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Thursday, May 31, 2012

Purchase Web site Site visitors Or Construct ... - HTML Color Codes

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In the case of generating traffic for an internet site there are basically two methods ? buying or building. In either case, the necessary aspect is that the traffic focused to each the content material you present and the services or products that you offer. Each methods have their advantages and downsides and may be mixed into an efficient online enterprise advertising mix used to generate gross sales and improve conversions.

Buying Site visitors

There are many methods of shopping for traffic for a website. Any type of online advertising that guarantees an amount of traffic, or number of clicks to your website, for a set sum of money may be considered buying traffic. This rigidity can present a transparent methodology to extend website visibility and observe your advertising ROI but the impetus should at all times be on discovering sources of focused traffic.

The Advantages

From Pay Per Click (PPC) promoting to any other methodology of shopping for website traffic, one of the greatest benefits is its transparency. An internet site proprietor is aware of precisely how much they might want to spend with a purpose to generate a certain amount of traffic. This enables for the correct assessment of ROI and enables you, as a vigilant website proprietor and marketer, to type the profitable wheat from the pricey chaff. Methods resembling PPC can generate traffic immediately, even for the newer website.

The Pitfalls

Except managed correctly, buying website traffic can be a very pricey business. Many sources of website traffic pay little heed to how effectively focused that traffic is, and poorly focused traffic won?t generate good net results. That is, your website will generate extra traffic however you?ll not see an enchancment in gross sales and your website ROI is extra likely to take a major tumble than a marked increase.

Constructing Site visitors

Constructing traffic is a extra organic method and is most typically related to web optimization, or Search Engine Optimisation. By optimising an internet site or by turning into an active member in online social communities it is attainable to construct seemingly limitless provides of traffic. The long term success of constructing traffic can see your website traffic proceed to extend long after you could have put in the initial leg work.

The Advantages

Effective traffic constructing techniques, that particularly generate focused traffic, can proceed to generate new visitors over an extended interval of time. Whereas it does require continued work to generate an everyday stream of incoming visitors, many methods of constructing traffic will help improve your website visibility, generate optimistic website branding, and provides a really generous advertising ROI.

The Pitfalls

These methods can build quite a lot of long term traffic for comparatively little investment. Nonetheless, short term gains are typically quite small and require quite a lot of work in the first place to construct up a strong basis to work from. Some ongoing work is required with a purpose to proceed to generate the best outcomes and to proceed to extend traffic ranges above and past those that are first created. Finally, there are no guarantees; no minimal and no maximum gains that may be achieved via these forms of constructing traffic.

Combining The Two

Buying and constructing traffic each have their advantages, and are definitely not mutually exclusive. An internet site can profit from PPC in addition to web optimization and SMO traffic era in a robust advertising mix. This mix can present excellent early traffic outcomes in addition to continued era of new visitors and it could even encompass very powerful website branding.

About The Creator

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Female choice key to evolutionary shift to modern family

ScienceDaily (May 30, 2012) ? It is a question that has puzzled evolutionary biologists for years: Why did we stop being promiscuous and decide to settle down to start families?

Sergey Gavrilets, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, may have found the answer, and it lies in the power of female choice. The study reveals how females chose their mates played a critical role in human evolution by leading to monogamous relationships, which laid the foundation for the institution of the modern family.

Using mathematical modeling, the associate director for scientific activities at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) at UT has discovered that the transformation may have occurred when early-hominid females started choosing males who were good providers.

Gavrilets' findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The "sexual revolution" entailed males first competing with other males for dominance, as a way to get matings. However, low-ranked males?and eventually all males except those with the highest societal stature?began supplying females with provisions in what is called "food-for-mating" to get a leg up on the competition. Females showed preference for the "provisioning" males, leading males' energy to be spent on providing for females and females becoming increasingly faithful. This spurred self-domestication and the modern family as we know it today.

"This change has confounded scientists for a long time because many species would be much better off evolutionarily if the effort spent on males competing for mates was redirected towards increasing female fertility or survivorship of their offspring," said Gavrilets.

The study demonstrates mathematically that the most commonly proposed theories for the transition to human pair bonding?or coupling?are not biologically feasible.

However, the study advances a new model showing that the transition to pair-bonding can occur when female choice and faithfulness, among other factors, are included. The result is an increased emphasis on males provisioning females over male competition for mating.

"The study reveals that female choice played a crucial role in human evolution," said Gavrilets.

According to Gavrilets, the transition to coupling has opened the path to intensified male parental investment, which was a breakthrough adaptation with multiple anatomical, behavioral and physiological consequences for early hominids and for all of their descendants. It shifted the dynamic away from males competing with each other for sex to males competing with each other to see who is a better provider to get better mates.

"Pair bonding laid the foundation for a later emergence of the institution of the modern family," said Gavrilets.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Tennessee, via Newswise.

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

Journal Reference:

S. Gavrilets. Human origins and the transition from promiscuity to pair-bonding. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1200717109

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

The First Google Project Glass Video

Last month, Google announced Project Glass and how it was going to revolutionize the way we interact with the world forever. While Google still has a long way to go before the AR experience is complete, it has released the first video sample from Project Glass, posting the video on YouTube in 720p.

Now, because the video was shot with the camera on the glasses themselves, we still have no real idea what the prototype looks like at this point. That said, we can see the video quality that the glasses can capture and I?d say that it?s comparable to something like the Flip MinoHD. The sample video is with the employee jumping and flipping on a trampoline, so those with motion sensitivities might want to skip this.

