NEW triggers for piracy in West Africa suggest that industry should target the whole continent in its drive to tackle the problem, says former commander of the US naval forces in Europe Mark Fitzgerald.Coverage of the problems in the Gulf of Guinea has focused on illegal bunkering but Adm...
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Colorado legislators got hit from two sides Wednesday on one of the Capitol?s toughest and most complicated issues ? school finance.
Volunteers prepare packets for delivery to lawmakers on Jan. 30. Year of the Student photo
First, all 100 lawmakers were targets of a ?meet-and-greet? blitz by volunteers from the Year of the Student Coalition, a grass-roots effort that?s putting pressure on the legislature to deal this year with school funding shortfalls.
Second, the 22 members of the House and Senate education committees got yet another briefing on the knotty financial issues they?ll have to help decide, this time from members of the Joint Budget Committee, the six people in the General Assembly who know the most about state spending.
Green T-shirts flood the Capitol
Year of the Student is an effort to persuade lawmakers ?to use this session to address Colorado?s long-time failure to fund its schools, colleges and universities,? in the words of a coalition news release.
Started by Great Education Colorado, a school-funding advocacy group, the coalition now involves more than 150 organizations and has gathered more than 9,000 petition signatures, according to the group.
More than 100 volunteers clad in bright green T-shirts fanned out in the Capitol Wednesday morning to deliver information packets to all 100 lawmakers. The packets included letters asking lawmakers where they stand on adequacy of school funding, their willingness to explore all financing options and whether they agree the issue should be handled this year. Legislator responses will be published on the coalition?s website next month.
?This is just the beginning, but it?s a very good beginning,? said Lisa Weil, Great Education policy director. The coalition plans to follow up with a mid-February briefing for lawmakers.
Big funding issues laid out
Whether they address the adequacy of school funding or not, lawmakers will have to pass a bill this session to provide K-12 funding for the 2013-14 school year.
The House and Senate education committees will play central roles in crafting that bill, and members were briefed Wednesday on the key issues they face, which include:
Source of money: There?s an issue about whether funding increases next year should be paid out of the state?s general fund or from the State Education Fund, a dedicated account that can be used only for educational purposes. Gov. John Hickenlooper wants to rely on the education fund, but some lawmakers don?t want to drain that account.
JBC chair Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver, noted the legislature will have the final say regardless of the governor?s proposal. ?That?s a policy decision that will be made by the Joint Budget Committee and the General Assembly.?
Repairing the damage: Budget cuts in recent years have slashed an estimated $1 billion from what schools otherwise would have received. Hickenlooper?s plan makes up only a small amount of loss, and some lawmakers are talking about trying to do more.
Early childhood funding: Hickenlooper wants districts to devote about $30 million of the proposed increase to specific programs, mostly to early childhood spending. Several lawmakers are skeptical about telling districts what to do. ?If we?re going to do this we should give the districts the control to do with the dollars as they want,? said Rep. Cheri Gerou, R-Evergreen and a JBC member.
A recent law called the SMART Government Act requires legislative committees to make recommendations to the JBC about the proposed budgets for various state departments.
The House and Senate education committees have decided not to do that, noting that school funding is a special case and that recommendations can?t be made until later in the session.
?Since there are so many moving targets we decided not to make any recommendations at this point,? said Sen. Evie Hudak, D-Westminster and chair of Senate Education.
The biggest moving targets include setting an inflation rate for 2013-14, a key part of the school finance formula. That forecast won?t be made until next month. Another key shoe to drop will be the next state revenue forecasts, which won?t be issued until March 18.
Don?t forget about the other school finance bill
Dealing with the annual school finance act is hard enough, but this year the legislature likely also will face a proposal to modernize the formula used to distribute school funding. It could be the year of two school finance bills.
Sen. Mike Johnston, D-Denver, is pushing that effort and wants to get a bill passed by mid-March. Given that timeline, there?s been a lot of speculation about when a bill will surface.
Johnston indicated Wednesday it could be another couple of weeks before that happens.
His strategy is to gain as much support for the bill as possible ahead of time in order to minimize extensive arguments over amendments after the bill is introduced.
Johnston has been making his case to groups around the state for months, but he?s got some key meetings on his calendar in the near future.
He was to meet with a group of school district finance officers Wednesday afternoon and is scheduled to speak Friday to a meeting of the Colorado Association of School Executives. He?s also planning to make the case for his ideas to the Feb. 14-15 winter legislative conference of the Colorado Association of School Boards.
CASE and CASB are key constituencies to convince if a funding system overhaul is to be successful.
Whenever the bill is ready, it?s going to be a head-hurter for lawmakers. He estimated it will run to more than 100 pages. Johnston?s Senate Bill 10-191, the landmark and controversial educator effectiveness law, was a mere 33 pages long.
Cayce Tennis and Fitness Center?s Director of Tennis Operations Named to SC Tennis Hall of Fame
Jan 30, 2013
Jorge Andrew honored for contributions to his sport and community.
COLUMBIA, SC - January 30, 013 - It?s official?Cayce not only boasts one of the state?s top tennis facilities, it also is home to one of the state?s top professionals. Jorge Andrew, director of Tennis Operations at Cayce?s Tennis and Fitness Center at Otarre Point, recently was inducted into the South Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame.
Andrew was chosen for the honor by the SC Tennis Patrons Foundation and US Tennis Association?s South Carolina chapter. According to the organizations, Andrew was selected because he has been a powerful force both on and off the court for decades. As part the induction, his portrait has been placed in the SC Tennis Hall of Fame in Belton, SC.
?I heartily congratulate Jorge on this wonderful accomplishment,? said Cayce Mayor Elise Partin. ?He has been an inspiration to many players in our community?both young and old. We are extremely proud and fortunate that someone of Jorge?s caliber is helping build our tennis program in Cayce.?
Originally from Venezuela, Andrew was a former Davis Cup player and captain, who played on the professional tour for more than a decade, making appearances at all four Grand Slam events. In his professional career, he celebrated victories over several top players such as Rod Laver, Guillermo Villas, Dick Stockton and others.?
As a teaching professional, Andrew has been named a Master Professional
by the Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) and the US Professional Tennis
Association (USPTA) for his contributions to the game, his ethical
behavior, and his high standards of excellence. He is the president of
the PTR, the most global tennis teaching association in the world with
over 15,000 members in 117 countries, Andrew is a Master Trainer for the
United States Tennis Association (USTA) for 10 and under tennis and
recreation coach workshops, He chairs the National Cardio Tennis
Speakers Team and is on the National Advisory Staff and Speakers Team
for Head Penn Racquet Sports. During his teaching career, he has coached
many outstanding junior players, including a former number one junior
in the world from Venezuela.
As a volunteer, Andrew is a member of the USTA National Junior Team
Tennis Committee and has served on multiple USTA national, sectional and
state Committees throughout the years. He has helped organize numerous
tournaments of national and international importance, several of which
have been held in Cayce.
