Monday, October 29, 2012

PFT: Dolphins wallop Jets? |? Rex backs Sanchez

New Orleans Saints v Denver BroncosGetty Images

His arm might not be full strength yet.

And then he whacked his right thumb on a helmet just before halftime, leaving a small trail of blood on his throwing hand.

Boy, if Peyton Manning ever gets well, some people are going to be in trouble.

Manning was a sharp 22-of-30 for 305 yards and three touchdowns in the Broncos? 34-14 win over the Saints Sunday night. It was the best indication to date he?s all the quarterback the Broncos need to be contenders if not the favorites in the AFC. (Watch highlights here.)

With an offense that?s beginning to click and a schedule that softens as it goes, the Broncos are in excellent position to make a run.

That he doesn?t look like the Manning of five years ago with the Colts matters not at all. He?s looking comfortable running this offense, which is the important one at the moment, as no one in the AFC looks any better than the Broncos looked dismantling the Saints.

Here are five more things we learned during Sunday Night Football:

1. Putting Chase Daniel in a Drew Brees outfit for Halloween was a bad idea for the Saints.

Oh, wait, that was really Brees?

Anyone who thinks the Saints star quarterback doesn?t miss Sean Payton this year is kidding themselves.

Brees completed just 22-of-42 passes for 213 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, and the Saints offense lacked any degree of flow whatsoever.

They?ve got an odd lot of running backs they can?t seem to figure out how to maximize, but they?ve always been able to pass around that. Even with tight end Jimmy Graham back on the field, they looked disjointed.

Sure sign of ridiculousness: The Saints were well under 5.0 yards per pass attempt for the pertinent part of the evening, and part of that is on Brees himself.

Payton may not have been able to have the Saints 5-2 instead of their current 2-5, but he?d make a significant difference in the way they?re playing, and would have Brees looking more like Brees.

2. It?s easy, and appropriate, to spend a lot of time on Manning when the Broncos are on.

But running back Willis McGahee remains the engine of that offense.

As long as John Fox is the coach (and the underappreciated Mike McCoy the offensive coordinator), they?re never going to get too far from the run game. And though it?s easy to overlook, the Broncos called 38 run plays and 30 passes when Manning was on the field Sunday, which is not accidental.

They want to incorporate Ronnie Hillman into things, to take advantage of his explosive speed. But McGahee (23 carries for 122 yards) is still getting it done at a high level.

3. The Saints got an emotional boost from the return of linebacker Jonathan Vilma.

And though he moved back into the starting lineup Sunday night, one thing that was growing more and more evident last year was that Vilma?s play was dropping off.

Acquiring Curtis Lofton was not unrelated to the bounty related uncertainty over Vilma?s future, but it was also a reflection of Vilma?s declining play.

There were moments against the Broncos when Vilma looked out of place, and while he?s coming in cold, and changing positions, the reality is he?s not an impact player anymore.

4. With the way things went down in Jacksonville, I?m not sure Jack Del Rio will get a head coaching gig again soon.

But as a defensive coordinator, he and Fox work very well together. In Carolina in 2002, they helped create a six-game bounce in one season by playing dominant defense.

They?re approaching that now.

The Broncos have an interesting group of players on that side, and Del Rio was willing to move his personnel around, putting Von Miller in spots he hadn?t been to create pressure.

Along with the improved Wesley Woodyard, they?re getting better-than-expected play from their front seven, and Del Rio has a hand in that by putting them in the right places.

5. The Saints lack the personnel up front to play defense the way defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo wants to play.

But while the talent on the edges is deficient, the Saints appear to have at least one promising interior player on their hands in rookie defensive tackle Akiem Hicks.

The third-rounder from Canada?s University of Regina has the kind of strength and burst the Saints were lacking inside.

If you can push the pocket from the middle, that?s the shortest distance between two points, and it also makes it easier for ordinary players on the edges.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/28/dolphins-roll-over-jets-after-losing-tannehill/related/

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Eyeing elections, India PM adds new blood to cabinet

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave his cabinet an overdue facelift on Sunday, bringing in younger ministers in a bid to breathe new life into his aged, scandal-tainted government ahead of state and federal elections.

The reshuffle, which has been on the cards for six months, may be Singh's last chance to significantly change the direction of his government and convince voters the ruling Congress party deserves a third consecutive term in 2014.

He rejigged about a third of his 30-member cabinet, and reshuffled a number of key portfolios, including, oil, foreign policy, railways and justice. As part of the image makeover, he also brought in a raft of new, younger junior ministers who will not have cabinet-level posts.

Notably absent from the new names was Rahul Gandhi, the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has governed India for much of the 65 years since independence. Gandhi is expected to be the party's candidate for prime minister in the 2014 election but has so far shied away from a formal role in government.

Singh said after a swearing-in ceremony for the new ministers that he had wanted Gandhi in the cabinet but that the Congress party general-secretary wanted to work for the party. The party is headed by Rahul's mother Sonia Gandhi.

Several of the new junior ministers, however, are closely linked to the 42-year-old Gandhi, which could extend his influence in the council of ministers without directly exposing him to potential damage if the government's popularity fails to pick up.

Singh's shaky coalition has been paralyzed by infighting and policy drift for much of its second term, struggling to drive through major economic reforms long demanded by investors and business leaders even as economic growth has sharply slowed.

"The road ahead is full of challenges. But this is a team, which I hope will be able to meet those challenges," Singh said, according to a Tweet by his office.

Singh's elderly cabinet has also been seen as increasingly out of touch with the country's youthful electorate. Politicians in India generally reach senior positions late in life -- a reflection of a traditional respect for elders.

"MAKING WAY FOR YOUNGSTERS"

Despite the reshuffle, relatively few senior ministers in the cabinet led by 80-year-old Singh are under 65. Outgoing foreign minister, S.M. Krishna, 80, had stepped down ahead of the rejig, saying he was "making way for youngsters".

Krishna's replacement was the 59-year-old Salman Khurshid, who until the shakeup, was law minister. Khurshid has been battling allegations leveled by anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal that involve the misappropriation of funds in an NGO. Khurshid has strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Other key appointments are: Veerappa Moily (oil), Ashwani Kumar (law and justice), Dinsha Patel (mines) Jyotiraditya Scindia (power) and Sachin Pilot (corporate affairs). Scindia and Pilot are both seen as close to Rahul Gandhi.

The reshuffle follows a slew of economic reforms that improved investor sentiment about Asia's third-largest economy and restored some credibility to Singh's flagging leadership.

P. Chidambaram was reinstated as finance minister in August, his third stint in the post. He has been widely credited with helping to push through a number of politically tricky reforms to revive investor sentiment.

Corruption scandals have damaged the government's image over the last two years, and at times ministers seem more focused on fighting accusations of graft than running their portfolios.

The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) paralyzed the last session of parliament over a report by the auditor-general that raised questions about sweetheart coal deals.

A scandal over the sale of telecoms spectrum licenses triggered street protests last year and led to the jailing of the telecoms minister, Andimuthu Raja.

"You need to have people who are free from some of these issues, and who can give time to actual governance," said Subhash Agrawal, editor of India Focus. "There is a pressing need in the country for people who can just work."