I did notice a couple of moments where the video pauses or hiccups briefly, but this is a prototype and this is the first video sample. That said, since the glasses do appear to stay fixed on the Google employee?s head as he does his flips, at least we can say that Project Glass offers a decent fit for active types.

[Source]

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Adrianne Curry Naked On Twitter

Adrianne Curry has exposed herself once again in a completely nude picture that she posted on her Twitter page.

Enjoy.

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Must See HDTV (May 28th - June 3rd)

Game of Thrones
HBO's premiere series wraps up season two this weekend, and while we're not going to spoil things (yeah we read ahead via wiki summaries, we're weak) we're pretty sure that someone will die in this episode. Just like pretty much every other episode. Someone else will do something honorable, someone will be betrayed, and... dragons. Game of Thrones, ladies and gentlemen.
(June 3rd, HBO, 9PM)

Workaholics
Comedy Central's series makes its return this week, and the story of three slackers just trying to get by has really grown on us. Trying to explain the interactions between Blake, Adam and 'Ders would probably make us look crazy, so we'll just advise you to tune in and hope for another Double Dare cameo by Marc Summers. If the words "let's get weird" don't mean anything to you, check out the trailer embedded after the break.
(May 29th, Comedy Central, 10:30PM)

Stanley Cup Finals
The NHL Playoffs are finally down to just two teams: the LA Kings and the New Jersey Devils. Hockey's biggest prize is up for grabs, however the games are pretty spaced out so we've only got two of them on the schedule this week. We're sure you can make time to tune in.
(May 30th & June 2nd, NBC, 8PM)

Continue reading Must See HDTV (May 28th - June 3rd)

Must See HDTV (May 28th - June 3rd) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 May 2012 17:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Strategic Planning Made Simple, Part 6 - Profit

Posted by Matt Heemstra on Mon, May 28, 2012 @ 12:01 PM

Understanding the NOW and WHERE of your Patrons, Products, Promotion, and People are key parts of developing long-term strategy.? Even if you have an understanding of all of those things, though, you?re still missing some key elements.? Most significantly, how will you know you?ve been successful?

Measuring success requires you to develop and use key performance indicators.? Key performance indicators (KPI?s) are quantifiable measurements, agreed to beforehand, that reflect the critical success factors of an organization.? There are thousands of possibilities, but for purposes of this discussion, let?s stick to financial-related KPI?s.

Perhaps the most often mentioned KPI of all is profit.? Most business owners like to talk about how profitable their businesses are.? It?s used as a measure of success - ?A person is born with a liking for profit? (Xun Zi).? But how profitable do you want to be?? And ?As profitable as possible!? isn?t an answer.?

Think about your profits NOW.? Are you satisfied with them?? Are they enough to fund the needs of your business?? What about your personal needs?? Now think about WHERE you want your profits to be.? Go back to the Patrons, Products, Promotion and People work you?ve done.? How much profit will you need to fund the WHERE for those areas?? A business who decides that a key strategy will be product development requires a much different level of profit than one who decides it needs to function with significantly less staff.

What about some financial info besides profit?? ?Happiness is a positive cash flow? (Fred Adler).? What is your cash situation NOW?? Do you have enough cash today?? Again, think about all the work you?ve already done with Patrons, Products, Promotion and People.? How much cash will you need for the WHERE?? Many business owners look at their financial statements and feel good about being profitable, yet at the same time feel like they don?t have any money.? It?s important to set profit goals; it?s equally important to think about cash needs.? If there?s a gap between your NOW and WHERE, you?ve got work to do.

So what does the profit look like in your business?? Are you satisfied?? Or wanting more?

Profit, Key performance indicators, measuring success

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India rejects Siachen demilitarisation

NEW DELHI - Indian Chief of the Army staff Gen VK Singh has said that General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani's remarks on Siachen's demilitarisation could not be taken seriously.
Last month, Kayani had told media that both Pakistan and India should talk about pulling out troops from the region and spend more on the development and prosperity of their people. However, he made it clear that it should not be taken as Pakistan's weakness. In an interview to Times Now, the Indian general rejected Kayani?s proposal to demilitarise the Siachen Glacier. "These are all gimmicks that keep coming from the establishment in Pakistan and we will be fools if we fall for them," Singh maintained.
"Today you are sitting in dominating heights which cannot be given away. I am sorry. Who is going to look after them? Today, your infrastructure is pretty well advanced. We are perfectly okay up there," Singh said.
The Indian army chief also criticized ?The Indian Express? report of April 4 about how troop movements near the capital on the night of January 16 - the day General Singh moved the Supreme Court - rang alarm bells in the highest levels of the government. He described the news item as part of an ?agenda? and said the newspaper's Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta, who was one of the authors of the report, had met him over lunch and asked him ?questions? about the troop movements.
When asked if this conversation was on the record, Singh said Gupta was not recording the discussion, but he was quite sure no journalist in the world had ever been off the record." His response was ?No?, while answering a question whether his ?side of the story? was taken. Sindh alleged that someone in the government leaked his confidential letter to the prime minister on glaring weaknesses in defence preparedness.
When asked how it was done, Singh said neither he nor anyone close to him was the source of the leak. "In army, we don't do things like this. It is not our culture. Let us find out who leaked it," he said. When asked if somebody within the government or outside leaked the letter, he replied: "Has to be within the government, who will be outside?" Interestingly, just three days before his retirement, Singh also regretted moving Supreme Court on his date of birth issue, but questioned the manner in which the highest court of the land, and a judge on the bench, treated his petition.

