Americans on no-fly list allowed to learn to fly

[ [ [['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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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/americans-no-fly-list-allowed-learn-fly-160218921.html

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Assassin's Creed Movie Cast Adds Michael ... - Video Games Blogger

The Assassin?s Creed Movie Cast adds Michael Fassbender to star as Altair!

Michael Fassbender will not only star in Ubisoft?s game series adaptation for the big-screen, he?ll also co-produce the Assassin?s Creed Movie through his DMC Film banner, with his creative partner Conor McCaughan. ? Very exciting news to hear such a talented actor ? from movies such as 300, X-Men: First Class & Prometheus ? involved!

?Michael Fassbender was our first choice to play the franchise?s iconic hooded hero.? -Ubisoft Motion Pictures CEO

Jean-Julien Baronnet, CEO of Paris-based Ubisoft Motion Pictures, said: ?Michael Fassbender was our first choice to play the franchise?s iconic hooded hero. Michael (Fassbender) is an extremely smart, talented, versatile and committed actor.?

With Sony?s original involvement now on the rocks since earlier this year, Ubisoft is helming the movie themselves through Ubisoft Motion Pictures. Helmed by Mr. Baronnet, it produces films, TV shows and digital projects based on Ubisoft?s video game properties.

Mr. Baronnet told Variety: ?We?re open to re-discuss with the key studios [such as Sony for distribution] once the production package is finalized. Whatever the financial model, UMP will limit its risk investment, and will save on production costs by turning to our 26 in-house game studios like Hybride Technologies, to handle visual effects work.?

To see how Michael Fassbender looks in action, here are some of his fighting scenes from 300.

Watch Michael Fassbender?s acting chops, as he plays the android David in Prometheus.

Let?s have a look back at the main star of the first Assassin?s Creed game, Altair.

As you may know, the plot of the series revolves around modern-time man Desmond who learns his ancestors were trained Assassins after he is kidnapped by a secret organization with ties to the Knights Templar. Using an amazing technological advancement called the Animus, a device that allows him to experience the ancestral memories carried in his DNA, Desmond is sent back in time to retrieve historical artifacts by traveling through the memories of Altair. It?s Altair you see in one of the first Assassin?s Creed trailers.

What do you think of Michael Fassbender starring in the Assassin?s Creed Movie?

Tags: Assassin's Creed

Categories: 3DS News, DS News, Mobile News, News, PC News, PS Vita News, PS3 News, PSP News, Videos, Wii U News, Xbox 360 News


Source: http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2012/07/19/assassins-creed-movie-cast-adds-michael-fassbender.htm

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Fitness Professionals, Stop Pimping Out Your Brain as a Writer

Jul 19, 2012 by Kellie Davis

Since my article The Art and Business of Writing In Fitness was so well received, I wanted to follow up with another issue that plagues fitness writers: the missing paycheck. I am guilty of every charge against writers in this article. That?s probably why I can discuss it so blatantly. These are hard lesson for anyone to learn who wants to break into fitness writing, but it?s better to learn from my mistakes than to make them on your own. I am going to write this from an odd perspective, so bear with me.

My primary income comes from writing. I started writing professionally full time three years ago when I left teaching and moved to Arizona. Previously, I worked in marketing and advertising for small businesses? making the bulk of my work writing-intensive. At first, the whole freelance writing industry was daunting. With all the content mills and sweat shop-wages offered to writers, I wondered how anyone made it in the writing business.

Then I learned that like many other industries, the online world created a space that allowed the profession of writing to be exploited. Many successful writers make a great living doing what they loved, so I set out on a quest to figure this all out.

Though I made many mistakes along the way?namely getting paid far too little for the work that I performed?I have become a better writer because of these mistakes. Most of the work I do is for the corporate world. I write corporate blogs, sales material, website content, brochures, and presentations.

But what I truly love is fitness writing. Being exposed to other industries I am appalled at how little value the fitness industry holds in its writers. ?A handful of fitness websites pay writers between $10 and $15 an article. These aren?t your mom and pop sites being run by solo professionals. These are fully staffed corporate sites with big offices in California or New York. Granted, several well-paying sites exist, but I want to expose the trap that many writers fall into.

