?ll be pulling in!
Any small business owner knows the difficulty of balancing all the tasks that need to be done. Save yourself the hassle of trying your hand at web design and hire an affordable SEO services company. Not only will they do the work for you, they will create effective and compelling promotions that will boost your customer base and expand your business..
I?m a search engine optimization expert specializing in affordable SEO. Check out my Website at audiencebloom.com.
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Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Celtra Revamps Its Mobile AdCreator With 70+ New Features
Celtra, which offers tools for creating rich media mobile ads, is launching version 3 of its AdCreator today. Co-founder and Chief Product Officer Matevz Klanjsek claims this isn't just an incremental improvement, but rather a "totally different" version of the product, with more than 70 new features and new architecture. Klanjsek and his co-founder/CEO Mihael Mikek gave me a rapid-fire tour of AdCreator 3 yesterday. They emphasized the fact that you can create an ad without doing any coding, and indeed, they pulled something together using the AdCreator's largely drag-and-drop interface. They also touted the fact that AdCreator is completely platform agnostic.summer solstice michael jackson brave jerry sandusky kevin youkilis legend of korra ufc
FDA probes safety issues with metal hip implants
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Metal hip replacements implanted in a half-million Americans may be failing earlier than expected, but it could be years before U.S. health regulators have a clear picture of the scope of the problem.
The Food and Drug Administration holds a two-day meeting starting Wednesday to scrutinize the safety of metal-on-metal hip implants, following years of patient reports of pain and swelling that sometimes requires removal of the devices. It is a challenging, but familiar, predicament for the FDA: reviewing the safety of a device that was expected to be superior, but which may actually be more dangerous than what came before.
For decades nearly all orthopedic implants were made from plastic or ceramic. But in the last 10 years some surgeons began to favor implants made with metal stems and sockets. Laboratory tests suggested the devices would be more resistant to wear and reduce the chances of dislocation.
But recent data gathered by surgeons in the U.K. appears to show just the opposite.
In March, British experts at the world's largest artificial joint registry told doctors to stop using metal-on-metal hip replacements, citing an analysis showing they have to be replaced more often than other implants. Hip replacements are supposed to last between 10 to 15 years, but more than 6 percent of patients with metal hips needed them replaced after less than five years. That compared with just 2 percent of people who had ceramic or plastic joints. Both types of devices are prescribed for people suffering hip pain and limited movement due to arthritis or injury.
British regulators now recommend that people who have the implants get yearly blood tests to make sure no dangerous metals are seeping into their bodies as the components rub against each other.
U.S. regulators have not made any similar recommendations for the estimated 500,000 American patients who have received the devices.
FDA scientists say they want to consider all available information before making their recommendations ? not just the data from the U.K.
"Why look at a single registry when there's data from around the world?" said Dr. William Maisel, FDA's chief scientist for medical devices, in an interview with the Associated Press. "This is an opportunity for us to look at all the available information so that we can have a thoughtful conversation about what clinical recommendations can be made."
Maisel said the FDA is working to combine data from foreign countries and the U.S. to determine which groups of patients and implants are most problematic. On Wednesday and Thursday the FDA will ask a panel of experts to recommend the best practices for monitoring patients with the devices. Panelists will consider blood tests, medical imaging and laboratory tests.
But some U.S. orthopedic specialists say they have already reached their own conclusions about metal hips.
"In my personal opinion there is very little room, if any, for metal-on-metal implants because the alternatives we have on the market are likely safer and as effective," said Dr. Art Sedrakyan, professor of public health at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York.
The FDA's deliberative approach to tackling the hip implant issue is in some ways a necessity. Unlike other countries, the U.S. has no national registry to track the performance of implants over time.
The FDA has received 16,800 event reports about metal hips between 2000 and 2011, but regulators stress that number is not very useful. Many doctors do not report problems to the FDA, and the volume of reports is influenced by news reports on safety issues.
A registry set up by Minnesota's HealthEast Care System recorded four times as many replacement surgeries for patients with metal-on-metal hips as those with other implant types. However, a similar registry set up by health care provider Kaiser Permanente found no difference between the two groups.