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Monday, May 28, 2012

Kids' football camp keeps follows Washington's lead

By The Record

May 26, 2012 12:00 AM

Former NFL wide receiver J.D. Hill and San Jose SaberCats head coach and co-owner Darren Arbet are facilitating a football camp for kids on Monday and Tuesday at Edison High.

Both played at Edison for the late Charles Washington and are keeping his legacy alive with the third installment of the Coach Charles Washington spring football camp that is free to kids. Registration both days is at 8 a.m., and the camp will run until about 11:30 a.m.

"We want to keep the momentum with the camp going with Coach Washington," said Hill, the No. 4 overall pick of the Buffalo Bills in 1971 out of Arizona State. "We'll give the kids a chance to run around and work on their skills."

Lunch will be available both days, and each participant will receive a T-shirt. Hill, Arbet and other coaches will talk to the kids about making good choices in life, something Coach Washington stressed in his long career as a coach and mentor in Stockton.

"This is something we need to do to keep his legacy alive," said Hill, who lives in Chandler, Ariz. "We're trying to make an impact on pre-teens and kids going into high school where they either do the right thing or get mixed up with the wrong crowd."

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Toronto Ends 9-Game Losing Streak, 1-0 Over Union

TORONTO (AP) ? Toronto FC ended its MLS record nine-game losing streak with a 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Union on a late goal by Danny Koevermans on Saturday.

Nick Soolsma outmuscled a Union defender in the box and fed the ball to Koevermans at the near post. The big Dutch striker?s first attempt bounced off goalie Chris Konopka, but he scored on with his second try.

Koevermans came into the game in the 62nd minute, his third substitute appearances in four games since returning from a groin injury.

Toronto entered the game off a win against the Vancouver Whitecaps that game the club a fourth straight Voyageurs Cup as Canadian champion. Toronto has a three-week break due to the next round of World Cup qualifiers.

Philadelphia played without goalie Zac MacMath (concussion symptoms) and Chase Harrison (ankle sprain).

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Concert on National Mall shut down by thunder

A Marine salutes as motorcycles drive past during the annual Rolling Thunder parade ahead of Memorial Day in Washington, Sunday, May 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The National Memorial Day Concert has been canceled due to a line of thunderstorms that moved into the District of Columbia on Sunday night.

About halfway into the concert, an annual event on the National Mall, host Gary Sinise told the audience there was a severe weather warning and advised concertgoers to leave and seek shelter.

Mike Musher of the National Weather Service says the thunderstorms developed over Pennsylvania as part of the weather system that created record high temperatures in the Midwest on Sunday.

The Memorial Day concert, broadcast by PBS, features songs from pop and country performers, patriotic music from military bands and stories of heroic acts by U.S. troops. Country singer Trace Adkins and rock band Daughtry had already performed before the plug was pulled Sunday.

Associated Press

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Sunday, May 27, 2012

Katie Finneran to join cast of Broadway's 'Annie'

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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Guaranteed Income Annuities: The Holy Grail of Investments ...

I recently encountered a client who was anxious to liquidate his diversified IRA portfolio to invest in an annuity that guaranteed a set income throughout retirement. The client had been approached by an annuity salesman who touted an annuity guaranteeing an 8% return and even granting a 5.5% bonus just for investing in the product. Substituting easy to understand investment figures, the annuity salesman had informed the client that he could invest $439,000 today, while he was age 56, and in ten years receive $56,000 every year for the rest of his life.Doesn?t sound like a bad deal, right? A guaranteed 8% return, $56,000 of income every year for as long as you live, and a 5.5% bonus, or $24,145 (5.5% of $439k) just for investing. These were the benefits of the annuity as the investor understood them. Additionally, the investor understood that the investment came with a surrender period, meaning if he withdrew his investment during the first ten years he would suffer significant penalties ? as much as 12%! However, since the investor didn?t intend to withdraw his investments for 10 years, until he was 66 and retired, he didn?t see this as an issue. So, had the investor discovered the holy grail of investments?After a long struggle with the annuity salesman, I was able to review the details of this product. The investment was a fixed annuity with a rider, or add-on, attached called a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit. The first thing the potential investor was initially unaware of is that this rider came with an additional cost of .95% per year. Yet, it is the rider guaranteeing the 8% return and 5.5% bonus. Without the rider, the return of the annuity would simply fluctuate up and down with fixed-income rates.? The current rate on these products is around 3%.