Cayce?s Tennis and Fitness Center, where Andrew serves as director of
tennis operations, includes 30 courts. Seven of the courts are
specifically built for children ages eight and under. The facility also
includes a championship-sized court with stadium seating to accommodate
2,000 spectators, and an 11,000 square-foot clubhouse with a 2,400
square-foot fitness area. The facility, which opened in October 2011, is
a joint effort by the City of Cayce and Lexington County Recreation and
Aging Commission.?
Study finds little progress in participation of early-career RNs in hospital QIPublic release date: 30-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Christopher James christopher.james@nyu.edu 212-998-6876 New York University
"Nurses Are an Important Resource in Efforts to Improve Care and Patient Outcomes, and That Resource Needs to be Optimized"
Nurses are the largest group of health care providers in the U.S., and health care leaders and experts agree that engaging registered nurses (RNs) in quality improvement (QI) efforts is essential to improving our health care system, patient care and our nation's health. Unfortunately, despite studies demonstrating the value of nurse-led quality improvement efforts, far too few nurses are involved in these efforts, and the number is not growing, according to a study published in the Journal of Nursing Care Quality.
The studypart of the RN Work Project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)compared the participation levels for RNs who were first licensed between 2004 and 2005, and RNs first licensed between 2007 and 2008 in hospital QI activities. The research team found little difference in participation levels between the two cohorts for a variety of activities, including performance measurement, working to improve processes or systems of care, monitoring sustainability of improved practices, and efforts at performance improvement. The only exception was "use of appropriate strategies to improve hand washing compliance to reduce nosocomial infection rates." (Hospital acquired infections.)
The research team included Maja Djukic, PhD, RN, assistant professor at the College of Nursing, New York University; Christine Kovner, PhD, RN, FAAN, professor at the College of Nursing, New York University; Carol Brewer, PhD, RN, FAAN, professor at the School of Nursing, University at Buffalo; and Ilya Bernstein, BS, RN, Langone Medical Center, New York University. Kovner and Brewer direct the RN Work Project.
"We expected to find a greater variation in QI participation between the two groups," said Djukic. "These findings underscore the need for hospitals to collaborate with nursing schools to develop effective strategies to ensure that RNs expect and are prepared to engage in QI activities. Nurses are an important resource in efforts to improve care and patient outcomes, and right now, that resource is too often being underutilized."
The team noted that there has been an increase in the number of hospitals who participate in formal programs aimed at increasing nurses' engagement in quality and safety initiatives since 2008. They expected that trend would increase the likelihood of participation in QI activities for the later cohort. Among those initiatives are Transforming Care at the Bedside, National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators Program, the hospital Magnet Recognition Program, and the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses initiative (QSEN), funded by RWJF.
The research team cited several promising programs for engaging staff RNs in QI activities, including the Integrated Nurse Leadership Program in California, and the Bi-State Nursing Workforce Innovation Center's Clinical Scene Investigator Academy in Kansas and Missouri. They also recommended better data systems for monitoring quality outcomes specific to nursing care, so that RNs receive timely feedback on their performance. Other recommendations for hospital leadership include:
Subscribing to programs that allow RNs to complete self-directed online modules to learn about QI, such as the Institute for Health Care Improvement Open School for Health Professions and QSEN;
Having more experienced colleagues guide early-career RNs in translating newly-acquired QI knowledge into action;
Ensuring that staffing levels are high enough and that RNs have sufficient release time to participate in QI activities; and
Ensuring RNs have access to an information technology infrastructure that provides meaningful, timely and actionable QI data.
The study was based on surveys of 539 RNs who work in hospitals in 15 states: Alabama, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. The National Council of State Boards of Nursing Center for Regulatory Excellence provided funding for the study, in addition to the RWJF support.
The RN Work Project is a 10-year study of newly licensed registered nurses (NLRNs) that began in 2006. It is the only multi-state, longitudinal study of new nurses' turnover rates, intentions and attitudesincluding intent, satisfaction, organizational commitment and preferences about work. The study draws on data from nurses in 34 states and the District of Columbia, covering 51 metropolitan areas and nine rural areas.
###
About New York University College of Nursing
NYU College of Nursing is a global leader in nursing education, research, and practice. It offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a Master of Arts and Post-Master's Certificate Programs, a Doctor of Philosophy in Research Theory and Development, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. For more information, visit www.nyu.edu/nursing.
About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, measurable, and timely change. For 40 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org. Follow the Foundation on Twitter www.rwjf.org/twitter or Facebook www.rwjf.org/facebook.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Study finds little progress in participation of early-career RNs in hospital QIPublic release date: 30-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Christopher James christopher.james@nyu.edu 212-998-6876 New York University
"Nurses Are an Important Resource in Efforts to Improve Care and Patient Outcomes, and That Resource Needs to be Optimized"
Nurses are the largest group of health care providers in the U.S., and health care leaders and experts agree that engaging registered nurses (RNs) in quality improvement (QI) efforts is essential to improving our health care system, patient care and our nation's health. Unfortunately, despite studies demonstrating the value of nurse-led quality improvement efforts, far too few nurses are involved in these efforts, and the number is not growing, according to a study published in the Journal of Nursing Care Quality.
The studypart of the RN Work Project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)compared the participation levels for RNs who were first licensed between 2004 and 2005, and RNs first licensed between 2007 and 2008 in hospital QI activities. The research team found little difference in participation levels between the two cohorts for a variety of activities, including performance measurement, working to improve processes or systems of care, monitoring sustainability of improved practices, and efforts at performance improvement. The only exception was "use of appropriate strategies to improve hand washing compliance to reduce nosocomial infection rates." (Hospital acquired infections.)
The research team included Maja Djukic, PhD, RN, assistant professor at the College of Nursing, New York University; Christine Kovner, PhD, RN, FAAN, professor at the College of Nursing, New York University; Carol Brewer, PhD, RN, FAAN, professor at the School of Nursing, University at Buffalo; and Ilya Bernstein, BS, RN, Langone Medical Center, New York University. Kovner and Brewer direct the RN Work Project.
"We expected to find a greater variation in QI participation between the two groups," said Djukic. "These findings underscore the need for hospitals to collaborate with nursing schools to develop effective strategies to ensure that RNs expect and are prepared to engage in QI activities. Nurses are an important resource in efforts to improve care and patient outcomes, and right now, that resource is too often being underutilized."
The team noted that there has been an increase in the number of hospitals who participate in formal programs aimed at increasing nurses' engagement in quality and safety initiatives since 2008. They expected that trend would increase the likelihood of participation in QI activities for the later cohort. Among those initiatives are Transforming Care at the Bedside, National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators Program, the hospital Magnet Recognition Program, and the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses initiative (QSEN), funded by RWJF.