When a writer invests his time into a well-researched article, it can take him easily 5 to 10 hours to produce high quality content. Somehow that $15 an article just doesn?t sound lucrative (not that it ever did).? That?s why sites that rank high in the search engines for specific fitness-related keywords give you less than stellar results. ?Under-qualified writers are pumping out garbage so they can try to earn $15 to $30 an hour (for the record, $50 to $200 an hour is good pay for qualified writers).

What?s even more appalling than the $10 to $15 articles is the free content that is expected from fitness writers. Many fitness writers are also professionals in the industry. They?ve spent a considerable amount of years learning their trade and becoming experts in their fields.? Being that coaching is their primary expertise and writing comes secondary?and is often a taxing event?not only does asking for free content berate their years of knowledge and experience, but also the time they invest in writing the content.

For a trained writer, it can take 2 to 3 hours to research and write a great article. For the novice or inexperienced writer (which many coaches consider themselves), it takes 4 hours to sometimes days to perfect this content.

This may come as a surprise (subtle notes of sarcasm are purposeful), but writing isn?t a naturally occurring phenomenon for coaches. Even the ones you see regularly in magazines, or who write incredible blogs. It?s not effortless; it?s a very challenging process that causes their brains to make a jolting switch into gears they aren?t very comfortable using.

By nature, coaches are great speakers. They explain things well by talking clients through techniques and demonstrating with actions.? You would think that this translates well onto paper, but it doesn?t. Transversely, many technical writers can scribe in great detail how to perform a specific action, but their brains turn to mush when you ask them to talk you through something.

I was born with a writer?s brain. I only became comfortable with speaking when I threw myself into the fire as a teacher. Let me tell you, when standing in front of 30 eighth graders, the last thing you want is to be afraid to speak.

I was trained as a writer first and a teacher second. I am now comfortable in both roles, but it wasn?t always so. Many coaches are trained as teachers and the role as a writer isn?t a very comfortable place to be for them.? The knowledge is there. They are salient teachers in their fields and have so much to offer, but writing is a foreign practice that takes time to master.

Now that I?ve cleared up how time consuming writing can be for fitness professionals, I want to clear up something else. Exposure, recommendations, and pats on the back are not paychecks.

If you are making money from the site that you wish fitness professionals to craft content for, then you need to pay them. When you ask fitness writers to hand over articles for your site that you earn a living from (whether supplemental or your whole salary) you are basically saying, ?I want to use you so that I can make more money.?

Fitness and nutrition coaches spend plenty of down time during their day doing things that don?t directly translate to money. They answer emails, return phone calls, write posts for their own blogs, pay invoices, write programs, read, take continued education courses, sit in meetings, and research? the list goes on and on.

It?s highly unlikely that the surge of adrenaline they feel when you ask them to write free articles for your site causes them to immediately set a new deadlift personal record. In fact, their blood pressure likely shoots through the roof at the thought of adding one more thing to their ?I Am Not Making Money Doing This? list.

This is not a common practice that you see in any other industry. My writing colleagues pay guest bloggers and they get paid to guest blog. My writing colleagues also get a paycheck for every single article they write, whether it?s a 300-word post for a blog or a 1,500-word article for a magazine. It?s how they make a living. Fitness professionals should view their writing the same way.

I do see a couple of exceptions to this rule. It?s perfectly fine to swap blog content with colleagues whom you know will return the favor. It?s also fine to offer content up to sites that you are deeply passionate about, but know they cannot pay you. ?I?ve had many occasions when I?ve read articles on blogs or sites that compelled me to craft a response. I always offer this response or supplemental article to the site free of charge.

Interviews are good exposure, too. Typically they only require that you answer questions that directly relate to your work.? Website and blog interviews are also great practice for when magazines and newspapers call you up for quotes. This will happen!

Do not undervalue your time and expertise for anything else. Ever.

Let?s look at a basic scenario of writing free content for a popular site. Say BigNameStrengthSite published articles from any coach willing to invest time into writing a piece for them. They don?t pay, but offer to place a link to your site in your byline.

