PYONGYANG, North Korea ? It's hard to imagine a North Korea without Kim Jong Il, who led the nation for 17 years until his death in December.
His portrait hangs in every building, his visits to factories and shops are commemorated with signs in his honor. The song book at the hotel at Mount Kumgang features a full page of tunes with his name in the title, and the airline hostesses in lacy gloves give their thanks to him as Air Koryo flights cross into North Korean airspace.
Kim's death on Dec. 17 marks the end of an era for North Korea, which has known only two leaders: Kim and his father, Kim Il Sung. Already, a new era has begun under the leadership of his young son, Kim Jong Un.
Still, Kim Jong Il's presence is felt in every frame of these images made by Associated Press photographer David Guttenfelder over the course of our visits during the last months of Kim's life.
The white gloves on a table outside the International Friendship Exhibition Hall at Mount Myohang belong to the young guide in traditional Korean dress who eased them on before opening the front door to the museum housing gifts to the late leader.
Doctors and nurses laugh as they huff and puff their way past mountains carved with Kim's sayings and signature.
Young men in bumper cars bash each other gleefully at an amusement park that Kim ordered renovated as part of a bid to "improve the people's daily lives," one of the goals he left unfinished when he died at age 69.
Brush in hand and paint can tucked between his feet, an artisan colors in the letters for a propaganda poster from his precarious perch.
The date printed across the top of the poster reads "June of the year Juche 100 of Great Leader Kim Jong Il" ? or, to the outside world, June 2011.
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Follow Jean H. Lee on Twitter at twitter.com/newsjean and photographer David Guttenfelder at twitter.com/dguttenfelder.
SAN DIEGO ? ?U.S. troops are increasingly using an easy-to-get herbal mix called "Spice," which mimics a marijuana high and can bring on hallucinations that last for days.
The abuse of the drug has so alarmed military officials that they've launched an aggressive testing program that this year has led to the investigation of more than 1,100 suspected users, according to military figures.
So-called "synthetic" pot is readily available on the Internet and has become popular nationwide in recent years, but its use among troops and sailors has raised concerns among the Pentagon brass.
"You can just imagine the work that we do in a military environment," said Mark Ridley, deputy director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, adding, "you need to be in your right mind when you do a job. That's why the Navy has always taken a zero tolerance policy toward drugs."
Two years ago, only 29 Marines and sailors were investigated for Spice. This year, the number topped 700, the investigative service said. Those found guilty of using Spice are kicked out, although the Navy does not track the overall number of dismissals.
The Air Force has punished 497 airmen so far this year, compared to last year's 380, according to figures provided by the Pentagon. The Army does not track Spice investigations but says it has medically treated 119 soldiers for the synthetic drug in total.
Military officials emphasize those caught represent a tiny fraction of all service members and note none was in a leadership position or believed high while on duty.
Spice is made up of exotic plants from Asia like Blue Lotus and Bay Bean. Their leaves are coated with chemicals that mimic the effects of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, but are five to 200 times more potent.
More than 40 states have banned some of its chemicals, prompting sellers to turn to the Internet, where it is marketed as incense or potpourri. In some states, Spice is sold at bars, smoke shops and convenience stores. The packets usually say the ingredients are not for human consumption but also tout them as "mood enhancing."
Service members preferred it because up until this year there was no way to detect it with urine tests. A test was developed after the Drug Enforcement Administration put a one-year emergency ban on five chemicals found in the drug.
Manufacturers are adapting to avoid detection, even on the new tests, and skirt new laws banning the main chemicals.
"It's a moving target," said Capt. J.A. "Cappy" Surette, spokesman for the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.
The military can calibrate its equipment to test for those five banned chemicals "but underground chemists can keep altering the properties and make up to more than 100 permutations," Surette said.
Complicating their efforts further, there are more than 200 other chemicals used in the drug. They remain legal and their effects on the mind and body remain largely unknown, Navy doctors say.
A Clemson University created many of the chemicals for research purposes in 1990s. They were never tested on humans.
Civilian deaths have been reported and emergency crews have responded to calls of "hyper-excited" people doing things like tearing off their clothes and running down the street naked.
Navy investigators compare the drug to angel dust because no two batches are the same. Some may just feel a euphoric buzz, but others have suffered delusions lasting up to a week.
While the problem has surfaced in all branches of the military, the Navy has been the most aggressive in drawing attention to the problem.
It produced a video based on cases to warn sailors of the drug's dangers and publicized busts of crew members on some of its most-storied ships, including the USS Carl Vinson, from which Osama bin Laden's was dropped into the sea.
Two of the largest busts this year involved sailors in the San Diego-based U.S. Third Fleet, which announced last month that it planned to dismiss 28 sailors assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.
A month earlier, 64 sailors, including 49 from the Vinson, were accused of being involved in a Spice ring.
Many of the cases were discovered after one person was caught with the drug, prompting broader investigations.
Lt. Commander Donald Hurst, a fourth-year psychiatry resident at San Diego's Naval Medical Center, said the hospital is believed to have seen more cases than any other health facility in the country.
Doctors saw users experiencing bad reactions once a month, but now see them weekly. Users suffer everything from vomiting, elevated blood pressure and seizures to extreme agitation, anxiety and delusions.