The research team cited several promising programs for engaging staff RNs in QI activities, including the Integrated Nurse Leadership Program in California, and the Bi-State Nursing Workforce Innovation Center's Clinical Scene Investigator Academy in Kansas and Missouri. They also recommended better data systems for monitoring quality outcomes specific to nursing care, so that RNs receive timely feedback on their performance. Other recommendations for hospital leadership include:
Subscribing to programs that allow RNs to complete self-directed online modules to learn about QI, such as the Institute for Health Care Improvement Open School for Health Professions and QSEN;
Having more experienced colleagues guide early-career RNs in translating newly-acquired QI knowledge into action;
Ensuring that staffing levels are high enough and that RNs have sufficient release time to participate in QI activities; and
Ensuring RNs have access to an information technology infrastructure that provides meaningful, timely and actionable QI data.
The study was based on surveys of 539 RNs who work in hospitals in 15 states: Alabama, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. The National Council of State Boards of Nursing Center for Regulatory Excellence provided funding for the study, in addition to the RWJF support.
The RN Work Project is a 10-year study of newly licensed registered nurses (NLRNs) that began in 2006. It is the only multi-state, longitudinal study of new nurses' turnover rates, intentions and attitudesincluding intent, satisfaction, organizational commitment and preferences about work. The study draws on data from nurses in 34 states and the District of Columbia, covering 51 metropolitan areas and nine rural areas.
###
About New York University College of Nursing
NYU College of Nursing is a global leader in nursing education, research, and practice. It offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a Master of Arts and Post-Master's Certificate Programs, a Doctor of Philosophy in Research Theory and Development, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. For more information, visit www.nyu.edu/nursing.
About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, measurable, and timely change. For 40 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org. Follow the Foundation on Twitter www.rwjf.org/twitter or Facebook www.rwjf.org/facebook.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis speaks during an NFL Super Bowl XLVII football news conference on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in New Orleans. Lewis denied a report linking him to a company that purports to make performance-enhancers. The Ravens face the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl on Sunday. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis speaks during an NFL Super Bowl XLVII football news conference on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in New Orleans. Lewis denied a report linking him to a company that purports to make performance-enhancers. The Ravens face the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl on Sunday. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis speaks during an NFL Super Bowl XLVII football news conference on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in New Orleans. Lewis denied a report linking him to a company that purports to make performance-enhancers. The Ravens face the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl on Sunday. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis walks onstage to speak at an NFL Super Bowl XLVII football news conference on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in New Orleans. The Ravens face the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII on Sunday, Feb. 3. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis speaks at an NFL Super Bowl XLVII football news conference on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in New Orleans. The Ravens face the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII on Sunday, Feb. 3. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis speaks at an NFL Super Bowl XLVII football news conference on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in New Orleans. The Ravens face the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII on Sunday, Feb. 3. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? Ray Lewis is "agitated."
Not because the Baltimore Ravens linebacker thinks the magazine report linking him to a company that purports to make performance-enhancers will affect his play or that of his teammates against the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl ? the final game of a 17-year NFL career that most assume will earn him a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Rather, Lewis did not want to spend time discussing the subject in private with his head coach or in public with the media, as he did Wednesday, when his forceful denials ? and attacks on the owner of the supplement company ? meant the matter intruded for a second consecutive day on his retirement send-off.
"It's so funny of a story, because I never, ever took what he says or whatever I was supposed to do. And it's just sad, once again, that someone can have this much attention on a stage this big, where the dreams are really real," Lewis said, wearing his white No. 52 Ravens jersey, gray sweat pants and a black hat with the team's purple logo. "I don't need it. My teammates don't need it. The 49ers don't need it. Nobody needs it."
He smiled widely when the first question at his media session was about the topic ? surely, he figured it was coming ? then chuckled later while addressing it. Known for his frequent references to God and faith, Lewis called the whole episode a "joke" and a "trick of the devil," adding that he told teammates: "Don't let people from the outside ever come and try to disturb what's inside."
Sports Illustrated reported Tuesday that Lewis sought help from a company called Sports With Alternatives To Steroids (SWATS), which says its deer-antler spray and pills contain a naturally occurring banned product connected to human growth hormone. The 37-year-old Lewis, the MVP of the 2001 Super Bowl, is the leading tackler in the NFL postseason after returning from a torn right triceps that sidelined him for 10 games.
SI reported that company owner Mitch Ross recorded a call with Lewis hours after the player hurt his arm in an October game against Dallas. According to the report, Lewis asked Ross to send him deer-antler spray and pills, along with other items made by the company.
On Wednesday, Lewis called Ross a coward and said he "has no credibility."
Ross declined an interview request from The Associated Press but emailed a statement reading: "It is the view of SWATS and Mitch Ross that the timing of information was unfortunate and misleading and was in no way intended to harm any athlete. We have always been about aiding athletes to heal faster and participate at an optimum level of play in a lawful and healthy manner. We never encourage the use of harmful supplements and/or dangerous drugs."
Told by a reporter that he seemed angry, Lewis replied: "Me? Never angry. I'm too blessed to be stressed. Nah. You're not angry. You can use a different word. You can use the word 'agitated,' because I'm here to win the Super Bowl. I'm not here to entertain somebody that does not affect that one way or another."
Christopher Key, a co-owner of SWATS, said in a telephone interview that the company removed NFL players' endorsements from its website because "all the players were given letters by the NFL two years ago saying they had to cease and desist and could not continue to do business with us anymore."
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello confirmed that but did not respond to other requests for comment about SWATS or Lewis' involvement.
Teammates uniformly pushed the same message as Lewis and Ravens head coach John Harbaugh ? "Everybody heard about it, but we're not worried about it," is the way rookie running back Bernard Pierce put it ? and several said NFL players often are offered products to aid in muscle-building or recovery.
"You've got to be real careful. You've got to think there's a reason they're giving you this product," Pierce said. "If someone has success, another person wants to be mentioned in that ? like, 'Oh, I'm the reason for that.' If anybody tries to give me anything or tries to sell me on their stuff, I say, 'Go right to my agent.'"
Wary of using something that has no real benefit ? or, worse, that would result in a positive drug test administered by the league ? players seek approval first from the NFL, the union, or a team trainer or doctor.
"I've been approached," Baltimore nose tackle Ma'ake Kemoeatu said. "They'll come to me and they tell me, 'This will help you with recovery and all that.' I say, 'OK. I appreciate it.' And then I will call the NFL."
Another athlete mentioned in the SI story, three-time golf major champion Vijay Singh, released a statement Wednesday at the Phoenix Open, acknowledging he used deer-antler spray and saying he wasn't aware that it may contain a substance banned by the PGA Tour.
Sports Illustrated reported that when it spoke to Lewis for its story, he acknowledged asking Ross for "some more of the regular stuff" on the night of the injury and that he has been associated with the company "for a couple years."
Lewis' stance was different Wednesday.