You spend 6 hours writing the article, shoot it out to a couple of your colleagues who spend 30 minutes reviewing it to provide feedback. Then you send it in. No one contacts you. You wait. You email the editor 3 days later to see what?s up. Another 3 days goes by and the editor emails you back and say, ?Hey, you?re at the bottom of a long list of free content I need to put up. It will be 3 to 4 weeks.?

A month later you happen to be reading the site and notice your article is up. No one told you and it was posted 4 days prior. You check Google Analytics and notice your traffic has gone up a bit. You also receive 10 new subscribers to your site and get an email inquiry about your training service.

Of course, that same guy emailed 6 other trainers on BigNameStrengthSite too. This guy didn?t respond to them either.

So, now your 10 subscribers richer and 6 hours behind on work because you wasted it writing that article.

What if you took that same idea and wrote a query letter to the local health editor of your newspaper? Or to the editor of that magazine you always pick up by the front door of your gym?

Why is your content good enough for the web but not for magazines and newspapers?

It?s better for magazines and newspapers, and here?s why. They pay you for it.

The worst thing that can happen is the editor doesn?t accept your idea. But all you did was send in your idea. You didn?t spend 6 hours writing the article yet. And if the editor thinks you?ve got the chops but you need to polish up a bit, she or he will tell you. She or he will probably even give you tips or tell you have to make the article more relevant.

Heck, this editor may even assign you another article that the publication doesn?t have a writer for. Then those 6 hours of free labor turns into a $300 paycheck. Maybe even more.

That sounds worth it, right?

And, holy crap, you?re a published writer!

These small articles from local magazines and newspapers lead to bigger things. Most of the big named magazines want to see what you are capable of. Sending in these clips shows that you can actually write, and write content relevant to the magazine.

But, to let you in on a little secret? smaller publications and trade magazines pay well and offer more work. It?s always nice to see your name in lights, but consistent money usually lies in the smaller publications.

Not only that, but local exposure brings another advantage: more clients. People in your area are more likely to read the health section of your newspaper than BigNameStrengthSite anyway. More clients translates to more money.

What they heck were you doing writing for free in the first place?

I can easily joke and laugh about it now because I spent a good amount of time hoping and dreaming that all that free writing would lead me to better gigs. It doesn?t. I hope this spares you any pain and suffering that you might have experienced in the future.

All the exposure in the world doesn?t compare with a paycheck and continued work.

So, next time someone contacts you to write all in the name of exposure, stamp a value on your time and expertise and tell them no thanks.

?

?

What?s your take on writing for the fitness industry? Do you feel trainers are undervalued as writers, or are they fairly compensated?

Source: http://www.motherfitness.com/fitness-professionals-stop-pimping-out-your-brain-as-a-writer/

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VICC Adds Colon Cancer to Gene Mutation Testing ? VICC News ...

Emily Chan, M.D., Ph.D.

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center has initiated tumor mutation testing for a limited number of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

This pilot project for colorectal cancer is part of VICC?s Personalized Cancer Medicine Initiative (PCMI), a program to identify genetic mutations in a patient?s tumor that may be useful in matching the appropriate therapy with each patient. VICC patients with lung cancer, breast cancer and melanoma already have their tumors tested for specific mutations, and now some colorectal cancer patients will be added as part of a pilot program.

?We?re testing a panel of eight genes, including mutations in the KRAS and BRAF genes,? said Emily Chan, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of Medicine and clinical director of GI Oncology. ?What we?re looking at are genes that are known to be mutated in some colorectal cancers. Companies are already developing drugs that block the molecular pathway that gets activated in some of these gene mutations. Other genes don?t have drugs available at the moment, but that doesn?t mean they won?t down the road.?

Chan points to the drug vemurafenib, which has shown strong results in many melanoma patients with the BRAF mutation. About 10 percent of colorectal cancer patients also have the BRAF mutation in their tumor.

