Monthly Archives: October 2012

Rebels players, Red Deer mayor make appearances in WHL Gangnam Style parody

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Last week, our NHL counterparts at Yahoo stumbled across the Columbus Blue Jackets' mascot dancing to Gangnam Style, the latest fad song to hit the FM airwaves thanks to a funny music video. But Stinger is just bouncing around. The boys at the Kraze 101.3 Morning Krew in Red Deer had a better idea.

Enter, Red Deer Rebels Style, presented by Diesel and Rae:

Anybody who has tired of the original video since it debuted about a month ago can take solace in the fact that the production team behind this video appear to get that simply using the singular dance move in different locations can be tired. There's a lot more "parody" that goes into this one rather than just getting a few people in Red Deer jerseys dancing around in front of the arena.

Sample lyrics:

Hit the ice all Rebel boys and Jesse WallinYeah they're slinging pucks and bucksBecause you know our team is ballin'The other guys got their heads downYou best watch out for DumbaGoals, hits, lay the lumba'

The ABACDD rhyming scheme isn't a poetic convention that I learned in any literature classes, and there are some creative liberties rhyming Wild first rounder Mathew Dumba's name with "lumber", but that's all part of the parody. Also not sure about Rebels' coach Jesse Wallin's name rhyming with "ballin". A few creative liberties.

That next scene in the elevator? That would presumably be taking place at Red Deer's City Hall (I imagine one of the few buildings in Red Deer that has an elevator) since that is Red Deer mayor Morris Flewwelling asking the performers if they're "here for the budget."

Despite the political cameo and the Rebels players dancing in supporting roles, the one thing that keeps this from ranking up there with the Spokane Chiefs' Call Me Maybe or the Barrie Colts' Cha Cha Slide is that this isn't so much a performance by hockey players as it is an honest-to-goodness parody. FM stations like to pump out alternative lyrics of popular songs to back the local team, and that's what this is.

It's pretty enjoyable, all things considered.

Red Deer play at home to Medicine Hat tonight and currently sit 3rd place in the WHL's Central Division with a 4-5-0-1 record.

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Rebels players, Red Deer mayor make appearances in WHL Gangnam Style parody

Vettel heads Red Bull 1-2 in second session

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Vettel heads Red Bull 1-2 in second session

12/10/2012

Ahead of today's second session, the air temperature is 21 degrees C, while the track temperature is 29 degrees.

Lewis Hamilton led the way this morning, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber, in a session which saw plenty of lock-ups and offs as the drivers struggled with the green and excessively dusty track surface.

A number of teams are running updates here, most notably Lotus and Williams, both of whom are trying new exhausts.

The tyres on off this weekend are soft and supersoft, however, the softer option has yet to make an appearance today.

Having handed over their cars to the reserve drivers this morning, this afternoon Nico Hulkenberg, Bruno Senna, Vitaly Petrov and Narain Karthikeyan get their first taste of Yeongam 2012.

Showing all the eagerness the team displayed this morning, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton is first out for this session, followed by Raikkonen and Glock. The German was sidelined for much of this morning's session as his team changed his steering rack.

Within moments of the green light there are eighteen drivers on track.

Drivers are told not to slow in the final corner if entering the pitlane - the warning coming straight from Charlie Whiting.

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Vettel heads Red Bull 1-2 in second session

Epiomed and NASA Sign Space Act Agreement

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IRVINE, Calif. , Oct. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Epiomed Therapeutics, Inc. ("Epiomed") announced today that it has entered into a Reimbursable Space Act Agreement (SAA) with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas for the development, distribution, manufacture and market release of INSCOP, an intra-nasal scopolamine product. A gel formulation of INSCOP has previously been developed and tested under a SAA between NASA-Johnson Space Center and the Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory, Pensacola, FL (NAMRL). Results from the NAMRL / NASA trial have been published in the journal Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, and suggest that INSCOP is a fast-acting, reliable, operationally suitable, countermeasure for prophylaxis and treatment of motion sickness with a great potential for rescue treatment. In 2010, NAMRL disestablished and became part of the Naval Medical Research Unit Dayton, OH (NAMRU-D). NAMRU-D is currently working a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with Epiomed to test an aqueous formulation of INSCOP (INSCOP Spray). The aim of INSCOP Spray development is to offer a fast acting formulation with no notable side-effects experienced with currently marketed formulations of the drug. Epiomed will take responsibility for further development and commercialization of INSCOP, assisted by NASA-HH&P (Human Health & Performance Directorate) technology, and assume sponsorship of the IND (Investigational New Drug) from NASA under the SAA. David R. Helton, President and CEO of Epiomed, said "NASA and NAMRL did ground breaking work with INSCOP gel. Now Epiomed is dedicated to complete the required clinical evaluations in collaboration with NASA and NAMRU-D to facilitate market release of INSCOP Spray."

