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Tuesday, February 28, 2012
The top 10 songs and albums on the iTunes Store (AP)
[unable to retrieve full-text content]AP - iTunes' Official Music Charts for the week ending Feb. 27, 2012:
Prostate cancer treatment overused in some older patients
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Public release date: 27-Feb-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Karen N. Peart
karen.peart@yale.edu
203-432-1326
Yale University
Treatment is not always warranted for older men with prostate cancer and a short life expectancy, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in the Feb. 27 Archives of Internal Medicine.
"Treatment can do more harm than good in some instances," said senior author on the study Cary Gross, M.D., associate professor of internal medicine at Yale School of Medicine. "Among men who are older and have less aggressive forms of prostate cancer, their cancer is unlikely to progress or cause them harm in their remaining years."
Gross and his team analyzed nine years of Medicare data and found that over the past decade, there has been a trend towards higher use of curative treatment for prostate cancer among men with certain types of tumors and a short life expectancy. The study included 39,270 patients between the ages of 67 and older.
These results suggest that cancer treatment was increasingly aggressive in patients who had the lowest likelihood of seeing clinical benefits, Gross said, noting that while not treating potentially fatal cancer can reflect poor-quality care, aggressively managing disease that is unlikely to progress puts patients at risk for complications and increases costs without medical benefits.
"We found that the percentage of men who received treatment for their prostate cancer treatments increased over time from 61.2% to 67.6% from 1998 through 2007," said Gross, who is a member of Yale Cancer Center. "However, we were surprised to find that the biggest increase was among men with moderate-risk prostate cancer who had the shortest life expectancy. On the other hand, cancer treatment decreased among men with low-risk tumors and longer life expectancy."
Treating patients with shorter life expectancy may add costs or complications without contributing to quality of life, he said. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network practice guidelines in oncology recommend actively monitoring patients as an alternative to medication for patients with less aggressive tumor types and shorter life expectancies.
Gross said that the use of cancer therapies should be guided by clinical evidence and patient preferences. "Future work should explore how better to incorporate both cancer characteristics and patient life expectancy into decision making," said Gross.
###
Other authors on the study included Ann c. Raldow, M.D., Carolyn J. Presley, M.D., James B. Yu, M.D., Richa Sharma, Pamela R. Soulos, Jessica B. Long, and Danil V. Makarov, M.D.
The National Cancer Institute and the James G. Hirsch Medical Student Research Fellowship funded the study.
Citation: Arch. Inter. Med. Vol. 172, No. 4 (February 27, 2012)
[ | 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.
Public release date: 27-Feb-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Karen N. Peart
karen.peart@yale.edu
203-432-1326
Yale University
Treatment is not always warranted for older men with prostate cancer and a short life expectancy, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in the Feb. 27 Archives of Internal Medicine.
"Treatment can do more harm than good in some instances," said senior author on the study Cary Gross, M.D., associate professor of internal medicine at Yale School of Medicine. "Among men who are older and have less aggressive forms of prostate cancer, their cancer is unlikely to progress or cause them harm in their remaining years."
Gross and his team analyzed nine years of Medicare data and found that over the past decade, there has been a trend towards higher use of curative treatment for prostate cancer among men with certain types of tumors and a short life expectancy. The study included 39,270 patients between the ages of 67 and older.
These results suggest that cancer treatment was increasingly aggressive in patients who had the lowest likelihood of seeing clinical benefits, Gross said, noting that while not treating potentially fatal cancer can reflect poor-quality care, aggressively managing disease that is unlikely to progress puts patients at risk for complications and increases costs without medical benefits.
"We found that the percentage of men who received treatment for their prostate cancer treatments increased over time from 61.2% to 67.6% from 1998 through 2007," said Gross, who is a member of Yale Cancer Center. "However, we were surprised to find that the biggest increase was among men with moderate-risk prostate cancer who had the shortest life expectancy. On the other hand, cancer treatment decreased among men with low-risk tumors and longer life expectancy."
Treating patients with shorter life expectancy may add costs or complications without contributing to quality of life, he said. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network practice guidelines in oncology recommend actively monitoring patients as an alternative to medication for patients with less aggressive tumor types and shorter life expectancies.
Gross said that the use of cancer therapies should be guided by clinical evidence and patient preferences. "Future work should explore how better to incorporate both cancer characteristics and patient life expectancy into decision making," said Gross.
###
Other authors on the study included Ann c. Raldow, M.D., Carolyn J. Presley, M.D., James B. Yu, M.D., Richa Sharma, Pamela R. Soulos, Jessica B. Long, and Danil V. Makarov, M.D.
The National Cancer Institute and the James G. Hirsch Medical Student Research Fellowship funded the study.
Citation: Arch. Inter. Med. Vol. 172, No. 4 (February 27, 2012)
[ | 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.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-02/yu-pct022412.php
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Monday, February 27, 2012
Advice On Relationships: Questions And Answers
Alan answers:
Okay, let?s get this straight: you went out with a guy for about a month and you are convinced that he is perfect.
Then you moved away and you?re not sure whether you should continue to see him and risk heartbreak because of the distance between you, complicated by the fact that you are only 16 and don?t drive, or just end it now and get the pain over and done with.
Well, here?s the thing that people don?t realize when they are 16. If two people are meant to be together, fate can, and sometimes will bring them together. In other words, why not stay in touch via the internet and phone and see what happens. You never know. The connection my fade away, or, in a few years, you might rekindle the flame and start over. That can even happen 10 years down the road. The key is to let things unfold, rather than panicking now and thinking that your whole life is hanging in the balance. It isn?t. Lots can happen. You don?t even drive yet.
The Perspective of Time
These two questions from 16-year-olds remind me of what my life was like at that age. Actually, at a slightly older age, 17, I believe, I had a girlfriend, a relationship which I described in my book, ??So, Why Have You Never Been Married??: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Lunacy?.
I have a clear vivid memory of one specific evening on which I was really agitated about how to handle this relationship. She was a very cute gal and I certainly cared for her, and didn?t want to break up with her. At the same time, I couldn?t imagine going through all the stages of life that lay ahead ? college, choosing a career, working ? with the same person. I couldn?t see how the relationship could survive, and yet, just like these young people, I didn?t want it to end.
Little did I know, of course, that not only would that relationship end, but that a number of significant relationships later in my life would end, as well, and that I would one day write a book about the love, loss and lunacy I have witnessed and experienced in relationships.
Would I have preferred to have stayed with my high-school sweetheart through the years?
Not a chance.
I believe that love, if it has a chance of success, is best between people with some level of maturity, wisdom and life experience.
Even those factors are no guarantee.
But the person we are at 30 is, or should be, very different than the person we are at 16 or 17.
Give yourself time to grow, develop and find out who you are before committing yourself to another person.
You don?t want all of those important changes to happen at their expense.
That is one of the most important pieces of advice on relationships I can give.
?
?
