Smartphones: the future of wartime communication? That is the goal of the US Army through the development of its portable wireless network, dubbed Warfighter Information Network-Tactical or WIN-T. The Army hopes to leverage WIN-T to bring near-instant digital communication to the battlefield by outfitting soldiers with Motorola Atrix handsets running a heavily modified version of Android. An exposé by Wired explains that the system's main goal is information and intelligence sharing; between both soldiers and central command. Friendly troop positions, suspicious vehicles or persons and surveillance video from unmanned areal vehicles (UAVs) can all be mapped and shared with servicemen and women in the field. It's been a dream of the Pentagon since the mid-nineties, but has only recently become monetarily and technologically feasible due to advances in smartphone processing power. It's nerdy, it's fascinating... and this is the stuff the Army is willing to talk about. Hit the source link for the full write-up.
Hip is okay! Excuse me worry. After shemale image, please forgive! But has been praised as "! It's Legs" to the reporter's (laughs)
? Yu Darvish Translatd (@YuDarTranslated) June 15, 2012
That's from @YuDarTranslated, which takes Yu Darvish's tweets in his native language, and runs them through Google Translate for your benefit. I don't think I'll ever get tired of jokes that have to do with poor translations.
With the upcoming July 4 festivities approaching, Porter police chief James Spanier shared information residents should know with the Town Council on Tuesday.
He said for the July 3 fireworks, which take place at the Indiana Dunes State Park but affect the Porter Beach area, beach residents can get a flyer at either the Police Department or the town hall that will help ease congestion.
Spanier also advised that parking on the north side of Lincoln Street in downtown Porter will be banned during the July 4 midnight parade; illegally parked vehicles will be towed.
Public Works director Brenda Brueckheimer urged Porter residents to fly American flags for the July 4 midnight parade and for the Family 4th Fest parade later that day.
By unanimous vote the council approved an assembly permit for The Village Tavern to conduct a street dance on a closed portion of Lincoln Street July 14 from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m. The annual event is a fundraiser for the Porter Fire Department.
In other business, it was announced that signs are being put back up at Porter Beach to warn the public when they are entering an easement across private property and to please be respectful when they are on it.
Park superintendent Jim Miller said VFW Post 2511 has donated $200 toward the repair of the War Memorial at Hawthorne Park. Miller also said its a challenge to maintain 27 newly planted trees at Hawthorne in the current heat and drought.
Associate town attorney Laura Frost said Porters zoning boards are recommending that town hall staff, not the Porter County Assessors Office, provide the list of contiguous property owners needed for notification of a pending zoning petition. Frost suggested a new $20 town fee for the service. An ordinance will be drafted for Town Council consideration July 10.
Also Tuesday, to comply with a new Indiana law the council voted 5-0 under suspension of the rules with no discussion to adopt a recommended policy regarding nepotism and contracting with the town. Council president Greg Stinson said if the town didnt adopt the ordinance by July 1, it could face budget delays from the state.
The meeting began with applause as retiring Ward 1 council member Bill Cantrell entered the room. At the conclusion of her report Brueckheimer told Cantrell, "I cant even tell you how much youve improved my world. Thank you so very much, Bill."
Cantrell was a member of the Porter Stormwater Management Board prior to his election and he continued to serve on that board, which works closely with Brueckheimer on town drainage projects and the federally mandated MS4 stormwater program.
CAIRO (Reuters) - Muslim Brotherhood supporters flocked to Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday to hear Mohamed Mursi speak on the eve of his inauguration as Egypt's first Islamist, civilian president.
The rally's slogan, "Powers of the president", heralds what may prove a prolonged struggle between the Islamists and army generals who have imposed stark curbs on presidential prerogatives before they formally hand over executive authority.
Crowds in Tahrir, the hub of last year's revolt against ousted leader Hosni Mubarak, chanted "Mursi is president of the republic" and waved Egyptian flags with his picture inset.
"A full revolution or nothing. Down, down with military rule," they shouted. "We, the people, are the red line."
The military council that pushed Mubarak aside on February 11, 2011 has supervised a chaotic stop-go transition since then, holding parliamentary and presidential elections, but then effectively negating their outcome to preserve its own power.
Mursi, who attended weekly Muslim prayers at al-Azhar mosque, was expected to address the nation from Tahrir at about 6 p.m. (1600 GMT). He will swear his oath of office at 11 a.m. on Saturday before the Supreme Constitutional Court in Cairo.
The usual venue is parliament, but the same court dissolved the Islamist-led lower house this month in a ruling backed, if not orchestrated, by the army, apparently unwilling to let Islamists control the legislature as well as the presidency.
"Do we accept that parliament is dissolved?" cheerleaders from the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) asked the throng in Tahrir. "No," the party faithful thundered back.
Mursi was declared president last Sunday, a nerve-racking week after a run-off vote in which he narrowly beat ex-air force chief Ahmed Shafik, who was Mubarak's last prime minister.
After being sworn in as the first freely elected civilian president of the most populous Arab state, Mursi will give a speech at Cairo University, a presidency statement said.
MILITARY CONTROL
Hundreds of protesters have been camped out in Tahrir for weeks to press the army to transfer power to civilians.