About Epiomed Therapeutics

Epiomed Therapeutics, Inc. is a privately-held pharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, and development of novel central nervous system (CNS) drugs, with a primary focus on anti-emetics (anti-vomiting and anti-nausea), anxiolytics and performance sustainment.

About Human Health & Performance Directorate (HH&P) Houston

HH&P is dedicated to optimize human health and productivity for space exploration by conducting research and developing path changing technologies to assure mission success, optimize human health and productivity in space and on Earth (http://www.nasa.gov/offices/NHHPC/index.html).

For further information, call 1-949-398-7359, or visit http://www.epiomed.com.

Safe Harbor: This press release contains certain forward-looking information about Epiomed Therapeutics, Inc., which is intended to be covered by the safe harbor for "forward-looking statements" provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Contact: David R. Helton President, CEO and CSO Epiomed Therapeutics, Inc. 949-398-7359

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Epiomed and NASA Sign Space Act Agreement

NASA develops exoskeleton for astronauts, paraplegics

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NASA has developed a robotic exoskeleton designed to help astronauts walk on other planets and paraplegics walk on Earth.

Called the X1, the suit will be used to help astronauts maintain muscle strength in low-gravity by supplying resistance against leg movement.

For people with disabilities, it could potentially be used in reverse, possibly helping people to walk for the very first time, NASA says.

"Without taking up valuable space or weight during missions, X1 could replicate common crew exercises, which are vital to keeping astronauts healthy in microgravity. In addition, the device has the ability to measure, record and stream back, in real-time, data to flight controllers on Earth, giving doctors better feedback on the impact of the crew's exercise regimen," NASA said in a press release.

The X1, which NASA compares to Iron Man's power suit, is an offshoot of technology developed for the Robonaut 2, a robot astronaut aboard the International Space Station.

"Robotics is playing a key role aboard the International Space Station and will continue to be critical as we move toward human exploration of deep space," said Michael Gazarik, director of NASA's space technology program.

"What's extraordinary about space technology and our work with projects like Robonaut are the unexpected possibilities space tech spinoffs may have right here on Earth. It's exciting to see a NASA-developed technology that might one day help people with serious ambulatory needs begin to walk again, or even walk for the first time. That's the sort of return on investment NASA is proud to give back to America and the world."

The Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, which developed the suit alongside NASA, will try to apply the technology on Earth.

"We greatly value our collaboration with NASA," director and CEO Ken Ford said. "The X1's high-performance capabilities will enable IHMC to continue performing cutting-edge research in mobility assistance while expanding into the field of rehabilitation."

The device, which is still in the research and development phase, was created with the help of engineers from Oceaneering Space Systems of Houston, Texas.

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NASA develops exoskeleton for astronauts, paraplegics

NASA, SpaceX join to investigate launch glitch

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WASHINGTON A team of experts from NASA and SpaceX will examine what went wrong Sunday when one of nine engines aboard a SpaceX rocket failed during a NASA mission to the International Space Station.

The joint investigative team, announced today by NASA and SpaceX, is expected to piece together data from the Falcon 9 launch, specifically the failure of its Engine 1 about 79 seconds after take-off.

Though the rocket survived the malfunction and ultimately was successful in completing its primary mission getting a capsule filled with NASA supplies to the station it failed in its secondary mission, the delivery of an Orbcomm satellite to orbit.

Heres the full release from SpaceX:

NASA and SpaceX announce that they have jointly formed a CRS-1 Post-Flight Investigation Board. This board will methodically analyze all data in an effort to understand what occurred to engine 1 during liftoff of the CRS-1 mission on Sunday, October 7. While Falcon 9 was designed for engine out capability and the Dragon spacecraft has successfully arrived at the space station, SpaceX is committed to a comprehensive examination and analysis of all launch data, with the goal of understanding what happened and how to correct it prior to future flights. Additional information will be provided as it is available.

