Online Travel Security for the Brazil World Cup 2014

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Hereford, England (PRWEB UK) 9 April 2014

In only a few months the world will sit down to watch one of the greatest sporting events ever held, the World Cup. If you are planning to travel to Brazil during this time, ensure that all your travel security arrangements are in place. It can be a headache assessing the risk and wading through all the dos and donts of travel, so e-travelsafety.com have created a cost effective, hassle free, online travel safety solution.

The interactive cloud based package, will provide all the travel safety and travel security advice you need, for the World Cup in Brazil. This includes Brazil destination guide, a pre-travel risk assessment for the trip, how to react in emergency situations, downloadable guides and travel security hints and tips to help you stay safe when travelling. The travel safety e-learning course is only 30 per user that provides the all the travel security advice and training needed during this time.

The course has been developed to suit anyone, from a football fan to a business traveller. As the course has been developed in house it can be tailored to meet any specific organisational requirements. It is designed to fit into companies existing policies and procedures for travel, allowing an organisation to equip people sent on business with the correct tools and knowledge to reduce the exposure to risk. It is fully auditable and maintains a complete record of everyone who has undertaken the course, to provide any company with the ability to demonstrate a duty of care to the employee. It can even be white labelled to provide a package that is in keeping with the company branding.

E-travelsafety.com is offering a trial, of the travel safety package, that can be accessed by clicking here:

http://learning.e-travelsafety.com/travel-safety-free-trial

e-travelsafety.com provides travel safety advice, through an interactive e-learning package. The team has many years experience in travel safety and travel security, from teaching individuals, to multinational corporations, all around the globe. This has involved the delivery of pre-travel training, assisting deployment, and also managing travel, from remote locations, to tourist destinations. During this time e-travelsafety.com has gained an understand of the market and believed that a cost effective Travel Safety solution could be produced, that was not only hassle free but also easy to use by anyone.

Safe travels

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Online Travel Security for the Brazil World Cup 2014

Gloria Arroyos stem cell therapy doc blamed for cancer patient's death

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A doctor offering stem cell therapy may face charges for the death of a cancer patient who allegedly underwent treatment similar to that administered to former president and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

This was after it was found out that she is not a licensed doctor in the Philippines.

A report on GMA News TV's "News To Go" on Wednesday said a complaint has been filed against Dr. Antonia Carandang-Park at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) by Bernard Tan, who claims that his daughter, Kate, died after going through the said alternative treatment.Cancer patient Kate Tan received stem cell therapy from Dr. Antonia Carandang-Park, Gloria Arroyo's doctor.

Park owns the Tagaytay-based Green & Young Health and Wellness Center where Arroyoburdened by persistent trouble with her cervical spinesought treatment in 2012.

In an interview with GMA News, Tan said his daughter, who had Hodgkin's lymphoma (a type of cancer of the blood), was given "the same treatment that [Park] did with Gloria," which included "juicing diet, vegetable diet... acupuncture coffee enema, at 'yun na nga, stem cell."

Stem cell therapy introduces new adult stem cells into damaged tissue in order to treat disease or injury.

"Ang sabi niya, 'Give me three months, magaling na 'yan,'" Tan told GMA News. He added that his family was easily convinced to take their daughter to Park's wellness center because "Presidente na ng Pilipinas ang pumunta doon."

"Siguro naman na-scrutinize na nila 'yan, na-background check na nila 'yan," he said. "Kumbaga, 'yung credibility no'n, nag-build up na."

Kate was fed nothing but bananas and vegetable juices for three months, and had eight rounds of "embryonic" stem cell treatment, he said.

However, the 23-year-old lost even more weight, prompting the family to seek the assistance of a different doctor. Kate had eight rounds of 'embryonic' stem cell treatment, her father Bernard Tan said.Seven months later, in July 2013, Kate passed away.