?We have participated in a trial looking at a small group of colorectal cancer patients and we did not see the same impressive responses that were seen in melanoma, which lets us know that colorectal cancer is a different disease than melanoma, and vemurafenib by itself doesn?t get the same impact. So it may need to be given in combination with something else. Knowing more about the different mutations within the tumor may help guide us to what may be the best treatment combination for a particular patient,? Chan said.

Some of the mutated genes may serve as prognostic markers to predict how patients will respond to a specific therapy. The results may also help VICC physicians match patients to clinical research trials that target certain molecular pathways in the tumor.

The gene tests are conducted on tissue samples from the patient?s tumor. To participate, patients must have enough tissue available for testing and they must sign a consent form to allow for the mutation testing. About 200 patients will be tested during this initial colorectal cancer program and the results will be evaluated for future projects.

?I have patients who are very interested in getting this testing done, even if they?re on some current therapy because they?re trying to plan for the future. The other thing I hear from patients is even if it doesn?t help them it may help someone in the future, so there?s an altruistic aspect to their willingness to help, as well,? said Chan

For more information about the Cancer Center?s PCMI program, visit vicc.org or call the patient Access Center at (877) 936-8422.

No comments yet.

Source: http://www.vicc.org/news/2012/07/vicc%E2%80%88adds-colon-cancer-to-gene-mutation-testing/

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Source: http://pyaardosti.com/information-on-functional-littleton-colorado-automobile-repair-options

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A stronger doctor-patient relationship for the costliest patients

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 18-Jul-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Robert Mitchum
robert.mitchum@uchospitals.edu
773-795-5227
University of Chicago Medical Center

$6.1 million 'innovation grant' awarded to test comprehensive care physician model

Patients who are frequently hospitalized account for a disproportionate amount of health care spending in the United States. Working with a $6.1 million grant, a new University of Chicago Medicine program will test whether an updated version of the traditional general practitioner can reduce spending while also improving care for these patients.

Under the new model, funded by a Health Care Innovation Award from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation, multidisciplinary teams led by a comprehensive care physician (CCP) will care for patients in both outpatient and inpatient settings. By improving the continuity of an individual's care after a hospital stay and strengthening the bond between doctor and patient, the model hopes to provide better care at lower cost.

"Our goal will be to really understand patients' needs so that we can give them the care that they need," said lead investigator David Meltzer, MD, PhD, associate professor and chief of the Section of Hospital Medicine at the University of Chicago Medicine. "That should be better for them, and should ultimately be less costly for the health care system and produce better outcomes."

The model is built upon 15 years of research by Meltzer and colleagues on the changing medical work force in the United States. Health care providers increasingly rely on specialized physicians known as hospitalists to care for inpatients, while primary care doctors are less likely to see their patients while they are hospitalized. Though Meltzer found that this rearrangement has produced modest benefits in terms of health outcomes and reduced spending, it also has created unintended rifts in a patient's care.

"A whole series of trends have emerged over time that has made the traditional continuity in the doctor-patient relationship between the outpatient and inpatient setting more difficult," Meltzer said. "It's not that doctors don't understand this continuity is important or don't want to provide it; they face real barriers in caring for patients in both the inpatient setting and the outpatient setting. By focusing on frequently hospitalized patients, our CCPs will be able to have a real presence in the hospital and clinic on an almost daily basis."

Previous research supports that a strong doctor-patient relationship can lower the nation's health care tab. A 1984 Veterans Administration study compared patients who saw the same primary care doctor at every clinic visit against patients who saw a different physician each visit. It found reduced hospitalizations, hospital stays, and intensive care unit (ICU) usage in the group with higher continuity of care. Another study found that advanced lung cancer patients with integrated outpatient and inpatient care were 25 percent less likely to enter the ICU before death.

"There's a huge literature suggesting that elements of the doctor-patient relationship, including trust, interpersonal relations, communication, and knowledge of the patient, are all associated with lower costs and better outcomes," Meltzer said.

