Peru warns against visiting Pacific beaches due to deaths of pelicans, dolphins

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LIMA, Peru Peru's Health Ministry is urging people to stay away from Pacific beaches from Lima northward after recent large-scale deaths of pelicans and dolphins.

Neither the Health Ministry nor Peru's oceanographic institute has determined the cause of the deaths, and there is no indication the deaths of the birds and the mammals are related.

And Saturday's warning did not indicate why it might be dangerous to visit beaches. Peru's agricultural safety service ruled out Friday that the pelicans could have died of avian flu, which could be contagious to humans.

Since February, some 877 dolphins and, more recently, at least 1,200 pelicans have been found dead on Peruvian beaches for unexplained reasons.

Local fishermen and restaurant owners said Saturday's warning hasn't had much effect on their businesses.

It's the low season for Peruvian beach-goers, in any case.

A check of Lima's beaches found no dead animals on the shore but sanitation crews were cleaning up an unusually large amount of garbage and debris including plastic bags and bottles and pieces of wood.

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Peru warns against visiting Pacific beaches due to deaths of pelicans, dolphins

The Point on asteroid mining and antiscience | Bad Astronomy

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The Point is a web-based talk show on the Young Turks YouTube channel where various issues are discussed by panelists. They have people send in short videos making some salient point, then panelists discuss it. Cara Santa Maria the senior science correspondent at The Huffington Post guest-hosted the show this last week, and asked me to send in a video for discussion. I talked about asteroid mining, which started an interesting discussion.

For more information about asteroid mining and Planetary Resources, you can read my recent post about them.

The video embedded above is set to start at my segment, but Ill note that my friend Chris Mooney was the first video they discussed, talking his new book "The Republican Brain". Chris is always careful when he discusses this topic, knowing it will be misinterpreted willfully or otherwise, which of course it has been. But I do have to point out one thing that bugged me: noted science author K. C. Cole was on the panel, and I agreed with much of what she said. But when talking about Chriss book, she brought out the "Well, theres antiscience on the left as well" meme, and that argument really irks me.

Yes, there does exist antiscience bias on the left as promulgated by antivaxxers and alt-medders and I have to debunk that way too often as well but its not nearly as far-reaching as antiscience on the right. Its not a party platform, for one thing, and for another there simply isnt nearly as much or as focused as it is on the right. Read this link for more about this (especially before you leave a comment here hint, hint).

Still, it was an interesting discussion on The Point, and Id like to thank Cara for inviting me. And as to her question at 35:43 yes. Yes, I am.

Related Posts:

- Breaking: Private company does indeed plan to mine asteroids and I think they can do it - Space firm about to make a big announcement. I take a stab at what it is. - TED talks now on Netflix including mine

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The Point on asteroid mining and antiscience | Bad Astronomy

Jupiter, acting all superior | Bad Astronomy

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This is a cool picture:

What youre seeing is from the NASA/ESA satellite Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO. It stares at the Sun all the time, monitoring its activity. This image, from May 3, 2012 is from the LASCO C3, one of the cameras on board. It has a little metal paddle (called an occulter) to block the ferocious light of the Sun; thats the black bar and circle. The white outline is the position of the Sun and its size in the image.

You can see an emerging coronal mass ejection on the left: thats the bulb-shaped thingy. Its actually an incredibly violent expulsion of a billion tons of subatomic particles hurled away at high speed due to the explosive discharge of the Suns magnetic field but thats not why I posted this picture.

You can also see streamers coming from the Sun; those are places where particles flow freely into space from the Sun. Basically, the magnetic field of the Sun trails into space in those locations, allowing the wind to escape. But thats not why Im showing you this picture, either.

Look on the left. See that weird dot with the horizontal line through it? Thats Jupiter! The line is not real; its where the camera got overexposed by the planet (digital detectors like your phone camera convert photons of light into electrons, and if a source is too bright, the electrons overflow the pixels like water from a bucket. The way the camera works, the electrons flow along the horizontal grid of pixels, creating these lines. This is called "blooming").

Jupiter has been gracing our sky for months, but has been getting further west every night, closing the apparent distance between it and the Sun. Its on the opposite side of the Sun from us, at a distance of almost 900 million kilometers (550 million miles). When two objects get close in the sky, its called a conjunction. When its a planet on the far side of the Sun, its called superior conjunction. Just sos you know.

Anyway, I just think this is neat. Jupiter is roughly one-billionth as bright as the Sun, yet there it is in the picture! And even though SOHO is designed to look at the Sun, Jupiter is so bright its overexposed. Imagine if the spacecraft moved a bit and the Sun were to peek out from behind the occulter which can happen. SOHO goes into "safe mode" when that happens, shutting down systems that might get damaged. Every astronomical satellite has contingency plans like that, since its hard to send a repair service to most of em. Generally its fixable by sending software commands to the spacecraft once the underlying problem has been ascertained.

