Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Per-student pre-K spending lowest in decade

WASHINGTON (AP) ? State funding for pre-kindergarten programs had its largest drop ever last year and states are now spending less per child than they did a decade ago, according to a report released Monday.

The report also found that more than a half million of those preschool students are in programs that don't even meet standards suggested by industry experts that would qualify for federal dollars.

Those findings ? combined with Congress' reluctance to spend new dollars ? complicate President Barack Obama's effort to expand pre-K programs across the country. While Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius continue to promote the president's proposal, researchers say existing programs are inadequate, and until their shortcomings are fixed there is little desire by lawmakers to get behind Obama's call for more preschool.

"The state of preschool was a state of emergency," said Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University, which produced the report.

During his State of the Union speech, Obama proposed a federal-state partnership that would dramatically expand options for families with young children. Obama's plan would fund public preschool for any 4-year-old whose family income was below twice the federal poverty rate.

If it were in place this year, the plan would allow a family of four with two children to enroll students in a pre-K program if the family earned less than $46,566.

Students from families who earn more could participate in the program, but their parents would have to pay tuition based on their income. Eventually, 3-year-old students would be part of the program, too.

As part of his budget request, Obama proposed spending $75 billion over 10 years to help states get these new programs up and running. During the first years, Washington would pick up the majority of the cost before shifting costs to states.

"It's the most significant opportunity to expand access to pre-K that this nation has ever seen," Barnett said of the president's proposal.

Obama proposed paying for this expansion by almost doubling the federal tax on cigarettes, to $1.95 per pack.

Obama's pre-K plan faces a tough uphill climb, though, with the tobacco industry opposing the tax that would pay for it and lawmakers from tobacco-producing states also skeptical. Conservative lawmakers have balked at starting another government program, as well. Obama's Democratic allies are clamoring to make it a priority.

To help it along, Duncan and Sebelius planned to join the report's researchers on Monday at a news conference to introduce the report, along with administration allies. They planned events later in the week to reiterate their support.

Yet those public events were unlikely to sway lawmakers who are already fighting among themselves over spending cuts that are forcing students to be dropped from existing preschool programs, the levying of higher fees for student loans and deep cuts for aid to military schools.

States spent about $5.1 billion on pre-K programs in 2011-12, the most recent school year, researchers wrote in the report.

Per-student funding for existing programs during that year dropped to an average of $3,841 for each student. It was the first time average spending per student dropped below $4,000 in today's dollars since researchers started tracking it during the 2001-02 academic year.

Adjusted for inflation, per-student funding has been cut by more than $1,000 during the last decade.

Yet nationwide, the amounts were widely varied. The District of Columbia spent almost $14,000 on every child in its program while the states of Colorado, South Carolina and Nebraska spent less than $2,000 per child.

"Whether you get a quality preschool program does depend on what ZIP code you are in," Barnett said.

Among the 40 states that offer state-funded pre-K programs, 27 cut per-student spending last year. In total, that meant $548 million in cuts.

Money, of course, is not a guarantee for students' success. But students from poor schools generally lag students from better-funded counterparts and those students from impoverished families arrive in kindergarten less prepared than others.

In all, only 15 states and the District of Columbia spent enough money to provide quality programs, the researchers concluded. Those programs serve about 20 percent of the 1.3 million enrolled in state-funded prekindergarten programs.

"In far too many states, funding levels have fallen so low as to bring into question the effectiveness of their programs by any reasonable standard," researchers wrote.

Part of the reason for the decreased spending are the lingering effects of the economic downturn in 2008, coupled with the end of federal stimulus dollars to plug state budgets.

"Although the recession is technically over, the recovery in state revenues has lagged the recovery of the general economy and has been slower and weaker than following prior recessions. This does not bode well for digging back out of the hole created by years of cuts," the researchers wrote in their report.

Nationally, 42 percent of students ? or more than a half million students ? were in programs that met fewer than half of the benchmarks researchers identified as important to gauging a program's effectiveness, such as classrooms with fewer than 20 students and teachers with bachelor's degrees.

That, too, suggests problems for Obama's plan to expand pre-K programs, especially if Washington insists its partners meet quality benchmarks to win federal dollars.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/per-student-pre-k-spending-lowest-decade-042832006.html

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Police say 4 people stabbed at Albuquerque church

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) ? Police say a 24-year-old man stabbed four people at a Catholic church in Albuquerque as a Sunday mass was nearing its end.

Police spokesman Robert Gibbs says Lawrence Capener jumped over several pews at St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church around noon Sunday and walked up to the choir area where he began his attack.

The injuries to the four church-goers weren't life-threatening. All four were being treated at hospitals.

An off-duty police officer and others at the church subdued Capener and held him down until police arrived.

Some of those who were stabbed were members of the choir.

Gibbs says Capener is now being interviewed by police and is expected to face felony charges.

It's not yet known whether Capener has an attorney.

Gibbs says investigators don't yet know the motive for the stabbings, whether Capener had ties to the victims or whether he regularly attended the church.

The stabbings occurred as the choir had just begun its closing hymns.

Archbishop of Santa Fe Michael Sheehan released a statement saying he was saddened by the attack.

"I pray for all who have been harmed, their families, the parishioners and that nothing like this will ever happen again," Sheehan said.

The church didn't immediately return calls seeking comment on Sunday afternoon.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/police-4-people-stabbed-albuquerque-church-224409447.html

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Monday, April 29, 2013

Iraq watchdog suspends 10 TV channels for inciting violence

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq has suspended the licenses of satellite news network Al Jazeera and nine other channels, accusing them of inciting violence through their coverage of recent sectarian clashes.

The Communication and Media Commission (CMC) regulator criticized their reporting of violence triggered by a security forces raid on a Sunni Muslim protest camp in Hawija on Tuesday.

None of the channels was immediately available for comment.

More than 170 people have been killed in the fighting - the worst Iraq has seen since Sunnis started staging protests in December to complain about their treatment by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led government.

The watchdog said sectarian language used in the reports encouraged "criminal acts of revenge by attacking the security forces".

"The CMC sees in the speech and content propagated by the channels...an incitement and escalation which leans towards misleading and exaggeration more than towards objectivity," the watchdog said in a statement published on Sunday.

Most of the channels, including local stations such as "Baghdad" and "al-Sharqiya", are pro-Sunni and often critical of the Shi'ite-led government. Al Jazeera is based in Qatar, a Sunni-ruled kingdom.

The watchdog is powerless to stop the channels broadcasting, but may make it harder for their local staff to cover events.

Media rights group the Iraqi Journalistic Freedoms Observatory said the CMC was biased, as some officials in the body had been appointed by the government.

"We do not deny there is an incitement to violence by some media outlets, but we consider the suspension of licenses of 10 satellite channels a blow for democracy," the Observatory's Executive Director Ziyad al-Ajili told Reuters.

Last June, the CMC ordered the closure of 44 media outlets including the BBC and Voice of America. It does not have the power to stop them broadcasting from overseas.

Violence, including bomb attacks that have killed dozens of people at a time, has increased across Iraq this year. Provisional figures from rights group Iraq Body Count indicate about 1,365 people have been killed so far in 2013.

