NASA's Journey to Tomorrow Exhibit Featured at Great New England Air Show

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CLEVELAND - NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio invites visitors at the Great New England Air Show to explore interactive exhibits and participate in science, technology, engineering and math activities in NASA's Journey to Tomorrow traveling exhibit. This will be the first time NASA exhibits will be on display at the air show located on the Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, Mass.

The exhibit engages guests in real world challenges relative to both aeronautics and space exploration. Visitors can explore technology on computer kiosks and hands-on workstations which include NASA Spinoffs where guests can learn about how NASA technology improves our quality of life; a quiz in Sci-Fi vs. Science Fact, where visitors can find out how much they know about space travel and the search for extraterrestrial life; and perform small experiments in a glovebox. Other activities include a solar system scale, where a person can find out how much they would weigh on another planet like Jupiter; and a planetary gravity simulator where guests can learn how gravity changes from planet to planet.

The exhibit is air-conditioned and wheelchair accessible.

Also available will be the popular "Picture Yourself in Space" photo booth, where visitors can receive a free souvenir photo taken as an astronaut and free NASA informational material.

The NASA exhibit area will be open to the public on Saturday, Aug. 4 and Sunday, Aug. 5 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information about NASA Glenn Research Center, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/glenn

For more information about the Journey To Tomorrow, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/events/journey_to_tomorrow.html

For more information about the Great New England Air Show, visit: http://greatnewenglandairshow.com/

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NASA's Journey to Tomorrow Exhibit Featured at Great New England Air Show

Five essential facts about NASA's Mars Curiosity rover

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NASA's Mars Curiosity rover is the most sophisticated robot ever sent to another world. Here are five facts about NASA's most audacious robotic mission yet.

NASA's new robot rover named Curiosity has spent 8 months hurtling through space toward its destination Sunday on Mars. It is set to land near the foot of a mountain rising from a giant crater. This marks NASA's 19th mission and eighth landing attempt.

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The big unknown remains. Scientists want to know if any form of life ever existed there, and that means microscopic organisms. Since the 1960s, spacecraft have zipped past, orbited or landed on Mars in this quest. Two small NASA rovers that arrived in 2004 explored different craters and one is still functioning today.

Curiosity is the most ambitious effort ever, but it's not the be-all and end-all. During its two-year exploration, it will try to answer whether the giant crater where it lands had the right conditions to support microbes. But future missions would still be needed for more answers.

Curiosity carries a toolbox of 10 instruments, including a rock-zapping laser and a mobile organic chemistry lab. It also has a long robotic arm that can jackhammer into rocks and soil. It will hunt for basic ingredients of life including carbon-based compounds, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur and oxygen, as well as minerals that might provide clues about possible energy sources.

The spacecraft is formally called the Mars Science Laboratory. In 2008, NASA held a naming contest open to students and selected Curiosity, proposed by a sixth-grader from Lenexa, Kan.

$2.5 billion. That's $1 billion over its original budget. Curiosity was supposed to launch in 2009 and land in 2010, but development took longer than expected. The delay gave engineers more time to debug problems and test the spacecraft, but also put the project over budget.

President Barack Obama has set a goal for astronauts to orbit Mars by the mid-2030s followed by a landing. Before that can happen, the plan is to send astronauts to an asteroid first.

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Five essential facts about NASA's Mars Curiosity rover

Five essential facts about NASA's Mars Curiosity rover (+video)

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NASA's Mars Curiosity rover is the most sophisticated robot ever sent to another world. Here are five facts about NASA's most audacious robotic mission yet.

NASA's new robot rover named Curiosity has spent 8 months hurtling through space toward its destination Sunday on Mars. It is set to land near the foot of a mountain rising from a giant crater. This marks NASA's 19th mission and eighth landing attempt.

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition

The big unknown remains. Scientists want to know if any form of life ever existed there, and that means microscopic organisms. Since the 1960s, spacecraft have zipped past, orbited or landed on Mars in this quest. Two small NASA rovers that arrived in 2004 explored different craters and one is still functioning today.