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NASA, SpaceX join to investigate launch glitch

NASA's Ironman-like exoskeleton could give astronauts, paraplegics improved mobility and strength

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ScienceDaily (Oct. 12, 2012) Marvel Comic's fictional superhero, Ironman, uses a powered armor suit that allows him superhuman strength. While NASA's X1 robotic exoskeleton can't do what you see in the movies, the latest robotic, space technology, spinoff derived from NASA's Robonaut 2 project may someday help astronauts stay healthier in space with the added benefit of assisting paraplegics in walking here on Earth.

NASA and The Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) of Pensacola, Fla., with the help of engineers from Oceaneering Space Systems of Houston, have jointly developed a robotic exoskeleton called X1. The 57-pound device is a robot that a human could wear over his or her body either to assist or inhibit movement in leg joints.

In the inhibit mode, the robotic device would be used as an in-space exercise machine to supply resistance against leg movement. The same technology could be used in reverse on the ground, potentially helping some individuals walk for the first time.

"Robotics is playing a key role aboard the International Space Station and will continue to be critical as we move toward human exploration of deep space," said Michael Gazarik, director of NASA's Space Technology Program. "What's extraordinary about space technology and our work with projects like Robonaut are the unexpected possibilities space tech spinoffs may have right here on Earth. It's exciting to see a NASA-developed technology that might one day help people with serious ambulatory needs begin to walk again, or even walk for the first time. That's the sort of return on investment NASA is proud to give back to America and the world."

Worn over the legs with a harness that reaches up the back and around the shoulders, X1 has 10 degrees of freedom, or joints -- four motorized joints at the hips and the knees, and six passive joints that allow for sidestepping, turning and pointing, and flexing a foot. There also are multiple adjustment points, allowing the X1 to be used in many different ways.

X1 currently is in a research and development phase, where the primary focus is design, evaluation and improvement of the technology. NASA is examining the potential for the X1 as an exercise device to improve crew health both aboard the space station and during future long-duration missions to an asteroid or Mars. Without taking up valuable space or weight during missions, X1 could replicate common crew exercises, which are vital to keeping astronauts healthy in microgravity. In addition, the device has the ability to measure, record and stream back, in real-time, data to flight controllers on Earth, giving doctors better feedback on the impact of the crew's exercise regimen.

As the technology matures, X1 also could provide a robotic power boost to astronauts as they work on the surface of distant planetary bodies. Coupled with a spacesuit, X1 could provide additional force when needed during surface exploration, improving the ability to walk in a reduced gravity environment, providing even more bang for its small bulk.

Here on Earth, IHMC is interested in developing and using X1 as an assistive walking device. By combining NASA technology and walking algorithms developed at IHMC, X1 has the potential to produce high torques to allow for assisted walking over varied terrain, as well as stair climbing. Preliminary studies using X1 for this purpose have already started at IHMC.

"We greatly value our collaboration with NASA," said Ken Ford, IHMC's director and CEO. "The X1's high-performance capabilities will enable IHMC to continue performing cutting-edge research in mobility assistance while expanding into the field of rehabilitation."

The potential of X1 extends to other applications, including rehabilitation, gait modification and offloading large amounts of weight from the wearer. Preliminary studies by IHMC have shown X1 to be more comfortable, easier to adjust, and easier to put on than previous exoskeleton devices. Researchers plan on improving on the X1 design, adding more active joints to areas such as the ankle and hip, which will, in turn, increase the potential uses for the device.

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NASA's Ironman-like exoskeleton could give astronauts, paraplegics improved mobility and strength

NASA's Operation Icebridge Resumes Flights Over Antarctica

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Volcano peak near Valdivia, Chile, as seen from the IceBridge DC-8. Credit: NASA / Jim Yungel.

Scientists and flight crew members with Operation IceBridge, NASA's airborne mission to study Earth's changing polar ice, are beginning another campaign over Antarctica. Now in its fourth year, IceBridge's return to the Antarctic comes almost a year after the discovery of a large rift in the continent's Pine Island Glacier.