"I'm here to tell the military council that we, the people, elected parliament so it is only us, the people, who can dissolve it," said Intissar al-Sakka, a teacher and FJP member.
She, like many of the women in Tahrir, was wearing a waist-length "khemar" veil of the kind favored by Mursi's wife.
The military council has long promised to hand over power to the next president by July 1, but army sources said the ceremony had been postponed, without giving a reason or a new date.
The generals have seized new powers this month, giving themselves veto rights over the drafting of a new constitution, naming a National Defence Council to run defence and foreign policies and decreeing their control of all military affairs.
The army may have won the skirmish over where Mursi takes his oath, but the Brotherhood is likely to wage a protracted campaign to loosen the military's grip on the new Egypt.
Yet it will be vital to keep such tensions in check if Egypt is to overcome economic woes that have seen foreign reserves drop by more than half in the turmoil since Mubarak's fall.
The International Monetary Fund has made a possible $3.2 billion loan conditional on broad political support for the fiscal discipline it would demand.
The Muslim Brotherhood knows it must focus on the economy to stay popular with voters, who gave it much less support in the presidential poll than in the earlier parliamentary election.
Scenes at the presidential palace occupied by Mubarak for three decades encapsulated the rise of an 84-year-old Islamist movement he had banned, constrained and often persecuted.
Bearded men, some in white robes, others in suits, milled around the palace while Mursi held talks on Thursday with the Muslim Brotherhood's supreme guide Mohamed Badie and consulted clerics from the al-Azhar seat of Islamic learning, hardline Salafis and independent evangelical Muslim preachers.
Many seemed dazzled by the grandeur of their surroundings or intrigued to be walking once-forbidden halls of power.
Security guards, still there from the Mubarak era, shook their heads in frank amazement at the bearded conclave.
After the Brotherhood's Badie entered the gates, one remarked: "Good God, these men were in prison before and wouldn't have dared walk past the compound. Look at them now."
Many Egyptians swarmed around outside, hoping to meet the homespun president-elect with grievances and petitions. Security men complained it was hard to impose order because Mursi had given instructions that people should not be turned away.
After the talks, Mursi's Islamist visitors at the palace in Cairo's Heliopolis district broke a daylong fast with hundreds of takeout meals in cardboard boxes hauled in by palace guards from an army-owned local restaurant - one of the many commercial interests developed by the military over the decades.
The military, the source of every previous president in the Arab republic's 60-year history, runs business enterprises accounting for an estimated one third of the economy.
It does not intend to jeopardize the $1.3 billion a year it receives in military aid from the United States to back Egypt's 1979 peace treaty with Israel, widely criticized by Islamists.
Mursi has said he will respect Egypt's international obligations and does not want to take the country back to war.
(Additional reporting by Marwa Awad; Writing by Alistair Lyon, editing by Tim Pearce)
Circuit Court Judge Kenneth Lester is apparently weighing whether to grant bail to George Zimmerman after Friday's hearing. NBC's Kerry Sanders reports.
By NBC's Jamie Novogrod and msnbc.com's Kari Huus
A bail hearing in Sanford, Fla. for George Zimmerman concluded Friday after a heated exchange in which prosecutors argued for denying bond and the defense called on the judge to reinstate the defendant's?$150,000 bail, which was revoked in early June.
Circuit Court Judge Kenneth Lester was weighing the arguments and will issue his ruling by written order, a public information officer for the Seminole County court said. The spokesman did not offer the timing of that order.
Zimmerman, charged with second-degree murder in the February shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, is seeking release on bail for the second time. His initial bail of $150,000 was revoked and he was rearrested on June 3, after prosecutors argued that Zimmerman, with the aid of his wife's testimony, had misled the court about?their financial picture in the first bail hearing on April 20.
Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty to the?charge, and asserted that he acted in self-defense.
Earlier in the three-hour proceedings, ????Zimmerman's father, Robert John Zimmerman, took the stand briefly.
After the elder Zimmerman was sworn in, defense attorney Mark O'Mara played a witness 911 tape that captured the sounds of screaming and a shot being fired during the fatal encounter between Trayvon and Zimmerman.
Under questioning by O'Mara, the elder Zimmerman said he told state investigators that the voice of the man screaming "was absolutely George's."
Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda then questioned Robert Zimmerman, asking how his son could make those screaming noises if, ?as George Zimmerman told police, Martin was covering his nose and mouth.
Robert Zimmerman responded: "From the look of my son's injuries, Trayvon Martin's hands were not just on his nose and mouth."
The court heard testimony from firefighter Kevin O'Rourke, of the Sanford Fire Department, who was called to the scene after the shooting.?O'Rourke, who said he attended to Zimmerman, answered questions about the severity of the shooter's injuries.
"I observed that he had blood on his face and the back of his head," O'Rourke said.
He said that Zimmerman's nose was "obviously deformed," agreeing with defense attorney Don West that the injury was consistent with a broken nose. But under questioning by prosecutor de la Rionda, O'Rourke said he didn't diagnose Zimmerman with a broken nose.
The court was also shown the last minutes of a video taken by Sanford police on Feb. 27 in which Zimmerman discusses wounds to his nose and head.