Curiosity is the most ambitious effort ever, but it's not the be-all and end-all. During its two-year exploration, it will try to answer whether the giant crater where it lands had the right conditions to support microbes. But future missions would still be needed for more answers.

Curiosity carries a toolbox of 10 instruments, including a rock-zapping laser and a mobile organic chemistry lab. It also has a long robotic arm that can jackhammer into rocks and soil. It will hunt for basic ingredients of life including carbon-based compounds, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur and oxygen, as well as minerals that might provide clues about possible energy sources.

The spacecraft is formally called the Mars Science Laboratory. In 2008, NASA held a naming contest open to students and selected Curiosity, proposed by a sixth-grader from Lenexa, Kan.

$2.5 billion. That's $1 billion over its original budget. Curiosity was supposed to launch in 2009 and land in 2010, but development took longer than expected. The delay gave engineers more time to debug problems and test the spacecraft, but also put the project over budget.

President Barack Obama has set a goal for astronauts to orbit Mars by the mid-2030s followed by a landing. Before that can happen, the plan is to send astronauts to an asteroid first.

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Five essential facts about NASA's Mars Curiosity rover (+video)

Life-Science Firm That Received Federal, Purdue Funding is Generating Revenue

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

A Purdue-based new venture that develops nanotechnology to improve research and development in life-science companies, pharmaceutical companies and cancer research centers has succeeded in generating its first revenues from sales after only two years in business.

Tymora Analytical Operations LLC has begun selling its PolyMAC product to university professors and industry researchers. The technology, which promotes the discovery of new cancer drugs in laboratory settings, is based on research by W. Andy Tao, an associate professor in Purdue's Department of Biochemistry. Anton Iliuk is the company's president and chief technology officer.

Iliuk said PolyMAC helps drug developers and researchers discover new cancer drug targets and analyze the source of drug resistance after prolonged treatment.

"PolyMAC more correctly pinpoints whether a candidate for drug development is targeting the intended proteins," he said. "Researchers can feel more confident in their results because PolyMAC is a more reliable and sensitive tool, which is a key in effective early-stage drug discovery."

Tymora Analytical Operations has received funding from several sources to develop Tao's research into commercialized products. These sources include the National Science Foundation, Purdue's Emerging Innovations Fund and business plan competitions, including the Burton D. Morgan Business Plan Competition.

Elizabeth Hart-Wells, assistant vice president and director of the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization, said Purdue's Emerging Innovations Fund strengthens early-stage companies that license technology from the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization or are based in the Purdue Research Park, aiming to increase their chances of successful commercialization.

Richard Cosier, the Avrum and Joyce Gray Director of the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, said students from Purdue University's Krannert School of Management participated in the due diligence process to select Emerging Innovations Fund recipients.

Iliuk said the Emerging Innovations Fund is more likely than other sources to take a chance on promising technology at an earlier stage.

"The Emerging Innovations Fund funding we received has allowed us to commercialize and start marketing and make the first sales of our first product, PolyMAC, and will support our commercialization efforts for the next product release in the near future," he said.

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Autoantibodies damage blood vessels in the brain

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Public release date: 31-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: bachtler@mdc-berlin.de bachtler@mdc-berlin.de 49-309-406-3896 Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres

The presence of specific autoantibodies of the immune system is associated with blood vessel damage in the brain. These findings were made by Marion Bimmler, a graduate engineer of medical laboratory diagnostics at the Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine Berlin-Buch and Dr. Peter Karczewski of the biotech company E.R.D.E.-AAK-Diagnostik GmbH in studies on a rat model. The researchers' results suggest that autoimmune mechanisms play a significant role in the pathogenesis and progression of Alzheimer's and vascular dementia (PloS ONE, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0041602)*.

Antibodies are the defense molecules of the body's immune system against foreign invaders. If the antibodies cease to distinguish between "foreign" and "self", they attack the cells of the own body, and are thus referred to as autoantibodies. These can trigger autoimmune diseases. Using MR angiography and other methods, Marion Bimmler and her colleagues have now shown that the autoantibodies bind to specific surface proteins (alpha1 andrenergic receptors) of vascular cells and thereby damage the blood vessels of the brain. The reason: The autoantibodies generate a continual stimulation of the receptor and at the same time trigger an increase in intracellular calcium ion levels. As a result, the blood vessel walls thicken, and blood flow to the brain is disturbed.