The first science flight of the campaign began Friday at 8 a.m. EDT when NASA's DC-8 research aircraft left Punta Arenas, Chile, for an 11-hour flight that will take it over the Thwaites Glacier in west Antarctica. This year, IceBridge will survey previously unmeasured areas of land and sea ice and gather further data on rapidly changing areas like Pine Island Glacier. The IceBridge Antarctic campaign will operate out of Punta Arenas through mid-November.

Several of IceBridge's planned flights focus on previously unmeasured ice streams feeding into the Weddell Sea. These flights will gather data on what lies beneath these ice streams, something vital for understanding how changing conditions might affect the flow of ice into the ocean and sea-level rise.

"We have added surveys of ice streams flowing into the Ronne and Filchner ice shelves," said IceBridge project scientist Michael Studinger at NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "This is something we haven't done before."

The large crack in Pine Island Glacier's floating ice shelf has been the focus of worldwide attention as it has grown. The ice shelf now threatens to calve, or break off, a large iceberg into Pine Island Bay in the Amundsen Sea. Researchers have been using imagery from NASA's Aqua and Terra spacecraft and synthetic aperture radar data from the German Aerospace Center's TerraSAR-X satellite to monitor the rift since its discovery last year.

IceBridge also will gather data on sea ice in the Weddell and Bellingshausen seas. Because of geographical differences, Antarctic sea ice behaves differently from ice in the Arctic and presents unique challenges.

"Sea ice in the Antarctic is a very different physical system," Goddard sea ice researcher Nathan Kurtz said.

Ocean currents, precipitation patterns and the shape of land masses are just a few of the differences. Instead of compacting ice against land like in the Arctic basin, currents in the Southern Ocean push much of it farther out to sea. Also, the Antarctic averages more snowfall, which weighs sea ice down and allows ocean water into the bottom layer of the snow on top of the sea ice. The Antarctic has more frequent strong wind events and large temperature swings than the Arctic, which causes layers of ice to form in snow cover. Both of these factors make getting accurate readings of snow on top of sea ice challenging.

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NASA's Operation Icebridge Resumes Flights Over Antarctica

NASA signs agreement to develop nasal spray for motion sickness

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ScienceDaily (Oct. 12, 2012) NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and Epiomed Therapeutics Inc. of Irvine, Calif., have signed an agreement to develop and commercialize a NASA-crafted, fast-acting nasal spray to fight motion sickness.

Under the Space Act Agreement, Epiomed will formulate the drug, called intranasal scopolamine, or INSCOP. Astronauts often experience motion sickness in space. As a result, NASA has conducted extensive research into the causes and treatments for the condition. Scopolamine is effective and can be administered as a tablet or injected. With a precise dosage, the NASA spray formulation has been shown to work faster and more reliably than the oral form.

"NASA and Epiomed will work closely together on further development of INSCOP to optimize therapeutic efficiency for both acute and chronic treatment of motion sickness which can be used by NASA, the Department of Defense and world travelers on land, in the air and on the seas," said Lakshmi Putcha, developer of the innovative treatment strategy at Johnson.

A gel formulation of INSCOP was developed and tested under a Space Act Agreement between Johnson and the Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory in Pensacola, Fla. Results from that trial were published in the journal Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine in April 2010 that suggest INSCOP is a fast-acting and reliable way to prevent and treat motion sickness.

The U.S. Navy is working on an agreement with Epiomed to test the nasal spray. NASA and Epiomed will collaborate on clinical trials related to the Federal Drug Administration requirements. NASA is transferring sponsorship of future clinical trials and FDA approvals to Epiomed, which will supply the product for use by NASA and others.

For more about Johnson's Human Health and Performance Directorate, which developed INSCOP, visit: http://go.nasa.gov/RiKclM

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NASA.

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NASA signs agreement to develop nasal spray for motion sickness

VR pioneer invents 'illumination-as-a-service'

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In the wild, early, days of the web, hopes were high that it would spawn or host virtual realities along the lines of those imagined by the likes of Vernor Vinge and William Gibson.

One of the most notable aspirants from those days was Mark Pesce, who worked on virtual reality headsets and authored Virtual Reality Markup Language (VRML).

VRML never scaled the heights. Pesce moved to Australia, became a teacher, television judge, speaker and, as of now, Kickstarter hopeful with a product today known as Light by Moores Cloud.