Zimmerman appeared at the hearing wearing a grey suit, after?O'Mara had successfully argued that showing up in prison garb and shackles could damage his client's chances of getting a fair trial.
Martin's older brother Jahvaris Martin attended the hearing, along with Trayvon's parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton. The family was escorted -- and sat with -- family attorney Benjamin Crump.
Following the money At the start of the hearing, the first witness to testify, at the request of Zimmerman's defense attorney Mark O'Mara, was an accounting expert Adam MaGill, who detailed a series of money transfers conducted by the defendant's wife, using money contributed for his legal defense.
MaGill, who was called by the defense, said he was asked by O'Mara to look at records of money transfers from Zimmerman's PayPal account to the official legal defense fund later established by O'Mara.
Prosecutors charge that Zimmerman, and his wife Shellie misled the court about their finances his first bail hearing.
Shellie Zimmerman?testified at that April 20 proceeding that she did not know how much money was in a PayPal account set up for contributions to her husband's legal defense.
In recorded telephone conversations from jail prior to that date, Zimmerman and his wife appear to discuss ? in thinly?disguised code ? the amount of money in the account, and he instructs her to make a series of transfers to other accounts, the prosecution charges. (Read original report.)
Special Prosecutor Angela Corey used the recordings to persuade?the judge to revoke the original bond for George Zimmerman.?Shellie Zimmerman was arrested on June 12, charged with perjury and released on $1,000 bond.
She was not present at Friday's bond hearing for her husband.
O?Mara told NBC on Thursday that if Zimmerman is released on bond, he would go back into hiding for his own safety. The shooting death of Martin, an unarmed black teenager, in February has stirred an emotional national debate about race, gun rights and "stand your ground" laws like the one in Florida that use a broad definition of self-defense.
NBC's Lisa Lampkin contributed to this report.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
Follow US News on msnbc.com on Twitter and Facebook
Now that you?ve read The Summertime Pet Safety Series parts I (The Dog Days of Summer) and II (Summertime Festive Food Safety), let?s move onto the final topic of pet-safe car travel.
Summertime presents abundant opportunities to get outside; far more than permitted during winter?s chilly months. Sunny skies and balmy weather motivate plans for adventurous road trips, oftentimes with our pets. When planning your trip, pet-safe transport should be a top priority if you?re taking Fido or Fluffy along for the ride! Needless to say, I don?t advocate the means of transport as exemplified in this article?s photo.
Clinical Signs of Travel Stress
Whether it?s obvious or subtle, any type of travel (plane, train, or automobile) puts stress on your pet. Obvious signs of travel related stress include:
Vocalizing Pacing and restlessness Panting Salivating (ptyalism) Inappropriate urination or defecation Vomiting (emesis) Diarrhea Food refusal
Subtle signs of travel associated stress are:
Withdrawal from interaction with other pets and people (hiding) Body position changes (crouching, dropped tail, etc)
If your pet reacts negatively to car travel then a road trip is probably not the best option. Stress negatively impacts multiple body systems due to the release of steroid hormones (cortisol, etc) and other stimulating substances (epinephrine, etc). Excess steroid hormones hinder the immune system?s ability to fight infection and manage inflammation (arthritis, etc), while epinephrine (adrenaline) elevates heart rate and blood pressure. In this scenario, leaving your dog or cat with a trusted caretaker is healthier than subjecting them to the potential negative health implications associated with travel.
Should You Sedate Your Pet?
Veterinary prescribed sedatives (Acepromazine, Alprazolam,etc), over the counter medications (Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride= Benadryl) and natural products (Rescue Remedy Pet, Spirit Essences, etc) can help take off the stressful edge associated with travel. Consult your veterinarian about the appropriate use of such products for your pet. Before your trip, participate in a trial run with the chosen product to gauge your pet?s response. Typically, a tired pet is more prone to sleep during travel, so try to provide vigorous exercise within the 24 hours prior to your departure.
Food or No Food?
If your canine or feline companion is prone to motion sickness, withhold food and large volumes of water before departure. Skipping a meal is less harmful on a pet?s body than the esophageal and oral irritation caused by the eruption of acidic stomach contents and the potential for aspiration (inhalation of food or liquids).
Proper Pet Restraint
If your pets are natural born adventurers or have been acclimated to traveling, then bring them along for the ride. Ensuring safe car travel for the driver and passengers (both human and animal) by using a restraining device is essential. Without the appropriate restraint, your pet is free to wander the car?s cabin causing a significant driving distraction and subjecting them to trauma from an accident. Even a minor fender bender can cause life threatening injuries when a pet is suddenly thrust forward or out of a window.
The best options for restraint are a seat belt harness or a rigid carrier. Medium to large dogs are typically more suitable candidates for a seat belt harness, which provides confinement to the seat?s boundaries. Smaller dogs and cats should travel in a carrier, which should be strapped or hooked down.
Climate Control and Human Observation
Unlike humans, dogs and cats lack the ability to efficiently expel heat through their skin. The respiratory tract is their primary means of excreting heat, which is why you may notice an increased respiratory rate or pant in warm weather.