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Gloria Arroyos stem cell therapy doc blamed for cancer patient's death

NIH Stem-Cell Program Closes

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The director of the agency's Center for Regenerative Medicine resigned on March 28 after just one clinical-trial award had been made

Therapies based on induced pluripotent stem cells, here differentiating into retinal cells on a scaffold, were the focus of the Center for Regenerative Medicine. Credit: NIH

Stem-cell researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have been left frustrated and confused following the demise of the agencys Center for Regenerative Medicine (CRM). The intramural programs director, stem-cell biologist Mahendra Rao, left the NIH, in Bethesda, Maryland, on 28March, and the centers website was taken down on 4 April. Although no official announcement had been made at the timeNaturewent to press, NIH officials say that they are rethinking how they will conduct in-house stem-cell research.

Researchers affiliated with the center say that they have been left in the dark. When contacted byNatureon 7April, George Daley, a stem-cell biologist at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of the centers external advisory board, said that he had not yet been told of Raos departure or the centers closure.

The CRM was established in 2010 to centralize the NIHs stem-cell program. Its goal was to develop useful therapies from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells adult cells that have been converted into embryonic-like stem cells and shepherd them towards clinical trials and regulatory approval. Its budget was intended to be $52million over seven years.

Rao took the helm in 2011. Relations seem to have soured last month owing to an NIH decision to award funding to only one project aiming to move iPS cells into a clinical trial. Rao says he resigned after this became clear. He says that he had hoped that five trials would be funded, especially because the center had already sorted out complex issues relating to tissue sources, patents and informed consent.

James Anderson, director of the NIHs Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, which administered the CRM, counters that only one application that made by Kapil Bharti of the National Eye Institute in Bethesda and his colleagues received a high enough score from an external review board to justify continued funding. The team aims to use iPS cells to treat age-related macular degeneration of the retina, and hopes to commence human trials within a few years. Several other proposals, which involved the treatment of cardiac disease, cancer and Parkinsons disease, will not receive funding to ready them for clinical trials. Anderson stresses that Bhartis trial will not be affected by the CRMs closure.

Other human iPS-cell trials are further along. For example, one on macular degeneration designed by Masayo Takahashi at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan, began recruiting patients last August.

Anderson says that the CRM will not continue in its current form. The field is moving so fast that we need to rethink. To that end, the NIH plans to hold a workshop in May to gather stem-cell researchers together and decide what to do with the program and its remaining budget. To me thats just smart science, he says. If somethings not on track you dont keep spending money on it.

One option could be to allow CRM projects to be absorbed by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, an NIH institute established in 2011 to translate basic research into therapies. But Anderson says that participants at the workshop will also discuss whether the NIH needs to replace the CRM with another dedicated stem-cell program.

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NIH Stem-Cell Program Closes

Merging politics and spirituality: Art of Living volunteers campaign for BJP in Delhi

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Lines between spirituality and politics seems to have blurred in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The Art of Living (AOL) leaders, teachers and volunteers are not leaving any stone unturned to ensure victory of AOL preacher turned politician Maheish Girri, who is fighting on Bharatiya Janata Partys ticket from east Delhi.

The eleventh hour frantic call, made by email, calls and SMSs has been made by the AOL machinery asking volunteers and supporters to devote one day to nation and come to east Delhi for last minute campaigning.

Girri, who joined BJP in November, is fighting a tough battle against two time sitting Congress MP Sandeep Dikshit and Mahatma Gandhis grandson Rajmohan Gandhi, who is fighting on Aam Aadmi Party ticket.

Team of AOL supporters are working in all ten assembly segments of the east Delhi parliamentary constituency going door-to-door to ensure votes for Girri. The AOL volunteers have set up a target to reach maximum voters in the next two days stating that it is now or never.

The email, sent on Monday night, reads, Poojya Gurudev (Sri Sri Ravi Shankar) is putting lot of focus on these elections and especially so in East Delhi. Recently 12 Swamis/Rishis have also been sent to East Delhi to work in slums. So let us all gear up and pick up our seva for next two days.