(Writing by Frank Jack Daniel and Ross Colvin, additional reporting by Nigam Prusty, C.K. Nayak)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eyeing-elections-india-pm-adds-blood-cabinet-104727291.html

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Charlie Sheen Returns to TV in FX's 'Anger Management' | Self ...

FX isn?t too? bad. Their golden years of drama are behind them, but they?re doing really well on the comedy front. ?It?s Always Sunny in Philadelphia? is as good as ever, ?Archer? is pure gold, ?The League? is improv at its best, ?Louie? has invented a new breed of tragicomedy, ?Wilfred? has invented a new genre on its own called psychological dramedy, and ?Anger Management? I have high hopes for.

Source: http://self-improvement.roxy-publishing.com/blog/news-self-growth/charlie-sheen-returns-to-tv-in-fxs-anger-management

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Friday, October 26, 2012

Campaign 2012: The fight for Nevada

As the presidential campaign nears its end, President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney are fighting hard for electoral votes in battleground states. Both candidates campaigned in Nevada this week.

By Sam Youngman,?Reuters / October 24, 2012

Eleven year-old Daisy Mueller waits for the start of a campaign rally with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in Reno, Nevada October 24.

Brian Snyder/Reuters

Enlarge

When Mitt Romney landed in Las Vegas on Tuesday, President Barack Obama's advance team had beaten him there.

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Obama was not on the ground yet, but the massive military cargo plane that transports the Democratic president's limo and support vehicles was there as Romney's motorcade rolled past to an event in Henderson County.

Locked in a tight race nationally, the two men are also fighting hard over Nevada and its six electoral college votes. Obama appears to have the lead in the state, prompting Romney to make his second visit here this week in an attempt to chip away at the president's support.

"Nevada is a great example of how we are playing offense on the map and Obama is playing defense," said senior Romney adviser Kevin Madden. "They won here in 2008, but we're now in a position to take it from them on Election Day and put it in the Romney win column."

That might be a tall order, but Romney is giving it a try as he rides a wave of enthusiasm among Republicans following strong showings in the three presidential debates.

Despite the highest unemployment rate in the nation at 11.8 percent and a housing market still reeling from foreclosures, the Democrats are strong in the state. They have worked hard since Obama won Nevada in 2008 and enjoy an advantage in voter registration.

In Clark County, where Las Vegas is located, Obama's ground forces have amassed what Jon Ralston, one of the state's top political analysts, calls a near unstoppable "firewall," already banking as much as a 25,000-vote lead in Clark County through early voting.

Ralston, author of the website RalstonFlash.com, said that perhaps Republicans are seeing internal polling that indicates Romney can overtake Obama's Clark County advantage with big showings in the rest of the state.

"They're seeing something that nobody else is except them," he said. "The Democrats are building a firewall, so (Romney campaigners) are anticipating something that has not happened in the past, either a huge Republican surge or independents going big for Romney."

Romney and his SuperPAC allies have spent heavily on TV ads in the state in recent days.

"They think they've got a shot, or enough of a shot to make Obama spend time and money" in Nevada, Republican strategist Rich Galen said.

In the last few days, Rasmussen's daily tracking has shown Obama holding steady with a 2-point lead. The political website RealClearPolitics.com has Nevada rated as a toss-up, with Obama up 2.6 percentage points in an average of polls. Meanwhile, Public Policy Polling's latest survey found Obama leading Romney by four points.

In a good sign for Obama, Public Policy Polling also said on Wednesday that 84 percent of African Americans and 79 percent of Hispanics were "very excited" about voting, compared to 72 percent of whites.

Whatever strategies the Romney campaign might have in mind - like forcing Obama to spend time and money in the state - campaign officials dismissed any notion that Nevada is a stretch for Romney.

Officials hinted that their own polling shows Romney leading, with one top campaign strategist saying, "I think we'll win Nevada."

"Very, very close, and we are a little ahead and moving," the strategist said.

Speaking in Reno on Wednesday, Romney said the "Obama campaign is slipping and shrinking."

"Our campaign is a growing movement across this country, where people recognize we're going to build a brighter future for the American family," Romney said. "We're coming together with more power and more energy."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/KWud0UAB_zI/Campaign-2012-The-fight-for-Nevada

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

Endow Your Child with the Right Dental Care

In the present scenario, young children are laid low with pain, blood poisoning and facial infections because their milk teeth are not medically treated, with some undergoing the shock of having teeth removed for the reason that a lot of dentists wrongly think primary or "milk" teeth are not worth repairing. The Healthy gums and teeth are necessary to your maintain the overall health of your child. The poorly developed, injured, or else the unhealthy teeth are likely to result out in the form of poor nutrition, painful and hazardous infections together with the problems in the process of speech development and a sense of self.?

CARING FOR YOUR CHILD?S TEETH

Although newborns and toddlers do not have teeth, in that case also it is really important to take proper care of their gums and mouth. So, a few tips are mentioned below to lend you a hand in keeping up with the oral health of your child:

  • Make Use of a moist washcloth to clean up your newborn's gums after every meal.
  • Do not put your baby or preschooler to bed handing over a bottle of juice, milk or else the sugar water. Just make Use of a bottle filled up with water for the time when your baby wants to sleep back for long hours.
  • Start making the use of a soft toothbrush as a substitute to a washcloth to clean your kid's teeth immediately after his first tooth is witnessed (usually form the age of 5 - 8 months).
  • Ask your pediatrician if the baby requires fluoride to be added to his daily diet.

THE EARLIEST TRIP TO THE PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY?

  • Your kid's first visit to the doctor should be between the time when his first tooth comes about (that will take the time period of at least 5 to 8 months) and the time when all primary teeth are able to be seen.?
  • Many dentists suggest a test visit to uncover the child to the sounds, sights, smells and sense of the office sooner than the actual examination.
  • Children who are familiar with the fact that their gums should be properly wiped up and their teeth should be brushed up each day, they will be more relaxed at the time of paying a visit to the pediatric dentist.?

PROPER CARE FOR THE CHILD'S TEETH?

  • The child's teeth and gums should be brushed for a minimum of two times a day and particularly sooner than going to bed. The Electric tooth brushes are capable of cleaning up the teeth in a better way as compared to the manual ones.
  • Take your little one to the clinic of a pediatric dentist twice in a year, just for a normal checkup with the intention of keeping up with his oral health. Let the doctor be acquainted with the problem if your child sucks his thumb or respires through his mouth.
  • Educate your kid about the right way to play safe and how to deal with the situation if a tooth falls off or else knocks out.
  • At the time your little one is witnessed with the stable teeth in his mouth, he should start flossing every evening sooner than going to bed.
  • When the kid touches the teenage, extractions or braces might be required to prevent the long-term tribulations related to your oral health.

So, in case you really want to discover the most practiced pediatric dentist then, preferably you should go with all smiles kids? dentistry.

?