A Stanford University Medical Center study published in Pediatrics reports that a ?car?s interior can heat up by an average of 40 degrees F within an hour, regardless of ambient temperature. Eighty percent of the temperature rise occurred within the first half-hour?. As your car?s interior temperature increases, so will your dog or cat?s body temperature. A dangerously high level (hyperthermia) can occur after only a short time and can cause your pet to suffer the severe effects of heat related illness, including collapse, abnormal blood clotting, multi-organ system failure, seizures and death.
Unforeseeable circumstances may keep you occupied longer than initially anticipated, so never leave your pet unattended in a non-climate controlled car, even on a relatively cool day. Additionally, provide continuous circulating ventilation with air conditioning during your trip.
Frequent stops can help to reduce stress by providing your pet with a change of scenery and the opportunity to hydrate, urinate and defecate. As the chosen break site will be unfamiliar and holds the potential for a variety of unknown dangers, always use a leash.
These pet-safe travel tips have year-round applications, so use them during winter, spring, summer, and fall. Happy Travels!
To receive my next article via email, sign up here.
Please feel free to communicate with me through Twitter (@PatrickMahaney) and follow my adventures in veterinary medicine by liking Patrick Mahaney: Veterinarian Acupuncture Pain Management for Your Pets on Facebook.
Copyright of this article (2012) is owned by Dr Patrick Mahaney, Veterinarian and Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist. Republishing any portion of this article must first be authorized by Dr Patrick Mahaney. Requests for republishing must be approved by Dr Patrick Mahaney and received in written format.
Tagged as: Ace, Acepromazine, Alprazolam, Bach Flower, Exercise, FlexCin, FlexPet, pet safety, pet sedation, pet sedation for travel, Rescue Remedy Pet, road trip, sedation, Spirit Essences, summertime pet safety, travel, travel sedation, Xanax
[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]
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UT Southwestern study shows treating diabetes early, intensively is best strategyPublic release date: 28-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Debbie Bolles debbie.bolles@utsouthwestern.edu 214-648-3404 UT Southwestern Medical Center
DALLAS June 28, 2012 Intensive early treatment of type 2 diabetes slows down progression of the disease by preserving the body's insulin-producing capacity, a UT Southwestern study has shown.
"We can potentially change the course of this prevalent disease, which would represent a breakthrough," said Dr. Ildiko Lingvay, assistant professor of internal medicine and author of the study published online in Diabetes Care. "The intensive treatment regimen we propose is different from the stepwise approach recommended in standard guidelines."
As one of the fastest-growing diseases in the U.S., diabetes afflicts an estimated 25.8 million children and adults, or 8.3 percent of the population, according to the American Diabetes Association. A study by Population Health Management projects the number of diabetes cases to nearly double by 2025.
The UT Southwestern study was selected for presentation at the recent American Diabetes Association's Diabetes Care Symposium and will be published in the July print issue of ADA's Diabetes Care.
While intensive treatment has been the standard at UT Southwestern for at least a decade, the industry norm has been to emphasize lifestyle changes first. The American College of Physicians, for example, suggests losing weight and dieting before drug treatment. The ADA recommends similar lifestyle changes, plus the use of metformin the standard drug used to treat type 2 diabetes for those newly diagnosed.
"We believe that the stepwise approach exposes patients to long periods of high blood sugar, which leads to complications," Dr. Lingvay said. "Unless dietary changes are significant and sustained long-term, diabetes is a progressive disease in which the body's ability to produce insulin declines."
If a patient can maintain insulin production, she explained, the disease is easier to manage. The study showed intensive treatment with insulin, followed by one of two drug regimens, enabled diabetes patients to maintain steady insulin-producing beta-cell function for three and a half years after diagnosis.
"This finding was true, regardless of the method used to attain intensive control," Dr. Lingvay said. "Intensive treatments led to excellent control of blood-sugar levels, they were well-tolerated, safe, and had good compliance."
In the UT Southwestern clinical trial, participants were randomly divided into two groups. Both groups first had three months of treatment with insulin and the anti-diabetes drug metformin. After that, one group took three types of diabetes medications daily, while the other continued the insulin and metformin treatment. Out of 63 initial trial recruits, 58 completed the study and are still being tracked for six-year results.
Dr. Lingvay said the study did not show that any single regimen worked better than another; both intensive treatment regimens were just as effective.
"The point is that whatever you choose, make sure it's intensive," she said. "We have shown that this preserves beta-cell function, and that's the key in changing the course of the disease."
###
Other UT Southwestern researchers involved in the study were Dr. Lindsay Harrison, an endocrinology fellow; Beverley Adams-Huet, assistant professor in clinical sciences and internal medicine; and Dr. Philip Raskin, professor of internal medicine.
The research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and Novo Nordisk Inc., a supplier of insulin. Novo Nordisk played no role in the study design, conduct, analysis, preparation, or final approval.
Dr. Raskin holds the Clifton and Betsy Robinson Chair in Biomedical Research.
This news release is available on our World Wide Web home page at
www.utsouthwestern.edu/home/news/index.html
To automatically receive news releases from UT Southwestern via email,
subscribe at www.utsouthwestern.edu/receivenews
[ | 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.
UT Southwestern study shows treating diabetes early, intensively is best strategyPublic release date: 28-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Debbie Bolles debbie.bolles@utsouthwestern.edu 214-648-3404 UT Southwestern Medical Center
DALLAS June 28, 2012 Intensive early treatment of type 2 diabetes slows down progression of the disease by preserving the body's insulin-producing capacity, a UT Southwestern study has shown.
