underbelly arlyn: May 2013

Friday, May 31, 2013

Reprimand underscores Ohio St president's mistake

In this Sunday, May 5, 2013 photo, Ohio State president E. Gordon Gee speaks during the Ohio State University spring commencement in Columbus, Ohio. Gee told a university committee last December that Notre Dame wasn?t invited to join the Big Ten because they?re not good partners while also jokingly saying that ?those damn Catholics? can?t be trusted. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

This photo made Sunday, May 5, 2013, shows Ohio State president E. Gordon Gee during the Ohio State University spring commencement in Columbus, Ohio. Gee told a university committee last December that Notre Dame wasn?t invited to join the Big Ten because they?re not good partners while also jokingly saying that ?those damn Catholics? can?t be trusted. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) ? Verbal gaffes by Ohio State University president Gordon Gee have long been a source of amusement and headaches at the school, whether he was calling the state governor a "dummy" two decades ago or more recently likening the challenges of holding together university divisions to "the Polish Army."

His bosses, the university trustees who hired him for two separate stints as president, gave him plenty of leeway in the past. That hands-off approach makes their strong reaction to his latest comments all the more remarkable.

Gee, one of the most well-known college presidents in the country, is having to undergo a "remediation plan" after making remarks about "damn Catholics" and attacking the academic integrity of the Southeastern Conference.

"Offensive statements," Ohio State board chairman Robert Schottenstein called the remarks.

"For the leader of a renowned university, inappropriate comments about particular groups, classes of people or individuals are wholly unacceptable and are not in line with what we aspire to be as an institution of higher education," Schottenstein said in a statement.

Gee said Notre Dame was never invited to join the Big Ten conference because the university's priests are not good partners, joking that "those damn Catholics" can't be trusted, according to a recording of a meeting he attended late last year.

Gee also took shots at schools in the Southeastern Conference and the University of Louisville, according to the recording of the December meeting of the school's Athletic Council that The Associated Press obtained under a public records request.

The remediation plan will "address his behavior that reflects the Board's commitment to returning to the core messaging of the university and its leadership," Schottenstein said.

Ohio State trustees learned of Gee's "offensive statements" in January, met with the president at length and created the remediation plan, Schottenstein said.

Gee was on a long-planned family vacation and unavailable for comment, Ohio State spokeswoman Gayle Saunders said. He apologized in a statement released to the AP.

"The comments I made were just plain wrong, and in no way do they reflect what the university stands for," he said in the statement. "They were a poor attempt at humor and entirely inappropriate. There is no excuse for this and I am deeply sorry."

Gee told members of the council that he negotiated with Notre Dame officials over joining the Big Ten during his first term at Ohio State, which began more than two decades ago.

"The fathers are holy on Sunday, and they're holy hell on the rest of the week," Gee said to laughter at the Dec. 5 meeting attended by Athletic Director Gene Smith, several other athletic department members, professors and students.

"You just can't trust those damn Catholics on a Thursday or a Friday, and so, literally, I can say that," said Gee, a Mormon.

In the recording, Gee referred specifically to dealing with the Rev. Ned Joyce, Notre Dame's longtime executive vice president, who died in 2004.

"Father Joyce was one of those people who ran the university for many, many years," Gee said.

Gee said the Atlantic Coast Conference, which added Notre Dame in all sports except football and hockey, did so at a time when it was feeling vulnerable.

"Notre Dame wanted to have its cake and eat it, too," Gee said, according to the recording and a copy of the meeting's minutes.

"Regrettable" and "inappropriate" summed up the reactions from universities mentioned by Gee at the meeting, including Notre Dame, Louisville, Kentucky and schools in the Southeastern Conference.

Ohio State's Athletic Council meets monthly during the fall, winter and spring and makes recommendations on athletic policy including ticket prices. December's meeting was at Ohio Stadium.

Gee has gotten in trouble before for offhand remarks, most recently during a memorabilia-for-cash and tattoos scandal under football coach Jim Tressel's watch.

Gee was asked in March 2011 whether he had considered firing Tressel. He responded: "No, are you kidding? Let me just be very clear: I'm just hopeful the coach doesn't dismiss me." Tressel stepped down three months later.

In November 2010, Gee boasted that Ohio State's football schedule didn't include teams on par with the "Little Sisters of the Poor." An apologetic Gee later sent a personal check to the real Little Sisters of the Poor in northwest Ohio and followed up with a visit to the nuns months later.

Last year, Gee apologized for comparing the problem of coordinating the school's many divisions to the Polish army, a remark that a Polish-American group called bigoted and ignorant.

In 1992, in a moment of frustration over higher-education funding, Gee told a student newspaper reporter, "the governor's a damn dummy." Then-Gov. George Voinovich laughed it off, and the two became allies.

Gee was named the country's best college president in 2010 by Time magazine, and he has one of the highest-profile resumes of any college leader in recent history. He has held the top job at West Virginia University, the University of Colorado, Brown University and Vanderbilt University. He was Ohio State president from 1990 to 1997 and returned in 2007.

Gee earns about $1.9 million annually in base pay, deferred and performance compensation and retirement benefits.

He is a prolific fundraiser and is leading a $2.5 billion campaign at Ohio State. He is omnipresent on campus, attending everything from faculty awards events to dormitory pizza parties. He is known for his bow ties ? he has hundreds ? and his horn-rimmed glasses.

During his comments to the Athletic Council, Gee also questioned the academic integrity of schools in the Southeastern Conference and the University of Louisville.

The top goal of Big Ten presidents is to "make certain that we have institutions of like-minded academic integrity," Gee said. "So you won't see us adding Louisville," which is also joining the ACC.

After a pause followed by laughter from the audience, Gee added that the Big Ten wouldn't add the University of Kentucky, either.

"We understand this is not the first time President Gee has made statements he has regretted," said Louisville spokesman Mark Hebert.

During the meeting, Gee also said he thought it was a mistake not to include Missouri and Kansas in earlier Big Ten expansion plans. Missouri has since joined the SEC.