Source: http://www.sowhyhaveyouneverbeenmarried.com/advice-on-relationships-questions-and-answers/
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Sunday, February 26, 2012
Chinese netizens 'occupy' Obama's Google+ page
BEIJING: US President Barack Obama's Google+ page has been flooded with messages from Internet users in China after the social networking site suddenly became accessible in the country.
Every current topic on Obama's Google+ page attracted hundreds of messages in Chinese.
Some contributors made jokes, while others said they were 'occupying' the site in the style of western Occupy campaigns, The BBC reports.
Some users appealed for the liberty of civil rights activist Chen Guangcheng, who is under house arrest.
Others asked about a recent political intrigue in south-west China, in which one of the country's top policemen, Wang Lijun, spent a day in the US consulate in Chengdu for undisclosed reasons.
Google+ is normally blocked in China along with other social networking sites as the government authorities call them 'unacceptable'.
Since Google+ was launched in 2011, software known informally as the Great Firewall had appeared to block it within China.
But on February 20 internet-users in many parts of China found they could gain access to the site.
Meanwhile, the White House has not commented on the upsurge of Chinese interest in Obama's campaign site. (ANI)
Source: http://timesofindia.feedsportal.com/fy/8at2Euq0WrJI01sd/story01.htm
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Saturday, February 25, 2012
Pasta, Pasta, Pasta?.that is the Italian mantra! ? Ilblogletterario
Pasta, Pasta, Pasta?.that is the Italian mantra!
People in general really like pasta, but Italians like it more than everyone else!
Until I came to Italy,?I never imagined that pasta could be?eaten with so many other foods beside tomatoes!
I had pasta at every meal, but I never grew?tired of?it!
You know that Italian food is more than pasta?so?onto other Italian food?
?
Confession: I have a sweet tooth.
Since I have a sweet tooth, it was a very good and?very surprising?thing that Italians eat sweets for breakfast!
A brioche in Venice, or a cake at my exchange family?s house?was a different type of breakfast that I greatly enjoyed!
In America,?the only sweets we have for breakfast are donuts?( I don?t have those often)?so you can imagine how glad I was that?Italian breakfasts were?filled with?sweets!
?
Italian coffee is far superior to American coffee?no questions asked.
When I asked for coffee in Italy, I got a very small cup of it.
I noticed other Italians drank small cups of coffee too. I thought to myself??What is?wrong with Italians that?they drink?only a little of?such palatable coffee?!?
I soon?discovered it is quite customary to drink only a little coffee in Italy and I still?think that is?odd!
In America, we drink coffee in large amounts?maybe that?s not so good?
?
In America, horses are friends?not food!
I ate horsemeat in Italy?with a lot of apprehension at first?all eyes were on me as I took the first bite?.and?.
I don?t regret eating horsemeat because it was VERY appetizing!
Was I shocked when I first heard Italians ate it? You bet I was!
?
Back to the drink?
Italian wine is top of it?s class.
I enjoyed Italian?red wine more than?Italian?white wine.
Italians drink more white wine and I was disappointed that I did not get to consume more red wine (maybe I?will work?on converting Italians to drinking more red wine)
Wait?how could I forget Pirlo Aperol?!?!?I had it twice while I was in Italy,( a?GIGANTIC?glass of it at Lido delle Biondo in Sirmione since?it is very?pleasant to drink it at the beach)?and it has a strong taste that I crave!
That?s enough on the alcohol, I?m?too young to drink in America anyway so I should not be giving myself ideas?
Pizza: The face of Italian food in America
Italian pizza is ten times tastier than American pizza!
My?favorite pizza: Four cheese pizza (the blend of four cheese is very scrumptious)
My least favorite: Sicilian pizza (I am not a big fan of capers or anchovies)
I am afraid that I cannot praise Italian pizza enough.
Out of all of the tasty pasta?dishes?in Italy, my taste buds favored?pasta with pesto above all others?
Any other diehard pesto fans out there?
We should start a pesto pasta eating club together!
Let?s not?forget about?Roman food?the Romans?cook so many different dishes in one meal?that I wonder if you might forget seeing or?more importantly..eating one! (I never missed eating one Roman dish, even though I was?a bit overwhelmed?by the amount of food)
?
Last but not least, I must tell you?my strongest weakness: gelato
Let me clarify a?common misconception: Gelato is not ice cream
Gelato is ten thousand times creamier and delicious than ice cream could ever be!
(Plus it comes in?more flavors than ice cream does?a big plus)
I never tired of gelato nor could I ever get enough of it?seriously.
I ate it at least once in every?Italian?town or city?I visited.
On my last night in Italy, I was treated to a gelato spree?at?il Imperiale, Maison du Chocolat, and del?Biondo in Brescia?(One of the best nights of my life)
I cannot?count how many gelatos I had that night? maybe too many?no, I believe?it is not possible to have too?many gelatos!
The?previous?facts alone should solidify my deep passion for gelato.
My favorite gelato shop in Brescia: El Imperiale?(The workers uniforms there are pretty awesome)
My favortie?gelateria in all of Italy: Grom
Do I need to say more in praise of gelato?!
This is the end of my journey with Italian cuisine! (until I make my return to Italy!)
?
?
Source: http://ilblogletterario.wordpress.com/2012/02/24/pasta-pasta-pasta-that-is-the-italian-mantra/
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Positive Influence of Stress Management and How It Affects You ...
[unable to retrieve full-text content]The positive influence of stress management is really scores of. To enumerate some of the positive influence of stress management: 1. Because energy is put to good use, work productivity increases improvement a niche or ...
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Friday, February 24, 2012
Santorum, Romney close but neither tops Obama - polls (reuters)
Thursday, February 23, 2012
To close tax loopholes, Obama would open new ones (AP)
[unable to retrieve full-text content]AP - Cutting corporate tax rates and deleting loopholes is just what most economists prescribe for the tangled U.S. tax code.
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Cohen's 'Dictator' stunt not welcome at Oscars
By Matthew Belloni, The Hollywood Reporter
The mystery of Sacha Baron Cohen's plans for the Oscars has deepened, with the Academy going on the record to deny an online report that the comic actor has had his tickets for Hollywood's biggest event yanked.
"We haven't banned him," an Academy spokesperson tells The Hollywood Reporter. "We're just waiting to hear what he's going to do."
Still, the Academy is making it clear that Cohen is not welcome to use the red carpet as a platform for a promotional stunt for his upcoming movie "The Dictator."
Photos from THR: 2012 Academy Award nominees
THR first reported Tuesday that the actor, invited to attend the Oscars as a castmember of best picture nominee "Hugo," was hatching a plan to arrive at the event dressed as his "Dictator" character, a crass totalitarian leader hellbent on keeping democracy out of his country.