Source: http://dental.ezinemark.com/endow-your-child-with-the-right-dental-care-7d37fe0eea6b.html

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Seminal events in 2012 Alzheimer's disease research evaluated at international conference

Seminal events in 2012 Alzheimer's disease research evaluated at international conference [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 25-Oct-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Virginia Bader
vbader@gymr.com
202-745-5115
GYMR

Genevieve Matthews
gfmatthews@ucsd.edu
858-699-9187
University of California, San Diego

Kimberly Rymsha
krymsha@gymr.com
202-745-5054
GYMR

Global research community presents new findings and sets path for AD drug development

Monte Carlo, Monaco (October 25, 2012) The 5th International Conference on Clinical Trials for Alzheimer's Disease (CTAD) will provide the stage for a closer examination of the unexpected outcomes of Phase 3 treatment trials with some encouraging findings this year the first such results in the Alzheimer's field in almost a decade. The 2012 program will also analyze building evidence that can help focus global research dollars and priorities, namely that detecting AD years, even decades, before clinical symptoms appear offers the best opportunity for current and new drugs to work.

Researchers will also discuss important goals in worldwide AD research, including improving early detection and accurate diagnosis methods, harmonization of imaging techniques across patient populations, identifying factors that affect AD progression, and advancement in AD biomarkers. Chairing the conference are Paul Aisen, MD, University of California at San Diego; Jacques Touchon, MD, University of Montpellier; Bruno Vellas, MD, University of Toulouse; and Michael Weiner, MD, University of California at San Francisco.

Since its debut in Montpellier, France in 2008, CTAD has maintained its unique role in AD research as an intimate professional forum for the world's preeminent clinical researchers to share ideas and foster international collaboration toward progress in a disease that threatens the health of all nations and is soon expected to become the single largest health care expense for many. Alzheimer's is a progressive and ultimately fatal neurodegenerative disease that today affects more than 35 million individuals, robbing them of their memory, independence, and ability to think and understand. By 2050, the number of people with AD is expected to exceed 115 million worldwide if nothing is done to slow or prevent the disease.

"The research presented at CTAD and the very nature of the meeting are critical to creating a clear path for global research in Alzheimer's disease," said Michael W. Weiner, MD, Director, Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center and co-organizer and a spokesman for the conference. "No one country is going to be able to solve Alzheimer's alone, and we are bringing together the best in the field to spur better discoveries faster."

Research materials will be posted under the CTAD press tab as embargoes lift at: http://www.ctad.fr/12-press/press.asp. Highlights of the CTAD 2012 symposia, oral communications, plenary presentations, and poster sessions include the following:

Solanezumab and Bapineuzumab Trials

Further results from the solanezumab Phase 3 studies will be presented. This includes the release of an analysis of pooled data from solanezumab trials examining AD fluid biomarkers and neuroimaging measures. The solanezumab studies demonstrated cognitive benefits, especially in those with mild dementia. These results, as well as new biomarker data from MRI, CSF, and amyloid PET scan studies in the solanezumab trials, will be presented at CTAD in two symposia.

Safety and Efficacy of Solanezumab in Patients with Mild to Moderate Alzheimers Disease: Results from Phase 3, Rachelle S. Doody, MD, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine - Department of Neurology, Houston, Texas, USA will be held October 29th, 4:30 4:50 p.m.

Update in Clinical Trials [solanezumab] is part of Symposium 5 on October 30th, 11:00 a.m.

While the results from the bapineuzumab Phase 3 studies in mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease patients did not show cognitive or functional benefits, encouraging biomarker data demonstrated a stabilization in the amount of amyloid plaque and an effect on neurodegeneration as indicated by a decrease in CSF phospho-tau protein.

Bapineuzumab IV Phase 3 Results will be presented in Symposium 2 on October 29th, 11:15 a.m. Chairman: Philip Scheltens, VU University Medical Center, Alzheimer Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Presenters: Reisa Sperling, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Stephen Salloway, MD, Butler Hospital, Providence, RI, USA; Nick Fox, UCL, Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom.

Preventing AD with a Multi-Domain Intervention

Researchers from the University of Montpellier and University of Toulouse will present imaging and clinical data from the MAPT trial (MultiDomain Alzheimer's Preventive Trial). MAPT represents the first multidomain preventive trial in AD. The goal of MAPT is to assess whether the combination of physical exercise, cognitive exercise, and nutritional supplementation with omega 3 fatty acids is effective in preventing or slowing cognitive and functional decline.

Preliminary results comparing the intervention subjects with controls suggest some improvement at 6 and 12 months in brain metabolism. These data will be presented in Symposium 7 October 30th, 4:30 p.m.

Presymptomatic Trials: Are We Ready?

Enthusiasm for testing drugs in the presymptomatic phase of the disease is tempered by two major challenges: how to identify and enrich a study with individuals who are cognitively normal but on track to develop AD, and how to assess the ability of a drug to slow the subtle changes that occur in the earliest stages of the disease. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego examined rates of decline in subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and in elderly subjects who were cognitively normal.

The researchers found that long natural history studies of AD are needed to understand the biomarker changes that precede dementia, and to pinpoint specifically when the biomarkers of currently clinically normal patients start to change rapidly to help measure clinical efficacy of treatment. These data will be presented in session OC14 October 30th, 1:00 p.m.

The same research team has also shown that it may be difficult to distinguish AD from normal aging in the oldest old, since clinical decline and brain atrophy tend to slow with advanced age in individuals with MCI and AD, but speed up in healthy controls. This would indicate that younger cohorts are desirable to detect change, and older people are needed to help confirm how well therapies are tolerated across the age spectrum. These data will be presented in session OC13 October 30th, 8:30 a.m.

Standards that Can Help the Global Field Work More Seamlessly

As AD drug development has increasingly become a global enterprise, there has been growing recognition of the need for standardized protocols to diagnose disease and assess and report treatment effects. Groundbreaking progress has been made by the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) and its worldwide partners. Building on the success of ADNI, international partnerships have emerged for harmonizing analytical protocols in several areas. Harmonized measurement can facilitate regulatory involvement and approval, and help speed the clinical application of disease-modifying treatments shown to be effective in clinical trials.

Specific efforts that will be featured at CTAD2012 include:

  • After four years of work, an international task force has reached consensus on a protocol for measuring brain volume in the hippocampus, an area of the brain associated with memory, which is most affected by neurodegeneration in AD. Once validated, this protocol will enable comparison and comingling of data collected at different sites in clinical trials.
    These data will be presented in session OC8 Definition of Harmonized Protocol for Hippocampal Segmentation, October 29th, 3:15 p.m.
  • A standardized and validated assay has also been developed by Meso Scale Discovery for measuring the levels of two biomarkers in the cerebrospinal fluid CSF that are used to determine if a patient has AD or MCI.
    These data will be presented in session OC18 Towards Standardization of CSF Biomarkers: A Multi-Site Study Using Validated Assays for A?42 and Tau, October 30th, 2:00 p.m.
  • Recognizing that different requirements from regulatory agencies around the world can slow the approval of new treatments for AD, representatives from U.S. and European regulatory agencies and non-profit organizations have joined forces to spur global consensus on regulatory requirements and propose a collaborative mechanism.
    These data will be presented in session S1 - Harmonizing Regulatory Requirements to Benefit Future Alzheimer's Disease Patients, October 29th, 8:45 a.m.
  • The STARDdem (STAndards of Reporting Diagnostic test accuracy, dementia) initiative has developed draft guidelines for authors and editors to use when reporting the results of clinical trials to ensure accuracy and transparency. These guidelines will be discussed at CTAD, prior to being submitted for publication as a consensus statement.
    These data will be presented in session 6 Harmonization of Reporting Standards for Studies of Diagnostic Test Accuracy in Dementia: The STARDdem, October 30th, 9:45 a.m.