"We can potentially change the course of this prevalent disease, which would represent a breakthrough," said Dr. Ildiko Lingvay, assistant professor of internal medicine and author of the study published online in Diabetes Care. "The intensive treatment regimen we propose is different from the stepwise approach recommended in standard guidelines."
As one of the fastest-growing diseases in the U.S., diabetes afflicts an estimated 25.8 million children and adults, or 8.3 percent of the population, according to the American Diabetes Association. A study by Population Health Management projects the number of diabetes cases to nearly double by 2025.
The UT Southwestern study was selected for presentation at the recent American Diabetes Association's Diabetes Care Symposium and will be published in the July print issue of ADA's Diabetes Care.
While intensive treatment has been the standard at UT Southwestern for at least a decade, the industry norm has been to emphasize lifestyle changes first. The American College of Physicians, for example, suggests losing weight and dieting before drug treatment. The ADA recommends similar lifestyle changes, plus the use of metformin the standard drug used to treat type 2 diabetes for those newly diagnosed.
"We believe that the stepwise approach exposes patients to long periods of high blood sugar, which leads to complications," Dr. Lingvay said. "Unless dietary changes are significant and sustained long-term, diabetes is a progressive disease in which the body's ability to produce insulin declines."
If a patient can maintain insulin production, she explained, the disease is easier to manage. The study showed intensive treatment with insulin, followed by one of two drug regimens, enabled diabetes patients to maintain steady insulin-producing beta-cell function for three and a half years after diagnosis.
"This finding was true, regardless of the method used to attain intensive control," Dr. Lingvay said. "Intensive treatments led to excellent control of blood-sugar levels, they were well-tolerated, safe, and had good compliance."
In the UT Southwestern clinical trial, participants were randomly divided into two groups. Both groups first had three months of treatment with insulin and the anti-diabetes drug metformin. After that, one group took three types of diabetes medications daily, while the other continued the insulin and metformin treatment. Out of 63 initial trial recruits, 58 completed the study and are still being tracked for six-year results.
Dr. Lingvay said the study did not show that any single regimen worked better than another; both intensive treatment regimens were just as effective.
"The point is that whatever you choose, make sure it's intensive," she said. "We have shown that this preserves beta-cell function, and that's the key in changing the course of the disease."
###
Other UT Southwestern researchers involved in the study were Dr. Lindsay Harrison, an endocrinology fellow; Beverley Adams-Huet, assistant professor in clinical sciences and internal medicine; and Dr. Philip Raskin, professor of internal medicine.
The research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and Novo Nordisk Inc., a supplier of insulin. Novo Nordisk played no role in the study design, conduct, analysis, preparation, or final approval.
Dr. Raskin holds the Clifton and Betsy Robinson Chair in Biomedical Research.
This news release is available on our World Wide Web home page at
www.utsouthwestern.edu/home/news/index.html
To automatically receive news releases from UT Southwestern via email,
subscribe at www.utsouthwestern.edu/receivenews
[ | 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.
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It's nearly impossible to talk about Nora Ephron without talking about food. And, it seems like Nora Ephron never had any problem talking about food either. If she says butter is okay, we're going to treat her as the gospel. Her relationship with food was one we can admire -- she was honest with her thoughts on the topic and certainly appreciated a good meal.
Check out our favorite Nora Ephron quotes about food:
"Every time I'm forced to watch them eat egg-white omelettes, I feel bad for them. In the first place, egg-white omelettes are tasteless. In the second place, the people who eat them think they are doing something virtuous when they are instead merely misinformed."
<em><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nora-ephron/the-informational-cascade_b_67923.html" target="_hplink">Huffington Post</a>, October 2007</em>
Q: Do you consider any food a romantic deal-breaker?
A: I respect vegetarians, but I could never fall in love with one.
Q: The New Yorker described you as someone who eats "slowly" in "small, tidy bites." What should we infer from that?
A: That I want my meals to last forever.
<em><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/opinion/02dowd.html" target="_hplink">Interview with Maureen Down, New York Times</a>, August 2009</em>
Q: Foie gras: Yes or no?
A: Yes! Are you kidding?
<em><a href="http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/chefsexperts/interviews/noraephroninterview" target="_hplink">Epicurious</a></em>
"If there is a Nora Ephron signature anything it is that there's slightly too much food. I have a friend whose mantra is: You must choose. And I believe the exact opposite: I think you should always have at least four desserts that are kind of fighting with each other."
<em>Interview with <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/chefsexperts/interviews/noraephroninterview" target="_hplink">Epicurious</a></em>
"It's not that I'm not obsessed about food. I really am and I'm sitting in a room right now with food and I'm 10 feet away from it and I've been thinking the whole time I've been talking to you, is the telephone cord is long enough for me to get some food?"
<em><a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/blogs/pop-vox/2009/08/03/15-food-questions-for-nora-ephron.html" target="_hplink">Newsweek</a>, August 2009</em>
"There's no point in making piecrust from scratch."