THR's story prompted the Academy to notify Cohen's reps and Paramount, the studio behind both "Hugo" and "Dictator," that it would like to know exactly what Cohen has planned. "We don't think it's appropriate," the Academy spokesman tells THR of the prospect of Cohen "hijacking" the red carpet to plug his movie. "But his tickets haven't been pulled. We're waiting to hear back."?
Photos from THR: Hollywood's memorable mea culpas
A Paramount spokesperson did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Cohen's publicist has not returned an email seeking comment.
Cohen has a history of using awards shows and other big events to hype his movies. To help launch "Borat" in 2006, Cohen arrived at the Toronto International Film Festival dressed up as his TV journalist alter ego, riding a wagon pulled by ?Kazakhstani peasant women.? At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, he came as gay fashionista Bruno (to promote "Bruno").
The Academy is careful to exclude studio-specific film promotion from its annual Oscars telecast (it only recently allowed movie ads to run during commercial breaks), so Cohen's plans are being taken very seriously.
Should Sacha Baron Cohen be allowed to attend as the Dictator?
More in TODAY entertainment:
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Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Russia proposes sending UN envoy to Syria (AP)
[unable to retrieve full-text content]AP - Russia on Tuesday urged the United Nations to send a special envoy to Syria to help coordinate security issues and the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
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My stepdaughter has a structured settlement, that she is trying to cash out and get in one lump sum, will she be taxed on the lump sum? It was from a canine bite when she was 13, she is now 18 and expecting a baby and would like to get the lump sum to support her get started out.
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Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Retirement Savings In Drawdown? Think About Equity Publish
This article has been viewed 100 times.
Numerous are combating this prolonged recession. Listening to the news, it doesn?t expect to be getting any better in some unspecified time in the future. Meanwhile, those who recently retired thinking they had a large enough nest egg or pension to aid them, have watched the markets slash the value within their investments and pensions, while aprs keep savings accounts providing little or no value at all. Some individuals just need a dollop of extra help financially, individually or others with their family. Many people should seriously consider home equity release schemes.
What is equity release?
The essential definition of equity release is just finding a solution to getting money due to an investment. For everyone people, the most significant investment they?ve might be their home, so most plans are mortgages on property assets called lifetime mortgages. Those are in no way standard mortgage, like the ones having just been paid in full once retirement has been attained. Rather they?re really a specialist lifetime mortgage which includes specific features of the people over 55 yrs of age that they?re restricted to.
The rest of your life mortgage is principally duplicate re-mortgaging your home. However, the financial adviser who works to created the equity release plan has a volume of potential options to offer any prospective applicant. Many individuals like having their equity release loan paid your family in a, one-off lump sum payment ? just like a traditional mortgage. Others might require the tax free lump sum payment for being paid in stages, as an alternative to abruptly. A less common request is made for your cash to be paid to be a regular income.
What is able to the tax-free cash be accustomed for?
This arrangement is excellent for someone trying to enhance their retirement lifestyle as a result of renovating their house, build an extension or build a gift to their children. By re-investing funds taken out of this property are going to have longer term positive effect on the ultimate value of the property after it is all mixed up sold. This is of curiosity for your children & their inheritance.
Therefore, people taking a look at a release of equity should not consider lifetime mortgages being a poor choice, as although these are taking cash-out, they?re upgrading the home & hopefully adding or helping to retain its value.
What are the choices?
There are further methods available in a potential applicant when contemplating equity release schemes. They can now pay for the interest on an monthly basis, therefore keeping the magnitude of the equity release loan fixed. This example is a fixed interest only lifetime mortgage, as well as a great way of keeping how large debt at bay.
These plans are actually given much thought as there is also the flexibility to choose how much of the interest you wish to pay. Therefore, you are able to work at your own budget.
Another option for all those wanting to make extra savings or pensions would be the capability to release the equity release funds slowly; in the tax free cash being withdrawn in smaller increments being a wage would. Which means that an additional level of funds can be made usable with a monthly basis, making it not difficult to supplement pensions or savings and not must return to work or sell the domain entirely.
If ever you choose flexibility of when & simply how much you withdraw then getting a drawdown equity release plan may well be considered. After taking an initial tranche of capital from a facility stimulated by the obligation provider, next you can draw ad-hoc payments from thus reserve whenever required. Therefore, should a new car, boiler or holiday requires payment the funds are accessible within a 1-2 week window.
In both of such examples, the value of a typical home equity release loan might be repaid when the residence is sold; either if downsizing, or if the insurance cover holders move into care. Alternatively, while the inheritance estate is dispersed, the equity release loan is going to be a section of the liability at the value of your house.
How is ta lime mortgage repaid?
When the residence is sold, then the equity release plan is repaid. Alternatively, if a participant in the family wishes to retain ownership of a typical property, maybe for letting or investment purposes, they will pay back the equity release loan ? possibly through a residential or buy-to-let mortgage arrangement.
However, what is vital may be that there are options for those struggling financially inside their retirement, when sitting on a significant family home. Often people assume that financing the property might be shifting a debt into the next generation, however it is associated with a house asset ? and as such passes at the option of keeping the family home, or selling it afterwards. Hopefully, once property values do start to rise it may have better market values than throughout the current recession.
Source: http://digg3.com/retirement-savings-in-drawdown-think-about-equity-publish/
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Yemen to seal Saleh's exit in one-candidate vote (Reuters)
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Reuters - After a year of protests, diplomatic wrangling and an assassination attempt, Yemenis will draw a line under Ali Abdullah Saleh's three-decade rule on Tuesday by voting in an uncontested election to install his deputy as president.
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Saturday, February 18, 2012
HomeBizBloke.Com ? Audio Guided Meditation
Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://www.homebizbloke.com/2012/02/16/audio-guided-meditation/
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Friday, February 10, 2012
Horoscope ? Horoscope 2012 Predictions | Free Article Directory
Posted by james1 , On February 8, 2012 , in Religion , No Comments
As we all know that the year of 2012 which will be available shortly and that we all want to know about the year, how year2012 which will be for us. And Therefore, when we searching the Internet and find the curiosity about the Year2012 or visit the Year 2012 of Horoscope ? the Horoscopes predict that the year and may be the more agitated, more violent than usual and that the affinity to do the much.
The year Horoscope 2012 which will be different along with the power and motivation, and as 12 is the number of inspirations. And This year2012 motivate us to move the forward for development. And the Key points of this year may be the moral and physical strength, and the aspiration, strength of character, acceptance and compromise. So Year 2012 informing about you of such circumstances which has been done to build the confidence and also provide the leadership for the some characters to be taken from the areas where we fought and did not get the win too.
So The year2012 is also give open-minded for observation about his life and that will take care of you and the whole thing and which will try, starting along with the sixth sense of direction. And the New Year Horoscope 2012 which will be the personal relationship predicts that and this year some symbols will win and the battle to increase the romance and love too and this year that can also be aligned obstacles, and however, many of them have made a leap in the plan for self-disclosure. And By 2012 the figures which have predicted they face the triumph over jealousy or disorder in self-determination also .And In yearning Horoscope 2012 which travel New Year 2012 which will be the able to predict that many symbols which will be successful because of their interest in teaching, especially in education too.