###

Reporting on all studies is under embargo until the time of presentation. See the full program at www.ctad.fr/.

About CTAD

Since 2008, CTAD has been a conference organized and planned by Alzheimer's disease (AD) clinical researchers for AD clinical researchers. CTAD embraces the organizing committee mandate to maintain CTAD's unique role in AD research: To provide a substantive, clinical research-oriented conference and an annual opportunity for the world's preeminent clinical researchers to engage in both formal and informal exchanges of views. CTAD's ongoing commitment to providing a relatively intimate forum has resulted in the conference's reputation of facilitating and fostering international collaboration in AD clinical research matters. More information is available at www.ctad.fr/.


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

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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.


Seminal events in 2012 Alzheimer's disease research evaluated at international conference [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 25-Oct-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Virginia Bader
vbader@gymr.com
202-745-5115
GYMR

Genevieve Matthews
gfmatthews@ucsd.edu
858-699-9187
University of California, San Diego

Kimberly Rymsha
krymsha@gymr.com
202-745-5054
GYMR

Global research community presents new findings and sets path for AD drug development

Monte Carlo, Monaco (October 25, 2012) The 5th International Conference on Clinical Trials for Alzheimer's Disease (CTAD) will provide the stage for a closer examination of the unexpected outcomes of Phase 3 treatment trials with some encouraging findings this year the first such results in the Alzheimer's field in almost a decade. The 2012 program will also analyze building evidence that can help focus global research dollars and priorities, namely that detecting AD years, even decades, before clinical symptoms appear offers the best opportunity for current and new drugs to work.

Researchers will also discuss important goals in worldwide AD research, including improving early detection and accurate diagnosis methods, harmonization of imaging techniques across patient populations, identifying factors that affect AD progression, and advancement in AD biomarkers. Chairing the conference are Paul Aisen, MD, University of California at San Diego; Jacques Touchon, MD, University of Montpellier; Bruno Vellas, MD, University of Toulouse; and Michael Weiner, MD, University of California at San Francisco.

Since its debut in Montpellier, France in 2008, CTAD has maintained its unique role in AD research as an intimate professional forum for the world's preeminent clinical researchers to share ideas and foster international collaboration toward progress in a disease that threatens the health of all nations and is soon expected to become the single largest health care expense for many. Alzheimer's is a progressive and ultimately fatal neurodegenerative disease that today affects more than 35 million individuals, robbing them of their memory, independence, and ability to think and understand. By 2050, the number of people with AD is expected to exceed 115 million worldwide if nothing is done to slow or prevent the disease.

"The research presented at CTAD and the very nature of the meeting are critical to creating a clear path for global research in Alzheimer's disease," said Michael W. Weiner, MD, Director, Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center and co-organizer and a spokesman for the conference. "No one country is going to be able to solve Alzheimer's alone, and we are bringing together the best in the field to spur better discoveries faster."

Research materials will be posted under the CTAD press tab as embargoes lift at: http://www.ctad.fr/12-press/press.asp. Highlights of the CTAD 2012 symposia, oral communications, plenary presentations, and poster sessions include the following:

Solanezumab and Bapineuzumab Trials

Further results from the solanezumab Phase 3 studies will be presented. This includes the release of an analysis of pooled data from solanezumab trials examining AD fluid biomarkers and neuroimaging measures. The solanezumab studies demonstrated cognitive benefits, especially in those with mild dementia. These results, as well as new biomarker data from MRI, CSF, and amyloid PET scan studies in the solanezumab trials, will be presented at CTAD in two symposia.

Safety and Efficacy of Solanezumab in Patients with Mild to Moderate Alzheimers Disease: Results from Phase 3, Rachelle S. Doody, MD, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine - Department of Neurology, Houston, Texas, USA will be held October 29th, 4:30 4:50 p.m.

Update in Clinical Trials [solanezumab] is part of Symposium 5 on October 30th, 11:00 a.m.

While the results from the bapineuzumab Phase 3 studies in mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease patients did not show cognitive or functional benefits, encouraging biomarker data demonstrated a stabilization in the amount of amyloid plaque and an effect on neurodegeneration as indicated by a decrease in CSF phospho-tau protein.

Bapineuzumab IV Phase 3 Results will be presented in Symposium 2 on October 29th, 11:15 a.m. Chairman: Philip Scheltens, VU University Medical Center, Alzheimer Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Presenters: Reisa Sperling, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Stephen Salloway, MD, Butler Hospital, Providence, RI, USA; Nick Fox, UCL, Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom.

Preventing AD with a Multi-Domain Intervention

Researchers from the University of Montpellier and University of Toulouse will present imaging and clinical data from the MAPT trial (MultiDomain Alzheimer's Preventive Trial). MAPT represents the first multidomain preventive trial in AD. The goal of MAPT is to assess whether the combination of physical exercise, cognitive exercise, and nutritional supplementation with omega 3 fatty acids is effective in preventing or slowing cognitive and functional decline.

Preliminary results comparing the intervention subjects with controls suggest some improvement at 6 and 12 months in brain metabolism. These data will be presented in Symposium 7 October 30th, 4:30 p.m.

Presymptomatic Trials: Are We Ready?

Enthusiasm for testing drugs in the presymptomatic phase of the disease is tempered by two major challenges: how to identify and enrich a study with individuals who are cognitively normal but on track to develop AD, and how to assess the ability of a drug to slow the subtle changes that occur in the earliest stages of the disease. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego examined rates of decline in subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and in elderly subjects who were cognitively normal.

The researchers found that long natural history studies of AD are needed to understand the biomarker changes that precede dementia, and to pinpoint specifically when the biomarkers of currently clinically normal patients start to change rapidly to help measure clinical efficacy of treatment. These data will be presented in session OC14 October 30th, 1:00 p.m.

The same research team has also shown that it may be difficult to distinguish AD from normal aging in the oldest old, since clinical decline and brain atrophy tend to slow with advanced age in individuals with MCI and AD, but speed up in healthy controls. This would indicate that younger cohorts are desirable to detect change, and older people are needed to help confirm how well therapies are tolerated across the age spectrum. These data will be presented in session OC13 October 30th, 8:30 a.m.

Standards that Can Help the Global Field Work More Seamlessly

As AD drug development has increasingly become a global enterprise, there has been growing recognition of the need for standardized protocols to diagnose disease and assess and report treatment effects. Groundbreaking progress has been made by the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) and its worldwide partners. Building on the success of ADNI, international partnerships have emerged for harmonizing analytical protocols in several areas. Harmonized measurement can facilitate regulatory involvement and approval, and help speed the clinical application of disease-modifying treatments shown to be effective in clinical trials.