"You tell the SEC when they can learn to read and write, then they can figure out what we're doing," Gee said when asked by a questioner how to respond to SEC fans who say the Big Ten can't count because it now has 14 members.

Gee noted he was chairman of the SEC during his time as Vanderbilt University chancellor. He also told the audience that speculation about the SEC "remains right here," according to the recording.

Gee took a swipe at Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany, one of the most powerful leaders in college athletics, when he answered a question about preserving Ohio State's financial interests in light of Big Ten revenue-sharing plans.

"No one admires Jim Delany more than I do. I chaired the committee that brought him here," Gee said. "Jim is very aggressive, and we need to make certain he keeps his hands out of our pockets while we support him."

Delany called the comments "inappropriate."

___

Associated Press writers John Seewer in Toledo, Tom Coyne in South Bend, Ind., Janet Cappiello in Louisville, Ky., Stephen Hawkins in Irving, Texas, and Mark Long in Destin, Fla., contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-05-31-US-Ohio-State-President/id-657cab7d27d34bebb7b432cf26b9924f

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New mathematical model links space-time theories

May 30, 2013 ? Researchers at the University of Southampton have taken a significant step in a project to unravel the secrets of the structure of our Universe.

Professor Kostas Skenderis, Chair in Mathematical Physics at the University, comments: "One of the main recent advances in theoretical physics is the holographic principle. According to this idea, our Universe may be thought of as a hologram and we would like to understand how to formulate the laws of physics for such a holographic Universe."

A new paper released by Professor Skenderis and Dr Marco Caldarelli from the University of Southampton, Dr Joan Camps from the University of Cambridge and Dr Blaise Gout?raux from the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics, Sweden published in the Rapid Communication section of 'Physical Review D', makes connections between negatively curved space-time and flat space-time.

Space-time is usually understood to describe space existing in three dimensions, with time playing the role of a fourth dimension and all four coming together to form a continuum, or a state in which the four elements can't be distinguished from each other.

Flat space-time and negative space-time describe an environment in which the Universe is non-compact, with space extending infinitely, forever in time, in any direction. The gravitational forces, such as the ones produced by a star, are best described by flat-space time. Negatively curved space-time describes a Universe filled with negative vacuum energy. The mathematics of holography is best understood for negatively curved space-times.

Professor Skenderis has developed a mathematic model which finds striking similarities between flat space-time and negatively curved space-time, with the latter however formulated in a negative number of dimensions, beyond our realm of physical perception.

He comments: "According to holography, at a fundamental level the universe has one less dimension than we perceive in everyday life and is governed by laws similar to electromagnetism. The idea is similar to that of ordinary holograms where a three-dimensional image is encoded in a two-dimensional surface, such as in the hologram on a credit card, but now it is the entire Universe that is encoded in such a fashion.

"Our research is ongoing, and we hope to find more connections between flat space-time, negatively curved space-time and holography. Traditional theories about how the Universe operates go some way individually to describing its very nature, but each fall short in different areas. It is our ultimate goal to find a new combined understanding of the Universe, which works across the board."

The paper AdS/Ricci-flat correspondence and the Gregory-Laflamme instability specifically explains what is known as the Gregory Laflamme instability, where certain types of black hole break up into smaller black holes when disturbed -- rather like a thin stream of water breaking into little droplets when you touch it with your finger. This black hole phenomenon has previously been shown to exist through computer simulations and this work provides a deeper theoretical explanation.

In October 2012, Professor Skenderis was named among 20 other prominent scientists around the world to receive an award from the New Frontiers in Astronomy and Cosmology international grant competition. He received $175,000 to explore the question, 'Was there a beginning of time and space?''.

The detailed paper AdS/Ricci-flat correspondence and the Gregory-Laflamme instability can be found here:

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/WPlqoE_7JOk/130530094633.htm

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Aereo

Cutting cable is increasingly tempting, with more streaming media services available than ever before. Between Netflix, Hulu, and, ahem, 'other less-legit sources,' there are few shows you can't find easily without a television these days. They don't stream live TV, though, and if you want to watch the news, talk shows, or sitcoms as they air, you still need either a cable subscription or a TV tuner. Aereo offers a unique alternative by providing a tuner and DVR off-site, letting you subscribe to terrestrial channels and get similar advantages that cable and satellite offer (without the huge number of channels) in a form you can watch on your TV, computer, or iOS device. It's less expensive than when we first looked at Aereo last year, it's expanding to more areas, and it performs really well now, even if it's still not quite a cable or satellite alternative.

The Basics
While Aereo is slowly expanding, it's still limited in availability and scope. You can subscribe to the service if you live in New York City or Boston, and will be available in Atlanta in the coming weeks. Because it streams terrestrial broadcasts in its respective cities, it doesn't have any cable channels or more targeted networks. For example, you can access all of the major networks (CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, CW, and PBS), plus over a dozen other channels available in New York and Boston, including ION, Cozi TV, and This TV in both markets. But you can't access, say, SyFy or ESPN with it. Both New York and Boston have a handful of Spanish language channels as well, and New York also has four Asian language channels including SinoVision and New Tang Dynasty Television. Finally, Bloomberg TV is also available in both markets.

Aereo offers access to two tuners and 20 hours of DVR storage monthly for its $8 plan, and that can be expanded to 60 hours for $4 more. Like a local DVR, one of the tuners must be engaged when recording, so if you want to record two shows at once, you'll only be able to watch one of those shows and not something else.

Watching Aereo
You can access Aereo from any compatible Web browser. You can also watch Aereo through a special Roku channel if you have a Roku 3 box, or on any Apple mobile device using iOS 4 or higher (which you can then stream to your TV through Apple TV with AirPlay). The apps are free, but the lack of Android support is a big omission on Aereo's part.

Since Aereo uses the company's antennae at its own location, it offers perfect reception for all channels without any adjustment on your part. I had no problem tuning into mid-day television (The Ellen DeGeneres Show on ABC and The Dr. Oz Show on FOX) in seconds and getting cable-worthy pictures. At high video quality, shows looked sharp and smooth on my 1,920-by-1,080 monitor. The video quality depends on your Internet connection, but if you have enough bandwidth, the picture is close to what you'd get from tuning into high-definition OTA television on an HDTV.