Hurst said the behavior in many cases he witnessed at first seemed akin to schizophrenia. Usually within minutes, however, the person became completely lucid. Sometimes, the person goes in and out of such episodes for days.
He recalled one especially bizarre case of a sailor who came in with his sobbing wife.
"He stood their holding a sandwich in front of him with no clue as to what to do," he said. "He opened it up, looked at it, touched it. I took it and folded it over and then he took a bite out it. But then we had to tell him, `you have to chew."'
An hour later when Hurst went back to evaluate him, he was completely normal and worried about being in trouble.
"That's something you don't see with acute schizophrenic patients," he said. "Then we found out based on the numbers of people coming in like this, that OK there's a new drug out there."
Hurst decided to study 10 cases. Some also had smoked marijuana or drank alcohol, while others only smoked Spice.
Of the 10, nine had lost a sense of reality. Seven babbled incoherently. The symptoms for seven of them lasted four to eight days. Three are believed to now be schizophrenic. Hurst believed the drug may have triggered the symptoms in people with that genetic disposition. His findings were published in the American Journal of Psychiatry in October.
He said there are countless questions that still need answering, including the drug's effects on people with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or traumatic brain injuries.
What the research has confirmed, he said, is: "These are not drugs to mess with."
I am going to make a real effort to follow the NBA this year, got a fantasy team and everything
The regular NBA Schedule just moves way to slow for me
All these games make it far more entertaining to follow...I don't care if it makes them tired and old people should struggle, let the young rule the league
OMAHA, Neb. ? Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson said Wednesday he doesn't think his decision not to run for a third term next year will automatically give the seat to Republicans, who already hold the other four spots in Nebraska's congressional delegation.
Nelson told The Associated Press that the timing of his announcement this week shouldn't be a problem for Democrats in 2012.
"There has always been plenty of time for the campaign. If it's not too late for Republicans to get in, why is it too late for Democrats to get in?" Nelson said.
Other Democrats have acknowledged they face an uphill battle to keep Nelson's seat away from the GOP, which must pick up four Senate seats in next year's election to regain control of the chamber.
The Republican primary field already is crowded with Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning, state Treasurer Don Stenberg, state Sen. Deb Fischer, and investment adviser Pat Flynn, and no Democrats are lined up to take Nelson's place in the conservative state.
Nelson said he's confident he still could have won re-election because his poll numbers have improved despite being hammered by conservatives for supporting the federal health care overhaul. He also said national GOP leaders seemed concerned because they recently tried to recruit Republican Gov. Dave Heineman as a candidate.
"I think that says a lot about what people thought about my chances of winning from the other side," Nelson said. "I think they were worried about that."
Nelson declined to speculate about Democrats who might seek his seat, or say whether he would use any of the campaign cash he'd amassed in support of other candidates.
The former governor and two-term senator had more than $3 million in campaign money on hand last month, about twice his nearest competitor. Federal election rules allow him to give at least some of that money to other candidates and political action groups or donate it to charity. But any funds donated specifically for the 2012 general election campaign will have to be returned.
Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said most retiring politicians hang onto their campaign money and donate it to candidates later, especially if they intend to become lobbyists.
"Money in Washington helps buy you influence, and now Ben Nelson has $3 million to spread around," said Sloan, who leads the nonpartisan watchdog group.
Nelson survived his nearly two decades representing his heavily conservative state by carving a path down the political center, and said Wednesday he thinks there still is room for moderate politicians in Washington. But he said the current political climate makes bipartisanship more difficult.
"There's no doubt about it because we've seen a great deal of polarization in the country," he said. "And the polarization in Washington is immense," Nelson said, "but on the right issues you can still work with people."
Nelson, 70, said he consulted family, friends and current and former Senate colleagues before deciding that he wanted to be free to go hunting, spend more time with his family, travel and pursue other opportunities while he's still in good health.
"For 20 years, I've been doing things on behalf of the people of Nebraska and putting things off," he said. "There comes a time when you have to make that decision, do you continue to put things off and do what you've been doing?"
ABUJA (Reuters) ? Northern Nigerian Christians said on Tuesday they feared that a spate of Chrtistmas Day bombings by Islamist militants that killed over two dozen people could lead to a religious war in Africa's most populous country.
The warning was made in a statement by the northern branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), an umbrella organization comprising various denominations including Catholics, Protestant and Pentecostal churches.
The Boko Haram Islamist sect, which aims to impose sharia Islamic law across Nigeria, claimed responsibility for the blasts, the second Christmas in a row it has caused carnage at Christian churches.
Saidu Dogo, secretary general for the organization in Nigeria's 19 northern provinces called on Muslim leaders to control their faithful, saying Christians will be forced to defend themselves against further attacks.
"We fear that the situation may degenerate to a religious war and Nigeria may not be able to survive one. Once again, 'enough is enough!'," Dogo said.
The attacks risk reviving tit-for-tat sectarian violence between the mostly Muslim north and the largely Christian south, which has claimed thousands of lives in the past decade.
Dogo said the CAN was calling on all Christians to continue respecting the law but to defend themselves when needed.
"We shall henceforth in the midst of these provocations and wanton destruction of innocent lives and property be compelled to make our own efforts and arrangements to protect the lives of innocent Christians and peace-loving citizens of this country," Dogo said.
The most deadly attack killed at least 27 people in the St Theresa Catholic church in Madalla, a town on the edge of the capital Abuja, and devastated surrounding buildings and cars as faithful poured out of the church after Christmas mass.