Specific efforts that will be featured at CTAD2012 include:

  • After four years of work, an international task force has reached consensus on a protocol for measuring brain volume in the hippocampus, an area of the brain associated with memory, which is most affected by neurodegeneration in AD. Once validated, this protocol will enable comparison and comingling of data collected at different sites in clinical trials.
    These data will be presented in session OC8 Definition of Harmonized Protocol for Hippocampal Segmentation, October 29th, 3:15 p.m.
  • A standardized and validated assay has also been developed by Meso Scale Discovery for measuring the levels of two biomarkers in the cerebrospinal fluid CSF that are used to determine if a patient has AD or MCI.
    These data will be presented in session OC18 Towards Standardization of CSF Biomarkers: A Multi-Site Study Using Validated Assays for A?42 and Tau, October 30th, 2:00 p.m.
  • Recognizing that different requirements from regulatory agencies around the world can slow the approval of new treatments for AD, representatives from U.S. and European regulatory agencies and non-profit organizations have joined forces to spur global consensus on regulatory requirements and propose a collaborative mechanism.
    These data will be presented in session S1 - Harmonizing Regulatory Requirements to Benefit Future Alzheimer's Disease Patients, October 29th, 8:45 a.m.
  • The STARDdem (STAndards of Reporting Diagnostic test accuracy, dementia) initiative has developed draft guidelines for authors and editors to use when reporting the results of clinical trials to ensure accuracy and transparency. These guidelines will be discussed at CTAD, prior to being submitted for publication as a consensus statement.
    These data will be presented in session 6 Harmonization of Reporting Standards for Studies of Diagnostic Test Accuracy in Dementia: The STARDdem, October 30th, 9:45 a.m.

###

Reporting on all studies is under embargo until the time of presentation. See the full program at www.ctad.fr/.

About CTAD

Since 2008, CTAD has been a conference organized and planned by Alzheimer's disease (AD) clinical researchers for AD clinical researchers. CTAD embraces the organizing committee mandate to maintain CTAD's unique role in AD research: To provide a substantive, clinical research-oriented conference and an annual opportunity for the world's preeminent clinical researchers to engage in both formal and informal exchanges of views. CTAD's ongoing commitment to providing a relatively intimate forum has resulted in the conference's reputation of facilitating and fostering international collaboration in AD clinical research matters. More information is available at www.ctad.fr/.


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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-10/g-sei_1102512.php

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New study brings a doubted exoplanet 'back from the dead'

ScienceDaily (Oct. 25, 2012) ? A second look at data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is reanimating the claim that the nearby star Fomalhaut hosts a massive exoplanet. The study suggests that the planet, named Fomalhaut b, is a rare and possibly unique object that is completely shrouded by dust.

Fomalhaut is the brightest star in the constellation Piscis Austrinus and lies 25 light-years away.

In November 2008, Hubble astronomers announced the exoplanet, named Fomalhaut b, as the first one ever directly imaged in visible light around another star. The object was imaged just inside a vast ring of debris surrounding but offset from the host star. The planet's location and mass -- no more than three times Jupiter's -- seemed just right for its gravity to explain the ring's appearance.

Recent studies have claimed that this planetary interpretation is incorrect. Based on the object's apparent motion and the lack of an infrared detection by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, they argue that the object is a short-lived dust cloud unrelated to any planet.

A new analysis, however, brings the planet conclusion back to life.

"Although our results seriously challenge the original discovery paper, they do so in a way that actually makes the object's interpretation much cleaner and leaves intact the core conclusion, that Fomalhaut b is indeed a massive planet," said Thayne Currie, an astronomer formerly at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and now at the University of Toronto.

The discovery study reported that Fomalhaut b's brightness varied by about a factor of two and cited this as evidence that the planet was accreting gas. Follow-up studies then interpreted this variability as evidence that the object actually was a transient dust cloud instead.

In the new study, Currie and his team reanalyzed Hubble observations of the star from 2004 and 2006. They easily recovered the planet in observations taken at visible wavelengths near 600 and 800 nanometers, and made a new detection in violet light near 400 nanometers. In contrast to the earlier research, the team found that the planet remained at constant brightness.

The team attempted to detect Fomalhaut b in the infrared using the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii, but was unable to do so. The non-detections with Subaru and Spitzer imply that Fomalhaut b must have less than twice the mass of Jupiter.

Another contentious issue has been the object's orbit. If Fomalhaut b is responsible for the ring's offset and sharp interior edge, then it must follow an orbit aligned with the ring and must now be moving at its slowest speed. The speed implied by the original study appeared to be too fast. Additionally, some researchers argued that Fomalhaut b follows a tilted orbit that passes through the ring plane.

Using the Hubble data, Currie's team established that Fomalhaut b is moving with a speed and direction consistent with the original idea that the planet's gravity is modifying the ring.

"What we've seen from our analysis is that the object's minimum distance from the disk has hardly changed at all in two years, which is a good sign that it's in a nice ring-sculpting orbit," explained Timothy Rodigas, a graduate student in the University of Arizona and a member of the team.

Currie's team also addressed studies that interpret Fomalhaut b as a compact dust cloud not gravitationally bound to a planet. Near Fomalhaut's ring, orbital dynamics would spread out or completely dissipate such a cloud in as little as 60,000 years. The dust grains experience additional forces, which operate on much faster timescales, as they interact with the star's light.

"Given what we know about the behavior of dust and the environment where the planet is located, we think that we're seeing a planetary object that is completely embedded in dust rather than a free-floating dust cloud," said team member John Debes, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md.

A paper describing the findings has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Because astronomers detect Fomalhaut b by the light of surrounding dust and not by light or heat emitted by its atmosphere, it no longer ranks as a "directly imaged exoplanet." But because it's the right mass and in the right place to sculpt the ring, Currie's team thinks it should be considered a "planet identified from direct imaging."

Fomalhaut was targeted with Hubble most recently in May by another team. Those observations are currently under scientific analysis and are expected to be published soon.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/astronomy/~3/EyFP0izcSNo/121025174633.htm

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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

India vs. China? To Publishers, India Wins | Publishing Perspectives

A rising middle class, looser regulations and e-book growth puts India ahead of China on many publishers agendas.

By Daniel Kalder

Today our feature story looks at the many difficult issues facing Indian publishers. Despite the challenges, according to Casper Grathwohl, VP of Group Strategy at Oxford University Press in the UK, India is still the one country that publishers should be watching right now. Last year the publishing market grew by 45%. Amazon opened its ?Junglee? online retail aggregation service in February 2012, and while it currently functions as a resale marketplace, the firm has also just launched the Kindle, throwing open the doors to its vast online bookstore in August.

Casper Grathwohl, chief strategist at Oxford University Press

?With 100 million internet users, the potential for growth is vast,? says Grathwohl. ?India is attractive for publishers because there?s a rising middle class, and early signs are that e-books are really starting to take off.?

All the major trade publishers have offices in India, says Grathwohl, and e-books have extra appeal because ?they bypass all the problems print books have with distribution and the supply chain.? But at the same time, he adds, digital publishing and online selling of print books in India will force publishers to deal with complex issues: ?For instance, it raises questions about global pricing. How do you manage a high price market, such as the US, where a course book might cost $150, and a low price market like India where it?s $20??

Amazon.com currently does more business from India than homegrown rival Flipkart does inside India, says Grathwohl. Demand is huge, but he adds, publishers will need to be extremely flexible in dealing with the country. The future, he thinks, will see much more localization. ?Re-importation of cheaper course books has been a problem for a long time, and in educational publishing this has given rise to local adaptations.?