If you want, SOHO has images online that are updated constantly. Go see what the Sun is doing now! Over the next few days Jupiter will get closer to the Sun, then pass very close to or even behind the disk. LASCO 2, another camera on SOHO that has a smaller field of view but a bit more resolution, should show the moons too when Jupiter moves into its field. Ill post again when that happens. Thatll be even neater.

Image credit: NASA/ESA/SOHO

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Jupiter, acting all superior | Bad Astronomy

Leading Astronomy Podcast Teams With Top Telescope On Demand Service

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AstroPodcast and iTelescope announce sponsorship deal.Coonabarabran, Australia (PRWEB) May 07, 2012 Leading astronomy podcast AstroPodcast today announced a sponsorship deal with internet based telescope-on-demand service iTelescope that will see episodes featuring iTelescope announcements and special deals.iTelescope.Net is the world’s premier network of Internet connected telescopes, allowing ...

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Leading Astronomy Podcast Teams With Top Telescope On Demand Service

Road to Malaysia’s day of destiny

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With well over 100,000 people gathering last week for electoral reform in the largest street protest in the nations history and the event marred by violence by both state and non-state actors alike Malaysian politics has reached an important impasse.

The Bersih 3.0 rally and its aftermath reveal that the path ahead for Malaysian politics will grow even more contentious and complex. As the different Bersih stories pour in, ranging from ordinary heroism to the darker accounts of beatings and abuse of power, the move of Malaysian politics outside of the realm of elite to the streets and social media is both empowering and scary.

Prime Minister Najib Razaks decision not to accommodate the concerns of the protesters last week, and even to demonise their actions, now prods Malaysia further along the road to its day of destiny, where the political fate of Malaysias 54-year government will be determined. So far, the routes chosen are one of confrontation rather than compromise, making resolution to differences even more difficult.

Before the rally, Iarguedthat four actors would shape politics around Bersih 3.0 the youth, the middle class, the police and East Malaysians. Of these, three were decisive on rally day itself (the latter will grow more so as elections approach).

The youth and the middle-class attended the rally in large numbers, marking a new generations engagement with politics and transforming a largely apathetic middle class into a more engaged electorate.

Those wearing yellow and green included Malaysias soccer moms, the shopping mall princesses, disgruntled students, retirees and usually reticent professionals.

These individuals comprised those who had for years enjoyed the air-conditioned comfort of Malaysias success, yet with different levels of concern and angst chose to brave Kuala Lumpurs hot and humid conditions on April 28. It was uncomfortable, but overwhelmingly, this embrace of discomfort shows how engaged Malaysians are with hot-button political issues and their willingness to stand up and be counted.

They were there because they see the country moving in the wrong direction and wanted to make it right. At the very least, the Bersih rally revealed the shortcomings of the countrys leaders in addressing the concerns of a large, important and increasing number of its citizens.

Much of the attention focused on the third actor, the police, whose over-the-top actions in the use of tear gas and their attacks on journalists have permanently stained their reputation among those connected to the rally.

For those not at the rally, the picture is less clear as the mainstream media has manipulated the event in an attempt to snatch the moral high ground, with the government going as far as censoring the international media and destroying cameras. Often the characterisation of police action has been one of black and white, where in actual fact there is much more gray, and views are evolving as more and more stories are shared.

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Road to Malaysia’s day of destiny

What’s On

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The great outdoors

Adventure and Nature offers a six day outdoor camp for those 13 years and above with sailing, para sailing, rock climbing and rappelling in the eastern ghats. The camp is scheduled from May 12 to 17.

For more information call 9940355521.9176130365

Mind your manners

Table etiquette classes for children in the five to 12 age group by Marriott Chef at Kartwheel Kids Play Gym and Party Place.

For more details call 96000 50073

Summer cruise

Chennai Citi Centre kicks off this summer with Summer Fest Cruise for kids. A month long fun and entertainment that is on till June 4.

Citi Centre has recreated a model of a cruise ship in the mall and there is a lot of entertainment on this cruise. As an additional bonanza kids can meet one of their favourite characters Donald, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Dora and Bujji,Tom and Jerry, Spider Man and Tweety.