Security forces also blamed the sect for two explosions in the north targeting their facilities. Officials have confirmed 32 people died in the wave of attacks across Nigeria, though local media have put the number higher.
But the church bombs are more worrying because they raise fears that Boko Haram is trying to ignite a sectarian civil war in the nearly 160 million nation split evenly between Christians and Muslims, who for the most part co-exist in peace.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has come under pressure to do more fight the growing security threat which risks derailing economic gains in the OPEC member and Africa's top oil-producing nation.
Nigeria's main opposition leader Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner and former military ruler who lost a presidential election in April to Jonathan, accused the government of incompetence on Monday, saying government was slow to respond and had shown indifference to the bombings.
The CAN said in the statement that it was concerned that the perpetrators and their sponsors "are well-known to government and no serious or decisive actions have been taken to stem their nefarious activities."
UT Southwestern research suggests new way to ensure effectiveness of TB treatmentPublic release date: 28-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Deborah Wormser deborah.wormser@utsouthwestern.edu 214-648-3404 UT Southwestern Medical Center
DALLAS Dec. 22, 2011 A UT Southwestern Medical Center study using a sophisticated "glass mouse" research model has found that multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is more likely caused in patients by speedy drug metabolism rather than inconsistent doses, as is widely believed.
If the study published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases is borne out in future investigations, it may lead to better ways to treat one of the world's major infectious diseases. Health workers worldwide currently are required to witness each administration of the combination of drugs during months of therapy.
"Tuberculosis is a common ailment, accounting for up to 3 percent of all deaths in many countries. Although effective therapy exists, there are still cases of treatment failure and drug resistance remains a threat," said Dr. Tawanda Gumbo, associate professor of internal medicine and senior author of the study.
The results seem to challenge the current approach endorsed by the World Health Organization. Under that method, directly observed therapy-short-course strategy (DOTS), TB that responds to medication is treated with a cocktail of drugs under the supervision of health care workers, who in many countries must travel to isolated villages a costly and time-consuming process.
"Every TB patient is supposed to be watched as they swallow their pills in order to increase adherence and decrease emergence of drug resistance. This is the most expensive part of the program, but has been felt to be cost-effective since it improves compliance," said Dr. Gumbo, administrative director of research programs for the Office of Global Health at UT Southwestern.
In this study, UT Southwestern researchers created a sophisticated system of high-tech test tubes, which they called a "glass mouse," that mimicked standard therapy being given daily for 28 to 56 days, with dosing adherence varying between 0 percent and 100 percent. The threshold for defined non-adherence (failure to take a required dose of medication) was reached at 60 percent of the time or more.
"The first main finding in our laboratory model was that in fact non-adherence did not lead to multidrug resistance or emergence of any drug resistance in repeated studies, even when therapy failed. In fact, even when we started with a bacterial population that had been spiked with drug-resistant bacteria, non-adherence still did not lead to drug resistance," he said.
In fact, using computer simulations based on 10,000 TB patients in Cape Town, South Africa, the researchers discovered that approximately 1 percent of all TB patients with perfect adherence still developed drug resistance because they cleared the drugs from their bodies more quickly.
The body sees drugs as foreign chemicals and tries to rid itself of them, Dr. Gumbo said. A population of individuals with a genetic trait that speeds the process has been found in one area of South Africa that has a high rate of multidrug-resistant TB. In that population, patients who receive standard doses of drugs end up with concentrations in their bodies that are too low to kill the TB bacillus and drug resistance develops, he said.
A Journal of Infectious Diseases editorial that accompanies the study suggests that monitoring the levels of TB drugs in a patient's blood could be as important as monitoring compliance with therapy in contrast to current WHO guidelines.
"These data, based on our preclinical model, show that non-adherence alone is insufficient for the emergence of multidrug-resistant TB," Dr. Gumbo said. "It might be more cost-effective to measure patients' drug concentrations during treatment and intervene with dosage increases in those who quickly clear the drugs from their systems."
###
The work was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health.
Other UT Southwestern investigators involved in the study are lead author Dr. Shashikant Srivastava, former postdoctoral researcher, and Dr. Jotam G. Pasipanodya, research scientist in internal medicine. Researchers from the School of Pharmacy at Texas Tech University Health Science Center, Dallas, also participated.
This news release is available on our World Wide Web home page at
http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/home/news/index.html
To automatically receive news releases from UT Southwestern via email,
subscribe at www.utsouthwestern.edu/receivenews
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
UT Southwestern research suggests new way to ensure effectiveness of TB treatmentPublic release date: 28-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Deborah Wormser deborah.wormser@utsouthwestern.edu 214-648-3404 UT Southwestern Medical Center
DALLAS Dec. 22, 2011 A UT Southwestern Medical Center study using a sophisticated "glass mouse" research model has found that multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is more likely caused in patients by speedy drug metabolism rather than inconsistent doses, as is widely believed.
If the study published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases is borne out in future investigations, it may lead to better ways to treat one of the world's major infectious diseases. Health workers worldwide currently are required to witness each administration of the combination of drugs during months of therapy.
"Tuberculosis is a common ailment, accounting for up to 3 percent of all deaths in many countries. Although effective therapy exists, there are still cases of treatment failure and drug resistance remains a threat," said Dr. Tawanda Gumbo, associate professor of internal medicine and senior author of the study.