The importance of offering local variations is essential to understanding the country?s market, adds Grathwohl. ?OUP has been a success in India because we don?t treat it as a homogenous area. We have regional offices all over. There is huge variation across the country, we can?t treat it as one entity.? Publishers seeking to transfer their experience from working in the similarly huge market that is China are in for a rude awakening: ?There?s much more standardization and regulation in China. In India, it?s a free-for-all.?

Source: http://publishingperspectives.com/2012/10/india-vs-china-to-publishers-india-wins/

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iPad Mini hands on: Shrunken iPad or huge iPod? (Both, actually)

12 hrs.

The thing that hits you when you pick up the iPad Mini?isn't how small it is, but how big it actually?seems. The reason? The much thinner bezel means a much better screen-to-body ratio.

The other thing that strikes you is how well the industrial design of the new iPod Touch lends itself to the iPad Mini. You will have a very hard time choosing between the two-tone black model and the two-tone White model, as you can see in the shots below, but either way, Apple is really on to something with the new, uh, two-tone design motif.

"Does it feel like a shrunken iPad?" my colleague Rosa asks. Yes ... and no. The first thing you feel is actually, "Wow, I am holding a huge phone!" If you've ever held a Samsung Galaxy Note, for instance, you get a sense of what I'm talking about. It's only after that first burst of huge-phoneness that you settle in and start treating it like an iPad, one that is, yes, miniaturized.

I gave the iPad Mini the all-important lie-on-your-side-and-read test. No,?I didn't get on the ground, but I held it in ?my standard reading position. While I think you could still get cozier on, say, a Kindle Paperwhite, this thing will be a lot less tiresome to hold one-handed. Just be careful, because the tighter bezel could mean accidental pageturns.

So, the Apple execs were ferocious about noting that the iPad Mini has the same screen resolution as the iPad 2. That doesn't quite make its screen resolution a "Retina" display (one where your eyes can't perceive the pixels). The iPad Mini has 163 pixels per inch, which is a step up from the 132 ppi of the iPad 2, but a far cry from the?264 ppi of the more expensive iPad. The bump up from the iPad 2, with a smaller screen,?does give everything a sharp look, though, like you're gazing at an iPad interface through some kind of lens.?

The Apple folks are also keen to point out that the surface area of the iPad Mini is about a quarter greater than the surface area of lower-priced Android tablets, such as the $199?Nexus 7 and the $249 Kindle Fire HD. Those both have greater pixel densities, and 16x9 aspect ratios that are?optimized for movie watching. I would say that if you're using this primarily for movie watching, then the Android models make sense, but as Apple demonstrated,?when you are looking at websites and e-books, you get more surface area at one glance.

Of course, the iPad Minis on display ? complete with adorable little matching?Smart Covers ? were all well behaved, running apps as?snappily as you'd expect with the A5 processor.

I think you'd still need to see it in a store to know if it's right for your needs, but Apple's clearly bringing a whole new media consumption option to the table with iPad Mini, though one that's not exactly going to replace your computer. Or your phone.

Wilson Rothman is the Technology & Science?editor at NBC News Digital. Catch up with him on Twitter at @wjrothman, and join our conversation on Facebook.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/gadgetbox/ipad-mini-hands-shrunken-ipad-or-huge-ipod-both-actually-1C6632135

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Whitney Houston's family uses show to cope

Dave Kotinsky / Getty Images

Bobbi Kristina Brown and Nick Gordon attend "The Houstons: On Our Own" series premiere party at Tribeca Grand Hotel in New York on Tuesday.

By Jill Serjeant, Reuters

Making a TV reality show may not be the most obvious way to cope with the sudden death of a loved one, but most families don't count an icon like Whitney Houston among their relatives.

Less than a year after the "I Will Always Love You" singer drowned accidentally in a hotel bath tub after taking cocaine, Houston's teen daughter, her mother, brother and sister-in-law share with the world their struggle to cope in "The Houstons: On Our Own".?

Difficult as that is, the Houstons say that making the 14-episode show for cable channel Lifetime has helped rather than hindered the process.

"The show has kept the family close together, (instead of) isolated from one another. We talk about things, we are very open, and we pay attention to the ones who need consoling the most. Doing the show certainly has helped in a huge way," Pat Houston, Whitney's manager and sister-in-law, told Reuters.

VIDEO: Bobbi Kristina's rocky road to adulthood

"There are preconceptions about the family that just aren't true. We are a strong family, a working family, and a typical family. Our family member just happens to be an icon," she added. "You will see a family that is grieving, that loves one another. You will see a family that is trying to move on."

The series, which makes its debut on Wednesday, sets the stage for a slew of November tributes to the troubled singer with the golden voice. Upcoming projects include an official glossy book of photos, a compilation album of Houston's biggest hits that features a new duet version of "I Look To You" with R. Kelly, and the Nov. 16 TV broadcast of a special Grammy tribute starring Jennifer Hudson, Usher and Celine Dion.

Few of the many public salutes to Houston since her February death have touched on her well-publicized addiction to drugs and her tumultuous personal life. Yet the TV series delves into some of family's thorniest issues.

Bobbi Kristina in spotlight
Using some of Houston's soaring ballads to set the tone, including her 2003 single "On My Own," the show opens with the family in their Atlanta, Georgia home days before the first Mother's Day without Whitney and their first visit to her grave.

Her daughter and only heir to the estate, Bobbi Kristina, 19, is finding solace in an alcoholic beverage, and the arms of Nick Gordon, 23, the teen Whitney Houston took into the family home when he was a troubled high school student.

VIDEO: Is Bobbi Kristina engaged to Nick Gordon?

"We were best friends a long time ago, and now I am in love with him," Bobbi Kristina explains on camera, before telling appalled family members at a dinner that she and Gordon are engaged, and that she is looking to launch a recording career of her own.

Pat Houston, who in the show's first episode is firmly against any engagement, declined to address the couple's current relationship status. "It's a journey. You've just got to watch the show," she told Reuters last week.

The notion of putting Bobbi Kristina in the spotlight so soon after her mother's death, and the singer's messy 2007 divorce from singer Bobby Brown, sparked public dismay when the reality show was announced in May.

Bobbi Kristina was hospitalized twice with anxiety in February 2012 after her mother Houston, 48, was found drowned in a Beverly Hills hotel from what officials later said was a combination of cocaine use and heart disease.

But Pat Houston said that reality shows were nothing new for the Houston clan. Whitney Houston's chaotic relationship with Bobby Brown was chronicled in the 2005 TV series "Being Bobby Brown" and Pat Houston's life as the singer's longtime manager was featured on the more recent show "Power BrokHers".

VIDEO: Bobby Brown 'felt disrespected' at Houston funeral

"We have always been involved in negotiations for a reality show even when Whitney was alive. So this is really no different. It's nothing new to the family," she said.

Houston said she hoped the new show would help Whitney's fans come to terms with her death, as much as it is helping the family.?

"It is almost giving them closure in seeing the types of people she had around her, and then hearing her music ... and (it is a chance) for them to remember the good instead of all the negativity that may have surrounded her life in the past decade," she said.?