With little definitive data on U.S. hip implants, the agency has asked manufacturers like Johnson & Johnson, Zimmer Holdings Inc. and Biomet Inc. to conduct long-term, follow-up studies of more than 100 metal-on-metal hips on the U.S. market.
FDA scientists say the studies will help "fill in the blanks" on a number of scientific questions, including the effects of metal particles that often seep into the bloodstream as the implants wear down.
But Sedrakyan and others say it could be a decade or more before that information is available. In a commentary published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine, Sedrakyan and two co-authors pointed out those studies must run at least eight years to return the information FDA is seeking. Based on the authors' analysis of FDA records, the FDA has reached agreements on the design of less than 25 percent of the studies, and it's unclear whether any of the studies have actually begun. The FDA notified the companies last May.
The prospect of safety findings arriving in eight or 10 years is little comfort to patients like Mary Weaver, 48, who had both hips replaced with a metal implant from Johnson & Johnson in 2007 and 2008. J&J recalled the ASR hip replacement in 2010, after reports that it was failing in some patients after only a few years after implantation.
Due to increasing pain and elevated metal levels in her blood, Weaver had both implants removed in 2011. She was let go from her job due to the time needed to undergo both surgeries, and is currently unemployed.
"I hope that no one has to go through this ? it's frustrating, it's emotionally draining," said Weaver, who lives in Mt. Jackson, Va. "It's not just hard on you, it's hard on your whole family because your quality of life is not what it used to be."
Like 90 percent of medical devices sold in the U.S., most metal-on-metal hips were approved via the FDA's fast track program for medical devices. Under the so-called 510k system, the agency waives clinical testing requirements for devices which appear similar to others already in use. Since plastic and ceramic hip replacements had been on the market since the 1950s, most metal hip replacements were approved without new clinical testing.
"I am so furious they would use my wife as a lab rat, along with the other 500,000 people who don't have a clue what is happening," said Dwight Schrag, 69, of Bellevue, Wash. Schrag's wife Mary received J&J's ASR hip in 2006 and had it removed due to pain and other side effects in 2010. Schrag is one of a number of public speakers who have signed up to speak at the FDA meeting.
It's not the first time the FDA's fast-track program for clearing devices has come under fire.
Last summer the Institute of Medicine said in a report that the FDA should abandon the 35-year-old system because it provides little assurance that the implants are actually safe. The Institute is composed of medical experts who advise the federal government.
Although the FDA itself requested the report from the Institute, agency officials rejected the group's conclusions, saying the 510k system works well for the vast majority of devices.
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Clashes erupt in Indian Kashmir after shrine fire
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Monday, June 25, 2012
Portal Hypertension final chapter 4 | Diet-Fitness-Health-Healthy Aging
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Reese Witherspoon Admits: I'm Very Round!
Reese Witherspoon has confirmed that she's pregnant.
Three months after a tabloid broke the exciting news, this Oscar winner was feted in Chicago on Saturday night and spoke for the first time on expecting her third child, this one with husband Jim Toth.
When a reporter from The Chicago Sun-Times told Reese how beautiful she looked, the lovely actress simply replied: "Thanks, but frankly I'm feeling very round tonight."
The star was in The Windy City for “An Evening With Reese Witherspoon,” an event whose proceeds benefit the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute and at which Witherspoon received the Renaissance Award.
Adding that she's due in late summer or early fall, the star also joked about her appetite when asked about Chicago's famous deep-dish pizza, saying:
"I’m always feeling like I’d like to eat everything in sight!”
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Sunday, June 24, 2012
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lern2play Resources and Information. This website is for sale!
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South African daffodils may be a future cure for depression
Friday, June 22, 2012
Scientists at the University of Copenhagen have previously documented that substances from the South African plant species Crinum and Cyrtanthus ? akin to snowdrops and daffodils ? have an effect on the mechanisms in the brain that are involved in depression. This research has now yielded further results, since a team based at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences has recently shown how several South African daffodils contain plant compounds whose characteristics enable them to negotiate the defensive blood-brain barrier that is a key challenge in all new drug development.