(Reporting by Aseel Kami; Editing by Isabel Coles and Angus MacSwan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iraq-watchdog-suspends-10-tv-channels-inciting-violence-132418505.html

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Upcoming Myrtle Beach area health events | Communities ...

GEORGETOWN

Many of these classes, events and meetings are sponsored by Georgetown Memorial Hospital, but some take place at different locations. Call the numbers listed for more information or visit www.georgetownhospitalsystem.org.

Chronic kidney disease education | Varying schedule, varying locations in Horry and Georgetown counties. Free. 866-647-9396 or www.ultracare-dialysis.com/TOPS.

Health screenings | Finger-stick lipid profiles with blood sugar test: $20; diabetes screening-hemoglobin A1C: $15; blood sugar levels: $3. Free blood pressure screenings. 520-8579

??7:30 a.m. to noon Tuesdays, mall area, Georgetown Memorial Hospital

??7:30 a.m. to noon Thursdays, hallway by Same Day Surgery, Waccamaw Community Hospital.

??8:30-11:30 a.m. second Friday every other month, Waccamaw Community Care, 4310 Dick Pond Road, Myrtle Beach.

Obstetrics tour | 6 p.m. Tuesday, Waccamaw Community Hospital. Pre-registration required, 520-8490.

Regional health screening | 7:30-10:30 a.m. Friday, Forestbrook Baptist Church, Myrtle Beach. Screenings offered include cardiac risk assessment, $25; chemistry panel, $20; thyroid screening, $15; diabetes, $15; PSA for men, $15. Blood panel tests require a 10- to 12-hour fast. Registration packets are available at the information desks at Georgetown Memorial Hospital and Waccamaw Community Hospital.

Retired nurse tea | 3-4 p.m. May 6, private dining room, Georgetown Memorial Hospital. Email khazzard@georgetownhospitalsystem.org to register.

Candlelight vigil | 8 p.m. May 6, in front of Waccamaw Community Hospital and will honor the memory of nurses and blessing of the hands.

Retired nurse tea | 1-2 p.m. May 7, first-floor classroom, Waccamaw Community Hospital. Email jhashey@georgetownhospitalsystem.org to register.

Support groups

?? Young stroke survivors between ages 20 and 65 | 11:30 a.m. third Wednesday each month, first-floor classroom, Waccamaw Hospital or 5:30 p.m. education center, Georgetown Memorial Hospital. 655-2835 or visit www.YoungStroke.org

?? Mended Hearts | 6 p.m. last Tuesday of each month, Health Point Center for Health and Fitness, 12965 Ocean Highway, Pawleys Island. Light supper provided. 685-3378 or rkeilen@mercyhospice.org

?? Bosom Buddies | 6-7 p.m. Monday, Wachesaw Conference Center, 4367 Riverwood Drive, Suite 160, Murrells Inlet. 237-8787

GRAND STRAND

Blood drives sponsored by American Red Cross are scheduled as follows. Call 839-4483 or 800-RED-CROSS.

??10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, in the parking lot, City Services Building, 921 Oak St., Myrtle Beach. 918-1114

??2-7 p.m. Monday, First Baptist Church, 6 N. Rosemary St., Andrews. 520-6564

??11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Horry County Complex, 1201 21st Ave. N., Myrtle Beach. 915-5293

??9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, St. James High School, 10800 S.C. 707, Murrells Inlet. 650-5600

??7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Red Cross Center, The Plaza at Carolina Forest, 3681 Renee Drive, Unit 4, Myrtle Beach.

??10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Waccamaw Community Hospital, 4367 Riverwood Drive, Murrells Inlet. 652-1135

??9 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 7, Socastee High School, 4900 Socastee Blvd., Myrtle Beach. 293-2513

??10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 8, Horry County Office Complex, 1301 Second Ave., Conway. 915-5000

??9 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 8, Carolina Forest Elementary School, 285 Carolina Forest Blvd., Myrtle Beach. 236-0001

??noon to 6 p.m. May 9, McLeod Loris, 3655 Mitchell St., Loris. 390-8327

??1:30-6:30 p.m. May 9, Myrtle Beach Pelicans, 1251 21st Ave. 918-6002

??9 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 10, North Myrtle Beach Aquatics and Fitness Center, 1100 Second Ave. S. 281-3743

??9 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 10, Georgetown High School, 2250 Anthuan Maybank Drive. 546-8516

??10 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 11, Wal-Mart, 2709-A Church St., Conway. 796-1965

CONWAY

Many of these classes, events and meetings are sponsored by Conway Medical Center, but some take place at the Conway Medical Wellness and Fitness Center. Call the numbers listed for more information or log on to www.conwaymedicalcenter.com.

Obstetrics tour | 2 p.m. every Sunday, The Birthplace, Conway Medical Center, 300 Singleton Ridge Road, Conway. 347-8108

Wellness Coaching with Robin Robinson | ongoing, Conway Medical Wellness and Fitness Center, 2369 Cypress Circle. $99. 347-1515

Mobile services | free screenings for blood pressure, finger-stick full lipid panel to include total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, triglycerides and blood sugar. Scheduled as follows:

??7:30-9:30 a.m. Monday, Quick Shop, 5100 Kates Bay Road, Conway.

??7:30-9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Pee Dee Grocery, 9150 U.S. 701 S., Conway.

Wake Up Call | 5:15-6 a.m. Mondays and Wednesdays through May 15, Conway Medical Wellness and Fitness Center, 2369 Cypress Circle. $80 member; $120 non-members. 347-1515

Support groups

?? Parents Anonymous | 5-7 p.m. every Tuesday, Conway Medical Center. 448-5804

MYRTLE BEACH

Many of these classes, events and meetings are sponsored by Grand Strand Regional Medical Center, but some take place at the YMCA on 62nd Avenue North in Myrtle Beach or at HealthFinders in Coastal Grand mall. Call the numbers listed for more information or log on to www.grandstrandmed.com.

Walk-in screenings | 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, HealthFinders. $7 for cholesterol screening; $20 for lipid panel; $20 for A1C testing; blood pressure and weight screenings free. A 12-hour fast required for lipid profile. 692-4444

Ask the Pharmacist | 2-4 p.m. Fridays, HealthFinders. Bring your medication for review. One-on-one consults with a registered pharmacist. 692-4444

BLS CPR/AED classes | First Aid; Babysitter and Family Care Giving classes and certifications offered weekly by appointment. All instructors are AHA/ARC certified. K-Loc Healthy Kids, Inc., 1435 Cannon Road, Myrtle Beach. Classes available in Georgetown and North Myrtle Beach. Registration required. 467-0068.

Addiction counseling | Narconon. Call for free assessments or referrals, 877-413-3073 or www.drugsno.com.

Nar-Anon family group | 7 p.m. Sundays, Recovery Warehouse, 3116 Shetland Lane, unit 34, Myrtle Beach. 233-9017

Hatha Yoga class | 10-11 a.m. Fridays, HealthFinders. $8 per class. 692-4444

Prime of Life Yoga | 11 a.m. to noon Tuesdays, HealthFinders. $8 per class. 692-4444

Heartsaver CPR AED class | 2-5 p.m. Tuesday, HealthFinders. 692-4444 to register.

