If you think MRI tests are expensive, try buying a magnetic resonance imaging machine. Some health care providers invest millions in technology to help diagnose patients. To offset that cost, they try to keep the machines' schedules as full as possible.
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One of the main criticisms of consumer-driven health care is that, today, consumers have no way of figuring out how much a particular health care service costs. Indeed, one of the reasons that health care is so expensive in America is because people have no idea what they're paying for it. Hence, it's important for reformers to encourage hospitals and doctors to become more transparent about the ...
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Why do Hospitals Charge $4,423 for $250 CT Scans? Blame Arizona Republicans
Experts urge 400 local leaders to work toward lowering costs while improving patient outcomes.
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WASHINGTON - California could gain up to 100,000 jobs and $4.4 billion in economic spillover if the Supreme Court upholds the Obama health care plan next month, according to a new report.
The Bay Area Council Economic Institute estimates that Southern California has the most to gain. The reform could add up to 65,000 jobs and more than $3 billion to the region's economy, three-quarters of the state's total.
Had the health care law taken full effect in 2010, the report says that California's economy - helped by federal and state subsidies - would have received a $6.7 billion boost from new spending on doctors, hospitals, medical device manufacturers and the hiring of additional employees "who will then spend more money on food, clothing, and shelter, among other things."
The boost far outweighs the economic cost of requiring more employers to pay for their workers' insurance, according to the report.
In addition, the report concludes that many consumers - particularly in the more affluent parts of the state - would have more disposable income as the result of lower insurance premiums.
A healthier population would also take a more active part in the labor market and miss fewer days for sickness.
The findings add fodder to those who argue that the law will have a positive effect on the economy.
Most of the debate over the Affordable Health Care Act has focused on its mandate that everyone buy insurance and its ban
The report seeks to break down the law's overall economic impact on California and suggests that it would serve as a large stimulus. The study was conducted by the Bay Area Council, a business-sponsored, public policy advocacy organization based in San Francisco.
"It is important to emphasize that the Affordable Care Act was not designed to be an economic stimulus bill ... and the fact that the law also will have a significant positive economic impact is a strong corollary benefit to a policy change designed to achieve other ends," the report says.
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Report: Southland stands to gain thousands of jobs under Obamacare
DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Dublin - Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/svr28k/role_of_wireless_i) has announced the addition of the "Role of Wireless ICT in Health Care and Wellness" report to their offering.
This report concentrates on recent contributions of wireless communications in health care and fitness to enhance the quality of service together with the significant cost reduction.
The health care cost is rising each year, and in the U.S. reached around 16%-17% of the GDP with the trend to add at least one percent each year. Wide utilization of wireless communications, as our analysis showed, can reduce the health care cost by billions of dollars on an annual basis. Much of that savings is derived by reducing hospitalizations and extending independent living for seniors.
Ambient Intelligence is a vision where environment becomes smart, friendly, context-aware and responsive to any type of human needs. In such a world, computing and networking technology coexist with people in a ubiquitous, friendly and pervasive way. Numerous miniature and interconnected smart devices create a new intelligence and interact with each other seamlessly. For health care, this translates into proliferation of remote monitoring and telemedicine.
The report addresses recent advances of wireless technologies in medical/fitness applications. Particular, it analyzes the following:
- WICT standardization for the Body Area Network (WBAN) and Medical Body Area Network (WMBAN).
- Bluetooth technology and its Medical Profile
- ZigBee technology and its Medical Profile
- Wi-Fi low-power consumption technology
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Research and Markets: Role of Wireless ICT in Health Care and Wellness
SOUTH AFRICA has won the right to host the vast majority of the world’s biggest astronomy project, a development local scientists hope will put Africa on the map in terms of scientific research and development.