"Several of our plant compounds can probably be smuggled past the brain's effective barrier proteins. We examined various compounds for their influence on the transporter proteins in the brain. This study was made in a genetically-modified cell model of the blood-brain barrier that contains high levels of the transporter P-glycoprotein. Our results are promising, and several of the chemical compounds studied should therefore be tested further, as candidates for long-term drug development," says Associate Professor Birger Brodin.
"The biggest challenge in medical treatment of diseases of the brain is that the drug cannot pass through the blood-brain barrier. The blood vessels of the brain are impenetrable for most compounds, one reason being the very active transporter proteins. You could say that the proteins pump the drugs out of the cells just as quickly as they are pumped in. So it is of great interest to find compounds that manage to 'trick' this line of defence."
The results of the study have been published in the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology.
New cooperation between biologists and organic chemists
It will nonetheless be a long time before any possible new drug reaches our pharmacy shelves:
"This is the first stage of a lengthy process, so it will take some time before we can determine which of the plant compounds can be used in further drug development," says Birger Brodin.
Yet this does not curb his enthusiasm for the opportunities from the interdisciplinary cooperation with organic scientists from the Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology and the Natural History Museum of Denmark.
"In my research group, we have had a long-term focus on the body's barrier tissue ? and in recent years particularly the transport of drug compounds across the blood-brain barrier. More than 90 per cent of all potential drugs fail the test by not making it through the barrier, or being pumped out as soon as they do get in. Studies of natural therapies are a valuable source of inspiration, giving us knowledge that can also be used in other contexts," Birger Brodin emphasises.
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University of Copenhagen: http://www.ku.dk
Thanks to University of Copenhagen for this article.
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TEEN FICTION: 'Smell Of Heaven'
This is a regular column featuring original poetry and fiction by and for teens, provided by Figment.com, an online community writing site for young people.
By May K. Rebey
I smelled his shirt that he let me wear. It was to prevent my pirate costume from being scandalous, since I had forgotten a white undershirt of my own. As soon as I was alone with it, I brought it to my nose. Never had I smelled anything so fresh, so clean, so sweet as this simple white shirt. How is it that this shirt, that had been on his back for hours, could smell like it had just come out of the dryer? How precious was that shirt, the shirt of the boy I had loved since freshman year.
I met him when I was in the seventh grade. Actually, he and I had gone to the same school since kindergarten, but we didn't become friends until junior high. He, along with his group of friends, opened their arms to me, when my old "friends" left me in the cold, alone. This group of friends, became my world, the source of joy in my life. I was completely and utterly happy. I still am.
Then things started to change. As our bond grew stronger, my heart would beat faster when I was near him. I began want to spend more time with him. I would dream about him. But then, my best friend told me she liked him a lot. Being the loyal friend I was, I backed away, burying my feelings. I almost convinced myself that I didn't like him anymore. Besides, what can an eighth grader do with such emotions? I was too young to date.
Then freshman year struck. That is when I fell hard. I love him. I love him. But who could I tell? My best friend still liked him, and by now, it was obvious that the feelings were mutual. So I kept quiet, simmering in the agonizing silence, always telling myself, Wait until he graduates. Then you can tell him.
I waited. I waited so patiently, always being there for him, even as his passion for her grew stronger. I was there for him. Sophomore year pulls around. She has transferred schools, and subconsciously, he and I grow closer together, trying to fill the void that she left behind. We became the closest we had ever been.
This beautiful friendship means the world to me. All this time, I had been learning what love really means. To sacrifice my wants for his, to support him as he pursued someone else, but always being his friend, even when it hurt.
That is when I realized...I could never tell him. It would only make things weird between us; nothing would ever be the same. She would hate me, and he and I would become estranged. So that is when I resolved to keep simmering in my emotions, enduring the pain, because seeing him so happy only brings me joy.
Today, I was crying from the stress of school and life caving in on me. He came to me, told me to stand up, and he hugged me. There, with my head on his chest, I smelled it. The scent so fresh, so clean, so sweet that was in that shirt that he let me borrow for the play a few weeks before. It was then I realized that it wasn't the scent of laundry soap. It was him. That is when I knew for sure it was what heaven smelled like. Because I knew if I could ever truly be in his arms, to have him whisper in my ear how he loved me, then I would be in Heaven on earth. How taunting is it to be so close to such amazing joy, and yet have it just out of reach. But no matter what, I will be there for him, because he is there for me, in the best way possible, even if it isn't what I think I want. I can still love this Heaven on earth.