?Look Good Feel Better? for women in cancer treatment | 2-4 p.m. May 6, Coastal Cancer Center, 8121 Rourk St., Myrtle Beach. 800-227-2345, registration required.

Prepared Childbirth course | 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Grand Strand Regional Medical Center . $50. 692-4444 to register.

Prepared Childbirth course | 7 p.m. May 6, 13, 20, Grand Strand Regional Medical Center. $50. 692-4444 to register.

Infant Care | 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. May 11, HealthFinders. Free. 692-4444 to register.

Breastfeeding | 1:30-3:30 p.m. May 11, HealthFinders. Free. 692-4444 to register.

Support groups

?? Rape Crisis Cente r | Individual counseling, support group, 24-hour hotline for victims of sexual assault. 448-3180 or 448-7273

?? Non-offending parents of child victims of sexual assault | 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays, Conway. Visit www.victimtosurvivor.org or 448-3180.

?? Young stroke survivors between ages 20 to 65 | 11:30 a.m. fourth Friday each month, meeting room, Rotelli?s restaurant, U.S. 501, Conway. 655-2835 or visit www.YoungStroke.org.

?? Mended Hearts | 11:30 a.m. May 13, meeting room behind cafeteria, Grand Strand Regional Medical Center, 809 82nd Parkway, Myrtle Beach. Lunch provided. 685-3378 or rkeilen@mercyhospice.org

?? The La Leche League | 10:30 a.m. Thursday, HealthFinders. 692-4444

?? Prostate | 6 p.m. Wednesday, HealthFinders. 692-4444

LORIS/NORTH MYRTLE BEACH

McLeod Health/Loris/Seacoast sponsors the following events, classes and meetings. The hospital system offers a physician referral line, 716-7527 or online at www.lorishealth.org.

Injury screenings | 8-11 a.m. every Monday, North Myrtle Beach Aquatic and Fitness Center. 360-213-3620 or 281-3737 to schedule an appointment.

Zumba | 6 p.m. Monday and Thursday, 4 p.m. Monday and Wednesday, and 10 a.m. Monday (beginner?s Zumba), Center for Health and Fitness. Free for members; $5 for guest of members; $8 nonmembers. 716-7111

AARP Driver Safety course | 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday, Center for Health & Fitness. $12 for AARP member, $14 for non-member. 390-8326

Al-Anon meeting | 6:30-7:30 p.m. every Tuesday, A.A. Building, Route 17 S., Grissettown, N.C., across from Ocean Ridge. E-mail el-j-em@hotmail.com or just show up at the next meeting.

March for babies walking team | 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Pelican Stadium, 21st Ave. N., Myrtle Beach. 390-8326

Balance screenings | noon to 2 p.m. May 7, Myrtle Beach mall. Registration required, 390-8326.

Blood drive | 12:30-6:30 p.m. May 9, Center for Health & Fitness. Walk-ins welcome. Registration requested, 390-8326.

Community blood bank | 7:30 a.m. to noon, May 11, American Legion Post #503, 10277 Beach Drive (Rt. 179), Calabash, N.C. Refreshments served. To sign up, 910-575-5037.

Lymphedema screenings | 1-3 p.m. May 16, Center for Health & Fitness. Registration required, 390-8326.

The Child Forgotten | 6:30-7:30 p.m. May 23, North Myrtle Beach Aquatic & Fitness Center. Registration requested, 390-8326.

Support groups

?? Fibromyalgia and Arthritis | 11 a.m. Wednesday, North Myrtle Beach Aquatic & Fitness Center. 390-8326

?? Ostomy | 2 p.m. Sunday, McLeod Seacoast. 390-8326

?? Multiple Sclerosis | 6 p.m. May 14, Center for Health & Fitness. 390-8326

?? Diabetes | 10-11 a.m. May 31, McLeod Seacoast. 390-8326

Source: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2013/04/28/3460242/upcoming-myrtle-beach-area-health.html

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Friday, April 26, 2013

How to Successfully Utilize Pay Per Click Advertising - Toledo Web ...

Whether you?re just starting out or you?re already established, a successful advertising campaign is an extremely valuable resource to any business. There are many ways to advertise, but a great deal of these methods can prove often to be cluttered and generally ineffective. One of the simplest and strongest options out there is ?pay per click advertising,? or PPC. The method was created in 1996, right about when the internet?s vast marketing potential was first being realized on a large scale and it was beginning to become more thoroughly monetized, though it didn?t really catch on until 2002. However, over the next decade PPC became more and more prevalent, with many preferring it other marketing plans being offered by firms specializing in online services. To this day it remains the most trusted method by which web advertising can be done and its popularity only continues to increase.

An example of PPC Advertising

PPC revolves around the sensible notion that you should only have to pay for advertising if it?s effective. Previously, with the ?cost per impression? system, you would have to pay every time someone saw your ad, but PPC is much more fair than that. Under this alternative system, clients only have to pay if their ads are actually clicked on. Generally, a flat rate will be decided upon in advance, and every time the add gets a click that rate will be paid to the advertising firm. This is an improvement over ?cost per impression? for several reasons. For one thing, it?s more affordable, as presumably many more people will see your add than click on it. That being said, the rate charged per impression is usually less than the rate charged per click, so it?s kind of a toss up in that regard. But regardless of the pricing, there are plenty more advantages as well.

  • It?s fair: A subjective notion I know, but look at it this way: if you?re not getting a lot of clicks you shouldn?t have to pay a lot of money. That would be a waste after all. If you are getting a lot of clicks you?re probably paying a fair amount back, but the amount of publicity you?re getting should pay for that in no time.
  • It?s informative: The mark of an effective advertisement is whether or not it legitimately interests and/or compels the potential consumer. If it does, the add is a success. If not, it must be revised. Under the ?cost per impression? system it was nigh on impossible to tell whether or not an add was truly effective. You just knew whether or not they?d seen it, not if they liked it. Pay per click solves that problem. Using this system, you can actually tell whether or not your add is interesting potential customers. In this way you can optimize your campaign much more effectively.
  • It?s Highly Customizable: One of the greatest features of PPC is how tightly you can narrow down your target audience. One major aspect of the plan is the usage of keywords. Ideally, customers whose online activity corresponds closely to said keywords will be the ones who see your ads.? But there?s plenty more to this process than simply selecting some keywords. You can also select what keywords you don?t want associated with your product. If you only work within a defined area you can limit the amount of people who can see your ads to those within certain area codes. You can even target your advertising to a certain time of day. These features, and many more like them, are a big part of what makes PPC such an attractive option.

Of course, you can only get as much out of PPC as you put in. You can?t just plug in some data and watch it do all the work. If you want your ad campaign to be a success then you still need to take an active role. For example, I mentioned above how PPC can be used to measure the appeal and overall effectiveness of your ads. Use that information. If an ad?s not working then come up with something you think is better and try that. Keep experimenting and you?re bound to find something special. PPC grants you that freedom and flexibility. Use it. Ideally, you?ll want to start your campaign with several ads. This will probably cost a bit more money, but it?ll pay off in the long run. Make the ads diverse and try a few different strategies. Target each ad to a different keyword. After that, all you have to do is wait. In a little while, check back in. See which ads were successful and which ones floundered and use this information to strengthen your ad campaign. The lessons you learn carrying out an experiment like this can be incredibly beneficial in the future.