Quiz time

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What’s On

Some foods and chemical additives cause arthritis inflammation, gout and fibromyalgia pain

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by: JB Bardot

Certain foods and chemical additives disguised as food can aggravate or cause muscle and joint pain associated with arthritis, gout and fibromyalgia. Avoiding these foods can pave the way for reduced inflammation, stiffness and pain - setting the stage for ongoing relief, with increased mobility and a better mental attitude. Although it may be a challenge to avoid well-loved foods, keep in mind that many of those foods are causing widespread systemic problems that result in debilitating pain, so they are not your friends.

Nightshade Vegetables

The nightshade vegetables are lesser-known offenders; however, for some people, eating any nightshade can cause excruciating pain and disability. This small family of vegetables contains a natural substance called solanine; when consumed, it can produce severe pain in the joints and the soft tissue, giving rise to arthritis and fibromyalgia flare-ups. The nightshades include tomatoes, peppers, white potatoes, eggplant and tobacco. Because several of these vegetables are included in so many recipes, special attention must be given to eliminating them from the diet. Smokers suffering from arthritis might view the possible cause and effect relationship of tobacco on their condition. Readmore…

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Get Out Your Sunscreen

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Finally - some sunny and warm weather for those of us who've been buried under winter clothing for the last several months.  Along with the warming trend, much good - a chance to bare your arms and let your skin make some Vitamin D - helping you to ward off a range of health threats.  On the negative side, the sun causes photoaging, one of the major drivers of skin aging.  Not only does the sun accelerate the formation of wrinkles that naturally occur in skin over time, but it wreaks its own havoc on the skin's structure, affecting its thickness and texture.   Make sure you apply a high-SPF sunscreen after fifteen or so minutes in the sun!

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Physical Therapy Experience Opportunity:

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Are you interested in pursuing Physical Therapy as a career and need contact hours for your application to Physical Therapy School? Or are you interested in PT and wanting to gain more experience? We are an outpatient physical therapy clinic in Oro Valley (NW Tucson). We see a good variety of patients with injuries or limitations in the following categories: orthopedics, post-operative, sports, women’s health, pediatrics and neuro. Both therapists are great mentors and teachers and are highly enthusiastic and passionate about what they do. If you are interested in interning at our clinic, please contact Kim Blanchard at kvblanchard@idealrehab.com and provide the following: Name, Year in School, Expected Graduation Date, Plans/Goals for Future (if uncertain please provide what areas you are interested in and why), any prior experience in PT, any additional activities you are involved in, days and time available. Thank you, we look forward to hearing from you! Dixie Callan, PT, DPT Staff Physical Therapist 10355 N LaCanada Dr, Suite 125 Oro Valley, AZ 85737 Phone: 520-822-8640 Fax: 520-822-8641 Email: dcallan@idealrehab.com

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Opening Pathology Education Through Virtual Microscopy

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Courtesy of Indiana University

Spotlight, May 2012

Mark Braun

The optical microscope, still recognizable centuries after its invention, is among the instruments most readily associated with modern medicine. Dr. Mark Braun, Professor of Pathology in IUB’s Medical Science Program, is changing that. IU medical students now turn on their computers to learn about disease states in human tissues, thanks to Dr. Braun’s “virtual” microscopy.

Before the development of these digital resources, students had to spend time in the laboratory learning how to set up and use the microscopes. Only then could they even begin studying slide specimens.  But there were further limitations to studying. Each time they wanted to study, each student had to come to campus, go to the lab, get a microscope (if it wasn’t locked away in a cabinet), set up the microscope, and then begin working on the slide tissue specimens. Dr. Braun wanted to streamline that process and expand access beyond time and place.

Now, with virtual microscopy, medical students have unlimited access to laboratory specimens – at home or on campus, day or night, alone or in groups. And virtual microscopy allows students to collaborate in study groups without losing their sense of “discovery”, an important aspect of working with physical glass slides.

Dr. Braun and his colleagues have studied both medical students’ and undergraduate anatomy students’ use of virtual microscopy over the years. They have published several papers on the results. In general, students are enthusiastic about the experience. Virtual microscopy allows them to use their time and resources more efficiently, and students report there is much more opportunity for collaboration.

The virtual microscopy project evolved from a teaching challenge that presented itself many years ago. Students weren’t gleaning and retaining the important information from the microscopic slides they were studying in the lab. Part of the problem was that students’ access to slide specimens was limited to lab time. Frustrated by this, Dr. Braun developed a plan to make these resources available to students outside of the lab.

First Dr. Braun captured photomicrographs of the exact specimens students were studying and brought them from the lab into the lecture classroom. Later, using these digital images, he developed a custom printed manual of microscopic anatomy. The next step was to develop a website of clinical cases for students to work through. The lab atlas eventually was incorporated into that website. As more technologies have become available, the website evolved to include clinical cases which contain video clips, images, text, and some links to humorous “surprises” that keep students motivated and engaged.