"He told me there's nothing to it. ... He's told us in the past, he's told us now, that he's never taken any of that stuff, ever," Harbaugh said. "And I believe Ray. I trust Ray completely. We have a relationship. I know this man. And I know what he's all about. It's just too bad it has to be something that gets so much play."
While Lewis did face a handful of questions about SWATS, plus some on-field topics, he never had to deal Wednesday with a single reference to a dark chapter in his life: He pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in connection with the stabbing deaths of two men after a Super Bowl party at an Atlanta nightclub in 2000.
"We all in here have a past. You know? But how many people actually dwell into it? You know? Nah, it ain't about your past. It's about your future," Lewis said in response to a question about keeping focused on Sunday's game.
"And for me and my teammates, I promise you, we have a strong group of men that we don't bend too much, and we keep pushing forward. So it's not a distraction at all for us," he said, raising a clenched fist.
"The trick of the devil is to kill, steal and destroy. That's what he comes to do. He comes to distract you from everything you're trying to do. There's no man ever trained as hard as our team has trained. There's no man that's went through what we went through," Lewis said. "So to give somebody credit that doesn't deserve credit, that would be a slap in the face for everything we went through."
Asked about deer-antler spray, 49ers tight end Vernon Davis' take was, "I don't think Ray would take any substance."
Carlos Rogers, a San Francisco cornerback, chuckled when asked about it and what effect the headlines could have on the Ravens.
"I don't think they'll get a distraction. I don't know what to make of that. I heard it was something that can't be detected. They can't test (for) it, anyway," Rogers said. "Him saying that he's never failed a test, he probably hasn't failed a test for what they test for."
Boasting that "you will never fail a drug test from taking our product," SWATS co-owner Key said the company has sold its products to more than 20 college football players each at Southeastern Conference schools Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi, LSU and Georgia.
Alabama has sent two cease-and-desist letters to SWATS, university spokeswoman Debbie Lane said, adding: "UA has been aware of this situation for some time, and we have monitored this company for several years." Auburn and LSU representatives also said they have asked the company to stay away from students.
___
AP Sports Writer John Zenor in Tuscaloosa, Ala., contributed to this report.
___
Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich
___
Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL
General Relationship DiscussionAlthough anyone can post anywhere on Talk About Marriage, this section is for people interested in general relationship and marriage advice.
Today, 08:15 AM
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#1 (permalink)
Registered User
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 10
Hey .. I'm super new here. But been having an avid reader and just having an argument with my girlfriend. I decide to post here regarding the problems and feelings I have so far.
Please respond kindly to my post and give a mature and objective opinion. So here it is..
I am 29 years old, single male and she's 35, a working mom, divorced with 2 kids. We've dated for about 6 months so far. I can feel she likes me too, and so do I. We feel fit to each other, we talk about lots of things and we do feel comfortable about our relationship.
But sometimes we just have this argument about her ex. It feels like she's still in doubt to be more open about our relationship, and whenever I push her to be open about us, she's upset.
I asked her the reason she seems reluctant to be open about it. She said she want to "protect" me from her (a bit psycho) ex and "stay out of it" until we have a fully matured relation and prepared to be married. Well does it even make sense or am I the only idiot here?
She's not wearing her ring anymore, in fact she always wear the necklace I gave her AND she also has introduced me to her kids. Well that's a good sign of acceptance, isn't it?
Now the problems, and main questions are:
1. Why she still seems reluctant to be honest about our relationship? Yep she's legally divorced, I checked.
2. It also feels her ex still not fully let her go. She tells me that some time the ex still try to call/text her, asking about the kids. He even still calls her [honey] .. WTF? What should I do about him? I'm cool with her ex calling about kids, but honey? hmm ..
As a side note she's always been trying to push her ex back. He still call her honey but she always waving him away and end the conversation. I can see she try hard to keep her kids closer to me and further from him.
3. Do you think it's okay if I make contact her ex? I really want to know both sides of their (failed) marriage tale? And I really want him to let her go. Is that wrong?
4. Give me general tips about dating, or even maybe marrying a divorced woman with kids? I'm trying at first, but it's really hard to not get attached to her. She's just adorable woman, and mother.
5. How would a remarried woman treat a replacement daddy such as me (assuming I marry her?) People say her kids will always be number 1, and I'm number 2. How bad is it really? Can she still respect me as a husband? Or merely a new guy on the block?
That will be all, let the discussion begin, and thank you so much for your time.
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Today, 08:28 AM
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#2 (permalink)
Member
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Canada
Posts: 3,339
She may have been abused and have reason for trying to her ex "happy". Or she might still be keeping him as plan B. hard to say. How long have they been separated/divorced? How dependent is she on him financially or any other way?
I would definitely advise NOT contacting him. I think she would take that as going behind her back.
And yes, you will likely be prioritized below the kids in a number of ways. After all, you can take care of yourself and make your own decisions, while the children cannot. Having said that, your needs and concerns need to be taken into account too. It's a balancing act, and compromises will sometimes need to be made.
The only other thing I'd say is that you may be getting too serious too fast. You've only been dating for six months. Give it time, enjoy your time with her, and see where things go. Maybe she's just looking for fun, not a life partner?
C
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Today, 08:33 AM
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#4 (permalink)
Registered User
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 10
Quote:
She may have been abused and have reason for trying to her ex "happy". Or she might still be keeping him as plan B. hard to say. How long have they been separated/divorced? How dependent is she on him financially or any other way?
I would definitely advise NOT contacting him. I think she would take that as going behind her back.
And yes, you will likely be prioritized below the kids in a number of ways. After all, you can take care of yourself and make your own decisions, while the children cannot. Having said that, your needs and concerns need to be taken into account too. It's a balancing act, and compromises will sometimes need to be made.
The only other thing I'd say is that you may be getting too serious too fast. You've only been dating for six months. Give it time, enjoy your time with her, and see where things go. Maybe she's just looking for fun, not a life partner?
C
Well I can safely say she can take care of herself pretty well. She's not dependent financially to her ex. Rather the other way around. They've been separated about 2 or 3 years so far.
Yep, I might give impression about getting serious too soon. However, I'm still enjoying her companion and try talk less about that.
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Today, 09:22 AM
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#8 (permalink)
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Location: Kansas City Metro area
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I personally don't think 6 months is "moving too quickly" to be thinking about a future together. I also think a couple years is plenty of time for her to have put her ex firmly in the past where he belongs.
It does sound like she's into you if she's waving him off, but I agree with you about the "honey" part. If she's working to get him to cool his jets, is she saying, "I don't want you to call me that any more" to him?
What makes the guy "a bit psycho" and is that your words or hers?
I'm with the others who say not to go behind her back and contact him, but I also think you're smart to want to see the bigger picture. I think it would be wiser to pull back a bit from your relationship for now and see what develops. You can explain that you're concerned about the fact that she isn't being genuine about her relationship with you to everyone and will treat it as the yellow flag that it is.