While the "Marcus Welby" style of doctor who manages all facets of care in and out of the hospital is no longer economically feasible or necessary for all individuals, Meltzer proposes that comprehensive care could be useful for patients at the highest risk of repeated hospitalization. Such patients, dubbed "hot spotters" by surgeon/writer Atul Gawande, account for a significant portion of health care spending in the United States, with one estimate concluding that 5 percent of Medicare beneficiaries account for 40 percent of Medicare spending.

In Meltzer's model, a comprehensive care physician will lead a team of nurse practitioners, social workers, care coordinators and other specialists best suited to address the needs of such high-risk patients. CCPs will carry a panel of approximately 200 patients at a time, serving as their primary care physician during clinic visits and supervising their care while hospitalized.

The trial will enroll patients from the South Side of Chicago who are predicted to spend an average of 10 days a year in the hospital. Many of these patients are expected to be general medicine patients with chronic diseases, geriatric patients living in residence homes or patients with renal disease receiving regular dialysis treatment. Five CCPs will be recruited to serve as team leaders for the demonstration project, which is expected to begin in fall 2012. A total of 11 new jobs will be created by the project.

"One of the highest priorities in our efforts to lower health care costs is to reduce the rate of expensive hospitalizations," said Kenneth S. Polonsky, MD, dean of the Biological Sciences Division and the Pritzker School of Medicine and executive vice president of medical affairs at the University of Chicago Medicine. "Dr. Meltzer's innovative approach to this problem offers real hope that we will be able to deliver more health care in the community even to the sickest patients."

The Health Care Innovation Award for the comprehensive care program is one of two received by the University of Chicago Medicine the only academic medical center in Illinois to receive multiple awards from the $900 million initiative. Previously, a $5.9 million grant was awarded to the institution in May to create the CommunityRx system, which will connect patients with community resources and services.

"For our institution to have two of these grants awarded is a real testimony to the forward thinking and innovative ideas that are here on our campus to deal with some of these very vexing public health and care coordination issues," said Sharon O'Keefe, president of the University of Chicago Medical Center.

###

About the University of Chicago Medicine

When the University of Chicago Medical Center opened its doors to the community in fall 1927, it had two clinical departments: medicine and surgery. Since then, the medical campus has grown to include 60 adult and 44 pediatric specialties. The Medical Center ranks among the best in the country in cancer treatment, digestive disorders, diabetes and endocrinology, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of the nation's hospitals. University of Chicago physician-scientists performed the first organ transplant and the first bone marrow transplant in animal models, the first successful living-donor liver transplant, the first hormone therapy for cancer and the first successful application of cancer chemotherapy. Its researchers discovered REM sleep and were the first to describe several of the sleep stages. Twelve of the Nobel Prize winners have been affiliated with the University of Chicago Medicine.

For more University of Chicago Medicine news, visit our research blog at sciencelife.uchospitals.edu and our newsroom at uchospitals.edu/news.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share 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.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 18-Jul-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Robert Mitchum
robert.mitchum@uchospitals.edu
773-795-5227
University of Chicago Medical Center

$6.1 million 'innovation grant' awarded to test comprehensive care physician model

Patients who are frequently hospitalized account for a disproportionate amount of health care spending in the United States. Working with a $6.1 million grant, a new University of Chicago Medicine program will test whether an updated version of the traditional general practitioner can reduce spending while also improving care for these patients.

Under the new model, funded by a Health Care Innovation Award from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation, multidisciplinary teams led by a comprehensive care physician (CCP) will care for patients in both outpatient and inpatient settings. By improving the continuity of an individual's care after a hospital stay and strengthening the bond between doctor and patient, the model hopes to provide better care at lower cost.

"Our goal will be to really understand patients' needs so that we can give them the care that they need," said lead investigator David Meltzer, MD, PhD, associate professor and chief of the Section of Hospital Medicine at the University of Chicago Medicine. "That should be better for them, and should ultimately be less costly for the health care system and produce better outcomes."

The model is built upon 15 years of research by Meltzer and colleagues on the changing medical work force in the United States. Health care providers increasingly rely on specialized physicians known as hospitalists to care for inpatients, while primary care doctors are less likely to see their patients while they are hospitalized. Though Meltzer found that this rearrangement has produced modest benefits in terms of health outcomes and reduced spending, it also has created unintended rifts in a patient's care.

