Monthly Archives: June 2012

More Than 2.1 Million Home Health Care Visits Made to Mississauga Halton Residents in 2011-2012

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MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire -06/07/12)- The Mississauga Halton Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) last night unveiled its 2011-2012 Annual Report to the Community, entitled "Health Care At Home," revealing the organization's achievements of the last fiscal year, including: an increase in the number of clients served; an increase in the number of visits received by clients; helping more frail, elderly clients to remain safely at home and out of long-term care facilities; and maintaining an Alternate Level of Care (ALC) rate of just 6.5 percent. Only seven out of 100 hospital beds are being used by patients who could be better served in the community; so patients who need to be in hospital for surgical or medical treatments can be admitted faster.

"Our Health Care At Home report confirms that the demand and need for home care in our region are increasing as the seniors' population grows," says Caroline Brereton, chief executive officer of the Mississauga Halton CCAC. "More than one-in-two of our clients are aged 75 years or older, many with multiple chronic and complex health conditions requiring very intense levels of personalized care. We are providing these older adults with a level of care in their own homes that, until recently, was only available in hospital."

More Clients, More Care, More Value

The Mississauga Halton CCAC's Stay at Home program provides home care to citizens in need of support to remain at home instead of entering institutionalized care. In 2011-2012, 98.2 per cent of clients in the Stay at Home program remained safely at home and out of long-term care facilities.

The organization's palliative and end-of-life programs experienced double-digit growth of 10 per cent in 2011-2012. More than 1,600 citizens received highly specialized, compassionate care as they fulfilled their wish to die with dignity, in their own homes.

The number of clients receiving Short Stay services - including anyone recovering from joint replacement surgery, requiring wound care, or requiring intravenous therapy - increased by 15 per cent. Nearly 30,000 clients were able to move from hospital to home three days earlier, on average, saving approximately $1.3-million in hospital days.

Last year also saw continued strong collaboration between the Mississauga Halton CCAC and its regional hospital partners to move more patients from hospital to home - safely. The Mississauga Halton CCAC achieved an ALC rate of just 6.5 per cent, meaning that only seven out of 100 hospital beds were occupied by patients who could receive more appropriate care in the community. The year-end result is also well below the Mississauga Halton Local Health Integration Network's target of eight per cent.

Also in 2011-2012, the Mississauga Halton CCAC's Health Care Connect program helped 1,702 people find a family doctor. Currently, there are just 770 citizens who have requested and are waiting to be matched with a family doctor, one of the lowest rates of residents without a primary care physician in Ontario.

Virtual Tours of Long-Term Care Facilities

Last evening the Mississauga Halton CCAC announced it will now make the wait list numbers available to the public for each of the region's 27 long-term care facilities. A new online resource features virtual tours of each long-term care facility, the number of clients waiting for each facility and answers to frequently asked questions about the application process. Prior to its official launch, the virtual tour videos had already been collectively viewed more than 1,100 times.

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More Than 2.1 Million Home Health Care Visits Made to Mississauga Halton Residents in 2011-2012

Health care reform holds premiums in check

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insurance

Highlights

Why is your health insurance so expensive?

In some cases, it's because your insurer was simply allowed to increase premiums unchecked.

But not anymore. Under health care reform's "rate review" provision, all proposed rate increases of 10 percent or more must be gone over by independent experts. If the planned price hikes don't stand up to scrutiny, states can negotiate them down or, where authorized, deny them outright. The law also makes it easy for you to track how your health insurer's rate proposals have stood up to the test.

Since the crackdown on rising premiums began last September, Connecticut reduced a proposed Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield increase from 12.9 percent to 3.9 percent, New Mexico trimmed a Presbyterian Healthcare rate hike from 9.7 percent to 4.7 percent, and New York held three companies' average proposed increases of 12.7 percent to 8.2 percent.

Cutting down price hikes that are deemed unreasonable is just one facet of the federal rate review initiative. Under the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, health insurance companies in every state now must publicly justify any proposed rate increase at or above the 10 percent threshold, in postings on the federal Healthcare.gov rate review website. Think of it as a report card for your health insurance company.

You can log on to the site and search by state or health insurer to see if and why your premiums may be jumping at least 10 percent, and read the findings by state or federal examiners on whether a requested increase passed muster. To date, more than 185 rate increases affecting 1.3 million policyholders have been posted to the site.