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Rumour: Facebook looking to acquire Opera Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/25/12 19:09 UTC Pocket-lint has a rumour up that Facebook is interested in acquiring Opera to kickstart their own move into the browser market, to compete with Mozilla, Google, and Microsoft. While it would mean much-deserved recognition for Opera, I actually hope such a deal does not go through - for entirely selfish reasons. 3Read More 64 Comment(s) Google details copyright removals in search Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/12 22:34 UTC Google has released a treasure trove of data about takedown requests regarding possible copyright violations. What may surprise some - but is actually kind of logical if you think about it - is that most requests, by far, come from Microsoft. You'll be surprised about the total amount of requests, and looking at some of them in more detail, it becomes obvious just how much certain organisations would abuse takedown power if they had it. 8Read More 12 Comment(s) Google CEO Larry Page on Charlie Rose Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/12 16:13 UTC Google CEO Larry Page was interviewed on Charlie Rose recently, and there was certainly some interesting stuff in there. Sadly, the interview suffers from the curse of modern journalism in that it was all a bit timid and civil (no truly harsh and confronting questions), but despite that, it's still a good watch. Two quotes from Page really stood out to me. 3Read More 39 Comment(s) Visual Studio 11 Express editions Metro-only Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/12 20:03 UTC For Microsoft, the traditional desktop is old news. It's on its way out, it's legacy, and the harder they claim the desktop has equal rights, the sillier it becomes. With companies, words are meaningless, it's actions that matter, and here Microsoft's actions tell the real story. The company has announced the product line-up for Visual Studio 11, and the free Express can no longer be used to create desktop applications. Message is clear. 5Read More 158 Comment(s) Smartphones Reignite the OS Wars Linked by Howard Fosdick on 05/19/12 8:59 UTC Smartphones have become the preferred computer of the masses. Sales surpassed those of personal computers in 2010, having grown over 50% per year for several years. Nearly 500 million smartphones shipped in 2011. This radically shifts the terrain in the consumer operating system competition that was, for years, firmly decided in favor of Windows. This article analyzes the New OS Wars. 4Read More 103 Comment(s) OpenSignalMaps logs 3997 unique Android devices Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/16/12 21:17 UTC An interesting study has been making the rounds across the web these past 24 hours. The creators of OpenSignalMaps have been logging which new devices download their product, and they've collected data on 681900 devices. The results are... Diverse. 0Read More 19 Comment(s) What's wrong with Windows 8 Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/14/12 22:49 UTC For weeks - if not months - I've been trying to come up with a way to succinctly and accurately explain why, exactly, Windows 8 rubs me the wrong way, usability-wise. I think I finally got it. 13Read More 193 Comment(s) Foxconn chairman: we're going to build Apple's television Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/11/12 19:10 UTC The next frontier for Apple - and other technology companies - to conquer: the television market. Terry Gou, chairman of Foxconn, has confirmed his company will be building a television for Apple in conjunction with Sharp. Since I bought a brand-new top-of-the-line TV late last year, I've been thinking a lot about what could be improved about the state of TV today, and as crazy as it seems, I'm actually not that dissatisfied. 0Read More 52 Comment(s) Mozilla, Google voice concern over Windows 8 browser restrictions Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/10/12 18:06 UTC Both Mozilla and Google have expressed concern over Windows 8. Microsoft's next big operating system release restricts access to certain APIs and technologies browsers need - only making them available to Internet Explorer. Looking at the facts, it would seem Mozilla and Google have a solid case - coincidentally, the responses on the web are proof of the slippery slope we're on regarding ownership over our own machines. 13Read More 90 Comment(s) AT&T, Google duke it out over who causes Android upgrade delays Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/08/12 17:55 UTC This is fun. The number one iOS carrier duking it out with the company behind the world's most popular smartphone operating system. Last month, Google's lead for the Android Open Source Project, Jean-Baptiste Queru, more or less blamed carriers (see comments) for Android's upgrade woes. Yesterday, AT&T's CEO Randall Stephenson retaliated, blaming Google for the delays. And yes, Google already responded to that, too. 3Read More 62 Comment(s)
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May 28, 2012 12:00 AM
SAN ANDREAS - Aerospace Corp. representatives are considering construction of a high-speed communications system in Calaveras County that could help during emergencies and boost economic development.