Two Values

For investors who purchased the guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit, their annuities would have two values going forward. First, the contract value would be the amount of their original investment and would fluctuate up and down with fixed-income rates, as if the rider wasn?t purchased. This value could actually be withdrawn anytime in one lump sum (minus any applicable surrender charges ? which again could be up to 12%).The second value would be known as the income base value.? This is the value to which the 5.5% one-time bonus and 8% annual guarantee would be applied. What was unclear to the investor is that this income base value is an imaginary figure and can never actually be withdrawn. This imaginary figure is simply a value used to calculate annual benefits later down the line. What was also unclear to the investor is that while the income base value does grow by a flat 8% rate during the accumulation stage, the value stops growing once distributions begin. Further, while the investor had heard a lot about the guaranteed rate of return, he was unfamiliar with the withdrawal rate, which is the percentage of the income base value that he can receive in payments each year. In this circumstance, if the investor began taking distributions when he retired at age 66, he would be able to withdraw 5.6% of the income base value every year for the rest of his life. Once the investor passes away, there will be no more annual payments and no residual value.Clearly, there was more to this annuity than the investor was aware. Given these additional considerations, was it still a good deal? If the client invested $439,000 into the annuity the income base value would provide an additional 5.5% bonus right off the bat, bringing the income base value to $463k. At that point, the income base value would grow by 8% each year until the investor retired in 10 years, making the income base value$1 million dollars when the individual retired at age 66. At this point, the client would begin taking distributions so the income base value would no longer grow. Further, the investor would be paid 5.6% of the income base value, or $56,000, every year for the rest of his life.This may still sound like a decent deal, but suppose the individual actually had access to the $1 million dollar income base value and simply put the lump sum under his mattress while paying himself the same $56,000 ever year. Even though the million dollars would not be growing at all, the investor could continue to pay himself this annual amount for 17.85 years, or until he was nearly 84 years of age, before running out of money. Unfortunately, the average life expectancy for a 66-year old male is only 16.48 years, or until the age of 82?. Thus, even if the investor lived 1? years longer than expected, the annual rate of return on the income base value from age 66 to age 84 is guaranteed to be 0%. In other words, the guaranteed income base value guaranteed 10 years of 8% growth followed by 18 years of 0% growth. Over the entire 28 year investment period, the investor would receive an annualized return of approximately 2.98%. Not exactly what the investor had expected. Additionally, after accounting for inflation, the purchasing power of the $56,000 annual payment would decline year-over-year. This would essentially reduce the investor?s income each and every year.Since payments continue for the life of the investor, the longer the client lives the better the return. However, even if the investor lived to age 100 and received $56,000 every year for 34 years, the implied rate of return during the withdrawal period would be 4.23%, far from the 8% the investor was expecting. The one benefit of the annuity is that it GUARANTEES a return, and as we just established, that return is around 2.98% assuming the investor has an average life expectancy. For investors who simply can?t handle seeing their investments lose money, this may have a value. However, I would argue a similar or superior return could be generated with a simple fixed annuity with no expensive, hard-to-understand riders attached.Investors who hate risk but can tolerate a minimal amount of loss in their portfolio on rare occasions might consider a conservative, diversified asset allocation such as a 15% stock, 85% bond portfolio. Over the last 42 years, a diversified portfolio with this asset allocation has had a positive annual return 36 times and a negative return 6 times. Further, the most the portfolio ever declined in one year was (3.34%). However the average annualized return of this portfolio over the 42 year period was 9.46%. Clearly, for an investor who can handle minimal investment declines, this appears to be a far superior strategy when compared to the annuity with a guaranteed benefits rider. Further, the investor?s money is completely liquid with this strategy. Money can be withdrawn in a giant lump sum with no penalties anytime the investor desires. Again, this is never possible with the income base value.

Clearly, annuities are incredibly complex investments. Unfortunately, they are meant to be so. Frequently, annuity salespeople rely on investors not understanding the entirety of the annuity contract to complete a sale. If you?re ever introduced to an annuity or other investment vehicle that sounds too good to be true, be sure to read the fine print in the investment contract. If you need additional help, seek the advice of a fee-only Certified Financial Planner? who acts as a fiduciary. These financial planning professionals are not paid a commission for selling financial products, and are more likely to give you an honest, unbiased opinion of the product you?re considering.

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Modified wheat trial vandalised

21 May 2012 Last updated at 07:28 ET By Paul Rincon Science editor, BBC News website

A man has been charged with criminal damage following a break-in at the Rothamsted Research centre where a trial of GM wheat is being held.

Rothamsted said that crops had been vandalised, causing "significant" damage.

The incident took place on Sunday morning at the centre's test site in Harpenden, Hertfordshire.

The project aims to see whether the modified crops can deter aphids - a major wheat pest.

Rothamsted has previously pleaded with anti-GM campaigners not to destroy their experimental plots, which they say could help reduce pesticide use.

But opponents of GM technology claim that planting the crops in the open air would allow modified pollen to get out into the surrounding environment.

After the break-in at the site, Rothamsted scientist Toby Bruce wrote on Twitter that wheat seeds appeared to have been strewn onto plots, and the tops of plants had been cut off.

However, the laboratory said the account was anecdotal and might not be accurate. In a statement, Rothamsted commented: "The intruder caused significant, random property damage, but failed to disrupt the experiment in this attack."

The lab's director Prof Maurice Moloney said the act was an attempt to "deny us all the opportunity to gather knowledge and evidence" on a possible new approach for reducing the use of pesticides.

A 50-year-old man from Devon is to appear at the Central Magistrates Court in St Albans on 13 July.

'Picnics and decontamination'

The crop being trialled at Rothamsted contains genes synthesised in the laboratory. It will produce a pheromone called E-beta-farnesene that is normally emitted by aphids when they are threatened by something.

When aphids smell it, they fly away.

Anti-GM group Take the Flour Back has vowed to "decontaminate" the site unless the research is halted.

The event was trailed on the organisation's website as "a nice day out in the country, with picnics, music... and a decontamination".

There is no suggestion the man who has been charged is linked to Take the Flour Back.

Eleanor Baylis, from the anti-GM group, said in a statement: "We have no information about this incident, but are relieved if the quantity of GM pollen released from the trial has been reduced.

"The British people are clear that they're not swallowing this technology."

The protesters have previously declined an invitation from Rothamsted to meet scientists behind the project and, following a heated debate on the BBC's Newsnight programme, a planned day of action on 27 May will go ahead.

But a spokeswoman for Take the Flour Back told BBC News the group would be interested in engaging in a public debate with wide participation. She said the decision not to take part in the debate proposed by Rothamsted was due to the specific conditions of the event.