With only a few exceptions, Dr. Braun has made these virtual resources open to anyone in the world. And according to site data, the world is looking and learning. Dr. Braun often hears from people outside Indiana University and the United States who have benefitted from the materials he has developed.

To see examples of virtual microscopy or learn from a case study, visit http://medsci.indiana.edu/c602web/602/start.htm

Web Screenshot

References

Schutte, A., Braun, M. 2009. Virtual Microscopy: Experiences of a Large Undergraduate Anatomy Course. Human Anatomy and Physiology (HAPS) Educator, Fall 2009: 39-42.

Hussman, P., O’Loughlin, V., Braun, M. 2009. Quantitative and qualitative changes in teaching histology by means of virtual microscopy in an introductory course in human anatomy. Anatomical Sciences Education 2: 218-226.

Braun, M.W., and Kearns, K.D. 2008. “Improved Learning Efficiency and Increased Student Collaboration Through Use of Virtual Microscopy in the Teaching of Human Pathology,” Anatomical Sciences Education. 1:240-246.

 

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Money matters take center stage at ATA 2012

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May 01, 2012 Eric Wicklund, Editor, mHIMSS

While healthcare providers are looking for a return on investment in telemedicine applications, venture capitalists are looking for a reason to invest in the growing industry. And neither issue is going to be easy to solve.

That was the gist of two separate panel discussions Monday at the American Telemedicine Association’s 2012 Conference and Exposition.

Finding the ROI for providers
News DollarsThe four participants in Monday’s “Paying for Telemedicine” industry executive panel discussion agreed very quickly on one key fact: Forget, for now, about reimbursements. Once you get beyond expecting the government to pay you back for your services, they said, you can get creative and find new sources of ROI.

“You need to rethink the value proposition,” said Roy Schoenberg, MD, CEO of American Well, and “look at all the (other) pieces of the puzzle,” like payers and patients. He said the traditional concept of thinking solely about how physicians will be paid is too short-sighted.

“There are models and innovative ways,” added Kathleen Plath, vice president of sales and marketing for Specialists on Call, “so that we don’t have to wait for reimbursement.”

Moderated by Cardiocom CEO and president Daniel L. Consentino and featuring Schoenberg, Plath and Randall Swanson, vice president of business operations for Intel GE Care Innovations, the discussion tackled what many consider to be the chief barrier to full-on acceptance of telemedicine as a standard of care. And the panelists generally agreed that, instead of waiting for the government to embrace and reimburse for telemedicine, providers need to look for other sources of value.

“Where is telehealth generating value that people are willing to pay for?” asked Schoenberg.

For instance, he said, health plans might be willing to pay to help their members stay healthy and avoid unnecessary hospital visits, patients themselves might be willing to pay if it helps them avoid much more expensive healthcare encounters down the road, and employers – both large and small – might be willing to pay to ensure their workforce is healthy and productive and isn’t taking time off from work to visit the doctor or nurse a cold.

“Self-insured employers … have a big interest in controlling the exploding growth of healthcare costs in their space,” said Swanson.

Schoenberg said the development of accountable care organizations (there are some 150 proposals before the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said Consentino) will spur telemedicine because they require payers and providers to assume a portion of the risk in preventing avoidable health problems, and “risk is a great thing because it forces people to think about innovation.”

“It’s not cookbook medicine any more,” Swanson said.

On the other hand, Schoenberg said, ignorance is one of the bigger barriers to telemedicine adoption. As an example, he pointed out a recent bill before California’s legislature that was designed to curb illegal use of online pharmacies, but was worded to basically eliminate telemedicine in the state.

“One of the biggest obstacles is we don’t know what we don’t know,” added Plath.

The panelists agreed that telemedicine will continue to grow, regardless of whether the Obama administration’s healthcare reform efforts are overturned by the Supreme Court or how long it takes for reimbursement to catch up. Consentino then pointed out that it’s taken 20 years for telemedicine to get this far, and most of that growth has been seen in just the last couple of years.

“We need to build an evidence base that shows and demonstrates a clear value proposition,” he said.

Finding the value for investors
Value propositions were also the focus of another panel discussion, titled “Financing Telemedicine.”

When it comes to investing in telemedicine technology and services, venture capitalists typically won’t give the time of day to anything intended for a market of less than $500 million. The reason is simple: It costs the same amount of money to develop a product for a small market as it does a large market, but large markets offer more profit potential.

“You want something to pay off big,” said Barbara Lubash, managing director of the investment firm Versant Ventures.