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Saturday, June 23, 2012
Afghan University Poll Angers Officials
Balkh governor demands legal action after NGO survey reveals criticism of teaching standards.
An opinion poll has sparked controversy by revealing criticism of lecturers at northern Afghanistan?s Balkh University, and the provincial governor has called for those behind the survey to be prosecuted.
The Civil Society and Human Rights Network, a coalition of rights groups, and the Future for Afghanistan Children Organisation, polled 150 students across different year-groups at the university.
Some 58 per cent responded that they were unsatisfied with the way their lecturers treated them, while 70 per cent claimed teaching staff behaved in an irresponsible manner. Just over half accused lecturers of discriminatory behaviour and one-fifth alleged that they took bribes.
The results incurred the wrath of provincial governor Atta Mohammad Nur, who on June 1 described the survey as ?poisonous propaganda?, and called for those responsible to be prosecuted. He even liked it to Taleban attacks on educational institutions.
?One group in this country torches schools so that our children can?t study,? he said in a reference to the insurgents. ?Others launch poisonous propaganda in the name of this or that institution and defame educational institutions in the eyes of the people so as to deprive the country?s children ? particularly girls ? of an education.?
Directors of the provincial justice, education, and information and culture department attended a meeting where the judiciary was instructed to summon those behind the survey for interrogation.
Hakim Alipur, one of the poll?s organisers, said he was surprised that the survey had drawn such a hostile reaction, and said the aim was to contribute to reforms.
?Our opinion poll is [the kind] accepted as a civic process in democratic societies,? he said. ?It was conducted in good faith and respected the opinions of those who were surveyed.?
Balkh University was established in 1988 in the provincial capital Mazar-e Sharif and offers courses in engineering, economics, medicine, agriculture and education, law and politics.
As the poll group accounted for only about 1.5 per cent of the total student body, it is unclear whether it reflected the views of the wider student body. However, it was roughly in line with the overall gender split ? about 27 per cent of the 9,800 students are female.
Some students planned a large-scale protest against the findings, but university officials organised a smaller gathering in the campus? main hall instead.
Nurullah Mohseni, director of the university?s faculty of law and politics, said the NGOs had not provided convincing proof to support the students? opinions. He also questioned whether they had the academic credentials to scrutinise a university.
?No one is entitled to defame an academic institution where 10,000 students are studying without providing any convincing reasons or proof,? he said. ?Why have individuals who lack academic standing and authority done so??
At a press conference to explain the thinking behind the survey, Manuchehr Ibrahimi, director of the Future for Afghanistan Children Organisation, argued that the results reflected real and widespread problems.
The survey aimed to give the public an insight into teaching, management and other issues at the university, he said.
?Our opinion poll was conducted in accordance with internationally-accepted academic principles and our goal in launching the process was to reveal weaknesses and defects and to address problems that young people faced in education,? he told reporters. ?The opinion poll consisted of eight main questions... [and the answers] indicated that numerous problems exist at Balkh University and that students suffer as a result.?
Another NGO worker involved in the poll, Nasima Azakia, head of the Civil Society and Human Rights Network in Balkh, could not be reached for comment.
Colleagues said she was in The Netherlands on a pre-arranged trip. But one neighbour said on condition of anonymity that Azakia was in hiding for fear that she would be attacked or imprisoned.
Maria Rahin, a journalism lecturer, conceded that there were problems with educational facilities at the university. However, she questioned the survey?s methodology and disputed in particular its claims about lecturers? supposed laxity.
Whether or not the survey results reflect the views of most students, several students IWPR that they recognised the concerns that were raised.
Sitting with three friends beneath the shade of a tree on campus, one student claimed that staff were appointed because of personal and family connections rather than academic merit.
?All that?s been said about the lecturers is true,? the student said on condition of anonymity, before alleging that the survey only revealed a small proportion of the problems. ?The situation is far worse,? he said. ?We don?t know who?s going to reform all this corruption and arbitrary decision making.?
Another student originally from the western province of Herat described how it took him a month to get accepted into a dormitory. He was only given a bed after paying a bribe of 100 US dollars.