We say today, because yesterday the product was called LightCloud. A cease and desist letter from another user of that name later letter later, the product now pays homage to Gordon Moore and his eponymous law to celebrate the fact that the light-emitting device Pesce's venture offer contains once-unimaginable computing power at a tiny price.

That computer, based on the Bulgarian single board OLinuXino, has been hooked up to 802.11 b/g/n kit, runs the LAMP stack and powers an array of 52 LEDs arrayed in a translucent cube, three of which are depicted below.

There's also an on-board accelerometer, so that when the cube is handled the LEDs' colours change into any of the two million colours they can display.

Each light can be programmed to do 'most anything. In a demonstration attended by The Register Pesce linked a light to data from Australia's Bureau of Meteorology. When fed data from a cold locations, the lights turned an icy blue. Offered data from the tropics, they emitted a warm yellow.

That kind of application led Pesce to coin the term illumination-as-a-service, which he said caused him to chuckle for an hour after uttering it for the first time.

Operating as an ambient indicator of environmental conditions is one potential application for the devices, at home and in business. In the latter environment Pesce said he has already chatted to an enterprise who has imagined the device could be used to gently indicate when business processes are working well, and when service levels decline.

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VR pioneer invents 'illumination-as-a-service'

A Video Search Engine for the Arab Market! No Need for YouTube Anymore!

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Ozzitcreations - A venture capitalist firm has developed a search engine for the Arab Market, the basic concept would be provide a platform to the Arab YouTube users to have a Video Search Engine of there own.

Karachi (PRWEB) October 12, 2012

ArabiVideo will allow users to capture and upload videos using unique and fun filters and instantly share them with friends, family and colleagues. Online social integration also allows for these videos to be shared on social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter in a very easy-to-use fashion. Users are able to upload an unlimited amount of videos, and not only are they just able to share these videos with their friends and family, but the world. Users can also view the latest trending videos on their iPhones while on the go.

Ozair Bokhari, Chief Executive Officer at Ozzit Creations, explained, What excites us the most is the community aspect of ArabiVideo. We have developed this app keeping the Middle East in mind, by keeping their language, culture and current affairs at the forefronts of every stage of production, and are looking forward to ArabiVideo becoming a symbol of how the Middle East captures and shares video.

About Ozzit: Ozzit Creations is an international software development company with a particular focus on developing multidimensional web and mobile based innovations. Their portfolio includes web development, smart phone application development, game development and project designing.

Arbi video

0311-2224202 Email Information

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A Video Search Engine for the Arab Market! No Need for YouTube Anymore!

Reddit Is Taking Down Its Creeps

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Reddit's creeps are losing their Internet war, with the site banning the subreddit r/CreepSquad, which was already a replacement for the recently blocked r/CreepShots, both places for men to upload photos of unsuspecting women. Site admin David Croach has also banned user the moderator of those subreddits, POTATO_IN_MY_ANUS for being too creepy, as Croach explains ina thread on Subbreddit Drama:

There are actually a lot of rules that we (the admins) recently found out when we investigated his (PIMAs) account that he had broken. The most recent one was creating a subreddit that disregarded the rules of reddit regarding sexualizing teens/minors, and not being active in moderating posts that broke that rule. Hes had multiple offenses in that category.

This all happened after Reddit retaliated against Jezebel's Katie J.M. Baker, posting a photo of her to CreepSquad that made it to the front page of the subreddit. Baker had written a post aboutPredditors,a Tumblr, which is now password protected, that sought to expose the identities people posting pictures of often scantily clad women without their consent. Redditors say that site led to the assault of one of its members (they also like the idea of keeping their anonymity), hence the backlash.

RELATED: The Internet War Over Creeps on Reddit

Two evenings ago, this war escalated when a group of Reddit moderators banned Gawker media because Adrian Chen maybe threatened to expose revered user Violentacrez, who also happened to start the subreddit r/jailbait. These two things are certainly related, as this is about keeping certain content on Reddit without having real people's identities linked to the users posting this content. It's no surprise then, that the anti-Gawker media push was also led in part by POTATO_IN_MY_ANUS, who wrote a tribute to his fallen comrade, where he also mentions the CreepShots drama. Following both events, his advice for Redditors is one and the same: "PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHEN POSTING PERSONAL DETAILS ABOUT YOURSELF ON REDDIT."