In fact, when it comes to health IT, she said, her firm turns down “nine of 10 – and maybe more” of all requests for funding, and that’s because most are intended for a niche audience that health plans won’t reimburse.

Along with Lubash and Jack Young, senior investment manager for Qualcomm Ventures, the panel discussion featured moderator Molly Coye, MD, chief innovation officer for the UCLA Health System Institute for Innovation in Health. The session’s goal: To explain what the investment community looks for when sizing up potential opportunities in telemedicine.

In addition to market size, that includes “something that solves a top 1, 2 or 3 problem for decision makers,” Lubash said. “It has to be compelling.”

For example, with the rise of accountable care organizations, reducing readmissions is a big issue for hospitals.

“In the past, it was more about getting revenue,” Lubash said. “Now the top problem is not getting heads in the bed, but controlling the underlying costs.”

Also, investors like to work with entrepreneurs that have a track record of success.

“If you can find a person who investors are already crazy about, do it,” she said. “If you can’t, it’s better to come alone than with a runner-up.”

When seeking investment dollars, healthcare entrepreneurs should be able to explain how their product or service will benefit payers, patients, doctors and device makers. How will it reduce costs (payers), improve care (doctors), create conveniences (patients) or drive revenue (device makers)?

“It’s easy to say, ‘I’ve got this great thing,’ but have they thought about how it will satisfy these four constituencies?” he said.

If the product or service is intended for a consumer audience, it should be easy to use, and, if possible, allow for passive adoption. That’s because people are more likely to use a product if it doesn’t require them to change behavior or learn something new, Young said.

When it comes to mHealth, convincing an investor to provide funding can be a difficult task, Lubash said.

“In general, they tend to be (products) with narrow applications and short lifecycles,” she said. “It’s not a sustainable model.”

Home » News » Emerging Practices, HealthCare Professionals, Usability, Research, Health Disparities,Finance, Innovation, Devices » Money matters take center stage at ATA 2012

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A survey on digital pathology adoption – Cirdan Imaging – Win a new iPad

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Cirdan Imaging, a new name in digital pathology, is developing new low-cost digital pathology solutions to improve workflow within the laboratory.

We would like to build up a detailed picture of what digital pathology techniques have been implemented in the laboratory and to determine how far these have penetrated into day-to-day operations.

If you are working anywhere within the pathology laboratory environment or have an interest in new digital pathology techniques, we would appreciate your comments.

You can enter our survey at:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/cirdanimaging

The full results of the survey will be available and will be circulated to all respondents. The respondents will also have the opportunity to be entered into a draw for an new iPad.

Click here to submit survey.

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In-Office Laboratories Applying for CAP Accreditation

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How do you hide a dollar from a radiologist? - Pin it to the patient.

How do you hide a dollar from a surgeon? - Put it in a textbook.

How do you hide a dollar from a pathologist? - Put it in a living patient.

How do you hide a dollar from an internist? - Put it under a surgical dressing.

How do you hide a dollar from a plastic surgeon? - Ah, that's a trick question: there is no way to hide a dollar from a plastic surgeon!

How do you hide a dollar from a urologist? - Apparently you can't.

Now, here is another good one:

A couple of weeks ago, healthcare insurance giant, Aetna will require physician practices with in-office pathology labs to be both CLIA certified and accredited by either the College of American Pathologists (CAP) or the Joint Commission (JCAHO) in order to receive payments from the company for anatomic pathology services. Aetna has 18.5 million health plan members making it the third-largest health insurance company in the United States after UnitedHealth and Wellpoint.

So, let me see if I get this right.  

CAP_certificationWhile the College of American Pathologists is "vigorously lobbying" Congress to stop the practice of in-office pathology laboratory services, including, but not limited to, lobbying efforts and supporting the recently published Mitchell study looking at overutilization of these businesses, in the meantime, until their voice is heard and their "vigorous efforts" bring a close to these operations, they will inspect them, accredit them and allow them to use the "CAP Accredited" stamp of approval to get paid.

Huh?

I guess, as the saying goes, if you can't beat them, join them.

I don't actually blame the College for doing this.  It is part of their business to accredit laboratories.  And the Laboratory Accreditation Program (LAP) offered by CAP, is nationally and I believe increasing internationally renown for offering objective, balanced, thorough and professional inspections through a series of checklist items to establish best clinical practices for laboratories.  Over the decades, the process has stood the test of time with minimal shenanigans by either laboratories or inspectors with a few notable exceptions that aren't worth rehashing.  Until a few years ago, inspections were scheduled and labs that submitted to be inspected were notified of the inspection date(s).  Now they are more of a "surprise" were there is a date range during which you can be inspected. This allows for a lab to be ready when the window opens inasmuch as being ready on the date of a scheduled inspection.