Later this year, the "medical loss ratios" of health insurers also will be posted, giving you a closer look at whether your insurer is meeting the health care law's requirement that at least 80 percent of your premium be spent directly on medical care. If that's not the case, the insurance company will now owe you a rebate for the difference.

"The whole point of the Affordable Care Act is to create this very open, transparent marketplace so that consumer choice can guide toward better outcomes," says Brian Chiglinsky, spokesman for the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. "We're trying to prompt consumers to say, 'Should I be buying this policy?'"

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Health care reform holds premiums in check

2012 Likely to Be Fourth Consecutive Year of Historically Low Growth in Health Spending

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ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

New data on health spending suggests the nation is in a fourth consecutive year of historically low growth, continuing a trend of roughly 4 percent growth since 2009. Health care spending grew by just 3.9 percent in April 2012 relative to April 2011, down slightly from the 4.0 percent growth rate observed in March 2012. Health care prices in April 2012 were 1.9 percent higher than in April 2011, but this increase has brought price growth barely above its February 2012 14-year low of 1.8 percent.

These data come from the June Health Sector Economic Indicators briefs released by Altarum Institutes Center for Sustainable Health Spending. The briefscovering health care spending, utilization, prices and employmentare at http://www.altarum.org/healthindicators.

In contrast to slow price and spending growth, health care employment rose by 33,000 jobs in May 2012, well above the 24-month average of 25,000. The health care share of total employment reached an all-time high of 10.8 percentroughly 1 in 9 U.S. jobs are now in the health sector.

Our analysis suggests there may be a true downward trend to health spending in this country, said Dr. Charles Roehrig, director of the Altarum Center for Sustainable Health Spending. But its not time to celebrate. We dont know the cause of this decline, and health job growth is at odds with the low spending. Somethings got to giveeither spending grows, job growth slows or wages in the health industry decline.

The health spending share of GDP, at 18.0 percent in March 2012, is down from the all-time high of 18.2 percent in June 2011. In addition, per capita health care utilization growth was 0.8 percent in April, year-over-year, continuing a downward trend observed since January 2011.

There will be a media conference call to discuss this months data on Thursday, June 7, 2012 from 1:30 - 2:00 p.m. (EDT). Interested media should join the call by dialing 877-820-7831, participant code 238-188#.

Altarum Institute (www.altarum.org) integrates objective research and client-centered consulting skills to deliver comprehensive, systems-based solutions that improve health and health care.

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2012 Likely to Be Fourth Consecutive Year of Historically Low Growth in Health Spending

Kaiser Permanente And National Medical Fellowships Help Curb The African-American And Latino Physician Shortage

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OAKLAND, Calif., June 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- As more patients from underserved populations start to enter the health care system through health care reform, there will be an increasing need to have more African-American and Latino physicians to help provide quality health care. Kaiser Permanente is working to address the shortage of physicians by expanding its relationship with National Medical Fellowships and contributing $1 million to support medical students through education and training programs.

"Kaiser Permanente understands the importance of having a health care workforce that will reflect the diversity of our ever-evolving population," said Yvette Radford, a member of the NMF board and Vice President for External and Community Affairs, Kaiser Permanente Northern California. "We recognize that there are insufficient numbers of African-American and Latino medical students, and our support for NMF is one way to help address this important issue."

According to U.S. Census data and the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile, African-Americans represent 14 percent of the U.S. population and only four percent of physicians. Meanwhile, Latinos represent 16 percent of the population and five percent of physicians.

Understanding and addressing health disparities is crucial to improving community health. Greater access to providers is the first place to start. When given the opportunity, minority patients often select a physician or health care professional of their own racial-ethnic and cultural background because there is a high level of confidence that the physician will understand the patient's unique health care needs. This will have a positive impact on health outcomes and provide equitable care to our communities.

"Every time a member walks through the door, we want them to feel that they are being heard and cared for by someone who understands. Whether they see a Latina surgeon, an African-American cardiologist who is fluent in Spanish, or their trusted family physician we provide them culturally responsive care, the highest quality of care in the language the member prefers and with respect for their culture at every point of contact," said Frank Meza, MD, MPH, Family Medicine and Physician Ambassador, Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center and 2007 Recipient of the NMF Distinguished Alumni Award.