The results seem to challenge the current approach endorsed by the World Health Organization. Under that method, directly observed therapy-short-course strategy (DOTS), TB that responds to medication is treated with a cocktail of drugs under the supervision of health care workers, who in many countries must travel to isolated villages a costly and time-consuming process.
"Every TB patient is supposed to be watched as they swallow their pills in order to increase adherence and decrease emergence of drug resistance. This is the most expensive part of the program, but has been felt to be cost-effective since it improves compliance," said Dr. Gumbo, administrative director of research programs for the Office of Global Health at UT Southwestern.
In this study, UT Southwestern researchers created a sophisticated system of high-tech test tubes, which they called a "glass mouse," that mimicked standard therapy being given daily for 28 to 56 days, with dosing adherence varying between 0 percent and 100 percent. The threshold for defined non-adherence (failure to take a required dose of medication) was reached at 60 percent of the time or more.
"The first main finding in our laboratory model was that in fact non-adherence did not lead to multidrug resistance or emergence of any drug resistance in repeated studies, even when therapy failed. In fact, even when we started with a bacterial population that had been spiked with drug-resistant bacteria, non-adherence still did not lead to drug resistance," he said.
In fact, using computer simulations based on 10,000 TB patients in Cape Town, South Africa, the researchers discovered that approximately 1 percent of all TB patients with perfect adherence still developed drug resistance because they cleared the drugs from their bodies more quickly.
The body sees drugs as foreign chemicals and tries to rid itself of them, Dr. Gumbo said. A population of individuals with a genetic trait that speeds the process has been found in one area of South Africa that has a high rate of multidrug-resistant TB. In that population, patients who receive standard doses of drugs end up with concentrations in their bodies that are too low to kill the TB bacillus and drug resistance develops, he said.
A Journal of Infectious Diseases editorial that accompanies the study suggests that monitoring the levels of TB drugs in a patient's blood could be as important as monitoring compliance with therapy in contrast to current WHO guidelines.
"These data, based on our preclinical model, show that non-adherence alone is insufficient for the emergence of multidrug-resistant TB," Dr. Gumbo said. "It might be more cost-effective to measure patients' drug concentrations during treatment and intervene with dosage increases in those who quickly clear the drugs from their systems."
###
The work was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health.
Other UT Southwestern investigators involved in the study are lead author Dr. Shashikant Srivastava, former postdoctoral researcher, and Dr. Jotam G. Pasipanodya, research scientist in internal medicine. Researchers from the School of Pharmacy at Texas Tech University Health Science Center, Dallas, also participated.
This news release is available on our World Wide Web home page at
http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/home/news/index.html
To automatically receive news releases from UT Southwestern via email,
subscribe at www.utsouthwestern.edu/receivenews
[ | 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.
Demi Lovato may no longer be a star on the Disney Channel, but she still watches it -- and last week, she wasn't too happy with what she saw. The former Sonny with a Chance actress, who has been candid about her battle with eating disorders, blasted the cable network for a joke about anorexia on the sitcom Shake It Up.
MASON CITY, Iowa ? Rick Santorum isn't going down without a fight. In fact, that fight might be lifting him up.
The Republican presidential candidate who may have logged more miles than any other this year is more likely these days to be grinding it out on the campaign trail than trumpeting the buzz he's stirring among Iowa's conservative voters a week before the Jan. 3 presidential caucuses.
"We feel good," Santorum, a long-overlooked candidate in the GOP race, said with a thin smile as he left a midday campaign stop Tuesday in Mason City, seemingly hesitant - at least publicly - to buy into the notion that he's on the rise.
There are hurdles. His cash-strapped campaign has only just started running TV ads, and his organization is small in a state whose contests rely on the ability of campaigns to turn out a slew of supporters.
Still, there's evidence that Iowa Republicans, many of whom are still undecided and looking for a conservative candidate, may be starting to give the former Pennsylvania senator a look at just the right time.
"Rick Santorum could be a real surprise," said former Dallas County GOP Chairman Rob Taylor.
In recent days, Santorum's crowds have started growing as he rallies conservatives with a pit bull's pugnaciousness, and just a touch of anger.
He has earned the support of a number of key backers of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won the 2008 Republican caucuses. They include former gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats, conservative Sioux City radio host Sam Clovis and some influential evangelical pastors.
He landed the endorsement Tuesday of evangelical conservative activists Alex and Brett Harris, founders of Huck's Army, a national group that supported Huckabee's 2008 campaign.
"He's the only candidate in this race I trust," said Chuck Laudner, a veteran Iowa GOP operative who introduced Santorum to more than 100 party activists on Santorum's fourth trip to Mason City. "And he's a fighter."
As if to prove the point, Santorum launched into a speech filled with pokes at the national media and his rivals. For 90 minutes, he tore into President Barack Obama, Hollywood and moderate Republicans - and, by implication, rival Mitt Romney.
While Santorum's profile in Congress as a social-issues crusader bought him entree with influential evangelical conservatives in Iowa, it's his unhesitating attack on liberals that seems to be fueling his rise in internal polls by rival campaigns.
"Let's look at colleges and universities," Santorum said in the ballroom of the restored Frank Lloyd Wright Park Inn Hotel on Mason City's town square. "They've become indoctrination centers for the left. Should we be subsidizing that?"