And We must be special characters, and the Leo and Virgo, who want the good quality and also not to reduce this lack of knowledge. . So Many of the characters which has been started to travel as a personal entertainment and catering. If we think of cancer indications. This sign will be a means to bridge issues in relationships also . so The stars which will be the supported Numerology forecast, such like Saturn in Libra Horoscope 2012, and also support for the transparency and discipline.
The Saturn is neither good nor bad, and this will be the just as difficult not to agree to be short and it requires an organizational effort, but an also to bring the hope. Jupiter will be useful if we can?nt just sit and wait for the miracle.
Ganesha is a professional astrologer. He has written books on astrology, particular Horoscope and has taught the subject at all levels. In his work he uses both Eastern and Western techniques, and he has a particular Cancer Horoscope 2012 From Our Website http://www.newyearhoroscope.com/.
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Source: http://sarticles.in/horoscope-horoscope-2012-predictions/
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Thursday, February 9, 2012
As Homs battles, Turkey readies Syria move (Reuters)
AMMAN (Reuters) ? Syrian forces thrust into the rebellious city of Homs on Wednesday, killing as many as 100 civilians by the accounts of opposition activists, and Turkey appeared to be preparing a new diplomatic push against President Bashar al-Assad.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who is readying an initiative uniting Western, Arab and other states which have called for Ankara's former ally Assad to step down, was due to speak to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev later on Wednesday.
The Turkish premier, who described the Russian and Chinese veto of the U.N. resolution at the weekend as a "fiasco," faces a hard sell with Moscow. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has condemned Western "interference" of the kind seen last year in Libya as a "cult of violence."
Putin, who first won the presidency after his military assault on the rebel Russian city of Grozny, is expected to return to the Kremlin via an election next month in which the Russian leader accuses the West of aiding his opponents.
Moscow's foreign minister, having visited Assad in Damascus on Tuesday, made clear Russia was still opposed to any peace talks that were conditional on Assad first stepping aside.
A newspaper close to the Erdogan government said Turkey planned to organize a conference with Arab and Western governments in Istanbul, part of a broader initiative that may be outlined later on Wednesday. A NATO member and rising Muslim power in the region, Ankara is sheltering Syrian rebel army commanders and has spoken of creating safe havens for refugees.
As the diplomatic gears turned, the military offensive in Homs and elsewhere showed no sign of let up. Activists in the city also accused militiamen of slaughtering three families in their homes - the sort of incident that is fueling fears of a descent into more widespread, Iraq-style sectarian killing.
The day's death toll stood at over 100, activists said, offering figures that could not be independently verified.
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For graphic of Homs http://link.reuters.com/tuc56s
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ASSAULT
The onslaught on Homs, one of the bloodiest of the 11-month-old revolt against Assad, has not relented despite a promise to end the bloodshed that the Syrian leader gave to Russia, which saved Damascus from U.N. Security Council action on Saturday.
In the latest assault on Homs, troops fired rockets and mortars while tanks entered the Inshaat neighborhood and moved closer to Bab Amro, the district hardest hit by bombardments that have killed nearly 200 people in the last two days, activists in the city and opposition sources said.
A group known as the Syrian Revolution General Commission called in a statement in the afternoon for outside humanitarian protection and that the day's death toll stood at 100.
Hospitals were without electricity, it said, and were short of supplies, while the wounded and those transporting them to clinics perpetually risked arrest by the security forces.
Syrian state television blamed explosions on Homs militants laying charges. It accused "terrorists" of targeting a key refinery in the city with mortars while activists blamed the army for a fire that was filmed by residents.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said countries with influence over the Syrian opposition should press them to enter a dialogue with Assad, comments that made clear Moscow had no immediate intention of abandoning its long-time ally.
Lavrov was speaking in Moscow a day after he met Assad in Damascus, where he said both nations wanted to revive an Arab League monitoring effort that was suspended due to violence.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe dismissed Syrian pledges of peace as deceit, "and we're not going to fall for it."
Putin insisted Russia was acting in good faith and was wary of Western motives in Syria: "We of course condemn all violence regardless of its source, but one cannot act like an elephant in a china shop," Putin told Russian religious leaders.
"Help them, advise them, limit, for instance, their ability to use weapons but not interfere under any circumstances.
"A cult of violence has been coming to the fore in international affairs in the past decade," he said.
MILITIAMEN
Syrian opposition figures, who said Lavrov had brought no new initiative, spurn Assad's promises of reform as meaningless while his troops are killing civilians and say he must go.
Walid al-Bunni, a senior member of the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC), dismissed Lavrov's dialogue proposal.
"The Arab initiative is clear. Assad must step down and Syrians will then be ready to sit together at a table with whoever succeeds him to discuss a democratic transition," the head of the SNC's foreign policy committee told Reuters.
Western and Arab states frustrated by the Russian and Chinese vetoes of their draft U.N. resolution are seeking to isolate Assad and bolster those opposed to his 11-year rule.
Pro-Assad militiamen shot dead at least 20 civilians in Homs when they stormed their homes on the outskirts of opposition areas overnight, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Rami Abdelrahman, who heads the British-based Observatory, told Reuters the unarmed victims were a family of five, one of seven and one of eight.
There was no immediate comment from Syrian authorities and the report could not be verified. The authorities have placed tight restrictions on access to the country.
Activist Hassan said bombardment intensified in the early morning, targeting the Sunni Muslim districts of Bab Amro, al-Bayada, al-Khalidiya and Wadi al-Arab, all hostile to Assad, whose minority Alawite sect has dominated Syria for five decades.
"Mortar and rocket fire has subsided, but heavy machineguns and anti-aircraft guns are still strong," he said. "Tanks are in main thoroughfares in the city and appear poised to push deep into residential areas."
State news agency SANA said funerals had been conducted on Tuesday for 30 members of the security forces.
Army deserters and insurgents, at least nominally commanded by officers based in Turkey, are fighting back against Assad's violent response to what began as a mostly peaceful protest movement and now threatens to slide into sectarian civil war.
DIPLOMATIC PRESSURE
"Assad is seeing the civilized world turn against him and he thinks he will win if he uses more brutal force before the world could act," said Catherine al-Talli, a senior SNC member.
The attack on Homs has intensified Western and regional diplomatic pressure on Assad. The six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council recalled their ambassadors from Damascus on Tuesday and expelled Syrian envoys from their own capitals.
Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd called in Syria's charge d'affaires Jawdat Ali on Wednesday and told him it was time for Assad to "find an exit strategy before the situation in Syria degenerates further and more lives are lost."
Russia's veto of the Security Council resolution on Syria went beyond protecting an ally and arms buyer, analysts said. It showed Moscow's determination to crush what it sees as a Western crusade to use the United Nations to topple unfriendly governments.