Kaiser Permanente has a long-standing relationship with NMF and serves on the organization's board of directors. Most importantly, scores of Kaiser Permanente physicians in regions across the country are alumnae of NMF programs. In the coming years, the aim is to tap alumnae physicians to help build the future generation of minority physicians.

About National Medical Fellowships Founded in 1946 to address the racial barrier that prevented African Americans from attending medical school training programs in the best hospitals, National Medical Fellowships is dedicated to improving the health of underserved communities by increasing the representation of minority physicians and health care professionals in the United States; by training minority medical students to address the special needs of their communities; and by educating the public and policymakers about public health problems and needs of underserved populations.

About Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 9 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: http://www.kp.org/newscenter.

Contacts Marc Brown, 510-987-4672 marc.t.brown@kp.org Socorro Serrano, 626-405-3004 socorro.l.serrano@kp.org

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Kaiser Permanente And National Medical Fellowships Help Curb The African-American And Latino Physician Shortage

Big health care cuts 'coming'

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Big health care cuts 'coming'

Why Health Care Job Losses May Not Be A Bad Thing

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BOSTON One bright spot in the generally gloomy economy is the health care sector. Its a growth industry, and its jobs often pay well. So one of the criticisms of the push to reduce health care spending is that cutting costs will kill jobs. But a new article in the New England Journal of Medicine says our growing health care workforce may not be something to celebrate. WBURs All Things Considered host Sacha Pfeiffer spoke with one of the studys co-authors, Kate Baicker, a professor of health economics at the Harvard School of Public Health, and asked her how more health care jobs could be a bad thing.

Kate Baicker: One of the arguments for continuing to spend more and more on the health care sector is that its the only area where were seeing job growth. But that comes at a cost. It comes at the cost of health care being less affordable for everybody. It means your premiums are higher. It means your wages after premiums are lower. It means your taxes are higher. If we can get health care spending more efficient, that might result in fewer jobs but those jobs would go to other sectors that were producing other important things education, shelter, food.

Sacha Pfeiffer: So is the idea that some job losses in the health care sector might free up the money previously spent on those salaries for money spent on other worthwhile things, including worthwhile things that would be good for our health?

Yes. If health care reform resulted in fewer health jobs but more health, that would be a good thing for the economy. Now, I dont want to pretend that there are no losers in a scenario in which health care spending goes down and that means there are fewer health care jobs. There are workers who will lose their jobs and they very much need help in transitioning to other, more productive sectors of the economy.

Now, of course, we are already losing jobs because health care costs are too high. You know, employers say theyre cutting back or theyre not filling positions or maybe theyre simply not giving raises. So is there any way to tell which scenario results in more job losses? Do we lose more jobs by spending too much money on health care or by spending less money on health care?

Its hard to know how health care reforms are going to affect the net number of jobs in the health care sector. I think research suggests that if we could spend our health care dollars more efficiently, we might have a very different mix of the health care workforce. Maybe wed have more generalists and fewer specialists. Maybe wed have more nurse practitioners and fewer hospital administrators. The endpoint isnt nearly as important as ensuring that were getting the most health that we can for all of our health care dollars.

You know, in Massachusetts, health care is a big part of the economy, and that makes this a political question as well as an economic one. How do you navigate the politics of this?

I try not to! Thats why Im an economist.

But then how would you, for example, advise a politician to try to persuade hospitals that these health care reforms and this cost cutting might cause you to lose jobs, but thats okay?

Saying that we want to devote our health care resources to propping up jobs in a sector that isnt producing as much health as it could is a really inefficient way to promote job growth, and a really inefficient way to provide health care.

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Why Health Care Job Losses May Not Be A Bad Thing

Researchers assemble genetic map of an unborn child

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SEATTLE -- Researchers at the University of Washington have assembled the first comprehensive genetic map of an unborn child -- a development that could help usher in a new era of prenatal testing.

By analyzing fetal DNA circulating in the mother's blood, the scientists were able to sequence the baby's genome 18 weeks into the pregnancy. The technique also worked at eight weeks, with slightly lower sensitivity.

Because the approach requires only a blood sample from the mother and saliva from the father, it poses none of the miscarriage risk associated with invasive tests such as amniocentesis. And while most existing prenatal tests are designed to check for single disorders, including Down syndrome, a full-gene scan has the power to reveal a wide range of potential problems before birth, said lead author Jacob Kitzman, a doctoral student in genetics.