Let us jointly resolve to ensure that Maheish Girri Ji wins East Delhi seat with handsome margin for bringing in transformation in India under the leadership of Narendra Modi ji, the email added.

The email to supporters then provides the contact numbers of leaders of AOLs teams working in the 10 constituencies to intensify the one to one contact with all voters from a booth.

The email also shows that teams from different areas are handling different assembly seats. For instance, a team from Gurgaon is handling the campaign work in Vishwas Nagar assembly seat and so on there are teams from Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, Noida and other areas in Delhi.

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Merging politics and spirituality: Art of Living volunteers campaign for BJP in Delhi

SpaceX to launch robotic capsule to International Space Station next week

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon capsule filled with cargo for the International Space Station lifts off from the Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in this March 1, 2013 NASA handout photo obtained by Reuters.Reuters

A private spaceflight company will launch its third robotic resupply mission to the International Space Station next week.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's unmanned Dragon vehicle loaded down with supplies is expected to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on April 14. This will be SpaceX's third official flight to the station under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to fly 12 missions to the orbiting outpost using the Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rocket. You can watch the SpaceX launch live on Space.com via NASA TV starting at 3:45 p.m. ET on April 14. Launch is scheduled for 4:58 p.m. ET.

Dragon will fly to the station loaded down with 5,000 lbs. of cargo and scientific experiments, according to NASA. The supplies include legs for Robonaut 2, a humanoid robot designed to eventually assist astronauts on the station with their day-to-day tasks. SpaceX initially aimed to launch the Dragon delivery mission in March, but damage to a ground-based U.S. Air Force radar station used to support Florida launches delayed the flight.

[See photos of SpaceX's third resupply trip to the station]

"These new legs, funded by NASA's Human Exploration and Operations and Space Technology mission directorates, will provide R2 [Robonaut 2] the mobility it needs to help with regular and repetitive tasks inside and outside the space station," NASA officials said in a statement on March 12. "The goal is to free up the crew for more critical work, including scientific research."

SpaceX's Dragon will stay attached to the station's Harmony module until mid-May when it will detach and splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California, NASA officials said. When it splashes down, Dragon is expected to be carrying about 3,000 lbs. of experiments and equipment that can be recovered on Earth.

At the moment, Dragon capsules are the only robotic cargo vehicles capable of bringing supplies back to Earth from the orbiting outpost. Other robotic spacecraft like Russia's Progress vehicles or Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicles can deliver supplies to the station, but are designed to burn up in Earth's atmosphere after leaving port.

NASA also has contract with Orbital Sciences to fly cargo missions to the station using the Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft. The Dulles, Va.-based company has a $1.9 billion deal with the space agency for eight unmanned flights.

If launch occurs on time, Dragon is due to arrive at the station at around 7 a.m. ET on April 16. If the SpaceX launch does not occur on time, there will be another opportunity for launch on April 18.

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SpaceX to launch robotic capsule to International Space Station next week

Webb telescope's heart complete, final instrument installed

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18 hours ago In this photo, engineers install the NIRSpec instrument in the heart (or ISIM) of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

The last piece of the James Webb Space Telescope's heart was installed inside the world's largest clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

What looked like a massive black frame covered with wires and aluminum foil, the heart or Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) now contains all four of Webb's science instruments. Together, these instruments will help unlock the history of our universe, from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of stellar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own solar system.

Teams of engineers recently navigated very cramped spaces with delicate materials and finished surgically implanting the last of the four instruments that will fly on the Webb telescope the Near-Infrared Spectrograph, or NIRSpec.

Weighing about as much as an upright piano (about 430 pounds, or 196 kilograms), the NIRSpec was suspended from a moveable counterweight called the Horizontal Integration Tool, or HIT. From below, the engineering team was tasked with painstakingly moving this vital instrument to its final position inside the large black composite frame, officially called the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM).