"A whole series of trends have emerged over time that has made the traditional continuity in the doctor-patient relationship between the outpatient and inpatient setting more difficult," Meltzer said. "It's not that doctors don't understand this continuity is important or don't want to provide it; they face real barriers in caring for patients in both the inpatient setting and the outpatient setting. By focusing on frequently hospitalized patients, our CCPs will be able to have a real presence in the hospital and clinic on an almost daily basis."

Previous research supports that a strong doctor-patient relationship can lower the nation's health care tab. A 1984 Veterans Administration study compared patients who saw the same primary care doctor at every clinic visit against patients who saw a different physician each visit. It found reduced hospitalizations, hospital stays, and intensive care unit (ICU) usage in the group with higher continuity of care. Another study found that advanced lung cancer patients with integrated outpatient and inpatient care were 25 percent less likely to enter the ICU before death.

"There's a huge literature suggesting that elements of the doctor-patient relationship, including trust, interpersonal relations, communication, and knowledge of the patient, are all associated with lower costs and better outcomes," Meltzer said.

While the "Marcus Welby" style of doctor who manages all facets of care in and out of the hospital is no longer economically feasible or necessary for all individuals, Meltzer proposes that comprehensive care could be useful for patients at the highest risk of repeated hospitalization. Such patients, dubbed "hot spotters" by surgeon/writer Atul Gawande, account for a significant portion of health care spending in the United States, with one estimate concluding that 5 percent of Medicare beneficiaries account for 40 percent of Medicare spending.

In Meltzer's model, a comprehensive care physician will lead a team of nurse practitioners, social workers, care coordinators and other specialists best suited to address the needs of such high-risk patients. CCPs will carry a panel of approximately 200 patients at a time, serving as their primary care physician during clinic visits and supervising their care while hospitalized.

The trial will enroll patients from the South Side of Chicago who are predicted to spend an average of 10 days a year in the hospital. Many of these patients are expected to be general medicine patients with chronic diseases, geriatric patients living in residence homes or patients with renal disease receiving regular dialysis treatment. Five CCPs will be recruited to serve as team leaders for the demonstration project, which is expected to begin in fall 2012. A total of 11 new jobs will be created by the project.

"One of the highest priorities in our efforts to lower health care costs is to reduce the rate of expensive hospitalizations," said Kenneth S. Polonsky, MD, dean of the Biological Sciences Division and the Pritzker School of Medicine and executive vice president of medical affairs at the University of Chicago Medicine. "Dr. Meltzer's innovative approach to this problem offers real hope that we will be able to deliver more health care in the community even to the sickest patients."

The Health Care Innovation Award for the comprehensive care program is one of two received by the University of Chicago Medicine the only academic medical center in Illinois to receive multiple awards from the $900 million initiative. Previously, a $5.9 million grant was awarded to the institution in May to create the CommunityRx system, which will connect patients with community resources and services.

"For our institution to have two of these grants awarded is a real testimony to the forward thinking and innovative ideas that are here on our campus to deal with some of these very vexing public health and care coordination issues," said Sharon O'Keefe, president of the University of Chicago Medical Center.

###

About the University of Chicago Medicine

When the University of Chicago Medical Center opened its doors to the community in fall 1927, it had two clinical departments: medicine and surgery. Since then, the medical campus has grown to include 60 adult and 44 pediatric specialties. The Medical Center ranks among the best in the country in cancer treatment, digestive disorders, diabetes and endocrinology, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of the nation's hospitals. University of Chicago physician-scientists performed the first organ transplant and the first bone marrow transplant in animal models, the first successful living-donor liver transplant, the first hormone therapy for cancer and the first successful application of cancer chemotherapy. Its researchers discovered REM sleep and were the first to describe several of the sleep stages. Twelve of the Nobel Prize winners have been affiliated with the University of Chicago Medicine.

For more University of Chicago Medicine news, visit our research blog at sciencelife.uchospitals.edu and our newsroom at uchospitals.edu/news.