<em><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nora-ephron/what-i-wish-id-known_b_26337.html" target="_hplink">I Feel Bad About My Neck</a></em>
"And so, Thanksgiving. Its the most amazing holiday. Just think about it -- it's a miracle that once a year so many millions of Americans sit down to exactly the same meal as one another, exactly the same meal they grew up eating, and exactly the same meal they ate a year earlier. The turkey. The sweet potatoes. The stuffing. The pumpkin pie. Is there anything else we all can agree so vehemently about? I don't think so."
<em><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nora-ephron/thanksgiving-recipes-food_b_786217.html#s191990&title=Artichoke_Pie" target="_hplink">Huffington Post</a>, November 2010</em>
"I have made a lot of mistakes falling in love, and regretted most of them, but never the potatoes that went with them."
<em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Heartburn-Nora-Ephron/dp/0679767959/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1340742110&sr=8-2&keywords=heartburn" target="_hplink">Heartburn</a></em>
"Are we really all going to spend our last years avoiding bread, especially now that bread in American is so unbelievable delicious? And what about chocolate?"
<em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Feel-Bad-About-My-Neck/dp/0739342924" target="_hplink">I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman</a></em>
"Every so often I would look at my women friends who were happily married and didn't cook, and I would always find myself wondering how they did it. Would anyone love me if I couldn't cook? I always thought cooking was part of the package: Step right up, it's Rachel Samstat, she's bright, she's funny and she can cook!"
<em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Heartburn-Nora-Ephron/dp/0679767959/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340742679&sr=1-1&keywords=heartburn+nora+ephron" target="_hplink">Heartburn</a></em>
"[I] had gotten to the point where I simply could not make a bad vinaigrette, this was not exactly the stuff of drama. (Even now, I cannot believe Mark would want to risk losing that vinaigrette. You just don't bump into vinaigrettes that good.)"
<em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Heartburn-Nora-Ephron/dp/0679767959/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340742679&sr=1-1&keywords=heartburn+nora+ephron" target="_hplink">Heartburn</a></em>
"Whenever I get married, I start buying Gourmet magazine. I think of it as my own personal bride's disease."
<em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/CRAZY-SALAD-PLUS-9-Ephron/dp/067150715X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340742652&sr=8-1&keywords=crazy+salad+plus+nine" target="_hplink">Crazy Salad Plus Nine</a></em>
"I guess I've always been a food obsessive, and it has gotten worse the older I've gotten."
<em><a href="http://www.gourmet.com/food/2009/08/my-day-on-plate-nora-ephron" target="_hplink">Gourmet</a>, August 2009</em>
"Everybody dies, there's no avoiding it and I do not believe for one second that butter is the cause of anyone's death. Overeating may be, but not butter, please. I just feel bad for people who make that mistake. By the way the same thing is true of olive oil. What difference could it possibly make if there's a little olive oil in your salad dressing? It does not take one day off your life."
<em><a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/blogs/pop-vox/2009/08/03/15-food-questions-for-nora-ephron.html" target="_hplink">Newsweek</a>, August 2009</em>
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An important part of any marketing strategy is creating a process to track and monitor new sales leads, which are people who show interest in your products and services. By setting up a basic lead management process for the leads you capture through your marketing efforts, you can keep track of where your leads are coming from and accurately measure the effectiveness of your marketing. Here are a simple few tips to get started with lead management for your business.
Track the Source of Your Leads
A vital part of the process of handling your sales leads is to make sure that you track where those leads are coming from. This task will help the overall effectiveness of your online and offline advertising efforts because you?ll have a clear understanding of which marketing tactics are driving the most customers to your business. One simple way to do this is to simply ask prospects how they heard about your business once they contact you. Additionally, you can use analytics software on your website to monitor the sources of online leads. Another option for tracking leads is to use a call tracking number or tracking URL that you can place on your offline or online advertising, so when people contact you via those methods, you can track which marketing brought them to your business. Then, you can use this insight to shift your marketing investment toward the types of efforts that bring you the most customers.
Monitor & Respond to Social Media Channels
Social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google Plus have become great new sources of potential leads for your business. It?s important to monitor social media regularly and follow up with consumers who are leaving comments on your page, tweeting you publicly, or sending you direct messages. If someone expresses interest in your product or service or contacts you directly via social media, ask them to contact you via email or phone so you can get more information about what they?re interested in, and collect their contact information so you can follow up. In addition, you can use social media pages as a source of information about your target market, like their demographics, interests, and expectations from your business. ?
Set Up Notifications of New Leads
To take your lead management strategy to the next level, you can invest in a service that provides real-time lead notifications, such as an email or SMS message, when you receive a new lead. New leads could be generated from a ?a form submission, email, voicemail, or chat lead. Notifications let you know as soon as a lead comes in, provide a record of the lead, and ensure you can respond promptly to close the sale.?In fact, after the first hour, the chances of reaching a lead are reduced by 10 times.?
Record Your Calls
Recording calls to your business is an easy way to track and store incoming sales leads. Many?call recording technologies?not only let you record the live call itself, but also capture data such as caller ID, date, and time, so you have a full picture of the call and caller. Plus, the ability to record calls can also provide additional business insight, such as whether or not your team is effectively answering the phone, ?trends about what customers are calling about, and issues or feedback about your products or services, so you can make adjustments where needed.