"It's much more comprehensive."

The procedure is still several years away from commercialization, project leader Jay Shendure said.

But the UW study, published in the June 6 issue of Science Translational Medicine, marks a significant step forward in technology that's been developing over the past several years -- and which worries some people, said Marcy Darnovsky of the Center for Genetics and Society in Berkeley, Calif.

"I think it's a game-changer," she said. Cheap, safe genome sequencing could give parents the power to practice a kind of eugenics, preselecting children based on desirable traits.

"It could become a routine part of prenatal testing ... which raises questions about what people will do with the information," Darnovsky said.

Shendure cautioned against expecting too much -- at least in the near future. Scientists may be able to sequence the 3 billion DNA units that make up each person's genetic heritage, but they still don't understand the genetic basis of most common diseases.

"The capacity of genomics to generate data is outstripping our ability to interpret it in useful ways," he said.

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Researchers assemble genetic map of an unborn child

Cellular Dynamics Launches MyCell™ Services

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MADISON, Wis., June 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Cellular Dynamics International, Inc. (CDI), the world's largest commercial producer of human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell lines and tissue cells, today announced the launch of its MyCell Services. These services include novel iPS cell line reprogramming, genetic engineering and differentiation of iPS cells into commercially available iCell terminal tissue cells (for example, heart or nerve cells).

"CDI's mission is to be the top developer and manufacturer of standardized human cells in high quantity, quality and purity and to make these cells widely available to the research community. Our MyCell Services provide researchers with unprecedented access to the full diversity of human cellular biology," said Bob Palay, CDI Chief Executive Officer. "The launch of MyCell Services furthers CDI founder and stem cell pioneer Jamie Thomson's vision to enable scientists worldwide to easily access the power of iPSC technology, thus driving breakthroughs in human health."

Over the past 2 years, CDI has launched iCell Cardiomyocytes, iCell Neurons and iCell Endothelial Cells for human biology and drug discovery research. MyCell Services leverage CDI's prior investment in building an industrial manufacturing platform that can handle the parallel production of multiple iPSC lines and tissue cells, manufacturing billions of cells daily.

Chris Parker, CDI Chief Commercial Officer, commented, "Not all studies requiring human cells can be accomplished by using cells from a limited set of normal, healthy donors. Researchers may need iPS cells or tissue cells derived from specific ethnic or disease populations, and MyCell Services enable them to take advantage of our deep stem cell expertise and robust industrial manufacturing pipeline to do so. Previously, scientists had to create and differentiate iPS cells themselves. Such activities consume significant laboratory time and resources, both of which could be better applied to conducting experiments that help us better understand human biology. CDI's MyCell Services enable scientists to re-direct those resources back to their experiments."

CDI pioneered the technique to create iPS cells from small amounts of peripheral blood, although iPS cells can be created from other tissue types as well. Additionally, CDI's episomal reprogramming method is "footprint-free," meaning no foreign DNA is integrated into the genome of the reprogrammed cells, alleviating safety concerns over the possible use of iPS cells in therapeutic settings. These techniques have been optimized for manufacture of over 2 billion human iPS cells a day, and differentiated cells at commercial scale with high quality and purity to match the research needs.

Modeling Genetic Diversity

CDI has several projects already underway using MyCell Services to model genetic diversity of human biology. The Medical College of Wisconsin and CDI received a $6.3M research grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), announced July 2011, for which CDI's MyCell Services will reprogram an unprecedented 250 iPS cell lines from blood samples collected from Caucasian and African-American families in the Hypertension Genetic Epidemiology Network (HyperGEN) study. In addition, MyCell Services will differentiate these iPS cells into heart cells to investigate the genetic mechanisms underlying Left Ventricular Hypertrophy, an increase of the size and weight of the heart that is a major risk factor for heart disease and heart failure.

Researchers are also using CDI's MyCell Services to generate iPS cells and liver cells from individuals with drug induced liver injury (DILI), toward an eventual goal of identifying genetic factors linked to idiosyncratic liver toxicity. "The most problematic adverse drug event is sudden and severe liver toxicity that may occur in less than one in one thousand patients treated with a new drug, and thus may not become evident until the drug is marketed. This type of liver toxicity is not predicted well by usual preclinical testing, including screening in liver cultures derived from random human donors," said Paul B. Watkins, M.D., director of with The Hamner - University of North Carolina Institute for Drug Safety Sciences. "The ability to use iPS cell technology to prepare liver cultures from patients who have actually experienced drug-induced liver injury, and for whom we have extensive genetic information, represents a potential revolution in understanding and predicting this liability."