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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-07/uocm-asd071812.php

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Possible Reasons You Suck at Relationships - College Candy

We?ve all been there, wondering why we aren?t in a relationship; wondering why we?re the only one without the boyfriend who cares about us brings us flowers, takes care of us when we?re sick; wondering why we only attract the assholes, the ones who want nothing more than a commitment-less booty call.

Well, I have a little guide ?for you that may help to answer a few of your questions. ?I bet you?re getting VERY sick of this nonsense, so it?s about that time you uncovered the reasons you just simply suck at relationships!

Source: http://collegecandy.com/2012/07/17/possible-reasons-you-suck-at-relationships/

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New Mahdi Strain of Spyware Targets Iran & Israel

The discovery of the Flame?virus earlier this year brought cyberespionage to the international stage. Flame is highly sophisticated spyware, software designed to snoop on infected machines, of unprecedented complexity and scale. But spyware does not need to be created by government-backed hackers to be highly effective. Sometimes simple viruses work just as well. That is the lesson of Mahdi, a new strain of spyware discovered on computers in the Middle East and Iran.

Mahdi (also termed Madi) was discovered by security firm Kaspersky Labs in conjunction with Seculert. The spyware is propagated by a clever ploy known in security circles as spear-phishing. The term phishing refers to using links in social media and email to lure users to visit a malicious website or to download a malicious file. Spear phishing uses the same principle but targets individuals rather than a mass audience.

In the case of Mahdi, individuals in Iran, Israel and a smattering of other Middle Eastern countries received emails linking to a specific article or to download a PowerPoint presentation with religious-themed slides. The targets included employees of critical infrastructure companies, financial services and government agencies, according to Kaspersky Labs' analysis. The lion?s share of the victims were in Iran (387 of 800 known victims) with 54 cases in Israel.?

The software reportedly performs the following functions:

  • Keylogging
  • Screenshot capture at specific intervals
  • Screenshot capture initiated by a communications-related event, such as when a user opens up a social networking site like Facebook or uses services like Skype or Gmail
  • Backdoor updates
  • Recording, saving and uploading of audio files
  • Retrieval of data files of 27 different types
  • Retrieval of disk structure
  • Deletion and binding (not fully implemented)?

Given the nature of Mahdi and the targets Kaspersky and Seculert identified, it seems to be a cyberespionage attack focused on specific people in the countries where it has been discovered.

From a technical perspective, Mahdi is fairly simple. It does not exploit any Zero Day vulnerabilities (security flaws unknown to security companies or software publishers), nor does it rely on a complex network of command-and-control servers; only four are known to exist.

This type of attack is much more common on the Web than the gargantuan Flame. Graham Cluley, a researcher for security company Sophos, said that the average user is much more susceptible to ?run-of-the-mill malware? than something like Flame.?

Dr. Mike Lloyd, chief technology officer of security management company RedSeal Networks, agrees.??Mahdi should remind anyone of the old idea that people in glass houses shouldn?t throw stones," he said. "This latest malware does not show signs of being complex and expensive, but the relative simplicity of the weapon - compared, say, to Flame - does not mean it?s less effective at reaching its goals. Globally, our infrastructure is weak ? there have been steady increases in complexity, and networks continue to become more interdependent.

?Research shows that easy attacks work," Lloyd continued, "and are at the core of the majority of detected breaches. Attackers do not need major nation-state resources to compromise most defenses. The motivation behind this specific outbreak may be international espionage, but these techniques and others demonstrate how easily defenses can be compromised, including for corporate espionage, theft or acts of war.?

Source: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/new-mahdi-strain-of-spyware-targets-iran-israel.php

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Rising lumber shipments brighten rail outlook

(Reuters) - Railroad shipments of lumber are gaining momentum, signaling a construction upturn that should drive up shipping volume of consumer products from appliances to furniture.

This mounting demand for construction and household goods bodes well for Union Pacific Corp , CSX Corp , Norfolk Southern Corp and Kansas City Southern as they report earnings for a quarter that was crimped by a deep drop in coal shipments.