First Encouraging Results after Removal of Autoantibodies by Immunoadsorption

In earlier studies, Marion Bimmler and her research team examined blood samples of patients with Alzheimer's or vascular dementia and showed that half of them had comparable autoantibodies. A first clinical trial together with Charit Universittsmedizin Berlin is currently ongoing with a collective of patients with Alzheimer's or vascular dementia. The patients were divided into two groups a small group whose autoantibodies were removed from the blood via immunoadsorption and a control group that did not receive this treatment. Until now, over an observation period of 6 and subsequently 12 months, the patient group who had undergone immunoadsorption improved in their memory performance and in their ability to cope with their everyday lives. In contrast, the condition of the patients who did not receive immunoadsorption treatment and continued to have autoantibodies in their blood deteriorated dramatically. Now the researchers are planning further clinical trials with larger numbers of patients.

###

*Antibodies to the 1-Adrenergic Receptor Cause Vascular Impairments in Rat Brain as Demonstrated by Magnetic Resonance Angiography

Peter Karczewski, E.R.D.E.-AAK-Diagnostik GmbH, Berlin, Germany Andreas Pohlmann, Berlin Ultrahigh Field Facility (B.U.F.F.), Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany Babette Wagenhaus, Berlin Ultrahigh Field Facility (B.U.F.F.), Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany Natali Wisbrun, Animal Facilities, Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany Petra Hempel, E.R.D.E.-AAK-Diagnostik GmbH, Berlin, Germany Bernd Lemke, IT Department, Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany Rudolf Kunze, E.R.D.E. e.V., Berlin, Germany Thoralf Niendorf, Berlin Ultrahigh Field Facility (B.U.F.F.), Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany Marion Bimmler, Autoimmunity and G Protein-Coupled Receptors, Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany

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Emergency Medicine Organizations Herald New Office of Emergency Care Research at NIH as An Investment in the Future

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WASHINGTON, July 31, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) today lauded the announcement by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) about the creation of a new Office of Emergency Care Research (OECR) as a gift to emergency patients everywhere.  The NIH is the largest federal agency dedicated to ...

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Emergency Medicine Organizations Herald New Office of Emergency Care Research at NIH as An Investment in the Future

Let’s put art back in medicine

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Medical schools throughout history have taught future doctors that medicine is both science and art, but the push to implement more rigorous scientific approach to medical care has diminished and marginalized the art of medicine in the last few decades.

The push to apply research-based data and evidence-based medicine has created a new culture where governments and policymakers are trying to force doctors to practice so called cook-book medicine.

It is a concept where people are treated, not as unique individual humans, but as a category of diagnosis for which they have a set of treatments recommended by experts. If you deviate from the standard recommendations, you may be penalized for not following the standard of care.

Proponents of this standardization of care have their merits; it is better for the population as a whole. More people with heart attacks are saved now than before, at least in part, because of the implementation of evidence-based medicine.

The opponents of this cook-book approach to medicine have become more vocal in the last few years and different concepts and terms have been defined to try to bring back the art of medicine back at the patients bedside.

One such concept called narrative medicine is gaining ground in some academic institutions. Narrative medicine encourages doctors to put the focus back on the story of illness. It encourages health care providers to listen to the unique human story of the patient and understand their unique situation before jumping to categorize the patient into a diagnostic algorithm that mechanically forces a common set of diagnostic tests and treatments to all patients in the category.

What is the best treatment for the masses may not be the best option for an individual patient. In my opinion, a fine balance between the evidence-based approach and subjective, individualized, narrative approach is needed to preserve the best interest of all patients.

When you are sick, the care you receive should be based on your unique situation, not what worked for people with similar diagnosis in a research study. The research findings should be used as a guideline to tailor a unique approach to your treatment based on your unique circumstances.

Ignoring the research findings would be a mistake but so would be using the one-size-fits-all approach to individual patients.