The idea is to provide cheap broadband to remote areas.
Clay Hawkins, the county's chief assistant administrative officer, and Supervisor Steve Wilensky said they have had two meetings with representatives of Aerospace.
They said if the project happens, it might be funded by a U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant.
"There's no cost involved" to Calaveras, Hawkins said.
He said Aerospace is interested in Calaveras because it could provide a test case for how improved communications could boost economic growth in a depressed rural area.
Aerospace is best known for building spacecraft and spy satellites. But as funding for military machinery and space exploration shrinks, the corporation is looking for ways to use its expertise on Earth, Wilensky said. He said the Aerospace representatives also have local ties.
"One of them lives in District 2," Wilensky said, referring to the area he represents, which includes Mountain Ranch, West Point and Mokelumne Hill.
Wilensky and Hawkins did not name the Aerospace representatives.
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JERUSALEM Israeli medical student Mohammad Hijazi seems the ideal candidate to alleviate the country's looming doctor shortage.
He graduated first in his high school class, scored in the top 5% of Israel's version of the SAT and rounded out his resume by founding a grass-roots organization that encourages blood donation.
"And it works," said Hijazi, 25, who is now pursuing a medical degree in Poland.
High enrollment in medical schools has long been a rare success story for Israel's 1.6 million Arab Israelis, who complain of discrimination by the government in many spheres of their lives.
Nationwide, an estimated 19% of medical school students are Arab, according to a 2009 parliamentary study. The ratio is in line with Israel's Arab population, which is about 20%, and is impressive considering Arabs account for just 9% of the total number of university students and about 6% of government employees.
Arab activists say the rising number of Arabs in medical schools over the last two decades has alarmed Israeli officials and led to an effort to restrict enrollment.
For the last six years, most medical school programs have required that applicants be at least 20. School officials say the rule was adopted to ensure a greater maturity among applicants. Critics, however, say it chiefly affects Arabs because most Jewish students begin college after a compulsory two- or three-year stint in the military; most Arabs don't serve in the military.
Rather than wait two years after graduating from high school to begin their studies, many Arab Israeli students opt to enroll in colleges in the West Bank or abroad, or choose a different field of study. (Unlike in the U.S., doctor-training programs in Israel begin at the undergraduate level.)
"The rule has the effect of discouraging Arabs from enrolling in medical schools," said attorney Sawsan Zaher of Adalah, an Israeli group that works against discrimination of Arabs.
Medical school officials dispute that assertion.
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Israel curbing Arab enrollment in medical schools, activists say
I was at a conference in Venice a few weeks ago on "Evolution in the Age of Genomics." The most interesting presentation at the meeting was by Peter and Rosemary Grant, Princeton biologists who have been studying Darwin's finches in the Galapagos for the past three-plus decades. This work is all the more important because these birds, especially their beaks, have been the poster children of Darwinian evolution for a century and a half.
While most population biology is highly theoretical and conjectural, the Grants have been following what has actually been going on in the wild. Theirs is an exciting scientific and human story, including raising and educating their daughters in a tent while making field observations.
What the Grants emphasized, among many fascinating observations, was the major role hybridization and introgression between distinct "species" played in producing genetic variability in the wild populations. (Introgression means the introduction of part of the genome from a distinct species.)
Whenever there was high inherited variability in a particular population, examination of the DNA indicated that it arose from introgression from a different species. The Grants also described the formation of what would be classed as a new finch species resulting from the full hybridization of two distinct species.
In the discussion session following their joint presentation, someone asked why more attention had not been paid to these inter-species genome transfer events. Peter Grant answered, "Ernst Mayr". What Peter meant was the influence of Mayr's theoretical dictum that recently separated species did not interbreed.