However, before you even put an ad out there you need to decide who exactly you want to see it. Ask yourself some questions before committing to a project:

  • What keywords best summarize my product or service?
  • What age group or gender would my service most appeal to?
  • What geographic location do I want to target?
  • What season or time of day best represents my service?
  • And so on?

As with any successful ad campaign, you?ll want to narrow down your target audience as much as possible. The more exact your aim the better the chance you?ll hit after all. Answer the above questions, and any other like them, with a great deal of care. Remember that you can narrow down your audience not only with positive keywords but negative ones as well. For these ads to be optimally effective you?ll want them to reach the right people just about every time. Be sure not to use ?broad match? keywords, which can get your ads sent to places only tangentially related to the keywords you selected. And if your ad keeps getting sent to the wrong place add some items to your list of negative keywords to compensate. Watch your traffic carefully. False clicks do you no good. They just cost you money.

Also, while we?re talking about areas of caution, watch out for fraud. PPC is a very easy system to exploit. Since the advertising company of your choice gets paid every time your ad gets clicked there?s naturally a desire among some of them to earn some easy money buy creating automated scripts to click on your ads over and over and over. Sometimes they simply just click on them themselves. Click fraud, as it is known, is hard to prove. Those perpetrating it can even use public computers to make matters that much more difficult. Every system has flaws, ways that it can be used nefariously, and PPC is no exception. I?m not saying it?s reason enough to abandon the system. Not at all. However, proceeding with some degree of caution is wise when embroiled in any sort of business dealings.

Once you?ve decided on your target audience you?ll need to bring them in. As stated above (and as could be assumed through the power of common sense) you?ll need a compelling ad to do this. What makes a ad compelling is not an exact science. The first thing that people will notice about your ad is the aesthetic element, so you?re going to want to make it stand out, either by using an effective design scheme (nothing garish or too loud but not boring or overly familiar either), an attention-grabbing graphic or perhaps a bit of humor. You might even want to include something a promotion, a promise of a small free item or maybe a limited time giveaway. Don?t make them feel pressured, but a little enticement never hurt. Once you have their attention you need to decide what will happen when they click on your add, basically where their action will take them next. You have three options here:

  • An Unrelated Page: This is an option you should absolutely not utilize. Essentially, if you don?t link a page to your ad then the click will take you to an unrelated landing page, thus killing the viewer?s interest, disrupting their attention and perhaps even creating a bit of resentment.
  • Your Actual Homepage: A decent option. That?s why they clicked on the ad after all. This is what they?ve come to see. They?re interested in your service, and as such sending them to the page where they can procure it isn?t a terrible idea.
  • A Landing Page: This is the best option in my opinion. Capturing the interest of a user is not enough. You have to sustain that interest until they?ve learned enough about your business to consider you. A landing page can accomplish this beautifully. Immediately plopping a person who knows very little about your business beyond a slogan and perhaps a logo down on your homepage can be an overwhelming experience, perhaps enough so to turn them off entirely. A landing page can be utilize to teach potential customers the basics without supplying them with too much information. Here you can lay out the basics, all of the reasons they should consider you, and at the bottom you can place a link to your full site should they be interested. It?s a great way to sustain interest and inform your potential customers without coming on too strong.

In the end, PPC has its flaws. After all, just because someone clicks on your ad doesn?t mean that you?re going to make a dime off it. However, if that occurs you?re probably at least somewhat to blame. Though it does simplify matters considerably when it comes to web advertising, PPC still largely depends on you. Your actions alone can determine whether or not a PPC campaign is a success or a failure. Don?t assume that it?ll do all or even most of the work for you. Use it carefully, stay alert and diligent, and you may find that a PPC plan is exactly what you need.

Source: http://www.neongoldfish.com/blog/general/how-to-successfully-utilize-pay-per-click-advertising/

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Competing pathways affect early differentiation of higher brain structures

Competing pathways affect early differentiation of higher brain structures [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 25-Apr-2013
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Contact: John Toon
jtoon@gatech.edu
404-894-6986
Georgia Institute of Technology

Sand-dwelling and rock-dwelling cichlids living in East Africa's Lake Malawi share a nearly identical genome, but have very different personalities. The territorial rock-dwellers live in communities where social interactions are important, while the sand-dwellers are itinerant and less aggressive.

Those behavioral differences likely arise from a complex region of the brain known as the telencephalon, which governs communication, emotion, movement and memory in vertebrates including humans, where a major portion of the telencephalon is known as the cerebral cortex. A study published this week in the journal Nature Communications shows how the strength and timing of competing molecular signals during brain development has generated natural and presumably adaptive differences in the telencephalon much earlier than scientists had previously believed.

In the study, researchers first identified key differences in gene expression between rock- and sand-dweller brains during development, and then used small molecules to manipulate developmental pathways to mimic natural diversity.

"We have shown that the evolutionary changes in the brains of these fishes occur really early in development," said Todd Streelman, an associate professor in the School of Biology and the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "It's generally been thought that early development of the brain must be strongly buffered against change. Our data suggest that rock-dweller brains differ from sand-dweller brains before there is a brain."

For humans, the research could lead scientists to look for subtle changes in brain structures earlier in the development process. This could provide a better understanding of how disorders such as autism and schizophrenia could arise during very early brain development.

The research was supported by the National Science Foundation and published online April 23 by the journal.

"We want to understand how the telencephalon evolves by looking at genetics and developmental pathways in closely-related species from natural populations," said Jonathan Sylvester, a postdoctoral researcher in the Georgia Tech School of Biology and lead author of the paper. "Adult cichlids have a tremendous amount of variation within the telencephalon, and we investigated the timing and cause of these differences. Unlike many previous studies in laboratory model organisms that focus on large, qualitative effects from knocking out single genes, we demonstrated that brain diversity evolves through quantitative tuning of multiple pathways."

In examining the fish from embryos to adulthood, the researchers found that the mbuna, or rock-dwellers, tended to exhibit a larger ventral portion of the telencephalon, called the subpallium while the sand-dwellers tended to have a larger version of the dorsal structure known as the pallium. These structures seem to have evolved differently over time to meet the behavioral and ecological needs of the fishes. The team showed that early variation in the activity of developmental signals expressed as complementary dorsal-ventral gradients, known technically as "Wingless" and "Hedgehog," are involved in creating those differences during the neural plate stage, as a single sheet of neural tissue folds to form the neural tube.

To specifically manipulate those two pathways, Sylvester removed clutches of between 20 and 40 eggs from brooding female cichlids, which normally incubate fertilized eggs in their mouths. At about 36 to 48 hours after fertilization, groups of eggs were exposed to small-molecule chemicals that either strengthened or weakened the Hedgehog signal, or strengthened or weakened the Wingless signal. The chemical treatment came while the structures that would become the brain were little more than a sheet of cells. After treatment, water containing the chemicals was replaced with fresh water, and the embryos were allowed to continue their development.