The narrative and subjective approach to medicine is especially important to patients who do not easily fit into a typical pattern of an illness. To get to the bottom of the cause of the suffering of that particular patient, we must first stop thinking about the standard set of diagnoses. If we dont, we will be trying to categorize the patient instead of trying to find the right diagnosis.

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Let’s put art back in medicine

Modernizing Medicine Reaches 550 Practices and Adds a Top Dermatology and Skin Cancer Center to Its Customer Roster

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BOCA RATON, FL--(Marketwire -07/31/12)- Modernizing Medicine, the creator of the Electronic Medical Assistant (EMA), a cloud-based specialty-specific EMR application, announced today that it is now integrated in more than 550 healthcare practices across the country, solidifying it as a strong contender in the EMR space.

In 2010, serial entrepreneur Dan Cane and dermatologist Michael Sherling co-founded Modernizing Medicine. Together the pair developed the company's flagship product, EMA. The speciality-specific EMR adapts to each healthcare providers' unique style of practice, and integrates seamlessly into the practice's workflow. EMA is available as a native iPad application and from any web-enabled Mac or PC. EMA's touch-based system virtually eliminates the need for a keyboard and saves valuable time by scribing notes, electronically prescribing, and automating lab requisition forms and results, and so much more.

In less than 18 months of sales, Modernizing Medicine has captured over 10% of the dermatology market in the United States. The company has grown to 75 employees and has secured a number of prestigious awards, including the number one spot in the South Florida Business Journal's Fastest Growing Companies 'Fast 50' list. EMA has achieved certification as a Complete EHR by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) and has earned Surescripts certification for prescription routing. Today, Modernizing Medicine provides specialty-specific offerings for the dermatology, ophthalmology and optometry markets.

Modernizing Medicine has recently added numerous specialty-specific healthcare practices to its customer roster including the Dermatology and Skin Cancer Center in Leawood, Kansas. The Dermatology and Skin Cancer Center is the largest dermatologic group in the Midwest and is recognized as one of the top treatment centers in the country. The practices' leaders chose EMA as its EMR over a number of other competitors.

"Before selecting Modernizing Medicine's EMA, we researched numerous other EMR systems. We choose EMA because we felt that Modernizing Medicine has truly developed an exceptional program that we feel is best suited for a dermatology and dermatologic surgery practice," said Dr. Glenn Goldstein, Director of the Dermatology and Skin Cancer Center. "EMA is incredibly well thought out and user-friendly. Modernizing Medicine has been with us from sale to implementation and we are truly impressed with all of their support."

"The Dermatology and Skin Cancer Center is the ideal customer for EMA. With a number of physicians and office staff, EMA makes it easy for all of the practices' authorized staff to access patient files on the fly and draft up a diagnosis or prescription quickly and efficiently in a collaborative manner," said James Brooks, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Modernizing Medicine. "We are excited to be supporting such a prestigious and complex group and look forward to supporting them as they continue to grow."

Modernizing Medicine plans to launch EMA for the plastics industry in late 2012 and for the orthopedic industry in early 2013.

About Modernizing MedicineModernizing Medicine is delivering the next generation of electronic medical records (EMR) technology for the healthcare industry. Our product, Electronic Medical Assistant (EMA), is a cloud-based specialty-specific EMR with a tremendous amount of medical content already built-in that saves physicians time. Available as a native iPad application or from any web-enabled Mac or PC, EMA adapts to each provider's unique style of practice and is designed to interface with over 400 different practice management systems. Today, Modernizing Medicine provides specialty-specific offerings for the dermatology, ophthalmology, and optometry markets, and to more than 500 practices across the country.

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Modernizing Medicine Reaches 550 Practices and Adds a Top Dermatology and Skin Cancer Center to Its Customer Roster

Liberty Residence I in Wadsworth to host school supply donation drive Thursday

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Liberty Residence I, an independent living center located at 250 Smokerise Drive, will host a Touch-a-Truck charity event from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday.

The charity event will help United Way of Medina County's Stuff-A-Bus Campaign gather new school supplies. Those who attend the event have the option of bringing supplies including notebooks, pencils, erasers, markers, hand sanitizer, back packs, combination locks, scientific calculators and other articles needed by children going to school.

According to information supplied by the center, one in five children are at risk of being unprepared for the first day of school.