Santorum tossed out Harvard University's motto, "Veritas," Latin for truth. "They haven't seen truth at Harvard in 100 years."
Santorum refers to Obama as a "radical." Just as easily, though, he calls his own party's leaders "the good old guys you can count on to sell out in the end."
Even in entertaining questions from voters, he is frank and at times pointed.
"No, you're missing my point," he told Mason City Republican Julia Jones, a retired factory worker, as he tried to explain Social Security.
Jones, who walked into the event weighing Santorum and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, liked what she heard - and decided to support Santorum.
"He doesn't soften the edges, but he doesn't talk down to you either," Jones said. "He's just in-depth."
? The Green Bag's 2011 honorees for legal writing | Main | happy semester break! ?
December 24, 2011
LRW job opening in California
Western State University College of Law is inviting applications for a full-time legal writing faculty position for the 2012-2013 academic year.?The professor will teach two sections (approximately 40 students, total) of the first-year legal writing and research classes each semester.?Along with the Director and Assistant Director, the professor will be full a participant in the curricular design and creative process involved in putting together the Legal Writing & Research courses, including developing course materials and writing problems. In addition, the professor will be responsible for scheduling appropriate weekly office hours for student meetings, attending monthly faculty meetings, and will also serve on at least one faculty committee.
The position offers an initial one-year contract, after which, the faculty member is eligible to apply for a presumptively renewable long-term contract (5 years).?Long Term Contract Faculty are eligible for research grants and have the same voting right on all aspects of faculty governance as tenure-track faculty, except selection and promotion of tenured and tenure-track faculty.?
Candidates must have a J.D. degree, strong academic credentials, excellent analytical, writing, and research skills, superior interpersonal skills, and a commitment to teaching in the legal research and writing field. A minimum of two years of legal practice and at least one year of teaching experience is highly preferred.?
To apply, please send cover letter, resume, and list of three references to Lori A. Roberts, Director of Legal Writing & Research, at loroberts@wsulaw.edu.? The application deadline is February 30, 2012.
1.?The position advertised may lead to successive long-term contracts of five or more years. 2.? The professor hired?will be permitted to vote in faculty meetings. 3.? The school anticipates paying an annual academic year base salary in the range?$70,000 - $79,999. 4.? The number of students enrolled in each semester of the courses taught by the legal research & writing professor will be:41 - 45.
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@spackmanstephen I was raised in Chelsea and my family is scattered throughout London, Birmingham & Manchester. And in Scotland as well.Il y a environ 6 heuresvia Echofon en r?ponse ? spackmanstephen
Top make-up and hair tips to combine with your wedding dress by ying smith
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When focusing on the make-up that will match your beloved new wedding dress, you must remember specific tips. The base should be the same color as the skin. If yours is a pale skin and try to darken too much with the foundation, the tanning effect will be unnatural. It is best to keep the tone of your skin, and instead, emphasize eyes, mouth or cheeks. For those women with light skin and dark hair, take a dramatic look by playing with the contrast of colors can be a very appropriate choice. How pale skin makeup and not look like a Halloween mask? First off, your wedding dress should be appropriate for your wedding theme. The secret to disguise pale skin is in balance. That is, if you choose to highlight the eyes, for example, must make up your mouth with discretion. If your skin is too pale, but desire to bet on a strong lipstick, eye makeup in a natural way and highlights the cheeks, the result is a retro effect. If you want to simulate a natural tan, a good option is the makeup toners such as: a flush in a dull coppery hue applied around the face, never in the central areas. It can clearly be applied to your base with a good brush, mild and spirited. You might as well find a wedding dress in white ivory or maybe neutral beige! If you have no practice with this type of makeup and want to look tan all costs, the best solution for pale skin can be self-tanning spray available in the market, more natural results than creams. For best results, remember to apply self-tanner. Remember your wedding dress must be radiant in combination with the make-up. On the other hand, the hair will mark a difference, too. Do you have straight hair and do not know how to do your hair? Is it approximates the date of the party and what you spent on the dress and the shoes you have left to the salon? No need to worry! You can do curls with an iron to smooth and a little foil. Making curls with the iron is very simple but takes time, so it is elementary that you start them early enough. The first thing you should do is to untangle all the hair very well. Then you will take on rather thin strands. You wrap each in foil strand, starting at ear level. So, be natural curls and movement. If you want, you can seal them with a little spray. In short, you can prepare your wedding night alone. If you do not have money, find the most beautiful wedding dress , and comb your hair at home!
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Transceivers have many varied kinds, to be utilized for telecommunication. the SFP modules are hooked straight into the motherboard and are often one of the smallest versions of transceiver. Optical fibers are exploited to create high speeds in a computer network with the kind of transceivers called XFP modules. the same type of GLC-FE-100LX effect on telecommunications can ensue with modules such as GBIC, CFP, MAU, and XAUI.Since these types of?See More
Twitter / Marshano: mijn google chrome, mozill ...mijn google chrome, mozilla, internet, paint, skype, tweetdeck en 'mijn bestanden' loopt vast, maar msn neitIl y a environ 2 heuresvia web
For weeks members have been peeking through the plastic sheets for a better view of the nearly completed renovations in the Prospector's Square location of the Silver Mountain Sports Club and Spa. Now days away from opening, members won't have to crane to see the 5,000 square foot addition.