The core of the LAP is that it largely remains a peer-reviewed process.  Like individuals from like laboratories inspect one another.  As a pathologist from a large hospital system, my lab would be inspected by a group from a similar size that offers comparable tests and complexity of tests.  Likewise, I would inspect similar labs and pathologists and laboratorians from smaller operations, say with minimal complexity staffed by a handful of pathologists would do the same.  

Typically, in the peer-inspection process, a team, usually led by a pathologist will take others along with him/her from their laboratories, or other laboratories to make sure that all sections of the lab that are applying for accreditation have the necessary personnel and folks who know those areas of the lab to inspect the lab appropriately.

Having done a few inspections, and been through many more, I always find them thoughtful, professional, engaging and whether you are inspector or inspectee, one always learns something they can either leave or take with them to their own shop.  Peer-to-peer criticism and compliment.

Herein lies the problem.

Who is going to inspect the in-office laboratories?  Pathologists and teams from other in-office laboratories I would imagine.  

Ironically, pathologists that get self-referral work would self-refer to one another as part of the CAP LAP program for accreditation.

Huh?

What is a pathologist goes into one of these shops and discovers that these labs are not doing triple stains on all their prostate biopsies? Or doing fewer than 12 cups of tissue per patient? Or not doing DNA ploidy analysis on the numerous cores to insure it came from that patient?

What standard of care would these laboratories be subject to?  Has been awhile since I did the surgical pathology checklist as part of an inspection but I do not recall specific questions about number of containers, stains or cancer detection rates in these laboratories.

Also not sure what came first here, Aetna saying it would require CAP inspection for claims to be paid or if the CAP responded to a need by the insurance company in some way, shape or form.

At this point it doesn't really matter.  What does matter is that the College should inspect these labs accordingly for appropriate accreditation in defense of the College, its Laboratory Accreditation Program and what it stands for.  

Modifications should be made to the existing checklists to ensure that these laboratories practices are in accordance with CAP standards of practice and those of other types of laboratories that, specifically, do not self-refer, but rather earn business because of CAP accreditation, rather than labs that do it just to get paid.

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Voicebrook Celebrates Its 10th Year in Business

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I recall where I was about 10 years when the topic of speech recognition came up for use in our practice. We experimented with a few applications while other services in the hospital were doing the same.  The needs being similar: accurate word capture, standard reporting, similar formatting and minimizing data entry/transcription/translatiion errors.  

Exciting to see where this industry and products have come 10 years later and the growth companies such as Voicebrook have recognized by meeting the needs of its customers.  

Rewards Customer Loyalty by Expanding Support Coverage

LAKE SUCCESS, NY April 21, 2012 — Voicebrook, the leader in Pathology speech recognition and reporting solutions, is proud to announce its 10th anniversary in business.

Pressrelease_79439_1296241599Voicebrook was formed in April of 2002 by speech recognition and healthcare industry veterans Michael Cipriani, Joseph Desiderio, Richard Friedman, and E. Ross Weinstein.  They set out to impact the healthcare industry by providing innovative solutions and first class professional services to drive adoption of speech recognition.  Today, with staff throughout the US supporting more than 200 laboratories across North America, Voicebrook is the largest provider of speech recognition-based Pathology reporting solutions in the industry.

For the last decade, Voicebrook has provided Pathology laboratories with reliable, cost-saving, reporting solutions that have improved efficiencies and compliance while reducing reporting errors.  Now the company is celebrating this milestone anniversary by giving thanks to its customers and expanding its support coverage at no additional cost. Starting on April 30th, 2012, the company’s new hours of coverage will be as follows:

Monday – Friday: 8AM to 1AM EST

Saturday: 9AM to 5PM EST

"Our clients are among the best in Pathology and healthcare, and they have been the driving force in supporting our growth over the past 10 years," said E. Ross Weinstein, CEO, Voicebrook. "Even through difficult economic times, we have shown tremendous growth, propelling us into a leadership position in this space.  Our management team decided that in celebration of 10 memorable years as a company, we wanted to give something back to those who have given us so much.  To reward this loyalty we are announcing new expanded support hours for all of our customers at no additional cost.  We would like to say thank you, and we look forward to continuing our relationship over the next 10 years.”

For more information, please visit http://www.voicebrook.com.

About Voicebrook

Voicebrook is the leading provider of integrated speech recognition and digital dictation solutions for Pathology. Voicebrook’s VoiceOver® software integrates directly with most AP/LIS systems, and has been widely deployed in Pathology throughout the US and Canada.  Voicebrook has developed specific best practices for implementation and on-going support, ensuring the most successful deployments of integrated speech recognition technology for Pathology.