As far as her treating kids as #1 and you as secondary, this is true of some women but not all. Pay attention to the kinds of things she believes her kids have "rights" on and how much she backs them up (even if they're wrong) to get some idea of whether she'll be logical and balanced about things or not. When they have trouble in school or daycare, does she automatically blame anyone but her kids? Or does she make both parties responsible? How much does she pay attention to her children's side of the story and does she balance it against other information?
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Today, 09:38 AM
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#9 (permalink)
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Join Date: Jan 2013
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Quote:
I personally don't think 6 months is "moving too quickly" to be thinking about a future together. I also think a couple years is plenty of time for her to have put her ex firmly in the past where he belongs.
It does sound like she's into you if she's waving him off, but I agree with you about the "honey" part. If she's working to get him to cool his jets, is she saying, "I don't want you to call me that any more" to him?
What makes the guy "a bit psycho" and is that your words or hers?
I'm with the others who say not to go behind her back and contact him, but I also think you're smart to want to see the bigger picture. I think it would be wiser to pull back a bit from your relationship for now and see what develops. You can explain that you're concerned about the fact that she isn't being genuine about her relationship with you to everyone and will treat it as the yellow flag that it is.
As far as her treating kids as #1 and you as secondary, this is true of some women but not all. Pay attention to the kinds of things she believes her kids have "rights" on and how much she backs them up (even if they're wrong) to get some idea of whether she'll be logical and balanced about things or not. When they have trouble in school or daycare, does she automatically blame anyone but her kids? Or does she make both parties responsible? How much does she pay attention to her children's side of the story and does she balance it against other information?
Thank you Kathie. Yep I was kinda hoping she asked her ex to stop calling her that. More importantly I want the ex to know that she's with me now, well yeah we're just dating. But how about some space, please? She's definitely not calling him the same way. She keeps his texts and calls mostly for kids business and nothing else.
Point is, I can feel that she's fond of me, so far. But she's kinda shy to be open about us to him. Yep she tells me how bad it might be if we're going full blown in front of him, he might try so hard to get her back. So the psycho word is coming from both of us. And like I said, she wants us to go undercover until we're seriously about to be married. I don't know if it actually makes sense or just full of it? Almost feels like she's having an affair with me, but it's really not either. Her mom and brothers confirm it.
Wish everything could be dead simple just like with a clean single girl coming from lovable families. But hey, you know how it is. It's not just like a matter of choosing iPhone or Android.
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Today, 10:22 AM
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#15 (permalink)
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Oh well thank you. I don't know. She still turning her phones off after the argument we had. It's not a green light yet to open a conversation, and I'm not pushing her even further or it'll be the end of it.
If you were her, would you give this "control" to a man whom you date for the past 6 months? Or would you try to hide the new relationship and keep it off from your ex until everything is ready?
The answer to that depends on how into the new guy I am, doesn't it?
And that's the crux of your problem.
Whether you're a guy or a girl, when you're head-over-heels about someone, there's NOTHING that can come between you. You'd move mountains to make sure of it during that irrational logic part of the relationship. Your emotions will do your thinking instead of your head.
After 6 months, yes, I would give my new man more control than a person from my past. I would do that after 6 DAYS, to be honest. I don't owe anyone from my past anything, much less loyalty! There is a reason they're the past.
Her heart's not fully into it with you. Only you can decide what you want to make of that. But while she's thinking with her head, YOU are thinking with your heart. This makes you very vulnerable to getting hurt right now. This is why I said if I was in your shoes, I'd be calling that game. I'd pull back and get back to thinking with my head since it clearly would not be safe to be fully vulnerable in that situation.
Early trials using mobile technology including text messaging and apps lack rigor and show mixed results
By Lucas Laursen
SMS messages in Africa provide reminders to patients to take antiretroviral drugs, reducing HIV virus counts. Image: Flickr/The Reboot
Health care via mobile technology is still in its infancy. Of 75 trials in which patients used mobile tech, such as text messaging and downloadable apps, to manage a disease or adopt healthier behaviors, only three showed reliable signs of success, according to a systematic survey. In an accompanying survey of medical personnel who used smart phones and other devices, to help deliver care, the same team found more success: 11 of 42 trials had positive, reliable results.
Yet mobile device-aided health care, called mHealth, attracts a lot of attention and dollars, as U.S. National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins wrote last year in Scientific American. In 2012 venture capital firms invested more than $900 million in mHealth, according to a report by Mobile Health Market News.
?There?s a lot of enthusiasm for [mHealth] but [its effectiveness] wasn?t very clear,? says epidemiologist Caroline Free of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in England, the lead author of the reviews. In 2011, for example, the World Health Organization found that only 12 percent of mobile health initiatives included an evaluation.
So Free and colleagues conducted the reviews, which appear in PLoS Medicine, she says, to ?put us in the position of knowing exactly in which areas there was good evidence where the evidence was promising.? That information could help investors and researchers make better decisions about how to identify, improve and promote the best mobile health treatments.
In the first review, the team identified 334 relevant mHealth trials in seven medical databases. Most of the trials used text messaging to interact with patients, although some interacted through dedicated applications, downloadable audio and video or the Web. Only 75 of those trials included a control group, which allows researchers to compare experimental interventions with doing nothing.
Of the 75 controlled trials, 26 sought to change patient behavior by methods that included increasing exercise and 49 sought to help patients manage diseases medically such as by taking pills on time. That may not seem like many studies, but medical doctor Rahul Chakrabarti at Monash University in Australia, co-editor of the Journal of Mobile Technology in Medicine, calls it the most comprehensive meta-analysis of mHealth evidence to date.
The bad news is that most trials had weak designs, such as failing to randomize participants in the control group and the experimental group. Others relied on participants to self-report the results, but such methods can be unreliable. Free says such trials should use biochemical tests, instead. In some cases, it?s too early to tell whether a result, such as smaller waist size, would last long enough to improve participants? health. Most trials also neglected the developing world, where mobile phones have the most potential to improve access to health care. ?This does not undermine the outcomes,? Chakrabarti says, ?but shows that going forward, there is a clear need for improved methodology.?
There were a few promising, reliable trials: For instance, receiving text messages helped smokers quit in one trial that did verify its results with biochemical tests. Reminders also helped diabetics stick to their treatments in another trial. In the only successful developing-world trial, in Kenya, SMS reminders to take antiretroviral drugs helped reduce HIV virus counts.
BEIJING (AP) ? Personal computer maker Lenovo Group said Wednesday its quarterly profit rose 34 percent on strong sales of smartphones and tablet computers but warned this year's market will be tough.
The company, vying with Hewlett-Packard Co. to become the world's biggest PC maker, said it earned $205 million in the three months ending in December. Global revenue rose 12 percent to a record $9.4 billion.