Paul.Rincon-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

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Monday, May 21, 2012

Discovery suggests new combination therapy strategy for basal-like breast cancers

Public release date: 21-May-2012
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Contact: Ellen de Graffenreid
edegraff@med.unc.edu
919-962-3405
University of North Carolina Health Care

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. Multiple research projects including a 2006 study conducted at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have used DNA microarray analysis to identify several breast cancer subtypes, including luminal A, luminal B, basal-like and HER2-enriched. Simple tests are being developed to help doctors identify these subtypes and to treat their patients in a more biologically-based way. In turn, these tests have made several studies possible that indicate that basal-like, or triple negative breast cancer, is more prevalent in African Americans than their Caucasian counterparts.

A new study led by UNC Lineberger scientist Charles Perou, PhD, and Sean Egan, PhD, from The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, demonstrates that deletion of a sugar transferase called LFNG (nicknamed "lunatic fringe"), promotes cell proliferation and tumor formation of basal-like breast cancers. The study was published last week in the journal Cancer Cell.

In a laboratory model, the deletion of LFNG not only caused tumors to form but also activated two cellular signaling pathways thought to be important in tumor formation. The team found increased activation of both notch signaling (a receptor found on the surface of cells that is involved in stem cell differentiation and development) and increased expression of the Met oncogene.

Taking the laboratory model a step further, the team examined these same genes and signaling pathways in basal-like tumors and found the same genetic signature.

"This is exciting because there are drugs in development that target each of these pathways. While targeting each pathway alone might work, our findings suggest that combination therapy could be a promising strategy for treating these basal-like tumors," says Dr. Perou, who is the May Goldman Shaw Distinguished Professor of Molecular Oncology and professor of genetics, and pathology and laboratory medicine at the UNC School of Medicine.

Basal-like breast cancer tends to be more aggressive and have a poorer prognosis than other types, making up about 15 percent of all breast cancers. In young African-American women who develop breast cancer, the subtype makes up about 39 percent of all diagnoses. It is primarily treated with chemotherapy, although newer targeted drugs are being tested in clinical trials.

###
In addition to Dr. Perou, other UNC scientists involved included Jerry Usary, Aleix Prat, and Wei Zhou. Members of Dr. Egan's group included scientists from a number of institutions affiliated with the University of Toronto, the Center for Comparative Medicine at the University of California, Davis, and the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine.

The research was supported by the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Genome Canada, the NCI Breast SPORE Program, and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

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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.

Discovery suggests new combination therapy strategy for basal-like breast cancers Public release date: 21-May-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Ellen de Graffenreid
edegraff@med.unc.edu
919-962-3405
University of North Carolina Health Care

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. Multiple research projects including a 2006 study conducted at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have used DNA microarray analysis to identify several breast cancer subtypes, including luminal A, luminal B, basal-like and HER2-enriched. Simple tests are being developed to help doctors identify these subtypes and to treat their patients in a more biologically-based way. In turn, these tests have made several studies possible that indicate that basal-like, or triple negative breast cancer, is more prevalent in African Americans than their Caucasian counterparts.

A new study led by UNC Lineberger scientist Charles Perou, PhD, and Sean Egan, PhD, from The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, demonstrates that deletion of a sugar transferase called LFNG (nicknamed "lunatic fringe"), promotes cell proliferation and tumor formation of basal-like breast cancers. The study was published last week in the journal Cancer Cell.

In a laboratory model, the deletion of LFNG not only caused tumors to form but also activated two cellular signaling pathways thought to be important in tumor formation. The team found increased activation of both notch signaling (a receptor found on the surface of cells that is involved in stem cell differentiation and development) and increased expression of the Met oncogene.

Taking the laboratory model a step further, the team examined these same genes and signaling pathways in basal-like tumors and found the same genetic signature.

"This is exciting because there are drugs in development that target each of these pathways. While targeting each pathway alone might work, our findings suggest that combination therapy could be a promising strategy for treating these basal-like tumors," says Dr. Perou, who is the May Goldman Shaw Distinguished Professor of Molecular Oncology and professor of genetics, and pathology and laboratory medicine at the UNC School of Medicine.

Basal-like breast cancer tends to be more aggressive and have a poorer prognosis than other types, making up about 15 percent of all breast cancers. In young African-American women who develop breast cancer, the subtype makes up about 39 percent of all diagnoses. It is primarily treated with chemotherapy, although newer targeted drugs are being tested in clinical trials.

###
In addition to Dr. Perou, other UNC scientists involved included Jerry Usary, Aleix Prat, and Wei Zhou. Members of Dr. Egan's group included scientists from a number of institutions affiliated with the University of Toronto, the Center for Comparative Medicine at the University of California, Davis, and the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine.

The research was supported by the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Genome Canada, the NCI Breast SPORE Program, and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

[ | E-mail | Share ]
?

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

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Saturday, May 19, 2012

100000 Plr Articles | NewsMobius

xxsurl.com 100000 Plr Articles Main categories Finance Internet Business Health Fitness Business Home Family Travel Leisure Recreation Sports Self Improvement Computers Technology Society Arts Entertainment Reference Education Vehicles Food Beverage Writing Speaking Fashion Product Reviews 17 main categories. Each main category in on rar file. In each main category there are sub categories. Example: Art & Entertainment- Celebrities Humanities Humor Movies Music Photography Poetry Business- Advertising Careers Customer Service Entrepreneurs Ethics Home_Based_Business Management Marketing Networking Public Relations Sales Small Business Computer & Technology- Communications Computer Certification Data Recovery Games Hardware Home Entertainment Mobile A_V Networks Software Web Development Tag

Can Straight Couples Learn From Same-Sex Relationships ...