Screening Human Disease

While most diseases are multi-systemic, focus typically centers on only one organ system. For example, congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD) is a group of rare genetic diseases with a focus on skeletal muscle, yet other systems, including heart, eye, brain, diaphragm and skin, can be involved. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying complex disease phenotypes requires access to multiple tissue types from a single patient. While some systems are readily accessible for taking a biopsy sample, for example skin, other organs are not.

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Cellular Dynamics Launches MyCell™ Services

Ray Bradbury, hero of the SF universe, dies at age of 91

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Giant of science fiction writing fueled renewed interest in futurist literature with Fahrenheit 451 among scores of other works Share your favorite Bradbury quotes here Despite the exhortations of Mr Electrico, a carnival sideshow act with an electrified sword who demanded that a 12-year-old Ray Bradbury "live forever!", one of the most well-loved and highly-regarded modern writers of the ...

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Ray Bradbury, hero of the SF universe, dies at age of 91

Beyond the Black Rainbow review: A confusing film trip

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Mongrel Media

Poor Elena (Eva Allan), cornered in the retro-futuristic landscapes of Arboria.

Jun 07, 2012

Beyond the Black Rainbow

(out of 4)

Starring Eva Allan, Michael Rogers and Scott Hylands. Directed by Panos Cosmatos. 110 minutes. Opens June 8 at AMC Yonge & Dundas. 14A

More experience than entertainment, Beyond the Black Rainbow is a puzzle wrapped in a send-up of 1980s futuristic film and TV shows. Or maybe its an homage. Or not.

Clearly influenced by elements of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Vancouver director Panos Cosmatoss 1983-set debut feature is almost free of plot, giving him ample time to do whatever he wants.

After a shadowy TV ad for his self-named clinic, a place designed to expand mind and spirit, we dont see much more of Dr. Arboria (Scott Hylands). Instead its his creepy second in command, Barry (Michael Rogers), an intense clinician in an obvious wig, who takes centre stage in the cold and empty spaces of Arboria.

His sole job seems to be tormenting a young mute woman named Elena (Eva Allan), clearly being kept at Arboria against her will. Clad in a nightgown, eyes downcast, she endures Barrys questions and stares, although she has some sort of special powers that she uses judiciously when crossed. And then theres that pesky glowing diamond device in another lab. Does that control Elena? Or is it an alien nightlight? And why is Barry so mean to his wife?

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Beyond the Black Rainbow review: A confusing film trip

How Futurism Can Help Make Tech Clean

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Technology has revolutionized the urban and suburban landscape across the United States. As more people embrace a green lifestyle, city planners are looking for ways to incorporate energy-efficient lifestyles and transportation methods. In many cases, cheap travel is possible through the use of public transportation services. Reaching a new destination can be as simple as comparing credit cards. The following guide explores how futurism can help make tech clean.

Many large centers like Atlanta have very poor public transportation services. While Atlanta has an excellent interstate and highway system, it can be very difficult to travel by bus and metro service in the city. There are only two subway lines for the entire city. However, there are many large cities like New York and Paris that have excellent underground public transportation.

Several futurists have looked for effective ways to combine both of these ideas into one. While a subway system can be a convenient choice for many drivers, it can be difficult to manage subway schedules. In many cases, a subway system will experience periods of disuse and high use. While it's possible to reduce the number of subway trains during low usage hours, it can be difficult to ratchet up service levels on demand.

In addition, traditional subway systems are much slower than traditional vehicles. A 15 minute drive can take up to 90 minutes when using public transportation services. In addition, many people don't enjoy riding in a large vehicle with strangers, or having to worry about being crowded by those strangers when coming home with groceries or other goods.

One of the most exciting new transportation technologies may revolutionize public transport in many US cities. Through the use of personal transportation systems (PTS), it will be possible to reduce transportation times, promote a green environment and reduce transportation costs.