Copyright © 2012 Voicebrook, Inc. All rights reserved.

Voicebrook, VoiceOver, and the Voicebrook logo are registered trademarks of Voicebrook, Inc.  All other names and trademarks referenced herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

Source: Voicebrook

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A Few More Slots Remaining for Comparative Anatomy: Animals and the Fundamentals of Drawing Weekend Workshop with Chris Muller, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, May 5 & 6, Observatory

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Hi all! we have just a few more slots for Chris Muller's upcoming comparative anatomy drawing class; full info follows. If interested in attending, shoot me an email at morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com.

Comparative Anatomy: Animals and the Fundamentals of Drawing Weekend Workshop
A weekend workshop with Chris Muller, NYU's Tisch School of the Arts
Dates: Saturday May 5 & Sunday May 6
Time: 1 - 4 PM
Fee: $75 (includes museum admission)
*** Class size limited to 15; Must RSVP to morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com
This class is part of The Morbid Anatomy Art Academy
Using animal and human anatomy as a jumping off point, this course will look at the ground-level, first principles of drawing as representation. Focusing mainly on mammal anatomy, we’ll look at the basic shared forms between humans and other animals, how these forms dictate movement, and how to express those forms.
Saturday’s class will be held at Observatory, where with the aid of several skeletons we’ll look at basic structures, sprinkling our exploration with odd facts and observations. Messy investigatory drawings will ensue.

Sunday’s class will be a field trip to the American Museum of Natural History, where applying the principles of Saturday’s class we’ll create beautiful drawings of the animals on display. Then, mastery attained, we will stride forth into the world, better artists and better people.

Materials
Saturday

  • Sketchbook or sketchpad, 11 X 14 or larger
  • B and HB pencils
  • Colored pencils, in the reds and blues and browns
  • Hand pencil sharpener
  • Erasers

Sunday

  • All of the above, with perhaps a portable sketchbook in place of the larger sketchpad
  • Portable folding stool (optional)

Chris Muller is an artist and exhibit designer based in Brooklyn. He has designed exhibits for the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum for African Art, the Children's Museum of Manhattan, and many others. He has designed sets for Laurie Anderson, Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, the Atlantic Theater Company, and others. He teaches drawing and digital painting at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

You can find out more here; you can RSVP by emailing me at morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com. You can find out more about the Morbid Anatomy Art Academy by clicking here.

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Call for Papers: The Art of Death and Dying Conference, University of Houston, October 25-27, 2012

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Just received word of this promising looking upcoming conference entitled "The Art of Death and Dying;" calls for work are due May 1, and full details follow:

The Art of Death and Dying, University of Houston, October 25-27, 2012
http://artofdeathanddying.blogspot.com/

The University of Houston Libraries, in partnership with the Blaffer Art Museum, the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, the Department for Hispanic Studies, the Honors College and School of Art, will host a three day symposium titled "The Art of Death and Dying" on October 25-27, 2012.

We welcome scholars in all disciplines to submit paper proposals on literary, visual, and performing arts topics related to death and dying. Topics of the symposium include, but are not limited to:

  • Depictions or interpretations of death and dying in performing and visual arts
  • Depictions of interpretations of death and dying in literature
  • Depictions of death and dying in film, radio, and television
  • Commemoration of the dead in art, architecture and performance
  • Artifacts of death and dying as represented in archival or museum collections
  • Artistic depictions of the after life
  • Cultural death rituals
  • Cultural expressions of mourning
  • Death and dying in Latin American arts and culture
  • Readings of original creative material on the subject
  • Performances of original material on the subject
  • Presentation of original visual material on the subject
  • Memorial architecture
  • Cemetery design
  • Analysis of an artist's, architect's, performer's, filmmaker's or writer's work related to the subject

Proposals related to death in Latin American arts and visual culture are encouraged. The organizers will accept presentations in both Spanish and English.

Papers will be selected based upon the quality of the proposal (including merit of the topic, clarity of expression, and relevance to the conference theme), the proposal’s ability to provoke critical exchange and debate, and opportunities for interaction between participants that will enable attendees to engage in a truly interdisciplinary exchange of ideas and viewpoints.

Presenters will be afforded the opportunity for their symposium paper/presentation to be published in the Texas Digital Library.

Papers will be twenty minutes in length and will be followed by ten minutes of discussion. Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be submitted on the symposium website.

The deadline for submissions is May 1, 2012.

You can find more here. Thanks so much to friend and former boss Barbara Mathe for sending this along.