The Aereo Web interface offers a lot of useful information (and the iOS client is similar), but for casual television watching it leaves something to be desired. The guide shows everything that is currently on, and clicking on a specific program offers more information about the program along with options to watch or record the program or share it on Twitter or Facebook. However, there's no channel surfing function outside of the guide and it takes several seconds to change channels, so you can't just flip through the two dozen-odd channels casually looking for something interesting to watch. However, the Web interface is very smooth and functional otherwise, and I didn't experience any glitches or sluggish responses like when I originally tested it.?

Aereo is less expensive and much smoother than when we reviewed it a year ago. If you live in a city where it's available, you watch primarily network television (or Spanish language television), and you want to get functions like DVR and streaming television outside of your actual HDTV (where you can hook up a digital antenna and get the channels for free), it's a good alternative to basic cable. If your tastes are more specialized and you want to watch more than the standard combination of ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS, and CW, you might be better off putting that $8 per month toward an online service like Netflix or Hulu Plus if you don't want to make the investment for cable or satellite.?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/3Y10c6M3YDg/0,2817,2401512,00.asp

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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Living in poor area as teen could increase risk for chlamydia in young adulthood

Public release date: 29-May-2013
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Contact: Jodi Ford
Ford.553@osu.edu
614-292-6862
Ohio State University

Study points to need for interventions that address neighborhood poverty

COLUMBUS, Ohio Living in a poor neighborhood as an adolescent is linked to an increased risk of getting the sexually transmitted infection (STI) chlamydia in young adulthood, according to new research.

Ohio State University researchers analyzed data from a large national study that tracked youths over time. The analysis suggested that children who lived in poor neighborhoods during their teenage years had an almost 25 percent greater risk of having chlamydia in their early 20s even if they themselves weren't poor than did teenagers living in wealthier settings.

The effect of living in an impoverished neighborhood on the risk for later infection was unaffected by other known STI risk factors, such as depression, having multiple sex partners or beginning sexual activity at a very young age.

"There is a long-term effect of living in poverty on the risk for sexually transmitted infections in young adulthood, above and beyond behavioral issues," said Jodi Ford, lead author of the study and an assistant professor of nursing at Ohio State. "We have a lot of interventions trying to address sexual risk behaviors, but few target neighborhood poverty and disadvantage. And this work shows that living in a poor neighborhood can have a long-term effect on health."

Ford conducted the research with Christopher Browning, professor of sociology at Ohio State. The study is published in a recent issue of the Journal of Urban Health.

Ford and Browning accessed data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to conduct the analysis. The sample they studied included data from three separate interviews of 11,460 youths who participated in the national project. When they were first interviewed, the average age of the children studied was 15.6 years; by the time of the third interview, these same participants were between 18 and 27 years old.

The prevalence of chlamydia among the young adults surveyed was 4.6 percent relatively low compared to what national data suggest, Ford said. That could be because the national longitudinal study from which she drew her sample took place in schools, meaning it did not capture portions of the population who had dropped out prior to the beginning of the Add Health study.

Chlamydia is a bacterial infection that can affect both men and women, but can cause scarring and infertility issues in women if the infection persists. An estimated 2.86 million infections occur annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but many are not reported because most people do not have symptoms and do not seek testing.

"Adolescents and young adults are the most likely to experience chlamydia infection in the United States. This study strengthens the evidence that to fully address the sexual health needs of this population, STI prevention efforts should also acknowledge the effects of neighborhood poverty," Ford said.

The researchers considered four characteristics from U.S. Census data from corresponding years to determine whether the youths lived in poor neighborhoods as teenagers: proportion of households below poverty, proportion of households on public assistance, total unemployment rate and proportion of female-headed households with children.

By applying statistical modeling to the data, Ford determined that young adults who lived in a neighborhood with higher concentrations of poverty during their adolescence had higher odds of testing positive for chlamydia in their early 20s compared to their more advantaged peers.

The researchers also examined whether risky sexual behaviors or depression occurring during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood explained the relationship between adolescent poverty and chlamydia risk, but the findings were not significant. This means the significant effect of exposure to neighborhood poverty during adolescence on chlamydia risk during young adulthood was not because of an increased likelihood of sexual risk-taking behaviors or depression.

This analysis of data on a broad level does not address the reasons behind how living in an impoverished area can affect health later in life. The work is part of Ford's ongoing investigation of how neighborhoods can influence risk for depression, infectious disease and other health problems in vulnerable populations.

She continues to use data from the Add Health project, which was funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

###

This study was funded by a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholar grant.

Contact: Jodi Ford, (614) 292-6862; Ford.553@osu.edu

Written by Emily Caldwell, (614) 292-8310; Caldwell.151@osu.edu

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Living in poor area as teen could increase risk for chlamydia in young adulthood

Public release date: 29-May-2013
[ | E-mail |

Share ]

Contact: Jodi Ford
Ford.553@osu.edu
614-292-6862
Ohio State University

Study points to need for interventions that address neighborhood poverty

Ford conducted the research with Christopher Browning, professor of sociology at Ohio State. The study is published in a recent issue of the Journal of Urban Health.

She continues to use data from the Add Health project, which was funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

###

This study was funded by a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholar grant.

Contact: Jodi Ford, (614) 292-6862; Ford.553@osu.edu

Written by Emily Caldwell, (614) 292-8310; Caldwell.151@osu.edu

[ | E-mail |

Share ]

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/osu-lip052913.php

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Nordic diet lowers cholesterol, study finds

May 29, 2013 ? A healthy Nordic diet lowers cholesterol levels, and therefore the risk of cardiovascular disease, a pan-Nordic study where Lund University participated has found. There was also decreased inflammation associated with pre-diabetes.