The same holds true for China, which followed Russia's lead and joined Moscow in striking down a European-Arab draft resolution that would have endorsed an Arab League plan for Assad to transfer power to his deputy to prepare free elections.
"There are all sorts of political interests involved but there is also a basic difference about whether the international community should be involved in internal conflicts against the will of the government," said David Bosco of American University in Washington.
(Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations, Steve Gutterman in Moscow, Alistair Lyon and Dominic Evans in Beirut, John Irish in Paris and Yasmine Saleh and Ayman Samir in Cairo; Editing by Jon Boyle)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120208/wl_nm/us_syria
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Saturday, February 4, 2012
Why I Love Eli Manning And My Emotional Relationships With ...
Eli Manning is a dopey looking motherfucker.
Not Swag.
That was meant with no malice.
Eli Manning, this season, is an elite quarterback.? A running subplot throughout the season is, ?How elite? Tom Brady elite? Aaron Rodgers elite??? These are very important questions because ranking quarterbacks based on various individual statistics is a valid sub-genre of sports arguments that I do not care about.
I will never have enough of an affinity for sports to learn about statistics or even understand basic tenants of the games.? I?m sorry I prefer actually engaging society by eating a lot and reading various comedians? Twitters.? It?s called LIFE.? Get on board.
The athletes I develop an unhealthy love for are generally troubled or off-kilter; something about them is decidedly ?Not mainstream.?? If old white men like an athlete and those athletes represent the old school way to play a sport, that?s an automatic turn-off.? He scored a touchdown and just pooped on the ground?? How much is his jersey and how much is his poop?
Even though the Philadelphia Eagles are a disgusting organization filled with horrible fans who booed Santa Claus and created AIDS, I like Mike Vick and DeSean Jackson because most people hate them.? I like that in a game that is rigidly defined by uniformity, these two guys try to break out of that mold by creating the largest dog-fighting ring in the Mid-Atlantic and being an asshole, respectively.
Eli Manning is a different animal; I mean, he?s human, I?m using animal as a metaphor or?simile.? I don?t know.? I didn?t study ?English? per se or ?percy? if we were in the South but I am a student of cultural zeitgeist.
Everyone thinks Manning looks like a dullard.? No one thinks he?s stupid or a bad quarterback, but when they look at Tim Tebow, they think ?Leader? or ?God.?? People see Tebow and state he has that X factor, that quality we all want in a leader; he exudes confidence that makes you confident in him and Jesus and you suddenly hate abortions.
When you watch Eli Manning, you are not inspired. ?Has there even been a quarterback as good as Manning who has inspired less confidence in his fans? ?He is a commercial airline pilot: you only notice if something goes wrong like too much turbulence or you are #37 on the runway to take off.? If you get to your destination 35 minutes early?? Random luck.
At some point during this season, probably right after they beat the 49ers and the Giants were heading to the Super Bowl, I decided I loved him.
Now you are thinking, ?Riphoweveryourpronouncethat, you only like him now because he?s taking your team to your second Super Bowl in four years??
No.? No you dick.
If you are over the age of 28, you remember the Fab Five from Michigan but more importantly, you remember they wore black socks and black Nikes. ?This seems like nothing now, but in 1991, it was a statement of defiance. ?It was a fist pump towards the sky at the Olympics albeit with a more commercial tint. ?I became drawn to Michigan and their players because in this strict paradigm of sports with its rules and discipline and uniformity, they found a way to subtly stand out.
Then it became piercings and tattoos and at some point most of the NBA looked like Lil? Wayne; outsiders looked like the norm. ?As I got older, it became less about how an athlete looked and it became more about my perception of their personality.
An athlete?s personality is tightly controlled because they?ve all become media-savvy over the past twenty years; it?s much easier to toe the line, win games, and leave your actual personality behind the scenes so you can sell sneakers. ?Or maybe they are just really boring; it?s possible, I don?t think it should be fair these guys are all good looking, athletic, rich, AND are interesting. ?That?s too much.
While they do try to control their emotions and personalities as much as they can, on the field, it?s much harder to rationalize and control; it?s much more about visceral instinct and reaction as the game develops on the field. ?And Manning?s reactions are so ? odd.
When Eli does well, there?s a smirk and a fist pump, but he looks like he?s thinking, ?This is how I am suppose to celebrate, correct gentlemen? ?Raise my arm? ?Smile? ?Is this how you smile? ?OK, no one has said anything so I will continue to keep my arm raised. ?It?s been two minutes. ?OK, I should put my arm down now.?
"I'm keeping it up!"
It?s when Manning does something poorly that everyone (and by everyone I mean Twitter) collectively grunts, ?Get angry! ?Don?t look like a sad puppy!?
"These millions of dollars I make mean nothing."
It?s Manning?s inability to get sufficiently mad, a defining male characteristic when something sports-related goes wrong, that particularly irks the sports community. ?I, at one point, hated it as well. ?I like anger on the sports field; the Pistons/Pacers riot is one of my favorite sport events of all time.
But as I search for small differences that make athletes more human, more palatable to my particular taste, Manning?s pouty face has become endearing. ?No player looks more sad, more like a child caught doing something bad, as Eli when he throws an interception. ?He puts his head down, stares at the fake grass, shrugs his shoulders, and shuffles off the field. ?Essentially the same dance I do every day when I leave work.
And that?s why I love Eli Manning now. ?He seems to have all the attributes of a normal human being who is a?successful?QB in the NFL but as hard as he tries to be ?normal? nothing he does seems ?normal.? ?Even his Toyota commercial seems incredibly stilted?
He?s 98% normal, but that 2% of?genuine?awkwardness, not forced Zooey Deschanel?awkwardness, but?legitimate, ?I think I know how to properly show my emotions in this situation,? is an endearing trait and I love him for it.
Another reason I like him is because he?s won a lot of important games and may win another Super Bowl for the sports team I root for but that?s still a distant very close second to loving his sad face.
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Friday, February 3, 2012
Video gaming Designer Work Outline
Advancement regarding technology has generated an explosion on the video gaming business. Through the simplicity regarding games for the duration of its nascent several years for this high tech years, online games have noticed a remarkable upgrade. Increase in it gambling business offers popped brand-new views regarding opportunities. Bachelors within computer system scientific disciplines or more specially, within dvd development training have already been able to get chances to serve as computer game programmers. Unsurprisingly, it recreation designer career outline includes composing programs and also ensuring that this written programs function this games without problems.
Who Just is often a Gaming Engineer?