RELATED: Redditors Stand Up to Gawker to Protect Child Pornography

Though Gawker is now banned from 68 subreddits, per the r/BanGawker subreddit, we'd say the creeps are losing this war. Baker didn't seem to mind having her picture up for all Redditors to see. "Flattered that moderators of r/Creepsquad respect me enough to put a photo of me on the main page of their subreddit!" she tweeted. So far, in fact, both Chen and Baker got what they wanted. Violentzcrez is no more, and CreepSquad was taken down after one day on the Internet. It doesn't sound like Gawker writers are losing sleep over their lost page views, for which they still get bonuses, either, with Jezebel's Eric Gloria Ryan tweeting the following:

@max_read Staffers here are really worried about what losing the 100 or so clicks per week we get from Reddit will do to our bottom line.

This has also shown the mainstream world the dirtier side of Reddit, with the story making its way to places like The Guardian,Politico, and Slate. In fact, this attention may have had something to do with the banning of CreepShots and CreepSquad, while other unsavory threads, like r/picsofdeadkids remains. These underbellies exist just fine until the world discovers them, and then with enough pressure, they don't. The jailbait section, for example, didn't get taken down until Anderson Cooper brought the site to the world's attention on CNN. Only then, did Reddit "reluctantlyban child porn," to use the words of Chen.

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Reddit Is Taking Down Its Creeps

Speak your mind and share 'Your Story'

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Tags: chronicle, toowoomba

IS THERE something you're itching to get off your chest?

Have you had a great experience or found something in the community that really gets up your nose?

You can now have your say in our Your Story section, under the lifestyle tab on this page.

One contributor expressed why they think Toowoomba is a great place to live, while another passed on their thanks to thevolunteers and sponsors of the 2012 Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers.

All you have to do to speak your mind and see what others think about it is visit Your Story and go for it. You can also upload pictures if you want.

Make your voice heard in your online community - it's what makes it work

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Speak your mind and share 'Your Story'

UP-PGH emergency medicine course

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Philippine Daily Inquirer

The Department of Emergency Medicine of the University of the Philippines Philippine General Hospital will be having its 12th Annual Postgraduate Course with the theme E.M. Out of the City on October 18-19 at Pan Pacific Hotel Manila.

Topics include ED Design, Travel Medicine, ENT Emergencies, Occupational Injuries, Challenges in Emergency Transport, Quality Management in the ED, Emergency Humanitarian Action, and Spine and Head Trauma Emergencies.

For inquiries and registration, contact (02)544-8400 loc. 2508 (EM resident) or 2500 (Lyn Lugtu) or (+63)9226844764. Also visit the Facebook events page: Emergency Medicine Out of the City or e-mail pghdemresidents@gmail.com.

Registration rates are as follows: For physicians, P2,000; nurses/EMTs/BHWs/Non-MDs, P1,700; and students, P1,000.

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UP-PGH emergency medicine course

10 things medical schools won’t tell you

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By Jonnelle Marte

How a spoonful of bullying, plus a heaping pile of debt, helps turn students into doctors.

By the time most medical school students are assisting in hospitals shadowing the doctors they aspire to someday become many are well-accustomed to being pushed around, yelled at, or called derogatory names.Such incidents arent new, but with the med student population only growing (admissions are up 17% since 2002, with schools working to address a projected shortage of 90,000 doctors by 2020), cracking down on the problem has becoming a matter of increasing urgency. Especially in cases of more severe abuse: A survey conducted this year by the Association of American Medical Colleges, or AAMC, 33% of students said they were publicly humiliated at least once during medical school, 15% said they were the object of sexist remarks and 9% said they were required to run errands for doctors.

And a study released this year by the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA found that despite several efforts by the school to hold bullying awareness workshops for third-year students (who bear the brunt of the mistreatment, because thats when they begin working in hospitals with medical residents and doctors) and to warn residents and teachers about the consequences of such actions, the abuse has persisted, with more than half of students surveyed between 1996 and 2008 reporting some form of mistreatment. Part of the problem, says Joyce Fried, assistant dean at the school of medicine, is that even though the school takes steps, such as waiting until after grades are awarded before launching investigations, to prevent retaliation toward students who come forward, many are still afraid to do so.

What should you look for in picking a primary-care doctor? The industry expects some movement among patients and doctors due to full implementation of the federal health overhaul. Anna Mathews has details on Lunch Break. Photo: Getty Images.