Article continues at ENN affiliate, Clean Techies

Futuristic Transportation image via Shutterstock

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How Futurism Can Help Make Tech Clean

Lights off, cameras down, guards gone: Freedom returns to village of Chinese blind activist

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BEIJING, China - Suddenly the guard posts came down and the hired toughs who manned them melted away, restoring an air of freedom this week to a village that authorities turned into a prison to keep blind activist Chen Guangcheng under house arrest for nearly two years.

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Lights off, cameras down, guards gone: Freedom returns to village of Chinese blind activist

F.X. Matt Brewery installs 30,000 pound stainless steel digester tank

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A 30,000 pound stainless steel digester tank was lifted in the air and installed as part of the F.X. Matt Brewery's new anaerobic digester system Wednesday morning. The eco-friendly system will break down waste materials into methane and will be used to generate electricity and heat for the facility. The facility should be completed by the fall, officials said. "This is a very exciting project," said Nick Matt, Chairman and CEO of the F.X. Matt Brewery. The company will use the technology to clean the brewery's wastewater by about 80 to 90 percent. Electricity generated from the process will account for about 30 to 40 percent of the company's usage. Local officials like Mayor Robert Palmieri and Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente attended the event. "The Matts have been absolutely legendary in the City of Utica for decades," Palmieri said. "They're investing and they're loyal and passionate about this community."

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F.X. Matt Brewery installs 30,000 pound stainless steel digester tank

Eco-click and scroll with Bondidea's solar optical mouse

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The N91 solar optical mouse from Bondidea features a built-in lithium battery charged by a PV panel on top of the peripheral, and an AAA-sized alkaline battery as backup

Although we featured the world's first exclusively solar-powered computer mouse as long ago as 2007, I think it's fair to say that such solutions haven't exactly taken off. One reason could be a fear of being left unable to click and scroll if there's not enough light to juice up the I/O peripheral. Bondidea's N91 wireless optical mouse gets round any potential power fail anxiety by running from either battery or the built-in PV panel.

On the face of it, putting a photovoltaic panel on top of a computer mouse might seem like a bit of a strange idea, given that your hand will probably block out all light when in use. For much of the time, though, a mouse will likely just be sitting idly next to a keyboard or laptop, waiting for someone to handle it. So, it might as well soak up some power-giving light while it's there.

The N91 from Bondidea sports just such a top-mounted panel, which juices up a built-in rechargeable battery. There's also a battery compartment for an AAA-sized alkaline battery underneath and, although the mouse can run on solar power only, it is recommended that users install the second battery to ensure continuous operation. The battery compartment can also house a gold-plated USB nano receiver while on the move, with the peripheral using 2.4GHz anti-interference wireless technology.

In addition to left and right click buttons and scroll wheel, the N91 also has a DPI button on top. This alternates the AVAGO high speed laser optics between 1000 DPI for standard use and 1600 DPI for precision positioning.

The N91 has recently been added to Brando's online catalog (link below). At US$36, it's not the cheapest mouse on the market but it's not going to break the bank either, and it will certainly complement your solar keyboard and, ahem, green computer system.

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Eco-click and scroll with Bondidea's solar optical mouse

Eco-Friendly Vehicles Draining State Road Repair Budgets

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FILE - In this Sept. 15, 2009 file photo, a Toyota Motor Corp.'s plug-in hybrid Prius concept vehicle is displayed at the Toyota Tokyo design center in Tokyo, Japan. Toyota Motor Corp.

A Toyota Prius may save drivers serious cash when it comes to fill-ups at the gas station, but those same fuel-efficient cars are gutting state transportation budgets and leaving infrastructure and maintenance projects hanging in the balance.

Now several states, which heavily rely on gas taxes to fund transportation infrastructure projects, are looking for other ways to fund road repair projects, and it could mean the government is about to get a little nosier about your driving habits.

Some policymakers are toying around with the idea of taxing drivers based on the number of miles they travel as opposed to how much gas they usea vehicle miles traveled or "VMT" tax. How the state will collect this information is still up in the air, with Oregon's Department of Transportation currently trying to come up with a solution.

"The public didn't particularly like that we used a GPS receiver to count miles," says Jim Whitty, manager of the Office of Innovative Partnerships and Alternative Funding at the Oregon Department of Transportation.

[Read: House Hunters Flocking to Foreclosures For Value.]