? In essence an application designer by simply instruction, video gaming programmers produce limitations for several varieties of online games. In order that the sport runs without problems, without having piling, a video recreation designer requires careful attention to write this limitations, reducing blunders. The duty of your computer game developer plus a designer is very various. The playback quality recreation designers have concerns while using standard developing on the online games as well as the material connected to it. The playback quality recreation programmers, even so, do the job upon every single small fine detail on the recreation. Vehicle race computer game, for example, this program helpful articles for science on the complete recreation could possibly be designed by a sport developer however it is in the hands of programmers to give much more range to the recreation. He could set restrictions around the car speed, add more road blocks within the ethnic background and supply many exciting characteristics to the car for the duration of race. So the critical aspect of the computer game designer career outline should be to work towards all the technological aspects of a video recreation. The more advanced a game title is actually, tougher will be the activity regarding composing limitations for your recreation to perform effectively.
Apart from composing encoding limitations for your distinct online games, the project outline of your computer game designer also may include operating upon this graphic aspect of the recreation. This programmers must be aware of the right limitations so your movement of varied characters within the games appear appropriate. One example is, this actions on the thighs of your equine or maybe arms regarding military whilst running the rifle have to appear appropriate which will simply be achievable if the limitations are written with virtually no mistake.
In addtion jobs, a video recreation designer should serve as the team person. He or she is required to work with graphic artists, audio designers, game owner and also designers to create existence to the games.
Gaming Engineer Education
Bachelors or maybe user?s level within computer system scientific disciplines or maybe computer-programming is vital to obtain for anyone becoming a computer game designer. There are lots of schools which have started training specialized in computer game encoding within the modern times and also interested individuals can certainly complete informative article for better knowledge these business oriented training to achieve an edge within the occupation discipline. People college students which help make more work to find out various kinds of computer programs and also boost their skills in their computer system scientific disciplines studies are in benefit as compared to additional college students. Right onto your pathway from the entry-level designer to a encountered and also knowledgeable computer game designer calls for two to three a lot of commitment seeing that with this timeframe the first is capable of improve to help multi-language encoding skills. Aside from these kind of, aspirants who would like to generate a occupation with this discipline should have a desire for comprehension and also doing offers seeing that simply using that, they are able to figure out how to be more active in the complete software program encoding. Online game programmers who may have a lot of experience make an effort to switch to help managerial opportunities by simply chasing administration related training. After all, to perform a video recreation developing firm 1 calls for active control qualities with creativity and also technological knowledge as being the should have personality traits. A management level teaches college students to face areas a managerial place gives inside a firm.
Video gaming companies are available to men and women who are definitely interested in computer-programming and even confirm their particular technological skills. Video gaming encoding is an entry-level vocation then one should do the job logically to generate a draw with this vocation. Video gaming designer career information is released within newspaper and also to the web career websites. Students with great get over C++ and also Coffee might get access within computer game encoding do the job. Internships and also lively really good article to be better taking part within inter-collegiate tasks in connection with gambling or maybe encoding likewise helps to thrill the employer.
Providing contour around a virtual planet by the skills regarding encoding, forms the initial and also complicated component of computer game designer career outline. On the subject of pay potential customers, it recreation business offers whole lot to offer to the employees. may be between US$40,Thousand to help US$70,Thousand within the first few a lot of do the job. Cause programmers, who may have good work practical experience are compensated many additionally, they write about much more tasks. On beginner?s, a college masteral should be expecting for making US$ Forty,Thousand ? US$50,Thousand.
Much like additional professions, experience, career place, instruction, skills and also market the weather is determiners on the generating likely of your computer game designer. Job hopefuls thinking about search engine optimization gainesville have to put together them selves sufficiently seeing that information and also skills would be the important virtues that could improve the potential customers regarding success.
Source: http://theimbeginner.com/video-gaming-designer-work-outline/
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Is New Hampshire Really the Best Place to Retire? - Genecast.com
Aside from its low taxes New Hampshire is also known for being one of the states with the lowest crime rates, thus making it an ideal place to raise a family and to retire. Now New Hampshire long term care is something worth talking about because it is performed with a lot of heart.
Nursing homes and other long term care (LTC) facilities in this state see to it that they fervently deliver nothing less than topnotch senior care that is why frail elderly folks and their families cannot be any luckier.
Around 90 nursing facilities, supported living facilities, and home health care agencies in the state are members of the New Hampshire Health Care A ssociation (NHHCA), a nationally recognized long term care organization which works to promote the welfare of care providers and individuals receiving LTC in New Hampshire.
Although the ideal place to grow old and receive quality care, New Hampshire can financially challenge anyone who lives here or decides to move here after retirement as its cost of care is just as expensive as that of its neighboring states in the New England region.
According to the 2011 Cost of Care Survey of Genworth Financial, the average annual cost of a private room in a New Hampshire nursing home is $102,200 or if calculated daily that would be $275. Meanwhile, families with loved ones in supported living facilities pay out $3,906 monthly on average.
New Hampshirites, however, are not enthusiastic to enter an LTC facility especially a nursing home even though all that they've read about it is positive. According to them, nothing will ever equate to the feeling of having their loved ones by their side as they gradually go through the stages of care.
Preparing for New Hampshire Long Term Care
Retirement does not promise paradise. At a glance, you'll probably see your life following retirement filled with laid-back days, weekend vacations, and frequent family gatherings in your home. However, if you take time to look closely you will realize that there is so much to be prepared for. Of course, there is no doubt that you will finally be able to enjoy long family vacations and you can spend your days pursuing hobbies instead of reporting to work. As you age, though, you will experience gradual changes in your health which could later lead to LTC.
LTC is not an ordinary health care service that will last a week or a month. It often takes a year to 10 years and that explains why it is very expensive.
You have the freedom to think that you will never need LTC but doing so will subject not only you but your family, as well, to irreparable consequences.
Considering an LTC plan only after you've retired will naturally cost you a lot of money because you won't be bringing in a fixed income anymore; while starting early, probably now while you're still active at work, will not only guarantee you big savings but the kind of care that is excellent for your health care needs.
If you don't know exactly where to start your New Hampshire long term care plan, sit down and discuss it with your family. To purchase a long term care insurance (LTC) policy, you can contact a licensed LTCI agent in your area for advice.
Learn tips on adjusting factors to reduce the cost of?long term care plans. Visit our website to compare multiple?long term care quotes?from top providers. Be informed and read more?long term care articles.
Source: http://genecast.com/Finance/Insurance/is-new-hampshire-really-the-best-place-to-retire-32034.html
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Thursday, February 2, 2012
'Hunger Games' Stars Jennifer And Josh: How They Met
Well, sort of. 'Are you sure that's when we met?' Hutcherson asks as Lawrence recalls her version of events to MTV News.
By Kara Warner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz
Josh Hutcherson and Jennifer Lawrence
Photo: MTV News
Here at MTV News, we are counting down the days until "The Hunger Games" arrives in theaters. If you've been spending any time with us recently, you know we've been keeping a close eye and ear on all the details about the big-screen adaptation of Suzanne Collins' dystopian best-seller.