For its part, the AAMC is trying to keep an eye out for abuse: When students finally graduate from medical school, the AAMC typically sends them a questionnaire, which it recently updated to ask more specific questions about bullying. Additionally, president Darrell Kirch posted a letter to the AAMC website in September expressing concern that exposure to bullying could negatively impact a doctors future interactions with patients.

Student advocates say they also worry that such treatment often squelches a students desire to enter the field or worse yet instills a sense of fear among young doctors that could prevent them from challenging colleagues when errors are made or from trying new approaches to improve care. Theyre overworked and treated unkindly by people who are supposed to be teaching them, says Diane Pinakiewicz, president of the National Patient Safety Foundation, adding that those doctors often go on to mistreat other students when they begin to teach. Were trying to break the cycle.

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10 things medical schools won’t tell you

Ground broken for WMU medical school

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KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) - A groundbreaking ceremony occurred Friday morning for the new Western Michigan University medical school.

The school has been granted preliminary accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the national accrediting body for educational programs leading to the MD degree.

"This is an important step because we now have the go-ahead to recruit students for our first class to begin in August 2014," Dr. Hal B. Jenson, MD, MBA, told the ceremony's crowd.

The medical school is a collaboration involving WMU and Kalamazoo's two teaching hospitals -- Borgess Health and Bronson Healthcare. It has been in planning since 2008.

In December 2011, William U. Parfet, chairman and CEO of MPI Research in Mattawan, donated the 320,000 square-foot building to WMU to be used by the new medical school.

In March 2011, WMU received a gift of $100 million for the medical school from anonymous donors.

The seven-story building at 300 Portage St. in Kalamazoo is located at the heart of the new W.E. Upjohn Campus. A $68 million renovation and expansion project is scheduled to be completed by May 2014, with 30,000 more square feet to be added to the building.

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WMU School of Medicine building stat sheet (pdf)

WMU School of Medicine future floor plans (pdf)

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Ground broken for WMU medical school

Liberty shows her new face

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Crowning glory ... the Statue of Liberty reopens to public later this month.

Public access to New York's attractions is increasing, with the city's iconic statue leading the way, writes Lance Richardson.

For many travellers, myriad events during the past decade can be reduced to a single fact: the US is increasingly closed. This is clear every time a person goes through the gauntlet of airport security, X-rayed by spreading their arms and legs in a star-jump manoeuvre. It's clear at the White House in Washington, DC: officials suggest visitors contact the Australian embassy to arrange a tour; the Australian embassy informs visitors that tours are currently "on hold".

An increase in public access is therefore an event. In September, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, announced its intention to stay open seven days a week from next May. The Metropolitan Museum is said to be considering a similar move. Downtown and across the bay, an even more iconic monument is opening its doors wider as well: the statue on Liberty Island.

Liberty Enlightening the World was designed by French sculptor Frederic Bartholdi, with iron framework by Gustave Eiffel, and presented to the US as a gift from France.

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Initial reception was mixed. Living through a depression at the time, the US was required to pay for the pedestal; The New York Times complained "no true patriot can countenance any such expenditures for bronze females in the present state of our finances".

The public made it work through donations, though, and on October 28, 1886, Liberty was dedicated during an elaborate ceremony.

Coated in copper and standing 93 metres tall, its features are widely celebrated: the golden torch, originally a functioning lighthouse; the tablet bearing the date of American independence (July 4, 1776); the broken shackles at the statue's feet. After a few years, the exterior began to oxidise, turning green and sending Congress into a panic. New Yorkers thought Liberty looked better this way. The statue symbolises openness.

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free," begins Emma Lazarus's famous poem, mounted on a plaque inside the pedestal. This is what made the closure, after the events of September 11, 2001, so significant. Because of safety concerns, visitor access was restricted to the island's exterior for eight years.

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Liberty shows her new face

Does Liberty Global Miss theGrade?

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Margins matter. The more Liberty Global (Nasdaq: LBTY.A) keeps of each buck it earns in revenue, the more money it has to invest in growth, fund new strategic plans, or (gasp!) distribute to shareholders. Healthy margins often separate pretenders from the best stocks in the market. That's why we check up on margins at least once a quarter in this series. I'm looking for the absolute numbers, so I can compare them to current and potential competitors, and any trend that may tell me how strong Liberty Global's competitive position could be.