As for the future, "There will be bumps and grinds as there always will be. But we know how to handle that and keep it moving because we love Whitney, and we love what she represents with her music and we hope her fans continue to do the same with her legacy," Houston said.?

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Source: http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2012/10/23/14647455-whitney-houstons-family-copes-with-grief-in-reality-show?lite

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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

The BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Computer Case Is the Perfect Compromise Between Design, Features, and Size

The BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Computer Case Is the Perfect Compromise Between Design, Features, and SizeChoosing a great case when building a computer is a tough decision, as you have to consider size, features, aesthetics. It's tough to find one solution that fulfills every need. The BitFenix Prodigy manages to pull it off.

The BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Computer Case Is the Perfect Compromise Between Design, Features, and SizeWhen I first built my hack mini, I stuck it in a diminutive Mini ITX case. The case came with an integrated power supply which died about a month ago and I had to quickly find a replacement. Fortunately, the BitFenix Prodigy recently came to market and I was pretty impressed by the specifications. Not only is the case beautiful, but it offers a ton of space and features that you normally wouldn't find in a Mini ITX form-factor. It offers room for five hard drives, an optical drive, a large graphics card, two PCI slots, and frontside USB 3.0. While it's a bit larger than your average Mini ITX case?you won't fit it in a slim media cabinet?it's still rather compact. The case sounded perfect so I called around until I found one about an hour drive away and immediately hopped in the car to get it.

I spent the rest of my afternoon transferring my hack mini into the BitFenix Prodigy. While the case wasn't quite as intuitive as I'd hoped, I only needed to consult the manual once to figure out how to safely remove the front panel to install the optical drive. Everything else was incredibly straightforward, and I was able to add a spare hard drive and a better optical drive now that I had the extra space. The interior made this all very easy because of how it's organized, and because of a number of special compartments I had no trouble managing cables. If you don't need a tiny form-factor, this is the case you should get for your next Mini-ITX build. It's fantastic, comes in both black and white, and is well worth the $80.

BitFenix Prodigy ($80) | NCIX

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/XO28CVGmx6Y/bitfenix-prodigy-mini-itx-case-is-the-perfect-compromise-between-design-features-and-size

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Forget iPad Mini: Leak Shows Purported iPad 4 Parts

Purported images of next-generation iPad's Lightning dock connector emerge.

Ahead of the iPad Mini announcement event taking place tomorrow, images of a purported iPad 4 Lightning dock connector has been leaked.

In order to add credence, the photos in question features a comparison of both the Lightning dock connector for an iPad 4 and the dock for the iPad Mini.?The new dock seemingly confirms that the iPad 3's next major successor is being redesigned to support several new components.

In addition to the iPad Mini and the aforementioned next-generation iPad, Apple is said to be preparing another tablet-related announcement for tomorrow's media event. The?company is also rumored to be debuting a revised 9.7-inch Retina model of the device.

The latter is likely to receive a Lightning connector as the iPhone 5 did, while its price will match the price points stemming from its predecessors.

Apple is expected to announce the iPad Mini, a 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro and a new lineup of Mac Minis tomorrow.

Contact Us for News Tips, Corrections and Feedback???????????

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Source: http://www.pheedcontent.com/click.phdo?i=96083011f352c516016b49be4c8b36ba

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In debates and life, Romney likes the rules

(AP) ? When it comes to debates, Mitt Romney loves the rules.

The eyes of millions of voters upon him, the Republican candidate is quick to poke holes in his rival's arguments. But he's just as ready to take the moderator to task when he believes the predetermined ground rules have been breached.

Expect more of the same Tuesday when he and President Barack Obama square off for the third and final time.

Romney bickered with moderator Jim Lehrer in the first presidential debate over whose turn it was to have the final say on taxes. "Jim, the president began this segment, so I think I get the last word," he said. He lodged a similar complaint in the second debate when denied one last chance to weigh in, prompting moderator Candy Crowley to interject that "it doesn't quite work like that."

"The last part, it's for the two of you to talk to one another, and it isn't quite as ordered as you think," she said.

It is that ordered for Romney, who seems at his best and most relaxed in settings with clearly defined parameters that many others experience as overly rigid or stilted. Romney's fondness for the rules mirrors other traits that have been frequent themes throughout his personal and professional life: organization, personal discipline and meticulous attention to detail.

For voters, it offers a window into the fastidiousness and precision he would likely bring with him to the Oval Office.

"He's highly analytical, highly linear in his thinking," said Doug Gross, who chaired Romney's 2008 campaign in Iowa. "When someone steps out of line and your logic is linear, that causes dissonance in your brain."

Romney's partiality to rules in the debate setting was on display throughout the Republican primary, where he resisted efforts by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., to relax them. Gingrich, whose come-from-behind victory in South Carolina in January was fueled by robust debate performances, wanted audiences to be able to participate more freely in future debates.

Not so fast, said Romney, arguing that candidates seeking the nomination ought to be prepared for the much stricter rules imposed during general-election debates.

You might have thought Romney himself was the moderator in a debate last October when he cut off Texas Gov. Rick Perry to lay down the letter of the law.

"You get 30 seconds," Romney told his opponent. "The way the rules work here is that I get 60 seconds, and then you get 30 seconds to respond, right?"

It's not just during debates. The tendency to abide by rules permeates the way the former Massachusetts governor has carried himself as a candidate, a businessman and a patriarch.

On the campaign trail, Romney typically refuses to answer questions from the traveling band of reporters that constantly shadows him ? except for specially designated times.

"We have press avails and press conferences almost every day, and that's when I answer the questions," Romney said to reporters shouting out questions as he greeted voters in last November in Tampa, Fla.

As a businessman, Romney was known for his systematic, data-driven approach to evaluating risk. Former colleagues have described a man reluctant to entertain ethical gray areas, motivated by his sense that the best ideas thrive when the playing field is level.

"He has an intrinsic sense of fairness and playing by the rules," Gross said. "When he sees someone trying to sidestep or bend the rules, he thinks it's potentially disruptive to the entire process and the entire institution."

Such scrupulousness extends deeply into Romney's personal life, where he firmly adheres to the directives of his faith, abstaining from caffeine and alcohol and donating a substantial portion of his income to the Mormon Church.

Personal responsibility and discipline also seem to be values he expects those around him to uphold. A Vanity Fair profile of Romney in February detailed the strict rules that govern Romney road trips: No unscheduled bathroom breaks for the kids, except when the family stops for gas.

At their summer home in Wolfeboro, N.H., Romney's family holds an annual series of highly regimented games dubbed the "Romney Olympics." They partake in events like nail-hammering, where participants have to hammer a certain number of nails into a board. It's normally one of Romney's best events ? he doesn't tend to do as well in the more athletic competitions, like running ? but he lost a recent round because he put one of the nails in off-center.

In the Romney household, nails that aren't hammered in straight don't count.

Even the most mundane tasks aren't exempt from a wrong and right way of doing things. Asked about their spousal pet peeves in September on ABC's "Live! With Kelly and Michael," Ann Romney said her husband takes issue with the way she squeezes her toothpaste.

"That's right," he replied. "She doesn't go from the bottom and work up, and she leaves the top off."

___

Associated Press writer Kasie Hunt contributed to this report.