Image: Cimitero Monumentale di Milano, © Joanna Ebenstein; click on image to see much larger, more detailed version.

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Surgeon not at fault in breast surgery mix-up, hospital says

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WINDSOR, Ont. A surgeon who faced heavy public scrutiny, triggered a health ministry review and a $2.2-million lawsuit for unnecessarily removing a cancer-free breast is again in the eye of the storm.

An error by the pathology department at Windsor Regional Hospital led to Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital surgeon Dr. Barbara Heartwell performing a lumpectomy and removing the lymph nodes of a woman who was in good health.

The pathology department inadvertently mixed up her test results with another woman diagnosed with breast cancer at an advanced stage.

"They looked at results of the two patients and mixed them up," said one source. "She had surgery she didn't need."

Removal of lymph nodes is usually only done in advanced cases of cancer and can otherwise have long-term health consequences.

Windsor Regional CEO and President David Musyj emphasized Friday none of the blame lies with Heartwell.

"This was not a diagnosis error," he said. "What we are dealing with here is an unfortunate administrative error made in our pathology department where existing practices and procedures were not followed. If they were followed, this would not have happened.

"This had nothing to do with the surgeon. Dr. Heartwell did everything appropriately and did nothing wrong whatsoever."

Details of the patient, including her age and health condition, were not released by the hospital at her request, Musyj said.

A meeting was held Wednesday involving the patient, her nurse practitioner, Heartwell, Dr. Gary Ing and Dr. David Shum, head of the pathology department. All pathology work in the Windsor area has been recently consolidated at Windsor Regional.

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Surgeon not at fault in breast surgery mix-up, hospital says

Pathology error causes unnecessary lumpectomy

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A mistake by a pathologist at Windsor Regional Hospital led to a surgeon to perform a lumpectomy and remove the lymph nodes of a healthy woman.

The pathology department inadvertently mixed up her test results with another woman diagnosed with breast cancer at an advanced stage.

Removal of lymph nodes is usually only done in advanced cases of cancer and can otherwise have long-term health consequences.

It was Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital surgeon Dr. Barbara Heartwell who triggered a health ministry review and a $2.2-million lawsuit for unnecessarily removing a cancer-free breast in 2009 that performed the lumpectomy based on information from the pathologist.

But Windsor Regional CEO and president David Musyj emphasized in a news conference Friday none of the blame lies with Dr. Heartwell.

This was not a diagnosis error, he said. What we are dealing with here is an unfortunate administrative error made in our pathology department where existing practices and procedures were not followed. If they were followed, this would not have happened.

This had nothing to do with the surgeon. Dr. Heartwell did everything appropriately and did nothing wrong whatsoever.

Details of the female patient, including her age and health condition, were not released by the hospital at her request, Musyj said.

A meeting was held Wednesday involving the patient, her nurse practitioner, the hospitals chief of staff Dr. Gary Ing and Dr. David Shum, head of the pathology department.

While the womans surgery took place at Hotel-Dieu, all pathology work in the Windsor area has been consolidated at Windsor Regional.

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Pathology error causes unnecessary lumpectomy

Nutrition and gluten labeling could see shake-up under FDA strategic plan

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a new strategic plan for food and nutrition over the next four years, including new initiatives related to food labeling and collaboration with industry on public health goals.

The Foods and Veterinary Medicine (FVM) Program outlines seven goals and more than 100 specific initiatives that the agency intends to focus on up to 2016, covering food safety, nutrition, and animal health.

In particular, the plan includes updating the Nutrition Facts panel, potentially making calorie information more prominent, as part of its goal to provide accurate and useful information so consumers can choose a healthier diet and reduce the risk of chronic disease and obesity.

The manner in which serving size information, daily values and key nutrients are communicated will also be updated, the document said.

The agency said that a key initiative with the 2012-16 goals is to publish proposed and then final rules updating the Nutrition Facts label and serving sizes.

The plan also includes a commitment to publish a final rule on the use of the term gluten-free on product labels, a move that has been a long time coming , as the FDA first proposed a threshold for gluten in gluten-free products back in 2007.

Initiatives related to improving consumer access to and use of nutrition information include exploring frontofpack nutrition labeling and collaborating with the public/private sector on nutrition education, the report said.

The agency also outlined its plan to encourage reformulation of foods to lower sodium and industrially produced trans fat content in the food supply.

Other areas of interest for the food industry include a pledge to work with industry to implement modern food tracing systems, and other initiatives in line with the Food Safety Modernization Act, regarding facility inspections, prevention of contamination, and improved information sharing.

The full strategic plan is available online here .

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Nutrition and gluten labeling could see shake-up under FDA strategic plan