Posted by The Hand on May 18, 2012 in Relationships |

By Ian Kerner, Special to CNN

(CNN) ? With the recent vote against gay marriage in North Carolina and President Obama?s support of marriage equality, same-sex relationships are making headlines.

But my colleagues and I have less political concerns: We?re focused on helping our gay, lesbian, and bisexual clients navigate their way through many of same relationship hurdles that heterosexual clients face.

Couples of all orientations find themselves struggling with the same issues, from mismatched libidos to sex ruts to infidelity. ?The underlying dynamics are identical,? says Emily Nagoski, sex educator and author of ?A Scientific Guide to Successful Relationships.?

?They may play out differently because of the differences in gender or because of external social pressures, but the rules are the same ? and there?s some clear indications that gay couples are actually better at following those rules than straight couples!?

Nagoski pointed me to a 12-year study of same-sex couples by eminent marriage therapist Dr. John Gottman, which concluded that all couple types ? straight or gay ? have many of the same issues and the same paths to staying happy together.

But Gottman?s research also indicated that gay/lesbian couples are more upbeat in the face of conflict and, compared to straight couples, use more affection and humor when they bring up a disagreement.

?When it comes to emotions, we think these couples may operate with very different principles than straight couples,? says Gottman. ?Straight couples may have a lot to learn from gay and lesbian relationships.?

Studies suggest, for instance, that gay male couples tend to have sex more often than any other type of couples, while lesbian couples tend to have the least amount of sex. Since women often value emotional intimacy over sexual intimacy, low sex drive may not be a concern.

Likewise, two men who have strong libidos may be able to accommodate their sexual desires within an open relationship.

?A number of my gay clients prefer to be sexually open but emotionally monogamous,? says sex and relationship therapist Joe Kort. ?They can have lovers on the side and not have it be a threat to the relationship.?

It?s a type of male coupledom that sex columnist Dan Savage has famously termed ?monogamish? ? but it?s not necessarily unique to gay relationships.

?Overall, men are good at compartmentalizing sexual and emotional feelings,? explains Kort. ?It?s a guy thing, not a gay thing.?

At the same time, gay and lesbian couples can have unique concerns that just don?t exist in straight relationships. For example, ?each partner may be in a different stage of coming out,? says Kort.

?If one partner is more ?out?, he or she may push for things that the other partner might not feel comfortable with yet, like meeting one another?s families or being physically affectionate in public.?

Gender can also play a big role in the way couples relate to each other, in and out of the bedroom, and same-sex couples are no exception.

In general, says Kort, women tend to focus on emotional intimacy, while men can be more emotionally distant. Lesbian and gay couples may benefit from counseling when both partners strongly have these characteristics. In other words, a female couple may be so closely bonded that they want to work on nurturing their individual selves, while counseling can help a male couple learn how to better open up to each other.

If you?re considering counseling, it pays to do your research.

?Your therapist doesn?t have to be gay or lesbian, but he or she should be absolutely be gay and lesbian-informed, not just gay and lesbian-friendly,? explains Kort.

That includes having deep insight into the often-subtle differences between same-sex and heterosexual couples, from concerns about discrimination and being ?out?, to childhood influences, to sexual issues.

? Ian Kerner, a sexuality counselor and New York Times best-selling author, blogs about sex weekly on The Chart. Read more from him on his website, GoodInBed.

Article source: http://fox8.com/2012/05/17/can-straight-couples-learn-from-same-sex-relationships/

Tags: love, relationships

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Ontario sets up panel to tackle childhood obesity | Health X Pert ...

Doctors need to be better educated about the significant long-term side effects of chemotherapy that may affect their cancer survivor patients, according to new research published Wednesday in advance of the 47th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology ?(ASCO). Currently there are at least 12 million cancer survivors in the United States. Some may have undergone cancer treatment as children; others may be older and only recently completed their cancer therapy. While advances in cancer care have successfully kept more cancer patients alive, this new study finds there's room for improvement in their follow-up care. Primary care physicians and even cancer specialists need to be aware of the long-term effects of the drugs patients have taken to beat cancer. Researchers at Harvard University, the National Institute of Nursing Research and the American Cancer Society surveyed nearly 1,100 primary care physicians and 1,100 oncologists or cancer specialists. They asked these doctors to identify the long-term side effects of four of the most widely used chemotherapy drugs used to treat breast and colorectal cancer, two of the most common cancers. Overall, only 6% of primary care physicians and 65% of oncologists were aware of all the long-term side effects that the four drugs could cause. When asked about the drug Doxorubicin, 55% of primary care physicians knew patients are at risk for cardiac dysfunction, compared to 95% of oncologists. In the case of Cyclophosphamide, only 14% of primary care physicians knew women are likely to suffer premature menopause, compared to 71% of cancer specialists. Study author Dr. Larissa Nekhlyudov? says these physicians need to be informed about the long-term side effects of cancer treatment, "so that they may be better prepared to recognize and address these among cancer survivors." "This is a problem of our success," says ASCO's president, Dr. Michael Link. Dr. Neal Meropol , chief of the division of hematology and oncology at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, says he's not surprised by these findings. He says that, in the past, medical training has not been focused on making sure physicians taking care of cancer survivors are adequately prepared to deal with long-term side effects. In addition to chemotherapy drugs and radiation treatments affecting organs and tissues, Meropol also spoke about psychosocial problems patients can face, like fear of cancer recurrence. Problems with relationships also occur because patients are no longer functioning in crisis mode and reentry into a normal pattern is sometimes very difficult. Experts agree that in the past, the emphasis has been to keep cancer patients alive, and that entire field of cancer survivorship is a pretty new one. But with the success of cancer care, more attention must be given to this area. Meropol?points out that it's now recommended by professional societies for doctors to provide a survivorship care and treatment plan when patients complete their cancer therapy. Such a plan will inform the patient of issues they may face and they can share this information with their physician. However this doesn't help patients who had their cancer treated a long time ago. Link, who is a pediatric oncologist, says that data among people who survived childhood cancers may be even more alarming. That's because pediatric patients are usually treated at an age when they are too young to remember exactly what type of cancer they had or how they were treated. "Many don't even know how to spell it," says Link. By the time they see a regular doctor as adults, the likelihood that they know how they were treated and would give their physician accurate information is pretty low. "This is a problem we've encountered for some time [in pediatric oncology] because we've had survivors for quite some time." Not recognizing how a cancer survivor can develop treatment-related health problems is a concern.?Link calls it a doctor-education problem and a patient-education problem, which he believes could be helped by better use of electronic medical records. Filed under: Cancer , Conditions Tagged: Miriam Falco ? CNN Medical Managing Editor