"We were able to artificially manipulate these pathways in a way that we think evolution might have worked to shift the process of rock-dweller telencephalon development to sand-dweller development, and vice-versa. Treatment with small molecules allows us incredible temporal and dose precision in manipulating natural development," Sylvester explained. "We then followed the development of the embryos until we were able to measure the anatomical structures the size of the pallium and subpallium to see that we had transformed one to the other."

The two different brain regions, the dorsal pallium and ventral subpallium, give rise to excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the forebrain. Altering the relative sizes of these regions might change the balance between these neuronal types, ultimately producing behavioral changes in the adult fish.

"Evolution has fine-tuned some of these developmental mechanisms to produce diversity," Streelman said. "In this study, we have figured out which ones."

The researchers studied six different species of East African cichlids, and also worked with collaborators at King's College in London to apply similar techniques in the zebrafish.

As a next step, the researchers would like to follow the embryos through to adulthood to see if the changes seen in embryonic and juvenile brain structures actually do change behavior of adults. It's possible, said Streelman, that later developmental events could compensate for the early differences.

The results could be of interest to scientists investigating human neurological disorders that result from an imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory neurons. Those disorders include autism and schizophrenia. "We think it is particularly interesting that there may be some adaptive variation in the natural proportions of excitatory versus inhibitory neurons in the species we study, correlated with their natural behavioral differences," said Streelman.

###

In addition to the researchers already mentioned, the study included undergraduate coauthors Constance Rich and Chuyong Yi from Georgia Tech, and Joao Peres and Corinne Houart from King's College in London. Rich is presently in the neuroscience PhD program at the University of Cambridge.

This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under grants IOS 0922964 and IOS 1146275. The findings and conclusions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF.

CITATION: Sylvester, J.B., et al., "Competing Signals Drive Telencephalon Diversity," (Nature Communications, 2013).


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Competing pathways affect early differentiation of higher brain structures [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 25-Apr-2013
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Contact: John Toon
jtoon@gatech.edu
404-894-6986
Georgia Institute of Technology

Sand-dwelling and rock-dwelling cichlids living in East Africa's Lake Malawi share a nearly identical genome, but have very different personalities. The territorial rock-dwellers live in communities where social interactions are important, while the sand-dwellers are itinerant and less aggressive.

Those behavioral differences likely arise from a complex region of the brain known as the telencephalon, which governs communication, emotion, movement and memory in vertebrates including humans, where a major portion of the telencephalon is known as the cerebral cortex. A study published this week in the journal Nature Communications shows how the strength and timing of competing molecular signals during brain development has generated natural and presumably adaptive differences in the telencephalon much earlier than scientists had previously believed.

In the study, researchers first identified key differences in gene expression between rock- and sand-dweller brains during development, and then used small molecules to manipulate developmental pathways to mimic natural diversity.

"We have shown that the evolutionary changes in the brains of these fishes occur really early in development," said Todd Streelman, an associate professor in the School of Biology and the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "It's generally been thought that early development of the brain must be strongly buffered against change. Our data suggest that rock-dweller brains differ from sand-dweller brains before there is a brain."

For humans, the research could lead scientists to look for subtle changes in brain structures earlier in the development process. This could provide a better understanding of how disorders such as autism and schizophrenia could arise during very early brain development.

The research was supported by the National Science Foundation and published online April 23 by the journal.

"We want to understand how the telencephalon evolves by looking at genetics and developmental pathways in closely-related species from natural populations," said Jonathan Sylvester, a postdoctoral researcher in the Georgia Tech School of Biology and lead author of the paper. "Adult cichlids have a tremendous amount of variation within the telencephalon, and we investigated the timing and cause of these differences. Unlike many previous studies in laboratory model organisms that focus on large, qualitative effects from knocking out single genes, we demonstrated that brain diversity evolves through quantitative tuning of multiple pathways."

In examining the fish from embryos to adulthood, the researchers found that the mbuna, or rock-dwellers, tended to exhibit a larger ventral portion of the telencephalon, called the subpallium while the sand-dwellers tended to have a larger version of the dorsal structure known as the pallium. These structures seem to have evolved differently over time to meet the behavioral and ecological needs of the fishes. The team showed that early variation in the activity of developmental signals expressed as complementary dorsal-ventral gradients, known technically as "Wingless" and "Hedgehog," are involved in creating those differences during the neural plate stage, as a single sheet of neural tissue folds to form the neural tube.

To specifically manipulate those two pathways, Sylvester removed clutches of between 20 and 40 eggs from brooding female cichlids, which normally incubate fertilized eggs in their mouths. At about 36 to 48 hours after fertilization, groups of eggs were exposed to small-molecule chemicals that either strengthened or weakened the Hedgehog signal, or strengthened or weakened the Wingless signal. The chemical treatment came while the structures that would become the brain were little more than a sheet of cells. After treatment, water containing the chemicals was replaced with fresh water, and the embryos were allowed to continue their development.

"We were able to artificially manipulate these pathways in a way that we think evolution might have worked to shift the process of rock-dweller telencephalon development to sand-dweller development, and vice-versa. Treatment with small molecules allows us incredible temporal and dose precision in manipulating natural development," Sylvester explained. "We then followed the development of the embryos until we were able to measure the anatomical structures the size of the pallium and subpallium to see that we had transformed one to the other."

The two different brain regions, the dorsal pallium and ventral subpallium, give rise to excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the forebrain. Altering the relative sizes of these regions might change the balance between these neuronal types, ultimately producing behavioral changes in the adult fish.

"Evolution has fine-tuned some of these developmental mechanisms to produce diversity," Streelman said. "In this study, we have figured out which ones."

The researchers studied six different species of East African cichlids, and also worked with collaborators at King's College in London to apply similar techniques in the zebrafish.

As a next step, the researchers would like to follow the embryos through to adulthood to see if the changes seen in embryonic and juvenile brain structures actually do change behavior of adults. It's possible, said Streelman, that later developmental events could compensate for the early differences.

The results could be of interest to scientists investigating human neurological disorders that result from an imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory neurons. Those disorders include autism and schizophrenia. "We think it is particularly interesting that there may be some adaptive variation in the natural proportions of excitatory versus inhibitory neurons in the species we study, correlated with their natural behavioral differences," said Streelman.

###

In addition to the researchers already mentioned, the study included undergraduate coauthors Constance Rich and Chuyong Yi from Georgia Tech, and Joao Peres and Corinne Houart from King's College in London. Rich is presently in the neuroscience PhD program at the University of Cambridge.

This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under grants IOS 0922964 and IOS 1146275. The findings and conclusions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NSF.

CITATION: Sylvester, J.B., et al., "Competing Signals Drive Telencephalon Diversity," (Nature Communications, 2013).


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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/giot-cpa042513.php

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Thursday, April 25, 2013

Fuel barges explode, causing large fire in Ala.

A massive explosion at 3 a.m. EDT on one of the two barges still ablaze in the Mobile River in Mobile, Ala., on Thursday, April 25, 2013. Three people were injured in the blast. Fire officials have pulled units back from fighting the fire due to the explosions and no immediate threat to lives. (AP Photo John David Mercer) Three people were hospitalized with burns. Information on their conditions was not immediately available.