Auto and intermodal shipping - the movement of goods in containers that can be shifted between modes of transportation such as from train to truck - have more than offset the coal drop triggered by a mild winter and low natural gas prices.

"The implication of stronger lumber shipments is that if homes are getting built then homes are being furnished," said Jeffrey Kauffman, senior research analyst at Sterne Agee in New York. "That is going to drive intermodal volume - furniture, PVC piping, and also auto sales can be related to new homes."

For the first half of this year, U.S. railroads hauled 11.8 percent more carloads of lumber and wood products than the same period a year earlier, the American Association of Railroads (AAR) said.

This was the third biggest gain of any of 20 categories tracked by the group, behind the 38.2 percent jump in petroleum products and 21.6 percent rise in motor vehicles and equipment.

In the same six-month period, carloads of grain fell 11.9 percent and coal dropped 10.7 percent.

Lumber itself represented 2 percent of the $65.3 billion total U.S. rail revenue generated by commodities carloads in 2011, the American Association of Railroads (AAR) said.

But the consumer goods category, which are finished goods including TVs and appliances, drove about 20 percent of the revenue, second only to 24 percent for coal.

Union Pacific's Chief Executive Officer Jack Koraleski, in a July 2 interview with Reuters, said the company has taken some lumber-moving equipment out of storage for the first time since 2008 to handle the increased volume.

The No. 1 U.S. public railroad's lumber carloads peaked at 226,000 in 2006 before plunging 65 percent to 79,000 in 2009 and then rising to 89,000 last year.

"We're not ready yet to declare victory, but by the time we get to the end of the year we'll probably still be somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 percent below our best year ever with lumber," or 113,000 carloads, Koraleski said. "That's better than it has been and headed in the right direction."

IS THE WORST OVER FOR COAL AND HOUSING?

Coal rail shipments are now headed upward, with utilities burning off stockpiles to produce electricity for air conditioning during this steamy summer, analysts agree.

"Coal looks like it has hit the bottom and is starting to come back up," said Koraleski.

The worst may also be in the past for housing, though the recovery will be slow and uneven, according to a Reuters poll published on Friday.

U.S. construction spending in May rose to its highest level in 2-1/2 years.

Sales of new single-family homes jumped to a two-year high as prices also rose in May. Previously-owned home sales declined 1.5 percent in May on the heels of a 3.4 percent jump the prior month, and median home prices rose for a fourth straight month.

Home funding company Freddie Mac this week said average 30-year mortgage rates hit a record low 3.56 percent, which can add incentive for creditworthy borrowers looking to buy a home.

CSX and Kansas City Southern, the No. 2 and No. 4 biggest public railroads, respectively, kick off second-quarter earnings on Tuesday. Union Pacific follows on Thursday and No. 3 railroad Norfolk Southern on July 24.

Cost controls and strength in autos, intermodal, lumber and petroleum shipments are expected to bolster profits for the rails that otherwise were pressured by coal.

"Any large moves off of earnings would in fact be a surprise as the option market reflects limited risk thus far" for the railroads, said Ophir Gottlieb, managing director of Livevol, an options analytics firm in San Francisco.

CSX earnings are seen at 47 cents, on average, up a penny in the quarter from a year ago, with revenue little changed around $3 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Kansas City Southern, less exposed to coal than its bigger peers, is seen posting earnings of 84 cents versus 71 cents a year ago on revenue of about $571 million versus $535 million.

Union Pacific's earnings are seen rising to $1.96 per share from $1.59, with revenue of $5.2 billion versus $4.9 billion. Norfolk Southern's earnings are seen at $1.53 per share from $1.38 on revenue of $2.94 billion versus $2.87 billion.

"The rails appear to be coming out of a nuclear winter largely intact ? passing stress tests that few other industries could survive and underscoring the resilience of these businesses," Jefferies & Co analysts led by Peter Nesvold, wrote in a note.

(Reporting by Lynn Adler, additional reporting by Doris Frankel in Chicago; editing by Patricia Kranz, Bernard Orr)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rising-lumber-shipments-brighten-rail-outlook-190838064--finance.html

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