The new space will debut on Dec. 26.
Owner Stanton Jones said construction has been 100 percent on time; the final pieces of the puzzle are falling into place on the $2M project. And with a list of additional amenities, Jones hopes the renovations will breathe new life into the space.
"It has an amazing ambience," Jones said about the new space. "There's a lot of high energy, great for working out. Anyone who wants to have a really good workout in a positive environment would look at this and think it's above and beyond."
"You are able to see mountains from almost any point," he added.
Whether it is the several added windows in the main room, the cardio mezzanine, or the open air, 12-foot-wide and 1,200-foot-long Astroturf area for push sleds, hurdles, lunges, sprints and cone work.
The list goes on.
Members can enjoy the new weight room or the spin class room featuring top-of-the-line Schwinn stationary bicycles. Between the new flooring and updated lobby and locker rooms, Jones said the entire gym feels like a different building from what it was just a few months ago when construction began.
"It's not even the actual square footage as much as the added volume of space we've managed to create," Jones said.
Silver Mountain Sports Club marketing director Rachel Stratford said the current renovations were the second phase, following significant summer construction that added a muscle beach weight area, a fitness castle for children, combo climbers, monkey bars and traveling rings.
"This town is filled with professional athletes and amateurs athletes alike," Stratford said. "There are those who want to do a basic workout, and then there are those looking for more. We are always trying to offer more to everyone."
The renovations began in August, restricting the number of classes and work out space available in the Prospector's Square location. Now Jones said more than 80 free classes will be offered between the two facilities.
"We haven't been able to do spinning and had to share the yoga room," Jones said. "It will be nice to have everyone in multiple rooms and have classes going on simultaneously."
The all-inclusive gym will start offering more than 80 classes a week, up from roughly 60 as renovations were taking place.
Before renovations, Jones said the gym was in need of an update from its 1970s flair. Jones said he wanted to get the Prospector's Square location to catch up with the more popular Kimball Junction location, which he said is considered the hipper space with more amenities because the building itself is only a few years old.
"Now the two clubs are on an even playing field," Jones said.
Jones expects the finishing touches to the exterior work on the facade to be completed by the beginning of 2012.
For more information on memberships or club and spa amenities call 435-649-6670 or visit www.silvermountainspa.com.
When Google put out its annual zeitgeist list, it bragged that "Google+" was the No. 2 fastest-growing search term of the year.?But that label may be a bit deceiving.
As?TechCrunch's Erick Schonfeld points out,?it's no surprise that?"Google+" was such a popular search term in 2011. It didn't even exist prior to this year and people wanted to know what it's about. "On a percentage basis the growth in the number of searches for the term was astronomical," explains Schonfeld.
But that's not where the story ends, folks.?You see, apparently searches for "Google+" aren't as common as they used to be at this point.
By using the Google Insights for Search tool?? a feature which allows people to track search trends and patterns?? it is possible to see (in the chart above) that after an initial spike around the social network's launch and small bumps around other announcements, searches for the term "Google+" started dropping.
When you look at the embedded chart to the right, the picture becomes far more clear: Rival social networks such as Facebook and Twitter command far more ongoing interest in Google's own search engine, and that's in the U.S. alone, where Google+ has had more reach.
And according to Schonfeld, this is a problem:
Searches are an indication of pure intent. People search for what they intend to do. [...] If fewer and fewer people are searching for ?Google+?, it makes you wonder if anyone is actually using it. Remember, just because Google+ has tens of millions of registered users, that doesn?t mean those people ever came back after Google made them click to register.?
Related stories:
Want more tech news, silly puns or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts, or circling her?on?Google+.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) ? Canadian researchers have found that over the last 20 years, three percent of deaf children who got cochlear implants at their hospital needed new ones because of technical problems.
Just a couple of those kids suffered a drop in hearing or speaking skills after the new devices were implanted, the team reported this week in Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.
The study's senior author, Dr. Blake Papsin, said that despite the low rate of repeated implants in kids, most will need a new device put in at some point in their lives.
"When I talk to parents, I say, 'Let's talk about your first cochlear implant,'" said Papsin, director of the cochlear implant program at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
"It's become pretty clear that these devices are unlikely, even though beautifully made, to last a lifetime," he told Reuters Health. Including the surgery and follow-up visits, an implant costs about $50,000.
But the findings are still promising, he added. "People used to say the complication rate is higher in children, the failure rate is higher in children, and we found that that was not the case."
His team's study included 738 kids, most born hard of hearing because of genetics. Those kids all received a cochlear implant -- a device that transmits sound directly to the auditory nerve -- in at least one ear between 1990 and 2010. They had the procedures when they were an average of two or three years old.
During that time, the hospital treated 34 kids whose implants had stopped working and who needed surgery to put in a new device.
When the researchers took out the seven kids who got their original implant at another hospital, they found that just under three percent of the patients they treated with a first cochlear implant needed a second due to malfunctions. That was over an average of six years of using the devices.
Almost all of the kids who needed a new device implanted maintained or improved their hearing and speaking abilities after the second procedure. Just two had a significant drop in those skills.
"Once these things fail, replacing them does tend to get the kids' hearing back to or close to where it was before the device failed," said Dr. Josef Shargorodsky, who studies hearing problems at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and wasn't involved in the new study.