- The subjects who ate a Nordic diet had lower levels of harmful LDL cholesterol and higher levels of "good" HDL cholesterol. The amount of harmful fat particles in the blood also declined, says Lieselotte Cloetens, a biomedical nutrition researcher at Lund University.

The 'healthy Nordic diet' used in the study contains local produce such as berries, root vegetables, legumes, and cabbage. Nuts, game, poultry and fish are also included, as well as whole grains, rapeseed oil and low-fat dairy products. The rest of the group ate butter instead of rapeseed oil, less berries and vegetables, and had no rules on red meat or white bread intake.

The researchers now want to focus on the diet's ability to maintain weight loss in a new study, according to Lieselotte Cloetens, who points out that the problem with most diets is maintaining the results.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Lund University.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

M. Uusitupa, K. Hermansen, M. J. Savolainen, U. Schwab, M. Kolehmainen, L. Brader, L. S. Mortensen, L. Cloetens, A. Johansson-Persson, G. ?nning, M. Landin-Olsson, K.-H. Herzig, J. Hukkanen, F. Rosqvist, D. Iggman, J. Paananen, K. J. Pulkki, M. Siloaho, L. Dragsted, T. Barri, K. Overvad, K. E. Bach Knudsen, M. S. Hedemann, P. Arner, I. Dahlman, G. I. A. Borge, P. Baardseth, S. M. Ulven, I. Gunnarsdottir, S. J?nsd?ttir, I. Thorsdottir, M. Ore?i?, K. S. Poutanen, U. Ris?rus, B. ?kesson. Effects of an isocaloric healthy Nordic diet on insulin sensitivity, lipid profile and inflammation markers in metabolic syndrome - a randomized study (SYSDIET). Journal of Internal Medicine, 2013; DOI: 10.1111/joim.12044

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/nutrition/~3/H5swsViQosI/130529101512.htm

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The HTC One 'Google Edition' is official!

Google Ed. HTC One

HTC One with Nexus User Experience arriving June 26 for $599

It's been reported since last week, but now it's official -- in addition to the the 'Google Edition' Samsung Galaxy S4, Google will offer an HTC One running its 'Nexus user experience' software -- that's vanilla/stock Android to the rest of us.

Android boss Sundar Pichai revealed the news on-stage at the D11 conference, saying it runs the same core UI as Nexus devices. The 'Google Edition' HTC One, he says, will hit Google Play on June 26, priced at $599. It'll run on AT&T and T-Mobile in the U.S. Pichai also mentioned that the Nexus line will continue alongside these 'Google Edition' handsets.

So now that it's all official, who's planning on picking up Google's HTC One? Or will you be sticking with the HTC version, or even the Google Edition GS4? Share your thoughts down in the comments!

Update: Google's Hugo Barra has followed up with an official render, and says the HTC One with Nexus User Experience will come with Beats Audio. HTC's official statement on the device confirms the launch date, and the fact that it ships with Android 4.2.2 and will get updates straight from Google.

Source: Engadget liveblog, +Hugo Barra, HTC

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/OYHazlsNndc/story01.htm

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Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Solidoodle 2 Pro

By Tony Hoffman

The Solidoodle 2 Pro 3D printer has a consumer-friendly price and does well in consistently printing out plastic objects from CAD files. Solidoodle targets this product toward an eclectic mix of users, from tech-savvy consumers all the way to professionals. Based on the amount of troubleshooting I had to do in getting it up and running, it's suitable for experienced users rather than typical consumers. Anyone setting the Solidoodle 2 Pro, if their experience is at all similar to mine, would need to be very patient and liberally avail themselves of Solidoodle's extensive help resources before being able to print with it. But once my test unit was up and running, the Solidoodle 2 Pro performed like a pro, consistently printing out objects of decent quality with few misprints.

There are several models in the Solidoodle stable. The Solidoodle 2 Pro has a few advantages over the base model in its line (Solidoodle 2, $499 direct): Its build platform is heated, and it has an upgraded spool holder and power supply, plus interior lighting. The Solidoodle 2 Expert ($699) adds a cover and a front door. A third-generation model, the Solidoodle 3 ($799), has a larger (8-by-8-by-8-inch) build platform.

The Solidoodle 2 Pro is nothing if not sturdy. Its open, nearly cubical steel frame, 11.5 by 11.75 by 11.75 inches (HWD), is built to last. The company says the frame can support the weight of a 200-pound man even while printing (no, we did not test this). Its build area is up to 6 by 6 by 6 inches, slightly larger than the 3D Systems Cube 3D Printer, with a build area of 5.5 inches in each dimension.

Continue Reading: Basics and Setup

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/vAYMTGobuPY/0,2817,2419566,00.asp

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Golf Course Debate Continues

CJOB's Keith McCullough reporting
5/28/2013

The great golf course debate at Winnipeg City Hall takes another twist this morning

The city auditor will address a special meeting of Executive Policy Committee.

A report from 2011 says the courses are losing a ton of money, and recommends changes. Champions of the leasing plan, like Mayor Sam Katz and Deputy Mayor Russ Wyatt, have used that report to support their position, but other councillors have questioned their math and suggest that any potential savings are being exaggerated.

Wyatt says he's hopeful this will change some minds ahead of tomorrow's council vote:

"I'm an optimist that the right thing will be done, and I hope that some councillors will see the facts and make the decision based on those facts, not based on the politics."

As of now, the plan would not get the required support.

Members of the public and other councillors will be allowed to address the committee.

Source: http://www.cjob.com/News/Local/Story.aspx?ID=1970958

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Former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman on Obama: Still a Slow Learner (Video)

Former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman (his wife is the current mayor) slammed Barack Obama today on Your World with Neil Cavuto.

?You know he?s great when he?s on the monitor. When he gets off the monitor for some reason Las Vegas always seems to crawl into his mind? It had a devastating effect on Las Vegas?. The following year, that?s when I made my ?slow learner? comment, he did the same thing again!? That?s like going down to Florida and telling people not to drink orange juice? Still it reverberates through the community. I don?t believe the community forgave him for those comments.?