Last week, we capped off a month of juicy interviews with stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth, for which all the questions were supplied by you, the fans. We're going to keep our coverage rolling with another new chat with Lawrence and Hutcherson, in which they address the hot topics of their first meeting and that infamous "chemistry read."
When MTV News asked the two obvious real-life friends to recall their first meeting, we inadvertently started a playful debate.
"When was the first time we met? I remember it like it was yesterday," Hutcherson joked.
"When was that? You were at a dance-floor something, and I came up to you like, 'What's up?' " Lawrence recalled, making motions with her arms like she approached Hutcherson mid-dance. "I freaked you out, because I started telling you that thing ... "
"Are you sure that's when we met?" Hutcherson chimed in.
"Yeah, at the SAG Awards," Lawrence said. "You were on a dance floor."
"Yeah, the SAG Awards, but we weren't dancing at the SAG Awards," Hutcherson corrected.
The two clearly had differing opinions on the meeting. They went back-and-forth on a few blurry details and couldn't even remember what color dress Lawrence was wearing at the time.
"I met you in a hot-pink dress," Hutcherson said.
"No, I met you in a white dress!" Lawrence countered.
"Same thing!" Hutcherson said with a laugh.
Since that discussion was getting us nowhere, we asked the two about their "chemistry read," the point during the audition process when the two actors read their respective roles together for an audience of filmmakers and studio representatives.
"They had hired Jennifer, and they were trying to find Peeta. I had gone in for the first round of auditions, and a few weeks later, they brought me back," Hutcherson said. "We did a chemistry read and kind of hit it off right away, I felt, for the second time, third time," he joked, playing up the foggy memories of their first meeting. "So that's the first time we got to play the characters together."
"We had tons of chemistry," Lawrence insisted with a laugh. "He was Peeta," she added of her first impressions of Hutcherson as "the boy with the bread." "I had heard the director, I had heard Gary [Ross] say, 'He is the only one who is actually Peeta,' and then [Josh] came in, and he was. He's charming and nice and sweet, like a dog licking your face."
"A dog licking on your face?" Hutcherson asked, wondering if Lawrence was paying him a compliment or not.
"It is! That's what it's like hanging out with you, it's like, 'Eeeeee!' " Lawrence said of her excitement being around the 19-year-old.
So what does Hutcherson think of hanging out with Lawrence? "Like a dog licking your face, but 'Oh, God, get this away,' " he joked. "No, it's hard to get things done when we're together. I'm amazed this interview we've gotten as many questions in as we have. We just start going and end up talking about the most random things."
"We always play off each other," Lawrence added.
"It works," Hutcherson said.
Check out everything we've got on "The Hunger Games."
For young Hollywood news, fashion and "Twilight" updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com.
- MTV Rough Cut: Jennifer Lawrence And Josh Hutcherson
- The 'Hunger Games' Cast Answer Your Burning Twitter Questions
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1678371/hunger-games-jennifer-lawrence-josh-hutcherson.jhtml
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Mexico pols trade barbs over $1.9M found in bags (AP)
MEXICO CITY ? Political rivals slammed each other Tuesday over $1.9 million in wads of cash found stuffed into a state official's luggage at a central Mexico airport. The find inflamed already rampant speculation about whether organized crime or illegal campaign money will influence the July 1 presidential election.
Stacks of cash, many of them bank-fresh 1,000-peso bills, were found when police decided to search passengers arriving on a private flight to Toluca, the capital of the home state of leading presidential candidate Enrique Pena Nieto.
The money came from Veracruz, a Gulf coast state governed by Pena Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party, known as the PRI. The state official said he was making a hurried payment to a legitimate company for consulting services.
President Felipe Calderon's National Action Party called that explanation "an insult to the intelligence of Mexicans," whose tax laws, crime problem, strict campaign finance laws and economic problems make carrying such large amounts of cash very unusual.
"It is no coincidence that this amount of money was taken to Toluca ... and that is precisely where the campaign of the PRI's favored son, Enrique Pena Nieto, operates," National Action said in a statement.
The PRI thundered back that the search, which authorities say had been random, was politically motivated.
"The PRI rejects any attempt to carry out a political persecution or the partisan use of law enforcement against political rivals," the PRI said in a statement. "This is the kind of thing being done with the ill-intentioned and unfounded accusations that Veracruz state money was being used to support PRI campaigns. That is absolutely false."
Analysts said both sides could be right.
"We have not only become accustomed to corruption, but that even when it appears they (police) are fighting corruption, the only thing they are really doing is trying to strike political blows," said columnist and political analyst Jorge Zepeda Patterson.
The federal government, which is controlled by National Action, has refused to return the cash until the PRI government of Veracruz clears up all the doubts about it.
Mexico has strict limits on the amounts of money that can be spent on political campaigns. The PRI's presidential candidate will be limited to spending 495 million pesos ($38.4 million) for the entire campaign.
Pena Nieto holds a wide lead in most opinion polls on the July 1 presidential election.
His party has made strenuous efforts to rebrand itself as a law-abiding and transparent party that has left behind the legacy of corruption that marked much of its seven decades of autocratic rule, which ended when the National Action Party defeated the PRI in the 2000 presidential election.
No one has alleged any links of the cash to drug trafficking or money laundering, although Veracruz state has been wracked by drug violence. Calderon said last fall that the state had been turned over to the Zetas cartel and he sent troops there to regain order.
Veracruz state Finance Secretary Tomas Ruiz said the cash was part of an approved state budget expense aimed at boosting tourism to festivals. He said it was being rushed in one lump sum to pay the firm before the state's Feb. 2 Candelaria or Candlemas celebration, an annual weeklong festival famous throughout Mexico.
The company, Industria 3, appears on Mexican government purchasing websites as having received other governmental contracts for similar work.
In a telephone interview, Industria 3 executive Eduardo Fragoso refused to give details on the company's contract, or discuss why the payment was made in cash. But he confirmed a statement saying the company had been contracted to "organize, promote and do publicity for" fairs in Veracruz state.
An advertising trade group official said big cash payments "are not a common practice" in the business. Alfonso Castaneda, assistant director of the Mexico's advertising and public relations industry chamber, said such firms often wait some time to get paid or are paid in partial increments as work is done.
Juan Vergel Pacheco, a leader of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, called the state government's story "absurd and infantile," noting that at very least, the cash shipment violated government accounting procedures and tax laws.
The movement of money that way shows up in plain-old corruption scandals, Zepeda Patterson said. Corrupt officials often use vaguely worded "consultancy" or service contracts to get kickbacks, because it is hard to prove the "goods" aren't delivered, or aren't worth as much as is paid for them, he said.
"Typically, the way these things work is that they say, 'I'll give you 25 million pesos, and you give me back 15,'" he said. "Obviously, the political rivals automatically assume that it was money destined for electoral purposes, and that could be ... but it also may have had a lot more vulgar aims, like simply enriching family bank accounts."