The results reflected a rapid shift in global consumer tastes toward mobile services. That is forcing traditional technology leaders to scramble to roll out new products and diversify into services as well as hardware.
Sales by Lenovo's mobile and digital home unit soared 77 percent to $998 million, though that was only 11 percent of total revenue.
The company said its smartphone business in China was profitable for the first time and handsets were launched in India, Indonesia, Russia and other markets. Shipments of media tablets rose 77 percent.
"Lenovo has not only achieved record revenue, profit and global PC market share last quarter, but also our smartphone and tablet businesses have delivered hyper growth," said chairman Yang Yuanqing in a statement. "We are confident that we can win through differentiation and will be the innovation leader in the PC Plus era."
Revenues in the bigger but slower-growing PC market rose 7 percent to $7.9 billion.
Lenovo, which is based in Beijing and in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, warned PC demand "remains challenging" due to weakening global economic conditions but said it plans to expand its cloud, services and other businesses.
In its home China market, PC shipments rose 2 percent, down from the previous quarter's 8 percent. Lenovo said that outpaced an industry-wide decline of 2 percent in China, raising its market share by 1.4 percentage points to a record 36.7 percent.
Shipments in the United States and the rest of North America rose 11 percent over a year earlier.
Lenovo released a new version of its ThinkPad notebook computer, the X1 Carbon, in August that it said was lighter and quicker to mimic the convenience of a tablet. Lenovo acquired the ThinkPad brand with IBM Corp.'s personal computer unit in 2005.
In this file photo running back Danny Woodhead of the New England Patriots fights off a tackle in the Super Bowl on Feb. 5, 2012. The game was the most watched television broadcast in U.S. history.
By John Roach, NBC News
As millions of Americans huddle around TVs with friends and family this Sunday to watch the Super Bowl, they?ll neglect their laundry, skip vacuuming the carpet and abandon just about anything else that requires electricity, according to a new study. As a result, energy usage will plummet.
During the 2012 Super Bowl, which ranked as the most watched television broadcast in U.S. history with 111.3 million viewers, energy usage dropped 5 percent in the Western U.S. and 3.8 percent in the East, energy consultancy Opower reported.?
Given all the TVs aglow at once ? which collectively consumed 11 million kilowatt hours of electricity during the game, equivalent to the amount of power generated by 10 medium-sized coal-fired power plants ? the finding seems counter intuitive, according to Barry Fischer, who conducted the analysis.
The drop in energy consumption is the result of "two related phenomena," he told NBC News.
"One is the fact that we are exclusively focusing our attention in one room, on one appliance, at the expense of doing other energy using activities. Number two is we are doing that exclusive activity together."
Energy usage does increase more than a typical midwinter Sunday in the hours prior to the game ? perhaps because people are busy in the kitchen cooking food to munch in front of the tube, and cleaning the house to get it ready for an onslaught of guests.
"But that slight blip upwards is more than offset by the dramatic decrease during the game," Fischer said.?
What?s more, that decrease holds when the game is over, probably because people stay glued to their couches, eyes glazed over and staring at the screen. In the West, where the game ends around dinnertime, people probably socialize for a few more hours instead of going home to do chores.
The study focused just on Sunday, so it?s possible people put off their chores to Monday, but for the big game, the act of getting together with family and friends to watch TV has the benefit of reducing overall energy use.
"While that might not solve the energy crisis, I think it?s an important concept to keep in mind," said Fischer, who plans to head to a Washington D.C. area bar to watch this year?s Super Bowl with friends.
A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Fischer said he'll be rooting for the 49ers to beat the Baltimore Ravens, though he noted "that did not bias this analysis at all." To learn more about the study, read his blog post.?
?? via New York Times Green?
John Roach is a contributing writer for NBC News. To learn more about him, check out his website.
Aging brains show a weakening in brain waves associated with deep sleep (right) compared with younger adults (left), with consequent memory impairments.Image: Bryce Mander
Deterioration of a specific brain region impairs sleep quality as people age, leading to poorer memory retention, according to research published today in Nature Neuroscience.?
Aging is associated with the gradual loss of brain cells, sleep disturbances and declining memory function, but how these factors are related to each other has been unclear.
Neuroscientist Bryce Mander at the University of California, Berkeley, and his colleagues recruited 33 healthy adults ? 18 around the age of 20, and 15 ranging from late sixties to late seventies ? all with normal mental function, and asked them to memorize a list of word pairs.
The participants were asked to recall some of the word pairs ten minutes later, then left to sleep overnight while the researchers recorded the electrical activity of their brains. The next morning, volunteers were asked to recall selected words from the list again while having their brains scanned.
In keeping with earlier studies, the older adults performed less well than the younger ones on the memory test, and showed significant reductions in the slow brain waves associated with deep sleep.
The extent of deep-sleep disruption was related to the degree of memory impairment, with those exhibiting the least slow-wave activity performing the worst. These differences were also associated with a reduction of grey matter in a part of the brain called the medial prefrontal cortex.
?We?ve known for decades that sleep is disrupted in older adults, but we didn't know why,? says Mander. ?Our findings show that brain deterioration, bad memory and bad sleep are not independent, but instead are significantly interrelated.?
Memory waves It is well established that sleep strengthens newly formed memories, and slow brain waves are thought to enhance the transfer of information from the hippocampus, a brain structure that is crucial to memory formation, to other parts of the brain for long-term storage. ??
Mander and colleagues' findings suggest that deterioration of the medial prefrontal cortex diminishes the slow waves that occur during deep sleep. Consequently, the older participants were less able than the younger ones to solidify their memories of the word pairs.?
?This study provides valuable insight into the relationship between sleep and cognition,? says Roxanne Sterniczuk, a neurophysiologist at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. However, she urges caution because the observed anatomical differences may be indicative of early neurodegeneration, rather than simply a natural loss of volume.
?The inability to examine the participants? brains for pathology is a major limitation,? she adds. ?It would be interesting to follow the older adults over time, or add a dementia group and compare the differences.?
Last year, Sterniczuk and her colleagues presented preliminary findings showing that sleep disturbances accurately predict a subsequent diagnosis of Alzheimer?s disease.
?Sleep disruption is even more pronounced in Alzheimer's,? says Mander, ?so a good next step will be to see if sleep disruption in these populations is associated with their memory symptoms. If so, targeting sleep may reduce some of their deficits.?
This article is reproduced with permission from the magazine Nature. The article was first published on January 27, 2013.
The saga of what steps that must be taken to deal with the evolving threat of Earth-circling orbital debris is a work in progress.? This menacing problem ? and the possible cleanup solutions ? is international in scope.
Space junk is an assortment of objects in Earth orbit that is a mix of everything from spent rocket stages, derelict satellites, chunks of busted up spacecraft to paint chips, springs and bolts. A satellite crash in February 2009, for example, marked the first accidental hypervelocity crash between two intact artificial satellites in Earth orbit. That cosmic crash created significant debris ? a worrisome amount of leftover bits and pieces.