Source: http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/05/former-las-vegas-oscar-goodman-on-obama-still-a-slow-learner-video/

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Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Cancer drug underdosing report due out in summer

Hamilton Spectator
5/28/2013

In the wake of the underdosing controversy, the expert investigating the situation for the province says the need for oversight should extend beyond licensing. ?

Dr. Jake Thiessen was selected by the Health Minsitry to investigate the underdosing of chemotherapy drugs in Ontario. ?

He says there should be not only licensing standards, but also specific requirements for education and experience for the companies that pre mix drugs for hospitals.? ?

Marchese Hospital Solutions of Hamilton prepared the drug-and-saline mixture that was supplied to four hospitals in Ontario and one in New Brunswick.

The governing Ontario Liberals brought in rules May 15th to close the gap in oversight for companies that mix drugs for hospitals.

The institutions can only purchase drugs from accredited, licensed or otherwise approved suppliers.

Thiessen's full report will be presented to Health Minister Deb Matthews July 12th and she has promised to make it public.?

Source: http://www.900chml.com/Channels/Reg/NewsLocalGeneral/Story.aspx?ID=1970838

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Couples Facing the Ordeal of Cancer - NYTimes.com

Three days after her double mastectomy for recurrent breast cancer, Elissa Bantug, then 25, needed to feel whole again. But when she expressed a desire for intimacy, her fianc? (now her husband) walked away, leaving her feeling hurt and angry and worried about their future together.

Weeks later she learned that his rejection was based not on any lost love or attraction, but on the fear that he might hurt her physically.

?I was just guessing,? Ms. Bantug said in an interview. ?It would have been really helpful to hear his thoughts, fears and concerns.? But she admits she did no better at expressing her own.

All through the postoperative ordeal and chemotherapy, she said, ?I did a bad job of communicating my needs. I would tell him I?m fine when I really felt awful, and then I would resent the fact that he didn?t take care of me.

?It was really hard, but we got through it because we love each other,? she said. ?He finally told me: ?I want you alive. I don?t care what your breasts look like.? ?

Recognizing the importance of honesty and communication when cancer strikes, Ms. Bantug, now 31, went on to run a cancer survivors? clinic at the Johns Hopkins Breast Center, helping other couples through the cancer experience. She spoke frankly of her own ordeal with Dan Shapiro, a professor of psychology at Penn State University.

Dr. Shapiro is the author of a new book, ?And in Health: A Guide for Couples Facing Cancer Together.? His advice can help prevent the diagnosis from damaging one?s most important relationship.

Few know the challenges better. Both Dr. Shapiro and his wife, Terry, have survived serious bouts of cancer. Cancer, he wrote, ?is like a tremor that rattles our walls and finds the fault lines that already existed. If we?re not careful, it reaches into our relationships and drags out these subtle differences and magnifies them.?

Dr. Shapiro met his wife in his 20s while undergoing a bone marrow transplant for Hodgkin?s lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph system. After they married, his cancer recurred, and he needed a second bone marrow transplant, which saved his life.

By means of stored sperm, the couple had two daughters. Then cancer struck again. Dr. Shapiro admits that when his wife was found to have breast cancer, he became ?nonfunctional, terrified that she might die and fearing I?d have to raise the two girls by myself.? But instead of telling his wife, ?I love you a lot ? it?s hard to watch this,? he tried to protect her from his fears.

He has since learned that withholding his feelings was a big mistake. ?By not being honest with each other,? he told me, ?you can create a wedge in the relationship at a time when you both need understanding and support.?

Dr. Shapiro wrote that cancer can cause people to lose their bearings and to push away those they love and most need to help them through the challenges of treatment.

The lessons derived from his own experience and those of 40 other ?cancer couples? are elaborated in his book, a kind of Cancer 101 for couples. Among them:

Teamwork Is Essential Even without the challenge of a potentially fatal diagnosis like cancer, people often have difficulty remembering everything doctors tell them and correctly interpreting the information. When couples see doctors as a team, with one assigned to take notes and both able to ask questions, misunderstandings about diagnoses and treatment options are less likely.

If doctors fail to adequately address the patient?s concerns, the couple should decide which partner will speak up. And when both members of a couple are educated about side effects, they are less likely to panic when a symptom develops.

Talk and Touch Whenever and however you can, express and show your love and concern in words, actions and touch. When faced with cancer, Dr. Shapiro?s wife needed him to say, repeatedly, that he loved her. ?And she wanted me to take the trash down to the street on time without being reminded,? he added.
Love and support can also be communicated through touch. ?A soft nonsexual touch on the arm or shoulder can be a soothing balm when we feel vulnerable,? Dr. Shapiro wrote.

Allow for Mistakes Couples must rely more than ever on patience and tolerance. ?Cancer requires a whole new set of skills at a time when most of us are depleted, distracted and scared,? he wrote. Each person should go easy on the partner when ?rookie mistakes? occur, like forgetting appointments, losing things or locking the keys in the car.

When people are anxious, they may blame each other for their ill feelings. The psychologist warns against acting on ?negative feelings? that inevitably arise, for example, when couples are waiting for the results of treatment. Rather than take out their anxiety on spouses, themselves or anyone else, he suggests, ?Do exercise, go for walks, see a movie, talk to friends and distract yourself.?

Nobody Can Read Minds Like Ms. Bantug, patients often expect their partners to know how they are feeling and what they may want, then resent it when unexpressed needs are not met.

A patient?s ability and energy to perform tasks may change from one day to the next. Patients may feel unsupported if their partners expect them to function normally when they feel awful, or they may resent having jobs taken from them when they feel well. It?s better to ask than to assume. Both should ?talk about what needs to be done today and who?s going to do it,? Dr. Shapiro advised. He encourages spouses to repeatedly check in with each other about various tasks.

Prepare for the Unknown When Penny Carruth?s husband?s body ?shut down? while he was being treated for lymphoma, she didn?t know if he would want to be artificially ventilated. ?It seemed like torture ? he moaned, groaned and tried to pull off the mask. His hands had to be tied down,? she told me.