The event will also include a safety program will, which will feature a fire truck, ambulance and a police cruiser from the Wadsworth departments with personnel on hand to explain the vehicles.

In addition, Ozzie, a K-9 dog will be on hand along with Patches," the talking robotic Dalmatian in a small fire engine, which talks to the children about fire prevention.

Bev Long, Marketing and Admissions Director for Liberty I and Liberty Residence II facilities, said Patches will be brought in by the Erhart York Township fire department located in Wayne County. Long said "kids love Patches."

In addition, Jo Jo and Mo Jo the clowns will provide balloon animals for the children. Long said the clowns are from Cuyahoga Falls and were a part of the Wadsworths Blue Tip Parade held in June.

Tours of the facility will be available for those who want to see the amenities offered by Liberty I.

Complimentary food will be available. Charter One Back will offer door prizes.

The event will be held rain or shine. More information can be obtained by calling 330-336-3616.

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Liberty Residence I in Wadsworth to host school supply donation drive Thursday

Sennen Board Recommends Shareholders Reject Liberty's Hostile Offer

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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - July 31, 2012) - Sennen Resources Ltd (SN.V) ("Sennen" or the "Company") notes Liberty Silver Corp.'s ("Liberty") offer issued on July 16, 2012 (the "Liberty Offer"). The Board of Directors of Sennen has carefully reviewed and considered the Liberty Offer and their UNANIMOUS recommendation to Sennen Shareholders is to REJECT the Liberty Offer and NOT TENDER their Sennen Shares, and that any Sennen Shareholder who has tendered their Sennen Shares to the Liberty Offer should formally WITHDRAW those Sennen Shares.

In unanimously concluding that the Liberty Offer is inadequate and not in the best interests of Sennen Shareholders, the Board of Directors, upon the recommendation of a Special Committee of the Board, and with a written opinion from Jennings Capital Inc. ("Jennings"), and in consultation with technical consultants, identified a number of negative aspects of the Liberty Offer as being most relevant, including the following:

Sennen is Better Positioned to Maximize the Value to Sennen Shareholders.

Liberty is Unable to Raise Cash.

Sennen Shareholders Would Be Contributing Substantially More Than They Would Receive.

Liberty's Trinity Silver Project is of Unknown Value and of No Interest to Sennen

Liberty has Limited Operating History; Sennen has a Track Record of Success.

Liberty has Issued 68,400,000 Shares at an Effective Price of Less than $0.01.

Management's Financial Commitment

The Liberty Offer is Financially Inadequate

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Sennen Board Recommends Shareholders Reject Liberty's Hostile Offer

Libertarian Party Sues D.C. Over Ballot Access Regulations

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To get on a ballot in D.C., you need to gather a certain amount of signatures from registered votersand the people circulating those petitions have to be registered voters in D.C. themselves. The Libertarian Party wants that to change.

This week the political party sued the D.C. Board of Elections over nominating petition rules, saying that the residency requirements unfairly hamper the efforts of three Libertarian candidatesBruce Majors, running for D.C. Delegate to Congress, Gary Johnson, running for president and Jim Gray, running for vice presidentto get on the November ballot. According to the suit, which was first reported by the City Paper's Loose Lips, the Libertarian Party wants anyone, regardless of residency, to be able to collect signatures for nominating petitions.

The lawsuit isn't of much use to Majors, the D.C. resident challenging D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton who said that he already has the 3,000 signatures needed to get on the ballot. (He only learned of the suit 48 hours before it was filed; the Center for Competitive Democracy and the national Libertarian Party took the lead on filing it.) Rather, it is aimed to help Johnson and Gray, who have to gather close to 5,000 signatures by August 8 to get on the D.C. ballot. The lawsuit also squares with the libertarian philosophy that fewer rules are better.

Earlier this year the party filed a similar lawsuit in Virginia, where they were backed by the ACLU. The plaintiff in that suit was Darryl Bonner, a resident of Pennsylvania, libertarian and a paid professional petition circulator.