A massive explosion at 3 a.m. EDT on one of the two barges still ablaze in the Mobile River in Mobile, Ala., on Thursday, April 25, 2013. Three people were injured in the blast. Fire officials have pulled units back from fighting the fire due to the explosions and no immediate threat to lives. (AP Photo John David Mercer) Three people were hospitalized with burns. Information on their conditions was not immediately available.

A massive explosion at 3a.m. EDT on one of the two barges still ablaze in the Mobile River in Mobile, Ala., on Thursday, April 25, 2013. Three people were injured in the blast. Fire officials have pulled units back from fighting the fire due to the explosions and no immediate threat to lives. (AP Photo John David Mercer) Three people were hospitalized with burns. Information on their conditions was not immediately available.

Fire burns aboard two fuel barges along Mobile River after explosions sent three workers to the hospital. Fire officials have pulled units back from fighting the fire due to the explosions and no immediate threat to lives. (AP Photo/Press Register, Glenn Baeske)

A massive explosion at 3 a.m. EDT on one of the two barges still ablaze in the Mobile River in Mobile, Ala., on Thursday, April 25, 2013. Three people were injured in the blast. Fire officials have pulled units back from fighting the fire due to the explosions and no immediate threat to lives. (AP Photo John David Mercer) Three people were hospitalized with burns. Information on their conditions was not immediately available.

Fire burns aboard two fuel barges along the Mobile River after explosions sent three workers to the hospital Wednesday April 24, 2013. Fire officials have pulled units back from fighting the fire due to the explosions and no immediate threat to lives. (AP Photo John David Mercer)

(AP) ? A large fire that began with explosions aboard two fuel barges in Mobile, Ala., was rocked by a seventh explosion early Thursday and fire officials said they planned to let the fire, which has injured three, burn overnight.

Firefighters from Mobile and U.S. Coast Guard officials responded after 8:30 p.m. CDT Wednesday to a pair of explosions involving the gas barges in an area of the Mobile River east of downtown, authorities said.

As they were responding, a third explosion occurred around 9:30 p.m., Mobile Fire and Rescue spokesman Steve Huffman wrote in an email to The Associated Press. Additional explosions followed over the next few hours.

The Coast Guard said early Thursday that a one-nautical-mile safety zone had been established around one barge, which it said was "at the dock for cleaning."

Authorities said three people were transported to University of South Alabama Medical Center after suffering burn-related injuries. Huffman identified them as workers with Oil Recovery Co. The three were in critical condition early Thursday, according to hospital nursing administrator Danny Whatley.

Across the river, the Carnival Triumph, the cruise ship that became disabled in the Gulf of Mexico last February before it was towed to Mobile's port, was evacuated, said Alan Waugh, who lives at the Fort Conde Inn in downtown Mobile, across the river from the scene of the explosions. Waugh saw the blasts and said throngs of Carnival employees and others were clustered on streets leading toward the river as authorities evacuated the shipyard.

"It literally sounded like bombs going off around. The sky just lit up in orange and red," he said, "We could smell something in the air, we didn't know if it was gas or smoke." Waugh said he could feel the heat from the explosion and when he came back inside, his partner noticed he had what appeared to be black soot on his face.

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Carlos Vega said the initial blast took place in a ship channel near the George C. Wallace Tunnel ? which carries traffic from Interstate 10 under the Mobile River. The river runs south past Mobile and into Mobile Bay, which in turn flows into the Gulf of Mexico.

Video from WALA-TV (http://bit.ly/15NEYJl) showed flames engulfing a large section of the barge, and a video that a bystander sent to AL.com (http://bit.ly/13vWz4G) showed the fiery explosions and billowing smoke over the river.

The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear, Huffman and Vega said.

"Once (the fire) is out and safe, a full investigation will take place," Huffman wrote.

Mobile Fire Chief Steve Dean told AL.com he was confident the fire wouldn't spread to nearby industrial properties, including the shipyard where the Carnival cruise ship is docked.

Huffman said the ship is directly across the river from the incident ? about two football fields in length.

The barges are owned by Houston-based Kirby Inland Marine, company spokesman Greg Beuerman said. He said the barges were empty and being cleaned at the Oil Recovery Co. facility when the incident began. He said the barges had been carrying a liquid called natural gasoline ? which he said is neither liquefied natural gas or natural gas. He said the company has dispatched a team to work with investigators to determine what caused the fire.

The explosion comes two months after the 900-foot-long Carnival Triumph was towed to Mobile after becoming disabled on the Gulf during a cruise by an engine room fire, leaving thousands of passengers to endure cold food, unsanitary conditions and power outages for several days. The ship is still undergoing repairs there, with many workers living on board.

Carnival didn't immediately respond to an emailed request for comment late Wednesday.

Earlier this month, the cruise ship was dislodged from its mooring by a windstorm that also caused, in a separate incident, two shipyard workers to fall into Mobile Bay. While one worker was rescued, the other's body was pulled from the water more than a week later.

___

Associated Press writer Phillip Lucas in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-04-25-Fuel%20Barge%20Explosion/id-bf82fcba3c8140cba71e2adeabb912ba

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Hagel: Israel did not tell him of intel on Syria

CAIRO (AP) ? U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel indicated on Wednesday that he was caught by surprise when Israeli officials publicly revealed their assessment that Syria has used chemical weapons in its civil war.

Hagel told reporters that his Israeli counterpart, Moshe Yaalon, did not alert him to the assessment when they met in Tel Aviv on Monday. The assessment was announced publicly on Tuesday by a senior official with Israel's military intelligence office.

"They did not give me that assessment; I guess it was not complete," Hagel said after several hours of meetings with senior Egyptian officials on the fourth stop of a week-long Mideast tour. "So I have not seen the specifics of it" or discussed it with Israeli officials.

He said he and Yaalon discussed the issue of Syria's chemical weapons, but Hagel would not elaborate further.

The Obama administration has said Syrian government use of chemical weapons would be a "game changer," implying that it might, if confirmed, compel the U.S. to get more directly involved in the civil conflict.

Hagel said that Washington is looking for "real intelligence" on the issue of Syrian chemical weapon use.

"Suspicions are one thing. Evidence is another," he said. "I think we have to be very careful here before we make any conclusions, draw any conclusions, based on real intelligence." He said his comments should not be interpreting as questioning the validity of other counties' intelligence on Syria. The important point, he said, is that "the United States relies on its own intelligence ? and must."

After his meetings in Cairo, which included talks with President Mohammed Morsi and the Egyptian defense minister, Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, Hagel flew to Abu Dhabi on the Persian Gulf.

Hagel said his Cairo stop was important for reinforcing U.S. support for the Egyptian government's transition to democracy and its efforts at economic reform.

By including Cairo on his first Mideast tour as defense secretary, Hagel was highlighting the Obama administration's hope of preserving influence with the Egyptian military as the country struggles with its transition to democracy.

Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel. The U.S. is deeply concerned, however, that continued instability in Egypt will have broader consequences in a region already rocked by unrest, including in the increasingly lawless Sinai Peninsula.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hagel-israel-did-not-tell-him-intel-syria-184631082--politics.html

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Hearsay Social Brings Its Social Media Tools To Europe With New London Office

hearsay-social Hearsay Social, a Sequoia- and NEA-backed company that helps large organizations manage their social media presence across local branches and sales teams, is announcing that it has opened an office in London. Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Steve Garrity said is the first step in the company's European expansion. The new office will be led by Peter Caryotis, who previously managed IBM?s Northern Europe Platform Computing business. The company says it has also updated its products to support German, French, and Spanish.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/aJpKCXSGheA/

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Big ecosystem changes viewed through the lens of tiny carnivorous plants

Apr. 23, 2013 ? What do a pond or a lake and a carnivorous pitcher plant have in common?

The water-filled pool within a pitcher plant, it turns out, is a tiny ecosystem whose inner workings are similar to those of a full-scale water body.

Whether small carnivorous plant or huge lake, both are subject to the same ecological "tipping points," of concern on Earth Day--and every day, say scientists.

The findings are published in this week's issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In the paper, ecologists affiliated with the National Science Foundation (NSF) Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research site in Massachusetts offer new insights about how such tipping points happen.

"Human societies, financial markets and ecosystems all may shift abruptly and unpredictably from one, often favored, state to another less desirable one," says Saran Twombly, program director in NSF's Division of Environmental Biology, which funded the research.

"These researchers have looked at the minute ecosystems that thrive in pitcher plant leaves to determine early warning signals and to find ways of predicting and possibly forestalling such 'tipping points.'"

Life in lakes and ponds of all sizes can be disrupted when too many nutrients--such as in fertilizers and pollution--overload the system.

When that happens, these aquatic ecosystems can cross "tipping points" and change drastically. Excess nutrients cause algae to bloom. Bacteria eating the algae use up oxygen in the water. The result is a murky green lake.

"The first step to preventing tipping points is understanding what causes them," says Aaron Ellison, an ecologist at Harvard Forest and co-author of the paper. "For that, you need an experiment where you can demonstrate cause-and-effect."

Ellison and other scientists demonstrated how to reliably trigger a tipping point.

They continually added a set amount of organic matter--comparable to decomposing algae in a lake--to a small aquatic ecosystem: the tiny confines of a pitcher plant, a carnivorous plant native to eastern North America.

Each pitcher-shaped leaf holds about a quarter of an ounce of rainwater. Inside is a complex, multi-level food web of fly larvae and bacteria.

"The pitcher plant is its own little ecosystem," says Jennie Sirota, a researcher at North Dakota State University and lead author of the paper.

Similar to lake ecosystems, oxygen levels inside the water of a pitcher plant are controlled by photosynthesis and the behavior of resident organisms--in this case, mostly bacteria.

Ellison says that conducting an experiment with bacteria is like fast-forwarding through a video.

"A bacterial generation is 20 minutes, maybe an hour," he says. "In contrast, fish in a lake have generation times of a year or more.

"We would need to study a lake for 100 years to get the same information we can get from a pitcher plant in less than a week."

The same mathematical models, Ellison and colleagues discovered, can be used to describe a pitcher plant or a lake ecosystem.

To approximate an overload of nutrients in pitcher-plant water, the team fed set amounts of ground-up wasps to the plants.

"That's equivalent to a 200-pound person eating one or two McDonald's quarter-pounders every day for four days," says Ellison.

In pitcher plants with enough added wasps, an ecosystem tipping point reliably occurred about 45 hours after the start of feeding.

The scientists now have a way of creating tipping points. Their next step will be to identify the early warning signs.

"Tipping points may be easy to prevent," says Ellison, "if we know what to look for."

Other authors of the paper are Benjamin Baiser of Harvard Forest and Nicholas Gotelli of the University of Vermont.

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Binge drinking in college can lead to heart disease later in life

Apr. 23, 2013 ? Frequent binge drinking in college can cause more than a hangover. Regularly consuming multiple drinks in a short window of time can cause immediate changes in circulation that increase an otherwise healthy young adult's risk of developing cardiovascular disease later in life, according to research published online today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

"Regular binge drinking is one of the most serious public health problems confronting our college campuses, and drinking on college campuses has become more pervasive and destructive," said Shane A. Phillips, PT, PhD, senior author and associate professor and associate head of physical therapy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "Binge drinking is neurotoxic and our data support that there may be serious cardiovascular consequences in young adults."

College students age 18 to 25 years old have the highest rates of binge drinking episodes, with more than half engaging in binge drinking on a regular basis. Prior studies have found that binge drinking among adults age 40 to 60 years old is associated with an increase in risk for stroke, sudden cardiac death and heart attack, but the effect on younger adults has not been studied.

Researchers looked at two groups of healthy nonsmoking college students: those who had a history of binge drinking and those who abstained from alcohol. Binge drinking was defined as consuming five or more standard size drinks (12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, 1.5 ounces of 80 proof spirits or 8-9 ounces of malt liquor) in a two-hour period for males and four or more standard size drinks in a two-hour period for females. On average, the students who binge drink had six such episodes each month over four years. Abstainers were defined as having consumed no more than five drinks in the prior year.

Students were also questioned about their medical history, diet, history of family alcohol abuse and frequency of binge drinking.

The study found that the binge drinkers had impaired function in the two main cell types (endothelium and smooth muscle) that control blood flow. These vascular changes were equivalent to impairment found in individuals with a lifetime history of daily heavy alcohol consumption and can be a precursor for developing atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, and other cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke.

Binge drinkers were not found to have increased blood pressure or cholesterol, which are well-established risk factors for heart disease; however, both high blood pressure and cholesterol cause changes in vascular function similar to what the students demonstrated.

"It is important that young adults understand that binge drinking patterns are an extreme form of unhealthy or at-risk drinking and are associated with serious social and medical consequences," Mariann Piano, PhD, RN, co-author of the study and professor and head of the department of biobehavioral health science at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said. "Discoveries and advances in many different areas of medical science have cautioned against the notion that youth protects against the adverse effects of bad lifestyle behaviors or choices."

According to the investigators, more research is needed to determine if damage caused by binge drinking in young adulthood can be reversed before the onset of cardiovascular disease and to determine the timeframe for onset of disease.

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149 die, more cry for help at Bangladesh collapse

SAVAR, Bangladesh (AP) ? Workers trapped in the wreckage of a collapsed factory building in Bangladesh cried out for help Thursday, as rescuers struggled to reach survivors of a disaster that killed at least 149 people and reignited questions about the often lethal conditions the country's garment industry.

Army Brig. Gen. Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder said many people are still trapped in the building, which housed a number of garment factories employing hundreds of people when it came tumbling down Wednesday morning. A clearer picture of the rescue operation would be available by afternoon, he said.

The disaster in the Dhaka suburb of Savar came less than five months after a factory fire killed 112 people and underscored the unsafe conditions faced by Bangladesh's garment workers, who produce clothes for global brands worn around the world.

Workers said they had hesitated to enter the building on Wednesday morning because it had developed such large cracks a day earlier that it even drew the attention of local news channels. Just hours later it came tumbling down.

Tens of thousands of people gathered at the site, weeping and searching for family members. Searchers worked through the night to get through the jumbled mess of concrete with drills or their bare hands, passing water and flashlights to those pinned inside the building.

"I gave them whistles, water, torchlights. I heard them cry. We can't leave them behind this way," said fire official Abul Khayer.