Since Mayr was one of the neo-Darwinian giants of the Modern Synthesis, his speculations were taken as accepted fact. The answer prompted someone in the audience to comment, "Great biologists can only impede progress, not stimulate it."
While interspecific hybridization is now widely accepted in plant evolutionary biology, neo-Darwinian theorists like Jerry Coyne continue to minimize its importance in animals: "Polyploidy is a rapid form of evolution and speciation, one that is fairly common in plants, but very rare in animals. (The reason for its rarity in animals isn't understood, but we discuss the theories in the book I wrote with Allen Orr, Speciation."
Examples of introgression and interspecific hybridization in many different animals are accumulating. Documentation of these processes is aided, as in the Grants' studies, by the application of forensic DNA methods to determine the origins of various genome components. Using the same kind of "microsatellite" markers as in criminal investigations, field biologists can use small tissue samples from wild organisms to pinpoint the sources of DNA regions in their genomes.
A recent paper in Nature, "Butterfly genome reveals promiscuous exchange of mimicry adaptations among species" by The Heliconius Genome Consortium describes the role that interspecific DNA transfers play in the evolution of mimetic wing patterns in butterflies. Similar cases have recently been documented in rodents, newts, and flatfishes. It is likely that interspecific hybridization is far more common in animals than commonly believed.
The reason I was particularly interested in the Grants' observations was that they exemplified an overlooked aspect of population behavior that is relevant to natural genetic engineering. Introgression is a form of horizontal DNA transfer, and interspecific hybridization is one of the most important triggers of large-scale genome restructuring by natural genetic engineering. We are beginning to understand the molecular basis of this triggering because interspecific hybridization is also a destabilizing event for the epigenetic controls that regulate natural genetic engineering functions.
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James A. Shapiro: Interspecific Hybridization and Introgression in Animal Evolution
The Caterpillar got down off the mushroom and crawled away in the grass, remarking as it went, 'One side will make you grow taller, and the other side will make you grow shorter.' -Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll
Newswise UCLA geneticists have identified the mutation responsible for IMAGe syndrome, a rare disorder that stunts infants growth. The twist? The mutation occurs on the same gene that causes Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, which makes cells grow too fast, leading to very large children.
Published in the May 27 edition of Nature Genetics, the UCLA findings could lead to new ways of blocking the rapid cell division that allows tumors to grow unchecked. The discovery also offers a new tool for diagnosing children with IMAGe syndrome, which until now has been difficult to accurately identify.
The discovery holds special significance for principal investigator Dr. Eric Vilain, a professor of human genetics, pediatrics and urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Nearly 20 years ago, as a medical resident in his native France, Vilain cared for two boys, ages 3 and 6, who were dramatically short for their ages. Though unrelated, both children shared a mysterious malady marked by minimal fetal development, stunted bone growth, sluggish adrenal glands, and undersized organs and genitals.
I never found a reason to explain these patients unusual set of symptoms, explained Vilain, who is also director of the UCLA Institute for Society and Genetics. Ive been searching for the cause of their disease since 1993.
When Vilain joined UCLA as a genetics fellow, the two cases continued to intrigue him. His mentor, then UCLA geneticist Dr. Edward McCabe, recalled a similar case from his previous post at Baylor College of Medicine. The two of them obtained blood samples from the three cases and analyzed the patients DNA for mutations in suspect genes, but uncovered nothing.
Vilain and McCabe approached the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, and in 1999 published the first description of the syndrome, which they dubbed IMAGe, an acronym of sorts for the conditions symptoms: intrauterine growth restriction, metaphyseal dysplasia, adrenal hypoplasia and genital anomalies.
Over the next decade, about 20 cases were reported around the world. But the cause of IMAGe syndrome remained a mystery.
Help arrived unexpectedly last year when Vilain received an email from Argentinian physician Dr. Ignacio Bergada, who had unearthed the 1999 journal article. He told Vilain about a large family he was treating in which eight members suffered the same symptoms described in the study. All of the family members agreed to send their DNA samples to UCLA for study.