As the team maneuvered this crucial instrument through very tight, hard to reach spaces inside the Webb telescope's heart, they ensured there was no unintentional contact with the frame because the instrument's materials are very stiff but brittle. Disturbing any of those materials could have caused major setbacks that could damage NIRSpec.

"Part of the challenge is that this instrument cannot be installed in a straight linear move. In order to avoid interference with already installed systems, the instrument will have to follow a special pattern kind of like a dance," said Maurice te Plate, the European Space Agency's (ESA) Webb system integration and test manager at Goddard. "During the crucial phases of the installation, the room is kept very silent because whenever there is a potential issue one of the engineers must hold the process until everything is checked out so they can proceed."

Engineers needed NIRSpec's six individual feet or legs to align with six designated "saddle" points on the ISIM within the width of a little more than that of a human hair. To hit their marks, these engineers had rehearsed these complicated movements, performing simulations and precise calculations on both sides of the ocean.

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As they moved the instrument into position they also slowly transferred its weight off of the HIT to bolt it into place. Securing NIRSpec inside the heart was a major mission milestone, and was the first real physical contact between NIRSpec and the ISIM. Teams from ESA, NASA, and Airbus Defence and Space, in Ottobrunn, Germany, have been working on this instrument for more than 10 years.

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Webb telescope's heart complete, final instrument installed

CSU Researcher to Examine Health Impacts of Space Travel in NASA-Funded Twin Study

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When NASA sends an identical twin to the International Space Station next year, a Colorado State University researcher will be among just a few hand-picked scientists studying him and his brother to measure impacts of space travel on the human body.

Susan Bailey, an associate professor in CSUs Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, is heading one of only 10 projects selected last month to receive funding from NASA for a three-year study of astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly.

Baileys research focuses on chromosomal features, called telomeres, which help protect the body from aging and the cancer-causing effects of radiation. Radiation exposure is a particular concern during space flight and therefore of special interest to NASA because astronauts are bombarded by subatomic particles from the sun and other sources.

Starting in March 2015, Scott Kelly will spend 12 months on the space station, while Mark remains on Earth as an experimental control. Scientists will conduct tests on the genetically identical twins to isolate the effects detected in Scotts body that can be attributed to life in space.

In the CSU project, the first study of its kind, Bailey will use blood tests taken before, during and after the flight to focus on the twins chromosomes. Each chromosome has a protective end-cap called a telomere, which Bailey compares to the plastic tip on a shoelace that keeps the lace from unraveling. As cells divide and replicate during the course of human life, the chromosomes divide as well, and the telomeres gradually erode, eventually leading to the natural death of cells.

Bailey says the erosion rate of these end-caps reveals a lot about a persons aging process and health. For instance, studies have shown that nonsmokers who get regular exercise often have longer telomeres than those who have unhealthy lifestyles. In her NASA research project, Bailey plans to gather baseline data on the twins telomeres, then examine how the various demands of life in space like exposure to radiation, limited diet, and physical and psychological stress affect those caps on Scotts chromosomes.

Taking care of your telomeres is an important thing to do, and having a healthy lifestyle is a big part of that, she says, adding that previous studies have shown radiation can deteriorate the end caps in as little as five days. Can you imagine a more stressful thing than strapping yourself in a rocket or living in space for a year?

Bailey will also study the 50-year-old twins levels of telomerase, an enzyme that restores telomeres and extends the life of cells. The substance is not typically active in the body after birth, with a few exceptions like in cancer cells, which have a competitive advantage over regular cells because telomerase gives them immortal status.

Bailey says that while some researchers have studied the concept that activating telomerase in healthy cells could actually improve health and possibly extend life, its a double-edged sword because stimulating telomerase could also feed cancer cells. Clinical trials are being conducted with drugs that reduce telomerase levels as a cancer-fighting strategy.