In Dr. Shapiro?s book, she urges couples to have a conversation about end-of-life care, making clear their wishes in case a spouse later faces decisions about life support.

?Advance directives are a lasting gift? for those you love, Dr. Shapiro said. One woman he interviewed lost her chance to spend the last months with her husband in the way she wanted because the doctors pursued treatment even as he was dying.

Source: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/27/facing-cancer-together/

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New iPhone apps worth downloading: Sudo, Bondsy, Ultimate Stick Fight

We're kicking off the shortened week with a couple of apps that could help you save money! First up is Sudo, an app that brings you only the local deals and discounts that interest you, protecting how your data is shared with advertisers. Second is Bondsy, an app designed to let you trade items with others, but which is limited to friends and friends of friends, and supports cash transactions as well as bartering. Finally, Ultimate Stick Fight brings back some beat-'em-up nostalgia as players work through side-scrolling levels, pummeling stick men using tons of combos and abilities.

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What?s it about? Discount app Sudo lets you share data about yourself with merchants and stores in order to grab cool deals and rewards that interest you.

What?s cool? You've probably heard about how valuable user data can be to advertisers and merchants, which is why social networks such as Facebook and Google+ don't mind giving you access to their sites for free ? they make money sharing data about their users with advertisers. Sudo puts the ability to share that data with stores in your hands, giving you reward points for using discounts and allowing you to determine how much data you share and with which stores. The app provides you with all kinds of discounts for your area but only shows you the ones that interest you, and helps you determine that if you're going to be advertised to, at least those ads will be useful.

Who?s it for? Deal hunters, Sudo takes a unique approach to dealing with discounts and ads.

What?s it like? Find more local deals using Groupon and LivingSocial.

What?s it about? Instead of selling your stuff to strangers, Bondsy is a social network geared at trading your stuff with friends.

What?s cool? There are lots of services on the Internet that help you get value out of your old stuff by reselling it to other users, usually pretty directly. Bondsy takes that same idea but keeps it fun, social and private ? instead of selling things, you use Bondsy to arrange trades of your stuff for someone else's. In order to keep things safe and above-board, however, Bondsy keeps things simple: the social network is built so that you only interact and trade with friends you trust, rather than with complete strangers. In order to list an item, you just have to snap a photo and write something quick about the item, and you can choose to either add a monetary price tag or accept a straight trade instead. The app also lets you make offers on the things listed by friends and friends of friends.

Who?s it for? If you're the sort of bargain hunter who likes to make trades, negotiate, and get rid of something old to make room for something new, try Bondsy.

What?s it like? You can take on a more traditional buying and selling system with eBay and Half.com.

What?s it about? Side-scrolling brawler Ultimate Stick Fight pits stick man against stick man in tons of battles in this old-school arcade title.

What?s cool? Taking a page from the side-scrolling brawlers of the 1990s, Ultimate Stick Fight lets players take on the role of either Ryan or Slash, a pair of stick men on a mission to beat down other stick men. Using combos, weapons like swords and guns, and 20 different moves that are unique to each character, players fight through 40 levels that will remind of titles such as Double Dragon and Streets of Rage. You'll also spend time upgrading your characters to make them more effective, and Ultimate Stick Fight also includes three difficulty levels for additional challenge.

Who?s it for? Players familiar with the side-scrolling brawlers that made arcade cabinets so awesome will have lots of fun with Ultimate Stick Fight.

What?s it like? Grab DoubleDragon and X-Men for more nostalgic arcade beat 'em ups.

Source: http://www.appolicious.com/tech/articles/13501-new-iphone-apps-worth-downloading-sudo-bondsy-ultimate-stick-fight

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French anti-terror unit investigating stabbing of soldier

PARIS (Reuters) - A state anti-terrorism unit is investigating the stabbing of a French soldier in Paris that police said may have been inspired by the killing of a British serviceman in a London street.

Police are hunting for a bearded man about 30 years old and possibly of North African origin who fled into a crowded train station after attacking the 23-year-old soldier from behind with a knife or a box-cutter on Saturday.

Interior Minister Manuel Valls tasked a Paris anti-terror unit with the investigation. He said on Saturday night that the attack's spontaneous nature recalled the daytime murder of a British soldier on May 22 by two men shouting Islamist slogans.

Police union UNSA spokesman Christophe Crepin said there were similarities with the London attack.

"I think this person wanted to imitate what happened in London," he told Itele television, echoing France's defence minister who said earlier that the soldier had been targeted because of his uniform.

But Valls warned against jumping to conclusions about an Islamist militant attack because police had yet to arrest a suspect or gather enough evidence to offer any theories about its motivation.

A police source told Reuters the attacker fled without a word after striking the soldier, who was patrolling the La Defense business neighborhood west of Paris with two other servicemen when he was stabbed in the back of the neck.

The assailant struck at least once and narrowly missed the soldier's jugular vein. On Sunday the soldier was recovering at a military hospital near Paris, French media said.

Police originally described the attacker as tall, athletic, dark-skinned and wearing an Arab-style tunic under his jacket. But the source said police now had doubts about the tunic after reviewing surveillance footage, saying it could be a sweater instead.

An individual was questioned late on Saturday following the attack but subsequently released because his description did not match that of the assailant, the source said.

France has been on high alert for attacks by Islamist militants since its military intervention against Islamist rebels in Mali in January. That prompted threats against French interests from AQIM, the North African wing of al Qaeda.

The latest warning was published on YouTube a few weeks before gunmen this week attacked a military base and a French uranium extraction site in the central African state of Niger, killing 24 soldiers and one civilian.

(Reporting by Nicolas Bertin and Nick Vinocur; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/french-anti-terror-unit-investigating-stabbing-soldier-115216716.html

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Monday, May 27, 2013

Patient communication has room to grow: studies

By Andrew M. Seaman

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - There's room - and need - for improvement in the discussions between doctor and patient that go into medical decision-making, according to research out on Monday.