He told Reuters Health that the number of device failures seen in this study is lower than in most previous reports -- possibly because cochlear implant technology is improving.
Papsin said that over the long run, almost all deaf kids will probably eventually need a new implant, but it's hard to know whether the typical person will need just one or a few. He added that when he does a cochlear implant surgery now, much of his technique is guided by knowing that someone will probably be going in to that ear again in the future.
Complications of the implant procedures are rare, Papsin said, but include infections and damage to the devices. The implants and related surgeries are usually covered by insurance.
Papsin -- who is on the speaker's bureau of the Cochlear Americas Corporation, which markets cochlear implants -- said that in general, getting an implant is a "life-transforming operation" for families that decide to do it.
While they don't allow deaf kids to hear in the same way that other kids do, cochlear implants do mean they can go to regular schools, have normal conversations and listen to music, he said.
And parents can be confident that the devices are very safe, he concluded, and that even kids who need repeat surgeries do well.
More than 200,000 people have received cochlear implants, including about 70,000 in the United States. According to the Food and Drug Administration, they have been approved for commercial use in the U.S. since the mid-1980s.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/vyFkwC Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, online December 19, 2011.
NEW YORK ? A prestigious scientific journal is retracting a controversial 2009 report that linked chronic fatigue syndrome to a virus.
In an unusual move, the journal Science is taking that step on its own. Normally, authors retract their own research papers when serious problems arise after publication.
But Science has lost confidence in the report and the validity of its conclusions, editor-in-chief Bruce Alberts writes in Friday's issue. He said most of the authors have agreed in principle to retract the paper "but they have been unable to agree on the wording of their statement." A retraction signed by all the authors "is unlikely to be forthcoming," Alberts wrote.
Chronic fatigue syndrome is characterized by severe fatigue for at least six months, impaired memory and other symptoms.
The 2009 paper, from scientists at the Whittemore Peterson Institute in Reno, Nev., the Cleveland Clinic and the National Cancer Institute, reported finding a virus called XMRV in blood cells of some patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. That raised hope that a cause of the mysterious illness had been found, although other viral suspects over the years had proven to be false leads.
But follow-up studies found no evidence of such a link. Last May, Science published two reports suggesting the original finding was due to lab contamination.
At the time, Alberts published a statement declaring that the validity of the study was "now seriously in question."
Then in September, the authors retracted some of the data, citing contamination.
In his statement on the full retraction, Alberts said the authors had also acknowledged omitting important information about the study's procedures in an illustration of some lab results.
Robert Silverman of the Cleveland Clinic, one of the paper's 13 authors, said in a statement Thursday that he was pleased by the full retraction. He said he had sought one this summer after finding that blood samples were contaminated.
Through a spokeswoman, another study author, Francis Ruscetti of the cancer institute, declined to comment.
Annette Whittemore, president of the Whittemore institute, said in a statement that her organization remains committed to discovering the roots of the disorder. "It is not the end of the story, rather it is the beginning of our renewed efforts," she said. "We ... look forward to the rigorous review of our scientific research."
A key figure in the research, Judy Mikovits, is no longer with the Whittemore institute.
NEW YORK ? General Mills' second-quarter net income slipped 28 percent in the second quarter, the company said Tuesday, citing rising costs. Revenue jumped by double digits as it was able to successfully raise prices.
The food company maintained its adjusted full-year earnings guidance, but cautioned that second-half gross margin as a percent of sales will be below year-ago levels.
General Mills, which sells Cheerios, Yoplait yogurt and other foods, has struggled as other food producers have with higher costs for nearly everything, from ingredient to packaging. Most companies have hiked prices to offset these pressures. Higher prices and strong demand boosted revenue at General Mills, but its own rising costs have tugged at profits, which fell shy of most expectations.
The Minneapolis company earned $444.8 million, or 67 cents per share, for the quarter ended Nov. 27. That's down from $613.9 million, or 92 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding charges tied to its Yoplait deal and other items, earnings were 76 cents per share.
Analysts polled by FactSet were looking for earnings of 79 cents per share.
The company's stock fell 14 cents to $39.45 in premarket trading.
General Mills announced in July that it was acquiring a controlling stake in Yoplait. It was the first full quarter with the yogurt brand under its ownership, boosting total international sales by more than 50 percent.
Quarterly revenue rose 14 percent to $4.62 billion from $4.07 billion, helped by higher prices. Wall Street expected revenue of $4.6 billion.
Revenue for the U.S. retail segment climbed 3 percent thanks to increased prices and strong snack sales.
Snack sales rose 20 percent, driven by Fiber One and Nature Valley snack bars, while sales for the Pillsbury division increased 9 percent on strong demand for Totino's frozen snacks and pizza, Pillsbury refrigerated baked goods, and new Pillsbury frozen breakfast items.
Sales in the segment, which includes cereals, edged up 1 percent on solid performances from Honey Nut Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and well as contributions from new products such as Cinnamon Burst Cheerios and Fiber One 80 Calorie cereal.
In the international segment, revenue surged 55 percent to $1.16 billion, driven by Yoplait. Sales were strong in Europe, while Canada, Latin America and the Asia/Pacific region also posted sales gains.
Bakery and foodservice revenue rose 12 percent to $522 million in the quarter.