Against this backdrop of untidiness in space and the global worry among spacefaring countries it causes, experts continue to tackle the issue of exactly what to do about orbital debris. A number of rules have been pondered to address the space debris problem, from regulations that attempt to cut down on the shedding of new debris to better tracking of the human-made refuge, as well as scavenging concepts including fishing nets, lasers and garbage scows.
But how to best characterize the orbital debris dilemma, and its future, also stirs up debate and heated dialogue.
Point of no return
The clutter in Earth orbit is a situation that will continue to worsen, according to Marshall Kaplan, founder and principal of Launchspace in Bethesda, Md.
"The problem is that we've already fallen off that cliff," Kaplan told SPACE.com. "That's the reality of it and people don't want to admit that reality." [Photos of Space Junk & Cleanup Ideas]
Spending millions of dollars to retrieve space junk isn't effective, Kaplan said.
Now, ways to better track and identify space debris are being devised. Low-Earth orbit is where the main problem is ? from roughly 435 miles (700 kilometers) to about 745 miles (1,200 km), he said.
"It's a serious, serious challenge," Kaplan said. "This is not a U.S. problem ? it's everybody's problem. And most of the people that produced the debris, the serious offenders, like Russia, China, and the United States, are not going to spend that kind of money. It's just not a good investment."
While the creation of orbiting junk continues rise with each rocket launch, there is no market for tackling the issue directly, Kaplan said.
"We've reached the point of no return. The debris will continue to get worse in terms of collision threats ? even if not another satellite were launched, the problem will continue to get worse," he added.
Speeding debris crashes
Kaplan said the frequency of collisions between active satellites and debris pieces is going to increase.
The real question, Kaplan said, is not what everyone is going to do about debris. Rather, the true question is what needs to be done about active satellites in harm's way of speeding riffraff.
"My prediction is that we are going to evacuate the areas of high debris density. It's just too dangerous to operate there. We're going to need to reinvent how we use space," Kaplan said. [Worst Space Debris Events of All Time]
In the case of large national security satellite assets, one option may be to distribute smaller satellites in lower altitudes, Kaplan added. These multiple layers of spacecraft would collectively create virtual products, such as imagery and other intelligence data. The users of this information would receive the same kind of data, but from a different satellite constellation, he said.
As one step toward that future, Kaplan is working with multiple universities to help establish new research centers on space debris and a next-generation national security space architecture.
Environmental stability
Darren McKnight, technical director for Integrity Applications Incorporated, headquartered in Chantilly, Va., suggested that the current debate on active debris removal and the evolution of the debris environment is still developing.
McKnight said that, currently, policymakers and engineers examine environmental stability, preventing the cascading of derelict collisions from increasing exponentially over the next century. This scenario, known as the "Kessler Syndrome," is the primary metric to judge how many derelicts need to be removed and when they should be removed.
The Kessler Syndrome is one in which the density of objects in low Earth orbit is high enough that collisions between objects could cause a cascade. Each collision generates space debris, which increases the likelihood of further collisions. [Solar Sails Could Sweep Up Space Junk (Video)]
"The overall issue is that as we continue to consider active debris removal options, I question whether or not environment stability is the only metric to be tracking," McKnight told SPACE.com.
Lethal space debris
McKnight, along with company colleague Frank Di Pentino, propose that the probability of satellite failure from impact from non-trackable, yet lethal debris fragments ? in the 5 millimeter to 10 centimeter size range ? is a more appropriate metric. The reason is because it directly reflects harmful effects of space debris on space operations. Furthermore, these effects are likely to occur much sooner than observable manifestations of the cascading effect.
McKnight and Di Pentino's research suggests that any mitigation scheme, be it just-in-time collision avoidance, active debris removal or other methods, cannot rely on a model that does not account for projected add rates, new launches on other factors. They contend that collision rate is ?not a sufficient metric? for assessing operational risk.
Wanted: A long-term plan
There is much work to do regarding orbital debris, said Donald Kessler, chair of the 2011 National Research Council (NRC) report "Limiting Future Collision Risk to Spacecraft: An Assessment of NASA's Meteoroid and Orbital Debris Programs." He is a retired head of NASA?s Orbital Debris Program Office and is a space debris and meteoroid consultant in Asheville, N.C.
Kessler said that the NRC committee that produced the report strongly felt that what was missing from the programs was a long-term strategic plan ? one that outlined a path that eventually determines how ?manage future space operations in a way that preserves the environment.
"However, this is not simply a NASA issue ? it is an international issue, and will require a carefully coordinated effort," Kessler said.
Can the space junk problem be solved?
NASA and the international community, Kessler said, "have already done enough research to know that the environment will continue to get worse if we continue on the same path ? the only environmental issue to be resolved is how quickly the environment in various regions deteriorates."
The international community, through the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC), has been very active in understanding the current environmental trends, sharing information and establishing internationally recognized mitigation requirements.
However, Kessler said that current mitigation practices are insufficient, even with 100 percent compliance. Missing in action is a plan to determine what do about the predicted worsening space environment, he said ? that is, how to stop or reverse the trend of increased debris resulting from increased collisions.
Sustainable environment
Kessler added that the fundamental issues to be resolved are:
How do we minimize the possibility of future high-velocity collisions between spacecraft and upper stage rockets?
If we cannot eliminate that prospect, how do we clean up after a collision?
"Removal from orbit, collision avoidance, satellite servicing and repair, satellite recycling in orbit, debris storage locations, change to using a 'stable plane' at higher altitudes especially in Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) ? are all possibilities," Kessler added. "Some are mutually exclusive and may not be appropriate at all altitudes, while others could combine to be more effective."
Still to be sorted out is what type of legal structure might be needed in order to implement any plan, Kessler said.
"I believe it is time that the international community takes a serious look at the future of space operations," Kessler said. "There's need to begin a process to answer these questions and determine which path will most effectively provide a sustainable environment for spacecraft in Earth orbit."
Leonard David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. He is former director of research for the National Commission on Space and a past editor-in-chief of the National Space Society's Ad Astra and Space World magazines. He has written for SPACE.com since 1999.
Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Foursquare launched a new app on Tuesday morning, the company?s second standalone application, and the first aimed squarely at the business side of the market.
The app is an extension of Foursquare?s additions to its merchant tools updates from mid-2012, which allowed business owners to better control special offers to nearby customers using a more robust desktop dashboard.
One problem with that, said Foursquare: If you?re a small outfit, running around your store helping customers willy-nilly, you may not have the time to run back to your computer and update customers with your latest happenings, like turning time-sensitive specials on and off, or pushing those items directly to Facebook and Twitter.
Not sure I buy that argument entirely; if I were running around my shop, I would think I?d type faster on a big keyboard than the smaller one on my smartphone. Still, if I?m out of the shop and on the town, I could see it being a convenient way of pushing out specials to my Foursquare account.