In four studies and a commentary published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the authors look at various aspects of doctors' dialogue with patients about prognoses, options and treatment preferences and find little consistency.

And though not all patients want the responsibility of making treatment decisions, medical organizations have long promoted the idea of patient-centered care through shared decision-making, and the 2010 Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act that goes into effect next year incorporates the idea into law.

What's more, "When physicians reach out and communicate to patients that their views are welcome, patients really like that a lot," said Floyd Fowler, senior scientific advisor for the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation in Boston.

But research in the past decade showed that U.S. patients with common medical conditions were not being adequately informed about their treatment options, so Fowler and his colleagues wanted to see if anything had changed recently.

They surveyed 2,718 U.S. adults who were over 40 years old in 2011 and had seen a doctor for any of the five most commonly treated medical conditions - high blood pressure and cholesterol, prostate and breast cancer screenings and back and knee problems - during the previous two years.

They found that doctors tended to discuss the pros and cons of surgeries, but not of cancer screenings or the choice of medication to treat high blood pressure or cholesterol.

"Each decision has its own dynamic, and it's intriguing that the heart risk related discussions weren't very good," said Fowler, the study's lead author.

He added that doctors may view back and knee surgeries as more complicated treatments, which is why they were discussed in more detail.

In a separate study of 207 kidney patients from two dialysis centers in Boston, researchers found that doctors rarely discussed very sick patients' prognoses or their eligibility for kidney transplants.

Dialysis patients tend to have one- and five-year survival rates comparable to those of many cancer patients, Dr. Melissa Wachterman, a palliative care physician with the VA Boston Healthcare system, and her colleagues point out in their report.

"Talking about prognosis is tough, but there are a lot of reasons why there is a benefit for patients to have this information if they want it," Wachterman told Reuters Health.

In their study, Wachterman's team interviewed 60 of the sickest dialysis patients and their doctors about expectations for the patients' survival and to what degree they had been discussed.

The researchers found only two patients whose doctors may have discussed their prognosis with them, and that more than half of the doctors said they would refuse to discuss prognoses - even if patients asked.

"I think we do a disservice to patients if we don't give them a sense that time could be short, because they have a lot that they want to do with the time they have left," Wachterman said.

In addition, the researchers found that while patients were good judges of whether or not they'd live another year, they tended to overestimate their long-term survival without their doctors' guidance.

"I think - in the long term - having this kind of information can actually give people hope and the ability to plan," Wachterman said.

But not everyone may want to play an active role in their care, according to Dr. Mack Lipkin, a professor of medicine at the New York University School of Medicine and the Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City.

"There are many people who want to be active participants in their care but there are also many people who prefer not to be so active," said Lipkin, who wrote an editorial accompanying the new research.

That's supported by a study of hospitalized patients, led by Hyo Jung Tak of University of Chicago, which found the vast majority wanted information on their illness and treatment options but more than 70 percent wanted doctors to make their medical decisions.

Moreover, Tak's group found that patients who preferred to participate in decision-making were more expensive. They stayed, on average, an extra quarter day in the hospital and racked up $155 to $1,576 more in costs.

Still, a study led by Dr. Harlan Krumholz, of Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, surveyed 7,000 heart attack patients and found more than two-thirds preferred to play an active role in decision-making. A quarter of the respondents preferred to be the sole decision-maker.

At the very least, Krumholz's report concludes, doctors "who aspire to provide patient-centered care" should ask patients about their decision-making preferences directly.

Lipkin also said it's best to ask patients their preferences.

"We think the first thing to do is ask the patient what they'd like to know, how they'd like to learn it and then tell them," he said.

Fowler added that patients who want to be a part of the decision process shouldn't be afraid to speak up, and he hopes they get used to sharing in the process as the Affordable Care Act emphasizes shared decision-making initiatives.

"We're hoping these types of changes that are in the works really happen? and that when we repeat the study three or four years from now we'll start to see a difference. That would be great," he said.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/MbBLb9 JAMA Internal Medicine, online May 27, 2013.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/patient-communication-room-grow-studies-200403055.html

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Bob Dole says he, Nixon, Reagan wouldn?t make it in today?s GOP (video) (Americablog)

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CA-NEWS Summary

Rockets hit south Beirut after Hezbollah vows Syria victory

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Two rockets hit a Shi'ite Muslim district of southern Beirut on Sunday and wounded several people, residents said, a day after the leader of Lebanese Shi'ite militant movement Hezbollah said his group would continue fighting in Syria until victory. It was the first attack to apparently target Hezbollah's stronghold in the south of the Lebanese capital since the outbreak of the two-year conflict in neighboring Syria, which has sharply heightened Lebanon's own sectarian tensions.

Insight: Nigeria's 'war on terror' wins tentative support

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nuradin Mohammed used to resent and fear the troops who swept past his fish stall in this northeast Nigerian city on the trail of Islamist insurgents Boko Haram. Now, for the first time, he thinks they may be on his side. "We are pleased the president has finally recognized our peril and we pray his plan works," Mohammed said, frying fish by the roadside as a crowd of young children looked on hungrily and trucks packed with troops rumbled past.

Bitter election aftermath undermines Malaysian PM Najib

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak may have won this month's disputed election but he faces a fight for legitimacy that could slow reforms, embolden a strong opposition protest movement and spark a leadership battle. Already the signs are not good.

When Israel hits Syria, it hones military edge for wider war

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - When Israeli jets bomb Syria to deny it or its allies "game-changer" weapons, they play according to one core rule: ensuring the Jewish state maintains the military superiority to swiftly prevail in any war. On Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's target list are four types of advanced arms, Russian- or Iranian-supplied, whose transfer from Syria to Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas next door would hinder Israel's strategic options.

Suspected Indian Maoist rebels kill 19 in Congress convoy ambush

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Suspected Maoist rebels killed at least 19 people when they ambushed a convoy carrying regional leaders from India's ruling Congress party in dense forest on Saturday, officials said, one of the deadliest such attacks in recent years. The rebels felled trees to block the 20-car convoy in the eastern state of Chhattisgarh and then detonated a landmine and raked the vehicles with gunfire, Indian media reported.