ScienceDaily (May 27, 2012) UCLA geneticists have identified the mutation responsible for IMAGe syndrome, a rare disorder that stunts infants' growth. The twist? The mutation occurs on the same gene that causes Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, which makes cells grow too fast, leading to very large children.
Published in the May 27 edition of Nature Genetics, the UCLA findings could lead to new ways of blocking the rapid cell division that allows tumors to grow unchecked. The discovery also offers a new tool for diagnosing children with IMAGe syndrome, which until now has been difficult to accurately identify.
The discovery holds special significance for principal investigator Dr. Eric Vilain, a professor of human genetics, pediatrics and urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Nearly 20 years ago, as a medical resident in his native France, Vilain cared for two boys, ages 3 and 6, who were dramatically short for their ages. Though unrelated, both children shared a mysterious malady marked by minimal fetal development, stunted bone growth, sluggish adrenal glands, and undersized organs and genitals.
"I never found a reason to explain these patients' unusual set of symptoms," explained Vilain, who is also director of the UCLA Institute for Society and Genetics. "I've been searching for the cause of their disease since 1993."
When Vilain joined UCLA as a genetics fellow, the two cases continued to intrigue him. His mentor, then UCLA geneticist Dr. Edward McCabe, recalled a similar case from his previous post at Baylor College of Medicine. The two of them obtained blood samples from the three cases and analyzed the patients' DNA for mutations in suspect genes, but uncovered nothing.
Vilain and McCabe approached the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, and in 1999 published the first description of the syndrome, which they dubbed IMAGe, an acronym of sorts for the condition's symptoms: intrauterine growth restriction, metaphyseal dysplasia, adrenal hypoplasia and genital anomalies.
Over the next decade, about 20 cases were reported around the world. But the cause of IMAGe syndrome remained a mystery.
Help arrived unexpectedly last year when Vilain received an email from Argentinian physician Dr. Ignacio Bergada, who had unearthed the 1999 journal article. He told Vilain about a large family he was treating in which eight members suffered the same symptoms described in the study. All of the family members agreed to send their DNA samples to UCLA for study.
Vilain realized that he had stumbled across the scientific equivalent of winning the lottery. He assembled a team of UCLA researchers to partner with Bergada and London endocrinologist Dr. John Achermann.
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Disease that stunts infants' growth traced to same gene that makes kids grow too fast
Public release date: 27-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Elaine Schmidt eschmidt@mednet.ucla.edu 310-794-2272 University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences
The Caterpillar got down off the mushroom and crawled away in the grass, remarking as it went, 'One side will make you grow taller, and the other side will make you grow shorter.' -Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll
UCLA geneticists have identified the mutation responsible for IMAGe syndrome, a rare disorder that stunts infants' growth. The twist? The mutation occurs on the same gene that causes Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, which makes cells grow too fast, leading to very large children.
Published in the May 27 edition of Nature Genetics, the UCLA findings could lead to new ways of blocking the rapid cell division that allows tumors to grow unchecked. The discovery also offers a new tool for diagnosing children with IMAGe syndrome, which until now has been difficult to accurately identify.
The discovery holds special significance for principal investigator Dr. Eric Vilain, a professor of human genetics, pediatrics and urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Nearly 20 years ago, as a medical resident in his native France, Vilain cared for two boys, ages 3 and 6, who were dramatically short for their ages. Though unrelated, both children shared a mysterious malady marked by minimal fetal development, stunted bone growth, sluggish adrenal glands, and undersized organs and genitals.
"I never found a reason to explain these patients' unusual set of symptoms," explained Vilain, who is also director of the UCLA Institute for Society and Genetics. "I've been searching for the cause of their disease since 1993."