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Friday, May 18, 2012

Investment Experts Recommend Doing Research Before Investing ...

NEW YORK, NY ? MAY 17: Pedestrians are seen reflected in the window of the Nasdaq studios as the Facebook logo is displayed on a ticker board on May 17, 2012 in New York City. Facebook will list their IPO on Nasdaq on Friday morning with an opening price of $38 per share. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

By Vince Hill

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) ? It was born in a Harvard dorm, spreading like wildfire through colleges across the country. Now, after its IPO, Facebook is worth $104 billion.

For Wall Street deal-makers trading shares of FB (the social network?s ticker symbol) this morning, the price was set at $38-a-share, but was expected to sky-rocket from there.

It would be a good idea to be extremely cautious with this investment.

READ: Facebook prices IPO at $38 per share

Many industry experts believe Facebook will be just as popular as or even more popular than the Google IPO as far as Wall Street is concerned. Sheyna Steiner, an investigative reporter for BankRate.com, says there?s a split with investors on who will buy and who will wait.

?The Motley Fool did a survey asking everyone if investors are going to buy Facebook and it was mostly novice investors who said they were very interested in buying shares. People who have a lot of experience investing said that they would probably sit it out. And that was like two people out of 10 who are very experienced versus twice that for novice investors.?

Steiner says just because you like the website, it?s no reason to buy into the IPO.

?A lot of critics have said that Facebook might not be worth what it?s currently valued at.? And you really have to do your homework.? And look at how it?s valued today versus the earnings for the past year and decide if you think they are going to live up to their sales pitch or if they?re not.? It really does take homework; not whether you like the website or not.?

Steiner warns the volatility of IPO?s may be unexpected by the novice investor. Critics contend the company is overvalued. You?d be advised to read the prospectus carefully.

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Closing arguments begin in ex-Senator Edwards' case (reuters)

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Foodspotting, The Weather Channel, and More [Iphone Apps Of The Week]

Click here to read Foodspotting, The Weather Channel, and More

We're giving you the forecast, a diet tool, a fun photo app, and so much more in this week's best iPhone apps. You'll also be managing all your tasks better and feasting your eyes on all kinds of delicious food.

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Does the HCG Diet Plan Work?

Does the HCG diet work? This is not an uncommon question, especially from those looking for rapid weight loss. This day and age people are surrounded by many, many choices, as far as diets and exercise are concerned, and the ones that provide the quickest, easiest results are often the ones most sought after. Many who follow the HCG diet report rapid weight loss and are able to keep it off through ongoing exercise and proper nutrition.

The ?HCG? in HCG diet stands for Human Chorionic Gonadotropin and is produced by pregnant women. Dr. Simeons, the specialist who discovered the relationship between HCG and weight loss, holds the theory that HCG and a low calorie diet can trigger fat loss in the body. This theory is supported by those who lose as much as 20-30 pounds in an average of 30 days while taking HCG supplements. The fat loss is guided by the hypothalamus, a gland in the brain that regulates the autonomic processes of the body.

Autonomic process are the functions in your body that happen on their own, such as heart beat, breathing and digestion. The fat that?s stored in your body is released into the blood stream by the hypothalamus, allowing it to be utilized by the body for energy. This is where the low calorie diet comes into play. The reason that the daily caloric intake on the HCG diet is so low is to ensure that as few calories as possible come from outside sources (food and drink). With such a small source of food being eaten each day, the body is then forced to use the fat (now available in the blood stream thanks to the hypothalamus) to fuel itself.

Another testament to the efficacy of the HCG diet plan is the sheer number of people who have found out for themselves, ?does the HCG diet work?? It?s been around for a lot longer than you may realize, having first been discovered in the early 1950s. Since then, decades of research has been done on the effects of HCG and it?s relationship to weight loss. During that time, thousands of people have successfully lost weight using Dr. Simeons? discovery.

It?s important to note, though, that simply following a very low calorie diet without the assistance of HCG is not recommended. The HCG works by stimulating the hypothalamus to release fat into the blood stream to be used as energy. As such, the body is able to keep moving along, not realizing that it?s energy intake has been drastically reduced. Without the effect of the HCG, a low calorie diet will be unsustainable and dangerous, possibly leading to a host of adverse effects to your health.