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CSU Researcher to Examine Health Impacts of Space Travel in NASA-Funded Twin Study

Vista votes to keep red-light cameras

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VISTA Heads up, Vista motorists: The City Council opted Tuesday night to keep Vista's red-light cameras up and running for at least two more years.

The council's 4-1 vote extends for two years the citys contract with Phoenix-based Redflex Traffic Systems, which runs the camera program. It also gives the city manager the option of renewing the contract through 2018 without running it by the council.

The cameras, which snap photos of drivers who run or fail to stop completely at red lights, have been controversial in some communities, and a number of cities in the region have pulled them in recent years.

Some critics have argued the cameras are a privacy violation; others have said the devices aren't effective in reducing crashes or improving safety.

In Vista, there has been no strong outcry against the devices. City Councilwoman Amanda Rigby cast the sole no vote Tuesday against keeping the cameras. After the meeting, she said she questions their value.

The benefits of the red-light cameras were not adequately presented tonight, she said.

Other council members cited fewer collisions among their reasons for supporting the continued use of the cameras.

Councilman Dave Cowles said he had seen "numerous and excessive" attempts by motorists to beat the lights. "I don't see that anymore," Cowles said.

He also said he had questioned keeping the cameras -- until he saw the citys statistics showing a decline in crashes at Vista intersections with the devices.

City staffers, who recommended extending the camera contract, said crashes have been cut by more than half at the five intersections where the cameras have been installed for the past 10 years.

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Vista votes to keep red-light cameras

ACM Awards: Who Was Best Dressed On The Night? [Pictures]

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Who looked their best at the ACM Awards on Sunday night?

The ACM awards, country musics big night out took place on Sunday and the stars were out in force bringing a glitzy red carpet display of floaty frocks and some very plunging necklines. Now we've had some time to digest the fabulous fashion, just who was best dressed on the night at the ACM awards?

Opting for something a little different Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift opted to shun the fancy frocks and go for a more edgy, sexier look. Teaming a long black skirt (which boasted a major thigh high split with a white crop top) Taylor showed just enough red carpet skin to turn heads in the right way. Though if eye catching was what you were looking for then Jamie Lynn Spears was sure to grab your attention, if not give you a bit of a headache. The newlywed's heavily patterned orange, black and white magic eye mini dress was a bit too much to take in all at once and it just left us feeling a little puzzled.

More: Who Joined Taylor Swift in Billboard's List of Top Music Moneymakers?

Shakira showed that the cut out trend is most certainly here to stay with her dark green gown. Showing a lot of peek-a-boo skin it was definitely Shakira that was bringing the sex appeal to the ACMs. The singer looked like she wouldn't be out of place as a comic book villian, but of course we mean that in the best possible way. Miranda Lambert looked stunning in a gold figure fitting dress complete with a very plunging neckline on the red carpet, really it was all about how low can you go with the necklines tongiht. Later in the night the singer showed a complete transformation when she collected her award in a pink prom dress.

Shakira At The Awards

Kellie Pickler opted for a floaty lavender dress by Romona Keveza while Cassadee Pope also embraced the chiffon in her beautiful floor length red gown. Olivia Munn also rocked the red and might have also won the lowest neckline award. Then there was Shawna Thompson, who wore a nude dress which seemed to be exploding with poppies, literally. This one was just a bit too in your face floral for the red carpet. Also going over the top was Kacey Musgraves who went all out in her powder blue Miu Miu gown. The dress featured a plunging neckline, a belt and a massive train meaning it was all a little too much for the red carpet.

More: Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves & George Strait Take Home ACM Awards [Pictures]

As for the boys, there's only one piece of headgear you need for such an occasion, a cowboy hat. Tim McGraw, George Strait and Jason Aldean kept it classic in black whilst Justin Moore gave it his best JR in his massive white hat. Lee Brice of course bucked the cowboy trend, wearing his signature backward baseball cap on the red carpet.

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ACM Awards: Who Was Best Dressed On The Night? [Pictures]