According to the suitposted belowVirginia's restrictions placed a "severe burden" on the Libertarian Party's "First Amendment rights by making it more difficult for them to disseminate their political views, to choose the most effective means of conveying their message, to associate in a meaningful way with the prospective solicitors for the purposes of eliciting political change, to gain access to the ballot, and to utilize the endorsement of their candidate which can be implicit in a solicitors efforts to gather signatures on the candidates behalf."

According to Majors, ballot access lawsuits date back to the 1980s. But in the most recent case in D.C., Johnson and the Libertarian Party will have to hope for judicial relief sooner rather than latersignatures are due to the Board of Elections next week.

20120514 Virginia Ballot Access Complaint

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Benefits of Contraceptive Use in the United States – Video

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30-07-2012 15:29 Contraception is basic preventive health care for women—a simple truth that is too often lost in our political discourse. This video puts key facts front and center: Proper timing and spacing of births leads to healthier pregnancies; contraception, when used consistently, is highly effective; and cost can be a barrier to a woman using the contraceptive method that's right for her. This video was created by the Guttmacher Institute, a leading research and policy organization on sexual and reproductive health. Full transcript available: COMMENT POLICY: Comments reflecting the spectrum of opinion are welcomed. However, we ask that they be constructive and respectful in tone and content. Comments containing profanity, abusive or inflammatory language, misinformation or that are otherwise inappropriate will be removed. Comments appearing on this site are not endorsed by the Guttmacher Institute nor should they be taken to reflect the Institute's point of view.

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Benefits of Contraceptive Use in the United States - Video

Digesting the health care compromise bill

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By Chelsea Conaboy, Globe Staff

Lawmakers are expected to vote Tuesday on a 350-page bill that would make Massachusetts the first state to impose limits on how much health care providers can spend on medical costs. Its a complicated, far-reaching bill that depends on the states ability to collect massive amounts of data and to make it usable by regulators and consumers.

Leaders in the House and Senate prepared summaries of key provisions in the bill. Below, see some early reaction from consumer advocates and others.

The bill comes after more than a year and a half of negotiations on Beacon Hill. But the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, which has served as a consumer advocate on health costs, urged people not to see the bills expected passage as an end to the debate.

We invite all stakeholders to meet with us publicly at a gathering of GBIO leaders on Tuesday September 17th, 2013 -- one year from now -- to evaluate the progress in controlling costs and assess the effectiveness of this legislation, President Rev. Burns Stanfield said in a press release.

The group lauded the bills allocation of $60 million for public health programs and its setting of a spending target:

Specifically, per person health care spending is targeted to grow no more than the Gross State Product during the years of 2013-2017. Then a more aggressive target of GSP minus .5% is established for the years 2018-2022.

These targets have the potential to establish a clear incentive to make real changes that will reduce costs; eliminate waste; and improve patient care. However, to accomplish these aims an enhanced enforcement mechanism will likely be necessary.

Eric Schultz, chief executive of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, congratulated lawmakers on the bill, in an e-mailed statement:

While we continue to review its many complex elements, it is clearly a meaningful step forward in the effort to control health care spending. We look forward to working with our partners in state government and other key stakeholders to fully implement the law so that we, as a Commonwealth, are able to fully realize its potential to improve care and control the rate of increase in health care costs for Massachusetts consumers and businesses.

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Digesting the health care compromise bill

Water Street Closes $750 Million Private Equity Fund

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CHICAGO, July 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Water Street Healthcare Partners, a strategic private equity firm focused exclusively on the health care industry, announced today the closing of its third private equity fund, Water Street Healthcare Partners III, L.P. ("Fund III"). The fund closed at its cap of $750 million of investor commitments, exceeding the original target of $650 million when fundraising began in early June. Investors in the fund include leading domestic and international pension funds, endowments and financial institutions, most of which have invested in Water Street since the firm raised its first fund in 2006.

"We are very pleased with the value Water Street has built in its group of health care companies, and the strong results its team has achieved over the past six years," said Investment Director Brian Welker, Allianz Capital Partners, an investor in Water Street since 2006. "What we appreciate most about Water Street is how it engages its entire team in the value creation process. It leverages the vast experience of its operating partners with the financial expertise of its investment partners to proactively source and invest in attractive companies, strategically expand their products and services, and build them into market leaders."