?I hope the university lecturers and officials will feel a bit ashamed after the opinion poll is published and start some reforms,? he said.
The Asr-e Naw newspaper published the poll?s findings, and editor-in-chief Sayed Ishaq Shojai said he believed they painted an honest picture of the university?s inner workings.
He said corruption across government and non-government bodies was an accepted fact of life.
?In my opinion, the polls? findings reflect existing, obvious realities. We published them as a matter of duty, to ensure that one of our biggest and most important academic institutions will be reformed,? he said.
Azim Resalat, broadcast director at Radio Killid in Balkh, helped compile the survey and said he was prepared to defend it in court.
?We performed our duty responsibly. If it reflects the truth, they should try to reform their activities. If it is not true, we are prepared to use the documentary evidence we have to hand and answer before any court that has the authority to deal with the matter,? he said.
Qayum Babak is an IWPR-trained reporter in Balkh province.
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Lack Of Health Insurance Killed More Than 26000 In 2010: Report ...
Not having health insurance could put your life at risk. Or it might not make any difference at all.
A new study has calculated that more than 26,000 Americans died prematurely in 2010 as a direct result of not having health insurance. The study, published on Wednesday by health care advocacy group Families USA, has raised old questions about whether health insurance coverage has any bearing on a person?s odds of living longer.
Families USA?s key finding ? 26,100 premature deaths a year for those 25 to 64 ? is a figure most would find sobering. This works out to about one death every 20 minutes. But it?s a conclusion that some researchers might have difficulty accepting, since its methodology is similar to that used in an earlier report with a troubled history.
What is certain is that the Families USA report arrives at a loaded moment, with the Supreme Court preparing to issue a judgment on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, the 2010 health care overhaul designed to provide coverage to some 30 million Americans who lack it.
Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, said the availability of care is ?not a trivial matter? for the roughly 50 million Americans without health insurance.
?When people are uninsured, what they often do is defer care,? Pollack told reporters on a Wednesday conference call. ?Some people pay the ultimate price when they don?t get that care or don?t get it in a timely manner.?
The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the Affordable Care Act by June 28.
Pollack told reporters that he and his organization ?have great confidence? in the study?s conclusions, which indicate that the premature mortality rate among the uninsured grew slightly higher almost every year from 2005 to 2010.
Yet those findings are based on a methodology used in another study from a decade ago that has met with some skepticism in the research community.
The earlier study, published in 2002 by the Institute of Medicine, claimed to find that 18,000 Americans had died in 2000 as a result of having no health insurance.
The findings were widely repeated and even amplified in 2008, when Stan Dorn, a research associate at the Urban Institute, published follow-up research claiming that by 2006 the number of Americans dying as a result of not having insurance had climbed to 22,000 a year.
But there were also dissenting voices. Richard Kronick, then a professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, argued in a 2009 paper that the Institute of Medicine report had failed to correct for certain health-related variables, like smoking and body mass index.
Kronick argued that when these and other health factors were taken into account, no significant difference could be found between people who have insurance and those who don?t.
?The answer suggested by the evidence presented here is that there would not be much change in the number of deaths in the U.S. as a result of universal coverage,? he wrote ? an assertion that a number of policy analysts, of various ideological stripes, said they agreed with, according to the Tampa Bay Times? PolitiFact.
During the call on Wednesday, Pollack defended Families USA?s use of the Institute of Medicine methodology.
The institute is ?probably as prestigious and highly respected as any scientific body,? said Pollack in response to a question from The Huffington Post. If anything, ?most of the criticism? of the 2002 study has accused the institute?s researchers of being ?conservative? rather than inflating the data, he said.
Later, Kim Bailey, research director at Families USA and lead author of the new report, told HuffPost that while ?there are always studies that contradict each other,? the organization considered the Institute of Medicine research to be an ?incredibly rigorous? treatment of available data.
?They?re not actually doing original research of their own ? what they?re doing is aggregating the research that exists,? said Bailey about the institute. But ?a huge prevalence of data? shows ?an overwhelmingly strong link between uninsurance and premature mortality,? she said.
Also on HuffPost:
Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/20/deaths-health-insurance_n_1613600.html
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