Organize Your Database
Whether you?re entering leads into a CRM system or managing them in your own spreadsheet, it?s important to?keep your lead data clean?and organized. First, determine what data you want to capture, like name, email, phone, and lead source, so that you?re always recording the same type of information for each lead. In addition, you should regularly check your list and remove duplicate leads, make sure contact information is complete and up-to-date, and keep track of all interactions with the prospect so that you can pace out how often you want to reach out again ?to existing customers and active leads you?ve already contacted.?
Once you have a solid process in place for managing new sales leads, it?s important to tie any sales you make back to the original lead to accurately measure the ultimate ROI of your marketing investment. By documenting this process, you?ll have a better idea of which marketing investments have the biggest impact on your business.?
What lead management strategies has your business implemented, and which do you plan on adding? Let us know in a comment!
Tamara?Weintraub?helps equip small business owners with information about local online advertising, social media, and content marketing as a writer for?the?ReachLocal?blog.
Impact Teachers has a fantastic vacancy for Psychology teacher in a Secondary school.
The post is to start in Sept and should be full time until the end of the school year. You will be teaching Psychology to A level pupils.
It is a smaller than average comprehensive school serving the town and local surrounding area. Students come from a wide range of social and economic backgrounds. Ofsted described it as a school with "good features, providing a caring environment and a sound education for its students."Students like coming to school and appreciate its caring ethos. Staff and students enjoy mutually respectful relationships with each other.
In order to apply for this post you must have a formal teaching qualification and have taught in a school environment within the past 2 years (NQT pracs ok).
If you would like to be considered for this post, apply today!
IMPACT TEACHERS provides:
A personable staff providing high-quality client service
Great pay rates for both Supply and Long-Term teachers
Flexibility through our Guaranteed Work Scheme
A free internet caf? and lounge
Great social Events
Also, Impact Teachers provides opportunities to volunteer abroad in developing countries. Teachers can travel to AFRICA and INDIA with our International Development Team to perform teacher workshops. Through education, we can make a global impact!
Want to know more about IMPACT TEACHERS and our charitable works?
APPLY NOW!
IMPACT is an equal opportunity employer. All candidates must provide two professional child-based references and will undergo an enhanced CRB check before starting work.
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So, what exactly is a Yammer? Well, it's a simple social network designed not to connect you with family or college roommates, but with with your coworkers. The platform has had some success, but its most high profile moment may be today's announcement that Microsoft had purchased the company. Rumors had been circulating for about a week, but now Redmond has made it official and issued a press release announcing its plan to purchase the startup for $1.2 billion in cash. Yammer will continue to live on as a stand alone service, which should make its 5 million users and countless Fortune 500 customers happy. But Microsoft will certainly be looking to fold its features into its own suite of enterprise offerings, like SharePoint and Office 365. For more info check out the PR after the break.
Giving in China plunged by nearly 18 percent in 2011, with a raft of scandals involving charities contributing to the decline, according to the state-run China Daily.
Donations by Chinese individuals and corporations dropped from $9.5-billion in 2010 to about $7.9-billion last year, according to the annual report on giving by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Song Zonghe, a spokesman for the ministry?s China Charity and Donation Information Center, said financial controversies involving some well-known charities, including the Red Cross Society of China, have damaged public enthusiasm for giving.
The lingering global downturn could also be playing a role, with private companies ? which dominate giving in China ? donating less as exports decline, said Deng Guosheng, a professor at the School of Public Policy and Management at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
Recent weeks have seen much entertainment industry and legal attention to an aggressive dispute between two networks over a pair of "reality" television shows. CBS has broadcast Big Brother in the United States since 2000, and it got wind of a prospective but as-yet uncompleted show entitled The Glass House it believed ABC was developing for a June 18, 2012 debut. In general, both shows involve a group of people living together in a house, sequestered from the outside world, continuously monitored by numerous television cameras, and on both shows contestants are eliminated over a respective season until there is a prize winner. In May, after warning ABC not to proceed, CBS filed a lawsuit in federal court, alleging copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition, and various other breaches and wrongdoing. CBS vested particular ire in the claim that several former Big Brother employees had been engaged to work on ABC's show, though the conflation of that part of the complaint with the copyright count underplayed the separable nature of the alleged breach of employment obligations and any potential infringement by the ABC show as it might be finally produced.
On June 15, the presiding judge announced that, in accordance with relevant precedent, he was inclined to deny CBS' request for a temporary restraining order to halt ABC's airing of its show, which, in fact, proceeded as scheduled. CBS appeared so frustrated at the foregoing that it issued a press release sarcastically announcing two imaginary shows, Dancing On the Stars and Postmodern Family, both mocking current ABC properties. On June 21, the matter interimly culminated when the judge issued a detailed civil minute opinion finding that CBS was unlikely to prevail on the merits, that it had failed to demonstrate entitlement to the relief it sought, and denying an order to show cause for a preliminary injunction. My instinct, however, is that CBS is too astute and is too well-represented not to have expected the court's reasoning and these results. If so, what motivates the relentless attempts by reality TV plaintiffs to seek injunctive and damage relief that courts are simply not granting?