A new incarnation of the pilot program set to launch this fall eliminates any "government box" installed on vehicles, Whitty says. The program will instead rely on information culled from in-car navigation systems and other driver assistance systems, such as OnStar and SYNC. The state is also experimenting with some lower-tech options, such as allowing motorists to report data through their mobile phones or having drivers prepay for the miles they drive.

"The gas tax is dying a slow death with these highly fuel efficient vehicles coming into the marketplace that don't pay any gas tax or hardly any gas tax, [the flat gas tax] just will not survive," Whitty says. "That's being recognized by almost everybody."

According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, states have seen revenue from gas taxes plummet a combined $10 billion a year thanks to a combination of factors, including the increased fuel efficiency of today's vehicles.

[Read: Democrats Brace for A Month Of Bad News.]

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Eco-Friendly Vehicles Draining State Road Repair Budgets

Toronto Beaches Earn Blue Flags

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By Omid Ghoreishi Epoch Times Staff Created: June 6, 2012 Last Updated: June 6, 2012

Eight beaches in Toronto are flying blue flags this summer, signifying that they meet high environmental standards.

The Blue Flag program, an international eco-label managed by the Denmark-based Foundation of Environmental Education, recognizes beaches that meet strict standards for water quality, environmental management, environmental education, and safety and services.

Torontos Blue Flag beaches this summer include: Bluffers Park Beach, Centre Island Beach, Cherry Beach, Gibraltar Point Beach, Hanlans Point Beach, Kew-Balmy Beach, Wards Island Beach, and Woodbine Beach.

There are nine other beaches and marinas in Ontario that earned Blue Flags for this summer. And for the first time, beaches and marinas outside of Ontario also became certified for Blue Flags, including the West Grand Beach on Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba, Plage de lEst, Plage de lOuest and Plage des Cantons on Lake Memphremagog in Quebec, and Halifax Waterfront in Nova Scotia.

There are currently 3,098 Blue Flag beaches and 646 marinas in 46 countries around the world. Toronto was the first city in North America to apply for Blue Flags, and the program has been in Canada since 2005.

Several beaches in Canada are also participating as candidates to qualify for a Blue Flag in future years, including Canatara Park Beach in Sarnia and other beaches in Nova Scotia and B.C.

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Toronto Beaches Earn Blue Flags

Interloper of the Venus Transit | Bad Astronomy

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I figured I was done posting Venus Transit pictures, but I shouldve realized I hadnt heard from Thierry Legault yet. And as soon as I saw his name in my email Inbox this morning, and before I even opened it, I knew Id have at least one more picture to show you.

And I was right. Thierry is a master astrophotographer, and hes not one to just let an astronomical event go by without figuring out some way to make it even cooler. He traveled to northeast Australia to view the Venus transit not just because it had a good view, but also because from there, he could see the Hubble Space Telescope transiting the Sun at the same time! On June 6th, at 01:42:25 UTC, he got this amazing shot:

Holy wow! [Click to doubletransitenate.]

You can see Venus as the big black circle, as well as dozens of sunspots. But you can also see multiple images of Hubble as it zipped across the Sun, circled in the image above. Orbiting the Earth, Hubble moves across the sky so quickly that it crossed the Sun in just under a second. Blasting his DSLR away at ten frames per second (and with an exposure time of only 1/8000th of a second per frame) Thierry managed to get 8 shots of Hubble silhouetted against the Sun.

Heres a bit of a close-up:

I added the arrows to help you see Hubble. The orbiting telescope was about 750 kilometers (450 miles) away from Thierry when he took these pictures (it was not directly overhead), so details on Hubble are too small to capture, but it can be seen as a black dot.

Theirrys done this before, too: in January 2011, he got an astonishing picture of the space station crossing the Sun during a partial solar eclipse! His ability to time these events and get pictures like these is nothing short of amazing.

He also says he got more pictures, too, including some of Venus just as it was entering the Suns face. Hopefully hell have those available soon! In the meantime, click the links below under Related Posts to see more of his ridiculously cool photos.

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Interloper of the Venus Transit | Bad Astronomy

U.S. space agency pulls plug on astronomy probe

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - NASA canceled an X-ray astronomy mission designed to shed light on black holes, saying the project would have exceeded its budget by about 25 percent, officials said on Thursday. The Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small explorer, or GEMS, telescope won a NASA competition for a moderately priced space science mission in 2009 and had been scheduled for launch in ...

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U.S. space agency pulls plug on astronomy probe