When Vilain joined UCLA as a genetics fellow, the two cases continued to intrigue him. His mentor, then UCLA geneticist Dr. Edward McCabe, recalled a similar case from his previous post at Baylor College of Medicine. The two of them obtained blood samples from the three cases and analyzed the patients' DNA for mutations in suspect genes, but uncovered nothing.
Vilain and McCabe approached the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, and in 1999 published the first description of the syndrome, which they dubbed IMAGe, an acronym of sorts for the condition's symptoms: intrauterine growth restriction, metaphyseal dysplasia, adrenal hypoplasia and genital anomalies.
See the original post here:
Same gene that stunts infants' growth also makes them grow too big
Feb. 24, 1980April 27, 2012
A beloved chemistry teacher and varsity baseball coach who taught his students in Florida to rise above will be remembered Saturday at the Wales Center Community Baptist Church.
Justin M. Kunick was born in Naperville, Ill., and moved to Wales Center when he was four. He graduated from Iroquois High School in 1998 and then from Keuka College in 2002, where he played on the varsity baseball team, setting several team records.
From the time he was a newborn, Mr. Kunick struggled with heart problems but always overcame them with admirable determination. Ailments left him temporarily paralyzed on the right side of his body when he was a toddler. His family believes thats how he ended up a left-handed pitcher.
After working as a substitute teacher for a couple of years in Michigan, Mr. Kunick landed a full-time teaching job in Hudson, Fla.
Mr. Kunick had become the varsity coach at Fivay High School when, in January, he was diagnosed with colon cancer. Through his surgeries and chemotherapy, Kunick continued coaching from his hospital bed with the help of his father. Terry Kunick would call his son after each inning to report on how the team was doing.
Their final game, he coached from his hospice bed, Terry Kunick said.
Mr. Kunick died April 27 while in hospice in New Port Richey. He was 32.
He is survived by his father and mother, Marilyn Kunick; his wife, the former Anne Hastie; a brother, Joseph; and two sisters, Jeanette Wolff and Jody Smaszcz.
A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday in the Wales Center Community Baptist Church, with friends and family gathering an hour beforehand.
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Justin M. Kunick, chemistry teacher, baseball coach
Josh Brolin says he had a special chemistry with Will Smith when filming 'Men In Black 3'.
Josh Brolin says he had a special chemistry with Will Smith.
The 'No Country For Old Men' actor has revealed the natural chemistry and banter he shared with his 'Men In Black 3' comedy partner was one of a kind.
He said: ''When the camera rolls, something happens. It was very nice, I hadn't felt that with a lot of people. Usually you have to act at acting well. With Will Smith and I, something just happens when those cameras start rolling.
''And we're very different people, but I think we are both very mischievous in our own way (laughs), so we were having fun with this kind of back and forth, cat and mouse thing.
''But it's not a cat and mouse, it's something different. It was follying, it was a lot of fun! We created our own thing so it became less about how am I going to do Tommy Lee Jones, more in finding a rendition of Tommy, and then making it our own.''
Barry Sonnenfield's latest flick sees Josh play a young version of Tommy Lee Jones' character, Agent K, who teams up with Agent J (Will) when they go back in time to save the world.
The 44-year-old 'Goonies' star said that he knew from the very first ''make or break'' scene the pair shot together that the film was going to work.
Speaking about his favourite memory from filming, he added to Flicksandbits.com: ''The first scene me and Will shot was the first scene that's in the movie with us together. When I'm sitting there looking at J, who's looking around at all the 60s motif, and then he looks at me and he's telling me something and I say, 'How do you know my name?'
''That was the first scene we did in the movie, so that was an exciting moment for me because that's a make or break moment. All the talking and the rehearsing, all of the studying we did, it comes down to that moment. It was the moment of, 'Is this going to work or not?' That was a great moment.''
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Josh Brolin - Josh Brolin Shares Special Chemistry With Will Smith
25-05-2012 19:02 Kain and Dae travel around the school for their 'EHS Tour'. Here, they play Love Your Friends, Die Laughing. Oh, and it was Super Meatball Locker Cleanout Dresses Friday [with some science, cookies, and ginger ale].