There can be no doubt that, in the mind of the public, the industry press and blogosphere, and, often, even in the words of plaintiff's learned counsel in this kind of case, the second and subsequent shows in what is a typical cycle of seriatim reality programs with a similar premise -- without any aspersions cast, think of American Idol, America's Got Talent, and The Voice, or Pawn Stars and Hardcore Pawn, or any reality show about finding, buying, selling, or remodeling a house -- inevitably provoke pejorative rubrics such as "copycat" and "knock-off" despite the absence of meaningful judicial concurrence. The simple problem faced by irked plaintiffs searching for a way to prohibit subsequent reality TV shows of similar content, however, is that American copyright law was neither Constitutionally conceived nor legislatively drafted to prohibit that sort of "copying". Indeed, it was designed to permit it. The operative principle is that copyright law does not protect basic ideas -- that is, say, a show featuring a talent competition or the activities in a pawn shop -- but, rather, only the original and concrete expression of such ideas. The difference is embodied in a doctrine called the "idea-expression dichotomy", and while a precise, one-size-fits-all definition of the idea-expression boundary has always been elusive, for our purposes a progression from abstraction to concreteness in detail is helpful and illustrative. To violate an author's valid copyright, it is thus not enough that another work comprises merely similar ideas, or even that its ideas were, as commonly understood, "copied". The standard instead is one the courts call substantial similarity, which evidences a significantly higher coincidence of shared expressive content.
The dimensions of comparison in substantial similarity analysis may include plot, characters, dialogue, sequence of events, setting, tone, and theme, which the works in question must be demonstrated to share as concrete expression to a high degree. Some plaintiffs, seemingly aware that they can adduce only scant similarities among the above touchstones, also rely on a stopgap claim of "compilation", alleging that facts or ideas are collated or ordered in a similar way. The Supreme Court has ruled, however, that a compilation- based copyright is on narrow grounds, or "thin", such that the infringement must be virtually identical, a level beyond substantial similarity. Moreover, there are certain classes of similarities, however, even if present, that cannot form the basis for a finding of substantial similarity between two works if they constitute one or more of the following: a mere inexpressive idea, fact, or concept; predictable stock content common to a genre; material found in third-party works extant prior to the plaintiff's creation; a taking considered a "fair use" for legal and policy reasons; or material already in the public domain. Applying the above generally, while copyright law would not protect the bare idea for a movie with an abstract, archetype lawman, a bad guy, and a shootout, it would much more likely protect the aggregate, concretely described and expressive lawman, bad guy, and shootout elements of, say, High Noon or Die Hard.
The courts have extended to reality television the same copyright principles and standards as were developed primarily in the fictional or dramatic context. In a line of cases dating back to -- guess what? -- the 2003 prior match where CBS lost its claim that ABC's I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! infringed Survivor, courts that decided the matter have declined relief to reality TV plaintiffs, largely on the basis that the defendants' shows simply shared ideas or stock elements. The actual progression of incident, the concrete specifics of the "characters" (the hosts, announcers, contestants, coaches, and other participants), the words they uttered, and the expressive content, design, and detail of the setting, all taken together, were quite different where the law demands that they be quite -- or "substantially" -- similar, and even where they shared certain similar ideas.
Were the governing copyright principles to be otherwise, then, for example, the first talk show featuring an announcer, a live band, a stand-up comedian host, a raised stage arranged with a guest couch and the host's desk, silly games played with audience participation, two celebrity guests, and a concluding musical act could purport to secure an exclusive copyright to the above as against subsequent talk shows with the listed similarities, an intuitively absurd result, and one contrary to sound policy. The same could be said of two classic situation comedies, I Love Lucy and The Dick Van Dyke Show, where both shows feature a family which includes a father in show business, a housewife mother, a son named Ricky or Ritchie, set principally in the family's living room and the father's workplace, where the family closely interacts with its immediate neighbors who often drop in unannounced, and where the mother's antics often get her in trouble with her husband. Once again, the two shows are not substantially similar because they only share the commonality of the above abstract ideas, not their expression, which lies in the concrete realization of those ideas, and which, compared show-to-show and episode-to-episode, differed fundamentally as to story, more specific character details, and so on. Had the above or comparable lists of idea similarities been exclusively protected at the dawn of talk shows or situation comedies, the development of entire genres of television and those who work in them might have been impermissibly curtailed.
Litigants would be well-served to think of copyright protection as a cordonsanitaire of expression within which proprietors enjoy defined and exclusive rights for limited times, but beyond which other creators are free to use more general ideas, concepts, and certain other content. As the Ninth Circuit federal appellate court (which includes California) enunciated in Satava v. Lowry, Congress
granted artists the exclusive right to the original expression in their works, thereby giving them a financial incentive to create works to enrich our culture. But it denied artists the exclusive right to ideas and standard elements in their works, thereby preventing them from monopolizing what rightfully belongs to the public.
And because of that, people in The Glass House may throw stones.
David R. Ginsburg is the executive director of the Entertainment, Media, and Intellectual Property Law Program at the UCLA School of Law, where he is also a lecturer. He frequently acts as an expert witness in entertainment litigation, and he has done so on behalf of both CBS and ABC in the past, though he is not involved in the present case.
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Public release date: 28-Jun-2012
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