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Wednesday, February 1, 2012
MIT: Stem cells could drive hepatitis research forward
Public release date: 1-Feb-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Caroline McCall, MIT Media Relations
cmccall5@mit.edu
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
By creating liver-like cells, scientists can study why people respond differently to the disease
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Hepatitis C, an infectious disease that can cause inflammation and organ failure, has different effects on different people. But no one is sure why some people are very susceptible to the infection, while others are resistant.
Scientists believe that if they could study liver cells from different people in the lab, they could determine how genetic differences produce these varying responses. However, liver cells are difficult to obtain and notoriously difficult to grow in a lab dish because they tend to lose their normal structure and function when removed from the body.
Now, researchers from MIT, Rockefeller University and the Medical College of Wisconsin have come up with a way to produce liver-like cells from induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs, which are made from body tissues rather than embryos; the liver-like cells can then be infected with hepatitis C. Such cells could enable scientists to study why people respond differently to the infection.
This is the first time that scientists have been able to establish an infection in cells derived from iPSCs a feat many research teams have been trying to achieve. The new technique, described this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could also eventually enable "personalized medicine": Doctors could test the effectiveness of different drugs on tissues derived from the patient being treated, and thereby customize therapy for that patient.
The new study is a collaboration between Sangeeta Bhatia, the John and Dorothy Wilson Professor of Health Sciences and Technology and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT; Charles Rice, a professor of virology at Rockefeller; and Stephen Duncan, a professor of human and molecular genetics at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Stem cells to liver cells
Last year, Bhatia and Rice reported that they could induce liver cells to grow outside the body by growing them on special micropatterned plates that direct their organization. These liver cells can be infected with hepatitis C, but they cannot be used to proactively study the role of genetic variation in viral responses because they come from organs that have been donated for transplantation and represent only a small population.
To make cells with more genetic variation, Bhatia and Rice decided to team up with Duncan, who had shown that he could transform iPSCs into liver-like cells.
Such iPSCs are derived from normal body cells, often skin cells. By turning on certain genes in those cells, scientists can revert them to an immature state that is identical to embryonic stem cells, which can differentiate into any cell type. Once the cells become pluripotent, they can be directed to become liver-like cells by turning on genes that control liver development.
In the current paper, MIT postdoc Robert Schwartz and graduate student Kartik Trehan took those liver-like cells and infected them with hepatitis C. To confirm that infection had occurred, the researchers engineered the viruses to secrete a light-producing protein every time they went through their life cycle.
Genetic differences
The researchers' ultimate goal is to take cells from patients who had unusual reactions to hepatitis C infection, transform those cells into liver cells and study their genetics to see why they responded the way they did. "Hepatitis C virus causes an unusually robust infection in some people, while others are very good at clearing it. It's not yet known why those differences exist," Bhatia says.
One potential explanation is genetic differences in the expression of immune molecules such as interleukin-28, a protein that has been shown to play an important role in the response to hepatitis infection. Other possible factors include cells' expression of surface proteins that enable the virus to enter the cells, and cells' susceptibility to having viruses take over their replication machinery and other cellular structures.
The liver-like cells produced in this study are comparable to "late fetal" liver cells, Bhatia says; the researchers are now working on generating more mature liver cells.
As a long-term goal, the researchers are aiming for personalized treatments for hepatitis patients. Bhatia says one could imagine taking cells from a patient, making iPSCs, reprogramming them into liver cells and infecting them with the same strain of hepatitis that the patient has. Doctors could then test different drugs on the cells to see which ones are best able to clear the infection.
###
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 1-Feb-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Caroline McCall, MIT Media Relations
cmccall5@mit.edu
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
By creating liver-like cells, scientists can study why people respond differently to the disease
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Hepatitis C, an infectious disease that can cause inflammation and organ failure, has different effects on different people. But no one is sure why some people are very susceptible to the infection, while others are resistant.
Scientists believe that if they could study liver cells from different people in the lab, they could determine how genetic differences produce these varying responses. However, liver cells are difficult to obtain and notoriously difficult to grow in a lab dish because they tend to lose their normal structure and function when removed from the body.
Now, researchers from MIT, Rockefeller University and the Medical College of Wisconsin have come up with a way to produce liver-like cells from induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs, which are made from body tissues rather than embryos; the liver-like cells can then be infected with hepatitis C. Such cells could enable scientists to study why people respond differently to the infection.
This is the first time that scientists have been able to establish an infection in cells derived from iPSCs a feat many research teams have been trying to achieve. The new technique, described this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could also eventually enable "personalized medicine": Doctors could test the effectiveness of different drugs on tissues derived from the patient being treated, and thereby customize therapy for that patient.
The new study is a collaboration between Sangeeta Bhatia, the John and Dorothy Wilson Professor of Health Sciences and Technology and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT; Charles Rice, a professor of virology at Rockefeller; and Stephen Duncan, a professor of human and molecular genetics at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Stem cells to liver cells
Last year, Bhatia and Rice reported that they could induce liver cells to grow outside the body by growing them on special micropatterned plates that direct their organization. These liver cells can be infected with hepatitis C, but they cannot be used to proactively study the role of genetic variation in viral responses because they come from organs that have been donated for transplantation and represent only a small population.
To make cells with more genetic variation, Bhatia and Rice decided to team up with Duncan, who had shown that he could transform iPSCs into liver-like cells.
Such iPSCs are derived from normal body cells, often skin cells. By turning on certain genes in those cells, scientists can revert them to an immature state that is identical to embryonic stem cells, which can differentiate into any cell type. Once the cells become pluripotent, they can be directed to become liver-like cells by turning on genes that control liver development.
In the current paper, MIT postdoc Robert Schwartz and graduate student Kartik Trehan took those liver-like cells and infected them with hepatitis C. To confirm that infection had occurred, the researchers engineered the viruses to secrete a light-producing protein every time they went through their life cycle.
Genetic differences
The researchers' ultimate goal is to take cells from patients who had unusual reactions to hepatitis C infection, transform those cells into liver cells and study their genetics to see why they responded the way they did. "Hepatitis C virus causes an unusually robust infection in some people, while others are very good at clearing it. It's not yet known why those differences exist," Bhatia says.
One potential explanation is genetic differences in the expression of immune molecules such as interleukin-28, a protein that has been shown to play an important role in the response to hepatitis infection. Other possible factors include cells' expression of surface proteins that enable the virus to enter the cells, and cells' susceptibility to having viruses take over their replication machinery and other cellular structures.
The liver-like cells produced in this study are comparable to "late fetal" liver cells, Bhatia says; the researchers are now working on generating more mature liver cells.
As a long-term goal, the researchers are aiming for personalized treatments for hepatitis patients. Bhatia says one could imagine taking cells from a patient, making iPSCs, reprogramming them into liver cells and infecting them with the same strain of hepatitis that the patient has. Doctors could then test different drugs on the cells to see which ones are best able to clear the infection.
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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-02/miot-msc020112.php
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