Those who have followed the HCG diet notice dramatic weight loss beginning in the first day on the program. Some have reported to have lost as much as 1lb per day -an amazing rate of weight loss! Everyone?s body is different though, and similar results may not be enjoyed by each individual. Plus, like all supplements and medications, there will always be an outlier who may not respond to HCG. Reputable suppliers will often offer refunds to those who find that the program doesn?t work for them, but these reports are few and far between. The vast majority of those who follow the HCG diet closely enjoy rapid weight loss and keep it off.

Tagged as: HCG, HCG diet, HCG diet plan

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They didn't mess with turtle the size of a car

A turtle the size of a small car once roamed what is now South America 60 million years ago, suggests its fossilized remains.

Discovered in a coal mine in Colombia in 2005, the turtle was given the name Carbonemys cofrinii, which means "coal turtle." It wasn't until now that the turtle was examined and described in a scientific journal; the findings are detailed online Thursday in the Journal of Systematic Paleontology.

The researchers say C. cofrinii belongs to a group of side-necked turtles known as pelomedusoides. The turtle's skull, roughly the size of an NFL football, was the most complete of the fossil remains.

In addition to its colossal size, the turtle would have been equipped with massive, powerful jaws, meaning it could've eaten just about anything in its range, from mollusks (a group that includes snails ) to smaller turtles and even crocodiles, the researchers noted.

Its all-encompassing appetite as well as its need for a large range to satiate its food requirements may explain why no other turtle of this size has been found at the site. [ Gallery: The World's Biggest Beasts ]

"It's like having one big snapping turtle living in the middle of a lake," study researcher Dan Ksepka of North Carolina State University said in a statement. "That turtle survives because it has eaten all of the major competitors for resources."

While the researchers have found bite marks on the remains of other side-necked turtles in the area, suggesting they were preyed upon by crocodilians, such predators would not have messed with this coal mine turtle. "In fact, smaller crocs would have been easy prey for this behemoth," Ksepka said.

The researchers also discovered a turtle shell nearby that they believe belonged to the same species; the shell would've been large enough to double as a kiddy swimming pool, they noted, as it measured some 5 feet 7 inches (172 centimeters) across.

"We had recovered smaller turtle specimens from the site. But after spending about four days working on uncovering the shell, I realized that this particular turtle was the biggest anyone had found in this area for this time period ? and it gave us the first evidence of gigantism in freshwater turtles," Edwin Cadena, also of North Carolina State, said in a statement.

In fact, this big turtle appeared 5 million years after the dinosaurs vanished, at a time when gigantism was relatively common in this part of South America. For instance, the largest snake ever discovered, measuring 45 feet (14 meters) long and called Titanoboa cerrejonensis , lived there, also about 60 million years ago.

A combination of factors, including abundant food, fewer predators, vast habitat and climate change, would have worked together to allow turtles and other animals to balloon to such relatively gargantuan sizes, the researchers suggest.

More science news from msnbc.com
1. Largest known croc?probably fed on our ancestors
  The largest known crocodile was big enough to swallow a human being and likely terrorized our ancestors two to four million years ago.
2. Shipwreck found full of bottles, guns and plates
3. They didn't mess with turtle the size of a car
4. Tiny quakes may cause some big tsunamis

For instance, the warm weather would've been beneficial for such ectotherms that rely on their surroundings to regulate their body temperature.

"The environment seems to have been tropical based on fossil plants found at the site," Ksepka told LiveScience. "And the turtle appears to have been adapted to spending most of its time in the water, though coming ashore to lay eggs would be part of its life cycle."

Another turtle discovered in this coal mine may have evolved an adaptation to protect itself from these giants; the turtle, called Cerrejonemys wayuunaiki, sported an extra-thick shell, about the thickness of a high-school textbook.

The research, funded by the Smithsonian Institute and the National Science Foundation, will be detailed in the June 2012 print issue of the Journal of Systematic Paleontology.

Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.

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You are what you eat: Why do male consumers avoid vegetarian options?

ScienceDaily (May 16, 2012) ? Why are men generally more reluctant to try vegetarian products? According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, consumers are influenced by a strong association of meat with masculinity.

"We examined whether people in Western cultures have a metaphoric link between meat and men," write authors Paul Rozin (University of Pennsylvania), Julia M. Hormes (Louisiana State University), Myles S. Faith (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), and Brian Wansink (Cornell University). The answer, they found, was a strong connection between eating meat -- especially muscle meat, like steak -- and masculinity.

In a number of experiments that looked at metaphors and certain foods, like meat and milk, the authors found that people rated meat as more masculine than vegetables. They also found that meat generated more masculine words when people discussed it, and that people viewed male meat eaters as being more masculine than non-meat eaters.

Most of the studies took place in the United States and Britain, but the authors also analyzed 23 languages that use gendered pronouns. They discovered that across most languages, meat was related to the male gender.

"To the strong, traditional, macho, bicep-flexing, All-American male, red meat is a strong, traditional, macho, bicep-flexing, All-American food," the authors write. "Soy is not. To eat it, they would have to give up a food they saw as strong and powerful like themselves for a food they saw as weak and wimpy."

If marketers or health advocates want to counteract such powerful associations, they need to address the metaphors that shape consumer attitudes, the authors explain. For example, an education campaign that urges people to eat more soy or vegetables would be a tough sell, but reshaping soy burgers to make them resemble beef or giving them grill marks might help cautious men make the transition.

"In marketing, understanding the metaphor a consumer might have for a brand could move the art of positioning toward more of a science," the authors conclude.