Abdur Rahim, who worked on the fifth floor, said a factory manager gave assurances that the cracks in the building were no cause for concern, so employees went inside.

"After about an hour or so, the building collapsed suddenly," Rahim said. The next thing he remembers is regaining consciousness outside.

On a visit to the site, Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir told reporters the building had violated construction codes and that "the culprits would be punished."

Abdul Halim, an official with the engineering department in Savar, said the owner was originally allowed to construct a five-story building but he added another three stories illegally.

Local police chief Mohammaed Asaduzzaman said police and the government's Capital Development Authority have filed separate cases of negligence against the building owner.

Habibur Rahman, police superintendent of Dhaka district, identified the owner as Mohammed Sohel Rana, a local leader of ruling Awami League's youth front. Rahman said police were also looking for the owners of the garment factories.

Among the textile businesses in the building were Phantom Apparels Ltd., New Wave Style Ltd., New Wave Bottoms Ltd. and New Wave Brothers Ltd. According to their website, the New Wave companies make clothing for major brands including U.S. retailers The Children's Place and Dress Barn, British retailer Primark and Spanish retailer Mango.

Jane Singer, a spokeswoman for The Children's Place, said that "while one of the garment factories located in the building complex has produced apparel for The Children's Place, none of our product was in production at the time of this accident."

"Our deepest sympathies go out to the victims of this terrible tragedy and their families," Singer said in a statement.

Dress Barn said that to its knowledge, it had not purchased clothing from the factories involved since 2010. Primark, a major British clothing retailer, confirmed that one of the suppliers it uses to produce some of its goods was located on the second floor of the building.

In a statement emailed to The Associated Press, Primark said it was "shocked and deeply saddened by the appalling incident." It added that it has been working with other retailers to review the country's approach to factory standards and will now push for this review to include building integrity. Meanwhile, Primark's ethical trade team is working to collect information, assess which communities the workers come from and provide support "where possible."

Mango denied reports it was using any of the suppliers in the building. However, in an email statement to the AP, it said that there had been conversations with one of them to produce a batch of test products.

Kevin Gardner, a spokesman at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the second-largest clothing producer in Bangladesh, said the company is investigating to see if a factory in the building had been producing for the chain at the time of the collapse.

"We remain committed and are actively engaged in promoting stronger safety measures, and that work continues," Gardner said.

Charles Kernaghan, executive director of the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, which has an office in Dhaka, says his staff is investigating. He's hoping his team, working with local workers' groups, will be able to find out which brands were having their products made at the time of the collapse.

"You can't trust many buildings in Bangladesh," Kernaghan said. "It's so corrupt that you can buy off anybody and there won't be any retribution."

An enormous section of the concrete structure appeared to have splintered like twigs. Colorful sheets of fabric were tied to upper floors so those inside could climb or slide down and escape.

An arm jutted out of one section of the rubble. A lifeless woman covered in dust could be seen in another.

Sumi, a 25-year-old worker who goes by one name, said she was sewing jeans on the fifth floor with at least 400 others when the building fell.

"It collapsed all of a sudden," she said. "No shaking, no indication. It just collapsed on us."

She said she managed to reach a hole in the building where rescuers pulled her out.

Firefighters and soldiers with drilling machines and cranes worked with volunteers to search for survivors.

Rescuers carried the body of a young boy from the building; it was not immediately clear what he had been doing inside. The building housed a bank and various shops in addition to the garment factories.

Mosammat Khurshida wailed as she looked for her husband. "He came to work in the morning. I can't find him," she said. "I don't know where he is. He does not pick up his phone."

The morgue of the medical college echoed with the sobs of people waiting for the bodies of their loved ones.

"Where's my mother? Where's my mother? Tell me, tell me, oh Allah, oh Allah!" Rana Ahmed cried.

Asaduzzaman, the local police chief, said nearly 100 bodies had been handed to their families as of Thursday morning.

The collapse was even deadlier than the November factory fire that drew international attention to working conditions in Bangladesh's $20 billion-a-year textile industry. The country has about 4,000 garment factories and exports clothes to leading Western retailers, and the industry wields vast power in the South Asian nation.

The Tazreen factory in the fire lacked emergency exits, and its owner said only three floors of the eight-story building were legally built. Surviving employees said gates had been locked and managers had told them to go back to work after the fire alarm went off.

___

AP Retail Writer Anne D'Innocenzio in New York contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/149-die-more-cry-help-bangladesh-collapse-040400455--finance.html

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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

PFT: Several teams in top 12 look to move down

Philadelphia Eagles v Washington RedksinsGetty Images

The Redskins surrendered their 2013 first-round pick in the trade for Robert Griffin III, leaving them with seven selections later this week ? two picks Friday and five picks Saturday. With the QB position in good hands, addressing one of the NFL?s more porous defenses would be a logical next move for Washington. Here?s a rundown of the top draft needs for the depending NFC East champions:

Cornerback: Bringing in at least one rookie would be sensible with?DeAngelo Hall, Josh Wilson and E.J. Biggers all slated to be unrestricted free agents at season?s end. It will interesting to see how the Redskins proceed at this position without a first-round pick in this draft and the 2014 selection meeting. If they can find a second- or third-day cornerback with promise ? think Casey Hayward to Green Bay at No. 62 last April ? it would give them some flexibility.

Outside linebacker: If Brian Orakpo can stay healthy after missing most of 2012 with a pectoral injury, he?s likely to garner a big-time second contract. Edge-rushing talent for a ?30? front is a must, and Orakpo ? a free agent at season?s end ? shouldn?t lack for suitors if at full strength. Orakpo?is productive (8.5 sacks or more in three seasons since entering the league in 2009) and in his prime (27 at the start of the season). Even if Washington can keep Orakpo, there is always a spot for another pass rusher.

Right tackle: Tyler Polumbus seems the likely starter here after re-signing for two more seasons. However, adding a tackle prospect capable of backing up both spots now and pushing for the ORT job later would make sense.

Inside linebacker: London Fletcher will be 38 in May, and the other starter inside, Perry Riley, can test free agency after the season. The Redskins drafted ILB prospect Keenan Robinson in Round Four last April and could stand to keep adding to their options behind Fletcher and Riley.

Safety: Brandon Meriweather comes off an ACL tear. Reed Doughty will be an unrestricted free agent after the 2013 campaign. Ex-Buccaneers safety Tanard Jackson must seek NFL reinstatement to return to the field this season. If the Redskins get some breaks at this position, they could craft something of a workable solution from the personnel at hand for 2013. However, there?s a good deal of uncertainty. Bolstering the safety depth chart might not be a bad idea.

The Redskins? first pick is in Round Two (No. 51 overall), and they have at least one choice in each of the next six rounds. This is good news for Washington, which needs to make good use of its selections. The Redskins can fill out a solid lineup for 2013 as is, but they have numerous free agency decisions coming, and their defense needs bolstering. Also, Washington could use a little more defensive line, wideout and running back depth, too.?Oh, for a team to be in love with a quarterback when the Redskins are on the clock in the second round. Here?s a team that could use another couple picks.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/04/23/report-five-teams-in-top-12-want-to-move-down/related/

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