___

Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-10-22-Romney-Debate%20Rules/id-0135aeca68d849f3a542ae27e65dd4d1

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Monday, October 22, 2012

Skin creams and lotions can provide same amount of moisture

Skin care creams & lotions are often seen as the same thing and even though they both function in the same way and have the same principle behind them, they both affect the skin in different ways. It is mainly due to the effects they have on the different skin types and the one will usually be better than the other for each specific skin type. In order to tell the difference between the two, you can take a look at the viscosity of both of them. You will notice that creams are generally thicker in consistency, where as a lotions is more viscous and runny.

In general both creams and lotions can provide you with the same amount of moisture and nutrients as long as they are on par with one another when it comes to the quality. Skin care creams & lotions will often vary in size, quantity, quality and price and all you need to do is look at what you can afford and which of the skin care products are best suited for your skin. Normal healthy skins will generally do well by using a lotion as it tends to absorb the nutrients and moisture better and does not require such an intensive treatment. Unless of course your skin is unusually dry and it requires a slightly more intensive treatment from a cream to help nourish and bring your skin back to good health.

Dry, undernourished skin requires a lot more attention and it will often need a lot more nutrients to bring it back to normal. The fact that creams are thicker gives them an advantage over dryer skin because it tends to sit on the skin and it allows it to be absorbed into the deeper layers of the skin where the nutrients is needed the most. When you start using a new cream or lotion make sure that it is working for your skin. You need to find one that doesn?t leave your skin feeling to oily after you have used it, but at the same time you also need to make sure that it gives your skin enough nutrients to keep it healthy and moisturised.

No matter which one you decide to buy, make sure that you use it in combination with other skin care products that form a part of a daily routine. Your face and body are all covered by the same organ and you need to look after all of it as best you can to ensure that it always looks good.

Author's Bio:?

Claude Bernard has big experience as an author on the topic like business franchise. He contributes his knowledge on fashion and life style franchises. On demand of web publication he writes content for skin care creams & lotions in extra.

Source: http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/sifting-through-the-myriad-of-skin-care-creams-and-lotions

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Video: Pres. Obama and Romney Go Head-To-Head

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/49503514/

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Behavioral hazard in health insurance - PNHP's Official Blog

Posted by Don McCanne MD on Monday, Oct 22, 2012

This entry is from Dr. McCanne's Quote of the Day, a daily health policy update on the single-payer health care reform movement. The QotD is archived on PNHP's website.

By Katherine Baicker, Sendhil Mullainathan and Joshua Schwartzstein
Working Paper 18468
National Bureau of Economic Research, October 2012

ABSTRACT

This paper develops a model of health insurance that incorporates behavioral biases. In the traditional model, people who are insured overuse low value medical care because of moral hazard. There is ample evidence, though, of a different inefficiency: people underuse high value medical care because they make mistakes. Such ?behavioral hazard? changes the fundamental tradeoff between insurance and incentives. With only moral hazard, raising copays increases the efficiency of demand by ameliorating overuse. With the addition of behavioral hazard, raising copays may reduce efficiency by exaggerating underuse. This means that estimating the demand response is no longer enough for setting optimal copays; the health response needs to be considered as well. This provides a theoretical foundation for value-based insurance design: for some high value treatments, for example, copays should be zero (or even negative). Empirically, this reinterpretation of demand proves important, since high value care is often as elastic as low value care. For example, calibration using data from a field experiment suggests that omitting behavioral hazard leads to welfare estimates that can be both wrong in sign and off by an order of magnitude. Optimally designed insurance can thus increase health care efficiency as well as provide financial protection, suggesting the potential for market failure when private insurers are not fully incentivized to counteract behavioral biases.

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6.3 Evidence on Private Plans

These results suggest that competitive forces do not lead to ef?cient equilibrium insurance contracts when insurees are naive about their biases, but that the insurer will have an incentive to counteract biases when this saves the insurer money. These results may shed light on why more health insurance plans do not incorporate behavioral hazard into their copayment structures. Recall the evidence from Table 2 (from full paper at link below), which summarizes the features of several major insurance plans. Co-payments are rarely a function of the health bene?t associated with the care for a particular patient.

Nevertheless, insurers could increase pro?ts by promoting adherence to medications and treatments that save money over a reasonably short horizon (relative to the typical tenure of their enrollees), and the model suggests that insurers will invest in encouraging care in such instances.

http://www.nber.org/papers/w18468.pdf

Moral hazard in health insurance is said to occur when patients obtain unnecessary care merely because they don?t have to pay for it. Requiring patients to pay for at least a portion of their care, through deductibles, co-payments and coinsurance, supposedly disincentivizes patients from obtaining such unnecessary care, but does so at the cost of patients declining care that is quite appropriate and should be obtained. This paper attempts to compensate for that by adding behavioral hazard to that of moral hazard when determining when and how much financial exposure patients should have when accessing care. If the behavior of patients might cause them to underuse care, then cost sharing should be adjusted downward accordingly.

That?s the theory. In practice it would greatly add to the administrative burden of private health care financing to try to identify not only each instance when a patient might be inclined to overuse care unnecessarily (moral hazard), but also each instance in which a patient might avoid beneficial care because of cost barriers (behavioral hazard), and then to modify the patient?s share of each cost entailed based on these economic hazards.

Current estimates on how much could be saved by avoiding moral hazard are flawed anyway, primarily because they ignore the deleterious effect of behavioral hazard. Yet private insurance products incorporate cost sharing that does ignore behavioral hazard, except in very limited instances such as preventive services or cost sharing for important maintenance drugs. Once you make the adjustments in cost sharing that would prevent most or all behavioral hazard, the savings would dramatically diminish and might even be totally offset by the costs of the administrative excesses.

The most effective way to prevent behavioral hazard is to remove all financial barriers to care. The moral hazard remaining does not even apply to the eighty percent of health care that is consumed by patients with greater needs who have long exceeded their deductibles and stop loss. It?s simply not worth applying cost sharing measures to the remaining twenty percent of care for those of us who are relatively healthy, when the resulting decrease in our total national health expenditures would be almost negligible.

Besides, who are all of these people who are demanding care that they simply do not need? Thinking back through my decades of family practice, no one individual comes to mind.

Source: http://pnhp.org/blog/2012/10/22/behavioral-hazard-in-health-insurance/

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Sunday, October 21, 2012

Police arrest man after goalkeeper attack

Associated Press Sports

updated 12:07 p.m. ET Oct. 21, 2012

GLOUCESTER, England (AP) -Police have arrested a man on suspicion of assaulting former England goalkeeper Chris Kirkland amid a pitch invasion during a second-tier League Championship match.

Kirkland, who plays for Sheffield Wednesday, was shoved in the face and to the ground by one of many Leeds supporters running amok on the field after their team equalized in Friday's Yorkshire derby match at Hillsborough.

Gloucestershire Police say Sunday a 21-year-old man is in custody and the subject of an investigation being led by a police force in Yorkshire.

The man has been named on social media sites.

The Football Association said Saturday an investigation has been launched into the crowd trouble at the game, which also saw bottles being thrown on to the pitch and offensive chanting from both sets of fans.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/49493582/ns/sports-soccer/

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