Bulgaria's PM-designate pledges help for poor

SOFIA (Reuters) - The man most likely to form Bulgaria's next government pledged on Sunday to spend more to help society's most deprived, but said he would keep public debt low enough to maintain a currency peg to the euro. Plamen Oresharski, 53, offers the best chance for ending a political stalemate that has dragged on since the government quit in February in the face of protests against austerity measures in the European Union's poorest country.

Somali militants attack Kenyan police in cross-border raid

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - The Somali militant group al Shabaab said on Sunday its fighters had killed eight Kenyans, including policemen, in a cross-border raid and had taken two captives back into Somalia. A Kenyan official confirmed two policemen had been killed and two were missing but could not confirm if they were kidnapped during the attack on Saturday night.

Syria says will attend Geneva talks 'in principle'

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Syria's government will "in principle" attend multilateral talks planned for June in Geneva and believes the conference will be an opportunity to resolve the country's conflict, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said on Sunday. Russia and the United States are sponsoring a proposed peace conference planned for next month on the war, which has killed 80,000 people and risks spilling over its borders and stirring regional sectarian violence.

Japan's Abe ends Myanmar visit with aid, debt write-off

YANGON (Reuters) - Japan on Sunday endorsed Myanmar's reform program by writing off nearly $2 billion in debt and extending new aid, some of which will help support an industrial zone being developed by Japanese firms near the commercial capital, Yangon. Japan agreed a year ago to forgive 176.1 billion yen ($1.74 billion) in arrears owed to it by Myanmar's government and, at the end of a three-day visit by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, it said Myanmar had met the necessary conditions, including a series of political and economic reforms.

French president Hollande's popularity inches up: poll

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande's popularity rating inched up in May from a record low the previous month, a poll showed on Sunday, a rare positive sign after a first year in office marked by rising unemployment. Hollande's approval rating rose by 4 percentage points to 29 percent in May, as perceptions improved among his own Socialist Party voters, pensioners, blue-collar workers and women, the survey by pollster IFOP in weekly paper JDD showed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-news-summary-000353780.html

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How can Chuck Hagel fix military sexual assault epidemic?

On consecutive days, President Obama and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel have told the next generation of military leaders that sexual assault is threatening the dignity and effectiveness of the force.

Though the war in Afghanistan continues, the Obama administration has, in many ways, already begun to turn the Pentagon toward a new set of challenges. Mr. Obama's address to the National Defense University Thursday spoke to the strategic parts of that shift ? from stricter rules for drone strikes to new rules for the detention facility at Guant?namo Bay.

But the president's speech the next day to graduates of the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., stressed that stamping out an epidemic of sexual assault within the military must also be a primary goal. Secretary Hagel made the same point Saturday in a speech to graduates at the US Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.

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But what can be done?

There is ample evidence to suggest that no solution will be easy or quick. A survey released earlier this month suggests that 26,000 people in the military were sexually assaulted in the previous year ? a rate of 70 a day. Moreover, only 3,400 incidents were reported, suggesting a widespread lack of confidence in the military justice system on the issue.

Due to a lack of research, the trend line is unclear. The current number is up from the previous year (19,000) but down from 2006 (34,000).

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Meanwhile, recent weeks have brought a flood of troubling allegations. This month, two members of military sexual-assault prevention units ? one for the Air Force and one at the Army's Fort Hood in Texas ? have been accused of sexual assault. And last week, a sergeant at West Point was charged with secretly videotaping female cadets in the shower.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) of Missouri has introduced a bill to ensure that ?never again will a victim have to salute an assaulter," according to NBC News. It would require a member of the military who has been found guilty of sexual assault to be dismissed or dishonorably discharged. While it would also prohibit a commander from nullifying or changing a sexual-assault conviction, it would not remove sexual-assault cases from the chain of command entirely.

That has been a point of contention for critics, who note that commanders often reduce or eliminate punishments resulting from sexual-assault investigations. To address this, a competing bill by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) of New York would create a separate procedure for dealing with sexual-assault cases.

But Pentagon officials strongly resist the idea of taking control out of the hands of commanders, saying such a move would undermine unit cohesiveness and discipline. Hagel, too, has said he is against removing sex-assault cases from the chain of command.

Yet experts say it is crucial to change the way the Pentagon looks at sexual assault. Currently, the military treats sexual assault as a women's issue, retired Maj. Gen. Robert Shadley tells The Washington Post. Instead, it should treat the charges as a "force protection issue."

?This is not a women?s rights issue, it?s an abuse of power," says General Shadley, who presided over the Army's Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland during a sex-assault scandal in the 1990s. "We should have the same person who?s worried about protecting soldiers from enemy attack in charge of protecting soldiers from sexual predators. Until you make prevention of sexual assault a part of everyday life of the organization, it?s going to be considered a secondary thing.?

His proposed solution is to put sexual-assault prevention in the hands of each unit's chief operations officer. At the moment, these efforts are handled by specialized units, which has the effect of marginalizing the issue, he says. "This has got to be an operational issue.?

Others suggest that the prohibition against women in combat also has a corrosive effect. For one, in an organization built on the premise of warfighting, those who are barred from serving in combat zones are seen as second-class citizens and lose a degree of respect.

"That reinforced the traditional notion [among men in uniform] that there are differences between men and women: 'Women are not our equals,' " David Segal, a military sociologist at the University of Maryland in College Park, tells USA Today. " 'They're not allowed to be 100 percent soldiers. They're not part of our culture.' "

But the ban on women in combat might also have another effect. Without being able to serve in combat, women in the military face a glass ceiling. Obama could appoint more women to Pentagon posts, but women's ability to rise through the ranks in the military itself is affected by the ban.

?Quite frankly, we need to have people like [Obama adviser] Valerie Jarrett and Michelle Obama in the room,? Ana Cruz, a Democratic strategist, told Politico. ?You can?t have a bunch of men sitting around a table talking about this issue when it clearly goes to the heart of violating women?s rights.?

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