For the full year, General Mills still expects adjusted earnings of $2.59 to $2.61 per share. Analysts predict earnings of $2.61 per share.
The company said its second-half adjusted earnings per share will likely see a high single-digit to low double-digit percentage increase, with sales for the period rising by double-digits. Gross margin as a percentage of sales is anticipated to drop below the prior-year level due to increased costs and the business adjustments needed to include the Yoplait transaction. Operating profit in the second half is expected to rise above year-ago levels, with a planned increase in advertising and media spending.
CAIRO (Reuters) ? At least two people were killed and 100 wounded in Cairo on Friday as demonstrators fought troops in the worst violence since Egypt began its first free election in six decades.
In a pattern that has recurred during nine months of army rule since President Hosni Mubarak's overthrow in February, the confrontation swiftly grew as more people took to the streets.
Medical sources put the death toll at two, but a worker at a makeshift field hospital said a third person had died from gunshot wounds. The Health Ministry said one person had been killed and 105 wounded in the unrest in the city centre.
Clashes raged on after nightfall, with protesters throwing petrol bombs and stones at the cabinet building, breaking windows and security cameras. Soldiers fired at demonstrators hurling rocks at the parliament building. It was not clear if they were using rubber bullets or live ammunition.
The violence erupted the previous night when military police tried to break up a sit-in by pro-democracy activists. Anger at their rough tactics ignited clashes that quickly turned the streets around parliament into a rock-strewn battle zone.
By early afternoon, ambulance sirens were wailing as troops tried to disperse around 10,000 protesters with truncheons and what witnesses said appeared to be electric cattle prods.
Reports of beatings of well-known pro-democracy activists buzzed across social media and politicians from Islamists to liberals lined up to condemn the army's tactics.
"Even if the sit-in was not legal, should it be dispersed with such brutality and barbarity?" asked Mohamed ElBaradei, a presidential candidate and former U.N. nuclear watchdog head.
The sit-in outside the cabinet office was a remnant of far bigger protests last month around Cairo's Tahrir Square in which 42 people were killed shortly before voting began in Egypt's first election since a military council took over from Mubarak.
"The council wants to spoil the elections. They don't want a parliament that has popular legitimacy unlike them and would challenge their authority," said Shadi Fawzy, a pro-democracy activist. "I don't believe they will hand over power in June."
In Friday's disturbances, cars were set alight and part of a state building was torched.
Troops and unidentified men in plainclothes hurled rocks from the roof of one parliament building onto protesters who were throwing stones, shards of glass and petrol bombs.
Demonstrators burned piles of car tires to send up plumes of black smoke and block the view of the street from above.
The head of the military council, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, ordered that everyone wounded in the fighting be treated in army hospitals, state television said.
An army source said 32 security personnel had been wounded while trying to stop protesters from breaking into parliament.
Ziad el-Elaimy, a leading figure in the liberal Egyptian Bloc, who ran for parliament in Cairo, said he was beaten by security forces when he arrived to witness the scene.
When he protested, army officers told him: "To hell with you and your parliament," according to Elaimy.
BATTLEGROUND
The actual voting in the election, which is staggered over six weeks, has been mostly peaceful since it began on November 28.
A big first-round turnout had partially deflated the street protests against army rule, which prompted the government to resign and the generals to pledge to step aside by July.
On Sunday, a new cabinet is to hold its first full meeting since it was sworn in on December 7 and plans to weigh new austerity measures to address a wider-than-expected budget deficit.
Protesters have occupied an area outside the cabinet office since late November, forcing the government to meet elsewhere.
They said the army provoked the violence, which worsened after images appeared online of an activist, named as Abboudi Ibrahim, being supported by a crowd, his face badly bruised and eyes swollen and shut after he was detained by military police.
Protester Bebars Mohamed, 19, said he was at the sit-in when military police grabbed Ibrahim.
"The army pushed us away from Parliament Street and burnt the tents. They threw rocks and glass on us," he said.
ISLAMISTS LEAD IN ELECTION
The clashes broke out after two days of voting in the second round of the election on Wednesday and Thursday. Turnout again appeared high as voting moved to districts of greater Cairo, Suez, Ismailiya, Aswan and parts of the Nile Delta.
The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) said it expected to keep its first-round lead but that it was not clear whether its vote share would stay around 40 percent.
Early indications showed the FJP still in the lead, followed again by the hardline Islamist Salafi al-Nour party, with the liberal Egyptian Bloc in third place, state newspapers said.
The army is in charge until a presidential election in mid-2012, but parliament will have a popular mandate that the military will find hard to ignore as it oversees the transition.
Egypt's official news agency said a new civilian advisory council that was set up to offer guidance to the army generals on policy would meet later on Friday to discuss the clashes.
But two members of the council, whose creation was seen as a concession to campaigners demanding an end to army rule, resigned over the violence and said they would not attend.
Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri, who has made law and order a priority for his new interim government, has said little.
"The prime minister said he now had presidential powers, but he hasn't moved or spoken or issued clear directions," said Adel Soliman, head of Cairo's International Centre for Future and Strategic Studies. "There is complete silence from all those in power."
(Additional reporting by Marwa Awad, Omar Fahmy, Shaimaa Fayed, Ashraf Fahim, Amr Dalsh; Writing by Tom Pfeiffer; Editing by Alistair Lyon)
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Public release date: 28-Dec-2011
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