Water Street has completed more than 30 strategic acquisitions and mergers, the majority of which were privately negotiated, to build 16 market-leading health care companies in six years. The firm has acquired and grown its companies through partnerships with the world's premier health care corporations including Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, Inc. and Gentiva Health Services, Inc., as well as founders and executives of middle-market companies. In the past three months, Water Street acquired Breg, Inc. from Orthofix International, N.V., divested its dental pharmaceutical company, OraPharma, to Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., and divested Physiotherapy Associates after building into a national outpatient rehabilitation services leader.

"We are deeply grateful to our investors for their overwhelming support of Water Street. Their recognition of the results our team has achieved and enthusiasm for our strategy enabled us to raise this fund efficiently. Importantly, by extending our partnership, investors continue to support our strategy of building market-leading companies of greater long-term value in targeted growth segments of health care. We will continue to invest our team's deep health care expertise, extensive operating experience and network of industry relationships to create transformational growth for our companies and deliver outstanding results for our investors," said Tim Dugan, managing partner, Water Street.

With Fund III, Water Street's total capital under management increases to nearly $2 billion. Water Street will continue to pursue proprietary investments in four segments of health care: medical and diagnostic products and devices, specialty distribution, outsourced health care services, and specialty pharmaceutical products and services. Target investments range in size from $50 million to $500 million in value. Water Street will continue to grow its companies through a combination of strategic acquisitions and organic initiatives.

Water Street closed its inaugural equity fund of $370 million in 2006 and its second equity fund of $650 million in 2008.

About Water Street

Water Street is a strategic private equity firm focused exclusively on health care. The firm has a strong record of building market-leading companies across key growth sectors in health care. It has worked with some of the world's leading health care companies on its investments including Gentiva, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic and Smith & Nephew. Water Street's team is comprised of industry executives and private equity professionals with decades of experience investing in and operating global health care businesses. The firm is headquartered in Chicago. For more information about Water Street, visit waterstreet.com.

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Water Street Closes $750 Million Private Equity Fund

Women Nearing Retirement Underestimate Future Health Care Costs More Than Men

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COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

While facing the prospect of living more years in retirement, women nearing retirement underestimate how much they will need to pay for their future health care costs even more so than men nearing retirement, according to a Nationwide Financial survey released today.

According to the survey conducted by Harris Interactive of 1,250 Americans with at least $250,000 in household assets, women close to retirement estimate they will spend $4,624 each year on health care beyond what Medicare covers. Thats 21 percent less than the $5,882 men nearing retirement estimate they will spend each year on things like premiums, copayments and deductibles. However, both are way off. A 2012 study found a 65-year-old couple retiring today would need $240,000 to cover medical expenses during their retirement years and that doesnt include long-term care costs. 1

The fact is women live longer than men, which means they will spend more time in retirement and that places women at a greater risk of outliving their retirement assets, said John Carter, president of sales and distribution for Nationwide Financial. It also may increase their chances of incurring long-term care costs during their golden years. Thats why its especially important for women to plan for health care costs in retirement.

According to the survey, nearly half of both women and men say they are terrified of what health care costs may do to their retirement plans. Yet, women respondents nearing retirement are much more likely than men respondents to say they have not estimated:

On average, women estimate that Medicare will cover 65 percent of their annual health care costs. But, similar to men respondents, when asked how they came to this percentage, 85 percent either guessed or did not know. Only 2 percent said they were told this by a financial advisor.

Women are also slightly more likely than men to say they are somewhat unconfident to not at all confident in their plan to live comfortably in their retirement years (46 percent vs. 39 percent men).

Opportunity for advisors

While 65 percent of women have discussed their retirement with a financial advisor of those who have, only one in 10 talked about how much they should expect to pay in health care costs apart from Medicare (compared to one in four men).

Of those who have discussed retirement with a financial advisor, 77 percent of women say they were helpful to very helpful estimating health care costs in retirement (63 percent men) and a whopping 86 percent say they were helpful to very helpful discussing the role Medicare will play in their retirement (52 percent men).

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Women Nearing Retirement Underestimate Future Health Care Costs More Than Men