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26-05-2012 08:47 Video/Movie Clip recorded at the Cafe Central in Madrid, the Capital and largest city in Spain in May 2012. The clips starts with me taking a 11PM stroll around the lively streets and squares of central Madrid before walking to the Cafe Central for a Piano concert by Lluis Coloma {Spain} and Bob Seeley {USA}. On reaching the Cafe Central, I enter to see and hear Lluis "Machine Gun Fingers" Coloma in full flow playing one of his own pieces of music : "Going to Malaysia". For the 2nd piece, Bob Seeley joins Lluis in a slower ragtime/stride type of number called "Black and Blue". All in all, a great bit of 'Light and Shade' during the wonderful evenings concert?! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Travel Champion Website : ** Photos and perspectives from visits to over 100 Countries **
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In a world where a few taps on your smartphone can book a flight to Florida or a hotel in France, travel agent Elaine Osgood is used to hearing predictions of her industrys imminent demise.
But this is a woman with a large white globe next to her desk and a pair of red boxing gloves hanging from her office doorknob.
Her Milford-based travel management firm has not only weathered the rise of the Internet, its gross revenues grew $60 million in the past two years.
She has owned the agency for the past 26 years, first as a Uniglobe franchise and since 1997 as Atlas Travel International.
This is hardly the first time that Osgood has beaten the odds, boosted the bottom line and brought in acknowledgements such as being ranked No. 18 on this years national list of flourishing businesses owned by women.
The Women Presidents Organization, a nonprofit organization with 97 chapters internationally, and American Express Open, the small business division of American Express, also named her business to their Top 50 lists in 2010 and 2011.
When she was a franchise owner, we grew to be the largest Uniglobe in the United States.
What shes most proud of, however, is her companys stellar reputation. I safeguard that, she said.
Another source of pride is not having a single layoff in her 26 years as an employer.
Not even after 9/11, when the world of leisure travel came to a grinding halt.
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The Saunders Hotel Group, a third-generation family business, has just been recognized for its worldwide leadership in sustainable tourism by the World Travel and Tourism Council. The hotel group was awarded the Community Benefit Award at this years Tourism for Tomorrow Awards during the opening ceremony of the WTTC Global Summit in Tokyo, Japan.
Gary Saunders, chairman of the Saunders Hotel Group, is from Brookline.
The awards are one of the highest, most prestigious prizes in the travel & tourism industry, and recognize companies and organizations around the world which demonstrate outstanding sustainable tourism achievements.
The Saunders Hotel Group provides scholarships based on financial need to students attending the hotel and restaurant management school at Newbury College. Leaders of the group also serve or have served on a number of boards and committees, including the Back Bay Association, Friends of Copley Square, Boston Green Tourism, and the Governors Council for Travel and Tourism.
For more information, contact Tedd Saunders at TSaunders@EcoLogical-Solutions.net.
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Saunders Hotel Group receives 'Community Benefit Award' from international travel summit
Burr, the drummer with Maiden from 1979 until 1982, has been in a wheelchair as a result of multiple sclerosis, which has been attacking his nervous system since before he was diagnosed in 2002.
MS reduces the ability of the brain and spinal cord to communicate with each other, resulting in a wide range of potentially severe symptoms. The cause is unknown and there is no cure; but in 2009 researchers made the first breakthrough in reversing symptoms through stem cell therapy.
Di'Anno tells Talking Metal Pirate Radio Burr's condition is "not very good at all." - He had a lot to say, read it here.
Classic Rock Magazine is an official news provider for antiMusic.com. Copyright Classic Rock Magazine- Excerpted here with permission.
antiMUSIC News featured on RockNews.info and Yahoo News
...end
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Di'Anno Wants Former Iron Maiden Bandmate To Undergo Stem Cell Therapy Recap