Here's the current margin snapshot for Liberty Global over the trailing 12 months: Gross margin is 64.6%, while operating margin is 19.7% and net margin is -0.9%.

Unfortunately, a look at the most recent numbers doesn't tell us much about where Liberty Global has been, or where it's going. A company with rising gross and operating margins often fuels its growth by increasing demand for its products. If it sells more units while keeping costs in check, its profitability increases. Conversely, a company with gross margins that inch downward over time is often losing out to competition, and possibly engaging in a race to the bottom on prices. If it can't make up for this problem by cutting costs -- and most companies can't -- then both the business and its shares face a decidedly bleak outlook.

Of course, over the short term, the kind of economic shocks we recently experienced can drastically affect a company's profitability. That's why I like to look at five fiscal years' worth of margins, along with the results for the trailing 12 months, the last fiscal year, and last fiscal quarter (LFQ). You can't always reach a hard conclusion about your company's health, but you can better understand what to expect, and what to watch.

Here's the margin picture for Liberty Global over the past few years.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Dollar amounts in millions. FY = fiscal year. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Because of seasonality in some businesses, the numbers for the last period on the right -- the TTM figures -- aren't always comparable to the FY results preceding them. To compare quarterly margins to their prior-year levels, consult this chart.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Dollar amounts in millions. FQ = fiscal quarter.

Here's how the stats break down:

With recent TTM operating margins exceeding historical averages, but net margins still negative, Liberty Global still has some work to do.

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Does Liberty Global Miss theGrade?

Libertarian Candidate Excluded From Debate For Refusing Corporate Donations

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38728695 story Posted by Soulskill on Friday October 12, @04:10PM from the have-you-tried-turning-it-off-and-then-on-again dept. fishdan writes "I'm a long time Slashdot member with excellent karma. I am also the Libertarian candidate for U.S. Congress in the Massachusetts 6th District. I am on the ballot. I polled 7% in the only poll that included me, which was taken six weeks ago, before I had done any advertising, been in any debates or been on television. In the most recent debate, the general consensus was that I moved a very partisan crowd in my favor. In the two days since that debate, donations and page views are up significantly. Yesterday I received a stunning email from the local ABC affiliate telling me they were going to exclude me from their televised debate because I did not have $50,000 in campaign contributions, even though during my entire campaign I have pointedly and publicly refused corporate donations. They cited several other trumped up reasons, including polling at 10%, but there has not been a poll that included me since the one six weeks ago and I meet their other requirements." You may like to read: Post

Kaufman's First Law of Party Physics: Population density is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the keg.

Working...

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Libertarian Candidate Excluded From Debate For Refusing Corporate Donations

Soccer-Faroe Islands 1 Sweden 2 – World Cup qualifier result

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Oct 12 (Reuters) - Faroe Island 1 Sweden 2 - World Cup qualifying Group C result.

In Torshavn

Scorers:

Faroe Islands: Rogvi Baldvinsson 57

Sweden: Alexander Kacaniklic 65, Zlatan Ibrahimovic 75

Halftime: 0-0

Teams:

Faroe Islands: 1-Gunnar Nielsen, 2-Jonas Naes, 3-Pol Justinussen, 4-Odmar Faero, 5-Rogvi Baldvinsson, 6-Hallur Hansson (18-Suni Olsen 83), 7-Frodi Benjaminsen, 8-Simun Samuelsen, 9-Daniel Udsen (12-Hjalgrim Elttor 85), 10-Christian Holst (17- Arnbiorn Hansen 71), 11-Joan Edmundsson

Sweden: 1-Andreas Isaksson, 2-Mikael Lustig, 3-Jonas Olsson, 4-Andreas Granqvist, 5-Martin Olsson, 7-Sebastian Larsson, 9-Kim Kallstrom (8-Anders Svensson 62), 16-Pontus Wernbloom, 21-Christian Wilhelmsson (19- Alexander Kacaniklic 62), 10-Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 22-Matthias Ranegie (20-Marcus Berg 77)

Referee: Anastasios Sidiropoulos (Greece) (Editing by Phil O'Connor)

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Soccer-Faroe Islands 1 Sweden 2 - World Cup qualifier result