The new app comes at a time when Foursquare faces questions about the long-term sustainability of its business, as it has pivoted to a more discovery-focused model. As it happens, the startup now faces more competition in the space, as Yelp already handles many local discovery queries, and Facebook?s Graph Search seems to push into the discovery space.
Of note: The new app is aimed solely at local business owners, not the major retailers looking to update their specials across an entire chain ? those folks still need to update via the desktop.
Head over to the App Store or Google Play to download the new app.
Contact: Karen N. Peart karen.peart@yale.edu 203-432-1326 Yale University
New Haven, Conn. In a major breakthrough for uterine serous carcinoma (USC) a chemo-resistant, aggressive form of endometrial cancer, Yale researchers have defined the genetic landscape of USC tumors, findings that point to new treatment opportunities.
The collaborative teamwhich included researchers with expertise in gynecological cancer, genomics, and computational biology identified a number of new genes that are frequently mutated in USC. The results of this comprehensive genetic analysis of USC are published in the Jan. 28 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) online early edition. The researchers were supported as part of a collaborative program with Gilead Sciences, Inc.
Endometrial cancer is the most prevalent gynecologic tumor in women, with over 47,000 newly diagnosed cases and about 8,000 deaths in 2012 in the United States alone. Patients with type I endometrial cancer tumors generally have a good outcome, but those with type II, or USC, have more relapses and deaths, and the disease is more aggressive.
"We have clearly identified the mutations that are responsible for USC tumors," said senior author of the study Alessandro Santin, M.D., professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at Yale School of Medicine, and program leader of the gynecological cancers program at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven and a member of Yale Cancer Center. "In addition to a number of well-known cancer genes, we found three genes that had not previously been associated with cancer that are found in these tumors. This finding points to new pathways that could be important in developing therapies down the road."
The team collected tumors from 57 women affected with USC to try to determine the molecular basis of the tumor's aggressive behavior. They sequenced all the genes from the tumors and identified mutations that are crucial for these tumors to grow. The team also studied the copy number variationsgenes that are not mutated but are amplified in the tumors to give them a growth advantage over normal tissues.
The newly-identified cancer-related genes included two CHD4 and MBD3 that are found in the same protein complex and play a role in remodeling the genome to allow certain regions to be turned on and off. The discovery of a third gene, TAF1, was a surprise to researchers because it is a core component of the machinery responsible for transcribing a large fraction of the protein coding genes in the human genome.
"The detailed study of different cancers continues to produce new and unexpected discoveries," said corresponding author Richard P. Lifton, M.D., Sterling Professor, chair of genetics at Yale, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. "These new findings define the biological basis of this cancer, and suggest new opportunities for personalized therapy."
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Other authors on the study include first author Siming Zhao, Murim Choi, John D. Overton, Stefania Bellone, Dana M. Roque, Emiliano Cocco, Federica Guzzo, Diana P. English, Joyce Varughese, Sara Gasparrini, Ileana Bortolomai, Natalia Buza, Pei Hui, Maysa Abu-Khalaf, Antonella Ravaggi, Eliana Bignotti, Elisabetta Bandiera, Chiara Romani, Paola Todeschini, Renata Tassi, Laura Zanotti, Luisa Carrara, Sergio Pecorelli, Dan-Arin Silasi, Elena Ratner, Masoud Azodi, Peter E. Schwartz, Thomas J. Rutherford, Amy L. Stiegler, Shrikant Mane, Titus J. Boggon, and Joseph Schlessinger.
In addition to Gilead, the study was funded in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Citation: PNAS doi/10.1073/pnas.1222577110
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Contact: Karen N. Peart karen.peart@yale.edu 203-432-1326 Yale University
New Haven, Conn. In a major breakthrough for uterine serous carcinoma (USC) a chemo-resistant, aggressive form of endometrial cancer, Yale researchers have defined the genetic landscape of USC tumors, findings that point to new treatment opportunities.
The collaborative teamwhich included researchers with expertise in gynecological cancer, genomics, and computational biology identified a number of new genes that are frequently mutated in USC. The results of this comprehensive genetic analysis of USC are published in the Jan. 28 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) online early edition. The researchers were supported as part of a collaborative program with Gilead Sciences, Inc.
Endometrial cancer is the most prevalent gynecologic tumor in women, with over 47,000 newly diagnosed cases and about 8,000 deaths in 2012 in the United States alone. Patients with type I endometrial cancer tumors generally have a good outcome, but those with type II, or USC, have more relapses and deaths, and the disease is more aggressive.
"We have clearly identified the mutations that are responsible for USC tumors," said senior author of the study Alessandro Santin, M.D., professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at Yale School of Medicine, and program leader of the gynecological cancers program at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven and a member of Yale Cancer Center. "In addition to a number of well-known cancer genes, we found three genes that had not previously been associated with cancer that are found in these tumors. This finding points to new pathways that could be important in developing therapies down the road."
The team collected tumors from 57 women affected with USC to try to determine the molecular basis of the tumor's aggressive behavior. They sequenced all the genes from the tumors and identified mutations that are crucial for these tumors to grow. The team also studied the copy number variationsgenes that are not mutated but are amplified in the tumors to give them a growth advantage over normal tissues.
The newly-identified cancer-related genes included two CHD4 and MBD3 that are found in the same protein complex and play a role in remodeling the genome to allow certain regions to be turned on and off. The discovery of a third gene, TAF1, was a surprise to researchers because it is a core component of the machinery responsible for transcribing a large fraction of the protein coding genes in the human genome.
"The detailed study of different cancers continues to produce new and unexpected discoveries," said corresponding author Richard P. Lifton, M.D., Sterling Professor, chair of genetics at Yale, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. "These new findings define the biological basis of this cancer, and suggest new opportunities for personalized therapy."
###
Other authors on the study include first author Siming Zhao, Murim Choi, John D. Overton, Stefania Bellone, Dana M. Roque, Emiliano Cocco, Federica Guzzo, Diana P. English, Joyce Varughese, Sara Gasparrini, Ileana Bortolomai, Natalia Buza, Pei Hui, Maysa Abu-Khalaf, Antonella Ravaggi, Eliana Bignotti, Elisabetta Bandiera, Chiara Romani, Paola Todeschini, Renata Tassi, Laura Zanotti, Luisa Carrara, Sergio Pecorelli, Dan-Arin Silasi, Elena Ratner, Masoud Azodi, Peter E. Schwartz, Thomas J. Rutherford, Amy L. Stiegler, Shrikant Mane, Titus J. Boggon, and Joseph Schlessinger.
In addition to Gilead, the study was funded in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Citation: PNAS doi/10.1073/pnas.1222577110
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Public release date: 30-Jan-2013
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Foursquare launched a new app on Tuesday morning, the company?s second standalone application, and the first aimed squarely at the business side of the market.